Phobia
Hi guys! I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my request on being my second beta.
I'd like to thank sonicxjones for agreeing to be my beta and assisted me with these two chapters.
Thanks everyone!
Credit for certain lines and ideas belongs to dib07 and Indilee.
Sonic the Hedgehog was growing stronger, smarter and faster with each passing day. Robotnik was in his bed, starting to wake up to a lovely sunny day. From where he was resting, he noticed his door creek slightly open. People would've believed that it was just the fresh morning breeze that blew through his open window, but the doctor knew better. He decided to pretend that he was asleep, waiting to start yet another day of this routine.
Soon, a large shadow appeared on the wall beside him. The creature had a large head and three spikes poking out the back. "Eggie?" A small voice whispered out, trying to see if his father was awake yet.
Oh, no…not that annoying nickname again. Where does he come up with all these names, I wonder? He groaned mentally.
The addressed person decided to feign a sleeping moan and shifted just a little bit.
A small set of fangs were revealed as the owner smiled with cunning. He rippled his shoulder muscles as he quietly stalked across the carpet. When he believed that he was close enough, he leapt up onto the bed.
"Eggie!" He cried out happily as he landed near the empty pillow on the opposite side of the bed. It was sufficient to startle anyone that was sleeping, but the human didn't even budge an inch. The hedgehog decided to shake his father slightly, to see if he'd wake that way and then bolted away at the first movement he noticed. The scientist, however, tucked his head under the covers and disappeared from sight.
Sonic cocked his head in wonder, wondering how he was going to wake his father up now. He then noticed a small gap under the blanket from where the doctor had vanished and his grin couldn't have been wider. In a single bound, he leapt up there and poked his small spiked head into the hollow, growling playfully.
"Alright, Sonic, alright! I'm up!" The human replied, chuckling in amusement, while tussling with his son in a play fight. "Ready to start another day?"
The hedgehog nodded silently while panting and his tongue lolled from his mouth, tired out to reply from the morning exercise and headed out to get ready.
XXX
It was another busy morning at the house on South Island. Sonic and Ivo weren't the only residents in the house. Robotnik ran a small, but successful and effective clinic on the island that housed many sick animals. Sonic was now three and a half and sometimes could really be a challenge to the doctor. But he loved to learn and help around the place. One time he helped one of his father's creations, Grounder, find his missing nose. The darn appendage was always falling off as it wasn't screwed on properly.
The scientist's hospital was situated in a large extension onto the house. It was the perfect place to store the necessary equipment and all the patients too. Some were pets, such as the tamed flicky birds and Mobian molecats. Others were wilds that were found or brought in when sick or injured. In total, every day was busy and different with many unexpected surprises.
Sonic was helping around. He was outside carrying a wild falcon on a gauntlet to protect his soft arm from its talons. The falcon had come in about a week ago with a broken wing, so the hedgehog was moving his arm up and down to encourage the falcon to flap its wings and to strengthen the bird's injured wing.
XXX
As the blue blur was placing the raptor back into its cage, the phone suddenly rung.
"I'll get it!" Robotnik replied as he ran for the phone that hung on the wall close by.
"Hello? Robotnik's Veterinary Clinic. How can I help?" The doctor stated in his usually cheerful voice. "Yes…Oh…I see…Today? I'm on a tight schedule right now and…Yes, I know…But can't it wait?"
Sonic tried to listen in as he removed the gauntlet from his hand and placed it on a shelf near the raptor's cage.
"…Alright, but just for a few hours. Is that understood? Ok. I'll be there soon. Bye!"
After hanging up, the scientist groaned as if annoyed. The blue hedgehog walked over, concerned about this. "What's wrong?" He questioned.
"I'm afraid that I have to go to work for a few hours today. And I need you to stay here."
XXX
Robotnik put on his coat and was about to leave when a blue streak suddenly whipped past him with a whooshing sound being emitted all around. Sonic stood guard at the front door, barring the doctor from departing from the house.
"Come on, Sonic. We've already talked about this. Some of my bosses need me at the facility right now, but I'll be home soon."
"Can't I come with you?" The hedgehog inquired with a tilted spiked head, trying to look cute.
The scientist chuckled at the endearing attempt. "Not today, hedgehog – sorry, but you're still too young."
