Chapter 20
In the middle of the night Caroline was struggling with a nightmare until it caused her to wake up screaming. The four of them burst awake not knowing what was happening. Brandy quickly went to Caroline's room as the others opened their doors seeing her run in and follow after her.
"Caroline? Are you alright?" Brandy burst into the room as she sees Caroline sitting in her bed crying. She went over and sat next to her holding her in her arms. The others followed in Sophia sat at the foot of the bed and TK and Kolt on the floor around her.
"Did you have a nightmare?" TK asked as Caroline answered with a nod.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Kolt asked,
"We…" She takes a deep breath, "We were surrounded by Eggman and his robots… There was no way out. All of us were hopeful that Sonic would show up to save the day like he always does but…" She began to cry again as Brandy her tighter. "He killed Sonic…"
"That's not going to happen," TK said,
"How do you know? It's been two weeks and we still haven't completed the Master Emerald."
"Because I'm here now," Kolt said, "I'm the guardian of the Master Emerald, we'll find the missing pieces and Save Sonic."
"Thank you… All of you." Caroline said,
"We're always here for you if you need us Caroline." Brandy said holding her hand.
"Do you want us to stay here?" Sophia asked as she nods, Brandy climbs into the bed still holding Caroline in her arms as the other three grab their blankets and pillows and sleep around her bed.
"This isn't awkward for any of you… is it?" Kolt said trying not to look uncomfortable sleeping in a room full of girls he met just a few days ago.
"Just go to sleep," TK said curling up in her blanket as he just quietly lies down, and they all fall back asleep.
Back in Eggman's Underwater Base, Saya was still recovering from her broken leg the terrible constant pain had subsided. Eggman had placed it in a splint after it broke which surprised her that he took the time to do that. She knew how much trouble she truly was in, she used up the energy within the Chaos Emerald and now she is not healing as quickly. Not to mention being so far away from the Master Emerald meant that it would take even longer for it to recharge making it impossible for her to rely on transforming into Sonic to escape. She spiraled as she realized how it all went wrong so fast. All she could do now was stay strong, but she didn't know how long her body can take getting electrocuted. A loud screeching noise is heard outside the door as two Swatbots walk in with a funny looking wheelchair. Saya wondered if Eggman put it together using random scraps of metal.
"In the Chair." One of them said as it grabs her by the forearms and shoves her in the chair. At least she can be thankful he's not making her walk on a broken leg. They wheel her to Eggman's Lab as she covers her ears from the horrible sound the chair made.
"Ya know Eggman, if you wanted to torture me, I think you could have found an easier way than making this pile of junk." Saya said.
"It's only temporary. You tried to make a run for it faster than I expected. I had to retaliate. And it's not like I just have a wheelchair in by back closet."
"What can I say, I don't like enclosed spaces." She said shrugging, "Still, breaking my leg was low, even for you."
"It will heal, except…" He looks at her leg, "Maybe not as quickly as it's supposed to… how unusual. Maybe because we're so far away from the Master Emerald?" He said as Saya uses her hand to cover her wrist in her lap. She knew it was only a matter of time before he found it, but she still had to try to keep it hidden. "None the less, I need to take some more blood from you." He said holding a syringe.
"Really?" She said flinching as he sticks the needle in her arm. "Why do you need my blood anyway?"
"Oh, I'm working on something. Even outside of your Sonic form you are connected to Chaos energy. Almost like it's a part of you." He said taking the blood over to a nearby table. Saya noticed he seemed to be in a talkative mood and perhaps she could keep him talking long enough to reveal something.
"So… Who are you anyway?" Saya asked,
"I'm Dr. Robotnik," he said,
"That's not what I mean, Your reincarnation?" Saya said as Eggman frowns.
"I was called Professor Ivo; Seems the first name was the only thing I kept from my old life. I was an Earth Science teacher at Station Square University. It was disgusting…" He truly sounded disgusted just thinking about it. "I enjoyed helping people… I volunteered every week at a local hospital. A genius like me… A teacher…"
"Sounds like he was a decent person." Saya said,
"It's in the past now, won't have to worry about him anymore."
