Chapter 51: Cluster Headache

E-S

"Hey, um, I saw this mannequin earlier which was wrapped up in golden blankets and looked like it was sleeping. Honestly, I think that there could be more of those and finding them may be the solution to our problem."

"That's pretty cool, Elise! Do you know where the one you came across is?"

"Yes, it's right over there, by the staircase."

My emerald green eyes followed the direction Elise was pointing in, and we discovered that she was right. A mannequin wrapped up in golden blankets was definitely standing by the staircase we descended, not too long ago. Honestly, I was very excited to be getting one step closer to our goal! Soon, we would find our way down to the prison, help Megan defeat Sullivan and escape from the otherworlds. It ... It actually felt like yesterday when I first met my new friends and teamed up with them!

I wouldn't mind at all if they joined my group! They're a really nice bunch!

Once I began closing the distance between the mannequin and myself, Tails and the others followed me. I couldn't blame most of my friends for feeling frightened about what the mannequin was going to do. But if finding these was gonna solve our current situation, then so be it. Just as I reached out to grasp the blankets, an angered voice forced us to jump out of our fur, allowing startled screams to leave our mouths.

"I told you we shouldn't have a baby, didn't I?!"

"Did the ... Did the mannequin just ... speak?!" Crash yelped in terror, clutching Eddie tightly who looked just as frightened as he was. "If it did, then I'm outta here!"

"Yes Crash, it did," Ellie answered, staring at the superintendent's room with excitement overwhelming her. "But, look at the door! One of the chains has fallen down, so we have five more left!"

"Let's go!" Manny shouted to get our attentions, walking off to find the second mannequin with us in tow. As we entered the hallway on the other side of the lobby, we noticed a small number of sniffer dogs and two twin-victims patrolling the area, almost like they were guarding it. But on the bright side, I managed to catch sight of our next mannequin on our list.

"There it is!" I cried out, curling myself up into a ball and performing a spin dash on the nearest monster I could find. Elise immediately followed my lead by pumping several bullets into the next one, with Shadow's assistance. Once all the sniffer dogs were down, we focused on those two twin-victims who were pointing at us with bony fingers and whispering a single word we could very well, shockingly.

"Reciever!"

"Wrong person." Faker muttered as I launched myself at the first one, performing a series of homing attacks on it. Thankfully, it didn't take long to take it and its' friend down. Just like I did with the first one, I cautiously reached out to grasp the mannequin's golden blankets when we heard that same furious voice again!

"Oh, shut the hell up! You can't blame it all on me!"

"This is freaking me out," Tails shuddered, wanting to get into the superintendent's room. "So much..."

"I don't blame you there, buddy," I repiled, flashing my trademark smile to comfort my little bro. "Let's keep moving, guys."

We soon found the next one in the room nearest the door we came through, but unfortunately there were two wall-men blocking our paths. Thankfully, they were easy to take care off and because of that, it didn't take long for us to reach the third mannequin. Even though we all knew the freaky voice was coming, my friends and I were gradually becoming used to it as we came across the other mannequins hiding in the apartment. Yeah. Strange, I know.

"Stupid little crybaby!"

"I'm sorry guys, this is getting weirder and weirder." Amy murmured, feeling startled as she took in her surroundings. Then as she continued speaking, our pink friend's mouth curled up into a bright relieved smile. "But, I suppose we have three more chains left to take down! So, that's good!"

As my friends and I continued the search, I couldn't help but let Megan drift into my thoughts. It had been a long period of time since we last saw her and even though I didn't show it, I was really worried about her well-being. I mean, we didn't know if she was doing okay! I imagined that the younger girl had tried to contact us during this time but had trouble doing so, because of what was happening. We all didn't know how encountering the madman would turn out... We'd either get down to the prison and help Megan defeat Sullivan or arrive and find that she killed him herself.

To tell the truth, I believed that the brunette kid was brave and capable enough to do the latter, as I've seen her take down dozens of monsters before. She was always the first to save our lives whenever we ended up in danger and prevented me from suffering the same fate as Elise unfortunatley did! I had a bit of a feeling that Megan would probably be heavily affected by this ordeal, physically and emotionally due to what we've been through. If she was, we were going to help our young friend heal, smile and live life to the fullest, enjoying every part of it...

No matter what happens in our upcoming encounter with Sullivan, Megan will still have a family...

Soon, we managed to find the six mannequins and all of the chains had disappeared from the superintendent's door, giving us permission to finally enter the room! It looked ... rather normal, almost similar to the complex our own superintendent lived in. Dark blue-green walls, normal furniture. The only thing that caught our eyes was a small red box sitting on a nearby brown shelf. Hey, that's the box Joseph told us about back in Room 302 of the Past! Grinning with relief surging through me, I gave Tails, Elise, Amy and the others a thumbs-up before I reached out to grab our target. Just as I was about to open the lid, a horrid and freaky smell suddenly made me want to put the box back on the shelf!

Yeesh... What's that awful smell inside?

Fighting back the urge, I pulled the lid off the box gently, not realising that an intense and powerful wave of agony was beginning to surge through my head. Once I saw what was inside, everything just went completely white! This only lasted for a couple of seconds, but during the painful vision I had, three things flashed at an incredibly fast pace!

A new-born baby. An umbilical cord. A man and a woman standing outside their apartment door.

I snapped back to reality with a scream of agony escaping my mouth, forcing me to drop to my knees in pain. "AAAAAAAAHHHH! Argh! M-M-My head!"

Tails, Amy and Elise instantly dropped down beside me, attempting to comfort me whilst Manny and the Herd stared at us with concern overwhelming them. "Sonic! Are you okay?!" Peaches, Louis and Amy all gasped, the latter wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "Yeah!" My little bro added, with worry lacing his tone. "What happened, Sonic?!"

"I'm ... I'm fine," I repiled, panting as I struggled to fight back the pain which was gradually fading away. "I think I-"

I didn't even get the chance to finish my sentence, because the low booming sound of a bell began to echo across the entire apartment. Elise offered to assist me in pulling myself up to my feet, which I accepted. "Thanks," I hummed appericatively.

"You're welcome," She repiled, smiling at me. Having remembered what Joseph said, I kept the umbilical cord's box in a tight grip, relieved that the cord was going to be safe. But then, a realisation soon hit me like a punch in the face from Knux.

The bell was siginalling our upcoming fight with our assilant. And, that only meant one thing.

"Guys," I said, realising that my friends and I had limited time to get down to the prison. "We gotta get to Room 302, now."

Megan and her parents' lives were on the line...