Chapter Twelve:Expect the Unexpected
Shadow blinks, his gun still trained on Mecha Sonic's bowed head.
"Excuse me?"
"Shadow the Hedgehog, Dr. Ivo Robotnik has invited you to join him on the Egg-Carrier. I have been instructed to guide you, and whomever you bring with you to its location, should you accept."
Shadow frowns, "And how do I know this isn't a trap?"
"It may very well be, I am just following orders."
Shadow is thinking hard, Assuming that the invitation is sincere, does that mean that Robotnik isn't behind those Zombies? He said I could bring anyone I want, but..."
"How did you find me," he clicks back the hammer on his gun.
"Earlier we detected a surge of Chaos Energy in this region at about midday. We focused our efforts in this region then, and we tracked two more similar surges. It wasn't enough to pinpoint your exact location, but we sensed massive amounts of energy here merely a short while ago, and so we came as soon as we could."
"We?" Shadow looks up as his ears twitch again. Another robot, one he doesn't recognize, hovers down to float a few feet off of the ground.
"The surrounding contamination has been dealt with, the trees will provide an impenetrable barrier for the infected."
"Who are you," Shadow narrows his eyes at the machine.
" I am E-101 Beta mk2. Shadow the Hedgehog, Dr. Ivo Robotnik has invited you to join him on the Egg-Carrier. I have been instructed to guide you, and whomever you bring with you to its location, should you accept."
"Yeah, Mecha told me already. But how do I know the offer is sincere?"
"Data unavailable, am I to understand that you refuse?"
Shadow glances between the two machines, "I want some time to think it over."
"Dr. Robotnik had suspected that you would," Mecha Sonic says standing up. "In that case, we will wait for your answer, and set up a perimeter in the meantime. Dr. Robotnik implied that we were to "give you all the time you needed to think it over." If you please, call on us when you have made a final decision."
With that, Mecha Sonic drops the force-field, and takes to the sky with Beta. Shadow watches them go, and then walks back to the house.
The others watch him, occasionally glancing upwards. Shadow walks by them, and into the house. He sits on the couch, and the others make a sort of ring around him.
"Are you okay, Shadow," Cocoa is the farthest from him. She has her rifle slung over her shoulder, and is sitting by the window. Shadow ignores the question, staring intently at the blank TV.
"Shadow, what happened out there," Rouge sits down next to him, and he scoots away from her a little.
"Miles, how's it coming down there?"
Tails sighs, "Nothing good, I'm afraid. The fakes have only enough data to suggest that they know about the Egg-Carrier, but nothing we can use to pick out where it is. From what I can see, Eggman sent them out as sententials, and they were reprogrammed by Metal Sonic sometime later. They haven't seen the Egg-Carrier in weeks."
Shadow frowns, "Then come up here, I think we have a Plan B." A few seconds later Tails emerges with Cream in tow.
"Okay, Mr. Shadow, we're all ears." Cream squeezes Tails's hand.
"... Apparently, Robotnik is looking for me. He sent Mecha Sonic, and a robot called E-101 Beta mk2 to find me. They told me that Robotnik has invited me onto the Egg-Carrier, and he says to bring anyone of my choosing with me."
It's quiet in the room, and everyone glances between each other and Shadow.
"It's a trap," Spike says. "It's gotta be! He can't kill Shadow with Metal Sonic, so he's wanting to make it on his terms!"
"But why say that Shadow can bring anyone? With an open invitation like that, Shadow can bring all of G.U.N. if he wants." Tails shakes his head, "It doesn't make sense."
"We all know that Eggman is cocky when he has a plan," Knuckles says. "But this is a bit much, even for him."
"Well, we couldn't bring all of G.U.N. onto the Egg-Carrier as it is." Cocoa stares out the window. "All of our agents are tied up in their own respective missions all over America. To get that kind of clearance, we would need proof that there is a solution for the epidemic there."
"Either he's banking on that, thinking that Shadow will come alone, or with the entire Sonic Team... or the offer is genuine," Reave looks at Shadow. "It's your call, what will it be?"
Shadow looks up at all the faces around him, their eyes are trained on him.
How did I get myself into this position? "Well, what we know, in a nutshell, is that there's a good chance that Sonic is on the Egg-Carrier, most likely trapped, or captured. We have a possible way of finding the Egg-Carrier now, but it's most likely a trap. Our best course of action would be to proceed with caution, seeing how we have no other immediate solutions."
Shadow gets to his feet, "I say we all need some rest. Tomorrow morning we go to the Egg-Carrier, and be ready for anything."
"Lock 'n Load!" Spike shouts, punching the air.
"I'll see what I can find for beds," Cream dashes off with Cheese.
