Chapter 20
The simple innovation of a strip of the interior of the tank solved the problem of the molten iron river. Shadow, however, was now feeling well enough to jump over the bubbling metal without a problem. The coast was clear. Nack surveyed the situation. The corridor stretched out in two directions, one tapered up, the other down. It was fairly obvious which led where.
"Okay. Youse," He pointed to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy. "Go that way and find the birds." Tails raised an eyebrow and smiled at this jibe. "The rest of youse," He motioned to Shadow, Rouge, Silver, Blaze and Diesel. "Come with me to find Naugus. Youse can try and find us then." He turned and started up the corridor. "Well? Get moving!" He continued, without regard for the others, who were still dawdling behind slightly. Sonic slowly set off the other way.
The corridors above ran up a tower, stairs constantly spiralling upwards. The building was built of stone and mortar, like a medieval castle, unusual in this day and age. There was very little in the way of resistance, and effective resistance was non-existent. After a long walk with no point of reference, and hence, an indeterminate time, they arrived in a large room. On one side was a massive window – from it they could see out over the clouds that covered the entirety of Robotropolis. In the horizon, the ocean could be seen glinting in the sunlight. The sun was getting lower in the sky, which was slowly turning orange. It must have been around six in the evening. Silver walked straight over to the other side of the room – an open wall, with a wide bridge to a central tower. There were guards visible over there – they must have retreated to the central tower to protect Naugus.
Rouge stood facing the window. She gazed out pensively. The others were elsewhere in the room, checking their weapons, readying themselves. Shadow inspected his arm with childlike curiosity. Nack walked over to the window where Rouge stood.
"Ya look a little out of it there, Rougey." Her face remained still. Then she turned to him and said bluntly,
"Why'd you come back?" He looked down and sighed.
"Because I'm tired of fighting." He said, exasperated. "Because I'm tired of having to live every day with the threat of not seeing the next one. When I was exiled I thought it would be a fresh start, I thought I could start a new life away from all this. I tried to get out, but it pulled me back in…"
"So the fighting wasn't as much fun as you thought it would be?"
"It's been, what, four years now? It's a long time to be living from hand to mouth. I've been lucky to get this far. I just want this war to be over. The sooner the better. Who took over the team?"
"Shadow. He was too young… that's how we lost Manic."
"Manic's gone?"
"We don't know. They never found him. We left one day and he got separated. Sonic was furious. I don't think he ever forgave Shadow."
"Poor guy. I thought I saw Manic a couple of years ago… couldn't have been."
"Well you've turned up. You never know what happens in a stream of unlikely events."
The tunnel spiralled downwards getting increasingly darker, until they could barely make out the walls and floor. After what seemed like an eternity, the curving corridor straightened out and ahead they saw the entrance to what appeared to be a dungeon of sorts. There was a skylight in the middle of the room – odd. Several guards milled around the front. They crouched in the shadows, waiting.
"What do we do?" Tails whispered.
"If we shoot, it'll give us away," Knuckles tossed out.
"If we charge at them, they'll shoot us." Sonic added.
"I've got it." Amy slipped a small knife out of her pocket. "I've still got a few of these left." She fished out three more. "That's it… damn. No more. Have to make these count…" She took a moment to aim, and then sent them spinning towards her victims. Each one hit their target with deadly accuracy. The one remaining guard panicked, before looking around to find them. He sank to his knees with a bullet hole in his forehead. Sonic blew the smoke from the barrel of his pistol.
"Borrowed this silencer off Tails… what? I couldn't let you have ALL the fun."
Knuckles took the key off one of the guards. He pushed the door open. There was a small dungeon corridor with about twelve cells. Before they could examine further, they heard approaching footsteps behind them - sounded like several people in a hurry. They turned to see six men in white uniform and armour. A small black object hurtled out, and bounced across the room.
"GET DOWN!" Tails screamed. Everybody was alert enough to drop to the ground to brace for the explosion. He looked round to see the grenade blow the far wall open, sending shrapnel and debris across the floor. And, lying on the floor…
"Agh… augh, what the fuck?" Jet picked himself off the ground, able to move for the first time in hours. Looking round, he saw the ensuing gunfight across the way. He grabbed Wave, still adjusting, and leapt behind some upturned furniture for cover.
"What happened?" She asked, still slightly dazed.
"Looks like a rescue effort." He pointed at Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles sprawled out on the ground on the slope. He looked down at the ground. "Hey! My t-shirt!" He scooped up his beloved shirt and threw it over his head.
"Priorities, Jet." Wave began looking around for their weapons. Sure enough, the pistol, magnum and two machine pistols were strewn around, along with ammunition.
"Those guys look like they need a hand." Jet said before leaping over the overturned chest and joined them.
"Ah, Jet, the very man…" Was all Tails said before standing straight up and cocking his shotgun. He squeezed off one… two… three… four… five… six rounds. He cocked it one last time, emptying the last casing. He looked toward the ground, flipped a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and placed them on his face.