A/N: This chapter is... BIG.
And by big, I mean long. As in I had to split it across two chapters.
I totally got carried away with it, and dragged it out probably way too much. It actually took forever to write, but I'm so happy with it, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it just as much as I did writing it!
Today was the day.
(Y/N) sat upright in her sleeping bag, the sun barely breaking over the horizon. The sky was a nice dark blue, a purple tint playing at the edge of the earth, and the stars, though still visible, were fading. The (a/t) had gotten what she thought was the best sleep she'd had since coming to these ruins, which still wasn't great, but she felt energised for the day. In fact, she had never felt so calm before a mission, not like the war anyway. The difference was that she actually felt like this mission was going to go right, they had a failsafe for every possible thing that could go wrong.
The (a/t) sat up. Stretching her arms and letting out a sigh. Sonic laid still sleeping next to her and she glanced at him, smiling to herself. He seemed so peaceful; she didn't want to disturb him. He laid on his stomach, arms up under the makeshift pillow and back slowly rising and falling. It was cute seeing him relaxed, considering he's usually bursting with energy, never staying in the one spot for long.
Even still, she knew she would have to get him up. They had a big day after all. Reaching over, she placed her hand on his shoulder, and hesitant, gave him a shake. Sonic groaned and stirred, shifting as he started to wake up. His eyes opened slowly, a tired gaze peering up towards the (a/t). A smile appeared on the hedgehog's muzzle, and he sat up, letting out a yawn and stretching out his arms and back. A few pops later and he slumped forward, scratching his ear,
"Alright..." Sonic's voice was groggy, "You ready to see your family?"
"Yep." (Y/N) said, though she gripped the sleeping bag tightly.
The blue hero smiled and got to his feet, stretching again. Once the (a/t) had joined him, the two made their way over to the centre of the ruins. The sun was rising higher now, making the ruins' shadows stretch towards the tree line of the forest. The two took their place around the smoking charcoal of last night's campfire, waiting as the others slowly got up for the day.
Soon enough, Tails was joining them, the golden fox yawning and rubbing his eye as he sat next to Sonic, his laptop placed hap-hazardly next to him. Then, as if on cue, Silver emerged from one of the ruined buildings, followed closely by Haven. Both stood across from the others, arms crossed as they waited for their breakfast. It didn't take long for everyone to eat, or, maybe to (Y/N) it didn't feel that long. The morning seemed to be going by rather quickly, the sun now making the shadows start to shrink as it rose higher and higher.
Once everyone had eaten, Silver and Haven took off into the forest, the two already on their way to start out their part of the plan. Tails was now on his laptop, booting it up so that he would have all the information ready by the time (Y/N) and Sonic arrived at the base. As they hurried through the forest, Sonic handed the (a/t) an earpiece. She smiled and took it, nodding to him as she stuck it in her ear. Almost immediately, she could hear Tails talking to the others, the fox was already hacked into Eggman's system. He was commenting on how the outside cameras were slowly blacking out one by one, and that the blue hedgehog and (f/c) (a/t) should wait for his signal before heading inside.
"Chances are, Eggman is expecting you two. So, we're going to make him squirm." The fox said.
Sonic nodded, and the two finally arrived at the base. They stayed back in the trees, listening to Tails' commentary. He wanted to see just how long Eggman's calm demeanour would last, since all his outdoor cameras were now down, and nothing was happening. Better to get under the doctor's skin than go in with him prepared.
"It's exactly as I called it." The golden fox said, "He's waiting for you now. Sit tight guys, I'll give you the signal once he lets his guard down."
The two stayed crouched behind a tree, watching the base with silent anticipation. Eventually, the silver hedgehog and wolf joined them, Haven's job now done. She seemed agitated, her ears twitching every now and then, and her eyes darted everywhere.
"Why is he so close?" She asked, a hint of a snarl in her tone.
"Don't worry, he doesn't know you're here." Sonic said, glancing at her, "I doubt he'll ever realise. He never really explores the area he's in unless it's a cave. Just stay out of his line of sight and you'll be fine."
She huffed in response and Silver rested a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, that should be easier now that you've broken the cameras. Just... Maybe don't do it again, otherwise he'll get suspicious."
"Guys, can you quite down?" Tails' voice cut through everyone's ears.
