Note: I lied. It's going to be twelve. Either that, or this chapter's going to be around 20,000+ words long. So sorry for that, yet I am inching ever closer to the prologue's conclusion, so there's that. And there's you fine people that've been with me for this long, so thank you ever so dearly for that. Finally, job training is over (reason why writing's been so slow these last few months), so I have more time now. Yet of course, now I may have gotten myself bronchitis!
That said, I wrote all of this in one go, but I'm splitting it up due to length. There's a lot more than I wanted to add in, yet ultimately, it was growing too long. Plus, I feel that the details mentioned here will better serve being developed and touched upon later. With that said, here's hoping you all enjoy!
Prologue: Catalyst of Convergence Part 11
Sonic and co. © of Sega/Sonic Team
Floating.
He was floating.
Floating in the endless abyss, far away from the Earth…
At least he believed this to be true until he felt the sensation of cool air traveling down his throat.
Had he…passed out?
True, his senses were basically muddled and dulled to where his general awareness was comparable to that of the haze he got upon waking, yet with time, the speedster found that, despite the rough start, he was waking up, and even better, among the living.
Sonic's green eyes adjusted themselves, focusing on a strange, blurry object with five points on it, said object eventually showing itself to be his own hand, fingers curling and uncurling, testing whether or not the digits still functioned properly. He caught a shot of his leg out in front of him, it back to its natural, blue color. He had attempted to stand, yet a sharp pain in his chest forced him to plant himself back on the floor, his hand coming up to try and massage away the pain. It did little good, Sonic unfortunately realizing that perhaps his theory Black Doom had broken something was now a reality. Still, he was here aboard the Ark. Alive.
Yet…where aboard the Ark?
From the way he was siting up against some sort of wall and what was in front of him, he assumed that wherever they were, they probably weren't anywhere near the Eclipse Cannon's chamber.
They…oh gosh! Was he…oh. Good. He was here. And breathing, even better.
Shadow was seemingly stationed in one of the corners of this small space, huddled up near the northeast. He seemed to be facing away from him, it somewhat difficult to see, yet given how small he appeared, Sonic assumed that Shadow had his knees tucked up and against his chest, resembling a fetal position. It was something that, had it been a few hours prior, the blue hedgehog would've found the sight humorous.
The space that he and the still unconscious Shadow occupied was dark, yet given how the door was shaped, Sonic felt that this wasn't exactly a standard room on the ship. In fact, he began to doubt that this was even a room at all. And once his eyes fell upon a panel displaying a vast number of buttons on the right, it steadily became more and more clear that they had been transported to where they needed to make themselves known if they wished to be found.
"I don't see it anywhere!"
Wait. Voices. And footsteps. They were approaching fast.
"Then where are they?"
"I don't know!" he knew that voice from anywhere. "Chaos Control sometimes isn't exactly predicable. Though they would've definitely come back aboard!"
He looked to the other hedgehog, who was still out like a light. And the pain in his chest would probably make rising somewhat difficult in getting a quick notice. He needed to get attention somehow, yet in what way? It was then that Sonic remembered his stretched out leg, as well as how it was the closest thing to the door.
Outside
"The only problem is where." Espio added to the fox's answer. "I think it's been made clear of just how large this ship is, and we've yet to properly all of it."
"Well, I've seen more than enough to know I'm NEVER coming back here again." Vector huffed. 'Though given what's been done, there probably isn't real reason to come back at all…let alone anything to take back.'
"Are we going to get paid?"
The crocodile whirled around to the bee fluttering behind him, exasperated at what he had just heard. "What the heck kind of question is that?! I was THIS close," he brought his pointer and thumb close together. "To falling in a pit with a bottom that'd probably take me the rest of my life to reach, and here you're wondering whether or not we're going to get paid?!"
The croc began to turn back around, not even taking notice of the insect's widened eyes. "I…I didn't mean it like that." Charmy weakly choked out. "You were just saying….before we started…how the money coming in would be able to get us a bigger, better headquarters…"
Tails couldn't exactly see it, making sure to keep himself out of any personal business between the three, yet given how Espio turned to face his fellow detectives, he suspected that it was serious enough to need his attendance.
"Getting paid. What a joke."
"Vector."
"If anything, those guys had better give us compensation for nearly breaking our necks back there- "
"Vector!"
"What?!"
Espio didn't answered, seeing as gesturing to the little bee did more than enough, Vector's irritated features immediately softening, as well as presenting the sense of guilt creeping into his conscience. Charmy had stopped beating his wings, allowing his feet to touch the ground, his head hanging downward to conceal his eyes. It was then that Vector understood the reason for Charmy's question. While it was in no way unusual for the insect to spout something in an attempt to either humor himself or get under his guardians' skin, in moments of high tension, however, he was known to do this to present some sort of distraction.
One of the most common go to options of these distractions was to discuss their incoming paychecks, which served as both a distraction and a boost in motivation.
Vector was near tempted to slap himself upon realizing this, yet Espio's gaze directed his attention to the child he had just upset. At first, he found it odd that the chameleon didn't step in to try and reason with the bee, yet from what he had been told, the two of them and Tails had their own ordeal to go through. 'He was worried about you.' He remembered being told. 'The one thing he kept asking me over and over again was whether or not you were even alive.'
The sniffle that came next broke him. "Hey." Vector began, kneeling down to Charmy's level, or at least as close and he could get. "Look, I'm sorry, ok?" Espio was still observing him, silently judging his actions and whether or not he was doing this properly. Yeah, he felt bad, but what did the guy want? He wasn't really good at this sort of stuff! "It's just…well…" the crocodile rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "This day hasn't exactly been one of our best- "
"I was so scared!" Charmy then wailed, letting his voice raise to whatever volume he so wished now. Both Vector and Espio were taken aback by the bee's sudden expression of intense emotion, the former of the two nearly losing his balance as said bee flew right into him, hugging the larger reptile's stomach with the little bit of strength he had left. "I was so scared! I was so scared that those things were going to eat us! That they had already eaten you!" Charmy had said more, though what exactly, no one knew. Words seemed to meld together in a series of disjointed cry-talk that continued to pour out from the six-year-old's mouth until it was nothing more than hiccupping sobs.
