Ok, uploaded early! YEY SPRING BREAK! ENJOY PEEPS. I know this has had a couple of you in suspence! One chapter after this, and it's all over!
CHAPTER 4
Mary turned around another corner and only then did she release Sonic. "All right, you need to listen hard and now," She hissed. "we're going to somehow confront the Commander and get him to tell us what the hell he's planning. The cure works…why does he want it stopped? He can't possibly be doing it for money…"
"Only one way to find out." Sonic sighed. "Do you know where he could be at this time?"
"No. I'm relying on my sense of intuition and going towards where the screams were last heard." Mary paused at another corner and then turned around it when she figured no one was there. Sonic had to speed-walk to catch up with her.
"Mary, sorry for interrupting your search for the Commander…but how long do you think Shadow'll hold out? I mean…the guy must be in torturous misery. He won't last much longer."
Mary stopped at the base of a staircase and sighed. "He's the distraction that the Commander is devoting time to. We use him to lure the Commander…but there's no guarantee he'll escape this alive. But if we detour to save him, we'll probably be costing millions of lives for the one. It's better one life for millions."
"You're not saying that-"
"He has to die if we're to stop the Commander."
Silence descended on the stairs momentarily.
"No, he doesn't." Sonic said firmly.
"Then what's your plan? Even if we rescue him, he'll be useless at the very least. He might not even recognize you. He could become a bigger burden." Mary countered.
"Do you even hear yourself? He's my friend! There's no way I'm letting any of my friends die!" With that, Sonic rocketed up the stairs and left Mary staring at the shotgun he left where he had been standing a few seconds ago.
"All right Sonic…but what happens if they catch you too?" She whispered to herself, picking up the weapon and slowly ascending the stairs.
XxXxXxXx
"I hate that plan." Amy said instantly after the scientist was finished explaining.
"It's one of the only things we can do at this point."
"What happened to just taking a gun and threatening him?" Tails asked. "Not that I would do that…" He added quietly.
"He could use our threats against us." The scientist said. "Now are we going to do this, or not?"
"I don't-"
"Tyler?"
The three gathered in the hall spun around to see Mary, a gun held over one shoulder and a small bag full of the cure at her side. "What's going on?"
"What's it look like?" The scientist, who's name was apparently Tyler, said impatiently. "We're trying to come up with a plan to stop the Commander and save their friend at the same time."
"What've you got?" Mary asked.
"Nothing much." Tyler admitted. "Just-"
"You there!"
The four of them froze in place as footsteps sounded down the hall. Tyler slowly turned to see the Commander himself walking towards them.
"Sir, they escaped! Mary and I managed to catch them!" the scientist said, not missing a beat. Mary grabbed Amy's wrist and Tails' ear roughly.
"Ow!" Tails protested. "What are you doing? Let me go!"
"No doubt trying to save your friend, aren't you?" The Commander sneered. "Bring them to the lab. I think they should see this, because they're next."
Mary's grip momentarily got tighter. "Yes, sir!" She quickly recovered and said clearly. "Move!" She hissed to the prisoners.
Amy locked eye contact with Tyler for a split second. His gaze said, 'it's now or never.' If they didn't act soon, then all hope was lost.
They walked up three flights and turned down two halls, finally coming to a thick steel door that demanded identification. The Commander gave it what it requested and they entered the lab.
Instantly Tyler's eyes flicked over to the computer where he had been stationed last. Perfect. The major role in his part had been played; the station was clear. He proceeded to make his way over to it.
"Shadow?" Amy said in a hoarse whisper. Her voice grew stronger as she demanded, "What did you do to him?"
"I'll show you." The Commander gave her a terrifying smile and crossed over to the operation table, where Shadow was lying motionless save the irregular rising and falling of his chest.
Tyler waited until the Commander motioned for him to re-lower the arm before he did so. As it was lowering, he found the information he needed. It was possible to do what he was planning. Tyler would have sighed in relief if the Commander wasn't standing a few feet away.
"Now we've gotten all we want out of him, save a few pieces of information that he absolutely refuses to give, like the name of the person who freed him from Prison Island. I assume you've known him long enough to know who did this?" The Commander asked, watching as the metal wand stationed itself a foot from Shadow's body.
