ARAAT2: Eclipse - Part 1

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A Rose And A Thorn 2: Eclipse

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: N/A is making some very intelligent points on weight restrictions for guns. As for Shadow Chaos Controlling without an emerald, well, in Sonic Battle I quote him as saying “I have Maria” as he hands over his emerald to Emerl. He continues to use Chaos moves after that.

Froggy: As to the exact reason for Rouge and Sonic splitting up… well, we’re working on that. Queen Bee, you just gave Harley a good idea. Just don't expect to recognise it the next time you see it.

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Chapter Five: The Wrong Man

Green blurred past the black hedgehog as he ran through the jungle, catapulting on vines, skating on his jet shoes, murder on his mind. Eggman was going to pay for what he had done, and if Shadow had his way, he would pay for a long time. He was getting closer. He could see the giant frogs that gave the jungle its name. The base had to be near...

"Intruder Alert!" the alarms blared.

Doctor Eggman Robotnik, Earth’s resident mad scientist and prospective world dictator looked at the tracking devices. At the speed the intruder was moving, it had to be either Sonic, Shadow, or perhaps even Amy, although she was less likely to come alone. He had a few new rodent specific devices he wanted to try out, "Let him come," he grinned. He pressed a number of buttons, releasing Egg Pawns, Guard Robos, and the Cameron Turtle series.

Shadow slowed as he neared the valley where the base was hidden. Something felt... familiar about this forest... even the giant frogs seemed to jog the memory of something…

Chaos Energy flared and he returned to existence some way above floor level. He fell the last eighty or so feet to forest level, slamming into deep mud, and felt as if every bone in his body broke at once. He looked up, staring at the fake Chaos Emerald in his hand. If that stupid blue excuse for a fake could use it to Chaos Control, so could he… and he had…

He staggered to his feet, covered in mud, and blood, and burnt fur and clothing, and the tears pouring down his face. The thunder crashed above him, the rain poured down on him, soaking him to the bone… but he hadn’t the time for self-pity… he had to keep moving…

He got about thirty feet, before he collapsed again into the mud, and he could just about hear a whirring noise above him, “Lifeform Detected. Condition: Deteriorating.”

He passed out around then… Or maybe he just died...

Shadow closed his eyes and shook his head. He continued walking. Then he stopped. Something was wrong. He strained his ears to hear something, but registered nothing. Not even the twitter and tweet of the birds and insects so very present in Frog Forest. He quickly slid the shotgun off his back and pumped it, ready for combat.

About a dozen Egg Pawns stomped out of the trees, aiming various blasters, spears and guns at him, "Resistance Is Futile," they droned, before attacking.

Shadow narrowed his eyes, "Oh please..." he muttered in disgust. Then he levelled the shotgun and blew the closest Egg Pawn away, leaping into action, dodging their attacks, returning fire, and shredding them with spin attacks. He could take these wind-up toys in his sleep.

Some Cameron Turtle Robots, including a gold one, crawled forward, their every intent to turn Shadow into a hedgehog barbeque.

Shadow remembered the Cameron Series. Harder to defeat than Egg Pawns, because of their near-impervious armour, they could be quite the annoyance, particularly in large groups. However, he was more prepared than last time. Dodging their plasma bursts, Shadow swapped his shotgun for Tails' custom ray pistol. The high-tech energy weapon easily melted through their armour, scrambling their internal components. Shadow snorted, "Is this the best you've got, Doctor?"

Egg Pawns with shields and spears stomped out of the undergrowth, about twenty of them this time.

Shadow growled, "I don't have time for this nonsense!" he snapped. Firing up his jet shoes, he simply ran past the much slower Egg Pawns, continuing on his way to the base.

Leaving the pesky Egg Pawns behind him, Shadow rocketed through the jungle until he emerged from the dense foliage, coming to a stop and looking out across a vast valley, think with more jungle. Sticking up out of the jungle, illuminated by large spotlights, was a huge tower of glass and steel. A long tunnel extended from the tower to the edge of the cliff that the black hedgehog was standing on. Eggman’s base.

