Chapter Text
“What you got there, Agent Jack?” Silver the hedgehog addressed his partner for the mission
“Can’t you see that’s a computer, Agent Ace?” Shard the reformed mecha sonic sneered
The two secret freedom fighters had been sent to a recently closed electrical power plant after reports of suspicious activity. They didn’t have much trouble breaking in as some beast seemed to have torn the back entrance apart. This building was a former electrical power plant, but it was quickly abandoned due to his proximity and vulnerability from the mad doctor Robotnik. The two secret heroes didn't even need to hover over the fence, some sharp object like a pair of cutters had slashed through it thoroughly, making it the work of a precise thief. the yellow and Black Robot was the first to enter, flashing his light around in the silent storage house. Saying the edifice was derelict was a euphemism, it was run down, old, full of moss, and worrying goo that was surely carrying a lot if fungus. The old machinery was out of repair, and even Shard winced at their sorry state, the fences had been torn for scrap metal by scavengers, as any other piece of electronics. Only the blown ashes and sparking from the recent gashes in the electrical transformers made noise in that dreadful place. The two didn't linger too long, Silver was worried while the mecha sonic was bored.
"Let's find a terminal" the robot proposed, gesturing for the stairs leading to the supervising deck.
"According to the schematics, It's on the second floor" Silver indicated, his face hidden by a pair of goggles and a mouthpiece, while his body was dressed in a black and dark turquoise composed his uniform. As they progressed inside, they noted the huge claw marks littering the walls further they went. It was nearly everywhere in the corridor leading to the stairs, so much so that the duo double-checked for any suspicious movement before warily climbing it to reach the control deck, and the late-generation computers in it.
After a while of digging around in the room of antics and barely salvageable items on the second floor, Shard finally connected his wire to a nearby computer, powering it on with his own core, and searched through the logs for any hint they could find.
"I could power 50 of these old things" he joked.
"Eyes on the prize, please" Silver insisted, knowing the former badnik was better at those things than he was, there weren't any of those machines in the future, only ashes. After a few minutes, he displayed a camera recording from the outside wall two days ago, and the two hedgehogs watched as a dark silhouette was quite literally making their way in by ripping the fence to shreds. They first thought it was a mobian given the height, but the creature was too accurate and quick to have a good view of the perpetrator. All they knew was that the intruder was skilled, with a weapon sharp enough to cut through metal, but the two yellow dots sending bloodcurdling glares were enough of a hint that this creature wasn't friendly. The way it slashed to then crawled away in the dark was creepy, to say the least, but the low screech and moving as if it didn't have a spine was too disturbing.
“What is that!?” Silver whisper-called since their little venture was supposed to remain a secret from the regular freedom fighters, and screaming would only give their position away to whatever homeless was hanging around here
“Too dark to pick up on the feed. Low rez to cut budget… Tsk, amateurs.” Shard rubbed his chin with his eyes squinted “But I bet you my chassis that it’s the same thing that did a number on those generators. Wait... I'm checking the power records” The robot didn't waste a second, closing and opening new folders to pull up the list of energy exchanges automatically filled with the data from the sensors. The ivory hedgehog didn't have to know much about storage and distribution to know there had been only a slight withdrawal in the already low tanks in the last 24 hours.
“I don’t get it” Silver pondered “Why would someone break in to destroy the engines and only slightly drain the remaining power?”
“Maybe that guy was as hungry as I am” the Mecha Sonic patted his stomach, “But if that was a robot, then I’m the real Sonic” he added with his usual sarcasm.
“Maybe one of Naugus’ new tricks to ruin our day. Keep searching, Jack, I’m going to have a look at the boiler room. Don't let your guard down, there's no footage of the creature leaving."
"Meh. Most of the cameras are out of order anyway" he shrugged then gave a thumb up, "I got it handled here, Snow White"
Shard waved with a grin as his frowning organic teammate took off using his psychokinesis. The boiler room was still heated despite the run-down state it was in, derelict walls holding moisture and moss in the humid atmosphere, giving an almost misty air to the abandoned area. The hedgehog didn't feel anything suspicious, so he carried on the following rooms, passing a long corridor, and finding a light claw mark leading to a storage area. Silver flew around the heavy equipment, lifting some for any trace that could help in the huge room of dusty items, unaware of the creature lurking in the shadows nearby. A pair of predatory eyes observed the young psychic for a moment, impressed by the cyan energy emitting from his hands as he moved the huge boxes and heavy metal equipment around, before retreating to the darkness in utter silence save for the scales slithering against the shelves. Silver spoke to himself while he rubbed his fingers against the burnt marks of a large cable.
“Looks like Jack was right, robots don’t burn themselves in taking electricity…What were you trying to do here?” he spoke mostly for himself, rubbing the soot between his fingers, then observing his surroundings for any lead on where the creature had gone next. The young psychic was dragged out of his reflection by a loud crashing noise coming from the corridors on Shard’s end. Without hesitation, Silver rushed to his side, knowing the reformed badnik wouldn’t be that careless even if he was bored. He opened the door to reveal the mecha Sonic lying on his side with flickering optics, his hand twitching weakly and his visor cracked.
“Shard!” he sat quickly before him, eyes focused on his partner as he was inspecting his head, checking his vitals. Nothing was wrong, except for a depleting battery his chaos drive core was struggling to refill, before sighing a breath of relief “Sleep mode, agent Jack? Did you forget to recharge ag-“
He didn’t have the chance to finish his sentence when he was violently hit in the back of his head, falling unconscious on the spot. Behind the unconscious hedgehog lying next to his comrade on the floor was a creepy figure. A being out of hell was standing before them, his little dark creatures floating around with prying eyes at the mobians. His tail wiped high behind his back, his mischievous grin snarking at how easy it had been to ambush and lure their prey. He focused his energy, and his skin colour changed from blue to ash and crimson as a cubic little creature exited his body to rub against its master before returning to its siblings. The bigger creature took a few steps forward, his claws clanking against the ground now that he didn't have to keep the tip lifted for discretion, his three-digited hand grabbed the collapsed silver hedgehog by his quills, lifting the limp body easily as he sneered triumphantly, a hand to his hip as he approached the head slightly bleeding from the back of it near his own.
“Would you look at that? This trip wasn’t a waste of time after all.”