The Chase Chapter 5
Hey it's me, Kimmie! Before I start, I want to inform you I'm going to use a new writing style. It's much easier for me to write this way instead of indenting all the time. Okay! Good!
"Hey Sonic! Over here!" Amy cried. She waved her hands in the air with a happy smile on her face. He was standing in front of the cafe that they usually eat at. Amy didn't get to see him all night because he was searching for Maria. Poor Maria, she wasn't found. Sonic had called her last night to tell her. Amy still hoped for the best like everyone else. There was someone standing next to Sonic, a black hedgehog. Shadow?!
"Amy," Sonic started, when she approached him, I'd like you to meet Shadow. Long time no see, huh?" He elbowed Shadow in the stomach with a grin. Shadow cursed in response.
"Shadow, your alive! I'm so happy!" Amy squealed. She hugged Shadow, rubbing her head into his chest hair.
"Yeah, I am." Shadow replied. He pushed Amy off of him and smirked, "Glad to see you haven't changed."
"You like her like she is? Have you been on drugs, Shadow?" Sonic asked, in mock horror. Shadow laughed as Amy hit Sonic upside the head. "Anyway, do you want to have breakfast with us? I called everyone else, they should be here soon."
"Sorry guys but I have to go shopping." Amy said. It was hard to pass up an opportunity like that but she had to buy some new shoes, the soles on her current ones were wearing out. "See you!" She said. They both waved in response. 'ËœThis is great; Shadow is alive. The meeting last night must have involved him somehow, maybe if I stuck around I would find out. Oh well...'
Amy walked down a couple blocks; too busy in her thoughts to realize she was heading to the part of the city she had never been to nor wanted to be in, the slums. (Hey, every city has slums, even fake ones like Station Square, and they just don't want to show you) The streets were dark and dreary. The old buildings had cracked windows in them. This part of the city was very small but it was somewhere you wouldn't want to be. Amy left her thoughts when she saw something yellow sticking up from the top of one of the old buildings. "I wonder what that is?" Amy asked to herself. "I can find out." She pulled out her Piko Piko Hammer and hit it against the ground. She flew up into the air and safely landed on the top of the building.
There was Maria, curled up in a ball and sleeping soundly. "Maria?" Amy asked, in shock. Everyone thinks she is dead and she's right here sleeping. She shook Maria until her eyes opened.
"Hey, Amy... *Yawn*... What are you...doing waking me up?" Maria asked, lazily. Amy helped her stand up
"Maria, I don't understand why you're here and what happened last night but everyone's at the cafe so lets go there now!" Amy said. "Here, if you're too tired I'll give you a piggy-back ride. Let's go!" When Maria was safely on Amy's back, Amy jumped off the building and landed on her feet. She started running down the street at full speed. 'I don't know how much time has pasted but I hope they are still there." Amy muttered. She turned the corner, almost knocking over some hobos. She could hear them sounding grunts drowned out by cars.
Maria, now half awake, decided this was the time to tell Amy what happened. "Amy, you want to know what happened?" Amy was too busy controlling her speed that couldn't talk, but she nodded her head. "Lets see, to make it short, I found were Eggman was having the meeting. It turns out Eggman met with Shadow so he could convince him to get the Chaos Emeralds for him. Shadow disagreed to it and Eggman used his creatures threaten him to."
"But then, what has that got to do with you? What happened to you last night?" Amy asked.
"Oh yeah, during the conversation Sonic contacted me on the walky-talky. They heard it and Eggman destroyed my hiding spot. I tried to keep it cool until Sonic arrived but one of Eggman's creatures hit me and I fell out of the window. On my way down, my jacket sprouted real wings where the embroidered ones were and I was able to fly." Maria noticed the look on Amy's face and continued, "That was no coincidence, Amy. My mother said the jacket would protect me, and so it has."
Amy nodded again and turned left. She was definitely lost but she didn't want to tell Maria that. Her plan was to run around until she could find a place she at least recognized.
While Amy kept to herself, the silence made Maria sleepy. Her eyes drooped and she started to nod her over and over. After flying all night, of course she would be tired. But Maria wasn't tired enough to not realize the trap they were about to fall into. Apparently Amy was too busy in her thoughts to notice, but they were heading to a dead end. Up ahead was a big hole in the ground and Amy was going to run right into it! Since it was a dead end, she couldn't hop over it. "Amy, stop now!" Maria screamed; losing all of the sleepiness she had before.
