(AN: Welcome back to the last two Daily Lives of Chapter 3! I'm so sorry for making this one late! This chapter was a lot longer than I expected it to be, but I promise that the next Deadly Life won't be AS long to let you guys take a breather! When we last left off, Sonic went super saiyan but at least is... somewhat nice? And made a certain bet with another mean hawk, one Jet the Hawk! How will this go? And will someone finally rid Silver of his ghost fear? Read and find out!)
Egg Robo was cleaning up his desk, getting ready to leave for the day when his student, also Egg Robo, came rushing into his classroom.
"Mr. Egg Robo! We need to talk!"
The student ran over to the teacher, grabbing the collar of his suit and tugging it hard. "I don't like myself, Mr. Egg Robo! I don't have any hobbies or skills to take pride in! My grades are average, and I'm not an athlete or even a weakling! This is why I don't like myself!"
The student Egg Robo began to cry. "I've figured it out all out, Mr. Egg Robo! My life was all copied and pasted, wasn't it?! Like, as I'm speaking, someone's probably filling in what I have to say by just plagiarizing! Doesn't that sound like something that'd happen to me?! I'm just a copy without imagination or SOUL!"
Shaking, the student Egg Robo buried his face into his teacher's chest, the teacher not saying or doing anything. "That's the truth, teach... isn't it?..."
In truth, I didn't even realize it until it happened...
I woke up before the morning announcement came on.
Normally, I'm not really what you'd call an early bird. Having to get up at 6:30 each morning to head out to my zone? No thank you. I guess in the context of THIS place though, I didn't mind it. There was really no class, no responsibility (well, other than the whole killing thing), and most of all, I had a comfy bed that let me wake up at a time like this and STILL feel great.
"Maybe I'll take a shower and stay there until the morning announcement..." I said to myself, buzzing towards the bathroom.
TheHunterPersian presents...
Despair Hill Zone
Chapter 3
Despair Hill Zone Act 2
DAILY LIFE 4
As I made my way to the dining hall, the usual set of people were there. Silver, Blaze, Big, Espio, and Tikal. I even saw Jet there, only just by himself. However, I saw no Vector, Amy, or Sonic... or I guess Fleetway now. Blaze even pointed that out to me as I sat down next to Espio.
"Maybe Vector's still on guard duty?" Silver asked. "I mean, it would make sense and maybe he just overslept. He seems like the type who'd do that if he doesn't get his coffee early... I've seen him drink it pure black!"
"Sonic I'm not sure about, but Vector? Now that is a little worrying," Espio said. I could hear Jet suck his teeth.
"Maaan, who gives a flying fuck about that little gold shit? He can go bugger himself for all I care."
"Jet? You don't have to get so mad..." Tikal said, putting down her yogurt cup.
"They're rivals in love! I could even come up with a good story title for them! How about uh... Speed and Wind-" Silver said before Jet cut him off.
"Shut it, you! I'd rather be caught dead than have my tongue down his throat! Besides, probably be around him for longer than five minutes and I feel like you'd get into chastity!"
"From the sounds of it, sounds like you already have that fetish..."
"Wait, can you really catch it?!" Tikal asked. "And... what even is chastity?"
...most of us looked at Tikal. Oh, I hope she NEVER finds out.
"What? Was it something I said?"
"...nevermind," Jet shook his head. "Besides, pacifist girl... why shouldn't I? I know that he's already talking to Tails, and now that he has to uphold his part of the bet, he's gonna go kill someone! And then we'll let Charmy find out the truth and there we go! The bet is as good as won!"
"P-Please don't joke about that! I couldn't even imagine Sonic doing that..."
"With how he was before? Heh, I bet that was an act!"
Seeing as how Jet wouldn't cool down, I got up from my seat, made my way to the kitchen, and came back with a steak biscuit and a milk. Before I could even get one bite in...
"KYEHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"
Oh Gaia no.
The doors to the dining hall burst opened, and sure enough, her murderess self, Rosie the Rascal, was standing in the doorway.
"So, it's you, Rosie," Espio said. I could see him inch his hand closer to a pouch on the left side of his waist. Just then though... Fleetway came in.
"YO YOU GUYS! HOW'S THE FUCKING BREAKFAST?!" he yelled.
"Oh, screw off! I don't need you yelling this early!" Jet yelled.
"You!" Fleetway pointed at Jet. "It seems like you wanna act like you're not gonna lose! Hah! I've been spending my time with Rosie! I have new found respect for THIS crazy girl."
Rosie laughed hysterically again. "OH, ISN'T HE PERFECT?! My darling Sonikku is already the most perfect man even! At the rate things are going, we're DEFINITELY gonna be a couple once we leave here! KYEHAHAHAHAAA!"
"Which begs the question... why did you two appear at the same time?" Tikal asked.
"I'll give you a hint, Tinkle... I'm not wearing undergarments today!"
Wow thanks, I REALLY didn't need to hear that. Everyone at the table felt the same too. I could see Big getting green in the face, Jet sticking his tongue out, and Tikal praying for our souls in 'the face of such indecency'.
"I never even told her to do such a thing and yet she did it just for me! Isn't she nice?!" Fleetway said. I didn't know if he was completely ignorant or just plain stupid. As the two got closer to our table, Rosie breezed over to Tikal.
"You... it seems like you haven't taken my advice when it comes to your melons! Like, stick them in MILK you S.O.B!"
Tikal covered her chest, clearly embarrassed. "Pl-Please! That's enough! I don't know what's your obsession with my chest but it's frankly demeaning!"
"Oh come on, girly! I'm just giving you womanly advice! I mean, I was able to make my Darling Sonikku happy! You should be able to do that too!"
"I assume you're here for a reason," Blaze sighed. "So? What is it?"
"Who's the one that challenged my Darling Sonikku?!"
We all pointed at Jet, who's eyes widened when he realized what everyone was doing.
"So... it was YOU!" Rosie held out her hammer, pointing it straight at Jet. "Let's get one thing clear right NOW you piece of undercooked chicken! No one should even DARE get in the way of my Darling Sonikku!"
"Alright, alright! I won't touch your 'darling Sonikku'!" Jet pushed the hammer away, mocking Rosie's tone. "Gaia, I swear you all have been just shit to deal with..."
"I MEAN IT, BIRD! If I find out that you've won that bet... I'LL KILL YOU FOR ALL THAT MONEY TO MAKE ME A PLUSHIE OF MY DARLING!"
"...please, you make me wanna vomit all over you more and more."
"Well, with that I think I'm gonna head out!" Fleetway said. "And as for you..."
"You wanna finally let me carry your babies?!" Rosie asked in an excited tone.
"Tch, hell no! I'd never be caught DEAD WITH KIDS!"
Fleetway burst out of the room as Rosie's dress breezed. "Think he can run away, eh? Well, looks like he wants to play hard to get! HERE COMES MY LOVE MY DARLING! KYEHAHAHAAAA!"
Rosie bolted it out of the room as I saw Tikal rub her eyes. "It's too early in the morning for this," she said. "Those two might be the death of me."
"Never thought I'd agree with you there, pacifist girl," Jet added.
We all finished breakfast soon after, where Wave and Storm eventually joined after we were almost done. After the debacle with Fleetway and Rosie, those two at least were a nice change of pace. I still was worried about Vector though... where could he be?
By the time I returned to my room, I still didn't have an answer as to where he would be. What I did know is that... it's been rather quiet for the past few days. A little... too quiet.
I looked around in my room and shrugged. "Eh, guess we all know how stupid that motive is."
FREE TIME
After getting up from my bed and heading out the door, I could see Storm walking down the hall, flipping an EggRing. I'll be honest... I didn't probably have the best kind of relation with Storm, and I bet there's a lot I don't know about him. So, puffing my chest out and praying internally that he wouldn't punch me, I made my way over to the albatross.