"What do you mean?" Saya said confused,
"I got rid of him; hypnotic suggestion trapped that subconscious inside. I'm the only one in control."
"Yeesh! Didn't know kindness meant you had to go to the extreme." She said. "Now what other fun activities do you have planned for me?" She said sarcastically.
"I'm glad you asked," He said excitedly as the robots roll her towards a strange machine, "I have a theory and I'm interested to see what happens, I'm going to try to robotisize you."
"What?" She quickly tries to jump out of the chair, but the robots pin her down.
"It's been fun Sonic. Now with your power, I'll destroy your team and take the Master Emerald. Then the world will be mine!" He laughs as he presses a button as a beam comes out of the laser. All she could do was close her eyes as a blinding light bursts from the bracelet. The light knocks back the Swatbots and the beam is deflected.
"What the?" Saya said as she looks at the bracelet. The runes were lightly glowing with blue energy. Did the bracelet protect her?
"So you are protected by Chaos energy!" He said running over to the laser and looking at is closely. "It completely fried the robotisizer." He turns around to see her looking at the bracelet. "That's how you did it." He said walking over to her and grabbing her wrist,
"Let go," She struggled,
"You sneaky girl! You had a Chaos Emerald on you the whole time." He said as he tries to remove it, "why won't it budge?"
"It can't be removed; I've never been able to take it off." She said,
"So that's how you all transform, you're using the Chaos Emeralds. But I've never seen Runes like these before. And why is the glow so dim?" He begins to ponder, and he begins to piece it all together. "The Chaos Emeralds need to be within the vicinity of the Master Emerald to recharge. And since we're too far away yours can't. That's why your leg isn't healing properly," She looks away from him, "And that probably means you can't transform." He grins as he lets go of her arm and wheels her over to one of the computers as he grabs a large handheld device and starts taking pictures of her bracelet.
"What are you doing?"
"No matter what I do, for some reason I can't fatally harm you. Not without there being side effects. I must find a different way of getting rid of you. And I might have just figured out a way to do it." He said pressing a button as two new robots show up, "Take her back to her cell. I have work to do." He said as she's wheeled out of the room. It wasn't until she was locked back in her cell that she realize she was shaking. She hadn't felt fear like that before, Sonic did, but this was different. She felt helpless and all she could do now was pray her friends find her soon… Before Eggman has a chance to finish what he's now planning.
That afternoon Caroline spent most of the day on the radio trying to find any news about Sonic. She went to take a break and runs into Kolt looking around like he's lost.
"Is everything alright?" Caroline asked,
"Oh hi… Actually, I'm trying to find the Alter room. I know the Master Emerald is here but I'm having trouble finding it… This place is like a maze."
"I can show you." Caroline said as they walk in that direction,
"So… how are you feeling?" He asked,
"A little better, thank you." She said with a smile,
"I didn't do much,"
"You were there, that's what counts." She said, "How are you adjusting?"
"It's definitely taking a bit to get used to. Did you have this many headaches when you first transformed?" He asked,
"More so since I have super hearing."
"But like, it's so weird! My old memories and my new memories are twisted together, I keep getting confused at where I am."
"That fades with time, you just have to even it out. If you focus too much on your old life, it'll only confuse you more."
"Thanks for the tip. Have any to stop me from breaking any more doorknobs?" He asked,
"Sorry, can't help you there," She said with a chuckle.
"It was worth a shot," He shrugged, "This place is pretty cool,"
"Yeah, I was a little uncomfortable at first. Especially since we had to ask our parents for permission." She said,
"Right, I keep forgetting you're all still in high school." He said,
"How did your parents react?"
"Well, I'm originally from Central City, so I just told my parents I'm taking some summer classes and they didn't care in the slightest."
"You're a long way from home. Isn't Central City on the other side of the country?" She asked,
"Honestly, I like it better here. It's not as big of a city and I like being close to Angel Island."
"Especially now," Caroline joked.
"But the Master Emerald is here so now more than anything I want to protect it. It doesn't matter if I've reincarnated. I'm still the guardian." He said.
