40th Chapter! Woo-hoo! Thank you guys so much for supporting this fanfic and I hope the next chapters will continue to please you!
Chapter 40: Redemption
"People of Mobius," said the old man on the screen in a melancholic tone of voice. "You may know me as Gerard Robotnik, a brilliant scientist who has sought to bring peace to the world through the power of science. But alas, the world has not been kind to me in turn. It all began in 1935 when the world's first orbiting research facility, Space Colony ARK, was about to take off. I was offered to be the ARK's supervisor, since it was my creation, but I initially declined to continue my research into the Fourth Great Civilization. However, fate had other plans.
"A terrible car accident claimed the life of my son and his wife, leaving their children in my care. Shortly afterward, I discovered that my infant granddaughter Marie had been born with a terminal disease known as NIDS inside her. So I brought her and her adopted brother Shawn, who was only a toddler at the time, onboard the ARK. I utilized the research facility to seek out a cure for Marie, but knowing that the government would not fully support my selfish desire I claimed I was researching the secret to immortality, hence I called the project 'Ambrosia'. Later, I changed it to 'Shadow' when I discovered a powerful entity by that name had possessed my grandson Shawn, which gave him powers that were beyond scientific explanation which could possibly hold the secret to curing Marie. But G. U. N., the government's new military organization, became paranoid that I might use my creations including the Eclipse Cannon, which was capable of destroying whole planets, to take over the world. So they sent a platoon of troops up to the ARK and killed anyone who resisted arrest.
"To prevent further bloodshed, I gave myself up along with Shadow. Marie, on the other hand, had been launched out into space inside a capsule which fell toward Mobius. Though the capsule has not been recovered yet, Marie is presumed to be dead. Shadow has been placed into suspended animation, and I am locked in this cell. As for the ARK, it was promptly shut down under the claim that an 'accident' had occurred onboard. My mind has been working overtime, and I have now set my plans for revenge into motion. Should anyone be foolish enough to fire the Eclipse Cannon, the ARK will in turn head on a collision course with the planet and explode on impact. I'm may not live long enough to see this plan through, but Shadow will. I implanted the desire to find all the Chaos Emeralds to power the Eclipse Cannon in his mind and reprogrammed the ARK from this cell using a device called a 'computer' which the scientists here have foolishly given me. Once this video has been recorded, it will be transmitted up into the ARK's main computer and broadcast to every single television in the world from there after the Eclipse Cannon is fired. Now you will all face my wrath and pay for what has been taken from me!"
Then the screen faded, and the room suddenly began to vibrate.
"What's happening?" Amy said nervously.
"The ARK is moving at an increasing velocity toward Mobius," Rouge said, standing in the open doorway. "That's what the Commander said."
"The Commander?" Knuckles said with surprise. "So you're not only a thief but a government agent as well?"
"Yes, but it's not like that matters now," Rouge replied solemnly.
"How much time do we have, Tails?" Sonic asked.
"I'm not sure, but let's get back to the research lab first," Tails said. "The Chaos Emeralds are giving off an unstable amount of energy right now."
As he spoke, the Chaos Emeralds glowed so brightly that a ring of energy began to emanate from them. Sparks flew from the computer, causing Dr. Eggman to back away from it. As the vibrating grew worse, everyone got out of the control room and ran straight for the research lab. Once there, Tails looked out the window, and saw the planet below them getting steadily bigger.
"At this rate, we're going to crash into Mobius in twenty minutes!" Tails exclaimed.
"Well, we can't just stand here!" Sonic said. "We've got to stop this thing!"
"I have an idea," Dr. Eggman said. "If we can shut down the Eclipse Cannon's core before the Chaos Emeralds' energy overloads it completely, we may be able to stop the ARK from crashing into Mobius."
"But how?" Tails asked.
Rouge's ears perked up. "Of course! Knuckles, you said the Master Emerald can control the other Emeralds, right?"
"That's true," Knuckles said, picking up a miniaturized version of the Master Emerald. "I might be able to use the Master Emerald to cancel their power out."
"Then once that's done, we can take control of the ARK manually," Tails said. "However, in order to pull this off, we're going to all need to work together."
"No problem," Sonic said confidently. "Just tell me where to go, and I'll be there in a flash!"
"I'll help too, even though I don't like the idea of working with Bat Girl," Knuckles grumbled.
Rouge scuffed. "Well, I'm not much of a team-player, but I'd rather not die."
"Can I come with you, Sonic?" Amy said.
