Hello, fellow readers! And welcome back to Sonic Chronicles!
Last time, we had our group meet up at Canterlot and come up with a plan to find the emeralds/gems. However, it looks like the Eggmen managed to eavesdrop on some of it before Tails cleared the air, ending with the teams heading off... after making sure the castle is clear.
Oh, we have reviews!
FrikiXu: No lie, that makes me smile. I'm glad an OC of mine got such praise.
Also when I post this chapter, I'll be updating the previous ones to be more in line with my current style to keep it consistent. Just a heads up.
With that said, let us continue!
Chapter 8: Deceptive Darkness
ALERT! ALERT!
A loud alarm sounds throughout Eggman's current base as the robots guarding it headed down the hall to face the invading threat. Unfortunately, they were just lambs for the slaughter as a hail of bullets guns them down. The superior robot donned in red and black had gatling guns in its arms, soon pointing it in another hall and fires upon more robots:
"Inferior fodder!"
This machine gladly took the role as 'bait' to let his allies enter the base without resistance. Honestly, he'll take any opportunity to stick it to the Doctor of what he's capable of.
Speaking of the allies, they infiltrated from a rooftop vent and were currently navigating them to reach the command center. They turn another corner as the treasure hunting bat mentions a strange detail:
"Funny that there's no gloating yet."
"Easier on my ears." Her hedgehog friend simply said.
The spy bat locates the vent and kicks it open, the two dropping down to see said center was strangely empty. The mainframe computer was still fully functional with one of the screens showing the cameras of key locations. One in particular has their robotic friend walking down the hall, littered with broken heaps of metal.
Pressing one of the buttons, she calls him over the loud speakers:
"Omega, me and Shadow have reached the command center. How's your end?"
"These worthless consumer models had no chance, Rouge." Omega answers, "Have you found Eggman?"
"No. Regroup with us and-"
CLANG!
The two didn't really flinch as the wall behind them starts to get pulled apart, watching the camera as Omega turns out to be next door and ripping a hole large enough for himself.
"That'll work." Shadow comments.
Once he enters, Rouge starts typing to bring up the most recent files. Seeing their last updates, this confirms one thing:
"He went quiet about a month ago." She recalls, "And this was confirmed to be his current base..."
"Either this is a ruse or he's planning something big." Shadow suggests before Rouge looks at the files closely:
"Wait, look at the name on some of these."
She then opens the most recent one, titled 'New World: Equestria', and reads the latest entry:
Who would have thought? I originally believed this world was just filled with colorful horses, but they hide potent magical potential. The strongest readings reached to that of the Chaos Emeralds fully utilized, yet only for a short burst. Fascinating...
After some time, we've managed to pinpoint such power to certain locations. In order to find it, we have to enter this world ourselves.
Don't know how long I'll be there, as dimensions may not share the same time lapse. Still, I programmed my robots to defend just in case.
Farewell for now, Mobius. When I return, I'll have another branch to my Eggman Empire!
The three were intrigued by what all this was, but knew it didn't sound good.
"He found another dimension, huh?" Rouge wonders as she searches through more files, "But how did he find it?"
"Acknowledged: needs energy source to cross the dimensional plane." Omega states, "Most likely candidates, the Chaos Emeralds."
Quickly skimming through the other files, Omega's statement was true as she opens another entry to read:
I can't believe this! That Eggman Nega found another dimension separate from our own, which he said was named 'Equestria'. The 'Land of Horses'? I thought it's absolutely silly, but he mentions how they have magic that can actually weaponize friendship. The literal power of friendship!?
He offers to share the 'spoils' with me, but I know his game. He proves to be quite sneaky with his cunning mind, but I must admit...
Weaponizing friendship peaks my curiosity. In the meantime, I'll find the Chaos Emeralds and use them to see for myself.
After typing some more, Rouge finds the location of where they were used before Shadow uses his Chaos Control. Upon arriving via teleport, all they found was an empty room with what resembles the ARK's core for the Emeralds.
"Omega, scan." Shadow orders.
"Acknowledged." Omega does just that, scanning the entire room before getting the results:
"Ninety-nine percent of the Chaos Energy here is coming from the core itself."
"So that's what he used as a gate." Rouge summarizes before turning to Shadow, "Think your power can track him down?"
"Easy." A subtle smirk shows as the hedgehog approaches the core.