"…What?" Tails asked.
"Didn't he ever tell you that he is the Ultimate Life Form?" The Commander snickered.
"No! Shadow? No way…that was …fifty? …Fifty years ago!" Amy said.
"So he's kept you ignorant. Very well played." The Commander reached up towards the panel on the robotic arm's side. "This is set to level fifteen out of twenty. fifteen times he's resisted telling me what I want to know, and is still resisting. Usually by now anyone would break and tell me all I know. I'm actually afraid to set this higher in case it kills him before we really put him to death. He's rested long enough, don't you think?" The Commander pressed a small button and Shadow's body jolted in the restraints set into the table. His eyes opened but they didn't focus on anything.
"Commander…no…please…" He muttered, "No more…."
"You've got some visitors." The Commander said darkly.
Shadow tilted his head towards the door, where Amy and Tails were. His unfocused eyes widened and momentarily fixed on them. Mary lowered her gaze to the ground and clutched her gun. There were others in the lab and they were armed…that was the only reason she didn't shoot.
"A…Amy? Tails…?"
"Shadow…" Amy trailed off. She glanced towards Tyler, who raised his eyebrows in an 'I can't do anything yet' sort of gesture.
"Now we're really wanting those answers." The Commander said. "And if you don't tell us, then I'm afraid we'll have to do what we're doing to you to your friends."
"No!" Shadow gasped. "No! Don't…don't hurt them! Y-you want me, you got me! …Don't hurt them!"
"Then tell us who rescued you from the island!"
"It… was Sonic!"
"Really." The Commander hissed. "On the security tapes, it did not show another hedgehog. Whoever rescued you was as much human as I am. Remember, this is set to level fifteen."
With that he flicked the switch, keeping his hand nearby it. Tyler shut his eyes tightly in frustration and sadness as once again the loud, tortured cries resumed. Mary clenched her teeth together and forced herself to remain staring towards the ground. Tails clutched Amy's arm and buried his face in her side while she could barely keep her knees from giving out.
The Commander switched the switch again and Shadow almost immeadentally stopped struggling, his eyes squeezed shut and his teeth barred in a snarl of pain as he took a shuddering breath. He was completely pale like he had seen a ghost.
"Up to level sixteen." The Commander hissed. "Not much further to go until twenty."
"L…let them go….and I'll tell you…" Shadow gasped.
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that."
"…I won't tell you…"
"That's your choice. I enjoy causing you the pain you caused a lot of people fifty years ago."
"…Obviously…"
"If you still have the strength to mock me I can adjust this so we can skip right up to level eighteen. How does that sound?" The Commander hissed, adjusting the machine.
"…Splendid. I'll …die before it's over…Death…I'll see Maria…again…"
"Not after what you've done! You'll burn in Hell!" The Commander spat, slamming the switch on.
"NO!" Amy shouted, but her shout of protest was lost in Shadow's scream of agony. After a few seconds his voice gave out and he could only gasp in-between whimpers of excruciating pain. He was shuddering as though he was immersed in ice water. "STOP!" Amy shouted, her eyes wide with horror. "STOP!"
"This is for killing them! He gets what he deserves!" The Commander had a look of insanity on his face. "This is justice!"
"THIS 'JUSTICE' IS KILLING HIM!" Amy screamed, pulling out of Tails' grip but failing to escape out of Mary's.
A strangled, undead sound ripped itself from Shadow's throat. He simply didn't have the will to struggle anymore. His irregular breathing was almost louder that Amy's shouts.
The Commander finally switched the switch off. Tyler gave Amy a glance and motioned to her with a hand gesture that said, 'more.'
More of …what? One wrong move and Shadow would die.
"Justice is killing him, huh?" The Commander walked around the table. "Then it's the perfect justice."
"What do you know about justice? You should be put to this torture too." Amy said harshly.
"I haven't killed hundreds." The Commander hissed.
"And he didn't either. The whole of GUN did…now you're the commander of this murdering group; this…this torturous, evil, scheming-"
The Commander slammed his fist onto the table next to Shadow's head. He didn't react in the slightest. "We may have killed certain criminals that are too dangerous to be kept alive. But we are not the group you speak of."