"Hey Storm!" I said. He surprisingly wasn't startled, but I could see the ring fall to the ground.
"Oh, come on, bee! You ruined my record! I had about 53 flips since I started! Now I gotta start it all over again!" Storm complained, looking VERY angry at me. He began to crack his knuckles. "You dunno what kind of pain you're gonna get yourself in!"
"L-L-Look! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you or stop you from breaking your record! I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out!" I covered my face. As long as he just hit me straight in the forehead and not in the face, hopefully I should be fine.
"Are you REALLY sorry or do you wanna beg for your LIFE?!"
...okay maybe I'm NOT as safe as I thought.
Before he could throw a punch, Storm stopped, let go of my collar, and let his punching arm down. "Eh... you're right kid. I guess I shouldn't be actin' like this, should I? S-Sorry..."
I guess the rumors and what came out of Storm's mouth was true. He really was the nicest of the three Rogues.
"W-What were you asking? Y-You wanted to hang out?" Storm twiddled his fingers.
"Y-Yeah, of course! Are you down!"
"U-Uh, sure! I don't mind! Just... try to not let the boss see you."
"Where is he right now?"
"I think he said somethin' 'bout the third floor? Probably the rec room if I had to ask?"
"Did you wanna hang out there? If you want, I can check if he's there or not."
"Oh, you can? That'd be helpful! Yeah, I don't think the boss would like it if I interacted with you."
Sure enough, there was no Jet in the rec room when I checked, and there was no Jet when Storm and I entered. That's why we spent some time playing mancala, where, after spending about ten minutes reading the rules and wishing I had my phone so we could make sense of this game, I was able to win.
"Oh come on! No fair!" Storm complained. "I hate this game!"
"Storm, we've only played it once and I won. How could you already hate it?" I asked.
"I just... I just do!"
"Do... you wanna try it again and hope that you win?"
"Of course! Who do you take me as?!"
Sure enough, Storm won our second round, and he got up from his chair and danced in place. I guess it wasn't a surprise that the Rogues REALLY didn't like losing at all. Still though, getting to play with Storm and knowing him a little bit better made me feel like I got a little closer to him. Fiddling around my pockets, I knew I had a present for him.
"Oh hey, you collect those too?" Storm asked.
"Collect? No no, I give them as presents for people!"
"Oh... is that what they were for? Man, and I could have been giving them all to the boss!"
"Speaking of presents..."
I handed Storm a pair of spiked bracelets.
"I feel like these match your style!"
Storm grabbed the bracelets, placing them onto his wrist. He admired how they look.
"Hey bee! How do I look?" he asked. I gave him a thumbs up.
"Like a true bodyguard!"
"Heh! Now I sure look like someone you can't mess with! Thanks bee!"
Even if he was a BIT of a sore loser and kind of a bully at times... it made me happy to know that I was able to make Storm's day!
"You know..." I began. "Speaking of bodyguarding, how is it like being a body guard?"
"Well, the thing about bein' a bodyguard is... you gotta protect the person you're assigned to protect at all cost! One simple mistake and something could go wrong! Like, someone comes after them wanting to fight... or worse yet, someone wants to fire a gun!"
"You say that like it's happened..."
"Oh, once it has! I was assigned to bodyguard a political guy and some guy tries to kill him! Thankfully, since I was there, I was not only able to get the guy but also chokehold him until he passed out. It was there that I thanked taking all those wrestling classes in spite of my teacher being annoying!"
"S-Seriously? That's amazing! But... weren't you scared? I mean, if a guy has a gun..."
"I see your concern but... why should I be worried? I'm the Ultimate Bodyguard after all. That's what I do best! Protecting the people as much as possible! That's what I've done all my life you know!"
"Oh right... I read online that you came from a circus family. How'd you become a bodyguard?"
"Oh that... uh..."
Before Storm could reply, we could hear someone from down the hall.
"STORM! STORM!"
"Uh oh, that sounds like the boss!" Storm said, turning around and running in place. "Look, no time to chat now, bee kid! How 'bout I tell you the rest later, okay?"
I nodded as Storm ran out of the rec room, yelling 'I'M ON MY WAY BOSS!' as I heard his loud footsteps stomp down the hall. For extra measure, I made sure to hide behind one of the seats to make sure Jet wouldn't find me. After about five minutes of hiding, I concluded that they weren't coming, and made my way out of the rec room and back to my room.
It was around lunchtime, and I was getting a bit hungry. As I was heading out of my room, I closed the door behind me and turned around to find Rosie's disturbing smile in front of my face. Needless to say, I screamed loudly and very effeminately.
"Geez, did I scare you that bad?!" Rosie questioned. "Never mind that!"
"Lemme guess, is it your Darling?"
"See, I would say that but that would start to feel predictable, wouldn't it? But nope! It's not about him! See, I know stinky pinky REALLY likes sweets and tragically, I hate them! And yet, that side of me really wants some! Tell me, Chimcharm! Where the hell is ANYTHING sweet?!"
At least it was a normal question this time.
"Try the warehouse, they have plenty of sweets there."
"AWESOOOOOME!" Rosie began to hysterically laugh. "Now that goody-two shoes Amy can calm down with her sweet craving cause I wanna stay out some more!"
"AT LEAST TAKE THE WRAPPING OFF FIRST!" I yelled as Rosie began to run down the hall. I shook my head, wondering why I sometimes bothered to even talk to her. With her out of the way, I finally made my way to the dining hall. Thankfully, there was still plenty of soup from yesterday, so I decided to have some alongside some fruit and some chips. Just as I was about to take my tray of food from the kitchen to the dining hall, someone came in. Looking up, I found it was Storm.
"Oh, hey Storm!" I said.
"No time to talk, bee! The boss is getting hungry!" he replied. "Let's see... I could give him a chicken sandwi-… actually no, that would be messed up givin' a bird that. Not even I would eat that."
"What are you looking for?"
"I dunno what the boss wants!"
"Huh?"
"Usually the boss tells me what to get him and I get it quickly! But he didn't tell me anything this time! At least Wave told me what she wanted!"
"Well, what does Jet like?"
"Stuff he probably shouldn't be eating especially for the kind of sports he does."
"Oh yeah, how can he eat that much unhealthy food and yet still look good?"
"Are you hitting on the boss?"
"Well no, I just said... well, you know what I mean! He's rather lean and looks in tip top shape! Like, he could eat three full course meals and still somehow survive!"
"Actually, you gotta point right there! I've never really heard of him gaining weight like that... I blame it on the metabolism. Wave gets on him a lot, but I think it's because she tries her best to stay healthy. Unlike the boss, she isn't blessed with the same thing he is!"
"And what about you?"
"I eat pretty much anything! I'm not the kinda guy who would have some like, elaborate diet plan. If anything, I think kinda going for what powerlifters do is more my kinda style. Course, I always was kinda strong to begin with so-"
"Wait a minute, didn't you say you were gonna tell me about your circus family?"
"Well... I dunno, kid! The boss is PRETTY hungry, and he's the type to get cranky when he's hungry."
"So's my dad! Come on, pleaaaaase?"
Storm sighed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright! It's not THAT special."
"I know it's just... getting to know people here is always exciting because they all have their own past lives and everything. Besides, we dunno if either today or tomorrow we could die."
"Don't joke about that or I won't tell you!"
"Fine fine, I'll be a good little Charmy. I just couldn't really get what you cut yourself off with in the rec room out of my head. So, what's the backstory? You trained at a waterfall for seven years and also went to a dojo?"
"You're confusing me with the ninja shorty! My story ain't like that! It's just... well, as I'm sure you seem to know, I came from a circus family. As a kid, I KINDA didn't really know my strength very well. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for me to rip doorknobs off or to leave holes in the walls. Ma always told me that by the age of five, I could chuck a giant rock like it was a pebble. And then the thing that made me super popular happened. My closing show at the age of seven, pushing a two-ton slab of concrete and then a zone bus. That's what pretty much made me popular."