Thankfully for Vector, it seemed that Espio had decided to intervene and grant the croc a little mercy, kneeling by the crying Charmy and lightly patting him on the shoulder.
"Hey, it's ok, kid." The larger reptile told the bee. "Look, we're all ok now. See? We're fine."
"I thought you were going to die…" Charmy managed to choke out. "Maybe…that you had already died."
"Well…I was sort of worried about you guys too."
The bee stopped for a moment, looking up at Vector with tear filled eyes. "You did?"
"Yeah, I mean, a little- "a jab to his side alerted the croc that wasn't the answer Charmy needed, let alone the one Espio wanted to hear. 'Oh yeah, liked YOU'D ever admit to that either.' "Okay, yeah. I was worried." Those golden eyes still kept him in their sights. "Super worried. I admit it."
Alright, that was better. Though the small hug the green reptile gave to the smaller insect wasn't what Espio had anticipated. He wasn't even sure if he'd actually go that far.
"I was scared too." Vector confessed, any sort of outer projection of composure and stalwartness completely cast off for the time being. "I mean…heh…if I got taken out, who'd you have left to tangle with those guys?"
"…Espio- "
"He doesn't count." Charmy chuckled at that, the sound of the child finding humor at Vector's comment pleased the chameleon, even if said comment was at his expense. And…wait. Were Vector's eyes actually developing tears?
"Vector?" Charmy asked, the croc then realizing what was happening, he immediately brushing the small bits of moisture away. "Are you- "
"No way." The head of the Chaotix interrupted, standing back up and releasing the smaller insect. "Sinus' has been acting up lately, so it's just like literal crocodile tears. I'm fine."
Tails had taken to staying out of it, yet given how close the they all were, he was also relieved at what he was seeing. Heck, even if a little argument regarding whether or not Vector's tears were the result of sinus' or not was reassuring. Still though, they were technically out on a search. And while they had just gotten started, he couldn't deny that he was still more than a little anxious to go and find 'them'. 'If they had managed to make it on board.' He found coming to him, as much as the thought terrified him. Surely though. Surely, they had made it. True, the last time, only one of them came back (the one he, shamefully, wished to have come back, if he had to choose), yet surely this time would be at least sort of different! It wasn't as if the ship was moving towards the planet or anything! In fact, it seemed that they had actually moved away. Not that this made much of a difference given the odds, yet still, it was different.
Maybe that would strengthen the odds that one, or perhaps both of them would come back-
THUMP
"Hm?"
THUMP
"Hey." The fox spoke, though it appeared he would need to increase his volume. "Hey! Guys, come here, please!" this time, his words registered with the three detectives, momentarily abandoning their reconciliation and coming over towards the duel-tailed kit. "Listen. You hear that?"
THUMP
Thankfully, from the looks on all of their faces, they had indeed. "What's that?" Charmy immediately questioned, a wave of fear coming over his features. "You don't think that maybe- "
"No, no, it's not one of them." Tails assured. "At least I don't think it is."
Vector and Espio surveyed the area, the chameleon closing his eyes and centering in on where the continuous series of thumps originated from. The crocodile was tempted to inquire where the shinobi believed the sounds to be coming from, yet, bizarrely enough (at least according to the chameleon and pestering bee), he knew well that there were certain times to not interrupt his unique brand of concentration.
Espio stood completely still and silent, ears tuned and listening in, waiting for even the faintest indication of where the noises came from. Then finally, at long last, it came to him. "There." He simply stated, gesturing down the hall. "Either from inside one of the rooms on this left side, or…"
"Or what?" Vector asked, Espio turning to him and the rest of the group.
"Or perhaps from inside one of the elevators."
C'mon…c'mon! Surely somebody was around to hear him!
Sonic had momentarily ceased kicking the door to allow his leg a moment of rest, his body feeling rather sore and worn down. Then again, if the lingering pain in his chest was any indication, he could perhaps add 'broken' to the list too. Looking to the corner, he was sighed at Shadow's relatively unmoving form, he haven't not responded to any of his attempts to try and rouse him.
'Then again, the guy's sort of known for being a heavy sleeper…' he chuckled a little at his small jest, though it was short lived as his chest began acting up again. Yep. Something was definitely broken in there. 'Lovely.'
"It came from around here."
Wait, voices?
"Can you be more specific?"
Ah, yes! He knew those voices!
"It'd help if maybe it'd make another noise."
And from the sound of it, they were right outside!
THUMP
"There it is!" Charmy exclaimed, all of them turning around to see the closed doors of an elevator, the thumping seemingly originating from whatever, or whomever was trapped inside.
"Vector," Espio began. "Can you still- "
"I think so." The crocodile confirmed. "Though…a little help for this one would be appreciated."
He jumped a little at the sudden BOOM that came from outside, he coming to see that the entrance to this space was steadily being pulled apart, a large figure with an elongated muzzle serving as the forerunner in opening it with three smaller figures working on the sides. The sudden influx of natural light from outside forced him to adjust his eyes, yet when he did so, he realized where he and his slumbering partner had been transported to, as well as how, without the four outside, they'd probably be in here for a good deal longer.
"Sonic!" Tails shouted, ready to fling himself right at the hedgehog had the space been wide enough.
"Hey keed." The speedster greeted, the relative softness of his voice puzzling the fox, but also planting a small seed of worry in him.
"Well, it's good to see the two of you are still in one piece." Vector noted, the four of them widening the door to where exiting the small area was possible.
"Good thing you heard me." Sonic confessed. "Otherwise you'd probably be searching for minutes."
Charmy quirked a brow. "Uh, don't you mean hours?"
