Ascend

Area 99 was in the middle of the Nortahmerean desert, and yet, the room Sonic shared with Mist couldn't feel any colder. The only thing it had was a bunk bed and a small desk, as well as a clock above the door to show the time, which they couldn't know otherwise due to the lack of windows. There was no entertainment, not even a newspaper to read, all Sonic could do was stare at the walls and think about what happened yesterday.

The only thing that kept him from going mad was sharing the room with Mist, who comfortably snoozed off in the bottom bed while he struggled to sleep above. Wearing the device for so long made his wrist numb, and he knew there would be consequences if he got caught trying to escape, but that didn't stop him from trying. Struggling against the guard’s grasp only resulted in a punch to the gut, and he couldn’t just run away either—that was guaranteed death.

He jumped down his bed and then hopped on the desk, the door was tightly locked with a very intricate security system, one that would give even a mind like Eggman’s a hard time breaking—though he could still pass through anything if given time, it's just a miracle he remained imprisoned so long. His only choice was the ventilation system, which had visible security measures to prevent him from simply smashing through.

Sonic was cocky, not stupid. He tapped his foot, trying to think of possible ways to trick the system, but nothing came to mind. Thinking wasn’t his greatest specialty after all. Then he was startled by Mist jolting awake, throwing him off balance, back-first from the table into the floor. Mist’s whole body was shaking, drenched in sweat, hyperventilating. Sonic brushed the back of his head, maybe his sleep wasn't as good as he thought.

"What are you doing?" Mist yawned and rubbed his eyes, his stare redirected towards Sonic, "You know you'll blow up if they catch you, right?"

"Your mind’s certainly brighter than this room.” Sonic quipped, using the table as support to get up. “It’s driving me insane, more than sharing it with a psychopath.”

"Oh, I’m very aware that being in our position is not easy," Mist said, stroking his hair away from his vision, his stare becoming shadier, "...but the end justifies the means.”

"How!? You’re OK with using unsuspecting people to do dangerous hard work for you, against their will?" Sonic shouted, biting his tongue as he stomped over and forced his hand into the collar of Mist's uniform, dragging him closer. "Then threatening to kill them if they disobey? And you have the guts to say this after seeing your friend die!?"

"Unsuspecting people?" Mist asked with a smile that quickly turned into a melancholic frown, "He was a sadist who just tried to kill your friend! And he would’ve done worse if it wasn’t for the situation."

"Regardless," Sonic slowly let go and crossed his arms. "Using people like easily replaceable bots sounds like a very Eggman thing to do."

"But the world is so much better now that he's gone," Mist said, shedding a real tear this time. "And it would be better without me, too."

"Then activate the alarm if you want, I dare you! Our psychopathic sarge will love it!" Sonic yelled, then gulped as the door slid open. Speaking of the devil, the sergeant was standing at the door—his stare as imposing as ever—just arriving at the worst possible time.

Tumbleweeds bounced across miles of dry land and heat waves rose from the scorching sand with every step and sweat dripping from their foreheads, wrapped in a brown cloak that covered them from head to toe, Tails and Shadow sneaked behind one of the huge columns that supported the spaceport above. There wasn’t much time to talk, knowing the rocket could launch at any moment.

"You know what to do, find GUN's server and install it there," Shadow said with a relieved sigh, as he pulled out a small green USB drive and handed it to Tails. "I'll cover your back."

Tails nodded, yawning as he had lost most of his sleep last night transferring the information from the robot he fought yesterday into the Miles Electric. Shadow had told him that the explosives attached to the base were connected to GUN's servers, so installing the drive there would give them full control. The two of them crouched on a blind spot behind a large metal crate, the place was full of soldiers—standing like statues with their weapons in hand as far as the eye could see, and security cameras periodically rocking left and right.

