Labyrinth Zone.
The dank, cold air stuck to absolutely everything: the walls, the floor, the creeping masses of vines, and Shadow's thin coat of fur was not immune either. It was a dark, inhospitable place, lost for centuries until it was accidentally unearthed during the Great War. This close to Robotropolis, just to the east, it remained a lifeless and forbidden place, untouched and unstudied. To make matters worse, much of the Zone was flooded and Shadow had no inclination to venture into those areas. While it was not a fact he was eager to share with the world, the Ultimate Life Form never had gotten around to learning to swim.
There hadn't been many open bodies of water on the ARK to practice in, anyway.
It was the water - stagnant in some places and a raging torrent in others - that made the Zone particularly treacherous. The floors were slippery, the atmosphere thick and musty, and the lighting dim at best. The nature of the ruins themselves added to the danger. Most of it was stable enough, but many sections were deceptively fragile, and there were areas suspended over deep water, often lined with the jaded remains of old spike traps. Even the vines that covered the place like a black and green carpet were hostile to intruders: thick or thin, a multitude of needle like serrations covered them. Even the leaves bore tiny barbs that tried to catch the skin and entangle passerby.
Steely electric lights lit up the chamber Shadow currently found himself in. It was a vast repository dubbed "The Archive." Built in the shape of a hexagram, the Archive was twenty or more meters to a side, and each towering slope hosted dozens of carved faces and shapes, along with empty racks that may once have held books. The carvings were grotesque and nightmarish: most were contorted faces, some human-like, others more mobian, screaming or wailing in silent torment or grief. The indentations of bodies coiled around one another, and everywhere there were the faces and images of birds. They were glaring down at every angle, lifeless stone eyes full of predatory hunger and hate.
High above, the domed ceiling was little more than a black pit.
It was an eerie place to be sure, even for the most stoic and cold hearted. Shadow had never had an interest in Mobius' many ruins, but he could almost hear his creator, Professor Gerald Robotnick, lecturing about them. The man had been a true polymath, accomplished in many fields: physics, biology, archeology, anthropology, ethnology, philosophy, astronomy and many more. Even now, the great man's words whispered in the back of Shadow's mind, between the realms of conscious recollection and unconscious imagining.
"Scan complete. I am transmitting data."
"Good," Shadow replied, crossing his arms and turning to face the only other companion he had in this forgotten place. Metal Sonic was poor company, but Shadow could appreciate his silence if not his malice. Even with cold steel for eyes, Metal's hatred of all things mobian, and especially hedgehog, was all but palpable. To be modeled after Sonic, the creature he hated and despised most of all, probably did little to assuage the artificial emotions.
"Transmission complete. Incoming orders." Metal's voice was monotone and expressionless. "The Doctor wishes to remind you of your priorities. Shall I repeat them?"
It would be a mistake to assume by his tone of voice that Metal Sonic was some unthinking automaton. He was logical and cold, even when inwardly furious. The Doctor had purged him of all the unnecessary emotions and thoughts that had been copied from Sonic. What remained was a rage filled shell, disciplined, obedient and merciless. It was also intelligent and unpredictable outside the constraints of its programming.
"I know why I'm here," Shadow said, and Metal let the topic drop. He was a true AI, and he knew how to read and respond to organics, and how to learn from them.
"You only believe you do," Metal's reply was typically icy. "You are flesh and water. You have no purpose."
"And metal and plastic does?"
"A guiding intelligence created me. In metal. In plastic." The robot walked towards one of the walls, its steps against the stone creating a distinct 'ka-tank-ka-tank' sound. "That intelligence guides me now and forever."
Shadow had heard this before. Metal knew that he, too, had been created by human hands. They were alike in that respect, and they both knew it. The difference was that Metal saw itself – or maybe himself – as something greater. To him, Shadow was just another oily bag of meat, not the superior creation of a superior intelligence.
Shadow suddenly thought of a new response, "Really? Are you saying Robotnick is your God?"
Metal tilted his head, but only to further scan the ruins around them.
"God. A deity created by organics as a consequence of their inability to accept death. It is the creation of a mind that recognizes its limits. I am not so weak. I have no need for the concept."
"You recognize him as your creator," Shadow said, repeating Metal's own words, "His intelligence guides you. He has given you laws, commandments, you can not break. Hasn't he given you the very limits you claim not to have?"
"A law is not a limit."
"A natural law."
"Your definition of a natural law," Metal said, turning his head completely around one hundred and eighty degrees. "Is not my own. Our circumstances are in no way the same."
"Of course not…" Shadow conceded, tucking his hands behind his back and turning away from the insane robot. It had been a momentary diversion, arguing with Metal, but as always it grew tiresome. He was not so blinded by pride that he felt the need to beat words into a talking toaster like Metal Sonic. Metal's hate, after all, was only a reflection of his shell of an existence; Shadow's righteous anger found its root in the world's injustice, not some petty vendetta.
No: their circumstances were not similar.
Professor Robotnick had given Shadow free will, and a true intelligence. He had given Shadow life, not faux life. The Professor's grandson had potential, but Shadow knew he would never have the gall to create a life form that could actually challenge his expectations. Shadow respected his creator, but he knew that Gerald's word was not divine or natural law. The only law was what one applied to oneself, and Gerald's wishes were not the extent of Shadow's designs.
Still, Shadow was not surprised that the Eggman had sent his cobalt blue enforcer along as an escort. This was an important mission, after all. Shadow had "discovered" that Ixis Naugus was in the area, attempting to unearth some ancient evil. Neither the Doctor nor his enemies in the Kingdom of Acorn wished for another Perfect Chaos to pop up on their doorstep, unannounced. Furthermore, both King Max and Robotnick hated Ixis with a personal passion. With the secret negotiations proceeding apace, it was decided that both powers could run a joint op to protect their worldly interests.
