Ghost Field, 1:00 pm.
Ashley peered over the rocky hill and scanned the area.
It was a gloomy and depressed place. A gray, thin fog hovered over a gray field. Trees gray and dead were everywhere. Their thin sharp branches reached out, as though they were calling for help. Other than a few small prickly dead bushes, there was no other vegetation. It was mostly rocks and pebbles sitting on hard dirt that was like cement. Pieces of metal were strung everywhere, as the moonlight bathed the place in an eerie glow. A small dome building was placed in the middle of the mess, yet it seemed as dead as everything else. The landscape was as flat like glass and hard as it too.
Ashley lowered below the hill and looked at her friends. Sonic, who was seated in the middle of the ladies in the group. Shadow, Tails, Michelle, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, Blaze, and Silver. 10 people in this group. Strange activity had been detected at the base, and they wanted to take extra measures. That, and Amy wanted to go along just because of Sonic.
Sonic was leaning against a giant rock next to him, a small grin implanted on his lips. "So…ladies…how about we head over to my place for drinks and dinner after this mission?" The girls all looked at each other with disgusted looks on their faces. Then they burst in laughter. "Dinner with you? When did you learn how to cook?" Blaze snorted. "I hear your mother still cooks for you!" Rouge giggled. They all howled into another fit of laughter. A slight tingle of red blush was visible in Sonic's face. The grin had completely vanished and been replaced with a slight frown. Knuckles gave him a thumbs up. "Nice going, ladies man." This time all the guys and girls laughed, except for Amy. She was clearly smitten with him. No, scratch that. She was obsessed with him. "I'll go to dinner with you, Sonic-kins!" She said dreamily. Sonic's frown became deeper. "Uh, no thanks Amy." Amy pouted.
Maddie got up, brushing her jeans and long lavender quills. "C'mon, we need to check out this place. We have to see if anything is still active, and if there is, we have to shut it down. Hate for Eggman to attack us again." Everyone else nodded and got up. Tails got out 10 watch-like devices. "Here, put these on. We'll be able to keep in touch. As long as they are in good enough condition to work and are turned on, they'll be able to send messages to others. The green button—" Tails pointed to a small square button. "—will let you communicate with the others. Just speak into it." There 2 small arrow shaped buttons on the side, which Tails explained next. "This little screen will show the name of the name of the person who will receive the message. Press the arrow buttons to change the person who you'll be talking to." Tails did a small demonstration, pressing the buttons until Michelle's name came up on the screen. He pressed the green button, and began speaking into it. "Michelle, you look…nice today." Michelle blushed, and smiled. "Thanks…" she said quietly. Ashley winked at her. Tails handed everyone their watch. Maddie fumbled with hers. "Ugh, I can't seem to get this on…" she mumbled under her breath. Shadow, who was watching her, walked over to her. "Um, I think I can help you…" His crimson eyes met her midnight blue ones. She showed him her wrist as he put on her communication watch. Maddie blushed at the feeling of Shadow's soft hands brushing against hers.
Finally, everyone had their watch on. Blaze's wrists sparked slightly. "If any robot in that base tries to attack us, I'll make it into burnt marshmallow!" Silver created a spark out of physic powers, smiling at Blaze. Amy hugged Sonic. "I'll make sure to protect you from any meanie robots, Sonic-kins!" Sonic groaned and shot a glance at the other girls, while trying to block out the noise of the guys laughing at him. The team started going through the field to the base.
The fog made it somewhat hard to see. Luckily, they could tell each other from the shadows that pierced through the thin fog. The sound of rocks and pebbles being kicked or stepped on was frequent, as was the shadows of the trees. They were dead and lifeless, with sharp thin branches zigzagging into the air. Bark as black as coal, they were like ghosts, lingering in the place where their life's ended short. Sharp branches cut through the fog like daggers. Animal life was as dead as the trees. Not a single bird chirp or animal squeak was heard. Wasn't surprising, as this place seemed too gloomy for life to thrive. "I can't believe this place used to be a lush field…" Rouge whispered, to herself really. Knuckles, who was near her, nodded, though no one could really see because of the fog. "The toxic must have really been…uh…toxic." Rouge couldn't help do a girly chuckle at his remark. Tails, wanting to lighten the mood with science, decided to give them a small lesson.
"Egg City was powered by a poison called Lilac Porem Cyruim. A lot of Porem flowers thrived here, and actually only here. They were unique flowers. Their roots held this toxic, and were released into the ground when it got irritated by underground activity, like bugs or other plants. As time passed, the poison became more deadly. Other Porem flowers were immune to it, though. Porem poison was also shown to have a sort of radiation energy. Eggman must have known, and used it to power his city. In the soil beneath our feet, their radiation power is still at work." Tails smiled at his lesson. Sadly, no one was really listening but Michelle, who was interested in science as well. "Will it ever wear out? I'm pretty sure it won't wear out by rain, as the hard crust of this ground must protect it. Let alone if water even affects it." Tails beamed, as he loved to explain things to others. "Probably, but it will take decades maybe. The radiation power is pretty strong, so…" Michelle's and Tails' voices were lost in a discussion of science and chemistry that everyone else could not translate.
The voices of conversations drifted to the overcast sky above as they walked towards the base. Its dome-shaped shadow was soon visible through the white fog. It was old, with pieces of the roof chipping off. The door was jammed shut, and the red color was fading off. Eggman's icon, which was the shape of his head, was somewhat visible above the door. "Okay, everyone ready?" Tails asked. "Turn on your communication watches." As soon as everybody was done with that, Knuckles and Rouge walked to the door. "Let us take care of this." They assured. Some punching and kicking later, the door was flung open. Inside was dark, with a few lights blinking faintly in the light. The team looked one last look at the outside and ventured inside.