Chapter Seven – Emerald
Shadow growled. It took him longer to get to Robotropolis, then he'd anticipated. It was at times like this he really missed the Chaos Emeralds. Sometimes even he found Super-Speed slow, especially when your used to instant teleportation via Chaos Control. He could literately go absolutely anywhere of his choosing with a Chaos Emerald, even off-planet, but now he was forced to take the long way to the city the other side of Mobius.
He'd visited Robotropolis several times. He could have used his Portable Teleporter to get there via the Ark, but he had no beacon to latch onto. He didn't know the city well enough to find one. He knew it's basic layout and where the main amenities were, but nothing in-depth. However, finding the very large main Mobian Authority building, in the city, shouldn't be that difficult. It wasn't. It was a tall, incredibly ugly, black building in the heart of the Robotropolis's downtown. The logo was clearly seen above the main front doors. Shadow huffed. He was well known to the Mobian Authorities, and knew he wouldn't be welcome, especially in board daylight. Then he remembered that Charlie worked in the basement of the building. He smirked. Every basement needs ventilation. A possible way in.
He silently moved around the edge of the building, into it's shadow, until he found a metal grate set into the pavement, about two foot square. It was hinged but not locked down, so Shadow quickly lifted it, dropped himself in, and quietly replaced it behind him. He slid down the angular shaft until he hit a solid wall. The second ventilation metal grate was much smaller, this time set into the wall ahead of him. Shadow reckoned he could only just fit through. He grabbed the grate and tried to moved it. It was going nowhere. He then noticed it was rusted in solid, from rainwater. He swore. He needed to get in.
Looking around, he had no choice. He grabbed the grate with both hands and proceed to activate a Chaos Power he rarely ever used. Super-Strength. Shadow was considered the most powerful Chaos creature on the planet. The huge array of Chaos Powers he processed was mind-boggling. Immortality, Super-Speed, Super-Strength, Enhanced durability, Enhanced jump, Enhanced stamina, Enhanced Chaos Wield including manipulating Chaos Emeralds, Harnessing Chaos Energy such as the Chaos Spear, Chaos Boost and now Telekinesis on top, there was nothing that could truly rival him.
Well, yes. Sonic. He was getting close, really close. His powers were very different, but they were getting as strong as Shadow's and apart from the Immortality, he was almost there. The balance was very nearly level. He smirked. He was always second best against Sonic on speed, and Knuckles on strength, but the both of them were largely one-power specialists, so he wasn't surprised there. Sonic truly was a one-power specialist. Shadow had notice all of the his new abilities were all based on Super-Speed, with each new skill expanding it the next level. The original Super-Speed, which suddenly generated the Static Electricity. He then turned that into Molecular Vibration, which the exploded into Intangibility, which is even faster again. Shadow had no idea where the Blue Blur could go from here. Could he get any faster? Shadow's powers were all so different. He now had powers that covered the complete full range of what Chaos had to offer, both physical and mental, and he figured that was the point. The King of Chaos had to be able to do everything.
He pushed a huge quantity of Chaos Energy to his arms and felt after a short while, the grate fell away. He still had the Super-Strength if he just thought about it. Unfortunately, it created an almighty clunk, of which Shadow immediately heard footsteps of someone coming to investigate. There were several calls of "Hello?". The Ultimate Lifeform stayed exactly where he was, and silently waited. After several minutes, and no answer, and footsteps died away and all was quiet. Shadow then squeezed himself the hole.
He come out at a dead end of corridor, in almost pitch darkness. The corridor ahead of him, turn a sharp left corner, several metres of which there appeared to be light. Shadow slide down and looked around. The corridor ahead of him extended towards a set of stairs, heading upwards, at the end. There were several doors either side of the corridor. He smirked. Definitely the basement. Time to find the Hedgehog. Shadow realised that Charlie wasn't going to take much to find. He could hear him whistling. Not the incredibly difficult to do, high pitched, extremely loud whistle to call someone, but the quiet musical whistle that someone does when extremely contented.
