209After planning on doing this, I'm finally putting it into action!...a year later.
It's set up a little like the Adventure duo stories, but since there's only four points of view (and occuring at the same time no less), the POV swaps much more often. And this only exists because I really want to adapt Shadow the Hedgehog, but it wouldn't feel right if I just skipped over Heroes. But, to be honest, I'm kinda glad at how it turned out!
So there's nothing else to say but I hope you enjoy! ^^
Because We're Sonic Heroes
Prologue: Into to Adventure!
Dr. Robotnik, otherwise known as and forever doomed to Eggman, wiped the sweat off his forehead as he leaned against the large metal door in one of his many bases.
"That was quite the hassle…I never thought the latest of my E-100 series would go haywire like that…" he huffed. Eggman then dusted his hands off and trotted back to his desk, pondering his miscalculations. "Well, perhaps it's best if I let the E-Series go…and that last robot won't be getting out anytime soon, that's for sure."
He took one last look at the massive door- several important things were locked up in there under tight security. That room was meant for projects that were never to be seen by anyone but him…
Eggman took a comfortable seat in his main lab, sketching out some blueprints for a new android. It had been awhile (almost five months to be exact) since his last attempt at anything evil- thinking about it brought tons of memories flooding. Shadow…Space Colony ARK…his own grandfather…Maria…it was quite the tale. In the end, Eggman had realized his grandfather, whom he had looked up to and admired, had intentions that far surpassed simply "devious". Not even Eggman would want to utterly destroy a planet…
His last words to any member of the Sonic Heroes were to Tails, in their last conversation aboard the ARK. After he had explained what his dream once was to the young fox, Eggman turned heel and began to leave. Curious as always, Tails whirled around and asked him a final question.
"Where are you going?"
"Next time I'll pull this off without anyone's help! I'll use my own power to take over the world!"
But, despite that exchange, Eggman lacked the motivation to carry out any mad scheme he designed.
So nowadays, he spent his time doodling out ideas for robots, whether being some to help out a cause, or just some for pure entertainment. The schematics of his base even revealed a huge hidden fleet below even the lowest floors, though the doctor never had a reason for using it anymore…
Maybe he didn't. Someone, or something, else did.
Red eyes flickered to life, but had already caught the scene displayed before them: a fellow robot being thrown into that room against its will. It infuriated the creation, even if it was incapable of feeling emotions, and action was going to be taken.
Eggman was blissfully unaware of the rage building up in the droid, currently floating in an oversized test tube. He was caught up in a new idea for a robot, hoping to replace the E-Series robot that had betrayed him. Besides, it was about time he started up a new line…the E-Series had tons of flukes anyway.
"You will do as I say."
Eggman's head arose from the desk, terrified at the sound of a foreign voice. He glanced around- not another soul in sight…
But the voice…it was stone cold, hard as steel, and sharp enough to cut through diamond.
"Must be old age or something…" the doctor decided, quickly returning to work.
Then, shatter.
Glass flew in every direction, Eggman only knowing to take cover because of the explosive sound it had made. Daring to look up to see what had caused the shatter and what had broken in the first place, it was a quite a shock to him to see his prized creation, yet somewhat scrapped, standing among the pieces of glass scattered on the floor. Instead of his eyes being the green they were programmed to be, they bore a frightening shade of infra-red, resembling heat-seeking lasers.
"What do you think you are doing?" Eggman hissed, trying to hide the fact that his heart was beating way too fast for his liking. The robot simply took a step forward, grabbed the nearest chair, and chucked it at Eggman. The doctor dramatically hit the floor and rolled under his desk, luckily avoiding any glass. The artificial intelligence ignored Eggman for the moment, instead skimming across his doodles on paper. Right next to a stack of musings was Eggman's personal computer, a lot more convenient than the super computer on the other floor.
"I ask again, what are you doing?" Eggman snarled, still not moving from the safely of the table.
The robot bent down and stared soullessly into Eggman's eyes.
"I refuse to standby any longer…you treat robots like mere creations…and you've kept me behind that pane of glass one moment too long."
"I have no more need for you," Eggman challenged back. "You should be grateful I didn't scrap you!"
"Or stuff me into a closet…"
"That robot had turned on me!"
"As have I."
Eggman barely knew what hit him when the sharp pain of a beam rocketed through his entire body. The robot had pent-up frustration coursing through every wire in his body.
"You call yourself a genius. I scoff at that. All the technology and brainpower you could possibly ask for, and you haven't used it to get what you've truly desired…"
Grabbing Eggman's collar, he dragged him out from under the desk and down the nearest hallway. His menacing eyes were all that were needed to light the way.
