Hope and Team Dark were in a meeting room together with photos and illustrations of current tectonic plate activity highlighted on maps projected onto the wall.
"Two small quakes off the coast of Downunda, four off the coast of Japan and three scattered randomly throughout the Southern Hemisphere. I don't like this." Hope was four coffees into her notes. "All of the quakes are about a seven on the Richter scale."
"The geologists and seismologists I've contacted have not gotten back to me yet, either." She agitatedly tapped her empty styrofoam cup with her fingers. "According to the National Earthquake Information Center they record about fifty quakes a day. What makes these quakes weird is they're not all occurring on fault lines and almost none of them have aftershocks."
"Any tsunamis?" Rouge thumbed through some of the photos Hope had printed out.
"Nothing higher than a few feet by the time it came to shore; so no, not really." The Overlander tried to sip her coffee only to realize the cup was empty and crushed it in her hand.
"Some satellite imagery, courtesy of NASA and our friend Ulala, shows some large white masses moving under the ocean near the surface but the photos are unclear and it looks like it could just be plastic continents. You know, those massive collections of plastic pollution that just rolls around killing whales." Hope took a deep breath.
"I'm willing to bet the witch-eater things are hiding out in the ocean and these unclear photos are them. I also believe they're causing the quakes now more than ever."
"Show this to Tower. He can send some scouts out to see what these moving things really are. I don't know about them being able to cause quakes, though. I hope it's just a coincidence." Rouge put the photos back down.
"I agree. The wiccaphages we encountered back in Soumerca and the ziggurat were really dangerous but even in big groups I'm not sure they could cause damage like that." Shadow crossed his arms, "Then again… we don't know how many are there or how they even survived so long in the core of the moon."
"I can't believe I'm going to say this but… talk to Eggman. His base is on the moon, right? Or at least one of them? I need footage and data from the core. The more information we have the better equipped we will be." Hope tossed the crushed cup into a nearby wastebasket.
"Looks like I'm going back to the lair," Shadow sighed, "Not like we have anything else to do around here; and get some sleep. You're working yourself to death."
"Yeah." Rouge smiled. "We can have a girl's day out! Or a girl's day in, it's up to you, Hope. My treat either way."
"I'd rather stay in and keep working…" She looked at her unsteady hand and noted how she couldn't hold her fingers still. "I do need a break, though."
A lone watermelon with THUNDERBOLT written across it in black marker sat on a table in a weighted plexiglass cube. Eggman put on his protective goggles and handed Sheptilah a pair. Orbot and Cubot watched close by while Metal Sonic was patrolling the island.
"Phase one." Ivo said as he ran a small remote across the watermelon. "That should've deactivated it." He pressed a button on his gauntlet. For a moment it appeared the bomb was inert when the watermelon exploded with a soft plap, the pureed fruit completely coating the inside of the cube.
"Congratulations, you just killed the chinchilla." Tilly raised an eyebrow.
"Orbot, bring in the next big fruit." He commanded.
"But boss, you're already here." Cubot shrugged.
Ivo grabbed Sheptilah's goggles and threw them at the robot who ran off squealing.
Next was another watermelon Eggman labeled as 'Nephthys'. The box was replaced and another remote key was used to try and deactivate the bomb. They eventually ran through sixteen whole watermelons with no safe results.
"Incoming call from the Artika base." MARI chirped.
"Yes?" Eggman spoke into his gauntlet.
"Sir?" Tundra's voice came through, "Two things: one, the oceanic quakes are getting worse and some of the ice sheets here are beginning to crack dangerously. It's unclear if this is due to climate change or the suspicious quakes across the oceans. Second thing: Thunderbolt is throwing a surprise party for you at her new base tomorrow so you need to go there at some point. She is forcing all of us to go."
Sheptilah picked up a chunk of destroyed fruit and began to munch on its delicious innards.
"What are you, a rat? Don't eat food off the floor!" Eggman scolded her.
"I'm sorry?" Tundra was confused.
"No, not you, Tundra, I'm yelling at my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend? Is that a downgrade or an upgrade from Egg Boss?" Orbot mused.
"It's a promotion!" Ivo declared.
"Downgrade." Orbot and Cubot said in unison.
"Am I interrupting something?" The walrus asked.
"No, just working on getting the implants removed safely, as promised. However, current experiments involving watermelons in place of brain-filled skulls are proving not so easy."
