To explain the fourth emerald, in SA2, Rouge had an emerald on her when she went to make her deal with Eggman. In this AU, Shadow did not have an extra emerald on him, and so I moved it here.


On the coastline of Prison Island, the odd team of Eggman, Rouge, and Shadow hid in the trees, ready for their debriefing, although it seemed Eggman was having some second thoughts.

"Having to come back here isn't my idea of a vacation," he grumbled, glaring at the hedgehog. "How can you be sure your intel is correct? Why would the Chaos Emeralds be here on the island? Are you absolutely sure?"

Teal eyes rolled as Shadow let out a loud, dramatic sigh. "So paranoid… I swear, it's like you don't trust me or something!"

He was met with two blank stares in response.

"Fine!" he snapped. "Then let me prove it! There's three Chaos Emeralds in a vault here on this island!" With that he pulled out a shard of the Master Emerald, closing his eyes as he focused on it. Sure enough, only a few seconds later, Eggman's radar started to ping, and he looked at the screen in curiosity. "There!" Shadow proclaimed, putting the shard back away as the pinging ceased. "Proof enough for you?"

"Shadow… You did say 'three', correct?"

"Yes," the hedgehog replied impatiently. "Three of them in a vault, now we just need to-"

"Because my radar picked up four."

Shadow blinked, looking nonplussed. "Four? You sure you looked at it right?"

"He did," Rouge answered, her unexpected interjection causing Shadow to jump in surprise. "I'm attuned to Chaos Energy. I felt four spikes."

Shadow pursed his lips, pondering over the information. "So that means… there's a big chance that the unaccounted-for Chaos Emerald is here on the island, too!" He grinned. "Lucky us!"

"Or it's the other one you claim to know about," Eggman said. "In either case, we need to track it down and bring it with us." He turned to look at Rouge. "Can I trust you to do that? It seems like you have a natural radar for them."

"Yes," the bat replied with a firm nod.

"Good!" Eggman rubbed his hands together, satisfied. "Now, let's discuss how we're going to do this. I will go in first and distract the military troops, allowing Shadow to sneak in the base without being detected. Then Rouge will enter the armory, where she will set the timer on these dynamite packs." With that, he brought out a timer from a compartment in his mech, handing it over to Rouge, who took it without a word. "Once that is in place, we'll blow up the whole island and get away before anyone has the chance to know what hit them!"

The doctor turned his attention back to Shadow. "Meanwhile, you'll have to sneak into the cargo area and grab the Chaos Emeralds. That's a challenge for such a worthy treasure hunter as yourself, isn't it Shadow?"

"Y-Yeah!" Shadow exclaimed, suddenly standing at attention and failing to cover his stutter. "Easy as pie! Just wait and see!"

Eggman hummed, satisfied, before shifting his tone into something more commanding. "We only have thirty minutes to pull this mission off! And we only get one try, so don't fail me! And Rouge?"

The bat looked over to him.

"Don't forget about the fourth emerald."

She looked away again. "Of course."

With that, the trio dashed off to put their plan into motion.


With Eggman taking the lead, their rush into the base was remarkably easy, and the doctor laughed at the sheer amount of damage he had done to military property. "Such worthless drones," he scoffed, patting his mech. "I could make better in my sleep."

"I've definitely seen better," Shadow agreed as Rouge crossed her arms, looking out over the sea. "Not up close just yet, but I've looked over some reports in my time."

"How nice to have a fellow appreciator of fine technology," Eggman remarked, causing Shadow to smirk. "But that's for a later time. Is everybody ready? On with the show!"

However, it seemed as though the show would have to be delayed, as a new voice made its way over to them.

"Oh, Sonic!"

A pair of arms enveloped Shadow's torso and the hedgehog tensed up, bristling with a grimace on his face. Not again…

"I thought I'd never see you again!" the voice continued, chipper and joyful. "I'm so glad you made it!"

"Watch who you're grabbing, Amy," Shadow growled, and the arms flew off him in an instant.

"Shadow! Ugh, what are you doing here?"

Shadow turned around and was met with the sight of Amy Rose, red-faced at her mix-up. The girl was frowning at him, her green eyes narrowed with disappointment, and Shadow put one hand on his hip, any semblance of a good mood having gone up in smoke. His relationship with Amy was odd, to say the least. Neither particularly liked each other, but neither ever claimed to hate each other, either. There was some degree of animosity, stemming from the sheer amount of times Shadow had gotten Sonic in trouble, and the rivalry they shared when it came to claiming the blue blur's attention. Ultimately, they were far from friends, and so their meetings tended to sound more hostile than not.

"I could ask you the same thing," he retorted.

"Hmph!" Amy stuck up her nose, looking up at him unflinchingly. "I'm looking for Sonic," she announced, causing Shadow's eyes to widen.

