Sonic The Hedgehog - Chaos on Mobius
6th Saga: The Mucho Grande Egg-cellent Saga
Episode 132
Chapter Fourteen: Emerald Hunt (Part Seven - Enter the Construction Zone)
The following takes place over two of the three days the Freedom Fighters were searching for Sonic and six of the seven Chaos Emeralds...
Not long after Amy, TodStar and Sally left GUN HQ, everyone else got started on building their new fleet, while Commander Tower brought Shadow, Rouge & Omega into the briefing room.
"Team Dark, I have a mission for the three of you." Tower began, peaking Rouge's interest, while Shadow and Omega both looked uninterested. "As you know, Nicole of the Freedom Fighters is helping us complete our new fleet. And in return, we are building them a formidable battleship of their own." Tower then showed the blueprints to Team Dark via hologram. "But as stated before, this craft will need all of the energy it can get to indeed be formidable in battle, and just one measly Chaos Emerald isn't going to cut it..." The hologram then switched from the ship to a large green gem, that made Rouge's eyes sparkle. "I need the three of you to convince the Guardian of Angel Island to let us borrow the Master Emerald."
"And if that doesn't work, can we steal it?" Rouge asked, making Shadow elbow her in the arm. "Just asking! Sheesh..."
"Should you fail to persuade the Guardian, return here for a Freedom Fighter to assist you in negotiations." Tower replied, making all of Team Dark nod in response. "We don't have much time for failure, people. Dr. Eggman could attack at any moment, looking for the Gizoid."
"Then surely one of us should stay here to protect her." Suggested Shadow, making Tower think.
"Good point. Omega, you stay here to protect Nicole at all costs." Tower ordered, making Omega salute.
"AFFIRMATIVE." The robot responded. "THE GIZOID SHALL REMAIN UNTOUCHED BY EGGMAN!"
"Very good. Dismissed." Said Tower, making the three leave the briefing room, but Omega went in a different path than Shadow & Rouge.
As Shadow & Rouge made their way towards the elevator, a concern entered Shadow's mind, unaware that Rouge was no longer walking alongside him.
"I hope you don't have plans to steal the Master Emerald, Rouge. Because I'd like to complete a mission by the book for once." He said, before realizing that Rouge was far behind him... and also looked frozen! "...Rouge?" Shadow then looked around, and noticed that everyone and everything around him -even a falling tennis ball- had stopped moving! "What's going on here?" Suddenly, the culprit appeared before Shadow; It appeared to be a tall, grey Mobian that could not be identified, as his head was cloaked by a hood, but his green eyes seemed to be glowing through the hood's shade. This Mobian was also wearing a white coat with black lining, white pants and grey shoes. Strangely enough, Shadow recognize this Mobian... "You again..."
"Shadow..." Said the Mobian. "I am grateful that you did what I asked of you all those years ago. But now I have returned to give you a warning..."
"Warning? What about?" Before the strange Mobian could respond, two other strange creatures appeared from a void of light; These creatures appeared to be purple bug-like robots with red eyes. Seeing these, the Mobian panicked.
"No, not now!" He exclaimed. "Shadow, should you desire to heed my warning, you must protect me from those Genesect!"
"Hmph, fine." Grumbled Shadow, before ramming into both Genesect with his Homing Attack, reducing both bug-bots into shards of nothingness. Seeing Shadow's actions, the cloaked Mobian sighed with relief.
"Thank you, Shadow." He said with gratitude. "My temporal abilities prevent me from performing my defensive capabilities until I have cemented myself within a time period."
"I see. Now out with it. What are you travelling through time to warn me about?" It was then that the Mobian slowly approached Shadow and leant down so his mouth would be close to Shadow's ear.
"There are traitors amongst the Guardian Units of the Nations, Shadow..." He told the Ultimate Lifeform, who seemed somewhat startled by the news. "Traitors who threaten our very Mobianity..."
"Traitors? Mind telling me who they are?" Before the Mobian could respond, two more Genesect appeared on opposite sides of him, and dragged him back through the void! When the Genesect disappeared with the Mobian, the time-flow was restored, allowing everyone and everything around Shadow to move again.
"Hey! Since when could you use Chaos Control within HQ?" Asked Rouge as she caught up to Shadow, who looked deep in thought. "Shadow? You OK?"
