Sacrifice to Time

Chapter 6

"Silver!"

"Huh?"

Blaze nudged the grey hedgehog. Silver fidgeted in his seat, trying to get himself comfortable.

"Silver, stop moving," she sighed, reclining in her own chair. "I'm trying to get to sleep."

Silver whispered an apology. Fighting the urge to move once more, he decided to observe his surroundings. He was in a small private jet, and everything seemed compressed in size. There were only eight seats in their section, all lined up in one side of the jet, the other side had a lounge sofa. A bottle of wine was situated on a table which extended from the sofa. Lee was sitting comfortably on the leather seat, eyes closed, drinking her wine with content. Dick was nearby, typing away on his laptop, his seat belt still fitted. Shadow sat next to Dick, reading yet another wad of documents. Occasionally Shadow walked out of his seat to talk to Lee, the subject strictly business, and then the hedgehog would return to his seat.

Silver breathed in, shutting his eyes as he reclined further into his own leather seat. The whir of the engines was starting to annoy him, and the artificial smell of the recycled air made him feel discomforted and restless. This was his first time to fly. At first he was excited, but his excitement declined fast as he realised how unnatural the plane felt.

Lee poured herself another glass of wine. She swirled the glass, watching the crimson liquid as it stirred. Through the whirlpool of wine the otter stared at the distorted reflection of Silver and Blaze, both of them bored. Lee sighed. She sipped her wine again, licking her lips as she savoured the taste. Nothing pleases her more than Californian red wine. She reached over for the bottle to top up her glass again.

"Isn't that a little too much?"

Lee looked over at Shadow, who stood in front of her, paperwork clutched in his hand. Lee raised a brow as she refilled her glass, ignoring Shadows suggestion. "We still have two hours before we land," she commented. "I can sober up until then."

Shadow folded his arms at her. He watched Lee take a few more sips of her drink before he wordlessly sat down next to her. Shadow resumed reading his documents, a bored expression on his face, his eyes closely scanning the words on the paper. Lee leaned over, reading the documents over his arm. Shadow glanced at Lee in irritation. "You're annoying me."

Lee huffed as she caught Shadows glare. She shuffled away from him, taking a larger gulp of wine as she did so. "You're so uptight," Lee scolded. "You need to relax more. I don't want to work with you if you carry on being so crabby."

Shadow jutted out his jaw at her words. Wound up, he put down the paper work on the seat next to him and leaned back into the sofa. He turned his head towards Lee. "Pour me a glass."

Lee didn't object. She handed him a generous sized wine glass from a compartment under the sofa, then poured in the rest of the contents of the wine bottle. Shadow nodded in thanks before downing the glass in one go, clearly in need for the beverage. Lee's eyes widened slightly as she watched him do so. She smirked, drinking her own at a much slower pace. "Drunkard..." she laughed.

The plane was silent, bar the high pitched whine of the jet engines. Shadow returned to reading his paperwork, albeit in an unperturbed manner. Lee stole a glimpse of him, narrowing her eyes. "Shadow," she began, her voice in a low whisper. Shadows ears twitched in response. "Why did you bring those two with us? Blaze and Silver, I mean."

"I'll need them," he replied, his voice equally as quiet. "They'll help me with finding the Chaos Emeralds."

Lee shook her head, disapproving with her partners motives. "They are just kids. We can't involve two fifteen year old children in this mission," the otter criticised. "I mean, it could get dangerous, they could get hurt-"

"I once met someone at fifteen," he interrupted. "Even though he was incredibly young, he still managed to save the world countless times against the Doctor."

"He's different. Sonic was a hero."

"And Silver and Blaze are different too, Lee." Shadow put down his papers once again to look over at Lee. The otter was still sceptical however.

"You barely know them, Shadow." She sighed.

"And you never knew Sonic." He argued, his voice slightly escalating in volume. He took a deep breath, calming himself. "It's been many years, but there are still things that I can clearly remember from him, and one of those things was Sonics' attitude. Silver has a similar attitude to him. He has a similar attitude to me."

Lee smirked. "Similar to you?" she scoffed as she looked over at Silver. "He's nothing like you, Shadow. Silver is a nice boy. You, however, are about as nice as being stabbed."

