Chapter 06: Danger Zone

Luke, Kaylor, Tails, and R2 were running through the corridors searching for Sonic when they ran into Amy. "Amy!" shouted Tails.

"Tails! Luke! Kaylor! R2! Sonic went after that black hedgehog I saw earlier!" shouted Amy.

"Shadow is here?" asked Kaylor. "He must have come for the Chaos Emerald here! We have to stop him!"

"I concur." said Luke. "Amy, Tails, and R2, go back to the ship and get it ready for takeoff. Kaylor and I will go after Sonic and Shadow."

"Yes sir!" said Tails and Amy together as they and R2 headed out of the facility and went to retrieve the Star Tornado, while Luke and Kaylor raced towards the vault.

Shadow and Sonic exchanged blows and blaster shots as hard hitting as the last time they fought, and then, Shadow blasted a hole right through the ceiling and onto the jungle above the underground portion of the base.

"You're pretty tough Shadow. But you're my fake, and I gotta bring this little crusade of yours to an end." said Sonic.

"You're the fake from my point of view. You're not strong enough to be my fake. You're a mere hedgehog, unlike me, since I'm the Ultimate Life-Form. Perfect, immortal, and unstoppable!" then Shadow launched a Spin Dash at Sonic, who dodged the blow. Sonic then fired his blaster at Shadow and knocked him down, but Shadow quickly recovered and fired off a Chaos Spear at Sonic, who dodged it easily. Sonic was prepared for this round, so he dodged Shadow's Chaos Spears easily.

Shadow grew increasingly frustrated. "You compare yourself to me? I think you greatly misjudge."

"I'll make you eat those words off a platter!" said Sonic as he hit Shadow with a homing attack.

"This is Rouge! I've got the vault door open! The last 2 Emeralds are as good as ours!" said Rouge over Shadow's communicator. But Shadow was too busy fighting Sonic to worry about that. But then, Shadow was caught off guard by the sight of Luke, equipped with his Lightsaber. Shadow fired off several Chaos Spears at Luke, who deflected them with ease. Luke then came with a full swing, which Shadow jumped to avoid. Sonic held back to let Luke do some fighting.

Shadow and Luke exchanged blows, but Shadow's attacks were repulsed by Luke's Force powers and Lightsaber blocks. Luke eventually struck Shadow in the arm, and they were in a lock. "You are strong Shadow." said Luke as he struggled to gain the edge. "But I sense much anger in you. You think that this 'Maria' wanted you to avenge her death. I sense a lie hangs in your mind, and you are becoming the very evil you swore to destroy."

"Don't lecture me, Jedi! I lost the only friend I had that day, and I'm not gonna fight for the race that killed her!" growled Shadow, struggling to repulse Luke's Lightsaber.

"You sound just like my father when he tried to justify his fall to the Dark Side. You're better than those people Shadow, don't give into your anger! Once you start down the dark path, forever will it consume your fate." said Luke remembering his teachings.

"I am far from being a good guy, Skywalker. So don't you dare stand in my way! Chaos Spear!" Shadow said as he shot Luke in the hand with a Chaos Spear, and allowed him to break free.

"Shadow, this is Rouge. The vault is in lock-down now, and Forell is gonna bombard the island with turbolaser fire. I kinda need help here…." said Rouge.

This made Shadow remember about the Chaos Emeralds, and then Sonic walked up to Shadow and said: "I'll help you rescue your friend. Truce for now?"

"I'll help too." said Luke as he offered his aid.

Shadow begrudgingly looked at the two and grumbled: "For now…" and then the three raced back towards where the vault was. Shadow and Sonic spin dashed into the vault, where Rouge and Kaylor were.

"My hero." said Rouge grabbing Shadow.

"All right, now how do we get…." said Sonic before Shadow teleported them out of the vault and near Shadow's Escort Shuttle. "outta here?"

"That was so unlike you Shadow, to come and rescue…"

"I'm only here for the Chaos Emeralds." said Shadow as he grabbed the case containing the Emeralds. "Chaos Control!" then Shadow disappeared with the Emeralds. Then the Shuttle, with Shadow aboard, took off and flew off at once.

Sonic then turned to Rouge. "Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I know. Rouge the Bat. I work undercover for Kaylor here."

"Say what?" asked Sonic.

"That's right Sonic. She's been undercover in the Remnant since Endor. She tipped us off about some kind of operation going down here. We just never fully took the chance." said Kaylor.

"Way past smart, Kaylor. Rouge, I say we go up to the ARK and complain to this guy's boss." said Sonic.

"I concur. But we require a ship soon, or the Apocalypse will take us down with the island." said Rouge.

"Right." said Kaylor. "Amy and Tails, where are you?" asked Kaylor over his communicator.

Then the Star Tornado came into view and landed right where Shadow's shuttle was. "Right here, Kaylor. Get on, quick!" shouted Tails over the communicator as the boarding ramp opened up and they all climbed aboard as quickly as they could and took off.

Shadow's shuttle flew towards the ARK, but three X-Wings from the base gave chase. "Unidentified shuttle, we have you in our sights. Power down at once or we will open fire." said a pilot.

But Shadow, undaunted by this threat, pushed a button on the control panel and a compartment of the shuttle opened and out came three projectiles. "Homing Mines! Evasive Action now!" shouted the pilot. But the three X-Wings couldn't avoid the mines and all three were destroyed in an instant. But the Star Tornado was soon approaching fast, and Shadow knew he had no time to do battle with the freighter, and so he pushed the same button again and fired off three more homing mines. But Tails, being a good pilot, locked onto the mines and fired off three missiles to destroy the mines. This made Shadow respond by firing the rear turret on the Shuttle, but the Star Tornado dodged the shots easily, and fired back. Then Shadow revealed another trick. Turning the shuttle around, he fired off two purple colored warheads at them.

"Mag Pulses! Evade!" shouted Kaylor. But they were too late, the two Mag Pulse warheads struck the Star Tornado and knocked out its weapons. Satisfied, Shadow turned around and cloaked his ship with the cloaking device aboard.

Meanwhile, the Apocalypse moved into firing position, and then fired off many shots at Prison Island, which reduced the Republic base below into ruins.