Author's Note: Okay, I'll admit it. I didn't plan the middle to later part of this chapter thoroughly enough, and had to improvise a lot. I felt like I just wanted to get it over with, so apologies if it's too obvious while reading. So let's get it on.
Chapter 6: In and Out
When Alan Doherty left the Army, he had never expected to see anything like this again. It was naïve, of course, to think that way. In this job, anything could happen. Anything was possible. Including the resurfacing of old nightmares.
Whatever this large, poorly-lit room used to be, Robotnik was now using it as a prison. Several rows and columns of cages took up nearly the whole place, with a few corridors in-between, one of which both Alan and Robotnik now stood in.
Nearly every cage contained several mobian prisoners of many species. At first glance alone, it was clear that they were maltreated and malnourished, all looking like they'd never taken a bath in ages, some having obvious wounds and scars, as well as a few of them being disturbingly skinny. About the only good news was that the cages had enough space for them to stand in, though not really to move around. In the nearby cage to the left, only one of the prisoners still had an outfit in good enough shape for one to read the label on the left breast – Extro.
The instant Alan made these observations, the already loud wailing and moaning immediately changed to far louder cries of snarling and growling – like actual animals. The mobians rattled fiercely at the bars, all glaring with bloodshot eyes at the two humans at the entrance. Combined with the echoes bouncing off the walls, the volume was comparable to that of a rock concert. Hell, Robotnik probably gets the same amount of enjoyment from this.
But Alan wasn't hearing anything. For a brief moment, he was back in Kabul, slowly making his way through the corridors of a hidden Taliban prison his team recently discovered. He remembered the cries of the captured, raped and otherwise violated women in the cells. And worse, their appearances…
His memory was interrupted by Robotnik, though it was hard to say if it made him feel any better. "These are my slave laborers," the fat scientist said as if he were giving a museum tour. "Currently thirty people in all. When I want a robot built, they build it – or else."
"But wouldn't…don't you have a factory for that kind of thing?" Alan asked silently.
"Sure I do. But what is a factory without workers? And before you ask about quality, well, the last time someone tried to sabotage me, I had him killed by the same robot he was supposed to assemble." He flashed an unnerving grin, but it quickly disappeared, replaced by scowl. "And apparently, that wasn't a good enough lesson. Someone tried it again recently. I wanted to hand out yet another ironic death, but since you're here..."
Alan gulped, eyes wide open. "You want me to perform…an execution?"
Robotnik remained oblivious to Doherty's horror, which he couldn't even hide anymore. "No, I said I wanted to you to perform target practice. Unit 31, bring her out!" he commanded.
Alan watched as a hovering robot, different from the ones outside, seemed to come out from the ceiling, apparently a security compartment, which was some forty feet above, and stopped in front of a cell far down the corridor. It unlocked the door with its skinny arms before going in to forcefully grab the one deemed guilty out. The prisoner was held by the shoulders, and the robot hovered all the way upwards. Even at this distance, it was clear the mobian was wounded, weak and dying, with no strength to struggle, though even if she freed herself, the height between her and now the ground would be enough to break her legs. The snarling and growling grew even louder as the event unfolded.
At the same time two other similar hoverbots also came out from the ceiling as well. They floated over to the two men standing at the entrance, but both trained their optics – and maybe their weapons, though this was harder to tell with the lack of light – only on the newcomer. Alan noticed this, and quickly put two and two together. It made him feel sick. Someone was going to fire a shot in this room, one way or another.
"So? What are you waiting for?" Robotnik asked, sounding impatient.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Alan asked back, keeping all emotions in his voice to a minimum.
"Well, of course. How else would I know you can be useful to me?" came the reply, the tone having just a tiny hint of 'if you know what I really mean'.
Finally he thought of something. "Sonic moves pretty fast. How is a stationary target, no matter how far, going to help me shoot one that moves like that?" Alan replied. Even disregarding how he wanted to sidestep what was really a loyalty test, it was a legitimate flaw to point out.
But this only gave Robotnik another idea. "Hmm…in that case, Unit 31, move the target around as quickly as you can!"
Unit 31 began moving around the air, at a somewhat rapid speed. The mobian looked like she wanted to scream as the robot circled around the top of the chamber, but produced no sound. Her voice would be overwhelmed by the snarling anyway. The robot's motion and speed seemed really more comparable to that of Tails, albeit still slower.
Robotnik crossed his arms. "Not the fastest, I know, but I can devise a better test later. For now…show it to me."
Internally, to say Alan was kicking himself for making that suggestion was an understatement. What the hell have I done? The only option left was calling Sonic and Tails, the cavalry, in, but was there even enough time for that? Would Robotnik notice?
