Chapter 4: Gathering Friends and Allies
Seaside City. Another peaceful place that is known for being close to the likes of Seaside Hill. It is known for its beautiful coastline and sea, checkered hills and small islands close to it. It also leads to an Ocean Palace on Whale Island. Like Emerald Town, people and mobians live together on many streets and such. And among those people are the Chaotix Detective Agency.
The leader of the Chaotix is Vector the Crocodile. His abilities are super strength and fire breath. He is easy-going, loud-mouthed and has a kind heart. He can keep a cool head, even in difficult situations, but there are times where he can be bossy. He attends to show off his skills as a detective and takes his position as leader and his profession very seriously. Despite his aggressive approach, he can find ways to settle things peacefully. He also has a short temper, which is normally displayed whenever someone insults him or is upset, especially when he is antagonized by Charmy. He loves money and would take on any job to help earn it and pay off his rent and bills. He would never turn down work that pays, but refuses to do anything illegal or dirty. Despite that, he is very sweet and generous, loves music, has strong morals and is very charitable. He leads the Chaotix well and enjoys his friends such as Knuckles and Sonic.
Espio is a purple chameleon and is the ninja of the trio. He is practical, wise and is the most patient one and the most mature one. He flourishes off of peril and can head into trouble without any worry. He is known for his great ninja skills and camouflage abilities. He tends to balance out the different behaviors of Vector and Charmy. He has a burning sense for justice and absolutely refuses to let evil have its ways and would do anything to put an end to it, but he does value life. He has kunai and shurikens as his weapons and is ready for anything. Besides Vector and Charmy, he is mostly on good terms with Shadow and Silver.
Charmy Bee is the youngest of the trio and tends to be hyperactive, yet scatterbrained. He prefers to take action first and ask questions later. The young bee is playful, curious, upbeat and likes to joke around, even to the point where it could annoy Vector. While not the best detective, he is reliable and can take his job seriously, though not as much as Vector and Espio. Charmy does not get angry very often, but when he does, he introduces his enemies to his painful stinger. While the most emotional, he can be afraid sometimes, but knows to put on a brave face. While he and Vector can argue alot, mainly due to Charmy preferring to play than work. Despite this, he admires Vector and cares so much for his team.
"Ah. Another fine sunny day here in Sunset City. So fun and joyful I could fly around and around and around all day everyday." Charmy happily looped in the air.
Charmy spins in the air a few times, very happy about the peaceful day they are having. Well, a peaceful day he is having.
"Shiny but boring. Barely any work to do and we have money for a change, But no work for us to do. The last thing I would want to do is sign up for another Extreme Gear Grand Prix with Amy." Vector sighed.
"Patience, Vector." Espio assures his boss. "I believe that something good will come up. And it may be the best one yet. Besides, you could ask us to compete with you next time.
"I wanna ride extreme gear! Those hoverboards and hover skates look so fun!" Charmy yelled.
"You nearly crashed my Hard-Boiled Bike the last time! You're better off riding a board than a bike! That would've cost me a lot of money to fix if it weren't for Tails!" Vector reminded him.
"Well, maybe it would have been better if it wasn't so beat up in those races, it would have been fun like you aren't sometimes, boss." Charmy spat a raspberry.
"I'll give you fun! Come here!"
"Uh-oh! Gotta catch me!"
Vector begins chasing Charmy around the office while Espio sighs and facepalms at their bickering. That was until he hears a knock on the door and jumps in and throws a couple of ninja stars at their feet.
"Hold up. Somebody's coming. A customer in need of help perhaps?" Espio asked.
Much to the trio's surprise, it is their good friend Knuckles. Knuckles smirks upon seeing some of his old friends again.
"Well, if it isn't Knuckles! How are ya doing, pal?!" Vector happily asked.
"Same as usual. Boring life just got a little more exciting." Knuckles shrugged.
Knuckles and Vector fistbump each other while he high fives Charmy.
"Good to see you, Knuckles." Espio bowed his head in greeting. "It's been a while since we last saw each other. I was hoping the three of us would go on an adventure with you like the good times."
"You can say that again. Like when you guys first ran into Eggman and Metal Sonic and helped me gather those Chaos Rings. And four teams meeting up and joining against Metal Sonic." Knuckles remembered.
