AN: Hello, people! This the first chapter of my first story, and I'm nervous as all heck! :) Its just a little Sonic story set in the AOSTH universe. I hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I, Plot Hole Digger, own nothing of Sonic the Hedgehog. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is copyright SEGA and DIC (and another company that I can't recall).
Also, I want to thank DC111 for being so kind to beta read the first bunch of chapters and offering advice to make things better.
Mind over Matter
Chapter One: A Cunning Plan
All was peaceful as the warm, tangerine coloured sun poked out from behind the vast peaks of Mount Mobius, spreading light over all that the beams came into contact with. Flower petals floated gently on a soft spring breeze, twisting gracefully through the air as they were carried over a series of rolling green hills, the crisp grass billowing softly beneath the wind.
The Planet of Mobius was a truly remarkable sight, particularly when spring was looming on the horizon. Unfortunately, not many people were able to appreciate nature much – not since the arrival of Dr. Robotnik all those years ago. No one knew quite where he came from, and even fewer cared. All they knew was that his desire for complete and total World Domination was absolute.
He almost would have succeeded too, if not for the intervention of a high-speed blue hedgehog with an attitude named Sonic.
No matter how many times he tried, nothing that the doctor could envision was able to trump the sheer speed and intelligence that the hedgehog had been gifted. Every time Robotnik created a new plan, Sonic rushed to the scene and foiled it, sending the mad genius traipsing back to the drawing board amid a flurry of curses.
If Robotnik's calculations were right, however, the latest invention that he had created was going to put a stop to his current losing streak.
Deep within the bowels of his gigantic fortress, complete with an oppressively large golden statue modelled on his own his physique in tribute to himself, the rotund genius worked tirelessly over his workbench. Sweat poured down his long forehead as he twisted a delicate string of wiring through the open hatch of a metal casing, which was shaped like a length of pipe. After the job was complete, he took a second to admire his work.
Something is missing, he mused. The doctor raised a podgy, gloved hand to his round chin and frowned. What could it be? I've followed every instruction to the smallest detail!
He pondered his predicament for a second more before his gaze fell upon a component lying on the workbench. Robotnik rolled his eyes.
"Of course," he muttered to himself.
Taking the component in his hand, he wedged it firmly inside of the pipe-shaped casing. A satisfying 'BEEP' sound emanated from the device and a small red light blinked into life. Pleased with the result, he then closed the hatch and welded it shut.
"I've done it," he said to himself, smiling. The doctor raised his hands into the air in triumph, roaring with laughter. "I've finally done it!" he shouted out with glee.
The telltale sound of eavesdroppers at his laboratory door pulled him briefly out if his reverie. Knowing that his mechanical lackeys had already heard everything that he had said, Robotnik grudgingly decided to let them come in. He would punish them later when he had finished gloating over his accomplishment.
"Scratch! Grounder!" he called. "Get in here, now!"
The wooden door swung open with a squeak, allowing the two loyal Badniks to stumble into the room. The tall robot modelled after a rooster, named Scratch, spoke first.
"Uh, you summoned us, your exulted excellence?"
"Yes, I did, and next time I want you to be quick about it!" the evil genius growled, knowing full well that what he had requested was impossible. "I, the great Dr. Robotnik, have finally completed my ultimate weapon to aid me in getting rid of that meddlesome hedgehog!"
He had no shame in allowing a toothy satisfied grin to spread across his face.
Grounder, the smaller robot that bore close resemblance to a tank of some sort, looked confused. "Where is it?" he asked.
The doctor released a sigh. What did I do to deserve this? Apart from try and take over the world, he added hastily.
Robotnik grabbed the recently completed device from his workbench and thrust it into their field of vision. "This is it!" he announce proudly.
The device resembled a short bazooka type weapon, except a small satellite dish had been fastened to the end of it and a series of multicoloured switched ran down its length. Upon pressing a green button, the satellite began to glow with a yellow light, casting eerie shadows of the three individuals against the laboratory's thick stone walls.
Scratch took hold of the gizmo and raised it to his face, closing one eye and using the other to look down the barrel. "Really?" he asked. Though the robot had no real idea as to what its purpose could be, he felt it best to indulge his master. "What does it do?"
"Ah," Robotnik smirked, taking the contraption back into his hands. "Allow me to demonstrate."
He pointed the weapon at Scratch and pulled the trigger. An intense blast of yellow light erupted from the dish and surrounded the chicken Badnik with a ball of energy. The discharge funnelling from the power dish held him in place for a couple of seconds, where a surprised grimace was frozen on his beak.
Robotnik released the trigger, cutting off the energy flow. Though the light had disappeared, Scratch continued to stand in the same position like a statue. Grounder wheeled over to his 'twin' brother and waved an arm in front of his face.
