Previously on Sonic Adventure 2:
Eggman took control of the world's communications and informed the world he would conquer the globe. He then showed off his power by firing the Eclipse Cannon which took out half of the moon. Eggman then wonders where the yellow Chaos Emerald was, and he then discovered Tails had it, thanks to an old newspaper. Eggman orders Shadow and Rouge to retrieve the emerald. Sonic, Tails and Amy find Knuckles who had recently found more Master Emerald in an abandoned mine. Sonic and Tails find the president who is discussing matters with Eggman. Tails downloads Eggman's co-ordinates and informs Sonic that Eggman is on the Space Colony ARK. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Big (who appears out of no where!) infiltrate Eggman's pyramid base to find a way to get to ARK. Knuckles goes to search for keys to access the main area of the base, but runs into King Boom Boo. The two fight and then Tikal appears and defeats King Boom Boo. Eggman performs his own song and then Sonic fights against Metal Sonic and the Egg Golem. The heroes then clamber into a space shuttle and head out into space. What will happen next?
Chapter 9: Aboard the ARK
The space shuttle, carrying Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Big and Tikal flew through space towards the ARK.
"So that is the Space Colony ARK" said Sonic, looking out the windscreen in awe.
"It is really big" said Big.
"And beautiful…well outer space is…" said Amy.
"I hope we don't get lost on that thing" said Tails.
"I can sense the other Chaos Emeralds in that colony" said Tikal.
"Me too…" added Knuckles.
Sonic flew the shuttle past meteorites to get to the ARK. He accidentally hit one on the way and the shuttle wobbled out of control. The cargo bay of the shuttle opened and several emerald shards of the Master Emerald flew out into space towards the gravitational pull of small planet like meteorites that circled the ARK. Knuckles gasped as he saw green glints of light float away into space.
"Oh no! The Master Emerald pieces!" cried Knuckles.
"Don't worry Knuckles" said Sonic.
"Don't worry? DON'T WORRY!" shouted Knuckles and he seized the controls.
"Hey leave the controls alone. What are you doing? Wait! Don't pull that lever!" shouted Sonic and the shuttle began spinning out of control. Everyone screamed.
Thankfully, the shuttle span right into the Ark's gravitational pull and safely landed in the shuttle bay. Knuckles was out of the shuttle like a shot and flew off to search for his precious emerald shards. Sonic, Tails, Amy, Tikal and Big walked down a long corridor.
"Trust that knucklehead to steer us out of control and almost kill us!" moaned Sonic.
"This ARK is quiet and dusty" said Amy.
"The ARK is the first Bernoulli spherical space colony. It was shut down 50 years ago, under some sort of accident" explained Tails.
"I ain't any history major, but I know that the cannon will fire soon. What's the plan Tails?" said Sonic.
"Well, the cannon is supposed to be designed to withstand outside attacks" explained Tails.
He then withdrew the yellow Chaos Emerald, only it looked a bit less bright as it was before.
"Tails, what happened to the Chaos Emerald?" asked Amy.
"The emerald is fine" said Tails and brought out a second Chaos Emerald.
"Tails! What the heck!" cried Sonic in alarm.
"Don't panic. This is a fake Chaos Emerald" said Tails, looking at the emerald in his right hand.
"Oh…" said Amy.
"I created it after I did research on the real Chaos Emerald. It has the same wavelength and properties, but not as powerful" explained Tails "Not even a machine can tell the difference. Anyway, this emerald's purpose is to reverse the energy flow of the Chaos Emeralds and self-destruct!".
"So you're saying that if we place the fake emerald with the Chaos Emeralds, it will blow up and destroy the Eclipse Cannon?" asked Sonic eagerly.
"Yes, I shall go and shut down the main generator, which will give you enough time to place the fake emerald in the cannon's core and then you get your blue behind out of there, and then the fake emerald should blow up and take the cannon within, thus the world is saved!" explained Tails.
"Brilliant!" cheered Sonic and he raced off down the corridor and vanished. Tails quickly followed, but went in the opposite direction from Sonic. Amy realised Tikal and Big had also sneaked away and so she was all alone.
"I hate it when they leave me behind!" growled Amy and she stomped off down the corridor.
