Soon, Scarlet and Mr. Stewart headed towards the retirement home.

"Excuse me," Scarlet said, walking up to some women on the front porch. "I'm Scarlet Garcia. From SSTV news.

...

"Reporter, I have nothing to say to you!" Mr. Shmitz said, glaring at Mrs. Garcia and Mr. Stewart. "I just want to be left alone!"

"We don't want to trouble you, sir!" Scarlet said, waving him down with her hands. "We simply would like to ask you a couple of questions."

"Can you tell us what happened on Space Colony Ark about 50 years ago?" Mr. Stewart asked Mr. Shmitz curiously.

"Nothing happened." Mr. Shmitz said, closing his eyes and looking away.

"I understand your reluctance to talk about it, sir, but you were there when it occurred and we need to find out all that we can." Scarlet said. "Please, sir, I need to know."

"You don't have any idea on what you're getting involved in, young lady." Mr. Shmitz said, staring at her fiercely. "Just leave it alone before you stir up trouble!"

...

"Looks like you boys really goofed, didn't they?" Rouge asked Eggman.

"None of your business!" Eggman growled at her from the screen.

"Fine," Rouge said. "Let's launch the counter-attack! How about giving me the password for the colony?"

" A. Maria," Eggman said. "That's the magic word. Meanwhile, I'll be standing by a crazy gadget."

Rouge smirked when the screen went black. "Fooling that fool oughta be a snap." She said. She moved towards the keyboard. "Alright, let's start hacking. Maria. M-a-r-i-a."

Rouge smiled in satisfaction when the screen opened up and looked at the files. "Let's see what pops up here." She clicked through files until she found the one she wanted. "Ah. Project Shadow. Top Secret. Sounds exciting! 'Ultimate creature development project.'" Rouge read. "Sure sounds juicy to me." Her eyes widened when she continued reading. "Shadow. Sealed off?" She asked. "But how?!"

She stood up. "But if that's true... then who's he?"

...

Penny sighed as she closed her eyes, curling up on the floor beside Shadow. Shadow watched by her side out the window at an upcoming spaceship.

"Here comes your friend," Shadow said.

That woke up Penny quite quickly. "Hu?" She asked. She stood up and quickly turned to the window. "You mean Sonic?" She asked.

"He'll be a fool to challenge me." Shadow huffed.

"You're the fool!" Penny huffed back. "Not Sonic!"

Shadow turned to the girl. "You'll see I'm right. This is one battle your friend cannot win."

Penny's heart started pounding, and she turned her attention back to the image of the spacecraft flying towards them. "Sonic..." The girl thought.

...

"What you're investigating is much more dangerous than you know!" Mr. Shmitz said, refusing to communicate. "I won't answer any of your questions and that's that!"

"Please, sir!" Scarlet pleaded. "You've just GOT to tell us what happened! You're the only survivor! Everyone else was...lost..." She shuddered. She closed her eyes. "Even my father." She looked at him. "I'm begging you, please tell us! You owe it to the memory of all those innocent people!"

"Scarlet." Mr. Stewart said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Scarlet looked at him, and the former teacher shook his head.

...

"I'm sorry," Scarlet apologized as they walked out. "That wasn't very professional about me."

"You don't have to apologize." Mr. Stewart smiled at her reassuringly. "It must bring up a lot of painful memories for you."

They stopped short when they saw four men in dark uniforms blocking their path.

"Don't panic." Mr. Stewart told Scarlet. "Get to the car as fast as you can"!

"Why?" Scarlet asked.

"Hurry!" Mr. Stewart responded.

At that, Scarlet took off.

"She's getting away!" One of the men yelled.

Mr. Stewart managed to fight off one of the men, knocking him down. He smirked at the others. "Who's next?"

"What do you want from me?!"

"SCARLET!" Mr. Stewart turned around to see the reporter getting grabbed by one of the men.

"What do you want?!" Scarlet asked the man holding her. "Get in the car!" He ordered.

Then... WHAM.

Mr. Shmitz stood there over the fallen guy.

"Thank you!" Scarlet said in surprise.

After that scene, more black cars came.

"This way!" Mr. Shmitz said, leading Scarlet and Mr. Stewart away to a safe place.

...

When the coast was clear, Mr. Stewart walked back to Scarlet, who was sitting on a tree stump. "I don't see them anywhere." He told her.

"I don't know how to thank you," Scarlet told Mr. Shmitz.

"That was nice work." Mr. Stewart told the man. Mr. Shmitz smirked, pumping his arms. "I used to be able to handle myself pretty well." He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "But... that was a long time ago."

Scarlet looked down.

...

