by K. M. Hollar

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Copyright notice: This story is copyrighted 1999-2002 by K. M. Hollar. Reproduction of any part of this story in any medium is prohibited. This story may be freely distributed online as long as it remains unchanged. Sonic the hedgehog, Shadow, and all other related characters copyrighted by Sega. Slasher, Serena, and all other fan characters copyrighted by K. M. Hollar, including the chao. Special thanks to Murr-Quan Lord #2 and Alex Warlorn, who were my copyeditors, and without whom this fanfic would have stunk like a dead fish. Also, to the gang on the messageboard, who cheered me on.

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Chapter 1: Gathering Shadows

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The lights blinked on and off, bathing the hall in ruby red, then plunging it into momentary darkness. Sirens pierced his head. Behind the alarms were the clamor of men's voices, and most terrifying of all, gunfire. They had taken everyone he knew, even as the doctor was yelling something about merging the station.

His breath tore his lungs. Why couldn't he run faster? He was the fastest being in existence, and yet was unable to run fast enough to calm the panic that was devouring him. He shouldn't have left her. He had stepped down the hall to see how close the soldiers were, and the security doors closed behind him. He had been forced to circle around and return to the shuttle bay another way, and the fastest being on or over Mobius was not fast enough.

He slid around a corner and entered the harsh white light of the shuttle bay. "MARIA!" The scream burst from him unmeditated as his fear exploded into terror and grief. She was lying on the floor with three other casualties, and five armed guards were waiting for him, one holding a small chao. He didn't care about the guards--nothing mattered now. His attack was over in the blink of an eye, and the soldiers hit the floor. He didn't care if he killed them.

He knelt beside the young girl and turned her over, and the blue eyes fluttered with recognition. "Maria," he choked. She had been shot in the chest, and even his medically inexperienced eyes could see it was fatal. He bent his spiny head over the human's blond one, and cried the first and last tears he would ever shed.

She whispered his name, and he gulped his grief and fell silent. "You must save them," she whispered, so softly he had to stoop close to hear the words. "Give them a chance to be free."

"They're the ones who ..." he began, but the rest of the sentence caught in his throat.

"Do it for me," said Maria, her sapphire eyes closing for the last time. "Sayonara, Shadow."

Strong gloved hands grabbed his arms and yanked him to his feet. "No!" he cried, writhing with every muscle in his body. "Maria, don't leave me! Don't leave--" He broke their hold and returned to her side, only to be grabbed and bodily shoved into an escape pod. He flung himself at the door at the speed of sound, but it clicked shut as his ninety-nine pounds of spines and sinew struck it. "No! I'll kill you!" he screamed through the tiny window that looked into the shuttle bay. "I'll kill you all for this!"

The second before the pod was jettisoned, his maddened eyes rested on Maria's golden hair in a pile on the cold floor.

He would never forgive the humans for this. Never.

Serena sat up with a gasp. Sunlight was pouring through the windows of her hut, illuminating her familiar living quarters and belongings. She groped for the watch on her nightstand--it was quarter to seven. She leaned against the headboard, clutched the blankets to her chest and drew several deep breaths. But she could not help looking around the room and peering into the corners. He was closer than ever that time. Why, oh, why wouldn't those dreams stop?

The violet hedgehog got up and began to dress. Her hands shook as she pulled on her jeans. "It was just a dream," she told herself. "Snap out of it." A dream that had haunted her every night for a month. She had never told anyone about it, for nothing ever happened in it. She would be standing in a wide place, and in the distance was a black hedgehog. She was unable to move or make a sound as he walked toward her, head down. When they began she had not even been sure he was a hedgehog, but now he was fifteen feet away and coming closer every night, eyes fixed on her with some unimaginable purpose.

She looked in the mirror and froze. One hand ran through her spines as if afraid of what she might find. That was what she had noticed last night--his spines were drenched with blood. Whose blood? While in the dream she had known what it meant, but now it escaped her.

Serena was brushing her teeth when her eyes fell on the calender beside the mirror. It was July 10th. Of course! In her worry over her dreams she had forgotten it was Sonic's birthday. She shot her reflection a foamy grin.

A moment later she pulled a shoebox out from under her bed and began wrapping it in brown paper. Oh boy, Sonic would be surprised. She and Spark had put their money together and bought their brother a pair of Soapshoes, which were used in skateboarding stunts. Spark had joked that he would throw in a pair of crutches for free. Rotor had been building a practice course, which had been finished earlier that week. Tails had been working on something top secret for some time, and Slasher merely looked enigmatic when asked what she was giving Sonic. "She'll try to top us all," thought Serena as she set the box on her bed and viewed it from all angles. "But I'll bet she can't top these."

Something whooshed by overhead, and the windows rattled. Serena smiled. Sonic was higher than a kite this morning--it sounded like he was using the chaos emeralds again. His emerald belt hadn't worked since the chao had recharged the super emeralds, so he had made good use of the chaos emeralds, which were still in Knothole's keeping. She hid the box under her bed and stepped outside.

Sonic appeared in a flash of yellow and hovered an inch off the ground. "Hi sis!" he said, waving.

Serena eyed his glowing spines. "Dressing up special for today?"

"Why not?" said Sonic, moonwalking in a circle. "It's not every day you turn twenty. The big two-O, that's me!"

"Don't expect any presents," said Serena, walking toward the kitchen hut, where breakfast was being prepared. "Nobody likes you that much."

"Sure," said Sonic, floating along beside her with his hands behind his head. "You and Spark ain't flat broke for no reason."

"All you got is a strait-jacket and a gag, trust me," said Serena, eyes twinkling.

Everyone paid Sonic less than the usual attention that morning, which annoyed him to no end. He flew away over the Great Forest and broke the sound barrier repeatedly all morning. It sounded as if a thunderstorm were moving in.

When the hedgehog returned at lunch, breathless and in high spirits, he found his friends in the community hut, waiting for him amid a modest pile of gifts.

First the Freedom Fighters stood and watched as Slasher performed the traditional ceremony of a Mobian coming of age. Sonic stood before the velociraptor and received each of the items--a bunch of bitter herbs, to represent the sorrows of life, a lump of honeycomb, to represent the sweetness of life, and a small glass star pendant, to represent the purity of a peaceful life. "Let it also remind you of the world to come, and of the One who was, and is, and will be," Slasher added. "Sonic, you are now a legal adult by Mobian law."

"Gee, I feel the same," said Sonic, gazing down at the items in his hands. "What do I do now?"

"Well," said Slasher, "I believe this stuff here is yours, and after that there's a giant chocolate cake with your name on it."

Sonic set aside his gifts and tore into the packages like a whirlwind. "Cool shoes!" he yelped, lifting the soaps out of their box. "These are those grinding ones I saw!" He set them down and opened the card. "IOU, from Rotor," Sonic read aloud. He glanced at the walrus. "What's that mean?"

"Just what it says," said Rotor. "It's an obstacle course to try out your shoes."

"Cool!" said Sonic, reaching for the next box. "From Knuckles and the Chaotix," he read, then ripped it open. Inside was a tarnished gold bracelet with a glowing red stone set in it. "Uh, wow Knux," said Sonic, holding it up for all to see. "Going in for jewelry now?"

"I thought it'd match your nosering," said the echidna from his armchair, drawing a general laugh. "Just a gadget I found. I thought you might like it."

Sonic slipped it on his wrist and lifted another small box. "From Tails," he read, and opened the lid. Inside was the orange chaos emerald. "Gee, thanks, Tails," said Sonic with a touch of sarcasm. "Couldn't you think of anything to get me?"

"What do you think I've been working on?" asked Tails, hurt. "That's a synthetic emerald. It has the properties and wavelength of one of the real ones, and can absorb the energy of another for a short time. That's why it's orange, because I used that one."

"Oh, great," said Sonic, gazing at it. "That's really cool, Tails, but why go to all that trouble?"

Tails grinned. "Because of what Slasher's giving you."

Sonic sorted through the empty boxes and wrapping paper and found an envelope he hadn't opened. "Lemme guess," he said, looking at Slasher. "Money!"

"No such luck," said the raptor, allowing a smile to bare her teeth. "You'll like it anyway."

Serena looked at Spark and whispered, "Just watch. She'll outdo us all."

Sonic opened the envelope flap and paused. "The suspense is terrible," he told his audience. "I hope it'll last." He reached in, and with exaggerated deliberation, began to withdraw the slip of paper inside. Everyone leaned forward. Sonic grinned wickedly. "Maybe I'll wait until later."

"Aw, c'mon!" Serena begged.

Sonic yanked the paper out. "You're right, I couldn't wait that long--" His eyes widened as he read the slip's contents, and he whooped and leaped into the air. For several minutes the only words they could understand were, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"What is it?" the others clamored, trying to grab the paper, which Sonic was waving overhead. At last the hedgehog yelled, "It's a free pass to the chao gardens! I'm gonna go see Velocity!"

The other chao owners in the room instantly looked crestfallen. Slasher had not only outdone them, she had given Sonic the gift that they all wanted. Slasher alone looked smug, for tucked away in her hut were six other passes. "You get seven days of free access to all the gardens," Slasher explained when Sonic had calmed down enough to listen to her. "Starting this Saturday. Chaos emeralds aren't allowed in the gardens, but as Tails pointed out, fake ones aren't against any rules."

"Cool!" said Sonic, gathering his gifts into a pile. "How about that cake?"

Watching a chocolate-charged hedgehog hurt himself trying to use his soapshoes was a big event, and most of the village turned out to watch. Rotor had built a course in the yard behind his hut, complete with slanted railings, poles, cables and everything else he could think of. Sonic tried them all. It was an hour or two before he got the hang of grinding, and while learning took spills that would have landed him on any human reality show.

"At this rate he'll be going to Sapphire City, all right," commented Knuckles. "In an ambulance."

"I heard that!" yelled Sonic, shooting along a rail with sparks flying from his shoes. He landed gracefully on the grass. "What's a bruise or two?"

"Yeah, nobody will notice if you're black and blue," Spark called.

Serena jumped. Any time she forgot about the black hedgehog in her dream, something reminded her of him.

"Isn't he wonderful?" sighed a voice beside her. Serena looked around and saw Amy Rose standing there, leaning on the fence that ringed the course. The pink hedgehog's being radiated adoration. "Look at him go. You're so lucky you're his sister!"

"Aren't I?" asked Serena, irritated for no reason. "At least he doesn't pick on you."

"He picks on you?" asked Amy, wide-eyed.

"All the time," said Serena.

"Gee, and I thought he was nice to you," murmured Amy, watching Sonic grind a cable, leap for a railing, miss and fall on his face.

"You ought to see what he does when I get the last chilidog," said the violet hedgehog. "I have to run for my life." She didn't add that neither of them had had a fight for weeks.

Amy frowned. "I don't care. I'd love him even if he was in jail!"

As night fell and the Freedom Fighters retired to bed, a large military prison near Sapphire City was locking its doors.

Scott Price had been with GUN since the attack of the biotics, twenty months before. GUN stood for Governmental United Navy, and indeed, years ago it had been a navy. Now it was the only military force left in the vicinity of Sapphire City, due to the efforts of the biotics, nearly two years before. When Scott had enlisted, he found that GUN had put serious effort into constructing robots tough enough to withstand a biotic attack. The first prototypes had come into use when the biotic charge was halted, and the units were never tested. In the months of upheaval that followed, GUN alone kept the colony from anarchy.

Scott stood at his post near Dock 3, watching the lights of the city shimmer in the bay. There were two armored skimmers docked nearby, and further off loomed the aircraft carrier Althair. It was a quiet evening. He listened with half an ear to the buzz of the outer doorlocks. A spotlight swept through the trees at the rim of the harbor. He was glad he wasn't a prison guard; the human prisoners were bad, but he had heard stories from the Mobian section that froze the blood. On top of that, there were rumors of a prisoner in security level 8 who was so dangerous he was kept in solitary confinement. The soldiers often tried to guess what kind of Mobian it was. A lion or a tiger were the most common guesses. A bear, maybe. "Oh my," he thought with an inner smile. There was little chance anyone would ever break out, and if they did, there was the naval base and the bay to deal with.

At midnight he was relieved by one of the robot guards, which carried an enormous gun and a shield that could repel most energy weapons. Scott stretched as he walked toward his bunker. Mess at six tomorrow, then more guard duty ... he wasn't scheduled for more battlemech training for another six weeks.

He withdrew his keycard from his pocket, but before he could insert it into the doorlock, an orange light reflected off the wall in front of him, and a boom like a cannon struck his eardrums. He spun around. The guard robot lay about the dock in flaming pieces, and a squat mech with a headlight was clanking up the dock toward the prison entrance. Even in the dark Scott knew it was not a GUN robot. He whipped out his radio and bolted for his station. "Ensign Price reporting an intruder! Repeat, an armed intruder is on dock three!"

"Is that all?" he laughed as his vulcan cannon punched through a squadron of robots. "I had more security in the Robotropolis sewers!" His sturdy mech had left a trail of broken security doors and robots behind it. His shields were at maximum, but it was seldom a bullet or plasma charge glanced off it.

A door slammed shut ahead of him, a giant sheet of steel with the number 3 painted on it. He swept the doorlocks with a sophisticated tag laser perfected on many robots, and knocked them out with four laser pulses. "Intruder has breached security level three!" a female voice announced over the loudspeakers. "Activate advanced security measures!"

