Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation- part 7.
"Lift Off"
By Thalia 'RockChick' Evans.
* * * *
Chapter 1
Location: ARK
1 Cannon countdown: 23 hours
Robotnik gazed at the column of light in which the five Chaos Emeralds floated. The Eclipse Cannon had worked perfectly, just as Shadow had said it would.
But there was a problem…
The light in the control room was dull and flickering, and the glow from the Chaos Emeralds had decreased considerably. The cannon did not have enough energy to fire again. Robotnik scowled in frustration, and glared over at the figure standing at another part of the control panel.
Shadow felt Robotnik's gaze on him, and looked up from his inspection of the status panel. Seeing the mad scientist's impatience, he voiced the facts that the human already knew:
"Five Chaos Emeralds are enough for a test run, but the cannon needs time to recharge. We need the sixth emerald to operate at full power." the black hedgehog paused. His tone was, as usual, calm and almost emotionless. "Of course, if we had the Master Emerald we wouldn't need the others at all."
Robotnik's scowl became even deeper.
"Don't you think I already know that?!" he snarled around his large moustache. "The Master Emerald was destroyed." He then noticed that Shadow's gaze was now directed somewhere past Robotnik's left shoulder. The large man turned around suspiciously, to see Rouge.
"Not exactly," the bat smiled mysteriously. "It may take time, but I'm working on recovering the pieces. I've already found about half of them…" Robotnik, however, was not convinced.
"Time is something we don't have," He muttered in reply. "Not when we have Sonic to contend with. We need the sixth emerald, and there's a chance that the blue spikeball has already found it." Then the madman's mood brightened, as his features split into an insane grin. "Have I got a surprise for him," he thought.
"So, his name is Sonic…" Shadow thought. His hand went to the chest injury that his enhanced metabolism was already starting to heal. Sonic…he was loud, over-confident, in-your-face. Whereas Shadow was a creature of stealth and darkness…
Darkness and light. Which would triumph…?
Rouge looked a little perplexed.
"There's one thing I don't understand," she said. "When you made that transmission to Mobius, why did you relay it through your secret base, instead of sending it directly? Won't that lead Sonic straight to it?" Robotnik replied by grinning broadly.
"Exactly," he chuckled. "And when he gets there, I'll have a little 'welcome party' waiting for him!"
Robotnik wobbled over to the mechanical walker parked next to the control panel, and clambered inside. The machine stalked across the catwalk, and paused by the door. Robotnik looked over his shoulder.
"I have a… 'desert rat' to exterminate. You two, stay here." Although he didn't entirely trust Shadow or Rouge, Robotnik needed someone to stay behind and guard the Eclipse Cannon in case of any unexpected, blue visitors. After all- Sonic could be unpredictable, and might not fall into his trap as planned…
Shadow nodded. The hedgehog disappeared into the shadows at the back of the room, suspecting that Sonic would not be defeated as easily as Robotnik hoped. It didn't really matter. If Robotnik didn't come back, it was an annoyance- but nothing more. If Sonic found his way to ARK, Shadow would defeat him. It was that simple…
Rouge waited until there was no sign of the others, then strode over to the nearest computer terminal. Finding it password-locked, she cursed to herself and lifted her right arm, fiddling with a communicator device on her wrist. With her eyes darting suspiciously from side to side, she spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
"This is Rouge reporting." She glanced around again, continuing when she saw no sign of being watched. "Now I know what Dr. Robotnik is up to, but I can't find any information about Shadow." Rouge glared at the stubborn computer screen, which still flashed an 'Access Denied' message. "I still don't know if he is the Ultimate Lifeform or not. I guess I'll just have to keep looking. Rouge out." Turning off the communicator, Rouge left the room in search of answers.
She would have to find her information elsewhere.
"So, she is up to something," Shadow thought, watching her leave. He knew how to remain unseen, so Rouge hadn't been aware of the silent hedgehog watching her every move. His red eyes narrowed. Yet another annoyance had presented itself, and Shadow promised himself that he would find out what was going on here –and then put a stop to it.
* * * *
The next morning, in the desert…
Knuckles shrugged the bag containing the Master Emerald fragments into a more comfortable position on his shoulder, as he trudged through the sands.
"Don't know why you had to drag those things along with is, Red." Sonic waved a gloved hand at his scarlet companion, who frowned.
"I ain't gonna let them out of my sight."
"Suit yourself," Sonic sighed, and turned his attention to Tails and Amy, who were deep in conversation.
"I guess insanity must run in the family," said the fox, as his Cyclone walker clanked along beside Sonic, Knuckles and Amy. "So Gerald Kintobor created Shadow as some kind of weapon?" Amy shrugged noncommittally, and Sonic decided to voice his own opinion.
"That's my guess," he said. "Maybe Doc. G was after world domination, just like his grandson… and now Shadow is helping Robotnik carry on where Gerald left off."
"But that doesn't make sense," Amy frowned. "Didn't Porker say that Gerald Kintobor came to Mobius because he wanted peace? And why would Shadow wait fifty years? We don't know enough to go around making assumptions." She paused reflectively. "I don't even think Shadow is really evil."
Sonic glanced at her as if she had gone crazy.
"Amy," he said, as if to a small child. "First he framed me. Then he tried to kill me. Then he helped Robotnik blow up the moon. What makes you think he isn't evil?!"
"It's just a feeling, that's all," Amy replied.
"Shadow is chaotic, as well," Sonic continued. "And you know Chaos energy makes you go crazy." He now had a wicked grin on his face. "I mean, just look at Knuckles. He's been messing around with Chaos Emeralds for years, and he's a total nutcase."
"Speak for yourself," Knuckles growled back. "I can remember a few times when you-"
"Well, I can't." Sonic retorted. "And if I can't remember it, it wasn't me."
"I think he used that excuse after our last party," Amy laughed, quickly guiding the conversation away from a sensitive subject. "Talk about Hangover City…"
"We're in murky waters now, better change the subject!" Tails grinned, as Sonic shook an amused fist at them all. Fooling around was a good way to cope with a serious situation.
"Hey, I think we're there," Knuckles interrupted, causing the cheerful mood to evaporate into seriousness.
The group had reached the top of a large dune. A plain of flat desert stretched below, and the ruins of a mighty palace rose from the sands. The central structure was a stepped pyramid. Although small by pyramid standards, it was still a large building- and unlike the other structures around it, appeared mostly intact.
