SZ: Hey folks, it's Seanzilla115 and Gammatron once more….man, things did not end well in the last chapter…
GT: Yeah. While they did rescue Sonic and Roll like they originally planned, along with all the prisoners there...the girls-Makoto, Tsubaki, Noel, and their reunited friend Mai-were captured.
SZ: And to make things worse, Eggman now has six of the Chaos Emeralds, meaning he only needs one more to activate the Eclipse Cannon.
GT: Very true.
SZ: Yeah...let's hope our heroes think of something before things go from bad to worse….I just jinxed it didn't I?...Nevermind. Just start the story!
Knuckles shuddered as he looked at the red-tinted sky above, "This place sure feels haunted." he looked around at the multiple tall, thin stone structures ending with massive pumpkins made of stone, "Really haunted."
"I've found some sh…"
"GAH!"
"...Shards of the Master Emerald," Tikal noted as she looked over the ledge Knuckles had jumped off of in startlement...hitting a flying train in his fall, "...One's in there, Knuckles. Good luck."
It had been a few hours since the jailbreak/destruction of Prison Island. Bentley peeked out of a window of an old dilapidated structure before closing it. He turned around and wheeled over to the others, Ragna standing away from the rest and leaning against a wall.
"Okay, I have good news and bad news," Bentley informed.
"What's the bad news?"
"The commander of GUN managed to get us all declared as terrorists by the UN and blamed us for the destruction of Prison Island," Penelope informed as Bentley made the display screen form, showing wanted posters for all of them, "Even managing to hide the fact that Eggman's forces were there."
"...I'll bite. What's the good news?" Kevin asked, feeling a bit peeved that the group was pretty much thrown under the bus for something they didn't do.
"Sticks, if you would," Bentley adjusted his glasses as he looked over at the badger.
"If I would what?"
"Come on. Show it," Bentley urged, "The thing you managed to save from your shiny cave."
"Ohh…!" Sticks blinked twice before reaching into her top and pulled out a yellow Chaos Emerald.
"A Chaos Emerald?" Sonia gasped.
"I found it washed up on the beach one day," Sticks explained, "...You can't have it."
Gwen's eyes flashed magenta before she stumbled back, groaning while holding her head.
"Gwen!" Kevin gasped as he caught her.
"Wh...What is that thing?" Gwen asked, "I tried to get a reading on it and...ow…"
"They're said to contain unlimited power and can create miracles once all seven are united," Sly explained, "But how does us having this good news, Bentley?"
"...We can use it to find the others!" Sonic realized.
"Exactly. From what I saw with Chaos when we encountered him at the Cooper Vault, they resonate with one another and start to glow brighter when closer to one another," Bentley explained.
"...Hey, wait a second…" Max frowned as he noticed his face and Sam's face among the wanted posters, "Why are we on them?"
"Great galloping misdemeanors! Max, we're being blamed for Eggman's assault, too!" Sam realized.
"Ugh. And we just had to destroy the Toys of Power so we can't change reality, too," Max grumbled, "...Well, at least it can't get any worse."
"...Why does everyone keep saying that?" Manic groaned.
"You forgot that we're also missing four girls," Ragna spoke up, "And most likely, they're the fatass's prisoners."
"Uh, guys?" Sonic spoke up as he managed to get the TV working, "You might want to take a look at this."
The others blinked a bit as they rushed over to the TV, seeing Eggman's face on it.
=Hello, people of Mobius! It is I, your true ruler, doctor Eggman! And before you all laugh, I've decided to keep this little nickname to make things a bit easier...easier to make you fear me!= Eggman declared before it zoomed out to show him fully.
"...Huh. He looks like an egg turned upside-down," Kevin noted.
"Yeah, but he's totally rotten to the core," Sonic stated with a frown.
=As of this moment, all nations are now citizens of the great Eggman Empire!= Eggman continued on =Now witness the beginning of the greatest empire of all time!=
"What's he talking about?" Sticks asked, "How did the man get inside of the tiny box?"
"Sticks...h-" Sonia began before the image on the screen changed to space, "Huh?"
On the screen, between the planet and the moon, was a small sphere. The bottom half of it began to crack, exposing a strange light. More cracks formed until the lower half shattered, exposing vents, an obelisk of sorts, and six panels. All in all, it seemed to resemble Eggman's face.
"...Yeesh. Talk about an ego," Kevin deadpanned, sweatdropping a bit before the sphere aimed at something, "Huh?" The screen changed to a far view of Mobotropolis, "Hey, isn't that…?"
"Why is it showing Mobotropolis?" Sonia asked as it changed back to the object in space, the obelisk that was acting as a 'nose' splitting in four directions as a green energy began to charge up along with the cannon inside of it, "No…!"
"That...Dude, that can't be!" Manic paled.
"He's going to destroy the city…AGAIN!" Sonic gasped.
A calm wind blew across the city, a pair of black rabbit ears being moved by it. In the sky above, a green light was visible even in the daytime.
"It seems I'll be required to intervene," Rachel noted, "Nulliplex restriction mechanism released. Dimensional interruption imaginary number developing." a golden symbol appeared above the city as she spoke.
In space, the green energy pulsed before shooting down right at Mobotropolis. Clouds dispersed as the beam roared down towards its intended target.
"Connecting to Congenital Border. Activating Tsukiyomi Unit," Rachel stated.
The crest glowed before two parts of it spread out into a pair of wings. The beam slammed into the barrier. The energy gathered up into a sphere before it was sent right back into the sky, slamming right into the moon and shattering a large part of it, exposing the magma core within.
"It's impossible. Even your planet-shattering invention can defeat Tsukiyomi's Absolute Defense, Gerald," Rachel noted, "With the number of Chaos Emeralds you have, it will be twenty four hours until you can fire once more. Until then..."
=...Well...Ahem! Not what I intended, but now you see the destructive power of the Eclipse Cannon! And that was with just six Chaos Emeralds! With all Seven, I can easily destroy Mobius within a second...unless you all meet to my those who refuse, I will destroy your country and everything within it. You have twenty four hours to comply, or else!= Eggman declared before the screen changed to a countdown with him laughing in the background.
Sticks threw open the curtain and looked at the night sky, "AH! The tiny things inside the box made the big moon out here blow up just like the tiny moon in the box!"
"Aw man…" Max frowned, "And I marked my territory up there the last time we were on the moon, too!"
"...That weapon…." Rook spoke up, a frown evident on his face, "It is clearly a Level 10 Tech, possibly higher."
"Oh thank goodness the city's safe," Sonia sighed in relief.
"Did mom or the oracle do it?" Manic pondered.
"Oh come now, Prince of Thieves. Do you honestly believe that only your mother and the Oracle of Delphius are the only ones with access to the arcane?"
"...Why am I detecting the odiferous scent of roses?" Sam asked.
"Okay, who bought rose-scented perfume?" Max demanded before a swirl of rose petals appeared across from everyone before dispersing to reveal Rachel in her throne while her butler poured a cup of tea, "Oh...false alarm. It's just a loli-vampire goth."
"Considering your encounters with the occult, I shall not dignify that with a response, Maxwell," Rachel stated, before glancing at Ragna.
"Were you the one who protected that place, Usagi?" Ragna scowled.
"It is one of the Sankishin Units, Tsukuyomi," Rachel explained, "The ultimate defense, capable of diverting anything that comes its way. As you all are now aware, there is something large at work upon this planet and in its orbit. While they try to keep it hidden, with the exposure of the Eclipse Cannon will force the hand of GUN as sins from 50 years past now rise up."
"Sins from 50 years ago?" Ragna repeated, "...You know something, don't you?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. A certain toad may be of more knowledge than I," Rachel replied, "Then again, he may not."
"Ah crud. I hate cryptic stuff. Too m-and she's gone," Max noted, "Damn it. I didn't get to finish my insult aimed at her."
"There'll be another time, little buddy," Sam assured, "But more importantly, how are we going to handle this situation we're all now entangled in like so many flies on a spider's web?"
"I honestly don't know…" Sonic sighed a bit, "Wish I could ask mom for help, but GUN's most likely keeping a close eye on the city just in case we try and return there."
"Hmm...Manic, do you have that Emerald Radar of yours?" Bentley asked.
"Sure thing," Manic replied as he pulled it out.
"If we could boost the signal, we could do a global search on this," Bentley noted, "If there's a few grouped together, then it could mean that's where Eggman's hiding. If we find him, then we could probably stop his new weapon from firing again."
"I know where he's hiding," Everyone turned to look at Sticks, "Think about it. He said that cannon thing was powered by six of those emeralds, and he fired it all the way from space."
"...G...Good point," Penelope admitted, readjusting her glasses that had slipped when her jaw had dropped in surprise.
"The only question is, how do we get up there without being noticed?" Sly pondered.
"Yeah. No doubt GUN would have some anti-air defenses set up just in case we try to leave in the air," Manic added.
"We could take the DeSoto," Sam offered as he motioned to the vehicle outside.
"Ah! Sam, she's being towed!" Max freaked.
"Apparently, we parked in a 'no parking' zone," Sam observed, adjusting his hat to get a better look out the window.
"Curses. Damn tow truckers! Always looking for an excuse to tow people's cars," Max frowned.
"Well, if we can't get up there, then how the hell did Eggman do it?" Ragna asked.
"Well, he either took an invisible ship up there or he teleported," Max guessed, "Most likely the latter. I'd do it, too, to make sure nobody would see me doing something suspicious."
*SMASH*
"Hey, where are all the little people?" Sticks pondered, looking through the wreckage of the smashed TV.
"..." Ragna rolled his eyes, 'Those girls better be okay…'
Noel moaned as she slowly opened her eyes. The smell of disinfectant came to her nose as she began to sit up, the covers over her moving off her. Looking around, her eyes widened as she saw she was in a large medical bay. She got out of the bed to see she was wearing a white plain dress. Looking around, she found a blue plain dress and put it on, noticing it was a perfect fit on her.
"Where am I?" Noel pondered before seeing Tsubaki, Makoto, and Mai at other beds, "Ah!" she ran over to them before noticing they were strapped down to their beds and unconscious, "E-Eh? Wh….who did this? Wh...where are we?"
"You're on the Space Colony ARK."
"?!" Noel tensed as she quickly turned around to see who said that.
"Located in an orbit between the planet and the moon, this was the first space colony made on this planet over fifty years ago," Fiona went on as she walked over from the entrance of the medical bay and looked Noel over, "Huh…"
"Wh…..what?" Noel cautiously asked.
"It's nothing, really," Fiona waved her off, "While you can look around the Space Colony, your friends are being detained here. Don't ask me why, but when Shadow got a good look at you, he demanded that."
"Sh...Shadow?" Noel repeated before her eyes slightly widened, 'B….Ben-san…' she squeaked as two Artificial Chaos entered, one resembling a wolf and the other a bear.
"You are to be accompanied by these two Artificial Chaos whenever you leave the Medical Bay," Fiona went on as she walked off, "Well, enjoy your stay as prisoners here. And be thankful you don't have to wear a bomb like me."
"B….bomb?" Noel squeaked at that before the Wolf Chaos motioned her to follow it and the Bear Chaos, "E-Eh? A-Ano...okay…" She cautiously began to follow the two Artificial Chaos, giving one last look of concern as she looked at her friends.
"...Don't worry. They'll be safe...for now," Fiona assured the shy blonde.
"O-Okay. Thank you," Noel nodded before the Bear Chaos rolled its eyes before just deciding to pick her up and put her on its back before the two Artificial Chaos walked off.
Shadow looked from the viewing platform at the planet below. Standing at his side was a young girl, possibly around twelve, maybe fourteen, years of age with flowing golden blond hair wearing a blue plain dress and a blue bow in her hair.
"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?" the girl asked.
