6: Shades of Deception

by Pip the Bat

A Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation with twists. When Sonic and Tails go on holiday to Sapphire City, events take a turn for the worse with the arresting of Sonic and the introduction of a new villain -- Shadow.

2. Justice and Evil

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Chapter 2: Justice and Evil
~The shattering of the Master Emerald~
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A black, white and purple figure strode through the jungle shrubbery, ostensibly without a care in the world. The creature's ears were larger than most, and it also had dragon-like wings of purple and black. She, for a she it was, was dressed in demurely black trousers and a purple tight-fitting top. Upon her feet were purple and white high-heeled boots, and she wore long gloves that reached up to her elbows. Her hair was cut so that it spiked out a little at the back, though with no fringe. The inside of her ears, her face, and her body were all a creamy ochre shade. She had used up a large amount of mascara upon eyes, the irises of which were a light green colour.

Her tread was light, although some purpose might have been perceived by the determined gleam in her eyes. She was a bounty hunter by trade, specialising in precious stones. They attracted her like a magnet, and she could never resist adding just one more to her already extensive collection.

That, of course, was why she was here, upon the Floating Island. This place, she knew, was home to one of the largest gems ever recorded: the Master Emerald. Such a shame that it was supposed to be guarded, she thought, but she was sure she could deal with any guards. After all, if she was renowned for her services (at a fee) for others, why should she not be able to steal just one gem for herself?

She moved more stealthily now, as she neared a clearing in the jungle. "Boy, but isn't this place dense?" she murmured aloud. At first sight the jungle had seemed the perfect method of entry; now however she was not so sure. It was certainly an easy place to get lost in, despite her having an excellent sense of direction. Finally, it seemed like she had had a lucky break.

Sighing with relief, and wiping away the sweat that had been trickling down her face with one hand, she stepped out of the foliage. Without really thinking, she began fanning herself with her wings. However, the change in temperature was almost instantaneous, and she found herself nearly shivering, even though the warmth was at a normal level outside the jungle.

The creature had stepped into what appeared to be a ruined temple or shrine, left over from aeons ago. Great stone pillars, or at least what remained of them, were sprawled about upon the overgrown- No, she corrected herself. The ruins were not overgrown with grass as one might expect. Instead, they looked well tended to. Somebody obviously cared a lot for the place, by the looks of it.

Her trained eyes swept the landscape before her, searching for any people who might raise an objection at her presence on the Island. What she saw completely threw her, and she moved closer, curious. Glowing a bright green, flashing brilliantly in the sunlight, was what could be nothing else but the Master Emerald. How had it got all the way out here? she wondered. She had been under the impression that it was in a place called Hidden Palace. Was somebody else trying to steal it? Whatever the reason, this opportunity was too good to waste.

As she stepped up to the gem, a voice hailed her. She nearly jumped: so focused had she been on the Master Emerald that she had not noticed anyone else approaching. Still, she knew her ability to get out of most tricky situations with ease. Smiling slightly to herself, she turned to face the newcomer.

Knuckles raced up to the Master Emerald, blood pounding in his ears. From some distance away he had seen that somebody was by it, and had broken all his previous running records to get there before anything happened to the gem. What was somebody doing near his Master Emerald? His eyes narrowed with fury. When he reached the spot, he was still calm enough to check what kind of creature it was, and if he recognised it from Knothole. He did not want to jump to conclusions and pummel an innocent Freedom Fighter. However, he recognised neither who the creature was, nor its species. The one thing he could be certain of beyond a doubt was its gender.

"What are you?" he demanded, glowering at her, skidding to a halt on the other side of the Master Emerald from the girl.

She clicked her tongue, smiling disarmingly at him. "Can't you tell? You mean you've never seen a bat before?"

The Guardian frowned. Sure, he had seen Pip, but she was nothing like this creature. For one thing, he was pretty certain that bat's wings and their arms were one, and the girl had them separate. Still, he was not going to argue the point now. "What's your name, and what are you doing here?"

"State your name and your business," murmured the bat, smirking. "The name's Rouge, just Rouge. I'm here because this gem-" She indicated the Master Emerald. "-is mine."

Knuckles stared, surprised by her audacity. After a few seconds struggling to control his anger, he regained the power of speech. "It is not yours!"

The bat gave him what could loosely be described as a patronising smile. "Honey," she said. "All the gems in the world belong to me." Still smiling, she caressed the surface of the Master Emerald gently with one gloved hand.

The echidna scraped his knuckles together, agitatedly. Why could she not just go away? He always felt very insecure about any matters relating to the powerful stone. After all, it was what kept the Floating Island in the sky. Without it, they would be sunk, in more ways than one. Still, ever the gentlechidna, he made one last attempt at courtesy. "I'm sorry, but this Emerald is not up for grabs. Rouge."

"Well, I did find it. And y'know, it really is finder's keepers in this world, Knuckles, otherwise we'd never get anywhere."

"Anywhere being in a speeding truck with a horde of money stashed in the back, leaving wailing sirens and smashed windows behind you?" How did she know his name, anyway? Well, maybe that was not so unusual. It was not like he ever tried to hide it.

"Oh really, you do exaggerate." She put her arms around either side of the Master Emerald, tugging with all her strength, but she could not budge it. "Say, do you think you could give me a hand with this thing, honey?" she asked, sweetly.

Knuckles leapt at her, and the scene might have turned very nasty, if at that moment there had not been a distraction. From the heavens, there came a deep laugh. Both relinquished their grip on the Emerald, looking up in surprise. Having been engaged in more pressing matters, they had failed to notice the craft hovering in the air less than ten feet above their heads.

Robotnik had been flying cautiously over, and, seeing the Guardian arguing with a complete stranger, had stopped to look. He had been wary of flying over the Island, but it had been the quickest route. When in a hurry, he could see no reason for having to curve round to a point C when getting from A to B. Naturally, when he had caught sight of it, he was more interested in the Master Emerald than anything else. There it was, practically unguarded while Knuckles was otherwise engaged. It would be risky, certainly, to snatch it from right under the echidna's nose. What was risk though, when compared to a prize like the Master Emerald?

Now he had succeeded in fastening a grip chain to the top of the gem, he felt that it was time to notify the Mobians below of his presence. After all, he felt especially clever today, having broken into a military base and coming out without a scratch. The Eggwalker had folded its legs up, becoming a hover-capable vehicle of the skies. It was a much faster method of transport than most.

"Robotnik!" gasped Knuckles, his purple eyes kindling with rage at the sight of his adversary actually having hold of his Master Emerald.

He did not hear Rouge's curious murmur of "So that's Robotnik, is it? I hope he doesn't think he's going to get his hands on my pretty gem."

The scientist grinned broadly. "Say so long to your Master Emerald, Knuckles," he mocked. "How easy it was to get, after all these years of trying. Farewell then; enjoy your powerless Island."

The red echidna's reply was bellowed. "Never!" Crouching down on the ground, he sprang into the air with a stunning display of agility, his large fists swinging. The other two could only watch, disbelieving, as he connected hard with the Master Emerald. There was a moment of teetering silence, as if before a storm, then the shattering sound ripped through the air, as the Emerald broke into shards, and was flung in all directions.

Cheated of his prize, Robotnik was not going to sit around any longer, especially since Knuckles had managed to get the better of him. With a last muttered "Rats." he took the controls and piloted himself away.

The Guardian landed, feet apart on the ground. He felt almost relieved, although he knew it was far from over: he would still need to collect all the pieces. At least he had prevented Robotnik from getting it; that was the main thing. Unfortunately, someone else did not appear to share his views.

"What the heck did you do that for, you cretin?" exclaimed Rouge, grabbing him by the neck and shaking him viciously. "Look what you've gone and done: you've broken my lovely Emerald!"

"It's not your Emerald," spluttered Knuckles, trying desperately to remove the choking hands from around his throat. "As I keep telling you. Anyway, I had to do that to save it from Robotnik. Would you want him to have got it?" With a final wrench, he managed to tear her hands away.

The bat sighed deeply, starting to turn and walk away. "Quit making excuses. Now I'm going to have to go and find all those shards and put them back together again."

The echidna clenched his fists tightly; inside his gloves, his knuckles began to go white. "Not if I do it first," he yelled after her.

She turned back to him one last time, what she described as her 'seductive smile' upon her face once more. "You're on," she told him.

Then, the two creatures went their separate ways, each as determined as the other that they would be the first to recover the pieces of the Master Emerald.

***

Sonic snorted in dismissal. The group had taken a day out to the local theme park, aptly - if not inventively - named Twinkle Park. Amy had just suggested to Sonic that they had a go at the kart racing. She had also suggested that she thought that they would make a great team on the doubles, which was what he had found so disagreeable.

Still, it might be fun, he thought, reading the sign that depicted wild adventures on highly improved karts across arid landscapes, far much more exciting than the comparatively tame track provided. Despite the old sign, it was the latest hi-tech version on the market. It possessed an inviting striped tarmac track, not to mention having speed boosters placed at convenient intervals.

"Okay, but I'm taking a single kart." That would prevent the silly pink hedgehog from trying to wheedle her way into sharing one with him.

