Sonic Hill 2: DX Chapter 23: Sixty Feet Under, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

Sonic Hill 2: DX

Chapter 23: Sixty Feet Under

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-Clop…

Miles peered around the corner cautiously with his handgun drawn and ready to shoot anything that moved. The events that occurred in the newspaper room hadn't exactly eased the intensity of the situation much. Because of this, he was even more high strung than ever before. The rifle—his only powerful weapon—was now just an empty hunk of metal, so he was left with only the handgun to defend himself. Meaning if anything stronger than a straightjacket or mannequin monster decided to intervene in his path, he was done for.

That corridor outside the newspaper room, the one he'd run into Rouge and that freaky monster in, led down a few more corridors, not very surprisingly. To his luck, this section of the labyrinth was a lot more straight forward than deceiving and treacherous, so it only took him about five minutes to travel a decent distance that had taken him a lot longer in the west side of the place. The corridors were leading west a lot more often now, which was good. His somewhat accurate map was drawing closer and closer to where the hedgehog's cell should be. Even if it was only a little bit off, it still led him generally in the right direction.

Now he'd descended another ladder, and was checking out the new corridor. It went straight a few feet, leading up a very short stoop to a steel door. It also branched off to the right a little before it reached the stoop. Down the right end of the corridor was a halfway opened gated door with a staircase behind it that led down a little bit to a place he couldn't see. The young fox decided it was best to check out the door on this floor first and hope for the best, and then if he came up with nothing just head back to here and down the stairs. Easy enough.

Going up the three steps to the door, Miles pulled it open and stepped into the very familiar and well-lit room.

Steel bars stared straight at him, which were surrounded by the interior of a very familiar room. Looks like he'd made it to the other end of the cell after all – he was now standing at the door beside Shadow's bed. Excitement running through his veins, he turned to look at the hedgehog lying on the bed not too far away from the door. "Shadow?"

His desirous intentions crashed down in flames.

"Shadow!!" Already he could feel that horrible cold numbness seep through his mind again. His handgun dropped to the floor, and his jaw practically followed. "No!!"

Miles Prower slowly stepped closer to the bed, horrified at the sight before him. Tears had already begun to flow down his furry cheeks for the second time as he fell to his knees beside the mattress. Putting his hands to his head, he covered his scalp and let out a sudden sob, his voice breaking as he spoke.

"No…nononononononononono…" the last 'no' was a mere squeak, foreshadowing the moans of pain and sorrow that escaped his lips moments later. It was all too much for him to take in; to accept what had obviously happened when he was away.

The bed sheets were stained with what was undeniably dark crimson; the same color as the hedgehog's now blank eyes that stared up at the ceiling. Seeping out of Shadow's half-opened mouth was only more redness, telling the fox the obvious cause of the beds paintjob. Along with the sheets, blood coated the hedgehog's furry chest.

"S-shadow…" the devastated fox whispered shakily, his face unable to tear away from his now dead friend's body. "What happened to you!?…Why…?…Why…?"

He couldn't believe it…but it had happened again…That distant look of pain was etched in Shadow's blank eyes, telling the fox that his death was not peaceful. Slowly, Miles moved up and laid his head on the hedgehog's stained torso, feeling warmth still emit from it, but no heartbeat. He'd been too late. But he was still warm…Shadow must have died a short period of time ago, possibly mere minutes. If only he'd been a little faster…

Miles took his face off the hedgehog's torso—catching a small ounce of crimson on his ear—and rested it in his palms, his elbows standing weakly on the edge of the mattress. "I failed you…again…"

For what felt like years, he stayed there beside his fallen comrade. Though, probably only a few minutes passed by. Tears of regret—siblings of the tears he'd shed in the hospital long ago—dripped down from his blue lakes of eyes like newborn rivers. His legs trembled, but after a few more minutes passed by, Miles managed to stand back up. He brushed the tears off of his face with his still damp right arm, letting out continuous choked sobs. Shadow was dead, for the second time. That same thought he'd repeated in his head thousands of times the first time around came back, rattling the fox's blue heart.

