Sonic Boom inspired me for this one. The TV show is coming out this autumn, and I am excited beyond belief! I'm hoping that the next few months fly by, and the show will be just as good as we hope!

Thank you so much to: SpiritofSilverWater, Steve993, BlindBirdWatcher, Zgirl101, miss-meowness, Acaybay, Sonic Amy and animelover5641! Your support means the world to me!

SpiritofSilverWater - Hee hee… ;D

Steve993 - Thank you! :3 That's so nice to hear, that I've managed to make it canon-esque enough that it could be a subplot in one of the games! Thank you very much!

BlindBirdWatcher - Hahahahaha! X'D She's not too happy xD

Zgirl101 - You better believe it ;D

miss-meowness - Aw, thank you so much! :3

Acaybay - Thank you very much! Silver is basically the scapegoat of this story, haha xD

Sonic Amy - Ahhh, I think I'll leave those two to it ;D

animelover5641 - Haha, thank you so much! Yeah, whilst the story focuses on Sonic as a baby, I think it also centres around the friendship of Shadow and Silver! :3

Chapter Ten

The Archives

"..."

CLANG.

"..."

CRASH.

"..."

BANG.

"...!"

THWACK.

"...Ngh!"

CLUNK.

"Where is it?!"

"Please! Those are valuable! The Doctor will be furious!"

"That should be the least of your worries."

Espio sighed, wondering how his mission had dissolved into this. Surely, he should be doing something more useful than guarding these two robots? However, he really didn't want to challenge Shadow. Not when the Ultimate Life Form was so pent-up with anger.

He closed his eyes, allowing his hearing to sense if the robots were trying to escape. They probably wouldn't dare — not when Shadow was threatening deactivation every second — but he just wanted to make sure.

Clink.

"Don't," Espio ordered, monotonously, as his eyes flickered towards the yellow robot. It shivered for a moment, as it glanced at the shuriken embedded in the wall, only a couple of centimetres away from the robots. Espio's aim truly was precise.

"I was readjusting mah circuit boards!" It whined its excuse towards Espio. The chameleon shook his head, leaning against the wall again.

"I blame you for this," Orbot buzzed, noticing that Espio had returned to resting, "Who was it who wanted to take a look at the Doctor's inventions? You. Who wanted to test the invention? You. Who blabbed about our mistake? You."

"But it was so boring cleanin' the inventions! And we did, sorta, destroy Sonic?"

"Would you call this a victory?"

"No..."

"So be quiet and remember where you put the laser! Before that hedgehog dismantles us!"

Shadow growled from inside the room, lashing out and smashing his fist into the wall. He couldn't find it, and all this chaos was starting to mess with his head. He was never going to find the laser in this room, not when it was so badly organised, with lasers on the floor and experimental bombs stacked on top of them.

"You'd better start remembering soon!" Shadow snapped, storming out of the room and sending a glare at the robots. They cowered.

It would have amused Shadow, but he was too frustrated. He turned his attention to Espio, who was watching on in interest. Shadow gruffly said, "Any chance you could take a look? You might have better luck."

"Sorry, Shadow, but I don't think I would. I don't know much about lasers. I'm a hacker," Espio stepped back, wondering if Shadow would attack him for his lack of skills. But the Ultimate Life Form simply shrugged. He leant back against the wall and crossed his arm over his chest.

Shadow sighed, "I never thought I would say this, but I wish that Tails was here."

"Hm," Espio agreed, companionably, "Yes. He would know what he was looking for."

"If I may interject here..." Orbot was approaching the two of them, gingerly whirring as he hovered, "I think I've discovered a way for you to find the laser."

"Why would you tell us?" Shadow frowned, straightening his back, as his expression hardened, "This could be a trap. You do work for the Doctor, after all."

"Actually, I don't work for him. I don't get any wages. Oh, if only I was paid, I could buy a new casing. Or a new software chip. I've heard they do some really nice ones that are rather modern..."

Shadow rolled his eyes, not really wanting to hear about the perks of being a robot, "Like I said, why would you help us?"

"We're not leaving anytime soon, with you here. I figured that, if I help you, you will let us go and we can go back to being enemies?"

Espio stole a glance at Shadow, before asking, "Surely that goes against your purpose of being a loyal robot to Doctor Eggman?"

