Chapter 24
After Dr. Kintobor reverts back to normal some of the smaller crystals begin to break or fall apart but the solid pieces remain as Knuckles continues trying to break through the crystal imprisoning Saya. "I think I'm halfway there." Kolt said caching his breath for a moment. Amy notices Saya clench her chest as she slowly lowers to her knees looking lightheaded.
"We need to find a different way; I don't think she can breathe!" Amy said as he strikes at the crystal again,
"Shit!" Knuckles said striking at the crystal faster. The others rush over hearing Amy's alarm.
"What do we do?" Cream asked,
"I'll warp her out." Shadow said,
"Those crystals won't let you," Tails said as Shadow begins to panic as she sees Saya begin to stagger.
"Try to take slow breaths, we'll get you out of there." Alan said as She slowly nods. She puts her hand up and gives them a thumbs up but then collapses.
"No!" Shadow jumps up and Spin dashes drilling into the floor below her as she burros a path into the crystal prison next to Saya. "Saya? Saya breathe!" She yelled holding her in her arms as she slowly came to now having a line of oxygen,
"Oh hey, where'd you come from." She coughed as Shadow places her head on Saya's Chest.
"Don't scare me like that." Shadow said,
"Sorry, these weird crystals stopped me from transforming." Saya said taking slow breaths looking dazed.
"Just take it easy, Knuckles and Amy are working on breaking us out." Shadow said,
"How'd you get in here anyway?" Saya asked,
"I spin dashed through the floor, now stop talking and focus on breathing." Shadow said as Saya nods. Knuckles was able to break through the crystal prison and with Amy's help they were able to break an opening large enough for Shadow to carry Saya out.
"Uh Soph, I can walk." Saya said with a chuckle, waiting for her to let her down.
"You just passed out due to lack of oxygen, so no you won't." Shadow said,
"I can carry her if you want?" Amy said as Shadow glares at him,
"Not going to happen." She said, "Tails, let Elias know the situation is handled and that Dr. Kintobor is going to need medical attention."
"On it!" Tails said,
"We need to get you outside so people know you're safe." Shadow said walking toward the door but then seeing that it's blocked. She jumps up to the second floor and walks out with Saya.
"She seems to be in a bad mood again…" Knuckles said crossing his arms,
"She doesn't handle Saya being in danger well." Cream said,
"Elias said the Police are heading inside and that we should all head out together." Tails said flying after Shadow,
"You heard her." Blaze said as the rest of them follow as they catch up to Shadow.
The police rush up to them. "Anyone hurt?" One of them asked,
"We're taking her outside." Shadow said,
"The man is inside the other room; you'll have to go through the upper floor to get to him." Knuckles said as they nod,
"Thank you for your help." The officer said as they walk past them. Shadow looks down to see Saya covering her face,
"Stop hiding your face." Shadow said sounding annoyed,
"But it's embarrassing!" Saya said,
"We need to keep up appearances, we just rescued you remember?" She said as she moves her hands,
"Right…" Saya said avoiding eye contact. Shadow could see Saya's face was red. Her heart throbbed now realizing that she wanted to tease her again like the last time Saya covered her face from her. She shakes her head trying to ignore her thoughts.
"You're the one who wanted to do this." Cream said,
"Yeah," Saya said with a sigh as they walk outside. They are quickly blinded by flashing lights as reporters are yelling questions at them. Shadow walks towards Elias and Saya's father ignoring them. The officers move the barricade out of their way as Shadow lets Saya down and her father quickly embraces her.
"Are you hurt?" he asked looking her over,
"Nope, I told you everything would be okay." She said with a smile,
"You two get in the car, I'll meet you at your place." Elias whispered to them as they nod and climb into the car and it quickly drives off. "You should get that contained immediately." He said looking at Shadow as she nods, and they leave without saying a word to the reporters.
Saya and her father get back to their home where she sees her mother standing outside waiting for them. "I'm so glad you both are alright." She runs up and embraces them both.
"Not if you both squeeze the life out of me!" Saya squirmed as they let go. "We should get inside before any reporters show up." She said as they head inside,
"So what happened in there? That man wasn't even human anymore." Her father said.
"He was possessed by a shard of the Dark Chaos Emerald. The others were able to get it and he turned back to normal." Saya explained still trying to figure out exactly what happened.