Shadow’s eyes narrowed as he stared at his destination. Pumping a shell into his shotgun, he stepped through the portal and skated into the base. He glanced around at the entrance interior curiously, grimacing as he heard overly cheerful music originating from somewhere within. He had just walked into what seemed to be part laboratory and part museum.

He walked through slowly looking at the glass tubes, which lined the room. Within two of them were old models of mechanized Sonic, each designed to eliminate the blue hedgehog, and each having failed at that task. A third tube was empty, probably where Metal Sonic was before it got loose and caused so much trouble for its creator. A fourth tube held some sort of Metal Knuckles. Another tube held some old predecessor to the E-100s; the panel next to it identified it as ‘Egg Robo’. The next tube occupant was bizarre to say the least. It didn’t look like a robot at all but a… a doll-like mockery of Tails with wide eyes, an expressionless face, and a red gem embedded in its head. For some reason, it freaked the hell out of Shadow. Near it was an old radio that was the source of the annoying music, some woman singing, asking if he could feel the sunshine.

Continuing into the chamber, Shadow noticed a few different models of the Egg-O-Matic hovering one corner, an enormous ball and chain attached to one of them. A holographic display showed the numerous other attachments available for them. Blueprints for aerial warships were pasted on the wall, ideas for different machines were sketched out and scattered on a table. Some of the scrapped ideas included a Metal Amy, Metal Tails, another Death Egg, upgrades for his egg walker, and personal pleasure bots. The next table in particular, though, caught Shadow’s eye. Parts were strewn across it painted in a familiar black and red pattern, and sitting on top of the table was an eerily familiar head. It seemed that Eggman was in the middle of building a Metal Shadow. On another table were other, similar mechanical parts, but these one had fur. An android designed to imitate him? That was... worrying, to say the least.

“Mwahahahahaha!!!” Eggman’s insane laugh sounded out from speakers placed in the walls. Shadow readied his shotgun, prepared for trouble. Eggman’s voice spoke, “Admiring my workshop, Shadow? My greatest creations are stored in that room. They all performed exceptionally well, even if they never managed to eliminate my blue nemesis. However, I’ve never had them fight as a team before. Now would be a good time to test them, don’t you agree?”

Shadow heard machinery coming to life. Suddenly, the glass tubes around him exploded as the robots within freed themselves. He retreated backwards towards the door leading deeper into the base, firing his shotgun as he went. Metal Knuckles was the first to leap at him, receiving a face full of buckshot pellets. Despite the damage, the thing kept coming, hurling a steel fist at Shadow, who used the gun to intercept and block. The shotgun was shattered, and he was hurled down the hallway he was retreating into. Shaking his head clear of the stars that had gathered in his vision, he quickly got to his feet and drew both the ray gun and MP5. Metal Knuckles and Silver Sonic had decided to double team and rushed him. The more intelligent and crafty Mecha Sonic stood back behind them, waiting for them to weaken the Ultimate Lifeform and get wasted so that it could finish the job. Lead and plasma filled the air as Shadow tried to hold back the advanced machines, but they were far tougher than mere Egg Pawns.

Metal Knuckles’ vision had been impaired by the close-range blast and was having trouble tracking Shadow, and Silver Sonic was neither smart nor unpredictable. It was no challenge for Shadow to outmanoeuvre them, dodging and weaving on his jet shoes. Emptying the remaining ammo from his MP5, Shadow penetrated Metal Knuckles’ CPU, scrapping him. A shot from the ray gun finished off Silver Sonic, overloading his circuits.

The wall beside Shadow exploded inward as the massive ball and chain smashed through, hurling Shadow against the far wall and pelting him with debris. The ray gun lost, tossed away and buried in the ruins of the wall. Egg Robo had taken command of the Egg-O-Matic and was putting it to good use. Shadow snarled and wiped away blood from his forehead. He was getting sick of this quickly.

Letting the anger build inside him, he gathered up chaos energy, preparing to unleash it on his foes. And then the tall, threatening Mecha Sonic collided with him, propelled by his own feet-mounted jets. The black and red hedgehog cursed as he smashed into the lab table, robot parts falling on top of him. He picked up the head of the unfinished Metal Shadow and used it as a shield, fending off the robot’s continued assault.

