Chapter 8

With the help of GUN and the new laws that we'd enforced, the next month marked the first time in over 300 years that the Chao have not been on the Endangered species list. Sure, they were still a threatened species, but they were recovering rapidly, which made Chaos very happy. And in that time, we'd managed to make a small pact with GUN in the fact that, should there ever be a threat from Eggman again, that our group could be considered as spare agents to assist in times of crisis.

Sonic, of course, didn't want that, the lone wolf spirit that he was. Knuckles said he'd only do it if someone trustworthy protected his emerald, and everyone else was more than happy to oblige... well, except for Big. He was still relaxing on vacation, which he'd extended to a world tour of fishing with his favorite amphibian.

And then, the day came. The day that I was expecting to happen soon, but not this quick. Where Eggman had infiltrated a GUN base and freed Shadow. Of course, none of the personnel at the base were found to be conscious and at least half of them were in comas, so reports of what Eggman had stolen were scarce. But I simply told Maria of what it was, and she knew we had to do something.

"Okay, where does Shadow strike first?" she asked me, me trying to sense for Shadow using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, since I'd been practicing with their powers to increase my attunement with them. And I found that I was able to sense specific people if they were within 5 miles of a Chaos Emerald. And using that, I was able to deduce that Shadow was closing in on his first target, the green Chaos Emerald. And why didn't I have it on me? Well, after I became attuned with all of them, after a day's worth of practice... they just up and vanished!

"Yeah, the emeralds are like me. They don't like being in one place for too long. And they usually depart shortly after someone uses all 7 at once. Trust me, I can tell you from experience," Sonic told me during the talk at the restaurant the previous month. And the emerald in question was in a museum, which I told Maria shortly after.

"Can you get us there quickly?" Maria asked, me smiling at her and shaking my head no.

"I may have the ability to sense the emeralds, but I can't warp to them... unless..." I said as I then tried to focus... maybe if I really tried hard enough, I could use Shadow's special technique? After all, Sonic and Silver were able to do it, and only after witnessing Shadow use it one time for each of them!

"What are you thinking about doing?" Maria asked as I then decided to test it out with the blue chaos emerald, which was the closest to us in Station Square, a bit off the coast of a new GUN island base.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" I shouted as I focused myself to be warped to a new location using the power of the emerald... and shortly after, I smirked at how I'd managed to teleport to the Mystic Ruins by Tails's workshop! I'd just done it! "Now time to go back to Maria. Chaos CONTROL!" I shouted again, doing the same as before, but focusing on being a few feet away from Maria. And after doing so, I smirked at how Maria looked gobsmacked at what I'd done.

"You... you induced a Chaos Control... that proves it then. You really were truthful about what you said," Maria smiled.

"Yep. So now that I know I can do it, let's just warp ourselves to Shadow's location once I sense him to be a few feet by the emerald closest to him," I smirked, focusing again to find Shadow's location. And this time, I saw that he was on the move... and that he had the emerald in hand! "Or not. He's already got it!... Sneaky little edgehog, that's for sure," I smirked as I then decided that it was now or never. "Come take my hand, Maria. It's time to meet your best friend... and hope that he recognizes you," I said, her nodding. "CHAOS CONTROL!" I shouted one more time as I then had myself and Maria zoom across the planet to be right in front of Shadow.

"WHOA!" he shouted in surprise as we appeared five feet in front of him... while he was running down the Radical Highway! And when he saw us, he tried to stop running with his hover shoes... but he ended up plowing right into me as we then rolled across the ground right to where we noticed the mech that Sonic had just defeated.

"Oof... rough landing," I groaned as I looked at Shadow and saw he looked at me in anger.

"Who are you?" he asked me as I simply smirked.

"Someone that has a VIP that you know very well," I said as I then looked and pointed towards Maria, which Shadow looked in that direction. But when he saw Maria, he looked... confused. It looked like he recognized her, but not her current look. After all, she was more along the lines of a 21-year-old's body rather than her child body he was more familiar with.

"I feel like I know you... but I can't place my finger on it..." Shadow said. But Maria simply smiled.

"It's nice to see you again... Shadow the Hedgehog..." Maria said. And Shadow gasped when he heard Maria's voice.

"M-Maria... is it true?" he asked in shock, her nodding. "B-But... I saw you die..." he gawked as Maria smiled.

"I would've died, but I was rescued by the one who shot me... she was actually aiming at you, but I took the bullet instead... she downloaded my memory onto a computer chip and built me a new body, since my old one was... sickly," she said, Shadow looking at me and then at her. He seemed to look angry, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"I still remember what you asked of me. I shall keep my promise," Shadow said as he then held the Chaos Emerald in hand and I could sense it. He was still filled with hatred for humanity. And I could also see that he was looking at me specifically with a nasty glare.