Amy's face was downcast. "Oh, but Sonic, they won't let me on this ride without someone over the age of 13." Amy was now only a few months off hitting that age, while Tails had only just passed it. the blue hedgehog thought that this was rather convenient, although he did feel a little guilty. "It's because of the speed boosters," she added, dismally.

Guessing that Sonic was on the verge of doing something that he was strongly against, Citras gallantly stepped into the breach. "Well, how about if you came with me then, huh?"

Amy perked up immediately. She had taken to Citras like he was her big brother; something Sonic thought that the android was in fact rather grateful for. He was so used to people hero-worshipping him for no good reason that he was sick of it. "Okay then, City." Citras winced at the variation of his name. There was, of course, a downside to this.

The others all chose single carts. They waited in the queue for a small eternity, then finally stepped lightly into the sleek karts. Whether by luck or by judgement, they all got into cars with a jag down the side of their own colour, or at least nearly their own colour. Sonic had a dark blue one, Samantha a light sky colour, Tails orange, while Citras and Amy had pink. The latter was definitely decided upon by the young girl hedgehog, who let out a squeal of delight and dragged Citras to it.

Feeling as though they were in some kind of futuristic movie, they strapped themselves in, remembering to fasten their customisable safety helmets on. Customisable because Mobians - and humans - could come in many different shapes and sizes, or have ears or anatomical details in varied places. After this they sat, feet poised above the accelerators, ready to shoot off when the light changed to green.

The red light disappeared, flicking down to the orange one below, then the green. "Go!" yelled an automated voice, then they were off.

Sonic turned the first corner then slammed down on the accelerator, his kart shooting across the straight stretch. Another twist in the track approached. Spinning the wheel mercilessly, the tyres leaving a skid mark and an acrid smell of burnt rubber, he shot round it. Not as fast as he was, but he had to admit the kart was "Kinda nifty", as Tails had put it. He grinned as he shot the first ramp, landing with a jolt on the other side, then proceeded to take the next set just as fast. The sight of the kart bumping up and down in rapid succession might have amused some spectators.

Indeed, there were some people watching the racing from the side of the track, behind the barriers. One of them, garbed in a shimmering purpley-blue hood and cloak, pointed Sonic out. "He's the one." The human who the figure was talking to was dressed in a military uniform. He was of high rank too, if the neat display of badges pinned to his front was anything to go by.

"Are you sure?"

"What do you want me to do? Kiss him?"

The man shrugged, signalling to an attaché of soldiers. "We'll wait by the exit for him to come out. The Project won't be on the loose for long. Don't worry citizen." He turned on his heel and led the group away.

"Citizen?" muttered the figure, in disgust. "I'm sure this citizen's eternally grateful that there's all those jerks in uniform to protect us from harm."

The gold chao perched on the rail by her side glanced back at the racetrack. "I suppose he doesn't know who you are. Maybe his nice shiny badges don't mean that much."

"I've got a collection of foil shinier than his badges."

"Then I guess they aren't telling the lower ranks about your involvement."

"Fine, fine." Their outlines flickered blue for a second, then they were gone: vanished into thin air.

Back on the track, Sonic had nearly completed his first lap. Apart from one time when Tails had come near him, he had not seen any of the others. A shame, really. On this racecourse you were permitted to ram people, which, in his opinion, added greatly to the fun and excitement. So far he had only got to do it to the orange fox, which was probably why he had not seen him again. Wizard with machines though he was, it would take even him a while to get out of that spin. Still, at least one of the others should have caught him up by now. He whizzed through the flashing lights of the starting line.

"Jeez, everybody's really slow today," he complained aloud.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth then something hit him from behind, nearly causing him to lose control of the vehicle. As it was, he was slammed side on into the wall, rattling all the bones in his body.

Laughing, Samantha passed him, waving a farewell with one hand. "Who's slow, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog stared for a moment in surprise, then smiled to himself at the prospect of competition. Maybe this race was not to be as straightforward as he had first assumed. His reactions kicked in, and he slammed down as hard as he could on the accelerator, nearly driving his foot through the floor. The kart surged forward, going from nothing to maximum velocity in seconds.

Neck and neck the two karts bounded in their strange fashion over the ramps, curving up and round, moving with the track. Both of them had raced upon it before now, privately thinking with quiet confidence that they knew every twist and turn that it could throw at them.

At this point the track split in two; they both took separate routes. Sonic was not sure which was the faster route to take, if they were not of equal distance, so he ground down the accelerator for all he was worth. He doubted that the sleek vehicle could go any faster. His track was curved, though flat. He knew that Samantha's had been straight though it was more of a bridge; going up and over.

It took only a few seconds for him to reach the part where the two tracks to met again. A swift glance to his right saved him from another ramming by the opaline hedgehog. He spun the wheel frantically, skidding diagonally in front of her kart as she crossed over to his side of the track. The result of this was that they had, in effect, swapped places.

"Still think you're going to win?" she called across to him, grinning wickedly, winking at him.

Sonic winked back. "You betcha."

Several times around the next (and final) lap, they tried to ram each other, each time with no success. Finally, they gave up on that idea, keeping their karts level with each other, the sides of the vehicles practically touching. Each was focusing all their concentration on keeping up their speed. The finish line should be looming up on the horizon any second now. There it was; they could just see it. They were only a few yards away from winning the race. Gunning the engines, they shot along, their breath bated. Which of them would manage to gain that extra centimetre? Or would it be a draw? Nothing could distract them, so avid was their focus.

This was why it came as a complete shock to both hedgehogs when they were hit suddenly and mercilessly from behind. They both let out yells of surprise: they had certainly not been expecting that. The two went careering off in opposite directions, crashing into the length of tyres that lined the track sides to prevent serious injury.

Looking up, groaning, they were just in time to see Amy and Citras streak past them in their double kart; the first to complete the race. "We did it! We did it!" they heard Amy shrieking. Tails followed their lead a few seconds later, halting his kart with a neat little skid behind the winners'. The two hedgehogs exchanged shamefaced looks, though they were unable to keep from smiling. Reversing their karts, they drove them over the finish line together, finishing up in joint third place.

"Did you see that?" Amy was telling Tails as Sonic and Sam joined them, still looking a little embarrassed. "We beat Sonic and my sis!" Seeing her hero, she gave him a huge hug. "Are you proud of me, huh?" The blue hedgehog declined from commenting for a moment or two, as he was too busy looking around to see if there was anyone who had seen Amy hug him. At least, anyone who knew him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he came to the conclusion that nobody had.

"Uh, yeah. Real great," he told her.

"Well done," her sister added, appraisingly. "You're getting really good at this." The others added on their congratulations to the young hedgehog.

The five then walked over to the prize counter, where Amy proceeded to tell the man behind the counter how she had beaten Sonic and her sister. The human gave the two sympathetic grins, then brought out a silver pen and a red rosette. He shook the pen once or twice to make sure it was working, writing the pink hedgehog's name on the rosette in a beautiful style.

They thanked him, then left through the polished turnstile. Amy was still dancing around, showing everyone her rosette, by force if necessary. Sonic stepped out first, then stopped dead, the barrel of a gun aimed at his head. The others, who had been chattering away, gradually stopped, becoming aware that something was wrong.

"Sonic?" asked Sam, cautiously. "Do you know this guy?"

He was a human, the commander of the squad who had been watching them race before. Looking grim, he flicked the safety catch off. "You're coming with us, Mr. Hedgehog. Any attempts to resist will be dealt with most severely."

The blue hedgehog glanced back at his friends, who were staring at the man, open mouthed. He couldn't risk anything that might endanger them, not even Amy. He swallowed to wet his mouth before he spoke: it seemed to have gone dry. "Okay," he said, raising his hands. "I'll go with you." He tried to make eye contact with them, trying to tell them without words that he would be okay, and that they need not worry. Inside, he felt a lot less than certain about those things. Then he was led away, sandwiched in the middle of the pack of hard-faced humans.

The others watched them go, stunned. Without warning, Amy started to cry, breaking the silence with her mournful sobs. She resorted to crying only when she felt the situation was beyond her, as she did now. Putting her hand on her sister's shoulder to comfort her, Samantha spoke to the others in a low voice. "Do you know who those guys were? Have you ever seen them before?"

They shook their heads. "They can't have been the police," Tails said. "Otherwise they'd have said 'I warn you that anything you say may be used against you as evidence later', or something like that."

"They're G.U.N.," Amy sniffled. "I saw it on the back of their uniforms when they took him away."

Sam went pale. "G.U.N.?" She hastened to explain to two Freedom Fighters what was wrong with this. "They're this military government force. If they've taken Sonic, then this is more serious than I'd thought. They must think that he's committed some crime or something."

Amy shook her head. "Sonic would never do anything like that."

Sam rubbed her back gently. "Of course he wouldn't. They've got the wrong hedgehog, obviously."

Citras thought for a moment. "Do you think we might be able to shadow them?"

"I'll go," said Tails, instantly. "It'll be more obvious what we're doing if we all follow them. Besides, I'm used to this from when we used to run missions in Robotropolis." Without waiting for an answer, he jogged lightly away, moving lightly around the groups of people. The others could not think of anything that they could do to help. Instead, they just stood there, waiting for Tails to return, shivering with the sudden cold.

