Hello fans, allow me to introduce you to the latest chapter of Sonic Sega All Stars: Subspace Unleashed! We begin to focus on a new Sonic character who's quite the fan favorite and has a close connection to the G.U.N. This chapter will not only have some action, but some humor because of certain characters that I'm not mentioning. Without further delay, we'll start the beginning of the Red Mountain Arc.
Red Mountain is a mountainous, rocky area known for its hellish caverns and wide variety of rocky formations. This was an area explored by Knuckles during his first and second hunt of the Master Emerald shards in the past and it could be easily navigated by him and any other "hunter". But the one who shall re-explore this treacherous area is an old frenemy of Sonic and close associate of Rouge's. He scaled a few pillar-esque buttes at a speed that could easily rival Sonic's in a cyan blur that couldn't be noticed by the smartest Flicky. This hedgehog had black fur and wore special red and white shoes that could function as a pair of rocket skates. He has a scowl of determination on his face and blood red eyes that would strike fear in the hearts of weaker opponents. He scanned the massive rocky crevice with eyes of a hawk during his high speed pursuit on a serious day. Something strange caught his eye easily in the northeastern part of the area, specifically near the only grassy section of Red Mountain.
Hmmph, maybe these guys should know where the Emerald is. I just hope they know how to cooperate with no trouble or issues.
What the black hedgehog had seen was none other than a familiar group of space mice moping in a circle as if something went wrong. Each mouse had color coded space suits and a different characteristic to differentiate themselves from each other. The red mouse had long eyelashes, the yellow mouse was obese, the green mouse had swirly nerd glasses, and the blue one looked like any other ordinary ChuChu. They are known as ChuPea, ChuBei, ChuBach, and Chuih respectively. These ChuChus however, are specialized captains who were considered leaders to the ChuChu race and were twice the size of their own kind.
Like the previously introduced KapuKapus, the ChuChus only communicate by saying their own name and are considered vulnerable prey to them. ChuBach jumped and speaks frantically to get the other's attention when Shadow had arrived onto the scene. Despite being a guy of questionable allegiance, his dark appearance and scowling look easily made him an intimidating guy. Chuih and the others noticed the intruder and freaked out like ChuBach like the easily frightened mice they were.
"Instead of acting like mice, I would like you to tell all you know about this place," Shadow said coldly.
The ChuChus were still quivering frantically and frightened since they still couldn't view him as an ally. Shadow being friendly was one of the rarest things to occur since he's always been the type of guy to take everything around him seriously. He had realized that what he doing was wrong and tried a different approach to prove the space mice that he meant no harm. Despite still having the same serious pose, he took a breath and gave them a less intimidating expression.
"I am not a foe and I am not here to hurt you all. I was sent here to look for a powerful gem called a Chaos Emerald. Since something must have happened with you based on your reactions, I would like to help find the one responsible for traumatizing you," he explained.
Chuih stopped shaking and decided to get a closer look at the black hedgehog that's towering above his crew. He sniffed him when he stood to get to know him well by scent and see where he came from. The blue ChuChu captain is a third of Shadow's height, basically one foot tall. Normally, ChuChus grow to the size of six inches and the larger ones would be worthy of being a captain on their home planet. Chuih stopped sniffing and smiled to show that he understands Shadow's last statement.
"Chuchuchu chu, chuchu chuchu chu chuchu chu!" he squeaked.
Shadow held up his wrist to type of a special device needed for this situation, a translator made by the G.U.N. to encode any person or creature's foreign language. As Shadow typed on to this device for a translation, Chuih called the other ChuChu captains to surround their new ally. ChuBei and ChuBach started admiring him due to the technology in his possession while ChuPea became infatuated with his "handsome face". The translator eventually worked and revealed the text, "We may not know about this place, but we are glad that you can help us with our stolen rocket ship issue." Shadow did a smug grin and watched as the space rodent captains chattered about him, giving him a sense of gratitude.
"Alright, I would like you to show me the way to the culprit. I can tell that he may be after that Chaos Emerald too since they have a penchant for stealing anything valuable. You can hop inside this bag, which I was going to use for the emerald's retrieval," he said.
"Chuchuchu chuchuchu chuchuchu!" said the happy ChuChu captains in unison.
He lowered the straw sack to allow all four ChuChus inside before lifting them into the air for take off. All the captains squeaked everything they knew so that their hedgehog ally would know where to go next. After Shadow read the text, he lowered his right hand and got into a runner's pose.