"The professor said his life's work was dedicated to all of those who live down there. He once told that the reason for his existence was, making people happy through the power of science," Shadow replied.
"Shadow…"
"Maria... I just don't know anything anymore... I often wonder why I was created; what my purpose if for being here. Maybe if I go down there, I... I will find the answers... maybe... ...Maria…" Shadow turned to the door as it slid open with a hiss, letting Noel enter with the two Artificial Chaos, "..."
"Oh...Oh my…!" Noel gasped as she looked out the viewing platform, "Is...Is that Mobius?"
"...It is," Shadow nodded.
"It looks so beautiful from up here," Noel observed, walking until she was beside Shadow.
"And yet it holds nothing but pain and misery," Shadow scowled, "Once the doctor has all seven Chaos Emeralds, the Eclipse Cannon will purify this world of all its sins…"
"Its sins?" Noel repeated.
"The people there claim to be innocent, but no...All they are is power hungry murderers, taking away anything they can get their greedy hands on…" Shadow explained as his scowl grew while his fists clenched tighter, "GUN being a prime example of how far the people of Mobius will go to take what they want…"
"B...But…" Noel began as Shadow looked her in the eyes.
*ba-dump*
"?!" Noel tensed up.
"Shadow….you must….live…."
"Maria!"
*BANG*
"...Is something the matter?" Shadow asked with a raised brow.
'Wh-What did I just...why am I...were those...Shadow's memories?' Noel pondered before the back of a gloved hand lightly pressed against her forehead, "?!"
"You seem a bit warm," Shadow noted, his rocket shoes letting him float up enough to let him put the back of his hand on her forehead, "...Wolf, Ursa Major, take her back to the Medical Bay. We're not taking a chance for it to develop worse if she has a fever or cold."
"E-Eh?" Noel blinked before the doors opened and Rouge walked in.
"Ah, so this is where you are," Rouge noted as she walked over while Noel was carried out by the Bear Artificial Chaos, "That was so unexpected. So unlike you, Shadow, to come and rescue my team and those girls. But your ability to use the Chaos Control, certainly comes in handy."
"...Hmph. I didn't come to save you. I came back for the Chaos Emeralds," was all Shadow said as he turned away from her, "...Any news on the location of the last Chaos Emerald?"
Rouge smirked as Eggman walked in with Lien-Da, Rosie, and Fiona before she pulled out a USB from her cleavage, "Well, just before we were trapped, I managed to get this from the security footage."
"...And?"
Rouge walked over to Eggman and handed it to him. He walked over to a computer and plugged it in and quickly loaded the video files.
"This is a few days after I lost Robotropolis," Eggman noted as he watched the feed...just in time to see Sticks on the monitor grabbing something from the sand, "What was that?" he froze the image and zoomed in...revealing the yellow Chaos Emerald, "The last one was on the island?! Grr….someone contact Akhlut t-"
"No need," Lien-Da spoke up, "If memory serves right, they'll have the real Emerald and, once they get on here, will attempt to trick you with a fake."
"A fake? ...Hmm...Same wavelength and properties, but less power?" Eggman asked.
"Yup," Lien-Da nodded.
"...Did the other me know it was a fake as well?"
"Yup, and if he was cautious, he would've actually killed Sonic."
"Hmm...Noted," Eggman nodded, "So how did they come here in your Zone?"
'Zone?' Rouge thought.
"Rocket ship you had in one of your desert bases."
"Ha! Joke's on them then! I have no rocket ships," Eggman smirked, "Well...I did, but he was torn apart. But I made sure to properly dispose of him."
"...As long as it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass, then good," Lien-Da nodded before seeing Shadow walk off, "And just where are you going?"
"Hmph. To be ready for when they arrive," Shadow replied as he left the room.
"Okay, no one on TheifNet has access or knowledge of any spacecrafts that we can get our hands on," Penelope noted.
"...Dammit," everyone looked at Ragna, "The Usagi was talking about the damn frog."
"Frog?" Kevin raised a brow at that.
"He's referring to Azmuth, Kevin," Gwen explained.
"Azmuth?" those not in the know repeated.
"The guy who created Ben's Omnitrix," Sonic replied, "...Hold on… If he did create the Omnitrix…"
"...Then he could make something to teleport us to where Eggman is!" Manic finished.
"Hopefully, they don't have this line," Gwen noted as she pulled her badge out, "Azmuth. Come in, Azmuth. Do you read me? This is Gwendolyn Tennyson."
A flash of light on the table made everyone look to see Azmuth appear on it, "I was in the middle of a chat with an interesting Mobian named Skye Sakurai. What is it?"
"We need to get to where Eggman is," Ragna spoke up, "And some answers."
"Answers?"
"You've been here before, haven't you?" Ragna frowned, "Shadow...He's not just a sample of Mobian DNA, is he?"
"...ugh...Rachel…" Azmuth sighed a bit at that.
"So you do know something!" Max exclaimed as he slammed his hands on the table, "Alright, Froggy, spill the beans now, or else we're having frogs legs tonight!"
"Hmm...It seems you've recently had brain surgery, Lagomorph," Azmuth noted, "A tumor, perhaps?"
"...He gets a pass since he got my species right," Max smiled as he backed away.
"It is true, Ragna. Shadow isn't just a piece of DNA," Azmuth informed, "Shadow...is a complete being sealed within the Omnitrix...or, rather, he was until Master Control was unlocked…" he looked over at Kevin and Gwen, "...and five years ago by complete accident."
"Five years ago…That's..." Gwen's eyes widened.
"The same time Ben disappeared," Kevin frowned.
"Yes. The form that knocked you two out...the one that slaughtered the Forever Knights...the one that ended the life of an innocent young Terran girl prematurely...was none other than Shadow," Azmuth replied.
"Ugh...I hate being out of the loop," Penelope sighed.
"Perhap I should focus more on his involvement in this world then," Azmuth noted, "It all began seventy years ago. I was experimenting with teleportation devices to get to different planets in the Milky Way Galaxy, only for the device to overload and overshoot me, sending me right into Space Colony ARK the very day an Overlander that I would soon call a friend arrived to it. Gerald Robotnik..."
"Robotnik?!" the Mobians all gasped.
"I assure you he was nothing like his grandson," Azmuth assured them, "He was a great man, looking to cure an illness his granddaughter, Maria, had caught; Neuro-Immunity Deficiency Syndrome, or NIDS for short. We met one another when he found me beneath his bed where I had ended up hiding in while trying to figure out a way to rebuild my teleporter. I became a secret partner to him, helping with trying to find a cure for the disease. Over time, we created a prototype, but it ended up being a failure, prone to violent mood swings and unable to live without a life support system. I decided to see the world for myself, perhaps see if there was something on the surface that could be a cure while gathering parts for making a new teleporter. When I returned, it was there I met him; Shadow the Hedgehog, the final results of our project. He was rather shy and often stayed close to Maria during the first few years since his creation. Maria..." he gave a small chuckle, "She was a large part of his life...to him, she was an angel. They spent so much time together that other scientists would note they seemed like a little brother to an older sister. When I finally finished my teleporter...I hesitated. I had spent much time here, almost fifteen years. But...I still went." he frowned, "I always wonder...if I had stayed, could I have prevented what had happened so long ago?"
"Long ago?" Roll repeated.
"...The day GUN invaded ARK. They were after everything related to Project Shadow. It was 50 years ago that I returned to the ARK and was shocked to see it abandoned. I looked at security files and was shocked at what had happened. Managing to find where GUN had taken Shadow to, I released him from capture. But...the young hedgehog I helped to care for no longer existed. He...His memories had been altered. All he could think about was revenge. So, I took him away and sealed him within my greatest project. I hoped that he would not be found until I could find a way to cure him of his altered memories, but you've seen that it hasn't been so."
"...And Shadow remained a secret until the Weapon Master unlocked Master Control…" Ragna spoke, seeing where Azmuth went with this.
"Indeed. I barely managed to force the Ultimatrix to reset five years ago before he could fully take over, but now I fear for what has become of Ben Tennyson," Azmuth replied.
"So you can get us up there?" Sly asked.
"...I can't," Azmuth replied before quickly holding a hand up as they started to try to argue, plead, or threaten, "Hold it! Allow me to finish. I can't take you there because the teleporter on there was destroyed a few days ago. Therefore, I need a few supplies to make another teleporter much stronger than before."
"Which will be kinda difficult considering GUN considers us as terrorist for something Gerald's grandson did," Sam stated.
"Not to mention the fact GUN had a crap ton of aliens locked up on the now destroyed Prison Island," Max added before frowning as he looked at Sticks, "Sorry."
"It's fine," Sticks assured, hugging the Chaos Emerald, "I've got my brightest shiny."
"Fortunately, none of you thought it wise to notify the queen of this," Azmuth noted as he hopped over to the wrecked television and began to look through its parts, "Otherwise, the Avalon Act would have been put into effect."
"That act again?" Sonic raised a brow, "What is it anyway?"
"...Well…" Bentley adjusted his glasses, "It was an Act that was created by your grandfather 53 years ago. If it ever comes into effect, then it would mean…"
"What was that? You mumbled at the end," Sonia noted.
"It would mean your entire family would be killed to ensure the end of the Royal Hedgehog family's line," Azmuth informed, pulling out a few pieces of tech from the wreckage, "Fortunately, it can't truly take in effect until you three turn eighteen."
"..." Sonic, Manic, and Sonia only stared at him wide eyed, the first part slowly floating within their heads before they sighed a bit in relief, a bit glad that act won't take place until they were eighteen.
"Okay. Before we do anything else in terms of subject change, what are the parts you need?" Sly asked.
"For one, an energy source to power it all up," Azmuth explained, "Second is something big and durable enough to contain said energy."
"..." Sticks frowned a bit as she held the Chaos Emerald close.
"Sticks…" Sonia began.
"I"m not giving my shiny away."
"Well what else is here that has a near infinite amount of energy, huh?"
"Hmmm…" Sam rubbed his chin in thought before grinning, "Got a bicycle?"
"A bicycle?" Gwen repeated before it came to her, "Oh! I think I get it. Maybe two would be a better idea, though."
"Eh?" Roll blinked twice.
"...Why do I get the feeling I'd rather be Knuckles right now?" Sonic mumbled.
[AQUATIC MINE - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 19:21:57]
Part of the ceiling crumbled as Knuckles erupted from it, falling down and landing on a platform floating in water. Tikal in her spirit form flew down and changed into her original appearance and looked around.
"What is this place?" Tikal pondered.
"Looks like it was a coal mine," Knuckles noted, seeing bits of mining equipment and a turned over, rusted cart that had bits of coal still near it.
"...Why does it appear to be flooded?" Tikal pondered.
"Huh?" Knuckles blinked as he turned, seeing the lower levels of the mine submerged in water, "Guess they broke into an underground reservoir and flooded the place. ...Heh. Guess we could call it Aquatic Mine. Once was a coal pit, now it's a water ride."
"...Was that some sort of rhyme?"
"...I've spent too much time around those three again…" Knuckles muttered before looking around, "I can sense there are pieces of the Master Emerald down here."
"I'll see if I can find any of the piece of the Master Emerald underwater," Tikal noted, turning into her spirit ball form one more and going into the water.
"It's gonna be tough finding the pieces of the Master Emerald in here," Knuckles noted before shaking his head, "No time to complain about it! I have to find the pieces of the Master Emerald quickly! ...Gah damn it!" he slammed his head against the wall, "I knew I'd catch that damn music bug of theirs eventually!"
