Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation- part 8.
"Raiders of the Lost ARK"
By Thalia 'RockChick' Evans.
* * * *
Chapter 1
Location: ARK
Cannon countdown 8 hours
A streamlined white space ship arrowed towards the hemispherical space station.
The cockpit was large and roomy- a feature all ships built by Robotnik shared, for reasons of convenience- so Tails had been able to walk the Cyclone right into the vessel. Now empty, the walker was an inert lump taking up most of the space between the four seats.
All the seats were occupied. Tails piloted, while in the co-pilot's seat Sonic eyed the controls to the ship's meagre weapons. He hadn't had a chance to use them yet.
Part of him wished he had.
Behind the impatient hedgehog, Amy Rose and Knuckles filled the other two chairs. The red echidna seethed silently, shooting the back of Sonic's chair a glare every so often.
You don't just sling a bag of precious emerald shards into the cargo hold!
But Sonic had, and just because their energy made him jumpy. Knuckles sighed. Thinking about it though, he supposed it was understandable… Sonic had been through a lot, after all, even if he wasn't under that risk anymore.
At least Sonic wasn't complaining now, Knuckles thought, and went back to worrying about the welfare of his Master Emerald. The emerald…that bat girl probably had the rest of the pieces by now.
Why were the most attractive ones always the most evil?
Knuckles blinked. Where had that come from?
He needed some sleep. Yes, that must be it…
"Ugly lookin' thing, isn't it?" Sonic remarked, gazing out the window at the rapidly approaching ARK. With the two circular viewing windows, the tower in between and the triangular structures flaring out at either side, the space colony bore a slight resemblance to Robotnik's face.
Rather like the Death Egg, in fact.
Sonic's face took on a sneer of disgust; this was getting all too familiar for his liking. It was as if history was repeating itself.
The hedgehog started, all at once seeing things from a different angle.
Gerald Kintobor had created Shadow, and a cannon to control the world with terror. Decades later, Gerald's grandson had devised a similar space- bound weapon.
But not before he helped an ordinary young hedgehog become something more…
"In a way," Sonic found himself thinking, "Dr. Kintobor created me…"
History repeating itself…
Perhaps Gerald Kintobor hadn't started out evil, just like Dr. Robotnik. Perhaps Shadow was…
No. It was ridiculous. It was stupid. It was superstitious nonsense.
Sonic scolded himself for even considering it.
Suddenly, the craft pitched wildly to the left. Knuckles would have been thrown out of his chair if he wasn't strapped in.
Sonic looked at the control board, trying to determine the problem, then looked out the window. Amy just looked ill.
"Tails! Wh-what was that?" she gagged.
"Debris! Hold on tight!" the fox yelled, wrenching at the controls. The destruction of ARK's cargo bay had left all kinds of junk in space, and now they were flying into it. Tails began to take the ship around in a wide curve to avoid the debris field.
A chunk of the stuff bounced ineffectually off the windscreen.
Seconds later, the ship was rocked by something more substantial. The lights flickered.
"Sorry," Tails apologised. "Didn't see that one coming…"
"We noticed," Knuckles observed dryly. "What'd it hit?"
"Us," Tails replied, receiving a glare from Sonic in return. The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes, muttering 'obviously, pixel-brain' under his breath, and checked the control panel.
"Looks like we got a direct hit in the cargo section," he observed.
"What was in there?" Amy asked warily.
"Nothing except…the Master Emerald…" Sonic's voice trailed off as Knuckles' eyes went wide; the echidna began to unbuckle his safety straps.
"What?"
"Hey, cool it Red…" Sonic raised his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Don't worry, I'm sure the doors weren't…"
A brown cloth bag drifted past the window, attracted and pulled in by the gravity field of ARK.
"…Damaged…" Sonic finished weakly, tracking the object's progress with eyes that matched its contents. "Oh."
"…Sonic…" Knuckles growled.
* * * *
Meanwhile, in the cannon control room…
Rouge sighed as she entered the room, feeling rather pleased with herself. The computers in the ARK's science labs had been much more forthcoming than the password-locked one in the control room.
The bat frowned a little, gazing at the sheaf of printouts in her hand. Yes, she had more information now- but what she had been able to extract from the computer had raised more questions than it had answered. Still, it was better than nothing…
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
Rouge started at the voice. Those quiet tones were unmistakable…
"Shadow?"
He had, as usual, been concealed in the darkness. Shadow chose to reveal himself and stepped into view.
"I have done some research of my own," the black hedgehog said, as he scrutinised the suspicious bat. "I know who you are. You're the government spy, Rouge the bat, aren't you?"
Rouge blinked. The hedgehog was smarter than she had given him credit for… somehow he had figured out her true identity.
She had been recruited to investigate G.U.N, the human organisation; and to report on Robotnik's plans. But that was only part of her mission. Fifty years before, the Mobian military had captured what was believed to be the Ultimate Life Form. Fear of this potentially dangerous creature had resulted in the information being hidden, deliberately forgotten; only a privileged few had known of its' existence.
Now, however, the truth was leaking out.
The suspicious Zone Leaders of Mobius had chosen Rouge to discover what their forebears had tried so hard to conceal… and in return, had promised her a rich reward. Namely, the Chaos Emeralds.
That was an offer she couldn't refuse…
"No one is what they seem," she nodded mysteriously. She was definitely hiding something.
Rouge studied Shadow's appearance very carefully.
His red eyes narrowed.
"You did find something, didn't you?"
Rouge nodded, withdrawing a sheet of paper from the folder she carried. The red and black Project Shadow logo was visible at the top; seeing this, Shadow moved closer for a better look.
"When I looked up Project Shadow, I found this." She lifted the printout for the hedgehog to see. There was some text, and a black and white photograph- the creature depicted was grotesque, a deformed salamander encumbered by machinery. Judging by the scale, it was as big as a reasonably sized dinosaur.
Shadow wore a slight frown of puzzlement. What was this…?
The feeling of doubt was becoming far too familiar. Shadow experienced an odd, sinking feeling.
"If this creature is really the Ultimate Life Form, named Shadow," Rouge paused, green eyes shifting from the paper to meet his gaze- "Then who- or what- is standing in front of me?"
Shadow hissed. He took a few brisk steps that carried him past the bat, and stood with his back to her. Utterly unable to meet her gaze.
Was it possible that he was not the Ultimate Life Form?
He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it!
"It's…not…true…" He murmured painfully. Rouge was shocked by the anguish in his voice, which was usually so emotionless.
"Even your memories might not be real, you know…" she said softly.
Shadow still didn't turn around. That much was true…there was so much he couldn't remember. Or didn't want to. He had blocked out many memories, which returned now and then as painful flashbacks.
How could he know what was true and what was not?
Until now, there had been only one thing he was sure of. One definite, unshakeable fact. Now that, too, had been shattered.
He thought: "Who am I?"
As if to confirm the fact to himself, he answered the question out loud.
"It doesn't matter. It's still me…Shadow…" his voice was confused and barely audible; but as he lifted his head the ruby eyes shone with new determination.
Shadow's fists clenched at his sides. There was still one thing left to hold on to.
His purpose. His ultimate goal.
As he had done so many times before, Shadow wrestled his emotions under control, pushing them to the back of his mind.
It was better to feel nothing at all.
The hedgehog turned, finally looking Rouge in the eyes; once more calm and purposeful.
"I will fulfil my promise to Maria," he said, quietly but firmly. "That's all that matters to me now."
As he left, a single thought filled his mind:
Revenge!
* * * *
Chapter 2
Location: ARK
Cannon countdown: 7 hours
Later, in the corridors of ARK…
"So this is ARK, huh?" Amy mused.
"This place was state of the art when it was first built," Tails explained. "But looking at it now…" Amy gazed around at the dim corridors, with their clinging cobwebs and lights flickering on emergency power.
"Now it's an abandoned ARK. Sure is dusty," the pink hedgehog finished.
