Sonic's Legacy: Volume 3
Death Trap (Halloween Special)
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or the characters from Ken Penders, Sonic Team, or Sega. Though some of these characters were created by me, the basic style and likeness of these characters originated from the creators of the Sonic comics and Sonic games, as well as the companies Sonic Team and Sega and comic artist Ken Penders. Thank you and enjoy this unofficial story.
Keep in mind that this is the third Volume of the first book. If you are new to the story and have just found this story, you might want to read the first volume first. (Links don't work in here as I have found out. ^^; So, it's called Sonic's Legacy: Volume 1, The Hero's Child. You can find it at my profile :D
For those of you that have stayed with me since before the changing from one story to volumes thanks for sticking with me through the chaos :D You guys are the best :D
For those of you that are returning readers from the first and second volume, I won't keep you waiting any longer.
Enjoy :D
Well, Halloween is back again and it seems like a great time for a horror story. Oddly enough, it seems that my family tends to do more crazy decorating for Halloween than we do at Christmas. (that's mostly because in my neighborhood the kids are brats like to destroy stuff on my lawn and throw firework poppers on my front doorstep…So we try not to go overboard for the longer celebrations and go all out on one day. Plus we have a giant, 13 foot long lighted dragon that billows out smoke that we put up every year on our front lawn to scare the fire department XD. )
But this isn't why you are here, oh no, You're here for what many of you have been waiting for since I first announced it last year after I derped on the release year lol.
HALLOWEEN SPECIAL! Dun-dun-dun!
And yes, I made a special just for the occasion but it is still tied to the story line. I think you guys might like it though I must warn you, this might be the most graphic thing I have written to date. There will be more graphic scenes to come, but so far this one takes the trophy until something else comes up behind and takes it. But, anyway! I am a major fan of horror stories slash horror films so many of you that know me very well saw this coming a mile away lol.
Also, this one chapter was going to be long, like I was fitting possibly two to almost three chapters into this thing. It was turning into a beast lol. So I am splitting this chapter into parts. We'll see how many parts this one chapter turns out to be lol.
This is for sticking with me for all these years of working on this monster and I hope you guys like it and enjoy…if you dare~ *evil cackle*
Chapter 47: Death Trap (Early/Late Halloween Special) Part 1
(WARNING: This chapter may be disturbing to some readers. Those of you who are weak of heart should not try to read. This is a lot like some of my extreme chapters but two times worse. This may be my most graphic chapter in the story so far. You have been warned. If none of that bothers you, enjoy the thrills the chills. Mwhahahahaha! )
Narrator: None, third person format.
Back at the Renegade's hideout, an orange tabby was sweeping the floor of the training room, grumbling unhappily to himself as he worked. "*grumble, grumble*… Stupid Rook…*grumble, grumble*."
He then started talking in a mocking voice. "Meh, 'Do you even have any mobiums left since our last bet?' 'Better get started, Flash'. 'See you in a couple hours, Flash.' Bah!"
As the lights flickered among the training dummies and left over debris, a shadow crept along, shunning the light as if it were poison. The dark entity fled into the pile of debris.
Flash's ear twitched and his fur stood on end as he heard the small sound of something that fell to the ground with a soft crash, but it sounded louder from the echo that radiated in the massive room.
The fiery tabby quickly whipped around, pulled out his revolver from his holster, and quickly took off the safety with a click that echoed off the dark walls. "Who's there?!"
Flash listened intently, his awareness on edge. Every muscle under his fur was tensing as he swept the room with his night vision sight. Cautiously he turned around, his tail swishing back and forth with anticipation and then frustration. "Very funny guys. So what now? Being right not good enough for you, Rook?"
As his gaze swept toward the corner of the training hall, the dummies that used to be used for the evil scientist's training sessions with his robots didn't seem to look like dummies anymore. In the dim light and the darkness, the dolls were almost a reflection of a mountain of Mobian corpses. In this sudden realization, Flash gasped and backed up frantically. He tried to blink the frightening image out of his mind, rubbing both of his eyes with one hand and allowing his other arm which held the revolver to drop to his side. I must be seeing things. My night vision's no good in all this dust.
A loud, spine chilling hiss rang out from inside one of the piles of debris. His fur stood on end and he raised his gun once again, his hand now visibly shaking. The tabby took a few staggered breaths, trying to calm himself down.
Did…did one of those dolls just…move?