I did remember reading about that online. Were those the only things though?
"Looks like you think those were the only ones. Nope! Until I was eleven, I was pretty much the star of my parent's circus! I was lifting and pushing everything you can imagine. I was even getting calls from strongmen and bodybuilding competitions, even some muscle magazines about how I'm doing it. And then came the thing that changed it all. It was during one of our rehearsals, basically someone came in, wanting to see my dad. Turns out, it wasn't for business reasons. Instead, they wanted to rob us."
Storm continued. "Now, I was out getting ready in the back and completely unaware of what was going on. It wasn't until one of our performers, who had seen everything, told me what was going on and to stay here cause they had my ma and pa. But I didn't wanna stay there! I took a secret route out of the circus, and was able to go around to the entrance to find them takin' ma and pa out to a car. And before they could even put them in, I came rushing in and elbow tackled the guy to the ground! A bunch of his goons just watched as their leader was on the floor knocked down by this gigantic eleven-year-old. And I just remember looking down on him and telling him, 'If you wanna take down my circus, you'll have to get past me first'. And that guy just ran away!"
He then smiled. "I remember all these news organizations interviewing me, callin' me a hero. But after that, EVERYONE wanted me as a bodyguard and that kinda led me to where I am now. I didn't wanna at first, as I felt bad leaving ma and pa, as well as everyone back in the circus, but they told me that this was my big opportunity. So while I did get paid to do this stuff, I made sure I used the money to help the circus, even if I couldn't perform all the time. And then ma and pa revealed my Babylonian lineage, and I met the boss and Wave and... heh heh, you get the point, bee!"
"That's... a really powerful story, Storm," I said. "That must have taken a lot of guts, and yet you managed to do it."
"I mean, it's no big deal! I liked doin' the bodyguard thing, but being with the boss and Wave matters to me more than that! I'll always be their protectors!"
Seeing Storm's passion right now... I could tell that the three rogues had a relationship deeper than I ever imagined. I didn't know what to do, but before I could do or say anything...
"THERE you are!"
Jet's squawking voice came into the room. "I've been looking for you, Storm! You know I'm hungry! Where's my lunch?!"
He then looked at me. "And what do you THINK you're doing here?!"
"I-I-I... He just wanted to talk to me, boss!" Storm said.
"Talk to you? He should know better that us Babylonians aren't on the same level he is!"
"Weren't you nice to me yesterday? Like, what happened to that?" I asked.
"That was yesterday! This is now! And I'm saying that your little convo with Storm is done!"
With that, Jet hurried Storm up as the albatross got lunches for his team. The two left, leaving me behind with my now cold soup on my tray. Even in spite of my interruption... I feel like I got to know a lot more about Storm today.
After enjoying my lunch and leisure time, hoping that in some eventual future we'd have a class so we could have SOMETHING to do, it was getting closer to dinner time. Wondering what I could make today, I stopped when I noticed a note by the foot of my door.
"Huh?" I asked, buzzing over to it. Picking up the note, I read its short message.
"Meet me in the dining hall!"
I was confused but also worried. I knew this was the PERFECT opportunity for someone to try and draw me out to come and kill me. Still though, I couldn't help but notice how neat the handwriting was. If they put time and effort into a note, why would they wanna do something like that?
I shook my head. "No no! I can't take any chances! Thank goodness that I nabbed this!"
Buzzing over to my nightstand, I opened it up and brought out a pan I stole from the kitchen yesterday. Egg Robo didn't complain about me taking it so... I assumed it was fair game?
Holding onto the handle of the pan, I made my way out of my room and looked around. I could see no one in the hallway, and I made sure to look left and right constantly. My hands shook and my palms sweat as I buzzed closer and closer to the dining hall. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that the pan in my hand was the only thing keeping me safe. When I arrived, I saw no one in the dining hall. To say that my nervousness went up tenfold was an understatement.
"Hello?" I called out, looking around.
"Oh, you came!"
"AAAAAARGH!" I screamed, holding out my pan up high and rushing towards the voice.
"YO WHOA WHOA WHOA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
I looked up to see Silver cowering in fear, covering his face.
"S-Silver... this is... this isn't what it-"
"You were... trying to kill me?!"
"N-NOOO! I just... I thought someone was trying to kill ME!"
"Why would I kill you?"
"I dunno I... wait, what did you say?"
"I said why would I kill you, man?! I was the one who wrote you the letter!"
I dropped my pan. "Oh... uh... well, this is awkward. I thought you were out to kill me."
"And suffer one of those executions? No thanks! You were seconds away from causing another one!"
I coughed, covering my mouth with my hand. "Let's just... forget this ever happened and call it an honest mistake, okay?"
Silver nodded. "Yeah, LET'S..."
"We-Well, if you wanna topic change, I like your handwriting! It's really neat!"
"Aw, thanks. I always believe that if you have sloppy handwriting, a ghost will come out and consume your soul."
"Who taught you that?"
"Some guy who sold me a bad spirit charm when I was in the sixth grade! ...let's just say my parents weren't too pleased about the price."
That explains WAY too much.
"Anyway, why did you wanna meet with me, Silver?" I buzzed and sat down on one of the tables.
"Oh, Vector asked me to!"
"Vector?"
"I'm being an errand boy on this. He wanted me to know if we wanted to take a bath?"
"You mean a proper one where we're not creeping on girls?"
"Oh, don't act like you didn't do it!"
I shut up. He got me there, and I knew karma would come back to bite me.
"Anyway, let's go!"
Before I could even protest, Silver dragged me by my hand as I was left speechless. Before we entered the bathhouse, the white hedgehog whispered into my ear.
"It's all an act so the mastermind won't notice. Everyone's waiting in the bathroom."
What? This must mean that Ditz may have finished its search! Now I was getting excited.
"Alright, let's do this!" I said, ecstatic. We entered inside to find everyone inside the dressing room like Silver had said. The first thing to greet me was...
"YOU! How long were you gonna keep us waiting?!" Fleetway pointed at me. He pointed at his wristwatch and kept pressing his finger on it. "Look! It's almost 10! It's almost time for your bedtime, little boy!"
"Tch, shut up..." Jet muttered under his breath. Fleetway turned around and grabbed Jet's collar.
"What'd you say? You want me to make you cry?! You GOT it!"
Storm cracked his knuckles. "If you wanna make the boss cry, you gotta get past me!"
"Out of the way, oaf! This is between me and tonight's main dish here!"
Wave rolled her eyes. "Jeez, Sonic is worse off than I thought. Maybe it is a good thing. Perhaps for once he can stop being insufferable."
"And you gotta lotta SHIT fallin' out of that mouth of yours!"
"Excuse me?! Perhaps you don't really know WHO you're dealing with here, do you?!"
"Guys stop, this isn't what we should be doing!" Amy said, getting in between Fleetway and the Babylon Rogues. "Besides, I know my Darling Sonic will come around!"
"For the 54th time... I'm NOT SONIC!" yelled Fleetway.
"Oh, you're back to your normal peppy self? It's hard to keep track at this point," Blaze said.
Amy looked embarassed. "I... oh hush! I wanna be out more but she just refuses to listen..."
"ANYWAYYYY," Silver said loudly. "My duty as messenger is done!"
"So," began Espio. "You wanted us all to meet here, Vector? What seems to be the issue?"
"Isn't it obvious? It has to do with Ditz!"
"That's right!" Tikal said, hands together. "Did they find a clue? A way out? Even the mastermind's true identity?"
Vector looked at all of us, frowned, and shook his head. "No."
He walked over to the locker that Ditz was in, opened it up, and...
There was no laptop.
"It's gone," he said. I turned my head.
"Gone?"
"I came here a lil' earlier to check up on things. That's when I discovered that Ditz, was gone."
"What?!"
"Oh no!" Big placed his hands on his cheeks.
