COUNTDOWN TIL SELF-DESTRUCT: 35 MINUTES 50 SECONDS
"Rouge?" Shadow frowned, both amazed and relieved. "You're lucky you can get a signal. It's getting harder and harder to keep in contact with everyone the deeper into this place we go."
"Where's Knuckles?" It wasn't obvious when Omega was smirking but Shadow could always sense it and it was out in force right now.
"...He's fine," the Ultimate Lifeform stiffly answered.
"So you don't know." She sounded surprisingly calm.
"Specific coordinates are unknown, that's true," Shadow swallowed, "But he's okay."
"Or as well as he -and indeed all of you- can be considering you're STILL wandering around in a building about to explode."
"We haven't found Sonic."
There was radio silence for a moment. The regret and worry could be felt over the comms.
"...I know." Rouge's voice was quiet now and, unknown to Shadow, was actually fending back stress tears. "I, um...I'm not asking you to abandon him. I was... I was only going to say that tickets off this island are in high demand and in limited supply. And... Well, I'm worried that not everyone is guaranteed a seat."
Shadow felt sorry for her. She was in a situation where she couldn't directly help with her own two hands and there was no worse feeling than feeling useless.
"...Let me take care of that," he told her calmly, "How soon until everyone is off?"
"Another half hour?"
"Copy that. Good work." Then he rang off.
Omega was watching him closely and Shadow turned to him with anxious eyes. "That's going to cut things close."
Ira's fires were growing steadily, building in size and getting stronger and stronger as every minute passed.
"Hello? HELLO? Is anyone there?"
It was Shade, broadcasting on an open frequency.
"That you, Shade?" Charmy's voice then spoke after her. It appeared that they had temporarily lost Silver's team but had gained the Chaotix.
"About time!" Shade heaved a breath of relief. "I've been trying to get a hold of you guys for ages! What's going on?"
"This place keeps cutting signals," Shadow explained as he and Omega hurried along the corridor in an attempt of ditching the robots that were after them. "We haven't been able to get in contact with each other, let alone anyone... Wait, where are you?"
"That's what I was trying to get a hold of you about!" Shade told them. "I've found our ride!"
"Ride?"
"Omega has a plan of this place, right?" Omega gave a whirr of agreement. "Get him to lead you to the hangers - Eggman has aircraft down here!"
"Someone needs to tell Tails and co," Espio said. "They must be further in than we are. No-one has heard from them in ages."
Shade seemed to hesitate a bit. "You do that," she then whispered. "I've a feeling I'm in for some company."
"Shade?" Shadow worriedly called into his wrist. "Wait for backup, you hear me?"
There was no answer.
"Well, there you have it," he huffed to his partner. "All echidnas are stubborn hard-heads."
The female echidna was, by all means, stubborn.
It was a trait inherited by every member of her species. Their very survival depended on sticking it out until the end, standing your ground until there was no ground left to stand on, planting yourself and refusing to move. The Knuckles Clan, the Nocturnus Clan... both were a victim to this.
So when the sound of oncoming feet came her way, she was ready to root herself where she was and pity whoever it was that told her to move. This was her team's best chance of survival and the discovery of the aircraft hanger was one that instilled hope.
It was a small hanger, compared to the usual sizes that the air force used, but the three vehicles it housed were each powerful enough to see the Sonic Allies safely off the island. She had already chosen the craft; a medium size tilt-rotor helicopter, gunmetal grey in colour.
Her excitement at finding the vehicle, however, was at risk of being dashed by the arrival of Dr Eggman himself.
Thinking quickly and blessing her natural ability to blend into darkness, Shade took cover behind the tilt-rotor, plum coloured eyes narrowed on the doors as they opened to reveal the Master of the House.
Her experience with Eggman was limited but she knew enough.
He walked with an air of triumph which made Shade's jaw clench; the fiend had obviously scored a point over Sonic.
She watched the scientist slowly walk towards the back of the hanger where a moth-eaten tarpaulin was pulled away to reveal a surprisingly clean and shiny eggmobile. It was apparent that Eggman was intending to take his leave as well.
To her surprise, Shade discovered her body was moving of its own accord, her emotions leading her to reveal herself in the dim light.
It was Orbot that spotted her first as she raised her fists to point her weapons. "Sir!" the robot lackey barked a warning.
Eggman's glasses caught a brief light as he turned to study his assailant. It was the first member of the Allies that he had met besides Sonic and Tails today.