"I'm fine." Shadow replied as he revealed the purple Chaos Emerald while he and Rouge emerged from the exit of GUN HQ. "Chaos Control!" Suddenly, Shadow & Rouge appeared in a forest-like area.
"Tikal's Forest. We've got a bit of a walk ahead of us..." Rouge pointed out as she started walking through the land, before realizing that she was leaving Shadow in his thoughts. "You comin' Shadow?"
"Go ahead, I'll catch up." Shadow replied, making the bat shrug before moving forward, leaving Shadow behind to think. "(Traitors... within GUN? It can't be... he was right about the Gizoid, but... can I trust him? Again?)" Still pondering what happened while he was frozen in time, Shadow caught up to Rouge as they made their way into Angel Island...
Meanwhile, Commander Abraham Tower approached the young Overlander Hope Kintobor, who was helping out with the project laid out for GUN and the Freedom Fighters.
"Hope, you should take a break, sweetheart. You look exhausted." He told the girl, noticing the sweat pouring from her head.
"I can't do that, sir." Hope replied, after wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I have to do this to help my friends, the Freedom Fighters. They gave me a home, they gave me knowledge, and they gave me their friendship. Giving them an edge against the Eggman Empire is the least I can do to repay them." Commander Tower then snapped his fingers towards one of the two women in GUN uniform behind him.
"Are you saying you don't even want to spend time with an old friend?" When Hope looked up, she saw an Overlander woman that she was familiar with, and it made her smile.
"Amanda!" Exclaimed Hope as she gave the woman a hug.
"Hello, Hope." Captain Amanda Tower said to Hope as she hugged the girl back. "C'mon, have a break to catch up with me, and let Regina here take over." Hope looked at the other woman, and there was something about her that she didn't like; This woman had green hair and lipstick, and she appeared to be wearing the armor of a GUN robot. Despite this, Hope left the lab with Amanda, leaving Abraham and Regina with plenty of other GUN workers, GUN robots... and Nicole.
"C'mon Abe... give me the order, and you'll get one of your ships ready for launch by the end of the day!" Regina told Commander Tower.
"*sigh* Fine, use your techy-magic or whatever." Tower replied.
"(It's Technomancy, you moron.)" Regina thought, before a faint grey aura suddenly appeared around her as she raised her hands. At that moment, that same aura surrounded all of the GUN robots in the room. With a smirk on her face, Regina then thrusted her hands at the empty space before her, making all of the GUN robots fly towards the empty space with large pieces of metal in their hands. Commander Tower was impressed to see that the GUN robots within the area were building the airship a lot faster than the Overlander workers could!
"Very impressive, Ms. Ferrum." He pointed out, but Regina seemed to be struggling.
"There's still one robot within this room that resists my control..." She pointed out. "If I had my scepter, my Technomagic would be MUCH stronger!"
"Build my fleet, THEN you'll get your scepter back." Tower replied as he walked away. The robot that resisted Regina's control was none other than Nicole! The aura of Technomancy was around the Gizoid, but it wasn't affecting her like the GUN robots.
"(I'm glad Hope gave me one of those Power Rings before we left Freedom HQ...)" Nicole thought as she continued on a different project with the Overlander workers. "(Still... I'd like to know where that disturbance in my data input is coming from...)"
Late that night, Shadow & Rouge had made their way to the abandoned Launch Base on Angel Island, which was very quiet, making both Mobians sneak around the place. It was much easier for Rouge, since she could fly. Shadow on the other hand, started taking out some of the remaining Badniks in the area. However when Shadow came close to one of them, he noticed something odd about it...
"*bzz* Shadow, are you gonna stop everytime you have an epiphany? *bzz*" Asked Rouge via radio.
"There's something about these robots that seems different..." Shadow pointed out as he looked at the Badnik that seemed to be linked to the other he had destroyed. It appeared to be an Orbinaut attached to a Ribot. Shadow was completely unaware of another floating robot hiding nearby, that pulled out a blaster from the canister on its back, and took aim at Shadow. "It looks like these have been repurposed..."
"Shadow, look out!" Rouge shouted as she dove down towards her friend. Just as the robot fired, Rouge got in the way just before the blast hit Shadow, knocking the bat unconscious!
