Sonic and the Freedom Fighters: Parallel Dimensions

Chapter 4: Questions and Answers

-Sol Dimension, Venom's Lair-

"Man... how big does this place need to be? It took us a whole day just to find our way around this place!" Silver griped as he and Blaze walked through the halls of the metallic lair. Blaze gave no response as she marched ahead, wanting to find their objective as soon as possible, leaving Silver in awkward silence until he spoke up again.

"So, what exactly is the plan now? I mean, we know the person who lived here was behind it, but... what's our next move?" He asked. This time, Blaze turned a bit to look at him.

"...If she had blueprints for a dimensional gateway opener, then that means she's likely built it. So all we have to do is find it and power it up, and we can chase her to wherever she went." She replied sternly.

"Okay. But we still need to find out where she went." He noted.

"We'll find something. She's likely to have left behind a clue or two." She said as she returned to facing forward, leaving Silver back in uncomfortable silence.

"Y'know, I've been wondering... I get what she'd need the Sol Emeralds for. But, why would she ask Captain Metal to capture your mother as well?" He asked. Blaze stopped in place, her hands now clenched in anger, and Silver immediately stepped back. "O-Oh! S-Sorry, I didn't-" Silver immediately said, and Blaze took a breath to calm herself down, looking back at him with a softer expression.

"It's fine. But I'll drag the truth out of her one way or another." She promised before venturing onward. The pair eventually reached a massive door, which Silver wasted no time in prying open with his psychokinesis, and they stepped into a massive room separated into two sections; one half with a computer, the other with numerous pieces of equipment draped with large coverings.

"Whoa... I guess this is a study of some kind." Silver said as he looked around. The two explored the room a bit, with Blaze drawn to one of the large machines, and removing the covering to reveal exactly what she was looking for; Venom's prototype dimensional gateway device.

"Here it is. The gateway opener." She whispered to herself. Silver, meanwhile, had moved to the far corner to inspect something.

"Hey, Blaze! Take a look at this!" He called, prompting Blaze to walk over and observe what the hedgehog was referring to. It was a humanoid robot made from black metal, with its chest sporting a molten hole. "These robots are totalled. Do you think someone got here before us?"

"I doubt it, there would be signs of looting. Besides... looks like whatever destroyed this thing came from the inside." She replied, before taking a closer look at the destroyed robot. "Hmm... this looks like-" She started before being interrupted by a noise coming from behind them.

"What was that?" Silver asked. As if to answer his question, a bunch of thin humanoid robots lined up by one of the walls came to life and took aim at the pair. The two got into a battle-ready stance as the robots fired jets of flame at them. Blaze quickly absorbed the flames, and Silver picked up the group of robots with his psychokinesis before making them cluster together in mid-air. Blaze then fired a powerful fireball, enveloping the robots in searing flames and leaving nothing except molten metal. Once they were satisfied that they had been destroyed, Silver dropped them back onto the floor.

"Hmph. That was easy." Blaze huffed as she turned to move away, only for a sudden laser blast to interrupt her. Turning back, she saw that another robot, similar to the others in structure but sporting a dark grey colour, was tearing its way out of the molten steel and approaching the duo.

"Wha-? How is it still standing after that?!" Silver said, dodging the blasts it fired as it approached while Blaze dashed to the side.

"I don't know. But it won't be for long." She replied, preparing herself for a fight...

-Sonic's Dimension, Amber Valley-

Meanwhile, Sonic, Sally and Amy were laying low just outside the Amber Valley, a small rocky outstretch located outside Emerald Town, keeping a close eye on the surroundings. Sally had taken a moment to call Tails while Sonic and Amy kept watch.

"Hey, Tails, how's the analysis coming along?" She asked once she saw Tails's face appear on the communicator.

"Well, we weren't able to figure out what caused it to overheat. Just that the machinery was melted from the inside out. We did find some energy traces in the mech's circuitry, but... nothing we can find matches the wavelength." Tails confessed, rubbing the back of his head.

