Sonic the Hedgehog in

From Friends to Parents

Chapter 20: Protective Mother and Loving Father

That night, Blaze snuck into Eggman's base, though it wasn't an easy process. She had to fight a few robots and evade the security systems that the evil genius had put in place to stop Lance from being taken away. She arrived in the dungeon moments later, her maternal instincts spurring her on to get to her son as soon as possible. She found him in a dirty cell, chained to the wall by his neck like a dog.

Blaze gasped and ran over, worried that he had been neglected while Eggman made some form of plan to use him against them. She melted one of the bars, just so that the young hedgekitten would sense her power and know she was there. She then muttered, to keep from being overheard by Eggman or any robots that might be around, "Lance, are you okay?"

Lance sensed Blaze's power usage, and heard her voice. Smiling, the youngster turned around and gasped, shouting, "Momma, you're here!" He eagerly bounced up and down and began to talk quickly, excited that he was going to get home.

Blaze melted a few more bars and slipped into the cell, then covered her son's mouth, "Shh, quiet, honey. We don't wanna get caught." She hugged him tight once he fell quiet and looked him over head to toe. "Yeah, you're fine. Let's get going then. But be quiet...Eggman doesn't know I'm here, and it'd be better if he never knew I was. You got that, sweetie?"

Lance nodded and followed Blaze.

As mother and son made their way out of the mad scientist's base, another Metal Sonic model appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Blaze glared, and pushed Lance behind her. She would not have her son hurt by Sonic's robot double. She then told him, "Metal, if you stand in my way of getting my son home safely, you'll be delivered to the scrap heap just like your predecessor was. Only, this time...I won't hold back!" She formed a huge fireball in her hand, protective motherly instincts at full force. She wouldn't hesitate for a moment to melt the newer model to a pile of blue and silver goo, as long as her son remained safe and unharmed. She told him, "Lance, go and hide behind those boulders in the corner. I'll take care of Metal Sonic."

Lance spoke up, "But Mom, I wanna help you! Please let me-"

Blaze shook her head, and cut him off, "No, Lance. I'm not taking a chance of you getting hurt. Go and hide. Please." She looked at her son pleadingly and longingly.

Lance responded, "Okay, Mommy. Be careful, though." He hugged her and ran to hide behind the boulders like she had asked him to, though he did peek his head out and around to watch Blaze fight Metal in case she needed help.

Blaze and Metal Sonic fought long and hard, their battle a bright exchange of fireworks as Blaze tried to melt Metal while he tried to shoot her with a laser. Although the battle wasn't going as quickly as Blaze would have liked, she had the upper hand. As the fight wore on, she began to lose her advantage, Metal's skills too close to his living double's for her to keep the edge for long.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only 3 hours, Metal Sonic was defeated, but the battle was obviously difficult on Blaze, because afterwards, she fell to her knees, panting. Using her fire powers for that long was taking its toll on her body.

Lance raced over to her and said, "Mommy, let me help you." He lit up a blue flame on his hand and held it close to Blaze, but not touching her. He was afraid that he wouldn't have enough control to warm her up that way without burning her or risking his own life by giving it too much. The last thing he was wanting to do was scare his mom.

Once Blaze had warmed up enough, she stood up and smiled at her son, affectionately petting his head, "Thank you, Lance. Let's head home. I'm sure your father is worried to death about us by now. He doesn't even know I came here."

Lance smiled and nodded, "Okay, mommy." He began to run, but skidded to a halt at the end of the corridor, hearing a strange sound and noticing huge numbers of robots beginning to pile up in front of them. He turned to Blaze and asked, "Uhh, mommy...is it normal for robots to line themselves up like that?"

Blaze hissed and picked up her son, holding him close to her and explaining, "The only reason they would line up like that is if they found their prey. I guess we were it."

Eggman flew down on his Eggmobile and told her, "Oh-ho, right you are, Blaze. Tell me, does your son have the same...feelings about water as you do?"

Blaze narrowed her eyes, "What makes you think I'd tell you something like that? And let us go...or so help me, I'll make sure you no longer have that mustache." She moved her right hand slightly so that it was in clearer view of Eggman, then ignited the hand with fire, to demonstrate just how serious she was about him letting them go.

