Aria: -stretches- Ahhhhhhh... Nothing like a good writing session to relax the mind...
Twister: -walks into room carrying catnip mouse- Catnip's better.
Aria: You're only saying that 'cause you're a furball.
Twister: So? -sits down- I'm supposed to be a furball. You like furballs, remember?
Aria: Not the ones you hack up behind the couch.
Twister: -rolls his eyes- You know what I meant!
Aria: Duh! I am the authoress, after all. Speaking of which...thanks again to Crystalstorm21 and Crockgirl13. Sorry, but seeing as how suspense is in the genre of the story, I'll have to just keep on killing you with suspense until the very end of the story.
Twister: I'm warnin' you; she's got some doozies ahead.
Aria: He's right, but why don't you see for yourselves? -snaps her fingers-
(Disclaimer: Aria Zephyr does not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any related material)
Aria Zephyr Proudly Presents...
A Matter of Life or Speed:
An Archie Sonic Fanfiction
Part Seven: The Energy Core
As the trio ran down the hallway, suddenly, Sally grabbed one of Tails's rotating tails and pulled him to the floor. He was about to yelp in surprise and pain when she covered his mouth and pointed to a security camera mounted on a wall. Sally pressed herself against the wall and motioned for Sonic and Tails to follow suit. They inched their way, slowly, along the wall, just barely staying out of the camera's line of sight.
Just as they were about to sidle out into a new hallway, Sonic caught sight of a troop of guard robots marching down that hall towards them. He grasped Sally's chin and turned her head to see. She froze and a look of alarm flashed through her face. She looked at Sonic and mouthed the words: "We can't avoid the robots, but if we fight them, we'll be seen." Sonic looked at her, at the robot troop, and back. He mouthed one thing: "Either way, we get caught. So, let's take them out." After this, he jumped into the hallway and yelled, "Hey, walking tin cans! Over here!"
The guard troop immediately froze in their tracks and droned, "Priority One: Hedgehog. Get him." Sonic dodged laser shots and ducked back into the previous hallway. "Honestly, Sonic! This is not a good time for impulsive decisions!" Sally cried exasperately. Sonic ducked out of the way of a laser shot and replied, "Well, do you have any better ideas?" "Uh-oh..." Tails interrupted, his ears and tails drooping and his eyes wide. Sally and Sonic cringed and turned around. The entire troop was right behind them.
"Uhhhh...can we talk this over?" Sonic said apprehensively. The troop buzzed for a second, before droning, "Priority One: Hedgehog. Orders: Exterminate." "Run for it!" Sonic shouted, pushing Sally and Tails away. They stumbled and started to run away, just as a laser shot rang out. "SONIC!" Sally cried, spinning around to see...
Sonic was moving away from the guard troop, which was being overwhelmed by the security camera they'd tried to avoid. It was firing laser shots at the robots so quickly they didn't have time to react. Sonic moved back to where Tails and Sally stood and exchanged a dumbfounded look with Sally. When the entire company lay in sparking and sizzling piles of wires and shredded metal, Tails exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement, "They found it! They found the security room!" A crackling noise punctuated Tails's exhilaration, coming from Sally's walkie-talkie. Sally hastily pulled the metal box out of her vest.
"Sally? Sally? Hey! Sally! Are you three okay down there?" Rotor's cracking voice demanded from the speaker. "Yeah. We're all right. I see you guys found the security room okay," Sally spoke into it. A low chuckle came through. "We had to smash up the guards at the door and the robots at the controls, but we got here okay. Antoine is still a little petrified," Rotor replied. "I am zertainly not!" Antoine's voice protested.
"Anyway..." Rotor said, "We have all of the security in the building under our thumbs. Except..." "Except?" Sally asked. "Except for the core itself," Rotor said, sounding a little embarrassed. "The robots in there don't take orders from the security controls. There are cameras, but...I'm afraid that they might...that they might be roboticized Mobians!" A short, but terrible silence floated in the air for a moment. "Are you sure?" Sally asked in a soft voice. "Yes," Rotor replied uncomfortably. "I had the cameras focus in on the guards in the core. There is no mistaking them."
"What will we do?!" Sally moaned, shaking her head. Sonic put a hand on her shoulder and took the walkie-talkie from her. "Rotor, is there anything we could use to immobilize them, temporarily, that wouldn't hurt them?" Sonic asked. "Well...stun guns might work if they were turned up high enough. There's a closet with some of them in it near you," Rotor said. "Anything else?" Sonic pressed. "Other than to run into them and knock them over? You'd break half your bones on impact," Rotor chided. "I'd just use the stun guns. I'll get the closet to open." "Okay. Sounds good. Thanks, Rotor," Sonic said.
