April 26th, 1 A.E. — 9 months ago
I thought that I was going undercover. Flying under the radar while I investigated the disappearance of an old friend. But as it turned out, Eggman was one step ahead of me.
Heavy Gunner climbs out of his chopper with a pair of glowing blue energy cuffs in hand. "Vector the Crocodile, I'm placing you under arrest. The Emperor would like to have a word with you."
I was cornered like a rat. No chance of fighting my way out without backup. Made me wonder if it was a bad idea to leave my backup behind.
—–—
There was definitely something fishy in the air. I was a rebel, and Eggman knew it. So why arrange a personal audience when he could've just sent me to the slammer? I didn't have that answer yet. But it was clear that he wanted me for something. And that was an advantage I intended to use.
In a darkened room, a large bag is dropped onto the surface of a metal table, jingling loudly as sparkling gold coins spill out from the top. "One million yolks," Eggman's voice announces. "That should be more than enough to cover our outstanding debt, with interest. All yours, Mr. Crocodile."
Vector, his cuffs already removed, narrows his eyes as he glares into the shadows where Eggman seems to sit. It wasn't really him, of course. He'd played these games with us before. It was a robot, or a hologram, or something to make me think he was really there in the room. But I'd play this game. "What's the deal, Doc? What are you trying to do here?"
"My, surely you haven't forgotten, Vector? You rescued me from the clutches of Metal Sonic. 'As soon as I conquer the world, I will pay you.' You're a hard man to get ahold of, Vector, but I'm nothing if not a man of my word."
"Nice try. What's the catch?"
"Catch? There is no catch. You're free to take your payment and leave. You can consider that freedom an apology for how long it took to settle this away. I don't like owing debts, and my debt to you is paid. Of course, if you're interested in receiving further payment…"
There it was. All the proof I needed. If I played this right, I could get anything I wanted out of him. Vector scoops the bag of coins off of the table and stands to leave. "Sorry, Doc. Not interested." He starts walking out.
"Of course, of course. But if I might make a suggestion before you go?"
Vector stops to listen.
"Why don't you put those funds to good use? Open up your own private detective agency? Ordinarily, such a thing wouldn't be permitted in the Empire. But I would be happy to offer you my personal certification. I'm sure the people would be thrilled to have your service available. And after all, it's not as if you have anywhere else to go."
Did Eggman know that I broke things off with the Chaotix? I don't know how he could've. And the way he made it sound, he might've thought it was worse than it really was. Another advantage I could use. "Not a bad idea, Doc." He resumes his walk out. "I'm sure you'll be able to find me if you need me."
"You know I will. Oh, and if you happen to find Mr. Montse…"
Vector freezes at hearing the name of his old friend.
"…tell him he has payment from the Empire waiting as well."
Vector does his best to play it cool. "Sure thing. I'll do that."
If there's one thing I've learned over the last nine months…it's that everything is connected. I just never would've imagined that those connections would lead me right back to the place I left. I never would've imagined what they'd lead me to do.
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project
Season 3, Episode 2
Agent Black
Written by ChaosProjectAuthor
Daily log, February 6th, 2 A.E. Shadow the Hedgehog reporting.
Am I doing the right thing? Running away from the base to find answers about my past? It seemed like the only option at the time. If those SCOPE reports are true… If I really did commit all those atrocious acts, and somehow forgot about it…of course Sonic wouldn't be able to trust me. But could I have trusted him to find that truth in my place? Is there anything I'm capable of finding that Sonic couldn't find just as well? Did I sabotage the chances of the truth being found by splitting the team like this? I just don't know…
I can justify the decision all I want. I couldn't have stayed there, not really. Sonic said it would be safer for everyone if I just waited in the brig for him to figure things out, but Knuckles made that impossible. He believes that I destroyed his clan, that I released the Doom Virus that killed them all—the virus that my blood was needed to cure. I would've been a sitting duck for his revenge, locking myself up. Maybe Sonic could've stopped things from going that far, assuming he could keep a close enough eye on Knuckles. Or maybe he'd look the other way.
I wouldn't have thought Sonic capable of that…until I saw the look in his eye when he read about the death of the Controller who came before him. I'm not sure why, but that clearly hurt him on a personal level. Personal enough to make me question his judgement in that moment. Of course, it hurt me as well. I never met this other Controller, at least not as far as I can remember. But the Professor mentioned him to me, once. He saved the Professor's life, long before he ever came to the ARK—in that sense, I suppose I owe him my life as well. The Professor said…when the day came for me to go to the Earth…that I was to seek out this Controller. Learn all that he has to teach. And pass it on to the Controller who would come after him. To Sonic. I was supposed to keep his knowledge alive. Instead, I ensured that it died with him. Or at least, that's what the logs say.
I don't want to believe that I did these things. But…what if I did?
…
I already gave Sonic the answer to that question. I told him I would accept my fate. I meant it at the time. But even that gives me second thoughts. As long as I still have the power to fight Eggman…to fight for this world…would it be irresponsible of me to give up that freedom?
I want the truth. Whatever that may be. But some part of me hopes that I never find it. At least that way, I know I can still fight. If I never find the truth, I will fight like I always have, no matter who chooses to be my enemy. This is who I am. There's no other decision I could have made.
—–—
Wood Zone — Rebel Camp Beta
The new home of Camp Beta is carved into the heart of a dense deciduous forest—quite literally. Structures for living, gathering, and storage have all been carved between the roots of the gargantuan trees that stretch up as far as the eye can see, naturally sheltered by the towering wood. The camp is quite lively, filled with dozens of rebels, human and animoid alike, going about their daily business as they weave between the trees.
In the hollow beneath one large tree, Tails is at work with his Handheld Pad and a scattering of papers filled with hastily scribbled notes. "I've tried just about every search method I can think of," he explains. "I've cross-referenced with…disappearances and unexplained deaths in the news records. I haven't found anything I can definitively call a contradiction. If they made this up, they managed to keep the story straight, that's for sure."
Shadow watches over his shoulder, examining the notes spread across the wooden table. "What about the files themselves?"
"As far as I can tell, the metadata is all accurate. The files were created on the dates they should've been, and there's no sign of recent tampering—with one exception." He scrolls through the screen until he finds the files he wants. "Right here, a while before Eggman found you, there's a larger than average gap between logs. I think that some of them may have been deleted. There's nothing left to recover, so no real way to tell what was in those logs. I've also found two other oddities. One of them, the one Sonic found, was a single log made after we met. If I'm remembering the timeline right, it would've been recorded while the ARK was falling. Audio only. I couldn't get much out of it, but do you want to hear it?"
"Can't be worse than anything else I've heard. Go ahead."
Tails presses down on the screen to play the file.
"Mission report, 1804 hours Military Standard Time. Current location, Space Colony ARK. I've been assigned an ongoing mission. Reports will continue as progress is made. Indicium sit imperium. End of report."
Shadow echoes, "Indicium sit imperium… That's the same way the other report ended."
"That's the same way they all end. It's in an ancient language. 'Information desired for the purpose of power over people,' roughly translated. 'Information is power,' more succinctly."
"And you're saying this is the last log in there? No sign of later ones? Deleted, maybe?"
Tails shakes his head. "Nothing. To be fair, that doesn't mean that later logs don't exist. Just that they were never held on the datapad you were given."
"You said there was another oddity?"
"There is. One out of place file. It's not a log, or anything else pertaining to Agent Black's missions. At first, I thought it might be corrupted with how small the file size is. But it really is just a short text file." He opens the file, displaying its brief contents. '27:53:00'. "Look familiar?"
Shadow goes silent as he stares at the number.
"Shadow?"
After a moment, he voices quietly, "I'm not sure…"
"Well, it did to me. So I pulled up the old video file. Something everyone in the world saw. This is where Professor Gerald's ARK collision countdown timer started. Down to the millisecond. Only, this file has the earliest creation date of anything in here. Before anyone but the Professor could've known about it."
"The Professor…? What could that mean?"
"One of two things. Either that SCOPE, and maybe Agent Black himself, knew about the Professor's plan to crash the ARK… Or that the Professor was somehow involved with SCOPE's plans for Agent Black, and inserted this number himself."
After a moment, Shadow adds, "Or maybe both."
Tails nods in agreement. "Maybe both."
"So…then we should search the ARK? See if there are any more clues in its computer systems?"
"There are no ARK computer systems anymore. They were wiped when GUN tore down the Eclipse Cannon, to help make sure it couldn't be rebuilt. All things considered…it's likely that SCOPE got a copy of all that data first. Unfortunately, if we had the option to knock on SCOPE's door and ask them about it, we wouldn't be in such a bad situation to begin with."