"Hold on tight because this high speed travel will be pretty intense," he said loudly.
The ChuChus squeaked once and held on tight to the edges of the sack as told. In less than two seconds, he ran out of the oasis and leaped towards a series of buttes. He bounced in between them to reach the higher grounds of Red Mountain. Chuih seems to be enjoying the ride more than his comrades since it reminded him of the times that he would ride the ChuChu Rocket in the skies. ChuPea become awed with the view of Red Mountain's massive crevice from above after Shadow leapt into the air after the last butte hop. He gazed in all directions in hopes of finding the ChuChus' rocket while the others looked from behind him to help out. Chuih noticed some fire from a distance and squeaked to the get the other's attention. Then the other ChuChus squeaked along with him to let Shadow know that they've found the location. He quickly turned around while slowly falling towards the crevice and scoffed.
So that's where they are? Pathetic! They'll know that they are in trouble when I get there with my Chaos Control!
"Make sure you're still hanging on since I'll get there faster with my Chaos Control! That way, you all can get your rocket back faster than ever," warned the black hedgehog.
The ChuChus squeaked in unison to let him know that they're prepared. Shadow bows his head down with his eyes close as he begins to gather a blue mysterious force. This force begins to engulf his entire body, including the ChuChus' sack, as he prepares one of his infamous techniques.
"Chaooossss Control!" he shouts at the top of his lungs.
After that, he blasts off in the direction of the fire in a speed that would make him near invisible. He was right all along about how this was fast enough to reach the perpetrators since he was halfway there in a solid five minutes. The ChuChus felt the G-Force against their face as their eyes widened and ears flapped crazily. Shadow couldn't feel them too much since he is used to traveling at speeds like this like his blue haired rival.
Meanwhile, the culprits are camping out near a massive fire were using this to cook a plethora of ChuChus that they had kidnapped. Many of these ChuChus were trapped inside steel cages that cannot be destroyed by any element or weapon and they were heavily guarded by the KapuKapus and their leader. Several ChuChus are already being roasted split-stick style around the massive fire by a few ogres who were cooking for their group. Silver Armlet, Dural, Cardinal Rowen, and Hiyashi are watching the helpless mice roast as if they wanted to feed the entire camp. Rokkaku, Lan Di, Black Baron, Mathilda, and Zor are in the Leader's Tent negotiating about their plans for the afternoon. Each member sat in their respective seat as they communicate with Reala on the digital map communicator. He had a great interest in Zor due him explaining his side of the story and why the Deadly Six decided to help them. He chuckled evilly when hearing the most interesting parts of his story like the Zeti-bots that they invented and how he had a grudge against Sonic like the other Zeti.
"Interesting, you and the Deadly Six sound like a wonderful addition to the Legion of Subspace. It's an honor speaking to you, a representative of that group," said the sinister Nightmaren.
"I'm the type of guy who hates sharing good news, but whatever. I'll be of your services whenever the annoying, upbeat hedgehog or his friends are involved," said Zor sharply.
A loud beeping notice could be heard on Reala's side of the message, causing him to ignore the other members and look down. He grinned deeply after seeing the results on the warship's map screen.
"I'm afraid that I have to end this chat because our new rodent slaves might have found the next emerald's location. Make sure you keep the others hostage or feed them to the space cats if you want. Good bye!" he said.
After the screen went off, Lan Di decided to raise a question out of curiosity.
"Mind telling why we need these insignificant rodents in the first place?" he asked.
"Because they can be used for a rather vile ransom in case we're attacked by intruders and shit. Those damn captains might have the clue on how to work dat rocket we stole from them," said the Black Baron.
"That's right, I can tell that we might be attacked soon since Sonic or Beat might have the whole world after us. We should never underestimate them or our other enemies despite our efforts," said the cruel mayor of Tokyo-To.
"You shouldn't be talkin' in the first place since your ass got handed to you by a roller skatin' punk. You better be lucky the "Dark One' didn't send you to hell for your first screw-up," the arrogant pimp replied.
"You should speak for yourself, Baron. You always get your ass handed to you by not only your chainsaw-wielding nemesis, but your own bat-crazy girl!" Rokkaku said gruffly.
"First off all, she's mah ho and more that just a girl that hands my ass. Second of all, you shouldn't speak at all since you don't even fight for yourself!" said The Baron.