"Do, I'd prefer a challenge," he growled through his mustache. He muscled his walker down a set of stairs and into a cell block. Curious faces peered through the bars as he clanked by. "Robotizer fodder, all," he thought. "Converting wastrels of society into efficient robots is better than cluttering up a decent prison."

He saw no guards until he blasted open the level 4 door. Then he met a battalion of droids, some hovering, others on foot and carrying shields. "Updated my old SWAT-bot model, I see," he said, targeting them all and letting his guided missiles do the rest. "These fools have no imagination."

Dr. Robotnik glanced around to make sure he had missed none of the robots, then continued on his way, rocking a little with the motion of the mech. He consulted his map of the prison--yes, he was coming up on level 5. And this was a powerful military base he was dealing with? Absurd. Surely he would meet more resistance than this.

Level 5 passed, then 6, then 7. The doctor was bored. Sonic gave him a better fight than this. Perhaps he was moving too fast. He entered a long room with the level 8 door at the end, and found his way barred by human soldiers. Did they think they could stop him by merely being human? He had killed too many people, Mobian and human alike, to view them as anything more than a hindrance. He leveled them with terrible ease, ignoring the bullets that struck his shields.

He strode through the smoke in time to see a dozen doors close in the hallway ahead, the last one snapping shut with a large 8 on it. Oh no, that wouldn't stop him. He punched a button. A panel opened in the front of his walker below the headlight, exposing a large green lens. Just as its larger cousin had once destroyed a small red biplane, the beam torched through the steel doors, withering them into ash.

His mech strode through and entered the cool green light of the level 8 cell block. There was only one cell, if one could call it that. Robotnik moved his walked up to a glowing console with screens displaying warnings about an intruder. Beyond it was a deep square well full of mist. "So, this is the secret weapon my grandfather was working on," thought Robotnik, eying the quiet machines. "It certainly doesn't look dangerous enough to have been shut down." He leaned out of the cockpit and studied the control panel. It was quite simple, and he located the keypad for the password without difficulty. He punched in the numbers--51631--and said aloud their alphabetical meaning: "Maria." Then he peered at the well of mist beyond.

The mist lit with red light, and with a grinding of gears, its contents lifted into sight. It was a tube laced with pipes and wires--a cryogenic freeze chamber. Whatever he was dealing with was organic.

The lights on the control panel blinked toward red, and Robotnik waited, drumming his fingers on the walker's door. Defrosting took time, he knew, but if he waited too long he would have a fight on his hands.

At last there came a piercing hiss, and door in the top of the chamber swung open. Out of the steam stepped a figure--a hedgehog. Robotnik stared. How had Sonic found out what he was doing? He was sure news of his attack couldn't have reached the Freedom Fighters so quickly--but wait, this hedgehog was black. As the light above the chamber flicked on, Robotnik saw that he was not dealing with Sonic.

It was a jet-black hedgehog, his twisted spines striped with red. There was a triangular white star on his chest, and his wrist and ankles were banded with metal. His shoes were oddly-shaped and bulky. "Who are you?" he barked.

"I am Dr. Robotnik," said the doctor. "Who are YOU?"

A slow smile spread over the hedgehog's face. "My name is Shadow," he said, folding his arms and peering imperiously down at Robotnik, as if stepping out of cryogenic freeze were an everyday occurrence. "Since you have freed me, my master, I will grant you one wish."

"Grant me a wish?" said Robotnik, gazing at this newcomer. His proportions were perfect, and his limbs moved fluidly--there was no sign of a robotic build beneath the black fur. Now, if only this secret weapon would prove more reliable than the one Metal Sonic had built ...

But before either could say another word, there was a crash from the hall behind them. Robotnik twisted around in his seat. "What now?"

The black hedgehog gazed in the same direction, and a look of cool cunning entered his red eyes. "Watch and behold my power," he commanded, leaping off the chamber and landed beside the Eggwalker. The toes and heels of his shoes lit with a whoosh, lifting his feet a few inches from the floor. He shot away down the hall, moving as if he were wearing inline skates.

In the room beyond stood a tall, heavily armored walker, of a different style from Robotnik's creation. In the cockpit was Scott Price. When the pilots had been scrambled, he had arrived at his post first. As his file showed he'd had the necessary field training, he had been rushed to the H-15 Hotshot, the bulkiest of the battlemechs GUN owned.

He had expected to meet the unwelcome alien walker, and so was startled to see the Mobian whisk out of security block level 8 and regard him, unafraid. "Dispatch, this is Hotshot," he reported over the intercom. "Target acquired, but it is not the intruder. Repeat, it is not the intruder. Over."

There was startled silence on the other end, then his ranking officer said, "Description, over."

"Black Mobian hedgehog, sir! Over."

"Consider it armed and extremely dangerous," replied Dispatch. "Destroy it!"

"Roger," said Price, locking onto the small figure. He squeezed the trigger and felt the vibration as he emptied fifteen rounds into the target. He moved forward a step to clear his vision of smoke, and jumped when a whirling ball of black and red spines smashed into the windshield.

He launched his vehicle into flight mode. Its legs folded under the head, and four hoverjets ignited in the mech's body. It lifted clear of the floor, and Price swept around the room, looking for the hedgehog. He saw it once or twice, streaking across the floor like a black cockroach.

So, the most dangerous of the Mobian prisoners was a hedgehog. It moved too fast for a lock. Very well, time for plan B. He landed on his feet, opened the missile racks, and wasted the area. Then he paused to let the mech cool, and the firestorm to die down. That should have taken care of things--

The hedgehog attacked with such speed and ferocity that Scott was alarmed. The windshield splintered under the blows, and he heard the metal in the missile racks tearing. How could anything move so fast? It hit the windshield, the missile racks, and the windshield in the space of two heartbeats. The glass plinked into the cockpit. "It's too strong!" he yelled into the radio. "Requesting reinforcements!"

"Price, retreat!" his dispatch officer ordered. "Now! We're sealing the area! Get out before he kills you!"

Scott punched the Hotshot into reverse but the hedgehog kept attacking, curled into a ball of spines, intent on reaching the pilot. One section of the windshield smashed, glass flying into Scott's face. He tried to shield himself with one hand and keep the mech moving with the other. When he looked up again, the black hedgehog was staring at him through the hole with such hatred Scott was certain he was about to climb inside. He drew his handgun, aimed it at the hedgehog, and fired.

His enemy was gone an instant before he squeezed the trigger, but even as the pistol kicked back in his hand, the hedgehog plunged through the glass just overhead, feet first.

Shadow swept back to Robotnik on his hoverskates. Robotnik had watched the battle from the room beyond, and was impressed and amused. Shadow was experienced in robot killing, and Robotnik took pleasure in seeing another machine meet the same fate so many of his own had met upon encountering Sonic. Sonic, however, was not so aggressive.

"Quite impressive," said Robotnik, hiding his overwhelming joy at having found such an incredible creature. "But what did you mean when you said you would grant me a wish?"

Shadow's eyes were veiled. "Bring the chaos emeralds. I'll be waiting for you in the control room of the space colony ARK."

"ARK?" said Robotnik, eyebrows lifted despite himself. "Why there, and why do we need the emeralds?"

Shadow merely looked at him, as if there were no need for an explanation. "I'll be waiting for you in seven days," he said, and coasted back into the battle room without a sound.

When Robotnik followed a moment later, he found the exit doors were sealed, and Shadow was gone. Robotnik charged his shield, blew open the doors, and proceeded to fight his way to freedom.

Scott Price lay sleeping in a bed in the medical ward, head and face swathed with bandages. The heart monitor beside the bed beeped quietly and steadily. Officer Clark, Scott's ranking officer, gazed down at him, then turned to the doctor. "Well?"

"He has a concussion," the doctor reported, "plus three lacerations in his scalp, and second-degree burns on his face and neck from the thing's hovershoes. We also removed glass from his face and arms."

The officer gazed at the young soldier. He had been in combat for exactly ninety-five seconds.

He strode from the ward, composing his report in his head. "Man down. Prisoner and intruder have escaped. All units search for the black hedgehog. Better warn the mayor, too. Suspect is extremely dangerous." He allowed a grim smile to cross his face. "Well Gerald, you're one up on us."

Chapter 2 - Chao Garden

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Sonic flew along as if his feet were winged, for tucked in his backpack was the chao pass. He could have sang as he ran, if he had had the voice for it. Would Velocity expect him? What would the chao do when Sonic stepped into the garden and called his name? He envisioned the look of pure joy that would steal across Velocity's face. It made him run even faster.

As he tore along, he remembered the battles he and Velocity had fought against the horrible biotic army. He thought of their leader, Mecha Bot 5, and of how is oily voice sounded when it was inside Sonic's head. Sometimes he still heard it when he was over-tired. He wondered if Velocity did, too. They had narrowly escaped being made into biotics, and had completed the required mental conditioning. They had recovered afterward, unlike some of the captives the Freedom Fighters had rescued. Sonic shook his head to banish the dark memories, and focused on cheerier things, like Velocity's delight in seeing him.

Nestled in Sonic's pack was the blue chaos emerald, and its exact duplicate--Tails' ingenious fake, which had turned blue after a night of touching the real emerald. The fake had a bit of tape stuck to it to distinguish it from the real one. Sonic had also donned his emerald belt for old times' sake, and it hung around his waist, invisible to all eyes but his own.

Sapphire City had been rebuilt after Perfect Chaos had levelled part of it, a few years before. Sonic stopped on top of a hill to survey the cityscape. He couldn't tell what had been replaced and what had been demolished--he could even see the Speed Highway suspended between the buildings. Humans were fast builders. He made a mental note to ask if the biotics had bothered Sapphire City, and plunged down the hill at a gallop.

The Chao Co. Headquarters was located in the eastern part of the city, which had escaped Perfect Chaos' wrath. It was a long, light blue building. Sonic entered the wide glass doors, and found himself in a sunny lobby with an elaborate fountain in the center. He turned to the receptionist's desk, and with a shock found himself facing a turquoise chao wearing glasses. "Hello," said the chao. "What can I do for you?"

Sonic handed it his pass. "I'm here to visit a chao named Velocity," he explained.

The chao studied his pass for a moment, then lifted a pen in its paw and signed it. "Ah, so you were with one of the testing groups," the chao remarked, sliding it back to Sonic. "I wanted to go, but I was too old. Show your pass to the guard at garden three. She'll make sure you get in each day."

"Thanks," said Sonic, trying to shake his amazement at being checked in by a chao. He walked to the rear of the lobby, followed a sign that said "Gardens 1-4", located Garden 3, and opened the door.

He stepped into an outdoor yard, and found himself in a fenced area with a guardhouse, with a gate leading into the garden. Sonic walked up to the guardhouse and peered inside. A Mobian bat was sitting on a chair inside, her nose in a book, and a chao asleep in her lap. Sonic gazed at her black fur and robotized wings for a second before he recognized her. "Pip!" he said.

She looked up. "Sonic!" she exclaimed, reaching through the ticket window to shake his hand, and disentangling herself from her book and sleepy chao. "Long time no see!"

"What are you doing here?" Sonic asked, gesturing to the garden. "Last time I saw you, you were helping me escape from Robo Knux."

"I'm working here, of course," said Pip. "By the way, I can't let you in without a pass." She looked apologetic. "It's my job, you know."

Sonic handed her his pass and watched her file it in a cubbyhole. "Okay, you can go in now," said the bat, pressing a button to open the gate. "Tell me when you want out."

Sonic stepped onto the grass and forgot about Pip. There were several trees in the yard, and the chao were playing in the shade beneath them. None had noticed him. He peered at each chao, looking for Velocity. There was Zinc, his silver body shining. Max was playing in the fountain. A black chao was playing with lockblocks, and beside him was Velocity, his deep blue head bent over the blocks in concentration, a small emblem glinting on his chest.

Sonic stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

The reaction was like pouring vinegar on baking soda. Every head in the garden lifted and turned in curiosity. The look of joy that flashed across Velocity's face was just as Sonic had imagined it. He had also anticipated that the chao would run to him as fast as his legs would carry him. What he hadn't expected was that half a dozen other chao also ran to him, yelling and chattering, "Sonic! Sonic! Look, it's Sonic!"

Velocity flung himself at one of the hedgehog's legs. Sonic staggered from the impact, then fell over as the other chao collided with him, one flying at stomach level. They surrounded him, ecstatic and each trying to talk louder than the rest. He saw Elleno, Pilot, Zinc, Max, Chalcon, an orange chao he didn't know, and Velocity, who was bouncing up and down, clapping his little hands. Sonic sat up and picked up Velocity, who wriggled in delight. "Sonic, I'm so glad to see you!" he laughed, and threw his arms around the hedgehog's neck.

It was some time before the chao calmed down. They pranced around Sonic's feet and wrestled to show him how big and strong they were. The largest was Chalcon, which Sonic thought odd, because the Chaos chao had been the smallest when they had hatched. Velocity was a shade bluer than Sonic remembered. Pilot's wings had grown out a few more inches. Elleno had lost the stripes on the sides of her head, and looked like a purple, female version of Velocity. Zinc was as polished as a silver spoon, and had grown claws on his hands to complement the two horns on his head. Max's yellow belly had turned a sky blue, and he hopped along on his flippers like a seal. But there was someone missing; Sonic counted heads several times before he realized who it was. "Where's Chimera?"

