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"You weren't kidding when you said it was trashed." Sonic told Knuckles.
"Ah, I've seen worse!" Shelby said.
"So, how are you planning on getting it out?" Sonia asked.
"Like this, stand back everyone!" Shelby said.
The others quickly moved out of he way of the blue hedgehog. She jumped into the hole and the others watched. A blue tornado seemed to appear in the hole.
"What the heck's she doing?" Eddy asked.
"I have no idea." Double D replied.
After a few seconds, the van was lifted out of the hole and the tornado came out of the hole with it. It moved a few feet away from the hole and gently placed the van down and Shelby came to a stop right in front of it.
"Hedgehog Van Delivery Services." She joked.
"Funny." Sonia said. "But this thing looks like it's ready for the trash heap!"
"I can fix it!" Tails said.
"Tails, this thing isn't made out of blocks." Sonia said.
"I'm not taking about that, I can really fix it!" He replied. "I built my own working airplane!"
"Probably out of paper." Sonia said.
"No, I built one with a real working engine and everything!" Tails insisted.
"He just might have." Shelby said. "A friend of mine once built a spy robot that sends us all sorts of info! And she's only twelve."
"But is it possible for an eight-year-old to build a real working plane?" Sonia asked.
"My guess is that whatever gave him his second tail also gave him more knowledge about building things." Shelby shrugged.
"Yeah, what she said!" Topaz agreed.
"Well, let me work on it for a while and let him help then see how things go." Manic said.
"Oh alright." Sonia said.
"Allow me to help." Double D said. "I know a few things."
"Alright, looks like we have a whole crew of brains." Manic said.
"You guys work on the van while we get things for camp tonight." Sonic said.
"Got it!" The three said and got to work on the van while the others spread out.
Time quickly passed and sun fall was coming fast.
"I'm beat." Eddy said and fell over.
"I ace in places I didn't even know I had." Nazz whimpered.
"Well, get used it because we're going to be facing much more painful thins very soon." Shelby said, rubbing down Sonia's shoulders.
"What do you mean?" Kevin asked from where he was laying.
"Now that you guys got in the way of the Space Sisters, you're going to become their targets, especially with Topaz and me around."
"Why's that?" Sonic asked.
"Because we're targets number one and two for them. And since they work for Robotnik, we could be sent to the robotizer if they ever catch us." Shelby explained.
"Well, what do they want?" Knuckles asked.
"You're asking the wrong hedgehog." Shelby said.
"Shelby, you should massage people for a living." Sonia said, taking them off the subject.
"Is she really that good?" Sonic asked.
"She beats the Do-Bot and that's saying something." Sonia said.
"Whoa, that's good then." Sonic said.
"Yeah, not many can beat her." Manic said.
"Remind me to have you do all of my massages." Sonia said.
"It's only a hobby, if that's what you want to call it." Shelby said.
That's when she noticed the fire before them.
"The fire's getting low, come on Double D, it's our turn to get the firewood." Shelby said, getting up from where she was sitting.
Double D nodded and got up as well. He quietly followed the blue hedgehog through the dark forest, gathering what little firewood they could which wasn't very much.
"Well, lets' go back, I don't think we're going to find much more." Shelby said, holding the few sticks in her arms.
"Agreed, we should-" Double D was cut off when something hit him on the back of the head!
"DOUBLE D!" Shelby cried but something hit her as well and she passed out.
When they finally woke up, they were in some sort of cell.
"Where are we?" Double D asked.
"I'm not sure." Shelby replied as she got to her feet.
"I do." A voice said.
The two looked to the cell bars and saw a dingo wearing some sort of armor with a blue cape and sideburns. Next to him was what looked like a warthog with a lot of muscles, with only a pair of pants that seemed to be too tight and very small purple glasses.
"Sleet and Dingo." Shelby spat. "What do you two want?"
"Oh, nothing too fancy." The murky brown dingo said.
"Probably trying to get cash from Robotnik, huh Sleet?" Shelby hissed.
Double D looked at the two, he expected the orange one to be Sleet and the dingo was Dingo but it was the other way around.
"Shut your mouth hedgehog!" Sleet snapped.
"Make me!" She snapped back.
"That won't be needed." A voice said.
A very fat human walked in front of the cell.
"Robotnik!" Shelby snapped.
"That's Robotnik?" Double D asked.
He had expected him to be a robot or much more frightening but he wasn't very scary, other then his robotic arm, and red and black eyes. Shelby, however, didn't seem to be even the least bit scared.
"What do you want, you overgrown egg?" She spat.
