Luff: Not many reviews for the last one though. No wonder, it was pretty bad.
S. Chensu: Now for the replies.
Yugi- Whoever you think is the master of the Rouge robot, you're wrong. For a start off the master will not even be mentioned for another two-three episodes so anyone mentioned so far is not in the running. Sorry for that.
Shadow Phantasm- We've already been asked this question by RichaCo but we'll answer it again as we can understand why you would ask it. No it is not yaoi/shonen-ai/slash/lemon/lime/gay people etc etc. It was going to be originally but we know it puts some people off so we got rid of it. After we had written episode seven that is. When Sonic said he didn't like Shadow like that, he was telling the truth and it will always be like that. The same thing goes for Shadow. But there will be an interesting development in their relationship later on. We won't spoil the plot though…
Luff: Today the group start their search for Sonic and Shadow.
S. Chensu: Yay! But anyway, disclaimer time. We don't own the Sonic characters but we do own Marie, Gillian and the story.
Luff: Now that's over and done with, you can read the episode.
Episode sixteen: Enter the Gates of the Underworld"Ok so let me get this straight…Sonic and Shadow have just been kidnapped and the only thing that was left behind was their shoes and some cabbages?" Eggman said. The group plus Marie had run back to the apartment as quick as they could where they found Eggman. They told the story to him and he had been considering it for several minutes.
"Yes, I think he's got it! Come on, we have to go…now!" Rouge said, pacing the floor.
"Now wait a minute." Eggman snapped. "We don't have a clue where they've gone and as far as I can tell, there /isn't/ a way of knowing where they are." He paused to look at Rouge. "For all we know, they might not even be on Earth anymore."
"So we need a way to find them…" Marie said. "What we really need is a big sniffer dog or something that could find them from their scent…" Hearing this, Tails looked at Knuckles.
"Oh no, there's no way I can sense them. That happened months ago, the mark must have completely gone…" Knuckles said quickly.
"But it was a big mark, are you sure there's no way you can find it?" Tails pleaded.
"Do you realise what you're trying to ask? You're asking me to find a mark, which was made months ago by the /Chaos/ Emeralds, not even the Master! I had enough trouble the first time Shadow got lost! There's no way I can find him again." Knuckles insisted, shaking his head.
"How do you know if you haven't even tried? Please Knuckles, just try…" Rouge said desperately.
"Even if I did, I could take days! The conditions here aren't right. I need an exact replica of the Master Emerald shrine, all of the Chaos Emeralds, total silence and darkness… It's impossible." He concluded.
"Is that all you need?" Eggman asked.
"I think so…but you can't have all of those things surely?"
"I know where they all are." Eggman said proudly. "The ARK has the shrine, you can find silence and darkness there and I have nearly all of the Emeralds."
"The ARK? Wasn't that a research station?" Marie asked.
"Yes it was. How many of the Chaos Emeralds do you have?" Tails said.
"Six. You should have the other one." This announcement was met with a gasp from Rouge.
"Six? You mean you've kept them all?" She demanded.
"They are on the ARK. They have not been moved since Sonic and Shadow used them. I have not kept them there deliberately; there just hasn't been time to deal with them. And a good thing too or it would take even longer to sort everything out." Eggman explained.
"Now will you try?" Rouge asked Knuckles.
"I can't promise you anything, just remember that. They could be dead by the time I find them."
"Then at least we can get their bodies back. I know we're asking a lot but we know you'll try your best." Knuckles sighed.
"All right, it looks like you're not going to take no for an answer."
"Oh thank you Knuckles." Rouge hugged him tightly and he smiled.
"Right, we'd better get going then." Marie said and the others looked at her.
"You'll have to stay here Marie. Your parents don't know where you are-" Eggman said and when it looked like she was going to argue, he shook his head. "We'll tell you what we find but for now, we have to go." He walked towards the door and the others followed him.
"Promise me you'll tell me." Marie said, moving in front of the door so they couldn't get out.
"Yes, we promise. You should go home now, we'll call you." Tails said and she left the apartment without a word.
"Right, time to go at last."
Several hours passed and now Tails, Rouge, Eggman and Knuckles were on the ARK. While Tails and Eggman had gone ahead to gather the seven Chaos Emeralds together, Rouge and Knuckles sat together in a quiet corner.
"Hey, are you ok?" Rouge asked, nudging Knuckles when he didn't respond.
"Yeah, I'm just preparing for a lack of food."
"That's a point, /how/ are you going to eat?"
"I'm not. I'm going to fast and hope it won't take too long." Rouge looked worried.
"Are you sure about that? It's not very safe you know."
