Chapter 22
Cream helps lower Blaze down into the unknown ruins upon Angel Island as they land in the dark. Blaze lights her hand to have a look around. They were alone in a place that looked like a carved-out cavern. "Where are we?" Cream asked,
"I'm not sure, but It doesn't look like the others fell in this area." Blaze said,
"There must have been other caverns they fell into." She said,
"Yeah, let's have a look around. Keep an eye out, Eggman's robot fell somewhere down here too." She said as they walk forward. Blaze stops as she realizes what she's seeing ahead, "Cream, don't be scared. But it looks like we fell into a crypt…"
"Oh no…"
Amy wakes up on the ground in the dark, the last shing he remembered was the floor collapsing beneath them as he attempted to reach for Tails. "Tails?" He called out but received no response, "Tails!" He yelled trying to get to his feet tripping on the loose rubble beneath his feet.
"H…here…" Tails said, He moves towards her voice and can see her outline in the dark. Tails struggles to pull out a flashlight and turns it on as Amy could see her head bleeding,
"You're hurt…" He said helping her sit up,
"A rock hit me when I was trying to stop us from falling… lot of good that did us…" She winces in pain.
"We gotta stop the bleeding." He said,
"There's a small first aid kit in my pack." She said, Amy riffles through the pack and pulls out the kit.
"Looks like you're prepared for any situation." He said,
"Someone has to be when Sonic jumps headfirst into things." She chuckles and Amy starts cleaning the wound. "Ow!"
"Just manage it for a little bit, we don't want it to get infected." He said, "But I think you have a concussion."
"Must have been a large rock." She joked as Amy bandaged her head,
"We can't wait here," Amy said grabbing Tails' pack and kneeling next to her with his back facing her, "You need to take it easy; I'll carry you."
"I'm fine to walk." She struggles,
"Don't be stubborn! You shouldn't even move at all, but the others might be in trouble." He said as Tails lets out a sigh and wraps her arms around his neck and he carries her. "Try not to fall asleep yet."
"Okay… thanks Amy." Tails said as they begin to move further into the ruins.
Knuckles landed in a wider opening realizing that none of his friends fell in the same area. He looks around and sees a bit of the blue light that was coming from the braziers earlier. He walks up and sees they were bioluminescent stones. A type of stone he's never seen before. He picks up a few to help him see as he looks around.
"Hello?" He calls out but doesn't hear a response. He was on his own, and he knew he needed to find the others as soon as possible. He follows a wall seeing more carvings on them. He starts to get distracted as he begins to read, it was describing something about an alien race.
"Hello Knuckles," He hears as he turns his head to see the large robot spider in the center of the room.
"Eggman…"
"I'm sorry about earlier… I wouldn't have jumped down had I known the floor would collapse." He said. The metal spider stepped a little closer to him as Knuckles looked at the spider confused; the way he spoke reminded him of Professor Ivo.
"You may not have meant it but that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be down here." Knuckles said crossing his arms. "Are you going to hide inside that robot this entire time?"
"Oh, I'm not in the robot. I'm just controlling it remotely. If you remember, my asthma wouldn't do well in a musky place like this." The spider moved closer again.
"That's right, I forgot about your asthma…" Knuckles said looking sad thinking back to his time in school with Professor Ivo and how good of a person he was. But then he remembers all the times Eggman hurt his friends especially that he hurt Sonic. "You being friendly doesn't mean I trust you. And if you're not in there I don't have to feel bad destroying this hunk of metal." He said getting ready to fight.
"And here I thought you were going to make this easy. Very well Knuckles, let's see how long you last on your own!"
Sonic attempts to try and climb out of the but only stumbles unable to see. "Shadow?" She calls out. The last thing she remembers was the two of them falling and her using Chaos Shield to protect them from the impact.
"Here, hang on." Shadow said as she concentrates Chaos energy as it swirls around her hand like a green flame. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, but it looks like we got separated from the others." She said as Shadow reaches her hand out and helps Sonic out of the rubble.
"How the hell did Robotnik know we were here?" Shadow said,
"No clue, after all the crazy things that happened, I don't believe in coincidences anymore." Sonic said trying to look around. "Looks like we got one path." She points at the doorway in front of them.
"We should hurry, the others could be hurt." She said,
"Yeah," Sonic said as they get to the door and the hallway goes to the left and the right.
"This is going to be annoying." Shadow said with a sigh, she noticed Sonic was looking down the right corridor. "Sonic?"