"Then how do you explain him?" Amy nodded towards Shadow, who had turned his head to the side muttering something inaudible.
"An experiment. He always has been and always will be. We've gotten all we need from him. He's not going to tell us any more. But believe me, we'll find out who set him free." The Commander sneered. "We'll dissect this lab rat. Alive and conscious. The professor who created him certainly went through a lot to create something that shouldn't even be alive. Now…this is for that young girl that was killed for him."
The Commander twisted the machine's dial to twenty, slapped the lever on and stepped back, like he didn't even care if Shadow stopped breathing halfway through the torture. The screams that were ripped from his throat were screams of the dying, slowly going to fade away into nothing…
…Tyler saw his chance. The Commander had stepped away from the arm; the one crucial movement for this to work. He quickly typed a few numbers into the keyboard and hit enter. The metal arm swung around and pointed directly at the Commander, sending him falling to the floor, screaming. Mary leapt up and pointed her gun at the scientists in the back. "You two…get on the floor."
Tyler hit the emergency shut off button on the computer and jumped up, heading straight for his boss. "Don't move, sir, or I will seriously hurt you."
"Amy, unstrap Shadow and use those belts to tie those scientists to a chair somewhere." Mary said, her gun still aimed directly at the scientists.
Amy went to work gently unstrapping Shadow's bonds, but he didn't even notice she was there. He twitched a few times, muttering something, hardly breathing.
"Tails, there should be a spare pair of handcuffs in one of the drawers in the back. Get them and bring them back here." Tyler commanded, planting his foot firmly in the middle of the Commander's back.
Within a minuet, both scientists and the Commander were tied back to back in chairs, locked in a large storage closet in the back. Mary turned her attention from them to Shadow almost immeadentally.
"Only time can tell." She sighed. "Until he wakes up there's nothing I can do."
"We need to get him out of here." Tails squeaked. "And we need to distribute the cure to everyone."
"I almost forgot about that." Amy admitted. "Once you have the cure…you can't get the virus again?"
"That's how it's been working." Mary said.
"What about the people that are completely taken over by the disease? They lose their minds…they don't know who they are after being cured." Tyler thought for a few seconds.
"It takes a total of a week to become fully infected if you just breathe in the virus, with the last stages happening dramatically. If you're cut by someone with the virus…it takes effect almost immeadentally. I think we can use this to our advantage." Mary said. "But for now we need to get out of here, all of us…somehow. And we need to find Sonic, because he should have been here by now."
"One thing at a time!" Tails sighed.
Tyler gently gathered up Shadow from the operating table. "Poor guy…he's shaking like he's stuck in a snowstorm but he feels like he's some sort of heater."
"Let's just get out of here." Amy said, picking up Mary's gun from where she had dropped it.
"There's a recovery section of this hallway that we can establish base in." Mary said. "It's safe and secure for the most part…if you lock it from the inside it's almost impossible to break in."
"Then that's where we're going." Amy opened the door and glanced around the hall. "It's clear. Let's go."
They quickly and cautiously made their way down the corridor, stopping at every tiny noise and corner until Mary said, "There…that's the room." She ran up ahead and entered a code, pulling the door open as everyone else caught up with her.
Inside was what looked to be some sort of doctor's office. A small counter was built into the far right corner, where large cases of equipment were stored. In the far left corner a small but comfortable looking bed was pressed up against a small table with a digital clock. Tyler lowered Shadow to the bed, where he almost immeadentally curled into a shuddering ball. Mary locked the door and they all began to relax.
"We need a plan." Tails said. "And a good one."
"I'm going back to the room we just exited from to find out what the Commander is really up to." Mary said instantly. "And if you ask me, we need to find Sonic and then get to work gathering up the cure."
"What will we do once we have it?" Tails asked.
"I don't know, probably something extremely dangerous." Mary exited the room before anyone could stop her.