"Isn't that what happened to you?" Her mom asked,
"Sort of…" She chuckles, "But I didn't become a crystal monster."
"But if he was possessed, why was he after you?" Her dad asked as she shrugs. Saya didn't want to worry them with what he said about wanting her back. They hear a knock at the front door.
"That's probably Elias," Her mom said going to the door.
"Can't you spend the night here?" Her dad asked, she shakes her head.
"I need to leave before the Reporters catch wind that I'm here. Eggman will definitely take any opportunity he can to get the jump on me." She said as Elias walks in.
"You feeling alright Saya?" Elias asked,
"No thanks to you."
"Dad! You can't take your frustrations out on Elias for a decision I made. Besides, there were hostages." She said, as he stops,
"Hurry up and finish this so our daughter can come home." He said as she goes up and hugs her dad trying to calm him down.
"I'm sorry to put you both through this." She said,
"Please be safe." Her mom said as she hugs her mom.
"I will." She said as she leaves with Elias.
"Did you want to stay?" Elias asked,
"No… staying too long makes it harder for me to leave." She said with a sigh, "And keeping my distance keeps them safe."
"I wish your parents could see how mature you truly are." Elias said ruffling her hair,
"Then don't treat me like a kid." She sticks her tongue out as he laughs. They climb into the car and head back to freedom HQ.
Back at HQ they quickly place the Dark Chaos shard into the container as it quickly fuses together. "Kolt, can you tell how many more pieces are left?" TK asked as Kolt looks it over,
"I can't be one hundred percent sure, but it looks like maybe two or three pieces?" He said,
"So three pieces are still out there." Brandy said,
"I don't like how we ran onto two pieces just barely twenty-four hours apart from one another." Sophia said,
"It's almost like they're trying to be found." TK said,
"Do you think it's trying to get to Saya?" Caroline asked,
"That would make sense, it's rather convenient that she's the only one that can sense it. Almost like it's trying to lure her or something." Alan said,
"We need to figure out a way to make sure this Dark Chaos Emerald isn't able to draw Saya in. TK, this may be an odd question, but would you be able to replicate my inhibitor rings?" Sophia asked as they all look at her surprised.
"A counter measure in case somehow Dark Sonic returns… I might be able to, but I'll need power rings and they take a long time to make." TK said,
"What will you need?" Sophia asked,
"I'll need a water source that we can store in the Alter room. Then I'll need Knuckles and Tikal's help creating a way to channel into it to make it a small power ring pool." She explained,
"If we have power rings all the time it would be really helpful." Alan said as they all nod.
"I'll ask Elias about it when he gets back. And we do not tell Saya about the Inhibitors. She needs to be unaware of them if we want to get the jump on Dark Sonic if they return." She said leaving the room.
"I think whatever happened with Dr. Kintobor has her spooked." Kolt said,
"You also saw what happened to Saya in the ruins. It was almost like she was in a trance." Brandy said,
"I think the more these are collected, the harder it will be for Saya to resist it…" TK said, "The rings are a really good backup plan."
"I don't like keeping things from her…" Alan said,
"We have to, Sophia's right. If Dark Sonic knows about them, we won't be able to get the jump on her." Kolt said, "I don't know about you, but I don't feel like almost getting beaten to death again." He could never forget how she moped the floor with them in Eggman's underwater base and how it almost cost him his life.
"This is all so depressing…" Caroline said as Brandy pats her back,
"Let's go grab the Chao Egg." She said as they walk out of TK's workshop.
"I know you don't like it but it's best for her." TK said as the rest of them leave the workshop as Saya walks up to them.
"All contained?" Saya asked,
"Yep." TK said,
"Not gonna lie I know plans go sideways but… that was unexpected." Saya said,
"What exactly happened?" TK asked walking up to her,
"Dr Kintobor was possessed by the Dark Chaos Emerald. I don't even think he knew what he was doing." She said, "That's not all… it said something about… wanting me back." Saya shivers as she said that.
"It said that?" Kolt asked,
"Yeah it literally said, we want you back. On top of calling me Sonic. Last I checked Kintobor didn't know my name." She said, "What did it mean by we?"
