Chapter 3#

---Chapter 3---
-Downtown Westopolis-
Krene and Slash moved around in the allies of the city. Still pouring rain, the two tried as hard as possible to escape Westopolis. Beatles floated around over their heads as the two ran to avoid them. Sometimes the Beatles would spot them, only to turn back when Krene spoke into his phone saying that it was just him and there was nothing there. Soon, the two came to a sudden stop at a certain part to downtown Westopolis. Krene stopped first, while Slash almost tripped behind him.
"Hold up!" Krene said as he held out his arm in front of Slash,” We’ll have to find a way around the place."
Slash looked to Krene, "Why? What's the problem with---" Slash froze when he saw what was in front of him. "W-....W-what is this??" Slash asked in amazement.
In front of them were fallen buildings, massive holes in the ground, cars flipped over, and burn marks everywhere. The scene looked as if Armageddon had taken place.
Krene started to walk around a huge hole in front of them as Slash followed,” This is the remaining part to Westopolis that is yet to be reconstructed. These ruins are still from the Black Arms' attack on Westopolis, along with Shadow the Hedgehog's wreak of energy use." Krene said.
Slash's eyes widened and he put his hand on his head, "Erngth!” Slash said, closing his eyes in pain.
Krene turned around, "What is it?!" he asked.
"That name......that horrible name..." said Slash.
"Black Arms?" asked Krene.
"No....Shadow.....Shadow the....Hedgehog...” said Slash.
"You remember that name? Insane! More evidence!" said Krene, smiling,” What do you see?"
"I don’t remember any images.....but I remember that Shadow the Hedgehog was something horrible. And it seems that I can't remember his full name..."
"Well if you don’t see any images, just look at yourself!" said Krene.
Slash looked up in wonder, "What?"
"You look exactly like Shadow!" said Krene.
Slash looked at himself briefly.
"Shadow is an agent of G.U.N., just like me, but he's G.U.N.'s top agent. He's not anything bad, he may be powerful, but he's with us. And his full name is just Shadow the Hedgehog." Krene said.
"No....not for me.....If I am from this different 'Zone', something there is different. I remember that name being a horrible thing and the name itself being longer...by, I believe, one word." said Slash.
"Yes! I just made a discovery through you Slash! This proves that in the Twilight Zone, different courses of history take place. Here, Shadow is good, there, Shadow is horrible." said Krene.
"But how is this all possible?" asked Slash.
"What do you mean?" asked Krene.
"Well, if I'm from the Twilight Zone, and I look exactly like Shadow, shouldn't I be the Twilight Shadow?" asked Slash.
Krene stepped back,"...Y-..Y-you're right!....But, you remember your name being Slash, don’t you?" asked Krene.
"Yes, and nothing more than just 'Slash the Hedgehog'." said Slash.
"Well then you can’t be the Twilight Shadow." said Krene.
"But you just said--" Slash was interrupted by Krene.
"I also just said that in the Twilight Zone, different courses of history take place. So if your name is Slash, then you can’t be Shadow because you remember him being horrible, and his name a word longer. You may look like the Twilight Shadow, but you're not him. I don’t know how or why you look like him, but you're not him." said Krene, "Do you remember the Black Arms?"
"No. Nothing." said Slash.
"Hm...strange." said Krene.
"Why? Who are they?" asked Slash.
"I'll fill you in when we get out of here, you might remember once I tell you. But for now, let’s go. You're getting soaked." said Krene.
The two ran around the hole and off into the ruins.
They came close to the middle of the ruins when they saw a G.U.N. base. They both stopped running.
"Whoa, hold on. What’s that?" asked Slash, pointing to the base.
Krene looked carefully, "Oh no, I forgot about the reconstruction bases G.U.N. has spread across these ruins! That must be one of them."
"So let's just move around it." said Slash.
"No. They have detecting hardware across certain sections of the ruins, and they're probably already set on overload, looking for you. I guess we've avoided them so far, but we won't be so lucky this close to a main base anymore." said Krene.
"Then how do we move forward?" asked Slash.
Krene looked back to Slash, "New Mobotropolis isn't that far away from here, We could make a simple run for it. But it will expose you."
"There really isn't any other way?" asked Slash.
