Okay, from here on out, is where things begin to get interesting! Because while the storyline mostly still follows how it does in the movie, starting from now is where I begin taking even more creative liberties than before, so expect some unexpected elements here and there! It really was so much fun figuring out how to incorporate the Sonic lore into the scenario of King of Thorn, so I hope you all like what I came up with!
Finally, the group of five reached two wooden doors, leading to a large room on the other side and swiftly ran inside before the echidna promptly shut the doors behind them. The black hedgehog and Sonic stopped to catch their breaths and looked around to see that they had taken refuge inside what was apparently a massive wine cellar, if the barrels of alcohol and wine bottles lined up on some shelves nearby were anything to go by.
Sonic – What is this place?
Miles was shown removing the bag from his shoulders before he and Amy began re-stocking the supplies.
Tails – Apparently we've stumbled into an older area of the castle's underground foundations. I'm guessing it was built long before Venus Gate's more sophisticated labs were established.
The echidna, who was still by the doors, leaned back against and slid down them as he also tried to catch his breath.
Knuckles – Glad to see you're all right. What happened to the lion with the necklace?
Sonic – He's dead. A monster attacked him.
Amy then came over to Sonic, holding some stale looking bread and fruit to him.
Amy – Here. It's not exactly fresh, but surprisingly still edible. Considering how long it's been since we last ate, we need something to keep up our strength.
Sonic – Oh, thanks.
Sonic accepted the food and began to eat. Miles similarly brough some food over to the black hedgehog, who accepted one piece of bread before biting into it as well.
Sonic – Just before he died, he told me to expose the truth behind Venus Gate to the world. But the evidence is gone now…
Knuckles – Who was he?
Sonic – His name was Cyrus.
Sonic then looked over at the black hedgehog sharply.
Sonic – But I think he's the one who can tell you more about that. Isn't that right?
The black hedgehog seemed to pause from eating, facing away from all the others as they drew their attention to him. All was silent for a moment before he finally spoke up.
Shadow – You idiots…
Everyone looked startled from the black hedgehog's blunt statement, though the echidna looked mostly furious.
Knuckles – What?!
Shadow – What exactly was your plan here? Stop for a few drinks and wait for help? You've trapped us in a room with no way out.
The echidna stood up, glaring viciously at the black hedgehog.
Knuckles – Enough dodging the question! Tell us who you are!
The black hedgehog turned around, facing the echidna with a serious expression.
Shadow – I'm Agent Shadow the Hedgehog of G.U.N. I infiltrated the CSCC pretending to be a selectee. I was to secure information with his help and assist with the facility's destruction from the outside!
Everyone looked completely shocked.
Amy – What kind of information?
Shadow – Proof that Chaos was an act of bioterrorism perpetrated by Venus Gate, or any clues about the truth behind the Chaos virus.
Everyone seemed surprised once more, but then Shadow turned to the side and glanced upwards.
Shadow – At least, that was my assigned mission…
Everyone seemed curious as to what he was talking about until he spoke again.
Shadow – But the reality of what's really going on behind these walls is far more incomprehensible than they could ever imagine.
Tails – How do you know?
Shadow took a second before he looked at everyone again.
Shadow – Because I, myself am a product of this very establishment.
Everyone was, once again, floored by this revelation. Sonic in particular thought back to the abilities he witnessed from Shadow back with that monster, both the spears he summoned as well as the speed at which he was able to skate with those fancy shoes of his; could that be part of what he means? And if so, what about the superspeed he himself exhibited?
Tails – Wh-what do you mean?
Amy – This is crazy… Don't talk like we're in some kind of movie or something!
Everyone looked over at Amy to see her needing to sit down as a look of disbelief formed on her face.
Amy – Unknown viruses and cold sleep already sound like dreams to begin with, and now all this?! I'd rather have all this be just a dream!
The echidna began stomping angrily towards Shadow.
Knuckles – So you've been grinning in the shadows, watching us scurry around while you knew the whole story?!
The echidna tried to grab at Shadow much like in their previous confrontations, however, the hedgehog effortlessly grabbed the echidna's arm and moved it to the side with ease, shocking the latter greatly; if this was Shadow's true strength, it seemed as though in their previous scuffles, he was merely holding back. Shadow only continued to gaze at the echidna with his same unflinching expression, until he took notice of the latter's medical bracelet; the symptom indicator now had some black spots on it, indicating the echidna's Chaos virus had reached stage 2. Realizing what Shadow had seen, the echidna yanked his arm out of the hedgehog's grip and glanced downwards in frustration.
Knuckles – Knowing what's going on won't change our situation. It's either turn to ash and die or get eaten by monsters.
Shadow – No, there's a third option.
