Chapter 4: Infiltration
Making my way through yet another dense forest, I exited the clearing to be greeted with a large green fence. True to the kids' description, sitting just a little ways away from the train station, was what looked like an unfinished construction site. By their description, an amusement park.
Inspecting the fence, I couldn't find the hole the boys had mentioned. Maybe it had been patched up since they had been here? Or maybe it's farther down and I just didn't come out of the forest at the same spot they had. It didn't matter to me regardless; there wasn't any barbed wire above the fence to stop me from trespassing anyway.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouse, I jumped as high as I could while reaching out at the holes in the chain link fence. Grabbing hold much higher than I would have thought possible, I rested my feet in the closest fence holes before climbing the fence like a ladder. Or at least trying to. Bravado aside, I had never done something like this before. My high school had a fence that was similar, if not a little higher, but I never had any reason to climb it, let alone the courage. Tilting my head down, I was reminded of that very fact.
See I'm not afraid of heights. No, seriously. I've been in skyscrapers before, and I've never felt scared. I've looked over the roof of city buildings without so much as a goosebump. I ride in planes and opt for the window seat. I am not afraid of heights. And yet with all that said, I couldn't help but think back to that last trip to the Special Stage. Feeling my stomach lurch, I looked back up towards the top of the fence, before pulling myself up. I am not afraid of heights.
Reaching the top, I hoisted myself over the fence sideways before turning myself around. Taking another look at how far I was from the ground, I decided to slowly make my way down. A foot there, a hand here, and I'd already made it halfway down. Looking down and feeling the pit in my stomach lighten, I pushed off the fence before landing on all fours.
Take a deep breath, you're fine. Nothing's broken, you're in one piece, and best of all, you aren't falling.
Ignoring myself to focus on what I actually came here to do, I took a glance around. It was… quiet. Despite being labeled as a work in progress, the "construction" site seemed to lack any visible signs of construction. In fact it seemed as if they were already prepped to put the finishing touches; where one might expect forklifts or cement bricks, there were instead ornamental pillars and blocks filled with fancy strobe lights. Said lights had just turned on, most likely in time with the falling sun; afternoon had passed quite a while ago, and the sun seemed to creep closer and closer towards the horizon.
The kids had only been at this place for a few hours at best. Surely their idea of what a construction site looked like wasn't this inaccurate.
Still unnerved by the silence, I walked deeper into the site. Entering a passageway into one of the large buildings that could be seen from outside the fence, I kept my eyes peeled for anything that seemed off. Following the bronze walls, I was led to another entrance. Leaving the small enclosure, I was taken aback by what was laid in front of me.
Construction site was a poor description. I was met with what seemed like a small, psychedelic city. The sky which had seemed so dark from the opposite entrance was now dotted with lights reminiscent of miniature suns. If I didn't know that it was getting late by the purple hue of the sky, I'd probably assume it was either midday, or that I had been tricked into thinking I wasn't inside.
The same strobe lights and pillars that I had seen outside also dotted the inside of the "construction site", albeit more plentiful. Perfect for me, as I wasn't alone in here. Taking cover behind a pillar, I watched as a squadron of buzz bombers made their way past. They gathered together in the air for a bit, before flying off somewhere else.
Were they looking for me already? It'd be just my luck if I tripped some kind of sensor on my way in here. Peeking around the corner of the thick pillar, I took stock of my surroundings. While it seemed like there were several other buildings nearby, only one had an entrance. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any badniks near it; rather they seemed to roam around in the open area.
Deciding on the stealthier option, I quickly weaved between pillars, taking note to avoid the line of sight of the various crabmeats and buzz bombers that roamed the site grounds. While I normally wouldn't have been able to make it quite far in such a bright area, my newfound speed made taking advantage of the badnik patrol patterns quite simple.
Dash to a pillar over there, hide behind a block over here, jump over a few lights. I felt like I was doing an impression of Solid Snake, albeit faster. With some patience, I had gone undetected as I snuck right into the open passage. Greeted by a now familiar set of bronze walls, I followed the incline up to the upper level. Very odd design choice for a building if I'm being honest, but it seemed to oddly fit with the rest of what I've seen of the area. It was almost like a parking garage, but smaller, and devoid of the cars.