"I can feel a shard of the Dark Chaos Emerald…" She said,
"Shit, you gotta be kidding me!" Shadow said,
"We gotta go get it." Saya said,
"We need to find the others first. The shorter amount of time you're in close proximity of the shard, the better." Shadow said grabbing Sonic's hand pulling her in the opposite direction.
"Okay…" She said as they go down the left corridor.
"Cream, I know you're scared but you need to keep your eyes open. I don't want you tripping." Blaze said as Cream slightly opens her eyes holding onto Blaze tightly, trying not to look at the mummified corpses displayed on the walls.
"It's so scary!" Cream whimpered,
"Just look at the ground, we'll get out of here." Blaze said continuing forward.
"Do you think these are the people that wrote on the room above?" Cream asked,
"Probably, but why have a crypt down here? Usually that means they were buried for a reason…" She said,
"Maybe if we find more glyphs Knuckles can figure it out." Cream said.
"Maybe… for now let's just try to find the others." Blaze said, They enter another open room where there was a strange pedestal in the middle and something strange on top of it slightly giving off a similar blue glow to the room above.
"What is that?" Caroline asked,
"Be careful, there could be traps." Blaze said looking around. They cautiously move forward towards the object. As they can see it more clearly. "Is that an egg?"
"It's not just an egg Blaze… It's a Chao egg!" She said as they both look at each other surprised.
Knuckles dodges an attack from one of the metal spiders legs as he attempts to make sure it doesn't hit the walls. He swings to strike it, but it moves a lot faster than what he was expecting. "I made this to fight against Sonic, this will be a piece of cake."
"Quit your yammering!" He grabs a large boulder and throws it at the head as it slightly dents. The spider lunges forward at him as he rolls out of the way, "It's like you're not even trying." Knuckles taunted.
"That's because I'm not trying to kill you Knuckles. Now that I know you can read this ancient language; I need you alive." He said as the mouth of the spider head opens revealing a cannon. An orange ball comes firing out and almost hits him.
"Like I'd help you." He said taking another swing and hitting the leg denting in.
"Ga! Hold still!" He said turning again shooting again, Knuckles starts to realize the thing he's shooting at him is some sort of glue. Eggman hits one of the walls destroying it causing Knuckles to stop worried he was going to destroy all that remained of his Echidna heritage as Eggman fires again and it hits his foot gluing it in place.
"Crap!" He said trying to pull himself free, but the glue was a lot stronger that it looks. "What is this even made out of?" He's hit with another in the chest as it coats over his chest and arms.
"This is an adhesive material I created to contain all of your unnatural strength." Eggman said, Knuckles struggles trying to move but the way his arms are pinned made it difficult to use his full strength. "Now, let's find a way out of here."
"You won't get away with this." He continued to struggles as two smaller legs come out of the robot coming closer to him, "The others will…!" The leg grabs the adhesive and covers his mouth silencing his outburst as all that could be heard was muffled sounds of resistance.
"We'll be long gone before they even know you've disappeared." He said pulling Knuckles off the ground and sticking him to the spiders back. Then it begins climbing up the wall as Knuckles tries to struggle free.
Amy continued to walk down a hallway carrying Tails as he begins to notice mummified corpses decorating the walls. "Okay… I really wish we didn't come in here…" Amy looks back at Tails, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm a little dizzy…" She said,
"Hopefully, we can find the others soon." Amy said as he looks ahead and sees a light, "Looks like we're in luck." He continued forward into the next room as he sees Cream and Blaze in the center.
"Amy," Blaze sees them enter.
"Am I glad to see you two!" He said walking over,
"What happened?" Cream asked running over to look over Tails.
"I took a rock to the head… Amy patched me up." Tails said with a weak smile,
"I think she's got a concussion." Amy said,
"We need to hurry and find the others." Blaze said,
"I'll be okay…" She said,
"What about the egg?" Cream asked,
"What egg?" Amy asked,
"There's a Chao egg on the pedestal." Cream pointed out.
"I'd say we bring it with us but I'm afraid trying to do so will harm the Egg or there may be a trap." Blaze said,
"But if Eggman brings anymore of the ceiling down it might crush it." Amy said,
"I'm bringing it!" Cream said sounding panicked hearing Amy say that running back over and grabbing the egg.