Flash swallowed hard to try and clear the lump in his throat as he took a step forward; he had to make sure he was just seeing things. As he leaned closer to the pile of dolls, he looked them over carefully, standing face to face with a few as he reached them in turn. They seemed as lifeless as they have been since he'd been there. Letting out a sigh of relief, the tabby turned around, rubbing the back of his head with near embarrassment, thankful that no one from the rest of his team had seen him flip out and finally letting himself calm down. He then logically dismissed what he had thought he saw, "Must be all the dust."
He then started to walk away from the pile of debris and toward the center of the room, brushing back his bangs between his fingers as he mumbled. "I need a break."
For a moment, all the tabby could hear was the sound of his own footsteps of his steel-toed boots against the straining metal of the rundown base floor. He suddenly felt very tired, but dismissed it as him working himself too hard from all the sweeping. But all that changed in a single instant.
The hiss he had heard earlier came forth again in a loud echo off the metal walls, only this time…a disembodied laugh mingled and lingered in the menacing echoes that surrounded him. Flash felt his fur bristle and a chill unwillingly ran down his spine once more. With a low growl rising from within him, his eyes narrowed. He knew that an intruder was hiding in here somewhere…and now he was sure of it.
In one swift motion, the tabby suddenly drew his gun from its holster, whipped around and then pointed at where his sensitive ears picked up the sinister voice. However, once his eyes met what was before him, they widened in horror and he gasped in utter and complete terror. A gunshot echoed around the room as blood splattered on the rust colored, cold metal floor of Eggman's abandoned base.
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Hey Grandma. How's it going?
Yeah, so I'm sending you and Gramps a letter like you wanted. Even though I really don't know why, because I can just run over there in like less than five minutes. But anyway.
It's been three weeks since we moved into the new Genesis base and everything is starting to look awesome. I can't really say exactly where it is, because the "Master Guardian" says that if this letter gets jacked, then we're screwed so meh whatever. Anyway, back to the base. It's really coming together, well at least this sector we're staying in is. The place is huge! And the best part, Jodi says that there might be more parts of the base where some of the tunnels are blocked out. We might check those out later.
Sorry I haven't been able to come over very much, things have been crazy, but Dark says you guys are doing well and you miss me. No worries, I'll sneak away at some point to stop by and say "Hi"-
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"Hey Nikki!"
Hearing her name, the blue hedgehog stopped typing on the keyboard of her computer and then looked to the small meerkat in the doorway. "Yeah, what's up Crash?"
Crash spoke up. "Someone named Benny is asking for you."
"Benny? You mean Stealth's friend Benny?" Nikki asked raising an eyebrow. She hadn't met him in person yet, though she had heard him on the communicator a few times. Benny Fisher Cat was one of Stealth's go-to guys for background information in trade. If any of the rogues and criminals in the area were up to something, this guy knew about it. He even helped out when Tails wanted to go back to his old workshop for some supplies and mementos, telling all other rogues in the area to stay out because Stealth was going to be there. With Stealth's reputation in the criminal world, anyone would know to heed that warning, especially now where even a single loss as a rogue could easily be a death sentence.
"Yeah" Crash answered. "He said he needed to talk to the leader of the group and that it's important."
"Um, last I checked, that was Tails." Nikki answered back still confused, she then asked. "What about him?"
"Nikki, don't you remember? Tails went to New Albion for an important meeting this weekend. He's not here." Crash reminded sincerely.
"Oh, right." Nikki laughed. She then stood up, giving the meerkat a confident smile as she jogged out of the room. "Okay then, let's find out what this is about."
After exiting the room, the hedgehog picked up speed, blazing a trail of blue light as she turned the corner and continued down the hall.
Her meerkat friend jumped and then bolted after her as fast as he could, but it was nowhere close to the blue blur's pace. "Hey! Wait for me!"
It didn't take very long for the Genesis group to arrive at the place where Benny Fisher Cat had described. Strangely enough, the door had been unlocked; the bolt locks had nearly rusted away in fragments on the ground. The door creaked and groaned in distain as both Dark and Argul lifted the metal hanger door up. Though it protested with noise and the effects of wear over the years and lack of use, it was no challenge for the two strong freedom fighters.
After the door reluctantly clicked into place and was able to hold itself up, the group walked inside, carefully taking in their surroundings. Like many of the bases they had seen, the place looked like it hadn't been used in years. Rust covered the walls of metal in patches of red. The floor creaked under their feet with each step and a slight musty smell hung in the stale air around them.
