As if on cue, the distant pit of lava began to bulge upward, and there was a rumble—Not related to the mass landslide on the other side of the island.


***


"This is just wrong," spat the Eggman beneath a scowl as he sat in his cushy seat, watching an array of screens, alone in a dim, metal room somewhere. "They don't stand any chance, but their progress is still... hrrg."

He spun around in his chair for a moment. It was with intense displeasure that he restlessly and repeatedly grabbed at his face, and flattened his mustache, and stretched his cheeks down, as if in deeply burdened thought.

"I've spent too much time preparing for Sonic," he realized as he gazed upon the line of containment units on the wall.

Metal Sonic.

Silver Sonic's empty spot.

A tank-like robot covered from head to toe with spikes.

Another one covered from head to toe with springs, intended to bounce Sonic into the one covered with spikes.

Another Mecha Sonic variation, a bit more dated.

... Another Mecha Sonic variation, cumbersomely large, and built for underwater combat.

Eggman sputtered a sigh. But just then, an electronic voice spoke up from the console; the doctor whirled around to listen.

"--Chaos Emerald #7 located and retrieved via portal 12.--"

A cheshire-cat grin spread across his face. "Raise the tower!" he barked grungily. "And prepare the Egg Scrambler." He depressed a button to initiate the process. He didn't really need to say it aloud. It just felt good. Coincidentally, he was no more creative with his naming system than before.


***


Soon, the lava parted, and a multi-pointed, grey tower began to grow from the depths. Various large panels slid open, and parabolic antennae began to sprout from its sides, as the orange-dripping, sizzling, steaming mess of metal stood ever taller.

"How?" Rock asked Jam dryly in reply as he stared across the gaping pool of molten rock seconds before Toby came zipping up and interrupted the duo's staring contest with superheated liquid death.

Rock didn't look too surprised to see him, but that was probably because he'd already seen the rat's handiwork. He just smirked, and dared to look a little impressed—Just a little.

"Yeah, I saw that. That actually worked out," he said thoughtfully. "Fog's thinning already thanks to whatever-the-hell-it-was you did."

He looked back to their objective, though, and his veil of optimism became dreadfully neutral again.

"Anyway, the thing's got openings. Trick's getting there without—..." The primate stopped short, blinked, and looked at the the chao with the crackling electric shield, then to Toby. "This actually sounds like a really good job for a bulletproof chao—With a really long rope."



OOC: Sorry for delay in posting. Been trying to sort out what to do with the sudden loss of two involved folks we had. I think we should be able to go forward okay, though.

Some distance away from the group, if they looked carefully in the limited light, they might have the eye to spot an anomaly: a white and black shuttle floating down to a catwalk. It hovered by it for a second, blue thrusters illuminating the air beneath it, and its vertical door flipped open. A group of soldiers came bounding out and hit the catwalk, weapons in hand. When it seemed the passengers had all exited, the door clamped back down and the drop shuttle rose high before disappearing out of sight. The oddest thing of all was that it made nowhere near the amount of sound one might expect it to just by looking at it.

The crow in charge of the group flipped down the goggles on his helmet. The move was immediately mimicked by the rest of the soldiers. They began to move forward on the catwalk, some of them in general awe of their surroundings, as well as the big monolith of doom.

"How does he do this?" asked Elegant Joe.

"Do what?" Tally didn't bother glancing back at him as they followed behind the Major.

"This. Look at all this sh*t. It's like he sweeps his hand like God and bam, he's just made a nuclear amusement park appear out of thin air. Does he have robots build this? What is all this for?"

Cross was not interested in the magic behind the Eggman's perpetual ability to construct technological hazards to civilization. He was interested only in putting a stop to it. "It doesn't matter how he pulled all this out of his ass. We have more important things to worry about." ... Like the fact that there were people he recognized not far away. His brow furrowed, more at confusion than anything.

"Ass is big enough to fit all this crap in there," mumbled Joe.

Little did Cross know the group had made significant progress, but suffice it to say he had not expected to encounter anyone familiar so deep into proverbial enemy territory. He motioned for Joe to take point, and they hurried along until they'd gotten within close proximity of the monkeys and their wild new buddies.

"We seem to be meeting quite a bit," Cross mused. Interesting how battle did that.

There was a sort of puzzled amusement that spread through the squad of soldiers at Rock's inquiry as they looked down from their catwalk. It was the same kind of result that might arise from a fighter pilot being asked by a hobo if the F-16 could be borrowed for a little while. McBride actually laughed out loud. "Monkeys," he mused under his breath.

Cross' reaction was difficult to gauge because of the NVGs, but he must have thought little of the question for he chose to ignore it entirely.