"Cream, please be careful!" Blaze asked as Cream places her hands on the egg and it glows brighter for a moment as she picks it up, it felt warm in her hands. She pauses for a moment waiting for something to happen, but nothing does.
"Blaze, I think this is why we're here. To help this Chao." She said with a smile.
"Maybe," She said patting her head, "Now we're going to need your hearing to help us find the others." Cream nods. They head down another path as Cream tries to hear the sounds of her friends.
Sonic and Shadow continue to walk forward unknowing where they were headed. Sonic stops suddenly. "What's wrong?" Shadow asked,
"I… don't know… something… something doesn't feel right." She said grabbing her chest, Something was wrong, but she didn't know what.
"Is it because of the Dark Chaos shard?" Shadow asked as Sonic shakes her head,
"I can feel the Dark Chaos, this is different." She said,
"Stay close." She said as Sonic looks down at them still holding hands.
"D… Don't think that will be difficult." She chuckles as Shadow looks down; the green light couldn't show how red her face became at the realization. She quickly let's go.
"I'm sorry!" Shadow said looking away,
"No, no it's fine!" Sonic waves her hands, "Honestly, it was calming" She looks away feeling her face become warm not realizing her face had also turned red.
"Oh… Um, you can still…" Shadow said holding out her hand,
"Thanks…" Sonic said taking her hand, the moment she held her hand again she felt calm. Why did this make her feel so calm? They turn the corner and get to a dead end; the room was lit with the same blue illuminated stones from the first room. "Well this isn't the way." She chuckles turning around as she steps on a pressure plate and the way they came in closes.
"Damn…" Shadow said as they hear running water behind them.
"That is literally the sound in my nightmares." Sonic said as they turn around to see a wall fountain. The water reflected at them like a mirror. "Okay that's not so bad."
"We gotta find a way to open the door, we can't break through it without potentially causing another collapse." Shadow said,
"Let's look around." Sonic said letting go of her hand and they both start looking around the walls.
The others continue down the corridor as Cream starts hearing what sounds like metal from the next room. "Up ahead, I think I hear Eggman's robot." Cream said pointing at the next room.
"Be on your guard." Blaze said as Amy summons his hammer,
"I can walk…" Tails said,
"Don't push yourself." Amy said letting her down,
"I won't," She said standing up. They cautiously walk inside looking around but don't see anything.
"I'm not seeing it…" Blaze said as Cream focuses on listening again. She hears just the slight sound of metal and what sound like something muffled. She looks straight up and points.
"Up there!" She said as Blaze throws up a ball of fire illuminating the ceiling. They see the robot with Knuckles attached to its back still struggling to get free,
"He's got Knuckles!" Tails yelled,
"Blast that cursed Rabbit!" Eggman said as he crawls across the ceiling down another hall.
"We can't let him get away, after him!" Blaze said as they begin to chase after him.
Shadow starts searching the walls for any hidden pressure plates while Sonic attempts to do the same on the opposite side of the room but constantly looks over at the wall of water. It made her extremely uncomfortable. The longer she looks at it she starts to notice that Shadow's reflection was still looking at her even though Shadow's back was facing the water.
"Uh… Shadow?" Sonic tried to get her attention,
"Did you find something?" Shadow asked still looking around,
"S… Something…" Sonic steps away from the wall, walking closer towards Shadow, "Your reflection is still looking at you…" She said as Shadow looks at her confused.
"What?" She looks back at the wall at her reflection, everything seems normal. She walks up closer trying to get a better look.
"I don't think that's a good idea…" Sonic said,
"This isn't Chaos," She said turning to look at Sonic and then back at the reflection as she sees her reflections eyes turn solid black. She jumps back as Sonic looks at her own reflection as she sees her reflections eyes turn red.
"No…" Sonic said sounding frightened as Shadow sees the reflections eyes and quickly turns back to Sonic, but her eyes are still green.
"Sonic, it's alright you're not Dark Sonic right now your eyes are still green." Shadow moved over to comfort her, but Sonic was frozen in place. Her reflection grinning at her sinisterly. "Don't look at it, it's trying to scare you." Shadow turns her away from the wall,
"Oh but what's the fun in that?" Shadow heard her own voice coming from the water as the images appear to be walking towards them.
"This can't be real…" Sonic said, her ears lower in fear,
"Oh it's real alright," She heard her own voice as Sonic covers her ears cowering. "You can't block me out this time." They both walk out of the water, their forms taking on a watery sheen for a moment before returning to looking like Shadow and Sonic.