Eggman told her, "You will not touch this mustache, do you hear me?! I spend far too much time on it to let it be consumed in the fires of your hatred, Blaze." He smirked and pressed a button on the Eggmobile, a loudspeaker-looking thing appearing, and then broadcasting out a strange, eerie-sounding signal that was intended to turn Lance against Blaze.

Lance yelped and began shaking in Blaze's arms, holding his head, "Mommy...make it STOP! It hurts!" He buried his face in her arm, the pain of Eggman's attempt at mind control unbearable.

Blaze yelled, "Stop this, Eggman! Lance is just a kid! He doesn't deserve any of this!" She leapt at Eggman, but he simply flew higher to escape her wrath.

After a short while of exposure to the sound, Lance blacked out for a short time, then came to. However, his eyes were glassy, unfocused and glowing red. Apparently, Eggman had perfected his mind control ray from the last time. He was now a servant of Eggman...at least for the time being. He burned Blaze, forcing her to drop him, and said, "What do you wish, Doctor?"

Eggman replied, "Finish off Blaze. She has been an obstacle for far too long."

Lance nodded automatically, "Yes, Master." He wheeled on Blaze and began to attack her.

Blaze backpedaled to dodge, but she refused to fight back. She was not going to harm her own son. She told Eggman, tears in her eyes, "You...why, Eggman?"

Eggman smirked, "Because he's your Achilles heel, that's why, Blaze. Now, Lance...do as I have commanded!"

As Lance began to advance on her, Blaze gulped and closed her eyes, summoning forth the will she needed to stand up to her son...and do as a mother should and discipline him, later. She yelled at him, "Lance! Please, don't hurt me. It's me, your mom! I love you! Please...come back!" She went closer and stroked Lance's jaw, igniting a little bit of her fire to let him feel the familiar warmth. Perhaps that would break through Eggman's brainwashing. Or perhaps just sensing the power burst alone would be enough.

Lance gasped and began quivering, having the equivalent of a seizure while his true personality began to break through. He fell to the ground and yelped in pain.

Blaze, relieved that she had gotten through to him but also worried, knelt down in front of him while this was going on, to protect him from Eggman and his robots. She fought them all by herself, though it took a lot out of her because of her earlier fight with Metal. She turned to look back at Lance and noticed that he was unconscious. Hoping that he was all right, she shook him lightly and said, "Lance...honey, please...open your eyes." She held him, motherly concern overriding all other feelings.

Smirking, Eggman took advantage of this and sent a huge robot after her that had a cannon of icy water as its weapon. He said, "Get her, my minion! Finish them!" However, he knew from experience that his robots often failed, so he took off after the robot was released.

The robot fired a ball of icy water at Blaze's back, hitting her smack between the shoulder blades. She yelped in pain and doubled over Lance, determined to protect her own son at any cost. She told him, panting, "Lance...please, wake up." She could already feel her temperature dropping, and his power was the only one that could keep it at a consistent level.

The robot stopped using its cannon and began to fire spiked missiles (A/n: Think of the robot from the OVA..the giant one that got Tails stuck. Yeah, those kinds of missiles) at the two, determined to take them out.

Blaze got hit by two of these, one through the stomach and the other went deep into her shoulder, but she still didn't budge, although she did scream in pain. Her son meant everything to her, and she knew he meant a lot to Sonic too. That was all the reason she needed to risk her life.

Lance was awakened by Blaze's scream and looked up at his mom. At seeing how seriously hurt she was, he gasped and teared up, "Momma! Hang on, we gets you back!" He leapt out of her arms and to his feet, not seeming to have any side effects from the mind control ray. He looked around for Eggman, but the mad scientist was gone. Although, he had left them a robot to fight. Sighing, Lance told Blaze, "Mama, let me fight 'em. You sick and hurted." He had also felt how much lower her body temperature was than normal. That had probably also served as a wake-up call.

Blaze smirked and nodded, "Okay, let's see what you've got. Just let me know if you need help." She would stay nearby of course, and leap in if necessary, but ultimately, she was going to leave this fight to him, since her body temperature was still dropping and she was still hurt pretty badly. After a matter of minutes, Blaze blacked out, shivering.

Lance gulped and finished off Eggman's robot as quickly as he could, which wasn't that far off from how fast his father would have done it. He went over to Blaze and ignited his blue flame again, trying to help her regain enough strength to at least regain consciousness. He sniffled and teared up, "Momma? Pwease..."