Not to mention, the investigation was still not over yet. Alan hadn't found out what Robotnik's plan was. What he planned to do with the Chaos Emeralds.
And that was ultimately more important, wasn't it? Alan knew if he didn't kill this one person, he'd end up killing himself and making the entire planet like this room somehow.
"Alan?" the voice from the earpiece crackled softly. It was Sonic, and the concern could clearly be heard even with the poor reception. "You don't have to do this. We can come in right now. Tails and I are actually just outside the mountain and can break through the entrance and set off the alarms to get Eggy's attention. But you have to decide, since he might realize you led us to him. If you want us to come in, you know what to say. But…you gotta hurry. Please."
Doherty was sure Sonic wanted him to give the signal at thus avert this victim's death. But as much as he dearly wished to, he couldn't. Breaking in now would mean Robotnik instantly suspecting Alan for being responsible. Even if he could convince him that he was innocent, he would likely still be asked to go and shoot Sonic. In these winding, narrow corridors, who knew what could happen? Wouldn't it also be too obvious if he deliberately avoided shooting Sonic? And of course, he would undoubtedly be away from Robotnik while being tasked to do so, and he wouldn't get to find out his plan. Or even if he could stay next to him, suddenly asking about such things would make Robotnik suspicious again. And perhaps even-
There were just far too many questions and uncertainties. Doherty made up his mind, however god-awful it felt. He raised his M4, set it to single shot, and took aim at the mobian hanging from the still circling hoverbot up above. After a while, Alan found himself able to keep track of the target and judge roughly where to shoot, despite the motion. His finger was at the trigger. Alan could only tell himself that he was really doing a favor to the dying woman. And Sonic. And all of Mobius.
The sun had just gone down. On a cliff overlooking the mountain that Alan had climbed earlier to get into the base, Sonic and Tails were monitoring the situation, visually, by making sure no scoutbots were around, and in terms of audio, via the transmission from Alan's earpiece to Tails' wrist device.
For now though, only one thing registered on their senses: the unmistakable crack of a gunshot. Two. Three of them, and more. They lost count before it eventually stopped.
Both of them stared at each other, neither able to utter a sound of their own.
In the cage room, all the snarling and rattling ceased the instant Alan fired his weapon. Eight shots. Far fewer than he'd expected, but he wasn't about to celebrate that. Quite horribly, the now dead mobian fell off the robot's arms, crashed onto the side of one of the cages, and lay on the corridor in front of the two humans, motionless. Then there was nothing but quiet.
Robotnik walked up to the corpse, and Alan felt like he had to see the perverse results of his own work, so he followed. Up close, the mobian appeared to be a cat, and it actually took a while to see where the shots hit due to how bloody her body was in the first place.
"Not bad at all!" Robotnik congratulated, doing so in the same way Alan's own friends would after a shooting competition. "You are officially in, then! Come, there is more we have to talk about."
Damn right we are. It was the only reason all this happened in the first place. Alan's face was a complete blank right now, staring at nothing.
"31, leave the body there for an hour. Let it sink in for them," he commanded before turning around to walk towards the door. The robot complied by hovering back up to its ceiling compartment and closing itself up there.
Rationally, Alan knew he should start moving too. There was nothing he could do here anymore. And he had to find out how Robotnik was going to make the whole planet like this chamber like he said he would.
Emotionally, all he wanted to do was to 'help' Robotnik by ending his miserable life right here, right now via cranial ventilation. Whatever happened to him, whatever other mobians did to him in the past was no excuse for all this.
As if to punctuate that last point, one of the prisoners in the cage behind him, also female, started moaning, probably to get his attention. Alan turned to face her, and saw that she was holding onto the bars tightly. She also appeared weak and disheveled, and her eyes showed no energy in them whatsoever. And yet she was still in slightly better shape than the others. Her mouth moved, and Alan barely could hear the words that came out. "Please…help us. We're sorry…so sorry…"
Alan stared at her for a moment. This was it. Not all mobians were like that which Robotnik described. Even if it weren't like that…he realized the two other robots were still staring at him. Unable to vocalize anything himself, he gave a very slight nod before turning away to walk towards the door. Robotnik's back was thankfully still turned to him.
Doherty slung his weapon back behind him before covering his mouth. "I'm sorry," he muttered very quietly, knowing the earpiece was sensitive enough to pick it up. "Five minutes. Please." Then he pretended to wipe sweat off the top of his mouth as he passed the robots and exited the chamber.
"I…I understand," came Sonic's reply, sympathizing. "But please, hurry up. Once is already too much."
A minute later they were back in the room with the Chaos Emeralds, whose shininess had not weakened at all. "So what do you actually plan to do with those?" Alan asked, keeping his voice steady.
