Chapter 11: The Night Binge
Sonic awoke a few hours later in the evening to find himself in a completely different place from where he fell asleep. He clearly wasn't back in the recovery room anymore. The first thing he saw was the sky-blue coloured walls surrounding him and then the massive space that the room had to offer. As he looked around, he couldn't believe his luck; he had to pinch himself to reassure himself that this was no dream. The room had a large shelf of books and comics; there was a large flat-screen T.V. mounted on the wall at the end of his bed, with a Disc player underneath it. It had a music player with wireless headphones and CDs galore to use. There were also comfy chairs to relax in and even a desk to read on. He could now pass the hours in style and delectation.
He then looked out the massive window that took up one entire wall. The sun was setting below the horizon; he could practically see everything from where he was and also noticed that the room was many stories above the ground, which was beneath him. And from what Sonic saw on the computer map hanging on a wall, he was in one of the towers in a corner of the base. This was one of the highest places in the fortress.
'Now, this is what I call service!' Sonic thought to himself.
XXX
The next day, the blue hedgehog departed from his room and took a look around. It didn't take him too long to find Eggman.
"Mooorning, Egghead!" Came a loud, cheeky and cheerful voice from behind the doctor, startling him into turning around from something so loud, so early in the morning.
As soon as the scientist saw Sonic, he was surprised at the hedgehog's clean and healthy appearance; all signs of a fever gone and also looking slightly plump in form. You could've mistaken him for Classic Sonic, but the green eyes and height were the only flaws.
"Well, well! You're looking much better. I guess the medicine worked."
"At least one of your inventions finally works…" Sonic teased as he walked away.
Suddenly he heard a sneeze behind him. It seemed as though Eggman had caught the cold.
'Best day of my life!' Sonic thought with a cocky smirk and his hands draped behind his head, while walking away.
"I heard that!"
'He, he…Oops!' The hedgehog chuckled to himself.
XXX
Sonic soon learned that he could prevent some of his thoughts from being heard by not focusing on or thinking of the one person who could hear them.
XXX
After one final health inspection, Eggman took down some more notes on some paper. Sonic looked around the room and his gaze fell on something long and shiny in the doctor's coat pocket. 'Crap! A needle!' Was Sonic's first thought, but upon further inspection, he found out that it was a pen. Sonic reached out and grabbed it, out of curiosity. 'Yoink!' It had a small red button on the top and it had Eggman's name written on the side. 'This is no ordinary pen' Sonic pondered while observing it and then it became clear what it really was. '…It's an I.D access pen! I remember Tails having one of these! Now I can go places that I was forbidden to go! Good luck trying to keep me locked in my room now, Egghead!' He then placed the pen in his sock, just before Eggman turned around.
"Well, that's it, Sonic. We're finished here."
"Great!" The blue hedgehog replied and zipped off.
XXX
Later on, Sonic was walking down the halls with Eggman. The hedgehog had continuously persuaded and pestered the doctor to show him around, so he would no longer get lost. They had already been to the kitchen, library, lounge, wreck room and gym. The blue blur wondered how often the gym was used.
To Sonic, it was a lot of fun listening to the scientist explaining the history of the base, to every little fact and detail of each room that they had visited. The blue-furred rodent had never heard Eggman sound so mellow before; it was like listening to a whole different person, but it was the same human.
"…And that concludes the tour, Sonic. Satisfied?" The doctor asked with a raised eyebrow, while looking over to the hedgehog.
"Great enough! That was useful information. Thank you! Hopefully, I don't have to worry about getting lost anymore." Sonic replied. "I think I'll head to the kitchen for a snack. I'll see you later."
Sonic then walked a few steps ahead of Eggman, intending to head to the kitchen. Before he was going to disappear around a corner, he looked back towards the doctor and smiled with happiness and content. Eggman saw his expression and was quite surprised with the placid look. The doctor then saw a strange and unusual change in Sonic's behaviour; one moment Sonic was standing, in a confident and courageous posture and the next, he was starting to sway, as if dizzy and sagged against the wall. He then collapsed towards the ground.
"SONIC!" The doctor shouted as he ran towards him and caught him right before he hit the floor. The blue hedgehog lay limp in the doctor's arms. Eggman then turned him around.
"Sonic, come on! Wake up! Speak to me!"
He then decided to check for a heartbeat;
Nothing.
Eggman then placed Sonic flat on his back on the floor. He had no choice but to revive him without any instruments or devices, since none were nearby. The doctor detested the fact that he had to do a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; he could only scarcely imagine where Sonic's mouth had been and if he carried any diseases.
The scientist then bent down close to the hedgehog's fawn coloured muzzle.
"HUH?!" Was a sound uttered.
Eggman looked down to see a very ticked off hedgehog. With enormous, fiery glowing emerald green eyes. They both stared at each other for a second. Eggman had an astonished look on his face, while Sonic looked really peeved with a deep scowl on his face; his eye crest (ridge between the eyes) came all the way down to his muzzle, just like Shadow's always was.
