It had been months…no, years...since Eggman had been able to cause trouble on any substantial level. His fleet destroyed some years ago on Mobius left him with little to his name, save a few of his robots. He'd known it was a mistake to mass all his forces in Needle Canyon, but with Eggman Nega supposedly backing him up, things should have gone smoother.
The rotund scientist probably should have been grateful just to be alive, but with the few dunderheaded robots he was left with, restarting the factories would be a chore at best. He'd decided to stay on Mobius after the failed attack, and didn't hear about the new World Gates until several months had passed. (He rarely strayed near Mobian settlements since they were likely to arrest him on sight.)
In one of his factories, he gave favorable physical modifications to Kunoichi, who'd been salvaged from the Egg Fort. She had a faintly catlike appearance, so it was natural that the aesthetic alterations made her feline in appearance. She was a rather lovely gray lynx with white markings, a faintly jewel-like quality to her eyes the only thing betraying her metal core. She regularly secured resources and monetary spoils to the doctor (though it was mostly food to begin with) until he had a better vantage point to start with. Only one of his bases hadn't been discovered and barred from him, which was another factor that stunted the rebuilding of his armies.
Eggman had taken one cue from his genetic twin, however. Though his new force was small, it was highly specialized and intelligent. This meant he would have to take his time with his machinations, but he hoped it would be worth it. Obviously, numerous mindless drones were not doing anything for him but making him look bad, and semi-incompetent ones were failing even at comic relief these days.
Metal Sonic was far more fleshed out now, in more ways than one. His shiny blue frame was sleeker, metal spikes longer, claw-like fingers more dexterous. He was retooled for more close range combat, with typical eye lasers and a few missiles to compensate long range. His "skin" was far more durable than his old frame, and he had a few tricks up is sleeve, so to speak. The most refreshing change in his mind, however, came from the redesign in his face. While he still sported a spiky metallic nose, he had a malleable expression and broader range of emotion in his vocalizations, which he personally tuned to a slightly deeper register than the original Sonic. As a final touch, he expressed more personality, leaning up against the side of a wall as if thoroughly bored.
"...Are we there yet?" the automation asked in a raspy tone.
"Almost, Metal. Anxious to test your new abilities?" He grinned proudly at his "best work."
"Sort of. I just want to move." He shrugged indifferently. "Standing around, waiting, it's just plain boring."
Eggman snorted. "I gave you enough exercise going after Sonic a few days ago, wasn't that enough?"
"No. I bet he didn't even tell anyone about it." The robot sounded a bit disappointed. He'd been the one mainly in charge of retrieving emeralds, so coming into contact with Sonic was expected. Since the doctor was on the move, however, it seemed he'd waited long enough that few people remembered the terror he'd caused over a decade ago and they'd acquired six of the seven without difficulty. His conflict with Sonic was both a test and to try to find out where the last was hidden... Eggman had instructed him to hold back, which he did, only using physical force against Sonic, but his only comment was along the lines of "Nice makeover, Metal! Who's your stylist?" and not being allowed to open up meant they were simply on even footing... He wanted more.
While he'd found out it was in Shadow the hedgehog's possession, that didn't help much, and Eggman was surprisingly unwilling to go after the black and red bastard. Now that the emerald had moved, it was possibly out of his hands, and the reason they were headed at last to Earth.
"Don't worry about it, I want to keep low key until we fulfill our objectives." Eggman grinned.
"Umm...Eggman-sama...would you mind...reminding me what those objectives are?" a thin gold robot, supposedly steering the ship, inquired.
Eggman let out an exasperated sigh. 'I really should have scrapped some of them...damn my sentiments….' "World domination, business as usual," he sneered, rolling the ends of his red, yet white-tinged mustache between thumb and forefinger. He was really getting too old for this, and this was likely to be his final chance. "We gather the emeralds and threaten to take out cities with the Eclipse Canon, Mk. II."