***

Tails darted past people busy enjoying the theme park, wishing that they would be less laid back. They should move out of his way quicker. Did they not know how important his mission was? Luckily, he was a nimble fox, able to dodge and skip around people with ease. It was not too hard to keep the soldiers in sight. Being in a platoon, they were much easier to spot than if there had been only one or two of them. Also, they seemed to leave a large space around them wherever they moved: people were unwilling to go too close to them. Tails did not blame them.

The soldiers did not seem to notice the fox following them. There were too many other people moving about in the crowd for them to single out one person tracking. Tails was also something of an expert at that sort of work as he had said. He had been in much more dangerous pursuits than this, with perhaps higher penalties.

He followed them out of the tall gates of Twinkle Park, down the street. They took an abrupt turn into an alleyway. Tails hesitated - did they know that they were being tracked? Was that why they had gone down there. Whatever the reason, he could not risk losing Sonic. He thought of using his twin tails, flying to the rooftops to chase them. However, he ruled that out as attracting too much attention; something he definitely did not want.

Cautiously, he poked his furry face around the corner. There they were, disappearing round a bend. He narrowed his eyes. They were not going to get away from him so easily. He raced down the alley, his tails twirling, adding just that little bit extra to his speed. The ground was flat and he covered it quickly. Again, he stopped at the end to peer around the corner. Unfortunately for him, he looked at the same moment as one of the soldiers glanced back over his shoulder.

Hurriedly, Tails pulled back, though the damage had already been done. Helplessly he looked about him, looking for somewhere to hide. There was only a pile of wooden crates that he could crouch behind, nothing else. Feeling like a cornered rodent, he lay down flat on his stomach behind the wooden boxes, wishing his heart to beat more quietly. He was almost certain that the soldier would not be able to hear it, but it still sounded unnervingly loud to his sensitive ears.

The noisy clump-clump-clump of military boots reached his ears: the soldier returning to see if he could find the creature that had been spying on them. Through a crack between the crates, the fox could see his boots come into sight then stop, inches away from his hiding place. They were patent leather, he noticed, before realising what a stupid observation it was under the circumstances.

The feet shifted closer. He was going to be found, he thought, sweat pouring down his face. What did they do to spies? Was he going to be shot? Surely not? They would not shoot a child. At least, that was what he hoped.

A hand came down on the top of the crates. Tails felt his whole body trembling. He could not bear the tension: it was far worse than any attack would have been. If he was going to be discovered, why could the human not just hurry up and do it? It was agony not knowing what was going to happen.

Suddenly, there was a chirpy squeak and the fox heard something hit the alley between him and the man. All he could see was a tiny pair of orange feet and the silvery bottom of a small body. It must be a chao, he realised. The human did not move for a moment, then, to Tails's disbelief, he turned and began walking away. "Just a chao," he heard him mutter. "Nothing to worry about."

The orange fox sagged to the ground, tense no longer. He was alive. The human had gone. There was nothing to worry about any more. Tails decided that he was not going to move until several minutes had passed though: he was not willing to take any more risks. However, this vow was broken when he saw a large pair of orange eyes staring at him through the crack. He sat up, blinking once or twice in surprise.

Then the owner of the orange eyes leapt up onto the top of the crates: it was the chao. How could he have forgotten his saviour so soon? The chao's head and body were silver, while his arms, feet and eyes were orange. He was unusual from any that Tails had seen before in one respect: he was, most definitely, a robot. An easy way of telling this would have been by his clockwork mechanism instead of the normal life-force sphere. Another would have been by his obviously mechanical body.

He walked up to Tails and grinned down at him. "Aren't you going to say thank you? I just saved your life, after all." The fox stammered his thanks: he had not yet got his voice under control.

"I've g-got to g-get after S-Sonic. I need to s-see where they're taking him."

"Not like that you don't," the chao told him. "You're shivering still. They'd spot you in an instant. 'Sides, there isn't any point. I already know where they're going. You're not the only one who was following them, y'know." He winked. "Why don't we get you back to where you're staying? You'll feel better then."

Tails breathed deeply, managing to speak calmly once more. "No, I've got to go back to Sam and the others." He noticed the chao's momentary look of surprise. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that my owner's called Sam. She works at a chao garden. The same?" Tails nodded excitedly. "Okay then, suits me down to the ground. Which isn't very far," he admitted, looking down. "Chao aren't exactly tall."

Tails offered to carry him back, feeling it was the least he could do. The chao gratefully accepted. "What's your name?" Tails asked, as they emerged from the dark alley, returning into the sunshine world of the main street. "I'm Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails. I think you can guess why."

"Yasani."

"I haven't heard that name before."

"It's AE for riot, I think." AE was the abbreviated word for the language of the Ancient Echidnas. "Nobody actually calls me Yasani though, it's just what it says on official papers. Everyone just calls me Riot. I wonder why?" he added, smirking mischievously. Tails smiled back. He had taken a liking to this bold little chao.

It did not take them long to reach the spot where Tails had left the others. They looked extremely relieved to see him; he had been gone for some time. He explained what had happened, and how Riot had saved him from the soldier.

"Riot was there?" asked Samantha, surprised.

"I'm here now," the chao told her, appearing as if from nowhere. He had of course just jumped down from Tails's arms. He had not allowed Tails to carry him too far, only past the careless feet of the larger creatures who were liable to tread on him. Riot held up his arms, and it was Sam, his mistress, who picked him up this time.

"Sam lets him roam free," Amy explained to the others. "He's a lot more intelligent than most of the chao and likes doing things for himself. Don't you, Riot?"

Riot smiled placidly.

"Riot's also an omochao, as you can probably tell." The chao nodded, verifying this statement.

"That means robot chao, right?"

Samantha gave the fox an appraising look that she reserved for anybody who knew anything about chao. "Omo is Ancient Echidna for robot."

"They actually had a word for robot?" Citras looked surprised. He knew that there could have been no robots in their time, or, at least, he thought he knew.

"Better believe it. Those guys had a word for practically everything."

"Did you find out where they were taking Sonic?" Citras asked, returning to the matter in hand.

Tails opened his mouth, unsure what to say. "They've taken him to a helicopter," the chao interrupted. "They're gonna fly him out to Prison Island."

Samantha groaned. "Could this get worse?"

"That name sounds like trouble," agreed Citras. "If only to the originality of the people who invented it."

"What are we going to do?" Amy wailed.

"The only thing we can do," her sister replied, grimly. "Go out there ourselves and rescue him."

***

The hedgehog was angry; angry at being made to look and feel like a common criminal. People in the roads blinked curiously at him, staring as if he was an exhibit in a zoo. He had not done anything to merit such treatment.

Sonic was manhandled roughly through the streets, across the quadrant, onto the launch pad where a helicopter awaited their arrival. It was large, long, grey, metal, sparsely decorated; in a word, ugly. Though the hedgehog did not have time to see it, it also had the initials G.U.N. printed on its side. They would not have meant anything to him at that moment in time anyway. The rotor blades were already spinning, ready for a swift take-off.

"Where are you taking me?" he demanded of his stony-faced attaché. He was trying to put a brave face on things, since he doubted that things could get much worse for him than they already were. Even so, these military humans scared him with their expressionless countenances and clockwork-like movements.

The response he received was as near to a bark as human mouths could produce. "Silence, criminal."

Great, he thought, miserably. It did not look as if he was going to get much information out of these people. What could they want of him? He racked his brains for an answer. The only idea he could come up with seemed quite feeble and pathetic: that they were working for Robotnik. He discounted it as improbable. As far as he knew, Robotnik did not get on well with other humans.

Rope was produced, and he was bound hand and foot. He was then shoved into the cockpit of the helicopter, next to the pilot. The pilot appeared younger looking than the soldiers, probably just out of her teen years. She looked more than a little nervous at being the transporter of such a supposedly dangerous creature, watching him with wide eyes as he was tied up. Her long golden hair flowed over her shoulders, drawing attention to her large blue eyes. She also wore glasses. Sonic, who generally thought of glasses as large rimmed cumbersome things had to allow himself on this occasion to be corrected. They were small, gold framed; almost pretty, if glasses could be. About where her fringe was she wore a pair of goggles, more for the look of it than anything else. The pilot smoothed out her hair, attempting to mask her fear.

"Don't let him give you any trouble," the lead soldier advised. "You have no idea what he is capable of."

The pilot nodded seriously, throwing off a smart salute. The soldiers stepped back, she threw the switches, and then they were off. At any other time, the blue hedgehog would have liked the gradual lifting sensation. Now though, it brought a sickening feeling to the pit of his stomach. Who knew where he was being taken? Smirking a little at his melodramatisism, he corrected himself. A lot of people, including the pilot, would know where he was going.

Two minutes into flight-time, counted by the ever-reliable 'One Mississippi, two Mississippi' method, the sprawling metropolis was left behind them. A district of hills and rocks was below; Sonic knew that they were near the coast, having been here before, though at ground level last time.

To ease his fears, he tried to make conversation with the pilot. "So, where are we going then?" She shot him a swift glance, seeming to reassure herself that he could not break free, then turned her concentration back to the flying. Sonic sighed. "Okay then, let's try an easier question. What's your name?"

A pause. "Alice. Alice Airam." Another pause, as if she was debating hard over whether or not to dare conversing any more with him. "What's yours?"

He was surprised. "You don't know?"

"No."

"You kidnap me, and you don't even know my name?"