"Why, just to know where the hedgehogs are." Robotnik said. "And according to Black Fire, you're teaming up with them!"
"You better believe it!" She snapped back.
"Well, I know how we can flush them out." Robotnik said and snapped his fingers.
Two robots marched up to the cell and turned to the two before them.
"Put it in." Robotnik told Sleet.
Sleet inserted a programming chip into the back of their heads and they flashed for a few seconds and when it ended, what Double D and Shelby saw before them, shocked them: they looked just like they did!
"Sonic and the others are too smart to be fooled by a couple of robots." Shelby said. "Even good ones."
"Oh but we're not finished my dear." Robotnik said. "We still need to add your sparkling personalities."
A strange purple ring appeared over their heads. Both reached up to try and remove it but they couldn't move! They looked to the two robots purples rings were over their heads as well.
"Robotnik, when I get out of here, even a DNA tracker isn't going to find you!" Shelby snapped.
Both of them suddenly felt very light headed.
"How are you doing this, Robotnik?" Shelby struggled to say.
"Why, we are."
They looked and saw Black Fire and Black Hole next to the evil doctor.
"I should have known that you two were behind this." Shelby struggled to say.
"Yes, and the longer you stay under that ring, the more of your body will become part of these robots until you're nothing but shadows." Black Fire sneered.
"Why would you tell us that?" Double D asked.
"She does it when she's positive that we cant beat her." Shelby explained. "And if we don't stop this, we WILL become shadows."
"How?" Double D questioned.
"They're very powerful with magic, so this is how they're able to do this." Shelby explained. "We won't last much longer though."
And she was right. Double D was the first of them to fall but Shelby was struggling to keep herself up. When the rings vanished, Shelby was barely aware of what was going on. Robotnik activated the robots and she watched helpless as to what they did next.
"Hello, my name is Edward with two but just call me Double D." The robot chameleon said.
"Hi, I'm Shelby. Oh don't get up, I am the leaded of a group of Freedom Fighters but out of the Great Forest titles are meaningless." Her own look alike said.
"Oh no." She whispered and blacked out.
Shelby was the first of the two to wake up.
"Oh, my acing head." She moaned as she held her pounding head.
She looked around. They were on the streets of Robotropolis!
"How'd we get here?" She asked herself. "Double D?"
When she looked around, she was what seemed to be a shadow of Double D.
"Double D! Wake up!" She cried, shaking him a light hard.
"Oh my." Double D said as he sat up.
"Double D, you're a shadow!" Shelby cried.
"So are you!" Double D said.
They looked at their own hands they were nothing but shadows.
"This must be what happened when we passed out." Shelby sneered. "We turned into shadows."
"What do we do now?" Double D asked, who for the first time in his life didn't have the answer.
"Find the others, and hope they listen to us." Shelby said.
"How do we do that?" Double D asked.
"For starters, we know they were near Sanctuary and this part of the city is the closest to it so we should be able to catch up to them quickly." Shelby explained. "We'll have to walk though, if I run, I might give us away from a sonic boom."
"Good point." Double D said. "So, how long will it take us to get there?"
"If we hurry and take no breaks, we should be able to get there by 44:00 hours. That means eight o'clock." Shelby said, taking notice of Double D's confusion.
"Of coarse." Double D said. "Lead the way."
With that said, Shelby took the lead and headed out of Robotropolis.
Two hours later…"We made it, Double D." Shelby said, pushing her way through some bushes. "If I'm right, they should be just behind this next patch of bushes."
Shelby peeked over the bushes and Double D heard a gasp!
"What is it?" He asked.
"The robots, they're already here!" She said.
Double D peeked over the bushes himself and saw that there were imposters of them sitting with their friends.
"If those bots aren't stopped, the others will be led into a trap and turned into robots for sure." Shelby said.
"But how do we let them know? They'll think we're the imposters." Double D said.
"Let me think." Shelby said, putting her hand to her lips. "I've got it!"
She reached into her pocket and prayed that it was there.
"Aha!" She said. "They may have stolen my body but they didn't steel my gadgets!"
She pulled out a small cube like object.
"What is that?" Double D asked.
"It's a hyper cube." Shelby explained. "One of my friends made it, it can hold a numberless amount of objects, including my guitar!"
A black guitar came out of the cube and Shelby had a smile on her face.
"How is that going to help us?" Double D demanded.
"It's called music code I made it up so that my friends and I could warn each other so nobody else could understand it. I just pluck a few certain strings on a few certain frets and we get the message out." Shelby explained.
She began to pluck a few strings in a few places with her fingers on a few frets, some Double D didn't even know.