Tired of this pointless battle, Shadow reached a peak point and began to glow red. Glaring in hatred at the mechanical pseudo Sonic, he unleashed a devastating Chaos Blast. Egg Robo and his vehicle were thrown into the ceiling with incredible force, imbedding the machine in it, the ball and chain just dangling there. It had a much different and unexpected effect on Mecha Sonic… the robot seemed to absorb the energy! A wide-eyed Shadow watched as the robot began to glow golden, transformed by the energy. Then the robot unleashed the energy in a ball, blasting him across the room, his fur burnt and smoking in spots. Shadow groaned, dazed and hurt. Mecha Sonic flexed its clawed hands, ready for the kill. As it stepped forward, it walked right under the dangling ball and chain. A snap of his fingers and a flash of purple later, and the wrecking ball came crashing down on the robot’s head, crushing it.

Sighing in relief, Shadow shakily got to his feet. He didn’t expect such a challenge on his quest. Wasn’t there one more robot? That weird ‘sunshine’ music was starting up again…

The knife wielded by the creepy, floating Tails Doll grazed Shadow’s cheek as he just barely dodged the attack. Feeling his own blood trickle down his face, Shadow drew his pistol and fired at the floating doll. It dodged the shot and leapt forward again. Shadow fired off several shots, but not one of them seemed to have any effect on the stuffed toy, which kept advancing.

The last shot he fired accidentally hit the radio, and the dreadful music slowed to a halt, as the Tails Doll froze up, mid-stab. Shadow stared at it. A machine that was invincible as long as music was playing. That was an idea either insanely incredible, or incredibly insane, and one that only Eggman would think up. Shadow curled up, and performed a spin dash on the toy, shredding it to pieces.

Looking around at the devastation, Shadow figured it was time to go visit Eggman and tell the crazed doctor what he thought of his greeting.

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Soon enough, he was in the control room, facing Eggman, his fully loaded pistol aimed straight at the mad scientist’s head. The doctor looked a little nonplussed, which confused Shadow. But he regained his confidence quickly enough.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!" he laughed, in that extra-specially demented way he had. He even sounded fat, Shadow contemplated. How was it possible for someone to sound fat? “Behold the power of the Egg Emperor 1.8!”

Shadow lowered his pistol slightly, “1.8?”

“You came too early, I hadn’t quite finished repairing and upgrading it yet. It doesn’t matter though; it’s never too early for you to DIE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!” Eggman waddled over to the control panel.

Shadow glared at the mad scientist, his anger boiling up inside of him. He wasn't in the mood for a pleasant chat. Without a word, he rushed forward and thrust his fist into Eggman's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and tossing him to the floor. Shadow stood over the human, drew his pistol, and pressed the barrel of the weapon to his enemy's head, "Shut the hell up, you lunatic! Where is Eclipse?!" he snarled.

"Eclipse? Oh yes, your... son," Eggman sat up, with difficulty, "Don't you know?"

"Know what?!" the hedgehog demanded, pressing the gun harder against his head.

"Well... I certainly don't have it," Eggman answered, "Blast it all... they must have pushed their plans ahead of schedule..."

"What the hell are you talking about?! Don't play games with me, Eggman..."

"You think I'd play games with a mad hedgehog who's pressing a gun to my head?" Eggman shook his head, "You think I've stolen your son, don't you." It was a statement, not a question.

"Your robots were the ones who kidnapped him," Shadow growled, "It's a safe assumption."

"Ha! I sell those glitch-happy Guard Robos to everyone," Eggman replied, "Besides, if I'd stolen your son, I'd tell you. It would be quite the bargaining tool."

"If not you, then who did it?" Shadow asked, his finger tightening slightly on the trigger.

Eggman rolled his eyes, not that you could tell beneath his dark glasses, "GUN."

Shadow blinked. It would make sense for GUN to try to pull an operation like that. In fact, he was surprised that he didn't think of it before. But still... "How am I supposed to trust you?"