"Awww, come on, Eggman!" The hedgehog made a pouty expression, with his lower lip quivering, making him look even more adorable.
"Eggman?!" The human sounded startled at the insult, but then calmed down. He then bent down to the pup's level and then told him something to try and cheer him up.
"Hey, come on, now. You know that I'll be home soon enough. But I need you to stay here and look after the other animals for me. Do you think you can do that?" He asked as he moved the hedgehog gently aside.
Sonic softly whined, with his head and ears lowered a little upset over this. "…Ok." He groaned.
"That's my boy!" The doctor said while ruffling up the azure creature's quills. "Remember, don't leave the house and be on your best behaviour. Alright?" He said as he playfully flicked his son's nose with a finger.
"Right!" Sonic chirped, feeling a little better already.
"See you soon, buddy! And please try to stay out of mischief this time!" The human said before he closed the door.
As soon as the door was locked, Sonic sighed with sadness, shoulders now slumped, ears and tail drooped. He didn't have to worry about being left alone. The doctor's nanny-bots would take care of him while he was away and tend to his every need.
XXX
After an hour of flying, the doctor landed on the mainland. His apartment was close by, so he hid his hovercraft, got his car out of the garage and drove it to work.
He parked outside a large building with a G.U.N. emblem on the face of it and headed into his job.
"Alright, what's the problem, guys?" Robotnik asked the other staff once he arrived at his office.
"Ah, there he is, thank the gods. You're a lifesaver!" One of the other scientists said. His name was Shane and one of Robotnik's best friends and partners on the project. "Abraham Tower, the Commander of the entire G.U.N. department, has decided to come to this section of the biological research facility to see our work on Mobian development. Since you're the head of the project, it's only right that you're here as well to demonstrate the progress we have made over the years." Shane stated.
"You're kidding me! He almost never comes here! He thinks that our project is ridiculous, especially since the hedgehog species is now extinct and has slowed down our progress significantly." The doctor stated while sitting down on a chair. His partner followed suit with another chair in the room.
"Apparently not. I recently heard rumours from the other colleagues that a G.U.N. squad was sent to Christmas Island a few years ago to capture one, a young one from what I heard whose parents had some kind of power and were the alpha leaders of the pack, but apparently something went wrong and a fire broke out, killing them all."
"How interesting." Robotnik said. His eyes narrowed behind his dark glasses, but they were concealed from his friend.
"Yeah, I know. The Commander wants to see our progress because he's suddenly taken quite an interest in Mobians," he explained, then added after a moment while grumbling in thought, "Maybe that's why so many have disappeared…"
Robotnik suddenly jumped out of his seat, appearing startled, his face pale. "What did you just say?!" He inquired.
Shane was surprised at this, but explained calmly in a whisper. "You didn't hear this from me… but, a few days ago, I was looking out my open office window when a large G.U.N. truck pulled up into the lot. I spotted some soldiers heading to the back of it and rolling some large animal carriers into the building. From the sounds, there were several different species in them. I also noticed that many scientists were absent during lunch, probably doing some overtime in the labs, perhaps on animal experimentation."
Robotnik swallowed. The situation was now even more dangerous than he had previously thought. He had just imagined some horrific and disturbing images of Sonic being caught, experimented on and most likely killed in the process. He just couldn't let that happen. He suddenly felt sick.
"Hey, Ivo, are you ok? You look ill. Are you nervous or something?"
"No, I'm fine, just a little jittery, but I'll be alright for this."
"Alright. Oh, there he is!" Shane said as they saw the Commander coming around the corner. He then entered the room.
XXX
As Sonic was lying slumped on the couch, watching T.V., a nanny bot came in carrying a large chili dog on a plate in one hand and a glass of soda in another. The hedgehog swallowed down his lunch on one swift action and the soda was downed in a few gulps. This however was a very bad idea.
Within a few minutes, Sonic was literally bouncing off the walls, performing back flips and running on the ceiling. One problem with the animal was his hyperactivity and the soda didn't help in this department. Some of the nanny bots had tried to get him to sit down, but to no avail. The other bots, Scratch and Grounder had tried to get in the way, but they were knocked away as a blue streak whizzed by. This was going to be hard…
XXX
"Good afternoon, gentlemen." Abraham greeted.