Sonic does it around Tails, and now, Shadow had just find out out, so does his cousin. Down the corridor, he moved through one of the doors marked 'Archive', and found the Chestnut Hedgehog working in the distance. He stared. When Sonic said Charlie was him, in a way, he wasn't joking. From the Chaos Aura, they were definitely related. They almost looked identical except for fur colour, but Charlie's wasn't as well kept as Sonic. His fur was a lot shaggier, the quills at odd angles, but he did look clean. He was boarder then Sonic and a look about him told Shadow that he was older then him, but not by much.
As Shadow moved closer, he realised that Sonic was absolutely right. Charlie had no Chaos Powers whatsoever. Just an ordinary Sapient. He couldn't sense Shadow at all. Those with Chaos Powers could always sense each other, so Charlie had no idea Shadow was even there, and was absolutely taken by storm when the Ultimate Lifeform grabbed him from behind.
"Don't scream!" He hissed, as a very frightened Charlie shook his head vigorously. He was wearing what looked like dark navy blue hospital scrubs with 'Mobian Authorities', written in grey, on one side of his chest, and 'Archivist' on the other. Charlie didn't need to turn around to know who'd got him. His scent alone was enough, and now he was really frightened. He knew his scent because it was taught to all Mobian Authority personnel, as Shadow was a wanted criminal. His reputation as a killer was very well known. But he also could caught very faint wisps of his cousin's scent on him, which put him at ease. Once Charlie had calmed down, Shadow let him go.
"I mean you no harm." He smirked. Charlie nodded. He believed him. Sonic had told him that Shadow was a Hedgehog of his word, and that the Blue Blur trusted him. That was how much Sonic meant to Charlie. He'd trusted him with his life, and if he believed in Shadow, then maybe he should to. That was good enough for him. But Charlie could feel the emerse Chaos Power on Shadow, he was still very frightened.
"What can I do for you?" He stammered. He wasn't going to ask how Shadow got in. He figured that was one question to many. Shadow huffed, keen to get this job done.
"I need your help." He growled. Charlie gulped. He nodded.
"How?" He asked. Shadow sighed.
"I need to hack into the Mobian Authority Mainframe. I believe they are working with Eggman." He leered. Charlie stared, then frowned and then immediately went from a very frightened Hedgehog to a highly-proficient computer wizard in an instant. Shadow smirked, which quickly broadened. The flip of the switch. It ran in the family. The fear immediately vanished for his voice. He looked up intently.
"I think you might have something there." He jested. "There is some weirdness that has been bugging me in the back-fiances of the Mobian Authorities. I mean, going back years." He hurried. Shadow frowned. Charlie gestured him. "Look, I'll show you." He asked, and he ran to the back of the room, between the shelving, to a computer at the back of the room. Shadow followed him.
Charlie booted up the computer, and began running around it extremely quickly, he logged into the Mobian Authority Mainframe. Then inside the closed network, then ran around the system staggeringly fast, until he brought up a series of financial documents. Shadow was serious impressed. Super-Speed, of sorts, did run in the family as well. Scanning though the documents, every few months or so, there appeared to be a large payment to a random account for tens of thousands of dollars. Shadow pointed at the random payments.
"What are those?" He asked. Charlie shrugged.
"I have no idea. But it's being paid every few months or so, every year for the last ten years, until recently where a payment was sent of over several million dollars was sent." He heaved, as he then ran around the system, and pulled up the document showing it. Shadow stared at the transaction. The account had changed, but except this time he recognised the number.
"Eggman!" He growled. Charlie gasped.
"Are you sure? I only had a hunch." He breathed. Shadow smirked, going very cold.
"I used to work for him, remember." He hissed. "It's definitely him. I got to learn his finances while I was there." He leered, and then he frowned. "Go back to the other document?" He asked. Charlie did. Shadow frowned. He stared at the old account details. There was an air of familiarity about them. Then it hit him. It was also one of the human's accounts, but an old one, rarely used nowadays. He growled.
"It's been Eggman for years." He spat, growling. He had always wondered where the human got his money. Charlie was very confused.
