DanceDream: Thanks for all the feedback! Really great to hear! Heh, I can't say your suspicion is unwarranted – but more on that this chapter! ;D Hah, double-As. They'd certainly help, wouldn't they? If only. Aw, so glad you liked that part, and yeah, you can bet Sonic was surprised. Not a moment too soon, that's for sure! I don't blame you for being nervous about reading on, since apparently almost anything bad that could happen is fair game for this story. Heh. XP But nope, he's actually legitimately free! …From the cell anyway. Heh, love what you said about Sonic taking Kai home. You never know! ^^
I like what you said about looking at Amber being like looking in a mirror. That actually makes perfect sense and I'm glad you see it that way. :) As I've told a few others recently – while Sonic kinda represents the ideal that most of us strive for, Amber I think symbolizes where a lot of us actually are: a position of wanting to be happy and strong, but doubting how to actually achieve your own ideals. I guess it's where those two positions meet. I mean, Sonic isn't perfect either of course. But he kinda shows that even someone trapped and vulnerable and imperfect like he is can still be steadfast, and make the most of even the sucky situations. And if he can, then maybe she can too. :)
Heh, well said, that is Sonic for ya; never gives up, is not normal, and is just the way we like it. ;) Oh, I appreciate all the quoting regardless. It's nice to know what people actually like about it, y' know? Especially that conversation since it was kinda a special little part of this story. ^v^ Hah, I like fitting quotes too, apparently at the end of chapters. ;) Thanks again, very much, for sharing your thoughts. Means a lot to me. :) (And yus, you totally need an account! XD Heh, no worries!)
x
So guys, I just randomly remembered something. You know earlier, in Chapter 26: Chaotic Spiral? Well, Espio had a(n oddly fitting) line in there; "Data retrieval isn't exactly my specialty" which he also said in Shadow the Hedgehog. Not very often I can sneak a reference by you lot, but nobody caught that one. ;)
Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the next chapter!~
CHAPTER 28: TWO-EDGED BLADE
As soon as Espio had heard from Tails that there was a way to set Meka Tower free from the inside, he had been eager to follow his young comrade's instructions and do what should have been done a long time ago. Now that he was where he needed to be, though, he realized once again that it would be easier said than done.
Not because of an ominous, dark threat. Not even because of an enemy. But because of height.
"Well," he said dryly, "at least it's not pipes. It's always pipes."
"What?" Tails asked.
"The way to the control room that you told me about on the radar. It seems whenever we detectives need to get somewhere, we end up going through the pipes above the ceiling. After so many times, it becomes tedious and boring."
"But Espio… isn't waltzing right through the door kind of boring, too?"
The chameleon sighed as he looked around himself. He was in the round room that had contained the first scanner, surrounded by the debris Sonic had made out of it. Above him, on the ceiling, was one thing that had been left untouched: a circular sliding door. It was indented slightly, so it merely looked like part of the room's architecture. Tails had explored the prison virtually on his radar, and in a stroke of luck, saw it at just the right angle to notice. Just above it was the area they needed; the control room they had supposed to exist since the very beginning. The way to free everyone had been the prison all along, but it had been in a place no one had thought worth another look.
Sonic apparently hadn't seen it, or even if he had, didn't have time in the midst of fighting the robots to give it much thought. With the havoc that destroying the scanner had caused, some inconspicuous metal circle on the ceiling was the last thing he would be concerned with.
"I suppose so," Espio answered after an instant, "but if you're after accuracy, I'll be jumping through it, not waltzing through it."
"Well, I guess I wasn't after accuracy. So how do we get it open?"
"You're asking me?"
"I… I guess so. I mean, you're a detective. You're good at finding stuff out, aren't you?"
"Most of the time, yes, but I have a feeling the only way to open this door is remotely. Eggman probably has access to the controls, and a few of his androids probably do too, but I haven't seen any."
"Androids or remotes?"
He almost answered the latter, but then remembered he hadn't seen many of the former either. "Sonic and the rest of the top floor have been taking them out like crazy. The lower floors never had many to begin with. Amongst all the ones that have been defeated, I have not seen any of them carrying such a device."
"So the best way to open it is to get the control off Eggman, but lately Eggman is gone! What if we can't get a hold of one?"
"A remote or an Eggman?"
Tails laughed. "Uh, good one. But seriously – any thoughts?"
There was the sound of approaching footsteps. For once – an opportunity introducing itself right to him.
"Actually," the detective murmured into the communicator under his breath, "this may be easier than you think."
He turned the volume all the way down, then dropped his hand and held still, focusing on making himself part of the environment around him. Just as his own body became invisible beneath him, the android he had heard stepped into the room. At first he thought it had heard him talking to Tails, but it kept on going, looking like nothing suspicious had happened. Activating its hover mechanism, it began to ascend quickly toward the ceiling. The door slid open as if it had sensed the android's approach – and Espio realized it probably had. His heart pounded as this chance displayed itself. There was only one way to take advantage of it. He could not reach the ceiling alone.