'I could have saved him…'

Gently placing his fingertips at the top of the hedgehog's eyelids, he shut Shadow's pained eyes. There was no more he could do.

The numbness, similar to the one he'd felt constantly before he met the hedgehog but a lot more prominent now, stayed with Miles as he left the cell a few minutes of grieving later. He knew it'd be hard to lose it, and in some ways didn't want to. Shadow's death, for the second time, had left him feeling truly hopeless and alone again – like he had been for a very very long time.

'Oh Shadow…I'm so sorry…I failed…I failed…I failed…'

Memories of both the hedgehogs educed themselves again, bringing him only more longing and depression. Shadow was gone now...but the faint hope of Sonic waiting for him in that hotel was enough to keep him going. For now, that tiny flame of hope still burned. He wanted to, needed to, persist in his journey.

"Sonikku…"

It was time to go.

As far as he knew, the only other way he could go now in this corridor was down those other stairs. He sniffled again and tried to regain his alertness. Eyes still moist with tears, Miles began to head for the staircase around the corner. He went through the gate, down the staircase, across the short corridor, and through the thick double doors.

Shining his light into the darkness, Miles's jaw dropped in awe at the new chamber. The place was massive – similar to how the large court in the prison had been, except this room had a lot more in it than that. A long gravel path led straight into the depths of the darkness. Lined along the sides of the path were medium sized stones, withered remains of flowers resting on the small mound of dirt at the foot of them. Green grass covered the ground, creating a nice but out of place garden of some sort alongside the path.

It was hard to imagine, but he was in a large underground graveyard.

The place had to be about as big as a baseball field at least, but Miles couldn't really be sure since it was so dark. The flashlight's beam ended about fifteen feet away, and anything beyond that was just too dark to see before he got closer. Thought it creeped him out, he couldn't help but stare at the tombstones as he passed them by. He only looked at a few of them before he came across a startlingly familiar name.

'James Sunderland'

Miles remembered reading that name in that magazine article before entering the historical society…knowing that had scared him. Why would that man be buried all the way down here?

Shrugging it off the best he could, the tense fox continued moving down the path. How many tombstones in total there were, he did not know, but there must have been at least thirty...

'Keith Fermonti'

'Spark Tiger'

'Light Hedget'

'Ray Squirrel'

'Eddie Drimbowski'

'Albert Whisker'

'Selene Cat'

'Angela Orosco'

'Mary "Traitor" Karlson'

So many names…

Gravel crunched and cracked under his feet as he continued moving down the cemetery path. It was so quiet, but every sound Miles made seemed louder than it should be. A rat of fear gently gnawed on the back of his head. Graveyards always creeped him out, but the level of fear they emitted was much more intense all the way down here. If something happened to him, no one would be able to save him. Not on the streets of the town, and definitely not down here.

The sound of his trembling feet against the gravel abruptly stopped as he came to a halt. The back of the room was only a few yards away now, and hugging the back wall were three clean new looking tombstones lined up in a row. Under each of them was a large vacant hole, which led about six feet down, like the coffin had not yet been lowered into it. Suddenly feeling even more scared, Miles slowly stepped up to the nearest stone, the one the farthest to the left. His eyes widened when he recognized the name engraved on it.

'Eggman Robotnik'

"Eggman…?"

That didn't make any sense. As far as he knew, Eggman was still alive…and even if the man had been killed by one of the monsters or something, that wouldn't explain why he already has his own tombstone. Not to mention why it was all the way down here…

Shaking his head, Miles looked over at the grave right next to it, the one in the middle of the three. His heart skipped a beat as he read the name engraved on that one too.