Everyone looked back at Shadow in surprise.
Shadow – This situation is abnormal, even from what I know. Something clearly went wrong.
Tails – So what are you doing to do?
Shadow – Finish my mission. I took this assignment because I have unfinished business with Venus Gate's leader. I'm going to find him and get the answers straight from him myself.
Amy – Answers?
Shadow – Why do you think he's never been infected, despite being involved with the Chaos virus from the beginning? He knows the secret you're all looking for.
Everyone looked both surprised and hopeful.
Knuckles – You mean…?
Shadow – The cure for the Chaos virus.
Sonic then stepped up, remembering an important detail from before.
Sonic – The last thing that Cyrus said was, "Whoever nears the knowledge hidden in Chaos will be victorious!"
Shadow seemed to take in Sonic's words before the room began shaking.
Amy – More monsters?!
Knuckles – No! It's an earthquake!
However, it clearly wasn't an ordinary earthquake, as back at the hallway entrances, all the thorns were now moving on their own; though vines with red thorns were specifically entangling the areas and debris around them even further, while vines with yellowish/green thorns appeared to be sprouting from the 50 foot drop Sonic and Shadow had previously cleared, followed by levels of water swiftly rising and flooding the area as well. The doors to the room everyone was currently in were then shown flinging back open due to the tremors.
Tails – The doors!
Sonic ran over and began trying to push the giant doors back closed, with the echidna and Shadow soon coming over to help. They managed to successfully shut the doors once again and remained leaning against them to make sure they stayed shut, until something began ramming into them from the other side, clearly trying to get inside.
Sonic – A monster!
Amy grabbed the echidna's gun, which was sitting inside an empty barrel before tossing it to Shadow.
Amy – One of those lizard ones again?!
Shadow stepped away from the doors and caught the gun before loading it and aiming it at the doors.
Shadow – Let it in! I'll take it down before it has a chance!
Sonic and the echidna continued to hold the doors closed with all their might, except due to the latter having his head right up against the doors as he pressed his whole body against them, he was able to listen more closely to whatever it was that was ramming into the doors, and it seemed he picked up on something that lead him to a different conclusion.
Knuckles – Wait! I think it's…
Shadow – It's what?!
Knuckles – I think it might be a person…!
Sonic loosened his hold on the doors in surprise, giving whoever it was trying to get in the chance to push through and stumble their way into the room before falling down in front of Shadow. Just as the echidna said, it was indeed a person, a human in fact. But not just any human, as everyone recognized him immediately.
Tails – It's…
The human lifted his head, revealing it was Professor Gerald Robotnik himself.
Knuckles – Gerald Robotnik!
Shadow's eyes widened once he saw the man's face, and Gerald's eyes widened in recognition as he gazed up at the hedgehog.
Gerald – Shadow…! Y-you're back..!
Shadow's eyes then narrowed and he continued to aim the gun at the man on the ground, giving off an aura of fury. Gerald took notice of the hedgehog's hostility instantly and could only nervously stare at him in return.
Gerald – P-please… Don't shoot…
As Gerald continued to stare up at Shadow pleadingly, the latter seemed to be in some kind of internal struggle, his finger just itching to pull the trigger as feelings of burning anger coursed through his veins. He then grit his teeth tighter and lifted the gun slightly higher, giving the impression he was going to shoot, which both the echidna and Sonic took note of.
Knuckles – Stop!
Shadow did not relax however, and his finger just began to brush against the trigger.
Sonic – Don't, Faker!
Sonic's voice seemed to snap Shadow out of his trance, making him realize what he was about to do. He lifted the gun away before shooting a look towards Sonic.
Shadow – Who are you calling Faker, Faker?
Gerald relaxed while Sonic came over to the man's side.
Sonic – Hey, you alright?
Gerald looked up towards Sonic, but once he saw the blue hedgehog's face, his expression morphed to one of alarm and he sat up as he continued to stare at Sonic, who was perplexed by the man's reaction; this is exactly like what happened with Shadow back in the cold sleep capsule room. Gerald moved backwards until his back was pressed against the wine barrels while everyone came closer towards him.
Knuckles – What happened? What's going on outside?
Gerald – The test subjects went berserk. They're out of my control now. No, they've gone beyond my reach…
Tails – Wait, you were running an experiment? What kind?
Gerald – An experiment to turn dreams into reality, I suppose you could say.
Everyone aside from Shadow looked astonished; how could something like that be possible?!
Gerald – I was just one step away, when something interfered…
Another earthquake suddenly rang out, more powerful than the last.
Knuckles – It's a big one!
Everyone looked around in shock and fear as a wooden beam even collapsed due to the tremor, as well as multiple supplies falling off the shelves. Water soon began flowing into the room, while thorns continued spreading down the halls.
