Chapter 42: Basement Dwellers

S-E

(One hour later, Building World...)

The thought of watching an innocent child getting horrifically injured like that disturbed me. I kept scolding myself for not pushing Megan out of the way when Andrew repeatedly raked his fingers across her shoulder and chest, creating deep and painful wounds. I ... I thought she was dying when she collasped the the floor, passing out as she did so. Megan probably would have perished if we weren't around..

We weren't going to let her die... She still needed to be reunited with her parents!

After fighting past a large group of twin-victims blocking our exit, we managed to get out of the water prison. The new variety of monsters we encountered were very disturbing. They seemed to be a set of conjoined sleeping infants, draped in a dirty brown feathery scarf and smock. They also had pale faces and incredibly large adult-like arms, which they used to stand. The latter came out from underneath their smock, which led us to assume that they were the creature's legs at first.

So many different monsters... These worlds are just ... They are just horrible!

But putting that to one side ... My friends and I wasted no time in descending the spiral staircase and arriving into the next world. To be honest, I was expecting to it to be an otherworld version of our young friend's school or my kingdom. But actually, the next world turned out to be something different. Buildings of all sizes crowded narrow pathways with monsters roaming within, revealing itself as a large abandoned hotel.

Sonic, Tails, Shadow, the Herd and I managed to find a safe spot which was a small bar, close to our exit. It looked rather decent with a table and set of chairs on the left side. But on the right, there was a white door and hole punchared besides it. We were glad to see that there was a mattress and two blankets close to the exit, otherwise Megan would've had to sleep on the wooden floor. That certainly didn't brighten my spirits as I wanted to make sure that our young friend would come back kicking soon enough.

First of all, we needed to find some antibiotics and a first-aid kit to treat her injuries.

Right now, I was exploring our surroundings with Sonic, Tails and Manny in an attempt to recover the objects before the man in the blue coat did. One thing we all learned about him, was that he'd do anything to keep us from accomplishing our goal. Shockingly, we didn't run into him during our search. Whether he was still hiding in the water prison or travelling to a different otherworld, I don't know.

But thankfully, Sonic and Manny healed their wounds quickly, which was good.

"Have you guys found anything?" I asked as I kneeled fown to scavenge through a small box standing near an elevator. I'll admit, the temperatures here weren't particulary pleasant since it was rather cold, almost reminding me of my adventure with my blue friend. Silent Hill was a place I wanted to forget about and I knew I wasn't alone in thinking that way, since.. Sonic, Megan and the Herd have been on adventures there too.

I couldn't blame them at all.

"Not yet," The mammoth repiled as he walked over to help Tails. "How about you?"

"Same..." I repiled quietly as I pulled myself up to my feet. "Hey, we should try using that elevator and see what we can find on the floors above us."

Hearing this, Manny gave a nod whilst my blue and yellow friends sent huge grins in my direction to tell me that they thought that was a good idea. Once we entered the elevator, I quickly pressed a button and soon we were on our way up. As we waited, I couldn't help but let Megan drift into my thoughts.

She came so far from when we first met and I could definitely see that she changed from a shy little girl to a strong and capable one. That was one of the things I admired about her and we were going to do everything we could to make our young friend wear that bright and adorable smile again..

Hold on Megs, we're still here for you...

E-M

Once we exited the elevator, the four of us took in our surroundings quickly before continuing our search. Concern for my family instantly began to overwhelm me, as I really wanted to go back to the bar and be with them. But at the same time, I knew that they could handle themselves against a threat, no matter how big or small it may be. Although, I was worried about Megan too. She was just a kid and getting injured like that probably would have scarred her for a long time.

If I got in and pushed her away from our assailant, maybe.. things would have been different...

To be honest, I was rather glad that Sonic was the one who managed to get the ghost ... Andrew DeSalvo, I think it was, out of harm's way. Despite not having interacted with our blue friend much, I begun to develop some respect for him. Sonic was more than willing to protect those he held close, just like I did. My daughter told me excitedly about how fast he ran when we were back in the forest and.. I was rather impressed.

Maybe ... Sonic and his friends weren't so bad after all...

"Hey," I greeted the blue hedgehog with concern beginning to lace my tone. "You alright?"

"I'm okay.." He repiled, allowing his trademark smile to crease his cheeks. "I'm just thinking about what other adventures are waiting for us on the horizon.."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but chuckle as we walked. "You're a bit of an adventure guy, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah!" Sonic said enthusiastically, making Tails and Elise grin. "I love travelling around the world and meeting new people, it's who I am."

"So, what would you guys do?" I asked curiously. Normally I wouldn't be doing this but ..., the things that our blue friend did with his family seemed a little interesting. One time during the forest, the princess told me about.. him saving the planet seven years ago. She wasn't with Sonic when it occured, but when Sid asked how she knew, Elise repiled that he told her everything after.. they remembered each other.

Ellie, Diego, Shira and everyone else in my herd were curious about the blue hedgehog's adventures too. Maybe one day.. after we've escaped, Sonic could tell us more about what he, Tails, Shadow and their friends did. I guess, it would be quite nice to know..

"There's this guy who I've been fighting my whole life. He'd often create a scheme to take over the planet and build his own empire but, my friends and I always managed to stop him." Our blue friend began, ruffling Tails' hair as he spoke. "We haven't seen him in a while, which is a bit weird, since he doesn't usually take long to put a new plan in action.."

"Yeah," Tails agreed, keeping an eye out for any signs of first-aid kits or the antibiotics we needed. "His name's Eggman, by the way."

"I see," I said after a while, taking all of the information in. "My family and I don't really go on adventures much.. but the last time we did, there was a.. continental drift that separated us."

Hearing this, Elise gasped whilst Sonic and the young two-tailed fox gave me worried looks. "Man..." The latter murmured. "That must have be rather intense..."

I gave a small nod, trying to fight back memories. To this day, I remembered everything, even events that occured before we fought Gutt and his pirates. Returning Pinky to his father, meeting Ellie and the possums whilst escaping the flood, searching for Sid in a new world filled with dinosaurs, the continental drift and now this.

We've all been through things, both good and bad. I guess, they've brought us closer in a way...

Suddenly, I was snapped back to reality when Sonic and Elise both shouted something with excitement lacing their tones. Knowing exactly what it was, Tails and I rushed over to them and our faces lit up when we discovered that they found what we needed.

"Brilliant!" I said, feeling relieved. "We should head back now and see how everyone's doing."

"That sounds good to me." The princess repiled, nodding excitedly as she picked the items up and turned to beckon her two friends to follow us. But something.. seemed to be off. "Guys?"

The blue hedgehog and two-tailed fox stood a few metres away from us, staring ahead with wide eyes. I ... I didn't understand what was happening, so I called out to them. "Hey! We've found what we need, let's go!"

"Wait," Elise interrupted after a short silence. "I ... I don't think we're the only ones here."

I gave her a look of confusion, still not understanding what was going on. But then, it gradually came to me. Just a few feet away from Sonic and Tails, were two other animals who behaved incredibly similar to them. A ... red echidna in his late 20s and.. a pink hedgehog in her early 20s? Truth be told, I actually thought it was just our two friends and the black-red one who were around. The strangers had also noticed and were looking at us with suprise overwhelming them. My instincts were telling me to get in front and protect my friends at all costs, but ... I then remembered what Megan said back at the hospital..., so I took a step back and decided to watch the scene unfold.

"Knuckles? Amy..?"

"Sonic...?"

...Maybe.., they won't be so bad too... I hope my family's okay...