Chapter 38
Sophia and Saya start heading to Elias's office as Sophia notices Saya drifting away in her own thoughts. "You okay?" Sophia asked as she snaps out of it,
"Yeah, sorry I think this place reminds me too much of Eggman's underwater base." Saya said,
"That why you want to go outside?" She asked as Saya nods,
"Yeah, I think knowing I can get outside will help me calm down a little." Saya said,
"I know you might not want to but Dr. Starline thinks he can help you feel more comfortable down here." Sophia said,
"I'm just not ready to trust another Doctor quite yet… Besides, I want to try and get over this on my own. But if it starts to become too much I'll talk to him." Saya said,
"Okay, I just don't want you burning yourself out because of this." Sophia said as Saya nods,
"Speaking about Dr. Starline, what did he want to talk about?" Saya asked,
"He wants to experiment on a sample of my blood to possibly cure diseases." She said,
"He sounds like Dr. Kintobor…" Saya said rolling her eyes,
"I told him if he gets permission from Elias and has a foolproof way to make sure my blood is only to be used to cure people than I don't mind." Sophia said as Saya looks surprised,
"Really?"
"I mean, it was the real reason Shadow was made. To help cure a little girl of an incurable disease." She said,
"Maria would be proud." Saya said with a smile, as they knock on the door to Elias' office as it unlocks and they enter,
"It seems I have a lot of visitors today." He said with a smile, "How can I help you girls?"
"First, I was wondering if I could get permission to get to the surface when I need to. In case I start getting a little panicked." Saya said,
"I'd rather you stay hidden, but I also know restricting you indoors might make you run for it. I'll let the guards on the surface know you are free to go when you please. However they will inform me immediately whenever you go outside." He said,
"I can live with that." Saya said with a nod,
"Was there anything else?" He asked,
"I wanted to talk about Kolt." Sophia said,
"I'm not putting him out in the field. Not only does Robotnik have a scroll but he also has Kolt's parents. It's a recipe for disaster." Elias said,
"I understand not putting him out on the field for a while but he brough up a fair point to me that Robotnik might already have made copies of the scroll. Even if we secure it…"
"That doesn't make me want to change my mind, if anything it solidifies my concerns." Elias said,
"It might keep him safe at first but what if Robotnik starts focusing on trying to find our base? Saya was taken from right underneath us, what's stopping that from happening to Kolt?" Sophia said,
"We're in a more secure place than we were before." Elias said,
"But we all know that won't last forever." Saya added, "I can't even count the amount of times Eggman found our base nearly destroying us in my first life." Elias thinks for a moment, "Kolt would be way more helpful with us saving people than sitting here waiting to inevitably get ambushed."
"Give me some time to think about it." He said letting out a sigh, "And we can discuss it more later." He said as alarms start to sound as he quickly stands up,
"Freedom Fighters to the computer room." They hear Sally's voice over the intercom.
"Let's go." Sophia said as the three of them head to the computer room, as they run into the others on the way.
"What's going on?" Brandy asked as they all enter the computer room. As they see a broadcast on the main screen,
"Is that?" Elias asked Sally,
"Yes…" Sally said looking concerned,
"What? What is it?" Alan asked,
"Robotnik…" Sally said,
"Attention my citizens!" They hear Eggman's voice from the broadcast, "There will be a live video broadcast later this evening at five o clock in response to the recent attack on one of my energy factories." It pauses and then repeats,
"Okay… that's annoying." Saya said,
"Damn! I was hoping we'd have more time before he does this again…" Elias said looking conflicted,
"What's going on?" Kolt asked,
"Whenever we truly do significant damage to Robotnik's factories he'll do one of these broadcasts…" Sally said,
"Where he'll execute captured resistance members…" Elias said as all of their faces turn white,
"He executes people?" Brandy said sounding shocked,
"That's terrible!" Caroline said,
"We have to stop him!" Saya said,
"The only problem is we don't know where he'll broadcast. He changes location so we can't get to them in time." Sally said,
"I might be able to figure out where he might be planning to broadcast." TK said hopping onto a computer,
"Elias, I know you want us to stay a secret but…" Alan said,
"No, it was always my plan to have you all interrupt this broadcast. I was just hoping to get a few more missions under our belt beforehand." Elias said, "What better way to show the world you are all back than on live television."
