Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or other characters mentioned in this story.
They are copyright of other companies. Besides, I have no money that you
could sue me for anyway.
~~~~~ROUGE
I snuck into the base right behind Shadow, being careful not to make a sound. Strangely enough, there didn't seem to be any robots guarding the passages like there had been when Sonic and I had been here. We stopped at the entrance to the inner chamber.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
I nodded.
He rushed out from the corridor we were in and immediately blew up a computer nearby. While this distraction was taking place, I snuck along the wall to a side room nearby. I raced down the tunnel and wondered if Shadow was OK.
~~~~~SHADOW
"Hey Eggman! Quit hiding and fight me!" I yelled as I smashed another computer. Suddenly a voice sounded from ahead of me.
"Shadow! I hadn't expected you to come here, but no matter, I will defeat you like I did to Knuckles and Sonic!" Eggman taunted as he came out into the light.
"I know all about your Ray, Eggman, and I will try my hardest to defeat you!" I yelled as I ran towards him.
"Fine! Then I will not use the Ray! I will beat you without it!" Eggman shouted as he fired a couple of rockets at me. I dodged them quickly and smashed his cockpit.
"You! I will make you pay for this!" Eggman yelled as he fired a huge laser at me. I jumped over it and went around to the back of his machine and flip-kicked him, sending him flying across the room into a pillar.
"Hah! Looks like I have this thing wrapped up!" I shouted as I watched smoke come out of Eggman's machine.
"Don't get so cocky!" Eggman yelled as he fired a dark ray at me. I jumped to the side but the ray was too thick. I was still caught in the side of it and I found it impossible to move.
"You good for nothing liar! You said you weren't going to use the Ray!" I shouted at Eggman.
"And since when have you taken the word of a villain?" Eggman said as he kept the Ray on me.
"You bastard!" I yelled as I struggled to break free.
"It's no use, Shadow! Give up, like Knuckles and Sonic had to!"
Inside my head I heard Maria's voice.
"Shadow, please be careful. Come back to me."
Then I heard my own voice. "I will Maria. I promise."
"URGHHHHH!!!" I shouted as I summoned all my strength. "I will NOT break my promise to Maria!!"
Red and yellow sparks started crackling all around me as I felt myself growing stronger and stronger.
"What kind of person would leave his own cousin locked up in a prison for fifty years of her life!?" I shouted in rage as the sparks multiplied. "For you, Maria!!" I yelled as the sparks completely circled my body.
Suddenly, the sparks shifted course, and started heading down the ray towards Eggman.
"No! Oh, no! I was hoping it wouldn't come to this!!" Eggman shouted as he ejected out of his machine before the sparks reached him. But still, he was too late.
KA-BANG!!!!! Eggman's machine exploded so viciously that it sent Eggman's eject pod out the roof.
"I'll get you for this, Shadow!" he yelled as he flew farther and farther away.
I was on the ground on all fours. What I had just done had taken almost all of my energy, and now I had barely enough to stay awake. And what little energy I had left was leaving me quickly.
"Maria." I said faintly as I fell, unconscious.
~~~~~ROUGE
After about an hour of searching and destroying robots, I finally found the prison cell where Sonic and Knuckles were held. I unlocked the door and opened it. I looked in.
"Rouge!" Knuckles yelled.
"Get us outta here!" Sonic shouted.
"You guys can't move yet!?" I said in shock.
"Of course we can't! If we could, we would've been outta here a long time ago!" an irritated Sonic said.
"Instead of sitting here pretending to be statues," Knuckles added.
"But, I can't carry you guys out of here by myself! What am I going to do?" I asked.
"Leave it all to me!" a voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw it was Tails in his Tornado 2!
"You take that thing everywhere, don't you?" I asked Tails.
"Just about," Tails said truthfully. "But I have to admit, it wasn't easy trying to get this thing through the front door."
I suddenly noticed that he had Shadow in the back seat. "Shadow! Is he ok?" I asked Tails.
"He will be fine. He is probably just worn out from his battle with Eggman," Tails said.
"Enough chit-chat! Hurry up and get me out of this!" Sonic yelled as he struggled to move.
"Stand back, Rouge," Tails said as he stepped forward. I walked back to the door.
