Chapter Nine – Interception
That night on the Ark, wasn't exactly comfortable. Neither Tails or Knuckles got much sleep, both silently wondered what happened here. They were stunned to find out that Eggman had indeed been telling the truth, all those years ago, and now felt incredibly guilty for abandoning the Blue Blur. Shadow had worked wonders with him, that was plain to see, but why? He never showed that much care to anyone, other then Maria. What was it about the Sonic that had gotten to him? Something had deeply caught his fascination, that was obvious, otherwise Shadow just wouldn't have bothered. But now, they waited, as Sonic finally slowly stirred. But Shadow was right, as Sonic quickly realised, from their scents, his old friends were there and did outright panic.
He was fast, ruthlessly fast, as he desperately tried to flee. He was so frightened, his anxiety exploding, despite the conditioning, that Tails and Knuckles could have cried. They have never seen it before and their guilt just tore them apart. But Knuckles's reflexes were still on ball as he managed to grab Sonic before he disappeared on the Ark, to who knows where. He pulled the Blue Blur into an almighty hug from behind, but Sonic kicked and screamed, desperate to get away, tears streaming down his face.
He cried. What was Shadow thinking, letting these betrayers onto the Ark? His one and only place of comfort. But Knuckles wouldn't let him go. He been given a second chance, he wasn't going to loose it, even when Sonic started biting him. He growled, through the intense pain. But Tail desperately tried to help, as the tears fell down his own face, when he finally saw Sonic's real eyes for the first time, realising the contact lenses were fake. The pale grey discs that indicated his true blindness. He squealed.
"Sonic. Please." He begged. "Please stop." He pleaded, now seeing Sonic draw blood from Knuckles's arms with his teeth, but the Echidna still stood firm. Despite his panic, the Hedgehog was going nowhere. He'd got nothing on Knuckles's Super-Strength. But it hurt, a lot, with tears now in the Echidna's eyes. He held Sonic firmly but gentle, knowing his own strength could seriously injure or even accidentally kill the Hedgehog, if he lost his temper. One-on-one against Knuckles's on muscle, Sonic would loose. Super-Strength was his weakness.
Sonic screamed again, in pure desperation, but Tails grabbed his head, then ran his hands down either side to his shoulders, his arms, and then grabbed his hands and hard, placing them on his own face. The Blue Blur stopped, his confusion at the Fox temporarily slicing through his fright. Tails purred into his hands.
"Please forgive us." He whimpered but Knuckles just cut right across the Fox. He growled, his voice heavily cracked with the pain.
"No, don't." He heaved, to yet more confusion. "To forgive is more then we deserve, and your nowhere near ready for that." He panted. "We are all in situation because of stupidity from everyone." He admitted. "All we are asking for is a second chance. We want to help." He signed. But Sonic, having calmed down, heard him, but his temper flared. He was offended. He spat.
"I don't need help from anyone." He growled, very coldly. Tails gulped, but Knuckles heaved, remembering what Shadow had said.
"No, you don't." He said, bluntly. "But you do need friends. Shadow believes your ready to leave the Ark and move back to the planet, where you belong. You'll need someone with you, and we'll like to do it, that is, if you'll have us." He begged. But Sonic just gulped but then he immediately calmed, his temper dissipated. His brain was very much on his ears as they twitched, heavily focusing on a sound he knew so well.
Thump, thump, thump.
A heartbeat so extremely calm and ever unchanging, Sonic realised that Shadow, whom had said nothing to this point, was testing him on pure trust. If he believed in his old friends, then maybe he should. He was stood at the doorway of the room, absolutely silent, but not to the Blue Blur, who turned around to leant right across Knuckles to face him. He and Tails also turned to see the Ultimate Lifeform and gasped, having no idea he was even there. But how did Sonic know? Shadow still didn't say anything, he just smirked, reading the situation perfectly.
Sonic then turned to Knuckles, the Echidna allowing him, to look at the scent outline of his head, and Knuckles had to swallow his tongue over the Blue Blur's eyes, or lack of, when he saw them. They were rather shocking but he stayed as calm as possible. Finally, the Blue Blur nodded, and sucking his thumb, he placed the side of his head on Knuckles's chest, and let his two friends hug him deeply. He had been sorely missed. He was still very frightened but that would easy with time.