XxXxXxXx
Sonic heard the screams but couldn't locate where they were coming from. He ran back and fourth down the hallway at least six times, trying to get closer to the sound. Before he could find the door the scream cut off into an abrupt silence. It was quiet. Dead quiet…
"Hang on, Shadow, come on…" Sonic rounded the corner for the third time and nearly ran into a scientist. He dodged around him and continued running, not caring anymore if he was spotted.
He rounded another corner and saw someone he desperately hoped to see enter a steel door. "Mary!" Sonic shouted just before she silently shut the blockade.
Mary backed up and gripped her shotgun tighter. But once she saw who was coming towards her she lowered it and growled, "Where have you been?"
"Trying to find the room. What happened? Did you save him? The last thing I heard was a scream and it got cut off by something…"
"He's fine. At least, I think he is." Mary bit her lip. "At the moment we can't necessarily do anything because we've got the fate of the world resting on our shoulders." She stepped into the room. "Come on, quickly. Before someone sees you."
Sonic entered the room and Mary shut the door behind him, heading for a closet in the back. Loud bangs seemed to be coming from it.
"We've got the Commander and a few of his scientists locked back here. Be on guard…take the gun just in case." Mary handed Sonic her gun and she flung open the closet door.
The Commander's left fist caught her along the head, sending her flying back into a corner. The two scientists who had been tied along with the Commander were also free and holding their weapons at the ready. "Drop it," One of them ordered. "or we'll shoot."
Sonic dropped the shotgun, casting Mary a concerned glance as he did. She picked herself off the floor and glared at the Commander. "How did you escape?"
"Let's just say some of use can also call upon the power of the Chaos Emeralds. I can't call upon much, but it was enough." The Commander sneered, tossing the green gem around in his hands. "Any last words?"
One of the scientists stepped forward, using his shoe to drag the gun Sonic had dropped towards him. They were now completely weaponless. Mary just fixed the Commander in a cold stare. "Just tell me why you don't want to spread the cure. Why you don't want to save hundreds of thousands of lives."
"How else could I rule the world?" The Commander shrugged. "How else could I say to everyone that I am the one to follow?"
"You're not one anyone should follow." Mary hissed. "Not even your own officers. I don't know how you conned them all into thinking they were on the winning side; the good side. How can you even live with yourself?"
The scientist picked up the fallen shotgun at his feet and handed it to the Commander, who slowly wrapped his finger around the trigger and aimed it square at Mary's head. "Anything else, traitor?"
"Killing me won't get you anywhere."
"You're right." The Commander admitted. "Killing you is pointless. I would be one less important worker."
His eyes flicked over to Sonic a second before the muzzle of the gun followed. A loud crack filled the air as the bullet left the barrel.
XxXxXxXx
Tyler sat back against the wall and sighed. "I can't believe we've been here for an hour and nothing has happened so far. We've been very lucky."
"I think we could have been more fortunate," Amy hissed. "Shadow's lucky to be alive."
Shadow's left fist clenched at his name but he didn't wake. He was still extremely pale, like he was having a terrible dream that was slowly becoming real. Amy sat on the edge of the bed he was lying in and said to Tails, "Why do you think he never told us anything? About what really happened?"
"The Commander thought it was to protect us." Tails sighed, sinking down opposite Tyler's wall.
"From the Commander? From the whole of GUN? What exacally? Everything?"
"More than likely."
"Why did we let Mary go alone?" Tyler growled for about the fifth time in the past ten minuets. "We should really go after her."
"We can't." Tails said.
"Shadow, can you hear me?" Amy tried again, knowing the outcome would still be the same.
"We can't just sit here…" Tyler protested.
"We're sort of forced to do that." Tails sighed.
"Then I'm going after Mary. Stay here…I'll be back shortly." Tyler headed to the door and opened it. But before he could go anywhere, Mary rushed in.
XxXxXxXx
"NO!" Mary screamed, but her scream came too late. One second her comrade was standing beside her…and the next he was slowly falling to the ground as the bullet pierced him.
One of the scientists grabbed her arm before she could drop down beside Sonic. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! HAVEN'T YOU ALREADY DONE ENOUGH TO US?"
The Commander only chuckled, using the gun he was holding to roughly nudge Sonic. Blood was pouring out from underneath his hand as he pressed it to his side, coughing weakly. A moment of satisfaction spread through the Commander; satisfaction that he was in charge again and in control of their lives. He stashed the Chaos Emerald in his pocket and turned his attention to Mary.
