Chapter 5: Truth and Lie
~The testing of the Eclipse Cannon~
_________________________________
Shadow looked in wonder at the little creature that stood before him. Moments before it had been invisible in a large cocoon like shell of shining midnight. Before his very eyes the shell had become translucent, finally fading away altogether to reveal a chao - his chao. Completely black in colour, its head was shaped like a raindrop. It had feet like those of a cartoon rabbit, two paws for hands, and a small pair of fluffy wings upon its back. The only part of the chao that was not black was its eyes, which were red. The hedgehog thought that it was beautiful.
"Hello," he ventured, cautiously.
The little creature watched him levelly. "Hello," it repeated.
He was delighted. "Hello," he said again.
Once more, the chao parroted his words. "Hello."
Excited, he continued his side of the mimicked conversation. "How are you today?" he asked it, politely.
The chao considered this for a while. "How are you teddy?" it suggested, eventually.
"Very well, thank you."
"Very well, funk you."
"Funk you too," he said, quietly.
"Funk," it repeated, giggling happily. It seemed to enjoy using its new word. "Funk you. Funk you very well, how teddy."
"I am called Shadow, not 'teddy'."
"Funk."
Shadow supposed that it must take chao some time to get used to a comprehensible vocabulary. It was the same for all creatures, though Pip had assured him that they learned it faster than most.
He was in one of the many storage rooms aboard ARK, which were, as he had remembered, in complete abundance. They had been back from their excursion to the late Prison Island for about half a day by that time. Dutifully, he had gone straight to check on the egg upon his return, staying with it ever since. Nobody had disturbed him, which pleased him greatly.
"Are you hungry?" he asked it.
"Hungry." Although this was probably more of a coincidence than anything else, the hedgehog took it as an affirmative.
"I will go and get you some food," he told it, patting it gently on the head before leaving the room, remembering to shut the door over behind him, lest it escape. It made a squeaking sound, possibly a sign of gratitude.
Sitting itself down on the floor, the chao yawned loudly, covering its mouth with one paw like hand. It settled down to wait for its master to return. Already its complex brain was picking up little strands of information from all around it, storing them for future use. From its time in the egg it had learned some forms of speech. Now, only a short time after hatching, it was working out how to construct a sentence. If only it had someone to test it on, it thought sadly.
As if in answer to its prayers, the door swung open again. 'Master has come back,' he thought, leaping to his feet. However, it was not his master who entered the room. It was a creature he had never seen before, although he recognised it as a fellow chao. It was male, and in the form of a golden cat.
"Look!" he told it, excitedly. "I am male too, and I am black."
The golden chao gave him a strange look. "What are you doing in here?" he asked of him.
Conversation! He was practically in ecstasy, gabbling his words in a frenzied effort to say as much as he possibly could. "I am waiting for food. My master is bringing me food. I am hungry. I can talk, too. Listen!"
"Very nice," the other said, looking bored, walking over to one wall, scratching his tail claws down it to produce an ear splitting screech of sound. If the black chao had been more experienced in the world, he may have found it funny to watch what looked like a cat scratching, only in reverse.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "That was loud."
"Well, duh."
The newly hatched chao looked interested. "What is a 'duh'?"
"Not telling."
A cunning light came into his red eyes. "I'll tell you what a 'funk' is if you tell me what a 'duh' is."
The other stared at him for a moment. "You'll tell me what a ... what did you say?"
"A funk."
"Oh. A funk. Well ..." He considered, though only briefly. "It's a coward, or someone who is afraid. Unless you mean funky of course, in which case it means a, ah, swinging type of music."
"Not my kind of funk."
"Well, what does your kind of funk mean, then?"
However, the little chao was not to be distracted so easily. "You've got to tell me what your word means first."
Heat rolled his eyes. "Duh is a slang way of saying 'Well, obviously', or another variation on that theme. Go on then. What do you think 'funk' means?"
The chao cleared his throat importantly. "It means you're pleased that someone has done something for you."
The golden cat chao sighed theatrically. "You mean thank you, you prat," he told him.
"What's a prat?"
"You." His cattish ears pricked suddenly. "Someone's coming."
"Master!" The black chao rushed to the door as it was pushed open, hugging the hedgehog's ankle with all his might. Shadow looked surprised, thought that was not to say that he was displeased. I'm so funk that you're back," he continued, squeakily.
The Mobian gave his cautious, awkward, half smile. Maybe he was afraid that if he tried giving a full one, someone would realise his happiness and try to take it away from him once more. "I have brought you some food," he told his pet. "It is fruit," he added. Taking a dangerous plunge of pretensive knowledge, he finished with: "It grows on trees." At least, he hoped it did. He had never really seen many trees or plants within his life.
"Funk you," said the black chao, seriously.
"I will have to give you a name," Shadow mused, aloud. "I suppose I had better go and ask what would be a suitable choice. Do not worry, I will be back soon."
Before he could leave the room though, the chao had a suggestion of his own to make. "Am I called Prat?"
The dark hedgehog blinked at him. "Prat?" he repeated.
"This other chao said that I was Prat."
"What other chao?"
He turned round to point him out to his master. Strangely, the golden chao had vanished into thin air. "He's gone," he explained.
"Oh." Shadow did not know about 'invisible friends', so he did not disbelieve him in the slightest. "Well, stay here until I return." He exited the room.
Slipping out from his hiding place behind a pile of boxes, Heat rejoined the other chao. "Do you have a master and a name?" he was asked.
"I am called Heat." He paused. "And my master is called Pip."
"Those are nice names," said the chao, brightly.
Heat shrugged, as if he did not care for compliments, or at least, not from the black chao. "Thank you," he said.
"Do you think I will get a nice name?"
"No."
"Oh." The chao looked hopefully at the fruit. "Is this nice?"
"It is okay, I suppose. I prefer tuna myself." He detracted from this statement somewhat by rolling the nearest fruit over to himself, taking a great big bite out of it. The other watched him for a moment, then joined in, stuffing pawfuls of grapes into his mouth, chewing away happily. The two of them ate in silence for about five minutes. They became highly dismayed as they realised that all the fruit had been consumed.
"Too bad," said Heat, not looking nearly so distressed as the other chao. He strolled over to the door, pushing it open with one paw, glancing back at the other. "Well?" he said. "Are you coming?"
The black chao looked virtuous. "My master told me to wait here until he comes back. I can't go anywhere, otherwise he might get upset. He might think I'm am a bad chao."
"So? You are supposed to be a 'bad chao', as you put it. You are a dark chao, right? Anyway, he will just think you are ... full of spirit. Nobody likes an unlively chao," he added, cunningly. "They are just dull and boring."
"What is a dark chao?"
"You are. Or at least, you are one dark chao. You can tell because your life-force sphere is all spiky. Your opposite is an angel chao. They have a little halo over their heads in place of their spheres. Then there are the normals. They come in all different types."