"We haven't kidnapped you. You're under arrest, by orders of G.U.N.. It's my job to take you to a place where you'll be held securely." She spoke almost defensively.

"I'm called Sonic." Out of the many buzzing through his head, he tried to select which question to ask next. "Who is G.U.N., anyway?"

She smiled; another sign of humanity. "G.U.N.'s not any one person, it's a group of people; a government organisation. It stands for Government Undercover Network."

This was starting to make some sort of sense, Sonic thought. A crazy sort of sense, true, but sense all the same. "What do they want with me?"

"I don't know entirely," she confessed. "Although I'm pretty certain that it's to do with Project: Shadow. I'm only a pilot, you see. I don't get told about an awful lot that goes on." The subject on which she was talking reminded her of what Sonic was. She was shocked at herself: how had she come to give so much away to the dangerous criminal? Still, if he was who he was supposed to be, he would know most of the information requested already. Maybe he just wanted to find out how much information they knew on him. Well, at least she had had the sense to clam up about his identity.

He asked her more questions, only to find to his disgust that she refused to reply to them any more. Irked and no less worried than he had first been, he sank back into his seat, resigned to the long wait. The ropes around his wrists and ankles had been tied too tightly and were cutting into his flesh. Needless to say, this did nothing to improve his mood.

After five minutes of his brooding, there was a loud gasp from Alice. The helicopter dipped suddenly. Looking up, he saw to his surprise that she was fending off a large ugly looking gull. A memory struck Sonic: had Amy not said something about gulls attacking people around their airspace? Judging by the sheer size of this non-Mobian bird alone, he had to be high up in their ranking, perhaps even their king. After all, the black crest upon his head looked very much like a crown.

He was beating his wings furiously in her face, scratching with his uncharacteristically long claws and beak. She raised her hands to defend herself, meaning that there was now nothing to manoeuvre the vehicle on its course. Sonic risked a glance out, seeing to his horror a craggy rock looming up menacingly in front. He then looked down. To his delight, he realised that if he leapt out now, curling up into a protective ball, he would have only a short distance to go before he hit the ground. He would probably not even receive a scratch, seeing as how there were dozens upon baker's dozens of bushes and shrubs to cushion his fall.

Then his conscience returned to him. Alice was not a bad person at all; just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It would be very cruel to bail out and leave her to her fate. What could he do though, with both his hands and feet out of operation? Inspiration struck him, and he leaned over the control panel. Instead of using his hands to master the helicopter's controls, he would just have to use his elbows.

Jabbing wildly at what he hoped would turn the helicopter to the right, he was gratified when it obliged, although it did so with enough vigour to nearly unseat him. The gull squawked as his head was cracked painfully into the ceiling. Encouraged by his efforts, Sonic swung the craft suddenly sideways, back towards the city from which they had just departed. This time, Sonic fell awkwardly from his seat, sprawling across the space that was usually reserved for feet. Luckily though, that was not the only side-effect. The gull was shot right though one side of the craft and out of the other, leaving a trail of large white feathers in his wake.

Alice sat for a moment, stunned, then automatically reached for the controls once more, pulling them out of their crazy spin. There were red marks down her face from where the bird had struck her. The two sat in silence for a full minute, as the helicopter traced a slow path back into the heart of the city.

"I don't believe that you are who they said you are, after all," the human told him eventually. "The cold-blooded killer who they described would never have saved me." The hedgehog shrugged it off, though he was burning with curiosity. Why had those soldiers told her that he was a ... oh what was it? Oh yes, a cold-blooded killer.

"I didn't even know that they'd told you that," he said, truthfully. "And I'm definitely no murderer."

"I know. That's why I'm going to take a risk and release you. I don't know what's going to happen when they find out, but you don't deserve to be framed for something. I'll tell them that you escaped when the gull attacked, or something."

"Thanks," Sonic managed, awkwardly.

"Don't mention it." She reached back over behind the seats for a minute, then produced a medium sized bag, complete with ripcord. "I sometimes use the 'copter for some sky-diving," she explained. "Just don't tell anyone."

Sonic grinned. "No problemo."

She broke his cords with the help of a sturdy penknife and plenty of determination, helped him to strap the bag to his back, checked the cord was in place, then smiled at him. "Good luck."

"Goodbye, and thanks again." He gave her one last wave before he leapt clear of the helicopter, pausing for only the briefest of moments before giving a sharp tug on the cord. Judging by his slowed descent, the parachute had opened up. He spread out his arms and whooped aloud. He was coming back in style.

***

Not too far away in the streets below, was the one whom Sonic had been mistaken for - Project: Shadow. Currently, he was a hedgehog with a mission, stalking through a pair of double doors, daring anybody to challenge him. Before he met up with Robotnik on ARK, there was something that he had to do.

The building was undoubtedly 'posh'; the floors were lined with plush red carpet with gold-coloured (or maybe even gold, come to think of it) edging. The walls were a beautiful burnished metal, with a hint of orange about them. Underneath though, he guessed that there was merely stone, although that would be expensive in itself. The look and feel of the place reminded the black hedgehog slightly of the more old-fashioned cinemas, adding an air of comfort despite the grandeur. However, he was not here to be comforted.

He was in what had used to be the Town Hall, before Sapphire City had been united with the neighbouring towns to form a County Town Hall. It was now used mostly for conferences, and there were plans to convert the bottom few floors into a museum area. Not that he really cared about that.

Shadow allowed his pace to pick up as he shot through the empty corridors. The security was lax here, since there was usually no reason for an attack to be mounted or entry to be forced. It was kind of ironic, he thought, that the one place that he would not be allowed to enter in the whole building was his destination. No pathetic guard was going to stop him though: he was better than them all, the Ultimate Lifeform. He would never forget his status.

He crashed through another set of double doors, allowing himself a smirk as he drove the door into some human's face. He shot on, the outraged yell of pain left far behind him. Jerk. The idiot should know better than to get in his way. The corridors became a blurred insubstantial image as they streaked away behind him. He glimpsed a staircase at the end of a corridor branching off to his left. Turning sharply, he raced towards then up it, grinning in triumph. He would soon get to where he wanted to be. Luckily for him, the staircases were all above each other, so that as soon as one disappeared in his wake he was already halfway up the next. Within the space of half a minute, he had reached the top floor.

Upon this level the atmosphere became much more modern: the walls were panelled glass, so that one could see the streets and dwarfed buildings below. The infamous potted tropical plants were everywhere, and Shadow wondered how it was that every place like it always seemed to include them. Maybe they felt that they gave life to the place. In a way that was true, since they photosynthesised to produce oxygen, and without oxygen living creatures could not survive. Shaking off this distraction, he approached the single opaque wall that hid the conference room from prying eyes. At least, he supposed that was what it was for, although anyone who was desperate enough could just fly up - either naturally or in a helicopter - and watch that way.

Without knocking, he extended one hand, shoving it palm outwards so that the door banged inward. He wondered why he had not just kicked it down. That would have woken up the occupants with even more of a jolt. They all stared at him, those who had had their back to the door turning round, surprise written across their faces. Shadow ignored most of them; their existences were of no consequence to him. There was only one person in the entire conference that he was interested in, and that only because of what they possessed.

She was the least moved person in the room. In fact, she was regarding him with a calculating air, weighing up possible causes and outcomes in her rational mind. The creature was a Mobian cat, green in colour, with a furry cream muzzle and inside of ears. Her hair was long, tied back in a yellow bangle. She wore white gloves, tangerine shoes, and - most unusually - large black sungoggles. The whole of her tail was metal; robotic. This was not due to robocizer injury, but a replacement. The cat was something of a celebrity: her face could be recognised by just about everybody on the planet. It had not taken the hedgehog long to find out about Megabucks - What a name, he thought - and, more importantly, what she possessed.

Without hesitation, Shadow leapt onto the table, sliding down it, scattering documents and official papers in all directions. He was grateful to the mini-hover jets in his shoes that allowed him to do this. They would not support him in mid-air though, only adding an extra slick of speed to flat surfaces. The cat sat sedately, watching his approach without concern.

He ground to a halt in front of her, folding his arms, unconsciously matching her seated stance. "Excuse me, but I don't remember seeing you on the guest list," she said, yawning showily to show that she was not afraid of him.

"I'm not," he retorted, flatly. "Give me your Chaos Emerald."

Megabucks laughed, her well-know and well-practised laugh that she used in all of her many interviews. "Short and sweet, mm? I think you'd better leave, Mr. Hedgehog, before security gets here."

"I'm going nowhere until you give me the emerald." The other members of the conference were either backing away from the battle of willpower, or else were hovering uncertainly, wondering what they should be doing. They had never been in any kind of danger or even excitement before in their lives.

The cat had kept both of her hands under the table while they had been speaking; now she brought one up - her left - in a lightning movement. She held a gun, which he assumed, for the briefest of seconds, she must have drawn and cocked without looking. Not bad, he considered. Seconds after the gun was produced, he had kicked it out of her grasp. It clattered to the floor a few yards away, though no-one dared to pick it up. Shadow stamped down viciously on her hand. She grimaced, but did not cry out. He was very nearly impressed.

