Chapter Five
Cammy and Shadow ran until they were in a whole new chamber far from the crazed scientist. Deiter raced ahead speedily on all fours, thanks to all the little cheetahs he drew power from. He paused when the others stopped and sat put, watching them with a cocked head. Cammy bent over and put her hands on her knees, panting as she tried to catch her breath. Shadow did the same, holding on to Sonic's arms so he wouldn't fall off.
"That was a close call!" Omochao remarked and yelped as Shadow finally collapsed under Sonic's weight and the effects of the cold. His face was a little red and he was still sweating, sprawled out on the floor with Sonic lying on his back.
"My head hurts." he complained. "Now I feel hot instead of cold." Cammy pulled Sonic off and dragged him to one side. Then she dug around in Shadow's backpack, pulling out the first aid kit. Flipping it open, she searched through it and pulled out a bottle of cold pills.
"This will help." she remarked and pulled out two pills. She helped Shadow sit up and gave him the medicine with the canteen of water. "Here, take these." she told him. Shadow took the medicine and coughed again, covering his mouth. "It'll take a while, but those pills will help you feel better." Cammy murmured and went to tend to Sonic. Shadow crawled to him as well. "If you're going to be around us, wear that mask in the kit. Colds are contagious, don't you know that?" she told him. Shadow grabbed the white mask and tied it around his head, covering his mouth and nose as the quills returned to their normal positions.
"Sorry. It's my first time getting sick." he replied and looked down at Sonic. "Will he be okay?" he asked worriedly. Cammy felt his forehead and dug into the kit, pulling out a thermometer. She stuck it in Sonic's mouth and waited. Then she pulled it out and checked it. She wiped it off, shook it, and stuck it in Shadow's mouth after lifting the mask a little.
"Sonic has a normal temperature. He'll wake up on his own soon enough. Other than the fact he's out colder than my steak in the freezer at home, he's perfectly healthy." Cammy declared and pulled the thermometer out of Shadow's mouth, checking it. "You, on the other hand, are running a slight fever. We'll rest here until you feel better." she decided as she put everything up and unpacked a blanket. She covered Sonic with it and then grabbed a spare for Shadow. "Here. Get some rest, Omochao, Deiter and I will stand guard." she told him. Shadow looked unsure, then lay back to try to get some sleep.
Tails finally locked onto the signal of Sonic's radio and found it lying on the floor of the chamber where he found the machine. Tails picked the radio up and looked worried, growing even more worried when he heard a booming sound not very far from him.
"I hope that didn't have anything to do with Sonic." Tails muttered and moved on, using his cannons to take out anything that came his way.
Meanwhile, Rouge continued moving towards the central chamber in hopes of finding Shadow and the gear. She tried calling, but no one answered.
"That hedgehog got into trouble, I can feel it!" she grumbled as she walked along. "He'd better not have lost that gear to Eggman!" She heard the explosion and scowled. "That sounds like major trouble! Why am I not surprised?" she went on and continued moving forward.
Shadow woke up later that night, not because he wanted to, but because he felt something, a strange energy but a familiar one. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, then looked around. There was Sonic, still asleep, but starting to come around himself. There was Cammy, flat on her back, her mouth opening wide with each silent snore. There was Deiter, curled up in a ball next to Omochao. Where was the energy coming from?
"It feels like the energy from a...." Shadow started to say to himself when a bright flash of light erupted in front of the group. It pulsed a few times, then something small and black dropped out of the light and landed on the floor. "What's that?!" he exclaimed as the creature landed on its head and flipped over onto its back.
"WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" the creature screamed and Cammy shot upright with a startled cry. Sonic stirred and sat up, rubbing at his eyes.
"Hey, Tails. Turn down the waterworks. I'm trying to sleep." he mumbled and blinked as he looked around. "Hey, this ain't Station Square! Oh, wait. Now I remember. What happened to the weird machine that was making the funky sound?" he asked.
"That's how you were captured by Dr. Robotnik?" Shadow remarked and covered his ears. "Gaagh! What is that horrible sound?! Turn it off!" he added, voice slightly muffled by the mask. Cammy stood up and cautiously walked towards the black creature, who was now kicking and flailing its arms around.
"Waaah! Waaah! Waaaahh!" it cried. Cammy stopped and gave it a quick look-over, then giggled a little; a nervous, relieved sound.
"It's... it's a little hedgehog." she told Shadow.
"A what?" he asked back. Cammy reached down and picked up the black bundle, setting it on its feet.
"Waah!" the little black hedgehog wailed, clutching a small blue doll in his arms.