"Honestly, the Doctor hasn't been very kind to us recently. Cleaning the inventions was one of the kinder tasks that we have been given."

The hedgehog and the chameleon looked at each other. It sounded genuine. Neither of them could contradict them. They had no idea what it was like to be a robot for Eggman, "Alright. Show us how to find the laser."

"But, just so you know," Shadow leapt down and grabbed Orbot by the head again, "I will crush you if this is a trap. You will regret ever speaking to me."

"Understood," Orbot quivered, sighing as Shadow released him, "Allow me to direct you to the main computer."

"What about him?" Espio jerked his head in the direction of Cubot, who was rather distracted by his reflection in the metallic wall, "Are we not taking him with us?"

"He'll follow soon enough," The red robot remarked, almost cheerfully, as he flew down the stairs. Shadow felt a bubble of suspicion grow in his heart, but he couldn't give any other solutions. Right now, Orbot was their only lead.

"So, remind me again. How did Shadow and Silver screw up?"

"Knuckles!" Tails shook his head, disbelievingly, "I don't think this is the time to take pleasure in Shadow's mistake!"

"No, I know, I know. I'm asking for... research purposes. Yeah. That," Knuckles stifled his laugh, which was threatening to escape, "Oh boy, when I see Shadow..."

"Knuckles!" Amy yelled, whacking his shoulder with her fist. The echidna groaned, vaguely listening to her scolding, "We need to help Silver, and return Sonic to the way he was! This is no time to be side-tracked!"

"I'm not being side-tracked!" Knuckles moaned, but he decided not to push his luck, "So, where is Silver? Can you locate him, Tails?"

"No, but he should be with Eggman. I'm getting a really big energy reading from the edge of Green Hill Zone. I'm guessing that's where they are."

"Alright. How long until we're there?"

"I'd say a couple of minutes. Tops."

"How's Sonic doing, Amy?" Knuckles shifted in his seat, slightly, allowing him to see Amy, who was seated behind him.

She called out down the plan, while clutching Sonic to her chest, "He's okay. But I don't think he likes the plane. He looks rather pale. Almost green."

"Well, don't let him—"

"Blaaaah!"

"What... is in... my hair?"

"Sorry, Knuckles."

"Sorry. SORRY?! Amy! Why did you lift him up?! Are you trying to cover me in baby sick?! GET IT OFF ME!"

"Stop throwing it around! Ewww! Knuckles! Stop!"

"GET IT OFF!"

"Stop moving!"

"This is disgusting!"

"Knuckles!"

"Sonic! You're so dead!"

Tails sighed, deciding that he didn't want to get involved. He did not want to get into a sicky situation. Besides, he needed to concentrate on Silver. The time traveller needed them.

The fox plunged a lever forward, accelerating the plane and speeding towards the energy source. The radar beeped as they flew, telling them that they weren't far away.

"Not long now, Silver," Tails muttered, gripping the steering wheel, "Just hold on."

"Ahhh… gah, haha," Silver silenced his shock with a gulp, as he stared up at his saviour, "Hi... Blaze."

She didn't speak, at first. Her glare was enough. Silver sunk his teeth into his bottom lip, to prevent himself from begging her not to hurt him. He knew what she could do when she was angry.

Blaze breathed in, "Where have you been?! It's been two weeks! You said you'd be back!"

"I tried! Honestly, I was going to come back as soon as I could! But... stuff happened and, well, it all got a little complicated."

"How complicated could it have gotten? So complicated that you couldn't have teleported back and told me what was going on?"

"Tails took my emerald!"

"Stop making excuses," She muttered, crossly folding her arms. But she seemed relieved, "You're a psychokinetic hedgehog. I'm sure you can handle Tails."

"It wasn't my fault, Blaze! Look, I'm sorry, but I had a good reason. Just let me find Shadow, and then I'll take you to Tails. Then you can see why I couldn't return."

"I'm just glad you're okay."

The comment made him smile and, when Silver heard Blaze sniff, he wondered if she had really been worrying about him. It made him feel tremendously guilty, "Hey, I'm sorry. I can handle myself. Don't worry. You weren't actually concerned, were you?"

"'Course not!" She raised her head, rationally, "Don't be silly."

She had been worrying.

"Look, I—"

Blaze interrupted him, pointing at the sky and smirking, "Hey, there's Tails. You can show me your excuse, Silver."