He only took a couple of steps forward before said core suddenly surges to life, creating some sort of magnet effect above itself. Shadow was briefly caught off guard by the strength of its pull, just long enough for it to catch him in a sphere of energy.
Omega's first instinct was to shut it down the old-fashioned way, by destroying it. Before Rouge could oppose, he fires several bullets at the core that suddenly explode halfway.
"Cease fire, Omega!" She shouts.
Omega ceases soon after, now knowing bullets won't cut it. "Scanning for possible emergency shutdown function."
Shadow was enduring at the moment as the leftover Chaos Energy pulses through his body, making him instinctively activate his 'Chaos Boost' form.
"Conclusion: there is no shutdown switch." Omega states before scanning the sphere, "Shadow is at one-hundred and fifty percent over his full capacity."
The sphere around Shadow then starts to glow blue before he eventually yells:
"Chaos... CONTROL!"
Time halts around them briefly as the sphere greatly expands and condensing into a single point before it ripples. Within that ripple, he disappears before their eyes as the core goes silent once more.
Up above the skies of another world, a ripple effect briefly appears before Shadow emerges from a flash of light. Gravity takes hold as he fell towards a large canyon, quickly using his shoes to slow his descent and lands inside. Once he does, he quickly looks around for any sign of his teammates:
"Rouge? Omega?"
His calls went unanswered as the wind blows by, making him conclude he was on his own for now. His Chaos Control did transport him to this 'Equestria' the Doctor went to, but wasn't sure where in said world he arrived at. The only way to find out was exploration.
As he takes off further into the canyon, it didn't take long to stumble upon a familiar sight:
Badniks.
Currently, there were only the basic ones such as the Egg Pawns and Egg Fighters. There were two types of colorizations for both, most likely to tell Eggman's and Eggman Nega's apart.
They appear to be looking for something, digging in the dirt mainly before they see the hedgehog. Shadow didn't waste time to fire a quick barrage of Chaos Spears, making them fall to the ground before continuing on his way.
The path starts to thin when he sees large holes on one of the cliffs upon approaching, only to suddenly jump back in surprise. Good thing he did, as a large eel creature launched out to eat him. He only scoffs at the idea:
"Nice try."
He traverses the thin path, deciding to have a little fun as he leaps onto the opposite wall and dodge any eels that shoot out at him. Leaping off upon reaching the end, he hears engines from above before avoiding gunfire. Briefly glancing at what it was, it turns out to be a platoon of Egg Gunners.
After dodging more bullets, he quickly spins around to fire a burst of Chaos Spears to make them briefly disperse before picking up the pace. Looking up ahead, he sees a field of thorny bushes and cactuses before using his shoes to leap over it. The Egg Gunners attempt to shoot him down, which he uses his momentum for homing attacks to dodge and hit them out of the sky.
Once he hits the last one, he jumps off said robot to land on the other side safely as it fell into the thorns. Continuing onwards, his shoes start to skate over water when he felt the wind pick up faster than before. He fast approaches a narrow tunnel said river flows through as the wind becomes pretty strong, which he takes as a challenge.
His shoes burst again, boosting him inside as he spins through like a roller coaster. His momentum launches him out, leaving a large parting wave in his wake and reaches the end of the canyon where it inclines up to a surrounding forest.
He slows down to a casual pace until he reaches a village, where he stops upon seeing the inhabitants. They weren't humans, or even like himself, but ponies. They were mostly going about their day, but some took a glance his way and didn't really react like he expected.
Questions were forming in his head as he walks through the district until he overheard a conversation:
"What are you three doing?"
Following the sound, he sees a small winged dragon watching three fillies build a stand of sorts for a makeshift business.
"We came up with the idea of a shop to help out Twilight and her friends." The one with the red bow answers.
"A shop? For what?"
"All kinds of stuff, like tools or even cosmetics!" The unicorn answers this time.
"I know Sonic and his friends would like the effort." The pegasus chimes in, "That way, we can exchange whatever they find for anything they need."
Shadow listened in out of curiosity, but now they have his attention as the winged dragon simply points out:
"Do you even have anything to exchange?"
The red-bowed filly was about to answer when she sees Shadow not too far from them, "Hi, are you also Sonic's friend?"
The others follow suit as they now look in his direction, which he walks closer and answers:
"You could say that. Mind telling me how you know him?"
"Sure, but who are you?" The winged dragon asks him.
Crossing his arms out of habit, he introduces himself:
"I'm Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."
