Universal Link

by Ashura Fan

A mysterious anomaly connects universes together, changing one unique teen's life in a way he hadn't imagined. Mostly an original/Sonic the Hedgehog/Megaman X crossover, but may expand if I ever continue it. M for language, gore, and mild themes.

2. Episode 2 Gathering

In this chapter, actual crossovers happen. And I abuse my main character some more.

Brief credits:
- Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, and related Sonic the Hedgehog elements are property of Sega and Sonic Team.
- Zero, Douglas, and related Megaman X elements are property of Capcom.
- All original characters and elements are my property and may not be used.
- Ashura the Hedgehog is technically not my character, but I do claim this version of him. Granted, I'm not sure what the rules are for characters based on glitches are...
- Anything else I missed... well, you know...
- I'd like to thank my cousin Jake for support.
- The meaning of life, the universe, and everything is 42. Its up to you to find the question.

---

Universal Link
Gathering

Nathan stood in the darkened living room of the old McKinney place, trying to shield Heather from Shic's energy blast. It hit him square in the chest, ripping through him like a knife through butter. Yet he remained standing, even as he saw blood pooling on the floor below him.

He reached down, feeling the gaping hole in his chest. It was clean through, both his heart and lungs completely destroyed. And yet, he stood there, paralyzed in overwhelming horror.

He heard a thump on the floor behind him, making him soon realize that he had failed. He spun around with surprising ease, seeing in horror Heather lying on the floor behind him. There was a gaping hole in her chest, blood pooling out and onto the floor. Her eyes were open with a blank gaze. As Nathan kneeled down, picking up her hand to check her pulse, tears came flooding from his eyes, knowing that only one thing was possible.

She was dead.

He held her hand, hoping that there would be some sort of response. As he kneeled there for what seemed like an eternity, he felt the warmth quickly leaving her body.

Was there anymore he could have done?

The rage inside him burned, angry with himself for his failure, angry with Shic for having been so cold-blooded and cruel. He let Heather's hand go, slowing standing up, clenching his fists as he sobbed. He then turned around, preparing to confront Shic.

However, Nathan froze as soon as he did, seeing more bodies lying on the ground between him and Shic in a virtual sea of blood. He saw the bodies of Adam and Will, just as he remembered seeing them, as well as Chad's body.

Shic stood on the other side, clearly amused by Nathan's reaction. "Tell me," he said, smirking villainously, "if you're equal to all this scum, how come you're the only one still alive?"

Nathan felt to where the hole had been, feeling his skin instead of the gap that had been there. He looked down, seeing that he was virtually soaked in blood, his blood, from his neck down. He felt his throat, feeling dry blood below his Adam's apple.

He paused, thinking back. Shic didn't slice his throat; at least, he didn't remember him doing it. As he studied his clothes, he soon realized something else that wasn't right.

The room had mysterious become lighter, which solid wood floor suddenly being replaced by soft, blood-soaked carpeting. He was no longer wearing jeans, but instead bloodied pajama bottoms. He was now barefoot as well, his tiny feet covered with dried blood.

He then paused, in realization what was going on. He slowly began to look up, seeing two more large patches of bloodstained carpeting in front of him. As he continued, a set of a woman's feet came into view. He realized in horror who it was, and tried to scream…

Place: Shic's ship, the Gikuthoc
Time: Unknown
Date: Unknown; Approx. 2 days after previous events

"No!" Nathan screamed, jolting forward in one of the reclined chairs. He was breathing hard, his heart pounding in his chest and body covered in sweat, shaking from the shock of the nightmare.

He looked around as he collected himself, glancing at all the monitors and control panels that lined the mostly empty command room. In front of him was a large glass window, with stars rushing by. A quiet hum of circuitry filled the air, creating a rather calming ambiance.

"Another nightmare?" he heard the disturbingly familiar voice say behind him. Nathan turned to see Shic standing with his back turned to him feet away, looking at some panels with glowing alien text. "That's the fourth one in almost two days. I'm starting to wish I had left you in that holding cell."

"Sorry," Nathan said, reclining back into the chair. He looked out at the stars, focusing on them, trying to relax his mind. Even without anyone's emotions, he found himself feeling uneasy, his mind racing. He was worried about so many things, like the well being of Heather, his folks worrying about whether he was dead or alive, what his future held.

He had begun to doze off when he felt a blunt object hit him on the top of the head. "That's enough sleeping," Shic said in an irritated voice. "I would like to be able to get some work done without being startled every twelve hours."

"What else am I supposed to do?" Nathan replied, feeling the throbbing welt on top of his head. "It not like there's anything to do around here, and you won't let me leave the bridge."

"You think I'm supposed give a damn?" Shic said. "Go masturbate for all I care. Just find something to do and quit distracting me."

Nathan just looked back out into space, trying to study what they were approaching. A large red object caught his attention. "What's that?" he said, pointing to it.

"Let me guess," Shic groaned, apparently not looking up. "It's big and red and has no discernable shape?"

"Yeah…" Nathan said, afraid to add anything else.

"I have no clue," Shic said matter-of-factly. "It just appeared there several months ago for no apparent reason. It's near the Ochoko systems, which I wasn't planning on passing through until my little 'trip' to Earth."

"What's there?"

"Nothing much, just some old, unused Azhile military base. It hasn't been used for centuries, ever since the 'Ochoko,' or, in your language, the 'Gathering.' Some big treaty was signed there."

"Is it—" Nathan began to say.

"Will you shut up?!" Shic shouted. "I'm trying to w—"

A loud siren filled the room, cutting off Shic's response. Nathan turned his chair, seeing Shic studying a monitor, a look of disgust on his face.

"Damn," Shic said. "I forgot all about that…"

"About what?" Nathan asked, worried about what he meant.

"There's a reason Earth is deemed forsaken," Shic replied. "It's like a virus in space; anything that touches is infected… at least, that's what the rumor was. I've checked the ship over with, what you'd say a 'fine-toothed comb,' and never found anything…"

"Infected? How?"

"What does it matter?" Shic replied. He looked back at the monitor. "Still, there shouldn't be any Azhile patrol ships in this area…" Shic's expression then turned to one of amusement. "Well, I'll be damned…"

Nathan got out of the chair, cautiously walking over to the monitor. Shic paid no attention, just laughing to himself. "A human commanding an Azhile ship single-handedly. That's a good one."

Nathan looked at him, a bit shocked. "You mean there's someone from Earth… piloting that ship?"

Shic shrugged. "Possibly. I've heard of human-like civilizations developing on other worlds. Still, the fact she's hanging out around these parts might mean that she's from Earth." Shic studied the display again. "She's closing on us."

A woman's voice resounded over the command room's speakers, speaking in an alien tongue that Nathan didn't recognize. He guessed that, taking into consideration what Shic had told him about Earth, she was either planning to stop or destroy them. Whatever the case, it sounded like she wasn't in a good mood.

However, he began to feel her emotions. They were very distant, but considering that they where the only emotions he had felt in about two days, they rang rather loud in his head. At first, they were of determination, surprise, and fear, at which he guessed that she had detected his life sign on Shic's ship. However, once she had moved in closer to the ship, he sensed deeper emotions: sadness and loneliness.

Shic moved over to what Nathan had guessed was the navigation station, sitting down in the chair. "Well, I don't feel like being either slowed or shot down," he muttered, operating a lever. "Hopefully we can ditch her on Ochoko."

Nathan felt the ship slowly begin to speed up. He walked back over to the chair he had been sleeping in, sitting back down. He had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

---

Place: The only habitable planet in the Ochoko system, Ochoko II
Time: Unknown, best guess 2 P.M.
Date: Unknown

"No Sonic," Ashura said annoyed.

Ashura stood in front of a doorway leading from the cargo bay to the main cabin of the shuttle, arms outstretched to block Sonic from getting past him. Shadow stood by one of the only windows, staring out upon the landscape outside, arms crossed and seemingly bored. Knuckles sat by a bunch of secured crates, his arms crossed and eyes closed, with one of his eyebrows twitching in what could be described as annoyance.

"C'mon, Ashura," Sonic said, irritated at his brother's actions. "Two of the guys left to look around, leaving the pilot and that weirdo here. I think we can take them."

"Your rash actions will likely get us all killed," Shadow said blatantly. "It'd be best to wait for the right moment to make our attack. Though I'm not stopping you if you wish to try."

"You trying to start something, Shadow?" Sonic replied.

"No," Shadow replied coldly. "And even if I was, you wouldn't have a chance."

"Wanna bet?! I took you back on the Ark almost a year ago, and I bet I can take you now!"