"But why though?" He asked. "Why pay Eggman?" He heaved. Shadow looked up. He actually had no idea. It didn't make sense but it was definitely high treason. Was he being paid to kill Sonic, or for the more recent payment, the both of them. Shadow shrugged. Or was it for a completely different service? All the payments were signed off by the Chief Executive. Shadow frowned.
"Who's the Chief Executive?" He asked. The guy at the very top of the Mobian Authorities. Charlie then looked absolutely terrified.
"Lionel. He an enormous Lion, with a jet black mane and angry eyes. He's been in charge, for what, the last twenty years." He stammered. Shadow stared. That meant that Lionel personally authorised every single payment ever sent to Eggman. Charlie continued. "I met him once, during my introduction here. He's scary." He added. Shadow smirked.
'Not to me, he's not.' He thought, and as he and Charlie searched the 'Mobian Authority Mainframe', no further evidence showed itself to corruption, certainly not from Charlie's limited access via his Archive computer. Suddenly, Shadow then grabbed the computer from Charlie and after several hacking requests, remotely logged into the Ark, and proceeded to transfer all of the relevant financial documents straight to the space colony. He then, from there, via the Ark, he dumped all of the documents onto the main G.U.N. server. He knew that Frank would find them and very quickly. He arrogantly smirked. Mission complete. He logged out. But Charlie looked terrified, taking the computer back.
"I don't think you should have done that." He stammered, and the computer screen was now flashing in large red letters. 'Security Breech!'. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard outside the room in the corridor, as Shadow quickly grabbed Charlie and ran from the computer into a dark, shadowy corner of the archive room. He had Chestnut Hedgehog by the mouth again. He didn't argue. The fear was back. Shadow growled, swearing under his breath. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea, but he wanted to get the bottom of this. If he did, then it would be worth it. But he was also kicking himself. The Mobian Authorities had immediately tracked Shadow's Ark / G.U.N. transfer straight to Charlie's computer, putting him in grave danger. He gritted his teeth, in anger.
He automatically did it, because he normally wouldn't have cared. His arrogance getting the better of him. Anything to get the job done. But it wasn't just him anymore and if he got Sonic's cousin killed, the Blue Blur would never forgive him. There and then, he vowed to protect Charlie whatever the cost. He was hoping that the Hedgehog's brown Chestnut fur coat in the shadows would be enough to hide him. Thankfully, it was, as the Mobian Authority personnel raided the room. They took the computer, several other items and searched the archives. After finding nothing, they all left, and finally everything was quiet. Charlie was amazed. Hiding in the shadows, it was as though the Ultimate Lifeform had just vanished into thin air. His Chaos Energy signature completely disappearing. It was one hell of a camouflage trick as people came within a few feet of them, and never even saw them. Shadow heard Charlie comment about this, but it didn't really register, as something else had caught his attention.
But as the room emptied, Shadow didn't move. He mind was very much elsewhere. He'd felt it. Very subtle, incredibly slight, and hugely soothing. Familiar. The tiniest humming of pure energy that he hadn't felt over eighteen months. If Shadow wasn't so well attuned to it, it would have been very easily overlooked. He let go of Charlie and immediately went to his knees to the concrete floor, feeling around. He growled.
"Where are you?" He hissed. "I know your there." He leered. Charlie frowned.
"What?" He asked. Shadow's temper flared slightly as his failure to find it.
"Chaos Emerald." He spat. Charlie stared. But as Shadow searched, he frowned. What was a Chaos Emerald doing here, under the concrete floor? Was the building built on top if it? He wasn't surprised Charlie knew nothing of it. Only those who could wield the Chaos Emeralds could feel them, and that included himself. But right there and then, he didn't care, he wanted that Chaos Emerald. Suddenly he felt a spike of pure energyin a small patch on the floor, very close to the wall. The Chaos Emerald was definitely down there. Shadow looked at it. Charlie gulped.
