Chapter 33: Shades of Black (Part Two)
The massive hull of Eggman Nega's undersea fortress didn't have much time to dry in the desert sun before the dark clouds covering Central City spread their heavy showers even here. It was raining in the desert. It was literally pouring down! Normally that wouldn't have been a problem for the hijacked space station's sole human occupant, but due to the massive hole the evil Shadow had torn in the hull during his intimidation of Eggman Nega was causing water to leak into the circuitry of the station's walls. Nega was moments from giving his robot minions the order to abandon ship, as it were, when the bat intruder appeared and started systematically destroying the villainous scientist's best guards.
Steaming in his ruined command centre, Nega reached for the nearby controls to activate the base's self-destruct mechanism.
"Thank you for activating the emergency self-destruct sequence," said the pleasant-sounding voice of the base's computer. "You now have zero-minutes-and-fifty-nine-seconds to evacuate. This is not a drill."
Even before the pleasant female voice was done speaking, Nega input the last few commands required to seal the blast doors everywhere in the base, effectively turning the place into an explosive tomb for the bat intruder. Nega was no fool. He would be very surprised if his foe was anyone but the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of the government spy being impersonated. With that final villainous act, Eggman Nega bounced over to his stationary Negamobile, ready to make his escape through the great big hole Shadow had so conveniently carved in the wall.
Nega's hands were actually on his hovercraft's controls when an alarm made him look up in distress. The powerful sensors installed in the fortress had detected a reaction of all seven Chaos Emeralds, AGAIN. If Shadow hadn't managed to dig up something useful where Nega's lies directed the evil hedgehog, then there was no doubt at all that the Ultimate Life-Form would be coming for the scientist very soon.
What Nega didn't know was that the wild speculations he'd offered Shadow in order to get him off his back had been extremely close to the real truth. If not for a few twists of fate, Shadow might already have all the pieces in place. But as Nega did not know that, he immediately felt desperate. He needed leverage.
Feeling a cold sweat, Eggman Nega looked at the security monitor showing the bat, then at the countdown timer, then at the big radar screen showing a bright spot where the Chaos Emerald reaction had happened.
"Curse that hedgehog!" Eggman Nega shouted to no one in particular, before leaping out of his Negamobile and rushing over to the console.
Typing fervently, watching the rapidly ticking timer out of the corner of his eyes, Nega input the override codes, managing to get the last one right with only seconds to spare.
"The emergency self-destruct sequence has been cancelled at zero-minutes-and-four-seconds. Have a nice day."
Eggman Nega breathed a sigh of relief. Now, to get his hostage.
-
Conquest had watched the blast doors slam shut and heard the computerised voice with a feeling of cold dread. She'd gotten herself trapped in a metallic hallway between two cargo areas. If she'd been really lucky, she would've found the same hallway where Silver, Blaze and the Nega Replicoids escaped through large holes in the hull, and been able to escape easily. No such luck, this place was sealed tight without as much as a crack in the paint.
Why the countdown had stopped and the blast doors reopened, Conquest couldn't understand. Mercy seldom appeared in the doctor's list of qualities.
It wasn't hard to guess why Conquest had come here. She still believed that Shadow was under the influence of Nega's vile program, and she was here to make the villain reverse his diabolical machinations whether he liked it or not.
The bat ran forward, emerging into a vast and curiously empty room. There were no remains of the Nega Replicoids or the equipment and goods that'd been destroyed during the battle, as the nanites contained in the serpentine machines had rounded up every single usable scrap of debris and taken it with them when they went off in pursuit of Silver and Blaze. Conquest, being the most intelligent member of the team or good guys, figured out the above at first glance. She might have been absent during the entire Nega Replicoid crisis, but she'd caught up on every scrap of intelligence GUE could get its hands on during the aftermath.
Conquest took a step forward, and was immediately thrown off her feet as a gigantic robot exploded out of the floor and stretched to its full massive size. Because the bat instinctively let her wings carry her, she was able to dodge the frantic first blow, costing the mechanical menace the advantage of surprise.
Hovering just out of reach, Conquest appreciated the scale and impressiveness of the robot. It looked like a Nega Replicoid, except far bigger, big enough to house a Negamobile cockpit in its one oversized eye. Eggman Nega grinned at the bat through the thick armoured window.