The little chao asked, very politely: "What kind of chao are you?"
"A half-breed. I am part angel chao, part dark chao. There is no other chao on the whole of Mobius who is like me." The dark chao could not work out whether he sounded sad or happy about this. Footsteps sounded in the hall outside. Heat sighed. "Dang. Just tell him you want more some food or something. That will get rid of him." He disappeared once more behind the crates.
The dark chao watched the door expectantly.
***
Sonic sat on the pier of Sapphire City, swinging his legs in a slow rhythmic momentum, watching the gentle waves wash in and out. He was not really concentrating on the sea however, nor the grey expanse of dockland that was about him; he was too preoccupied by his thoughts. The hedgehog was only vaguely aware of the people walking past him, some hard at work, some just strolling, some laughing and playing. They paid him no attention whatsoever. He was glad, for he did not want to be disturbed. People would only make him feel worse.
He held his head in one hand; his skull ached with all the crying he had done the previous day. Sonic did not feel sick though, only hollow inside.
Murderer. He had killed one of his best friends. Indirectly and by accident maybe, but he had still left them to die. What kind of person was he? Citras had come to rescue him, and how did he repay him? By forgetting all about him, leaving him to be blown up with the island. He did not deserve to have any friends if that was the standard of care he used in looking after them.
Then there was another thing. It was not just what he thought of himself, but what other people thought of him too. Tails, Amy, Samantha ... he could not imagine what would be going through their heads at that moment. They must hate him. Also, there were all the people in Knothole, none of which had been told as yet of the current situation. It all seemed to be piling up, one thing after another. He did not want to think about it, though he knew that he had to face up to what he had done or he would be running the risk of becoming a coward. If he was not one already, that was. Coward, murderer. What was the difference? He was a killer, so did it matter what else he was? It could not possibly make it any worse.
A hand touched down on his shoulder. It was such a soft, calm touch, as well as being totally unexpected, that he took fright, leaping to his feet in an instant. He had forgotten that G.U.N. would still be looking for him, despite their main base of operations being destroyed. Now though, he did not know if he could be bothered trying to escape.
"Sonic?" He relaxed, though only marginally. It was Samantha, and he was not sure what she would be like towards him after the events of the previous day. "We're all really worried about you." Worried about him? After what had happened?
"You are?" It was more of a question than anything else. The way he said it, he did not need to put the 'why?' into the sentence.
"Yes." She pushed him back down into a sitting position, flopping down next to him herself. "I don't want you to go blaming yourself about this, Sonic."
"Why not? It was my fault that he died."
"Was it heck," she said. "You hadn't even seen him on the island, so how were you supposed to remember that he was there? Why, you don't even know for a fact that he did die."
'Of course he died,' thought Sonic. "How could he have got off the island then?" he challenged her.
"Maybe he was captured by some G.U.N. troops and taken away somewhere. Anyway, if you're going to go blaming yourself, that means you'd have to blame Amy as well. After all, she was the only person who actually saw him on the island at that time. None of the rest of us really knew where he was. Do you really think that it was Amy's fault?" She was glowering at him now, her arms folded and her eyes flashing angrily.
Thinking about it relating to someone else, Sonic could not see how it could possibly be the pink hedgehog's fault. Citras had disappeared, and there was nothing she could do about it without getting herself killed. "No," he said, quietly.
The opaline hedgehog dropped her angry expression instantly. He could not help thinking that it had just been a pretence to get him to admit his innocence. "There you go then," she said, sweetly. "There's no way that it could be your fault."
"But I forgot about him-"
"I think I ought to remind you that you're incriminating my little sister again." She gave him a mischievous smile, knowing there was no way Sonic could blame himself without blaming Amy as well. "Now quit moping about and do something useful like coming to help me with the chao."
He could not help but grin. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." Together they walked away from the pier, towards the chao garden. They were just two more people laughing and talking along the docks.
***
"Well, what kind of name did you have in mind?"
Shadow considered this for some time. He had eventually found Pip, who had been surreptitiously playing a computer game on one of the amazingly advanced systems that ARK had to offer. Shadow could not help thinking that their creators would be more than a little annoyed if ever they discovered what use they were now being put to. All the same, it did appear to be an intriguing game.
"I had thought maybe Chaos."
"Nah, that's not original enough. You get light chaos chao, so you'll have people calling their chao Chaos left right and centre." Pip paused as the character on the screen kicked a mutated creature down a flight of stairs. "Ha," she said, to nobody in particular. After another pause, she added: "How about Saudin?"
"What's that mean?"
"Chaos."
He looked confused. "I thought you said-"
"It's okay if you use other languages," she explained. "It makes it original again."
"Ah, okay. What language is it, then?"
The robot said, over-casually: "Lunarian."
"I haven't heard of that one before."
"Not many people have."
He guessed from her evasiveness that it was something that she did not want to talk about. Although he was not quite sure why this would be, he decided not to probe any further. He understood how annoying it was to have people nosing into your business.
"Do you like it then?"
"Sorry?"
"The name. What do you think?"
"Saudin?" He allowed the word to linger for a moment. "Yes, I like it. It will suit him." Unable to resist his curiosity's urging any longer, he finally asked the question. "What is it that you are playing?"
"Samuri Speed: Enguarde," she replied, instantly. "It's the very latest game in the series. It's also the first of the games where you can play as any of the characters, even the villains."
She sounded enthusiastic about it, so he assumed that it must be good. "Does it have a storyline?" he asked, sitting down next to her so that he was at a better angle to watch the screen.
"Uh-huh. There's Nightshade - he's this ninja cat, the main bad guy of the series. Well, anyway, he's found the location of this major weapon of destruction type thing, but he can't work it unless he gets these special power objects." She waved one hand vaguely. "There's a lot more to it than that, but it'd take too long to explain. The characters in it are Samuri Speed, the main hero who sparked all the games off - he's a red hedgehog. Then there's Krystal Kitty, who's a ... well, I think you can guess. Last of the heroes in this game is Harry Hare, who is sort of Samuri's rival, but really a nice person."
"What about the villains?"
"Nightshade, who I already told you about, is one of them. Kyra Kitty makes her first appearance in the game, and she's Krystal's twin sister, a kind of anti-version of her. Last, but not least, there's this guy who's cloned from Samuri. You caught a glimpse of him at the end of the last game, and there was loads of hype about him in between."
"And you're playing as ...?"
"Krys. I usually do." Her eyes lit up suddenly, or rather they glowed more brightly. "Hey, do you want to have a go on multiplayer? It's got a versus battle mode on it."
He did not take too long to consider his answer. "What are the controls?"
She handed him one of the four pads. The controls were simple enough: a joystick to move the character with, and buttons to perform their special attacks. The names given to the attacks seemed rather cartoonish in his opinion, though he forbore to comment.