Neither of them had any idea what was actually at stake here.
"This script…" Shadow thought aloud, running his hand along the base of one of the walls. "Seems… familiar…"
"Unlikely," Metal Sonic corrected him, eyes glowing red in the darkness at the edge of the electric lights. "These logograms have never been translated."
Shadow stared hard at the strange pictograms.
"Light," Shadow said aloud. "Light of God. Or God of Light… the writing is like a graph. The meaning comes from the arrangement of the…" He shook his head.
"Interesting," Metal said, suddenly looming nearby. "Recalling a dead language?"
"No. Not that… more like a memory of something I heard…" Shadow stood up, and brushed off his knees. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter."
Metal stared at him, evaluating, calculating, and then… he walked off, with a rhythmic ka-clack-ka-clack. Shadow frowned. The realization had been so sudden, so strong, like a memory of Maria, except it was like the Professor had been reading those dead words to him. Was he remembering something Professor Robotnick had taught him? There had been times in the past when he had simply realized things, known them out of the blue, just like with the Eclipse plans from the ARK…
"He is here," Metal spoke up, interrupting Shadow's thoughts.
"How do you know?"
"Sonar," the robot replied.
Sure enough, a few seconds later a familiar blue blur blasted into the room. Sonic stopped on a dime, leaving a skid mark on the stone floor and kicking up a cloud of dust that (perhaps not coincidentally) blew right into Metal Sonic's face. The blue one made a grand gesture of looking around and taking in his surroundings… he then promptly lost interest and walked over to his robotic duplicate.
"Heh heh, sorry 'bout that!" Sonic wryly chuckled and tried to wipe some of the dust off his android nemesis. "I didn't literally mean it when I said you were always welcome to eat my dust…"
Metal just glared.
"That's the problem with you two. No witty comebacks!" Sonic shrugged and jaunted over to where Shadow stood, arms crossed. "Is it so much to ask for just one sharp tongued bad guy?"
"You're as annoying as ever, blue hedgehog," Shadow turned his head to speak past Sonic to his cobalt doppelganger. "Did the fool come alone, Metal?"
"It seems so," said robot confirmed.
"What? You guys gonna turn against me already?" Sonic asked with a laugh. "Well, the sooner you try and stab me in the back the sooner I can go home, I guess."
"Home?" Metal hissed, a low static-filled sound. "I'll send you to Hell."
"That's a new one! You get your wit-box upgraded or somethin'?" Sonic gave Metal a smirk filled to overflowing with confidence. "But let's face facts: I've beaten you so often you should have a recycling symbol on your chest."
Metal's fist clenched and Shadow wondered if the robot would be more of a liability than a help in what was to come. Sonic was aggravating by his very nature. Shadow had realized this after meeting the great Hero of Mobius just twice. There was no fondness in him for the blue buffoon, but that didn't mean Shadow would let his feelings get the better of him.
"He got you there, Metal. Even if they were different models, they were still your predecessors," Shadow reminded him, and then added, more forcefully. "Remember your orders."
For a few long seconds, Sonic's smirk widened.
"Killing you here would not be satisfying," Metal concluded, fist unclenching. "I wish for an audience of your loved ones to see you… when you die."
"Looks like some of your over-the-top drama rubbed off on him, Shads," Sonic joked, assuming that all too-familiar tone of voice he used against all his enemies (and most of his friends, too). The jocularity of it all rubbed Shadow the wrong way. It always had.
'Someone who was never serious should never expect to be taken seriously,' or so Shadow thought.
"Maybe if you fought as well as you talked," Shadow commented, a small smile of his own taking form. "Your side would have won the war already."
"We're working on it," Sonic replied, grin not faltering in the least. "Way I hear it: we've got you guys by the balls."
Shadow's eyes narrowed. "We'll see."
The three arch enemies stared down their respective targets. Metal, of course, had only contempt and hate filled designs for Sonic. Whatever minor disagreements he had with Shadow paled to nothingness in comparison. Shadow likewise felt only a mild dislike towards the steel simulacrum. Sonic was one of the few beings on the planet that Shadow knew to be a potential threat and impediment to bringing lasting and final justice to a corrupt world. While they had only skirmished before, both knew a showdown was all but inevitable. Appropriately, Sonic had eyes only for his new and more exotic rival, eschewing the robotic copy Eggman kept rebuilding and perfecting.
"I don't trust either of you two, but I'm always up for a challenge and this looks interesting. That's why I came. Cause it'll be fun telling people how I kicked your sorry butts when you break your word."
"So…!" Sonic leaned back on his heels, having said his piece on that topic before blithely changing it. "This is where you think Ixis went, huh?"
"Yes," Shadow replied, ignoring the remarks about betrayal. This was supposed to be a 'joint mission of cooperation' between the Eggman Empire and the Kingdom. Snively had sold it to the mobians that way, billing it as a show of good faith in the tentative peace talks. Both parties logically hated Ixis and didn't want him getting out of control, but there was little doubt that the Mobians expected some sort of 'stab-in-the-back' as Sonic had said.
That Sonic had come, not just expecting but looking forward to a betrayal…
'He's an odd one," Shadow couldn't help but think. 'Is he a fool? Or is he suicidal? Perhaps he's lost his mind? Who else would go looking to pick a fight like this? Could it be that Metal's confidence in his lack of limits comes from the original?'
"I felt him use a form of Chaos Control to open a rift here in the ruins, the black hedgehog explained. "I had planned to go after him alone, and destroy him, but I was told to wait."
"Any idea what he's up to?" Sonic asked, taking a quick look around the ancient Archive.
"I believe there is an inactive Warp Ring here," Shadow answered. "It is impossible to say where it goes."
Sonic coughed, conspicuously. "Trap. (cough) Trap."
"Why bother, when we could just kill you if we so desired?" Metal asked, taking a few steps towards the hedgehog.
