Chaos Emerald

The waters crashed against each other. Hidden by sound, and by deep ocean blue, she found her body come in contact with a metal surface. There was a groan from her lips, an unhappy one at that, she pulled her body up from underwater. One metallic rung at a time, she climbed, before coming to the beautiful sunlight. Her hand found her facemask, and she tore it off without a second thought. Free to breathe natural air, she sucked it in, like it was the last thing ever. She was so elated by it, she almost forgot her mission.

Almost...

"Maria!" Ivo's voice called, "Have you arrived yet?"

She pulled the rubber suit from her head, allowing her blonde hair to spill out. Gazing toward the rows upon rows of silver buildings, she gave a slight nod.

Metal Harbor... a bay created purely by metal. G.U.N. Bots were everywhere, as well as jets, battleships, and other things of mechanical prowess. Her heart held great memories of this place, this was, after all, where she was trained. But, oh yeah, that's right, those aren't her memories, are they? God, it was getting hard to tell fact from fiction.

"Yeah, Ivo," she said into her radio, "I'm here..."

Her hand laid above her eyes, casting a shade over her vision. With the sun blocked out, she could see a greater definition of area. The inland of Prison Island lied not to far off, and she was going to have to sneak in. Easier said than done, of course.

"Good!" Ivo responded, "Then, let me explain things. The Chaos Emerald is being held on the in most area in the island! I'm going to have my badniks attack the island's weapons bed, while you sneak in! Easy right!?"

"Just don't hurt anyone living Ivo!" Maria yelled back, "I don't want any more blood spilled!"

"You still hold on to your convictions Maria... even though they've been lying to you. Fine then, do your thing! I'll try and be stable."

"Don't try! Do it! Maria out!"

Turning off the radio, she returned her gaze toward Metal Harbor. It would take some time to get there, so there was no need for her to dilly-dally. So, she kicked up her feet. Her eyes went from blue to red, and she dashed off. In a blue streak, she zoomed down the harbor's roads. Everything was relatively quiet, for now, at least. Streaking up and down, she came to a structure that had its road disconnected. So, with a mighty leap, she cleared the distance to the other side, and landed safely. Her land caused a shockwave... no... wait, that wasn't her.

There was a sudden explosion, that was relatively close to her position. Even outside, she could hear the loud blaring of the alarms. She gazed in the opposite direction of herself, to see explosions occurring over the horizon. The results of her cousin, no doubt. Since he was doing his mission, she would get to work on hers.

That blue streak of her's coursed up and down Metal Harbor's roads. This place always had such a groovy track, making Maria wonder who built the place. It was always a thought of her's. Just who was this place made for?

Anyway, she ran along the road at high speeds, while also making sure she stayed on track. Eventually, she came to a great shuttle loop, one that made her eyes bend up in confusion. What reason did this thing have for existing? Still working though, she bursted forth in an intense amount of speed, going up, through, and down the loop-de-loop. The end of the track came in an instant, and Maria was left with zero road to go down. Cursing that shuttle loop for taking up most of the road, she started to look for another area to run across. As if by luck, a battleship was slowly moving by, quite possibly to battle her cousin. So, using it as more of the track, Maria leaped over to it. All the guards on the ship were unsure of what they should do once she appeared. Not giving them the light of day, however, she dashed straight through, blowing them off in her slipstream. She rushed all the way to the other end, leaped down, then continued rushing on the water, her speed keeping her from falling under.

It didn't take long for her to reach the island. Her feet clashed against the mechanical beaches, as she deftly dodged cameras and guards. Stopping at a shaded blind spot, he leaned up against the wall. Her red eyes quickly changed back to the blue they were known for, as she constantly breathed in and out. Peering over the corner, pistol in hand, she noticed the many folds of G.U.N. Soldiers, scurrying about. If she attempted to sneak through these men, she was sure she she'd be captured. There was no disputing that. She just needed something...

"Quick, to the Weapons Bed!" orders were given amongst the G.U.N. soldiers, "We're under attack!"

Maria had to smile at the timely intervention of her cousin. All the soldiers before her grabbed arms, and exited the area, all of them rushing to meet her deranged family member. Checking her gun to make sure it was in proper working order, she rushed off to get into one of Prison Island's dense forests.