"I have no memory of that battle, so I highly doubt you won." Shadow paused, trying to think back. "Besides, I have no idea what this 'Ark' is."

"How can you not know what it is? We passed by it on our way up two days ago."

"Would you two shut up?!" Knuckles shouted. "It was bad enough to have to deal with your quarreling on the way here, but must you keep going?"

Ashura added, "Shadow passed out after he got us aboard." Ashura grabbed the handle of the door, pushing it open a bit to look out. "Still, something doesn't feel right."

"Yeah," Sonic said. "It seems like they wanted us to come."

"More the reason not to try anything foolish," Shadow said. "For all we know, this could be part of their plan."

Sonic shot Shadow an annoyed look. "Fine," he said. "I'll wait a little longer." He walked over to the opposite side of the room, stopping to recline back against the wall.

Ashura glanced out into the cabin, a worried expression on his face. Something bothered him about one of the scientists. He swore he had seen him before, and when he heard him tell the pilot and Chaos-charged man to stay at the shuttle, he felt his quills stand on end.

"Shadow," Ashura said, quietly shutting the door, "what did you find at that base?"

Before Shadow could answer, there was a loud, blood-curdling scream off in the distance. Everyone turned their attentions to the window Shadow was standing by.

"That was one of the scientists!" Sonic shouted.

Shadow nodded coldly. "Indeed."

"Something's on this planet," Knuckles spoke up from the background.

"Gee, I wonder why?" Sonic replied, trying to sound sarcastic. "It's not like we're on an alien planet or something."

"I was just making a statement!"

"Yeah, whatever Knux," Sonic replied. "Doesn't it make you want to go out and explore?"

"Are you crazy?!" Knuckles shouted. "Something just got one of the scientists! It'll probably get us too!

"C'mon Knuckles, aren't you at least a little excited!"

"No! All I want to do is go home to my island!"

Ashura let the two rivals continue their bickering, walking over to where Shadow was standing. "Has he left yet?"

"No," Shadow said. Ashura looked out of the window, where the strange man stood facing away from them near the end of the shuttle's wing. He had to be around seven or eight feet tall and wore a G.U.N. uniform, though Ashura didn't believe for a second that he was actually part of G.U.N. There was a power emanating from him, one that was similar to the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

The scrawny pilot was standing in front of him, apparently begging him to go and see what had happened. The man was staring straight off in the distance, seemingly ignoring the little man.

"I swear he makes my spine crawl," Shadow said. "He definitely has an emerald or two."

"Agreed," Ashura replied. "And all we have are your Chaos Emerald and my Master Emerald, so I'm not sure how much of a chance we have."

Shadow chuckled to himself, catching Ashura by surprise. "What?" Ashura asked.

"Nothing," Shadow replied, obviously hiding something from him.

Sonic quit his argument with Knuckles, walking over to where the other two hedgehogs were standing. After about a moment of silence, more like a second, he said, "Man, I'm getting sick of standing around and doing nothing."

The three of them stood there, looking out upon the horizon. It wasn't anything overly impressive. The shuttle had been landed in a clearing. The plant-life was what could be expected for an Earth-like planet, with green plants and flowers all around. In the distance was a forest, consisting of what seemed like normal trees. Farther out was what appeared to be rocky hills, far too small and close to be called mountains. However, there was a bright crimson light covering the planet, giving everything an eerie bloodstained feeling.

"Whoa," Sonic said. "This planet gives me the creeps. Reminds me of that haunted castle knockoff Eggman built."

"While that was a rather poor analogy," Shadow said, "I would have to agree."

Suddenly, there was a strange, gunshot-like sound, which was follow by a large energy blast shooting out of the forest in the distance, scaring bird-like creatures out of the trees. The blast was aimed upwards, towards something in the sky.

"What was that?" Sonic said.

The two men's attention was drawn to the descending object, both of the looking up. Ashura followed their gaze, seeing what appeared to be a space shuttle falling towards the planet, the back completely engulfed in flames. The nose of the shuttle was pointed upwards, in an apparent attempt to make a safe landing.

"I didn't think Tails would have been able to get a shuttle ready this fast," Sonic said.

"I don't think that's your friends, Sonic," Shadow said. "There's something about it… like it's more advanced."

They watched the shuttle as it fell towards the forest. It appeared the hit the tops of the trees, rocking from the sudden impact but soon regaining a relative balance. It seemingly slid across the tops of the trees, slowly traveling out of view. After it did, all that could be heard was trees snapping loudly and the hull scratching against various branches and rocks.

An eerie silence soon fell around the shuttle. Sonic, apparently feeling uneasy about this, was the first to speak up, "Hope they're okay."

The two men outside looked off in the direction of where the shuttle had crashed. The taller, Chaos-charged man finally started walking away, heading in that direction.

"Finally," Ashura said. "He's leaving."

There was a sudden loud crash, at which everyone turned their attention to Knuckles, whom had smashed his fists into the crate he had been sitting by. Two gems, similar to the one that Shadow had showed them days earlier, fell out of the crate.

Knuckles removed his fists, pulling out two more. He then laughed to himself, saying, "That's what I thought was in here."

---

Zero examined the exterior of the crashed shuttle, with any hope of a quick return slowly vanishing. Smoke billowed from the wrecked machine as fires burned on both inside and outside of the shuttle, threatening to spread to the fallen trees and plants laying along side the shuttle. Behind the shuttle stretched a lengthy path of overturned rocks, broken branches, and burning tree limbs, as well as the remains of the right wing. Dee was running down the path, trying to put out as many of the fires as she could with her axe.

Douglas emerged from the other side, with a disappointed expression on his face. "She's a total lose," he said. "The engine was destroyed during the crash, the thrusters took too much damage when we were shot down, and, as you can see, the right wing is totally gone. There's no point in radioing for help, considering we lost all communication when we passed through that rift."

Zero nodded. "Guess there's only one thing to do; find the Mavericks and capture their shuttle, assuming they haven't destroyed it yet."

"Must I do all the work around here?" Dee said, walking back up the path towards them. "Nice to see that the men still do all the work nowadays."

"Sorry," Zero said. "We were just checking out the damage to the shuttle. Looks like we won't be leaving for awhile."

"Great," Dee replied, sounding quite irritated.

"There's another possibility," Douglas said. "On our way down, I noticed that there was a more crudely designed shuttle sitting in the clearing. It had an extremely high-energy reading emanating from it. Maybe we should check that one out."

"If by 'crudely designed' you mean 'primitive,' it'd probably be best to leave it be," Dee said. "I know there's no Maverick Hunter's code, but we shouldn't mess around with around with the development of primitive cultures. That shuttle might have been sent from another world."

"Perhaps," Zero said, "but then again we don't know what's causing the high-energy reading. We probably should at least monitor it." He turned to Douglas. "Is there any way we can tell where the Mavericks are?"

"Well," Douglas began, "we did detect two Reploid signatures in what appeared to be an old military base just before we were shot down. By my estimates," he pointed to the left of the crash path, towards the forest in the distance, "they should be over there, say, five kilometers." He pointed behind him, stating, "I think the sensors may have taken minimal damage, so I should be able to have it working within the hour. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up their signatures."

Zero nodded. "Alright. We'll start making our trek to the base. You contact us when you've finished you're repairs." He turned around, starting to walk towards the direction Douglas was pointing.

Dee watched Zero as he past her. "What about the fires?"

"We'll put them out as well go," he said coldly. "Right now, I'm more worried about the Mavericks."

"Whatever you say," she said, catching up to him. She slung her axe over her shoulder, keeping in pace with her superior.

They walked along the path for about a half hour, putting out each fire they came across. All this time, not a word was said between them.A rather unsettling silence filled the air, one at which Zero felt would give way any second.

Zero noticed that Dee wasn't the same person that he had just happened to bump into back at the spaceport. The smiling, sunny young Hunter trainee wasn't the same one who had been admiring him like a schoolgirl with a crush. She seemed more depressed and bitter, seemingly dragging her feet and barely keeping up. She was still alert, but she didn't seem like she was looking forward to showing Zero her potential like before. Zero wanted to say something, but he was afraid that he'd say the wrong thing. His little lecture to her back at the spaceport ended up making her seem even more depressed.

The path ended partway into a vast forest, which was make even more treacherous by the inclining slope of the rock and large boulders that stood in the path up to the rocky hills ahead. Almost in the middle of all this flowed a shallow stream, its banks covered by smaller rocks and pebbles, smoothed by the effects of the flowing water.

The forest was almost completely quiet, with the only sounds consisting of birdcalls, leaves rustling, and the water flowing. In some ways it felt rather eerie, as if something waited up ahead. In others, it was peaceful.