Pip had exited her 'adventure mode' game, and was setting up the options for the 'versus mode' when a voice spoke from the door. "What are you doing?" Both looked up guiltily, as if they were small children who had been caught stealing sweets from a jar. It was Rouge.
She came on into the room without waiting for invitation. "Is that Enguarde?" she asked. The robot nodded. Rouge seated herself on the floor next to Shadow. "Oh, you're on multiplayer. Can I join too? I'm pretty good at the 'Speed games."
"Okay." Pip finished setting out the options, moving on to character select. "Pick your characters." Rouge instantly selected Kyra. Shadow hesitated for a moment, looking at the icon of the white hedgehog; Speed's clone. Instead though, he picked Samuri Speed himself. After all, he had decided that he despised clones and copies. They reminded him too much of the blue hedgehog. After waiting for the other two to make their selection, Pip chose Krys.
The word 'location' flashed up onto the screen, followed by miniature scenes clipped from the different settings. Since it was Shadow's first game, the robot said that he could have first pick. He chose the level he had seen Pip playing in the 'adventure mode' previously: the creepy looking house.
The counter ticked down from three to zero; the game began.
***
As the two hedgehogs entered the room, they were greeted by an ecstatic cry. "Oh good, you found him!" squealed Amy. Sonic wondered briefly about the young girl's ability to turn every sentence into an exclamation. He dodged the inevitable hug with a practised air, strolling on into the room, leaving a disgruntled Amy behind him.
The chao looked up as he entered, calling out greetings to him in their little squeaky voices - at least, the ones who could talk did. Smiling, he waved to them. Chao were so sweet. They always seemed able to put him in a good mood, no matter what.
Samantha and the sulking Amy followed him in. "Where's Tails?" he asked, feeling a little hurt that the fox had not even come to say 'hello' to him.
"Oh, him." The older of the two sisters grinned. "He's been hard at work ever since we got back. You can't even get into the warehouse without a shovel, the parts are piled up so high."
Yes, that sounded very much like his friend when he got into one of his determined moods. At least he knew he was not being avoided; that was a weight off his mind. "What parts would those be?" he asked, idly.
"Ah ... you don't know, do you?" He glanced sharply at her; an inquiring look. "It's the Tornado. Most of it, at any rate."
His face registered complete and absolute shock. "He's taken it apart? We are talking about the same Tornado, aren't we? The bi-plane?"
"Well, he's not taken it apart exactly. He's rebuilding it into the Cyclone. Sort of like a two-in-one; several functions in one machine."
Sonic smirked. "Next time the Innovations catalogue has a job vacancy I'll be sure to let you know." He paused. "The Cyclone's what he's calling his walker, isn't it?" She nodded. "I'll bet it'll come in handy very soon, when we find out just what Robotnik wants those Chaos Emeralds for."
She shrugged. "Oh, come on Sonic. What's the chances of him coming up with a plan that doesn't involve world domination in some part or other?"
"Rock all."
"Exactly. Don't worry about it, he can never keep his ideas to himself for very long anyway."
"I guess that's tr-" He broke off, having caught sight of an object that was lying a few feet away from them, in the doorway. It had not been there when they entered as they would have seen or at least tripped over it. Curious, he got to his feet, moving across to it. Realising, with perhaps more hindsight than usual, that it might be a trap, he opted for what he considered a cautious approach: prodding it hard with one foot. When nothing exploded or attacked him, he picked it up, carrying it back to the other two, who had been watching him with interest.
"Isn't that a Chaos Emerald?" asked Amy.
He set it down on the floor. To all appearances it was indeed a Chaos Emerald; the green one. "Sure looks like it," he said, although with a little doubt in his voice. "I can't figure out what it's doing here though. Tails has the green emerald, but he wouldn't have left it here, surely." He turned it about in his hands, trying to find some clue on it as to what it was and, more importantly, what it was doing there.
Samantha's voice broke across his thoughts. "Clove, what have you got there?" The blue hedgehog looked up. The small chao was dancing about, waving a scrawled on piece of paper. It had a piece of sticky tape attached to the top of it.
Sonic glanced down at the Chaos Emerald in his hands, then back at the chao. "Hey, give that back here," he exclaimed, indignantly.
The chao grinned wickedly, retreating a couple of steps and blowing a raspberry at him. "Shan't," he said.
There followed a scene that included a short-lived would-be escape from Clove, plus a good deal of confusion as the Mobians tried, and mostly failed, to catch him. Eventually, the paper was secured by a speedy tackle from Sonic, and the three settled down to read it while Clove sulked in a corner. The blue hedgehog read the letter aloud, while the other two craned over his shoulder.
"This is not a real Chaos Emerald, but a fake. It can be charged up to make it explode after a certain length of time has passed. It has the same wavelength and properties, but is less powerful than a real Chaos Emerald. I think you may find that this will come in useful." He turned it over. "There's no signature."
"Do you think it's a trick?" asked Amy, in a hushed voice.
"Well, if it is, I can't see the point of it. I wonder how this thing got made. I mean, I've never heard of a fake Chaos Emerald before. I hope it's easy to work."
They stared at the emerald in silence. "Maybe we're supposed to give it to Robotnik, since he's so keen on collecting them," suggested Samantha. "It could completely wreck whatever he's working on."
"That's a thought." He sprang to his feet. "C'mon then, let's go find Tails and see if he can help us with this thing. He likes all the technical stuff." The two sisters glanced at each other, then hurried to catch up with the blue hedgehog before he got lost completely.
***
The cream coloured cat leapt into the air, spinning like a top, delivering a vicious kick to the almost identical creature below her. On the rebound, she just avoided having her plaited hair severed by the red hedgehog's blade. It cut through the air like a silken knife through melted butter, an effect only spoiled when it lodged itself firmly into the wall. He looked up in time to see the sole of Kyra's boot plant itself firmly in his face. Yelling aloud in pain, he fell back against the wall, slumping to the ground.
"I win again," crowed Rouge, leaning back, her hands behind her head, the very picture of triumph.
"How about another rematch?" suggested Pip. She was already resetting the options for another match, looking rather determined.
Shadow shook his head. "Please, not another one. After five wins, I think we can safely say that Rouge is the champion at this."
"It's six wins actually, spiky."
"Come to think of it, you're probably right," the robot agreed. "That is kinda depressing." Sighing a little, she started to pack the gaming equipment away, while trying not to listen to Rouge telling her how she should be playing if she ever wanted to win a game in her life. Not really interested in Rouge's ego-trip either, Shadow wondered away to look out of the giant window.
He stared out of it for what seemed like a long time. A voice broke into his thoughts, and he glanced to the side. Maria was standing there, smiling innocently at him. He supposed he should feel surprised; shocked at her presence. Instead, it just felt right, like a blissful image in a dream.
"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Mobius?"
"The professor said that his life's work was dedicated to all those who lived down there." The girl turned to look at him, her crystal blue eyes glittering with admiration. 'She really does hang on every word I say,' thought Shadow. "He once told me that his existence was for making people happy through the power of science. Maybe they're all backward down there, that's why he needs to do it." He sighed, leaning his head against the cool glass.