"And the time we beat up the bad man when he lied about having money for us. But then again, we don't accept bad money from bad guys." Charmy stated.
"Yup. That's because it's our policy. Never turn down work that pays actual legit money. So what do ya need, buddy? Some detective work hopefully?" Vector asked.
"Yeah, something like that." Knuckles asnwered. "But this is a big one. I have a feeling none of you are gonna like it."
"Given the shift in the tone of your voice, I can tell you're not lying. I sense something cold is going to happen soon." Espio said with a serious look on his face.
"Oh, c'mon. We can handle anything, right? Right?" Charmy zipped around the office and hovered in front of Vector's face.
Vector shoves Charmy aside by his face to quiet him.
Knuckles chuckles and shakes his head that they haven't changed a bit. Then he began telling them everything regarding what he has been told and what he experienced alongside Silver. Espio's cold feeling proved to be right and the news definitely did not sound like music to Vector at all.
"Eggman taking over the world?! That has never happened before?!" Espio said in a rare, surprised tone. "But how did he manage to accomplish such an impossible feat?!"
"We don't know. Not even Silver could figure it out. All he knows is Eggman has some mysterious new power. But he doesn't recognize it. And the same thing happened with Sonic earlier." Knuckles said.
"Speaking of which, where is he anyway? Shouldn't he hear about this?" Vector asked.
"Not to worry. Sonic and Tails know and they're gonna let Amy know. Silver is on his way to G.U.N to talk to Shadow and the others. I was told that I would help lead a resistance towards Eggman in a war." Knuckles replied.
"A war sounds awesome when you watch it on tv. Same thing with fireworks." Charmy said, not taking the situation completely seriously.
"That's nothing, Charmy."
"What do you suggest we do, Knuckles?" Espio asked.
"I don't know." Knuckles shook his head. "Hopefully, we could prevent a war before it even starts. Maybe we can start looking for clues and find out what Eggman is up to and see who he may be working with."
"We're the best detectives that you got! Now would be a good time to start if we want to get ahead of Eggman!" Vector suggested. "We can give you and Sonic a heads up once we found something.
"Good. For now, I can catch up with Silver and see how he's doing with Team Dark. They're smart enough to listen to reason." Knuckles said.
"Hopefully once we are done, we can give Eggy McCrazy Guy another good ole fashion beating." Charmy yelped.
"Me and you both, Charmy." Vector agreed. "Alright, boys. We got a ton of work to do. Let's go!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Roger." Espio nodded.
The Chaotix begin to move out of their house and start their detective investigations and find out if they can find any clues regarding Eggman. Vector is really excited to take on a huge job like this. Espio fears that there is more to it than they see. Perhaps they may in time. Knuckles goes his own way to catch up to Silver and hopes his own warning will be heeded.
G.U.N headquarters. The name stands for Guardians Units of the Nation. It is a military group and a law enforcement unit. They seek to protect the world from threats such as Eggman and the long dead Black Arms. They carry a vast of resources, including human soldiers and peacekeepers, their own robots, and fighter plans. It is run by Abraham Tower, the commander of G.U.N. He has led for decades and has green and orange eyes. He also leads a special team called Team Dark. Team Dark consists of Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega.
Shadow the Hedgehog is a black hedgehog with red stripes on top of his quills and they stick up, unlike Sonic's. He is one of Sonic's main rivals and close ally, and nearly matches Sonic in everything. Including speed, endurance, and strength and also shares some of his abilities. He uses air shoes as the source of his speed. He is more combat skilled compared to Sonic and has the ability of Chaos Control, which allows him to control time and space with the use of a Chaos Emerald. He also has other chaos abilities such as Chaos Spear and Chaos Blast.
Over 50 years ago, Shadow was created by a scientist named Gerald Robotnik, the grandpa of Eggman himself. He grew to be close friends with Gerald's granddaughter Maria and was her best friend even when she was terminally ill. When soldiers invaded the ARK he was created on in space, Maria was killed and Gerald was arrested and later executed. Shadow's memories were compromised at first and believed Maria wanted to be avenged and wanted Earth to be destroyed, but he remembered her true promise to protect humanity and helped Sonic save the earth, but at the cost of him getting amnesia. After stopping Metal Sonic and meeting Black Doom, an ancient alien who helped create Shadow, he regained his memories and destroyed Black Doom and has been working with G.U.N ever since, Shadow can be described as a loner and being distant and somewhat arrogant, and more violent compared to Sonic. Despite being depressed after losing Maria, he does care mostly about Rouge and Omega, but tends to care about Sonic from time to time, despite being competitive with him sometimes.