"You've been planning this for a while." Sophia said as Elias and Sally nod.
"So what you're saying is, be as flashy as possible." Saya said with a smile,
"Yes." Elias said. Saya hops excitedly as Elias notices Kolt had his head lowered in shock, he walks over to him, "Kolt?"
"He's… killed people?" Kolt asked not wanting to believe it.
"Unfortunately, he's killed a lot of people… I'm sorry Kolt." Elias said placing his hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him,
"That monster! I won't forgive him!" Kolt said, for the longest time he hoped that he could bring Professor Ivo back. But how could he come back after going this far over the edge? The man he knew was gone he can't be naive about saving him anymore when he's killed so many.
"Oh Kolt." Caroline said as she goes to help comfort him.
"Don't worry man! We'll stop him." Saya said,
"I found it!" TK said,
"Where?" Sophia asked,
"Outskirts of Diamond City!" She said, "I'll have exact coordinates soon."
"Way to go buddy!" Saya cheered, "So, now we need a plan. Tell us how the broadcast goes down."
"Usually Eggman will say a speech at how he's disappointed and then show the prisoners lined up as he continues to talk about how he wouldn't have to do this if we all stayed in line and that we gave him no choice… then he executes them…" Sally said.
"What do you think Sophia?" Alan asked,
"This isn't just about saving the prisoners." She said,
"It's not?" Caroline asked,
"No, this is getting more people to join the resistance. And that means putting Sonic in the spotlight." Sophia said, "While She's keeping Robotnik's focus on her, we'll save the prisoners and then send him running."
"Are you sure? I thought all of you didn't want me to be bait." Saya said, she takes Sophia's hand.
"You won't be bait; you'll be a distraction the let the people watching the broadcast know that we're here to save the world. To give them hope." Sophia said as Saya nods.
"Once we have confirmed the coordinates, we start getting ready to leave." Elias said,
"I can't wait to see the look on Egghead's face when I take over his broadcast." Saya said eagerly, "I'll give him extra insults just for you Kolt." She said giving him a thumbs up, as he lightly smiles,
"Kick his ass for me" He gives her a thumbs up back.
"I got the coordinates!" TK said jumping up from the computer,
"Alright! Let's do it to it!" Saya cheered as they all start heading to the hangar bay. Kolt stays there with Elias and Sally letting out a sigh,
"Let's try our best to support them." Sally said to Kolt as he nods.
They all transform and get into the helicopter as it flies off heading towards Diamond City. "How long will it take for us to get there?" Sonic asked Tails,
"A little over two hours," She said,
"Two hours? We could have run there faster." Sonic said with a sigh,
"We could yes, but the others don't have super speed." Shadow said,
"But this will take forever!" Sonic whined,
"Stop being so impatient," Blaze said,
"But I wanna beat the crap out of Eggman!" Sonic said,
"You will, and on live television too." Cream said,
"You nervous at all?" Tails asked,
"Why would I be nervous? It's just television, I've been interviewed before." Sonic said with a shrug,
"That's a good point, I guess I'm just nervous then. Tails said,
"I'm a little nervous too." Amy said,
"Our job is to save the prisoners before Robotnik has a chance to hurt them. Just focus on that. Then we help Sonic." Shadow said as they all nod.
They arrive in Diamond City and set up a spot to wait near the broadcasting site. As they all sit in silence waiting for the broadcast to start. "We have just a few mor minuets, is everyone ready?" Blaze said,
"Oh yeah! I can't wait to see Eggman's face when we hijack his broadcast." Sonic said excitedly, as Shadow walks up to her and kisses her,
"Don't do anything stupid." Shadow said,
"I'll be careful," She chuckles kissing her back. "Just focus on the prisoners." She said as Shadow nods,
"Good luck." She said as they all get in position waiting for the broadcast to finally begin.