"This should do the trick," Tails said as he fired a green laser at Sonic and Knuckles.
"Thanks Tails," Sonic said as soon as he was free. "Now let's get out of here before Eggman comes back!"
"Not yet," Knuckles said as he raced out of the room.
"Knuckles!" I yelled as I ran after him.
"Rouge! Come back!" Tails yelled as I rounded the corner where Knuckles disappeared.
~~~~~KNUCKLES
I raced down corridor after corridor, looking left and right as I ran past room after room. The Master Emerald was somewhere in this huge base, but where was it?
"Knuckles!" Rouge's voice sounded from behind me. I slowed down.
"What was that all about?" she asked as soon as she caught up.
"Eggman took the Master Emerald from Angel Island. I have to find it before he gets back," I said to her.
"We still need to get the power crystal, too," Rouge reminded me.
"What!? Are you telling me that you didn't get it yet!?" I replied.
"Fine. I'll go for the power crystal, and you can go for the Master Emerald," Rouge said as she took a corridor to the left.
I shrugged as I ran down the corridor on the right. I set my radar to the energy pattern of the Master Emerald and found out it was straight ahead. I put on an extra burst of speed as I flew down the corridor; my radar pulsing faster and faster the closer I got to the Emerald. I went into a room on my right when the radar was pulsing as fast as it could. Inside was the Master Emerald, surrounded by a shield of lasers.
"Great. Now what do I do?" I said to myself as I looked at the emerald.
~~~~~ROUGE
I was getting close to the power crystal. My radar pulsed faster and faster, and I knew that it was just ahead. I entered the room that I had gotten captured in just earlier today, and there it was, sitting on its pedestal as it was when I saw it before. But this time I wasn't fooled. I pulled on my treasure scope, and saw what I hadn't the first time I came here; lasers were rigged all over the room so as to sound a silent alarm as soon as I was in the path of one of its beams.
I stepped carefully around the first laser, ducked under the second, and crawled on the ceiling above the third. Finally I was past the lasers, and I snatched the power crystal from its pedestal. Suddenly, the whole room began to shake. The lights started flickering, and the lasers disappeared completely.
~~~~~KNUCKLES
"What the heck?" I said in surprise as the room began to shake and the lights flickered. The lasers surrounding the Master Emerald disappeared completely. I quickly snatched it and ran out of the room.
Suddenly, a loud voice sounded from an intercom somewhere in the corridor.
"BASE'S POWER SUPPLY HAS BEEN STOLEN. BASE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN ONE MINUTE."
"Shit!" I yelled as I flew down the corridor, hoping that Rouge and the others were all right. But still, what would have caused the power to have been stolen? Except maybe.
"Rouge!" I yelled as I ran down the corridor she had gone down. I set my radar to the power crystal and ran as the signal got stronger and stronger. I went in a room on my left and found her trapped underneath a large pipe, unconscious. I quickly shoved the pipe off of her and picked her up in my arms. In her hand she clutched the power crystal, which I took and shoved inside my pocket with the Master Emerald. I hastily ran out of the room and down the corridor towards the entrance.
~~~~~SONIC
"I hope they get out of there soon," Tails said as he watched the base.
We were on top of a hill about a quarter of a mile away from the base, watching for any sign of Knuckles or Rouge.
I checked my watch. There was only twenty seconds left until the base blew.
"Come on, hurry up guys," I said.
I finally saw Knuckles carrying Rouge out of the base. Only ten seconds remained.
"They'll never make it here in time!" I shouted as I ran towards them. In my head I counted down the time.
7
6
5
4 and I was there, rushing around behind Knuckles and pushing him as fast as I could forwards.
3
2 and I was up to top speed
1
0 and we were over the hill as the base behind us exploded in a huge inferno that lit up the sky.
"Thanks, Sonic. I owe you one," Knuckles said as he set Rouge down inside the Tornado 2.
"No problem. Now, let's get back to Tail's house," I said as I hopped into the Tornado 2. Knuckles was right behind me.
"Boy, am I glad I added more room in this machine," Tails said. "I had a feeling it might come in handy. Fasten your seat belts, because we are out of here!" He pushed a button on his controls and we traveled at the speed of light, once again.
