Chapter 10: Captured

"Silver!"

Silver stirred. His head felt heavy and foggy and didn't want to wake up. But that voice was familiar, Deep and a bit harsh. But it wasn't Knuckles. Who else had a voice like that?

"Silver! You need to wake up! What happened?"

Silver slowly opened his eyes, but his eyesight was blurry. All he saw was a dark colored mass in front of him with white and red eyes and red markings… wait, red markings?

"Shadow?" Silver asked, his voice sounding tired and weak.

Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Lord. Yes Silver it's me. What happened?"

Silver took a moment to remember what had happened exactly. "It was… a robotic you." He said finally. "A Metal Shadow. He found the Refuge, and wanted to take Emily and me. Then Metal… He fought Metal Shadow to protect us and the village."

Shadow listened to the rest of the story, half surprised at Metals actions and half not surprised at all.

Silver finished the story and slowly started to sit up, but his head felt heavy. Slowly, Silver moved his hand up to his forehead and felt cool metal under his touch. "Oh no…" He whispered. He immediately tried to use his telekinesis, but all he got was a soft blue glow in his palms and a headache. "No…"

"Silver it will be alright." Shadow said, determined to keep Silver calm. "We'll find a way out of this."

"Where's Em?" Silver asked, forcing himself to forget that he was wearing the band again.

"She's in here with me."

Silver turned to see Maria in the cell next to Shadow's. And Rouge was in a cell across from them. In Maria's cell was Emily. She seemed to be peacefully sleeping, but Silver knew better.

"Em?" He said getting up and going to the bars closest to his friend.

"She'll be alright Silver." Maria said, her sweet innocent voice calming him. "Actually, I think she's waking up now."

It was true. I heard Silver say my name and a young voice telling him I was alright. I force my eyes to open, but I still had a raging headache that made my ears ring.

"Are you okay?" The child asked.

I focus my attention on her. Her light blonde hair framed her innocent face and made her blue eyes shine. I smile up at her. "Yeah, I think so… Just a major headache... Silv?"

"Right here." Silver said.

I turn to look at him and immediately notice the metal band. "Oh Silver…"

"I know…" He said sadly.

I slowly sit up and look around. "Where are we?"

Shadow and Maria looked at each other. "Somewhere in the Great Mountains…" Shadow replied. "Ryan's robotic creation of me brought you and Silver here no more than an hour ago. It took your weapons and left, I'm not sure why Ryan would want them though,"

"Nor will I tell you."

We all turn to see Weever walking down the hall and stopping in front of our cell, meaning the one I was in with Maria.

I scowl at him. "What do you want Weever?" I asked.

"Is that not obvious Miss Bridgestone?" He asked. "I intend to rid the world of the rats that now invade earth. And now that I have these, I can do just that."

Ryan turned to show a robot holding our weapons on a large tray. Silver's fist tightened and my eyes widened. That sword and that helmet had a great amount of power flowing from the Master Emerald as well as the Word of God.

"You're insane if you think you can tap into those weapons!" I shouted. "Only a Protector can access the power they hold."

"Trust me I have not overlooked that detail." Ryan said, snapping his fingers.

A pair of COLDM Guards came in and grabbed Silver and me. Shadow tried to fight them off, but was tossed aside like a rag doll.

"Shads!" I shouted as the COLDM Guard that held me dragged me away. I was mostly concerned for him, seeing as he was thrown against the back wall of the cell.

"Hang on!" Shadow replied.

Those were the same words he used about a year ago when Eggman captured me and had wounded Shadow. It was his way of telling me he had a plan. I nodded at him as the robot herded me away and another held Silver by the scruff of his neck.

We walked in silence, the training Shadow had given me kicking in as I look for escape routs. I notice an air duct to my right, reminding me of when I first met Silver and we tried to escape through one. It sadly didn't work, but maybe this time…

Soon Ryan led us to a large room with three large glass tubes. Silver seemed to recognize them and started to struggle in the robot's grasp.

Ryan smiled at this. "That's right Silver, I borrowed the plans from that buffoon Dr. Robotinik for this creation. With a few modifications, this machine can transfer power from one being," He motioned to a dark corner where SHADOW came out, his blood red eyes looking more menacing than before. "To another. With the power you to posses, my SHADOW Unit can easily bring Mobius to it's knees and make the Mobians fear the very thought of crossing over to Earth."

Now I was struggling. I couldn't let him do this!

"Not to worry Miss Bridgestone." Ryan said as the robots shoved Silver and me into the tubes. "I do not find pleasure in causing others pain considering loss, once I sever the link between Earth and Mobius I will erase your memory of the mobians so they are no more than stories to you."

"No!" I shouted banging on the glass. "You can't do this!"

"Oh I can." Ryan said as SHADOW walked into the center tube. "And I will."

Ryan threw a switch and the process began. I've felt Chaos Energy filling me, but never felt it being drained from my body. It was like he was taking more than just the Chaos energy. I fall to my knees, which now felt like they were no more than masses of crumbling lead.

Silver was now on his hands and knees. He was trying desperately to store his energy the way Knuckles had taught him, but the Machine stole his reserves as well.

The robot between us was registering the power being fed to it. It's red irises turned a bright golden-orange. It clenched its fists, almost enjoying this new energy source.

'Oh Lord…' I thought weakly. 'Please help us…'

Tails, Sonic and Knuckles had carried Metal to Tails' new workshop, where they set him down on a bench and Tails got to work. Blaze had followed them, feeling like she did when she arrived at that other dimension.

