Sonic 25
Level 3: The Battle of Spring Yard
Act 1: Tails and the escape from Knothole
A few weeks before Miles Prower was in his home village of Emerald Hill on his home island.
West side island was often just called West island by many except for its inhabitants.
This is where both Mobia and Humans co existed peacefully, ironic that long ago a war broke out here for the chaos emeralds but now it was at peace.
Miles was on one of his metal collection missions on the side of the Island, he liked collecting scrap metal to make them into one of his various tools.
He could not help but notice a boat pull up carrying a walrus come into a nearby peer, he rushed over as the walrus got out.
"Uhh hello!" said Miles
"Hello yourself" said Rotor "a two tailed fox, don't see one of those every day"
Miles nodded "yes so who are you and what brings you to west side island?"
"It's my home, I used to live in Metropolis. My name is Rotor and I am here on vacation as I have had a long time studying a project, my boss says she wants me to have time off so here I am."
"Oh I love studying!" said Miles "from mechanics to quantum physics, my brain can't have enough of it"
Rotor gave him a look "you read quantum physics?"
Miles nodded "yes, but my favorite is robotics."
Rotor smiled "got anything to show me?"
Miles nodded "yes sure do, by the way my name is Miles prower"
"Nice to meet you" said Rotor as Miles took him to his home.
Currently Tails didn't think about that time, he was too busy fighting Badniks to think on that time.
The fox didn't do too badly, he was able to keep up with Amy and that really cool blue hedgehog he liked.
Tails was not a powerhouse by any means, he wasn't as fast as Sonic or as strong as Amy but his fighting skills were very good.
He did several moves, his tornado move and spin dash were quite good plus as he was fighting he was able to develop another skill.
Using his knowledge of physics, trajectory and momentum he precisely calculated where each robot he was fighting was and homed in on each one.
Sonic saw this technique and said "whoa that attack is pretty cool!"
"It's a homing attack" said Tails "just jump and try to aim!"
Sonic nodded, his homing attack seemed to work but he seemed to be off in his angles.
"I got to teach you some physics sometime!" said Tails
"Don't know if that lunkhead can learn it though" said Amy
"Hey I got other things to worry about right now!" Sonic cried as he took out a few robots
"As you say" said Amy as she threw her hammer, it took out some robots as she cried "we cleared a path back to the base lets go!"
The other two nodded but they all knew that this was just the start of a very busy day.
Shadow and Rouge were on Robotniks command ship Robotnik stood there before them and said "so Rouge you are on my side now, and of your own will"
Rouge nodded "you are not going to make me into a robot right?"
"I won't, but you will have to do it sometime" said Robotnik
"Whatever you say, anyhow I think for your attack on Spring Yard I think I can enlist someone else to out cause. His name is Fang and he is good at long range weapons"
Robotnik nodded "Shadow you can fire weapons too, your robotic vision will give you perfect aim"
He then pulled out a gun and said "you can use this to give our foes a good challenge"
Shadow smiled "neat, hey can I got a motorcycle too?"
Robotnik nodded "why not, but I will give it to you later"
Shadow nodded and said "so Rouge you know where this Fang is at?"
She nodded "he is actually in Spring Yard as we speak, I met with him a few days ago when Robotnik hired me"
"I would appreciate the assistance" Robotnik replied "now as for Knothole base, you know where it leads out near Spring Yard correct?"
Rouge nodded "yes, you should send out a squad there and I know where the underwater tunnel is"
"excellent" said Robotnik "prepare to head out, I will leave you be to prepare for this operation"
The two nodded as Robotnik went into his quarters.
Shadow then came up to Rouge and said "you have quite a mean streak in you, a girl after my own heart… if I still had one that is"
"Don't know if I want to be flattered that way but thanks" Rouge saids with a smile "so how much of you is robotic anyhow?"
"70%, I can still eat but most of me is machine" he said "is that okay with you?"