As the argument raged on between the two villains, Zor sighed due to the utter stupidity of this situation.
"Why do I even bother with these morons in the first place?" he whined.
"You can bother with me, you handsome devil," said a seductive voice.
"Alright, who are you and why are you …."
Zor felt threatened when the Black Baron's violent girl stood before him with her bloodied, nail covered bat. She wore a leather outfit reminiscent of a dominatrix, complete with spikes on her sleeves, leggings, and on areas where her nipples should be. She had the look of a sadist and slicked her lips as she observed the blue haired demon-esque Zeti.
I don't know who the hell she is, but she's even scarier than Zeena on her bad days. Why is she so interested in a meaningless Zeti like me?
"While The Baron is arguing like the child he is, you and I can have some fun. Tell me how did you get that sexy, black look," said Mathilda.
She sat her trademark weapon down and grabbed him like a stuffed bear.
"Can you please let me go, lady? I'd rather die than be treated like some worthless Flicky," Zor remarked.
She did an exaggerated laugh to show how much she found his words funny to much of his dismay. She hugged him close to her breasts very tightly to show affection for the adorable Gothic creature. Zor tried his best to talk himself out this situation, but his speak was muffled due to his face being smothered.
"You are such the cutie, little demon. Zor was it?" she said gleefully.
The Baron stopped arguing after overhearing his seductive woman's lines out of curiosity. Zor noticed him glaring at him, causing him to revert into shadow and "crawl" back to his seat. Mathilda giggled since this situation seemed more cute than creepy when it happened in her face.
"Soon as I turned, you are already getting the attention of my lady? Ain't that some shit. But I can't blame you for being as pimpin' as me," he said before laughing.
"Make sure you keep her as far away from me as possible since I'd rather stay miserable unlike you. Just the sight of her smiling already made my face hurt more than her suffocating hug," remarked the angry Zeti.
Lan Di was already annoyed due to the entire argument and hearing Zor and Mathilda's "embrace".
"Can this day get any more frustrating?" he said in an annoyed tone.
Suddenly, an explosion along with a few gunshots could be heard outside of the tent among other things. This alarmed everyone in the room to the point of them getting out of their seats.
"What the hell is happening out there? Are we under attack this soon?" said Lan Di.
"Like I've said, we WOULD be under attack soon at this point. Now we have to see who it is before we start a ransom with this punk in case he has another Chaos Emerald," Rokkaku replied.
The Black Baron peeked out of the entrance as he noticed an ogre being knocked against another tent at full force. A few of Lan Di's men were kicked right in from of the entrance from a powerful intruder. Several bats were disintegrated easily by a few Chaos Spears.
"Oh heeeeellll naaaaawwwwww!" yelled the Baron after witnessing this bloodbath.
Rokkaku and the others peeked out the tent as well to see most of their henchmen being decimated easily by Shadow the Hedgehog. Cardinal Rowen, Dural, Silver Armlet, and Hiyashi are backing up from the madness and leading most of their men away from the Ultimate Life form's wrath. Even something as powerful as a Big Long Driller wasn't enough to keep from getting deep into the Legion of Subspace camp. Shadow glares at his potential opponents with the look of a warrior hungry for a satisfying fight as the ChuChus sniff out the location of their people. They squeaked to let Shadow know that there are a few ChuChus being roasted near the fire, alive and scared.
"Thanks, I'll handle these guys after saving your friends," he said before using Chaos Control to warp.
He quickly unwrapped and saved up to twenty four ChuChus, who were slightly burned and still alive due to their sweat of fear. These were mostly blue ChuChus, the most common variety of the race, just like Chuih and they were happy to be rescued. ChuPea looked toward the east and noticed a familiar space cat running away after it saw Shadow and his new friends. She grimaced with her eyes turning from cute to fierce, which is unusual for a ChuChu. This is when she spoke with the other ChuChu captains about what she had seen while Shadow activated his translator to "listen" to them.
Out of the villains that stood outside, Rowen seems to had gained an interest in the dark hedgehog. How they both were alike from their aura, their dark appearance, and had some somber origins. The dark haired man kept his eye on shadow the entire time while clenching his twin LP-09 handguns. His face became so serious that even fellow gunman Hiyashi grew nervous when observing him.
"I'll handle him with my fellow knights while the rest of you retreat back to the tent," he said in his somber tone.
Hiyashi gasped at how ridiculous his comrades response was, mostly being legitimately afraid of Shadow's already destructive results.