"Rouge?" Exclaimed Shadow, before he picked Rouge up. He then spotted smoke emerging from the darkness. "Grr... I don't have time for this..." Shadow then carried Rouge out of the Launch Base, allowing the robot to enter the room he was hiding behind.
"Madam Relic, despite my distaste for violence, I have driven the intruders away from the Launch Base." The robot stated to a young, blue Mobian pika wearing purple spectacles, a light-brown jacket over her black skin-tight bodysuit, a light-brown backpack, light-brown gloves and matching boots.
"What good does that do ME, now that our Badnik Cable has been destroyed?!" She snapped at the robot, before immediatly looking guilty. "*sigh* I'm sorry. It's just so frustrating, because I'm this close to a breakthrough!"
"Not to worry, madam..." The robot replied, before pulling out a hammer and holding it above its head. "I CAN FIX IT!"
"Yes, thank you, Fixit." Said Relic, looking at the screen on her laptop, which had static for a few seconds before flickering a black-and-white picture of what appeared to be two echidnas -one male, one female- reaching out to each other. "What could this mean? That's what I came to this island to find out..." Neither Relic nor Fixit knew of two other Badniks in the area who had spotted them...
"Ping! Ping-Ping!" Exclaimed the bomb-shaped Badnik.
"Yes, I know." The larger Badnik replied. "We shall contact the Chaotix after that Gizoid-like robot returns."
At that moment back in GUN HQ, Commander Tower was in the shooting gallery, firing a gun at a picture of Dr. Eggman, when Captain Tower arrived.
"Ahh, Amanda." Exclaimed Abraham. "Has Hope gone back to work?"
"No, sir." Amanda replied. "She's sleeping in Mr. Prower's room, along with the Seedrian." It was at that moment that the GUN captain decided to speak up. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"...Granted."
"Why have you placed Hope amongst the Mobians on your list?" This made Abraham stop shooting, and turn towards Amanda.
"Because she trusts them with her life. That is something I cannot -and WILL NOT- condone. Now when the time comes, can I count on my own living relative to complete her part of the mission?" Amanda had a quick think before responding.
"*sigh* Yes, sir. You can."
"All right, then. With Regina behind construction, I expect our new ship to be ready at dawn. And I also expect you to captain it. Understood?" It was then that Amanda stood to attention.
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Very good. Dismissed." After Amanda left, Abraham held his gun close to his head as he reloaded it. "Once he's out of the way, we can focus on our real problem..." Abraham then fired his gun at a fresh new picture of Mammoth Mogul, which shot right through the center of the picture's forehead!
Meanwhile, Shadow & Rouge had just arrived at the Mushroom Hills of Angel Island, when Shadow sensed something unusual...
"What is it?" Asked Rouge.
"I sense... Chaos Energy..." Shadow exclaimed, unaware that he and Rouge were being watched. "And it's close..." Suddenly, a ninja star was thrown at the two Mobians, but Shadow warped them out of harm's way with Chaos Control! "Chaos SPEAR!" Shadow threw an arrow of Chaos Energy at where the star was thrown from, but the target moved just before the Chaos Spear hit! Shadow tried throwing another Chaos Spear, but it missed too. "Chaos CONTROL!" Just as quickly as Shadow disappeared from Rouge's sight, he reappeared and kicked his target to the ground, revealing a certain Mobian chameleon...
"Ugh. Your reflexes have improved since the EX World Grand Prix. I'm impressed." He said to Shadow.
"Espio?! Why did you attack us?" Asked Rouge.
"Knuckles sensed that danger was coming to Angel Island." Espio replied. "He didn't say when, so all of the Chaotix are on full alert."
"We only came here to discuss a deal with the Guardian." Stated Shadow. "Nothing more."
"On behalf of GUN." Rouge added, making Espio think.
"Very well. Follow me." Said Espio, before the three of them jumped down towards a cave with an open Warp Ring inside it. After they all stepped through, they were greeted by Knuckles, Julie-Su, Vector and Mighty.
"Shadow! This oughta be good..." Exclaimed Knuckles, making Shadow smirk.
Early next morning, back in GUN HQ, Hope woke up to see something amazing... Tails' fingers were moving!
"Oh my gosh! Cosmo, wake up!" She exclaimed as she shook the Seedrian. "It's Tails! Tails is waking up!"
