Chapter 6

Sand Oasis – 10:10 AM

The sands of Sand Oasis rose and fell chaotically as a blue blur swept them aside, stirring up gale-force winds as it zipped through the desert at an astoundingly high speed, whisking the hedgehogs far, far away from the dreadful bunker it had escaped.

Eventually, the blur marginally slowed down to reveal, not one blue hedgehog, but a pair of azure Mobians, one older and nestled in the arms of the other, who was doing the leg-work of getting the dynamic duo of hedgehogs away from their former place of captivity.

"Thought we'd never escape, huh?" asked Sonic, grinning light-headedly as he felt the wind sweep across his quills. It had been a while since he felt this free. Three days, to be exact.

"Yes, I suppose I was wrong." Chuck smiled back, eyes shining as he gazed at the colorful blur that was the desert passing them by at a swift pace. "We do need to keep our pace, however; Robotnik could have his drones pursuing us as we speak. It would be unwise to be caught off-guard."

"Don't I know it. I don't see any, though."

"Good."

From there, the pair relaxed into a comfortable silence as they sailed valiantly across the desert sands. Despite the grime, sweat and dried blood that was caked in their quills and personal items, the duo finally felt happy.

They felt free.

At least, until the sound of distant propellers started approaching them. A baleful shadow was cast over the ground less than half a yard behind the cerulean Mobians, and Chuck looked up in alarm.

"Robotnik's aerial fighters! You'll have to speed up, my boy!" he exclaimed.

Sonic, for his part, was alarmed. That is, until he looked up and saw the aircraft flying above them.

Instead, he shook his head and slowed down to become more visible to the small red biplane that was soaring through the sky. "False alarm, unc. It's just-"

"SONIC!"

The plane- known as the Tornado- lowered itself from the sky to meet their height, revealing one very worried orange fox piloting the craft.

"Tails! Boy, am I glad to see you!"

Sky-blue eyes gave the two hedgehogs a once-over and Sonic winced internally as the Mobian in the pilot seat sent him an extremely concerned look.

"You look terrible!What happened to you?! And is that?-" The questions were sent towards him at a rapid pace, but Sonic opted to save it for later.

"I'll tell you on the way back!"

"Fine," huffed the fox, "Hang on!"


Gun Headquarters – 10:15 AM

Shadow took in a deep breath as he stepped into the arena that served as one of G.U.N.'s military training suites.

After accepting to join the peacekeeping organization, the striped hedgehog had agreed to conduct some physical tests immediately- after obtaining a pair of gloves, of course. Thus, for the past fifteen minutes, Shadow had been subjected to various physical tests in order to test his strength, his skill in marksmanship, his endurance and agility- all to evaluate how advantageous an agent the super-soldier would make.

A part of him appreciated these tests; they provided an avenue for the hedgehog to evaluate himself and to ensure that several decades of suspended animation. Unsurprisingly the Ultimate Lifeform had passed this gauntlet of tests with flying colors- leaving just one final evaluation ahead of him.

"Congratulations, agent Shadow." Commander Tower's crisp voice was heard through an intercom system, likely set up in the ceiling. The man himself could be seen overlooking the scene through a large window alongside agent Topaz and another agent Shadow didn't recognize, a white-furred Mobian wearing a sleek catsuit.

"Compliments must be given where they are due, and you have performed quite impressively so far. However one final test waits for you- field practice."

So that's what it was- a simulation of the conditions one could face in a mission. The hedgehog looked around, seeing displaced hunks of stone and cement strewn about the gun-metal colored metallic surface of the room he stood in; giving a good impression of a desolate, ruined city.

Gloved fists clenched and unclenched as Shadow looked around, eyes surveying the area for any subtle changes in the environment, keeping alert for any possible gimmicks the arena might have.

For a few seconds nothing changed; until at last Shadow could hear nigh-inaudible shifting as the automatic doors that served as the entrance to the arena slid shut. The agent's hearing could pick up several more small shifting and whirring noises- probably signifying a bunch of hidden hatches in the ground or walls being opened. Ruby-red irises scanned the room until at last, dozens of figures rose up out of the floor.