"We should be extra careful; I think you should steer clear of the workshop while the Dark Chaos Emerald in in there." TK said using that as the perfect excuse for keeping Saya away from the workshop while she makes the limit rings,
"Good idea, I don't want to risk becoming a crystal monster." Saya joked as they all head to the kitchen. Caroline and Brandy were already there, prepping dinner.
"How are you feeling Saya?" Caroline asked,
"All good," She said with a thumbs up, "Where's Soph?"
"She's talking with Elias about getting a fountain put into the Alter room." Brandy said,
"Uh, why?" She asked,
"I'm going to create a fountain of power rings." TK said,
"That would be helpful," Saya said,
"Definitely would have helped me break that crystal earlier." Kolt said helping keep up the story.
"I hope it works then," She said as they all start eating. Sophia walks in and grabs her food then quickly leaves.
"She's being distant again…" TK lets out a sigh, Caroline gives Brandy a look as they both shake their heads.
"Probably something I did." Saya looks away, still not sure why Sophia was mad at her.
"Speaking of stuff you did, how was your date with Alan?" Kolt said as Saya's face goes red, almost choking on her food.
"It was not a date!" She quickly argues with a cough,
"Wait really?" Kolt said looking surprised, "You lied to me!" Kolt turns to Alan,
"Hey! You're the one who's gullible, not me." He laughs,
"I think I'm going to turn in early… it's been a long day…" Saya said getting up to leave,
"It's hatching!" Caroline said. Saya stops as they all watch the egg begin to move as it cracks open. A small white and blue Chao emerges with small golden wings and halo above its head,
"It's beautiful!" TK said, the chao flies and nuzzles Caroline's cheek,
"Aw!" Saya said,
"I've never seen a Chao with this coloration pattern." Kolt said,
"What are you going to name them?" Alan asked,
"Their name is Hope, something that is represented with new life." Caroline said,
"That's beautiful Caroline." Brandy said,
"Mando cool." Saya said as Hope flies over to her face and nuzzles her cheek, "Hey! That tickles!" She giggles as Hope goes up to each one of them and nuzzles them.
"Looks like Hope likes all of us." TK said with a smile,
"I'm glad." Caroline smiles as the evening winds down and they all head to bed.
A few weeks pass and Saya has barely seen Sophia since what happened at the courthouse. She figured that Sophia must be really mad at her, but she won't stay around long enough for Saya to ask her about it. It's gotten to the point where Sophia was going on missions with Team Dark just to avoid her. Saya goes to talk to Kolt and see if he has any insight to why Sophia might be avoiding her. She enters the Alter room where she sees TK and Kolt hovering near the newly installed fountain.
"Hey Saya! You're just in time! We're seeing if a power ring is created." TK said waving her over.
"Oh?" She leans over TK's shoulder as they watch a golden ring float to the surface of the fountain.
"Okay Kolt." TK said as he nods and reaches his hand into the fountain and grabs the ring. It solidifies in his hand as he lifts it out of the water. "It worked!"
"We don't know that for sure," Kolt said,
"Care if I try?" Saya asked as they both nod. She transforms and Kolt hands her the power ring as she tightens her grip around it the power disperses. As the ring disappears, Sonic body looks super charged with blue electrical energy. "This is awesome!"
"You should probably go burn that energy off." Kolt said as she smiles and before they could even blink, she was gone. "How long until another one is made?
"I'm not sure." TK said,
"Well I'll keep an eye on it and bring them to your lab." He said as his phone chimes. He checks his phone and then frowns.
"Everything alright?" TK asked,
"Y… Yeah, all good. Just parents being parents." He said putting his phone away.
"I hear you; my mom keeps trying to send care packages full of stuffed animals. I asked her to stop giving me those years ago… I'm not a kid anymore." TK pouts as Sonic comes back.
"Don't tell Elias but I just ran to the other side of the continent and back." She said transforming back, "Man that's a boost. How long till the next one shows?"
"Not sure yet. But I need to get some stuff from my workshop. I'll be right back!" TK said leaving,
"Hey Kolt, can I ask you something?" Saya asked,
"What's up?"
"Do you know why Sophia's avoiding me?" She asked as he ponders,
"Sorry, she hasn't said anything to me. Not that I think she would." He shrugs as Saya lets out a loud sigh and sits against the wall. "What's wrong?" he asked sitting next to her.