"Spooky, too," Tails added. The footsteps of the Cyclone made a mournful sound in the empty passageway. "The official story is it was evacuated after a terrible accident." Sonic sceptically raised an eyebrow.
"A black and red 'accident', probably." His expression turned to one of annoyance. "Shadow is around here somewhere. I owe that guy a knuckle sandwich." Then he paused, thinking. "Speaking of Knuckles, I can't believe he bailed on us like that," Under his breath, he muttered: "Knucklehead."
"Don't blame Knuckles, Sonic." Tails told him. "His life's work is guarding that emerald."
"Whatever." Sonic sighed. "I just wish he hadn't taken off like that."
Sonic, Amy realised, was worried; being grumpy was just his way of showing it.
"Now we're on the subject of Chaos Emeralds," continued the hedgehog, "Wanna run Porker's plan by me?"
"Sure," Tails said. The group stopped walking, and Tails retrieved the large, shielded box from the cockpit. He unlatched it, and Sonic blinked as a wave of Chaos escaped into the air.
The box contained two Chaos Emeralds. One of them was blue, and he recognised it as the one Knuckles had taken from his island. The other was slightly smaller and sickly yellow. It had a very odd energy signal, Sonic realised- strangely weak and fluctuating. Tails removed the small emerald from its box.
"Porker created this fake emerald using energy from the blue one," explained the fox. "It's not as powerful as the real thing, but it has the same wavelength and properties." Sonic nodded impatiently, tapping a foot on the ground.
"So?"
"Porker designed it on the principle that the Eclipse Cannon works in a similar way to the Floating Island," he continued, ignoring the fidgeting hedgehog. "It should cause a chain reaction within the cannon's core…"
"And blow it up," Sonic finished, pleased that Tails was finally talking in a language he understood. The little guy, he thought, had been hanging out with Porker and Tekno too much.
Tails handed his friend the fake emerald. Sonic felt a tingle of energy through his glove, and the emerald glowed a little in reaction to his own energy.
Sonic examined it closely. "So," he said, "We just have to find the cannon, and slam dunk it in there."
"That's the idea," Grinned Tails. He reached into the cockpit, withdrawing three watch-like devices. "Porker said these communicators would come in handy, too, "he continued, handing them around.
Sonic fastened his to his right arm.
"Let's get on with it."
* * * *
The three friends had no idea they were being watched.
Robotnik first examined the picture from the security camera, then the readout showing the strange energy readings.
"Mmmm… I'm getting signals from two separate emeralds," he mused. "Plus- what's left of the Master Emerald is outside the space colony."
Too many emeralds. The conclusion was obvious…
"Bah. Those fools think they can trick me with a fake?! I'll teach them." With a surprisingly quick movement, he grabbed his communicator and jabbed at the buttons.
"Rouge!"
The radio crackled. There was a hiss of static. Then-
"Yes, Doctor?"
"Sonic and his friends have arrived, their ship docked not long ago." The mad scientist paused, not to allow his annoyance to creep into his voice. "The echidna is with them, and he has the rest of the Master Emerald. Deal with him."
On the other end of the line, there was a silence as the bat digested this. Robotnik could almost hear her eyes sparkling, see the greedy smile undoubtedly spreading on her lips. Finally, she repeated-
"Yes, Doctor."
Robotnik ended the transmission. He was alone in the main control room, with its circular window looking out into space- and as a result felt free to rage.
"Why does he always spoil everything?! That spikeball never quits!"
"I could have told you that myself…"
Robotnik turned. Shadow fixed the human with a steady red gaze; he had probably been there all along. He had a talent for going unnoticed.
Still, he should have known Shadow would be in here. When the hedgehog wasn't contemplating the Eclipse Cannon, he was almost always in this room. Maybe he liked the view; in any case, Robotnik didn't really care.
Of course, the madman had no real idea what happened here. This was where Shadow and Maria had gazed longingly at Mobius below. It was also the last place he had ever seen her, alive or otherwise.
Shadow did not avoid the control room. He came here when he needed to remind himself of his mission, his promise. To think, and win back some control from the chaos.
It wasn't working as well as it once had.
"You should have known Sonic would defeat your pathetic forces in the desert."
"And you could have done better, I suppose," Robotnik countered, irked.
"Yes, I could." The words were confident, doubtless. The mind behind them was not. Shadow spoke more to reassure himself than anything else.
Robotnik glared, not noticing.
"I suppose," he said dangerously, "You consider yourself superior to me?"
"Yes." Was the firm reply.
"After my grandfather created you? After I released you from stasis, and you called me 'master'?" Shadow narrowed his eyes.
"Things have changed, doctor. Then, I needed your help. Now you need mine."
Robotnik scowled silently for a moment. The hedgehog had a point… but that was not something he would admit to easily.
"What exactly makes you think that?" he growled ominously. Shadow pointed towards the screen that was tracking Sonic's progress through the space colony.
"The blue hedgehog. You aren't capable of defeating him- I am." He crossed the room, and with a flick of his hand, deactivated the monitor. Shadow considered the dark screen. "I want him out of the way as much as you do."
"Finally, something we agree on," Robotnik beamed falsely. How he hated these hedgehogs! Always finding a way to make things difficult. He did not know what had caused Shadow's sudden need to take control of the situation, but this was getting dangerous- and he had no intention of making the same mistakes he had made with the likes of Brutus.
Once Sonic was dealt with, thought Robotnik, Shadow would make a wonderful cybernik…
"Leave Sonic to me. I will deal with him." The black hedgehog continued, fixing Robotnik with a calculating stare. The madman replied with one of his own.
He would have to be careful… Shadow was intelligent. Dangerously so.
Breaking eye contact, the hedgehog began to walk out of the room.
"No, wait…" at the sound of Robotnik's voice, Shadow paused, looking back. Waiting.
Robotnik thought for a moment. He absently twisted the end of his moustache. "I have a better idea."
Perhaps leaving Shadow to dispose of Sonic wasn't the best idea after all. Maybe it was time for a little payback...
Robotnik grinned evilly.
"Bring me the girl."
* * * *
Beep. Beep.
The outside surface of Ark was silent except for the quiet, incessant beeping noise.
Beepbeepbeep.
Knuckles paused in his climbing for a moment. He was definitely getting closer. According to the sound from the emerald radar, the bag of Master Emerald fragments was at the top of this tower…
The echidna looked up; and planet Mobius loomed over his head. He sighed wearily and lifted a hand, before driving the two claws into the metal wall above his head.
Slowly, Knuckles hauled himself up the side of the tower. The gravity here was weaker than on Mobius, but the air was also much thinner- meaning scaling this edifice was more difficult than he would have expected. Plus, the metal was harder to get a grip on than the rock and earth he was used to.
At least there wasn't much further to go.
Knuckles swung his other arm up, hooking his claws over a protruding lip of metal. Pulling himself up, he found that he had reached the flat top of the tower. He panted slightly with the effort and looked around.
Turning his gaze upward, Knuckles realised his first assumption had been wrong. The tower continued for another twenty metres or so, but as four metal struts crossed by catwalks. Knuckles groaned inwardly at the thought of more climbing, then sighed resignedly and pushed his dreadlocks out of his face.
beepbeepbeepbee
The beeping of the emerald radar was now a constant whine. That was odd… surely the bag of shards wouldn't give that big a reading?
The red echidna looked towards the centre of the square platform. Yes! The bag containing the emerald fragments was right there. And leaning over it was-
Rouge!
Knuckles swore under his breath. The jewel thief had got there first! The white-furred bat had a backpack on her shoulders- Knuckles assumed it contained more fragments- and was cautiously examining the brown cloth sack on the metallic floor.
"Hey! Bat girl!" Knuckles yelled, striding purposefully in her direction. Rouge looked up, and seeing the approaching echidna, swept the bag behind her with a swift swipe of her foot.