The broadcast begins on an outdoor stage as it lights up showing Eggman in his signature floating craft. "Good evening people of the world. I'm sure you all know why I'm making this broadcast. The pathetic rebellion has attacked one of my factories and slowed down production." Eggman said looking upset. The camera pans to the left as it shows five people restrained to a wall with a Swatbot standing in front of each one ready to fire. "It breaks my heart to do this, but I must make an example of those who would choose to revolt against me." The camera turns back to him. "Let this be a warning to those who think they stand a chance against me." He raises his hand to give the order to fire but stops when a blue blur runs in front of him as Sonic stands on the stage near him letting out a loud whistle.
"Wow Egghead! Laying it on a little thick there, don't ya think?" Sonic said with a grin,
"S…Sonic? But how? I thought you were dead!" He said looking shocked and confused,
"Sorry 'bout that, I got caught up in another dimensions drama and unfortunately got sent 15 months into the future." She shrugs, "But I'm back and ready to kick your butt!" Eggman quickly presses a button making the firing squad turns towards the stage aiming at Sonic,
"I'm so happy to see you my dear! Having no one to truly challenge my mental genius has become so boring." Eggman said happily,
"Ha! You're not even close to being a challenge Egghead. I came here to show you that now that I'm back, you don't stand a chance." Sonic said, his eye twitches at her cocky grin.
"Is that so? We'll see about that, Fire!" He said. The firing squad opens fire at Sonic as she dodges out of the way and stands in front of Eggman. The robots get ready to fire again, "Wait, wait! Not at me you imbeciles!" He yelled flailing his hands as Sonic chuckles,
"Not a smart idea being in the crossfire huh Egghead?" Sonic taunted. Meanwhile, Shadow and the others start sneaking over to the prisoners and breaking them free.
"Stop calling me that you annoying rodent!" Eggman yelled,
"Aw! Did I hurt your feelings Robutnik? Or would you like if I start calling you Baldy Mcnosehair?" She continues to laugh tauntingly. She could tell he was starting to boil over with rage.
"Enough of your babbling and hold still!" He said pressing a button as a cannon at the bottom of his floating craft appears and aims at her.
"Let me guess, that sticky glue again?" Sonic said rolling her eyes not sounding impressed,
"Not quite." Eggman grins,
"Then let's see your best shot." Sonic said getting ready to dodge. He fires at her and she jumps out of the way as it looks like a small metal device lands on the ground and activates creating a forcefield trapping Sonic inside. She hits the side of the field and is knocked down.
"It worked!" Eggman cheered, "I caught Sonic! And the whole world watched me do it," Sonic rubs her head for a moment before siting up not looking impressed or concerned, "W… why are you so calm? You've lost!" She crosses her arms and grins at him again, "Wipe that smug look off your face you rodent!"
"Why would I do that when you're the one who lost?" Sonic said as he looks at her confused,
"I don't think you realize the gravity of your situation." He glared,
"I think you forgot something Egghead; I don't work alone, and you failed to realize that they just ruined your plans." She said turning her head. Eggman turns towards that direction at the wall as the camera pans over showing that the prisoners were all gone. "You lose Eggman!"
"Why would I care about them when I won the better prize?" He grins. Shadow warps next to the forcefield and stomps on top of the device breaking it and freeing Sonic. Tails flies down with Amy and Cream flies down with Blaze, and they all stand next to Sonic,
"You were saying?" She said pointing at him, "The Freedom Fighters and the Resistance will stop you no matter how long it takes!" She turns to the camera, "Now how's that for quality television." She winks,
"Cut the feed!" Eggman yelled realizing that their entire exchange was broadcasted as the cameras shut down, "You little brat! You hijacked my broadcast!"