The wolf flinched, her ears lowered as she averted her gaze to the ground, and Silver let out a sigh. He turned to the other two, and Sonic gave him a nod. With that, the silver hedgehog took the wolf's hand, he motioned for them to leave, and she gave a curt nod. They disappeared, leaving Sonic and (Y/N) alone.
"He'll be back." Sonic said, as if to ease some sort of worry the (a/t) could have, "He's our protection after all. Tails will send him back when it's time to go in."
"I wasn't worried." She said dismissively, "Not about that, anyway."
"It'll be okay." The hedgehog said next, "You're with me, I always win."
"You better touch wood."
Sonic raised a brow, a sly smile spreading on his muzzle before he leant back against the tree behind them.
"Superstitious?"
"Only when my success rate seems lower than 50%."
The hedgehog let out a sigh, shaking his head. The (a/t) smiled slightly and leant against him. Yeah, she was worried, but she had a feeling they'd be fine. Sure, it was going to be hella fucking dangerous, they were going really deep underground, and for all they knew it could end up being their graves. But... Well, they were together, (Y/N) had Sonic by her side, so she felt like she could do anything and by the Gods was she going to do as much as she could to finally save her family.
They waited a bit longer, falling into a focused silence. At any moment, Tails could tell them to move, and then they'll be inside, and there'll be no turning back. Was there any turning back now anyway? The (a/t) gripped the grass, the thought a fleeting moment in her mind. No, she wasn't going to turn back now. They were so close.
Footsteps made both their ears perk up, and they turned to see Silver walking back towards them. He gave them a nod, seeming to be less tense now that Haven wasn't there. Sonic nodded back, and the hedgehog joined them in sitting down. (Y/N) watched him for a moment, before turning her attention back to the base behind them. It sat silently, as if anticipating the beginning of the battle that sat on the horizon.
The (a/t) jumped as Tails' voice cut through the silence, sounding like an alarm in her ear. He explained that Eggman, while looking bored, was also starting to look worried and that the doctor was fidgeting a lot with his moustache. Sonic and Silver seemed to perk up as well, all three now staring at the building. The blue hedgehog got to his feet, and (Y/N) followed suit. Now was the time to attack. The three share a nod and move towards the base, running directly across the small clearing of trees and straight towards the hole they had left in the wall a week prior.
Sonic and Silver took their stances around the hole, alert and watching out for badniks. The (a/t) took a deep breath, heading straight through their make-shift entrance. The walls were more jiggered than she remembered, scratching at her arms as she wiggled through to the other side. Sonic and Silver followed suit, while (Y/N) watched the halls. Not a robot in sight, just like last time. Her stomach felt cold for a moment, before Silver's voice cut through the silence,
"Okay Tails, we're in. Where do we go now?"
"Down the right hallway." Tails' voice was clear in the (a/t)'s ears, "There isn't anything down there except a large room, but I can see a faint outline of an elevator on the blueprints. I'll tell you when you guys are close to it."
Sonic nodded, "Roger that buddy."
His eyes met (Y/N)'s, and a grim look crossed his face. He knew where they were headed, and so did the (a/t). She took a second, doing her best to wipe the memory of Metal slashing Sonic's back from her mind, and Sonic's hand found hers. She blinked, and he gave her a reassuring smile. His hand was warm, and it slowly settled the cold feeling in her stomach. She smiled back.
"Not to ruin whatever this is." Silver said, waving a hand to the two, reminding the (a/t) that they weren't alone, "But we should probably hurry."
"Y-Yeah. Right." (Y/N) nodded, though she gripped Sonic's hand tighter.
He returned the invisible gesture and the three took off down the hall. There was no sound, other than the tapping of everyone's shoes on the metal ground, a sound that wasn't in sync, and felt similar to the (a/t)'s heartbeat. Memories of last week kept flashing through her mind, the red cables everywhere, the sound of electricity in the air, of metal clashing with metal and flesh.
How long had they been running for? It felt like it had been forever. She had this hallway memorised, yet she couldn't pinpoint where they were at all.
"The elevator is just ahead." Tails' voice almost startled the (a/t), and the three slowed their pace, "I'm not sure what's visible to you guys, but my calculations tell me you should be standing a few feet from it."
