Hidden Palace Zone
SPLASH! SPLASH!
He held it in his hand. That glowing white stone of mystical – near godlike – power now sat within his palm. He grasped it tightly, not letting it out of his touch, before opening his eyes.
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH SPLASH! DOOOOOOM!
All around him, inside this inner-cavern lake, rocks fell. They collapsed into the same lake as he, with large boulders falling atop as well. He stared up and then around, before his eyes fell upon his ally. He didn't know she came with him; the white-furred bat. So absorbed with this Chaos Emerald, he didn't pay attention to her as well. She shook her head clear from the dizzying drop, feeling the same pain that rumbled through his head from the fall. But she was conscious as well, and knew very well of the danger they lay in. Time to get moving.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
"Fu! Fu! Fu!"
Their hands met land in unison, the bat just slight before him. Swimming to the edge of the lake, they were able to climb out of it together, freeing themselves from the rocks that continued to fall from the ceiling. When she got to her feet first, her hand reached out to grab his. He took the kind gesture without a moment's hesitation.
Mystic Cave Zone completed.
Both of them stood, drenched, tired, gasping for air, bodies aching from the fall into water, but with a since of victory rumbling through them. After all, Shadow had a Chaos Emerald. He lifted the white stone into the air, smiling whilst staring into its beautiful gleam. The bat was ready to talk her allies ear off, before noticing the rock in his hand as well. In doing so, he gave her a cocky – somewhat 'hah-hah' – smile that made her cross her arms and scoff.
"What's that suppose to mean?" she inquired, making him chuckle openly.
"Nothing Rouge," he replied, now placing the Chaos Emerald away.
They turned around then, watching as the rocks fell into the lake below. This was where the abyss led to; an underground lake inside an even deeper cave. It was clear tow the mobians this place existed deep below Mystic Cave Zone, so deep it wasn't a mystery why this place went undiscovered for so long.
Whatever this place was, exactly.
"So... where are we?" Rouged asked, attempting to rain out water that laid in her hair.
"I don't know..." Shadow replied, eyes scanning the cavern they found themselves trapped within, "It's big though, I can tell that much... hmm..." he looked up, "I just pray all of Mystic Cave Zone doesn't come crashing down upon us..."
"Hey! Don't say that!" Rouge berated, "I don't want the image of that falling down in my head!"
"Then let's figure out a way to get out of here..." Shadow said, before lifting the white Emerald in his hand, "I have one idea in mind."
Rouge nodded and got close to him, ready to be whisked away by the amazing powers of Chaos Control. He lifted it and quickly began calling upon its powers, regulating his breath as he thought about their destination. However, the image he had was clouded. Instead of picturing the bright fields outside of Mystic Cave Zone, the Black Wind could only envision a large green diamond. It was like the green Chaos Emerald, only larger. It emanated some power, and called out to him constantly.
And then, through it all, he heard a voice.
Starman.
Shadow stepped back, eyebrow raised, mind filled with confusion. Rouge looked at him in a curious manner, wondering what was going on with her ally. Why had they not vanished from this point before more rocks came to kill them? She rose her hand and snapped fingers in front of her ally, gaining his attention, where she asked in a sassy tone.
"Aren't we getting a move on, Shadow dear?"
He lowered an eyebrow to glare at her, before dropping his arm and putting away the Chaos Emerald. Now Rouge was really confused.
"Hey, hey, now!" she called, following Shadow as he began to walk alongside the wall, hand upon it, "What are you doing? Shadow! What's going on?"
"There's something here, Rouge," he finally answered, walking with his hand lining the wall continuously, "But I don't know what... you didn't hear it, did you?"
"Hear what?"
"You didn't hear it..."
Shadow continued walking along the wall, only stopping when he felt one wall act separately from another. But it wasn't a wall, it was instead a bolder. One that had fallen into place to cover a hallway. Shadow stepped back, fist at the ready. He didn't know what it was he was about to propel himself into, but he needed to find out. Whoever that voice was, whatever that stone was, he needed to know.
"What is going on here...?" he murmured, before delivering a punch to the stone.
At the same time, he ground the dimension within his fist, causing a contortion that made itself known by a dark multicolored sphere around his hand. The punch destroyed the rock, sending fragments in all directions. After covering their eyes to shroud out debris, the mobians gazed forth to see such beauty and wonder.
