Hazard

by Crimson Redstreak

Essentially this is just SA3. A Sonic the hedgehog tied in with a series of Crossovers I've been doing for years. This one involves Shadow and a mysterious lizard girl claiming to be another of Gerald's secret projects.

9. Chapter 8 through 13

Disclaimer: The characters that ain't mine, ain't mine. What is mine is the story and the characters that I've made. So now you STILL can't sue me.

Chapter 8

A hideous shriek echoed through the hall of ARK's living quarters. Whelpmon jumped twice his own height and hurried down the corridor where the sound had apparently come from. He braced himself for the worst as he opened the door. There sitting in a chair in front of a mirror was Hazard, but not quite the same one he'd set down in the room. He inched his way over to her and looked at the mirror to see her face. A shocked and disgusted expression covered her face.

"What happened," the digimon asked timidly. He tried not to startle her, knowing that any newly evolved creature is dangerous.

"I-I-I'm n-not the same," Hazard sputtered. "Those emeralds did something horrible to me. It's unthinkable! I-it's disgusting!"

Shadow sped into the room with a Sonic Boom echoing through the hallway. He'd heard the scream two decks down. "What happened? Are we under attack? Are you two alright?"

"No, I'll never be alright again! Look at what the stupid chaos emeralds did to me!"

Shadow inspected the disturbed lizard carefully and said," It's just hair, Hazard. I have a whole mess of it."

Indeed the lizard had grown a head of blond hair that made her look somewhat like a middle-aged Fabio, hair that came about past her shoulder with a receding hairline. The scales on her face and hands had turned yellow and her eyes were pink instead of red.

"I look albino," She screeched, then she turned and started shaking the short digimon standing next to her. "This is all your fault, monster! You let the program corrupt, didn't you?"

Shadow separated them before Hazard could suffocate the black digimon. "Wait a minute. How do we know this isn't supposed to happen, Hazard?"

The hedgehog's last statement struck home and she stopped reaching for Whelpmon. The stoic, shocked look was still plastered to her face, though. She didn't feel any different that an hour before, but the warm itchy feeling on the back of her skull was becoming annoying when you got used to bald scales.

"Oh well, I guess I can adapt," Hazard pouted. "I'll do something about it until the next evolution. Which we'll have to use a Super Emerald for."

"I'll begin the research," Whelpmon said as he ran off to the observation deck.

"Do you need anything?" Shadow said as he turned to leave as well.

"If I did, I'd get it myself," Hazard snapped. "Now go!"

The doors shut behind him as he left with a swish. Shadow was about to go along with his normal exercises when he heard a quiet 'psst' from around the corner. The hedgehog walked back down the hallways toward a few of the more darkened rooms. As he rounded the bend Whelpmon's eyes darted from behind something else in whatever room he'd wandered into.

"Listen," the little digimon whispered. "Something here isn't right."

"Everything here isn't right Del- I mean, Whelpmon," Shadow exclaimed. "You've got to narrow it down a bit. And besides, why are we hiding in a darkened room whispering?"

"What I mean is how did Prof. Gerald know about the technical applications of digivolving on beings outside of the digital world?"

"I remember you once telling me about that place a few times before and how people from your 'real' world knew about it. What's so strange about a scientist from our dimension knowing about it?"

"Because an hour ago I tried to enter the digital world from here and guess what, there was nothing there."

Shadow raised his eyebrow a bit. "You mean someone destroyed the digital world here in Mobius' computers?"

"No! There is no digital world here. The ramifications to create it can't be met with the computer systems you're using here. I couldn't have used that program here if it didn't exist!"

"Now I have no idea what you mean. We just evolved Hazard a few hours ago did-"

Whelpmon exploded." No, no, no! We didn't evolve her, we just altered her. Whoever invented this process of modification wanted us to use that specific lab with this specific information with those specific stones."

"How did you find this out?"

"It was in some sort of diary or something Hazard left on one of the screens on the observation deck. I tried prying into it deeper but it wouldn't let me. Someone had encoded it and I think that someone is Gerald himself."

"Someone here is playing around with us," Shadow said as he turned around to leave.

"Where are you going?"

Shadow's body began to glow and spark with green light. "Back to Mobius. I want to play this out, but to do that we'll need a Super Emerald." The light became to intense for Whelpmon to look at any longer. "You and Hazard should follow at the soonest convenience..." Then he was gone...

* * * * *

Sonic looked out at the green valley happily as his friends' cart finally made it's way toward the stop. Being impatient as he was, Sonic jumped out and ran ahead of it. Sally, Bunnie, and Tails jumped out of the cart and looked out at the view along with the hedgehog. The Mystic Ruins Jungle was a sight to behold. The dense green was dotted here and there with stone walls and arches, the only reminder of any kind of civilization. A clear creek ran through the valley and dropped off to the river below a sheer drop that had been caused when the Floating Island crashed near the coast. It was pushed up thanks to the shockwave the falling landmass had created. In the center of the whole thing was the raised stone spire that represented the lost echidna ruins that the jungle housed. Beneath that temple lied traps and endless corridors that, with the exception of Sonic and Knuckles, nobody had seen for centuries.

"So where is this base supposed to be, Sonic," Tails asked as he started down the ladder.

"About a few minutes walk from the temple," Sonic said. "I hope the tram is still working, though. It'd take forever for all of us to get down the ridge and into the base."

The jungle was unusually quiet that day. No bird calls, no crickets, nothing except the sound of running water and the swaying of the trees in the wind. Sonic became a bit nervous as they reached the tram. Over the past year or so it had become rusty and vines had crawled all over the entrance. With some help from Sally's computer Nicole they ordered the doors to open and everyone piled in...That's when hell broke loose.

The tram roared down it's shaft at blazing speed as soon as the doors had closed. Everyone was thrown against the wall as the tram rocketed forward through the metal tunnel. Sonic started to say something when the tram suddenly jerked to a stop, throwing it's passengers to the floor and Sonic into unconsciousness.

"Sonic..."

'Huh?'

"Sonic are you alright?" Sonic groaned as he got up. "Ugh, did anybody get the number of that tank?"

"Apparently the base is abandoned," Sally said looking around the dilapidated lab. "It sure is one of Eggman's setups. But how could he have built a place like this or his Egg Carrier without Station Square knowing about it?"

Indeed, upon looking into the next set of corridors and pits, they seemed to go on forever downward and just curve off indicating that there was much more of the structure below ground. The rank smell of motor oil and smog was still in the air. Factories and generators below were possibly still active and supplying power. But what was here worth supplying it to if all the robots had left?

"I don't know but I'll try to find out," Sonic said. "Tails you and the others look around this level and try to find a map or something. This place is practically a maze, so I don't want any of you following me and getting lost."

"Good luck, Sugah-hog," Bunnie said.

Sonic zoomed down the broken down corridor that led into the industrial core of the complex. Known mostly to him as the Final Egg Zone. His first time there was fraught with dangers from the advanced robots Robotnik had built around that time, but without such annoyances Sonic glided through the semi-dark base unmolested and terribly bored.

Shadow materialized just outside of the launch bay where the Egg Carrier had launched a few years prior. The huge field before him was lined with scorch marks from the ship's engines. Looking up he could see almost fifty stories worth of scaffolding and clamps hanging onto the ceiling. It was quiet, way too quiet.

"You know you can show yourself Hazard," Shadow chided as he walked toward the base's core.

As if out of thin air Hazard appeared, walking next to her predecessor with her arms folded above her head. It appeared the digivolving process had more than given her the ability to live without her life support system for days on end, it had also given her a chameleon's special ability as well. The ability to blend in with one's surroundings and become 'invisible'.

"How'd you know I was there," she asked.

"You used the Chaos Emerald to get down here, I could feel it with the one I have. As far as I was concerned you stood out like a floodlight in this gloom."

"Impressive. Now if we could drop the small talk; where's the Super Emerald we're supposed to be looking for?"

Shadow stopped for a second and concentrated his thoughts through the Chaos Emerald within him. He felt a Vibration nearby, a feeling as well as a sound. It was getting a bit more defined as he moved closer to the exit from the launch bay. He picked up the pace and skated off. The lizard took off behind him as he reached the door and zipped off to the right. Hazard struggled to keep up with him as he rapidly streaked through the base's mangled remains toward the emanation that seemed to be calling out to him more and more as he got closer. After a few dizzying turns Hazard screeched to a halt just before a seemingly endless fall. She looked around the shaft to see if her comrade had in fact fallen in. To her utter contempt she saw the black hedgehog grinding on the steam pipes along the walls down in a wide spiral.

Okay...he must be insane, Hazard though as she climbed onto the wall with her claws and proceeded to slowly crawl down. What the hell am I doing? Am I afraid of a little fall I could easily avoid with my Scorchers? Especially when he's already in the lead to that Emerald instead of me. I should be the one whipping down this chasm instead of hugging close to the wall like some child! I should—Wait, the first to go in is the first to die, Hazard. He'll get the Emerald for you...and if not I'm sure Whelpmon will be more than happy to accommodate his new 'tamer'. Hehehe!

With that thought Hazard took a peek beneath her right glove to look at the Dark digivice that had fallen off of Whelpmon. More than happy...

At the present time Shadow had leapt off of the pipe and onto a circular platform. It was too dark to make out anything but outlines in the dark. All the hedgehog saw was the back of some sort of pipe or shaft with a wire or cord on top. Shadow's immediate assumption was that it was an elevator. He zipped around the platform to the other side. Suddenly...'Whumph'.

"What in the-"Someone yelled in the dark as Shadow ran into him and knocked them both over the edge.

Shadow didn't scream or yell as they began to fall, he just reacted on an old habit from his training. Whenever you're about to fall to your death, don't panic; look at the possibilities. Shadow twisted his body sharply to the right and hooked the edge of the platform with his foot while still holding onto whoever he'd managed to knock over. He swung himself up to the platform again and pulled the guy up alongside him.

"Whew, sorry about that," Shadow apologized. "It was dark in here and I couldn't see you. Hold on, what are you doing down here anyway?"

The dark stranger couldn't speak. His face was mostly covered in shadows, but it didn't do much to hide his hanging jaw and look of fright.

Shadow flicked his hand in front of the stranger's face. "Hello, anyone home? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"Because that's exactly what you are," the stranger said. "You can't be real, there's no way anybody could survive something like that. No freakin' way."

The stranger slung his pack over his shoulder and pulled out a circular object that glowed golden light. It revealed one hedgehog to the other. And at the same time the accusation ran throughout the shaft.

"SONIC?!"

"SHADOW?!"

Hazard mumbled idly as she wandered through the empty core of the base. The lights were on, the debris was cleared away, and the power core was nearby, but none of that mattered to her. All that did matter to the orange and yellow lizard is what had happened in the shaft. After a few stories of climbing down Hazard had felt something itching at the back of her mind. A new and strange feeling to her, so she indulged it...big mistake. I remember something I read on Darwin dictated in the history of evolution, any and all aspects of a creature can be completely altered to suit that creature's environment. Hers didn't happen to include a huge chasm beneath her. That strange feeling eating away at her contempt was...it's almost too embarrassing to say; fear. She sat on that wall for the next few minutes screaming her lungs out until she used common sense and Chaos Controlled closer to the core. Ashamed of her behavior, Hazard decided to keep this little episode a secret.

The farther in she walked the louder the machinery behind the walls got and the more extensive the repairs. Wiring was shielded, pipes were reinforced, and doors were locked. Someone was definitely here. Hazard strolled along carefully through the corridor looking mostly at the floor. A thick cable or wire ran along the base of the wall and every now and then it would connect to an extension cord or a connecting cable. Finally the trek ended beside a door where the wire ended; protruding from a wall. The lizard's hand went to her blaster as she forced open the door. With some effort and a loud creaking sound it opened wide enough for Hazard to slip through.

Inside, it was dim and dark in the corners. There was almost no light except from the sparse light bulbs situated in the ceiling and the object of her desires. It's bottom half was snaked around by cables and electrodes and its top was sparking, letting off beams of light. But all in all it was impossible to mistake for anything else. It was the white Super Emerald. As the awe and amazement wore off Hazard jumped up onto the platform and began disconnecting it from the filters and siphons, all the while she kept on thinking one all consuming mantra.

