Chapter 6: Chaos and Cosmos
~The final hurdle~
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"Tails," said Amy, in a loud imperious voice. "Are you actually old enough to drive?" The fox winced. "I mean, if you aren't, that would be really bad, you know. Especially since I don't see a license plate or a tax disc anywhere on your car."
"Does it matter?" muttered Sonic, sullenly, drumming his fingers on the side of the car. He hated waiting about for anything, especially sitting around in a traffic jam. The car was open-topped, a four seater. Tails was, as previously said, driving, while Sonic was sitting on the passenger side, Amy and Sam in the back.
"Well, not unless we get caught," said Tails, seriously. "I'm not bad at driving, though. Oh good," he added, as the traffic speeded up from snails' pace to tortoises' pace.
Sonic sighed. He was hot and bothered, not helped by the fact that they were probably missing their only chance to find Robotnik. "Do you think we could turn off at the next side street?" he asked. "We might be able to take a short cut and skip the jam."
"Okay. Anything's worth a try, I guess."
They left the main road at the next turn off. There they had their best piece of luck of the entire day. Tails, who was too busy concentrating on the driving, did not notice at first. Neither did the sisters in the back. Sonic, however, did. He stared at the registration of the limousine in front of them.
"Hey, guys," he called, urgently. "Do you see that car in front of us?" They looked, Tails swerving ever so slightly as his attention was distracted. He was good at driving, it was true. He just did not have very much practise at it.
"M-E-G-." Sam stopped. "Megabucks 1? It's her!"
"Too right it is," growled Sonic. "Speed up Tails. When we get close enough, I'm going to try and jump on the car. You keep driving, okay? I've got the feeling that you might want to be distracting some pursuit."
The fox glanced at him sharply, putting his foot down on the accelerator. "You noticed them too, then?"
The hedgehog smirked a little. "That is what the sidemirrors are for, Tails."
"Noticed who?" demanded Amy.
"Those two in the car at the end of the road. Just turning in after us." Amy squinted to make them out, then gasped in surprise. "Yup." Sonic nodded. "Shadow, and that bat dude who was on Prison Island with them."
"We're almost there, Sonic," Tails warned him. "I'd jump about now if I were you, before Shadow gets too close and sees what's going on." Sonic nodded, gripping the tracking monitor in his hand, preparing himself. "Right ..." The fox drew the car in closer, only inches away from the limousine. "Now, jump!"
Sonic leapt, landing on the top of the car. Inside, the chauffeur looked up through the sunroof in surprise. "Erm, marm, there appears to be a hedgehog on the roof," he said.
The green cat was already watching Sonic, who was trying his best to keep his balance against the air resistance. "Why, so there is. Let him in, why don't you?" At a touch of a button and the sunroof slid open, Sonic dropping gracelessly onto the floor of the car. With one lowered hand, Megabucks indicated for him to stay where he was for the moment. Sonic waved the tracking monitor at her desperately. She sighed, and held out her hand for it, fitting it into the bottom of her viewing screen with one hand, out of the vision of the person speaking to her. While she did this, she continued a flow of completely natural sounding conversation. With her sun-goggles on, it was impossible to tell where she was looking, so she was giving nothing away.
"I'm sorry about that, Doctor," she said, smiling her usual patronising smile. "Just a little distraction from my chauffeur there. You were saying?"
Sonic automatically narrowed his eyes upon hearing the voice of his enemy. Although he could not see the screen from where he was, he could picture the human's face. "I was saying that we are holding the whole of the planet Mobius for ransom. If I am not given complete control within 24 hours, then the whole planet gets destroyed."
Megabucks smiled again, as only a cat can. "Cut out the bluffing, Robotnik. You can't destroy the planet, otherwise you'd be destroyed as well."
"There are some with me here who might not care about that," he said, mysteriously. "Besides, it doesn't have to be the whole planet. It could be just select parts of it. Like Sapphire City." Sonic pulled the most contorted face he could manage at the back of the screen.
Megabucks ignored the threat. "I can't really see why you're bothering me with all this, Doctor. After all, I'm not a politician, just a businessmammal, and a very busy one at that. I can't afford to have my time wasted. You see, it is of no importance to me who is ruling the planet." Upon the tracking monitor, a list of co-ordinates flashed up. It had completed its job. Megabucks saw it was time to wrap up the conversation. "Besides, taking your previous schemes into account, I doubt this one has much chance for survival either."
The cat snapped her claws, and her chauffeur cut the transmission on Robotnik's furious face. Sonic was grinning. "That told him, huh, Mega?" he said, straightening up.
"That's Megabucks to you, kid." She handed him the monitor. "There you go. The co-ordinates are for somewhere in Tario Desert. You'll have to look the rest up for yourself. Now clear off, I've got my accounts to do."
"Thanks." Grinning a goodbye, he opened the nearest door and leapt out, with a cry of: "Don't try this at home, kids."
Behind her sungoggles, Megabucks rolled her eyes.
***
Sonic landed on the road, minimising his impact with a spindash. Almost instantly he was on his feet, and looking about. The road was clear, so he was not in any danger of being run over. Where had Tails got to, he wondered, and were they all okay? He was not sure quite how ruthless the black hedgehog and the white bat were prepared to be.
He went for his comlink. "Tails?"
Static for a moment, then a faint reply. "Sonic, is that you?"
"Right on, bud. How are you doing? Did you manage to lose Shadow? If so, I could do with picking up round about now."
"We're fine for now." A pause. "Where are you?"
Sonic jogged down the street until he found the sign. "Newbrook Alley."
Rustling sounds for a minute. Then: "Okay, I think we've got that. Sorry, I forgot to fit satellite navigation, so we're having to use a map to find out where we are. Hang on, we'll just come and pick you up."
The blue hedgehog waited around for about five minutes, idly watching paper bags and sweet wrappers blowing around, wishing that he had the time to put them in a bin. The city was definitely nothing like home. Back there it was a lot less crowded, and nowhere near so dirty. Still, it was not as bad as some places he had been in, like Robotropolis. Compared to that, it was a utopia.
He glanced up as Tails drew the car alongside him. "Hop in Sonic," he told him. The latter complied. "Right, so where to next?"
"Tario Desert, little buddy, and step on it." Tails did. He at least knew the general direction to head without using the map. "So, how did you manage to lose Shadow?"
Samantha frowned. "It was strange. We looked back and they'd gone, right after you caught the limousine. Still, I suppose it can't be bad if they've gone."
"Yeah, but for how long?" said Amy, pessimistically.
"Don't let's worry about that for now. Let's just worry about getting to Robotnik's base."
"If you say so."
They drove in silence, along the coastroad. There was no traffic on the road, and it was a long, straight stretch, so Tails could just pour on the speed. "A little more like it," Sonic commented, as they cruised along at ninety miles an hour. They settled back to watch the quickly passing scenery.
Half an hour later, Amy gave a small cry from the back. "Sonic," she called. "They're back again; Shadow and that bat. And they're catching up with us."
***
"I can't believe that darn speed cop," muttered Rouge, still fuming at the indignity of it. Shadow was laughing quietly to himself. "I mean, we'd almost caught up with them, and what does he do? Give us a speeding ticket."
"And a fine," Shadow added, trying to keep a straight face.
"Humph." She glared fixedly at the road ahead. The hedgehog tried to soothe her temper a little.
"Look, we haven't lost them, anyway. They're right up ahead. We can catch up with them if we speed up. How fast can this thing go?" He looked at the speed dial, although he knew this was no indication of a car's condition. Some cars had speeds on their dials that would explode the vehicle if they reached them. They were currently doing ninety; so was the other car, too, presumably, since they were neither catching up with or losing them.