Tails' bright, blue plane was racing through the skies towards him, hurriedly. When Tails saw them through his polished windscreen, his face broke out in a smile and the place began to slow down. Silver and Blaze retreated backwards, as the plane landed beside them, creating a low-level wind storm.

The wind soon died down, as the passenger capsule popped open, and the team jumped out. Knuckles was the first, who ran across the hill and frantically shook his head. Silver frowned, but he shrugged, before heading towards Tails and Amy. He took Baby Sonic from Amy's arms, allowing her to clamber to the ground. Tails proceeded to shut down the plane's engine, methodically.

Silver shifted Sonic in his arms, adoringly, "Hey, little guy. I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

Sonic responded with a sweet gurgle, as he smiled at Silver, with big, green eyes.

"How has he been?" Silver asked Amy, who was watching from the side-lines, "Has he calmed down now?"

"You bet! I fed him some of my homemade baby food! Vanilla taught me how to make it. He absolutely loves it. I left some in Shadow's apartment. There's a lot, but just come to me if you run out."

"Thanks, Amy," Silver smiled, noticing that Blaze was standing on the edge of the conversation, "Hey, Blaze. Come here. You won't believe this."

"What won't I believe? And where is this excuse of—oh," Blaze rapidly blinked, as she stared down at Sonic. He seemed to recognise her, as a smile crept onto his features. He was a rather happy cub, it seemed, "Whoa."

The time traveller chuckled at Blaze's shocked expression, "Yeah, that's what I said."

"Sonic... I... what happened?"

"We're not entirely sure. Shadow is trying to work that out."

"Speaking of which," Tails leapt down from the pilot's seat, stretching his muscles and clicking his joints, "Shadow contacted me. That's how we found you. He's searching for the laser."

"Laser?"

Tails titled his head to one side, slightly confused, "You don't know? Basically, Shadow and Espio found out that Eggman changed Sonic into an infant with some laser. I don't know how. That's what they're finding out."

"Right, right. I bet they'll find it in no time."

"Hey, guys. Speaking of Eggman, you know that he isn't here?" Knuckles jogged over to them, nervously analysing his dreadlocks. The group frowned, glancing around for the evil genius. Knuckles was right — Eggman must have crawled away in the commotion.

"Should we go after him?" Tails asked, kicking his foot into the grass in frustration.

With a shake of his head, Silver conveyed that he thought it would be no use, "No. There's no point in finding him. It seems like our source of information is back at Eggman's base."

"Sounds good to me," Tails' laugh was interrupted by the beeping of his communicator. He raced towards the Blue Typhoon, pulling out the yellow screen. His thumb pressed the black button on the right side of the screen, activating the video-feed and seeing Shadow's face appear on the communicator, "Shadow! What have you found?"

"Espio has already hacked into the system. He's scanning the minor files. Eggman's red robot suggested that we look through the database to find the laser. He seems to be coming in handy. We'll have the information soon. What's happening with you? Can you handle Eggman by yourselves?"

Shadow tapped his foot, impatiently, as the computer screen scrolled though endless sequences of data. Espio's fingers were rapidly tapping away at the keyboard, as he concentrated on the screen. This was his speciality, along with ninja-skills and invisibility.

The robots were looking on in interest, from the side of the room. Shadow didn't trust them enough to have them close by, but he allowed them to view from a safe distance. He folded his arms, waiting for the information to load on Eggman's monitor. His state-of-the-art computer was far too slow for Shadow's patience.

"Um, actually, Blaze solved that problem. Silver's okay, don't worry," Tails held up his camera, showing Silver safely next to him. Shadow internally breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't show it.

"Why would I worry?" Shadow smirked at Silver's newly-acquired frown.

"Thanks for your concern," Silver snapped, folding his arms, as he stared at Shadow through the connected screen.

"You're a psychokinetic time traveller. You're hardly under-equipped with abilities. I don't think you need my concern."

"That's not the point. Anyway, should we come to you?"

Shadow shook his head, "We'll have the information in a moment. There's no point in voyaging over here. How is it going, Espio?"

"I'm just loading it up... now. Here you go, I think I've found it. A newly-modified laser that reduces the age of a living organism. And it looks like this," Espio pressed the centre button, proudly, as the picture loaded up on the electric screen, "That's what you're looking for."