Rouge the Bat is one of the top secret agents of G.U.N and the ultimate spy anyone has ever had. Rouge is a good flyer and fighter and relies on kicking unlike Knuckles who uses punches. She is also an expert thief, who can get in and out of any situation most of the time and manipulate and outsmart her enemies. While not a super genius like Tails, she does have sharp intellect, allowing her to go behind enemy lines with no problem. She can also be obsessed with jewels, particularly the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, which puts herself up into a rivalry against Knuckles. The two tend to clash from time to time and fight to a stalemate most of the time, but respect each other regardless.
E-123 Omega is a robot that was created by Dr. Eggman and the final robot in the E-Series. He was abandoned by his own maker in a lost base to guard Shadow, who was in stasis after everyone presumed him to be dead, which unknown to everyone, Eggman saved him. Omega felt enraged and disgraced that his power went to waste and swore revenge against Eggman. When he came online, after fighting Shadow at first, mistaking him for an Eggman robot, he allies with him and Rouge against Eggman on an adventure, up until they faced Metal Sonic and bought Sonic and the others time to use the Super States to beat him. Despite failing, Omega will not stop until he achieves his goal. He has grown close to Shadow and Rouge and is known for acting before thinking, and is headstrong, yet very reckless and would do anything to destroy his enemies with his machine guns, misslies, lasers and bombs.
Team Dark is currently searching for any signs of movements relating to Eggman. But there has been little word of what his next plan could be.
"No signs of Eggman still. It has been months since he vanished. I prefer it this way rather than fighting him." Rouge said.
"I do not prefer peace. Peace equals inevitable. Inevitable until former maker Eggman is destroyed once and for all!" Omega stated.
"Whenever the time comes, Omega. I'll make sure Sonic doesn't hog all the action to himself." Shadow said to his robotic ally.
"Anyone who touches Eggman besides me will answer to me! I do not trust any meatbags besides Shadow and Rouge." Omega shouted.
"You know there are times like this where I wish you could express emotions and learn to relax. At least you're not creepy like Metal Sonic." Rouge joked.
"Hmph. Some things never change with you two, don't they?" Shadow gives a small smirk.
"Hey!" Rouge shot back. "What else is a famous treasure hunter and spy supposed to do?"
"What else can the most indestructible robot such as myself do with my life besides wanting to achieve my long term goals?" Omega asked.
"Exactly my thought." Shadow agreed.
The three continue talking while remembering the first time they formed Team Dark against Eggman and Metal Sonic and beyond after that. That was until the commander came in.
"Shadow. Team Dark. You three have a moment?" The commander asked.
"A mission for us, Tower? Word on Eggman?" Shadow asked.
"Point me in the direction and we will go there for termination!"
"Perhaps. I brought someone with me. He insists that he is y'all's friend." The commander said.
The commander steps aside and the visitor is none other than Silver himself. The three are in fact very familiar with him.
"Silver the Hedgehog." Shadow nodded in greeting.
"I remember you. You were there with Espio rescuing Chao from the Ifrit." Rouge stated.
"Silver identified. Threat level is zero. Classified as ally to Shadow and Rouge and Sonic." Omega scanned with his optics.
"Shadow. I was hoping I would find you here. Sonic and Tails told me you three would be here." Silver said.
"Something going on in your future again, I presume?" Rouge guessed.
"Unfortunately, yes. But I have a feeling you may not believe me for what I am about to tell y'all." Silver sighed.
"Every time you came back from the future, your stories have always been true, such as with Eggman Nega, the Ifrit and the Time Eater. What could possibly make us not believe you, Silver?" Shadow asked.
"Uh, okay. Fair point. Well. Here goes nothing." Silver scratches his head.