Tails pulled out the T-pup and placed it down, Shadow knew the guards’ patrol routes like the palm of his hand. Using the Miles Electric, Tails maneuvered it as soon as the soldier moved, heading towards the mount in front of them and hopping from one box to another. While subtle, the noise alerted the guard, who turned around and began shooting at T-Pup, as it deployed a propeller from its loin.

A stream of sweat rained from Tails’ head as one of the bullets landed, hitting its rear end, which botched up the robot’s handling. Complicating things even further, the other guards joined in and began shooting as it barely snuck into the waste disposal, covered up by the thick, black smoke that emerged from the vent. One misfire opened it up, letting T-Pup crawl in, its silhouette getting lost within as it moved further along.

One of the other soldiers turned around, his gaze nearly crossed with Shadow and Tails. He fired a bullet, only to hit the crate behind them, as the two of them had vanished as soon as they made eye contact. The two of them reappeared in another blind spot near the entrance. Tails gasped as the soldiers looked around confused, aiming towards any potential threat waiting to ambush them.

“Damn it,” Tails muttered, some of Shadow’s language getting stuck to him.

Alarms rocked and soldiers scrambled to find them, as T-Pup narrowly avoided the fiery pit below before squeezing its way through into the ventilation system. Despite the many complications, they eventually arrived at the security room safely. It dropped a small bomb from a compartment on its rear, letting out three beeps before blowing up. The guard jumped off his seat as the blast rang through the room, he quickly ran to check the opening as soon as the explosion dissipated. He saw nothing.

Right as he turned around, the guard was smacked in the face by a boxing glove, which knocked him against the furniture behind him, rendering him unconscious. T-Pup hopped down and made its way to the monitors, hooking itself to the terminal. A stampede of soldiers barraged through the corridors, the swarm spreading outside, next thing Tails and Shadow saw were guns pointed at them from every direction imaginable.

Shadow smirked, his very presence alone making them briefly back down before reaffirming their stance and opening fire. Next thing Tails saw was a mountain of bodies laying unconscious on the sand, bullet holes spread throughout the walls and floor, as if they conveniently flew around him. Shadow dusted his hands off, dealing with a whole army like that was a walk in the park, maybe those soldiers should’ve hesitated more.

On a bridge far above the ground, unaware of the events below, Sonic and the rest of the prisoners were being led into the rocket by the sergeant. They covered themselves from the powerful gusts of wind blowing specs of sand towards them, seeing the spacecraft lead Sonic to assume their next destination would be somewhere in space, yet again.

He looked at the vast, barren field extending far beyond his eyes could see, the rocky mountains resembling pebbles from this height. Sticking out like a sore thumb was a massive ship stationed in the horizon, Sonic’s eyes widened and Eggman blinked twice, the thing looked ancient yet futuristic—just like the kind of thing they’ve seen on the Starfall Islands.

Just thinking about that place made them shudder.

“Listen up! Our next task involves bringing the Master Emerald to the Space Colony Ark,” The sergeant explained, Sonic and Eggman looked at each other, questioning if they’ve heard right, “There you will find a machine powered by it. The place has been abandoned for years, but it’s nothing you lot can’t handle”

Sonic didn't think they were referring to the Eclipse Canon, since it required the 7 Emeralds. The only use for the Master Emerald he could think of for it was to wake up the Biolizard, who was long since dead. Eggman, on the other hand, had studied the ARK extensively, scouring for every last tidbit of information he could gather, even after having closed that piece of his past.

During this extensive investigation, Eggman found a plethora of canned projects in the works, a lot of which predated Project Shadow. GUN told the public that the place was created with the purpose of serving as a haven for scientific progress, but he came to the conclusion there had to be an ulterior motive, given the pattern he noticed in every second experiment that came from that place.

"Oh, what a very nice gesture," Feels smiled, patting the sergeant in the back as if they weren't in a life-or-death situation, "who knew the true hero of Mobius would get the privilege of going into space!"

"Privilege? I do it every weekend," Sonic crossed his arms, his smug grin making Feels livid.

