Me: Well, here we go. The infiltration begins!
Sonic: Good. Now we get some action!
Shadow: Hope you have a lot planned!
Me: … Actually, I mostly make it up as I go along.
Sonic: Then let's hope your improv skills are good.
Me: I hope so too.
Tails kept a slow pace, slowly waving his electrical detector in front of him. Suddenly, he stopped and put up a hand to halt the others. He pointed to a small bush.
"Someone check that," Tails commanded. Sonic cautiously approached the bush. Shadow leaned over to Silver.
"Damn. I didn't know Tail could be so strong. Guess I know who tops," Shadow whispered. Silver blushed heavily.
"That's none of your fucking business," Silver whispered furiously.
Shadow shrugged. Sonic peeked into the bush.
"It looks like a camera of some sort," Sonic called.
Tails walked over to Sonic's side. Sonic had exposed a small metal pole near the base of the bush. The camera had two lenses instead of one, one pointing right and the other pointing left.
"Hmm. It looks like a motion detector. There must be two other sensors close by. We need to find a different path," Tails said.
"Or, we could just do this," Silver said. He closed his eyes and Tails floated up in the air.
"Ack!" Tails yelped. Silver gently set him down on the other side. Tails' eyes flashed.
"Warn me the next time you do that!" Tails said loudly. Silver grinned and shrugged.
"There's an easier way," Sonic commented.
He jumped as high as he could and leapt over the invisible line. He landed on his feet, facing away from Silver. He looked over his should to Silver, a cocky grin on his face. Shadow leapt over, but stumbled a little. He pinwheeled his arms, about to fall backwards onto the barrier. Sonic flung his arm out and caught Shadow just in time. Shadow pulled his other arm closer to himself to avoid breaking the barrier. He looked into Sonic's ruby eyes.
"Thank you," he said softly. Sonic hauled him up.
"Not a problem!" Sonic replied.
Silver jumped over the beam.
"Now let's keep going!" Tails said.
He proceeded forward and held his device in front of him. The other three dutifully followed their orange friend. They walked for another twenty minutes without incident, until Tails stopped again. Sonic peeked over his shoulder, trying to get a look at the screen.
"What is it?" Sonic asked.
Tails looked harder at the screen.
"It's weird. It's a lot of electrical energy. I mean, more than just a camera or something… And it's moving towards us!"
Tails suddenly dove behind a nearby bush and the other three quickly found similar hiding spots. There was a loud whirring noise. Shadow peeked between the leaves of the bush he was hiding behind. His eyes widened when he saw a huge robot patrolling down the path they were just on. It had two legs, two arms, and a head, but other than that, it didn't look like a normal creature. It was too metallic for that.
The robot walked slowly, seemingly scanning the path. It slowly passed by their hiding spot and kept walking down the path. They waited another two minutes before they relaxed a little and crept out of hiding. Sonic noticed Tails was shaking.
"Tails, are you okay?" Sonic asked worriedly.
"I-I-I-I'm f-f-f-fine," Tails choked out.
He shivered a little more and Silver gave him a comforting hug. Tails melted and buried his face in Silver's chest fur. Shadow looked at Sonic.
"So Eggman's defenses are a bit different than expected. We need to be on our guard," Shadow stated.
Sonic nodded, his eyes strong. The pair looked at Tails.
"Tails, it's okay," Sonic said. "It's gone."
Tails took a deep breath and pulled away from Silver.
"I need to recalibrate the sensor," Tails said. He spent a few minutes punching different buttons and waited another minute or so. "Done. Now we can sense robots and electricity." He glanced at the GPS.
"How much farther to the base?" Sonic asked.
"It's about two more miles. That means about forty-five minutes of walking," Tails replied. Shadow groaned. "It's not as long as you think."
"Yeah, but we have traps to dodge, remember?" Shadow reminded Tails.
"Then we better get going," Sonic said.
The group started walking towards the base, Tails yet again in the lead. They hiked onwards, avoiding the motion sensors as they came across them and keeping an eye out for any robots. After another twenty minutes of walking, they stopped.
A huge, chain-link fence was standing in their way. Easily fifteen feet high with razor wire curled on the top. It seemed to stretch endlessly in each direction. Sonic walked up to it.
"Does anyone hear a faint buzzing sound?" Sonic asked.
Shadow cocked his head.
