SS: The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet

    Mina woke up in a small room with steel walls and no windows. She had been laid out on a small cushioned seat, the only thing in the room, and couldn't remember how she had become unconscious in the first place. She looked around again, finally spotting what looked like a door in the wall opposite her seat.
 A few minutes passed with nothing for her to do but sit and wait, but she eventually heard the sound of voices coming from the other side of the door. She stood as it opened slowly, revealing the silver Hedgehog she had seen before. He stepped in and closed the door behind him, turning to her and crossing his arms unhappily.
 He waited a moment, working out what to say before speaking. “I'm not the bad guy here.”
 She interrupted him almost immediately. “Really? So what's with the crazy evil organization you've got going?”
 He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Everyone else here is a robotic duplicate of a real person. They were created by Robotnik years ago and have been manufacturing more of themselves ever since. They've determined something of great importance is buried under this canyon and they want to unearth it.”
 None of this helped to reassure Mina. “So what are you digging for?”
 Silver raised a finger to correct her. “I'm not digging. They're the ones doing the digging. My interests are separate. They believe that there are buried ruins beneath us. Ancient ruins containing a portal to an alternate dimension. They want to find it so that they can leave Mobius and find a place for themselves.”
 “So, you're saying they want to leave us Mobians alone?”
 He nodded. “And that they want to be left alone by the Mobians. That's why they remained underground for so long. They just want to live in peace.” He shook his head and ran his fingers over his short spiked hair. “However, they also believe they need a chaos adept in order to open the portal. Now, I've been working with them to find Tails, because they think he'd be the easiest to convince to help them. Knuckles and Shadow are too stubborn and Sonic is... well, he's dead.”
 She shook her head. “Tails is dead too.”
 Silver chuckled. “No, he's completely alive. The robotics have been searching for him all over. It's a good thing they found the ruins though, because they were planning on taking Mobius... although it doesn't really matter either way.”
 “What do you mean?” It was getting hard for her to digest all this information at once, but she at least wanted it to be clear.
 Silver closed his eyes, preparing to tell her something he had been avoiding saying. “Okay... first of all, so far as I know, this portal isn't exactly the best thing to open. I'm pretty sure it's actually more along the lines of a gate in appearance, but other than that it leads to a realm of chaos. The robotics don't realize it, but this portal is actually far too dangerous to open.”
 Mina held up her hands. “Wait. Then why are you helping them?”
 Silver nodded. “I was getting to that. Fact is, I'm not. They think I am, but I'm not. They're working towards bringing Tails here, but I get him first. I need Tails for a completely different reason... I, uh... I'm from the future. And I need Tails' help to make sure the future stays somewhat the same. Right now, that requires me to go back in time and prevent Sonic the Hedgehog from dying.”
 She eyed him sceptically. “So...”
 He rolled his eyes, slowly coming to realize Mina might have been a little dense. “So... if me and Tails go back in time and save Sonic, preferably by preventing Tails' departure from the Freedom Fighters, then the robotics will never come out from hiding and the portal will not be a threat.”
 There was a moment of silence as Mina worked through the plan in her mind. When she spoke again, her message was not what Silver wanted to hear. “I want Sonic back just as much as anyone, but I can't help you. Changing the past to suit whatever future you want defeats the purpose behind the whole thing. You might as well eliminate free will. I won't help you. Tails won't help you. And you'd be wise not to let any of those robots near me, cause I will tell them.”
 He crossed his arms again, returning to his previous unhappy state. “It doesn't matter. Tails will help me whether he likes it or not, and I don't need your help. I guess... then it doesn't matter if you live or die.”
 Before Mina could respond, the door began to glow eerily. It slowly opened so that Silver could step back outside, then it shut with a solid thud. The glow disappeared and Silver looked down at the palm of his hand. He shrugged. No, it didn't matter if she lived or died, but that didn't mean he didn't care. He wouldn't kill her, nor would he let the robotics do it. It would just be wasted time if they did, seeing as they wouldn't be there anymore once he was done.
 He turned and walked away from the holding cell at a quick pace, and a few doors and halls later, arrived in a sort of control room. About half a dozen of the robotics were present, but he sent them out. The moment the door closed behind them, a large screen in the center of the room flicked on.
 “Am I too early or too late?”
 Silver shook his head, somewhat dismayed at how perfect the timing was every time. “Do I even need to answer that? You got it right on time, Zak. How you do it is still a mystery to me, but you do it without fail.”
 Zak grinned like he had just received a compliment. “Alright then. Tails is on his way. He's going to want to free Mina, and you can let him, but then he'll be after you.”
 Silver cupped his chin in his hand. “So I take it I shouldn't be worried about damage to the mining operation or the robotics?”
 “The robotics, no, but that machinery is still useful.”
 Something didn't add up, and Silver didn't like it when things didn't add up. “I don't see how. When I reset the timeline, they won't have been built yet. The robotics will stay underground, so the machinery won't get built in the first place.”
 Zak nodded, causing Silver to realize that, again, he was one step ahead of the time traveler. “The portal in the ruins requires a power supply. If you can get that, you can take it with you and Tails, into the past, and use it's power to destroy Eggman. Otherwise, Sonic will inevitably end up sacrificing himself one way or another in order to defeat Eggman.”
 That was a reason Silver understood. “Okay, but how do I deal with Tails when he gets here?”
 Zak's face was suddenly dead serious. “Tell him absolutely nothing until you have the power source. I trust you can hold out that long.”
 “I can, but-” The screen flicked off, and the door opened behind him. He shook his head again, not liking anything of the situation. He saw that the robotic duplicate of Fiona Fox had entered, though she was alone. He waved her over. “Here to report on our progress?”
 She marched over quickly, halting in front of him and nodding almost militarily. “Our scans estimate we'll breach a large chamber within a few minutes. We believe the portal to be somewhere within the chamber.”
 Silver nodded thoughtfully, walking from the room. She walked with him and they soon exited the building. Silver began quietly explaining the plan to her. “Tails is going to be here soon. I'm going to let him know where Mina is so he'll rescue her. He'll almost definitely send her away, so we won't have to worry about her anymore. If you haven't breached the chamber yet by that point, then I'll hold him off until you do. I need the power source from the portal to finish my mission. We'll bring it back when we're done, and I'll make sure Tails comes back too, so you can open the portal.”
 The Fiona duplicate nodded and scampered away, disappearing into a small cavern along the side of the canyon. Silver thought it a bit odd how quickly and abruptly she had left, but he pushed the thought aside. Before he could refocus on anything else, something landed in front of him.
 Less than three meters away from him stood the orange Kitsune, his twin tails thrashing around violently. Silver glanced around for Lara-su, but could find no trace of his supposed ally. He was sure she'd show up at the opportune moment, but until then...
 He smiled disarmingly at Tails. “You're here a bit earlier than I expected, but that's no trouble.”
 The Kitsune grinned as well, baring his fangs at the silver Hedgehog. “I was hoping you'd like the surprise. Where's Mina?”
 Silver shrugged and pointed to the building behind him. “In one of the cells in there. She's fine, and I'd prefer that you send her away as soon as possible. Then we can... “discuss” what's going to happen here.” Silver was beginning to think he wouldn't have to fight Tails at all, which would be good if they were going to work together to fix the timeline.
 After a few moments of contemplation, Tails slowly walked to the building Silver had indicated. He stopped at the door and glanced back to Silver. “I won't be long.”
 Silver clasped his hands behind his back innocently. “I'll be waiting.”
 When Tails disappeared inside, Scourge's robotic duplicate walked up beside Silver. “What are you doing now?”
 Silver smiled. “Waiting.”