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Entry 24
Artificial Life
''When'd I become my own enemy, I don't understand what you see in me, 'cause I'm just another story (That's not worth the reading). Now you've got me pinned up against the wall, why aren't you afraid that I'll take the fall? There's more that came before me (Am I worth believing?)! I'm not so sure…''
– StopRewind by NateWantsToBattle
xXxXxXx
''Okay, spit it out, what is your deal?!''
Ferra cornered Toshiro, with Metal Sonic keeping an eye on Mephiles. After they had been dismissed by Eggman, they exited into the hallway and Ferra grabbed Toshiro by his shirt and pushed him against the wall. Her fellow Enforcer was stunned by this sudden display of strength and audacity, but then grinned back at her with an air of superiority, amused by just how frustrated she looked.
''What's the matter? Someone else is keeping secrets and you don't like it? Tough,'' Toshiro replied snidely.
''I don't like your attitude,'' Ferra muttered, frowning, and added in a louder tone, ''I know you two are up to something.''
''I'm amazed that you noticed,'' Mephiles taunted her, earning a glare from Metal Sonic. He ignored it, instead exchanging glances with Toshiro. ''I suppose we might tell them something, else their minds might explode from anticipation.''
Toshiro laughed, with Ferra's cheeks turning red out of embarrassment and she stepped back, trying to collect herself. There was something quite unsettling about the smirk Toshiro just gave her. She and Metal Sonic already didn't trust either of their fellow Enforcers, and at this point, Ferra felt legitimately creeped out by these two. Toshiro merely shrugged.
''I suppose that if you dig deep enough, you will eventually learn more. It is quite fun to see you fuming, though,'' Toshiro told Ferra and Metal Sonic. ''You are already familiar with Prof. Hiroshi Sakamoto's achievements, right?''
''Yeah, we are,'' Ferra muttered. ''He was the one behind Project Shadow.''
'From the data I had gathered, it can be concluded that Hiroshi Sakamoto is also in an alliance with Doctor Eggman,' Metal Sonic added, with Ferra nodding.
''That too,'' she added. ''Not that anyone really told us the details about Prof. Sakamoto working for Eggman.''
''It's not like you needed to know,'' Mephiles said. ''However, Project Shadow wasn't the only project the Professor was working on. There were two more projects, resulting in different creations. The more recent one was named Project Shadow: Resurrection, where instead of creating 'The Ultimate Life Form', he decided to create 'The Ultimate Weapon'.''
''The Ultimate Weapon…'' Ferra muttered under her breath, her eyes widening in realization, ''You mean…''
''You're a fast learner,'' Mephiles interrupted her. ''Isn't it a bit peculiar how I look very similar to Shadow, our true origins nonwithstanding? We both have the same creator, and I suppose that one could say that we are brothers, in a way.''
'What about you?' Metal Sonic asked, staring at Toshiro. Clearly, the teenger couldn't understand what the cobalt hedgehog robot said, but the intense gaze he was given was enough.
''Well, you can have an Ultimate Weapon without a Living Battery, I guess,'' Toshiro started, chuckling softly. Both Ferra and Metal Sonic were clearly unamused by that comment. ''In any case, I do have a familial connection to Touka. Our backstories are similar and genetically, we are siblings, with her being the older one.''
''I…'' Ferra needed a moment to process this information. At the same time, it made sense for Toshiro and Mephiles to have some kind of connection to Sakamoto, considering what she knew, as well as them having some kind of familiarity with Touka and Shadow… but siblings?! Admittedly, Ferra didn't know much about Touka's life, but wouldn't Touka mention Toshiro at some point? ''I didn't really expect that.''
''Make no assumptions, Shadow and Touka don't even know that we exist,'' Mephiles told the two. ''We weren't present at the Codex Research Facility either when it was still operational.''
''I suppose you're not going to tell me more beyond that,'' Ferra said in a rather cynical tone.
''Check your messages,'' Toshiro replied, walking away, with Mephiles slinking into his shadow. ''However, for your own safety, don't go to those coordinates until everything is over.''
''What are you talking about?'' Ferra asked, but Toshiro had already left. She tapped on her AR Visor, sharing the screen with Metal Sonic.
