Sonic: So we're getting out of the base?
Me: You'll see. I still have a few more ideas.
Sonic: What could you POSSIBLY have in mind!
Shadow: We got to the base, we switched back, and now we have to leave.
Me: Yes, but there's still a bit more I could cover afterwards.
Sonic: But what could there be?
Me: Just wait and find out!
The boys rushed down the hallway, and spotted the door. "Careful," Tails said. "It could be a trap." Sonic nodded and opened the door a crack. He peeked inside.
"It's a teleporter room!" he said excitedly. He opened the door all the way and strode inside. The rest of the group followed him reluctantly. Sonic looked at the panel. "Which one did Eggman say is the main floor?" Sonic asked.
"I think he said top right," Shadow answered.
"No, it was top left," Silver said.
"Right."
"Left."
"Right!"
"Left!"
"Stop it both of you!" Tails shouted. "He said left," Tails said as he pushed the button. The four boys crammed into the pod and vanished.
They reappeared in a new pod and tumbled out together. Sonic fell to the ground with a thud. He groaned and carefully stood back up.
"Where are we now?" Sonic asked.
"I have no clue," Tails responded.
"Then let's go see," Shadow said. He cracked open the door and peeked outside. He swung the door open. "It's just a hallway. Nothing dangerous here." The four strode out into the hallway.
"Now how do we find our stuff?" Sonic asked. A loud klaxon blared through the halls.
"Thank you for participating in our testing," a computerized female voice said over the loudspeakers. "Please proceed to the nearest open door." A door swung open down the hall. The four friends stared down the hallway. Silver was the first to act. He swung around and looked back in the room they just came out of. It was only a pod. There weren't any control panels or buttons there.
"Crap. We're stuck here," Silver whispered. Shadow bolted forward and pulled as hard as he could on the closest door. It wouldn't budge.
"Please proceed to the testing area," the computerized voice said. They looked at each other.
"I guess we don't have any other choice…" Shadow said dejectedly.
They shuffled down the corridor and walked into the new room. The door slammed shut behind them and a wall slid over the door to make a completely bare box. The entire room was white with obvious panels making up the walls, ceiling and floor.
"Welcome to the first testing area," the computer said. "This test is designed to test your reflexes and cognitive abilities. Your results will be documented. We are all watching you and wish you the best of luck." The computerized voice shut off.
"So what can we expect?" Shadow asked. "What's the test?" he said loudly. There was a loud, low rumbling noise. The panels on the sides of the rooms pulled back. The room expanded and lengthened, seemingly going on forever. Some of the panels flipped out of the wall to make platforms on the side and on the floor. A deep pit formed in the center, and that began to fill with this dark brown goo-like substance.
"This doesn't look good," Silver whispered.
"No…" Tails breathed. Lasers shot out of the high area of the walls, forming a barrier. Suddenly, two claws shot out from the ceiling behind the boys. Sonic turned when he heard the whirring.
"Run!" he shouted. The boys scattered, but the claws were too fast. They grabbed Tails.
"Let. Me. Go!" Tails screamed.
Silver tried to force the claws open with his telekinesis, but two more claws shot down to grab him, ruining his concentration. They pulled him up high into the air.
"Tails! Silver!" Sonic screamed. He was quickly grabbed by two more claws and Shadow felt himself rise into the air with two more claws holding onto him. One was firmly holding him by the waist. The other one yanked off his shoes and flung them into the pool of goo. Two new shoes were forced onto his feet and he was placed back on the ground. The three others were also back on the ground. Tails was buried in Silver's fur crying. Sonic shuffled over to Tails.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. We're okay," Sonic soothed.
"No… it's not!" Tails shouted. He brought his tails up. His pride and namesake were tied together with three metal zip ties. "It hurts…" Tails whimpered.
"Hey, we'll get those off you when we can. But right now, we're still in Eggman's facility. We can't cut them off you yet. But we are going to try our hardest to escape, okay?" Sonic said. Tails detached himself from Silver and bawled into Sonic's shoulder. Silver sniffed slightly in empathy.
"Are you okay, Silver?" Shadow asked.
"I'm okay, but I can't use my powers." Shadow turned his head suddenly. The robotic claws had put some form of headgear on Silver's head. Two large circular pieces were placed on his temples and they were connected by a network of wires, some of which seemed to disappear into Silver's fur. Shadow rushed over and tried to pull it off. Silver screamed.
"Stop, stop, stop!" Silver cried. Shadow let go and recoiled slightly. Silver rubbed his head gingerly. "Don't touch it…" Sonic shuffled over with a sniffling Tails in tow.
"Are you okay, Sonic?" Shadow asked.
"For the most part," Sonic said. He tried to lift his leg, but the two were bound together by a set of cuffs. Shadow bent down to try to pry them apart. "Don't even bother, Shadow. I'm sure you can't just pull them loose. What about you? What did they do to you?" Shadow looked down at the ground.
"All they did was take my air shoes and put normal ones on. I don't have any special powers like that…" Shadow said, somewhat ashamed.