"No way!" Tikal said, horrified. "Are... are you joking, Vector?!"
Vector looked on the floor and closed his eyes. From that gesture, I knew what he wanted to say. I could hear the panic in our voices as we looked around.
"Whaddya mean she's gone?!" Jet angrily asked.
"You can't be serious!" Fleetway added. He then pointed at Jet. "YOU! It was YOU wasn't it?! I told you that you couldn't take your grubby little fingers off Ditz! Come on! You lost the bet! Pay up!"
"As if I ever lose, you twat! I wouldn't kill for those rings, nor would I ever give you a single RING from my personal savings!"
"Keep lying to cover your ass and we'll see who wins!"
"As if you didn't take it! Maybe THAT'S why you're accusing me!"
Blaze, ignoring the two, walked in front of the locker. "Do you think it was perhaps the mastermind? Did they finally notice what we were up to?"
"Nope," Vector replied. "I told Ditz to yell should ANYONE he didn't recognize appear. If it was the mastermind, I wouldda known cause Ditz shouldda yelled."
"Maybe we just missed it?" Tikal asked.
"I was in the laundry room all day, making sure I heard everythin'. There's no way I couldda missed it."
"But, if it wasn't the mastermind, then-" I said before Jet cut me off.
"It's Mr. Goldie right there! Accusing me of taking it, and yet he has more of a connection to it than I do!"
"I'm a star hero! Why would I do something like STEALING?!"
"Not an Ultimate Hero though..." Tikal said. Both Fleetway and Jet ignored her.
"You're the suspicious one here, birdie! One little glint of gold and you're already drooling at the mouth!"
Jet continued the two getting into their faces. "Acting like you've known me me whole life, huh? Well here's something you need to understand: I. DON'T. LOSE. GOT IT?!"
"You might not lose, but with the thing you love the most? Of course you will!"
Silver, attempting to defuse the situation, spoke up. "Well I'm sure it was ONE of you. So whoever did it, just speak up!"
"Yeah!... I don't like it when you guys fight..." Big said, ears flopping down.
"No."
We all looked at Vector, who suddenly said this. He continued, "I dun think either one of them did it."
"Why not?"
"I also told Ditz somethin' else too. To yell if either Fleetway or Jet came into the bathhouse period."
Fleetway's eyes lowered. "What?!"
"I figured that yeh two couldn't probably keep yer hands offa it, but I guess my threat actually registered into yer minds. At least ya know that when someone says no, they mean no."
"I never heard any yell though," Blaze said.
"Exactly. Which means our thief isn't them."
"Then who was it?" Silver asked.
"Wave, what do you think?" Jet asked. "Can't you like develop some kinda GPS thing?"
Wave walked in the middle of our little circle, first addressing Jet. "First, I'd actually need the parts to make it. When we find a GPS tracker here, you let me know. Second, I think everything's a little clearer now, no? Not the mastermind, not Jet or Fleetway, then I think it's simple. Our thief is someone else. Charmy, Blaze, Silver, Espio, Big, Tikal, Amy, Storm, or even myself. One of us must be the thief."
"No! Why would any one of us want to steal Ditz?!" Tikal questioned. Big nodded his head.
"Yeah!... Like what Ms. Tikal the Echidna said!... Mr. Vector the Crocodile said not to take Ditz... so I did what he said!..."
"Hm... it seems that you all might not be convinced," Wave added. She proceeded to close her eyes. "Okay, how's this for a reason? There's a traitor among us."
When we heard this, some of us grew wide eyed as we all took a few steps back.
"Oh, don't be scared. You heard me. I believe that one of us here is working for the mastermind as a spy. And I think that's the one that stole Ditz. Can any of you deny the possibility?"
"I can!" I said. "I mean, a spy? Really?!"
"It's not that shocking of an idea, shorty. In fact, I've been considering that idea for a while, I mean, think about it: the mastermind brought in someone to help keep things running smoothly."
I just shook my head. The idea that there was some kinda spy, no... a traitor... It seemed impossible. Something that horrible...
"You all seem so silent. It's almost like you think it can't happen."
"Wave," Jet said. "That's enough... I think... the most important thing we can do is find Ditz. I don't care who did it. Just... let's let that be our mission. We can focus on other things later."
I could see the surprise in Wave's face. "Jet... are you... being a leader?"
"S-So what if I am?!"
Then I saw something I never saw Wave do: genuinely smile. "Ha, then it seems like you finally took my advice to heart."
Storm hugged Jet. "Alright, boss! We're gonna do this mission, and solve it!"
Just then, we saw and heard Fleetway sobbing. "S-Same here, birdie... How many times to they gotta kill Tails before they're satisfied? I'll beg until I turn seventy just... bring Tails back!"
Tikal looked at the ground. "This is quite a predicament but... I understand their pain. I feel Ditz is so important to all of us now. Whether or not there is a traitor... we can deal with that later. For now... let's find our friend."
"If ya had to ask me," Vector said. "I think Ditz is safe fer now."
"You bring up a good point," Blaze added. "If they wanted to destroy Ditz, then they would have done it here."
"It's almost like someone has Ditz, or someone genuinely misplaced it," Espio said.
"Th-that doesn't matter!" Fleetway cried. "Nothing e-else matters... No matter what it takes, I'm gonna get DITZ AND TAILS BACK!"
"That's right... Wave, Storm, as your leader, I command that we find Ditz!" Jet proclaimed.
I could see happiness in Wave and Storm's faces, almost as if they've been waiting for Jet to take his responsibility as Babylon Rogue leader seriously. Just then...
*Ding dong, bing bong*
The nighttime announcement played on the monitor as Tikal rubbed her arm. "It seems like its nighttime."
Blaze shook her head. "Well, there is nothing to be done. It's unfortunate, but I think we take tomorrow to begin our search for Ditz. We should get some sleep first."
"We don't have time to wait around! It's not like Egg Robo is gonna care if we're still up!" Jet said.
"What good are you if you're too tired, Jet? You will be ready to lead your group after a good night's rest."
"Who gives a crap about effective here?! We're talking about our FEELINGS here!" Fleetway yelled. Blaze covered her ears.
"Jet, Fleetway, I dunno if ya realize this, but anythin' we do at night brings a higher chance of the mastermind noticin' us. If anythin', I think they expect us to kill at night when we're all sleepin' and can't hear noise. Haven't ya noticed that the two murders that occurred here happened at night?" Vector said. We all looked at each other, realizing that he had a point. "Blaze is right, we should begin our search tomorrow mornin'. Charmy, Espio, whaddya think?"
"M-Me?" I asked. "W-Well, I think if we were to begin our search tonight in a panic, the mastermind would definitely notice and get nosy."
"Likewise," Espio added. "More importantly, I think that if the laptop is stolen however, we should try to find any place where technology is abundant first. Oh, and before I forget... Fleetway and Jet. I know how you must feel, but please do endure one more night without Ditz."
Sonic, who had tears rolling down his eyes, shook his fists as all he did was throw his hands down in frustration. Jet simply looked at the chameleon.
"Fine fine, I understand."
Blaze smiled. "Very well then, let's part for today. We'll begin our search in the morning."
"And, as you all go to bed tonight..." Wave added. "You should all think about what I said. Someone COULD be a spy."
Geez, thanks for the sweet dreams...
However, none of us objected to what Wave said, as we walked back to our rooms. As I opened my door and locked it behind me, I simply rubbed my face.
Ditz... gone as quickly as it appeared. To think that we had a small measure of hope with what happened. But no... it was taken away from us, just like everything in this zone. I just didn't get it. It's like this zone was supposed to be a representation of everything evil. Bloodshed, suspicion, theft, so many examples and yet not enough time.
Why...
Why did I deserve this? WHAT did I do to deserve this? I thought I was someone who was your average Joe, not someone forced into a killing game with people I don't know.
And then, there's the possibility of a spy. Could it really be true? Could someone be deceiving us?
