Playing Games

Chapter 10: Going for a Rocky Ride, Part 1

The time in this part of the story was a late afternoon; the weather was cloudy with the sun only peeking out of the white clouds. The scene is a quiet area with mountains that reaches the heavens above. There were only a few people outside doing their individual jobs. By looking at this place, you can tell that high technology has never touched this place; there were no cars, or even a road. Instead there were horses and the houses were made using planks of wood and what seemed to be the road was a hard yellow surface that could be sand as a small wind blew and particles started to fly, this is a place that would mostly see in a western film, but it was still here today. This place is called Rocky Ridge, were this next chapter is set.

A few miles away from Rocky Ridge, a jeep that was driven by a man in black uniform with a common symbol on it that was obviously the GUN agents that could have been sent by the captain in Central City. There was also a female in the passenger seat that was wearing the same uniform as the male driver. In the back seat however was the well-known ebony hedgehog with red stripes on his fur, this was the Ultimate Lifeform Shadow. The hedgehog had his arms folded as he usually does and looked up to the cloudy sky.

"We are soon reaching the destination of your mission, Agent Shadow." Spoke the driver; the hedgehog looked at him with his red eyes, shining in the small sunlight that there is.

"Is there a reason that we are going to this place, from what I've heard, it is known to be a ghost town." He stated.

"Rocky Ridge had some strange activity happening in the mines lately." The driver replied, not turning around, as he was busy driving the heavy vehicle.

"Strange activity?" The hedgehog repeated, raising an eyebrow as well.

"Correct from what I've heard, it had been happening after Eggman appeared in his Egg Carrier in Station Square 5 days ago now." Said a the female character.

Hmph, I guess that blue hedgehog had stopped Eggman as he usually does. Shadow said to himself with a small smirk.

"So my mission is to investigate the area, and see what's the course of this, "strange activity"?" Shadow asked.

"That is right." The driver replied with a small nod.

"And why are you guys with me, I can take care of myself you know without any help." Shadow stated, "You forget who I am."

"We haven't forgotten who you are, Shadow the Hedgehog, the captain ordered us to keep an eye on you so you don't cause trouble like last time." The female stated, giving the hedgehog a small glare, but Shadow didn't seem to care, as he just looked away, arms still folded.

"Figures." He muttered under his breath, as they have reached your destination.

"Here we are, Rocky Ridge." The driver announced, he stopped the vehicle in the middle of a pathway. Both GUN agents and Shadow got out of the jeep and looked around the area. As Shadow doesn't know much about Rocky Ridge, he didn't know where to look first. There was silence between this trio, it when the female agent broke the silent atmosphere.

"So…any ideas where we should start looking?" She asked just to see both Shadow and the GUN agent shake their heads.

"Hey yo people!" A voice yelled, the GUN agents turned around to where the voice had come from, it was from a young female racoon child that had tan coloured fur and pale yellow eyes. She wore a white t-shirt with a demin waistcoat, black shorts with a flora pattern on the side and had a rope tied around her waist. By looking at height of the child, Shadow properly thought that she was around Cream's age, maybe even younger. The racoon smiled at the strangers, as she had no clue of who she was speaking to.

"Can I help ya?" She asked, this gave the female agent to speak.

"Hello there, young child." She waved with a smile and so did the racoon, until she noticed the ebony hedgehog and gave out a small gasp, she then started to jump around in joy, these actions made Shadow a bit confused.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"You're that hedgehog Sonic that runs super super fast and saves the world, aren't you?" She asked, the hedgehog's eye twitched a bit when he realised she called him Sonic instead of his proper name Shadow. However the hedgehog kept his cool.

"No, my name is Shadow, Sonic is a close rival of mine as we have the same speed and abilities, although his chaos skills are nothing compared to mine." Shadow stated, with a grin.

"Oh, I see." She sighed, "I thought you was Sonic, sorry about that."

"It's alright; you're not the first person who made the same mistake." He replied, but the male GUN agent cleared his throat, giving him the attention that he needed.

"Sorry to ruin this nice conversation, but we got a mission to do, remember Shadow?" He asked, with Shadow glaring a bit at but turned around to pay his attention to the young chilled again.

"Oh by the way, their names are Marco and Rose." Shadow added, "What's yours?"

"Marvell." She answered. "Why are you guys here?"

"I'm afraid to tell you that what we are doing here is none of your business whatsoever." Marco said in a harsh tone, earning a glare form both Rose and Shadow.