He looked at the orange chao who had run up with the rest. "Don't look at me," he said. "My name's Sam. I'm Max's friend."

"He's over there," said Velocity, pointing to the black chao who was playing with lockblocks with his back to them. Sonic walked up to him, noticing that all the chao but Velocity hung back. Velocity looked uncertain. "Be careful, Sonic. He hasn't been happy lately ..."

Sonic knelt beside the black chao, who looked up at him with hatred. His red fur had turned a rusty black, and the horns on his head had twisted into strange shapes. He bared his teeth, which were long and sharp, like a wolf's. "Hello, Sonic," hissed Chimera. "I hope you die."

Sonic backed away, stunned. Velocity looked pained, and tugged at his master's hand. "Come over here now, Sonic."

Chimera gave the blue chao a poisonous glare. "I hope you die, too." He returned to his blocks as Sonic walked back to the other chao, who were watching with wide eyes. "What happened to him?" he murmured.

The chao led him to a bench, made him sit down, and gathered around his feet. Velocity climbed up to sit beside him.

"We don't know what happened," said Pilot, a purple Nights chao.

"Yeah," Elleno added, looking like a downcast copy of Serena. "He was okay when we got here. He was homesick, but we all were."

"Then he started brooding," said Zinc in his clear voice. "He didn't play anymore. The scientists who study us said it--what was it?"

"A maladjustment metamorphosis," said Chalcon. The education Slasher had given him had not been in vain. "That means he was changing to fit his environment, but in a bad way."

"Eventually he turned black, and his spikes got all twisty," said Pilot. "He hates everybody now."

"Especially me," said Max mournfully, holding up a bandaged flipper.

"He got so mean he stopped doing tests," said Velocity. "He bit the scientists too much."

"Tests?" said Sonic. "What do you mean? Do they give you injections or something?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," said Pilot, ever the talkative one. "First they were real easy. We'd have to press colored buttons to open certain doors in a maze. Then they taught us our letters--but we already knew how to read, anyway--so they gave us comprehension tests."

"Those were fun," said Zinc, his black eyes sparkling at the memory. "They'd hide candy somewhere in the garden, and give us a riddle to figure out. It was like a treasure hunt."

"Chalcon was the best at those," said Pilot. "Then they started the physical tests. But those aren't really tests. Back behind this place is a race course, and we team up against chao from the other gardens." She displayed a small gold medal taped to her purple chest. "I'm best at the flying course."

"Chimera and I are best at climbing," said Zinc, "but he won't do it anymore. If they make him, he sits down and forfeits the race."

"Guess what I'm best at," said Velocity, grinning and showing Sonic his badge.

"Hey, I outran you once," said Elleno, looking indignant.

"Only because I tripped," retorted Velocity.

The chao recounted their favorite races, described other chao they had met, and bragged about their wins. Chalcon, the Chaos chao, kept to himself, but the others mentioned his wins so much that Sonic sensed that Chalcon was the most powerful. He had won the most races, he had the highest I/Q, and he was the biggest. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he had evolved twice.

An hour passed, and one by one the other chao wandered off to play. Velocity was left alone with Sonic. "Did you bring my emerald?" the chao asked in a hushed voice.

"You bet I did," Sonic whispered. "I also brought a fake one to try out on you. Can I take you out of the garden?"

"Yes, but not now," said Velocity, glancing at the large clock on the guardhouse. "We're only allowed outside the garden between noon and six PM. C'mon, I'll show you the others."

Sonic was introduced to three chao; two blue ones and a pink one whose topknots were either twisted into corkscrews or split in the middle. The had been born and raised in the gardens. "Where's Magi?" Velocity asked them.

A blue chao named Rusty pointed to the far end of the garden. "Over there, in the corner. He's sunning himself."

Velocity led Sonic to the corner, where a snow-white chao was lying on the grass. He sat up as they approached and turned milky eyes in their direction. "Hello Velocity," he said. "Who is that with you?"

"This is Sonic, my hedgehog friend," said Velocity. "Sonic, this is Magi."

Sonic stroked the white chao's head. His fur was coarse, and there were heavy wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. He had once been blue, but had turned white with age. Magi took Sonic's hand in his paws. "I am pleased to meet you, Sonic. Few strangers are interested in old, blind chao."

"How old are you?" Sonic asked, staring.

"I am many years old," replied Magi. "I have regressed and rehatched three times in my life. The next time I enter otiae, it will be in death. But that time is still a little way off. Tell me about yourself."

Sonic explained that he was a Freedom Fighter, and told about raising Velocity. Magi listened, rocking back and forth a little. When Sonic finished, the old chao sighed and said, "I had a master too, once, many years ago. That was before the Chao Company came along, and we were raised by humans in their homes. It was better then." He lapsed into silence, his sightless eyes staring into the distance. Velocity nudged Sonic's knee. "Let's leave him alone now."

The sun was growing warm, so Sonic sat down on the grass under the trees. At noon he would take Velocity out to lunch, and they would try out the emeralds, maybe on the Speed Highway. Velos would like that. The dark blue chao stretched out beside his master, and Sonic stroked him, watching the other chao play. It was peaceful, with only the splash of the fountain and the murmur of the chao to break the silence. Sonic leaned against the cool stucco wall of the yard and dozed.

When he opened his eyes again, he was startled to see that someone else had entered the garden--a burly black hedgehog with red-tipped spines and a sour expression. The stranger glared around the garden until he saw Sonic. The two exchanged a long glance, then the stranger turned his back. Sonic and Velocity watched him take a seat in the shade across the yard. "Who's he?" Sonic whispered. "He doesn't look friendly."

"He's not," Velocity replied softly. "He's been here before--he jumps the wall. He's so quiet Pip hasn't noticed him."

They watched the newcomer a few minutes. The black hedgehog sat absolutely still, chin on his knees.

A dark grey chao bounced up to the stranger and gazed at him. "Oh no," whispered Velocity. "That's Nox. That guy hurt him last time."

"How?"

"You see his shoes? They have jets in the bottoms, and he flashed Nox with them. I can't understand why Nox still likes him."

The black hedgehog scowled at the chao, pushed it away, and looked the other direction. The chao returned and nuzzled his arm.

"What a jerk," whispered Sonic.

"Nox only otiaed yesterday," said Velocity. "He looks like that hedgehog guy, except his hair is orange, not red."

They watched as the hedgehog glanced at the chao, then looked away and furtively patted its head.

Sonic smirked. "Even jerks like chao."

Chimera, too, had noticed the newcomer. He gazed at him through slitted eyes, then stood up and paced toward him. The hedgehog watched him without expression. Chimera spoke, and the hedgehog replied with a flash of teeth. A second later Chimera reeled backward, and the hedgehog withdrew his foot.

"He flashed him!" exclaimed Sonic. Outraged, he jumped up and stalked toward the black hedgehog, who gave him a cold stare.

"What did you do that for?" Sonic snarled. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"He exists," said the black hedgehog through his teeth, pronouncing each word clearly. "Leave me alone."

Sonic turned to Chimera, who was holding his face in obvious pain. "Are you okay?"

Chimera looked up and bared his teeth to the roots. "Yes. And he's cooler than you."

Sonic glanced defiantly at the black hedgehog, then stepped to the guardhouse and knocked on the window. "Pip--" The bat's questioning face appeared. Sonic looked around for the intruder, but he had vanished. "Did you know where was somebody else in here?"

Pip looked around the garden. "There was? Who?"

"Some black hedgehog," said Sonic, eying Nox, who was staring at the wall. "I think he jumped the fence when he saw me come over here."

"That's not good," said Pip. "I'd better tell somebody. Did you want anything else?"

"Yeah, permission to take Velocity out for the afternoon."

"Go ahead," said Pip, opening the gate. "Tell Flameheart at the front desk to stamp your hands."

Flameheart was a fiery red chao, who had replaced the receptionist of that morning. "Hey!" he said as Sonic and Velocity walked up. "I know you, Velocity. You beat me last race."

"Maybe you should have run faster," Velocity smirked. "I won fair and square."

"Yeah, well," said the chao, digging out an inkpad and a stamp. He stamped their hands and waved them out. "I got receptionist duty, unlike some!" he yelled after them.

"All firechao are like that," said Velocity as Sonic carried him outside. "Flameheart's a good sport, though."

Sonic sat the indigo chao on the sidewalk, opened his backpack, and withdrew the two chaos emeralds. "Try the fake one first," he said. Velocity took it and sank his teeth into the glowing gem. His chao body grew into a blue cheetah with a steel helmet and jets in his shoulders. "Feels fine to me," said the cat, stretching. "Man, I forgot what large form feels like!"

"Race you to the Speed Highway," Sonic smiled.

In a trice they were gone, a faint cloud of dust in their wake.

Chapter 3 - Rouge

______________________________________________________________________

Lava Reef was in the heart of the Floating Island, a honeycomb of caverns, tunnels, crystals and lava lakes far underground. The age-old pumps circulated the molten rock through the caves, feeding the crystal growths with heat and moisture. It was dangerous, hot, and beautiful.

Two small figures ran in and out of the main cavern, laughing and shouting. One was a brown and black anteater, and the other was a bee wearing flight goggles. They both held large gold rings, which were connected with a sparkling gold energy spring. The two were the youngest members of the Chaotix, Charmy Bee and Talon.

They hurled each other through the tunnels, leaping pools of bubbling lava, swinging irreverently around stone pillars, and laughing all the while. They had invented a game like a cross between tag and keepaway, in which the chaser and chased were linked together with the Chaos ring's spring. Neither could drop their rings in their attempts to catch the other. They always played in Lava Reef, for the dangers it presented made the game much more exciting.

Besides, Knuckles expressly forbade it.

Gasping, the two threw themselves down beside a small pool of water in the main cavern floor, and drank. "So," panted Charmy, "I'm two points ahead." He wiped his mouth and pushed his goggles up on his forehead.

Talon laid his ring down and soaked his hot hands in the pool. "That sounds right. You got me in the dead end, and when I tripped over the crystal cluster." The anteater wiped his hands on his legs, then examined the claws that gave him his name. "I'll be It next. Can we play in here now?"

"You mean fly?" asked Charmy, delighted. "Sure!"

The two agreed on which tunnels were out of bounds, and which moves were illegal. Then Charmy sprang into the air, his wings a mist. Talon muttered, "Chaos activated," and the soles of his shoes lit with red and green light. The two rose ten feet in the air. "Ready, set," said Talon, then hesitated. "Charmy, who's that?"

The bee followed his gaze, and saw someone moving at the far end of the huge cavern. The two dropped to the floor. "I don't know who that is," whispered Charmy.

Talon squinted, gripping his ring with both hands. "I can't tell who it is. Should we tell Knuckles?"

"Let's see who it is first," Charmy replied. "It might be Espio trying to scare us."

The two placed their rings on the floor, rose into the air again and crossed the mile-wide cavern, keeping close to the ceiling.

"It's a bat," whispered Charmy, as the two hovered behind the top of a pillar, "with white fur."

Talon peered around the pillar. "Oh, I know who that is," he whispered, looking disgusted. "We met her on Carnival Island. She's a treasure hunter or something." They watched as the bat climbed a pile of rubble to investigate an opening in the wall.

"Talon," hissed Charmy, "that's the door to the Hidden Palace!"

The anteater and bee exchanged a horrified glance, then dove for the bat.

She smiled up at them, and whisked into the passage an instant before they reached her. Talon and Charmy landed and raced after her, Talon ducking his head to avoid the low ceiling. "What do we do?" whispered Talon. "There's no time to signal Knuckles!"

"We'll tackle her and drag her to a teleporter," Charmy whispered back. "I'll sting her if she fights."

They careened around a corner and emerged in the cool green light of the Hidden Palace. Before them, reflected in the marble floor, were the seven super emeralds and the giant Master Emerald in it's bed of seed crystals.

The bat was standing among the glowing gems, gazing at them shrewdly and unbuckling an object from her wrist. She strode toward the Master Emerald.

"She's going to steal it!" exclaimed Talon, dashing toward the thief.

Charmy buzzed after him, panicking. "Lady! Don't touch that!"

One of the bat's enormous ears flicked, but she didn't turn. She stepped up on the pedestal and began fitting four wires to the sides of the Master Emerald, hands moving with swift precision. "Not the Master Emerald!" Talon cried, running up and grabbing at the bat's equipment. He was too late. The gem shrank to the size of a marble under the power of the containment module, and the bat snatched up the gizmo and the emerald. She turned on her attacker, and one of her steel-studded boots knocked Talon to the floor. "You don't understand," he gasped as she strode by him. "Charmy--"

The bee dove headlong at the intruder, but she spun and dealt him a kick that knocked him into the violet super emerald's pedestal. He slumped to the floor, dazed.

Talon sat up, staring after the bat entreatingly. "Please lady, give it back!"

She tossed him a contemptuous glance from under her heavily-made-up eyelids. "Who's going to make me? You?" She trotted out of the cavern into the chamber with the crystal teleporter.

Talon dragged himself to his feet, ribs smarting. "You don't understand!" he yelled. "If you take it the island will crash!" He had reached the word "island" when the teleporter flashed to life, and the bat vanished.

At once the Floating Island shuddered and tilted. Talon moaned and dashed to Charmy, who was stirring. "Did she get away?" the bee mumbled, blinking at Talon.

"Yeah," Talon replied, bracing himself against the emerald pedestal. "Hold on to something."

