-Shadow-
I hear the sound of heavy bolts sliding back, the door unlocking, as Tails looks up and smiles at Sonic, who grins back. Only a little way beyond this door, we should find the Chaos Emerald. I can sense it, just a little, like a brilliant light that I don't need my eyes to see, dulled not by distance but by blurring dark curtains and a thick fog. I can't sense anything too far away from me, even if it is a Chaos Emerald, but as it is, my energy-senses tell me that it's there – just as Sonic's tell him. He and I are a lot alike in some ways, I think again. Down to our abilities, our speed, our reflexes and our sharpened senses... such a coincidence it's almost impossible to believe, but I was created and Sonic can't have been.
He ducks under the door as it begins to rise, and I hear him racing on ahead. Tails and I wait until we can walk under, Tails smiling – and then we see something that brings us both to a startled halt! This must be some kind of final guard room before wherever the Emerald is kept, and Sonic's already gone, no doubt through the open door opposite us – but one of the silent, deactivated robots there is moving, lights blinking on, guns tracking us, and Tails and I only just leap aside in time! Sonic and Tails said all of these were listed as deactivated – but it seems either one's back on-line, or this was all a trap!
I dodge again as another beam burns through the air where I was standing, dodge and duck behind one of the still-inactive robots, hoping I can fight this thing, knowing that we may not be able to defeat it. These robots are faster, tougher, and even somewhat smarter than most of his others, and we've run from them more than we've fought. If Tails and I can just hold on until Sonic gets that Chaos Emerald – but we can't do that, can't wait for him to come back, and I roll aside even as another, more powerful, blast narrowly misses me, the robot coming around the side of this deactivated one for another shot! We can't run forever, have to fight, if only to buy Sonic time – and I leap over its next shot, heading straight for it, slamming into the too-strong armour and falling back, but regaining my feet almost immediately and attacking again. If I don't find some kind of weak point... at the very least I can keep it busy for a while.
I keep up the dodging and attacking, knowing that if Sonic hadn't awoken this thing would probably already have killed me, I'd been so tired and weakened by exhaustion. As it is, it doesn't seem nearly as hard as I expected, as it once would have – but I can't seem to do any real damage, and it might only be a matter of time before I falter, and my untiring metal foe wins. Again – jump to one side, attack, dodge away once more, dashing behind the ranks of inactive robots.
Why aren't they active?! The thought strikes my mind just as I'm feeling glad they aren't. Why aren't they, too, active and trying to kill us? Fighting more than two or three of these would be next to impossible! It's almost as though... he doesn't want us dead... no, that can't be right, can't be; he's been trying to kill us all the years since this began. He must just have thought one robot would be enough to see to us, it must just be that I've recovered, that must be all – mustn't it? If not – what could he want? He can't know about Sonic! Can he?
Another shot streaks towards me, and I leap aside – too slowly – no!