Artificial Byway

[sterlingmod]

Silver was relieved to have not had to chase him down any further. He did not seem to notice the bird's astonishment at seeing an ungrounded hedgehog, not quite taking into consideration that such a thing is very unconventional. The illuminated figure jerked to a halt as soon as he came upon the brash bird, idling in the air in such an unnatural way right behind the racer.

"You're going to wrong way." He finally got the chance to say in the verdant hawk's pause. With such a close proximity to the psychokinetic exhibiting his abilities, it showcased exactly why his eyes had that supernatural glow upon his introduction. The same glow in his eyes also outlined his body with a bright turquoise trim, and the use of this strange ability caused his already naturally frilled crown of quills to stand up on-end even more, giving it a bit of an intimidating flavor.

"You have to go back." He said a tad more sternly than he meant to, gesturing a thumb back over his shoulder. It looked as though he didn't particularly want the Babylonian snooping around this area, but he avoided being too adamant about it for discretion's sake. The feather-head was already unneededly suspicious as it was.

[Biker]

This simple display of telekinetic power was what cemented Jet’s thoughts about Silver’s oddness- this hog was downright insane. An alien, time-traveling cousin to the blue blur himself, as far as the wannabe-parrot was concerned. When a strong command to return to the closed entrance of the cavern was issued, the response was upsettingly predictable.

“What’s down here that you want to hide?” Jet was surprised his voice didn’t shake, continuing with hesitant confidence. “I’m going to find out.”

For some reason, he was picturing a kind of expensive, otherworldly treasure buried deep in the mining cavern- something to make him the richest bird around. All that wealth would be enough to buy all the gear upgrades imaginable! Did the hedgehog have his own stash of priceless gems in one of these metal carts? He was now inclined to move forward with more exuberance than he’d mustered in a long while.

He resumed floating slowly forward before kicking down the boost pedal on the end of the J-Type, without looking back to see if Silver had remained stationary. The gear sped forth with a streak of neon green light into the depths of the darkened tunnel while an unsettling crackle of sound erupted from the walls.

The crackling seemed to fade into static, was there some kind of PA system in the walls of this mysterious tunnel?

[Sterling]

The hedgehog gave an exasperated sigh to accompany the expression that clearly read 'what am I going to do with this guy'. No doubt Silver took pursuit in his obligation to babysit this brash bird while they remained down in these mines that, really, didn't even show signs that anything had been mined at all up to this point.

As it felt like he was just about to catch up with guest, the hog was taken completely off guard by the board's sudden burst of speed. The plume of dust it kicked up blasted the silver miner, rusting his pelt even more and attacking his eyes and lungs. He was so blindsided by the whole deal that the kinesis that kept him airborn fritzed out on him, allowing gravity to harshly plant him once again to the ground to leave him to his coughing fit.

Further down the road, the narrow passage opened up into what appeared to be a massive underground cavern, the likes of which looked natural as opposed to the machine-dug tunnel that led here. This was made obvious by the the stalactites and stalagmites that decorated the place, the ones that didn't connect dripping like the teeth of a famished monster.

The hollow did not even have any machinery present to ruin the serenity of the granite palace. Despite appearing natural, the unnatural static that stirred in the tunnel before it was distractingly strong here, enough to resonate through hair, quill, and feather alike, and causing fine down or fur to stand on end uncontrollably.

By this time, the silver hedgehog, well.. the currently not-so-silver hedgehog had gotten the chance to catch back up after recovering from the inconvenience of practically being sand-blasted. His indignant look was completely offset by his already generous amount of fur puffing up to an exaggerated extent courtesy of the atmosphere ruffling it. Any hope of looking angry at the hawk's unintentional rudeness was lost when you looked like you were a wild cotton ball.. or for a more apt description with his stained fur: dryer lint.

"What is your deal?" He spat with his hands placed vehemently on his waist as if expecting a good excuse.

[Biker]

The new change of scenery was rather nice, Jet felt oddly reminded of the depths of the Babylon Gardens with these elegant rock formations. It was impossible to feel immersed though, because as soon as the artificial stone tunnel became a crystal cave the static sound amplified ridiculously. He wasn’t even aware that Silver was still in pursuit, just focused on getting away from that obnoxious fuzziness.

“Ghk-“ His feathers bristled when his speed died down and in the moment that he winced, he flew right into one of the stalagmite formations jutting from the roof of the cavern. The bird spiraled downward, having been temporarily stunned. A mechanized trill sounded out of the stone though, perhaps something had been activated upon their entrance?

[Sterling]

Silver stopped at the maw of the cavern and only watched as the rider lost control and was swatted like a fly from the air. With the ringing of the stone bouncing through the walls like a stricken tuning fork, the hedgehog took that as his cue to join the grounded bird down amongst the stone.

"Watch it!" He complained upon reaching the stalagmite, sounding more concerned for the rock than the victim of it. As he calmed the strum of the stone with pressure from the back of his hand just as one would dampen the strings of an instrument as he inspected the dazed parrot just below him. After the static was hush to just its normal level of annoying, the hog dipped down to join the feather ball piled on the floor, making a much more elegant landing as his feet were allowed to plant themselves on the ground, though any landing would be more graceful than the racer's, so it's not saying much.