I didn't know what was worse, the fact that we're dealing with someone like that... or the fact that a friend is working behind our backs.
"Argh!" I took off my helmet and threw it at the wall. "It's not true!"
I wasn't aware of how loud I yelled. It wasn't like anyone could hear. I threw myself onto my bed as the lights shut off by themselves. I held my pillow up to my face like I did when I was a kid, afraid of the dark. Now, my biggest fear wasn't the dark like when I was a kid.
It was that we were doubting each other again.
Ladies and Gentleman, it's now time for...
THE EGG ROBO PLAYHOUSE!
Egg Robo stood in the middle of a stage, a light shining on him as he bobbed his head back and forth.
"Hey, I wanna ask... do you think this story is like a game? I mean, it feels like one, doesn't it? I ask this because isn't a big part of video games losing a life? Like, you fall down a hole, step on spikes, run into an enemy, and you die and lose a life! But everything is okay because you have an extra life! You might fall through the screen and die, but you'll still come back! However, what if that wasn't the case? What if instead of having scary music play when you game over, you just... don't come back? Do you see where I'm going with this? No? Eh, I never expected you to get symbolism anyway."
The light turned off, and the curtains closed.
THE NEXT DAY
*Ding dong, bing bong*
When I heard the morning announcement, I got up from my bed feeling... weird. I couldn't help but get this nagging feeling off of my shoulder. Maybe it was my imagination, but at the same time... I felt that something happened. I knew that we had to find Ditz today, so maybe that could have been it?
Regardless, I decided to skip the shower today and buzz on over to the dining hall. Making my way there, I found only six people there: Vector, Espio, Big, Tikal, Blaze, and Amy.
"Ah, good morning, Charmy," Espio said. "I'm glad to see you're joining us."
"Huh?" I was confused. "I thought there'd be more."
Vector was silent, almost as if he knew something was fishy.
"So, he got the same feeling I did..." I thought to myself.
"Many people are taking their sweet time today," Blaze said. "I don't mind, I much prefer the quiet. While we're waiting... Big? Have you perfected your milk tea, yet? I would care for one, please."
Big, not wanting to resist and face Blaze's anger, only nodded his head as he waddled off to the kitchen. Amy groaned as she slumped in her chair. "Geez, this is why I hate people taking their time! Like, I know people complain when I do it, but I at least spend time at MULTIPLE places instead of just staying in one place."
"Let's not fret everyone," Espio said. "We should just wait longer for the others."
So we decided to wait for everyone to show up. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into half an hour. And half an hour turned into an hour, and even though we all watched as Blaze drank her tea...
No one came.
"We've been waiting for an hour..." Tikal said. "And yet no one's come."
"I'm worried about Sonic..." Amy added. "Hey, stay here! I'll go see if he's in his room!" She ran out of the dining hall as I could hear the sound of her boots stomp down the hall. She then came back two minutes later, looking concerned.
"He... he didn't answer. He isn't cooped up in the library again, is he?"
"I doubt it," Vector said.
"So... what happened to him? People like Silver haven't missed a day but I'm super worried about Sonic and Jet. They were the most eager to look for Ditz after all."
"Damn, I forgot 'bout that motive too..."
"Huh?"
"Say, Vector..." I began. "Do you think Jet is the type of person to bet, or would be too stingy to admit defeat?"
"I think he would be the type to bet," Tikal said. "But how reckless... betting money like it's nothing when it can be used to help so much people..."
"If ya asked me..." Vector said. "The Babylonians, alongside being well known racers, do have a history of theft. Likely, that personal savin's Jet was mentionin', I dun think all of it was won from racers. In fact, what was his bet again?"
"One million rings."
"That's probably chump change to him. He could probably earn it back easily."
"So, do you think it was Jet who did it?"
"I still dun think so."
We looked at each other, still not sure what to do. Vector got up from the table and adjusted his hat. "I'm startin' to get convinced somethin' happened."
"What do you mean?"
"I was talkin' 'bout it earlier before yeh went and talked about Jet. I was so distracted by Ditz that I forgot Egg Robo gave us a motive. There's no way something couldn't have happened, especially with how so many people aren't here."
Before Vector could say anything else, someone came running in.
"GUYS! GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"
Storm came into the dining hall, flailing his arms and taking deep breaths.
"Storm?!" I said. "What happened? Where were you?!"
"T-There's no time! I-It's an emergency!"
"Emergency?" Vector asked.
"Oh man... oh man oh man oh man! Wave's gonna really let me have it now when she finds out what happened!"
"Do calm yourself down, bird. Tell us what happened," Blaze said.
"I-It's... it's the boss! He's been kidnapped!"
We all got up from our chairs when he said this. Vector lowered his gaze and stood in front of the albatross.
"What do you mean?!" he said.
And so, as Tikal fetched Storm a bottle of water from the kitchen, we sat Storm down as he let us know what was going on.
"Okay so..." he began. "Me and the boss were taking a walk on the first floor around the time of the morning announcement since we both got up early. When we were about to reach the stairs of the second floor though, we saw this... thing..."
"What kind of thing?" Espio asked.
"It's... it's hard to describe, and honestly, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you about it."
"I'll believe you," Tikal took Storm's hand and smiled. Storm nodded.
"It was... someone in a robot suit. Only... the robot looked like that hedgehog!"
"Which one? Sonic, Amy, and Silver are the only three surviving hedgehogs."
"The blue one!"
"The robot looked like... my darling Sonic?!" Amy asked.
"I was scared cause I didn't know what to say, and then I took notice of what they had in their hand. It was this blue wrench! I was getting scared cause I thought they wanted to murder us, so I told the boss to make a run for it and get help while I took him on. That guy in the suit was really strong though... he was able to take me on, and before passing out, I saw Jet's feet being dragged and him yelling my name. Next thing you know, I wake up, passed out on the floor and with the wrench I was attacked with by my side. It said 'The Wrench of Power 1' on it too."
"The Wrench of Power?" I asked. It sounded like something you'd see in a video game.
"I also found Jet's camera, probably when he dropped it after getting abducted, so I took that and started to look for him on the different floors."
"Didn't ya take the wrench with ya?" Vector asked. "And why didn't ya come to us fer help?"
"I wanted to find the boss first! And... no, I left it on the floor. I was able to find Jet on the second floor being dragged, and I was able to take a picture. Even though it's kinda blurry... I went after them but... I dunno where they are now! That's why I came to you guys for help! Please! You gotta help me find the boss!"
Tikal looked up at us. "I know the Babylon Rogues haven't been nice to us, but likely this robotic Sonic has the intention of murder if they kidnapped Jet. We have to stop it before something happens to him, or anyone else!"
"But I'm scared..." Big said, ears flopping. "What if that robot is super strong?..."
"Ya gotta point," Vector said. "Alright, let's split up. The more of us that can cover ground, the higher the likelihood we can find Jet. If ya see this robot anywhere, run away. Dun even try to confront it."
"I understand," Espio nodded. "Thanks to my abilities, I should be able to sneak around and find the robot without being detected. If you don't mind..."
Espio held his hands together as he turned invisible, his footsteps trailing off as we all watched.
"Storm, ya got any idea where Jet might be?" Vector asked.
"I dunno!" he shrugged.
"Damn... alright, look through each floor! That's the closest we might get to finding him! If ya find him, make sure to help Jet and find a safe place fer him before callin' fer help."
"Got it! I'll look through the third floor!" Tikal said.
"Storm, mind helpin' me search the second floor?" Vector asked. Storm nodded.
"No prob!"
"Big, do help me with the dorms. You can be my bodyguard," Blaze said.
"Okay Ms. Blaze the Cat..."
"Charmy, Amy, ya got the-"
Before Vector could assign our role, someone came into the hall.
"Hey, what's going on here?"
Wave came strolling in from the laundry room, looking confused.