"I think those belong to me," Knuckles growled, pointing.
"Finders keepers, tough guy," the bat smiled back. "I got here first." Seeing the smile, Knuckles felt a little light-headed.
Of course, that may have been due to the thin atmosphere.
Of course.
Knuckles shook his head. Uncharacteristically, he tried to reason with her.
"That emerald has belonged to my race for millennia-"
"Maybe it's about time it had a change of scenery, then." She smiled sweetly and went back to her examination of the bag.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with, do you? The Master Emerald can be dangerous in the wrong hands…" Rouge looked up, an amused expression on her face.
"So can I."
Knuckles couldn't think of anything to say to that.
Eventually, he squared his shoulders and continued marching towards the bat.
"If you won't give me the emerald, I'll have to take it- I'm warning you." His dark blue eyes lowered dangerously. "And I never warn anyone twice."
"Whatever you say, handsome." Rouge rose to her feet as Knuckles walked past and reached for the bag. Their gaze met…
Her eyes sparkled with amusement. He wore a slight frown of puzzlement, and froze.
She swung her leg around and kicked him in the head.
"Augh!"
He knew he should have used his fists instead of his mouth. Soon, Knuckles thought, he might have a worse black eye than Sonic did.
Knuckles had had enough. He leaped to his feet, and swung at her with a clawed fist. Rouge nimbly dodged out of harm's way, and tutted at him reproachfully.
"Temper, temper."
"I'll show you temper," muttered Knuckles. This time, his fist connected and the bat was sent flying.
She looked outraged, and shocked.
"How could you? Striking a lady!"
"You're no lady," he replied.
"Well," Rouge considered, now smirking wickedly again. "You could be right about that!"
Knuckles almost smirked back. Stopping himself just in time, he noticed Rouge had her head on one side, listening. Her large ears twitched. Unable to hear anything, Knuckles frowned. Being a bat, Rouge had much better hearing than most people, but in seconds Knuckles had also picked up the faint mechanical noise.
It was getting steadily louder…
Knuckles barely had time to exclaim "What?" before the floor collapsed.
'Collapsed' was the wrong word. The floor, in fact, had opened. As he fell out of control, he caught a glimpse of what lay below--
The hollow structure was actually a cooling tower for the Eclipse Cannon. As the cannon recharged, it generated a lot of heat- this heat needed to be vented from time to time. But that didn't concern Knuckles or Rouge, they were more worried about the pit of orange inferno that had opened up below them.
Fortunately, they didn't fall for long.
A powerful blast of hot air sent them spiralling upwards. Knuckles saw the bag of emerald pieces being buoyed up with him, and grabbed it gratefully, then used his other hand to catch hold of the catwalk before he could be blasted into space.
Moments later, Rouge also alighted on the narrow metal strip, wings flailing for balance. It protected them from the worst of the winds, which died out after a few moments.
Rouge folded her wings and eyed the bag, now in Knuckles' possession.
"Why are you so stubborn about that emerald?" She asked, annoyed.
"I've guarded the Chaos Emeralds for as long as I can remember. Keeping them safe is my duty." He glared at the bat, clutching the bag tighter. "I suppose you think your duty is to steal them."
She scowled and made a rush at the bag. But her foot slipped on the smooth metal, plunging her into the abyss…
Rouge tried to flick open her wings, but they became tangled in her backpack. Her eyes widened in shock- she was going to plummet into the flames!
Suddenly there was a jolt. She looked up, surprised- to find Knuckles hanging from the catwalk by one hand; the other was firmly clamped around her wrist. His eyes were concerned.
The strong echidna quickly pulled her to safety.
"Get your hands off me!" She snapped as soon as she was back on her feet, and Knuckles' expression altered to one of anger.
"If that's your way of thanking me for saving your life-"
Rouged fluttered her eyelashes coyly.
"Huh, you just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you?" She smiled. Knuckles blinked and promptly took a step back.
"No way! I just wanted to save my emerald!"
"Huh!" Rouge muttered, enraged. "Men! Well, if they mean so much to you-" She shrugged off the backpack, and tossed it to Knuckles' feet- "Then take them! They stink of echidna anyway."
Knuckles tried to ignore the insult and hastily checked the bag's contents. Yes- it looked like the rest of the fragments were there!
"If that's the way you feel, why didn't you just give them to me in the first place?" He grumbled under his breath. Then he looked up at Rouge, who seemed genuinely upset and had her back to him.
The echidna was confused. Why had she given him the emeralds, when they were fighting moments before? And why was she sulking about it?!
He didn't comprehend any of this, but Knuckles was glad that Rouge seemed to have a good side…
Knuckles sighed. He opened his mouth, then shut it again. He blushed a little.
"Damn!" he thought. "I hate doing this!" Apologising wasn't his strong point.
Finally, he hesitantly addressed the bat.
"I'm sorry… If I hurt you," he sighed. Rouge turned around and looked at him, smiling a little.
"What is it with men and Chaos Emeralds? Shadow used the same excuse you did."
"Shadow?"
"Oh, you're jealous now!"
"No way!!" Denied Knuckles. She just grinned at him, turned and began to walk away.
"We'd better get out of here."
Knuckles sighed and watched her go, before contemplating the long climb down.
"I guess I'm never gonna understand girls," he thought.
* * * *
Chapter 3
Location: A corridor in ARK
Cannon Countdown: 6 hours
At the same moment that Knuckles began his ascent of the metal tower, Sonic and friends were still wandering through the corridors of ARK.
"Sonic, are you sure it's this way?" Tails asked dubiously.
"Sure I'm sure. The Chaos Emeralds are this way, and that's probably where the cannon is."
"Oh…"
They continued in silence for a few moments. Sonic seemed to be becoming more tense as they went on. His eyes flicked from side to side and his spines stood on end a little. Eventually Tails picked up on this, and frowned.
"Sonic, what's wrong?"
"We're being followed," he whispered.
"I don't hear any--"
Sonic suddenly whipped round, and stood ready to fight.
"Shadow!" He yelled. "Show yourself!"
No reply.
"Er, Sonic…" Said Tails. Sonic gave him a look that said: 'if you say it's my imagination, you'll regret it.' Tails shut up.
"He's gone," Sonic observed. "Lives up to his name, doesn't he?"
"How did you know he was here?"
Sonic looked off down the corridor.
"Stripes has a few tricks up his sleeve, I'll give him that," he mused. "Somehow he was masking his energy signature. But not well enough to get past me."
Then Sonic looked around. His expression turned to one of dismay.
"Where's Amy?"
The hedgehog sighed.
The communicator on his wrist beeped loudly, and Sonic and Tails exchanged glances.
"Yeah?" Suspiciously, Sonic responded to the incoming message. After a sinister pause, there was a voice on the other end.
"What's wrong, spikeball? Have you lost something?"
Sonic bristled at the sound of Robotnik's voice. He was not going to be goaded into a battle of insults with the mad professor, so instead got straight to the point.
"What have you done with Amy, Robotnik?"
"Bring the Chaos Emerald to my control room. And do it quickly, otherwise she will die." Sonic scowled briefly at the device on his wrist. Then he rolled his eyes and looked at Tails.
"Why do I always end up having to rescue that girl?" the sapphire hedgehog muttered to his friend. Then, regarding the communicator once more, he sighed.
"Well, Lard Belly, you could at least give us some directions."
* * * *
"Let…me…go!" Amy Rose fumed, struggling valiantly. But whatever she did, she couldn't break free of Shadow's grip on her arms. The girl twisted her head around to look at the black hedgehog behind her.
"And I thought you weren't evil! So much for female intuition!" She spat. Shadow barely even blinked.
"Do you ever shut up?" He asked. Concealing himself from Sonic had been easy. So had grabbing the girl and taking her back to the control room.
