Act III: Power Plant Panic

G.U.N. had been in a panic the past couple days, and Team Dark was hit with the full force of the hurricane. Being one of the teams assigned to the missing Chaos Emerald, the three had slept a total of zero hours since the break in. Well, two, the walking arsenal of a robot didn't need much sleep. Plus, Shadow's body didn't need to sleep, instead he meditated through the ni- Rouge was having a bad time. Which, to Rouge, was the only person whose suffering mattered.

The bat sat on the break room counter, clutching her throbbing forehead as she brewed her fifth pot of coffee for the last 48 hours. How the hell was she supposed to catch this thief with this headache? She needed a shower, a serious touch up for her makeup, and thirty hours to be passed out for.

Shadow poked his head in, and upon seeing his coworker, he entered, calling to her, "Hey, we were lookin' for you."

"Sorry, I'm not leaving this spot until I have more caffeine," Rouge interrupted, putting a hand up to stop him.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't get in the way of you and your one true love," Shadow replied with a laugh.

"Damn right. You and the boys upstairs find anything new?"

"Nope. Chaos Division is still looking, but so far it isn't showing up. We have a few of the other Emeralds' locations locked down though."

"Is the Master Emerald still with… uh, Angel Island?"

Shadow rolled his eyes at her aversion to saying her ex-boyfriend's name. "Yes, it's presumed secure. We tried contacting Angel Island, but we haven't heard anything back. Then again, that's how it's been with that rock for years."

"Well… If the island is still floating, it's secure."

"True… I have an Emerald… The power plant has an Emerald… One is stolen. Three of them we don't have a lock on, and the last one is in Casinopolis…"

"Where do we stand with the Casinopolis Emerald?"

"We may need to steal it."

"Fantastic. When will we know?"

"Commander's fighting with the President over how to handle this. Commander wants the Emerald, but the President is insisting we hold off for now. That pussy's gonna let another Emerald go missing…"

Rouge nodded, and tried to change the topic. "Safe house again?"

"When?"

"When we can finally get some damn sleep."

"Oh, that's why."

"Before and after sleep too. You're crazy if you think I'm gonna be able to find any amount of relief here during code red."

"That's fair… I don't think I'll be able to concentrate here, so I'll definitely join you."

"Good. I need the company."

Suddenly, her forehead was stabbed harder by the infuriating ring of her cell phone. She snatched it from her pocket, prepared to throw it, and hesitated. Deeply inhaling, she pulled it down to look at who was calling. The fox kid… He really had the worst timing. She hit accept, brought it to her ears, and immediately said, "Sorry kid, it'll have to wait. We're looking into a missing Chaos Emerald."

"I'm calling about that!" Tails shouted into the phone, panicking at the thought of her hanging up on him too soon.

"What do you mean?" Rouge asked, jumping off the counter and knocking the coffee pot onto the floor. "Fuck!"

"What?" Tails asked, his urgency faltering at her exclamation.

"Nothing, I just… Nothing! What's the matter, kid?" She asked, taking a roll of paper towel from Shadow.

"Long story short Amy and I have been looking through G.U.N. surveillance and we found whatever stole the last Emerald."

"You- what? How do you know?"

"It was turning off security cameras in a radius around it, and there's been a moving range of disabled cameras in the sewers."

"Surveillance knew? Whatever, okay, where is it now?"

"It's on its way to the plant. Amy and I are on our way now, and Sonic is close behind it in the sewers."

Rouge was silent, and frozen with the phone to her head and a strip of paper towel soaking up coffee.

"Rouge?"

"We'll be there soon," she mumbled, before ending the call.

"What did he want?" Shadow asked.

"He found the thief. We need to get Omega and get to the power plant."

"You mean-" Shadow replied, his eyes slowly widening.

"Yes. It's going by sewer, same as last time. It's going for the Chaos Emerald powering all of Station Square."

o o o

Within a few minutes, the three had teleported to the front of the Chaos power plant. The usual soldiers guarding the building were gone. They could hear the distant sound of gunshots, then, nothing.

