A.N.: Hello again! This is a more standard fanfic than Descent into Darkness (at least subject-wise) and will definitely be shorter - but then it only covers a few days rather than forty-odd years. If you haven't played Sonic Adventure 2 in either of its versions, there will be spoilers. Other games referred to or used as background info include SA, Sonic Battle, Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Riders, but I don't think there's anything to merit a spoiler warning.

If you haven't read Descent, you may want to consider it, as this is a sequel. The main thing you need to know is that I find the term "furry" rather silly, especially given that some of them (e.g. Vector the Crocodile, Jet the Hawk) don't HAVE fur. So, in this world they are called "dokan". Also the humans live primarily in the northern hemisphere, while the dokan live primarily in the southern, although that may not always have been true.

Thirdly: Shadow, Eggman, Rouge, and all other SEGA characters are the property of SEGA, as is most of the plot in this case. The actual text itself is mine except for those quotations taken dierectly from the game.

Ascent Into Light

The sign that had been painted over the aluminum bay door was all but gone; sun and rain had nearly obliterated the letters since the last tractor-trailer had backed up to the scarred dock. The man gliding up to the door in a small hovering vehicle didn't even look up as he unlocked the massive lock and rolled the door upwards. Once the docking bay was open, he glided on in, under the barely-legible letters reading "Robotnik Inc."

The loading area was nearly empty, a half-dozen robotic loaders stood along one wall covered in dust. Dr. Ivo Robotnik, better known to the dokan by his nom de guerre 'Dr. Eggman', parked his hovercraft neatly in line with the immobile mechs and stepped out of it. He inspected the loaders briefly with an appraising eye, then shook his head. "Too bulky. Too slow. Those won't do at all." He leaned all of his considerable weight on the doors between the warehouse and the loading bay and finally the hinges consented to yield; the door swung slowly open with a tooth-clenching screech.

"How long has it been?" Eggman mused as he switched on the overhead lights. "Twelve, fifteen years since I closed this branch down?" He headed across the empty space towards a door in the far wall, leaving tracks in the thick layer of dust and indeterminate debris. Reaching the door, he unlocked it and stepped through into an area that was even dustier. Poking among the old prototypes and experimental robots, he noticed a crate in a corner, half shrouded by a tarp. Dragging a hover scooter out of the way, he inspected the crate. "Shipped from Prison Island, hmm? Why would...surely Grandpa didn't send us anything from there?" Intrigued, he pulled on the front of the case, still muttering to himself. "Already opened, and not resealed. Well, what have we here...a robot?" He dragged the thing out into the light. "Archaic-looking; don't recognize the design." He tugged lightly at the chest panel, frowned into the cavity and pulled out a computer disc. Reading the label, "'Diary of Professor Gerald Robotnik.' I wonder what old Granddad was doing with this thing?" He pocketed the disc, then with a quick glance around the room, he heaved the golden robot across a shoulder and left the warehouse.