Shadow's smirk broadened. Job done. The Blue Blur was now off his hands and in theirs but they still had work to do. Silently he vanished. When he was down in the planet, intimidating Amy, he also checked in on Eggman and what he saw didn't amuse him at all. This territory had expanded hugely, now including the land beneath Tails' House, and for what Shadow witnessed, he appeared to massing an army for an onslaught on the planet. But he couldn't get himself seen, otherwise the plan would be initiated before it's time, leaving them heavily unprepared. What was Eggman plan? Shadow growled, utter frustrated. He needed to know but he had no idea, but he knew of someone who could find out, even from the Ark.
Shadow had been inventing again. Highly sophisticated communications devices, of which he was eager to try out, especially on the Blue Blur. But he needed to get his attention, and knew exactly how. Standing, looking out of the panoramic window of the planet, he gentle lifted his foot, and tapped it on the floor, the metal clinking.
Tap, tap, tap.
It was barely audible, but as Shadow's smirk broadened, not to someone he knew. Sonic was still gently cuddling his friends. No, he didn't forgive them, but Shadow was right, he did need to move on. As much as he loved the Ark, he had been finding it cramped recently, and expecting Shadow to leave with him, wasn't reasonable. This was his home. He'd been extremely generous up to this point. Time to go. But as Sonic now thought about it, he was blind, as much as he could look after himself, there were some things he would need help with. Such as finding food and cooking, mainly to avoid poisoning and burns. Truthfully, no one knew him better then Tails and Knuckles and as for the recently changes, they'd quickly get used to it and keep the information to themselves.
His reputation was on the line, as for the all the lies, they weren't directed at them, and Shadow knew that as they saw for themselves what Sonic could do, yes, they would keep their mouths shut. The Blue Blur deeply sighed, finally comfortable with the idea. Yes, Tails and Knuckles were back in his good books. He felt himself trusting them again, like always. As for the others, them, he'd work on later, at least now he wasn't alone in his independence. He smiled, then he heard it.
Tap, tap, tap.
He immediately bolted upright, making both Tails and Knuckles jump, his ears pricked forwards, the thumb falling from his mouth.
Tap, tap, tap.
He quickly turned his head, his ears concentrating, twitching hard on focusing in on that sound. He deeply frowned, what was that? Tails and Knuckles looked at each other, the Fox noticing Sonic's ears going mad. He strained his own. He heaved, facing the Echidna.
"Hey. Do you hear anything?" He frowned, getting nothing. Knuckles just shook his head.
"No. This place is deathly silent. I'm not keen, to be honest." He admitted. But they both looked at Sonic, who seemed to be waiting for something.
Tap, tap, tap.
Suddenly, he bounced to his feet, his head snapped to the exact direct of the sound. It exploded in pale blur colour in his Sonar, in amongst the other noises of the Ark and he knew exactly where it was coming from, though he was still none the wiser as to what it was. However, as he concentrated, he suddenly saw the super calm thump, thump of a tell tale heartbeat that gave it away. The tapping sound appeared to be beneath it in the darkness. Sonic frowned.
"Shadow?" He breathed, still unsure as to what was happening. Tails jumped, realising that the Ultimate Lifeform was gone and immediately pushed Knuckles off of Sonic, who finally letting him go. He growled at him.
"I think he can hear something." He whispered, indicating the Blue Blur. They stared and then frowned. Both were clueless, hearing nothing but silence.
Tap, tap, tap.
Now deeply curious, he immediately ran out of the door and through the Ark, forcing Tails and Knuckles to race after, severely struggling, due to lack of practice. The speed was astonishing, but not that surprising. Sonic had a superb memory, and in five years, despite being blind, he'd learned the whole of the Ark, inside out. But the ran from one end of the space colony to the other, only to find the Ultimate Lifeform in the room that both Tails and Knuckles had completely forgotten about. The view was spectacular but they stared as Shadow stood in front of the window, tapped his foot on the floor, which now, in the same room, could only just be heard. Sonic was stood next to him, his head down, looking at the floor, a deep frown on his face. Still the Ultimate Lifeform had said nothing. Knuckles suddenly realising, gasped.
"Wait." He breathed, looking to Tails. "He heard that from the other end of the Ark?" He heaved, indicating Sonic, absolutely stunned. Tails gulped, finally himself realising what was going on, as Shadow walked towards them, leaving Sonic scratching his head, confused by the window. His jaw dropped.