"Nope." Sonic shook his head. "Tails would know well enough to find me eventually." The aforementioned fox beamed as he went inside, surveying the inside of the elevator, noticing the curled-up form of Shadow in the corner. "He was like that when we got here. At least I think so." The blue hedgehog paused for a moment, a sudden pain coming to his head. "It wasn't exactly a smooth trip back." 'Way too much like last time.' "And I don't know for sure, but I'm around ninety-nine percent sure that Big Boss Black Doom broke a couple of things in here." Sonic pointed to his chest, Tails in turn easing his way up as he tried to stand. He then looked to his younger, longtime friend. "You look like you've got something you want to say."
Darn it. Even with how much knowledge he had on him, his 'older brother' could still read him like a book after all this time. "There's…something I think you should see." Sonic was puzzled, even more so when Tails took a moment to glance back at the Chaotix. "They're wanting the soldiers and Commander of GUN to see it too."
There wasn't as much fear as the hedgehog expected, yet nonetheless, the subject, whatever it was, didn't exactly seem to be one Tails cared to revisit. All the more that perhaps he should indeed heed the fox's suggestion. "Like what?"
With this confirmation of his accompaniment, Tails took it upon himself to carefully lead his hero up off the floor and out of the elevator. "Can you walk?" Sonic nodded. True, the soreness in his chest had yet to dissipate, yet it seemed that shallow breaths and simple, slow-paced movements lessened the pain. Something of which he begrudgingly accepted. "It's this way." Tails stated, beginning to slowly lead Sonic down the hallway he and the Chaotix had just traveled down.
"Oh, wait." Sonic suddenly remembered, turning to the three detectives, the second smallest of the two nodding to him, seemingly already aware of what he was going to ask of them.
"We'll watch him for you." Espio said. "Go with your friend. Maybe you can make some sense of what he wishes to show you."
The ninja's words were at least somewhat assuring to him, yet now that Tails took this as a for sure sign he could lead him to this scene of supposed strangeness, Sonic braced himself for whatever had managed to both somewhat frighten, yet also befuddled his longtime friend.
After they had turned a corner, Espio gazed down at the still unconscious Shadow still inside the elevator, he, unlike Sonic, having not moved an inch since the two were discovered. This in itself was something of an oddity to the trio as a whole: while it was clear, if not outright obvious, that combating whatever creature previously outside that was holding the Ark in its grip would surely result in an injury or two, comparing the two hedgehogs brought out a slew of questions. Sonic, despite some evident difficulty in standing and dealing with quick movements, was for the most part, attentive and aware. Shadow, on the other hand, was still here, curled up in a ball and generally unresponsive.
"Charmy, cut it out!" even with their youngest member's attempts to try and rouse him.
"Can't we try to move him at least?" the little bee asked. "Seeing him like this is weirding me out."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Espio told him. "We don't know what kind of state he's in. And if Sonic's condition is any indication, then we might end up irritating any internal- "
"Wait, you hear that?"
The violet chameleon ceased speaking for a moment, ears listening to whatever Charmy had seemingly heard.
"Mmm…" had that come from- "Mmmm…mm…" it did! It had come from Shadow!
"I think he's waking up." Charmy whispered, beginning to back away from the darkly colored lifeform.
The movements were small and barely noticeable at first, yet with time, the hedgehog's tightly packed form began to stir and shudder, all the while moaning in an attempt to perhaps signal some part of him was injured. Or maybe it was just sleep talk, none of the three were too sure.
In one last try to get some sort of reaction out of him, Charmy had, against the wishes of his fellow detectives, put his hand on Shadow's shoulder, he in turn flinching at his touch. Though this in itself proved to not exactly be the wisest decision, as, while the bee couldn't see this, let alone the rest of the Chaotix, the moment the gloved hand made contact, the Ultimate Lifeform's eyes had shot wide open.
Further Down the Hall, Control Panel
The sight of a clawed, black hand peeking out from the doorway had given Sonic pause, as well as igniting him to stop Tails from continuing forward, trying to put himself in front of him.
"It's fine." The young fox told him, the Fastest Thing Alive only growing more and more confused. "It…let's just say it'll make more sense once you see it. Sort of."
Sort of? He wasn't exactly sure if he liked the sound of that, let alone the fact they were going towards something that had terrorized all of them since they arrived on the Ark. Yet as the two of them got closer and closer, it was clear that the hand, let alone the arm that it was attached to, hadn't moved a single inch. Even when they had gotten in mere feet of it. If the creature said arm belonged to was either awake or alive, surely it would've registered by now that someone was coming. Yet still, nothing.
'What in the world…' Sonic thought, though upon reaching the doorway, he was presented with an answer, one that robbed him of any and all words that could've come to him in that very moment.
Whatever this room had once been, let alone what it was for, had been mostly obscured from view. Mainly by the plethora of familiar, black creatures inside. The one that had its arm outside of the door had its lower half crushed underneath the upper body of another, and that one had its lower half hidden by yet another motionless form atop of it. The small cluster of forms were stacked atop of each other and lying in positions that ranged from ordinary and expected to those that looked undeniably painful. Surely, they couldn't stand being that way for long…unless…
"Are they…"
Tails nodded, not giving Sonic the chance to finish. "At least, I think so." He didn't try to go inside, mainly due to the fact that there was no room, unless he wished to traverse over the small hill of bodies. Though, he did pull Sonic a bit closer, just so that he could see the ceiling inside the small space. "They broke the door down, so Espio, Charmy, and I had to hide up there." He gestured to the empty space in the far corner of the room, that particular opening a far cleaner job than the two other holes not far from it. "They tried to get us out." The young fox continued. "And they nearly did- "he stopped for a moment, Sonic's grip tightening around his hand. "But that's when the one that grabbed me seemed to just let go. I mean, I still fell out, but…" he paused. There had to be a better way to describe what he witnessed than simply saying 'they all fell down', yet frankly, that was exactly what had happened. Well, perhaps there was a bit more to it than that. "The one that grabbed me looked like something had come over it. Like…one moment, it had me where it wanted, and the next, it didn't even acknowledge me at all. None of them did. They all just started up at the ceiling, standing at attention like a bunch of soldiers."