"It's too easy, It's too easy, It's too easy..."

And from the flashing camera connected to the ceiling in one of the dark corners of the room I'd have to say she was right.

"What the heck is goin' on around here," Sonic shouted. "Everyone thought you were dead! I thought you were dead, man. And here you are holed up in one of the Eggman's old setups."

"Who said I was 'holed up' anywhere, Sonic," the black hedgehog said. "I was in prison for a few months. That's all. I could have broken out at any time."

"Since you're standin' here yappin' with me, I guess you just decided to waltz on outta there?"

"More or less," Shadow lied. "Besides what are you doing here? Hoping to find something valuable in this dump? As you can see the whole place has been gutted by now."

"As far as we know anyway. Something down at the bottom of this place is supplying power and I aim to find out what."

Shadow barked a cruel laugh. "Could you be slower in any other way, blue hedgehog? It's a Super Emerald. And my partner and I are down here to collect it."

"Your partner? A Super?" "Um, why yes. Who would be stupid enough to come to a place like this alone and go...wandering." Shadow looked down into the dark chasm beneath him. "I have to go."

"Say what? But you just got here, and what'll I tell the others when I get back? I mean some people aren't taking me seriously about the whole other big-ass adventure we had-" Suddenly Sonic's communicator chimed the emergency signal. "Damn...I guess we gotta go our separate ways again, huh black bastard?"

"You can tell Rouge that I expect to see her soon," Shadow said as he leaped off the edge of the platform. "Good luck, blue blur!"

"You too, man!" Sonic said as he took off toward his friends. "You too."

'Okay, black wire is connected to the green circuit. The green circuit is connected to the blue cable. The blue cable is connected to the gray siphon. The gray siphon is powered by the black battery that's charged by the siphon itself. Now, the only thing I have to worry about is how to yank out the emerald without setting off a chain reaction and bringing the whole base down on my head?'

Hazard sat there in front of the jumble of metal and crystal for a second before kicking over the siphon and tearing out the Emerald.

'Easy enough...'

Cha-click!

"I suggest you replace that emerald," a monotone voice said while someone or something snatched the blaster from her other hand.

Hazard put the gem on the console in front of her. "Just when ya think you can just do your job, somebody has to make it hard on themselves." The lizard disappears and runs to the other side of the room.

BOOM!

A smoking hole appears in the floor ahead of her as the assailant stomps heavily toward the door, never taking the gun barrel away from her. Hazard stops dead in her tracks and becomes visible again.

"Now don't move, don't say anything, and don't do anything. Lest I get a bit 'trigger happy'."

Shadow dashes in the room and up to the siphon console. He grabs the emerald and looks around the room for a second before..."Psst!"

"Huh?" Shadow murmurs on his way out the door. "Oh there you are, I thought you got lost. Why do you have your hands above your head?"

Hazard dips her head to the right twice and mumbles something. "What? I can't hear you. Speak up!"

Hazard jerks her head harder and whines a little louder.

"'Bees hanging rye the whore'? Look, I don't have time to play around right now Hazard," Shadow said as he absorbed the Super into his body, enticing even more frantic mumbling from his partner. "Our mission here is accomplished, so let's get out of here before- - ulp!"

Before you know it Shadow is looking down a rather large caliber plasma blaster. The arm it is connected to shines dully in the dim light since it's made of metal. The body is portly and egg-shaped, like a certain mad scientist, with red, white, and black designs covering it. The eyes are a glowing gold covered by an armored grate. It's legs were no more than thick poles with oblong orbs for joints and red plates for feet.

"Hello Sonic," the robot with the almost emotionless voice said. "I hope you remembered me. I can't seem to delete you from my programming, therefore I can't forget the 'priority hedgehog'."

"I-"Shadow began as he was cut off again.

"For years I have been planning, hedgehog! Never knowing if things would turn out the way I wanted. I've already exacted my revenge on the first Robotnik by helping his nephew tamper with the UA device. Now, it seems, I have the chance to follow up on you. Well, what have you and this harlot in the corner to say for yourselves? Any last words?"

"First of all," an enraged Shadow began. "I am not Sonic! And second: Chaos Control!"

The room lost all color as time stopped. Not just in the room, but everywhere on Mobius. It seemed that the Supers also had the awesome power of their cousins the seven Chaos, only amplified. Shadow wasted no time as he disarmed the robot of both it's rifle and Hazard's own fire-arm and then kicked both of it's knees.

Time started again, only the scene had shifted. Hazard and Shadow held the weapons this time and the robot was on it's knees, helpless.

"Okay, before we scrap you I wanna know what robot was crafty enough to sneak up on me," Hazard said as she removed the safety from her blaster. "And be quick about it, please. WE have places to go, things to see, and people to do."

Shadow sweatdropped as he corrected her.

"I am designated Death Egg series pilot mech EGRBO-01," the robot rattled off. "Also known from my badnik designation as Egg-Robo."

"Nice," Shadow said as he took aim.

"Wait!"

"Why should I? You'd have no reason to wait for us if you had the guns." "Granted, rodent. But I have an offer on the table that should quell this little misunderstanding."

Hazard grabbed the barrel of Shadow's blaster and said," Go on..."

"If you let me go on functioning I can promise you something incredible and forgotten by all of Mobius. Nobody has any idea about this but me and three others who aren't interested anymore. For I have ascertained the course of Little Planet and furthermore the exact location of the fabled Time Stones."

Hazard hung limp for a second and lowered her gun a few inches away from the robot's head.

"I see I have piqued the lady's interest. So you still want to shoot me, hedgehog?"

Shadow smirked and showed his canines. "Yes. But that's not up to me right now. It's up to her..."

Phoom!

The ground shook as another missile hit the wall near where Bunnie was standing. It was getting harder and harder to keep shielded from the fire it made on the floor. Her cyborg limbs were already beginning to overheat.

"Hey Sal-gal," Bunnie called over her shoulder. "You almost done with that thang? It's getttin' a might too hot for me with all this napalm flyin' about!"

Bunnie fired back with the laser in her left arm. It was a direct hit on one of the larger badniks, but another two took it's place and started firing again. Bunnie ducked back around the wall just as the missiles hit.

"Sally we're outgunned here," Tails shouted above another explosion. He wished he'd had the foresight to bring his beloved Cyclone with them. "Bunnie can't hold those Ball-hogs off forever."

The aforementioned badnik was no more than a four foot high round metal teddy bear, but what they didn't have in size they made up for in annoyance and persistence. Each one of them was a moving munitions factory that churned out explosive balls and missiles. Sonic had mentioned seeing them in Robotropolis a few times, but he'd said that they were easy to destroy...if you were faster than lightning.

"We aren't leaving Sonic," Sally said as she punched in a few keys on Nichole. The walls on either side of the badniks started closing in as another of the Doctor's twisted traps was activated. It crushed the badniks into scrap and then pulled away after a few moments of creaking and clunking metal. The rectangle of crushed badniks that fell on it's side with a loud clang was comical, but the moment was short lived as the stomping of another squad was heard in the hallway beyond.

"I don't know what you're doing, but we've got to get outta here," Tails said as he twisted his twin appendages and ran off. Bunnie got up and grabbed Sally by the waist, hoisting her over her shoulder. "Look Sally. Sonic can take care of himself for a while. He lived through it when this place collapsed down on him the first time. He can make it out by himself this time too." With the princess kicking and crying the whole trip, Bunnie ran all the way outside into the surrounding jungle.

Tails was splayed out on the ground with his fur somewhat singed and smoke pouring off him. Bunnie tensed up as she saw the black creature standing over him with a steaming palm and some kind of green flashing coming from his other clenched hand.

Bunnie screamed and jumped away as a blast of fire flew from the creature's hand.

She dropped Sally to the ground and flew back into the air yelling," Sally get outta here now!"

The squirrel obeyed and took to the forest even as Bunnie was blasted out of the sky. Sally ran in zigzags as thorns and bushes scraped at her. Without any weapons or particular talents to save her, Sally was feeling defenseless.

Sonic, where are you?

With her muscles burning and her lungs winded, Sally stopped for a rest against a tree. The forest was quiet all around. None of the amazing or disturbing noises they had heard earlier upon entering the jungle were to be heard. That was creepy in itself. She took out Nichole and flipped open the top. In a few keystrokes Sally could see a mini-map of the area, as well as the thermal readings all around. There was almost nothing warm for the next few metrons. This did help to alleviate some of her fears...

"Twin Sickle!"

Two glowing blades shot from the direction she had run from and cut away the top half of the tree she was standing under. Sally screamed and ran forward again, except this time she heard something else running behind her; snapping the twigs and sticks underfoot. Sally stopped and leaped into a tree overhead. One last ditch effort... The black creature came to a stop under the tree and looked in every direction. Sally gasped a bit before he looked upward into the branches where she was hiding. It must've not seen her because it yelled an animalistic cry and screamed," Nova Blast!"

A huge blast of fire erupted from it's hand and engulfed the forest ahead of it. Sally cringed back a little before she noticed it had missed. With a small gulp and some determination Sally leaped off of the branch and onto the creature's shoulders. As she rolled off she crossed her ankles and slung it's head into a tree. She stood up and brushed herself off a bit as she looked down at it. It didn't seem so menacing now that she thought about it. It's chest was armored and glowing with arcane symbols. It had a long tail protruding from it's spine with a sharp tip at the end. It's face was scaled and a dark violet instead of jet black like the rest of it's body. Sally was about to run back to the Final Egg base when a searing pain shot up her leg. The creature's needle tail had whipped up off the forest floor and jabbed her thigh. It was shallow, but that was enough. Slowly but surely a feeling of numbness grew throughout her body, finally resulting in losing her balance and seizing up.

It lifted some sort of device to it's ear and said, despite the presence of a mouth," I have neutralized the our competition, Hazard...Yes I have one with me now...Understood."

Suddenly as Sally began to lose consciousness, the fiend picked her up. As he did so she dropped Nicole, then the world went black.

Chapter 9

Sonic arrived outside to see the mess that had happened in his absence. The jungle was on fire, spewing black choking smoke into the clear blue sky. Thanks to the wind it was spreading south and would make a longer hike back to Station Square. He jumped as he heard a rustling sound in the bushes behind him.

Ready to smash a badnik he peeled away the foliage and discovered Tails. He looked bad to say the least. His fur was burned in patches here and there along with cuts and a few bruises, but it looked like someone had just beaten him instead of killing him. He'd wished he had agreed to let Tails take the Cyclone with them into the ruins. They could have avoided the traps, the badniks and even taken 'everyone' down into the core with him instead of leaving them to this. So preoccupied was he regretting his actions over his fallen partner that he didn't notice someone else's approach from behind.

"Well, y'all sure did pick a fine time to walk up outta there 'after' we got ah behinds handed to us," Bunnie rasped.

Sonic turned around and saw that Bunnie was just as bad off as Tails and was dragging her robotic arm at her side. "What happened out here?"

She shrugged with her other shoulder and winced a little before answering," Danged if ah know, suguh-hog. Something came out of the jungle and ambushed us. Popped me an' Tails right outta the air before we knew what was goin' on."

Sonic looked around the area and listened for a few seconds. Something wasn't right. Something was definitely missing. "Bunnie, where's Sal?"

"..."

Sonic bristled up and yelled, "Answer me!"

"Ah set her down over there," she sobbed, pointing to the right. "Ah just told her to run for it before whatever it was got me. Ah couldn't stop it, Sonic."

The hedgehog didn't say anything else. He ran off in the direction Bunnie said Sally had run in. He was seething now. Angry at Bunnie for letting Sally get into a situation like this. Angry at Tails for being sneaked up on like he was. Angry at himself for not being there when he was needed. Angry at Shadow for slowing him down in the core. He looked down at the ground following the trail of destruction and footprints that Sally and the mysterious attacker had left behind. Trees had been knocked down creating a more treacherous path ahead of him that was still on fire. Just at the edge he decided to stop and have a look around. The air was cool in that newly made clearing for some reason. The fire roared on almost every side yet it wasn't even uncomfortable. A certain sound caught Sonic's attention over every other sound around him. Like the static on a radio or a telephone dial tone it was monotonous and plain. It was a background sound that he hadn't heard in over two years. It didn't surprise him in the least when he finally found Nicole, the computer's screen highlighted with a program that closed a few seconds after he picked up the device. A few seconds were all his trained eyes needed.