Zero stuck with the eerie feel, trying to stay ready for what awaited ahead as they pressed on. He soon reached the top of the hill, with a rather ancient-looking base far at the bottom of the hill. Trees obscured most of it, but it appeared to have an almost triangular shape to it, with a cylinder tower rising up at each point. The roof of the building came to a point at the center, which rose to about the same height as the towers.

At the top was what appeared to be an energy cannon of some type, its rusted appearance making it seem as old as the building. There was some smoke coming from it, and the tip seemed to have been melted by excessive heat. Zero assumed this was the same weapon used to bring down their shuttle, and that the Mavericks had only one shot to do so.

Zero turned around, only to see that Dee was nowhere in sight. He panicked briefly, ducking back down the hill, out of sight of the base. He drew his spare saber, readying it for battle.

He rushed down the way he came, trying to see if there was any sign of a battle. There was none, however. He stopped a moment to breath and think, trying to remember if there was anything unusual.

It soon hit him that he had heard what sounded like a waterfall in the distance some time before he had reached the top. He figured it was a long shot, but considering that there wasn't much else to go on, he went back to where he had first heard it, then followed the sound.

He finally found her, sitting on the edge of a cliff above a shallow ravine, her axe to her side as she reclined back, watching as water flowed over the edge of the high cliff on the other side. The waterfall in front of her wasn't as impressive as Angel Falls or other famous waterfalls, but still quite breathtaking.

"Here you are," Zero said, putting away his saber.

Dee was caught by surprise. "Um… Captain Zero," Dee said, looking back at him, a little embarrassed. "I was going to come back. It's just that I wanted to see what was making this sound…"

"I'm just relieved to see that you're all right," he replied. He noticed that the sadness that he had seen on her face before was seemingly replaced by one of wonder. He laughed to himself. "It's nice to see that you're feeling better."

Dee smiled. "Thanks," she said, sounding reassured. She turned back to the waterfall. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Zero shrugged. "I guess. I'll admit I really don't think I've had time to stop and admire nature."

"It's completely untouched by modern advances," she said. "Most waterfalls have some sort of machine monitoring them, watching for any chemicals that may endanger the life around it. They usually end up obscuring the view and making them lose their natural feeling."

Zero found himself admiring her in this setting. It felt strange that he was starting to fall in love again, even after all this time after Iris' death. He had promised himself never to do so, afraid that the turbulent times they existed in would only lead to heartbreak. And yet, there was something about Dee's spirit…

"What?" Dee said, looking at him, a bewildered expression on her face.

"Um… Nothing," he said, blushing with embarrassment. He cleared his throat, stating professionally, "We really have a duty we need to take care of."

Dee blushed at Zero's reaction. "Alright," she said, getting to her feet. "Let's get going then." She reached down, grabbing her axe off the ground and hoisted it onto her shoulder.

---

Nathan trudged onward through the dense forest, reluctantly following his alien captor as Shic followed a strange power source. They had to have been walking for about an hour, and Nathan was completely exhausted. He felt as if Shic was dragging him by a leash.

They had landed about a mile south of what appeared to be a space shuttle used by NASA. Shic had chosen that spot after he detected a strange energy signature coming from the shuttle as they entered orbit. He was curious about the shuttle, wondering how an Earth shuttle had made it all the way out to this area of space. Nathan could tell there was something else, but without being able to sense Shic's emotions, he couldn't be sure.

Nathan's foot hooked onto the root of a tree, causing him to fall onto his hands and knees. He felt sharp pain briefly jolt through his left hand, causing him to gasp. He sat up to examine his hand, seeing an inch-long gash on his hand just below his thump, blood slowly oozing from it.

"C'mon," Shic said. "We don't have to sit around."

Nathan slowly rose to his feet, his limbs aching from fatigue. "Can't we just stop for a second?"

"No," Shic replied flatly. "Now move, before I decide to kill you here."

Nathan sighed, then started moving again, trying to keep pace with Shic. Eventually, they came to the clearing where the shuttle sat seemingly unguarded in the distance. Nathan could barely sense someone inside, their demeanor one of annoyance, apparently irritated at something or someone.

Shic slowly moved out of the woods, far enough for someone looking in their direction to see him. He whispered back, "Does anyone see me?"

Nathan focused back on the shuttle, sensing for any change. He then shook his head.

Shic turned his attention back to the shuttle. "Good," he said quietly. "This should hopefully be easy." He slowly began to make his trek towards the shuttle. He pointed back to Nathan, solidly stating, "Stay here."

Nathan climbed out of the forest. He looked around the landscape, looking for something to lean against. Noting that there was nothing except for some trees, he practically collapsed to the ground, his body giving way.

He laid on the ground for about five minutes, the grass underneath him feeling rather comfortable, almost making him want to take a nap. He stared up into the sky, which was filled with the reddish hue from the strange nebula in the distance. The clouds were colored a near crimson red, appearing like they were blood drops in the sky. This thought made Nathan cringe, as if he knew something wasn't right about all this.

Then he felt a change in emotion from the shuttle. The occupant's emotions had become something of alarm, like if Shic had been noticed. He sat up, glancing quickly over to the shuttle, where Shic was standing near the door, about to enter. His demeanor hadn't change, still appearing overconfident about the whole situation. Nathan found himself hoping that Shic would be the one caught off-guard.

He slowly, almost unwillingly, rose to his feet, anticipating a fight. However, the occupant's emotions were those of panic, apparently not ready for a fight. As Shic vanished into the shuttle, he felt another shift in emotions, like a sudden hit of intuition.

There was a loud explosion, an energy blast shooting through the back of the shuttle. Nathan sensed the occupant's presence was gone, but it didn't feel like he had died, just as he disappeared. He felt a strong source of energy approaching his position, which he suspected was probably them.

A sudden blinding green light appeared almost directly in front of him, forcing him to shield his eyes. When it dimmed, he saw a strange red dreadlocked creature standing a little over four feet tall in front of him, a small blue gem in one spike-knuckled hand, and a much larger green diamond-shaped one standing on the ground next to him. It soon collapsed to its knees, apparently exhausted from its teleport. "I'm surprised that worked…" he said in a gruff-sounding voice.

Nathan stumbled backwards in surprise. "You're… an alien?!"

The creature glared at him briefly. "What do you mean 'alien?!'" he shouted, shaking off the fatigue. "Don't you know who I am? I'm Knuckles!"

Nathan just looked at him with a bewildered expression.

Knuckles clenched his teeth, annoyed at his reaction. However, he glared back towards the shuttle, seeing Shic slowly approaching them in a self-confident attitude. "I'll explain it to you later, just don't steal that Emerald!"

Knuckles started walking towards Shic, stretching his arms as he approached. When he was about a good twelve yards away, Knuckle made a full-speed dash at Shic, catching the alien off-guard with his near-inhuman speed. Knuckles leapt into the air, trying to land a punch at Shic's face. However, Shic sidestepped the attack, forcing Knuckles to land off-balance.

"Shoot!" Knuckles shouted, turning sharply as to not leave his back unprotected. Shic was only a foot away, prepared for Knuckles next attack. Knuckles dodged around, trying to find an opening. Seeing what he thought was one, he came in from the side, trying to land a couple of punches at Shic's midsection.

Shic instead caught Knuckles by the wrist, and with seemingly little effort, tossed him ten feet straight up into the air. He then pointed his left arm upward with his right hand on his wrist, creating the same glowing energy sphere that Nathan had apparently survived back at the McKinney place. Knuckles saw this, and went into some sort of glide, catching the air as he fell. He stayed in the air much longer than either Nathan or Shic anticipated, slowly floating downwards.

Shic fired his shot, which Knuckles was able to dodge. Trying to catch Shic by surprise, Knuckles spiraled straight down, his spiked fists acting as a virtual drill. Shic reacted accordingly, dodging out of the way as Knuckles fell. Just before Knuckle actually reached the ground, Shic spun around, connecting his heel into Knuckles' stomach, sending him reeling into a nearby boulder, crashing upside down against it.

Knuckles slid down, landing on his head. He quickly stood up, shaking off any fatigue that had hit him. Knuckles wiped the side of his mouth with his spiked glove, looking briefly at the blood that had transferred to it. "Why… I haven't even hit you…"

Nathan sensed that he had a feeling of defeat, like he had put just about all the strength he could into the fight, and yet was coming up on the losing end. He sensed hopelessness, but still a sense of determination and duty. Nathan knew that if he didn't do something, Knuckles would most likely die. He glanced over to the Emerald, wondering what there was about it that made it so dangerous…

He heard Shic say to Knuckles in a smug manner, "Is that all you have? You're no more entertaining than those humans back on Earth."