Their eyes met for a few seconds, then he brought his foot up, almost too swiftly to be seen. It connected solidly with her chin; she fell back in her chair, unconscious. Grabbing the yellow Chaos Emerald that she had been shielding with her other hand, he jumped down from the table. Somebody had finally gained enough courage to grab the gun, he realised, as he glimpsed a bolt that went wide over his head. They were joined moments later by several security guards who had finally arrived.

Deciding it was time to make a swift exit, he turned and ran to the glass wall. When he reached it, he did not stop, instead curling slightly, so that his spikes took the brunt of the impact. The shards imploded outwards as he crashed through it, uncurling and spreading out his arms as if he could glide away. He held the yellow Chaos Emerald tightly in one hand, smiling grimly to himself. Shadow could feel the gazes of those left behind him in the room, wondering why he had taken that course of action. They must be thinking that he was some kind of nutter.

He closed his eyes, focusing himself. It was a long while since he had done this, so he would have to concentrate hard. "Chaos Control!" he yelled aloud, then vanished. The viewers blinked in astonishment, unsure what could have happened. If it were not for the carnage wrecked in the room, and the missing Emerald, then they might have believed that they had imagined the whole event, so short and unexpected had it been.

***

Sonic landed flat footed on the ground, jarring his feet horribly. Wincing, he staggered about for several minutes until the pain wore off. He knew that he could not afford to hang about though: as soon as his escape was noted, the G.U.N. operatives would be after him. "Jerks," he muttered under his breath. What had he ever done to them that they should think him a master criminal? When he eventually got the explanation, it had better be a good one.

Jogging on the spot, he satisfied himself that his feet were cured of their temporary problem. He tore the parachute from his back, discarding it behind a large pile of trash cans. If possible, he would come back for it later and somehow return it to Alice. He felt that it was the least he could do after she had released him.

"Litterbug," an accusing voice told him.

He turned to see a small robot chao with large orange eyes watching him placidly. He did not know it, but it was Riot, the Yasani chao. Sonic bent down, petting him, and the chao purred with pleasure. The hedgehog liked chao immensely: they were such loveable creatures he would have found it hard not to. "Hello, little guy. I'm afraid I can't stop to chat or play though." The chao stopped purring, just as a sudden thought struck him. "How come you're not in a Chao Garden?"

"I'm here to help you. I am Samantha's chao and my name is Riot. I've already helped your friend Tails, but that is beside the point. You will need my help if you are to avoid the members of G.U.N.: they will be after you as we speak."

The blue hedgehog stared, stunned at the chao and his short speech. Still, Sonic knew that chao had a magic all of their own; he was certainly not going to dismiss what he said. "Alright then," he said, soberly. "How can you help me?"

The chao shrugged. "Take me with you and you'll find out." For the life of him, he could never remember seeing the chao at the garden; Sam had certainly never introduced them to each other. Sonic wondered for a moment if the chao could have some form of tracking device implanted in him, then dismissed the idea as stupid. It would have been easier to surround him with troops there and then rather than follow him through the streets first.

He nodded. "Sure you can come with me." He picked the chao up, at about the same moment as there was a loud clang from behind him.

"Look out Sonic, it's the cavalry."

Spinning round in an instant, the hedgehog saw a robot stomping towards him. It was a little smaller than him in height, though none the less vicious in appearance because of this. The initials G.U.N. were stamped upon its side for the world to see. It was shaped something like a humanoid or a Mobian, although what it was actually supposed to be was anyone's guess. "Halt, criminal," it droned.

Taken by surprise, Sonic flung at it the first object that came to hand: Riot. The chao yelped in a mixture of shock and annoyance as he flew through the air, crashing into the robot's head. The strength with which he was thrown as well as the velocity was part of the reason for what happened next. Another was that the robot was part of a bulk manufactured series, produced more for quantity than quality. The result was that the robot imploded, shorting out, falling to the street floor. The whole incident had hardly taken any time at all; a few seconds at most.

Riot sat up, looking faintly annoyed. "Next time, can you try throwing something that isn't me?"

"Uh, sorry," Sonic apologised. "It was a reflex reaction."

"You mean you normally go around throwing people at things that pop up behind you?"

"No, no-"

The chao cut him short. "Forget it for now; we've got to get going. They shouldn't have got onto your track as fast as this, but we're just going to have to accept it and skeddadle."

"Where to, exactly?"

"First, you'll need to carry me. Properly this time." Riot continued talking as Sonic picked him up once more. "Okay, now just follow my directions. I'll take you to a safe place, then I'll go and get Sam and people. I doubt it would be safe back at the chao garden."

Don't you mean I'm taking you, since I'm the one doing all the legwork? Sonic thought, though wisely said nothing. "Let's go." He jogged round the end of the alley and out into the main street, cautious at first but becoming more confident as nobody challenged him. Nobody was even paying him too much attention, aside from one or two curious passers-by. Unfortunately, this streak was too good to last.

A cry of "Stop! Hedgehog!" hailed him from one of the sidestreets as he passed. Narrowing his eyes, he stepped up his pace, not even bothering to look back. More people were staring at him now that he had been spotted, wondering what he could have done wrong.

"They're gaining on you," Riot informed him.

Sonic gritted his teeth. It was all the people on the pavement who were slowing him down. Being dusk, they were all headed for home, ready to bed down for the night. Even those who were not stopped to watch the chase they were moving at snails' pace, making it impossible for him to get anywhere. If only they would all get out of his way. He had no wish to be recaptured by G.U.N., as they would not have taken kindly to his escape. Thinking of his escape, he hoped that Alice would not get punished, and that she could think up some good enough excuse. It would all have been for nothing anyway, if these people did not get a move on. He wished that he was in a place without any bystanders, partly so that he could escape, partly so that he would not have witnesses if he was captured. It would embarrass him.

A sudden idea came to him, so simple a solution that he wondered why he had not thought of it earlier. If he wanted no people in the way, why did he not just run on the road? There were only cars and other vehicles on it, and they moved much faster, although not as fast as he did.

A not-too-distant robotic shout of "Hedgehog!" made up his mind. He dodged past the slow-moving creatures, remembering the green cross code; checking both ways before stepping out into the road. As he did so, he reflected on his robot pursuers. Could they not call him something different for a change? Calling him hedgehog all the time, they reminded him of SWATbots.

"Good idea," said Riot, approvingly, as Sonic waited for a car to pass and turn into a side-street. "It'll be quicker this way." From a standing start the blue hedgehog broke into one of his famous runs, faster now without any obstacles to hinder him. Riot grinned wryly at him. "Just don't drop me or throw me at anything now, whatever you do; it'd hurt a lot more than it did last time."

"I won't."

"When we put enough distance between them and us, I'll start to give you directions." Sonic was barely concentrating on the chao, enjoying the rush of the wind through his spikes. It was only when Riot stopped talking that he noticed that something was wrong.

A sixth sense warning him, he looked round to see a large truck bearing down on them, its driver going at full throttle. He was not surprised in the slightest to see the letters G.U.N. on its front: who else would be chasing him after all? Well, maybe the media, but they would not be trying to run him down unless they were tabloids that went in for very cheap thrills.

"Go faster, Sonic," the chao pressed him.

"I am going fast!" Sonic snapped. He liked Riot, but the little chao did not, in his opinion, know when to shut up, and he had a born gift for stating the obvious. The hedgehog was not to know the extent of Riot's intelligence though, nor his reasons for acting like he did. He could therefore be forgiven for thinking this. He was going fast, just nowhere near his fastest. Pouring on the speed, he took a sharp turn down another street, following up by turning another, then another. If Sonic had hoped to lose the truck in this manner, then he was sorely disappointed.

As he pounded down one street, the vehicle shot out of another, almost hitting him. "Watch it dude!" he yelled, angry that it had caught up with him so soon. The driver had the advantage of knowing the city, probably having one of those new inbuilt radar maps to direct him. Sonic, on the other hand, had nothing but a loose memory of running some of the streets. "Not good odds," he muttered through his teeth.

Riot glanced behind at the oncoming truck, his features appearing quite calm. "Why did the hedgehog cross the road?" he asked, aloud. "Because he wanted to get to the other side."

The blue hedgehog glowered. "I find jokes like that in very bad taste," he growled. "Especially considering I'm both a hedgehog and an orphan."

"I apologise. I didn't know that you were an orphan." He paused. "You see that bridge?"

"I'm running straight at it. What do you think?"

"That's good," said the chao.

Sonic shot under the bridge without a second glance, concentrating only on escaping. Fortunately, so was the driver of the truck. There was a loud crunching sound behind him. Turning round, the hedgehog found himself staring at what remained of the vehicle. It was just catching fire.

The speed at which the truck had impacted with the bridge had caused the front to be scrunched like a tin can. The engine had blown itself out at once. As for the bridge, its supports had collapsed, falling languidly onto the street below. As if in slow motion, the whole structure crashed down on top of what remained of the truck's front. Sonic could only stand there, watching as the debris settled.

"Do you think they're still alive?" Sonic asked, concernedly, feeling relieved that nobody had been on the bridge when it had collapsed.

Riot shrugged. "I doubt it."

Stepping cautiously closer, the hedgehog stepped on something. Looking down at it, he could see that it was a sign of some sort, probably one that used to be attached to the bridge. He mouthed the words, then grinned to himself. It read:

Beware! No vehicles under 1.5 metres.

