From Friends to Parents

Chapter 14

About a month later, Blaze was sitting in the relatively brand-new nursery, feeding Lance. It was a somewhat rainy and cloudy day, though occassionally the sun would peek out from behind the clouds. She seemed very at peace, and Sonic wouldn't do anything to disrupt that. He watched mother and son quietly and protectively. He would die before he let anything happen to them. As Blaze was about to switch Lance over to her other breast, she and Sonic both heard something and she held Lance close, slightly afraid of what it could be.

Sonic glared and stood in front of her and Lance, ready to face whatever was coming. A moment later, several robots came into their house, followed by Eggman. Eggman said, "Well well, what do we have here? Sonic and Blaze caught off their guard? A rare moment, to be sure."

Sonic replied, "I'm not off my guard, Eggman. Quite the contrary, I'm more ready to face you than I've ever been." He started attacking the robots right away, not about to let them harm Blaze or Lance in any way. As he got down to the last one, Eggman laughed, having been holding back his strongest robot. He told Sonic, "I hope you're ready for the grand finale, Sonic, because this robot far surpasses Emerl, even Omega. He was only recently developed." He pressed a button and the curled up form of a robot dropped down from the Eggmobile.

As it uncurled, it was revealed to have Shadow at its core, running off of his life force. Apparently Eggman had captured him at some point in the last few weeks and knew full well that Sonic would not go up against one of his allies. Sonic growled and said, "Eggman, how could you do that to Shadow after everything he's went through in the past few weeks?"

Eggman chuckled, "I don't know what you're talking about, Sonic, but I figure that under a lot of duress, Shadow operates better than anyone I know. So, I took off his rings and am using all his power to use this robot. I hope you enjoy fighting it!"

However, Shadow appeared to be keeping the robot under tight control, not attacking Sonic and merely sitting there in the robot shell, staying curled up because of the intense pain of his body ripping itself apart. He told Sonic, "Sonic...please, you have to defeat this robot! Maybe I have no chance of living, but you, Blaze and your young son still do!" A moment later, awakened by Shadow's plea to Sonic, the robot began to come to life, drawing its energy from Shadow.

Shadow let out a cry of pain, then collapsed to the floor of the core. Even though some of the dangerous excess Chaos energy had been taken, his body was still trying to tear itself apart. However, remembering about his promise to Maria, and the fact that he had a child of his own on the way, gave the ebony hedgehog the motivation he needed to hold on. He used all the strength he had to hold the robot back, not wanting to hurt Sonic.

Eggman smirked, "I thought it might come to that. That's why I put this in there." He took out a remote control and pressed a button on it. It would override Shadow's command of the robot and enable him to attack Sonic regardless of what Shadow told the robot to do.

Shadow let out a yelp as he felt an electrical surge go through the robot's shell. What had just happened? What was Eggman doing? He shouted, "What did you just do, doctor?"

Eggman told him, "I overrided your control of the robot with a simple press of a button. Now, regardless of what you tell it to do, the robot will attack Sonic, drawing on your energy until you die."

Sonic gasped at hearing this, "Die? No, Eggman, I won't let you kill Shadow!" He curled up into a ball and hit the Eggmobile, causing Eggman to drop the remote, although it was already too late. The robot was advancing on Blaze and Lance. He growled again and leapt in front of them, "If you think I'm letting you hurt them, think again, Eggman! I'll find a way to save everyone!"

Shadow shouted at Sonic from within the core of the robot, "Stay back, Sonic, don't try to get in its way! You might get killed!"

Sonic smiled, "I'm not afraid to die, Shadow, especially not to protect Blaze and my son." He then looked to Eggman, "Well, what's it gonna be? Call off the robot and release Shadow? Or am I gonna have to be unnecessarily rough?"

Eggman smirked, "Do your worst. That robot is made of the strongest metal I could find, so breaking it won't be quite as easy as it was with the other ones."

Sonic replied, "Yeah, we'll see about that." He leapt at the robot, using a Homing Attack. As he bounced off of it, and landed back in front of Blaze and Lance, he was shocked to see that it had taken no damage. Or rather, was repairing itself. He heard Shadow crying out in pain within the core and glared, "What's going on, Eggman?"

Eggman told him, "I finally developed a robot with the ability to repair itself using Chaos energy, and since Shadow's body is crawling with it at the moment..."

Sonic glared and finished, "It's taking the energy from him to heal itself. That's just great..." The robot fired a laser beam at his chest a moment later, but he didn't dare move. He knew that either Lance or Blaze would get hurt if he did, and that wasn't something he wanted to see happen. He collapsed to his knees, clutching the right side of his chest and panting at the extreme burning sensation.

Eggman smirked, "Heh, a little more than you bargained for, Sonic?"

Sonic rose to his feet again, ignoring the pain of his injury, "Maybe so, but if you think I'm just gonna give up, you've got another thing coming, Eggman!" He leapt again at the robot, using a Spin Attack.