'Those coordinates are showing the location of one of the Egg Bases at the far side of Infinity Forest,' Metal Sonic said, his red eyes flashing. 'Do you wish to go there?'
Ferra remained silent for a moment, then shook her head. ''At this point, I think it would be better for both of us to just follow Eggman's orders.''
'Wouldn't you rather know what Mephiles and Toshiro are up to?' Metal Sonic asked. Ferra just sighed tiredly, pressing her hand against her forehead.
''Frankly, I'd love to go snooping around, but…'' She paused, biting her lip. ''Do you remember what happened last time when we listened to these two? We ended up releasing Shadow and that event nearly killed everyone. I don't want to take risks this time.''
'I understand. Then, we shall proceed with destroying Sonic,' Metal Sonic said, with Ferra being able to hear the excitement in his tone. He had been waiting long enough for this.
xXx
''Have you managed to find them?'' Toshiro asked Mephiles, who was standing behind him, his green eyes glowing as he focused, floating above a black hole. Both were standing on a building overlooking Westoru, with Toshiro having used his AR Visor to access the Eggnet.
''I did,'' Mephiles replied, turning to Toshiro, snorting. ''It appears that grey hedgehog is still upset over the roses, yet does not know who had committed this so-called 'crime'.''
''Well, he will be getting his answer soon. The Badniks en route,'' Toshiro replied, the holographic screen before him closing. ''What about Touka and Shadow?''
''They are not too far away from our location,'' Mephiles responded. Despite not having a mouth, his facial expressions were akin to that of a smug smirk.
The main reason why Dr. Eggman had sent these two to act as a distraction was because of Mephiles' versatile abilities and sheer power. The Dark Irregular was capable of molding shadows and creating copies of himself, which were quite useful for spying on other people. His copies, while imperfect and weaker than he was, were still powerful enough to hold their own in a battle. However, that was just his shadow ability. He also had access to pyrokinesis, the ability to create and manipulate fire, and by combining both abilities, he was capable of creating crystallic matter that could harm anyone who touches it. It was quite an unusual ability for someone who was called The Ultimate Weapon, but Mephiles knew how to put his powers to good use. Still, he preferred a more indirect approach, manipulating his victims into causing their own destruction.
''While the shadows take care of the rest of Team Neos, we can finally continue with our own plan,'' Mephiles said, the glow in his eyes vanishing.
xXx
''Hmm, Doppelgänger again…'' Amy scrunched up her nose as she held up the tarot card. She, Minami, Sonic and Lucas were at Heizeru Park, Sonic taking a nap under the tree, while the rest of the group was eating some snacks they bought at a vending machine on the street. Amy decided to check her tarot cards to see whether there were any events in the future, and the first one she pulled was the very card associated with both Sonic and Shadow.
''Maybe we'll run into Metal Sonic again,'' Minami suggested, a chocolate-coated Pocky stick in her mouth.
''I hope not,'' Lucas said, lowering the soda he was holding. ''Ferra and Metal Sonic are also now capable of using Chaos Surge. I don't want to imagine the destruction they could cause with it.''
''I wouldn't mind a bit of a challenge,'' Sonic said, eyes still close and hands behind his quills as he laid on the soft grass. Lucas, Minami and Amy just exchanged knowing glances.
Then, Amy and Sonic's ears twitched as they heard a strange noise, which Sonic opening his eyes and sitting up, now fully alert. Before he could even register what was happening, a blue blur flew right at him, grabbing him by his arm and flew up with him, throwing him across half of the city, with Sonic hitting the ground hard.
''Speak of the Devil…'' Sonic grumbled as he got up, his whole body aching. He looked up, staring at Metal Sonic as he looked down at him. ''It had to be on sight, huh? You couldn't have given me at least a warning?''
Metal Sonic suddenly charged at him, but Sonic leapt to the side, dodging the punch. Metal Sonic fired a blast from his chest, which Sonic easily dodged due to his superior speed, but when he preformed a spin attack on Metal Sonic, his robotic counterpart activated his defensive system. Sonic hit the Black Shield, but bounced away harmlessly, doing no damage to his robotic rival. He got into a tripod crouch, tapping on his AR Visor to call Lucas, but for some reason, the holographic screen just crackled, leaving him unable to call his partner. Dodging another attack from Metal Sonic, he opted to activate the tracker to make sure that his friends could find him.