"Heighten Sense Compensation." He hissed, under his breath as Shadow came into earshot. The Ultimate Lifeform nodded. Tails heaved. "How sensitive?" He wondered. But Shadow just smirked.
"Very." He hissed. "The most I have ever seen." He added, his voice barely making a sound, but the deep fascination could clearly be heard, but yet Sonic looked up at him, his ears pricked. Oh yes, he could hear him. Not just down the communicator, but normally, the echo, clear as anything. But Knuckles just frowned.
"What?" He asked, but Tails got their first. He bounced.
"Heighten Sense Compensation is when someone looses the use of one of their five senses, in Sonic's case, his sight, the others can become very enhanced to compensate." He explained. Knuckles's eyes widened, but suddenly, Sonic giggled. He could hear them whispering from the other end of the room, but Shadow heaved, time to get to business. He turned to Tails and Knuckles.
"I take it you know about Project Scorpion?" He growled. Both the friends nodded, but Knuckles growled, not that surprised that Shadow knew.
"Yeah. Eggman's mothballed Badnik fiasco." He hissed. "We're been hit and hard by them. They're coming out of nowhere, and the usual methods I used to destroy them doesn't work. I remember the ones who attacked Angel Island the first time, but anything earlier, and I'm lost." He heaved, and Shadow nodded.
"Indeed, a lot of the Badniks I have never seen before, but I guessing that you were fighting them while I was still in my fifty year stasis. I remember the ones after I was awakened." He hissed, but Tails immediately nodded.
"Oh, yeah. But we can't go in without a plan. I've spotted Buzzers, Coconuts, and Crawltons, as well as Monkey Dudes and Rhinobots." He summated. Knuckles nodded.
"Hey, I remember those." He snarled, not happy, but Tails heaved.
"Yes but I've also seen E-series robots." He panicked, of which the Echidna growled, but Tails panicked. "But Knuckles, I also heard rumours of an Egg Carrier, still being around." He stammered. Knuckles swore very hard.
"But I thought they were all destroyed." He growled. But Shadow frowned.
"Egg Carrier?" He asked, but this time it was Sonic who answered the question. He heaved.
"Eggman's main flagship from which that time of Chaos, that liquid immortal mutant Chao. You probably read the report on the Eggnet. Shads." He heaved. Shadow nodded, smirking at the Blue Blur talking again after his panic, but Tails gulped.
"But guys, we have a problem. The quantity of Badniks far way too many and they are assembling on mass ready to attack." He stammered. But Knuckles growled.
"But how do we defeat them? No one knows them all." He heaved, but then there was a quiet voice from the other end of the room. Sonic sighed.
"I do." He stuttered. "Every Badnik I've faced so far, is one that I have successfully beaten before. I getting the impression that Eggman activated Project Scorpion with plan of me not being around." He wondered. But Knuckles frowned at the Ultimate Lifeform.
"Does he know Sonic's back?" He asked, but Shadow just shook his head. He leered.
"I have no idea. I couldn't get close enough without being seen to find out, and Eggnet had nothing." He hissed, frustrated. But Sonic turned around and faced the window again.
"What about from here?" He wondered, but then Shadow's fascination exploded and this time, he didn't bother to hide it. He smirked, almost excited.
"I was hoping you'd suggest that. I'd like to try something, if I may?" He asked, to nodding from Sonic but raised eyebrows from the other two. Despite being blind, the trust of Shadow in Sonic's eyes clear to see as he stood completely still waiting for Shadow to return as he as promptly disappeared. Within minutes, he was back, with two automatic syringes, which he placed on a nearby table and a two inch square, flat, but curved device with microchips on it. He silently gave it Sonic to examine. He sniffed it deeply, turning it over and licked it. He gaged. Metallic but gross. He frowned.
"What is it?" He wondered. But Tails had walked up join them and immediately recognised the device. He squealed.
"Hey, that's a Sound Capture Device." He frowned. "But I've never seen one so small or so sensitive." He marvelled, but Shadow smirked, taking the device from Sonic.
"It has to be, to detect his hearing." He leering, indicating Sonic. But the Blue Blur's frown deepened, but as Shadow was about to place the device on his head. He panicked and backed right away. The Ultimate Lifeform stopped and sighed.