"Oh, I don't have to do anything with them anymore, except keep them for future use, of course," the scientist replied gleefully as he typed away at a wall computer. "All I need to do now is prep the engines, the main weapons, and the backup, and finally-"
"Wait, what engines or weapons?" This was completely new to Alan. After that reflexive outburst, he silently scolded himself for forgetting to try and hide his surprise.
"You see, I decided that sending robots out every now and then is just not working anymore. I will be keeping them for other purposes, of course, but now, it is time for something all new," Robotnik declared as his fingers continued tapping away on the keyboard. The screen showed something about 'offloading to new site'. Then he stopped and stood up. "This facility is more flexible than even I previously thought. I found out that with a few modifications, this whole thing can actually rise out of the mountains and become a giant flying fortress!"
Alan kept quiet. He did not want to interrupt Robotnik as he finally gave away his scheme. To be fair, Robotnik seemed fully confident that it would happen soon, and as such did not find it premature at all to open his mouth.
"Once this place is airborne, I can devastate any target I so desire with its vaporizer cannon, unless they of course surrender to me. Here, let me show you."
Robotnik typed something, and the wall of monitors stopped showing the scoutbots' views. Instead, their separate screens now unified to show a computer simulation. It showed a large airborne fortress far above the ground firing some sort of energy weapon at a town below. After the energy beam hit, the only thing left of the town was a gigantic hole. The wall screens then returned to their usual programming. The whole thing looked somewhat crude and ridiculous, but Alan wasn't laughing.
"With this, I can enslave town after town, the same ones that tormented me, and force them to work for me to enslave even more towns or destroy them. But before that, I need to attack something else entirely first."
"What's that?"
"Angel Island." Robotnik pressed a few keys, and the wall screens showed the familiar floating island. "You see, there are even more emeralds than just these three. Seven of them, in fact, as well as a much larger and much more powerful one called the Master Emerald, so powerful that it is what causes this island to float in the first place." The screen zoomed in to show the large emerald on the altar in the center. "I haven't been able to take those emeralds until now because of Knuckles, the island's guardian." The screen showed the echidna resting on the altar's stairs. "You may have heard Sonic mention him?"
"Actually...yeah, I heard him say Knuckles, though I thought it was a joke at first."
"Oh, he's no joke. Knuckles is pretty tough against my robots...but he won't be when the last thing he sees is my fortress vaporising his entire island into nothing, leaving all the Emeralds for me to take." The simulation showed the fortress devastating the floating island, leaving nothing but the Emeralds falling into the sea below, which were collected by flying robots. The security feeds resumed after that. "Then we'll see who's laughing! Hahahaha! Oh, and I guarantee you it won't be Sonic."
"That's where I come in, right?"
"Exactly. You will come up with a plan to shoot Sonic dead. Perhaps his two-tailed friend also. I'd suggest setting a trap of some kind. You can use my robots when and where you deem necessary."
That was quite a tall order, to say the least, though it was one Alan knew he would not carry out. "They aren't my typical opponents. I'd need to know more about them."
"I'll give you any info on how to fight them if you wish, just use the other computer. It has files about them, Mobius and my robots too. In the meantime, there are just a few more things I need to check up here. This could take until tomorrow. If you can be done by then, then excellent. Rrrh, I can't wait…"
Alan wondered if there was anything he should ask Robotnik or look up in the computer regarding Sonic and Tails that he couldn't get out of talking to them directly. But he couldn't think of any. The only question he had left had nothing to do with them. "Okay, one last thing. Why?"
"Why what? You asked that already." Robotnik asked, sounding annoyed, still tapping on the keyboard. The text on the computer screen now read 'weapon systems 80% functional', 'engines 80% functional' and 'offsite backup complete'.
"Why do this? Just curious, but if you know so much about these Chaos Emeralds, to the point where you know how to send me back, why don't you send yourself back? Why go through all that trouble staying here to try and take over the world?"
The fat scientist just scoffed. "You don't get it, do you? I have to take over them. It is a punishment they deserve. It is a reward I deserve. And I have the ability and knowledge to do so, to rule over them. I've come so close before. They…they need a real boss to make them realize what they've done. So I think the real question is…" He put on that obnoxious grin again. "Why not?"
Wow. Just wow. As if he needed any more reason to stop this guy. He should have seen it coming. How many times throughout history had men actually vanquished their power when they saw no reason to?
"I'll see what I can do," Alan said while sighing. It was time already. "Sometimes, though, I wish I stayed at home."
"Well, so did I. Except I never really had one back in Area 51 anyway. That's right, I never had a real home in Earth's most secret facility. I'm just making my own here. Maybe all of this is a blessing in disguise for me."
What happened next, though, certainly wasn't one, as a loud buzzing sound could be heard from the wall of monitors. Robotnik glanced at it to see the feed of his scoutbots going out one by one, each screen being replaced with static and flashing red words: TECHNICAL ERROR.