"...Are you planning on stopping me?" he asked her.
The pair of them had little information on the other and if this was a good thing or a bad thing, neither could decide.
"In the interests of this world and our future, it is my duty," Shade answered him, her arm perfectly steady despite her anger. It was aimed right at his chest and she maintained his eye contact, daring him to move and make a mistake.
Yet, before Orbot and Cubot were sure she was going to fire, she lowered her arms.
"But that's for another time," she murmured, pleased to see that she had frightened her enemy for a moment. Baring her teeth, she turned her shoulder to him. "Sonic is more important than you right now."
The human scientist twitched one heavily bushy eyebrow and briefly looked confused. However he was soon gracing Shade with his well-known false smile.
"Ah," Eggman breathed, his face now unreadable, "another one seduced by that hedgehog's love for freedom. I remember you." As much as she wanted to, there was little she could do but watch Eggman climb slowly into his eggmobile and wait as his robots followed him. "Well then," he then smiled at last, "until next time."
The eggmobile thrummed into life and began to rise.
"One last thing," called Shade. Eggman looked back to her. "...If you wish your future defeat to be as painless as possible, don't ever try and fashion a robot echidna again."
Torn between escape and curiosity, Eggman gave in to his latter feeling. "You mean like Metal Knuckles?" he asked.
Shade hissed at him. "We are an elder species and I will not allow you to insult my ancestors. You understand?"
"With my IQ?" Eggman chuckled. "I understand perfectly. Goodbye."
Having said all he needed to say, Dr Eggman activated the hanger doors and, without giving Shade any further attention, was lifting off into the night on the squeal of his motor's protesting engine.
There was just one more thing left for him to do before he took his leave completely...
Tails' wrist communicator pinged, a sudden and yet very welcome sound lately.
"Was that your communicator?" Knuckles asked.
The three of them had stopped in their tracks after wandering miles, it seemed, of endless corridors, musing to one another that 'doesn't it smell awfully of smoke suddenly?'
"Maybe it's Sonic!" Amy cried as she wheeled on Tails, preventing herself from seizing his arm for her own means. The thing that might have caused worry for Tails was that his communicator had signalled a written message rather than an audio one but then, he had soon thereafter reasoned, perhaps the others weren't in a position to record an audio message for him.
Perhaps.
He examined his communicator and furrowed a furry brow. "It's not Sonic," he told his two friends solemnly.
Amy and Knuckles deflated.
"Who was it?" Amy then asked but was puzzled when Tails cocked his head to one side, signifying his apparent confusion.
"It says 'Security Computer in Corridor 25'," he read quietly.
Knuckles glared at the offending communicator. "Is that it?" he huffed.
"Just..." Tails shrugged. "'Use it'."
"Use the Security Computer in Corridor 25," Knuckles repeated and grimaced. "I swear if this is a trap..."
"Wait!" Tails' eyes suddenly widened as he caught more of the message.
"What?" Amy and Knuckles chorused together.
Tails seemed to re-read his wrist. "...Floor E. R91."
"...What?"
"Those were directions." Tails was beginning to brighten, his eyes shining and his mouth attempting to smile for the first time in a long while. "Use the Security Computer to open up Room 91 on Floor- They've told us where Sonic is! COME ON!"
With a kick that he had learnt to master in the years he had been Sonic's devoted follower, Tails took off in a blur of yellow, nearly sprinting out of sight. Reaction times being their forte, Amy and Knuckles hardly allowed a second to pass before they were sprinting off after him.
"Who told us?" Amy asked in a loud, breathless voice, exhilarated by their renewed run.
"I'm going to say Orbot and Cubot," Tails guessed, promising that he would have to thank them properly if he ever saw them again.
"D'you think they got the message, Boss?" Cubot asked. He was stood to the side of his master, watching diligently as Dr Eggman turned off his own communictor with a proud smirk.
"Hope so," he replied.
New thoughts and plans were coming to him now that he had corrected Ira's mistakes and had the playing field back under his control. The future was still his to claim and it WOULD be claimed. It would be claimed HIS way.
"Now then," the feared Dr Eggman announced merrily, turning his eggmobile to the West, "let's get going. Evil genius doesn't build empires overnight, you know and I'm pooped. You two will be absolute angels and make me breakfast tomorrow, won't you? Can't wait to get my hands on a TV again! Can you imagine all the seasons of Hedgehog Abbey I need to catch up on?"
