Tails the Fox
Chapter 30 - Heroes of the Dark Side
Stage 16 - Android Assault

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?

Rainbow frantically paced Eggman's control room. On a table she was near were a few sparkling green stones. "Awww, One's not gonna like this..." she said worriedly. "What won't I like!?" Punchy said as he walked into the room. Rainbow faced him innocently. "Weeeell... Y'know that big, green emerald I was supposed to find..." she said. Punchy crossed his arms. "Yeah, what about it?" he asked. Rainbow pointed at the stones on the table. "It ain't so big anymore..." she said sheepishly. Punchy ran over to the shards of the Master Emerald, fiery rage in his eyes. "It's BROKEN!?" he roared. "Tubby must've broke it, One." Rainbow said. "It was like that when I found it."

The two echidnas were interrupted by a voice they had never heard before. "EGGMAN!! Where are you!?" A black and red hedgehog entered the control room. It was Shadow! Punchy became a bit defensive, raising his fists. "Who do you think you are?" he growled. Rainbow looked him over quickly. "He looks like one of those weird cyborgs!"
"Androids!" Punchy corrected.
"Gazundheit!" Rainbow replied.
Shadow approached them slowly, unsure what to expect, considering how they didn't look like the sort of characters who would work for Eggman. Punchy backed up a little. "What do you want, robot?" he demanded. Shadow tossed a Chaos Spear attack in his direction, which he barely dodged. "Yow! It's malfunctioning!" Rainbow shouted. Shadow growled angrily. "I'm no robot! I'm the REAL Shadow! Don't ever call me an android again! What's with the disguise, anyway, Knuckles?" Shadow said, noting Punchy's resemblance to the red echidna. Rainbow was first to speak up before Punchy could. "He ain't Knuckles!" she said. "That's right!" Punchy enthusiastically added. "He's One!" Rainbow said. Punchy and Rainbow then started arguing.
"PUNCHY!! Is my name that hard to learn, Rainbow!?"
"I prefer to use the name yer daddy gave ya! Or was it yer mommy?"
"Why I oughta..."
They continued like that for a few moments until Shadow finally became frustrated. "QUIET!!" he shouted. "Where's Eggman? I have some... questions for him..." Punchy and Rainbow turned to him and thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure Tubby isn't here. Can we take a message?" Rainbow offered. Shadow looked at her like she was crazy. "As if I'd trust you. I don't even know you!" Rainbow returned his look with her own puzzled expression. "Haven't you been paying attention? I'm Rainbow, he's One, and you're... Shadow? I'll call ya Shade!"
"Please don't." Shadow muttered.
"Listen you..." Punchy started to say, but was interrupted by a loud alarm!

"That sounds like BAS!" Rainbow shouted over the alarm. Punchy and Shadow covered their ears and looked at her like she was nuts. "BAS?!" Punchy said. "The Base Alarm System! Tubby was talking to it earlier!" she said. The alarm started speaking, in a surprisingly expressive voice. "GUN Troops have landed on Darkegg Fortress!" the noise subsided, and Shadow called to the alarm. "Where's Eggman?" BAS took a moment to process what Shadow had said, then responded. "Dr. Eggman is not here. He is out on a mission." Shadow was not satisfied. "What kind of mission?" he wondered aloud. BAS laughed at the question. "Information is classified. If I told you, I'd have to kill you!" the alarm said in a sarcastic voice. Shadow was extremely annoyed. "Great, an alarm that thinks it's a comedian!"

"Hey, Shadow!" Punchy called, "If you want to talk to Eggman, he might listen if you stop GUN's attack!" Shadow looked suspiciously at Punchy. "Me, fight with GUN? You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he said. "We don't have time for it, Shade!" Rainbow said, "Me and One have to go find those emerald pieces!" Shadow looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose I would like to speak with Eggman before GUN captures him. I guess I'll do it then... One..." Shadow said as he started to walk out of the control room. Punchy shook his fist at Shadow. "That's PUNCHY!! I don't like my stupid experiment number!!" he shouted angrily. Shadow stopped short. "You're Experiment 1?!" he said, shocked. Punchy tried to chase after Shadow now, but Rainbow held him back. "CALL ME THAT AGAIN!! I DARE YOU!!" he screamed. Shadow walked towards the door. "I'll see you again, Punchy the echidna." he said as he walked out. Punchy calmed down at that point. "At least he respects my name." he sighed, exhausted from all the excitement. "That name's silly, One." Rainbow commented. "WHY YOU..." Punchy stammered. "I'm gonna call you Colors from now on!" Rainbow smiled and started toward the door. "You do that, One!" she said cheerfully. Punchy followed her slowly. "Phooey..." he muttered.