"But what about Sonic and the others?" the fatter silver humanoid-robot inquired. "They always interfere."
Eggman rubbed his temples. "Yes, yes, That is exactly why I built up Metal Sonic and Kunoichi, not to mention the others…. There's a match for every damn furry headache."
"Weird you made them all like Mobians," a weird floating little robot mused. He hovered in the air with a hand under his chin and legs folded as though he were sitting on the floor. "I mean, don't you hate Mobians?"
"Yes, Bokkun, I do!" He grabbed at the bot, to throw him across the room, though he flew just out of range, annoyingly so. "That's why bringing them down with their own forms should serve as grand irony." He smirked.
"Umm...but Kunoichi's a cat...and the only cat we have on record is Big the Cat, and he's, well...fat." The tall one received a knock on the head from the feline robot.
"Hmph. I am not fat! Decoe!" she hissed convincingly.
As long as it had been since E-91 was given synthetic fur, Eggman had done a good enough job to be sufficiently freaked out by her strength, as if not expecting it from a Mobian. "We'll be at the gate soon, and then the 'fun' begins." All of Eggman's pearly whites shone brilliantly in the artificial light of the deck.
"Eggman-sama...sir!" the short silver humanoid bot asked timidly.
"What is it, Bocoe!?" Eggman growled irritably.
"Umm...it looks like we have guests!" He brought up an image on the screen of a female fox with two tails, carrying a sky blue and black hedgehog, though the colors were obscured some by the darkness.
Eggman frowned slightly. 'Well this is a surprise...' He hoped he'd accounted for the Freedom Fighter's children well enough with the units he'd made. "E-91, get into your combat gear. Metal? Make yourself useful. Decoe? Bocoe!? Alert security but don't sound any alarms..." The fat man snorted. 'Let's see what these kids are capable of...'
"Yes, Sir!" the two humanoid bots called, tripping over each other to do Eggman's bidding, while the two Mobian-based robots carried out their duties more casually, leaving the room in a dignified manner.
"Damn good ramen." Blitz smirked, patting his tummy contentedly.
Amy shook her head. "Uhg...you're terrible!" she scolded her eldest son.
"Yeah, you didn't bring any sushi," Rift, the younger hedgehog put in with a grin. "Just put a big ol' glop of wasabi on it and mmm mmm...!"
The pink hedgehog paled. Wasabi was basically Japanese horseradish, and describing the taste as intense was an understatement…more like a kick in the teeth, then you put that on raw fish? She shuddered at his eating habits. "Eww...just no...no NO!" Both boys laughed. "Sonic... please make them stop!"
Sonic covered his mouth in order to hide the smirk he just couldn't repress. "S-stop what?" 'Hoo boy…I cannot do this...' He quickly darted to his bowl of ramen, grabbing a cluster of noodles and chunks of pickled veggies and scooping it into his mouth.
"You know very well what..." Amy sighed, lamenting the lack of support on Sonic's side. She wondered if Sara had this kind of problem, but rather doubted it. Shadow was rational, mature, good looking...and the fact they had two daughters rather than two sons was probably a factor too. 'Maybe I should've seen past the hero worship just a little bit...' Her crude blue mate still had his finer points, and Shadow wasn't the only good looker.
"Aww come on, Blitz did save you having to cook tonight," Sonic said in a muffled tone, since he was still eating his ramen, slurping the noodles and licking his lips. He pointed his chopsticks at her briefly, "And you ought to try sushi sometime... Sara loves the stuff, and even Shadow's cool with it."
Amy cringed a bit. "...Maybe." She sighed in defeat. She was beginning to wonder when the boys would move out of the house; it was easier dealing with one Sonic rather than three of him. While Rift had been the quieter of the two, the closer he got to Hannah and the more his singing career took off, the more it looked like Blitz was the "quiet one," which meant absolutely nothing.