"Speaking of which, here's the Alter room." Caroline said as she opens the door and they head inside. Kolt was already halfway up the stairs to the Alter before Caroline closed the door. She follows after him to see he was circling the Master Emerald and looking intently at the damaged part.
"So this was caused by the Dark Chaos energy?" Kolt said to himself as Tikal appeared,
"That is correct, it's good to see you Knuckles." She said with a smile,
"It's good to see you too." He said going to place his hand on her shoulder, but it fazes through.
"Unfortunately, my form isn't stable while the Master Emerald is incomplete."
"You didn't tell us that." Caroline said,
"It didn't seem important," Tikal said,
"You should be all good once we find the final piece." Kolt said looking over the Master Emerald,
"Final piece?" Caroline repeated,
"Yeah, I took a look, by the cut of the broken pieces I can tell there's only one piece missing." He explained,
"Kolt that's amazing!"
"I'm not a geologist major for nothing." He said sounding confident,
"C'mon! We have to tell the others." She said as she grabs his hand and pulls him back down the stairs. They go and find the others and discuss their next plan of attack.
"So we just have to find the last piece and then we should be able to find Saya." Sophia said,
"I don't think it'll be that easy, but it's a start." TK said,
"How are we going to find the piece? It took forever to find the last one and we know Eggman is also searching for it." Brandy said,
"We split into teams," Kolt said,
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Sophia said,
"We can cover more ground; You and Brandy have speed on your side where the three of us can fly."
"I agree with Kolt," TK said, "The faster we find the Master Emerald Piece the faster we can save Saya."
"Fine, we'll do it your way. But either group run into trouble don't engage, just get out of there." Sophia said and they all nod in agreement. They all transform and head out on the twin tornado. They drop off Shadow and Blaze near where they found the last Master Emerald piece and the other three continue further south.
"Anything on your end?" Tails asked through the headset after a few hours of searching,
"No, I don't feel the presence of the Emerald." Blaze said, both Cream and Tails look at Knuckles who seemed to be meditating on the wing.
"Do you sense anything?" Cream called out to him, but he didn't respond. He was concentrating on the Emerald piece; he could feel it but was having trouble pinpointing where.
"That direction." Kolt said pointing his hand out still with his eyes closed.
"Knuckles can sense the Emerald Piece." Cream said over the headset.
"We'll start heading back in your direction." Shadow said as her and Blaze stop running and turn around. "Doing alright?"
"I'm fine, I may not be as fast as you and Sonic, but I do come close." She said catching her breath,
"Good, let's go get that Emerald Piece." Shadow said as they run back.
Tails lands the Twin Tornado and they continue looking on foot. She pulls out her Emerald locator and looks around. Knuckles starts walking in a direction as they quickly follow after him. He could feel it, it was close.
"My readings show it's somewhere near here." Tails said as Knuckles looks below him,
"Crap… I don't have my digging claws…" He said,
"Is it here?" Cream asked as he nods.
"Hang on! I put a small shovel in the Tornado just in case." Tails said running back over to the plane. Knuckles and Cream wait for her to return when Cream starts to hear something headed in their direction.
"Do you hear that?" She asked,
"Hear what?" He asked,
"It sounds like… Metal…" She looks over at the Tornado, "Tails! Hurry up we're about to have company!" She called out,
"What?" Tails pokes her head out of the tornado holding a small handheld shovel as four large robots with drills for hands land around Cream and Knuckles.
"Guys, Eggman's robots just showed up!" Knuckles said over the headset.
"They're after the Emerald piece!" Tails said,
"I don't think we're too much farther. Stay safe until we get there." Shadow said, the robots smash their drills into the ground, Knuckles grabs Cream and gets them out of the way before they're hit.
"You're not taking the Emerald!" Knuckles yelled as he runs over and hits the drill denting it to the point where it could no longer rotate. Two of the robots turn and swing at him.
"Try to get their attention!" Tails said flying up and throwing the shovel and it hits the robot still digging as is stops and turns at her. From the air she could see a glimmer of green in the dirt. "I see it!" Cream runs between them into the pile of dirt and begins to look for the Emerald piece. Tails dodges as the robot swings it's arm at her while Knuckles tried to keep three of them distracted.