A shiver ran down one freedom fighter's spine. The red echidna quickly tried to shake it off, as if her fur was drenched from a downpour. "Is this place giving you guys the creeps too, or is it just me?"
"Oh no, this place is definitely on the top five list of freaky places, no joke." The green teen hawk ahead of her agreed, trying to keep his own feathers from getting ruffled. While Zephyr was a part of the raiding force like the rest of his team, he preferred being out in the open versus dark enclosed spaces like this one. He wasn't afraid or anything; however, the strong thickness of the air around him was giving him trouble. Even though he normally wasn't claustrophobic, he definitely was feeling it now.
Ahead of the group, Gyro and Dark scanned ahead. The lynx turned to his comrades behind him, his gold-green eyes shining in the darkness as he reminded softly. "Stay focused, we don't know what's down here."
"I still think that we should've told First Company and Shad Company about where we were going."
Hearing Spectra's comment, Nikki couldn't help but agree. The chameleon had a point. Even though Tails had said that they were a full-fledged group now and able to run missions just fine on their own, it felt strange just leaving the base and not telling Tails, Stealth, or Knuckles where they had gone or that Benny had called them to check the place out. In the past, Nikki had at least checked in with Tails, making sure he knew that she was leaving or coming back from a run. She had promised him long ago that she would always tell him when she left the base to put her guardian's mind at ease. Right now with every step she took, it felt like she was slowly breaking that promise.
However, those feelings were pushed aside and her reasons justified and she perked her ears as Gyro spoke. "You heard Ben, he said that it was too risky to call Tails and the others, the Exus Satellite was on us by the time he hung up."
"And you know how important that meeting is, we can't call them away from that." What Lara-Su said had been true. While the group didn't know all of the details to the meeting in New Albion, the way Stealth made it sound when he proposed it to Tails seemed important. The meeting was to discuss whether or not New Albion should open trade with the continent that lied across the ocean to the north. From what Nikki had heard, the elders were not sure if they could agree to such a daunting task. In this time of war, resources were precious, and the council didn't want to put New Albion in a position that could leave them vulnerable. But both Tails and Stealth agreed that opening trade with this other nation across the sea would likely form an alliance that could benefit both New Albion and this mysterious land in this war. However, Nikki noticed something as Tails had agreed to go with Stealth to try to convince the elders of this plan. Though she wasn't positive, she thought she saw something like a pang of sadness in his eyes as if the fox was deep in inner conflict.
"Pfft, yeah and besides, like we can't handle a little downed base raid. This'll be cake." Argul's loud voice snapped her back into the mission at hand as she saw the crocodile smile and give a thumbs-up. Nikki quickly realized that she was so deep in thought about what she was thinking that it must've shown that she was worried in some way. The hedgehog quickly gave her strong comrade a confident smirk and a nod, returning his gesture with the same one in agreement.
"That actually sounds good right now." Lucky added as his stomach rumbled at the promise of the delicious desert mentioned.
Jade, the Oce-Bat, turned to her flying bee teammate and raised an eyebrow, muttering in a tone that lacked any surprise at all. "Seriously?"
Noticing Jade and Lucky, Lara-Su Echidna allowed a sigh to escape her. The members of her squad did argue sometimes despite actually working together most of the time and she could just feel another argument just about to rise.
Suddenly, there was a sound that made nearly everyone in the group jump. Dark and Gyro simultaneously and swiftly moved to the wall, glaring into the darkness in front of them.
"Shh, did you guys hear that?" Lara whispered softly.
Lucky gave his leader a confusing look, still hovering over the group as he asked. "Hear what?"
Crash's ears perked up; then he quickly shrank down to the ground against the wall, eyes wide as dinner plates.
The rest of the group quickly whipped around to the bee and quietly whispered. "Shh!"
"But you asked-"
Zephyr suddenly whipped around, glaring at Lucky as he yelled. "Dude, shut up!" His eyes suddenly widened when he realized that he very well could have just given the whole group away in his moment of annoyed rage.
The midnight hedgehog muttered at the front of the group, his brow twitching. "Smooth bird-brain…real smooth."
"Bird-brain?!" Zephyr quietly yelled in a hushed voice as his glare burned over the midnight hedgehog's shoulder.
Before he could say anymore, Gale grabbed the green hawk from behind, grabbing one of his feathers on his head and pulled him down to her level. The small sugar glider gave him a worried glance as she whispered. "Shh! Zeph- Not now, they'll see us."