[SPACE COLONY ARK - OBSERVATION PLATFORM 3 - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 7:01:27]
=It really is beautiful= Cassia noted as she looked out at Mobius =Man...If 'Fire and 'Storm were here...I'd bet they'd be all 'Is very beautiful, Friend Cassia.' or something along those lines…= she sighed, 'Why'd ya do it, guys? I...I don't want to blow you up if we see each other again…'
The door behind her slid open and Shadow entered, an Artificial Chaos resembling a snake with multiple heads by his side. Shadow waved a hand to the AC, who nodded and slithered out, letting them be alone. Shadow walked over to Cassia and startled her when he used a baby blue handkerchief to dry the tear that had escaped.
=Ah! S-Shadow!= Cassia yelped =Didn't see ya there=
"The meeting between Eggman and his Grandmasters here and on the planet is almost done," Shadow explained, "In a few hours, the world you once knew will be gone."
=Yeah...It...I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I mean, sure Eggman's helping me with curing my illness and all, but...My sis and I don't really like the guy=
"Professor Gerald was the same with King Cerulean," Shadow nodded as he looked out at the planet, "He never wanted to come up here, preferring to live on the planet. But he did what he had to…"
=Wow. The Queen's dad-in-law sure sounds mean=
"I have never met the king myself, but I could care less," Shadow replied.
Cassia nodded before looking back out to the planet =It's really beautiful to see from up here=
Shadow just nodded. He raised a brow when Cassia pulled out a black and blue device that she opened and began to press something on it. He heard something that sounded like a camera flash from it.
=Oh...What's this thing?= Cassia showed the device =It's a portable video game system=
Shadow blinked twice, "Wait. Where are the cables? What did you just do?"
=Oh. I just took a picture of the view= Cassia explained, showing the picture she took =It also acts as a camera, a music player, and you can watch videos on it, too=
"...I see," Shadow noted, "I was unaware Mobius' technology had advanced this much while I was asleep."
=You kidding me? The stuff up here's still more advanced than what we've got on the surface= Cassia noted =And it's all from over fifty years ago, too!= she dug into her pocket before handing Shadow a black one with red detailing =Here. You can have this. I gotta get to the medical wing before Sis finds out I'm not in there. Thanks again for showing us where it is= she ran out =Bye!=
"...No problem…" Shadow nodded as the multi-headed creature slithered in, "Hyrda, keep an eye on her on her way back to the Medical Wing."
The creature let out a gurgling hiss before leaving, letting Shadow be alone.
[ABANDONED APARTMENT COMPLEX - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 3:23:02]
"This is embarrassing," Sonic muttered.
"It is kind of nice though," Roll noted.
"Just be ready to pedal when you get the signal," Kevin informed.
The three were currently on the first floor of the abandoned building, sitting on a pair of modified bicycles that were connected to a series of cables that went into the floor. In the basement, Penelope, Manic, and Bentley were working on something.
"Now add those cathodes there, there, and there," Azmuth instructed, "Once that's done, connect the cables there and there."
"I think I see it now," Bentley noted, "This will form a circuit, charging the battery and fuel cells from the van, OmniATV, and ship so that the teleporter can be maintained for just enough to let Sonic and Roll go through once everyone else has."
"I haven't been this excited to work on something like this since Ben went Greymatter and helped teach Tsubaki and me how to make the Emerald Radar," Manic noted as he and Penelope connected the cables emerging from the ceiling.
"Now all we need are the coordinates, right?" Sly asked.
"Correct," Azmuth nodded, "If the Eclipse Cannon truly has been activated, then the energy it's producing from cooling down should give us an exact location of the Space Colony ARK."
"Good idea. Considering it's in orbit, if we had followed the trail it had made, we'd end up in just space," Penelope agreed.
"Indeed," Azmuth nodded before he began to hop along the keyboards of Bentley's laptop, " we are." he hopped on the return key, "And coordinates have been set. I advise you all have only one shot at this, so hurry and start the plan!"
Sly banged the pipe over his head with his cane. Kevin looked at the rattling pipe coming from the floor.
"Okay! Start peddling!" Kevin ordered as he headed downstairs, "Yacker will come up and tell you when everyone's through."
"Got it/Hai!" both agreed.
With that, their feet turned into blurs on the pedals. The cables connected to their stationed machines began to glow, trailing down into the floor and down into the machine. The ring-shaped device flickered before a swirling white vortex appeared inside of it.
"Good. Everything is set," Azmuth noted as he turned around, "I trust everyone is prepared?"
"Yup," Manic nodded, twirling his drumsticks.
"All set," Max grinned as he and Sam pulled out their guns.
"Wow~ It's so swirly~" Sticks awed before collapsing, "Ugh...too swirly…"
"I am well prepared," Rook nodded, holding out his Proto-tool.
"I'm ready, Azmuth," Gwen added.
"Okay, all in favor of cutting this off; everyone ready, say aye," Bentley informed.
"Aye."
"Good," Bentley nodded.
"Again, you only have one shot at this," Azmuth warned them, "So g-"
"Sir! We're detecting a high amount of energy coming out of this building!" one of the GUN soldiers outside shouted.
"Get going!" Azmuth ordered before pointing at the Wisp, "You! Go up there immediately."
"Mgs! 321!" Yacker saluted as he shot upwards, heading to were Sonic and Roll were, passing Kevin.
"Whoa! Guess you heard those GUN guys that were searching around here, too," Kevin frowned.
"Yes. Now get going," Azmuth ordered before he teleported away.
"Okay. You heard the Galvan," Gwen ordered.
"CHARGE!" Max screamed as he charged into the portal.
"Here we go!" Sam whooped as he went next, carrying Sticks while Sly hopped in after him.
Upstairs, Sonic and Roll kept pedaling as the barricaded door was repeatedly banged on. Yacker flew out of the basement entrance and waved to them.
"There's the signal," Roll noted before the barricade exploded.
"Just in time, too," Sonic nodded before the two jumped off and shot down to the door, slamming it shut with Roll grabbing Yacker, just as GUN soldiers charged into the room and spotted the bikes.
"Freeze, terrorist!" the lead GUN soldier shouted as they looked around, "...Damn it. Commander, we just missed them."
Downstairs, Roll and Sonic charged into the portal. Neither noticed a familiar gloved fist, the back of it and the two spikes on the knuckles coated in metal, erupted from the ground. Knuckles grunted as he pulled himself out, a metal necklace with a glowing blue attachment on the front on his neck. Tikal floated out and reformed herself.
"The ghosts were down there as well," Tikal noted, "Still, we were able to get the pieces of the Master Emerald there and found that interesting device that lets you breathe underwater."
"Yeah," Knuckles replied before seeing the portal, "What's this?"
"I'm unsure," Tikal replied.
"...I sense piece of the Master Emerald on the other side," Knuckles frowned before he charged into the portal and jumped through.
"Ah! Wait for me!" Tikal yelped, running through the portal just before it shut down.
"Hmm...what shall I try and destroy first once I have all Seven Chaos Emeralds?" Eggman pondered as he sat in his vehicle, "Mobotropolis, Chunan, Ryugu…? Ohohoho. I feel like a kid in a hardware store! So many places I can destroy if th-"
"I get it," Lien-Da frowned, "So, you've managed to find where they live? Those Hyorinmaru people?"
"Not exactly. But I can fire upon the arctic circle until I get lucky," Eggman grinned.
"So you'll end up causing the most frozen part of Mobius to melt, thus possibly flooding the entire planet in the process until you destroy Ryugu…"
"...Good point," Eggman frowned, "Can't really take over once more if I flood it all. No one would be alive at that point...Then again, we did just blow up part of the moon." he turned on a news station, telling of the latest news of disasters unfolding with the moon's partial loss, "I mean, take a look at this, Lien-Da! Why do you think I chose to fire on Mobotropolis and not the moon like the me you said shot it did?"
"...Touche, doctor," Lien-Da nodded.
"Yes. But not that it's ruining my good mood anytime soon. I have a weapon of mass destruction, Sonic and his friends are considered terrorist thanks to GUN, and there's no way anyone could ever get h-" Eggman began.
=Um….Lord Eggman?=
"WHAT IS IT, SLEET?! I'm in the middle of rambling here!"
=Video feed of Sector 3-Z shows a Spacebridge portal just opened and deposited...is...oh my. I believe it is. Sire, it's Sly Cooper and two of his gang members, some five-fingered Overlanders, Ragna the Bloodedge, and the Royal Children!=
"...What?" Eggman asked, his eye twitching behind his glasses, "I...didn't hear you right, Sleet. Did you say the Royal children and their friends are on here?"
=Ulp….y…..yes=
"...Lien-Da…."
"I swear I didn't know this would happen. They were supposed to trip security at a pyramid base and try to take a rocket up here."
"...Okay. We are going to do this; you are going to make me complete lists of what the other me has done and then, you are going to think about the differences between there and here and change the plans accordingly," Eggman facepalmed, "Once you do, send them to Shockwave for further editing and then you edit more and once more you two do that and then give it to me."
"Y...yes, sir," Lien-Da nodded.
"And it seems they were able to make four fake Chaos Emeralds if the radar is right about it," Eggman frowned.
"Wait. Four?" Lien-Da raised a brow.
"Seems they're taking into account if we know they have a fake," Eggman frowned, "How did the other me do this?"
"He took Sonic's friend Amy Rose captive and threatened to off her if he didn't come to him," Lien-Da replied.
"I have no idea who that is," Eggman stated.
"Think Rosie, but absolutely head over heels for Sonic, can take down a small army of your machines on her own, and wields a Piko-Piko Hammer that could bend metal if angered with enough force to knock over larger machines twice the size of the Egg-Carrier."
"...Yeesh. She sounds annoying."
"Oh, you have no idea…" Lien-Da deadpanned.
"...Ahem! Well, since there's no Amy Rose in this Zone, then who can I take hostage then?" Eggman pondered, "...Lien-Da, Sleet, you two capture Sonia once they split up."
"Got it/Y-yes, sir= Lien-Da and Sleet replied.
"As for our other 'guests'…" Eggman paused as he turned to another screen, showing Shockwave, "Shockwave, which of my Grandmasters are currently available right now?"
=I am available as is Maw= Shockwave replied =I've managed to finish the upgrade to his Cyberization parts and he has finished performing the tests with them=
"Good good...and what of Conquering Storm?"
=The upgrades to her parts were complete as well, but she hasn't tested them out yet=
"Good...I want you, Maw, and Conquering Storm to come up here," Eggman ordered as a grin grew on his face, "Let's show our 'rats' who they're truly dealing with…"
"Okay….everybody in one piece?" Bentley asked, "Everyone who's in one piece, just say 'aye.'"
"Aye!" nearly everyone replied.
"I can't feel my legs!" Max exclaimed.
"That's because you're grabbing my legs," Manic deadpanned.
"Oh….nevermind. I'm good," Max said as he stood up and looked around, "...Wow. For a Space colony that hasn't been visited in 50 years, it's surprisingly clean."
"Probably Eggman's doing," Sly guessed as he looked at Bentley, "Okay, so what's the plan?"
"Isn't it obvious? Find the girls, find the other Chaos Emeralds, de-activate the Eclipse Cannon…" Bentley began.
"And detain Eggman once it is all over," Rook finished.
"And lucky for us, Azmuth made this," Gwen informed as she held up...a Chaos Emerald?
"Is that a Chaos Emerald?" Penelope pondered.
"No. This is a duplicate. It has the same wavelength and properties, but less power," Gwen explained, "If we put this where the other six are, the machine that's drawing their power will short out."
"Heh. Just leave it to Roll and me," Sonic smirked, "You guys focus on finding Noel and the girls."
"And if we encounter any of the fatass's grunts…" Ragna paused as he cracked his knuckles.
"We may not be dealing with just his machines and Cyberized troops," Bentley noted, "Remember, this is a secret space colony. Who knows what experiments they were doing up here that are still around?"
"Like creatures that look like that Chaos creature we heard about?" Max asked.
