Chapter 4 - Splitting Headache
The looming structure of metal towered over the area, its tarnished metal glowing amber with the setting sun. Two hedgehogs, one green and one blue, were crouching behind a rather large pile of scrap, made of old buildings and robots.
After the blue hedgehog whispered something to his fellow, the green one spoke in a harsh tone.
"You want us to what?" Shadow was not looking pleased.
"Pretend we're a couple of guys wanting a machine to switch bodies; simple." Sonic replied.
"And what makes you think he'll agree to this?" Shadow was starting to feel Sonic was dragging him along on a wild goose chase.
"Because we'll offer him these." Sonic reached back into his navy quills and pulled from them a pair of large gemstones, one green the other, yellow.
"Those are mine!" Shadow scowled, recognising the Chaos Emeralds.
"And they're the perfect bargaining chips to get him to do what we want."
"You are aware he'll ask why we need this machine and who we are?" Shadow growled, "Not to mention try and part us from the emeralds before we get what we want."
"No sweat; we have our secret names thanks to you and besides I can think fast if I need to." Sonic stood up and walked towards the metal structure, shaped like a half buried egg with a moustache.
"Are you sure he's even in there?" Shadow was starting to hate this idea more and more.
"Who are you, what do you want?!" a voice crackled from some hidden speaker.
"Hey, we're looking for a special machine." Sonic was putting on some sort of gangster voice, Shadow was beginning to feel like his voice was being abused. "Word has it you can make a machine that can do pretty much anything."
"I'm far to busy to deal with the likes of you miscreants, go away before I'm forced to have you 'escorted' from the premises."
"We can pay you." Sonic blurted.
"I've no interest in your money, go away!" the voice was getting angry.
"Oh no, not money; I'm talking Chaos emeralds." Sonic revealed the glowing jewels towards the building.
"Why didn't you say sooner, come in, come in." The voice spoke warmly, each soft spoken word coated in false geniality.
The inside was, as expected, entirely metallic. There was strip lighting throughout the floors and ceilings, bathing the place with an eerie yellow glow. The hedgehogs walked into the plated corridor, highly aware of their current surroundings and the fact that they are casually walking into the lion's den with all but a simple dye job covering their identities. Large metal doors opened in front of them as they walked further into the base, each one sliding effortlessly into the ceiling. Each door would open, revealing passageways directing them to the central hub of the base. As the last door ascended, it opened out into a large workshop of sorts, with consoles beeping and machines buzzing and whirring about the place.
While neither had actually been to this particular base of Robotnik's, every inch of it was bringing back waves of memories from previous encounters. In the middle, hovering in some kind of vehicle was the source of the voice, they encountered. The rotund man was stroking his long ginger moustache.
"Welcome friends, I am Dr. Robotnik," He hovered over to some seats "please make yourself welcome, Mr...?"
"Zephyr; my colleague here is Scourge." Sonic pointed to his green counterpart, who was busy scanning the room with intense verdant eyes.
"Delighted, I'm sure," Robotnik was grinning like a Cheshire cat, "So gentlemen to the matter at hand, what sort of machine are you wanting?"
"We want one that can switch people's bodies," Sonic replied, giving Robotnik a large smirk.
"A mind switching device, you say?" Intrigue plastered itself across the doctor's face. "Whatever would you want that for?"
"I can't just tell you that now, can I?" Sonic grinned.
"Well if you were to tell me the exact situation involved for its use, I could have it tailored for you specifically." The light from the consoles glinting off Robotnik's round darkened glasses, as his grin grew wider.
"If you want doc, we can go else where." Sonic turned and started to walk out, "All we're asking is for a machine, no questions asked and in return you get two lovely emeralds." Sonic knew the chance for two getting hold of two Chaos Emeralds was too good for Robotnik to pass up.
"Very well." Robotnik muttered stroking his moustache, thinking of the various ways in which to 'part' the hedgehogs from their precious jewels as he did so, "The sort of machine you're after would be difficult to construct-"
"So you can't make it?" Shadow butted in.
"If you'll let me finish?" Robotnik glared at the green hedgehog. Now that he got a look at him, something seemed familiar about him; something about those emerald eyes, "The sort of machine you're after would be difficult to construct, but you're lucky enough to know I've completed such a machine already."