"Afternoon, Commander." Ivo and Shane replied.
"What's the progress on your Mobian project?" He asked, with a serious scowl as usual.
Robotnik decided to show him their discoveries and presented the data to the Commander in the form of a book filled with an assortment of documents.
As Abraham scrolled through the pages, the scientist and his partner noticed the Commander's expression change from a disinterested look to one of fascination. Both his brown eyes were wide in awe at the data; his brows were practically raised to the roof.
Ivo and Shane both exchanged hopeful glances at this from behind the Commander. Perhaps they were going in the right direction after all.
"Where did you get all this information?!" Abraham questioned astounded as he continued through the book. "As far as I can remember, hedgehogs have been extinct for years!" He then exclaimed.
"We were just lucky, I guess." Shane said. "But we've mostly done the research based on previous data."
"We were extremely lucky that we were able to obtain that data." Ivo added in. The research, however, was mostly done on Sonic, but Robotnik wasn't going to surrender that information anytime soon about having adopted the last Mobian hedgehog in the world.
The Commander thanked them for their work in this department, gave them a bonus in their wages, mentioned a promotion and left with the documents.
"Keep up the good work!" He shouted back to the scientists.
Their faces couldn't have been happier.
XXX
One of the nanny bots placed a now sleeping Sonic back onto the couch. The sugar rush had finally worn off and the pup had collapsed onto the floor, exhausted, in a heap of azure quills. Once one of the bots scanned him for any possible injuries, and confirmed that there were none, it placed him back onto the couch and wrapped him in a blanket. He was just having an afternoon nap and would be awake in a few hours.
It then looked at the house and sighed. All the furniture had either been knocked over or smashed during Sonic's little rampage, the drapes were ripped, several vases and ornaments were shattered and the carpet had seen better days when it was cleaner and had no friction burns on them, especially from little supersonic hedgehoglets.
XXX
Ivo couldn't believe his luck. He had just been promoted to the head of the Biology department and Shane had become the senior manager. The clock struck five and everyone left for the day. Robotnik waved good bye to Shane and set off for his home on the island.
He wondered how Sonic fared through his day.
XXX
A small blue creature was standing on his bed, eagerly anticipating his father's return from work. He had just woke up from his nap and was expecting Eggman home soon because he was gone for a very long time. His eyes were scanning the outside world and his gloved hands were glued to the glass. He looked all around the surrounding yard and path. Every few minutes, he gave a sad high pitched little whine when there was no sign of him.
The doctor soon arrived and Sonic's face broke into a smile once he saw him. He then vanished from the upstairs window and dashed straight for the front door downstairs. The doctor got the surprise of his life, once he opened the door and found himself bowled over and being nuzzled by a content little blue hedgehog.
"Hello, Sonic! Have a nice day?" Ivo chuckled. He then looked around the house for a second because of a few key differences that he noticed now that hadn't been there earlier. "What happened here? Looks like some of my bots decided to redecorate…Well, I guess that it was time for a change."
XXX
As the sun was setting, Robotnik decided to take a small walk with Sonic around the island. Said hedgehog had become restless, since he couldn't run fast enough inside the house. At the rate they were going, they would've returned home before dark. The blue blur was slightly ahead, playing with his small red ball and trying to catch it before it hit the ground ahead of him, while Eggman was walking behind, observing the environment, taking small samples of plants and jotting down notes in a diary.
They soon came to a bridge that spanned a river, indicating this as the halfway point to home. The river was often overflowing during the winter, but there was usually only a gentle stream at this time of the year. The blue hedgehog still played with his ball and threw it farther from where he walked and jogged over to retrieve it after it had bounced on the wooden bridge. His grasp for it came up short, however, and it dropped into the water. A second later, the shiny scarlet ball bobbed up and down on the water's surface.
Believing that the water was shallow and that the same would happen to him, he plunged into the water to retrieve his ball without a second thought. As soon as he touched the surface, he let out a gasp at the ice cold liquid that soaked into his bulk, making him heavier and he started to sink. He tried pulling himself upwards to reach the surface, but nothing happened. He then tried running in order to escape the water's cold and merciless grasp. The liquid had denied him any traction though, unlike the control that he had on land. This is what scared him the most. He tried to grab onto something, anything at all that he could see in the murky, clouded water, but there was nothing. He started to panic; he didn't know how to swim. He struggled to stay afloat as the water filled his nose, mouth and ears, clogging all his senses and constricting his lungs of air. His vision started to become fuzzy and darker. He realized that there was no escape and that drowning was a slow and painful way to die. The darkness had almost consumed all the light, he felt his movements slow to almost nothing and he began to sink down to a lower depth.