"So what does that leave us?"
"There is something. It might be a stretch, it might be a trap, but it's something."
"Let's hear it."
"None of the reports mentioned any potential location for a base of operations. What they do have is the position where the log was made. Some were made in transit, multiple times during the same transit in a few cases. Draw a line through those positions, and the place they all intersect becomes a likely starting point or destination. It's not exact, and there wasn't a lot to go off of, but I do have a general area where that location likely is." He pulls up a world map, and draws a circle near the top. "It's a pretty logical place to put a hidden base. Somewhere in the Arctic Circle."
"That would be a lot of area to cover."
"It's the best I can do."
Shadow places a hand on Tails' shoulder. "It's good enough for a start. Thank you, Tails."
"Hold on. You're not thinking about just walking in there, are you?"
"I don't see what other choice we have."
"We could try not committing suicide, for one thing. For all we know, this is SCOPE HQ we just found. We don't know their numbers, we don't know their defenses, and we'll probably be shot if we get anywhere close."
"If our plan was to sit back and do nothing when an opportunity arises, we would've been better off just staying in the brig."
"I'm not saying we shouldn't go. I'm just saying that we need a better plan. We need backup."
"I'd feel a lot safer if we had Sonic to back us up. But that's not an option. This is what we have. The three of us, and maybe Fox if we can convince him that Sonic won't show up."
"Hey, hold up!" Rouge's voice shouts from nearby. "We can just—"
"Rouge!" Hearing her voice cut off, Shadow turns to the entrance of the tree hollow, ready to fight.
Tails stands up beside him. He asks with concern, "Did they find us already…?"
"No. But I did." Vector the Crocodile stomps up to the entrance, glaring straight at Shadow. "Been a while, Shadow. Or should I say, 'Agent Black'?"
—–—
Somewhere in the Eastern Ocean
"His name was Sonar. Sonar the Hedgehog." Sonic lays out on his back in cramped quarters, staring up at the screen of his TAL computer, reading through the same logs as Tails. "He had friends. Maybe a family. And Shadow…" He closes his eyes, deactivating the screen and putting the computer aside. "That's all it really says about him. The Controller who came before me…his story, cut short. Did he know it was coming?"
"How the △X◯⬜ should I know?"
Sonic glares up at the Wisp resting on his shoulder. "Remind me why we're sharing this transport pod again?"
"Sorry," Bruno apologizes as he looks down in shame. "It's just…I'm really on edge right now. I-I don't do well in tight spaces without an easy way out. You know, I was trapped in one of Eggman's capsules on the battlefield for three days before you and Hero found me."
"No, I meant…why didn't you just take your own?"
Bruno suddenly flies around into Sonic's face, grabbing his cheeks with a tentacle on either side. "I can't be alone, man!" He lets go and starts to practically bounce off of the tight walls as he rants, "I haven't been apart from Hero since the day we got together! I don't know what to do without him! What if he's in trouble!? What if he needs my help!? What if he needs to talk to someone, and I'm not there!? What if—"
"Hey." Sonic returns the favor, grabbing the Wisp with both hands to keep him in place. "Get ahold of yourself. Hero is fine. He's in a nice, solitary, protected confinement cell with Johnny, and we'll let him out when this all blows over. Until then, it's up to you to be the hero, right?"
"Right. Sorry… It's just…the…" He looks back up at the glass window above them, getting a look at the view of the ocean surface speeding by from below. "This isn't natural for me."
"Believe me, I know. You think being held by Eggman for three days is bad? Try six months." He looks up through the window along with Bruno. "Then add your worst fear on top of it."
"Spiders?"
"Uhh…sure. Spiders. You've been trapped for six months, and you're surrounded by spiders. Having fun?"
"No, not really. Is this supposed to be helping me?"
"No, it's… I'm just trying to help you understand that you're not alone. I'm right here, and I'm going through a lot of the same stuff you are. I'm worried about my friends, too. And even though…we're having a disagreement right now…people like you and me are still willing to put ourselves through whatever it takes to help them."
"Yeah… Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Sonic."
Sonic pats the Wisp gently on the head. "Can't just sit back and let someone be unhappy when there's something I can do about it. That wouldn't be natural for me."
Bruno happily returns to resting over Sonic's shoulder, and Sonic picks the computer back up from his side.
A voice cuts in over his communicator. "Sonic, this is Amy."
"I hear you, Amy. How's the search of Camp Beta going?"
"We found some footprints leading out into the desert, but they disappeared before long. It's hard to tell if they belonged to Shadow's group, but if they did, they're long gone by now."
Sonic lets out a brief sigh. "Understood. Have Espio keep searching the area while you return to your transport pod. I'll work on finding you somewhere else to look."
"Are you sure about splitting us up right now? We don't usually do solo missions…"
"Under any other circumstances, I'd agree. But we have too much ground to cover, and not enough people to cover it. The more time Shadow has to cover himself, the less our chances are of finding him."
Knuckles' voice interjects, "We'd be covering this ground a lot faster if you were taking us around using Chaos Control, instead of going the long way."
"I know. But we already have one Emerald out in the open right now, and I'm not risking another. Besides, that many Chaos Controls to split us up all over the world? Shadow could handle that, but…not me. Let's just…focus on the search."
Suddenly, TAL's screen lights up on its own, displaying the message, 'Analysis Complete'.
"Hold on, I think I've got something." Sonic watches as a map appears on the screen, showing a series of lines drawn to nearly intersect in a familiar northern area. Various circles are drawn around the area, displaying charts and percentages regarding the prediction. "It looks like TAL found a probable location where…the person who made these logs…was based. I have no doubt that Tails already figured this out. And if Shadow is looking for answers, this is where he'd go. Everyone, prepare to receive a new heading. I have a good feeling about this one. Or maybe it's a bad one. We'll find out when we get there. Sonic, out."
The word "Understood," is repeated back several times. Knuckles seems to be the only acknowledgement missing. Sonic doesn't seem to take much notice. Instead, he once again deactivates the screen, closing his eyes to rest his head back.
"Are we really doing the right thing here? Hunting down our friends like they're as dangerous as Eggman himself? It seemed like the only option when he chose to run, but…"
"Here's how I see it."
Sonic is momentarily startled, seeming to have forgotten that Bruno was there.
"It'd be really hard to fake all that data about Shadow. I don't really think it was faked. But let's say that it was. Let's say it's a total fabrication, and Shadow didn't do any of that stuff. Well, then we can pretty much guarantee that it's a trap. And Shadow's trying to walk right into it. If he can't see that, then stopping him before he goes too far would be for his own protection. That's the best case scenario. But no matter how you look at it, this is the only choice that makes coins."
"Coins? How could you be thinking about money at a time like this?"
"Sense. The only choice that makes sense. △X◯⬜※ translator…"
Sonic shakes his head slowly. "Sonar… If I only could've known him… Asked him what he would've wanted…"
—–—
Windopolis City
June 21st, 1 A.E. — 7 months ago
In a pristine white lobby, Vector reclines back behind a counter, occupying his time in his usual way. But, even with music blasting through his headphones, his attention is directed outwards—at a corkboard hung on the wall, pinned with photos, newspaper clippings, and objects of interest, all strung together in nonsensical patterns.
The Doc was right about one thing. Business was booming. And why shouldn't it be? I had the monopoly I always dreamed of—the only legal detective agency in the entire world. Of course, that's the thing about being a detective. Booming business is a bad sign. A lot of people had a lot of problems—problems I was legally obligated to ignore, in many cases. But anything I could do for them was better than nothing. And any person I meet is another chance at solving my own mystery.
A bell, hung over the glass double doors, rings as the door is pushed open from the outside, stirring Vector from his contemplation. He looks over to see the customer entering—an elderly woman, walking hunched over her wooden cane. Vector greets, "Welcome to Vector's Imperial Certified Detective Agency. How can I help you?"
"Might you have any food to spare, sir? I—"
Vector is quick to cut her off. "I'm sorry, ma'am. This is a business, not a soup kitchen."
"Oh…"
Seeing the disappointment on her face gives Vector a moment of pause. "However…I can at least offer you water from the cooler, and a place to sit until we close our doors at 8. I'm sorry there isn't more I can do."
The old woman mutters a quiet "Thank you," as she hobbles over to the nearest seat in the lobby.
The meager offer doesn't seem to have much improved Vector's mood as he watches her sit. But any further thoughts he has are interrupted as the bell rings once again, signalling the arrival of another customer. "Welcome to Vector's Imperial Certified Detective Agency. How can I help you?"