"Y-wait what? What crea..." Bentley began before the rest of the group noticed a group of Artificial Chaos, "...Oh."
The lead one let out a gurgling bellow before they charged.
"Split up!" Sly ordered as they began to run.
"Why are there creatures that look like Chaos on here?!" Sonia demanded as she ran.
[SPACE COLONY ARK - MEDICAL WING - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 2:11:53]
"Ugh! Gah! Grr…!" Makoto grunted as she struggled with the straps.
"Well, this sucks," Mai summed it up nicely, "If those things weren't here…" she looked over at the two animal Artificial Chaos sitting the sides of the medical bed Noel was on, the blond looking apologetically at the other three, "She'd be able to free us and we could get out of here."
"Agreed...but…" Tsubaki paused for a moment, "...Why is it Noel is the only one not binded down?"
"Ugh! Grr! Come on….!" Makoto grunted, "Damn it, why're these things so tight?! I could've broken out of these already!"
The sound of the door sliding open made all four look at them to see Clove helping Cassia into the place.
=Ugh...S-Sorry, Sis…=
"It's my fault for not keeping better attention on you," Clove assured, trying to not look at any of them as she helped Cassia into an empty bed, "At least a spare was set up here…"
=Y...yeah…= Cassia nodded before wincing a bit =Ow...my head…=
"...Is….is everything alright?" Noel couldn't help but ask.
"...That is none of your concern," Clove responded, keeping her back to them as she helped attach a device connected to the machine to Cassia's arm, "Just rest for now, Cassia…"
=...Sis?= Cassia spoke up just as Clove began to walk away, =...Once we find the cure, we'll finally be free of Eggman, right?=
"..." Clove just stood there, clenching her fist as she tried to force the tears back.
=...Right, sis?=
"...Yes, Cassia….everything will be fine…"
'...She….she's crying….' Noel thought as she looked at Clove, seeing a few tear drops hit the metal floor.
For a brief moment, the red and black liquid turned blue before going back to its dual coloring. A slit opened on Wolf's head before it approached Clove. A tissue emerged from the slit as Wolf sat.
"...Th….thank you," Clove whispered as she took the tissue.
=...Sis? Are you sure everything's okay?= Cassia asked, now a bit concerned before she noticed the small puddles on the metal floor, =...Were you...crying?=
"?!...Ahem! O...of course not. What makes you say that, Cassia?"
=It's just ever since we joined, you've never cried...not even once=
"...I'm fine, Cassia. Just...Just get some rest," Clove assured, tossing the tissue into the bin by Mai before leaving.
=...okay...= Cassia sighed a bit as she began to drift asleep.
"...she really was crying…" Noel whispered before the wolf rejoined the bear AC at her bedsides, "U-Um...I need to get up please?" the two nodded before walking over to Cassia's bed and lying down at the sides of it.
"What are you up to?" Tsubaki asked.
"Um...W-Well…" Noel looked over at Mai, "D-Do you still have your Super Taste, Mai-chan?"
"Hmm?" Mai blinked a bit at that, "Uh...yeah. Why?"
Noel walked over to the bin and pulled out the tissue, "It's the only thing in here."
"Oh, I see!" Tsubaki realized, "Mai, remember when you lost your memories and had us cry to taste our tears to get your memories back?"
"...Oh! H-hai," Mai nodded, seeing where Tsubaki was going with this.
"Good thinking!" Makoto beamed as Noel offered the wet spot of the tissue to Mai.
Mai closed her eyes as her tongue pressed against it, her eyes shooting wide open as she felt it...tons of memories starting to shoot through her mind. Once she witnessed it all, tears began to flow from her own eyes.
"M-Mai? Mai-chan, what's wrong?"
"...That...how could he do that to her…?" Mai whispered, the tears in her eyes not stopping, "All she wanted was a cure for her sister's illness...only to find out that…." she couldn't finish as she began to sob a bit, feeling as if her heart was breaking from what she witnessed.
A gurgled whine made Noel look down to see Wolf beside her, a tissue offered from the slit once more. Noel nodded as she took the tissue to wipe Mai's tears.
"Mai, what happened? What's wrong?" Makoto asked.
"...That pronghorn, Clove...she...she only joined that man so she could find a cure for her sister…" Mai explained, trying her best to remain calm, "She thought the Cyberization would cure her sister's illness, but….in truth….it's only delayed it."
"An illness?" Makoto repeated, "Hey, wasn't that…?"
"Yes. It was in the little bit of information Alpha could get from the remains of Robotropolis before Mobotropolis was being rebuilt," Tsubaki frowned, "But we have no clue what the illness is."
"Ah...I...if only we had some information," Noel sighed before Ursa Major sat before her, a clipboard in its mouth, "Eh?"
"...Noellie, when did you become a water monster with robot head whisperer?" Makoto questioned as all three bound girls blinked twice.
"Ano...I honestly don't know," Noel replied as she took the clipboard, "A...ano...what were the symptoms of this illness, Tsubaki?"
"Alpha didn't find anything. But judging from what we saw, it does leave her weak at times and tired," Tsubaki noted, "...Oh! Sonia mentioned it also affected the senses, such as sight and hearing."
"R-Right," Noel nodded as she looked at the clipboard before looking at Ursa Major and Wolf, "Wait. H-Has this happened often since they came here?" the animal-shaped Artificial Chaos shrugged as best they could before Wolf pawed at Noel's shadow, "Eh? Um...Shadow wrote this report?"
"It makes sense. I mean, he lived here fifty years ago, right? When it was filled with scientists? Maybe he learned how to work all this stuff," Makoto noted.
"...That would make sense," Tsubaki noted.
"Well, what does it say?" Mai asked as Noel looked at the papers.
"Um...Basically, it says she has periods of pain in her eyes that can last between a moment to a few minutes," Noel explained, "If it wasn't for her cybernetics, she'd be blind and deaf by now."
"Soka...demo...why was Mai crying if it's just that?" Makoto asked.
"...Because…" Mai began, trying her best to stay calm and fight back the tears, "From what I saw….it's most likely fatal...Cassia is alive thanks to her cybernetics...for how long….I don't know…" Wolf produced another tissue that Noel took.
"...Fatal...loss of senses…" Makoto mumbled, a pondering expression forming on her face, "Okay. I know I've heard this before…"
"Eh?" Tsubaki blinked as she, Noel, and Mai looked at Makoto, "Really?"
"Yeah. But I can't remember…" Makoto frowned, sticking her tongue out as she tried to remember, "Ugh! Don't you hate it when you recall something but can't recall just what it is you're recalling?!"
"...Honestly, yeah," Mai admitted.
"See?! Even Mai-chan agrees with me!" Makoto exclaimed as she thought harder and harder, "Come on...where have I heard of that illness before….fatal, loss of senses…come on, brain. Think think think…" her stomach gurgled, "And I'm hungry to boot. Wonderful, can this day get any worse?"
"Makoto!" the three girls snapped as Noel hid under the bed she had woken up in.
"What?! I….oh…...crap baskets…" Makoto cursed, realizing she might have jinxed things.
[SPACE COLONY ARK - SECTION 4-5-E - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 2:11:53]
"Ugh...What are these things?" Knuckles pondered as he peeked out of a broom closet he had hidden in from a passing Artificial Chaos.
"They...They feel like Chaos, but...but twisted and…" Tikal shivered, hugging herself.
"Easy now, Tikal," Knuckles advised, lightly giving her a brief hug of reassurance before they walked out, "...I can sense the pieces near."
"Do you think they're the last pieces we need?" Tikal asked as Knuckles pulled out the shards.
Knuckles brought the shards together and they began to glow. In a flash of light, the shards were replaced with the Master Emerald with a small chunk missing.
"Just the ones here," Knuckles frowned.
"...I detect they're nearby…" Tikal noted as she looked out a window, "...oh my…"
"What?"
"Um...Knuckles?" Tikal began as she turned around, "I do not think we're anywhere on Mobius."
"What do you m…?" Knuckles looked out the window, "...We're in space."
"I hope Chaos isn't overreacting to us not being on the planet," Tikal noted.
[MOBOTROPOLIS - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 2:10:07]
Chaos poked his head out of a toilet. He looked around before he and Skye looked one another in the eyes, the latter wearing just a towel and his fur and quills dripping wet.
"...I am not sure who you are, but I do not take kindly to anyone trying to come at me from the toilet," Skye stated before pushing down on the handle.
Chaos's head began to slowly spin around, the momentum increasing until he was flushed down the toilet. Skye nodded before going back into the shower.
[SPACE COLONY ARK - RESEARCH LAB E7 - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 2:01:27]
"Okay, you two," Rouge spoke as she, Rosie, and Fiona stood together in a computer room, the bat typing at a console, "Let's get to work. Now let's see...based on the footage obtained, the password is 'Ma-Ri-A.' Maria. ...Maria, hmmm? I think I've heard that somewhere before." she shrugged, "Oh well…"
Rosie walked up to the console and began to type on it, issuing commands and loading programs and old research files, "Okay. I think I found something. Research on Project Shadow. It seems to have been a project to create immortality by...a King Cerulean."
"That's the grandfather of the Royal Triplets and Queen Aleena's late father," Fiona noted.
"Interesting. It seems that while Gerald Robotnik was their first choice in leading the project here, it took fifty attempts to speak with him to convince him to join the project and come live on the ARK," Rosie went on, "I wonder why?"
"Who knows," Rouge shrugged, causing her covered bosom to bounce a bit, "Maybe it has to do w-" a green glow caught her attention, causing her to look down as she pulled out her Master Emerald shards, "...Well now...seems today's our lucky day, girls."
"Hmm?"
"Fiona, you and Rosie stay here and look up anything else related to Shadow," Rouge ordered as she began to walk off, putting the shards she had away, "I've got some…'treasure hunting' to do."
"Wait. You may need backup," Rosie noted as she walked over, letting Fiona start looking over the files, "I'll come with you just in case."
"Can't think I can handle it myself?"
"No. I'm more worried that the situation will change and you might need backup," Rosie replied.
"...Fine," Rouge shrugged, "Fiona? You got things handled here?"
"Of course I do," Fiona shrugged.
"Just making sure. Don't disappoint me…" was all Rouge said as she and Rosie ran out of there, leaving Fiona all by herself.
Fiona turned back to the console, "...You know you can come out now, Ringtail."
"Aw…" a voice noted before Sly appeared from nowhere in the middle of the room, "I'm surprised you knew where I was. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. After all…" Fiona lightly placed a hand to her face, "...We have a bit of a history, don't we?"
[SPACE COLONY ARK - RESEARCH LAB B4 - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 2:01:27]
"Okay….I think...we have lost them…" Rook panted a bit, resting against the wall with Bentley, "...Though I am a bit curious on where we ended up."
"I'm not sure myself," Bentley admitted as they looked around, "Though, it is quite amazing. To think that Mobius was capable of creating an entire working space colony just over 50 years ago."
"Agreed," Rook nodded, "To think, if GUN had not interfered all those years ago, then Mobius would be more advanced than it is now. Illnesses cured, the answer to world hunger...the possibilities are endless."
"Indeed," Bentley adjusted his glasses before seeing a console, "Hmm…" he rolled up to it and began to type away, "I'll see if I can hack into the systems, see if I can find where they're keeping the girls."
"Good idea," Rook nodded as he prepared his Proto-Tool, "I will provide cover for you just in case."
"Okay, ARK…" Bentley began as he cracked his fingers, "Let's see how your security measures fare up against my hacking skills."
[SPACE COLONY ARK - GREENHOUSE 1 - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:57:27]
"Okay. I'm gonna bite; why is there a jungle up here in space?" Max asked as he, Sam, and Kevin were in a large area resembling a jungle, Sticks looking all over with a wary expression and boomerang out.