"Please trust me." He asked. "The device is to be mounted behind your ear, and is designed to pick up the incredible tiny electrical impulsesfrom your auditory nerve. They will then be sent them wirelessly to the communicator, under your skin. The process is painless, but it is mounted directly onto your head, so that might hurt." He explained. But Tails eye's widened.
"So, we'll be able to hear what Sonic's hears." He stammered. "Wow." He added, impressed, but Shadow just shrugged. He smirked.
"I can do that anyway with a Chaos Emerald, but it is draining and very overwhelming. Difficult to control. This device will make the whole process much easier." He heaved. "Your not the only person here who invents, Kid." He hissed, to a slight smirk from Sonic. Hearing Shadow call Tails that made him smile, but still nervous, he put his hand out towards Knuckles's scent outline and immediately, the Echidna joined him. Still shaking slightly, Sonic nodded. Finally remaining still, with Knuckles the other side of him as Shadow places the devices. After some manoeuvring, it was in position. Suddenly, there's a clunk, as the devices digs into Sonic's skin, making him squeal in pain. Significantly more pain then he was expected. Knuckles objected, rounding on Shadow.
"Hey, easy." He growled, but the Ultimate Lifeform had vanished. Suddenly, Tails the squealed holding the back of his left ear, and before Knuckles do anything, a searing pain hit his own head, as something was immediately jabbed into it. Now he roared, as he grabbed Shadow by the throat, his trust of the Ultimate Lifeform now very thin. "What going on?" He spat, but Shadow just smirked, completely unphased.
"I've used to two automatic syringes I brought here, to place communication devices behind both your ears." He spat at both Knuckles and Tails. "Now, listen." He growled. Knuckles didn't move as all was quiet as suddenly, the sound began weirdly fading in and out as the sensitivity exploded. Then a sudden high-pitched squealing, which quickly vanished, then there was a very rapid but strong heartbeat, clear as a bell. Knuckles's eyes widened. Not only could he feel his heart in his throat with his anger, he could now hear it. It immediately broke temper as he let go of Shadow. He gulped.
"Whoa!" He stammered. Suddenly, there was a smaller, but faster heartbeat, in the background. Tails giggled, his excitement making it go quicker.
"That one's mine." He bounced. Then suddenly, both the heartbeats vanished, expertly tuned out as the sound seemed to move round and heavily settle on a final heartbeat. Slow, steady, ever unchanging, but to Sonic, super smoothing, as his purr could be clearly heard in the background. But Shadow just looked at him and rolled his eyes. He growled.
"Get off." He spat, barely more then a whisper. Sonic was still rather clingy. He needed to move on. But Shadow was please everything was working. He heaved. "Concentrate. The planet please. Find Eggman." He asked. Knuckles and Tails stared. The Fox gasped.
"What?" He breathed, but Shadow immediately silenced him. Sonic turned around and faced the window, and the planet beyond, and heavily concentrated his hearing. He had so far failed at this, to find the Human. Planet scanning had been frustrating but he was willing to have another try. There was several seconds of silence, suddenly everything exploded as a huge mass of noise hit Sonic hard, as Mobius came all at once. They all squealed, but it took Sonic by storm. He buckled, but Knuckles caught him, himself wincing with the pain, and comforted him. But Tails frowned, recognised a lot of what he was hearing from Sonic, and just as Shadow was about to interject, he silently gestured himself instead, which the Ultimate Lifeform allowed. Tails ran in front of Sonic, and barely whispering, and talked him through it. He nodded.
"Sonic, your hearing the entire planet at once." He heaved, unable to believe it himself. "You need to start tuning things out." He asked. Sonic nodded. Tails heaved.
"Right, let's start with cars and traffic." He hissed. Sonic concentrated, they vanished. Tails smiled. "Now the buildings, ventilations, doors, lifts, etc." He added. Suddenly, they too disappeared. Now they had just a mass of voices. Tails frowned. "Children. Take those out." He asked. Suddenly the higher pitched voices all vanished. Tails nodded. "Good. Eggman is male, so now remove the female voices." He frowned. Suddenly, the midrange voices all vanished, until nothing was left but the deep tones of the males were left. Shadow raised an eyebrow. That was seriously impressive. He'd never been able to narrow Sonic down so quickly on a planet scan. It usual took them hours to get to this point. Tails really did now the Blue Blur better then he did. They were all now listening to a mass of voices, not a loud, but less in number. Tails heaved. "Look, you know Eggman's voice. Find it." He ordered.