"Riiight," Sonic briskly replied, dismissing the silly robot. "Well, what's the problem? Where is it?"
It was fairly well known, although among a select and empowered few, that Warp Rings occurred when powerful entities approached a nexus point for local Chaos Energy. These portals often required a set amount of Chaos Energy present in an individual to trigger their appearance, if the area itself was not rich in the necessary energies. Virtually all Warp Rings led to the Secret or "Special" Zone, where Chaos Emeralds often resided. How the Emeralds got there from the proper material plane was not well understood. It was believed that intensive use eventually caused some sort of 'planar phasing' that returned the Emerald to a Zone closer to that of the Chaos Force itself.
"Very old Ring Gates," Shadow said, using the other name for set Warp Rings. "Often fade over the centuries, as they are replaced by newer ones elsewhere."
"Like a door jammed shut," Sonic said, simplifying the statement so much that Shadow felt dumber already, simply by proximity. "I got it."
"Suffice to say," Shadow continued, exacerbated by talking to the upbeat blue hero. "It will take more energy than either of us have individually to reopen it. Ixis must have found some trick to slip inside… Metal…? …Metal!"
The robot seemed to be staring off to the side.
"What is it?" Shadow asked.
"I am detecting an intruder," Metal said, with a hint of amusement. "But I know this one. She is harmless."
"Who?" Sonic asked, and then guessed. "Oh, not her! Let's hurry up and go already!"
Shadow had no idea who they were talking about, but he was eager to get going. Sonic jumped over the room, landing equidistant from Metal and Shadow, forming a triangle between them. Both began releasing Chaos Energy. Sonic's was invisible, but it built up around his feet and rippled both up his legs and into the ground. Shadow's hands began to glow a faint white, while Metal's eyes burned a hot mercurial red.
With a shudder, the air between them twisted and boiled.
A blast of hot air exploded, shaking the walls and billowing through Sonic and Shadow's quills. A tiny pinprick of light spun frantically in the air between the three of them. Crackles of ethereal electricity ran along the floor, and recesses in the walls lit up with fire. A complex geometric pattern spread out beneath them, and when it reached the walls, it climbed up along hidden paths in defiance of gravity.
The entire Archive lit up with light and flame, as the fires created burning mosaics all around them. The left a haunting glow set against the many savage faces and tortured figures, highlighting their anger and suffering in bas relief. It was a strange and amazing sight, and Sonic made the only sound: letting loose a long appreciative whistle. When the fire reached the ceiling, it lit up a zodiac of shapes and figures, all revolving around a great ball of flame that sat at the dome's apex. This had to be the Sun itself… or rather, the God of the Sun.
Solaris.
"Are these the 'Flames of Disaster' Mephiles mentioned…?" Shadow wondered, but kept such thoughts to himself. Things seemed to be going according to plan.
In the center of the Archive, the tiny point of light began to expand. Shadow now wondered about that translation. Was it really an Archive… or a storehouse for something else? This place was surely designed to accomidate something other than old books. Still, no doubts assailed the Ultimate Life Form. This was for Maria. This was for Justice. This was to punish and set right a world born wrong.
The point of light suddenly expanded, first to fist size, and then it became large enough to swallow a small mobian. With a great trumpet like sound it expanded one more time, blasting sound and air out of the way with enough fury to make both Sonic and Shadow wince. Metal Sonic alone stood unfazed. The heat and the glow of the room painted the robot in a dazzling array of colors, but gave no hint as to its actual mood.
Between them, a burning Ring of Fire slowly revolved.
"We've done it," Shadow said, breathily. "Amazing…"
"I've never seen a Warp Ring like this before," Sonic's voice was a mixture of awe and apprehension. But there was no fear there; he took a few tentative steps towards it before turning to Shadow.
"You first," Sonic insisted.
"Afraid?" Shadow asked, smirking.
"As if!"
"If I step through, the portal may disappear…"
"Yeah. You'll forgive me for not jumping headfirst into a giant flaming warp ring. What do you…?"
"Enough," Metal Sonic interrupted. He was already standing next to the strange Ring Gate, looking up at it. Before either Sonic or Shadow could make a move, the robot reached up.
And vanished in a flash.
Sonic and Shadow exchanged angry looks before making a mad dash for the Warp Ring. Two flashes of light later and they were gone. The angry flames that swirled about the slowly turning Ring did not abate. Instead, they found a new source of Chaos Energy that kept the gateway open.
Silver telekinetically lowered himself onto the floor.
"These flames… and the Trigger…" the pale hedgehog mused, eyes boring into the portal ahead of him. "Mephiles said not to worry, but… I just can't shake this feeling of dread…"
"Sonniku! I finally caught you!"
"AAAHHHH!!"
Chemical Plant
Tails sat in the waiting room of the Free Clinic, watching Rouge sweet talk someone at the front desk. He still wasn't sure what the bat girl wanted, but for the moment he was willing to hear her out and accept her help, even if it came with a price tag attached. If she knew as much as she implied she did, then it would be in his own best interests to accommodate her… or kill her, of course, but he wasn't so heartless that the option was in any way palatable.
The Clinic she had led him to wasn't exactly well advertised, but it seemed to be well known by the locals. A dozen mobians and even one robian waited nearby for treatment, in varying states of disarray. Many were coughing, and Tails could guess that they had respiratory ailments due to the weather – a layer of smog was swiftly descending on the Zone. Chemical Plant had been polluted from the day he and Sonic came here, and little had changed after its transition to Royal administration.
At least the staff here seemed helpful and well equipped.
The whole place definitely had a bit of a used appearance to it, but it was a sanctuary from the troubles outside. Ventilators kept the air clean and circulating, and several children played in an isolated room with toys and games. He watched as one of the nurses, flanked by a squat medbot on four wheels, helped an old man out of his chair. A moment later, the doors to the Clinic slid open, and two of the District Guards stormed in.
