And so the pawns have begun to march into war, but with so much still unknown will they survive? Lets read on, shall we?

Part Seventeen: Forceful Education

He streaked into the shade of an aging forest, hot on the scent of whatever force had robbed him of his treasure. The lush greenery of the upper pylons muted and died away as the trunks approached the ground, a testament to the seasons and turbulent times that such guardians had silently watched. Small brushlings and other rooted life whipped past his ankles as the charcoal blur skated with all haste in redemption's pursuit. And the outside colors were not the only ones lost in a streaking warp. Deep down somewhere beneath cover his instinctual rage provided by his mind, cold logic was screaming for attention. Despite whatever ground he was covering towards the force that challenged him, Shadow knew quite well that he was being baited into a trap. It was the good doctor's style after all.

But what did the scientist want with the ultimate life-form this time? A simple scout for those dammed Chaos Emeralds or as a general is his mechanized army for another glorified conquest?

And what of Shadow himself? Considering the sheer amount of energy being dumped into acceleration and velocity from his uninhibited and unregulated soul, would he even be able storm whatever fortress he was bound for?

Whatever goals and concerns the future held were rendered blind by the moment and the hedgehog's own mission. The mad scientist had stolen the delicate flower away from the blood-patched warrior, and that simply would not be stood for. Shadow would become the hurricane of destruction he had been in the days of the ARK and the Black Comet if it meant her safety was assured. As much as his newfound niche in the world would wish those days were over, the midnight fury would show his true colors once more and lay waste to this obstruction.

Shadow burned a straight path through the forestry well into the last hours of the morning before the screeching howl of an angered voice locked in combat snapped his senses back into the moment. And no sooner had his vision cleared did two familiar masses of metal and teeth bounce across his trail. One drone skidded to a halt just a hair's distance away, yet did not turn to grant him a second thought. Instead, its powerful legs launched the Raptor back into the dew-filled sky towards another target. The second shook the litter from its eyes and charged at Shadow, claws shining and ready to be coated in the hedgehog's blood. Frustrated by this delay, he leapt back against a neighboring wooden tower and boosted back towards the Raptor in a species patented spin-ball, his voice gravely and snarling loudly, only adding to the energies cloaking his core inside a nebula. The primal robot's cleaver-like defenses did nothing to save it as the blackened bullet of chaotic power burst through its collar all the way down the framework and through the tail.

Another fearsome roar echoed through the wood and intercepted the other sharpened attack, and with the tenacious strength he was renowned for, Knuckles the Echidna's s fists tore through the saurian's sternum and spine like a hot knife through butter. Like the brethren Shadow had encountered before, the Raptor made no sound or squeal as its dissected form spread throughout the grass at their feet. The guardian himself was not doing vastly better the hedgehog noted, as Knuckles' left arm had those familiar teethmarks buried in his shoulder and the crescent moon upon the echidna's chest was segmented by a triple trail of deep cuts.

"Knuckles? What the hell is going on?" Shadow inquired.

His voice seemed to startle the guardian out of his own mind frame "Shadow? What are you doing out here?! Did you see Rouge?! Which way did they take her?!"

Not quite the line of questioning the hedgehog was expecting "Rouge was taken also?"

Knuckles nodded "Yea. Something dark and fast burst through the club wall just after midnight and snatched her right out of the V.I.P room! I've been trailing them all night and keep running into these damm dinobots!"

"Humph. Glad I'm not the only one."

The echidna's violet eyes flashed a hint of confusion "They attacked you too?"

"A pair of them at least, earlier this morning. One of them took Amy, and I'd still be in pursuit if you're little sideshow hadn't interrupted me" Shadow clarified. However, something didn't quite add up. He had been racing though this forest at full steam and had encountered nothing until this blasted echidna crossed his path. And even as powerful as these contraptions were, there was no way they could compete in velocity with the ebony fury. Had he, the ultimate life-form, been so blinded by his more basic energies to realize that the path had gone cold long ago?

The irony of the moment stung as his cheeks like a hardy slap.

"Amy was kidnapped too? Well shit man, what are standing around here for?! Come on, get your spiney ass in gear and let's hustle!" Knuckle took off in a sprint for only a few seconds until the same realization "Ummm, this is the right way, isn't it?"

The midnight warrior said nothing, his crimson eyes closed in annoyance at the truth. Very well played doctor, but do you really think this will grant you any mercy? And why bring the bat into this?

"Tell me something, echidna. What was Rouge working on yesterday that might have attracted attention?"

Knuckles thought for a minute, resting his chin in his bloody palm "Let's see… a couple loose criminals she was tracking,… lining up her next jewelry raid… Oh yeah! She said she had a tip-off about your missing bracelet things!"

The wounded guardian's revelation snapped Shadow's eyes back open and wide. He certainly had the hedgehog's attention now "From who? Where did she get this clue?!"

Knuckles simply shrugged "She wouldn't say. Classified government bullshit, ya know?"

"Unfortunately. You forget I used to work for them." The hedgehog clarified, reflecting back upon the days he had worked for the very forces that had imprisoned him. Still, at least they had never asked questions when I came home with empty clips…

"Oh yea, that's right. Hey, you don't think they have something to do with this, do you?"

Shadow shook his head, his quills catching the full effect of the air's increasing warmth "No. This is Eggman's work. He was even kind enough to stamp these damm creations with his own brand." And indeed, one of the larger chunks from the hedgehog's victim still had the patch intact, which he indelicately tore off the metallic ribs and threw into Knuckles' spiked gloves. The crimson sentry took one solid look at the fleshy insignia and tore it into small pieces "Damm you Eggman! I've had enough of your games! This time you're gonna pay!"