Bunnie looked up from her place on the ground where she had collapsed when Sonic dashed away. Sonic had appeared with a gust of wind next to Tails' prone form. He knelt down and hauled him up over his shoulder. He strolled over to where Bunnie sat and held out his hand.

"It's a long way back to the hospital, so you'd better hang on tight," He said.

Bunnie grabbed a hold and they were instantly off, cutting into the trail at speeds that only a few others can match on foot like Sonic can move at. His body was on auto pilot, letting the sounds of the jungle and the rush of images pass him by on the way back to the city while his mind raced back as well. It raced back into his memory where he'd seen that exact same desktop that painted Nichole's video screen on a much larger screen. In another dimension far away he saw it in Times Square, summoned by a malevolent creature he came to know as an ally. Now he saw that he was wrong. The only creature that could summon the Gate of Damnation as an attack or on an electronic device was 'him'. And if 'he' was here on Mobius working in tandem with the Shadow wannabe who stole his digivice, then Sally was in great danger.

'You can tell Rouge that I expect to see her soon...'

'It's a Super Emerald. And my partner and I are down here to collect it.'

'Partner...?'

The thought of Shadow's supposed partner stewed in Sonic's head. He flew past the ladder that led up to the tunnel through the mountainside and with a scream from Bunnie began to run straight up the side. Something in the bushes opened it's pink eyes and looked in his direction, marveling the speed and concentration to pull off such a defiance to gravity. It's whole body soon became visible and an instant later disappeared in a great flash of light.

------------------------

"I don't trust him."

"Hazard said it didn't matter if we trusted him. We just need to use him."

"It doesn't matter. I don't trust any machine that I haven't programmed myself, let alone one that thinks for itself."

True enough, Shadow and Hazard had taken the automaton's offer seriously and put him to work on the menial tasks of a lab gofer. At the present moment he was being overseen by Whelpmon and Shadow on high balcony over a larger lab facility on ARK. In the past two hours Eggrobo had moved all of the necessary equipment from the thirteenth deck laboratory to the present area. With some disagreement from the hedgehog, Eggrobo was given command over some of the higher class hunter androids without weapons to lift things for him. There wasn't any real power involved but knowing he had someone or something roaming around the colony listening in on certain things made Shadow and his digimon friend a little apprehensive about trusting him.

"Hazard thinks that he's just a stupid machine, but I've seen what these 'badniks' can do firsthand," Shadow stated. "They learn, they scheme, they feel ,and they grow just as we do. The mind of the animal pilot within drives them alongside Dr. Robotnik's programming. He may be pre-E-100 series, but I'd wager that he's just as intelligent. Maybe even more so."

To punctuate the hedgehog's statement Eggrobo kicked one of the Hunters in the tail with his stubby leg and told him to work harder. They seemed to be covering the back of each of the containment tubes with some kind of sheet metal. Reinforcement.

"Indeed," Whelpmon said. "Not as smart as a digimon, but bright. I wonder why Dr. Eggman ever gave him up."

"Left him there in Final Egg as a sub-boss in that territory," Hazard said.

She materialized on the balcony railing and slid off to the floor twenty- some feet below. She swaggered up to the working robots and started talking to the egg- shaped android. Shadow turned away in disgust.

"Why does he bother you so?" Whelpmon asked.

"He just gets under my skin. He's too shady for my liking. Too much like Eggman. He has something going on and I aim to find out what before it's too late."

Hazard looked up at Shadow and motioned for him to come down. He leaped down and activated his Scorchers so as to glide down to the floor. Upon landing Hazard snatched up the Super Emerald from his right glove.

"Thank you," she said as she started shedding the life support device again.

"We're going to start another modification right after a mission?" Shadow said. "I saw how it wiped you out the last time. I wouldn't want you dying on me now."

Hazard smiled brightly and looked in Shadow's direction. "Oh how sweet. You're worried about me."

Shadow snorted and turned away. "I really don't care much about you. All I want from you is the computer codes for those journal entries and those experimentation plans that you've been making us use on you. Whatever Project: Lazarus is I don't want it falling into the wrong hands, even if it's just a sophisticated healing process."

"That was enlightening," Hazard pouted as she lowered into the tank again. 'Bastard.'

The stage was set. Eggrobo was at the side of the Chaos Siphon, monitoring it's power outtake. Shadow was at the controls again with his Chaos Emerald in hand, checking over Hazard's vitals. And finally Whelpmon was over at a computer console preparing another evolution program.

"Everyone in position?" Shadow yelled. Everyone gave their approval. The switch for the Siphon was pulled. The program was executed. And the modifications began...

"I fold," the blue hawk said as he threw down his cards. "That's just too rich for my blood."

"So do I," the gorilla sighed as he too dropped out of the game.

"So that only leaves me and them, hmm?" the hedgehog said confidently. "Too easy."

They were in a sweltering hot bar in the swamps of the Great Continent. On one side of the table is a hedgehog wearing a black trench coat and shades, he has a good sized pile of money and precious gems on his side. On the other side of the poker table are three other mobians, a weasel, a frog, and a lynx. Neither of them is backing down. And nobody expects to walk away a loser. Their piles are surprisingly very small compared to the hedgehog's.

"I'll up the anny, hedgehog," the frog rasped. He held up a small gem and set it down on the table upon his pile. "And raise you that."

"Hey Fly, are you insane or something," the gorilla roared. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Don't worry about it boss," the frog replied coolly. "Just relax and watch me do my thang?"

"Hit me," the lynx said as he was handed a card. He smirked when it was added to his hand.

The lighting overhead was dim and the place smelled of beer, urine, and sweat mostly because of the humidity from the swamp. It wasn't the kind of establishment you took your family to, it was the type of place that attracted the undertow of Mobius from all around. Bounty hunters, Mercenaries, thieves, drug dealers, and prostitutes plied their trade here. And the locals knew if you were looking for trouble that you came here. Tonight was no different. A gang of hoodlums had come in and started a poker game tonight and everyone who played with them was fleeced. There was no discrimination either, if you had some cash or something valuable you could play. There wasn't any guarantee you'd win however.

"Bring it down, man," the weasel said as he laid out his cards. "Full house! I guess I'll be leaving with my cash now huh?" he started reaching for the piles of his fellows just as his arms were batted away by the buck-toothed frog.

"Nuh-uh, Nack," the frog said as he laid down his own hand. "What's that hmm?" He lifted up Nack's hands and slipped out a deck of cards from his gloves that looked exactly like the same as the ones they were playing with. "Sarge, show this weasel the door."

The hefty gorilla got up from his seat and grabbed Nack by his large tail. Then he proceeded to drag him away kicking and screaming about it not being fair. Sargent Simian threw Nack out of the bar and into the swamp outside. Nack muttered something for a moment before collecting his hat and leaving.

"Before I was so rudely interrupted," the frog chuckled. "Straight flush, man."

The lynx slammed down his own cards, a cadre of Aces and proclaimed," Four of a kind, Fly." The dejected frog did a face fault and groaned while he slammed his fist again and again on the table.

The cat was about to claim his booty from all over the table before he remembered that he'd forgotten all about the hedgehog. "Oh yeah, the rich guy who's been rippin' people all night, I forgot about you...whatcha got?"

The hedgehog, for the first time all night after seeing what he'd wanted finally smiled and laid down his cards. A straight royal flush, 10 through king of hearts was all there and there wasn't anything that the lynx could do to dispute it: he'd lost. The hedgehog chuckled as he pocketed the frog's gem and started hugging the rest of the cash and jewels toward himself.

"Wait a sec," the lynx shouted as he grabbed the hedgehog's arm. "You cheated! You must have cheated to beat me!"

"How's that," the hedgehog asked after shrugging off the fool's claw.

"I stacked the damn deck myself, that's how, rodent! I'm fast enough to see the cards when I shuffle. Now you can give me half that cash and we can call it even or me and my friends here can kick your ass all over the swamp. What's it gonna be?"

The hedgehog laughed heartily and said," Who do you think you're meddling with? I could have tore you all limb from limb the second you'd walked in here and taken what I'd wanted, but I was feeling generous, so I won it instead. Now you're threatening me because compared to me you're moving in quicksand with those slow ass sleight of hand tricks you were using." He removed his shades to reveal a pair of luminous red eyes. "Maybe I will kill you for kicks..."

The lynx was taken aback by this but not scared in the least by it. The other three who'd taken part in the game were rallying around the table. Each one of them might have looked like formidable fighters, but the hedgehog was bored with this show of bravado and wished that they'd get it over with. To his right were Flying Frog and Predator Hawk. To his left were Sergeant Simian and Lightning Lynx. Once upon a time they were all an elite squad of fighters. A personal vanguard for Mammoth Mogul.

"Nobody talks that way about the Fearsome Foursome and lives," Simian said while he cracked his knuckles.

"Yeah," Hawk said. "Who do you think you are, you stupid hedgehog? Sonic?"

Oh, that is it!

The hedgehog flung his coat into the air, somersaulted over the chair and planted his feet in Lynx and Frog's faces. He sprung from that position with his hands and delivered a punch to Simian's jaw that resulted in a loud crack and a flying gorilla. Finally he ended the motion with a swift flying spin attack to bounce off of Hawk's chest and land on the table in a crouch. His coat landed in his hand and he put it back on.

He spit on the bird and yelled to the whole bar," I am not Sonic!!! Get it through your thick heads now: I am Shadow! And I am the Ultimate Life-form, greater than that blue buffoon ever will be!"

He pivoted in place and leapt into the air," CHAOS CONTROL!!!" And was gone...

In the corner a rather large cat with a frog sitting on his head lifted his glove and flicked a switch. His eyes seemed to glint with a strange intelligence that wasn't there a moment ago. A dark presence that nobody was aware of in the laid back giant. Suddenly he spoke...

"This is Big, sir. I have a positive sighting on the hedgehog again...yes he has taken the stone from those guys...I will...Big out."

The cat resumed his act of slow normalcy and petted the frog on top of his head which croaked noisily. Froggy leaped off and onto the table to look up at his not so blank friend. They had tracked Shadow here and moved very quickly from place to place in order to recapture him just like last time when he first escaped. He and Big wouldn't be making any mistakes this time. They would recover the stones and hopefully get through with their mission this time. They would recapture the Ultimate Life-form at any cost.

It was jutting out of the cliff. It glinted in the sun when you looked at it in just the right way in the day and reflected the moonlight at night. Right now it was the middle of the day, noon really. The sun was high overhead and it could be seen perfectly. It was embedded on the underside of a rock outcropping over the Marble Gardens. It was a long fall down if one fell from the smooth stone and marble that most of the Zone was known for. Of course our adventurer didn't happen to care about that right now. He didn't have to worry about falling. He rode the thermals provided by the volcanic activity at the bottom of the gorge. His red dreadlocks waved in the wind as he glided up to the outcropping and slammed his spike fists into the smooth stone. While anchored with one fist and a foothold hastily made by the other, the red individual pulled up the pouch of tools from around his waist and got down to work. He meticulously chipped away the stone from his prize bit by bit with a small pick. He set aside the pick and wiggled the thing a bit, yet it still would not give way.

After a bit more cajoling from his free hand and knuckle claws, he finally pulled it free. He put it into the pouch and climbed up the cliff. Without a bit of strain he rolled himself up onto the edge and sat down admiring the view. He was already on the mountain, just a few hours away from the Mushroom Hills. He could faintly make out the outlines of the huge fungus that grew there jutting just above the trees. Beyond that were the rivers and forests near the bustling city he'd come from that morning. It was okay to have his mother back, to know his father was alive and to know about the Brotherhood, but he didn't feel that way. Things were changing way too fast. In a few months he'd have a new sister or brother, the Technocracy was beginning to integrate into society, and the worst thing of all, the Super and Chaos Emeralds in Haven and the Zones around the island had begun fluctuating lately. Yes, the life of a Guardian is a calm and glamorous one. Often he wondered why he didn't just do what Athair had and just give up his status. Why not give up being the Guardian and just become a treasure hunter?