"Oh, very fast. It's got the latest high-capacity engine and stress resistors." 'And sadly, you had to choose pink,' thought Shadow, though he did not comment on this. She slammed on the accelerator so hard that he almost went flying out of his seat. "There is as seatbelt, you know," she told him, sweetly. It was almost a challenge. He grunted by means of reply, determined that he should not wear it, then leaned back in his seat. At the rate they were belting along, they would catch up with the miscreants in seconds.
From where he had been asleep in Shadow's lap, Saudin stirred, starting to wake. "Funk teddy?" he murmured, drowsily.
As the black hedgehog hugged his chao with complete relief, he thought of what a good omen his recovery was. They were going to triumph, he just knew it.
***
"Those guys are going to be onto us in a minute," snapped Sonic. "Can't we go any faster?"
Tails shook his head. "Not that much. This thing was never meant to have a car as its main function."
"Then why don't we just change the function?" suggested Samantha, her voice half lost in the wind as she glanced back at their pursuers.
Sonic looked puzzled. "What, you mean to the walker thingy? Well, I suppose we could blast the heck outta them with it." His eyes lit up at the idea of the film-like scenario.
"Don't worry Sonic," said Tails. "I know what she means. Remember about the Tornado, by any chance?" The blue hedgehog slapped his forehead. "Okay then. We're going up, up, up, and away. Hang on tight, folks."
Rouge's car was only a couple of feet away, so close that they could exchange a yelled conversation if they had wanted to, when Tails activated the Tornado. Shadow had just shouted across: "Give up the Chaos Emerald!", Sonic retorting with the rather traditional melodramatic "Never!".
The car shifted in shape for a moment, transformed into a plane before the hedgehog and bat's very eyes. It drove a few feet before lifting off the road using it like a runway.
The bat swore. "What kind of car can do that?" she demanded. "I want the name of that guy's dealer."
Shadow remained calm. "We've got to follow them," he told Rouge. The Tornado was veering across into the desert, and they would lose them if they stayed on the road.
She looked doubtful. "I'm not sure if my car will go so fast over rough terrain. We'd need a four by four."
"Fine." He vaulted out of the car, careful not to drop his chao. "It'll be quicker running. You catch up." He sprinted away, not losing pace over the soft sand, due to his hoverpads. Rouge performed a ninety degrees turn, following him. "These guys are almost good," she thought aloud.
***
"Tails?"
"Yeah?"
Sonic was standing on the wings of the Tornado, just like old times, giving more room for the other three in the cockpit. "How are we doing for losing them?"
Tails looked. "Not so bad. Shadow's quite a way behind - he's not in the car anymore, and that bat is even further. Why?"
"We need to stop a moment." They looked questioningly at him. "Because I'm pretty sure that was Knuckles we just passed."
They performed an impromptu landing, diving straight down, pulling up at the last second. Sonic leapt off the wing, running back the way they had come. The others waited for his return in an expectant silence. He did not take long. Less than a minute later, he was back, half dragging the red echidna behind him. "Quickly, guys," he called. "We've gotta take off again, prontissimo." They piled onto the bi-plane, taking off at once before any questions could be asked.
Knuckles stood on the wing with Sonic, catching his breath. Down below, Shadow was right beneath them. They had taken off again just in time.
The blue hedgehog, as usual, was the first to speak. "Okay, first things first: what are you doing here, Knux?"
The echidna held up one hand while he got his breathing steady again, then replied with a question of his own. "Have you seen a bat anywhere? A white bat?"
Sonic nodded. "She's tailing us, along with Shadow; that black hedgehog."
"Did you see if she had any Master Emerald shards on her?"
"Uh, I don't know, I didn't see. Why would she? You're not telling me you broke the Master again?"
"Well. Yes. That bat's called Rouge and I caught her trying to steal my Master Emerald. On top of that, Robotnik turned up and almost had the thing. The only way I could save it from him was by breaking it. That was a few days ago now. I've been wandering around ever since, trying to find the pieces, and I'm quite sure that that bat has been doing the same. Today, though, I accidentally found my way into this desert on my way out of a mine. I got caught in a sandstorm, and it's all been going wrong ever since."
"Aw, poor Knux," said Amy, sincerely. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, the Master Emerald shards are not damaged," mimicked Sonic, grinning at his old friend.
Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, Knuckles grinning back, aiming a pretend cuff at his ear. "So, what's been happening with you? And before you say anything, I bet you're involved with what happened to the moon somehow."
"Funny you should mention that ..." Sonic began, smiling. Quickly, in a highly condensed format, they told him everything that had happened to them.
***
Below, Shadow had stopped, getting out his comlink. "Doctor, they're heading directly towards the base. I think they must have got the co-ordinates somehow. What should I do?"
"Just sit tight; we've got them on radar. I don't know what they are planning, but I'll be sure to give them a warm welcome. Make sure you get back here as soon as possible, Shadow. Over and out."
Above the black hedgehog, Rouge glided unnoticed from one pillar to another. She had abandoned her car somewhere back in the desert. She hoped she would be able to find it later, though it was not as important as what she had to do at that moment: get back to ARK before any of the others.
On the ground, Shadow started running towards the base.
***
One of the outer doors of the pyramid slid open. Rouge stepped inside and, without bothering to close it behind her, raced off down the corridor. After a gap of about half a minute, Knuckles poked his head through the door. "It's okay guys; it's clear," he told them.
The others came through. "We did it!" cheered Tails. He had morphed the Tornado back into the Cyclone walker, and was riding in it. "I knew it would be a good idea following that bat. Let's go."
Amy squealed something triumphant, possibly a "Yes!", doing a little jump into the air. Sonic pushed past her.
"Good call, Tails. Okay, let's get go-"
Without warning, a voice echoed over an unseen intercom, making them all jump, looking around startled. "You little thieves. Did you really think that you could get in here unnoticed?"
"Oh no!" wailed Amy. "It's Robotnik again!"
"Well done, you little pink nuisance. And by the time the latest addition to my ranks finishes with you, you'll be an ex-nuisance." He laughed loudly.
"That isn't actually funny at all, you know," Samantha yelled, although she did not know where he was.
"Yeah, you couldn't make a pun if you tried, Eggman," Sonic joined in. "So why don't you come and show yourself?"
"I really don't think I need to do that, hedgehog, not with my EggGolem around. I call on you, my servant, to destroy these intruders. Go and squash that little hedgehog."
The pink hedgehog let out a wail of terror. "Sonic, behind you!" He spun round, coming face to toe with a huge stone statue. One of its hands was at least the size of any of the Mobians, and would be able to crush Sonic to death in one if it caught him. It blocked the whole of the passageway, and they would have to defeat it to progress at all.
Crouching down in a fighting position, the hedgehog called over his shoulder to the others. "Stay back guys. Leave this big dude to me." Putting his fingers into his mouth, he issued an ear-piercing whistle. The massive creature, which had been glancing at all of the Mobians, unsure which to attack, focused his gaze on him. "Yeah, that's right, buddy. You're looking at Sonic the hedgehog, renowned champion of Knothole, and way past cool Freedom Fighter."
With a grating sound, the EggGolem brought one fist smashing down where he had been a moment before. It moved surprisingly quick for a creature made of stone, only nobody on the planet was faster than Sonic. Using its fist as a stepping stone, he had leapt high, high into the air, level with the creature's face. Yelling a meaningless battle cry, he kicked it between the eyes with all the force he could muster.
It snarled, falling back. Going with the motion, Sonic was propelled even higher up the EggGolem's head. He saw something before him that did not look stone, and spindashed it hard, not caring what it was. If it was not stone, it might be a vulnerable spot.