...

His hand dove into his bag of pork rinds, as his mech suit fired wildly. The cannon on his walker constantly spewed forth blasts of heated energy, destroying G.U.N. Bots and soldiers by the buckets full. Explosions riddled the battleship he trekked on, as his suit neared the metal roads of the mechanical bay. He was so enamored by the sight of the explosions, he failed to remember his current position. G.U.N. was surely nearing him, and if he continued this, then he would surely be captured. His badniks may have been powerful, but they weren't an army. Not yet at least.

He leaped over a gap, landing on the metal roads of Prison Island's harbor. Brushing his greasing fingers through his hair, he glared forth with his blue eyes. He could see the oncoming fleets of G.U.N., and that enthralled him. The mission was going according to plan. With G.U.N. spending this much time, paying attention to him, then Maria would sneak in easily.

"Perfection!" he whispered, smiling threateningly.

Training his Eggwalker's aiming sights on the oncoming fleets of opponents, he prepared for his battle. His cannon started to charge up, and he fired.

...

Quickly, the blonde agent leaped over a fallen tree. As soon as she landed, she held close her pistol. She knew Prison Island like the back of her hand, so she knew all the entrances and exits. One that she always told G.U.N. to look for, was a ventilation shaft. It was pretty well hidden in the forest, but if one were to slip into it, they'd easily invade the base. The only problem with the shaft, was the fact that it was so small. But not too small.

Pushing through an overgrowth of leaves, she found the shaft she sought for. Latching her hand on the bars, she started to pull. The rusted bolts snapped off quickly, allowing her a nice entry way inside. Licking her lips, she showed just how pleased she was. Before she slipped inside though, she checked her surroundings one last time. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, but it sure did feel like it. It was like something was watching her.

Shaking her head free of those thoughts, she finally slipped into the shaft. She slid inside quickly, being covered by shadows and steel. Reaching the bottom, she caused a loud 'BANG!' noise to echo. Fortunately, no one heard her, as this area of the base was usually surrounded by very loud working machines. The blonde woman clenched tightly onto her pistol, as she moved silently through the small metallic tunnels. Light was only a thought in this place, as it was so dark, one would be lucky to get a few glimpses of it. Fans spun around rapidly as well, making the already cold shaft even colder.

"Maria!" a buzzing noise echoed from her belt, "Maria you there!?"

Latching onto her radio, she gave a highly annoyed grunt.

"Yes, I'm here, Ivo! What do you want?"

"G.U.N. has already sent their more powerful fleet! I'll try to fight them off as best I can, but my badniks can only do so much! You're on a time limit, Maria dear! Find the Chaos Emerald, and get the hell out!"

"Oh, man, you sound like my Commander!" she replied, "Just do your job, Ivo, I'll do mine!"

Pressing the button on the radio, she turned it off. Her face retained some rage and annoyance, but it melted away quickly. She continued to shuffle through the cold tunnels, before reaching an area where she could stand up in. Blue eyes gazing through a vent's opening, she finally got a few strands of light. Many feet shuffled through her vision, as G.U.N. agents ran off to face her mad cousin. She watched them move off, and didn't move again until the last person exited the hall.

She was extremely meticulous in how she removed the metal grating before her. She knew if she moved to far out, she would surely gain the eyesight of cameras. So, she broke off the vent opening very quickly, yet very slowly at the same time. Upon snapping off its hinges, she pulled the shaft opening back inside. Her blonde head bobbed out of the hole moments later, and upon finding the close to be clear, she crawled out.

Standing inside the base, Maria had to first scan close the cameras. One lied at the very end of the hall, but she was out of view. For now, anyway. Lifting her pistol, she withdrew a silencer from her waist. Screwing it on, she prepared for her mission.

Honestly, this all felt so wrong. Was she really about to do this? The mere action of bringing a loaded gun in this base, her base, felt so terrible. She prayed she wouldn't have to use it. She prayed she wouldn't face any of her old partners, and be forced to shoot them. Her memories of growing up may have been altered, but not her memories of being trained here. That happened, she made friends, friends she adored. Some of which worked here. Could she kill them? The iguana soldier from earlier was different, he had to be eliminated, but these guys. Some of them cared for her.