''Looks like it's going to be only you and me, Metal,'' Sonic said, staring at his rival.
''That's where you're wrong.'' Sonic was startled by another voice, only to see Ferra appear on her hoverboard, hovering above the two. Sonic furrowed a brow, a grin spreading on his muzzle.
''Fancy seeing you too, Ferra,'' he said. ''Did Egghead told you to destroy me?''
''Let's just say our goals had aligned,'' Ferra replied, glancing at Metal Sonic. ''Metal, show him what you're made of!''
At her cue, Metal Sonic charged at Sonic, who tried to dodge the attack, but the punch connected, followed by a kick to the gut, sending Sonic flying into a tree. The cobalt hedgehog shook his head, trying to recover, but he only got the time to lean to the left as Metal Sonic almost gouged his eye out, his clawed hand leaving deep scratches in the tree bark. They locked eyes for a moment, before Sonic kicked Metal in the chest, causing him to stagger back, and followed up with a spin dash. To his surprise, Metal actually managed to catch him, following up with another laser blast from his chest. Sonic fell on the ground, badly injured from a blast at such close range. His whole body was aching, and all he could do was just lift his head up, gritting his teeth as he met Metal Sonic's cold gaze.
He wasn't going to give up so easily.
xXx
''We need to go and find Sonic!'' Amy insisted, her Piko Piko Hammer already out.
''I'm trying to call him, but he isn't answering,'' Lucas replied, a holographic screen in front of him, showing that the call cannot go through.
''Wasn't that Metal Sonic?'' Minami asked. ''If they're fighting, he obviously wouldn't be able to answer.''
''No, I don't think that's the case-'' Lucas gasped when suddenly, something lunged at them from between the trees. Amy leapt towards it, her hammer meeting a lance. To their shock, Egg Pawns wielding Egg Spears emerged, coming right for them. ''Badniks!''
''I think that explains Metal's appearance,'' Minami said in a snarky tone. Amy swung her Piko Piko Hammer, smashing the closest Egg Pawn. ''Amy, I'll lend you a hand with this!''
''Gotcha!'' Amy dodged the swing of a lance from another Egg Pawn, blocking it. She took a step back, before charging at it and smashing it. She then quickly extended her hand towards Minami.
''Chaos Surge!''
Lucas observed the two as they got enveloped by pink energy, with a pink hammer forming in Minami's hands. She took a swing at another Egg Pawn, blocking the lance, with Amy finishing it off. She then turned to Lucas, who looked a little reluctant to just leave them.
''We can handle this!'' she said. Lucas nodded.
''You guys take care of the Badniks! I'll go find Sonic!'' Lucas said, grabbing his hoverboard and speeding off on it. Minami and Amy then faced the Badniks.
''Ready to turn them to scrap?'' Amy asked, grinning as she held up the Piko Piko Hammer.
''How about making it a contest?'' Minami suggested, smirking as she brandished her own hammer.
''You're on!'' Both charged right into the battle.
xXx
''Hmm…'' Rouge placed her hand over her mouth, pondering as she observed the Badniks movement. She was flying high above the street, having spotted them earlier. She felt an itch in her healed wing, furrowing a brow as she kept an eye on what was going on. It seemed as if the Badniks were controlled by shadow-like creatures that emerged from seemingly out of nowhere, directing them towards certain points of Neos City; specifically, Heizeru Park and Eden Botanical Garden. Surprisingly, it appeared that the humans and ARNavs who spotted the robots didn't pay much attention to them, although it helped that the Badniks didn't attack them either, but she was more interested in what those creatures were. They reminded her of ARNavs, but she doubted that they were actual ARNavs. ''I don't think I should get involved in this, but…''
Rouge's attention was caught by Shadow and Touka, the ebony hedgehog skating down an empty street, while Touka followed him on her hoverboard. She wondered if they knew what was going on, making the decision to follow them. However, she stopped mid-flight as she spotted something black spreading below them, like a living shadow. They stopped, both clearly surprised by what was going on and to their and Rouge's shock, the shadow below them suddenly enveloping them. There was a bright flash of light, like a flame, forcing Rouge to shield her eyes, and when she looked back, she realized that they were both knocked out.
