(Shadow’s made his first move, and it looks like he’s targeting the Master Emerald and Floating Island first. Knuckles and Rouge better be prepared for the rude awakening that’s coming soon. I don’t own Sonic, Shadow or any of SEGA’S mascots.)


CHAPTER 3


The Black Arms Giants landed on the flowing green grass; their black, scaly talon feet digging into the earth, and their clawed hands gripping the handles of their great swords as their yellow eyes searched the fields. Their sights soon fell upon of a set of ruins in the distance, which included what appeared to be a great marble alter, complete with a giant green Chaos Emerald. That was their target, what their master had ordered them to steal, and they were going to follow through with it and eliminate anyone who stood in their way.
Knuckles lay in the grass, staring up at the blue sky above him, littered with fluffy white clouds. He then looked down in his arms, to the beautiful jewel hunter bat girl that lay curled up asleep in his arms, her head laying on his chest. ‘She looks so cute when she sleeps. Seems that’s the only time she can control her libido.’ He thought the last sentence with amusement as he rubbed Rouge’s back, causing a small content purr to escape her lips.
Rouge stirred slightly before nuzzling her face against the fur of Knuckles’ chest. “Mmm… So soft and silky…” She cooed, stroking Knuckles chest. “I could get used to being in your arms, Knuxie…” She giggled.
“I know I could get used to having you in them, Rouge.” Knuckles retorted, hugging her and kissing her cheek.
Suddenly, Rouge’s ears twitched, picking up the sounds of incoming footsteps. “Knuckles… I think we’ve got some unwanted company coming our way…”
Soon Knuckles as hearing the footsteps too. They were big…and heavy. “Aw man…” Both of them stood up. “I hope it’s not what I think it is…”
Their eyes watched the nearest hill carefully, hearing the footsteps get louder and louder, and then began to widen as they saw a few familiar and not so friendly forms rise their black and red tinted faces, as the Black Arms Giants suddenly marched into view brandishing their swords, ready for a fight.
“Grrrr…” Knuckles clenched and raised his fists. “I knew the Black Arms would show up sooner or later… I bet Shadow sent them.”
“Then I think it’s time to send these boys home to their momma!” Rouge said, flying into the air. She launched three of her fake rings at the one giant, and they paralyzed him in a moment with their electric field.
“You read my mind.” Knuckles replied. He bent over and dug his fists into the ground, and then gave one loud grunt as he ripped up a large chunk of earth in his hands. He threw it at the nearest incoming giant, smacking it in the face and almost toppling it over and then dashed for it with a doubled fisted punch, ramming the creature right in the chest causing it to stumble backwards.
Rouge was dodging violent sword swipes from the other 2 giants, but was finding it hard to keep it up, as despite their size, the giants were quick with their strokes and she nearly lost her left wing after dodging one stray magenta blade. They were slashing at her so quickly she couldn’t have time to get in an attack.
Knuckles turned his attention from the previous giant to the ones that were pestering Rouge. Strapping on the metallic digger claws, which he always kept around in case he needed to search for treasure such as a chaos emerald, he started to burrow under the ground like a mole and made his way underneath to where the giants were. Once he was underneath where he could hear their footsteps, he burst out of the ground, sending the 2 giants flying into the air. “It’s up…and it’s good!” He yelled, quoting a football line.
However, the victory was short lived as both giants landed on their feet, while the other 2 broke out of their current dazes and by their narrowed eyes they were none too happy as they charged towards Knuckles and Rouge.
“What the Hell?” Knuckles exclaimed. “There’s not even a scratch on them?” He dug out another chunk of earth and tossed it at the lead giant, but it merely just swung its sword, destroying the mound of soil and rock.
The giant wiped the dirt and soil off of its face and pointed its sword to the ground before plunging the blade deep into the soil. The ground began to shake violently, as the earth beneath Knuckles began to crack and splinter his way.
Before the ground could open up and swallow Knuckles, Rouge flew down and scooped Knuckles up, carrying him into the air. “Those Black Arms giants could never do THAT before.” She commented.
“And they never wore that armor either. It seems to be what’s protecting them from our attacks.” Knuckles then noticed there were only two giants before them. “Wait… Where are the other two?”
“Knuckles look!” Rouge pointed to the Emerald Altar, where the other two giants were running towards, no doubt after the Master Emerald. The two giants in front of them meanwhile, seemed determined to block their path as they advanced on the two, with swords raised above their heads.
Knuckles growled as Rouge put him down. “Shadow is REALLY pushing it… Rouge, you fly over and try to stop or at least stall those giants, I’ll handle these two. We can’t let Shadow get the Master Emerald.”
“Right, I’m not letting some black alien lowlifes take over my job.” Rouge half joked as she flew towards the Emerald Altar.
Knuckles made a “come here” motion to the two giants in front of him. “Just come and get some…” He challenged.
Meanwhile…
Sonic, Tails, and Amy found themselves walking through the cold metal hallway into Eggman’s computer room. As the automatic doors swished open, Eggman sat in his chair, with his back turned, eyeing the large screen in front of him. On the screen was an image from inside of the Black Comet, with a legion of Black Arms all bowing before Shadow who stood before them on a rocky platform, appearing to be giving a speech of some sort to them.
Eggman heard the doors open behind them and swung his chair around to face the trio. “Ah… It’s about time you came here. If you were wondering about the video I wanted to show you, come closer and take a look.” His face was grave. “I can already say that you’re NOT going to like what you see.”