Soldiers…yes. Soldiers that, despite their far smaller and far less capable prey literally at their feet, devoted their entire focus and attention to whatever, or whoever, their leader was telling them. It had completely baffled Tails when it occurred, yet along the way here, Sonic had the chance to inform him of whom this 'Big Boss' of these beings were, which had allowed him to put a better picture in his head of what exactly was going on, not to mention ignite a flurry of curiosities. Curiosities that, from the look of things, were never going to be answered. Fortunately, Tails found such a thing to not be overly upsetting. If knowing how these things functioned meant trading away his 'big brother's' return, then he could do without the former.
Still, it had made itself a central wonder at the moment, even more so now that he knew of this 'Black Doom' figure. While he had agreed with his former statement on the creatures behaving like soldiers awaiting orders from some far off presence he couldn't sense in any way, something known and felt, and 'cherished' by them. It had begun with just one, the one that had managed to snag the fox by the tail. It, along with its companions, gazed upward, as if into the very heavens above.
Then, Tails saw it. Odd, that he'd come to realize such details only after it happened, yet in that moment in time, one by one, he saw their forms slacken and their eyes lose any and all traces or sparks of life. True, the eyes of the creatures were never really detailed to begin with, little more than blank, yellowing orbs affixed in their skulls, yet he couldn't deny there was a presence of something within, primitive and bare minimum as it was, little more than uncontrolled instincts ready to be acted upon at any moment (or when Doom gave them the go-ahead to do so). In just seconds, even that faded away from them, their limbs giving out not long after that. And that was how the scene before the two came to be.
He wouldn't lie in saying that despite his gratefulness in being alive, neither he, nor Charmy or Espio were exactly comfortable in suddenly being in a room full of presumed corpses, the latter navigating the two children out of the room as quick as he could. The three of them then began a trek to the lower levels of the ship in search of Vector, though with the power to the entire ship down, the first thing they needed to do is find a stairwell. Something of which was surprisingly difficult to find. Thankfully for them, it seemed that, somehow, the crocodile had managed to find more than a few on his own, otherwise any sort of reunion between the three Chaotix members would've taken longer than it already did.
And now, it had begun to look up for him as well, seeing as Sonic was right beside him now. Everything was going fine, after these past few days of mayhem and madness. Everything was going back to being ok.
So why did he feel that something wasn't exactly right? Or better yet…finished?
"NO!"
"Whoa, what the?!"
Sonic and Tails whirled their heads around, the source of the sudden cry emitting from where they had just come from.
"He's out of control!"
"Hold him down!"
What in the world?! Before Tails could even vocally voice his own surprise, the blue hedgehog wasted no time in traveling down the hallway, albeit at a far slower pace than usual, and with his hand pressed up against his chest. The young fox followed suit, actually surprised that he didn't have as much trouble in keeping up with Sonic. A good thing too, considering that the two were possibly about to step into something to be resolved, yet nonetheless dangerous. Maybe in more ways than one.
Elevator
Vector lunged forward the second he saw Shadow's foot nearly take Charmy's head off, practically throwing himself atop of him when the bee flew out of the way. Still, even with the larger reptile's weight, the hedgehog still found a way to make the task of keeping him down difficult.
"I have to go!" Shadow shouted, Vector wincing due to how close the other was to his ears. "Don't you understand, I have to go!"
"Go where?!" the crocodile questioned, all the while trying to hold the hedgehog down. Espio, however, stood back and observed.
"It's going to crash!" Shadow bellowed, still struggling. He felt so weak, why was he so weak?! "It's going to crash into the Earth!"
"What are you talking about?! What's going to- "
"Wait." Vector felt a hand on his shoulder, the chameleon looking down at the smaller individual in his (breaking) hold. "Let me handle this."
"What's going on?!"
Vector momentarily abandoned his focus to see Sonic and Tails rushing towards them (the former bizarrely slower than normal), this in turn allowing Shadow to work his way out of the reptile's grip and make a break for it out of the elevator, nearly running right into Espio. Though unknownst to him or anyone else, this was the crucial step needed for the ninja to implement his strategy. He had but a moment, so no mistakes could be afforded. Shadow was quick on his feet, yet it was clear he was more than a little disoriented, a factor that allowed the chameleon to actually manage in seizing the hedgehog's wrist and whirling him around in the opposite direction. In this brief instance of confusion, Espio then brought Shadow to the wall, away from the windows lining the right side of the wall.
"What are you doing?!" Sonic protested, beginning to make his way over to pull the ninja off of Shadow, yet Tails held him back.
"I think he knows what he's doing." The fox assured, Sonic far from liking it, yet his friend's judgement was usually sound, thus, he resigned to letting what was occurring play out. For now.
"Shadow, let me ask you," Espio began, though what came out of his mouth next took everyone by surprise. "Are the lights on?"
What? What in the world sort of question was that?! Almost everyone wished to protest or at least ask what Espio was even thinking, yet before any such thing could be said, he asked yet again.
"Answer me. Are the lights on?"
Shadow growled in response, just about to throw this foolish reptile off of him. Couldn't he see that they were all in danger?! That…that the lights were not on. The lights…they weren't on. His struggles began to lessen, widened eyes beginning to analyze the environment around him.
'They…were on…last time. The power was on last time…and…and I was…' though Espio had yet to release him, Shadow looked behind him, his and the rest of the group's reflection cast in the glassy surface. 'Window. It was by the window.' He then looked around, taking in each and every face present with him, noticing a distinct lack of pink. 'She…she's not…'
He…he wasn't there. He was here. Here, in the present. And the Earth…the Earth was where it had always been. In fact, dare he say, it appeared as if the Ark itself had moved away from the planet.
It was then that he remembered how he had come to be here. Away from falling to Mars. Away from the burning.
And yet, he felt as if the entire world had grown cold around him.
When it was clear that Shadow had calmed down to a degree (whether or not he was 'fine' was up for debate), Espio pulled Sonic to the side.
