Like I said in the description, Dr. Eggman IS NOT the Wicked Doctor. That is someone else. Dr. Eggman is barely even in this story. I think. If I come up with a way he can have a purpose, I'll put it in.
Originally, I was planning a Sonic story where it was just about LGBT+ and/or love. I have a lot of pairings I support (it's easier to say which ones I don't like now, jfc) so if you guys want me to do a few oneshot stories, I will. I had a story with a bunch of oneshots at one point, but I got rid of it after chapter four (Shadamy- it was awkwardly written and Shadow was OOC. Plus Omega and Rouge were just standing around weirdly the entire time like 'oh you two are having a moment we'll just watch').
And then I came up with this idea. Why? I was imagining what the next Sonic game could be like and I was wishing more attention could be given to anyone BESIDES Sonic. I mean, the ideal main cast for a Sonic game I would make would be Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver. They're easily my favorites. Knuckles is my favorite Sonic character (followed by Silver, Shadow, and Shard [Shard is from the comics and Nicole is cool too]. Amy and Blaze are pretty cool too) and I have an interesting habit of hurting all my favorite characters, so HERE WE ARE! (Crap I forgot Metal!)
Note that I said hurt, not kill. I only kill the characters I don't like. And the only Sonic character I really don't like is BIG THE DIDDLY DARN CAT HONESTLY SCREW THAT GUY-
"I'll be back for you two, I promise," said the light gray hedgehog.
The purple cat looked up at him. "You'll come back for us? Really? Silver, you can't, it's too dangerous," she said.
The red echidna was silent as he leaned against the wall.
Silver looked over at the Guardian. "Blaze, you and Knuckles have been getting worse every day. I have to get out and get help. Besides," he leaned in closer to her.
"I'm starting to get worried about him. He hasn't spoken in days and he barely eats or drinks."
"Knuckles will be fine, Silver. It's you that you should be worried about. Escaping won't be easy. Remember Nadia? She tried to escape. She was killed."
"Yeah, I remember Nadia perfectly. But I won't make the same mistake she did."
Beep beep beep beep. Beep bee-
Shadow groaned as he extended a hand to grab his cell phone on the nightstand. His eyes were still closed as he brought it to his ear. "Hello? Shadow speaking..."
"Shadow!"
The voice on the other line made his eyes snap open. "Silver? What?! But you're-"
"Missing? Well, not anymore. But... um... I, uh..."
"What is it? Do you need me to come pick you up?"
"...Yeah..."
Shadow shot out of bed and went to look for his shoes. "Fine, I'll come find you, but you owe me for waking me up at-" he checked the clock- "Two twenty in the morning."
"..."
The Ultimate Lifeform finally found his shoes and put them on. He kept Silver on the line as he left his apartment, Chaos Emerald in hand. "Where are you?" he asked.
"I don't even know, but hurry! My phone's about to die and-" Suddenly the call cut out.
Shadow took the phone away from his ear. After walking down the sidewalk, on the direction out of town, his palm met his forehead. "I'm an idiot!"
"Chaos Control!"
Oddly enough, Shadow had discovered something cool about teleporting with Chaos Control. He didn't need to know exactly where a place was, but he could warp to someone, wherever they were.
It worked the best with those he was closer to- Rouge and Silver, sometimes Knuckles, somehow Sonic. With those he was not close to- say, Blaze- it either didn't work or got him into the general vicinity of that person.
He'd tried so many times to Chaos Control to Silver, Knuckles, or Blaze, but it had been impossible as of late.
Oh.
Wait.
I didn't explain, did I?
Silver, Knuckles, and Blaze have been missing, each for about two months.
"Thanks, Shadow," said Silver as he stepped into Shadow's apartment. The black and red hedgehog had found the light gray one easily and brought him to his apartment to stay the night- well, rest of it.
Shadow grunted out a 'no problem' as he closed the door. "I've got a spare room- that room, over there. You can stay there."
He went to head back to his room-
"Wait!"
Shadow turned to look at the younger hedgehog. "What is it? Are you hurt?" he asked, realizing that should have been his first question when he saw the familiar hedgehog.
"N-No... but I don't think I can... sleep... alone..." the last part was uttered so quietly, Shadow could barely hear it. However, he somewhat understood. The time-traveling hedgehog, after the trauma of being kidnapped and likely tortured or tested on, was afraid to sleep alone? Easily understandable. Maybe he was afraid that he would wake up back... wherever he had been.