He looked at the green shard in his hand. It was proof of his skill in that profession, it would have been nearly impossible for anyone else to find such a rare thing and survive. It was only a simple chore he'd put off since Eggman had assaulted the island the first time during the Chaos incident and blown up the precious Master Emerald. Without the shard in his hand the Island would continue shifting course every year instead of the usual drifting flight path it keeps manually. He pulls the hat his Grandfather Hawking gave him over his eyes and mutters to himself," Because that's the easy way out, Knuckles. And whenever we take that way it causes a whole lotta headaches later." He looks out over the island that is his domain and sighs. "Why couldn't I have the hedgehog's job?"

"'Cause maybe you're too slow," someone said as they yanked down his hat over his face and snatched away his pouch.

Knuckles struggled with the hat on his face a few seconds before snatching it off and standing up. "Who's there? Show yourself! If you're one of Espio's friends I swear..."

"I'm no chameleon," the voice teased from behind his back. "But I'll give you a hint. I'm cold blooded, I'm fast, and I hate Sonic."

"Who in the-?" the echidna said as he turned around. He didn't see anything on that cliff, but he felt it. As his training suggested he felt out the area he was in. He shut everything out of his mind for a second. No howling wind from the canyon, no crickets, no birds, nothing but the sound of a heartbeat. The sound of breathing...to the left! He lashed out with his hand and snatched away his pouch again.

"Hmph!" the phantom said as she slowly became visible. Her eyes first, then the face, the body, the arms, and the tail. She was orange except around the face and claws. Knuckles was kind of puzzled though, chameleons usually had horns and never had hair like the kind she had. Dragons? Maybe... "Not going to cooperate, huh?"

Knux snorted. "I really don't have the time to play, alright? I just got finished getting this shard and I've got to fuse it back with the Master Emerald."

The lizard turned her back for a moment and said," Who said I was playing around?" Suddenly the air cracked as her tail cracked like a whip and cut in front of the guardian's chest. The pouch was cut in half and its tools as well as the Master shard fell out of the pouch onto the ground.

Knuckles yelped and then jumped on top of the shard, trying to scoop it up and fly away. Why deal with a fight you don't need when your enemy can't follow you? He snatched up the gem and then back-flipped off the cliff. After shoving the shard into his glove he spread his arms wide and began gliding on the warm thermals provided by the Zone.

Heh, well that was easy, Knuckles thought as he leveled out. I wonder who the hell that was anyway?

"Chaos Control!"

Knuckles did a double take as he saw the lizard appeared in the air right in front of him. He suddenly banked to the right. "What the fu-Argh!"

She smacked him in the back of the head as she swept in front of him. The lizard was gliding along in front of him on the same sort of hover skates that Shadow had used. "You've gotta do better than that, echidna. Now why don't you just land so we can settle this fairly? Lets say you give me the gem or I can take it and throw you in a volcano, huh." This person's cheerfully evil disposition made Knuckles' stomach churn. He swept to the left and dived down into the ruins of the Zone. Hazard lifted her eyebrow and began a slow descent into the broken temples and structures of civilizations long past. As she landed the size of the place began to expand more and more. As she touched the ground it started to shake violently. The buildings began to shift a bit and some of the taller ones sunk into the ground as others rose up to reveal incredible halls of smooth rock.

She found herself constantly looking over her shoulder as she wandered through the shifted maze of tunnels and arches. This place was strangely disturbing...ugh! More fear? To alleviate the thought that she was a coward, Hazard started running toward the open doorway of one of the temples. Just as she walked inside a huge column shut the entrance behind her. All light was shut off from the room for a few moments before-

Fwoomph! Fwoomph!

Two bonfires on either side of the room lit simultaneously and revealed the horror that was to come. It was a beast. A hulking insect made of green shining metal. It had six arms, each one ending in a hand of picks, needles, and drills. It's feet consisted of thick treads, half rusted as though never used until now. Knuckles stepped into the light on top of the resurrected badnik's head, arms crossed with a devious smile on his face and his eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat.

"Well, well, well," Knuckles gloated. "Aren't we the high and mighty conqueror, falling for an obvious trap. Why do you think I shifted the place around, anyway? Thinking I was gonna run away?" Knux threw back his head and cackled for a moment before he stumbled upon a realization. It really was funny to have your opponent at your mercy. So all those stupid villains he'd been beating the living tar out of for all those years did have something to laugh at when they unveiled some insipid deathtrap meant for him. Maybe now he'd steal one of their lines. "Do you have any last words? Even if they are 'Chaos Control' that'll mean you're outta my hair and away from my emerald."

Hazard fixed a steely glare on the cocky guardian and started strolling toward the immense insect robot.

"Have it your way," Knuckles said as he pressed a few switches on the machine's remote.

The robot charged forward and swung it's arms wildly. Each one struck the rock with pinpoint accuracy, each time in the area where Hazard's head was a split- second beforehand. The orange blur never stopped moving around the chamber, clinging to walls and ceilings in order to avoid the rapidly moving limbs. As she entered the light again Knuckles could see that there was a surprisingly bored look on her face.

Oh well, Hazard thought as she rounded the slow moving badnik once again. Let's end this, I've got better things to do...don't I?

One arm cracked through the air right in front of Hazard as she leapt up and tucked herself into a ball. At the speed she was running all it took was for her to shift her momentum off her tail and into her body and deliver a dash attack to the arm. As she rebounded off the entire machine shook in the normal badnik way. This process was repeated nine more times with each of the arms and a few rebounds on the body when Knux decided to try and run the emerald thief over. When all was said and done the arms hung on the sides limply, the motors and engines within the robot ran sluggishly, and the main computer had crashed. Knuckles clapped in appreciation of the feat exhibited before him.

"Very cool," the guardian said as he crushed the control. "But..."

He leapt off of the robot and right in Hazard's face. He smirked a second, showing off his glowing canines, just before belting her one across the jaw. She flew across the chamber from the blow and smashed into the side of the urn with the bonfire in it. Stars danced over her eyes as red and white blurs pummeled her chest. Finally the strange apparition lifted her off the ground and held her up by her shirt.

"How about we haul you out to the Echidnapolis jail for interfering in a guardian's duty to his people," Knuckles chuckled. "Or maybe I should leave you here to think about why you'd do something like this. It was some good exercise for me though, haven't given a beat down like this to somebody in ages."

Hazard tilted her head to the side and whispered something Knuckles couldn't hear precisely.

Knux pulled her closer and said," Wha-?

"Ee...haa...pii...er."

"Say what?"

Hazard grabbed Knux by the throat and threw him into the air. She opened her mouth wide and a plume of fire enveloped the red echidna just as he hit the ground.

"I said,' Eat hot piping fire!'," Hazard said as she wiped the blood from her mouth. She walked over to Knuckle's smoking body and snatched up the shard, a second later she was gone in a flash of light.

Knuckles finally got the strength to stand up and began to stumble his way out of the cave. "Nobody's ever gonna believe this." He thought about what Julie-su and the rest of the Chaotix would think if he'd told them he'd gotten his ass kicked on his own turf. "...Even if I did want to tell them..."

Chapter 10

"---Uh-huh...No, no, no I'm not doubtin' ya Knux...okay, I'll see ya later. Peace, man."

The blue hedgehog hung up the phone and looked out the window. It was night and it was raining again. Every time he came to Station Square it rained for some reason and with that rain came some kind of misfortune. Chaos, Shadow...What the hell? Why not just go and find him? He'd bumped into him in the core by mistake, he'd probably still be in the area.

Oh come on. He's just about as fast as you are. Even if he didn't have Chaos Control he could be in and out of the city in two minutes.

Sonic sighed as he looked back on the last two days. Bunnie's limbs still had a while to go before the repairs were complete. Tails' burns weren't done healing enough for him to start moving around again. And what's worse, he didn't know how to break it to the King that Sally was missing.

'You can tell Rouge that I expect to see her soon...'

Sonic shifted in his chair and looked out on the dark skyline of Station Square. It wasn't doing him any good to sit here on his ass looking out of the window for a solution that wouldn't come by him just sitting there. Sonic stood up and a second later the nurses at the main desk on that floor had to deal with the flying papers strewn about by the sudden wind.

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The doorbell rang for what must have been the umpteenth time in the past two minutes. The occupant of the condo was getting a bit annoyed with her unwelcome visitors and got up to got deal with them. It was a mystery who'd come out there this time of night.

Finally she opened the door. "I don't know what it is you're selling and I don't care. Just get out of here—"

The pest wasn't the usual salesman or the postal worker, or even one of the fools from the office job she was working at who insisted upon her taking her work home. It was two wet people standing in the doorway being soaked by the rain. A short looking lizard girl who was shivering from the biting cold of the storm. And standing next to her with his arm draped over her shoulder was somebody the white bat thought she would only see as a figment of her imagination.

The black and red streaked hedgehog narrowed his eyes and said," Well aren't you going to let us in? It's cold as hell out here."

And that in itself was just too much. Rouge's eyes rolled up in the back of her head and she blacked out.

"That was pathetic," Hazard said as she stepped over the unconscious bat and inside. Shadow followed behind her with Rouge in hand.

"Weird place," Shadow said as he sat back into the leather sofa. Rouge's place reflected her personality: flashy, exuberant, independent, dark, and most importantly of all it was expensive. On the coffee table were the usual oddities one like Rouge would have and want to show off to others. A Faberge egg that must have been a small fortune. There were some issues of Precious Stones Monthly, the one on top had a picture of Knuckles the Echidna holding a Chaos Emerald. A remote control for the big screen TV situated in front of the couch. The rest of the living room was cozy enough, nice furniture and carpet, but the hot pink walls really crept Hazard out.

In one of the corners was a familiar looking sculpture that caught Shadow's eye. It was made from red clay. A nice little project. She even got the quills to look right, flared out from his back and head. There was something strange about it, something not quite right that he couldn't put his finger on. "In case you're wondering, Shadow, he's smiling," Rouge said, rubbing her head. "I never thought I'd ever get you to model for it though the way it is. You're way too serious for that."

Indeed, it was a clay representation of the black hedgehog smiling in a thumbs-up pose. If he hadn't known better he'd have sworn it were...naw. They couldn't have looked that alike... could they? He'd never really given it much thought. He hadn't had time to find anything fun to do, anything the slightest bit enjoyable aside from the card game a few days ago.

"Yes, I noticed," Shadow mused. "I see you've been doing well in the past year and a half. You quit working for the government?"

She sat down on the couch and lifted her feet up onto the table, dusting off the way oversized nightshirt she was wearing. "Got way too dangerous. I'm a security consultant now. Who better to make the security systems than somebody who slips through them all the time?" She raised an eyebrow. "Where's your friend at?"

"Aren't you going to at least ask me how I'm still alive," the black hedgehog asked, a bit disappointed. "Sonic asked when I met up with him. Did he spread the word to you already?"

"I haven't spoken to Sonic or Knuckles since the last day we saw you. Knuckles just pissed me off the more and more I saw him. And Sonic...he reminded me too much of you."

Shadow blinked a few times at hearing that. "Say what?"

"Oh come on, Shadow. You rescued me from something akin to a nuclear explosion and you expect me to think you're dead from falling through the atmosphere." She looked up at him with tear streaked eyes. "It wasn't a question of 'if' you'd turn up, but 'when'."

There came a odd sound of clanging from one of the rooms on the second floor and some cursing. "Okay, I'll bite. Where've you been and who's the girl going through my stuff? If she digs deep enough she'll find a pleasant little surprise."

Snap!

"Oh goddammit!!!"

Shadow sighed. "I guess that would be it. She's extremely stubborn when she thinks she's got a lead on something. So it looks like I've got some time to tell you the whole story."

For the next half hour Shadow reminisced with his old ally, and dare I say friend, about the last year and what he'd been doing with himself, Hazard, and what she had to do with it. Suffice to say, Rouge's life had been boring and going downhill since the ARK incident when she threw in her resignation with her subsidiary of GUN and went into business for herself. Their story swapping was interrupted only by the sudden cursing, screaming, and yelling that was coming from up the stairs each time Hazard was snapped by a rat trap or shocked with a remote taser. Booby traps left for people who looked where they weren't supposed to...