"Unless you want to end up like him you'd better start cooperating."
"With a bastard like you?" Mary hissed. "I'd rather die!"
"Have it your way."
The Commander raised the gun, but as he shot the barrel of the gun jerked upwards sharply, the bullet landing in the roof above. It took him a moment to realize that Sonic was back on his feet, hand still pressed to his side, shouting, "You can't kill me that easily! I'm not dead yet!"
The Commander aimed the gun at him again. Before he could make any move, Sonic had grabbed the Chaos Emerald from his pocket and was making his way towards Mary.
A bullet bounced harmlessly off the Chaos-powered shield that the Emerald put up to protect its holder. Sonic began using the remaining energy in the Emerald to heal himself as Mary fought her way out of the reach of the GUN leader's scientists.
"Quickly, get out of here!" Sonic commanded. The Emerald was beginning to dull in color as a bright green light pulsed around him. "I'll catch up."
Mary nodded, turned and ran.
"AFTER HER!" The Commander roared, slamming the gun into the shield. It held tight and the damage was done to the weapon, making it crumple in on itself. Sonic's side wasn't healed quite healed yet, but it was enough to keep him alive until he got somewhere safe. He cut the shield off and ran towards the door, pain flaring in his side.
He was just in time to see Mary slam the protective door in the scientists' faces. At least she was safe. He turned to see the Commander rushing at him, crumpled gun raised as a club. Sonic knew if he caught up with him…he wouldn't stand a chance. He wasn't healed completely and he couldn't risk draining the Emerald of any more power.
The scientists caught sight of him and acted as a barrier in the middle of the hallway, just waiting. Sonic kept running, the pain in his side turning his vision brighter and then darker and brighter still.
"Nowhere to go now." The Commander laughed triumphantly. "Just give up and I might not kill you."
Sonic felt the last of his strength fade out of his legs and he tripped over what seemed like nothing, landing hard on his stomach. The Chaos Emerald skidded between the scientists and came to a stop against the metal door with a rather loud bang. Against all odds it opened briefly and Tyler stepped out, catching sight of what was happening directly outside. The two scientists were heading almost directly for him, but their eyes were fixed at something at his feet.
Tyler dropped down to his knees and scooped up the Emerald, flinging it back into the room where Tails managed to catch it awkwardly. After a murderous glare in the Commander's direction, Tyler hissed, "Don't think it ends here."
The door slammed on one of the scientists' legs with a loud crunch. The force of the door loosened a little and the scientist managed to escape before the door shut completely with a loud crash.
Sonic's nervous laugh of relief for his friends was lost in the scientist's scream of pain and horror as he collapsed against the wall, clutching his mangled leg. The Commander walked up to his prisoner and slammed the crumpled gun into the side of his head, sending him crashing into the wall.
"You…get him to the medics." The Commander shouted at the uninjured scientist. He nodded and helped his comrade get to his intact leg. They began making slow progress down the hall until the screams faded.
XxXxXxXx
The pain in Sonic's side had dulled down to a throb. He slowly became aware that there were bandages circling his body, keeping the worst of the bleeding at a minimum. There was a bright light somewhere…All he knew besides the light and the bandages was he was somewhere hard and cold.
"I know you can hear me." The Commander hissed.
The light rivaled that of the sun's and caused a slight pain in the back of his head, but Sonic forced his eyes open and directed at where the voice had come from. Sure enough, the Commander was standing nearby, an evil smile on his lips. "You came around faster than I thought. Maybe you'll last longer than your friend did."
A strange, robotic sound came from where the light was. Sonic squinted and barely made out the image of something positioned directly above him. His heart skipped a beat as he remembered the loud screams that had echoed down the halls…
"Yes, that's right. I can tell what you're thinking from the fear in your eyes." The Commander reached up towards the thing. "But don't worry…I won't set it as high at first. I'll slowly set it up one level at a time. They'll hear your screams and be forced to come out from their refuge."
A small hum came from the device and then the lightning-like agony.