"Cream how's it going?" Knuckles called out as one of the drills tries to hit him, but he stops it before it impacts.
"Found it!" She said as she grabs it out of the dirt, Knuckles notices one of the robots turns around towards her.
At the same time Shadow and Blaze were running as fast as they can but they didn't know if they'd make it in time. And Shadow knew Blaze was reaching her limit.
"Blaze! I'm going to take off my limit rings. I should be able to get us there faster." Shadow said as she began to take off the first limit ring around her wrists.
"Isn't that dangerous?" She said,
"That's not important if we don't get there in time..." She said taking off the second ring and Blaze could feel it instantly, the blast of unstable chaos energy coming off of her. "I'm going to pick you up." Blaze nods as Shadow picks her up mid run and begins running faster that Blaze could imagine. She had to shut her eyes due to the wind. Shadow was running at her top speed to get to her friends.
"Cream! Get out of there!" He yelled as she turns and sees the robot looking at her.
"Give us the Emerald shard." The robot said,
"No!" Cream said as she begins to run. It lifts its arm and swings down towards her barely missing. She flies into the air as fast as she could but one of the other Bots knocks her out of the air.
"Cream!" Tails flies down to help her. Knuckles struggled as he was holding onto two of the drills stopping the other two robots. They were fighting a losing battle with just the three of them. Knuckles was beginning to understand why Shadow didn't want to split up. Tails helps Cream to her feet as they are surrounded by the remaining two robots.
"Tails… what do we do?" Cream asked, as a bright flash of green blinds them both. They open their eyes to see Shadow standing in front of them.
"I will end you!" She yelled as she lets out a Chaos blast that knocks back the two robots destroying them. Blaze runs next to Knuckles and burns one of the robots giving Knuckles a free arm to finish the other one.
"Is everyone alright?" Blaze asked as they were catching their breath.
"Yeah," Tails said as Shadow turns around towards both of them and hugs them.
"Thank goodness…" Shadow said as both Cream and Tails feel Shadow begin to collapse taking them both off guard and they all fall.
"Shadow!" Cream cried out as they sat up, but she wasn't moving. Blaze and Knuckles quickly run over. Blaze ruffles through Shadow's jacket pocket pulling out the rings.
"Are those?" Tails asked,
"Yes," Blaze said placing them on Shadows wrists as she transforms back into Sophia.
"I didn't realize she still needed them..." Tails said,
"What are you talking about?" Cream asked,
"Shadow's the Ultimate Lifeform... Her body can't handle the amount of power she can use." Knuckles said as he helps pick her up.
"We need to get her to Dr. Q immediately." Blaze said as they all quickly get into the Twin Tornado and fly back to Freedom HQ.
They all transform back as they get there but they were more concerned about Sophia.
"I got her," Kolt said carrying her,
"Please be careful." Caroline asked,
"I will," He said as they all follow him to the infirmary. TK opens the door for him, and Dr. was sitting at her desk working when she sees him.
"What on earth?" She quickly got up and rushed over, "What happened?"
"Shadow used her full power." Blaze explained,
"I don't understand." She said,
"She burned herself out… Like of chaos energy." TK tried to explain,
"Lie her on the bed, I'll have a look at her." She said as Kolt follows her orders and lays her down. "Explain how she burned herself out?" She began to look her over.
"That depends on how much we have to explain, what do you know about Shadow?" Kolt said,
"Shadow's called the Ultimate Lifeform and prefers to work alone. The personal stuff is mostly about Sophia, not Shadow."
"Shadow was created to control Chaos, She's literally a sponge of Chaos energy. She wears rings that help her limit the amount of energy she can use. Without them her power is infinite… but it puts a strain on her body." TK explained.
"You all need to stop pushing yourselves so hard…" She said shaking her head. "She seems fine, but I'll keep her here for observation."
"Thanks Dr. Q." Brandy said as they all leave.
"I hope she's okay," Caroline said
"I didn't even know She could still do that in these forms…" Tk said.
"Neither did I, But I'm sure she's fine," Brandy said,
"For now there's one more thing we need to do." Kolt said.
"Right! Let's complete the Master Emerald!" TK said as they all head towards the Alter room.