"Oh no! Oh no!" Storm panicked, trying to hide behind Vector and Big.
"Storm? What's going on?!"
"I... I didn't wanna tell you, Wave... I'm sorry!"
"Tell me... what?"
"T-The boss has been kidnapped!"
For the first time, I saw a look of terror on Wave's face. "W-What?... What do you MEAN he's been kidnapped?!"
And so, Vector and Storm gave a very abridged version of the story to Wave, who became more concerned as the story went on.
"Argh... why'd this have to happen?..." she said, holding her arm. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do. If this robot-Sonic is still out there like you said Storm, then there STILL is a chance that hopefully they didn't kill Jet. But if they did... then we're still not safe. Don't you remember? Egg Robo put that rule that we can kill up to two people."
"Oh, she's right! That means we have to stick together, right?" I asked.
"Exactly. Now, since the last you saw of Jet was on the second floor, let's head there. I recommend you keep your eyes peeled. You never know if that thing will come out."
And so, we all formed a circle and began to walk towards the first floor. I found myself squished in between Big and Amy, but I didn't mind.
Still though, I had to ask myself what was going on... A robot? Could one REALLY be behind all of this? I mean, how did a robot even GET in?! How was this robot built? And not even that...
What was going to happen from this?
When we reached the second floor, we continued to report no sign of this robot.
"Duncha think we shouldda found this robot by now?" Vector asked.
"T-This is the last place I saw the robot!" Storm replied. "Who knows where he could be now-"
We were suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone groaning coming from the library. Stopping in place, we heard a little closer only to hear the groaning sounding very... squawkish.
"I-It's the boss!" Storm said, getting out from the circle and running to the door. "Hang on boss! I'm coming!"
The albatross almost ripped the door off of its hinges as Wave followed behind. Our group followed suit and when we entered inside, we saw Wave and Storm beginning to lift up a definitely hurt Jet. The top of his head was bleeding, he looked very scuffed up with dirt and scratches over him, and even his beak definitely showed signs that he was hit by something hard.
"Gh... ahh!" Jet said, holding his side in pain as his teammates continued to hold him.
"Jet, hold still!" Wave said. "Tell me, what happened?!"
"Jet! Are you okay?" Tikal asked. "I'm glad to see you're still alive..."
"Like... argh... this?..." Jet said, letting a bit of blood drip from his head.
"How'd you get hurt?" Wave continued to ask. I saw from the corner of my eye Amy running off from our group and began to look for something to patch up the open wound.
"Did... Storm tell you?"
"That robot thing, right?"
"Yeah... Mecha S-Sonic is its name. After Storm passed out, the robot brought me here to the library where they tried to use... the wrench..."
Amy handed over a book to the green hawk, who placed it on his head and winced in pain. Storm looked around to the area where Jet's body was found, and uncovered a blue wrench.
"What... is this thing?" Wave asked. "I use wrenches all the time and I've never seen one like this."
"I think it might have been a custom one our culprit made," Blaze said.
"Custom?... How could he make a custom one?..." asked Big.
"Likely, they found something in this zone that could be used to make a wrench. How they got the time for it, I'm not sure. Wave? What are wrenches usually made of?"
"Usually with steel and bent in a certain manner to give it the look that all wrenches have. But this... this doesn't look like it was made from steel," the swallow replied. Storm handed her the wrench as she began to feel it. "In fact, I'd argue that the wrench was made out of... I'm not sure... I want to say perhaps marble or something? And then just spray-painted with the color blue to hide the material it was made from."
"Marble?" Vector asked. "Wait a minute, wasn't there marble in the art studio?"
"There was. And it seems like our culprit seems to be a good enough sculptor to not only make one, but TWO wrenches out of it."
"Hey, now that I mention it..." I said. "What does Mecha Sonic look like? Storm, didn't you take a picture of him with Jet's camera?"
"Oh, I did! Lemme get it out!" Storm dug through his pockets and brought out the green camera that I recognized from a few days ago. We all crowded around the albatross as he opened up the camera gallery. What we saw next was... hard to describe.
Jet had a terrified look of fear on his face as Mecha Sonic was dragging him in a chokehold position. For the first time as well, we got a look at our culprit. The robot was clearly designed after Sonic, however it had no face. It was just faceless, with a red visor on its forehead. Other than the multitude of blues, greys, and reds I saw... however this robot was built, it was clearly based on Sonic.
Which begged the question... where WAS he? I wanted to ask that question, but I knew Jet probably might get pissy, and most importantly, we had bigger fish to fry.
"That's yer guy?" Vector asked. Jet nodded.
"Y-Yeah, that's the one."
"It almost looks exactly like Sonic's height too," Tikal noted.
"Yeah, aren't you and Sonic the same height?" I asked. "I'm noticing here... the robot is just as tall as you!"
"Then why were you scared, Storm?"
"T-The wrench..." Storm said, twiddling his thumbs.
"Oh right... you mentioned something about a Wrench of Power one. Was it written somewhere? Could it have been the same one that attacked Jet?"
Wave examined the wrench again, and she shook her head. "Nope, not it pacifist girl. Take a look right here."
We all looked to where Wave was pointing. She then grabbed the wrench in question and showed us the phrase, 'The Wrench of Power 2".
"Hey, wait a minute!" I said. "Wasn't Storm attacked with the Wrench of Power 1?"
"Y-Yeah! I was!" the albatross replied. "Which means the boss musta been attacked with this!"
"Then the number's increasin'..." Vector said. "If we dun hurry, I'm startin' to think that anythin' after two could be enough to kill someone."
"Jet, where'd he hit you?" Wave asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Head..." Jet said, still in a daze.
"And you survived it?... that must have been a miracle that you did."
"Y-Yeah... even though I still feel... feel..."
Jet suddenly began to lose balance as Storm and Wave caught him before he could fall. Just then, a voice came from out of nowhere.
"Apologies for my late arrival."
Espio popped up in between us, eyes closed.
"Espio! Did you find anything?" I said.
"Nothing unfortunately. This robot must be a very good hider if even I couldn't find it. And... wait, Jet? What happened to you?"
"M-Mecha Sonic... hit me..."
"Mecha Sonic?"
"That's the name of our robot culprit apparently," Tikal said. "Although thank goodness you're here... I couldn't even imagine what would have happened had you been caught."
Just then, Egg Robo joined our group as well, laughing.
"Y-You! What are you doing here?!"
"Ho ho ho! A robot that looks like Sonic, eh? Now things are getting more exciting! What do you think it can do? Curl into a spiky metallic ball? Charge across a room? The possibilities are endless!"
Egg Robo vanished as Wave growled. "Why was he here?"
"Let's not concern ourselves with him," Blaze replied. "For now, Jet... I think you should head on over to the infirmary on the first floor."
"H-Hey... if it's not too much to ask," Tikal said. "Egg Robo mentioned how the robot looked like Sonic, right? Well, where is he? I haven't seen him all day."
I could sense the fear on everyone's faces as we all looked at each other.
"You don't think he's been kidnapped?..." Big asked.
"That is a possibility. Hm... we should try and figure out what to do from here," Espio replied. From the corner of my eye however, I saw Vector sneak out of the library completely quiet. I wanted to stop him, but I know he had a reason..
"Alright. Let's all head on down there. Wave, you got him?" Storm asked. The swallow nodded. "And boss... can you walk?"
"I'll... I'll try. Thanks you two..."
From there, we moved down to the first-floor infirmary. Jet sat on the exam table while Wave was wiping the blood off of his head and placing a gauze over his wound and Storm handed him an ice pack. Watching them work on Jet and helping them feel better... I wasn't going to lie; it was like watching parents help their kid if they got hurt outside playing or something.
"How are you feeling, boss? Do you need anything else?" Storm asked.
"N-No thanks... I'm feeling a little better. Thanks for the water as well," the hawk replied.