"No, Amy, I need you to stay here," Sonic replied sternly. "I don't want to risk potentially losing you when there's so much at stake."
Amy opened her mouth, but then she closed it.
"All right," Tails said. "Eggman and I will unlock the security doors to the core. Rouge, you'll drain the liquid that's filling the core right about now. After that, Knuckles will unlock the final security door so that he and Sonic can make their way into the core without too much trouble."
After everyone nodded, Eggman said, "Sounds like a fair plan, but I would prefer if you didn't call me Eggman. You're speaking to Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the unfortunate host of Eggman's spirit."
"But I thought you were fully possessed," Sonic said as he and the others left the research lab.
"I am, but the shock of seeing my grandfather on the screen, whom I had not seen since I was a lad of five, has caused Eggman's spirit to temporarily release me," Dr. Robotnik answered. "But I'm not sure how long this will last, so we'd better hurry before Eggman takes over again."
Then as soon as everyone left the room, Amy pouted and changed back into Amelia. A set of unexpected footsteps caught her attention, causing Amelia to look back. It was Shadow, but he didn't seem to pay any attention to her as he walked up to the glass window and stared at the ever-growing surface of the planet below.
"Where did you come from?" Amelia asked.
"I've been here the whole time, lurking in the shadows, while your friends were coming up with a futile plan to stop this colony from colliding with Mobius," Shadow answered nonchalantly.
"Futile? They're actually trying to save everyone! You were just a puppet for Gerard in his mad scheme to get revenge on the world for what he lost!"
"I was no mere puppet," Shadow growled. "I went along with Gerard's plan willingly because I had failed to prevent the inevitable from happening."
"What are you talking about? Why would you want to destroy the world?"
"Gerard's granddaughter, Marie, was the reincarnation of Maria who died trying to save me when I was alive. I tried to save her from being killed by those G. U. N. soldiers by sending her off in that capsule, but it seems I only killed her by doing so."
"If the capsule was never recovered, then she could be still alive out there somewhere."
"I highly doubt it. Without proper medical attention, the NIDS would've probably killed her in a year or so."
"But even if she were dead, would destroying the world really do anything? Think about what she would've wanted!"
At that moment, Shadow's eyes widened and he ran out of the lab without saying another world to Amelia.
###
Down in the Eclipse Cannon's core, Sonic and Knuckles ran swiftly toward the altar at the center of the room when there was a bright flash of light. Once it died down, a giant orange salamander with wires and buttons attached to its body was blocking their path. It roared loudly, and made a step toward them.
"What the heck is that?" Knuckles asked.
"I don't know," Sonic replied. "This wasn't here when I placed that fake Chaos Emerald into the core a little while ago."
"This is the BioLizard, a prototype Gerard made in his attempt to create an immortal being that he could study to find the cure for Marie," Shadow said, appearing behind Sonic and Knuckles.
"Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"I'll distract the BioLizard," Shadow said, approaching the giant salamander. "You two head for the altar and nullify the Chaos Emeralds' power."
Knuckles scratched his head. "Uh, Shadow—
"Do it now!" Shadow yelled. "We have less than fifteen minutes left!"
So without questioning Shadow further, Sonic and Knuckles made their way around the BioLizard while Shadow warped all around it. The creature lashed out at Shadow, but it could never keep up with him. Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles had reached the altar where Knuckles took out the shrunken Master Emerald and placed it into the same hole that Sonic had placed the fake Chaos Emerald in before. The Master Emerald suddenly grew back to its normal size and glowed brightly.
Knuckles cleared his throat and then said, "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The heart is the controller. The controller serves to unify the chaos. Master Emerald, nullify the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds, and save us all!"
As the Master Emerald spun rapidly, the Chaos Emeralds suddenly appeared and hovered around the big green gemstone. Overtime, the Emeralds grew duller in color until they eventually fell to the floor. It was at this moment that the Master Emerald stopped spinning and the BioLizard roared again. Sonic and Knuckles turned to witness a bright light surround the BioLizard and then it vanished into thin air.
"Dammit!" Shadow cursed. "The BioLizard used Chaos Control!"
"So what does that mean?" Sonic said, and then the ground suddenly vibrated violently.
As Knuckles tried to steady himself, he asked, "Are we still falling toward Mobius?"
"I'm afraid so," Robotnik said over the intercom. "The BioLizard has attached itself to the outside of the Eclipse Cannon and taken over the Space Colony as a result. We have ten minutes left till impact."
"But that doesn't explain why we're still falling toward Mobius," Sonic said irritably.