"Rouge, stay out here, wait for Tails. Omega, let's go!" Shadow ordered, rushing into the plant. Maneuvering through G.U.N. scientists and security guards, he couldn't help but be a little distracted by the men he recognized. Everyone in here was dead… He handpicked several of these scientists. He should be the one to deliver the news to their widowed wives and husbands… No. He couldn't have foreseen this happening. With Eggman dead, working with Chaos Emeralds shouldn't have been a hazard. Keep moving, there's a murderer to put down.

Shadow and Omega approached the Emerald room, following the sound of a harsh beating. He withdrew his Chaos Emerald, signed for Omega to stand down, and observed as he charged a Chaos Spear. Metal Sonic? Damn, that blue hedgehog might have been right, maybe Eggman was behind- no. Something else was behind this. And in the robot's clutches? Sonic. How typical of him. He raised his palm, aiming at the robot, and released, blasting Sonic's metal doppelganger with a Chaos Spear straight to the back.

"We got a call that you might need some help! Figures you'd need me to come and pick up after your mess," Shadow taunted, stepping further into the room.

Sonic mumbled something and gave a weak laugh.

"EGGMAN'S ROBOTS DETECTED. COMBAT ENGAGE." Omega boomed, simultaneously cocking every weapon in his loadout.

Metal Sonic's eyes narrowed on Shadow's Emerald. "Chaos Emerald…" It muttered, before jetting at Shadow. As Metal advanced, Omega unleashed his payload, which would have been fine, had Metal not reached Shadow in that amount of time. Unfortunately, this meant the barrage of missiles and bullets and fire was more or less aimed at Shadow, who was barely able to sidestep Metal Sonic's attack. Metal focused on Omega, quickly swiping away the rockets and taking the bullets, which seemed to barely harm it.

"Really, Shad, I appreciate the backup!" Sonic said, rushing over to Shadow.

"Now that I see who it is, I'm surprised you needed it. Didn't we beat Metal Overlord five years ago? I would imagine Metal Sonic with one Chaos Emerald wouldn't be much of a threat!"

"Hey, asshole, I haven't needed to fight many Metal Sonic level threats in the last five years!"

"That's on you. I'm in peak condition!"

"Alright, Adonis, settle down. You can brag after we stop this guy."

"You understand why destruction isn't an option?"

"Of course. We need it to tell us where Eggman is."

"Or whoever turned it on!" Shadow growled.

"Whatever. At the very least, I have the Emerald it wanted."

"Good. Keep that safe."

"No, my plan was to give it to him," Sonic replied, crossing his arms.

"Shut up and listen! We gotta get this over with quick. I don't want to know what upgrades he's had in the last five years."

"The Emerald in his chest was kinda… charging up at one point."

"Horrifying… Alright, it can't hit us all at once, can it?" Shadow asked, slowly approaching the robot battle.

"Hell if I know," Sonic replied, advancing with Shadow. "Like you said, probably major upgrades over the years. I guess we won't know 'til we try."

"What's the worst that'll happen?" Shadow asks, before dropping into a spin dash. Sonic follows, and the two blast at Metal Sonic from behind. During the two hedgehogs' conversation, Omega had been successfully pushing Metal back, forcing Metal into a defensive position. Metal was working on evading Omega's barrage of attacks and shooting down the larger strikes on the nimble robot. When it detected Sonic and Shadow attacking from behind, it performed a flip with its rockets, rolling above them and striking their backs launching them towards Omega.

Omega cut off its attack and put out its arms, catching Sonic and Shadow. "Thanks Omega!" Shadow groaned, bouncing off Omega's hands and landing on the ground. "Sonic, we gotta come up with something, fast!"

"How about, dodge?" Sonic said, pointing up at Metal Sonic. Metal was floating above them, hanging in the air, with blinding green glowing from his chest.

"Great idea!" Shadow shouted, diving out of the way. With the sound of screeching steel and booming electricity, a laser erupted from the Chaos Emerald in Metal Sonic's chest. It caught Omega in the chest, and when Metal began turning after Sonic, it tore through Omega's side to follow where his body pointed. Sonic sprinted around the room with the laser mere inches behind him.