"Sonic we need to…" Shadow was still trying to snap Sonic out of it when the mirror Shadow warps next to them and kicks Shadow away from her.
"You're playing with me." The mirror said as the Sonic's mirror slowly walks towards her,
"Stay away from her!" Shadow yelled as her mirror blocked her from the Sonic mirror.
"What's a matter Shadow? Too afraid to deal with yourself?" The mirror said as Shadow didn't know how to react to that question.
"How can you be a hero when you can't even come to terms with me?" The Sonic mirror said as Sonic steps back only to hit the wall behind her. In a red flash her mirror was in front of her. "What happened to your fight when you were trapped inside?"
"Sonic don't listen to them; they're trying to confuse us!" Shadow said struggling against herself. But Sonic was already petrified, she didn't know how to react to what looked like Dark Sonic in front of her. The Sonic mirror starts to reach out for her, "Chaos Spear!" Shadow throws a spear at the Sonic mirror as it jumps back. The Shadow mirror kicks Shadow to the ground and pins her down.
"If you're going to ignore me then you can sit and watch." She said as Sonic snaps out of it after seeing Shadow hit the ground.
"Get off me!" Shadow yelled struggling against her doppelgangers grip,
"Shadow!" Sonic said as her mirror image grabs her by the wrist and twists it behind her. "Let go!" She winced in pain,
"There's that fight!" She chuckles, "Too bad it won't save you." The mirror Sonic said as it starts dragging her closer to the wall of water.
The others continued their chase after Eggman's robot but weren't able to keep up the pace they needed. "Where the heck are Sonic and Shadow? We could really use their speed right now." Amy said,
"I have an idea; can you throw me with using your hammer?" Blaze asked,
"Definitely," Amy stops moving and holds his hammer behind him in full swing as Blaze jumps and crouches on top of the hammer. "Here we go!" He swings forward at full force propelling Blaze forward at high speeds as she uses her flames to rocket herself forward. She gets up to Knuckles and touches the glue as she hangs there by her now stuck hand.
"Tails, be ready to catch him!" Blaze said,
"On it!" She starts flying up as Blaze starts heating up her hand. The glue loses its stickiness as Knuckles rips himself free and they both begin to fall. Tails catches him as Blaze uses her flames to slow her fall enough for Amy to catch her.
"Damn you! I was so close to finding a way out of here." Eggman said, Tails lands Knuckles next to Amy as Blaze helps get the glue off of his face.
"Eggman!" Knuckles raged, as Alan puts his hand on Knuckles' shoulder.
"My turn." He smiles. Knuckles smiles back as he takes Amy's hand and spins around throwing him at the robot spider as he strikes it downwards causing it to fall off the ceiling. "How about one more!" He swings using the momentum of gravity to crush the head of the metal spider destroying it.
"Wow…" Cream said surprised,
"Amy are you okay?" Tails called out,
"That was awesome!" He cheered climbing off the destroyed robot pumped up on adrenaline.
"How about you Knuckles, are you alright?" Blaze asked,
"Other than my pride being bruised for needing the rescue," He said with a huff as Blaze helps get more of the adhesive off of him. "Thanks guys,"
"We're just glad you're okay." Cream said as Knuckles notices the egg in her hands.
"Is that… a Chao egg?" He asked looking amazed as Cream nods,
"We need to find Shadow and Sonic." Tails said,
"Let's keep moving, are you feeling okay Tails?" Amy asked,
"I'm okay, but I'll let you all know if I start feeling unwell." Tails said as they all nod and continue forward inside this ancient labyrinth, not knowing the trouble the two hedgehogs had gotten themselves into.
Shadow and Sonic were still confronting their mirror personas as Sonic's mirror self was trying to pull her closer towards the wall of water. Shadow was pinned to the ground by her reflection, her arms restrained, and the mirror self's knee pressed against the back of her neck.
"Chaos…" Shadow tried to break free, but the mirror copy applied pressure to the back of her neck crushing her windpipe preventing her from warping.
"I told you before, if you won't play with me, you have to watch." The Shadow mirror said,
"What are you?" She coughed out,
"We are the mirrors to your darkest selves." The Sonic Mirror said. Sonic was trying to pull out of the grapple, but the strength was similar to that of Chaos.
