a/n: Up to something. #herewego

Revolutionary Operation, Type Zero

Kinetic Sky

09. Ground Zeroes

"Alright...since Eggman is heading to ARK, what's the battle plan?"

Tails locked in his coordinates and spun his chair around to face Sonic. "We'll head over to Angel Island. It's still in the water."

"Think Red's okay?"

"I hope so. But he's tough."

"We're close. I can feel the life on the island," Amy said as she looked through the front windows. "And Knuckles, too. He's certainly upset, but fine all the same."

"Good ol' Knux. Built to last," Sonic said with a smile. "I think I can hit the shrine from here."

"I'm gonna put us in standby up top. We'll probably need to explain this to him together."

"Yeah, probably. Alright, we'll go down together."

Tails had the Wanderer idle high over the island, and Sonic warped the group down towards the Emerald Shrine. They walked up the steps to see Knuckles standing alone, in front of where the Master Emerald should have been.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Sonic said with a grin. Knuckles shook his head and turned around.

"You're always goofing off at the worst times."

"Oh...is that...?"

"What?"

"It's that old hat from way back when. With, uh...Sara! Yeah, that was it! I guess you're looking forward to some adventure, huh?"

"N-nothing like that," Knuckles said gruffly. "I just felt like wearing it this week. That's all. What took you jokers so long anyways?" he asked as he adjusted the wide-brimmed fedora. "The whole planet's getting swallowed up by this darkness. I think the only reason I didn't get hit out here was because the island was moving."

"The Master Emerald was shattered," Amy concluded.

"Yeah. That freak Metal Sonic did it...although, I was sure that you guys turned him into scrap years ago," Knuckles said. "I managed to damage him a bit..."

"It's been repaired."

"Eh?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah. Metal Sonic is the reason for all this. The cyberforming of the planet and everything besides. I guess he figured that with the Master Emerald out of the way, the power of Chaos could be used without any obstruction."

"Truth be told, I was content letting him smash the Master Emerald apart since that would mean that neither he or Eggman would get their hands on it. But now...I guess that I was wrong about that."

"Eggman's up on ARK," Sonic said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Red, he's on our side."

Knuckles took a battle stance.

"I knew this would happen," Sonic said with a sigh. Amy walked up to Knuckles.

"Stay back! I bet you're one of those freaky robot clones..."

She grabbed his nose and squeezed.

"Owowowowowow-"

"Oi. Shut up and pay attention, knucklehead."

"Okayokayokayjustleggo." She did so and he rubbed his sore nose. "Sheesh. You're worse than ever, woman."

"You're awful at listening. Now, we're all our real actual selves here, I assure you. Eggman is not responsible for this. Metal Sonic is."

"Apparently, a phantom from the past," Sonic said. "And he'll only get stronger the longer we let this go on."

"You think the Master Emerald will help?" Knuckles asked.

"I've got no doubts. Especially since it can negate the powers of the Chaos Emeralds."

"How many Emeralds do you have?"

Sonic thought for a moment. "I left two in a Special Zone."

"Which one?"

"That's the problem. I'm really sure I can't tap the Special Zone in Spring Yard where I left it. There's no doubt that South Island got glassed in the midst of this, too."

"Wait, don't the Special Zones work differently there? You shouldn't need a physical medium," Knuckles said. "I know you're thinking that the changes to the land might be a problem, but from what you told me the openings to those zones are generated from external energy."

"You think so?" Sonic asked.

"I know a little about these things," Knuckles said smugly. "You should head over and get those two Chaos Emeralds. They'll be a big help."

"Sure, that sounds like a plan."

"I'll come with you. We might be able to detect some of the Emerald Shards," Knuckles said as he looked to Tails.

"Right. I've got the radar with a few neat upgrades. It'll be cake."

"Next stop's South Island, then. I'm not gonna like what I see," Sonic muttered. Amy rubbed his back gently.

"We'll make things right. Right?"

"Right. Just can't believe Metal Sonic actually came back from...I guess the dead. And did all of this." He looked at Amy. "We..."

"Yes. I know, Sonic."

"You can't be okay with that."

Amy looked into the distance. "You would think so, wouldn't you? But...I never fancied myself a pacifist. I don't think I could be, you know? More than breaking down when I think about it...I realize that if I had to, I would do it again. As many times as it took." She looked back to Sonic. "Do you think I'm sick for that?"

"...no. Because I feel the same."

"And the ones that we can save...what about them?"

"We'll have to decide when our backs are against the wall," he said.

"That's a bad place to make decisions from."