As it turned out, it was the device that Robotnik was using to control the EggGolem. With it now lying in shards around the room, the creature no longer had any desire to kill the small creatures before it. It felt trapped, confined in a space too small for it, somewhere it did not want to be. With a terrible cry of fury, it drew back its fist, swinging it round. The Mobians all ducked, though it was now aiming for them. Parts of the wall fell about them as it ripped and smashed its way out of the pyramid, and to freedom.
"Well done, Sonic-" began Amy, but was cut off by her hero.
"C'mon, we'd better get going. Robotnik isn't likely to leave us alone, and he'll probably be sending something much worse once he discovers we've broken his little pet's collar. Mecha might be here, for all we know. Possibly worse."
They ran on into the building. "What are we looking for?" panted Amy, straining to keep up with the others.
A loud voice startled them again. "What you are looking for, I don't know. What you should be looking for, on the other hand, is me."
They stared. "Riot?" said Samantha. The Omochao grinned, leaping up onto her shoulder. "He's my chao," she explained to Knuckles, who was looking slightly more baffled than the others.
"Maybe so, but what's he doing here?"
"Waiting for you," said Riot. "Now hurry up and follow my directions. I don't know how much time we've got. We need to get to the space transporter."
***
"Hi Doctor, how's it going?" Rouge stood, her weight rested on one leg, comlink held to one of her large ears. She was in the main control room of ARK, where the interior part of the Eclipse Cannon was stored, and the Chaos Emeralds were. She snorted at what she heard on the other end of the connection. "What, you mean they escaped? They're on ARK, too? I can't believe you let them do that." She listened for a moment more, rolling her eyes to some invisible bystander at the incompetence of the human. "I'll go after them myself," she told him, cutting him off in midsentence. "But, ah, first, could you tell me the password for the space colony control?" A pause. "That's M-A-R-I-A, right? Good. Okay, bye." She dropped her hand to her side, clipping the comlink onto her trousers once more.
Exuberated, she could not help but have a little gloat at her triumph. "Hah, tricking that old doctor is just too easy. I mean, he didn't even ask what I wanted the password for. Okay, now I guess it's time to get to work."
She strode over to the control bank, eyes flicking expertly over the controls. "Easy," she murmured. "Right, so the password is Maria. All in caps, I think he said." She tapped it in. "Maria ... somehow that name seems familiar. I simply can't think where I've heard it before, though. Too bad, I guess it wasn't that important anyhow."
It took a moment for the program she had selected to load, and she drummed her fingers impatiently on the panel. "C'mon, I haven't got all day, you know," she murmured, quietly. "Good, I'm there. Now I get to search Project: Shadow, and find out what it's really all about. Let's see ..." Her eye caught a picture at the bottom of the screen, and she quickly scanned the subtext below it, pupils dilating with surprise. "What the heck is this? It can't be right. If it is though ... what does this make Shadow?"
A flashing light accompanied by an insistent bleeping rudely demanded her attention. "A large energy source coming in, eh?" she said aloud. "Possibly power gems. Separated into many different parts." A smirk crossed her face. "That can only be more of my Master Emerald, just waiting to meet me out there. Well, I guess I'll just have to go and get them then, and come back for this later."
She raced away across the narrow platform, fired up at the desirable thought of a complete Master Emerald.
***
Knuckles feverishly searched his small rucksack. "What is it?" asked Samantha, curiously.
He looked up, a serious expression on his face. "The Master Emerald shards - they've gone. I thought the bag seemed a lot lighter after we used the space transporter." He sat down on the cold steel floor, the picture of misery. "I don't know how much longer the Island can stay up without them."
"Don't worry," said Riot, brightly. "They probably just got repelled by the conflicting energy sources. Now, have you got the fake Chaos Emerald with you?" he added, turning to Sonic.
"What do you mean, 'repelled'?" yelped Knuckles. "Where are they now?"
"Oh, they're probably floating around out there in space. Anyway, as I was saying-"
The echidna stood up, blazing with forceful determination. "Right, I'm going to get them," he snarled, jogging away down the corridor.
"Er, shouldn't we go after him?" suggested Sonic, feeling a little awkward.
"No," said the chao flatly. "Do you have that fake Chaos Emerald or not, Sonic? This is the third time I've asked you, you know." He looked reproachful.
Still looking in the direction that his irate friend had disappeared, he said absently: "Yeah, yeah."
"Good. Go and find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds and put it into the last slot. You can then set it to explode. That should put a damper on Robotnik's plans. Tails can take his walker and go and check out the left side of the space station, Samantha can take the right. I need to go and check something."
Amy looked distraught. "But what about me?"
"You can stay here and make sure that nobody else uses the teleporter." The pink hedgehog huffed.
In the shadows, a small shape slipped away. Sonic turned to go, but was stopped by the Omochao. "Right," continued Riot. "I take it you want to know the plan, right? Well, the plan is ..."
***
"Long time no see, treasure hunter." Knuckles spun round. He had just picked up the last of the shards, and was in the act of shoving it into his bag. Luckily for him, they had all been close together. Standing there at the other end of the beam was Rouge, striking an unconscious pose. "So," she continued, regardless of the expression that he was presenting her with. "Did you find my emeralds?"
He snorted. "That's a good one. Your emeralds?"
She put her hands on her hips, leaning towards him. "I don't see what's so funny."
"Talking to you is a complete waste of my time. You'd better give me those shards right now, or ... well, I don't like to think what I'd do."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't know what your problem is, buster, but I bet it's hard to pronounce."
He levelled his fists at her, taking on a boxing stance. "I won't ask you again: stop fooling around and give me back my Master Emerald shards. Do I have to hammer that into your thick skull?" He made a threatening movement towards her, hoping to frighten her into giving him back the shards. The echidna did not care if he used intimidation to get them back, just as long as he never had to see the annoying so-called bat ever again.
Rouge, thinking that he was indeed going to try and take the shards by force, leapt into the air, twisting round in mid jump to aim a hard kick at his face. Knuckles, who had been thinking more along the lines of diplomacy, only just managed to avoid the brunt of the blow.
"What was that for?" he snarled, glowering at her. "Can't you just have a rational discussion with someone?"
She looked indignant. "What are you babbling about? You started it. Anyway, you call yourself a treasure hunter, attacking a lady?" She gave a dismissive flick of her hand. "Shame on you!"
"Well, what kind of lady goes around stealing gems?" he retorted. "None that I know of."
"Those belong to me, you j-" Taking a step forward to emphasise her point, she misjudged the distance. With a wail of surprise, she slipped off the narrow catwalk, falling towards the lava far below.
She had hardly fallen a metre though, when a strong hand gripped her wrist. "What in the world?" she began, trying to twist round in mid-air.
Above her, Knuckles was dangling by one hand from the catwalk. With a grunt, he managed to swing himself back up, careful not to relieve his grip on the bat while doing so. Once he was back on the solid surface, he pulled Rouge up after him, helping her to her feet. They both stood there for a moment, watching each other warily, catching their breath.
It was the bat who broke the moment. "Keep your hands to yourself!" she snapped, narrowing her eyes and bearing her fangs indignantly. "Don't touch me!" She pulled her hand back viciously.
"You ungrateful ... Is that how you thank someone who has just saved your life?"
"Saved my life? Don't think I owe you one, jerk. I could have flown to safety any time I wanted."
"Oh yeah? It looked like you'd left it a bit too late for that. You were practically singing your wings off."