"No, I don't hear anything. Maybe there's a beehive nearby," Shadow replied.
Sonic shrugged and went to lean on the fence.
"Sonic, stop!" Tails screamed. Sonic froze. "It's an electric fence! You'll get fried!"
Sonic backed away slowly from the fence. He scratched his head.
"Now how do we get around it?" he asked. Silver chuckled, his eyes closed. "What?" Sonic demanded, clearly annoyed.
"This is so simple. Remember I can levitate things?" Silver said, gloating a little.
Sonic sighed.
"Then get to it!" Sonic commanded.
Silver closed his eyes in concentration and the four of them floated gently off the ground. Sonic yelped, unused to not touching the ground.
"Just relax," Silver said soothingly as he floated them over the fence. He gently deposited Tails and Shadow on their feet, but let Sonic fall the last six inches.
"Hey!" Sonic protested. "You did that on purpose!"
"Me? On purpose?" Silver said with his most innocent face on.
"Silv, apologize," Tails said.
"Fine," Silver sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Better," Tails said. Sonic got up and dusted himself off. "Now let's keep going." The four of them started walking towards the base. Past the fence, they found more sensors, cameras, and roaming robots. They seemed to avoid detection, thankfully.
"Eggman isn't fooling around with security!" Sonic commented. "I've never seen so many cameras before!"
"Well, this is his main headquarters. He's trying to keep intruders out," Tails responded. Tails' sensor beeped and the boys dove for cover. A robot passed overhead. They crept back out.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Silver said. "I'm getting sick of walking so slowly and hiding!" He kicked a tree in frustration.
"Calm down, Silver," Shadow said. "We're almost there, right Tails?" Tails nodded.
"We have less than a mile left. It's not much farther," Tails affirmed. They walked onwards for the last leg of the journey.
"Hey guys!" Sonic called. "I can see the edge of the forest!"
The group rushed forwards and stopped just before the edge, peeking over a bush. A large, open field separated them from the building. The field was a beautiful green with occasional flowers dotting the pristine landscape. The building itself look harmless. It was about three stories tall, with rows of glass for windows wrapping around it. There were a few smokestacks on one corner, belching white smoke. Another chain-link fence with razor wire surrounded the building. A small dirt road was on the right side. It seemed to wind through the forest and lead to a small gate at the fence.
They noticed a plume of dust rise up from the road in the forest and shrank back. A truck came into view and trundled along to the gate. An armed guard walked out and went to the driver's door. There was a brief exchange and the guard walked to the back. He opened the back and scanned the interior. Satisfied, he closed it and walked back to the driver. He said something to the driver and something else into the radio. The gate opened and the truck drove slowly through the gate and into the underground loading dock. The group sank down and army crawled back a few feet. They dropped their packs and sat down.
"We're never getting in there," Shadow sighed.
"Yes we will," Sonic reassured. "We just need to think of something." After a moment, Sonic turned his head to face Silver. "Silver," Sonic started. Silver raised his head. "Can you do anything psychically to the guards to let us through?" Silver shook his head.
"Nothing that would go unnoticed. Besides, we would be wide open in the field," he said, gesturing towards the field.
They sat for another moment in silence, each in deep thought. Shadow broke the silence.
"What if we snuck in on a truck?" Shadow suggested.
"What do you mean by that?" Tails asked, confused.
"Well, when the next truck comes in, we simply hide underneath."
"Easier said than done," Silver said, frustrated.
"We could put a roadblock in the way," Tails suggested. "I mean, there's probably lots of dead wood we could use. Something small so that they don't have to call anyone. While the driver's busy, we could sneak underneath and hold on." He turned to Silver. "And you could help with your telekinesis."
Silver sighed and rubbed his nose.
"Fine," he relented. "But we better do this fast."
"Not a problem," Sonic and Shadow said together. They looked at each other and grinned.
"Then let's get going," Tails said, getting up.
The group headed towards the road, making sure to avoid sensors, cameras, and robots. They walked for another ten minutes, when Sonic suddenly stopped. Shadow looked at him.
"What's up Sonic?" Shadow asked.
Sonic's nose was in the air. He sniffed a few times, and his stomach rumbled.
"I smell a chili dog," Sonic stated. He dashed off towards the scent.
Shadow lunged to grab him, but missed.
"SONIC!" Shadow called, but he was gone. They glanced at each other for a split second and raced to catch up to him. Tails brought up the scanner.
