Back to Chapter 27

An orange dawn rose and, after a lengthy climb up a mountainous track in which everyone wished Dulcy was present, the group of friends finally arrived at the entrance to Robotnik’s factory. The Scrap Brain Zone. It had to be- it wasn’t there just weeks before. And now it stood before them all, belching thick clouds of black smoke. It had to be stopped. Somewhere inside, Sonic and his friends knew, Doctor Robotnik was waiting for them. They didn’t precisely know how they were going to put an end to his attack on South Island, but they knew they had to try.

Sally felt great to be free. She felt even better knowing that her brother had been rescued by Sonic already- and that Dulcy would have taken him to safety by now. Well, assuming he survived the inevitable crash landing, but it seemed Dulcy always took the brunt of those herself. It felt good to see her friends again. Rotor with his mad inventions, Johnny who seemed to have really taken to that length of pipe, Antoine who was being incredibly overprotective… but she had to admit, she felt happiest to see Sonic. Perhaps it was because he’d shown such incredibly bravery in the face of insane odds against him, but Sally certainly felt a newfound admiration for her friend. Although, right now, he seemed concerned.

“Sonic? Are you okay?” Sally ventured.

Sonic looked at her, a big smile on his face, “I’m alright, so long as you guys are!”

Sonic was lying.

Sally knew that Sonic was lying.

And Sonic knew there was a pretty good chance that Sally knew he was lying.

In truth, Sonic was far from alright. Concern had been eating away at him. Bernie and Jules had been conspicuous by their absence the previous morning and Sonic had an awful, gut-wrenching suspicion that they were somewhere up ahead, being used as bait in a trap to lure him in to his doom. He’d already earned the ire and enmity of Robotnik so why wouldn’t they be among his top targets?

The friends padded through the Zone, trying to be stealthy and not raise any alarms. They did see a number of Badniks but, surprisingly, they seemed disinterested in the animals. The robots were altogether more concerned with working away at the Scrap Brain Zone, building structures, operating machinery, using computer interfaces and the like.

“If I had to guess,” Rotor offered, “I’d say these Badniks are probably drones. Likely pretty simple programming, designed to stick to construction work and straightforward tasks. They’ll probably fight back if we go for them but I get the feeling they’ll leave us alone if we leave them alone”

“Additional information,” N.I.C.O.L.E. continued, “Vital scans reveal these Badnik robots do not contain any living organisms. Rotor’s hypothesis is most likely correct. These are likely worker drones and little more”

Sally took note, “Thank you both. Alright, everyone, we need to find where Robotnik is hiding. We move fast but we move quietly. Avoid confrontation, got it?”

The group pressed onward, deeper into the Zone. To call it a Zone almost seemed wrong as it had only come into existence recently, one man’s mad ambition. Yet there were buildings, unique features and even- if you included the Badniks- a native people. All the hallmarks of a Zone. Not that it was necessarily right or natural.

A small “bip” sounded. Everyone paused to wonder where the noise came from when, without warning, the floor beneath them disappeared. Everyone scrambled to grab onto something as they fell down a chute, with Rotor managing to grip the edge of the pit before falling into it. In, everyone else managed to hold on to the friend above them, with Antoine yelping at the bottom of the chain, holding on for dear life over a two hundred foot drop.

Rotor strained to pull himself up, with Sonic holding onto his leg and coming up behind the burly walrus. The two of them managed to pull their friends up to safety one by one before the group collapsed in a heap and took a breath.

Antoine got to his feet, “Zis is… horeeblé! I am sinking we need to do somesing about—”

bip.

A jet of flame spewed from the floor in front of Antoine, who yelled in terror. Moments later, the flame subsided.

“Are you okay, Antoine?” Sally asked as she and the rest of the group rushed towards the practically catatonic coyote, nervously gibbering and shaking.

Sonic eyed a tiny switch on the floor, “Guys, stand back, I want to try something”

The animals did as Sonic asked. Sonic walked over to the switch and stood on it.

bip.

The geyser of flame erupted once more and then subsided.

“We’re going to have to watch our step. I’m guessing this place is loaded with traps. The Badniks will know where they are and avoid them without even thinking. We’re not so lucky. So unless any of you fancy being very warm for a very brief moment of your life, we need to keep our eyes peeled”

The group persevered. An uncomfortable silence descended upon them. The gravity of the situation was beginning to become apparent. The danger around them had them scared, but they knew they had to stop Robotnik all the same. If they couldn’t stop him… well, the alternative didn’t bear thinking about.

Eventually, the party reached an ominous building. They were all ominous in this horrible environment, of course, but this one was particularly ominous, giving off altogether more “omin” than the others combined. The tallest structure in the Zone, its walls were smooth and sheer metal. A sign above the door read “LABORATORY ONE” This had to be Robotnik’s base of operations. Sally walked up to the door.