The shock of the island striking the ocean sent them to the floor, and rocks fell from the ceiling. All around them the stone was groaning from the stress, shifting and breaking. It was far worse than an earthquake. The super emeralds dimmed as their power was exerted to stabilize the rocking island, and slowly the noise and motion subsided. Talon and Charmy continued to cling to the violet emerald's pedestal, terrified.

That was how Knuckles found them five minutes later.

"He's not coming?" asked Slasher in disbelief.

The velociraptor had surprised the six chao owners with the garden passes earlier, and they were preparing to leave, shouldering backpacks and duffelbags. A hovercar, rented in Riverbase, was loaded and waiting when Talon moped into the village, head hanging. He explained briefly about the theft of the Master Emerald, and relayed the information that Knuckles was postponing the chao visit. "He's tracking down the thief," said the anteater, staring at his shoes. "He said he'll be along once he catches her, though."

Slasher looked disappointed and worried. "Maybe we should wait," she murmured, gazing at the hovercar.

"Wait?" exclaimed Tails, who had overheard. "But I wanted to show Sonic the Cyclone! Can't we go without Knuckles?" The fox caressed the side of his newest experiment in transforming machines, the Cyclone. It was currently in walker mode, but it could transform into a plane or a car with the press of a button. It had been in various stages of construction for months, and Tails had not had a chance to show Sonic the finished product.

Talon ogled the Cyclone. "You built that?"

Serena and Zephyer sensed something was wrong and approached. "Where's Knuckles? What's wrong?" asked Zephyer, the robotized echidna.

Slasher repeated what Talon had told her. The girls looked crestfallen. "We'll have to wait, it's the only thing to do," said Serena despairingly. "Poor Chimera. What would he think if Knuckles didn't come?"

"We should go," said Tails stubbornly, his tails lashing his legs. "It might take weeks for Knux to catch that girl, and by then our passes will have expired."

Slasher wavered, undecided. She wanted to see her chao again, yet she wanted to be fair. She gazed at the sheaf of passes in her claws, then heaved a sigh. "We'll go. Chimera will understand."

"Go where?" Amy Rose bounced up, cute and cheerful. Serena and Zephyer gave her a disgusted look behind her back.

"Sapphire City," said Slasher, beaming them a look that said, "Be nice." "We're going to see our chao."

"Ooo, can I go, too?" Amy squealed, clapping her hands. "I love chao! And I can go shopping, too! Let me ask my mom!" She dashed away.

Serena and Zephyer looked at Tails and Talon. "Please say no, please say no," muttered Tails, who shared Sonic's opinion of boy-crazy girls.

Even Slasher looked pained when Amy returned, bright-eyed and panting, toting a large handbag. "She said I could go! Won't this be fun?" She burst into shrill, excited giggles. Tails and Talon turned their backs and rolled their eyes at each other. Serena and Zephyer looked as if they smelled something foul, and Slasher forced a smile that was nothing more than baring her teeth. "We're glad you could come, Amy. Put your bag in the car, we'll be leaving soon." She glared at the other four, who claimed they were glad to have Amy along in half-hearted tones.

"This is gonna be a long ride," Serena whispered to Tails. "Why don't you take Talon in the Cyclone? When we get there, you'll still be sane."

"Good idea," Tails whispered back, and beckoned to Talon.

Zephyer watched longingly as they two climbed into the little blue ship. "This is going to be a long ride."

Knuckles glided high above the ground, eyes narrowed against the sun, steel shovelclaws glinting on his fists, and a smouldering rage in his heart. The Master Emerald had been stolen once before by Robotnik, who had used it to power the Death Egg. Then, scarcely two years previous, it had been smashed to pieces by Chaos, a water monster who had been sealed inside it. Since then Knuckles had studied methods of protecting the Master Emerald. All he had to do was come within earshot of the thief, and he could use any number of commands to get it away from her.

He caught an updraft and glided on as the ground below faded from green to the yellow of desert sand. His emerald-sense was leading him out there. Why would a thief enter the Samo desert, the hottest place in West Mobius? Perhaps it was where she would meet her buyer. He ground his teeth and willed himself to travel faster. The heat rising off the desert was enough to keep him aloft for miles.

The Blue Mountains were fading from view in the west when he saw a red rift in the yellow ahead. As he drew nearer, he saw it was a wide canyon. He smelled water and green plants--it must be an oasis. The emerald signal was growing stronger. Yes, the little thief must be there. If he worked fast, he might be able to see Chimera this evening.

He circled the canyon, trying to pinpoint the emerald's location. As he did, he noticed a triangular shape on the horizon--a single pyramid. How strange. He returned his attention to the canyon floor. He couldn't see her, but he knew she was down there, perhaps under the wall in the shade. He spiraled to the ground and landed.

Standing under the overhang of a cliff was the white bat, watching him with hands on her hips. Knuckles stalked toward her, making sure she saw his steel shovel-claws. "Give it back."

She flicked a grain of sand from her elbow-length white gloves and batted her eyelashes. "You don't know when to give up, do you?"

The emerald signal was very strong. His eyes rested on the black box strapped to her left wrist. "It's mine. You have no idea what it can do."

The bat moved into the open, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "All the jewels in the world belong to me, echidna. Why don't you let it go? You have plenty more on that island of yours."

Steel claws slashed and a steel-tipped boot lashed out. The bat clutched her wrist, which was bleeding from two cuts in her leather glove. Knuckles looked in disbelief at the crescent-shaped cut on his upper arm, then both of them looked down at the containment module lying on the rocks, the open lid emitting a green glow.

Knuckles reached it first. He backhanded the bat in the nose, and tore the Master Emerald from its containing wires. It returned to the size of a small boulder, and clunked to the ground.

The two faced each other over the emerald, oblivious to everything but their conflict, panting and smarting. "Not bad, echidna," said the bat, her earlier composure in shambles. "I'd like to know how you plan to move it now." She picked up the containment module, indicated the broken wires, and tossed it aside.

"It's called the Master Emerald," snarled Knuckles. "It controls the power of the chaos emeralds. I assume you've heard of them?"

"Who hasn't?" she said with a toss of her head. "I'm Rouge the Bat, expert treasure hunter."

Suddenly a shadow fell over them, and a great bronze clamp dropped and closed on the Master Emerald. Speechless, the two saw Dr. Robotnik in his hovercraft, which began to retract the clamp's cable, lifting the emerald.

Rouge found her voice first. "Thief!" she screeched.

Knuckles glanced at her, regaining his cool. "Look who's talking." He called, "Hey Doc, taking my emerald again?"

Robotnik sneered over the edge of the hovercraft. "Let's just say that someone has need of it."

"I don't think so, Eggman," said Knuckles, and yelled a sentence in Old Mobian.

The Master Emerald shattered into glittering fragments, which flew in all directions. The hovercraft lurched as its load vanished, and Robotnik hissed a curse at Knuckles in a similar language before flying away in a huff. Rouge's reaction, however, was more violent. She seized Knuckles by the neck and shook him. "Look what you did to my emerald!"

She was strong, but Knuckles was stronger. He grabbed her hands and forced them apart, glaring into her eyes, which were almost as furious as his own. He shoved her away, stooped and picked up a glittering shard from the sand. "Not much use to you now, is it, bat girl?" he said, holding up the fragment.

Rouge looked sulky. "You think you've won this time, echidna? Just you wait." She turned and dashed away down the ravine.

"Gee, that was original!" Knuckles yelled after her. He was feeling better. The Master Emerald would have distributed itself over five square miles, and it wouldn't be difficult to find them. "Don't worry, Chimera, I'll be there tomorrow," he said aloud, and set off in search of fragments.

Sonic had no idea what was happening elsewhere. He and Velocity the cheetah had run around Sapphire City, travelled the Speed Highway, and stopped for lunch at a fast food restaurant. Velocity had returned to chao size, saying he didn't reckon they would admit a rocket-powered cheetah.

The two sat in a corner booth and feasted on greasy fries, greasy cheeseburgers, and syrupy fountain drinks. Between bites, Sonic updated his chao on everything that had happened in the village since the chao had left. Velocity reciprocated with tales of chao races and adventures in the gardens. Neither thought to leave until the manager asked sarcastically whether they wanted to order dinner.

"What a grouch," said Sonic as they left the restaurant. He glanced at the railing of the steps leading to the sidewalk, jumped on it and ground it with his soapshoes.

"Bravo!" Velocity applauded as Sonic landed at the bottom. "Can I have my emerald back now?"

Sonic pulled the emeralds out of his backpack and looked them over for the tape. It was gone. "Velos, did one of these have tape on it?"

"Yeah," said the chao. "I peeled it off because it tasted funny."

Sonic stared hopelessly at the identical blue emeralds. "Velos, that was so I could tell which was the fake one!"

"Oh." Velocity peered at the gems. "Just give me one. The fake one worked good enough."

A cheetah once more, Velocity followed Sonic at a lope along the sidewalk toward the ocean. "See, there's Station Square," said the hedgehog, pointing to a square separating a train station from the sea. "There used to be a hotel over there called the Sunset Resort. It was the first place I ever saw a chao." The hedgehog stopped and gazed at it for a long moment, lost in thought.

Velocity sharpened his claws on a tree growing in the margin of the sidewalk, sat on his haunches and curled his tail around his paws, then pricked up his ears. The black hedgehog from the chao garden was skating up the street, bent double and jetting from behind one parked car to another. Velocity watched him whip into Station Square and out of sight in the parking garage next door to the station. The chao found this odd until he heard sirens.

Sonic looked around. "Ooo, this is weird. Do you hear the sirens?"

"Yep," said Velocity, the tip of his tail twitching. He didn't like loud noises.

"That's how I met Chaos," said Sonic nostalgically, stroking the cheetah's fur behind his helmet. "I followed the sirens."

Half a dozen black and white cars whipped around the corner and flooded the square. They were accompanies by humanoid robots toting plasma rifles and riot shields, who took up defensive positions around the cars.

"Who are they after?" asked Sonic with interest.

"That black hedgehog ran by a second ago," replied Velocity. "I knew I didn't like him."

Suddenly one of the robots pointed in their direction. The robots strode toward them, backed by men in dark red with GUN emblazoned on their backs. Sonic looked around. "Is that black dude over here?"

"Uh, Sonic," said Velocity, rising to his feet, "I think they're pointing at us."

Chapter 4 - Framed!

______________________________________________________________________

"Flat on the ground! Hands above your head!" a human with a megaphone bellowed at Sonic.

The hedgehog's fingers curled into Velocity's scruff, and he backed away. "They're kidding, right?"

"Afraid not, Sonic," said the cheetah. "They think you're that black hedgehog."

Sonic bristled. "I saved them from Perfect Chaos! They can't do this! Run, Velos!"

Sonic bolted, which was the wrong move. A net fired by one of the robots dropped over him, clinging to his fur like glue. He stumbled and tried to pull away the strands, but the stuck to him. He heard Velocity hiss and the clang of a robot hitting the ground. "Catch the cat!" he heard one of the men yell.

"Don't hurt him!" Sonic yelped. "He's just a chao! Velocity, leave them alone!"

He was jerked to his feet and saw fifteen assorted weapons pointed at him, polished, oiled and deadly. The men yanked his hands behind his back and cuffed him through the net. "You have the right to remain silent," said one of the humans, "but that's all. You're going back to prison."

"Prison?" Sonic cried.

They marched him down the street and around the corner, where a GUN helicopter had landed in the street, obstructing traffic. Two guard robots and a human climbed in and secured Sonic's handcuffs to a seat with a short chain. "Look, you've got the wrong hedgehog," he said as they slammed the door and the rotors began to turn. "I'm Sonic! You know, the guy who saved Sapphire City from Perfect Chaos?"

"I don't care who you say you are," said the human, who looked grim beneath his helmet. "You're under arrest. I'd come quietly if I were you."

Velocity watched the helicopter fly away, his green eyes bulging with horror. The men had left him alone after Sonic had said he was a chao, and Velocity had stopped attacking when Sonic called him off. The police didn't know what to do with him, so they left him there.

He was stunned. Sonic had been taken from him.

A seagull flew over, and waves lapped at the beach. People appeared in the square again, looking curious, but none bothered the blue cheetah.

Velocity still stood there, numbed, unable to think of what to do next.

"A fine example of chao loyalty."

Velocity looked around and saw the black hedgehog standing beside him, a cruel smile curling his upper lip. Velocity arched his back and hissed. "Stay away! They were looking for you!"

The black hedgehog merely stared at him. "I could kill you in an instant, chao. But I need information."

Velocity didn't relax the hump in his back. "Like what?"

The hedgehog's eyes travelled over the cheetah, lingering on the rockets in his shoulders. "How does a chao transform like you?"

"Use a chaos emerald," snapped Velocity. "Everybody knows that."

"So, YOU have a chaos emerald?" said the hedgehog, eyes half-closing.

"No, I have an artificial one," said Velocity. "The real one was in Sonic's backpack."

The hedgehog gazed after the helicopter. "They'll probably take it from him," he muttered. He glanced at Velocity and said, "I've decided not to kill you." In half a second he was two blocks away and running.

In another half a second, so was Velocity.

"This is really cool," Talon called against the wind in his face. "Did you build it yourself?"

"Yeah," Tails replied, turning his head to let his voice carry over his shoulder. "I designed it, too. Rotor helped some."