Robotnik turned and exited through a sliding bulkhead, motioning the hedgehogs to follow.
"I knew he'd be the one," Whispered Sonic, "we'll have this sorted in no time."
Shadow nodded curtly and continued walking after the doctor.
"Don't get your hopes up yet." Shadow warned, "This feels too easy, Robotnik hardly put up any resistance. Keep an eye out for any signs of a double-cross." Shadow's past with the doctor had made him wary or his actions and motives.
The room they entered looked as though no one had used it in years, the light highlighting the dust that hung in the air. The objects in the room were covered in a blanket of dust and grime.
"Please excuse the mess, I keep meaning to clean this place up. But being a genius, it's hard to find the time to do such a thing." He typed away at a console in his floating chair. "Ah ha, there it is." He swooped over to a far corner and began to run a diagnostic on a machine he had found.
Shadow and Sonic made their way over to him and stared at the contraption; underneath the years of dust was a large tarnished metal block, a slowly powering control panel positioned between two large glass cylinders. The machine hummed with changing frequencies, lights flickering on and off, while Robotnik was looking intently at it and the read-outs from his chair.
Shadow and Sonic both stared at each other, their eyes losing that glimmer of hope they had just minutes before. If this machine hasn't been used for what looks like years, then what or who switch their bodies in the first place?
Even still if this machine didn't cause this, could it still switch them back?
"There, all seems operational." Robotnik grinned.
"We'd like a demonstration, to make sure it still works." Shadow insisted.
"Why of course, I'd love to but as you can see I have no living test subjects," his grin got wider, "unless you two would like to try it for yourselves?"
Sonic grabbed Shadow by the arm and turned him to face away from Robotnik.
"If we take this risk, we can be out of here in a flash." Explained Sonic, his hushed voice masked by the ominous hums from the machine nearby.
"You're right, but we'll need to make sure to keep this machine from being used irresponsibly." Shadow whispered back.
"Sure, right after we've switched back." Sonic replied.
They turned back to face the fat man hovering in mid-air.
"Ok doc, you got yourself two subjects." Sonic grinned. "But at the first sign of trouble you'll stop the machine, or no Chaos Emeralds."
"Actually you'll need to leave those out of the machine, they may cause… unexpected results if they were to be included."
Sonic looked at Shadow, who nodded, and handed them over to Shadow. Shadow held the emeralds in his hands and with a look of great concentration uttered two words:
"Chaos Control!"
With a flash of white light the emeralds had vanished, leaving the two hedgehogs with the large hovering man, with a look of surprise on his face.
"Scourge, my boy," Robotnik flashed him a wicked smile, "Where did you pick up an ability like that?"
"Remember doc, no questions asked or we'll leave." Sonic reminded him.
Robotnik's smile vanished at being denied yet more information by a pair of rodents. A cunning look crossed his face, "Of course, no sense prying where noses needn't sniff around." He said, a false smile sliding across his face.
"You'll get the emeralds, providing this works." Shadow stressed as he opened the left hand pod and stepped inside, the glass case sliding shut behind him.
"Very well, I must say you drive a hard bargain." Robotnik silently cursed himself for not getting the emeralds first.
"Well, a guys gotta do, what a guys gotta do." Sonic said, hopping into the remaining right hand pod.
Robotnik scowled at Sonic as the pod slid closed, sealing him inside. He hovered between them and began typing away at the console in front of him.
"You'll experience some discomfort at first…" He explained, pressing a small button on the machine with the use of an extending hand from his vehicle.
The room filled with a loud buzz and an equally loud hum as the machine started. The hedgehogs felt a headache grow inside their respective heads, as it tried to force its way out of their skulls.
"…before the real pain begins!" He smiled as the hedgehogs began to scream in pain.
The procedure had barely begun when dull explosions could be heard outside. The building shook with the force of an earthquake as a Robotnik accessed his security feeds. Outside a small G.U.N. force could be seen waging a small war against the building.
"What!" Robotnik cried, "How did they find me so quickly?"
The firing died down as a single figure walked forward.