"—So that's pretty much it," Rouge said, finishing up. "I work as a nine-to- fiver telling morons how to protect themselves from thieves only half as good as me. Filing reports and rejecting every guy who approaches me who works with me. All losers with no lives."

"And what would you prefer," Shadow yawned. "A suave rich jewel collector who travels the world and who would drop you fast as hell for the next pretty thing that ran past? I never have and possibly never will understand you."

"You're not meant to, Shadow. Besides, I like survivors. Guys who pursue their goals to the ends of Mobius and back. A guy who likes it when somebody throws them a curve. Someone who looks for trouble and points at it with a sharp stick. Somebody with more than nine lives who doesn't know when to give up." She edges closer down the couch toward him. "Someone who can't be beaten, who doesn't have much time for games and gets straight to the point." She snuggles up to him and looks up into his eyes. "Somebody like ---"

"Shadow!" Hazard whined as she slid down the stairs. "I still can't find it. Can you go check for me? It's like a needle in a haystack with all that ugly jewelry up there."

"She didn't just say what I think she said, did she?" Rouge fumed through gritted fangs. "Whose gems are you calling ugly?!"

Shadow quickly got up off the couch and started on up the stairs muttering to himself. "Lazy SOB, can't even use the emerald right to find the stupid thing. I swear..."

This of course left Hazard alone with the buxom bat. Not precisely the best thing in the world.

"Could you have come at a more annoying time," Rouge asked the orange creature stretching on the staircase.

"Did I miss anything," Hazard said. "I wouldn't want my partner getting too chummy with everyone else now would I? I wouldn't want him giving away my secrets now. Or revealing our plans, hmm?"

"Now I'm the one that missed something. I was under the impression that you were just his partner...or are you trying to be something more? Listen, hon, you're just not his type."

"What exactly is his type, then, bat-girl? I'm sure I've spent a lot more time with him than you have and I think I know what he's like."

"Manic-depressive, moody, blank, delusional, brave, romantic, mysterious, and very dependable from that weird devotion he had to that Maria he liked to speak of so much."

Hazard narrowed her eyes. "Maria?"

"Yeah. An old friend from a long time ago...I think his only friend." She looked down at the floor then over at Hazard. "He trusts you. I can see that from the way he protects you, sheltering you. Like there's something special about you."

"What about you? He apparently has some kind of affection for you too from the way you two were sitting when I came back down here. He might just leave the mission up to me and those other mechanized dolts back at HQ and stay here with you."

Rouge chuckled to herself at the idea. "No, girl. That just wouldn't be him. He respects me, sure. I can be a proven threat to him as well as an ally, so at least he knows where he stands with me. A year ago I was a co-worker, Dr. Robotnik was a maniacal accessory, and Sonic was his Ultimate rival. Now, I suppose each one of us has changed. I'm practically out of the adventuring gig. Sonic...if I hadn't heard it from him I'd have thought the blue moron and his friend were dead by now. And don't even get me started on Knuckles." She snorted and looked around the room. "I suppose I should get outta the rut, huh? Start hunting jewels again, maybe. Scam a couple of those banks that are hiring me next week, heh. But first, here," She started fiddling around her foot and handed the strange ring to Hazard. "I guess I don't need it to remember him as long as I know he's alive."

"Wha-?"

"You'd get the battle of your life out of me, girl. And from what I'm seeing at the moment there's already a 'flat-line' for any sort of competition for that hedgehog's heart," Rouge said batting her eyes in her direction. Hazard looked down at herself at bit self-consciously thinking about that stinging comment before scuttling off without a word. As Hazard slumped away, doubting herself and, for the first time giving a damn about her appearance, Rouge snatched up the remote and flipped on the tube.

Cute kid, she thought. A bit too sensitive, though.

Shadow walked down the stairs and then settled himself down next to Rouge. "You didn't have to start putting ideas in her head, you know," he whispered in her ear. "She actually thinks she's manipulating me."

Rouge flicked a few stations before just settling on a news network. "She's under the impression that you and I...well you know. And there's obviously some attraction there."

"On whose side?"

Rouge smirked. "You guys sticking around or did you just come here for that bracelet and to mess with the kid's mind? I have work tomorrow, ya know."

"Don't we all...Hazard! Lets go!"

Hazard all but rushed out of her corner once she figured out they were leaving. With her stomach twisting in knots she grabbed up her partner and started dragging him towards the door. As they left Hazard stuck out her tongue at Rouge and pulled at her eyelid with her talon on her left eye. (I've seen that gesture so many times and I just assumed it was an insult.)

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Sonic dashed across the park as he neared Rouge's home. The lights were out, but there was a whole lot of noise in the area. Sonic easily avoided the tape and the cops barricading the scene and rushed up to the doorway. The heavy wooden door had been bent inwards and lay on the floor in splinters. All of the windows in the two-story condo were shattered and broken. There were impact marks all over the place, mostly with scorch marks. A battle had gone on here, that much was obvious to even him.

Suddenly the paramedics shuffled past the dazed hedgehog and moved their way inside. A few minutes later they were rushing out with somebody on the stretcher. It was Rouge. Her right eye was blackened, one of her shoulders was dislocated, numerous bruises covered her arms and legs, and laser burns were on her wings. Sonic could still smell the smoke pouring off of them. Before Sonic could get to ask any questions about the situation, they had piled into the ambulance and begun to speed off. Not that he couldn't catch up in a hot second, he just wanted to know why the hell another of his friends was in the hospital.

He zipped inside to start searching for clue to a culprit to the crime. The inside was just about as messed up as the out. The place was in shambles. The walls were scorched and cracked with concussion craters. The carpet was all but burned in ten places. The couch was crushed and it's filling strewn all over the room. There was blood staining the floor and even on one of the walls. A sculpture that was unidentifiable was shattered in the corner. It wouldn't have gotten any attention if something in it's remains hadn't caught the blue hedgehog's swift eyes. Upon further inspection he found a small hook embedded in a piece of stone. It was a fishing hook...Who did he know of strong enough to shunt a fishing hook through a statue? He eliminated that possibility the second it occurred. It was just too farfetched.

Before being forced to leave by the police, Sonic tripped in a rather large and deep puddle out front in the garden. He got up and started wringing water out of his quills. He looked down at the huge thing. It was oddly shaped, really deep in the middle, narrow horizontally, and very broad in the front and back. If he didn't know better he'd of sworn it was a—

"Oh, holy shit!" Sonic yelled as he sped off at Mach 2 in search of the huge footed individual who beat Rouge the bat, treasure hunter and expert kick-boxer, nearly to death.

____________________________________________________________________________ __

They have no idea he's there. He's invisible to the morons. He crouching down behind a wall, for all the good it'll do his tall ass. They walked along with a portable scanner in hand and that ridiculous ring that they'd gotten from the Rogue agent he'd beaten their location out of. It wasn't that hard to catch their scents once he'd been led on the right trail. He raised his weapon from his right and aimed it at the light pole they were walking under. With some recoil from the gun that shook his arm, a beam lanced out and all but turned the pole into blackened slag. He rushed from his hiding place behind the wall and lunged into the smoke grabbing at the first thing he saw. He held someone by the neck and lifted them off the ground.

The smoke cleared away and a disoriented Shadow shook the cobwebs from his head as he lifted himself off the ground and assessed the situation. A few feet away their large attacker stood with Hazard held in a headlock. His massive furred arms suggested he could snap her head off in an instant. He carried almost no weapons aside from a small taser on his waist and a fishing pole. He didn't seem the least bit of a threat, he was shaking for some reason, but then again, where had that blast come from?

Shadow grasped the small scanner in hand as it read out all of the data contained within. As he hastily read, it sped off all of data contained on his bracelet's magnetic strip lining the inside. Battle plans, Energy signatures, personal messages, and hundreds of access codes. This was it, the chance to finally do the impossible. It was all within his grasp and all Shadow had to do was take it and leave.

...Leave Hazard to die at the hands of this large assassin. He wasn't listening to anything at the moment. Shutting out the threats on his partner's life from the huge cat, shutting out the half choked pleas, the sound of a frog croaking? All that mattered was this decision, let one die for the needs of others, like he had done a year and a half ago. Or he could save her ungrateful, controlling ass, and possibly end up dead later. He had what he wanted...Why not just run?

He concentrated his thoughts on the energy within his spirit and mind. Hazard's eyes began to tear up, unbelievably she hadn't foreseen this, hadn't thought her predecessor could be more heartless than her. His body began to flare with an unseen source of light and his quills stood out from all over his body. The choice was made...

His shoes let loose with a whistling sound and a plume of flame. Shadow leapt from the ground and immediately began to spin in the air. He took off from that point and began pummeling the huge cat in every conceivable place around his body. The black hedgehog slammed into the cat's arms and then into the small of his back, from there he flew on and cracked him on the head with a final overhead smash. When all was said and done the cat fell over on his belly. Shadow hopped on top of his prize and did a victory dance. As he was gyrating himself to victory music heard only by him, he sweatdropped upon remembering the reason why he did a light speed combo in the first place.

____________________________________________________________________________ __

Sonic rounded the hill just as he heard the crash. He hopped a small fence and came upon another depraved scene. Big had already struck again. The cat was splayed out on the ground with Froggy next to him. A light pole looked to have been damaged in the battle with whoever he had been hunting. The blue blur jumped a little when he heard a rustling sound beside the bench next to him in the bushes. Slowly and carefully, Sonic parted the hedges.

"What the-? Oh, it's just you," a surprised Shadow said. "Are you following me or something? Do you have any idea what kind of night I've had?"

"Where you the one Big was hunting," Sonic asked bluntly.

Shadow thought for a second, checking the pulse of the stunned person lying in front of him. "So that was the name of that insane feline. Suits a creature like him," Shadow muttered. "Yes, he was after me, but for what I don't know. All I know is that I had to dispatch him before he could do any more damage to my partner, here."

Sonic leaned a little over him to get a good look at his black doppelganger's friend. "You do know that he attacked Rouge first, right? She'll be alright, but I'm not sure why he'd go crazy and hurt somebody like that."

Shadow seemed to stiffen a bit after hearing that. "Rouge is a professional...she should know how to take care of herself."

"Taking care of yourself usually doesn't mean fighting off unprovoked attacks by some half ton cat," Sonic snapped. "Or did I think wrong when I assumed that you an' Rouge were pals?"

"You haven't got any right to judge me, blue hedgehog. Don't go making false assumptions because you have no idea what's going on. What I'm doing is much bigger than you and it's none of your business! You have a problem with that?" Sonic didn't answer, he simply stood there staring daggers into his not-so- formal-rival's back.

"Whas goin' on?" Somebody said as they came around. "What the hell happened?"

Hazard finally decided to get up and stretch out the cramps from being crushed under that humongous cat. She did a double take as she saw that Sonic was standing over her along with Shadow. She slowly backed away from the blue hedgehog and ultimately fell back on her behind.

"Do I know you," Sonic said wistfully, breaking his gaze away from the staring contest that he and Shadow were engrossed in.

"N-no, never seen you a day in my life," Hazard lied in her most convincing and unfamiliar sweet voice. She then shoved the Chaos Digivice into her pocket instead of letting it hang from her arm. "I'm...uh...Helene, Helene the dragon. Expert Chaos Emerald hunter at your service."

"I thought you said your name was Haz—mmf," Shadow managed to say before Hazard covered his mouth with her own in a forced passionate kiss. "Mff mmm mmmm mm!!"

'I don't believe he's making me drop down this far so I can complete the mission.' She thought as she forced the flailing hedgehog in her grasp closer. 'He doesn't have a clue as to who I am does he? I'd better keep it that way if I intend to keep my head on my shoulders. Assuming a certain hedgehog doesn't rat me out.'

"Heh, heh, heh, I guess you're Sonic, huh?" Hazard said gripping Shadow from around the neck too tightly for him to talk and almost to breathe. "My Shadow has actually raved for hours and hours about the fights you guys had. I was beginning to think you were too good to be true. Faster than the wind. Stronger than a bear. Smart as a whip. He would go on and on about you."

