Chapter 11

The Next Day...

Espio was already on his way to the mission site. Tails and company were all gathered around a monitor, viewing the area where the action would soon take place. Tails had sent a carefully hidden spybot ahead so they could keep an eye on Espio. Bokkun was strangely absent.

"Where did that Bokkun bot go to?" asked a suspicious Charmy.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him in a while," said Cream.

"I don't like it," said Charmy.
"I still don't trust that little rascal completely."

"He's really a nice little fellow when you get to know him," said Cream.

"Put your doubts aside for now," said Tails.
"All that matters is the mission."

Meanwhile, at Never Lake:

Shadow had erected a sort of memorial sanctuary in and around Never Lake. In contrast with the stark wilderness which once characterized the area, there was now a fully cultivated garden, a beautiful marble tower, and a fountain-statue of Maria in the middle of the lake. There was also a set of Chaos Emeralds stored in a heavily guarded display case of layered, bulletproof glass inside the tower, as well as an altar-like pedestal in front. At this moment, "Shadow" flew onto the scene with the seventh and final emerald to complete the set.

As Shadow approached the emerald case to deposit the newly found gemstone, two other "Shadows" who had been standing guard stepped aside to let him through. Just as he was about to enter the secret code to open the case, Shadow paused for a moment.

"Come on out, Rouge." he announced.

Sure enough, Rouge swooped down from her hiding place and joined Shadow next to the emerald case.

"You've become accustomed to my ways," said Rouge, with a smirk.
"This is quite an impressive collection you've gathered here."

"These are the treasures of the empire," said Shadow.

"There's an empire I'd like to be a part of," Rouge joked.

Shadow looked sternly serious.

"What is this social reform of yours all about anyway?" she inquired.

"I intend to build a world of justice, where good people like Maria may thrive," Shadow explained.

"I see you've employed the aid of some rather interesting helpers as of late," Rouge remarked.
"You decided to revive the clone army."

"The work of managing a global empire is a heavy burden to bear," said Shadow.
"I need men I can trust to assist in realizing the dreams of the empire."

"Men you can trust? I guess if you can't trust yourself, then who can you trust?" Rouge quipped.

Shadow remained stonefaced.

"You seem even more tense than usual," she noted.

"The horrors of my past have shaped my actions of today," said Shadow.
"I came to realize the necessity for change, and I have brought this change about through the strength of my own will. I cannot rest until it is fully realized, and so I continually watch over the world."

"It must get lonely at the top..." said Rouge.
"Need any company up there?"

"Sorry, but I walk this path alone," said Shadow.

They shared a gaze at one another for a moment.

"Besides, haven't you heard? I'm into human girls," said Shadow.

"Ah, was that a hint of humor?" Rouge teased.

"Hmph!" Shadow grunted with a restrained smirk.

"Do you at least need an imperial treasurer?" asked Rouge.
"I'll take good care of your lovely emerald stash here," she said with a playful wink.

"It's no laughing matter Rouge," said Shadow.
"This place is as sacrosanct as the very heart and purpose of the empire itself, inasmuch as these treasures are vital to the outworking of my primary objectives. This area must remain guarded from intruders and disturbances of any kind, and should not be tread upon by outsiders."

"So, am I in trouble?" asked Rouge.

"I believe you may appreciate the goal I am working towards," said Shadow.

"Just what have you got going on here?" asked Rouge, as she surveyed the sanctuary grounds.

"I built this place as a tribute to Maria," Shadow explained.
"I put all of my fond memories of her into the very foundation, along with the hopes I had toward restoring her to me. It is now my hope once again to cross over time and space in an effort to reach her. It is to this end that I have gathered the Chaos Emeralds, so that I might infuse them with the power of the Master Emerald, thus fashioning them into Super Emeralds."

"Is that what this has all been about?" Rouge asked, rhetorically.
"So you lost the Time Stones on your first attempt, and then you scoured the globe with your new robot scouts looking for the Chaos Emeralds to give you your second chance."