They were interrupted by a buzzing sound coming from the sergeant’s communicator, the voice was distorted behind the static, but just audible enough for him to hear what was being said.

"Sergeant Doberman here, what's going on?"

"NPI Security, Sh-Shadow let the intruders in," he said, desperately looking back for something, "it seems we have some traitors in our ranks!"

"Idiot, why didn't you tell me before?" Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fist and stomped the floor.

"W-Well... they... SHIT, THEY FOUND ME!" The guard yelled, the sergeant could almost sense him pleading for mercy to whoever stepped by.

"Come over here you moron!" Sonic knew that voice, it was Amy. "You don't underestimate a girl’s love, alright? Something happens to MY Sonic and you'll pay!"

"Affirmative!" A loud mechanical noise could be heard, the deep robotic voice was unmistakably Omega. Now that he thought about it, Rouge or Topaz weren’t here either.

"Please, please, PLEEEEEASE alert everyone!!" He desperately pleaded, feeling something on his head.

"Chao, Chao, Chao!" The squeaking came from Cheese, which logically meant Cream was also present.

"THAT DUMBASSSSSS…” The sergeant hissed, going feral as his attention turned towards the line of prisoners, “GET INTO THAT ROCKET! NOW!”

The sergeant shut down the transmission with the press of a button, as the alarms wailed far and wide throughout the arid wasteland. Smoke huffed from the sergeant’s nose, huffing and puffing as he visibly restrained his urge to punch someone in the face. He jerked the chains, pushing everyone towards the shuttle, Feels was thrown face first into its walls before everyone crashed against him.

He slammed the door shut, the metallic bang resonant within the ship’s interior making the cellmates cover their ears. Dusting off his hands, the sergeant marched away. All sound which came from the rocket’s exterior was muffled, nearly inaudible, behind the whirring of the rocket’s engines. Feels kept banging on the door, desperately trying to get out, only to slow down and stop once they started to rise.

The huge military base they had once been at seemed smaller and smaller than it looked from the ground, consumed by the vast desert that was becoming just as small. They were above the clouds, then above the atmosphere. Feels was far more afraid than he had been on the ground—knowing their true circumstances—but Mist seemed strangely calm.

Not because he was used to it, but because he was ready to accept his death.

Inside the base, bathed in red light, Tails and Shadow froze as several doors fell from the ceiling, blocking both sides of the corridor. However, no matter how heavy the doors were, they were no match for Shadow, who summoned several bursts of Chaos Spears to blast them open.

Tails was still puzzled as to how he could do this without a Chaos Emerald in hand, he hypothesized the rings on his wrists were more than just inhibitors, but in reality, there was only one source of energy Shadow drew from. A promise that activated all that Chaos energy in his blood, a wish he carried deep within his heart, which acted like a key to reach his full potential.

His memories of Maria.

The two had reached a cross way, GUN robots appeared from both sides, one after the other. Tails turned on his cylinder and cranked the newly implemented golden gear, which adjusted its frequency, turning the sword into a whip. He then cracked it at the robots, instantly slicing them all in half. Yesterday's bug had inspired him to modify his Chaos Sword a little bit, as they say, inspiration comes from unexpected places.

Shadow stepped in to help Tails, shooting every drone down with his gun. He swiped off some sweat after dealing with these swarms for what felt like an hour—which in reality was only a couple minutes—the heat was becoming unbearable. The corridors began shaking, loud stomping noises not coming from the floor but the ceiling, a hatch whirred as it opened right above them.

“Who would’ve guessed it was you, Shadow, and here I thought I could trust you.”

T-Pup’s carcass fell from above, crushed like a tin-can, clicking as it bounced on the floor and spread cogs and bolts around the floor. Shadow hugged Tails and jumped out of the way, as a huge GUN mech landed on top of its remains, flattening them before swiping them away like he stepped on a cockroach. They turned around to see the imposing figure towering over them, its shadow covering the two.