Nodding, the midnight hedgehog began to sift through the other remains of his prey. By the time the guardian shot back with a quizzical look, Shadow had retrieved an insignificant looking handful of computer equipment and wiring from its cranium casing. Slowly, his own brain began to sort a plan into order, simple and efficient, which was lacking one depressing factor; direction. Quickly skimping through the list of potential resources, only a scant few rose to be of any use. Unless… "I don't suppose you have a computer we can use…"

Knuckles responded in the negative "Not my thing. And Rouge usually keeps hers locked up at work. But, I'm guessing Tails has one we could use to crack into this thing and track them down or whatever."

Which was the exact last option Shadow had wanted to consider simply for the fact that dealing with the fox also mean facing the faker. And as soon as Sonic knew what was going on, the darker hedgehog would never hear the end of it. He could hear the biting sarcasm and cocky heroic ego from here. Still, if finding Rose faster meant catching flack from the blue blur's lips, so be it. "Which way from here?" he asked.

The echidna gestured due west and took off in a dead sprint, Shadow right at his heels.

The biting cold of the metal under her naked back finally shocked Amy's synapses and senses back into reality. Trying to stir with a groan, it took only the briefest of moments for the cherry female to realize her arms and legs still did not respond to her commands. Her jade eyes darted around to try and find a familiar anything, only to be greeted by a room blanketed in darkness. Shifting and twisting about, the tell-tale clanking of chain and shackle against steel confirmed her fears. Wherever she was she wasn't going anywhere. Tears were quick to form in her eyes as panic began to override logic. The last image to stand out in her mind was the shining black form that had slammed through her wall and sent both of them through the next one. Its eyes stood out the most, small yet focused and burning with a lifeless fire.

Swiftly, a crack tore into the void and widened into a doorway. The rumbling growl of something massive could be heard from outside but whatever that was suddenly became irrelevant as an expansive waistline preceded the form of a human male entering the room. "Well well well, glad to see you finally came to" he hooted in a slightly overbearing tone.

"Dr. Eggman…" were the only words her throat would let free.

"The same" he commented with a bow. Approaching the table where she was bound to free the doorway, the evil genius lowered his mustachioed features to within inches of her raised ears, sending a combined surge of fright and loathing throughout her fur. "I must say I was surprised at the catch myself. I tracked that unforgivable low-life bastard Shadow to your little house. Sadly, it appears I captured the wrong vermin. But on the plus side, you make a much prettier trophy."

Embarrassed heat flushed through her body when she heard his snide compliment "Go to hell, you monster!"

Cackling a chuckle, the doctor stepped back away from the restrained flower "Flattery won't help you this time. Besides, I suspect your little boy-toy Sonic will be along any minute now. Or am I wrong? Could it be your fleeting wants are now on someone else's arm? Or has that ignorant rodent abandoned you too, the same way Shadow will?"

His voice suddenly dropped several octaves lower to a chillingly soft whisper "The same way your family did?"

"SHUT UP, YOU SON OF A BITCH! I HATE YOU!" she screamed, her voice cracking apart.

"Don't fret my dear. I promise that I won't leave you behind." Eggman hooted another cackle into the air and motioned for something outside to enter. And so, a stork-like robot did. It towered over its master, various sensors and cold devices in place of its wings and beak. Without query or orders, it took its post on the other side of the table, level with Amy's abdomen. Extending a small probe from the approximation of its chin, the mechanical giant leaned forward until the sensor graced the soft pink fur of the flower's stomach, shooting another cold shiver throughout Amy's body. There it rested for but a few quick moments, then sharply rose again and retracted its sensor.

"Well?" the doctor demanded "Report."

"Life form readings confirmed, Dr. Eggman. Subject has been fertilized within the last twelve hours. Two separate chromosomal patterns detected. Cellular duplication proceeding at predicted levels."

"Two patterns?" he repeated in a tone of awe "Well, perhaps I underestimated my grandfather after all."

Whatever words were emerging from underneath that outrageous facial hair, Amy Rose could not hear them anymore. In an instant, all the fear of the moment, all the anger towards her captor had shattered on the bow of this new reality. I'm…pregnant?! Can it be true… now what do I do? In a way, she wanted to feel ecstatic; if it weren't for the obvious fact the environment negated that joy. She had always wanted a family, a place to belong and call her very own. To have and to hold each and every day. And the past twenty-four hours had come the farthest to confirming her wish than anything else in her life that had preceded it, even if it was with the one person that everyone else had written off as a lost cause. But now, the way Shadow completed the framework of her soul, she knew that he had come around in his own right.

Still, the closest thing to parenthood she knew was when she babysat Cream occasionally. Which was already exponentially more than the father. How would such a loner as Shadow react when such a delicate bundle of joy is thrust into his blood stained hands? And try to interdict it as she might, Amy's mind could not help but take a second glance at the doctor's comment Impossible…Shadow would never abandon me. He loves me…

There were so many new concerns and questions now that she almost missed the evil scientist's plans until she caught the word "…extraction. Prepare maturation chambers one and two at once!"

The medical droid scurried out of the room, the doctor not far behind though at his normal pace.

"Wait!" Amy demanded "What's going on? What did you mean 'extraction'?"

"Simple" Eggman replied, the sneer on his lips betraying his anticipation, "you and Shadow have become the Adam and Eve of the new Eggman Empire! And with my masterful hand shaping their paths and training their powers, soon the whole planet will bow at my feet! Just pray for their sake they take more after their father than you."

Then the lights went black once more, leaving a frightened flower cold and alone to cry.

I tried to bring back the old Eggman/Robotnik as best I could without going completely overboard. Hope you all enjoyed the little twistings of that thing called fate...

Reviews always welcome!