"Don't feel bad," Sonic said. He leaned in close to Shadow's ear. "That makes you our best chance of getting out of here." Shadow brightened up a little, but nodded, a steely gaze in his eyes.
"We can do this," Sonic said, looking out at the room ahead of them.
"Any and all advantages have been eliminated," the computer said. "This portion of the test will conclude once you have reached the exit at the end of the room. Any and all contact with the floor or the ceiling will result in an 'unsatisfactory' mark on your testing record, followed by immediate death. The testing center wishes you luck." Tails started to cry again.
"We can do this, Tails. Together. We have to work as a team!" Sonic stood up, a determined look in his eyes. He scanned the room. "This doesn't look that bad. It's going to be a lot of jumping from platform to platform, but we can do this."
"But how are you going to do any of the jumping?" Silver asked worriedly. Sonic winked, smiled and gave Silver a thumbs-up.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me," Sonic assured.
"Well, we better get going then," Shadow said. He looked around. He noticed a button on a pedestal nearby. He walked over and looked at it questioningly. He rose an eyebrow and looked back at the group. Sonic just nodded. Shadow took a deep breath and pushed the button. The platforms detached from the walls and started to move around. Some were going in horizontal paths and others in vertical paths.
"Well, this got a whole lot easier," Sonic said.
"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, returning to the group.
"Look at it! All the platforms meet at least one other and stop for a brief second! No jumping involved! And here's our ride." A platform was slowly hovering over to where the boys were all standing. They all quickly got on and waited for the platform to meet up with the next one. They slowly progressed across the room and finally stepped down on the other side.
"Congratulations," the computer said. "Your immense success has been recorded. Once testing is over, cake will be served." A door opened in the wall. The boys looked at each other and reluctantly ventured through. An elevator was waiting for them. Sonic sighed and entered. The three other boys squeezed in with him and they were whisked off to a new area.
The elevator door opened and the four walked out into the new room. It was a small space, with a door at the other end.
"We apologize. The next course is under heavy construction," the computer said. "It has been replaced by a live-fire course designed to test military robots. We wish you the best of luck."
"Live… fire course?" Shadow whispered.
"We'll be fine. We can figure this out," Sonic assured. The four went through the door ahead of them. A small, oval shaped robot on three tiny legs was facing down the hallway ahead of them. A red laser was pointed away from them.
"I don't like the look of that laser," Silver whispered. Sonic pulled off one of his gloves and threw it down the hallway.
"Target locked," the robot said. Two hatches opened on either side of the robot and the glove was peppered with bullets. The robot scanned the hallway once more before closing. They all looked in horror at the contraption in front of them. Sonic shuffled up behind it.
"Tails, look at this," Sonic said. Tails walked up and looked down at the robot. There was a hatch on the back. Sonic tried to open it, but to no avail. He ended up tipping the robot over. It screamed, and fired randomly down the hallway.
"Critical malfunction. Powering down," the turret said. The doors closed and the laser shut off.
"That's it? That's all it takes to deactivate the turrets?" Silver said incredulously.
"I guess so. But let's take this slow. No bullet wounds," Sonic said. Tails visibly shook, but cautiously stepped forward. Sonic grabbed him and shook his head. Sonic shuffled down the hallway and peeked around the corner at the end.
"Hello," a computerized voice said. Sonic quickly ducked back as the wall was filled with bullet holes.
"How are we going to get past that one?" Shadow asked. Sonic thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers.
"It looks like they can only deal with one target at a time. If we give it multiple, it won't know what to do!"
"That's really risky," Silver said. "What if it's systematic and deals with us one at a time? Then what?"
Tails suddenly lunged forward and propelled himself, Sonic and Shadow out into the hallway. The three separated quickly and braced for the inevitable bullets. After a brief second, Shadow looked down the hall. The laser was sweeping them all. Sonic was right! The turret didn't know what to do! He dashed down the hallway and tipped it over. Tails numbly walked down the hallway, his two tails drooping and dragging on the ground.
"Tails, are you okay?" Sonic asked. Tails just shook his head and kept walking. Sonic grabbed him. "Tails, talk to me!" Tails just shook his head as a tear rolled down his cheek. Silver walked up to him and kissed Tails. He started bawling again and clung to Silver like he was his life line.
"Oh, Silver! I'm so scared… And my tails hurt so bad… I don't know how we're going to get through this horror…"
"Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh," Silver cooed. "It's going to be okay. We are all working together to get us all out of here. We will make it. But we all have to be strong. Can you do that for me, Tails?" Silver asked. Tails looked up. He silently nodded, but a tear rolled down his cheek. Silver gently wiped the tear away and kissed Tails again. "Be strong," he whispered. "Be strong."
Me: Don't hate me. Yes, I realize I was cruel to you guys this chapter. I actually cried a little writing this chapter!
Sonic: Then why write if it makes you that upset?
Me: Well, it was an idea I had.
Shadow: But you had Tails crying almost the entire chapter!
Me: Yes, I realize that. But wouldn't you be crying if you were Tails? I mean, Tails has been through a lot in this story. It's getting to him now. Besides, having your tails stuck together with metal zip ties is probably painful. But I promise the next chapter will be better, more triumphant than defeat.
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