Krene shrugged, "I can't sabotage their systems if I was to go into the base, so I'm out of ideas."
Slash looked back over to the base," Fine then, which way is Mobotropolis?"
Krene pointed," More to the North-east."
"Done." Slash said as he quickly blasted off running.
"Whoa! Wait!" Krene said as he followed.
The two were soon spotted by the base and an alarm started to go off. Signaling every agent and robot to take action.
"There it is! Open fire!!!" shouted an agent.
Bullets and small missiles shot at Slash and Krene. The two quickly avoided them while still gaining speed.
The agents then started to run towards them, while Beatles and Laser Hunters followed.
"Looks like they're ready to party." said Krene
"Hmph." said Slash, "For their sake, I hope they don't stop me from even running."
The two then collided with the mob of defenders, unable to progress.
Slash fell to the ground while Krene confronted a commander seeing no other option.
"Stop! Agent Krene the Hedgehog!", Krene said, showing his badge hidden in his jacket, "I order you to stand down! We have no intension of an attack! We want to pass through!"
The man looked at Krene in disgust, "What?! An agent?! How dare you order me to do such a thing! Do you know what you're saying soldier?! You're assisting the reason for an emergency protocol, and you dare order me to stand down?!" he screamed.
"There's a reason for me--" Krene was interrupted by the commander.
"If you're assisting such big of an enemy, then you have become an accomplice! You no longer have the authority to order!" he screamed.
Slash was now pinned to the ground by Laser Hunters and Big Foots.
"These machines are going to get what’s coming to them!" Slash thought to himself. But Slash did nothing, respecting Krene's relationship with G.U.N.
"I've earned the right to personally help those I choose to! Even if it involves turning away from my commander!" screamed Krene.
"Not when you're actions involve taking part in the escape of a category 9 protocol! If you had done you're homework instead of making assumptions, you would know that doing such a thing results in immediate decommissioning!" screamed the commander.
Krene's face went blank, his eyes widened in amazement, "Category.....9......." he said.
"You will NOT be needing this anymore!" said the commander as he ripped Krene's badge out of his jacket.
Slash closed his eyes and looked down in sympathy.
"W-...W-What?!" asked Krene in sadness.
"By order of G.U.N., I now place you under arrest for betrayal and assisting of the enemy!" said the commander.
“What?! No!” shouted Krene.
“That’s it, I’ve had enough!” Slash said as he quickly got up and spin-dashed the surrounding robots.
The commander in front of Krene quickly saw Slash and screamed out, “Open fire!”
“Krene! Follow me! We need to move!” said Slash as he ran passed Krene.
Krene then quickly followed, but in disappointment.
The two ran through the mob of gunfire and Slash took down any robots that crossed his path. They finally reached the outrange of the base and escaped into the large grasslands in between Westopolis and New Mobotropolis. When there, they stopped running briefly to rest.
Krene fell to the floor as Slash stopped in front of him.
Slash looked to him, “Are you alright?” he asked.
“No… I lost my job just now…. my dream job from when I was a kid…. and I just lost it……All that training… all that studying…. for nothing…” Krene said in anger and sadness.
Slash looked down, “I’m sorry…. the fault is mine… they were after me, and you payed for it.” he said, “I’ll continue alone from now on, so that I will cause you less trouble.”
Slash began to turn around to run off when Krene stopped him.
“Hey! You’re not going anywhere without me! I didn’t just lose job for nothing! You’re stuck with me until we find out who you are and what happened to you!” yelled Krene.
Slash looked back at Krene, amazed, “W-what? I just cost you your job and you don’t want to get rid of me?” he asked.
“No. I may have just lost my job, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still have a job to do. I’m going to help you find out your answers, regardless of the consequences. Because that’s the right thing to do.” said Krene.
Slash was in awe, “Well…..thank you.” said Slash.
Krene got up and walked by Slash, “New Mobotropolis should be straight ahead. If we get to Sonic quickly enough before G.U.N. calls him, to explain our situation, he might consider helping us even though we’re technically outlaws.” Krene said, pointing in front of him.
“Well then we need to speed up. Lets go.” said Slash.
The two then bursted off running to beat G.U.N. to Sonic.