"What he means is that it's a secret." Rose said, in a kind voice patting Marvell's head also making Marvell giggle.

"I'm good at keeping secrets, you can tell me." She stated. "Please Shadow, I know I can help you out." The racoon said with a small wink. The ebony hedgehog didn't know if Marvell was either being kind or nosy. Shadow didn't know what to do, he then took a small glance at Marco, who glared at Shadow that shows he should knot say a thing about their mission.

"Maybe." Shadow soon answered. "But you can help us out by telling us here you can find a grown up here."

"Oh that's easy." Marvell responded as she took the lead to show the GUN trio where they could find someone to talk to. Marco was first to follow Marvell's direction but he first looked at Shadow, his cold brown eyes looked at normal red ones.

"That better be a lie, Agent Shadow." Marco warned and continued, to walk with Rose following him. Shadow was last to walk and he thought it over if it was a good idea to tell Marvell what they are doing in her hometown, she seemed a kind person like Cream, and he would feel wrong if he were to lie. Shadow stopped thinking about that and walked off meet up Marvell and the others.

Shadow easily caught up with Marvell and the other GUN agents that had already entered a building, he looked at walls made of wood, painted in white but some of the planks of woods were still the colour brown, making Shadow realise that whoever the painter is, had never finished the job. However the hedgehog didn't have time to look at the way the building looked as he remembered that he has a mission to complete. The hedgehog walked in to see Marco and Rose with the young racoon sitting in a chair. His eyes then turned to see someone new here in Rocky Ridge and this person was wearing a badge on his jacket, showing that he was a sheriff of some sorts.

"Greetings Shadow the Hedgehog." The Sheriff spoke, "Is great to meet you in person."

"How do you know my name?" He asked but the Sheriff just gave out a small chuckle.

"We hear many stories on the radio of heroes saving the world, one being a blue speedy fella and another being a black hedgehog, named Shadow." He answered.

"May I ask you why you need our help, Sheriff?" Rose asked, getting down to business.

"Oh yes of course." The sheriff said as he cleared his throat. "You see, five days ago, a strange things have been happening in the mines. Some say that they saw machinery that was able to walk and speak."

"A robot." Shadow pointed out.

"What are those?" Marvell asked, as she was able to hear the conversation since she was still in the room.

"We'll tell you later, continue please." Said Marco, wanting to know everything.

"Yes, of course, anyways there was more then of what you call robots, they had their own pick axe and they were digging in our territory!" The Sheriff yelled, slamming his fist on the desk.

"Can't you just stop them yourselves?" Rose asked.

"We tried to do that, I sent my trustworthy men to stop those machinery fiends…but."

"But…"

"They never returned once they have entered the mine." The Sheriff spoke in sad tone.

"One more question." Shadow spoke, "How did they get in exactly these mines?"

"We expect that they would enter the mines at night time as no one would enter the mines when the sun goes down." The Sheriff suggested. "Please, stop those fiends and bring my men in one piece."

"We'll do the best that we can." Marco promised, "Let's go team."

"Who died and put you in charge?" Shadow asked Marco, arms folded, "You forget that this is MY mission."

"Yes this is your mission, but you don't have the qualifications to take charge." Marco glared at the hedgehog.

"Is that so…wanna prove it?" Shadow challenged but the human agent just snorted.

"Please, your nothing compared to me."

"Boys! We got a job to do, remember." Rose said, "We need to head to the mines and see what happening up there.

"Whatever." Shadow spoke as he walked out of the building. That was when the racoon child followed him.

"Let me help you!" She said with a smile, the hedgehog raised an eyebrow, surprised of what Marvell just said.

"Come again?" Shadow finally spoke after a long pause.

"I can help you out, I know the mines of the back of my hand." The racoon tugged on the hedgehog's arm repeatedly. Show doesn't know how to handle with younger kids, the only people he knew that was below the age of ten was Cream and Charmy, but other then that, he didn't know what to do. Luckily though, Marco saw this and came to the picture. His brown eyes glared at what seemed to be cheerful yellow eyes.

"Listen kid." Marco started, "This hedgehog here is busy doing some work that has nothing to do with you, why don't you play games with your friends." Marco sneered, but Marvell just giggled.

"But I don't have any mister." She smiled.

How can a girl like her be happy that she has no friends? Shadow thought, a bit surprised of the girl's bubbly personality, but Marco wasn't having any of it.