Knuckles stared at his, fatigue clearly starting to set in. "What are you talking about? You think I'm some sort of alien too?"

Shic laughed at him, an amused expression on his face. "Why, what are YOU talking about? Aren't you from some other planet? I don't recognize your race at all!"

"No," Knuckles replied. "I'm from Earth."

Nathan was a little surprised at Knuckles response. He had never seen anything like Knuckles on his planet before, but Knuckles had been surprised at his reaction when he first saw him.

Shic looked up to crimson rift that lit the planet up in a bloody glow. "Well, well," he said, "isn't THAT a revelation? Too bad I'll have to kill you and take your beloved 'Emerald' from you. As much as I'd like to explore this discovery, I really do have better things to be doing with my time."

Knuckles stood up, gathering as much strength as he could. "Fine then," he said. "I don't care if I have to die, as long as you don't get you're hands on the Emerald." Nathan sensed burning determination in Knuckles, as if he had one more trick up his sleeve.

Knuckles leapt over the boulder, making it first look like he was going to use it as someplace to hide. However, the boulder began to rise as he slowly lifted it above his head, preparing to throw it. From the way it looked to Nathan, it wasn't aimed at Shic, but at…

"Move!" Knuckles shouted to Nathan, chucking the boulder at the Master Emerald as hard as he could. Nathan quickly dodged to the left, covering his head as to protect himself from falling debris.

"I don't think so!" Shic shouted. There was a loud explosion, then the sound of rocks landing on the ground around Nathan, as well as the Emerald. A layer of dust soon covered him, as several of the rocks landed on him, some of them with sharp edges that scratched the flesh of his hands.

He looked up to see Shic's palm pointed at a spot somewhere between Knuckles and the Emerald. Dust still hovered in the air from the explosion. Rocks were scattered all around. However, the Emerald was still in one piece.

"Damn," Knuckles said, trying his hardest to stay on his feet. "You're going to make me fight this out, aren't you?" He stood straight up, trying to shake the fatigue off that was slowly taking hold. He dashed at Shic, completely unfocused at the task ahead. Shic sidestepped, then caught Knuckles by the arm, tossing him like a rag doll.

Knuckles landed on his stomach just feet from where Nathan was laying. He slowly got to his hands and knees, coughing up blood. He weakly glanced over to Nathan, then said in a low voice "I'll stall him. You have to find some way to either escape with or destroy the Emerald. You CAN'T let it fall into his hands."

Nathan looked at Knuckles, not sure what to do. He was afraid, afraid that Knuckles would end up getting killed, or that Shic would try to kill him if he did anything against him. But, he sensed that Knuckles was more afraid at what Shic would do if he had the Emerald in his possession. Reluctantly, he nodded.

Knuckles, managing a smile, slowly rose to his feet. He turned to face Shic, ready to do battle one last time if he had to. "C'mon," he muttered. "Let's end this."

Nathan got to his feet as Knuckles dashed at Shic, the mysterious red creature ready to go out in a kamikaze fashion. He slowly walked over to the Emerald, trying his best not to watch Knuckles being beaten. He quickly studied the Emerald, making the visual determination that he couldn't run with it. However, it didn't appear like it was that strong, like if it was some form of reinforced glass. He looked around for something that might shatter it.

When he did, however, he saw Knuckles fall to the ground in front of Shic, finally succumbing to exhaustion. Shic held out his hand, light gathering in his palm.

In an act of desperation, Nathan clasped his hands into a club, and with one quick motion, brought them down as hard as he could on the Emerald. Pain shot through his arms, and he swore he felt the bones of his upper arm crack under the pressure. He glanced down at the Emerald, seeing that somehow he managed to crack it.

Shic looked up, realizing that Knuckles' assault had been a ruse. "Nathan!" he shouted, pointing his hand towards him, the light still forming. "Stop right now!"

Nathan ignored the threat to his life, determined to finish what he started. He knew that either way, between Shic blasting him and him shattering the Emerald with his bare hands, that he'd be lucky if he survived. He raised his arms above his head, shutting his eyes tightly in anticipation of the pain that was to come…

He slammed his arms down on the Emerald. They made a loud, gut wrenching snap, and pain soon filled both his arms up to his shoulders. He swore he felt the air blowing against his bones as blood rushed out. He began to feel a little light headed, but more alarmingly, he felt that he could no longer move his arms.

He let out a blood-curdling scream as he opened his eyes. His arms hung in a grotesque fashion as blood dripped away rapidly through the arms of his shirt, his flesh being the only thing that kept them attached to his body. He soon collapsed face first from the overwhelming pain, futilely trying to brace himself with his arms. He felt the taste of blood is his mouth, which he instinctively gagged at. As he lay there, he soon realized something that made him breath a sigh of relief: the Emerald was no longer there.

A new light glowed above him, filling the air with a greenish glow that hardly overwhelmed the red. He was in too much pain to move from his spot, but he wondered if it was the Emerald, or, at the very least, the essence of the Emerald. It stayed there for what felt like an eternity, then, with a blink of the eye, scattered in every direction.

He heard Shic mutter something, then felt a pain in his side. He guessed that Shic had just kicked him, but the pain from his arms, as well as the rapid loss of blood, made it feel like a mere thud. He then heard him say, "It'd be a waste of time to even try to kill you. The most I can do is let you suffer through this. Once everything's said and done, I highly doubt you'll be able to use your precious limbs again."

Shic apparently walked off, leaving Nathan to suffer. After several minutes, he sensed someone approaching him. He opened his eyes, seeing Knuckles kneeling down to look at him, a disturbed expression on his face. Nathan managed a smile, saying weakly, "I did it."

Knuckles smiled back. "Good. Now relax and try not to move. I'll get help here as fast as I can."

Nathan closed his eyes, soon becoming unconscious.

---

Ashura rushed to where Shadow had found the charred remains of one of the scientists. He desperately needed to know if it was who he thought it was, and if there was any connection to his past. He felt uneasy, and he had the nagging suspicion that the past had come back to haunt him.

Sometime after they had heard the scream from one of the scientists, they, they being everyone but Knuckles, had decided to split up and explore the alien world they had landed on. They divided the "Chaos Gems" as Sonic dubbed them up between them, with Sonic, Ashura, and Knuckles each getting two while leaving Shadow with the seventh Gem – the one he had found back at the base. After that, they handed out some hand-held radios that where in the cargo bay and all headed northwards, Sonic heading northeast, Shadow heading north, and Ashura heading northwest.

It didn't take long for them to find something interesting, be it in a good light or a bad one. Sonic had been the first to discover the ruins of a city, one that appeared advanced yet simple, built with stones and clay but with indication that more advanced technology had been there at one time. Ashura found something similar, except it seemed more like a vast city that didn't destroy their trees, either relocating them or building around them. Some buildings even had the roots of the tree implanted in the sides that Ashura wondered why the buildings hadn't crumbled.

Shadow was the one to discover the scientist's body, or at least what was left. He didn't go into horrific details, just stating that the body was charred just to the point that all the details remained. There were several large metal needles in the body, each at a point where the victim would have been incapacitated rather than killed. When Shadow said he tried to remove one, he received a strong shock but not enough to kill. He speculated that the killer was able to produce electricity and was probably not human… or anything natural for that matter.

After Shadow's report, Ashura had taken off in that direction. He felt like he was just about there when Knuckles' voice broke over the hand-held radio, "Everyone… get back to the shuttle… quickly…"

Ashura slowed down, switching to a jogging pace. He felt a brief spark of angry dwell up inside of him. That useless echidna, he thought.

"Knuckles?!" he heard Sonic reply. "What happened? You don't sound so good…"

"There's no time to explain," Knuckles replied. "You'll know when you get here."

Something in the sky caught Ashura's attention, something that made him shutter. When he glanced up, he saw a number of small, green dots traveling at high speed through the trees above. One crashed into one of the trees, revealing that it was what Ashura had feared.

"Dammit!" he shouted. He quickly pressed the speak button on the radio, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Knuckles, how dare you shatter my Emerald! I knew—"

"I suggest," he heard Shadow interrupt, "that you get back here before you pass your judgment." The way Shadow put it was cold as usual, but there was a just a hint of something else in his voice: horror. It made Ashura's spines stick on end, making him afraid of what he might find.

"I'll be there in a sonic second," Ashura heard Sonic say, not at all casual and overconfident like he knew his brother to be. Did Sonic pick up on it too?

