DARKSTAR

by Matthew Winn / Bishop 1k


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






Chapter 3: Battlelines


GUN H.Q.

General Grotz pounded back and forth in his command room. The large holographic map laid out before him kept receiving negative reports. The Darkstar had simply disappeared, as it was designed to do. Whoever had it knew enough to keep it going for long enough, so that by the time they found where it was going it had already disappeared. What was also strange was that there had been no demands, or any kind of terrorist recognition. If Eggman already had it he would have been on the screen already congratulating himself on such a master stroke. Grotz banged his fist on the table in frustration. Where was his bomb? How on earth was he supposed to declare a state of emergency without an explosion!? If only the thieves would use it...

Then it hit him.

He didn't have to set off the bomb at all. He could declare a state of emergency now! After all, the bomb had been stolen right? And the Darkstar was missing... in fact it was better this way, as now there was no chance of him being implemented in the crime. All he had to do was twist the facts just so...

Grotz smiled, whether the bomb went off or not, he could still make his plan work.

"All Hotshots, Flying Dogs and Bigfoots, return to HQ!" He turned to his secretary "Get me the president."


Above the Marble ruins.

Shadow could see the flows of magma surge through the old settlements, the fine white marble casting now blackened by the smoke and the ash.

Tia came in from the cockpit, Pollen following closely behind her. Shadow had returned her rifle and it was now slung across her back. "What you looking at?" she asked peering out the window, "Oh the marble ruins."

"What happened here?" asked Shadow watching the sea of molten rock plunge relentlessly forward.

"Humans," Sighed Tia, " They decided to build a settlement on this mountain and then suddenly woomph, a lava flow erupted from underneath. The lava flowed through the city before anyone knew what had happened. Many people died and the survivors fled."

Shadow turned away from the window. "Humph, Humans. How they've managed to stay alive I'll never know."

"It gets worse." said Tia smiling.

"How come?"

"Well you know the Aquatic Ruins? The Labyrinth? Same guys."

"What? So everywhere they went their homes were destroyed?" Shadow's brow furrowed. "Why not just give up?"

"I don't know," said Tia wistfully, "I guess people just don't give up easy."

The silence that followed was brief, cut short by Nack's voice coming from the Cockpit: "Hey Hedgehog, get up here!"

"What is it?" asked Shadow sitting himself in the co. pilot's seat.

Nack grimaced, "You better listen to this..." he turned the volume on the radio's dashboard up so everyone could hear.

"...Repeat: This is a state of emergency! All military vehicles are to return to base! Repeat..."

"State of emergency?" said Tia, "I thought only the president could call that?"

"He has," said Nack "Apparently we're the emergency."

"That makes sense," said Shadow nodding, "We've got the bomb, the plane and the drive. If I were GUN I'd call this an emergency."

"Oh it gets worse. The president's not in charge anymore. The military is. Some guy called Grotz."

Tia blinked "Grotz? I've heard of him, he's a real hard ass. Rumor has it he was the guy who ordered the whole of the Scrap Brain Complex evacuated and then bombarded. No-one lives there now."

There was a crackle of radio static and the voice came back on the air. "Apprehension of Suspects Nack Fang, Tia Lupine, Doug Hill top priority. Repeat apprehension of Suspects a top priority...."

Tia began to shake with rage.... "What?! Why the hell am I a suspect?! I was trying to bring the Weasel in!"

Nack's smirk spread broadly around his face. "Ha! Looks like we're in the same boat now, Wolf!"

Shadow got up out of the co.-pilot's seat and moved to the back room. Tia slumped huffily in his place.

The back room was the largest part of the aircraft and contained a table, a few chairs, and a sink of some kind. Shadow found it odd that it should be so luxuriously equipped if it were just a bombing machine, but hey what did he know about humans? Their minds were strange. They always seemed to spend so much of their time building things in order to kill each other. The Marble Ruins were a great example. All they'd wanted was somewhere to live, and bam! There it was destroyed. Shadow should know. He was created to destroy the earth. But instead he had saved it... Another bitter irony.