"It appears that this was originally the greenhouse they had up here, but through years of disuse, the flora that was brought up here has grown out of control and becoming the jungle we see before us now," Sam explained.
"How'd you guess that?" Kevin asked.
"I saw a sign reading 'Greenhouse' as we were coming through the door in order to elude our vicious, adamant pursuers," Sam replied, adjusting his tie before thunder rumbled, making him look up to see storm clouds, "Seems that they make artificial storms to water the plants on a routine schedule."
"And we forgot our umbrellas, too," Max noted with a scowl, "And you know how much I hate it when you get wet and don't dry off quick enough, Sam."
"Just be ready you two," Kevin advised as he placed his hand on a rock, coating his body in the substance, "Never know what else might be hiding here."
"Why? What could be worse than water monsters?" Max asked.
"Space zombies."
"We've been zombies before," Sam noted, causing Kevin to do a double take.
"Yeah. Big case, too. Some German vampire was raising the dead for some reason, I forget, and turned us into zombies for a bit," Max explained.
'...The fuck?' Kevin thought before the rain began to fall.
"Hey! I just had my bath last week!" Sticks shouted at the clouds while grabbing a large leaf to use as a makeshift umbrella.
[SPACE COLONY ARK - RESEARCH LAB A2 - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:55:27]
"Hooo….hoo man...I think we lost them…" Manic panted a bit as he and Gwen looked around, "...Along with everyone else...dang."
"I guess those things were some sort of experiment here," Gwen noted.
"Yeah, but….why did they look like Chaos?" Manic asked, "The guy was sealed up for a long time, so how did they make freaky clones of him?"
"The water creature that Ben and your brother defeated?" Gwen asked, recalling the video.
"Yup," Manic nodded,"But seriously, how did they manage to create freaky clones of Chaos to begin with?"
"I'm not sure," Gwen replied, "I hardly understand anything on this planet."
"After today, me too. I mean, what's next? Some sort of ancient god buried deep within the planet or something?"
Gwen shrugged before her eyes flashed magenta briefly and held her head, "Okay. Ow…"
"What's up?"
"I just tried to look for those 'Chaos Emeralds' and...ow...a lot brighter then just looking at one," Gwen admitted, "I couldn't even 'see' anything."
"Ahh….well maybe I…" Manic began as he reached into his vest, only to find nothing, "...and I don't have the radar…..crap….guess we're going blind into this then."
[INSIDE SPACE COLONY ARK - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:45:59]
"Any sign of those things, Roll?" Sonic asked as he and Roll ran down a long hallway.
"I don't think so, Sonikku," Roll replied as Yacker poked out of her hair and looked back, giving a few noises, "Yacker-chan says we lost them."
"Okay good," Sonic nodded as he and Roll stopped for a moment, "Still, we need to be careful when we reach the reactor to the Eclipse Cannon. Aside from those….creepy Chaos monsters, there's probably a few of Eggman's robots or, at worst, a few of his Grandmasters hiding around here." 'But what're the chances we'll end u…..I almost walked into that one.'
"Hai," Roll nodded, looking at the fake Chaos Emerald they had, "At least Bentley-san managed to pass me this before we split up."
"Good. Now let's hurry a-" Sonic began before Roll tensed up a bit, "...something up?"
"...This scent...it's faint but…" Roll whispered, feeling a faint scent in the air before her eyes narrowed a bit, "Raiju…"
"Raiju? H….oh crap. Don't t-" Sonic began with a groan before Roll ran off, "Ahh! Roll, wait! Ugh!" he ran off after her, "Even when I don't finish the thought and it happens!"
[SPACE COLONY ARK - HOUSING WING A - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:45:59]
"...Um...Sonia? Where are we?" Penelope asked as she and Sonia were within a long hallway with doors all over.
"I...think we're in the living quarters," Sonia guessed as she walked up to one of the doors, "...I swear if there's some freaky insect monster or something hiding behind these things, I am going to be upset."
Sonia slowly opened the door and coughed a little from the dust that was unsettled by it. The two entered to see it was like a small apartment for a small family. It looked at if it had been ransacked, bullet holes littering some of the walls as the furniture was splintered or broken apart.
"...Jeez…" Penelope whispered as they looked at the sight, "I know GUN invaded this place years ago, but this...this just seems like overkill."
"They must have wanted to be sure there were no survivors," Sonia frowned, shifting through a broken picture frame and pulled out the old, yellowing photo within, revealing it to be a young girl in a baby-blue dress with long blond hair, "...Change the eyes and this kinda looks like Noel."
"...Huh. You're right. She kinda does look like her if you change the eye color," Penelope admitted.
Sonia pocketed the picture and the two continued to look around. Penelope gasping made Sonia look over to her in the living room. In it was a photo that showed the Noel lookalike standing with a small family of four. There was her, a beautiful woman with her hair, a man with shaggy orange hair with a large grin, and an elderly man in a lab coat. His head was bald except for a familiar, large mustache that was grey in color and blue spectacles. Beside the elder was Shadow, much smaller and actually trying to hide behind the Noel lookalike almost as if he was camera shy.
"Is...Is that Shadow?" Sonia pondered, "Then...that would mean the girl and the old man in the picture are…"
"Maria and Gerald Robotnik," Penelope finished, "It's kinda obvious that he's Eggman's grandfather judging by the mustache alone."
"Yeah...but…" Sonia paused as she looked at the other two people in the picture, "Who're the other two?"
"They must be Maria's parents," Penelope noted, "Possibly Eggman's aunt and uncle considering I don't see him at all in this photo. His parents must have stayed on Mobius instead of coming up here."
"Possibly…" Sonia said as she looked at the picture, her hand clenching up a bit, "...Why?"
"Hmm?"
"Why would GUN do something like this? They….they seemed so happy, and…." Sonia paused as she wiped some tears from her eyes.
"...Come on. Maybe we can find something in the bedrooms. Maybe a journal or diary or...or something," Penelope replied.
"...G-good idea…" Sonia nodded, wiping the last of her tears away as she and Penelope walked off, the female hedgehog giving one last look at the image, 'Shadow…'
[SPACE COLONY ARK - REFINERY - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:27:13]
Knuckles wiped his brow of sweat as he looked around the large room he and TIkal had entered, a large vat of molten metal beneath the walkway they were on, "Where the hell did that portal take us?"
"I am unsure…" Tikal whispered as she looked around, "But be cautious, Knuckles. I sense the remaining shards nearby…"
"Same here. The faster we find them, the faster we can get out of this place," Knuckles stated as he walked off.
Tikal turned into her spirit ball form and followed after him. Unaware to them both, Rouge was hanging upside down, smirking as she saw the echidna. Rosie, standing on a walkway near Rouge, looked at Knuckles with a sad look.
"Show time…." Rouge whispered as she looked over at Rosie, "You ready?"
"..."
"Ahem. Rosie?"
"Huh? Oh...y-yes," Rosie nodded as she pulled her shock gloves out.
"Good…" Rouge nodded as she opened her wings, "Don't stray too far now…" she then silently flew down behind Knuckles, giving a bit of a smirk, "Long time no see…"
"Huh?" Knuckles raised a brow as he turned around, "?! You!"
"Surprised to see you here of all places," Rouge admitted as Rosie landed next to her, "Have you come to deliver my emerald?"
"It is not your emerald. It belongs to Angel Island," Knuckles scowled, as he glanced at Rosie, 'She seems...familiar. But why?'
"Well then, maybe you shouldn't keep it out in the open where anyone could snatch it," Rouge countered, "But….if you're gonna play hard to get…" she then readied herself as her wings opened up again, "Then I'll just have to take it from you...the hard way."
Rosie said nothing as she lifted up her shock gloves, a bit of a pained, yet serious look on her face. Knuckles inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly. He shifted into an opening boxing stance as he narrowed his eyes.
"Come and try to take it then," Knuckles growled.
[INSIDE SPACE COLONY ARK - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:26:59]
"Ugh...damn it. Those things are everywhere…" Ragna cursed before he found himself in a large robotics lab of sorts, "...Great. And now I'm in some fucking freaky robot lab." he walked around before seeing a station with blueprints scattered about on it, "Huh?" he walked up and picked one of the papers up, "Some sort of life support pack?" his eyes widened as he read something on it, "'Boundary Interference System?' What the hell? How did these guys know about the Boundary?" He quickly shook his head, "Worry about it later. Right now I…" he then noticed another blueprint, "...'Project Omega'...I swear to fucking god if it's another Murakumo unit…" he picked it up, revealing another blueprint beneath, "Hey...This looks like that shrine from when Chaos first went nuts but...No." his eyes widened, "No wonder they know about the Boundary!" he grabbed all the blueprints before spotting a carrying case and quickly shoving them into it and left, carrying it, "Those fucking idiots!"
[SPACE COLONY ARK - STORAGE ROOM - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:24:36]
"Roll, seriously! Wait up!" Sonic shouted to the hedgefox as they ran through a large room with multiple boxes.
Roll sniffed the air, "It's strange...I thought the smell of Raiju was here…"
"Well, make sure the next time you decide to go off on your o-" Sonic began before something flew past him, cutting up his cheek a bit as it hit one of the crates, "?!"
Roll pulled her katana out and blocked something. Sonic jumped back when it landed near him, revealing it to be a shuriken.
"Hmpmh...well," a voice began, causing the two to look up and see Conquering Storm standing on top of one of the larger crates, "The skills of the Sakurai haven't become rusted I see."
"Raiju…" Roll frowned.
"Thief…" Conquering Storm frowned back.
"Cousin of a thief; Master Thief at that," Roll corrected, "Though, I do have the blood of one in me as well."
"...So, you're related to the Cooper Clan as well….well then…" Conquering Storm began before she jumped off and shot down at Roll, the hedgefox bringing her arms up to block the lynx's axe kick, "That makes things so much better for me then!"
"Hah!" Roll shouted as she tried an attempted slash, only for Conquering Storm to jump back and land a few feet away from her, electricity crackling off her as she glared at her with her cybernetic eyes, "So...Tsubaki-chan was right. You do use electricity."
"Of course. It is the specialty of the Raiju," Conquering Storm replied, keeping her stance as she glared at the hedgefox, "Such as thievery is your clan's specialties, such as when your ancestor stole both Rioichi Cooper from us and when your ancestor, Hisako Sakurai, stole our clan's sacred blade!"
"We never stole from you," Roll scowled, "The blade was given to Hisako-san and Rioichi-san chose to go with us because your clan only cared for his techniques, not the one using them and his dreams."
"Silence!" Conquering Storm snapped as she threw a flurry of electrified kunai and shuriken at her.
"LIGHTNING!"
Conquering Storm jumped to the side, barely avoiding a barrage of ivory-colored lightning mixed with the sounds of the 1812 Overture. She looked to see Roll with her Lightning Gatling hefted on her shoulder, looking at her with ivory-grey eyes.
"...The Wisp…" the lynx kunoichi frowned a bit, "I nearly forgot about that creature…" she then assumed a stance once more, "A mistake I won't make again."
Roll aimed her Lightning Gatling and open fired once more. Sonic kept low as Roll followed the kunoichi's dodges. Roll switched to Laser Rapier to parry a near-missable kunai thrown at her before charging at her in a blur.
'...I hope the others are doing better than us right now…' Sonic thought as he watched the two fight.
[SPACE COLONY ARK - RESEARCH LAB B4 - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:22:09]
"Okay. I've managed to get a password that should unlock everything on the ARK," Bentley noted, "The password is MA-RI-A. Maria. Hmm...That sounds familiar."
"Maria… That is the name of Gerald Robotnik's granddaughter…" Rook noted.