"Sonic?! I thought you were dead!" The doctor spoke in a very relieved tone.
He was then silenced as Sonic slapped him across the face, with his hand.
"What the hell, Eggman?!" The blue blur shouted while growling.
"You collapsed and I thought you died." The doctor replied as he helped the hedgehog to stand up.
Sonic stopped growling and looked at the human with confusion in his eyes. He then took a calming breath as the doctor's words sank in.
"I'm sorry." Sonic said with a sad expression, ears and tail drooped. "You were just trying to help me. It was a misunderstanding."
"What happened?" The scientist asked him with curiosity.
"I know what's wrong with me. I'm close to my time of hibernation; it's only a day or two away and sometimes I pass out all of a sudden." Sonic stated.
"That explains why you eat so much now; I mean look at you. You're a bit heavier than usual. If you ask me, you're starting to relate to me." Eggman joked.
Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at this and pushed the doctor away playfully. "Says you!"
Eggman chuckled at this, then continued. "I think I should lock you in your room later, so that you don't wonder off and hurt yourself. Only temporarily of course until you stop."
"It wouldn't hurt, I suppose."
Sonic and Eggman then headed towards the kitchen.
XXX
Sonic awoke during the night. He took the pen from his drawer and walked up to the door. Sonic decided to press the button on the pen.
The door immediately slid open and Sonic drew a fist close to his side in victory and triumph. "Yes!" He whispered quietly and hoped Eggman didn't install sensors in the room. The blue hedgehog then walked down the hallway, looking for some form of entertainment. He just hoped that the doctor was in bed and no bots were patrolling the halls at this hour. He then noticed a few rotating security cameras hanging on the ceiling and rotating in a rhythmic manner, back and forth, while scanning the area. Sonic however just used his fleet movements to dodge out of range.
The blue hedgehog chuckled confidently while running down the hallway. 'You're too slow!'
Soon he dodged all the cameras. 'Heh…No problem…piece of cake!' Sonic cockily remarked to himself with a grin on his face. He then noticed a lounge room, entered it and then saw the kitchen after that. 'Ah-ha! Perfect! A midnight snack!'
"GOTCHA!" A voice shouted.
A startled Sonic suddenly jumped behind a chair, fearing that he'd been seen and would be punished for it.
"NOW, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!" Sonic felt his heart beating against his chest in fright.
He then looked carefully around the recliner, towards the source of the noise.
"AND THAT'S CHECKMATE, PARTNER!" Cubot replied as he won yet another chess game against his best friend.
"OH! I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T SEE THAT!" Orbot responded with surprise as he was scratching his head.
"THAT'S PATHETIC! EVEN I SAW THAT COMING FROM A MILE AWAY!" Metal Sonic replied while observing the game.
"DON'T WORRY… I'LL GET HIM THIS TIME!" Orbot said with monotone confidence.
"HEY! KEEP IT DOWN! WE'RE TRYING TO WATCH OUR SHOW!" A robotic chicken stood up from the sofa and shouted towards the three.
"YEAH! KEEP IT DOWN!" A smaller robot with drills as hands and a nose added.
"YEAH! YEAH! WE DON'T WANT THE BOSS WAKING TO CATCH US SLACKING OFF FROM OUR WORK!" A robotic monkey replied with a squeaky voice.
'Well, well! When the doctor's away, the bots play! Looks like Eggman still uses old school bots to do his dirty work. I haven't seen Scratch, Grounder or Coconuts since Tails and I were pups.' Sonic thought as he watched all Eggman's creations messing in the room. Even Bocoe and Decoe were in the room playing videogames on the other side of the room.
Then Bokkun, a small black, flying robot entered the room from the two folding doors in the kitchen. He was carrying a large tray with cans on it. "HEY GUYS! ROUND TWO OF MOTOR OIL! GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!"
All the robots suddenly gathered around the tray of drinks and Sonic saw this as an opportunity to sneak past them. In a burst of speed, he whipped around and zoomed into the kitchen, without being seen.
Sonic looked around the kitchen. The first thing he noticed was how the kitchen was coloured in black countertops and white tables; even the floor was designed in black and white tiles, quite similar to the chess game Orbot and Cubot were playing. The bored hedgehog walked over to the silver table and looked at his distorted reflection on its surface. Deciding to have a bit of fun, he made faces and struck poses at his reflection, until he grew tired of it and heard his stomach growl. That was when he remembered why he had snuck out of his room in the first place.
His gaze then fell on the large, shiny, coal-coloured refrigerator; like a moth to a flame, he was drawn to it immediately, just itching to see what was inside. "I wonder what Egghead's got to eat?" He asked aloud to himself. The blue blur then placed a gloved hand over the cool, metallic handle and opened up.