"I don't care, this job is for grown ups, which you are completely not one, now get lost!" Marco yelled. Both Shadow and Rose was surprised at this. The racoon child stood silent, her smile had soon faded away, a small tear had escaped from the girl's left eye, and realising that she wasn't needed, she just walked away.

"Was there any reason to yell at her, Marco?" Rose asked, "She was just trying to help."

"Don't tell me your going soft Rose, we can't have any distractions, even if it is someone you think are trying to help us." Marco stated, believing what he said was the right thing.

"We could of asked for her help, she knows this place more then us combined." Shadow realised, but the male human just shook his head in disappointment for his team.

"Kids can't help us out, with exception of Miles Prower, young children shouldn't interfere in a grown ups job, especially the ones that work in GUN. All kids are just pathetic." Marco said with a dark look, "Now enough with this stupid chit chat and lets get moving!" He ordered, both Rose and Shadow just walked on a head with Marco following, still shocked that he yelled at Marvell, but little did he know, he would soon regret saying kids are pathetic.

The unusual trio of Shadow, Marco and Rose had soon reached the mines of Rocky Ridge, after being lost for half an hour of going the wrong way and going to the waterfalls by mistake, they have reached their destination. They all knew that was no miners in the mines when these certain robots had entered the mines and the only people that were in there was captured people.

The ebony hedgehog looked inside the mines, seeing that there were two different paths to take, wondering which one he should investigate first.

"Two paths, and three of us, its pretty simple what we should do." Said Shadow, arms folded as he usually does, "You two take the left one, I'll take the path on the right." But Marco disagreed with Shadow's plan.

"You forget that our priority is to keep an eye on you Shadow so you don't cause any trouble like last time." Marco argued. "You and Rose will take the path on the left, while I'll take the path on the right. Understood?"

The unfortunate female didn't have a chance to speak, as she actually liked Shadow's plan for once. Rose let out a small sigh and walked to the Ultimate Lifeform, who seemed to be annoyed with Marco's idea, and who could blame him. Instead of staying quiet, Shadow spoke once more with annoyance and anger in his voice.

"Listen here Marco, I would understand if you two would have keep an eye on me on this mission, but you do not need to baby-sit me as I can take care of myself, I'm the Ultimate Lifeform, and there is nothing in these mines that can stop me!" Shadow ranted, "You and Rose will take one path, while I would take the other, do YOU understand me?"

The male GUN agent was about to reply, but there was no point as Shadow had started walking to the right path of the mines and soon faded to the darkness. Marco was about to follow, but Rose stopped him.

"Come on Marco, there's no need for this arguing, let's just get this mission over and done with." Rose pleaded, holding Marco's hand. He let out a small sigh and looked at Rose.

"Fine…" He muttered, and took the left path, with Rose following him.

With the black hedgehog, Shadow looked around the mines, seeing pick axes on the floor along with some shovels. The path wasn't that dark as the people of Rocky Ridge had put some lights on the wall, making is visible of what you are able to see. Shadow scanned the area as he kept walking deeper into the mines, investigating if there is any strange activity happening in the path that he had chose for himself to investigate. He noticed tracks planted on the ground and also a mine cart for people to maybe travel in our transfer items to a place, but apart from that, there was nothing unusual happening.

After minutes of looking, Shadow gave a small sigh to himself and then stopped in his place. "I guess I should check how the others are going…" The hedgehog said, with a small sigh.

But he stopped in his tracks again as he heard a loud noise that seemed to be a sound of metal dropping. The hedgehog got in a stance, believing that it could be a threat, he waited patiently, hoping that the threat would come out its hiding place.

"Come out, I your hiding." Shadow warned, making the threat stick its head from its hiding place, the ebony hedgehog was surprised of this a this so called "threat" wasn't one at all as it was a small racoon girl.

"Marvell…" Shadow realised when noticing the yellow eyes in the light of these caves. Marvell then came out of her hiding place and stared at the hedgehog.

"…Hi" She said, waving her hand.

Meanwhile in the other path in the mines was Marco and Rose, they used their torches to gain more light so that they can see what was in the path that they were now in. Marco was still annoyed that he didn't have his say and kept muttering different ways that he could kill Shadow, but he knew that most of his plans couldn't work. Rose looked at her frustrated partner and gave out a sigh.

"How long are you planning to keep this up?" She asked.

"I just hate that damn hedgehog!" Marco yelled, Rose just rolled her eyes and shook her head a little.

