PROLOGUE
Off the case... off the case! The nerve of it!
Reassigned merely because of tactics that were a little rudimentary. It was insulting to him, not to mention insulting to his duty. So he pressed hard... so what? They were prime suspects anyway. Team Chaotix had been standing in his way. Between wandering around aimlessly, waiting for the Nemesis to strike again, and actually doing something proactive to track them down and stop them.
Victory would have been assured. Whoever found Mighty the Armadillo first would have been rewarded. Medals. Commendations. Perhaps even a promotion. A future as replacement for the Commander would have been guaranteed.
But no.
Instead of leading his soldiers into battle, Captain Stone was now leading his pen into some tedious paperwork. The walls of his office were sparse. Like his career mentality. Focused on the triumph of tomorrow, rather than dwelling on the tasks of today. No distractions. Keep a grip on the job.
On the mind-numbing punishment of the job.
The pen creaked under pressure. Two more lines and it finally snapped.
Stone snapped with it. “Damn!”
Hypocrisy nagged at him from the back of his mind. The Commander had not even blinked at slapping him down and reassigning him to basic chores. Yet Shadow the Hedgehog, in all his unpredictable glory, had assaulted a GUN guard right in the interrogation suite! Right at the heart of the facility! And what was his castigation? Nothing. Not even a word of protest from the Commander. In fact, praise! Support! Willingness to follow Shadow down a path of wild guesswork and trust in Team Chaotix.
Trust in former associates of Mighty... the enemy.
Insane.
It was insane. It was driving Stone insane. Everything was just insane.
Boots thundered along the corridor beyond the frosted glass door to his office. He turned in curiosity, wondering what all the commotion was for. The boots continued to pound the floor relentlessly. Ten... twenty soldiers.
Stone opened his door and stopped one short. “Give me a sit-rep.”
“They’ve gone, sir!”
He frowned. “Gone? Who’s gone?”
“Agent Shadow, sir, and Team Chaotix... they’ve gone rogue!”
The mass of armour and webbing dashed off to join his brothers, leaving a stunned Stone in his doorway.
Yep. It was insane, all right.
ACT ONE
Casino Night Zone was vastly extravagant, especially in darkness. During daylight hours, it was a relatively empty city. Nobody ever bothered coming to see unlit lightbulbs. It was like having a Christmas tree without any tinsel... in a word, boring. But immediately as the sun began to retreat behind the horizon, and immediately as those lightbulbs flickered to life, it became one of the busiest hotspots on the planet.
With good reason. Chief among the popular attractions was a pinball table so huge, it had a restaurant inside. Diners could watch as balls rolled up a slanted window and cast a shadow over their food.
That is, if they could stomach their food. Outside the regular casinos, tourists were guided towards slot machines that took people, not coins, to operate. Many who were disoriented by the incessant strobe neon often found themselves agreeing to partake, only to regret having eaten beforehand. Few were able to stand afterwards. But all laughed. It served to add to the surrealism of the city.
Constant swing jazz music filled the air. Every single surface was ablaze with colour.
Everything was artificial.
“Are you sure we’re going to find him in a place like this?” Shadow asked.
Beside him, Espio the Chameleon gave a shrug as he observed the hustle and bustle of the illuminated cityscape. “Vector will be back from meeting our former client soon. We’ll find out then.”
The hedgehog accepted the inevitable wait. They had been leaning against a large sign, near a large plaza, for almost an hour. Several more minutes would hardly make much difference to a pair as patient as they. Shadow shifted in his sneakers, inadvertently drawing attention to the bandage still wrapped around his left arm.
Espio nodded towards it. “I thought you were the Ultimate Lifeform, anyway?”
Shadow recoiled and stayed silent.
“We all fall sometimes,” the ninja chameleon said wisely, noting his friend’s shame. “What makes a difference is how we pick ourselves up again. The fact that you’re out here, with us, doing the right thing...”
“Am I?” Shadow interrupted. “I’ve betrayed GUN.”
“No, you haven’t. Have you acted against their interests? Have you endangered them?”
There was an uncomfortable snort. “Well...”
And then another interruption, this time from afar. The conversation halted. Hedgehog and chameleon looked up together to see Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee incoming. There was a street map being waved excitedly.
“We got it!”
As if on cue, somebody on a giant slot machine nearby hit the jackpot. Doing their best to ignore the subsequent anarchy of noise and neon, the four heroes crowded around the map. It came with directions from Vector. His gaping jaws chattered with enthusiasm. Any detective work was his forté, but detective work that could potentially lead them to rescue and help an old friend... well, it was understandable.