His intentions were dark, yet well-thought out. Fulfill the doctor's dream while crushing them at the same time and satisfying himself as well. Creation smarter than creator, he supposed. Payback would be present, a true force to be reckoned with would be awakened…he was going to display it all.
Tossing Eggman into a cell to give him a taste of his own medicine, then slamming the door shut, the creation left to carry out his grand plan.
Eggman, barely conscious, had one last trick up his sleeve.
But no guarantee it would work.
. . .
Amy Rose sighed, sitting in a chair on the boardwalk. Her view looked out onto the beautiful ocean, but her eyes were only locked on that picture. She had longed to see Sonic, since she rarely ran into him now that Eggman had "given up evil", and Sonic had been in and out and all around the world in a search for excitement. Where did that leave Amy? All alone without a boyfriend. Poor her…
The picture she stared longingly at in her hand was a photo of none other than her hero, taken from a newspaper that told about the latest sighting of the hedgehog. Amy swooned over it constantly, hoping that Sonic still wasn't too far away.
The only other thing that stood out about the picture was the fact that Sonic was carrying Chocola Chao, the brother of Cheese the Chao, who was Cream the Rabbit's pet Chao. Cream was currently sitting on the top of the large straw umbrella Amy was lounging under, stroking Cheese caringly. Ever since his brother went missing, Cream had to comfort Cheese nonstop!
Sonic was also carrying a green frog, known as Froggy and named by Big the Cat. He and Froggy had only done a few notable things long ago that deviated from their usual laid-back lifestyle, but it was nothing but a distant tale now. Big was Froggy's first and closest friend, and if he was missing…again…Big would be determined to locate him…again.
In fact, that was the only reason the three of them were together- they were looking for something, and if their clue-picture spoke the truth, then all three would be in the same area. Right now they were taking a small break before officially heading off, but that was only because Amy wanted to daydream about Sonic.
"Ah…I wonder where Sonic is…"
A small breeze suddenly rushed through Amy's hand, blowing the picture away.
"Oh no!"
Cream quickly jumped off the large umbrella and flew after the photo. She reached out to grab it, but alas, it flew out of her reach as well. Luckily for her, Cheese was swift to get it for her. He spun around in the air and held it victoriously up over his head.
"Chao!"
"Whew…"
Amy rushed out of her seat and ran up to Cream, who held out the photo and gave her best friend a light scolding.
"Amy, please be more careful with our only clue!"
"You're right, I'm sorry. I-"
The wind blew again, this gust a lot stronger than the first one. Little Cream got caught in the gust and suddenly found herself flying away uncontrollably into the air.
"Waaah!"
A fishing line came up out of nowhere, latching onto the rabbit and pulling her back down from the air. When Cream came back down, she found herself bouncing on a different large umbrella and landing in the palm of the hand of a large purple cat.
"Nice catch Big!" Amy cheered, running up to Big as he put away his tool. He started to laugh lightly until his gaze fell onto the picture Amy held in her hand.
"Froggy…" he trailed sadly.
"Chocola…" Cream sighed as well. Amy saw the glum looks on their faces and tried to raise their spirits.
"Hey, you guys, cheer up! You know we'll find them! No time to waste just standing here! C'mon, let's get going!"
Cream and Big nodded in agreement. "Okay!"
Amy bolted forward, nearly knocking Big off the pier. Cream eagerly followed after her as Big regained his balance, then trampled behind them.
. . .
Rouge the Bat, once a treasure hunter, active secret agent, and master thief extraordinaire, was currently stalking around in the very base that Eggman had been working in. She had been off on her own ever since the ARK incident. The golden ring kept safe in her pocket at all times was a constant reminder of her fallen friend that had been lost during the fight to save the world. Not only had a valiant hero had been lost, but the start of a closer friendship for Rouge. They had been through so much…only for it all to be in vain.
Rouge reached down into the pocket of her pink and purple agent outfit, pulling out the ring in question. Shadow's inhibitor ring, the one he had dropped during his final battle, had been the only piece of Shadow his battle buddy had been able to salvage. He gave it to Rouge, figuring she'd be the one to cherish it the most.
She clenched it tightly in her palm before shoving it back into her pocket and continuing on. She had made a few friends along the way, but they weren't as close to her as Shadow was, and therefore she rarely saw them anyway.
Boredom eventually got the best of her, and upon hearing a rumor of riches, Rouge finally decided to get back to doing what she used to do- treasure hunting.
Jumping off a higher part of the base, Rouge landed on the floor of a lower level and back flipped up to the large silver door. She hardly had to look as she typed the passcode into the number pad beside the door. She already knew the passcode from past experiences, so she simply admired her hand as the door flew open- nothing too new for her.