Shadow half-expected to face-off against a bunch of their trained soldiers, but instead the sight that greeted him was a fleet of machines; sleek automations of different shapes and sizes, all painted with mostly the same chromatic color scheme, complete with G.U.N.'s logo stamped on their shiny hides for good measure.

All this went on as Tower continued speaking, "At first, we would have opted for a more conventional set of opponents, but given your particular set of skills, we figured that you could handle a greater challenge- one befitting a sapient similar to Sonic the hedgehog for instance."

"Your mission is to neutralize all hostiles as quickly as possible. Begin."

He made a mental note to find out who this "Sonic" character was just as the machines opened fire.

In the blink of an eye, Shadow directed some of the latent energy in his system into the hover-skates he wore, zipping away in a fiery blur as he skated out of the path of the concussive blasts fired by the robots.

Chaos Energy was quite an interesting thing; it permeated the air and was present- in traces at least- in practically every living creature on the planet. The greatest sources of Chaos in its pure, absolute form were said to be found in the Chaos Emeralds, multicolored gems chock-full of limitless power, which a skilled enough user- in this case, Shadow, could harness.

Thanks to the experiments done on him during his early cell growth, Shadow had the perk of being essentially a living battery- containing and producing enough Chaos energy to rival even the Emeralds themselves.

It was a bit of a random fact to remember whilst skating away from gunfire, yet the hedgehog hesitated before pushing it to the side.

Maria always did love reading about Chaos Energy and its properties-

Shadow ousted that thought from his head, turning his focus to his mechanical targets, and taking inventory of their various features and weaknesses.

There were spherical flying machines, each armed with a singular laser-cannon. They seemed to be swift fliers but weak in the defence department- which Shadow fully intended to exploit.

The ground-based walkers seemed a bit tougher but fired strictly from their cannons and nothing else. Take out their cannons, and they would be as good as defenceless.

Shadow smirked, having figured out a plan of attack.

Very well.

Like a switch had been flipped, the Ultimate Lifeform was on the offensive, making a beeline for the nearest machine, leaping into the air and curling into a taut ball just as he rammed bodily into the automaton.

Sharp black-and-red quills sliced through metal like paper and Shadow felt a burst of heat behind him the machine exploded. Landing on the balls of his feet, the hedgehog turned up the speed and charged once more.

Explosions rang out and severed limbs flew as what to the naked eye appeared to be a black blur surrounded by orange flames rammed into walking and flying machines alike- dispatching them with equal ferocity.

Bisecting an unsuspecting robot with a lethal roundhouse kick to the side, Shadow skidded to a stop, admiring his handiwork. The arena was now littered with robot parts, looking like the scene of a machine massacre- which, in all fairness, it really was.

The hedgehog straightened up, expression unchanging as he waited for another challenge to show itself. These exercises were rarely that easy, unless-

The whirring of motors and the roar of jet engines was the only thing that clued the hedgehog to the incoming threat before a humongous machine erupted from the ground, landing on the floor with a loud clang.

"Meet the B-3x Hot Shot," boomed Tower over the intercom.

Unless it was just the warmup. I figured as much.

Shadow stared down his new opponent in wary appraisal as it loomed over him. The machine was a hulking bipedal walker colored in shades of grey, red, yellow and green that sported two huge cannons at its sides- looking more like an over-glorified battle mech that was given an artificial intelligence at the last minute.

The Hot Shot stomped towards him, cannons locked on and ready to unload a salvo of ammunition on its Mobian adversary. With its superior size and bulk as well as dual-mounted weapons primed to do some damage- it seemed as though the striped hedgehog would finally get the challenge he so desired.

Or so the spectators thought.

Shadow merely smirked, drawing out the Chaos Energy from his insides and focusing it into his hand. As he discovered during his many training sessions on the Space Colony ARK, the sheer destructive potential of the energy he harnessed was unparalleled when utilized correctly, either for precise hits or racking up explosive damage.

"Witness the ultimate power! Chaos…"

This situation called for both aspects of its use.

"Spear!"

Needless to say, only Shadow was left unsurprised when an electric lance of pure, unadulterated Chaos impaled the mighty metal giant through the armor protecting its power core, resulting in an explosion that shook the inside of the very arena.