"I have already arranged for the Master Emerald to be at my disposal to complete the process," said Shadow.
"With the superior energies of the Super Emeralds I will have enough strength to not only travel to a given time and place, but to also command the flow of time with precision and impose change according to my will."

"Will this really work?" asked Rouge.

"I have taken every possible measure to ensure success," said Shadow.
"Last time I foolishly relied too heavily upon myself. This time will be different. There will be no interference from troublesome meddlers. There will be no resource left untapped. Nothing will be left to chance."

"What's next for you then?" asked Rouge.

"I need only wait for the Little Planet's return so that I may reclaim the Time Stones," said Shadow.
"I just hope that Sonic didn't destroy them when he disrupted the time travel process before...
If all goes well, Maria will be here with me, in this world I've made for her."

"You're dealing with some pretty heavy duty, paradoxical stuff here," said Rouge, with a raised eyebrow.
"You wanted to build a paradise worthy of Maria, and then pull her from a different timeline to bring her to it?"

"All things are possible with right on your side and love in your heart," said Shadow.
"Soon I will have all the power I require to make these dreams into reality. I believe I have at last acquired the final key."

"Well I wish you luck," said Rouge, as she turned to fly away.
"I guess I'd better be on my way. Nothing to see here, for a mere jewel thief."

Suddenly she paused in midair and looked back at Shadow.

"Incidentally, I heard that you captured all of the law enforcement officers," said Rouge.

"Don't worry, I have stayed her execution," said Shadow.

"Thank you, I appreciate that. Any chance for a full pardon and release?" she asked.

"Such a thing may not be possible for this new world," said Shadow.
"I am in pursuit of perfection, and that goal must not be jeopardized in any measure."

"If you say so. But I have one word of caution before I go," she began.
"Even as your pain from the past drives you to act, don't let it consume you. If you forsake compassion in the pursuit of your goals, it could overshadow the sentiments with which you first pursued them."

Shadow suddenly had a flashback of his own warning to Robotnik under strikingly similar circumstances...

He and Rouge parted ways with somewhat of a mutual understanding, and Shadow returned to his base after depositing the final Chaos Emerald in its place.

Later...

Upon his return to Robotropolis, Shadow began to ponder the validity of his current methods of bold power plays and zero tolerance governing. But it wasn't long before new disruptions jolted him out of his meditative state.

Espio lay hidden atop a tree near Shadow's local outpost tower, in camouflage. As the boorish, juvenile militia stormed the front gates of the concentration camp not too far away, it wasn't long before Shadow deployed a team of clones to annihilate them. When the group of "Shadows" raced along the path to the camp in a birdlike formation (as Tails alluded to), Espio sprung the trap, catching one of them in the net from the rear of the formation.

"Gotcha!" Espio thought to himself.

Energy pulsed through the net, rendering the mechanical clone completely inactive. The others raced on to address the emergency at the camp, leaving their inured ally behind. Espio dropped from the tree to collect the clone and drag it back to Tails' base. But before Espio could carry the darn thing away from the scene, he heard voices and was forced back into hiding.

"Did you hear noises?" asked a kooky sounding, robotic voice.

"Sounded like it came from over here," said a similar voice.

Decoe and Bocoe entered the scene along with a hastily assembled, hodgepodge group of regular badniks.

"Shoot! There's too many of them," thought Espio.

"Looks like one of the "precious, perfect" Shadow droids got a little tangled up and went kaput," said Decoe, with sarcasm.

"I guess we'd better take care of it," said Bocoe.

"Why do we have to clean up behind these things anyway?" said Decoe.

"The boss'll get mad if we don't," said Bocoe.

"The boss is already pretty mad," said Decoe.
"Been that way for some time now, if you hadn't noticed."

"Exactly my point," said Bocoe.
"Besides, we can score a few points with him if we catch whoever's behind this."

"Good point," said Decoe.
"Let's bring this broken Shadow unit back to the boss and have these other guys turn the place upside down till we find the one who did this."

"Don't waste your time, dumbots!" said a third robot voice.

"Huh? Bokkun!" said Decoe and Bocoe.

"We already caught the enemy, and Shadow sent me to pick up the malfunctioning unit personally," said Bokkun.

