OH YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S A MULTICHAPTER FIC BABY
TOLD YOU THOSE TWO PREQUELS WOULD CONNECT AND ENJOY SOME MEPHLIES LOVE TOO
Sanctum and Steel are wonderful characters and I hope to see more of them in the future ;w;
Please look at their DA and Tumblr!
5courgesbestbuddy
With a sharp crackle, a warp gate opened in the lower halls of concrete and soul crushing emotion. The purple and red cubes sparking and twitching before the incoming screaming of the trio slipped to the other side in their tumble.
First to crumble to the ground was an emerald hedgehog before the pile grew quickly with white and ebony following in quick succession.
Groaning from the sudden weight on his body, Scourge let himself sprawl out for a moment to settle the loss of air in his lungs.
"What in the-" From the top of the pile, unaware he was literally crushing two people under his denser weight, Sanctum rubbed his head as he caught sight of the ring flicking and warping inward before collapsing with a faint 'ting!' and spin.
As the golden ring spun and struck the ground, Sanctum felt oddly enraptured from the harmonizing swirling. The odd cubes still sparking before settling on the ground with a weak wobble.
"Where are we?" Steel wheezed underneath the heavier hedgehog, wiggling a bit in hopes of getting free though as he did; his hand pushed Scourge's head down accidently. Making their 'leader' face plant into the ground hard. "Not sure, but at least the ring didn't break under whatever that energy spike was."
The crimson orbs looked around, frowning at the sight of so much concrete and-
"...Oh I don't like this place."
"What? Why, is there- Oh this whole damn hallway doesn't have windows," Steel looked up at the oldest moebian in their group. "That's a bad vibe!"
"Why don't we...get out of the enclosed space, hmm?"
Dark ears perked at the muffled shouting beneath him, causing him to glance down; finally seeming to realize the odd little pile. "What was that?"
Freeing himself from the forced face plant, Scourge gasped for air," WOULD YOU TWO GET THE HELL OFFA ME!?" The sharp blues shot up at the two, his face a mild red as he shimmied. "Why? Don't like the weight of your team on your shoulders?"
"I WILL BITE YOUR ANKLES, OLD TIMER!"
A soft red glow encapsulated the trio as the pile floated upward and settled on their feet, Steel rolling his eyes a bit as he let the aura fade.
"Oh would you relax, not my fault you can't handle it." Sanctum crossed his arms pointedly as the emerald rogue darted to pick up the fallen ring. "What the hell was that?! It never opens on its own! It needs someone to give a location first!"
"Don't know, but those cubes couldn't have been good. Are you certain it wasn't that dark energy we've been dealing with?" Sanctum crossed his arms and shifted a bit closer, not liking how the walls seemed to try to move inward.
"No, this is...different. It ain't that." Scourge grumbled, frowning as he waggled the ring. "Is it bad boss?" Steel asked, looking over the leather shoulder to peak.
"Yeah, it feels like it was jump started and drained at the same time. Like someone else outside of the set world accessed it… Or something really powerful interfered with the frequency it has."
The armored hedgehog paused for a moment, quite curious at the deemed 'nerd knowledge' the hedgehog usually spat at, was clear on display.
"Is there anyway to tell where the energy came from, or was it lost in the interference?" Sanctum tilted his head, crimson locking with ice blue for a moment before the shorter hedgehog huffed and stood.
A faint pink in his cheeks.
"Maybe, but we'd have to have a machine that can scan it. And I doubt we can get one since we're….we're…"
Scourge went silent as his eyes widened in horror in recollection to where they actually were. "...Oh no."
"Oh no? What do you mean 'oh no'? We can find the scanner right?!" Steel looked between the only two 'adults' he actually knew in mild panic.
"Y-yeah we can find one...here."
"Oh! Phew, you had me worried for a second," Steel chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck in barely contained anxiety.
"What is...here?" Sanctum asked carefully when he noticed the terrified look on Scourge's face.
"...The No Zone."
"The...the what?"
"The No Zone. You know...The maximum security prison I was locked away in until I busted my way out?!" Scourge snapped a bit out of growing anxiety, already feeling ghostly hands striking and trying to break him while being stuck here-
"Oh...Ah- eh-," Steel winced, poking his fingers together as ebony cleared his throat," Well, look on the brightside."
"Sanctum, what in the hell would be the brightside?!"
The striped male gently tapped his neck to make his point," You don't have that collar you spoke of."
The bright blues narrowed a bit before he paused in thought, his jaw loosening from being tense,"...I guess that's a brightside."
"Exactly." Sanctum looked off to the side for a moment to settle an odd fluttering before he glanced his crimsons back," Now then, you mentioned something about a scanner? Would a scanner be in this prison at all?"