His companion looked concerned. "Shadow? Are you okay?"
He shook his head. No-one, not even she, could understand. "Maria, I just don't know anything any more. I often wonder why I was created. What my purpose is for being here. Maybe if I go down there I will find the answers."
"No, Shadow, don't go." She looked frightened now. "Don't leave me here all alone."
His smile was tempered. "Maria ..." he whispered, watching her out of the corner of his saddened eyes.
"Why so melancholy?" He glanced at the white bat, then back at the empty vastness of space outside. He did not answer her question. She waited for a moment for him to respond, then, realising that it was not going to happen, continued regardless. "Saving me before, that was so unexpected. So unlike you, Shads, to come and rescue me. And your ability to use the Chaos Control certainly comes in handy." She waited again. "You know, I think I prefer the macho types to strong silent ones," she added, contemplatively. "Your humangous pauses are just too annoying."
"I didn't come to save you," the hedgehog snapped. "I came back for the Chaos Emeralds. And I am called Shadow, not 'Shads'."
"Yeah, yeah, but then again, that's not the whole story, is it?" She smiled at him the smile of someone who knows they are in the right, even when they are not.
He froze. Did she know about Maria? How? Then he relaxed. The stupid girl was just doing, what was the word? Ah yes, flirting. That. "Do not be stupid. If I had already got the emeralds before then, you would be toasted by now."
Shadow said it a lot more nastily than he intended to. Even so, he felt a prick of surprise when Rouge turned sharply away. Had he actually upset her? He was not given time to dwell on the matter though, as the next moment Robotnik came striding into the room, looking exceedingly cheerful.
"The Eclipse Cannon is ready to go," he told them.
This breakthrough did not have quite the result he had expected. Pip just shrugged, and continued putting the equipment away, with the air of one who has heard similar claims before, and was not impressed by any of them. Shadow, still a little disorientated from his vision and short conversation with Rouge, did not move, but just stared out of the window still. The treasure hunter was the only one to say anything, though she was even less encouraging than the others.
"Are you sure about that? We only have five of the Chaos Emeralds. The one I gave you, the three we took from Prison Island, and the one that Shadow took. I thought we needed seven."
Snapped out of his dazed state, the black hedgehog turned round. He noted that Rouge seemed to have recovered, if she had ever been upset at all - he might just have imagined it. Still, she did not look at him when she spoke.
"She is right," he told Robotnik. "Five will not do. You need six at the very least, and even then it is nowhere near its full power, and takes forever to charge up again after use."
From where she was calmly flicking through the game instructions to try and work out whether or not Rouge was talking through her hat, the robot spoke. "You don't happen to want a Chaos Emerald do you?"
"What do you think?" snarled Robotnik, losing his temper.
"Oh well, okay then. I was just going to suggest that you might want to borrow my Chaos Emerald, that's all."
The human froze. "Your Chaos Emerald?" Pip nodded casually, then a second later was yanked off the ground. "Where is it?" he demanded. "Where?"
The robot bat turned upon him a poker expression. "If you happen to actually like your face the way it is and don't want me to do a decorative design of slash-marks all over it, I'd suggest putting me down." Realising his mistake, he did so, fast enough to make sure that she did not carry out her 'suggestion', but not too quickly in case anyone noticed this. "Thank you," said Pip, with a politeness that was just too elaborate.
She rummaged around in a box for a moment, then produced the dark blue Chaos Emerald. Robotnik held out one hand expectantly. The robot pointedly gave the emerald to Shadow instead.
"This will be enough for a demonstration of the Eclipse Cannon's power," Shadow told them, a dark look flashing across his face. Noticing the two females looking at him strangely (Robotnik was too busy gloating), he tried to sound more casual. "Come on, let's get this show on the road." He walked past Robotnik and out the door, the others running to keep up with him.
***
Screens all across the cities of the planet flickered, their transmissions being overridden by a rogue signal. They changed to display a fat human figure, clad in red, white, yellow and black with a huge bristling moustache sticking out of his nose and small beady black eyes. His voice boomed out from thousands of speakers around the globe.
"Listen to me, citizens of Mobius! Ha ha ha! I am called Dr. Robotnik, the world's greatest scientist, and -ha ha- soon to be ruler of this planet once more! Ha ha-"
"I think you should cut down on the laughing," said a different voice. "Oh, did I say that out loud? I'm so sorry."
Sounding a little irked this time, Robotnik continued. "You are all privileged to witness the remaking of the greatest empire of all time!" He gestured to the side, obviously a signal for something.
Up above, beyond the planet's atmosphere, the covering of the ARK was blown away as the Eclipse Cannon was activated. It had been disguised as space debris to protect it from prying eyes. Now though, this camouflage was no longer needed.
The surface of the ARK looked rather like a face; Robotnik's face in fact, right down to the long jutting out nose. The 'nose' was, however, part of the Eclipse Cannon, the barrel as it were. As the people below stared up in confusion, a blue glow of pulsing energy focused at its tip, and it split apart down the middle. The glow spread out across the segments of the 'nose', then rushed back to the centre, focusing in a beam of light.
The people on the surface of the planet watched breathlessly as it passed overhead towards its target: the moon. Striking the moon's surface, the beam bored into it. Within seconds the beam had vanished, leaving a gaping hole behind it, shards of rock flying away into space, and chaos on the planet below.
***
The large purple cat busied himself around his inconsiderable sized hut, trying to make things as comfortable as possible for his unexpected guest. Froggy was dozing quietly on the corner of the table, absently watched by the guest.
"I'm awful sorry 'bout falling in on you like that," rumbled Big, for the hundredth time. "I really didn't expect anyone to pull on the line. Leastways, nothing bigger'n a fish."
"It's okay," said the visitor, the response now coming automatically. The creature was wrapped up in a warm towel provided by Big, to "Keep from catching a chill". It did not feel in the least bit cold or ill, but it had realised that it was probably best to just agree with everything he said, since he was trying his hardest to be helpful.
He was obviously not used to visitors though. This was, however, one of the cat's better characteristics in the stranger's misty eyes. Unlike most people, or rather unlike any intelligent person, he did not ask questions. No 'Hey, what happened to your body?' or 'Jeez, don't you know they've got a derobocizer now?'. Jerks, the lot of them.
Big looked around for something he could do. Ah, there was an idea. "Would you like some tea?" he asked, politely.
"Do you have anything stronger?"
The cat's brow deepened in thought as he tried to comprehend the question. "Uh, I think I've got some coffee somewhere," he suggested, eventually.
The visitor stared at him for a moment. "Er, never mind. I'll just stick with the tea, thanks."