Topaz looked at Shelby, something seemed wrong with her ever since she got back from gathering wood with Double D. She even acted different when a small white hedgehog had wandered into their campsite.
"So, what's you're name?" Sonia asked the orphan.
"I don't have one." The four-year-old replied.
"Well you need to have a name." Manic said.
"We'll come up with something." Nazz said.
"Yeah, don't worry about it." Sonic said.
Everyone's ears perked. A strange sound could be heard from the campsite.
"What's that?" Manic asked.
"Music code!" Topaz said, jumping to her feet.
"Music what?" Sonic asked.
"Music code." Topaz explained. "Shelby, our friends, and I use to talk to each other without others knowing what it is! That way, even Robotnik won't find out what it is!"
"Well, what does it say?" Sonia asked.
Topaz listened carefully.
'Topaz, don't tell the others what you're hearing, meet us in the forest alone, RIGHT NOW!'
"Guys, I have to go." Topaz said.
"What, why?" Sonia asked.
"I need to do something very important. Alone." She said, looking at Shelby.
Topaz left the campsite and followed the music into the forest. Topaz came to a small clearing and looked around.
"Topaz!"
She looked to her left and gasped at what she saw.
"The imposters!" Topaz cried. "Shelby and Double D warned us about you!"
"Topaz, listen to me!" Shelby cried. "The ones you have at the camp are the imposters!"
"Why should I trust you?" Topaz demanded.
"Because I know you're real name!" Shelby snapped!
Topaz flinched at this.
"W-What are you talking about?" She asked.
"We were replaced by robot replicas." She said. "The ones you have are the robots."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Topaz asked.
"Listen, meet us on the top floor in the old clock tower a mile from here in one hour, we'll have all the proof we need." Shelby said.
Topaz looked at them for a minute.
"Alright, but if you're lying you'll be in so much trouble!" Topaz said.
"Okay." Shelby said.
The young fox looked at them one last time and ran back into the bushes.
"We've done all we can for now, Double D." Shelby told him. "Now, lets' head to the old clock tower."
"Very well then." Double D said, grabbing onto her shoulder.
Shelby tried to rev up but she ended tripping on her own feet.
"What happened?" Double D asked.
"That spell that Black Fire cast must have stolen me of my speed and probably you of your abilities as well." Shelby explained, getting up. "Looks like we're walking there."
The two ran at a normal speed to the clock tower but Shelby wasn't very fond of the idea.
"This normal running stuff is for the birds." She mumbled.
"Less talking more running." Double D said.
"Hey, I'm not used to going at such a slow speed!" She snapped.
"YOU WRETCH!"
"Whoa, Double D, stop!" Shelby cried and came to a halt.
Double D quickly joined her.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Listen." She whispered.
Double D heard what sounded like a fight.
"It's coming from behind that bush!" Shelby said and peeked over it.
"What do you see?" Double D asked.
"I think you better see this for yourself." Shelby said.
Double D peeked over the bushes. To his shock, he saw the three Space Sisters, and Black Fire was pushing Nova!
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST IT?" Black Fire snapped.
"But, Black Fire, you said I was too careless to carry it so you took it." Nova said, with tears in her eyes.
"SHUT UP!" Black Fire snapped and started beating up her younger sister.
Double D looked away, not wanting to se someone get beaten up. Shelby, however, continued to watch.
"You are to stay here until you find it, you worthless piece of scum!" He heard Black Fire say. "Come on Black Hole!"
"Of coarse." The grey hedgehog said, following her sister, then cast a spell and they both disappeared.
Shelby turned to Nova, a worried look on her face and Double D noticed. This was a side of her Double D hadn't noticed yet, a caring side and it didn't really care about who the person was but still wanted to help them all the same but this was one of the Space Sisters!
"We have to help her." Shelby said.
Before Double D could stop her, she ran out of the bushes and to the fallen hedgehog's side and he quickly followed.
'She may be my enemy but she still needs help all the same.' He thought. 'I guess she figured it out before I did.'
"Are you alright?" Shelby asked her, getting down on one knee.
She looked up to her face with tears streaming down her cheeks but said nothing.
"Have you lost something?" Double D tried.
"Yes, I have." She sighed. "Go, it's not your problem."
Neither one of them would accept that. Nova laid back on the ground, trying to rest. Shelby began to search to surrounding area, shifting through the tall grass and Double D did the same.
"What happened to you?" Shelby asked, pretending that she didn't see what had just happened.
"Don't worry about me, really." She sighed again.
Double D suddenly found something in the grass it looked like a grenade a grenade with a large crack going to down the side.