"I've done it several times before, just not recently that's all. I'll be fine, honestly." He added, seeing that Rouge still looked worried.
"As long as you're sure…" She held her piece of the Master Emerald in her hand. "I think you're going to need this."
As it was made whole again, Knuckles felt a great calm wash over him. Although he hadn't realised it, he had been feeling unsettled for several weeks. Now that the Emerald was back together again though, everything was fine. Wondering if this meant anything, he hugged Rouge tightly and they remained like this for several minutes. Even when Eggman and Tails came back, he remained where he was. In the end Rouge (who was starting to feel claustrophobic), nudged him and stood up.
"Is everything ready?" Eggman nodded his head and Knuckles walked towards the chamber. The seven Chaos Emeralds were already in their places and now only the Master Emerald was needed. As Knuckles walked up the steps, the others remained at the bottom, watching him. He stopped and turned around, staring at them.
"Give me twenty four hours. If I'm not out by then, see what is happening. I might be asleep though so don't wake me up." He paused. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you soon…" Taking this as an indicator to leave, they turned round and left the room. Soon Knuckles was in total darkness and placing the Master Emerald in front of him, he settled down and closed his eyes.
"Can he really find them in twenty four hours?" Tails asked.
"I think he's assuming that he will know pretty much straight away whether he has any chance of finding them or not." Eggman replied.
"I hope he does find them, I'm really worried. Especially about Sonic…" Tails stared out of the window towards Earth, looking sad. Rouge placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled comfortingly at him.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll find them. They're both fighters, they won't be dead." Rouge reassured him. At least not yet…
An uncomfortable night had passed for Eggman, Tails and Rouge as they waited for Knuckles. Meanwhile, Knuckles had fallen asleep, although he was still searching for Sonic and Shadow. It was hard though; they didn't appear to be above ground. Which meant he couldn't be too careful, or he would miss them…
Rouge found Knuckles sprawled out over the Master Emerald the next morning but didn't wake him up, as he had instructed. Instead she sat beside him, stroking his face as he dreamt, twitching occasionally. She wondered what he was dreaming, could he be seeing something that scared him. Maybe he wasn't even dreaming about Sonic or Shadow, maybe he was dreaming about something else…
Why is it I'm starting to think that this doesn't mean anything anymore? That we're, or at least me is doing this for the sake of doing this and nothing more? I don't think we have it anymore, whatever /it/ is… As she thought this, he stirred and opened his eyes.
"Hey Rouge." He whispered, stretching to help his stiff muscles.
"Are you ok? Sleeping on the Emerald can't have been comfortable." She raised an eyebrow and he blushed, edging away from the Emerald slightly.
"It helped me to focus better." He didn't say anything else though and she wondered if he was actually going to tell her if he had seen them. "It would probably be better if I told everyone if I've seen them." He said quietly, seeming to read her mind.
"Shall we go then?" She said and he frowned slightly, not understanding why she was in such a rush. He moved to hug her but then stopped and walked down the steps to where the others were. She remained still for a moment, watching him walking away from her before she shook her head and followed him.
Knuckles and Rouge entered the main room and found Eggman and Tails having a discussion about technology, comparing their walkers and their various capacities. They stopped when they saw them walk in and turned to look at them. Knuckles walked straight to a window and stared out of it, not seeming to notice the looks on the others' faces. He glanced back briefly at them and seeing the puzzled faces, he sighed and turned back.
"I saw them…" He stated neutrally, keeping totally still.
"Were they alive?" Rouge demanded, getting annoyed by now.
"Yes, they were. They're alive now, I'm sure of that." He paused and turned to face them. "I don't know where they are. I saw the place they're kept in; I saw them but nothing I recognised. It's underground and the entrance is in the side of a mountain. I saw-" He stopped and bit his lip. "I don't know."
"You don't know? Please Knuckles, you must know! You said you saw it so why can't you remember?" Rouge shouted, standing up in anger. Knuckles merely blinked and frowned.
"I saw a mountain…there was snow and trees… The snow was so white, so pure…" He trailed off, his eyes lighting up.
"Knuckles, are you ok? You look a bit light-headed." Tails commented and Knuckles shook his head.
"Yeah, I'm fine. That's all I could see. A mountain covered in snow, it covered the trees. They were pine trees, I think. There were a set of footprints leading towards a small entrance in the side, it was quite dark. There was something flickering, a torch maybe. The crack, it looked like a sideways grin, all teeth and no lips…"
The others were puzzled by the way Knuckles was acting. His voice had become dreamy, like he was in a trance. He wasn't focusing on anything, every thought concentrating on what he had seen. He seemed so withdrawn and quiet that when he smiled at the three of them, he looked slightly psychotic. He didn't say anything else though so they turned to the problem of where this place might be.