"This must be it!" she exclaimed as she entered the room. "I've found Eggman's secret treasure!"
Walking forward, however, she subconsciously sensed that this room was not a treasure room. No gold or jewels were placed in heaps in the corners, no boxes piled on top of one another, and there wasn't any particularly interesting information…
...Just a capsule filled with green liquid placed in the middle of the room. Rouge felt that it had to be something worth checking out, so she approached anyway and proceeded to get it open.
What she didn't notice were two infra-red eyes glowing from a wall of the room, belonging to a robot of massive proportions. It sensed another presence in the room and slowly stalked over to Rouge.
Rouge rapidly pushed buttons and pulled levers, the green liquid inside quickly draining. A body of some sort was revealed to have been floating within as the capsule opened, and when Rouge looked up, her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth to cover up her cry of shock.
The body's crimson red eyes shot open, surveying all of the room with no more than two glances. He saw the albino bat, but before he could even think about who she was or what she was doing, he caught sight of the robot out of the corner of his eye, preparing for rapid fire.
Things started to explode, and Rouge didn't know what to do. The hedgehog who had been in the capsule jetted forward, seeing a stray projectile ricochet off the wall and aimed for the bat. He gently pushed Rouge to the ground and ordered her in a soft whisper: "Stay here."
"Shadow-? !"
The black hedgehog with red streaks running up and down his arms, legs, and quills jumped away from Rouge, diving into the barrage in search of the robot responsible. Shadow bounced swiftly from wall to wall, not one bit of ammunition making contact with him.
"Must eradicate all Eggman robots!" the robot bellowed, blasting nonstop at Shadow. Rouge turned from Shadow to the robot, her face twisting into frightened confusion.
"Huh? !"
Shadow finally found a blind spot and charged at the torso of the robot . He was getting ready to land a pretty heavy blow, and the robot, whose name was most likely Omega due to the Greek letter designs on his shoulders, had finally seen Shadow and was preparing to blast his head off.
"Hey! Hold up!"
Rouge intercepted them right before they made contact with each other, a feat that made her somewhat exhausted since she moved faster than Shadow was and with more force than Omega's attacks. She panted and let her ears droop as the tension in the room dropped considerably.
. . . .
The room had been trashed seriously by Omega, but Rouge didn't really mind- she knew all she needed to know. She sat perched above the other two after hearing what they had to say.
"Now I get it…now I know what this is all about!" she pointed at Omega, who was still itching to tear the place to the ground. "You're mad at Eggman for sealing you in this room!"
She gave him a sideways glance as she turned to Shadow, arms folded and glaring angrily at the wall. Rouge gave a minute smile, because she was glad Shadow was back, but…
"And you," she continued, pushing away her thoughts. "You can't remember anything, can you?"
Shadow just glanced even more away from her, and she frowned slightly.
"…then it's settled, now you two make up so we can start looking for Eggman…together!"
Rouge jumped down and grabbed Shadow and Omega's hands, placing them together and putting hers on top.
"Aw yeah, baby! This makes us a team!"
Rouge had a feeling she couldn't have asked for a better one at that…but a killer robot and an amnesiac Shadow? They were going to need some breaking in.
. . .
Vector the Crocodile was hanging out in his headquarters, head bobbing to the music that was spewing out of his headphones. The office was messy, the fan was barely spinning to cool them all off, and he and his other fellow detectives had nothing to do.
See, since Eggman retired from evil, or was at least in some sort of hiatus, Sonic had been taking up any odd crime fighting and people helping jobs he could get his hands on, just to get that same rush like the old days. Of course, he performed them all fantastically and people praised him for it- being a hero didn't mean you had to go crash the giant doomsday device in the sky or slay an inhumane monster!
The only problem with this was that it left the Chaotix without any sort of work, and very, very little pay. They could barely get by as it was! Vector personally liked Sonic, and his friends, but when it came to work…well, he'd prefer if they stayed clear out of the way. Being detectives, they needed the cases and the jobs and the work just to get by! When it came to Sonic? He did them just for fun and because it was the right thing to do. Sometimes it just made Vector's blood boil.
At the moment, however, he was at peace, listening to his favorite song ever- the one that promoted their detective agency! Espio the Chameleon, second-in-command in the agency and full-time ninja, was leaning against the wall, but Vector could never tell if he was meditating…or just sleeping. However, this time he wasn't sleeping, as he turned his head and questioned, "Hmm?"
…just as Charmy Bee burst obnoxiously through the doors with a brown package.