"Humph. If you'll allow me to stand?" Eggman stood, "To tell you the truth, I had every intention of stealing your progeny. The offspring of the Ultimate Lifeform... that's something any prospective world dictator should consider worth having. My spies had discovered that some officials in GUN planned to do the same, so I decided to beat them to the punch, as it were. I was going to steal him next week, since GUN's original plans were for a fortnight's time. But obviously they must have changed their plans. They are using my robots in an attempt to pin this on me. Now that's low."

Shadow smirked grimly, finding it humorous that the prospective world dictator could think of anything as being below him, "I will deal with GUN. They will rue the day they crossed my family and me. In the meantime, I have you to deal with. Stealing my son, or just planning on it, is unacceptable," The smirk left his face, and Shadow cocked the handgun, "I can't let you live."

"I know where they've taken him," Eggman said quickly. He was remarkably calm for someone who was almost certainly about to die, "I know what they're doing with him. If you kill me, it could take months for you to find him. By then it would be too late."

Shadow's eye twitched. As much as he absolutely loathed admitting it, Eggman had a point. It would take too long to find Eclipse on his own. Shaking his head in disgust, the hedgehog stepped back, pointing the gun away from the doctor.

Eggman nodded, "By hacking GUN's database, I learnt that their plans were remarkably similar to mine. Only their plans didn't involve growth hormones. GUN is more patient than I. They plan to brainwash your son into becoming a weapon - young minds are always so easy to manipulate. They plan to clone him. They plan to use him to take over the world. I also found this room, where he is being held - remarkably imaginative, I never would have thought of it myself..."

Shadow didn't care. He just needed to get him out fast, "Just tell me where he is. It wouldn't be beneficial for your enemies to have an army of Ultimate Lifeforms, so I'll be doing you a favour."

“Ha!” Eggman pressed a button. On the view-screen, a nursery came up. There were posters. But the posters were pro-war imagery. And there were toys. But the toys were replica guns. On a large television, there was a violent action film showing. And there was a playmate. It was a soldier, recalibrating a M-16. Eclipse was watching the soldier avidly. The entire thing was like the nursery from hell, "Grotesque, isn't it?" Eggman said cheerfully.

Shadow began to shake, his vision filling with a red haze. They were trying to turn his son, the life that he and Amy had brought into the world, into a mindless killing machine. They were treating him as a mere tool, a weapon for them to direct, not the living being he truly was, "No..." he whispered. His voice quickly rose in volume, "No, they won't do it. They won't turn my son into their weapon! I won't let them! I'll kill them first!" Shadow raised the handgun towards the screen and opened fire, shooting it again and again, shattering it, firing until the gun ran dry. He kept pulling the trigger long after it was out of ammunition, the sharp clicks filling the air. He snarled and threw the empty weapon at the ruined view screen.

Eggman grinned. He'd expected that sort of reaction from Shadow. While the dark hedgehog wasn't defenceless, he was out of ammo. That was a good start, "As for where..." Eggman tapped some numbers into the keyboard, "White Jungle. They have a secret testing base there. I have the co-ordinates."

"That's all I need," Shadow said, walking over and memorizing the coordinates. White Jungle was apparently still standing, as well as a large part of Prison Island. Eggman's ‘destruction’ of the island wasn't as thorough as he let on, "I will deal with these military scum," he declared as he turned and marched towards the exit, "I'll be their judge, jury, and executioner. And if you ever threaten Amy or Eclipse, I'll be the same for you. That is a promise."

Eggman shrugged as he watched the dark hedgehog leave. Shadow could bring down GUN, or GUN could kill him, or they could destroy each other. Or he could succeed. Robotnik wasn’t too concerned.