Crystals shine from a source of light inside the cavern, said source being a portal as a traveler drops out of it before it disappears. Darkness envelops around said traveler before his goggles glowed, allowing himself to see his surroundings. He didn't look for long before he hears a loud sound from deeper inside.
The sound grew louder as he goes down a nearby tunnel to investigate, eventually finding a rather large robot in front of a crystal pile. From behind, all he saw was its arm holding up a familiar gem that was blue in color.
The large robot places the gem in its inventory and activates a jetpack on its back, making him quickly scan it for tracking before it took off into another tunnel. Electricity surrounds his frame before he pursues his target, eventually reaching a large area that's most likely a network for the caverns themselves.
The robot was surprisingly fast, making him use more electricity to increase his speed as they went from tunnel to tunnel. The crystals inside the walls start to glow bright, getting the robot's attention to notice its pursuer:
"I don't know who you are, but you better back off!"
Its threat fell on deaf ears when a bolt of lightning was fired, hitting it directly in the back. The goggles were hiding them, but the pursuer were glaring at his target.
"Fine, you asked for it!" The robot retaliates by firing a missile, which the pursuer casually dodges.
The robot fires more missiles, intending to cave in the cavern walls to trap his chaser. Seeing a light that lead outside, the robot ceases fire and takes its leave.
The pursuer charges up his lightning into momentum and launches himself ahead, outpacing the cave in to reach the outside. His goggles then change to normal, allowing him to see the cool blue mountains nearby and the robot he's pursuing:
The large robot had its main body black with the limbs and head red, its jetpack now sporting large black bat wings as it flew across said mountains.
Seeing clouds going in said direction, he charges up lightning in his hand before firing a whip and practically teleports through its current into them. Going through the clouds, he catches up with the large robot and starts firing lightning bolts upon it.
The bat-winged robot got hit by the first one before quickly dodging the others, now forced to fly off in another direction.
"What is this thing!?" The robot mutters before picking up another signal, "Another reading!? This is my lucky day!"
Its jetpack bursts to boost its speed, making its pursuer jump from cloud to cloud to keep up.
Rainbow lead the way with Tails close behind, the latter carrying Nat in his arms as they approach her hometown. Upon landing on the clouds, the three marvel at the sights. The buildings were also made of clouds with rainbows actually acting like water, rivers and waterfalls alike.
Twilight made sure to place a cloud-walking spell on Nat and Tails beforehand, so they didn't have to worry about falling. The trio start their search soon after as Nat starts a conversation:
"This is amazing. Was all of this made by you guys?"
"Nope, this was here way back when." Rainbow answers, "But we are in charge of the weather in Equestria."
"The weather? The pegasi can control Mother Nature?" Tails was surprised to hear this.
"Pretty much. The only place we don't is the Everfree Forest, that can make its own weather."
"Fascinating..."
As the two discuss the power of weather manipulation, Nat were looking at the various pegasi flying around before seeing a glimmer in his peripheral vision. Following it, he sees a familiar gem shape leaning against a roof on a two-story house.
Excitement briefly overtaking him, he immediately leaps up to said roof and picks up the gem. Sky blue in color, he wouldn't have noticed it without the sun's rays reflecting off it.
"Nat, you find something!?" Rainbow noticed he disappeared as she looks to where he was.
"Yeah, I found a gem!" To show proof, he held it high for them to see.
"All right! That was easy!"
Nat's ears perk up a bit as he heard what sounded like a rocket, looking around as it was getting louder and louder.
"What's that-"
SMACK!
He was suddenly grabbed by a large metallic claw as a large robot soars right over, briefly shocking his teammates before they gave chase. As they do, the robot looks at what it caught:
"Give me the gem or face oblivion!"
"F-First, finders keepers! Second-" He stops as the claw's grip squeezes him tighter.
"You have three seconds to comply! One, two-"
"HEY!"
The robot turns its head like an owl, seeing Rainbow and Tails tailing it:
"Let our friend go!"
The robot slows to a halt as the rest of its body turns to face the two, "Your friend has something I want. Leave or he will be crushed."
The two stopped as well with Tails seeing similarities between it and a certain mad scientist:
"You're one of Eggman's robots!"
"Correct! I am Metal Robotnik!" The robot then gets another reading and readies itself, "Now move!"
