Chapter Eleven: The Fortress of Ultimate Darkness
The G.U.N. commander sighed deeply. "Well, I'll contact Agent Shadow and Agent Rouge for assistance" he said.
The others all nodded. Sonic was the only one who remained optimistic.
"A timetable is nothing I haven't dealt with before!" he said with a somewhat arrogant grin.
Knuckles nodded grimly. "Still, if that echidna is there, it'll be tough" he admitted.
Amy rolled her eyes. "Knuckles? Being cautious?" she said. "The end of the world MUST be close."
Knuckles growled. "Watch it, pinky" he said, hands tightening to fists.
The G.U.N. locked on to Shadow's communicator.
"Shadow? Do you read me?" the G.U.N. commander asked.
They heard only a slight ruffling sound, followed by something that sounded like suction cups attaching and detaching repeatedly.
"What's going on in there?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, since when does-?" Knuckles began, but they then heard a loud moan...
A female moan.
The commander suddenly went pale. Then he cleared his throat.
"Shadow!! Report!" he said loudly.
They heard someone speak. It was spoken from a small distance, so they had to lean in to hear it.
"Shadow, don't answer it!" they heard someone say, breathing heavily. It was a woman speaking, but they couldn't quite make it out. "Keep going, this is wonderful!"
Then they heard a male voice, probably Shadow's.
"Hold on Rouge, it could be important" Shadow said.
Everyone in the room suddenly went pale, except maybe Knuckles and Tails.
"Are... they...?" Sonic said slowly.
The commander shook his head. "Don't speak a word of it" he said in a harsh whisper. "Shadow, answer NOW!!" he ordered.
They heard some scrambling, and Shadow finally answered.
"Yeah, who is it?" Shadow asked.
"The G.U.N. High Commander" he said sternly.
A moment of silence, then; "Sir! My apologies! I didn't know you'd left H.Q. What do you need, sir?"
"I need you and Agent Rouge down here now" the commander said. "We've located Mephiles' fortress, and we need you down here to organize a counter-attack."
More silence.
"Um... sir, I'm busy here right now" Shadow responded. "Can, uh... you give us- er, I mean ME a little more time? Like, a half hour and I'll be down here with, uh... Agent Rouge."
The commander couldn't help but smile a little. "Certainly, Shadow. 30 minutes, but no later."
"Thank you sir" Shadow responded, and the connection ceased.
The commander turned off the communicator, and looked at Sonic and the others.
They all burst out laughing about what they'd learned about Shadow.
Shadow threw his wrist communicator back on the floor and went right back to Rouge, who was caressing his white fur.
"We got thirty minutes" he said. "Think we can finish it by then?"
Rouge was too busy panting now to speak, so she only nodded.
Shadow smirked, and went back at it.
Shadow and Rouge entered the command center of the base. Shadow brushed back his quills and Rouge readjusted her hair. They approached the commander, and saluted.
"Sir! Reporting as requested" Shadow said.
The commander nodded. "You have a mission tonight" he said. "And a timetable to keep. Let me explain..."
The commander then explained what Tails had discovered, Mephiles' plan, and the fact that they'd need to work with Sonic and the others for a good chance of making it alright.
"... And Mephiles plans to use the Master Emerald and all Seven Emeralds with his own time-warping abilities to summon Iblis back to him" the commander concluded. "Mephiles only needs yours, Shadow, to complete his plan. According to our calculations, Mephiles' plan should work..."
"Unless we interfere" Shadow finished.
The commander nodded. "Tails is hacking into their security now. If you use your Chaos Emerald, you should be able to warp everyone there past the entrance and infiltrate your way in without arousing the security. Tails will stay in touch with you and Rouge;" the commander faced her; "You'll need to help Tails infiltrate the security at certain points and get him in."
"Why Tails?" Rouge asked, folding her arms. "I'm perfectly capable of infiltrating security."
"Yes, I know" the commander said; "But Tails will be linked up to the G.U.N. mainframe. Your odds will be better that way."
Rouge sighed.
"Okay. I'll leave this up to you from there" the commander said. "You have approximately 10 hours until Mephiles finds the right time to bring Iblis back."
Shadow and the other nodded, and headed out the door.
Sonic looked at Shadow's face and suppressed a smile.
"Shadow, you got something on your face" Sonic said, trying hard not to snicker.
Shadow wiped away a pink material the same color as Rouge's lipstick, and turned red.