"You are not me!" Sonic said as it twists her arm further making her yelp in pain,
"I am you, the version of you that you will never be able to beat." She said as they were only a few feet from the wall of water now and she didn't want to know what would happen if she's thrown into it. Sonic looks over at Shadow who was also struggling as she thinks of an idea.
"I might not be able to beat you…" Sonic said as she looks at Shadow's mirror, "But she can, Chaos Shield!" A force field surrounds the fake mirror Shadow cutting of its arms as the hands restraining her lose their form turning into water.
"Chaos Control!" Shadow warps next to Sonic and roundhouse kicks the Mirror image causing it to let go. Sonic elbows it and it backs away from her. Shadow grabs Sonic by the waist and pulls her away from the wall as she kicks the mirror Sonic into the water wall causing it to disappear. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Sonic lets out a sigh of relief as she looks up at Shadow, was she always taller than her? "l… let's get rid of your double." Sonic said as Shadow lets her go,
"Wait, I have a question for it." Shadow said,
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"You said you're our darkest selves, Sonic's was Dark Sonic obviously, but I've never encountered a part of myself like this before." Shadow said,
"I'm the part of you that you refuse to acknowledge. Or are you still trying to pretend that you weren't made with their blood?" The mirror image said as Shadow pauses,
"Made by them? What is she talking about?" Sonic asked,
"You can't escape who you are Shadow…" The Mirror laughs triggering Shadow's rage,
"I am not them!" Shadow yelled taking Sonic by surprise,
"Ok, we're stopping this." Sonic said quickly moving the Chaos Shield towards the water wall and releasing it before it hits causing the Shadow Mirror to be tossed inside. The water stops revealing another path. "That wasn't there before…" She looks over at Shadow, she could see her hands were shaking. She walks up to her and hesitates before she takes her hand. "You okay?"
"I should be asking you that." Shadow said,
"Oh no, you're not going to deflect me that easily." Sonic said, "What did she mean by them?"
"The Dark Arms…"
"The alien race that assisted Robotnik in creating you?" She asked as Shadow nods. "Dude, you chose who you were a long time ago. Don't let some weird mirror monster tell you who you are."
"Better take your own advice then." She said looking at Sonic with a slight grin, "Don't let that thing tell you Dark Sonic is stronger. Where I was standing you were the stronger one."
"Honestly, that felt really satisfying. I don't feel afraid anymore." They hear a noise from the open doorway. "Not afraid of Dark Sonic at least… Ghosts are another story…" She said, grabbing Shadow's arm.
"We should keep moving," Shadow said as Sonic nods, they walk forward into the next room which was illuminated by the strange blue light.
"It looks like the chamber we fell from." Sonic said looking at the walls, On the far wall was the image of seven figures with their hands out. "Hey, those look like the Chaos Emeralds." She points out,
"Wish Knuckles was here to help us decipher it." Shadow said,
"I hope the others are okay." Sonic said lowering her head.
"We'll find them." Shadow said as they continue down the next corridor.
The others were continuing forward with Blaze leading, Cream was focused on the Chao egg as Knuckles was trying to make sure she didn't accidently trip. "Do you guys think we can stop for a second?" Tails asked looking pale, "I'm not feeling good,"
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Amy asked as he kneels, "C'mon, I'll carry you."
"Oh no you don't," Knuckles said pulling him back to his feet, "You're not in a state to carry anyone. Don't think I didn't notice your hand after your last attack." He grabs Amy's wrist and they all see Amy's had was severely bruised,
"Oh my gosh!" Cream gasped,
"Nothing gets past you huh?" Amy chuckled trying to play it off, "Yeah, I may have over done it back there."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Blaze asked,
"I didn't really notice till we started walking." He said, "It'll be fine,"
"Here," Knuckles kneels down to Tails, "I'll carry you so we can keep moving."
"You sure?" Tails asked,
"I carried Saya while fighting Swatbots, this is a cake walk." He smiled as she climbed on his back and they continued forward.
"Wait… I hear footsteps." Carline said,
"Put out the light." Amy said,
"What if it's Sonic and Shadow?" Tails asked,
"Better safe than sorry." Blaze said snuffing out the light, which didn't do them much good since the Chao egg in Cream's hands was still glowing. They all get close to the walls and stay quiet as they can hear the footsteps from around the corner. They see a glowing green light as it turns the corner and they see Sonic and Shadow.