"It's a little baby hedgehog." Cammy repeated, "Ain't he cute? Look, he's got a little red stripe on his head and these cute little red sneakers and a CTU over here and his own little dolly."
"Tell it to shut up. My headache's coming back." Shadow grumbled as Sonic stared at him. "What are you looking at? I've got a cold. Laugh and I'll beat you within an inch of your mortal life." he added under his breath.
"Shadow! Be nice! You grouch." Cammy scolded and knelt down by the little hedgehog. "Hello! My name is Cammy! What's yours?" she asked him sweetly. The child stopped crying and stared at her with dark green eyes, surprised. "You've got pretty eyes. They're my favorite color, you know that?" she added. The hedgehog stepped back from her and fumbled for the CTU, never moving his gaze away. He pushed a button and an Angel Chao popped out, basic in appearance.
"Angie, who's this weird lady?" the hedgehog asked the Chao. Angie looked up at her and blinked.
"I'd say, a tomb raider. But then again I could be wrong." the Chao replied.
"She's talking to me. What do I do?" the little hedgehog asked Angie.
"For one thing, stop staring at her. Stop squeezing your Sonic doll so tight and pick up your Chaos Emerald. And feed me." the Angel Chao replied. The hedgehog dropped his doll, reached out and picked up a blue Chaos Emerald, then dug around in a pouch tied around his waist.
"I gots chocolate and some jelly beans and an apple." the hedgehog told Angie.
"Shady, I told you not to eat so much candy. If you're gonna go on a trip, bring good food." Angie grumbled, "Your dad would have been very mad at you if he knew you were pigging out on candy." The little hedgehog wailed again. "Oops. Sorry! I didn't mean it! Here! Have a red jelly bean!" Angie stammered. Shady sniffed and ate the bean. "So, is this the right timeline?"
"Ummm. I dunno." Shady replied as Cammy waited for them to remember she was there.
"So, your name is Shady? That's a cute name. Who gave you such a clever and cute name?" Cammy interrupted. Shady looked up at her and pouted.
"My daddy. He said it's 'cause I'm sneaky like him."
"And where did you get that Emerald?"
"From the sky."
"Is that what the star thing was all about?" Shadow muttered, "'Cause he looked like one coming out of a Chaos Control warp. Just how many other hedgehogs in this world are able to use Chaos Control?! Is there like a club or something for it?!" Sonic crawled over to Shady and picked up the doll.
"Hey. It looks like me. Cool." he remarked. Shady snatched the doll away.
"Mine!" he yelled and sat down, glaring at each of them.
"Shady! That's not nice. Now apologize to the nice people." Angie scolded.
"But they're strangers! Daddy told me not to talk to strangers!" Shady wailed.
"We're not strangers!" Cammy assured him. "See? I'm Camilla Maria Hedgehog. That's Sonic the Hedgehog and that's Shadow the Hedgehog. That's Deiter and that's Omochao." Shady stared at Sonic.
"You're Sonic?! Wow! You're my hero!" he exclaimed happily, "And Shadow?! Double wow! He's the best!" He looked around, suddenly worried. "But this isn't the city. I was supposed to be in the city with Sonic by himself. That's when it happened." he mumbled.
"I'm a hero. Yeah. So, where are you from, little guy?" Sonic asked him.
"Uh... Station Square. In the future." Shady replied and smiled. "I used my Chaos Time Warp power! But, sometimes I can't get all the bugs out."
"I told you to make a clearer picture!" Angie exclaimed, "They told you to form a clear picture of where and when you want to be whenever you warp!"
"Oops. Mommy won't be happy." Shady muttered, "Well, we can try again and maybe get it right." He sighed. "But I'm tired now. Chaos Time Warp makes me tired and hungry."
"Shadow, give him some of your fruit." Cammy told him. Shadow scowled and folded his arms on his chest.
"Why do I have to feed him? He's not my kid! Tell him to ask his dad, wherever the man is." he yelled back.
"Don't be so cold!" Cammy snapped. Sonic cocked his head.
"Actually, he's got a point. Hey, Shady. Where is your dad?" he asked the boy. Shady looked sad and hugged the doll tighter.
"Daddy isn't around anymore. And my uncle's not around either. They both went to someplace better." he replied.
"They died? How awful. How did they die?" Cammy asked softly. Shady wiped at his eyes and sniffled.
"My daddy got blowed up. My uncle got in an accident. My uncle went first, then my daddy." he replied. "Now I live with my mommy and when she goes away I live with my other uncle. He lives on a big flying island." Shady giggled a little. "He's silly. He talks to a great big jewel."