"Of course! Gerald Robotnik must have been the head researcher. He must have used his granddaughter's name as his personal password!" he turned back to the console, "Now let's see...Ah-hah! There are some files here about Project Shadow. Let's see what we have on that black hedgehog…" he typed a bit more before the picture Sonia and Penelope found came up, "Well...There's Shadow, but he looks like a little kid."
"...This must be after he was created," Rook guessed, looking over Bentley to see the picture, "Which means the young woman and the elderly man there is Mario and Gerald Robotnik."
"Most likely, yes."
"...Though I am curious...if Shadow was created to be the Ultimate Lifeform, then wouldn't there be a prototype?" Rook pondered.
"I think Azmuth did mention that," Bentley replied as he typed, "Now let's see...Huh? Well, that's both strange and unusual. It seems that they only made one prototype. They seem to repeatedly put it through a cauldron of sorts before its last violent outburst made them seal it away inside of the cauldron."
"I see...any pictures?"
"Possibly. I just need to search it up aaaaaAAAAAAHHH!" Bentley screamed as he jumped back, almost falling out of his wheelchair, "Wh-what the?!"
"What is wrong?" Rook asked, managing to correct Bentley before his wheelchair could fall over.
"Th...the prototype...it...it's a literal monster…" Bentley gasped, holding his hand over his chest, "All those attempts of forcing it into the cauldron must've mutated it...but what sort of cauldron would create a monster like that?!"
Rook looked at the image and shuddered. It felt...unnerving just looking at a photo of it. He quickly closed out of the photo to get it away from them.
"That was...unnerving," Rook understated.
"Greatly...Hold on...if it was sealed within a cauldron on here years ago…" Bentley began.
"...Then it most likely could've escaped, meaning it's somewhere deep within ARK," Rook finished with wide eyes.
"..." Bentley pulled out his Binocucom, "Is anyone on?!"
[SPACE COLONY ARK - HOUSING WING A - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:20:00]
"Sonia and I are here. What's up?" Penelope asked as the two were searching through one of the three bedrooms in the Robotnik housing.
=We got bad news! Like REALLY bad news!= Bentley exclaimed.
"Why? Eggman didn't activate the Eclipse Cannon already, did he?" Penelope asked in concern.
=No….it's worse...much worse= Bentley replied.
[SPACE COLONY ARK - RESEARCH LAB A2 - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:19:29]
"How much worse could it be?" Manic asked.
=Th….there's a monster. A literal monster hiding within the ARK=
"You mean those copies of Chaos in different shapes and metal heads?" Manic questioned.
=No…It's the prototype of Shadow=
"...What?"
=It was mutated thanks to a cauldron of sorts, and is now most likely out and about within the Space Colony Ark!=
[SPACE COLONY ARK - GREENHOUSE 1 - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:19:02]
"Great gallant horse riders in the state fair! A horrendous mutation that is Shadow's predecessor in the creation of immortality is on the loose?" Sam asked as the other three held their noses.
"You're right. He does stink," Sticks noted to Max.
"Told ya," Max nodded.
=That's correct! Be extra careful, get the Chaos Emeralds, find the girls, and let's hurry out of this place!=
[SPACE COLONY ARK - STORAGE ROOM - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:18:44]
"Uh...one problem with that, Bentley…" Sonic whispered as he ducked underneath a kunai, "Roll ran into the leader of the Raiju here…"
=...Sonic, remember in Chun-Nan? Remember what I said? If you saw a Raiju…=
"I know, I know. Keep far away from them," Sonic sighed, "I forgot, okay?"
=It is not okay, Sonic! Just try to get her out of there and away from the Raiju!=
"How can I when they're in the middle of a heated ba-woah!" Sonic yelped as he ducked down just as Roll and Conquering Storm passed by, bits of their clothes in tatters, "...And they're resorting to attacking each other's clothes….this escalated into a real catfight...or rather, a hedgefox/lynx fight..."
=...=
=Manic. The. Hedgehog. You better not be thinking what I know you're thinking…= Sonia growled.
=If you mean getting Bro to check for any spare clothes for when Sis-in-Law beats up the lynx, then yes= Manic replied.
=Oh….I was expecting you to say something perverted, but that works too= Sonia admitted.
=Sis...when have I ever done something perverted? ...On second thought, don't answer that=
=Okay! Sonic, get Roll out of there when you get an opportunity! Everyone else, find the girls and a way out of here!= Bentley ordered before everyone hung up.
"Easy for you to say…" Sonic muttered before looking back at the fight.
"BURST!" Yacker declared from the Laser Rapier, turning it into the Burst Bustersword.
"Raiton: Raibakuhatsuha (Lightning Explosion)!" Conquering Storm shouted, performing a few quick hand signs as her hand was engulfed in wild electricity.
She roared out as her fist and Roll's blade clashed, engulfing the two in an explosion of fire and electricity as they jumped back, their shirts/tops burned off. Roll's tail moved up to cover her bust as she kept her eyes focused on the lynx, who had on a mesh fishnet chainmail, slightly showing her bust as it was held back.
"Hmm...you're proving to be quite the match, Sakurai…." Conquering Storm noted, keeping her eyes trained on Roll as they slowly circled around one another, "But it's still useless...your fate was sealed the moment you faced me…"
"Heh. Yeah. Me kicking your butt. So don't forget my face, okay?" she tapped the side of her head, a glint of cockiness in her fire-red eyes, "Got it memorized?"
"Noted…" Conquering Storm frowned as she charged forward, sending off a flurry of kunai at Roll.
"Ha!" Roll shouted as she blocked the Kunai, "Ha! Missed!"
"Did I?"
"?" Roll raised a brow before she noticed paper slips tied to the kunai, which started to burn up, "?! Oh shi..."
*BOOM*
"Roll!" Sonic gasped before a green and yellow blur shot out and barely missed hitting Conquering Storm.
"Like, that was major bummers," Roll noted, lying on her Hover Board, "You're really harshing my mellow, man."
"...Uh…Roll?"
"What?" Roll blinked, not noticing her jeans were now a pair of short-shorts underneath her skirt, which had a few burn marks on it.
"...Yeah. Need to find you some spare clothes after this is ove-WOAH!" Sonic yelped as he ducked under a lightning blast just as Conquering Storm charged at Roll, "...Okay that's it! We're outta here!"
"Aw…" Roll pouted, wistfully moving to the side and letting Conquering Storm slam into the wall face first behind her, "But I'm, like, having some really gnarly fun here, Sonikku~"
"Well I'm sorry, b-wait. Was that a purr?" Sonic blinked before he shook it off, "Nevermind. We need to hurry out of here now. Like, RIGHT now."
"Aw...but wh-" Roll began before Sonic whispered to her, Yacker popping out of her family's katana, "You'll what?" Sonic whispered again, "And you won't mind it?" Sonic shook his head, "...Okay!"
"BURST!" Yacker declared.
"Well, as much as I've been enjoying this…" Roll noted before aiming at a barrel with a flammable sign near Conquering Storm, "Time to go out with a bang."
She fired a fireball from her blade's point. She grabbed Sonic's arm before the two ran out just as Conquering Storm was shaking her head, recovering from the blow just in time to see the fireball heading right at the barrel.
"?!" the kunoichi tensed as she hurried out of there just as the fireball hit the barrel, creating a large explosion that sent her flying, "Gah! Onore, Sakurai!"
[SPACE COLONY ARK - MEDICAL WARD - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:15:45]
"Did anyone else hear an explosion?" Makoto asked, her ears twitching.
"No," the other three replied.
=Ugh...Who's playing that shitty version of Bomberman that they tried to reboot the series with?= Cassia groaned as she woke up =Seriously, I was having a good dream too= she then noticed the four staring at her =...uh….hey=
"H-Hello," Noel greeted.
"Well...this is somewhat awkward, ain't it?" Makoto noted.
=Very. I was having a good gaming dream, too before some explosion woke up me. What was that?= Cassia asked.
"No idea," Makoto replied, "...So...You're Cassia, eh?"
=Ugh! Call me 'Cass,' okay? I hate being called Cassia= the pronghorn pouted before noticing the two AC currently staying near Noel's bed =...What are you? Some sorta water monster with metal head whisperer or something?=
"Oh my god! Finally, someone else thinks it!" Makoto exclaimed, "Seriously! She said she was thirsty just twenty minutes ago? The bear goes off and brings back a gallon of water for her."
"Mmm…" Noel blushed a bit in embarrassment.
"Sorry, Noellers, but you know it's true," Makoto deadpanned.
"G...gomen, but...I don't know why it happens…"
=...Shy type I take it?= Cassia asked Makoto.
"Like you have no idea," Makoto rolled her eyes before she resumed trying to get out of her binds, "Ugh! Come on! This isn't fair at all! How come Tsubaki and Mai got to be let out but not me?!"
"W-Well, I guess it's because they think you'd hurt them," Noel replied, looking at the two AC.
"We did have to do a pinky promise not to harm them," Tsubaki noted, sitting in her own bed.
=Ugh. I've only ever seen them like that when Shadow's around= Cassia noted =They just obey all his commands with a simple wave of his hand or just a head nod or shake. Seriously, it's like he's the king or something=
"..."
=...Is...she okay?= Cassia asked, noticing Makoto had stopped moving =all I did was mention Shadow and she stopped just like that=
"It's a long story," Tsubaki sighed.
"Well, we're all stuck in here considering both of them growl when we go near the door," Mai noted, glancing at the two AC, "Plus, I still haven't gotten the entire story of what the heck has been going on here."
"...I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Tsubaki sighed a bit before she looked at Cassia, "Do you mind…?"
=No. In fact, mind if I listen in a bit? I got nothing better to do, and my game is currently charging= Cassia replied, pointing at the bedside table where her game system was charging.
"Okay," Tsubaki nodded as she took a deep breath, "It started when Makoto first woke up here in this world…"
[INSIDE SPACE COLONY ARK - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 1:03:19]
An Artificial Chaos resembling Chaos 4 slithered about. It paused and seemed to sniff the air before slithering away. The cloth over the overturned forklift moved before Sticks and Max poked their heads out.
"All clear," Sticks informed before Sam stood up, revealing the two were on his shoulders.
"Man, is it just me, or are these things just weird to look at?" Kevin asked as he turned around, revealing he was coated in the metal of the walls.
"Tell me about it. I mean that last one looked like a failed attempt at a Digi-"
"Max! Wrong series and story to reference that," Sam quickly stopped.
"Oh...I still stand by that you know," Max informed before his ears twitched, "...Okay. Who's playing that annoying sound?"
"Sound?" Kevin repeated.
"Yeah...I kinda hear it too," Sam admitted.
"GAH! It's the noise leeches trying to invade our heads!" Sticks freaked.
"Noise leeches again?! Dammit, I just had my shots from the last time, too!" Max complained.
"I don't think it's noise leeches," Sam spoke up, "It sounds like….music?"
"That would be the music I listen to while I'm working," a voice spoke up, causing the four to turn and see Maw leaning against a doorway leading to a room, the words 'auditorium' labeled above the doorway, "Greetings, intruders…"
"Gah! Tiger!"
"Correction, lagomorph and badger. I am a thylacin," Maw corrected them.
"Oh….the heck's a thylacin?" Max asked
"Type of tiger."
"...But that's what we said," Sticks scratched her head.
"..." Kevin facepalmed at that before looking at Maw, "What do you want?"
"I was ordered to eliminate any intruders I come across, but 1; it is too crowded in here for a fight. And 2…" Maw began before the doors were pushed open, revealing his soldiers as they readied their sound based weapons, "I don't like to get my hands dirty that often."
"..." Sam and Max grinned before whipping out all their guns, machine guns, and a bazooka.
"What the heck?!" Kevin jumped back, "Where did you two hide all of those?!"
"I'll never tell!" Max declared.
