Chapter 13: Rendezvous
At the New Metropolis Resistance Base…
"Silver!"
Silver glanced up from his cup of coffee and looked in the direction where he heard someone call his name. He saw one of the security agents waving his hand, which got the hedgehog's attention.
"We're getting a contact from the Mystic Ruins base," the agent said. "It's Blaze. She wants to speak to you."
As soon as the agent relayed the message, Silver immediately got up from his chair and ran over to the monitor. The agent stepped aside to allow Silver access to the computer. On the screen, slightly static from interference, was an image of Blaze.
"Silver," she said, her voice sounding in a radio-like frequency.
"Blaze," Silver replied, "what's the status?"
"I wanted to let you know that we found Knuckles and Shade." Blaze replied.
"Shade?" Silver questioned. "You mean the echidna from the Nocturnus tribe?"
"Yeah." The lilac cat rose eyebrow in confusion. "How'd you know?"
"We found Sonic and Tails and learned what happened when they went after the Marauders attacked," the hedgehog explained, his tone sounding slightly bitter.
Blaze blinked in surprise. "Really?"
"Yep." Silver glared at the ground.
"Okay," the lilac cat nodded, seeing his reaction and feeling just a little uncomfortable by it. "Do…you have an idea on what we should do next?"
"Well, what do you think?" Silver replied, sounding calmer than before.
"Well," Blaze shrugged, "since you asked, I think we should get together at a rendezvous point and discuss our plans further. Given how things are going, we may be able to bring Eggman down once and for all."
"Sounds like a plan to me," the hedgehog nodded. "Where do you want to meet?"
"The Green Hill Zone base is the best option." Blaze said. "It's the most central point between our bases."
"Okay," Silver replied. "I'll contact the base and tell them what's going on. Meanwhile, you contact the Blue Ridge Zone base so they can prepare a submarine for us. Also, tell them to be on the look out for any of the remaining survivors. If the four we found so far have survived the explosion, I have no doubt the others are out there, too."
"Right." Blaze nodded. "I'm going to head back to my world for a brief update on how it's going there. I'll contact Marine before I leave to let her know you guys are coming. Knuckles, Shade, and I will meet you and the others at the Green Hill Zone as soon as possible."
"Do what you have to do." Silver nodded. "Just careful."
"You, too." Blaze replied. "See you at Green Hill Zone."
With the conversation over, Silver disconnected the communication. He then got up to find Espio. When he did, the ivory hedgehog told the purple chameleon the situation and their next plan of action. Since the Shifter Core had yet to be delivered to the Blue Ridge Base, the two comrades decided that they would also take it with them and drop it off at the Base since they were heading in that direction anyway.
"Okay," Silver nodded, "you find Sonic and Tails and tell them to get to the transportation terminal, I'll tell the engineers to get ready."
"Actually," Espio looked at the hedgehog with a raised eyebrow, "I'll tell the engineers to get ready and you go find Sonic and Tails."
"No way!" Silver glared.
"Silver," the chameleon folded his arms across his chest, "you're going to have to make amends sooner or later."
"Well, I choose later," the hedgehog scowled, looking away from his friend.
"Silver." Espio replied harshly. "You've always lectured everyone about how we need to be a team and put our differences aside in order to stop this disaster. Maybe you should start taking your own advice."
Silver closed his mouth tightly, practically biting his lips, and took one small step back. It was very rare for Espio to raise his voice the way he did. However, that only meant that he was very serious about an issue being discussed.
"Now," the chameleon turned sharply toward the terminal, "I'll tell the engineers to get the carts ready. You tell Sonic and Tails what's going on and tell them to meet us at the terminal."
As Espio walked away, Silver just stood firmly in his place for a few moments. Although he had nothing against Tails, he didn't want to talk to Sonic right now. All he could think about was how that blue hedgehog's brash actions nearly left this world in hopelessness and despair. Not to mention, that sharp comment Sonic made of Silver almost killing the blue hedgehog deeply stung him. Even if that event happened in an alternate timeline, it was still painful and embarrassing to remember. And it didn't help that Sonic practically sucker-punched him with it.
Still, Silver let out a defeated sigh when he finally realized that Espio was right. The whole world was a stake and he couldn't let something as petty as that get the best of him.
"I should start taking my own advice." Silver mumbled to himself.
With that, the ivory hedgehog grudgingly made his way across the room, past the technicians and security agents, to where Sonic and Tails were munching on some doughnuts. Silver grimaced slightly when he saw the pink handprint on Sonic's face where he had smacked the blue hedgehog earlier. He didn't think he hit him THAT hard. Seeing that bruise made Silver feel a little guilty, but only just a little bit.