"Ever since we came back from Angel Island she's been really distant and standoffish. I'm pretty sure she's mad at me for some reason but she's avoiding me so much I can't ask her what I did wrong. She's acting like she did when we first transformed." Saya said curling her legs in and resting her chin on her knee looking sad,
"I can't say for Sophia but sometimes we forget that when we met Shadow, he was trying to destroy the world for revenge. But then he helped save it… Maybe there's good in everyone." Kolt said,
"Uh… okay?" Saya looked at him confused and didn't know what he was talking about. "I don't know how Shadow going from evil to good explains why Sophia's avoiding me." She shrugs,
"Sorry, guess I've just been in my own head for too long." He chuckles, as Saya just lets out another sigh.
"I should just let it go… If Sophia doesn't want to talk to me that's her choice…" She looks down at her hand remembering how safe she felt when they walked through Angel Island and how they were able to overcome their mirror selves together. She didn't say it. but she's felt different ever since Angel Island too but didn't know why.
"Why do you want her to talk to you so bad?" Kolt asked,
"Because we're friends!... At least…I… I thought we were. I'd hope you'd want to come talk to me if something was on your mind." She said as he looks away for a moment,
"Actually…" he pulls his phone out, "I got a message… from Professor Ivo."
"At least he's talking to you." She said letting out a long sigh before it clicks, registering the name, "Wait! Eggman messaged you?" She yelled jumping to her feet,
"That's just it… I'm not sure it was Eggman." He holds out his phone as she quickly takes it, it read; please, I need your help I don't have long.
"This is obviously a trap." Saya said not looking convinced,
"You don't know that." Kolt said,
"Kolt, Eggman has used every scam in the book to trick you in the past. There's no way he wouldn't use your connection to Ivo to get to you. Especially now that he knows you can read Echidna." Saya said,
"But what if it's actually him? You broke free of the hypnotism, right?" Kolt said,
"No… I only broke free because my Chaos Emerald ran out of power." She said as his expression turns grim. "I know you want to save your friend but walking into a trap won't help him." She kneels down next to him.
"Says the person who walks into traps all the time." He said rolling his eyes,
"Wow, that was an attack at my pride! You know what, fine! Let's go see what Elias says," She said pulling him pulling him to his feet.
"Wait what?" Kolt said,
"You want to make sure it's Ivo and not Eggman right? let's go ask Elias." She said dragging him out of the Alter room.
"Everything alright?" TK asked as Saya grabs her hand,
"You're coming too!" Saya said,
"Wait! What's going on?" TK asked as she's dragged to the computer room as Saya explains everything to Elias,
"And you believe it's Professor Ivo that's messaging you?" he asked,
"There's no way to check for sure unless we see for ourselves." Kolt said,
"But it's probably a trap." TK said,
"Kolt wants to be bait." Saya said crossing her arms.
"That's a terrible idea." Elias said,
"You let Saya do it all the time." Kolt said,
"That's not a good enough reason. Besides, Sophia is on a mission and Brandy, Caroline and Alan are looking for a spot for the Chao garden." Elias said,
"The three of us can handle it." Saya said, "And now that we know the Power rings work, we have the upper hand."
"It would look less suspicious…" TK said as she sees both Saya and Kolt giving her the, we're selling you to our argument face, "But…"
"C'mon TK we can just go and check it out. And if something goes wrong, I'll run in, grab Kolt and we escape."
"That was literally the plan at the courthouse and you almost suffocated…" TK argued,
"Yeah there was weird Chaos shenanigans going on. This is Eggman, you know what he's got? Robots." Saya said,
"What's your plan?" Elias asked,
"The first message is the number of his office at the College. I think he left something there for me to find." Kolt said,
"There won't be a lot of people since it's summer, so it'll be easy for us to walk around and not draw attention to ourselves." Saya said,
"You three are going to go even if I say no, aren't you?" Elias asked as Saya smiles, "Take your tracking devices." He lets out a sigh, as Saya goes and grabs them.
"We'll let you know what we find," Saya said,
"We should see if there's another power ring we can take… Just in case…" TK said as they all head back to the alter room.
"Thanks for doing this guys." Kolt said,
"Are we sure it should just be the three of us?" TK asked,
"We can handle it, just like old times. Like when we fought Neo Metal Sonic." Saya said as they see the fountain glowing, "Cool another ring," she grabs it and places it in her pocket. "Let's go!" She said as they head to the Twin Tornado and head out.