"...Hmph. Cute," Maw chuckled a bit as he walked up to them, "Using such archaic weapons...powerful yes, but…" he pulled out a tuning fork and tapped it on the wall, causing it to shake a bit as he lightly tapped it on Sam and Max' guns, causing them to vibrate until they fell apart, "With the right sound frequency, even a tank will fall apart when the right spot is hit."
"Aw nuts!" Max frowned before he and Sam pocketed the parts away before holding their hands up as the soldiers approached with their sound weapons, "Uh, if anyone out there is...well, out there...HELP! Wait..in fact, hey big guy! Rough them up!"
"...Big guy?" Kevin raised a brow.
"I think he's referring to you," Sam answered.
"Bad idea. I'm covered in metal, and metal can conduct sound," Kevin replied.
"...Crap," Max cursed.
[INSIDE SPACE COLONY ARK - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 43 Minutes, 59 seconds]
"Okay. So how's the outfit?" Sonic asked.
Roll looked down. She was wearing a black bodysuit with pink circuit detailing. She wore a pair of black and pink racing shoes and black and pink gloves. The bodysuit's zipper wasn't fully zipped up, letting her cleavage be fully on display.
"It feels...kinda nice," Roll admitted, "Aside from the zipper getting stuck, it's nice."
"Good to hear...kinda," Sonic nodded as they entered the Eclipse Cannon's computer room, "Hey! There's the Chaos Emeralds!"
"Hai! Demo…" Roll paused as she tilted her head, "Why does the container they're in remind me of a heart?"
"Huh?" Sonic blinked twice before looking it, "...Huh. I guess you could say it's the 'heart' of the cannon?"
"..."
"...Yeah, I'll stop watching Comedy Chimp," Sonic slumped.
"You better," Roll frowned as Sonic walked up to the reactor.
"Okay...once we take these, Eggman's plane will flop a-" sonic began as he reached for the emeralds.
=Hello? Hello?! Is this thing on?!= Eggman's voice shouted from the intercom.
"Eggman!" Sonic and Roll gasped.
=Ah, whatever. Sonic, you have ten minutes to report to Viewing Platform C or your little companions here are on a one way ticket to space...without space suits=
=Sonic! Sonic, h-hmph?!=
"Sonia?!" Sonic gapsed.
=And make sure you bring the Chaos Emerald with you! That is...wait, what? Ah, oh fine. And bring the katana that Roll keeps with her, too! Eggman, out!=
"Sonikku, they…" Roll began.
"I know," Sonic frowned, "This is obviously a trap…"
"...Wh...what do we do?"
"...They think we have the real Emerald, so we can give them the fake," Sonic whispered, earning a nod from Roll, "And as for your family's katana...it's the blade they want, not the scabbard." He ran over to a nearby pipe and pulled out the tatters of Roll's clothes and wrapped it up along with Roll's katana, putting the fake on her back, "Ta-dah."
"...Oh! I see what you're doing," Roll realized, "So smart, Sonikku."
"Aren't I always?" Sonic asked with a smirk, "Now come on. We got some captives to save."
"H-hai," Roll nodded as the two ran off in a blur.
[SPACE COLONY ARK - MEDICAL WARD - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 43 Minutes, 59 seconds]
"And...well, that's all of it…" Tsubaki sighed as she finished her long explanation to Cassia and Mai, Makoto and Noel adding a bit too the explanation now and then.
=...Okay, just….wow. I...I don't know what to say…= Cassia admitted with wide eyes.
"...That...That actually explains a few things," Mai admitted, "Though...I still have no idea what a To'kustar is."
"Think those old Ultraman shows we came across once one time," Tsubaki explained.
=Old? I just saw a new episode of the latest series last Sunday= Cassia rolled her optics.
"I meant Showa era Ultraman."
=What?! Aw lucky~= Cassia pouted before looking at Makoto =But...now I at least know why she went silent when Shadow was brought up...because he's really her boyfriend stuck in that form=
"NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"
=You two hung around...a LOT from what Miss Tsubaki said…If that's not a couple, I don't know what is= Cassia deadpanned =And trust me. I got bored one week and played dating sim games 'till I got 100 percent completion on them all=
"Mmm…" Makoto frowned a bit, trying to hold back the extremely heavy blush on her face.
=Hello? Hello?! Is this thing on?!= Eggman's voice shouted from the intercom.
"Eggman?= the five blinked.
=Ah, whatever. Sonic, you have ten minutes to report to Viewing Platform C or your little companions here are on a one way ticket to space...without space suits=
=Sonic! Sonic, h-hmph?!=
"That sounded like Sonia!" Makoto gasped.
=And make sure you bring the Chaos Emerald with you! That is...wait, what? Ah, oh fine. And bring the katana that Roll keeps with her, too! Eggman, out!=
=Aw shocks= Cassia frowned.
"Oh no…" Noel whispered, "Wh...what do we do?"
"..." Makoto took a deep breath before she tried to force her bindings off once more, "Grrr….!"
"...Makoto, please. You c-" Tsubaki began before she saw the bindings started to weaken, "?!"
"G-GRAAAAAAA!" Makoto roared as she managed to snap them off.
Wolf and Ursa Major shared looks before Noel squeaked as both hid under her temporary bed, pushing it up.
"Come on…" Makoto spoke as she stood up, tearing the remains of her bindings off, "Let's go save some friends."
"...A-ano...are you s-" Mai began before Makoto shot her a very serious glare, "?!"
"I have a LOT of pent up rage in me right now, Mai-chan… Losing our planet and Ben were one things, but holding our friends ransom…" her fist began to clench tightly, "Eggman pretty much nailed that last nail in his own coffin right there…"
=...Technically, I'm supposed to report about this= Cassia admitted before pulling out a radio =Whoops=
*CRUNCH*
=Wolf ate my radio= Cassia noted =Oh gee. Now I can't call anyone that you're all escaping=
"...a...arigatou, Cassi...Ariagtou, Cass-chan," Noel bowed a bit.
=No prob. Oh, and when you do see Eggman….give him one for me and my sis=
"Can do," Makoto nodded, "...Oh by the way, any idea where our weapons are?"
=Yeah. Th-=
"Cassia…"
=...aw shocks…= Cassia muttered as she noticed her sister standing in the doorway =...Sis, before you say anything…=
"..." Clove said nothing as she pulled a radio and a metal pole out, "...Oops."
*SHING!*
"It seems a beam cut my radio by accident," Clove stated, the pole now emitting a bright magenta pink energy blade in the form of a scythe.
=S-Sis?= Cassia blinked owlishly.
"We keep this between us. Understand?" Clove asked her sister in a very serious tone.
=Keep what between us. I didn't see anything= Cassia whistled innocently.
"Just as I haven't seen the weapons two of the four prisoners in the room across from here," Clove nodded.
"..."
"...'go'" Clove mouthed to Noel and her friends.
"Oh! H-hai…" Noel nodded as they ran out of there, "Stay with Cassia, Wolf, Ursa Major!"
=...How long were you…?= Cassia began as she looked at her sister.
"When Miss Yayoi began her explanation," Clove answered.
[SPACE COLONY ARK - VIEWING PLATFORM C - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 34 Minutes, 57 Seconds]
"Trust me, you don't want me getting out of these anytime soon, ya weird lookin' tiger!" Max growled as he struggled in the ropes he was tied up in.
"Oh, trust me. You don't want him to get out near you," Sam agreed.
"...Noted," Maw said as he stood by Eggman.
"Once again, you did a good job, Maw. Expect a promotion to your sector soon," Eggman smirked, "And as for our hostages….heh heh. You won't like what I have planned for you…"
"Oh yeah?! Well there's still some people you haven't accounted for!" Max snapped before the door opened up, revealing a chained Manic, Gwen, and Rook,, "...Aw damn it. Murphy's Law strikes again."
"The Turtle managed to elude us," Starscream scowled, leading the three in, "Despite his handicap, he's rather resourceful and managed to hack into the systems to seal our path to him."
"I see...send out warnings of him just in case," Eggman advised, "And send warnings to be on the lookout for Sly Cooper as well. If two of his cohorts are here, he should be as well."
"As you command," Starscream bowed before walking out.
"Damn it..didn't expect a Cooper to be here…" Eggman muttered before he shuddered, "At least it's not Clockwerk….oh god, that was a horrible experience! What compelled me to try and recruit that psychopathic robotic owl!?"
"A momentary lapse in judgement, your liege," Shockwave assumed.
"Right….at least he's dead," Eggman sighed a bit, "...At least I hope so. I already have a crippling fear of owls because of him."
"Dude...you're afraid of owls?" Kevin snickered.
"You want me to throw you out first?" Eggman growled before the doors opened once more, revealing Sonic and Roll, "Ah. Excellent. Let's take care of business first, shall we?"
"...Yeah...let's," Sonic nodded as he cautiously walked forward, holding the 'Chaos Emerald' and Roll at his side with her 'katana.'
"Hand them over to Lien-Da, slowly, and then we'll talk about your siblings and allies," Eggman instructed as Lien-Da walked towards them.
"Yeah…" Sonic nodded as he stepped up to the female echidna, "Roll?"
"Hai," Roll nodded.
"I gotta say, you're really showing why you're a big time villain, doctor," Sonic smirked as he and Roll held the objects to Lien-Da...who proceeded to kick the emerald out of Sonic's hand and the 'katana' out of Roll's before a clear tue slid down, cutting the two off from everyone else, "What?!"
"You really think you could fool us with a fake Emerald? Let alone five?" Lien-Da asked.
"What?! How'd they know?!" Manic gawked.
"You just told us," Maw informed.
"Aw come on!" Max exclaimed, slapping the back of Manic's head with his ear.
"A shame we couldn't have the rest of your friends here to see you two off," Eggman smirked as he looked at the two, "So before you enjoy your little honeymoon in the stars, any last words you two want to share?"
"Manic...I'm counting on you," Sonic spoke.
"Minna...take care of yourselves," Roll advised.
"Very well. Farewell! Sonic the Hedgehog!" Eggman declared.
"...Guess this is it then, huh Roll?" Sonic whispered to her as he held her hand, "...Shame. I was really looking forward to spending so much more time with you…"
Roll nodded before blinking twice, "Eh? Gou?"
The capsule shot out at that.
"Once the Capsule leaves a certain distance from the ARK, it will explode!" Eggman declared, "Farewell...one of my admirable adversaries!" he frowned, "Well, it's going to be boring now."
"Look at it this way. At least you won't have to worry about anyone taking you down, my lord," Sleet told him.
"Yes, but where will the thrill be?! The excitement?!" Eggman pondered, "No way will I get it from Sonic's siblings over here once they're Roboticized!"
"Speaking of," Lien-Da noted before she stomped on the fake Emerald, shattering it, "Where's the real Chaos Emerald?"
"...Very good point, Lien-Da…" Eggman noted as he turned towards the hostages, who were looking out the window, "Where is the real Chaos Emerald?"
"Bro…" Manic whispered before he began to struggle with his chains.
"Oh? You want to be the first?" Sleet asked.
"Bro...Bro said he's counting on me!" Manic grunted, his medallion starting to flicker, "I won't let him down…" the medallion flashed gold, "I WON'T! GIVE! UP!"
The medallion let out a flash of light before a howl was heard. A streak of gold sliced the cannon off Eggman's walker before shooting around and slicing the chains off Manic.
"What?!" Eggman gasped as the blur landed on Manic's shoulder, revealing it to be the mechanical wolf.
"It's never done that before!" Sleet gawked.
The wolf howled before jumping into the air, flipping into its knife state. Manic caught the knife as it flashed gold before the golden armor formed over him once more. He swung out his free arm and a wave of dirt erupted from his back, dispersing into the emerald green cape.
"Holy Tokusatsu! Manic just donned the armor of a gold knight!" Sam gasped.