"How'd you do that?" Sonic asked, the chameleon leaning in close, he wishing for this particular conversation to be somewhat private.
"Dr. Eggman fired the Eclipse Cannon when he came here, yes?" the hedgehog's face stiffened somewhat at hearing this, yet still, he nodded, steadily letting his more recognized features overtake the small number of cracks that seeped through. "Well, in that case, I'd imagine that power was still available to most of the ship then." Thinking about it, that made sense. It was something to bring Shadow back to reality. "As much as I'd like to continue this, I think it's best that you three make yourselves scarce. I don't know exactly where he is, yet I'd imagine that if anyone from GUN or the Commander himself catches sight of…" he paused, looking back in the opposite direction.
Sonic at first was confused, yet soon, he too came to hear it. Footsteps. Footsteps of something or someone approaching and approaching fast. Was it…but Tails showed him, it couldn't have been. The room was full of them! Yet still…could some of them still have-
"Ah, there you are!"
No, it wasn't any of the creatures. Though from Espio's warning, Sonic wasn't exactly sure whether or not 'their' appearance was much better.
A small clutch of GUN soldiers, five in total, had spotted them, and in turn, began making their way towards them, stopping only when they were not but a few feet away. From the looks of it, the small rag-tag group was rather diverse, each man seemingly presenting a different race and/or nationality, the only linking factor being the organization's uniform.
"Well, now…" one of them began, approaching the collection of smaller animals. He was relatively tall, roughly around six feet, and though the lack of general lighting made telling for sure somewhat difficult, his skin appeared to be a darker color, perhaps a shade of brown. All of their eyes were concealed though, visors with specialized goggles over them, each eye piece glowing a red light. "You know, for the 'Fastest Thing Alive', it actually wasn't that hard to find." He explained. "Granted, we still had to do some looking, but I didn't think you'd all be on the same floor." His voice was deep, though it, bizarrely enough, bore a sense of friendliness in his tone, though whether or not this was genuine had yet to be seen.
"Officer, please." Tails began. "Both of them are hurt, Sonic definitely." He gestured to the two with him, Sonic somewhat miffed he had to mention that detail, while Shadow seemed to be completely entranced by the soldier in front of them. "We have no problem co-operating with you, but right now, I need to treat- "
"It's okay, kid." The dark-skinned soldier assured, one of his comrades, an ethnic man possibly hailing from Chun-nan speaking soon after.
"Truth be told, we're actually really glad we found you all in one piece. I mean, heh, at first, we were sort of afraid that none of us were going to get out of this one." He eyed the band of animals, surveying and looking for any heavy or potentially fatal damage. So far, so good, yet he wasn't a medical expert, so it wasn't exactly his call.
"Basically, here's how it's going to go." Another soldier said, this particular man bearing far lighter skin. "The Commander ordered us to find and take you back for treatment. I know you guys are tough, but a cut and bruise happen to the best of us, you know?"
"And?" Sonic asked.
"…and perhaps ask you three a couple of questions. Once you're all patched up." The soldier admitted. "After all, in case you haven't noticed, those creatures and you sort of torn the place up pretty bad. And given the Ark is technically property of the United Federation, we're going to need to get a pretty good cleanup crew up here and patch things up. Plus, I guess you could say, we're all sort of anxious to hear how in the world you kicked that ugly thing outside the ship to the curb."
"Ahem!"
The soldier turned to the fluttering Charmy, whom was looking a little insulted. "AND how you fought off all those ugly mothers around here." He paused for a moment. "Speaking of, have you seen any of those creatures recently?"
"There's a room full of them not too far from here." Tails answered. "All of them dead."
This detail seemed to garner a good amount of interest from the small band of recruits, each of them looking to the young fox. "You too?" one questioned, dark skinned, yet not as dark as the other in his group. Plus, he bore something of an accent to his voice, a twinge of Shamar's dialect coming through in his words. "Any of them do this weird, shaking thing before they dropped?"
"To an extent." Espio nodded. "Though it was more evident in some than in others. It appeared as if each of them were suddenly stricken with some bizarre, collective condition of sorts, they all then ceasing to move and…" he bit his lip, not really even understanding what he was saying, despite having been witness to it himself. "I assume, presumably die."
An exchange regarding the details of what each party saw began, the Chaotix and Tails having more to offer the soldiers than either Sonic or Shadow, though at the moment, the latter wasn't even accounted for aside from him being there. Though if one were to peer into his mind, they could see he definitely had something to add.
'Lies.'
Throughout the entire exchange, Shadow hadn't uttered one word. Not a single sound came from him. In fact, he had made it a point to keep himself out of any sort of potential interactions with the uniformed man. Still though, he had been more than listening well enough.
'Liar.'
Enough to know that everything these men had just said was a complete and utter fabrication.
She held onto him tight, whether for his protection or her own, he knew not. Nevertheless, at that moment, they were both in the same predicament. The blonde child tried her hardest not to tremble, to keep her breathing low and soft, despite the fact she was near hyperventilating. Shadow didn't dare push her away, despite how hard her hold had become.
"So this 'Black Doom' had taken the ship? Literally?"
"Yep." Sonic confirmed. "You might've felt it. He kind of did a disappearing act a couple of times, so you guys might've been shaken around a bit."
"A bit?" the Shamar man said. "I'm surprised none of us have a concussion!" he patted his helmet. "I keep underestimating the thickness of these things here."
"Come on out."
Neither Shadow nor Maria could entirely see through the small crack the closet provided, though the shuffling and approaching footsteps outside of the small sanctuary made it evident enough that any attempt in emerging would be a last resort.
"We know you're in here." Another one of the humans in the same darkened uniform stated, the red flash of his goggles passing over the two individuals just mere feet away. "We just need to ask you a few questions."
He then saw it. In the end, Maria had known better than to take the bait, yet still, for a brief moment, a wave of relief washed over her features. Logic and reason set in before she could do anything foolish, yet still, the prospect of there being no danger lingered. It was impossible. She and Shadow having seen and had to make their way over some of the scientists these humans had gotten to already, yet the hedgehog could still see it.
