The Robotic Endgame

XXII. Mega Man

I was surprised how little Sonic complained. He just looked from side to side as if he expected something to jump out and kill us. Sally was staring at Nicole the computer while we walked, and Tails seemed content to just fly alongside us.

The temperature of the ruins started to steadily rise. It had started at a comfortable setting for living things, but was slowly working its way up. I kept my eye on the others, but they didn't seem affected by it. They had probably worked in all sorts of situations before. Maybe it wouldn't even phase them.

The hall curved around, sloping upwards. It wasn't a small incline, either - and with every step we took, it got warmer and warmer. I was suddenly very glad I was a robot. This place was meant to test willpower. It was a warm summers day in the ruins already, and we had barely been going for half an hour.

"There's a big hole in the floor," I said, stopping just before it and looking over it.

"You sure you should be-" Tails started. Before I could do anything, however, I watched as fire erupted from the pit and rush toward my face. I fell backwards just before it could do any damage.

"Wow," I said, watching the fire lick the ceiling. "That would have roasted my IC chip."

"That's why you wear the helmet!" Sonic said, snapping a finger.

"Yeah," I told him, hitting my knuckles against the helmet. "Usually they're in the chest, but everything helps."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that there are more of these ahead," Sally commented.

"That's a smart hypothesis," I muttered.

The fire eventually died down, and I refrained from putting my head over the pit. Instead, I stuck my hand over it, waiting to see if a blast of fire would come and try to burn it away. But nothing came, so of course, Sonic took the liberty to run across the wall over the pit. Instantly, the fire blew up again. We couldn't see if Sonic was okay or not - all we could see was a bright, burning light and smoke. I tried to use bubbles to make the fire cease, but it only seemed to make it worse. It flared up, almost cooking the three of us remaining.

When the blaze finally receded again, we saw that Sonic was on the other side, hands behind his head, perfectly unharmed. "Do you have a death wish?" Sally asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I didn't think it would go again, honest!" he shouted with a guilty looking smile. "But it was close. You guys wouldn't make it across."

"What are we supposed to do, then?" I asked.

"There might be some sort of switch ahead," Sonic muttered, looking ahead.

"Sonic..." Sally said.

"I won't do anything stupid, I promise," Sonic looked back, smiling. "I'll be back in a flash!"

Sonic ran off before any of us could say anything to stop him, quickly rounding around a curve and disappearing. Sally looked dismayed as she watched him disappear, holding a hand out in front of her like she ever had a chance at stopping him.

"He'll be fine," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "That fire will be no match for him."

"It's not exactly the fire I'm worried about," Sally replied. "If the energy spikes while he's over there, we'll have no way of helping him."

"I'm sure nothing will happen," Tails said, a confident smile on his face. "He'll make it."

"You say that like he's never had trouble before," Sally laughed.

"Well, sure," Tails shrugged. "But he always manages to fix everything in the end."

"True," Sally said, finally smiling. It may have been forced, but maybe she felt a little less worried.