"Oh, uh... damn, how'd that get there?" Shadow stuttered.
Dr. Eggman entered the security control room, where Red Pine stood in charge, flanked by Shadow Androids.
"Red Pine" Eggman greeted. "Mephiles has ordered me to send out the Egg Fleet, and your best flying-based Metarex are to accompany it."
"What is the purpose of this?" Red Pine asked.
Eggman smiled cruelly. "It's to wipe out G.U.N. Headquarters" he responded.
Red Pine stopped what he was doing and looked right at Eggman.
"Is Mephiles sure it'll be enough to wipe it out?" he asked.
"Oh, he's certain" Eggman responded. "While our assault forces make them send out a majority of their forces to engage it, the Black Arms shall send their flying fortresses equipped with their strongest cannons shall sneak attack from the rear. Only the best soldiers available who aren't guarding the fortress are to be sent with them to attack G.U.N. on the surface."
Red Pine nodded.
"Very well" he said. "If this works, G.U.N. will be ultimately doomed."
Shadow, Rouge, Sonic and the others were all now traveling on the ground as fast and as stealthily as they could to Mephiles' fortress.
They were now in a dark forest, and they could see a pile of rocks in the distance that marked the entrance.
Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald...
But hesitated.
"Something wrong, Shad?" Rouge asked.
"Come on, we've only got about eight hours left!" Knuckles growled.
"Maybe Mephiles WANTS us to attack" Shadow said. "He might be setting another trap... he still needs my Emerald..."
"Ah, don't be a chicken!" Sonic said. "Come on!"
"One mistake here, and Mephiles will have the power to destroy hell and all creation!" Shadow snarled. "And I doubt even in Super form we'd be able to stop him..."
Rouge put a hand on Shadow's shoulder.
"Shadow, it'll be okay" she assured him. "We're all in this together."
Shadow brightened a little bit, and he held up the Chaos Emerald.
"Ready, Tails?" he said through his communicator.
"Ready" Tails confirmed back at the G.U.N. base.
Shadow nodded, and took a deep breath.
"Chaos Control!" he shouted, and they all vanished.
A Metarex soldier and a Black Arms soldier patrolled a short hallway.
"Do you think Master Mephiles' plan to destroy the human's headquarters will work?" the Metarex asked.
The Black Arms alien shrugged. "Possibly" he responded. "If the one he sends to lead the attack has anywhere as good of leadership as Black Doom, they shall succeed."
"Red Pine is more than sufficient himself" the Metarex pointed out.
The alien was about to respond, when a big, white fist blasted him against the wall.
"What in the-?!" the Metarex had time to yell before being blown to pieces by a large hammer.
Knuckles and Amy observed their fallen foes.
"Nice hit there" Knuckles commented.
Amy grinned. "Yes, I know I excel at this" she said, not trying to be modest.
Shadow, Rouge, and Sonic emerged next.
"Let's move" Shadow said, and they hurried on.
Everyone was extra careful to avoid security cameras and wires. Shadow would usually teleport over them and deactivate them or Rouge could use her great agility to get over them also. They usually avoided the guards, or made quick, quiet work out of them.
Then, they were at the security control room's door.
"If we can take control from here," Tails said over the com when they told him; "It'll make getting to Mephiles 5 times easier."
"It WOULD be a relief to see less active cameras" Shadow admitted.
Tails deactivated the cameras in the security room without the guards even knowing it.
"Now, let me open the door... it'll take awhile..." Tails said.
Knuckles chuckled, and knocked the door down with a mighty punch.
"That works too..." Tails said, a little disappointed at the crude entrance as opposed to his more finesse one.
Shadow and the others all entered the room.
Dozens of Shadow Androids, a few hundred Eggman mechs and Metarex were there, along with four Black Arms giants.
"I am SO going to enjoy this" Shadow said with a smirk.
Then, their enemies charged.
Red Pine was personally overseeing the preparations of the Egg Fleet, when he received an urgent message from the control room.
It read; "Under attack. Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog. Their allies too. Need help."
Red Pine growled, and alerted Mephiles.
"What is it, Commander Red Pine?" Mephiles demanded.
"Master, the security control room is under attack by-" Red Pine started, but Mephiles cut him off.
"Then take care of it!" Mephiles snarled. I need to finish preparations for Iblis' return."
Red Pine shrugged, and with two Metarex flanking him, he ran to the control room.