The young bird walks right up to the counter. "It's about a missing person."
Hearing the phrase, Vector's eyes narrow as he takes careful stock of the visitor. After a moment, he voices cautiously, "As I'm sure you understand, sir…these are unusual times we're living in. Sometimes, people go missing, and there's little that you or I can do about it. As a certified agency, I'm forbidden from taking disreputable cases. I need your word that you're prepared for the consequences of accepting my help."
The man nods, preparing his next words carefully. "Well, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs."
Vector gives a slow nod in satisfaction. "I can help you in the back." He lifts up part of the counter to open a way through. "Please come with me."
When we first started fighting this war, we thought we were alone. We were wrong. Turns out, there are people all over fighting back, if you know where to look for 'em. I'm not talking about camps like Alpha and Beta. I'm talking about a dark network around the globe, trading around secrets and supplies to disrupt Eggman's infrastructure. As far as numbers go, it's hardly an army. Just a few people here and there, spread out over cities across the world. But it only takes one good connection to get a mountain moved. Everybody knows somebody.
Vector leads the customer through a door into the back room, dark and dimly lit compared to the bright lobby on the other side. He quickly grabs a full pack from a pile of them on the ground, and shoves it into the bird's arms, voicing quietly, "Those supplies will last you the trip to Carnival City. Directions are inside. They'll take you to a place where you can get a hot meal and a bed to sleep on, if you need one. Once you're there, ask the cook about Beta. Tell her Vector sent you. She'll take care of the rest. And don't forget. You won't find them. They'll find you. Now, I don't need to know about it, but if you really are missing someone, they'll do what they can to help you find 'em." As he gives the instructions, he kneels down to pull open a large section of the floorboards, revealing a hidden stairway underneath. "Any questions?"
The bird slings the pack over his shoulder. "No questions. Just a message for you. There is someone missing, but it's no one I know. Clicks is gone."
Vector's jaw drops. "Gone? Whaddaya mean, he's gone?"
"That's all I was told to tell you. You're a detective, aren't you? I'm sure you can figure it out." He starts his descent down the steps. "Thanks for everything. Wish there was more I could do to return the favor."
"Return it by ruining Eggman's day the next chance you get. Good luck."
Needless to say, when I dug up this network, I weaseled my way in as quickly as I could. That part wasn't too hard. After all, I brought a connection to the table that the network was in desperate need of—a place to go for anyone willing to take a bigger step. Captain Fox was happy to hear that new recruits would be sent his way, and he didn't need to know much more than that. I could've sent 'em all to Camp Alpha instead, but…Sonic made his position on that pretty clear.
Wasn't long before I ran into a name I recognized. Clicks Prower was a central hub in the network. Everybody knows somebody, but it seemed to me that he knew just about everybody. I never met the guy in person, but the news of what happened to his home still came as a shock. I dug into it as best I could, but there wasn't much to see. He kept his personal life very separate from the network. I doubt if his wife even knew what he was doing. There's a part of me that wonders if it was my fault, what happened to them. I get introduced to the guy, he briefs me on everything I need to know about the network, and hardly a week later, his house is blown to bits. As a detective, I'm not supposed to believe in coincidences. But the alternative is enough to scare even me. I thought I took all the necessary precautions, but with Eggman watching me so closely, you can never be too sure.
Once the bird has disappeared into the underground path below, Vector closes the hidden door over him, and moves back to return to the lobby. He stops at the back door, looking out at the old woman still sitting quietly on one of the chairs by the wall. Contemplating something for a moment, Vector turns back to retrieve something from the back room.
Another part of me wondered if this was the breakthrough I was looking for. Was it a connection? Was Eggman offing members of the network intentionally? Could that be what happened to Dix? The profiles in each case were quite different. Dixon Montse wasn't targeted at his home. There was no explosion, no spectacle, just a sudden disappearance. I don't even know for sure that Dix was in the network. It was a stretch. But everything is connected. Either way, neither case really seemed much like Eggman's style. Someone on his payroll, though…?
"Excuse me, miss?" The old woman looks up at Vector, who has returned with another pack in his hands. He throws it over so it lands perfectly on the seat next to her. "I found some old supplies in the back that need to be disposed of. You'd be doing me a big favor by taking them off my hands."
The woman looks inside the pack, taking out a small package of dried food to examine. "Oh, bless you, Vector. Bless you."
This reaction is finally enough to put a smile back on Vector's face.
It wasn't long before I left camp that I was briefed about SCOPE. It was easy to make the connection to an old case. The murder of my old boss, Chief Dunham. I theorized that a mutinous sect within GUN may have been responsible for setting off that whole chain of affairs. Didn't realize at the time just how big of a deal that really was. But Dix was involved with that case, just like I was. Everything is connected. It was just a theory. And I didn't have much time to consider it before things were shaken up yet again.
The bell above the front door rings, announcing a new arrival. His voice is quick to declare, "Alright, where's Vector?"
I recognized that voice. You never forget the voice of an old teammate.
"You've got a lot of nerve, showing your face to me now, after all these years. Mighty."
The red shelled armadillo holds up a finger to waggle in front of his face. "Hey now, Vector. That's no way to greet a friend."
—–—
Present day
Wood Zone
"How do you know that name?" Shadow stands in a tense position, still ready to fight at any moment.
Vector crosses his arms with just the slightest smirk on his face. "So, you admit to knowing about it? That makes my job easier."
"And what job is that?" Tails interjects.
Vector side-eyes Tails for a moment. "Who else knows?"
"No one knows anything," Shadow objects. "Not even me. That's what we're doing here. We're searching for the truth."
Vector eyes Shadow carefully for another long moment. Finally, he drops his guard, letting out a steady breath. "That makes all of us. But I'm sure if we all work together, the Rebellion can—"
"The Rebellion broke up." Rouge has caught up behind him, appearing quite unharmed, though showing a bit of irritation at being pushed past.
"Broke up? What, like a band?"
Still not relaxing just yet, Shadow answers, "Sonic and Knuckles weren't very pleased with the notion that I might secretly be a SCOPE assassin. Now they're after us. If you really want to get yourself involved with this, you're going to have to choose a side. His, or mine."
"For the love of God, Shadow…" Vector buries his face in a hand. "I go away to take care of some personal business, and you let everything go completely nuts while I'm gone? What do you expect me to say here? 'Sure, Shadow, I'll fight my friends for you because you said so, even though I suspect that you're secretly a mass murderer'?"
"Believe me. You have it easy here, compared to the rest of us. Now what's it going to be?"
Vector lets out a long sigh. "Honestly, I don't think I have much of a choice in the matter. I need the truth. You might be the only one who can find it. And if Sonic's standing in the way of that…" He pauses for another moment. "I'll do what I can to help you, because I know that this is the fastest possible way to get this lousy situation over with. But hear this, Shadow. The truth can't hide for long. And if I find that you really are responsible for the crimes of Agent Black…"
"I've already made my promise. I'll accept my fate."
"Good. Then catch me up on the rest of the situation."
Shadow glances back. "Tails?"
Tails hands the original SCOPE datapad over to Vector. "Everything we have right now is on there. By the sound of it, you already have a pretty good idea what it says. But none of it is confirmed. We've managed to use the data on there to uncover what could be the base that Agent Black operated out of. The next step is figuring out how to get in."
Vector nods slowly as he takes quick glances over the data on the pad. After a moment, his eyes drift back to Tails. "Hey, uhh…Tails. I wanted to offer you my condolences. Your father was a good man. I wish I coulda been there."
Tails shakes his head. "I don't want to hear about that. Just tell us if you can help."
Vector looks back down at the datapad. "Well…we may be in luck. I think I know a guy."
—–—
7 months ago
The Chaotix first met Mighty the Armadillo on Carnival Island, not too long after we first formed. He was a real boon to the team, right from the first moment. Espio, Charmy and I were all go-getters when it came to investigation. Our methods were aggressive, to say the least. Mighty was different. He played things smooth and defensive, covering our backs—literally, most of the time—and catching the details the rest of us might've missed. With him, we thought our team was unstoppable. Until he wasn't there.
Vector has escorted Mighty to the dark back room, here he slams the door shut just a bit aggressively. "Alright, Mighty. What're you doing here?"
"Same thing as you, I suspect. Looking for a missing person." Mighty strolls over to the corner of the room, where a pile of clippings and other clues lie, apparently not having made the cut of Vector's corkboard outside. Not waiting for permission, he starts rummaging through the pile.
