DARKSTAR

by Matthew Winn / Bishop 1k



Chapters 1-2 "Phoenix"

Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Dr.Eggman, Nack the Weasel, and Shadow the Hedgehog are all copyrights of Sega incorporated.









Prologue

The Emerald Islands



The green pastures rippled slowly in the wind, caressed gently by its invisible touch. The forest on the edge began to ripple slightly, then it burst as something blue and incredibly fast burst through. It was pursued by buzzing mechanical devices, each sporting complicated laser weaponry. They struggled to keep up with their prey, and the grinding of servos and motor parts was just audible. The creature turns, as if allowing the machines to catch up, grins to himself, and in one swift movement leaps into the air and throws himself bodily at his pursuers. The creature's long blue quills smash the first robot to pieces and the second is caught almost instantaneously by the rebound.

The creature makes sure that his attackers are no more, and begins shifting through the rubble. Sure enough, inside are a pair of squirrels, dazed and confused. They look at the hedgehog puzzled and then scamper away into the woods. Smiling Sonic lies down in the field and lies back under the shade of a tree. He yawns, closes his eyes for a moment then starts to count:

"Three, two, one..."

"Sonic!"

Without turning he already knows who it is. "Hi Tails, yes I'm okay, no it wasn't difficult, old-style badniks."

"Sonic are you okay? Were they tough...? Hey!"

Tails face changed into a dreary smile. Sonic grinned.

"Sorry buddy. Just kiddin'."

The two tailed fox seemed not to think so.

"You're always doing that..."

Sonic stood up and brushed away the few blades of grass that had been caught in his quills.

"Sorry Tails, sorry..." Sonic let out a long sigh and his spines bristled quickly.

Tails face changed into a look of knowing concern. "What's wrong Sonic? This isn't like you. You've been really down ever since..." He stopped.

"Ever since Shadow disappeared..." finished Sonic. "I know Tails, but nothings been the same since then. Eggman's been pretty quiet, the police have all the crime under control. What can I do?"

Tails frowned. "C'mon Sonic it's more than that. I know it is."

Sonic kept silent but turned away and looked into the sky.

Where are you Shadow?



Chapter 1

The Scorpion Desert



Nack was also waiting. The cave had been some shelter from the sandstorm but it was beginning to die down and he felt that maybe he could continue after all. He took the map out of his pack and began to study it carefully. He nodded and put it back in his bag. He stared out into the golden desert and wondered whether he'd ever make it big. He'd almost managed it with those Chaos Emeralds, but that meddling hedgehog and his echidna friend had stopped him. Ah, what use were they to him anyway? This, he said to himself patting his backpack, was the big score. He smiled. Yeah he'd make it big. He'd show everyone... He snapped out of his reverie as he noticed something swirling in the desert sands. The shape was blurred but it was definitely moving closer. Nack reached under his hat and pulled out his pistol, and hid behind a boulder deeper within the cave. Just as the figure reached the cave entrance it collapsed forward. Coming out of his hiding place, Nack kept his pistol pointed at the figure.

It was a hedgehog.

"Ah nuts..."

Nack put his pistol back and turned the creature over. He looked remarkably like Sonic, albeit his black quills. The weasel noticed the bruises on his body; "Man this guy has really been through the wars." He commented, taking his hat off his head, and scratching his mangy scalp in thought. The hedgehog opened his eyes for a second and sat bolt upright.

"Maria!" he called as he collapsed once more.

As Nack recovered from he shock he took the supply of bandages he kept in his pack for emergencies. "Well," he said to the world at large, "Looks like I got a room-mate."



The Final Egg, Mobile Laboratory.

Dr. Ivo Eggman Robotnik stared at the monitor for a while. Before him lay a map of the world and located on it all badnik activity. His large body deflated as he let out a large sigh. Good plans were always hard to come up with especially after such long periods of evil scheming. It was becoming harder and harder to come to any sort of cohesive plan. Boring a hole in the planet had been a nice idea, but then what? Blow up the core? Destroy every city? It was all a bit... he shuddered ...criminal. And Eggman was not a criminal he was a scientist. He might as well go rob banks.

"It was always fun when I had some dupe to help me." He said to himself as another two badniks winked out of existence. "First there was Knuckles, then that weasel and after that Shadow." The Doctor let out another long sigh. Shadow had been a marvellous partner, precise cunning and ruthless. It was a shame he had disappeared after that incident aboard the ARK. Suddenly an idea struck him. From his monitor he turned to look at the two robotic Sonics he had created. The first one, that "metal" Sonic, had been a complete failure. Barely able to keep the hedgehog occupied for two minutes, whereas Dark Sonic... D.S. 01 had potential. When he had controlled the mystery planet, the prototype Dark Sonic had almost beaten sonic and it was only through one well-improvised strike that he had defeated him.