When the robot was as high as he dared to let it get, he crouched down low and then sprung off the ground, grasping its ankle with both hands. The android was close enough to the opening that it could not slow down in time to prevent Espio from getting through. Its momentum was easily enough for both of them.
Just as the door slid shut beneath them, it whirred around and slapped the chameleon away, not even bothering to land first. Espio slid along the ground and into a small cluster of inactive androids against the far wall. Startled, he made to get up more out of instinct than anything – but not fast enough.
"Who do you think you are?" it demanded fiercely, storming towards the rising chameleon and shoving its own dormant comrades out of the way. It picked him up by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall before he could blink. "Are you trying to infiltrate this place? How did you enter Meka Tower undetected?"
"You seem awfully flustered. Are you going to be in trouble with your master?"
The android looked at him severely. "How did you enter?"
"Walked right in through the front door," Espio replied coolly, before glancing over at the trap door he had just come up through with meaning. "And it seems your security standards haven't changed much since then."
He was struck across the face.
"Your current situation is certainly a reflection of that, isn't it?" the android asked.
"It is, actually. I'm in exactly the place I need to be." I must keep this thing talking until I can come up with a plan…
"Not for long. You will be escorted to a cell later today… after you've told me all about your little mission in here."
Espio looked unimpressed. "If that's what you're after, we'll be here a lot longer than 'later today.' Some credit, please. I am a ninja."
Later, he would look back and swear that metallic face smiled as it said, "How's this for cre—"
But Espio turned his head at the last moment, and the android's momentum drove its heavy hand into the wall. The loud clang rattled against his (unfortunately quite close) eardrums.
The motion let him see past the robot for a moment, and actually take in the area he was now in. He had never known it to exist until now, but it was enormous. The real 'top floor,' in its size and significance anyway; it was as large in diameter as the rest of the prison, but without the hallways and cells getting in the way. The floor was a foggy gray-blue, and the unfinished ceiling was high. Beams were exposed. To him it looked like a massive warehouse. The master control station appeared to be at its center, near the trap door they had come from. He hadn't been able to see it from that angle, and the robot had struck him long before he had a chance to look around. He realized it had carried him very far, for them to be all the way at the edge of the huge room now… Like it had been trying to keep him from that control pillar…
So this has to be it.
As far as he could see, androids lined the room's perimeter in rows. There were thousands of them. Eggman wasn't running out after all, as he had thought… yet he wasn't activating these ones for use, either. As Espio had told Sonic, he didn't expect Eggman to replace the patrol androids. But these androids… not all of them were patrols. Some of them had hoses on the end; multipurpose for both housecleaning and torture, Espio thought to himself morbidly. Some of the robots were larger. A few had attached weapons. Most had hover mechanisms, too. Surely Eggman had more uses for them, and they needn't sit inside this area…
So… why?
Does he just want us to think we're winning… until the right moment?
Even if Espio wasn't pinned to the wall, he knew it would take way too much time to destroy them all. It was a job for Sonic – which, he realized, was another reason Eggman was so bent on keeping the hedgehog trapped. If he found this place, he would pose a much larger threat to the doctor.
But even for the blue blur… it was a lot of androids.
The android worked its hand out of the indent it had created in the wall. Espio heard pieces of it crumble and fall to the floor. If that punch had landed…
"Are you trying to kill me?" Espio asked, blinking. "That's curious, all things considering. I thought you'd control your temper long enough to learn why I'm here."
"Indeed, a good suggestion. Ending things quickly would be no fun, would it?"
Espio rolled his eyes. Oh dear. If I had a nickel for every time…
"You could look at it that way," he said with a purposely unreadable expression. "It's not very often even my line of work gets me into situations like this. It's interesting."
"And what is your line of work? Something to do with being a ninja, if I'm correct?"
Espio chuckled calmly. "Take that route if you will, but knowing what I do for a living isn't going to tell you why I'm here."
"Then why bring it up?"
To throw you off. To buy time. To make you uncertain of the validity of anything I say.
"Oh, just idle musing, I suppose."
"In case you haven't noticed, this is not the time for idle musing." The android tightened its grip. "I refuse to have you insult my credibility as an H-series robot any longer. I will ask you once more. Why. Are. You. Here."
One-word sentences. Is this robot serious? Oh my. Don't laugh don't laugh. "I must be somewhere, mustn't I?"
"Don't play games with me!" the robot snapped, digging its fingers into his arm. "I was created to serve the Eggman Empire! This is my purpose! Do you really think your persistence will outlast mine?"