Rouge nodded "you are one heck of a character Shadow, I look forward to working with you"
"Same here, you are more entertaining than anything Robotnik has"
"Thanks" the two then prepped as the mission to attack Spring Yard and Knothole went underway.
Tails, Sonic and Amy ran to the command center, there Sally, Bunnie, Antoine and Rotor were gathered together as Amy "cried we got some bad news!"
"That stupid bat ratted us out!" said Sonic "we got to get out of here!"
Sally nodded "well then we will evacuate people and destroy this base"
"I guess we shall go to ze Labyrinth" replied Antoine "it's the only place we can go"
"On this island yes" said Bunnie "But my data shows that it is not large enough. This unit does not think it can hold so many!"
Sally sighed "there is only one other place we can go"
Amy nodded "The Bygone Island"
"Where is that?" asked Tails
"Several thousand miles across the ocean, it would take a long time to get there but we have no choice." said Amy
"We must try to get there" said Sally "but first we must get out of this base"
"Yes" replied Amy "I am taking charge now Sally"
Sally nodded and Amy said "okay everyone lets get this going, Sally and Antoine I want you to grab supplies, Sonic and I will escort the civilians, Tails I want you and Rotor to modify Bunnie for combat"
Sonic nodded "but what about the rings?"
"I got that covered" said Tails "I have a ring generator in my carrying pack, I was able to duplicate one to keep me going if I needed it"
"Well then its settled" said Sally
Amy nodded "okay guys lets get this ball rolling"
They all spit up into groups as they prepared to evacuate.
Sonic ands Amy went down into the lower barracks were quite a few people were gathered
"Listen everyone!" Amy cried "we got to get out of here, Robotnik knows where we are! Keep calm and we will all get out safely we have others hiding places but you must trust me!"
"Where are we going?" asked one of the evacuees
"To Spring Yard and then to the Labyrinth, some of you will have to go to Bygone island but we have no choice!" Amy replied
"We will escort you from here" said Sonic "we have orders from the Princess!"
The civilians came around them and slowly they were taken to the elevator and down into the escape tunnel.
Antoine and Sally where in the galley being helped by the staff of the base.
"This is not going to be fun" said Sally
"Oui Robotnik has made zis quite hard" Antoine replied
"We are going to have one heck of a battle on our hands you up for it Antoine?"
"Oui I will give the enemy a taste of my blade!"
Sally nodded, she really hoped that everything was going to go well.
Bunnie was being worked on by Tails and Rotor, the pair were just perfect to make Bunnie into a combat robot.
"That tickles!" said Bunnie as Rotor installed hover jets into her feet
"Sorry, but you are not feeling any pain from this?"Rotor asked
"Only a little, but its very small"
"The pain is probably from me" said Tails as he screwed on one of her hands "there Bunnie try your new palm laser!"
Bunnie charged it up and fired it at a nearby wall.
"Cool!" said Tails "with that and the telescopic arms I installed you are going to be a robotic powerhouse!"
Bunnie nodded "this unit is going to kick some Robotnik butt!"
The three gave a smile to each other but all knew that the smiles would not last long.
In Spring Yard both Shadow and Rouge walked inside a small building, what was essentially a tough guys place where many thugs and cooks hid out. The two looked around and spotted a large purple furred toothed weasel.
"Well look who it is, the jewel thief"
"Nice to see you too Fang" said Rouge "never thought you would still be purple after I got that emerald from you"
"Yeah I still need rings too, you got my payment?"
Rouge nodded and threw him a bag full of rings.
"Thank you, but I still won't forgive you for stealing my emerald to give it back to that stupid cat I got it from"
Rouge shrugged "hey Blaze paid me more, besides I heard she got it stolen again anyhow… heard it was a Babylon who took it"
Fang shrugged "so you want me to help you take this town for Robotnik, well I don't care about that I just want some action"
"Seems like I have a new friend" said Shadow
"Well this hedgehog gets it, who is he?" Fang asked
"My name is Shadow, I am on your team"
Fang nodded "but doesn't this Robotnik like robots?"
