Chapter 35: Countdown
It wasn't long before Sonic was being pursued by G. U. N. mechs and airborne drones that fired constantly at his back. Fortunately, he managed to avoid getting shot and put enough distance between him and the G. U. N. forces. After some time, Sonic came into a small clearing where he immediately spotted Shadow running towards him.
"Shadow!" Sonic shouted.
Immediately, Shadow halted and gritted his teeth. "Out of my way, Sonic."
"Not till you answer a few questions first," Sonic replied. "Why have you joined forces with Dr. Eggman and what did you mean by 'our previous lifetime'?"
"I need Dr. Eggman to accomplish my mission and he wants something I have," Shadow answered. "Also, hasn't it occurred to you by now that we're just dead spirits inhabiting the bodies of living individuals?"
"I…I figured that was a possibility, but—
"Well, it's true. Now step aside or do I have to make you?"
"Bring it on, faker!"
Shadow disappeared immediately and reappeared in front of Sonic where he punched him in the face. Sonic was thrown backward, but he managed to jump upward before the next blow hit. Then he curled up into a ball while spinning and tried to land on Shadow, but like before Shadow disappeared and reappeared a few feet away.
That's right, Sonic thought to himself as he landed awkwardly on the ground. Shadow can teleport short distances naturally, but he needs a Chaos Emerald to warp longer distances. Now if I can just strike him when he reappears immediately after disappearing, this battle will be over in no time!
"What are you waiting for, Sonic?" Shadow said impatiently. "This pointless battle is starting to bore me."
After Shadow disappeared again, Sonic waited for him to show up again. As soon as he did, Sonic dashed over in a second and punched Shadow in the gut. The impact caused Shadow to stagger back, and so Sonic went for a high-kick. But Shadow warped again and appeared behind Sonic. He kicked Sonic in the back of the head with enough force to send Sonic flying into the bushes on the edge of the clearing, but Sonic recovered and dashed towards Shadow in a blue blur. Shadow reciprocated and attacked Sonic in a black blur, causing the two to collide with each other. This continued for several moments until both boys stopped and stared at each other while panting heavily.
The silence was interrupted by Dr. Eggman's voice emanating from the red and yellow walkie-talkie that was clipped to the side of Shadow's black jeans. "Shadow, where the heck are you? The detonators are going to explode in five minutes! We need to get off the island now!"
Shadow picked up the walkie-talkie and answered it. "I'm not leaving without Rouge."
"Forget her!" Dr. Eggman replied. "The prison started its lockdown sequence and she's trapped inside with no way out."
"She has the Chaos Emeralds, Doctor, and our plan would be ruined without them."
Before Dr. Eggman could respond, Shadow turned off the walkie-talkie and ran off toward the prison. Sonic was tempted to go after him, but Eggman's words haunted him. So he ran all over the island looking for Amy and Tails until he came to a place called Metal Harbor. There, the Tornado 2 was preparing for takeoff on one of the aircraft launch-pads with Amy and Tails inside it. Sonic quickly traversed across the harbor while destroying G. U. N. drones and avoiding incoming fighter jets before he landed on the top wing of the plane.
"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed.
"The island's about to blow up, Tails, so let's get going!" Sonic said urgently.
"All right, Sonic, we're out of here!" Tails said and pushed the steering-wheel forward.
Immediately, the plane took off down the launch-pad at accelerating speed until it finally became airborne. The G. U. N. fighter jets immediately followed them and fired their missiles at the Tornado 2. Sonic was about to attack them when a series of explosions occurred all across the island. The fighter jets noticed and flew back toward the island which allowed the Tornado 2 to get away without being followed.
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Back at the secret hangar, Sonny and Miles were watching the latest news report on the events that occurred earlier that day while Amelia was taking a shower in the bathroom.
