First Blood Part Deux! Chapter 3: Prison Break

Chapter 3: Prison break

Night falls across the land, the midnight hours is close at hand, predators crawl in search of blood, but one river boat determined to float in Eggman's waters. The boat that faired Shadow and Blaze upstream earlier that day has finally reach its destination, a small river banks shielded by palm trees and bushes, the black hedgehog and the lavender cat disembark the boat and walk inside the jungles all the way to recon the prison camp. Once arrive, it was already dead at night, so guards and patrols have been maximized to prevent any and all infiltration attemps from the outside. The gates were guarded by grunts of the Egg Legion, wearring their distinctive dark uniforms with red gloves. "They kept the prisoners in a small cavern up on the stairs next to the cafeteria." Blaze pointed Shadow to the rocky stairs, carved out of the moutain's side itself. Next to it is the cafeteria, a mear wooden cottage with tables and seats all made out of woods of the jungle, since the jungle's monsoon rains would degrade metals.

"I'm going in." Shadow said to Blaze, who protested his attemp to infiltrate since it would be suicidal, and his mission was to take photographs of the prisoners. "My camera is gone." Shadow simply replied to her his excuse, he then proceeds to slowly swim into the prison compound via the the small water irrigation system of the camp, he slowly snoopping around to find any live prisoners, he heard some moaning and coughing sounds, he quickly Chaos Control to where the source of the sound and found a wooden bar, inside there were prisoners, 7 human prisoners, sick, weak, their only companions are each other, rats and spiders the crawls around them. But Shadow suddenly heard another grunting sound, it was another prisoner being tied up and hand like Jesus Christ on a cross.

Shadow jumps down to the rescue, he untie the prisoner and helps him hobble to safety, but while doing so, Shadow threw a knife into a Badnik that was pointing the spotlight near them, then he threw another knife into the head of another Badnik that spotted them. By next morning, the Egg Legionaires and the Badnik has found their deads and sounds the whistle to hunt down the intruders. While then Shadow, Blaze and the live prisoner that he rescued were running to the boat. "Hey…th…thanks for saving me bro…Earl Banks…First Platoon…Force Recon. What year is this?" Earl asked the black hedgehog, "3265" Shadow replied to Earl, Earl's bearry, scarred face degenerated into shock and awe, he realized that he was imprison for 20 years on end.

Shadow brought to the boat and hide him inside the passenger cabin, before give Malik the signal to set sail downstream . But while the boat was leaving the bank only for a mere 50 meters the Egg Legion has finally saw them and call in a naval Badnik to hunt down Shadow and the prisoner. The boat was going smoothly until it stop all of a sudden, Shadow peak out of the curtain and found the reason why, Eggman's river patrol SwatBots has arrived. Malik along with his band river pirates, hold Shadow, Blaze and Earl at gunpoint. "We're sold out." Shadow said. Malik went into the cabin and slap Blaze for bribed him into risky government covert operations and not warning him.

"It's all your faults that I got caught in this mess, now Eggman's coming to finish my business! And who's to blame? You of course! You lavender pussy bitch!" While Malik was ranting his rage on Blaze, Shadow slowly reach to his knifes buckled behind him, he pulls them out and stabbed the two pirates besides him, then use one of the pirate as meat shield, Shadow grab the shotgun on the table and slaughter all of the pirates with ease. Blaze set another pirate on top of the boat on fire , forcing him to jump down in the river. Eggman's riverine Swatbots open fired their machine guns on the boat, peppering the cabin with holes and holes and led. "Jump, just go! I'll handle battery brains!" Blaze and Earl jumped into the river, leaving Shadow to grab an RPG7V2 from the weapon box, he aimed it at the Swatbot's boat and fire a direct hit on the boat's weak spot, the ensuring explosion set the metallic patrol boat ablaze but didn't sunk it. Shadow jumped into the river just when the the two boats collided into each other and blew up. On the river bank, Blaze and Earl both watched anxiously, hoping that the black hedgehog has survived the explosion. The surface of the river was shattered when a head wearring red bandana with black fur surfaces, "You made it Shadow!" Blaze was relief to see her hedgehog has survive and swam to safety on dry land.

Shadow and Earl the POW continues to ran through the jungle to the designated extraction point on Shadow's map. They were pursuit by Eggman's notorious Egg legion, whose dark hooded figures strikes fear into the heart of the enemy. Through the dense vegetation of the jungle, Shadow's radio signal penetrate what would be a canopy that shielded everything beneath it from prying eyes above. "Home base this is Mako. Home base this is Mako, I got a live prisoner. Heading to extraction point now over." Shadow's words reach the ears of the communication operator at the GUN's special forces base far away, "Maddock! It's Shadow, he found one of our missing prisoner. He's coming home." The operator gladly informed his chief Maddock, who's not too happy when hearing the news.

While then Towers was on a sleek black Huey helicopter swooping over the jungle's canopy trying to reach the extraction to save his hedgehog. But things were heating up at Shadow's position, the legionaries have set up mortars position near the rice paddies, while Shadow and Earl were running for their very lives from the legionaries, the mortars keep on shelling them with high explosive rounds. The other legionaires in pursuit platoons provided suppressive fire at Shadow and Earl, the two dive down to the ground to hide from enemy's fire, Shadow sticks his head up above ground with a stolen rifle of the legionaries, he shoot back at the legionaries that were coming to him.

A few legionaries drop to the ground, dead, but more were coming in. There just seems to be no end to them for the two, when all hope of escape seems to be wipe away, Tower's helicopter flew out of the horizon, his door gunners fire on the legionaries that were operating the mortars, then proceeds to slaughter the rest of the legions in pursuit of Shadow and Earl. "Sir, we just receive orders Wolf den to abort mission."