"Ow-ow-ow-okay, okay, just let go will ya?" Zephyr pleaded with a whisper.
The group listened carefully, readying themselves for the event that something would come from the shadows and attack them. In the absence of voices, groans and moans creaked from the complex around them. The young freedom fighters knew where the sounds were coming from; most of them had raided old abandoned bases before. However, there was something eerie about the sounds this building created. It felt as if either the place was haunted…or that it was about to collapse around them.
Dark; however, didn't seem fazed by the sounds at all. He was distracted by something else. Seeing the midnight hedgehog in a state of focused awareness was the cue for Nikki that there was someone or something in here with them…and it wasn't a member of their group.
Suddenly, the midnight hedgehog dashed around the corner, swiftly followed by Gyro. Nikki saw this and quickly raced after them, catching up to the two almost instantly. What she saw made her freeze for a moment in surprise. Dark and Gyro were hesitant, standing side by side at a stand-off against another group of three Mobians across from them.
The female hedgehog recognized the trio right off the bat, one member in particular that made her spikes bristle and her gaze instantly turned into an annoyed stare. "Oh, it's you." she muttered with a bit of anger under her breath.
"You?" The grey wolf gave a look of surprise; he then quickly shook it off, taking a defensive stance. "What are you doing here?"
The rest of the Genesis group peaked from around the corner. They were able to see the other group across from them, blinking in surprise and looking toward one another.
Nikki on the other hand, held her gaze accusingly. "I was gonna ask you the same thing."
"Nikki? Y-you know these guys?" Crash asked nervously from where he was, part of him hoping they were friends of Nikki's and not enemies. However, seeing Nikki's spikes bristle, Crash quickly figured out that she was uncomfortable around this new group and his ears slanted backward as he cowered back behind the corner.
One member of the trio, a black and white cat, recognized the blue hedgehog right away, blinking in a slight moment of curiosity. "Well, this is certainly unexpected."
Nikki looked to the black and white cat, giving him a quick, small smile as she greeted him. "Hiya Rook." She then quickly glanced back to the grey wolf, her expression returning back to slight anger and her gaze returning to the same watchful glare.
The wolf and the blue hedgehog didn't take their eyes off of each other, as if expecting the other to make a sudden charge to attack the other.
It was a minute later that Zephyr broke the silence, asking the question that may have been on the minds of almost everyone in the room at that moment. "So much for that guy saying he didn't tell anyone else about this place."
"Wait just a tick." The tall tan wallaby in Trace's group relaxed, giving the group across the room a confused raised eyebrow. "Some bloke told ya to come 'ere?"
"Yeah, didn't someone tell you?" The female red echidna asked.
Spectra followed her leader with a question of her own. "That is why you are here, is it?"
Rook and Caper Wallaby looked to one another; it was obvious that neither had been told of this mysterious message to come to this place.
"Why we're here is none of your business." Trace answered. "The point is we we're here first, so you all need to get lost."
His wallaby friend gave Trace a nervous look. He knew that sometimes Trace could have his stubborn moments and it was plainly obvious that Nikki's group out-numbered theirs easily. "Er, Trace. Is that really-?"
"Us? Get lost? Ha!" Nikki scoffed, not threatened in the slightest. The female hedgehog then gave the wolf a determined glare. "I don't think so."
Lucky then chimed in. "Yeah, how about you buzz off, Fluffy!"
Lara-Su and Spectra looked to each other and then simultaneously face palmed themselves. The echidna then whined slightly from behind her hand. "Lucky, for once can't you just stay out of it?"
"I'm serious, if you know what's good for you, then you all better leave." The wolf insisted.
But Nikki wasn't buying it. Holding back a laugh, the hedgehog smirked. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"
"Yeah come on, we're not scared of you. Put em up!" The bee then suddenly started to dash toward the trio, but Argul caught him before he got passed him. "Whoa, hold it!"
The rest of the members of both groups didn't know what was going on. All they knew was that their leaders on both sides were on the brink of being at each other's throats. They looked to each other, silently asking what they should do. Should they stop them, or join their teammates when they rushed in?
But Crash knew exactly what he didn't want to do. He didn't want to fight, especially not against other Mobians. It just felt wrong; they should be working together, not fighting each other when the Exus were their enemy. Nervously, the meerkat gulped and then tried to speak up passed the lump in his throat and the nervous shaking. "Um…m-m-maybe we can talk this out-"
Just then, a loud rumble echoed throughout the room, the floor and the walls quaked.