"I see. Just find out what you can. If Eggman really is tapping into a new energy source, then we'll need to know how it can be countered." She replied.

"We'll do our best." He said before ending the call, prompting Sally to resume watch next to Sonic, the blue hedgehog already seeming bored.

"So, refresh my memory; why are we here again?" He asked as she sat back down.

"Because there were sightings of Eggman's robots just outside the city. And with most of our team either studying that mech or getting patched up from the fight, we need to play this carefully." She explained, checking for any signs of movement. Amy, meanwhile, got closer to Sonic.

"Well, since we have some time..." She said before wrapping her arms tightly around Sonic's arm, the blue hedgehog trying to pull away with an expression displaying equal parts exasperation and discomfort.

"...Is it too late to check how Ant's doing?" He whined as he kept trying in vain to pull himself free. Sally giggled a little before noticing some movement, and a second later she saw an Egg Pawn patrolling nearby.

"There they are. Let's move." She said as she got up, stealthily approaching a vantage point so she could assess the situation.

"Took them long enough." Sonic said, finally breaking out of Amy's grip and catching up to Sally, much to the pink hedgehog's annoyance. The pair could see that there was a whole group of Egg Pawns marching around a rocky valley. With one gesture from Sally, Sonic darted in and took every single one of them out before they could fight back, landing with a proud sigh.

"Way too easy." He said as Sally and Amy caught up to him. "So, are we done here?"

"Looks like it. But I'm curious why they were here." Sally replied, looking around. "There's not much out here but dust and rock, and Tails would have detected any Chaos Emeralds near the city..." Amy took a moment to look around, hoping to find anything that might have resulted in the patrol. Sonic looked around too, and saw a strange glimmer in the sky... one that seemed to be getting closer.

"GET DOWN!" He shrieked as he dashed and tackled Sally and Amy away, saving them from a massive blast that struck where the trio originally was. Once the dust settled, they quickly got back up and looked around for the assailant.

"Everyone okay?!" Sally asked, her Ring-Blades at the ready.

"Yeah..." Amy replied, still a little dazed. "The heck was that?!"

As if on cue, a large metallic object flew overhead and stopped a few meters away, before shifting into a more humanoid form with a sleek silver design, sharp claws and an arc on the back that held four small laser cannons. On top of that, there was a blue shimmer around the robot's back and feet, though there was very little noise that seemed to be coming from them.

"Huh. Is Eggman trying out a new look for his robots?" Sonic wondered as he looked at the robot, before charging at it at full speed. The robot managed to evade and chase after the hedgehog as he drew it away from the girls.

"Sonic, wait!" Amy yelled to no avail. "Ugh! He ran off on his own again!"

"Calm down, Amy. Sonic may be reckless, but he's not stupid." Sally replied, heading towards one of the nearby hills. "We should get to a vantage point and assist when we can." She said as she left, with Amy sighing and following close behind.

Sonic, meanwhile, continued to lead the robot around the valley, dodging the volley of lasers that it was firing. Once he had his opening, he used a Homing Attack to strike, only for the robot to fly up and escape the attack. As soon as it was clear, the robot faced Sonic, and the cannons detached themselves from the back of the robot, hovering around it.

"Huh, that's new." He said before the cannons began to fire again, the hedgehog now having to avoid the new angles of fire as he continued to draw the robot's attention, hoping to find some way of taking it down soon...

-Sol Dimension, Venom's Lair-

Back in the Sol Dimension, Blaze's fight with the security robot had taken a turn for the worse, for even her strongest fire blasts didn't seem to faze the approaching robot as it fired at her. She was forced to hide behind cover as it advanced, trying to figure out a way to beat it.