Knuckles – The coolant water's reached here?!
Sonic ran back over to the doors with the echidna promptly following.
Sonic – Or is it…?!
Knuckles – It's seawater!
The two tried to shut the doors once again to keep more water from flowing in, but it was much more difficult with the currents pouring in at a surprisingly rapid rate. Miles and Amy raced over to help shut the doors as well, with Amy glancing back at Shadow and Gerald, who had not moved an inch.
Amy – Come on! What are you doing?!
Both figures still did not budge, until Shadow looked over at Gerald.
Shadow – You didn't flee to this room by chance, Professor. You wouldn't come here if not for a reason.
Gerald looked at Shadow despondently before he turned around and pointed to the fireplace at the back of the room. Shadow lifted his gun and began shooting at the brick wall over and over again, the bullets breaking through it and revealing a hollow space on the other side. Once the wall seemed damaged enough, Shadow started using the other end of his gun to smash through the rubble further until there was a big enough hole in the wall for even Gerald to fit through. Everyone gathered around the hole, Sonic holding up one of the makeshift bottle torches to light up the inside, revealing a set of stairs leading upwards.
Tails – A secret tunnel?
Amy – Is this way out real or a dream?
Shadow and the echidna turned back around towards Gerald before Shadow gestured for him to go first.
Shadow – Lead the way, Professor. But don't even think about trying anything funny. And while you're at it, why don't you tell them the whole story.
Sonic handed his torch bottle to the professor, who took it, and the fire seemed to flare for a moment, transitioning to a flashback of a meteor shower raining over a forest in the dead of night.
Gerald – It happened eight years ago.
One asteroid appeared to fall to the earth, wiping out a massive amount of land in the blast range. The next morning, an enormous crater, around 4,000 feet wide, the remains of the forest surrounding it left completely to devastation, was revealed.
Gerald – Immediately after, my investigative team uncovered a strange emerald as the source of the impact. But before any further studies could be made, a nearby village had been plagued by a mysterious illness.
At the very center of the crater, was a huge green gemstone shaped in a diamond cut. The gem also was glowing, as though it were radiating some kind of powerful energy, however the glowing began dying down until the energy faded from the gemstone entirely, leaving it bare and dull.
Amy – Chaos! Are you saying the Chaos virus came from space?!
Back in the present, Gerald was shown leading the group up the stairs as he explained.
Gerald – That, at least, was a possibility we expected. The issue was the UMA that appeared in the village at nearly the same time.
Knuckles – UMA?
In another flashback, the village Gerald was talking about was shown, though it was currently flooded, as some sort of serpent-like dragon was shown to be controlling powerful and massive tsunamis to lay waste to the entire area. G.U.N. agents were shown riding in helicopters, shooting at the creature in an attempt to slay it, only for it to have seemingly no effect; the creature even retaliated at them by firing a beam of energy straight from its mouth. Gerald himself was shown in one of the helicopters, analyzing the creature from his vantage point intensely.
Gerald – Its power was immense, and it seemed nearly invulnerable to any physical damage.
Gerald appeared to give an order to the pilot of the helicopter, who looked nervous but obeyed the command and pressed a launch button, firing a special missile the helicopter was able to carry straight into the creature's mouth before it could fire another energy blast, causing it to explode from the inside, scattering much of the water it was previously manipulating far and wide enough that it all came pouring back down like rain.
Gerald – After a fierce battle, it seemed we had finally managed to silence the creature. But…
Gerald and a few G.U.N. agents were then shown back on the ground, cautiously checking to see if the creature truly had been destroyed, only for them to look shocked at what they saw before them. The creature was in fact, still alive, but it had been reduced to a much smaller form; in fact, it was the very same creature Sonic had seen preserved back in the storage lab. What was an even more surprising sight, particularly to Gerald, was that the creature was holding in its arms the same female echidna mobian Sonic had seen stored next to it in the lab as well. The mobian girl was comatose however, and the creature appeared to be holding her close in a protective embrace, growling at Gerald and the soldiers as it gazed at them with hostile, pupil-less lime green eyes.
Gerald – This creature was far more bizarre than anything that had ever existed on Mobius.
Knuckles – How bizarre?
Gerald – Simply put, it was as if it had been born from fiction. It was nonsense.
Back in the flashback, Gerald was shown searching through one of the devastated houses in the village the next morning.
Gerald – As I continued investigating, I determined that it had been born from the girl's imagination.
Gerald soon noticed a drenched piece of paper on the ground and picked it up. It was a crayon drawing of the female echidna and the unique creature, and beneath the figures was written, Tikal & Chaos. Realizing the female echidna was Tikal and the creature must have been her imaginary friend, whom she had named, Chaos, Gerald's took eyes widened in shock and realization as it dawned upon him what had happened.
