Into the Unknown
Sonic and Sunset had returned back to Sweet Apple Acres after failing to convince Shadow to come and celebrate with them. There, they had joined the rest of their friends in preparing the place for the celebration later today. It didn't take too long as only a few minor adjustments were needed and everything was good to go in no time. The group then met up in AppleJack's barn as they looked over what they had done while her family had gone inside. The chairs and music were set up along with outdoor decorations, the large table was prepared for the feast and the evening dinner had been finished.
"Perfect! Everythin's just perfect! AppleJack said proudly as she tipped her hat. "Great work Y'all!"
"Oh, I can't wait to try the dinner." Spike fantasized as he drooled in Twilight's arms, making her laugh slightly.
"I have to say, this is looking like it's going to be really nice. I'm really looking forward to this evening." Starlight stated.
"Too bad it's missing just one more thing." Pinkie expressed in a disappointed tone, causing all of her friends to turn towards her. It was pretty obvious what she meant. She was speaking about Shadow's absence.
Knuckles then folded his arms as he turned to face Sunset and Sonic.
"So, you two didn't have any luck trying to convince him?" He asked.
"Knuckles, I saw what Shadow was going through." Sunset explained in a tired tone. "Honestly, I really don't have any idea what we can do."
"But it's still wrong for him to be all by himself. He should be with his friends." Pinkie insisted before Sonic put his hand on her shoulder.
"You heard Sunset. Shadow needs to deal with this on his own. Until then, I say we should just give the faker his space and before we know it, he'll be back to his slightly less brooding self."Sonic told her but Pinkie didn't seem too convinced by that answer as she rubbed her arm.
"In the meantime, since everything's all done, I'd say we have some time to kill." Rainbow Dash brought up. "Anyone got any good ideas on how to spend it?"
Before anyone could answer, a large beeping sound was then heard in the back, catching everyone's attention. Tails recognized the sound as his face perked up.
"That's my Miles Electric."Tails realized as he went to the right corner of the barn where had placed it as all eyes were on him now. The screen of his portable computer was giving off a horizontal beeping signal, which indicated that a transmission was coming. Tails then picked it up as he went back to his friends.
"I'm receiving an incoming call.' He announced, causing Knuckles and Twilight to overlook his shoulder.
"Who could it be?" Knuckles wondered as Tails answered the screen.
The screen then became one full of static, revealing Rouge's face on it much to Tails surprise, Twilight's curiosity, and Knuckles''s dismay.
"Hey there, Tails." She greeted out loud in a static and muffled voice for everyone to hear before she noticed Knuckles.
"And Knuckles." She added in a playful manner as she wiggled her fingers at him. Knuckles slightly fumed as he crossed his arms and turned away from the screen.
"Who's she?" Twilight questioned as she pointed to the screen.
"This is Rouge. She's an agent of G.U.N, the organization that Shadow works for." Tails explained as Rouge winked.
Tails then held up his Miles Electric above for the rest of the group to see as Rouge's eyes landed on all of them, which caught Sonic's interest.
"Rouge? What's the occasion? You don't usually call to just say hi." He inquired as Rouge got a serious expression.
"I'm calling because I need your help." Rouge stated.
"Uh oh. I get the feeling you have some bad news, don't you?" Manic expressed with displeasure.
"It's urgent. I'm calling because of Shadow." She said, causing the group to become alert at the mention of his name.
"Shadow? What's wrong? Is he ok?" Pinkie questioned in a voice full of concern and all quickly.
"I can't really explain here. I could barely make a call with the state of the base. I just need you to come to the G.U.N headquarters right now. I'll fill you in on the details there." Rouge answered before the signal suddenly cut. With the transmission gone, everyone exchanged looks.
"What could Shadow possibly have to do with all of this?" Silver wondered out loud.
"I don't have a clue. But from the way she worded, it sounded like he could be in trouble. Sunset suggested.
"I knew we shouldn't have left him all on his own." Pinkie said with worry in her voice.
"Well, we aren't going to find out by just standing around. You heard, we gotta go now!" Rainbow Dash eagerly said.