They sat in silence for what seemed like an age and when nothing was said, Rouge stirred and looked at Knuckles, who still seemed to be in his own world.
"Isn't there a way you can find out where this place is?" Rouge asked, turning to Eggman.
"Well…there is a possibility. But /only/ a possibility, it all depends on how powerful this computer is." Eggman walked up to the keyboard and started tapping on it. "It might be able to scan Knuckles' brainwaves and using the ones of the images in his head, it /could/ work out a location. But only if the place is fairly significant, it won't be able to find it if it's in a swamp somewhere." Tails seemed to have got the idea and he grinned in excitement.
"Yes, that could work. Knuckles can you remember anything about the place? Climate, landscape…"
"Well it was a mountain and there was snow and pine trees… There wasn't much else." He shrugged his shoulders.
"It's a start. From the sounds of things, it must be in the northern hemisphere as there is snow and pine trees." Eggman continued to tap keys when he suddenly said "Aha!" in a triumphant tone.
"Is there something you can do?" Rouge said.
"Yes, this computer must have been used to measure Shadow's brainwaves at one point and it has a database full of images of various places. It should be easy to get the two together…"
Soon it was done and the electrodes were placed on either side of Knuckles' head, much to his disgust.
"Are you quite sure this is necessary?" He demanded as he sat down in a chair.
"Yes, yes. Now just relax and keep the image in your head ok?" Eggman said as the computer activated, patterns going across the screen.
They waited uneasily in silence as the computer went through Knuckles' brain scans, trying to find the location of his images. It could take days and they didn't have that much time left, they had to be as quick as they could so they could find Sonic and Shadow. Knuckles tried to keep as still as he could but he felt uncomfortable with the electrodes attached to his head. Technology always made him edgy like that. He couldn't understand Tails and his love of machinery, how he could spend days in a small room with lots of metal, trying to get something to work.
Knuckles didn't even like metal that much; it was so cold and clinical. There was no texture to it, no warmth. In fact, until he met Sonic, Knuckles had never seen anything metallic and remembered the fear he felt when he saw Tails' planes for the first time and Eggman and his robots. That fear had faded slightly, but not completely. It never would but Knuckles hid it, knowing that as a protector, he wasn't meant to feel fear. Or any emotion at all for that matter…
But things had changed; he was now in love with Rouge. Or he was pretty certain it was love. The problem was, he didn't know anyone who had been in love before and it had never happened to him before. He wasn't sure what he was meant to feel but for now, he didn't care.
The group sat to attention when they heard the computer beep and the wavy lines on the screen had stopped.
"Location has been identified." The machine announced and a map came up on the screen. 'Scotland' could be seen in large letters and a red box appeared on the left hand side, enlarging what was in it. They saw a group of mountains and right in the middle was the name 'Aonach Mor', only a short distance from Ben Nevis, the largest mountain in Britain.
"Scotland? Seems a strange place for them to be." Eggman commented but Knuckles sat up, staring at the screen intently.
"They're there, I know it." He said assertively and Eggman shrugged his shoulders.
"As long as you're sure…" But Knuckles wasn't listening, he was using this as an excuse to take the electrodes off.
As Tails thought about Scotland, he was reminded that Marie was down there too, waiting for him to tell her any news. He knew that the others would tell him not to bother but he had promised her and she was too close a friend to break a promise.
"Hey guys, can you wait a minute? I want to phone Marie." He said. Eggman sighed silently, he knew that Marie was important to him and he probably wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Ok then but don't take too long, we have no time to lose." Tails nodded his head in understanding as he dialled her number.
"Hello, Marie speaking."
"Hi Marie, it's Tails."
"Tails! I'm glad you called, I was getting really worried. Did you manage to find Sonic and Shadow?" She asked.
"Yeah, they're up in Scotland. We were just going there to have a look around so I thought I had better call you." There was silence on the other end of the phone.
"Tails, I don't want to you to go. You mean too much to me for me to let you go and get yourself hurt. Do you have to go?" She said sadly.
"Marie, Sonic is my best friend. I'm not going to let him die."
"Then at least let me go with you. I know I've never done anything like this before but I really want to help." Tails closed his eyes then looked over to where the others were.
"Marie, I'm not sure that's a good idea-"
"Please Tails…"
"Look Marie, you can't come. You know you can't come." Tails could hear her breathing in deeply, trying to stop herself from crying. "I'm sorry. We have to go home briefly anyway so I'll see you then ok?"