Caroline, Alan, and Brandy were hiking with Hope trying to find a nice spot for the Chao Garden, they finally discover a small spring and look around, "How's this Caroline?" Alan asked,
"What do you think Hope?" She asked as Hope flew around and then came back to her and smiled,
"Chao!"
"It's perfect!" Caroline said,
"And it's pretty far out so people shouldn't stumble onto it since it's on military property." Brandy said, as her phone starts ringing, "Hang on, it's Elias."
"Glad this spot isn't too far from the base." Alan said.
"They did what?" Brandy said as they both turn to see her facepalming. "Alright we'll start heading back." She hangs up the phone, "Apparently, Kolt, Saya and TK decided to go check something out on their own."
"Why would they do that?" Caroline said,
"Kolt's been acting weird and Saya might be acting out since Sophia's ignoring her…" Alan said as they both look at him surprised, "What? Did you think I didn't know?"
"We're just a little surprised, we didn't think anyone else noticed it." Caroline said as Hope flies and lands on her head,
"You forget since I used to be Amy, I still have fabulous intuition when it comes to love." He said jokingly as they all laugh and start heading back.
"Is that why you went on that date with Saya?" Brandy asked,
"Part of it was to let her know how I really felt and get some closure, the other half was to get back at Sophia for how she's been acting around Saya."
"That's just mean." Caroline said,
"It's what she deserves for taking my Sonic from me." He jokes again as they all laugh and head back towards the base.
Saya, TK and Kolt get to the college and walk towards Professor Ivo's office. There were very few people at the campus since it was summertime and it seemed they were able to walk around unnoticed. "So this is where you went to school." Saya said looking around,
"That's right, you weren't here." TK said as she shakes her head,
"Yeah, I was a bit busy being tortured." Saya said jokingly,
"There it is," He said as they walk up,
"It's probably locked, how will we get in?" TK asked,
"Professor Ivo has a hidden key." Kolt picks up a fake rock with a hidden compartment as a key drops out.
"Cool," Saya said as Kolt unlocks the door and they walk inside and close the door behind them. "Now if I were a hidden message for a student to find where would I be?"
"His rock collection." Kolt said moving over to a side table covered in rocks. They all start moving them around as TK picks one up and it feels lighter than she was expecting. She shakes it and heard rattling inside.
"I think this is another fake rock." TK said moving the rock around as another key falls out.
"Your professor likes hiding stuff." Saya said,
"He loved puzzles, one of the things he enjoyed doing was geocaching." Kolt said,
"What's that?" TK asked,
"You place a spot in a GPS by latitude and longitude. And at that location you'll find something. Usually a hidden box of notes from previous people who found the cache or small things." He explained,
"Do you think he's trying to lead you to one of these geocaches?" Saya asked,
"Maybe… We should figure what this key goes to first." Kolt said as they look around,
"What about this desk drawer?" TK asked as Kolt walks over and tried is and it unlocks,
"Great find bud." Saya said as they watch as he opens the drawer half expecting something to blow up in their faces but there was just a note. "Well that's a bit anticlimactic I was expecting something to explode in our face." She said as Kolt grabs the note and starts reading it out loud.
"If you're reading this then I've been fighting for control… I'm not sure how long it's been but I don't know how much longer I have before I fade away…" Kolt pauses as Saya puts her hand on his shoulder, she could tell this was hard for him. Even if a part of her still doesn't believe this is real. "I have left two pieces of the formula in separate locations so that he could not get a hold of it. Combined, the formula should be enough to break me free. The first location appears to be a geocache location. It says the other is hidden in a place very dear to me and one only few know about." He stops,
"A formula that could free him?" TK said,
"Maybe he really is fighting…" Saya said, another part of her wanted to believe that he was fighting for control like she was within the Dark Chaos,
"We need to find those two formulas." Kolt said walking towards the door,
"Wait, maybe we can divide and concur." Saya said pressing her earpiece, "Hey Elias we found a clue. It looks like Professor Ivo might have created a way to free himself from Eggman. But he hid the formula in two different locations. Do you think you can have the others check it out?"
"Sophia just got back as well as the others, what's the location?" Elias asked as Saya holds out her hand as Kolt gives her the paper. She gives him the Geocache location, "Got it, I'll have them connect by radio."