Automatically, Amy stopped running, but her body wouldn't stop as fast as her brain told her. They skidded across the street towards the hole; Amy's shoe soles that were already bad became worse. They stopped right at the edge of the hole. They both looked down to see what they would have fallen into. "What is that?" Amy exclaimed, in shock.
Inside the hole was black goo, it moved around in there as if it were alive. It reminded Maria of the creatures that Eggman had the night before. The goo then rose out of the hole and floated above them, a low growl escaping from within it. Amy stood frozen in place, her whole body shaking violently. It sure wasn't a robot so Amy had no idea what to do to defeat it.
Maria didn't give it another thought. She hopped off of Amy's back and grabbed her hand, saying "Come on! We gotta run, now!" As the two ran off, the goo followed close behind, able to match their speed. It flew in front of them and broke the ground so they could not escape. Maria and Amy fell as the cracked earth beneath them crumbled.
@--------
"And that is how I survived and made it here." Shadow concluded, taking a sip of his coffee. He looked up from his glass to see the others nodding their heads.
"Now I know what the President tried to keep from me." Rouge said, smiling, "Well, I guess he doesn't have to worry about it now."
Sonic yawned and rubbed his eyes; "I wish I brought a tape recorder with me. That way you wouldn't have to repeat the whole story over to Amy." Sonic was still tired from staying up all night looking for Maria.
"So then, what's next for us?" Knuckles asked, solemnly, taking a bite of his muffin.
"I guess we have to defeat Dr. Eggman, as usual. It's nothing that we haven't done before." Tails said, folding his napkin.
"I have a feeling there's more to it then just defeating him. Think about those creatures, they must have come from somewhere else. Eggman said they came into his lab one day. There is defiantly something wrong with him, the real menace are those creatures I think." Shadow said.
"The real menace, huh?" Sonic said, thoughtfully.
"The second biggest thing is the case I told you about. The case must have some connection to what is happening with Eggman. I'll have to look into it." Rouge said.
Just then, Sonic's cell phone started to ring, playing his theme song. "I got a call." Sonic said.
"Why don't you put it on my portable speaker phone? That way we can all hear it, we're nosy." Tails said. He pulled out his devise and put it on the table. Sonic hooked his phone up to it and pressed the button to answer the call.
Amy's voice rang clear through the device. "Sonic? Are you there?"
"Frankly we're all here, Amy. Did you get those shoes you wanted?" Sonic asked, out of curiosity.
"That's not import right now! A big blob is chasing us! Please save us!" Amy cried.
"A blob? Come on Amy. Do you really expect me to believe that? And what do you mean by we're? Got a friend with you to pull a prank?" Sonic asked, laughing.
@----------
Three objects flew at high speeds through the sky. One was a big black blob, in front of it was a pink hedgehog being carried by the arms by a yellow hedgehog with wings on her jacket. (It's like how Tails carried Sonic, by the arms. That's what it looks like.)
Maria was holding onto Amy's one hand, while Amy used her free one to call Sonic using her cell phone. She looked up at Maria and whispered, "He doesn't believe me! What should I do?"
Maria looked around her and noticed the cafe was in sight. She looked down at Amy and said, "Tell him or them, to step out of the cafe and look into the sky. We're going to approach it soon." She looked back at the blob as Amy continued with her message.
"Oh yeah," Amy screamed, getting more nervous by the minute, "If you don't believe me then look outside the cafe!" She was about to hang up when she remembered Sonic's other question. "The other person with me is Maria for your information! If it wasn't for her I'd be dead right now!" Amy hung without waiting for an answer. She put away her phone in her pocket and Maria grabbed her other hand. When they were a safe distance, Maria slowed down; they both watched to see if the crew would spot them.
@----------
As Amy hung up, everyone remained silent. Sonic finally said, "Thank god Maria's alive. My staying up was not in vain."
"You still think it's a prank?" Rouge asked.
"I don't think Amy's like that. Lets check it out." Tails said.
Shadow nodded but he really couldn't feel that much relief that this yellow hedgehog survived. He didn't know her but judging from last night, she must me a good person.