Still smirking, he turned and ran, before any other troops could find and intercept him.

***

Shadow ran across the city streets soundlessly. It was night-time now; dark, with no cars or people about. He had managed to evade the G.U.N. robots, as well as the heavy hands of the law since his escape from the building. The latter part was not hard. For some reason best known to themselves, the police seemed intimidated by the military troops. At least, they did not venture out in as great a number. The black hedgehog did not care what the reason was: as long as they did not bother him, it was fine.

Now that the streets were clearer, he had time to contemplate on what had happened since leaving the building. He had used Chaos Control for the first time since ... Shadow found that he was not sure how long it had been. Still, it was not worth calculating. He turned his mind back to the delicious warm glow that spread in side him when using it. It could be performed in a split second, far too fast for those stupid gawpers who he had stolen the Emerald from to tell what had happened. He doubted that it would have occurred to them to look down at the street below. If they had done, then they might have been in time to see him reappear less than a foot above the pavement. He had run as soon as his feet had touched the ground.

Later on, he had only run into a couple of G.U.N. patrols. These were easily skirted or demolished; whichever was more convenient at the time.

"So," he murmured, caressing the Chaos Emerald in his hand. "It all starts with this: a jewel containing the ultimate power."

A distant cry from behind him. Glancing disdainfully back over his shoulder, he saw a large robot, not unlike the one he had destroyed previously. He felt, quite frankly, that he could not be bothered fighting another one of them. It might be more of a sharp shooter than Hot Shot, and he did not want to waste time.

Swiftly, he jogged up a wide flight of steps, onto a plaza. He ran across the unevenly cobbled ground, not bothering to look back to check on the robot's progress. Crossing the plaza in seconds, he headed towards the next set of steps, these ones leading down. That should confuse his mechanical pursuer.

Instead of going down the steps themselves, he leapt onto the handrail, his grooved shoes locking onto them perfectly. They had been especially designed for that purpose, allowing him to slide down like greased lightning. He crouched down as he went, although he was careful to stay upright. This added to his already considerable speed. A black streamlined shape rushing through the darkness; he was near impossible to glimpse.

Due to his upright position, he was able to see the barricade well before he drew near it. It had been constructed by G.U.N. robots, all of which were now waiting behind it, ready to attack him once he had come within range. He wondered briefly how they had seen him coming. It would have to be some sort of scanner, he decided. At the speed he was travelling, they would not normally have spotted him until he was a dust cloud on the horizon.

At least he had given himself to calculate, to consider ... He did not need it. Acting with a practised calm, he curled as he hit the last stretch of rail. He was flicked and catapulted into the air, a deadly spinning ball. Only a few seconds later saw him landing, uncurling himself on the other side of the barricade. The robots turned about, puzzled, wondering where their quarry could possibly have gone to. They were just in time to see Shadow disappearing round the far corner of the street: the hedgehog had obviously not deemed it productive or necessary to destroy them. Strangely enough, they did not feel honoured by this action, or rather lack of.

The black hedgehog sped onwards, dropping the bungling would-be attackers from his mind dismissively. They were no threat to him. He noted with something near pleasure that he was near the massive bridge construction that connected the two separate sections of the city together. He would be sure to lose that large robot that had been chasing him by crossing over it. Shadow smirked slightly as he recalled the ancient folklore: 'Evil cannot pass over water'. He doubted that that would deter his pursuers. Of course, he did not class himself as evil. If he had actually thought about such matters, it would probably have been those who opposed him - physically at least - who were on the wrong side. He was merely carrying out an act of justice and vengeance. If truth be told though, these thoughts never even entered his head for a moment.

The bridge had been constructed to remedy the large gouge that had been made through the city during the final battle with Perfect Chaos. After much debating, it had been decided that this was the better option. This might have had something to do with the fact that it cost a lot less money than it would have done to replace all the streets and walkways. Still, not wanting to appear to have tight-stringed purses, they had spent lavish sums on the main bridge. The final result of this was that it seemed more of a work of art than an actual usable object for walking, running or driving across.

However, Shadow either did not or could not appreciate any of this. Instead, he found it a convenient means of escape. The only way in which he remotely connected with its grandeur was a vague thought about how it was a good long stretch to run across. Doubtless, this lack of wonder would have dashed the spirits of the architects considerably.

Ahead of him upon the bridge, he spied another barricade. As useless a trap as the first, and simple to avoid. The G.U.N. operatives were irritating him by now. For this reason he decided to bypass them altogether, rather than jump over them again. They might be wise to that trick by now.

Putting on a great burst of speed, he performed an action that would have surprised most creatures: he ran straight up one of the vertical supports. Anyone familiar with Sonic might have recognised this manoeuvre as one of his star traits. In fact, it was possible for anybody to do this over a height related to their velocity. Only someone incredibly fast could manage the feat that Shadow had just performed though.

Having reached the summit, he curled into a spiky ball, ready to smash the awaiting G.U.N. robot. Not having been prepared for such an assault, it toppled from the platform. The black hedgehog skidded to a halt. Moments later, a distant crash indicated the demise of the robot. Smiling, he spared a brief glance for the ground below. "I am living the high life," he said, aloud. He considered this statement he had just made for a full minute. Was that a joke he had just made? He supposed so. Feeling considerably proud of himself, he prepared himself to run on.

It was then that the second vision of memory came to him.

Shadow glanced up as Maria rushed into the room, urgency and worry distorting her normally pretty face. "What is wrong?" he asked, surprised at her abrupt entry.

She spoke telegram-style, with short, swiftly punctuated sentences. "We've got to go. Quickly. They've come." She emphasised the 'they', fear creeping into her voice. She grabbed at his hand, pulling him out of the room, away down the corridor. Despite the fact that he had no idea about what was going on, the black hedgehog allowed himself to be dragged along by the human. She was his friend, his only friend in fact, and visa versa. For this reason among others he trusted her explicitly.

"Who are they?" He was faster than she, so he pulled her along, using his shoes to hover above the floor, granting him extra speed. Shadow knew the space station like the back of his hand after living all of his life there and could easily take them to the escape shuttles.

"G.U.N.; they're government troops. They've been shooting people down the other end of the station. Oh Shadow, I'm so scared. They'll probably kill us if they find us."

"That is why we have got to get away?" She nodded. He still did not understand fully, but thought that ignorance was preferable to being shot at or, worse, death.

They reached the bay area in record timing, both relieved to find no welcoming party of weapon-wielding soldiers. Shadow hurried over to the control panel, feeding in a series of commands. He was much more skilled in this area than Maria, who appeared not to have inherited her grandfather's talent for electronics or scientific works.

As he was doing this, the sound that they had been dreading finally came to their ears, a thousand times amplified: army boots clattering across the floor. Spinning to face the entrance to the bay they were in time to see a group of human soldiers bursting in, guns held at the ready.

"There it is!" cried one, pointing an accusing finger at Shadow.

Another soldier raised his weapon, aiming it at the hedgehog's head. Shadow stood stock still for a crucial moment as the gun was rapidly cocked then fired. Instinctively, he winced, shutting his eyes. A moment later he opened them. He should have been dead. He was not: somebody else was.

The shot never hit its intended target. A scream, Maria falling. It all became a blur to Shadow; surreal, yet at the same time terrifyingly too real. Then his head cleared, and he saw what had happened: Maria had stepped between the hedgehog and the gun, taking the bullet destined for him.

He knelt down beside her body, heedless of the blood that seeped into his gloves. They had killed her. They would pay.

Shadow gasped aloud, reeling away from the horrible shock of recollection. The memory had come to him as vividly as if he had lived it then for the first time. It seemed all so real; not like a recall at all; more like a dream, no, a vision. "I have not forgotten," he said aloud, as if his deceased friend might be listening. "I will give you the revenge I promised."

Several lengths down the raised platforms of the bridge a robot was clambering over the edge. Gripped by a sudden impulse, he shot towards it, launching into a spindash as he neared. Giving vent to a mechanical scream, it toppled backwards, parts of it flying in all directions even as it did so.

Almost as soon as the burst of anger had arrived, it departed. He shook his head; the simmering hate inside him must not be allowed to erupt in such a way. If he was going to achieve the vengeance that he had promised Maria, then he would have to be calculating about it. He knew what he was doing. If he played his cards right, he would be able to make those cruel murderers pay for their crime tenfold.

If he had chanced to look back, perhaps he would have seen the three figures standing there, watching him with something close to pity. Then again, he might not have seen anything at all.

The hedgehog raced onwards, leaping across the platforms with amazing agility. Three quarters of the way across, he looked down through the gaps in a girder. The area below was clear of any obstruction; the road block had been left far behind. Gingerly, he leaned out a little way, clutching hold of one of the more manageable supports. Holding tightly on, he slid down, fireman style. He was glad for the gloves that he wore; his hands would have been horribly burnt by the friction otherwise.

On the ground once more, he looked in all directions. He had decided to shake off his pursuers before using the chaos control power to warp to the ARK. He thought that it would take some time for Robotnik to get back to his base. Until then, there would be not much point in returning there and sending its co-ordinates to the human. He would give it another ten minutes he decided.

He smirked to himself as he saw that the large G.U.N. super-robot was still following him. It was not doing badly if it had not lost him already, he thought, grudgingly. Turning, he ran from it, the wind whipping through his spines. This lumbering creature could occupy his spare time, he was sure.