"This is near where I found the Master Emerald," Knuckles continued. "You sure this is the place?" Sonic nodded.
"Right where the Kintobor computer said it would be." Sonic checked his watch: 12 hours to go until Robotnik's countdown reached zero, and the Eclipse Cannon fired again. Amy had insisted that they wait until morning before attempting a raid on the base. Although outwardly annoyed at the waste of time, Sonic was secretly glad he'd had a chance to rest after the vicious battle with Shadow. He suspected that was why she had suggested it in the first place.
Amy was a pain, but she was very perceptive. The girl had her uses…
Still, now they had a smaller window of opportunity to stop Robotnik.
The blue hedgehog looked at each of his friends in turn. "Ready to rumble, gang?"
* * * *
Chapter 2
2 Location: Ancient ruins
Cannon countdown: 12 hours
"This looks like the work of echidnas," Knuckles said reverently. "It's just like the Sandopolis Zone." The spiny anteater paused to examine some familiar – looking hieroglyphics, and Sonic rolled his eyes.
"You can study that later. Now, c'mon." Knuckles sighed and followed the others.
The four animals were walking down an avenue lined with towering statues, which formed an approach to the pyramid. The footsteps of Tails' walker echoed in the silence, which was suddenly broken by the young fox's voice.
"This is Robotnik's base all right," he murmured.
"How come you're so sure?" Amy frowned. Tails pointed a finger upwards.
"Look."
The statues, whose bodies resembled stylised echidnas, had all had their heads removed. Metallic replicas of Robotnik's face gleamed in their place.
"Now that's ugly," Sonic commented.
"How dare he!" Knuckles fumed. "Ruins like this are all that's left of my people! He-"
"Save it for Robotnik, Red." Sonic interrupted, silencing him. The small group continued down the avenue, towards a large metal door that definitely did not look ancient.
Suddenly, Sonic stopped, tensing.
"Something's wrong here."
"What…?" Tails began.
"Ssh! Its-"
Suddenly, there was movement behind as a horde of metallic forms came flying over a nearby dune, darkening the sky. Sonic and the others turned to face their new adversaries.
These were not G.U.N sentry robots but badniks of typical Robotnik design, most resembling golden Coconuts badniks. The crowd of robots also included a large number of old spinning-orb badniks, and a couple of new E- 100 series machines.
Over a hundred badniks in total.
Sonic had faced odds like that before. He dropped into a fighting stance and Amy pulled her crossbow from its' holster, ready to attack.
"Looks like Robotnik was expecting us," Tails remarked.
An E100 badnik lowered its weapon and pointed it at Amy…
-And dropped to the ground, lifeless. Out of sight in the ruins, a panel in its' chest popped open and a small yellow Flicky fluttered away to freedom.
Sonic's eyes turned to Amy's crossbow. Seeing that it had not been fired, they raised questioningly to her face.
"It wasn't me," she shrugged.
Sonic frowned and looked up.
"What are you doing here?" the blue hedgehog exclaimed.
Shade Phoenix's sleek motorcycle was parked between the advancing metal army and the four friends. His Chao took up his customary position on Shade's shoulder, and the brown hedgehog brandished the cause of the badnik's sudden demise- a very large disruptor cannon.
"I figured you guys could use a hand."
Sonic glanced at the advancing wave of badniks, which would reach them in about 30 seconds.
"Now, what makes you think that?" he replied.
Shade looked over his shoulder at Sonic.
"You need to get into the base, right?" he gestured with his weapon towards the enemy. "Me and Sparky'll keep 'em busy until you're in."
"You're crazy!" Exclaimed Amy. "You can't take on all those badniks by yourself."
"Just watch me." Shade cast a knowing glance at Robotnik's creations, and nodded slightly. "I know what I'm doing. Besides, if there's a fight going on out here-" the biker hedgehog pointed towards the pyramid's metallic door, "No- one's gonna expect you to be in there."
Sonic's green eyes narrowed- the guy was serious. There were two possibilities here- either Shade was completely insane, or he did know what he was doing.
Sonic was willing to bet that it was a little bit of both.
"You've done this kind of thing before, haven't you?"
There was that 'I-know-something-you-don't' smile again. Behind the tinted lenses, Shade's eyes glinted with amusement and experience.
Where did Sonic know him from? And why were his instincts telling him that Shade could look after himself?
Silently, the motorbike lifted into the air and powered towards the approaching menace.
"Weird guy," Knuckles commented. Tails gave Sonic an odd look.
"You're letting him go?"
Sonic looked at his friend and nodded.
"I've seen the dude in action, he's got some moves," the hedgehog grudgingly admitted. It was strange how his distrust of the biker had lessened.
But then again, seeing him risk his life to help them would have that effect…
Sonic shook his head, turning back to the matter at hand.
"C'mon, we've got a door to break down." He paused, grinning. "Let's go kick some Imperial butt!"
Loud clangs of metal hitting the ground filled the air as Shade took out badnik after badnik. His flying vehicle weaved through the crowd of metal creatures, and Shade noted with satisfaction that his plan was working. The badniks had their attention focused on him, and not the small group of Freedom Fighters below.
No matter what Robotnik did, badniks were always stupid…
As the speeding motorbike cleared the menacing swarm, Shade spared a glance behind him. Sonic had reached the entrance, and had stopped to examine the steel door. He took a step back, gesturing to Tails- who activated his walker's cannon and obliterated the doorway to the pyramid.
The blue hedgehog briefly looked up at the drama taking place above, then all four animals disappeared into the ancient building.
Not a moment to soon… seconds later, the remains of the doorway collapsed in on itself, sealing the entrance with a resounding rumble and a cloud of dust.
"Good, they're in," Shade commented, before observing that the badniks were still in pursuit of his motorbike. "Not so good for us, though." The Chao still perched on his shoulder chirruped worriedly.
"It's all right, we can lose them in the ruins," the hedgehog responded, taking the vehicle into a maze of broken columns. He swerved to the right, barely avoiding a laser bolt from one of the E100s.
"I hope…"
Fortunately, Shade Phoenix's fears were not realised. Concealing himself in the shadows of a leaning statue, he watched as the remaining badniks scattered and disappeared into the desert. Breathing a sigh of relief, the biker brushed his quiff away from his face. Thoughtfully, he scanned the pyramid's entrance.
