Sonic 11

CH.3: Long way up

The Typhoon lay on its side on a mountain trail and inside three were still alive. Amy coughed and struggled into a sitting position and saw the ship in a complete breakdown. Cream and Cheese were in the corner afraid. "Hey Cream you ok?" A spark was shot up above and Amy struggled to hold it together. So, this is how it ends, she thought glumly, no final words, just a ship caught in flames. No, I won't die here; there must be a way out of here. "Cream do you know if we have an extinguisher?"

"Yes, but it's on the 2nd floor," Cream said. Cheese added his own reply and Cream translated, "but it's blocked by huge blocks of the ship, to get we'd need a huge machine." Amy reflected on that and held up her Pico Pico hammer. Taking slow and steady breaths she released all her anxiety and then with that out of her system she ran into the corridor. Flames were still eating away at the bulk of the ship and Amy walked down the heated corridor. "Amy come back, it's too dangerous."

"Cream we've got to save the ship, without it we may be stuck here for a very long time." Turning right she made it to the elevator and with the 2nd level entered waited for the elevator to start. I'm a 12 year old hedgehog and I'm facing extreme dangers, I wish Sonic was here, she thought. The elevator started and just as it hit the 2nd level Amy got off. Before her was a debris pile and beyond it was the only extinguisher on board. A noise behind her brought her around with her Pico Pico hammer raised, but all she found was the elevator. Lowering her hammer she walked forward and that's when they appeared. The Metarex surrounded her and she gripped her hammer stronger. "Well it's about time!"

"Target identified-destroy." As the 1st lunged at her Amy somersaulted in the air with her hammer and with a down thrust smashed it in his head. The rest began to converge in on her, their programming however never taught them about hedgehogs who fought with hammers. Amy tore through them in a whirlwind of smashing and when she leaned exhaustedly on her hammer, the Metarex lay on the floor in metallic shards. Seeing the extinguisher she made her way to the elevator. Cream was there and together they battled the flames. It seemed to work, the flames died.

"C'mon Cream lets get out of here before we get hotter then we already are," Amy said. I'm hot, she thought, wish Sonic saw it.

The huge Metarex soared through the sky unaware that riding with it were three passengers. Chris gazed at the blur of ground below; even at this speed and height all he saw was white, which meant the whole planet had suffered from the loss of the planet egg. Cosmo held on tightly to the Metarex's leg and Tails held on with one gloved hand, his other hand was working on a data pad; Chris looked over and noticed a message from Amy was there:

"Typhoon crashed in the mountains,

don't worry Cream and I escaped. The

ship is down ad we are exploring. Is

Sonic alright? If so give him my love."

Chris was relieved the two were ok, but hearing about the Typhoon made him frown. "What do we do when we are done here?"

"The Typhoon is in the mountains, without the transportation we have now; it would likely take a good week. The repairs will cost us dear time, hard to say when we'll lift. Look the Metarex is landing!" The three held on as the Metarex hit its thrusters and began its descent into the snow. The snow began to melt and once through they beheld an armory base filled with Metarex, only they were covered in white and each had blue eyes. The Metarex have eyes? Tails thought as he scanned the new creations curiously.

"We have to shut this place down, if we don't and the Metarex prevail who knows what dangers await new travelers," Cosmo said, her eyes were misty and both Tails and Chris knew that thinking about the Typhoon would have to wait. Chris jumped down and Tails and Cosmo followed. "Tails, Sonic hasn't called in, I worry about that friend of yours, he never thinks before he leaps or-."

"He does…at times," Tails said. By now after minutes of aimless wondering they came upon a broken down elevator; the whole control box was smashed in. I can't rely on Sonic anymore, he thought, what Cosmo says has a point, but he has saved our necks more than once. Amy still wants to be with Sonic, he thought with puzzlement, even after his constant avoidance of her. "With the elevator out…it looks like we'll have to climb."

"Climb…up there?" The three bent their heads back to see tiny steps leading up 10ft of stressful climbing, then a huge control to deal with. I hate P. E., Chris thought with hateful memory, climbing was never my best. Cosmo saw no other way and took the 1st step. Her determination to rid the galaxy of the Metarex made Chris and Tails do so as well. Chris held onto the step above with a sweaty grip and couldn't wipe his head dotted with perspiration. Cosmo herself after what seemed forever had lost her steel determination and was shaking after each step. Chris who was below her couldn't get her in time as she slipped and began her long fall. "Tails look up!"

"What…why look up-?" Tails looked up and felt Cosmo's body crash into his sending the two spiraling to where they began, the bottom. Chris held on hoping above hope that his friends survived, but to go after them would their operation down. Fighting panic Chris pulled himself up and after 2 more grueling minutes he had made it to the top. The controls were ahead and were guarded by the huge Metarex that had helped them get here. Crawling on his belly he made his way to the nearest control board, right under the Metarex's nose.

"Thank you Tails," Cosmo said appreciatively as she stared down at him. Tails's eyes were spinning and his back was crushed by Cosmos's but inside it felt good. Cosmo got off and helped Tails up and for a moment the two considered each other as more then friends. "How are we going to help Chris now?" Tails rubbed his sore back and stared at the lines of Metarex and the threat the planet faced. He was 10 going on 11, someday, for now at the age of 10; if he seeked 11 he had to stop these huge monstrosities. "Tails, what is it?"

"These Metarex are absorbing a high quantity of Chaos emeralds, when Chris shuts down the field we can snatch them; that way if the controls snap back there will be no source of power. Maybe we'll find the planet egg; if we do…the snow above may collapse in-."