"Cool, we'll start heading to the other location." Saya said,
"But we don't know the other location…" TK said,
"I bet Kolt does." She said looking at him,
"I do… it's the old quarry mill. When I was really struggling at school, he took me there to help me get away from it all. The stones glow at nighttime." Kolt explained, "He said it's his favorite place because it shows how magical the earth can be."
"That's way past cool." Saya said, "Let's get going!" she said as they head out to the Quarry mill.
Sophia heads straight to the computer room per Elias' request to see the others waiting for her. "Where are the other three?" Sophia asked,
"They are already out heading to the other location." Elias said,
"Just the three of them?" Sophia said,
"They were going whether I wanted them to or not. Besides, they actually found a clue. Apparently, Professor Ivo may have found a way to break free of Dr. Eggman and hid the formula in two different locations. Saya and the others are heading to the old Quarry Mill, while the rest of you search at this location for a Geocache that he hid." Elias explained,
"Why the hell would you even humor this?" Sophia asked angrily,
"Because Professor Ivo is also a victim. And if we save him, we might rid this world of Eggman once and for all." Elias said,
"Would that really be possible?" Caroline asked,
"TK said it best… wherever there's Sonic, there will always be Eggman." Brandy said, "But it can't hurt to try."
"Fine, we'll take a helicopter over there." Sophia said sounding annoyed, "Let's go, I want this over with,
"What's up with you?" Alan asked,
"I'm tired and this was not how I wanted to end my day." She said as they follow her to the hangar bay.
"Looks like you can land there!" Saya points out to TK as she lands the plane, near the Quarry Mill.
"We should probably transform just in case." TK said,
"Good idea." Kolt said as they all transform. "As much as I want this all to be true it's better safe than sorry." They walk over to the side of the quarry,
"Now let's try this again, where do you think he'd hide it?" Sonic asked Knuckles as he looks around.
"I'm not sure, it could be…" Knuckles sees something glimmer inside of the rocks "Wait, I think I see something." He said pointing down as they look,
"That shiny thing?" Tails asked as Knuckles starts sliding down towards it, "Knuckles wait!" She and Sonic slide down after him.
"Take it easy man, we gotta be careful." Sonic said,
"Sorry." He said picking up the small piece of scrap metal from the ground and tossing it aside. "There's got to be something here."
"Let's hope it's not in one of those fake rocks or we'll be here forever." Sonic said with a sigh as they all walk around.
"I'm going to try and get a view from the sky." Tails said flying up,
"Good idea." Sonic said giving her a thumbs up.
"Anything?" Knuckles asked,
"It looks like an area over there was dug up more recently." She said pointing to the left of them, they both walk towards the spot and start looking around.
"Still not seeing anything, maybe some passerby nabbed it?" Sonic said.
"Wait there's something here, it looks like a small box." Knuckles said walking towards it, he goes to reach for it and the ground beneath them begins to shake.
Shadow, Blaze, Cream and Amy arrive near the geocache site as Shadow is using a small device to track its location. "This guy went out of his way to hide this." Amy said,
"If it was Professor Ivo." Blaze said,
"I still can't believe that they thought going on this little trip was a good idea…" Shadow said, "It's obviously a trap,"
"Well it's not like you've been around to stop Saya from doing stuff like this." Alan said, as Shadow pauses and slowly turns around,
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Shadow asked,
"You have been a little distant." Cream said sounding sad,
"Especially around Saya." Blaze said crossing her arm and giving her an eyebrow raise.
"I've had a lot on my mind, keeping busy distracts from the headaches." She said pressing her temple.
"Have you talked to Dr. Q?" Cream asked,
"No, it's just cuz I haven't been sleeping." Shadow said,
"Why?" Amy asked,
"You can ask questions later, let's just prove this is a trap and head back." She said dodging the question and continuing forward. They get to the location and start looking around, "Geocaches are usually small boxes that are waterproof." She said,
"Oh! I see it!" Cream said pointing it out,
"I'll grab it." Shadow said walking up to it as her head begins to throb, "No, not now…" The ground beneath them shakes,
"Maybe you were right about this being a trap…" Alan said,
The Ground beneath Knuckles and Sonic continues to shake, the dirt begins to shift as Knuckles falls into a sink pit, "Knuckles!" Sonic was losing her footing as the ground started to rise up. Tails flies over and grabs her hands pulling her off the ground,
"I got you!" Tails said as the ground reveals a massive robot standing up.