"That was too easy," he proclaimed, frowning. "Something's going on here…"
* * * *
Later, inside the pyramid…
The stone door had recently been painted, and was now adorned with a stylised Robotnik face on both sides. Suddenly, a large crack snaked across the image.
The leering image abruptly exploded into a thousand fragments. Debris rained inwards, along with a round blue form, which uncurled in mid-air and landed on its feet in the room beyond.
"I'm through!" Sonic called, brushing dust off his quills. He examined the rubble all around him, grinning. "I always wanted to smash Robotnik's face!"
The hedgehog was quickly followed by the three others.
"We must be in the centre of the pyramid," Tails said, gazing at the space around him.
The room was huge, circular and empty. There was no real floor, just a wide ledge that encircled a pit in the centre. Shifting sands were visible at the bottom.
Several doors led out of the chamber, but the most prominent feature was a metal lift on the far side. Sonic nodded towards it.
"That could be what we're looking for. There's probably a space ship or some kind of transport to ARK around somewhere…" Sonic started towards the elevator, but saw that Knuckles had stopped to examine something.
"Look at this," he murmured, running a gloved had across the cool stone wall. "It's some sort of picture record of Echidna history."
Sonic groaned, seeing there was no way to budge the red echidna this time. Bored, he started doing leg stretches to occupy his time.
Amy was now scrutinising the colourful mural on the wall.
"Hey Sonic, this one looks like you!"
Sonic paused in his warm ups, and glanced at a section of the mural. It showed what was unmistakably a hedgehog, in a vivid blue colour and holding what appeared to be a fish.
"Oh yeah, that's me," he replied casually. The others gave him a funny look.
Sonic shrugged. "It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Frowning at the image, he raised an eyebrow. "Am I really that short?"
Tails sniggered, while Amy and Knuckles exchanged confused glances.
"Hey, wait a second…" Knuckles said suddenly, as a disturbing thought dawned in his mind. "Has anyone else noticed there aren't any badniks around? If this is really Robotnik's base, the place should be crawling with them."
"Nah," Sonic smiled. "No badnik would dare show its' face with me around." Amy, however, was more serious.
"Knuckles is right… this is too easy. It must be a trap." Sonic began to shake his head doubtfully, but was cut off by a voice from behind them.
"You ought to listen to your girlfriend, Sonic."
It was Robotnik's voice, and it issued from a speaker above the door. There was also a small video camera, its light blinking red.
"I've told you a million times that Amy is not my—" Sonic began, but the pink hedgehog shushed him.
"If you're thinking of trying to stop me, you'd better think again." Continued the would-be dictator. Sonic took a pace forwards, smiling confidently.
"Whatcha gonna do about it, Lard Belly?" he taunted, a cocky grin plastered all over his face. Sonic's voice took on a bored tone. "I suppose you're gonna use some kind of new weapon on us, as usual."
"If you insist…" Robotnik chuckled. A beep issued from the speaker, as he pressed a button somewhere.
Sonic yawned elaborately, then picked some sand off his glove as if he had nothing better to do.
Then he noticed that the ground was vibrating.
Sonic spun around as the sand in the circular pit exploded outwards, forcing him to shield his face with a hand.
As the dust began to settle, Sonic lowered his arm, and looked down into the pit. His eyes then tracked slowly upwards.
"Oh."
* * * *
Chapter 3
Location: Inside the pyramid
Cannon Countdown: 11 hours
"It's a Guardian…" Knuckles hissed, eyeing the huge humanoid statue that had risen from the sands below. He had encountered one before, but it hadn't been as big as the one he faced now. This thing could use the Sandopolis Guardian as a toothpick…
Everyone dived for cover as the Guardian jerked into life, slamming a colossal hand onto the platform where they were standing.
Sonic rolled out of the way, cursing as he heard Robotnik's maniacal laughter.
"You're loving this, aren't you?" He muttered, getting to his feet.
The stone monster ignored Amy, Tails and Knuckles, and Sonic realised it was programmed to go after him alone. "Great," he thought. "I'm not gonna be beaten by walking masonry!"
Sonic sped around the circular platform, gratefully observing that the Guardian could not follow his movements. It was slow, but then again- wasn't everything?
The blue hedgehog crouched, and launched a spin attack at the moving wall of stone. He impacted in the middle of its back, but the blow had little result except to knock free a few chips of rock. Grabbing the lip of the small dent he had made, Sonic clung on with one hand while he considered what to do next.
"Aw man, this could take all day."
Then, the Guardian's head swivelled 180 degrees to look him directly in the face.
Sonic grimaced. "Yikes..."
Sonic let go of his handhold and propelled himself away with a kick, landing safely back on the ledge-but not before he noticed a glint of metal atop the statue's head.
The hedgehog grinned. That looked interesting… Perhaps he had found the 'invulnerable' Guardian's weak spot.
Sonic folded his arms, stood still and waited.
The Guardian's torso swivelled, and it once again attempted to crush him with a blow from its huge fists. The stone ledge rang with the impact, but Sonic had leaped out of the way and now crouched on one of the colossus' rocky knuckles.
The hand began to lift from the ledge…
Sensing the right moment, Sonic vaulted from the hand to the upper arm, and from there to the shoulder. He paused to listen to Robotnik's colourful response, then found himself staring the Goliath in the face from a distance of less than a metre.
"Hi there, big guy…"
Sonic grinned and jumped straight up, seeing the machinery protruding from the top of the head. He assumed- correctly- that Robotnik was using the mechanism to control the Guardian. His leap took him a couple of metres higher than the top of the statue's head, and from there it was easy to launch a spin attack straight down.
The spinning hedgehog's quills ripped through the metal device with the force of a chainsaw. In the moments before he bounced back into the air, Sonic was aware of a shower of sparks and an angry exclamation from Robotnik's disembodied voice.
"Nooo!! He destroyed the control mechanism!"
"Ain't that just too bad," Sonic replied with mock sympathy, as he flew through the air. The Guardian froze in place with its' head leaning to one side; still standing, but otherwise seeming quite dead.
Sonic landed back on his feet, suppressing a hiss of pain as the impact jarred his bruised back. The reminder of his fight with Shadow made him wonder, once again, exactly what was going on in the space colony.
