31Because of certain action taken against this story due to the OC by review (which I don't blame any of you for, BTW), I've had to re-upload this story. Luckily I was able to get all the teams figured out, so this story is still on. But please see my profile for more details.
Disclaimer: I am making no claim to own the rights to these (and future) characters.
Sonic Heroes 2
Prologue
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles ran through the halls of Eggman's base. Turrets and robots were everywhere, but with the team's combined efforts, the robots were lucky to even see one of them before they were destroyed. From the ceiling, Tails threw down small explosives that attached to some of the turrets. The explosives activated about three seconds after they were attached, allowing Tails to get away easily before they went off. Knuckles took a more direct approach with the robots and weapons, preferring to just use straight-up punches. With his strength, putting his targets out of commission was no trouble. Sonic used successive homing attacks to knock over the robots he was dealing with. A tried and true method, Sonic believed.
Finally, every last robot and turret was destroyed. As they expected, a door at the end of the hall finally opened. Without any robots to keep it closed, Team Sonic could finally confront Eggman, along with their friends who, if the operation was coordinated right, were just coming in as well.
Sonic grabbed his friends and charged through the doorway. As expected, the others had made their way in too, almost at the same time Sonic did. Ever since the last encounter with Metal Sonic, most Mobians had referred to the entire group as the Sonic Heroes. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails made up the faction called Team Sonic, due to the fame the hedgehog had gained throughout the years. To Sonic's left was Team Dark, consisting of his supposed clone Shadow, jewel thief Rouge, and Eggman defector E-123, commonly called Omega. The name referred to the team's dark origins. Team Rose, to Sonic's right, was headed by Amy, whose last name and leadership contributed to the team name, and also consisted of Big, Cream, and her chao friend Cheese. The last group, directly in front of Sonic, was Team Chatoix of the Chaotix Detective Agency, led by Vector and his employees Espio and Charmy. The only one missing from the room was who they had come to see.
"Espio," Vector said, "are you sure this is Eggman's control center?"
"I didn't sneak into the surveillance room just to goof it up," Espio replied harshly.
"Life-energy scans indicate that target Dr. Eggman has frequented this room often in the past," Omega stated.
"So, where is he?" Amy asked.
"I don't know," Sonic said, "but I'll bet he's up to no good. He never is."
"An astute observation, hedgehog," Eggman's voice said. It seemed to come from a PA system. Suddenly, several robotic limbs with claws detached from the ceiling and thrust themselves at the Sonic Heroes. Everyone scattered, but Big, being the largest and slowest, was immediately caught.
"Heeeey!" Big shouted. "Someone get me down from here!"
"Hang on, Mr. Big!" Cream and Cheese flew up and landed on the joint between the arm and the claw. They tried to pull it up, but another claw approached and grabbed Cream. Cheese flew after her, but a laser fired and shot him down. When he landed on the ground, a claw holding a small cage came up to him and placed it over the chao.
"That's it!" Amy said. She reached behind her back and pulled out her infamous hammer. She held it above her head, ready to swing at the nearest object, but as she approached the arm that carried Big, she found she was unable to move it. She was soon lifted up, a claw holding on to her hammer. The claw flipped Amy into the air, and when she came down, the claw had a hold of her body instead.
Meanwhile, Rouge, Shadow, and Omega were running around the control center trying to avoid the arms.
"Shadow!" Rouge shouted. "You think you can warp us out of here?"
"Not without a Chaos Emerald," Shadow answered.
Rouge scanned the area and saw something shine for a split second. Her thieving instincts knew what it was. "There!" she shouted. Shadow immediately sped off in the direction Rouge pointed.
Omega stopped and held his arms up. "I will assist you in keeping the arms away, Shadow." His hands became automatic rifles and started shooting at the limbs reaching for Shadow. One of the limbs turned away and focused on Omega. Omega's arms shifted into flamethrowers and spewed flames of intense heat at it. Still the limb continued and finally grabbed Omega, keeping his arms by his sides.
"Hey!" Rouge shouted. "Let go of him!" she flew up to the arm and started kicking, only to be grabbed herself by another arm.
"Don't worry," Shadow said. "That Chaos Emerald's within my grasp!" He continued running and swiped the Emerald in one fluid motion. "Chaos Control!" he shouted. But the Emerald didn't glow, and time still seemed to flow regularly.
