Chapter 3- Change of Plans

The Next Day

Robots usually could not sense or display emotion. They could not, under normal circumstances, have an AI advanced enough to do so.

So you know it must be pretty bad when the entire Eggman Army was terrified enough to avoid the pissed-off-beyond-comprehension Eggman like the plague unless forced to do so. Orbot and Cubot weren't so lucky.

"I thought I had EVERYTHING perfectly in place…" Eggman began to rant as he paced back and forth in his computer room, waiting for his 'friend' Vlad to come over and probably kill him instantly for losing Danny so easily.

"I put the boy in a ghost-proof container under heavy lock and key, I use my Egg Wiper to make sure he can't escape and fight me back, I have the entire base covered in the strongest anti-hedgehog field I can make, I have patrols within every single inch of the structure, I have my signature untraceable from any kind of tracking device, I even have a damned cloaking mechanism in place… And that hedgehog still manages to find his way here and ruin everything!"

"Boss, maybe it's not so b-"

"'Not so bad?!' That madman, Vlad, is probably on his way here to the dimension right now to kill me! He doesn't say it, but that boy's probably as much an obsession for him as that woman he likes to drone on about. Margaret or Mattie or something, I don't know! The point is my minutes are surely numbered and it's all Sonic's fault!"

"Oh, when you put it that way, it makes me sound downright diabolical."

Eggman froze in terror and turned around to find Vlad staring at him through his doorway, a devilish, smug sneer plastered on his face. No doubt he heard every word Eggman said.

"I-I didn't hear you come in…"

"I know. You were so caught up in your cute little rant that you didn't notice much of anything. Not even the sound of one of your precious robots being destroyed seemed to get your attention." With that, Vlad casually stepped aside and revealed Mecha Sonic, smoking and covered in what seemed to be a corrosive pink energy. There was no way to save the novelty robot in that state.

"M-Mecha Sonic…"

"And trust me doctor. I plan to do much worse to the real thing when I get my hands on him."

Eggman's face brightened up at this. Vlad wasn't here to kill him but rather destroy Sonic for his meddling! He had a chance for survival after all!

"Y-You're not going to kill me…?"

"Seeing as how this technically isn't your fault, I'll be merciful just this once. If only to exterminate the actual pest responsible for you losing Daniel. But because many of your robots are sadly incompetent, I'll give you a partner to assist you." He snapped his fingers, and Eggman made a little 'Eep' sound and recoiled at the sight of his new partner. "Doctor, this is my associate, Skulker. Skulker, Dr. Robotnik."

"This rotund human is going to help me catch the whelp? He looks too pathetic for my tastes." The ghost, Skulker, said with an eyebrow raised.

Skulker was taller than the 6-something foot tall doctor, covered from chest down in a thick suit of armor adorned with more weaponry than thought possible. The impressive suit made Eggman gawk at it, wondering if he could replicate it; his enemies would run in fear for sure if they saw him in that…

"Don't be too frightened with this one, doctor. He looks like THIS whenever he loses his suit after all." Vlad said with an amused smirk, and before Skulker could snatch it away, Eggman was given a picture of the hunter's true form: a tiny green blob with stubby little feet and arms.

Eggman couldn't help but laugh incredibly hard at that.

Skulker growled at his employer, threatening to blast him before thinking twice. He was about to be given two prizes to hunt for the price of one. Whispering to Vlad so Eggman wouldn't hear, "I thought I said to never reveal my true form, Plasmius…"

"Oh, I know. I just think it'd be beneficial for the doctor to know how useless you are without that suit to make sure he knows to maintain it."

Eggman chuckled more before giving the picture back. Skulker was fast enough this time and blasted it to ash before it could be returned.

"I trust you two will be quick with bringing Daniel and that hedgehog here to me so I can deal with them."

"As long as I get to keep the blue rodent's pelt when you're done with him, I'll make good on that. It might even make a good sweater for my mate..." Skulker said with a smile of anticipation. He'd never had a reason to hunt animals in his afterlife, but this particular one, however, could be an exception. Vlad had shown him pictures of the planet. Yes, it made the hedgehog slightly less rare that there were similar kinds of animals on the planet, but none of them had such a vivid and slick blue coat. His pelt would be a perfect addition to his collection, even more perfect for the love of his afterlife. His sweet, sweet Ember...

Eggman shuddered at the thought of someone wanting to skin Sonic for his fur, but if the hedgehog was out of his hair, he didn't care in the end. He was glad to have such an enthusiastic partner for a change. Despite him being a very disturbed ghost, this'll be a good change of pace.

"I'll grab a rocket and set a course for Mobius immediately. Come on, Skulker, we're burning daylight." Eggman went by the doorway to head to the craft station.

"Report back to me when you have captured them." Vlad said. When Eggman gave him an absentminded thumbs-up, he nodded in affirmation and returned to Amity Park with a handheld portal device.

"So, Dr. Robotnik…" Skulker said as he walked down the halls with his new partner, "tell me more about my new prey."