“Don’t suppose we try knocking?” Johnny tilted his head.

“I’m going to say no,” Sally said, peering at an access panel Eventually, she spotted a port for a cable and flipped open a panel on N.I.C.O.L.E., unveiling a series of cords inside and selecting the right one to fit the port, “N.I.C.O.L.E., I’m going to patch you into the system. I need you to hack this door control to let us in”

“Understood, Sally,” N.I.C.O.L.E.’s voice responded, as calm as ever, “I’ll override the security protocols and alter them to allow us entry to wherever we please in the Zone”

“You can do that?” Rotor asked.

“Of course,” N.I.C.O.L.E. gave a slightly cheeky smile.

Rotor gave an impressed whistle, “You’re a handy piece of kit to have around, N.I.C.O.L.E.”

“Please, Rotor- buy a girl a drink first,” a winking smiley face blinked onto N.I.C.O.L.E.’s screen.

“Don’t actually do that, though,” Sally interjected, “I wouldn’t want water in her circuits”

“Actually, Sally, my circuits are—” N.I.C.O.L.E. was cut off by a pleasant dinging sound as the door slid open.

“Nice work, N.I.C.O.L.E.,” Sally complimented, unplugging the cord, “Alright, gang, let’s—”

“Turn around and go home”

Sally turned to face Sonic, not sure she’d heard him right, “I beg your—”

“Turn around. And go home,” Sonic was serious, “This place is too dangerous for you guys. It’s me he wants. We’ve gotten this far and I don’t know if I could have gotten inside without N.I.C.O.L.E.’s help, but I’m going the rest of the way alone”

Sally calmly looked Sonic in the eye, “Sonic, first of all, please don’t think we’re afraid to help. We know the danger. But, more importantly, please don’t ask me to pull rank on you and give you an order as your princess”

“That’s the problem, Sal,” Sonic smiled and shook his head, “I’m from South Island. You’re from West Side Island. You’re not technically my princess. You can tell Antoine what to do, sure, he’s your bodyguard. You might be a little bossy, but you’re not our boss. You’re our friend. And I’m not putting any more of my friends in danger. If something happened to you guys in there, I’m not sure I could… well, I wouldn’t be okay with it, let’s leave it at that”

Sally folded her arms, “And if something happens to you?”

“Nothing will happen to me”

“Sonic, you can’t possibly know that!”

“Then I’m going to have to make sure it comes true, aren’t I? This whole thing started because of me. It’s going to come to an end because of me”

Sally and Sonic stared at one another. It was Sally that eventually blinked.

“Alright,” she backed down, “But at the first sign of danger, we’re coming in”

“No. I need you to head home and make sure everyone we’ve found so far is safe. You may not be South Island’s princess, but right now it needs a leader- and you can be that leader, Sally. That’s what you’re brilliant at- rallying us all behind you”

Sally paused for a moment, “Alright. You’re right. But, please… be careful”

“Careful is my middle name. Well, actually, my middle name is ‘the’ but that’s less reassuring right now”

Sonic nodded to his friends and walked towards the door. He was surprised to find himself spun around and held tight in an embrace. Sally hugged Sonic.

“Come home in one piece,” she told him.

“Why, is one of me more than enough?” he smiled.

“It’s just right,” Sally let go of the hug and turned back to the others, “Alright, guys, let’s head to safety. We need to check on our friends and try to get a message out to South Island’s allies if we can. I’ll try to communicate with my dad, see if we can get help from West Side Island”

The door slid shut behind Sonic and his friends disappeared from sight.

Sonic gingerly stepped further into Factory One. It was loud, in more ways than one. Bright lights flashed, computer screens lit up with all manner of data and harsh electric lighting illuminated the interior. Sonic was startled at an electrical coil sparking electricity as he got close to it, deciding to step back for his own safety.

Sonic walked through a door and came to a sloping pathway. He became aware of a dull thudding noise repeating itself over and over. The noise kept the same quick rhythm but it seemed to get louder with each thud. Sensing the noise was coming from overhead, Sonic looked up and saw a gap in the ceiling- just in time for a ball to bounce down the gap, thudding into the wall, thudding off the floor and thudding towards Sonic. The ball flashed yellow and then, without any further warning, exploded, hurtling Sonic backwards.

Sonic wasn’t having that. Pulling himself to his feet, Sonic leapt towards the gap. The thudding of the bouncing ball started up again. He clambered into the ceiling to find himself on another floor of the same building where, once again, a gap in the ceiling allowed a ball to bounce through. Sonic leapt over this one and it fell down the first hole before popping open with a bang. Sonic clambered through the second ceiling and, to his surprise, found a Badnik waiting for him. This Badnik looked like a pig, though Sonic doubted Porker would be flattered by the likeness.