When Sonic and Tails heard the sound of approaching footsteps, they both looked up to see Silver walking toward them. Naturally, Sonic glared slightly; still a little angry about the argument the two of them had earlier.
"What's up, Silver?" the blue hedgehog asked dully.
"Well," Silver took a deep breath, restraining his temper, "you both should know that Knuckles and Shade have been found."
"What?!" Tails leapt out of his seat in surprised relief. "Really?! Where are they?!"
"They're currently at the Mystic Ruin Base." Silver explained. "Blaze just contacted me. We're going to meet her and the other two at the Green Hill Zone Base. Espio is already getting the transportation carts ready. We're going to the Blue Ridge Zone Base and from there we'll take a submarine to the Green Hill Zone. Blaze is contacting the Blue Ridge Base to let Marine know what's going on. You two should head to the terminal right now. We leave in ten minutes."
"Okay." Tails nodded. "C'mon, Sonic."
"What about you, Silver?" Sonic glanced at the telekinetic hedgehog.
"I'm going to contact Green Hill Base and let them know we're coming." Silver replied. "I'll be along shortly."
In a few minutes, Sonic found himself standing on an underground station platform. He impatiently tapped his foot as he watched Espio, Tails, and a few other engineers to get the transportation carts ready for the trip. He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his cheek again as a small, stinging pain made him wince.
"How's your face?" a voice suddenly asked.
Sonic jolted a bit as the voice startled him a little. He looked sharply to his left and was surprised to see Silver standing next to him. However, the telekinetic hedgehog wasn't looking back at him. Instead, he was looking at the train.
Sonic blinked as he wondered just how long Silver had been standing there. He didn't hear him approach or anything. However, he didn't feel like asking the question and just looked away. He did decide to answer Silver's question, though.
"A little sore," he mumbled. "How's your pride?"
"A little sore." Silver shrugged. "But it'll heal."
For a moment, the two hedgehogs just stood on the platform, glancing all over the place and avoiding eye contact with each other. The awkward silence just made the tension between them feel even more intense. Pretty soon, Sonic started shuffling his feet while Silver began to fiddle with a small ball of telekinesis in his hands.
Finally, wanting to break the silence, Sonic took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Sorry…for insulting you like that. That was a low blow."
Silver glanced at Sonic for a moment before looking away.
"And I'm sorry for smacking you like that," the ivory hedgehog replied guiltily. "That was a bit of a sucker-punch."
"Well," Sonic shrugged, rubbing his cheek, "I guess I deserved it. After all, it was stupid of me to just leave Eggman behind like that."
"Then again," Silver said, rubbing his left arm, "you did have the Marauders to deal with. I guess you were caught between a rock and a hard place at the time. And I wasn't there, so I shouldn't have criticized you like that. That was…disrespectful."
"Well, my comment was exactly respectful, either." Sonic bit his lip. "But…that's in the past."
Silver gave a small nod. "You're right. And it's the present that we need to focus on right now."
After he said, Silver turned toward Sonic and held out his right hand to him.
"Truce?" he asked.
Sonic looked at Silver's hand, then back up at the ivory hedgehog. Finally, he gave a small grin and extended his hand to grip Silver's.
"Truce." Sonic said
Silver gave a confident smile and the two hedgehogs shook hands.
"Sonic! Silver!"
At the sound of their names being called, the two friends looked over to see Tails waving to them.
"We're ready to go!" the fox called.
"Okay, then!" Sonic said. "Let's get going!"
Sonic then leapt off of the station platform and into one of the carts while Silver simply levitated himself into the cart at the very front.
Once the rest of the engineers finished some last minute touches, they all got back onto the platform as Espio turned the engine on. The train slowly began to pull out of the station and steadily increased its speed as it made its way down the dark tunnels. Pretty soon, the station to the base behind them looked as if it was swallowed up by the darkness of the caves. The only lights they had now were from the headlights on the front and back carts of the trolley, and small lamps on the inside of the carts.
"We'll be at Blue Ridge Zone Base in about twenty minutes." Espio said.
"Okay." Sonic nodded. "Let's just get there as soon as possible."
Twenty minutes later, the trolley slowly came to a stop at the station of Blue Ridge Zone Base. Some agents and other engineers greeted the four passengers as the team climbed out of the train and onto the platform.
"Silver, Espio," a tall agent in a G.U.N. uniform addressed them. "Glad to see you made it. Blaze told us you'd be coming. We have the submarine all ready to go."
"Excellent." Espio nodded before turning to Sonic and Tails. "Are you guys ready to go or do you need a break?"
At the mention of a submarine, Sonic rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Just…" he said with hesitation, "give me a moment to prepare myself. I'm not really a big fan of water."
