The Speed of Sound

Unexpected Visitor

        Tears glitter red as they fall from your cheeks. You have dwelled in this prison chamber for what feels like an hour. Your eyes never leave the pulsating walls as you watch them swirl and glow with their ominous crimson light. You are so alone and afraid, wishing with all your might that you had been a strong girl and stuck with your friends on their mission.

        Earlier when you were left alone, you had snapped out of your stupor for just a few moments as you attempted to put your watch-radio back together. Those actions only resulted in becoming zapped. You had torn your watch off of your wrist, throwing it across the cell to where it almost dropped into the hole in the corner. Feeling around on the dirty black flooring, you had a difficult time relocating the watch since the room was extremely dark. When finally you had retrieved the broken watch you returned to your curled position, fiddling with the handle. There really was no use for the contraption, but it reminded you of Sonic and Tails, so you decided to keep it as a memory.

        The eerie glowing walls aren't helping you to feel much better. As you watch the different shades of red flicker across the room, you are reminded of fire. Fire. You choke back a sob as an image flashes in your mind. Burning flames eating away at your home, traveling from wood to grass as they attempt to reach you. They hunger for more flesh, even after their feast of the grown (y/a)s whom had been trapped inside the house. There are no screams, just the snaps of the fire as it blazes high into the sky. You remember earlier to where you had first spotted the smoke, being dropped by your friend onto the hard pavement. There had been a voice.

        "Get back here you speedy menace!"

        The scratchy words had come from whoever was driving that round, metal machine. Water fills your eyes as you recall the tone of the scientist who had captured you. Did he...? Was it Doctor Eggman who...

        Snapping back to the present, your sensitive ears catch the sound of quick footsteps going down the hallway and past the giant metal door of the dungeon. Muffled voices come from the other side of the door, but since it is so silent within this lonely room you are able to make them out.

        "...swear if that Shadow wrecks another one of my bots...I'll show him what's coming! Thanks to him I lost that emerald..." From the deep, angry tone you know the voice to be from the scientist, Doctor Eggman. Another voice pipes up after the vicious ranting.

        "At least your robot was enough to make him head for the hills, Doctor!" It sounds like one of those robots, but you can't tell which since their voices are so similar.

        The man sighs, a very quiet noise from the other side of a thick metal door, and grumbles, "Yeah, yeah..."

        There is the slam of a door as Doctor Eggman's last word is cut off. You wait, listening for any more sounds. None come. With an upset grunt you carefully stretch yourself across the rough wool blanket, shifting around because it is extremely scratchy. This is torture, you think. Your eyes close, yearning for sleep. Even though you have to shift around and scratch your side countless times from the wool blanket, eventually the darkness closes around your vision and the silence lulls you into a dreamless sleep.

        Opening your eyes, right away you feel as if somebody is watching you. Your neck twists up from your uncomfortable position as you scan the dark room for any figures. It's all pitch black even though the walls should be glowing red, because your eyes haven't had time to adjust to the lighting yet. Sitting up you rub them, seeing bright stars under your eyelids. Once you have set your palms to the floor and your head rises, you receive a chilling sight.

        Outside your cell, with his hands curled around the bars, is Shadow the Hedgehog. His white chest fur, red stripes and red eyes reflect the dim glow of the animated walls. You believe your heart has stopped, although a single dull thump from within tells you that you have not yet ceased living.

        "Who are you, (y/c) (y/a)?" the hedgehog growls with furrowed eyebrows, staring intensely into your glowing (e/c) eyes.

        Your mouth opens and closes multiple times like a fish bubbling without words. Finally you manage to stutter, "P-Please...help me."

        A glint appears from Shadow's mouth as he gives a toothy smirk, clearly amused that you would actually beg for his aid. You hear a low, rumbling chuckle emit from his throat. He opens his mouth, about to spit out a wicked retort, before a piercing alarm blazes out of the intercom. The black hedgehog flinches in pain, being quick to cover his ears. A hiss slips out of his mouth as the dungeon is suddenly bathed in a flashing red light.

        "Chaos Control!" you hear him say as you squeeze your eyes shut and cover your ears from the terrible blaring of the alarm.

        "SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH!" a robotic female voice warns over and over from the speakers set into the walls and ceiling. The message is interrupted by a furious bellow.

        "All of you get to Section-C4...NOW!"

        The message from the alarm returns as loud as before. All the while you are covering your sensitive ears you can't help but wonder if maybe the alarm went off because of Shadow. He must have broken in and was just now discovered.

        "SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH!"

        You growl in irritation and discomfort at the alarm threatening to burst your eardrums. Too bad all you can do is sit in this cell and wait as the world continues on without you.