It flew right past the two before they gave chase, being able to keep up as their enemy approaches the blue mountains. Tails calls out his arm cannon and aims to slow it down when a sudden bolt of lightning sets one of the wings ablaze. The robot was forced to land on a nearby mountaintop as the two saw a strange sight:
The white clouds nearby had a moving dark spot where electricity surrounds it, which quickly leaps right at the robot.
M.R. was lucky to dodge at the last second, making the bolt of lightning hit its other wing instead of its body. From the bolt came something else as it lands on a nearby mountaintop, the glow fading to reveal someone as Tails and Rainbow got closer to the battle.
"You pest!" The robot viciously shakes its free claw at him as the two now see the living bolt was actually a hedgehog.
The hedgehog had black fur with his quills pointing upwards a bit, having a blue streak on each one. His forehead was accompanied by three small cowlick hairs lined vertically, a blue tip on them to match his streaks and a peach tone for his skin. His eyes were covered by a pair of rectangular-framed goggles with blue frames around gray lens and wore a brown tattered cloak over what appears to be some sort of black armor.
He simply stood there, his eyes staring at his target as M.R. changes its claw to a machine gun and opens fire. The hedgehog simply places his hand in front, creating a field that stops every bullet that entered it and reflects them right back.
Unfortunately, Tails and Rainbow realized too late what he just did as the bullets hit the robot and graze Nat in the process.
"Hey!" Rainbow was livid at the carelessness and rockets down right in front of the hedgehog, "Watch where you're aiming!"
The hedgehog barely flinched at her arrival, "Why?"
"Wh- You just hurt our friend! He's being held captive by that thing!"
As she said this, the hedgehog saw said robot change the machine gun to a larger gun:
"Move!"
In an instant, the hedgehog smacks her out of the way as the robot fires and shoots a bolt to intercept it. To his surprise, it nullifies the bolt before hitting him dead on. Slamming against the rocky terrain, he finds himself unable to move as almost his entire body was covered in glue.
"Hahaha! Got cocky, didn't you?" M.R. assumes.
Honestly, the last thing anyone think a robot would have is glue, much less a glue gun.
Tails saw it change to its machine gun again and quickly aims his cannon to fire. The energy ball was quick enough to deflect it right before it fired a spray of bullets. Closing the distance, he made sure to fly in close and fires an energy blast towards the head as he passes by:
"Go away!"
Changing targets, it aims at the flying fox and fires. Tails went into flight mode, trying his best to avoid the bullets while trying to come up with a battle plan. Rainbow recovers from the sudden hit to see Nat, who's struggling to break free while the robot is distracted, and quickly tries moving in to help.
The robot catches her attempt and swings its gun arm downwards to try stopping her, only to hit the ground instead. Tails take this opening to aim right for the arm holding Nat and fires.
The robot saw the incoming attack and even places Nat in its path, making Tails quickly boosts with his jet anklets into said path. Just before Nat got hit, Tails catches the energy ball in his cannon before spinning over him to fire point blank in the robot's face:
"Pathetic!"
Tails was swatted away, hitting the ground before sliding to a halt. Rainbow quickly zooms in with a stray cloud, placing it over the robot's head and slams her hooves to create a thunder strike. It didn't do much damage, but was enough to briefly distort its vision as she goes in to help Nat:
"I got you!"
She pulls the index claw with all her might, leaving a bit of wiggle room for him to budge before she felt it pull back. She held her grip as best as she could, but the claw still proves stronger. Nat notices her struggle before hearing the robot speak:
"Shoo, little pony!"
Rainbow was pulled in full force as the robot swings the arm back and slams her into the dirt, knocking her out cold. As the smoke clears, the robot felt a shot to its head and turns to see Tails back on his feet. He held his ground as the robot approaches with its gun ready:
"How fitting that the sidekick of the hedgehog would be the last creature standing."
"You forget I can be just as stubborn." He retorts.
"I'm well aware."
M.R. aims its turret, making Tails instinctively dodge by jumping upwards. However no bullets came before the robot moves its gun, firing a glob of glue instead that hits the fox's twin tails to pin him back down. Without the others realizing it, it must have switched its guns beforehand.
"And I know without your tails, you're nothing but a target!" The robot then changes to its gatling gun before taking aim, "Now, to snuff you out for good!"
Nat had watched all of this happen. Ever since he got captured, he's forced to watch his friends go down to this robotic monster one by one. It was thanks to Sonic that he's still stable, but finds himself about to witness his best buddy's demise to his arch-nemesis...
