Chapter 9: Simply Chaos
Before I could say anything, Knuckles took my hand started leading me away. I looked back and saw the other villagers almost scattering.
"Knuckles wait!" I said, pulling my hand out of his grip. "The Villagers!"
Knuckles nodded and looked at the Chaotix. "Vector, get everyone to the Haven!"
"On it!" Vector said as he, Espio and Charmy ran off, telling every villager to go to the Haven. It was an abandoned ranch that was deeper in the mountains that backed the fair grounds. Knuckles and several other Mobians were rebuilding it to be used as an emergency shelter.
I look back at Metal, who was now giving the SHADOW Unit several blows. He was protecting us. For some reason it amazed me that he was.
Soon Sonic took my hand again and started running toward the forest. Once in the tree line, I dug my heals and almost forced Sonic to stop. "Sonic, we can't leave him!"
"Em, Shadow told me about this one." Sonic said. "He attacked him and Dr. Jonathan in Brazil. Even Shadow had a time with him. And from the description Shadow gave me, this is an upgrade."
"I still can't leave him!" I said.
Metal had kept his scanners on Emily and the others until they were in the threes where his scanner couldn't reach. She had saved him twice before, now it was his turn to return the favor.
The rival unit paced in front of him, it was almost eerie seeing this robotic version of Shadow. And after a quick scan, Metal discovered their blueprints were nearly symmetrical. Metal couldn't help but wonder if this was how Sonic felt when he first met the real Shadow. Copyrighted.
"It is a mistake for defending the organisms from this unit." SHADOW said, speaking in a series of buzzes and technical chirps. It was a robotic language.
"As I had said before," Metal replied in the same language. "It is part of my operations to not allow you near them."
"You lie." SHADOW replied. "It is not in your original programming."
"Upgrades." Metal said, his eyes shinning with cockiness he got from Sonic.
SHADOW's eyes glowed dangerously at the remark. "If you will not step aside," he said, lifting a hand. "Then I will remove you. Chaos spear!"
To Metal's shock, three bolts of Chaos energy flew from SHADOW's hand. Metal dodged the attack and did another scan, trying to find a weakness. SHADOW attacked again, sending more bolts of Chaos energy. This time Metal dodged and attacked, spin dashing SHADOW and knocking him back several feet and into a building. Metal stood there as the dust settled, not sure if his enemy was alive or not.
A flash of gold behind him made Metal turn to see SHADOW reappear and lung toward him. This time, the two robots locked claws and rolled in the dust. Metal was barely aware of the other villagers as they also ran toward the forest.
"Everyone inside!" I called, getting everyone into the barn of the Haven, where Knuckles had stocked up on food, blankets and water.
"Samuel!" Cried the aged Looming Rabbit. "My grandson is still back there!"
"We'll get him." Silver said before taking to the skies with me racing along the ground. We get back into the village and I immediately go into the Loomers shop, where a small boy was curled in a corner holding a stuffed bear and trembling.
Silver picked him up and started back. "You're safe now kid." Silver said. "Lets get you back to your grandmother."
"G-Granny." Samuel said.
"Silv," I said. "I'm thinking we should look around for more villagers."
"I agree." Silver replied. "I'll get Samuel as far as the forest edge then I'll take the South end."
"I'll check the North end then." I said, activating my shoes again and racing up hill.
I first check the clinic. I saw Eli run up this way so I guessed it was to lock the doors. I was right, the door was solidly locked so the people inside were perfectly safe. I continue the search until I had checked every house and dwelling, the fact that they were in danger spurring me on.
Finally, Silver and I meet in the middle again. He looked tired from using his ability so much, but he was alright.
"Didn't find anyone." He reported.
"Good. The clinic is locked so I'm guessing Eli is in there with the patients."
Suddenly, there was a crash from behind us. We turn to see Metal was struggling to get back up after being thrown into a building. Sparks were popping from his joints and openings in his hull. His eyes flickered as he pushed himself off the ground.
"I had warned him." SHADOW said, making Silver and I turn again to see him, also with a few openings and scratches in his black hull. "He processed a lesson the difficult way."