"What?! Trying to steal the spotlight from us?!" said Bocoe.

"I didn't even know you were still around," said Decoe.

"I'm in Shadow's inner, inner circle," said Bokkun.
"He sent me so neither of you bumbling morons will mess with one of his clone copies."

"Why you little-!" Decoe angrily sputtered.
"Is that what he thinks of us!"

"We'll get even with you, twerp!" said Bocoe, as they both stormed off in a huff, along with their troop of badniks.

"He's taking the clone back to Shadow himself, so he can get back in his good graces again!" said Charmy, as he watched from Tails' monitor.

"No, it can't be!" said Cream.

"Don't be silly," said Tails, nonchalantly.

"Okay, all clear," said Bokkun.
"Let's get this thing back to Tails."

"Right," said Espio.
"That was pretty slick kid. Glad you decided to show up."

"See?" said Tails.

"Er... I guess I spoke too soon," said Charmy, feeling embarrassed.

Espio and Bokkun quickly arrived back at Tails' base, with the Shadow bot.

"Excellent work you two," Tails commended them.

"I was wrong about you Bokkun," said Charmy.
"You're all right."

"Put 'er there pal," said Bokkun, extending his hand.

Charmy grasped his hand for a firm shake, but received quite a jolt of electricity upon doing so.

"Yow!" Charmy yelped.

"Ha haa!" laughed Bokkun, as he ran away.

"Come back here you!" said Charmy, as he chased Bokkun around the base.

Everyone else couldn't help but share in Bokkun's laughter.

"Now all I need to do is take this guy apart," said Tails, eyeing the Shadow robot.

Tails carefully dismantled the mecha Shadow. Soon there were body parts strewn about the floor of his workshop. Tails was most interested in the contents of the head. He ripped the "brains" out and tossed the empty head aside.

"Time to turn this guy on and see what he can do," said Tails.

"Is it dangerous?" asked Cream.
"He's not going to hurt us, is he?"

"Nonsense!" said Tails.
"Shadow is not some sort of god; so invincible that even a metal doll designed in his image could destroy us all so easily."

"I guess you're right," said Cream.
"Bokkun and Mr. Espio have proven that."

"Besides, the thing is lying in a busted-up heap of scrap parts all over my floor!" said Tails.
"There's nothing it can do. I'm just gonna analyze its software programs."

Tails plugged a cord into the Shadow brains and plugged the other end into his computer. He began the analysis.

"As I suspected, the clones are only semi-autonomous," said Tails.
"They operate on a set of preprogramed commands instructing them to mimic Shadow's actions in the field, so he doesn't have to control them directly."

"So these Shadow clones aren't the real deal," said Charmy.
"They're just a bunch of swatbots designed to look like him. They can't even act on their own without playing follow the leader to him."

"That's only partially true," said Tails.
"In any group of Shadows you're liable to come across, none of them is usually the real Shadow. He has the ability to directly control any one of the clones remotely from his base. So the lead Shadow of any given troop is likely being controlled by him."

"So he has the ability to move from body to body if need be..." said Espio.
"He can truly be everywhere at once. Or at least, anywhere at any given time."

"Right. They all link back into the master controls located somewhere in Robotropolis," said Tails.
"Each one is patched into his room of surveillance monitors."

"What?! Does that mean he can see in here through the one plugged into your computer?" asked Charmy.

"Please, this is me we're talking about," said Tails.
"Obviously I foresaw that issue and have taken the necessary precautions."

"So you outsmarted Shadow then?" asked Charmy.
"Are you saying your technology can actually block his? I hope you know what you're doing."

"Um, not that I'm trying to brag, but I did build a friggin' SPACE-SHIP in my basement during spare time," said Tails.
"You think anything Shadow built can infiltrate my firewalls?"

"Understood," said Espio.
"Don't mind Charmy, this young generation has no faith and speaks out of ignorance."

"Hey!" Charmy and Cream protested at once.

Tails nodded in agreement with Espio, even though he wasn't much older than Charmy himself.

"Have you found a way to use the information you've gathered to our advantage?" asked Espio.