She was about to fly down towards them to check on them, but to her surprise, an ARNav resembling those she saw earlier emerged from the shadow, with a teenage boy walking out from a nearby street. Suspicious, she flew closer, hiding behind a building and holding her breath as she saw the ARNav looking up to where she was a moment earlier.
''What are you up to?'' she muttered under her breath. The ARNav reached out for the teenager's hand, with both suddenly being enveloped in purple energy, then leaned over and placed his hand on Shadow. There was a bright flash of light blue light and then they vanished. Rouge frowned. ''I have a bad feeling about this.''
She flew down, landing on the street and started looking for clues to where they may have gone, but there weren't any. She placed her hands on her hips, not liking the situation at all.
''What is going on here?''
xXx
''Ugh…'' Shadow felt a throbbing headache as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and he could feel the cold floor below him. He shook his head, his vision clearing and the headache subsiding the moment he spotted Touka lying on the floor, still unconscious. He quickly scrambled over to her, shaking her shoulder. ''Hey, hey, Touka, wake up!''
To his relief, Touka stirred, lifting her head. She grimaced, clearly in pain, but she didn't appear to be injured. ''Ugh… My head feels like it's gonna explode… Shad…'' She squinted, rubbing the sleep off her eyes and sitting up. ''Wh-What happened?''
''I don't know,'' Shadow replied, feeling alarmed. ''The last thing I remember was just… darkness. I suppose we got ambushed.''
''Okay, but who ambushed us? And why?'' Touka asked, completely confused. Both looked around, noting the room they were in. It was filled with monitors, strange devices and papers strewn all across it. ''Where are we? How did we get here?''
''I wish I knew,'' Shadow muttered, getting up and helping Touka up. ''This place reminds me of the Codex Research Facility.''
''Yeah, but it doesn't appear that we're at Codex,'' Touka replied, looking around. ''I know that building inside out and I've never been in room before.''
Shadow frowned, already on high alert. ''Stay close to me. We're going to find a way out of here.''
''Okay,'' Touka replied, nodding. ''You know, we could try using Chaos Control to just warp back.''
''You're correct, but I see two issues with that. We don't know how far away we're from home, so even if we used a Chaos Surge-boosted Chaos Control, it might not be enough,'' Shadow pointed out, tilting his head and crossing his arms. ''Furthermore, knowing you, you'd probably want to investigate this place.''
''Yeah, you're right,'' Touka said in a slightly snarky tone while smiling. ''Let's just not get separated.''
Shadow didn't respond, with the two instead walking out of the room and into a hallway. They took a careful look around before walking down it. It didn't take long for them to hear steps, causing them to stop. However, these steps sounded strange, being heavy and sort of… mechanical. Touka and Shadow leaned against the wall, both peeking into the next hallway. To their surprise, they saw several Egg Pawns patrolling through it.
''Those are Badniks, aren't they?'' Touka whispered. Shadow nodded, with Touka crouching next to him. ''So, should we go into stealth mode or just brute force our way through?'' Shadow didn't answer, instead skating down the hallway and spin dashing into the Egg Pawns, destroying them. Touka rose an eyebrow, smirking. ''Okay, brute force it is.''
''I suppose it needs no saying, but it appears that we're inside one of Eggman's bases,'' Shadow said as Touka approached him, pointing at the logo on the wall.
''Huh, that explains where we are, but not why we're here?'' Touka pointed out, clasping her hands on her back.
''We're about to find out,'' Shadow responded, walking down the hallway, with Touka following him.
If they had indeed been somehow captured by Dr. Eggman, they would definitely do everything in their power to stop him from whatever plan he had. However, both soon realized that there appeared to be something off with this place. While they did find another Badnik, with Shadow quickly destroying it, this base seemed to be eerily empty. Any time they saw a shadow of some kind of figure on the walls, they carefully approached it, but there wasn't anyone there. Was this place somehow messing with their minds?
''I don't think we're going to find anything here,'' Touka said half-heartedly. ''Maybe Dr. Eggman abandoned this base.''