He looked at Silver and me, and for some reason, I knew we couldn't run from this one. I grip my sword in my hand, half wondering where Sonic was.
Silver suddenly threw up his hands and held SHADOW in an aura of blue mist. "Weever made a mistake sending you here!" Silver shouted.
"No Target Silver the Hedgehog." SHADOW replied. "The mistake is yours, when you and Target Emily Bridgestone agreed to harbor Mobians in this village."
SHADOW suddenly sent a wave of Chaos Energy toward Silver, causing his to loose concentration and gripped his head in pain before falling to his knees.
"Stop it! You're hurting him!" I cried, leaping forward with my sword.
SHADOW held Silver in whatever energy was holding him with ease as he grabbed the blade of my sword, kneed me in the chest and shoved me away. I fell to the ground gasping for breath. SHADOW moved forward until he was right in front of me.
"Doctor Weever would like to see you." He said.
He suddenly raised a fist to knock me out. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the fist make contact. I heard a cry before something landed on me and I heard SHADOW's fist make contact with something. I open my eyes and see Metal's red eyes looking into mine. They were flickering, but I could see a smile behind them.
"No," I said, as Metals eyes flickered out and he went limp. "Metal?"
"Foolish unit." SHADOW said as he picked up Metal and tossed him away.
My eyes were glued on Metal's form. Sparks still jumped from his hull, but his eyes were eerily dark. He took the blow for me. He shielded me from SHADOW. The fact that he did was shocking.
Suddenly, something connected with my head and I blacked out, pain roaring in my ears.
Sonic and the others stayed in the Haven. He had to get everyone settled before going back. It wasn't until after a few minutes they left that Sonic noticed Emily and Silver were gone.
Sonic looked around for them n the Haven, hoping they didn't go back. But then the young rabbit came running to the haven, Sonic got a feeling they were in the village.
"Knux!" Sonic called.
Knuckles looked down from the loft where he was getting the villagers settled. "Sonic?"
"Em and Silv went back to look for stragglers! I'm going to help them!"
"I'm coming too!" Knuckles called, jumping down from the loft.
"So am I!" Tails said running over.
Sonic nodded at them and they ran back to the village. Though Sonic was running at a good speed, he felt he needed to get there faster. He never thought such a short distance could feel like miles. He prayed that they were alight.
When he finally made it to the village, his emerald eyes widened at what he saw. Metal, lying in shambles. He was mostly together, but sparks still jumped from his hull and a small pool of oil was under him.
Tails and Knuckles stopped beside Sonic, who hadn't noticed he stopped. Both their faces were ones of shock and horror.
"Metal," Sonic breathed before rushing over and roll the robot over.
Tails was already working on connecting his power core again. Once it was connected, Meta's eyes flickered on again but they were dull and still flickered.
"Metal!" Sonic said, seeing the robot focus on him. "What happened?"
"SHADOW… unit…" Metal said, his voice buzzing. "Did he… capture… Em and Silv?"
Sonic blinked. This was the first time he heard Metal use their nicknames.
"I… t-tried…" Metal said, his eyes flickering more. "To…zzztop ZZZSHADOW… He was going to… harm Em…"
"Hey it's alright," Sonic said. "We'll get them back. Tails, you think you can fix him?"
"I can try," Tails said, looking over all the damage. "But he's in really bad shape, I'll have to make some adjustments and addition."
"Do what you can buddy." Sonic said, looking around the village.
A lot of damage had been done to it. One of the wells where destroyed, five of the shops had been nearly demolished, two of them only had a little damage done to them.
"What would Ryan want with Em and Silver?" Sonic wondered aloud. "He hates mobians and wouldn't hurt a girl."
Knuckles thought about it for a moment, but in the middle of his thinking, he felt something wasn't right. He suddenly got up and ran toward the Emerald Castle.
"Knux!" Sonic shouted and raced after him.
Knuckles ignored him and kept running until he was inside the castle. His eyes widened for a minute before his face lowered into a scowl. The Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds were gone.
