Chapter 26
Once we made it into the Frog Forest, which was when it had hit midday, we started to grind on some vines and into the forest itself, the trees being incredibly tall. "Wow, this is some height! These trees are much bigger than the biggest trees in my world," I gawked at the sheer height of our situation, which was twice higher than the Rail Canyon. Good thing I didn't have vertigo or the fear of heights, or else I'd be shivering in my shoes. "This is where I first met Froggy," Big said with a sad frown. "We'll get him back, Big. I promise," Amy smiled at Big. "Yeah, we'll get that Metal Sonic and save Froggy and Chocola!" I smiled as well.
"What's this place called, Mister Big?" Cream asked. as we simply flew our way across most of the bottomless pits and into the deeper parts of the jungle with ease, where we soon found a duo of teams fighting it out in the middle of a circular arena by the water on the ground. And guess who it was? "It's Sonic, Tails and Knuckles versus Fake Shadow, Rouge, and a robot, huh? I wonder who will win?" I smiled as we lowered ourselves down before anyone could get out of the ring and into the water, which they all looked into the air with shock on their faces.
"Fake Shadow?... What are you implying?" Shadow asked in confusion. "Yeah, what did you mean by that? It's like you're saying this isn't the original Shadow," Sonic said. "Because he isn't the original Shadow. I can sense it in him. He's similar to the real Shadow, but his essence is different. Tell me, where did you come from?" Chaos asked in confusion. Shadow simply frowned and grumbled a bit at the question, probably because he didn't expect he'd be a replica. "I found him in one of Eggman's bases searching for Eggman's treasury. He was inside a capsule that I tried to open and, when I opened it, this robot, Omega, woke up and started to attack us. He was locked up in that room because Eggman sealed him in there for what I assume was a fail-safe to stop anyone from releasing this Shadow... I thought that he was the original and that he had gotten captured by Eggman... you're saying he's a fake?" Rouge asked in bafflement.
"Not really a fake, more like a clone or a replica. He's got the same skills and abilities as the real Shadow, just with a different mind inside of him... do you know anything?" Tikal asked Fake Shadow, who looked very troubled at this information. "I... don't remember a thing... I only know my name because Rouge told me... I don't remember anything else, though... so I guess that proves I'm not the real Shadow," Fake Shadow said with an upset sigh. "I see... would you like a different name?" Cream asked. "What else is there to call a fake version of the Ultimate Life Form?" Shadow sighed. "Well... anyone got any ideas?" Sonic asked. "Honestly, I think he should decide for himself," I said honestly.
The Fake Shadow looked to be deep in thought at that as we looked around for any sign of Metal Sonic disguised as Eggman. "By the way, Sonic. Have you seen Eggman at all?" I asked him. "Well, we saw him come through this way, but he must've gotten away," Sonic frowned. "Where to?" Tikal asked. "To that place over there with the dark clouds," Tails pointed out towards the northeast, which led to a large, imposing castle filled with dark clouds surrounding it as well as ominous fog. "Hang Castle... I never thought it'd still be around after all this time has passed..." Tikal gawked at it.
"You've seen that place before?" Knuckles asked. "It was one of the kingdoms that my tribe once conquered over 3000 years ago. As such, it is just as ancient as the Echidna Tribe's ruins... the fact that it's still standing after all this time is amazing... but I can sense something there even more troubling, other than our main target," Tikal frowned. "What would that be?" Amy asked. "Specters are all throughout that castle, the lost souls of the people that used to live in that castle long ago... my father's tribe killed a lot of people back in my time... I'm sure that those ghosts in that castle are not going to be happy to see me," Tikal said, Shadow gasping at the word 'specter'. "That sounds like a good fit... I guess you can call me Specter, if you wish," Shadow said with a serious look on him. He had finally decided on a name, which I smirked at.
"Well then, Specter, we need to ask you something. What are your group going after? And do any of you guys have Chaos Emeralds?" I asked the two teams. "Yes, I have one. It's the silver one in color," Rouge said as she showed us the Emerald of Intelligence. "And I have the Red one," Sonic said as he presented his. "Well, we would like it if we could have them please? We have a new member that can control the powers of the Chaos," Tikal smiled as Cream stepped forward with a smile. "Sure, besides, we're all chasing the same person, so we should all arrive at the same place at the same time if we all go through that castle," Sonic smiled. "Okay, sounds like a deal then," I smiled at that as Rouge let Cream touch her emerald and Sonic let her touch his, Cream immediately getting the powers of them and trying them out right away. She used her psychic powers to do something I didn't expect. She grabbed the foundation of the forest with her mind and forced it over to our position to allow us to get over the water easier. "Whoa... that's some serious reality warping powers... definitely not how I remember the Emerald of Intelligence to work," Tikal gulped at this amazing power as Cream then lit her entire body on fire and shot a plume of lava into the water, which caused some land masses to be created for us to walk on.
"Lava instead of fire? Aw man, you're getting all the good stuff, Cream!" I pouted at her. Cream simply giggled at this newfound power of hers and how useful/deadly they were. "So, why don't we go off to that castle together? We can probably get there by sunset if we fly there," Tikal smiled. "And how will we get there?" Sonic asked. "I can pick you up with my mind powers if you wish," I smiled at them. "Does not compute!" Omega finally said something. "Don't worry, tin can. I won't hurt you, just pick you up so you can defy gravity along with us," I smiled at him as I picked up all 6 of the characters with my mind alone and they all gasped at how I was doing this amazing feat. "Let's get going!" Tikal said as she and Cream got their respective teams on their bodies and we all flew/floated off for the area in question. Hang Castle awaited us.