"Don't bother." She snarled before hanging up.
Tails sighed loudly and turned to the others, shaking his head as he headed to where the walkers were being kept.
"Hey Tails, is Marie ok?" Rouge asked quietly, running to catch up with him.
"Of course not, she's totally mad at me." Tails snapped.
"Tails, I don't see why you won't let her come. She may not have had any experience but I know she can help." She said and Tails stopped walking.
"I'm not letting her come because I don't want her to get hurt. Plus the others would never agree." He glanced back at Knuckles and Eggman and Rouge did the same.
"Just see what happens ok?" He nodded his head.
"What did she say Tails?" Eggman asked, him and Knuckles reaching where they stood in front of the walkers.
"She wanted to come with us…" Tails muttered.
"Did she?" Tails watched Eggman's face but couldn't decipher what he was thinking.
"I said she couldn't." He added shortly, jumping into the Tornado.
"Oh." Eggman said noncommittally, also getting into his walker.
They got back to London and while Tails and Eggman waited for Knuckles and Rouge to get their upgrades, Tails stood on the balcony staring out over the park. Marie's abrupt finish to their conversation had hurt him a lot, why couldn't she understand his wish for her to be safe? To be perfectly honest, not only would she be safe, if she came she would only be a hindrance to their mission. It was important they reached Sonic and Shadow as quickly as they could and they could all be quick, well he wasn't sure about Eggman, but that wasn't the point. Marie just had no idea what would be involved; especially from the way Knuckles had acted earlier when describing what he had seen.
Tails looked up when he heard this name being said and he found Eggman looking at him with concern.
"What are you thinking about Tails?" He thought about this and realised there was no point in lying. It's not like it mattered anyway.
"Marie." He said shortly, turning to look in the direction of her house.
"Because you won't let her come along?"
"Yeah. She got really mad about it. It's not like we promised her she could come along with us."
"Tails, why are you being so hard on her? Do you think that we won't let her come along?" The bluntness of what he had just said made Tails hopeful.
"So…/you/ would let her come along then?"
"Why not? The mission could be dangerous for her but she's friends with them too."
"I don't want her to get hurt." Tails said quickly.
"She doesn't want /you/ to get hurt either but that's not stopping you from going is it?"
"Sonic is my best friend!"
"You're Marie's best friend! Go and talk to her."
"I can't, she doesn't want me to."
"And that matters because…?" Eggman was right, it didn't matter. Tails hopped up onto the balcony and flew into the sky.
"I'll be back soon!" He yelled at Eggman as he flew away.
Tails landed in front of Marie's house and stood by the gate, looking up to where her bedroom was. He walked up to the door and knocked on it, wondering if she would answer it. The door opened and he was surprised to see Gillian standing there.
"Oh hi Tails, I assume you want Marie?" She smiled kindly at him.
"Yeah, if she'll talk to me that is." He replied.
"Of course she will, she's just upset that's all. Go on up, you know where her room is." He walked up the stairs to her room and knocked on the door softly.
"Who is it?" He heard her say, her voice muffled by the door.
"Can I come in?" Tails asked. A small gap appeared in the door and Marie's face appeared in it.
"Tails?" She stood back from the door and let him in, sitting back in her chair facing away from him.
"Marie, I wanted to see you before I went."
"Why? What were you going to say? 'Oh hi Marie, I just wanted to say goodbye because I might never see you again'? I don't want to hear it Tails."
"Is that why you're angry? You don't think I'm going to live through this?" He went over to her and hugged her from behind. "I'm sorry Marie, I didn't realise you felt that way."
"/You're/ sorry? Don't joke with me Tails, if you were sorry then you wouldn't be going." She started crying before pushing him away.
"I have to go Marie, the life of my best friend is at stake here." She sat on the bed, her face in her hands and Tails sat beside her, holding her in his arms.
"Don't I matter? Please let me come with you." She whispered, putting her arms around him too. He turned her head so she was facing him and kissed her softly on the lips.
"Ok then, you can come." He murmured, pulling back quickly when she wound away from his touch.
"Tails! What's got into you?" She asked.
"I don't know, I just felt I had to do it." He said quickly, blushing slightly.
"I don't think I'm ready for that yet."
"I don't think I am either." He stood up, holding her hand. "Come on, we have to go now."
They made their way down the stairs and found Gillian standing at the bottom.
"Are you going then?" She asked quietly, looking surprised when Marie hugged her.
"Yeah, I'm going." Marie said. "I'll miss you." She added.
"I'm going to miss you too." Gillian said, opening the door for them. "Look after her Tails, ok?" He nodded his head and they left the house.