***

Sonic ducked his head cautiously around the corner. No, there were no G.U.N. ambushes awaiting him there. The city was almost ghostly, lit mainly by the moonlight and street lamps. Glancing up, he saw one of the many advertising billboard posters that seemed to be everywhere these days. "Got Ring?" it proclaimed. Something about that particular poster, perhaps the rip in the bottom left hand corner, triggered his memory. Looking more closely at his surroundings, he realised that he was back where he had abandoned the parachute.

"We appear to have gone in a complete circle," Riot observed.

"Yeah," the hedgehog agreed. "Now what?"

"Keep going. You're going to come to a place that you know soon, then you can get your bearings." Sonic wondered why the chao did not just direct him to the 'safe place' that he had spoken of. For some strange reason the chao preferred to allow him to work out things for himself, rather than give him advice all the time.

"If you say so."

Considering his options, he caught sight of the nearby stairs. He should arrive at a different place if he used those, he thought confidently. There were, however, some obstacles in the way, though they should cause him no serious problems. He leapt up into the air, curling up into a ball, ramming the wooden crates out of the way. They splintered at once, leaving his route clear.

"Howzat?" he murmured proudly, uncurling.

Someone else, however, was not so pleased. "Ouch! Do you have to keep doing things like that?" Riot put his hands on his hips, giving Sonic and irked look. "I'm going to go ahead and wait up for you. It'll be better for my health at any rate." So saying, he scampered away into the dark.

The hedgehog watched him go, guiltily. He wondered briefly if he ought to follow him, then remembered about the chao's confidence in him being able to find his own way. So instead, he would follow his first instincts.

Turning, he ran lightly up the steps. Now he had the choices before him of descending the opposite flight of steps, which seemed a little pointless, or carrying on across a turfed area. He chose the turf. It was good, he felt, that even in the heart of a metropolis there could still be places of greenery. Thinking about this, and humming a little tune to himself, he did not notice the new obstacle blocking his path.

The first thing that alerted him to the fact that something was wrong was the now familiar initials that were imprinted upon the metal box: G.U.N.. A creaking sound, and his eyes were drawn, almost reluctantly, upwards. A split second later, he was somersaulting backwards, just in time to avoid the volley of gunshots that peppered the ground where he had been standing. Thank goodness for his instincts, he thought, relieved. He did not notice the irony of this, since it had been his instincts that had prompted him to come that way in the first place.

A G.U.N. robot leapt down from its perch on top of a low roofed building. It paused briefly once it had landed, adjusting its aim. There was no doubt in the blue hedgehog's mind as to who had shot at him. Luckily, the creature's hesitation gave him the small chance he needed to strike back.

Half spinning to give himself some protection, he flung himself towards his adversary, completing the move with a sliding kick. The robot's feet were knocked from under it, and it fell heavily. Not pausing for respite, Sonic jump dashed its head, which clattered to the ground several metres away, trailing a mesh of wires in its wake.

Triumphantly, he stood tall, his arms folded. He had not fought a manufactured robot for a long, long time, and he found it somehow very satisfying. It was much easier than fighting, say, the Mecha bots. Sonic had grown up fighting SWAT-bots, finding them a walkover compared to trained fighters. Trained fighters tended not to fall apart when you spindashed them.

On a sudden impulse, he jumped over the destroyed robot's body, so that he was next to the G.U.N. box. He put his shoulder against it, leaning with all his weight. Gratingly, it began to slide across the ground. Then, as if it were part of a conjuring trick, the box tipped and disappeared. It took Sonic a few moments to realise that it had merely fallen down a flight of steps, instead of vanishing completely as he had first thought. The steps had been blocked from view before, due to the box's imposing presence.

Grinning, he was about to hop on top of the box so that he could get onto the steps. However, a flicker of movement caught his eye, staying him for a moment. Of course, it could be a harmless passer-by, but he doubted it. Somehow, Sonic did not imagine that anybody with good intentions would be lurking under stairs in the dead of night. He stood still, considering what to do. After only a few more seconds had passed, the irredoubtable grin relaxed back onto his face. An idea had come to him.

Making sure to keep absolutely silent, he tiptoed forwards, slipping himself into the small gap between the box and the wall. If his plan went wrong, he doubted he would be able to unshift himself. Once more, he exerted all his strength into moving the object the mere couple of inches that it would take for it to overbalance. The box really was extraordinarily heavy he thought. Either it was incredibly dense or it had something very weighty for its contents.

Once he was only pushing against the box, without the support of the wall behind him, it became much harder. Luckily, this period only lasted for a short amount of time.

A loud crash followed almost at once by a robotic scream broke the expectant night air. So it had been a robot after all. Definitely the 'had' part, if the sound effects were anything to go by. As if something, somewhere, wanted to make perfectly sure of this, there was a miniature rumbling boom, and a good portion of the stairs collapsed. Sonic leapt back just in time. That must have been why it was so heavy: the box had contained explosives. He was glad that he had not attempted to spindash it. Maybe G.U.N. had hoped that he would do just that. If so, the plan had seriously backfired upon them.

He took a step back then sprinted forwards with just enough speed to clear the gap in the stairs with a jump dash. Landing with his arms outstretched to give him maximum balance, he looked about him.

There was not a lot to take in really; he was in a small disused yard, dingy and grubby without comparison. Dispirited slightly by this, thinking that he might have made a bad decision after all, he tried to find an exit. Preferably this would be one that did not involve going back where he had come from.

Once again he was in luck; there was another flight of steps in the wall opposite, next to a faded poster advertising a new game in some series that he vaguely remembered playing several years back. Peering more closely at it, he found it to be one of the Samurai Speed games, his favourite gaming series. The poster was for the latest game of the series, featuring the red hedgehog's sidekick Krystal Kitty and his friendly nemesis Harry Hare as playable characters.

"All right!" he declared, making a mental note to try it out sometime. "I wonder if it's as good as Tourist Trap? That game rocked like nothing else, even if 'Speed himself wasn't in it."

Leaving the poster, he skirted a rainbow puddle of oil that had spilled across the floor from a canister that somebody had dumped. Before ascending the stairs, he stood with his back to the wall, craning his neck round, just in case a robot was lying in wait for him. Seeing none, he ran up the stairway, avoiding another heap of boxes and crates stacked there. Past them he saw, to his imminent delight, a set of handrails at the sides of a long and sizely double flight of steps.

His new shoes had special grooves in them, perfectly designed for sliding down rails. So far he had not had a chance to try them out. Now though, fate had presented him with an unrivalled opportunity.

He'd slid down rails before, of course, though not with his feet. This was something new to him. Gingerly, he put one foot upon the rail, wondering what he'd have to do to get them to lock on. He was pleasantly surprised to find that they locked on practically on contact, sliding smoothly along the rail.

Putting his palms flat against the wall to balance himself, he brought his other foot up to join the first. It locked on just as easily, and he found himself lying awkwardly in a vertical, and rather painful, position a yard or two up the wall.

"It never looked this hard in the diagram," he muttered, disgusted at himself. "I really need to get properly aquatinted with these things."

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself forward with both hands. The force he produced coming up was nearly enough to overbalance him the other way, down to the pavement a good distance below. At least he was upright now, he supposed.

"You've done rubbish so far Sonic, now let's see how you manage in the proper test of skill: the ride."

He narrowed his eyes, grim with determination, then leaned slightly to one side. Like a dream, he began to slide down the rail, gliding smoothly, without a sound. It was exhilarating. As he picked up speed, the air whipped easily past his streamlined spikes, and he whooped aloud with delight. It seemed so easy to him, and such a great feeling as well.

In no time at all, he reached the bottom of the handrails, and flipped himself off and into the air, doing a somersault, ending in a neat pose straight off the cover of a glossy sporting magazine.

"Whoa," he breathed. "Awesome, with a capital A." He hesitated for a moment, then ran back up the steps so that he could have a second go. "Need to improve actually getting on," he told himself, as more of an excuse than anything else.

This time he simply leapt on, now that he was more than confident about his rail-grinding abilities. No need for balancing acts, he thought, grinning at the already fading memory of his earlier bungled attempts. Twice more he tried it, each time with even more perfection than the last. Finally, he was satisfied, and ready to move on.

He jogged down the street, which was now on a slope, passing garageless cars that had been parked in the street for the night. Sonic guessed that he was moving through a residential area. Staring up at the buildings about him, he could just make out the neat sets of curtains in the windows, and knew that his guess had been right.

Every so often he passed a bench, for people to sit on and watch the traffic go by, or for old creatures to rest when they came home with their shopping. The hedgehog stopped at every single one, for the very simple reason that he liked to read the plaques on them. Some were sentimental, like "John Williams, who died at 67, and always used to love to sit here and watch the world go by.". Others were just plain weird, like "Eddie Watts, 2, because this has to be the only bench he hasn't thrown up on.". Sonic found all of them entertaining, although it hampered his progress somewhat.

He had just read one that said "To my lovely wife Freda, who has now passed away into an eternal garden." when he realised the reason for that particular reference: he was standing outside a park.