The walls were lined with beautiful gushing waterfalls, ones that flowed flawlessly into green aqueducts. The walkways were pristine and wonderful, looking as if they were untouched by outside hands for millenniums, but were still kept in clean working order. There was a glowing light somewhere in the area, which allowed the the two a great look at the expansive cave. It owned various walkways and runways, all of them diving deep inside to areas unknown.
"Where are we?" Rouge asked, taking note of the glowing green ambiance in the far distance.
"I have no clue..." Shadow replied, he too stunned to near silence, "But... Rouge... there was something calling to me in there..." he looked at her, as it suddenly hit him, "Wait, Rouge... do you think that... do you think that this is it?"
"W-w-wait!" she said, suddenly feeling energetic while her teal eyes started to shine bright, "Don't say it, don't say it!" she ran in front of him (while he gave a less than enthusiastic stare), and pulled out the map they used to travel around West Side Island, "Glowing green ambiance, runways, waterfalls!" she then turned and faced him, wings flapping with full vigor, "Shadow! I think we've found it! I think we've found the Hidden Palace Zone!"
He simply looked at her, face emotionless (though annoyed), and arms crossed as if disinterested. Granted, this is Shadow; his arms are always crossed.
"Why aren't you as happy as I am right now?"
"Because I figured that out already," he replied as he walked past her, making her glare at him from anger, "It's not all that hard to realize when you think about it..."
"Ya'know, you're really getting on my nerves, Shadow," Rouge said, before smiling with a sunny face, "But I don't care! We found it! We found the Hidden Palace Zone! It's right her! Right in our face! We're standing inside of it, Shadow! We're standing inside the Hidden Palace Zone!"
He didn't say anything, instead staring around to the zone. There was just something about this place; he couldn't put his finger on it. Something felt distant to him, and yet there were still things calling him in. For one thing, his Chaos Powers – the crux of his radar – was deadly silent. If this was the fabled Hidden Palace Zone, why wasn't his powers acting wild right now?
And then there was that voice, and that image. What was he supposed to do about all that?
"I can't wait to see what's inside!" Rouge said, mouth drooling and gleams in her eyes, "The diamonds in Hidden Palace Zone are said to be more beautiful than anything! Not to mention bigger than a freaking boulder! We need to search everywhere for them, Shadow! We really do!"
"I get it, I get it..." he said, withdrawing the green Chaos Emerald whilst walking forward, "But still... what was that voice...?"
Shadow shook off the inhibitions he had, instead focusing on the task at hand. Finding the center of Hidden Palace Zone seemed to be the best idea at that point in time. The Black Wind turned and faced his kleptomaniac friend, nodded, then ignited his air shoes.
"Let's move..." he simply said before skating off, Rouge following closely behind.
Now entering Hidden Palace Zone.
The duo rushed through caverns of Hidden Palace Zone side-by-side, staring at all it had to offer them. The shining walls, the glowing bridges, the wonderful waters. They were so clean, one could drink from them with no ill side-effects.
Rouge simply adored the sights. She could stare at them for ages and never grow bored. And – what was even better – she was here! This wasn't the side of some old jar, or just pages in some dead guy's diary, this was the actual place! This was the real and true Hidden Palace Zone. A variable haven of wonderful jewels and crystals, all of them ripe for the taking. Seriously, who was going to get mad at them for taking a rock or two? Or three? Or four? Or five? Or six!? Or seven!? Or eight!? Or nine!? Or ten!?
Who would get mad if they took all of them?
Shadow's mind ran a muck with thoughts more pure than that. For some reason, he felt as if this area had already be defiled, though he couldn't put his finger on it. Whether it be the air, or just the general tone as well; where was that chaos powers he knew should have been hovering in the air right now? The fact that it didn't sit here sent alarm bells blaring in his ears.
They skated down the halls, using the curving bend to retain their momentum as they blasted down the halls. Coming along a bridge, the duo found it to be green and even pulsate while they ran atop it. Beneath them, endless rivers and lakes peppered the bottom of this cavern; even more of a sight to see.