Shadow kept up with them, ensuring he remained behind Metal. He stepped up on a piece of debris, and lept upwards at Metal Sonic. No way was he grabbing the Emerald like it was now. Could he take Metal's head off? One clean rip might leave Metal's memory banks intact. And if not… This bastard just demolished Omega.

Before Shadow could latch onto Metal from behind, the robot's arm rotated backwards, catching Shadow by the throat. Still turning, chasing Sonic with it's laser, it swung Shadow towards its front. It wrapped its metallic fingers around Shadow's Chaos Emerald, and pried it from his grasp. It then began to pull Shadow closer to its front, causing Shadow to grab Metal's body and head, pulling himself away from the laser his face was being shoved into. It was hot. Searing hot, and he wasn't even touching it yet. He struggled with Metal, sweating as he inched closer and closer to the raw Chaos energy rushing by in front of him.

Shadow let an arm go, reaching down to retrieve something strapped to his body, concealed by his jet boot. He retrieved what looked like a metal baton, swung it out, extending it into a short staff. "Chaos… Spear!" Shadow forced out, channeling Chaos energy through his arm and into the staff. It traveled down the conduit inside, and erupted from the sides of the tip into the shape of an axe made of Chaos power. He swung up at Metal Sonic, impaling the Chaos Axe into the back of Metal Sonic's head.

His last ditch effort worked, causing Metal Sonic to drop Shadow. It, however, held onto the Emerald. Metal was twitching- trembling erratically as the axe slowly turned off, no longer connected to Shadow. Shaking violently, the two Emeralds in its possession continued glowing, brighter, brighter, filling the room with blinding white. Sonic and Shadow tried to advance, but were forced to cover their eyes lest they be blinded by what both could recognize as Chaos Control.

When the light vanished, Metal Sonic was gone. The two hedgehogs blinked, regaining their proper sight. The axe Shadow used laid on the floor, just a metal pole now. "Damn it. He might not have gotten the Emerald from here but…"

"He still got one…" Sonic coughed, stumbling over to Shadow. Secretly, Sonic was glad Metal left. Another minute of running and he'd have been too tired to outrun Metal's laser. "What was up with that axe?"

"You like it?" Shadow asked, grabbing Sonic for support. "The boys in R&D really outdid themselves there. Chaos weapons. They make handles that conduct Chaos energy and release it to form various shapes. I just channel one Chaos Spear through it continuously and it does the rest."

"Where can I get my hands on one of those?" Sonic asked with a weak laugh.

"Sorry, the lab's gonna be a bit busy fixing up Omega." Shadow replied, frowning.

"Uh… Shad… Omega…"

Shadow slowly turned his head at his damaged friend, except- the spot Omega lay prior was empty. Omega was gone.

o o o

The pair of hedgehogs worked their way outside, making their way back past the fallen soldiers and scientists. "It didn't want any witnesses," Shadow remarked.

"It didn't expect us to make it," Sonic replied.

"Big mistake."

They got out, and were immediately spotted by their friends. Rouge, Amy, and Tails sat outside the compound on the hood of Ray's truck. Tails jumped down and ran to them, floating over the tall gates that intended to keep aggressors out. "Sonic! Shadow! What happened?"

"Metal Sonic. The Emerald's safe. Well… Shadow's isn't." Sonic weakly replied.

"Tsk," Shadow grunted.

"It got away. Thrashed Omega and stole the body. And everyone's dead."

"Omega? Shadow, please tell me he's-" Rouge began, grabbing onto the gate.

"Omega's gone!" Shadow roared, gritting his teeth. "Omega's gone," he repeated, softer.

"No," Rouge whispered. Amy came up from behind Rouge and wrapped an arm around her in consolation.

"Shad, did something about that Chaos Control seem odd to you?" Sonic asked.

"Absolutely," Shadow replied. "There was something strange about it for sure. Worse than that, I can't get a good feel for it at all. Usually I can sort of trace where it led to, or what happened during it if it's a time based Chaos Control, but that one… I've got nothing."

"Well, we at least know it's after the rest of the Emeralds. And I've got one."