When they stepped outside, their eyes clearly showed the shock they where feeling. Low and behold, there was Maria and Amy in sky being chased by a blob. Amy noticed them and stuck out her tongue, giving them the 'I-told- you-so' look. As the blob approached, Maria flexed her wings and they shot off behind the clouds.
"We have to do something!" Rouge cried.
"I know!" Tails said, "Sonic and Shadow, Follow them on the ground. Rouge and I will take to the sky and see what we can do. Knuckles will find a way to glide in front of them and at least help Amy to safety since I'm sure Maria won't be able to hold her for much longer."
"All right! Let's juice!" Sonic said. In a flash, the five of them were off.
@---------
"Where'd they go?" Amy asked, as they flew higher.
"I'm sure they have some kind of plan so we shouldn't worry about that right now. We have to keep up this chase." Maria said; her eyes narrowed in concentration. The blob was getting a lot faster; she couldn't slow down anymore. As the wind howled at them, Maria noticed two small figures behind the blob.
"Ah! That's Rouge and Tails! They're coming to save us!" Amy squealed.
"We're not out of the woods yet." Maria said. She tightened her grip on Amy. 'ËœI'm getting so tired, I can't hold on to Amy for much longer. If I stop to put her down, the blob will surely swallow us up.' Just then she noticed something red approaching her. It was Knuckles! He was gliding to them. Maria saw her chance.
As soon as they were in earshot, Maria yelled, "Knuckles! Catch!" With one thrust, Maria threw Amy at Knuckles. Amy, too frightened to scream, landed in Knux's arms. Still, he wasn't prepared, so when Amy fell into his arms, her weight threw him off and the wind that was carried in his dreadlocks left. They both fell toward the ground.
Maria had no time to worry about this though; she had to advert the blob's attention toward her so they could get away safely. She flew up higher. The blob followed her. 'So it's me it's after me.' Maria thought. 'Great.'
@------------
"Incoming!" Shadow yelled as red and pink fell toward him and Sonic.
"Don't worry, I got 'em!" Sonic said. He ran ahead of Shadow and braced himself. Knuckles fell into Sonic's arms first, his pointed tail poking Sonic in the stomach. Next came Amy, and Knuckles caught her.
Shadow laughed and said, "You guys look like cirrus folks."
When Sonic put them down, Amy jumped up and said, "You guys have to do something! Maria's still up there!"
Knuckles replied, "What do you want us to do? The main plan was to rescue you."
Sonic added, "That's right. By now, we all know Maria is capable of handling herself. Plus, none of us can fly besides Knuckles, but he's beat."
Amy shifted her puppy-dog eyes toward Shadow and whined, "Can't you use your jet boots again, Shadow?"
Shadow sighed, "I'll go. You stay here and rest." He switched on the jets and in no time, he was roller blading higher and higher into the sky.
@-----------
Rouge flew ahead of Tails and the blob to where Maria was. "Maria!" She called, "What happened?"
Maria looked at her and the sky in front of her, her eyes darting back and forth. "What? Now? The whole thing?" She squeaked, looking back to see the blob gaining on her, "This isn't a good time, Rouge!"
"Sorry, sorry. It's defiantly after you, isn't it?" Rouge asked, glancing back to look at it. She stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Yuck!"
"I have no idea why it wants me!" Maria yelled. She looked down and noticed she was flying lower and lower to the ground. "Rouge, I think my wings are giving way!"
"I don't know-Hey! There's Shadow!" Rouge shouted, pointing at a dark object approaching rapidly.
"What? Shadow!" Maria panicked. 'ËœI can't face him! I'm too embarrassed I-'
"Maria, look out!" Rouge shouted.
"!" Maria was heading straight towards a skyscraper. Rouge flew over the top but Maria couldn't because her wings wouldn't carry her any higher. She smashed up against the building with a sickening bang. She fell backwards and the blob swallowed her up!
"Maria! Maria!" Rouge screamed, frantically flying over to where the blob was. She tried to stick her hand in it, but the blob had turned completely solid.
Shadow passed through a cloud and flew up beside her. "What happened?" He asked, looking at Rouge with a puzzled face.
"That thing swallowed Maria, I can't get her out." Rouge said.