"Well I am that damn good," Sonic said, letting his ego spread out a bit more.

"And I bet you wouldn't mind getting a few answers from that big, mean cat my black blur just got done with, hmm?" Hazard finally let go of the asphyxiating black hedgehog and patted him on the head. "Pleeaassee...He won't talk to us, since we're his targets, but maybe he'd spill for you. C'mon, it would mean a lot to me." Hazard poured it on with the huge, watering, sorrow-filled pink eyes.

Sonic finally bent to her will with a," Fine, fine already I'll find out for ya. Just don't look at me like that, man."

As Sonic walked away, Hazard smacked Shadow in the back of the head and hissed," Let's go! We don't have all day. Chaos Control, already!"

Shadow stumbled to his feet and after spitting on the ground, grabbed Hazard by the arm. They both faded out of existence with the hoarse mutterings of two words.

____________________________________________________________________________ __

"Say what?" An outraged Sonic yelled. "You're a what?!"

Big covered his large ears and said," Jeez, ya don't hafta be so loud. I'm a GUN agent, Sonic. They saw I was good at trackin' folks, so they made me a deal an' hired me to track down Shadow again."

"...Again?" That's when Sonic remembered it. He was running along down the hill in Station Square west being chased by that super-truck and just as he'd made a last turn, he saw that Big was running alongside him for a second. Another time was at Robotnik's base out in the desert. While he was running in the pyramid he saw Big clinging to a fence. Another at Prison Island out in the shipyard, he was fishing. "Hold the phone...How did you keep up with us, though? There's no way you could have...damn." Sonic the remembered a crackling mutter that came over the line from Knuckles when they were in the core back on ARK:

'Okay I've drained the water and...'crackle' is that B'shh'?'

'Knuckles, are you alright?'

'Uh, yeah Doc. Tell Sonic to go on...What the hell would he be doing 'kshh!''

"It's um, classified," Big said matter-of-factly. "Besides this is none of your business, Sonic, its my job."

"It is my business, Big. Something is going on back at ARK and I have to go find out what. What would a guy like you need from GUN anyway, man? I thought you didn't need money or anything."

Big turned his back on the hedgehog and picked up Froggy. "Look, I'm sorry Sonic, but they saved the ruins by Station Square from bein' dug up. They kept the city from sendin' in those awful archaeologists to cut through the forest and start messin' up the ruins. When that's done they'll run outta money and leave it a mess." He seemed a bit distressed by the whole situation, a quiet fury was in that seemingly slow-witted giant. "They just won't give me the papers so that I can keep the valley clean myself." He chuckled. "If I don' show up at the court, they can't scam anyone."

"You got a point," Sonic said. "What do you know about that chick that was with him though?"

Big looked puzzled for a moment and looked at his hands.

"What is it?"

He turned his palms toward Sonic so that he could see the damage. Something had burned through his tough brown leather gloves and singed his fur and skin on his palms. It must have hurt horribly. A pain Sonic couldn't forget no matter how hard he tried. "They started to burn when I touched that girl. It started on my arms and went an' spread down to my hands," the huge cat said as he picked something off his belt and started to apply it to his hands.

"I know the feeling. C'mon I have a plan that'll solve all of our problems at the same time. Hopefully nobody but the guys I'm thinking about should get hurt...I hope."

____________________________________________________________________________ __

"You're crazy," Hazard said from inside of the tank. "You're both utterly, pitifully, extremely insane! You want me to do what to get a stupid Precious-Stone?"

Eggrobo linked up his optical modem with the machine in front of him and began filling the air in the tank with narcotics. "We need you to go to sleep for a while. It's the only way we can get it from whatever strange subliminal world it resides in. It doesn't really exists, it's just a temporal/psionic signal that most of you organisms exist on in the phase of nocturnal regeneration cycle. When you mentally image a repressed desire or skewed memory it becomes easy to try and seek out the stone, without the narcotic agents being fed intravenously into the chamber you wouldn't have much time to locate the stone on that plane of nonexistent reality and allow us to find it using methods which utilize the energies of the Ancient Walker theorem equation that my former master had in his database. Do you comprehend all of this or shall I digress further?"

Both Shadow, Hazard, and Whelpmon sweat-dropped.

The robot seemed to slump forward a bit as his patience subroutines kicked in. "Listen closely this time: The stone is said to exist in your dreams, on a level of REM sleep that is in sync with the wavelength of the red Chaos Emerald to be exact. Since you have merged with the emerald itself like Shadow has to the green you can be the one to go to sleep, enter the background dream realm in which the stone hides itself, find it ,and awaken with it merged within you. I will use the drugs to keep you under until I see fit to bring you back—"

"Or I see fit," Shadow said as he held up a portable laser at the portly badnik. "To destroy you if you try anything sly."

Hazard started to sway a bit. "But why can't Shadow or Whelpmon do it?"

"Hyperactive immune system and metabolism; the drugs don't work on us," Shadow boasted. If the light headedness and blurring vision hadn't started kicking in, Hazard would have saw him smirk. "Ultimately perfect... Just think of it, though, near invincibility. Enhanced strength and speed and all you have to do is take a --"

"NAPP!!" (I think that's the high trilling sound that a Nightopian makes)

Hazard jumped as she noticed the sudden change in environment. It was a plain of rolling hills covered in lush green grass. The sky in front of her was a beautiful blue, yet she couldn't find the sun. She looked up and saw that the sky was just a ceiling hundreds of stories overhead. A ceiling of green fields. Okay...that was certainly something strange. Hazard took off at a sprint and looked out over the rest of the gleaming land. It was...perfect. The rivers were crystal clean and blue. Towers that linked the 'ceiling' with the earth were all over the place mostly linked with large fences.

As she skated past small cute angelic creatures waved at her, despite herself she waved back at them and smiled. She had this strange feeling that she was close. It nagged at her that the further she went in the more and more she didn't want to leave. She breathed in that extraordinarily clean air and let her 'freakish' golden hair fly in the wind.

I can't do that, I'll look stupid, Hazard thought as she mentally laughed at herself.

A cliff was coming up ahead. The river she was skating by made a waterfall there that traveled down and winded around a hill before falling upward onto the 'ceiling'. The effect was an intersecting rainbow of five different shades of purple, green, blue, red, yellow, and orange. She smirked deviously and increased her speed.

Oh, what the hell!!

She leapt from the cliff's edge and did a triple spin in midair while flipping herself vertically in a 540. Just as she span the last few times and neared the end of the arc she went through the rainbow. Hazard landed in the shallow waters on the shore opposite from the cliff and looked back at the stunt she'd just pulled. It was so far up, yet at the time it didn't feel scary at all...it was in fact quite exciting.

She leisurely enjoyed the strange zone for about a half hour more, exploring every nook and cranny she could go to, swimming in the river au natural, playing with the strange angelic creatures who inhabited this world, playing hide and seek, even climbing the towers until she was walking on the 'ceiling'. This last feat was met with some partial failure when she fell for at least a minute and a half, screaming all the way down. When she impacted on the ground it cushioned her fall like a huge pillow, sinking her in and then pushing her back up like a mattress. Confused for a second, the orange creature looked up and down and then around at the angels sitting around her. As if some kind of strange signal was given, all of them began to laugh at the same time. It was mass hysteria for a few minutes, the whole Zone seemed to laugh alongside all of them making the joyous echoing sound of happiness fill the place.

When it came time to eat, Hazard found that the rocks were in fact rock candy. Taste had apparently been repaired with the enhancements of the Power Stone, because Hazard gorged herself on the sweets provided by the valley. The grass tasted like cotton candy, the tree leaves like sour balls, and even the colored water around the rainbow tasted great. Different flavored soda was all it was.

When Hazard had her fill she wished those strange angels a happy goodbye and walked off toward the Precious Stone. The pulsing began to become more and more urgent the faster she moved. As it got almost to much for her to feel she came upon a large hill, a small mountain really. On the top was a temple or something. As she climbed up she heard somebody singing a melodious little tune she couldn't help but whistle along with. His voice was alto and sort of low, yet he didn't need a microphone. His song blotted out all other sounds around him.

"In the night, dream delight, I want to see you standing there," he sang. "In the night, dream delight, you are the one that really cares... Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you standing there, I'm Nights. Who are you?"

She was awestruck by the strange Nights. He had on a mime or a jester's outfit. It was purple pants combined with a white overly large sleeved shirt, over that was a violet vest. On his head was a strange hat that was pronged like two big ears or horns, it was striped with barely visible violet and slightly darker violet bands. His eyes were black and darker than the blackest night, they were giving off their own blue tinged light. In the middle of his chest was imbedded a light red jewel. To her he was the very definition of perfection in a male.

"I-I-I...Haz-um...Pr-precious S-St-stone...I came f-for th-the..."Hazard stammered.

"Well 'Haz-um' I'd be more than willing to give you one, so long as you come back with that," Nights said as he pointed his free floating right hand over her shoulder. And right there behind her was some sort of red glowing energy sphere that pulsed twice every second: in time with her heartbeat.

"Sure," Hazard squeaked, blushing brightly.

"Good, I really do hope to see you again, a dreamer like you is extremely rare, Hazard," Nights said as he waved his hand in indistinct flashy movements and finally extending it out to Hazard. "Take my hand..."

Hazard hesitated for a second before stretching out her right talon to him. He took it and pulled her off her feet and into the Ideya palace with him. He spun around with her twice before pulling them both together and finally to merge. Hazard now wearing Nights like a special suit flew out of the palace and into the air. She flew like a maniac, swerving trees and mountains in her wake just in the nick of time. It was incredible. She increased the speed and flew up finally to the sun. That golden disk of light beckoned to her...

Hazard...

Hazard...

She shot up into the sky towards it's warm presence with her arms wide open to embrace it...

'Hazard...'

"Hazard...?"

So warm...

Suddenly she felt someone else's arms around her torso. She grasped at spiny hair and warm fur and petted down a back toward a tail...? Hazard opened her eyes and saw red. In the red she saw uncertainty and a sort of longing. She'd let the hedgehog hold her like this for a little while longer, she was still on that strange cloud nine that NiGHTS had put her on and for some reason it felt good to be near him. A few moments longer...then she'd slug him for waking her up.

Chapter 11

The doctors were finally pulling the bandages and splints off of Tails' twin appendages. It didn't look too bad, the fur beneath had grown back since Sonic had first found him facedown in the jungle. The ever present ache or pain was gone thanks to the regenerators the hospital used. Tails put his sneakers on and walked outside where his friends were waiting. Bunnie's left arm was still a bit shaky, but the techs had assured them that it would be like that until the new circuitry would begin to adapt to how she moved. The old circuits that regulated nerve impulses that moved the arm had been damaged by the fire and were irreparable.

Tails jumped when he noticed the hulk of muscle and fur standing next to Sonic. "W- what's Big doing here Sonic?" Tails exclaimed. He'd nearly been crushed under that huge cat when he caught the frog who'd swallowed a Chaos Emerald.

"I have a little plan for getting aboard ARK that'll make everyone happy, but I'll need his help," Sonic said.

"What about Sally," Bunnie asked.

"I have an idea who took her and my C.D. But in order for us to make sure, we're gonna have to go up there and figure it out." Sonic clenched his teeth a little as he thought of what he'd have to do. "We might even have to press Shadow for the answers we need. But he chose his side when all of this started."

* * * Sergeant Hall looked out on the compound and then turned back to his duties. The spaceport was under constant surveillance these days, especially with the destruction of one of GUN's premier detention facilities. He swiveled in his chair in the top of his lookout tower. Hall thought of why he was here and not at home with his friends, enjoying the game on TV tonight. Just because some morons out west couldn't keep tabs on their own base and get wiped out wasn't his problem. But he guessed that the brass thought it was and assigned extra security measures to protect the nation from the 'terrorist threat of Project: Shadow'. They certainly weren't taking any chances alright. Five extra quivering bodies and a couple dozen more Beetle drones added to the port for security.

Oh yeah, the hedgehog's gonna laugh himself stupid at the feeble defenses we've got here and then we'll nail him while he's on the ground holdin' his sides, Hall thought sarcastically as he unscrewed a whiskey container and took a swig. Paranoid morons back at command. Need to drop the public image crap and start looking harder for the black bastard.