"Trapping us forever," Cosmo finished with a sad tone. Chris meanwhile had pulled the 1st lever causing a fluctuation in the field, so far no one noticed. Chris noticed a tube behind the huge Metarex and realized to stay in its form it needed a bundle of energy, meaning what they seeked could lie behind it. Chris had now taken to a crouch and worked a few dials bringing up a map of the factory. The blue represented production rate of the Metarex, the red meant energy usage, and yellow…the source of it.

"If I could only reach the other lever," Chris thought aloud and licked his dry lips. The huge Metarex stood there in the shadows and Chris took his time getting to the lever. Pulling it down the factory began to shake; which in turn awoke the Metarex below in an electrical rage. Chris ran away from the exploding panel seconds before a huge foot smashed the ground. The elevator was still shut down, but as the Metarex began to widen its lens his choices became scarce. Climbing in he made it to the far end; seconds later the cable snapped sending the elevator down at a screaming rate. The other elevator sat peacefully below, but as the 2nd smashed into the concrete little was left. "When I get home…no more elevators."

"Chris c'mon!" Tails flew over and helped Chris up and just as they left the shamble of an elevator, it became debris when the huge Metarex landed. The trio stumbled into a hallway and had to constantly shield their heads as the walls exploded revealing fumed off Metarex. Tails grabbed hold of Chris and Cosmo as the floor collapsed and the young fox took the duty to get them to safety. Chris stared below at the void of darkness and felt his stomach drop. Cosmo had her mind ahead and as they landed walked forward-right into the foot of an-."

"Power will be up in twelve hours, your fun ends here," the Metarex bent down and the three stared into its jewel. Behind them were more Metarex and Chris knew too well that the pain ahead was far worse then the climb they had just done. The Typhoon was down, Sonic and Knuckles were missing, Amy and Cream were lost, and right now they had walked blindly into a Metarex facility, ready to be delivered to their deaths.

Knuckles the echidna was the protector of the master emerald, he now sat in the dirt in the company of Rouge and Eggman; and no emerald. After being lost for what seemed days the group set up camp, conversation was as dry as the wall around them. Dr. Eggman had a deck of cards out and was losing a great deal to the jewel thief Rouge. Eggman doesn't have any luck, he thought, next thing he'll be giving her is the Chaos emeralds…which can not be found. Knuckles left the two and found Shadow staring in the direction they came from. "Well Shadow, see any way of escape?"

"The darkness holds no answer, the escape which is sought can not be found, good enough echidna?" Shadow chose this time to leap into the air and onto a ledge above. Sonic tossed a rock into the campfire and stared up at the hedgehog whose very story he had no clue still about. Decoe and Bocue were bored and decided to bug Bokunn; who is in the distance looking at a watch; the picture inside is hidden in the light.

"What are you looking at Bokunn?" Decoe peered at the picture but got a hard jab to the nose, what he saw he couldn't say as few bolts were loosened. Decoe rubbed his metallic nose and tried to grab at the fleeing Bokunn. Bocue stood still as he tried to decipher a growl, but Decoe pulled him away; if he hadn't a beastly claw would've ended him. Eggman sat across the nemesis he had been defeated by for years and felt in the cave enemies can become allies.

"So…Sonic, is that Amy still chasing you?" Sonic poked the fire with a stick ignoring him. Eggman looked at the walls and found some symbols familiar, but how? "Shadow come here and tell me what that says," he said finally. Shadow somersaulted to the ground and skidded to a halt by the fire. His dark eyes scanned the ancient language and Sonic looked at the ultimate life form, really not sure if he was a hedgehog at all. "Well, don't keep us in-."

"The writing is form a journal of a team of scientists; they explored these caves just 6 weeks before our arrival. Their species are complex and the journal tells of their rich planet becoming dryer and storms becoming worse. They got most of the population down here before the arrival of the Metarex. Groups of the scientists began to vanish and it became apparent what they faced was an Aporla, the beast was found in the depths; up until…then it ends," Shadow said showing no real emotion. Sonic and Eggman got on their feet as a loud growl roared through the cave. Shadow stared at what seemed like six huge towers, but as a huge menacing head lowered it was soon corrected. The cave shook and loose dirt began to fall down.

"The Chaos emeralds…they are here," Knuckles said. Sonic began to run up the side of the wall and Shadow on the other; the two landed on the Aporla's back steadying their landing with a crouch. Knuckles and Rouge began their search for the Chaos emeralds and dug up whatever gave away. Dr. Eggman resorted to distracting the Aporla by firing his gun. Decoe, Bocue, and Bokunn ran to the ship and cowered in the cabin. "The shaking…is not helping anyone-."

"Forget the shaking Knuckles," Rouge advised the echidna as she clung to a sinking wall, "focus on finding those Chaos emeralds." Rouge began to dig again into the wall, this time she found a skeletal remain of a scientist. Gulping back her fear she tossed it aside and forged ahead. The hedgehogs began to attack the back of the Aporla with homing attacks; Shadow had popped many blisters now and Sonic himself was using the horns to drill a hole into the Aporla. Rouge pulled out another skull and tossed it aside disgustedly. Knuckles sighed in irritation and almost gave up, but a curious object caught his attention. "Knuckles stop wasting your time playing in the dirt we-."

"Hold on bat girl, I think I may have found something," he said hating her impatience. Pushing the switch in he awaited a miracle, what he felt was thunderous quakes and shifting dirt. That wasn't supposed to happen, he thought.