Tails charged across the ARK to the main generator, and discovered that the colony had some impressive security systems. Tails had to be careful, because there was giant land mine in one room, and if that went off, he would be killed. Tails then came across the main generator and fired at it with the Vulcan Cannon. It exploded to smithereens.
Meanwhile, back in the pyramid base, Eggman and Shadow watched the video footage of Sonic, Tails and Amy's discussion.
"So they thought they could trick me with that fake emerald?" laughed Eggman.
Shadow slowly walked towards the transporter. "Shadow wait! I am the one to tell them the end is near" said Eggman "It is time for me to take my place in history as the ultimate scientist".
Eggman lumbered over to the transporter himself and began to vanish. He looked back at Shadow.
"You must finish the job, if anything happens to me…" said Eggman and he vanished.
Eggman teleported into a small bunch of platforms, under ARK. He decided it was the best way to reach Amy. He had to hitchhike on small platforms and discovered it was actually some sort of shooting gallery ride.
Amy walked helplessly about in the abandoned laboratory which looked out onto the Earth.
"Oh…why do Sonic and Tails always leave a sweet, innocent girl like me behind" sobbed Amy.
"Perhaps I can help with that my dear?" said Eggman as he appeared in the room.
"Dr. Eggman!" screamed Amy.
Eggman pointed a large red pistol at Amy as she gasped.
"If you value your life Amy, you will co-operate with me! Now where are Sonic and Tails?" threatened Eggman.
Meanwhile, Rouge was flying about on some rock like planets that were orbiting the ARK. The computer in the central control room had indicated that some Master Emerald pieces were floating around the ARK, and Rouge decided to take this opportunity to continue her search. There were three main planets: Holy Planet, Capsule Planet and the Spherical Planet. Rouge took a while to find the pieces of the Master Emerald, as she had to deal with the GUN robots that were left to guard the ARK.
Knuckles had ventured into a heavily built area with many support towers. Knuckles was worried that if he knocked one of the towers over, the whole space colony would come tumbling down. Plus, a herd of meteors were floating around the area and every so often, one or two came tumbling down and crashed into the metal. Knuckles moved quickly and managed to find all the emeralds in the area.
Rouge and Knuckles both ran along a metal bar of a tower and met eachother unexpectedly. Knuckles growled angrily at the sight of Rouge.
"Long time no see, treasure hunter," greeted Rouge. "Have you come to give back my emeralds?".
"For the final time, the Master Emerald is mine and it is my duty to protect it!" shouted Knuckles and battled insured.
Knuckles swung his fists countless times, but Rouge dodged each blow and then kicked Knuckles with a lightning fast manoeuvre. Knuckles took the hit and he glided over Rouge and launched an uppercut on Rouge that sent are flying backwards. Rouge then stood up angrily.
"Now you've got me mad!" snarled Rouge and she ran at Knuckles, but she suddenly slipped on the support beam and tumbled down towards the molten metal below.
Thinking her life was about to finish, Rouge closed her eyes, but she was suddenly halted in her fall by Knuckles, who had leapt over the beam to help her. He pulled the bat up and she immediately got lost in his purple eyes, the same with Knuckles who was searching her emerald coloured eyes. Rouge then removed her hand from Knuckles and stood up.
"Keep your hands to yourself!" snapped Rouge.
"I just saved your life, batgirl!" replied Knuckles.
"You just wanted to hold my hand. You're such a creep" said Rouge.
"I just want the pieces of the Master Emerald. Is that too much to ask?" said Knuckles.
"Fine. Take them. They stink like echidnas do!" sighed Rouge and surrendered her pieces of the Master Emerald.
"Wha-?" asked Knuckles bewildered.
The guardian then nodded, scooped up the pieces and fused them with the rest of the Master Emerald. The Master Emerald shone brightly.
"There, all back to normal" said Knuckles.
"So you've got your stupid emerald back, big deal!" snorted Rouge, folding her arms.
"I'm sorry…If I hurt you…" said Knuckles, picking up the Master Emerald and sprinting off.
Rouge turned away and began to walk away herself, but then she looked back in the direction that her rescuer had vanished and smiled.
Chapter 10: The Hero Is History
Sonic entered the central control room and approached the six other Chaos Emeralds that were already inside the cannon. Sonic looked at the fake yellow emerald in his hand and was about to shove the emerald in the empty slot in the cannon, when Tails spoke up on the radio.