Behind the black opaque glass, Shadow saw the sergeant on the driver’s seat. He quickly stood up and held his weapon tightly as he aimed its gatling gun towards them, Tails followed suit, clutching the mast of his Chaos Whip.

“So, tell me, why are you playing on the intruder’s team?” He asked, veins popping from his hands as he clenched onto the levers. “You were sooooo loyal until now, is he a friend of yours?”

“A friend of Sonic’s,” Shadow affirmed, though Tails saw through his attempt at being distant.

“Shame,” The sergeant grinned before pulling the lever.

Shadow grabbed Tails and they vanished in a flash of light, as an onslaught of bullets shot from the gatling gun’s barrel, smoke trailing from the holes they pierced on the ground. The two of them reappeared intact, having teleported behind the mech using Chaos Control.

Tails cracked his whip, which magnetically wrapped around the mech’s leg. The sergeant turned back and noticed, with the press of a button, two hatches opened on its ankles and released the jet boosters inside. Flames erupted from the thrusters, sending it flying forwards through the corridor, with Tails sliding behind.

"I still have Sonic under my control," The sergeant exclaimed with a confident grin, holding out his detonator, "If you really want to save him, surrender, otherwise..."

Shadow teleported right in front of the window, the sergeant’s mouth wide agape as he stood suspended in the air for a couple seconds before kicking him in the face, shattering the glass and making him drop the remote. Tails reeled the whip back, spinning his namesakes for a small boost before diving to catch it, shards of broken crystal falling around him.

The mech took a few steps back from the impact, struggling to retain balance, the ground denting from the sheer force of each step before it finally managed to stand up firmly. Tails inspected the device before he pocketed it and ran ahead, his engineering instincts told him bad things would happen if he destroyed it.

The alarms kept wailing as Shadow clutched his fists, sparks of energy racing through his arm, ready to keep fighting. But it wasn’t him who they were warning against, not anymore, but something the sergeant caught up to quickly. It was the time already, wasn’t it? He groaned, this was the worst possible time to be blocked by Shadow of all people, but maybe he could grant him an advantage.

The sun’s heat was at its highest point, from a sea of soldiers laying on the ground, one of them opened his eyes. He struggled to focus, barely making out many figures in the distance, covered in black. He blinked a couple times, just to make sure the desert wasn’t playing him tricks, but they only seemed to keep moving closer… and closer… and closer…

Another guard regained consciousness, spitting up some sand and lifting himself up, enduring the burn he felt in the process. The amount of guards waking up increased, one of them just noticing the enormous ship poking out from the mountains, from where the silhouettes emerged.

The soldiers got their act together and immediately set fire, but the bullets bounced off the ominous figures, shaking them off so mundanely. Their eyes widened yet again, one of the men clenched his teeth in frustration, no way they were facing two unbeatable opponents in a row.

"Seems like GUN's soldiers are very useless indeed," They said, prior to sending a powerful shockwave, which instantly killed the three frontmost guards in the blink of an eye, “My research never fails.”

Their voice was unnaturally deep and distorted, they were all robotic in appearance, yet the nuance in their movements looked natural enough to assume there were living Mobians inside those armors. Strange tendrils dropped from the back of their head—marked with stripes, which glowed a soft purple as did their eyes and the mark on their forehead.

It was a mark the soldiers knew very well, it was undoubtedly the mark of the Marauders.

"WAIT!! Don't shoot!" The Marauder’s leader ordered, voice echoing through the desert, as the ship’s three canons—which were about to take down the rocket—recoiled upon his will, "It's too late, the Master Emerald is inside, shooting the base now might destroy it."

"What do we do now?" Another Marauder asked, looking at the piles of ashes that used to be soldiers.

"Don't worry, these soldiers were already weakened by the time we arrived here,” they responded, raising their glance towards the base, "There’s someone else here who can help us, whether they want it or not."