Silver sighs out of slight fear and tells them about his future after he traveled back from the present after Sonic's birthday and what he experienced. He tells them about how robots are coming out of nowhere, Eggman possessing a strange new power and gaining a mysterious ally. He also tells them about him and Knuckles suddenly fighting Chaos at the Echidna village that has since been wiped out. He then tells them about the similar experience Sonic went through before the four of them split up.
"So that's how I knew where to find you. Sonic and Tails went to warn Amy, while Knuckles is contacting the Chaotix." Silver tells the four.
"Hmm. That is strange. The doctor actually rules the world in your future. The question is what kind of power did he discover in his plot?" Shadow wondered.
"That's a new thing. Eggman is usually a joke for us, all except Omega." Rouge blabbered.
"Threat level on Eggman rising. Near 100% I propose we eliminate him if we are to save the future once and for all." Omega proposed.
"Hold on, Omega. Let's hear him out first. We need a plan." Shadow taps his shoulder before he turns to Silver. "Silver. You said you encountered special robots that appear out of nowhere. And then you mention that Sonic ran into one just like it here and now. It makes sense. They must be connected to what has yet to come. That's why I believe you."
A soldier runs in and salutes the commander.
"Sir! We're under attack! Some squad of Jackals have already breached through our doors!"
"What?! Go to defense. Take out that squad, but capture one of them! We need answers!" The commander ordered.
The soldier nods and runs outside.
Silver turns to the others, feeling confused.
"A Jackal squad? Who are they exactly?" Silver wondered.
"Identification required. Origin unknown. Must be defeated. Do you think they could be involved with the upcoming threat?" Omega asked.
"Omega is right. Chances are these guys are working with the doctor. I don't know who these guys are, but we must find out." Shadow said.
"Well then. I guess it's time to say hello to these boys." Rouge smirked.
The four of them head to the command deck and cargo bay to fight off these new threats, whoever they are. The Jackal team is currently being led by a commander, who is all white from head to toe. He leads his members to attack any soldiers without killing them and destroy any robots while searching for valuable materials.
"Leave nothing unturned! Find something worth something for our boss. Anything he can use!" The Jackal Commander ordered.
They get to work destroying boxes, breaking them open and finding valuable materials, such as torches, metal, energy absorbing tech of any kind. Their mission is interrupted when they dodge a missile that collides with the wall. They all turn to see that Omega has fired that missile with Shadow, Rouge and Silver aside him.
"Intruders detected. Prepared and ready to attack. Get ready to be destroyed by the most powerful robot." Omega readies his fists.
"For a bunch of bounty hunters, you sure picked your targets poorly. That is your worst mistake yet." Shadow readies in action.
"Surrender, and we'll let you live." Silver tells them.
The Jackal commander steps up and sees the silver hedgehog and recognizes him as the target.
"Leave no one alive! But the silver hedgehog comes with us! Get him!" The Jackal Commander ordered.
The Jackals all charge to attack the four heroes. Omega spins his torso in 360 degrees and swings his arms and attacks four jackals, knocking them away. He stops in place as he punches another away and grabs another one and throws him down to the ground. Omega sees one jumping to attack and he fires a laser and knocks the jackal leader to a wall, stunning him. Omega grabs two more by the faces and throws them up and fires lasers, knocking them out as well. Rouge flies and does a drill kick down on one's head, knocking the jackal out and dives in and hits another to a wall. Rouge them kicks one upward by the chin and kicks the jackal female by the back and knocks her out. Five come in at her and throws down three heart-shaped smoke bombs and flies in, grabs one, throws him into another jackal does a double kick to the third jackal, knocking him down, and does a swing kick on the fourth jackal, sending him into the fifth one.
Shadow does a dive kick onto one's head, knocking him out, jumps up and sees a jackal coming toward him and he does a chaos back hand strike, sending him to a wall and defeating him, and throws a Chaos Spear at one's chest, stunning the jackal and defeating him. Shadow then dodges one's claw attack and does a roundhouse kick to the back and defeats the jackal. Silver slams his palm into the ground and stuns four jackals and throws four boxes at them with his psychokinesis. One jumps to attack Silver, but he freezes him in place and palm strikes his chest, sending him down. The Jackal Leader kicks Silver in the head, but he recovers.
"My boss wants you alive, you lucky boy." The Jackal Commander tells him.