"Looks like you instilling fear in people won't work anymore Egghead," Sonic continued to mock as Eggman grins,
"But where's your friend Knuckles? I'm sure he's dying to see his family as are you three I assume?" He said looking at Amy, Cream, and Blaze as they all glare,
"Low blow Egghead." Sonic said as Eggman laughs,
"We could always make a trade. All of your parents for Knuckles," Eggman said,
"Not gonna happen." Shadow said creating a Chaos Spear and throwing it at him. Blaze throws a bolt of fire along with Amy throwing his hammer as Eggman is knocked away from them,
"We'll have this conversation later. You may have won this time Sonic, but you haven't won the war!" Eggman said fleeing. Sonic let's out a sigh,
"Thanks for the dramatic save guys, I wasn't expecting a force field to come out of that cannon." Sonic said as she notices Blaze and Cream trying not to cry, "H…hey! It's alright! We'll get your parents back I promise!" She grabs their hands trying to comfort them.
"Him trying to trade for Knuckles is cruel!" Cream said,
"Are all of the agents okay?" Sonic asked as they all nod, "Cool, let's get out of here before Eggman changes his mind and decides to come back." She said as they head back to the other soldiers.
"Thank you again for rescuing us." One of them said,
"We're just glad that we could help." Blaze said as they head back to helicopter.
They climb into the helicopter to leave; Sonic looks at one of the rescued agents and recognizes her. "Sasha?" She said out loud as she reacts to the name turning her head towards Sonic shocked and confused,
"Y… You know my name?" Sasha said looking shocked, "Sonic the Hedgehog knows my name!" Sonic realizes what she's done. "But how do you know me?"
"Ha, Ha… well you see…" Sonic transforms back as it takes her a moment to recognize her, "Not sure if you remember me or not."
"Saya?" Sasha looks shocked, "Oh my gosh! You're okay!" She quickly hugs her; Shadow tries to hold back a growl. "I reached out after Eggman's first attack, but you didn't respond so I thought you got captured… Wait you're Sonic?" She lets go,
"Guilty," She chuckles, "But what are you doing with the rebellion?"
"My parents were captured after the second wave of attacks, I joined to help people… and I hoped I'd get a chance to see Sonic… well you." Sasha said as her face turns a little flushed, "Who knew I had already met her."
"Sorry about that, secret identity and all." Saya chuckles, as Sasha looks at all the others.
"Oh my gosh I'm freaking out this is so cool! I'm standing in front of the Freedom Fighters and they saved my life." She jumps for joy as she grabs Saya's hands, "What happened to you guys? Why were you gone for so long? Where's Knuckles?" She rapid fire asked questions as Shadow transforms back and pulls Saya out of Sasha's hands,
"You should head to the infirmary to get checked out." She said giving Sasha a stern look.
"You're right! I should do that and talk to the Commander." Sasha said starting to walk away as she turns around to Saya, "We can talk later okay?" She waves and goes off.
"Who was that?" TK asked,
"Her name's Sasha, I met her in the caves my parents and I visited when I was on my forced vacation." Saya explained,
"She seems very energetic." Caroline said,
"Yeah, she's kinda a fangirl of ours." Saya said as Sophia glares, "Don't be like that, she's just a friend."
"A friend you only met once…"
"You know I make friends easily." Saya said, "C'mon, Elias probably wants to see us." She takes Sophia's hand and starts walking to the computer room.
"You were very confident even when you were caught." Alan said,
"I mean, we were trying to show the world that they shouldn't be afraid. And I knew you all would get me out." Saya said with a smile,
"If Eggman has other traps like that we need to be careful." Brandy said,
"I hope your message reaches people's hearts." Caroline said with a smile as they enter the computer room.
"There you are, what happened after he cut the feed?" Kolt said moving up to them looking worried,
"He… tried to convince us to trade you for your parents." Sophia said, as Kolt clenches his fist.
"Kolt…" TK tries to comfort him as he shakes his head,
"I need to go punch something." Kolt storms off out of the computer room.
"Did anything else happen?" Sally asked,
"We chased him away and came back here. Apparently Saya knows one of the rescued captives," Caroline said,
"Really? Which one?" Elias asked,
"Her names Sasha, I met her on my mandatory vacation." Saya said,
"I believe I remember her; she was a quick learner and surpassed all of those who trained at the same time as her, so she graduated rather quickly." Elias said,
"Isn't she a minor?" Sophia asked,
"She's 18, the same age as you all." He said as they all paused for a moment.
