The Roboticized Au

Chapter 4

Elsewhere, Espio and Vector were making their way to the underground tunnel. The air seemed thick between them. They felt solemn, having to leave their third and youngest member. Part of Vector wanted to turn back. But he trusted what Espio said. So to help distract him, he decided to try and talk with the mysterious chameleon.

"So uh... you said this was an old tunnel. So are you sure it will be safe to hide in? I know tunnels, especially when they're not structurally sound. And if your village stopped using them... well... you know." Vector said. Espio didn't look at him as he led him. Vector did notice some kind of emotion flash in his eyes though.

"It's not really an 'old' tunnel as you're thinking of it as. And the village never knew about it. One of the entrances is just... in the village." Espio answered. There was a subtle sad emotion in his voice that Vector noticed. It matched the look in the ninja's eyes.

"What happened Espio? Talk to me." Vector asked. His young ninja friend never really chatted with them ever. While Vector and Charmy could talk up a storm together, Espio was always quiet. It always made the adult croc a little worried. A kid his age should be having fun, right? Espio always acted much older than his age.

Espio took a silent breath before speaking again. "I made the tunnel. It was a secret so that I could sneak out without my family noticing," he admitted.

Vector gave him a smirk. "Sneaking out, eh? Well, I'd never imagine the Espio sneaking out of his home like a bad boy," he teased his teammate.

Espio gave a small cough as he blushed slightly. "I-It's not like that. I swear. I just-" he began to say.

"Was meeting a girl?" Vector suggested with a look at Espio. That made Espio blush a bit more.

"Y...Yes. But it's more complicated than that," Espio answered a bit defensively. Vector just kept that smile of his on his face.

The two of them soon arrived at a clearing in a forest. There were flowers around and a very old rundown building. It was an abandoned dojo. Vector looked confused at it as Espio went over to it.

"What is that?" the croc asked. Espio was searching the ground near the dojo.

"A very old abandoned dojo that stands in between my village and the other ninja village near us. Now the entrance to the tunnel should be around here somewhere- Aha!" Espio explained. He found a hidden wooden trapdoor. He pulled it open and looked at Vector.

"Come. We'll climb down and hide in here until time is up. Now we don't have much time left. There should be about 5 minutes until the ray shoots the planet," Espio said.

"Right. But that ray isn't going to shoot, right? Tails probably is working on taking it down right as we speak. Right?" Vector said as he followed Espio down the tunnel entrance.

Espio had a bad feeling. But he didn't want to tell Vector "Yes. I'm sure," he lied.

Meanwhile, Tails and Charmy got to Eggman's base. Tails parked and they immediately flew out and into the base. Since the door was still open for some suspicious reason.

"Be careful Charmy. There must be some kind of guards around here. We'll find the control room for the ray and shut it down. And we have to do it in... half an hour," tails told the young bee accompanying him.

"Right! And then you can save Sonic and he will beat up Eggman and everything will be happy! Right?" Charmy said.

"Right. At least I hope so," Tails said, saying the second part to himself. Charmy had such high hopes, Tails didn't want him to see him nervous like this. He's never had to save the world without Sonic before. And he certainly has never had to save Sonic before!