"Oh come on, I had plenty of time. You just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you? Come on, admit it: that's why you saved me." She rolled her eyes, placing her hands deliberately, one over the other. "Honestly, you're such a creep."
"This isn't a joke, you know. Think what you want, bat, I'm saving the Master Emerald. If I don't get it back, the Floating Island is going to plummet right out of the sky and kill a whole lot of people. I'm here to prevent that."
Rouge sighed deeply. "Do you know, no matter what you say, it always makes you sound like a pillock." She reached down into her pocket, drawing out the shards she had collected. The echidna watched in surprise as she flung them at his feet. They lay before him, glittering, even though he could see nothing that they could be reflecting off. He looked from the shards to the bat, then back again.
"Wha-" he began, confused.
Rouge tossed her head, a somewhat superior look upon her face. "Fine, just take them. They stink anyhow, just like echidnas do."
He scooped them up quickly, before the bat changed her mind. "If that's what you thought, you should have given me them in the first place," he told her, rattled. "Finally, I can take the shards and save my island." He stood up, then hesitated.
"What?" Rouge demanded, defensively.
"Look." He hesitated, unsure whether he really wanted to say it. "I'm sorry if I hurt or upset you." Turning, he strode back along the catwalk, towards the nearest airlock.
The bat watched his retreating form until it disappeared out of sight, her arms still folded. At length, she shook her head, looking up at the stars. "I guess I should get going." She turned, paused, glanced over her shoulder. A warm smile spread across her face as she half jogged, half flew away in the other direction.
***
The pink hedgehog twisted about on her heels in annoyance. "Darn!" she muttered. "Why do they always leave a sweet little innocent girl like me alone? They're just mean, mean, mean."
"Well, young lady, is there something I can help you with?"
Her eyes widened considerably as she swung round to confront the speaker. "Robotnik!" She glowered at him, ready to have a temper tantrum at a moment's notice. "Leave me alone! Go on, go away."
A soft voice spoke next to her ear. "Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I thought you were saying you wanted company a moment ago." Amy screamed her loudest, leaping nearly a foot into the air. A hand seized her firmly by her spikes, preventing her from escape. "Do you think you could give me advance warning next time you scream like that?" asked Pip, sounding a little pained.
Leaning over the dashboard of the Eggwalker, Robotnik sneered at Amy. "If you value your pathetic, worthless life then you will tell me where Sonic and Tails are."
The captive felt sharp points pressing against her throat. She gulped. What would her hero do in her place?
***
The blue hedgehog walked confidently up the catwalk, towards the control bank. He was trying not to look down. This was not least because of the mesmerising patterns that circled and pulsed there. Perhaps if he looked at them too long they would disorientate him, making him lose his balance and plunge into the depths. No, it was much better to concentrate on the job in hand.
It was not exactly a very hard thing to do. Even a complete idiot would be able to guess where the Chaos Emeralds were supposed to go, considering the conveniently sized cavities located in the core of the machine. There was only one space left to fill. Sonic felt a little sick. What if it went wrong, and the Eclipse Cannon fired on Mobius? The whole planet could be destroyed as a result.
He lifted the comlink nearer to his face. It looked more like a child's walkie-talkie than a fiendishly designed device that would be used in films. "That's probably because it is," he said to himself.
The fox's voice crackled onto the intercom. "Sonic? Did you say something?"
"I'm there, Tails," he said, softly. "The Eclipse Cannon's here."
The other's voice took on a more authoritative tone. "Okay Sonic. Now put that emerald-"
Sonic snorted. "I think I can kind of tell where it's supposed to go, thank you very much. It's got a very neat kind of Chaos Emerald sized gap right in the middle of the thing."
"Oh," said Tails, apologetically. "Sorry."
A harsh voice cut across the line, setting all of Sonic's spikes on end. It was Robotnik. "Tails, tell Sonic to meet you back at the research facility." The scientist obviously was unaware that the hedgehog could already hear every word that he said.
There was a brief silence, before the fox's voice came again. "Did you get that, Sonic? Amy is-" The line dissolved into static. He groaned, wishing that they had been able to afford higher quality models. It was at times like this, he decided, that pre-planning and a large budget did a lot to help matters.
"I didn't get that Tails," he said, though with little hope of his hearing him. "What happened to Amy? Tails!"
Nothing. He would have to find out what was going on by himself. Giving the machine one last glance, he ran down the catwalk, then out of the room. So near, yet so far. The disabling of the Eclipse Cannon was going to have to wait.
Down the many corridors he raced, trying desperately to recall at least something of the maps that they had studied before their arrival upon the ARK. It was amazing how it could all slip out of his head so quickly. All the passages looked alike to him, anyway.
After nearly ten minutes of searching, Sonic burst into a spacious room, knowing at once that he had got the right one. Three figures were standing near the wall to his right: Amy, Pip, and Robotnik in his egg-walker. The robot bat had one arm round Amy's neck. The other was pointed directly at the young hedgehog's head. He did not need to wonder why she did this, for he had long known about the concealed lasers in Pip's wrists.
Even from where he was, Sonic could see the nasty grin spread across Robotnik's face. Pip was, as ever, expressionless; unreadable.
"Son-" Amy began happily as she caught sight of her hero, before cutting off into a choking sound. The robot bat had tightened her grip on the pink hedgehog's neck.
"Nothing personal," she told her pleasantly. "But your voice really is starting to get on my nerves now."
Amy hiccoughed and went cross-eyed, trying desperately to move Pip's arm so she could get some air into her lungs. "I ... can't ... breathe ..." she croaked out.
"Well, that is the general idea." Grudgingly, the Mecha bot shifted her arm an almost imperceptible length. Gasping, Amy gratefully gulped in large mouthfuls of air.
Determinedly, the hedgehog tightened his already firm grip on the emerald, waiting for a good opening. He wasn't sure how long they had with the fake Chaos Emerald, so he would have to hope that it came quickly.
Ignoring all of this scene, Robotnik called across to Sonic. "Let's take care of business first, shall we Sonic?" Robotnik was grinning all over his face, making his moustache bristle in a manner that suggested he had a frantic squirrel stuffed up his nose. "Hand over the emerald slowly, then we'll talk about your girlfriend. That is, if you really care for her."
"In non-gangster talk for people who don't speak it fluently, that's 'Give us the emerald or she dies'," Pip translated.
"Is that a promise?" muttered Sonic.
At that moment, Tails burst in through the entrance opposite Sonic, still in the Cyclone. His eyes widened somewhat when he saw that Amy was captured, even though he had already suspected this. He shook it off swiftly though, glaring furiously at her captors.
"Let her go, you creeps!" he yelled.
"Very kind for your concern," drawled Pip. "However, it is physically impossible for robots to get cramp." Heat snickered at this, while Tails merely looked more annoyed.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, picking on poor defenceless Amy."
Pip cocked her head to one side. "I'm sorry, I think I just misheard you. I thought you said we should be ashamed of ourselves for picking on Amy, but that can't be right."
"If Sonic puts the emerald in the middle of the floor without any tricks, we may consider letting the pink wretch go free," Robotnik said, looking irked at the interruption.
The hedgehog grinned to himself: perfect. Not just two birds with one stone, but three. He would get rid of Robotnik and Amy, while stopping the imminent disaster. 'Have to keep up appearances though,' he thought. Putting on what he hoped was a pathetic and submissive expression, he said, half meekly, half urgently: "I guess I don't have a choice. Don't think you've won though."
"Think we've won if you put the emerald in the middle of the floor?"
"As if," agreed Pip.
Trying his hardest not to smirk, Sonic walked slowly towards the centre of the room. All eyes were on him as he set it reverently down, ready to run when he had to. He never even got the chance.