Amy – A dream? You're saying a dream became reality?!
Gerald – More precisely, something served as a catalyst to manifest her fantasy.
Tails – Wait, you don't mean…?
Another flashback was then shown, of Tikal's body being inspected in an operation room by Gerald and other scientists all wearing hazmat suits.
Gerald – The emerald, the mysterious disease, the girl, and the UMA were all connected.
Tikal was laid upon her stomach as her body was inspected; her entire back had a large spiral shaped scarring, as though something had emerged from it.
Gerald – The girl had been infected with the Chaos virus, but she had conquered it by producing an "Alternative." As the very first living creature to be brought to life from fantasy itself, I dubbed it to be the very embodiment of the disease that had graced upon us and named it as such.
The present was shown once again, Gerald was leading the group through a cross shaped doorway, which lead to a mostly empty room with only a single chest at the back with a cross symbol on it, and multiple other tunnel entranceways. Gerald and the group continued towards one tunnel that lead to another set of stairs.
Gerald – It turns out Chaos existed in space long before man and mobiankind alike was born. It interferes with beings that possess advanced mental activity and stimulates their evolution.
Tails – No way…
Gerald – But I was the one and only person in the world who realized it. Why?! It's worthy of being called a heavenly revelation! Why did life evolve? Because it wished to evolve. Because it could imagine being evolved.
The group continued to listen intently as they followed Gerald, the echidna however appeared to be slowing down, looking more and more fatigued every second.
Gerald – Our fate was decided the moment the Chaos virus came to this planet. No one can escape it. It is an ordeal imposed upon us! Man and mobiankind are at its mercy. I decided to try controlling it. Human and mobian consciousness is full of noise, being constantly bombarded with external stimuli. Collecting our thoughts with willpower alone is near impossible.
The echidna soon seemed to stop to catch his breath, prompting for Miles and Amy to look back at him with worry before they both went over to his side and began supporting him.
Amy – Are you okay?
Knuckles – I'm fine… Do not concern yourselves with me.
Tails – Hey, we're all in this together, remember? It's okay to rely on us when you need to.
Amy – That's right, this isn't like your tribe.
The echidna looked at both of them with a perplexed expression, as though no one had ever told him it was okay to be vulnerable before. His pride still urged him to try to shrug off their concern, but honestly, he did not have the energy to do so, so he gave the two a conceded smile and allowed them to help him catch up with the others.
Gerald – That was when I remembered the amount of power the first Chaos unleashed in an attempt to protect its friend. Their bond was clearly strong, enough that the girl's feelings had manifested into pure limitless energy that Chaos used to take form and develop such uncanny abilities. I realized, Chaos was power, power enriched by the heart. A concentrated explosion of emotion coupled with the loss of rational thought is the only way we can remain immersed in the world of imagination and achieve unlimited power.
The next flashback showed Gerald working at a desk, looking frazzled.
Gerald – But we needed a proper conformant; someone who could meet all the conditions to produce the results we desired.
Shadow grit his teeth and clenched his fists as Gerald spoke; his eyes becoming shadowed.
Back in the flashback, Gerald soon looked up and turned around, seeing the blond-haired girl that was in the photo with him and his coworkers.
Gerald – And fate delivered it to me, in the form of my granddaughter, Maria.
Sonic – What?
Gerald – I suppose it was only natural. She was sickly ever since she was born, so she never had the chance to go outside and make friends like other kids her age. The loneliness she must have felt for so long… I felt very sorry for her… I thought any hope that she might have a happy and healthy future was for naught after she was infected with the Chaos virus. Only to my surprise, she turned out to be a conformant herself! With this chance in hand, I saw an opportunity for both of us.
Gerald was shown back in the present, leading the group into another room that had all kinds of stuff in it you would normally think would be found in a castle, including multiple fancy bookshelves with glass panes, a bunch of different grandfather clocks, glass case tables containing a bunch of smaller clocks, portraits, birdcages, and swan lawn ornaments.
Gerald – I sought to create a powerful being capable of improving her condition that could also serve as a friend to her and keep her safe; essentially an Ultimate Life-Form if you will. Using these desired elements, along with Maria's ideal image for the form of her Alternative, I started the project. And… it was successful.
Gerald stopped in his tracks before glancing back at Shadow, prompting everyone to follow his gaze towards the black hedgehog, followed by all of their eyes widening in shock and realization.
Sonic – No way! You!?
Amy – You're a Chaos creation?!
Shadow was silent for a moment before he responded.
