Chapter 5

Tails pulled the SUV over at the edge of a crop of rocks. The rocks gave way to a maze of tunnels and canyons. Somewhere, deep in this maze of caverns, was the village they sought. Sonic leant out of the side.

"We have to wait for Jet."

"Stupid bird." Shadow replied as he stopped the buggy next to them.

"Somebody talking about me?" Jet stood behind Shadow, who was facing away from him. Shadow turned around and nearly fell out of his seat. Storm smiled malignantly.

"Jesus… don't fricking do that!"

"What was this about 'Stupid Bird'?"

"Eh, what of it? I mean… it was a joke, ah… I…"

"Ladies, ladies, please…" Knuckles jumped out in a bid to calm them down. "There are more important things to be doing now than sudden appearances and behind-your-back insults…" Tails put his head in his hands. Oh, here we go…

Rouge hopped up to get a better look.

"As badly as he phrased it, Knuckles is right. We've got work to do."

Shadow and Jet exchanged icy looks and turned to walk away. Shadow forgot he was still wearing his seatbelt and fell sideways. Storm started giggling.

Shadow and Rouge took the buggy down one tunnel. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy took the second on foot. Jet, Wave and Storm took the third with their airboards. They had no idea where the tunnels led, or how long it would take them to get there.

Shadow had a tricky drive in a narrow, rocky tunnel lit by holes in the sides. The sandy ground provided little grip, so most of his driving was actually sliding. The experience was even more hair-raising for Rouge, who had the added variable of not being able to see where she was going. She could jump off and leave Shadow to his own devices, but she would be stuck there as the tunnel was immensely long. The tunnel looked like it used to be a pipe for a power station or something. They were basically on a rollercoaster.

Sonic's team had to descend a steep cave. Tails used to be able to fly by spinning his two tails, but when he was 13, his body weight caught up and flying slowly became more difficult. By the time he was 15, he could only glide, and by the time he was 17, he might as well have been flapping his arms. He pulled a grapple gun from his pack. He shot it at the ceiling and let the body fall away to the ground. It wasn't actually that big a drop, but it was very rocky at the end. At the bottom however, it was a clear view right to the village.

The tunnel Jet took surfaced a few hundred metres down the line. A few minutes fly took him to the rim of the crater in which the village was situated. They hopped off their boards and proned to stay hidden. He took the radio from his belt.

"Try and find us,"

"Why?" The response crackled over the radio.

"We're not where you'd expect."

He watched Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy emerge from the cavern below. They looked around for a few minutes, hoping to spot the green hawk.

"Look up," He eventually said into the radio. Tails was the first to look up. Jet waved. Tails pointed them out to the others.

"So where's Shadow?"

A third voice said over the radio:

"Stay in cover! Stay away from any tunnel exits!"

"Um… why?"

"Just do it!"

A rumbling sound was heard. Sonic's team quickly ducked behind the cave the came from. Amy poked her nose around the side. She was just in time to see Shadow's buggy speeding out of a tunnel. It swerved into the tunnel Sonic had emerged from, and Amy could see a concerned-looking Rouge hanging on to the buggy for dear life. Shadow brought it to a stop a few metres down the tunnel. Rouge immediately got off and threw up behind a rock. Shadow stumbled out, also nauseous.

"Eh… are you okay, Rouge?" Knuckles looked mildly concerned.

"Super, thanks for asking!" She responded, oozing sarcasm.

"Is this the right village?" Sonic asked.

"It's a village, we're in the middle of nowhere, that fits the bill!" Shadow managed as he propped himself up against a wall.

"There's no guards," Amy pointed out.

"Maybe the base is underground," Tails suggested.

"Possible,"

"Mis…n s…port t… away t…m… M…sion su…rt to aw… te…"

"Cream? Cream, is that you?" Amy yelled at the radio which she had snatched from Sonic.

"I c… h…r you… y…'re brea…ng ...p!"

"Amy! I have an idea! Given about five minutes, I could tune up the radio to receive the signal better and send out a stronger signal."

"Can we help this time?"

"Are you trained in electronic engineering? Thought not."

Amy scowled at Tails. He proceeded to take the radio apart. "That shouldn't be there… that shouldn't be like that… who built this thing? Honestly!"

Amy turned back to Sonic and stood beside him.

"So what was it you wanted to say?"

"Ah… I think it would be best left until we got back."

"Uh-huh." He thought. Was he wasting his time? Was it meant to be?

He shook the thoughts off and concentrated on the mission.