~~~~~ROUGE
I snuck into the base right behind Shadow, being careful not to make a sound. Strangely enough, there didn't seem to be any robots guarding the passages like there had been when Sonic and I had been here. We stopped at the entrance to the inner chamber.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
I nodded.
He rushed out from the corridor we were in and immediately blew up a computer nearby. While this distraction was taking place, I snuck along the wall to a side room nearby. I raced down the tunnel and wondered if Shadow was OK.
~~~~~SHADOW
"Hey Eggman! Quit hiding and fight me!" I yelled as I smashed another computer. Suddenly a voice sounded from ahead of me.
"Shadow! I hadn't expected you to come here, but no matter, I will defeat you like I did to Knuckles and Sonic!" Eggman taunted as he came out into the light.
"I know all about your Ray, Eggman, and I will try my hardest to defeat you!" I yelled as I ran towards him.
"Fine! Then I will not use the Ray! I will beat you without it!" Eggman shouted as he fired a couple of rockets at me. I dodged them quickly and smashed his cockpit.
"You! I will make you pay for this!" Eggman yelled as he fired a huge laser at me. I jumped over it and went around to the back of his machine and flip-kicked him, sending him flying across the room into a pillar.
"Hah! Looks like I have this thing wrapped up!" I shouted as I watched smoke come out of Eggman's machine.
"Don't get so cocky!" Eggman yelled as he fired a dark ray at me. I jumped to the side but the ray was too thick. I was still caught in the side of it and I found it impossible to move.
"You good for nothing liar! You said you weren't going to use the Ray!" I shouted at Eggman.
"And since when have you taken the word of a villain?" Eggman said as he kept the Ray on me.
"You bastard!" I yelled as I struggled to break free.
"It's no use, Shadow! Give up, like Knuckles and Sonic had to!"
Inside my head I heard Maria's voice.
"Shadow, please be careful. Come back to me."
Then I heard my own voice. "I will Maria. I promise."
"URGHHHHH!!!" I shouted as I summoned all my strength. "I will NOT break my promise to Maria!!"
Red and yellow sparks started crackling all around me as I felt myself growing stronger and stronger.
"What kind of person would leave his own cousin locked up in a prison for fifty years of her life!?" I shouted in rage as the sparks multiplied. "For you, Maria!!" I yelled as the sparks completely circled my body.
Suddenly, the sparks shifted course, and started heading down the ray towards Eggman.
"No! Oh, no! I was hoping it wouldn't come to this!!" Eggman shouted as he ejected out of his machine before the sparks reached him. But still, he was too late.
KA-BANG!!!!! Eggman's machine exploded so viciously that it sent Eggman's eject pod out the roof.
"I'll get you for this, Shadow!" he yelled as he flew farther and farther away.
I was on the ground on all fours. What I had just done had taken almost all of my energy, and now I had barely enough to stay awake. And what little energy I had left was leaving me quickly.
"Maria." I said faintly as I fell, unconscious.
~~~~~ROUGE
After about an hour of searching and destroying robots, I finally found the prison cell where Sonic and Knuckles were held. I unlocked the door and opened it. I looked in.
"Rouge!" Knuckles yelled.
"Get us outta here!" Sonic shouted.
"You guys can't move yet!?" I said in shock.
"Of course we can't! If we could, we would've been outta here a long time ago!" an irritated Sonic said.
"Instead of sitting here pretending to be statues," Knuckles added.
"But, I can't carry you guys out of here by myself! What am I going to do?" I asked.
"Leave it all to me!" a voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw it was Tails in his Tornado 2!
"You take that thing everywhere, don't you?" I asked Tails.
"Just about," Tails said truthfully. "But I have to admit, it wasn't easy trying to get this thing through the front door."
I suddenly noticed that he had Shadow in the back seat. "Shadow! Is he ok?" I asked Tails.
"He will be fine. He is probably just worn out from his battle with Eggman," Tails said.
"Enough chit-chat! Hurry up and get me out of this!" Sonic yelled as he struggled to move.
"Stand back, Rouge," Tails said as he stepped forward. I walked back to the door.