“Here,” he pointed out. “Under the nightclub. Apartment 1138.”
“Under a nightclub?” Shadow had clear doubts. He corrected them himself after a moment of thought. “Actually, it makes sense. It’s the last place anybody would look, given Mighty’s love for nature.”
“And his pacifism,” Vector added. “Pretty rough part’a town, I hear.”
Shadow moved back to the Dark Rider, the intimidating motorcycle parked nearby, and red eyes darted to the rear-mounted machine guns. Stolen machine guns. Stolen vehicle. Driven from the GUN facility in a spectacular example of an agent ‘going rogue’. Was this truly the right thing, as Espio said?
To save Mighty... or to protect humanity?
He could do both.
After all, the Commander deserved better than this. He had shown nothing but unshakable trust in Shadow since the very beginning. Been the bigger man, to admit his past mistake. He was an ally. He would help. He would be supportive.
“Okay,” the hedgehog braced for objection. “We split up.”
Team Chaotix indeed objected.
Loudly.
“Hear me out,” Shadow waved them down and explained. “The four of us together can deal with Mighty, but the Nemesis could be there, too.”
It was Espio who backed him up first. “He’s right. We’re not an army.”
“But GUN is. If we can isolate Mighty then we can protect him. The Nemesis will become the responsibility of GUN forces and we won’t have to worry about them interfering.” With a short hop, Shadow mounted the Dark Rider. “Vector, you and Charmy get to the outskirts of the Casino Night Zone. Get a clear signal back to the GUN facility and ask to speak directly to the Commander. Trust nobody else.”
Vector scowled at being given orders, but only slightly. “Whadda ya mean?”
“The Nemesis have a mole inside GUN. The Commander is the only one guaranteed not to betray us.” Shadow then turned to Espio. “You’re with me. We’ll investigate this apartment and try to find Mighty.”
The ninja climbed onto the back of the bike. He gave his fellow members of Team Chaotix one final nod.
“Good luck!” Charmy blurted out. Never one for strategy. Always one for optimism.
And then they tore into the depths of the city.
1134... 1135... 1136...
He froze. Somebody was coming. Footsteps, up ahead.
Quickly, he flattened himself against the wall.
They rounded the corner. A lone young man, probably visiting to celebrate finally being old enough to gamble. Eager to get out there. Closer and closer. Looking straight ahead. Looking right at him.
Espio held his breath.
The young man passed right by him, entirely unaware of the chameleon.
Close call. Keep moving.
1137... 1138...
Bingo. That was it. Apartment 1138.
Keenly honed senses listened at the keyhole. There was not a single sound from beyond the door. That was until, of course, a frog croaked. Espio recoiled and frowned. Still maintaining his natural invisibility, he produced a kunai knife and prodded at the lock. It gave way after some sharp movements.
The door swung open... and his eyes went wide. It was most impressive.
“Shadow, this is Espio,” he whispered into his wrist. “No sign of any Nemesis... but this is definitely his place.”
“I’m on my way,” came a distorted reply over the comm unit.
When the black hedgehog did arrive, 9mm handgun pointed forward, he had to agree. Espio relinquished his camouflage trick and held up his kunai. Slowly, they walked in together, covering one another against traps or security measures. Sneakers went from solid ground to deep, thick dirt.
It was like stepping through a warp gate into another world.
Into an indoor jungle.
“Hmm,” Shadow exhaled. “Looks like we’re definitely on the right track...”
ACT TWO
It was incredible. Truly incredible.
Somehow, a pokey apartment situated beneath a busy nightclub had been transformed. The walls were covered in ivy, itself shy behind a layer of undergrowth. Vines, bushes... even two small trees. All packed into a space no bigger than ten meters cubed.
Another door led into a further room, but it was unlike the standard main entrance, instead crafted from logs lashed together with natural twine. One could only assume that the same environment existed on the other side. Such care and detail was remarkable. Having recently been to the Lost Jungle, it was fully appreciated by Shadow the Hedgehog. As he and Espio closed themselves inside the apartment, soundproofing kicked in. Not a single bell or whistle penetrated from outside. Even the dull bass thudding of the nightclub above disappeared, as though unplugged at the mains.
“Real grass,” the ninja chameleon noted. “This must have taken him ages.”
Shadow felt his gloved hand relax on his sidearm. Only the noises of nature reverberated in his pointed ears. The odd croak of a frog. The chirping of a cricket. And, from a corner of the main room, the bubbling of a hot mud bath. They were alone, discounting the wildlife. Which was good news.