For a second, Tails wondered if they were the two from before that he had encountered, but these were different. It looked like one of them had a chemical burn on his arm. The kitsune fox was familiar with all manner of burns, and he had personally experienced most of them at one point or another in his life. Even a mechanical genius had accidents, after all. Trying to look inconspicuous, he saw the guards walk up to the nurse and demand immediate treatment, which they got without a fuss. Neither paid any attention to the peons in the waiting room.
His ears perked up as he heard Rouge's approach.
"Well?" he asked, seeing her standing nearby. He still wasn't even sure why they were here.
"I've got a place for us to stay," she said, leaning over and whispering.
"What does that matter?" Tails whispered back.
Rouge leaned back, and patted him playfully on the shoulder. "You're a smart guy, but you really have no clue sometimes!"
He stood up, tall enough to look her in the eye. "Then why don't you explain it to me?"
Rouge shrugged, and started to walk away. He took a few long steps to keep up.
"Aside from personal showers and clean water," Rouge argued, but kept her voice relatively soft. "Staying here has other benefits, too."
Swiping a key card over a concealed reader built into the wall, Rouge unlocked a door leading to a flight of steps. At the top, built into a corner where two walls intersected and met the ceiling, a green tinted robotic eye scanned those heading upstairs. It scanned back and forth in a steady rhythm, ever alert. At the top of the steps, the two mobians rounded the corner and opened another door.
As expected, this was a dormitory for the Clinic staff.
It was certainly clean and well maintained, but Tails still couldn't figure out why they had to come here. Even after being basically robbed by the District guards, it wasn't too hard to make a little money, and he was sure Rouge had plenty on her. They could have stayed anywhere. He followed the bat girl down a hallway, and then into a small room opposite one of the bedrooms.
At first, it looked like a little lounge. There were a few chairs, a couch, and a single television set along with two plastic plants. Rouge approached one of the walls, and held up her card. Without further warning, one of the panels in the wall retracted, revealing a small cubbyhole. Rouge put away the ID card and retrieved what was inside: a pocket computer.
Tails quirked an eyebrow at this. "Rouge… this place…"
"You could do well to remember. Even with what happened to Station Square," Rouge replied, entering her name at a prompt on the little computer. It chimed in response. "GUN's Intelligence services are still the finest in the world."
She turned the TV on, but instead of a public access show like one would expect, it displayed a slowly scrolling list of mobian faces flanked by relevant information and statistics. Additional options popped up as bars on the top and left sides of the screen. It was a nice set up: even with the ID card, it couldn't be compromised without either an in depth examination or the proper written authentication Rouge had. Even if the guards searched the place, and even if they found the little computer, it was unlikely they'd think very much about it.
"What happens if you enter the wrong information on that?" he asked, inclining his head towards the computer.
"It logs you in and displays a random recording of a sports event," Rouge cheerfully replied.
Tails gave an appreciative snort.
"I thought you'd like it," Rouge said, setting the database up for search parameters. "As you can guess, GUN has secretly funded this operation for some time."
"How? Why?"
"Think about it," she answered. "There's obviously no way for a human or overlander to gather intelligence on mobians without sticking out like a big, bald, sore thumb. Instead, we work through third parties, providing grants, funding and other assistance."
"Assistance… like weapons, vehicles and drugs," he speculated.
"I never heard of an op running drugs," Rouge corrected him. "But we move what we have to, to accomplish our objectives. Don't act like you're any different, and don't pretend you didn't receive any 'funding' or support of your own."
"I suppose not…" Tails conceded, though he plainly didn't appreciate the comparison. It had been just what that Underworld negotiator had said. He did what he had to, for the good of the country. He had the technology, after all, and the expertise. It all fell on his shoulders.
"So what is GUN planning here?" he asked.
"You mean was. There is no active op in this city anymore. It's all automated," Rouge said, and held out her hand. "Let's see that picture."
Tails slipped his hand into one of his belt pockets and retrieved it. Rouge took a quick look at it herself, smiling at the happy pre-war couple. Then she held it up to the pocket computer and activated a camera scanner. After a second of processing, the picture appeared on the screen. Rouge tapped in a series of buttons, and then used the tablet pen to highlight what she wanted.
A program analyzed the two faces in the picture for depth and contrast, quickly assigning a number of points to each face on a skeletal grid. Major facial features were analyzed. Tails informed Rouge that the male – Amadeus – had lost his left eye in the Great War. Of course, now, it could have easily been replaced by a prosthetic, fully functional or otherwise. The program then aged the faces, and right before Tails' eyes, his adopted parents became just like he remembered in his memories.
To think that he had almost forgotten their faces, after just a few years…
"SEARCHING," the database announced. "PLEASE WAIT."
"Let me guess," Tails spoke up, while they waited. "Anyone who comes in here gets scanned."
"As I said, its all automatic," Rouge answered in the affirmative. "The doctors don't do anything. A covert bug copies, routes, and sorts all the information, updating itself as necessary. There are cameras outside, too. Didn't you see them?"
Actually, he hadn't.
"No, I didn't," he admitted, with a shrug.
"Neither does anyone else."
"Rouge…" he began, a little assiduously. "Did it ever bother you? Did you ever get second thoughts, working for GUN?"
The pretty bat tilted her head in faux thought. "Not really."
"Not at all?" he pressed.
"Look," she finally replied. "Am I supposed to have some kind of do-or-die love for all those people out there?"
She gestured with her hand to all the mobians outside.
"I'm nothing like them, and I don't want to be like them," she continued. "I want a warm shower every night and a big queen sized bed to sleep on… I want jewels and adventure and the freedom to chase after my dreams. You think I'd have those opportunities living in some jungle in Cat Country? Or working for 'His Majesty the King?'"