The pilot informed Towers, who jumped off of his seat in surprise, wondering why would he leave his soldiers behind like this, "We're going down to get him!" Towers protested the orders of Marshal Maddock, insisting his pilot to land the helicopter on the ground but his door gunner held him gunpoint, "You're not going anywhere." The door gunner said, Towers was of course reluctantly abandoned Shadow along with Earl behind enemy's line for Eggman's forces to capture them. Or even worst, forced them into his ranks.

"What! Come on!" Shadow grunted at the sight that he was abandoned when his mission was about to be accomplish like he was ordered to. Now the black hedgehog and Earl were surrounded by the Egg-legion, they have no choice but to hold the hands in the air and forced to walk back to the prison camp. To make matter's worst, Eggman was coming to see the new guest in his "Hotel". From a distant, inside the bushes and behind tree barks, Blaze was watching everything in horror, she couldn't let Shadow to become one of Eggman's minions, nor could she just stand by and watch in hopeless that no one can do anything to stop Eggman, she must free him.

"What the hell was that all about? Why did we have to leave him behind? He got one of our men right there and he was primed for extraction!" Towers began to engage Maddock with a war of words, the two of them, each with their own agenda, Maddock doesn't want the prisoner to be bring back alive, for he fears that the public would want to wage another war with Eggman, and further the losses that he already has. Towers on the other hand, his a military agenda, he cares for his men, when someone was missing, he vows to find them and bring them home. But the differences in ranks has overode all Towers good will. Maddock's political authorities forced Towers to back down. "You're the one who's making a mistake." Towers began his warning to Maddock, who smoke a cigar in disbelief about Shadow's deadly fighting skills. "Oh yeah what mistake?" Maddock teased Towers with a smirk on his face. "Shadow." Towers simply remark to Maddock, Shadow's escape from imprisonment is only a matter of time, and when he does, he will hunt down Maddock, and kill Maddock.

But until then, Shadow was being hell in a pit loaded with mud, his hands were tied up to two poles to keep his head surface to breath and smell the terrible oder of the mud. On the landing pad of the prison camp, a helicopter with two wings armed with rocket launchers and missiles with a nose canon that has three barrels on it. On the side the cockpit it has a black symbol of a huge grin face with large moustache, and spectacled eyes. The passenger's opens up and he who walks down to the ground was an over weight evil scientist in red suit with black pants. Yes, it's the egotistical Dr Eggman, he was flanked by his signature hench men, Metal Sonic.

Eggman observed the well restrained Shadow the hedgehog, he laughed his signature "Ho hohohohohoho!" sound at Shadow's irritated face. "Bring him to my shack." The legionaries untied Shadow from the mud pit and bring him into Eggman's shack for special interrogation, the night was coming fast, Eggman decided to have his sicked, twisted fun before dinner. "Now let's see, you were ordered to infiltrate my Hotel to find and rescue your mission comrades, but you were chased down by my brilliant designs and captured here in front of me. Ho hohohohohohoho!" Eggman laugh out loud at Shadow's failure to escape as a mocking to the ultimate life form.

"Now then, who's your commander?" Eggman asked Shadow, who was now tired to a metallic bed, next to the bed there was a rotating switch tp adjust the electric flow into the bed. Shadow did not answer the question, thus Eggman signaled Metal Sonic to amplified the electric flow into the bed, torturing Shadow with electricity. But he resisted, he refused to spill the beans for Eggman. "I say again, Who's your commander? Tell me now you nasty little pin cushion! Who do you think you are?" , Shadow look up Eggman's face with the same irritated face, "Your worst nightmare." The threatening, taunting words of Shadow causes Metal Sonic to give Shadow another round of electric shock.

But while Shadow was being tortured by Eggman, Blaze has successfully infiltrated the prison compound, she slowly finds her way to the shack where Eggman was torturing Shadow. She came underneath the hut but find that Shadow was in no position to make a prison break, she must wait patiently to bust him out. "Well, since you don't like talking to me, maybe you like to talk to your commander. Here. Call them and tell them to cancel the operation or else." Eggman snap his finger, Metal Sonic brings Earl into the hut with Shadow's survival knife in hot coals ready to stab it into the eye of Earl.

Shadow was reluctantly agreed to Eggman's demand, he was release from the bed, then sit on a chair in front of the radio, Shadow adjust the frequency to that of the base, while then at the base, radio operators and Towers were working constantly trying to pick up Shadow's radio signal. When an operator receive Shadow's words on his communication device, he informs Towers to come by and hear it. "Shadow can you hear me? What's your status over?" Towers asked his hedgehog friend , who replies him with a single graving word. "Maddock", "He's here." Towers give Maddock the headphones to communicate with Shadow, but Shadow was going to send Maddock a clear message. "Go ahead Shadow, just give me your status and location and we'll pick you up."

On the other side of the line, Shadow gave Maddock a short but clear message, "Maddock, I'm coming to get you." Maddock's face began to feel the cold touch of fear, as Shadow's word of vengeance began to take hold of Maddock's mind. From the underneath the hut, Blaze set a legionnaire on fire, causing panic inside the hut, giving Shadow an opportunity to grab his knife and punch Eggman in the face and kick Metal Sonic into the electric bed and amplified the electric flows to maximum, shocking the robot hedgehog. But it also causes a power short circuits to the base's light bulbs, even at the cafeteria. The legionaries knew that something was up and so they grab their weapons and rush to find out.

Shadow and Blaze ran out of Eggman's hut into the water didge of the camp but the legionaries and Eggman's badniks open fires on them, hoping that the two Mobian would dive down to the ground, but instead, Shadow returns them the favor with a grenade, the grenade exploded underneath some legionaries and a badnik, killing them all instantly. Shadow and Blaze ran into the jungle for shelter while then Eggman and his forces mobilized to hunt them down.