Shadow gave a small laugh at this, finding her misunderstanding humorous. The hedgehog stood back up. "I'm talking about his determination. I can tell he is determined for doing a good job, even just by looking at him."

Lee looked at Shadow with chagrin, her arms folded across her chest. "Cheesy," she said. The otter sighed, shaking her head as he walked off. "Well, I hope you know what you are doing, Shadow."

xxx

Many hours and an additional coach ride later, the group finally arrived at their destination. They all deposited their gear and cases at a ski lodge hotel, a hotel of a reasonable three star standard. Although it was out of season, the ski resort was still bustling with fanatics of the sport. Children and adults, both of a beginner to professional standards, were skiing enthusiastically through the Alpine mountains. Despite the sun shining strongly on the pristine white snow, their location still granted them with incredibly cold temperatures.

Clad in a thick ski jacket, Silver and Blaze huddled together for warmth, Blaze seemingly able to easily generate heat to distribute to a shivering hedgehog.

"You brought us here for skiing?" Silver exclaimed from chattered teeth. "Cool!"

Dick waved Silvers comment off. "Nah, we ain't goin' skiing. Though I spaff my pants just thinkin' about it."

Silver sighed, his ears drooped in disappointment. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small rectangular box. Dick laughed as he looked at it. "What's so funny?" Silver questioned, confused at the platypus' reaction.

Dick pointed at the black box. "Is that a mobile phone?" he snorted between laughs. "Mate, that thing must be ancient! Don't you have a card?" Dick pulled out a card from his own pocket, the size and shape reminded Shadow of a credit card in the past. "What model is that brick, anyway?"

"An iPhone..."

Dick smirked, patting Silver on the shoulder. "That hench thing must be as old as Captain Codger over there," he chuckled as he pointed at Shadow with his thumb. "That phone is old. I'm surprised it works still. Does it have the old vibrate alerts? That is so weird!"

Silver looked down at his phone, dialling a number using the touch screen. "It's not old," the hedgehog objected. "I prefer the term 'antique', actually."

Blaze laughed at Silvers optimism. Silver smiled back at her, ignoring Dick and his unmanly giggling. The lavender cat left Silver when his call was being answered by his parents, announcing that he had arrived in Italy safely. She walked up to Lee, who was busy discussing directional matters with Shadow, a map spread out as both of them held each side. Blaze, being polite, waited until Lee had finished talking to the black hedgehog.

"What exactly are we doing here?" the cat asked, her tail swishing from side to side in curiosity. "Your explanations were a bit vague."

Lee looked down at her, the ears twitching from the cold air. "We are trying to search for a place, a research unit." She glanced over at Silver. "You and Silver will be needed to help us track it down."

Shadow turned around. He beckoned Silver to come closer; the same gesture was repeated to Dick. "Silver, Blaze, have you ever heard of the Chaos Emeralds?" Shadow asked, his calculating eyes scanning over the two teenagers. Blaze looked over at Silver, who was just as confused as she was. "Lee will explain later."

xxx

The climb up the mountains was tedious, tiring, and increasingly troubling. The whole group was tired from the trek, except Shadow, who seemed completely unaffected from the hike. Their boots crunched through the snow, and it was more of a struggle for the shorter limbed Dick, who had to wade through the snow with difficulty.

Shadow paused, looking behind him to see the distance between him and the rest of the group. The gap was fairly long, and so he waited until the rest of them had caught up. Lee sat in the snow next to him, her heavy breathing causing miniature clouds to form in front of her face. Silver and Blaze sat next to her, while Dick just collapsed face first into the white powder.

"What's up, Shadow?" Lee asked, her breathing slowly becoming regular again. "Found something?"

Shadow nodded. He looked at their surroundings, the grey mountains bordering against the clear blue horizon, the glare of the sun reflected harshly from the snow into their eyes. Shadow looked at the ground, kicking away the snow to make a small hole. He stopped as soon as he saw the grey rocks beneath, and he knelt down to pick up a stone half the size of his fist. Shadow turned around and handed it over to Silver.

"Use your telekinesis to make that stone hover," Shadow ordered. Silver gave him a confused look, but obeyed without objection. "Stand next to me."

