"What?" I blinked. Surely, he was joking. He couldn't just steal Nicole back for us by using a single Chaos Emerald. It didn't take much thinking to know that.
"Well, indirectly," Dr. Light said. "I can't directly use it to make her handheld work. But, I studied the power in you, and found that the jewel you were holding held the same essence of power."
"So?" I frowned. "What does that have to do with Nicole?"
"I'm not sure I understand, either..." Sally muttered. "Nicole has a completely different type of energy running through her than the Chaos Emeralds. It's not as strong, either."
"Yes, I am aware of this," Dr. Light continued. "It would be impossible to simply pull her away from Dr. Eggman's computers with this little jewel..." Suddenly, he smiled in a way that kind of scared me. That made me worry. He almost never smiled like this when he had an idea - he simply kept talking and talking.
"After studying the power that comes from you, Sonic," Dr. Light said, "and comparing it to that of the Chaos Emerald you were holding, I've figured out just what you can do with the jewel. I'm sure you already know these things. You see, we can't teleport you guys into the base. It would have to be outside of it." I suddenly knew where he was going with this. "And even if you were sneaky and stealthy, there would be little chance that you wouldn't be seen. They have so many robots and gadgets in their possession that they would easily take the four of you down. But Sonic has seen the inside of their building. He has even been inside it.
"Sonic, I'm sure you know what you need to do now, but even with being able to teleport directly inside the base it will be a difficult task. I was thinking two of you could create a diversion, and you and another person could go inside and try and find out more about the place, finding Nicole if possible. Mega Man would have to lead the force outside of the base because it will be such a high-stakes mission. Tails and Sally can go with who they choose."
My head was swimming. Going back inside of the two crazy doctors' base? The people that used me as a test subject? Was Dr. Light finally going crazy? I usually took on some pretty dangerous and crazy missions, but this was suicide. It would be strange if the doctors didn't notice us.
"Are you really that sure about this?" I asked. "Those people did try to kill me and almost did. If we go in and get caught, there's no going back. Sally and I would be toast."
Sally looked at me funny. She frowned and turned her head a bit. "That is so," Dr. Light said, "but it is also the only way to steal information from them. Along with your friend, Nicole. Mega Man and Tails together will be able to create a decent distraction so that no one comes after you. If they get Mega Man and Tails, they will likely be able to teleport back to the lab. You, on the other hand, will have to use that Chaos Emerald, and that may take more time. I don't know everything about that jewel. You would have to be careful and stealthy. If you even think someone has seen you, come back immediately."
I still looked at Sally. She looked a bit unsure still. It was a very risky move; if I were to become incapacitated, we would both be screwed since she couldn't use Chaos Control. It seemed easy to escape from a battle with the Chaos Emerald. It wouldn't take long, and it would pretty much ensure our safety. I nodded at Sally, and she nodded back, a smile on her face.
I turned to Mega Man next. "Are you up for this, Rock?" I asked. "It was a lot of robots, and I don't want you freezing up in the middle of a battle."
He looked to the floor, then sighed. When he looked back up at me, there was smile and determination in his face. It made me smile, too. "I know we can get my sister back. And Blues. Maybe not now, and they'll probably send Proto Man or Tempo to try and get me off my guard. But I'm prepared for that. Unless I get a good shot at one of them and knock them out, I won't try to talk them into coming back. A virus is a virus. We have to use something else to kick it out."
I looked Rock straight into his eyes. "That's way easier said than done."
"I'm prepared for a challenge."
After a quick nod, I turned to Tails. "You have your ring bombs and stuff?"
Tails shook his head. How could I possibly send him into a major battle with a billion robots? "I don't have ring bombs, but..." He smiled with a sort of sinister look. "I have this sweet new gun Dr. Light made for me."
It looked like a gun with a long barrel, but it wasn't entirely big. It fit Tails' size just right. It was blue with sweet lights going through it and down the ends. "That is cool," I whistled.
Dr. Light smiled. "So we're all ready?"
Everyone looked at each other, and eventually we decided we were. Dr. Light carefully handed the Chaos Emerald to me. "Go into a spot where you won't be reached. You remember a bit of their base, right?"
I thought for a minute. There was that tube in the middle of the room, and in front of it was an elevated room that the docs had been in. The little space under that raised room might do the trick...
I looked at Dr. Light, almost forgetting that he had asked me a question. "Yeah, I have a good spot in mind, " I told him. "Do we go now?"
"We have to start the distraction first," Mega Man said. "We should go now. Watch out, Tails. Try not to get sick in the teleporter."