Shadow turns to Cocoa, "I want you to be a lookout for tonight. Those robots said that they would set up a perimeter, but we can't trust them. If they turn on us, or let the Zombies get through, I want to know ASAP." She nods, and Shadow turns to Rouge, "Can you relieve her in a few hours?"
Rouge nods, and the two bats fly up to the roof. Shadow turns to find Amy, and Cream holding out a blanket, and a pillow.
"Since you fought the hardest out there, you get to sleep on the couch," Amy smiles at him. Before Shadow can say anything, she tosses the blanket into Shadow's arms, and cream puts the pillow on the end of the couch. Shadow blinks, and then he decides it's not worth arguing about. Besides, he's tired; and so he lies down on the couch, pulls the blanket over him, and quickly falls asleep.
Shadow wakes up to the smell of breakfast the next morning. He blinks his eyes open, and frowns. On the coffee-table beside him is a plate with eggs, sausages, and toast. Spike is crouched on the other side of the table, using a fan to blow the smell in his face.
Spike smiles, "G'morning, Shadow, and thanks for not trying to kill me again."
"Go away," Shadow says sitting up. "Or you'll find that you spoke too soon." Spike's smile drops slightly, but he backs off, heading into the kitchen. Shadow eats him breakfast where he is, and then carries his dishes into the kitchen. As he walk in, he sees almost everyone else eating at the table.
Rouge looks up, "Dammit, Shadow, couldn't you have just strangled him a little? Or at least put him in a headlock?"
Shadow gives her a look of mild confusion, and Reave grins. He holds his hand out to Rouge, palm up. Rouge sighs, and puts a ruby the size of one's thumb in him palm.
"Ahem," Reave says, raising an eyebrow. "The other half?" Rouge glares at him, and then put a diamond about the same size in his hand. Reave smiles, "A pleasure doing business with you."
"Hey," Spike frowns at Reave. "Since I did all the work, I should get half the pot!" Reave thumb-flicks the ruby to him, and pockets the diamond.
"Do I even want to know?" Shadow leans on the counter, arms crossed.
"They made bets on if you were going to hurt Spike for waking you up," Amy tells him. "Rouge was betting on a repeat of yesterday morning. Reave wagered against it, and made a second bet that Spike could come away unharmed."
"You could have at least thrown your fork at him," Rouge pouts, missing her jewels, and trying to think of ways to steal them back later.
"I don't appreciate being a source of entertainment," Shadow gives the three in question a hard look.
"Sorry, Shadow, but it was too good to pass up." Reave offers an abashed smile, and goes back to his food.
"Amy, you've barely touched your breakfast," Cream raises her eyebrows at her friend.
"Oh, sorry! I guess I'm just nervous." She stares at her plate, playing with her eggs. "I just can't help but think... is Sonic okay? What if Eggman has hurt him, or... He came awfully close on the ARK, you know..." Tears begin to collect in her eyes, and she sets down her fork. "I guess I just don't have much of an appetite."
"So can I have your sausages?" Spike raises his eyebrows hopefully. Amy picks one up with her hands, and throws it at him. It hits him in the face, and he's so surprised that he falls over backwards in his chair. "... Not what I meant."
Shadow turns to Rouge, "Did anything happen last night?"
She shakes her head, "Cocoa traded shifts, but the robots kept the Zombies away. Looks like they were telling the truth, so far."
"It could be a ploy to make us drop our guard," Shadow says. "I respect the Doctor, but I trust him not even as far as I can throw him."
"Which must be pretty far," Spike says, wiping grease off his face with a napkin. "But I think we should go as soon as we can," he glances at Amy. "Some of us can't wait for much longer."
Shadow nods, and then glances around. "Where's Miles?"
"Oh, Shoot!" Cream gets up, and dashes to the kitchen. Shadow moves to the side as she grabs a pitcher of coffee, and pours a mug. "I completely forgot! Oh my, he's hopeless in the morning without his coffee." She takes the mug upstairs, and disappears.
"I guess now would be a good time to talk to those machines out there," Shadow pushes off of the counter, and heads out the front door. Once outside Shadow scans the skies, and he spots Mecha Sonic.
The blue robot lands in front of Shadow, "Have you made your decision, Shadow?"
"Tell the Doctor that I accept his invitation, and I'm bringing guests."
A moment of silence, and then Mecha Sonic says, "Your message has been relayed, Dr. Robotnik has ordered me to assure you that Beta, and myself will make your journey as safe as possible."
Shadow nods, and walks back into the house. Tails gulping down the last of his coffee, and turns to Shadow.