"What the hell?!" Trace yelled as he tried to get his footing back.
The rest of the group felt disoriented, the world around them felt as if it was being shaken to the core.
Crash ducked back down behind the doorway where he was, covering his head and pulling his hat over his ears, closing his eyes tightly as he yelled. "Chaos on Mobius! Why does the universe want to kill me so much?!"
"Whoa!" Nikki quickly looked back to the Genesis team. "Get back! Find some cover!"
As the others moved to the other hall, Nikki started to follow. But she stopped when she noticed that Dark wasn't running past her. Skidding to a stop, she looked behind her. Before she could ask what was wrong, she noticed something. Both Dark and Trace were looking at each other, both shocked expressions reflecting each other's eyes. The midnight hedgehog then dashed back down the hall toward the exit.
Not knowing why he was doing this, Nikki called out to her comrade. "Dark!" She then took off after him. What's going on?
Her question was answered as she looked ahead of her and saw the light up ahead swiftly dim. It was where their exit was…and the massive garage door entrance was rapidly slamming to a close. Picking up her pace, Nikki caught up to Dark, both gunning to catch it. Just a few feet away, the two heard a loud bang then felt themselves slam into the black metal. Another loud bang echoed off the walls as the two hedgehogs hit the door full force. They were too late, the door had closed.
Dazed from the impact, Nikki sat up and shook her head to clear it. Her ear twitched as it picked up the sound of gears moving from inside the door. Allowing a gasp to escape her, she turned toward the door.
Realizing what happened, the two hedgehogs looked to each other. We're locked in.
Their attention was then drawn away by voices down the hall coming toward them. "Dark, Nikki, you two okay?"
Nikki recognized Gyro's voice then answered him. "We're fine, but we have a little bit of a problem."
At this, the lynx looked to his teammates, who all mirrored his slightly shocked look. He then gave them a reassuring look and nod and then ran toward the two hedgehogs. Once he got there, he stopped, seeing the two hedgehogs picking themselves up off the floor. With further confusion and concern, the lynx raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
"The door's locked." Nikki replied.
"Oh is that all, leave it to me." Gyro brushed off as he walked closer and examined the door. Placing his hand on the door, the Nanitan lynx commanded his nanites to trigger the mechanism once again to open the door. However, it didn't take long for Gyro to find a problem. "Huh…well this is interesting."
"What?" Nikki asked.
The lynx turned to her to tell her the bad news. "This door is designed so that all of the mechanisms are flush with one another. It's too tight; none of my nanites can override the system."
His blue furred comrade repeated. "Again what?"
"It's G.U.N. tech." Dark added. "I wouldn't put it past them to come up with something that a Nanitan can't even get through."
"But we got in without any trouble." Nikki pointed out.
"That's true." Gyro agreed as he assessed the situation, turning to Dark. "You and Argul had no problem lifting and opening the door before."
"It wasn't closed all the way. Argul and I were able to get under it."
Hearing what happened earlier when they came in from Dark, Gyro pondered for a moment. "Well, there goes that solution. So what changed from then to now? Why would it close and lock like that?"
"Maybe because someone moved the brick we used to prop the door open."
The three Genesis members turned to see Trace, Rook, and Caper behind them.
Nikki was the first to speak, confronting the grey wolf. "What? So you're saying it's our fault that this happened? Is that it?"
The wolf wasn't fazed at all. He just answered accusingly. "Well, we were the ones that put the brick there and now it's gone and you guys are the only other group in here…so yes, it is your fault."
Suppressing a growl, Nikki forced herself to keep her ears forward. It was very possible that it was her group that accidently moved the brick that was keeping the door open. However, if that was the case, it was an accident. Either way, there was no way to know for sure who it was that moved the brick that kept the door open and it didn't matter anyway, knowing who did it wouldn't open the door.
Feeling the tension in the hall escalating once again, Gyro intervened. "Whoa whoa whoa, let's look at the real problem here, not what caused it, okay?"
The two leaders looked to the lynx as he continued. "Regardless of how it happened, we are all stuck here together. Now, this is a base. There must be a back door somewhere, but we need to not bite each other's heads off to find it, alright?"
Rook nodded. "I agree. We need to work together to get out of this."
