Chapter Text
An old yet sturdy door slowly opened, the weight of the chunk of metal making the blue hedgehog behind the movement struggle. The hedgehog puffed out a deep sigh once he got it open and walked into the large building - he winced as he heard the door slam shut behind him.
“Ivo!” He called. “I’m here!”
Only echoes of his own voice followed.
“Is this another prank?” Sonic scoffed and looked side to side, wondering if Ivo was hiding somewhere, ready to jump out and scare him. Or perhaps a bucket of water or pen ink was waiting for him in some place..
Sonic had received a letter from Ivo the day before - one that read:
“Dear Sonic,
It seems like a lifetime since we worked on robots together. 30 years really slips away, doesn’t it?
If you’re back in town, come visit the old workshop. There’s something I need to show you.
Your best pal, Ivo Robotnik. ”
He didn't think much of the letter at first, believing it to be something to add to his list when he revisited Green Hills, but now it seemed like he’s bailed on him. Great .
With a grumble, Sonic decided to wander around. I mean, since he was already here he might as well, maybe he'll find whatever Ivo was talking about from the letter. Why not trek down Memory Lane while he had the chance?
And so his steps echoed through the metal halls, making his ears flick. It kind of unnerved him how silent the building was. He remembered the constant whirring of machinery and the buzz of chatter when he worked here - and now it was dead.
He let out a sad sigh, approaching the desk in his old office. Blueprints still laid on the space, a blur of white and blue.
He missed those days. Everything seemed so simple - always looking forward to tomorrow, ready to keep building and coding and designing.
Now he worked a lame job as a bartender at a crummy bar in the shitty side of town. He constantly had to deal with people yelling at him, or crying, or passing out.. Plus the amount of times he’s thrown drunk people out.
He wished he never left his and Ivo’s business.
But that was the past. He made his bed, now he has to sleep in it.
He spun away from the dusty room and stepped out, continuing down the hall. It was so dark in here.. the lights were dim and barely any were on, leaving nearly pitch black spots in the halls. Fucking creepy.. and it didn’t help that cardboard cutouts of the main robot were littered everywhere. It felt like they were staring at him.
Soon enough he came across a familiar room.
“Oh, hey, I remember this.” He commented out loud, jogging inside and looking around. Several pedestals were present, each with a symbol on them but they were all empty. “Huh.. where’d everything go?”
This was the room Ivo had everyone put their “offerings” in. Yeah, he was superstitious as hell and made every employee give up a personal item for the “gods” or whatever. Sonic always found that weird.. But maybe when the place shut down, everyone got their things back.
That wasn’t the case, when he spotted an item on a shelf nearby—
He reached up and took it delicately. He stared at the handmade doll in sorrow. Rose made this, he remembered. It was one of the first weeks of the business and she wanted to keep everyone’s spirits up, so she’s made this of one of the beta designs of the characters, the robots.
Knuckles, he thought this design was supposed to be.
“I wonder how Rose is now..” He mumbled to himself. Turning his head, he approached the pedestal that belonged to her and sat the doll down on it - and suddenly the light above it lit up, making him flinch back. He glanced up, then back at the pedestal. Was he supposed to.. do something here?
Tapping his foot curiously, he darted out in search of everything else. But it seemed like there wasn’t anything, only a bunch of canned soup and electronic parts, posters plastered on the walls.
He stopped to stare at one.
It showed only a clawed hand with a crimson stripe running up the arm, starting from the middle and index fingers.
“ Shadow in
Little
Devil
Darlin’”
Shadow. Ivo Robotnik’s pride and joy, the one and only face of the company.
Sonic had helped with designing him, but Ivo denied so many of his attempts only for the final result to look too similar, too much like all of the blue hedgehog’s sketches. The bright red eyes, the silver muzzle lacking a mouth, the striped limbs, the ears that mimicked devil horns..
His fists clenched.
That was one thing he disliked about Ivo. He could never seem to make up his mind, saying one thing was wrong when it came from Sonic, then saying it was right when it came from someone else. And then he’d gaslight the hell out of him!