"What's that?" Eggman said, spinning his mech over at the sound of conversation. "Sonic's on this island?"

"Who's Sonic?" Rouge asked, out of the loop for once.

"Doctor Eggman!" Amy gasped, taking a step back and reaching for her hammer, but upon seeing Rouge in the mix, she quickly realized how outnumbered she was. Letting out a small, scared noise, she still raised her hammer, holding it in a defensive position as she backed away.

"Amy, your timing is impeccable," Eggman growled through his teeth. Looking down to his subordinates, he ordered them to go. "Leave it to me. I'll take care of her," he said, gesturing at the pink hedgehog. "You two, go! And if you see Sonic, attack on sight! That's an order!"

"Who's Sonic?" Rouge repeated, beginning to sound frustrated, but Shadow grabbed her arm and started to pull her away.

"I'll tell you over the communicator once I'm inside, now go!"

Eggman turned his sights back on to Amy, who was looking much bolder now that it was just him facing off against her. He approached her in his mech, and she began to move forward in kind, with her weapon raised…

...until a blue and yellow modified airplane landed in front between them. Eggman bit back a groan.

Tails. Fantastic. Just what he needed.

"Boy am I glad to see you!" Amy cheered, raising her weapon to the sky.

"Stand back Amy!" Tails warned, to which the girl frowned.

"I can fight, too!" she protested, and Tails' eyes widened as he realized what he implied.

"No, wait, I only meant that we need to fight missiles with missiles when we're up against Eggman!" he explained in a rush. "You're a great fighter, but this might get really dangerous!"

Eggman sat back in his mech, tuning out the conversation taking place in front of him and just barely registering the voices coming over the communicator. He presumed it was Shadow briefing Rouge about Sonic, and turned his thoughts back to his next move.

He could attack now, while both his opponents were distracted… Yes, that could work!

With the press of a button, he launched a missile towards Tails, and the fox only barely managed to defend himself by launching one of his own to collide with it. The explosion was too close for comfort for the young Mobians, and as Tails made his way forward to fight, Amy seemed to decide to slip to the side to wait this battle out after all.

No matter. Those two weren't very important in the grand scheme of things, anyhow. In just a moment, they would be among the sea of frightened earthlings, looking up at the Eclipse Cannon and saying their prayers. Eggman just needed to make sure Shadow and Rouge got to their tasks.

He could play the role of the distraction.

Battling with Tails took brainpower as well as firepower; both had to compensate for slow turns and careful aiming. Eggman took great care in making sure Tails didn't get behind him. An attack from the rear could prove catastrophic if he didn't manage to dodge. Shot after shot was launched, with both mechs stomping around in circles, trying to get the upper hand. The doctor had to hand it to the boy; he could build some pretty impressive machinery that could withstand some pretty intense impacts. The hull on his plane was very durable, and as Eggman calculated the risk of going for a total victory, he realized it was a fool's errand. He could win, absolutely, but at great damage to his own machine. If he wanted to get off this island alive, he needed his mech in the greatest working condition he could manage.

There was only one thing to do, then. Eggman stopped firing and heaved a sigh, gathering Tails' attention.

"This time, I'll let you go," he said, pointing at the fox. "But the next time we meet… you won't be so lucky!"

With that, he walked off, satisfied at having bought his subordinates enough time. Behind him, he could hear Amy and Tails refocus their efforts into saving Sonic.

Ah yes, that reminded him…

A safe distance away, he picked up his communicator. "Rouge, come in."

"Rouge here," came the response only a second later. Eggman grinned. What a punctual assistant he had gained!

"Have you been informed about Sonic?"

"I've been told a great deal of things, of varying relevance. Shadow has many opinions about him, but I've gathered that he's a hedgehog, blue, quick on his feet, and our adversary."

"Shadow told you all that?"

"He told me the first three things. The last I gleaned from your orders."

Eggman frowned. He didn't know the relationship between Sonic and Shadow for certain; he had always assumed that a degree of animosity existed between them due to the frequent legal mixups, but if Shadow hadn't made their stance against him clear…

Well, he was assuming again. He had no time to ask for clarification if he wanted to make it off the island alive, and if Shadow's allegiance ended up being shaky due to Sonic's involvement, it just meant that Eggman would have to keep a closer eye on him if needed.

"That's just about right," he confirmed. "He's got a mouth on him, so expect him to try to taunt you and distract you."

"Understood."

"Have you set the timer?"

"I'm approaching the armory. I'll be finishing my first task in a moment, and then I'll track down the fourth emerald as instructed."

"Good," Eggman praised, pleased at her diligence. Despite the few hiccups they had already encountered, his team was already proving to be more than enough to handle any obstacles thrown their way. "Remember that it's crucial that we find it before the island blows up. And remember, if you see a speedy blue hedgehog, attack on sight!"


Next chapter: Rouge sees a speedy blue hedgehog and attacks on sight.