"Man! I was really hoping it wouldn't be a trap." Sonic sighs as the robot finishes standing revealing Knuckles in the center of the glass stomach.
"Sonic he's in there!" Tails points out,
"Hey Knux! You okay?" Sonic called out as the robot started moving. They see him stumble to his feet. He could hear them, but the sound was muffled,
"I'm fine, stay back I'm going to punch my way out." He said walking towards the glass. Four metal pillars pop out of the floor and begin to pulsate a gold light creating a large ring that gets pulled into the middle forcing Knuckles back into the center.
"I recognize that! Eggman trapped me once to use me as a living battery while I was in my super form." Sonic said as the fly after the robot.
"Eggman must be using it to keep Knuckles from breaking free." Tails said,
"So that things meant to contain Knuckles. Huh?" Sonic said,
"What do we do Sonic?" Tails asked,
"Can you fly us to the top? I can cover you while you attempt to disable it." She said as Tails nods,
"We should warn the others." Tails said flying over to catch up to the robot that was walking away with Knuckles.
"Hey guys! Do you read me?" They hear Sonic's voice over their headsets,
"We hear you Sonic…" Blaze said taking a battle stance,
"Don't go after the Geocache, it's a trap! There's a huge robot hiding underground right beneath it." Sonic said,
"You're a little late…" Amy said getting out his hammer.
"Crap, I was hoping you didn't trigger it yet. Knuckles got trapped so we're trying to save him." She said as the robot finishes standing. "How long do you think it'll be before you can finish it off and come meet up with us?"
"That's going to be a problem…" Blaze said,
"What? Why? You guys have Shadow with you." Tails said,
"The robot has Shadow…" Cream said as they see Shadow restrained in the same way Knuckles is.
"What do we do?" Amy asked,
"It's too large I can't easily melt it." Blaze said.
"Why don't we try to get in from the top?" Cream pointed,
"Good idea Cream, you help get Amy to the top while I keep it distracted." Blaze said as they all nod. The ground shakes for a moment as the robot starts walking away from them. Cream grabs Amy's hand and begins flying him towards the head while Blaze runs up trying to keep the bot's attention.
"Oh, ho, ho!" Both Knuckles and Shadow can hear inside the robot as they struggle trying to get free.
"Eggman!" Knuckles yelled, "So it was all a trick."
"Of course it was you gullible buffoon! I worked ridiculously hard to put this little treasure hunt together for you. And it worked perfectly! I even got myself a Shadow as a consolation prize." He laughs,
"Not for long, Chaos…" She began to say as a small nozzle pops out of the ceiling and sprays her in the face causing her to cough, choking on the strange gas breaking her concentration.
"Now. Now Shadow. I can't have you warping free so easily. Especially while your friends are trying so hard to rescue you." Eggman said,
"Bastard…" She said still coughing,
"Let her go Eggman, it's me you're after." Knuckles said,
"Oh but there's so many experiments I can perform on this new Ultimate Lifeform. For an example, are you still the Ultimate Lifeform in this new form?" Eggman laughs,
Sonic and Tails finally land on top of the robot. With each footstep the robot shakes making it hard for them to keep their balance, "Alright Tails, we're on our own. What do you need me to do?" Sonic asked,
"Just make sure I don't get hit." She said pulling out a screwdriver and removing screws.
"On it. I'll see if I can distract Egghead while I'm at it." She said going up to the face and standing in front of it. "Hey Egghead! Miss me?" She blocked the robots view as it stops moving.
"I was wondering where you were Sonic." Eggman said as small lasers pop out from all over the top of the robot. "You won't get in my way this time."
"Of course I will! It's one of the things I'm good at." Sonic said with a smirk, as all of the lasers point at her. She chuckles as she starts destroying them.
"Stay still you little rodent!"
"In your dreams," She said throwing one of the broken ones at the robots face.
"Fine, your friend makes an easier target." He said as the remaining lasers point at Tails,
"No!" Sonic yelled as she holds out her hand, "Chaos Shield!" She said as Tails is protected by her force field and the lasers bounce off.