"You said it, Dash." Sonic agreed. "Let's do it to it!"
"Wait, before anyone does anything, could someone please explain to me what's going on? I'm kind of lost." Starlight asked as she faced the others.
"Long story short, that was an agent of G.U.N, this military organization or whatever that Shadow's a part of." Manic informed her.
"A secret organization? This situation sounds like this is something cool!" Starlight gushed before she remembered why Rouge had made the call in the first place as her expression changed to a slightly embarrassed one. "Oh, and awful!"
As the others prepared to move out, AppleJack suddenly made an announcement.
"Hold on y'all. I know somethin' big is going on, but what about the dinner?" AppleJack said in a quizzical tone.
"AppleJack, darling, normally you tell me this, but there are more important things at stake here." Rarity told her.
"She's right, AJ. The dinner can wait until after whatever this is." Knuckles agreed.
"Oh, I hope we don't miss it." Spike said with a smile on his face at the thought of all that food.
AppleJack realized that there was nothing she could really do at this point, so she just dropped the subject and joined her friend in as they headed out towards the G.U.N base.
The Rainbooms had ponied up, giving them the power of flight as they flew onward with Silver. Tails was in his biplane, the Tornado with Starlight Glimmer in the passenger seat while Knuckles held on to a wing on the top, leaving Sonic and Manic to run across the terrain. Tails had placed the coordinates of the G.U.N base on his Miles Electric and lead the rest of the team towards the base. They then came across a mountain ridge after gaining some considerable distance from Canterlot. Behind it, was a large metallic facility that housed the G.U.N logo. However, there was smoke coming from it, indicating it was damaged.
"That doesn't look good." Starlight commented.
"We should get in for a closer look." Tails suggested as he began to descend his plane.
Tails parked the Tornado in front of a large square shaped hole where a metallic door should have been. The Rainbooms and Silver descended shortly as Tails, Knuckles and Starlight got off the tornado while Sonic and Manic joined them instantly. After that, they entered the entrance into the G.U.N base.
When the group was inside the base, they were astonished by what they had seen. The area was damaged as there were various holes in the wall and ceiling. Broken pieces technology such as parts of computers and robots littered the floor as electric wires hung around. Various G.U.N members were rushing around with collapsed stairway in the back. There were injured or unconscious and bruised soldiers scattered as some of them were being treated by doctors and loaded on stretchers
"Wow. Where I'm from, there are still remnants of G.U.N in the future. Honestly, it's disappointing that G.U.N in the present looks how it does in my timeline." Silver dryly observed.
"Oh, I just hope whatever did this is gone." Fluttershy fearfully said. "I'd hate to run into it."
"Over here." Rouge's waved on the right, as everyone turned over to see her. Rouge then walked up to them.
"Good to see you, Big Blue." Rouge said to Sonic who just gave her a slight smile. Her eyes then landed on the others and the Rainbooms.
"I remember all of you from that one time."Rouge recalled as she recognized them. She then saw Starlight. "Except for her though."
"Oh, I'm new. I'm Starlight Glimmer." Starlight introduced.
"Rouge." She replied as she gave her a salute with two fingers.
Suddenly, Pinkie dashed in front of Rouge and gripped her shoulders tightly, making her slightly uncomfortable.
"What of Shadow?! What's going on with him?! Where is he?!" Pinkie demanded in a hyperactive tone as she shook Rouge very quickly.
"Wow, Pinkie, take it easy." Sunset said as she pulled her off from Rouge, who was slightly dazed. She then regained her composure.
"That's the thing. Shadow's the reason why the G.U.N base is in ruins." Rouge suddenly said. Hearing this caused her to be on the receiving end of looks of disbelief.
"Shadow?! Are you sure?" Sonic inquired as Rouge nodded her head.
"Yes. As you can see, it was quite the mess. I was lucky I wasn't here as I wouldn't have had a big strong hero to save me." Rouge said as she winked at Knuckles, making him frown.
"Get on with it, Rouge. What happened?" Knuckles replied. '
"Yeah, why the hay would Shadow do this? He's on our side?" AppleJack further questioned.