“What should we call you then, pinky?” Sonic asked as he stood up, “Oscar?”

“Ball Hog will do fine, hedgehog,” replied the Badnik as its chest plate lifted up and another ball shot out, “We’ve been so impressed with you bouncing around like a rubber ball, we thought we’d show you how it’s really done!”

Sonic hurled himself upward to narrowly dodge the ball, which bounced away. He took a step towards the Ball Hog but it fired off another bouncing bomb. How was Sonic supposed to hit this thing if he couldn’t get close?

“Give it up, hedgehog! These things only have a few seconds on the timer before they go off! Even you can’t move that fast!”

Ball Hog fired another bomb at Sonic- this time, Sonic caught it with a wry smile, “Buddy, those few seconds are all I need”

Whirling his arm around at tremendous speed, Sonic let go of the bomb and Ball Hog watched in panic as it bounced around the room like an insane hyperball. The ball shot right towards Ball Hog’s face and it let out a mechanical gasp- as the bomb detonated the instant before impact, blowing Ball Hog’s head off his shoulders.

“’Owzat?!” Sonic cried to nobody in particular, impressed with his bowling ability.

Sonic navigated his way back down to the ground floor. Pressing on, he came to a moving floor and decided to see where it would lead. Eventually, the travelator rose up into an escalator and then flattened out again. Then, rather bizarrely, it stopped. Then, even more bizarrely, it started moving backwards. Sonic decided to start walking, though the conveyor was speeding up to match, making forward progression somewhat tricky.

An intensely loud buzzing sound threatened to deafen Sonic. He looked over his shoulder to see the source of the noise a buzzsaw larger than his entire body. Sonic’s eyes widened and he put on the speed. The floor did its best to keep up and Sonic found he was essentially turning it into a treadmill as he failed to gain any kind of traction. The buzzsaw loomed ominously and then began to cut into the floor behind Sonic.

As the buzzsaw drew ever closer, Sonic knew he had to give it his all. His feet pounded against the floor hard and fast as sweat began to form on his brow. One slip and he’d be unable to do as Sally told him and come home in one piece.

The buzzsaw sliced into the floor and kept on spinning. Sonic gritted his teeth and ran as fast as he could manage- before being thrown forwards. The floor had stopped going backwards. Sonic had not stopped going forwards.

Crashing into a wall, Sonic realised the buzzsaw had evidently severed some vital part of machinery that made the floor move. Although he could still hear the buzzing noise…

Sonic ducked as the buzzsaw blade came off its hinge and flung itself towards him, narrowly avoiding cutting off one of his spines in the process as it slammed through the wall behind Sonic with a tremendous crash.

Sonic took a deep breath. That had been too close. There were no two ways about it- if his friends had been with him, they’d have all been sliced by now.

As the smoke and sparks from the crash settled, Sonic spotted something unusual behind the wall the buzzsaw had smashed down. It looked like a Zone marker. Zone markers were sort of electronic information signs, almost miniature billboards with information on the surrounding area. They’d been instituted by the Mobian Trust to give people the chance to learn more about the heritage and history of their world.

Although this one simply displayed an image of an angry Robotnik. Presumably he’d ripped off whichever sign was here before he constructed the Scrap Brain Zone.

Sonic eyed a set of marker pens on a nearby table, loaded with blueprints. He got a very cheeky idea. Grabbing the pens, Sonic whizzed around the Zone marker, spinning it around at super high speed. Stepping back to look at his handiwork, Sonic watched as the Zone marker stopped, revealing the image of Sonic’s smiling face and a thumbs up. Not a bad likeness if Sonic said so himself.

“I didn’t know you were artistically inclined, hedgehog,” a familiar booming voice sneered.

Sonic turned. There was Robotnik, a vile grin on his face. No Badniks to protect him, no Egg-O-Matic, not even Snively. Robotnik was completely unguarded. Sonic rushed towards the doctor but slammed into an unseen wall.

“Oh, come now, Sonic, did you really think I’d be so ill-prepared?” Robotnik mocked, “How do you like my forcefield? It’s very good, completely impenetrable”

“Robotnik, this ends here today,” Sonic snarled.

“Quite right. But not in the way you think, I fear. Anyway, never mind all of that. I’m much too busy to stand here talking to you. As a matter of fact, you’re trespassing in my Zone! Well, fortunately, I have a way of dealing with trespassers!”

bip.

Sonic’s mouth hung open in shock as Robotnik stepped on the switch. Sonic looked behind him. The floor panels were giving way and falling into the darkness below. He turned back to Robotnik who was giving the most cursory goodbye wave he could muster, a foul sneer on his face. Sonic’s heart leapt out of his mouth as the panel he was standing on slipped away.

Sonic fell.

Chapter 29 coming soon