Maria was in a jungle area, looking around as a shadow flew by. Her regular clothes were swapped into a white fighting outfit, her hands wrapped in gauze and sports tape. She saw movement in the corner of her eye as she went for the strike, thrusting her hand into the bush but pulled back from the thorns. She shook her hand before a hard shove knocked her forward. Getting back up quickly, she heard movement all around her. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and focused. The wind blew as the trees rustled, the wildlife getting out of the way of...something. She heard a twig snap behind her and turned, bringing her fist up. A figure jumped back and Maria gave chase, throwing punches when she got close.
Finally, the figure stopped and turned to fight. Maria threw a back fist but it was caught and shoved aside. Using the momentum, Maria turned and brought her leg up, intending to smack her opponent with her heel. However, her foot was caught as she was thrown aside. She was getting back up when a fist planted itself next to her head, as she looked up and saw Knuckles right before her. The two glared at each other before Knuckles smirked, offering a hand.
"You've been getting better." Knuckles commented as he helped Maria up as much as he could.
"Yeah well you try fighting, well, you when you have no experience." Maria grumbled.
Knuckles laughed at that. "I'm serious though Maria. You are getting better at fighting. I just don't really have any other way of teaching you. Well, no sensible means." Knuckles replied, helping to get the tape off her hands. They heard something else coming and they backed away as Shadow skid up to everyone. "Maria, this is the last time we're going to do this for awhile. I need to get out to hunt down the Master Emerald pieces. But I need a word with Shadow for a minute. Alone." Knuckles explained.
"Is this about that Chaos creature? I want to help to." Maria replied.
"I know you do. But this is one you'll have to sit out for now. Head back home, get some food in your stomach. You'll need it." Knuckles stated. Maria was about to argue when her stomach rumbled. She gave a nervous chuckle as they all walked to the Master Emerald alter, Shadow saying he'd catch up when he was done here. Maria gave a delayed nod. It was obvious whatever they were about to discuss, it wasn't something she should hear. She walked on and Shadow began the discussion in silence when she was out of earshot.
"So...Chaos. What was he?" Shadow asked.
Knuckles sighed, turning to face him. "Chaos was...a harsh subject. According to ancient guardian lore, he was a supposed "god of destruction", who's wrath could destroy the world." Knuckles explained. "Nobody knew where he comes from, or why he's so angry, but apparently my ancestors from ancient past enraged this so-called god and it destroyed them. One however, was able to seal Chaos inside the Master Emerald. From there, his tale gets so old as it becomes legend...until now."
"How did it get out and more importantly, how do we stop him?" Shadow asked as Knuckles shook his head.
"It's not that easy." Knuckles stated. "I don't know how Chaos was sealed inside the Master Emerald. And if I did, well..." Knuckles trailed off, nodding towards the empty Emerald Shrine. "As for how he got out, I'm not sure. Maybe Robotnik had something to do with it. He's insane enough to go for it. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Shadow nodded, wishing Knuckles luck on his quest. "Hey, Shadow." Shadow turned around. "Be careful. It's made of pure Chaos Energy, and we both know how dangerous that can be when enough is-"
"I understand, Knuckles." Shadow cut him off. "But I'm not just going to sit back and let everyone else fight this one. I'll stave him off as long as I can, but you need to get the Master Emerald back together and figure out how to seal Chaos away again." The two nodded at each other as Shadow turned away and bolted, finding Maria ahead as he scooped her up and continued his run. Soon, they were at the rebuilt Mansion.
Maria wolfed down the food as Shadow talked with Mr. Big, barely able to tolerate the dope until Big mentioned a purple rock that Froggy swallowed before he ran off.
"Maria..." Shadow caught the girls attention. "I need you to head out and try to find that frog of his. I think it swallowed a Chaos Emerald."
"And what about you?" Maria asked, a slight yet unintentional edge to her voice.
"I need to find other Emeralds. Get help from Tails if I can." Shadow stated as he started walking out the door when Maria caught his arm.
"Hold it Shadow." She stated. "I have questions that need answers."
Shadow nodded. "I understand, and I'll answer any that I can in time. But not right now." Shadow explained. Maria didn't like it, but decided she had to accept that response for now. Besides, he was sending her out to find a Chaos Emerald. That had to amount to something...right? Or was he just trying to get her out of the way? She didn't know, or simply didn't care. Even she was unsure how she felt about it. She went back to the table, finishing the food.
.