The Cyclone strode along the highway between Riverbase and Sapphire City, moving with a smooth rocking motion, following the hovercar in the distance. Its blue and orange paint glinted in the sun. Tails kept one hand on the flight yoke, and rested his elbow on the edge of the cockpit. Talon was seated behind him in the copilot's seat, which usually remained hidden between Tails's seat and the tailfin. The Cyclone was expandable, an option Tails had added after considering the unprotected gunner position of the Tornado.

Talon had rode for an hour without speaking, too shy to break the silence. Tails was growing homesick for Sonic's comfortable chatter, when at last the anteater spoke.

"What else can it do?"

"It can turn into a car and a plane," said Tails, his heart swelling with pride. "I'm working on making a boat, too."

It was a moment before Talon ventured, "So ... why don't we fly ahead?"

The walker, while fun to ride, was anything but fast. When Tails pushed it to a jog, the seesaw motion made both passengers seasick.

"It wouldn't be fair, would it?" said Tails, checking their arrival time anyway. At their current speed of thirty miles an hour, not until late that afternoon. "Besides, we'd have to fly all the way to Mystic Ruins to land. They don't allow Mobian aircraft to land at the airport."

Talon didn't speak again for a while, and Tails wondered if he had somehow offended him. The fox made another stab at conversation. "You ever been to Sapphire City?"

"No," Talon replied. There was a long pause, and Tails was searching his mind for something else to talk about when Talon continued, "My uncle used to work there. He worked with a bunch of scientists on some project, but it was shut down, so he came home and built Kardot."

"Did you like him?" Tails asked.

"Not really," said Talon with a note of despair. "He was nice, but he never paid attention."

Neither spoke for a while. Tails watched the rear of the hovercar, and the silhouettes of the passengers. Amy stood up momentarily. Tails smirked and felt glad he was in the peace and quiet of the Cyclone.

Talon must have seen Amy, too, because he said, "Does Amy annoy you?"

"Bigtime," Tails replied. "She's only gotten worse since they moved to Knothole. Sonic's too polite to give her the good kick she deserves."

"I don't know," said Talon, almost too softly for Tails to hear. "Maybe she's lonely."

"What, you LIKE her?" Tails exclaimed, looking back.

Talon looked thoughtful. "I can't say I like her, but I pity her. She has no friends, and her parents are always trying to get her out of the house."

"Can you blame them?" said Tails. "If I was her brother I'd put myself up for adoption." He looked back at Talon again and found the anteater staring into the distance with his chin in his hand. "Tal?" said Tails.

Talon jumped and glared at him. "Don't call me Tal. Okay?"

"But that's what Knuckles calls you," said Tails, confused at the sudden show of emotion from the dry anteater.

"Knuckles is the only one allowed to," said Talon icily.

Silence descended on the pair, broken only by the rhythmic clunking of the Cyclone's feet. Tails was thinking that he had misjudged Talon, somehow overlooking the fact that he was a jerk, when Talon spoke again. "Sorry," he said quietly. "If I tell you why I don't like it, you won't tell anybody, will you?"

"Promise," said Tails, his hurt feelings reviving a bit.

"Well ..." Talon fumbled for words. "My Dad always called me Tal. Then after he died and I went to live with my cousins, that's what they called me. But they made it sound mean. I don't like being called it anymore."

"But you let Knux do it," said Tails.

Talon was quiet a moment, then said, "Knuckles is a lot like my dad was." A moment later he added, "Don't tell anybody. I feel like a sissy telling you."

"Of course not," said Tails warmly. "A promise is a promise, right?"

From that moment on they were friends.

The day wore into afternoon, and the Samo desert was living up to its reputation. Rouge wiped the sweat from her face and fanned herself with a large leaf. She had stayed close to the oasis, for travelling the desert in the day was dangerous, especially in midsummer.

She had tried to find Master emerald shards herself, but as she was limited to searching by sight only, she had only located one. But she had watched the echidna from the canyon rim, and with amazement saw him collect half a dozen shards, homing in on them as if he had radar. She was fairly certain he was carrying no electronic devices. Well, she would keep an eye on him.

Rouge knelt and filled her canteen in the spring that fed the oasis. She glanced at the foliage around her to make sure she was alone, then stripped off her torn glove and bathed her wrist. The echidna's claws had missed her wing membrane, but it would hurt to fly. She flexed her wing a few times, then pulled her glove back over her hand and arm. It clipped on just shy of her wing membrane, made specially for Mobian bats who preferred to wear stylish clothes.

She was rubbing the cuts when she saw a glittering green fragment just under the rippling water. She delicately removed her glove again and picked up the shard, allowing a smile to bare her pointed teeth. It was bigger than her fist, and recut would bring a nice price, if she could contact Blythe. She tucked it into a pouch on her belt with the other shard, pushed her way out of the bushes, and fluttered to the edge of the canyon for a look around.

The echidna was nowhere in sight, and her keen hearing picked up no sound. Rouge squinted at the heatwaves rippling on the horizon. Perhaps he had left. If so, he was a bigger fool than she had taken him for.

Her gaze fell on the same pyramid Knuckles had noticed earlier. She remembered the human in the hovercraft ... "Eggman" ... "Doctor Robotnik," she murmured. He had flown away in the direction of the pyramid. Of course, once he had lost Final Egg to the biotics, he had had to move on. Although the echidna was interesting, Dr. Robotnik and his actions were more interesting. Perhaps she could find out why he had broken into GUN headquarters, and where the creature was now.

The bat spread her leathery wings and flew into the scorching desert heat.

A hovercar and a small bipedal mech pulled up in the parking lot of a sky-blue building, the Chao Co. Tails and Talon vaulted from the Cyclone, looking excited.

The doors of the hovercar opened, and Slasher, Zephyer and Serena stepped onto the sidewalk, all with grim expressions. Amy tumbled out after them, hyperactive and giggly from four hours in the car. "Goody, we're here!" she squealed, dashing for the front doors. "Let's go, everybody!"

"Slasher, can you please maul her?" whispered Serena.

"No," Slasher whispered back. "I'm on a hedgehog-free diet."

"Besides, what would the chao think?" said Tails, who had had a pleasant ride and was in good spirits.

They trooped into the lobby, lit with yellow afternoon sunlight, and were met by a whoop from the red chao at the front desk. "Good grief, we're being invaded!"

They gave Flameheart their passes, as surprised as Sonic to be checked in by a chao. "Was there a blue hedgehog here earlier?" asked Slasher.

"Yup," said Flameheart. "He took his chao out to lunch. They should be back by sundown." He gave Amy a disapproving stare. "Where's your pass?"

The smile faded from Amy's face as she looked at Slasher, but the big raptor produced several soft bills from the bag hanging around her neck and bought her a pass.

Zephyer pushed back her dreadlocks and whispered to Tails, "I was hoping they wouldn't let her in."

Flameheart directed them to Garden 3, and Pip the Bat greeted them with a grin and a wave. "Did you come with Sonic?" she asked as she filed their passes. "Of course you did, you all came on the same day. You can go in now," she added, opening the gate.

The chao went berserk. If their joy at seeing Sonic had been intense, it was multiplied a thousandfold by seeing their masters and mistresses step into the garden. For a quarter of an hour the grassy yard rang with shrill chao voices and the laughter of their owners.

Zinc showed off his claws and silver coat to Zephyer. Chalcon climbed up on Slasher's back, and from his vantagepoint between her wings, told her all about the gardens. Max flipped and splashed in the fountain to show Talon how well he could swim. Elleno led Serena around the garden, introducing her to the other chao. Pilot showed Tails a low spot in the wall where she had once flown out, and detailed the adventures that followed. Amy went off by herself to play with the other chao, much to the relief of the rest--the chao didn't care how much she squealed and giggled, as long as she gave them attention. Even Magi enjoyed her.

The only unhappy chao was Chimera. He had run to the gate with the rest, looking for Knuckles. But Knuckles was not there, and the others paid no attention to him. The little chao stood alone on the grass, lost in anguished disappointment. Knuckles didn't want him anymore. Maybe he had another chao to follow him around the Floating Island. Chimera curled up in the furthest corner of the garden, face to the wall, his color of black deepening several shades. He wouldn't even speak to Nox, the only other black firechao in the garden.

Pip left her guardhouse and approached Slasher, a notepad and pencil in her hands. "Could I interview you?" she asked. "I'm trying to get a reporting job with the Crystal Clarion, and they told me I need to work on my skills before they'll hire me."

"Oh, so you need a story," said Slasher, tapping one toe-claw against the grass. "Okay, start interviewing."

Pip had no sooner opened her mouth than the gate crashed open, and Velocity the cheetah bounded in. His fur was soaking wet, and his shoulder-jets were pouring black smoke. "Guys!" he gasped. "Boy, am I glad to see you!" He flopped on his side and lay panting. The other chao ran to him, as did their owners.

Slasher motioned to the cat. "Pip, I think a story just walked in the door."

The bat walked up to Velocity, putting on what she thought was the look of a hard-nosed reporter. "Tell me who you are, what you're doing, when you did it, where it happened, and how you pulled it off."

"She needs to work on her reporting skills, all right," Chalcon whispered to Slasher.

"Velocity, running for my life, this afternoon, Station Square, I don't know!" gasped the cat. "Sonic was mistaken for this criminal hedgehog, and they dragged him away. Then the black hedgehog threatened to kill me. I ran back down here, but I fell in a canal and almost drowned and we have to save Sonic!"

"Sonic was arrested?" Serena gasped, her thoughts flying to her dreams of a black hedgehog.

Pip was scribbling on her notepad. "Was there a chase? Gunplay?"

"A helicopter," panted Velocity, lifting his head. "They put him in a chopper and flew off."

"They chopped him up, got it," said Pip, writing furiously.

Velocity looked at her, noticing her for the first time. "What are you doing?"

"Reporting," said Slasher, taking charge. "Tails, where's the airport?"

"To the south, but they won't take him there," said Tails, who knew how Sapphire City looked from the air. "They'll haul him off to Prison Island in the bay. That's where the law enforcement people are."

Slasher fixed on eye on Pip. "Are the chao allowed to leave the garden?"

Pip checked her watch. "Yeah, but they're due back by six."

The big raptor looked at the chao on her back. "Time for a brainstorm, Chalcon. Everybody, into the lobby." Slasher led the way, claws clicking on the pavement. The chao and owners followed, looking scared and excited.

"It's just like old times!" Pilot whispered to Tails with a flutter of her wings.

Chapter 5 - The Radical Speed Highway

_____________________________________________________________________

Sonic peered at the interior of the helicopter through the fibers of the net draped over him. The human and two robot guards were keeping a wary eye on him, weapons held ready. Prison. The thought terrified him. The idea of being locked in a cage made his stomach wrench, even more than any of the life-threatening adventures he had had. Sonic had always been free to run where he wanted, but in a cement cell, with no room to run--seeing the days pass and the seasons change while remaining a prisoner--

He had to escape somehow.

Sonic's eyes roamed the inside of the helicopter. There was a sliding door across from him, the locks holding it shut. He didn't care about flattening the robots, but attacking a human was different. Sonic hated to think what might happen to a human if subjected to a spindash.

He groped about behind his back, seeking something that might help him. He found nothing except the chain binding his cuffs to the chair, but his searching fingers encountered the gold bracelet Knuckles had given him, hidden under the cuff of his glove. Sonic had forgotten about it. Hadn't Knuckles called it a gadget? What did it do?

He stroked its red stone and felt it grow hot. All right, it acted like Slasher's whistle! He maneuvered it around so the stone touched one of his handcuffs, and felt the metal grow hot. After a moment he gave it a tug and felt the metal bend.

Sonic's spindash was a surprise to himself and his guards, for as he shot across the compartment, the air around his spines ignited, setting fire to the net. He landed on his feet and tried to pull it off, but the threads clung to him like a cobweb. Panicking as he felt his fur scorching, Sonic spindashed wildly around the cabin, trying to shake off the net. Each time he spindashed, the air around him caught fire. He tore through both robots and struck the human guard a glancing blow, sending him to the floor in a senseless heap. Sonic paid no attention. The cabin was filled with smoke, and the stench of burning plastic and singed hedgehog.

Sonic at last escaped the net and dove for the door. He turned two heavy locks and heaved the door open. Sweet summer wind fanned his face, sweeping the smoke out of the helicopter. To his left was the short wing with missiles under it, and in front of him was nothing at all. The spinning blades chopped the sky above him, and the noise of the engine made him wince.

Sonic jumped for the wing. Behind him, he heard the pilot yell through the intercom, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm tired of flying third class!" Sonic yelled back, clinging to the wing and wondering how to reach the ground without becoming a smear. He glanced at the panels of the wing, and noticed one that was loose at one end. He dug his fingernails under it and wrenched it up, screws popping in all directions. "Yes, a hanglider!" he said, lifting the lightweight aluminum above his head. It was eight feet long and two feet wide. He gripped it by either side and leaped into the free wind.

It was closer to a freefall than Sonic liked to admit. He plummeted toward the streets of Sapphire City, the plate only catching the wind now and then. The last hundred feet he slowed down enough to land without hurting himself, and landed in someone's backyard. He lay on the lawn, gasping and staring up at the clean blue sky. He had made it. He had escaped.

Sonic didn't miss his backpack until he was standing on the next street, wishing for a map. They had taken it from him before chaining him in the helicopter, and now the blue chaos emerald was in GUN's hands. Would they know what it was? Sonic shook his head at his own stupidity. Why hadn't he grabbed it before jumping out?