@-------
"Ugh, Where am I?" Maria asked. She sat up and looked around, trying to find out where she was. All she could see was black darkness all around her. Suddenly a figure materialized in front of her. It was a yellow hedgehog with long hair down to her waist, kept in a headband. She wore the past Maria's exact dress; her eyes, though blue, held cold contempt. If the past Maria were to have turned into a hedgehog, this would be it. (Note: Maria looks almost nothing like the past Maria. I forgot to mention that instead of having long hair, she has bangs in the front and quills like Sonics only shorter. ^_^) "Who are you?" Maria asked.
"I am Xenia, the being of the great Tomb of Betrayal." She said, grinning evilly.
"Then you must be the thing that escaped during the tomb robbery!" Maria shouted, "And, you were the two cat creatures that Eggman found."
"I found him. Now that I am free, I have great plans to make the world my own. This isn't even my true form I'm showing you right now. But, it's the one that will take away everything you love." Xenia said.
"What do you mean?" Maria asked.
"I have watched your group ever since I joined with Eggman. It seems that your group is the only thing that stands in my way, so I must dispose of all of you. I know everything about you, how you are the reincarnation of Maria Robotnik. I will use this against you." She paused and continued, "Through my observations, Shadow the Hedgehog is indeed my ticket to destroying the Sonic Team. He is weak; if he sees me as I am now, he'll believe that I am the reincarnation and not you. He'll take me inside the group and that is where I will make my move."
"He won't!" Maria cried, trying not to believe in what Xenia was saying. "And you won't succeed! I'll stop you myself!"
"I'm afraid you can't to that," Xenia said, "I know of your weakness too. The real reincarnation of Maria would inherit her disease, NIBS. This disease causes you to loose control of your body. The nervous system cannot hear the commands from the brain from to time to time, also causing you pain in your organs from lack of necessary use. It will lead to your demise, Maria. There is no cure for it and no doctor can help you. Right now, NIBS is not affecting you too much. If you even dare lay a finger out to stop me or if you tell a soul, I'll kill you using your disease. With one flick of the hand, I'll send you straight to the final stage, where nothing can save you."
Maria gritted her teeth, not finding any words to throw back at her.
"Hmm, I can hear your friends from outside. I think I'm done talking, so I'll let you go."Xenia said. She cackled and disappeared.
The blob disappeared too, leaving Maria suspended in mid air for a few seconds before plummeting towards the ground. Her wings wouldn't work, perhaps because she used it already. In a flash, Shadow appeared in front of her and grabbed her around the waist. "Are you okay?" Shadow asked, while hovering them both to the ground.
"Ye-yeah, ¦thank...you..." Maria fumbled while blushing. When they got down to the ground, she looked into his eyes, seeing the same warm glow she had seen so many times in her dreams. Shadow in turn looked at her too; he never did get a good look at her, she was kind of cute.
"Hey!" Rouge yelled, breaking their gaze. She gently landed next to them, followed by Tails. "I'm so glad you're okay, Maria! Did anything happen to you?"
Remembering Xenia's words, Maria looked down at her feet and answered, "No, nothing at all."
@-----------
Kimmie's Corner
Kimmie: Hey! I'd just like to say I'm sorry for taking so long to put the next chapter up. I moved so that kept me off the net for a while. Also, this was the hardest chapter and will be the hardest chapter I wrote-write. You see, everything I write I already picture it in my head. Putting this dramatic chasing scene on paper was so very hard. I rewrote it five times in ten different parts because I didn't get it the way I wanted it. Whew!
Shadow: Isn't there something else you should mention?
Kimmie: Oh yeah! I changed the title just to 'ËœThe Chase' instead of 'The Chase and Awkward Acquaintances.' The chasing part took me forever to write and there was still the 'Awkward Acquaintance' part to write. So I'll add that to the next chapter.
Preview of the next Chapter:
"Hello, I am Rouge the Bat. Things are starting to heat up in my household! Shadow is now staying at my house. I have a feeling that Maria really likes Shadow; I mean really likes him. Heck, I even overheard her talking to herself about it! Just wait 'till they share the same bathroom; that's going to be fun! Oh yeah, I have to tell her about the upcoming dance! And I have to get back on my case too!
The next chapter is: 'Awkward Acquaintances and Ban Aids.' See you there!"