But that wasn't the case right now, she knew that. Worrying about hurting her friends was only a thought, for if they got in her way, she'd have no choice. Besides, G.U.N. deserved it. If her memories were true, which she's sure they are, then all of them deserve it. All of them. Now, back to the mission.

Find a mysterious rock that may, or may not, exist. Yeah... that sounded sooooo easier before. Now she realized just how stupid this was. Finding a super powered rock, yeah right. It was stupid. But... she could feel this odd force tugging her, bringing her about. Unsure of what she should do, she just started following the force, wondering what was going on.

Dragging her fingers through her hair, she started off down the silent halls, being very careful as to not trip any alarms. That's the last thing she wanted to do.

...

His ears twitched at the sight. Tending to his floppy ears, the older hare started to rub them. His brown eyes scanned the images before him, as he went over in his mind what he should do. The guard beside him looked so frantic right now, so scared. The explosions in the Weapons Bed was so far away, but he felt they could come at any moment. Did his boss not care? Had the warden suddenly lost his mind? No, he was merely thinking. He watched the image of Maria sneaking into the base, via the hidden shaft. Everyone else may have ignored her words on the blatant weak spot, but he didn't. After she started warning about it, he made sure to plant a camera in the area, just to be sure.

"Warden Coffee?" his subordinate called, "What do we do?"

The rabbit laid his hand on his chin, as he thought for a bit. As dangerous as Maria was, he knew the danger of allowing Dr. Ivo free range of the Weapons Bed. The video monitor showed the madman just firing about wildly, whilst laughing like the deranged maniac he is. What he needed to do, was take down both Ivo, and Maria. But he didn't want just any soldier to take down Maria, he wanted to do so personally. So he smirked, this devilish, evil smirk, and stood up from his soldier. Patting him down on the shoulder, he made his way for the exit.

"Keep your eyes on the base, understood?"

"Y-yes sir..." the soldier responded.

Coffee exited the door moments later, while his feet took him off down the hall. The rabbit's face had quickly become haggard, as his mind rushed with these intense thoughts. Killing Maria, it would be a dream come true. He warned them of her eventual betrayal, but they didn't listen! No! Now he was going to rectify a 12-year-old problem.

He tapped a few buttons on the keypad before him. The door slid open. The room was dark at first, before his hand brought light to the area. It was big, and it housed many, many, mech suits.

And all he had to do was pick one.

...

"Have you found it yet!" Ivo groaned through the radio.

"Just shut, the hell, up Ivo!" she barked back, gazing around the corner, "I'm working as fast as I can!"

"Then work faster!" he barked, "G.U.N. has just deployed the mech suits! They are really trying to take me down!"

"Just keep at it!" she yelled, "You could use the work!"

"Why you!"

Her finger slicked passed the on switch, turning it off. Sliding it back down to her waist, she focused on her current mission. Finding anything in Prison Island is difficult, especially shimmering jewels that may not exist. That being said, she wasn't really helping with the fact that she was currently hacking systems.

This wasn't apart of the plan, but Maria felt it to be necessary. She needed answers she felt only Prison Island could give. Maybe it was a stupid affair, and all she should do was focus on finding the Chaos Emerald. But this place knew who she was, and any connection to the past would be very much-needed right now. Funny, really. G.U.N. had taught her everything she knew, and now she was using it to get back at them.

The screen before her made a clicking noise. Smirking, she glared up to it. Ivo's insidious symbol lied on the screen, showing her mission was complete. Once they returned to base, they would have all the information from both Prison Island, and Ark. Now, off for the Emerald.

She exited the computer room quickly, and sent her blue eyes scanning the halls. Many broken cameras littered the walls, all of which were shot by her. Gazing at the broken machines reminded her to reload her gun, which she did quickly. Eyes moving left and right, she started to focus. That call from before was now beckoning out to her, screaming as well. She needed to find it, the Chaos Emerald, and quick. Then why couldn't she break free of the force calling her? She just ran down these halls, turning left, turning right, not paying attention to anything. Her feet brought her along at such great speeds, while her blue eyes trained forward permanently. It was hard to think with all of this going on, until she came to a stop.