He noticed the handcuffs still dangling from his right wrist. The broken one was melted and twisted from contact with his bracelet.

He set off in search of a hardware store.

The helicopter landed on the helipad on Prison Island, the wind from the rotors fanning the surrounding tropical growth. Soldiers ran out and took up attack positions around the door, but were confused to see only the battered guard step out. "He escaped," he said, indicating the strip missing from the right wing. A medic hurried forward and helped the soldier toward the complex, leaving the rest peering dubiously into the helicopter's interior. The remains of the capture net were still smouldering.

A figure hidden in the undergrowth allowed himself a small smile. So, the blue stooge had bailed out, but the fall had probably killed him. Shadow waited for half an hour as the soldiers left and the pilot made his report to an officer. None of them had disturbed the cargo. His chance was coming.

The pilot and officer left, and the helicopter was alone. He darted out of hiding, ghosted across the helipad without making a sound or leaving a footprint, and leaped lightly into the helicopter. He located the backpack in two seconds, tore it open and lifted out the glimmering blue gem. Again Shadow smiled, this time in cold triumph.

The chao garden was empty and oddly quiet with six of its occupants missing. Even Amy and Pip had gone indoors, leaving the other chao alone.

Chimera had not stirred from his place in the corner. He lay without moving, wishing he would die, then wishing everyone else would die. Seeing Velocity in large form had refreshed the memory of his own large form, and his powerful ultimate.

Nox, the other black chao, bounced up to him. "Wanna play ball?"

Chimera didn't answer.

Nox watched him for a moment, then nudged a large plastic ball in his friend's direction. "C'mon, you know you wanna."

"Die," snarled Chimera without turning.

"Naw, you don't really want me to die," said Nox, smiling. "You really want to play with me."

"I hope your hedgehog hero flashes you so badly you go blind," spat Chimera, rolling over and glaring daggers.

Nox looked at him a moment, then drooped. "Okay, I'll leave you alone." He moped away across the grass, Chimera watching through narrowed eyes.

Suddenly there was a hum on the lowest edge of chao hearing, a flash of light, and the black hedgehog materialized in the chao garden. Nox lit up and ran to him. "You came back!"

Shadow kicked him aside as if he had been a tin can and walked to his hiding spot under the trees. Nox picked himself up and followed him, sniffling a little. Shadow sat down and glared as Nox walked to his side. "Leave me alone, chao. I'll kill you."

Nox looked at him with solemn innocence, seeming to see through Shadow's words. "Why can't you come back anymore?"

"I'm serious, chao."

"Can I come with you?" begged Nox, clutching Shadow's hand. "I can use your emerald! I won't give you away, I can help--please?"

The black hedgehog gazed at the chao a moment, as if shutters behind his eyes were closed. He held up the blue emerald. "Take it."

Nox took the glittering gem in his paws, gazed at it a moment, then, guided by instinct, sank his teeth into it. At once his black and orange body expanded into an ostrich-like bird with a long neck, long legs, and black feathers. His tailfeathers and wings were tipped with gold, as were the feathers on his chest. A tuft of orange feathers protruded from the back of his head, crest-like.

Nox strutted back and forth, ruffling his feathers and admiring himself, but keeping a fearful eye on Shadow. The hedgehog looked him over without expression. "Race me to the wall," said Shadow, and sprang into a run almost without standing up. Nox pelted after him and reached the wall a hair behind his master. "And back," said Shadow, leaping away again. This time Nox arrived first, his long legs taking two strides to each of Shadow's skating sweeps.

Again Shadow regarded the chao, his breathing slow and normal, as if they had not raced seconds before. Nox was doing his best not to pant, and tried to look nonchalant. He cocked his head at Chimera, who was watching with a sour expression. Nox returned his gaze to Shadow. "Can I come?"

Shadow didn't reply for a full minute. Nox tried to see what was going on behind those veiled eyes, but locks and bars of steel stood between the world and Shadow's soul.

"Yes," said Shadow at last. "But only as far as you can come. Fall behind once and I won't help you."

Nox did a high-stepping jig. "Goody! Let's go! I can keep up with you no matter where you go!"

Shadow gave a dry smile that failed to reach his eyes, and touched the ostrich's long neck. There was a flash like a camera's, and they vanished.

A moment later the other chao and their owners trooped back into the garden. "Right," Slasher was saying, "we'll get a good night's sleep, and make the trip at dawn. The manager said they'll make an exception in our case and allow chao removal, if we sign some papers--"

Velocity loped into the corner with Chimera and spat out his emerald, shrinking into a dark blue hedgehog chao.

"What's the matter, sissy-boy?" snarled Chimera. "Get a splinter in your paw?"

"No, I feel dizzy," said Velocity, who was used to Chimera's spiteful attitude. "I guess the artificial emerald has side effects after all."

Chimera only smiled, and said nothing about Nox's departure of a moment before. Let the others worry--it would be good for them.

The sinking sun bathed the city in red gold as Sonic slipped into a hardware store and searched for an industrial-strength wire-cutter. The clerk behind the counter, a gorilla in a red tie, nodded as Sonic entered, and returned his gaze to the small screen on the counter.

Sonic could hear the squawking of a newscast as he investigated the aisles. It took several minutes to find a cutter hefty enough, and several more minutes for Sonic to sever the handcuff on his wrist. He had tried to use the bracelet again, but had only succeeded in burning a hole in his glove.

Free of the cuffs, he was walking toward the door with the idea of finding a dumpster, when he heard his name on the television. He edged to the corner of an aisle where he could see the screen, which the gorilla was watching closely.

" ... armed and extremely dangerous. The robbery of a military base was perpetrated by Sonic the Hedgehog, world renowned for his speed--" Sonic's ego inflated. "--but more recently, for his crimes." Sonic's ego received a puncture. "We go now to our Eyecatcher cameras at the scene, where Sonic has been located."

Sonic looked around the store, half expecting to see a camera staring at him through the screwdrivers. But the screen changed to show a suspension bridge Sonic recognized as part of the Speed Highway over the bay. The sky was awash with sunset colors, and silhouetted against them, atop one of the towers, was the outline of a hedgehog. The camera zoomed in on it, but the backlight was too strong to make out any details.

"That's that chao-hating black hedgehog!" Sonic thought angrily. "They think he's me! Oh, this is great." He glanced at the gorilla, and slipped out the back door.

Deep in the Samo desert stood a lonely pyramid, surrounded by miles of empty sand. But within the pyramid whirred and pumped enough machinery to keep Dr. Robotnik happy for years. Eight floors down, the doctor stepped out of his Eggwalker and strode into his quarters; three store rooms, all adjoining his private control center, which he fondly referred to as his eye on the world.

He pressed a button to activate his holographic television, which was programmed to play news reports from the local networks, and set about fixing himself dinner. As he padded in and out in his slippers, he kept an eye on the screen for any news of Shadow or the Freedom Fighters. There was always a lot of uninteresting babble, but occasionally something noteworthy slipped through. This evening nothing caught his eye until he was eating his third instant dinner. The same news report that Sonic had seen came on, showing the hedgehog silhouette and recounting his exploits.

Robotnik leaned back in his chair and stroked his mustache. "Stole a chaos emerald?" he muttered with a paternal smile. "Shadow, Shadow, you do impress me. No doubt Sonic would be very interested in you. As would the media, if GUN were foolish enough to reveal your identity." He checked his watch. Shadow had given him a time limit of seven days, but now that Shadow had an emerald, Robotnik guessed Shadow would travel to the ARK as soon as possible. Therefore, it wouldn't hurt to teleport there himself in the morning. Just to look around.

Shadow stood atop one of the steel towers, gazing scornfully down at the flashing lights of the police cars on the bridge below. An evening breeze from the ocean fanned his red-tipped spines as he gazed out at the Speed Highway. Yes, it would take him out of this accursed city if GUN didn't interfere.

He glanced back down at the police, the flashing lights. Voices commanded him through megaphones to come down. Someone fired a warning shot, and he heard the bullet whine harmlessly toward the sea. It reminded him of other flashing lights, other gunfire, the horrible night an innocent child had died. She had made him promise to save them, but for what? So more innocent people could die? So he might return to prison and endless sleep in his freeze chamber?

Aloud he said, "I know what I promised you, Maria, but as for the inhabitants of this planet--" He lifted a hand, palm outward, and motioned to the circumference of the horizon. "--I promise you revenge."

He leaped off the tower and landed on one of the great steel cables that curved down toward the street. Sparks flying from his shoes, he ground down the cable with balance and grace Sonic could never hope to match, and leaped to the pavement. Nox appeared out of the shadows, and together the two black creatures faded into the dusk.

Knuckles gazed around at the desert and shivered. He had glided into the waste as the sun sank into the horizon and the air cooled, drawn by the discords of the shattered Master emerald. As he neared one of the shard locations, he noticed some sort of structures ahead. They towered up against the eastern sky, washed orange from the setting sun. He landed beside one of them and looked around.

He was looking into a wide valley, perhaps five miles across. Encircling its rim were strange things carved of stone--sculptures, perhaps? There were holes drilled through layers of rock for no purpose he could see. Down in the valley were other shapes. Crickets chirped in the dry grass here and there, and a wind brushed his face, raising gooseflesh on his arms. There was something creepy about this valley. Knuckles shook his head, squared his shoulders, and walked down the slope to the valley floor, listening for the emerald sound.

He found one small shard in the grass near the valley floor, and was making his way toward another when he glanced over his shoulder and saw them. A row of laughing, demonic faces leered down from the western wall. The sculptured stone above had been cut so that from the valley floor, the sunset lit the rock and illuminated the faces. Knuckles stared at them a moment, then peered at the eastern wall. It was carved in the same way, so the rising sun would illuminate whatever horrors were carved there.

"What an evil place," the echidna muttered, and resumed his search for shards.

He came upon other things that struck him as frightening, and sometimes laughable. He found scarecrows, jack o' lanterns carved out of pumpkins, turnips and other vegetables, and in the center of the valley was a graveyard. He took to glancing behind him as the light faded and the faces on the cliffs vanished. Obviously weirdos of some sort came here, and he expected to meet them.

Knuckles had collected the last emerald shard in the area, and was listening for more, when a gust of wind blew across the valley. It ruffled his dreadlocks and hissed through the grass, but at the same time there was a tremendous flapping and whistling in the darkness overhead. Knuckles bolted.

He didn't stop until he was again on the valley rim. The moon was rising, shedding a pale yellow light and illuminating the grinning faces in the eastern wall. It also illuminated one of the structures he had seen from a distance--three giant windmills hung on cables out in the middle of the valley. They were still turning in the breeze.

Knuckles ran for the next emerald shard noise, telling himself he was in a hurry to restore the Master emerald, but in his heart of hearts, he was spooked and wanted to get away from there. He was in such a hurry he didn't see the stacks of wood or the parked tractors, or the sign that said, "Future site of the Pumpkin Hill Amusement Park!"

"Sir, hedgehog spotted on Route 201, sir!" a corporal reported.

GUN General Strathmore nodded curtly. "Acknowledged." He turned to one of the microphones mounted among the computer equipment of the Prison Island control room and said, "Priority Hedgehog spotted on Route 201. All units deploy to that position, and to Routes 98 and 23. Try to head it off."

"Sir," crackled a pilot's voice from a speaker, "I have just had a visual of Priority hedgehog on Intrastate 1. Request permission to complete former objective."

General Strathmore eyed the corporal, who was standing at attention. "Who spotted the hedgehog on Route 201, Corporal?"

"Charlie alpha Charlie, blue squadron," replied the soldier, looking puzzled.

The General blinked and peered at a map on the one free wall of the room. Simultaneous sightings of the same hedgehog three miles apart? "Deploy Big Foot and Duel Mack," commanded the General into another microphone. "We'll cut them both off if we have to."

Sonic was running for his life, There were police cars everywhere--they had the roads blocked at every intersection, creating terrific traffic jams that forced Sonic to slow to a walk to pick his way through. Jets snarled through the starry sky, looking for him. Sonic kept to the sidewalks, dodging around pools of light cast by streetlamps. The black hedgehog must be a killer or something--heck, they were combing the city for him! He hurtled an unguarded roadblock, gained the cover of an alley, and ran westward. If only he could get on the Speed Highway ....

Shadow and Nox were pelting west, twenty stories from the ground on a branch of the Speed Highway. Shadow was in a racing skater crouch, gliding along on a cushion of air with his eyes fixed on the road ahead. Nox the black ostrich ran beside, levelled out, long legs a blur. His sharp eyes swept the night sky for approaching jets.

"Incoming, three o' clock!" Nox shrieked. Shadow swerved left onto an offramp, Nox behind him, as a rocket impacted on the asphalt, shaking the highway and sending pavement in all directions. The marauding jet screamed over and circled back. Shadow glanced around, then shot away in the direction of another onramp connecting to a south-bound track. Nox followed, his beak open as he gasped for breath. He hoped he would be able to keep up with Shadow a little longer--surely they were almost out of the city!

Sonic was feeling the old frustration of Robotropolis, when Robotnik had laid a trap for him. The roads were blocked, and GUN robots were everywhere, most toting riot shields that repelled his spindash attacks. His only alternative was to run like the wind.