Putting up with her whining, however, had not…
As for Amy, she wasn't entirely sure what had happened. She had been walking with Sonic and Tails, and had thought she spotted a movement behind them. When she paused to look, Amy had suddenly found a hand clamped over her mouth; for an instant she had been suspended in a green nothingness- then she was here, with Shadow and Robotnik- who immediately took her communicator and her crossbow.
Robotnik turned off the communicator, and grinned evilly at the pink hedgehog.
"Sonic should be along shortly," he leered. "And then we'll have a little fun."
"Is this the way you treat all the girls?!" Amy snapped. "Sonic's gonna kick your butt when he gets here!"
"Oh, I don't think so," Robotnik said calmly. "I have a plan." Shadow regarded him curiously.
"And what exactly would that be?"
Robotnik chuckled, turning away and climbing ponderously into his walker.
"I can't tell you that. It would spoil the surprise!"
Amy glanced at Shadow.
"I guess he's gonna keep both of us in the dark," she muttered.
Someone hit the control panel on the doorframe a bit too hard, and the metal door slid grudgingly open.
Sonic the hedgehog stepped into the control room, radiating annoyance; to his right and slightly behind, Tails brought his walker to a clanking stop. Sonic still held the yellow emerald in one hand.
The hedgehog's eyes scanned the room, assessing the situation. He saw Amy in Shadow's grip and aimed a dangerous glare towards the black hedgehog, who responded by contemptuously raising an eyebrow. Sonic was uncomfortably aware of the black eye that Shadow had inflicted on him, and was glad when Shadow did not mention it.
Then Sonic's gaze shifted to Robotnik.
"So I'm here. Now what?"
Robotnik trained his walker's weapon on Amy, and gestured for Shadow to release her; he did so, then sidled behind Sonic and Tails, blocking any chance of an exit.
"Put the Chaos Emerald down over there," Robotnik ordered. "Slowly. If you really care for your girlfriend, you'll do as you're told."
Sonic considered the small amber emerald. Then he turned to Tails, who nodded slightly.
Go for it.
If he did as Robotnik asked, he would be able to kill two badniks with one stone- sabotaging the cannon and rescuing Amy at the same time.
The blue hedgehog's forehead creased into a frown. Robotnik wasn't just going to let them leave; that just wasn't the way things worked. The madman doubtless had something up his sleeve…
Well, Sonic would cross that bridge when he came to it. Whatever happened, he would think of something. As always.
Sonic stepped forwards, grinning confidently.
"You've turned into a big time villain, Doctor," he taunted, before aiming a reassuring look at Amy. He placed the fake emerald carefully on the floor.
Amy heard a sharp intake of breath behind her, turned, saw Shadow quickly step backwards. His eyes were fixed on the floor at Sonic's feet. Then they flicked to the ceiling.
"Not that," he said quietly…
"Sonic!" Amy yelled.
At the same moment, Sonic saw that he was standing in a small circle on the floor…
Robotnik pushed a button in his cockpit.
"Trap!!" Sonic thought, too late.
Before even Sonic's super- fast reflexes could kick in, a cylindrical, glassy force field sprung up around him and the emerald; then a circular piece of metal dropped from the ceiling, stopping just above Sonic's head and sealing the tiny chamber with a faint pop.
A loud peal of laughter rippled out from Robotnik, drowning out Amy and Tails' gasps. Shadow stood motionless, he was staring towards the capsule but not exactly focusing on it- it was as if he was looking beyond it and seeing another time.
Sonic just scowled. "Oh, great."
"You thought you were being clever, didn't you?" Robotnik gloated at the captive hedgehog. "Trying to fool me with a fake emerald."
Sonic blinked. He was surprised that Robotnik had figured it out, but had the sense not to open his mouth about it. He could still sweet-talk his way out of this one…
Tails, however…
"How did you know it was a fake?" queried the fox.
Sonic put a hand to his forehead and groaned. Robotnik chuckled, his ovoid body quivering.
"Because you just told me, fox boy!" he roared.
"Pixel Brain!!" Sonic hissed. Tails winced and looked down apologetically.
"Fools. They think they can compete with my intellect." Robotnik grinned, then turned back to Sonic. "I expected you to put up more of a fight," He mused thoughtfully. "No matter. Now I get to watch you die…"
"I don't think so, lard belly-" Sonic snarled.
"Oh, there's no escape this time," continued the human. "In 30 seconds, you will be ejected into space. And when the capsule clears the colony… BAM!"
"I guess blowing things up is your new hobby," Sonic snapped defiantly. "You should get a life." He began to drop into a crouch; there was no room to rev up into a full Spin Attack in there, but Sonic reasoned that a Sonic Cyclone would blow the top of this thing just as easily. He'd done it before.
"I wouldn't." Robotnik cautioned. "If anything so much as touches that force field, the capsule will detonate. You wouldn't want to take your friends out with you." He grinned. Friends could be such a weakness sometimes; it was times like this that Robotnik was glad he didn't have any.
Sonic glared at his old enemy for a moment, then his eyes roved over his surroundings.
He had to think! There had to be a way out of this. Wasn't there always? Where was that plan?!
Try as he might, Sonic couldn't think of one.
Disbelief and desperation vied for supremacy in his mind. Was this really the end?
"Any last words?" Robotnik asked cheerfully.
Sonic ignored him. If this was it, he was going to face it with dignity.
"Tails," he said firmly, looking unwaveringly at his sidekick and friend. "I'm counting on you. You have to stop the Eclipse Cannon…"
"Y…yes Sonic… I'll try." Sniffed the fox, trying to sound brave. Sonic smiled.
"You can do it. You've been hanging out with me, remember?" Tails allowed himself a small, sad smile, and nodded.
Sonic turned to Amy.
"Take care of yourself, huh?"
There was more emotion in those five words than Amy would have believed; Sonic had never spoken to her with such affection before. She felt her eyes fill up, and tried to fix Sonic's image into her mind.
His gaze was fixed on Robotnik, and his green eyes flashed with defiance. Robotnik obviously wanted to see Sonic humiliated, nothing would please him more than witnessing the hedgehog break down.
Sonic would not give him the satisfaction.
"You won't win, Robotnik," he said quite calmly. "Whether I'm here or not, my friends will stop you. You're going down."
"Bah!" Robotnik snarled. There was a whoosh, and Sonic's capsule was sucked through the floor, which closed behind it.
Amy ran to the window.
A silvery speck flew past against the stars, and winked out of sight.
Moments later, there was a small explosion in the distance.
"SONIC…" She wailed, and put a hand on the glass. She sobbed and slid slowly to her knees.
Tails shook his head in disbelief.
"No…" he whispered. As his eyes scanned the blackness of space, he raised his voice for everyone to hear. "I guess it's up to me now. I promise you, Sonic… I'll try."
As he said those words, the young fox didn't notice a pair of anguished red eyes focus on him.
"It's happening all over again," Shadow thought, perhaps a little surprised at the effect the others' pain had on him. A memory tried to rise to the surface, and he shuddered as he fought off the impending flashback.
Shadow's gaze moved to Amy. The look on her face-
Grief! Pain!
Then it was as if someone had switched off a light. Her face went completely blank, devoid of all emotion.
Shadow knew how it felt to be numb like that. He also knew that he next time he saw her, Amy's eyes would probably be filled with hate and rage--
--Towards him--
Agonising memories ran through his head, and the black hedgehog let out a small groan before disappearing in a flash of light.
Robotnik observed Shadow's abrupt exit with puzzlement. The hedgehog's behaviour was strange, but even without his protection Robotnik wasn't afraid as he had been on Prison Island. There he had been vulnerable. Now he had the upper hand.
And finally, after years of humiliation, he had got rid of that annoying blue spikeball!
Robotnik grinned at the two miserable animals.
"And now the fun is over, let's get back to business. The real Chaos Emerald, if you please?"
To be continued…
Tails faces off against Robotnik in a battle for the Chaos Emerald. Is it really the end for Sonic?
Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation - part 9.