Shadow just hummed in response, a brow furrowing when he lowered his head. He stepped back, staring at his own shadow on the floor, realizing that it was moving independently of him. The shadow then extended, elevating itself and taking on a form resembling that of its host, with only a few differences. The figure's shoes and stripes were grayish-green, and he had a pale-skinned muzzle with no mouth, his green eyes with slit pupils having a piercing and eerie gaze to it. The figure then laughed coldly, his laughter sending chills down Shadow and Touka's spines.
''I had been awaiting this meeting for a long time, Shadow.'' The figure then bowed, head lowering before he looked up, his green eyes then focused on Touka. ''It is pleasant to meet you too, Touka.'' Shadow and Touka were silently staring at the figure, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with him, but Shadow quickly stepped in-between the figure and Touka. Shadow's doppelgänger chuckled softly in amusement. ''I suppose I should introduce myself properly before we proceed. The name is Mephiles the Dark.''
''Mephiles…'' Shadow's eyes narrowed as a memory had been triggered. He was indeed familiar with Mephiles, but only as a character from a video game. Nevertheless, he was still on guard, ready to fire a Chaos Spear at the Dark if he even made a wrong move, as he knew that, even if Mephiles was not the same as his video game counterpart, he had a hunch that he was very cunning and manipulative. They needed to be careful. ''What do you want from us?''
''I had been hoping that we could talk. I'm certain that there are many questions on your mind,'' Mephiles replied.
''You were the one who brought us here,'' Touka stated, with Mephiles giving a curt nod to confirm her suspicions. Touka frowned. ''Why?''
''Follow me,'' Mephiles responded calmly, gesturing at a nearby room and walking into it. Touka and Shadow exchanged glances, both hesitant, but then relented, following Mephiles. They knew that they had to be cautious, but they also wanted some answers to their questions and they could only get them if they went along with the Dark.
Both felt a pit in their stomach as they stepped into the room, this one being much messier than the one they woke up in. As they observed the room, they spotted a glass tank at the far end of the room, with Touka shivering as she saw it. Shadow, on the other hand, looked around for Mephiles, spotting him in the corner of the room. Even though he had no mouth, Shadow had a strange feeling that he was giving him a smug smirk, as if enjoying their puzzlement. He didn't like it.
''Why don't you tell us why you brought us here?'' Shadow told Mephiles in a stern tone. If Mephiles was trying to play mind games with him, he wasn't going to give in. Mephiles picked up on Shadow's tense demeanor, feeling slight amusement.
''I believe you're already familiar with all the details that Project Shadow entails,'' Mephiles said, merging with the shadows in the ground. Shadow clenched his fist, him and Touka looking around for him, a whisper seemingly coming from everywhere. ''The project was supposed to result in the creation of The Ultimate Life Form, but unfortunately, the project had to be shut down because of a little 'accident', never to be spoken of again.'' Touka and Shadow now stood back-to-back as they tried to track Mephiles down. ''Years later, it had been revived, this time under the name of Project Shadow: Resurrection, with the sole goal of creating The Ultimate Weapon.''
Touka and Shadow turned around, spotting a dark shadow on the ground, with Mephiles rising from it, his body taking on a purple hue and becoming more crystalline. The room suddenly became much colder as Mephiles spoke again, his voice only an eerie whisper. ''Both projects were a clear success.''
There was a moment of silence in the room as Touka and Shadow processed this information. Mephiles observed them contently, patiently waiting for a response. It was obvious that both realized the meaning of this reveal; that is, the fact that he and Shadow had been created by the same man, Hiroshi Sakamoto, and Mephiles fully expected them to further pursue that particular truth with more questions, only to be caught off guard by Shadow's response.
''How long have you been observing us?'' Shadow asked, his tone calm and collected. Mephiles was quiet for a moment, wondering why Shadow was asking him that. Slightly irritated by Mephiles' lack of response, Shadow continued, ''You know who I am. You know the details of Project Shadow, despite it being a secret no one was supposed to know about. I don't believe you'd keep this to yourself.''
''Shadow, you mean…'' Touka stared at her little brother, her eyes wide in surprise, then turned to Mephiles. ''Were you the one who told Ferra and Metal Sonic about the Codex Research Facility?''
''Actually, I was the one who sent the message.''