The city began to drop, the roads sloping, and he saw he was nearing the ocean. He saw trees below him and a dark void without lights. A park! Maybe he would hide. With glee Sonic saw a long rail stairway spiraling down to the grass, a single handrail in the middle. He jumped on it and slid down, relishing the metallic swish of the rail under his soapshoes. He flew off the bottom, landed, staggered, regained his balance, and dashed into the park.

Lights! Helmeted men, barking dogs! Sonic had a glimpse of the GUN tracker team, which had been searching the park with bloodhounds, before he shot away into the night.

Blast GUN, they thought of everything.

The Speed Highway entered a ten-mile stretch of open highway with no offramps. Shadow and Nox were tearing down it, but the jets were pursuing, bombing the highway relentlessly. Nox was certain they could outrun them until he saw the fighters flying down in front of them on a strafing run. Shadow and Nox would run straight into the bullets. Nox opened his beak, but his voice refused to work for the crucial instant needed to warn Shadow.

But Shadow had seen the fighters. He swerved over to Nox, seized the ostrich's neck and yelled, "Chaos control!"

Shadow and his chao vanished, and at the same instant, a blue hedgehog ran under he highway on the ground. The pilots saw him and closed in for the kill.

Sonic fled from the jets, dodging bullets and rockets that blew craters in the street. Where had those saps come from? He had better get away quick, before he had to slow down and was riddled with holes.

He plunged down a sloping street, hoping to throw the jets for a few seconds. To his surprise, they pulled off and looped away into the stars. Then Sonic glanced over his shoulder and saw why.

Many of the streets in Sapphire City had tracks embedded in them for trollycars that hauled loads of passengers up the hills. Rolling down the road, connected to the track by two internal wheels, was the largest semi-truck Sonic had ever seen. Its bumper was as wide as the street, and its cab rode twenty feet above the pavement. There was no driver, and it plummeted down the hill, guided only by the wheels in the track.

The truck was used by GUN to catch carjackers and fleeing criminals. The sight of an unmanned, runaway truck induced so much terror in its victims that criminals apprehended later babbled incoherently about a monster truck. It had the same effect on Sonic, who had no idea there was anything restraining it.

He flashed down one hill, slowed for the corner, flashed down another hill, slowed for another corner, and risked a glance over his shoulder. Good grief, the truck was right behind him! For an instant he stared into is blazing headlights, then dashed away, dazzled and panicked, seeing a vivid mental image of hedgehog roadkill. He was so focused on running away, he didn't think to duck into any of the allies that ran between the shops--the sight of his own shadow before him goaded him on.

Ahead the road swept under a low overpass. Sonic shot beneath, and heard a heart-stopping crash as two tons of metal collided with the bridge. He slowed to a stop, looking back. The semi was smoking and silent, one wheel still tuning. Sonic wiped sweat from his forehead, heaved a sigh, and looked around.

He had arrived in the parking lot of a shopping center, empty at this hour and lit with streetlights. Sonic wished more than ever for a map--he hadn't a clue where he was. Then he wished for a drink and trotted toward the shopping center, thinking of finding a drinking fountain.

It almost landed on him. One second Sonic was wondering where to find a fountain--the next second two monstrous steel feet clanged to the asphalt on either side of him. He yelped and darted to safety.

The H-12 Bigfoot was another of GUN's armored mechs, two legs supporting the cockpit and weapons array. The Bigfoot was the smaller brother of the Hotshot, which had been soundly thrashed by an escaped prisoner two days before. But it was the second largest of the mechs GUN owned, and it was piloted by ace mech veteran, Tanner Nailbite. GUN was taking no chances.

Sonic regarded the robot with the practiced eye of a Freedom Fighter, once his fright had worn off. Plenty of armor, internal engine, exposed missile racks. Perhaps the leg joints weren't as sturdy as they looked. He squinted through the windshield. Another human soldier. Maybe Sonic would run away instead--he didn't want to hurt another human.

He turned to go, but stopped. Standing on the roof of the shopping center and wearing a smirk was the black hedgehog. "Hey!" Sonic exclaimed. "They're after you, not me! Why don't you come down and show yourself?"

The black hedgehog didn't answer. Instead he looked at the mech, which was clanking toward Sonic, and said quietly, "I took out one twice as large as that."

"Is that a dare?" said Sonic, the spines on his back bristling.

The black hedgehog looked at him again and smiled. "Is it?"

Sonic waved at the mech and pointed at the roof of the mall. "Hey!" he yelled. "The guy you want is over there! Look--over--there!" He saw the mech pilot glance in the direction he was pointing, and looked, himself, to see the roof was empty.

"Fine!" Sonic yelled, his voice echoing in the empty parking lot, "just watch and see how fast I take it out!"

Veteran pilot notwithstanding, the Bigfoot collapsed under Sonic's focused attack in sixty-three seconds, its leg joints smashed to pieces. Sonic could hear the pilot radioing for backup under the glass canopy, but he didn't care. He had conquered the challenge to his ego, and looked around eagerly for the black hedgehog. Surely he had watched Sonic's display of speed and prowess ...!

The black hedgehog appeared on top of the Bigfoot, holding a blue chaos emerald in one hand. A chao was tucked under his arm, and both stared disapprovingly at Sonic. Sonic stared back. "Well? Say something, faker. I thought you hated chao."

"You destroyed military property," purred the black hedgehog. "If they weren't after you before, they will be now." He lifted the emerald aloft, like a sparkling blue star. "Let me show you my power." He tossed the gem up in the air, caught it and said, "Chaos control!" There was a brilliant flash from the emerald, and he vanished.

"It's not a true teleport," remarked Nox as Shadow slid off the Bigfoot and strolled leisurely past Sonic, who was frozen in place, eyes fixed on the top of the mech.

"It's enough," said Shadow, making his way to the end of the parking lot. He smiled to himself, turned and said, "Timestart." The emerald dimmed, and the frozen world moved again.

Sonic spun around, gasping. To him, Shadow's jump across the parking lot had been instanious. Sonic pointed at him. "You can't be real! Only a robot or a chao can teleport with that emerald!"

The black hedgehog tiled his head back. "My name is Shadow. I'm the world's ultimate lifeform," he said, stressing 'ultimate'. "Farewell." He held up the emerald again and said, "Chaos control."

"And that's my emerald!" Sonic hollered uselessly as Shadow vanished.

A screech of tires on pavement drew his attention, and he was startled to see a legion of black and white squad cars flood into the parking lot. Sonic turned to run, but found himself surrounded, with robots standing stop the mall's roof, rifles at the ready. Blinking in the spotlights and headlights, Sonic slowly raised his hands.

Rouge the Bat stood in a long room made of stone, facing a tall door with three keyholes in it. She pressed one hand to her ear and said into her wristwatch, "This is Rouge the bat. I have found Robotnik's hidden base, and will proceed to enter it now." She sighed and let her hands fall to her sides. "I guess I'll have to find those keys first." She looked around the chamber shrewdly, taking in the artificial torches, the ornaments on the walls, and the wires strung along the floor to power the lights. The pyramid had the look of being hastily modernized, although Robotnik had added his personal decorative touches. Many statues now bore grinning metal heads with his ugly face on them.

"Must he robotize everything?" Rouge thought, striding into the entrance hall. A long passage led into the pyramid and joined the outer chambers. The inner chambers, she guessed, housed the doctor's living quarters, machinery, and much else. Entering the inner chambers was the trick.

Rouge explored the halls, and found four rooms, one in each corner of the pyramid. Each housed a large statue, and chests that once were full of treasure. Rouge checked them all, but the pyramid had been plundered long ago.

A single robot guard patrolled the halls. It looked like a sensor pack on skids, with gigantic ear-like trumpets for gathering sound, and a headlight in front. Rouge kept an ear out for it, for although it was slow, it carried a dozen self-aiming lasers. If motion disturbed the beam of its headlight, or a whisper of sound brushed its 'ears', the lasers blasted the object to oblivion.

Rouge had watched the guard pass twice, crouching far from its patrol path and keeping quiet, before she noticed three keys hanging on the rear of the robot, just under its laser array. She followed at a safe distance, thinking furiously.

Her solution was quick and simple. She picked up a chunk of loose mortar and threw it over the robot, clattering on the stone in front of it. It froze and whipped out its lasers, but even as the mortar exploded into dust, a quick white hand relieved the robot of its keys. The robot went on its way, but Rouge stood where she was, eyeing the blackened spot on the wall and floor. The bricks in the wall were smouldering and curling away--ancient painted wood.

A second later Rouge was running her hands over the wall, a greedy light in her eyes. Her probing fingers found a seam in the rock, outlining a wooden door. She brushed away the dust, then tugged at the panel. It didn't move, so she tried pulling, lifting and sliding, but the door refused to budge. Exasperated, she kicked a hole in the base with her steel-tipped boots. The old wood splintered, and she kicked and stamped until the hole was wide enough to crawl through. Wincing at the grime building on his clothes, she wriggled through and peered around in the gloom.

The dust was so thick that at first she was unsure of what she was seeing. It was a long, narrow room the same width and length of the hallway outside. Many objects of all shapes and sizes lined the floor and walls. Curious, Rouge pulled out a small infrared scope, buckled it around her head, and clicked it on.

"Eggman missed this chamber," the bat thought smugly. The room was stuffed with furniture, ceremonial masks, urns, chests, idols--all made of pale gold. Rouge picked her way through, a smile curling her lips. She could retire on the millions this room contained.

She reached into a vase full of jewels and pulled out a huge diamond. Her smile changed to a thoughtful look. She picked up one diamond after another, comparing them for size and weight, before finding one that satisfied her. She tucked it into the pouch on her belt with the Master emerald shards, then crawled out through the hole in the wall. She would complete her prior task, and return to this chamber later.

Chapter 6 - Prison Island

______________________________________________________________________

Dawn was spreading pink tendrils across the east as Shadow sat on a cliff overlooking the sea. He was watching the white foam of the breakers flush pink with his usual shuttered look, and it was impossible to tell that he had neither slept nor ate since escaping from GUN and cryogenic freeze.

Nox sat beside him in chao form, playing with the blue chaos emerald. He had been interested in Sonic's statement that only a robot or chao could teleport with that emerald. He had been toying with the emerald ever since, although sleepiness and hunger interfered with his concentration. Presently he voiced his thoughts. "Ultimate lifeforms may not have to eat, but chao do."

"There's grass. Eat that," said Shadow, pointing to the turf they sat on.

Nox laughed. "Oh, chao don't eat grass. We eat people food."

Shadow gave him a disgusted look. "You came along yourself. I didn't invite you. Deal with it."

The black hedgehog returned to watching the sea. Nox looked up at him. "Do you eat, Shadow?"

Shadow didn't answer. Nox gazed at him for a moment, then bit his emerald and grew into a rumpled black ostrich. "I'll find something to eat, Shadow. I'll be right back." He trotted away down the hill toward the suburbs in the distance.

Alone now, Shadow gazed up at the lightening sky, and the dimming stars in the west. The ARK was up there somewhere, and he had made a great oversight in telling Dr. Robotnik to meet him there. Shadow had no way of reaching it. He wished his Chaos training had not been halted, or that he had found the green emerald instead of the blue one. He had been familiar with the green emerald's frequencies, and might have been able to figure out a true teleport. But the blue emerald was different, and he could scarcely halt time, let alone do anything else.

His thoughts shifted to Nox. He should have strangled the chao the first time he laid eyes on him. The little pest was good for nothing, except as a means to carry the emerald around.

He was lost in thoughts as black as his fur when Nox returned, looking even more ruffled and carrying a shopping bag around his long neck. "That was easy," he said, spitting out his emerald and flopping down beside his master. "I stood outside a grocery store and asked for food. It's amazing how many people would feed a hungry, lost chao. But one lady wanted to take me home." He opened the bag and removed two apples, a pear, a peach, half a sandwich and two cans of soda. "You can have first pick."

Shadow looked at the food scornfully. "I don't eat that."

Nox hung his head. "You don't want it?"

Shadow turned away and stared out to sea.

"Okay then, I'll save some," said Nox, and sank his teeth into a juicy pear.

For ten minutes Nox smacked and slurped, making more noise than usual in the hopes Shadow's resolve would break down. Shadow pretended to ignore him and stared in the opposite direction, but after a while, curiosity got the better of him.

Nox's face and paws were covered in sticky juice, and he was gnawing an apple core with one eye fixed on his master. Beside him sat half a pear, half a peach, a whole apple and the sandwich. "I saved some," said Nox with his mouth full. "If you don't like it, I'll eat it."

Shadow eyed the food for a moment, then picked up the peach and sniffed it. He watched Nox bite his apple core, and followed suit. To his surprise it was sweet, and Nox watched with approval as the hedgehog ate as if starving. "Haven't you ever eaten before?" asked the chao as Shadow washed it down with a gulp of soda.

Shadow glanced at him and went on eating.

"But how can you be alive if you've never eaten anything?" said Nox, who had the uncanny nack of reading his master's unspoken words. "Is it because you're the ultimate lifeform?"

"Look," said Shadow, wiping his mouth with the back of one hand," if you want to snoop, figure out how to teleport with that chaos emerald."

"Okay, okay," said Nox sulkily, picking up the gem. "I won't bother you anymore." He studied the emerald a moment, then remarked, "If I was the ultimate lifeform, I'd take those bands off my wrists and ankles."

"If I was a chao, I'd shut up," said Shadow, glancing at the steel bands anyway. They looked like giant nuts attached to his hands and feet, and he had never thought about them before. "Worry about the emerald, and I'll worry about me."