He looked up from the walkie-talkie to Sally. Her face was pained, making her look so much older and unhappier. "Only Robotnik would stoop to such a low level," she said. "What'll they do when the core explodes? They'll die!" Sonic took a deep breath. "Sally, as cruel and heartless as this will sound, we can't save everyone," he said, slowly and gently. "They won't even feel it. They're better off dead. They won't be Robotnik's slaves anymore and they'll finally be free. You can't deny anyone that." Sally looked at him. "You're right. But, I still wish we could do something for them that won't result in their deaths," she said resignedly. Sonic smiled and handed her the walkie-talkie. "Focus on what we can do at the moment, Sal. We'll save the world someday," Sonic said. Sally nodded and stowed the walkie-talkie away. "Right. Now, why don't we get into the core?" she said. "After you, Aunt Sally!" Tails chirped. He took off into the air and flew down the hall, with Sally and Sonic in pursuit.
Rotor guided them to the closet he'd referred to and they decided that it would be best if only Sonic brought a stun gun to defend them with. Sally would have to hack into the core computer and Tails was just too young to handle a dangerous weapon. When they were reaching the hall that led to the core, Sally grabbed the walkie-talkie and said, "Thanks for everything, Rotor. We'll take it from here. You, Bunnie, and Antoine get out of here." "Right. Good luck," Rotor said, and the connection died.
Finally, they reached the short hallway leading to the core. Sonic carefully peered around the corner. "There's a pair of bulky robots standing at the doors. They've been shut down, it looks like," he whispered. "Rotor must've done that. He said that everywhere but inside the core is under the security room control," Sally hissed. They crept around the corner, just in case the robots weren't completely shut down. They had nothing to worry about, so Sonic and Sally kicked the robots away, being careful to damage them so that they would no longer work. A small password key was on the right side of the door. Sally quickly hacked into the password key and the thick metal door slid up.
"So, this is the core," Sally said. She looked out at the energy core. It was a colossal, circular chamber, well-reinforced all along the walls. Further down, the steel walls mixed with another, strange metal that not very shiny, but had a sort of matte surface. It was reddish gold in color and didn't yield to what it contained: a fierce, burning pool of bright orange acid. A firmly suspended, circular catwalk formed a ring in the chamber. A small catwalk pathway led to the main one from the entrance where Sonic, Sally, and Tails stood.
Yet, the most impressive thing in the chamber was the core itself. Encased in a thick glass sphere, a white globe glowed brilliantly at the center of the chamber. It was suspended by a steel pedestal of a sort. Wires snaked all over the glass sphere, entering at some points. Another catwalk was belted around the glass sphere, and, on it, a small control station was affixed against the sphere, to which all the wires flowed. Thick, angled pipes led away from the control station to the walls, obviously carrying away the core's power.
The core was patrolled by shining metal figures, each looking like an animal, each a victim of the Roboticizer. There were six of them: a dog, a cat, a fox, a squirrel, a rabbit, and a weasel.
"Hey, Sonic!" Sally said, shaking Sonic's shoulder. "Huh? What?" Sonic said dazedly. He had been staring at the core intently, so intently he hadn't heard Sally trying to get his attention at first. "You zoned out. We have to get to work," she explained. Sonic nodded. He glanced at the core nervously. It was a beautiful thing in a simple way, but it was the most powerful thing for hundreds of miles. That power worried him. How big exactly will the blast be? Sonic thought. "On my signal," Sally was saying, "Sonic, you distract the guards. And while they're busy, Tails, you fly me to the control station. There's no turning back now."
"There's no turning back now..." The words echoed in Sonic's mind. Suddenly, he broke out in a sweat. "Sonic? Are you okay?" Tails asked, noticing how his best friend had stiffened. Sonic relaxed at little and said, "I'm okay, Tails. Just a teeny, tiny bit nervous. There's a lot riding on us." Sally looked at them, courage lit on her face. "And when we complete this mission, just think of how it will help our fight against Robotnik!" she said. Tails grinned with pleasure. They were unaware of Sonic's inner turmoil. He realized that he had waited too long to reveal his secret, and now the two closest to him would pay the price. Truthfully, he had never been so terrified in his life.
Quotes from Part Eight: Battles in the Core
"I've got it! Now, all I have to do is set this timer for fifteen minutes and initiate the self-destruct sequence."
"Sally! Don't press the key!"
"Sonic, what are you talking about? You have a power ring, don't you? Even so, you're still fast enough to get us out of here before time runs out."
Aria: -laughs evilly- Ah, what a tangled web I have woven! I bet you're all going to be just dying for the next chapter.
Twister: -hiding under a cushion- She's scary when she's smug.
Aria: Well, at any rate, I can tell you that I won't publish the next chapter for...oh...a week, maybe?
Twister: A WEEK?!
Aria: -turns to him with a smile- Unless they find a way to change my mind, of course. Anywho, until next time, please read and review! –vanishes with muse into whirlwinds-