Shadow found his way to an elevator. According to BAS, the intruders had gone into the basement of Eggman's base, Darkegg Fortress. It was a huge tower, with the control room at its top floor. As Shadow entered the elevator, someone ran in his direction. "Hold that door!!" It was Copter, who had recently returned from the Mystic Ruins, and was still wearing the Tailband of Chaos. Shadow held the door, seeing no reason not to. Copter panted heavily as he entered the elevator. "Almost missed it..." he muttered. Shadow glanced at his tailband, and noticed his second tail. "Tails...?" he said quietly to himself. Copter, after resting, looked over at Shadow. "Have we met? Are you with Eggman?" he asked. Shadow shut his eyes and thought for a moment. "I'm not against him." he said finally. "Me neither." Copter replied. Shadow opened his eyes and pressed the button on the elevator's controls. "Tell me, are you an experiment?" he asked. Copter leaned against the wall of the elevator. "You're talkin' to Experiment 2!" he said proudly. Shadow wasn't surprised. "So, you're the wayward experiment." he thought. As is customary for Darkegg Fortress elevators, BAS said the direction the elevator was going. "Going down! Basement level!" Hearing this, Copter noticed that there was only one button on the elevator. "Wait, this one ONLY goes to the basement!?" he exclaimed. "That is correct, sir. This is the express elevator. Brace yourself." BAS cautioned. Copter jumped in panic. "Brace myself!? Hold on!!" but it was too late. The elevator shot toward the basement like a bullet, Shadow calmly holding on to the rail while Copter was flung into the roof, and began screaming as they went down. "STOP THE RIDE, I WANNA GET OFF!!!!!"

The elevator crashed to a stop, and Copter crashed to the floor in a heap. The doors opened, and BAS said a cheerful, "Thank you, come again!" Shadow stepped out of the elevator, and Copter rolled on to his side in the fetal position. "I th-think I'll st-stay here a while... If I live, I'll continue s-searching for a space sh-shuttle..." he said shakily. Shadow looked over at the traumatized fox. "A space shuttle?" he thought, "Maybe I should follow him after this."

The basement level of Darkegg Fortress was like a huge mining facility. It was an expansive series of tunnels filled with mine shafts and carts. Some parts of the facilty had crumbled and collapsed, and judging by the burns on the walls in those areas, it was apparent that this was likely GUN's handiwork. It wasn't long before Shadow encountered yet another of Eggman's agents, Metal Sonic. "You again! I wasn't expecting to see you!" the robot said. It aimed a laser at Shadow. "Are you with GUN?" Shadow ran behind the robot really fast, so he wasn't being targeted. "I'm here to fight GUN. Put that thing away!" he said. Metal Sonic turned around, lowering the weapon. "Why would you help us?" it asked. Shadow shook his head. "I'd rather know why you're helping Eggman. You locked him up before, and we all had to fight you on his Air Fleet." Metal Sonic went through its data bank a moment. "No such encounter in memory!" it finally declared. Shadow looked thoughtful a moment. "The doctor must have erased your memory..."

Metal Sonic explained his mission objective to Shadow. "GUN is building a makeshift elevator in order to get inside the base. They entered here through tunnels they created, and unleashed an army of androids in the mines. Said androids were reprogrammed versions of Eggman's battle androids based on the experiments, and you." Shadow couldn't believe it. "GUN took control of the Shadow Androids!?" he said, alarmed. "Correct." Metal Sonic replied. Shadow looked ahead and spotted androids resembling himself, Punchy, and Copter heading their way. "GUN's being run by cowards, not even using their own forces! All right, then, Metal Sonic! Let's take them down together, and prove our superiority to these inferior models!"
"Agreed!" Metal Sonic replied. The two hedgehog creations took off through the mines, obliterating any androids in their path. They were strong, but no match for Shadow and Metal Sonic together. It wasn't long before they reached the tunnels built by GUN. Soldiers guarded the path to the new elevator, but never had a chance. Shadow and Metal Sonic left them unconscious, and entered the a large cavern where Sargent Gunner was shouting impatiently at Spy, who was trying to finish the elevator. "Hurry up, Spy! I don't want Eggman to have a base to return to!" he snarled. Spy was hurriedly reading a manual as he worked. "Let's see... Insert tab B into slot... X47822!? What the heck is that!? Who would have thought building an elevator would be so complicated!?" Spy stood up to say something to Gunner. "Sorry, Sarge, but... EEEEK!!!" he let out a girlish scream when he saw Shadow and Metal Sonic standing behind Gunner. The sargent whirled around to face them. "Shadow!? What are you doing here!?" he demanded. Metal Sonic pointed its weapon at the elevator. "Target found! Destroy target!" Gunner snapped his fingers, and a robot dropped down between Metal Sonic and the elevator. It was Techno Sonic, the same robot Copter and Punchy had thought was defeated at the Security Tower! "I see you've joined up with Eggman, Shadow. I knew you would. All you furry freaks are alike! Treacherous and evil, the lot of you! I despise you!" Gunner roared, pure hatred burning in his eyes. Shadow raised his fists. "You're the one who told me Sonic was evil! You're the villain here, human! It's hateful manipulators like you that destroyed the ARK and took Maria from the planet she loved so much! I won't let you get away with any more of your villainy!"

Gunner grinned smugly. "Exactly the attitude I expect from you. I will never believe that nonsense. If anyone destroyed the ARK, it was YOU! Not that I care, I wasn't there. However, I will get revenge for those poor souls here and now! Techno Sonic, destroy them!!"

To be continued...