A whirring sound came to his ears and he looked down, confused. What was going on? If he had been more alert at that moment, he might have run there and then. However, he hesitated a second too long, a second too late to escape from the trap that sprang up around him. It was a glass tube, just a little taller than his head height. Impulsively, he spindashed the nearest part, expecting it to break into a thousand and one small shards that would spray outwards with film-like effects. Instead, the glass resisted him and he just bounced back to his original position.
Robotnik cackled gleefully, leaning over the dashboard of his Egg Walker to taunt the captive hedgehog. "How do you feel now, Sonic?" He broke off into manic laughter that lasted nearly a whole minute. Pip rolled her eyes as if to say 'I'm not with this jerk'. Sonic gritted his teeth, waiting for the laughter to subside. "I've won at last," Robotnik continued, between laughs. "In a few seconds you will be jettisoned into space along with your fake emerald, and that will be the end of you."
The blue hedgehog spoke warily, glimpsing a faint light at the end of the tunnel. "Who says it's fake?"
"You did," said Heat calmly. "I was watching you when you came on board."
"Great," muttered Sonic. The light at the end of the tunnel looked more like a train's headlamps now.
"Any last words?" asked Robotnik, smirking.
Sonic took a deep breath. Tails and Amy were watching him, and he did not want them to see his hopeless frustration. He felt strangely at peace though, invincible almost.
"Tails?" The fox looked at him, wide-eyed, scared. "Finish it Tails. It's all up to you now. And Amy, take care of yourself. Pip ... well, I guess you'll just have to do what you think is right." He could not think of anything else to say. "Goodbye, guys."
"No last words to me?" Robotnik asked, pretending to be offended, though the effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that he was guffawing while he spoke.
Sonic gave him a disgusted look. "You think I'd waste my breath on you?"
"Brave words, hedgepig." Still laughing, Robotnik flipped a switch. "So long, Sonic."
The glass capsule was shot through a yawning portal that opened below it, sealing over again almost immediately.
All the occupants of the room watched the trajectory of the capsule in silence; even the former dictator stopped his laughter. Half a minute later, when it was a good distance away from ARK, it exploded in an amazing display, reminiscent of bonfire night, although on a much grander scale. As the last of the fiery tendrils curled away, Tails turned his head, choking back his tears. Amy, on the other hand could not restrain herself, breaking into heartbroken sobs, wailing her hero's name.
Robotnik was laughing, though more quietly this time. "Adieu, my admirable adversary." Ignoring the pink hedgehog, who was crying loudly into Pip's shoulder, he turned to Tails. "Now we have some unfinished business to take care of. If you give me the real emerald, I will release you both. You have my promise." He attempted a beneficial smile, which went horribly wrong.
The fox cub shook himself, his distress becoming fury. What was it that Sonic had said to him? He had told him to finish the mission, and that was just what he was going to do. First, though, he was going to teach his hero's murderer a lesson. "I won't let you down, Sonic," he whispered aloud. His eyes narrowed with fury as he looked at the person responsible for Sonic's death. "You're going to pay for that, Eggman!" he shrieked, his hands whipping across the controls of Cyclone.
Robotnik stared dumbly in surprise as the first missile struck the Egg Walker, almost knocking it to the ground. His own hands flew to his controls, and he glowered across at the fox who had dared to attack him. He nearly quailed. The look in Tails's eyes was merciless: he was out to avenge his hero.
***
Shadow stood in his usual position at the main window of ARK, though this time there was something close to hand to watch than the stars. He observed the same great fireball that Amy, Tails and Robotnik had seen. Gently he sighed, turning his head away.
"I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all."
Held in the black hedgehog's arms, Saudin whined pitifully.
***
Knuckles stomped angrily through the corridors. There was just something about that white bat which set his teeth on edge. He tried to tolerate most people, as long as they were not invading his privacy on the Floating Island, but she ... Well, he simply did not like her, and that was a fact.
He paused, turning his head this way and that. It felt as if the air was vibrating, or as if everything else was still and only he was moving, despite knowing he was rigid. Something strange was about to happen, he knew it. Dropping into a crouched position so as to be able to either run or launch himself at whatever appeared, he waited.
A blinding white flash lit up the area like a firework. Gasping, he screwed his eyes tight shut, covering them with his hands. Forcing them open a crack, he was witness to a peculiar sight. In the middle of the glow, a shape appeared. It was mainly blue, shaped very much like a hedgehog, a hedgehog he knew very well. For a moment he hung suspended, then the glow vanished and he fell to the floor with a thud.
"Sonic?" he asked, cautiously. "Are you okay? What happened?"
He pulled the hedgehog into a sitting position. Sonic blinked at him, as if he was not fully awake. "I hope Tails will be able to do it still. The fake Chaos Emerald has the same wavelength and properties, but is less powerful than the real one. ... Shadow's the only person I've ever seen use Chaos Control, so how do I know that I can do it? Still, I haven't got much time, so anything's worth a try. Here goes nothing. Chaos Control!"
Knuckles stared at him. His friend was in a strange state, that was for sure. It sounded as if he was repeating something that he had either heard or said before. He shook him gently by the shoulders. "Fake Chaos Emerald? Chaos Control?" he probed him.
There was the sound of hurried footsteps, then Samantha slid down next to him. "Is he all right?" she asked, concernedly. "What happened?"
He shrugged, wondering briefly where she had come from. "I don't know. There was this white light and he appeared. He said something about Chaos Control. Do you know what that is?"
She shook her head. "No. I was checking out one side of the station - Tails was checking the other - while Sonic went to put the emerald-"
"Wait. There was something else. He said something about ... a fake Chaos Emerald? Do you know anything about that?"
"It has the same wavelength and properties, but is less powerful than the real one." They both jumped, then looked down at the grinning hedgehog. "Hey guys. Whoa, I wasn't sure if I could manage that. Somehow I managed to use the Chaos Control to beam back here." He glanced down at the green emerald in his hands. "Saved at the last second, I guess."
"What's Chaos Control?" demanded Knuckles.
"It's like a sort of teleportation, using the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow told me about it. He seemed to think that he was the only one who could do it, but I did it too, right before the capsule blew." He smirked. "I bet Robotnik thinks he's got rid of me, too. Worse luck for him, huh?"
Samantha strove to keep up. "He tried to kill you?"
"Uh-huh. Chucked me out into space and all."
"Did you manage to work Plan A, then?"
"Nu-uh. As you can see, I've still got the real Chaos Emerald here, and a good thing too, as it turned out. Anyhow, I'm worried about Tails and Amy. We've got to help them, not to mention stop Robotnik and that Shadow dude." He held them for a moment in a serious gaze. "This is our last chance to save Mobius."
***
Once more Rouge stood in front of the core of ARK, though this time she was paying more than a casual interest to the Chaos Emeralds. If she could make off with these beauties, she thought, it would more than make up for losing the Master Emerald. It was partly why she had given up the shards to that angry echidna. She spoke aloud to herself, staring in wonder at the gems that would soon be hers.
"Legend has it that when all the six Chaos Emeralds are collected together their power creates a miracle. And here I am with six of them. They're mine, all mine-"
A loud voice interrupted her. "I don't think so."
She gasped, whirling round. She had had no idea that anybody had been watching her. "Shadow!" Despite her surprise, she rallied marvellously, putting her hands on her hips, giving him an arrogant look. "Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on a girl, huh?"
He ignored her. "So that was your plan, or was it a direct order from Megabucks? Now I know who you are. You had me fooled for a while, but I've finally guessed your identity. Maybe you should have changed your name, as well, Rouge the mouse. You've made quite a name for yourself in the spying business, haven't you?"