Hey it's me, Kimmie! Before I start, I want to inform you I'm going to use a new writing style. It's much easier for me to write this way instead of indenting all the time. Okay! Good!
"Hey Sonic! Over here!" Amy cried. She waved her hands in the air with a happy smile on her face. He was standing in front of the cafe that they usually eat at. Amy didn't get to see him all night because he was searching for Maria. Poor Maria, she wasn't found. Sonic had called her last night to tell her. Amy still hoped for the best like everyone else. There was someone standing next to Sonic, a black hedgehog. Shadow?!
"Amy," Sonic started, when she approached him, I'd like you to meet Shadow. Long time no see, huh?" He elbowed Shadow in the stomach with a grin. Shadow cursed in response.
"Shadow, your alive! I'm so happy!" Amy squealed. She hugged Shadow, rubbing her head into his chest hair.
"Yeah, I am." Shadow replied. He pushed Amy off of him and smirked, "Glad to see you haven't changed."
"You like her like she is? Have you been on drugs, Shadow?" Sonic asked, in mock horror. Shadow laughed as Amy hit Sonic upside the head. "Anyway, do you want to have breakfast with us? I called everyone else, they should be here soon."
"Sorry guys but I have to go shopping." Amy said. It was hard to pass up an opportunity like that but she had to buy some new shoes, the soles on her current ones were wearing out. "See you!" She said. They both waved in response. 'ËœThis is great; Shadow is alive. The meeting last night must have involved him somehow, maybe if I stuck around I would find out. Oh well...'
Amy walked down a couple blocks; too busy in her thoughts to realize she was heading to the part of the city she had never been to nor wanted to be in, the slums. (Hey, every city has slums, even fake ones like Station Square, and they just don't want to show you) The streets were dark and dreary. The old buildings had cracked windows in them. This part of the city was very small but it was somewhere you wouldn't want to be. Amy left her thoughts when she saw something yellow sticking up from the top of one of the old buildings. "I wonder what that is?" Amy asked to herself. "I can find out." She pulled out her Piko Piko Hammer and hit it against the ground. She flew up into the air and safely landed on the top of the building.
There was Maria, curled up in a ball and sleeping soundly. "Maria?" Amy asked, in shock. Everyone thinks she is dead and she's right here sleeping. She shook Maria until her eyes opened.
"Hey, Amy... *Yawn*... What are you...doing waking me up?" Maria asked, lazily. Amy helped her stand up
"Maria, I don't understand why you're here and what happened last night but everyone's at the cafe so lets go there now!" Amy said. "Here, if you're too tired I'll give you a piggy-back ride. Let's go!" When Maria was safely on Amy's back, Amy jumped off the building and landed on her feet. She started running down the street at full speed. 'I don't know how much time has pasted but I hope they are still there." Amy muttered. She turned the corner, almost knocking over some hobos. She could hear them sounding grunts drowned out by cars.
Maria, now half awake, decided this was the time to tell Amy what happened. "Amy, you want to know what happened?" Amy was too busy controlling her speed that couldn't talk, but she nodded her head. "Lets see, to make it short, I found were Eggman was having the meeting. It turns out Eggman met with Shadow so he could convince him to get the Chaos Emeralds for him. Shadow disagreed to it and Eggman used his creatures threaten him to."
"But then, what has that got to do with you? What happened to you last night?" Amy asked.
"Oh yeah, during the conversation Sonic contacted me on the walky-talky. They heard it and Eggman destroyed my hiding spot. I tried to keep it cool until Sonic arrived but one of Eggman's creatures hit me and I fell out of the window. On my way down, my jacket sprouted real wings where the embroidered ones were and I was able to fly." Maria noticed the look on Amy's face and continued, "That was no coincidence, Amy. My mother said the jacket would protect me, and so it has."
Amy nodded again and turned left. She was definitely lost but she didn't want to tell Maria that. Her plan was to run around until she could find a place she at least recognized.
While Amy kept to herself, the silence made Maria sleepy. Her eyes drooped and she started to nod her over and over. After flying all night, of course she would be tired. But Maria wasn't tired enough to not realize the trap they were about to fall into. Apparently Amy was too busy in her thoughts to notice, but they were heading to a dead end. Up ahead was a big hole in the ground and Amy was going to run right into it! Since it was a dead end, she couldn't hop over it. "Amy, stop now!" Maria screamed; losing all of the sleepiness she had before.