"Nothing this way. He should be okay," Tails said. Sonic was just up ahead. He was stock-still.
"Sonic!" Shadow called.
Sonic turned around. But it wasn't Sonic. The trio froze, eyes wide. It couldn't be Sonic. It was made of some black and red metal. The eyes were black with red irises. The hands were silver and the shoes were the same color, but obviously metal. The mechanical monster strode confidently towards the three. It stopped a few feet away. Its eyes flashed at Shadow with a green light. The clone closed its eyes and slowly started to change.
It turned from black to blue, and started to get more of Sonic's body's characteristics. It turned into a robot version of Sonic's body. It opened its eyes, which hadn't changed at all.
"I have come for the ones called Sonic and Shadow," the monster said in a metallic voice. Silver rolled his eyes and closed them. He snapped them back open.
"Crap. My mind jolt doesn't work on him," Silver whispered. Tails casually slipped a hand into Silver's pack.
"If you do not comply, force will be necessary," it said.
Tails pulled out a small metallic cylinder. He grinned slightly to himself, pushed a button on the side, and lobbed it towards the metal monstrosity. It looked down at the cylinder, which beeped quietly. The robot suddenly powered down and fell to the ground with a thud.
"Phew, that was close," Tails sighed.
"What was that?" Shadow asked.
"An EMP grenade," Tails replied. "It shorts out electronics in a small radius. We were outside it, so nothing got damaged here. But I wonder what this Metal Sonic is made of."
Ever the inventor, Tails walked over to the robot and tried to pry open its head. After a little searching, Tails found the panel and opened it. He was greeted by a rat's nest of wires.
"Hmm…" Tails muttered. "It doesn't look like it could contact the main base. It seems to be autonomous." Shadow's eyebrow rose in confusion. "That means it functions by itself. It doesn't need any commands. But I need to disconnect the main computer so it can't chase us. Let's see…" Tails dug through Metal Sonic's brain. "Aha!" Tails said triumphantly. He had found the CPU. He pulled a few wires out. "Done. He can't bother us anymore." He stood up and wiped his hands on his pants.
"Now where did Sonic go?" Shadow asked. "This robot asked for both of us, so where did he go?" Silver shrugged. "SONIC!" Shadow called.
"Over here!" came the faint reply.
"Come on!" Shadow said urgently, rushing off in the direction the voice came from. Tails flew ahead, his electrical detector in hand.
"The locators were in Sonic's backpack!" Tails called back. "We'll find him in no time." He sped ahead, following the dots on his sensor. Shadow and Silver rushed to keep up with him. Tails touched down on the ground and spun around a few times, looking very confused. Shadow and Silver slid to a stop.
"What's going on, Tails?" Silver asked. Tails turned around again.
"It's weird. It says that the sensors are right here, but I don't see them anywhere," Tails said, scanning the ground.
"They are," came a voice.
Silver and Shadow whirled around, tensed. The three came back to back and scanned the surrounding forest. There was a whistle.
"Up here," the voice said.
The three slowly looked up. Sonic's foot was caught in a snare, and he was dangling ten feet above the ground.
"Hey guys," Sonic said, waving.
Tails tried to muffle a laugh. Silver snorted and soon enough all three of them were rolling on the ground, laughing.
"It's not funny!" Sonic shouted.
The three kept on laughing. Tails wiped his eyes.
"Okay, Sonic, we'll get you down," Tails said. He flew up next to Sonic and started untying the rope.
"Hey! I'm gonna fall!" Sonic protested.
"No, you're not. Right, Silver?" Tails said. Silver nodded and closed his eyes.
As Tails finally untied the knot, Sonic yelled, sure he was going to fall. He was still suspended in the air when he realized Silver was holding him in place. He gradually floated back to the ground and was deposited on his feet. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, guys," Sonic said.
"You had to go chasing after that chili dog, didn't you," Silver said curtly. Sonic shrugged. "Didn't you even stop to think it was a trap?"
"Well, it crossed my mind, but my stomach said otherwise," Sonic said. He licked his glove clean of the remaining chili. "And it was worth it!" Shadow smiled.
"At least you're safe," Shadow said. Sonic smiled. "But something happened while we were looking for you."
Sonic's eyebrow rose. The three told him of Metal Sonic and that Tails had deactivated him.