Shadow leaped over one pit leading down below, while Rouge hovered over it. She just needed to look at the lake for a few seconds; it was too beautiful to pass up. Shadow – having no time for this – grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him. The pathways they followed were interesting to say the least. They way they curved up and curved down, had varying loops (a classic), not to mention how they perfectly helped them run with speed; it was thrilling!
Then why did everything feel so wrong?
Over the next binge and deeper into the cave, Shadow's eyes fell upon it. The same object he had seen in his brief vision sat some ways away. The fact that he saw it at all was enough fuel to keep make him suddenly burst forward at amazing speeds. The same could be said for Rouge, though she rushed forth just to see the large rock.
And then the earth suddenly shifted beneath their feet. Shadow skidded to a halt as best he could, but Rouge crashed right into him. To their surprise, they found themselves falling down a green tube that ran deep into the caverns. Taken aback by the sudden change in scenery, the two mobians simply road the slide deep down. The tube dropped deep into the lakes below, where beneath laid a myriad of diamonds.
"Oh my god! Ohmygod! Ohmygoooooooood," Rouge practically foamed at the gleaming stones beneath her.
Shadow – uninterested in the stones – simply waited for the tube to stop. And it did; the path spat them out upon one another, with Rouge sitting on Shadow's back.
"Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Did you see that!? Did you see that Shadow!? Didyaseethem!? Didsyaseethem!?"
"Yes, I saw them," he grumbled, hand curling into a fist, "Rouge!"
"There was so many of them, Shadow! SOOOOOOO many!"
"ROUGE!" he suddenly barked, "GET OFF OF ME!"
"Oh..."
She quickly got off his back, allowing him to stand up. The hedgehog tugged on his gloves before gazing skyward, eyes falling upon a staircase. It ascended up into the ceiling, and to an area Shadow couldn't see from where he stood. The Black Wind was mesmerized by the sight, eyebrow raised and ears twitching. He could hear Rouge go on about plans to get the rocks, but he didn't care. Instead, he heard another voice call out to him.
Starman.
"Shadow, are you listening?" Rouge asked, not noticing her friend had already started walking up the stairs.
He was halfway up when Rouge began calling him, and could no longer hear her voice. Instead, he walked to the top of the stairs, where his ruby eyes fell upon a large emerald. It gleamed just as bright as the green Chaos Emerald he owned. In fact, he pulled it out in order to compare the two stones. The rock before him was like a complete replica of the green Chaos Emerald, only far far larger.
Starman.
"Who are you!?" he shouted back, looking up and around to it, "I can hear you, you know! And I'm getting sick of your games! Show yourself this instant!"
He didn't get an answer this time. Well, not the answer he was searching for.
"Shadow!? What's going on up there?" Rouge shouted as she ran up the stairs, "Who are you yelling at?"
"You don't hear it, do you?" Shadow inquired, to which the bat replied with,
"Hear what?"
"Figures..." he turned back to the great emerald, clutching his green Chaos Emerald close, "I'm hearing some voice, Rouge. It's calling out to me, or something... ugh... it's like... it's saying Starman, and... I think it's talking about me or something. Like..." he looked at his reflection in the large emerald, "I think it's calling me the Starman. What does that mean, though?"
"Oh my goodness," Rouge instead replied, before magnetizing herself to the large emerald with arms hugging it close, "It's sooooooo big Shadow! You have to get it out for us! You just have to!" she looked at her reflection in the stone next, "You're gonna look good in momma's lobby!"
"I'm being serious Rouge!" Shadow shouted, drawing her attention back to him, "There's something or someone here! With us! We aren't alone!"
"That much is true, Shadow the hedgehog..." a voice answered his call.
Rouge and Shadow pulled back up, their eyes falling upon a corridor that entered into this chamber. Walking from the shadows of said corridor was a certain human man holding a cane. Bald head but magnificent brown mustache, wearing a brown suit and tie with matching brown slacks; it was none other than Dr. Ivo Robotnik. And if you had any doubts to this, you could tell it was him by the pin on his collar that shared his visage.
Surely, only the Eggman himself would wear such a thing.
"Robotnik!" Shadow growled, rage quickly jumping to the tenth degree at the sight of his mortal nemesis.
Seeing his enemy outside of his usual machines instantly caused Shadow to charge at Robotnik. But instead of hitting him, Shadow found himself being thrown back by a strange projection. A force-field of some sort was emitted around Robotnik, pushing Shadow back who crashed into the large emerald itself.