Before her, a door. But not just any door. A large door, one that dwarfed her in size. Odd, she didn't remember this door. In fact, she didn't remember any of this place. The halls seemed older, and out of use. Still, the place held this powerful aura within it. But enough about that.

Whatever the force was that called her, she knew it lied on the other end of that door. Eyes closing, she focused, eventually executing her meta-human genes. Her eyes turned red, and her body felt stronger. Diving her hand into the crevice of the doors, she pushed them open slowly. They grinded against the ground, making such a great noise bend out. Her grunts pushed her open, as the force kept her enthralled. It didn't take long to open it, but it sure did feel like it.

The room was cold. Colder than Maria suspected it to be. Mist was flying everywhere, while this one great machine lied in the center. Maria approached it slowly, her heart racing ever so. The machine seemingly pulsated this awesome power, a power she couldn't wait to get her fingers on. Just what was it though?

Getting in front of the machine, she gazed at it. It remained silent through the wind. With a powerful grunt, she dove her finger's forth, tearing straight through the metal. A green light thus poured out. Maria had to cover her eyes at first as to not get blinded, but after her eyesight adjusted itself, she took in the sight. Some how... she knew it. She just knew it.

"Chaos Emerald..." she whispered.

"Indeed..." a voice answered.

She spun around quickly, gazing at the light of the hall. Standing in the doorway, arms behind his back, brown eyes forward, ears up tall, was Coffee. The blond agent shook her head in unhappiness, as her hands found her sides.

"Warden..." she called.

"Maria..." he called back.

"What do you want?" she stated, hand tensing on her pistol

"Really, Maria? You're really going to say that to me?"

"Just stay out of this, Coffee!" she barked, giving up on her ruse, "I don't want to fight you!"

"Strong words," he said, walking forth, "From a weak woman."

"What did you say!?" she barked, fighting the urge to plant a bullet in his skull.

"I'm just speaking the truth," he remarked, "I always knew you were a bad apple, Maria. And now, I've been proven correct."

"Yes, you have, Coffee," she said, confirming his words, "Now beat it! Before I show you just how bad an apple I can be."

He chuckled lowly, his brown eyes moving to the ground.

"Yes... weapons are such foolish things."

"Weapons?"

"Yes, weapons," he continued, "That's what you are, Maria. A simple tool used to get one's way." he started laughing again, "What's so funny is that... you think you can be your own woman."

"I am my own woman!" she stated, growing angry again.

"No you're not," he retorted, "Right now, you're being used by your cousin, as just another tool in his arsenal."

"That's not true!" she roared.

"Oh? Does he not want the Chaos Emerald for his own nefarious purposes? Right now, it looks as if he's just using you to get what he wants, and its working."

"So..." she stated, looking down, "You did know about the Chaos Emerald."

"Oh yes, Maria. They are very much real. All seven of them."

"Do you know where they are?"

"No one knows where all Chaos Emeralds are. The only person who did know was that madman Gerald, and he's dead now."

That madman Gerald. That madman was her grandfather. She may not remember much of Ark, but she did know he was trying to help her. But... help her with what? She couldn't remember. And not remembering things made her mad.

"You know what Coffee," she said, eerily calm, "I never liked you. You were a pompous jackass, who always bossed me around." she smirked, "Let me return some of that, huh?"

Her gun jabbed forward, and her finger pulled on the trigger. The loud noise of a bullet being ignited filled the air. Maria's attack flew straight toward Coffee.

He grabbed it.

Maria's eyes widened at the sight of Coffee holding her bullet in hand. How had he done so? It took her a while to realize what happened.

"Roboticization..." she stated, slowly.

The hare nodded. He grabbed a hold of his glove and removed it, showing the metallic hand underneath. Maria shook her head.

"You roboticized yourself?"

"Only my arms," he stated, "I really wanted to feel your body crumple under my hands."

"You're insane, Ivo! That roboticization is a one way street!"