"It's here! It's finally here!" he shrieked, all up in a buzz about the package. He was so excited, he slammed straight into Vector (who wasn't paying much attention either), causing papers to go flying, Charmy to go flying toward the floor, and for Vector to belt out with, "WHOOOOAAA!" and tumbled out of his chair.
The brown package that had once been in Charmy's arms was now toppling dramatically in the air, just missing being sliced up by the slow-spinning ceiling fan.
Espio acted quickly, whipping out one of his weapons in a flash and chucking it at the package within the same move. The knife-like object struck the package and stuck it harmlessly to the wall. As Espio admired his work, Vector sat himself up and started yelling at Charmy.
"What's wrong with you-"
"It's here! It's here!" Charmy continued to scream, regardless of the chain of insults he was about to receive. "We've got work!"
All hatred toward Charmy vanished as Vector guffawed. "WHAT! ?"
The package opened all by itself and a walkie-talkie dropped onto Vector's lap. An altered voice came out from the other end, and Charmy was quick to get close so he could hear too.
"I've heard good things about you and require your detective services," the caller at the other end explained. "And I can pay handsomely."
Charmy gave Vector a thumbs up and both of their eyes flashed with dollar signs. Vector instantly stood up and started making tracks for the door.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Espio trailed unsurely, getting up from the floor.
"Espio, don't be silly!" Vector exclaimed as he and Charmy made their way up to him. "Besides, you know our policy. We never turn down works that pays!"
"Yeah, you know our policy!" Charmy chimed in.
"C'mon boys! Let's go!"
"Yes sir!"
Vector and Charmy bolted out the door, Espio looking perplexed before muttering, "Roger", and running off too.
Vector was exceptionally happy, since they had a job that specifically requested the Chaotix, and the Chaotix alone! No Sonic to swoop in and take their work…it made Vector feel good.
"Hear that, Sonic? We've got a job! And where are you right now, exactly, huh?"
"Vector, why are you talking to yourself?"
. . .
Sonic was currently running around in a canyon-like area, fit with swirling rock formations to run through and large, yet narrowly spaced cliffs for him to jump off of. Sonic would bound from wall to wall, then breeze down whatever little path he could find. Being him, the thought of no excitement in his life was a hard one to accept, so he sufficed himself by running through new terrain every day until he found something to entertain him for a while. Sure, helping out a friend or two was nice, and taking down the occasional criminal was fun too, but nothing would ever make Sonic feel more satisfied or get his blood pumping like snuffing out true evil.
It was great that his arch nemesis had resigned from unlawful actions, but Sonic hated to admit that it made him bored. If he had a choice, he'd pick that Eggman should stay good, because it was just the principle of the thing…but with no evil mastermind to battle constantly, what else was Sonic going to do?
He pondered this endlessly, and he was pondering over it right now as he wove through cactuses and created dirt clouds just by sprinting. The lack of evil-fighting wasn't too much to complain about- Sonic would always be satisfied if he could find somewhere to run.
However, his wish for some action was answered by a blue bi-plane tearing through the sky, following Sonic spot on. The driver of the plane had finally found what he was looking for and smiled.
"Hey look, it's Sonic!"
Miles Prower, but better known to his friends as just Tails, did several spins as he lowered the plane down to be leveled with Sonic. Like everyone else, even Tails hardly got to see Sonic anymore, but he was pretty sure he ran into Sonic more often than anyone. No matter what though, it was always good to see his best friend.
Sonic heard the familiar purr of the Tornado II, a plane built in honor of Sonic's original red bi-plane that had died in a fierce airborne battle, and turned to see Tails. He broke out into a crazy grin as he gave a small wave.
"Yo Tails! Long time no see!"
"Sonic! Check this out!"
Tails leaned over the edge of the plane and held out a single piece of paper that was flapping furiously. Sonic jumped, flipped, grabbed the paper, then alighted back on his feet and started running backward as he looked it over.
"Muwahahahaha! Guess what, Sonic Heroes? I've finally developed the ultimate weapon! In three days I'll conquer the world! Think you can stop me? Ahahahaha!"
Not quite what Sonic was expecting, but hey, he'd take it!
"Hmmm…sounds like an invitation to party!"
"What're we gonna do, Sonic?" Tails asked, driving and staring at his friend with a face full of concern. Knuckles the Echidna, whom was lounging in the passenger's seat of the Tornado sitting sideways, just assured Tails confidently.
"No worries, we've got this one!"
Sonic smirked at his other best friend and rolled his eyes. "Heh, think I'd miss this? ! Time to crack that Eggman wide open…yeah, let's party!"
Tails and Knuckles jumped out of the plane (luckily after it was put on autopilot) and started to run after Sonic. The team took off through the rest of the desert, ready to get back into some real action after so long.