"Your uncle's Knuckles in the future? That I have to see!" Sonic laughed. Shady pouted.
"You can't see him. You're not there." he pointed out and played with his doll. "That's why I'm going to the past. To stop you from going away. If you don't go away, then my daddy will be back."
"That's all very fascinating. Not." Shadow muttered and stood up. "I'm going out for a while. Call me if anything else pops into this world. Preferably, my wallet." Sonic and Cammy watched him leave and went back to talking with Shady.
"So, you know Knuckles? How can he be your uncle? He's an echidna." Sonic pointed out. Shady looked blank. "You are a hedgehog. Knuckles is an echidna. You're not related."
"He's my uncle." Shady insisted. Then he yawned. "I'm sleepy now. Good night." he added and lay down, curling up with his doll as he drifted off to sleep. Sonic studied him closely.
"Beat me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this little guy kinda look like a certain grouchy black hedgehog?" he asked Cammy. She blinked at him and studied Shady, nodding slightly. "Shady is black, like Shadow. He's got a red stripe on him, like Shadow. He's even got shoes that look like Shadow's sneakers. He's got a Chaos Emerald!"
"But Shadow has multiple stripes all over his quills, which are turned up. Shady has one stripe that ends in a zig-zag on his main quill and the others are turned down, like yours, Sonic. His eyes are green, not reddish-brown." Cammy pointed out. She grinned. "And you've got green eyes." Sonic blanched.
"Please don't say you think he's my kid in the future. I'm not ready to settle down. I want to run free for another few years before the thought even comes into my head!" he exclaimed.
"Accidents do happen." Cammy teased and smiled down at the little black hedgehog. "He's such a cute little thing." She tapped at something shield-shaped and metallic on the back of one of Shady's wrists. "I wonder what this could be. I've never seen anything like it."
"What's in that pouch?" Sonic wondered, opening it up and looking in. Besides the chocolate bar and candy and apple, there was also a small letter. Sonic pulled it out and studied it. The letter was small and had a single word written on the front of the envelope. "It says 'Shadow' on it." he muttered and opened the envelope as Cammy watched.
"It's not polite to read other people's mail." she warned him. Sonic pulled out the paper and unfolded it. He skimmed it and frowned.
"It's weird. The only thing written on this paper is 'Live and learn.' That's all. It doesn't say who wrote it or for who it is." he remarked. "Live and learn. It sounds familiar. I know I heard someone say it before."
The phone rang again and Shadow picked up this time. Rouge launched into a fit of yelling.
"Shadow! Why didn't you answer the phone earlier?! I've been calling for hours! Did you deliver the gear?!" Rouge snapped. Shadow held the phone away from him.
"Yes, I did. Now quiet! My head hurts and I have a cold, no thanks to you!" he yelled back.
"As long as you gave him the gear. Let's get out of here so I can think of something. There must be a way to stop Eggman's new machine." Rouge answered.
"If you're talking about that yellow robot with the four arms, I don't think that will be an easy thing to do. I went up against it and nearly got clobbered." Shadow pointed out grumpily.
"That's impossible! That thing can't move without the gear and a power source!" Rouge exclaimed. Shadow leaned back against a wall and coughed a few times. He wasn't feeling any better. Maybe those cold pills worked better if he had something to eat. "You sound horrible."
"I feel horrible." Shadow muttered, digging the toe of his shoe into the dust on the floor. "And it turns out Dr. Robotnik made copies of the gear. He used those and he used Sonic as a power supply and core brain. I bailed him out and he's resting up."
"So that's what else he needed. A living person to act as a battery and AI core. How the heck did he get Sonic?" Rouge asked.
"He got caught by one of those old traps here." Shadow sighed and flicked an ear. There was a sound nearby, and this was a familiar one. Robots! "Gotta go. I hear something and it's asking for a smashing." he added and hung up the phone. He zipped around the corner and pulled a Fire Somersault right into a row of E-1000 robots, smashing them to bits. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed and started coughing again. As he stood there, trying to clear his throat, an Artificial Chaos dropped down from the ceiling on him, wrapping its tendrils around him.
"Hey! Let go!" Shadow yelled angrily, struggling against the gel-like creature. He dropped the phone and started kicking as the creature pulled him closer to it. "Let go! You're no match for me, you walking pile of Jell-O! I'll...." Shadow's threats were cut off by another fit of coughs, giving the Artificial Chaos time to pull him completely into its liquid body. Shadow continued struggling as the Artificial Chaos slithered back to Eggman's hideout.
Tails perked his ears up at the sound of Shadow's voice. He grew even more worried and nervous. First Sonic disappeared, now Shadow was freaking out. The two strongest hedgehogs he knew and both were taken out. What is up with this temple?!