"Changed the name I see." Eggman said,
"Chaos Sphere was too close to Chaos Spear." Sonic said with a shrug. "Besides, rebranding is never a bad thing."
"How long can you keep it up before your transformation ends?" He said continuing to shoot at the force field,
"Sonic you'll run out of Chaos energy!" Tails said,
"If I can handle saving an entire town from military missiles, I can manage a few tiny lasers." She smiles as she continues to destroy the lasers while maintaining the Chaos Shield,
Cream helps get Amy on top of the robot, but he has trouble keeping his footing as Cream flies next to him trying to make sure he doesn't fall off. "Just need to keep my footing long enough to knock the head off." Amy said,
"Blaze are you doing okay?" Cream called down,
"I'm fine," She said dodging one of the arms,
"How's Shadow doing?" Amy asked,
"She's angry…" Blaze said,
"That's nothing new…" Amy said with a sigh, he starts moving towards the head slowly. The head turns towards them, "Aw crap!"
"It looks like my robots have a rodent infestation." They hear Eggman's voice as lasers pop out,
"Cream get behind me!" Amy yelled trying to reach for Cream as they both get hit with lasers. One hits Cream in the head, and she begins to fall, "No!" Blaze jumps up and quickly catches her and lands in a tree,
"Cream? Are you okay?" Blaze called out. But she didn't respond, "Cream!"
"Looks like it's up to me." Amy said swinging some of the lasers away trying to ignore the pain. But the lasers strike again causing him to lose his footing and fall off.
"I'll kill you!" Shadow yelled with tears in her eyes witnessing Cream and Amy fall not being able to help was worse than getting injured herself.
"You've said that before." Eggman laughs,
"And this time I mean it. I won't let you continue this madness anymore. I don't care who you used to be. The minuet you're in range I won't hesitate to take you down." Shadow said,
"Did you hear that Knuckles?" Eggman said as Shadow looks shocked, she completely forgot that Knuckles could hear her, "It looks like Shadow would kill me without batting an eye." Knuckles says nothing. "You made him speechless," Eggman laughs,
"How's it going buddy?" Sonic asked as she finishes breaking the last laser.
"I think I almost have it." She said grabbing at some wires, she glances over at Sonic noticing one of the lasers grazed her arm. "You okay?"
"Never mind me we gotta save Knuckle head." Sonic said,
"Now, you won't want to do that." Eggman said,
"Uh, yeah, I think we do." Sonic said crossing her arms,
"Your friends have already failed to save Shadow." Eggman said,
"What? You're lying!" Sonic looked shocked turning to Tails as she quickly reaches out over coms,
"Are you guys okay?" Tails asked,
"No… Cream and Alan are down…" Blaze said shakily.
"Sonic…" Tails looks at her not knowing what to do,
"I'll give you an ultimatum Sonic. Let me take Knuckles and I'll give back Shadow. Refuse and I kill her." Sonic froze for a moment feeling a pit in her stomach not knowing what to do. She remembers about the power ring in her pocket as she gets an idea.
"Tails, what direction is the geocache located from here?" Sonic asked her quietly,
"South of here why?"
"Sorry Egghead, I choose option three." Sonic said loudly,
"You'll condemn Shadow to death?" Eggman asked,
"You forget, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest thing alive! And I will always save my friends." She said turning to Tails, "Now!" She said as Tails rips at all of the wires shutting down the robot. They hear glass breaking as Knuckles jumps out of the center.
"What do we do now?" Tails asked,
"Get Knuckles back to the Tornado and meet me at the Geocache site." Sonic said pulling out the power ring. "I won't let him hurt her!" The power ring disperses, and the energy goes through her body as she jumps down to the ground next to Knuckles.
"See you soon." He said as she gives him a thumbs up and in a sonic boom is gone almost causing Knuckles to be thrown back.
"It appears that Sonic doesn't care about you Shadow. She chose Knuckles' life over your own." Eggman said,
"You're lying!" She said as the chamber begins filling with gas as she starts coughing unable to breathe.
"I wish I were, but I gave her a choice. You or Knuckles and she chose Knuckles. Now you will die knowing that she didn't care about you." Shadow couldn't even react as her lungs burned from the gas as she continued to cough starting to lose her vision. "Goodbye, Shadow the Hedgehog."