Author's Note: Oops I'm back with writing my main AU instead of trying to fix my SATBK AU because I want to slam my head against the desk whenever I pick up my document on it. Seriously just fucking kill me mate. I took a lot of this from my Amino because I legit feel myself dying when I try to write. I'm mostly roleplaying this AU and that's what got me into writing this stuff lmaoo please help me.
Photo by John Fowler on Unsplash!
Sonic had no idea why he decided to tag along with Shadow on this mission. The GUN commander had Rouge talk to him earlier, and since he didn't have anything better to do, so he basically said you know what? Screw it, sure. The journey to the base itself was uneventful to say the least. Sonic pulled his usual antics and challenged Shadow to a race there. Even when they arrived panting, there was no clear winner, but that was implying Sonic lost against Shadow. That's only fifty percent of the time, and the blue but was definitely certain that it was in his favor. "Heheh...I definitely won that one, that slip-up of yours costed ya the race, Shads."
Sonic's quip earned a short, yet nonthreatening, growl from Shadow as he turned to glare, recovering much quicker than Sonic ever could hope to recover from a run that tough.. "You were the one who ran off first, and I'm the only one with directions. You had no idea where you were going, moron."
Shadow straightened up, pushing on his lower back with the palms of his hands to stare at the building that loomed before the two hedgehogs. It wasn't so much a building as it was a building built into a mountain face, but for whatever strange reason, GUN saw tactical advantage building in odd places like these. Only made spelunking them even more cool in Sonic's eyes. Shadow approached the doors, definitely twice their size, and pushed on them. Black ears folded back when he realized that pushing or pulling wasn't working.
"It's jammed. This thing must be ancient if the locking mechanism failed like this." Shadow reasoned as he put his index finger and thumb underneath his chin, the free hand going into his coat. Sonic saw his opportunity to shine, and definitely show off, here. He waltzed up to the door, escaping the attention of his partner, and with one swift kick, the right door was down with a loud metallic clang. The glass window shattered upon impact, but Shadow had snapped out of his stupor long ago.
"You idiot! You could have activated a security system and get us both killed!" Shadow's temper was definitely nothing to sneeze at, but he was keeping control of himself by restraining to only yelling. Sonic glanced over to the damage he had done, then to Shadow, before he shrugged nonchalantly.
"Wouldn't it have activated something by now to come kill us? Intruders at the door seems like a top priority." Even in his moments of what seemed like stupidity, Sonic always had his reasoning. He stepped over the door and walked inside the darkened base. "Besides, if the locking mechanism was jammed, I doubt anything else in here would work in the security department." Sonic paused as he fiddled with the flashlight he had brought along with him, turning it on with a click to survey the long white, and dilapidated hallway.
Shadow resigned to stepping in as well, turning on his own flashlight. "It looks like it kept the elements from affecting the area too much. We might be able to find important documents but..." Shadow apprehensively glanced to Sonic. "They're likely to be highly classified information. GUN might have given you the green light to join me, but don't expose their secrets." Metal jet shoes stepped on the broken glass with a crunch as Sonic was now the follower. "Trust me, they'll make you regret ever coming here."
Shadow's dark statement dripped with what Sonic knew was more than just a quiet warning. GUN was ruthless after all, it had even Shadow under its control. If Sonic uncovered any of their dark secrets here and let it slip? He might just end up in the same situation. Sonic rubbed the back of his neck as his ears folded back with a sheepish grin. "Jeez, Shads, I'm not that bad with secrets." The flashlights illuminated their walk, with only cracks in the ceiling culminating in crumbled tiles on the floor. This place has definitely seen better days. They came into their first series of doors at the end of the hall, once again jammed. Clearly frustrated with the annoying amount of jammed doors in his life currently, Shadow halved it by taking one of them down the same way Sonic had.
Glass once again shattered. "Chaos, if I have to keep this up, we're going to be here all day." He grumbled to himself as Sonic quietly followed after, admiring the scenery for what it was. It was a huge circular room, outfitted with sofas, tables, chairs, and even magazines Sonic swore were at least twenty years older than him. There were two new hallways to explore this time around, but this area was something that made the two stop for a minute. This place really was just a time capsule, and it looked like the first room was a waiting area, or maybe even a break area, judging from the nonfunctional soda machine in the back near one of the hallways.
"You think we'd get in trouble for opening up one of those soda things?" Sonic commented mostly, not really interested in drinking one of those dinosaurs but still curious. Shadow scoffed as he turned his attention to the magazines briefly.
"If you want to kill yourself on lukewarm and old soda, be my guest," Shadow said as he thumbed through one of the magazines and out of the corner of Sonic's eyes, the blue hero connected the dots.