Rouge nodded "guess he likes the extra help when it is offered"
"We are here to please" said Shadow "and your help is very welcome"
"Now there is a polite gesture, you should learn from your dark friend here Rouge"
"Sorry not my style" said Rouge "anyhow the operation starts soon you best be ready when the time comes"
Fang nodded as Rouge and Shadow talked
"You are quite a charmer" said Rouge
"And you are quite the liar" Shadow replied "I can read you like a book, you have something more up your sleeve don't you?"
Rouge smiled "perhaps I do, but I don't think you will do much about it will you?"
"No" said Shadow "I will let you do as you please for now"
"Why be so generous I thought you said you had no heart"
Shadow gave her a smile "lets just say my wishes are not entirely with Robotnik either, we are both playing the same game but playing different rules"
"You are one interesting character to be sure" said Rouge
Shadow laughed "perhaps I am and I have a huge fan base waiting for me because I am so dark and moody"
"Glad to keep you amused then" said Rouge, she liked this Shadow and hoped that this whole situation was going to go in her favor.
Back at Knothole base Sonic and Amy were gathering the last few people onto the elevator, their task was nearly done.
Before them stood two rabbits, the same ones that Sonic saved from Green Hill.
"Hello" said the rabbit mother "I know who you were once Mr. Sonic you were Maurice Charles nephew"
"And you are Vanilla the Rabbit and this is young Cream"
The child nodded "its so cool to be here with you and the princes!"
Amy looked down at her and asked "you know about the princess?"
Cream smiled "don't worry I will keep the secret for you, you are one awesome princess Miss Amy"
Amy laughed "thanks kid"
"Will you and Mister Sonic beat Robotnik?" Cream asked
"We are going to try kid" Sonic replied "first lets get you out of this base"
The two rabbits nodded as they got into the elevator with Sonic and Amy.
Sally and Antoine were done gathering supplies the two were holding as much as they could and put most of the supplies into carts.
"We got as much as we could here" said Sally "not much else we can do"
"We shall be fine commander" Antoine replied "you did what you could"
"This is just too much, Robotnik has caused so much grief for us" Sally said depressively
"We shall pay him back, I am sure we can find a way to win" Antoine replied as they went to the elevator down.
Tails and Rotor were putting the final touches of Bunnies new upgrades, she flexed her robotic fingers and moved her robotic legs to make sure everything was hooked up right.
"All systems are working perfectly, this unit is ready for action!" Bunnie said
"Good" said Tails "I modified what I was willing to do, your legs and left arm are now modified and I am leaving the rest alone. Never know if you will change back the parts I modify will change as well"
"That is okay Tails unit" said Bunnie "if I remain robotic in those parts I am sure I will still remain happy"
"You are not letting a robot get you down huh Bunnie?" Rotor asked
She shook her head "No, I mean this unit would like to be normal again but I might as well use this condition for good. A ray of light in a technology used for evil"
"That's the spirit" said Tails
Bunnie nodded as she gave Tails a smile
They then headed to the elevator and waited to head out.
Everyone was in the underwater tunnel, Sonic braved the sight of the ocean outside to see that everyone was getting out safe.
"You are getting braver" said Amy "this is your test"
Sonic nodded "I still hate water, but to make sure these people make it out okay I will do anything"
"You are definitely earning my respect, heck I may even start calling you Sonic now"
"You are not so bad yourself, just make sure to keep low on the insults"
"I will try" said Amy
In the distance they saw the rest of the team come, they gathered as Sally said "we got everything we can get for now"
"its not much but I am sure it will do for now" said Antoine
"Bunnie here is ready to fight" said Rotor
"Yeah she is now a really cool fighting robot who is working for us!" chimed Tails
"This unit will make sure the enemy thinks twice before fighting us!" Bunnie said
"So what will we do with the base next?" Sonic asked
"We will keep it working for now" said Amy "we are going to come back for more supplies and then destroy it"
"Well no doubt Robotnik will take it over, luckily Nicole here is not going to be effected" said Sally
"Nicole is a supercomputer that can fit inside of a tablet computer" said Rotor
"Very nice" said Tails
"Do we have a plan to come back here?" asked Antoine
"Right it will do no good without a plan" Bunnie replied
"We will come up with a plan later" said Amy "we have to focus on this first"
They all nodded as they all went out together.