"But that's solid concrete." He stammered. "You'll never break through that." He gulped. But Shadow smirked, giving him a sideways look, and proceeded to use his Super-Strength to punch straight through the concrete to find a cavity beneath. Charlie jumped, as Shadow put his arm deep down into the hole and finally put his hand on a large diamond-shaped stone, which made his eyes immediately glow scarlet with the pure energy. It felt so good. He pulled it. The pure peridot (green) Chaos Emerald in his hand.
Finally he felt whole again. Shadow was not himself with a Chaos Emerald. It had been far too long. But the noise of Shadow's impact on the concrete floor had brought back the Mobian Authority personnel, who unfortunately saw them. Charlie squealed in terror, but not before Shadow grabbed him with one hand, and in the other, the Chaos Emerald, and said, at long last, those famous words.
"Chaos Control!"
They vanished, in a flash of bright white light. Shadow knew exactly where to go. Half a planet away, the Chaos Emerald was instantly took him there. Tails' House, but as he arrived, he was stunned to find said house a blaze, engulfed in flames, and Tails, Knuckles and the others all running for their lives. He was horrified and instantly knew that the Mobian Authorities had told Eggman of his involvement and had linked him back to the Fox. He was responsible for this and now felt incredibly guilty. He gritted his teeth, swearing. He had to do something. They were surrounded by Badnikrobots. Eggman in a Egg Dragoon, was almost top of him, happily taking out the Fox's residence.
Amy immediately ran for Charlie's arms as they were all forced to flee, including Shadow. He turned back. He could take Eggman on, but not here. It was too dangerous. Not for himself, but for the others. Suddenly looked he around, and then swore again very harshly and very loudly in absolute frustration. Shadow growled.
"Where is he?" He spat. Sonic was gone, yet again. Tails cried. The tears ran as he'd just lost a lifetime's work in that house.
"He got bored and he took off." He sniffed. "None of us could stop him." He squealed. Shadow rolled his eyes.
"No." He agreed. "Only I can do that." He hissed. He then looked round, they only had a matter of minutes before the house was demolished and Eggman would be on top of them. He could outrun him, but he was the only one there who could. Blaze, Silver, Rouge and Knuckles could put up a fight, but Tails, Amy and Charlie were sitting ducks. He growled. He only had one Chaos Emerald. He could Chaos Control a maximum of one other person with single Emerald. Not seven. He needed more Chaos Emeralds to teleport more people, and those were all still lost. He growled, they needed to get out of there and now.
Then he looked down at his hands and had an idea. It was crazy as hell, but it just might work. He grabbed the Chaos Emerald and Chaos Controlled out of there, alone, to everyone's utter shock.
He landed in Robotropolis, exactly on target. On his previous visit, Shadow had noticed that behind the main Mobian Authorities building was a small car park. There were some army-like vehicles parked there. Heavily armed roofed trucks, with open backs and seating down the sides. Ideal for a high-speed getaway. He quickly snuck around to one of the trucks and climbed into the driver's seat. He concentrated, probably the hardest in his life. One hand on the Chaos Emerald, the other on the Telekinesis. He felt the red aura explode room his hand, and his eyes glowed fiery scarlet red, he growled, and his had to push deep within himself as he used his Telekinesis to grab every inch of the truck. Shaking with the concentration, he gritted his teeth and said the words, that could mean life or death.
"Chaos...Control!" He stuttered, and suddenly he was completely engulfed in bright white light as he felt himself and the truck move, just as he was discovered. Pushing himself to the limit, he teleported to the exact location he was aiming for. It landed with a bang, to a short distance away from Tails' House, and the truck began skidding, unable to stop. This forced Shadow to drop the Chaos Emerald and throw out both his hands and stretched his Telekinesis, aiming for the vehicle's brakes. Groaning with the strain, he closed his hands, and clamped them on, until the truck finally slid to a halt.
Heaving, he picked up the Chaos Emerald from the floor of the truck, and stuffing it in his quills, he looked out of the window to the others running towards him.
"Get in!" He growled, loudly. Realisingthat Shadow hadn't actually abandoned them, they all piled into the back. He turned over the engine, and put his foot hard on the accelerator, just as Eggman gave chase. But Shadow quickly pushed the truck towards it maximum speed, and soon they had left the Human far behind.