"I can hack into Shadow's main computer and shut his operation down from the inside," said Tails.
"I'll send out a scrambling frequency to shut his duplicate cronies down for good."

"What about Shadow himself, and the remaining vestiges of Robotnik's contemptible city?" asked Espio.

"That's what I'll need you guys for," said Tails.
"While I'm shutting the clones down, Charmy will take out the aerial untis mounted on rooftops and such. Then you will sneak in and, er... find the controls for Shdows construction units and... you may need to engage him, so..."

"I will be going into this with a view to kill," said Espio, straightforwardly.

"Right," said Tails.
"It probably violates some old school hero ethics. But oddly, I'm OK with that."

"What can I do?" asked Cream.

"It's gonna be a bad scene out there kid," said Espio.
"This mission is no place for children. It may be best to leave it to us professionals."

"But Charmy is a kid!" Cream protested.

"Charmy has been well trained for these sorts of risks," said Espio.
"He's no ordinary kid. He's seen it all."

"I've lived through terror every day, right along with Tails and the others," said Cream.
"I've survived it all, and I want that villain to pay for what he did! I need to be a part of this..."

"She's right," said Tails.
"Cream has lost more than any of us, and she deserves a chance to take her destiny into her own hands for a change."

"Think she can handle it?" asked Espio.

"She saved my life," said Tails.

"Then it's decided," said Charmy.
"Cream will be an honorary member of the team for this job. The Chaotix' very own femme fatale," he added with a wink.

"Very well, you'll help Charmy disable the aerial units and radar detectors," said Tails.
"Remember Cream, the main thing you want to look out for is –"

"SHADOW!" Cream, Charmy, and Espio all said at once.

"Well yes, of course him," said Tails.
"But I was thinking more of –"

"No, not on the mission! Right behind you!" said Espio.

"Huh?"
Tails spun around in his chair and saw the shadow of, well... Shadow looming in from the next room.

"What the-?!" Tails sputtered.

"Whooooo! I am the great and mighty Shadow, come to conquer all of you meddlesome peons!" came a voice from the next room.

Suddenly the black figure rushed into the room and jumped onto Tails' table.

"I am Shadow! Fear me!"

"Doesn't this Shadow clone look a bit odd?" asked Charmy.

"Yeah, I'll say." said Espio.

Charmy zipped up and snatched the head off the Shadow clone, revealing Bokkun underneath.

"Wha? Bokkun! Get down from there boy!" demanded Tails.

"Gotcha for a sec there," said Bokkun, laughing.

"You and your silly games," said Cream, rolling her eyes.

"Actually it might not be such a bad idea," said Tails.

"Huh? Whaddya mean?" asked Charmy.

"If he wants to be Shadow, then let him," said Tails.
"I can easily modify Bokkun with the spare Shadow parts so he'll look almost exactly like him. There's no reason why he should drag his feet on this mission. We can have him scout ahead for us and open a few doors."

"Uh oh," said Bokkun.

"You'll all leave for Robotropolis tomorrow then," said Tails.
"Get some rest for now."

"You'll have time to do your weird meditation thing Espio," said Charmy.

"There's nothing weird about reflecting on the past, considering the present, and pondering the future," said Espio.
"Especially when taking a major step in life, like maybe a death defying mission to save the planet."

"What I want to know is, how did I get drug into this?" asked Bokkun.
"I want no part of Shadow's Robotropolis; even going into it."

"But you can still be my big, brave hero and help us all out, right?" asked Cream.

"Well, I uh..." Bokkun stammered.

Then Cream planted a kiss on his cheek.

SMOOCH

Somehow, the little robot turned bright red in response, and he fluttered to the ground like a feather.

"Ahhhh..." Bokkun sighed with delight.

"How is he gettin' all the sugar?" Charmy protested.
"The guy's nothing more than a tin can. A robot!"

"You bees don't need sugar. You got honey," said Espio.

Charmy just gave him a look.

"Well I thought it's what Vector would say," said Espio.

They all had a good chuckle and then retired for the night.

To Be Continued.