All around the town of Spring Hill robots were gathered, inside all over people were being roboticized except for Shadow, Rouge and Fang.
"Spring Hill is ours now" said Shadow "more slaves for Robotnik"
"Except us" Rouge replied "makes me feel a little bad about it"
"Don't tell me you have gone soft" spat Fang "you were once more ruthless in the past"
Rouge shrugged "I just don't like the enslavement thing, but this is Robotniks show who am I to say otherwise"
"There is no turning back now" said Shadow "Robotniks age is upon us"
"As long as I am paid I don't care" Fang said with a shrug
"Guy has his priorities" Rouge replied
Shadow nodded "just keep to my plan everyone we know where the cave is, we will send in as many robots as we can to take the enemy down. They are coming into our trap and we are going to spring it"
"And what are we going to do?" Fang asked
"We come in once the enemy has weakened" Shadow replied
"Won't take long, they only have a small force and there is no one to help them" said Rouge
Unknown to them someone was watching, he looked at the three as he said "well there she is, that bat who stole my emerald"
A red echidna pounded his fist into his palm and said "payback time is here!"
He saw the robots about and knew full well what was happening
"Better leave them be for now" he said "I will keep an eye on them for an opening"
The red echidna then laughed as he said "today Knuckles you are going to pay that bat back for stealing your emerald just you wait!"
Knuckles then looked on and waited for his time to strike
The group got out of the tunnel near Spring Hill, once outside however they all saw a lot of robots heading their way.
"Oh great here they come!" said Sonic
The heroes all gathered in front of the refugees and then began to fight.
All around each one fought in their own unique way, Sonic and Tails were teamed together for the first time as they both attacked the nearby robots.
The two worked wonderfully together, as if they were always meant to fight together like this.
They were not skilled fighters alone but together they were near unstoppable.
Amy threw her hammer about, she pounded it and smashed as if possessed.
Her anger over losing so much to Robotnik was inside her burning like a wild flame, her royal subjects and family were all in her head. She wanted to smash Robotnik so hard and send him back to whatever evil realm that spawned him.
Sally and Rotor made big with their laser cannons, as did Bunnie using her newfound powers to fend off other robots.
Bunnie fought hard, her palm cannon firing as she took down each robot with ease.
Antoine joined her, his sword made ease of most of the Badniks slicing each apart like a hot knife though butter.
But the numbers game was in Robotniks favor, with every robot knocked out a new one came in its place.
Plus all over the people who got out of Knothole base were captured by roboticizer pods adding yet more slaves to Robotniks forces.
The group was thinning out, eventually only a small handful of the escapees were left.
The roboticized victims looked on, all droning "all must be cured!"
Above Knuckles could take no more, he rushed in knocking each robot down with his fists.
He took down both Badnik and Worker-bot while keeping care not to fully hurt the Worker-bots
Sonic noticed him and shouted "who the heck are you!"
"The name is Adam, but you can call me Knuckles!"
Knuckles punched out more robots and said "there is another path out of here nearby, I know it as my people built it!"
"But how do you know that?" Amy asked
Knuckles took out a few more robots and said "you are looking at a Mystic, in fact I am the last of the Mystics!"
"We will take any help we can get" said Sonic, he then took a small group of survivors aside and said "just tell me where to go"
"Go right from here, there is a cave leading to what you call the Labyrinth they will be safe there!"
Sonic nodded as he escorted the small group, it did not take long but Sonic found the other cave
They all went in except one, Cream who looked very sad.