"T-Tails?!" Asked Cosmo, making Hope nod with excitement. "Come on, Tails. We're here, waiting for you." Suddenly, as a large airship with the GUN logo on it raised up from HQ, Tails eyes opened, allowing him to look at Hope and Cosmo staring down at him with smiles on their faces.
"Cosmo... Hope..." The young fox muttered loud enough for the girls to hear. "Where am I?"
"In GUN HQ." Cosmo replied. "You took a nasty fall after you were shot down." Tails then noticed the bandages around his legs and the sling on his left arm.
"Sonic! What about Sonic?" He asked.
"He felt pretty guilty seeing you like this, so he ran off to fight Eggman alone." Hope pointed out, which was when Nicole entered the room.
"Tails, you're awake!" She exclaimed.
"Never mind that, Nicole. Why are we down here when we SHOULD be looking for Sonic?" Asked Tails, making Nicole project a hologram from her eyes. The hologram showed the GUN airships, a smaller combat ship, and the Master Emerald.
"Sally, TodStar & Amy are looking for Sonic, as well as the other six Chaos Emeralds, while we're down here helping GUN build a fleet to bring down the Death Egg." Nicole explained, making Tails remember something from when he was unconscious...
"The X-Tornado..." He muttered, confusing the girls at first. "I've gotta get to building- Aah!" Tails tried to stand on his feet, but his legs were still sore.
"Tails, you need to rest." Cosmo told him. "Your arm and legs are in no condition for you to build anything."
"I don't care..." Tails replied as he spun his two tails to take off from his bed. "I'll fly the entire time I'm building, if I have to!" Tails then flew out of his room, making Cosmo, Hope and Nicole chase after him!
"Tails, wait!" Cried Hope & Cosmo, but when they and Nicole found the Mobian fox, he was sitting at a desk, drawing what appeared to be a jet with wings shaped like an X.
"Tails, what is that?" Asked Cosmo, before Tails flew towards a pile of junk with a toolbox in his hand.
"It's my next big project that's gonna help whup Eggman's butt! If you're gonna stay, then you're welcome to lend a hand." Tails pointed out, making Hope and Nicole gather more pieces of metal under where Tails was flying, while Cosmo stood back and admired the Mobian fox...
"YOU WANT TO DO WHAT?!" Screamed Knuckles, causing all of Angel Island to shake, and any birds to fly away from the floating island.
"We just want to borrow the Master Emerald in order to power a battleship built to combat the Death Egg." Shadow said as calmly as possible, but that didn't stop Knuckles from writhing in fury as Mighty and Vector held the echidna back.
"YOU CAN DO THAT WHEN CHAOS TURNS INTO A DESTRUCTIVE MONSTER!" Knuckles yelled again, as Mighty and Vector continued to hold him back.
"Knuckles, CALM DOWN!" Shouted Vector.
"Wouldn't it be worth it to bring down Eggman once and for all?" Mighty asked, making Knuckles' eyes widen in realization.
"Plus, Angel Island is currently floating above nothing but water." Added Rouge. "If the island were to fall now, there'd be no place around to damage for miles." Knuckles then took a deep breath to calm down.
"Fine. You can borrow the Master Emerald, on one condition." Knuckles said, before approaching Shadow and Rouge. "I go with you to keep an eye on it." Rouge looked offended by his proposal.
"What? You don't think I can take care of it?!" She asked with jealousy in her voice.
"If I rememer correctly, only a Guardian can properly control the Master Emerald. Which would explain why he wants to come along." Stated Shadow, making Knuckles nod in response. Shadow then held his hand out in front of Knuckles. "Deal." Shadow & Knuckles shook hands, and while Julie-Su & Rouge weren't happy about this -for different reasons- an antenna emerged from Julie-Su's Roboticized dreadlock.
"Talk to me." She said, before placing her hand over her face. "This is the last thing we need... Knux, honey? Heavy & Bomb have captured more intruders to the island."
"Great." Knuckles said sarcastically. "Tell them to bring the intruders to the Mushroom Hills. You guys can deal with them."
As Julie-Su relayed the message, Knuckles led Shadow & Rouge to the Master Emerald... and Rouge was amazed by the large gem.
"Wow! It's even more beautiful than I ever imagined!" She exclaimed.