Listening to her friend, Nikki was the first to return her glance to the wolf in front of her. Feeling her gaze, the wolf looked to her as well. It was apparent that both leaders were still in the process of cooling down, each one seeming to wait for the other to say something to start the argument back up again.
Instead however, the blue hedgehog spoke first in a calm tone. "They're right. No matter how this happened, we're stuck down here unless we can find a way out." She sighed before continuing. "And I know it's the last thing that either of us wants to do…but the only way we are all getting out of here is together."
There was a pause for a moment; it looked like Trace was seriously contemplating, as if he was weighing his options. But then, the wolf gave her an answer. "…alright. We'll work together, for now."
Both Rook and Gyro looked to each other, neither of them really knew why their leaders disliked each other so much and it confused them that they would act so strangely in the first place. But, there was one important thing; at least they were willing to work together…well, as Trace said, "for now."
Deciding to continue forward before they fell back into another disagreement, Gyro stepped in. "Okay, so let's head back to the others and see if we can find another way out of here."
The group rejoined the others that they left back in the main room and explained what had happened.
"You mean we're st-st-stuck in here?...In this d-d-dark, Tetanus-ridden place?" Crash asked shivering.
Jade on the other hand, rolled her eyes at Crash's statement. "Good grief."
"Okay yes, the door we used to get in here is locked, but it's no problem. We've dealt with this before." Nikki reassured her team.
But Dark interrupted. "That was with smaller bases and we actually could see the layout. This base is top secret, there is no map."
That was Dark had said out loud; however, what he thought for Nikki to hear was a different story. I can't sense through any of these walls. They're made of the same material as the Genesis base.
Oh fun. Nikki thought with sarcasm. She then readjusted her thought pattern to a more positive outlook. No problem, between all of us, we can figure this out.
Her midnight comrade gave her a subtle nod as she spoke out loud to the others. "Okay so there is no map, that doesn't mean that we can't find our way through. Dark, Gyro and I have plenty of experience with base diving-"
"And so do we." Trace interrupted, referring to himself and his group.
Nikki's ear twitched with slight irritation, but she kept her composure as she acknowledged Trace and continued. "Yes, okay. So, suggestions?"
"I think we should split up, we can cover more ground that way." Dark added.
But the wolf shook his head. "Nope, terrible idea."
At Trace's instant shut down, Nikki turned to him. "And why is that?"
Dark sighed and rolled his eyes. "Here we go again."
Trace glanced at her and answered. "Because one, we only have six members out of the entire group that actually knows what they are doing. Two, we don't know what kind of traps, feral bots, or if there are any Exus lurking around down here. Even separating just the six of us in different ways wouldn't be able to cover much ground."
The female hedgehog rolled her eyes with sarcasm. "Well aren't you just full of optimism."
But Trace simply gave her an unimpressed glare. "I'm being realistic, unlike some people."
Nikki returned Trace's glare with one of her own, the two once again had sparks flying between their gaze.
Thankfully, before it got out of control, Rook interrupted the bickering Mobians. "Hello, we're supposed to be figuring this out, remember? Not insulting each other."Hearing the cat make his point, but still disgusted with the other, the two leaders looked away from each other.
It wasn't until then that Rook continued. "Alright, now. I agree with Dark's idea to split up."
At this, Trace blinked curiously, his fur bristled a little and he gave his comrade a questionable stare.
Unimpressed, Rook looked to the wolf and added "I suggest two groups, three in one and three in the other."
"Sounds fair." Nikki agreed, still not turning back around.
While this was going on, the rest of the group looked on, a few members whispering to each other about what was happening.
"Wow, she really hates this guy, does she?" Zephyr whispered.
Lara-Su nodded as she added. "I don't think I've ever seen her like that."
Crash nodded. "I have, once…it was scary."
"You know…I can hear all of you back there."
Hearing Nikki, the group jumped, knowing that she heard them.
Realizing that she was putting her team on edge, the young leader readjusted her tactic, calming herself down quickly. "Okay so, how do we split up?"
"Wait, we're splitting up?" The group looks to the young meerkat as he continued. "What is wrong with you guys, have you not seen a horror movie before?"
Nikki tried to reassure her friend. "Crash, this is different, those people didn't know what they were doing."
"And you do?" Trace retorted.
At that Nikki gave shot the wolf a glare. Trace's teammate Rook also shot him a look as he harshly whispered. "Are you trying to cause a war in a locked base, because that's what's going to happen if you keep messing things up."