"Not anymore."Rouge expressed with a slightly sad tone. "Earlier today, Eclipse, the last Black Arms who we had in custody managed to escape. Eclipse must have tracked him down and despite me telling him not to, Shadow must have engaged Eclipse. After that, he must have placed him under his control. You remember that Shadow's part alien, right?
"Eclipse? He was that alien from last time right ?"Tails remembered as Rouge gave a nod to confirm.
Hearing that Shadow had alien DNA was actually news to the Rainbooms, except for Sunset as she had read his mind earlier. Their eyes widened with surprise after hearing that.
"Hold on, Shadow's part alien?!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed with a slight tone of excitement. "This is incredible! There are so many questions I have to ask him!I wonder what their civilization or culture could be like! I mean-
"Twilight? Now's not the time." Spike interrupted, causing Twilight to look at the others, who were giving her strange looks. Her cheeks then turned red.
"Oh, please go on." She then said in a shy tone.
"After that, they came back here and wrecked the base. We're still checking the damage done." Rouge finished.
"Great. Shadow's on the side of a murderous alien. Please tell me you at least know their location?" Manic said in a quizzical tone.
"We still don't have any clue on their whereabouts." Rouge broke to him.
"Rouge." A deep robotic voice suddenly said, making Rouge and the group turn to see it belonged to E-123 Omega as he was walking towards her as everyone turned to see him.
"Rouge, the commander wishes to speak with us in the briefing room." Omega told before he turned to see Sonic's group.
"What is with the excessive presence of meat bags?" Omega asked Rouge, while he pointed to them, causing Rarity to form an offended look.
"Ah! How dare you refer to us as meat bags! We have names, you know? She scolded but Omega just ignored her.
"They're with Shadow. They're here to help us." Rouge told him as Omega then put his head down slightly.
"I desire to slaughter the aliens myself." Omega expressed, making the group turn to each other with slightly disturbed looks while Rouge formed a small smile.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. We just want our friend back, no slaughtering." Sunset reassured Omega, causing him to lift his head up.
"This pleases me." He then stated.
"Come on, we should get going." Rouge suggested as she headed towards the briefing room as the others followed her. While they were heading there, Fluttershy found herself in front of Omega. She was intimidated by his presence as she nervously stared at him as Omega looked back, making her more uneasy. His silence was unnerving.
"Uh....hello there Mr. Robot." Fluttershy slowly greeted as Omega continued to observe her.
"I advise that you gather some distance from me. There is a possibility I might crush you." Omega bluntly said, making Fluttershy yelp as she took his advice and walked ahead forward in a rapid manner.
The briefing room was a large white room with a series of desks in the back. In front of the room was the G.U.N Commander as he stood near a large platform. On his right, a large blue door with the G.U.N symbol then opened, revealing Rouge, Omega and the group as the Commander turned to see them.
"We're here Commander Tower." Rouge said.
"Excellent, Rouge." He said before his eyes turned on Sonic.
"Sonic, nice to see you." He told him as Sonic gave him the thumbs up. He then noticed the Rainbooms and Starlight, making him get a slightly confused expression.
"And you're with...students?" He said in a puzzled tone.
"Hey, we've saved the world plenty of times and have had our share of kicking bad guy's butts." Rainbow Dash boasted as she pointed to herself. '"It's not a big deal."
Commander Tower just raised an eyebrow, but he didn't have time to waste on questions.
"All of you, take a seat." He instructed, causing everyone except Omega to take seats in the desks in the back. Omega just stood in front next to Rouge.
"I have some dire news. After some investigation, we found out that a G.U.N spacecraft is missing." Commander Tower started, causing the group to form alarmed looks as they became aware of how serious the situation was, especially the Rainbooms and Starlight. They had dealt with a lo of things before but space was on a complete different scale
"It is clear that Eclipse and Shadow must have taken it. Luckily, after the discovery of the theft, we were able to track the coordinates of where it was headed." Commander Tower continued.
Commander Tower then took out a remote and clicked it, causing a blue holographic image to appear in front. On it was the picture of a moderately sized lush green planet as the party looked on with interest.