Touka and Shadow looked up, surprised to see a teenager leaning against the entrance, arms crossed on his chest. Touka frowned. ''Who are you?''
''The name is Toshiro Miwa. I'm Mephiles' partner,'' Toshiro introduced himself. ''As for the message, we both had figured that it was time for you two to finally meet up after being separated for so long. It is a bit unfortunate that you missed each other because you got knocked out and locked up in that room and Shadow decided to destroy Neos City because he believed you were dead, and no one was there to tell him the truth until it was almost too late.''
Suddenly, an orange bolt of energy appeared in Shadow's hands and he threw it at Mephiles, who held up his arm, creating a crystallic barrier between himself and the Chaos Spear. The bolt of energy hit the barrier, destroying part of it. Mephiles and Toshiro were alert, staring at Shadow, who was completely furious, gritting his teeth as he glared at the two.
''You knew!'' Shadow growled, baring his fangs. ''You wanted me to destroy everyone!''
Mephiles exhaled, quite amused. ''I thought you'd take much longer to figure it out. I suppose I underestimated you in that regard. It doesn't make you less of a fool.'' Mephiles made a sweeping motion, the crystalline barrier, which both Touka and Shadow recognized to be the same as the crystals they had found at Codex, turning into flames and dissipating. Both were shaking in rage as Mephiles continued to speak, ''After all, you almost killed the person you cared about the most, all because of a bunch of lies.'' His brows furrowed, as he added in a cruel tone, hoping to twist the knife further into Shadow's chest, ''How does it feel to know that you once again almost caused your beloved sister's death?''
''Why you-?!'' Shadow charged at Mephiles, but the Dark quickly disappeared into the shadows, with Shadow quickly turning around, leaping to the side to dodge crystals erupting from the ground, only for them to morph into flames, surrounding the ebony hedgehog.
''Shadow!'' Touka cried out, worried for her little brother. Fortunately, it didn't appear that Mephiles had any intention of actually hurting him, only containing him via the flames.
''You know, we could continue the fight, but I'd prefer to tackle another subject. I'm sure you're still questioning why you don't have any memories beyond your life at the Codex Research Facility,'' Toshiro continued, addressing Touka. Her eyes widened at first, then she glared at him.
''How would you know?'' she hissed.
''Because I'm suffering from a similar memory loss, except it isn't a memory loss. As a matter of fact, it is quite normal for artificial humans like you and me,'' Toshiro explained.
''Wh-What…'' Toshiro smirked as he observed the shocked Touka, while Mephiles kept an eye on Shadow, having extinguished the flames once he was sure that Shadow wasn't going for another attack. Instead of going after Mephiles, Shadow was focused on Touka, clear worry on his expression. Touka gritted her teeth, yelling at Toshiro, but her voice was shaky, ''Wh-What are you talking about?!''
''You heard me. You are not real. Your whole existence is a mere accident,'' Toshiro continued in a smug tone. ''Any memories you might have of a previous life are completely fake.''
''You're lying!'' Touka cried out, her eyes tearing and her fists clenching.
''Am I? Why don't we ask your creator directly for confirmation?'' Toshiro replied. Touka was taken aback.
''Creator?''
The four of them heard steps, with Touka and Shadow being stunned to see an old disheveled man walking into the room, hunched over, leaning against the door frame. Despite his age and unkempt appearance, both recognized him as Hiroshi Sakamoto. What happened to him?
''P-Professor…'' Touka felt chills going down her spine. Sure, she did wonder whether she would ever meet this man again, but at the same time, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to. His appearance alone reminded her of just how much she hated being confined to the Codex Research Facility.
Meanwhile, Shadow glanced at Touka, hoping to get some kind of instruction from her on what to do. They were in an Eggman facility, being confronted by Mephiles and Toshiro, who just revealed that they were behind his own release and that Touka might not even be a real person, and now Sakamoto was here as well. Frankly, Shadow never wanted to see his creator again, and considering by the amount of distress Touka was dealing with, it was clear to him that she too didn't want to be near this man. They needed to leave.