"Maw!" Eggman ordered.
"At once, sire," Maw nodded as he pulled out a sound blaster of sorts and fired at Manic, who sidestepped the attack as it hit the chains, freeing the others, "...Interesting."
Manic flipped the knife into a reverse grip and made a slashing motion with it as Maw fired another shot at him...the blast slamming into a shield of compressed dirt.
"That...He called all the dust on the colony!" Penelope's eyes widened, 'Is this what Bentley was talking about?'
"All of you, find the Emerald!" Eggman ordered before he ran out into the adjacent room and climbed into his walker, "I should've stayed in this in the first place. Okay. All systems, full power!"
"Glad to hear."
"What?" Eggman turned to see Bentley, wearing a robotic suit of armor, a shield on one robotic arm and a blaster resembling a rocket engine connected to the other.
"You really should've turned on the recycling systems in here, Eggman," Bentley noted as he adjusted his glasses, "It didn't take me long at all to reconfigure all those GUN robot parts into a mech suit."
"Blast! Y...wait….are those...parts of MY second Jetfire robot?!"
"Some of them, yes," Bentley replied, "All powered by a rather convenient unlimited power source Sticks dropped in a vent I was hiding in."
"...You have the Chaos Emerald, don't you?"
"Bingo," Bentley replied before he charged and slammed a robotic fist into Eggman's walker, making him stumble back, "Here's your prize!"
"Grr...so it's a battle of robots you want, huh?! Fine!" Eggman snapped as a pair of robotic arms popped out of his mech, metal spiked boxing gloves on the ends, "I'll show you my mech is superior than your hunk of junk!"
[SPACE COLONY ARK - REFINERY - ECLIPSE CANNON COUNTDOWN: 30 Minutes, 34 Seconds]
Rouge grunted as she leaned against the railing, holding her side. Nearby, Knuckles and Rosie were avoiding and trying to strike at one another with their punches. Rouge couldn't believe he was able to get a lucky shot in.
'I think he broke some of my ribs with that one punch even…' Rouge thought, 'And to think I couldn't even get a single blow on him...'
"RAH!" Knuckles and Rosie roared as their fists collided with each other, resulting in a shockwave that sent them flying back as they skidded, panting heavily as they stood back up.
"You're not so bad…" Knuckles noted.
"Thanks...I was taught...by…the best…" Rosie panted.
"Oh? Maybe...I should...meet him...once…"
"Oh trust me...you might know him...in more ways...than one…" Rosie panted as she stepped forward, only for her leg to buckle as she began to fall off the walkway, "Woah!"
Knuckles shot out and grabbed her hand. An object landed in the molten steel below, the ID Mask and bomb-attached strap sizzling as they melted away. Knuckles grunted as he pulled Rosie up...and locked eyes with Julie-Su.
"Wh-What?!" Knuckles gasped, stepping back in surprise.
"Another echidna!" Tikal gasped, reforming into her body form.
"...You...you're….an echidna…" Knuckles whispered in shock before seeing her robotic arm and the metal dreadlocks, "You sided with Eggman like that other one?!"
"...No…it's...something from my past…" Julie-Su admitted as she looked away.
"..." Rouge smiled a little before tossing the pieces of the Master Emerald to Knuckles, making him look at her, "Here, take them. They stink like Echidnas, anyway."
"Hey!" Julie-Su barked, 'If I had my blaster…'
"If that's what you thought, you should've given me them in the first place!" Knuckles grumbled before pulling out the incomplete ME and held the shards to it, creating a flash of light to reveal it fully reformed, "Finally."
"Oh thank goodness," Tikal sighed in relief.
"..." Julie-Su said nothing as she stared at the Master Emerald, some old memories of hers flowing back as a sad, pained look grew on her face.
"..." Knuckles looked at them both.
"What?" Rouge questioned.
"...I'm sorry if I hurt you both," Knuckles apologized before letting the ME phase into his body and he turned, "?!"
"What's wrong?" Tikal asked.
"I feel some strange energy," Knuckles noted before a flash of green light erupted before the four, his hat and a hand helping Knuckles block the light before it dispersed, revealing Roll and Sonic, "...Sonic?"
"Oh my!" Tikal gasped as Julie-Su and Knuckles helped the two.
'Holy…!' Julie-Su thought before looking between her figure and Roll's, '...'
"Ugh...Kn-Knuckles?" Sonic groaned.
"Ite…" Roll groaned as Yacker fell out of her hair, his eye replaced with a swirl.
"Hey, you alright?" Knuckles asked.
"Yeah...nothing like a near-death experience to help get ya pumped up…" Sonic gave a dry chuckle in response, "Thank god we used Chaos Control to escape at the last minute."
"Y-Yatta...It...I was right…" Roll mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Julie-Su asked, looking around, 'Where's the fake Emerald?'
"...Huh...Uh, Knuckles? Am I seeing a gender-bent you with a metal arm?" Sonic asked.
'...Just as snarky as the Sonic I knew,' Julie-Su's eye twitched.
"It turns out we had a fake Emerald the entire time," Sonic noted before holding up his hand, where his Medallion rested, the emerald gem in it glinting in the light, "See?"
"...I see," Knuckles noted, "The Medallions must have the same wavelength and properties as the Chaos Emeralds."
"Yeah…but seriously, why is there another female echidna with you? I thought you and that other one were…"
"Other one?" Julie-Su repeated, "...Wears leather, has a whip, kind of a bitch?"
"Yeah. That crazy chick," Sonic replied, "Kicked the fake Emerald we had out of my hand before Roll and I were jettisoned from the ARK."
"…" Julie-Su frowned as she began to walk off.
"Woah wait! Where are you going?!"
"Some business with my bitch of a sister," was all Julie-Su said as she walked off.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...SISTER?!" Sonic, Roll, and Knuckles exclaimed.
'Wait...that other Echidna, Lien-Da...she mentioned something about having a sister when we first met….if that's true...then…' Knuckles thought as his eyes widened in realization, 'That's her…'
"Roll's Character Interviews!" A Chibi Omake
A set of curtains rise up, revealing a white room with a large window in the background depicting the night sky. Before the window was a large couch, a few potted plants, a wooden desk, and a comfy chair behind the desk. Sitting at the desk was Roll, dressed up in a black and pink formal women's business suit. On the table was a coffee mug filled with hot cocoa with the word 'I' followed by a heart and then a picture of Sonic's symbol.
"Konnichiwa, minna!" Roll greeted, "And welcome to the first episode of 'Character Interviews'! I'm your host, Roll Sakurai." She looked towards the couch, "In this segment, we interview characters in the story thus far and may even revisit some characters later on!" she looked back at the 'audience,' "So, minna, let's give a big round of applause for our next guest; Julie-Su!"
"...Uh...hey," Julie-Su sheepishly waved as she walked in.
"Ohayo, Julie-Su-san! So tell us about yourself," Roll smiled, "Everyone's been wondering just who you are."
"...I'm afraid if I do, you might have a different opinion of me…" Julie-Su admitted as she looked away.
"Please~?" Roll begged with puppy dog eyes.
"...Fine…" Julie-Su sighed, "...Technically, I'm not from this Zone. I'm...from a much different one like my sister, Lien-Da...We were members of the Dark Legion before Eggman took control of it after a certain incident...at that time, all I cared about was completing the mission my sister gave me...that is, until I met him…"
"Him?" Roll asked before gasping, "You Zinged?"
"...Zinged?" Julie-Su repeated with a raised brow.
"It's one of the ways my family says 'find someone you love with all your heart,'" Roll explained.
"Ahh...well you could say that, but...well, it was kinda awkward at first…..VERY awkward," Julie-Su continued, "See, one of my first missions was...well, scan out Angel Island for anything the Dark Legion could use, and I just so happen to have encountered Knuckles...and we fought...eventually as time went on during each of our encounters, I started to have decisions of leaving the Dark Legion and soon, joined the Freedom Fighters of my Zone, specifically Knuckles' group, Team Chaotix...you can kinda imagine how awkward that was at first with the rest of Knuckles' team."
"I...wait. He has a team?" Roll asked, raising a brow.
"Team Chaotix. They're living on Angel Isla-and you never heard of them, have you?"
"No," Roll shook her head.
"...I'm not sure if you're lucky or not to not know of them."
"...Okay…?" Roll blinked at that, "Well, how did you end up in our Zone? Though...You don't have to answer if you don't wish to. I'll understand."
"Yeah...I really don't feel like answering that...too…" Julie-Su paused as she held her arm, "Personal…just..I do have a warning though. If you see a purple Tasmanian Devil Mobian that produces sound blasts from his mouth...run. He's a very dangerous man..."
"I'll be sure to remember that," Roll nodded, "So how are you doing with this Zone?"
"Honestly...I'm a bit surprised. So many things are similar here to my Zone...but at the same time, it's different...like Sonic being a prince and having siblings; being a triplet at that," Julie-Su admitted, "And with the GUN of this Zone...It's far different from what I've seen. They never did something like this...aside from imprisoning Sonic to try to keep a lid on Shadow. The aliens and the conspiracies and...it's all so much."
"I see…" Roll nodded slowly, "So Sonikku isn't a prince in the Zone you're from and GUN is actually nicer..." she tilted her head in thought, "So what do you think you'll do now?"
"Honestly…..I'm not so sure…" Julie-Su sighed a bit, "Just...the Knuckles here reminds me so much of mine, yet….at the same time…" she looked down a bit sadly, "He isn't…heh...funny. We were going to have a family before I was pulled from my Zone...had a name for a daughter too..."
"Oh…" Roll gasped, "To lose family is terrible...Especially when it has yet to truly begin."
"Yeah….it is…" Julie-Su whispered, "Still...Can I ask something?"
"Hai?"
"What is with his hat and the open jacket he wears in this Zone?" Julie-Su asked, "I mean...N-Not that it doesn't look bad on him or anything…"
Roll giggled, "To be honest, I'm not sure why he wears those. But then again, it's a personal preference, ne?"
"...Heh. I guess so," Julie-Su chuckled a bit, "Anything else you'd like to ask, or is that it?"
"Mmm...I'm pretty sure that's it, Julie-Su-san. Thank you so much for being here today," Roll thanked.
"It's no problem. Though...I do have one question to ask…" Julie-Su admitted before pointing at Roll's figure, "How did you get a body like that?! I mean seriously, you have the figure of a supermodel!"
"E-Eh? Ano...I-It's just...genetics?" Roll replied, "I mean, all the women in my family have had figures like these. Then again, we have had a long line of training our bodies."
"...Can I say one last thing before this goes off?"
"Eh? What is it?"
"...I am so jealous of you right now in terms of figure," Julie-Su admitted.
"Oh! W-Well...This is actually something I often run into with girls outside of Ryugu," Roll sweatdropped, "Um...well...That's it for this episode, minna. Until next time!"
"Seriously, how can I get your body?" Julie-Su asked as the curtains fell.
GT: That was a long chapter. And a lot of reworking to fit with things in this Zone instead of following the original gameline.
SZ: Indeed, but we managed to pull through, and finished the first part of this two, maybe three parter.
GT: Indeed. It is going to be a big hoopla of things.
SZ: Oh yeah. Stay tuned for the next part of the finale for the Shadow Arc. Before we head off, GT? Anything you'd like to bring up? Like say future stories or anything?
GT: Well...I am working on a few ideas. They may be up sometime soon. You, SZ?
SZ: Hmm...well, just to let people know to expect a new chapter for my story, Omniverse Shift, soon, and to expect a movie chapter in February for FiT.
GT: Very nice, SZ. Well, that's all we have for now. Until next time everyone! *drops the curtain*
SZ: *offscreen* And be sure to like and review!...wait. Can stories even get likes n-
*Bzzt!*