Dozens of food varieties greeted him. Massive cakes, pies, drinks of every flavour imaginable, and a massive turkey that was larger than his head-! The light from the fridge further illuminated the wide, bright grin on his face. "HA-HA! Jackpot!" Sonic chuckled. He couldn't believe that he was seeing this. Just to be sure he wasn't a dream; he opened the cabinets beside the fridge and found even more goodies inside. Sonic dashed back to the door to the lounge and peeked quietly through the ajar door. All the robots had resumed their lounging and hadn't noticed anything unusual. Finding himself alone and incognito, Sonic returned to the fridge and started to consume all the food that he could get his hands on.
XXX
An hour later, Sonic scooped up a plate of chilidogs in the fridge. He had decided to save the best for last and shoved them down his throat. He finished his gorging spree with a gulp of Sprite, right out of its two-litre bottle.
"HEY!" A voice shouted from behind the blue hedgehog.
Sonic's emerald eyes widened and he dropped the bottle onto the floor, over fear of being discovered; its contents spilled out into the rest of the rubbish lying on the floor. There were fish and turkey bones here, fruit remains there, along with empty bags of cookies and crisps. It was also covered with jellies, syrup and other sticky substances. He whipped his entire body around in a full 180° jump towards the door. He accidently let out a loud, rumbling belch, while attempting to say "YOU?!" As he recognised the robot confronting him.
"Hello, Scratch!" Sonic said in a sarcastic greeting while waving towards the metal bird.
"Who said you could eat all the food?!" The robotic chicken growled.
"Hey, I didn't eat everything! I can't drink the motor oil, since I'm no robot." Sonic replied.
"Dr. Robotnik is going to be mad! Wait till I get my hands on you!" Scratch growled angrily. He then hesitated, knowing that he wouldn't win against the legendary Blue Blur.
"What's the matter, Scratch? Chicken?!" Sonic taunted with a tilted head, raised eyebrow and a cocky smirk. He then proceeded to imitate a chicken, by folding his arms and flapping them as wings. "BUCK! BUCK! BUCK! BUCK-GARK!"
This enraged Scratch. He immediately charged towards Sonic, at full speed. Sonic, however saw this and quick-stepped at the last second. The metallic chicken missed and instead hit the fridge, head-on. This caused a loud crash, which alerted all the robots in the next room and they came charging in to the kitchen.
As soon as they saw Sonic, they decided to gang up on him. The hedgehog stood his ground and folded his arms, as they all circled around him in the middle of the room. He then kept turning his head, eying each one as it approached him.
Sonic chuckled nervously. "Heh, heh…You know, guys…Nine against one isn't exactly fair…
…FOR YOU!" Sonic then shouted out confidently.
In a burst of speed, he charged out the exit, knocking all the bots to the ground. "STRIKE!" Sonic called out happily as he glanced behind him to inspect the damage he caused. "Well, I'm going back to sleep! See ya, slow-mos!" He then stuck out his tongue, blew a raspberry and then departed, leaving the bots to clean up his mess.
The bots got up and groaned from the pain in their circuitry and the fact that the kitchen was unrecognisable from the rubbish heap and they'd have to clean it up before Eggman saw it. The robots waded through the gooey mess and peered in the fridge. Sure enough, there were a few cans of motor oil in there. They each grabbed one and intended to clean up the room right after it.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" A very recognisable voice thundered behind them. "Just look at my kitchen; it's a disaster area!"
All the bots coughed and spluttered, choking from their beverages. They slowly turned around, knowing exactly who they'd find.
Eggman then saw the vacant cupboards and empty fridge. "You ate EVERYTHING in the fridge?!" The doctor scolded them with a scowl; he looked really steamed. "Oh, you greedy gluttons are REALLY going to get it now!"
"But- but, we didn't do it! Coconuts cried.
"Yeah, it was Sonic!" Grounder added.
"WHAT?! What are you talking about?! He can't get out without my I.D pen, which I wave right here." He then fished out the I.D pen from his pocket and showed it to the bots. "And just to prove that you're wrong, I'll go and check on him right now."
XXX
Eggman headed towards Sonic's new bedroom. As he walked along the corridor towards it, the moon suddenly shone out from behind the black clouds and basked the hall in an eerie red glow. Eggman looked up at the full moon and saw it was now a crimson colour rather than white; late winter (December) was now here. He used the I.D pen to open the door, never realising that the hedgehog had returned it after his snack and before the doctor awoke from the commotion in the kitchen.
He slowly entered the dark bedroom, seeing many silhouettes, shadows and strange shapes on the walls. He then made his way over to the bed to check on Sonic. He saw a strange form on the bed, which looked like the hedgehog was sleeping in a curled up position.
He gently put his hand on where he believed the blue blur's shoulder was located under the heap.
Only for it to suddenly sink down to the mattress. Eggman then drew back the quilt in astonishment – to find the bed unoccupied and empty with a lack of hedgehog.
He then turned on the light, expecting Sonic to be hiding in the room, just waiting to scare him, but he was nowhere to be found in the room.
Sonic was gone.
XXX
To be continued…