The next thing he knew, alarms and sirens began going off outside the room, red and yellow lights flashing. More text appeared on the screens: INTRUDER DETECTED.
"What the…no, no, not now! Anytime but now!"
"Yes, now." Over the alarms, Robotnik heard a click sound. He turned around to see Alan aiming his pistol straight into the fat doctor's forehead.
If Robotnik scowled any further, he was probably going to have jaw problems. "You…you were-"
"Yes, I was, and I still am," Doherty replied, his tone now absolutely nothing like how it sounded ten seconds ago. He had enough of that bootlicking. "Now turn around and lock this door."
Having finally heard Alan mention the code phrase, both Sonic and Tails instantly sprung into action.
Phase one was to knock out all of the scoutbots, which were really just slightly modified versions of the black ones that attacked the town this morning. It was hardly a problem. That they all came to roughly the same spot to check what happened to the first one after it was reduced to scrap only made it easier. They handled them as quickly as possible before zipping through the blown door in the cave.
Sonic charged through the hidden front entrance the old-fashioned way. As they already knew where it was, Sonic wasted no time climbing the mountain or even having Tails carry him. Rather, he revved himself up in one spot and then let loose, tearing through the rocks and stones on the 'slope' directly in front of the cave entrance in one straight line, all fifty meters of it, before smashing through the hidden door with his momentum intact.
Inside, Sonic just kept moving, occasionally sliding on the floor while lowering himself to avoid machine gun fire from ahead, and then jumping into a spindash before the robots could adjust their aim, sawing through them effortlessly. Then he did the same with the doors, which had automatically sealed, not that it made a difference. Tails followed from behind, using his namesakes to cut up any robot that still had a big enough piece that reminded standing while monitoring his wrist device.
Sonic brought himself to a halt at a crossroads lighted up by spinning yellow and red lights. The noise from the alarms was loud, but it wasn't really new to him. "Where next, bro?"
"Check it out," Tails said, showing Sonic the small but clear screen on his wrist device, the glowing dot on it relative to their position, and a compass. "They're both to our approximate two o'clock and maybe forty meters from here, though…" He looked around. "This is probably going to be quite a maze."
"Not if I try this. Stand back a bit," Sonic said as he started dashing back and forth at an angle to the wall, towards and away from the direction Tails mentioned. In the limited space, he bounced himself back and forth like a pinball using his legs, and after finally building enough momentum, he curled into a spindash and tore a large hole through his target wall. Tails followed, shaking his head at his friend's impatience, though understanding that this was practical.
The big living saw continued its motion, tearing down more walls, the occasional unfortunate robot and other obstacles. Feeling sure that he was nearing forty meters, thanks to his instinct and years of training, he smashed through one more wall and door before he uncurled and planted his legs on the ground, slanted forwards and feet raised to activate his own brakes.
"Jesus, Sonic, way to make a shortcut," Sonic heard a familiar voice remark. He looked to the side to see Alan, who was aiming his pistol at Robotnik. Both men were standing in the two corners of the room that still remained, flanking the wall of monitors and the table with the Chaos Emeralds on it.
"Well, this is kinda urgent, you know. Nice to see the Emeralds there. Where're the prisoners?"
"Left out the door, keep going to the end. Where's Tails?"
The fox arrived just then and stopped next to the hedgehog. "Sonic, Alan! So we're all here, what do we do now?"
"Any chance of shutting down all the robots coming after us from here?" Sonic asked.
"Hah! I'd like to see you try," Robotnik responded, grinning madly. "They are all completely autonomous now. You should know, Sonic, you've been in my other bases!"
"Okay, in that case, I'm going to free those people first, Tails. You and Alan keep Robotnik and his duncebots away and make sure he doesn't take the Emeralds, I'll be quick!"
"Wait, Sonic!" Tails cried, but the hedgehog already raced off in the direction Alan mentioned without even nudging Robotnik with a one-liner. "Hate it when he does that…"
"Well," Robotnik began to say, "I guess the hedgehog believes his sidekick has grown up! He wouldn't leave something like this to you even just last year!" That earned him a hard punch from Alan in the face as the latter saw Tails looking hurt due to Robotnik's remark. Amazingly, his sunglasses did not break, though his nose probably did.
"Don't listen to him, just keep those bots away. Sonic trusts you, and so do I! Just do what you did in the town this morning. Want me to help?"
"Thanks, Alan. But how're you gonna do that?"
"Hold on. Just keep watch first," Alan said as he took something out from a side pack. Handcuffs. He placed on it the fat scientist's hand and connected it to the metal bar under the wall table. Then he brought out his carbine. "All right, now I'm ready for some real target practice."