XxXxXxXx
"Shadow, can you hear me? Please, wake up! Sonic's in trouble!" Amy pleaded, pressing the Chaos Emerald into his hand.
The effect was blinding. Shadow's fist clenched tightly over the Emerald and his eyes flared open and he drew in a breath like he had been drowning. He dropped the Emerald as soon as he realized where he was and tried to sit up.
"Take it easy, not many people can go through what you did and get up right away." Tyler said.
"Wh…where are we?" Shadow's eyes darted around the room like he expected the Commander to be lurking around. "What happened?"
"For the moment, we're safe. But we can't stay here forever. The Commander's got Sonic…" Mary trailed off. "he might be putting him through what you went through."
"We've got to stop him." Shadow managed to get to his feet, but his left leg gave out and Mary caught him.
"We will. You're in charge of using the Emerald to keep oncoming guards out of our way." Amy handed the Chaos Emerald back to him. "Let's go."
Tyler threw open the door to find…no one. He glanced both ways down the hall, but no one was lying in wait. It was almost too easy.
"Be very, very careful, all right?" He warned as everyone nervously made their way out of their safe zone. "Something tells me this is a trap…" He trailed off as something caught everyone's attention.
A long scream came from the right end of the hall, slowly rising in volume until it was cut off abruptly. It happened again. And again.
"Let's go!" Mary began walking as fast as she could down the hall with Shadow limping alongside her. Tyler and Tails went further ahead to make sure no one was coming.
"How far are we from the room?" Shadow gasped.
"Not far." Mary answered. The screams were louder now as they drew closer, but still abruptly cut off.
Tyler slammed his foot into a keypad and the door sprang open.
…A gunshot...
"MARY!" Shadow shouted.
Mary's eyes were wide as the bright red patch on her chest slowly expanded. She dropped to one knee and then completely went limp. Shadow collapsed next to her, squeezing her hand like it was a lifeline to keep her there with them. "MARY! MARY! NO!"
"My aim was off." The Commander sneered. "I was aiming for you."
Shadow reached for the fallen Chaos Emerald and tried desperately to get Mary to hold onto it.
"No… Shadow…use it…Commander…kill…" She gasped, coughing up bright red blood like she had caught the virus. Shadow gripped the Chaos Emerald tightly and let a stream of green energy fly at the Commander, striking him in the neck and knocking him backwards where he lay, unmoving, on the ground.
"Mary…Mary…please, don't die." Shadow begged. "Please…Maria…"
Tails was clutching onto Amy's arm, like he was afraid if he let go that Mary really would die. Amy bowed her head, feeling her tears drip out of her eyes and onto the ground. They were losing a great warrior.
"Shadow, there's nothing you can do." Tyler said softly. He looked like he was in shock, not truly believing that his fellow colleague was really dead. "She's dead."
Footsteps were heard in the hall. Lots of them. An alarm began to blare as they approached the room. Shadow gripped the Chaos Emerald and stood up despite the fact he was still drained of power and faced the oncoming soldiers.
"CHAOS BLAST!"
A red-hot wave of fiery rage swept down the hall, destroying the soldiers that tired to advance and imprison the group. The alarm began to die away as it short-circuited, fire tracing its way along the exposed cables and wires in the walls.
Tails caught him as he began to fall backwards. "Shadow…that was incredible…"
"It doesn't matter. Someone get Sonic…we've got to get the cure out to everyone." Shadow pulled himself up again and made his way back into the room.
"Shads…? That you…?" Sonic muttered. "…what happened?..."
"We'll explain later. Come on, can you walk?" Tyler demanded.
"Here." Shadow dropped the Chaos Emerald next to Sonic's hand. A small flash of green covered his body once he touched it, giving him enough energy for the moment. The Emerald began to fade to a gray-green.
"What happened?" Sonic asked once he was on his feet again. "What happened to…" He trailed off.
"No time for that now." Shadow growled. "We've got to get the cure and head out of here."
XxXxXxXx
…This story is really scaring the crap out of me now…
Review, por favor?
You know what I say next: No Flames, Flame me I release Iblis, blah blah blah Blah blah blah Hasta la Vista, Readers blah blah
Lordoftheghostking28