"Creepy, creepy! Sonic! Shadow! Where are you guys!" Tails called out and clicked the radio on, "Rouge! Did you hear that?!"
"Rouge, here. Yeah. That sounded like Shadow. I called him a couple of minutes ago and he said he delivered the gear and caught a cold. Then he heard something coming his way and hung up. After that, I heard him scream from somewhere in the temple." the bat answered. "I'm starting to really hate this place. Let's regroup and get out of here!"
"Not without Sonic and Shadow! Look at your map. See the green chamber? I'll meet you there and we'll both find them and get out." Tails planned.
"That reminds me. Shadow also said he found Sonic. Eggman caught him in some trap and stuck him in a robot as a battery and brain. He turned the robot on Shadow, but Shadow was able to pull Sonic out." Rouge added.
"Then if we can find where Shadow was, maybe we'll find Sonic." Tails muttered and started walking on again.
It took a little while, but he and Rouge were able to meet up and headed out to track down the missing hedgehogs. The temple was huge and confusing with all its twists and turns. Rouge gave Tails her phone so he could use it to track down the signal of the other phone. Following the course Tails mapped out, they came across the phone lying forgotten on the floor amid a trail of wrecked robots and puddles of some strange liquid.
"E-1000s and Artificial Chaos. Shadow could handle them well when he was healthy, but now that he's sick one of them may have gotten the jump on him." Tails muttered and looked around.
"Shadow! Shadow!" a voice called out. Tails and Rouge turned and watched as Cammy and Sonic ran up to meet them. "It's you! That fox! Tails, right?" Cammy asked as she slowed to a stop, carrying a little black hedgehog in her arms. The kid was crying, hugging a Sonic doll and an Angel Chao. Sonic carried a Dark Chao and Omochao floated beside him.
"Sonic! You're okay! Hi, Cammy! When did you get here? Who's that with you?" Tails asked back. Cammy rocked the little hedgehog and hummed a little tune. The boy calmed down a little and turned to look up at Tails, wide-eyed and curious. "Hey, it kinda looks like a mini-Shadow, only cuter."
"That's what I told her." Sonic pointed out, giving Cammy a slight glare, "That's Shady, a hedgehog kid from the future. He came to the past to prevent his uncle and father from dying, and to keep me from vanishing or something. He said he went too far back in time, so he's resting before he gathers up the energy for another Chaos Time Warp."
"He's got his own Chaos Emerald and this is his Chao, Angie. Shady won't say who his parents are, but he did say that Knuckles is his other uncle in the future." Cammy added.
"Hi, Shady. My name's Tails. Do you know where I am in the future?" Tails asked the little hedgehog, who was sucking on his thumb.
"Hospital. You said you were a washing machine last week. Mommy said it's 'cause Sonic went away in the accident. That's why you blew up your house and stuff." Shady replied after pulling his thumb out. He smiled. "The doctor said you were getting better. Last month you tried to bite anybody who walked in."
The group stared at Shady, then looked at Tails, who had turned very pale.
"I'm a washing machine?" he echoed. Shady laughed.
"See? Just like that!" he giggled. Rouge laughed as well.
"The fox boy winds up in a nut-house, hah! So much for your tinkering with that airplane of yours. I'm going to be rich and have lots of jewels, just you wait and see! Isn't that right, little hedgehog?" she declared proudly.
"Nope. You went spying, got caught, and went bye-bye, too. Never came back." Shady replied and looked sad, "I liked you. You had a pretty house and lots of pretty rocks. You let me play with them, but I had to promise not to take any of them home." Rouge paled and shook her head.
"I've gotta learn to stop spying for jewels. Not enough pay, and I wind up dead in the future." she muttered.
"Where's Shadow?" Sonic asked, changing the subject. "He said he would be out for a bit, but he never came back to the camp."
"We think Eggman got to him. There's his phone and here're all the robots he smashed. We think one jumped him." Tails replied.
"Then what are we waiting for? An invite? Let's go find that rotten egg and smear his face all over the floor! We've gotta bail Shadow out!" Sonic declared.
"Right! Besides, McBurger won't give him a full paycheck if he shows up late for work." Omochao added.
"Did you get the gear?" Rouge asked him as the group raced off to find Shadow.
"Yeah! Shadow gave it to me! I feel great! That gear really makes me feel like a brand new robot! It was great for him to replace my gear with a nice new one!" Omochao replied cheerfully. Rouge stared at him in shock.
"He put the gear in you?! SHADOW!!!" she shrieked angrily.