"I'll bet they're watching us from in there." Tails said, noticing the lasers that were pointing at them.

"Just take it slow and steady..." Sonic said.

A thought of the green Master Emerald appeared in Knuckles' mind, and he panicked completely. "HURRY IT UP!" The red echidna suddenly exclaimed, moving towards the controls and causing the ship to shake.

"Knuckles!" Tails cried, startled. "What are you doing?!"

"The Master Emerald!" Knuckles explained. "It's nearby. I can feel it!"

"Knuckles!" Amy cried. "Let go of the wheel!"

That's when Space Colony Ark started firing missiles at them. Amy shrieked and covered her head.

"Here comes my breakfast!" Mr. Tanaka announced as the spacecraft shook.

The ship crashed onto Space Colony Ark.

...

"Intruder Alert. Sector M 14. Intruder alert. Sector M 14." The alarm blared.

"I wonder who that might be." Rouge said, looking at the screen which showed the broken spacecraft.

...

Knuckles crashed open a door and saw the Master Emerald right in the center of the room.

The echidna was about to run forward to it, but was suddenly stopped by Rouge.

"Uh uh!" Rouge said, holding out a hand to stop him. "This area is off-limits, sluggard."

"I want that Master Emerald!" Knuckles growled at her.

"Sorry, guy," Rouge smirked, then began fighting Knuckles. Knuckles managed to dodge her, and Rouge hopped back towards the Emerald.

"Now that's no way to treat a lady!" Rouge smirked. "Didn't you ever learn any manners?"

"I've got manners." Knuckles growled. "But you're no lady!" He lunged an attack which caused Rouge to slip over the edge. Rouge yelped as she fell, but luckily Knuckles grabbed her wrist.

"I've gotcha!" He called to her. She grunted until she was pulled to safety, then pulled her hand away. "Get your hands off me!" She growled.

"Hey!" Knuckles growled. "If it weren't for me, you would've fallen on your head!"

"Hu." Rouge humphed, crossing her arms. "Were you really trying to save me, or were you just trying to be fresh? I wonder..."

"You're crazy!" Knuckles yelled. "What do you mean 'fresh?!' Talk about ungrateful!"

"Whatever." Rouge shrugged. "Have it your way. If it makes you happy!" She walked off. "See ya!"

"What about the Emerald?" Knuckles asked in surprise.

"Emerald?" Rouge asked, her nose in the air. "Take it! It's yours!"

"What kind of game are you playing, anyway?!" Knuckles growled. He huffed in annoyance as he turned to collect the Master Emerald. "Even for a bat, you're batty!"

Rouge turned around and watched as Knuckles ran off with the Master Emerald.

"Now that's my cue to get out of here!" Rouge smiled to herself, and ran out.

...

The X Tornado walked down an abandoned hallway.

"It sure is lonely here!" Amy said. Blaze nodded.

"I suspect that no one has been here since the accident that occurred here 50 years ago!" Mr. Tanaka guessed.

"How do you know?" Blaze asked.

He said nothing.

"We got a big problem," Sonic said.

"You tell me." Silver sighed.

"How do we destroy that weapon when we find it?" Sonic asked.

"Here." Tails handed Sonic the fake Emerald. "Why don't you give this a try?"

"A Chaos Emerald?" Silver asked curiously, studying the dim jewel in Sonic's hand.

"It's not a real one." Tails explained. "I made a copy to help power up the X Tornado! It doesn't have the same power as a real Chaos Emerald, but if we put it in with the real one, it might cause some kind of reaction and mess up the whole system!"

"Brilliant!" Silver said.

"Okay!" Sonic smirked. "If this little baby does the trick, it will be goodbye Eclipse Cannon."

Hearing a yell behind them, the two hedgehogs, Blaze, and Tails turned around in surprise to hear the shattering glass of the Tornado.

"What's that?" Sonic asked. Silver's eyes widened when he saw who the claw had. "Amy!"

Silver, Blaze, and Sonic grunted as the light turned on.

"Let's turn the light on some things!" Eggman smirked. "I will set your friend free on one condition. Give me the Emerald and I'll give you the girl!"

Amy looked back at them, fear in her eyes.

"Let's see." Sonic said, scratching his head. "Give me a minute to think it over."

"What do you mean, 'think it over?!" Amy growled angrily.

"Well, perhaps this might make you think faster!" Eggman smirked, and the claw squeezed Amy.

"SONIC!" Amy screamed.

Sonic hopped down. "It's a deal!" He smirked, holding the fake Chaos Emerald in his hand.

"Place the Emerald in the center of that circle," Eggman ordered.