"And what, you're expecting me to help you?"
Mighty lifts up two newspaper clippings, comparing them for a moment. "We're friends, aren't we? Once a Chaotix, always a Chaotix, that's what you always say."
"That's what I used to say. Before you quit."
"You're really still mad about that? You didn't care that much when Knuckles walked out."
"Knuckles never accepted his offer to begin with. You, on the other hand, asked to be a part of the Chaotix family. And then you left."
"Big talk, coming from someone who looks to be without a family at the moment."
"You—…" Vector cuts himself off as he realizes the reality of the situation.
"We're in the same boat, Vector. It's not that I wanted to quit the Chaotix. Just that I had bigger things to do."
Mighty looks up in surprise as Vector's arm drapes around his shoulders. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's always good to see a friendly face. Just tell me what I can do."
Mighty slowly puts everything back down into the pile. "I'm going in deep, Vector. Way deep. Deep enough that if I don't get a lifeline, I'm worried I may never make it back out."
"You don't mean…?"
"I have an in. With SCOPE. I remembered what you told me about your first case with Charmy and Espio, and…this is where it led me. What I need now is a cover. Something I can tell them I'm doing whenever they can't account for my time." He finally looks back up at Vector. "I need a job."
Vector nods slowly as a smirk appears on his face. "Your timing couldn't be better. I was just thinking about hiring someone on to take care of things while I'm away from the office."
"You need a manager?"
"Exactly. A janitor."
"That's…not what I said."
"Sure it is. You can manage my waste bins!" Vector finally starts cracking up at his own joke.
"This is serious, Vector."
"So am I. Cover or not, if you want a job with me, you gotta work for it. But sure, I can put 'Manager' on your nametag. And one other thing. Any info you dig up…"
"All yours. As long as you're offering the same."
"Sounds like a deal to me." Vector offers out his hand. "Welcome to the agency, Mighty."
Mighty takes the hand with a smirk. "It's good to be back."
—–—
Present day
The Eggshelter
"Do you really think that Shadow did it?" Behind a cell in the Eggshelter brig, Johnny lays back on the hard metal bench, staring up at the ceiling. "I mean, SCOPE's had it out for him since day one. It wouldn't surprise me if they were using him for some sort of mind control experiment or something."
In the cell across from Johnny's, Hero leans back against the wall, staring at the ground. After a moment, he gives a silent nod in agreement. But his mind appears to be elsewhere.
"I know you're worried about your friend, but…Shadow's the one in danger right now. There has to be some way we can make Sonic understand. If we just give Shadow some time, I know he can…"
Hero shakes his head slowly.
"You're right. Not without help. I wish there was more we could do, but…as long as we're here, we're at least sending Sonic the message that he might be taking this too far."
As if in response, a flash of light announces the sudden return of Shadow and Tails. Shadow is already ordering, "As quick as you can, Tails. Anyone left behind here will be on us."
"Whoa! What are you doing here, Shadow?"
Shadow explains, "We have a plan, but it's going to take some extra backup."
Tails picks up as he works on unlocking Hero's cell, "I saw what happened with you guys on the security feeds. We're happy for the support."
"Wait, you've been spying on us?"
"I prefer to think of it as…well, yeah, okay, we were spying. But for a good cause." With one final button press, the barrier of Hero's cell drops, allowing him to step out. Tails gets up and moves over to work on Johnny's cell next.
"Hold on." Tails stops as Johnny looks past him to Hero. "You should go. But I'll stay. I'm on Shadow's side here, but…I can't act against the team. We want to finish this, but we also want to show that we're trying to do the right thing. You guys can manage without me, right?"
Tails glances back at Shadow for confirmation.
Shadow has to think for a moment. "I understand. You're looking out for us in your own way. And I agree that breaking you out will look like a hostile move to Sonic, but…we're headed for a SCOPE base. You have more expertise on them than most, and…if there was ever going to be another chance for you to see Ayanna…"
"No point in worrying about that. This is all about you, Shadow. Do what you need to do."
"I will. Thank you."
"Hold it right there!" From the entrance of the room, Cream rushes straight at them. "Cheese, get 'em!"
"Chao!" Cheese rockets out from her side, catching Shadow by surprise and knocking him off his feet.
"You too, Chadis!"
Another Chao drops down from above, landing on Hero's head and forcing him to stumble back. "Cha!"
Cream is left rushing straight for Tails.
"Cream, wait! We don't want to—" Tails leaps to the side, keeping his tails spinning to stay light on his feet.
"How could you do it, Tails!?" Cream flaps her ears for a course-corrected leap at him. "How could you turn on all your friends!?"
Tails flies straight up to keep out of the way. "Shadow is my friend! Cream, please, just stay out of this! It's for your own good!"
This seems to anger her further. She flies up after him and takes a swing. "No! I'm tired of being left behind! I'm tired of everyone treating me like I have to be protected! I'll show the team that they can count on me!" She grabs onto Tails' arm and throws him straight downwards with impressive strength.
Tails forces his tails to spin into overdrive, barely putting out enough force to stop his back from crashing into the ground. "Cream, I—"
Cream comes down on top of him in a ball, forcing him the rest of the way to the ground.
Every time Shadow tries to stand, Cheese flies in from another angle, knocking him back down. "Grr… How is that thing so—" Cheese strikes him across the face before he can finish the thought. Finally, he manages to track the Chao as it flies in for the next attack in its onslaught, grabbing it by the face with one hand and quickly getting his other around it.
"Chao! Chao! Chao!" Cheese flails and struggles to escape, but Shadow's grip is clearly too tight.
"Been a long time since I've done this. Nothing personal, Cheese." Shadow hops off of the ground and chucks the Chao straight at the nearest wall.
"Cheese! Oh no!" Cream rushes away to help, leaving her battle behind. Tails struggles back to his feet behind her.
Hero has resolved his battle another way, now gently stroking Chadis' head as she happily nods along, showing a heart above her head. Hero turns to look at Shadow and Tails, putting a finger up to his lips to ask for their quiet.
Shadow whispers curtly, "Let's go. Stand close." They disappear in a flash.
Chadis looks around in confusion, searching for her missing source of attention. Holding a dazed and disgruntled Cheese in her arms, Cream marches up to the other Chao and pouts, "Glad to see you enjoyed yourself."
Chadis cocks her head to the side, looking up at Cream and expressing her confusion as a question mark above her head.
"I know it might not seem like it right now…"
Cream looks over in surprise at Johnny's cell.
"…but it's not so bad, staying behind. Sometimes, it's a job that needs to be done. And it's no lesser a job than any other."
Cream walks away, shaking her head and muttering, "I'm not supposed to talk to you."
—–—
Whiteout Zone
Shadow, Tails, and Hero, joined by Vector and Rouge, appear in the heart of a dense blizzard, obscuring any vision beyond a few feet away.
Rouge's hands move to cover up her exposed arms, rubbing them for warmth. "Yeesh. Always too hot or too cold. Why can't you people pick nicer places for secret bases?"
Shadow answers, "It shouldn't be long now. Vector's contact should be here."
"I'm here." Appearing first as a silhouette in the blizzard, Mighty steps into view, snow crunching under his feet.
Vector introduces, "Everyone, this is Mighty. He's an old teammate, and I trust him with my life."
Tails answers, "We've met. Long time no see, Mighty."
Mighty gives him a nod. "Likewise. And you…" He turns his head. "…must be Shadow."
Shadow looks Mighty over carefully. "I hear you have some information for us."
"I have better than that." Mighty pulls out a military issue datapad. Shadow recoils at the sight of it. "Don't worry, I think you'll like this one. These are the access and identification codes of a SCOPE Special Operative, commission number 00031427. Codename, Agent Black."
Shadow gasps. "How did you get this?"
"Believe me, it was more trouble than I can get into right now. The fact that no one's taken me out trying to get it is a miracle all its own. We should still assume that could change at any moment, so let's hurry this along. As long as your biometrics match the data on that pad, it'll let you in anywhere. Top priority access, superseded only by direct order of the Master Sergeant. As far as the systems are concerned, you're still an acting agent."
Though he takes the pad, these words only seem to disgruntle him further.
"So you really don't believe it, eh? I can tell you this much. Agent Black did exist. And that pad would've set off an alarm if his biometrics didn't match yours. So either you have an identical twin, or it's you."
Rouge gently places a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Don't worry, Shadow. We'll get to the bottom of this. We're close now."