Recovering, he looked around for his friends- breathing a sigh of relief when he spotted them sheltering in the doorway.
"Sonic, that was amazing…" Amy sighed dreamily.
"Hey, what do you expect from the best?" Sonic replied with a cocky grin- there was nothing he liked more than being admired. He casually brushed the dust off himself, then struck a cool pose, waiting for more compliments. Knuckles rolled his eyes, sighing exasperatedly.
"Sonic, stop basking in the glow of your own ego for a minute. It's not over yet…"
"Huh?" Sonic looked over at the Guardian, which was no longer still but twitching spasmodically. The head rotated a full 360 degrees, and a massive arm shot out and slammed into the wall.
"Looks like Robotnik has lost control of it," Tails pointed out. Sonic gave him a dirty look.
"Thanks for stating the obvious, pixel brain. Now let's get out of here!"
* * * *
The image from the security camera showed the four animals heading for the steel elevator. Robotnik swore loudly, and typed a command into the keyboard.
There was no response. As the madman had feared, the flailing Guardian had already taken out the wiring that controlled the lift's manual override.
The lift itself, however, would still work…
"Piece of junk!" Robotnik yelled. "Why do those… 'freedom fighters' always get so lucky?!" There was a loud creak from the stone giant, as it finally gave up the ghost. The huge lifeless statue toppled over backwards, destroying the camera and sealing the doorway in the process.
The television screen went dark. Robotnik sat in the silence, rage slowly growing in his mind.
Blasted hedgehog!
Still, he couldn't blame himself for this. Not entirely. His only real mistake had been to use 'second hand' technology… relying on the ancient Guardian to do the job, instead of his tried and tested badniks.
And now those annoying furballs were going to reach the supply ship.
On the other hand, Robotnik mused, at least they hadn't discovered the space transporter. That way would have been much quicker. Using the space ship, it would take them a few hours to reach ARK.
Slowly, an evil grin spread over Robotnik's face.
He prided himself on his ability to make plans. And this time, he had an even better idea to get rid of Sonic for good.
The madman turned his cumbersome bulk around, and headed for the space transporter…
The metallic lift sped upwards, fortunately just big enough to house Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Tails- who was still in the cockpit of the Cyclone. It was, however, a very tight fit. Sonic made sure he was as far away from Amy as he could get…
"Now we just have to get to ARK and stop that cannon," he pondered, wondering if there really was a way up to the space colony from here. "I hope Porker's plan works."
Knuckles scowled, and hefted his bag so that its contents jingled. The sound echoed in the cramped space, followed closely by the voice of the echidna.
"Don't forget about the Master Emerald."
"How could I," replied the blue hedgehog, eyeing the bag uncomfortably, "When you've got the pieces right there?" Sonic gestured at Tails' walker, where a reinforced metal-and-plastic box was visible in the cockpit.
"You could at least have put some of them in the shielded box with the blue emerald." He didn't really feel comfortable being in a cramped space at the best of times. Having a big source of Chaos energy in such close proximity made him deeply nervous, even if he didn't show it.
Knuckles rolled his eyes, and was about to come out with a suitable taunt when the floor jerked.
"Looks like we're here," Tails said as the doors slid smoothly open.
"You're doing it again, Tails." Sonic replied, gratefully stepping out of the elevator. He paused to glance at his surroundings. It looked like some sort of hangar, and in the centre of the large space was…
"Will you just look at that!" The hedgehog's lips twitched into a little, nostalgic smile, and he glanced at Tails. The fox had the same expression.
"Talk about déjà vu! Guess Robotnik doesn't change his designs much, huh?"
"No kidding," Sonic replied. Seeing the others' puzzled expressions, he added; "Before your time, dudes."
The space ship was long, sleek and white, with two pairs of wings set back from the long nose section. The wings formed an X shape, making the craft look like something from a sci-fi movie that Sonic had once seen. But the film was not what he was thinking of.
"Last time I saw something like this was years ago, before we formed the Freedom Fighters," Sonic explained. "Robotnik had one of these ships on his Wing Fortress. Me and Tails used it to get to the Death Egg."
"I remember that," The young fox nodded. "You nearly burned up on re- entry…" Tails grinned maliciously as Sonic elbowed him sharply in the ribs.
"Let's just forget about that, shall we?!" the hedgehog hissed under his breath. Silently, he added- "I hope it doesn't happen this time…"
Outwardly though, Sonic quickly regained his composure.
"D'you remember how to fly one of these things?" he asked his two-tailed friend. Tails replied with a thumbs-up sign, and everyone headed for the streamlined vessel…
Outside the pyramid, Shade Phoenix was preparing to leave. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of why he had decided to come here in the first place.
It should have been easy to just mind his own business, to leave the Freedom Fighters to deal with the badnik army by themselves. After all, it wasn't as if they hadn't done it before…
Shade had already saved Sonic's life once, when he rescued him from the explosion on Prison Island. Before that, he had made sure the Master Emerald couldn't fall into the wrong hands. That should have been enough to ease his conscience.
But it wasn't…
What disturbed him further was that he had almost been enjoying himself during this adventure.
The brown hedgehog sighed, causing an inquisitive chirp from the green Chao on his shoulder- a chirp that turned to a yowl of alarm as a deep rumble filled the air.
The top third of the pyramid suddenly began to move, splitting into two perfect halves that slid slowly aside, and the rumble increased in volume. Intermingled with it was a high pitched whine as an engine screamed into life.
Suddenly, a slender white shape flew out of the bisected pyramid and arrowed away into the blue sky, the whine decreasing with distance.
Shade smiled.
"There they go- nothin' I can do here now."
Shade turned his motorbike around and headed away from the pyramid-cum- launchpad. Now, he thought, he could finally put the past behind him and hit the open road again. His future held no more of this adventuring business. It would be peaceful, ordinary...
3 Boring…
Slowly, the bike came to a stop.
Shade Phoenix shook his head, glancing back over his shoulder.
"Who am I kidding?!"
The vehicle sped off into the distance, and its rider was smiling.
3.1 To be continued
When the gang arrive on ARK, Porker's plan is revealed, and Shadow uncovers Rouge's true identity. But that isn't the only problem she faces, as Knuckles is on the trail of the missing Master Emerald fragments…
Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation: part 8
'Raiders of the Lost ARK' (Don't laugh… I just couldn't resist!)