Though, even if it wasn't safe, surely, they wouldn't do anything to her. Surely not. She was just a child. A sick child. A sick, defenseless child…
"There's no need to be scared."
Any sense of potential safety for her, however, was completely shattered by what both of them heard next. Despite the limited range of sight, the human seemed to be reaching for something. Something that gave off a distinct 'click', as if some sort of component on it was being pulled back. Or better yet, cocked.
"Look," the Shamar man looked to the darker skinned soldier, whom had interrupted the conversation. "As interested as I am regarding what happened and to whom, that's what we came here to gather them up for, right?"
"We're not going to hurt you."
They were coming closer.
"You have any friends up here?"
Just mere inches away from the opening.
"Maybe you can help us out."
His red eyes saw the dark skinned soldier reach for some object on his belt.
'Maybe you can help us find 'him'…'
He had to act. He had to act NOW. Otherwise she…
The GUN recruit couldn't have prepared himself, even if he had known what was to come.
Just as he was retrieving one of his essentials from its place, he had become aware that a curled up, compact object of sorts had slammed itself directly into his gut, his feet and every other portion of himself losing contact with the ground until his back slammed into the wall behind him. Shadow landed a foot or two away, eyeing the downed, but clearly conscious soldier.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Sonic hollered, the other hedgehog not responding to his inquiry, nor to the collective sounds of weapons being drawn and cocked.
He knew it. He KNEW it was a trap!
As he was about to turn towards the other soldiers, he was suddenly made aware of how the one he had just brought down also began fiddling for something. He knew it. He KNEW it!
Lunging forward, the hedgehog seized the human by the wrist, feeling the barrel of the drawn pistol brushing against the tip of his nose as he and the human wrestled each other to gain possession of the weapon. He had managed to duck out of the way, yet the bullet had managed to scrape against the side of Shadow's tanned cheek, the skin tearing and releasing a fresh stream of bright green fluid to leak from the wound. The closeness of the barrel had made the resulting gunfire incredibly painful on the Ultimate Lifeform's ears, that nearly allowing the GUN soldier to wrangle back control over his gun. He had to act, he had to get it away from him!
"GET OFF HIM!" a voice from behind demanded, reaching forward in an effort to pull Shadow off of the soldier, but he found that such an effort wasn't needed.
Another had gone and done it for him.
Now or never. He had to do. He had to do something, otherwise they…no. Not they. SHE would be-
The closet's doors were forced open, the sight of red visors and the barrels of weapons being aimed right at their heads meeting them. Though neither of the two humans got a chance.
Shadow launched himself forward, bringing one of the two men down and delivering a solid kick to his head. The other had begun to fire at him, yet the smaller hedgehog managed to duck under the gunman's fire and slide into his shin, dislodging him and causing him to topple over. He had tried to get up, along with his comrade, yet the Ultimate Lifeform was having none of it. Any attempts at trying to retrieve their weapons were met with their fingers being crushed underneath his heel, and when they had tried to combat him physically, he simply delivered the same back.
How dare they…how DARE they try and deceive him in such a way. Deceive her into thinking that they wouldn't be harmed!
'Disgusting humans and their filthy weapons- '
"SHADOW! STOP!"
He felt someone seize him by the shoulders, forcibly turning him around to face them.
Though it was not her face that he saw.
In place of two, moist, azure orbs, iris' of Peridot bore into his ruby ones, the blue hedgehog that had taken the initiative to make such a move continuing to speak to him.
"Get ahold of yourself!" Sonic bellowed, Shadow still baffled by the fact that it was not a young, human girl that was in front of him. And yet, the speedster's words echoed her own. Almost.
'You're going to kill them if you keep this up! You don't want that, do you?!'
"He's not wanting to hurt us! Don't you see that?! These guys came here because they wanted to see if we were okay!"
'If they see this, they'll shoot you for sure! You're not like that Shadow!'
"You've got his gun already! What else can he do to you?!"
'You've got his gun…you've got his gun…you've got his…' this phrase repeated on loop in Shadow's mind, his eyes falling to the weapon clutched in his hand.
Then it hit him.
'He…he wasn't reaching for the gun.' Shadow's eyes turned to the dark-skinned man still on the ground, looking to one particular object still on his belt. One located near the pistol, just one space away. 'The communicator. He was going for the…'
"Whoa, whoa!" Sonic suddenly cried out, the other hedgehog noticing that the other GUN recruits were beginning to move in on them. "It's fine! It's fine now! See?" as if to demonstrate, Sonic pulled Shadow away from the soldier had attacked, said soldier steadily working his way up, clutching his stomach as he did so.
Shadow turned his gaze down to the floor the moment the man's eyes met his. Or rather, when he became aware that he had just made a spectacle of himself in front of everyone. And over something so simple and foolish. Yet he thought the soldier was going to do it. He truly, honestly believed that he was going to open fire on all of them.
Espio looked upon the scene with a disapproving, yet also troubled look, he glancing to the giant crocodile beside him.
"It looks like Commander Tower is going to get his hands on him after all…"
Earth
They were…here?
Back on Earth again?
How much time had passed since their departure from the Ark?
All these questions ran through Shadow's mind as he steadily became aware of the horizon above him, having gained a light blue color instead of black, and clouds having taken the place of unmoving, stagnant stars.
The span of time between his assault on the GUN soldier and his boarding of one of their ships was mostly lost to him, he finding that, despite his actions beforehand, the effects of the battle he and Sonic had with Black Doom still lingered on, even now. Surprising what the combination of fear and adrenaline could allow one to do, even in such a weakened state, though the trade off was the extremely powerful sense of drainage that followed afterward. Perhaps that was why Shadow couldn't even find it in himself to keep his eyes open when the trip back to the planet began, let alone put up any resistance to being taken aboard a vessel owned by these particular humans of all people.
From what he knew, Sonic and Tails had taken to boarding the same ship as he, the Chaotix having rode along in another. That said, he had taken to making sure he wasn't disturbed, heading for the very back and situating himself in what he assumed to be a storage closet, a window serving as the only way to see when they would arrive back on Earth.