'Rouge Bat'

"No…Rouge…"

Wasn't she still alive too? Or did she…did she…

The hungry rat in the back of his mind was now biting even more fiercely, knowing its meal was soon to get all the more tender. Miles was deeply afraid of what the final grave on the right would say, but he had to see it…he had no other choice…

And when he did, a gasp of horror escaped his lips. It was the most familiar name he'd known in his entire life:

'Miles Prower'

"Oh my god…"

He bit his lip, and felt that familiar icey snake slither down his spine. The cadaverous stone before him sent waves and waves of dread through his body, and it was not pleasant. Things had far past gotten too weird and too frightening, but Miles knew it still was not over. Who was behind all this? And who, in particular, was really trying to kill them?

'This isn't…I…'

Miles didn't even know what to think.

But he did notice something, something horrible but something he knew he had to do. The hole in front of his grave was different from that of Eggman's and Rouge's. Instead of ending on more dirt six feet below, there was no bottom in sight. Only blackness. Just like so many holes he'd had to jump down to travel deeper into The Abyss earlier, it looked almost bottomless.

'Another one…'

Was he really so brave as to do it?

'Sonikku…anything for you…I've got nowhere to go, and nothing else to live for anyway…only you…' the trembling fox took a deep breath. He was horrified, terrified, but he knew it was what he had to do. Besides, if worse came to worse, was death really even that bad of an option for him anymore? 'I won't give up…I…I won't…'

Taking in a final deep, shaky breath, Miles jumped down his own grave.

---

…

"Uuugnn…"

The floor was ice cold.

Letting out a low pained moan in reaction to his aching body, Miles lifted himself off the floor and got up to his feet. Like all the other times, he had no idea how far he'd fallen, but it wasn't enough to liquefy his frail body. Still, it hurt an awful lot. Checking all his possessions—the guns on his back, the contents in his pockets, and the items in his side pack and carrying bag—he felt easement when he found that they were all still in one piece. A little wet from the trek through the place, but at least in one piece.

Now it was time to focus on where the hell he was. It felt extremely cold, even more so than it did on the foggy streets, like he was stuck inside a freezer or something. His location was a short corridor with a set of double doors at the end of it. Lining the walls near the doors were some pipes, which emitted cloudy ice-cold air. That must be it. Miles began to walk towards the doors, feeling the air sting and numb his wet fur as he went.

When he opened the doors, the horrible smell immediately filled his senses, stinging his sinuses like a deadly bee. This new room was some sort of large walk-in freezer; tubes spewing out more cold gas were lined around the room, and the walls and floor were coated in a layer of ice. But that was the least of his worries though; there was blood everywhere. Over 13 dead bodies, each pumped full of lead, were sprawled out on the floor or leaning on the walls. Gore coated their bodies, along with several bullet holes.

And in the very center of the room stood Eggman, aiming a hot Luger at one of the bullet riddled corpses. Though it was freezing, the armpits of his red jacket were stained with sweat. His matching red whiskers were messed up, and had some flakes of ice on them too. His glasses were still missing, showing his large gray pupils that were focused only on the corpse alongside the Luger. The tendrils on the mans pale neck seemed to strain as he slowly turned and stared down at the fox's shocked face.

"E-Eggman!" Miles stuttered, shocked and horrified at what had obviously happened in the room possibly minutes ago. "W-what have you done!?"

"What the fuck does it look like!?" Eggman's screamed with anger, the cold walls magnifying his voice a thousand times. Taking his eyes off Miles, he glanced back at the dead corpse beside him. "He always busted my balls! 'You fat disgusting piece of shit, you make me sick!' 'Fucking fatass! Look what you've done with yourself! You're just a waste of skin!' 'Hey look, it's a giant talking egg!' 'You're so fat that in school you sat next to everybody!'"

"Eggman…"

"They always made fun of me!! Always! They never stopped! Well, maybe they were right. Maybe I really am a fat disgusting piece of shit…" Eggman looked at the fox, a maniacal grin forming on his chapped lips that matched perfectly with his even more insane eyes. "But you know what? It doesn't matter if you're smart, dumb, ugly, pretty…it's all the same once you're dead!"

With a squeeze of the trigger, the bald man fired another round into the lifeless hulk of flesh beside him. A new large hole appeared at the top of the corpses head, spraying another ounce of blood and brains onto the cold floor and walls around it.

