Opening his eyes, Sonic the Hedgehog sluggishly sits up- his protesting abdomen writhing in agony as he does so. The first thing his eyes focus on is the burn marks running across the fur of his chest. He's pulled a lot of dangerous stunts before, but nothing like this. It's thanks to fortune alone that he's currently not being consumed in oily flames.
"I guess I had a bonus life," he groans.
Dust from the undisturbed motel room fills his nostril, forcing a few weak coughs out of the weakened Mobian. The explosion left him on the carpeted floor of the rather small motel room. Right beside him, touching his left arm is the end of a single bed with messy white sheets. Whoever owned it five years prior must have unsurprisingly left in a hurry. On each of the walls is a yellow and white striped color pattern. If the window hadn't slowed his impact, Sonic's head would have faced a nasty collision with the back wall currently brushing against his quills. Positioned to the side of the front door is a small table and a coffee chair parked next to it. Above the table, dull grey sunlight shines from the shattered window and brightens the moist room.
I can't just sit here. Sonic thinks, placing a hand on his blackened fur. The others are waiting for me. We have to get that chaos emerald!
Sonic takes a sharp inhale, bracing himself for the pain sure to follow. He slowly sits up, grunting as the sharp pain across his body only intensifies. Now halfway up, next should be the easy part. He pulls his two legs back and attempts a stand. One of his knees clearly isn't a fan of the idea. It takes all the restraint one can muster not to lay back down. Now comes the hard part.
Taking the first step.
"I have to get back..." he says, lifting his left leg and applying pressure to it with one single step.
Thankfully, it doesn't hurt as bad as he anticipated. His right leg on the other hand nearly trips him over, feeling as though its fibula is no longer connected to the rest of the leg bones. It better be, for Mobius's sake. One foot after the other, Sonic crunches over the scattered glass that once belonged to the room's singular window. Pieces of it rest within the Mobian's burned fur. Eventually, he reaches the front door.
How I'll be able to fend against Eggman's forces in this state is beyond me. Sonic thinks, placing a hand on the silver door handle. But I'm sure I'll be of more use out there than lying around in here.
As if to snuff out the confidence in that statement, about three ZomBots pile into the no longer empty room not even a full second after the door opens. Sonic just narrowly misses their fateful touch by falling on his back, his legs just centimeters away from the infected Mobians. At the door, two more adult ZomBots lifelessly tumble in after the other three, hitting the floor on arrival. Sonic swipes his leg away from the quick attempt at a grab from a crawling, infected, Mobian lioness.
The only thing nullifying the hedgehog's current pain is his pure adrenaline. If there's one thing he doesn't excel at, it's closed spaces. The true tight nature of his predicament becomes even more apparent once the panicking hero backs into the wall at the end of the room. To his right is a door presumably leading to the bathroom, but the war hero knows better. ZomBots have an eternity to wait. He'll surely starve if he attempts to bunker down in there. And worse, Robotnik will succeed in getting all seven chaos emeralds. Even if his plan for them is unknown, it's obvious what it'll lead to. World domination. If he feels compelled to, on a whim, he could create more ZomBots. More innocent people could suffer like the ones in this very motel room.
That cannot happen.
This is gonna suck... Sonic thinks as he bends on one knee, his two hands on the ground.
The burning pain has yet to subside, but such a luxury was not expected. And it'll only become even more unobtainable as the speedy hedgehog curls into a ball and revs up, transforming into a spinning ball of pure energy and momentum. The intensity of the unbearable pain makes Sonic want to regurgitate what's left in his already empty stomach, but he manages to pull it together. At least with a spin-dash, his legs won't be doing all the work.
One ZomBot near the entrance rises up, blocking the door. Another trips onto the bed, ruffling up the messy sheets further as it crawls in pursuit of its prey. The final three, all of whom are the closest to infecting the organic ball before them, form a barrier, blocking off the small leeway between the edge of the bed and the TV stand to their left.
Here goes nothing.
Sonic launches himself to the right-side wall. He drills across it, obliterating the old paint job and blowing away the many cobwebs in his path. The blue ball of destruction reaches the middle of the ceiling before the hedgehog uncurls and proceeds to exit the way he came in via a quick air dash. The front window. Escaping the boxed-in deathtrap doesn't relieve Sonic fully, as upon landing on the dark-green exterior corridor outside the room, he finds himself inches from a silver Mobian cheetah. His red eyes meet the hedgehog's emerald ones, and immediately after, he lunges forward.
There exists no other motivator like fear. Sonic's legs carry him up the brick wall of the motel, barely escaping the ZomBot's metal grasp. Feeling the intense pain his most recent dodge caused is better than feeling nothing at all. In no time, he reaches the roof, panting wildly. From this view, Sonic can spot the remains of his metal doppelganger scattered across the street in varying parts, gears, and limbs. His head, now separated from the rest of his body, stares up at the sky, with no one there to comprehend the view. The hauntingly accurate metal replica of the war hero's face is unconsciously kicked down the road by a wandering ZomBot, walking around aimlessly.
Every street is full of them. Somehow, it looks worse from this distance. At least in the Tornado, all of the infected blended into a sea of silver. Not from this view. Everything from their clothes, their age... their faces. Every reminder that these were once ordinary people are on full display.
Suddenly, the hedgehog's ears twitch at the sound of a familiar noise. One he's grateful to hear. A plane engine that can belong to no other behemoth of a machine than the one his little buddy put together in mere hours. The Tornado Two.
"There he is!" he hears the distant voice of Amy Rose call out overheard.
Following the sound of the engine, Sonic eventually spots the red plane soaring through the air to his left, at a height barely as high as the tallest nearby skyscraper. On board, everyone is accounted for. Tails, Amy, and Knuckles- all of whom appear to be unharmed.
Naturally, this must mean they haven't encountered Eggman's mercs, which is a good thing. On the other hand, however, it can very well be the total opposite.
Was that fake look-alike meant to be a distraction? Sonic questions, watching the nearing plane descend lower. If so, we better hurry.
Right as the small plane gets close enough to the motel roof, Sonic leaps into the air, landing on the wing he previously stood on before the abrupt attack. He grips the metal of the wing, finally putting his scathed body at ease as the full force of the wind blows against his face.
"SONIC!!" Amy yells in horror, staring her hero up and down from the middle seat of the vehicle. "What happened?! You look hurt!"
"I'm fine, Amy," Sonic says, hoping to relieve her concerns with a forced grin and a thumbs-up. Neither of which do the job.
"Where is that robot?" Tails wonders, taking his eyes off the plane handle to carefully look around for the metal doppelganger of his best friend. "Should we be worried?"
"Not at all pal," Sonic answers, kneeling on the left side of the plane wing. "Let's just say we won't be running into him anytime soon."
Understanding the implication, Tails relaxes in his seat and gives Sonic a warm smile.
"I'm glad you're safe, Sonic."
"Any darker, and I would've mistaken you for that Shadow combatant," Knuckles playfully remarks, earning a sour glance from Any and a slight smile from Sonic.
"Speaking of which, we need to get a move on for that sixth emerald," Sonic says. "Tails, you got a read?"
No answer. Sonic turns around, finding each of his friends far from their usual, determined moods. It makes sense once Tails lifts Miles Electric and faces it in the hedgehog's direction. On the green radar, there's not a single detectable dot in sight.
Eggman has obtained his sixth chaos emerald.
...