GeneX - Tails the Fox
Chapter 37 - The Diablotron
Stage 20 - Egg Maze
Boss 26 - Diablotron

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

When Spy managed to catch up with Sargent Gunner, he found him laughing. "What's so funny, boss?" he wondered. Gunner wore an ear to ear smile. "I'm so close! So close to obliterating those furry freaks once and for all!" Spy looked at him quizzically. "How so?" Gunner sounded like an excited little kid as he explained. "It's coming here! We have backup!" Spy, however, had no idea what he was referring to. "Backup? Really? Cool! What kind?" he asked, mimicking the old sargent's excitement. Gunner led Spy down the halls, talking along the way. "The ultimate backup! GUN's greatest weapon has been sent here, on my request! Nothing can stop me now! Sonic and Shadow are history!"

Meanwhile, Shadow and Copter were running up the balconies of the tower, since Copter refused to use the elevators after that last time. About halfway up the tower, Copter stopped. "I doubt Tails has gotten this far yet." he said. "Since the elevators are not exactly hero friendly around here, I figure he'll have to pass through here. And if he's not in the tower yet, I'll see him coming." Shadow leaned against the wall, looking a bit miffed. "So, you're stopping?" Copter sat down on the edge of the balcony. "I have to rest from what happened on the ARK, anyway." he said. Shadow stepped away from the wall impatiently. "Well, I'm not gonna stay here." he said. Copter looked up at him. "Then I have a request for you. Stop Dr. Eggman!" Shadow looked down at Copter, unsure he heard him right. Copter gazed down at the sparkling blue sea. "I'm no fool. I know Eggman's just been using me for his own selfish quest. Frankly, I have a severe distaste for the idea of the world being run by robots." Shadow turned to walk away. "You make a good point. I do believe I owe the doctor some punishment anyway. Leave it to me."

So, Shadow began searching for Eggman. A difficult task, considering the fact that the bad doctor had abandoned his control room, which was the first place Shadow thought to look. In fact, the control room was deserted. So, Shadow decided to search the computer system for clues. As he approached the computer chair, someone dropped from the ceiling into the chair! Shadow was about to go on the offensive, but calmed down when he noticed that it was just Rouge. "Well, well, what are you doing here, Shadow?" she said. Shadow crossed his arms. "I have my reasons. I suppose you're here with GUN." he said, changing the subject. Rouge was still curious to know how Shadow fit in to all this, but decided it didn't matter at the moment. "Yeah, GUN's here, but I have heard that there's an interesting bit of treasure in here." she said. Shadow chuckled. "Always looking for treasure..." Rouge began pressing buttons on the computer. "So, are you looking for anything, Shadow?" she asked. "I need to find Eggman." he replied. Suddenly, BAS spoke up. "Try the Egg Maze floor!" A map to the location appeared on the computer screen. "You both may find something at the end of the maze."

Shadow and Rouge decided to help each other search the maze, though Shadow didn't feel he needed help. They found the maze littered with androids, so Shadow realized that Sargent Gunner had reached that area. It shouldn't have been a problem, considering the fact that Rouge worked for GUN. However, the androids apparently didn't care, and would shoot at both of them on sight. Still, they weren't any tougher than they had been in the mines, and the only thing that really slowed Shadow and Rouge down was the confusing layout of the maze. It took a while, but soon they found the end of the maze, a large room locked by iron bars, possibly a room Eggman had previously intended as a prison, but for some reason or other, the room was left unlocked, unfinished, and there was even a back exit in the large cell. There was one large object in the center of the room that Shadow thought he recognized, a huge robot that resembled the Diablon!

"Followed me up here, did you, Shadow?" said Sargent Gunner, who was standing near the back exit to the cell. Spy was standing beside him, looking a bit nervous. "Didn't he beat this thing before?" he said, quietly. "No, he beat the prototype, Diablon! This is the perfected mech, GUN's ultimate force, the Diablotron!" Gunner proclaimed proudly. Indeed, the Diablotron did seem to have a few improvements. It was equipped with a new plasma shield, a few additional weapon systems attached to its hands, and appeared more flight capable. "This time, it'll crush that black monster!" Gunner said with confidence. Shadow began to approach it, recalling a time when he had desired to destroy the humans. "Ha! You think so, huh? Don't count on it! But I'm not interested in fighting you. I'm looking for Eggman, so just get out of my way and I won't have to hurt you." he said. Gunner, however, would not be swayed. "You don't scare me, furry freak!"