But who had he saved it for? Not for Sonic, Eggman or Rouge. Not even for himself. He had saved it for Maria. Long dead and unable to enjoy it. So why did he save it?

They're all fighting as hard as they can. Please Shadow, give them a chance... a chance to be happy.

"Did I fail you Maria? Did I fail to give them a chance?"
In the silence of the aircraft all he could see was the blue sky between the clouds.

Doug was in the engine room checking all the pressure gauges. Looking at the generator spin white hot, he knew that they had to stop. He climbed up the hatch to the seating room. He saw Shadow once more looking out of the window.

"...give them a chance?" he said.

"Er, who?" asked Doug looking around. Shadow turned.

"Sorry just talking to myself."

Doug pulled himself all the way up, "Yeah well save it for now, we got problems."

"The reactor?"

"Uh-huh," said Doug taking off his sunglasses as he always did when worried or upset, "If we don't put down soon we'll overheat the containment. The whole thing'll melt through the hull."

Shadow sighed, "How much time have we got?"

"Around an hour."

"Okay I'll talk to Nack."

Doug lifted his face as he put his glasses back on. "Is he okay? He seemed pretty mad before."

Shadow put a hand on the mole's shoulder, "I don't think Nack's going anywhere."



"So we gotta put down huh?" said Nack, they all sat around the main table, Nack had slowed the speed and put her on autopilot.

"Yeah," said Shadow, "Any ideas?"

Nack scratched his chin. "Well we can't go to any of the air force bases that's for sure. And the cities will have GUN bots everywhere. That Grotz guy will have everybody looking for us."

Tia snapped her fingers, "I got it! Grotz!"

"Huh? What about him?"



The Scrap Brain Complex

The complex of warehouses and factories was gray and foreboding. The dark storm clouds that hung in the sky were polluted and filthy, as the Darkstar's hatch opened Shadow could smell the decay. "What is this place?" he asked gazing around at the piles upon piles of rubble and scrap metal.

"The Scrap Brain Complex," explained Doug, hugging himself for comfort. "It used to be Eggman's base when he tried to take over South Island."

Nack pushed his hat up with his finger, "Yeah no-one in their right mind would want to come here," he said sarcastically.

Pollen followed close behind, a pair of green rain boots on his feet and holding a tiny umbrella.

Doug shook his head, "How do they do that?" He asked to the world at large.

Tia was sat on top of a ruined warehouse using her sniper rifle as a telescope.

"Hey guys!" she called waving her arm in the air, "I found us some digs!"



The hotel was in perfect condition, if a little old, and was right next to a large warehouse where they had sheltered the plane. Tia strutted into the foyer, a satisfied grin on her face.

"Oh yeah, Tia comes up with the goods yet again!"

"Hey you gonna be able to get up those stairs Tia?" asked Nack.

"Yeah sure why not?" Tia replied puzzled.

"Oh nothing just thought your big head might slow you down."

Tia growled, "Watch it Weasel, if we didn't need you I'd just as soon shoot you."

"Hey calm down guys, you're upsetting the baby," said Doug, holding Pollen who was waving a white flag.

Shadow yawned. "Look you guys fight all you want, I'm going to get some sleep." He made his way to the first floor and found the doors unlocked.

The rooms were comfortably laid out. The large beds were stuffed with soft feathers and down. The floor felt plush under Shadow's feet as he took off his skates. When was the last time he'd slept? Not since taking the Darkstar at least. As shadow laid his head on the large pillow he drifted off to sleep.



The corridor flashed as the red emergency lights blinked on and off. He could see the two of them running, himself and Maria. He never saw the shot, but he heard it clear enough, and saw the blood run from the control panel, all he could do was watch in horror as she hit the switch. "Sayonara Shadow the Hedgehog..."