Sonic frowned. He did and he could do this. The training with Shadow on planet scanning, hadn't been great, but with a different tutor, Sonic was having better luck. He was pleased with Tails, as he'd yet to find Eggman, using this method, but now he had a chance. He growled, concentrating extremely hard, as he now heavily focused his ears, turning left and right. The noise of the planet, swung all over the place, as Sonic tried to narrow in on various conversations. But Eggman's booming voice seemed to be lacking, but after ten minutes of solid searching, Tails thought he caught a glimpse of something though the Blue Blur's ears. He grabbed him.
"Sonic, stop. Back up a bit." He asked, as the Blue Blur obeyed and the sound seemed to move backwards, as he seemed to linger on a weird muffled voice, heavily surrounded by machinery. Tails grinned. "There. What's that?" He asked. "Can you narrow in on it?" He asked. Sonic nodded, gritting his teeth. The muffled voice got louder, and clearer, but so did the machinery, forcing Sonic to heavily tune it sound. He grabbed Knuckles hard, for stability, as he screwed his eyes, with the strain. Finally, they heard it, the unmistakable deep callow voice of the one and only Human on Mobius. Giving orders as usual. Tails jumped for joy. He squealed.
"Got him." He grinned. Having finally pinpointed Eggman's voice, Sonic's ears were able to lock to the sound, allowing him to relax. Shadow smirked.
"Nicely done." He hissed, under his breath. Sonic was panting hard, but Knuckles still held on to him. Eggman's order barking finally stopped. He heaved.
"Orbot, I knew potentially world domination was going to be difficult, but I never imagined it was going to be this frigging complicated." He sighed, but his loyal, as ever, robot just frowned.
[What do you mean, Boss?] He asked, politely. Eggman huffed.
"Project Scorpion, looked good on paper, but these old robots, may be working, but they are breaking down far too quickly. My repair teams are working around the clock. It's seems that long term storage hasn't done them any good." He leered. "Overwhelming the world by numbers will only work if those dam Badniks can stay in one piece for any length of time. Plus my raids seemed to be falling far faster then I had expected, especially recently." He growled.
While Eggman was talking, Shadow disappeared to the computer console of the Ark, in an attempt to try and track Eggman down. His location on the planet was unknown. The device on Sonic's head, relaying the conversation to everyone, did have a G.P.S., and now Shadow was desperately trying to use it to track the Human down. He listened intently. But Orbot just gulped.
[Er, Boss, have you heard the rumour?] He stammered. But Eggman scowled, rolling his eyes.
"Another rumour? What is it this time?" He spat. But now the robot was really terrified. Orbot whimpered.
[That the Blue Blur is back, Boss.] He stuttered. Suddenly, on the Ark, everyone stared at Sonic. After his rather explosive entrance, it wasn't surprising that he been spotted, but Eggman just bore down on the robot.
"Oh, really. I had heard that my account from five years ago had been revoked, a black mark of treason now on my record." He paused. "Who cares. It can join the others." He hissed. "Shadow had twist the truth as much as he likes." He paused, the Ultimate Lifeform smirked. "If that Blue-pincushion did survive, then I can guarantee on one thing." He smirked, evilly. But Orbot frowned.
[What's that, Boss?] He wondered. But Eggman just laughed.
"He's blind." He hissed. "I saw his injuries for myself. No way his sight would have survived. Which means he can't defend himself, let alone fight back. That idiotic Hedgehog relied on his eyes far too much. Against my army, he as good as dead. As for that Super-Speed of his, forget it, no one can break the speed of sound blind, I don't care who they are." He growled, to much giggling on the Ark. "It doesn't change anything, Orbot. I doubt he'll even find us, let alone hear me." He hissed. Tails and Knuckles silently looked each other. "I am still advancing my plans. The army is set at ready for the attack at dusk." He informed.