The X-Tornado – 10:20 AM

"So, let me get this straight," Miles began.

"You were running in the desert and got blown to kingdom come, then kidnapped by a bunch of crazy jackals, requiring you to wear a magnet in your chest."

"Uh-huh," agreed Sonic, sitting in the cockpit of the Tornado for a change- heavens knew his big brother loved standing on the wing like an adrenaline junkie.

"Said magnet was implanted in your chest by your long-lost uncle who also happens to be a reputable inventor who disappeared one day but was actually kidnapped by the aforementioned jackals."

"That is correct, son," nodded the other hedgehog sitting in the backseat.

"So you both planned and executed a prison-break, fought the leader of the jackals and escaped by causing a sonic boom indoors. All in the span of three days."

"Pretty much," agreed Sonic once again- surprisingly seeming only a tad bit remorseful about the fact that he'd probably made an entire squad of jackal bandits go deaf. "How was your week? G.U.N. treating you well?"

The words were said flippantly, yet there was a real concern that prompted the fox to sigh as he put the plane on autopilot and turned to face his surrogate brother, the desert a mere afterthought from hundreds of feet up in the air.

"We've been having a bit of a week. Nothing compared to you guys, though," he finally spoke. In truth, the two hedgehogs had definitely seen better days- their quills were stained brown, black and red all over, sporting half-healed bruises and cuts. It made the kitsune rather self-conscious of the neat air-force jacket and grease-stained yet relatively clean gloves he wore.

"You work for the Guardian Units of Nations?" asked the elder Mobian on the plane- Sir Charles the Hedgehog, as his proper name was.

"Not really- I'm more of a consultant. I just supply their tech from time to time," he spoke, perhaps a tad bit bashfully. In all fairness, the presence of one of his old idols made the fox twice as self-conscious.

As usual, Sonic was quick to call him out on it, smiling like a cat that had caught the canary. "Now, kid, what did I say about downplaying yourself?"

"I'm not!"

"So conveniently leaving out the fact that you singlehandedly built a huge portion of their gadgets and gizmos doesn't count?"

Rolling his eyes, Miles made to retort but Charles beat him to it.

"Ah, a fellow inventor, I see!" The hedgehog's eyes were alight with an excited wonder that could only come from discovering someone who spoke his figurative language.

The kitsune sheepishly rubbed his arm. "More or less, yeah. I'm a huge fan of your work, too; I really enjoyed your research papers on crystallogenesis- Took a page out that book when I made a fake Chaos Emerald way back when."

Charles stroked his beard thoughtfully, "A Chaos Emerald? I never quite managed to study one those gems for long. How did you manage to account for the energy fluctuations?-"

Sonic cut in gently, before the pair of inventors could sink deep into techno-jargon. "Before you both geek out to your heart's content, I do kinda have a question; how'd you manage to find us anyway?"

Miles rubbed his arm, although for a different reason, "Oh, yeah. Remember the tracker?"

The kit had placed a tracker in one of his big bro's shoes, mainly to give them both peace of mind and to help alert the kitsune if assistance was needed. Sonic had protested a first, but after some back-and-forth had eventually acquiesced.

"Ah, yeah- I still don't get why that was necessary."

"Yeah. I left to find you as soon as I could." The golden-orange fox looked guiltily at the azure hedgehog, noting the hastily-stitched wound across his chest. "Guess I wasn't fast enough."

"Hey." Sonic's green irises shone with a kind compassion that somehow always cheered him up even during the days when he was a scared and nervous fox kit trying to survive in the Emerald Hill Zone.

"None of this was your fault. No one could've expected a bunch of stab-happy bandits to kidnap me, anyhow."

Even Sir Charles spoke up. "Agreed; The Jackal Squad are a sneaky bunch who are skilled in hiding their tracks. Tracker or no tracker, searching for them would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Whatever is the case, all that matters is what you're doing now- getting us home to safety."

After a beat of silence, Miles let a small smile appear on his face. "Thank you, Sir Hedgehog."

The elder hedgehog chuckled. "Call me Chuck, Sir Hedgehog makes me feel old."

Sonic grinned fondly. "You are old."

"Hush, you."