"Lift Off"
By Thalia 'RockChick' Evans.
* * * *
Chapter 1
Location: ARK
1 Cannon countdown: 23 hours
Robotnik gazed at the column of light in which the five Chaos Emeralds floated. The Eclipse Cannon had worked perfectly, just as Shadow had said it would.
But there was a problem…
The light in the control room was dull and flickering, and the glow from the Chaos Emeralds had decreased considerably. The cannon did not have enough energy to fire again. Robotnik scowled in frustration, and glared over at the figure standing at another part of the control panel.
Shadow felt Robotnik's gaze on him, and looked up from his inspection of the status panel. Seeing the mad scientist's impatience, he voiced the facts that the human already knew:
"Five Chaos Emeralds are enough for a test run, but the cannon needs time to recharge. We need the sixth emerald to operate at full power." the black hedgehog paused. His tone was, as usual, calm and almost emotionless. "Of course, if we had the Master Emerald we wouldn't need the others at all."
Robotnik's scowl became even deeper.
"Don't you think I already know that?!" he snarled around his large moustache. "The Master Emerald was destroyed." He then noticed that Shadow's gaze was now directed somewhere past Robotnik's left shoulder. The large man turned around suspiciously, to see Rouge.
"Not exactly," the bat smiled mysteriously. "It may take time, but I'm working on recovering the pieces. I've already found about half of them…" Robotnik, however, was not convinced.
"Time is something we don't have," He muttered in reply. "Not when we have Sonic to contend with. We need the sixth emerald, and there's a chance that the blue spikeball has already found it." Then the madman's mood brightened, as his features split into an insane grin. "Have I got a surprise for him," he thought.
"So, his name is Sonic…" Shadow thought. His hand went to the chest injury that his enhanced metabolism was already starting to heal. Sonic…he was loud, over-confident, in-your-face. Whereas Shadow was a creature of stealth and darkness…
Darkness and light. Which would triumph…?
Rouge looked a little perplexed.
"There's one thing I don't understand," she said. "When you made that transmission to Mobius, why did you relay it through your secret base, instead of sending it directly? Won't that lead Sonic straight to it?" Robotnik replied by grinning broadly.
"Exactly," he chuckled. "And when he gets there, I'll have a little 'welcome party' waiting for him!"
Robotnik wobbled over to the mechanical walker parked next to the control panel, and clambered inside. The machine stalked across the catwalk, and paused by the door. Robotnik looked over his shoulder.
"I have a… 'desert rat' to exterminate. You two, stay here." Although he didn't entirely trust Shadow or Rouge, Robotnik needed someone to stay behind and guard the Eclipse Cannon in case of any unexpected, blue visitors. After all- Sonic could be unpredictable, and might not fall into his trap as planned…
Shadow nodded. The hedgehog disappeared into the shadows at the back of the room, suspecting that Sonic would not be defeated as easily as Robotnik hoped. It didn't really matter. If Robotnik didn't come back, it was an annoyance- but nothing more. If Sonic found his way to ARK, Shadow would defeat him. It was that simple…
Rouge waited until there was no sign of the others, then strode over to the nearest computer terminal. Finding it password-locked, she cursed to herself and lifted her right arm, fiddling with a communicator device on her wrist. With her eyes darting suspiciously from side to side, she spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
"This is Rouge reporting." She glanced around again, continuing when she saw no sign of being watched. "Now I know what Dr. Robotnik is up to, but I can't find any information about Shadow." Rouge glared at the stubborn computer screen, which still flashed an 'Access Denied' message. "I still don't know if he is the Ultimate Lifeform or not. I guess I'll just have to keep looking. Rouge out." Turning off the communicator, Rouge left the room in search of answers.
She would have to find her information elsewhere.
"So, she is up to something," Shadow thought, watching her leave. He knew how to remain unseen, so Rouge hadn't been aware of the silent hedgehog watching her every move. His red eyes narrowed. Yet another annoyance had presented itself, and Shadow promised himself that he would find out what was going on here –and then put a stop to it.
* * * *
The next morning, in the desert…
Knuckles shrugged the bag containing the Master Emerald fragments into a more comfortable position on his shoulder, as he trudged through the sands.
"Don't know why you had to drag those things along with is, Red." Sonic waved a gloved hand at his scarlet companion, who frowned.
"I ain't gonna let them out of my sight."
"Suit yourself," Sonic sighed, and turned his attention to Tails and Amy, who were deep in conversation.
"I guess insanity must run in the family," said the fox, as his Cyclone walker clanked along beside Sonic, Knuckles and Amy. "So Gerald Kintobor created Shadow as some kind of weapon?" Amy shrugged noncommittally, and Sonic decided to voice his own opinion.
"That's my guess," he said. "Maybe Doc. G was after world domination, just like his grandson… and now Shadow is helping Robotnik carry on where Gerald left off."
"But that doesn't make sense," Amy frowned. "Didn't Porker say that Gerald Kintobor came to Mobius because he wanted peace? And why would Shadow wait fifty years? We don't know enough to go around making assumptions." She paused reflectively. "I don't even think Shadow is really evil."
Sonic glanced at her as if she had gone crazy.
"Amy," he said, as if to a small child. "First he framed me. Then he tried to kill me. Then he helped Robotnik blow up the moon. What makes you think he isn't evil?!"
"It's just a feeling, that's all," Amy replied.
"Shadow is chaotic, as well," Sonic continued. "And you know Chaos energy makes you go crazy." He now had a wicked grin on his face. "I mean, just look at Knuckles. He's been messing around with Chaos Emeralds for years, and he's a total nutcase."
"Speak for yourself," Knuckles growled back. "I can remember a few times when you-"
"Well, I can't." Sonic retorted. "And if I can't remember it, it wasn't me."
"I think he used that excuse after our last party," Amy laughed, quickly guiding the conversation away from a sensitive subject. "Talk about Hangover City…"
"We're in murky waters now, better change the subject!" Tails grinned, as Sonic shook an amused fist at them all. Fooling around was a good way to cope with a serious situation.
"Hey, I think we're there," Knuckles interrupted, causing the cheerful mood to evaporate into seriousness.
The group had reached the top of a large dune. A plain of flat desert stretched below, and the ruins of a mighty palace rose from the sands. The central structure was a stepped pyramid. Although small by pyramid standards, it was still a large building- and unlike the other structures around it, appeared mostly intact.