An event that he had missed.
From what he could see, aside from the environment outside, little else had changed. True, his placement in the furthest part of the shuttle had left him with little to observe (save for the various items around him, guns unfortunately being amongst them), Shadow could only assume that everyone else was still aboard and in their original places.
Though that would soon be changing, perhaps, as he came to realize that they had been traveling longer than he initially thought. He had just realized that the ship was flying over a vast body of water, assumedly the ocean, yet where they were heading left him with little idea as to where they were heading. From what he could see, there was essentially nothing in this vast, empty area but the fathomless depths below, and even further out, a ring of mountains that the ship was heading right towards.
Wait a moment…
To Shadow's surprise, the ship appeared to be heading straight for the mountains but a few hundred miles or so away, particularly the largest in the small cluster.
Yet surely, they weren't going to allow themselves to fly straight into it. Unless…
KNOCK KNOCK!
Shadow's focus was torn from the incoming mountain and to the door, said door being opened by a uniformed man that had up and invited himself into the small storage space. The hedgehog said nothing, though his expression more than indicated he was awaiting an answer as to why the soldier had come.
"Good, you're awake." He simply stated. "Saves me the trouble from having to get you up." He had said something else under his breath, Shadow's ears lowering, as it wasn't quite as quiet as the soldier intended it to be.
"Whatever I do, or you think I'm about to do should be of no concern to you." The hedgehog responded. "Besides, I'm far from having any 'freak-outs' or whatever else you believe."
"Fine by me." The soldier answered, the hostility being directed toward him being mutual. "And while it may not mean anything to you, I'd start being a little more thankful if I were you. Or do you seriously not have any idea how much trouble you're actually in?"
"I thought you came back here for a progress report, not to deliver a lecture."
"No, that's a pleasure the Commander has just for you." The human snarled, just about ready to grab this disrespectful little animal by the scruff of his neck and drag him kicking and screaming to the front of the ship. "And he's also ordered that you be brought in, unharmed. So long as you don't provide anyone a reason to fire. Cause if you try anything, well, let's just say the Chaos Emeralds aren't around to give you a little boost."
There was no point in asking if that was a threat. As quickly as he had arrived, the soldier left Shadow alone again, shutting the door behind him. Huffing at the human's attempt at intimidating him, the Ultimate Lifeform simply went back to watching the scenery outside, the mountain inching ever and ever closer. Specifically, the lower portion, the ship just barely touching the waves below.
'Those goggles...I hate what they do to me...'
Finally, they had drawn close enough to where impact was inevitable. Or at least, it would've, had some of the mountain itself not begun to move.
As if sensing the presence of the very ship itself, a portion of the rocky surface of the natural formation had sunk into itself, as if a rectangular cut had been made in the surface. Then said cut begun to move to the left, slowly, yet given its size, fast enough to create the appropriate amount of room for the ship to make its way inside the now open space. The aircraft went inside, the wheels located at the bottom emerging and touching the floor of what appeared to be something of an airstrip, the power of the thrusters lowering considerably, yet with just enough to ease the large vehicle around, it being landed in the most eastern corner of the vast, empty room. Though it was unlikely it'd remain that way for long.
Shadow was brought back to the present by the door of his temporary sanctuary being opened, the same soldier from before not even bothering to knock. "Come on, you." He ordered. "The Commander's yet to arrive, so until then, you and your…'buddies' are going to be going down and wait until you're called up."
Sometime Later
Apparently, the 'buddies' comment meant nothing, as the ebony hedgehog found himself completely on his lonesome once again. It wasn't as if he was bothered by such a thing. If anything, he was more than welcoming of more time to be alone, though in this instance, he couldn't deny that, bizarrely enough, he preferred the confines of the GUN ship than this little room. The room had the same look as what little else he had seen of the organization's hidden base: stainless steel that had the same shiny look to it with little to no view to the outside world. At least not where he was currently. And while he was sure that (assumedly) there had to be some color aside from grey in this place, it wouldn't have surprised him if it was far and in between. There was a single table and two chairs, a single, overhead light hanging up above him, serving as the only source of light. Otherwise, the entire area would've been engulfed in total darkness.
Though the current décor (or lack thereof) wasn't what puzzled him.
Initially, he, Sonic, and Tails had been removed and taken in together. From the elevator located in the dock to presumably one of the lower floors in this massive structure hidden behind layers of rock, all three of them were in close proximity to each other. Yet once they had reached the desired floor, they were immediately separated. One soldier took Sonic and Tails in a pair whilst Shadow was 'escorted' by two soldiers to the room he was currently stationed in.
"Wait here." They had told him. "And don't even think of trying to escape. Not unless you're a really good swimmer."
He simply glowered at them as they left. Though ultimately, they were correct. And while he wasn't entirely sure of how skilled of a swimmer he was, at the moment, he wasn't all too eager to experiment with it. Black Doom's blows had still lingered and caused his body to ache, even with however much time had passed since then. Sure, he would heal, yet that didn't exactly mean he was immune to pain.
So here he sat in this small, confined space. Nothing but four walls, an overhead light, an analog clock on the western wall, and a table with two chairs. Nowhere to go, no means to make a quick getaway, nothing. And really, no reason to even try getting out of here. At least not yet.
Later Still
Three hours…
He had been held up in here for three whole hours.
Three whole hours in this tiny, compact room. Three hours with nothing. No view to the outside world, nothing but that blasted clock ticking away, wearing down more and more on his already tested patience.
This was growing to be unbearable. True, Shadow realized that given the events prior, he perhaps should've been more grateful that boredom was all that he had to currently deal with, yet this sense of isolation, forced isolation, had, bizarrely enough, began to trigger some sort of uneasiness within him.
'Sealed up.' He didn't understand why such a thought came to him, let alone why it was worded that particular way, yet being here, in 'their' territory, it seemed that it had caused something of a chain reaction. 'Sealed up.' He repeated, more and more related terms flooding his mind. 'Caught. Brought. Tested. Needles. Drugged. Sick. Nauseous. Tired…'
CLICK!