"You didn't think I'd just leave the real Chaos Emerald just lying around, did you?" Eggman's voice taunted. An arm grabbed Shadow and he dropped the Emerald in surprise. The gem shattered upon hitting the floor.
Team Chaotix was busy avoiding the arms and keeping them away. "Espio!" Vector yelled. "Try to find the off switch!" Espio nodded, closed his eyes, concentrated, and disappeared from sight. Vector heard some footsteps walk away from them. Suddenly, a claw appeared and grabbed at the air. The claw lifted itself and Espio's camouflage wore off, showing him to be in the claw's clutch.
"A nice try, but not unexpected," Eggman said through the speakers. "You see, I've fitted these arms with heat sensor technology. Even if you are cold blooded, you still have a heat signature of some kind. Never let it be said I'm unprepared."
"Now what?" Vector thought despondently.
"How about Vector Sneeze?" Charmy said excitedly.
"Guess it's better than nothing," Vector replied. "Hop on kid!" Charmy flew up to Vector's nose and wiggled around. Vector started feeling the familiar sensation and sneezed loudly, launching Charmy toward Epsio.
"I'm coming for ya', Espio!" Charmy said.
"Wrong!" A claw suddenly came out of nowhere and grabbed Charmy. "You're staying right there," Eggman said.
"Why don't you come out and fight, you coward?" Vector yelled.
"Because I remember what happened the last time we met," Eggman answered. Vector was so busy being angry, he never noticed the claw behind him.
"Not my fault you couldn't pay," he growled as he was lifted up.
Team Sonic tried getting one of the doors open while avoiding the arms as much as possible. Every door they tried, however, wouldn't open. Even Tails' explosives did nothing. He was about to pull out a few more for another try when he felt himself being grabbed.
"Sonic!" he yelled. "Help me!"
"Hang on, Tails!" Sonic called back. "Knuckles, how's your throwing arm?"
"Which one you want?" Knuckles said with a smile as he held up both. Sonic immediately rolled into a ball and let Knuckles pick him up. "Take this!" He threw Sonic, who started bouncing around the room, trying to hit the claw Tails was in as well as the others. After a few seconds of fruitless ricochets, he finally was heading for Tails when he suddenly stopped.
"Hope you all enjoyed the ride," Eggman said. Sonic uncurled himself and noticed that he too was caught. He looked down to find Knuckles, but saw that he was with everyone else, in a claw of his own. The claws turned everyone toward the largest computer screen in the room. The screen flipped on and Eggman's mustached face appeared. "I hope you're not too disoriented, especially you, Sonic. If you really want to know how I captured the fastest thing alive, I had the computer run a quick trajectory on your path and predict where you would end up."
"Congratulations, Eggy," Sonic said. "This will be great on a t-shirt. 'I Caught Sonic the Hedgehog, and All I Got Was this Lousy Insult.'"
Eggman just ignored him. "Now, I suppose you're all wondering why I called this meeting today. To you, it was to get this Chaos Emerald," Eggman held the Emerald so they could all see it, "to prevent me from creating the ultimate weapon. What you do not know is that the weapon was already created more than two thousand years ago. This Chaos Emerald, while genuine, is not part of the weapon at all."
"You lured us here, then," Shadow responded. He seemed especially annoyed, supposedly because he had used a fake Emerald.
"You would be correct," Eggman affirmed. "I only used this Emerald to make certain you would come here."
"So what do you want with us?" Knuckles asked. Suddenly, the arms holding the Sonic Heroes separated to three different corners of the room, each where a cage rested: Sonic, Shadow, Amy, and Espio were put in one cage; Knuckles, Omega, Big, and Vector in another; and Tails, Rouge, Cream, and Charmy occupied the last one.
"Just to get you all out of the way," Eggman said. "Please note," he went on, "each cage has been tempered with a strong metal alloy that prevents even your strongest abilities from harming it. Also, you will notice how I have kept you separate from your respective teammates, so as to keep you all from working together effectively."
"What about Cheese?" Cream shouted. The chao was still in his own little cage on the floor. One of the claws came down, grasped the cage, and lifted it away.
"I'll have need of this little one," Eggman answered. "Don't worry, it won't be harmed… much." Cream sat back and started crying.
"Now, while I would like to gloat about my victory," Eggman continued, "I have a weapon to power up and a world to dominate. And the best part is… I won't have to worry about being thwarted. Because after all, without the Sonic Heroes, who will save the day?"
This is CF signing out.