"Are you kidding me, Rowen? This guy singlehandedly taken out half of our men and you are ….."
Rowen aimed his golden handgun at Hiyashi face with the same serious expression that aimed directly at Shadow. The silver haired man sweats like crazy and feared that his life would be gone in a minute. Silver Armlet held out his arm to let an angered Dural know that she shouldn't interfere in a situation like this. Rowen is still fixated on the black hedgehog as if he personally knew him, watching as he had his ChuChu allies go after their captive comrades.
"You call yourself a gunman and you are intimidated by a gun-less creature. If anything, there's a good reason why I won't need any of your help at all. Besides, I bet that the others need to speak with you anyway and those rodents will be devoured before they rescue anything. Now get out of my sight!" he said in a stern manner.
Hiyashi quickly nodded and left towards the Leader's Tent as told. Dural and Silver Armlet followed behind in order to give their gunman ally the room he needed for battle. Shadow noticed the dark haired gunman as he lowered his golden gun with his usual serious expression. He knows that this guy meant serious business, but didn't want to take him serious for being "just a human" in his eyes. Rowen slowly walked towards his smaller, but highly dangerous target as the campfire's hellish flames raged on.
There's something about this individual that is interesting. He has the same fire in his eyes and solemn attitude as me. Maybe he suffered though the same hellish process as me during his past.
Shadow kept walking towards him at the same speed since negotiations was necessary before battle like any G.U.N. soldier would say. They both eventually stopped and looked into each others eyes in an attempt to know each other before battle. Shadow gazed at his gold and silver weaponry, which sparked his interested since it been years since he had last fought with guns in battle. Rowen became more interested in Shadow's Inhibitor Rings, which allows him to be at full strength when unleashing them.
"You and I are alike, hardened fighters with an unspeakable past and destroy those in our paths. You are a rather interesting subject indeed; I bet you have power way beyond my level. But that will take a miracle for you to take on a skilled gunman like me. That is, if you believe in miracles unlike me," he said.
Shadow couldn't help but scoff at his response after listening to his philosophical words with his arms crossed. This even surprised Rowen since he would normally give his foes a chance to run before his fight.
"You are right about our pasts being similar with such a lucky guess, but I decided to put the past behind me a while ago unlike you. If anything, you are highly likely to lose against me with such an attitude. Weighing something that complicated in your mind will most likely hinder your abilities in a fight. But who am I to even take the words of a foolish human like you serious," said the arrogant hedgehog.
Rowen became silent and changed his expression from calm to angry with a fast rate, which gave Shadow a sign that play time was over. In a blink of an eye, he backflipped into the air with his handguns ready fire at his hedgehog adversary. Shadow still looked at him since focusing on any gunman is needed when it comes to fights like these.
"Very well, I will end you life immediately. To the point of making you wish for a miracle to save you!" he shouts angrily.
Shadow scoffed and leapt after him head on, not knowing that his gun slinging foe would unleash a storm of bullets at him. He used Chaos Control to warp away from the bullets, making him disappear from Rowen's view. The black haired gunman knew that he should have his back covered and decided to aim behind himself to shoot Shadow. The hedgehog reappeared before his foe took a shot for his head with his silver handgun. Shadow knocked the bullet way with a kick and unleashed multiple Chaos Spears at Rowen. He easily subdued one of Shadow's trademark techniques by rapidly shooting at it with both guns. This really made Shadow gasp in surprise since it's the first time a human easily destroyed his Chaos Spear.
"Damn, you must be this skilled if my Chaos Spears would lose to something as simple as bullets," he said.
Rowen smirks and landed onto the ground with his gang of gun-wielding knights waiting for him. This didn't surprise Shadow at all since most cowardly humans would depend on an army or squadron to defend his/herself.
"Don't you see, all of the top gunmen that hail from my city wield the best guns that fire the best bullets. Meaning that shooting at full force would fill any target full of holes in their empty bodies. You should have given up when you had the chance, black rodent," he remarked.
Shadow though a different approach that wouldn't involve causing too much damage to the camp, meaning techniques like Chaos Blast or a fully charged Chaos Spear were out of the question. This was a promise that he made to Rouge before he had embarked on this mission after all. He charges straight at him with the help of his special rocket skates with a determined look.
"Chaoooooooooosss…"
Rowen ordered his men to start firing at Shadow while observing his pursuing opponent. They all fired their shots straight at the incoming hedgehog with their projectiles flying at an equally fast speed. He stile smiled as if he knew that he would get hit flawlessly.