Sonic smirked as he walked up. "I guess it's just like that old saying. Easy come, easy go!" He kneeled down and placed down the Emerald. "Oh, well."

That's when a tube came and captured Sonic.

"Be prepared to be blown into space, my little blue friend!" Eggman smirked.

"No, wait!" Tails cried. "What if we give you a real Chaos Emerald?!"

"What's that?!" Eggman asked in surprise. "You mean to tell me that Chaos Emerald was a fake?!"

Tails realized he said the wrong thing.

"I should make Sonic pay for your deception you crafty creep!" Eggman growled.

"YOU LET SONIC GO RIGHT NOW!" Amy yelled angrily at Eggman.

"Hey!" Sonic said suddenly. "It's okay!"

"Sonic?" Amy asked, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Sonic turned to Silver and Blaze. "Watch after Penny for me, okay, guys? And tell her how sorry I am."

"Son-" Silver began, but was cut off by Blaze. "We will." She said, giving the hedgehog a determined nod.

Sonic looked up at Tails. "You're in charge, pal, okay?"

Tails just watched, tears falling down his cheeks.

"Now, Sonic!" Eggman said. "It's time to say goodbye!" He pressed a button, which released the capsule Sonic was in.

"SONIC, NO!" Amy cried and yelped when the claw dropped her.

The tube floated around down in space for a bit, then crash-landed right into Earth.

"He's gone..." Amy whimpered and burst into tears. Her eyes widened as the capsule smashed into the planet.

"SONICCC!" Amy screamed the hero's name.

...

"Your friend could not save himself." Shadow informed Penny as the two watched the capsule crash into the planet.

Penny's eyes widened. "You mean Sonic was in there?!" She asked, not wanting to believe it was true.

Shadow turned to face her. "Yes, I'm afraid he was. Perhaps Sonic wasn't the great hero you'd thought he'd be."

Penny's eyes widened, and tears started falling down her cheeks. "You're wrong!" She cried. "It can't be true! SONIC!" The girl cried, sobbing as she fled out the door.

Shadow watched her leave. He started to feel bad for Penny, and he reached out his hand out towards her for a moment, but pulled it back, forcing himself to look back to the spot where Sonic crashed.

...

"He's gone..." Amy whimpered. She dropped down to her knees and sobbed.

"Give me that Emerald!" Eggman snarled, holding out his hand. "I can't sit here all day waiting for your crocodile tears to dry!"

Still stunned a little by Sonic's defeat, Tails mumbled to himself inside the X Tornado. "I won't let you down, Sonic. I'll NEVER give him what he wants!"

"Hu?!" Eggman asked, putting his hand to his ear. What did he just hear Tails say?

"I'll be strong!" Tails said, and he had a new look of fierce determination in his eyes. "I won't let myself run away this time!" He turned to Silver, Amy, Mr. Tanaka, and Blaze. "Guys, stay out of the way!" He ordered.

Mr. Tanaka turned to the Mobians. "Amy, Silver, Blaze, follow me!" He ordered, and the trio of Mobians darted after the butler.

"You've tried my patience for far too long!" Eggman snarled. "You asked for it!"

And with that, he started shooting at Tails. Tails was quicker this time, though, and he shot his own flare of missiles at Eggman.

"I'll make you pay for that!" The scientist growled.

...

"Our mission seemed pretty straightforward at the time." Mr. Shmitz said, staring down at the ground as he shared his story. "They ordered us to close the facility because of some sort of accident."

He paused.

"Go on." Scarlet encouraged him softly.

Mr. Shmitz frowned. "A couple of us knew they weren't telling the whole story. But none of us had the guts to speak up. We just did our jobs and went up to space like we were told."

Soldier footsteps were heard running down the isle as they darted into the room. They surrounded the scientists.

"None of us knew what to expect." Mr. Shmitz continued. "At that time we heard all sorts of rumors about the Ark. Some said they were experimenting with the concept of eternal life. Others said they had created something called the Ultimate Creature."

Mr. Shmitz stared at a capsule which held some strange creature, when a movement caught his eyes. A young girl with yellow hair and blue eyes, wearing a blue dress and matching blue headband stood in the corner, watching with fear in her eyes. She gasped when she saw him, and darted away.

"STOP!" Mr. Shmitz yelled after her.

The girl continued to run until she entered a room, the door closing behind her. Mr. Shmitz thought he knew what she was going to do. "It's the creature!" He thought in his head. "She's setting it free!"

Mr. Shmitz shot the lock, and the door opened.

"FREEZE!" Mr. Shmitz ordered the girl. his gun in his hand.

She looked at him with pure terror.