It was then he felt something grab onto his arm and pull him up. Sonic believed that it was Death himself that got him because he couldn't see anything anymore. He suddenly realized that it wasn't Death when he felt his head break the river's surface with a sound not unlike an explosion. He barely felt his small body being dragged across the surface with his head just above the water and then flipped onto his back on the river bank. The hedgehog felt some form of pressure on his stomach in a form of rhythm and then some hot air being pushed deep down his throat.
"NOoooo…Sonic…No!" A distorted and muffled voice desperately screamed into his triangular ears.
Once the pressure pressed down hard enough on his peach-furred chest, he started to cough up the water that was trapped in his lungs and he convulsed for a few moments until he managed to breathe on his own with shaky breaths. He weakly rolled over onto his belly. It was still too dark to see anything and Sonic still felt dizzy and disoriented, but he could hear his father's voice and felt something being wrapped around him.
"It's alright…It's over…" Ivo calmly whispered in an assuring fatherly tone; it wasn't scolding in any way, but it sounded on the verge of completely breaking and had a hint of fear in it too. Sonic's senses managed to pick up Eggman's erratic heartbeat.
The animal involuntarily and instinctively nuzzled into his chest, drenched and reduced to a small, shivering ball. His vision started to gradually return and he realized that it was the doctor's jacket that he was wrapped in.
Soon, the azure hedgehog started to breathe almost normally, but it was still slightly irregular, shallow and laboured. The human sighed in immense relief. "I think it's better that we avoid rivers and lakes for now, Sonic." He then started stroking the hedgehog's back with the jacket in an attempt to warm him up and try to dry him off. The blue blur started to relax as the panic and shock from the incident started to wane. He felt a little warmer, but would feel much better once he got home.
The scientist started to walk towards home, as the sun started to set behind the mountains on the horizon.
"I'm sorry…" Sonic whispered groggily.
"It's okay," Eggman replied. "Just remember not to leave your friends behind. Not everyone is as fast as you and you'll only get yourself into trouble. Now, I'd better get you home before you catch your death of cold."
"Okay…" The hedgehog groaned, and then sniffled.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine."
XXX
By the time they got home, Ivo knew that his last statement was spoken too soon. As soon as they entered the threshold, his burden emitted another sneeze and then a horrible hacking cough, before concluding with a wheeze. The doctor touched the blue creature's forehead and realized that it was very warm. Sonic had a temperature.
Oh, brilliant! Eggman mused to himself. He's sick!
He then went up to the pup's bedroom, removed the soaked clothing, dried him with a towel and placed him in bed, under the duvet. Sonic, however, didn't want to stay in bed and tried to get up. Ivo saw this and gently pushed his son back down onto the pillows.
"Ngh…agh…" The azure hedgehog groaned while struggling weakly. He detested being confined to bed rest as he preferred to move around.
"Shhhh, shhh, shhhh." The doctor then produced a high-pitched whistling sound. This had a peculiar soothing and calming effect on the pup; he'd actually ceased his squirming. "Don't move, Sonic." The human commanded softly, but in a slight parental tone. He then left and soon returned with a heater that he placed beside the bed and a few extra thick blankets to keep his son warm.
The doctor departed from the room and headed downstairs to make some soup for his sick friend. Knowing that he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight, due to fretting and parental stress, he put on a pot of coffee to help him stay up all night. Once the soup was done, he added some herbs into the broth and mixed it in to conceal the pungent scent that they gave off. He knew that these would help cure colds and fevers faster from past experience and research studies. Some of the herbs were the ones that he'd gathered earlier that day during the walk.
He then brought the bowl up to the hedgehog, who was resting in bed. As soon as he swallowed the entire mixture, he felt full, warmer and slightly better than before. It was starting to get darker outside. Sonic tried to relax and settle down to sleep, hoping that more rest would see him running around again in no time.