"Oh my, that looks lovely." Rarity praised.
After getting a better look at it, Tails eyes widened as he recognized it.
"Hey, that's Planet Wisp!" He exclaimed, making Sonic realize what Tails said was true.
"You're right, bro! It is the Wisp's planet!" Sonic agreed.
"Uh, what's Planet Wisp?" Starlight asked.
"Planet Wisp is home to a species of aliens called the Wisp. Sonic and I visited it one time when we had to save them from Eggman's interstellar amusement park." Tails explained.
"Oh man, if Eclipse is going there, then the Wisps are in trouble!" Sonic said with worry.
"Yes, it is a problem. We believed that Eclipse was going to try and take over our world, but seeing as he's gone and done this, we fear he's plotting something big." Commander Tower went on.
"So, what's the plan then?" Rouge questioned.
"Whatever Eclipse has planned, we cannot let him succeed. A large fraction of G.U.N are elsewhere on missions and the attack on the base has set us back severely. That is why I need Team Dark to head out and go stop Eclipse. You're the only ones capable of doing this." Commander Tower ordered.
"I alone would most likely be sufficient." Omega commented.
"Hey, Commander guy, you're also forgetting about Shadow. He needs to be saved too." Pinkie brought up as she waved her hand rapidly in the air.
The mention of Shadow's name caused Commander Tower face to darken. He then cleared his throat.
"On the topic of Shadow, I'm not so sure if that's the most realistic option." Commander Tower started, making everyone in the entire room stumped at his words. They weren't sure what he was getting.
"What do you mean, not sure if that's realistic?" Silver inquired.
"Eclipse managed to brainwash Shadow and not only did they wreck a G.U.N base and injure a large number of soldiers, they went go harvest another world. Shadow is dangerous." Commander Tower sternly said, much to the dismay of everyone in the room.
"Are you serious?! Shadow's the one who saved us from the Black Arms last time! He's the reason you're still around to call him dangerous." Rouge shot back.
"I concur with Rouge." Omega said, backing her up.
"Shadow has proven himself to be a liability. This world already has enough threats as it is. We don't need Shadow on the side of an alien invasion. That's why I'm just making the correct decision." Commander Tower firmly said.
"But Shadow's one of you. And you're just going to toss him aside?!' Sunset said with slight disgust in her voice.
"Besides, G.U.N isn't known for always making the right calls." Sonic said as he crossed his arms, a nod to the time they had him wrongfully imprisoned.
"I thought you said you made peace with Shadow anyway. Are you sure this isn't personal?" Rouge said with an edge in her voice.
Commander Tower saw all the looks of disapproval he received and let out a sigh.
"This isn't. I no longer hold any grudge towards Shadow. This isn't an easy decision for me to make and I know that it's not a popular one. If there was a much better option, I would be all for it. Shadow may be my agent but he's also a weapon. It's his life against the countless lives of this planet. A soldier's life isn't always guaranteed in this line of work. Sacrifices have to be made." Commander Tower said, though there was hesitation and disappointment in his tone.
Commander Towers words were left to sink into the audience in front of him. Before anyone else could say anything, Pinkie Pie suddenly formed a look of stronger anger on her face as she clenched her fist tightly. She then marched out of her seat towards Commander Tower, much to his surpise.
"Well, that's your problem, right there! Shadow's not just a weapon or a soldier! There's so much to him than that! He's a person but more importantly, he's our friend! You may not think his life matters that much but we do and we're not going to write him off! Maybe if you tried treating him other than the weapon you think he is, you'd understand!" Pinkie shrieked at the top of her lungs.
Everyone in the room was amazed by Pinkie's sudden outburst as Rouge had a slight smile on her face. Commander Tower was taken back as he looked down at Pinkie's determined expression with a look of uncertainty. It was clear her words had gotten to him.
"I...I...." He started to say before he sighed once more.
"I trust what needs to be done will be done. Team Dark, you have to go to your spacecraft below. It has been prepared for you already. You're dismissed. Head there immediately. We don't have time for delay." Commander Tower simply said as he walked out the door.