"Augh..." he grunted in pain, "Dammit... what was that?"
"Sorry Shadow," Robotnik claimed, hand reaching into his coat to pull out the purple Chaos Emerald, "But you do understand; I must play this game by my rules."
"The purple Chaos Emerald?" Rouge said, stunned by the fact Robotnik was holding it, "But... he only has the light blue Emerald..."
"Unless..." Shadow said, eyes growing wide, "That's the seventh Chaos Emerald!"
"Indeed, Shadow," Robotnik claimed as he held tossed the purple Chaos Emerald up and down casually, "Think about it for a moment. How long do you think I've been here? Do you honestly believe I was able to take over all of West Side Island in such a short amount of time? I may be the greatest mind on all of the planet, but everything takes time. Once I took over the island, I put all my efforts in locating the seventh Chaos Emerald. Thanks to our battle on South Island not too long ago, the seventh Chaos Emerald began emitting its own signal, one I easily picked up on. I've spent so long searching for it, when I found this place..." he looked around to the zone, "Amazing, isn't it? The Hidden Palace Zone. As a young man, I spent years dreaming about it. It's... so large... so grandiose... so... amazing. Its everything I thought it would be, and then some," he glared down to them, "When I found this place, I nearly died!"
"You're going to be die!" Shadow growled, hands surging with power.
He threw himself at Robotnik again, clashing once more with that invisible force that repelled him. This time however, the force was so strong, it slammed him into the wall where he bounced off.
"Please stop," Robotnik said as he walked up to them, watching as Rouge helped Shadow to his feet, "You're only embarrassing yourself."
"What are you doing?" Shadow asked as he leaned back, "How are you doing that?"
"I've had quite the time to fiddle with the purple Chaos Emerald," Robotnik claimed, a smile coming to his lips, "Can't you imagine unhindered time with a Chaos Emerald? Learning all of its secrets? What it can and can't do? Let me tell you this; there is very little a Chaos Emerald can't do. I can see why these things are so sought after. With just one Chaos Emerald, I was able to create this!"
Robotnik pulled up the cane he held his hand on, instead holding it by its handle instead of its head. With the move, he showed sitting in the head of the cane was the light blue Chaos Emerald.
"The Egg Scepter is an amazing gadget, is it not?" Robotnik claimed, smile on his face, "I can't naturally do the things you can do, but with this I can! Teleportation! Energy manipulation! And of course – my personal favorite – shield projection! It's only in its beta, but with added time, I'll-WHAT!?"
He didn't pay attention to her. All his time gloating, he kept his eyes glaring at his hated enemy. And then that foot came flying across his staff, sending it flying as the light blue Chaos Emerald was sent flying. In that moment, Robotnik, Shadow, and Rouge leaped for the light blue stone. Their hands met it in unison on the floor, but only one had the true power to activate it.
"CHAOS! CONTROL!"
The area grew bright with a flash, before it all died out. Robotnik got to his feet as best he could, and when he stood tall the bright flash died out. He gazed forward to the other side of the chamber, having his eyes fall on Shadow and Rouge. The black and red hedgehog gave a smirk as he held the light blue Chaos Emerald; or maybe it was because he glared at his greatest foe.
"Now, now, now, Shadow," Robotnik said with a forced smile, hands waving through the air, "Let's not do anything hasty now!"
"I've heard enough. You're boring me to death, Robotnik!" Shadow claimed as he aimed his hand at the dictator, "You're going down! CHAOS SPEAR!"
He didn't even wait. He charged the greatest Chaos Spear he could muster, one charged not only from the Chaos Emeralds he currently held, but also by emotion. So much hatred, so much rage, so much pleasure, was about to be launched from his fingertips and to the doctor.
It was a shame he was going to destroy him this fast. Maybe he should torture him a bit.
Nawwwww!
Shadow's Chaos Spear flew from his fingers and slammed right into Robotnik's body. The blast caused a bright display of power, one that emitted for what seemed like hours. Shadow smiled as he watched the vile dictator being destroyed by his blast. But then it occurred to him how silent it was. Sure, it was loud when you consider the sound of his blast, but where were the screams of pain that was supposed to be accompanying the blast? There wasn't one; there were no screams of pain.