No reaction.
The tank robot gave him a hard whack in the stomach.
Still Scratch didn't react.
Grounder turned back to this master, impressed. "Wow. You've stopper-zapped him!" he gushed.
The doctor smirked once more and raised the weapon again, this time aiming for the remaining robot. "That is only half of what this creation is capable of. Observe!"
The mad scientist fired at Grounder, enveloping him in the same yellow energy and freezing him where he stood. After shutting the device off once again, Robotnik pressed a small red button that was positioned next to the green one. This time, a blue light glowed from the barrel dish.
Let's see what this contraption can really do, he thought eagerly to himself.
Robotnik blasted Scratch first and then Grounder with the bazooka. He lowered the weapon and watched as the robotic rooster began to stir. The Badnik shook his head and tried to stop the world from spinning.
"What just happened?" he groaned.
He made an attempt to stand, but quickly lost his balance and fell to the floor of his master's lab with a loud crash. The robot turned to look at the cause of the problem and noticed something different about his appearance.
He had legs.
"What's going on?" he squawked. The harsh sound of his voice caused him to raise a hand to his beak in shock. "That's not my voice! Why do I sound different?" He ran his fingers across his face. "Why do I have a beak?"
Robotnik laughed heartily at the display before him. Sympathy was not something that he extended to anyone, least of all the two metallic morons that had made his professional career as menacing dictator so stressful.
Grounder soon recovered also, and checked his own body with similar trepidation. He was shocked to see that he was shorter, and now had two treadmills in place of his more fmailiar limbs. The two Badniks turned to face each other, causing both of their jaws to drop.
"Hey!" Grounder yelled in panic. "What am I doing over there?"
"You? What am I doing over there?" retorted Scratch.
"Isn't it obvious?" Robotnik yelled, unable to contain himself any longer. "Both of your so-called 'brains' have been switched! Scratch's mind now controls Grounder's body, and Grounder's mind is now in command of Scratch's body!"
The two Badniks stared at each other in horror before throwing themselves at their master's feet, grovelling in tandem.
"Please, sir, be merciful!" they whimpered in unison, pointing fingers at each other. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life as him! We want to be changed back!"
The evil genius raised the weapon toward his useless servants. "What a pity. I was rather enjoying that display of misery," he murmured before firing at them again.
The weapon blasted a light blue energy ray at the two distressed robots. After pressing the green button again, the colour of the beam changed back to its original sunflower yellow. Scratch and Grounder checked their bodies and exhaled a collective sigh of relief. Everything was back to where it should be.
"Now that the demonstrations are over," Robotnik chuckled, a glint in his cold black eyes. "Allow me to present my new and most ingenious invention. Behold; the 'Egg-O-Matic Brain Scrambler and Mind Swapper' – the device that will grant me control over all of Mobius!"
"Wow! That thing must be pretty powerful for something so small if it can do that!" Grounder said.
Scratch nodded in agreement. "Yeah! So, how are we going to do this? Go to every mobian's house and use it on them door-to-door?"
"No, you Dunce-Bots!" the mad scientist bellowed, coating the faces of both robots with a fine film of saliva. "This one is just a prototype. I intend to build an even bigger Mind Scrambler – one that is capable of affecting the entire planet in one glorious blow!"
He caressed the weapon lovingly. "After I have extracted everyone's minds and stored them away, I will then download new brain patterns into every mobian's head, instructing them to obey only me!" He snickered at the thought of it. Sometimes, he was so evil that even he didn't like him!
"Then why did you build the handheld version, your maliciousness?" Scratch wondered. Robotnik shot him a glare that could cut through granite.
"If Sonic was to find out about my scheme, imbecile, he would no doubt attempt to stop me, and it will take some time to complete my global model of the weapon. What I want you to do-" he handed the device over to Scratch "-is to track that hedgehog down and make sure that he won't interrupt me before its ready!"
Scratch fumbled with the weapon in his grip, almost dropping it before Robotnik rushed over to steady it.
"And be careful!" he hissed. "This machine is very delicate, and the slightest disruption could prove hazardous! Now go, before I extract your minds and use your heads as a pair of trays where I can keep my paperclips!"
The Badniks saluted clumsily, all too aware of their master's intention to follow through on his threat.
"You can count on us, sir!" Scratch said as they prepared to leave.
"Yeah! We'll have that hedgehog in no time!" chimed Grounder. Once they were gone, the would-be dictator raised a hand to his face and groaned.
Yet again, I place my scheme into the hands of those two incompetents! He shook his head. Why do I never learn?
(End Chapter)
AN: And there we go! Kinda short, ain't it? Well, because you're all such good sports, I'm going to upload the second chapter straight away!