"There's no time to lo-" he was about to say before I heard another voice.

"AHA! So you're the one that the military is confusing me with!" shouted the voice of Sonic as he rushed in and got right between me and Shadow, which made him frown. "So, what'cha going to do with that emerald, huh?" Sonic asked with a frown. And Shadow simply scoffed. "Say something, you fake hedgehog!"

Sonic then proceeded to try and run towards Shadow (with only three feet between them) but Shadow used Chaos control almost instantaneously to warp himself away and to the rooftop of another building.

"S-Shadow, wait!" Maria shouted.

"There's no time for games. Farewell!" Shadow shouted as he then warped again... and I could sense that he was now on the ARK, since I no longer felt his presence on Earth.

"Shadow... what is he-" Sonic was about to ask... before the entire place blared with sirens and flashing lights. GUN had arrived and they were aiming all of their weapons at all three of us!

"EEEP! D-Don't shoot! W-We can explain!" I shouted as I flew my arms into the air out of fear of the bullets that were inside the GUN machines. And the noise they produced was ringing all throughout my ears, which made it painful! And then the megaphone guy came out.

"DON'T MOVE! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! KEEP YOUR HANDS-" he was about to finish... but I couldn't take it anymore. The pain was too much.

"AAUUUUGGGHHH! SHUT! THE FUCK! UP! OH MY GOD, THE PAIN!" I shouted loudly, using the powers of the purple emerald to do so. It made my voice louder and my body more powerful at the cost of making me angrier. And when I held my hands over my ears, it was only then that I heard a voice I recognized.

"Hold your fire, men!" shouted a voice from among the group that I recognized instantly... it couldn't be Topaz, could it? At least, that's what I thought. I then looked in the direction of the voice and saw the agent herself, in full military attire and having a taser and a pistol in hand. "What in the world are you two doing here with this rogue hedgehog?" Topaz asked as Maria spoke.

"Sonic isn't the rogue that stole the emerald, Topaz. It was Shadow," Maria said, that making Topaz gasp.

"Shadow... so that's what the weapon was that was stolen from the GUN base yesterday... the pictures on the security footage were dark and showed a hedgehog running into the place, killing all 8 watch guards, and making off with the Chaos Emerald... seems we must've assumed it to be Sonic," Topaz frowned as I then sighed a breath of relief. "All units, fall back. We got the wrong guys," she shouted out, them doing so without even a retort back. She must've been a very high rank of power and respect to not have any backtalk.

"So where is Shadow? And who is he?" Sonic asked.

"In the order asked, Shadow... is somewhere in space right now, in some metal area orbiting the planet. And as for what he is... Maria's told me that he's the Ultimate Life Form, originally created to try and find a cure for her ailments when she was a human with NIDS... but then, after the incident at the ARK happened, Shadow was sealed away by GUN in secrecy and his creator, Gerald Robotnik was executed... but his plans? I could sense it when he looked at me. Hatred for all humans, not just me. He wants revenge, that much I could see clear as day..." I sighed as I then looked at Sonic. "I suppose I should thank you for arriving when you did, Sonic. Because if you had arrived a tad bit slower, Shadow probably would've attacked me... so thanks."

"No problem. I should be thanking you. After all, you helped clear my name up. So, where to next?" Sonic asked as I then looked at Maria and she nodded.

"Next, we need to find Chaos Emeralds. I believe that I know Shadow's plan, since I know of a deadly weapon that he has access to... the Eclipse Cannon. When it's powered by all 7 Chaos Emeralds, it can let out a blast strong enough to blow up a planet ala Alderaan," Maria said, me being more surprised at the fact that Star Wars was a thing in this world than her knowing about the Eclipse Cannon.

"Chaos Emeralds... y'know, I think Agent Rouge recently found one the other day. But as for right now, she said she was going to find a very impressive jewel. But I don't know which one it could be," Topaz frowned as I then tried to sense for her location... and frowned at how she was going after the Master Emerald.

"Dammit, she's going for the Master Emerald. Contact her right now, got it?" I groaned. Topaz then got onto her radio and started to speak to the gem-loving bat.

"Agent Rouge, this is Colonel Topaz. Report your status immediately," she said in annoyance. I simply listened into the radio feed with my big ears.

"I'm on the hunt for a giant gem! Some red knucklehead broke it into pieces, so I need to find them!" Rouge said, that making Sonic facepalm himself.

"Rouge, you dunce! That was the Master Emerald! It's OFF LIMITS!" Topaz shouted, that making Rouge gasp.

"W-What?! I-I thought it was just a big emerald! I didn't know," Rouge said.

"I can smell a lie anywhere, Agent Rouge. Tell the truth, did you know what it was?" Topaz groaned.