"We're ready to go as soon as your plane can get off the ground," Shadow says
"It's always ready, everyone?" they all nod, and Tails runs out the door. They all follow him, and Cocoa glides down from the roof. They go around the building, and Tails goes into a door in the back. A garage-like door slides up, and lets out the sound of a loud engine as the Tornado 2 slowly creeps out onto the runway. Tails leans out of the cockpit, and calls out, "It was only meant for two, so Amy, and Cream will have to find some way to fit in the back. Knuckles, Shadow, Reave, Spike I'm afraid that you'll have to ride on the wings. Rouge, and Cocoa can fly beside us." Everyone takes their positions, and the plane picks up speed as it races across the tarmac. Once in the air they are accompanied by Mecha Sonic, who takes up a position in front of the Tornado 2, and Beta, who takes up the rear.
"We will be arriving at the Egg-Carrier in approximately one hour," Mecha Sonic says. They gain altitude, almost as high as the clouds, and
stay that way. When Rouge, or Cocoa get tired they just hold on to one of the wings of the Tornado 2, and glide. Eventually, Mecha Sonic begins to lead them downwards, and the Egg-Carrier comes into sight.
"Huh," Knuckles blinks. "Why is it the water? I thought it was his flying fortress, not his floating fortress."
"After the damage done to it during Operation: "Chaos" we have yet to restore it to it's former glory," Beta says. "Indeed, it took us weeks to find it while it was still underwater."
"It was underwater?" Cocoa frowns, "Why didn't G.U.N. know about that?"
"I'm sure Eggman just forgot to call, and let you know," Knuckles rolls his eyes, ignoring Cocoa's glower.
They loop around it, and land on the runways at the ships stern. Eggman approaches, hands behind his back.
"Ah, Shadow, I'm so glad that you decided to come." Eggman grins, a bit too friendly.
"Where's Sonic, you monster?!" Spike, and Tails jump at Amy to stop her from pounding Eggman to a pulp.
"In good time, Amy, in good time. Now, if you would be so kind as to follow me..." Eggman turns, and walks along one of the walkways to the Egg-Carrier's bow. The others follow, Shadow in the lead, and Eggman's guides floating on either side.
"Shadow, please come in here." Eggman opens the door to the bridge, and steps inside. Shadow glances at the the two hovering robots, and then steps inside. The door closes behind him, cutting him off from the rest of the group. Shadow narrows his eyes, and faces the doctor.
Robotnik isn't watching Shadow though, he's gazing out the window overviewing the rest of the Egg-Carrier. With a sigh, he says, "I truly am grateful that you could come, Shadow. I admit that I had my doubts."
Shadow frowns, if this is a trap, it's not Robotnik's style. The Doctor as Shadow knows him is a self-absorbed, gloating egomaniac. The Robotnik standing in front of him now seems... hollow.
"Why did you ask me to come here, Doctor?" Shadow crosses him arms, expecting an attack at any moment.
"... Shadow, do you know why I think I'm not the ruler of Earth?" When Shadow remains silent, Eggman says, "Because I don't think I've ever been truly serious about it. All of my plans have been bluffs at best, like with the Eclipse Cannon on the ARK. I didn't mind the demonstration on the moon, because there was no one there for it to hurt. I made the Telecast to the world as a warning that I had a powerful weapon at my disposal. Even if the cannon hadn't taken so long to recharge, I would have waited for cities to evacuate before turning the cannon to the earth. I never even intended to used its full planet-destroying power.
"That's only an example of how much I have held back. This time I decided to follow an old saying, that one cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. There had to be a few innocent bystanders for it to work this time."
"So you are the one responsible for the epidemic," Shadow growls. Eggman turns to Shadow, and though he hides it well, the look of sorrow on Eggman's face shocks Shadow.
Eggman nods, "Yes, it's my doing. It was supposed to be my final plan for conquest, I called it Operation: "Rewind.""
"... So you called me to clean up your mess for you." Shadow puts his hands on his hips.
"I wouldn't have bothered if I had the means of ending it myself, Shadow." Robotnik sits down in the Captain's Chair. "But I've use all my available resources into simply making an end to it all"
"So there's a cure?" Shadow puts himself right in front of the doctor, and stares hard into his eyes.
Robotnik nods, "But I don't have the resources to make it on a massive scale. When I tried to give it to the G.U.N., they sent me away. I can't blame them for mistrusting me, but there's no choice now for me than to trust you, Shadow." Eggman reaches into a pocket, and passes Shadow something flattish, and egg-shaped with a small button on it. "All that you need to know is in that projector, I swear."
Shadow takes a step back, "We came here looking for Sonic. Can you tell me anything about him?"
Eggman sighs, and then nods, "He's in the brig, down below. I suggest that you hurry, Shadow, there isn't much time left."
Shadow grips the small egg in his hand, and nods. The Doctor had been genuine after all. Shadow turns, and begins to walk back towards the door.
Click...BLAM!