Coming out of the enclosure, about 3 floors up I would guess, I was met with a dead end. Mystified, I approached the wall. Far from the ramp at the opposite wall, I was able to take in the construction site in all its glory. I had a nice view of the ground from where I was, but I wasn't quite expecting just a window up here. Surely this wasn't the end of the passageway? Convinced I had perhaps taken a wrong turn, maybe missed a door as I ran up here, I turned to go back the way I came. Before I could take a step however, the ground shifted under me.
Taken aback at first, I calmed as the "ground" lowered slowly. While I initially thought that I was going to experience first hand that this was still a site under construction, it became rather clear that I was on some kind of elevator. Looking again at the ground, it was also a bit more obvious; while the floor of the building was the same bronze shade of the walls, the lift was a green shade off of white.
Letting the lift slowly bring me towards the ground, I looked at the window that adorned the wall attached to the elevator. Glancing out at the site from a vantage point, I could see the badniks roaming around in droves. They weren't aimless, but they certainly didn't seem to be guarding anything from what I could tell.
There was no set perimeter or anything. This wasn't like Green Hill, where it felt like you couldn't go two steps without a badnik catching you. No, they were definitely looking for something, and thankfully that something was keeping them distracted from me.
Then again maybe it was the kid. In which case I should probably hope I find him before they do. I mean, good on him for potentially escaping, but my life would probably be easier if he was just captured and in whatever capsule Eggman has hidden around down here.
Before I could complain about my situation to myself any longer, the elevator came to a halt. Jumping off, I realized I was still a floor above the ground; luckily there was another long ramp that would take me to ground level. Taking a slow pace so as not to give myself away, I began my walk down the ramp. Naturally, as I wandered through the halls of the building, my mind seemed to follow suit.
Even if it was more convenient for me if Peck was captured, since he'd be easier to find, it was kinda fucked that was even my thought process. I mean, who's to say if he was captured, they didn't injure him in some way? Slapping myself upside the head mentally, I resolved to think more positively. He's probably fine. Hell, for all I know, he might be hiding in one of these buildings, where the badniks haven't found him yet.
I internally laughed to myself. Yeah, maybe I even walked by him already, hidden in one of these dark corners. I took a glance behind me, one part in jest, another in actual curiosity.
Only for a large, round object to come barreling down the sloped hall, nailing me in the legs.
Flipping backwards unnaturally, I slammed into the ground head first. Taken completely aback, I clutched my face in pain. Pulling my hand away, it was drenched. Oh yeah, that's blood alright. And a whole lot of it. Before I could get distracted by the flowing red liquid, I looked up at my assailant. Nearly missing whatever it was that hit me, I caught it as it wrapped back around in a wide arc. Rolling sideways, I just barely managed to evade the sphere as it launched itself at me once again. Turning myself to face it, I watched as the sphere slowed to a stop at the top of the incline, before unnaturally opening like a Pokéball.
Head swimming from the slam I just took, it was hard to make out what had hit me. If it weren't for the red, V-shaped fin, I probably would have mistaken the badnik for Sonic while it was in motion. The roller stared at me with beady eyes before curling up again, intent on making a bowling pin out of me.
Wiping the blood from my nose, and ready this time, I leapt back, intent on jumping over the roller on its way down the ramp. Of course, all this led to was me taking another impact, and this time right in the gut. Deploying its legs mid roll, the roller was able to leave the ground, and leave me in more pain than I would have liked to experience.
Curling in on myself from the stomach pain, I hit the ground rolling. The roller fully intended on making me a bruised mess, but somehow I managed to roll just outside of its range. In fact, I'd even say I was gaining momentum; the two of us looked like a pair of marbles placed on a hot wheels track.
I didn't know how to do Sonic's spin attack. Even if I had seen him do it multiple times now, it's not like I understood how to do it off of just that. No, in the haze from the blow to my head, along with the pain from the rest of my body, I had instinctively curled up the same way I had been forced to when I had entered the special stages. Even if it was just off of a trauma induced instinct, I was thankful that the roller hadn't made a pancake out of me.