"Okay." This discrepancy in his normally simple life cleared up, he put the kettle on to boil. As he put the teabags into the mugs, it crossed his mind that it was generally considered polite to ask your guests questions and to make conversation with them. He had better say something, as he did not want to appear an unfriendly host. "Um. Do you like fishing?"
"Never tried it."
"Oh." He sounded disappointed.
"I'm sure it's a very nice sport, though," offered the stranger, kindly.
"Oh, yuh!" agreed the cat enthusiastically. "It's the best sport ever. Do you know how many different kinds of-" Cutting in hastily, the creature reminded him that the kettle had just boiled, breathing a sigh of relief when he turned his attention to it, instead.
Hoping to distract him further from his subject, the creature added, groping for something to say: "You've got a nice frog."
"Thanks. He was the first thing I ever fished, y'know. When I was three and playing with a rod my daddy had made for me, I got a big tug on the line, and I pulled, and out came Froggy, and my daddy, he said I was a, a fishing property-" Here the stranger raised an eyebrow. "-and I've kept Froggy as my good luck frog ever since." Upon finally reaching the end of the sentence, he was forced to lean against the table, gasping for breath.
"That's ... sweet," ventured the other. "But don't forget about the tea." Big looked blank for a moment, then rushed back to the kettle. Suddenly, the stranger cocked their head. "Say, do you hear that?" Without waiting for an answer, the creature ran to the door, flinging it open, gaping in astonishment at the sky.
"What is it?" asked the fishercat, ambling over. Anything happening in the outside world took second priority to things occurring in his own home, so he was not especially interested. "Here's your tea."
The stranger's hand reached automatically for it, their fingers closing around the handle. Their eyes did not leave the night sky, however, and they omitted to utter any thanks. "Look at the moon," hissed the creature. "Look at the moon!"
He did so. "Doesn't look half the moon it usually is," he commented, slurping idly from his tea.
"That's because it isn't! Somebody's gone and blown a huge chunk right out of the moon!"
Big considered this statement for a while in silence. At last, he thought of something to say that would contribute to the discussion. "Well," he said. "They had good weather for it."
***
"Did you see that?" demanded Sally Acorn loudly, waving her arms about to indicate the new unnatural phase of the moon. "Nicole, find out what's going on this instant." She was standing on the roof of one of the huts, so as to get a better view of the situation.
"Strangely enough, yes, I did happen to notice something," Spark remarked dryly from ground level. Spark was Sonic's brother, a lime coloured hedgehog with a black streak running down the front of his face. His left arm was robotic.
"Just when Sonic takes a holiday something like this happens," the squirrel fretted. I knew I shouldn't have let him go."
The hedgehog gave a humourless smile, shinning up the ladder that had been placed at the side of the hut to join her. "If I know Sonic, he'll probably already be involved in it somehow. Who knows, he may even call us."
As if on cue, Nicole bleeped loudly. "Incoming transmission Sally, from one Samantha Rose."
"Who?" said Spark. Sally shrugged, unsure herself, also disappointed that it was not Sonic.
"Put her on." The face of a young opaline hedgehog appeared on the screen.
"You're Princess Sally Acorn, right?" she asked. The squirrel nodded. "Oh good, I was hoping to reach you. I'm Samantha Rose. You've seen what happened, haven't you?" Another nod. "Well, we're pretty sure that Robotnik's done it with these Chaos Emeralds he's been stealing."
"How very unusual of him," said Spark, leaning over so that he too could be seen by the hedgehog. "I'm Spark, Sonic Hedgehog's brother. He wouldn't happen to be there at all, would he?"
"Yes, but he's helping Tails right now," she explained, as Spark winked triumphantly at Sally. "We've only just got him out of jail, but we're working on a plan right now."
"Jail?" repeated Sally, faintly. "What was he doing?"
"Don't worry, it was a mistake. Look, I can't tell you the whole story right now, it would take too long. I just wanted to tell you something while Sonic's busy."
"Oh yes? What?"
She hesitated. "You know Citras?"
"Yes. Don't tell me he got put in jail too."
"Ah, no. Worse than that. He's dead." This registered complete silence. "Robotnik blew up Prison Island when we went to rescue Sonic, and Citras got trapped there. There's nothing we could have done to save him, but Sonic keeps blaming himself for it. That's why I didn't want him here when I told you."
"Poor Citras," whispered Sally. Last time she had seen him he was laughing and joking with Sonic and Tails, going on a holiday. This was a result she could never have predicted.
"He was a good guy," murmured Spark, quietly.
At the bottom of the hut, a pitiful shadow slunk away. It had heard all that it needed to. It reached the edge of the village, looking up at the sky with dry eyes.
"I could have said something," whispered the Irish sheepdog to himself. "I could have saved him." He clenched his fists with new resolve. "Next time I have one of my ... fits ... I'll tell them about it. I won't let them down again."
***
"I told you to aim it at the planet, not the stupid moon!" fumed Robotnik, emphasising his point by banging his fist down heavily on the control panel.
Pip nodded calmly. "I was there. I noticed." He opened his mouth again, twisting it in an effort to overcome his rage and regain the power of speech. "I just thought though, if you're wanting to take control of the planet-"
"Again," Robotnik put in, automatically.
"Again, yes. Well, you wouldn't want a big hole in it, would you? And what if it had had a fault in it somewhere and you'd accidentally blown up the whole planet? You'd have got in an even bigger sulk than you have now."
"Very true," agreed Shadow. "You would not want damaged goods, now would you?"
"I suppose so," the human admitted, moodily.
Rouge walked into the room, laughing quietly to herself. "Well I have to admit it, that did look quite impressive," she told them. "I've just been watching on the vid-screens. Everybody's completely panicking down there." She paused, expectantly. "So, if there's chaos on the whole planet, does this mean that we control it now? I was just wondering, because if we do, there's a large order of gems I'd like to be making."
Robotnik, instead of replying, slammed his fist down on the controls again. "I'd really stop doing that if I were you," said Pip.
The treasure hunter arched an eyebrow at Robotnik. "Did I miss something?"
Shadow shrugged, leaning back against the cool metal of the control bank. "Unfortunately, our threats seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Some of them are even saying that the moon being halved was a coincidence."
"Yes, and whose fault is that?" Robotnik snarled, glowering furiously at Pip.
"I come in peace," the robot said sweetly.
"Aren't you the embarrassing one?" smirked Rouge, rolling her eyes at the human. "Throwing a tantrum like a big kid. I bet you were a real pain for your parents."
Finding someone else to turn his anger on, Robotnik whipped round to face her. "Don't forget your end of the bargain. What about the last Chaos Emerald? We had a bargain, right?" He held out one hand, mockingly. "Well? Come on, I'm waiting for it." She did not respond, but looked at him in a bored fashion. His temper escalated still further. "There does happen to be a Robotsizer still under my command, you know. I think it might need testing after this long without use."
"You have still got one?" asked Pip, sounding surprised.
"Shut up," he snapped. To Rouge: "Well, treasure hunter?"
