Sonic dashed through one of the many hallways on the third floor, his gaze darting over the rows of sealed labs. He skidded to a stop at the hallway intersection, clutching onto the wall paneling. "Tails!" He screamed, "Eggman!"
A robot turned a corner down one of the hallways. Sonic took one look, turned and ran.
He glared, his jaw clenched.
Eggman had to know he was there. The combots and security cameras would have made sure of that.
He had probably already finished doing whatever he wanted to do to—
He was not gonna think that way! He was not! He wasn't gonna believe it until he could see for himself—until he could see Tails with his own two eyes and pick him up, if there was anything left for him to pick up, and feel for his pulse and his heartbeat—
He'd kill Eggman-
Tears stabbed at his eyes and he gasped for breath.
Sonic growled hard and swiped a hand across his face, swallowing the beginnings of a lump in his throat.
He kept running.
He rounded a corner, and skidded to a stop, dropping to all fours. A large energy shield buzzed before him, cutting off the hallway.
Weird.
Sonic jumped back to his feet and scrambled to try the next hallway—
A second energy field appeared out of nowhere down the hall behind him.
Trapping him in between.
Sonic's eyes widened and he shot back against the wall.
All his spikes unsheathed and every hair on his body raised. He crouched low, forcing himself to keep breathing steadily.
They had him—the roof was going to drop on him, or the walls would snap shut on him like a book closing up—this had all been a scheme to kill him, Tails probably wasn't even here, he was probably already long gone—he had to break through one of the doors in the extra rooms or something—
Sonic waited for a second, his senses sharpened, his green eyes bright against the darkness of the hall.
He breathed out.
Sonic scrambled across the floor on all fours and stopped before the energy field.
It was clear, buzzing and crackling softly. Ripples of energy distorted the surface, making the hallway beyond it look blurry. Sonic raised both of his gloved hands, his gaze fixed on the shield. He pressed his hands almost up against the shield so he could feel the intensity of the energy waves. A couple sparks warmed his gloves but that was all.
He rolled back onto his hands and kicked his feet up at the shield with all of his might.
At once, the wall sprang towards him like a trampoline, enveloping his body in a net of cracking, stabbing pain.
Sonic let out a shout as his body skidded across hallway floor, thrust back by the force of the shield.
Sonic gasped for breath. His limbs locked and his heart raced. He could almost feel the energy slowly zapping through his body, working its way towards his limbs.
"Tsk, tsk, Sonic." Eggman's voice. "Touching an energy field, I'm surprised at you. I mean, really, how have you managed to stay alive this long?"
Sonic arched his back and neck to stare at the shield, glaring hard.
He froze.
The shield had become a screen, but instead of Eggman's face, Sonic saw video footage of two combots, Grounder and Tails at the top floor of a spiral stairwell.
All of Sonic's heightened senses focused onto the image of Tails.
He stared, unable to move or speak.
He could still save him.
"It's a live stream, Sonic. You are watching Tails at this very moment in time, but if you don't believe me, come to the foyer and see for yourself. No fooling. You'll have ten seconds, but don't try any more stunts in that time. My cameras can sense your motion, and all the doors leading to the stairwell have been blocked with my fields. Only the foyer floor entrance is clear for you."
At that moment, the field and screen dissipated.
"Ten…ni-"
Sonic surged forward, down the hall, towards the foyer.
"What about the Emerald?" Grounder asked.
Tails still lay bent back over the drop below, tear stains wetting his cheeks. He sucked up another breath of air and let gravity pull his head back down. Another shudder of pain ran through him.
"Don't—don't know," he mumbled out. He tried to writhe closer to the rail, but Grounder held him firm.
"Oh yes you do, fox." Grounder's leaden eyes shown on Tails, his monotone blaring out. "The great relic the echidna guarded. The Emerald of immortal power. You and the hedgehog were two of few who ever even spoke to him. List the top five places he could be hiding."
Tails let out a long sigh.
"Did the Queen and Mobius council tell you and the hedgehog to go after the Emerald?"
Tails rolled his head from side to side, taking deep breaths.
He could barely understand what Grounder was saying anymore.
Grounder stared down at the fox.
The robot lunged forward, snatched Tail's upper arms with both hands and shook him hard.
Tails barked in pain and tried to lurch onto his side. He swiped up both his tails, weighted chains and all and smashed them against Grounder.
The robot lurched, but he did not tip off his treads. He held the fox down.
Tails slumped in defeat, overpowered. He gasped and another sob broke free. "We just wanted Knuckles back," he shouted, "We didn't want to lose him…we…he was our friend…"
Grounder's round eyes zoomed in on Tails, clicking.
"You…don't know what that's like. They didn't let you know—you're not programmed for that… You only do and say what they tell you to," the fox finished. He cried.
Grounder's speaker rewound. "Let me ask you again…"