And so, Dr Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik sailed off after the already-set sun, delighted in the knowledge that he had learnt so much about Sonic the Hedgehog and eager in the thought of crossing paths with the "fastest thing alive" again one day.
Because, in a way, Shadow had spoken the truth: If Eggman was going down, he was intending to take Sonic with him.
Charmy paused where he stood and didn't move.
"Legs broken, Charmy?" Vector asked in front of him, giving Ira, who had been hoisted roughly over the croc's shoulder, another jolt.
The bee looked up worriedly. "Can I smell smoke?"
"I dunno. Can yer?"
"I think I can."
"Right now?"
"Yeah."
Ira then discovered he had been left in the tender care of gravity and went crashing down with a yelp.
"I'm not as young as I look, you know!" he roared in pain. "Damn animals." He shut up pretty fast when Vector dropped onto all fours in front of him and hovered his jaw close to the scientist's neck.
"The only words I want from yer are the answers to my questions, wise guy," he growled quietly, barely moving his lips as he did so.
Ira pathetically nodded, sensing that Espio was probably stood behind him somewhere in silence.
"What were yer up to when we caught yer?" Vector asked him.
"Running," Ira answered.
"What else?"
"Trying to find Sonic."
"And?"
Ira gulped. "All the closets from C Floor to here are on fire."
Charmy and Espio glanced at one another, stunned.
"Are yer serious!?" Vector snarled, jumping back onto his feet. "Yer doom this place to get blown up an' now..." He shook his head. "Espio, try and get a hold of the others. This place won't hold out fer much longer." Ira was picked up again by the crocodile as he and Charmy took off down a new corridor as Espio followed behind, calling into his communicator.
"Espio calling anyone and everyone! C Floor has been set on fire. We need to get out. What are your current positions?"
For a brief moment, the chameleon was worried that there would be interference again and the signal wouldn't get through.
So it was to his enormous surprise and relief that he soon received replies.
Shade was first to call in. "This is Shade and I'm in the Main Hanger. Floor A."
Next it was Shadow. "Omega and I are on Floor D. We can smell the smoke."
Then came Silver. Silver didn't sound so calm as the others did.
"This is Silver," he shouted, "and we can confirm the fire because WE'RE ON FREAKING FLOOR C!"
Ira was jolted again by Vector who could hear the conversations behind him.
"Can you make it to the Hanger?" Shadow's voice asked.
"With Blaze's help, thankfully," replied Silver. "But what about the Fantastic Four?"
"None of us have heard from them," Espio grimly said. "Tails is smart, though and he'll work out how to get in touch but we need to get out of here. The integrity of these walls aren't looking good."
The fires that were spreading above them (as they were on B Floor) were putting strain on everything and, as a result, the walls were starting to show cracks.
The first they knew that the Babylon Rogues were off was when the engines of their flying airship began to hum into life and over the increasing volume it was producing came a shout from Storm, hanging out the office window.
"That's everyone!" he called down. "Let's get going to the mainland."
Marine had just seen the last person to their seat and was emerging outside again when she heard them. "Leaving?" she asked in surprise.
Rouge and Sticks were stood a few meters away in front of the other two members of the Babylon Rogues.
"Our boat's full," Jet explained as the raccoon hurried over with wide eyes. "We've been told to drop them off on the mainland so that's what we're gonna do."
Marine was looking to Rouge for some kind of confirmation but the bat was looking solemn, masking her expression like an expert.
"Were you expecting us to linger about with an airship full of sleepy innocents?" Jet scoffed to which Marine shook her head.
Of course, it wasn't as though she had arrived to the island on the airship but it hit her that it was how her friends had arrived and now they were sending it away, just like that. She couldn't help but feel guilty.
"Get going then," Rouge barked stiffly, "This island is joining Atlantis before morning comes."
Jet gave an informal salute and sauntered back towards his ship with Wave right behind him, wagging her tail feathers proudly. The three of them watched the doors shut, unable to repress a feeling of unease and regret.
"How long have we got?" Marine murmured quietly.
Rouge watched the airship lift into the sky, blotting out the moon with its immense size, turning slowly and majestically in the air before moving off away from the doomed island.
Rouge shivered and hugged herself as she watched their friends' lifeboat sail from view. "...Not long enough," she replied.