"So you are going to keep that promise after all."
"Am I not a man of my word?" He paused. "Don't answer that."
"I'm going to eat this fruit and you can't stop me." Tilly swallowed a mouthful of fruit, much of it sticking to her face.
"You are a grown woman! You look like a hamster." He sighed.
"I am a hungry grown woman," she stuck out her tongue, "But I decided that desert hamsters are the cutest rodents so I will take that as a compliment."
"Sir?" Tundra tried to get Eggman's attention.
"Yes, sorry," the Overlander huffed, "I will humor the chinchilla because I know if I don't she will kill us all. Goodbye." Eggman hung up and turned back to Sheptilah who was still face-deep in a watermelon rind.
"What? Wasting food is bad." She swallowed.
Ivo let out a disgusted sigh and went back to work.
Shadow pulled his phone from the charger and slipped it into a little gap in his spikes. He turned to leave his dorm when he saw Hope, Rouge and Boris in the doorway. Boris was holding a paper plate with a large chocolate cupcake and a lit birthday candle stuck in the center.
"Happy birthday!" They said in unison.
"We didn't forget," Rouge smiled, "We knew you'd want to keep it quiet, but we did bring gifts."
Shadow smiled. "You didn't have to do this."
"We got you something special, too." From behind her back Rouge pulled out a vintage-style turntable in a collapsible suitcase in a soft powder blue.
"And to go with it." Hope pulled a small worn out vinyl record sleeve. It was The Chordettes' greatest hits.
"The turntable is new but the vinyl is an original pressing. It's a copy my mother gave me when I was really young," Boris said, "I only listened to it once or twice and we tested it so it still works just fine."
"This is so cool," Shadow took the gifts, "Thank you so much. I listened to The Chordettes a lot when I was growing up on the ARK."
"Happy birthday, old man," Rouge embraced him tightly, "Now eat your cupcake! That is, if it won't ruin your dentures."
"Respect your elders," he joked. He put the turntable and the vinyl on his bed and took the cupcake. "Thanks for not making it a big deal. I don't like being reminded of how absolutely old I am."
Hope hugged Shadow tightly, careful to not make him drop his treat. Boris opted to shake Shadow's hand firmly in lieu of a hug, something greatly appreciated by the hedgehog. He blew out the candle but forgot to make a wish.
"Inside, outside, upside down!" Sonic sang as he strummed his guitar, tapping his foot to the beat. "You got me goin' 'round and 'round!"
Tails was with him and began to sing along while playing the drums, "Backwards, forwards, sideways, too!"
"You've got me dizzy from lovin' you," they sang in unison, "Don't you know that I love you -"
The music was interrupted by Tails' coughing fit.
"You okay there, buddy?" Sonic turned to the fox.
"I think I'm coming down with a cold," he choked, "Let's keep going. I think a bit of saliva just went down the wrong pipe, that's all."
"We can practice later if you're not feeling well," Sonic strummed a few chords.
Tails tried to suppress the coughing but nearly caused himself to throw up when he did.
"Talk to the witch, dude." Sonic took off his glove and pressed the back of his hand to Tails' forehead to feel for a fever. "Hm, you are kinda warm."
"I don't want to run to the witch to have every little illness cured for me. That's a great way to kill any immunity I could've built up. This is how societies collapse, Sonic." Tails coughed, "But I will see a doctor."
"You're so dramatic." The hedgehog laughed. "Helping you isn't going to bring the world to its knees."
"It's true, though. I'll be fine." The fox frowned.
"I'll make you some soup," he took off his guitar and set it against the wall, "Even if it is ten in the morning."
"Thanks, Sonic." Tails moved over to the sofa. "Chicken noodle, please."
"Coming right up!" The hedgehog chirped. "You want those little oyster cracker things?"
"Yes," Tails stretched out, "Thank you so much."
Sheptilah sat sidesaddle on her staff in midair while Amy floated next to her on her own broom. Amy's broom was not very well-made, but it was hers and it worked.
"I'm so proud of you, Amy," she smiled, "You're the best apprentice a witch could ever ask for."
"You've taught me so much." The hedgehog laughed nervously when her broom bucked. "Thank you."
"Someone has to pass on my knowledge after I'm gone. It's important that my people's accomplishments aren't lost to time." Sheptilah was uncomfortable sitting instead of standing on a flying object, but quickly grew used to it.