Rouge the bat stood next to him waving a piece of paper in front of his face, "Who are what is standing before me? Even your memories might not be real, y'know?"

The blue hedgehog stood on the ark holding a Chaos Emerald, mocking him. "I am the Ultimate Lifeform!" he said and then flashed a brilliant gold.



The three metallic figures watched as the animals each went to a different room and waited for them to make sure they were completely asleep. "Not now. We must secure the bomb." Omega looked at Shadow's sleeping form. "Get all the rest you can hedgehog. You'll need it."



Morning came and Nack awoke to the sound of singing. "The hell...? He looked across the bed to the end and saw the little chao fast asleep. "So it ain't you then."

Pulling on his hat and his gun-belt he ventured out into the corridor. The singing was coming from the bathroom at the other end of the hall. The voice was melodic and harmonious, quite beautiful.

Doug's door opened and the mole blinked quickly in the bright light. "Who's that?" he asked pushing his glasses over his tiny eyes.

"Well who do you think?" said Shadow appearing behind the both of them. "Does that sound like a man's voice to you?"

Nack turned his head back to the door, "Tia?" he whispered.



"The kitchen cupboards were full but everything in it was out of date or well let's just say someone else got there first." Said Doug. "All I could find were a few tins of beans and processed meat."

"That'll do," said Nack "When you spend as much time on the road as I do you learn to live off what you can."

"Yeah I know," said Shadow. "I've tasted your grilled lizard."

"I'm gonna go check on the plane," Doug wandered off in the direction of their temporary hangar.

"What about him?" asked Shadow indicating Pollen who had managed to clamber up on top of the table and was mimicking the hedgehog's every move.

"What about him?" replied Nack, watching in some satisfaction as the chao folded its arms in unison with Shadow.

"Well don't they eat fruit or something?"

Tia came into the room and Nack fell silent.

"What?" she asked, "Have I got something on my face?"

Shadow sighed, for goodness sake... "We need to feed the chao. I think they eat fruit but there's none here."

Pollen began jumping up and down frantically. Trying to get Tia's attention.

"I haven't seen any fruit either," she said wandering over to the table and picking the chao up. "I guess he'll have to make do with what we have."

Nack just kept silent a small dreamy look on his face. His daydream was broken when an out of breath Doug appeared.

"The bomb's gone!"



General Grotz sat in the boardroom at GUN HQ alone. The first stage was complete. The national crisis had been a masterstroke. Of course the president had had some reservations, but a small amount of prying into his personal life had allowed the issues to be hushed. As the General moved his stout body around the room he kept on planning. The Government had been weak. They were all sheep waiting to be culled by some idiot like the Eggman. Action had been taken. It wasn't the first time GUN had made such a ruthless maneuver to ensure the public safety. When Grotz had been a Sergeant, he had led the force onto the ARK. He shuddered. He never wanted to remember that. Mistakes had been made.

No. This wasn't the same. This was defending the people from themselves. How could we live in a world that had been continually threatened? Ten years ago, the Eggman had sent his robots into the world, and then he had threatened to destroy them all with that monstrous creation of his. Less than two years ago some insane monster (no doubt of his invention) had destroyed Station Square. Hundreds had been killed. Hundreds. And one.

He pulled out his wallet and stared at the small picture he always kept.

"No, I wont let it happen again," He said aloud. "I'll take care of it my brave boy." He snapped the wallet shut.



They all looked upon the disheveled wreck of the Darkstar's Hull. The gaping hole in the Bomb bay doors was just large enough for the bomb to have been removed.

Shadow kneeled and looked at the dust covering the floor. "Looks like that Robot. And he had friends."

Nack threw his hat down on the floor, "GODDAMN! GODDAMN IT ALL! Robotnik's got the bomb, the plane is a wreck-"

"Er actually...." started Doug.

"-And we're wanted by the military who now OWN the whole damn place! Can my life get any worse?"