"This is near where I found the Master Emerald," Knuckles continued. "You sure this is the place?" Sonic nodded.
"Right where the Kintobor computer said it would be." Sonic checked his watch: 12 hours to go until Robotnik's countdown reached zero, and the Eclipse Cannon fired again. Amy had insisted that they wait until morning before attempting a raid on the base. Although outwardly annoyed at the waste of time, Sonic was secretly glad he'd had a chance to rest after the vicious battle with Shadow. He suspected that was why she had suggested it in the first place.
Amy was a pain, but she was very perceptive. The girl had her uses…
Still, now they had a smaller window of opportunity to stop Robotnik.
The blue hedgehog looked at each of his friends in turn. "Ready to rumble, gang?"
* * * *
Chapter 2
2 Location: Ancient ruins
Cannon countdown: 12 hours
"This looks like the work of echidnas," Knuckles said reverently. "It's just like the Sandopolis Zone." The spiny anteater paused to examine some familiar – looking hieroglyphics, and Sonic rolled his eyes.
"You can study that later. Now, c'mon." Knuckles sighed and followed the others.
The four animals were walking down an avenue lined with towering statues, which formed an approach to the pyramid. The footsteps of Tails' walker echoed in the silence, which was suddenly broken by the young fox's voice.
"This is Robotnik's base all right," he murmured.
"How come you're so sure?" Amy frowned. Tails pointed a finger upwards.
"Look."
The statues, whose bodies resembled stylised echidnas, had all had their heads removed. Metallic replicas of Robotnik's face gleamed in their place.
"Now that's ugly," Sonic commented.
"How dare he!" Knuckles fumed. "Ruins like this are all that's left of my people! He-"
"Save it for Robotnik, Red." Sonic interrupted, silencing him. The small group continued down the avenue, towards a large metal door that definitely did not look ancient.
Suddenly, Sonic stopped, tensing.
"Something's wrong here."
"What…?" Tails began.
"Ssh! Its-"
Suddenly, there was movement behind as a horde of metallic forms came flying over a nearby dune, darkening the sky. Sonic and the others turned to face their new adversaries.
These were not G.U.N sentry robots but badniks of typical Robotnik design, most resembling golden Coconuts badniks. The crowd of robots also included a large number of old spinning-orb badniks, and a couple of new E- 100 series machines.
Over a hundred badniks in total.
Sonic had faced odds like that before. He dropped into a fighting stance and Amy pulled her crossbow from its' holster, ready to attack.
"Looks like Robotnik was expecting us," Tails remarked.
An E100 badnik lowered its weapon and pointed it at Amy…
-And dropped to the ground, lifeless. Out of sight in the ruins, a panel in its' chest popped open and a small yellow Flicky fluttered away to freedom.
Sonic's eyes turned to Amy's crossbow. Seeing that it had not been fired, they raised questioningly to her face.
"It wasn't me," she shrugged.
Sonic frowned and looked up.
"What are you doing here?" the blue hedgehog exclaimed.
Shade Phoenix's sleek motorcycle was parked between the advancing metal army and the four friends. His Chao took up his customary position on Shade's shoulder, and the brown hedgehog brandished the cause of the badnik's sudden demise- a very large disruptor cannon.
"I figured you guys could use a hand."
Sonic glanced at the advancing wave of badniks, which would reach them in about 30 seconds.
"Now, what makes you think that?" he replied.
Shade looked over his shoulder at Sonic.
"You need to get into the base, right?" he gestured with his weapon towards the enemy. "Me and Sparky'll keep 'em busy until you're in."
"You're crazy!" Exclaimed Amy. "You can't take on all those badniks by yourself."
"Just watch me." Shade cast a knowing glance at Robotnik's creations, and nodded slightly. "I know what I'm doing. Besides, if there's a fight going on out here-" the biker hedgehog pointed towards the pyramid's metallic door, "No- one's gonna expect you to be in there."
Sonic's green eyes narrowed- the guy was serious. There were two possibilities here- either Shade was completely insane, or he did know what he was doing.
Sonic was willing to bet that it was a little bit of both.
"You've done this kind of thing before, haven't you?"
There was that 'I-know-something-you-don't' smile again. Behind the tinted lenses, Shade's eyes glinted with amusement and experience.
Where did Sonic know him from? And why were his instincts telling him that Shade could look after himself?
Silently, the motorbike lifted into the air and powered towards the approaching menace.
"Weird guy," Knuckles commented. Tails gave Sonic an odd look.
"You're letting him go?"
Sonic looked at his friend and nodded.
"I've seen the dude in action, he's got some moves," the hedgehog grudgingly admitted. It was strange how his distrust of the biker had lessened.
But then again, seeing him risk his life to help them would have that effect…
Sonic shook his head, turning back to the matter at hand.
"C'mon, we've got a door to break down." He paused, grinning. "Let's go kick some Imperial butt!"
Loud clangs of metal hitting the ground filled the air as Shade took out badnik after badnik. His flying vehicle weaved through the crowd of metal creatures, and Shade noted with satisfaction that his plan was working. The badniks had their attention focused on him, and not the small group of Freedom Fighters below.
No matter what Robotnik did, badniks were always stupid…
As the speeding motorbike cleared the menacing swarm, Shade spared a glance behind him. Sonic had reached the entrance, and had stopped to examine the steel door. He took a step back, gesturing to Tails- who activated his walker's cannon and obliterated the doorway to the pyramid.
The blue hedgehog briefly looked up at the drama taking place above, then all four animals disappeared into the ancient building.
Not a moment to soon… seconds later, the remains of the doorway collapsed in on itself, sealing the entrance with a resounding rumble and a cloud of dust.
"Good, they're in," Shade commented, before observing that the badniks were still in pursuit of his motorbike. "Not so good for us, though." The Chao still perched on his shoulder chirruped worriedly.
"It's all right, we can lose them in the ruins," the hedgehog responded, taking the vehicle into a maze of broken columns. He swerved to the right, barely avoiding a laser bolt from one of the E100s.
"I hope…"
Fortunately, Shade Phoenix's fears were not realised. Concealing himself in the shadows of a leaning statue, he watched as the remaining badniks scattered and disappeared into the desert. Breathing a sigh of relief, the biker brushed his quiff away from his face. Thoughtfully, he scanned the pyramid's entrance.