On nothing but a whim, he decided to go into it, and follow the path out to the other side. He passed the black and yellow trash can with the corny label on it saying "Put your litter in the bin, and make sure it all goes in.". Sonic had a suspicion that it had been made by the same people who went around saying things like "Mustn't grumble" and "Let's be bright and cheerful to keep away Mr. Grumpy clouds". On the other side, someone had stuck a poster advertising the 'Chao in Space' DVD.

The park was not sizely in any way, measuring about 50 yards square. Even so, Sonic found it a welcome break from the tedium of the grey streets either side of it. It was not sparse in botanical elements, and was so green as to remind him of the colourful woods around his home village. Any park benches were all wooden, so as not to clash with the environment that they were set in.

He lingered for much longer than he might have done in any other sector of the city, the scenery making him feel almost homesick. Eventually though, he decided that he had better continue. Regretfully, he left through the park's other exit, making a mental note of its location, so that he would be able to come back later.

"If those creeps let me, that is," he said aloud, jogging down more of the endless streets.

He stopped. The blue hedgehog glanced around, wondering what had caught his eye. His gaze came to rest upon a street sign. With a start, he realised what it was: he had seen that sign before. It was only a few blocks away from the chao garden that Samantha owned. Looking about him, the familiarity seemed to emanated from every crack in the walls and pavement. Now he knew where he was, he could get his bearings much more easily.

First thing to do would be to go to the chao garden, to see if his friends were there. It was the most likely place he could think of, unless they had been captured too, as an afterthought of the G.U.N. agents.

In no time at all, he arrived outside the doors that led through into the small utopia that was the chao garden. He reached out one hand, to push the door open, but a voice by his side stopped him.

"They're not there."

Turning, Sonic saw that the speaker was Riot, who had seated himself upon a car bonnet, his short stubby arms wrapped around his legs. He had obviously been waiting for him.

"Why? Where have they gone?"

"They've not been captured," Riot told him, allaying his fears. "They just thought that this place was too obvious for a revendos. If the G.U.N. agents were to search the city, this is the first place they would look."

"Okay, so where are they then?"

"Right. You know the big carpark a couple of blocks away?" Sonic nodded; he did. "Well, keep going straight on, then take the fifth turning on your right. There's a group of warehouses there. It's the one with the red stripe on the door."

"Thanks." The blue hedgehog had the strange feeling that he was playing spies whenever he talked to Riot. The little guy talked like a private eye, or at least a contact of one most of the time anyway. Why could the chao not just take him there, rather than go through this procedure? Ah well, he was just going to have to do it his way. "I guess I'll see you later then."

He turned, jogging away once more. He did not notice the omochao slip off the car bonnet, following him. The carpark was easy to find, since he already knew where it was, having run past it several times before. It took him a little less than five minutes to reach it, though, as he was being very careful not to run into any G.U.N. troops. The last thing he wanted to do was to lead them to his friends, getting them caught too.

As his feet touched the polished tarmac of the carpark, he realised that his footfalls were being echoed. Looking up, he saw ... For a moment he was confused: the figure running towards him was fast; as fast as himself even. In the dark, it looked as if it was himself or a mirror image that he saw. Then the moment passed, and he was able to note the differences.

The creature running towards him was a hedgehog, though they were really black in colour, not just shaded like himself. He wore anklets around his shoes and gloves that gleamed in the dark, presumably a metal of some kind. His chest was furry too, unlike Sonic's own smooth tanned chest.

The black hedgehog had also slowed down upon sighting Sonic, and was approaching warily. It was then that Sonic saw what he was holding in one hand.

"That's a Chaos Emerald!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening as a piece of the puzzle slotted into place. The emerald he was holding was yellow. Sonic knew that Megabuck's owned the yellow Chaos Emerald, and would certainly not let it go willingly. Therefore, this creature must have stolen it. The black hedgehog said nothing, but gazed at him coolly. Sonic continued, feeling that he would have to work it all out aloud, or not at all. G.U.N.'s interest in him now made a crazy sort of sense. "Now I know why the military are after me. It's because they've mistaken me for the likes of you!" The last word he spat out, his rage boiling up inside him. Why should he have to take the rap for this impostor's antics? Taking a fighting stance, he snapped out: "So, where do you think you're going with that emerald?" Still the other said nothing, gazing at him impassively. "Say something, you fake hedgehog," Sonic snarled.

This time the hedgehog reacted. Holding out the emerald in one hand, he called out. "Chaos Control!" Pulsating fields of light shot out from the emerald; first beams of light, then a circle, shooting around his body, encircling him. It looked like the rings of some planet, surrounding the glowing ball of light that was the emerald. For a moment, the blinding light completely obliterated Sonic's sight of the black hedgehog, and he was forced to shield his eyes.

The blink lasted only a second, but when he next opened his eyes, the mysterious creature was alongside him. "He's fast," Sonic murmured to himself, impressed despite himself. He only knew of one other person who could move that fast, and that person was himself.

Spinning round on the spot to watch him go, he saw the black hedgehog already standing atop of a nearby building. It clicked with him: the hedgehog must be using the Chaos Emerald to make him warp somehow. That made sense, seeing as how he had said "Chaos Control".

The hedgehog looked down at him, a tiny figure above. "You asked who I am," he called down. "I am Shadow. I am the world's ultimate lifeform." His voice was smooth, if slightly drawling. He sounded cultured, at any rate, thought the blue hedgehog. A loud resounding 'thud thud thud' interrupted the black hedgehog. He glanced down at something beyond Sonic's shoulder. Shadow then shook his head in distaste, as if remembering suddenly where he was. "I am not here to play games," he sneered. "Farewell."

"Shadow?" murmured Sonic, to himself. "What is he?" He spun round to see a huge mechanised fighter stomping towards them. Glancing back, he saw that Shadow had vanished. "Fine, wimp out when it gets interesting, then," he yelled, although he knew the hedgehog had completely vanished this time.

The unpiloted fighter coming towards him was the one that had been following Shadow earlier. An identification mark on its right leg proclaimed the code 'F-6t', although this meant nothing whatsoever to Sonic. It was not quite as sophisticated as Hot Shot had been, though it was at least half as big as a house, and a thousand times more menacing. The blue hedgehog smiled grimly, noting the letter 'G' for G.U.N. stamped upon the machine's surface.

"What do you want?" he demanded, bravely.

There was a pause as the fighter juddered to a halt. Sonic winced slightly; it obviously had not been built for stopping. It then proceeded to speak in a droning synthesised voice, quite unremarkable for a robot. "I am F-6t Big Foot of the Scorpion Platoon," it informed him. "I have instructions to apprehend a hedgehog. Your x-scan appears to match the one I have been issued with. I will have to subdue you." Figures, thought Sonic. Big Foot started forward.

"Hey, wait!" The fighter halted once more.

"Yes?"

"How do you know I'm not that hedgehog's twin brother?"

"Negative. Project: Shadow is unable to have a twin brother."

Shadow? thought Sonic. So he had been right in his assumption: the black hedgehog must be the one they were after. Aloud, he said: "Well, how do you know that I'm not just somebody who's made myself up to look like him, to trick you?"

Silence. The robot had obviously not considered that option. "What would be the motive behind such an act?"

"I could want to get into your base, and that would be by far the easiest way to do it."

"Oh." The fighter sounded confused: it had obviously not been built for intelligence either. However, it must have been built for some purpose. There was a quick way to find out what.

"Okay, you show me your firepower on, say, that car over there-" He indicated a car very close to the fighter. "-and then I'll tell you what I'm doing here."

It hesitated, and for one moment, Sonic thought that he had mistaken its stupidity, and it had worked out his plan. "Would you prefer a target further away?" it asked, almost plaintively. "I could hit one on the other side of the carpark, you know."

"No, no, that'll do fine," Sonic reassured him, relieved. Sorry, Mr. Car Owner, he thought. This is an emergency.

The robot flipped its upper compartments open, revealing a deadly array of missiles. Sonic was suddenly glad that he had not had to fight it. It took careful aim, although this was not strictly necessary. A full set of missiles were fired, all of them finding their target. In seconds, both the car and the fighter were engulfed in a fireball, just as Sonic had planned.

"You wanted to know what I'm doing here?" the blue hedgehog yelled, above the roaring of the flames and the screams of the robot. "It's because you and the rest of your stupid organisation are hunting me down like some kind of criminal, all because you've mistaken me for some evil creep who is nothing like me!"

Eyes narrowed, he spindashed it hard, feeling the heat of the flames upon his spines. It screamed even louder, attempting to move its smouldering carcass away to somewhere safe, but to no avail. A final spindash to its midriff and the giant robot was lying stricken on the floor of the carpark. Sonic grinned, regaining his normally cool attitude, smoothing back his spikes for the benefit of an imaginary group of spectators. "And the hedgehog does it again as the crowd goes wild. No photos, dudes, no, I mean really."

In the pitch-black, he became suddenly aware of a red dot of light, tracing itself across his chest. He stared at it for a moment before leaping into action. The hedgehog had seen enough spy movies to guess that it was a gun with laser sights. Even as he flew through the air, towards the other side of the parking lot, he realised that he had moved too late. A searing pain went through his left side. The ground rushed up at a dizzying speed to meet him, and he knew no more.

From his vantagepoint behind a parked car, Riot watched the proceedings. "Dang," he said, vehemently.