"I'm assuming it's Eggman. I'm surprised he has a beef with me this time. But why are low lives such as you are working with him?" Silver asked while insulting them.
"I'll show you a low life!"
The commander rings out his ranged weapon and fires at Silver, but he uses his powers to bring up a shield to block the attacks. He then uses his powers to yank the weapon out of his hand. The Jackal Commander then draws his nunchucks to swing at Silver, but he dodges the swings and flies. The Jackal Commander tries to swing his nunchucks, but he couldn't move his arm at all. His weapon is glowing as Silver grabbed it with his powers and pulls him upwards.
"Ha! Take this!" Silver replied.
Silver throws him across the room and sends him down to the ground, instantly defeating him. The four approach the commander, who is now being handcuffed by the soldiers.
"Huh. Nice one." Shadow complimented.
"Thanks. Well, now that the job is done. I think it's time we have some words with this visitor." Silver said.
The Jackal Commander growls at his new enemies as he is being taken away by the soldiers. Unknown to them, Metal Sonic is watching from a safe distance, to where not even Omega's sensors could detect his presence. He watches as the four walk away with the commander before he flies back to report to Eggman.
Team Dark as well as Silver have captured the Jackal Commander. He was sent to steal whatever they were looking for and capture Silver to bring him in alive. None of them know these guys and are hoping to find out. And maybe see if they are related to Eggman or are any threats to Silver's future. As they interrogate him, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles show up to the headquarters.
Sonic was the first to speed in and meets everyone. Shadow looks at him with a brief stare before nodding to him in greetings.
"Sonic." Shadow nodded.
"Shadow." Sonic does the same thing back.
"What happened here?" Tails asked.
"We were attacked by some squad called the Jackal Squad. We managed to take them down, but whatever they were looking for, they got away with it." Shadow answered.
"Jackal Squad? I never heard of that sort of thing before. But why attack a highly operative military base? And why kidnap Silver?" Knuckles asked, coming in.
"Probably because Eggman knows I'm from the future. To make me tell him what happened." Silver guessed.
"Interrogation will proceed or prisoners shall face execution! Raising suspicions that they may be working for Eggman!" Omega brings out his built in gatling guns.
"Only one way to find out." Shadow said.
Shadow, Silver and Omega walk in the prisoner cell to interrogate the Jackal Commander with Sonic and the others watching.
"Alright. Time for a show. This should be entertaining to watch." Sonic said.
Tails on the other hand looks on in worry, hoping Shadow knows what he is doing, considering he's more violent than Sonic.
"I do hope Shadow has an idea. Given that we don't know this guy, who knows where they came from. These guys look scary looking." Tails said.
"Huh." Knuckles scoffed. "I've seen scarier and creepier things than this."
"You mean when you look at yourself in a mirror?" Rouge teased.
Rouge smirks and giggles, winking at the red echidna. She loves to get on his nerves from time to time.
"Hey! Watch it, batgirl!" Knuckles warns her.
Inside the cell, Shadow, Silver and Omega interrogate the Jackal Commander.
"Who are you? Who do you work for and how did you find this place?" Shadow asked.
"We are the Jackal Squad, and I'm its second in command. We work for whoever is worth working for and for the better for us." The Jackal Leader said.
"Scans indicate that he is hiding information deemed important. Must be related to Eggman." Omega said.
Jackal Commander: "Heh. For an old, rusty robot, you catch on quickly." The Jackal Commander mocked. "We swore to our boss to help him change the world for the better. Made us his defense squad."
"Why did you come here to kidnap me and steal whatever you're looking for?" Silver asked.
"The boss is smarter than you think. He may not look like it for a fat geezer, but he keeps track of all his enemies, you included and most of all, that blue hedgehog." The Jackal Commander answered.
"Sonic? What does he have to do with this?" Shadow asked.
"Eggman always kept him as top priority and would always let his allies be aware of his identity, given that they normally have a common foe." Omega said.
"You're right, Omega. What do he steal from this base? What is Eggman up to?"
"I'll never talk. Nothing scares the Jackal Squad." The Jackal Commander refuses to interact.
"Is that right? Well then. I guess we have no further use for you. Omega. He's all yours." Shadow said before turning his back.
Tails and Sonic did not like the sound of that. Sonic quickly speeds down to the cell to try to stop them.