Automatically, Amy stopped running, but her body wouldn't stop as fast as her brain told her. They skidded across the street towards the hole; Amy's shoe soles that were already bad became worse. They stopped right at the edge of the hole. They both looked down to see what they would have fallen into. "What is that?" Amy exclaimed, in shock.
Inside the hole was black goo, it moved around in there as if it were alive. It reminded Maria of the creatures that Eggman had the night before. The goo then rose out of the hole and floated above them, a low growl escaping from within it. Amy stood frozen in place, her whole body shaking violently. It sure wasn't a robot so Amy had no idea what to do to defeat it.
Maria didn't give it another thought. She hopped off of Amy's back and grabbed her hand, saying "Come on! We gotta run, now!" As the two ran off, the goo followed close behind, able to match their speed. It flew in front of them and broke the ground so they could not escape. Maria and Amy fell as the cracked earth beneath them crumbled.
@--------
"And that is how I survived and made it here." Shadow concluded, taking a sip of his coffee. He looked up from his glass to see the others nodding their heads.
"Now I know what the President tried to keep from me." Rouge said, smiling, "Well, I guess he doesn't have to worry about it now."
Sonic yawned and rubbed his eyes; "I wish I brought a tape recorder with me. That way you wouldn't have to repeat the whole story over to Amy." Sonic was still tired from staying up all night looking for Maria.
"So then, what's next for us?" Knuckles asked, solemnly, taking a bite of his muffin.
"I guess we have to defeat Dr. Eggman, as usual. It's nothing that we haven't done before." Tails said, folding his napkin.
"I have a feeling there's more to it then just defeating him. Think about those creatures, they must have come from somewhere else. Eggman said they came into his lab one day. There is defiantly something wrong with him, the real menace are those creatures I think." Shadow said.
"The real menace, huh?" Sonic said, thoughtfully.
"The second biggest thing is the case I told you about. The case must have some connection to what is happening with Eggman. I'll have to look into it." Rouge said.
Just then, Sonic's cell phone started to ring, playing his theme song. "I got a call." Sonic said.
"Why don't you put it on my portable speaker phone? That way we can all hear it, we're nosy." Tails said. He pulled out his devise and put it on the table. Sonic hooked his phone up to it and pressed the button to answer the call.
Amy's voice rang clear through the device. "Sonic? Are you there?"
"Frankly we're all here, Amy. Did you get those shoes you wanted?" Sonic asked, out of curiosity.
"That's not import right now! A big blob is chasing us! Please save us!" Amy cried.
"A blob? Come on Amy. Do you really expect me to believe that? And what do you mean by we're? Got a friend with you to pull a prank?" Sonic asked, laughing.
@----------
Three objects flew at high speeds through the sky. One was a big black blob, in front of it was a pink hedgehog being carried by the arms by a yellow hedgehog with wings on her jacket. (It's like how Tails carried Sonic, by the arms. That's what it looks like.)
Maria was holding onto Amy's one hand, while Amy used her free one to call Sonic using her cell phone. She looked up at Maria and whispered, "He doesn't believe me! What should I do?"
Maria looked around her and noticed the cafe was in sight. She looked down at Amy and said, "Tell him or them, to step out of the cafe and look into the sky. We're going to approach it soon." She looked back at the blob as Amy continued with her message.
"Oh yeah," Amy screamed, getting more nervous by the minute, "If you don't believe me then look outside the cafe!" She was about to hang up when she remembered Sonic's other question. "The other person with me is Maria for your information! If it wasn't for her I'd be dead right now!" Amy hung without waiting for an answer. She put away her phone in her pocket and Maria grabbed her other hand. When they were a safe distance, Maria slowed down; they both watched to see if the crew would spot them.
@----------
As Amy hung up, everyone remained silent. Sonic finally said, "Thank god Maria's alive. My staying up was not in vain."
"You still think it's a prank?" Rouge asked.
"I don't think Amy's like that. Lets check it out." Tails said.
Shadow nodded but he really couldn't feel that much relief that this yellow hedgehog survived. He didn't know her but judging from last night, she must me a good person.