Shadow – That's right. And just as the Professor said, I possess far more power than you could fathom, worthy enough for the title of the Ultimate Life-Form.
Shadow held out his hand and summoned enough energy without unleashing an actual attack just to demonstrate his point. Everyone aside from Sonic looked in both amazement and disbelief.
Shadow – But that wasn't enough for you, was it?!
Shadow turned back towards Gerald with a furious glare.
Shadow – You got your perfect creation, just as you wanted, and yet you still strove for more! You said I was created for her sake, only for you to use her like a guinea pig and drained her of every last bit of energy you could get your hands on until her frail body couldn't hold out anymore!
Everyone looked back at Gerald in shock, as the professor could only look at Shadow with a sorrowful expression as the black hedgehog vented his anger.
Shadow – I always respected you, Professor. You even treated me as though I were your own. But after what you did, I left vowing to topple your little kingdom you made for yourself out of all the years you robbed of her! G.U.N. was looking for dirt on you, but I knew even my own word and abilities would not be enough to convince them of the truth. So I came back here to get the hard proof I needed and avenge Maria once and for all!
Shadow stared up at Gerald in silence a moment as he seethed, the man not once changing his expression.
Gerald – I know I am to blame. You have every right to resent me for my actions, Shadow.
Gerald then turned back around.
Gerald – But there is something you must know. Maria never underwent a single trial against her will.
Shadow's eyes widened in shock as well.
Gerald – In fact, she volunteered herself for the project from the start.
Another flashback was shown, this time of a clearly distressed Maria, lying on top of a capsule bed in the center of a lab room, panting heavily and sweating, while a whirlpool of liquid-like energy was swirling around the room, all flowing from her body. Bolts of lightning-like energy emerged from the liquid-energy here and there, while three areas of energy began to rise and take the shape of Maria's body. Meanwhile, Gerald and a bunch of other scientists were watching the process from an office behind glass windows, monitoring the readings and energy levels Maria was emitting from their computers.
Gerald – That girl's courage was as big as her heart. She put her burden before her own desires without hesitation just to ensure I would see my research through to the end. She endured one grueling experiment after another without even a single complaint…
Each blob of energy attempting to take Maria's form collapsed back into the whirlpool however, and Gerald could do nothing but watch as the energy readings dropped; at this point he knew, Maria had no strength left to continue materializing alternatives. The doctor stumbled back and collapsed against the wall in devastation, his colleagues coming over to check on him.
Gerald – Why didn't I see it sooner?
Gerald then held up his left wrist, which was wearing one of the facility's medical bracelets, and looked at the symptom indicator in the center, which was pitch black; despite the fact he was wearing it, it seemed that the symptoms the bracelet was reading were actually Maria's own. Soon Maria's breaths began to slow and her body seemed to grow weaker and weaker, until her eyes seemed to bulge wide open with her entire body seizing up.
Gerald was shown back in the present once more, continuing to look forward with a remorseful expression.
Gerald – I wanted to requite the sacrifice she had made.
Gerald then curled his hand around the flame on the bottle torch, putting the fire out and shrouding the group in total darkness, much to everyone's shock.
Gerald – I decided to make one final gamble.
Miles soon relit another bottle torch from his bag with plenty of extra ones, but once the room was lighted up again, everyone looked surprised to see Gerald was gone.
Amy – He's gone!
Gerald – In short, I gathered the most promising test subjects from around the world to dramatically drive evolution forward.
At the sound of his voice, everyone looked up to the left to see Gerald walking up another staircase leading to another tunnel higher up, back in the opposite direction.
Knuckles – The cold sleep center!
Sonic – You said even dreams can be controlled during cold sleep…!
Gerald – But then those fools just had to interfere… Tell me, Shadow, why do you think G.U.N. really tasked you with this assignment?
Shadow looked perplexed at Gerald's question.
Gerald – I've known those military weasels for far longer than you have, and even now they're the same as ever! They never hesitate to ignore their own foolishness and steal other's work as if it's their legitimate right!
The bottle torch Gerald was holding was dropped and rolled back down the stairs as he disappeared into the tunnel. The five mobians hurriedly raced up the stairs after him. Once they reached the hallway, they saw other hall entranceways and tried to figure out which way Gerald went.
Gerald – It happened just after the cold sleep capsules were activated.
At the sound of his voice, everyone turned towards the entrance to one hallway, seeing two rows of knight armor stands alongside the walls as Gerald walked down the path ahead.
Gerald – Two hedgehogs were brought to the lab. Such irony… Such dumb luck… These hedgehogs, who hadn't even been on the list, were the next perfect conformants I had worked so hard to find!
Everyone rushed down the hallway after the professor, Sonic in particular leading in front this time, as he had a strong suspicion of who the hedgehogs Gerald was talking about were.
