Sonic 10

CH.2: Disaster in snow

"Shadow…Shadow…" Chris struggled in his covers and in his sleep as he saw the hedgehog. Their adventure on Space Colony Ark wouldn't leave him and the fact that Shadow still hung around with Eggman hurt him. His eyes opened and with a mad tantrum he threw his covers to the floor. He held his head in pain and figuring he couldn't bear sleep again slipped on his slippers and walked into the hallway. The ship was asleep and Chris walked through the corridors trying to get his mind off Shadow. The Typhoon's alarms blared and Chris rushed to the bridge to see the sensors pick up a vehicle. "That shape…it can only mean we weren't the only ones-." Rubbing his head he remembered when they were on the bridge, but it felt like someone else was there. Eggman was too far away to hear us, Chris thought, so that means!"Shadow was here!" The radar was right on dot of Eggman's ship and it told him they were entering the atmosphere. "I could let the others sleep, then they'd be the last to know, still it seems wrong," Chris said this aloud and figured it would be mean to let the others know late. "Sonic, Amy, Cosmo, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese; report to the bridge now!"

"What's the matter Chris?" Sonic was the 1st one up and he still wore his nightcap. Tails was too tired to walk and his twin tails helped him float up the stairs. Cream and Cheese were rubbing sleep from their eyes and Amy was leaning on her hammer. Knuckles was again impatient and alert to the new alarm. Chris told them about Eggman's ship and the fact that Shadow heard them plot their course of action. "Tails bring up the shields and let's follow that Eggman."

"Ok Sonic, everyone let's hold on to something, just as a precaution," he added. The coordinates were plotted and under the careful flying of Miles "Tails" Prower they fought their way through hail of ice and once through they beheld a snowy valley. The landing cycle was warmed up and with a soft landing they were there. Amy sat in her chair emotionless as the group put on warm clothing and padding. Tails noticed her and waved, but she seemed dejected now.

"I have a reading on the Chaos emerald," Chris said. By now everyone had their gear on and as they headed out Chris brought up a visual map. "The quickest route to get them will be down that hill." Cosmo followed the group and tripped over her skies and fell face first into the snow. Tails helped her up and the two looked into each other's eyes, but quickly examined their gear; each blushing, both afraid their feelings were not felt by the other. Chris noticed them, and smiled.

"Cosmo you can join on my snowboard…that is if you want," Tails said. Cosmo agreed and as they joined the others they shared their surprise at how steep the hill was. Sonic gave Knuckles a grin and dipping the nose of his snowboard down began to race down the hill. Knuckles followed close behind steering left with his body to avoid trees and right to avoid logs. Sonic hit a ramp and somersaulted into the air landing with his hands up. Knuckles broke open snowballs on his way and always faltered on the ramp. "What the-?"

"Destroy Sonic!" The ground shook and Chris put his skies in the snow to come to a stop. The huge Metarex towered over the trees and its huge legs were half in the ground. The ground shook again and the mountain began to loose its hold on the snow. Sonic stared up at the menacing Metarex and as he lost attention tripped over a leg. The Metarex lifted its huge leg to squash Sonic and over the trees came a yellow beam. The beam crashed into the Metarex causing it to redirect its firing aim. Sonic lifted his head and saw the Typhoon had once again got airborne and had locked onto the Metarex. The snow crashed into the ground and Chris started to race down the mountain as the avalanche followed. "Primary objective: destroy Sonic!"

"These Metarex don't slow down do they?" Amy said over the comm. The Typhoon released another beam, this time the Metarex shot first up and scored a hit on the Typhoon. The circuits began to overload and Cream and Cheese jumped from their console as it erupted in flames. "Sonic the whole place is on fire…we are…" Amy felt the heat first, then the blinding flash, then nothing. Cream and Cheese dragged Amy out of the cockpit and both collapsed. Meanwhile the avalanche was increasing in momentum and the 5 Typhoon members had snow on their heels. Sonic tapped his communicator and heard nothing.

"Hey I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Knuckles was ahead of Sonic and trees stood no longer as his obstacle as he dashed left and right sending snow everywhere. Sonic's gaze was on the Typhoon which had caught fire in many primary areas and now was descending into the mountains. Chris kept his skies in constant motion and Tails was having a good time with Cosmo. "Is that-?" Knuckles soared over the chasm and onto the other side ignoring what he previously was about to say. Up ahead were two glowing shapes and each were within his area. "I beat you Sonic!"

