13. A Weapon Seeks a Weapon

Shadow wasn't certain how long he'd been staring at the ceiling overhead, but the orange glow of a sodium street lamp had been diffused and replaced by the pink tones of dawn. He had actually awakened the afternoon before, and overheard the discussion in the hall, but he'd feigned sleep when the Gizoid slipped through the room and returned with what could only be a damaged Chaos Emerald, and again when Rouge checked up on him. But he'd spent most of the night awake and thinking. He still wasn't sure how the Chaos Emeralds had been broken, but it was clear enough that the initial 'blow' that had knocked him out had been when they'd been shattered, and that the broken pieces had been the source of the dizzying echoes that had confounded him afterwards. He had an inherent feel for Chaos energy - that was what allowed him to store and manipulate it (and he did store it, although he could access more and control it more easily with the aid of an Emerald) - and he knew that the Emeralds reflected and refracted the energy internally, creating a magnifying effect. Once broken, the individual pieces had continued to draw energy from their surroundings and reflected it to other parts of the gem - but where the other parts had been missing, the energy had been freed, even though it was, well . . . unfinished. To his senses, the effect had been like a strobe light, or the pandemonium his mind had pictured earlier, and the input had simply overwhelmed his brain's processing and thinking areas.

Obviously there were several of the shard-powered - what did they call them, Pis? - robots in the Doctor's base off the alley, and that's why I couldn't think or fight well there. And whatever channels or senses I use to manipulate the Chaos energy got overloaded when they shattered because I was using them at the time, just like too loud a noise can damage hearing. He'd already tested himself and determined that the damage had been temporary; he could pull Chaos energy and shunt it about as easily and fully as ever, including from the Chaos Emerald he had with him, although he'd restricted the use to subtle effects. He also knew, even if Rouge didn't, that the last of the broken Emeralds was now restored, and with six in one location, they were calling to the last. That much he could feel through the currents of Chaos energy and his own, green Emerald.

Finally he sat up. I suppose this must be Rouge's apartment, he thought. In contrast to her usual manner and dress, the furnishings were quietly expensive; the most exotic item was a case mounted on one wall that displayed a variety of jewelry backed by velvet. A window looked across a narrow alley at a brick wall studded with other windows and a rusty fire escape. There were also two doors, and an open kitchen area, similar to the one in his own apartment. He heard a faint rustling noise behind one door, and after a few minutes it opened and Rouge stepped through.

She blinked at the seated hedgehog in surprise, then looked delighted. "Good morning, Shadow! The prince has finally awakened?"

Shadow nodded and told her, "I must go. I must go to the Gizoid." It wasn't just the pull of the other Chaos Emeralds on his own; the Gizoid was powerful enough now that there was no alternative to giving him the last Chaos Emerald, and either disarming him or triggering his destructive impulses. If they did nothing, the training and power he had received would enable him to face down even GUN battalions long enough to absorb their weapons, and they would then bring in more powerful equipment in what would become a ceaseless spiral until the robot went berserk. And GUN will consider him enough of a threat to attack him, even after being told that such a move would mean disaster. Better to get it over with now, one way or the other, while I have a chance to steer the process. Once GUN attacks and the Gizoid goes on the defensive, it may be too late to restrain it.

Rouge didn't seem pleased, which surprised him - he'd assumed she'd be glad to see the last of her uninvited guest. According to her clock, which displayed the date as well as the time, he'd been asleep several days. "What? You can leave when you please, but don't you dare pass out on me again! Who do you think dragged you here in the first place?"

"You?" He was surprised again. I assumed it was the Gizoid. What was it Father used to say about assuming things?

"That's right! Aren't you even going to thank me!? It figures. You males are all alike, you know that?"

Shadow winced. Manners had been drilled into him by Maria and the Professor, as well as his flash training. He was worried about what would happen with the Gizoid, but that was no excuse for rudeness. "Thanks, Rouge," he began.

"Emerald Beach."

"Huh?" He blinked at the non-sequitur.

"You're looking for Emerl, right? He's always there in the mornings, with Sonic. I went ahead and told them you'd be coming after him, anyway."

"I know. I heard you talking to Amy last night. You know they've recovered the sixth Chaos Emerald, don't you?"

"What, the blue one? No, when did they do that?" Rouge frowned. "And how do you know, anyway?"