Shadow sighed and motioned for Silver to follow him.
His pet Chao (which looked like him with black and red coloring and blue eyes, and was named Shao) chaoed its way out of the room where it had been sleeping. "Chao Chao!"
"Aww... he's so cute!" Silver exclaimed.
"'She'. Shao is a girl."
"Oh, sorry... i-it's kinda hard to tell."
"'Pology accepted," Shadow mumbled as he had already flopped back onto his bed.
Shadow wasn't exactly sure how the two had ended up in this position. Silver was nuzzled into his chest fluff, their feet were tangled together, and Shadow had an arm around the smaller hedgehog.
Honestly though? He kind of liked it. The position gave Shadow the opportunity to notice that Silver was actually quite short for a male hedgehog of his age. Well, Shadow was on the smaller side as well (he was actually just barely shorter than Sonic, but his upturned quills gave the impression of him being taller), so he couldn't talk.
Sonic sighed as he walked- yes, walked, you heard that right- down the sidewalk, through the rain, umbrella in one hand and shopping bags in the other from the latest grocery shopping trip. He was on his way to his and Tails' house.
There was a reason for his more somber mood. Sonic was known for being cheerful, not sullen. That job was Shadow's, not his! The fifteen-year-old blue hedgehog was starting to lose hope due to the disappearances of some of his closest friends.
He passed by a Missing poster as the thought crossed his mind.
MISSING, it read in all capital letters. KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA. Sonic didn't bother reading the rest and looking at the picture. He already knew that the photo was of Knuckles, a smirk on his face. Sonic had picked it out himself. There were posters for Blaze and Silver as well, but the one that stung the most was the one of the people he'd known for the shortest time.
The Rookie. That kid... no, he didn't want to think about what happened to his friend.
Other posters for other missing Mobians were scattered around on the walls. There had to be some serial kidnapped going around. At least, he hoped.
When the blue hero finally reached his and Tails' house, he took out his key from the safe place in his quills to unlock the door, setting the groceries on the doorstep. He opened the door to find that Amy was over again, along with Shadow. "Hey, Sonic," the pink hedgehog said. She, too, was affected by the disappearances, causing her to adopt a more mature attitude about her feelings towards Sonic. She and Shadow had begun spending more time at his house as well.
After all, both lived alone, and if Knuckles and Blaze, the strongest people they knew, were kidnapped, then nobody was safe. Shadow refused to admit he was afraid, though. He always said he was just being... cautious.
Just as Sonic set down the bags and closed the umbrella, the phone rang. Tails rushed towards the phone and answered. "Hello?" he asked. "Mmm hmm? Yeah? Wh-what?!" Tails took the phone away from his ear. "Sonic! It's Tikal!"
The blue hedgehog snapped his head up. "What is it? What happened to her?!"
"She's having another attack! Only this time, it seems worse! She can barely talk to me on the phone, she says the pain is unbearable, and..."
Suddenly, a scream so loud Sonic could hear it THROUGH THE PHONE sounded.
Tails put his ear back to the phone, taking it away after only a moment. "She needs us to get to Angel Island, fast!"
Soon, Tails, Amy, Shadow, and Sonic arrived at Angel Island. Chaos, the water guardian, nodded in greeting. He and Tikal were helping guard the Master Emerald- which came in handy when Knuckles wasn't around to protect it.
Tikal was still reduced to just a spirit, but the Master Emerald's power allowed her to walk, talk, feel things, etc. She even looked normal. However, she could not leave the island. Chaos was free to do as he please, but preferred to stay with Tikal. It was hard to tell due to his inability to speak, but he was worried about the echidna girl when she had her 'attacks'.
The spirit herself was sitting on the steps of the altar. The hedgehogs and fox dashed to reach her.
"Tikal? Are you okay?" asked Amy, worried.
Tikal offered a tired smile. "Hello, Amy, Shadow, Sonic, Tails. I called you here because... something different happened when I had my attack."
"What kind of different?" asked Shadow, finally speaking.
"I had... thoughts in my head. Ones that weren't my own. You see, I... haven't been completely truthful."
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Sonic.
Tikal took a deep breath before explaining. "The Guardian of the Master Emerald- currently Knuckles- has a special connection to the emerald. Since my soul is sealed inside of it..."
"You have a connection to Knuckles?" asked Tails. Tikal nodded.
"That's great! Can you tell where he is?" asked Sonic, excited for the first time in weeks. Finally, he was going to find him!