"I'm on my way," Ashura said. "Just give me a moment." He released the speak button, then glanced back up at the shard. He closed his eyes, focusing his will into the arm that was not holding the radio. He then focused it even further, condensing it into a ball of blue energy in the palm of that hand.

He opened his eyes, focusing his aim on the trunk of the tree. With one quick motion, he hurled the ball at top speed towards the tree. It connected, the impact being enough to topple it, collapsing away from Ashura. Once the tree had stopped moving, he leapt onto the trunk, rushing forwards while keeping near perfect balance, and pulled the shard out of the hole it made.

Once he had accomplished that, he jumped off, stopping a moment to take a look at his surroundings. He remembered that he had heading northeast last, trying to reach where Shadow had been. If he guessed correctly, all he had to do was head south and he should be in the clearing where they had landed within a couple minutes if he traveled at full speed.

He was about to take off when he heard the painful moans of someone close, perhaps only on the other side of the toppled tree. He turned around, leaping up and over the tree. He hadn't seen anyone when he had recovered the shard, so he decided he had better have a very quick look around.

"Ashura…" he heard Sonic say, with a hint of desperation in his voice. "We really could use your help."

Ashura brought the radio closer to his mouth, about to speak. However, he heard someone chuckle weakly, most likely behind some nearby bushes. He looked over in that direction, seeing a small pool of blood at the base of one of them.

"Stand by," he replied. He walked around the bush, soon seeing the source of the blood. A man lay behind the bush, almost near death. His entire right arm was gone, as was his lower torso. Blood was pooling all around him.

The man looked up at Ashura weakly. "Ha," he said weakly. "So, you still go by the name 'Ashura?'"

"It was the only name I remembered for the longest time," Ashura said coldly. "Professor Gadsworth,"

"I'm glad you actually remembered my name."

Ashura laughed. "Like I'd dignify you with the name we gave you." Ashura glared at him, some old hatred blazing in his eyes. "I thought I recognized you and your voice when you left the shuttle. I was really hoping you were dead."

"Disappointed, aren't you?" Gadsworth laughed weakly. "Not all of the people connected to the Project died Ashura; we're just a couple, which is exactly why we came for you."

Ashura gave him an angry look. "Why? Who told you I was still alive?!"

Gadsworth coughed, trying to clear the blood out of his throat, before continuing. "Let's just say someone's been watching you from the shadows. Once we found out about you, we began to make new plans… recreating the Project, with you being the key."

"Recreating the Project?" Ashura said, worry starting to grow. "That's what this is all about? Bringing back your damned slaughter camp?"

It was clear there wasn't much time for the Professor to tell him what he wanted to know. However, with whatever strength he had, he continued weakly, "Yes, we only went after the echidna's Emerald so that it would… end up being placed on your Island. We knew that if we took your's you'd follow, but… we didn't want to risk the Island. We had expected Sonic and maybe the echidna to follow, but the product of Project Shadow…"

Death was setting in faster than Ashura had hoped. "So you're saying this whole thing was a ruse to capture me?"

"Yes… We charged one of our old followers with the Chaos energy in hope of beating you in close combat. However… as you can see, curiosity got the best of us…"

Ashura was about to ask one more question, but Sonic's voice rang over the radio, desperately shouting, "Ashura! We need you to get back here NOW!"

Ashura sighed, realizing there was no more time to question the Professor. He turned, walking off in the direction of the shuttle. He briefly turned to look over his shoulder at the dying man, stating coldly, "Farewell, Professor. I hope you rot in Hell."

---

Zero and Dee had managed to track down one the Mavericks about a kilometer south of the base. When they found him, he was in what appeared to be some kind of sink holes. The minimum distance between the ledge above to the ground below was probably around five meters, and it became steeper nearer to the center. In the very center was a shallow pool of water.

The Maverick was what appeared to be designed to resemble a dinosaur, or, more exactly, a Velociraptor. He was facing away from them, apparently gnawing on sometime. His feet and arms were stained with blood, so it was pretty apparent that he had killed something.

Dee whispered to Zero, "I don't recall this Maverick being listed in any of the records…"
The Maverick's head rose up, catching everything Dee said. "Of course Raptor not…" it said in a rather primitive sounding voice. He slowly turned his head, looking up at the two Maverick Hunters. His entire face was covered by blood, though none of it obscured the seal on his forehead

"So, you're one of Sigma's troops?" Zero said coldly.

The Maverick bobbed his head. "Yes," he hissed, slowly turning around to face them. In his right claw, he held way appear to be a human arm, mostly gnawed apart. "Raptor called Pillaging Raptor, one of Sigma's newest 'recruits.'"

"In other words," Zero said, ignoring the limb in Raptor's claw you're like Split Mushroom and Dizzy Dark, a Maverick that Sigma designed himself."

Raptor bobbed his head again. "Yes. Raptor's purpose very simple: Raptor get closer look at rift, then report to Sigma, see if anything worth his attention. At first, nothing, but after we land, and before you arrive, another shuttle emerge from rift."

"The one that was in the clearing," Dee said, her expression pale from Raptor's apparent atrocity.

Raptor once again bobbed he head. "Yes. It had very… unique energy signature. Because of they, we decide to be cautious; didn't want to be caught off-guard." Raptor shook the detached limb at the Hunters. "Surprising, the crew of the shuttle were humans. For sport, we hunt them down, make sure they didn't survive." He dropped the limb, continuing, "But, because of arrogance, we waste time… Now, Raptor imagine its time for you to retire Raptor."

Zero drew his saber. "You bet. And considering you're out-numbered and alone, you don't have a prayer."

"Raptor see…" Raptor looked briefly at Dee, then smiled insidiously. "Unfortunately, there be three Mavericks that you end up fighting."

Dee looked startled at this statement. "What?"

Raptor chuckled. "You see, all this time, Raptor been spreading new form of the Virus. While Raptor sure Zero immune, Raptor doubt Miss Dee can withstand it. In the end, she stab you in the back."

Zero glanced over to Dee, who's expression had paled. "You're lying!" he snapped.

Raptor chuckled again. "You think so? Why don't you fight Raptor and find out!"

Zero looked back over to Dee. "I'll handle this myself," he said reassuringly. "You stay out of the way. If he is telling the truth," he turned his attention back to Raptor, trying not to look her in the eyes, "you know what to do."

Zero leapt down, preparing to do combat with Raptor. However, he didn't anticipate his opponent's speed, spotting Raptor nearly on top of him, attempting to pounce on Zero with his toe-blades. Zero put his arm up, taking damage to his right arm and dropping his saber, but avoiding any serious damage.

"Slow," Raptor snarled. "How you expect to beat Raptor then?" He dashed forwards, his mouth wide open, exposing the bloodstained knives he had for teeth.

"You're all talk," Zero said, blocking with his already damaged arm. Raptor latched onto, the blades of his teeth digging deep into the circuitry, making Zero flinch in pain. However, Raptor was already wide-open for a counter attack, which Zero promptly administered, pointing his left arm, with his Z-Buster activated, directed at Raptor's chest.

Raptor noticed this, but was stuck on Zero's armor to escape quickly. The blast hammered him hard, ripping through some the metal of his armor. It knocked him backwards, nearly ripping Zero's arm off from the wrist down.

"You right," Raptor said, spitting out a few of his damaged teeth. "Raptor cocky. Maybe distance game would serve better." He slashed his arms along the ground, creating a wave of energy that traveled along, cutting a path.

Zero thrust his saber forward, creating a huge blast of electricity as he executed his Hadangeki attack, which more than canceled Raptor's blade beam, catching him completely by surprised and flying into the back wall. "You forget," Zero said as Raptor collected himself, "that I can also play the range game."

Raptor blindly lunged forward, trying to catch Zero with his knifed mouth. Zero slashed at him horizontally, completely cutting the tips of each blade short, as well as slashing Raptor's synthetic tongue in half, his immediate reaction being a ghastly shriek.

Raptor leapt backward, spitting out the upper half of his tongue. "Damn," he muttered. "You as good as Sigma say."

"Enough talk," Zero said, pointing his saber at him. "Let's finish this."

"Nah," Raptor replied. "Raptor try to hold out."

Zero dashed forwards, taking a slash as he did. Raptor leapt over, trying to pounce on him. Zero dodged out of the way, slicing as Raptor fell, resulting in a huge gash in Raptor's leg armor.

Raptor swung his tail at Zero, which Zero ended up grabbing. With one hand, Zero tossed Raptor into the wall behind him, taking a couple of shots at him with his Z-Buster, both connecting as Raptor hit the wall.

The impact put a crater in the wall. Raptor fell to the ground, a pile of rocks falling with him and covering him. Zero knew it was too soon to assume he had defeated Raptor, so he slowly walked over to the pile.

