It's that time again. #herewego
Revolutionary Operation, Type Zero
Kinetic Sky
06. Revolver Action, Act 6
Finally, an abundance of sound.
Hissing steam and moving pistons were audible, the noise clashing with the stark black and grey shades of the area. The normally hot molten steel that would line certain pits was cold, black, and inert.
Despite the shining lights, Sonic and Amy were the only sources of colour in the area again.
"Guess we're heading back towards the entrance of this place," Sonic said.
"Yeah."
"Alright. Might as well get moving..."
"I always wondered about this place," Amy said as they started to jog.
"It's just another one of Eggman's death traps. Nothing too remarkable, I'd say. Probably pick this place over Scrap Brain if I had to be stuck in one."
"Hm...interesting."
Encountering a vertical shaft, the two wall jumped until they reached an opening and continued. With no enemies in sight, the only resistance came from some of the conveyor belts and moving pistons. The city was still as vast as ever. Sonic realized that he hadn't once gone through all of it, even with the amount of time he spent running through.
They reached an open area and noted more of the robots from earlier. Their shapes were unsettling.
"I guess you realized it, too."
Amy's voice brought Sonic out of his thoughts. He nodded in understanding.
"Yeah. And I trashed a bunch of them earlier with the Tornado."
"I did enough damage myself as we left the house. We're both at fault. We need to find a way to reverse the process, if there is a way. Until then, let's be careful."
"What happens if we find out there's no way to change 'em back?" Sonic asked as they started to run again.
"Then we're free to act as we choose," Amy said calmly.
"Alright."
They weaved through the crowd skillfully, taking care not to go too fast or use too much force with their movements. More of the robots were scattered throughout Metropolis, presumably the shells of the inhabitants that had taken up residence in the area since Eggman's retreat many years ago. Sonic and Amy's suspicions were confirmed as they saw distinct chrome bodies, ones with tails and wings and horns. Their eyes were the same black glass bands as the humans were.
"Right...so it was that after all. Not just the essence of life, but...souls." Amy's expression was grim as she looked ahead. "Sonic. We need to hurry and stop this. If this spreads to the entire world, I don't know what will happen. But it's very possible that all life on Earth will be swallowed up and erased. After we find Tails, we need to go straight to Doctor Eggman," she said firmly. "To tamper with life like this..."
"Yeah. We'll get our answers, then we'll paste him."
"Fine by me."
As soon as they were clear of the crowds, they both accelerated and left sonic booms trailing behind.
"He's still asleep. Tough cookie, that one. Had to bump the sedative up to the max."
It was the first day that she could see him.
There was nothing left to do after she quit her old job. Living frugally, the savings would be enough. Or so she thought. Tails had offered her a place at his workshop, but she politely declined and took Rouge's unusual offer instead. With Shadow away on business, it would just be the two of them and an Eggman-hating robot in that apartment. She would work the bar at Rouge's club in a few weeks once she learned the ropes.
Her life was suddenly in order again, and now she had much in the way of free time. She had been busy, mostly to try and save a decent rainy day fund, but just as much to push away the images from her mind.
Barely conscious. Bleeding profusely. Broken. Dying. She could remember it all, the hot tears on her cheeks, the way she screamed his name as she saw him. The way her stomach churned and she had to turn away to empty it onto the asphalt.
She remembered days running on autopilot, then closing the door to her apartment and collapsing into a ball of tears every night.
It had been two weeks. In that time, she gathered her courage bit by bit.
The nurse ushered her in with a gentle shove, a whiff of marijuana hitting Amy's nose as she found herself inside of the room. She walked up to the edge of his bed, pulling her red jacket close, and finally saw him.
"Take your time. I'll be back in a few."
Amy was barely aware of the nurse leaving as she looked at Sonic.
His head was partially wrapped in bandage, some of it slanted and covering his right eye. His arms were wrapped up completely, right to his fingertips. She cautiously looked under the covers and saw that he had large patches of gauze on his torso. His legs had escaped significant damage, only sporting bandages for a few cuts. The patches of singed fur had fallen out and were starting to grow back naturally.
Over his face was a breathing mask. She could hear it pumping rhythmically, his chest moving up and down in time with the flow of air.
"He is doing much better than before. Breathing mask should be taken off in...a day or two. A strong fellow, yes."
A woman with short blonde hair and a purple tracksuit approached the right side of the bed. She checked the blue hedgehog's chest with her stethoscope and nodded with satisfaction. An ID badge with her looking decidedly more professional was clipped to the front of her jacket.
"Visitor, yes?"
"Ah? I...I mean, yes." Amy politely bowed. "My name's Amy Rose."
"Very nice to meet you," the blonde said with a notable accent. She smiled, her blue eyes sparkling. "Eva Hatzis."
"Greek?"