This time it took her longer to recover the power of speech, and even when she did she faltered. "So you did your homework. Is that all you know? Even so, I'd call that an invasion of privacy." She smiled at him. "Mind you, you could say the same thing about me."
He looked suspicious. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I say. It looks like things aren't going exactly the way I planned, but I figured since my job was done, I ought to take what's mine and get out of here."
He sneered at her. "You are one pathetic little creature." She flicked her head back; again, that same movement that she had made before when he had insulted her. Well, if she could not take a small insult what did he care. It just made her even more stupid.
"Well, look who's talking," she said, glowering down at him. He was sure that her eyes looked moist. "What about you?" With one bound she leapt off the platform, down to his level. Before she had landed she was waving a wad off papers in his face, almost as if she was going to hit him with it. He watched her warily. "Here are the result of the project containing the 'Ultimate Lifeform'. This is a picture of the real 'Ultimate Lifeform', named Shadow. Take a look, take a good close look." He stepped back a pace so that the text and picture were back into his line of focus, and looked at it. The picture on the page was the outline of some lizard-like creature.
Rouge continued, an icy smile on her face. "If there's one thing this baby ain't, it's you. And if it's right, which there's no doubt about, exactly who or what is standing in front of me?" He did not respond. "You don't know? Well, I'll tell you then. Ever heard of the so-called 'Perfect Androids'? Of course you have, though I doubt you'll remember anything about them." She held up another page with an air of venom. "That's what you are, Shadow. You're just a bunch of old mechanics made up to look like a hedgehog. What's more, you're not even called Shadow, you're called Kaiser. How's that for a dose of real life history, then?"
She narrowed her eyes at him; he stared defiantly back. Their confrontation was interrupted by a crackling signal from Shadow's comlink. He answered it, still keeping the mouse under close scrutiny.
"This is Dr. Robotnik. I have now found all seven Chaos Emeralds. Shadow, someone is trying to get to the Eclipse Cannon. There's now not much time left before the cannon fires again. Can you get over there?"
The black hedgehog snapped: "I'm on my way.", then switched the comlink off. Turning back to Rouge for what he thought would be the final time, he added threateningly: "If you want to live, leave the Chaos Emeralds where they are. The fake emerald is good enough for the likes of you."
She looked mockingly at his back. "Are you sure this isn't just because you're sore about not being the real Shadow?" Silence. This time a note of pity entered her voice. "You don't still think you are, do you?" He stopped, not looking back.
"No doubt."
She watched him, sadly, her eyes softening again, now that he could not see her face. "Even your memories might not be real, you know."
He did not answer for a moment, and when he did his voice had lost some of its conviction. He sounded as if he was almost pleading. "Even if my memories are not real, it's still me: Shadow," he told her. "And I will fulfil my promise to Maria. It's the only thing that's left for me now," he added, a sadness beyond bitterness.
"Shadow, don't go." He was already running away down the corridor, towards the firing room of the Eclipse Cannon. Her next words were barely audible. "It doesn't matter. You'd never understand, anyway."
***
Robotnik halted the Egg Walker, throwing up his hands in submission. He did not have much choice about this, since it was about to short out with the damage it had taken. "Cut it out," he snapped in a sulky voice; he was a notoriously bad loser. "You win."
"Wimp," said Pip. All through the fight she had not freed Amy, and, at the sound of her voice, Tails was reminded of this fact.
"Let Amy go!" Tails demanded. "I'm not going to ask you again, and you'll regret it if you don't."
The robot bat grinned, insofar as a robot can. "Excuse me, but do I look like the kind of person who goes around freeing whiny pink hedgehogs?"
Distracted by the fox, Pip did not notice Amy's arm slipping down to her pocket. Suddenly, Amy whipped out her extended mallet, striking as hard as she could at her captive's face. Pip yelled aloud, relinquishing her grip on Amy who dodged away, leaving her in a clear space by herself.
"You bent my nose," she yelped. Her icy blue eyes flashing, she flung herself at the pink hedgehog, who backed away into a corner with nowhere to run. Luckily for Amy, Pip never reached her. In mid-air a missile struck her, exploding upon impact. She tumbled through the air, hitting the floor, rolling to a stop by the wall, her crescent eyes switched off. The robot did not move again.
***
Sonic stood at the entrance to a highly coloured corridor, riddled with electronics. It was part of the exterior passageway of ARK, a series of tubes that wound their way around the back of the space station. Flashing lights lined the walls, diodes winking back and forth. This was his idea of a space station, all high-tech and radiating spent wealth, much better than the other corridors that he had seen. The exterior passageway was like something out of a film. 'Just as well it looks good,' he thought. 'Since its the quickest way to get to the Eclipse Cannon and stop it from firing.'
A soft voice spoke from behind him, to his right, and he turned his head quickly to see who it was. Stepping out from the darkness, Shadow smiled at him without humour. "You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog. I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space."
Sonic shrugged, playing it off, jogging a little. He had an idea that Shadow would talk more readily on the move. "Well, what can I say? I die hard." Knowing the next part of what he was going to say would annoy the other, he continued all the more readily. "You actually saved me, you know." He held up the yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand to show Shadow.
"Then it was the real Chaos Emerald, wasn't it? There's way you could have activated the Chaos Control using an emerald that's fake." Sonic nodded. Shadow stared at him in amazement. "Then it was all a trick? You had the real Chaos Emerald all along, and somebody else had the fake one?" Sonic nodded again. They were both running now, Shadow just a pace ahead of Sonic. "So, there's more to you than just having people mistake you for me. What are you, anyway?"
He grinned across at Shadow. "What you see is what you get. I'm just a guy who loves excitement and adventure. I'm Sonic the hedgehog, dude."
The other hedgehog nodded, again without humour, both picking up more and more speed. "I see. But I'm afraid that I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end. Before this is over, I'll show you the true power of Chaos Control!"
"Alright then, show me if you can!"
They both hit the next section of the passageway together: this one having a clear roof, like the sort used in underwater displays. As the stars hovered in their set forms in space, the two hedgehogs prepared for a running battle. Sonic had been in enough fights by then to know that a pre-match exchange of insults was always a good idea, and so led the charge in this field. Besides, he had a bone to pick with Shadow, although it was a bone he had managed to almost completely bury by that time.
"So, you want to kill me like you killed Citras, huh?"
The other hesitated a moment. The name of Citras did seem familiar, but ... "Who or what was that?"
"'That' was my friend. He died when you blew up Prison Island." He did not add any more accusation than that, partly because he had now accepted that Citras's death was nobody's fault as such. However, he wanted to see how the black hedgehog reacted. If he had expected some smart answer, he was disappointed.
"Describe him to me."
"Uh ..." Sonic was taken aback for a moment. "Well, he is ... was, a tropical green colour. He had these little metal tips on his spikes and ears - oh, and on his elbows, too. He had this bomber jacket he liked to wear." He paused, unsure what else to say. Of course, how could he have forgotten that? He was always doing it. "And he was one of these special androids, called Perfect Androids. He was a really nice guy."
Shadow let out a strangled cry, and Sonic turned to him. "What?" He slowed down at once, twirling round on one foot. The other was running in the other direction, the way they had come. He seemed to have forgotten his duel with him.
"I am the real Shadow," the black hedgehog whispered, almost to himself, as he ran. "I am. Nobody can take that from me as well."
***
"Tails, Amy, there you are." The two looked up as Samantha and Knuckles rushed into the room. Sam smiled; relived. "Oh good, you're safe. Sonic said that you might be in danger."
The pink hedgehog stared at them, wide-eyed. "Sonic said that? You mean he's still alive?"