In his anger Eggman had deactivated him and placed him in stasis, should he ever be needed. Now however, the decision seemed rash. Perhaps D.S. 01 could once more be his partner in terror... But it would be no use just to have a clanking robot that simply followed orders. He had tried that with E-102 and the machine disappeared mysteriously. No, if Dark Sonic were to be reactivated then it needed more freedom. Hmmm an artificial intelligence that could learn, think, create and an emotional matrix that could rival an organic creatures primal responses. Eggman had seen where anger and determination had saved Sonic far more than his speed or skill...

"A true artificial life form. Given consciousness through programming. Hmmm..." The doctor looked up the original Dark Sonic Program. Hmm yes, the foundation was there. All he needed do was to promote certain functions, tweak subsystems...

Eggman smiled. It was time to literally make a new friend.





The fire lit up the cave as Nack turned the lizard he had caught round on the spit. The bandaged hedgehog lay covered in Nack's blanket and tossed and turned in his sleep. Slowly and ponderously he opened one eye and began to survey his surroundings.

"Where am I?" he said, lethargically pulling himself upright.

Nack put his dinner down and moved over to his patient. "Hey there, looks like you finally woke up..."

The hedgehog looked at Nack up and down.

"Uh thanks... Who are you?"

Nack grinned, his one large canine protruding proudly, "Me? I'm Nack Fang! Treasure hunter! Sniper! Lone wolf and downright dangerous fella!"

The hedgehog's brow creased, "Lone wolf? But you're a weasel..."

Nack's smile dropped. It's a figure of speech pal, I know I'm a weasel."

"Sorry." The hedgehog tried to stand up but wavered and would have fallen if Nack hadn't caught him.

"Hold it buddy. You're not exactly tip top right now..." Nack let the hedgehog down gently and sat on a broad flat rock. "So you got a name?"

The hedgehog smiled and looked up once more. "Call me Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."



The Doctor made some final adjustments and opened the program. The eyes of the machine flared up as the information passed through its neural networks.

After a few minutes of buzzing and whirring, the computer monitor stopped. Download Complete.

"Now to start him up."

The creation tube slid apart as the Doctor keyed in the release sequence.

The robot's eyes flashed red as its program came online. It lifted its limbs as if to examine them and then looked at Robotnik.

"Waiting: Oral Communications online... Ahh Doctor, good evening."

Eggman smiled...



The sun bore down on the desert as Nack awoke and found Shadow musing at his feet. "Darn," he murmured as he continuously picked at it, "Why won't it fire?"

Nack yawned, his one long fang protruding from his mouth, "What's up?" he said peering over the hedgehog's shoulder. His eyes lit up when he saw what Shadow was holding, "Hey I've seen this before!" he cried and snatched the object from his hands.

"Hey give it back Weasel!"

"Cool your spines Hog-boy," he said pulling out a screwdriver from his back pack, "Watch and learn." A few moments later there was a splutter and then a whine as the tiny engine fired.

Shadow looked shocked, "How did you...?"

Nack grinned. "I got a knack for these things."

There was silence as Shadow pulled the footwear on.

"Geddit? Knack...? It's funny because..."

"Look I can't stay here forever. I gotta get moving."

"Got somewhere to go?"

The question caught Shadow by surprise. His face fell. "No..."

"Then you're comin' with me."

"With you...?"

"Yeah Hog-boy. The way I figure it, you owe me. I saved your life. Don't get me wrong your 'Say a word once every eight hours' personality is charming and all. But I got a job coming up and I could use a partner."

"So how long have you been waiting to spring that one on me?"

Nack grinned, "Since you got here."

Shadow gave a lopsided smile. If only he knew who he was talking to, he thought.

"Okay 'partner' what's the score?"



"The Megalopolis City military command has a science department deep below the city, here they have developed an aircraft undetectable by any radar. They have also developed for the prototype a bomb to go with it. The bomb uses a large Infinity Ring as a power source. On impact the Ring doubles all power going towards the blast. I want that bomb..." Eggman finished.

"A raid?" The machine mused. "Sounds simple enough."

Eggman smiled, "Yes a test of your new systems, it should be no real problem for you, Omega."