"My answer to that is the same as Sonic's was," Espio said evenly. He subtly moved both hands behind his back, reaching inside the sheath attached to his glove with the opposite hand…
"Ahh, so you know Sonic the hedgehog. That arrogant mass of spikes." The robot's sharp fingertips pierced Espio's flesh as its grip tightened in anger. He suppressed a groan. "Let's talk about Sonic, shall we?"
"No thanks," Espio said, holding eye contact momentarily. Then he raised a hand and slammed his throwing knife precisely into the android's neck. Wires split and snapped. Its grip slackened as it stared into him with a dead expression, and he shoved it away from himself. "I've already had my say."
Bright droplets of blood raced each other down his smooth violet coat, staining a trail there as they went. He wiped them away hastily, irritated at the sensation, as he jogged back to the center of the room, where the controls were. About halfway there, he turned his communicator back up to its original volume. "Tails?"
"Espio! Are you okay? You stopped responding, and I thought something bad happened."
"Nothing I couldn't take care of. I'm where we need to be now. And if we're right… Meka Tower will be free in mere minutes."
xxx
Sonic made his way down the spirals of Meka Tower, not certain of what to do but figuring he'd know when he saw it. Now that he was able to move quickly again, he was beginning to notice how his body had changed. His legs were stiff, and his body slightly weaker and thinner. It wasn't debilitating by any means, but it was a jarring reminder of just how long he had been inside Meka Tower.
Just like before, there was a perceptible shift in atmosphere as he descended. He found himself avoiding eye contact with most of the prisoners. If anyone called his name he would of course stop to see what they wanted. But by and large, he was not in the mood for cynicism. Perhaps it was selfish, but it had been mere hours since he had been freed, and he wanted to be happy about it.
Besides, he had to get to the bottom of things – literally and figuratively. He wasn't entirely sure why he felt inclined to go down so far, as it wasn't like he would just be able to leave. There was still the matter of getting outside the prison. But for some reason, making his way downward just felt right. It would be pointless to destroy the other two scanners now that Eggman's true intentions had been revealed, but maybe there was a way to free the prison from down lower. After all, Espio had said he didn't spend a lot of time near the bottom.
At the time, he wanted to find me for Tails's and Amy's sake, since they all knew something bad had happened…
Idly Sonic wondered where they would be if Espio had spent more time figuring things out and less time reassuring those two. Sonic thought it was just awesome that the chameleon had grown to care about Tails and Amy like he had, but at the same time, this was why he had wanted to keep his own situation separate from theirs. Espio, Tails and Amy could have all made progress faster if they hadn't been so wrapped up in his problems…
Well, there was no changing things now. It wouldn't be fair to hold that against them anyway. After all, if the situation had been reversed, and he had discovered Eggman had done something horrendous to Tails or Amy…
He shuddered, a quick burst of dread and rage rippling through his soul like liquid fire, and for the first time got a glimpse of the kind of hell his friends had gone through while he'd gone through his own.
"Sonic!" a voice called from somewhere on his left. Snapping out of his thoughts, the blue blur came to a graceful halt right in front of the person who had called his name. It was a husky man with light brown hair and dark eyes set into his head almost as much as his large nose stuck out. He looked worn, tired, and Sonic noticed upon closer examination that most of his thickness was from skin that used to have meat under it, but didn't now due to weeks of near-starvation.
It's so bad down here… I don't believe this.
"What's up?" Sonic asked cheerily, trying to keep the deep disturbance he felt from showing on his face.
"You're free," the man said, spreading his arms and appearing incredulous. He looked like he might have been trying to smile, but the heavy, tired skin tugged downward on the expression like a weight. Sonic scratched his chin, waiting for him to say more. The man let his arms drop to his sides and approached closer, grasping the bars. "Are you going to help us?"
"Of course I am," Sonic told him. "But you've gotta understand, this place is huge. My friends and I are doing the best we can to discover how to open the cells. After that there's still the matter of opening the main entrance of the tower itself, but… one thing at a time, y' know?"
"So this will still be a while."
"I'm not happy about it either, believe me," Sonic said. "Just hang in there."
"Are you okay?"
"Who, me?" the hedgehog asked, surprised at the sudden shift in concern. "I'm fine, I s'ppose! How's everybody down here?"
"Crappy," the man answered bluntly. "Listen. I know what you've been through in this place – but I don't even think you'd believe how things have gotten down here. None of us are 'eligible,' whatever that means." Sonic knew what it meant. They couldn't adequately use Chaos energy, so they were useless to Eggman. "Yet the bastard won't let us go because he's afraid we'll blab about this place and reveal his plans. So we're stuck here. The rejects. I'm lucky to get fed every other day. Some folks are lucky to be sane. One person in this hallway broke a plate and was…" he paused and shook his head. "He's alive still, but only because his neighbor talked him back to the surface."
