Hours had passed. Sonar looked around corners cautiously. The silver piercing in his right ear glittered in the dusty light. The navy blue hedgehog looked back at Ro before squeezing into a small gap between two brick buildings. Ro tilted his head as he watched him slowly progress into its darkness. His long quills scraped against the bricks. Ro noticed how his large chest and broad shoulders made it difficult for the hedgehog to move. Not only that, but his feet had to be positioned in a way so that the spikes at the front of his large boots wouldn't get him stuck in place. It was amusing to say the least. After waiting a moment, Ro slipped into the gap rather easily. Having to slow his pace to wait for Sonar. Ro sighed, rolling his eyes, "Can you go any slower?" Sonar looked over and frowned. He looked like he was going to shoot a sharp reply back, but didn't know exactly what to say. After glaring for a second, he huffed and continued, trying to quicken his pace. After a few more minutes, they finally got out of the gap, entering a dark open space. Ro could hardly make out Sonar's shape in the darkness. Sonar stretched his arms out, his black eyes looking around for whatever he was looking for. Ro opened his mouth to speak, but Sonar shushed him. Ever since they started their journey to the Eggman base, Sonar had been shushing Ro. Probably because he wanted to lower their chances of being caught. But Ro still found it annoying. Sonar glided a couple of steps forward, the dim blue glow from his boots allowing him to see where he stepped. Ro followed, his ear flicking as the hedgehog stopped by, scratching the boot-horn into the concrete. Ro stood by his side as Sonar gently ran his hands on a wall that Ro was surprised Sonar could see. Ro squinted his eyes as he tried to watch what Sonar was doing. "Here it is," Sonar whispered to himself as his hands bumped into a small panel that bumped out of the cracked and centuries-old wall. After fumbling with the panel's complicated handle, it opened. Ro blinked as he was temporarily blinded by some old, red glowing switches. The light illuminated a faded symbol that looked like a man with glasses and a large mustache. Sonar hovered his fingers above the three switches, deciding which ones to flip. "Let me try," Ro ducked under Sonar's arm to get to it. putting himself between Sonar and the panel. Ro hovered his hand over the switches, trying to figure out which switch caused the most reaction with his power. Ro gently tapped the first one with his ungloved finger, his fur standing on end slightly. Doing the same for the second one got the same reaction but weaker. "What are you doing?" Sonar whispered, looking over Ro's head. Ro giggled from the ticklish sensation at his breath hitting his ear, which flicked in response, "Don't do that! I'm trying to concentrate." A dim electric sensation buzzed through Ro's finger as he gently touched the third switch. Pulling his hand away, he flicked the second switch, and when nothing happened, the switch popped back up. He flicked it again. "Wow. Nothing happened." Sonar grumbled. Ro's ear flicked, and he was about to tell Sonar to stop breathing on his ear when he spoke, but a creeaking sound stopped him. Looking further along the wall, he watched as it slowly opened. Dim orange light bleeding into the darkness. "Oh. Good job, cat-boy." Sonar said before skating to the entrance. Ro limped quickly behind the hedgehog as they entered. Ro swung his head around as the old door closed itself. The Eggman base was like a maze. Corridors that looked just like the last, no way of telling where you have been, besides the little details. The little to no light came from somehow still operating emergency lights that lined the ceiling and the floor. Every door they came across, they tried to open, but the access panels were either broken or the door was busted. Sonar walked up to another door that they came upon; it looked to be in perfect shape. Tapping the access panel, it slid open. Steam and dust clouded out of the room. Ro walked in after Sonar entered. Inside the closed room were old boxes and shut off electronics. "What are we even looking for again?" Ro asked, opening one of the crates to find old robotic parts. "I'm not sure. But the 'Ultimate Weapon' isn't that good a description." Sonar huffed as he moved a crate off of another one. Ro sighed as he sat down, swinging his legs, "If I were Sage and hiding a weapon in an old base, where would I put it... Hmmm.... A hidden door or in plain sight, probably." "We could be looking in the wrong base. Maybe there is another one." Sonar interrupted Ro's thought as he stopped rummaging through a box of scraps. He leaned onto one of the tables full of buttons and switches. A long beep echoed across the room, drawing their attention to where Sonar had placed his hand. Holograms of a screen flickered onto the wall. On it was a map of the base.
An orange X was over the room that Ro assumed that they were in, and two red dots were also in that room. Ro walked over to Sonar, who had moved his hand off the controls, some of the buttons and switches now glowing various colors. "Whoa... Sonar, you lucky duck! Now we'll be able to figure out where this weapon is!" Ro giddily grinned. "We might have a problem though..." Sonar said. "Why?" Ro looked back at the screen, just now spotting two red dots moving through the hallways towards them. "Shoot..." =-+-+-+-= Orbot hovered into the white room, holograms showing maps of each district hovering and covering each area of the room. In his red robotic hands was a small device, a map of the Eggman base in the Blight District showing on it. Sage stood in the center of the room, her back towards the door. She was much taller than she was all those years ago. More grown-up looking. She made sure to look older. She didn't want to be perceived as a child anymore. The red bits in her white hair glitched as the code updated by the second. Orbot stopped a few feet away from Sage as he spoke, "Ma'am... We have a problem." Sage didn't respond; she only turned her head slightly to face the little circular robot. "Two new people entered Egg-Fort. 2..." Orbot continued. If he could sweat, he would be nervously sweating right about now. Orbot gulped, "Do you want me to send in a group of Keepers to deal with them? Maybe even Metal Shadow?" "No, leave them." "What? B-but they are trespassing on your father's base. They could find-" "I said to leave them. I already dealt with them, and by now they should be getting close to the control room." Sage turned to look down at Orbot. Her showing red eye scanning over him. Turning away from the little robot, she looked back to servalence that was currently watching a bothersome cat and disturbingly familiar-looking hedgehog. She spoke over her shoulder to Orbot, who was starting to take his leave, "Oh, do inform me if that ratty opossum, Clutch, decides to try and call me. In the hundreds of years that I've known him, he still can't be bothered to speak to me face-to-face. It's rather annoying." "Yes, ma'am." Orbot nodded. As he was leaving, a memory came back to him. Turning around, he spoke, " That meeting with Kilom Prower is in 10 minutes. He wanted to discuss his concerns about the Low Keepers training program with you." Sage nodded. =-+-+-+-=