"When the Doctor smashed the Chaos Emeralds, it messed up the patterns of the Chaos energies." Seeing her puzzled look, he tried to explain. "You know how you can use iron filings to see the bands of magnetism from a bar magnet? Draw the lines on a piece of paper and then crumple the paper, and that's about how the Chaos energies felt. Only it was a dozen interconnecting tangles, one for each fragment, and they were pulling intact gems' energies out of true as well.

"I don't know who got the pieces of the blue Emerald back, but I know that yesterday evening the tangles all straightened out, and now I can tell by the resonance through my gem that the other six Emeralds are not only whole, but together. Presumably, the Gizoid has all of them now, which means I have to go to it, and soon; we're too far down this path to turn back."

"You think we did the wrong thing." It was more a statement than a question.

Shadow looked at Rouge solemnly. "I don't know. I think it would have been safer and far better if the thing had stayed lost, but once Doctor Eggman found it, it was too late for that. One way or another, he would have gotten the Chaos Emeralds for it; at least this way, we had control over what the Gizoid learned. I only hope that will be enough." He frowned suddenly. "Did you ever find out what the key phrase was, to render him harmless?"

"Oh, no!" Rouge looked at him in alarm. "I forgot all about that! I read all of Gerald's notes, even in his secret diary–"

"Secret diary?"

"He had it hidden in his room on the ARK," she started to explain, but Shadow was shaking his head.

"No, if I know the Professor, he wouldn't have something like that hidden. He'd want me or Maria, at least, to be able to find it." Shadow grimaced, pressing a palm against his forehead as if it would help him remember. "You told me you'd read his official diary, didn't you? You didn't see anything in there?"

The bat started to shake her head. "No. No, I did–" Shadow looked up as she stopped mid-word. Rouge's eyes flickered as she thought. "No, wait. There was something . . . there was something, I know it. Look, you go get the Gizoid, I don't think I trust Eggman to wait much longer before seriously trying to retake it, now that it has six Emeralds. I'll meet you– where?"

Shadow considered. "Not at the beach. If I give it the last Chaos Emerald and it goes berserk, there are too many people in the area who might get hurt. The ARK would probably be best, but . . . . The Doctor's hideout. The one here in the city. That'll have some sort of shielding, surely, in case of attack; that will serve to keep the Gizoid in, at least temporarily. But that's not all we need to do." Old memories of the half-understood changes that the Professor had made slotted into place with fragments of his more recent dreams . "Listen, Rouge. Professor Gerald was trying to program the Gizoid with an emotions-based AI, and I think our best bet is to pull on those emotions to gain the most advantage. So. This is what we're going to do . . . ."

It was nearly ten minutes later that Shadow stood up, and headed for the door. He wasn't certain that the plan would work, but he did feel convinced that it was the best way to proceed. He paused as he opened the door, and looked back at Rouge as a flicker of dream crossed his mind. She gave him a querying glance. "Heh," he said quietly. "Ally."

Rouge blinked, not sure what he was referring to. "Wh-what? You got a problem with it?"

"No," he shook his head. "I don't." With the ghost of a smile, he stepped into the hall and closed the door behind him.

It wasn't very far to Emerald Beach, and he skated the distance rather than using Chaos Control, turning his plan over in his mind. A flash of golden movement caught his eye as he glided through Emerald Town, and he paused. The Gizoid had just come out of Tails' laboratory, and was heading up the road in the direction of the beach. Shadow quickly ducked over to the next block and passed it, arriving there first. Sonic was goofing off on the sand, tossing a couple of rings in the air and catching them again, then trying to juggle them. With an emphasis on 'trying', thought Shadow, even I can do better than that. Now, where is . . . ah, good, here comes the Gizoid. He could see the robot approaching from where he stood, but Sonic's view was blocked by several of the rock outcrops. Shadow stepped forward, into Sonic's line of sight.

"Shadow!?" Sonic looked at the black-and-red hedgehog in surprise, then flung two of the golden rings at him, frisbee style. Shadow caught one and used the barest touch of Chaos energy to halt the other in midair beside his head. He then flicked both of them back to the blue hedgehog.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," he said thoughtfully. Then in a sharper tone, "Where is Emerl?"