"Holy crap! We time traveled to being adults!" Saya said jokingly,
"Well some of us are adults." Alan teased,
"What's that supposed to mean?" Saya crossed her arms and glared at him,
"You're too childish to be considered an adult." He said,
"I'll make you eat those words!" She said,
"Let's not in the Computer room," Sally said trying to distract them. "Now that Eggman knows you're back we can start a full-frontal assault."
"We should continue with smaller missions with a high success rate. That way we can continue to boost the morale of the world and start turning the tide." Elias said,
"Right! But now that Eggman knows we're back he's going to start bringing up the ante, so we need to always be on our toes." Saya said with a smile.
A few weeks have passed since Sonic and the Freedom Fighters have made their new debut as they continue to fight to dismantle Robotnik's Empire. They get back from a mission to save more prisoners from another factory. "Another job well done." Sally said with a smile as they jump off they helicopter and transform back.
"It was a walk in the park Sal, Eggman hasn't been able to stop us yet." Saya said with a grin,
"Don't get cocky," Sophia said nudging Saya's shoulder,
"She's right, Eggman could be plotting something." TK said,
"But I think us going to random locations is keeping us one step ahead of him." Brandy said,
"That will only work for so long." Alan said,
"True but we've really started to make a difference." Caroline said
"The only issue is that we're running out of room. Elias is trying to figure out another location to split our forces so that it's not too crowded." Sally said,
"Yeah… It's starting to feel tighter than normal in here." Saya said with an uncomfortable chuckle.
"Do you want to stay outside for a bit?" Sophia asked,
"I'll be okay for now. Besides, don't you need to get to the infirmary?" She asked. Sophia nods as she kisses Saya on the cheek and heads towards the infirmary.
"She's starting to loosen her grip on you a bit huh?" Alan said,
"You make it sound like I'm trapped, She's just worried." Saya said,
"Were just glad to see her relax is what he's trying to say." Caroline said giving him a look,
"I'm glad too, though I was hoping Elias would say no to Dr. Starline's proposal…" Saya said as they start heading to the training room.
"You don't like that Sophia wants to help people?" Alan asked confused,
"Now you make it sound like I'm a bad person." She pouts, "No, I think it's great that she wants to help people… I just don't trust Dr. Starline."
"Saya, it's almost been a month since we've gotten here, and he's been nothing but helpful." TK said,
"I know… but I just get this feeling when I'm around him. I know it's just me being paranoid." Saya said. Whenever he was around it always set off her instincts to run but she can't figure out why.
"Could it be you don't want to be prescribed something to help with your anxiety?" Brandy asked,
"What's that supposed to mean?" Saya asked confused,
"She means that maybe a part of you is afraid to rely on medicine to help you." Caroline said,
"Oh crap! I forgot that I was supposed to help in the computer room, I'll see you guys later." TK said running off.
"Did she eat today?" Caroline asked,
"Yes I watched her." Saya said as Caroline smiles, "But I'm not afraid of the medicine helping me. I'm afraid of the side effects, what if they cause me to become dizzy while I'm mid spin dash? Or if I lose focus on a mission? That type of stuff would be really dangerous right now especially with Eggman pointing all weapons at me."
"You have a point, but I think Elias would have you benched while you attempted different medicines. He's not dumb enough to put you in the field with there being a chance of that happening." Alan said,
"That's another reason why I shouldn't take anything. We'll be in a lot more trouble if two of us are benched. But if I'm feeling like my Anxiety is too unmanageable I'll consider it. But for now I can manage." Saya said looking away from them all. They enter the training room to see Kolt sparing with some of the newbies.
"I hope Elias will let Kolt go on missions soon… He's been so distant…" Caroline said,
"Yeah, I'm starting to worry." Brandy said, noticing Sasha walk up to them,
"Hey guys! How'd your mission go?" Sasha asked with a smile,
"It was easy as always!" Saya said smiling back,
"Oh! There are some new modifications to the obstacle course. It can now move while you're running the track. Wanna try it out?" She asked as Saya looks at her, eyes sparkling with excitement,
"Do I?" She said as they run over to the obstacle course.