Raptor lunged out, trying to once again catch Zero by surprise. Zero was more than ready, and impaled him with his saber. Zero didn't completely escape injury, as Raptor managed to cut a couple of deep gashes into his shoulders.

They stood there for some time, glaring at each other. Eventually, the life seemed to drain from Raptor's eyes. Satisfied with his apparent victory, Zero deactivated his saber, letting Raptor's limp body fall to the ground.

"Captain!" he heard Dee cheer from the ledge above. He turned to see her, smiling at him.

"Call me Zero, alright?" he responded. "Any ill effects?"

She shook her head. "No, I feel fine. I think he was only bluffing."

Zero nodded. "Alright. We should go hunt the other one down."

He had begun walking back to where Dee was standing on the ledge above when he noticed a sudden change in her expression. "Zero!" she shouted, pointing to where Raptor was laying.

There was a sudden bright green flash, lighting up everything around him. He quickly turned around as the light dimmed. "What?!" he said, as he gaped in disbelief at what stood behind him.

Pillaging Raptor was once again standing, a dim green aura surrounding him, while he held a green gem shard in his claw. His stance was one that seemed rather feral in nature, his eyes carrying an empty crazed look. He seemed to be smiling at Zero with a maniacal expression.

Raptor laughed. "It good thing Raptor had backup." He held out his claw with the shard in it, pointing it towards Zero. "Raptor not mention Raptor found number of these. Not sure what they are, but what a rush! Raptor can feel power pulsing through, one that Raptor never felt before. Raptor feel the power to destroy you… and entire planet!"

Raptor seemingly absorbed the shard that he had, then lunged forward at an incredible speed, one that Zero hadn't been ready for. Zero tried to leap out of the way, but found Raptor's claws digging into his leg. With one quick gesture, he found himself tossed into a nearby wall, putting a crater of his own in it.

Zero hit the ground and quickly leapt to his feet, ready to counter attack. However, he couldn't see Raptor anywhere, though he felt an immense power surge nearby. This surge soon transformed into Raptor, using blinding speed to catch Zero totally by surprise.

Zero put his arms up, trying his best to block the incoming attack. He soon felt pain shooting through his already damaged right arm. Sparks began shooting out of the huge gashes, the cuts going so deep that he lost any use of his right arm from the elbow down.

Zero tried to counter attack with his left arm, but ended up missing, his saber merely slicing through an illusion. Raptor reappeared in that same exact spot, delivering a head butt to the damaged Hunter, the concussive force knocking Zero's head back into the wall behind him and cracking the blue triangular jewel on his helmet.

Pain shot through Zero's midsection as Raptor stabbed him in the stomach with his clawed hand. Zero could tell the damage was severe, but just missed the fusion tank. Zero tried to slice at Raptor again, but Raptor blocked him with his is open claw.

"Zero!" he heard Dee cry from above.

Raptor laughed, looking him straight in the eyes. "How it feel to be losing to low-level Sigma pawn, Hunter?"

"Dammit," Zero groaned, "I can't die yet. Not here."

"Sorry," Raptor said, "but retirement come for you. How—"

Raptor suddenly disappeared, removing his claw for Zero at near impossible speed. Zero suddenly saw Dee dropped down in front of him, her axe slicing vertically, cutting a shallow grove into the ground. "Shit!" she muttered as she landed. She looked around, trying to figure out where her opponent went.

Raptor seemingly materialized on the other side of the pit. "Raptor torment further, but just receive call from subordinate; someone Raptor should meet." His craws started glowing with energy. With is quick motion, he sliced the ground, creating a huge wave of energy that torn the ground apart as it traveled slowly towards them.

Zero was too weak to move. "Looks like I'm finished," he said to Dee. She looked back at him, fear and sadness on her face. "When you see X next, tell him he's on his own…"

A determined expression appeared on Dee's face as tears started rolling down her cheeks. Without a word, she stabbed her axe down into the ground. The blade started glowing, creating a field of energy in front of them. "Even if this doesn't stop the wave," she said, "it should save you."

"Dee, forget me! Save yourself!"

"Sorry," she said, "but if I indeed go Maverick, I don't want to fight you in the future." She paused, the wave of energy just inches away from them. "Farewell…"

Zero saw the wave hit her at full force. There was a brief, bright flash, then everything went dark.

---

Ashura reached the clearing where the shuttle had landed within minutes of his last contact with Sonic. At first, he didn't see anything that seemed out of the ordinary with the exception of Knuckles sitting on the ground, leaning back upon the shuttle as he rested. After studying his surroundings for a matter of seconds, he realized that there was more wrong with this picture.

He noticed Sonic pacing in the distance, with what appeared to be some sort of tent set up nearby. "Sonic!"

Sonic looked over in the direction Ashura was coming from. He waved, and shouted, "Ashura! Come over here!"

There was something unsettling about Sonic's demeanor, the usual upbeat personality replaced by something less welcoming. Ashura rushed over at his top speed, worried about what could cause such a sudden change. It didn't take long for him to find out what.

A human boy was lying on his stomach, his face turned to the left, covered by a blanket that someone had taken out of the shuttle. Ashura could barely see his right arm, but it was sitting in an unnatural position. His skin was pale, possibly from a massive loss of blood. The "tent" that was set up around him was actually monitoring equipment, keeping tabs on his vitals, which were just barely above critical.

"What happened?" Ashura said, feeling his face pale.

"Dunno," Sonic said. "But from what Knuckles told Shadow, HE'S the one who shattered the Emerald."

Ashura glanced at the boy's limb body, noticing a brief shiver. "HE did what? How? Just who is he?"

"Nathan's apparently his name," Sonic said. "We don't know how he got here, but our guess is that he came with whoever wanted the Emerald."

Ashura walked over, then knelt down next to him. He lifted the edge of the blanket up, seeing for himself the extent of the boy's injuries. He felt his face pale at the gruesome sight, but also noticed that the bleeding apparently had stopped. "Did anyone try to stop his bleeding?" he asked, slowly putting the blanket down.

Sonic nodded. "Knuckles tried to, considering his condition. Whatever he couldn't do, Shadow did, though, from what he said, he didn't know if he could do anything about his arms." Sonic paused, then, apparently noting Shadow's absence, added, "Shadow took off looking for the Emerald Shards. He says that, even if it sounds cold, that recovering the Master Emerald should be top priority." Sonic then looked at Nathan, saying, "I couldn't just leave him here alone like this."

Ashura sighed. "That's alright. I think I'd do the same thing." He stood up, looking off in the distance. "It'd be best if one of stays here anyways, just in case he wakes up. The last thing he should have to experience is dying alone."

"Ashura," Sonic said, surprised and disturbed to hear him say something like that, "you're not saying-"

"I don't think there's anything either one of us can do," Ashura said coldly. He sighed, closing his eyes. Was that true? Was there nothing he could do?

Sonic sighed, a look of hopelessness crossing his face. "Fine, I'll stay here. When Knuckles comes to, I'll send him out looking for the shards as well."

Ashura nodded, then took off. He didn't know why he decided to let Sonic stay. He wondered if the encounter with the Professor had made him not want to be around death.

Sonic continued pacing, uncertain on what he should do. He felt so awkward by this whole situation, and about how everyone had been acting. On top of that, he was angry at himself, for being so excited to explore this alien world and not worrying about the safety of the Emerald. Now, Knuckles was beaten to a near pulp, and Nathan, a kid that he never met before who put his life on the line to protect the Emerald, was now barely hanging onto life.

He heard a quiet moan, which snapped his attention back to reality. He looked over to where Shadow had set up the monitoring equipment, noting that Nathan's eyes were open, his stare was rather vacant. Nathan appeared to try to get up, but quickly stopped due to the lack of strength in his body.

"Hey," Sonic said, rushing over to his side, "you shouldn't move in your condition; you might end up hurting yourself more."

Nathan did his best to look up at Sonic. "Like that matters," he said weakly.

Sonic smiled weakly. "Yeah, guess you're right."

Nathan smiled back. "You know, you shouldn't blame yourself for this. Its not your fault."

Sonic looked at him surprised. "How'd you know that?"

"I sensed it," Nathan replied. "I guess you could say I'm a bit of a telepath… well, Shic would probably put it that I'm an empath…"

"I see," Sonic said. He sat down, trying to give Nathan some company. "This Shic… was he the guy who beat up Knuckles?"

Nathan nodded weakly. "Yeah. He kidnapped me from Earth… well, MY Earth. I'm not exactly sure why." Nathan shivered a little, then muttered, "I feel so cold…"

"You lost a lot of blood," Sonic replied. "Knuckles and Shadow tried their best to stop it, though they weren't able to do anything about your arms."