"Try that some other time Knuckles," Sonic said. Knuckles looked to his right and as a shadow plopped in front of him he hit the brakes and hit the snow. Sonic slid to a stop and unlatched the bracings that held him to the board. The emeralds were there and as he walked forward engines from above made him jump. Looking up he saw Eggman's ship and as the ramp fell down Sonic became very tensed as Shadow walked down. "Heard you are still hanging around with Eggman, quite a guy; if you can get past his losing streak and baldness."

"Enough Sonic," Eggman said as he walked past Shadow. "These emeralds are mine; just think of it as just cause after that brat Chris stole my other two. Shadow grab the emeralds!" Sonic rushed forward and as Shadow landed from the ramp he tackled him. The two hedgehogs were choking each other and as they rolled, Eggman grabbed the emeralds in sneaky fashion. The ground shook violently and as they looked at the floor it cracked open. The Metarex lumbered at them, but missed them as they fell spiraling into the depths of the planet. "Blast you hedgehog, this is why I told Shadow to get the-."

"Don't put the blame on me Eggman," Sonic said as they fell faster. "While me and Shadow were at each other's necks, you were sneaking over to the emeralds. It's always like you to steal anything without considering a trap," Sonic said. Their spiral of doom ended and with a thudding headache they hit something. "Knuckles?"

"Yeah…I'm here," he groaned. Up above the Metarex, with its strength, closed the crack above sealing them in. Great now I'm stuck with two insanely competitive hedgehogs, and one not to miss evil genius, Knuckles thought, with my luck I'm bound to meet that annoying pest and two robot lackeys. Eggman's ship hissed open and as the ramp fell down Bokunn poked his head out and Decoe and Bocue fell down missing the ramp. "Eggman you're to blame-."

"Pipe down can't a girl get any sleep around here?" Knuckles grinded his teeth and as he turned his head he saw the remarkably mischievous white bat Rouge. Rouge took a look out and when she saw the damp caves surrounding the ship she shook her head at her luck. Knuckles the annoying echidna is here, now we have a party, she thought. Soaring past Bokunn she landed beside Eggman and jabbed him in the belly. "So Dr. Eggman, got any ideas on escape?"

"Not at the moment Rouge," Eggman said, "besides I suggest we explore the cave. You might not want to hear this but…I seemed to have lost the emeralds in our fall." Time seemed to standstill, but not long because just then Sonic and Knuckles pushed Eggman down and started wailing on him. Rouge pulled Knuckles off and Shadow pulled Sonic off; both struggled to get free and began the pain again. "Look, we are down here together, I suggest we work together to get out. Rouge and Knuckles will lead the way seeing how they are emerald sensitive."

"I will not help you get those emeralds Eggman, even at the possibility of escape," Knuckles said stubbornly. Sonic nodded his head in agreement and Eggman had his back to them confused. "Sonic and I will find a way out; whatever we find along the way is ours!"

"If that's the way you feel," Eggman said. While Eggman had his back to them he secretly conversed with Decoe, Bocue, and Bokunn. "Tie the hedgehog and echidna up, but do it without notice." Decoe took the right, Bocue took the left, and Bokunn stood there making funny faces. At times they can be robotic fools, he thought, but then there are their bright points. Within minutes the two heroes were tied up and were put at the back of the line. "Those emeralds are mine now!" The hours seemed to drag and the walls seemed to play tricks on their minds by leading them in a circle.

"There are no emeralds here, nor were there any here on our third trip," Rouge complained. Knuckles and Sonic looked up and noticed she was right. The left wall was filled with holes, the right had ancient writing; neither held any emeralds, not even the ground. Exhausted beyond measure the party rested where they stood and for what seemed like a long time rested.

Tails jumped the chasm with relative ease and as he landed he skidded to a stop. The huge Metarex seen before was closing on a hole. Looking at his surroundings he saw no Sonic or Knuckles, and behind the Metarex were touchdown marks of a ship, no doubt its Eggman, Tails thought. Cosmo clung to his back as the Metarex turned its haunting gaze upon them. Chris crash landed near them and as he lifted his snow covered face he got up in fear. The huge Metarex took a step towards them causing the ground to quake. "Chris, any ideas?"

"Unless there's a huge canon nearby, I can't say I do," he said nervously. Just as it was to squish them a loud screeching sound was heard and all its actions were halted. The group had no idea what to do, but Chris thought it would be a good idea to climb aboard, so he did. "C'mon, let's see where it goes. It may know where the planet egg is." So they climbed aboard and as the Metarex reawakened from its slumber jumped into the air and soared to its new coordinates.