"But we saw him blown up in that capsule-" Tails began, then stopped. "Say, if Sonic had managed to use Chaos Control ... He told me about that before: he said that's what you call it when you use the Chaos Emeralds to teleport like Shadow was doing. And he did have an emerald with him." He looked questioningly at them.
Knuckles nodded. 'You have to hand it to the kid,' he thought. 'He's certainly smart at working things out.' Aloud, he said: "Yep, he used it, alright, and he's gone to shut the Eclipse Cannon down."
"Oh, yay!" cheered Amy, dancing about. "He's alive, he's alive! I love him!"
"What, really?" murmured Heat, from a corner of the room.
"I knew that it'd take more than that to beat him," Amy continued, happily. "Oh, I'm so glad he's safe."
The next few minutes seemed almost filmlike. Sonic called them up to say that he had shut the Eclipse Cannon down as best he could, and that he was coming back to them. In the ensuing excitement, nobody noticed Robotnik slip out of the room with the emerald - or at least, nobody apart from Heat.
The blue hedgehog entered the room in a blaze of fastfooted glory. "And the hedgehog does it again," he called, above the cheering. "The world is once more saved by the daring deeds of Sonic!" Seeing their expressions, he hastily added: "And friends, of course."
There followed a lot of hugging, thumping each other on the back, and general congratulations. In the midst of the merry-making, Sonic suddenly stood rigid, then spun round, eyes searching the room.
Knuckles watched him. "What's wrong?" he asked, seriously.
Sonic looked at them all seriously. "Has anyone seen Robotnik?"
***
The afore-mentioned human stood before the glittering bulk of the Eclipse Cannon, clutching Tails's Chaos Emerald tightly in one hand. Despite his recent defeat, he was laughing almost as much as the moment in which he had finally destroyed the horrible blue hedgehog. He was also talking to himself, something that would have heightened the suspicions of the afore-mentioned Sonic, had he been there. It was only when things were really going his way that the human did that.
"This completes my plan to take over the world! This begins the glorious era of the Empire of Eggman!"
So saying, he inserted the emerald into the remaining slot in the cannon's power base, standing back triumphantly to view his handiwork. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts of how he would pay back the miserable planet of Mobius once he had it under his control again, he quite failed to notice the danger sign flashing up onto the holo-screen.
***
"We've got to find him," yelled Sonic, racing off down the corridor, the others in hot pursuit. "He'll be thinking that that darn fake emerald is a real one now."
"I thought you wanted to blow it all up," said Heat, bounding along after them. Sonic glowered at him.
It did not take them long to find Robotnik, since he was coming the other way. He was panting, not used to running, and more than a little worried. His expression became even more worried when he saw the Mobians, but he shrugged, pushing past them. "The stupid thing's overheating," he snarled. They were unsure whether he was talking to them or to himself, but they followed him anyway.
"Yeah, well that's probably because you put the wrong emerald in, you jerk," snapped Amy. "Honestly, can't you tell the difference?"
"We're not going to let you out of our sight, Eggman," Sonic told him. "So I'd forget whatever you're going to do, pronto."
The human glanced at his pursuers. "It's too late for that." He held up a disk on one finger. "There's something terribly wrong with the Eclipse Cannon. It's overheating, and somehow it's set the whole space station moving."
"Where to?"
They were passing a window, and Robotnik made a jerking motion with his thumb. Peering out, the only thing of interest they could see was Mobius. "You mean the planet?" asked Amy, confused. "Don't we want to go back down there?"
"Not like this, you foolish little hedgehog."
Sonic had not given up his suspicions. "So, what's the disk for?"
Robotnik shrugged. "The machine spewed it out, just before it went haywire. It might be of importance, so I'm going to try and run it on one of the computers. It might stop us all dying, at any rate."
Turning the next bend in the corridor, they ran straight into Rouge. The first person she saw was the human. "Hey, have you seen Shad-" she began, then stopped as she saw the others.
"Join the gang, why don't you?" muttered Sonic. "Everyone else is," he added, eyeing Robotnik and Heat with suspicion.
"Has something gone wrong?" asked the bat, raising an eyebrow at seeing them all together. "Don't tell me, it's the echidna's fault, right?"
Knuckles glowered at her, but the others swept them along before they could start an argument. As it turned out, the human was heading for the room the Mobians had just left. They hurried in, glancing around as if expecting some intruder. However, the only creature in the room was Pip, and she was deactivated.
The eight all looked at each other, then down at the disc. "Might as well try it," Sonic said, looking carefully at the others. Some hesitated. After a few seconds had passed though, they had all nodded in agreement, Rouge wondering what she was agreeing to.
Sonic handed the disc to Robotnik, jerking his hand back sharply as he took it. The hedgehog had not yet forgotten the human's very recent attempt to kill him. Robotnik contrived to look faintly hurt by this. However, he remained silent as he slid the disk into the machine, flicking on the holo-projector. They all stepped back behind the boundaries of the projection to watch.
A flickering figure moved across the room, coming the centre before turning to face one side. Those who were not already there moved to get a better view. It was human; more than reminiscent of the current Robotnik in looks. He could be no one but Professor Gerald, his grandfather.
When he opened his mouth to speak, he was outwardly calm, his voice steady. They could sense this was covering something else. "By the time you are listening to this, I will be dead." Amy let out a gasp at this emotionless statement, then was quietened as her sister put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "There is nothing left for me anymore, no reason to live." His eyes glinted, turning hard with hate. "You took away all I ever loved, all I ever cared for." Another sudden change: his voice turned soft, sorrowful even. "I neglected Maria with my studies as my only pitiful excuse. Still, she was happy and content always. After her mother died, she lived with me on ARK on a permanent basis. She had a companion, true, but she was neglected all the more for that reason. They could never be truly happy, living in confinement here." The hate returned once more. "You killed her, my granddaughter, and you have killed me. You will pay for all you have done, murderers. I will destroy your paltry planet and I will destroy you. Die in the knowledge that justice has finally been done."
Without warning, the image flickered, showing a young human girl. It must be Maria, they decided. Almost at once, the image flicked back to Gerald Robotnik.
"The space station will crash into the atmosphere with the force of a meteorite, setting off a chain reaction that will destroy the whole planet."
The projection ended abruptly. There was silence for a full half minute. Each creature felt the need to think this information over, so brutal and strickening it was. After the small eternity had passed, it was Sonic who broke the silence.
"Huh, it's making me feel guilty and I wasn't even born then. You don't think it was just an audition he recorded for a film and forgot to send off?" he added, hopefully.
Robotnik shook his head. "Unfortunately, no."
"Can we alter the course?"
The human was first at the control panel, flicking switches, typing in lightning fast commands. The others watched him, anxious for a positive result. Turning, he shook his head. "The controls are locked; dead. The course is set for Mobius, and I can't override it. He was speaking the truth."
"Of course he was," said Heat, quietly. "Dead men tell no lies."
Amy was trying very hard to control her tears, not wanting to appear a wimp in front of so many people. "Are-are we all going to die then?" she stammered. Samantha squeezed her hand tightly, though it did little to comfort her.
Sonic, who hated being a defeatist said: "There has to be something we can do."
Robotnik agreed at once. "Of course there is. All we should have to do is knock out the power core. This station is not going to go anywhere without it."
"We're going to have to work together to do this," said Rouge firmly, looking round at them all. She held out one hand, face down. Tails was the first to place his palm on her hand, the others following suite.
"Okay," said Rouge, who appeared to have taken charge of the situation. "Now we've got to figure out a plan of action."