She yawned with over-stated motions. "I may not have the emerald, but I've got this." She held up a sheet of printed paper.
"Why didn't you show me this before?" he subsided, snatching the sheet from her hand. It appeared to be an article from a small local newspaper. "The Freedom Times," he observed. "The Freedom Fighter's little secret tabloid."
"It's not a tabloid," Pip argued. "It's supposed to be intellectual, and unlike a tabloid it focuses on only the important issues, not what some pop star's doing for their holidays."
"And you'd know would you?" muttered Robotnik.
"Well, I do subscribe to it," she replied, to quietly for him to hear. "With your money of course," she added, as an afterthought. Shadow's mouth twitched into what might have been a grin.
The scientist began to read the article out aloud. "After a week of worry, Knothole's top Freedom Fighters have returned, bearing with them all seven of the Chaos Emeralds. It is unsure what happened to them yet, in-between destroying the monster Damnare-" Here Pip gave a little bow. "-and their reappearance. They are currently resting, and are unavailable for comment. However, it is known that they have distributed the Chaos Emeralds to various people and organisations, such as Megabucks (movie maker, etcetera), in the hope that they will not so easily fall into evil hands again." The robot laughed out loud at this point, and received one of Robotnik's nastiest glares. "It seems though, that Knothole has awarded one to the charge of Miles Prower, for showing outstanding courage and quick thinking."
A delighted grin spread across his moustached face, and he shook with excitement. "This makes things a whole lot easier then. Right. Shadow, Rouge, go and get that Chaos Emerald for me. I've got a call to make." With that he strode imperiously from the room.
Rouge glanced at Shadow, who was looking a little dazed all of a sudden. "Hey, Shadow, did you hear him?"
He glanced up at her, eyes still unfocused for a moment. "Maria?" he said.
The white bat stared at him. "What did you say?"
His eyes refocused and he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I was just thinking, that was all." He turned abruptly, exiting the chamber.
"He really is weird, isn't he," remarked Rouge aloud.
"Maybe he's just upset about something," suggested Pip, lightly. Rouge gave her a piercing glance, but said nothing. The robot walked away, giving her a wave. "See you later I guess."
The treasure hunter watched her go out the door, counted to ten, then went for her com-link. She was sure the robot had been hinting at something, though. If only she knew what. Still, like Robotnik, she also had a call to make. An important call. A moment of silence as the call was confirmed and accepted, then:
"This is Rouge reporting. Currently I have not been able to confirm whether Shadow is the ultimate life-form or not. I will continue my research into Project Shadow and will have a follow up for you very shortly. Just a reminder - don't forget about my jewels."
She cut the connection, knowing that the message would be instantly picked up and analysed as soon as she had done so. They would probably be irked with her for saying about the jewels, though they couldn't complain: she was doing a pretty good job so far.
As she turned to leave the room, Pip poked her face back round the door, making her jump.
"I think that you ought to keep your voice down in future," she said, companionably. "You never know who might be listening." She retracted her head, leaving a momentarily frozen Rouge behind her.
***
The little black chao rolled about with a child's ball that he had found in one of the crates. It was a light turquoise in colour, dotted with yellow spots. Heat was curled up on the floor a few feet away, pretending to ignore him in a way that only cats and cat species can do.
Whoever it had been who had walked past the room before, they had not entered. That had been ages ago to the little chao's mind, and he was starting to get more than a little bored.
A sudden mischievously wicked grin spread across his face. He could throw the ball at Heat! 'What a fun game,' he thought, happily. Carefully, he meandered into a position where he judged that he was close enough for his aim to be accurate. He picked up the ball, trying to hold it above his head, but only succeeding to lift it to eye-level. Taking precise aim, he threw the ball with all his might.
Not even bothering to turn his head, the golden cat chao lashed out with his tail, sending the ball back the way it had came. The little chao only had time to squeak before it struck him, knocking him backwards into the wall.
Heat stretched lazily, then walked over to where the chao was lying prone under the ball. He batted it away with one paw; it rolled off the little creature, halting roughly in the middle of the room.
The chao groaned.
"Don't worry," said Heat, smirking down at him. "It's all part of the learning process."
"I feel sick," he whined, looking at him with pleading eyes.
The cat chao mrowled, rolling his eyes. "Come on, it was just a whack from the ball. Nothing too drastic."
He shook his head. "No, not head sick. Tummy sick," he explained, pointing at his small stomach.
Heat squatted down next to him, looking unconcerned as per usual, though this was far from the truth. "You think it was the food?"
"I dunno. Maybe."
"What does it feel like?"
He considered for a moment. "Like ... like something sharp."
"That's a little vague."
"It's like someone's hammering a nail into my tummy. It hurts," he added, emphatically. "What should I do?"
"You'll need medication. Anti-Heathergreen, I think. Heathergreen's an illness usually only found in chao. You will need to be soon to quite swiftly, I imagine, since you're only small still, and you haven't got many anti-bodies."
"Will I ..." He paused, unsure of the word. "Be finished? Stop?"
"Die, you mean. Probably not. It depends on how soon you get treated. Your master is taking a long time, isn't he?" He gave the door an impatient look, as if it were its fault. Right on cue, Shadow entered the room, still looking a little haggard.
"Your chao's ill," said Heat. The black hedgehog spun round, startled once more out of his daze.
It was Pip's chao, he recognised it from before. Heat, he thought it was called. "What?" he demanded, just catching the creature's last words.
"He's ill. He needs some medication. Anti-Heathergreen. You'll have to go down to Mobius to get it. And if I were you, I'd hurry up about it."
Shadow looked at him for a moment, then went to his chao without a word, picking him up. He had gone from bad to worse even during the short time from when Heat had last looked at him; having his eyes closed and breathing hoarsely.
The hedgehog went from the room, carrying his chao. He said nothing to Heat, although the golden chao thought that he caught a faint whisper: "Please, don't let this happen to me again.".
***
Rouge walked through the space station, wondering where in the world her supposed 'partner' had got to. Still, she thought, smiling slightly. It would give her a chance to get her ... special tool. With her heels ringing on the shiny steel floor, she headed towards the space transporter.
***
"Just look at this," Tails instructed the other two Mobians. "Isn't it great?" They stood back as Tails climbed into the control-seat, making suitable enthusiastic noises. "And watch." A flick of a button, a series of whirring and clanking noises, and the machine began to break apart. Sonic and Samantha stared in wonderment as the Cyclone transformed itself from a walker into a flashy looking car. All the parts for it had been there before, but it had been reshuffled, rather like a jigsaw. "And this." Another button; another transformation, this time-
"The Tornado!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed, joyfully. "Jeez Tails, that is amazing. I am seriously impressed."
Sam grinned, hands in pockets. "As they say on the ads, 'It's never looked so good'." Neither of them could find anything more to say, and just resorted to walking round it, admiring it from every angle.
