A Broken Bond

1. That Day

"Let's go. Remember, do not take on the guards unless neces-"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, boss. I'm sure you know best," Sonic sarcastically cut off Tails' words, generating an irritated grumble from Tails as a response.

Soon, they begin their infiltration as they advance slowly on the tip of their toes, remaining close to the wall whilst carefully peeking through every corner before proceeding. But after a few minutes, they noticed something odd.

"Where are the guards? This doesn't seem right... there should be at least several of them patrolling here right now..." Tails whispered.

"What are you talking about? This is great! You want some guards instead? Come on, let's take advantage of this!" Before Tails could prevent him from doing the thing he knows he's about to do, Sonic took off, dashing through the hallways without a care in the world, inviting danger to come and challenge him.

"No no no, wait! ...aww, what's the use," lamented Tails as he picks up his pace to catch up with the speedster.

Moments later, Tails reaches one of the doors to the central storage room to find Sonic, already standing there with his arms still crossed and his foot still tapping. Fortunately, no guards were alerted and no alarm went off. Still, Tails went on to scold Sonic after catching his breath thanks to Sonic's unexpected (yet cliché) maneuver.

"Do you realize how reckless you were!? You could've alerted the entire place!" Tails whispered to Sonic in an angry tone.

"Yeah, well I didn't. So what's your point?" Sonic retorted, prompting another annoyed sigh from Tails.

"Okay, fine. Just don't do it again. And keep it quiet! This isn't over until we have the emerald in our hands," whispered Tails once again.

Tails then inserts a small chip into a slot on the keypad next to the door, runs his fingers all over the buttons (which, to the untrained eye, may seem like they're pressed in a random order), and the door opens easily, revealing a Chaos Emerald, hovering above a small pillar protruding out of a small hole on the floor in the middle of the vast, circular room with 3 other doors surrounding it.

"There she is. This is too easy, lemme tell ya," said Sonic confidently as he walks over to the pillar only to be halted by Tails grasping onto one of his arms.

"Wait, stop. Don't you find it suspicious? What if it's a trap?" Tails warned, only to be brushed off by Sonic's lack of insight.

"Oh come on, we were fine when we dashed through that hallway. Ol' Egghead's probably taking a nap or something," said Sonic as he releases his arm from Tails' grip and proceeds to the pillar.

But the moment he even got near its proximity, two half pieces of glass tubing suddenly appear from the floor and ceiling, trapping Sonic inside with the pillar which had now vanished into the floor along with the emerald. And to worsen their predicament, the four doors of the storage room were forcefully shut, wiping Sonic's smug expression off in a flash.

"SONIC!" Tails yelped as he runs over to the glass tube to knock it a few times, confirming his fear for the worst. "No, no, no! This is reinforced glass! It's going to be tough for you to break out!"

Not long after, a familiar, slightly distorted voice can be heard through the speakers on the ceiling.

"Excellent observational skills, my little friend! I've been expecting you. I'm flattered to see you two visit me," said Dr. Eggman welcoming his intruding nemeses through the microphone in his security room.

"We're not here for you, old man! Shouldn't you be at a retirement home or something!?" Sonic yelled to the speakers on the ceiling.

"Hey show me some respect, you brat! Anyway... you two came at the right time. I've been working on something, you see, and you, my little chopper-tailed friend, are the perfect lab rat for my experiment. So, here's the deal: if you let me "have fun" with you for a while, I'll let your blue rodent friend go. How's that sound?" Eggman bargained as he rubs his hand in a typical villain-ish manner.