Sonic caught the look in Amy's eyes and guessed she was nearing her breaking point. "How about some fresh air?" he suggested as the bowls of ramen were disappearing.
"Sonic…." She moaned a bit. "It's late..."
He shrugged. "Not late enough for me." He tapped his foot impatiently as he leaned back precariously on his chair. "Maybe we could visit Mobius a bit? Gate City's not as developed, so you get to see more stars," he elaborated a bit.
Amy's expression softened a bit. "...Maybe." That did sound romantic...they hadn't gone star gazing in a while.
"Hey, boys, wanna race?" Sonic smiled and the two boys beamed back at him.
'Then again...' Amy hung her head.
Ash almost purred with pride at how quickly Tracey had carried them both to the Egg Fort 4. "Fast and pretty, nice combo," he said gently, quickly looking for an entrance to the lower levels of the ship. It wasn't hard to spot, but there were turret guns on deck, as well as a few generic humanoid robots. "I'll add genius to the list if you get us inside without a conflict."
She swatted his arm lightly, smiling at his mild "ouch" of mock pain. "Okay...they probably have regular patrols. Depending on what sets off the lasers, we might have a problem." She glanced at the smooth metal deck; there wasn't anything sticking up they could use to demonstrate motion sensitivity…. She did spy a few crates, though. That could be a good distraction if they fell over, but then there was the question of what was inside...explosives, perhaps? "Can you get me over there without being noticed?"
The bi-color hedgehog nodded. In a flash, he'd run her to the other side of the deck, the pair hiding behind the crates. "What's here?" he asked quietly.
Tracey inspected the crates, a smile drawn on her face. "This…." She pried back a piece of rotten wood and caught a couple of black balls that fell out of it. Ash looked at them curiously. "Bombs," she explained.
"I said subtle. Bombs are not subtle." Ash frowned a bit.
The orange vixen just smiled. "Trust me." She hit a timer on one of the bombs and motioned for him to go back to their first hiding spot. Just before the timed bomb blew, she lobbed one that she'd taken from the crate at the turrets. They blew up at the same time, causing the robots to scramble to put out the explosion, and leaving a nice gaping hole where the door was.
"I guess that could've been a malfunction..." He grinned a bit and whisked her inside.
The pair went through the metal corridors that were devoid of life, as expected. They were long and straight, so if anything showed up at one end, they'd know it. Shadows down the side hallways would be another thing to look for, though the place was fairly dim to begin with.
There was little talking between the two as they strolled down the halls, wary of any noises. Visibility for them also meant visibility for the robots, and theirs probably included night vision, motion sensors, and heat vision. They'd never encountered Eggman before, but they'd heard enough stories of their parents' exciting youth to know not to underestimate him. The long corridor eventually sloped downward, and they were faced with a sliding metal door.
"Shit. Now what?" Ash put a hand on his hip, seeing no way to open the door but for a keypad to the left with some kind of scanner on it.
"Well, we can either wait for a sentry or blow it." She held up a bomb with a grin on her face.
Ash glanced around. They hadn't met any trouble yet really. "Yeah. Go for it." He stood back from her a bit, admiring the view of her shapely body, particularly her butt as she leaned over to place one of the bombs. 'Eggman is getting so beaten for disturbing us it's not even funny...' Teenage male hormones accounted for, he tried to focus on the task at hand; finding out what Egghead was up to.
"That should do it!" She smiled and the pair backed up a bit more. The explosion was hardly a Hollywood production, but the precise blast did have the desired effect of blowing the door open...and the undesirable effect of rousing those within….
"Wait...Dad?" Ash blinked as he caught sight of a black and red hedgehog surrounded by what looked like Tails, Nack, Rouge, and Knuckles.
"Sorry." The black and red hedgehog form grinned. "EM-04, Metal Shadow." He motioned to the others. "Red there is EM-03, Metal Knuckles; Metal Tails is EM-02; Metal Fang is 07."