"He's at Tails' place," Sonic answered automatically, then caught himself. "Tell me something," he slipped one ring over his wrist and sent the other back to Shadow again, "why are you after him, anyway?"

Shadow considered his answer, noting over Sonic's shoulder that the Gizoid had arrived and was standing beside one of the outcrops, listening. "I'm not here to steal him," he assured the blue hedgehog, realizing that Rouge might have told Sonic about his 'mission'. "I'm here to welcome him, as a fellow weapon of war." The gold ring flew back to Sonic again. Huh, I haven't played frisbee since Maria and I did on the ARK.

Sonic caught the ring, but held it in both hands, while he frowned at Shadow. "Welcome him?" Shadow wished he knew what the other was thinking. Sonic shook his head and finally tossed the ring back. "Emerl's no weapon of war. He's just a robot who's learned some cool tricks. Tails powered him up, Knuckles and I taught him to fight, and Amy and Cream put some manners on him - in fact, he even saved Cream from the Doc's hideout last night. He's no weapon."

Hmm, that must be where the last Chaos Emerald came from. The ring whirred back to Sonic again. "Don't you know? His awakening as the legendary weapon of war, the Gizoid, is close at hand." He knew Rouge had told Sonic this, but wasn't sure if the blue had forgotten it, or was just willfully ignoring the facts.

"Awakening?" That did seem to puzzle Sonic, although Shadow wasn't sure why.

"He already has six Chaos Emeralds, right?" When Sonic agreed, Shadow continued, "And with my Chaos Emerald, that makes seven." The golden ring, which was itself Chaos energy solidified, flew back and forth between them. "The Gizoid will be awakened when it has collected seven Chaos Emeralds - right now, its true power lies dormant. However I can feel it: a power far greater than the Eclipse Cannon's. Can't you?"

Sonic hesitated, the ring hanging forgotten from one hand. Shadow wasn't actually certain that Sonic could feel the Chaos energy, but surely he must if he could use the Chaos Emeralds! "I know that collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds together yields unlimited energy," he said slowly. (Sonic the Hedgehog, doing something slowly! That's one for the record books.) He shook his head in confusion. "Are you trying to tell me that awakening Emerl is dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" Shadow wanted to shake him. Hadn't the hedgehog heard anything Rouge and Tails had told him about the Gizoid? "He's a weapon! One created with enough power to destroy the world! Awakening him is sheer madness!" Behind Sonic, the Gizoid cocked its head. Shadow wondered if it knew anything about its true purpose at this stage, or if it was completely restrained until it reached full power.

Sonic, however, scoffed and flung the ring at Shadow hard enough to sting though the red-and-white gloves. "I don't think he has it in him. The Emerl I know would never destroy the world. What about you? You say he's the ultimate weapon, but weren't you supposed to be the military's ultimate secret weapon? Maybe you've forgotten, but I seem to recall you saving humanity at some point."

That stung more. Shadow didn't flinch but he narrowed his eyes. "That was for Maria." If Sonic was going to attack him on that point . . . .

But apparently Sonic was thinking along a different track entirely. "Exactly!"he declared, clearly thinking he'd proved whatever he'd meant. "If you have a heart, you would never use your power for the forces of evil - there's no way you could! Weapons don't have hearts, but you and Emerl both do! You're people, not just weapons!"

Shadow snorted, feeling both irritated and absurdly pleased. The blue hedgehog wasn't flattering him, he clearly meant what he'd said. Sonic was making good sense, in fact, but he'd (typically!) picked just the wrong time to do so. The point of this conversation - the reason Shadow had started it - was to highlight to Emerl that he was intended to be used as a weapon, and expected to destroy without question, to encourage him to reject the deadly power of the Gizoid when it awoke. Sonic was supposed to be being concerned about the idea, so that the worry would affect the emotion-based AI the robot was supposed to have, while Shadow was supposed to reassure and offer an alternate solution - that of the code phrase. So that leaves me to play devil's advocate, when I'm one of the 'devils' myself. And I'm supposed to have given over fretting about my past! "No, you are wrong," he countered, his voice rising. "We were created as weapons. If the people of this world ever want peace, they must destroy us."