Frowning, Sonic stepped closer to the cell and asked, "Can you point me to him? Maybe I can—"
"This isn't any time for a damn therapy session, Sonic. I just wanted you to know what it's like down here. Give you a little motivation maybe since you seem to need it." Sonic actually felt affronted for one of the first times in a while. He vaguely remembered the person who had been a jerk to him on the top floor when he had first arrived. That was just one person. But he had a feeling those kinds of people made up the majority of these floors. His ears fell a little flat. "You're supposed to be the hero. I hate to sound pushy, but can you please try and get us out of here?"
"L-listen, I'm really, really trying here, and it's killing me that you guys are still stuck here, 'cause I know what it's like. I promise I'll do my best to figure something out, but these doors aren't gonna just open like magic!"
Of course, that was the exact moment when the man's gate swung open widely in conjunction with all the other cells they could see. An obnoxious screeching sound tore through the air and bounced off the walls as the gates scraped against the metal floor simultaneously. Sonic cringed, his quills standing up on end.
It was comically quiet for an instant. Then there was the sound of tons of emotions around them, manifesting themselves in the form of laughter, tears, clapping, shouting, talking… Only a few people, too weak or too deeply affected by the captivity and suffering and starvation, remained quiet and still. Uncaring.
All Sonic could see, though, was the suddenly joyful individual in front of him, flaps of saggy skin no longer preventing him from smiling as he stepped forward and nearly threw himself at Sonic before thinking the better of it and falling to his knees on the hallway floor instead.
Sonic scratched his nose. "That fast enough for you?"
"Y-you didn't even go anywhere!" the man stammered, looking up at him with wide eyes.
"Yeah, I get that a lot." Sonic grasped the man's hand and pulled him to his feet. Others were starting to congregate around them. "In all seriousness, though, I actually have no idea what happened. Must've been Espio… but whatever, doesn't matter right now."
Pausing, Sonic scanned the people he could see, taking in the situation – and then addressed them as one. It was time to set things in motion.
"Okay, listen up, folks. Keep following the spiral down. Get as close to the front of the prison as you can, so you're ready when the front gate opens, and so that the people on the upper floors have room to make their way down here too before Eggman and his remaining robots realize something's up." As he spoke, Sonic realized just how much of a concern that was. Lucas, Amber and most likely Espio were near the top of the prison still, and it would take them the longest to make their way down. That meant they were more likely to be caught. "Don't run each other over. Try to stay calm about things, and if anyone asks what you're all doing, just pass on the message and tell them Sonic told you to. Sound like a plan?"
Only a small portion of the people around actually listened to him intently. Most everyone else was wrapped up in their own emotions. Nevertheless, they went along blindly, like they were automated, following the ones who had actually heard him. Knowing he couldn't waste time directing them, Sonic gave one last smile and turned in the opposite direction. Maybe down hadn't been the way to go after all; he had to make sure his friends were okay.
All right, guys. We're finally getting a hold of this!
xxx
Well, the prison was free, Espio thought to himself grimly.
It was the moment they had been fighting for. And he had been the one to actually do it.
Of course, being surrounded by thousands of killer machines waiting to tear you apart tended to dull even the most potent sense of accomplishment.
The ninja stood stock-still against the control panel in the center of the massive room, hand still on the lever. Pulling it had opened every cell in Meka Tower except one – the one which was, fortunately, already open, though Espio didn't know as much yet.
Tails had confirmed the chameleon's success just a minute ago.
Pulling the lever had also been the key to activating the countless pitch-black humanoids layering the circular wall of the area. Now they came towards him way too quickly, all sets of bright blue eyes locked on him. Predators greedily devouring their prey, even if only with their eyes thus far.
He glanced at the trap door he had used to reach this place. It wasn't completely untouchable, but androids trampled it as they neared him, blocking it, and he could see no end to their approach. Even if he could reach it, he would not be able to open it.
Despite his occupation, despite his lifelong training, despite his conditioned calm attitude, Espio could not help the thought that settled tensely on his conscience as he surveyed the massive odds before him.
I'm going to die in here.
xxx
"I've got a bad feeling about this." –Espio, Sonic Heroes
xxx
You think, Espio? ;P
Hmm, I'd say this chapter was preview enough for the next, eh? Let's leave it at that for now, then. ;) Hope you guys enjoyed, and thanks again for your epic support so far. More excitement to come next chapter, which'll be up pretty soon. Ahh, and lookie at that vivid new review button that FFN made. How purdy. -insert trollface icon here-
…In all seriousness, though – the style of a button is what they deemed a priority amongst all the other issues on this site? Ah well. I still like it here. x3 And at least they have been updating stuff as of late. 'S kinda nice, since I was wondering for a while if the staff still existed. O_o
But I digress! 'Til next time! :)