Pinkie huffed and puffed as the others got out of their seats and headed for the exit and moved past her with looks of concern. Fluttershy put her hand on her shoulder, calming her down a bit more as she took a deep breath but still wore an unsure expression.
Underneath the G.UN base, Team Dark and the group were standing in front of a small white shuttle that was about the size of a bus. Next to it was a scientist as he adjusted his glasses.
"This is the only available space shuttle we had prepared and left." The scientist explained. "It's smaller than the ones we normally have and I'm afraid not all of you can go."
"Well, Omega and I are going obviously." Rouge declared. "After all, we were assigned this mission."
"And I have not slaughtered any aliens yet." Omega added.
"So, any volunteers?" Rouge asked as she turned to the others.
Pinkie Pie immediately answered before any of her friends could.
"I'm coming. I'm not going to give up on Shadow." She insisted, much to Rouge's delight, who put her hand on her shoulder.
"I like you, especially seeing you stand up to Commander Tower. That's fine by me." Rouge complied.
"I want to go too." Sunset suddenly said. "I felt bad about not being able to help Shadow from before and I feel like this is a way for me to do something."
Rouge just shrugged, which indicated she was good to go. Pinkie then turned to Starlight, who wasn't expecting this.
"Starlight, I want you to come." Pinkie requested, much to her and everyone else's confusion.
"Wow, Pinkie, are you sure that's a good idea?" Manic cautioned.
"Yeah, why me?" Starlight quizzically said.
"Like I said earlier, Shadow is a good friend and I want for you to see that for real." Pinkie explained.
Starlight seemed quite conflicted as she looked around at Team Dark and the group. In fact, she was looking pretty nervous at Pinkie's request.
"I'm going to admit. This is all really crazy. Aliens, secret organizations. I mean, when I came here, I didn't expect to go into space of all things. But...if it's to help a friend, I'll do it." Starlight agreed, making Pinkie and Sunset beam.
"Well then, I guess we have our team." Rouge said as she and her party turned to face the rest of the group.
"Ok then, we'll leave it to you guys. Make sure that Faker comes back. Oh, and tell the Wisps I said Hi!" Sonic said as he gave them the thumbs up.
"Do be safe." Fluttershy said in a small voice.
"Also, hit Shadow really hard for getting us into this mess." Manic brought up while Rarity gave him a slight glare, which he then noticed and shrugged.
"What he meant to say is good luck." Rarity spoke.
"I'd love to go see an alien world and kick some alien butt, but since I can't, get in some good hits." Rainbow Dash stated as she put her fist in her hand.
"This one speaks my language." Omega praised. "I promise to unleash as much havoc as I can."
Rainbow Dash was slightly weirded out by Omega's love for violence and she backed away.
"Oh, take this." Tails said as he handed Rouge his Miles Electric. "You'll need it to communicate with the Wisp."
"Thanks, Tails." She said as she then turned to Knuckles.
"What? No kiss goodbye?" Rouge teased, causing Knuckles to become flustered as he turned his back to her.
"Just get out of here already." Knuckles muttered under his breath.
"If you don't mind, could you also get some samples from the alien planet? I'd love to study something alien." Twilight asked, making Spike chuckle but he said nothing.
"If ya can, make sure y'all are back just in time for the dinner. I'd hate for anyone to miss out on it, seeing as we worked so hard." AppleJack told them.
"In the meantime, we'll try to keep things delayed. Hopefully" Silver reassured.
"You bet! I Pinkie Promise! And we'll have Shadow." Pinkie promised in return as she made the motion.
"We'll hopefully see you guys soon." Sunset said.
"Ok, then let's get this adventure started. To space." Starlight said, though she sounded somewhat tense as she took a look at the spacecraft.
The five of them then entered the shuttle. Rouge was in the pilot seat with Pinkie in the seat next to her. Starlight and Sunset sat with seats in the back while Omega took up two whole seats on his own. All of them strapped on their seat belts except for him. Rouge then started the plane as G.U.N opened a large pathway in front. The shuttle then floated above the ground as it's engine was activated before it then took off. It passed through the path G.U.N made before it was launched up in high into the sky as it traveled at high speed.