It was the middle of the day when Sonic finally returned to his home (the unnecessarily large almost-mansion he still hadn't finished chewing Tails out for making him when he specifically asked for a small house), exhausted and ready to pass out on the doorstep then and there. However, he couldn't sleep just yet.

Who else would give his new guest a tour of the abode?

"Just a warning, I'm sorry in advance for the mess, D. I usually don't care if I leave stuff all over the place." Sonic said to Danny, standing behind him, who simply raised an eyebrow. After where he came from, Sonic's place was probably like a five-star hotel in comparison.

Danny shrugged. "Can't be that bad."

"Trust me, it's bad," Sonic laughed before opening the door and revealing his untidy and clutter-filled house. Junk was in every corner of the room, garbage in places where the junk wasn't. And the smell made an elephant pin at a zoo smell like soap. Sonic paled at the mess while Danny got queasy and nearly fainted.

Okay, so maybe it was more like a two-star hotel.

"Alright, it's worse than I thought…" Sonic helped Danny keep from passing out and got him under a tree to rest. "You wait right here, and I'll clean the place up real fast." Sonic winked before turning back to his house.

"H-How the heck are you gonna do t-" Before Danny could blink, Sonic dashed into the abode at high speed and cleaned the place up fully within 30 seconds. Would have taken less if he didn't have to wash out a couple moldy spots. This left Danny speechless.

"Well, ya didn't think they call me 'Sonic' for nothin', did ya?" Sonic got the awestruck human teen up and helped him inside. "Yeah, so goin' fast is kinda my thing…"

"T-Tha… That was so COOL!" The previously melancholy and depressive state Danny found himself in lifted temporarily as he drooled over how incredible Sonic's speed was for a good ten minutes. (If he had his memories, he would surely punch himself over how dorky he sounded.)

When his new roommate was done gawking, Sonic started to show him around. "Eventually this empty room'll be yours. I just gotta find some time to get some furniture for it. For now, you've got the couch. The room next to this one is mine, bathroom's further down and next to the living room is the kitchen. If you get bored, I've got a PS4, a Dreamcast, a gaming PC, a Genesis, a Gamecube, a Wii, and a buttload of games in my studio. … … Oh yeah, I've also got a studio and a ton of movies and junk and a popcorn bar and…"

Danny just stood dumbfounded as Sonic droned on and on about the stuff he had. The kid had an entire underground MOVIE THEATER!

Danny chuckled shyly after Sonic went on for long enough. "I just didn't take you for the lavish type…. You seemed like more of a small apartment guy."

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck, blushed, and looked at the floor. "Blame Tails on that one. Built this place within two days when I was on a vacation with my girlfriend."

"Would your girlfriend happen to be that pink hedgehog that was with us?" Danny smirked mischievously, knowing when Sonic's blush deepened that he hit it on the nose.

"Y… Yeah. We just started dating about a month ago. Still kinda awkward y'know…?" Sonic shook his head. He barely knew the guy, he couldn't just dump his baggage on him. "But, anyways, I left a blanket and pillow on the couch for ya. You need anything, don't hesitate to wake me up. I'm gonna take a nap and then order some takeout later. Peace out." Sonic shuffled sleepily into his room and settled into bed to nap.

Danny smiled at his new caretaker's flustered behavior before remembering he shouldn't be so trusting. He had no idea what this guy's true motives were still, so he couldn't completely let his guard down.

But that was kind of hard when the guy he was trying not to trust was such a dorky goof.

The teen sighed and headed into the kitchen to grab a bite. He was absolutely starving. He had no idea when his last proper meal was, and he wasn't about to sit there and miss another one. He hoped Sonic had something he didn't have to cook: He didn't know if he knew how to, but no memories wouldn't help him either way.

Without thinking too much about, thoughts slightly muddled from fatigue, Danny, quite literally, stuck his hand through a cabinet. It was only when he noticed what he was doing that he got startled and his hand became stuck in the cabinet door.

"DAH! M-My arm!" Danny tried to pull it out, but it was no use; the arm wouldn't budge. Danny pulled harder and harder, panic building, only stopping when his arm started to hurt from the thrashing.

After about a half hour, he felt on the verge of crying, but he didn't want to call Sonic. No need to alert the still potential enemy of his predicament and make himself seem even more pathetic. One question constantly rang through Danny's mind: How the heck did he even do that in the first place?! He just… pushed his arm right through without thinking about it!

… … .Maybe if he focused, he could do it again.

"Okay, um…" Danny muttered to himself, "arm, come out."

Nothing happened.

"Uh… abracadabra!"

Nothing again.

"Alakazam?"

Nothing still.

Danny sighed, and just when he calmed down and was about to sign away his dignity once again, his arm suddenly turned cold and see-through. The cabinet also stopped hurting.

Believing this was what he wanted, he yanked his arm out as fast as he could, fearing it to turn solid again without warning. As soon as it was out, it turned tangible once again.

After poking his arm to make sure it was still there, Danny opened the cabinet the old-fashion way as intended and grabbed a bag of chips. He then finally plopped onto his new 'bed' and devoured them while trying to think everything over.

He had just stuck his hand through a piece of wood like he was some kind of ghost or something.