"Doctor Eggman, also known as Robotnik," an armoured man began, shouting through a megaphone, "you are under arrest for crimes against the citizens of Mobius, give yourself up or we'll take you in with force!" The figure stepped back and waved to the rest of the soldiers, starting the barrage of gunfire and grenades striking the egg-shaped building once more.
"Fools, they cannot capture me so easily!" cried Robotnik. He turned to the still screaming figures, "I'm sorry to say I have to cut and run, have fun!"
A panel in the floor slid open and Robotnik flew down and away, the panel clicking shut behind him.
Another explosion shook the building jarring large metal sections from the ceiling loose, dropping onto the machine below. A huge bang caused the two hedgehogs to be ejected from the machine as it was crushed by the ceiling above.
The green furred body of Sonic got up, feeling disorientated head pounding like someone had taken Knuckles, shrunk him and let him run riot inside his head.
"Did it work?" The green hedgehog looked at his hands, then up his arm; the peach fur, while covered in dust and soot, was still clearly visible underneath. "Yes!"
Sonic stood up gradually and began to stretch his legs out as the building shook again, causing more of the roof to fall in and Sonic to almost fall over.
"Woah, that doesn't sound good." Sonic began searching the rubble "Shadow! Shadow where are you!?" Sonic's voice wobbled slightly as he realised he couldn't see his fallen friend, a panicked look swept his face.
The neon lights, while flickering, managed to shine enough light onto Shadow's golden cuffs to alert Sonic to his whereabouts. He was unconscious, but still breathing as Sonic dragged him from under a toppled ceiling panel.
"Damn, this isn't good." said Sonic as he lifted Shadow onto his shoulders, "let's find us a way outta here, fast!" he then stumbled out of the collapsing room, through a now gaping hole in the wall; the only exit remaining.
The egg-shaped base, while carefully constructed by Robotnik; it was being easily deconstructed by the G.U.N. troops outside; their constant attacks buckling the main entrance of the building, giving them an opening in which to advance and secure the structure. Sonic dragged his feet along the floor, the procedure had left him feeling too weak to reach his top speed; the most he could manage was a brisk jog. The weight of carrying Shadow's comatose body didn't help much either, he found as he kept sliding off his shoulders now and again. But he wouldn't give up, it was his idea to come here in the first place and he wasn't about to be the last place he'd visit.
Turning the corner Sonic had managed to find a sewer entrance and, as slid Shadow's motionless body to the floor, he attempted to find a way to open it.
Sonic found, amongst the remains of a few maintenance bots and collapsed wall, a broken bar and used it to lever the door open. As it sprang open opened a louder explosion erupted behind him and a wave of metal forced him head first into the sewer, blocking the way behind him.
"Shadow!" Sonic cried as he was pulled by the flowing filth away from his unconscious friend, to weak to run against the sewage river.
Explosions could still be heard as Sonic was slowly pulled under, the dirty water dragging him below, as his body gave in to exhaustion.
Sonic woke to find he was laying face first into a bank of mud; he had been swept to the shore of a nearby lake.
"Errgghh," Sonic groaned as he pulled himself up once more, "Shadow…"
"Yes?"
"Huh?!" Sonic shot bolt upright and looked around but no one could be seen. "Shadow is that you?"
"Of course it's me, where are you?" Shadow's voice was sounding odd, echoing slightly.
As Sonic began to look around he felt his left arm twitch. It rose on its own and rubbed his forehead, before falling back down to his side. Looking at his left arm in horror, he pulled himself to the water's reflection, gazed into it and gasped. One of his eyes, his left, was noticeably darker than his right and moving slightly of its own volition.
"Oh no." Sonic's voice cried, an odd two-tone quality now apparent in his voice.
Back at Robotnik's base, the contingent of G.U.N. soldiers were sifting through the remains looking for their target. One soldier raised a large metal sheet to uncover the battered body of a dark blue hedgehog.
"Sir I've found something" He cried out, drawing the attention of his superior who made his way over.
"What is it?" He gazed with bi-coloured eyes at the body. "It can't be, can it?"
"Sir?" the soldier looked slightly baffled.
"Have this 'thing' contained and taken back to HQ, I'll question it when it recovers."