The flaring lights died down, and Shadow dropped his hand. On the other end of the chamber where Robotnik once laid, there lay this scorching black patch. But it was more specifically what laid in front of the glowing patch.
A machine, one in the perfect likeness of a human. Body and flesh blown open by his blast, showing the wires and machinery within. It didn't take long for Shadow to realize the person he just attacked wasn't the doctor he hated, but instead a machine.
"Oh no..." Shadow remarked, while the land around them began violently quaking, among other things.
More rocks and spikes began falling in the chamber, while the walls broke away. Much like in Mystic Cave Zone before, these quakes weren't natural. Within the center above them, a hole began to grow. It grew wide and soon, large enough for a machine to pull itself out of.
Two drills as silver as Rouge's hair tore through the rocks, bringing along with them a cave in of monstrous proportions. For the second time that night, Rouge and Shadow found themselves staring face to face with the Egg Mobile-D Mk. II. And, of course, it was being controlled by the head egg himself, Ivo Robotnik.
"DOCTOR!" Shadow roared, fist shaking with rage.
"I recommend you calm yourself down, Shadow," Robotnik said as he leaned on the command console of his machine, "It's not good for your- BLOOD PRESSURE!"
He pressed a button on his dashboard, causing slots to open on his machine. From these slots, a pair of rockets were fired out. They streamed through the air, forcing Shadow and Rouge to avoid by leaping. When they touched upon the aged grounds they exploded, sending even more rocks and debris flying in all directions.
"It's such a shame I must do this to Hidden Palace Zone," Robotnik claimed with a sigh, "But as they always say, you must break a few eggs to make an omelet!"
The drills of the Egg Mobile-D Mk. II suddenly aimed down at Shadow, who was recoiling from the rocket attacked. The thrusters of the Egg Mobile exploded with flames, propelling the doctor forward in a bed to impale the hedgehog. But the Black Wind was saw it coming, and put his hands up to stop the attack. His hands slammed upon the Egg Mobile's cockpit, but the rush was still enough to push the hedgehog against a wall.
"Give up, Shadow," Robotnik said, face maniacal as he forced the hedgehog further against the wall.
"Never!" the hedgehog replied, steadily turning red.
"Oh! Chaos Blast!" Robotnik commented, noticing the red hue his nemesis was taking, "I've already taken the necessary precautions to deal with that!"
Shadow growled upon hearing that, but continued through with his attack nonetheless. However, before he could perform the attack, a deafening roar echoed over the both of them.
"ERRRRAAAAARRRGGGHHH!"
A powerful shock wave befell Robotnik and Shadow both, making the latter cringe in pain. But for Robotnik, he merely scoffed. Turning around in his cockpit, he faced Rouge who was screaming at him with her 'Beauty Shock'. It did absolutely nothing to him.
"Already prepared," he claimed to himself, silencing Rouge who went wide-eyed from shock.
The drills on the Egg Mobile-D Mk. II suddenly turned around, now aiming at Shadow. Bursting with flames, they charred Shadow and pushed the doctor flying into Rouge. He slammed into her, causing the blue Chaos Emerald she held to fly out while she was stricken unconscious. A claw from the Egg Mobile flew out and grabbed the Chaos Emerald, before flying back to Robotnik himself. The claw pulled in the Chaos Emerald, and after a few seconds, the dictator was holding it in his hands.
"That's more like it!" Robotnik claimed with an insidious smile, before a rock was thrown at him.
"Don't get too cocky, doctor," Shadow said, walking to face the Eggman, "You haven't won this fight yet!"
"Au contraire, Shadow," Robotnik replied, glaring at the Black Wind with a torturous smile, "The entire cave is coming in and around itself. You're weakened from battling my Badniks in Mystic Cave Zone, fighting me up there, the fall down here, and fighting me right now! You're sapped, Shadow the hedgehog!"
"I may be a little exhausted," Shadow admitted, "But it's more than enough to deal with you!" he began turning red, "Chaos Boost!"
A red aura erupted from Shadow's body. The next second, he leaped at the doctor, fist at the ready. From the Egg Mobile-D's slots, Robotnik fired out even more rockets. They slammed into Shadow's body, the first two he shrugged off, the third pushed him back, the fourth threw him back into the ground.