"Good," Tails spoke quickly as he revved his tails up, "because here they come!"
Meanwhile, Sonic, after arriving at the jail entrance, was just mopping up the few robots stationed there, though he had to be careful to not let any of the shots hit the prisoners, who had a reason to cheer for the first time in ten years, and were naturally doing so. Once the last one fell, Sonic began bouncing off the doors of each cell in spindash mode, keeping his quills sharp enough to break the locks open but elastic enough to keep jumping back and forth.
Sonic broke open the last cell furthest away from the entrance, and began bringing himself to a stop. It happened even faster than usual as he saw something that nearly caused him to crash, though he was able to control that one. This, on the other hand…
On the ground was the mobian that Alan shot just now, in a small pool of blood. Her red eyes were still open, and her body lay in a grotesque fashion, limbs facing all directions. Sonic hadn't just stopped, he was frozen still.
The hedgehog was brought back to reality as he heard the metal clangs of the damaged cell doors collapsing, some of which were pushed down by the prisoners. "Hey, you're Sonic, right?" one of them timidly asked after coming out of a nearby cell.
"Uh…yeah," Sonic nodded. It made sense that they didn't really know who he was, outside of hearing Robotnik loudly ramble about him in front of them, due to how long ago they were caught. "I'm getting you guys outta here."
"Thank you so much. We've heard a lot about you. Lead the way," the mobian replied, actually bowing a bit.
"Wait, what about…" Sonic motioned towards the dead mobian on the floor.
"Nothing we can do about her anymore. We have to go. Don't worry, we can still move, most of us anyway."
After one last glance at the woman on the ground, the hedgehog sped up to the entrance, everyone giving way for him to do so. "Alright, let's- wait, wait a minute," Sonic suddenly said, remembering something he heard over Alan's earpiece.
"What is it?"
"Robotnik's forced you all to work on some doomsday energy weapon in this place, right? Where is it?"
"Uh, go out of this room, keep following the corridor and go straight till you see stairs heading downwards to your right. That's where it is, down there."
"Okay, I'll take care of that. First though, you follow me to where Tails and another human are standing, the guy who, uh, shot the girl."
"What? He's here? Doing what?" The mobian asked in a reflexive outburst. That guy sure didn't look like a friend of Sonic earlier.
"Believe it or not he's helping us, even while he was here, please don't attack him, okay? Please. Let's go."
"This isn't so hard!" Tails said as he dived towards the fourth security bot that came around the corner, namesakes spinning above him and sharpened. The machine stood no chance. "Running out of armor, Eggman? Or just ideas?" he asked the still handcuffed scientist, who had a bruise on his cheek, in an attempt to imitate Sonic.
"Oh, fine, you try and do better with second-rate metal, which I had to resort to thanks to you guys!" Robotnik shot back in frustration.
Alan himself knelt behind the remains of a corner of the room, keeping his weapon aimed far down the messy shortcut Sonic abruptly made earlier. He found it the best thing to do for now, since his weapon sight was meant for higher range engagements anyway. He hadn't had to shoot anything yet. Then he saw some moving shapes appear on the other end, getting close. Fast.
Tails moved again to engage more robots that have appeared from around the room, dodging their gunfire while covering the distance between them and himself. But even more came from the same direction, flowing out almost like water. Alan realized that the robots coming through the shortcut were headed towards Tails while the fox's back was turned towards them.
Time for some cover fire. Doherty started shooting in bursts. He made sure to aim for the 'head', or the closest thing to it, of each robot. His rifle rounds, which were designed for busting barriers, worked better than expected, ripping through the visors and optics of three of the four robots, rendering them blind. This caused them to lose control and swerve into each other rather than towards the fox. He continued shooting, causing noticeable damage with each shot.
Tails flew himself backwards after finishing off the big wave that came from around the room to knock the ones Alan shot back. Doherty quickly stopped firing, as he had to reload, though that also meant he wouldn't hit Tails accidentally. Judging by how fast the robots fell, it seemed that Robotnik wasn't kidding about the second-rate materials. "Huh, even my car has more armor than that."
"Oh, whatever!" was Robotnik's angered reply.
"Tails! Alan!" They both turned to see Sonic, who had just sped back out from the prison. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah! Even easier than this morning," Tails replied hurriedly after landing on his feet, vigilant for more robots to appear, even though Sonic's presence meant it wasn't so necessary now. "They almost ambushed me though, but Alan helped." He turned to Doherty. "Thanks!"
"No problem, but enough with that. Sonic, what do you plan to do now?"
"Just getting the prisoners out first," Sonic said before turning around. "Come on!"