Time to search for clues. “Go through there,” he asked of Espio, pointing to the wooden door. “Look for a computer or anything we can use to track him.”
“A computer,” Espio doubted. “In here?”
“He’s got power,” Shadow glanced upward at bright halogen lamps suspended on the thick vines. “He must have a means of staying in contact with the Nemesis. We need anything that we can use.”
As the chameleon agreed and headed through, the hedgehog placed his handgun on a small wooden table and sighed as he took a seat. He was tired. It was a feeling most uncomfortable and most foreign to him. Gently, he touched the bandage on his left arm. The wise course of action would be to stop. Rest. Recover. Take a few days and fully recharge. After all, it had been a shock. An accidental discharge of the ultimate power. Unplanned. Painful. Slowly his eyes closed and he clenched his jaw. No... no, he could not stop. He could not rest. Not until the world was safe.
Not until he had saved Mighty from the same mistakes he had once made.
How long he sat there dwelling on his situation, he did not know. All he did know, when he snapped himself out of such stupor, was that a key was being used on the apartment entrance door.
In a whirl, Shadow seized his pistol and threw himself forward. He landed against the ivy to the right of the doorway. His wounded left arm trembled as it held the handgun outstretched towards whoever was coming... although, he knew, there would be only one individual with a key to this secluded slice of nature.
Mighty the Armadillo stepped inside and instantly sensed the danger levelled at his head.
Shadow merely growled. “Don’t you move!”
“...and I’ll send help right away. Somebody I can trust. What’s your location?”
“The northern outskirts of the Casino Night Zone,” said Vector the Crocodile into the small communication device. “We hadda get clear of all the electronic interference that city pumps out, justa reach ya!”
“Understood. Their callsign will be FX-474. They’re on their way.”
“Thanks, Commander... an’ sorry for runnin’ away.”
“Don’t be. I think I understand more of the situation than you realise, Vector.” There was real belief in the voice of the old soldier as he spoke to the leader of Team Chaotix. “Please would you inform Agent Shadow that Captain Stone has been temporarily relieved of his duty to this case? I think that’ll put him at ease.”
It was as close to a direct apology as Team Chaotix would ever get from the stern superior, but thankfully Vector was too mindful of any future contracts to demand anything further in compensation. “You got it!”
“Good. We’ll see you back here soon. Best of luck.”
The crocodile closed the channel and turned back to the dazzling lights of the Casino Night Zone. Overhead, Charmy Bee could contain himself no longer.
“Hey, Vector?”
“What?”
“Are we gonna let Mighty back in our team? Y’know, when Shadow saves him?”
Long rows of razor-sharp teeth displayed themselves in a wide grin. “I dunno if he’d wanna rejoin us, Charmy... but you’re right, I guess, we should ask. Could be kinda cool, havin’ the old gang back together!”
“Yay!” his young colleague shrieked, making him recoil. “I can’t wait!”
“Don’t get too excited! We gotta find him first!”
Charmy was not listening to his boss anymore. “I bet he says yes,” he predicted with a large dose of confidence. “And I bet he missed us loads!”
“Espio the Chameleon... now there’s a face I haven’t missed...”
He had been seated at the wooden table. Directly opposite and also seated, Shadow held the armadillo at gunpoint as their tense conversation began. Mighty was clearly uncomfortable with the weapon. Despite the face from the past, he seemed more preoccupied with glancing to its cold steel barrel every fifteen seconds or so.
“I should have known GUN would try emotional warfare,” he stated nevertheless. “Shame that I have no regrets about leaving the Chaotix Crew, but nice attempt, all the same. It seems they broke you in quickly, Shadow.”
“We’re not here as military agents,” the hedgehog corrected him.
“I don’t believe you.”
Espio moved forward with arms folded. He elected to stand, the tallest in the apartment and therefore the most imposing. Training and ninjutsu spoke for themselves, as did the kunai in his tight grip. “Believe what you will,” he stated calmly, surprising himself with how normal it felt to see Mighty again. “But Shadow took a big risk tonight in coming here. Show some respect.”
Mighty simply smiled. “I can see you haven’t changed a bit.”
“Neither have you. You’re still as reactionary as ever, placing your ideology before logic or morals... blindly following your own dreams without seeing the bigger picture. A ninja must always be aware of...”
“Snore,” the armadillo sarcastically interjected.
Shadow felt his temper wear thin. “Enough!” he roared, annihilating the tetchy banter with sheer volume. Both ally and adversary gave him frightened expressions. “I didn’t come here to fix your personal issues. I came here to help you, Mighty. If GUN found you first, it would have been on a ‘capture-or-kill’ order.”