"Probably," Mighty corrects. "The base you found is an old one, hasn't been in use for a few years. Access is restricted for pretty much everyone but you. I don't know exactly what you expect to find in there, but with any luck, it'll be something for all of us."
Tails questions, "All of us?"
"I'll be honest with you guys. I'm not in this to help Shadow. I'm looking for someone, and I suspect that Agent Black may have had something to do with his disappearance. And if I find that he did…"
Shadow concludes, "You'll have to get in line."
"Figured. Now, let's get moving." He turns around, leading the way in the trek through the snow. The blizzard has lightened up only slightly. "Stay on guard. As long as you're here with those codes, the automated systems won't care about the rest of us. But if there's anyone in there, that's a different story."
Vector adds, "Not to mention Sonic and his crew."
At the back of the group, Hero looks down at the substitute weapon in his hand. The bright orange Egg blaster looks a bit different than his typical Wispon.
"Hey," Tails encourages. "That's Fox's favorite, you know. He let you have it for a reason. I'm sure you'll do great with it."
Hero's somber expression doesn't change much.
"I know. You don't want to use it at all. But hey, at least it has a stun setting. You'd rather use that against your friends than a flamethrower, right?"
This is enough to get a chuckle out of him.
"End of the line, Shadow!" Shadow's group stops, spotting six silhouettes in their path. Sonic, Amy, Espio, Omega, Charmy, and Bruno all look ready to fight. Sonic points forward at Shadow. "We're giving you one last chance to give this up."
At the head of the group, Mighty steps forward. "Hey, hey, Sonic. Good to see you. Wish it could be under better circumstances, though."
Sonic gasps. "Mighty?" He shakes his head. "You've been busy, Shadow. Just how many people are you planning on bringing into this?"
Vector steps up in answer. "Without Shadow, we don't get the info we need. It'll be easier for everyone if you let us through."
Charmy shakes his head in frustration. "I didn't think I'd ever have to see the Chaotix fight again… Why do you keep doing this, Vector?"
Espio growls, "Don't you know what Shadow has done, Vector? He is a force of pure evil. You know my stance on evil."
Rouge glares across the opposing group. "Last I checked, justice meant innocent until proven guilty."
Amy concedes, "You're absolutely right, Rouge. We don't know enough. Which is exactly why we have to be more careful than this. Even if SCOPE forced Shadow to do those things, running straight towards the people who have that kind of power over him is only going to make things worse!"
Tails argues, "What other choice do we have? Look how far this has gone, and tell me honestly that we can let it keep going even longer. If we don't find the truth today…I don't think we ever will."
Omega's comeback is straightforward. "Truth is irrelevant. Traitors must be destroyed."
Hero and Bruno stare each other down. But neither one says a word.
Shadow steps up for himself. "We don't want to fight. But we have to pass. We'll do what needs to be done."
The two lines of heroes stand in perfect parallel, nothing but falling snow between them. Then, by some unspoken signal, they all charge.
Sonic revs up a Spindash, kicking up snow behind him. Mighty responds in kind, and the two spinning balls go flying at one another, striking and bouncing off with equal force.
Hero opens fire on Bruno, firing off one laser shot after another as the Wisp weaves and dives through the air on a course towards him. "Buddy, please, come home! I don't want to fight you!" Bouncing over one last shot, Bruno latches onto Hero's face with his tentacles. Hero's only response is a growl as he tries to pull the Wisp off. "I know. You'll do what you have to. And so will I." Bruno clenches his eyes shut, his entire body starting to glow. Finally, the energy is released in one small burst right in Hero's face. Hero cries out in pain as he stumbles back. Before Hero can finish wiping the soot off of his glasses, Bruno comes back around to fly into his chest at full speed, knocking him back into the snow. Bruno comes around for another attack, but Hero aims his grappling wire at a nearby glacier and fires. The wire latches into the ice, and Hero pulls himself up and away, shooting back cover fire as he goes.
Omega sets his sights on Shadow, but Rouge flies in for a swift strike against his chest, knocking his weapons completely off course. Landing in the snow, she says, "Sorry about this, Omega. But I need to take you out first."
"You may try. You will find that my combat efficiency has improved since the last time you incapacitated me."
Rouge leaps straight at him. Omega loads a missile and fires. With a flap of her wings, Rouge rises above the explosion, and dives back down for the back of Omega's head. Omega reaches up with a claw, grabbing her by the ankle and throwing her back onto the ground in front of him. "Access denied." He readies a flamethrower and prepares to fire.
A flurry of snow and ice blows around Espio as he vanishes from sight. Then he silently charges. Tails is easily able to keep track of the footprints that are still left along the ground as he runs. He takes off into the air before Espio can get too close, watching as a straight line is carved in the snow beneath him. "I know all your tricks, Espio." Tails lands on the ground, sweeping his tails across the snow to erase the seal before it can be drawn.
"You don't know this one." Tails looks over, surprised by the direction Espio's voice comes from. "Ninja Arts: Chroma Refract!" Espio's form is partially revealed as the light is directed around him in a new way, throwing blinding beams of light right into Tails' eyes, only made harsher by the glare of the snow. While Tails protects his eyes, Espio readies three shuriken starts, and throws.
"Not cool, Espio!" Mighty lands in front of Tails, and Espio's weapons bounce harmlessly off of his hard shelled back. "You okay, kid?"
Sonic lands beside Espio, complaining, "What are you doing!? We're not supposed to hurt anyone!"
"How are we supposed to fight them without hurting them?"
Left with no time for a response, Mighty bowls into Espio with a Spindash, leaving Sonic with Tails. Sonic looks over at Tails cautiously. "I'd tell you to stop this before you get hurt. If I thought you were still listening to me."
"I know you want to take this personally, Sonic. But not everything is about you. I'm fighting for what I believe in, so it doesn't matter which of us is right. I'm not giving up. Isn't that what you taught me?"
"Guess I taught you a little too well." Sonic revs up another Spindash. Tails catches the spinning ball between his tails and throws it the other way.
Charmy flies straight at Vector, stinger-first. Vector bobs to the side, knocking Charmy out of the way with the back of his hand. "Charmy! Since when were you a fighter!? I thought you only wanted to heal people!"
"Better you get knocked out by my stinger than by a concussion. Less headaches that way." He brandishes the stinger and charges once again. Vector blows a hasty gum bubble, popping with a loud bang as Charmy's stinger punctures it, launching them both backwards.
Shadow is left facing off against Amy. Amy's hammer crashes down into the snow as Shadow leaps back to safety. "I know that you're trying to be reasonable here, Amy. I know that you don't want to fight."
"If that's how we both feel, why are we fighting?"
"I agree. You remember Sonic's rules, don't you? If we both agree that Sonic is wrong about this, we can overturn his authority. We can stop this useless fight, and search for the truth together."
"I can't do that, Shadow. I don't think we should be fighting, but Sonic is right. It isn't safe for you to go after this. Not for you, and not for us. If you just stayed behind…"
"No. It has to be me."
"Then I guess that makes one of us trying to be reasonable."
Shadow rolls under the next swing of the hammer. "If you were being reasonable, you wouldn't think you had a chance at stopping me." Shadow finally lets loose, leaping in for a kick aimed at her head. She redirects her hammer to counter. But the hammer passes through a flash of light as Shadow reappears behind her, striking her in the back and sending her flying. Before she can even hit the ground, he appears above her, knocking her down into the snow. "We will find the truth. At any cost."
Amy struggles to prop herself back up. "Are you sure about that?"
Shadow looks out over the battlefield. Hero flies at Bruno on his grappling wire, and Bruno charges right back. The two collide heads, and both collapse onto the ground. Mighty is forced to keep his back turned to Espio for protection, only giving Epsio more chances to escape from his line of sight for a sneak attack. Charmy makes just one move too quickly for Vector, and Vector throws up an arm to protect his face. His eyes go wide as he realizes that he's been hit by Charmy's stinger. He tumbles to the ground, and Charmy quickly moves on to assist Espio, putting even more pressure on Mighty. Mighty is forced to give up his offense, curling up into his shell and remaining still as shuriken stars and bee stingers assault his defenses from all angles. Tails seems to be rapidly wearing himself out in the fight against Sonic, putting everything he has into matching Sonic's strength and speed. Sonic runs in for a swift kick that connects with Tails' chest, but only knocks him back a few steps before he counters with a powerful swipe of both tails that knocks Sonic off of his feet. Sonic is clearly the only one between them pulling his punches. Yet as Sonic gets back up, ready for more, Tails doubles over to catch his breath. It quickly becomes clear that Shadow's team is losing.