"We're trying, Sonic, but some of us need help," the male mobian, who was leading the group, replied as he came out of the corner, walking slowly in obvious pain. Some of the people behind him were worse off, as they had to be carried by others, who didn't have that much strength themselves. As they approached what used to be the front door to Robotnik's security room, they stopped dead, eyes wide open as they saw Alan Doherty standing there. And behind him, a handcuffed Doctor Robotnik.
Seeing their chance for revenge, the prisoners instantly started lurching towards both humans, snarling out loud. Even the leader who had spoken reasonably to Sonic earlier suddenly acted like a wild animal that happened to wear clothes. A flurry of reactions ensued – Robotnik cowering in fear, Alan swearing and stepping back, but not aiming his weapon at them, both Sonic and Tails trying to hold them back and calm them down, and a female mobian among the group shouting. Her shout, however, was anything but feral. "Stop! Please!"
It was hoarse and raspy, but loud enough that everyone stopped what they were doing to see who it was. The woman who happened to be near the front of the group stepped out. Alan realized that it was the same person who had weakly called out to him earlier in the jail.
"This man is helping us," she spoke up in a much softer voice while motioning to Doherty. She looked straight at the man's concerned face. "He nodded to me back there. I could see it his eyes…I still can, actually."
Currently however, his eyes seemed full of regret. "I'm…sorry I had to shoot her. But if I had let Sonic in too soon, there were too many things that would have gone wrong. Sonic, I'll explain later."
Sonic stared at Alan intently as he felt the implication that Alan somehow did not trust his abilities. He was about to start arguing when the prisoners started moving again towards both humans.
"Then we should at least be able to kill Robotnik right here!" One of the male prisoners shouted, and everyone else howled in agreement.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Sonic called out, raising his hands and his voice, both out of needing to be heard properly and panic. "I'll handle him. But for now, you guys just head out of this place through this, uh, shortcut. I'm gonna bust this place up first before more robots come."
"Then what do I do?" Tails asked.
"You lead them outta here, Tails. Alan, you do the same for Robotnik. Oh yeah, and someone take the Emeralds."
"Okay, I'll do the last two." Alan was glad to hear that. This guy was going nowhere. And he was already sick of being in here anyway.
"I should be back out by the time you guys reach the front door. See you in a minute!" And with that, Sonic sped off down the corridor, before trashing a robot that had just appeared.
"Uh, okay, everyone, this way! Hurry!" Tails started flying again before heading through the large hole in the wall, back towards the entrance. Behind, the prisoners murmured in amazement, but didn't say anything due to the rush.
"I'll be behind you all," Alan called out after stuffing the Emeralds into his sidepacks. He was amazed how there was still enough space for that. Then he unlocked Robotnik's handcuffs, key in one hand and pistol aimed at his head in the other. "I'm only doing this because they are still prisons out there waiting for you. Hands up. Don't try anything," he warned, eyes locked onto his.
"By-the-book cop, eh? Oh, I have a feeling I won't have to," Robotnik casually said as he did what Alan told him to. He seemed to be trying not to grin.
Doherty ignored his comment and continued aiming his gun at Robotnik as the fat scientist finally began to move and follow the group, which was moving faster than Alan expected them to. Thankfully. "Hey, you're at the back. If any robots come from behind, I want them to try to go through you first."
Robotnik glared back as he realized what Alan was really saying about him, but kept silent. Alan moved through the makeshift tunnel sideways, keeping his right side facing Robotnik so that his gun remained trained on him at all times. He made sure to check both front and back between one-second intervals. It wasn't a very efficient way of mobility, but it was the safest he could think of.
"Alan, hurry up!" Tails called from in front, out of sight. "I'm pretty sure Sonic's going to blow up this place soon!"
"Goddammit, can't he wait just a little bit?" Alan responded loudly, feeling the frustration rising, though he kept it in.
Roughly a minute later, as Sonic promised, the entire group was halfway through the entry tunnel to the base when everything began shaking violently, startling everyone except Robotnik. Loud sounds, mostly explosions, could be heard from behind, though there were also the rapid footsteps of a certain hedgehog rocketing out. Sonic slowed down behind Robotnik, unable to continue at his speed with the limited space in the tunnel.
"Sonic, what just happened?" Alan asked, sounding concerned.
"I spindashed Robotnik's death ray, that's what! Problem is, it was hooked up to a bunch of unstable reactors filled with Chaos energy, so yeah. Sneaky move there, Eggster."
"Sneaky move? More like design necessity, spikyhead!"
More violent trembling and explosions made sure their argument did not continue as the group finally exited the cave. Fortunately, thanks to the sloped path Sonic had cleared while on his way in, the prisoners were able to walk, or rather slide, down what used to be a bunch of jagged, sharp rocks. It wasn't perfectly smooth, of course, and everyone held tight to each other as they went down bumpily. Here, Alan had Robotnik go in front for once as they slid down themselves, before Sonic finally followed. Tails, still flying, was spared this ordeal.