"The sudden explosions that occurred on Prison Island today were caused by none other than the notorious Dr. Robotnik, who was spotted attacking soldiers in an armed mech and his trademark insignia of a cartoonish profile of himself was found on the remnants of the detonators that caused the explosions in the first place," said the anchorwoman over images of the burning island. "At the same time, the mysterious Blue Blur managed to escape Prison Island after he was taken in the previous day to be studied and questioned by G. U. N. to learn about his true nature and connection to the unusual jewel robbery that occurred two nights ago. But the Commander of G. U. N. has hinted that The Blue Blur may have had an accomplice who helped him escape as this security footage from the prison shows."
On the screen, it showed Amy appearing through the ventilation shaft in a pink blur and knocking out the two guards with her back turned toward the security camera. Then after a brief transition, it showed Sonic and Amy running through a closing door as a blue and pink blur respectfully. Over this footage, the anchorwoman commented on the action and tried to explain what was happening, but she sounded slightly baffled.
"If they saw Amelia rescuing you, then the cameras must've seen your faces at some point," Miles said before he took another bite out of the burger he made for himself.
"I'm sure they did, but G. U. N. is probably withholding that footage because they're not sure how the public will react to our existence," Sonny said as he ate his burger. "And by that I mean the existence of Sonic and his friends' spirits."
"You make it sound like as if they're dead."
"Well, that's what Shadow said."
"But can you really trust what he says? He's working for Dr. Eggman, after all."
"I know, but I get the impression from Sonic that Shadow's not really evil. Plus, we have to think about the person Shadow's spirit is possessing."
"Yeah, I feel sorry for whoever it is."
"Who are you sorry for?" Amelia said, stepping out of the bathroom with her clothes on and her hair wrapped up in a towel.
Before Miles could answer, the TV suddenly turned yellow and the insignia of Dr. Eggman appeared before the man himself appeared on the screen.
"People of the planet Mobius," Dr. Eggman said with a mischievous grin. "You are all my prisoners unless you acknowledge me as your absolute ruler. But before you dismiss my threat, I should let you know that I have a giant laser cannon that is orbiting the planet as we speak. With such a powerful weapon at my disposal, I could destroy Mobius in an instant! To demonstrate the power of this laser which I speak of, I shall blow off a chunk of the moon!"
The screen went black and then after a few minutes a blue screen appeared with a series of numbers counting down from the number '24:00:00:00' and Dr. Eggman's voice speaking over them.
"Your world leaders have twenty-four hours to decide the fate of their planet. If they do not comply to my demands, then it will be the end for all of you. Bye-bye!"
Then the screen switched back to the anchorwoman who was mildly shocked until she suddenly touched her small earpiece and said, "This just in! The moon has been blown up just as Dr. Robotnik had said! Fortunately, only a third of it went flying into space while the rest remained intact. Scientists predict that the fragment of the moon will eventually collapse into smaller pieces and drift through space but not impact Mobius directly. Of course, there is the possibility that the smallest pieces might rain down on the planet as meteors and cause fairly sizable craters, but the biggest question right now is what the world leaders will decide by the time the twenty-four hours are up."
As she spoke, the screen switched to several satellite images of the moon with a large piece of it slowly drifting away.
"This can't be happening," Amelia said as she staggered.
Sonny dashed over to her in an instant and she collapsed in his arms.
"What are we going to do?" Amelia said with tears in her eyes. "We're doomed!"
As Amelia cried into Sonny's chest, Sonny said, "Not yet. We have a day to find out where Dr. Eggman is hiding and once we do, I'm going to destroy that laser of his!"
"But Sonny, we don't even know where to start," Miles said. "And we don't have much time on our hands."
"Then what do you suggest?" Sonny said impatiently. "That we sit around and wait for the world to end?"
Miles scratched his head for a few seconds and then he said, "I've got an idea! But it's going to be extremely risky and may have strong repercussions depending on how things turn out."
"Let's hear it," Sonny said. "Any plan's better than no plan."
To be continued…