"Target in range. Locked and loaded. Ready to fire on command." Omega retracts his hand and brings out a flamethrower. Before he could move, Sonic zips in between the two.
"Omega! Shadow! Wait!" Sonic holds up his hands. "We need this guy! Who knows what Eggman is up to? Chances are these guys might be connected to Silver's future."
"I hope you're right about this, Sonic. I was only trying to scare him into telling us. But he's more brave and foolish than I thought." Shadow said.
"I think I can help." Silver steps up. "I can use my powers to reach into his head and find out what Eggman is up to."
"Since when could you read minds?" Sonic asked Silver.
"Not much. With my ESP empowered by my psychokinesis, hopefully we should get something outta him." Silver said.
"Go ahead. Try me. You'll never beat the information out of me. It'll take more than threats to scare me." The Jackal Leader emains unintimidated.
"Oh, I don't need threats to deal with you."
Silver steps up and glows with his powers and places a palm of his hand onto the commander's forehead and he gasps in some pain. Silver closes his eyes and sees Eggman experimenting with a strange jewel. Alongside him is the Jackal Leader and Metal Sonic and they are in a lab in some sort of jungle.
Silver returns to reality and opens his eyes as he steps away from the Jackal Commander. The commander gasps for air as his vision is blurry and he feels like he's gonna be sick.
"What did you find?" Shadow asked.
Silver takes a moment to regain his bearings and shakes his head as he regains his senses.
"I saw Eggman, the Jackal Leader as well as Metal Sonic in a lab in some sort of jungle. Eggman apparently found some sort of jewel and is experimenting on it. Silver answered.
"What does it look like?" Tails asked.
"It looks like a pinkish purple jewel with an icosahedron shape and has black ripple lines all over it. I haven't seen it before. It's definitely not a Chaos Emerald, that's for sure." Silver described.
"I have no clue what that is, but it doesn't sound good, especially in the hands of Eggman." Sonic shrugged.
"That must be a new thing. Do you think that jewel is responsible for your future and some of the stuff that happened in Green Hill and Angel Island?" Tails asked.
"Possibly. But I'm not 100% sure." Silver chimed in.
They then hear a small radio static sound and it appears to be coming from the Jackal Commander's ear. It's Eggman's voice through a comlink.
"Jackal Commander, respond. Metal Sonic just reported your capture. Where are you?" Eggman asked.
Shadow takes the comlink from his ear and begins to talk to the doctor.
"Greetings, doctor. Recognize me?" Shadow mockingly asked.
"Shadow! What are you doing?! I didn't expect to hear your voice! Don't think you're getting off so easily!" Eggman shouted.
"Where is your hiding spot, doctor? Come out and show yourself like a man." Shadow dared.
"I'm far too busy with plans to take over the world. I'm not going to allow you stop me. You and Sonic both. With my new allies and power at my side, this time you won't stop me." Eggman declared.
Eggman hangs up on them. This leaves everyone to look at each other out of suspicion. Everyone feels shocked and surprised except for Shadow.
"Suspicions confirmed! Eggman 100% prime suspect! He must be stopped at all costs! He and Jackal Squad will suffer at my hands!" Omega spins his right hand and brings out his gatling gun again in his left hand.
Shadow tosses the comlink to Tails.
"Tails. You think you can trace the call back to Eggman and find out where he is?" Shadow asked the two-tailed scientist.
"That should not be a problem. It may take a while, but I'll be able to crack it no problem. This should give us a clue on his whereabouts and his plans." Tails said.
"And hopefully stop a war before it even starts." Silver said.
"I like to kick some Jackal Squad butt. They haven't met me yet. I'll show them what I'm really made of." Sonic clashes his fist in his palm.
"At least the good news is we are directly on track. This could mean we're close." Silver hoped.
Tails flies away to a computer in the headquarters to find out where Eggman is hiding by hacking his last call. This should hopefully help them trace Eggman back to his base and find this lab. But they still wonder how this mysterious jewel is responsible for Silver's future being ruined.
In the G.U.N headquarters base, Tails works to find the location of Eggman's hidden lab where he is experimenting his mysterious new weapon. Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to figure out who the mysterious Jackal Squad are and what their motivations are.