"That was too easy," he proclaimed, frowning. "Something's going on here…"
* * * *
Later, inside the pyramid…
The stone door had recently been painted, and was now adorned with a stylised Robotnik face on both sides. Suddenly, a large crack snaked across the image.
The leering image abruptly exploded into a thousand fragments. Debris rained inwards, along with a round blue form, which uncurled in mid-air and landed on its feet in the room beyond.
"I'm through!" Sonic called, brushing dust off his quills. He examined the rubble all around him, grinning. "I always wanted to smash Robotnik's face!"
The hedgehog was quickly followed by the three others.
"We must be in the centre of the pyramid," Tails said, gazing at the space around him.
The room was huge, circular and empty. There was no real floor, just a wide ledge that encircled a pit in the centre. Shifting sands were visible at the bottom.
Several doors led out of the chamber, but the most prominent feature was a metal lift on the far side. Sonic nodded towards it.
"That could be what we're looking for. There's probably a space ship or some kind of transport to ARK around somewhere…" Sonic started towards the elevator, but saw that Knuckles had stopped to examine something.
"Look at this," he murmured, running a gloved had across the cool stone wall. "It's some sort of picture record of Echidna history."
Sonic groaned, seeing there was no way to budge the red echidna this time. Bored, he started doing leg stretches to occupy his time.
Amy was now scrutinising the colourful mural on the wall.
"Hey Sonic, this one looks like you!"
Sonic paused in his warm ups, and glanced at a section of the mural. It showed what was unmistakably a hedgehog, in a vivid blue colour and holding what appeared to be a fish.
"Oh yeah, that's me," he replied casually. The others gave him a funny look.
Sonic shrugged. "It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Frowning at the image, he raised an eyebrow. "Am I really that short?"
Tails sniggered, while Amy and Knuckles exchanged confused glances.
"Hey, wait a second…" Knuckles said suddenly, as a disturbing thought dawned in his mind. "Has anyone else noticed there aren't any badniks around? If this is really Robotnik's base, the place should be crawling with them."
"Nah," Sonic smiled. "No badnik would dare show its' face with me around." Amy, however, was more serious.
"Knuckles is right… this is too easy. It must be a trap." Sonic began to shake his head doubtfully, but was cut off by a voice from behind them.
"You ought to listen to your girlfriend, Sonic."
It was Robotnik's voice, and it issued from a speaker above the door. There was also a small video camera, its light blinking red.
"I've told you a million times that Amy is not my—" Sonic began, but the pink hedgehog shushed him.
"If you're thinking of trying to stop me, you'd better think again." Continued the would-be dictator. Sonic took a pace forwards, smiling confidently.
"Whatcha gonna do about it, Lard Belly?" he taunted, a cocky grin plastered all over his face. Sonic's voice took on a bored tone. "I suppose you're gonna use some kind of new weapon on us, as usual."
"If you insist…" Robotnik chuckled. A beep issued from the speaker, as he pressed a button somewhere.
Sonic yawned elaborately, then picked some sand off his glove as if he had nothing better to do.
Then he noticed that the ground was vibrating.
Sonic spun around as the sand in the circular pit exploded outwards, forcing him to shield his face with a hand.
As the dust began to settle, Sonic lowered his arm, and looked down into the pit. His eyes then tracked slowly upwards.
"Oh."
* * * *
Chapter 3
Location: Inside the pyramid
Cannon Countdown: 11 hours
"It's a Guardian…" Knuckles hissed, eyeing the huge humanoid statue that had risen from the sands below. He had encountered one before, but it hadn't been as big as the one he faced now. This thing could use the Sandopolis Guardian as a toothpick…
Everyone dived for cover as the Guardian jerked into life, slamming a colossal hand onto the platform where they were standing.
Sonic rolled out of the way, cursing as he heard Robotnik's maniacal laughter.
"You're loving this, aren't you?" He muttered, getting to his feet.
The stone monster ignored Amy, Tails and Knuckles, and Sonic realised it was programmed to go after him alone. "Great," he thought. "I'm not gonna be beaten by walking masonry!"
Sonic sped around the circular platform, gratefully observing that the Guardian could not follow his movements. It was slow, but then again- wasn't everything?
The blue hedgehog crouched, and launched a spin attack at the moving wall of stone. He impacted in the middle of its back, but the blow had little result except to knock free a few chips of rock. Grabbing the lip of the small dent he had made, Sonic clung on with one hand while he considered what to do next.
"Aw man, this could take all day."
Then, the Guardian's head swivelled 180 degrees to look him directly in the face.
Sonic grimaced. "Yikes..."
Sonic let go of his handhold and propelled himself away with a kick, landing safely back on the ledge-but not before he noticed a glint of metal atop the statue's head.
The hedgehog grinned. That looked interesting… Perhaps he had found the 'invulnerable' Guardian's weak spot.
Sonic folded his arms, stood still and waited.
The Guardian's torso swivelled, and it once again attempted to crush him with a blow from its huge fists. The stone ledge rang with the impact, but Sonic had leaped out of the way and now crouched on one of the colossus' rocky knuckles.
The hand began to lift from the ledge…
Sensing the right moment, Sonic vaulted from the hand to the upper arm, and from there to the shoulder. He paused to listen to Robotnik's colourful response, then found himself staring the Goliath in the face from a distance of less than a metre.
"Hi there, big guy…"
Sonic grinned and jumped straight up, seeing the machinery protruding from the top of the head. He assumed- correctly- that Robotnik was using the mechanism to control the Guardian. His leap took him a couple of metres higher than the top of the statue's head, and from there it was easy to launch a spin attack straight down.
The spinning hedgehog's quills ripped through the metal device with the force of a chainsaw. In the moments before he bounced back into the air, Sonic was aware of a shower of sparks and an angry exclamation from Robotnik's disembodied voice.
"Nooo!! He destroyed the control mechanism!"
"Ain't that just too bad," Sonic replied with mock sympathy, as he flew through the air. The Guardian froze in place with its' head leaning to one side; still standing, but otherwise seeming quite dead.
Sonic landed back on his feet, suppressing a hiss of pain as the impact jarred his bruised back. The reminder of his fight with Shadow made him wonder, once again, exactly what was going on in the space colony.