"...No, I'm afraid I cannot. Our connection only does a few simple things- I can somewhat feel his emotions, though he cannot feel mine. I can feel when he is in pain, though he can't feel when I am. And now, I have reason to believe that we can communicate telepathically as well."
Amy suddenly looked frightened. "You mean... your attacks... they're caused by... Knuckles being in pain?"
Tikal's answer was deliberate.
"Yes."
Her simple statement caused a rush of thoughts to enter Sonic's head. "Wh-What?! But if your attacks are this bad... then what's happening to Knuckles?!"
"I'm not entirely sure. Although... the feeling the attacks give me... it's like a burning sensation, right in my chest. My guess would be fire or electricity... or some type of poison. His emotions are stronger the closer together we are, but today, they're stronger then they ever have been the past two months. Right now..."
Shadow was the one to inquire, "What's he feeling right now?"
Tikal looked up, and even she looked afraid. "Based on how little I've felt from him lately, he's scared out of his mind."
Silence as the four tried to process the information. Brave, strong Knuckles... scared? The words 'Knuckles' and 'scared' shouldn't even be in the same sentence!
"So... whatever his captor's doing to him..." Sonic went pale at the thought. "Oh that sick, twisted bastard! When I get my hands on him... or her... or it... or them... Argh!"
"I feel the same way. However-" Tikal suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence and clutched her chest. Tails recognized the symptoms and rushed to her side.
"Tikal!"
"N...Not again! AHHHH! NOAHHHH! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STAAAAAAAAAAH! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
She writhed as the others tried to keep her still. Chaos rushed over as well, worried for the echidna as she screamed.
When it was finally over, Tikal just wanted to cry. "He's almost dead," she choked out. "His captor overdid it."
The attack had lasted so much longer than any one before it.
"We need to find him," said Shadow, surprising all of the beings near him. "Fast. I have a feeling that if this attack was so bad... then we don't have much time left until Knuckles is killed."
"Unfortunately, we have no way to find him," said Amy. "We don't know who his captor is, what they look like, or even if it's one person or many!"
"It's only one," said Tikal finally. "At least, there's only one who is hurting him. That's what I've gathered so far. But... this time... there was a mental image to go along with the attack."
"What was it of?" asked Sonic.
"I-It was only a silhouette, but... it was human. It had on some kind of goggles and a lab coat. It was tall, thin, and had this shaggy hair. I don't believe it was Eggman, unless he's got someone to work for him. But after that..." Tikal hugged herself, afraid. "Electricity. All different colors. I was right..."
"I don't think it was Egghead," said Sonic. "He would build a robot, not employ a human, if he wanted to hurt. Besides, we don't even know if he's out of Null Space."
"He hired the Jackal Squad, so I don't think it's out of the question. But speaking of them... is Infinite involved?" asked Shadow.
"It's not likely, but possible," said Tikal.
"aaaaaaAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Sonic looked around, unsure of where the screaming was coming from... until a familiar purple cat landed on him.
"Oof! Blaze! What the..."
She rolled off of him and looked back up at the sky. "CURSE YOU!" she screamed at seemingly nothing. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?!"
"Blaze!" exclaimed Amy. "What-?"
"HOW COULD YOU?! YOU MONSTER!" Blaze continued to scream.
"Blaze! Stop!" Shadow finally spoke.
"'YOU CAN HURT ME ALL YOU WANT, JUST DON'T TOUCH HIM!' THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I SAID!" Blaze's screams turned to crying as she finally looked at the group surrounding her.
"S-Sonic? Wh-Wha..." Sonic didn't speak as he pulled her close. She sobbed into his chest.
"Who is she talking about?" whispered Amy to Tails.
The two-tailed fox shrugged. "Beats me," he admitted.
"She seems traumatized. And look at her arm- she's hurt. We should bring her to Vanilla. That woman's always good with those like... 'calming herbal remidies' or whatever she calls them," said Shadow.
Shadow was right. Blaze had a nasty gash on her left arm, and looking down, her ankle was twisted in an odd direction. Sonic scooped her up in his arms, one arm under her knees and another behind her back.
"Let's go."
Here we are, folks! The first chapter of Sonic and The Wicked Doctor!
It was mostly inspired by Unleashing Hope and Letting Go Of Hope, by Loor... uh... there were numbers, but I don't remember what they were. Sorry! But you can find it on YouTube!