CHAPTER 3: THE EGGHEAD

Confusion overwhelmed us as we were wondering why a mech of all things was around here. Hiding ourselves from it behind the palm trees, we stared at the colossal machine as it forcefully walked on the dirt path.

"Do you think that it's after us or something?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know why it would," Knuckles answered concernedly, "but then again, we don't remember what happened to us before we got here. For all we know about, this piece of metal COULD be looking for us."

"What kind of crime would we had to have committed in order for us to be tracked by a death machine?"

"If there's one thing I'd be a little unsure of finding out, it would be that."

It felt like all of us were nervous for our lives then. As far as we knew, we had done nothing wrong, but now, there was a chance that this mech was going to find and capture us, or even worse, was going to kill us. What reason did it even have for coming after us? And what chance did we really have of knowing that before it would finish its mission?

For a few moments, our hearts seemed to stop as the bot stomped along right in front of us, seemingly unaware of our presence. The world shook at the same time that we were still.

Then all of a sudden, the mech halted its march. A wavelike quiet swept over the area, swept over us.

"Why did it stop?" Knuckles pondered. After a few moments, we looked over towards the front of it, and each of us let out a quiet gasp. Standing in front of the machine was a soul frozen cold in fear by the bot's appearance. It was a small brown hedgehog, anthropomorphic like us. It apparently had come from where we were about to head towards if we had kept walking the night before. Not a muscle in his body nor a quill on his skin was moving before the metallic monster. Sonic, Knuckles, and I looked back and forth at the mech, then at the hedgehog, curious about what was going to happen next.

After what seemed like only a minute, a loud shout came from the person controlling the mech.

"Out of my way!"

In one smooth attack, the bot swooped in with one of its metal hands to get rid of the hedgehog. The blow sent the unlucky soul flying through the air, off into the distance to eventually land with a hard fall.

"Stupid locals!" the mech man complained. "I hate it when they get in my way!"

We all looked towards each other, wondering what to do then. If he saw us, there would be no warm greeting or joking around with him. However, it didn't sound like he was specifically looking for us.

Sonic whispered first: "We should leave the path. That way, there's no chance of meeting back up with this madman."

"But if we run away from the path," countered Knuckles, "then it will probably be harder for us to find any answers."

Knuckles was right. We didn't know our way around this place. If we went away from the dirt road, we would've easily ended up lost, which would not have helped us in finding out why we were in this world in the first place. We had teamed up and journeyed together so we could figure out what happened to us, and leaving that path would make our job much tougher. BUT if we stayed, there was a chance that we would be found, which would possibly lead to something terrible.

Though the risks were enormous, some part of me wanted to stay around the path, and apparently, Sonic had the same thought as well.

"Okay, Knuckles. Let's hide out here."

I nodded to them both in agreement. We continued to kneel behind the palm trees, hoping that we would not be spotted. The bot was still standing where it had been after its attack. For the time being, the man in the mech was checking on some equipment as he mumbled and spouted out random numbers and technical jargon. Then, he instantly ceased his talking altogether, as if something had caught his attention.

"Hmm?" he said curiously. "Well, it looks like I have some more company! My radar detects that there are three people behind those trees over there. Come out, you sneaks!"

In nervousness, I glanced over at Sonic and Knuckles; they both were also set on edge. We knew the entire time we were hiding that something like this could happen. Still, the moment felt surreal.

"Did you hear what I said?! COME OUT NOW OR ELSE!" We heard the machine warm up its guns, ready to fire if we did not concede to the villain's orders.

We all three got up and were about to face this maniac, adrenaline flooding through every one of our veins. Before we stepped out, I took one last look at my two friends. I knew what they were feeling without them saying a word. Sonic had a strong aura of confidence that surrounded him; he was more than ready to take on what was ahead. Knuckles had a hard and serious look, not unlike what he normally showed, but this time, I could see fire welling up in him. An unusual energy ran within me, too, a determination to stand up to this cruel villain. Our adventure wasn't going to end because of this crazed man. Going out there, I knew for sure one thing: we were not going to go down without a battle.

"So, you've been spying on me, eh?" the man said accusingly as we walked out just in front of the trees we had hidden behind. We now had a good look at the mech's controller through a glass window in front of the bot's head. He was a rotund man, but sticklike legs were his supports. (It's kind of hilarious; we called this guy an egghead, but his body actually did look like a walking egg.) He had a sinister face with an extremely pointed nose and a long, edgy ginger mustache. He donned a red jacket —complete with white stripes— and jet black pants. He wasn't that intimidating of a man, but he also seemed like the kind of person that wanted to watch us cower in fear under him and his mech. Well, if that was the case, we did not give him that opportunity whatsoever.

"You're calling us spies?" Sonic replied in a relaxed but lively tone. "You're the one who was spying on us with a radar! We were just minding our own business here before you came stomping up this hill, Eggman!" (He must have caught how funny his appearance was, too.)

Eggman looked furious, his face turning as red as his jacket.

"How dare someone as inferior as you call me such a name! I am Dr. Robotnik, ingenious inventor, mechanical prodigy, leader of…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," interrupted the blue hedgehog. "We get it. You're cool and stuff. You're on your high skillet."

It felt like steam was going to come out of the doctor's ears at any moment.

"ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE! I'm actually lucky that I found you all here. I have some new weapons that I was going to test elsewhere, but since you're here, I can just use you for target practice!"

"What makes you think we're going to stand here and let you shoot at us?" Knuckles replied.

"It won't matter if you stand or run. Your deaths will be swift."

"Says you," Sonic told him off. "I believe we have you out-skilled and out-manned here."

"Huh? YOU? Thinking you could best ME?!" Eggman sent up a harsh laugh from deep in his chest. "You won't last three minutes against my mech!"

"We'll see about that!"

The tension in the atmosphere was a pulled back sling, tight but ready to come loose. I could here the charging-up of the machine guns, the warming-up of the missile launchers. We had our arsenal ready, too. Sonic had his speed, Knuckles had his brutality, and I had my flight. All our bodies were tensed and coiled up, prepared to charge in with all we had. The sling was pulled back as far as it could be; all it needed was to be let go somehow…