Rouge flies over one of Omega's missiles, only to be surprised by a second one behind it, aimed slightly higher. She's caught by the edge of the explosion, and falls out of the sky and onto the ground. Omega's sights turn back to Shadow. "Casualty report: Rouge fallen. Shadow to be eliminated."
Another voice declares, "Well, we can't have that, now can we?" Jetting down from high above, a reflective figure crashes down into the snow between Shadow, Omega, Sonic, and Tails. Eggman's voice continues, "I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" Metal Sonic, the source of the voice, scans carefully across the battlefield.
Though paralyzed on the ground, Vector is able to look up at Metal Sonic with a groan. "Oh, brother… It had to be now, didn't it?"
—–—
December 3rd, 1 A.E. — 2 months ago
The connections were coming together slowly but surely. This time, there was a new piece of the puzzle linked in. Years ago, Eggman hired the Chaotix to rescue him from Metal Sonic. Little did I know, all this time later, Eggman would hire me again—this time, to rescue Metal Sonic.
Vector slings the robotic husk off of his shoulder and onto the table between him and Eggman. "Mission complete. One Metal Sonic body, recovered from the Little Planet as promised."
Eggman leans forward into the light, putting on a welcoming smile as he looks over the body. "I knew I could count on you to get the job done, my friend. Of course, your reward." He drops another large sack of coins onto the table in exchange.
Vector ignores the payment, looking back up at Eggman. "That wasn't the deal."
"Of course, of course. That's just a bonus. I promised you information, and information I shall provide. Now, let's sit you up, my boy." Eggman gets his arms around Metal Sonic's body, attempting to prop it up into a sitting position. "Atta boy. Now, talk for daddy." He opens a panel on the head to work inside.
Vector takes a cautious step back.
"Oh, don't worry. This one is quite inoperable. I'll have to transfer his CPU to a new body later. But for now, everything I need is right here." Something that Eggman did causes one of Metal Sonic's eyes to light up, immediately projecting an image onto the nearest wall. "Tell me, Vector. What do you know of this man?"
Vector doesn't need to look at the image long to come up with the answer of the SCOPE Master Sergeant. Vector does his best to put on a confused face, feigning, "Should I know him?"
"Ah, I see what you're doing. Don't want to volunteer any information to me? No matter. As I said, all the information I need is right here." Eggman continues to work inside of Metal Sonic's head panel, causing the displayed image to shift. "The Sergeant here is a man I've been working with for quite some time, as I'm sure you already know. But I'll be honest with you, Vector. I don't trust him. He might be the only man on this planet more devious than me."
"Well, lucky for you, he's not on this planet anymore. He was banished to another temporal plane along with the Little Planet."
"For now, yes. But you can never count on these sorts of things. While he's gone, I intend to learn as much about him as I can. Which brings us back to Metal Sonic here. He carries quite an interesting collection of memories. You see, when Cyber Sonic was building his Mecha Sonic Army, he had all of their memory files shared to improve group unity, or some such nonsense. Some of these memory files came from another proud creation of mine, Robo Sonic. And Robo Sonic, in turn, was repaired using a very unique set of parts—including a memory unit sourced from a Shadow Android, provided to Cyber Sonic by none other than the Sergeant."
Vector seems to be struggling to follow along. Still, he nods. "So that's…where this information you're looking for is coming from?"
"Very good, my dear detective. This is where things get interesting. The Shadow Android's memories were quite secure, and most of them deleted themselves upon the machine's destruction. But some of that data is able to be recovered. My good old boy Metal Sonic was transmitting all of these thoughts to me without even knowing it. Now, I can finally look into that data for myself. Of course, as per our agreement, this information will be shared with you as well."
"I don't follow. You told me I'd be receiving info about Montse."
"All in good time, Vector. Believe me, what I'm telling you now still very much interests you. Now, as I was saying, regarding this particular Shadow Android. Before it was handed off to Cyber Sonic, it briefly served as an operative of SCOPE. That much, I have in good confidence. And yet, according to the information I managed to interpret from Metal Sonic, no new commission number was provided for this new operative. Instead, it inherited an old one. Such a thing is unheard of in SCOPE. Their systems don't allow it. An operative's commission number is tied inextricably to their unique biometric data. In other words, there was already a SCOPE operative who shared a physiology with the organic components of this android. There's only one person who can boast such a comparison."
"Are you saying that Shadow's a SCOPE agent?"
Eggman lets out an incredulous gasp. "Why, I never thought of that. What a brilliant detective you must be. And here I thought you didn't even know what SCOPE was."
"Yeah, yeah, save the sarcasm. Unless you can give me some sort of evidence to support this theory of yours, you're just going to sound a few eggs short of a carton."
"But of course. If we're both lucky, that evidence will be locked up in Metal Sonic's head here. But why take my word for it? You're an investigator, aren't you? I've been very pleased with your services thus far. Why not continue the investigation? You continue to share what you find, I continue to share what I find, and you continue to receive payments just like this one. An agreeable arrangement for all of us, is it not? Your armadillo friend included, of course."
Vector narrows his eyes. "I'll have to think on that. And Montse?"
"Yes, yes, I was getting to that. Perhaps I should say…you wouldn't be the first person I've asked to look into this matter."
"So that's it. You send him to investigate SCOPE, and he vanishes. What's stopping the same thing from happening to me?"
"I never said it wouldn't be dangerous. But when has a little danger ever stopped Vector the Crocodile? Perhaps if you follow your friend's trail, you'll solve both mysteries at once. Wouldn't that be something?"
Vector rises to his feet, once again scooping his payment off of the table. "If that's all you have to say, I have work to get back to." He turns to leave.
"I trust no one but you to get this job done right, Vector. After all, you're the man who cleared my grandfather's name."
Vector stops at the door. "The Professor… Montse, Metal Sonic, Mighty… Seems like every case I've ever taken."
Eggman finishes the thought for him. "It's all connected."
—–—
Present day
Sonic takes a nervous step back as Metal Sonic stares into his soul.
"It's not him, Sonic." Tails shakes his head. "It can't be. You know that."
Sonic's black fist clenches tight as his breathing sharpens.
"Right you are, Tails," Eggman's voice continues out of Metal Sonic's mouth. "Now, word on the street is that there's a little trouble in paradise, eh? Hope you all don't mind if we stir up the chaos a bit." Metal Sonic suddenly takes off, taking everyone by surprise. He grabs Espio by the throat and throws him into Charmy in one swift move. Then his sights turn on Sonic.
Mighty peeks an eye open from his protected spot. "Wait, he's on our side?"
Sonic remains frozen stiff as Metal Sonic flies at him, claws raised to strike. Until Metal Sonic is struck in the back by a missile, sending him flying off course. Smoke trailing from his shoulder, he turns to face the attacker as he skids through the snow to a stop.
Smoke still rises from Omega's missile launcher as he stares down Metal Sonic. Though his face shows no emotion, his words make his feelings clear. "I mourned for you."
Eggman's voice is the only one that can answer. "Isn't that sweet?" Metal Sonic lunges at Omega. Omega switches his hands out for machine guns and opens fire with both of them. Metal Sonic is forced to slow down, throwing up his Black Shield to deflect the spray of gunfire. Omega activates his jet boosters, propelling him along the ground in an arc around Metal Sonic as he switches one gun for a flamethrower. Though Metal Sonic is far faster than Omega, Omega's onslaught of ranged attacks manage to keep him at bay, slowly chipping away at his defenses.
Mighty taps Shadow on the shoulder. "Hey. Now's our chance to get out of here."
Shadow looks around at the battlefield. Heroes from both sides lie unconscious in the snow. Sonic stands motionless, a blank expression in his eyes. Tails watches the battle between Metal Sonic and Omega, nervously debating if he should join either side of the fight. Shadow shakes his head. "And leave everyone at Eggman's mercy? We can't do that."
Before Metal Sonic can skid to a halt, Omega fires off a predictive missile. Metal Sonic sees it coming, and jets the other way. The missile keeps going straight past its intended target. Straight towards the stationary Sonic behind it.
"Sonic!" Tails dives into Sonic from the side, shoving him out of the way. Tails is able to clench his eyes shut before the missile detonates in his face.
Sonic slides across the snow, knocked out of his stupor in time to see Tails tumbling back from the force of the explosion. "Tails!"