But he strongly doubted that Shadow would get out of that compound alive.

~~~

Amy sat up in her hospital bed, just hugging herself. She'd cried so long and so hard that she hadn't even any tears left. Now she was just sitting there. Shadow had said he'd be back. She wished he hadn't left at all.

Sonic felt like the wrong person to be here. After what he’d done to her, he was making himself her protector? Shaking his head, the blue hedgehog continued down the hallways of the hospital, his younger friend trailing behind him. It had been a long while since he had hung out with his little buddy; it almost felt like old times. Almost. The fact that he was walking towards Amy's room shattered any such illusions. He let Tails walk in first last time, but he felt that he had to do it now. He didn't have to worry about Shadow, at least... Steadying his nerves, Sonic opened the door and stepped through. "Amy?" he asked quietly.

Amy looked up hopefully, but her face fell when she saw Sonic, and Tails behind him, "Oh, it's just you guys," she said dolefully, "I was hoping it was Shadow..."

"He... told us to watch over you," Sonic explained. Technically, he’d just asked Tails, but Sonic wanted to be a part of this. He pulled up a chair and sat down, "How are you holding up?"

"Where's Shadow?" Amy sniffled, not answering his question, "He left to find Eclipse... why isn't he back by now?" In truth, it was only a few hours since Shadow had left, but Amy's loneliness was already eating into her stomach.

"He's probably in Frog Forest, chasing after Eggman... Don't sweat it, Amy. If anyone can bring Eclipse back, it's Shadow," he said in his old cheery voice, forcing a reassuring smile that he didn't truly feel.

Tails took her hand, "Yeah, you should rest up. You did your best-"

"No I didn't!" Amy wailed, "I failed! And now- Wait, Shadow's in Frog Forest after Eggman?"

"Uh, yeah," said Tails.

"ALONE?!" Amy wailed.

"Yeah."

Amy leapt out of her bed, "I have to go find him!" Then her legs gave out.

Sonic reached out and caught her before she hit the ground, "You're not in any condition to go anywhere, Ames. You need to rest."

Amy didn't seem to be concerned that Sonic was supporting her; she seemed more concerned about Shadow, "But I'm almost sure those weren't Eggman's robots!" she said, "They gave me a chance to surrender - and they didn't kill or capture me on the way out..." She got back into the bed.

Sonic backed up and considered this new bit of information, "Hmm... that is strange. Eggman's bots never give a chance for surrender..."

"I want them back... I want them both back so bad..." Amy started crying again, hugging Tails.

Sonic didn't know what to do. He could tell her something reassuring and empty again, as if that would do any good. Or he could rush out to Frog Forest and try to help Shadow out. That wouldn't go over well with Shadow, though, and now Sonic wasn't sure who the real threat was. So he just stood there silently as Amy clung to Tails and emptied out her grief.

"What's he doing out there?" Amy sobbed, "What's taking him so long... What if they've been hurt... I feel so useless..."

Tails patted her back, feeling rather useless too, "There, there," he said, not sure how to tell Amy about all the heavy-duty weaponry that Shadow had taken with him.

Sonic shook his head, and tried to reassure her again. "There's nothing Egghead can throw at Shadow that would stop him. Plus he's mad as hell and packing heat... I almost feel sorry for Eggman."

"He shouldn't have gone alone..." Amy whispered, "This is... different... he should have taken backup... why didn't he take backup?"

"He didn't want it," Sonic replied quietly.

Amy curled up again, "I... I miss them both... I'm so scared for them..."

"I'm sure they'll both be fine," Tails said, "Just give it a couple of days... maybe Shadow's taking his time, being more cautious..."

Huh, thought Sonic, Maybe… On the same day the devil goes ice-skating, pigs sprout wings, and Tails gives birth to a monkey through his ass. Shadow was never subtle. No, he'd rush in guns and chaos powers blazing. But hey, that tactic had never failed him before... or Sonic himself, for that matter. Why change a successful formula now?

Then again, Sonic considered, it was that attitude that he had destroyed his own life with.

Amy shrugged, in a non-committed way. She didn't look a whole lot happier though. She was almost certain she was just being paranoid... but the feeling wouldn't go away. She curled up in the bed, "I miss them so..." she muttered.

Sonic sighed and slumped in his chair, You’d better come back alright, Shadow... she needs you...

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Harley: End of Chapter Five! Read and Review!

Froggy: As a final note, all fan-art interpretations of Eclipse’s appearance are welcome.