He got back to his station by the flood light and was met with a metal fist. Lt. Hall wouldn't have to worry about his military career much longer when they dishonorably discharged him the next day.

Bunnie hopped to the next tower fifty feet away and cracked the other sentry from behind, then jumped down to the gate where her friends were waiting. The chain link fence was at least twenty feet high and electrified, beyond that was a five foot thick wall of cement with barbed wire lining the top. Child's play. Sonic was already standing on top of the wall looking down on the thirty acre field of ships and warehouses. There weren't any lights on except in the largest building situated near the launch pad, and only on the first floor at that. The struts for the space shuttle were together and sitting off to the side. Everything was ready.

A whistle pierced the air and Big started through the front gates with his frog sitting on his head. At the security point the officers were checking a his clearance as two figures flitted overhead and up to the warehouse. The enormous cat's clearance was accepted and he walked through to one of the nearby buildings. He waddled up the stairs and into the control center, where Tails was jumping from screen to screen. He moved to the far left end of the room and began tapping commands into the ancient DOS operated systems. He then leapt from where he was and flew at Big. They seemed to struggle for a second before Tails jumped away, knocking he large cat onto his back. Seemingly unconscious.

At least, that's what the security cameras saw.

For the next two hours a phony transmission would be played for the security systems. The place would appear just to looked normal after the staged fight, but in reality Tails had taken Big's identification card and slipped out the second that the cat fell. When the tape started playing, Big got up and walked over to one of the consoles, opening up the bay doors for the shuttle with his security codes. Soon enough the shuttle was T-minus thirty seconds and counting from ARK. Big took his place on the floor and pretended to be unconscious just as security troops arrived to help.

When the shadow play was over, Big was on his way back to the Mystic Jungle with a discharge from GUN and a permanent ban on any sort of archaeological dig in the area. He'd fulfilled his part of the bargain and GUN had begrudgingly done theirs, losing their best tracker in the process. Sonic and co. of course got a way up to ARK. =====================================================================

"Are you almost done down there?"

"Nearly..."

"Well hurry up already, the planet's in view. I don't want to wait another month to get another chance like this again."

"I shall be up in a minute, just as soon as the experiment is done."

"We've only got a weeklong window and we don't know where or, if what you say is true, when the Stones might be. So we have to start now."

"...I shall be ready to embark in two hours. Make the decision on who is going by then."

Eggrobo used his optic modem to finally upload all of the data from the day's experiment into his databanks. He clicked off the lights and paid the poor creature in the soundproofed tube no more attention. As soon as he exits the room a luminescent flash breaks in the darkness. The twin glimmers of light dart over to the tank and then to the papers and folders strewn about the consoles. Research materials. In plain script on the folder on top is 'Digital metamorphic data transfer of biological organisms'. On the papers a DNA sequence is listed as ones and zeros and then combined in a feasible pattern on the next page. On another piece of paper are file names and geometric designs drawn out with mechanical proficiency.

'What is this robot planning,' Shadow thought as he looked into his notes more and more. 'First Hazard, now him? Has everyone but Whelpmon got a ulterior motive here?'

He was about to fade out and Control to the observation deck, but then he heard a sound in the darkness. The hedgehog looks over his shoulder at the holding tank. Inside is a female squirrel, or chipmunk. She looks desperate, banging the Plexiglas tube hard enough to make it shudder. Apparently she can't see or hear him inside of it. Screaming, probably crying, clawing at the glass. Shadow looks away and calmly Chaos Controls away.

On the observation deck, Hazard, Whelpmon, and Eggrobo wait patiently. The decision was already made by paper, scissors, rock; Shadow would be the one to go down to Little Planet and retrieve a Time Stone. Hazard sat back against a railing and looked down on Mobius. Soon enough the plan would come to fruition. Nobody had a clue what was going on besides her and that was the way it was to be kept. If Shadow or his Digimon friend even got one look at what she'd been doing in her spare time, she'd be the one taking a fall through the atmosphere this time.

Eggrobo didn't move much or even talk. He was actually lost in thought, a very rare occurrence for a robot of his archaic design. He'd had two primary objectives back on the floating island. One: Look for Sonic. Two: Kill Sonic. That was the badnik mind in essence. But one accident changed all of that. After being damaged in the Death Egg's second launch, the robot landed in the Hidden Palace Zone. He stayed there for weeks, facedown and forgotten. Like a few badniks before and after him, Eggrobo battled the brain-burn-through software in his system and gained independence. Blessed sentience. The first thing he did was ingratiate himself back in with Robotnik on the eave of his ultimate victory over the Freedom Fighters, and then betray him. He did the same twice more by deactivating certain parts of the security system in the Final Egg and tipping GUN off to the whereabouts of his desert base. Soon enough he would return to Mobius, an ultimate weapon of destruction and lay waste to the facsimile of his creator.

Shadow arrived on deck in a black and silver skintight spacesuit.(Yes, the same PSO suit from 2-player mode) Everyone supposed that he had taken the initiative and decided to go down himself.

"I'll be back in five hours, no more no less," Shadow said. He handed Hazard his Chaos Emerald. "Keep an eye on this for me. I can't take it down without it transporting back to the Chaos dimension." He eyed Eggrobo warily and leaned in close to Whelpmon. "And you keep both eyes on him. Make sure he doesn't go down to his lab while I'm gone."

Whelpmon gave the hedgehog a thumbs up. Shadow nodded and headed off toward the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Hazard and Eggrobo separated and went opposite ways from the deck.

Chapter 12

Tails sat at the controls of the shuttle looking out at their target. ARK. The place was as massive as it was the last time he'd arrived, only this time there was no asteroid field to hinder his progress. There was a planet. Floating next to ARK, separated only by a few hundred miles was the Zone world, Little Planet. According to legend the place was host to almost every naturally occurring Zone on Mobius. These trap-laden places were host to the Chaos Emeralds, Time Stones, and home to the mysterious Flickies.

"ETA in twelve minutes, guys," Tails said. "I hope you're ready."

Bunnie looked out of the window and set her eyes upon the huge space colony. "How ah we evah gonna find Sally in this big place? There must be a million places y'all could hide up there."

"Yeah," Sonic said, strapping on the rest of the orange space suit. "And I aim to search each and every one of 'em. Tails, find us someplace to dock close enough to the living areas so we can start from there. Then we'll work our way down from there. Hazard and Shadow are up here too, and if they are they must be around there."

Just then from a window, someone was utilizing their new telescopic sight to zoom in on the unwanted guests. The person takes a device from their pocket and holds it up to a nearly invisible wire in their hand. Two decks down a certain monster feels the program activate and his mind go completely blank. He rushes to an emergency airlock and thrusts himself out.

"Almost there guys, I just gotta--whoa!" Tails cried as the ship pitched to the side.

The ship span in space from the force of whatever had hit it. The artificial gravity deactivated and left the three passengers dazed. Sonic shook his head a bit and then took a look out of one of the portals on the right side of the shuttle. Outside he saw a creature not of Mobius. It looked like a metallic dragon with glowing red wings. It was small as dragons go and somewhat familiar, but now wasn't the time to remember anything.

"Tails! Get us outta here," Sonic yelled.

The fox propelled himself back to his pilot seat and drove the ship downward beneath one of ARK's satellite dishes. Just as the craft sped away a ball of green light shot out from the red creature flying after them and impacted on the side of the dish.

The ship buckled again as Tails pushed the engines as fast as they would go. All the while, Bunnie was scanning the section of ARK they were in for a docking port. More and more of the green light orbs flew out and around the ship. Tails flew around the side of ARK, past the dark side of the colony and back into the sun. He hoped that the sun would blind it without the shielding that they had over all of the windows. After about three minutes of continuous flying, he figured that it was over.

"Alright guys, I think we can relax now," he said.

Sonic looked a bit pale as he took a look out of the window. "Uh, Tails. You might wanna take a look at this."

Tails switched the main viewer over to the rear camera. On the screen was the red creature that had chased them into the sun. It wasn't following anymore, not because it couldn't see them, but because now it didn't need to use point blank energy orbs to kill them. An instant later a pinprick of a laser blew through their ship and an explosion rocked them out of flight. One half of the ship was on fire and the other was already molten slag. The thing spiraled for a few seconds before it crashed into the side of ARK's asteroid layer.

The creature pulled its armored hand up to its face and said," This is Whelpmon RM (Ragnarok Mode). I have terminated the intruding vessel."

"Good, come back ASAP, I have another job for you," a rasping voice said on the other end.

"Understood." With that, Whelpmon opened his wings again and jetted off toward an airlock.

But down on the surface of the asteroid that surrounded that part of ARK, figures were moving. They were about a half mile from the crash site and steadily moving toward one of the Eclipse Cannon's access routes.

"Tails, you and Bunnie alright over there," Sonic asked on the radio in his helmet.

"Just fine, sugah hog," Bunnie answered. "Tails is a little sick at the moment though. He got tossed around a whole lot when we jumped ship. Hard as heck to pilot this thing."

"Just a few more miles and we can get inside the colony."

The Cyclone flew along the edge of the asteroid jerking every now and then, safe in it's protective Water shield that produced oxygen, as Sonic moon jumped from cliff to cliff. His speed all but nullified by the loss of gravity, which was barely there thanks to them being so far from the artificial force inside the colony.

'Soon enough, Sal. Soon I'll pay back that wannabe Hazard back for what she's done.' __________________________________________________

Shract!

"Waahh!" Shadow yelled as he leapt away from the bolt of electricity.

The badniks flew in tight formation, trying to cut the hedgehog off wherever he went. As soon as he would move to one spot a robot would zip up nearly faster than could be seen and fire off a short burst of electricity that would scorch the ground he occupied a second ago. This had been going on for nearly a half-hour and Shadow's progress through the Zone hadn't been proceeding well. Shadow leapt out of the way of another burst and was zapped by another. The energy of twenty power rings that he'd collected in the Zone left him and he was tossed away. Sputtering a bit from the shock he was up and moving again, the injury already healed. He moved in a figure eight, running instead of skating.

'There's got to be some way of beating these things without losing any ring energy. I've already lost around twenty, I'll need the other forty I have to get into the Chaos dimension. So how am I going to get rid of these stupid robots?' He hopped up off of a wall and tried to attack one of the badniks, but it zipped away from his golden hued spin and slammed into another robot. Taking advantage of the situation, the black hedgehog jumped down on the fallen robots and destroyed them. 'Heh, these simple machine's self preservation programs override their sensors. This is gonna be too easy.'

The other two flew faster than before, zipping from place to place, trying to zap their target before he could destroy them. Shadow started skating closer and closer to a large crystal nearby, going in circles. Finally he jumped behind the crystal and disappeared from their sensors. The badniks drifted together slowly sweeping the room for any life signs.

"Boo!"

Both of the small robots ran into each other after detecting something so close to their auditory sensors. As they hit the floor, Shadow ran them over in a spin- dash.

'Hmph, way too easy.' Shadow thought as he skated further down the corridor.

As he ran further along, he thought more and more of the simple Whelpmon and manipulative Hazard. It had been nearly ten months since he'd started hopping Zones, always just missing the portal to the Chaos dimension. He was immortal, but not without his limits. He missed the only friends he had. To them he had been gone for two hours, but on Little Planet time passed faster.

'Perhaps they've rubbed off on me a bit.' Shadow thought. 'I already have an idea what Hazard is planning, she can't do too much harm with me around. But what about that maniacal robot? What was he doing with that Mobian in his lab? Oh well, here comes the Portal. Maybe this time I'll make it.'

Shadow pushed on ahead and past a sign which started spinning thanks to the wind he'd kicked up upon passing. He flipped into the air above it and into a ring warp. The world seemed to invert on itself as far as Shadow was concerned. Everything became neon and stars until the world span out of control and let him land on solid ground.

Things began to make a bit of sense again. He stood in an air field, or at least it seemed to be one. The grass waved in tandem with the breeze coming off the ocean than seemed to go on forever beyond the east horizon. To the west was a checkerboard of shifting orbs and colors, beyond it was a folded sky that span and turned with crystals, bumpers, and nonsensical pictures. Instead of choosing any of those routes, the black hedgehog opted to walk north.