The hedgehog attempted to catch his breath after taking on the missiles, while Robotnik descended to meet him.
"What's wrong, Shadow?" Robotnik gloated, "Feeling the zone cave in around you? It's beautiful, right?"
"Why'd you do this to Hidden Palace Zone?" Shadow asked, watching as the ceiling literally fell all around them.
"What's wrong, Shadow?" Robotnik asked, arms spread out as if to bask in the glory of the destruction, "Suddenly feeling empathy for history? Believe me, as a scientist, this hurts my gravely. But it must happen..." he smiled down upon him, "If it means you die in the aftermath!"
"You'd destroy this zone just to kill me!?"
"I'D DESTROY A THOUSAND ZONES JUST TO KILL YOU!?" Robotnik roared, "But first things first..."
Shadow stood up, where in which he began to charge his Chaos Boost once more. Before he could launch an attack however, the claws of the Egg Mobile-D launched for him. Shadow grabbed them by the base and began pulling, attempting to bring Robotnik down to him. The Eggman smiled though, where its clamps suddenly launched and slammed upon Shadow's shoulders. He kept pulling however, unaware of the danger the clamps held, the Black Wind refused to pull it off.
Until...
BBBZZZZRRRRRTTT!
"AUGH!?"
The hedgehog crumbled to his knees, feeling his body surging with thousands of electrical pulses. He could barely fight back, while the clamps slid into his body. They began grabbing various areas of his body, before Shadow realized what the doctor was doing. He was taking the Chaos Emeralds!
"No! Stop!" Shadow yelled as he attempted to fight back, growing weaker by the second.
"No, no, Shadow," Robotnik growled, lips curling into a smile, "I won't stop. Not until you die..."
"NO! I said... STOP!" Shadow began turning red, "Stop it! I said... STOP! ERRAAAAGH! CHAOS BLAST!"
By then, only the green Chaos Emerald remained in Shadow's possession. He clawed for it whilst turning red, and held it close to his chest. Robotnik gasped, right when the black and red hedgehog detonated. A red explosion erupted from Shadow's body, shooting out to slam into the Egg Mobile-D's body. It threw the doctor back, and threw Shadow back who flew through the wall from all the force.
"Dammit, Shadow!" Robotnik growled, glaring into the hole while rocks fell all around them, "You little bastard..." when rocks fell on his cockpit, he glared up, "I have six Chaos Emeralds now. I'll come back for the seventh..." he began flying up, "Farewell, Shadow the hedgehog! See you in hell!"
His drills aimed up, and his thrusters ignited. Launching up, he bore through the ceiling to make his escape. Shadow flew through the wall and fell off the other side, still clutching his Chaos Emerald to chest. Too weak to actually move, he simply allowed himself to fall into a deep body of water. He stared up, watching as rocks fell all around him. One came crashing down upon him.
And he couldn't do anything about it.
The Black Wind pushed up his arm to defend himself, which was the best defense he had at the moment. Between the fights and the electrocution, how he remained conscious let alone triggered a Chaos Blast was impressive. And it sapped his strength fully as he laid within the waters below.
Starman...
It was that voice again.
Starman...
He gazed toward the rock falling atop him, noticing this otherworldly shine which descended above him.
"Who... are you...?" he inquired, "Who...?"
The light shined bright, while all of time came to a sudden stop. Something or someone enacted Chaos Control, it would seem. And though Shadow held the Chaos Emerald close to heart, he knew he didn't perform the technique. He continued falling through the underground lake, stopping when his back hit the bottom. And at the bottom, he watched as that light descended to swallow him whole.
Shadow closed his eyes to fight off the light. And then he opened them. No longer did he lay at the bottom of a lake inside Hidden Palace Zone, he was somewhere else. Somewhere outside, with sunny skies overhead. When he pulled up, his eyes fell upon a sanctuary. A pearly white shrine sat before her, one with a large green jewel in the center. Shadow rose an eyebrow in confusion as he got to his feet.
"Okaaaaaay..." the hedgehog murmured, gazing around in pure confusion, "Am I dead and this is heaven... or...?"
Curiosity getting to him, Shadow decided to walk up to the shrine. He trailed up the stairs toward the giant rock, stopping as he stood before it. It looked just like the large rock he walked to in Hidden Palace Zone. Same shine, same size, same everything.