"Darkness and Light"
"Raiders of the Lost ARK"
By Thalia 'RockChick' Evans.
* * * *
Chapter 1
Location: ARK
Cannon countdown 8 hours
A streamlined white space ship arrowed towards the hemispherical space station.
The cockpit was large and roomy- a feature all ships built by Robotnik shared, for reasons of convenience- so Tails had been able to walk the Cyclone right into the vessel. Now empty, the walker was an inert lump taking up most of the space between the four seats.
All the seats were occupied. Tails piloted, while in the co-pilot's seat Sonic eyed the controls to the ship's meagre weapons. He hadn't had a chance to use them yet.
Part of him wished he had.
Behind the impatient hedgehog, Amy Rose and Knuckles filled the other two chairs. The red echidna seethed silently, shooting the back of Sonic's chair a glare every so often.
You don't just sling a bag of precious emerald shards into the cargo hold!
But Sonic had, and just because their energy made him jumpy. Knuckles sighed. Thinking about it though, he supposed it was understandable… Sonic had been through a lot, after all, even if he wasn't under that risk anymore.
At least Sonic wasn't complaining now, Knuckles thought, and went back to worrying about the welfare of his Master Emerald. The emerald…that bat girl probably had the rest of the pieces by now.
Why were the most attractive ones always the most evil?
Knuckles blinked. Where had that come from?
He needed some sleep. Yes, that must be it…
"Ugly lookin' thing, isn't it?" Sonic remarked, gazing out the window at the rapidly approaching ARK. With the two circular viewing windows, the tower in between and the triangular structures flaring out at either side, the space colony bore a slight resemblance to Robotnik's face.
Rather like the Death Egg, in fact.
Sonic's face took on a sneer of disgust; this was getting all too familiar for his liking. It was as if history was repeating itself.
The hedgehog started, all at once seeing things from a different angle.
Gerald Kintobor had created Shadow, and a cannon to control the world with terror. Decades later, Gerald's grandson had devised a similar space- bound weapon.
But not before he helped an ordinary young hedgehog become something more…
"In a way," Sonic found himself thinking, "Dr. Kintobor created me…"
History repeating itself…
Perhaps Gerald Kintobor hadn't started out evil, just like Dr. Robotnik. Perhaps Shadow was…
No. It was ridiculous. It was stupid. It was superstitious nonsense.
Sonic scolded himself for even considering it.
Suddenly, the craft pitched wildly to the left. Knuckles would have been thrown out of his chair if he wasn't strapped in.
Sonic looked at the control board, trying to determine the problem, then looked out the window. Amy just looked ill.
"Tails! Wh-what was that?" she gagged.
"Debris! Hold on tight!" the fox yelled, wrenching at the controls. The destruction of ARK's cargo bay had left all kinds of junk in space, and now they were flying into it. Tails began to take the ship around in a wide curve to avoid the debris field.
A chunk of the stuff bounced ineffectually off the windscreen.
Seconds later, the ship was rocked by something more substantial. The lights flickered.
"Sorry," Tails apologised. "Didn't see that one coming…"
"We noticed," Knuckles observed dryly. "What'd it hit?"
"Us," Tails replied, receiving a glare from Sonic in return. The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes, muttering 'obviously, pixel-brain' under his breath, and checked the control panel.
"Looks like we got a direct hit in the cargo section," he observed.
"What was in there?" Amy asked warily.
"Nothing except…the Master Emerald…" Sonic's voice trailed off as Knuckles' eyes went wide; the echidna began to unbuckle his safety straps.
"What?"
"Hey, cool it Red…" Sonic raised his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Don't worry, I'm sure the doors weren't…"
A brown cloth bag drifted past the window, attracted and pulled in by the gravity field of ARK.
"…Damaged…" Sonic finished weakly, tracking the object's progress with eyes that matched its contents. "Oh."
"…Sonic…" Knuckles growled.
* * * *
Meanwhile, in the cannon control room…
Rouge sighed as she entered the room, feeling rather pleased with herself. The computers in the ARK's science labs had been much more forthcoming than the password-locked one in the control room.
The bat frowned a little, gazing at the sheaf of printouts in her hand. Yes, she had more information now- but what she had been able to extract from the computer had raised more questions than it had answered. Still, it was better than nothing…
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
Rouge started at the voice. Those quiet tones were unmistakable…
"Shadow?"
He had, as usual, been concealed in the darkness. Shadow chose to reveal himself and stepped into view.
"I have done some research of my own," the black hedgehog said, as he scrutinised the suspicious bat. "I know who you are. You're the government spy, Rouge the bat, aren't you?"
Rouge blinked. The hedgehog was smarter than she had given him credit for… somehow he had figured out her true identity.
She had been recruited to investigate G.U.N, the human organisation; and to report on Robotnik's plans. But that was only part of her mission. Fifty years before, the Mobian military had captured what was believed to be the Ultimate Life Form. Fear of this potentially dangerous creature had resulted in the information being hidden, deliberately forgotten; only a privileged few had known of its' existence.
Now, however, the truth was leaking out.
The suspicious Zone Leaders of Mobius had chosen Rouge to discover what their forebears had tried so hard to conceal… and in return, had promised her a rich reward. Namely, the Chaos Emeralds.
That was an offer she couldn't refuse…
"No one is what they seem," she nodded mysteriously. She was definitely hiding something.
Rouge studied Shadow's appearance very carefully.
His red eyes narrowed.
"You did find something, didn't you?"
Rouge nodded, withdrawing a sheet of paper from the folder she carried. The red and black Project Shadow logo was visible at the top; seeing this, Shadow moved closer for a better look.
"When I looked up Project Shadow, I found this." She lifted the printout for the hedgehog to see. There was some text, and a black and white photograph- the creature depicted was grotesque, a deformed salamander encumbered by machinery. Judging by the scale, it was as big as a reasonably sized dinosaur.
Shadow wore a slight frown of puzzlement. What was this…?
The feeling of doubt was becoming far too familiar. Shadow experienced an odd, sinking feeling.
"If this creature is really the Ultimate Life Form, named Shadow," Rouge paused, green eyes shifting from the paper to meet his gaze- "Then who- or what- is standing in front of me?"
Shadow hissed. He took a few brisk steps that carried him past the bat, and stood with his back to her. Utterly unable to meet her gaze.
Was it possible that he was not the Ultimate Life Form?
He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it!
"It's…not…true…" He murmured painfully. Rouge was shocked by the anguish in his voice, which was usually so emotionless.
"Even your memories might not be real, you know…" she said softly.
Shadow still didn't turn around. That much was true…there was so much he couldn't remember. Or didn't want to. He had blocked out many memories, which returned now and then as painful flashbacks.
How could he know what was true and what was not?
Until now, there had been only one thing he was sure of. One definite, unshakeable fact. Now that, too, had been shattered.
He thought: "Who am I?"
As if to confirm the fact to himself, he answered the question out loud.
"It doesn't matter. It's still me…Shadow…" his voice was confused and barely audible; but as he lifted his head the ruby eyes shone with new determination.
Shadow's fists clenched at his sides. There was still one thing left to hold on to.
His purpose. His ultimate goal.
As he had done so many times before, Shadow wrestled his emotions under control, pushing them to the back of his mind.
It was better to feel nothing at all.
The hedgehog turned, finally looking Rouge in the eyes; once more calm and purposeful.
"I will fulfil my promise to Maria," he said, quietly but firmly. "That's all that matters to me now."
As he left, a single thought filled his mind:
Revenge!
* * * *
Chapter 2
Location: ARK
Cannon countdown: 7 hours
Later, in the corridors of ARK…
"So this is ARK, huh?" Amy mused.
"This place was state of the art when it was first built," Tails explained. "But looking at it now…" Amy gazed around at the dim corridors, with their clinging cobwebs and lights flickering on emergency power.
"Now it's an abandoned ARK. Sure is dusty," the pink hedgehog finished.