The hedgehog's ears flinched, the knob of the door being turned, his widen, red eyes observing whom was entering, the human's duel colored eyes staring back into his own.
"Well now, it seems they're right. You HAVE been sitting quietly." Commander Tower stated, voice lacking the former hostility from before, yet it still retained a prevalent coldness. Two other GUN soldiers entered with him, one of them closing and locking the door behind them. They then took their places by the door, standing parallel to each other whilst their silver haired leader took a seat in the chair nearest said door. "Go on," he gestured to the other chair opposite of him. "Have a seat."
Shadow didn't budge.
"Please." The Commander sighed. "There's much we need to discuss, and there's still much to do. The sooner you can answer a few questions for us, the sooner you can leave."
After a few moments, the hedgehog stood up and made his way to the table, planting himself in the chair, both he and the older human now just mere feet away from each other, the light overhead shining down. Shadow found that, despite his eagerness in getting out of here, he was somewhat slow in finding a good way to begin this inevitable conversation. Of course, it then came to him that essentially, there probably was no 'good' way, so he parted his lips to say the first thing that came to him.
"First thing's first." Only to find that it wasn't necessary. The Commander had beat him to it. "Is it true?"
"What?" Shadow asked, puzzled. "Is what true?"
"Is he…" the older human paused for a moment, lowering his head from the smaller hedgehog's view, his once still body briefly overtaken by a light trembling before returning to its former state. "Is he gone? Is Black Doom truly gone?"
'What in the world is wrong with him?' Shadow wondered, though upon not receiving an answer, the man repeated his question.
"Is he gone?"
"…yes." The hedgehog confirmed. "I fell-" now it was the Commander's turn to observe him, Shadow momentarily averting his eyes and gazing down at the floor. "I fell…with him." His upper set of teeth bit down on his lower lip, lightly grinding the tan flesh in between both sets. "Towards Mars. Look, if my word doesn't- "
"It does." The silver haired man interrupted. "You're not the only one who arrived here. In fact, the reason it took us so long to get to you was because we wanted to get the entire account of what occurred. From all parties involved." He placed his gloved hand on the smooth surface of the table. "Sonic the Hedgehog, that young fox friend of his, the detectives we hired to gather data from the Ark, our own men, the list goes on from there. That doesn't even take into account the hundreds of civilians that have had a run in with those things- "
"Black Arms."
The Commander raised one, thick brow. "Excuse me?"
"Those creatures, they call themselves the Black Arms."
"Did 'he' tell you?" Shadow's eyes shifted away from the man's gaze. "Well? Did 'he'? Did Black Doom himself tell you this?"
"…yes."
Commander Tower's eyes narrowed upon hearing this, the two soldiers stationed near the door sharing a glance with each other. If Shadow had centered his gaze upon the human at this moment, he would've observed him performing some of the same behaviors as himself, particularly in grinding his lower lip between his teeth. "I see…" he finally said, folding his hands together. And whilst Shadow couldn't entirely be certain, he could've sworn he heard something else. Though all he could catch was "So, they have a name…" whatever the rest was, the Ultimate Lifeform wouldn't be aware of it, as given what he had just heard, the older human wished to get this conversation going. "Well, good news for you is that I don't believe you're lying."
"And you assume I have a reason to?"
"Never said you did or didn't. I'm simply saying that your story lines up with what Sonic told us. Black Doom fell to Mars with you in his hold, and with the last amount of Chaos Energy he held, Sonic made use of Chaos Control to warp the two of you back to the Ark. Albeit in an elevator, but still, back aboard. Does that sound about right to you?"
Despite whatever sense of indifference he was trying to present, Shadow could still detect the hostility buried in his seemingly matter-of-fact tone. "Completely." The hedgehog responded, matching the Commander's own tone.
"What about the part where you assaulted one of our own when a small group of our men found you?"
Despite every part of him commanding he do so, Shadow managed to not recoil upon hearing that. Still, in retrospect, he should've known better than to assume this entire thing wouldn't be filled with questions such as that. Heck, if anything, this entire session would be nothing more than forcibly reviewing and detailing experiences that he himself didn't quite understand, let alone normally share with one such as this human.
"I didn't- "
"Didn't mean to?" Tower interrupted, clearly not buying the hedgehog's excuse for his prior behavior.
"You're far from one to talk! If I recall, you fired a good few rounds yourself!"
"I can accept that defense, but please, do try to explain this one. What reason would there be for what occurred between yourself and our men after Black Doom's…demise?"
"I didn't know he was reaching for his communicator." Shadow finished. "I…" why was this so difficult? All he was doing was recounting what had happened, yet with such a simple thing, a slew of unpleasantness came with it. "I truly believed that he was reaching for his weapon. That he and the rest of those soldiers- "
"Were going to open fire?" Shadow didn't respond, though his silence said more than enough. Yet, bizarrely enough, the Commander's tone had seemingly began to shift. Dare he say, he could detect a sense of understanding in his voice? Empathy even? The head of GUN went silent for a moment or two, looking down towards the floor for a brief half minute before turning his attention back to Shadow. "You wouldn't be the first to think that. And I suppose now, you would've been right to do such."
The hedgehog was completely baffled. Was he still talking to the same man that had tried to outright murder him beforehand?
"Please, leave us."
The two soldiers and Shadow himself were blown away by what the Commander had just said. "S-Sir! I don't think- "
"There's no danger here. Not currently." Tower stated. "Please, leave us for now."
Neither of them wished to, yet the command was clear, and an order from the highest of all of them could not be disobeyed. So, albeit with much reluctance, the two uniformed recruits made their way out, closing and locking the door behind them, leaving Shadow and Commander tower as the only two individuals inside. Confined and trapped with each other, with only the other for any source of conversation or company.
Note: Next part up after this! Not really much to say here as this update's going to be a double features! Thank you all for reading!