Curiously, and maybe because I wasn't a robot, but rather a hedgehog that was apparently meant to roll like this, the gap between myself and the roller was beginning to widen. Speeding down the ramp, there was about four of the robot's worth of distance between us.
Leaving the slope at extremely high speeds, the two of us went flying into the open, on track to crash into whatever was in our way. Using its legs to bounce at the end of the ramp, the roller attempted to close the distance between us with one final burst.
Just feet away from me, the roller was intent on smashing into me from behind. It was then that I ran into something in front of us. Feeling an impact for only an instant, I was suddenly sent rocketing in the opposite direction. Catching the roller completely off guard, my curled up body slammed into it like a wrecking ball.
Breaking to bits like a piñata, the roller' remains were left completely behind as I went flying back inside the building. Flying up the incline, my momentum carried me practically halfway up before I finally lost speed. Feeling myself begin to roll back down the ramp, I stuck my legs out and finally uncurled myself. Halting my backwards roll, I flopped forward, and right onto my butt.
Laying out on the ground, I felt the haze had transitioned to a strong headache. Despite destroying the badnik (and with a spin attack no less) I couldn't find the energy to celebrate. Hell, I could barely find the energy to move. Adrenaline metaphorically running low after my body realized it was relatively out of danger, every impact I had taken had begun to pile on top of each other.
Struggling to pull myself up, I could feel the aches and pains throughout my body. Stumbling, I just barely made it to the wall before I fell again. Catching myself on one knee, I leaned my back against the wall.
Maybe… maybe I'd take a rest. Yeah I think a small rest would be good. Just close my eyes for a bit, give myself a second to recover.
As I leaned back into the wall, slowly closing my eyes, I felt my hand land over something in the darkness. Temporarily fighting back exhaustion to sate my curiosity, I blearily looked at what my hand had rubbed against. Hidden away and out of sight was a small rectangular object, almost like a brick.
Picking it up to actually look at it, I discovered I was partly correct. While shaped like one, it wasn't a brick; rather, I had stumbled across a small, handheld camcorder.
Blinking awake, I lifted it up before opening it. Dim light flickered to life in front of me, illuminating the wall just barely. While slightly cracked in a corner, the screen was quite visible. I wasn't really familiar with the model; even if this world seemed to share sneaker types, it didn't seem like I'd be lucky enough to run into similar technology. After fiddling with it for a bit, I finally managed to find the button that led to the menu.
Let's see here. Saved videos, date, June… let's see what's on this recording.
Widening my eyes, I realized what I had stumbled across. Exhaustion replaced with shock, I stumbled to my feet. Keeping the camcorder close, I stumbled down the ramp. Ignoring the pain in my legs, I could only focus on the content of the video.
In it was the boy I had met earlier that day, getting dragged away by badniks. While the camcorder wasn't particularly loud, the sounds of Eggman's laughter seemed to reverberate throughout the small building.
Picking up the pace, I exited the building by way of the ramp. Passing by the spring facing back towards the ramp, I was met with a dead end. Hell, I was completely blocked off on all only exit to the small enclosure seemed to be several floors up, where the edge of the building could be seen. Peering up the wall, I stopped to think about my position. Placing a hand on the wall, I thought hard before looking up again.
It was quite a distance from here to the roof. While I wasn't exactly a parkour master back home, I was just crazy enough about it that I knew how to wall-climb. I was pretty confident that I could get about halfway up a floor with my normal running speed. Surely I could get up three stories with super speed?
Taking a few steps back, I prepared myself to run straight at the wall. Stopping to consider my speed, I jogged back up about halfway up the ramp. While the incline might throw me off, I would definitely need to build my speed to get up there. Storing the camcorder between my quills, and praying nothing bad would happen to it, I got into a sprinters start.
Inhale… exhale…
As if a gun had been fired, I sprinted down the ramp as fast as my tired legs would take me. Sprinting full speed at the wall, I focused hard on the distance that was slowly shrinking between us. While I would normally let more of my momentum carry me up the wall, I was getting dangerously close, dangerously fast. With what was probably far too much space between us, I leapt at the wall with both hands and a leg ready.