When they stepped outside, their eyes clearly showed the shock they where feeling. Low and behold, there was Maria and Amy in sky being chased by a blob. Amy noticed them and stuck out her tongue, giving them the 'I-told- you-so' look. As the blob approached, Maria flexed her wings and they shot off behind the clouds.
"We have to do something!" Rouge cried.
"I know!" Tails said, "Sonic and Shadow, Follow them on the ground. Rouge and I will take to the sky and see what we can do. Knuckles will find a way to glide in front of them and at least help Amy to safety since I'm sure Maria won't be able to hold her for much longer."
"All right! Let's juice!" Sonic said. In a flash, the five of them were off.
@---------
"Where'd they go?" Amy asked, as they flew higher.
"I'm sure they have some kind of plan so we shouldn't worry about that right now. We have to keep up this chase." Maria said; her eyes narrowed in concentration. The blob was getting a lot faster; she couldn't slow down anymore. As the wind howled at them, Maria noticed two small figures behind the blob.
"Ah! That's Rouge and Tails! They're coming to save us!" Amy squealed.
"We're not out of the woods yet." Maria said. She tightened her grip on Amy. 'ËœI'm getting so tired, I can't hold on to Amy for much longer. If I stop to put her down, the blob will surely swallow us up.' Just then she noticed something red approaching her. It was Knuckles! He was gliding to them. Maria saw her chance.
As soon as they were in earshot, Maria yelled, "Knuckles! Catch!" With one thrust, Maria threw Amy at Knuckles. Amy, too frightened to scream, landed in Knux's arms. Still, he wasn't prepared, so when Amy fell into his arms, her weight threw him off and the wind that was carried in his dreadlocks left. They both fell toward the ground.
Maria had no time to worry about this though; she had to advert the blob's attention toward her so they could get away safely. She flew up higher. The blob followed her. 'So it's me it's after me.' Maria thought. 'Great.'
@------------
"Incoming!" Shadow yelled as red and pink fell toward him and Sonic.
"Don't worry, I got 'em!" Sonic said. He ran ahead of Shadow and braced himself. Knuckles fell into Sonic's arms first, his pointed tail poking Sonic in the stomach. Next came Amy, and Knuckles caught her.
Shadow laughed and said, "You guys look like cirrus folks."
When Sonic put them down, Amy jumped up and said, "You guys have to do something! Maria's still up there!"
Knuckles replied, "What do you want us to do? The main plan was to rescue you."
Sonic added, "That's right. By now, we all know Maria is capable of handling herself. Plus, none of us can fly besides Knuckles, but he's beat."
Amy shifted her puppy-dog eyes toward Shadow and whined, "Can't you use your jet boots again, Shadow?"
Shadow sighed, "I'll go. You stay here and rest." He switched on the jets and in no time, he was roller blading higher and higher into the sky.
@-----------
Rouge flew ahead of Tails and the blob to where Maria was. "Maria!" She called, "What happened?"
Maria looked at her and the sky in front of her, her eyes darting back and forth. "What? Now? The whole thing?" She squeaked, looking back to see the blob gaining on her, "This isn't a good time, Rouge!"
"Sorry, sorry. It's defiantly after you, isn't it?" Rouge asked, glancing back to look at it. She stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Yuck!"
"I have no idea why it wants me!" Maria yelled. She looked down and noticed she was flying lower and lower to the ground. "Rouge, I think my wings are giving way!"
"I don't know-Hey! There's Shadow!" Rouge shouted, pointing at a dark object approaching rapidly.
"What? Shadow!" Maria panicked. 'ËœI can't face him! I'm too embarrassed I-'
"Maria, look out!" Rouge shouted.
"!" Maria was heading straight towards a skyscraper. Rouge flew over the top but Maria couldn't because her wings wouldn't carry her any higher. She smashed up against the building with a sickening bang. She fell backwards and the blob swallowed her up!
"Maria! Maria!" Rouge screamed, frantically flying over to where the blob was. She tried to stick her hand in it, but the blob had turned completely solid.
Shadow passed through a cloud and flew up beside her. "What happened?" He asked, looking at Rouge with a puzzled face.
"That thing swallowed Maria, I can't get her out." Rouge said.