Blaze woke up a moment later and slowly sat up. She hugged her son gently and told him, "Thank you. Let's get back...as I was saying before...your dad is probably worried."

Lance replied, "Maybe, mommy...but, shouldn't we rests first? You hurt."

Blaze told him, "And you've been using your powers when you're not used to them yet. Good point. We'll rest a little bit, but then we have to leave here. I don't want your dad to run in here and see me like this." She sat down, showing that she was willing to relax for a little bit.

Lance responded, "Otay, mommy." He lay on her lap and cuddled close, trying to help her stay warm and also warm her up. "Night night." He knew that only his power would be helpful to her. Well, his and Annabelle's...maybe, but they didn't know for sure yet if she would get the gift of flame like Blaze had or not. She was far too young for them to be able to tell.

Blaze smiled and yawned, her son's incredibly warm body temperature making her feel better. She drifted off to sleep.

After about an hour and a half, Blaze and Lance both woke back up and resumed their journey home. They thankfully didn't run into any more resistance from Eggman, and reached Sonic and Annabelle without further incident.

However, Blaze was still injured from fighting the uber-robot that Eggman had used on them and fell, blood pouring from her wounds.

Sonic gasped and ran to her side, still holding Annabelle, "Blaze!"

Blaze told him, "Sorry to have worried you...but I made it back, and...as you can see, I've got Lance too."

Sonic nodded, but crossed his arms and glared a little at her, "Why didn't you tell me you were going after Lance? I would've come along to help you, you know that."

Blaze responded, "Because you were still having your heart problem, Sonic...I didn't want to cause you anymore undue stress. I'm sorry." She winced in pain and leaned into him, though she was careful not to knock Annabelle out of his arms.

Sonic held her up as best he could and said, "No...it's all right, I should be the one apologizing. You did what you thought was right and I can't stop you from doing that. But...it still would've been nice if you told me the truth rather than covering up what you were doing with a lie. You could've easily been killed, and where would that leave Lance, Annabelle, and me?"

Blaze teared up and nodded, seeing his point, "Without a mother. I'm really sorry. I won't do this again." She hugged him and kissed his cheek, knowing they worked better as a team anyway. She just hoped Sonic would forgive her.

Sonic kissed her on the lips, then broke it and said, "I forgive you, but please...don't ever lie to me again. Even if you don't think I'll like what you have to say, just tell me everything. I'll listen."

Blaze responded, "Okay, you've got it." She hugged him, then winced and began to feel more light-headed as the blood loss hit her hard and fast. She told Sonic, "Sonic...let me see Annabelle...please."

Sonic nodded, "Sure." He held the young infant close to her, but still held onto Annabelle. With how shaky Blaze was on her feet, she might end up dropping the baby, and he wasn't going to have any of that.

Blaze smiled and stroked Annabelle's jaw gently with her finger and told her, "Hi, honey." She then blacked out.

Sonic handed Annabelle over to her brother and told him, "Go put Annabelle in her crib. I've gotta get your mom to the hospital."

Lance responded, "Otay, daddy. Me come too?"

Sonic shook his head, "No. I need you to stay here and look after your sister. You've seen what mommy and I do when we're taking care of her, right?"

Lance nodded, "Yeah, Daddy. Otay...I try. Pwease...make sure mommy gets okay."

Sonic replied, "The doctors will do everything they can, Lance."

Lance responded, "I know dey will...but I still scared."

Sonic hugged him tentatively with one arm and told him, "Yeah, you're not the only one. Oh, and call your Aunt Amy. Let her know that she needs to stay with you until I can get back."

Lance obeyed, telling him, "Of course, Daddy. I love Aunt Amy! She so fun! Sees you later!" He ran up the stairs with Annabelle in his arms and did what he could to place her in the crib, reaching up slightly to let down the right-side rail. After putting her down, he put the rail back up and went to call Amy.

After finding out what was happening, Amy replied, "Okay. I'll be right over, Lance. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

Lance nodded, "Okey. Thanks, Aunt Amy."

Amy responded, "You're welcome." She hung up the phone and told Knuckles what was happening, then left and went to Sonic's, followed by Knuckles. Hopefully, things would resolve soon and Sonic and Blaze would be able to enjoy a peaceful life with their children, unhindered by Eggman or anyone else. It would take a while, of course, but it could happen.