Shadow had made it to Tails's workshop in the Mystic Ruins. The odd part is this place looked better than that shack Tails had back on Mobius. Shadow walked in and saw the X Tornado rebuilt, along with hearing snoring as he found Tails passed out on the workbench. He tapped Tails's shoulder and Tails woke up with a slight start, shaking his head.
"Hey there." Tails heard, turning to see-
"Shadow!" Tails exclaimed. "Where've you been? It's been-"
"Awhile, I know. But listen, Robotnik has-" Shadow explained the events of yesterday, how Chaos was able to level a city block with Knuckles and himself hard pressed to stop him. And that it gets stronger with Every Chaos Emerald it gets, with the two in it's possession now. "-which is why we need to get the Chaos Emeralds as fast as we can. You got any leads?"
Tails chuckled a little bit. "As it just so happens..." Tails stated, walking over to the rebuilt X Tornado. "I do." Tails stated as he opened a part of the X tornado, producing the Green Chaos Emerald. "I found this one yesterday. It should make tracking them down a bit easier."
"Good work Tails." Shadow stated, then looked down a bit. "And Miles, I-"
Tails nodded. "I know. You had your reasons. But you're back now, and that's what counts, right?" Tails asked as Shadow nodded. The two got in the X Tornado and flew off, determined to get the remaining Emeralds.
.
Knuckles flew into the city as he saw smoke. He made it to the source, a casino that was heavily damaged when he heard reports of some weird glowing shard that smashed into the building. Deciding to have a look for himself, Knuckles found a piece of the Master Emerald. As he took it, he felt an odd energy shift as his vision changed.
Suddenly, Knuckles was back at the Emerald Shrine, but things were different. The shrine was ancient, so why did these look brand new? He walked along to investigate when he saw something that shocked him.
"We must stop this invasion father!" He heard a girl protest. But when he got up, they were other Echidna's...like him. He's seeing the past, but only a piece of it. But why? His questions would have to go unanswered as he was ejected back into the present when he heard footsteps and decided to bail. The only way to uncover the truth is to get those shards!
.
Back with Shadow and Tails, they flew over a grassy plain with strange rock formations coming out of the ground when the Chaos Emerald detected something. They landed, searching the area when the wind blew in, hard. The two continued onward, keeping sure of their footing when the ground lit up in a light blue.
"This must be the spot." Tails thought out loud and Shadow jumped, spin dashing midair as he slammed underground and popped back up with the Cyan Chaos Emerald, handing it to Tails.
The wind blew again, this time carrying a sinister laugh. "Gyahahahaha!" Robotnik laughed as he saw the two. He pressed a few commands and fired a rocket, impact just in front of Tails and Shadow as the Chaos Emeralds flew out of Tails's hands.
As Shadow was getting back up, he saw Robotnik scoop up the Emeralds and float back. "HOLD IT!" Shadow roared as he ran forward. Robotnik laughed as he threw the Chaos Emeralds in the water. "What was that for?" Shadow thought as Robotnik continued to laugh. Then, Shadow felt very uneasy as up from the water rose Chaos in a new form. Gone were the "bones" in it's arms, but the remained in the hands. Chaos had something of a humanoid shape, but the legs were that of a tail as the Green Emerald was in the pelvic area, and the Cyan Blue was part of a "spine" for Chaos.
Shadow started to shake a little bit which Tails found weird. He'd seen Shadow scared before, even start to loose his nerve, but this wasn't it. Shadow looked like he was struggling with... something.
Chaos raised an arm, swinging it outward as a energy wave forced Tails and Shadow back. They both landed but as Shadow got back up, his hand lit up in a green flame.
"Playing with fire? Time to burn!" Shadow challenged as he launched into a spin dash. However, Chaos went back underwater and Shadow came out of the spin dash, landing on a giant lily-pad. He looked around when his ground shook, jumping back as a giant water spout came up. Shadow breathed heavier as he decided to let his energy loose, forming an odd green flame that enveloped him. He slammed into Chaos, launching off the monster and landing on dry land. Tails came up to check on him "Stay back Miles! something's wrong and I don't know how to...RRAAAAHH!" Shadow screamed as he unleashed a barrage of Chaos needles into the water. Chaos However wasn't done as it resurfaced. "LET'S GO!" Shadow roared as he popped off his rings, enveloping himself in an odd yellow-green flame as he charged forward. Chaos raised its hand, shooting out a stream of highly concentrated water. But Shadow teleported in a flash behind Chaos, forming a yellow spear and threw it straight through the brain of Chaos. He landed back with Tails and kneeled down, huffing as the flame around him subsided. Tails ran over, handing Shadow his inhibitor rings. Shadow took them, placing them back on his wrists as he heard Robotnik's tired speech of revenge as he scurried off...into a massive battleship.