The young fox wondered when the last time he was that he had felt that proud. Not for a long time, he was sure. Nevertheless, he felt he deserved it for all the effort he had put into its improvement, and, partly, reconstruction.
"Want to come with me to test it?" he asked, eagerly.
There was no way they could have refused him.
***
"Come on, time for your din-dins," Amy called to the chao. At once, all the little creatures dropped what they were doing (Including, in some cases, other chao who they had been fighting), rushing over to her. Giggling happily, she distributed the food, careful that they were all getting an equal share and none of the smaller ones were having theirs stolen from them.
Satisfied, she straightened up, coming face to face with a black hedgehog: Shadow. She screamed aloud, backing away. All the chao looked round in alarm, wondering what could be wrong. Clove bounded over at once, although not abandoning his meal, coming to her aid.
"What do you want?" demanded the pink hedgehog in a trembling voice. "I warn you, I've got a hammer that I'm not afraid to use."
"I haven't come to hurt you. I came for your help."
"Oh?" Amy was still cautious, on her guard.
Shadow held out his hands. Cradled in them was the limp form of Saudin. He was still breathing, but not very much, and he was burning like a coal in his hands. The black hedgehog spoke quickly, with short, sharp sentences. "He's not well. He needs some Anti-Heathergreen. I thought you could help."
"Well, yes, I guess. We've got some, but ..." She trailed off. 'But you're in league with Robotnik,' she wanted to say. It did not seem a very polite thing to point out at that moment though. She knew that her sister would be cross if she refused treatment to a chao, no matter who they belonged to. Even so ... An idea came to her. "Okay," she said. "But on one condition."
His eyes narrowed. "What? My chao needs this treatment. He might die." Shadow spoke the word with even more fear than most.
"Yeah, and I need information. You're not going to get this for free, you know. Not when you work for Robotnik." Silence. He still looked angry; anxious, but he did not argue with her. "Good. Now you're going to tell me exactly what Robotnik's up to and where he is."
"No," he snapped, sounding like a cornered animal. "Give me the medicine." The chao was growing hotter still in his hands, and his breathing was laboured.
She faced him with a mixture of bravery and defiance. "Not until you tell me at least where he is. No info, no treatment. It's as simple as that."
He looked for a moment as if he might attack her, force her to tell him where it was. 'She's just like the soldiers,' he thought, bitterly. 'She wants to kill him because he's dear to me, to spoil my happiness. She is weak though. I could kill her as easily as I killed them. Easier in fact. She is a murderer.' 'No,' said another voice in his head, a conflicting voice. 'No, she is not evil.' Finally he fairly snarled his answer at her: "If you want to know, find Megabucks. Now the medicine."
Her eyes wide with fright, Amy ran to a cupboard in the wall, rummaging around until she found a jar. Swiftly, her eyes not leaving him, she shook out one, two, three pills, handing them to him. He looked from the chao to the pills, then back again, his eyes showing that he did not understand.
"I'll get you some water," she said. "It'll help him to swallow them." She hurried out of the room. Shadow waited impatiently. How did he even know that she had given him the right pills, and not poison of some sort? No, no, he had to stop panicking and focus. When he was focused he could tell who was kind and who was not, but in his current state everyone seemed an enemy.
He considered the pink hedgehog for some time until she returned. Now he had calmed down, he could see that she was probably someone to be trusted. A little silly and scared perhaps, though without any malice intended. She really was trying to help him.
A minute later she returned, a glass of water in one hand. "Swap," she said, concentrating. Without thinking, Shadow handed her his chao, taking instead the water. "Now, give me one of the pills." He did so, and she gently levered open the chao's mouth, placing the pill on his tongue. Inside, his mouth was sticky and dry, another sign of his illness. "Water." She took the glass, pouring some of the liquid into his mouth. The two Mobians watched with bated breath, waiting to see whether or not the chao would swallow the pill; whether or not he still had the will to live.
A moment passed. Amy choked back a tear, and Clove hugged her ankle protectively. She played 'Doctors and Nurses' games all the time with the chao and her soft toys, but they were never in a position where they might die. The hedgehog had seen her sister treat chao many times before though, so she knew how it should go. Only once had she seen a chao not swallow the pill, although that had been a case in the very late stages - an alley chao, discovered by accident. This chao, though, seemed to have it worse than any of the ones she had seen.
"How long's he been like this?" she whispered. It seemed right to whisper in the presence of sick people, the same as it did with the dead.
He shrugged; a twitchy movement, showing his agitation. "An hour at the most."
"I don't understand. It progressed so rapidly. That shouldn't have happened."
"It still is happening," he muttered. His voice was almost questioning, almost pleading. "He's not dead."
"Mm." She did not know how to answer that.
Then it happened, so quick they could have missed it. The chao gave a quick, convulsive gulp, and the pill was gone. "He did it!" she shrieked, excitedly. "Did you see that? He took the pill!"
Shadow gave a short laugh that sounded almost delirious, shoving the next pill into her hand. The two were like small children watching a fireworks display on Guy Fawkes Night; pensive, breathless. "He's going to improve now, isn't he?" he asked, with an exaltation that drove out all anxiety. She nodded, too relieved to speak again for the present. He sighed happily. "He is going to get better."
The chao swallowed the second pill without even waiting for the water. "What's his name?" asked Amy, rocking him gently from side to side, like a mother with a baby, moving on to the third and final part of his medication.
"Saudin."
"I haven't heard that one before. He's certainly an unusual looking chao. I've not seen one like it before."
Shadow blinked in amazement. The chao had undergone a near total transformation, now resembling Shadow himself. He was now a completely black hedgehog chao, with orange stripes on his miniature higgildy-piggildy spikes and arms. His spiked red life-force sphere still hovered inexplicably above his head. Despite his devilish appearance, though, he was still rather sweet looking. "Fiendishly cute," Shadow whispered softly to himself. Chao were wonderful creatures, able to change their whole appearance like that. They had already earned his complete awe and respect.
Yet the little chao was still dumb from his illness: he had not uttered one word. The hedgehog wondered how long it would take for him to be completely healed. Surely it would not take long with such a magical species as chao? Still, he supposed everything must have its time, especially considering how ill Saudin had been up until a moment ago. Already the chao was sitting up, looking around dazedly.
With the air of an experienced nurse, Amy placed the chao back into the older hedgehog's arms. Shadow held Saudin tight to him, pouring all his love and affection into the chao. Watching the two, she was suddenly seized with an impulse to do something that only the very young can get away with.
She threw her arms around Shadow, giving him a hug even more powerful and bear-like than the one she had given him on Prison Island. He stiffened in the way of a small creature when it knows that the predator is watching it.
"I thought you said you'd made a mistake the last time you did that," he muttered, pulling away. Such displays worried him. The last emotion-filled moment that he had experienced in his life was the death of his greatest friend, and he had no wish to bring back the horror and grief.