It left him thinking he was crazy for a while.
Spinning around, the hedgehog walked on. He didn’t want to dwell on things like that - as Silver would say, it’s no use. He just had to focus on the task at hand.
“Ahah!” Sonic gasped upon spotting a book suspiciously hidden behind a chair, titled The Illusion of Living . He picked it up and brushed the dust off of it. Ivo wrote this, his signature right on the cover, and it was sort of an autobiography that included philosophies of making robots and writing.
The next thing he saw was a cog. Not everyone took the “personal item” demand seriously. He couldn’t remember who left this.. They all worked with gears and such, aside from the artists and designers.
He returned to the Break Room to sit the two items down on their respective pedestals, watching as the spotlights switched on.
“Halfway done!” He congratulated himself, but.. What was he trying to achieve? He didn’t know, however it felt like a videogame and he loved it.
He had to venture around some more before finding the record, which he remembered to belong to Wave. He wasn’t sure if she liked music or not, he didn’t know her all too well. But she was good friends with Jet - the janitor, and she was a good mechanic. So that was something.
Next was a wrench, which, like the cog, could’ve belonged to anyone. So he didn’t pay too much mind to it. He just continued his search for the final item.
And fuck , man, this was hard!
It felt like hours before Sonic finally found the bottle of ink and holy shit it was in the most obvious spot! It was just sitting on a desk— a random ass desk he’d passed hundreds of times and somehow he didn’t see it! Snatching the bottle with a petty glare, he stared at it. This was Silver’s. He was one of the head artists, and he’d spent a lot of time with him designing the face of the business, their main character.
Where was Silver now? Surely he’d have made a name for himself by now, but.. Sonic hadn’t heard anything. I mean, yeah, he wasn’t one to keep up with the news, but come on! The poor hedgehog deserved it, with how hard he worked.
Once the three objects were sat on their pedestals, the rest of the lights flicked on and Sonic waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And…
“What did I do that for!?” Sonic complained in a groan, head falling back. Bummed out, he turned to leave the Break Room and continue his little tour.
However, he spotted a lever in the center of the room. How didn’t he notice this before? Looking up, it was labeled MAIN POWER , but had a screen with LOW PRESSURE flashing beside it.
Oh, right. Ink was a big part of this establishment - all the machinery, instead of being run on electricity, was run on ink. Sonic had no idea how Ivo managed to pull that off, but man.. It was kind of dope. But also creepy, when the black substance would drip through panels and onto the floor. Looked like blood sometimes.
Without a second thought, Sonic reached up and pulled the lever down. He grunted with effort, but grinned once he got it down.
Nothing happened.
“Huh?”
The building should have roared to life! He should’ve heard machinery working, engines pumping.. Why was it not working? Sonic tapped his foot in confusion, before it hit him.
“The ink machine!” He gasped. “How could I forget?”
He booked it down the halls, his gift for speed allowing him to reach his destination within seconds. It was a mostly empty room, but it housed the most important machine in the whole building. The ink machine.
Sonic approached the device and ran his finger along it, pulling it up to see his white glove grayed with dust. He brushed it off, then turned to the button to activate it. He’d need to turn on the flow first.. Think that was in one of the projector rooms?
So he turned and left again.
Man, this place was like a maze. Felt like he passed the same places over and over again with how many of the same posters were on the walls.
But he reached the room he needed and pressed the FLOW button, smiling as the light above lit up.
“Okay! Now to turn on the ink, I guess.”
Sonic left the room, but froze. All the lights were off now… Hopefully that was just because the Ink Machine wasn’t on yet.
More walking, and a few minutes later the blue one arrived in the Break Room again. He reset the lever and pulled it again, but nothing happened. He sighed dramatically, turning to trek back to the Ink Machine room—
“ What the fuck!? ”
A cardboard cutout of Shadow was peeking stiffly around the corner, but as soon as Sonic noticed it, it pulled back.
Suddenly unnerved, Sonic walked down the hall and looked around that corner - the cutout was sitting against the wall innocently, with nobody in sight.
Is someone else here..?