"Spooky, too," Tails added. The footsteps of the Cyclone made a mournful sound in the empty passageway. "The official story is it was evacuated after a terrible accident." Sonic sceptically raised an eyebrow.
"A black and red 'accident', probably." His expression turned to one of annoyance. "Shadow is around here somewhere. I owe that guy a knuckle sandwich." Then he paused, thinking. "Speaking of Knuckles, I can't believe he bailed on us like that," Under his breath, he muttered: "Knucklehead."
"Don't blame Knuckles, Sonic." Tails told him. "His life's work is guarding that emerald."
"Whatever." Sonic sighed. "I just wish he hadn't taken off like that."
Sonic, Amy realised, was worried; being grumpy was just his way of showing it.
"Now we're on the subject of Chaos Emeralds," continued the hedgehog, "Wanna run Porker's plan by me?"
"Sure," Tails said. The group stopped walking, and Tails retrieved the large, shielded box from the cockpit. He unlatched it, and Sonic blinked as a wave of Chaos escaped into the air.
The box contained two Chaos Emeralds. One of them was blue, and he recognised it as the one Knuckles had taken from his island. The other was slightly smaller and sickly yellow. It had a very odd energy signal, Sonic realised- strangely weak and fluctuating. Tails removed the small emerald from its box.
"Porker created this fake emerald using energy from the blue one," explained the fox. "It's not as powerful as the real thing, but it has the same wavelength and properties." Sonic nodded impatiently, tapping a foot on the ground.
"So?"
"Porker designed it on the principle that the Eclipse Cannon works in a similar way to the Floating Island," he continued, ignoring the fidgeting hedgehog. "It should cause a chain reaction within the cannon's core…"
"And blow it up," Sonic finished, pleased that Tails was finally talking in a language he understood. The little guy, he thought, had been hanging out with Porker and Tekno too much.
Tails handed his friend the fake emerald. Sonic felt a tingle of energy through his glove, and the emerald glowed a little in reaction to his own energy.
Sonic examined it closely. "So," he said, "We just have to find the cannon, and slam dunk it in there."
"That's the idea," Grinned Tails. He reached into the cockpit, withdrawing three watch-like devices. "Porker said these communicators would come in handy, too, "he continued, handing them around.
Sonic fastened his to his right arm.
"Let's get on with it."
* * * *
The three friends had no idea they were being watched.
Robotnik first examined the picture from the security camera, then the readout showing the strange energy readings.
"Mmmm… I'm getting signals from two separate emeralds," he mused. "Plus- what's left of the Master Emerald is outside the space colony."
Too many emeralds. The conclusion was obvious…
"Bah. Those fools think they can trick me with a fake?! I'll teach them." With a surprisingly quick movement, he grabbed his communicator and jabbed at the buttons.
"Rouge!"
The radio crackled. There was a hiss of static. Then-
"Yes, Doctor?"
"Sonic and his friends have arrived, their ship docked not long ago." The mad scientist paused, not to allow his annoyance to creep into his voice. "The echidna is with them, and he has the rest of the Master Emerald. Deal with him."
On the other end of the line, there was a silence as the bat digested this. Robotnik could almost hear her eyes sparkling, see the greedy smile undoubtedly spreading on her lips. Finally, she repeated-
"Yes, Doctor."
Robotnik ended the transmission. He was alone in the main control room, with its circular window looking out into space- and as a result felt free to rage.
"Why does he always spoil everything?! That spikeball never quits!"
"I could have told you that myself…"
Robotnik turned. Shadow fixed the human with a steady red gaze; he had probably been there all along. He had a talent for going unnoticed.
Still, he should have known Shadow would be in here. When the hedgehog wasn't contemplating the Eclipse Cannon, he was almost always in this room. Maybe he liked the view; in any case, Robotnik didn't really care.
Of course, the madman had no real idea what happened here. This was where Shadow and Maria had gazed longingly at Mobius below. It was also the last place he had ever seen her, alive or otherwise.
Shadow did not avoid the control room. He came here when he needed to remind himself of his mission, his promise. To think, and win back some control from the chaos.
It wasn't working as well as it once had.
"You should have known Sonic would defeat your pathetic forces in the desert."
"And you could have done better, I suppose," Robotnik countered, irked.
"Yes, I could." The words were confident, doubtless. The mind behind them was not. Shadow spoke more to reassure himself than anything else.
Robotnik glared, not noticing.
"I suppose," he said dangerously, "You consider yourself superior to me?"
"Yes." Was the firm reply.
"After my grandfather created you? After I released you from stasis, and you called me 'master'?" Shadow narrowed his eyes.
"Things have changed, doctor. Then, I needed your help. Now you need mine."
Robotnik scowled silently for a moment. The hedgehog had a point… but that was not something he would admit to easily.
"What exactly makes you think that?" he growled ominously. Shadow pointed towards the screen that was tracking Sonic's progress through the space colony.
"The blue hedgehog. You aren't capable of defeating him- I am." He crossed the room, and with a flick of his hand, deactivated the monitor. Shadow considered the dark screen. "I want him out of the way as much as you do."
"Finally, something we agree on," Robotnik beamed falsely. How he hated these hedgehogs! Always finding a way to make things difficult. He did not know what had caused Shadow's sudden need to take control of the situation, but this was getting dangerous- and he had no intention of making the same mistakes he had made with the likes of Brutus.
Once Sonic was dealt with, thought Robotnik, Shadow would make a wonderful cybernik…
"Leave Sonic to me. I will deal with him." The black hedgehog continued, fixing Robotnik with a calculating stare. The madman replied with one of his own.
He would have to be careful… Shadow was intelligent. Dangerously so.
Breaking eye contact, the hedgehog began to walk out of the room.
"No, wait…" at the sound of Robotnik's voice, Shadow paused, looking back. Waiting.
Robotnik thought for a moment. He absently twisted the end of his moustache. "I have a better idea."
Perhaps leaving Shadow to dispose of Sonic wasn't the best idea after all. Maybe it was time for a little payback...
Robotnik grinned evilly.
"Bring me the girl."
* * * *
Beep. Beep.
The outside surface of Ark was silent except for the quiet, incessant beeping noise.
Beepbeepbeep.
Knuckles paused in his climbing for a moment. He was definitely getting closer. According to the sound from the emerald radar, the bag of Master Emerald fragments was at the top of this tower…
The echidna looked up; and planet Mobius loomed over his head. He sighed wearily and lifted a hand, before driving the two claws into the metal wall above his head.
Slowly, Knuckles hauled himself up the side of the tower. The gravity here was weaker than on Mobius, but the air was also much thinner- meaning scaling this edifice was more difficult than he would have expected. Plus, the metal was harder to get a grip on than the rock and earth he was used to.
At least there wasn't much further to go.
Knuckles swung his other arm up, hooking his claws over a protruding lip of metal. Pulling himself up, he found that he had reached the flat top of the tower. He panted slightly with the effort and looked around.
Turning his gaze upward, Knuckles realised his first assumption had been wrong. The tower continued for another twenty metres or so, but as four metal struts crossed by catwalks. Knuckles groaned inwardly at the thought of more climbing, then sighed resignedly and pushed his dreadlocks out of his face.
beepbeepbeepbee
The beeping of the emerald radar was now a constant whine. That was odd… surely the bag of shards wouldn't give that big a reading?
The red echidna looked towards the centre of the square platform. Yes! The bag containing the emerald fragments was right there. And leaning over it was-
Rouge!
Knuckles swore under his breath. The jewel thief had got there first! The white-furred bat had a backpack on her shoulders- Knuckles assumed it contained more fragments- and was cautiously examining the brown cloth sack on the metallic floor.
"Hey! Bat girl!" Knuckles yelled, striding purposefully in her direction. Rouge looked up, and seeing the approaching echidna, swept the bag behind her with a swift swipe of her foot.