"Omega?"

Robotnik grinned, "I thought you should have a code name, 'Metal Sonic' is a little long winded after all. You are the be all and end all of modern computer science. You are the Alpha and the Omega."

"Huh, fitting..."



"So we're after the plane?" asked Shadow.

"That's the plan. It's in Megalopolis City, just beyond the Turquoise Hills. We get in without anyone noticing, bust the hangar door open, and take off before anyone knows what hit 'em."

The blueprint of the military complex was laid out on the cavern floor.

"It's quite far from the city so we should have plenty of time before the 'bots arrive."

Shadow frowned. "What about GUN? I can't see them being too happy that we've stolen their new toy."

Nack gave Shadow a wry look. "GUN? Ha! They couldn't catch a cold in a rainstorm. Besides, the plane can avoid radar right? All we have to do is distract them in the city limits."

"Oh yeah? And how do we do that?"

The weasel's eyes sparkled. "With THIS." Nack pulled a small cube from his backpack.

"What is it?"

"It's a hologram emitter. It's got a lifespan of about ten minutes, but for those ten minutes the city will believe it's under attack from badniks."

"So we leave the holo-emitter at the far side of the city, get into the base, activate the emitter, open the hangar doors and steal the plane."

"That's the plan."

Shadow grinned. "Let's do it."



Turquoise Hills- Just outside Megalopolis City

Omega's onboard computer gave him a readout of the distance to the target.

"1000Km till target is in range."

"Audio off. I know where the target is."

The rolling splendor of the Turquoise hills pleased Omega. He saw the potential for expansion, the ideal setting for factories junkyards and smelting plants. Ah, the military base was in sight now - time to make his presence felt.



Megalopolis Military base

The airway was tight as Shadow and Nack made their way inside the complex.

"Okay I'm activating the Holo emitter...now."

From their vantage point they could see the GUN soldiers chat and talk.

They watched intently as a sergeant rushed in to the changing rooms.

"We got a call out people! Badnik activity in the city center. All Bigfoot, Flying Dogs and Hotshot pilots move out! The rest of you, grab riot shields and come with me, let's hustle people!"

Within a few seconds the room was abandoned. Nack and Shadow dropped out of the airway.

"Humans are so stupid. All it takes is a few holograms and they go running." Said Shadow.

"I hear that. Okay, all we have to do now is open the hangar door - that's your job."

"Why me?"

"'Cos I'm gonna be flying the plane. When you've opened the doors I'll open the cockpit and you just jump in."

"And then?"

"Then we sell the plane to the highest bidder."

"Humph. How like a weasel."

Nack snarled, his one large fang glinting horribly.

"Hey cram it hedgehog, I ain't got no time for your moral integrity. You owe me and I'm collecting."

"Yeah whatever. Let's get going, we've only got a few minutes..."



Omega observed the panic in the streets below.

"Hmm thanks for the assistance Doc, but I could have done this myself."

A crackle of radio static: "What? What are you talking about?"

"The badniks in the city center. You mean you didn't send them?"

"The only badnik near the city is you! Something's going on! Hurry get that bomb!"

"Understood..."



The hangar was guarded by a number of guard robots. The last crumpled as Nack picked its head off from his hiding place.

"Okay Hog-boy, you'll have to destroy the alarm auto lock, and then raise the door by hitting the manual override."

"Okay. What are you gonna do?"

Nack grinned. "Oh I get to have all the fun..."



The base was in complete panic as Omega neared the hangar. A few GUN jets had tried to shoot him down with their primitive weaponry. Omega had watched as the pilots had ejected and then shot holes through their parachutes...

If he had a mouth he would have grinned.

"Spine missiles: FIRE!" A number of sharp needle-like objects flew from his back, and detonated as their explosive tips impacted the roof.



"What the...? What's going on?" Shadow shielded himself as the roof fell in.

The figure of Omega landed softly on the hangar floor.

He looked around assessing the environment, but didn't see as Shadow careered into him, knocking him to the floor.

"I don't know who or what you are, but you just came in the wrong place wrong time."

The machine clambered to its feet. "I am the most advanced piece of technology known to mankind. I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am Metal Sonic."

"Metal Sonic!?"

"You're a fool to pick a fight with me hedgehog. If you leave now I might let you live."

Shadow grinned, "You think you're tough? You're looking at the worlds Ultimate Lifeform. You want to stop me, go ahead and try you ridiculous monstrosity!"

Omega pounced.