Silver was able to take the opportunity to capture the robot in his psychokinetic grasp, forcing it to lose track of Blaze and try to detect the source of the sudden obstruction. Without warning, it was lifted into the air and slammed against the walls of the room, Silver trying to do as much damage as he could. He was able to leave some dents in the robot's chest armour before it locked on to him, forcing itself to aim despite the resistance of Silver's psychokinesis, and fired a shot at him. This caused the hedgehog to step back from the near miss, breaking his focus and dropping the robot back onto the floor, after which it began firing in Silver's direction.

Seeing the armour's integrity was compromised, Blaze got an idea. Firing another fireball to grab its attention, she began to lure the robot to the back wall, near a large metal box. The robot began to chase her down, and once it approached, Blaze fired a thick stream of flames at the robot. It did nothing to damage it, but it kept its vision obscured as it fired blindly and walked forward, unaware of the danger. With a few more steps, the robot was in position.

"Now!" Blaze yelled. Silver quickly caught on to her plan, lifted the box with his powers, and sent it hurtling towards the robot as Blaze stopped firing. The robot had just enough time to observe the incoming danger before the box hit, crushing it against the wall, and with a few sparks and twitches, the robot finally stopped moving. Blaze let out a sigh of relief as Silver pulled the box away, letting the pair observe the now inoperative machine.

"Thanks." Blaze said to the hedgehog before kneeling down, observing the robot and removing a piece of its armour. "There's no mistaking it. This must be the fireproof metal she was using. If I remember correctly, it's called Caldera Steel. But... something's weird about it."

"Weird how?" Silver asked.

"Well, the metal usually has a surface that's more heat-resistant than the rest of it, but for some reason, that part is lining the inside of the robot instead of the outside." She said, turning it around to reveal the darker-coloured inner lining. She then reached into the robot's chest and pulled out an odd device, appearing to be a glowing tube contained within a coil of steel. "And then there's this." She continued. Silver took a quick look at the device, recognising it nearly instantly.

"Hmm... looks like some kind of device for generating heat. And since it doesn't have a limiter, lots of it." Silver replied. "But it doesn't seem to do anything for the robot. Why have it in there at all?" The pair pondered this new information for a little while before the realization hit Blaze, and she gasped.

"The Emeralds!" She exclaimed as she got back up. "This must be her way of seeing if her machines could handle high internal temperatures. The energy produced by the Sol Emeralds gives off a lot of heat."

"Oh... Oh! So, those broken-down robots back there...!" Silver replied, looking back at the robots that had melted from the inside.

"Failed experiments, most likely." She answered.

"Okay, now we have the 'what' and the 'why'..." The hedgehog mused.

"Yeah." Blaze replied, turning her attention to the computer at the other end of the room. "Now we just need the 'where'..."

-Sonic's Dimension, Amber Valley-

Sonic continued to avoid blast after blast from the mech chasing him as he looked around, looking for a way to take down the robot. His question would finally be answered when he saw a rock pillar nearby, racing towards it and launching back towards the mech as it fired at him. Sonic managed to weave past the incoming lasers and Spin Dashing into one of the cannons, knocking it away and disabling it. The mech slashed and clawed at the hedgehog only for him to avoid every single strike, and when it attempted to hit him with a blast from behind, Sonic was able to jump to avoid the attack and kick the cannon away, leaving only two remaining.

At this time, Sally and Amy had successfully climbed to the top of the stone pillar, the girls waiting for a clear opportunity to strike while Sonic kept the robot at bay. Even with only two cannons at its disposal, it was a powerful opponent, as it was now firing at a much faster rate, shooting from every possible angle. This was enough to throw Sonic off-balance as he was blown back from one of the blasts.