"What is wrong Cream?" Sonic asked
"My mom, she is a robot… Oh Sonic why did this happen!"
"Wish I knew kid" Sonic replied, he then turned back to fight as he seriously felt bad for the young rabbit.
He rejoined the others and they were faring decently but were clearly running out of steam, he then saw Shadow, Rouge and a weasel come up to them and wanted to meet up with them.
He came up to Shadow and gave him a very angry look
"Well hello to you too" Shadow said with a smile
"You" Sonic stuttered "you are leading this operation where is that fat bozo at?"
Shadow shrugged "he is busy, what can I say he is a genius and can't be lowered to your inferior level"
"He is just a coward, and so are you for doing all this!"
Shadow laughed "me a coward, well shows what you know!"
Shadow then hit Sonic in the stomach and said "you could never win in a fight against me!"
Sonic threw a punch at him but Shadow caught it.
"Now that is just rude!" Shadow cried
Sonic threw another punch but once again Shadow caught it
"You really need to know you are outmatched" said Shadow
He then knocked Sonic back once more and Sonic knew this was not going to be an easy battle.
Robotnik looked on at the battle below, he saw Shadow and Sonic square off in their first fight
"Shadow is fighting quite well down there" he said
"But I have to admit that Sonic isn't so bad, he is showing some bravery in the face of great odds. In fact I think I like that hedgehog"
He looked on at his Worker-Bots and said "it is almost a shame to roboticize someone like this"
One of his Worker-bots came up to him and asked "anything I can do for you master?"
"No thank you but thanks for asking Worker-bot 00001, I am just thinking out loud."
The robot hedgehog nodded and went back to its duty
"Robots are so loyal" said Robotnik as he watched the battle go on.
Fang was firing his gun at the group as they came in close, they all were pushed back as Shadow and Sonic fought
Knuckles then yelled at Rouge "hey bat brain its me over here!"
"Well hello handsome!" Rouge said "Knuckles of Angel island I am honored to see you again!"
"Come here you little winged rodent!" Knuckles spat as he ran at her, but a few shots from Fang made him back away.
Bunnie jumped forward and said "that is rather rude, let you try firing that pop gun at me a few times!"
"Well lookie here, a Worker-bot working for the enemy how funny!"
"This unit is no slave, this unit is here to kick some butt!"
Bunnie fired her palm gun at him knocking Fang to the side, Fang took a few pot shots but Bunnies robotic body was immune to his laser blasts
"You can thank mah friend Tails Unit for this trick I think you got yourself a challenge!"
Bunnie and Fang continued to fight as Knuckles came up to Rouge and said "okay bat brain it's my turn!"
He threw a few punches her way as she dodged him.
"Now that is not very gentleman of you my red friend" Rouge teased "you are not supposed to hit a girl!"
She dodged his blows making him go in circles as she fluttered about.
"You can't catch me, I am very agile and you run like a tank in the mud!"
"Argh let me hit you already!" Knuckles spat
But Rouge dodged him, she wasn't like Shadow but she knew a few tricks up her sleeve.
Knuckles tried desperately to land a punch but now no avail, Rouge than gave him a large smile as she gave him a kick to the head.
In all this mess Sonic and Shadow were still fighting, Sonic was still trying to give Shadow his punches but Shadow blocked every blow.
"You are very good my friend" Shadow teased "but I am obviously superior!"
Sonic tried to punch him again, by all accounts his speed should have made this battle easy but it only made things worse.
Sonic was frustrated and did his spin dash attack, but Shadow did one of his own.
The two were near mirrors to each other but Shadow was clearly stronger and perhaps even faster than Sonic.
Sonic wondered how this could be and why so far Robotnik was able to win.
With every hope Robotnik took it away, and with any victory came soul crushing defeat.
Sonics anger flared, he pushed back against Shadow hard but was met with heave resistance.