Nack slumped onto the floor next to his hat.

Doug piped up again. "The damage to the hull isn't that severe. I can fix it."

Nack's head lifted up, slowly. "You can?"

Doug nodded, "Sure I can. All I need is some tools and some scrap metal. A lick of paint and we'll be back in business."

The three others stood stunned at the little mole. "You can really do that?"

Doug looked at his watch, "In around an hour."

The silence grew longer. Shadow leaned on the wall of the hangar, "What do you need?"



Doug continued making plans and sizing up the repair site, Nack and Shadow constantly returning from the junkyards with any thing that seemed useful.

By the time Doug had finished, a large pile of garbage and tools looked like, well, like a small pile of garbage and tools. Doug was stood on top of a ladder, a large welding mask covering his face, welding more plates onto the tear. Shadow and Nack came in holding a number of large paint pots.

Doug lifted up the visor. "Hey you got too much paint!"

Shadow and Nack looked at each other a knowing grin on their faces.

"No we got just enough," said Nack.

"Huh?"



The white form of the plane stood beaming in the warehouse. Doug wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled. "She's done."

Tia came in Pollen balanced perfectly on her shoulder, waving a small handkerchief. She shot down the ladder beaming. "Oh my, it looks so different! Doug you're a wonder!" she lent over and planted a small kiss on Doug's forehead. Shadow noted with a glimmer of amusement as Nack's eye twitched. Doug blushed and began polishing his glasses.

"Why the white?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Nack. "We thought it best to disguise it for now."

Tia looked at it a little harder, "Hmm I think we should give it a new name... How about Nova?"

"Nah," said Nack shaking his head. "What about the Lovely Queen?"

Doug and Tia shook their heads. "No, no I don't think it works."

Shadow, who until now had been leaning against a wall, stepped forward.

"What about... the Maria?"
The other three puzzled it over for a few seconds, until Pollen, who had slid off Tia's shoulder and was drawing on the floor, tugged at her tail. He was waving a couple of flags.

" I like it," said Tia.

"So do I," said Doug.

"Well my bike's called the Marvelous Queen," Nack grinned. "So I guess I like it. The Maria. Nice ring to it."



The Final Egg

One of the nicest parts of being an evil genius, mused the Doctor as he rolled slowly out of bed, was that you could pretty much set your own hours. His large oval body was covered by a blue pajama suit and the serv-nik brought him his morning coffee and his paper. State of emergency declared, eh? He knew he could rely on Omega.
Passing by the storage tubes he stopped. They were gone. Two of his finest creations were gone! Eggman rushed into his control room.

"Computer Display location of units Zero and Silver Sonic!" The machine whirred into life as it brought up the necessary data. On the screen showed a map of Starlight City. The location diodes noted the two missing units, and noted that they were accompanied by Omega. Eggman growled as he opened the communications link. "Omega what are you doing? Why haven't you got the bomb?!"

Omega's harsh cold voice echoed over the channel. "The bomb is in our possession Doctor. But I have.... business to attend to before we deliver it."

Eggman's face grew red as he glared at the monitor. "Business?! I am your business Omega! Bring me that bomb NOW!"

There was no response.

"Omega? OMEGA!?"

Robotnik called up the Omega datafile. The emotion system was highly active. What Eggman could see as he scrolled down were just garbled messages. But three kept appearing over and over again: RAGE. PRIDE. REVENGE.

Dr. Robotnik felt a mixture of despair and satisfaction. On the one hand his machine was wildly out of control. On the other he had designed it so that it could go wildly out of control. There was always... No. He shook his head. He didn't want to destroy his new companion so soon. It would be best to indulge him. After all, his machines were perfect.



On the tallest tower of Starlight City, Omega stood, wondering how long it would take the hedgehog to find them. Getting them here might be tricky though. After all, they didn't have the same logic processors as he did. He looked down at the glimmering city. And turned to his compatriots.

"Destroy it."