Tails frowned at the implication, even if it was true. In the Kingdom of Acorn, the nobility still had an iron grip on power. Rouge's breed of mobian was rare outside Cat Country. It didn't help that she was female. The most she could have realistically hoped for was to marry into a noble family. Even as important as Tails knew he was to the war, he was sure that if he were a girl, he'd never have been given the titles and authority he currently held.
"I can see what you mean…"
"So I worked for the humans," Rouge said, nodding at him. "Just like you did. And they weren't what you'd heard, were they?"
"They did look down on mobians."
"They are twice our height," Rouge joked, a little weakly. "Yes, they do have that hang up. But to them, one of us is the same as any other. It didn't matter what breed I was or what my sex was. As long as I did my job, I was free to do whatever I wanted. I even got to vote. To VOTE."
"Isn't that the height of stupidity?" she asked, shaking her head. "That humans let mobians vote before our own people did? So, no, I never regretted working for GUN. They've treated me better than anyone else would have."
Tails could see what she meant.
"What about you?" she asked. "Did you…?"
"Regret it?" he answered. "No. I did worry sometimes, about whether I was doing the right thing in the long run. But most of the time I never thought about it. Working for GUN… it was like a dream come true. I could pursue any project I wanted. I didn't even mind the deadlines!"
"Lost yourself in the work?" Rouge guessed. "You don't seem the type."
He smiled, wistfully. "Sometimes I would lose track of time… I'd forget about eating, sleeping, drinking… anything except the discovery. The next mystery to unlock. The next idea to take and give form to."
Rouge chuckled softly, but quickly looked away.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing… just, hearing you say that, reminded me of him," Rouge paused, but elaborated. "Robotnick. He was the same way. He'd go days without eating or sleeping."
"Really?" the comparison didn't shock or disgust the two tailed fox. In a way, it was sort of flattering. Despite his madness, the Eggman was still the world's greatest mind. He consistently built things that Tails could only stare at in awe and respect. In everything save his motives, the fox couldn't help but look up to that terrible man.
"After that, you'd think he'd eat a feast or something," Rouge mused, remembering the times she had spent working for him, undercover for GUN. "But all he ever ate was salad and fruit."
"Salad and fruit?"
"I think he was a vegetarian," Rouge said with a laugh. "Thank goodness Snively was there. At least he has some red meat stored away."
He gave her a sly look. "How'd you get them to trust you back then, anyway?"
Rouge's only reply was a sultry smile. It made for a funny image, but Tails knew she was avoiding the question. There was no chance that Rouge had just batted her eyes and gotten the Eggman to just accept her as part of his organization. She had to have done something to impress the madman. Or maybe it wasn't Eggman that she'd seduced, but someone who functioned as the tyrant's strong right arm…
He let the subject drop, sensing he wasn't about to get an honest answer, not that he should have expected one in the first place. Rouge was a spy, after all; he couldn't expect her to share all the tricks of her trade. Instead, he turned to the screen and the computer which had narrowed down and finished its search.
"That her?"
"I think so," he said, staring at the profile. It was a 98 percent match according to the search program. To the kitsune, there could be no doubt that it was her. Rosemary Prower.
Like her husband, she had a darker color of fur than her adopted son (in fact, Tails' light ochre was a rare color outside of the kitsune breed), with long reddish brown hair and light blue eyes the color of ice. Rouge clicked the profile, and a number of pictures appeared from different angles. Another window displayed medical and physiological statistics. If all that weren't proof enough, there was the name of the woman.
"Marie," Rouge said it aloud. "Not a very good alias."
"She isn't using her last name," Tails observed. The entry just read: 'the Fox' in lieu of a surname. The Prowers had been landed gentry before and during the war. Even if they had taken their name from him, he was sure that they had one of their own. If Rosemary wasn't using a surname, then that meant…
"They're blending in with the lower classes," Rouge deduced, thinking along the same lines. "We've got enough contact information. It shouldn't be hard to find her now."
Tails nodded, slowly.
"This was all so easy for you, wasn't it?" he asked.
Rouge gave a dismissive laugh. "This is my job you're talking about, but… it would have been harder without that photograph."
"I owe you," he admitted.
"Yes," Rouge replied, sitting down on the couch and crossing her long legs. "You do."
"What do you want?" he asked, finally tearing his eyes away from the image of his foster mother. Rouge had accomplished in an hour what he had been spending days trying to do. He wasn't about to inflate his own ego: without her, he may well have never found the two mobians he had come here to find.
"Let's see…" Rouge blithely tapped her chin, pretending to think over her reward. "You already owe me how much for my job, before?"
"One hundred thousand credits," Tails reminded her. "If your information is accurate."
"It always is. And the money is nice," the bat concluded with a sarcastic tone. "But unlike before, this was a personal job, so I'd like something special."
"You sound like you know what you want..."
"I do. I've heard that you manufacture a very specific type of focusing crystal… used to amplify high powered beam weapons or something like that." She saw him about to explain. "I don't need to know the details. What matters is that these crystals are very rare and very expensive. I want one."
Tails started to open his mouth, intending to explain why he couldn't.
"Don't say 'I can't do that' or 'that's a national secret,'" Rouge warned him. "Because we both know you can place the order and have it made in less than a week."
"F… fine," he conceded. "I trust that's all?"
Rouge nodded happily. "That's all!"
"Good…" he sighed. "Because…"
"'That's all,' is what I'd like to say," Rouge continued, cutting him off. "But there's actually more."
The kitsune's half lidded stare did nothing to hide his displeasure.
"Why don't you have a seat?" Rouge softly patted the cushion next to her on the couch. How she could extort someone and flirt with them in the same breath, Tails couldn't imagine. The fox turned, grabbed a chair, and sat down in that instead.
"What else?" he asked, settling into the inevitable.
"I'll admit that I was a bit surprised when I got your letter," Rouge began, examining her nails. "I didn't know it was you, of course. Not at first. But the request came from the Knothole Ministry of the Interior, and I know you like to work through them."