The robot swatted him back, then pinned him to the wall near Blaze, crushing him.

Blaze's eyes teared up and she shouted, "Stop! Leave Sonic alone! I'll go with you or whatever you want! Just don't kill him, please!" She wouldn't be able to bear it if Sonic died on her behalf, for she didn't want their child to have to grow up without a father.

Eggman smirked, "That's more like it, Blaze." He pressed a button on the Eggmobile and a large hook came out the bottom of it. It went around Blaze and Lance.

Sonic struggled beneath the weight of the robot, breathing hard and coughing up blood because of his fractured ribs. He managed to shout, "Blaze! Lance! Nooo!" All of a sudden, the Chaos Emeralds appeared around him, as if they were trying to help the blue hedgehog protect his family. Although his battered body was tired, he closed his eyes and Chaos energy flowed into him from the Emeralds, enabling him to become Super Sonic. He fired pure Chaos energy through the head of the robot, not wanting to harm Shadow.

The robot was damaged, but Shadow remained untouched. Sonic, still in super form, asked him, "Where did Eggman put your power rings?"

Shadow replied weakly, "He's got them inside his Eggmobile."

Sonic nodded, "I'll get it then, since Blaze is somewhat hooked on it at the moment too." He flew over to Eggman and demanded, "Give me my family back, and return Shadow's power rings!"

Eggman smirked, "Or what? Maybe you did destroy the head of my robot and free Shadow, but it's still perfectly capable of operating without him inside." He said, "My minion, activate independent servers and destroy Shadow and Super Sonic!"

The robot roared to life and started firing off its lasers.

Sonic grabbed Shadow and dodged each beam, smirking. Since he was in Super form, he was faster and more agile, despite his body's bad condition. He taunted the robot, "Is that the best you can do? I'm getting bored already."

Shadow rolled his eyes and told him, "Careful, Sonic. Your ego is showing." He then let out a cry of agony, his body still trying to tear itself apart since he didn't have his power rings.

Sonic heard Shadow's cry and frowned, "We gotta get you your power rings." He set the black hedgehog on the ground and flew over to Eggman. He smashed the front of the Eggmobile and Shadow's power rings fell out. He snatched them up and put them back on Shadow's arms, "There, is that better?"

Shadow nodded, "Yes, much. Thank you, Sonic." He glared at Eggman, "We're going to teach you a lesson, once and for all. Are you ready, Sonic?"

Sonic smiled and nodded, "More than ever."

Eggman told them, "Now hang on, you two. Don't forget that I have Blaze right here. Any attack you make on me might also hit her."

Shadow cursed and said, "He's right. We'll have to be careful."

Sonic responded, "Darn it, let them go, Eggman! What has Lance ever done to you? He's innocent in all this!"

Eggman replied, "Maybe he is, but you and Blaze have caused me enough trouble on your own. He is the perfect specimen for my next experiment."

Blaze hissed and told him, "If you think I'll let you make my son into some type of guinea pig, think again, Eggman!" She held Lance really close to her chest and threw a fireball at Eggman with her free hand, setting his mustache on fire.

Eggman smacked at his face, putting out the fire before it totally consumed his mustache. He then told Sonic and Blaze, "All right, you asked for this!" He tugged Lance free of Blaze's arms and put a shocker collar on him.

Blaze lunged at Eggman, "Give me my son back, you bastard!" She tried to get Lance back, all the maternal instinct within her released.

Eggman told her, "Nah-ah." He pressed a button and the shock collar activated, shocking the baby hedgehog.

Lance let out a scream, then began bawling, not understanding what was going on.

Sonic and Blaze both flinched and were frozen for a moment, afraid that permanent harm had befallen their son.

Then, Sonic flew over to the Eggmobile and destroyed the collar with Chaos energy, as he was still in Super form. He would make Eggman pay for that, and dearly. As he was about to punch Eggman relentlessly for causing his son undue pain, the robot came up behind him and grabbed him. He struggled hard, but the robot managed to get the Chaos Emeralds out of him and he returned to his normal self. Even though he was banged up pretty bad, Sonic still tried to rescue Blaze and Lance. He said, "Eggman, you let them go!"

Eggman chuckled and said, "Not a chance, Sonic. As long as I have them, I hold your future in my very hands."

Sonic cursed slightly and lunged at the Eggmobile, being careful not to hit Blaze and Lance. However, some kind of shield came up and bounced him back, causing him to drop and land on his head. He rubbed his head, dazed for the moment and hurting all over from the beating he had received.

However, Eggman flew up higher in response, getting out of his reach.

In the distance, Metal Sonic watched everything happening, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Blaze called out, worried about her husband, "Sonic!" She could tell that the battle was taking its toll on him. "Stop the fighting, now! If you're going to capture me and our son, just do so already and stop tormenting Sonic!"

Eggman smirked, "Gladly my dear." He began to fly away.