Metal Sonic flies back in towards Omega. But he collides with Shadow's foot instead. He flies back into Mighty's full-force punch, launching him back at Shadow. Shadow volleys the robot right back at Mighty. This time, Mighty leaps up and slams down onto Metal Sonic in his shell, dealing massive damage. Metal Sonic shudders back up onto his hands and knees, flinging sparks. Eggman's voice complains, "Fine then. Don't appreciate our help. See how much we care." Metal Sonic's limbs go limp as his engine carries him back up into the air, jetting away and disappearing into the blizzard as suddenly as he arrived.
Shadow runs to meet Sonic over Tails' fallen form. "No…"
Sonic looks up at him with a grimace. "He needs a doctor."
Charmy flies over in a staggered motion, still dazed from Metal Sonic's attack. "He should be fine if I can get him to the med bay. But it has to be fast."
Omega marches up hesitantly behind them. "I…allowed myself…to become distracted."
Sonic growls, "I'll deal with you later. Shadow, give me the Chaos Emerald."
"What!?"
"Give me the Emerald so I can take everyone home and get Tails the medical attention he needs. Now, Shadow!"
Looking down at Tails, Shadow needs no more time to decide. He places the Emerald in Sonic's hand.
"When I get back here, Shadow…"
"I'll be gone."
Sonic lets out a long breath. "I hope you find what you're looking for. Chaos Control!" Sonic flashes all around the battlefield, taking Omega, Charmy, and all of the downed fighters until Shadow and Mighty are left completely alone.
Mighty places a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "You did the right thing. Now let's get moving." With Mighty leading the way, Shadow marches on silently through the snow, as they both disappear in the distance. "Hey. You and I make a pretty good mix, don't you think?"
"Whatever."
Another figure follows not far behind them, silhouetted by the blinding snow.
—–—
The reinforced steel door to the abandoned base shudders as it slides open, letting in a flurry of snow along with Mighty and Shadow. Shadow takes a look around the darkened room. It doesn't take long. "Is this it?"
There are no doors and no hallways. Just a small bunker, with a computer system on the back wall and colorful tile on the center of the ground. Mighty nods slowly as he moves for the computer. "Looks like this isn't the base. Just the entrance. You know what this is, don't you?"
Shadow carefully examines the tile on the floor. "A space transporter. I think I've seen the design somewhere else before."
As Mighty activates the computer, a holographic screen projects upwards. "Of the same kind that was used to travel to and from the ARK, back in the day. Expensive stuff. Requires a sophisticated machine, quantum linked on both ends. Off the charts power consumption for even one transport."
"Does this one lead to the ARK?"
Mighty looks over the data projected on the screen. "Not anymore. Looks like they moved it farther. A lot farther."
"What do you mean, farther?"
"Ever wondered why we can still see the full moon, even though half of it was destroyed?"
"The moon's gravity pulled most of the destroyed mass back in over time, and the whole thing collapsed back down into a sphere, as massive objects in space tend to do. At least, that's what the President told the public."
"That's true, but it's only part one. After all, more work had to be done to make it look the way it used to. That was a GUN project. What they didn't tell the public is that, while they were refinishing the surface, they were also building a base underneath. A base that has since fallen under the control of SCOPE. It might just be the Headquarters I've been looking for."
"So SCOPE has a moon base? Wonderful."
"They call it BABEL. It's the facility where they built Prison Station. Where they ended up sending all the superprisoners after Prison Island was bombed."
"It's a military base and a prison?"
"The moon's a big place. There's room for both." Continuing his work on the computer as he talks, Mighty finally comes to a conclusion. "There's nothing useful for us here on this system. But there will be up there. Care to take a space trip with me, Shadow?"
"We've come this far. Why stop now?"
Mighty presses down on a key, activating the transporter with a pulsating flash of purple light. "After you."
Shadow steps into the pillar of light, which grows to encompass him until he is transported away. Mighty moves in after him, watching as the metal doors of the room begin to close before he, too, vanishes.
As the doors shutter close to a halt, two gloved hands appear between them, forcing them back outwards with incredible strength. Knuckles steps into the base, cracking his fists. "Time's up, Shadow."
—–—
Prison Station — Moon Base BABEL
The room that Shadow and Mighty arrive in is little different from the one they left, save for the hallways branching off to other parts of the base, and the one wide window that looks out at the lunar horizon, and the distant Earth rising beyond.
"Wish we had time to admire the view," Mighty comments as he works on the new, slightly larger computer.
Shadow shrugs. "It's not much different from the ARK. Do you have anything?"
Mighty shakes his head. "These dang military computers are way too complicated to navigate. Don't want to set off any alarms by mistake."
"Move over."
"What, are you some kind of expert hacker now? I've been practicing with this, I just need to—"
"I said move over." Shadow pushes his way to the center of the console.
"Hey, wait a minute, you can't just—"
"Haayaa!" Shadow slams his hand down onto the computer. A file opens on the holographic display. The image displayed is a familiar one.
"Hey, it worked!"
Professor Gerald Robotnik sits bound to a chair, in front of the math-filled wall of his Prison Island cell. A light source behind the camera bobs back and forth, shifting his shadow along the wall. But someone stands in front of him. Even from behind, the figure is clearly identifiable as the SCOPE Master Sergeant.
Gerald lowers his eyes. "I've done everything you've asked. You've declared the Agent Black Program a success. Shadow obeys your every command. I will do no more work for you until you've fulfilled your promise. I must see Maria again."
"Are you a religious man, Professor?"
"Hm?"
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter much anyways. I intend to fulfill my promise. I intend to reunite you with your granddaughter. Unfortunately, that will require me to end your life, as hers was ended ten years ago."
The recording goes silent.
"What's the matter, Professor? Don't you have any last words?"
"This could have been avoided…"
"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that."
The Professor's eyes slowly rise to meet the camera. He begins a speech with a well rehearsed cadence. "This is a death sentence for every human being on Earth. If my calculations are correct, the space colony ARK will impact the Earth in 27 minutes, and 53 seconds. All of you will be destroyed, along with your beloved planet Earth. I plan to give you a taste of my revenge once all the seven Chaos Emeralds are collected. Once I initiate this program, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful humans who took everything away from me will feel my loss and despair!"
The Sergeant shakes his head, listening to what must sound like nonsense. "Is there anything else you want to say?"
The Professor's head lowers once again. "No…"
The Sergeant nods. "Ready…"
Another figure steps into view of the camera. Dressed in the black and grey uniform of a SCOPE agent, Shadow the Hedgehog—or rather, Agent Black—raises a gun up to the Professor's head.
"I forgive you, Shadow. No one else in the world but you."
"Fire!"
In the real world, the muzzle flash of the gun in the video reflects in Shadow's eyes as he drops to his knees. "Professor… No…"
Mighty's hand moves to cover his mouth. "Oh, God…"
"He meant a lot to you, didn't he?"
Mighty turns around with a gasp, fists raised for a fight. Knuckles takes a step closer to them. Shadow remains on the ground.
"The Professor? I saw the whole thing. I saw what you did."
Shadow stares down at his own trembling hands, as if they were soaked with blood. "The Professor…was the closest thing I ever had to a father. I can't believe I… Did I…?"
"No. It wasn't you." Knuckles kneels beside Shadow, and offers him a hand. Mighty visibly relaxes. Shadow looks over at Knuckles with shock. "Look, I'm angry, not stupid. If you couldn't stop yourself from doing that to your own father, of course you couldn't stop what happened to my people. You were being controlled."
Hesitantly, Shadow takes Knuckles' hand, and Knuckles helps him rise back to his feet.
"You aren't responsible for this. But someone is. And we both have a reason to make him pay. Isn't that right, Shadow?"
"Yes…" Shadow gives a shaky nod. "Yes."
"Guys, look out!" Mighty leaps into a ball, his shell deflecting the bright green blast of a plasma rifle. The shot leaves a burn mark behind, and Mighty collapses to the ground in pain.
Knuckles shouts with concern, "Mighty!"
Sergeant Ayanna Brown turns her plasma rifle on Shadow and Knuckles. "You've saved me the trouble of hunting you down, Agent Black."
Shadow growls under his breath, "Don't call me that."
"That is who you are. Now listen closely. Twenty-seven. Fifty-three. Zero zero. Agent Black, prepare to receive orders."
Shadow falls out of Knuckles' supportive grip, clutching at his head with a grimace. "What…what're you…doing…?"
Ayanna growls, "That should've worked…" She repeats even louder, "Twenty-seven. Fifty-three. Zero zero. Agent Black, prepare to receive orders!"
"Stop… Stop it, now!"
"Twenty-seven! Fifty-three! Zero zero!"
Knuckles rushes at Ayanna. "He told you to stop!"