With a mild fluster, Scourge forced himself to ignore the creeping sense of dread and anxiety and focus on what he needed to find," Well yeah, a scanner is how they can catch different dimensions." Tapping his chin, the emerald rogue hummed," If I remember right, there should be one on the fourth floor by the evidence lock up."
"Why there?"
"Dunno, probably some weird thing with organizing things alphabetically or something." Scourge shrugged," But, that's probably there. We just gotta figure out where we are and make our way down or up?"
"There a map or something?" Bright ambers looked between the two before giving a sigh and shrug," Well sorry! This place has enough ego and seeping narcissism that it probably does!"
"..Actually yeah I think there is?"
The crimson orbs went half lidded as he glared a deadpan at the emerald hedgehog," ….What?"
"Dude, this place is run by some Eggman version but with a justice boner. There probably is."
"Is there anything else we should know?"
"Or maybe something else weird?" Steel piped up," Well, everyone's name starts with a 'z' here for some reason."
"WHAT?!"
"I know! Like, 'oh no, it's Zegman, look out!' or 'Knock, knock, it's Znuckles, unlike Zonic he don't-' actually wait, I don't think I've seen him at all here." Scourge narrowed his eyes as he fell into deep thought for a moment.
"Could we please stay on task?"
"Right, come on, let's go find that scanner. The sooner we can find out who triggered the ring, the faster we can make sure no one triggers it besides us."
"Boss are we gonna fight a fool?"
"Yeah Steel, we're gonna smack a fool good." The leather wearing teen sneered as he cackled," Come on, let's find the weird stairway-"
"WAIT ARE WE SIDEWAYS!?"
"Yeah, don't think about it too hard or you'll get sick," Scourge waved it off casually, despite the shared confused looks of his other team members. "Come on guys, we gotta move. The longer we're here, the longer the police could catch us or something."
"You seem genuinely concerned that we could get caught," Sanctum huffed as he minded his step on the….wall? Floor?
"Meh, they just like using shock collars and poles a lot."
The ice blues glanced back to the tight crimsons, sharing a silent bode of understanding before he walked casually on.
"Now then-"
"Well...at least we have an idea of the origin...and a potential creator of the anomaly…"
At the sound of a chillingly familiar monotone voice, Scourge flailed and twisted around in a panic. His ice blues widening as he looked around before spotting a closet door.
Kneeling quickly, he twisted the knob and was thankful it was unlocked before he lunged and locked his arms around the two startled hedgehogs," WHAT ARE YOU-"
"SHUT UP!" Scourge grunted through his teeth as he made the trio fall through the closet doorway before closing the door quickly.
"Woah-" Steel coughed as he moved a mop out of his face, panicking slightly as he was nearly touching the ceiling without the use of his usual aura.
"Was that really necessary?" Sanctum rumbled as he carefully stood on some shelf work.
"SHH!" Scourge hissed a bit, the noise making the ebony hedgehog bristle in irritation before he caught noise of the voices.
"Sanc, what-" Steel paused at the faint hand raise from the eldest and peeked towards the door, his ears twitching at the new but oddly familiar voices.
"Don't mention it, I know how much unsolved cases bug you," a deeper voice stated tenderly to the higher monotone.
Carefully crawling up on the shelf to settle beside Scourge and press his own hand against the door to ensure it didn't swing open, Sanctum narrowed his gaze at the voice. It almost sounded like...no, it couldn't be.
Three pairs of ears perked at the sound of feet pausing by the door way, nearly panicking in fear of opening the closet.
"Well...maybe for once we can stop a major threat before it becomes out of hand…," a voice chuckled a bit sadly.
"You know Nega wasn't-"
"I know...I know...I just can't help but feel like we're responsible is all…."
"Who's Nega?" Steel whispered, catching a shrug from Sanctum and a finger to the mouth from Scourge.
"Hey, it's almost over...And just you wait, that zone will be as beautiful as ever." the deeper voice seemed to smile at the other.
"Heh….maybe."
Scourge strained a bit as he struggled to remain still as his instincts screamed at him to do something, anything but stay still. Though, as the quiet murmuring on the door softened, a tiny giggle making the emerald hedgehog grimace in 'knowing' from the noise.
After an eternity, the footsteps resumed and traveled further down the hall. A breath of relief leaving the tiny team as Steel carefully floated up towards the door," Are they gone?"
"Sounds like it." Sanctum rumbled as he carefully let the door swing back, Scourge quickly hopping up on the frame and reaching down to hoist him up.
It was unneeded but...he felt oddly touched at the thought.