"Sonic, come back, Amy is…" cried Tails, but he was suddenly cut off.
"Tails?" shouted Sonic into the radio.
"Muhahahaha! I have Amy captive!" laughed the voice of Eggman. "Come to the observatory and bring the Chaos Emerald with you!".
Sonic did as Eggman told and he rushed across the ark to the observatory. Tails was already there. Amy stood on the other side of the observatory, Eggman threatening her with his pistol. Sonic entered the room.
"Let's get down to business, shall we Sonic. Put down the Chaos Emerald in the centre of the room and then we'll discuss what will happen to your girlfriend!" said Eggman.
Sonic looked from Eggman, to Amy and then to Tails. He then looked down at the fake emerald in his palm.
"Handing over the emerald will kill two birds with one stone…" thought Sonic and glanced at Tails, who nodded.
Sonic strolled over to the middle of the room and placed the fake emerald on the floor.
"You've become a big-time villain, Eggman" said Sonic.
But before Sonic to back off, Eggman hit a button on the control panel beside him. A glass capsule dropped down and trapped Sonic.
"You thought you could trick me with that fake emerald?" asked Eggman angrily.
"But how did you know which was the fake one?" asked Tails.
"Tails!" shouted Sonic.
"Because you just told me, foxboy" said Eggman and laughed fiendishly.
Tails' mouth fell open in shock.
"Now, it's time to go for a little space ride," said Eggman. "Once the capsule clears the ARK, BAM!".
Sonic bowed his head and then looked over to Tails, who had watery eyes.
"I'm counting on you Tails…" said Sonic and he looked over to Amy, who was already crying. "And Amy, you take care of yourself".
"Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!" shouted Eggman, saluting Sonic and pressing another button on the control panel.
The capsule containing Sonic vanished and tumbled down into space. He picked up the emerald and remembered what Tails had said: "The emerald has the same wavelengths and priorities…"
"That's it…" said Sonic and he clutched the emerald in his hand. "CHAOS CONTROL!".
The capsule exploded and everyone gasped. Big and Tikal, who had gone for a wander had seen Sonic fall into space and they hung their heads in sadness. Rouge had also seen the explosion, so had Shadow.
"I guess he was a normal hedgehog after all" said Shadow disappointed.
"SONIC!" cried Amy, falling to the floor and crying.
"No…" whispered Tails, brushing a tear from his eye.
Eggman watched silently from the observatory as the remains of the capsule fell down towards Earth.
"Farewell Sonic…my admirable adversary…" said Eggman, a tear of regret falling onto his moustache.
Metal Sonic watched the footage of Sonic's capsule explode from Eggman's pyramid base and he shook his head angrily. He then stepped on the transporter and was teleported to the ARK.
Eggman turned around to face Tails.
"Here's the deal Tails, hand over the Chaos Emerald and you and Amy will be spared" ordered Eggman.
"Sonic…" said Tails.
"Huh?" said Eggman.
"You fat walking piece of rotten egg!" cursed Tails.
"Tails?" cried Amy in surprise.
"There is one good thing I've learnt from Sonic!" cried Tails "Never give up!".
"Then I shall take the emerald by brute force!" snarled Eggman.
The two enemies battled it out with laserbeams, missiles and giant laser blasts. Eggman appeared to be winning, but then Tails used the power of the Chaos Emerald to fire a deadly blue and pink beam of energy at Eggman. Eggman fled around the observatory, chasing after Eggman. Amy had retreated to the doorway of the observatory, watching the fight from a far off distance. She was quickly joined by Tikal and Big.
Knuckles walked down a corridor carrying the Master Emerald, when he suddenly stopped.
"I feel a strange energy, getting closer" said Knuckles.
A flash of green suddenly illuminated the room and Sonic fell to the floor.
"Sonic? Where did you come from?" asked Knuckles, placing the Master Emerald on the floor and helping Sonic stand up.
"I managed to use Chaos Control…" said Sonic.
"Are you okay?" asked Knuckles.
"Yeah, I'm fine" replied Sonic, looking at Knuckles and then at the emerald in his hand. "Hey Knuckles, could you go and help Tails and Amy, I've got try and slam dunk this emerald in the cannon before it fires!".
"Sure, no problem" said Knuckles as Sonic dashed off, heading for the cannon's core.