"The trouble is, that's all you worry about," said Nox.

"Serena, wake up," said Zephyer, shaking the sleeping hedgehog.

Serena awoke with a gasp and sat up, staring around the room. "Where are we?"

"The hotel," said Zephyer, sitting down on the bed beside Serena's. "Were you having a dream? You were making a weird sound."

Serena peered around the hotel room. It was cheap, but clean. Blue dawn light streamed through the drapes. She and Zephyer were sharing a room, leaving Slasher to cope with Amy next door. Zephyer didn't look as if she had slept very well, and the nightshirt she wore failed to hide her robotized body.

"It was him again," Serena murmured, her heart still racing. "Every night he's gotten closer, but tonight he reached me."

"Who?" asked Zephyer, reaching for a hairbrush.

"A black hedgehog," said Serena, glancing into the darkest corners of her room. "Every night I dream about him. But in my dream just now, he was here, and you know what he did?"

"What?" asked Zephyer, brushing her dreadlocks and looking interested.

Serena shivered. "He stared at me for a long time, and then--" She paused, then whispered, "He started taking notes."

"That's all?" asked Zephyer.

Serena nodded. "It was freaky! He'd look at me, then write something down, then look at me ... I wanted to run, but all I could do was stand there. It was awful."

Zephyer stood up, pulled off her nightshirt and was ready to face the world, one of the advantages to being a robian. "The only black hedgehog I know of is the one Velocity talked about."

Serena gave her a nervous glance. "I know. I'm afraid that's who it is."

Serena had dressed, and was listening to Zephyer moan about not being able to wear clothes because of her robotization, when there came a furious knock at the door connecting their room to Amy and Slasher's. Serena opened it, and Amy darted in, barefoot and wearing her dress backward. "Quick, turn on your TV!" The pink hedgehog dashed to their set, snapped it on and located a news station.

"... was flown to Prison Island early this morning," the newscaster was saying. She was a Pekingese with a bow in her hair, and peered earnestly into the camera. "The suspect, identified as Sonic Hedgehog, world-famous for his speed and daring as a Freedom Fighter, robbed a military facility on Prison Island yesterday. Other reports indicate he also destroyed 1.8 million dollars in GUN equipment." A shot of a smoking mech was displayed on screen, its colors gratuitously enhanced, then an image of Sonic standing with his hands in the air, a look of resignation on his face. "Sonic surrendered at one AM in front of PC Nickels, and was conveyed to Prison Island, where he awaits trial." The peke sorted through her notes, disappointed there was not more. "In other news, a chao has been reported missing--"

Amy snapped off the TV. Zephyer and Serena yelled in outrage. "Turn it back on! Who's missing?" Amy hurriedly turned it back on, but the report was over and the weather was on.

"Sonic's in jail!" Amy cried, leaving the TV on this time. "We could have rescued him if we had looked for him last night!"

Slasher stepped in after Amy, having watched the report from her room. She cocked an eye at the pink hedgehog and said, "Your dress is backward, Amy."

Amy looked down at herself, squeaked and bolted for the other room.

"What do we do?" Zephyer asked once they were alone.

Slasher watched the television a moment, then switched it off. "Just what we planned to do. If we don't throw his bail, we'll try to break him out. But only as a last resort."

There came a knock on the outer door. Serena opened it, and Tails and Talon padded in, looking rumpled and worried. "Did you see the news?" asked Tails, glancing at the TV. "We could have rescued Sonic last night."

"The original plan still holds," said Slasher. "Time to get ready, everybody. Does everyone have their chaos emeralds?"

A green emerald, an orange, a white, a purple and a light blue were produced from various bags and sparkled in the dim room.

"Great," said Slasher, clapping her wings against her sides. "Amy, are you coming?"

"Why is she coming?" hissed Serena.

"It's only fair," said Slasher, giving her a stern look as Amy dashed in, her clothing right way around.

"I'm ready!" she panted. "Let's go rescue my captive hero! Isn't this romantic, freeing him from prison?"

"I hope Slasher drops her in the ocean," Tails muttered to Talon as they trooped out of the hotel.

The two took a left and entered the hotel parking garage, where the Cyclone was waiting for them. As they climbed into their seats, Tails asked, "Why so quiet, Talon? You've hardly said a word since we got up."

Talon swallowed as he buckled himself in. "I've never fired a vulcan cannon before."

"It's easy," Tails reassured him as he turned the little blue mech and walked it out of the garage. "If we have to bust Sonic out of jail, you'll catch on real quick. You ought to see Sonic with one of these."

Talon gulped again and wondered if he were supposed to feel encouraged.

The Eggwalker beamed up in an old teleportation chamber. For a moment he sat still, looking and listening. The space colony was perfectly silent, all lights extinguished. The room in front of him was lit only by the planetshine that filtered through the dusty windows on the left. The air was cold and musty, the floor thick with dust that had been undisturbed for half a century.

Robotnik moved his mech forward, its movements slow and light in the low-gravity environment. He activated his radar. Hallways and rooms appeared in shades of chartreuse, each silent and deserted. It filled Robotnik with excitement--it was like finding the Death Egg in orbit, waiting for him.

He called up the maps of the ARK he had copied from his grandfather's diary, and studied them. The ARK, being a sphere, was built in circles. The first and largest was on the outer side, and the fifth and smallest was at the center, containing the control room. He wasn't far from it. He clicked on his walker's headlight and set off down a dark hallway.

Everywhere were signs of the shutdown fifty years before. Blaster burns scarred the walls. A door stood ajar, the conference room beyond with tables and chairs upset. A single pistol, empty and forgotten, lay in the hall floor. Robotnik wondered if the ARK's power core had been damaged, and if it was still operational. The ARK's technology was old, but not so old he couldn't work it.

The elevators wouldn't run without power, so Robotnik parked his walker in front of it and climbed out. He would have to walk the rest of the way.

Rouge had slipped in and used Robotnik's teleporter chamber, as well. She checked the copy of the ARK plans in his computer, and teleported herself to the control room itself, which Robotnik couldn't do because of the size of his walker. It was empty, so she fluttered into the ceiling support beams to wait.

She had not waited long before there was a flicker of light below, and a black hedgehog and a black chao materialized. "We made it!" the chao squealed, peering around the dark room. Suddenly he shuddered and pressed close to Shadow's ankle. "Ooo, we're high up."

Shadow ignored him and walked to the control console in the center of the room, a pillar of equipment with three workstations built into it, ringed with a circular walkway. It was connected to the outer door by a long bridge, beneath which was a drop into infinity. Nox peeked into the well beneath them for another second, then scurried after his master on all fours. Rouge watched them both without a sound.

Shadow examined the silent computers, gave a crooked smile and opened a panel between them, revealing seven holes inside. He looked at the for a moment, then closed the panel and glanced at Nox. The chao was huddled at his feet, shivering. "I don't like this place," he whimpered to his master. "Let's go home now."

"Not yet," Shadow told him. "We're waiting for someone." He looked toward the door.

A few minutes later there were footsteps outside the door, and it swung open to admit the spherical figure of Dr. Robotnik. He stopped on the threshold and looked around, finally spotting Shadow in the gloom.

The hedgehog raised a hand in greeting. "Welcome to the ARK, Doctor. I've been expecting you."

Robotnik walked forward. "What's this all about, Shadow?"

Shadow smiled. "I'll show you the genius of Dr. Gerald Robotnik, the greatest scientific mind in a century." He stroked the control console. "The ARK was the first self-sufficient space colony built by Overlanders. It was a grand scheme at the time. ARK stands for Armored Research Center, called ARK after an unsinkable ship from man's past. But few people knew that on the little utopia in the sky, scientists were experimenting with weapons of mass destruction."

It was the longest speech Shadow had made, and he spoke as if he had rehearsed it for years. He held up the blue emerald, which cast a cold light on his face. "One of these weapons," he purred, "was capable of destroying an entire planet." He flipped open the panel he had opened earlier and stood before it. "It was codenamed the Eclipse Cannon." Without moving his eyes from Robotnik's face, he slammed the emerald into one of the holes.

The emerald flashed a brilliant blue, and the screens on the console lit up, along with half a dozen holographic displays that shimmered in the air around the console. There was a hum as machinery throughout the colony ground to life. As if that weren't impressive enough, Shadow turned and pressed a few buttons to call up the schematics of the Eclipse Cannon. He smiled still wider as Robotnik's eyes popped.

"Was this my grandfather's legacy?" the doctor muttered in awe, practiced eyes scanning the schematics. "Destroying a planet?"

Shadow knew all he had to do was set the hook and reel him in. "The ARK has been deactivated for some time now," he said, studying Robotnik's face. "Large amounts of energy are needed if the cannon is to fire."

"Ah, so that's why we need the chaos emeralds," said Robotnik, eyeing the sparkling blue gem.

"Yes," said Shadow, a maniac glint in his eyes. "Whoever uses this weapon could bring the world to its knees." His voice dropped. "And Mobius could be yours."

Nox looked up at his master in horror and silently shook his head.

Robotnik laughed. "I see! I could use the Eclipse Cannon to create a legacy of my own. I like the way you think, Shadow."

Another voice broke in. "Do you really think it'll be that easy?"

Robotnik and Shadow looked up, equally startled, to see a white bat in tight-fitting leather hanging from a rafter, her wings folded across her chest. She flipped into the air and descended to the walkway with a flutter, then turned to Robotnik. "I saw you steal that big emerald. You couldn't have tracked it down without radar, and if I could borrow this radar, I could help you out."

She turned from a skeptical Robotnik to Shadow, whose face had become a blank mask. "I may not look like it, but I'm a treasure hunter, specializing in all kinds of jewels." She twirled around, and produced the diamond she had picked up earlier with sleight of hand. But concealed in her palm was a tiny needlelight, which shone into the gem and made it glow, like the white chaos emerald. "It will only be a matter of time before we collect all seven emeralds."

Robotnik studied her shrewdly. "What's in it for me if I give you the radar?"

"Three more emeralds," said Rouge, staring back at him. "And I know where they are."

Rouge maintained her bluff for a long moment, aware of Shadow's eyes boring into her shoulderblades. Robotnik was thinking it over. "All right," he said at last. "It's a deal. Shadow, power up the teleporters. We'll return to my pyramid base."

Shadow silently pressed a few buttons, then continued to glare at Rouge. Robotnik walked out, and Rouge glared back at Shadow. "What?"

The black hedgehog typed four letters into the console and displayed them on the largest holoscreen.

LIAR.

Rouge smiled. "You're no saint yourself, dearie." She wheeled and followed Robotnik, shaken that Shadow had seen through her so easily.

"I don't see why they don't let me level the place," said Chalcon sulkily.

Chalcon, Elleno and Zinc were sitting on the beach, gazing at the hazy cloud on the horizon that was Prison Island. Max in large form was floating in the water, his green and blue body glistening. The chao were waiting for word from their masters, who were elsewhere, seeing to transportation to the island. Zinc held a communicator in one clawed hand, and was swinging it by its wrist strap.

Elleno looked at Chalcon crossly. "If you leveled the place, you'd kill Sonic. Use your head, Chal." When she frowned she looked exactly like Serena.

Zinc glanced sidelong at the white chao. "Chalcon just wishes he was carrying us to the island."

"I don't want to ride in Max's mouth!" Chalcon burst out. "What if he swallows us?"

"Give me a break," said Max, rolling over to float on his back. "My ultimate isn't built like that. I'd have to take a gulp of water, and I'll be swimming with my mouth shut, anyway."

"Still, I wish we had a boat," said Chalcon, folding his arms. "Or that I could swim on my own."

"Slasher already told you no," said Elleno. She enjoyed bossing him around. "What would the humans do if they saw Perfect Chaos peek out of the ocean? Freak, that's what."

The communicator in Zinc's claws chirped, and Tails's voice said, "All right, guys, go! We'll be right behind you."

At once Max drew on his emerald's power, and expanded into a whale-sized version of himself. His hindlegs became powerful flukes, his forelegs became flippers, and his head grew to the size of a boxcar. He opened his mouth, and the other chao climbed in. He then carefully closed his jaws, turned on his flippers and plunged into the sea.

The three chao sat in Max's mouth, making faces at his breath and listening to the rush of water passing around his head, the glow of their emeralds casting a gentle light. They tilted sharply, and they knew he was diving. There was a moment of silence. "Shouldn't take us long to get there," said Elleno cheerfully. "Do you remember how fast he swims?" She looked at Zinc, who was peering into the light on the communicator, and looking ill. So did Chalcon, who was leaning against Max's front teeth.

"What luck," Chalcon groaned. "Zinc, are you claustrophobic, too?"

The silver chao nodded. He shivered, although Max's mouth was warm.

Elleno smirked. "So that's why you weren't happy about this!"

Max's head returned to level, and to their surprise his mouth opened, letting in light and air. They had expected the journey to take much longer. Chalcon and Zinc gasped in relief, and peered out, Elleno with them. Max was indeed a strong swimmer, for they had already crossed the bay and were bobbing in the water near a rocky breakwater outside the harbor. They scrambled onto solid ground, and Max immediately shrank back to large form. He looked frightened. "This is as far as I can go, guys. There are submarines in there."

"All right," said Chalcon, who had recovered as soon as he set foot on shore. "Wait for us. This shouldn't take long."

"All right, but hurry