"Well you're welcome," Wave replied. "Just press on the ice pack and I'd say... maybe a few days it should start clearing up. In about a week, I think it should be fine to take off."
"A week... gah... we really are gonna be stuck here for a week..."
"Alright, I think it might be best if you stay here, boss!" Storm said. "Don't you think he should stay here resting up, Wave?"
"Well, it depends... do you still feel woozy, Jet?"
Jet nodded.
"Then I see no problem in letting him stay here."
"Meanwhile, I think the rest of us should find that robot as fast as possible. With Sonic missing, there's a lot at stake here," Espio said.
"Jet, if you don't mind, what happened to you after your abduction?" Blaze asked.
"W-Well... I was able to get away from the robot after finding a way to lose its grip on me. I was actually able to outrun the robot. However, Mecha Sonic ended up catching up with me and before I knew it, I was on the ground cause the damn robot threw the wrench at my legs."
Wave looked down and pulled up Jet's pants, revealing a large purple bruise on his leg.
"I passed out and woke up in the library apparently a few minutes later. I also noted that the clock in the library said 7:30, which was thirty minutes after our attack, right Storm?"
Storm nodded.
"And before I could get out... Mecha Sonic came out and attacked me. Sure enough, the way you saw me was where I was last left after my attack."
"So, if your attack took place at around 7:30, then myself, Charmy, Vector, Blaze, Big, and Amy all have alibis."
"And I was in the laundry room at 7:30. If you don't believe me, my clothes rack is still there," Wave said.
Add Wave to that, and there's quite a few people with alibis. The only people who DIDN'T have one though were... Silver and Sonic. Now that I thought about it, I didn't even see Silver at all today either.
"By the way, where IS Vector? Wasn't he just with us?"
"I bet he pussied out at the sight of a robot serial killer!" Rosie said. I was surprised, not realized that Amy had already switched to her Rosie personality.
"Yeah, he was with us in the library but just vanished at some point. I wonder what happened?" Tikal asked.
"Where could he have gone?" Espio asked, looking concerned.
"He's suddenly gone, huh?" Wave said, a smirk on her face. "What a strange, strange strange man. He might be EXACTLY as I suspected..."
"Hold on!" I said. "Vector was with us in the dining hall when Jet and Storm were attacked! Not to mention, he was there when I arrived!"
"I'm not talking about who attacked them. I'm talking about what I MENTIONED last night. Not the murderer, but the spy."
A glare formed on my face. "Are... are you saying Vector's secretly working for the mastermind? No way! That's not true!"
"It's not? That man seems far too eager to examine dead bodies. Not to mention, haven't you noticed he hasn't told you much about himself. Ask yourself this, bee: What DO you know about Vector?"
"That's enough, Wave. We can discuss this another time," Espio said. "For now, we must find Mecha Sonic to prevent any future murder."
"Exactly, so we must hurry!" Tikal said.
"I don't want there to be any more victims..." Big added.
"AND I need to make sure my Darling Sonikku is okay!" Rosie also added, holding her hammer.
"Fine. But remind yourself this, bee..." Wave said, looking at me in the eye. "Vector might be your 'friend' or whatever, but here in this zone, we all have to suspect one another, no matter how friendly we get."
I simply looked at her, not saying a word.
"Alright, c'mon... let's go..." Jet said as he got up from the table and hissed. Wave and Storm looked at their boss and held him once again.
"Jet, what are you thinking?!" Wave scolded. "At a time like this, searching for this guy is the LAST thing you want to do!"
"Listen to Wave, boss! It's not a good idea! Don't risk yourself!" Storm added. Jet looked at his two teammates.
"Y-You're right..." Jet got back up on the table and laid down.
"Wave, you go on ahead. I'll look after the boss."
"Storm... you know how reckless you can be. Are you sure you're okay doing this?" Wave aed.
"I'm gonna be fine, Wave! The most important thing is to find this guy and protect the boss. I can stand my ground against him, and not to mention, I'm sure this place has something to defend myself with!"
"Well, let's go," Espio said. We all followed him outside as Jet and Storm came out in the hall with the rest of us.
"So, I think we should ask ourselves why our culprit seems to be wearing such a ridiculous costume..." Tikal said.
"Don't bother looking for a reason, pacifist girl. Some people seem to be way too into that stuff."
"Hmmmmmmm... hm hm HMMMMM?!" Rosie said. "What to do...? Should we split up and look around?"
"That does sound like a good idea. However, if Wave's theory is correct, then Mecha Sonic may be holding the Wrench of Power 3. This could be strong enough to kill one of us..."
Just then, I saw a look of horror appear on Jet's face as he looked at the stairs.
"Jet, I saw your face change. What's wrong?" Wave asked.
"I... I... I saw it! It was at the very top of the stairs!"
"What?!" Tikal said, now frightened.
"Then it appears we must move to the second floor," Blaze said.
"Bastard... you won't get away from me!" Espio pulled out his katana as he rushed towards the stairs. All of us followed behind as I noticed that Jet was with us, but not Storm.
"Jet, aren't you supposed to be resting?!" Wave asked.
"I want to, and I know I should but... I NEED to get revenge!" he said. "Alright, he has to be here somewhere. Let's split up."
"Don't take any chances," Espio said. "Even if you corner him, just call and let me know. I'll offer a quick slice from my blade."
"What should we yell?"
"Maybe anything!..." Big said. "I'll try and let out the biggest scream I can..."
"Let's hurry up and start looking!" Tikal said. She grabbed the prayer beads out of her pockets as I heard her mumble, 'Oh please, I pray that no one dies."
Rosie was next as she screamed, "HEY MR. ROBOOOOOOOOOT! I HAVE A SPECIAL SURPRISE FOR YOU, IT'S CALLED 'TIME TO DIE!'"
As everyone else spread out, my body froze up as I realized that I was left all alone. Now I REALLY didn't like this at all one bit. I didn't know where to start, so I quickly buzzed around the second floor and found one of the classrooms. Bracing myself for the eventual 'horror movie death where the clueless victim opens the door and gets stabbed' trope, I opened the classroom door to find... nothing.
However, when I let out a sigh of relief...
"HA-AARGH!"
That tone... that loud, squawkish tone... I didn't even have to second guess who that was. All I know was that it came from the third floor. I quickly buzzed my way there as a few other people (namely Big, Tikal, and Espio) joined me. There, I saw Jet looking afraid while Blaze and Wave surrounded him.
"You four, over there!" he said.
"Jet, what happened?!" Tikal asked.
"That was an intense scream from you. I assume you found our culprit?" Espio asked.
"I saw him again! As soon as I let out that scream, he ran off. I didn't even get to see where he went... DAMN!" Jet stomped his foot on the ground.
"Do you think he might be down the hall if he's cornered?" Wave asked.
"Most likely. We gotta go find him!"
Before we buzzed off, we heard Rosie breathing in and sneeze. When she brought her head up, I saw that her eyes were back to normal, and her crazed look was gone. Sure enough, Amy was back to normal.
"H-Huh? The third floor? What happened? I-"
She looked at all of us. "Oh no... oh no oh no... it was Rosie wasn't it?!... Hey, what is going on anyway?"
We explained the situation to her as quickly as we could. Amy got more and more shocked as we delved deeper with more information.
"Oh... oh goodness..." she said in terror. "And to think that the robot we're after has-"
Amy couldn't even finish her statement before we heard something even more horrifying than the idea of a killer robot.
"WAUGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Jet and Wave froze and I could see the look of horror on their face.
"It's... It's Storm!" the hawk said.
"Oh no... please don't tell me THIS is what's happening..." Wave said, concern in her voice and her appearance.
"How could the robot have gone to the first floor?" Espio asked.
"No, I don't think there's time for questions!" Jet said. "We gotta do something!"
"B-But... you said Mecha Sonic disappeared down this hall!" Tikal said.