"This should do the trick," Tails said as he fired a green laser at Sonic and Knuckles.
"Thanks Tails," Sonic said as soon as he was free. "Now let's get out of here before Eggman comes back!"
"Not yet," Knuckles said as he raced out of the room.
"Knuckles!" I yelled as I ran after him.
"Rouge! Come back!" Tails yelled as I rounded the corner where Knuckles disappeared.
~~~~~KNUCKLES
I raced down corridor after corridor, looking left and right as I ran past room after room. The Master Emerald was somewhere in this huge base, but where was it?
"Knuckles!" Rouge's voice sounded from behind me. I slowed down.
"What was that all about?" she asked as soon as she caught up.
"Eggman took the Master Emerald from Angel Island. I have to find it before he gets back," I said to her.
"We still need to get the power crystal, too," Rouge reminded me.
"What!? Are you telling me that you didn't get it yet!?" I replied.
"Fine. I'll go for the power crystal, and you can go for the Master Emerald," Rouge said as she took a corridor to the left.
I shrugged as I ran down the corridor on the right. I set my radar to the energy pattern of the Master Emerald and found out it was straight ahead. I put on an extra burst of speed as I flew down the corridor; my radar pulsing faster and faster the closer I got to the Emerald. I went into a room on my right when the radar was pulsing as fast as it could. Inside was the Master Emerald, surrounded by a shield of lasers.
"Great. Now what do I do?" I said to myself as I looked at the emerald.
~~~~~ROUGE
I was getting close to the power crystal. My radar pulsed faster and faster, and I knew that it was just ahead. I entered the room that I had gotten captured in just earlier today, and there it was, sitting on its pedestal as it was when I saw it before. But this time I wasn't fooled. I pulled on my treasure scope, and saw what I hadn't the first time I came here; lasers were rigged all over the room so as to sound a silent alarm as soon as I was in the path of one of its beams.
I stepped carefully around the first laser, ducked under the second, and crawled on the ceiling above the third. Finally I was past the lasers, and I snatched the power crystal from its pedestal. Suddenly, the whole room began to shake. The lights started flickering, and the lasers disappeared completely.
~~~~~KNUCKLES
"What the heck?" I said in surprise as the room began to shake and the lights flickered. The lasers surrounding the Master Emerald disappeared completely. I quickly snatched it and ran out of the room.
Suddenly, a loud voice sounded from an intercom somewhere in the corridor.
"BASE'S POWER SUPPLY HAS BEEN STOLEN. BASE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN ONE MINUTE."
"Shit!" I yelled as I flew down the corridor, hoping that Rouge and the others were all right. But still, what would have caused the power to have been stolen? Except maybe.
"Rouge!" I yelled as I ran down the corridor she had gone down. I set my radar to the power crystal and ran as the signal got stronger and stronger. I went in a room on my left and found her trapped underneath a large pipe, unconscious. I quickly shoved the pipe off of her and picked her up in my arms. In her hand she clutched the power crystal, which I took and shoved inside my pocket with the Master Emerald. I hastily ran out of the room and down the corridor towards the entrance.
~~~~~SONIC
"I hope they get out of there soon," Tails said as he watched the base.
We were on top of a hill about a quarter of a mile away from the base, watching for any sign of Knuckles or Rouge.
I checked my watch. There was only twenty seconds left until the base blew.
"Come on, hurry up guys," I said.
I finally saw Knuckles carrying Rouge out of the base. Only ten seconds remained.
"They'll never make it here in time!" I shouted as I ran towards them. In my head I counted down the time.
7
6
5
4 and I was there, rushing around behind Knuckles and pushing him as fast as I could forwards.
3
2 and I was up to top speed
1
0 and we were over the hill as the base behind us exploded in a huge inferno that lit up the sky.
"Thanks, Sonic. I owe you one," Knuckles said as he set Rouge down inside the Tornado 2.
"No problem. Now, let's get back to Tail's house," I said as I hopped into the Tornado 2. Knuckles was right behind me.
"Boy, am I glad I added more room in this machine," Tails said. "I had a feeling it might come in handy. Fasten your seat belts, because we are out of here!" He pushed a button on his controls and we traveled at the speed of light, once again.