"How?" he had to ask.
"You killed one of our men," she explained, not missing a beat. Tails' eyebrows raised a fraction.
"And how did you know that?"
"That you killed him? It was a guess on my part. But he worked in your department and then disappeared." Rouge smiled at his ruthlessness. "We never found the body. Mind telling me where you disposed of it?"
Tails felt his blood begin to boil. That she knew this much already…!
"Matter incinerator," he answered. "And for your information, your man was killed because he tried to shoot me."
"Did you give him the gun?"
"Does it matter?"
"Not to me," Rouge replied, waving her hand. "It wasn't hard to look into things and find out some of what happened. I wouldn't have believed it myself, but then I remembered what you were like when you thought I had betrayed the city. You were a little scary back there."
He looked away, ashamed.
"But I'm freelance now, and I decided to take the job," Rouge said, smiling at him. "Besides, with that much money at stake, it's unprofessional to question my employer's moral fiber. So I did what you asked, and I checked up on Knuckles and the Chaotix."
"What did you find?" Tails asked, still pointedly not looking straight at her. "And how did you find them him so quickly?"
Rouge leaned forward a bit, still grinning smugly. "Knuckles is like you… and Sonic and Shadow. All of you simply reek of Chaos Energy. For whatever reason, my echolocation seems to be particularly sensitive to the energy that flows in and out of you. Just like with the Chaos Emeralds. When I concentrate, I can literally see you from miles away. You shine like diamonds in a bed of coal."
"I could find any of you with my eyes closed," she concluded. "If I wanted to."
"I see…"
"As for what I found," Rouge continued, "Well, let me say that Knuckles was about as friendly as always. He even took a few swipes at me. But I confirmed that he currently has one of the Super Emeralds on his person. Espio probably has another."
"Probably?"
"Knuckles let that fact slip during our fight. I suppose he could have been trying to throw me off, but I doubt it."
"He could have found and hidden more of them," Tails proposed.
"And risk someone like me digging them up?"
"…point…"
"So they have two," Rouge said, pointing at him. "The questions are: do you want them? And how many do you already have?"
Tails shuffled in his seat, crossing his legs and stiffening his back.
"I'm not sure how to answer questions like that…"
"Let me help you with them, then." The bat girl rested her head on her right hand, leaning leisurely against the side of the couch. "A month or so ago, the Super Emeralds mysteriously go missing. Either they were stolen, or they faded into the Special Zone. Either way… Knuckles and his friends go out to gather them up, keeping them out of the hands of bad people like myself."
"Fast forward two weeks," Rouge said. "You ask me to spy on the Chaotix and find out how many Super Emeralds they have. Vector also happens to be visiting Knothole to discuss this same matter with Princess Sally. You also take this opportunity to send your ship, the Blue Typhoon, into front line combat around Starlight City. One look at the ship, much less an in depth scan, reveals that it is designed to use a large beam weapon."
"I don't see how that's significant…" Tails interrupted. "I'm not the first to put a beam weapon on a capital ship."
"Of course not," Rouge acknowledged, "But the Blue Typhoon is the smallest capital ship built around one. Most ships that size can't generate that level of power. While at GUN, you did a lot of research into Chaos Energy as a power source… I know you have two Chaos Emeralds available. You put one in that ship after the fight with the Battlebirds, didn't you?"
"Speculation."
"Then why did the ship test fire its beam weapon after the battle, but not during it?"
"Technical reasons," Tails answered, but didn't elaborate.
"Here's what I think," Rouge let him wriggle out of that debate as a matter of courtesy. "When the Super Emeralds disappeared a month ago, you saw this as an opportunity. The echidnas are neutral in the war, so you didn't feel bad about finding one of their Emeralds and keeping it for yourself. This left you with three, two from the Mobian set, and one from Angel Island."
She crossed her legs again, switching them, one over the other.
"You then made the rather public move of ordering the Blue Typhoon into action. You planned to transfer one Mobian Chaos Emerald into the ship, using its reactivation as an excuse. Given Knothole's power generation problems, you probably wanted to also take the Chaos Emerald currently powering the city shield. With two Chaos Emeralds in your hands, instead of just one, you could shuffle them around as a cover for your use of one – or more – Super Emeralds."
"Now," Rouge continued, smiling at Tails' discomfort. "I don't know what you plan to do with all these Emeralds… Maybe you're trying to go 'super,' maybe you're just researching them, I don't know. But I have a good nose for a cover up, and I can smell a conspiracy from a mile away."
She saw him turn his head slightly, evaluating her with midnight blue eyes.
"There's that scary look again," she remarked, without a hint of trepidation. "Just what are you up to, Miles Prower?"
"'…Up to?'" he asked. "'…Conspiracy?'"
His eyes narrowed, and he slowly turned around. Most of the time the young kitsune put up a friendly and good natured front, but challenged, backed up against a wall, a serious and determined expression left little doubt as to his intentions. This was a mobian who had faced many enemies in his short life, and who had seen more than those ten times his age. He was a boy who could wield the power of a god.
Miles Prower closed his eyes and gave a disapproving huff.
"They only thing I'm 'up to' …is ensuring the safety of the mobian people. You think Sonic follows the news? Do you think Sally tells him where to go and what to do anymore? For years, I've been the one organizing how things are done. He depends on me to cover his back and take care of the details…" Still seated, Tails rested his hands on his knees, but his tails coiled and uncoiled dangerously behind him. "There is no conspiracy. I'm only doing what I've always done."
"What a cute way of saying you make your own rules and that you know best," Rouge quipped. "I'd hate to see what you'd have done if GUN ever actually brought Sonic in for questioning."
Tails wrapped the knuckles of his right hand against his knee.
"So," he said. "You've woven together an interesting story, Rouge. Do you think anyone would believe it?"