Sonic – Wait! You mean…?!
Another flashback was shown, back in the laboratory room, the bodies of two hedgehog figures were shown lying on the capsule bed, their quill color and facial features obscured due to liquid-like energy being produced from their entire bodies and swirling around the room at a rapid pace.
Gerald – They were producing tremendous amounts of energy. Something had triggered their minds into running out of control. Just what sort of emotion could have caused that?!
Multiple bolts of energy emerged from the whirlpool of liquid energy, and on the monitors outside, the energy readings were rising high, far more than Maria's own had ever been able to reach. Gerald watched, smiling in exhilaration as multiple blobs of energy began to take shape of what looked to be Sonia and Manic's figures; the professor could feel success right at his fingertips, he knew this was the moment he had been working to reach at long last! Only for the power to suddenly shut off, disabling all the lab equipment.
Gerald – What happened?!
Human Scientist – M.A.R.I.A was knocked offline!
Gerald – Determine the cause!
The lights soon turned back on, and Gerald smiled in relief, only for his expression to turn to one of fear at what he saw inside the lab; the energy readings on the monitors rose back up far too quickly and even went over the top. Inside the lab, the liquid-energy began growing beyond the normal limits at a ravenous rate, consuming the entire room and pounding against the glass panes as it began to take form.
Gerald – Freed from M.A.R.I.A's mental restraints, they ran out of control!
Gerald and the scientists were frozen in shock and fear as they watched hundreds of blue and magenta eyes along with other facial features form in the energy-like matter, before in a split second, all the matter in the lab took the form of giant vines with red and yellowish/green thorns, which broke through the glass and began consuming everything in sight.
Back in the present, the group of five reached the end of the hallway and entered the next room Gerald had gone in.
Shadow – Even with M.A.R.I.A offline, cutting the main power should have stopped both the conformants' rampage! Why didn't you?! You had the ability to!
As everyone reached the back of the room, they saw Gerald standing in front of a fancy looking class case; the professor kept his eyes on it with a lamenting expression on his face, not bothering to look back as he heard the others walk up behind him.
Gerald – Shadow, you of all people should know why I couldn't…
Shadow looked ahead at the case and his eyes widened in shock, multiple emotions swirling through his entire being. Inside the box, laid Maria's diseased body, her entire color palette completely bleached grey; there were also what appeared to be some sort of stabilizing mechanisms within the box, most likely being the only things keeping her body from turning completely to ash.
Gerald – After we lost Maria, I'd experienced failure after failure. But at last, I had found the greatest research subjects!
Gerald kneeled down as he gazed at his granddaughter's face. Shadow fell to his own knees as well, unable to tear his gaze away from the sight of his best friend. Even Sonic and the others' expressions were filled with condolence as they focused on the encryption written at the head of the case, which read, HERE RESTS OUR BELOVED FRIEND AND CHERISHED GRANDAUGHTER, MARIA ROBOTNIK, 2000 – 2012.
Gerald – Alternatives produced by conformants are immune to the drawbacks of Chaos. They aren't immortal, but they have essentially permanent lifespans. Remember this, Shadow. We are the beginning of everything.
Shadow finally looked back at Gerald at that statement before his and the others' bodies tensed up once they saw the professor pull a handgun from underneath the case and turn back around towards them.
Gerald – Yes! We have heard the voice of God!
Everyone stumbled back in alarm once they saw the gun in Gerald's hand, only for their expressions to turn to shock as they watched the man put it to his head, intending to end his own life. Shadow especially looked the most alarmed as he saw the man he had thought of as a father figure about to pull the trigger.
Shadow – Stop!
Shadow attempted to get back to his feet so he could speed over and stop Gerald, but someone had beat him to it. Sonic zipped right up to Gerald and kicked the gun out of the man's hand before he even realized what had happened, the blue hedgehog's body sparking with blue energy as he had used his newfound superspeed once again. Miles, Amy, the echidna, and Gerald himself could only stare at Sonic in astonishment at what he just did, until Shadow got up and restrained Gerald's arms behind his back to make sure the man did not try anything else. He then gave Sonic a grin.
Shadow – Looks like I owe you again.
Sonic – I won't let anyone else die!
Sonic then gazed at Gerald with narrowed eyes.
Sonic – Congratulations, Professor Robotnik. Looks like your other experiment was a success after all.
Gerald didn't say anything, only continuing to stare back at Sonic in bewilderment.
Sonic – If you're still looking for a test subject, use me if you want. But in exchange, take me to where those two hedgehogs are!