With one last look at his patient, the doctor withdrew himself from the room and left the door ajar, just in case he was needed during the night. He then went downstairs, sat down in his chair and worked on another project blueprint.
It was several hours later that Eggman gazed up from his occupation to hear a noise coming from the bedroom. He placed his instruments down carefully and headed upstairs. While checking in on Sonic, he noticed that the noise had been the bed shaking over how much the hedgehog was shivering, yet there was sweat beading from his forehead. The top of his muzzle and ears were flushed; a sure sign of a fever.
Ivo crossed the threshold and entered the bathroom to get a cool, wet rag. Once he'd rung it, he then placed it on the hedgehog's forehead. He then went to get more medicine.
XXX
Three days later, he noticed a change in the fever. At least Sonic was finally on the mend. Eggman sighed with immense relief.
That night, the human settled down to get some sleep. He collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep before he knew it, exhausted from the stress and from his sick patient keeping him up for the last few nights.
He woke up the following morning, feeling refreshed from a good night's sleep. As he looked around the room, he noticed a pair of green eyes watching him from the end of the bed. They first displayed an anxious concern and then relaxed.
"Eggie!" It called out and then leapt onto his father.
XXX
Sonic was still a little weak from his fever. He wasn't at a hundred percent yet, but was getting better. He looked fine, eyes gleaming, fur a little dull, but he was full of life, despite his energy being low.
Eggman decided that he was well enough for a bath and ran one for him. "Come on, Sonic! It's bath time!"
The animal's ears perked up at the summons and headed towards the bathroom. The hedgehog loved being clean and after suffering from a cold; this was just what he needed. Sonic was still a bit smaller than the tub and had to be lifted in and carried out once done.
Once he walked towards the tub and removed all his clothes, the doctor picked him up. That was when the hedgehog looked into the bath and all Hell broke loose. Sonic's calm demeanour suddenly transformed into something much more vicious and animal-like. He violently squirmed and jerked in his father's arms, scratching, biting, hissing and several other animalistic actions were made. Even Eggman was a little taken aback; he thought Sonic had lost all his wild animal instincts. He then groaned in pain as the hedgehog's sharp claws latched onto the skin on his arms and dug in deeper, drawing a little blood.
"OWW! Sonic! What's wrong with you?! What are you doing?!"
"No! Let me go! I don't want to go in there!" He yelped in fear while twisting and struggling against the doctor's loose hold.
The human then put the pup on the ground. "What's the matter? Don't like water anymore?" He asked.
The hedgehog shook his head while trembling with fear. "I don't like it."
"Alright, we'll leave the bath and try a shower from now on."
"Ok." Sonic chirped.
XXX
The shower caused the exact same reaction to happen to Sonic. Eggman managed to get him into the shower and barely managed to rinse his fur before the hedgehog had enough of it. He whimpered and squirmed as the liquid touched his fur and ran down his body, despite knowing that he was safe. As the pup departed, Ivo concluded that Sonic was now hydrophobic.
XXX
The next day, Eggman got up and headed downstairs. He could swear he had heard the T.V. on. Once he entered the living room, he noticed that the telly was indeed on and Sonic was lying on the couch with a huge blanket wrapped around him.
"Hey, are you alright? Feeling better?" The doctor asked.
"I think so…" The azure hedgehog replied. "Just a little headache s'all, but I'm good."
Ivo however, decided to give Sonic a small check-up. He brought him to the vet clinic and gently placed him on the operating table. Unlike most of the animals, the hedgehog immediately lay on his spiny blue back and fully relaxed to the point of an almost complete tranquil appearance, despite all the machinery around him and the unfamiliar environment that scared most of the animals.
He'd done this a thousand times already, so it didn't bother him at all. It was similar to a dentist checking his teeth. Eggman checked everything including his eyes, ears, throat and lungs, making sure not to overlook anything. He then took a blood sample, which Sonic didn't protest to and hardly even noticed.
Reassured that the fever had been cured, the doctor sighed heavily with relief. Taking care of a sick hedgehog was hard work.
Ivo went over to his supply drawer, looking for some medicine because his son had complained of a headache earlier. He looked up at the calendar and realized that he had a meeting today at work and hurried to get ready. He then froze however because all his bots were being repaired and tuned up, so no one could look after Sonic today. The scientist would have to take him too.
XXX