Shadow still smiled at him and said "you know why you are losing this battle?"
"I don't care!" Sonic as he charged forward but fell forward as Shadow dodged him
Shadow laughed "you should care, it may prove to be to your favor"
"Shut up!" Sonic cried, but then Shadow charged at him and knocked him on his back
Shadow then jumped on top of him and said "you are losing because you are holding back, you don't want to hurt another living being so you hold back!"
"I have not held back before!" Sonic spat knocking Shadow off him
"Nonsense, you only were fighting robots before, now you are fighting a living being!"
Shadow tackled him to the ground hard Sonic felt his powers slowly drain from him while Shadow remained strong.
Sonics fur became brown as Shadow laughed "well look at you, powerless from the fighting."
Sonic tried to run but he found himself slow as a snail.
Maurice the hedgehog was back and it was not a good time to be him.
Shadow then laughed again as he gave Sonic now Maurice another heavy blow "I think I will leave you be now, a brown powerless hedgehog is too weak to take on the ultimate life form"
He waved at Rouge and Fang and said "come on mission accomplished for now let these fools have a break for now"
"But it was just getting fun" said Rouge
"Yeah more fighting baby!" Fang replied
Shadow shrugged "Spring Yard has fallen, Robotnik has his victory. Later friends it was fun"
Shadow, Rouge and Fang all walked away as more robots came about.
Now Maurice was at their mercy, unable to run fast he could not fight.
Knuckles got up seeing the bat flutter away, but he was met with a few dozen robots.
Bunnie came up to Maurice and said "Sonic Unit we will protect you!"
"No" said Maurice "I am weak and powerless now, and with my emerald gone I am as good as a hunk of rock"
"we will get you out of here" said Amy "we will go to where you hid the others"
Maurice sighed as he was escorted away watching the others fought bravely in their retreat.
Tails took out some robots by himself, for being a kid with no fighting experience he seemed at home fighting like this.
Sally and Rotor blasted away at some nearby robots and Antoine was still slicing away.
Bunnie was definitely trying to take up the slack Sonic left behind, she was doing twice the work now as they retreated backward.
Soon they all got to the safety of the cave, all exhausted by the fighting.
Maurice sighed, he looked down at his brown body in utter sadness.
The power… it was gone. He had nothing to fight with, no abilities no way to fight.
Tails was next to him and said "so this is what you look like without powers"
"yes me, Maurice the hedgehog the slowest thing alive."
Maurice looked very sad and Tails really wanted to help him
"Well if there was anything I could do I would but even ring energy won't bring your powers back. You need an emerald and there is not a single one around here anymore"
Maurice shrugged "guess I am no use around here"
Amy came near and said "it's okay, you were fighting very hard out there we understand"
"Thank you" Maurice said sadly "that Shadow though he scored big for the bad guys"
"Well we need to rest now" said Amy "we had a busy day and going to the Labyrinth is the only safe place"
"I don't think anywhere is safe these days" Maurice shrugged "everywhere we can go Robotnik will follow"
"Well we can't just let him win, besides there are two emeralds out there we know of that can still help us."
Maurice shrugged "so why are they called emeralds, they are not cut like emeralds nor are they green like an emerald"
"Well one of them is green" said Sally coming up to them "want me to tell you the story of them?"
"Sure why not we got nothing better to do" said Maurice
Sally smiled and said "long ago there was a meteor, a very large one that crashed into our planet. Inside of it was the Master emerald. The master emerald was at the core of the meteor, it is said it possessed a mysterious energy no one had ever seen before. It broke one day and six other emeralds spawned from it"
"it might be seven emeralds" said Amy
Sally nodded "in any case the emeralds all had properties. The Green emerald had the power of greed attached to it and it is said anyone who bonds with it becomes greedy. The Red emerald represents power and control, it is said those who own it can control others. The Blue represents hope and compassion and it is said it bonds with those who need hope. The Orange yellow emerald represents loyalty and knowledge and those who own it is blessed with great minds. The Pink emerald represents love and passion and the one who holds it is the embodiment of purity of love. The Purple emerald represents spirit and cunning. Then there is the seventh emerald, again we don't know if it exists but it is said it represents time and matter and those who have it can travel in time and have incredible mind powers. Finally, there is the master emerald itself, it is said it would bring harmony and happiness and liberate all to be freed"
Maurice said "well the blue one proved something"
Knuckled came near and said "I once had the red emerald, it gave me power but I never controlled people then again where I am from there are not any people"
"You said you were from Angel island" said Tails "but that is a myth is it not?"