“Of course it would. Probably with emphasis on the ‘kill’ part, too.”
“You can’t blame them. You’re our link to the Nemesis, and they have caused widespread violence...”
Mighty leaned back and rolled his eyes. “Here we go again...”
“Shut up!”
“I don’t think so, Shadow. You’ve tried this line before, remember? It didn’t work back in the Lost Jungle and it won’t work here!” Gears shifted into a pre-prepared activist mode of speech. “GUN distort and manipulate the truth for their own gain. They’re pinning the blame for events they cannot control onto a scapegoat, a group they don’t understand and therefore fear! How can you not see it?”
Shadow tilted forward, in closely over the table. “You are lying.”
“What?”
“It did work in the Lost Jungle. You did believe me.”
“How do you know?”
The dead of silence told the story well enough. Through a simple stare, the hedgehog made his point. He could see the self-doubt in those shaking dark eyes. For a moment, all that could be heard was the soundtrack of the indoor jungle.
Then Shadow drove it home. “I know. Because I have been there myself.”
ACT THREE
Mighty the Armadillo wore a brave expression. It was a solid attempt to act dismissive but, ultimately, still just an act. Their words, particularly those of Shadow the Hedgehog, were an effective tool to use in digging for his conscience. They introduced seeds of doubt: what if he had been duped?
Then again, what if Shadow was trying to dupe him, too?
A gloved hand ran along the top of his crimson shell in contemplation. The two sides of the argument wrestled with one another, using his mind as an arena. But he had never once seen the ‘Nemesis’, as the media called them, fire a gun.
Meanwhile, the military carried guns everywhere with them. Heck, their acronym could not be more blatant an endorsement! And here sat Shadow, armed with a pistol, pointing it right at him! Disregard whatever anybody else may be... Mighty upheld pacifism. Mighty wanted peace above all else. So, who to trust? Those who visibly carried weapons, or those who were merely accused of doing so?
“I can’t help you,” he finally said, deflated.
“We have video of a Nemesis shooting the President,” Shadow suggested. “Not to mention other evidence.”
“Which could all be faked, for all I know,” Mighty deflected. “I can barely turn on a laptop, and wouldn’t be able to discern truth from fiction on a television screen. Yeah, I know... and here I am, working for a bunch of robots. Go nuts on the irony. But we always planned to part ways after achieving our main objective.”
Espio fixed his ridged head on his former friend. “That main objective being...?”
“Equality,” came the surprising reply. “Plain and simple.”
It was Shadow who picked up the thread. “I don’t understand... everything we know of the Nemesis suggests they want to disrupt the authority of GUN. How can that lead to equality, even in your mind?”
“Look, you may think I’m the only one being lied to by my associates here,” Mighty perked up a little as he explained. “But when we return to the GUN facility, will you promise me one thing? Think of it as my last request, before I end up incarcerated on Prison Island for the rest of my life.”
Shadow gave a single nod.
“Ask your commanding officer about Project: RPM... and try to look at things from a fresh perspective every now and again, okay?”
The armadillo then extended his wrists across the table in acceptance of handcuffs.
“Game over, eh?”
“Maintain your advancement. The apartment is number one-one-three-eight.”
“But what of our source inside GUN?”
“He does indeed believe Shadow the Hedgehog will be there... which makes it all the more inviting a target. This way, we can be rid of our guide and our greatest threat. Rendezvous in the central plaza with our source for transportation once you have succeeded. Then nothing will obfuscate our progress.”
“Confirm our targets are therefore Mighty the Armadillo and Shadow the Hedgehog.”
“Affirmative. Burn the apartment once they are eliminated.”
“What of the personal computer? It must contain sensitive information about our objective and planetwide contacts.”
“Yes. Destroy it at all costs. Ensure nothing can be retrieved from it.”
“Affirmative.”
Espio sensed it with pure instinct. “Somebody’s coming.”
All at once, Shadow knew that they would not be a welcome arrival. If it were the approach of an ally, he would have been contacted. Besides, it had not been long enough for Vector to signal, and return from signalling, some GUN assistance. It had to be the Nemesis. Surely. They were coming to protect their guide... but how did they know to do so? The hedgehog scowled over the facts as he watched his chameleon colleague make a dramatic and stealthy move to guard the door.
Then he turned back to Mighty... who was wearing a smirk. “Oh well...!”
With unexpected force, the armadillo slammed his outstretched fists down onto the wooden tabletop. It caused the opposite side to suddenly jerk upward, smashing into Shadow’s chin as it did so.