Using the new force that my legs could generate, I pushed myself upwards. One step, two… five and then six. While I normally wouldn't have made it past more than three, I currently showed no signs of slowing. Pushing off for another step, I could see myself closing in on the roof. With my strides, in just a few more steps I'd be within arms reach. I was about the same distance up as I had traveled from the bottom of the elevator, all the way back at the top of the ramp. There was even a window on the building I was scaling. With another long stride, my foot made contact with the window in question.
And slipped right off.
I still had upwards momentum, but it wasn't nearly enough to make it to the edge of the roof. Grabbing at air, in an attempt to catch myself on anything, I felt myself fall back to the ground. And against my better judgment, I turned to look down. Feeling my breath hitch, I watched as the ground that I wasn't aware had gotten so far away from me, was beginning to catch back up to me with alarming speed.
Maybe if I was more focused, I would have remembered I was still close to the wall. Maybe I could have pushed myself off towards the other wall, and try to use the momentum to push myself up that wall. Or maybe back to this wall, in an effort to slow myself somehow. Unfortunately my mind and actions were gripped by a fear yelling in my ear that I was about to hit the ground with a big splat.
Feeling my breath lock up in my throat, I was only about a story and a half up from the ground now. Like a scene I'd often see in dreams that involve falling, the ground was rushing at me faster than I would like.
Preparing to close my eyes, as if a lack of sight would make the fall disappear, I prepared for the worst. Only for a flash of light to appear right below me. A large ring, similar to the ones that would lead to the special stages appeared. Rotating around for but an instant, they not as entrances but as exits; in their place were springs and bumpers. By a miracle, instead of hitting the ground, I was launched back up by the red spring that had been left behind. Flying up, no less for wear, I finally released the breath I was holding.
Letting the momentum carry me all the way to the roof, I took a glance around. It turns out it was not just the single large ring that had appeared. Rather, it must have been many of them, as the space between the buildings was dotted with large red bumpers. Gaining enough height to grab hold of the edge of the building, I pulled myself up by one hand. Landing on the ground, I was thankful that my next interaction with solid ground was on my terms.
Before I could fully catch my breath, I found myself having to dive to the side of the roof. Scorch marks left behind where I was sitting, I looked up at the buzz bombers that had fired at me. Right from a bout of good luck and straight back to bad, I found myself confronted by a horde of badniks. Breaking into a run, I avoided another round of blasts from the flying badniks. I couldn't catch a break yet however. Skidding to a stop, I had to course correct to avoid a set of badniks I hadn't seen in person yet.
Unlike every other badnik I had come across so far, these ones couldn't easily be used as leverage; their pink bodies were adorned with large spikes across their backs. The hermit crab shaped badniks weren't really threatening by any means, but they certainly made for an unappealing obstacle. And man, were there a lot of them. As a matter of fact, there were way too many. While I had turned away from them initially, I found myself running into another pack (or is it herd? What do you even call a group of crabs?) of the pink badniks. It seemed as though every which way I turned, I was met with another group of the Spikes. And of course, the buzz bombers were closing in on me from above as well.
Before I could run out of space to move, I sprinted right back the way I had come from. With the strength I could manage from my legs, I leapt straight for a buzz bomber. It swerved to the side in an attempt to avoid me, but with a reach of my hand at the side of one of its thrusters, I was able to swing around to its back as if I had grabbed hold of a pole. Using the buzz bomber as a platform, I leapt cleanly over the large crowd of Spikes below me, and onto another buzz bomber. This one put up much more of a fight, attempting to shake me off as hard as possible. Glancing behind me at where the other buzz bombers were, I took note of my surroundings. Noticing all the open space on the roof in that direction, I quickly cooked up a plan.
Rather gracefully if I do say so myself, I launched myself high and backwards off of the shaking buzz bomber, right as the others took aim at it. Letting the explosion of the badnik cloud my actions, I rotated in the motion of a backflip. While I hadn't gotten the chance to celebrate before, I had certainly taken note of how I had destroyed the roller back down at the ramp.