"That's really creepy," Sonic said once they were done. "I mean, a me look-a-like?" Sonic shuddered.
"Well, it can't bother us anymore," Tails reassured. "Now let's get to the road."
The group walked ahead for a little while. Sonic suddenly stopped.
"What is it now?" Silver asked impatiently.
Sonic shook his head and stared at the ground ahead of them.
"What is it?" Shadow asked.
"I don't know," Sonic responded. "Something feels… wrong. Like there's something I should know about this place." Tails looked at his sensor.
"It says there isn't any electricity here, so it might be another low-tech trap like before," Tails said.
"But I don't see any snares or rope," Shadow said. Silver closed his eyes.
"But I sense what it is." The group looked at Silver questioningly.
The leaves in front of them lifted up and scattered to reveal a deep pit. Shadow crawled to the edge of the pit and looked in.
"Looks like quite a drop. Nice catch." He walked back. "Silver, can you float us over?" Silver nodded and the group rose into the air and landed on the other side of the pit. "Thank you."
"Now let's get to that road!" Tails insisted.
After another two minutes, they saw a break in the trees.
"Looks like we finally got to it," Sonic said. Tails peeked out.
"We're behind a bend in the road, so we should avoid being seen. And the sensor doesn't show any electrical activity either. Now let's make a roadblock!"
"Too bad Knucks isn't here. He could knock down a tree easily," Sonic said.
"We don't need him," Tails said.
Shadow's brow furrowed in confusion. Tails opened Shadow's backpack and pulled out a small cylinder.
"What is it?" Shadow asked.
"Basically a light saber," Tails responded.
He hit a button and a red beam shot three feet out. Shadow jumped back a few feet in shock. Tails found a tall, slightly thick tree near the road and sliced a little at the base. The tree toppled over and blocked the road. Tails hit the button again and the blade disappeared.
"No burn marks?" Shadow asked.
Tails shook his head.
"Nope. Besides, it just looks like it fell over."
Suddenly, they heard a truck coming. They hid behind a bush. The truck came into view and stopped right before the toppled tree. The driver opened the door and got out.
"Hey! I need some help out here!" the driver called.
Three other guys came out and they all started to move the tree.
"Now's our chance!" Sonic whispered.
The four dashed out and hid underneath the truck. They tried to get handholds and held on as tight as they could. Silver closed his eyes and helped all of them out a little. Shadow breathed a small sigh of relief from not having to hold himself too much.
After a few more minutes, the truck started moving again. They held tightly and tried not to make any noise. The truck stopped again for inspection at the gate. The truck passed and drove forward into the loading dock. Once it pulled to a stop, the boys dropped down to the ground. The driver and the others got out.
"Ugh. I hate driving to here. Let's all get a good rest in the break lounge," the driver said.
The other voiced their agreements. The driver walked up to a control panel. The door wooshed open and the truckers entered the building. Sonic peeked out from under the truck.
"There are cameras everywhere here. How are we going to avoid them?" Sonic asked.
"Are they wireless?" Tails asked. Sonic peeked out again.
"I have no idea," Sonic responded honestly. Tails pulled a laptop out of Sonic's backpack.
"How much stuff did you bring?" Shadow asked incredulously.
"Enough to get us in and out," Tails responded. He typed a few commands into the computer. "Got it." Sonic crawled to Tails' side. On the screen were the cameras for the garage.
"Now let's see what we can see," Tails said as he typed more into the laptop.
The camera for the other side of the door showed the hallway was empty. Tails typed a new command and the cameras in the loading dock popped up.
"There," Tails said after a few deft keystrokes. "The cameras are on a loop right now. We should be undetected."
The boys crawled out from the under the truck and stretched. Tails made a beeline to the pad next to the door. He laughed.
"What is it?" Sonic asked.
"It's a palm reader. These are easy," Tails said.
He breathed on the pad, the moisture in his breath stuck to the oils on the pad. The scanner scanned the palm print on the screen.
"Welcome," the mechanical voice said.
The door opened and the boys rushed in.
"Backup power supply functional. Backup CPU functional," a mechanical voice said back in the forest. "Proceeding to objective. Sonic and Shadow will be captured."
Me: Wow, that was long. I made up for the last chapter!
Sonic: And then some! That was awesome!
Shadow: Agreed. Now start the next chapter!
Me: I will. Very soon.
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