"Three are missing, and we only know where one other Emerald is."

"Where is it?"

Shadow hesitated, then pushed Sonic away from him. "Sorry, classified."

"Seriously?" Sonic exclaimed, catching himself before he fell. "How did you even know to come out here anyway? 'You got a call?' What do you mean by that?"

"What? Tails called us." Shadow pointed at the orange fox, who began to back up just a little.

"Tails!?" Sonic shouted, spinning around to confront his friend. "Why'd you get G.U.N. involved? And why those three?"

"Why did he- Why wouldn't he? We have a right to know our investment is at stake."

"Uh, Shad…" Rouge whispered, trying to get her coworker to shut up.

"Investment?" Sonic asked, turning to Shadow, then back to Tails.

"D- does he not know?" Shadow asked, leaning around Sonic to direct his question at Tails.

"Well… Sonic…" Tails began, cautiously. "As you know, I was able to get a grant for my proposed Chaos Energy source. And, well, it was G.U.N. that gave me that grant. And… Team Dark was the primary benefactor."

"What?" Sonic demanded, turning back to Shadow and Rouge for proof.

"We thought it was a good idea," Shadow confirmed. "And the commander appointed us as his point of contact because of our history."

"And you kept this from me, Tails?" Sonic asked, turning back around.

"Well… You kinda hate G.U.N.-" Tails began.

"Yeah! For good reason! Remember when they arrested me!?"

"Y- yeah…"

"And the time they barreled down a city street in a semi-truck, not giving a damn about who they hurt on the way?"

"Yes, but they were offering. I needed that support-"

"So you sold out to, to these people!?" Sonic shouted, pointing at Shadow and Rouge.

"Hey, chill the fuck out, Sonic," Shadow said, firmly. He approached Sonic, who spun around to confront him.

"You stay out of this! You sold out to G.U.N. a long time ago, for whatever reason. Sure, G.U.N.'s the good guys! Let's just give them free Chaos Emeralds and years of our lives! Who cares who they mowed down trying to capture me to cover up Project Shadow! Hey, didn't they kill someone else trying to cover that up? Anyone ring any bells, Shadow?"

"That's a low blow, Sonic," Shadow snarled.

"Well, excuse me, Shadow! Sorry, I just found out that my best friend has been lying to me for two years about working with a group of state-sponsored murderers who tried to kill me to cover up one of their biggest fuck ups!"

"Right now isn't the time-"

"When is the time? Care to tell me when you're free to talk about how you're working for murderers now? Or is that classified?" The space between them was silent. "Fine. I'll go find the last Chaos Emeralds on my own. While you guys just hand them over to Metal Sonic, I'll be out saving the world, as I've done before a dozen times."

"Sonic-" Amy finally tried to pipe up, but it was too late. Sonic lifted the Emerald that had once powered Station Square, and teleported away. Then there were four of them.

"Go home, Tails. Rouge and I will get back to you with the results of our investigation," Shadow ordered through a low growl.

"Are you kidding me? This is my life's work, I'm staying to see what happened-" Tails said, his courage slightly returning with Sonic's absence.

"No. Rouge and I have this. It's bad enough the worst Badnik out there is stealing Chaos Emeralds and Omega's gone, we don't need anyone from Team Sonic palling around getting in the way!" Shadow shot back.

"Hey, calm down! Tails just wants to help!" Amy said, boldly.

"Nor do we need Team Rose shouting moral advice!"

Amy prepared a retort, but Rouge held her back. "Don't," Rouge whispered. "He's been having a rough time before this all started, I swear. I'll get him to let Tails stay. You go home. We appreciate what you've done here. Sleep. Shower. Breathe tonight. At the least, I'll be by soon to get a report from you."

Amy sighed, staring at a seriously pissed off Shadow, wishing she could smack that pouting look off his stupid face. "Fine. You know where I live?" Amy asked, turning to Rouge.

"Of course. That's our job, know everything." Rouge replied with a tiny smile.

Amy sighed, and turned to head to Ray's truck. She had to get it back to him still. With one last look at the three, she started the car, and began the drive back home.