"What's going on here?" Shadow growled, red eyes darting left and right.
"Starman..." that voice called out to him again, this time feeling lively and not like a ghastly echo.
"Who's there!?"
He turned around toward the voice, where to his shock, he found an orange echidna gazing back. She pulled back from his sudden action, while he stared at her with pure confusion. Weren't echidnas extinct? Like, fully extinct? Well, no mobian echidnas, at least. The regular primal kind still existed, of course, but not the race of mobians.
But this right here was a true echidna. From the dread lock hair, the orange fur, the blue eyes, everything. Her clothing wasn't anything Shadow had seen, though. It wasn't modern, and appeared to be from a over centuries ago. There was something distinctively Mayan about her, from her multicolored skirt, the white shirt, not to mention the tiara on her head and various other jewels and gold around her neck and arm.
"Who... who are you?" Shadow asked, dropping his guard around the young girl.
She didn't answer. Not at first, anyway. She instead looked at him, long and hard, with he doing likewise. Neither side said anything, until the echidna walked to him. Shadow – being distrustful as always – walked back. But she kept walking until his back was up against the massive jewel, and she stood in front of him.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" she asked as she touched the green Chaos Emerald in his hands, "The Chaos Emeralds. They really are wondrous things, Starman."
"Why are you calling me that?" Shadow asked, now growing forceful, and making her stare up with gleaming eyes.
"Because I know who you are, Shadow," she claimed, making his stance harden, "More than you know about yourself..."
"How do you know my name?"
"Haven't you ever stared to the nigh sky, and felt more attached to what was up there than what was down here?" the echidna claimed, "Haven't you ever felt like... you've been up there before?"
"What are you talking about!?" Shadow suddenly shouted, growing tired of these games and her words, "Who are you!? Where am I!?"
"I apologize," the echidna said, "I suppose I should tell you my name first..." she placed a hand on her chest, "I'm Tikal. And I do believe we've never met before. Not until now, anyway."
"Where am I?" Shadow asked next, growing less intense.
"I've brought you here to tell you something... to teach you something," the echidna said, "You are the first mobian to step foot in Hidden Palace Zone in over a thousand years. Seven Chaos Emeralds. There are seven Chaos Emeralds. And when you collect all seven, you can obtain unimaginable power."
"How?" he inquired.
"All seven. You must hold all seven," she claimed, "And the powers will fume within you..."
"Ugh!?" Shadow suddenly coughed, falling to his knees. And yet, Tikal didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
"With all seven Chaos Emeralds," the echidna continued, "There's nothing you can't do."
"ARGH!?" Shadow continued to cough, "What's!? What's going on!?"
"The servers are the seven Chaos!" she claimed, "Chaos is power! Power enriched by the heart!"
"What are you talking about!?"
"Chaos is power! Power enriched by the heart!"
"Stop it!" Shadow roared, "Stop it now!"
"Chaos is power! Power enriched by the heart! Chaos is power! Power enriched by the heart! Chaos is power! Power enriched by the heart!"
"Mfff-PLACK!?"
Shadow's eyes grew wide from shock and stress, while he vomited water from his mouth. He suddenly felt incredibly weak, almost to the point that he couldn't stand. He was laying on the ground, coughing and wheezing, spitting up more and more water that laid in his lungs. He stared down to the puddle of water he regurgitated, then laid on his back to catch his breath.
"Wh-what?" he said, finding himself in Hidden Palace Zone once more, though far worse.
The entire zone was destroyed, with rocks on top of rocks. The beauty and majesty of Hidden Palace Zone had been tarnished by the boulders that fell from the ceiling. Only this area was saved; the chamber which held the large emerald-like stone. But how did he get back there when he surely should have been drowning at the bottom of the lake?
"Huh, wha?" he said, putting his hand on his chest, while he got on all fours, "Rouge!?"
He turned to face his right, where his eyes fell on legs. He looked up, seeing the bat completely drenched, panting for air like she was out for a run. She stared at him with her teal eyes, before her lips curled into a smile.
"Thank goodness you're alive," she claimed, "Oh... Shadow..."
"Rouge..." he answered.
She gave him her hand, and he took it without hesitation. Pulled to his feet, the hedgehog realized that was the second time Rouge helped him stand today. He owned her for that.