Closing my eyes, I pictured myself in the Special Stage again. Feeling the pit in my stomach grow from the idea of falling, I ignored it as best as I could. Don't focus on falling. Focus on how you felt. Bringing my arms and legs in close as I rotated through the air, I tucked myself into a small ball. While I was close to that feeling again, I knew it wasn't quite right. No, I had to get smaller. Tucking myself in tighter, I felt a slightly familiar sensation throughout my back. No, I've got to get even smaller. While I couldn't see it, or feel it directly, the quills on my back had practically hardened. While they weren't as sharp as the Spikes below, they no longer had the feel of slightly thick hair. And spinning at the speed that I was, it would certainly be difficult to differentiate myself from a wrecking ball.
Completely taken by surprise, the buzz bomber I was flying at was reduced to a pile of scrap, as I almost expertly performed a Spin Attack at it. Emphasis on almost. While I had certainly destroyed it with no effort, I hadn't gotten a feel for landing yet. Hitting the ground in a roll, I was certainly unharmed by the fall, but I had planned to land on my feet. Untucking myself just slightly, I exited the maneuver in a harsh slide, arm rubbing against the copper colored roof.
Rubbing my arm at the spot where it had just barely avoided developing a terrible case of road rash, I quickly began to plot on how I would be dealing with the horde of Spikes that were closing in on my direction. Turning away from them, I ran to the edge of the roof, drawing fire from the buzz bombers above. As I reached the limit on the space I had available, I skidded to a stop before barreling back towards the Spikes. While I normally wouldn't even think about trying what I'm about to attempt, my initially painless fall (ignoring the scrape) gave me the confidence to try something that I might normally consider stupid.
Jumping at a height between a full leap and a dive, I attempted to tuck myself in again. This time, having a better feel for what I was going for, I tucked into as small of a ball as possible. Attaining minimum size much quicker than before, I hit the ground rolling. Like a bowling ball smashing into pins, or maybe more like a baseball thrown at a sheet of paper, I tore right through several of the pink Badniks without losing speed. As a matter of fact, I cut a line straight through their ranks. Lucking out when unfurling this time, I rose from the ground with my legs below me. Stumbling into a run, I took a wide turn around the roof. Turning to look back at the badniks, I had clearly cut their ranks down to about a third of their size; there was only one buzz bomber left, and the Spikes had been cut down from fifteen to ten.
With far more room to work with, I ran back at the Spikes. They widened their ranks, most likely in an attempt to stop me from taking out so many at once. My plan had shifted completely however. Weaving in and out between the Spikes, I was still drawing the fire of the lone buzz bomber above me. Like clockwork, the buzz bomber fired into the crowd of Spikes in an attempt to hit me. And just like I planned, it did most of the work for me.
Realizing that all it was accomplishing was freeing the animals from their mobile cages, the remaining buzz bomber finally stopped firing. With an opening available now that the firing had stopped, I took a turn and ran straight towards the flying badnik. Seeing me approach, the buzz bomber attempted to fly out of my reach. Jumping in its direction, I was only barely able to grab hold of its stinger.
Losing altitude due to my weight pulling it down, the buzz bomber was entirely unprepared for me to use it like a gymnastic pole. Flipping over so that I rested on its back, I threw as much weight as I could onto the robot. Thrusters and wings giving out, the robot fell to the roof with a crash, freeing another animal. Jumping clear of the badnik before it crashed, I landed in a heap.
While my makeshift Spin Attacks hadn't harmed me, trying to uncurl while moving had done a number on my arm. I had to shake it off though; if I stuck around here I was liable to get attacked by more badniks that would surely show up. Making a break for the other side of the roof, I found another elevator positioned between the building I was standing on, and another, taller building, on the opposite side of the elevator.
Glancing back once more over the roof, I stepped onto the elevator. Rubbing at my arm, I felt the ground lurch underneath me in that all too familiar manor. Suddenly, and to my surprise, the elevator traveled upwards. Tightening my gloves and pulling at my socks, I put my focus entirely on the wall right in front of me. With no intention of getting taken by surprise, I readied myself for whatever would be thrown at me.
0.0.0
It was dark inside the capsule. Despite the windows adorning the sides, it was still hard to see in the cramped space.
This is where Peck has been locked away for a better part of the day.