Recovering, he looked around for his friends- breathing a sigh of relief when he spotted them sheltering in the doorway.
"Sonic, that was amazing…" Amy sighed dreamily.
"Hey, what do you expect from the best?" Sonic replied with a cocky grin- there was nothing he liked more than being admired. He casually brushed the dust off himself, then struck a cool pose, waiting for more compliments. Knuckles rolled his eyes, sighing exasperatedly.
"Sonic, stop basking in the glow of your own ego for a minute. It's not over yet…"
"Huh?" Sonic looked over at the Guardian, which was no longer still but twitching spasmodically. The head rotated a full 360 degrees, and a massive arm shot out and slammed into the wall.
"Looks like Robotnik has lost control of it," Tails pointed out. Sonic gave him a dirty look.
"Thanks for stating the obvious, pixel brain. Now let's get out of here!"
* * * *
The image from the security camera showed the four animals heading for the steel elevator. Robotnik swore loudly, and typed a command into the keyboard.
There was no response. As the madman had feared, the flailing Guardian had already taken out the wiring that controlled the lift's manual override.
The lift itself, however, would still work…
"Piece of junk!" Robotnik yelled. "Why do those… 'freedom fighters' always get so lucky?!" There was a loud creak from the stone giant, as it finally gave up the ghost. The huge lifeless statue toppled over backwards, destroying the camera and sealing the doorway in the process.
The television screen went dark. Robotnik sat in the silence, rage slowly growing in his mind.
Blasted hedgehog!
Still, he couldn't blame himself for this. Not entirely. His only real mistake had been to use 'second hand' technology… relying on the ancient Guardian to do the job, instead of his tried and tested badniks.
And now those annoying furballs were going to reach the supply ship.
On the other hand, Robotnik mused, at least they hadn't discovered the space transporter. That way would have been much quicker. Using the space ship, it would take them a few hours to reach ARK.
Slowly, an evil grin spread over Robotnik's face.
He prided himself on his ability to make plans. And this time, he had an even better idea to get rid of Sonic for good.
The madman turned his cumbersome bulk around, and headed for the space transporter…
The metallic lift sped upwards, fortunately just big enough to house Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Tails- who was still in the cockpit of the Cyclone. It was, however, a very tight fit. Sonic made sure he was as far away from Amy as he could get…
"Now we just have to get to ARK and stop that cannon," he pondered, wondering if there really was a way up to the space colony from here. "I hope Porker's plan works."
Knuckles scowled, and hefted his bag so that its contents jingled. The sound echoed in the cramped space, followed closely by the voice of the echidna.
"Don't forget about the Master Emerald."
"How could I," replied the blue hedgehog, eyeing the bag uncomfortably, "When you've got the pieces right there?" Sonic gestured at Tails' walker, where a reinforced metal-and-plastic box was visible in the cockpit.
"You could at least have put some of them in the shielded box with the blue emerald." He didn't really feel comfortable being in a cramped space at the best of times. Having a big source of Chaos energy in such close proximity made him deeply nervous, even if he didn't show it.
Knuckles rolled his eyes, and was about to come out with a suitable taunt when the floor jerked.
"Looks like we're here," Tails said as the doors slid smoothly open.
"You're doing it again, Tails." Sonic replied, gratefully stepping out of the elevator. He paused to glance at his surroundings. It looked like some sort of hangar, and in the centre of the large space was…
"Will you just look at that!" The hedgehog's lips twitched into a little, nostalgic smile, and he glanced at Tails. The fox had the same expression.
"Talk about déjà vu! Guess Robotnik doesn't change his designs much, huh?"
"No kidding," Sonic replied. Seeing the others' puzzled expressions, he added; "Before your time, dudes."
The space ship was long, sleek and white, with two pairs of wings set back from the long nose section. The wings formed an X shape, making the craft look like something from a sci-fi movie that Sonic had once seen. But the film was not what he was thinking of.
"Last time I saw something like this was years ago, before we formed the Freedom Fighters," Sonic explained. "Robotnik had one of these ships on his Wing Fortress. Me and Tails used it to get to the Death Egg."
"I remember that," The young fox nodded. "You nearly burned up on re- entry…" Tails grinned maliciously as Sonic elbowed him sharply in the ribs.
"Let's just forget about that, shall we?!" the hedgehog hissed under his breath. Silently, he added- "I hope it doesn't happen this time…"
Outwardly though, Sonic quickly regained his composure.
"D'you remember how to fly one of these things?" he asked his two-tailed friend. Tails replied with a thumbs-up sign, and everyone headed for the streamlined vessel…
Outside the pyramid, Shade Phoenix was preparing to leave. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of why he had decided to come here in the first place.
It should have been easy to just mind his own business, to leave the Freedom Fighters to deal with the badnik army by themselves. After all, it wasn't as if they hadn't done it before…
Shade had already saved Sonic's life once, when he rescued him from the explosion on Prison Island. Before that, he had made sure the Master Emerald couldn't fall into the wrong hands. That should have been enough to ease his conscience.
But it wasn't…
What disturbed him further was that he had almost been enjoying himself during this adventure.
The brown hedgehog sighed, causing an inquisitive chirp from the green Chao on his shoulder- a chirp that turned to a yowl of alarm as a deep rumble filled the air.
The top third of the pyramid suddenly began to move, splitting into two perfect halves that slid slowly aside, and the rumble increased in volume. Intermingled with it was a high pitched whine as an engine screamed into life.
Suddenly, a slender white shape flew out of the bisected pyramid and arrowed away into the blue sky, the whine decreasing with distance.
Shade smiled.
"There they go- nothin' I can do here now."
Shade turned his motorbike around and headed away from the pyramid-cum- launchpad. Now, he thought, he could finally put the past behind him and hit the open road again. His future held no more of this adventuring business. It would be peaceful, ordinary...
3 Boring…
Slowly, the bike came to a stop.
Shade Phoenix shook his head, glancing back over his shoulder.
"Who am I kidding?!"
The vehicle sped off into the distance, and its rider was smiling.
3.1 To be continued
When the gang arrive on ARK, Porker's plan is revealed, and Shadow uncovers Rouge's true identity. But that isn't the only problem she faces, as Knuckles is on the trail of the missing Master Emerald fragments…
Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation: part 8
'Raiders of the Lost ARK' (Don't laugh… I just couldn't resist!)