"This thing will never go off." Shelby told him. "Sonic and the others were never in any danger of this thing."
Double D picked it up and walked over to Nova.
"Is this what you lost?" He asked, holding out the broken bomb.
She didn't get up but just nodded.
"Can you get up?" Shelby asked.
"No…" She said quietly.
"She doesn't recognize us because we're shadows now." Shelby whispered into Double D's ear.
"Don't waste your time with me." Nova said.
"You're name is Nova, right? I know bit of first aid. Let me help." Double D insisted.
"Fine." She quietly said.
Double D got to her side.
'I've never done this with a hedgehog before.' He thought.
"Let me help." Shelby said, sitting next to Double D.
Double D let Shelby take full control being a hedgehog herself it would be easier for her.
"Well, from what I can tell, it only looks worse then it really is." Shelby said. "Just a few bruises, and a few cuts, nothing more."
Shelby reached into her backpack and pulled out some bandages and a bottle of water.
"This might sting a little." She warned Nova and poured a little of the water on her opened wounds.
Nova only shivered a little when Shelby wrapped the bandages around her wounds.
"There, that's all of them." Shelby said, as she placed the roll of cloth back her backpack.
"Thank you." Nova said quietly.
"No problem."
"Why did you help me?"
"Because no one deserves those kinds of injuries."
"I can't thank you enough."
"Like I said, it was no problem. Now we have to be going."
She quickly grabbed Double D by the wrist and pulled him along.
"We have to hurry, we lost some time helping her." She whispered to Double D.
"Wait, you're leaving?" Nova asked.
"They turned back. "Yes."
"Is there something I can do to thank you?"
"You can tell us what happened to you." Shelby said.
"Nova sighed. "Very well. My sister, the one called Black Fire. She treats me like dirt. I don't understand why but she calls me a wretch. If I ever mess anything up, this is the punishment that I get."
"That stinks." Shelby said. "You shouldn't have to go along with that."
"Who are you?" Nova asked. "It's not often that I see a shadow like you."
"I guess we should explain." Shelby said. The two told about being captured by Robotnik and the robots and two evil witches stealing their identities and the danger that they're friends were in but they left out who they really were.
"That's horrible! You both have it worse then me!" Nova said.
"We know each other. We know each other's problems." Double D said.
"Well there's something I must do!" Nova said.
"And that would be?" Shelby asked.
"I have to help you!" Nova said. "I'll go with you!"
"Are you sure?" Shelby and Double D asked.
"This what I've been waiting for! I can help you! I have to make things up for you two for saving me!" She said. "Such kindness like that should never go to waste!"
"But you're hurt." Double D said.
"Like I said, don't worry about me, I can help, please let me come with you!"
Double D looked to Shelby, it was her choice.
'This will be uncomfortable, siding with who was my enemy for so long. But we need all the help we could get. Besides, she will be much safer with us then her sisters.'
"You can come along. We'll need all the help we can get!"
"I know." Nova smiled.
She looked at the weapon in her hands, once designed to kill her enemies. It was a sign of the darkness in her sister. And with a hard toss, she threw it into the woods.
"So what do we do now?" Nova asked.
"We go to the old clock tower." Double D said. "That's where we told them were we'd meet."
"How did you tell them?" Nova asked.
"We used a special code that one of our friends know to get her away from the group and told her to meet us at the old clock tower where'd have everything we need to proof that we were the real things." Shelby explained. "And if don't hurry, we're going to miss them."
The other two nodded and followed her through the woods to the old building.
Minutes later…"We're here." Shelby said.
Standing before them was an ancient building, an old clock decorated the front and it was still working.
"Are you guys nervous?" Nova asked.
"Sort of." Double D replied.
"Hardly." Shelby said.
"Well, as long as I'm with you, I'll never let anything happen to you." Nova whispered to Double D.
"Thank you." Double D said. "I'm still thankful-"
"LOOK OUT!" Nova cried.
Double D had just enough time to dodge. A ghost like creature come flying from the shadows licking Double D straight across the face. The strike was so hard, that it ripped across his hat, making an unexpected metallic clang, until the hat was ripped from his head.
Shelby did a front flip and kicked the ghost and Nova punched it causing it to vanish.
"I hope you're alright, I-" Nova stopped and screamed the second she saw the exposed head. "YOU'RE…"
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Didn't see that coming, did you? But then again, I guess you didn't expect me to update so soon. I have a lot of time on my hands so what else is there to do? As you might have guessed Shelby the Hedgehog is going to be an important character inup and coming chapters. Anyways, R&R please.