Sidearm clattered to the carpet of grass. Hedgehog fell alongside. Espio wheeled from the door, not knowing which danger to focus on.
Mighty decided for him by picking up his chair and throwing it at the ninja.
It splintered as it struck the thick yellow ridges along the chameleon’s back, a pirouette of purely defensive style perfectly timed. Espio turned again, trying to refocus his aim on his old colleague, but the thundering footsteps from outside the apartment were growing ever-louder and ever-closer. The Nemesis would surely be armed. Mighty was strong, there was no doubt, but his attacks were not intended to be fatal... simply to delay, so as to make good his escape from GUN captivity.
Just as Espio made his choice and stayed near the door, Shadow regained his senses. Being surprised and caught off-guard was not something he enjoyed. Foregoing his weapon, he got up and launched himself at his adversary.
The punch struck home. Mighty staggered back, towards the hot mud bath.
And fell in.
The hedgehog dashed forward as the bubbles grew smaller. He plunged an arm beneath the surface, searching for a limb to grab and haul back into custody. Left... right... deeper... and again. There was nothing. Nothing to take hold of, besides handfuls of warm sludge. It was bewildering... but Mighty had disappeared.
Then fingers found an edge.
An edge that should not exist along the smooth sides of a bath.
“Damn,” Shadow cursed aloud.
Espio called out from the other side of the jungle-infested apartment. “No time for regret,” he cautioned. “They’re here! Get down!”
Both hit the grass.
Just as the door erupted under a hail of bullets.
Entire clips of ammunition soared overhead. They tore into the trees and foliage, creating a steady cloud of green confetti. Branches and twigs, deadly like shrapnel, shot through the air and threatened real injury. The noise was an incredibly deafening mix. Amidst such savage destruction, Shadow watched his discarded 9mm handgun take a direct hit. The metal twisted and deformed in a heartbeat.
There was no way to fight back.
No way to win.
Another branch was shredded and came crashing down. Espio noticed a glint of something artificial where it fell. Urgently, he tapped Shadow on the shoulder. Indeed, there was no way to win... but defeat did not have to be a certainty, either.
The branch had knocked aside the lid to a small compartment.
Inside which lay a laptop.
The bullets intensified. It was now or never.
Shadow mustered up all the energy he had remaining in his weakened body. It drove him to a crouching position. Espio helped in the only way he could, throwing a kunai through one of the largest holes in the door. It obviously caught the Nemesis by surprise as, for a second, the shooting stopped.
A second was all Shadow needed. He sprung forward and hugged the laptop.
“Let’s get moving!”
Just as they dove into the mud bath together, gunfire resumed.
And decimated what remained of the apartment.
EPILOGUE
They emerged from a storm drain.
The alley into which they climbed was deserted. Coughing and spluttering, both wore thick layers of mud and sewage.
But at least they were alive. Shadow still had arms wrapped around the laptop, too, and the vital elements seemed protected from the majority of damage. He cast tired red eyes down to examine it. Instead, they looked beyond and saw brown footprints, left by a pair of sneakers, on the concrete floor. They led away into the centre of the Casino Night Zone. For a brief moment, the hedgehog considered following them. Give chase. Track him down. Capture him again, and return with two prizes.
He made it a single step before his legs buckled.
Not today.
Espio was spitting dirt from his mouth as he spoke. “Are you alright?”
“Fine,” came a surly dismissal. “You’re good with computers... see what you can get out of this one.”
The laptop was passed over to the chameleon, who immediately opened it up atop a nearby dumpster. It was of basic design, an older model that could stand a little rough treatment. “He did say that he could ‘barely’ turn on one of these,” it was noted as the screen went through a long loading phase. “I guess this is what he meant... alright, I’m in. What exactly should I be looking for?”
“Any file that mentions GUN would be a start,” Shadow asked.
“Here... something about that Project: RPM he mentioned,” Espio read aloud. “It doesn’t go into any details, though... here’s another. Looks like a communications record. A list of codes and times of transmission.”
Now that was of interest. Shadow shook mud from his spines as he drew closer.
The traitor inside the GUN facility.
It had to be.
“Yes, all of them,” Espio confirmed the unasked question in a gruff tone, “originated from specific GUN carrier frequencies.”
“Where? What source?” the hedgehog demanded to know.
“That’s strange... the position co-ordinates keep shifting. As though they’re from...”
Shadow got there first. “A vehicle?”
The ninja chameleon turned to face him. “Does ‘FX-474’ mean anything to you?”
Written by Glenn Scully
