Chapter 10

Brawl at the Boneyard

The sky was colorless and devoid of all life. Apart from the faint sobbing, all was quiet as family members and friends alike sat before the casket that held Maria Robotnik. In one of the mother's arms, a young infant was sleeping, completely unaware of the event. He was the deceased one's cousin, and one day, he would become the infamous Doctor Eggman.

By unanimous request, Shadow was allowed to attend the funeral, provided some soldiers kept an eye on him. Since he knew her so well, he was asked to give her eulogy. He stood before the podium, tapped on the microphone, and sighed. "Where to begin…?" he muttered to himself. Given the short time, he wasn't prepared.

"Maria was," he began, "the kindest and bravest girl I've ever met. She dreamed to come down here from the ARK and meet all of you. But she gave up her dream so that I may live… That's a debt I'll never be able to repay..." Shadow started to sob as he continued. "I miss her very much…"

After a few hours, he and a few others remained. A G.U.N. soldier placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry… but it's time to go." Shadow silently nodded. Before they could get a chance to restrain him, Shadow took a rose from the surrounding bouquet and placed it in Maria's cold, lifeless hands.

As they headed back to the G.U.N. transport, they were stopped by someone. The black hedgehog looked up to see a man and a woman. "Are you Shadow?" the woman asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Do I know you?"

"No, not officially," the man said. "But you just gave the eulogy for… our daughter."

Shadow's eyes widened. Fear almost consumed him right there, right then. He looked away, afraid of what they would say. He could almost hear it in his head.

'You irresponsible fool! How can you be trusted?'

'We lost our only daughter because of you!'

Shadow's heart sank. Maria's mother lifted his chin and pulled his sight back to them. 'Here it comes…' he gulped. But much to his surprise, they were both smiling.

Maria's mother was the first to speak. "Thank you for taking such good care of our little girl. We're so grateful."

The oddest combination of relief and confusion came over him. "Grateful? But… she died because of me."

"No… she died because she loved you," the woman's husband replied. "You were her only friend, and she saw the good in you when no one else could. We couldn't be more proud of her."

The mother grabbed him in a hug, tears emerging from her eyes. "What happened up there was an accident. It wasn't your fault."

Mere moments later, the soldiers forced them apart, insisting they departed for his specially built prison. He wanted to earn their trust, so to him, he had no choice. As they climbed into the vehicle, Shadow looked back at the coffin. He had just the right view to see Maria, lying within. He started silently shedding tears as he knew this would be the last time he would see her in the flesh.

Angel stopped to rest under a shady tree. She turned around to see if any robots were following her. Thankfully, she was alone. Exhausted, the hedgehog girl looked around in order to find some shelter, since she had no energy left to run back to the house.

In the distance, two dark shapes appeared. They stopped in front of a square object and laid something down there. As Angel studied them, it seemed they were praying or talking to this object.

Unsure if she can trust them, the blonde hedgehog left the tree and slowly neared the two. But before she could reach them, they left. She kneeled down in the grass and looked down at the square object. She then realized it was really a tombstone, and behind it was a church.

As she was about to stand up and go to the building, something immediately caught her attention. A part of the stone that wasn't covered by old vine was written 'Robotnik.' She pulled away the rest of the plants. Her eyes widened when the rest of the carvings were revealed.

Maria Robotnik
Cherished Granddaughter and Friend
Faith, hope, and promise keep you alive

For a moment, she just sat there and stared at the stone. "Where have I heard that name before?" She looked down to see a single red rose on the grass. "Did I know this Maria?" she mumbled to herself.

All of a sudden, she heard a loud crack. She turned around to see a certain robot a few yards away, who broke a fallen branch under his foot. "Target re-acquired," it said as it approached her.

"You... stay away from me!" Angel stuttered and shuffled toward the church.

"This unit only obeys Dr. Robotnik," Metal Shadow said, coldly. "You will come with this unit to Dr. Robotnik. You will comply immediately."

Terrified, Angel quickly ran to the church, her heart beating furiously, adrenaline rushing to all the corners of her body. When she got to the door, she discovered it was long abandoned, unused since who knows when.

Metal Shadow lunged at the girl, but she was gone in a bright flash when he tried to grab her. "Searching…" He looked around.

He then looked up and relocated his target. She had warped to the tower of the church. "Sonic! Chris! Anybody! Help me!" Angel yelled as she clung for dear life.

"Data entry: Subject's current position allows for limited defense capability, zero retreat capability." The robot then took aim.

Just as Angel reached the top of the tower, something struck her back. She screamed with the full strength of her lungs as a form of electricity surged through her. The girl fell several feet to the ground. Dizzy and weakened, Angel tried to stand up on her unstable shaking feet.

Metal Shadow was now merely inches away. In a last attempt of defense, she tried to hit him with a faint punch. But she missed. She barely had any control over her body.

The evil robot simply glared at the girl's failed attempt to defend herself. Then he grabbed her by the neck and picked her up, like she was a lifeless doll. "This is your final warning," he said in a very angry and threatening tone. "You will return with this unit to Dr. Robotnik. You will comply immediately."

"I can't tell you how frustrating this is, Shadow," Jack said as they were leaving the graveyard. "That name is just nagging at the back of my head."

As they passed the gate, they ran into Rouge and Omega, who were headed for a nearby restaurant. They invited the two to come along. Just as they were going to reply, a loud scream caught their attention at once. In a heartbeat, Shadow ran for the source, and the other three followed.

The group of four appeared on a nearby hill. The members of Team Dark mistook the robot as Metal Sonic. Jack noticed the unconscious hostage in its grip.

The coal hedgehog jumped off the hill, landing feet away from his metallic counterpart. "I'm only gonna say this once: drop her!"