As Sonic started down the path, he narrowly avoided getting hit by the burst of flames that just exited the cave at a speed far faster than his own, a dragon breathing its last fire. Too bad then, Sonic thought, that there were still more hidden out there, and that they would have to find and beat them the old-fashioned way without Alan after all this.
Sonic, Tails, Robotnik, Alan and the prisoners all moved, or were moved, away to a nearby smaller cave, one that didn't have any hidden base entrances. Once there, Alan removed the earpiece and gave it back to Tails.
"Sheesh, now that was one hell of a slide," Alan commented as he rubbed his sore bottom, not really sounding amused. Many others were doing the same. He had stopped pointing his gun at Robotnik for now, who was out of earshot and probably knew better than to try and run from Sonic. "What now?"
"Hmm…" Sonic crossed his arms as he thought for a while, then he made his decision. "Okay, time for division of labor. I need to get these guys back to New Mobius, at least to a border checkpoint. Tails, you take the emeralds and give them to Knuckles. After that, you and I get on the Tornado and go tell the courts that we have Eggy. But until then, Alan, ya gotta keep watch on him. Just stay here."
"Wait, wouldn't they in NM be wanting his head? Why don't you just take him there with you?"
Sonic shrugged. "Trust me, it's a lot faster, not to mention more convenient, this way." He glanced at the panting prisoners, who hardly ever got to breathe the outside air, before continuing with a solemn look. "And, you know, I wish you didn't shoot that woman. It just…shouldn't have happened."
Alan frowned. "Look, get off of me on that, okay? If I called you in, he'd either get suspicious of me and have me killed on the spot, or ask me to go and shoot you. And I'd never have found out about the energy weapon."
"But we'd destroy it anyway!"
"Perhaps. Regardless, it is a risk I couldn't take. The most successful plans aren't necessarily our favorites. Besides, you know what else shouldn't have happened? Your people doing what they did to Robotnik and leaving it all from the internet." He lowered his voice, remembering Robotnik wasn't supposed to hear anything. "I'm not saying I blame you for all of that. You weren't mentioned until later, and you don't fit that description anyway. But seriously, that was screwed up."
Sonic sighed and looked downwards. "I know."
"Honestly, there was a split second in which I considered switching sides. But then I learned about the prisoners, and that was when he really had no excuse."
"Thanks. No, I mean it. Though I don't see what you could do to me even if you did turn, anyway."
"You'd be surprised."
"Whatever. Anyway, we need to get these guys home first. Tails, you know what to do. We shouldn't take long, hopefully."
Alan nodded. "Fine. Still can't believe I have to babysit this guy though," he remarked as Sonic walked with Tails, who was cradling the Emeralds, towards the cave entrance, motioning for all to follow.
"All right everyone, time to go home!" Sonic called out.
As the prisoners followed the hedgehog out, the female who shouted earlier, near the back of the group, glanced at Alan, who did likewise. She didn't say anything, though she did give a nod, and Alan could have sworn he saw her smile just a bit. He nodded back just before she looked away.
Returning his attention to Robotnik, Alan pulled out his pistol on Robotnik again. "Let's sit down, shall we?" He said, referring to the small rock formations on the floor that were just the height, on opposite sides of the cave.
"Isn't your hand going to be sore if you keep doing that?" Robotnik asked in a none-too-concerned manner as he took his seat.
"Not really. I can keep this up all day. Or night, rather."
The fat scientist stared at Doherty with a sly grin, and chuckled slightly. "You really believe it will end just like this? Trust me. I will walk out of here a free man, ready to start everything all over."
"You don't have any slaves left to build anything for you anymore."
"Hah! Please, I haven't really needed them for two years. I just kept them around as a reminder of my ultimate plan."
"There's no way in hell the NM folks you pissed off will let you go. Not after finding out what you did to those victims."
"True…in theory. But I can tell you, that isn't going to happen."
"What makes you so sure?"
"There is a reason why I'm still active ten years into my…career, so to speak. It's a paradox, really. The same person who constantly ruins my life is also the one who always saves it."
"You mean Sonic? W-what the hell are you talking about?"
Robotnik's grin was unwavering, and it was starting to disturb Alan. And as if that weren't enough, "when Sonic comes back, I think it will be pretty obvious."
As it turned out, it took more than three hours before the jet noises of the Tornado landing nearby could finally be heard. Alan was thankful. He had never liked guard duty, although he generally made sure no one ever caught him complaining about it.
The engine sounds died down, and soon, Alan saw the silhouettes of Sonic and Tails walk in. It was dark, though at least there was a full moon out.