"Guys!" Sonic lets go of Shadow's hand and runs over to the others as Blaze relights her hand. They both wince readjusting to the brightness. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She said looking them over as she sees Knuckles carrying Tails. "Tails!" She moves over to her,
"I'm glad you're okay too," Tails smiles,
"You okay bud?"
"She's probably got a concussion," Knuckles said, "We should try to get out of here quickly."
"Well…" Sonic started to say as she looks at Shadow,
"What?" Blaze asked,
"There's a Dark Chaos Shard down here." Shadow said,
"Of course there is…" Knuckles said with a sigh, "At least Amy took care of Eggman's robot."
"You did?" Sonic asked,
"Yep!" He said looking proud, "Though, I slightly overdid it." He shows her his bruised hand,
"Yikes! Tails I'm going to grab your kit." Sonic said as she reaches for Tails bag and starts pulling out the first aid kit. She grabs an icepack and breaks it to activate it as she grabs the remaining gauze, "Here," she takes his hand and starts wrapping it with a splint. "Looks like at least three fingers are broken,"
"You know a lot about this," He said,
"Well when your best friends mom is a nurse and you spend time in the infirmary on a weekly basis you start picking up a few things." She chuckles, as he watches her help. He notices a large bruise in the shape of a handprint on her arm.
"Your arm… what happened?" Amy asked,
"We had a run in with a weird trap." She chuckles,
"It looks like someone grabbed you." Cream said,
"We can discuss that later, You're all good Ames. Use the ice to help with the swelling." She said,
"Now who's dodging?" Shadow said as Saya sticks her tongue out at her.
"We should find the shard and get out of here." Blaze said,
"Lead the way Sonic," Knuckles said,
"Ha, ha… yeah…" She said looking out into the dark.
"Don't worry, you can hold my hand if you're scared." Amy said holding out his hand expectantly.
"S…Sure…" Sonic holds his hand as they walk up front,
"Shadow, will you keep an eye on Cream? Make sure she doesn't trip." Blaze asked as they all begin to walk,
"Yeah…" She said as she glances at Sonic and Amy. She didn't know why but her chest felt heavy. "What exactly are you holding?" She asked Cream looking away.
"It's a Chao egg." She said,
"Really?" Sonic asked looking back,
"You're going to trip if you keep turning your head." Amy said as Sonic turns around almost tripping in the process, "See?" he said as Sonic chuckles, but she couldn't help it. It didn't feel the same holding Amy's hand as it did holding Shadow's. She wondered why that was.
"Knuckles there's more of that glue in your hair…" Tails said,
"Man… hopefully it's gone when we change back… getting that out without fire is going to suck…" He let out a sigh,
"Glue?" Shadow asked,
"Eggman tried to take Knuckles." Cream said,
"What? Why?" Sonic asked still leading.
"He said something about being able to read the Echidna language. As if he needed something deciphered." Knuckles said, "I got caught cuz I was distracted…" He looks away embarrassed.
"We were able to stop him and that's what's important." Blaze said looking back at Knuckles, and she notices Shadow's disheartened expression occasionally glancing at Sonic and Amy.
"The scroll Eggman stole…" Caroline said,
"The one he had me steal…" Sonic said looking sad,
"Cheer up, you know that wasn't you." Amy said bumping against her shoulder,
"Yeah…" She looks down at the bruise on her arm, "I do now." She steals another glance behind her at Shadow who was watching over Cream,
"Which way?" Amy asked as she snaps out of it,
"Uh… right." She pointed as they continued forward. The pathway opens up to what looks like an underwater cavern where there were dozens of the bioluminescent stones from underneath the water lighting up the entire room.
"It's beautiful." Cream said.
"Of course it's under water…" Knuckles said with a sigh,
"I'll get it." Shadow said about to take her jacket off as Sonic puts her hand up and shakes her head.
"No need…" She said letting go of Amy's hand as he lets go reluctantly. Sonic walks up to the water's edge and holds out her hand. They see a dark glimmer as something underneath the surface begin to move up towards the surface as the Dark Chaos shard floats up in front of her. She's about to reach out and grab the shard as Shadow notices Sonic eyes in the reflection of the pool were glowing red. Shadow quickly moves next to her and grabs the shard before Sonic could and tosses it to Blaze.
"Sonic?" Shadow grabbed her by the shoulders and shakes her, "Snap out of it!" Sonic blinks a few times and looks confused,
"Why are you shaking me?" Sonic grabs Shadow's arms to get her to stop.