"I anticipate you had something to do with this power outage. We were going to take a look around and have some fun with the doctor's toys, but it seems you beat us to the punch." He glanced at the monolith beyond the red moat of death, quite obviously the heart of the fortress of doom, and eggs. "Is there no way to reach that thing other than by air?"

"Asked Major Obvious," mumbled Tally behind him, eliciting a sneer from Cross. It was the leader's job to ask the dumb questions everyone already knew the answers to.

There were other things to worry about besides the tower. A great number of the rusted "phantom" machines that had been intended for Central City had been rerouted and deployed to the scene. Like it or not, someone had been noticed; either Rock, Jam and Toby had stood at the lava's edge too long, or Cross' transport had been spotted, but regardless of whose fault it was, a continuous line of varied Eggman creations of all shapes and sizes was shambling its way brokenly in from the west, directly from the tunnel they'd originally been directed to depart the crater through.

There were tons, but for the moment, they were all coming from one direction along the lowest level terrace. Was Cross and his crew safe up on the catwalk? Perhaps for the moment, but not long. It connected to the solid ground above at some point, and there were plenty of routes of access.

T minus one minute until things got very ugly. Meanwhile, the tower began to emit a quiet hum—Nothing loud, and nothing too obvious yet, but something was warming up inside.

(Apologies for the long post.)

A cold fear resonated through the hedgehog's system as he slowly grasped the handle of the door, attempting to be quiet. Even the smallest tap on wood or metal could alert the intruders, their acuteness of hearing quite unknown to him at the time, but he was cautious, nonetheless.

Silently, he twisted the handle, hearing the subtle click as the latch became loose, gently pushing the door outward, a crack appearing between the door and its frame. With one blue eye, the hedgehog peered out the small peeking hole. What greeted him was a limited view of a hall, its wallpaper torn, its rug tattered, and the lights having flickered out, peering through the semi darkness.

There's nothing out there... he thought, only for his own mental statement to be countered a mere second later. There was a crash, something sounding like metal against wood, and then a few other mechanical noises before the source of the sounds appeared. It was a robot, slightly humanoid in shape; its once red shell of armor now scratched and rusted, what appeared to be algae smeared upon it. It stood there for a moment, its body sporadically shifting about, its "eyes" darting around before turning back the way it came, causing yet another ruckus as it disappeared.

Giving out a small sigh, Sheffer quietly shut the door once more, taking a step back away from it. He stood within the entryway of a mid-sized apartment, now shadowed in darkness, the only light available from windows placed around the home.

Rubbing his temples, the hedgehog sat there in deep thought. First the initial attack on the city, and now this. Trapped in his own home without electricity, the only exit filled with numerous undead robots. Something had already managed to destroy the fire escape, much to Sheffer's disbelief when he discovered it, and soon afterward, the power went out. Now, the whole complex was apparently giving shelter to a giant horde of the things, hiding within the building for some unknown reason.

Another sigh escaped his lungs, crossing his arms in disgust. Sheffer wasn't enjoying the experience of being imprisoned inside like this, nor the looming unease that it brought with it. How much longer would it be before the mechanized beings decided to venture farther then just the hall? When would they begin to invade his currently private hideaway?

There was only one option left now.

A plan already forming, Sheffer hastily rushed around the apartment, grabbing a brown pack, throwing whatever he thought would be necessary later on. Some water, his wallet, an extra shirt, some gloves...

Soon, he threw the pack over his shoulders, returning to the door. He had an idea now, a bold one at that, but if it worked, he'd be breathing fresh air in only a few minutes. Taking a deep breath and throwing all stealthiness out the window, he opened the door almost casually, any fear from before now gone.

Stepping out into the hall, he instantly saw the bulks of two robots on the other end of the corridor, quite a safe distance away... for now. Their attention seemed to be diverted to something else, but their heads suddenly snapped his way in full alert, not bothering with any hesitation as they charged at the hedgehog.

Not letting the new attackers phase him just yet, Sheffer immediately crouched forward into a spin, soon becoming a revolving mix of green and blue as he gained velocity, remaining in one spot upon the floor. The new momentum brought along a low hum as he spun, the world a blur as he did so. Not capable of seeing the robots now, he could still sense them nearing, the rug beneath him being torn to shreds.

Finally, after deciding he had gained enough energy with charged spinning, he released it, charging forward in a barrage of quills, knocking one of the attackers down to the ground as he sped past, bouncing off the other and ricocheting against the wall in consequence, slowing to a stop as he reached the other end of the hall. Scrambling to his feet, he glanced back, already seeing the robots regaining themselves, turning to run at him once more.

