CHAPTER 4

"Where's the nearest hospital?" Knuckles asked. "We've got to work fast!"

"There's one in Emerald Town— I know because I saw it when we passed it—but it's a good walking distance away. Even if we did manage to escape from here, Shadow may not make it." Tails stuttered.

"It's our only chance." Rouge agreed.

"But if we move him…even an inch, there's no telling what damage we'd be doing." Ginny said.

Tails glanced around the lab of horrors as if looking for something. He apparently found it, because in the next few seconds he began a stockpile of random equipment of all shapes and sizes.

"What are you doing?" Silver asked.

"Hopefully making something that can boost the energy of the Chaos Emerald so we can teleport two people at once directly into the Emerald Town Hospital. But it's a long shot…It may not work."

"Don't stop believing," Sonic cast him a small smile.

Tails beamed, beginning to assemble and connect the various pieces of junk.

Shadow moved again, whispering phrases of broken sentences. Sonic made out his name and something that sounded eerily like "Kill".

"Hang on, Shadow. We're going to get you out of here."

"N…no…kill…pl…please…"

"We're not going to kill you. Who do you think we are?"

"…Sonic…kill…"

Sonic realized with a bolt of dread that Shadow wasn't begging for mercy…he was begging for death. How he was managing to stay conscious throughout all this misery was a mystery that was quickly solved as Sonic's eyes flicked to the machine beside him.

"What are you doing?" Ginny demanded as Sonic flipped the switch that would stop the device but keep the monitor going.

"Probably increasing our chances of getting Shadow somewhere alive." Sonic bit his lip, hoping he had done the right thing.

Within a few moments, Shadow stopped moving save the shallow risings and falling of his chest. Much to Sonic's surprise, most of his vitals stabled.

"Good Chaos, how long had he been like that?" Rouge stared down at her shoes.

"No clue. At least we stopped it." Silver sighed, turning towards where Tails was working. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good…I just wish I had something to use to weld,"

"Like this?" Ginny pulled a green crayon from her shoe, bursting out in nervous, silent laughter at her friends' faces. "The GUN guards thought I was insane, but they let me keep my crayons. This one is a lighter, it's the closest thing I have."

"I'll use it." Tails took it, twisting the bottom of it with a loud snap. A flame appeared on the sharpened green tip but didn't melt away the disguise.

"Let's see…" Ginny pulled several more crayons from her shoe. "Red's a grenade… blue's knockout gasses... purple's a code scanner, I can break into anywhere that demands DNA…brown's a truth potion, anyone who takes it is forced to tell the truth…and I can't remember for the life of me what white does."

Tails gave a slight sigh. "It's done, but it looks as though it'll fall apart at any second. It should work, though. Sonic, can I have the Emerald?"

Sonic handed him the Emerald, which he placed in the center of the device. Tails plugged it into an outlet and his hand hovered over a small switch.

"As soon as I activate this, you have to be touching both the Emerald and Shadow. It'll boost the power so you can hopefully materialize in the hospital. The only probablem is that everyone there thinks Shadow is an escaped inmate who killed a lot of people…they may go a bit crazy. We'll get there as fast as we can, but this is up to you."

"Right. I'll try my best." Sonic gripped Shadow's hand, gritting his teeth together as he felt the broken glass grinding against Shadow's bones. He hoped that the doctors would be able to do something…anything…

"Ready?" Tails asked.

Sonic brushed the Emerald with his fingers. "Ready."

Tails flicked the switch and the twilight-ish lights above him grew blindingly bright and then blew out in an explosion of sparks. Sonic could hear pops from down the hall as the power blew out, hopefully stopping the other victims' pain. Then the room vanished completely and he was in a comfortable waiting room, three nurses staring at him. One passed out.

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"Shit,"

"That could not have been worse,"

"At least Shadow is saved! Come on, let's get out of here!" Rouge grabbed the lighter/crayon from Tails and flicked it on, casting eerie shadows across the room. She ran to the door and yanked it open, the others following close behind.

They made it up the stairs without too much trouble, just an occasional stumble. But up above was where the danger started.

It was pitch black in the hall and the group could hear yelling and screaming from the cells down one hall and shouts for order coming from the other. Silver tripped over something, managing a small squeak before he hit the ground.

"Silver, it's fine! It's the guy we knocked out earlier!" Knuckles hissed.

"I knew that," Silver whispered.

"The only way out is that way, the way with the shouting soldiers. We may have to fight." Rouge said. "Everyone be prepared."

No sooner had she said that then footsteps came heavily towards them and voices in unison screamed, "FREEZE!"

Rouge extinguished the light and attacked.

"Watch out, Silver! You glow! They're aiming at you!" Ginny shouted.