"And she's gone…" Alan said shaking his head,
"Speaking of people I don't like…" Brandy said crossing her arms,
"Is that because you don't know her? Or because she's overly friendly with Saya?" Caroline asked as Brandy looks away knowing Caroline hit the nail on the head.
"I think it's nice that she's made another friend other than us." Alan said,
"Me too," Caroline said with a smile.
"Yeah… I think I'm just being paranoid like Sophia." Brandy said letting out a sigh,
"I'll catch you girls later, I gotta take care of Rosie." Alan said leaving. They look over at Kolt take throw down another student.
"I'm going to go tag them out, give Kolt an actual challenge." Brandy said walking up to them,
"Please try not to hurt him." She said as Brandy stops the next person from entering the ring with Kolt as he looks surprised to see her.
"When did you guys get back?" He asked,
"A while ago, you would have noticed if you weren't zoned out." She said calling him out,
"Sorry, I've been helping them train." Kolt said,
"To what? Get their butts kicked by a super?" Brandy said,
"I'm not even using my full strength." Kolt said crossing his arms,
"I'm surprised at that, seeing you were completely zoned out." She said, "Why don't I help you wake up."
"Fine, but I won't hold back." He said,
"Good, I'm not holding back either." She said charging at him as she strakes with a kick and he barely blocks. Taken off guard by her speed as she spins and strikes his side before jumping back,
"Forgot that you're almost as fast as Saya and Sophia." He said,
"A mistake on your part." She said as he swings at her and she dodges, and they continue to spar.
Sophia walks into the infirmary and gets her blood drawn by one of the other nurses, Dr. Starline stops her before she leaves, "Something wrong?" She asked,
"I just wanted to thank you for coming in weekly to give blood. Especially since I recently discovered that the Dark Arms blood begins to slowly deteriorate after a certain time." He said,
"Wait, the Dark Arms blood starts to fade?" She asked,
"Correct, my working theory is that without being within a living organism it cannot survive. Similar to a parasite however it doesn't take anything away from you." He explained,
"That's good to know Dr. Starline, thank you." She said,
"Of course! I'll see you again in a week. I'm surprised at how little I see you all with your histories of almost being on bed rest weekly." He chuckles as he walks away. Sophia thinks to herself hoping he didn't just jinx it as she leaves to go find Saya.
Around the same time, Saya and Sasha were going through the obstacle course as Sasha notices that Saya isn't going at her normal speed. "Why are you not running at full speed?" She asked as she climbed onto a platform as it starts to move.
"Because then I'd be done already and that's boring, I wanna see what this thing can do." Saya smiles as she jumps up and swings onto a rope that goes taut and she loses momentum. "Well that's different." She slides down the rope and jumps to another platform, "This is definitely an interesting concept."
"I agree." Sasha said jumping onto another platform as it starts spinning, "I no longer like this!" Sasha tries to keep her balance as Saya laughs,
"Not a fan of spinning?" She jokes,
"How do you do it?" Sasha asked barely getting to the next platform. "You literally turn into a ball and spin. How do you not get dizzy?"
"Years of practice." She said jumping onto another platform as it stops moving and awkwardly tilts. Saya notices an electrical charge around the gears of the obstacle course. "Hey… I think there might be some kinks…" She said looking around as the platform drops suddenly taking he off guard,
"Saya! Are you okay?" Sasha asked as a panel in the ceiling comes down at full speed about to smash her,
"Chaos Shield!" Saya quickly protects Sasha right before she gets smashed. "I should be asking you that." She winces feeling the force against her shield.
"N… Nice save… I was almost a pancake…" Sasha said nervously,
"Hang on, I'm going to get you out of there." Saya said trying to force the Chaos Shield out from under the pillars.
"Saya look out!" She yelled. A pillar comes at her from the side as she places a shield around herself before she gets squashed,
"Thanks for the heads up…" Saya said struggling, She hasn't made two Chaos Shields out of transformation before and it was causing a lot of mental strain.