"Take your hand off that lever!" Mr. Shmitz ordered, his gun at ready.

The girl turned her attention back to the lever.

"I'm not fooling around here!" He warned.

The girl's face shown determination, and she pulled the lever...

Mr. Shmitz stopped, unwilling to finish. "She was so young..." He said, his words stuttering as he spoke. "I'll never forget her face..."

He started to sob.

Mr. Stewart and Scarlet looked at each other.

"We sealed off the area, and they took her away. The mission ended, and we all went home." Mr. Shmitz said.

"Wasn't there any kind of investigation?" Scarlet asked.

"The official report called it an unfortunate accident, and we were all sworn to secrecy. But I know it wasn't an accident and no one can tell me otherwise! I volunteered for that force as a young man because I wanted to give back to the country I loved. But then...but then they..."

He shuddered.

Scarlet walked over to him and gently clasped his hand in hers.

"I understand now." She said softly. "Thank you."

...

Penny huffed as she ran, thinking about what Shadow said. Sonic couldn't have been gone, could he? Not after everything they went through together!

"Please..." She pleaded. "Please tell me it's all a lie! Tell me he survived! PLEASE!"

She darted deeper into the hall.

...

Knuckles had been running for quite some time when a ball of yellow light appeared right in front of him. Knuckles stopped.

Then, Sonic appeared. He fell to the floor, groaning a bit in pain.

"Sonic?!" Knuckles asked in surprise. He put down the Chaos Emerald and darted over to his friend. "Hey." He said, putting a hand on Sonic's back. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay..." Sonic grunted as he sat up. "I wanna try something!"

He opened his hand, and the fake Chaos Emerald glinted faintly in his palm.

...

As the capsule that held Sonic fell, Sonic wrapped his hand around the Chaos Emerald. "Now... let's see if this thing works..." Sonic mumbled to himself.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" He ordered the gem, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

A bright light filled his vision.

...

"This may be a fake, but it works!" Sonic said as the emerald dimmed in his hand.

Knuckles looked at him. "Are you gonna tell me what's going on or not?!"

"Yeah!" Sonic said. "I will, but first thing's first. I need you to keep an eye on Tails and the others."

"Okay." Knuckles said.

"Great," Sonic smiled. "And while you're doing that, I'm gonna put this guy to the ultimate test." He said with a wink.

...

"Now don't you worry your pretty little head, Topaz," Rouge told her agent friend. "I'm copying all the data as we speak."

"Just be sure you get every bit of information. Don't leave anything behind, Rouge." Topaz told her on the other end. "We need to know all we can."

Rouge smiled as she picked up the CD which contained all the information. "I got it all, honey. It looks like there's plenty of it. Even that dope Eggman doesn't even know the whole story. And it's quite a story."

"You'd better hurry up and get out of there," Topaz said. "Have you got the Emeralds? We can analyze the data when you get back. After that, we can..."

Rouge must've dropped her radio because Topaz's message ended right when a foot smashed into it.

"I suggest you keep your hands off those Chaos Emeralds." Shadow glared at Rouge. "We don't want them to fall into the wrong hands, now, would we? Agent Rouge."

"Have you been spying on me?" Rouge asked. "Aren't you the naughty little boy."

"You've been a government spy all this time!" Shadow growled.

"Uh hu," Rouge said, holding up the disk. "Now that I have my hands on this hot little disk here, I think I'll make my exit, if you don't mind!"

"I do mind, you phony!" Shadow growled.

"That's pretty funny coming from you." Rouge pointed out.

Shadow glared at her. "What do you mean by that?!"

...

Tails and Eggman had been fighting for a while, shooting lasers and dodging out of each other's way.

"This is for Sonic!" Tails said, shooting Eggman at full blast. The blast was strong enough to push Eggman away, but it also pushed Tails out of the way, too. Both machines crashed into the wall.

Tails managed to get out of the smoke alive, coughing.

"You're not hurt, are you, Tails?" Blaze asked the fox with worry.

''It worked." Tails said. "I did it!"

The sound of a claw smashing into the X Tornado pulled Mr. Tanaka and the Mobian's attentions. Tails' eyes widened as the machine claw grabbed the yellow Emerald.

"Give that back to me!" Tails cried.

Eggman smirked, and the door closed behind him.

...

"According to this, the body of the original creature was sealed off fifty years ago," Rouge said, showing Shadow a folder of the story.

"Yes, that's right." Shadow nodded. "But that was the prototype. I was the very first creature created after that one."