Tails nodded, and cautiously got into the tube that sent people away and stole their lunch. I gave Tails a wave just before he left, and he gave me a slight, nervous smile.
"He'll be fine," Sally said, walking toward me. "Tails is smart, and Mega Man's got the brawn. It's a good team."
"You're the one who knows Nicole the most," I said. "But I would have picked you anyway. It reminds me of old times."
"You mean that time we tried to infiltrate Dr. Eggman's base and got completely screwed?" Sally said. She looked down.
I turned to her and hugged her, trying to comfort her. I held one of my hands kind of sideways so that the Chaos Emerald wouldn't poke her. She wrapped her arms around me as well, and said, "well, someone has to keep you in line."
"And you have a handsome, strong hedgehog to protect you," I said, pulling away from her just a bit.
"Because I can't protect myself?" She didn't necessarily seem defensive. It was more like she was testing what I was going to say.
"Of course you can, Sal, " I replied. "But it's always nice to have a strong, handsome hedgehog on your side."
She laughed and pulled away, putting her hand on the side of my face. I touched it, holding it tightly. We looked into each others' eyes, just trying to have a moment of peace. I could see the sorrow in her eyes, but they still seemed happy and calm. She wanted her friend back; that much was obvious. But there wasn't a hint of stress anywhere in her face. Did she really have that much confidence in me? I hadn't tried a Chaos Control in a long time...
She reached her arms up around my neck and kissed me for a few seconds. "Maybe that will give us good luck."
I smirked, and I was about to pull her toward me when I heard Dr. Light's voice. "It's time!" he shouted, making both Sally and me jump out of our skins. Was he watching us all that time? I shivered.
With a moments hesitation, I held the Chaos Emerald tightly and shouted, "Chaos Control!" I thought of the little nook that I had been considering, and when I opened my eyes, we were right under the room the doctors had been in. I almost shouted, "I did it!" but remembered quickly that we had to be quiet.
I led Sally her around slowly. We took no time trying to get our bearings. There wasn't a second to spare. It took some time wandering the halls to find anywhere to go. I was hoping we could have gotten to that little room with all the control panels and what not, but that seemed to be a mile away now. "Maybe we should look in some of these rooms..." Sally suggested. "They can't all be empty or useless."
I turned and looked at the doors. Each was identical, but they were symmetrical to each other. There was no way to tell what the doors hid, and who know? We could have gotten trapped in one if we were spotted by a camera. There didn't seem to be any of those around, though...
I jumped and stared down the hall as I heard something. There was no point going back; the same thing could happen the other way. "In here!" I whispered, grabbing her arm and pulling her into a room.
"What is it?" she asked.
"What else would it be?" I replied, looking everywhere for somewhere to hide. By now, there was no turning back. And it seemed like I had picked the wrong room. It was lined with small metal racks that held a million things each on them and some wooden shelves against most of a wall. They went all the way up to the ceiling, but they weren't quite touching it.
"Enemies?" she asked.
I nodded, walking up to a shelf. I tried to pull it out, but my arm was still sore from using it to its limit a few days ago. "Here, help me out," I said. She seemed to pull it out far easier than I could, and I quickly went to the next shelf. "We can hide behind them," I explained. "Maybe they won't notice that the shelves are pulled out just a bit."
She nodded, and we pulled out the next to shelves. We were just barely able to squeeze through them, but it was tight. If someone came in and came close, we were lost. We couldn't move except to get in and out.
We looked at each other as the door slammed open. Sally's eyes were wide, but she still had a look of determination on her face.
"Aren't you a hedgehog?" I didn't recognize the voice, but there was a big chance it was one of Dr. Wily's robot masters.
"Does it matter?" This voice made me move toward the end of the shelves and try and get out, but Sally grabbed my arm tightly and pulled. She put a finger to her lips, telling me to shut up and stay still.
But it was Shadow. Not only would he be a decent opponent to fight against if we had to, but it also just didn't seem right to leave him as he was, a slave for two evil villains.
"How did you-" the robot started.
"I am an android," Shadow said blankly. "I have no wires, but the virus got into me. Satisfied? Let's get what we need and get out."
There was all sorts of rustling on the shelves in front of us, and away from us on the metal racks. They seemed to move around and find things out forever. Then, as if someone had sensed us, a shadow came beside the wooden shelves. Shadow appeared, moving things and picking up things on the rack he was behind. Then he turned his head so that just one of his eyes could see us, and smiled.
I was so sure we were doomed that I nearly screamed.