"Not for me kid, lived there all my life. I was the guardian of the master emerald until my red emerald was stolen by that bat"
Sally looked at him and said "but if you are the guardian of the Master emerald then its not safe"
Knuckles laughed "I put up a barrier on the island after that bat found it, no one can get into it"
"Well if you have not noticed but we just got our butt kicked out there, anything can happen" said Maurice
"Let anyone try to get in" said Knuckles "the power of the mystics is great once you use it"
"You seem rather stupid" Maurice spat
"Me stupid, I am not the one who got his butt kicked today"
Maurice stood up and wanted to fight Knuckles but Amy held him back
"Look can we stop this, Knuckles I am Princess Sally of South Island but you can call me Amy Rose"
Knuckles laughed "A princess, hoo boy isn't that peachy."
Amy then slammed him hard with her hammer and shouted "jerk!"
Knuckles got up and shouted "what is with you!"
"You are an idiot!" Amy shouted "I thought that Maurice here was dumb but you take the cake on stupid!"
Amy then hit him again and said "never doubt the word of a noble, I ought to pound you into next week!"
But Sally got up and said "Amy stop it, I know you are angry but smacking him around with do no good"
Amy sighed and said "he is still a moron!"
Sally went over to Knuckles and said "please forgive her, she does not like anyone to tease her royal blood"
Knuckles got up and said "who are you to give me orders"
Sally then gave him a very heavy slap across the face as she said "I am the guardian of Princess Sally Alicia Acorn and its time someone taught you some manners"
Knuckles then knew they were all very serious about all this.
Shadow walked alongside of Rouge with Fang no so far behind
"I had fun today, was it fun for you?" Shadow asked
"Well you did most of the fighting, I only watched half the time" Rouge replied
Shadow nodded "you know that Sonic wasn't that bad of a fighter, I really wish he were not so weak against living beings. He will need to learn skills on fighting others and not just robots"
"So why did he turn brown?" Rouge asked "I am still new at this chaos energy stuff"
Shadow laughed "over time the power drains, chaos energy is strong but it only lasts a short time. Robotnik gave me energy from his fake emeralds but it was not as good as the real thing thus why I am a cyborg"
"He did give you energy from the real emerald right?" Fang asked
"Only during the last few days he had it but even then in small amounts, the red parts of my fur used to be gray like my whole body used to be before Robotnik did this to me"
Rouge tilted her head at him "so you resent him then?"
Shadow laughed "only a little, but no my loyalties are to him I assure you"
"I just don't want you to wind up on the wrong end of the roboticizer, the world would be much less fun without you I think" Rouge replied
"What are you in love with this black furred bozo?" Fang cried
Rouge shrugged "I just like his company besides I have a soft spot for hedgehogs"
"I guess that is why you lost your emerald then" Fang said with a shrug
Shadow looked at Rouge and said "you held an emerald once?"
Rouge nodded "A silver white one but it vanished before I could cash it in and it was protected by some weird silver hedgehog who guarded it well, my contact with the emerald was brief but long enough to give me powers like the others. Those powers are still with me even without rings"
"Sounds like the mysterious seventh emerald" Said Shadow "many say it doesn't exist but I guess you proved that it does"
Rouge shrugged "guess so"
The two arrived back on the carrier to get more troops as next for them was to take over Knothole base.
End of Act 1