"Crush!" he shouted before disappearing out of harm's way.
Rowen pointed his gun behind himself again as if his dark adversary would attack him there again. Instead, he heard one of his men groan due to being attacked out of nowhere. This made him legitimately surprised he wasn't sure whether one of the knights got attacked or not. Another groan can be heard, which he turned to see another one of his men fell unconscious. Within every second, each knight got knocked out one by one due to a mysterious force. It is actually Shadow attacking Rowen's knights at a blinding speed with the help of the Chaos Control technique, Chaos Snap. He is sweating excessively while looking around to see where else would Shadow strike after figuring it out. This is the first time he was intimidated since he was nearly defeated by a group of skilled gunman in the past, which he couldn't remember well.
He's quite the fast learner for attacking my men first instead of going for me. But where else would he attack me from?
Suddenly, Shadow appeared to the left of him before dealing a deadly roundhouse kick that would send him flying into nearby tree. Instead of crashing, Rowen used the strength had in his legs to propel himself back at his foe. Shadow scowled since he thought that Rowen would be defeated after that last attack.
"If you thought that such a cheap tactic would defeat me, then allow me to grand you some misfortunate retaliation!" he shouts with a blood thirsty face.
He unleashed a storm of bullets with both pistols in hopes of scaring him into another teleportation phase. Instead of showing fear, Shadow smirked at his foe while charging Chaos Energy in his fist. Rowen didn't really know how to respond to this since he thought this attack would be dispatched like Shadow's low level Chaos Spears.
"If you think you can scare the Ultimate Lifeform away with such useless weapons, then I will still land a hit on you and take every shot that you've got!" he remarked. "Chaaaaaooooosss…."
He his glowing fist decimated every bullet ahead of him every other one flew past him. Some actually managed to cut him in certain areas like his right leg, left cheek, one of his quills, and one of the bracelets that held in Inhibitor Ring. Rowen slowly grew frightened for his life since he was still heading straight for him despite the force and there was no way out of this.
"Impossible, you still risked getting harmed by my bullets just to take me out? You are right about being beyond my power and I regret even challenging you from the…."
But it was too late for which the Chaos Energy infused fist engulfed the dark haired gunman's face completely.
"Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuunch!" the black hedgehog yelled during the succession of his attack.
The impact from it was so strong, that the fist dug deep into his face as Shadow keep his smug grin. The force of the winds blowing from the attack was enough to get several of the villains' attentions, prompting them to watch their comrade's defeat. Rokkaku, The Baron, Silver Armlet, and Dural watched the entire event in awe. Hiyashi's jaw had dropped by a huge margin to express his utter shock at Rowen's quick defeat. Land Di scoffed in an arrogant manner since he would least care if anyone's carelessness would lead to their downfall. Mathilda still held Zor close to her during the situation since she's the type that enjoys the sight of carnage or beatings.
Within seconds, the dark haired gunman would be sent flying back at the same tree and succeed in slamming against it. Every bone in his body would be slightly broken due to the impact and blood spewed from every wound. He flopped onto the ground in pain from the force of the attack, dropping both handguns to leave himself in a defenseless state. Shadow quickly ran towards him to get the answers he needed, until a mysterious blond boy landed in front of him to stop his pursuit. He stopped dead in his tracks since he was also armed judging by the twin SMG-05's in his hands. The black hedgehog, while still shocked, observed the boy's serious face as he stared back at him. His sudden appearance also shocked the Legion of Subspace members that were watching everything from the Leader's Tent. One thing Shadow hoped is that he wasn't another enemy that wanted to challenge him, but his next words said otherwise.
"If you want someone that doesn't believe in miracles dead, then allow me to do it for you," he said calmly.
Shadow managed to defeat one of the best gunman of the Legion of Subspace without using his more destructive techniques due to following Rouge's words. The ChuChu went after what appears to the the area that their race is held captive while several others were already near the emerald's next location according to Reala. Zor made a good impression to the Legion of Subspace despite not fighting yet and being Mathilda's new "play thing". Lastly, a new fighter joins the fray and he appears to have a connection with the Cardinal Rowen. You'll find out his identity and know what happens next sooner than you'd expect. I'm going back to find the computer room to work on the next chapter and I expect more rates, follows, or reviews by then. See you real soon, fans!