"I think I'm starving. What took so long?" Alan asked as he got up and holstered his weapon for the first time in hours. "Wait, why isn't there anyone with you to pick this guy up or something?"
The look on their faces was grim. "Bad news," Sonic said dejectedly. "No one wants to take him in."
"I'm sorry, what?" Alan instantly forgot about his hunger or exhaustion. Even with all the things he did not expect to happen so far, this could still only be number one. "How – how's that possible?"
Sonic shook his head. "With his hidden bases still out there, they don't want to take the chance of his flying bots launching attacks on their prisons, killing a lot of people and letting other prisoners as well as he himself escape in the process. They think it's less safe if they took him in. And considering it's happened before…"
"We've tried telling them we can stay and protect their prisons, but they refused it," Tails added, not sounding much happier.
"This is a sick goddamn joke!" Doherty shouted, causing echoes to reverberate through the cave. Both Sonic and Tails grimaced, though it wasn't just because of the loud noise. Nearby, Robotnik was chuckling, apparently in vindication.
"As long as I'm alive, those bots can always find me, no matter how long as it takes. Tsk tsk. See what I told you?"
"Shut up," Alan snapped as he went over to Robotnik before aggressively dragging him off his seat by the collar and forcing him down on his knees, no small feat considering his weight and size. He started placing his palms on the fat scientist's back and front, sweeping across the surfaces. "Then I guess we'll have to make sure they don't find you, huh?"
"If you're looking for a GPS microchip on me, you're wasting time. I don't have, or even need, one. The robots can track me down as long my heart still beats. Don't believe me? Well, you didn't either when I told you what would happen. And now look."
"It's true," Tails spoke up. "It takes a while, but eventually the robots can discover where he is through his vitals alone. No implants."
"My god," Alan swore as he threw up his arms. "Then what do you plan to do now?"
Sonic lowered his head, speaking very softly. "I, uh…" He couldn't believe he was going to say it. "We'll have to let him go."
Alan looked like a vein on his head was going to pop. "Sonic, this is not funny at all."
"I'm not trying to be funny. But I don't know what else we can do."
"I mean, can't you guys build your own prison or something?" Alan said as he raised his voice again.
Robotnik laughed. "Oh, come on. If they want to put me in something more advanced than a box, they'd need materials, or a cage. And even if they got one, where are they going to put it? Their home? Well, Sonic, can you really say both of you can stay awake all the time, ready to take down my robots when they come to free me and blow up your house? Or if you lock me up somewhere else, are you going to be there the whole day to guard me before the robots also come? Or are you going to ask your other friends for help? Like they could or would do anything?"
There was absolute silence. The only exception was the sound of Alan pacing around nervously and exasperatedly. "There has to be a way. There has to be someone still that-"
"There aren't," Sonic said softly. He shook his head again. "I checked. I'm sorry. This is the only thing we can do now."
Doherty stopped moving behind Robotnik. He wanted to shout again, feeling the pressure of damn near all of his options being taken away.
All except one.
He slowly touched his Smith. The last resort. He considered it. Robotnik's robots could find him based on his vitals. If he were alive. And he had no allies, no supporters, and no fans to speak of.
He didn't understand what Sonic was talking about. If the law refused to do what it was supposed to do, he decided he himself still would.
Meanwhile, Robotnik, remembering Alan's pistol, came to a similar realization. It began to worry him on the inside, but he knew he could not show it even slightly.
Yes, I still would, Alan thought. I have to. "No," Doherty declared, shaking his head hard. "It isn't." No longer hesitating, the FBI agent pulled out his handgun and aimed it straight at the back of Robotnik's head. It was time to actually use the thing on this guy. "I'm sorry, Sonic."
Watching what was going to happen, Sonic leapt and raced in with a horror on his face that hadn't been there for years. "No! Wait!"
Alan's finger came into contact with the trigger just as Sonic did the same to him. The .40 shot roared out of the barrel, spinning and ready to penetrate anyone or anything.
And the only thing it hit was the rough surface of the cave floor.
To the side, both Doherty and Sonic were lying on the floor, disoriented mainly by the loud gunshot and the echoes it caused. Tails was covering his ears in pain, though he did not take his eyes off the scene in front of him. Meanwhile, Robotnik did not react, which certainly took some effort.
Sonic got up, but Alan didn't. He remained down there, stunned in disbelief as to what just happened. Refusing to believe it, he raised his gun again at Robotnik, but a gloved hand grabbed his before he could aim properly.
"Sonic, what the hell are you doing?" He asked very loudly. Then his face grew pale. "Oh, dear god. Please don't tell me, please don't tell-"
"No, no, no, NO!" Sonic shouted back. "It's not like that! It isn't." He hung his head in shame. "It's just that…it's…" His voice grew softer and softer. "I already knew what happened to him. I was there."