"Just keep your hands off, and let's get this over with." Knuckles pointed out, making Shadow nod in response.
"Chaos CONTROL!" Shouted Shadow, before the three Mobians and the Master Emerald vanished from the Hidden Palace, causing all of Angel Island to rumble violently.
"W-w-what's going on?!" Asked Shade, as Heavy & Bomb brought Relic & Fixit to the Mushroom Hills.
"Knuckles left the island with Shadow and Rouge." Said Mighty.
"...And they took the Master Emerald with them!" Added Vector.
"PING! PING-PING-PING!" Yelled Bomb.
"You watch your language, Bomb!" Heavy pointed out, before he realized what was happening. "Although I suppose it's appropriate in this caaaaaaaase!" Mere seconds later, Angel Island came crashing down towards the ocean, creating a tidal wave from all sides!
Meanwhile, with help from Hope and Nicole, Tails was making some real progress with what he called the X-Tornado.
"Wow, it looks even more amazing than when you drew it, Tails!" Exclaimed Cosmo, making Tails fly back down to a seat in order to sit down.
"There's only one problem, though..." Tails pointed out as he took a sip from the lemonade Cosmo made for him. "Where are we gonna get the energy to power it? If this plan works, Sonic's gonna need the Chaos Emeralds to fight Eggman, the Master Emerald's powering the Freedom Flyer, I haven't made anymore FAKE Chaos Emeralds, and whatever Power Rings are still around are protecting the Death Egg."
"Maybe this can help..." Suggested Nicole, as she led Omega into the room. And he was carrying two dozen Chaos Drives!
"Wow!" Exclaimed Tails and Cosmo.
"Where'd you get all these?" Asked Hope.
"COURTESY OF CAPTAIN AMANDA TOWER." Omega replied, making Hope smile.
"Although she doesn't want any higher ups knowing about this..." Added Nicole.
"I think we'll be fine!" Stated Tails as he grabbed as many Chaos Drives as he could carry. Little did any of them know that Regina was watching them from above... before Shadow & Rouge returned via Chaos Control with Knuckles and the Master Emerald!
"So this is GUN HQ..." Exclaimed Knuckles, as Shadow & Rouge led him and the Master Emerald to where it would be held for the battle. "But where is this ship?"
"Right in front of you, cutie." Rouge replied, making Knuckles put down the Master Emerald to see the craft in question; A small warship, equipped with stablisers and escape pods. It was also armed with missile launchers all over the wings, and a large laser cannon under the bridge. "Introducing the Freedom Flyer!"
"*whistle* That's impressive." Stated Knuckles, impressed by the Freedom Flyer. "But where's the Master Emerald going?" Using Chaos Control, Shadow warped Knuckles and the Master Emerald into the engineering room, which had a large open slot above the ship's engine. "Hmm. Nice and open... I like it."
"Just don't insert the Master Emerald into the core until we're ready for take off." Shadow informed Knuckles, making the echidna nod.
"Once we beat Eggman, I'm taking the Master Emerald back to Angel Island!" Knuckles said back, making Shadow merely shrug.
"The Freedom Fighters are flying this ship, so I'm certain they'll take you back there themselves."
"All right." As Knuckles rubbed the Master Emerald with his glove, Shadow walked out of the Freedom Flyer to see a disappointed Rouge.
"You couldn't let me have a moment alone with it, could you?" She angrily asked.
"Remember the deal, Rouge. Unless you want a spiked fist to the face." Shadow pointed out, making Rouge pout before following him.
At that moment, Regina stepped into Commander Tower's office.
"Abe, I thought I should let you know that Shadow & Rouge have returned with the Master Emerald." She informed him.
"Good, I knew Shadow wouldn't let me down." Abraham replied. "And I have just received word from Captain Tower that they are pursuing Sir Sonic & Princess Sally in the Letter of Gabriel. It looks as though our mission may succeed after all..."
"Actually, there is something about Amanda I feel I should tell you..." Regina pointed out, intriguing Abraham...
END OF CHAPTER
Emerald Count:
Purple - Shadow the Hedgehog
Red & Green - TodStar the Echidna, Amy Rose & Lily Bluebird
Yellow, Cyan & Grey - Sonic the Hedgehog & Sally Acorn
TOTAL: 7 Chaos Emeralds