Hidden Palace

[Sonic]

As Knuckles tore the engine off of the robot, Sonic gave a slighlt grin.

“Well, that’s one way to peel a potato."

Sonic then rubbed the bottom of his chin as he stared at the hard drive.


“Well, I can’t use is. But I know Tails sure can. Or anyone we can meet up with that’s a tech-y.” He replied. As Alpha had just gotten onto the scene, Sonic looked towards him and blinked a few times before answering him.

“Other than run away like a chicken, nope. So you didn’t miss all that much…”

[Alpha Omega]

"I wonder where it came from... I haven't seen any robots or anything like it since I've been here... You don't think there's someone else on the island, do you?"

[Dr. Robotnik]

In the distance, the two mysterious individuals continued to rush down the corridors of the palace, with their footfalls echoing off the walls. At an intersection, they came to a halt. Looking this way and that, the female spoke up first.

"So...which way is it from here?"

"That way..." the male said, pointing to the left branch. "We're going to be taking a little shortcut. Look for a mural of Chaos on the wall."

"You mean that water being that ties into the emeralds?"

"Yeah, exactly. There's a secret passage there."

"Sounds good to me. Let's go."

The two soon reached the mural, with Chaos beautifully outlined in blue stones of unknown origin. His green eyes were represented by jewels, and the male of the pair pressed on them simultaneously.

After a few seconds, a chute beneath the mural opened up. Suddenly, a deafening sound filled the corridor, as the pair got lightly sprayed by water vapor coming from the hole. Looking inside, they'd see a big chute of rushing water. The woman gasped in surprise at the sight.

"What?! What is this?!" She sounded very indignant from this turn of events.

"Aqueduct," the male voice replied calmly. "It feeds into the Hydrocity Zone. We'll be able to cover a lot of ground this way. The doctor found out about it from Knuckles when they were working together during the Death Egg incident. He knows all the secret passages and stuff, you know. So anyway, we take a quick waterslide ride, cut through Hydrocity, and then there's another aqueduct that dumps into the lake at the Launch Base zone."

"Are you crazy?! I hate swimming! I'm not getting wet!"

"You better jump now if you don't wanna get caught. That little group of heroes will hear the water from this chute a mile away. I bet they're on their way right now."

"Oooooh...you! Why didn't you tell me about this before you opened it?!"

"Your fault for not figuring out what the shortcut would entail, when I mentioned Chaos. And if you aren't going..."

The man suddenly snatched the computer bag right out of her hands, before she could react.

"...at least I can get paid. Not to mention I won't be disgracing the Thieves Guild either."

As he said this, he briefly checked the waterproof bag to ensure it was all zipped up and tight. With the check completed, he jumped right in. The man quickly disappeared into the foaming water and was soon out of view due to the rapid current.

"Damn it! What do I do?"

She looked back and forth between the water chute, and the corridors around her, nervously waiting to see if Sonic and company would show up. As she did, she briefly stepped into the light.

One would see her garbed in the clothes of a bandit. Most of her clothes looked pretty patched up and rough, as if she were a street thief, and she had numerous pouches on her belt and on a utility belt that held her tools. Up top, she had a face-concealing mask made from a crimson rag. The only visible features of her face would be emerald green eyes, purple fur, and her pointy ears poking out from under the rags. Based on the muzzle shape under the mask, she looked to be some sort of cat.

[Sonic]

Sonic ears flicked as he heard the talking and the sound of roaring water; looking towards the entrance of the Hidden Palace Zone. There, blinking wide eyed he saw the female cat in worn and patched grab.

“…Does that answer you’re question?” Sonic smiled looking towards Alpha. He didn’t know why this cat was here, but obviously she didn’t look like she was around for any good reasons.

“ Maybe she can shed some light, huh?” he remarked, as he began to race towards the cat.

[Knuckles]

"All kinds of intruders in the palace today..." Knuckles said as he jogged behind Sonic after the cat.

[Alpha Omega]

Omega watched the two run down the hall, and decided on what to do. He tugged one of the rings off his fingers, and dropped it to the floor. Instead of hitting the ground however, it floated roughly two inches up, before expanding from finger size to one foot in diameter, and roughly 6 inches thick. Omega hopped up onto the ring, tilting his feet forward before the ring shot forward after the red and blue heroes. While not moving as fast as either of them, he was definitely keeping up.

[Dr. Robotnik]

The cat appeared paralyzed, as she glanced back and forth between the approaching heroes and the water chute.

Get wet or get caught...get wet or get caught...get wet or get caught... Oh screw it!

She closed her eyes and dived right into the chute, gasping when she felt the cold water rushing all over her. But she didn't have long to worry about that sensation, because she was soon being swept away downstream into the pitch black darkness. The cat shrieked, as she kicked and thrashed her limbs all around, struggling to stay above the surface of the water.

She really wondered if she'd made the right choice here, because now she was in a pitch dark tube full of rushing water, and not one single thing about this situation pleased her. But like it or not, she was quickly being swept away to join her companion in the Hydrocity Zone, assuming he wasn't too far ahead.

[To Hydrocity Zone.]

[Sonic]

In no time Sonic would be there in the hallway, just as the cat dived into the water chute. The look on his face showed immediate surprise as he quickly ran to the entrance and looked into it.

Water. Streaming water like it was some sort of slide in a huge theme park. As he looked down the shoot his ears flopped down as nostalgia began wiping over his face. He was all too familiar with this place, and he wasn’t going to be forgetting it soon.

“Awww man!” Sonic exclaimed, for once with a sound of disappointment in his voice. “-Hydrocity Zone! Not this –again-!!!”

He looked back and forth as the he was looking for another way; his ears still planted low on his head and a look of desperation in his eyes. Granted, Hydrocity was cool-but only slightly. Too much water= no fun for him. And he didn’t feel like taking a bath or swimming with fishes. AGAIN. But he knew that was useless and he also knew he was wasting time just standing there. And he –hated- that. His ears quickly perked up though his expression turned serious but agitated. Though ever hesitant, the hedgehog quickly plugged his nose and closed his eyes as he took his ‘leap of faith’ into the chute.

“THIS BETTER BE WORTH IIITTTTTTTT---!!!!!”

[To Hydrocity Zone]

[Alpha Omega]

Omega stopped right before the entrance to the chute, peering down into the rushing water. He slid down into his ring, sitting in it like an inner-tube, and sent it into the water, riding the waves into the next zone.

[To Hydrocity Zone]

[Knuckles]

Knuckles, unfazed by the water, dived headlong into the tube after the others.

"At least I can swim, cause it looks like we're getting wet." Knuckles joked as he began sliding down the tube.

[To Hydrocity Zone]