Disclaimer on chapter 1

Chapter 9: Heart of the Empire; Polluted Grounds

The crocodile was right; you couldn't really miss the Scrap Bain Factory. It was huge, taking up the entire mountain. One thought went through his head looking at it. Eggman knew how to make factories. He wanted to take over the world, and if he could power this entire factory for just a day, he could make enough badniks to do it. On the other hand however, while it was impressively large, Sonic hated the sight of it. Not just because of the fact badniks originated from her, nor just for the fact Eggman live there. It was more to do with the fact that, even with parts of the factory offline, it spewed enough polluting smoke to blank out the sun here. The sky was covered in a sickly red cloud of smog, making the entire facility seem even more dark and dreary than it was (and that was saying something).

As Sonic climbed the mountain to get to the main entrance, he found it was worse than he thought however. Over the rise he could see Robotnik had been preparing for the war he was already in, with Sonic. And then some. Sonic could see hundreds of various badniks guarding various routes into the one main and only working factory. He saw wasps, caterpillars and bomb badniks. And that wasn't all. There where traps galore, Sonic could already see them.

There was weird platforms that vanished for short periods of time, floating over areas that would left Sonic fall rather painfully, and probably fatally to the bottom of the mountain, alongside platforms that spun around every so often. Others where pipes that spewed flames, spires that shot lightning between them, circular saws. And who knows what else. And that was just outside the main building, who knew what lay INSIDE.

"Oh well" Sonic said to himself "Better get moving"

XOXOX

"Status?" Eggman ordered the Ball Hog to reply

"THE HEDGEHOG IS ON SITE SIR" the Ball Hog replied

"Remember to turn off some of the traps… but not all of them. I want him to think that some of them are just not operational yet."

"YES SIR"

"And make sure the underwater badniks are already in the Labyrinth"

"THEY JUST REPORTED IN A MOMENT AGO SIR. THEY ARE IN POSITION"

"Excellent. If all goes according to plan I will vaporise that hedgehog in the power room and then take all six emeralds from him."

"WHAT IF HE DESTROYS THE POWER ROOM SIR?" Ball Hog 42 asked timidly

The doctor gave him a stern glare and replied by saying "I'm going to pretend you did not just ask me if the Hedgehog would destroy my most powerful machine."

42 remained quiet.

XOXOX

Sonic had found it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. The facility must have been new as half the traps weren't working yet! He couldn't believe his luck. He was already closing in on the main building. Sure there had been a couple of touch and go points where he was almost squashed or fell down the mountain, but all in all he was doing ok. It wasn't long before he actually got into the building. Then it was a different story. Sure half the traps where still offline. But there where more of them. Not only that, but due to the close quarters of the building the wasps where now replaced by pig like robots that threw glowing explosive balls at him. It was turning out to be a rather nasty place to be. It was now over two hours since Sonic had gotten to the outskirts of the factory, and he was getting annoyed at how many traps the good doctor had put into this place. How paranoid was this guy? Then again, Sonic had made it this far, so maybe there wasn't enough. He chuckled at that thought. Then he remembered that half the traps weren't working and wondered what it would have been like if they where.

It was another half an hour's running, smashing and dodging before Sonic eventually got close to the centre of factory, where he expected Eggman to be. It was then that he came across a bridge. A bridge with no exit, as the other end was blocked by a force field. He slowed down and walked up to it to take a look at the force field.

"Darn, looks like I will need to find another way around" he muttered to himself. He turned to leave only to find that a door had close behind him, leaving him stranded on the bridge. "What the heck? Now how am I meant to get out?"

"Your not" said a voice behind him. Sonic turned to see the force field fade slightly, just enough to show who was on the other side

"Eggman, I should have known!" he said angrily

"And that's not the worst of it hedgehog!" Eggman replied as he pressed a button on the wall. There where clicking noises behind Sonic. He looked back to see that the bridge was falling into the abyss below, bit by bit.

"What the! Oh no!" Sonic gasped

"Hmm hmm hmm, indeed. So long hedgehog!"

"Dang you!" Sonic yelled as he fell into the pit.

XOXOX

Sonic woke up to find himself in a very familiar area. There was water all around him, except for the walls, which where of a familiar ruins. He was in the underwater Labyrinths again. Though this part was very different. The walls had been stained, to a point their golden brown colour was now a sickly grey, and the water here was a putrid, sickly pink colour. He looked up to see the cause, all of the chemicals and waste from the Scrap Brain Facility was being directed into this area.

"Oh so he doesn't only try to conquer the world, he has to POLLUTE it too? I he really needs to learn about proper waste disposal." Sonic muttered

He took another look around, and then felt a cold shiver over take him. He realised that the only way out of where he was, was to go through the water. The PINK coloured water.

"Oh now that's just swell" he twitched.

He walked to the towards the edge of the island he was on and dipped his foot into the water, before quickly taking it out.

He shuddered "UGH! That feels WAY too weird. Like putting my foot into a bucket with a mix of Soda vinegar!"

The thought of having to be totally submerged in the polluted water did not appeal to Sonic, but what choice did he have? So he took a step back, and did a running jump into the water, hopping he would find a way out soon.

XOXOX

"HE HAS AWOKEN SIR. HE IS NOW IN THE WATERWAY" said one of the Ball Hogs

"Hmph took him long enough, how long was it? An hour?"

"YES SIR"

"Oh well, it will be worth it in the end, when I hold all seven emeralds in my hands!"

"YES SIR"

"Is the Power Room ready for his arrival?"

"ALMOST SIR, AT 98 BATTLE READY" replied the Ball Hog

"Exquisite, now we just need to wait for him to find the Grey Emerald, then resurface."

"YES SIR"

XOXOX

Sonic trudged his way through the pink water, very slowly. Not because he was being careful, but more because the water hampered his movements. Luckily there where air bubbles here just like in the rest of the labyrinth, but that was small consolation. Sonic was really beginning to dislike the colour pink, and on top of that his head was beginning to feel fuzzy, as if it was having a bad effect on his body. He was relieved to eventually find a way out

He ended up in a very large room. Again similar to the ruins where he found the yellow and green emeralds. Which made sense because in the centre of it was a similar pedestal, upon which rested the grey emerald. Seems like it was worth going through that awful water after all. Sonic smiled as he walked over to the emerald and picked it up. He looked it over carefully. It looked exactly like the others of course, like a little a 3D hexagon, and was big enough to fit in his fist. It also seemed to glow with the others in a greyish white light. There was a difference in this though, as Sonic picked it up he felt… connected to it some how. He immediately dismissed the idea, thinking he was acting silly. On the other hand though, this meant he only had one more to find! Which he was excited about, now he had enough to ensure that Eggman's plan would not come together. He looked up to see a passageway to his left. After putting the emerald away he walked down the hallway, hoping he would find another way out.