"Those're old science magazines that went outta business years ago. Tails has a couple still..." Sonic's attention had now been grabbed from the subject of soda to this oddity. He slowly approached Shadow from behind with a frown forming on his face.
"Science journals, Sonic. It's their publisher that went out of business," Shadow plucked up the one on top, with a Mobian grinning proudly as she held up a clipboard with some nonsensical graphs on it. The bear was in stereotypical lab attire, wearing round glasses, and bearing an immense amount of pride with herself that she just had to show the viewer.
"Chaos Energy: The Newest Contender in the Renewable Resources Sector...? Read all about this new resource inside." Sonic read the title out loud before both his and Shadow's turned grim. No way had this integral part of both of their lives, and saving Mobius for that matter, had been discovered within fifty years. There had to have been something else, Sonic reasoned to himself, because he was damn sure that no one knew what Chaos Energy did to regular Mobians asides from literally anyone who interacted with the Chaos Emeralds in the past. It changed for every person, and Sonic heard the horror stories a thousand times over.
Still didn't stop him, and it didn't seem to stop researchers either. Shadow put the magazine back down. "Probably a fluke," He murmured quietly to Sonic, finally taking a step away from the table. "We should split up. As soon as you find important information, call me over."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "My handwriting isn't that horrible!" He protested, but Shadow didn't dignify it with a response. He waved his hand off dismissively towards the blue hedgehog, walking to the right hallway. Sonic, of course, went the opposite way, grumbling to himself all the while. "I just didn't go to school, that's all." He reasoned to himself, kicking the door open to get his frustrations out. As if a miracle occurred, this door wasn't jammed. It was a good omen to Sonic, maybe he'd find something stupid cool that he could brag vaguely about to his friends.
Maybe it was like an alien in a tube that had been incubating there until the place's electricity had been cut off and broke free, eating metal in the adjacent area. It was just like a horror movie that Sonic loved to watch when he was younger, and he practically shook from excitement and anticipation. The first door was on the right, and he took a deep breath as he placed his gloved hand on the door handle. He threw the door open, jumping in and waving the flashlight around the room as quickly as he could to see if he could spot some creature lurking inside.
"Aha!" He exclaimed, seeing something move in the light and he pounced on it. His face just met with a hardcover book. He'd been duped again. Picking himself up as if nothing happened and he didn't just throw himself to the ground, Sonic finally reevaluated his surroundings. The room had a large console, looking like it was meant for a super computer that would have been high tech back when this place was operational, but Tails could make one of these in his sleep, for Chaos' sake, so there was no real reason to be impressed. The room seemed so empty, and barren of anything asides from different buttons on the consoles that surrounded the walls of the room and the stray book or chair around the side.
Sonic heard the door finally close behind him. He expected it, certainly felt like a door that did that stuff anyways, and he took a few steps, stopping in the middle of the room to stare blankly at the console in front of him. Despite Shadow having reassured him that the place had been off the grid for a decade, the consoles' buttons still glowed ominously in the dark against Sonic's flashlight. "Weird..." Maybe this place was somehow operational? Sonic couldn't guess why it was in the first place, but he would soon come to learn this rang true for his companion in the opposite hall.
The second Sonic stepped into the middle of the room, the klaxon sirens he was expecting at the beginning now resounded loudly in his ears. It, paired with the intense flashes of red that were way quicker than any regulation would allow, disabled Sonic only for a few seconds as he covered his ears with his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. He started to back up, losing his sense of direction for only a moment led to his downfall as a clear tube emerged from the ceiling and slammed down around him, effectively trapping him.
He had regained his senses too late. Was this a trap? Shadow wouldn't set him up like this, right? They were friends! He banged a fist against the container as he realized that not even his fist or foot could break it. He could see the outside as blurry as it was starting to become, and Sonic covered his muzzle quickly to prevent whatever was coming in to affect his vision like this. There had to be more drugs in this, and he hated to admit it, but he'd need Shadow's help to get out of this one. Faintly, he heard the door open, seeing a frantic Shadow running in. Sonic made eye contact with him for a second, and while Sonic couldn't hear his words clearly, he could guess it was probably something demeaning.
He exhaled slightly as an attempt at laughter. Sonic still did his best to try to knock the container over, or break it open, but even with two of the most powerful hedgehogs trying to break it, it just wouldn't budge. Shadow retreated soon after to the console, rapidly scanning over them. Maybe he was looking for the button to stop this? Green eyes wavered as Sonic felt himself losing the fight as Shadow's back had turned, and as he slipped down against the container, he closed his eyes without even wanting to. He desperately wanted to stay awake, but he lost the battle, and felt like he was in an elevator on a slow descent.
The last thing he heard was Shadow yelling before all sound had been cut off as something slid over the top, and Sonic had been plunged into darkness.