"No..."
All he felt was not sorrow, but anger. Would it be delaying the inevitable if he didn't get caught finding the gem? If he didn't come with them at all? If he wasn't saved...
No, it's the robot. If Eggman didn't have such a machine, this wouldn't have happened at all! His friends would be safe as they find the gem and be closer to saving their worlds!
"You..."
His mutter was barely audible, but loud enough to get the robot's attention as it turns its head to him:
"What's that? Do you have something to say?"
Nat didn't make eye contact as his anger boils, "Leave... them... alone..."
"Hahaha! They should have known not to interfere! If you had complied-!"
The claw holding Nat starts to budge from within as he growls, "Leave... them... alone..."
The robot tries to tighten its grip again, "Like you can do anything about it, you worthless cretin-"
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
The claw was pulled apart by Nat, who then rips off the thumb and index claws.
"What!?" M.R. was astonished at the hedgehog's strength, who breaks out of its grip and attacks.
Nat immediately stabs a claw into its leg joint straight through, making the robot bend the knee. Using that as a platform, he leaps onto the back of its head and starts furiously swinging the other claw into it. The head proves to be quite tough, but the swings were still leaving dents on each impact.
Tails was flabbergasted at the sight, but couldn't watch as he was still trapped in the glue. As he starts to analyze it, the robot was trying to shake off the enraged hedgehog:
"Agh! I've had enough of this!"
Activating its jetpack, the force behind the liftoff was enough to knock Nat off as the robot goes after its previous reading. The hedgehog ran off to the edge as he watches the robot fly away and throws the claw he held into the air:
"GET BACK HERE!"
His bellowing voice echoes across the mountain range as Tails had managed to get out of the glue by now. The fox approaches his friend, making the hedgehog snap his head around to face him.
Tails was taken aback a bit, not by the sudden turn... but his appearance. Nat's eyes had slit pupils instead, his fur wilder and even bares his fangs a bit more. The kind demeanor is replaced by anger, which was now starting to subside once he blinks:
"...Are you all right?"
"Yeah." Tails assures him, "Just a bruise here and there."
"...Good... Rainbow!"
The hedgehog sprints over to the small crater that was made earlier, seeing the pegasus begin to crawl out and helps her up. Though, she tries to play it off a bit:
"Don't worry... I've taken worse." She then stumbles a bit, "Oh... that's gonna be sore for awhile."
Tails went to release the other hedgehog from his sticky situation, which he was actually grateful for:
"Thanks."
"No problem. Who are you, anyways?"
The hedgehog moves his goggles onto his forehead, revealing a pair of sapphire eyes:
"Krain."
His eyes shifts to see Rainbow being carried on Nat's back, "She all right?"
"Yeah, she's tougher than she looks."
Tails sees that Nat is now back to normal, which only raises more questions in his mind. As for Krain, he notices Rainbow's small glare before briefly recalling his actions earlier and casually apologies:
"Sorry, force of habit."
The glare was immediately changed to surprise as he looks to the direction of the robot's escape and back at them:
"We're wasting time, let's go."
"Now? We're not exactly in proper flight conditions." Tails reminds him.
Nat then remembers the gem they found earlier and pulls it out, which Krain recognizes its sky blue color:
"We are now."
Krain quickly swipes it and held it upwards, conjuring an aura around the group that levitates them off the ground. After a moment of adjustment, he leads the way for them as they flew off in pursuit of their target.
And done! This was gonna be longer, but decided to cut it here.
First, Shadow finds himself in Equestria as we get more background on how Dr. Eggman learned about Equestria and finally find out CMC's idea from long ago. Basically, the game's item shop mechanic. If anyone had any suggestions for a clever name that uses CMC for the initials, I'm all ears.
Second, another boss from the past. This time, from the anime OVA! It has all the attacks from it and proves to be just as powerful. However, an unexpected factor comes in that makes it run from the fight. Speaking of the past, another old OC was given a revamped return.
And yeah, that's about it. To be honest, Shadow of Harmony was something I wanted to do over this back then. It was just that when I did its first chapter, I had a pretty bad week and I wasn't motivated to write more of this story. Now in a better mindset and more experience under my belt, I figured I'd return to my OC stuff eventually and here I am.
Sorry for the year-long wait, but it's better than nothing. I can't guarantee the frequency of chapters on this, though. With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!