"Yeah I'm pretty aware of that. Don't worry, he won't be working here soon Marco."

"Oh, whys that Rose?" The male human asked, she had a dark grin on her face for once.

"For two reasons my friend. Number one, he disobeyed an order from you, and two, rumour has it that the scientist are making a weapon that not even Shadow could beat." She laughed, "No evil threat in this world has no chance!"

Both Marco and Rose laughed as they kept on walking inside the cave until their laughs had stopped when there was a disgusting smell in the area, it smelled so rotten that it could of made Marco and Rose puke their lunches out.

"What the hell is that smell?" Marco coughed, his ally was coughing also, "It smells like something has died in here!"

Oh how right he was.

"Oh my god!" Rose shrieked as she had found the source of the smell. She was shaking in fear, her hand was like jelly, Marco quickly realised this when he used his torch to see what Rose was looking at. His eyes widened in fear. What he saw was about twenty or even thirty men dead on the ground. Their skin was white as snow, eyes still open but not only that, in every chest of the bodies, was a massive hole that goes right through them with the blood staining the clothes.

"Are-are those…" Rose stuttered.

"Yeah,, there the body of the miners that went here…" Marco answered, knowing what Rose was about to say. "What kind of monster would do such a thing?"

"That would be to work of Ace Talon. That kid is kind of insane for his age, he should be locked up in a steel cage." A new voice spoke in the darkness, Marco quickly turned around, drawing out his weapon as well, Rose seemed to be in a trance, her eyes were still glued to the pile of dead bodies. Marco pointed his flashlight to where the person could be standing, all he saw was a Hawk leaning on one of the walls, this was Chase the Hawk.

"Hello GUN, I hope your not here to ruining my fun." Chase said in a rhyme, but Marco didn't seem to care a bit, as he loaded his gun.

"Who are you? And how did you know that I work for GUN?" Marco asked, the hawk just sniggered a bit.

"Oh, you don't me, well that's a shame, I thought everyone in GUN would know my name. I was the one who killed your lovely commander after all 5 years ago."

"…I still don't know you." Marco said, Chase just rolled his purple eyes. The hawk then draw out his weapons what seemed to be two twin guns, Marco couldn't tell what kind they were in the mines.

"I am Chase C the Hawk, a retired assassin that is back in action." Chase introduced. "My mission is to stop anyone that works for the disgusting GUN, and kill them on sight!"

Back with Shadow, he was now with Marvell who seemed to follow Shadow and the others in the mines. He was annoyed of this but he would feel wrong if to yell at her.

"How did you know I was here?" Shadow asked.

"I didn't I just wildly guessed." Marvell replied, "Besides, you would tell me why you, Marco and Rose are in Rocky Ridge, remember.

"Sadly…" Shadow muttered under his breath but the racoon didn't seem to hear it. "Well, over the past few days, has anything weird happened?"

The racoon tapped her chin, pondering in thought. "No, why you ask."

"Our mission was to investigate the mines, the sheriff told us that people have gone missing here." Shadow explained, not realising that he just told Marvell his mission to her.

"Oh, that sounds…" But Marvell was soon tackled by Shadow when a ball of energy was about to hit her. Shadow sighed in relief and looked at the surprised child.

"Are you okay?" Shadow asked which Marvell nodded as a reply, the hedgehog stood up when his ears perked when he heard footsteps coming closer to him and Marvell.

"I thought I was to be left alone…" A voice moaned, "I don't know how to deal with powerful strangers."

The hedgehog noticed a wolf cub around Tails' height with his body swaying left and right like he was a zombie. The racoon girl noticed this cub as well along with the crimson aura around him. This was Ace Talon.

Another young kid…this day just get weirder and weirder…

"Eggman told me to kill anyone that comes here, you know." Ace said in a monotone voice. "When I kill them I get to feed on their Chaos Energy." The wolf's nose twitched and his cold blue eyes stared at Shadow.

"Who's he Shadow?" Marvell asked, holding his hand.

"I don't know but…something tells me that he isn't a good guy, especially when they know Eggman." The hedgehog went in a fighting stance with the wolf still swaying from left to right.

Not to mention, the energy in this cub feels powerful.

To Be Continued

Part 1 of this chapter is now complete and I actually like this chapter. I'm saving the battles between Chase versus Marco, and Shadow versus Ace. Stayed tuned people!

Please read and review.