Rouge the Bat could be reckless when it came to magical jewels, but normally she kept her head where missions were concerned. The Commander might be right. She might have left a trail for precisely this situation. Shadow also knew that he had few friends in the world and she counted as one of them. If Eggman had done anything to her…
Shadow was not normally a visitor to the Night Babylon district, it was an entertainment area and its sights and sounds annoyed him mostly. He had been to Club Rouge at least once before, so he knew how to get to the place.
Leaving the government center, Shadow was amazed how quickly the City returned from its heightened military state in the middle to the ease of everyday life. Despite the it only being early afternoon, the Night Babylon district was already thriving with activity. No one really noticed the black hedgehog as he entered Club Rouge.
Shadow ignored the slots and pinball tables and moved back toward the bar. He noticed two figures on the stools, both in a state of inebriation. As he passed, one of them called out to him.
"Heeeeeeeey, Mighty, look it's Sonic! Hey come over here Sonic, long time no seeeeeee," said the brownish squirrel.
"You're seeing things again, Ray, that's not Sonic. That's a mirage. I don't think you've had enough to drink," said Mighty the Armadillo as he was crouched over his cup and trying to stop Ray the Flying Squirrel from waving.
"Whatever you say, Mighty. Hey you remember that time we escaped Eggman's base? Those were the days, man," said Ray.
"Do you remember the time we went to that theme park island and used bungie cords to get around?" asked Mighty.
"No," said Ray.
"That was the best except for the guy who kept blowing up," said Mighty.
"Where did Sonic go?" asked Ray, looking around and seeing no sign of Shadow.
"He was never there, Ray. Now let's order more drinks," said Mighty.
Shadow had left the bar area for the restrooms. In between the men's and women's restrooms was a closet marked 'janitor.' Shadow opened this closet door and made his way to the back of the lengthy closet. There he found a small console that was still running. A beam detected him and then scanned him.
"GUN Database: Shadow the Hedgehog. Password?" asked the voice.
Shadow paused for a moment. Rouge had told him the password long ago. Hopefully he had not forgotten it. "Echidna," said Shadow.
"Access Granted," said the door. The wall now slid back to reveal Rouge's actual living quarters. Shadow walked in carefully. He could see a desk and a punching bag. He would start at the desk. He looked at the arrangement that Rouge had for the desk.
She had a newer model GUN computer with two monitors. There were also some papers on the desk in a stack. Shadow hit the mouse and the computer blinked awake. A document popped up. Shadow took care to read the document.
To whom it may concern:
Am going out for breakfast. I need to pick up some eggs. May not be easy to find them where I am going. I left the light on to keep trouble away and secure good luck. Such a simple night light, shining amidst the waste. I will clean it when I return.
R
Great, Shadow thought. A riddle. She clearly went after Eggman and must have known where his hideout might be. The second part, Shadow did not get though. A light amidst the waste? Shadow frowned. Where was there waste?
Shadow hesitated before he opened the door to Rouge's bathroom. It had a perfumed fragrance that was a bit much. He also noted the number of beauty products on the vanity. He looked in a trash bin, but saw no light source there. He looked around at other items in the room. There was a big bath tub, a toilet, and a bidet.
He turned the light switch off. There were no faint glows anywhere. Waste, he thought to himself. He turned the light back on and went to the septic tank of the toilet. He pulled off the lid and a light glow greeted him in the slightly brown water of the tank. The yellow glow of a chaos emerald. Rouge had been looking out for him. The problem was that he still did not know where she was, but perhaps Tails and the Commander could help him with the riddle.
Shadow left through the closet and avoid the bar entirely on his way out. However he could not get over the feeling that he was being watched. He skated off to the GUN base to report to the Commander.
Tails and the Commander were making progress, or at least Shadow thought they were from their expressions. The Commander noticed the hedgehog's entry.
"Good news, your friend has broken some of the code. We can see where Eggman has been sending his soldiers," said the Commander.
"Oh?" asked Shadow, still thinking of Rouge's riddle.
"We also got the low down on that bear that tried to jump you earlier," said the Commander. "Name's Bark. He is a mercenary free-lance kind of guy."
"That's odd," said Shadow.
"Yes, Eggman doesn't usually rely on mercenaries to do his work for him. It seems a little out of place, but not impossible. It also means that we have watch out for more than mechs out there," said the GUN Commander. "What did you find about Rouge?"
"She went after Eggman all right, she said she would look for him where it would be hard to find eggs. She also left me this chaos emerald," said Shadow.
"Agent Rouge never could do things the easy way. We'll take care of that in time. Prower, tell me what you have found about Eggman's forces," said the Commander.
"Well according to the feed that I have hacked into this baby, Eggman has dispensed his forces to attack several targets on this land mass. There are forces attacking certain spots in Central City, there are forces in the Station Square area, more in the Mystic Ruins, some on Angel Island, some in the Frog Forest, and some in Casino Park," said Tails.
"Those don't sound like military targets. Do those sites have anything in common?" asked the Commander.
"Sonic and I have been to all them at one time or another," said Tails.
"Could Eggman be targeting your friends?" asked Shadow. His memory of Bark the polar bear was still fresh.
"Well, Knuckles lives on Angel Island. Big and I live around the Mystic Ruins. Amy and Cream live in Central City. Yet that doesn't explain the other locations. I suppose it would explain that Sonic and Rouge are missing," said Tails scratching his head. He was suddenly worried for Knuckles and the others.
"How about Chaos Emeralds? Those have been a hot item before," said the Commander looking at the yellow emerald in Shadow's hand.
"There are seven different groups. It could be they were tasked to retrieve the emeralds," said Tails.
"There was no action outside Rouge's place, and she had one of the emeralds," mentioned Shadow.
"But Rouge does seem to be missing, and if they captured Sonic…" suggested Tails.
"Looks like we need more information. Two of these sites are in Central City. Agent Shadow, I want you to investigate each. If you can clean out any robot resistance, so much the better. Prower, zoom on the two locations," said the Commander.
Tails typed the command and the satellite shifted to zoom over the robot activity. "That's Cream's house!" exclaimed Tails. The satellite zoomed in on the second feed. "That's Amy's!" The Emerald Town suburb had not one but two incursions of robots.
"Well, Shadow, maybe they are after Sonic's friends. Go and investigate, agent," said the GUN Commander.
"Aren't you going to send backup? You know like real military troops and stuff?" asked Tails.
"Son, securing the GUN base and the president are my priorities right now. While you may have hacked into whatever programming the Eggman is using, I still cannot communicate with my troops. Shadow's no baby. But if you're worried you can go with him," said the Commander.
"What about the other sites like Angel Island? We can't exactly walk there," said Shadow.
"Our technicians will fix up Prower's plane to have at your disposal. Its systems weren't scrambled like our GUN jets. Now get a move on, you two. I don't want to be surprised by Eggman's next move any more than I was surprised by this one," said the Commander.