Sonic called after them, "Blaze, you and Lance hang in there! I'll come for you!" Tears were in his eyes as he fell to his knees, the long battle catching up with him and worried that something might happen to his young family in his absence.

Blaze shouted back, "I know you will! Don't worry, I'll do everything I can!" She was worried about Sonic too. He had been hurt so badly.

Shadow, not about to let their lives be ruined because of his promise to Maria to help others live happy lives, turned into Super Shadow and flew after the Eggmobile. He flew straight through the cable connecting the hook holding Blaze and Lance to the vehicle, like a knife through butter. He then shouted to Sonic as he noticed them plummeting toward the ground, "Catch them, Sonic!"

Sonic smiled and nodded, having followed. Seeing Shadow in Super form just to help him out, made him feel all the better about having helped him out of a slump, "Gladly." He ignored the pain of his injuries for the moment and leapt up into the air, grabbing Blaze and Lance and setting them gently on the ground. As he was about to run back towards his house with the two of them, he felt something metallic grab his leg, effectively tripping him and causing him to drop the two most important people in his life at the moment.

It was Metal Sonic. The robot appeared determined to ruin Sonic's life by helping Eggman at the moment. He said, "Dr. Eggman, I will hold off Sonic. You just get Blaze and his son out of here."

Eggman smirked and nodded, "Thank you, Metal." He turned to Sonic, "You see, my minions are all loyal to me in the end. Even if they say they are acting on their own agendas, they know who their real boss is. Thankfully, I put more than one hook in this thing." He pressed another button and a flame-resistant hook came out of the bottom of his Eggmobile and wrapped around Blaze and Lance. He then left the area, not giving Blaze or Sonic a chance to retaliate.

Sonic was already making his way to follow them, but Metal's attacks were endless.

Shadow, still in Super Form, fired off some Chaos Spears to effectively end the battle for Sonic so that he could go save his family. However, it appeared to be too late. Eggman was gone. He sighed and went back to normal, "Sonic, you can stop fighting. Eggman has them."

Sonic, feeling hope starting to leave him, continued to fight despite the fact that it was fruitless now. He punched Metal in the stomach, taking out his frustration on his robot double, "You stupid piece of shit! If I hadn't been dealing with your stupid ass, I would've been able to save Blaze! Now I might lose them cause of you!" He continued pummeling the robot, making dent after dent in its body.

Shadow held him back after a while, feeling that the robot had probably had enough. He said, "Sonic, calm down. That's not doing any good. I know you're worried, but destroying Metal Sonic won't solve anything. We need to come up with a strategy to rescue your wife and son."

Sonic nodded, "You're right...but I'll be damned if I let Eggman kill them."

Shadow responded, "We're not gonna let that happen. Come on, let's get to the others and start formulating a strategy for the ambush of Eggman's base."

Sonic asked, "Will Knuckles be able to though? I mean, he does have the twins to think about now..."

Shadow told him, "He can ask Amy to babysit. It's not like she had anything else planned anyway."

Sonic sighed and nodded, "Fine. Let's go then." He walked off, staring at the empty space where Blaze and Lance had been. It felt like part of him was missing. He felt..incomplete and lost without them. He hoped the rescue wouldn't take too long. Being separated from Blaze was never an easy thing, and Lance was only a small infant. Neither deserved to be a prisoner and he was going to ensure that they didn't stay that way long.

As the two of them made their way back, Sonic fell to the ground, beginning to feel the physical toll of the battle more now that they were some distance from where his family had been taken from him. His fractured ribs hurt and a lot now that there wasn't adrenaline and Chaos Energy pumping through his body and making an effective numbing agent. Even breathing was starting to get painful and that wasn't good. He wheezed painfully, lying on the ground.

Shadow saw Sonic fall and helped him up. He figured it was the least he could do after Sonic had saved him on several occasions. He said, "Sonic...your ribs are broken. Why did you keep on battling? You could have been killed."

Sonic smiled at him and answered, "I kept battling because it was the right thing to do. It wouldn't be right to let Eggman take them away...without..." He wheezed and coughed a little blood, then said, "putting up some kind of fight, right?"

Shadow nodded, "Very true. There is no greater purpose in battling than to do it for the ones you care for. Come on, let's get you to a hospital. We can make a contingency plan there to help Blaze and Lance."

Sonic nodded and blacked out, the pain of his fractured ribs too much.

Upon arriving at the hospital with the unconscious blue hedgehog, Shadow explained the situation to one of the nurses, who admitted Sonic and took him to the OR. After a long operation, Sonic was put in a room and left there.

Shadow called Amy, Tails and Knuckles. He didn't call Rouge, as he was still sore at her for not telling him she was pregnant before she had. Well...actually, he did try, but she wasn't home so he left her a message telling her that Sonic was in the hospital and that she should come whenever she feels like it, just as long as he isn't there too. Even just being in the same room as the sultry bat made him nervous. Not that he would tell anyone or show that.