"Shadow, are you ok?" Tails asked concerned.
"I'm fine Tails...I feel better now." Shadow stated. And it was true, he was feeling a bit better now that Chaos was... gone.
"Shadow, what's going on?" Tails asked. He'd never seen Shadow produce that color flame before, or even teleport. That was a new one.
"I'll explain later Miles. But right now we need to get moving!" Shadow replied as Tails nodded, the two of them heading back to the X Tornado.
.
Amy was walking along in Station Square, when suddenly the sky darkened. She looked up to find Robotniks giant battle ship in the sky, followed closely by the X Tornado.
Tails fired away, dodging the return fire as Robotnik sent out another laser canon, a silvery color with light green "eyes" as it targeted the X Tornado, firing away. Tails however was still an expert pilot as he weaved out of the way, locking onto the turret and fired a volley of missiles on the turret, destroying it while damaging Robotnik's engine. The metal warped around from the damage as a small bird fell from the ship.
The small bird fell, landing on Amy's head. As she was recovering, she noticed the odd tablet with a small blue gemstone around it's neck, wondering what the tablet was. But she knew what the bird was...a flickey, native to the one and only Mobius.
Tails kept flying, keeping up with the Carrier when Robotnik laid out a massive cannon. It charged up as Tails got close, then fired before Tails even noticed. He pulled up, but one of the engines was hit on the X Tornado and they were going down. He knew they were going to crash, there was no way around that. But Tails was determined to be able to walk away from this one. They skid across a grassy field, hitting the ground hard enough to knock Tails unconscious.
.
"Uh, wha-where am I?" Tails muttered as he finally came to. He sat up and winced, having the mother of all headaches.
"Ah, good. You're awake." He heard, looking over to see Chuck. "How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts...where's Shadow?" Tails asked, looking over to see Shadow crashed out on the chair across from him.
"He got you out of the wreckage and carried you here. Said you made it as best a landing as you could before he fell over and passed out." Chuck explained, then looked back over to Shadow. "What I don't get is how he's completely uninjured. I doubt there's even a bruise on him."
Tails nodded. "There probably isn't. Shadow's Chaos abilities help him heal at an accelerated rate, even by Mobian Standards. I haven't seen him with a broken bone at all. And if he did break something, I never noticed." Tails explained as Shadow started coming around.
"Oh, good. You're up." Shadow stated, shaking his head and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He then looked at the news. "Where's Cream and Cheese?"
"They went out shopping with Amy. I hope they stay out of trouble..." Chuck stated as Shadow stood up, his back popping a bit as he said he'd be back.
.
Back in Station Square Amy, Cream, and Cheese were walking along with a bunch of grocery bags in hand.
"Shadow and Tails looked pretty banged up, but I bet they'll feel a bit better they eat a meal we cook them." Amy talked with Cream.
Cream nodded. "Yeah, and I get to try all those recipe's Ella's been teaching me."
"Right Cream. And of course, we'll need your help to Cheese." Amy assured after hearing Cheese having a little fit over wanting to help. She looked over at the flickey, noting how fast it healed up.
"I wonder where it came from, or if it has a name..." Cream said curiously.
The flickey spouted off...something. But neither Amy or Cream could understand what the little guy was saying. Deciding to give it a name, Amy called it Lily. The Flickey seemed to like the name so Lily it is. Then, Amy noticed a weird looking robot in front of her. Bulky green exterior, skinny arms with big boxing glove like hands, and two red eyes. "What the heck in that thing?" Amy asked as it moved forward.
"Target found." The robot sated. the next thing heard was a scream.
Shadow ran around corners until he saw Cream on the ground, a bag of food scattered around her.
"Cream, are you alright?" Shadow asked before looking up to see Amy holding a Flickey in her hands, a robot carrying her away over it's shoulder. "Hang on Amy!" Shadow yelled as Amy struggled, but was taken to the sky. Shadow ran up the side of a building teleporting in a flash of blue right behind as he grabbed a hold of Amy's hand. However, he got a bad grip as he fell, landing on the roof of a building as he looked up into the sky. "Amy...I'm sorry."