In an instant, Amy and Sally leapt down from their perch, with Amy landing a solid blow on the robot's head while Sally landed near one of the deactivated cannons. The mech immediately set its sights on the pink hedgehog, slashing and slicing at her to no avail while Sally messed with the wires of the cannon until it started to build up with energy. The princess aimed the blaster at the robot while Amy kept it occupied, and once the robot was in place, Amy jumped back. The robot turned its attention to Sally, but by then, the cannon fired a powerful blast of energy, striking it in the chest and causing it to fall back, the damage enough to destroy it. At the same time, the cannon had been fried due to the overload of energy and billowed with smoke. Sally sighed and moved over to the two hedgehogs as they cooled down from the fight.

"Okay... What the heck was that?" Sonic asked as he looked over the mech, seeing from the singed hole that there wasn't a cockpit.

"I have no idea. The design doesn't look like anything from Eggman. It looks a bit more high-tech." Sally noted. "So, either Eggman's really stepped up his game... or there's someone else after us."

"So... what do we do now?" Amy asked, a little nervous.

"For now, we get this back to Tails and Rotor. I hate leaving them with so much to do, but we need answers. And fast." Sally replied.

-Sol Dimension, Venom's Lair-

"The interdimensional transporter was a success. With its help, I was able to travel to a dimension parallel to this one. And it appears that this dimension never suffered through the Great Cataclysm that ours did. I should make it a point to travel there again. There may be some useful elements this world has to offer.

The only issue is that the opening of a portal is very energy-intensive. I nearly wasted my power reserves with just a trial run. I should look into finding an alternative energy source as soon as possible.

For future testing, coordinates to the dimension are as follows: 19-20-8-1991."

Silver and Blaze kept quiet as they played the audio log from the computer, the pair having opened the most recent recordings from whoever made them. They started with one that was made three months ago, working their way down the list.

"There's no mistaking it. That was her voice." Blaze said once the recording ended. Beside her, Silver wrote down the coordinates from the recording.

"So, you think these coordinates will lead to wherever she fled to?" He asked, looking back at the portal-opening machine.

"Most likely." She said tersely as she played the next recording.

"It appears I may not need the interdimensional transporter after all. My research has led me to the revelation that the Sol Emeralds can freely open gateways to other dimensions.

Unfortunately, only the Sol Guardians of the kingdom of Laevateinn have natural access to their abilities. Still, I'm convinced I can bypass that restriction by miniaturizing the design of my transporter.

It's a shame that the current one amounted to nothing more than a lost few months, but maybe it will come in handy..."

"So she was studying the Sol Emeralds while building these things? Hmm... I guess that would explain how well-prepared she was." Blaze mused once the recording ended. Silver moved down to the last recording, and noticed something.

"Wait... this one was made two days ago, before she stole the Emeralds." He pointed out.

"Play it." Blaze said, and Silver began to play the recording.

"It's finally time to put my plan into motion.

I've encountered a seafaring robot that calls himself 'Captain Metal' and asked him to bring the Sol Emeralds to me. In exchange, he asked for two things; an upgrade to his armour's heat tolerance, and the prototype interdimensional transporter. No doubt he intends to use it to pillage endless dimensions. Still, I don't expect him to find a sufficient energy source for it, but I'll leave that for him to find out.

Once I put the finishing touches on the Lamia, I'll meet him halfway and collect the Emeralds from him." And with that, the recording stopped. Blaze stepped back and folded her arms, deep in thought.

"So Metal was right. She's the one behind all of this." She said to herself.

"Still doesn't explain what use she'd have for Queen Cinder, though..." Silver replied. Blaze thought for a little more before something clicked in her head.

"He knew."

"Huh? He knew what?" Silver asked, turning to the feline.

"He knew he'd need something to power the transporter. He was going to use my mother's power to activate it!" She said in an angered epiphany, her hands beginning to glow as small embers flickered around them.

"Well, it's not like he'll be able to do that now, right?" Silver replied quickly, in an effort to try and calm her down. This seemed to work, as Blaze took a deep breath, her flames dying down.

"...Yeah. Let's hurry. I think I know where she is now." She said, determined to catch up with the thief. And now that they had the perfect means to find her, she was confident they would.