"Fair enough." Espio replied, respecting Sonic's hydrophobia. "But we can't wait too long. We have to meet the others at Green Hill Zone."
"Okay, okay." Sonic groaned. "I know."
Suddenly, the cavern echoed with a loud, excited voice.
"SILVER-MATE!"
Silver turned around at the sound of his name. A large smile streaked across his face when he saw who had called out to him. From the entrance to the station, Marine raced through the door, leapt down onto the platform, deliberately missing the steps, and ran toward the group.
"Hey, Marine!" Silver waved.
The hedgehog then spread his arms out and embraced the little raccoon as she ran straight into him, hugging him tightly. Sonic couldn't help but grin a little at the sight. Only Silver would willingly let someone like Marine hug him. Then again, the two did seem to show that they had developed a strong, sibling-like bond, so it was probably only natural that would greet each other this way.
After their little friendly greeting, Silver and Marine let each other go and turned back toward the rest of the team. Marine's smile grew even bigger when she immediately recognized to familiar faces.
"Sonic!" she gleefully shrieked. "Tails! You're back! It's great to see you guys again!"
"It's great to see you, too, Marine." Sonic smiled. "How've you been?"
"Fantastic!" the raccoon beamed. "I've become a techy for a top secret resistance and I have awesome water powers now! Wait 'till you see what I can really do!"
"Oh!" Silver suddenly snapped his fingers. "Speaking of tech work…"
The telekinetic hedgehog levitated over to the storage compartment of the trolley, opened the latch, and pulled out the glowing, cubic device. He then hovered back over to the group and showed it to Marine.
"We got the Shifter Core." Silver said.
"Awesome, mate!" Marine replied.
The hedgehog handed the raccoon the Core. Marine took and gave Silver a thumbs-up.
"Thanks, Silver," she said. "We'll get this installed as soon as possible."
"I knew I could count on you, Marine." Silver nodded.
"Well," Tails gave an impressed grin, "you've seemed to have grown up, Marine."
"I hope so." Marine smiled confidently. "This adventure has really given me the opportunities I needed to grow up. I just hope I can help you all save the world."
"I'm sure you can." Sonic winked. "After all, you've got hydrokinesis after all."
"Don't forget, I've become quite the techy." Marine gave a confident, almost know-it-all, expression and placed her fists on her hips. "I may even be able to compete you, Tails-mate."
"Well, we'll have to wait and see." Tails shrugged. "Right now, we have to get to Green Hill Zone."
"No drama, mates," the raccoon girl proudly stated. "We have the sub all ready to launch. You guys ready to move out?"
"Only if Sonic is." Silver looked back at the blue hedgehog with a concerned expression.
Sonic took a deep breath; trying his best to swallow back his fear of water. He knew he couldn't let this phobia of his get the best of him. Especially since the world was still in danger.
He might get it over with.
"Okay," the blue hedgehog said, doing his best to stand tall, "I'm ready. Let's get going; we don't have much time."
With that, Marine led the team through the main base to the docks on the other side, where a large submarine resting in the water was waiting for them. Although Sonic still had a hard time getting himself to go into the submarine, he managed to summon all his courage to enter the haul of the watercraft. Once he was inside, the blue hedgehog half-walked, half-crawled into a small corner close to the restroom and sat down. Since he was already starting to feel seasick, he at least wanted to be close to a place where he would be allowed to vomit if he had to.
Before Silver entered the submarine, he turned back to Marine and place a hand on her shoulder
"Marine," he said. "We still have some friends missing from our team. You be sure to be on the look out in case any more show up, okay?"
"I will, Silver-mate," the raccoon nodded. "And don't worry, I'll be ready for anything."
"That's the spirit!" Silver winked with encouragement. "Good luck, Marine!"
"You, too, Silver! See ya around!"
After that, Silver used to telekinesis to fly up to the entrance on top of the submarine. As he lowered himself in, Marine waved at him, as if silently saying good-bye. Once he was fully inside, Silver closed the hatch and tightened the wheel, locking it in place. He then flew down into the haul and over to Espio and Tails, who were already at the controls.
In a matter of minutes, the submarine lowered down into the water and a large door in front of them opened up to the ocean. The watercraft propelled away from the docking area and out to sea.
Sonic moaned and curled up into a ball as the rocking of the submarine made him feel even more nauseous.
"You gonna be okay, Sonic?" Silver glanced over his shoulder, concerned.
"I'll be fine." Sonic replied, almost sounding like he was drunk.
"Hang in there, Sonic." Espio calmly said. "We'll be at our destination in a few minutes."
"Ugh," the blue hedgehog groaned, "I sure hope those few minutes go by fast."