"There are three reactors we will have to destroy before we do the main central one," Robotnik told them. "One is exterior, one is located at the back of the space station. The last one is the main one, somewhere in the centre core."
Knuckles was the first to volunteer, almost before Robotnik had finished speaking. "I'll take the exterior." He held up his talisman for the benefit of those who had not already seen it. "I'm not sure exactly how it works, but the result is something like an oxygen tank that doesn't run out. If I use it I can breathe even in a vacuum like space."
Rouge nodded, taking out her oxygen mask. "Fine, but I'm coming with you."
Knuckles looked like he was about to protest, then shrugged. "If you really want to."
"I do want, 'chidna boy. C'mon." She headed to the airlock, Knuckles following.
"Why don't Robotnik and I do the side one?" suggested Tails. "We've both got walkers so we should be able to get through quickly if the ARK starts throwing up any trouble."
The human was surprised that the cub wanted to go with him, consenting readily enough. The two clambered back into their walkers, activating them swiftly. They manovered them out of the room, down a side corridor. For some reason, Robotnik actually allowed Tails to lead them, choosing to give the directions from behind. Sonic had the strange feeling that he was doing this because he was impressed by the young fox.
The remaining three, four if you included Heat, looked at each other. The blue hedgehog grinned. "Hey Sam, how do you fancy going and knocking out that main reactor, huh?"
She shrugged, smiling back at him. "I don't know how much use I'll be. I can't run like you can, or fly like Tails, or-"
Sonic prevented her from continuing by putting one gloved hand over her mouth. "Enough excuses already. You don't need any of those things to help. Besides, it's not like I haven't taught you any tricks. You can do a spindash."
"Of sorts."
He held out one hand. The opaline hedgehog took it, almost yanked off her feet as Sonic shot off.
Amy looked wistfully after them. "I wish he'd take me with him."
"Why?" asked Heat, flatly.
The pink hedgehog rocked on her heels, smiling dreamily. "Because he's my hero and the bestest person in the whole world. And I will get him to marry me one day," she added, a determined glint coming into her eye.
The chao stared at her. "And people think that Pip's crazy," he muttered.
He padded across the steel floor to look out the large window through which Mobius could be seen. Amy stayed where she was, trying to think of something she could do to help. She hoped against hope that the ARK would not hit; she did not want to die.
'It might hurt,' she thought. She was scared of pain, even more scared of dying.
Their whole fate now rested on six people: Sonic, Sam, Knuckles, Rouge, Tails and Robotnik. Nobody else could do anything to save them- The pink hedgehog gasped aloud. Of course, Shadow! He could help them. Where was he though? At last, here was something she could do for Sonic.
She ran off down the nearest corridor, determined to find Shadow. Heat, watched her go in the window's reflection. Softly, he moved over to where Pip lay, batting her face with his paws. The robot's eyes flicked back on immediately, and she sat up.
"Has she gone?" she asked. The chao nodded.
Swiftly and silently, the robot bat got to her feet, following behind the pink hedgehog.
***
Shadow was standing silently in the bridge area, his back to the door. He did not notice, or perhaps did not want to notice, the pink hedgehog who rushed breathlessly into the room, eyes wide. He merely continued stroking Saudin, who was curled up sleepily in his arms. His recovery was astounding: he was even more impressed with the chao-creatures than he had been before. The chao that resembled him was even back onto eating solids now, less than a day after his treatment.
Amy took a few faltering steps forward, wondering whether or not she should disturb him after all. Suddenly, it did not seem like such a great idea to enlist him.
"Yes?" Amy jumped. He had not turned round, and she had not been making that much noise.
"How ... how did you know I was there?"
Shadow turned slowly, the faintest glimmer of a smirk upon his face. "Elementary," he said. "I could see your reflection in the glass." She blushed at her stupidity, wondering why this had not occurred to her. He frowned, his brow furrowing. To her great surprise, he even took a step backwards. "You are not the hedgehog who hugged me, are you?"
"Erm."
"You are the hedgehog who hugged me," he confirmed, emphasising the 'are'. "Twice. What do you want?"
"I ..." She drew herself up to her full, if not considerable, height. Why should she be scared of this hedgehog? He was the one who was frightened, or at least suspicious, of her. "We need your help. If you don't help us, we're all going to die." She felt the tears prick her eyes, and desperately tried to fight them. The last thing she wanted to do was to cry in front of Shadow. Even so, the situation seemed so hopeless; not even her hero was assured of triumph.
"So?" he demanded, harshly. "We die. It happens to everybody sooner or later. Get used to it."
"You're mean!" Amy's bottom lip was trembling. If Shadow had known the signs, he would have realised that he was in grave danger of a spectacular Amy hysterical fit. As if was, he merely continued to train upon her his suspicious stare. "Don't you care about saving people's lives?"
"Because if you don't help, everybody's going to kick the bucket, pop their clogs, and be as dead as doornails." They both spun round, to see who had spoken. The pink hedgehog's eyes widened still further, if that were possible.
"What are you doing here?" she blurted out. "I thought you were dead! I mean, Tails shot you and everything."
"Yup, I was there; I kind of noticed. It's not something I'm likely to miss. No pun intended. Oh, and I'm here because I was following you. I got bored dying, so I decided to do something marginally more entertaining."
Amy considered this, trying to work out whether she had just been complimented or insulted. In the end she gave up. "You're not going to try and kill me?" she asked, doubtfully. "If you do, I'll scream."
"The very thought sends shivers down my spine, or at least the nearest equivalent. Besides, I've got bored of that."
Shadow turned, beginning to walk away, further down the bridge. Saudin watched them from where he had scrambled up onto his master's shoulder. Pip, who had got carried away with teasing Amy, remembered what she had been going to say. Amy also did not want Shadow to go, as she wanted to do her bit to help Sonic.
"Hey! Mr. Hedgehog! Please don't go." The black hedgehog stopped, but did not turn or come back.
Pip joined in. "We need you. You can save the world. Without you, everybody's going to die. Everybody."
Shadow turned abruptly, almost swaying upon his feet, looking dizzy, sick almost. "What did you say?"
"I said that everybody's going to die," she said, patiently. "Which could be a bit of a pain really, if you think about it."
"No, before that."
"Oh." She thought for a moment. "About saving the world?"
A dying human girl, reaching out a hand to Shadow, her usually bright blue eyes dimmed, glazing over. Blood was flowing freely from a bullet-wound to her chest, that she was feebly attempting to staunch with a folded up wad of her dress. Even though she struggled to hang on to life, she knew in her heart of hearts that it was too late for her: she was dying.
"I can't leave you," he whispered, fiercely.
She shook her pretty head, smiling wanly at him. "Please Shadow. Do it for me. Promise me-" She coughed, a horrible choking sound, and blood was in the palm of her hand when she withdrew it. She looked up at him, trying to put on a brave smile for his benefit. "Promise me ... that you will make the people happy, like you said granddaddy was trying to do. Save them. Only you can save the world now, Shadow. You must promise."
He was a strange contrast to her perfectly still form; his whole body shaking with uncontrollable anguish. "I promise, Maria," he whispered. Shadow clasped the hand all the more tightly in his, as if through this he could somehow bring her back to the world of the living. "I promise."
"I promise," Shadow whispered, fiercely. Without a backward glance, he ran past the three, back down the corridor.
Amy looked puzzled. "Did he just say something about a promise? What was that all about?"
The robot bat sighed, shrugging. "Don't ask me. Heroes are all weird like that." Amy made no comment, privately feeling that her hero was not weird in the slightest. The two proceeded to follow the black hedgehog at a slightly more relaxed rate, towards the ARK's Emerald Shrine.