Not that he hadn't tried to escape, mind you. At his feet sat his skateboard, with the tail end of the board partly chipped off. He had tried using it to bust through the windows, but they were harder than they looked. After the third slam of his board across the glass, he had realized he had only done more damage to it rather than the windows. He decided to cut his losses there; he rather liked having a skateboard that wasn't destroyed (scratches were different. They told a story about cool tricks. A broken board just showed he wasn't good at taking care of his stuff).
Sitting back in the capsule, Peck thought about how he even ended up in this situation. Reaching into his book bag, he searched around. Despite being about the billionth time he's checked, his camcorder was still missing. Pulling out his phone, he flipped it open just to once again see a message saying he had no service. Rummaging around even deeper, he pulled out a candy bar. Or at least, it's wrapper.
Not even any food… today was just not Peck's day. With a sigh, he leaned back on the wall of the capsule. At least he was alone in here. He wasn't really able to fight off the robots that had attacked him and his friends, but they didn't seem to have been captured. If they had, he was sure that fat old man would have tossed them in here and gloated about it.
And what was his deal, anyway? He certainly couldn't have been in charge of the construction site. He seemed too… evil genius-y for that. Also a little too much into grandstanding (Seriously, who the heck laughs like a maniac for capturing one kid).
Turning his head, Peck took a look outside one of the windows. Not like there was much of a view to be seen. Right outside the capsule that he was in, were more in every other direction. It was also the only way Peck was even able to tell he was in a capsule. Once the robots had cornered him, he was swiftly knocked out from behind.
The identical prisons seemed to line the street. At least, he assumed it was a street. There was no ceiling above the capsules from what he could see through the window. Maybe he shouldn't assume that Chirps and Bobby got away. For all he knew, they were in another one of these prisons too.
"Man… I'm never sneaking into a construction site again. This blows." Peck thought to himself. Just as he was about to try and lie down in the capsule, he heard a noise. It sounded like something popped, almost like a firework.
Making his way to the window again, Peck pressed the side of his head against the wall. Listening again there was silence… until he heard the noise again. Realizing he wasn't just hearing things he stepped away from the window.
What if… what if these weren't capsules? What if these were actually bombs? Peck started panicking. He knew that the old dude liked to gloat, but he didn't think he was cruel enough to keep him around as some kind of sick entertainment. And Peck was way too young to die!
Picking his board up again, Peck started smashing at the glass as hard as he could. Thoughts of a broken board flew out of his mind; his life was on the line here! Unfortunately, it didn't matter how much fear was motivating him. It didn't change the fact that the glass wouldn't budge an inch.
With one last large swing, the nose of his board looked about as damaged as the tail. And the glass wasn't any closer to breaking. Falling to his knees in exhaustion Peck could only stare at the walls of the capsule. Tears beginning to form in his eyes, Peck wanted to scream in anger in fear. Instead he grabbed the board again. He had to try to break the window again. Even if it seemed futile, he'd rather die swinging than go out without a sound. He wouldn't give that fat man the pleasure. Picking his board up once more, Peck turned towards the window again, intent on freeing himself.
Only to be met with an eye staring right back at him.
Jumping back in surprise, Peck fell over his bag still sitting on the floor. Looking back up he still saw the face looking at him, only this time he was further from the window. Mouthing a "Stay there" the figure disappeared from view.
Stay there? Where the hell else was he supposed to go? Before he could think about it, the capsule shook around him. Before he could even panic, a large explosion resounded around Peck. Initially closing his eyes in preparation for the worst, Peck slowly opened them when it was clear he was still breathing.
The doors of the capsule had been blown clean off. And standing right in front of him was the silhouette of a familiar hedgehog…
AN:
Not gonna lie, all I can really say is my bad. Had writers block again, then I figured out what I wanted to write, then I got busy. Good news is, in my effort to write more to make up for missing my self imposed deadline, I have another chapter completely finished. I'll drop that next Chapter either before the end of the month, or after I finish working on a sizeable part of the chapter after that. You can also look forward to something else a little special that I might be cooking up sooner or later. Sorry again for the late upload, but please, Review, Follow, and Favorite. I'll catch you guys at the next chapter.