"Hey! We need some help!" Sasha calls out. Both Kolt and Brandy were focused on their sparing match not paying attention. Caroline runs in front of them as they stop almost running into her.
"Caroline! We could have hurt you!" Kolt yelled,
"There's something wrong with the obstacle course!" She points as they see Sasha,
"What the heck?" Brandy said as they run over there, "Someone shut it off!" She yelled,
"We're trying! Something's malfunctioning!" One of the agents said trying to mess with the controls.
"Brandy, go grab TK as fast as you can!" Kolt said as she nods and runs out of the room. "Hang on Sasha, We're going to get you out of there." He called out,
"Saya's trapped on the other side." She yells as Kolt transforms and flies up to her,
"Where?" He asked as she points down as he can barely see her shield pinned by three platforms, "You doing okay Saya?" He calls out,
"N…Not really!" She yelled back, "I can't keep two shields up for much longer… Help Sasha first."
"Alright let's push these apart." He said grabbing the top pillar and pushing with his arms and legs as he starts to lift the pillar off the shield as it becomes loose. "Saya can you move Sasha's shield out?" He calls out as Sasha's shield starts moving out of the way from under the pillar. "Someone be ready to catch her." Knuckles said as Caroline transforms and flies up next to Sasha,
"On it!" She said as Knuckles smiles at her,
"Okay Saya, Sasha's safe." Knuckles said. The shield dissipated around Sasha and Cream catches her before she starts falling, "Give me a minuet to get to you." He calls out to Saya, but she says nothing. He jumps out from under the pillars as they slam together after he breaks free. Sophia walks into the training room to see Cream fly Sasha down to the ground. She quickly runs over noticing the crowd around the obstacle course.
"What's going on?" Sophia asked,
"The obstacle course started freaking out and it almost killed me. But Saya saved my life." Sasha said as Sophia starts looking around,
"Where is she?" Sophia said looking panicked,
"Knuckles is helping her out now." Cream said,
"Saya I'm almost to you." Knuckles said jumping down,
"Do you mind hurrying? I don't know if I can hold this up for much longer and I can't transform in here…" She said holding her head as it started to throb while she attempts to concentrate.
"Hang on." Knuckles gets to the field as he starts pushing the platforms away from the Shield,
"Wait! If you move that one the third one will!" Saya tries to warn him but as the Chaos shield gets free from two of the pillars the third one shots her into another wall.
"Saya!" Knuckles yells as Sophia quickly warps up climbing into the obstacle course,
"Saya?" She calls out seeing Knuckles still holding two platforms.
"She's over there." Knuckles said getting ready to jump out of the way as she transforms and warps over where she sees the shield starting to crack,
"Knuckles get over here!" She yelled as she leans her back against the wall and starts placing her feet against the platform. Knuckles breaks free and starts moving over to them as she's pushing the platform off the shield. "Saya, let go of the shield." She nods at Knuckles as Saya releases the shield and Knuckles quickly grabs her and pulls her out of the way. Shadow warps out as it slams into the wall.
"Nice save guys." Saya said holding her head.
"Are you alright?" Shadow asked jumping over one of the platforms to get to them.
"Yeah, just a mondo headache." She said, "Note to self, only make one shield when not transformed."
"Let's get out of here before these things start moving again." Shadow said as she puts her hand on their shoulders and warps them out next to Cream. Everyone watching starts to clap as Brandy and TK run into the room and see them,
"Saya are you alright?" TK asked as they run up.
"I'll live, but you should go check on the controls. Something was definitely shorting the system." Saya said as TK nods and goes over to the control panel.
"I'm sorry Saya, I had no idea that would happen," Sasha said,
"No big deal, just shows I need to be faster." She smiles,
"Says the fastest thing alive." Brandy joked,
"Let's get you to the infirmary." Shadow said transforming back.
"I just need some pain killers and I'll be good as new." Saya said,
"Then we can get those at the infirmary," She said leading her out of the training room.
"Think Dr. Q would have been impressed it took this long for me to get injured?" Saya chuckles as they walk down the hall.