Gunshots rang out, lighting up the room very briefly. In the flashes, Silver could see she was holding twin ninja stars. In another flash, the stars were lodged in a soldier's throat.

The group fought in any way they could in the pitch blackness, sometimes hitting soldiers and sometimes missing completely. It was beginning to be a hopeless battle in the dark, no one winning or losing.

A high-pitched shriek rang out, causing soldiers to drop their weapons and clap their hands over their ears. The group that was trying to escape did the same until Knuckles managed to rouse them and get them out the door into the blinding sun.

"Ah…so that's what the white crayon does." Ginny snickered.

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"If you don't mind, I sort of need your help." Sonic said. The Chaos Emerald had used the power it contained, the power source of the prison and most of his energy just to get them where they needed to be. Sonic just hoped it hadn't sapped Shadow of his remaining strength. He would need every bit of it.

"What…what is that thing?" One of the nurses asked in horror.

"Does that really matter? He needs help! Get someone in here! Help! Doctor! Anyone!" Sonic shouted, snapping the one remaining nurse into action. She picked up a phone and hurriedly muttered instructions into it.

"Someone'll be here soon," She said before turning to the other nurse and instructing her to put the one that had fainted into one of the chairs.

Sonic sighed with relief, dropping next to Shadow's side and searching for his pulse. It was there, faint and weak, but holding steady. He would make it. "Just a few more minuets, Shadow," Sonic said.

The doors flew open and an uncomfortable looking hospital bed was wheeled in, surrounded by three doctors in surgical scrubs. One did a double take, looking from Shadow to Sonic and then back to Shadow before saying slowly, "Is that…Shadow the Hedgehog?"

"No, man…I'm Shadow." Sonic growled, dark sarcasm lining his words. "Just get him somewhere where he can recover! Get someone in here who can remove glass from under someone's skin! Just do something, dammit!"

The doctors managed to get Shadow on the gurney without harming him too much. They turned and left quickly, almost running down the hall. Sonic collapsed to the floor and the world grew dark.

XxXxXxXx

The group was exhausted by the time they finally reached the hospital. Rouge ran in, flashing her ID at the receptionist. "Did a…blue hedgehog…and a black one…come in here?" She gasped.

"I can check." The girl said, surprised by the sudden commotion. She turned and began browsing through files, finally turning back to the group with a puzzled expression on her face. "There must be a mistake…it says Shadow the Hedgehog is undergoing emergency surgery-"

"What room?" The group shouted.

"He's in the emergency OR, which is on the other side of the building-"

"Come on!" Silver shouted.

"But you can't go in there! He's listed as 'critical'!"

The group ignored her, following the signs throughout the building and more than once running into a doctor. After a fair amount of sprinting, they stood at doors marked 'EMERGENCY OR', entering in to find a small waiting room. A door was on the other end of the room, but it was bolted firmly.

"Where's Sonic?" Tails asked.

"I almost forgot about him…" Knuckles sighed.

"Anyone want to go back to the main desk?"

"Aw, forget him. He'll find us," Silver sank into a chair, curling up and leaning his head on the armrest. "I'm exhausted."

"Be exhausted later. We have to find Sonic." Rouge growled.

XxXxXxXx

Sonic slowly became aware of the fact he was in a different place than where he had passed out. At least this new place was comfortable and not on a cold floor. He reached to his right, grabbing ahold of thin sheets. His left was the same. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting hard in the bright, burning light.

"MAN, WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Sonic would have punched Silver in the face had he been a little more awake. Instead he managed to jump and wake up almost completely. He was in a small room on a rather comfortable hospital bed with his group of friends surrounding him and just generally being creepy.

"Too bad he isn't," Knuckles muttered.

"How's Shadow?" Sonic choked out. His throat was dry.

"We still don't know. He's been in surgery for the past hour or so…obviously the doctors are doing everything they can." Ginny handed him a glass of water.

"I think we acted at the right time." Tails piped up. "We escaped with hardly a scratch."

"Just major headaches." Silver muttered again.

"It could be worse." Rouge hissed. "We managed to talk to the man in charge here…he won't tell GUN that Shadow is here. Because if they find out…there's a good chance he'll relive that agony again."

"How long was I out?" Sonic asked.

"About an hour, we think. They gave you an IV for a while and you started coming around about five minuets ago. Sorry about the Emerald thing." Tails said.

"At least it got us here and Shadow's still alive." Sonic sighed.

"Yeah…I guess all we have to do right now is wait."

XxXxXxXx

So THAT'S what the white crayon does!

Ha.

Ok, anyway, this chapter was lame. But in the upcoming ones, will they find out who actually killed all those people? Will they defeat evil like they always do? Will Shadow survive? Find out next time, when I actually get a chance to write crap and post it when I'm not at work!

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