They made their way back to the apartment and found Knuckles, Rouge and Eggman waiting by the walkers.
"There you are Tails, we were just about to go and look for you." Eggman said.
"I didn't know Marie was coming." Knuckles whispered to Rouge.
"Yeah, she is." Rouge spotted the look on his face. "Don't be too hard on her ok?" Knuckles nodded his head and they got into the walkers.
They landed in front of the mountain that Knuckles had seen and while the others waited by the machines, Knuckles looked around, trying to remember where the entrance was. Suddenly he saw it, a crack wide enough for a person to squeeze into. He peered into it and saw a set of stairs leading downwards. He placed his foot on the first step but didn't go any further when he heard Rouge yell out,
"Have you found it yet Knuckles?" He turned around and walked quickly back to the others.
"Yeah, it's just over there. What are you going to do about your walkers?" He asked Tails and Eggman. They turned to look at them and Eggman shrugged his shoulders.
"We'll just have to leave them here I suppose. There probably isn't enough room to get them through the entrance." Tails looked slightly worried at this but Eggman didn't seem bothered as he jumped into his and moved it under some trees. "They'll be protected here." Tails reluctantly did the same and they walked over to the entrance.
"Wow, it's quite small isn't it? I hope it gets bigger." Marie commented. It's also extremely dark. She added to herself, gulping slightly.
"Bloody hell, it's dark in here." Rouge said loudly, stepping in after Marie. "Luckily there's a torch here we can use."
"It's almost like someone's expecting us…" Eggman muttered as the torch was passed to him. Nobody said anything as he led them down the stairs into the unknown…
They had been walking for some time now, and so far, nothing had happened to them. The stairs had eventually ended and now they were walking along a tunnel, which didn't get any bigger, and didn't get any smaller. As Eggman had commented, this meant that someone had made this tunnel and they wondered if someone was still there. Apart from this, they had remained totally silent as though saying too much would wake the place up. Which didn't make any sense…
Suddenly, something rose up in front of them. It was an arch, but bigger than any of them had seen before. It appeared to have been carved out of the rocks around them and someone had taken a lot of time and effort over the patterns. Flames licked along the bottom, intertwining with each other and brushing the heels of the strangest creatures.
They were like pigs but stood on two legs and the leers on their faces made the group afraid. It wasn't so much what they looked like but the looks they had on their faces, only wild animals ever looked like that. A hunger for something, not just for food but for power as well. They carried lances and appeared to be dancing, and the shadows caused by the flickering flames made them move in and out of the arch.
At the top was a…well, it was hard to describe. It wasn't a person, not even an animal. It looked like it was made out of flames and two cold eyes stared out, looking to one side. It changed though, slowly. Now it had a mouth and the eyes turned towards them…
"Whoa!" Tails shouted and he stumbled backwards, causing the others to turn around in surprise.
"Are you all right Tails?" Knuckles asked, staring at him with concern as he helped him up.
"That face, the eyes…" Tails gasped in fright.
"What face? What eyes?" Tails frowned when he heard this and he looked up. The face had gone, now there was only the outline of it.
"Didn't…anyone see it?" He pointed up and the others noticed the shape for the first time.
"I don't see a face there Tails. Maybe it was just the light. After all, it does make this place look spooky." Marie said comfortingly but Tails wasn't consoled.
"It does seem strange… Who would take the time to carve this but not take care of the rest of the place?" Rouge asked, stepping towards the arch to get a better look. She reached out to touch it but snatched her hand back when she felt something cold going up her arm.
"What's happening?" Marie cried out in fear as they heard something moving rapidly up the tunnel.
The wind hit them so hard that they were knocked over and they struggled to not get blown away when the torch went out. Instantly plunged into darkness, the wind roared at them, literally; like something had just spotted them and now they were going to get killed. It died down gradually and the group sat up slowly, totally disorientated by the blackness surrounding them.
"Is everyone ok?" Eggman asked and once it was verified that they were, they managed to find each other with the aid of a lighter that Rouge always kept with her for emergencies.
"We should get going quickly, this lighter won't last much longer without burning me." Rouge pointed out.
"We were going this way." Knuckles said, his night sight taking over. He grabbed Rouge's hand and forming a chain, the five of them continued along the tunnel, Knuckles leading the way.
S. Chensu: Ooh ee, exciting!
Luff: If you thought that was exciting, just wait until the next episode! Lots of things happening such as-
S. Chensu: Shush! Don't tell them what's going to happen!
Luff: Oops. Anyway, review sometime if you can before the next episode is up.