She answered his question with one of her own. "Do you want me to steal their Emeralds for you?"
A long pause followed.
"No."
"Oh? Why not?"
"What matters is that I control who has access to a complete set," he relented, explaining the inherent logic behind his motives. "Far too often, our enemies have gathered the Emeralds together and used them against us. That… will not happen again. I won't let it."
"You won't be able to keep your secrets forever," Rouge cautioned him.
He glared at her.
"Just a bit of friendly advice," she added. "I won't tell anyone, but I want something in return."
"Name it," he growled.
If anything, Rouge's predatory smile grew.
Sonic landed on his feet, unscathed despite the flames. The trip through the Warp Ring had been jarring and much more abrupt than he was used to. His body paid the dividend, but any lingering soreness quickly faded as he took in the view around him. Sonic had seen more than a few facets of the Special Zone in his time collecting Chaos Emeralds, so he knew some of what to expect.
This… was totally different.
He found himself next to Shadow and Metal, standing inside an immaculate courtyard frozen in time. A dozen trees sporting thick, gnarled trunks stood arranged in a circle around them. Other trees, brightly colored, stood in contrast. Nothing moved. Even the ground below was motionless: not a blade of grass tilted in the wind, nor a pebble shifted underfoot.
The three hedgehogs, two organic one otherwise, took in the scene, slowly turning around to try and identify where they were. The sky overhead was as frozen as the ground below; the clouds never moved though the sun shined brightly in the sky. A nearby fountain spurted droplets of water into the air that hung suspended and motionless in freefall.
It was like being trapped in a picture or a painting.
Sonic turned around. Behind him, he could see a vast landscape of jungles and mountains, leading up to an ocean, but it looked hazy and indistinct… like an optical illusion. It took a few seconds to realize they weren't just on some mountain retreat: they were on a floating island in the sky. Turning back towards the others, Sonic saw Shadow approaching one of the ancient olive trees. The ultimate life form placed a hand on the trunk, and with a flash the world unfroze.
"Man, where are we?" Sonic wondered aloud.
"Unknown," Metal replied in a monotone voice as he looked up at the sky. "GPS is off line. There do not appear to be stars in the sky above us."
"Parallel world?" Sonic guessed. He'd been to a few.
"We're in a pocket universe," Shadow reasoned. "Separate from the normal Special Zone, but with similar rules. It did not activate until we arrived."
"So someone took one of these Zones…"
"A Special Zone, but one no longer in synch with our sets of Chaos Emeralds," Shadow speculated.
"One of these Zones," Sonic said again. "And turned it into a palace?"
"That would not be inaccurate," Metal agreed. "Our objective is ahead of us."
Shadow started walking. "I think I know the way…"
Metal and Sonic followed, the latter with only a little complaint. Even with time unfrozen, Sonic felt a certain unearthly tranquility to the place. The gentle cords of running water filled his ears, and a soothing wind blew over the lush gardens. Ahead of them, a strange and majestic complex rose up, sporting a multitude of domes and arches, flanked by tall minarets. It was architecture alien to anything he had seen before, from the tiered pyramids of the ancient Echidna and dingo to the time lost acropolises of the humans.
Curiously, there were no humanoid statues or pictures of faces, as there had been in the Labyrinth Zone. As the trio approached the buildings, they saw plain walls and free standing spires, adorned solely with a strange language and complex geometric patterns. Approaching the palace, it grew more colorful, taking the place of the thinning gardens and greenery.
The blue hedgehog silently wished Tails or even Knuckles were around.
Both of his friends knew much more about ancient civilizations than he did, and more than once they had translated ancient writings literally on the spot. Sonic had no idea where either of them learned so much, but both seemed to enjoy the study. He'd even caught the two of them having a long academic argument once about the "Fourth Civilization" or something like that. It was probably one of the reasons why Tails and Knuckles got along so well, though the latter usually expressed frustration and annoyance when the young kitsune babbled on about his 'technology fetish' (as the echidna called it).
Neither were present now, so Sonic had little reference for what he saw. Shadow led them down a path and into an open area with sandy colored pillars. Overhead, semi-circular arches leapt from one pillar to the next, creating what must have been a hundred little four sided domes in the ceiling. It was cooler in the shade, and easier on the eyes. Pivoting, Sonic saw gardens to his left, past the field of pillars, and a gentle fountain to the right.
Something else also caught his eye.
Straying from the three man tour guide, Sonic briskly jogged over to one of the fountains. It had looked a bit like a bird feeder at first glance, but he quickly realized that there was a velvety pillow perched on the top. Water pooled out from marble slots below, decorated with an intricate leaf pattern. On top of the violet pillow, shaded by a nearby overhang, he saw a plain golden ring.
In this situation, most mobians – most sentient beings in fact – would have thought long and hard about what to do here. He was in an unknown place, built by unknown powers, supposedly in the pursuit of an insane wizard. A certain degree of cautiousness and discretion wasn't out of the norm. Sonic, however, was not like most mobians. He'd been instinctively grabbing golden rings for most of his life (that he could remember), and furthermore, he thought it would make an interesting trinket to remember the trip by. If worse came to worse, it could even give it to Sally as a make up gift, affording him the opportunity to do something really crazy and naughty at least once.
So he grabbed it.
"Hey, blue hedgehog! You better not be taking a piss in there!"
"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Sonic ran back to his two dysfunctional teammates. Shadow in particular. "Maybe you should be a comedian instead of a psychopath. Do you really know where we're going?"
"Would you rather just run around randomly?" Shadow asked with a scowl.
"Actually, yes. Yes I would."
"It is what he usually does," Metal spoke up.
Shadow rolled his eyes and gave a low growl. "We're getting close. The main palace is just up ahead."
They walked past more pillars, and as they did, Sonic grew a small smile.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"What about now?"
"Must you be so annoying?!" Shadow whirled, flames in his eyes. "Just walk quietly!"