Nack knocked out the last of the security guards and released the security capsule. It opened and revealed a pitch-black jet airplane.

"So this is Darkstar..."

Climbing aboard the craft he punched in the ignition sequence and began maneuvering the craft towards the runway.

"That hedgehog had better have that door open."



Shadow jumped back, narrowly missing Omega's razor sharp talons. He struck back with a sliding kick that would have knocked Omega off his feet if the robotic clone hadn't quickly moved back.

"Spine missiles: FIRE!"

Shadow saw the deadly needles fly towards him and sprinted away quickly, the spines narrowly missing him. Looking back quickly he saw that the robot was gone. He felt a sharp pain as Omega's claws raked down the side of his leg.

"You're slow, Hedgehog. You could never beat me."

Shadow crumpled to the floor grabbing his leg. Omega closed in readying his claws for a final attack. The hangar door exploded and Omega went flying. When he looked around the hedgehog had disappeared.



"What the heck was that thing?" said Shadow climbing aboard the Darkstar.

"What that? That's...uhh that's right behind us!"

Shadow climbed into the co. pilot's seat and the hatch closed. He looked on the craft's radar and saw the blip that was Metal Sonic closing behind him.

"Take off now!"

"I can't!"

"Take off now Weasel! If that thing doesn't get you I WILL!"

The Darkstar's engine flared as Nack hit the throttle.

"Okay! Here...we...go!"

The Darkstar rose and then shot out of sight. Omega could only watch as it winked out of existence.

"Doctor, thieves have stolen the plane. And the missile is onboard."



"The missile is on board?!" The boardroom had a main table, which had a congregation of Four-star generals all quietly staring at Admiral Seren. The man shouting was the single Five-star general in the room. Seren recognized men like General Gortz. They believed results came from shouting at people.

Seren had the decency to play dumb and look at her boots. She also knew people like Gortz felt awkward when confronted with doe-eyed women.

"Sir yessir."

"Then it would be accurate to say that we have lost two prototypes in one day?"

"No, we have lost three sir." Obviously Grotz was different. There was hushed murmuring as the generals took in the new information.

"Explain." said Grotz.

"Sir the Darkstar prototype was indeed fitted with an infinity bomb. But it was also fitted with a new kind of Chaos drive."

The murmuring stopped. Chaos power was serious.

"Go on." said Grotz his expression becoming darker by the second.

"As you all know most of GUN's robots and support vehicles use a relatively small sliver of Chaos energy, that we commonly call a Chaos shard. The E-Type chaos drive uses seven of these shards together."

There was a pause as the board began to work its way through the problem.

"All the shards are differing colours."

Realization dawned.

"You mean to tell us that someone actually solved the cascade effect? But it's highly unstable!"

"Which is why we boarded it on the Darkstar. Today was the test run."

Grotz stared at her intently his face purple with rage.

"You mean to tell me that you put the Infinity bomb, the E-Drive and the Darkstar in the same place at the same time? How could you be so STUPID!"

Seren weathered the storm of anger, and sailed for the shores of reason.

"The Darkstar is the E-drive sir. The chassis was completed long before the drive. You see the blast radius of the infinity bomb is so extreme that any normal aircraft would be vaporized along with he target. We needed something so fast it could outrun the bomb."

The board seemed satisfied with this interpretation except...

"Excuse me..." one of the Generals had piped up. Rolins an old serene looking man who never went anywhere without his pipe and trademark cane. "There's just one thing I don't understand. Why are GUN creating weapons of mass destruction?"

A few of the other generals went silent.

"That's classified General."

Rollins raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Since when are there secrets from a four-star general Philip?"

Grotz snarled, "Back off, Charles. This is need to know."

"I need to know."

The atmosphere thickened and everyone began imagining the conversation that didn't happen.

Grotz was the first to break the silence, "I want Bigfoots, HotShots, and Flying Dogs on the ground and in the air. I want satellite cover from here to Starlight City. I want eyes, ears and results and I want them now. You!" he said turning back to Seren "Do we have any idea who the thieves are?"

Seren opened a small folder, "According to witness reports their were three assailants. Two looked like hedgehogs, but we now believe them to be merely hedgehog shaped androids. The third was a weasel. We're checking our data for any similar incidents."

Rollins turned, "Androids? Are we talking badniks?"

"Not exactly sir but we do believe them to be Dr. Ivo Robotnik's creations yes."

Grotz growled. That's just what we need a lunatic with his hands on the most powerful weapon we have. I need that bomb...