Silver walked up to Shadow, the rock hovering in front of his chest. Silvers fingers twitched as he corrected it from straying to his left, the stone glowing with a green light. "Sir," Silver began. "Why do you want me to do this? None of this makes any sense."

"Ask Lee later on." He replied, his voice low. Silver, intimidated by Shadows crude reply, remained quiet from there on.

Shadow shut his eyes, his face set in a frown, his brows furrowed in concentration. He sighed as he opened his eyes again. The black hedgehog looked over at Lee, who sat down contently in the snow, and tilted his head. He took off his inhibitor rings and threw them over to her. Shadow resumed to closing his eyes, once again in a state of deep focus.

He felt nothing. Shadow couldn't detect any energy.

"Blaze," Shadow called her over. "Can you do the same as Silver?"

Blaze shook her head. "I don't have the same psychic power as Silver."

He blinked. "Well, what can you do?"

"I have pyrokinesis," she said. "I can control fire."

Shadow shook his head, returning to standing next to Silver. Blaze felt slightly indignant, intimidated by his strange nature. Silver gave Blaze a reassuring smile, losing his concentration of levitating the stone, causing it to drop into the snow. Silver chuckled at his mistake.

"Let's try this again." Shadow grunted, feeling a little discouraged. He picked up the stone and handed it over to Silver, giving him a small pat on the shoulder.

The contact he had on Silver made him suddenly aware, as if his touch gave him a small electric shock. Shadows ears pricked up slightly, his heart racing at the sudden sensation. He felt it. He felt the Chaos Emeralds energy. Shadow touched his shoulder, leaving his hand on him for a while.

"Silver, levitate the stone." Shadow ordered, his voice more urgent. Silver nodded as he did so and as Silver used his psychic powers Shadow could feel the signal become stronger. He smirked, determination and adrenaline suddenly taking over. He looked at Lee, hinting her to pass him back his rings. "Just as I thought," Shadow whispered, taking his hand off Silver to put his rings back on his wrists. "Kid, you're an aerial to the Chaos Emeralds energy. I'm guessing that your psychic powers attract that energy, and I can feel it when I touch you."

Shadow walked up to Dick, the two conversing about communicators. The platypus handed Shadow a small black backpack, who chucked it over to Silver. Silver put the pack on, adjusting the straps. He glanced back at Shadow, his heart suddenly racing when he saw the black hedgehog handle a magnum hand pistol. "Is that a gun?"

Shadow nodded as he placed it in a newly fitted holster on his back. "Yes." He stated casually.

Silver looked over at Blaze worriedly, who looked equally as anxious. The grey hedgehog then eyed the gun on Shadows back. "We aren't gonna need it," Silver said uncertainly. "Are we?"

The umber hedgehog sighed, his head cocked as he gave a tilted glance at Silver. "Would you rather have a gun and not need it," he paused. "Or would you rather need a gun, and not have it?"

Silver watched him, mulling over his words. The black hedgehog, which scared Silver at first, suddenly made him feel safer. He made him feel protected; Silver felt that Shadow knew exactly what he was doing. Shadow knew what he wanted, and he knew what he wanted others around him to do. Even the way he talked, everyone would become silent and listen. Listened to what he has to say, listened to what he had planned, listened to his spoken thoughts. Everyone notices every move he made. Everyone watched him. And everybody immediately felt overpowered by Shadows calculating gaze.

The black hedgehog picked up the fallen stone and handed it to Silver. He glanced at Dick and Lee, nodding his head in a silent command, then at Blaze and Silver. "Silver, levitate the stone." He commanded. "Blaze, rest your arm on my shoulder. Dick, Lee, link arms with me."

They all did as they were told. Shadow closed his eyes, focused, determined, excited. He put his hand on Silvers extended arm, levitating the stone between the grey hedgehog's hands. There was a moment of silence, and only the high pitched whistle of the cold winds tickled their ears.

Shadow tensed under each of their touches.

"Chaos Control!"