"Hmm…" Sonic pursed his lips and cupped his chin in thought. "You know… you make a poor Tails."
"…"
"But you make an ok Knuckles," the hedgehog draped his arm over Metal's chrome shoulders. "So I guess it evens out!"
"I want to kill you," the machine intoned.
"I know, old chum." Sonic patted the robot on the head. "I know."
"Enough of this foolishness!" Shadow snarled, starting off at a quicker pace. "Fine! We'll walk faster."
"Thank you!" Sonic followed behind.
Metal's eyes just glowed hotly, and he took the rear.
They came to a large palace door, flanked by more of the plain patterns and writing. It was otherwise unadorned. It was, however, guarded by a portcullis of thick metal. The two hedgehogs exchanged unspoken questions as to which one should cut through, as there appeared to be no obvious way in otherwise.
"I will handle this," Metal said, and the robot seized the metal bars before anyone could respond. At his touch, the portcullis began to warp and distort, and not from any display of strength. The metal twisted and ran up Metal's arms, seeping into his body just before he ripped what remained out of place. With a heave, the robot tossed aside what remained, and absorbed the bits still stuck to his arms and hands.
"New trick?" Sonic asked.
"You will learn your folly as you die," Metal replied with a hydraulic hiss. "Not before."
"Heh!" Sonic took on a more appreciative look. "Nice of you to at least try and stay competitive with me!"
Metal glared death rays at its hated rival; Sonic just smirked.
Then they both realized Shadow was missing, and the two raced inside to keep up. Shadow lad already opened the palace doors and walked halfway through the hall that met them. It was a stark contrast with the outside. Inside the building, the walls were covered in shades of blue from a million ceramic tiles, each the size of a fingertip. A kaleidoscope of geometric shapes crossed overhead all along the ceiling. The floor was flawless pink marble.
A warbling fountain stood in the center of the great empty space, with running water flanking it as it cascaded alongside two winding staircases. It was breathtaking in its simple brilliance and its mastery of completely inanimate shape and form. A marble statue of a fire, detailed and realistic, ran along the outside edge and reflected in the clear water. Shadow walked past the fountain and the staircases, deeper into the hall. Parallel pools joined the trio on their right and left, running from one end to the other.
Gradually, something became clear up ahead of them at the end of the hall.
It was another room, circular, with circular grooves in the floor. The scale of it was vast, comparable to the Archive back in Labyrinth Zone. The walls were white and light blue in a series of complex fractal patterns. Looking up, Sonic saw the open sky. Walking slowly again, Shadow approached the center of the room. Once there, in the absolute center, he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
"The servers are the seven…"
"NO," a booming voice filled the chamber, interrupting the chant. "THOSE WORDS ARE FORBIDDEN."
The floor shook, the circular grooves widening and then splitting. Sonic had to jump to avoid falling between the cracks, only to find an instant later that the ground also seemed to be tilting. Jumping again and again, he ended up at the center of the room with Shadow; the one spot of floor that didn't seem to be splitting or shifting. Metal took the easy route, and activated the rocket motors on his feet while tilting the jet intake built into his chest. He floated casually in midair.
"THE SEVEN SHALL NOT SERVE."
"You had to go and say that, didn't you?" Sonic muttered, just lout enough for Shadow to hear. His only response was a coarse grunt.
Standing back to back, the two hedgehogs watched as the room morphed. A great arching section of the floor rose up, while opposite it another section fell away. In a perpendicular axis, another section raised as yet another fell, followed by another on a different angle, and then yet another and another. Starting slowly, they soon picked up speed, arching overhead and then dipping below. Looking over the edge of the flat surface he and Shadow stood on, Sonic saw a sheer drop into darkness.
"Revolving around us…" Shadow spoke up, realizing what was happening. "We're… inside a giant armillary sphere with six axis of rotation…"
"And… I have no idea what you're talking about…"
"It would be pointless explaining it to you," Shadow replied coldly. Before he could say anything more, the walls gave a great shudder, and the patterns of blue tinted tiles lit up. Blue flame quickly turned orange and red, engulfing the walls from top to bottom. High above, the flames churned and coalesced into a ball of fire and light.
"I AM THE IFRIT," the booming voice from before declared from all around them. "HIGH PRIEST OF SOLARIS. WHO DARES DEFILE THIS MOST HOLY PRISON?"
"Hey there!" Sonic waved up at the giant flaming orb. "Sonic the Hedgehog. We're looking for a freaky lookin' guy named Ixis Naugus. Got a long white beard, red eyes, claw for a hand, likes to wear a somewhat queer shade of purple… you seen anyone like that, man?"
For a few seconds, the burning orb pulsed in midair, baffled by the request.
"NO," came the booming reply.
"So much for your great 'I see dead people' senses," Sonic said, jabbing Shadow in the side with his elbow.
"Ifrit!" Shadow yelled up at the flames. "What are you? Are you the only one here?"
"I GUARD THE FLAMES OF DISASTER. WE, SEALED BY MELCHISEDEC'S COVENANT, BELOVED OF SOLARIS; NONE SHALL SET FLAME FREE!"
"Well!" Sonic gave a hearty thumbs up. "We'll just leave you to that and be on our merry way…"
"INSIGNIFICANT GNAT. NONE MAY LEAVE THIS PLACE ALIVE. SO IT IS WRITTEN! BECOME ASH AND DISSAPPEAR."
The fires all around them grew in intensity, the air becoming swelteringly hot. The flaming orb otherwise did nothing, preferring to watch as it cooked those trapped inside the cylindrical room. With the floor swirling in a multitude of directions, it didn't exactly leave a lot of options. Metal Sonic hovered nearby, far less put off by the local environmental conditions. The other two hedgehogs were not so fortunate.
"Fight?" Sonic asked.
As if he had to.
"Fight," Shadow agreed.