"I could have stopped this!" She said as Knuckles came out of Tails' home. "Silver would have done the same for me, why couldn't I do anything!"

"Blaze calm down." Knuckles said. "Some things just happen. But one thing's for sure, it's all in God's planning."

"Silver told me about him." Blaze said shaking her head. "He's a myth. Why haven't we heard of him in our time? And why didn't he come to save our world if he promised to do so? If there is an Almighty God, he hasn't earned my respect of trust."

"Maybe that's because your time is going through Revelation." Sonic said. "It's Gods judgment on creation. He's burning away the old to make way for His kingdom. As for he needs to earn your trust, you're just looking at the bad things that had happened in your life. Because of those bad things, what good came out of them? You met Silver didn't you?"

Blaze looked down, remembering the day she met Silver. The memory made her smile. He was maybe twelve and he was still training to control his powers. He saw some tougher children of that time picking on Blaze and had gone in to rescue her, literally shoving them back with his powers. He looked so naïve and innocent at the time with that crooked smile he never grew out of. "Yes,"

"You defeated Iblis right?" Sonic asked.

Blaze would never forget that day. If it wasn't for her curse, they're time wouldn't have been saved. She nodded in response.

"Then God's already providing for you." Sonic said. "He sends challenges your way to make you stronger every time you overcome. But he will never send a challenge that you can't handle. And he's always there to help you when you call him."

Blaze looked at him. "Thanks Sonic, but I still don't think he's helped much in my life. But right now we need to focus on getting them back."

Knuckles was going to press the matter further, but Tails interrupted. "Guys! He's online!"

The three walked inside to see Metal's eyes were now on, but were winking weakly. From the static coming from his speakers and voice chip, it sounded he was trying to speak.

"Easy Metal." Tails said. " You're heavily damaged, I'm repairing you now."

But Metal wouldn't calm down. He motioned to Emily's backpack, which Sonic held in his hand. Sonic took it off and pulled out Emily's laptop, the one Tails had made for her. Metal nodded before pointing to where he would be plugged into a wall of a computer base.

"I get it." Tails said. "Alright Metal, but I'll have to turn you off okay?"

Metal nodded and lay back. Tails turned him off, causing his red irises to go black again. Tails took out his main memory chip, where Metal's 'mind' was stored and plugged it into Emily's laptop. Moments later, a data screen appeared with along with a volume scale. Metal opened the Photo Booth Application and used the camera to 'see' Sonic and the others. "Units Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Blaze. Are you all able to hear me?"

"We read you loud and clear Metal." Sonic said.

"Good." Metal replied, making the volume scale jump in sink with his voice. "During my battle with SHADOW Unit, I picked up this signal." Another window pulled up with a recorded signal. "I traced it back to Mobius using the frequency SHADOW Unit was using and found Ryan's new hide out is in the Great Mountains…. Is Operative Emily there?"

Sonic looked down. "I'm afraid not Metal. That robotic Shadow took her and Silver."

Metal was silent for a long time, making Tails wonder if Metal had developed a sense of worry or concern. But that was impossible. Robots didn't have feelings.

"Unit Tails," Metal said suddenly. "How soon can I be repaired?"

Tails looked over at Metal's body. "I'm afraid not anytime soon. You took on some heavy damage in that fight, I think it would be weeks until you're up and walking again."

"But Operative Emily is in need of my assistance!" Metal said.

"Relax Metal." Knuckles said. "With what you found for us, we can get her back no problem."

"Well…" Tails said, looking over at a cloth that was draped over something.

Sonic looked over at the kit. "What's up Tails?"

Tails walked over to the covered object and gave the sheet a tug, making fall and reveal another robot. It looked like Metal, but it had black painted metal with yellow stipes.

"It's only for temporary useage until I can get his original body working again." Tails explained. "But it should work."

"Then hurry and plug him in!" Knuckles said, raising his voice a little.

I breathed heavily as I leaned against the glass in a sitting position, my vision fading in and out of focus. It didn't hurt, but I felt like every drop of strength I had left was gone.

Ryan turned off the machine and I felt my body relax more.

SHADOW Unit came out of his tube and looked at himself. His dark form was now a light grey, thought the red markings remained. He looked at Ryan and nodded. "Process successful Dr. Weever." He reported.

"We need to see first." Ryan said. He snapped his fingers and summoned the robot carrying the weapons.

SHADOW quickly put the helmet on and gripped the hilt of the sword. Both felt light and easy to use in his grasp, unlike before when he captured Emily and Silver. The weapons felt like lead weights then. SHADOW focused on the blade, making it glow slightly.

Silver was watching weakly from his tube. "N-no…" He whispered.

Ryan ignored Silver and admired his Hyper SHADOW Unit. "With the power you posses SHADOW Unit," He was saying. "I can sever the conection between Earth and Mobius for all time, and make the Mobians fear the very thought of crossing to earth!"

I was fighting to get up again when suddenly I felt a chaos spike. Somone used chaos control. I look over at Silver noticing a glint in his eye. He felt it too.

Suddenly, an explosion lit up the cave. Ryan's eyes turned yellow as he spun around to see what had happened.

"You made a big mistake Weever." Knuckles said, dusting off his gloves as Sonic, Blaze, Shadow, Rouge and a new robot stood beside him. "Taking the Protectors of the Master Emerald was a very bad move."