RaDaR125 was of further assistance by pitching to me an idea that`s going to be run for this chapter and the next. It`s kind of a major one. You`ll know it when you see it.
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Sounds of very heavy metal boots sound down the hallway.

This hallway is a long string of jail cells on either side. Some are empty but some have a few people in them. It`s dark and none of the cells have anything soft in them. The floors are concrete blocks cemented together and lack any furniture. All the cells have inside them besides it`s prisoners are chains hanging off the walls.

Metal Sonic is walking down this hallway. He has Maria in one arm and Amy in the other. While Maria is absolutely terrified, Amy on the other hand is displaying her fiery spirit. Amy wiggles around and shouts at the robot,"Put us down! What do you think you`re doing with me and Maria, Metal, huh?! You think Sonic would handle us in such a manner?! This is no way to treat a lady! Put us down! Put us down!"

Entering one of the empty cells, Metal Sonic stops and drops the two girls on the ground. Amy gets angry about being dropped and she quickly gets to her feet,"You jerk!"

She swings her red and white boot up and gives Metal Sonic a swift kick to the side of his leg. A loud clang noise sounds and Amy promptly turns to the side with her foot in seething pain,"Owwwwwwww..."

Maria sits up from the floor, sitting on her knees. One hand on the ground for support as the other brings the oversized sleeve up to her face,"What is going to happen to us?"

Metal Sonic doesn`t even look in Maria`s direction when she asks the question. He simply turns around and exits the cell, throwing the door closed, which automatically locks itself. Amy quickly runs to the door and grabs the bars,"Hey! You come back here and let us out, Metal!"

But Metal Sonic doesn`t heed her command. He continues down the hall and his heavy foot steps grow quieter. Amy`s angered expression drops and she sighs. She releases her grip on the bars and turns around to face Maria, who is still sitting on the floor. She puts her hands behind her back and walks to the back of the cell,"This is quite a situation we`re in..."

Amy puts her back against the wall and leans against it. She tilts her head back and looks to the ceiling,"But I know Sonic is looking for me. We`ll be rescued, Maria."

More heavy foot steps come. Amy quickly looks out to the door of the cell. What comes in view is Metal Knuckles with Tails in tow. Amy drops her mouth open. Metal Knuckles is back in operation? Does this mean that Metal Tails is as well? What is Eggman up to now? Metal Knuckles roughly throws Tails into the cell with Amy and Maria and slams the door shut. Then he walks off just as noisily as Metal Sonic did.

Tails lands in front of Maria. As he sits up and rubs his aching face, Amy trots up to him,"Tails, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I`m fine. Oh, Maria, you`ve been captured, too?"

Maria has a frightened expression on her face. She nods to Tails to answer his question. Tails tries to cheer Maria up in a similar way that Amy did,"Well, I`m sure Sonic will save us. He always does."

In the upper floor of this tower like building, Eggman is sitting at the control station. The only light source in this room are the monitors that overlook the cells that are in the lower floors. Near the doorway, Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles and Metal Tails stand in a straight row next to one another, all silently facing Eggman. Eggman turns around in his chair,"These are enough test subjects. We can begin things. You three know what to do."

All three robots make their metallic clicking sounds and then they turn around to face the door. First Metal Sonic walks through with Metal Knuckles following behind him and Metal Tails soon after. Eggman smiles and turns back to his monitors. He pushes a few buttons and the monitors change views to show other rooms in the building instead of the cells.

The small Sonic group arrive in Metal City. This isn`t the roadway where the gear board races are usually held, this is off to the side quite a ways. They have found a suspicious looking tower that doesn`t follow any design that the rest of the city uses. Eggman has to be here. The group has formulated a plan and have decided to try and kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. A bomb will be placed to blow the tower. Whatever plan Eggman has, it can`t be good and thus it has to stop.

Without wasting any more time, the five of them infiltrate the tower. Knuckles, Silver and Blaze go one route. Their role is to find the prisoners and get them out. Sonic will be taking on Eggman himself while Shadow will set the bomb (with searching for Maria as his own mission). The three groups each take a different route. Time is crucial.

Sonic is dashing through his route, following the path that the hallways are leading him. Something is bound to appear. This whole thing is absolutely suspicious. If Eggman has the missing people, what could he want with them? Must be another plot to lure Sonic into a trap to unleash another one of his grand schemes. Even if this is a trap, Sonic has his friends to save. He can`t just sit back and do nothing when they need help.

Sonic finds himself entering a room that is far larger than the other ones he had checked out. He stops to look around the room since it`s size suggests something major is happening here. And he`s right.

In the centre of the room is a huge machine. It looks very complex and has wires extending from the top of it to the ceiling. There seems to be a conveyor belt that goes into an opening of the machine and comes out the other end. But what does this machine do?

Sonic`s thoughts are interrupted when he hears Amy call out,"Sonic!!"

Sonic looks over and finds that Amy has been fitted into one of the chairs that`s attached to the conveyor belt. She`s bolted and secured to it so she can`t escape it. A bit ahead of her on the belt is Wave, who is in the same situation as Amy. But she has been gagged. Eggman must have gotten tired of her mouth. Sonic begins to head over to free them but the machine suddenly comes to life. The conveyor belt starts slowly moving, bringing Amy and Wave closer to the machine. Then Metal Sonic suddenly appears in Sonic`s way, blocking him from getting to the machine.

Elsewhere, Eggman is in his seat in front of the monitors. He smirks as he sees Sonic being intercepted by Metal Sonic. Behind him, Maria has been strapped down to another chair. She looks scared and it shows very well. Maria manages to speak,"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

Eggman slowly turns around in his chair. He folds his hand together, fingers laced with one another. Leaning back in his chair, he answers the frightened girl,"Well, to answer your first question, I am your cousin, Ivo. You probably don`t remember me since we haven`t actually met. The one time we could have met, Shadow ruined things by kidnapping you from me."

"What?"

"See, you were brought down here on Earth from the Arc by the explorers. They found you frozen and took you to a hospital to be unfrozen. I came to take custody of you and brought you back to my city. You hadn`t woken up yet, though. I felt it best that a family member would be the one to care for you. But Shadow was selfish! He busted into my city, broke into my home and snatched you away! As reckless as he was acting, I was afraid that he would get you hurt in the process. He hid you pretty well as I had a hard time finding you. Took me a while, but I finally found you."

Is that really true? But Shadow doesn`t act selfish. In fact, he has been taking good care of her. Maria looks up to Eggman,"How did you find me?"

"Ohhhh I have ways of getting inside, so to speak."

"...Well...Shadow was taking good care of me. He bought a condo just for me-"

Maria begins to smile, thinking about the things Shadow has done for her,"And he bought me clothes, makes sure I take my medicine and have enough to eat...He even took me for a ride on his bike..."

Eggman`s smile drops and he takes on a serious expression,"Maria...Have you any idea what kind of person Shadow really is?"

"He`s been wonderful to me."

"Shadow is a murderer, Maria."

Maria`s own smile drops. Her mouth parts open, totally shocked to hear such a terrible thing about Shadow. Did she hear it right? She asks,"...What...?"

Eggman repeats himself,"Shadow is a murderer."

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