"I think those belong to me," Knuckles growled, pointing.
"Finders keepers, tough guy," the bat smiled back. "I got here first." Seeing the smile, Knuckles felt a little light-headed.
Of course, that may have been due to the thin atmosphere.
Of course.
Knuckles shook his head. Uncharacteristically, he tried to reason with her.
"That emerald has belonged to my race for millennia-"
"Maybe it's about time it had a change of scenery, then." She smiled sweetly and went back to her examination of the bag.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with, do you? The Master Emerald can be dangerous in the wrong hands…" Rouge looked up, an amused expression on her face.
"So can I."
Knuckles couldn't think of anything to say to that.
Eventually, he squared his shoulders and continued marching towards the bat.
"If you won't give me the emerald, I'll have to take it- I'm warning you." His dark blue eyes lowered dangerously. "And I never warn anyone twice."
"Whatever you say, handsome." Rouge rose to her feet as Knuckles walked past and reached for the bag. Their gaze met…
Her eyes sparkled with amusement. He wore a slight frown of puzzlement, and froze.
She swung her leg around and kicked him in the head.
"Augh!"
He knew he should have used his fists instead of his mouth. Soon, Knuckles thought, he might have a worse black eye than Sonic did.
Knuckles had had enough. He leaped to his feet, and swung at her with a clawed fist. Rouge nimbly dodged out of harm's way, and tutted at him reproachfully.
"Temper, temper."
"I'll show you temper," muttered Knuckles. This time, his fist connected and the bat was sent flying.
She looked outraged, and shocked.
"How could you? Striking a lady!"
"You're no lady," he replied.
"Well," Rouge considered, now smirking wickedly again. "You could be right about that!"
Knuckles almost smirked back. Stopping himself just in time, he noticed Rouge had her head on one side, listening. Her large ears twitched. Unable to hear anything, Knuckles frowned. Being a bat, Rouge had much better hearing than most people, but in seconds Knuckles had also picked up the faint mechanical noise.
It was getting steadily louder…
Knuckles barely had time to exclaim "What?" before the floor collapsed.
'Collapsed' was the wrong word. The floor, in fact, had opened. As he fell out of control, he caught a glimpse of what lay below--
The hollow structure was actually a cooling tower for the Eclipse Cannon. As the cannon recharged, it generated a lot of heat- this heat needed to be vented from time to time. But that didn't concern Knuckles or Rouge, they were more worried about the pit of orange inferno that had opened up below them.
Fortunately, they didn't fall for long.
A powerful blast of hot air sent them spiralling upwards. Knuckles saw the bag of emerald pieces being buoyed up with him, and grabbed it gratefully, then used his other hand to catch hold of the catwalk before he could be blasted into space.
Moments later, Rouge also alighted on the narrow metal strip, wings flailing for balance. It protected them from the worst of the winds, which died out after a few moments.
Rouge folded her wings and eyed the bag, now in Knuckles' possession.
"Why are you so stubborn about that emerald?" She asked, annoyed.
"I've guarded the Chaos Emeralds for as long as I can remember. Keeping them safe is my duty." He glared at the bat, clutching the bag tighter. "I suppose you think your duty is to steal them."
She scowled and made a rush at the bag. But her foot slipped on the smooth metal, plunging her into the abyss…
Rouge tried to flick open her wings, but they became tangled in her backpack. Her eyes widened in shock- she was going to plummet into the flames!
Suddenly there was a jolt. She looked up, surprised- to find Knuckles hanging from the catwalk by one hand; the other was firmly clamped around her wrist. His eyes were concerned.
The strong echidna quickly pulled her to safety.
"Get your hands off me!" She snapped as soon as she was back on her feet, and Knuckles' expression altered to one of anger.
"If that's your way of thanking me for saving your life-"
Rouged fluttered her eyelashes coyly.
"Huh, you just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you?" She smiled. Knuckles blinked and promptly took a step back.
"No way! I just wanted to save my emerald!"
"Huh!" Rouge muttered, enraged. "Men! Well, if they mean so much to you-" She shrugged off the backpack, and tossed it to Knuckles' feet- "Then take them! They stink of echidna anyway."
Knuckles tried to ignore the insult and hastily checked the bag's contents. Yes- it looked like the rest of the fragments were there!
"If that's the way you feel, why didn't you just give them to me in the first place?" He grumbled under his breath. Then he looked up at Rouge, who seemed genuinely upset and had her back to him.
The echidna was confused. Why had she given him the emeralds, when they were fighting moments before? And why was she sulking about it?!
He didn't comprehend any of this, but Knuckles was glad that Rouge seemed to have a good side…
Knuckles sighed. He opened his mouth, then shut it again. He blushed a little.
"Damn!" he thought. "I hate doing this!" Apologising wasn't his strong point.
Finally, he hesitantly addressed the bat.
"I'm sorry… If I hurt you," he sighed. Rouge turned around and looked at him, smiling a little.
"What is it with men and Chaos Emeralds? Shadow used the same excuse you did."
"Shadow?"
"Oh, you're jealous now!"
"No way!!" Denied Knuckles. She just grinned at him, turned and began to walk away.
"We'd better get out of here."
Knuckles sighed and watched her go, before contemplating the long climb down.
"I guess I'm never gonna understand girls," he thought.
* * * *
Chapter 3
Location: A corridor in ARK
Cannon Countdown: 6 hours
At the same moment that Knuckles began his ascent of the metal tower, Sonic and friends were still wandering through the corridors of ARK.
"Sonic, are you sure it's this way?" Tails asked dubiously.
"Sure I'm sure. The Chaos Emeralds are this way, and that's probably where the cannon is."
"Oh…"
They continued in silence for a few moments. Sonic seemed to be becoming more tense as they went on. His eyes flicked from side to side and his spines stood on end a little. Eventually Tails picked up on this, and frowned.
"Sonic, what's wrong?"
"We're being followed," he whispered.
"I don't hear any--"
Sonic suddenly whipped round, and stood ready to fight.
"Shadow!" He yelled. "Show yourself!"
No reply.
"Er, Sonic…" Said Tails. Sonic gave him a look that said: 'if you say it's my imagination, you'll regret it.' Tails shut up.
"He's gone," Sonic observed. "Lives up to his name, doesn't he?"
"How did you know he was here?"
Sonic looked off down the corridor.
"Stripes has a few tricks up his sleeve, I'll give him that," he mused. "Somehow he was masking his energy signature. But not well enough to get past me."
Then Sonic looked around. His expression turned to one of dismay.
"Where's Amy?"
The hedgehog sighed.
The communicator on his wrist beeped loudly, and Sonic and Tails exchanged glances.
"Yeah?" Suspiciously, Sonic responded to the incoming message. After a sinister pause, there was a voice on the other end.
"What's wrong, spikeball? Have you lost something?"
Sonic bristled at the sound of Robotnik's voice. He was not going to be goaded into a battle of insults with the mad professor, so instead got straight to the point.
"What have you done with Amy, Robotnik?"
"Bring the Chaos Emerald to my control room. And do it quickly, otherwise she will die." Sonic scowled briefly at the device on his wrist. Then he rolled his eyes and looked at Tails.
"Why do I always end up having to rescue that girl?" the sapphire hedgehog muttered to his friend. Then, regarding the communicator once more, he sighed.
"Well, Lard Belly, you could at least give us some directions."
* * * *
"Let…me…go!" Amy Rose fumed, struggling valiantly. But whatever she did, she couldn't break free of Shadow's grip on her arms. The girl twisted her head around to look at the black hedgehog behind her.
"And I thought you weren't evil! So much for female intuition!" She spat. Shadow barely even blinked.
"Do you ever shut up?" He asked. Concealing himself from Sonic had been easy. So had grabbing the girl and taking her back to the control room.
