Chapter Text
Another explosion rocked the ground, sending cracks splintering through the cobbled streets. Water towers swayed dangerously. All around the city, the citizens were evacuating through passageways and airships.
“Eggman’s been getting real cocky lately,” Sonic commented, gripping the pole tighter as the stones beneath him rumbled dangerously. Besides him, Tails fiddled furiously with his Miles Electric, the antennae lighting up on occasion.
“Well, I’ve located the source of the earthquakes, if that helps,” he yelped, lifting himself into the air as the sloping roof on the house they stood near collapsed, sending a cloud of dust upon himself and Sonic.
The hedgehog coughed harshly, waving the dust away. “Where?”
“Under the…” Tails drifted off, squinting in utter disbelief at the screen.
“Under the what?” Sonic asked, raising his voice above the noise. “The bank?”
Tails pointed somewhere vaguely north. “Train station, I’ll meet you there in five minutes, tops.”
Sonic’s grip loosened as he playfully saluted his brother, yet the worry bubbling in his chest was quite evident to Tails. Running through town was dangerous now. Not that his reckless speeds would be considered safe, they’d been fined more times than Sonic would’ve admitted. But the increased energy outputted into the earthquakes, combined with the narrow streets and rubble, was going to make travelling rather tricky.
Recently, they’d begun recording the frequency of the earthquakes, and a pattern had emerged. They seemed to happen around the same time, each week. And then it became twice a week. The magnitudes grew, from a slight tremble in the ground to tsunamis barraging through the town sides. It was quite easy to pick out the creator behind such destruction.
Eggman’s plans had been surprisingly well hidden. His usual attacks were carefully thought out, simple yet effective enough to not arouse suspicion. Sonic cursed himself internally for not having noticed something sooner. And yet, scolding himself was fruitless. There were no signs of Eggman’s latest plot.
The earthquake had begun to settle down by the time Sonic had reached the station. It was the only building devoid of survivors. Inside, nothing but stray trains, long past emptied of passengers, remained. The bleak rays reaching through the few windows beamed upon the dusty expanse. The brick pillars were cracked, the strain clearly beginning to reach them.
“Sonic!”
He turned to the sound of his name, to see Tails waving frantically at him as he entered through a shattered window.
“According to what I’ve managed to scan, the geometric scale of these earthquakes seems to be taking place a few metres under the station,” Tails landed, brushing himself clean of debris.
“Then how the hell did Eggman even manage to build something under here without anyone noticing?” Sonic asked in disbelief.
Tails shrugged. “I have no clue. Moving on from that mystery, I assume the entry would be somewhere by the tracks.”
“Sweet, I’ll check it out,” Sonic made his way towards the train tracks furthest from the door, leaping over railway couplings with ease. Tails checked the other side, leaving them both to bend and peer under trains, tear a stray brick from a wall to find nothing, and even ram a platform luggage trolley into a pillar.
“Focus, Sonic,” Tails berated him lightly.
“I am,” Sonic argued. “You never know where he sets his entries. It could be through a vent, or in a train, or behind the building for all we know.”
Tails snapped his fingers. “Of course! We need to check the ventilation system.”
“Well, that could’ve saved us time,” Sonic muttered under his breath, earning a dirty glare.
While Tails rushed off to find a screwdriver, which he miraculously did, Sonic had attempted to pull open a vent with brute force, which ended in limited success. So Tails loosened the screws to a vent, and Sonic ripped it off, before he ushered his brother inside.
“I forgot how tight of a squeeze these places were,” Sonic grumbled, earning another disapproving look from up ahead. “Yeesh, I forgot how creepy you look in the dark.”
Tails shushed him, before moving along. This, however, did not silence the hedgehog in the slightest.
“You really think Eggman’s down here?” Sonic frowned. “I doubt he’d fit himself through these vents. Are we really sure he didn’t die of suffocation when climbing in one day? Or maybe he sends a robot to control-“
“Sonic!” Tails hissed, silencing him in an instant. Relieved, yet beginning to regret his outburst, Tails kept shuffling along.
——————
Blue lights bathed the room in an eerie glow as Robotnik’s fingers danced across the keyboard. The monitor beeped, and the screen flashed red, leaving the doctor to slump back in his chair in annoyance.
“Perhaps this formula?…” he trailed off, resuming his intense research, when something caught his eye in the computer reflection.
“Game’s over, Eggman.”
The doctor’s face cracked into a wide grin, and he spun in his chair to lazily face the blue hedgehog.
“Oh no!” He said sarcastically, throwing his hands up halfheartedly in surrender. “I’ve been stopped! Whatever will I do?”
“Step away from the damn computer,” Sonic warned, eyes narrowing dangerously. “Tails’ is taking over now.”
Eggman paused.
“I said back. Away.”
“You know, I have a slight query as to how you managed to get down here in the first place,” the doctor frowned.
“That’s not important. Hand over the controls already,” Tails demanded.
And just like that, Eggman stood up and walked to the corner of the room. He emptied his pocketed, rolled up his sleeves, and sat down on the stone tiles. To make things more enjoyable, he smiled up at Sonic and Tails, grinning further at their priceless faces. He slid the remote he held towards the duo, leaving them to look at him in utter bemusement.
“Do whatever you wish,” he shrugged.
“…Okay,” Sonic said, still dumbfounded. Tails hastily made his way to the computer, plugging a device into the side. The password entered itself. Eggman made a mental note to fix in a barrier to stop the override code.
“This isn’t some kind of trick, is it?” Sonic asked warily.
“No.”
“I can tell you’re lying,” the hedgehog snapped. He received no response.
Eggman watched, almost enjoying the show in front of him. He watched as the twin tailed fox’s face contorted to one of confusion, then frustration. He watched him sift through more files, opening whichever he deemed important. Frustration melted into a blank slate.
“Bud? What is it?” Sonic peered over his brother’s shoulder.
“No, this doesn’t make any sense…” Tails mumbled to himself. He looked down at his device, fiddling with the contents, before turning to Eggman. It was the doctor’s turn to feel surprised.
“What?” He asked.
“Damn it, Eggman, I know you’re the one behind these earthquakes!” Tails suddenly shouted, causing both the doctor and Sonic to startle. “Show me where the files are already!”
The room was silent. Two pairs of judgemental eyes glared down at Eggman. His face cracked, and a smile peeked through. Then a laugh. And before they knew it, Eggman was doubled over, chuckling heartily.
“You-you think I’m behind all this?” He guffawed, wiping a tear from his eye. “You mustn’t make me laugh like that. Tails, since when would I resort to earthquakes? They’ve been interrupting my progress for months now, so I came down here to investigate. There’s been signals from here for months, attempting to find a source.”
“That’s a lie, and we both know it!” Tails snapped, pointing an accusing finger in Eggman’s direction. “How come they’re emitting from this very room? Heck, why else would you have a secret laboratory underneath the station? Stop hiding it, I’m well aware that all the evidence points to you.”
The doctor’s face fell into one of contemplation.
“I think,” he began. “It’s time I showed you - both of you - something.”