"I know… I can't move them…" Nathan paused, staring blankly at the ground. "Am I… going to die?"

Sonic's immediate response would have been to say that he wouldn't, but he know that Nathan would simply see through the lie. "I wish I could say."

Nathan smiled weakly. "That's alright." He paused, his mind thinking of something. "All I really wish is to know she's okay…"

"Who's okay?" Sonic asked, trying to keep Nathan with it. However, he noticed that Nathan's stare had gone totally vacant, and that it appeared that he had stopped breathing. "No…"

Sonic panicked, not sure about what to do. He swore he could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he grabbed for his radio. "Ashura, Shadow… I think he's going…" Sonic quickly scanned the monitoring equipment, noticing that he hadn't flat-lined yet.

"Sonic…" he heard Shadow say, trying to reassure him. "There's nothing you can do…"

Sonic suddenly felt a warm, reassuring hand on his shoulder, and then heard a woman's voice softly say, "Maybe there's something I can do…"

---

Zero walked back down the path to the shuttle, staring blankly down at the ground, an expression of disgrace and sadness on his face. His auto repair systems had managed to repair most of the severe damage to Zero's internal systems, but the external damage would take longer to repair… as well as his will to fight.

When he had come to, he found Dee, or what was left of Dee, lying on top of him. The blast managed to destroy practically everything below her chest, as well as ruptured her fusion tank, making any real hope of repair impossible. Somehow, her axe had managed to survive the blast, though it was severely scorched.

Zero had taken her to the waterfall that she had been admiring, placing her remains almost directly underneath the rushing water, allowing her to have some peace. He figured that this would have probably been what she wanted.

He was afraid something like this was going to happen. He felt as if part of him had died, the same feeling he had when he was forced to destroy Iris so long ago. He was angry at himself and enraged at Sigma, but he felt that most of his will was gone, no longer wanting to fight this damned war.

Douglas saw Zero walking towards the shuttle and waved to him. There was a grim expression on his face as well, as if he knew what had happened.

"You all right?" Douglas asked, trying to sound supportive.

"Yeah," Zero lied. He just looked blankly away, his mind looking back at the battle.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been any help back there. I managed to fix the sensors, but the Mavericks had placed some kind of jamming field around the area. I couldn't get through."

There was a bit of an uneasy silence between them. Finally, Zero said, "Its not you're fault. I got cocky and tried to take out Raptor on my own, not knowing what tricks he had up his sleeve." He looked back down the path, thinking about those weird shards that Raptor had held out like some spoiled child. "I really would like to know what that was he used to best us…"

"You mean this?" Douglas said, catching Zero's attention. Zero looked over to see Douglas holding up a green gem shard like Raptor had.

"Where'd you get that?"

"It fell a few meters from here," Douglas said. "I had to go out of my way to retrieve it. I haven't quite figured out what it is, though my guess is that its part of whatever we detected back at that clearing."

Zero took it from Douglas and examined it for himself. To the observer, it just seemed like a broken piece of transparent stone. However, he felt a strange power pulsing from it, one that he knew he could use.

"Incredible," Zero muttered. "If we could get more of these, we may have a chance to stop Raptor… or even Sigma for that matter."

Douglas nodded with a concerned look on his face. "Perhaps. But the same could be said for us Maverick Hunters, and even the entire Reploid and human population if these were to fall in the wrong hands."

Zero sighed. "You're right. Guess I'm too concerned with trying to find some way to get revenge for what he did to Dee." He handed the shard back to Douglas. "So the next order of business is to recover as many of these shards as we can before the Mavericks do, fight them for the rest, then find some way of destroying them."

Douglas nodded. "Precisely." He walked into the shuttle, saying from inside, "And the nearest shards located…" There was a pause, after which Douglas added, "Oh dear…"

"What?!" Zero said. "Is it one of the Mavericks?!"

"I can't say, but there's a large concentration of energy approaching us fast!"

Zero felt a strong energy surge coming from the edge of the forest in the distance, making him reach back for his saber. The rate it was approaching made him believe that it was without a doubt Raptor, but instead of feeling rage at this, he found himself feeling a sense of hopelessness. It was if he knew there was no way he could win.

He tried his best to shake off this feeling, trying to stay focused to the task at hand. He glanced back, looking to see if Douglas had left the shard where he could get at it.

He quickly turned his attention back to the oncoming threat, which felt like it was just in front of him. However, as was quiet surprised, and a little relieved, to see that it wasn't Raptor, but a short green and black furred creature standing about a meter tall coming to a halt meters away. The expression on the creature's face echoed his, though it to be more determined.

The creature pointed the end of a metal staff at Zero. "Who are you?!" he shouted.

Zero saw that the creature was ready for a battle, one, which he wasn't sure he could win. "My name is Zero," he said diplomatically, keeping his hand ready to draw his saber if needed. "I'm a Reploid working for the Maverick Hunters on the planet of Earth."

"Earth?!" the creature said. "You're lying. I've never heard of Reploids or the

Maverick Hunters!"

"What are you talking about? I've never seen anything like you on Earth before." Zero gripped his saber even tighter, knowing that his attempt at diplomacy was going nowhere. "Just what are you anyways?"

"I'm a member of the Hedgehog race. They call me Ashura."

Zero laughed bitterly. "You must be one badly mutated hedgehog to be wandering around like that." Zero glared at him. "So then, what is it you're after?"

"I want that Emerald shard you have in your shuttle," Ashura said, being to the point.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I want the one's you have. There's a Maverick on this planet who took someone from me with some of those shards, so I need them to retire him."

"I don't believe you." Ashura tightened his grip on his staff, obviously preparing to strike.

"Then this is getting nowhere." Zero drew his saber, taking up a defensive stance. "Shall we get this over with?"

Zero knew that this would end up being another one-sided fight. Ashura's first move had been a rushing attack, aiming the tip of his staff at Zero's midsection. The speed of the attack was more than Zero imagined, and he barely managed to avoid it.

Against a robotic opponent who was standing directly in front of him, his normal course of action would be to try slashing. He did just that against Ashura, but in mid swing realized that he'd most like end up killing the green creature. He ended up aiming a lot higher with his saber, not even grazing the top of Ashura's top spine.

Ashura looked a little puzzled, but without hesitation hammered Zero's chin with the metal staff, catching him off-guard but failing to knock him off-balance. Realizing that there weren't too many moves he had against a non-robotic enemy, Zero tried more physical attacks, spinning around while trying to backhand Ashura. However, Ashura dodged it with ease, using his awkward size and incredible speed to his advantage. Frustrated, Zero spun back around, trying to hit Ashura with a high roundhouse kick, which was dodged as well.

Ashura was still practically in front of him, and used Zero's unbalanced stance to his advantage. With surprising strength, he swung his staff at Zero's leg, managing to completely throw him off-balance and sending him crashing to the ground.

As soon as he hit the ground, Zero saw Ashura in the air above him, trying once again the land a hit at Zero's stomach with his staff. He caught it in midair, and tried to hurl the staff in away with Ashura still clinging to it. However, he found the throw too easy, soon seeing Ashura land nearby unarmed.

Zero quickly rose to his feet, only to be practically knocked back down, feeling something heavy hit his chest. He looked over to see Ashura standing off in the distance, holding what appeared to be a blue ball of light in his right hand. Ashura then quickly pitched it, Zero managing to dodge out of the way in time. As soon as he looked back up, he saw that Ashura was charging yet another ball of blue energy.

Zero soon realized that the hedgehog had changed his strategy and was now attacking from a distance. He activated his damaged Z-Buster, hoping that it didn't pack quite the punch as it had before. With Ashura in his sights, he fired one quick shot. When Ashura dodged that blast, he fired another, hoping that he'd hit him.

But Ashura was way too fast. Zero had barely enough time to blink before receiving another one of Ashura's energy spheres, this time hitting him squaring in the face, and after that, saw the blur of Ashura's blue shoe connect with his jaw, the kick so surprisingly powerful that it knocked Zero away, landing face down on the ground.

Zero looked up to see Ashura pointing his palm at his face, a burning sphere of what looked like fire growing in his hand. He clenched his fists in frustration, angry at the feeling of hopelessness that was filling him.

He was about to admit defeat when he heard someone call over a hand-held communicator that Ashura had been carrying, "Ashura, this is Shadow. I've recovered three of the Emerald shards, but I can't seem to find any more."

The flaming sphere in Ashura's palm dimmed. He pulled out the radio from the pack on his back, replying, "I've recovered three as well and am in the process of recovering the fourth. According to this 'Reploid' I'm fighting, there's a 'Maverick' who should have a few."