"Well... this is it," Rouge said in a somewhat bittersweet tone, "Hidden Palace Zone. The entire reason why we came here. Gone... heh... ironic, ain't it..." she put her hand on her forehead and looked down to the ground with defeat, then shook her head at the situation, "Now what?"
"The Chaos Emeralds...?" Shadow replied, making Rouge look at him.
"Gone," she replied, "Robotnik took the ones we had. Save for the green one..." Shadow lifted it, "He now has six Chaos Emeralds..."
"Dammit..." the Black Wind cursed, "This... this is my fault... I should've fought harder! I should've-"
"Stop blaming yourself, Shadow!" Rouge yelled, "It's not your fault. There was nothing we could do; Robotnik already knew where Hidden Palace Zone was before we even got here. Before we even touched upon the island. He has an army, time, and resources. The fact that we got this far into West Side Island at all... it shows how strong we are. Or lucky..."
"Rouge..." Shadow replied, somewhat solemnly.
"What?" she asked, somewhat annoyed and snappy.
"Thank you..." he said, making her loosen up on that defeated demeanor, "Thanks for all your help. Since the very beginning, you've helped me get through all the zones, even if you didn't want to. And now look. We're in Hidden Palace Zone, and it's nothing like we expected. Or it was, but not anymore... huh... Rouge...?"
"Yes, Shadow?"
"You were right, from before..." he answered, "My fight with Robotnik is my fight. Not yours. It was wrong of me to bring you into it. I apologize for that."
"Shadow, what are you going on about?"
"I'm afraid this is where you and I part ways..." he ultimately answered, making Rouge gasp, "We've found Hidden Palace Zone, which is what you wanted to do. Me, I must keep going. I have to go and get the Chaos Emeralds from Robotnik and stop him. Alone..."
"But, Shadow!" Rouge stated, running up to him, "He'll kill you! We were able to get this far because we worked together, not apart! Are you really trying to stop all that now!"
"Darnit Rouge!" he retorted, anger on his face, "Can't you see what I'm doing!?" he started calming down, "I'm trying here. I'm really trying here! One of the worst things I saw when Robotnik took over South Island, is when he roboticized my family. Seeing that happen... it killed me inside. I was able to make it better with the Chaos Emeralds, but it was still a close call. I don't want to watch anything happen to you, okay? Especially if it can be avoided. I'm going to fight Robotnik, by myself."
"Shadow..."
"Don't try to talk me out of this..." he said, lifting the green Chaos Emerald high, "I've made up my mind. Now let's get out of here..."
He looked at Rouge and she looked back. In his eyes, there sat so much resolve. He had come to terms with his decision; there was no changing his mind. That was one thing Rouge always admired in her ally; his dedication. No matter what, he was going to succeed. No matter what.
She stood next to him, ready to be whisked away by his power. But before he yelled out his command, he said something.
"I taste cherries..."
"I had to resuscitate you somehow..." she replied.
"Ugh... CHAOS! CONTROL!"
Hidden Palace Zone completed.
Next stop, Oil Ocean Zone.
Maverick Talks!
Man. New Star Fox. But enough about that...
With this chapter, we finally get here! Hidden Palace Zone! Yet another - and I promise final - beta stage from Sonic 2 that'll appear in this story.
Ya see, in the old Sonic 2 beta, there was a planned stage called Hidden Palace Zone. After collected all seven Chaos Emeralds, you would be warped to Hidden Palace Zone, where Sonic would learn the ability to become Super Sonic. Cool stuff, right? But it was ultimately scrapped, due to time constraints.
So in this story, I simply decided to bring it back, and have it fulfill the same purpose it was to fulfill in Sonic 2! Shadow comes down here and learns the secret to something, thanks in part to Tikal! Who also will not be appearing after that.
Call it a glimpse of what's to come, if you will. Besides, who else has more knowledge about Chaos Emeralds than Tikal? Not many people, mind you.
Also, Tikal called Shadow Starman. That's a reference to one of my other stories on this website, though that story has no meaning here. So why is Tikal calling Shadow Starman? Because she knows where he's really from.
Don't think too hard on it, okay?
Welp, that's enough outta me today. Hope ya enjoy the chapter, and see ya next time!