Chaos Born

The Robotnik Facility

"...Oh..." he remembered.

"What now?" Shadow muttered, eyeing the room as though threatened by it.

"Of course," Orbot squeaked, "there is the issue of one robot that may disturb us..."

No-one needed further clarification.

Not many could truthfully say that they had missed the deranged blue hedgebot and though Amy's warnings had been carefully accepted and considered, they only now seemed to truly hit home. Perhaps there had still been the silent hope that Metal Sonic wasn't involved at all and there had been no need for such worry. Those hopes were sorely dashed.

None, least of all Knuckles, could deny that the holding room was for Metal. It had a certain flair to it that Eggman kept only for his favourite.

"B-But... but he should be more occupied with Sonic for the present," Orbot's quiet voice spoke, betraying his own fear.

Shadow glanced at the red robot with a piercing gaze. "You're sure of that?"

"...It depends how far the two of them have got since our absence."

"Far? What exactly are the two of them doing?"

"Cubot said something about Project Eclipse."

"Project Eclipse?"

"I take it that it has nothing to do with the sun?" Espio grunted with his back to others, always on the lookout for any possible robot zombie out on a little sleep-walk. The darkness of the room made it impossible to know, for certain, what could be lurking out of sight.

"It somehow involves Sonic," Orbot was explaining, in the meantime.

"Of course it does," Shadow huffed, "Everything involves Sonic. Nothing happens on this planet unless Sonic's involved somehow. Centre of his own universe."

"Did yer happen to find out where they're keepin' Sonic?" asked Vector, stepping away and giving a wide berth to a leaking trail of diesel that snaked across the path. It still looked fresh.

"No," Orbot said in answer to the croc's question, moving slowly towards the double doors at the end of the room. "Cubot and I left before his abduction. We only knew how to get you in."

Espio's fingers toyed with a shuriken. 

"Then we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Stealth and planning," he said, cautiously following.

"Can't be too long," Vector reminded them all, "Team 2 will come in lookin' fer us unless we keep constant contact."

Omega hadn't moved very much. He had rooted his feet and grown silent, taking in all that was around him.

"Holding up okay?" he heard Shadow ask. The black and red hedgehog was at his side, peering up into Omega's eyes with genuine worry for his robotic friend. It was easy to read what it was that Omega was thinking, surrounded by the dead remains of other Eggman robots.

The E-Series let out a whirr and Shadow sighed.

"I know, old friend. I know."

- - - - -

There was an old saying: an animal backed into a corner will fight.

"Comfortable?" Ira asked, as he always did when entering the prison complex and, as usual, received his routine glare from within the only occupied cell. "Even now, you still aren't talking to me?"

Sonic glowered at Ira with all the contempt an Egyptian cat might cast upon a tyrannical pharaoh. His disgust was only amplified by the presence of Metal Sonic, quietly standing in the back.