Seeing Rook's reaction, Trace unwillingly conceded. "Sorry. While I don't agree with splitting up, it looks like that's majority so…" He then shrugged, still obviously not thrilled with the idea. "Guess we're doing it."
"Okay…" The other leader acknowledged with a nod, she then turned back to the group. "So, groups of two, how are we doing this?"
"We'll need a way to communicate with each other." Rook pointed out. "However, our communicators have been spotty since we got here."
"The walls in this base are made of a certain metal that interferes with radio waves. Your brand of communication is useless here." Dark answered.
Caper scratched the back of his head. "Well, that certainly explains a lot."
"So how do we communicate then?" Rook asked.
"Well…our communicators work in different bases, why don't we try that?" Lara-Su suggested.
Dark nodded. "Worth a shot."
Then using his telepathy, he added to Nikki. I'll go with the group opposite of yours, just in case. We'll still maintain contact that way.
Hearing him, Nikki nodded, agreeing that would the best idea. Though she hated the idea of being separated from him, she knew that for both groups' sake, communication was key.
After about forty five minutes, the groups were set. Nikki had volunteered to go with Rook and Trace, while Caper went with Dark and Gyro, as Nikki knew that Trace would not get along well at all with Dark and Gyro. Well, okay, he didn't get along well with her either, but it was the lesser of the two evils. With Rook seemingly able to talk Trace down with his diplomatic skills, he made sure that he was in the group with Trace, knowing that the wolf was already on edge.
Half of Lara-Su's team: Spectra, Argul, and Lara-Su herself also went with Nikki and Trace, while the rest of the group went with Dark's group.
The two groups go their separate ways into the unknown, keeping in contact along the way, though most of those consisted of remarks back and forth and Lucky shouting into the communicator. Lara was right, the communicators from the Genesis team were able to work down in the catacombs of the base. Which was both good and bad for the teams.
As each group explored, some members began to notice something.
In Dark's group, Crash spoke first about the matter. "Hey Dark? Does this base seem…familiar to you?"
The midnight hedgehog answered quickly and sharply. "No."
"But it looks just like-"
Before the meerkat could say more, Dark shot him down again. "Crash, you've never been in a base like this before, I guarantee it. Now come on."
Still hearing the sharp tone in Dark's voice and knowing that Dark was able to sense things he couldn't, Crash agreed with him, but still felt uneasy. "…Okay…if you say so."
Back with the other group, Nikki was also paying attention to the detail of the base…and noticing odd similarities with the design. Dark…are you seeing what I'm seeing?
Nikki, we've been through this, my telepathy doesn't work like that.
In thought, Nikki retorted back, adding. No! I mean, this base…I remember seeing it somewhere else.
You should…it looks like the way Genesis was built.
That made her freeze up for a moment. It was lucky for her that she was in the back of her group. She didn't want to draw attention to herself at that moment and then be forced to try to make up a reason why she looked like she was utterly confused. What?
Yes, Crash noticed it as well, but I told him to drop it.
Why'd you do that? Nikki asked, still slightly confused now by Dark's decision not to tell the others.
I don't trust this other group enough to let other members know where our base is or what it looks like.
At this, Nikki nearly laughed. Was Dark actually being paranoid? What? You think Caper is going to divulge our secrets to them for their plans of world domination or something? I highly doubt it.
My concern does not lie with Caper. You've seen it. The problem is not this group, it's Former Station Square.
Nikki knew what Dark was talking about. She had noticed it as well. The first time was when she had gone there to rescue Jodi when she crossed their border and saw the way Trace had been acting before she left. The wolf seemed as though he was afraid to talk to her, as if he would be noticed by someone else. She then noticed it when she ran into that border patroller, the liger, Scythe. At remembering him, she repressed a shiver. That was not only when she lost herself to the darkness inside her, but also there was something about that liger. The way how he looked at her that day, it was like he wanted to eat her alive. She had met a few Primal Mobians, but Scythe really took the cake when it came to primal instinct.
She heard Dark continue through her thoughts. You know this as well as I do. Something is not right there.
Yeah I know. Nikki agreed, taking a deep breath. You're right, we'll keep this a secret. Besides, we still need to get more information about what this place was…and hopefully find another way out of here.
Right. Just stay on your guard, I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right here in this place either.
Nikki looked to the group ahead of her. She could see that Trace definitely looked tenser than she remembered the last time she had seen him before this.
Suddenly, Gyro's voice came on the communicator. "You guys find anything?"