"By golly, that's it!" Cubot darted forward, seemingly unafraid of Shadow. He beeped, as he pointed at the image, "I remember where it is, now!"

"Perfect timing," Shadow muttered, glaring daggers at the robots. Orbot shifted, nervously, but he was relieved that he wouldn't end up as scrap parts.

At least they knew what they were looking for.

FLASHBACK

"I just don't understand why the Doctor put us on this job. Surely, his Eggpawns are more suited for cleaning. We are built with voice-chips. We are made to converse with people," Orbot despairingly shook his head, as he watched Cubot race around the room with a broom.

The yellow robot paused, cocking his head to one side, as he processed Orbot's complaint, "The Doc said that we were being too annoyin'. How could he say such a thang?! Doesn't he wanna hear my recital of different accents?"

"Oh, be quiet, and help me get this over with," Orbot swept up a couple of contraptions, tentatively placing them onto the shelves, "I don't even know what half of this stuff does!"

"Hey! This one has a label!" Cubot waved an invention in the air, carelessly. It was made of sleek, shiny black metal, which almost shimmered in the light. It was welded into the shape of a handgun, fitting perfectly, even for Cubot's hands, "Let's see!"

The spherical robot sighed, "Please be careful with that."

"Re—duction... in... age for bio—logical organis—ms. What does that mean?" Cubot spun around, as if to see the invention in a different light, "Maybe if I press this button—?"

"Don't!" Orbot's eyes brightened, as he crashed into his yellow companion, grabbing the invention in a panic, "You fool! We were given the task of cleaning! You shouldn't mess around with the Doctor's inventions."

"Aww!" Cubot moaned, almost pleadingly. The red robot paused, considering the amount of damage and trouble that would be caused, if he allowed Cubot to play with the laser. He didn't calculate a final amount, but he assumed that the carnage would have made his head spin.

Orbot whirred across the room, hovering near the doorway, "Let's put it here. That way, you won't be distracted and feel tempted, agreed?"

"Hmm."

Orbot considered that as an agreement.

He fitted his hand into the gun, as he pointed it around the room. Orbot didn't remember the creation of this invention. In truth, he wasn't entirely sure what it did, or why the Doctor had created it. All he could assume was that it did something productive. Doctor Eggman might have been fantastical, but he didn't do things without a purpose.

Orbot was about to disentangle his hand from the gun, when there was a loud explosion which scared him. Instinctively, he clenched his fists, accidentally firing the gun.

"Oh dear," He managed to say, as the laser powered up and fired through the doorway. An eerie turquoise beam shot out of the gun's nozzle, bouncing off the metal wall of Eggman's lair and whizzing down to the control room.

"What was that?" Cubot asked, rushing towards the doorway, to see what was going on. Orbot stuck out his hands, blocking the exit.

"Um, Cubot. Do you think we could keep this to ourselves? I mean, the Doctor doesn't need to know about this."

"Uh?"

"Agreed?"

"Well, sure, I guess."

"Good. Good."

"Then, once we waited for Sonic and Tails to leave, we went to help the Doctor!" Cubot cried, beeping as he finished his story.

Orbot sighed. He seemed keen to forget that he had fired the gun, "Yes, but where did you put the invention, after we helped the Doctor?"

"Now, uh, lemme see. I think it was— no, not there. Ah! I got it! I put it in the safest place I know!"

Shadow expelled a drawn-out sigh through his nose, conveying his irritation, "Where is that?"

"The Archives, of course!"

"Of course," Espio muttered, wearing an amused grin. He wasn't exactly at ease with the situation — he just found it rather interesting to see Shadow the Hedgehog dealing with such chatty minions.

"What are the Archives?" Shadow asked. At least he was finally getting somewhere. If he could find these 'Archives', then he would be able to find the laser.

Orbot whirred excitedly, "The basement in the Doctor's lair. It contains all of the failed and discarded inventions that he's created. But why did you take the laser there, Cubot?"

Cubot didn't even blink, "It seemed like the sensible place to put it."

"Whatever. The point is that we need to get there. Now," Shadow clicked his fingers, before gesturing at the doorway. The robots lead the way for the two fighters. Shadow stalked after them, proudly holding himself.

After a moment's contemplation, Espio sauntered behind the trio. It would give him something to do and, maybe, he would find something useful down there.