Sonic gaped at him, appalled. Shadow was a bit surprised at his own words as well. Did I just insist that I need to be murdered? Before he could come up with a suitable follow-up, Sonic got over his shock and spoke again. "And another thing!" Apparently he'd decided to ignore Shadow's last comment. "Rouge said that there's a keyword that can free Emerl! If we could find out what it is, he can become just a normal robot, following the conscience that Professor Gerald programmed into him."

He did listen, then. Of course, that was supposed to be my argument. Ah, well, in for the lamb . . . "Ha!" the dark dokan said scornfully, "such hopeless dreams! Weapons have no need of a conscience. Freedom? What use is a weapon that does not follow orders?" Pot, kettle, whispered a little voice in the back of his mind. "I have a different kind of link with the Gizoid - like me, it's a weapon! A weapon to be used by its master!" He suppressed the shiver that ran down his spine at the last words, remembering Black Doom's cool assurance that Shadow would do as the alien overlord commanded.

"Shadow," Sonic started, then unexpectedly gave up and threw his hands in the air. "All right, all right! Just take Emerl, already! If you're not going to listen to me, then do whatever you want!"

Shadow blinked, wary of this sudden capitulation. And perplexed by it. "Then you don't care if I exterminate Emerl?"

It was Sonic's turn to snort. "I'd like to see you try!"

"You don't think I could?" Shadow was offended, although he wasn't certain himself that he could do such a thing.

"You have a heart," replied the blue dokan confidently, abruptly as cocky and self-assured as ever. "Emerl has a heart. I don't think either of you has it in you to kill. Maybe you guys should just play games together or something?"

Shadow found himself at a loss for words. This part of the plan had decidedly not gone as intended, and he wasn't sure where to take it from here. Fortunately, Emerl made the next move himself. "There is a Chaos Emerald here," the robot declared as it stepped forward from where it had been observing the two hedgehogs.

Sonic jumped. Apparently he'd been so focused on Shadow that he never had noticed their silent observer. "Emerl? What are you doing here!?"

"He probably felt my Chaos Emerald's power," said Shadow, before the robot had a chance to answer. "I can feel it resonating with him." Both statements were true, if not the entire truth. He pulled out the Chaos Emerald, allowing its energies to radiate unshielded.

The robot went rigid, if such a thing were possible for a being made of metal. The blue eyes locked onto the green gem and, in a very different voice it all but gasped, "You! You have a Chaos Emerald. Give me . . . the Emerald. Power . . . give me power!!" Suddenly the metal body quivered, with a faint ringing sound.

"Emerl!" Sonic was appalled.

The robot turned to Sonic as if nothing at all were wrong, and asked in a normal but puzzled tone, "What's wrong, Sonic? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Shadow was a bit shaken by the Gizoid's reaction himself, but covered it quickly. "Perhaps now you believe me. He was created as a weapon. You were lucky in that you met him before he awakened. But you cannot deny the Gizoid's true identity!"

"Sonic?" asked Emerl again.

"Go with Shadow, Emerl," said the blue, with a nod to his darker rival. "I want you to find out who you truly are." He looked hard at Shadow as he spoke the last sentence, leaving the black hedgehog wondering which of them Sonic was talking to: the Ultimate Being; or the Ultimate Life-form?

"How?" Two pairs of ears cringed as Emerl scraped metal fingers across his metal skull. Robots should not scratch their heads, noted Shadow.

Sonic shrugged. "How else? Get Eggman to tell you!"

Emerl bounced on his toes and clapped his hands. Shadow vaguely recalled Amy's little rabbit friend doing something similar. "That chubby old guy? That sounds like fun! We'll be back soon, then."

"Okay," Sonic laughed, and added, "and try to find out what that 'chubby old guy' is up to! See if you can find out more about that 'Final Something-or-other' that Knuckles was talking about." This time he was clearly speaking to both Emerl and Shadow. "You never can tell what that old man is planning."

Shadow nodded. He didn't like Sonic telling him what to do, but knowing what the Doctor was up to was important. "I, too, have things about which I wish to speak to Doctor Eggman. Let's go, Emerl." Unable to resist a touch of drama, he added, "So begins our path to ruin." Because it may well be, if Rouge can't find the code, or it doesn't work.

Emerl's parting line was completely different. "Oh, and tell Mom that she has to go jogging and do at least two hundred sit-ups! And she has to eat salad with no dressing!"