Metal Shadow heard the voice and turned his head. "Designation: Shadow the Hedgehog, organic copy. On file as traitor to Eggman Empire."

"Copy?" asked Shadow. "I think you're the copy around here. You're comparing yourself to me? Ha! You're not even good enough to be my copy."

"Big words, but only words," it said and dropped the unconscious Angel, who landed face down. "Postpone current objective. Priority one: destroy resistance."

"You won't even get the chance!" The hedgehog drove into the robot with a Spin Dash. But the robot was quick to dodge. "Monster! I'll tear you apart!" Shadow shouted as it kept attacking. "No living creature on Earth is as powerful as I am!"

Metal Shadow zoomed around him. "This unit is not 'living.'" Before Shadow could respond, he was kicked in the jaw, and flew through the air, landing on his feet.

The bat then attacked with a Spin Kick. "My partner. No touchy." Metal Shadow threw his fist at her, but Rouge was quick to dodge. "That's no way to treat a lady. Weren't you programmed with any manners?"

He growled. "This unit's enemies deserve no mercy." Using his arm cannon, he blasted her wing, making her vulnerable. He turned to Jack. "Threat assessment: unknown, considered immediate." Metal Shadow grabbed him around the neck, just like with the hedgehog girl.

"Can't we talk about this over a quart of oil?" he asked as he struggled to break free.

Shadow was about to launch a Chaos Spear at the metallic beast, but he froze when it held its hostage in the Shadow blasted the black hedgehog with his cannon. Weakened, he tried to get up, but then his head was under its foot. "You are good. This unit is better. This unit is superior."

"Wait! Please hear me out!" Jack began, stopping Metal Shadow. "I-it doesn't have to be this way. Take it from a fellow robot: there's more to life than just your primary function. You've got the same inner spark, right? You can be more than a tool, or in your case a weapon."

Metal Shadow stood silently, processing what he said. "I think it's working," Rouge said.

"L-Look, you can process and feel as well as I can. You're a thinking machine, like me. Don't be lead astray as my buddy Shadow was." He then smiled and held out his only arm to the dark robot. "Let's end this in a peaceful manner. Come with us. We can help you."

"Perhaps… you are right. This unit might-!" The kill-switch Eggman installed kicked in. He turned on and glared at them menacingly. "Death to Dr. Robotnik's enemies."

"There's no good in you, is there?" Jack sighed, now depressed. "This Robotnik fellow robbed you of it. You'll… You'll probably kill us all if we don't destroy you, right?"

"Affirmative."

"Well, then… good thing I made a plan B," he grinned. "Now, Omega!"

Metal Shadow turned around. Behind him was the rogue robot arsenal, aiming all of its weapons at him. The robot dropped Jack (who quickly shuffled away with Shadow and Rouge), and he tried to attack, but it was no use. Before he could move a finger, the robot double was bombarded with rockets and bullets until Metal Shadow was down for the count.

"I enjoy Plan B."

The black Hedgehog grinned at Omega, who then picked up the remains of Metal Shadow. He then turned around to the unconscious girl, whose face was blocked by the tall grass. From this distance, she looked a lot like a human girl, like... Maria.

Not getting his hopes too high, Shadow tried to remain cold and approach her. Yet still hoping, he bent down next to her and turned her over to reveal her face. While he stared at her, the same emotion returned from his encounter with the little hedgehog girl he encountered the week before. He didn't realize that it was the same girl. But he did notice that she was a golden hedgehog girl in blue. Perhaps this was the girl the Kendov told him about the other night?

What also caught his attention was she was holding a Chaos Emerald in her hand. For a moment, he looked puzzled at it before he made up his mind. He sighed and picked her up.

Soon he heard more footsteps. They turned to see a partly roboticized boy coming toward them. It was Chris. "Guys! You saved her!"

"You know this girl?" Rouge and Omega ask at the same time.

"I'll explain later. Right now, we need to find a place for her to recover… somewhere Eggman can't find us."

"I think I know just the place," he said and pulled out his Emerald. "Chaos Control!"

Later that same day at dusk, Eggman stopped to rest under a shady tree. He had been searching all over for 'Daisy' and Metal Shadow, but he had no luck.

He turned annoyed at Cubot. "Are you sure they went this way?" He asked out of anger.

"Actually, pardner," Cubot answered, "I reckon it was y'all who said they went over yonder."

"Well, I 'reckon' it was one of us, 'pardner,'" the doctor replied. "Where is your new voice chip?!"

That's when Orbot showed up with a small piece of machinery. "Got it right here, sir. Just need to install it." He then opened the back of the square one's head, pulled out his old chip, and inserted the new one. "That should do it."

"Finally," Eggman sighed. "No more of that redonkulous cowboy chatter." But what the bot said next proved to be more annoying.

"YAR!"

The old man jumped, landing on his back.

"I'm feeling shipshape with me new voice chip, I am! I beggin' yer pardon, Squire, but me and me matey are gonna sail off and shanghai the princess from that lubber, Sonic. Argh!" With that said, he took off… in the wrong direction.

"I think that's the wrong chip," Orbot pointed out.

"Really?" the elder man asked sarcastically. "Are you sure he doesn't normally speak like a pirate?"

"On the bright side, he's much more exotic now."

"Just go find him and fix that chip!" Eggman shouted, and Orbot hurried after his edged companion. The elder man sighed as he looked around.

Then he noticed and approached the church. Trying to avoid the broken shards of window, he carefully clambered through. When he was on the other side, he was surprised. All he could find was a large hole at the altar.

The old man noticed something else. There was something on a crossbeam dangling over the abyss. "A Chaos Emerald…" He carefully approached it to retrieve the stone of power, but then there was trouble. The wood was weak, and Eggman was too heavy. With a creak and a crack, the beam snapped beneath him. The evil genius fell into the abyss.