"No, nothing yet." Lara-Su answered. "This place is like a maze."
"It's been a few hours, and it's getting late." Rook added, looking at a watch under the cuff of his glove. "We should double back and rest."
"Wait…you think we should sleep?...*gulp*…In this p-p-place?" Crash's voice stuttered in the background of Dark's communicator.
"It'll be fine Crash. We'll be back in the main room, all together. Nothing's gonna happen." Lara-Su reassured, seeing Nikki giving her a thankful look in return.
"Yeah…it's official…either you guys have never seen a horror movie, or you're just all crazy." Crash's voice buzzed nervously.
Then Zephyr's voice came through in a slight teasing manner. "Oh, it's the last one; you should know this by now."
"Hey, Zeph- cut it out." Crash whined.
"Yep…should've brought Crash with me. Knew it." Nikki muttered.
Suddenly, the group heard a voice through the communicator that made all of them jump. "Zephyr Sparrow Hawk! Stop picking on him!"
At that, the group looked to each other. Even Trace looked a little shocked by that sudden outburst.
"Was that…Jade?" Nikki asked Lara-Su with a confused raised eyebrow.
Jade then answered on the other line. "Actually no, that was Gale."
"That?...was Gale? …I think my brain just exploded or something." Argul shook his head back and forth, still trying to process that the loud, booming, angry voice he just heard came from such a tiny little thing.
"I have to agree with Argul there. There's no way that was Gale." Nikki reasoned.
Caper's voice came on the line. "I'm as shocked as you are, Sheila."
Nikki blinked and looked to Rook. "Did he just call me-"
Rook quickly interrupted. "Yes, he did, don't worry about it. He does that to everyone."
"Let's just…go back and turn in already." Argul pleaded, still trying to wrap his head around what he heard and where it came from.
"Okay, we'll meet you guys back at the main hall." Gyro responded.
"Yep, meet you there." Nikki replied; she then turned to Trace. "Okay Trace, let's go-" However, when she turned to look, she noticed that Trace had moved and was looking down the hall. "Um, Trace?"
She took a step forward toward him. "Um, hello? Mobius to Trace?"
The grey wolf's ear then flicked and he turned his head slightly toward her. "Hmm? What?"
"We're heading back. Rook says it's getting late." Nikki reminded.
"Right, I heard that. Let's get going." The wolf then turned on his heels and started walking passed the group and around the corner back where they came.
"What was that about?" Lara-Su whispered.
"Bet the place is getting to him…like me." Argul guessed as he rubbed his head. "I swear, tomorrow, if we don't get out of here soon, I'll start getting claustrophobia."
"Don't even go there." Nikki muttered. She was trying to forget about the fact that she was trapped there, but now, Argul reminded her and she shuddered. "Great, thanks Argul, was trying to forget that."
"Oh, right." The crocodile then gave her a nervous smile. "Sorry about that."
But Nikki was already trying to move along and didn't want to stay in that conversation. "Let's just get back to the others already, okay?"
"Right, let's go." The group starts walking ahead, following the path that Trace had taken.
Nikki however, stayed behind for a moment and turned to look down the hall. Trace, did you see something back there?
The female hedgehog stood there and focused. She could hear the walls of the old base creaking, some dripping from the old pipe system, and the sound of some small creature crawling in the vents, maybe a rat she guessed. However, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, well besides the fact that the base was extremely creepy.
Argul's right, maybe we're just tired.
Convincing herself nothing was there, she then turned on her heels and then followed the rest of the team toward the main hall.
Not like I'm gonna be able to sleep in this place though…It's gonna be a really long night.
Just above in the ventilation tunnel, scraping and scratching was heard along the walls. Metal against metal grinding and screeching. In the darkness, a dark figure slithers through the tunnel like system, red lights the only thing visible as it let out a terrifying, spine-chilling hiss.
Author's Note:
Whoo! Finally done with this part. ^^
That aside. I know this part was a little bit slow in some points, but this was only going to be the first part of an epic chapter. ^^;
So, the next part will have a lot more action and scares in it, that I promise you ^^.
Now, question.
Do you think it was a good idea for the groups to split up and search? Do you think that yes it was because they had to try and find a way out? Or do you think it was a terrible idea and they were lucky no one got killed this time?
Feel free to answer in the reviews or on my DeviantArt page, link is in my profile page ^^ and there will be a poll there till the next chapter is up ^^.
See you guys in the Halloween Special, Part 2!