"Perceptive, perceptive. I like," she said with a smile. "Yes, I have only been here for a few years. Very exciting in America. Amy Rose...yes, I have seen you on the news." She flexed one of her arms and pointed to it. "You are strong, yes?"
"Oh, um...sorta. I mean, I can do a few things."
"You should take pride in that. It's a part of your femininity."
"My...feminine side?" she muttered. Eva lifted one of Sonic's arms to inspect it.
"Anyways, he should be fine for now. I have him on a strong sedative...he was not able to sleep without it, unfortunately. He will be weakened as well. The IV mix I had to concoct is barely giving him what he needs. Amy?"
"Yes?" she replied timidly.
"His diet. What was it? Primary food groups?"
"Chili. And hot dogs. And hot dogs with chili and cheese on top. And soda. That's most of it."
Eva blinked and looked down at Sonic again. "Such a strange body. I know of no science to explain this. It must be providence."
"Y-yeah."
"I will leave you to be with him. That girl, May...she should be back from her recreational activities any moment now."
The brown haired nurse coughed as she entered the room.
"As I suspected. Please make sure the IVs are checked, young lady."
"I got it, doc."
"And try to be more discreet about your smoking. You smell like a fraternity kitchen," Eva said as she bumped May on the way out.
"Snarky bitch."
Amy stood up from her seat beside Sonic and started on her way out.
"Leaving already?"
"Yeah. I have some things I need to take care of. Um...what time do visiting hours start?"
"Nine in the morning."
"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, May."
"Yeah. See ya."
Amy quietly left, and May pulled the curtain back around Sonic's bed as he slept peacefully.
"He's not that far out. I can feel him now...something is happening, but I don't know what."
"Good or bad?"
Amy focused for a moment. "Bad."
"We're gonna jet, then."
Sonic and Amy took a leap from the platform they were standing on. In the distance, a hum grew in intensity until the Tornado appeared from the darkness. Sonic accelerated in midair and grabbed Amy by the hand, landing with her on the wing of the biplane.
"I'll never figure out how you got the timing down for this," Amy said as she hopped into the back seat.
"Lots of practice."
"You two were bonkers," Amy said as she shook her head.
"It's only crazy if you screw it up," Sonic replied as he slid into the pilot's seat. "Successful insanity is what they call genius, ya know?"
"You're a reckless idiot."
"I know."
She sighed and went back to focusing on the task at hand. "Head right. It's in an enclosure...high above the oil. Sorry, it's not very specific."
"It's fine, you're doing great considering. This freaky weather has gotta be messing with your perception...bet there's a lot of electromagnetic radiation being tossed around right now." Sonic placed a hand underneath his chin. "Might have been why...hm. And the robots. They might be tossing out a field, too."
"We're close. The platform's too small to land the Tornado," Amy said, interrupting him.
"We'll jump off here, then." Sonic typed into the on-board computer and switched on the autopilot. "Five hundred meters."
They readied themselves.
"And...off we go!"
They both jumped from the plane, soaring down towards a building with a flat roof. It was suspended above the now violently moving body of oil below.
"He's in plain sight," Amy said.
"Copy that. We'll go with the Slider this time."
"Alright!"
Sonic spun into a ball, drifting towards Amy. She grabbed the blue ball and launched it forward with incredible strength, a small current of wind forming on the outside before bursting into a giant, snow white cyclone. It cut through the roof and ripped it apart like paper. Sonic rolled around and uncurled before catching Amy in his arms. She hopped ahead and called her hammer to her hands, standing in position. Sonic tapped her on the shoulder and she ran behind him.
"Yeah, I can feel him now. Here we are..."
They came to the back wall of the building.
"Figured you guys would make all that noise. Heh...a sight for sore eyes, though."
"Tails...buddy, you're..."
"Yeah. Real bummer, eh?"
Managing a weary smile, Tails held up his limp, metallic right arm.
"There's a way to fix it."
Sonic and Tails looked at Amy.
"You're going to have to do that," she said. "Can you trust me?"
Tails gave Sonic a worried look. Sonic raised a brow in response. "Ames, you do know once we lift that seal..."
"I know."
"It took you a long time to-"
"Look. Whatever that thing is, it's going to spread further than your arm," she said, interrupting Tails. "We either do this, or..."
"Up to you, buddy," Sonic said as he folded his arms.
Tails grimaced for a bit before sighing. He nodded.
"Alright. Let's get it done...I just hope this doesn't come back to haunt us later."
Sonic pressed on one of the rings around his wrists, undoing it with a click.
Amy placed a hand on the fox's shoulder, the other pressed firmly against her chest. "Believe you me...we've seen enough ghosts for one day. Sonic?"
"Ready over here."
"Alright," she said with her own grim look. Her green eyes changed to a bright violet. "Let's open up that can of worms. Again."