Miles jumped at the gunshot, even more terror seeping into his body. Eggman had lost it. People had made fun of him so much, he lost it…

"And a corpse can't laugh…" the man barely whispered, a trace of happiness and humor in his tone. Putting the gun to his head like in the prison, he made a shooting gesture. "From now on, if anybody makes fun of me, I'LL FUCKIN' KILL 'EM!!! JUST LIKE THAT!!!"

The fox's blood ran cold, and he suddenly couldn't move anymore. Was it the temperature of the room doing this, or was it the insane man standing before him? Ending the conversation suddenly, Eggman turned and casually walked to the door behind him.

"E-eggman…you've gone nuts…" Miles thought out loud, flabbergasted.

Eggman stopped dead in his tracks, his back arching up like someone had pointed a gun to him. Miles immediately bit his lip, realizing what he'd just said and feeling extremely stupid for saying it. That mistake just might cost him his life.

"I knew it…" Eggman slowly turned around to face him, a surprised look of betrayal in his dull eyes. "You too…you're just like them…you've been laughing at me all along, haven't you? Ever since we first met!"

"No!" Miles held his hands out, trying to speak as calmly as he could. The terror in his voice showed, unfortunately. Silently he wondered if this what was the others in the room were saying before they were reduced to the lifeless corpses they were now. "I-I didn't mean anything! I'm not making fun of you, I never w—"

"Shut the fuck up!!" Eggman screamed with rage, his eyes narrowing at the young fox. "You're all making fun of me! All of you! I'LL KILL YOU MILES!!!"

Time froze for a second as a billion thoughts shot through Miles's brain at once. Eggman raised his gun up to the fox's eye level and looked at him with a maniacal grin, the 'Prepare to die' grin, a grin that sent tingles of fear down his spine.

(oh god hes gonna kill me oh what have i done whats happened to him so—)

'—MOVE!'

Blood shot down the fox's thin legs and before he knew it, he was off the ground and flying through the air. A loud roar from Eggman's Luger rung out through his ears. The sound echoed off of the cold walls, pulsing rapidly through his head. The ice flooring met his shoulder, sending a huge pain reverberating throughout his body. And for another second he couldn't move. Had Eggman hit him? His whole body felt numb, frozen with fear, or maybe he was dying—

(!no your not dying you dodged it but hell he'll shoot you now and here if you dont do something quick so move your sorry ass move miles!)

His left hand franticly searched for his own handgun in his side-pack as his terrified eyes looked back up at the madman, whose gun was still aimed at the door. The whole thing had taken place in only a second, but hours seemed to pass by for the young fox. He felt the hard handle of his gun and immediately ripped it out. At that same time Eggman realized he missed and looked over at the fox, laying on the floor like an injured wild animal. Simultaneously they aimed at each other's faces; a deadly draw that might just cost one of them their lives. But Miles squeezed the trigger an instant before the other man could. The bullet zipped passed the fat man, missing him entirely, but the sound had distracted him long enough for Miles to fire again. He squeezed the trigger as hard as he could again and the third sound was heard roaring through the room. Crimson red flew out of the Eggman's left arm and he let out a small yelp of agony. Before Miles could even fire again, Eggman turned and charged out the door.

…

The two-tailed fox's heart seemed to beat a thousand times a second as he slowly got up.

'You just dodged a bullet.' Miles stated to himself almost casually, too shocked to imagine he'd just done that.

"That was a close one…" He panted lightly. "Eggman…" He looked forward, at the now closed metal door that the man just went through.

(eggmans got a gun and god only knows how much ammo miles and the door he went through is the only way out so now what youre going to go out there and get shot to death f—)

'Shut up!' another part of his mind screamed. The brush with death had split his soul into making multiple thoughts rapidly. Shaking his head to try and relax, his eyes narrowed. 'No other way out…' He closed his eyes, breathing in the icy air. 'And I've got to stop him…'

With a nod, the young furry ran through the door after Eggman.