"You zoned out." Shadow said looking over at Blaze who placed the Shard into Tails' pouch. "We got the shard, let's get out of here."
"Oh, okay." Sonic said looking confused, "Now the question is… How do we get out of here?"
"We find one of the rooms we fell from and climb back up." Knuckles said, "Or hopefully find stairs…" He said.
"You're up Cream. See if you can hear any wind down here." Shadow said as Cream nods. She begins to listen and pauses as they wait for her reaction.
"I hear footsteps…"
"Oh great! What if those mummies came to life?" Sonic said,
"I don't think you should watch horror movies for a while…" Knuckles said as Sonic lightly chuckles.
"Be ready for anything," Shadow said as they all begin to hear the footsteps and the light from a flashlight come in their direction. Two figures walk into the cavern.
"Rogue? Omega?" Shadow said looking surprised,
"This is Rogue to HQ, we found them." She said into a hand radio. "Hi Hun!" Rogue waves as they walk up to them, "Glad to see you all are okay."
"We're glad to see you too." Shadow said,
"You didn't respond for check in and Elias and Sally became worried." Omega said,
"C'mon, let's get you all out of here." Rogue said as they all let out a sigh. They follow them to a path that led to stairs and they were able to exit out through the same way they came in. By the time they finally get out of the ruins the sun was close to setting.
"I didn't realize how much I missed the sun." Sonic said as she plops onto the grass.
"Oh thank goodness!" They hear Sally say as she runs up to them. "We were so worried! What happened?"
"We can explain back at HQ, two people need medical attention." Shadow said as Sally nods.
"We'll have someone bring the Tornado. Let's hurry back." She said as they climb into a helicopter and head back to Freedom HQ.
They exit the helicopter and Blaze quickly jumps out with Tails' pack walking over to her workshop and placing the shard in containment. It instantly fuses with the rest of the Dark Chaos Shard leaving her feeling unsettled.
"Go take them to the infirmary and meet us in the computer room after." Sally said,
"So you're Sonic huh?" Rogue said looking her over.
"Uh, yeah?" Sonic said feeling a little uncomfortable at Rogue checking her out.
"Rogue…" Shadow said,
"What? Can't a girl be curious? You talk about her all the time." Rogue said,
"You do?" Sonic asked,
"I talk about all of you…" Shadow said looking away, "Let's go." She walks forward as Blaze walks back over to Cream as they all transform back,
"What did I miss?" She asked Caroline,
"Oh the usual, they are walking circles around each other like always." She quietly chuckles as the others head to the infirmary.
"I'm this close to telling them." Brandy said crossing her arms as they head to the computer room,
"No, they have to learn for themselves." Caroline said,
"Fine," She said. Everyone else gets to the infirmary where they lay TK down on the cot and Alan sits in the one next to her.
"Are the rest of you alright?" Dr. Q asked as she starts checking over TK.
"Just a few cuts and bruises but nothing serious." Shadow said,
"Unless we're talking about Kolt's pride." Saya teased,
"Don't start." He said,
"Alright, then go check in with Elias. He's been panicking." Dr. Q said as they all nod,
"We'll come check up on you guys after." Saya said as they leave.
They get to the computer room where Caroline and Brandy were already starting to explain everything. "And that's a Chao egg?" Elias asked confused,
"Yes! They are creatures of Chaos that live close to the Master Emerald." Caroline explained, "A lot of stuff happened."
"Eggman showed up too." Kolt said,
"And found a shard of the Dark Chaos…" Saya added. Elias pinches the bridge of his nose trying to process all the information they gave him about what happened.
"Whenever I believe something is too easy or relaxed, it comes back to bite me…" He said letting out a loud sigh.
"At least your injuries are minor." Sally said, "So Caroline, what are you going to do with the Egg?"
"I'm going to take care of it until it hatches! Now that we're close to the Master Emerald it should hatch sometime." She said with a smile,
"I'm still confused on what it is." Elias said,
"Think Faerie, but instead of being connected to magic, they are connected to Chaos." Brandy explained,
"I think I understand?" Elias scratches his head. "Anything else happen I should know about?"