"What could low lives like them be doing with Eggman?" Knuckles asked. "Doesn't feel like he would do this often."
"The doctor must be feeling desperate given his recent losses at Sonic's hands. He would come up with anything despite his predictability." Shadow said.
"Except he's too stubborn to realize that him teaming up with others is a bad idea. No wonder how he always loses." Sonic reminded them, hinting with Chaos, Shadow himself, Metal Sonic and the Deadly Six.
Sonic is not wrong though, given the fact that the last allies he made were Zavok and the Deadly Six. They hated Eggman's guts but were forced to do his bidding until Sonic kicked Eggman's cacophonic conch out of his hands, allowing the Zeti to betray him, take over his technology and forcing Eggman and Sonic to team up against them.
"Eggman is as clumsy as he is stupid." Omega claimed.
This causes both Sonic and Knuckles to snicker.
"Yeah, you got that right. It usually never ends well with that moron. I mean most of them always betrayed him. Serves him right for lying to me all those years ago." Knuckles smirked.
Tails and Rouge come flying in with some news for them all.
"Guys. We got something. We managed to find his location." Tails reported.
"Awesome work, little bro. Knew you could be relied on as always." Sonic pointed at the young fox before fistbumping him. THis causes Tails to smile.
"What is his location?" Shadow asked.
"He's located in some place called Mystic Jungle. That's a new place to hide. Must be his new lab is where his new weapon is." Tails answered.
"According to readings on our maps, it is actually north from these headquarters. It should take a while to get here." Rouge said.
"I shall head to those coordinates immediately." Omega was ready to leave. But Shadow stops him.
"No, Omega. We need to find those weapons and bring back a sample to find out what the doctor is up to." Shadow said. "Besides, I travel faster than you.
Omega is very reluctant to just sit around and let an Eggman base stands tall due to his burning hatred towards his creator.
"Very well. But one sign of trouble, then I will come, no protests." Omega swore.
"Fair enough." Shadow then turns to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Silver. "What about you four? What are your intentions now?
"You mind if I stick around? I need to talk to your commander and the president about something." Knuckles said.
"Me too. He's gonna need my support. We need all the help we can get around here." Silver backed him up.
Knuckles gets a call from Vector and answers.
"Vector? What's up, pal? You find something yet?" Knuckles asked.
"Good and bad! We found a clue, but Tails' house is completely wrecked!" Vector shouted.
"What?! My house?! Who did this?!" Tails asked.
"We don't know. Most of the stuff is gone. Some Jackal guy got caught red-handed and walked off after fighting us off! Metal Sonic was with him too!" Vector answered.
"Metal Sonic?!" Sonic is surprised.
"That robot is even meaner than last time. And scarier too." Charmy shivered upon describing the metal dopplegenger.
"This new foe was formidable. He matched my ninja skills. It's best that you see this for yourself." Espio tells Tails.
"Tails, you go see the Chaotix pronto. See what they found and what those guys stole." Sonic tells his best friend. Tails flies off to return to what is left of his house and meet with the Chaotix. "Meanwhile, I'm gonna check on Amy and Cream. See how they're doing. Knuckles, good luck with whatever you're about to do."
"Thanks, Sonic. Good to have you around. Be careful out there." Knuckles tells him.
"Where's the fun in that? Gotta have some danger in life, that's what makes the fun more thrilling." Sonic said, showing his usual cockiness as always.
Sonic speeds off to find Amy and Cream to see how they are doing. Abraham Towers approaches Shadow.
"Shadow. Looks like you're the best pick for this mission. Find this Mystic Jungle base and see what you could find." The commander said.
"My thoughts exactly. Thought you never ask. Rouge, I'll keep you in touch." Shadow tells her before he holds up his red Chaos Emerald. "Chaos Control!"
This leaves Knuckles, Omega, Rouge, Abraham and Silver. The commander turns to Knuckles and Silver.
"So Knuckles. What did you want to talk to me and the president about?" The commander asked.
Note: I split this chapter into two parts because it was too long. I hope you guys are liking some of the action so far. And I apologize on how I describe how Sonic is running through areas like Green Hill and the city. It's how I like to describe what each area is from his perspective. Until next time, we get to Episode Shadow, which will have some major differences.