"She probably wouldn't believe it." Sophia chuckles, "But what happened?"
"We were going through the course when the platform I was standing on tilted weirdly and I could see the gears that move everything. There was a weird electrical charge and the whole thing started freaking out." She said,
"Weird electrical charge?" She asked. "What made it weird?"
"I think… it was orange." Saya said,
"You sure you didn't hit your head?" Sophia asked,
"Well I definitely got knocked around a bit." She chuckles,
"We'll let TK know after we get you checked up." She said as they enter the infirmary as Dr. Starline walks up to them looking worried.
"Is everything alright?" He asked,
"Just a little headache, mind if I get some pain meds?" Saya said,
"The obstacle course had a malfunction and Saya had to overexert herself to protect another agent." Sophia said.
"Let's have you sit down over here." He gestures them over to a cot and Saya sits down as he starts checking her over. "Everything looks normal, I'll grab you some pain meds, but I want you to stay here until the headache is gone just in case." Saya nods as he walks over to the cabinet.
"I'm going to go let TK know what you saw so she can be cautious, then I'll be right back." She said kissing Saya's forehead and leaving the infirmary,
"Here you go." Dr. Starline hands Saya the pills and a glass of water. "These are known to make you drowsy so don't try to stand up too quickly."
"Thanks," She said as she pauses before taking them. Dr. Starline grabs a seat and sits next to her,
"Maybe while you're here we can talk about how you're doing?" He asked with a smile,
"I'm fine." Saya said,
"Any attacks recently?" He asked,
"No, now that I have permission to go outside whenever I want it's not so bad." She said, she started to shift uncomfortably, that feeling to flee was pulling at the back of her mind.
"That's good to hear. Please let me know if you start feeling overwhelmed, I know with the increase of people it might start feeling tight in here." He said as she nods, "You get some rest, please tell me if your headache starts getting worse." He walks away. She lays her head down and tries to relax.
The crowd around the broken obstacle course dispersed as Kolt, Caroline and Brandy are watching TK tinker with the control panel, "Found anything yet?" Kolt asked,
"No, everything seems to be working fine." TK said as Sophia comes into the training room,
"Hang on TK." She called out as TK pulls away from the wires and looks up at her.
"What's up?" TK asked,
"Saya mentioned seeing an orange electrical current right before everything went haywire." She said,
"An orange electrical current? That's not normal." TK said going through her bag and pulling out rubber gloves,
"Is there anything you're not prepared for." Brandy joked,
"We fight robots almost daily." TK said reaching back into the bottom of the control panel. "Whatever happened, the circuit board is completely fried," She said pulling it out as she notices a specific spot that was burnt differently, "But I think I found the starting point."
"How do you know?" Kolt asked,
"See how these burn marks are different than the others?" TK points it out to them. "Whatever was installed here was what caused the short circuit. But that doesn't explain the orange electrical current…" She thinks,
"Could it have been Chaos energy?" Sophia asked,
"The base is running off of power rings not the Master Emerald, but they are similar so it could have been." TK said,
"Dr. Starline made a joke at how none of us have gotten hurt and then a moment later Saya almost gets seriously injured? That's an uncomfortable coincidence." Sophia said,
"That's a little eerie…" Caroline said,
"I mean think about it, Whenever things start to get a sense of normalcy around us something strange always happens." Kolt said,
"Comes with the territory I guess." TK said shrugging,
"I'm gonna go back and check on Saya," Sophia said walking away,
"After I finish in the computer room I'll go around with my scanner and see if there are any spikes of Chaos energy around the base." TK said, leaving as well.
Alan was walking back from checking up on his sister as Sally rushes up to him, "Yo Sally where's the fire?" He asked,
"Come with me, we have a lead on everyone's parents." She said as he quickly follows her,
"What? Really?"
"Yes, do you know where the others are?" She asked,
"They were in the training room last I checked except for Sophia who went to the infirmary to get her blood drawn." He said,
"Go make sure she's still not in the infirmary and meet in the conference room. I'll grab the others," Sally said as he nods and runs down another hall.