Chapter 16

"I've got a plan," Maria said quietly, digging through her pockets of her pants and pulling out the Emerald and handing it over to Shadow.

"A Chaos Emerald?" Shadow questioned, looking down at the red gem. He looked back at Maria.

"Where did you get one?"

"I uh...barrowed it without asking," she nervously told him.

"You stole it."

"I didn't steal it! I took it without permission to do so."

"That's stealing."

"I have intentions on giving it back!"

"Who's there?! Come out with your hands up!"

The two of them froze from the voice. They didn't need to know that it was a soldier that had found them. Maria got up and ran out of the alley way. She didn't need to say anything to Shadow about her plan. He understood the moment that the Emerald was placed in his hands on what was going to go down to get out.

"Hiya!" She said with a smile at soldiers. There had to be about a dozen of them. The noise of TV helicopters droned, hoping to get a glimpse of what was happening on the ground.

"Commander, we got the Robotnik girl here," one of the soldiers stated into his walkie-talkie.

"Aww is the Commander sad that I'm done with his charade," Maria taunted, "This all would have been fine if one of us didn't wake up."

"Watch your tongue girl," snapped the soldier, "You are coming with us."

"No, I don't think that's gonna happen," Maria replied with a smirk across her face, "You see, he's gonna have a problem with that."

She took two steps back as Shadow emerged from the dark of the alley way. He almost seemed to glow with energy.

"CHAOS BLAST," he shouted.

An energy wave shot from him, knocking the soldiers down to the ground and leaving most of them unconscious. The one who was yelling had grabbed his pistol from his holster, aiming at the two of them as Shadow picked up Maria, shoving the Emerald back into her hands. Luckily for them, Maria had noticed.

"CHAOS...SHIELD?" Maria questionably shrieked, not sure if that's how it worked or not.

It did though.

Her force field bubble surrounded the both of them, bouncing the bullet that was fired off of it. Her and Shadow were out of harm's way for now.

-XXX-

"First Maria, now Sonic," Knuckles groaned. It was long after they noticed Maria missing that Sonic bolted head first to try and find her on his own, leaving the three of them to follow Rouge back to GUN's Head Quarters.

"You know you guys didn't need to follow me back here," she said, with a tint of annoyance in her voice.

"Well what else are going to do?" Tails asked back at her, "Sit around and wait for Maria and Sonic to come back?"

"I hope he's okay," Amy said softly.

"It's Sonic Amy," Knuckles said back to her, "He'll be fine."

-XXX-

"Okay, I have so many questions," Shadow started. The two of them had found a nice secluded spot outside of the Station Square from the ever watchful eyes all around them, "First: how are you alive on EARTH with NIDS? Second: Where did you even FIND an Emerald and Third: What was the shield?!"

"One and three I can answer easy," Maria said, "Remember the Bio-Lizard incident? When I needed a transfusion and you're the only match to my blood type?"

"I do recall yes."

"Well the pro is Grandpa did do a successful job. You're the cure for NIDS. I'm perfectly healthy in every way now from that blood transfusion," Maria paused, trying to figure out how to say the second part.

"The con," she started, "I am now a secondary Ultimate Lifeform. I'm can sense Chaos energy from way off and can so far make a shield from using my own, which I'm honestly surprised that worked."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes to let everything the she just told him to sink in.

"That still doesn't explain the Emerald," Shadow pondered.

"Oh I took that from the Tornado," Maria answered. Shadow looked at her.

"So you did steal it."

"Barrowed without asking!" she yelled.

They both looked and started to laugh. To Maria, it sounded like Shadow hadn't laugh in years, like he had forgotten that he was even capable of doing so.

"I can't believe you're alive," Shadow said, still in bewilderment on how his best friend was with him.

"I can't believe I'm alive," Maria exclaimed, "Two inches Shadow! Two inches and I would've been hit in my heart. I dodged a bullet...literally!"

She looked down at the city that she knew they had to go back into to get out.

"So where do we go from here?"

"The trains," Shadow told her, "We'll get into one of the box cars, and head towards Westoplis. After that we'll figure it out from there."

"But the trains are on the other side of the city," she said, looking over at Shadow, "Don't tell me we're going back into the city?!"

"We don't have a choice Maria," he sighed.

"I know," she said sadly. She pulled out the box that Rouge had found on the ARK and opened it.

"Inhibitor rings?" Shadow asked, looking at the rings then to Maria.

"Yeah," she told him, "Grandpa made them for me so I can enhance my Chaos powers . I haven't used them yet."

"Well this is probably not the best time to use them," Shadow stated. He looked at Maria. She looked so defeated.

"But get them on. I'll have your back if anything happens."

-XXX-

Nokia was finishing some paper work up when she heard a knock at her office door.

"Come in," She said not paying any mind on who it was that had entered.

"Well hello there Lt. Saunders."

"Rouge?" Nokia questioned. She looked up was shocked when see Rouge there along with Tails Knuckles and Amy.

"Why are you here?" HOW are you here?"

"Oh please you sent newbie Haggerman up there," Rouge retorted back at her, "It wasn't even fair on how easy we got the space ship."

"You stole the ship?" Nokia asked in disbelief. Rouge just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Lt. Saunders! We have a problem!" yelled a soldier who came scrambling into the room.

"The Ultimate Lifeform has been spotted," he stated, "He's also not alone."

The room went silent. Everyone had the same thought on their mind but no one wanted to say out loud.

Maria found Shadow.

"Does the Commander know?" Nokia asked. The soldier nodded.

"We need to get them out."

-XXX-

Sonic had been searching every inch of the city for Maria but was coming up empty on it.

"Where could she have gone?" He questioned to himself and he turned down one of the many dark alley ways thinking that she may have turned down one of these and was hiding.

Then, there was a loud snap.

Sonic hit the ground face first hard. The shock of the noise startled him at first not knowing what it was from. He tried to get back up but that's when the pain hit.

He fell back down gasping, closing his eyes from it. The pain was hot and excruciating, like something was trying to rip his leg off .

His eyes snapped open. He looked down and saw that his right leg was mangled into what looked to be a bear trap. Blood spilling from every direction that the trap had hit.

"No," he whimpered, "No no no no no no no."

He tried to thrash his leg free but that only made things worse. Tears now rolling down his face Sonic did the only thing he could think of and screamed out in agony.

-XXX-

AN: I've had this whole 'Let's Destroy Sonic's Leg' idea in my head for YEARS. I'm so happy (and sad) that I'm able to write it out finally!