Meanwhile, at the control room, Rouge stood before the Chaos Emeralds, smiling.
"I guess my mission here is over, I now have six Chaos Emeralds! They're mine!" said Rouge.
"I don't think so…" hissed a cold voice.
"Shadow!" cried Rouge, turning around to face the black hedgehog.
"Now I see what's going on. The president told you to bring the Chaos Emeralds to him. You're a government spy!" said Shadow angrily.
"So you know my secret," said Rouge and she pulled a printed paper from her suit. "Here are the results of Project Shadow".
She held the paper in Shadow's face. It showed an image of a giant lizard; a life support system on its back.
"If this is the Ultimate Lifeform, then what is standing in front of me?" asked Rouge to Shadow, who stood completely still.
A long silence ensured, Rouge looking at Shadow who stood rooted to the spot, his eyes lost in a labyrinth of thought and unanswered questions.
"Shadow, someone is trying to get to Eclipse Cannon. Get down there and stop whoever it is!" shouted Eggman over the radio.
"I'll take care of it, doctor" replied Shadow and then turned to go.
"Don't touch those emeralds, if you want to live" said Shadow as he slowly walked away.
"Ah, but what if all your memories are false and your time with Maria on the ARK never actually happened" spat Rouge, staring enthusiastically at the retreating black hedgehog.
"Even if they are, I will still keep my promise to Maria!" stated Shadow and skated away.
Sonic dashed across the ARK towards the giant Eclipse Cannon which was set to fire in a manner of minutes. He grinded down a series of rails and then ran into Metal Sonic, who tried to dispose of his enemy by slamming a metal fist into his face. Sonic managed to avoid Metal Sonic and he ran on towards the cannon. Shadow also made his way to the cannon as well, and used Chaos Control to quicken up the pace.
Sonic then arrived at a long maintenance platform which led all the way to the Eclipse Cannon. As he was about to take off, he heard a familiar voice.
"You impress me, hedgehog. Able to use Chaos Control with that fake emerald" said Shadow.
"Heh, I guess you thought you were the only one that could do it" laughed Sonic, who started to break into a jog.
"I guess I underestimated you," said Shadow, also starting to jog. "Just what are you?".
"Just a nice guy who likes adventures. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" announced Sonic.
"I'll find out the truth about someday, but I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are about to come to an end!".
The two started running and the half race, half battle was massive. Chaos Controls, Sonic Winds and Chaos Spears exploded as the two hedgehogs ran for the Eclipse Cannon, each one trying to get ahead by using Chaos Control. Sonic then won the fight by using Chaos Control and appearing above Shadow and knocking him out with a Sonic Wind. Sonic then made a quick rush to the cannon and threw the fake emerald into the cannon with only ten seconds until it fired and Earth became dust.
Tails and Eggman were still duelling in the observatory, their walkers almost ready to fall apart. Tails then managed to fire a flurry of missiles from the Cyclone and defeated Eggman. However, in the process, the yellow Chaos Emerald fell out of the Cyclone and Eggman grabbed it and slithered his way out of the observatory.
"Sonic, I did it!" said Tails.
"Way to go, Tails!" cried Sonic's voice.
"What? Sonic?" bellowed Tails.
"Where?" cried Amy, dashing into the room, followed by Big and Tikal.
"Look outside" called Sonic.
The group stared out of window to see the cannon explode and Sonic hanging from a bar, grinning at his friends. Amy squealed with joy as she hammered on the window with her hands, as if she was a vulture trying to reach its prey.
"We saved the world!" cheered Sonic and stuck his thumb up and his pals.
Knuckles suddenly appeared and helped Sonic onto the bar. Tails then looked about and realised Eggman had made off with the last emerald.
"Eggman has made off with last emerald!" shrieked Tails.
"Relax Tails. Eggman doesn't know that the cannon was destroyed!" said Sonic.
"Maybe we should get into the ARK?" suggested Knuckles.
"Good idea, Knuckles" replied Sonic and the two left the cannon.
In the central control room, Eggman tossed the last Chaos Emerald into the cannon slot grid and he burst out laughing.
"Now! My legacy shall begin. The legacy of…The Eggman Empire! Mwahahahahaha!" laughed Eggman.
But as the doctor rejoiced, he failed to notice that the computer screen was flashing with a word in the centre.
D A N G E R !
To be continued…