Putting up with her whining, however, had not…
As for Amy, she wasn't entirely sure what had happened. She had been walking with Sonic and Tails, and had thought she spotted a movement behind them. When she paused to look, Amy had suddenly found a hand clamped over her mouth; for an instant she had been suspended in a green nothingness- then she was here, with Shadow and Robotnik- who immediately took her communicator and her crossbow.
Robotnik turned off the communicator, and grinned evilly at the pink hedgehog.
"Sonic should be along shortly," he leered. "And then we'll have a little fun."
"Is this the way you treat all the girls?!" Amy snapped. "Sonic's gonna kick your butt when he gets here!"
"Oh, I don't think so," Robotnik said calmly. "I have a plan." Shadow regarded him curiously.
"And what exactly would that be?"
Robotnik chuckled, turning away and climbing ponderously into his walker.
"I can't tell you that. It would spoil the surprise!"
Amy glanced at Shadow.
"I guess he's gonna keep both of us in the dark," she muttered.
Someone hit the control panel on the doorframe a bit too hard, and the metal door slid grudgingly open.
Sonic the hedgehog stepped into the control room, radiating annoyance; to his right and slightly behind, Tails brought his walker to a clanking stop. Sonic still held the yellow emerald in one hand.
The hedgehog's eyes scanned the room, assessing the situation. He saw Amy in Shadow's grip and aimed a dangerous glare towards the black hedgehog, who responded by contemptuously raising an eyebrow. Sonic was uncomfortably aware of the black eye that Shadow had inflicted on him, and was glad when Shadow did not mention it.
Then Sonic's gaze shifted to Robotnik.
"So I'm here. Now what?"
Robotnik trained his walker's weapon on Amy, and gestured for Shadow to release her; he did so, then sidled behind Sonic and Tails, blocking any chance of an exit.
"Put the Chaos Emerald down over there," Robotnik ordered. "Slowly. If you really care for your girlfriend, you'll do as you're told."
Sonic considered the small amber emerald. Then he turned to Tails, who nodded slightly.
Go for it.
If he did as Robotnik asked, he would be able to kill two badniks with one stone- sabotaging the cannon and rescuing Amy at the same time.
The blue hedgehog's forehead creased into a frown. Robotnik wasn't just going to let them leave; that just wasn't the way things worked. The madman doubtless had something up his sleeve…
Well, Sonic would cross that bridge when he came to it. Whatever happened, he would think of something. As always.
Sonic stepped forwards, grinning confidently.
"You've turned into a big time villain, Doctor," he taunted, before aiming a reassuring look at Amy. He placed the fake emerald carefully on the floor.
Amy heard a sharp intake of breath behind her, turned, saw Shadow quickly step backwards. His eyes were fixed on the floor at Sonic's feet. Then they flicked to the ceiling.
"Not that," he said quietly…
"Sonic!" Amy yelled.
At the same moment, Sonic saw that he was standing in a small circle on the floor…
Robotnik pushed a button in his cockpit.
"Trap!!" Sonic thought, too late.
Before even Sonic's super- fast reflexes could kick in, a cylindrical, glassy force field sprung up around him and the emerald; then a circular piece of metal dropped from the ceiling, stopping just above Sonic's head and sealing the tiny chamber with a faint pop.
A loud peal of laughter rippled out from Robotnik, drowning out Amy and Tails' gasps. Shadow stood motionless, he was staring towards the capsule but not exactly focusing on it- it was as if he was looking beyond it and seeing another time.
Sonic just scowled. "Oh, great."
"You thought you were being clever, didn't you?" Robotnik gloated at the captive hedgehog. "Trying to fool me with a fake emerald."
Sonic blinked. He was surprised that Robotnik had figured it out, but had the sense not to open his mouth about it. He could still sweet-talk his way out of this one…
Tails, however…
"How did you know it was a fake?" queried the fox.
Sonic put a hand to his forehead and groaned. Robotnik chuckled, his ovoid body quivering.
"Because you just told me, fox boy!" he roared.
"Pixel Brain!!" Sonic hissed. Tails winced and looked down apologetically.
"Fools. They think they can compete with my intellect." Robotnik grinned, then turned back to Sonic. "I expected you to put up more of a fight," He mused thoughtfully. "No matter. Now I get to watch you die…"
"I don't think so, lard belly-" Sonic snarled.
"Oh, there's no escape this time," continued the human. "In 30 seconds, you will be ejected into space. And when the capsule clears the colony… BAM!"
"I guess blowing things up is your new hobby," Sonic snapped defiantly. "You should get a life." He began to drop into a crouch; there was no room to rev up into a full Spin Attack in there, but Sonic reasoned that a Sonic Cyclone would blow the top of this thing just as easily. He'd done it before.
"I wouldn't." Robotnik cautioned. "If anything so much as touches that force field, the capsule will detonate. You wouldn't want to take your friends out with you." He grinned. Friends could be such a weakness sometimes; it was times like this that Robotnik was glad he didn't have any.
Sonic glared at his old enemy for a moment, then his eyes roved over his surroundings.
He had to think! There had to be a way out of this. Wasn't there always? Where was that plan?!
Try as he might, Sonic couldn't think of one.
Disbelief and desperation vied for supremacy in his mind. Was this really the end?
"Any last words?" Robotnik asked cheerfully.
Sonic ignored him. If this was it, he was going to face it with dignity.
"Tails," he said firmly, looking unwaveringly at his sidekick and friend. "I'm counting on you. You have to stop the Eclipse Cannon…"
"Y…yes Sonic… I'll try." Sniffed the fox, trying to sound brave. Sonic smiled.
"You can do it. You've been hanging out with me, remember?" Tails allowed himself a small, sad smile, and nodded.
Sonic turned to Amy.
"Take care of yourself, huh?"
There was more emotion in those five words than Amy would have believed; Sonic had never spoken to her with such affection before. She felt her eyes fill up, and tried to fix Sonic's image into her mind.
His gaze was fixed on Robotnik, and his green eyes flashed with defiance. Robotnik obviously wanted to see Sonic humiliated, nothing would please him more than witnessing the hedgehog break down.
Sonic would not give him the satisfaction.
"You won't win, Robotnik," he said quite calmly. "Whether I'm here or not, my friends will stop you. You're going down."
"Bah!" Robotnik snarled. There was a whoosh, and Sonic's capsule was sucked through the floor, which closed behind it.
Amy ran to the window.
A silvery speck flew past against the stars, and winked out of sight.
Moments later, there was a small explosion in the distance.
"SONIC…" She wailed, and put a hand on the glass. She sobbed and slid slowly to her knees.
Tails shook his head in disbelief.
"No…" he whispered. As his eyes scanned the blackness of space, he raised his voice for everyone to hear. "I guess it's up to me now. I promise you, Sonic… I'll try."
As he said those words, the young fox didn't notice a pair of anguished red eyes focus on him.
"It's happening all over again," Shadow thought, perhaps a little surprised at the effect the others' pain had on him. A memory tried to rise to the surface, and he shuddered as he fought off the impending flashback.
Shadow's gaze moved to Amy. The look on her face-
Grief! Pain!
Then it was as if someone had switched off a light. Her face went completely blank, devoid of all emotion.
Shadow knew how it felt to be numb like that. He also knew that he next time he saw her, Amy's eyes would probably be filled with hate and rage--
--Towards him--
Agonising memories ran through his head, and the black hedgehog let out a small groan before disappearing in a flash of light.
Robotnik observed Shadow's abrupt exit with puzzlement. The hedgehog's behaviour was strange, but even without his protection Robotnik wasn't afraid as he had been on Prison Island. There he had been vulnerable. Now he had the upper hand.
And finally, after years of humiliation, he had got rid of that annoying blue spikeball!
Robotnik grinned at the two miserable animals.
"And now the fun is over, let's get back to business. The real Chaos Emerald, if you please?"
To be continued…
Tails faces off against Robotnik in a battle for the Chaos Emerald. Is it really the end for Sonic?
Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation - part 9.
"Darkness and Light"