"You're a lot nicer than I thought you were," she replied, defensively. "And I thought you could do with cheering up."
"Well, I don't," he almost snapped, turning and striding out of the doors to the garden, Saudin clutched tightly in his hands.
"Shadow, wait!" wailed Amy, rushing after him.
It was too late. He was already gone, swallowed up in the throng of people outside.
***
Amy was already standing outside the door, waiting for the three when they arrived back. "Sonic, Sonic," she squealed, loudly. "I've seen Shadow, and I treated his chao, and he told me where we can find out about Robotnik. Haven't I done well, huh?"
The blue hedgehog leapt out of the car. "How did you-" began Tails, which was what Amy wanted to hear, but Sonic cut him short.
"There'll be time for all that later. Right now though, we don't know how much time we've got before Robotnik acts next. Who knows what he's going to do after something as big as blowing up the moon? Okay Amy, tell us what you know, then we'll take that fake emerald and teach Eggman a lesson."
"I really think you ought to slow down, you know." Riot, who was standing beside Amy, shook his head like a disapproving parent. "More haste, less speed, as they say. I can't see how you've managed to achieve so much in the past when you keep rushing into things like this."
Sonic flushed, though he bit his tongue and said nothing.
"Well, I haven't got that much to tell you actually," Amy admitted. "All he said was 'Find Megabucks'. Isn't that kinda neat and mysterious?" she added, looking impressed at the romanticness of it all.
"That's it?" He looked disappointed. "'Find Megabucks'? That's just great. I mean, she could be anywhere on the darn planet."
Samantha spoke up unexpectedly. "She's not," she said. "She's here, in Sapphire City. I read about it in the paper."
Sonic looked a little more hopeful. "I suppose that narrows it down a bit. It's still a big area though."
"While she was here she was supposed to be giving a conference. They might tell us which hotel she's staying at if we're lucky."
He considered. "No, we don't need to do that," he said, eventually. "Which is the biggest, most expensive hotel in the city?"
"I know," Amy piped up. "It's the one you're staying at: the Revay."
Sonic's blush ran deep. "Uh, good. Okay, we're going there then, because that's where she'll be. Besides," he added, as an unhappy afterthought. "We need to cancel one of the rooms."
As one, the others flashed him a pitying glance. Although he was trying to put a brave face on the matter for their sakes, his grief was still ocassionally showing through. Unfortunately, all their pity did was to embarrass him. Quickly, he turned, jogging back to the Cyclone and vaulting into the passenger side. A few seconds later, the others joined him.
***
Shadow glanced once more over his shoulder, clutching Saudin to his breast. He felt that he was being watched, had been being watched for the past ten minutes. Of course, it was hard to spot anyone out of the ordinary in a crowd; they were all moving about so much, looking in so many different directions. If some of them glanced at him, it was all the more cover for the person following him. It could be any one of them.
He was so preoccupied looking over his shoulder that he did not see the person standing in front of him until he walked right into them.
"Oh, Shadow," said the person, apologetically. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," he muttered, talking more to the floor than the girl, still thinking of the embarrassing pink hedgehog. He wondered why the person was apologising to him when he was the one who had walked into them. People were strange at times, he decided. It was then that he recognised the voice, at about the same instant that he realised the girl had called him by name.
His eyes widened as he looked up at the figure before him. It could not possibly be her; he had seen her die after all. Still, he had to see. He had to know whether it was just a coincidence, or ...
"Maria?"
The human standing in front of him was the spitting image of Maria. No, it was Maria herself. Such a likeness would surely be impossible to achieve. Her locks of blond hair were swept back, only partially controlled by the aliceband that she wore. Those familiar heavy lidded eyes, glittering their beautiful sea blue. She smiled at him for a fleeting moment, all the worry vanishing from her face.
"I thought you ... I thought you were dead."
Her smile vanished, and her eyes grew sad. "Shadow," she began. "There is something I must tell you."
The black hedgehog interrupted, face upturned to hers, beseeching her. "Please, don't leave me," he whispered. "Please. Not this time." Then, as if coming to his senses, he turned bitterly away. "What am I saying? You died. You don't exist. This is some kind of trick."
"No, listen to me-"
"Go away!" he snarled, venomously, causing several curious heads to turn in the crowd.
"Hey!" hollered a voice. "Shadow! What are you doing? Come on!"
Turning automatically, he saw Rouge, leaning out of the driver's side of an expensive sports car. She was indicating with one free hand that he should join her. It might be a good idea to do so, he thought, otherwise a lot of other drivers would most probably be ringing the bat's neck, considering the hold up she was causing.
He risked one quick glance back. There was nobody there. His imagination playing up, he told himself. Just like he had thought, there had been no Maria there after all. As he was about to go, something lying on the floor caught his eye: the aliceband. Still disbelieving, he went to pick it up, expecting his hand to go straight through it.
His hand closed on a solid object.
Shadow nodded to himself. So, the aliceband was real. In his experience, ghosts did not wear real life props.
There was an angry hammering of a carhorn. He went to join Rouge, his mind whirling with strange thoughts.
***
"Megabucks? I'm afraid she's just left the building, honey."
"Aw, man," groaned Sonic. "You're kidding. Where did she go? Do you know?"
They were in the lobby of Hotel Ravey, standing in front of the reception desk. The most unpleasent part of their visit over, they had progressed onto the important task of finding the infamous cat.
The heavily braided, pierced, and bangled human assistant considered his question for one moment. Sonic had not been quite sure how she fitted in with the building upon first sight, considering she was not the most elegant looking person. He had found the reason swiftly though: she had the most kindly and helpful way of talking to people that he had ever come across before in any receptionist anywhere.
She considered for a moment. "It's not my job to ask guests their business, but she did stop for a moment to chat. I wondered if she could do an autograph for my son, you see. He collect signatures, and that's a pretty famous one to get, wouldn't you agree?"
The blue hedgehog laughed derisively. "Dude, you're talking to the saviours of Sapphire City from the time when Chaos attacked the place. Trust me, we know all about famous people. We've helped Megabucks before now, too."
"Really?" The lady looked impressed. "Do you think I could have your signatures too? I'd really appreciate it."
"Yes," began Sonic, at the same time as Tails said "No." The fox looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to come back later. It's vital that we catch up with Megabucks. She's the only clue we have to catching Robotnik."
"That's another mission we're on," Sonic supplied, helpfully. "Oh well, catch you later."
A sudden thought came to Samantha. "Wait a minute," she told the others. To the receptionist: "Has a call come in for Megabucks recently? In the time that she's been out, even?"
She looked surprised. "Why, yes, although I can't imagine how you'd know. I told them to try calling her limo instead. It's got its own high-tech vidscreen and everything. She showed me."
"Thank you, marm." The Mobians exchanged glances. Tails was the first to speak. "So that's what Shadow must have meant: we have to track the signal."
"We've got to catch that limo, then," said Sonic, decisively. "It's our only chance."