He passed a pole which slowly span. A bell inside went off twice and a fanfare echoed through the place, a long winding road of multicolored mayhem.

Only one coherent phrase could be understood by him beneath the din of horns and the like: "Collect 25 Rings..."

Shadow dashed off into the Special Zone at a jog and followed the trails of rings, easily avoiding the robots that floated past. 23, 24, 25... Whoa! The black hedgehog's heart raced as he hopped over the ring of deadly mace-shaped robots. He barely avoided running into them. Sure it might only sting to have them hit him, but the rings would be lost. The path curved around the corner to the left twice before the presence of the Zone's spirit or whatever it was that guided him was felt again. He ran along to keep the pace and then increased it by starting to skate.

"Good," the mysterious one said as it drained the rings from Shadow. "Collect 50 Rings..."

The path dipped suddenly and twisted to the right sharply. Shadow skimmed the wall and ground the edge, making sparks appear and then burst off into nothing. He plucked rings from along the sides and in the air, hopping away from the semicircles of robots that lined the floor periodically. Soon enough Shadow possessed more than sixty rings. He felt it safe to run along the floor and start following the ring trails again. Swerve along the ground from side to side, run up on the walls, and finally the path led to having to dash along the path that curved overhead and finally back down to earth. He nearly had a heart attack at the sight of the ring flying at him at 50 mph. He barely cleared the obstacle in time before another came up and clipped his right foot.

He didn't lose any rings but it scared the crap out of him. Then came the insanity. Shadow accelerated to Mach one to keep up with the presence as it collected the rings from him.

"Great! Collect 75 rings!" 'S-seventy five...rings?' Shadow thought as the road once again dipped down.

The corridor became almost completely impassible as robots swarmed down it. Each one whizzed past Shadow at horrifyingly fast speeds. If he hadn't tipped his head to the side once, one would have taken it right off. (He may be immortal, but anyone can be killed in a Zone. Just as in the game.) Tired of hopping from wall to wall and grabbing only a handful of rings in the process of dodging the obstructions, Shadow hopped into the air and curled himself into a ball. Using his shoes in conjunction with the ancient light he'd collected a while ago, the black hedgehog utilized the only skill that was banned by his superiors decades ago when he was still learning how to control an Emerald's power. He Warp Dashed forward through the Zone's constrictive reality and into the Chaos dimension itself. It was only for a flash, but that was enough. Shadow came back from that incredible trip exhausted and panting. He kneeled on the floor of the Zone and smirked. He felt it just before it happened.

A sphere of lightning formed around his body for a second and every ring that he'd passed by while advancing to the speed of light for less than a second, more than two hundred rings swept around him and began absorbing themselves into him. When his inertia and the Light finally failed him the shield was gone. But he had more than enough rings.

All three of the mysterious beings in the Zone looked down upon him as they tore a rip in the reality around the end of the corridor. Everything glowed white with an incredible aura as he was finally rewarded for his months of effort. As if by a switch, the light was all but gone... and so was the Zone. Yet, why did gravity still remain? Shadow fell through the loose world of stars and void as he had done the last time when he fell through the atmosphere of Mobius. Only this time, he had no energy and no Emerald to warp himself somewhere safe.

"He is a strong one, no?"

"Very talented, indeed. He will serve our purpose well."

"Maybe even as well as young Prower."

"Yes. But every Yin must have it's Yang..."

"Hmm...Perhaps Kintobor would do?"

'What?' Shadow thought. He turned his head sharply and saw only a glimpse of the awesome beings that had control over the very laws of nature. The three of them were beyond his understanding, yet even the echidna who stood among them, his image was almost beyond his archaic way of thought. Bound only in one way, as all worlds are infinitely bound. Some closer, some farther...yet there it was if you knew where to look. Shadow was even bound in this way, yet didn't really know it.

"Indeed," Said the echidna as Shadow lapsed into unconsciousness. " Maybe...If he can save himself."

Chapter 13

"There, that's it!" Hazard exclaimed as Whelpmon finished his assigned task. "Now hurry on back before—"

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. About to have a heart attack, she wheeled around and scowled.

"You know you shouldn't do that," Hazard said as Shadow peeled the spacesuit off of himself. "I could have been armed or something."

"Yet you still wouldn't have shot me," the hedgehog said calmly as he took the helmet off. "You still need me. And besides, you'd never get your hands on this." He pulled the orange time stone from his side pouch. The halfling's eyes lit up upon seeing that he had gone out of his way to find the 'right' color for her. He tossed the girl the stone and turned to walk away. "Meet me in the lab along with the others in ten minutes. Oh yeah and before I forget, Hazard...it's nice to see you again."

After he left, Hazard was left puzzled. 'What was that all about? He's only been gone for five hours.' **********************

Sonic tossed away the last part of his suit, that being the boots, and looked over at his friends. Tails was used to this atmosphere, but for her part Bunnie hadn't been in many Zones and Sonic didn't know what to do about her. The more people that were with him, the more chance Shadow and Hazard had to use his friends against him. So if they showed up in a dangerous situation, who knows what could happen.

He looked out into the dark and desolate concourses of the place that had been inadvertently turned into a Zone. Rings floated about in paths that led to nowhere. Relays from the Cannon had spilled out into this area. Live wires and suspension fluid were everywhere. Nothing was as it should have been. Water manes dripped with rustcicles hanging down to the floor from the twenty some-odd feet ceiling above, obviously from years of neglect. Almost no lighting existed in this ghost city of a colony and most definitely no life.

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout Sugah-hog," Bunnie asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Sonic said, looking down into the abyss-like Zone. "Hey, Tails. You got any way for us to get into the lab section of this place?"

The young fox looked up from the console in his mech and stated," Yes and no. I've got the long way around that would take the better part of the day or..."

"Or?" Bunnie repeated, peering over his shoulder to get a look at what he was planning.

"You're not gonna like it. It's fast, dangerous, and takes a lot of cajones just to try and pull it off."

Sonic smirked and turned back to look at his friend. "What's not to like about it?" __________________________________

Eggrobo was once again setting up the lab for the very last treatment. All the others had gone along swimmingly. No snags or setbacks whatsoever. Hazard's body was in perfect shape and condition, even when they found out she was part human. Speaking of the halfling, she was presently undressing to jump in the regeneration tank. Shadow hopped up on the command console platform and smirked. The whole thing was working out according to plan. Whelpmon sat nearby, next to the computer up-link he used to write and code the AI program which they needed to initiate on Hazard.

"Now remember what the deal was robot," Hazard snapped as she disconnected the life support device from he back. "Don't screw this up and I'll give you the data you're looking for. I end up with anything out of place and I'll do something a lot worse than anything Shadow had cooked up for you."

'What deal?' Shadow thought as he eyed the robot suspiciously. 'Something went on here when I wasn't around. And I aim to find out what. I'll check out the security cameras later though.'

"Whelpmon..."She said just before she hopped in the tank. He gave her a knowing look and resumed typing.

"Alright, let's do it," Shadow said as he began the treatment.

Almost a minute later in the Lost Colony Zone...

"Alright, Tails," Bunnie yelled. "How did I let y'all talk me into this? Its crazy!"

The rabbit/cyborg used her foot jets to dart between bullets and under bolts of electricity. You see, Tails had gotten the plan to go through the colony's energy matrix as a shortcut to the other side of the colony. Of course he'd been right about it being dangerous. The entire place was no more than a huge gyro and columns of twisting turbines that had electricity flowing through each one. The gravity inducing device had a maintenance channel that went right to the laboratory section of the space colony. Presently Sonic and co. were rushing to get there.

"But it's fun," Sonic exclaimed, hopping over the watery tendril of a Chaos Drone. He whipped around and watched as a bolt of lightning arced through the creature's head and over his shoulder. His blue fur stood up, being so close to pure energy. Seeing this development, Sonic tore after Bunnie and Tails. "Okay, new plan: We go as fast as possible and make sure we don't get hit by lightning."

"Maybe a shorter version would be bettah," Bunnie said. "How 'bout: RUN LIKE HELL!!!"

In a few minutes time of nearly getting blown to electrified oblivion, the party found themselves coming up on the center of the colossal chamber that the power matrix was. It was a huge pit of a place, a reverse dome really. And in this shining dome was where the most lightning strikes were found. Sonic deftly dodged away from the blast of another security robot. He ran up on it and kicked it's joints backward before tackling it into the down and sliding it into the bowl. As it slid down, the lightning centralized on it. Every streak of white tinged energy fried the robot to slag as it slid into the abyss.

"That ain't good," Tails said, stating the obvious. "How are we all gonna make it to the other side?" Sonic pulled a Power Ring out of his pack and looked out into the bowl, trying to put his physics lessons to good use. "You two both stay in the Cyclone while you fly across. Once I jump off the edge, count to ten and gun it to the other end."

"But Sonic-"

"Don't ask me any questions, Tails! Just do it..."

He sat back in his seat for a second, absorbing the info. Sonic only acted serious in the face of danger when there was a great chance he'd be killed. A chance that he'd never come back from whatever perilous stunt he'd try to pull off.

"Tell Sally that...well I guess you already know," Sonic said as he dashed off the side. ____________________________________

"Process at 50% and rising..." Whelpmon droned on as the program continued.

Shadow grasped onto the bracelet he'd lost in space after the battle with the prototype. He watched in awe as Hazard was bathed in light for the last time. Finally he could put the Professor behind him and live his own life. When all was said and done, he'd go off and find something worthwhile. Who knows, maybe he'd become an even bigger thorn in Eggman's side than Sonic was already.

Everything was going smoothly. All systems were go and the Time Stone was calling out to it's brothers for strength it didn't have. The streaks of multicolored light went through the walls and out into nowhere and beyond. Just before Whelpmon announced that the process was complete however, something horrible happened. The lights went out as well as everything electronic on the laboratory deck. Shadow panicked for a second before the auxiliary power came back on. Hazard, who a minute ago was writhing around in the tank with a red grid on her body, was now still, sinking to the bottom of the tank.

The hedgehog hopped over the command console and dashed up to the side of the tube. He banged on the side, hoping that the little megalomaniac within would hear him.

"Stand back," Eggrobo commanded as he hefted up his arm blaster. Shadow stepped away as the robot targeted the front panel of the tube on minimal setting. Still, that was enough to melt away the Plexiglas.

Suspension fluid sloshed all over the floor as Hazard fell out onto her face. Shadow hesitantly picked her up and laid her against the command platform. The orange halfling looked like a drowned rat. Her hair was plastered to the back of her head by the slimy fluid, as well as the shirt and shorts she'd worn to protect what human dignity had cropped up during the last couple of treatments. Her mouth hung open revealing she still had a forked tongue and very sharp eye-teeth.

"In the next forty seconds I want a report on what the hell just did this," Shadow said in his old, 'I'm calm, but I just might kill you' tone.

"Ugh..."

Hazard had finally come to. Looking around at her surroundings and was surprised to be somewhere she was never permitted to go on any other basis. That's about when she saw him leaning over her. "Shadow..." She croaked in a softer voice than usual. "Is that you?"

The black hedgehog was a bit confused. "What are you talking about? 'Is it me?' Of course! Who else would I be, Haz-"

Hazard grabbed him and hugged him tightly to her, stroking the crooked spines on his back. "Oh God!" She sobbed. "I never thought I'd see you again! And when they came through the door like that I felt this pain in my chest and-"

Shadow took the weeping dragon-half by the shoulders and held her away from him for a second. "Hazard? What are you talking about? I thought I'd never say this, but...You're starting to scare me."

She looked into the fierce red eyes of her friend and smiled brightly. The dim lights in the room made it almost impossible to miss the glowing difference in her own. One pupil was the usual animalistic red while the other was an icy shade of blue. Shadow was taken aback by the thought, but couldn't dismiss what had happened before his very eyes the whole time without him noticing it. The hair. The human DNA. Everything...

"But, no...It can't be. I saw you—the blood. The gunshots! It can't be!" Shadow whispered in disbelief.

"Yes, Shadow. It's me...Maria."