"Nice to see you're so talkative...y' haven't met my real dad, have you?" Ash cracked his knuckles, ready for a fight.
Tracey's tails bristled at the mockery of her father, though at the same time she was intrigued by the metal creation. They were definitely higher caliber than what she was expecting of Eggman. "How many of you things are there?" She did feel a little giddy, wanting to look at their specs now to see what made them tick.
"Ten," Metal Tails replied simply. "But is that any way to talk to your father?" He slipped into as natural a tone as he could mimic, startling Tracey. "Fang, Rouge, block the exits. We're taking them down personally."
"Bring it!" Ash smirked, a slight green aura beginning to bleed its way around his body.
Sara couldn't say that Shadow was a particularly gentle lover, though he could be, but he was more than satisfying in her opinion. She thought they were up to about eight at this point as she rolled over, curling up in the bed sheets. Shadow had left her for a bathroom break, which was annoying her for the time being. 'He doesn't kid when he says mind-blowing.' The sky blue hedgehog smiled like the Cheshire cat, she was so pleased. He'd even managed to handle breaking to change Ayame's diaper between numbers five and six, so she was free to lull about in bed for a change.
Shadow returned to bed, sitting on the edge of it and smiling at his beautiful mate. He had her all fired up enough for a couple more rounds, which he'd be happy to oblige. He just needed a little more recovery time and he'd be all hers again. "...Happy?"
"Delirious." Sara laughed. She didn't mind the shadow that covered her a second later; after all, it meant a certain black and red hedgehog was staring down on her with his crimson eyes wide. Instinctively, she reached up and tousled his white chest fur lovingly.
He kissed the top of her head and then met her lips. She tasted sweet to him, though he couldn't think exactly what she reminded him of. He only broke off the kiss reluctantly and quickly dove for another. Maybe then he could discern her taste? 'Mmmmmmm... It doesn't get any better than this….'
...And then the phone rang. Shadow's pleased grin quickly fell to a scowl. His crimson eyes delivered a deathly stare at the offending phone. Sara wrapped her arms around him apologetically, though he managed somehow to just sigh and pick up the ringing wonder. "...Hello?" he grunted darkly.
"Hi, Shads." Shadow cringed at Sonic's "casual" name for him.
'My tongue is going to bleed if I have to hold it much longer,' he thought. "What...is...it...?"
Sonic's voice hesitated a moment. "Umm. Looks like Eggman's decided to show up…."
Shadow groaned. 'Not now….'
"What is it?" Sara asked softly, noting his crestfallen expression.
"So where is ol' Baldy now?" Shadow said with highly managed breathing.
"Gate City. Decided to go on a lil' run with the fam' and I see a big ol' fort hangin' in the air…. Hey, Shad? You still there? I mean...I can probably handle it, just thought you'd like to know..."
Shadow had to think about it…. It wasn't like Sonic couldn't handle himself. Blitz and Rift were likely there too, even if they weren't real combatants. "...Think you can handle it? I really was kind of busy..." He let his gaze linger on Sara's warm smile and waiting lips. Through the phone, he could hear a startled gasp from Amy, though she tended to get easily spooked.
Sonic whistled. "Holy shit...I think we spotted your son."
'Fuck….' "Okay, be there in a few." He hung up without another word, then sighed.
"What was that about?" Sara inquired of him, the concern clinging to her face.
"Sonic spotted Ash..." He noted her expression brightened. His tone remained fairly disappointed, "Looks like trouble, though, this time Eggman's the cause."
"I thought we saw the last of him like...fifteen years ago, wasn't it?" she replied.
"Yeah," Shadow said flatly. He nuzzled her forehead lightly. He then glanced at the window he'd likely be using as a door momentarily. His gaze then fell back on Sara... Maybe Ash could wait a few minutes?
"You need to go, I'll be right here when you get back." She tugged on his chest fur lightly and drew him in for a goodbye kiss. "...I promise."