"You're right... actually, I was just about to suggest that we split up. Some of us should go back to the first floor and check to see if Storm's okay. I'll lead this group. Bee, pacifist girl, and slow cat; you're with me!"
Tikal, Big, and I all walked over to Jet's side.
"Alright, while you go do that, Jet... Espio, Amy, and Blaze, I think we have ourselves a robot to catch," Wave said.
"Understood. If you feel unsafe, stand by me. I'll make sure nothing happens," Espio said. Blaze giggled.
"You say that as if us girls can't fight back. You clearly must have forgotten my powers, Espio."
"Rosie's the fighter, not me..." Amy said.
"Well never mind, then. I suppose you'll have SOMEONE following behind you."
"Still... guys, good luck! All we have to do is hope that guy doesn't pop up out of nowhere and get one of us. If Storm really is... no... no I can't think that!"
"Mr. Storm the Albatross is gonna be alright... right?..." Big asked.
"Let's just hope he is..." Jet rubbed his arm. "C'mon, we have to go now!" He ran off first as we all followed behind. I flapped my wings as hard as I could as Tikal and Big struggled to keep up with myself and Jet. When we finally reached the infermery, Jet was waiting for us.
"Oh please, oh please please please please..." Tikal said as Jet grabbed the handle of the door and swung it wide open. When he did...
We stopped.
Before we left here, the room was perfectly fine. But when we looked at it now, everything was trashed. And crimson... was everywhere.
Worst of all... as my eyes wandered up to the pool of blood in the middle of the room, I saw a hand with a familiar spiked cuff. My lips dried as I looked up...
To see Storm's dead body faced up.
I could see Jet shake his head from where I was.
"N-No... no... NO... NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jet screamed as he quickly ran to his teammate, holding his body. "STORM!"
Tikal cried. "Aaahhh! Why?!... Why is this happening again?!"
"Mr. Storm!" Big cried with Tikal. "How... how awful!..."
In the midst of the crying people in the room, I could only watch as Jet lay over Storm's body, sobbing.
"WHY... WHY DIDN'T I TAKE YOU WITH US?!... I FORGOT ABOUT YOU..." Jet began to breathe, choking on his breath occasionally. "AND LOOK AT IT I'M SUCH A FUCKING... FUCKING DUMBASS!" He slammed his fist on Storm's chest as the albatross simply had no movement. "How dare they... how dare that FUCKING ROBOT! I SHOULDDA BEEN HERE WITH HIM! AND YET... I WASN'T SMART ENOUGH TO EXPECT THIS!"
Big, in the midst of his crying, walked over to Jet and hugged him. Tikal did the same to me too, catching me off guard.
"Oh... oh Charmy..." she cried. "To think this happened to him... he... he actually asked me about my pacifism a few days ago, and... and we even had such a nice talk too and a-agreed on so much... I felt the kindness from him and now... n-now!"
Tikal hugged my tighter as suddenly, a too familiar noise came from the monitor in the room.
*Ding dong, ding dong*
The monitor turned on as Egg Robo appeared on the screen.
"A body has been discovered!" he said. "Now then... after a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!"
The monitor turned off as Tikal fell to the floor, holding her mouth. "That was... the announcement..." she said. "He... he really is..."
Jet got up and looked at all of us, eyes red and puffy. "Th-the worst part is... what..." he sniffed, his voice getting higher and softer sounding. "What am I gonna tell Wave?"
"That... one of us killed him."
Big, who had already stopped hugging Jet, walked over to Storm's side and picked up something. As we looked to see, it was another one of those wrenches.
"That thing..." Jet said. "That's... a Wrench of Power..."
"It says Wrench of Power 3..." Big replied. "It's really heavy and b-big..."
"Is that what killed him?... Was Storm... not even strong enough to-"
"Jet, Jet..." I said, buzzing over to his side. "The most important thing you have to do is calm down-"
"MY TEAMMATE IS DEAD, BEE! WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"I understand that the most important thing we have to do is find his killer."
Jet looked at me, bit his lip and stomped his foot, burying his face in his hands.
"Whoever is in that suit... they're the killer. That Mecha Sonic... they have to be responsible..."
"But it still is weird that he got from the third floor to the first..." Tikal said.
"Look, I'm sure when we uncover the truth, we'll find out! Right now... I... I want revenge... revenge for my friend... REVENGE FOR STORM!"
As Tikal got up, I could see that she suddenly got this look in her eye as she started to lose her balance.
"T-Tikal!" I said out of concern, trying to make sure she didn't fall.
"Pacifist girl!" Jet ran up to the echidna. "Don't pass out on me now!
"I... I... I can't handle it... I feel... I feel..."
She suddenly began to dry heave.
"Oh no! I think she's sick!..." Big said.
"Da-damn! Not like this!" Jet said, still in anguish. "I don't wanna leave her here all alone."
"What should we do?..." Big asked.
"I'll go get everyone. I think it would be better for me to tell Wave what happened," I said.
"Good idea, bee," the hawk nodded. "I'll take Tikal with me. Slow cat, come with us too. Just in case Mecha Sonic comes by, we can rely on you for backup, right?"
"I... I'll try..." the large cat replied.
"Alright... and... bee? If Wave does or say anything... forgive her."
I only looked at Jet and slowly nodded. As I flapped my wings, ready to fly, I could still feel my body trembling. To think that Storm was the next one to go...
I thought about his circus family as I buzzed my way to the third floor. What would they do now that not only one of their most popular performers, but their son was now dead? It made me feel sad to think looking back at everyone here who had families. Families... who were likely now torn apart now that their kid was dead.
I could feel myself crying as I soon reached the third floor. I remembered that the other group headed down the hall, so he was either in the artist studio or... no... maybe the physics lab?
I first made my way there, looking back and forth intensely to make sure there was no Mecha Sonic chasing me. Thankfully, I was able to make my way safely to the door to the physics lab and headed inside. When I did... I saw that everything was just the same. And yet... I didn't see Wave, Espio, Blaze, or Amy.
That's when I turned my head over to the repository. I noticed that the door was slightly ajar.
"Maybe they're in there?" I asked myself as I buzzed towards the door. I swung it open and...
I stopped.
There were hundreds of things I wasn't expecting to see when I opened the door. A way out, the location of Ditz, or just... anything.
What I didn't expect was a second sea of blood today...
What I didn't expect was another Wrench of Power laying by a dead body...
What I didn't expect was to see the body... the body of someone... no longer gold but blue like they always were...
What I didn't expect was the body of Sonic, lying face down on the floor, a large wound on his head...
Chapter 3
Despair Hill Zone Act 2
DAILY LIFE
D̶̰̭͉̣̜̗͉̭̊̿Aͣ̽̓̓ͯ̚Ī͚̜͈͕͍̞̬ͥͣͅL̳͉̳͎͓̥ͯ̐ͥ͐̈Y̞͙̠ͥ͂̅ͭ̾̎͑̚̕͢ ̸̸̞̼̬͍̣̲ͩ̈͗̏ͣL̸̐͛ͣ̈́̇͏͔͚Į̸͙͎̹͚̮̲̺͍́ͯ́̓ͫ̂F̨̨͉̳̭̼̿̿̍̈́̿ͅE̱̙͍͓̜̓̎̽̅̕
D̠̟͂͐̀̚͟E͖̬̼͙ͥ̒̉A͆ͧ̅ͪͧ͏̠̮͚̭͈͍D̲͓̼̬̣̙̱̮̈͐͟L̴͔̤̗̘͉̘̳̩͛̈́̂̆ͥ̑͒Ỵ͔̩̲̳̋̀ͧͧ̂͋́̃ ̩̜̞͖̤͕͗̓L̛̯̟͇̞̳̉͡I̳̤̱̰͉̦͕̍ͨͬ͝F̸̼͔̹̺̗̟͓̈̃̈́̈́͞E̗̣͎̲̹̰̳ͦͭͣ̾
DEADLY LIFE