Disclaimer: do I have anything to claim? Yes: my OC. I do not own SEGA Characters at all.
At Eggman's base, Shadow was practicing some new moves he was working on specially done for his upcoming battle with Sonic. His training session was interrupted when Eggman flew in with the Flames of Iblis. Shadow, upon spotting the torch, was surprised to see such an object. The ebony hedgehog tried to remember something that was related to the Iblis Flame, but nothing he thought of sparked any memories. "Shadow, I want you to hold onto this until I retrieve the other artifact…" The fat man told Shadow before handing him the torch. "I can't take any risks retrieving both artifacts, so I need to get one at a time to be safe. I can't trust that Ozone guy just yet." The doctor concluded.
"I get your plan, doc. Leave the Iblis Flame with me and I'll make sure that no one gets it." The black hedgehog told the evil genius. Eggman continued, "I intend to use these artifacts so that I can have an alternate way for you to use Chaos Control. I know that one of Sonic's plans in battle is to separate you from a chaos emerald you might possess in battle. If he succeeds in taking your emerald, you can call upon the powers of Solaris to help you work your powers without an emerald." "Sounds too good for me, Eggman. I know there's something you want from me" Shadow said skeptically.
At that moment, Kerebos barged right in with Ozone standing on his back. "Doctor Eggman, we've got a problem with your Solaris plan; Metal Sonic currently possesses the Scepter of Darkness!" the alien informed Eggman. The fat man muttered curses under his breath at how his creation is hindering his plans. Suddenly, the alarms started blaring with the computer systems mentioning an 'intruder alert' while red lights were flashing all around the dome-shaped building. Eggman rushed over to a nearby computer console to investigate the problem.
When Eggman pulled up the video monitor to find out who's trespassing, he was fuming mad when he saw the results. "Damn it! It's Metal Sonic." He roared out loud. Upon closer inspection of the metallic menace, he didn't have the hostages he was carrying earlier, nor the scepter. "Shadow, I want you to find where he hid the Scepter of Darkness. Ozone, I think it's show time for you. Confront that traitor and make him tell us where he hid that artifact." Both anthros nodded their head in acknowledgement and set off for their mission. Before they left, they were given a walkie-talkie so they can communicate with each other and Eggman on their progress.
Shadow raced towards the Soleanna Ruins thinking that Metal Sonic left it there since that was the last known place Ozone saw the metallic menace heading. Shadow didn't have a hard time navigating the ruins since the evil doctor was giving him directions. By the time he got there, he was surprised to see it. The ruins wasn't the way it used to be, but standing there now is a refurbished castle that the scholars of Soleanna recall used to be the castle that the rulers used to reside in. "I think something in Metal Sonic's circuits must've blown a fuse to send him renovating an old ruin." Shadow mentally said to himself before entering the castle.
Ozone, however, waited outside the dome for the Metallic 'guest' to arrive. He was leaning with his back to the doors and eyes closed out of boredom. About 90 seconds later, he heard whirring sounds of the expected company. "'bout time you showed up, Metal Sonic. Eggman was expecting you soon." Ozone said without any change in expression. Metal Sonic changed one of his hands into a machine gun and threatened, "You will take me to him or else". The alien simply motioned with his hand to follow him inside. After they were inside the dome, Ozone slammed the door behind the robotic doppelganger and locked it. "No hard feelings, but Eggman ordered me to make you spill the beans on the Scepter of Darkness's whereabouts. If you don't cooperate, I'm afraid I'm going to have to shut you down. Don't get mad at me, I'm just following orders." The alien said before getting into a fighting stance.
"Eggman's going to have to tell me where he hid the Flames of Iblis first before I tell him anything about the scepter." The metallic menace said before changing his left arm into a flamethrower, and his right arm still a machine gun. Next thing that happened was Metal Sonic charging at Ozone full speed with murderous intent. The alien, however, kept a calm face and stood his ground. Once Metal Sonic was about an inch close to impact with the alien, he punched the robot in the stomach area and pulled out a the violet-colored chaos emerald. The whole process happened in less than a second and faster than Eggman could track with his computer.
Surprisingly, the extraction of the chaos emerald left Metal Sonic unharmed. Ozone just side-stepped out of the metallic menace's way and the attacker tried to slow down. The attempt was unsuccessful and he crashed into the doors. The moment Metal Sonic pulled himself out of the doors, he was facing a palm, glowing with yellow destructive energy. "Since I'm more forgiving than Eggman, I'll let you choose your fate; tell me where you hid the Scepter of Darkness and you'll live, or I can blow you up right now." The robot quickly calculated the odds of beating Ozone, and the results of what might happen if he complies with the alien's proposition. "You are an unusual opponent, I'll give you that. I might as well comply knowing that I can't complete my goal if I'm destroyed."
As Shadow searched the castle, his communication device suddenly started beeping. Shadow answered it, and heard "The Scepter of Darkness is in the dungeon of the castle you're in right now." "Gotcha, headed there now." Was all that Shadow said in response before turning off his walkie-talkie. Unknown to Shadow was a dark figure following him throughout the castle.
Seems strange that Metal Sonic gave up so easily, eh? What does he have to gain by sharing information with Eggman about the Scepter of Darkness's whereabouts in the castle? Who is the dark figure who is now following Shadow? The only thing to do in the meantime is to stay tuned!
(P.S. I know the action in this chapter isn't all that exciting, but it's my first time writing a fic. I also needed to get some plot done.)
(P.P.S. If I get enough good reviews, I might post some spoilers for Chapter 15!)