Shadows eyes widened. Dusk? Tomorrow! That was less then twenty-four hours away, and he had to find Eggman now. He heaved. A night battle. That wasn't unheard of from Eggman, and Shadow was certain he wanted the cover of darkness to give him an element of surprise. But to what? Tails then suddenly appeared at his side, silently gesturing if he could help. He nodded. Right now, anything. Shadow growled, swearing.
"Come on, Eggman, where are you?" He hissed, under his breath, but heard by everyone. He rapidly typed on the computer. Suddenly, down Sonic's hearing, Orbot answered. He nodded.
[Everyone is in position at Bombay Pass, Boss. Secluded, out of the way. Just waiting for your orders.] He explained. Eggman smiled.
"Perfect. We plan out attack on the city at dusk. They won't know what hit them." He grinned, and suddenly, he walked out of range, as all went quiet. But Shadow frowned.
"Where? Which city?" He questioned. He turned to Tails, he had no clue either. But a quiet voice came straight down the communicator, with a slight echo. Sonic smirked, but the nerves could still be heard.
"Bombay Pass is a deep cavernous gorge, underneath a large overhang, not easily seen from the surface, about fifty miles south of Central City." He grinned. There was utter silence. He shrugged. "What?" He spat. "I still remember where everything is, that is assuming the planet hasn't rearranged itself in the last five years. I had set foot on every inch of the place before..." He heaved, gulping hard, remembering the incident. He sighed. "Anyway, Bombay Pass is so called because of the dark, dang conditions at the bottom of the gorge is the perfect place to find huge quantities of wild ghost chillis." He giggled. But Knuckles eyes widened.
"What? The hottest chillis on Mobius." He stammered. But Sonic grinned.
"Oh yeah, and I love them." He paused, glaring at Knuckles. "Raw!" He growled, but then he sighed. "But it's been a while." He heaved. But then to everyone's utter surprise, Sonic started to cry, the tears falling hard. "I am so sorry." He wailed. "We are all in this mess because of me and my stupid cockiness." He sniffed, but Shadow growled.
"Yes, we are." He hissed, to much objection, but then he heaved. "But it's wasn't entirely your fault. That girl drove you do to it." He leered, very coldly. Sonic nodded, but then Shadow growled. "But with this knowledge, we can fight back, and finish what you started." He scowled, but Sonic's temper flared.
"Hey, I didn't start it, Shads, Eggman did, when he first attacked me when I was just five years old." He spat. But Shadow hissed.
"But you should have ended it." He leered. Sonic heaved, deeply. He nodded.
"Yeah." He admitted. He should have done, years ago, when he had the chance, but he didn't, and now he had paid the price. More so then anyone. Despite how ill he was, it was selfish for him not to end the war, no matter how bad he felt. He sighed. "But we do have a chance now?" He hoped. Shadow nodded.
"Yes." He agreed. "I have tracked down Bombay Pass pass on the Ark. You are correct with it being close to Central City. That is indeed what Eggman is planning. But the terrain between them appears to be largely flat scrub land. We can make a stand there, get the city evacuated." He hissed. But Knuckles frowned.
"How are we going to raise an army and evacuate a city in less then a day?" He wondered, but Tails squealed, as he immediately rounded on the Ultimate Lifeform. He heaved.
"Shadow, please tell me you recorded everything?" He desperately asked. But Shadow just smirked and nodded.
"Of course." He hissed, coldly. He always backed himself up with everything. But Tails growled.
"Then give me a copy, please." He asked, firmly. "I kept in contact with everyone when..." He paused, thinking of the Blue Blur, and not wanting to upset him further. Suddenly, heaved. "When Sonic disappeared." He sighed. "If I show them what we've just heard, then I suspect they will rally around very quickly. My contact at the Mobian Authorities will also want to hear it, if we want Central City evacuated, but somehow, I don't think they'll argue, especially if I fit a mechanical sensor to the Ark, and we'll be able to tell them exactly how many Badniks are down there. Thousands, I suspect." He heaved. There was a long paused and then, finally Sonic nodded. Knuckles grinned.
"Do it." He grinned, of which Shadow immediately nodded in agreement, intrigued by this mechanical sensor. But they had a lot of work to do, formulating a plan to take down Eggman. Sonic suspected, and Shadow agreed, that there was more to Project Scorpion then what was in Bombay Pass, especially after years of mothballing. The Hedgehogs had to force the Human to show all his cards. Soon they were ready.
Time to make a stand.