"Hey, there, Sargent Goon! Thought you could lose us in the maze, huh?" Char and Alpha had caught up with Sargent Gunner, and came in through the back. Spy, not liking the situation, was already panicked. "Yikes! We've been caught again!" he shouted. Alpha let out a robotic laugh. "Busted!!" the robot said. Gunner looked from Alpha to Shadow, then back again. "Now what?!" he muttered. "You might as well give up!" Shadow shouted. Gunner wasn't listening. "It's only one robot, Spy! You aren't going to tell me that you can't even fight that!?" he growled. Spy, realizing that he had no choice, nervously approached Alpha. "Um... hello..." he said nervously. "No resistance detected." Alpha said mockingly. "Don't make me laugh!" Char said, laughing anyway.

"Fine! I guess it's time to test our ultimate weapon!" Gunner growled, turning back to Shadow. "Then, when it's through with you, it'll wipe Sonic from the face of the Earth!" Shadow's ears perked up at the mention of the blue hedgehog. "Sonic? Have you seen him around here?" he asked. "Yes, he got in our way a short while ago. Now, enough of this! Diablotron, destroy that monstrous thing! Attack!!!" Rouge, who had been silently observing the whole time, finally spoke up. "Sarge, this is insane! Shadow's not doing anything wrong! Eggman's the one we should be worried about!" she insisted. Gunner glared furiously at her. "Are you questioning me!? Why don't you make yourself useful and fight that robot, so Spy doesn't kill himself! Get to it, or you'll be considered a traitor as well!" Considering her options, Rouge realized that it would be more profitable to do as she was told, for now anyway. So, she ran after Alpha, who was busy laughing at Spy's rediculous attempt to mimic karate.

This left Shadow and the Diablotron. During all the talking prior to this moment, it had been charging its weapons, and now it fired its anti-matter cannon directly at Shadow, who quickly used Chaos Control to warp out of the way. He exited the warp behind the Diablotron, and attempted to attack through the plasma shield. That didn't work, as Shadow merely bounced off it, doing no damage. Apparently, direct attacks were not going to work. The Diablotron flew up high and targeted Shadow, firing a barrage of laser blasts in his direction. Shadow simply used Chaos Control to get behind the robot again, but the robot very quickly turned around to resume shooting at him. "This one has a much better targeting system." Shadow thought, rushing to avoid the oncoming attacks. Shadow decided to test the power of the plasma shield by using Chaos Blast once he finally managed to get close to the machine. While the shield did flicker for a brief moment, it wasn't nearly enough for that tactic to be considered practical.

The battle continued for a while, neither of them showing any signs of gaining the upper hand. Finally, they stood face to face, machine and hedgehog glaring hatefully at each other. Before either of them could act, the Diablotron quite unexpectedly burst into flames and exploded. Shadow was dumbfounded. "What was that? Has it overheated? I didn't do that..." he muttered. "No, I did." came a voice behind him. Shadow turned around to see a creature in a black hood, similar to the Doomsayers, but with a decidedly different disposition. There was a pair of black, feathery wings on its back, but that was all that was not hidden by the black cloak it wore. "Who are you?" Shadow said, unable to think of anything else. The being pointed to the back exit to the cell. "Forgetting someone?" it said. It's voice was clearly being manipulated somehow, for it seemed to change as it spoke. Shadow looked around. Gunner, Spy, Char, Rouge, and Alpha were all gone. They likely ran off while Shadow was fighting the Diablotron. "Time is short. Hurry up, or you'll miss your chance." the hooded creature said before flying up through a hole in the roof. Shadow wasn't sure who to chase, but decided that it would probably be best to continue searching for Eggman. So, he ran through the back exit.

The hallway led to a large, square room with four exits; one for each wall. Coming through the exit accross from Shadow was a familiar blue hedgehog. "You again..." Shadow muttered. "Looks like I'm headed the right way. You're looking for Eggman as well, aren't you?" Sonic nodded, grinning. They both knew what was coming. "I'm on my way to stop Eggman and his buddy Copter." Sonic said. Shadow shook his head. "I must insist you back down, Sonic. I'll take it from here!" "What fun would that be?" Sonic said. "You could always join us, you know!" Shadow laughed at him. "Yeah, like I really need you slowing me down." Sonic laughed back. "I believe that's my line. You know I'm faster than you." "Sounds like a challenge!" Shadow said cockily. "But we both don't have time for games. Let's go, Sonic. The winner gets to take on Eggman first!" "Fine, Shadow, if it's a fight you want, you've got it!" The two hedgehogs faced off at opposite ends of the room, fire in their eyes. Both cried out at once, "Chaos Control!" Thus, their showdown picked up where it left off on Aqua Isle, this time with far greater stakes!

To be continued...