"I guess Gerard must've programmed the BioLizard to take over the Space Colony through the Eclipse Cannon and keep the Colony on its collision course in case the Chaos Emeralds lost their power," Shadow said thoughtfully. "He probably did that around the same time that he implanted the mission to collect the Chaos Emeralds in my head and programmed the ARK to collide with Mobius if the Eclipse Cannon was fired."
"Well, that's just great!" Sonic said sarcastically. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"There's only one thing we can do: use the miracle that can only be granted when the seven Chaos Emeralds are in one place."
"Yeah, though they're out of power at the moment."
"Not if we believe hard enough."
After some hesitation, Sonic nodded and so he closed his eyes along with Shadow. A few seconds later, the Chaos Emeralds glowed brightly and they circled around the two boys. Knuckles stepped back as the two vanished in a flash of light.
###
Outside the Space Colony, Super Sonic and Super Shadow appeared next to the BioLizard whose upper-half had replaced the tip of the Eclipse Cannon. Below them, the planet Mobius was getting larger. So they flew through space and attacked the BioLizard from all sides by slamming into pink-colored tumors that appeared all over its body. They kept this up for several minutes until the BioLizard finally exploded and what remained of it burned up as the Space Colony started to enter Mobius' atmosphere.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Shadow?" Sonic said flying close to Mobius' upper atmosphere.
"Yes," Shadow said, removing the golden rings from his wrists and ankles. "Let's do it."
Satisfied, Sonic spread his hands out before him just as Shadow did the same. Together they flew right at the Space Colony as a golden yellow aura emanated from them. This aura in turn collided with the fiery aura that surrounded the Space Colony, causing it to momentarily pause.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" Sonic and Shadow shouted at the same time.
At that instant, the golden aura covered the ARK and caused it to disappear and reappear several hundred miles out in space where it was before.
###
Inside the ARK's lab, Miles and the others were cheering wildly including Dr. Robotnik. Their celebration was interrupted by the sliding door opening. Sonny walked in, but he had a serious frown on his face.
"Sonny," Amelia said, walking towards him. "What's wrong?"
"Where's Shadow?" Rouge Baxter asked, still wearing the same outfit but without the bat ears or wings.
"He didn't make it," Sonny said, unclenching his hand to reveal one of the golden rings Shadow wore. "This was all I could retrieve."
Rouge Baxter stepped forward and took the ring from Sonny. Then while Amelia embraced Sonny tightly, Rouge walked toward a dark corner of the room. Reluctantly, Chuck walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay, Rouge?" Chuck asked.
"I…I don't know what to think anymore," Rouge replied angrily. "My father made me pretend to team up with Dr. Eggman in order to keep an eye on him for the government but also retrieve some files he stole which were about this ARK and Shadow. But when I looked at them, I couldn't believe it. The same people I work for who are supposedly the good guys also killed hundreds of innocent people onboard this ship, all because they considered one brilliant scientist who was only trying to find a cure for his sick granddaughter a threat to the world."
"Calm down, Rouge, I—
"But that's not all! The only reason I stole your precious Master Emerald was because Rouge the Bat can't keep her hands off any gemstones that catch her fancy, and I know Amelia hates me for betraying your guys' trust by telling your secret to G. U. N.. So from here on out, I'm not working for G. U. N. anymore! And I won't be going back home, either."
"Then where will you go?"
"Anywhere else, I guess."
Near the window, Dr. Robotnik and Miles were staring outside in contemplation.
"I really looked up to my grandfather, you know," Dr. Robotnik said after a pause. "Being like him was always my dream, so I went into teaching and hoped giving others knowledge would make the world a better place. But I guess that won't happen, now that I'm the world's most notorious mad scientist next to my grandfather."
"You could still accomplish your dream," Miles said. "All you have to do is talk to Dr. Eggman and persuade him to not completely possess you again."
"That won't be easy. He's a stubborn fool who won't stop at nothing till he beats his rival Sonic."
"True, but if you're as smart as the articles claim, I'm sure you'll figure something out."
"Hey, Miles," Sonny said, breaking out of his embrace with Amelia. "Is that shuttle still working?"
"I think so," Miles replied.
"Good, then let's get out of here. I've got an appointment with the Commander back on Mobius now that I've saved the world."
"You mean 'we've' saved the world," Amelia said, following Tails out the door.
"That's what I meant to say," Sonny replied.
As everyone slowly filed out of the lab, Sonny lingered behind a little.
"Goodbye, Shadow," Sonny said. "I hope your spirit rests in peace and whoever your host was."
To be continued…