''Touka,'' Shadow called out softly for her, but Touka didn't seem to hear him, as she stood there, staring at Sakamoto and being completely paralyzed. He glanced at Sakamoto, who was shocked to see them. He took a step inside, staring solely at Touka as if nothing else existed in this world, uttering a name no one expected to ever hear.
''Tomoe?''
xXx
''Watch out!''
Silver dodged to the side, using his psychokinesis to lift up an Egg Pawn, with Tails throwing his boomerang at it, shattering the head. Much to his frustration, Eden was once again under attack, with him, Tails and Knuckles defending it. There were Badniks, but what worried him more were the three shadow-like creatures that were just observing everyone.
''Is it just me or are these guys somewhat familiar?'' Makoto asked, with Silver floating next to him. ''We should focus on them.''
''Right!'' Silver nodded, flying towards the shadows, only for them to suddenly create a fire circle around him, forcing Silver to shield himself with a barrier. His golden eyes widened in panic as he stared at the flames getting closer to him, the only thing that kept him safe being his barrier. He felt his heart racing as a memory flashed in his mind, one of smoke and an inferno engulfing the city. He froze, his breathing getting heavier.
''Silver!'' Makoto's voice suddenly woke Silver up from his trance, and he saw a spray of water being directed at the fire, realizing that Makoto had grabbed the hose and tried to extinguish the flames. Unfortunately for him, the water did nothing to the fire, with Makoto staring at it in shock. ''Wh-Why is it not working?''
''It can't be extinguished!'' Silver replied, with the flames closing in. He then let the barrier fall, only to send a wave of cyan energy which, fortunately, did neutralize the fire. He breathed heavily, his eyes itching from the embers. He looked up, glaring at the shadows that were encircling them. This was not his first interaction with this kind of fire.
''Take this!'' Knuckles delivered an array of punches, taking down another Badnik. He glanced at Silver, who clearly decided to fight the non-Badnik opponents. He then turned towards another Badnik, uppercutting it. He was about to smash another Badnik, when he saw another figure kicking it into pieces. ''Rouge?! What are you doing here?''
''My, my, do you always get into battles with robots?'' Rouge asked, smiling at Knuckles. Knuckles just frowned.
''If you want a fight, then wait until I'm done with the Badniks,'' he replied. Rouge rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.
''I'm not here to fight. I just saw two of your friends, Shadow and Touka, getting kidnapped!'' she told him, with Knuckles giving her a baffled look.
''By whom?'' Lily, who overheard their conversation, asked. She was on the call with Lucas, having already informed him about their situation.
''I don't know their names, but the ARNav resembles those guys,'' Rouge quickly explained, pointing at the shadows that were fighting Silver.
''Rouge, I know I'm probably asking a lot, but could you help us?'' Lucas, who overheard the conversation, asked. Lily and Knuckles gave him a baffled look, while Rouge just rose an eyebrow.
''You really want my help?'' she asked, placing her hand on her chest.
''I don't think it would hurt…'' Lucas trailed off, wondering if he made the wrong move. He was aware of Rouge's thieving ways, but he did believe that she actually was a good person. After all, she made the effort to tell them that Touka and Shadow were gone. ''Would it be possible for you to find them?''
''So, you're giving me a mission?'' Rouge said, sounding intrigued. ''I don't know if I have the time for that…''
''Look, either you help us or you stay out of our way!'' Knuckles snapped, startling Rouge. He then turned around to punch another Badnik into oblivion. ''No one here has time for negotiations!''
''Hmph,'' Rouge huffed, feeling a bit insulted that Knuckles was so dismissive of her. ''I never said I wouldn't help.''
''Huh?'' Knuckles was surprised, with Rouge winking at him.
''Of course, as long as I get to go on another treasure hunt with you as the guardian,'' she added, then turned towards Lucas. ''Just give me your number. I have my own ways of finding people.'' While she and Lucas talked, Knuckles just kept staring at her, still baffled by the proposal. Why is she acting like that? Rouge, who was done with the call with Lucas, took out an eye-piece visor out of the bag that was over her shoulder, and placing it on her head. She then smiled at Knuckles. ''Good luck, handsome!''
Knuckles stared at her as she flew away, then noticed that Lily was giving him a questioning look. He then frowned, punching the closest Egg Pawn.
''Just focus on the fight,'' he said to no one in particular.