Gerald seemed taken aback from Sonic's request, and his eyes glanced over towards Miles, who for some reason was also now narrowing his eyes at the man as though he were warning him. All of a sudden, multiple vines with yellowish/green thorns shot straight out from the ground, causing Amy to accidentally knock into Miles, making him drop the bottle torch he was holding, which shattered on the ground. The alcohol from the bottle now spilled all over the floor instantly caught flame, creating a fire; Miles took that moment to turn around and begin running back towards the hallway without even flinching. Amy and the echidna were quick to notice him running off.
Amy – Miles?! Where are you going?!
Knuckles – Wait, Fox!
The thorns then began striking against the ceiling and pillars around the room, beginning to bring it down; Amy and the echidna took that as their cue to begin running after Miles with Sonic beginning to follow behind, only to stop and glance back towards Gerald, his only lead to his brother and sister. Another vine then shot into a pillar near Sonic, causing debris to come falling down towards him.
Shadow – Idiot, move!
Shadow ran by, grabbing Sonic's arm and pulling along as they ran after the others, though the black hedgehog also spared one last pained look towards Gerald, watching the man turn back towards Maria's glass coffin and lean down to rest his arms on it, choosing to stay with her as the room continued to collapse while more thorns shot out. With a heavy heart, Shadow turned his head away and activated his hover shoes so as to speed through the collapsing hallway, Sonic using his own powers to keep up with him as well.
Miles was then shown continuing to run through the hallway past the suits of armor, with Amy and the echidna chasing after him.
Amy – Miles!
Knuckles – Come back!
Miles only continued running, his expression completely blank, though his eyes seemed focused. All in all, he did not look like himself at the moment. As he continued to run however, a dinosaur-like monster stepped right out into the hallway from another tunnel to the right, except it was missing its right horn and had severe burns that revealed its flesh on multiple areas of its body, indicating it was the very same monster Shadow and Sonic had escaped previously; it was still alive! Miles did not react to the monster in front of him though and continued running. Amy and the echidna however stopped once they saw the beast, the echidna even holding Amy back from running further as they watched in fear as Miles kept going.
Amy – No!
However, Miles ran underneath the monster's body, getting past is with ease and going completely unnoticed by the beast due to having not made a single sound. However, the monster did react to Amy's voice, prompting it to begin charging towards her and the echidna, who pushed her behind him in an attempt to protect her. Suddenly, Shadow skated up and began shooting energy spears at the monster, finally using his powers in front of the others now that they knew the truth.
Shadow – Go! It's attention is on me!
Knuckles – Doing things on your own again?!
As Shadow said, the monster seemed to ignore the others as it only tried to go after Shadow, who continued to keep it back with his energy spears.
Shadow – Just go! Only that kid knows the way out now!
The echidna only grimaced before looking at Sonic and Amy.
Knuckles – You two go ahead!
Sonic – What about you?
Knuckles – I'm done with just running.
The echidna turned back towards the monster, which continued to charge at Shadow.
Knuckles – I'd bring dishonor upon my name as a warrior if I can't stand my ground against one monster.
Amy – Seriously?!
Knuckles – Hurry!
Amy did not look convinced with letting the echidna stay behind to fight. Sonic however gazed at him with understanding in his eyes and nodded to the echidna before turning to the female hedgehog and taking her hand.
Sonic – Hold on tight.
Amy looked confused until Sonic sped off with her in tow down the hallway using his own powers, the pink hedgehog's body flying through the air as she held onto Sonic as tightly as possible. The echidna then raced over to Shadow removing the riffle strapped to his back while the black hedgehog was currently dodging the monster while striking it with his energy spears in between each strike. As the beast lunged at the black hedgehog again, the echidna raised his gun and began shooting at the monster.
Shadow – What are you still doing here?!
Knuckles – I decided I won't turn my back anymore! I am an echidna warrior and if I go down, I'll go down fighting with honor!
The monster then lunged at the echidna, who attempted to shoot it again, only for the gun to be out of ammunition. Managing to get out of the way just in time, the echidna proceeded to bash the monster on the head with the other end of the gun instead, while Shadow bombed its body with more energy spears. As the two continued to land their hits on the beast's head, their strikes eventually began beating it down into the ground. It seemed to be effective as with every strike, the monster appeared to have more and more trouble getting back up. Finally, with one final hit from the echidna, the monster appeared to have finally been knocked out for good, which was good because that last hit ended up breaking the gun too. Regardless, the echidna smirked as he looked down at the fallen beast.
Knuckles – And here I was expecting more of a fight-
Suddenly, the echidna keeled over onto his knees in a coughing fit, his body suddenly loosing all strength. Shadow gasped in shock as he took in the echidna's condition, while the latter gazed over at his wrist and saw that the symptom indicator on his bracelet had turned completely black; his chaos virus was entering stage 3.