"It'll be the only place if this keeps up. I don't think Eggman is gonna make it in time to prevent the worst from happening."

"..."

"Let's make tracks to South Island. We'll need those Emeralds."

"You're right. Let's go."

"How do we get up?" Knuckles asked, looking at the airship hovering above the island.

"Just make sure you got a hand on me and I'll do the rest," Sonic said. "Here we go."

"Ugh, this place is a mess. Everything's just gone loopy all of a sudden..."

Shadow ignored the complaints of his partner as he scanned Central City. No signs of life anywhere...but those troublesome robots had appeared, and were somehow growing in number.

Instinct told him to smash every mechanical thing in the area, but reason said that they had to be the civilians caught in the sudden terrain change.

He stood on a roof top with three of his compatriots, looking over the transformed city. Nothing but black metal, with recently formed lines of light running through them. They moved in one direction along strange paths, towards the mysterious black spire that had formed out of one of the taller buildings. On top of it was a strange metal silo, seven feet high.

Shadow touched one of the Inhibitor Rings on his wrists, then pulled his fingers away. As easy a solution as it would be, it wouldn't really help. He pulled his red and white gloves over them to dissuade further temptation. Rouge sat beside him, dangling her legs over the roof's edge.

"It was supposed to be my day off," she groaned. "You know how hard it is to get days off with these idiots running around?" She clicked her teeth as she noted a small tear in her leggings, but shrugged and zipped up her somewhat practical boots, the ones with the blocky heels that seemed to be made of more material than they actually were. The leggings reached up to denim shorts, and those up to a chest-hugging top, and then a black cropped jacket that Amy bought for her as a wedding thank you gift. It had the glittery pink heart on the back that made Rouge decide she wasn't going to wear it outside.

Omega looked like Omega usually did. He was fine with this, Eggman-murdering tendencies and all.

Brooding in the robot's shadow was the girl they called the 'probie' at G.U.N, though her rank said otherwise. Her golden eyes pierced the darkness as she looked to the black sky.

"Sense anything?" Shadow asked her.

"Sir. Nothing at the moment, Major. Sir," she said crisply.

"Alright."

"So, what do you think? Should we wait for Sonic?" Rouge asked.

"Hmph. He's already taking his time."

"Just call him already. You have the transmission code," she said.

"..."

"..." Rouge sighed and pulled out her phone. She tapped the screen and punched in four numbers. 1-9-9-1.

The connection was established in a few seconds.

"Heyo, what's shaking? Glad to hear from ya, Rougie!"

"You and your big mouth," she said with a genuine smile. "I was just checking in on you too, hon. The wife with you?"

"Yeah, they trashed our pad."

"Really? Damn, I thought I had it rough."

"No kiddin'. Rosie-o is doing okay, though. Squad with you?"

"Mm-hm. Sunshine, 'Megs, and 'Riko," she said.

"Fab Four. I like it. We're heading over to South Island to pick up some Chaos Emeralds. Got the wife, lil' bro, and Rad Red with me. Some nasty stuff is going on...I think we should all have a meet up so we can explain better. Doesn't work as well over the phone."

"I hear ya. We're in Central City. Place got smoked."

"Yeah, just like everywhere else. West Side Island got smoked, too. Hey, Eggman's up at ARK right now, so you know."

"ARK? Seriously?" she said with surprise.

"Yeah. Listen, I meant it when I said that we need to do this in person. Are you guys on the move?"

Rouge looked to Shadow, who shook his head.

"Nah. We'll be here a while."

"Okay. We're gonna fly the big bird down to the beach. I'm sure Shads will know when we've made it."

The black hedgehog grunted at the nickname.

"He can't wait."

"Absence does make the heart grow fonder. Anyways, stay safe 'till we make it over."

"Yeah. You take care too, hon. Nothing reckless."

A laugh. "Me? Never."

Rouge smiled as the call ended.

"So they'll be here in a couple of hours."

"Mm-hm." Rouge gave Shadow a quizzical look. "Are you still salty about that last time?"

"Salty...? What does that..." He paused before his brow furrowed in anger. "Don't be absurd. It was a simple sparring match and he caught me off guard."

"It's been six months."

"Can it, bat girl."

She raised her hands and let the conversation end.

"Hostiles detected," Omega rumbled. The girl with the golden eyes placed a hand on the katana at her side.

"Figures. Let's find another observation point," Shadow said. The group got ready to move.

"You're totally jealous," Rouge said under her breath.

Shadow grumbled but said nothing more as he warped the group away.