A bright light surrounded them, the cold air warping around their skins. Each of them felt as if something was lifting them up into the air, wrenching them higher by their insides. Their lungs felt compressed, their gasps absorbing air that seemed nonexistent. Suddenly it felt like they were falling, their shoes feeling contact with metal floors. Blaze bit her lip, not expecting the experience. The light ceased. A green glow surrounded the room they were in, their environment changed.

Clean, cold air was replaced by a stagnant smell, similar to damp and mould. They were in a much larger room, green light emitted from bubbling pods, with additional light shining off computer screens. Buttons and small display monitors were mounted on the metal walls. The group let go of Shadow, each of them looking around in awe.

"We're in." Shadow grinned. He turned around, his expression suddenly serious. "Blaze, Silver, you two better be around Lee, she will protect you. Stick close to me, Lee. Dick, try and extract as much data as you can from these computers. I'll try and find the Chaos Emeralds."

Dick nodded. He ran past them, giving the teenagers a small wave, and settled in front of a large computer unit. The platypus took out his laptop, among other technological gadgets out of his bag, putting them to use when plugging them to the main computer. Shadow found that this certain lab was bigger than the one in England, and there were extra doors that lead to other rooms. Each door had a label in Italian, each indicating where they were meant to go.

"Wow..." Silver breathed. "I can't read what it says. Why don't they have all of the signs in English?"

Shadow barked a laugh, giving Silver a sideways glance as he did so. "I find it funny how the world is so globalised today." He shrugged off Silver. "The world converted all of their languages to English around a century ago. Italian used to be spoken here."

"Italian?" Silver murmured, mimicking Shadow. "So this lab must be a hundred years old!"

Shadow inspected the signs, interpreting the language. "This door must lead to the power room," he sighed. "By the looks of things, the Chaos Emerald must still be powering this lab."

Lee's ears twitched. She looked over at Dick. "Hey! Dick!" she called. The platypus looked up from his work. "Dick, when are you going to finish downloading? Shadow is about to cut the power."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Nearly done," he replied. A beep later, the download was done. "Right, you can kill the wire now."

Shadow opened the door, revealing a dark metal corridor. "Lee, stay here with the kids," he ordered as he pulled out the pistol. "Watch the pods. If anything comes out of them at any time, then run and find me inside. I'll be right back."

He darted through, activating the skate jets on the soles of his shoes. Shadow smirked, feeling a familiar rush of adrenaline pump through his veins as he ran at full pelt. He could feel the Chaos Emerald, its energy tingled his skin. It was calling for him, calling for a master to control the gem, and it awakened this hunger within Shadow, the hunger for the power it possessed.

Shadow laughed uncharacteristically, his red eyes narrowing as he saw a glow of blue ahead of him. For years, Shadow had felt like he was alive just for the sake of being alive. He isn't going to carry on with this forever, to carry on surviving like a normal mortal being. No, Shadow wasn't made for that. Shadow was made to satiate this deep hunger within him.

Shadow lives for the Chaos Emerald.

His hands shaking with anticipation and completely oblivious to the rest of his surroundings, his red eyes drank up the sight of the generator ahead of him. Metal claws had a blue glowing gem in its clasp, and Shadow's heart was beating harder and harder the nearer he got to it.

"There you are," he whispered, his face illuminated in ghostly blue glow. "It's been a while."

He cupped a hand gently underneath the Chaos Emerald, lifting it slowly from the sharp claws of the generator. Oddly enough there was not a blemish or mark on the shiny surface of the gem, an odd but eerie contrast to the rest of the machinery around him, which was covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. Shadow smirked as he tapped into the Emerald's energy, feeling its warmth which snaked its way up his arms.

The generator hissed, and then one by one the lights, monitors, notices and buttons switched off. The area became silent as the whir of electrical energy died.

"Time to head back," he said to himself. "Maybe I should reward those kids by letting them ski-"

A scream echoed through the metal walls, followed by the sounds of crashing glass and splashing water. Gunshots, rapid fire from Lee's automatic weapon, followed by more screams and an unearthly and monstrous roar.

"Shadow!" the cries of Dick's voice was barely audible through Lee's gun. "Shit-"

Shadow didn't need to be told twice. Holding tight to the Chaos Emerald in his hands, he released a guttural battle cry as blue energy swirled around him.

"Chaos Control!"

xxx

Huzzah!