"Zed, take care of him." The Omega-model SCOPE robot rushes out from behind her, launching out its grappling arm to grab Knuckles and arrest his movement instantly.
"Knuckles!" Mighty gets back up, running in to help. Zed turns his weapon-arm on Mighty, firing off a machine gun while it still rotates into place. Mighty curls into a ball, deflecting Zed's bullets harmlessly before barreling into him, freeing Knuckles from his grip. Mighty glances over at Knuckles. "What do you say we give him a Knuckle Sandwich?"
Knuckles nods with a smirk. "You read my mind." Both powerhouses leap up with a parallel punch, impacting the machine on two sides and sending it crashing back into the nearest wall, incapacitating it in one blow. "Good to have you back on my team, Mighty."
"Likewise. Now…"
Ayanna has marched all the way up to Shadow. "Twenty-seven! Fifty-three! Zero Zero! Indicium sit imperium! Agent Black, prepare—" She is interrupted as she's tackled by Mighty, and her weapon clatters to the floor.
Mighty shouts at the other two, "You guys need to get out of here before they lock the place down!"
Knuckles complains, "But what about—"
"Don't worry about me, just go!"
Knuckles once again grabs Shadow by the shoulders, and helps him to his feet. "Come on, you heard the guy."
Shadow still clutches at his head as he's led away, murmuring, "Nothing happened… Why did nothing happen…?" His questions unanswered, he and Knuckles both step into the transporter.
Mighty looks back down at Ayanna as he pins her down. "Finally. I've got the leader all alone."
Ayanna looks back up with an irritated scowl. "Do I know you?"
"Not yet, you don't. But I'm the guy who's going to tear this entire organization down. Depending on your answer to this one question. Where, is, Ray?"
—–—
Daily log, February 6th addendum.
It's hard to believe that we were all enemies this morning. Now everything's almost back to normal. Almost.
—–—
The Eggshelter — Rebel Camp Alpha
Charmy runs a strange device back and forth over Shadow's head. "As far as I can tell, your headache is just a normal headache. Come and see me in the morning if it hasn't gone away by then."
Most of the camp seems to have come together in the med bay, most of them covered in bruises and bandages. Hero hugs Bruno closely. Rouge appears to be scolding Omega. Knuckles and Espio are sharing a story, probably about Mighty.
On the bed across from Shadow's, Tails lies out, covered in more bandages than anyone else, but still appearing in high spirits as he converses with the person sitting at his bedside. "I'm sorry, Sonic. I should've tried to stop Metal Sonic sooner."
"When it came down to it, Tails…you were plenty fast enough. Faster than me. You saved my life. I'm proud of you, little bro." Sonic chuckles a bit. "Though I guess I shouldn't be calling you 'little' anymore."
Tails glances away bashfully. "You…can still call me that if you want to. You know…technically that's twice now you owe me your life."
Sonic grimaces at the reminder.
"Sorry. Shouldn't have brought it up."
"Tails…I still don't agree with every decision you've made. But we don't have to agree on everything to be friends. And anyways, if we're counting, I think it's a lot more than two I owe you."
Tails can't hide his beaming smile.
"Don't think that means I'm letting you off the hook though. I'm willing to ignore you running off, because half the camp would be in confinement if I didn't. But your punishment is still in effect. Once you're out of here, it's straight back to your quarters. Is that understood?"
Tails pouts a bit. "Yes, sir…"
"Shadow and I have agreed on one last change to the rulebook. Any other rule in the book can be temporarily overturned by a majority vote of those present to make the decision. That way, we'll always be able to adapt to situations that the rulebook might not account for. What do you think about that?"
"I think I'd sign that rulebook."
"Well I guess that makes it official. Everyone else already has."
The door to the medbay hisses open as another guest steps in.
Charmy greets happily, "Vector!"
"Hey, Charms. I've got somethin' for everyone here to see." He pulls out a datapad and turns the screen to them. Everyone gathers around to see. "One last gift from Mighty. He says SCOPE recovered it from the ARK's computers while the Eclipse Cannon was being taken apart. It was played by an automated system after hearing Shadow's voiceprint say the phrase 'awaiting orders'. Gerald will explain the rest."
On the screen, a slightly healthier looking Professor sits in his darkened cell, seemingly recording himself. "Shadow…my legacy, my heir, my son… I have taken steps to ensure that you would see your activation code at this particular moment in time, so that I may deliver these last words to you. Though I know that you are not presently in the state to fully understand what I'm saying, it is my hope that some part of what I say will remain even in your conscious mind. I've made a mistake, Shadow. I should never have trusted that man. Even as he swears that he can reunite me with Maria, I've seen her name among the list of those who died aboard the ARK. In my heart, I know that he lies. And I know that I'm the only one with the power to avenge her. To make them pay for what they've done to us."
The Professor reaches up to grip his head with both hands. "Even now, I can feel myself losing control of my thoughts. I've done terrible things, but I don't know what's right anymore. That's why I'm leaving everything to you. I've come up with a plan…that will destroy those who took everything from us. I've already abused your memories to get you this far. If you wish for this plan to proceed, you need do nothing more. There is no way for anyone else to stop it now. But if you can see some reason to help them…I leave that choice to you."
The Professor reaches up to adjust his spectacles. "Agent Black, my orders for you are as follows: You will no longer respond to your activation code. You will accept no further orders as Agent Black, save for those I have for you now. Henceforward, you are free. Free from me, and from all others who would seek to control you. Free for the first time in your life. This is my last gift to you. An ongoing mission. Fix my mistakes. No matter what you decide those mistakes may be. I leave the fate of humanity in your capable hands."
Sonic nods along slowly. "That proves everything Knuckles said. You can't be controlled anymore, Shadow. There's no danger left to fear."
"So…all is forgiven?"
"Shadow…you tried to tell me all of this, right from the beginning. But I didn't believe you. None of us did. I—"
"Don't apologize. You did what you felt you had to. And I did the same."
"I'm…glad you feel that way. Let's agree to trust each other a little more from now on, okay?"
Shadow nods with a smirk. "I think I can handle that."
Vector stretches out his arms as he puts the datapad away. "Welp, looks like my job here is done."
"Before you go, Vector…" Sonic pulls out a small green shard of the Master Emerald. "…you might be wanting this back. Welcome back to the team."
Vector waves it away with a hand. "I can't take that yet."
Charmy yells, "Don't say that you're leaving again!"
"It's only for a little while. I have one last piece of business to take care of."
—–—
Vector places the datapad down on Eggman's table. "This is it. Everything we got out of BABEL."
"Somehow I knew you'd keep your word, Vector. You just have that air about you. Though I hope you understand that I'll have to reduce your bonus a bit this time. Those funds went into repairing the little helper I sent out for you."
"You say that as if I asked for that help."
"If I didn't send it, neither of us would have this information. You know that as well as I."
"Well, you can keep your dirty money. I don't want any more of it, and I don't want any more of you."
"My, what a silly thing to say. Don't you still want to find your friend Montse?"
"Not with your help, I don't. I told you. I'm done." Vector turns to walk away.
"Going back to your friends in the Rebellion, then?"
Vector stops.
"Oh, don't worry. You can go ahead and let them know that they're in for an easy year. As far as I'm concerned, at least. I've come to rather like this arrangement of neither of us bothering the other. Most of the time."
Vector resumes his walk silently.
"Oh, don't play coy with me, Vector. I know you want to ask me why I'm feeling so generous. There must be a reason, right? How will you ever live with yourself, not knowing the answer?" Vector has long since disappeared. "Well I won't tell you, even if you ask, so there! How's that for playing coy?" Eggman lets out a groan as he lifts a hand up to his forehead. "Ugh. I need a vacation…"
—–—
As Vector walks out through the city streets, he speaks into his communicator. "You sure you don't mind holding down the fort at the Detective Agency, Mighty?"
"You can trust me, Vector. Has your janitor ever let you down before?"
"That's manager. And don't you forget it."
"Same deal as always?"
"I'll keep looking from my end, you keep looking from yours. We share whatever we find. Good luck searching for your friend, Mighty."
"Same to you, Vector. And don't be afraid to give me a call if you ever need a little extra muscle."
Vector stops to take a look up at the starry sky. A shooting star streaks across the air, briefly lighting up the night. "I get the strangest feeling…that we're going to need it."
—–—
Johnny looks around through the barrier of his cell. "Hello…? You guys didn't forget about me, did you?" He looks up into the nearest security camera. "Tails? You're still watching the security footage, aren't you? Sonic? Anyone?" He drops his head with a groan. "Why me…?"
To be continued…