"Shows what you know," he replied dementedly, "Samantha is working on a de-roboticization process as we speak. This, is only temporary."

"Fine then," Maria responded, "Let's just see how well they work!"

She slid her gun into down into her belt. Those red eyes of hers beamed holes into the brown eyes belonging to Coffee. Everything else ceased to matter, as the two prepared for battle.

"MARIA ARE YOU THERE!?" Ivo barked, showing blatant rage, "I'VE DONE ALL I CAN DO! HAVE YOU FOUND THE EMERALD!?"

"Don't wait up..." she responded ominously.

In a burst of speed, she rushed forward. Her shoulder slammed into Coffee, launching him down the hall. He didn't stop flying until he came to a wall, and when he did, his body made a painful cracking noise. Maria smiled a devilish smile, as she thought the battle to be over. Shifting her gaze back to the Chaos Emerald, she prepared to take it. The next thing she knew, she was upside down. Gazing up, err, down, she saw Coffee had already recoiled from the hit. His metal hands clenched tightly on her body, before slamming her head first into the ground.

Maria's eyes were dazed by the hit, as she tried to focus on something other than the pain. Falling on the ground, she quickly shuffled to her toes. Coffee pulled back his fist and struck forth, but Maria was able to block it. Clenching onto his metallic hands, she pulled him back and delivered a punch.

A punch from a human is hard. A punch from a meta-human is killer.

Coffee crashed into some of the aged machinery in the room, while he groaned out in pain. Taking this moment as the opportune time to strike, she withdrew her pistol. Her finger squeezed on the trigger, firing forth a bullet. Coffee's sensitive hear prepared him for the strike even before Maria fired. So he already was in mid counter by the time the bullet flew out. His hand reached forward, and just like before, he blocked it.

Maria grunted as her rage started to boil. Setting away her gun, she once again leaped forward for an attack. She crashed into Coffee, her body atop his. Raising her fists, she punched down, but Coffee was able to block it. He held her off for a while, before bucking up his powerful legs, sending her careening into a wall.

Maria snapped against it, causing pain to riddle up her spine. After falling to the ground, she started to cough and weeze, whilst at the same time growling. Coffee was causing her rage to boil, and she was ready to make him feel it. Whipping it forward, she fired a flurry of bullets, praying one would score, at least, a scratch. Of course, Coffee deflected the attacks, making it all seem fruitless. Maria's wild firing did have its reasons, however, as once his brown eyes glared forward, she was gone.

He gingerly walked around the area, keeping his eyes on everything. Sparks were flying from the machine Maria struck, causing his eyes to jerk toward it briefly. That's all the blonde needed. She appeared behind in a blue flash, and by the time he spun around, his face met her hand. She slammed him into the machine, causing said sparks to send shocks throughout his body.

For a whole thirty seconds Maria kept him there, allowing the electricity to have its way with him. He screamed out in pain, but his calls held no reins on Maria's heart. After she figured he suffered enough, she released the grip she held on him, and allowed him to fall. His body was charred lightly, but not too much.

"Uuuuuurrrrrrgh..." he grumbled, body lightly shaking.

"Still alive, Coffee..." she taunted, feeling extremely annoyed.

To add insult to injury, or just for the pure hell of it, she struck him in the gut via a kick.

Shifting her gaze to the Chaos Emerald that lied in the machine, she let out a breath of relief. Said breath also caused her red eyes to change back to their shimmering blue. Her hand reached for the Chaos Emerald seconds later, and upon grabbing it, she tore it from the machine. Her blue eyes scanned close the emerald in her hands. It was so calm and alluring, as if it could exude life.

"Maria!" Ivo's voice called, the rage still blatant, but now very dull, "I hope you have found what we were looking for..."

"Yeah, yeah," she responded, "I have it."

"Good! Now let's get out of here! G.U.N.'s not playing around anymore!"

"I'm coming, just wait..."

For what had to have been the hundredth time this evening, she turned the radio off. Her feet started to take her out of the base, but the Chaos Emerald started shining even brighter. Its green brilliance started to grow, and engulf Maria, causing her to call out in surprise. Before she knew it, she was gone.