The three searched the hallway, however (Y/N) noted that the walls looked completely bare, no doors or even a seam to hint that a door could be there. She shared a look with Sonic and Silver, who both started touching the walls, pressing on them in hopes that they'd find a hidden button. The (a/t) joined in, though she couldn't find anything. After wasting a few minutes, Silver eventually got sick of looking, and he stepped back.
"Out of the way." He said, pressing his hands together and closing his eyes.
Sonic and (Y/N) stepped back as the other started to glow a bright turquoise, watching in awe as he threw his arms forward. A wave of turquoise light hit the wall. There was silence for a moment, before a soft 'ding' made everyone's ears twitch, and a hidden elevator opened up. It had been sealed so perfectly that it hadn't been visible to the naked eye.
"Heh, nice job Silver." Sonic said, giving him a thumbs up, "You'll wait here yeah?"
The silver hedgehog nodded, "I'll be on standby until necessary."
"Perfect, let's go (Y/N)." Sonic said, stepping over to the open doors and glancing down the elevator shaft. The actual lift itself was nowhere to be seen, only the cables that kept it up hung in front of him. He turned to the (a/t) and held his hand out, "You ready?"
"You bet." The (a/t) nodded, feeling her heart beating with adrenaline. She was finally going to see her family, finally going to save them. There was no telling how this was going to go, but all she could do now was go down and find out.
"Oh, by the way." Tails' voice came through their ears again, "Since the cameras on this level aren't working right now, that means Eggman doesn't know you're here. However, once you open those elevator doors on the bottom floor, that's going to act like a beacon for him, so be prepared for a fight."
"Alright. Will the actual elevator be a problem for us?" Sonic asked, "What if it comes up while we're going down?"
"It won't, I've deactivated it for the time being."
"Great job bud." Sonic chuckled, now wrapping his arm around the (a/t)'s waist, "Alright, guess we're going down then. You ready?"
"How many times are you gonna ask me?" The (a/t) chuckled, a smirk on her face, "Of course I am."
The hedgehog smirked, reaching out and grabbing onto the cable. With one swift movement, he had swung the two out, and had positioned his feet on the cable, steadying the two before glancing back at Silver,
"Don't get too bored waiting for us."
"I probably will." Silver crossed his arms.
Sonic chuckled, before loosening his grip around the cable, and the two started sliding down the empty shaft. Silence surrounded them, aside from the sound of the cable moving through Sonic's grip, and the (a/t) took the chance to take in their claustrophobic surroundings. It was dark, almost becoming pitch black aside from the occasional seams of light coming from the other levels as they passed. Every now and then a faint light would pass them, (Y/N) assumed they were the other levels, which made her stomach feel cold. She knew this base was deep, but exactly how deep would they go?
There was a sound below them, both their ears twitched to scraping metal and the two shared a glance, before turning their gazes down. Heading right towards the two heroes was a soft glow of light, in the shape of a square. The elevator.
"Uh... Tails?" Sonic started.
"Yeah?" The fox's voice was clear in their ears.
"I thought you said you shut down the elevator."
There was silence for a moment.
"Shoot, the delay must have timed out."
"No kidding."
"What are we gonna do?" (Y/N) looked at Sonic, ears pinned back in worry.
The hedgehog frowned for a moment, before his eyes lit up with an idea. He gave the (a/t) a small smirk,
"When I throw you, cross your arms and ankles."
"Wh-What?!"
The (a/t) had no time to react as Sonic stopped sliding down the cable, throwing her up into the darkness. The glowing light slowly grew closer, and Sonic spun himself into a ball, spindashing through the metal and disappearing through the lift. (Y/N) had lost her breath, her eyes wide as the elevator flew towards her, or was she falling towards it? The answer was both. Catching her breath, she closed her eyes, holding her arms up over her chest tightly and crossing her ankles. A nerve twitched in her brow as a quick breeze passed by her, and suddenly she was back in Sonic's arm.
"Problem solved." He said, "Though Eggman definitely knows we're on our way now."
(Y/N) was breathing heavily for a moment, her eyes opening to the darkness again. Turning her head up, she saw the square glow disappearing above them, a large hole of light falling on the two and making it that little bit lighter. Sonic smiled at her, before he continued sliding down the cable.