"Ugh... fine, yes, the red echidna said it was the Master Emerald. But in my defense, I wasn't the one to steal the emerald. That was Eggman! And before he got away with it, the red echidna shattered it into pieces," Rouge said, me sighing at that. It was the truth, but it still made me annoyed.

"Hmph. You have a new mission effective immediately. You, Agent Cheryl, and Agent Maria are to go undercover on a secret mission. Your location is the Space Colony ARK. I have reason to believe that is where Eggman's next location will be. Get a proper disguise and become a double-agent, understood?" Topaz said.

"Oh, fine! But where would we go to search to find a route there?" Rouge asked as Maria stepped forward.

"I know where. There are numerous warp pads devised by my grandfather that can teleport us to the ARK. One of them is in a pyramid, but there's also another in the Mystic Ruins and yet another one in a place called Dry Lagoon," Maria said.

"Dry Lagoon? That's where I'm at as of current!" Rouge shouted into the radio, me then frowning. I should've known she had just as good of hearing as I did... gee, I hoped that Cream wouldn't have that feature. Especially if I started to curse.

"Then Agents Maria and Cheryl will meet you there," Topaz said, me then smirking at that.

"And what about me then, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Agent Sonic, your job is to go and protect the other three Chaos Emeralds that GUN has on a research island near Station Square. I'll also contact Agents Rose, Tikal, Prower, and Chaos to meet you there," Rose said, me smirking at how she used Amy and Tails's last names as their agent moniker. We then proceeded to have myself and Maria go to meet up with Rouge in her current location. Luckily, the Dry Lagoon was roughly four miles away. An easy trip when traveling in the air with either jet feet or the powers of the green emerald.

After flying for roughly 20 minutes, we eventually reached the area and found that Rouge had managed to find three pieces of the Master Emerald as well as the teleportation device. It was actually hidden in a secret room that you couldn't see at first until you pushed a button... unlike the games.

"Oh, nice to see you two again," Rouge smiled as I sighed at her.

"We told you not to, yet you still took pieces of the emerald... if we find Knuckles again, you need to apologize to him and give him the emerald shards, understood?" I said, her frowning at me.

"You can't order me around! Last I recall, you're still a newbie," the bat complained.

"It's not an order. It's just common decency and courtesy. Besides, Topaz gave you the order to not steal the emerald and you still disobeyed... wouldn't it be quite the conundrum if we told her that you disobeyed a colonel," I smirked, Rouge gasping at that.

"O-Okay, I get it! I'll give him the emerald shards when we see each other next, okay?!" she said in annoyance as Maria started to giggle.

"It's like you're a married couple," she said.

"NOT A CHANCE!" both me AND Rouge shouted at the same time, which made us look at each other with frowns. "Ahem... anyways, let's use the teleporter now... but first?" I smirked as I noted that there was a peacock critter nearby. I simply touched it and then, just as I had hoped, my hands, legs, tail feathers, and hair turned into that of a peacock! And I even had my ears change to normal human ears, which made my disguise completed!

"WHOA! What the hell happened to you, mouse girl?!" Rouge asked in shock.

"I'm part Chao, along with Tikal and Chaos. So anytime I come into contact with a small animal of any kind, I can change my appearance to look like the animal in question. And Eggman would recognize me instantly if he saw me in my mouse shape. So I simply changed my appearance to a peacock. No way he'd recognize me. But as for my new name, you may call me... Samus. Just to make sure Eggman and Shadow don't recognize me," I said, the two others nodding and smirking.

"Okay, Samus the Peahen. Let's go meet Eggman and Shadow... would you relay the plan when we go do so? Because Shadow is sure to recognize me," Maria frowned.

"The plan is this," I said as we entered the teleporter at the same time and were then teleported to the ARK in only three seconds! "When Shadow sees you, you need to simply pretend that you did ask him for revenge... at least until we can convince him otherwise. His memory of your real words should be inside his brain, somewhere, so maybe being around him for long enough, he could get it to override his false memories implanted by Gerald," I said.

"Pretty smart, but then, what about Eggman?" Rouge asked.

"He's never met you and Maria looks different than when Eggman last saw her, with different attire and wearing a hat. Let's just hope he doesn't recognize Maria," I said with a frown. "And as for what will happen... we're going to need to go along with Eggman's plans. But try not to have any casualties when we do have to team up, got it?" I said, the duo nodding at me.

"Okay then... by the way, I found this in that lagoon along with the emerald pieces. It should get them to be convinced," Rouge said as she showed off that she had a Chaos Emerald, it being the purple one.

"Okay, now time to find Shadow, Eggman, and try to convince them as for who we are... remember, I am Samus the Peahen, you are Maria R, and Rouge is... uh.." I said, wondering what to call her.

"Rhea. Call me Rhea. It was my original name before I changed it to Rouge," she smirked. Another new bit of info. Cool.