"Welcome Ex-Commander. Say hello to the Nega Replicoid MKII. This improved model may not be able to split into multiple copies, but it can repair any damage to its body in split seconds. Not even Blaze would be able to cut through this armour!" Eggman Nega boasted.
"Good thing I'm not Blaze, then," Conquest responded.
"What!? What kind of banter do you call that? Now stand still so I can crush you!"
Conquest flew rapidly around the giant snake, effortlessly dodging acid splatters and machine gun fire. She'd watched enough combat footage of the Nega Replicoids to know their limitations. Nega only seemed to have raised the scale of this one rather than the combat efficiency.
"Won't stand still, then? Good thing the MKII has a few brand new tricks up its sleeve. Get a load of this, bat girl!"
With an excessive movement, Nega slammed his finger down on a certain button. The result wasn't immediately evident, until the Nega Replicoid MKII opened its maw unusually wide and released a piercing noise that hit Conquest like a wall of physical pain.
"AIEEE!!"
Momentarily stunned, Conquest couldn't prevent the giant cobra from slithering around her and wrapping the tiniest portion of its tail around her body tight.
"YES!" Eggman Nega exclaimed. "Now when Shadow arrives he'll-"
"I am here, Doctor."
Both the bat and the scientist turned their heads towards the voice, and yes there he was. Shadow the Hedgehog, standing in his classic arms-crossed pose, apparently having been watching the whole fight play out before his eyes. But which Shadow was it? The one both spectators expected to see?
"Ha-hah! Look, I've got your girlfriend, Shadow!" Nega called out, not quite able to hide his nervousness. "You'd better back off if you know what's good for her."
"Hpmh!" said the black hedgehog simply, starting to stride casually towards the giant robot.
"Shadow?" Conquest said, sounding as hopeful as she could be under the circumstances.
"Sorry Connie. It was fun, but you're nothing but dead weight to me now," said Shadow, not even bothering to look at the bat.
"You can't mean that!" It was Eggman Nega who said it, but Conquest felt the same way, rather more emotionally. "Do you think I'm joking, Shadow? If you come any closer, I swear I will crush her!"
"Go ahead. All I need is a few more answers from you, Doctor. She's just in the way."
Convinced that Shadow was bluffing, Nega had the Nega Replicoid MKII tighten its grip just enough. Maybe Shadow did falter slightly at the sound of his lover screaming, or maybe it was nothing but relief at overcoming yet another obstacle on the path to what the Ultimate Life-Form saw as true freedom.
A massive blast rocked the giant robot, sending Eggman Nega tumbling along with the cockpit as it was forcefully detached from the robot as it broke along the middle. What was wrong with the picture was that Shadow was still several metres away from the machine when it happened. Or was he...?
Shadow the Hedgehog effortlessly broke the last chains of the Replicoid's tail, freeing Conquest.
"Another android, Eggman? You're so pathetically alike your ancestor," said the stationary Shadow to the upside-down Eggman Nega while his identical twin took care of Conquest.
Conquest didn't understand what was going on, but she knew the touch of the Shadow before her. It was him. Before he could pull away, she hugged him tight. To her surprise, Shadow smiled kindly. "I've missed you," he said. "Now please stay back. This is going to be really dangerous."
With those cryptic words, the second Shadow rushed towards his double.
"So what is this, good twin?" the evil Shadow asked, scoffing.
"Something like that."
"And I suppose you want me to enslave myself to the pathetic cause of 'good' again, right?"
"Not in those words, but yeah, that's the idea."
"Pathetic."
"Yes, you are."
"What was that?"
"I don't care if you do have all my memories. You're inexperienced, like a child. You may have seen what my life was like, but you haven't any idea what any of it meant. You're far more pathetic than even the lowliest mortal animaloid."
"Hahahahahaaa!! You really believe that, don't you? You fool! You've never let yourself go as I have. You have no idea what this feels like. Nothing in your worthless lifetime can compare to even one second living as I am!"
"Fine. If you won't realise the truth, then I'll have to show you what experience is worth."
"A fight? Ahahahaha! Of course! Destroying you would be even sweeter than killing Sonic. And why not? I can have both! If you can travel trough time, so can I!"
"Nice to see you using your brain for a change, but I'm afraid I can't allow that."
"Who says you'll have a choice?"
Both Shadows rushed at each other, there was a twin flash of Chaos Control, and they were gone. The battle had only just begun...
To Be Continued.