"Eggman tried to kidnap Kolt." Saya said,
"What?" Sally said,
"But he didn't succeed." Kolt said,
"If Cream didn't hear the robot he would have. That was a really close call." Brandy said,
"When you put it like that…" Kolt looks away,
"Why did he try to take Kolt?" Elias asked,
"Those ruins are littered in a strange language. Apparently, they are similar to the language of the Echidna. The same runes on our bracelets." Sophia said,
"Wait, you can read that script?" Sally said looking surprised as she gives Elias a look,
"It's an older dialect of Echidna language, but yeah, I can understand the gist of it." He said,
"That's not all. Apparently, we're not from another world." Brandy said,
"I don't understand," Elias said,
"The Dark Chaos triggered a genesis wave that rewrote the world." Saya said,
"This is technically still Mobius." Sophia said,
"Giant reset button." Saya said,
"My head hurts…" Sally said,
"Unfortunately, that's all the info we could get before Egghead broke everything." Saya said rolling her eyes.
"We think Eggman wants to decipher the scroll." Caroline said.
"That would make sense. That means you need to be on your guard Kolt. He may change his focus from Sonic to you." Elias said,
"Yes sir!" He said with a nod,
"You all had a very eventful day; you should get some rest." Sally said.
"I'm going to go check on TK," Saya said leaving the computer room,
"I think Saya's getting better." Caroline said,
"I agree, she was able to face her demons today and she won." Sophia said,
"The bruise on her arm?" Brandy asked as Sophia nods,
"We walked into a trapped room. It was some sort of test. At least that's the only thing I could think it could be. Our reflections came out and attacked us." Sophia explained, "They took on the form of our greatest fears."
"Dark Sonic…" Kolt said,
"She was afraid at first, but she fought through it." Sophia said,
"Do you think she's ready to go back to the field?" Elias asked looking profoundly serious at all of them.
"Yes." Sophia said,
"I'll let her know later that she can rejoin on the next mission." Elias said as they all leave the computer room.
"I'm really surprised Sophia. Honestly, I didn't think I'd ever hear you say you want Saya back in the field." Kolt said,
"You weren't there. She fought very well." She said,
"But you left something out," Brandy said,
"I did?"
"What about your greatest fear?" She said as Sophia paused hoping she wouldn't ask that.
"It was the version of me stuck in a loop of revenge." She lied; she didn't want them to hear her worries about the Dark Arms.
"Really?" Caroline said partially not believing it,
"I was full of anger when Eggman took Saya… angry to the point where I was ready to kill him." She said trying to deflect.
"Hey, I know he's evil. But Professor Ivo is in there somewhere." Kolt argued as he pauses for a moment. "I hope…" He looked down sad.
"I keep forgetting you know him." Brandy said.
"Yeah… it's really hard." He lets out a sigh, "I'm going to get some rest, that adventure burned me out." He said walking over to his room.
"I shouldn't have said anything…" Sophia said,
"We're happy you were honest with us." Caroline said, Sophia felt guilt hearing Caroline say that. "We should all get some rest." She said as they all head to bed.
Saya walks into the infirmary. Dr. Q was bandaging up Alan's hand while TK was asleep. "Hey," She waves,
"You did a very good job on the first aid Saya, I'm impressed." Dr. Q said,
"Aw thanks doc! How's TK doing?"
"She'll be better by the morning. Alan's almost all patched up." She said finishing the bandages.
"Thanks, I need to work on my form." Alan said,
"Not till that's fully healed. Come back here in the morning so I can check it." She said as he nods.
"I'm going to get some sleep." He stretches as he stands up "See you in the morning." He walked out.
"Let me look at that bruise." Dr. Q walked up to Saya,
"It's not that bad, it'll probably be healed by the morning." She said as she holds out her arm as Dr. Q looks at it.
"What grabbed you?"
"A water monster that looked like me." Saya said,
"What?" Dr. Q looked at her extremely confused, "What is it with you and water?"
"It's my mortal enemy." She said,
"I thought that was Eggman."
"It's my second mortal enemy." She chuckles,
"And how are you feeling?" she asked,
"Good other than a little tired, going through possibly haunted ruins was stressful." She said,
"But how are you feeling?" Dr. Q gives her a look,
"I feel okay. I think I'm starting to get a hang on this." She smiles,
"You don't have to rush feeling better, trauma isn't healed in a day."
"Wish it could heal like my other injuries." Saya chuckles, "But really doc, I feel a lot better."
"I'm glad then. Now, go get some sleep. You can come see TK in the morning."
"Alright! Night!" She said leaving the infirmary and heading to bed. Saya knew she felt different. She didn't know why but she knew it was a step in the right direction and like she always does, she'll keep running forward.