@-------
"Ugh, Where am I?" Maria asked. She sat up and looked around, trying to find out where she was. All she could see was black darkness all around her. Suddenly a figure materialized in front of her. It was a yellow hedgehog with long hair down to her waist, kept in a headband. She wore the past Maria's exact dress; her eyes, though blue, held cold contempt. If the past Maria were to have turned into a hedgehog, this would be it. (Note: Maria looks almost nothing like the past Maria. I forgot to mention that instead of having long hair, she has bangs in the front and quills like Sonics only shorter. ^_^) "Who are you?" Maria asked.
"I am Xenia, the being of the great Tomb of Betrayal." She said, grinning evilly.
"Then you must be the thing that escaped during the tomb robbery!" Maria shouted, "And, you were the two cat creatures that Eggman found."
"I found him. Now that I am free, I have great plans to make the world my own. This isn't even my true form I'm showing you right now. But, it's the one that will take away everything you love." Xenia said.
"What do you mean?" Maria asked.
"I have watched your group ever since I joined with Eggman. It seems that your group is the only thing that stands in my way, so I must dispose of all of you. I know everything about you, how you are the reincarnation of Maria Robotnik. I will use this against you." She paused and continued, "Through my observations, Shadow the Hedgehog is indeed my ticket to destroying the Sonic Team. He is weak; if he sees me as I am now, he'll believe that I am the reincarnation and not you. He'll take me inside the group and that is where I will make my move."
"He won't!" Maria cried, trying not to believe in what Xenia was saying. "And you won't succeed! I'll stop you myself!"
"I'm afraid you can't to that," Xenia said, "I know of your weakness too. The real reincarnation of Maria would inherit her disease, NIBS. This disease causes you to loose control of your body. The nervous system cannot hear the commands from the brain from to time to time, also causing you pain in your organs from lack of necessary use. It will lead to your demise, Maria. There is no cure for it and no doctor can help you. Right now, NIBS is not affecting you too much. If you even dare lay a finger out to stop me or if you tell a soul, I'll kill you using your disease. With one flick of the hand, I'll send you straight to the final stage, where nothing can save you."
Maria gritted her teeth, not finding any words to throw back at her.
"Hmm, I can hear your friends from outside. I think I'm done talking, so I'll let you go."Xenia said. She cackled and disappeared.
The blob disappeared too, leaving Maria suspended in mid air for a few seconds before plummeting towards the ground. Her wings wouldn't work, perhaps because she used it already. In a flash, Shadow appeared in front of her and grabbed her around the waist. "Are you okay?" Shadow asked, while hovering them both to the ground.
"Ye-yeah, ¦thank...you..." Maria fumbled while blushing. When they got down to the ground, she looked into his eyes, seeing the same warm glow she had seen so many times in her dreams. Shadow in turn looked at her too; he never did get a good look at her, she was kind of cute.
"Hey!" Rouge yelled, breaking their gaze. She gently landed next to them, followed by Tails. "I'm so glad you're okay, Maria! Did anything happen to you?"
Remembering Xenia's words, Maria looked down at her feet and answered, "No, nothing at all."
@-----------
Kimmie's Corner
Kimmie: Hey! I'd just like to say I'm sorry for taking so long to put the next chapter up. I moved so that kept me off the net for a while. Also, this was the hardest chapter and will be the hardest chapter I wrote-write. You see, everything I write I already picture it in my head. Putting this dramatic chasing scene on paper was so very hard. I rewrote it five times in ten different parts because I didn't get it the way I wanted it. Whew!
Shadow: Isn't there something else you should mention?
Kimmie: Oh yeah! I changed the title just to 'ËœThe Chase' instead of 'The Chase and Awkward Acquaintances.' The chasing part took me forever to write and there was still the 'Awkward Acquaintance' part to write. So I'll add that to the next chapter.
Preview of the next Chapter:
"Hello, I am Rouge the Bat. Things are starting to heat up in my household! Shadow is now staying at my house. I have a feeling that Maria really likes Shadow; I mean really likes him. Heck, I even overheard her talking to herself about it! Just wait 'till they share the same bathroom; that's going to be fun! Oh yeah, I have to tell her about the upcoming dance! And I have to get back on my case too!
The next chapter is: 'Awkward Acquaintances and Ban Aids.' See you there!"