Brushing the hand away, he pulled himself up and rested on the frame as Steel merely floated up.
"Those were cops…" Scourge growled under his breath, sighing," I know because I know one of their voices...This must be the floor with the interrogation rooms."
"Should I be concerned how well you know this horrible place?" Sanctum quipped faintly, earning a smug glare from the ice blues.
"Or how you're not phased from the world being sideways?" Steel added.
"Meh, when you're trying to survive each day, it's best to figure out what you're working with," Scourge shrugged before hopping to his feet.
"Come on, if the interrogation rooms are on this floor, we're closer to the evidence lock up than I thought."
"Good."
With a coy smirk, Scourge chuckled at the tense arm cross," What's wrong Sanc? Spooked from concrete?"
A faint pink graced the tan cheeks as the armored hedgehog snarled a bit," No, I just don't like the vibe of this place. It's disgusting."
"I can confirm this place isn't a vibe." Steel muttered, spinning around a bit as he would rather float given the...topsy turvy way of the hall.
"I mean, ya ain't wrong boys. This place drains ya in more ways than one." Scourge shrugged before carefully sneaking across the wall.
"Come on, we can go through the vents to stay upright."
"Do...did you crawl through the vents before?"
The emerald teen pouted a bit as he looked up to the deadpanned glare sent his way," I mean, if you saw some of the people in here dude, you'd wanna be in the vents too."
"...Mhm."
Crawling through the vents wouldn't have been so bad if each foot they passed didn't rapidly change the gravitational pull.
Steel had to let his aura grasp around Scourge and Sanctum to avoid a potential loud thud of a body against metal or someone actually throwing up.
"I swear...when I find out what joker's been messing with my warp ring, they ain't gonna be walking…" Scourge grumbled as he practically clawed his way forward.
The youngest sighed as he floated along, letting the two other hedgehogs pull him along for the sake of his own stomach. Though he didn't understand why he always had to be on the back…
"Psst. You, telepath." A voice hissed from the vent shaft underneath him sharply.
"Ah hell- what?!" he spun, glaring amber orbs at the venomous snake like greens peering up at him from the grate.
"Oh...shi-"
"Relax child, I'm not a guard…"
Steel glanced towards where Scourge and Sanctum were, wincing when he saw the two arguing in a whisper over a fork in the vent. "..." Cautiously, he floated to the grate, not liking the weird 'clown in a sewer' vibe this guy had. "What do you want dude, I'm kind of busy.."
The odd crystalline hedgehog tilted his head, the gems tinkling in his quills as he chuckled," I'm aware~"
"O...kay…"
"Listen...What if I told you how to operate the machine you need?"
"...I don't think I'd listen to the advice of some "Jem and the Holograms" reject dude."
"Mephlies…...If you please."
"Right….Um, I'm gonna go now-"
"Wait!" Steel jumped from sharp crystal claws digging into the shaft," Just...release my collar so I can leave."
"Why would I do that? Exactly?"
"..." The sharp acidic greens narrowed a bit," What if I told you how to handle the spike of dark energy in your world?"
"...We can figure it out on our own...weird guy that knows oddly too much about us." Steel narrowed his ambers a bit.
Mephlies narrowed his gaze almost coyly as a sharp rasp snipped from down the vent," Steel! Don't talk to the inmates, get over here!"
"Look~ Why not take the offered distraction? A mild skirmish would buy you time after all~"
The albino teen tensed at how much sense it made...Even if he could tell the dripping tones of manipulation.
"Alright, why you want out man?"
"Mephlies."
"Yeah, whatever, tell me your deal dude."
"..." The green on red eyes narrowed sharply as he suppressed a dark growl,"...I want vengeance on-"
"Alright."
The dark god blinked as the collar around his neck twitched and slipped off, falling to the ground with a dull clink.
"...Are you being serious-"
"Hey man, honesty is good in the bad guy scene...I think…" Steel chewed his lower lip as he missed the bewildered look from the dark time god. "Meh, go live out your revenge fantasy old timer. I got things to do."
"Steel!"
"Coming!"
The crystalline hedgehog stared after the teen for a long moment as his own hellish energy rushed back into his starved body.
"...Dear chaos, if I had known it was that easy, I would've tried this with the guard that looks like Silver…"
Twisting and morphing into a shadowy mist, the orange jumpsuit fell to the ground as the now free convict slipped into a different vent to his own escape in the quivering room of pure warp energy down below the lower decks of the hidden laboratories of the prison.
"...Meh, I'm sure nothing bad would come of that."
"Come of what?" Sanctum gave a queer glance to the youngest as he floated up and along the shaft," Don't worry about it, it's someone else's problem."