That was all the inspiration he needed, whipping around to the stairs that now lay before him, quickly descending, his feet tapping against the cement. Around and down he went, hearing the crashes of his pursuers behind him, fortunately not encountering any other threats most of the way down. On the last set of steps before hitting the main floor, yet another automation greeted him. Not bothering to slow down, Sheffer simply rammed his shoulder into its torso, despite its greater height. Combined with his momentum and the robot's current unawareness, he managed to send it sailing down the last few steps, seeing it crash in a jumbled heap at the bottom.

Hopping over the dazed contraption, he sprinted through the lobby of the complex, but just before he reached the exit, he veered right, turning to another door. His hand diving into his jeans' pocket, he removed a key from its depths, fumbling it in haste as he unlocked the door, revealing a small closet. There was only one important object in the confines of the storage room, Sheffer already pulling it out as he heard the robots entering the lobby.

It was a X-Gear board, colored just like the hedgehog, and looking well kept at that. He had always kept it locked away in the lobby when he wasn't traveling, and he knew it would come in handy sooner or later with the current situation.

But first, to get the hell out of there.

The foot race again continued, but Sheffer had more then enough lead, bursting out the doors into the light of day, already throwing the board beneath his feet, activating it in the process, and with a whoosh of air, shot forward from the entryway of the apartments. The burst of wind let him arrive at the other side of the street, quickly turning to look back. He saw a robot come careening out the door, but as it took a few steps outside, it instantly turned around and scurried back inside. It was almost like it was... scared.

"Hm..." sounded the hedgehog, finally free from the prison hold of the building. Without a second thought, he peered down the street for a moment before riding off on the board, now wanting to see the state of the recently invaded city.

----

The wind whipped around him, the air having a taste of salt as he stood upon the cliff. Below him, the water of the ocean crashed against the rocks, sending large amounts of sea spray upward. The orange light of dusk was approaching fast, the sun growing nearer to the horizon. In the distance was a mysterious cloud of fog, hanging low across the water, towering high into the sky.

Already Sheffer knew something must be hidden there; it was just too obvious. With all the strange events of the last couple of days, such as the undead robots and the flooding, the only explanation had to be hidden beyond the white mist, waiting to be discovered. And if anything, it would involve a certain doctor...

Intense curiosity was already forming within the hedgehog's mind, and the longer he stood there with his board tucked under his arm, the more it was fed, the questions demanding to be answered. Sheffer pondered about it. It wasn't like he had a home to go back to now, or somewhere to settle down until the chaos was over. The whole city was dilapidated now, and as he had moved around that day, all he had witnessed was group after group needing assistance in some form or another. He wished to know the actual source of his, and everyone else's, troubles, and the answer lay before him, easily accessible... hopefully.

Making his decision, Sheffer lowered his board, hopping on with ease. Peering over the edge of the cliff as he hovered there, he studied what would become his decent, giving a small shrug before tipping over into the abyss.

----

"C'mon Sheffer, only one more climb..." he muttered to himself, looking up the steep incline just past the line of trees he currently stood in.

The island hadn't been that much of a surprise when he had arrived earlier, stopping at the beach with no trouble at all, and no enemies in sight. It was somewhat of a shocker to find two X-Gear scooters sitting upon the sand though, and the remains of a few destroyed badniks (or at least he thought that's what they were called). It simply meant someone had showed up before him, probably with the same reasons as he.

The initial trip there had been nerve racking, speeding head long through the fog with barely and visibility, and the muted sounds of a firefight far above, hidden by the fog. Possibly the military attempting to invade the island themselves, running into resistance along the way. Sheffer was only glad he had somehow picked a route safe from danger, his only trouble having been the sea itself.

Now here he stood, having just climbed a reasonably sized cliff, carrying his board along the way (now that had been a hassle). Only one more hill faced him, the fading day making way for night, but he could see a small amount of light on the crest of the incline. With a huff, he sprinted forward, his feet digging into the earth as he ran upwards, jumping as high as he could go once his speed faltered. Fortunately, he landed on the top, catching his breath as he took in the new sight.

Below lay a massive pit, descending farther then the hedgehog had climbed, curving deep into the earth. A few lights were scattered here and there, illuminating grey industrial buildings, but otherwise, it was pitch black. The only other source of light came from the center far below, a reddish glow that was barely seen from his distance.

Sheffer could have turned back just then, but he had traveled too far and worked too hard to arrive at this point, and wasn't going to back out just yet. He still needed to discover what lay within the pit, dangerous or not. Maybe he even would find the mysterious travelers that had arrived before him, possibly down in the crater already.

Making sure to have a tight grip on his board, he proceeded to hop from the ledge, sliding on his feet down the embankment. It was time to figure out the truth behind all this...