Sonic turned his attention to the large screen that Eggman was seated in front of. Playing on the screen was the recording that Eggman’s spy satellite had gathered from within the Black Comet. He watched as the camera panned over the large audience of Black Arms Soldiers before panning to, and closing in on, the form of Shadow who seemed to be staring out into the vast sea of Black Arms, with an evil smile on his face.
“Fellow Black Arms!” He bellowed. “We are now one step ahead of the human, what with the 7 chaos emeralds in our grasp, and I, the Ultimate Life form shall be leading you to total domination over those worthless humans. However, this is only the beginning. I think we need a few extra tasks, to show our power. First of all… We must raid “Angel Island” and rob it of its precious Master Emerald. Although the 7 chaos emeralds give us enough power, the Master Emerald will double or even triple it! Secondly, we must wipe out Earth’s primary defense forces. Of course, I’m talking about the very military that threatened my life and future even to this day…GUN!” Shadow shuddered as he mentioned their name. “GUN has tried to off me for the last time! I say we give them a taste of their own medicine! I’ve already annihilated their Commander. The rest will be easy pickings, as well as the President. Once the President and GUN have been taken out, we can easily mow down human civilization. As for Sonic and his Freedom Fighters… They should be no threat to us any longer. If they stand in our way…WE WILL CRUSH THEM!” Shadow shot a “chaos spear” upon a nearby pillar, causing it to topple and crumbled to dust, earning a cheer from the Black Arms. “HAIL THE BLACK ARMS!” They chanted. “HAIL SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!”
Sonic narrowed his eyes and growled menacingly at the image before him. “That fucking monster… He’s planning to wipe out the entire planet!”
Tails could only stare out in disbelief. “So this…this is Shadow’s true nature?”
Amy shared the same furious expression as Sonic. “It looks like we were wrong about him… There’s not a trace of good left in him…”
Sonic turned away from the monitor, to face his friends. “If Shadow wants to start a war, he’s gonna have to get through us first! We’ll show him that he can’t just mow human lives as if they were weeds in a garden! Are you guys with me?” He held out his hand.
“YEAH!” Tails and Amy both piled their hands on top of Sonic’s in agreement, all sharing the same thought: Stop Shadow.
“DAMN IT!” Eggman suddenly cursed out from the side, drawing attention to him self. “We’ve got another problem on our hand!” He pointed to another monitor. “It looks as though Shadow’s already followed through with the first step of his plan!” On the screen in front of him seemed to be what looked like the grassy landscapes of Angel Island. But what was going on did not blend in with the peaceful scenery. What they saw was the image of Knuckles, fighting for his life, against two Black Arms giants, both wielding lethal swords and slashing like mad at the echidna that was doing his best to dodge them barely managing to escape being slashed. From another camera, there was Rouge, trying in vain to protect the Master Emerald, while not getting sliced and diced herself.
“Oh God! Knuckles! Rouge! We’ve got to save them!” Tails panicked
‘Damn it Shadow… You’re starting to piss me off…’ Sonic thought. ‘First you kill off one of Central City’s defenders, and now you’re going after my friends?’ The more Sonic thought of Shadow’s heinous acts, the angrier he got… And the angrier he got, the more he began to shake with rage.
Amy noticed Sonic’s disgruntlement and shaking as he stared at the image before him. Worrying for his well being and to focus on the task at hand, she tugged at his arm. “Sonic? Sonic, it’s not too late. Knuckles and Rouge are in danger, but they haven’t been mortally wounded.” She coaxed, hoping to calm him down a little.”
Sonic shook his head, trying to get back on track. “Yes… You’re right, Amy. Let’s get there before they receive ANY injuries, minor or mortal. We can’t let the Black Arms get the Master Emerald OR harm Knuckles and Rouge.” He bolted out of the room, with Tails and Amy hot on his heels.
Eggman was left in his room, turning his attention back to the fight, just in time to see Rouge manage to dodge just in time, allowing both her attackers to knock into each other, and Knuckles trip one of his giants up, before turning to the camera that viewed Shadow.
Leaning against the desk he sighed to himself. “So this is the true purpose of my Grandfather’s experiment… Looks like carelessness hounds my family like a curse. In my Grandfather’s case…his carelessness might cost us our very own world.” He then peered at another screen, which showed Sonic, Amy and Tails flying towards Angel Island on the Tornado. “What will you do now Sonic?” He asked to no one in particular. “Are you still going to try to talk some sense into Shadow? Or has any hope for him died within you?” For once, Eggman did not have a devious look upon his face, but one of questioning and inquiry. “Whatever your choice is, it appears I’ll have to play a hand in this matter…”
Sonic meanwhile, was battling his own thoughts as he and his friends drew close to Angel Island. ‘So…you don’t care about Maria anymore, huh Shadow? You’d really throw it all away, just for power and dominance over others? Is this your true purpose?’ He scowled deeply, his eyes narrowing. ‘Maybe we WERE wrong about you… You’re worse than Eggman, or Metal Sonic, or any other villains we’ve faced… Maybe, I just pray…that MAYBE, there’s still one last bit of good in you… I hope…’
Amy meanwhile watched Sonic’s face intently. She didn’t know EXACTLY what Sonic was thinking, but she had a rough idea. He was obviously trying to make out how to deal with Shadow, but was at a loss. She herself wasn’t sure, but she just hoped that Sonic didn’t do anything rash.
TO BE CONTINUED


I DID NOT MAKE THIS STORY!! IT WAS WRITTEN BY A AUTHOR ON FANFICTION.COM CALLED “Milleniumon the Sonamy Freak”, and ALL credit goes to him/her.