Ta for all the reviwes you guys! They spur me on to write so keep them coming: D

Chapter 10

In the darkness of the evening, Shadow and Ray darted down from the rocks and to the barrier of Eggman's base. They hid around the corner in an area of dark shadow, just away from the main gate. Two robots stood at this gate guarding it whilst various other robots were patrolling within the barrier.

The evening sky became covered with huge grey rain clouds.

Shadow looked up at the fence he and Ray were stood against. He looked at Ray and they both nodded at one another.

Then they both jumped up and over the wall, with great precision. They landed quietly and ran to hide behind another wall. They were now within a few feet of getting into Eggman's base.

The two hedgehogs leant against the wall, keeping their eyes and ears open for any robots to stumble upon their path. Ray looked to the side and saw that the way from there was full of security cameras.

"How further until we reach that duct, Ray?" Shadow whispered.

Ray blinked and pressed a few buttons on his wrist map.

"It's not far from here. We've got to go that way" he whispered back, pointing to where he'd just been looking.
"Then it's around the second corner on the right. But there are loads of cameras down that way."

Shadow thought.

"I'll take out the cameras. Then you run ahead and get to the duct. I'll be right behind you." He said quietly.

Ray nodded and let his father go in front of him.

The rain began to fall from the dark sky.

Shadow whipped out his gun and, from the safety of darkness, shot out at all the cameras. His aim was very precise and as each beam hit a camera it sparked and fizzed.

"Now" Shadow whispered harshly and Ray ran.

Using his speed, Ray managed to zip around the corner without attention being drawn to him. Shadow zoomed after him.

Robots began to bleep, hearing the cameras breaking, and began to gather around that area investigating the commotion. Ray and Shadow quickly jumped down the huge duct and slid down into the base. The air duct was humongous and wide enough for the hedgehogs to crawl through.

Just as they stopped sliding, Shadow's wrist communicator began to bleep.
It was Tails.

"Shadow! I have the blueprint of Eggman's base. Is wasn't easy to find but- "
"Good work Tails. How long and which way?"
"Keep going forward. Then go down the 4th left. After that it's the 3rd right."
"Thanks Tails. We'll contact you again if we need anything."
"All right! Don't forget to look out for any hidden security beams! Over and out!"

The communicator flickered and switched off. Shadow sighed.

"OK Ray. Let's go." He said and put on his spy glasses.
Ray did the same and the two began to crawl through the long air duct.

…

"What's happening to the cameras?" Eggman boomed angrily.
"There appears to be some kind of technical fault, Sir." Said one of Eggman's slaves.

"Well then fix it!" Eggman yelled.
"Yes sir!" all the humans said, monitoring various screens.

Eggman sat back in his huge chair and watched like a hawk as the humans did his bidding. He eyed the remaining screens to see any clue as to who did this and how.

Eventually he sighed.

"As long as we have the prison cameras still intact…that's the most important thing."
He grinned.

"I want to see him suffer, just as I did for almost half of my lifetime!"

He began to chuckle.

"Revenge is so very sweet!"

…

Sonic continued to lie on his back and stare blankly at the dusty, spider invested ceiling. He'd spread out his arms and half closed his eyes. He heard the sounds of rain, hitting the ground outside. Some drops began to spit through the barred window.

The room was dark, as it was lights out.

Sonic sighed and closed his eyes. He began to listen to the sound of the rain. He'd found that doing this took his mind off of things and calmed him down.

Thunder began to boom loudly and brief flashes of lightening appeared.

After a while Sonic opened his eyes again and sat up. As the lightening clashed on the ground, the prison became illuminated for a few seconds. It could then be possible to see the dried blood on Sonic's face.

Sonic stood up and went to the window, allowing the small yet harsh drops of rain to hit his face. Some of the blood began to run off and it smeared as Sonic wiped his face with his hand.

He looked out at his surroundings. He blinked as he thought he saw something. Lightening flashed and, as it did so Sonic thought that he saw two figures on the grounds, running toward a large duct. He gasped and lifted himself up to try and get a better look. But then the lightening hit again and revealed that they'd gone.

"Must have been my mind…" Sonic said to himself.

He dropped back to the prison floor and sat down. He leant his body against the wall and managed to fall into an uncomfortable sleep.

…

A little while later, Shadow and Ray were about to venture down the 3rd turning on the right. But then Shadow stopped.
Ray almost bumped into him.

"What's up?" he asked.
"I'm just thinking…maybe we should split up."

Ray blinked.

"The chaos emeralds may be around here somewhere. Then once we've saved Sonic, we can come back and destroy the power supply." Shadow continued.

He flicked on his wrist communicator.

"Tails, are you there?"
"Yeah. What's the matter Shadow?"
"I need some directions again. Could you tell me if there's some kind of control room or something on the map?"

Tails paused as he tapped at his keyboard.

"There's some kind of walkway. It has different rooms which each supply power to the base. It appears to be located underneath the building…almost like a basement."

"Where is it from our current location?" Shadow asked.

Again Tails paused.

"You'd have to go backward and go down the 2nd right. From then on it's straight forward."

Shadow looked behind at Ray.

"You got that?" he said.
Ray nodded.

"But Shadow, aren't you getting Sonic?" Tails asked.
"Don't worry Tails. It's all part of the plan. Over and out."
"But wait a- "

Shadow turned off the communicator.

"Can you do that for me Ray? I'll get Sonic while you investigate Eggman's power supply. Try and find the chaos emeralds."

Ray looked a little perplexed.

"You can do it, son" Shadow said.

Ray smiled.

"OK! I'll do it." He said.
"Great! Good luck. I'll meet you back at the rocks. If neither one of us are there just head back to the hide out OK?"
"OK!"

Ray backed up and crawled down the right passageway. Shadow continued down toward the prison.