"Alright," Shadow replied. "I'll keep a lookout for this 'Maverick.' Any idea what he looks like?"

Ashura glared at Zero, his gaze demanding an answer. Zero, who was really in no position to negotiate, replied, "He looks like a robotic dinosaur, about the height of a man. His main method of attack seems to be the blades on his hands and feet, especially the ones on his big toes, and he's incredibly fast. He's covered in blood, apparently from killing some human on this planet…"

Zero noticed that Ashura seemed to realize something with that last part. However, Shadow answered him instead, stating, "Copy that, over and out."

Zero rose to his feet, then turned to Ashura. "Do you believe me now?"

Ashura looked at him, surprised. "What?"

"You seem have realized something when I mentioned that the Maverick was bloodstained."

"Err… nothing," Ashura replied. He turned back to Zero, taking up his offensive stance. "Well then, where-"

"You can have your damn shard," Zero said, turning around to head back to the shuttle. "It seems that we're on same side."

Zero heard Ashura say, "What do you mean 'same side?'"

Zero was about to reply, but Douglas interrupted, shouting, "Zero! The jamming field cleared around that base, but the Mavericks are nowhere in sight!"

"What?!" Zero replied, rushing over to the shuttle. Inside, Zero stood next to where Douglas was sitting, glaring at the scanner's displays. "Where the hell are they?!"

"'THEY?!'" he heard Ashura say behind him, apparently also viewing the displays. "You're telling me there are TWO of them?!"

Zero was about to snap at the hedgehog when Douglas pointed a strange blip out. "There!" He quickly typed on the keyboard in front of him, bringing up a few new windows. "They're apparently on this ship… but, there's no record of any type of ship like this in our database."

"We'd better try to go after them," Zero replied. "How's their shuttle?"

Douglas typed a bit more, bringing up a new window, which he frowned at. "Totaled; they don't want to be followed."

Zero muttered quietly to himself, "Raptor did say his subordinate had met someone that he needed to meet…" He turned to Ashura, who apparently had heard exactly what he'd said, "Does you're shuttle fly?"

He shook his head. "No. Some freak blasted a hole in the side of it, and everyone who probably had any skill at repairing it is more than likely dead."

"It wouldn't be any good anyways," Douglas responded. "It's a more primitive design anyways and…" He looked back at the display, then shouted, "There's another ship almost on top of us!"

"Is that any way to treat our new ride?" Zero heard someone say outside the shuttle. He turned to see a blue creature that looked similar to Ashura standing outside the entrance to the shuttle, a large shadow looming over him and the surrounding area.

"Sonic," Ashura said, "what's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way," Sonic replied. "Right now, we should get aboard, especially if we want to recover the rest of the Master Emerald."

---

Place: Unknown

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Am I dead?

Nathan slowly awoke to the ambiance of what sounded like health monitoring equipment. As he opened his eyes, a bright white light blinded him, making him blink several times before his eyes could adjust. He was lying in a bed with a stiff mattress and itchy blankets, though it more comfortable than the chair that Shic had forced him to sleep in for two days.

He felt really weak, the memory of him smashing the Master Emerald quickly coming back to him. He found himself trying to feel if his limbs were still attached, and was surprised to find that he had the use of his arms again, though he felt a unusually flexible cast covering where his arms had broken.

He didn't sense much in the way of emotions. The most he could make out was maybe four or five sources in the nearby area, with two of them being in the immediate room. The closest source was one of relief, probably glad to know that Nathan survived. The other, which was a little further away, also had a sense of relief, though there were hints of anger and shame.

Nathan slowly sat up, feeling a brief sensation of dizziness hit him. "So, you're awake," he heard a familiar voice say, one which he recognized to be the blue creature that had stayed with him. "You probably shouldn't push yourself too hard; you might actually end up injuring yourself this time."

Nathan looked around the room, studying his surroundings. It seemed like a standard sci-fi medical bay; tan-colored walls with a number of beds lined up against the walls with monitoring equipment around them lit up with rather dim lighting, though he attributed that to these beds not being in use considering how well the area he was at was lit. There were chairs near some of the beds, with one of the one's nearest to him taken by the strange blue creature from earlier. He was the one who was relieved to see he was alive.

Off by the door, the creature he recognized as Knuckles was leaning against the wall, with arms crossed and looking down at the ground with his eyes closed. He seemed to be in better shape than Nathan had seen him last, but Nathan knew that he was angry himself, probably for making him shatter the Emerald and nearly getting him killed. He looked up briefly, smiling a bit in relief that Nathan was all right.

Nathan took a look at his arms, seeing the strange cast better in proper light. It didn't seem like anything fancy, though the fact that it gave him more flexibility than other casts impressed him. He noticed that his hands were covered with small bandages, probably from all the scraps he had received during his little "hike" with Shic. He also noticed that he had received yet another wardrobe change, with what appeared to be part of a hospital gown replacing the bland uniform top, which had undoubtedly become blood-soaked.

"Where am I?" he found himself asking, not really seeming to be directing the question at anyone.

"You're on the Halley's Comet," the blue creature said. "Her captain picked us up and brought us here. Going timing too, considering you began slipping away just before she got there."

Nathan thought back to before they had arrived on the planet, about the ship that was pursuing them and how the ship's captain was apparently a human woman. He guess this must have been that ship. Still, he was a little surprised to not the captain here.

A more urgent thought crossed his mind. "Where's Shic?"

The creature shrugged. "He's about two hours ahead of us, and the way it appears, he's getting further ahead. He got his hands on about half of the Emerald you smashed, and teamed up with a couple of homicidal robots. We're not sure what that Chunkisoupa's out to get, but it can't be good."

Nathan felt another presence approaching the room, making him turn his attention to the door. He felt a sense of determination, but also a lot of worry. There was also the underlying sadness and loneliness he had sensed a day or so earlier, making him immediately assume it was the captain.

The door slid open and a woman, dressed in a profession yet slim and brightly colored uniform, walked in carrying several sets of uniforms. She was probably in her early to mid twenties, a lot younger than Nathan expected for a captain of an alien spacecraft. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and deep brown eyes, which bore a determined look that hid the pain she had to endure well. Nathan imaged that, if Mike was here, the first thing out of his mouth would probably been something along of the lines of her being "hot."

"That's 'Chellosua,' Sonic," she said, apparently having overheard part of the conversation. She then looked at Nathan, asking politely, "So, how are you feeling?"

Needless to say, Nathan age-old weakness seemed to kick in here. He found himself growing a little nervous, and he swore he felt his face turning red, even though he wasn't sure if he could in his weakened condition. The captain's expression seemed to mirror his, though she quickly tried to ignore it.

"'Shy' I believe is the answer, Captain Halley," Sonic said sarcastically.

The captain cleared her throat, then reached her hand out. "My name is Halley, captain of this ship. I'm afraid that I don't have a last name, at least none that I can remember. You're Nathan…"

Nathan nervously shook her hand, still a like embarrassed about his reaction. "Nathan Mathios."

She nodded. "Sonic told me what you said to him about you're current situation. I'll do what I can to get you back home to Earth, but right now the priority is to stop Shic from using his half of this 'Master Emerald' for harm." She handed him the uniforms, saying, "I went ahead and retrieved a new set of clothes for you. I was sure about the sizes, and I'm afraid they lack some style, but it seemed you need a change in attire."

"Yeah," Sonic added, "you haven't changed in two days. Everyone on the ship's complaining that they could smell you all the way to the bridge!"

"That's enough, Sonic," Halley said seriously, though she was clearly amused. "Anyways, I'll be heading back the bridge. Sonic will wait outside of the med-bay just in case you need any help or if you'd like to get out and look around." She looked at Sonic, saying, "Right Sonic?"

Sonic just shrugged. "Well, I never volunteered, but, hey, its not like I got anything better to do."

She looked back at Nathan, saying, "If you need anything, I'll be on the bridge."

Nathan just nodded nervously.

She smiled at him, then turned and walked towards the door. Knuckles looked up, then pushed off the wall. "If you're looking for me, I'll probably be on the bridge as well. Ashura and I are trying to keep an eye on that 'Zero' character. It'd be best if you avoided him; he wasn't too happy to find out you were the one who shattered the Emerald." Knuckles then followed Halley out.

Nathan sighed, then said, "Something really bad happened."

Sonic frowned at him, then just said, "You shouldn't worry about that right now. You probably have enough on your mind already." He started walking to the door, then paused. He looked back, whispering, "But just between you and me, I think the captain's got a crush on you."