"Ah," Rouge said. "But it says here that there were two capsules ejected from the Ark when the facility was shut down. Apparently, neither one was ever found. And if those two capsules were never found, then how did you end up on Prison Island?" She asked. "I wonder! I have a feeling either of us is who we say we are."

Hearing a beep from his radio, Shadow picked it up. "Good news, Shadow, I've gotten hold of all the Chaos Emeralds!" Eggman announced gleefully on the other end.

"And...?" Shadow asked.

"It appears one of our enemies is heading straight for the Eclipse Cannon!" Eggman warned. "We have no time to waste. Prepare for takeoff immediately!"

Shadow ended his call and walked away.

"Come back!" Rouge called. "Don't you understand you're not the real Shadow?!"

Shadow said nothing but continued walking.

"Everything in your memory is as unreal as you are!" Rouge tried again.

Shadow finally stopped walking and turned to face Rouge. "If it is true, then all of my memories are not my own, they are still all that I have." He looked away. "I will do what I must. I promised her."

And with that, he walked away.

Rouge frowned, crossing her arms.

...

Knuckles had been running again with the Emerald in his arms when something caught his eye. Knuckles turned down to see Shadow darting below him.

"Him again!" Knuckles growled. "He must be going after Sonic!"

"Sonic's all right?" A familiar voice asked.

Knuckles turned around to see Penny panting behind him. She sighed gratefully, putting a hand on her chest to calm her pounding heart. "Sonic..." She muttered to herself.

"MISS PENNY!" Mr. Tanaka yelled, running up to the girl. "It is you!"

"Hi, Mr. Tanaka." Penny smiled, and to her surprise, the butler grasped the girl tightly in his arms. "Miss Penny!" He sobbed. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah..." Penny wheezed. "Mr. Tanaka, please loosen up the squeezes, I can't really breathe here!"

The Mobians smiled in relief.

...

"What a surprise."

The familiar voice had startled Sonic out of his train of thought. He glared at Shadow.

"I could've sworn I saw you blown to bits just a short time ago. Penny will be pleased to know you survived."

Sonic frowned at this. If he read the situation correctly, was Penny now going after Shadow, even after he captured her? Sonic brushed the thought away and hopped onto another lane.

"Well, I guess I'm a lot tougher than I look," Sonic said. "In fact, it's thanks to you I'm okay."

"I see," Shadow said. "You caused Chaos Control with that phony emerald there."

"Yup," Sonic said. "I gotta run!" He darted off, leaving Shadow behind. Shadow frowned and darted after Sonic.

"I'm afraid I can't let you get away that easy, my friend," Shadow said as he ran alongside Sonic. "Now, I demand to know who you and Silver are, and that girl who was with you!"

"Who, me, Silver, and Penny?" Sonic asked. "As for us hedgehogs, Silver and I are just guys with a need for speed! And as for Penny, leave her out of this!" He growled that last part. "As for me again, they call me Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Oh, yes," Shadow smirked. "I can understand your love for Speed and the girl, Sonic, but now your high-speed adventure must come to an end!"

...

"Eclipse Cannon is nearly ready to launch again, doctor!" Decoe announced.

"I will release the safety device!" Bocoe said as he typed fiercely on the computer.

Eggman smirked as he held the Chaos Emerald in his hands.

...

"Chaos Sphere!" Shadow yelled, flinging spheres at Sonic. Sonic luckily dodged them pretty easily and did a surprise spin attack, but Shadow dodged it, and shot another handful of Chaos Spheres at the speedy hedgehog, but Sonic managed to dodge them with ease.

"What's he trying to do?! Barbecue me?!" Sonic thought frantically in his head.

...

Seeing huge balls of light, Penny's eyes widened. "It's the Eclipse Canon!" She gasped.

"Sonic must've done that." Knuckles said, looking at the damage with pride.

"Now all we have to do is get that Chaos Emerald back from Eggman!" Tails said. "Then we'll be in the clear!"

...

"Doctor, the scan is badly damaged!" Decoe exclaimed.

"What does Shadow think he's doing?!" Bocoe growled.

...

Hearing the bots, Eggman growled in annoyance. "Fire it anyway!" He ordered, jamming the yellow Emerald in.

"ECLIPSE CANNON-FIRE!" He ordered, smashing the glass that held the red button.

All seven Emeralds glowed, then drained all the power. Eggman looked around in confusion as rows of timers appeared on each screen and a familiar person bond to a chair in chains shown on the screens as well.

"Grandpa!" Eggman gasped in surprise.

"The countdown marking my final revenge on this world has begun! In just a few minutes, you will be destroyed! Soon, Space Colony Ark will hurtle through the atmosphere and crash into this planet with cataclysmic force!"

TO BE CONTINUED...