Sonic's laughter followed them as they left the beach. "Some 'Ultimate Weapon' you are!"

Shadow skated quickly through Emerald town. Emerl initially ran beside him, but then switched to skating himself, apparently converting his feet somehow into hovershoes. They reached Central City proper, and Shadow led the robot in the direction of Night Babylon. At Martins Crossing, a streetlight pole suddenly crashed down before them, making the pair skid to a halt.

"Chaos Gamma!?" Emerl spotted the instigator before Shadow did.

"Target: codename 'Shadow'," grated the mechanical voice, as the red robot emerged from an alley. "Objective: destroy."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "It appears that the good doctor thinks I'm his enemy," he said mildly. That was . . . different. Usually the Professor's grandson assumed Shadow was on his side. Also, there was something . . . peculiar . . . about this robot. It clearly didn't have a Chaos Emerald, intact or fragmentary, but some form of Chaos energy was gathered around it.

Gamma continued, "Target: codename 'Gizoid'. Objective: destroy."

"What?" exclaimed Emerl. "The Doc wants you to capture me, stupid, not destroy me!"

Shadow felt a corner of his mouth turn up at the Gizoid's indignation. "Perhaps his plans have changed," he suggested. Emerl whirled to face him.

"Well that's silly. How does Doctor Eggman expect me to take over the world for him if I'm in pieces? I can't copy his Final Egg Blaster if I'm broken," argued Emerl, casually raising a hand to deflect a blast from one of Gamma's guns. "Please don't do that," he added to the red robot. "We're having a discussion."

"Destroy all targets," was the only reply. It was followed by a cluster of grenades launched at Shadow, who had no problem evading them, but chose to be a bit more aggressive in his response than Emerl had been.

"Chaos Control!" He teleported himself behind, and a bit above, Chaos Gamma, and kicked out hard as he dropped. Since the red robot was floating on a cushion of air, it couldn't actually stagger forward, but it managed something equivalent. Emerl gave a sort of start, and slammed the robot with a punch he'd learned from Knuckles, but seemed a bit half-hearted about it, which he certainly hadn't learned from the echidna. After a brief battle, Emerl crumpled a panel on the other robot's thorax that caused a slim, glowing object to fly out. Shadow felt the Chaos energies swirling around it and caught the thing.

Leaving Gamma to Emerl for the moment, he tipped the object in his hand. It wasn't a Chaos drive, which consisted of purified Chaos energy condensed into a tube, but it appeared to be something similar. More like a shard of solidified energy, sort of like the rings, but not natural. More powerful than either the rings or the drives . . . maybe made similarly to Tails' fake Chaos Emeralds? It was a better copy than those, though, because this actually was drawing energy into it, and the fake Emeralds drew nothing, although they could, as Sonic had demonstrated, convert energy put into them, and Tails had been experimenting with using Chaos drives in conjunction as a sort of battery for the fake Emeralds. On the other hand, this thing draws in, but, he 'looked' it over carefully with his Chaos sense, it doesn't have an outflow. I bet these things explode after a bit, and that won't be pretty.

The red robot groaned and collapsed, drawing Shadow's attention back. "How did I lose? I even acquired an Emerald shard."

Shadow snorted and stepped forward, tossing the 'Emerald' shard in his hand. "The only one who can use the true power of the Chaos Emeralds is me."

"Destroy," rasped the robot and trembled violently as it tried to rise. "Destroy!"

"Fool," muttered the black hedgehog. "Emerl, do you see? This is the fate for weapons of war. Their masters task them beyond their abilities and abandon them to their fortune." He tossed the shard down beside the broken mech; it was of no use to him, and he didn't want to be around it when it overloaded. "If they are given no choice but to battle, eventually they will lose, and be discarded."

"I don't understand," said Emerl, sounding more lost than any robot should be able to. "I'm sad, Shadow."

The dark hedgehog looked at him measuringly. 'Sad' is not a robotic concept. Perhaps there is hope for him, after all. "I know," he said quietly. He looked back at the shattered robot, still proclaiming it would 'destroy, destroy', but unable to fight or flee. "It can't move anymore," he said, feeling rather sad himself. "Let's go. We're almost to Night Babylon and the Doctor's lab."

"Gamma," said Emerl softly, but he followed Shadow when the hedgehog walked off.