Chapter 4
The cat began falling to the floor as he lost consciousness. Jack quickly swooped in to slow his fall, as Cyber looked away, as if in a daze. "Cy?" Raccoon asked, curious. She didn't seem to hear him. Rouge approached, gently. "You think he meant YOU, don't you?" Cyber gave a beep, and Omega translated. "New ECS units. Mention of mechanical limbs makes this more possible." Jack entered the conversation. "Hold up now, why would anyone try to revive the ECS project? Eggman couldn't even keep up with it, how could anyone else?"
"I know of a few people more than willing to ride Eggman's coattails towards world domination. Recycling a failed project seems to particularly match up with you-know-who." Rouge said, ponderingly. "No...No, this doesn't look like his style. Too...Vulgar." Shadow countered. "What, you met the guy for all of 5 seconds, and you suddenly know him inside and out?" Rouge asked. "I've been keeping up with the reports. He doesn't operate like this. Besides, this must've taken months to set up as a MAIN project. The timeline just doesn't work."
"Who are you two even talking about?" Jack asked, confused, as he did his best to comfort Cyber. Shadow got ready to answer when he heard some noises coming from the direction of the cat. The entire group turned to face him as he got up, and opened his eyes...His RED eyes. "ECS-076 reintegrated."
"What the heck?" Jack muttered under his breath, instinctively moving into a protective position in front of Cyber and Raccoon as the cat approached. "Hmph. ECS-001. I suspected I'd be seeing you and your friends around here sometime soon." The cat approached Team Dark. "...But you? I didn't think I'd be encountering you for a good while yet." Shadow stood firm. "Let the ECS Units go, whoever you are." The cat got an odd smile on his face. Even Shadow felt a chill run down his spine as he saw the lips curl in that devious way. "As you wish."
Suddenly, all of the ECS units at the assembly line had their eyes turn blue, all now aware of their new, bizarre state of being. Some screamed in abject horror, others were merely confused, while yet a few others immediately realized what had happened, and ran over to help those who were panicked. "See? No harm done. Just a simple copy and paste of that program you placed in that device...Very fine work, ECS-001." The cat said, casually. "Oh, but did I accidentally turn on anything else in the other room? I can't seem to remember..." As if on cue(Heck, PROBABLY on cue), a loud banging could be heard on one of the large doors separating the main assembly line from the rest of the plant. It was soon blown off completely, revealing a large army of Egg Pawns, and many other Badniks along the way. Some regular, others experimental. Regardless, they began making their move on the ECS Units. "Oopsie! It seems your friends will be a bit pre-occupied down here. Wouldn't want them getting in on our little reunion, eh, Shadow?" The cat said, smugly, before motioning to a door on the other side of the room that was now opening. Shadow instinctively ran towards it. "SHADOW!" Rouge called out after him, for all the good it did. "I'm on it!" Jack said, as his Void Wisp entered his Wispon, enabling its teleportation ability. Jack quickly used it to get right in front of the door, entering it along with Shadow just before it closed. "Hmph. I suppose stubbornness WAS always his saving grace." The cat mused. "What did you say?" Rouge asked, just before the cat's eyes suddenly returned to blue. "What the-!? What just happened?"
"Stay here!" Rouge told him, as she, Omega, Cyber, and Raccoon entered the fray against the Badniks.