Knuckles – So this is as far as I go…?
While Shadow was distracted by the echidna's weakening form, the monster suddenly shot its eyes open, revealing it had only been pretending to be knocked out, startling both mobians before it lunged at Shadow and successfully caught the black hedgehog's head in its mouth. Shadow struggled in the beast's grip, attempting to form his energy spear attack again, only for the monster to make it difficult for him to do so by swingling his body around and hitting him against the pillars against the walls as well as the ground, all while keeping hold of the black hedgehog's head in its jaws. The echidna could only watch in shock and tried getting back up to help, but his body only collapsed again as the color of his red quills began to fade. The echidna's expression formed to one of helpless frustration as he could do nothing but watch.
Knuckles – (Why…? My tribe was so obsessed with strength, I've been training my whole life just to live up to that ideal. And yet now when I actually need it for something that matters…!)
The echidna shut his eyes and pounded his fist against the floor, but then he turned his attention to his hands and his eyes widened in realization before looking back at Shadow, now dangling limply in the monster's grasp as it drooled. He then looked back at his medical bracelet and narrowed his eyes determinedly.
Knuckles – (At this point, there's nothing for me to lose…)
The echidna then closed his eyes in concentration, his body nearly losing all its color at this point.
Knuckles – (If Chaos truly does turn thoughts into power… Then, take my ideal image…)
The echidna's body was now nearly completely grey, but he willed the last of his strength to at least lift his body onto his knees and spread his arms out, clenching his hands into fists.
Knuckles – (Give me the kind of strength…)
The echidna then sharply looked towards Shadow, allowing the sight of the hedgehog in the monster's grasp to channel the emotions of rage, frustration, and helplessness he's felt since this whole mess began. But most of all, as he also thought about Sonic, Miles, and Amy, he channeled the desire to protect.
Knuckles – (that I can use… to protect my friends!)
The echidna proceeded to slam his knuckles together with a war cry, followed by what looked like matter bursting forth from them, encompassed entirely by red colored energy. Back with Shadow, the black hedgehog opened his eyes and watched the monster's tongue stretch out and begin to circle around his head. An expression of regret forming on his face as he knew what was coming.
Shadow – Forgive me… Maria…
Before the monster could chomp down on Shadow's head, a huge white fist, sparking with red energy rammed straight into the side of the monster's head with enough force that it dropped Shadow and was knocked off its feet, straight into the wall. Shadow looked up in shock to see the echidna standing in front of him, his fur and quills a fully vibrant red once again, and two gloves covering his hands that looked just like his original ones except these were much bigger and the spikes were even sharper, all while they radiated with pulsing red energy.
Shadow – You're…!
Knuckles – I told you, didn't I?
The echidna then grinned at Shadow and held out a hand to him, which now looked quite big compared to the hedgehog's own.
Knuckles – I won't turn away, no matter what.
Shadow gazed at the echidna with respect in his eyes before he accepted the outstretched hand and allowed the latter to help pull him up to his feet.
Shadow – You could have imagined anything at all into existence and yet you went with those gloves?
Knuckles – Shut up! I had very little time to come up with anything!
The monster suddenly came charging back towards both mobians, but the echidna just smirked and got into a fighting stance, while red energy pulsed from his body, the most of it centering around his gloves.
Knuckles – Besides, nothing better reflects… what my ideal image of a warrior should be!
The echidna readied his fist back and punched the monster straight in the face just before it could reach him with a burst of power, knocking the beast back. The echidna continued to use his newfound superstrength to punch the monster a few more times before he jumped up onto the beast's neck and with one final strike, slammed his powered fist right down onto the center of the monster's head, forcing it into the ground with incredible force. Blood poured from the beast's head due to its skull literally being bashed in and its body finally began to lose color before it promptly turned to ash; it was finally dead for real!
The echidna put his hands on his hips proudly until he and Shadow began to feel another earthquake coming.
Shadow – Let's go!
Shadow grabbed the echidna's wrist and activated his shoes before racing off with the latter in tow, just as Sonic did before. A bunch more thorns then burst through the ground before the floor tiles were shaken loose as water began seeping through them, flooding all the hallways at a rapid pace.
Answers at last! Like how I made Shadow an Alternative?
And yep, Knuckles is not dead! You think I would kill Knuckles?! No way would I kill one of my boys! I mean I could have... :) But I didn't!
And just like what's a Sonic story without Sonic's speed... What's a Sonic story without Knuckles' strength? Basically here, the Chaos virus not only can create Alternatives, but can also grant specific powers depending on their host's thoughts as well. For Knuckles, yes the only Alternatives he made were the gloves, and he was granted his super strength based on his desire as well.