"We could translate the whole grimoire into English if you want, but it is a family grimoire and it would feel wrong to make it public domain." Amy slapped her broom lightly to get it to behave. The object obliged the chiding and steadied itself.
"So much would be lost if we didn't … Eh, I'll scry about it later." She waved off her concerns.
They flew around the island, careful to not be too far apart, too high or too fast. At some points Sheptilah had to grab hold of Amy's broom to give it a boost or steady it. The feeling of free falling and the cool breeze blowing through their hair was exhilarating.
"Maybe next time we'll make it thicker like a walking stick." Amy yelped when the broom briefly flipped her upside down, "Or maybe the thickness of Knuckles' skull!"
"What did I say!?" Sheptilah smacked the bristles. "Behave!" The broom righted itself immediately.
"Why does your staff behave but my broom doesn't?" Amy frowned.
"Who knows. I'm used to flying on rocks." She laughed. "Let's go back to my hut and try making another broom. I really do think a thicker handle will help."
The duo flew back to the hut only to find there were dozens of potted plants strewn around the property along with bouquets of red roses and small gift bags.
"Someone must really like you." Amy landed gracefully. "There's a note on your door," she pointed to a folded letter stuck in the door jamb.
Tilly dismounted from her staff and pulled the note out and unfolded it.
Dear Tilly,
I'm sorry about what I said, or rather what I didn't say. Please accept this apology.
Ivo
"Is he serious?" The witch frowned, "I told him I wasn't mad."
"Black Magic Dark Red roses!" Amy picked up a bouquet and shoved her face into the blossoms, inhaling deeply. "In flower language roses this dark mean love, longing, desire, regret and sorrow."
"I don't think he's savvy enough to know flower meanings." Tilly smiled, "How sweet."
"What's all this about?" Amy leaned over and peeked into a bag.
"I asked if he loved me and he didn't have an answer and I told him it's okay to not know how you feel and he kinda just… ran off."
"He so totally does!" The hedgehog was bouncing on her heels, "I wish Sonic would do something nice like this for me."
"Where am I gonna keep all these plants? I think I need a bigger house…" Tilly picked up a bouquet of pink roses and held them up to Amy's face. "These match you perfectly!"
"Ladies." A deep, familiar voice crooned.
"Ivo!" Tilly turned around and saw Eggman standing with Orbot, Cubot and Metal beside him. "And you brought your kids!"
She looked them over then swapped to English. "Oh, their colors are slightly brighter. You boys look fresh ."
"We just got Teflon makeovers." Cubot posed as if he was a supermodel on the runway. "Work it, baby!" He cheered for himself.
"Fabulous!" Orbot clapped for his brother. "And wiccaphage-proof!"
Metal Sonic looked at his hand before turning his attention to scanning the jungle for threats.
"I see the flowers arrived on time," the Overlander chuckled, "Uh, too much?"
Eggman's clothes were different from his usual outfit. Today he sported a dark blue suit with a gray polo under the blazer and nice shoes with a fancy black fedora hiding his bald head.
"A little," the witch blushed, "I told you I wasn't mad."
"I still felt… oh, hi, Amy." He waved to the hedgehog. "Look in the bags, Tilly."
Sheptilah picked up a small green one, inside of it were many seed packets. "Seeds!"
"Poisonous plant seeds!" He beamed, "But I meant the other bag." He pointed to a blue bag with his chin.
She picked it up and looked inside. "Two tickets to the Metropolitan Museum of Art?"
"Oh! The Met!" Amy clapped her hands together, "How exciting! How romantic!"
"Make yourself scarce, sweetheart." Eggman leered at Amy.
Tilly clicked her tongue disapprovingly at Ivo. She turned to the hedgehog and smiled sweetly, assuring her it was okay.
"Oh, sorry, bye!" Amy put the bouquet down, took hold of her broom and ran off.
"Don't be rude, Ivo," Tilly frowned.
"Sorry; I just want it to be us for now. There's some exhibits you should really see. Some of your people's art is on display and it needs translating. I was hoping we could leave now."
"Where is the museum?" She tilted her head.
"New York city."
"Where is that?"
"Far away enough that we have to use a warp ring. I did get you something cute to wear, it's in my lair right now. When you're ready meet me there and we'll get going. I have a wonderful night planned for us."
"Ivo," she pushed her hair behind her ear, "What if I had something planned?"
"I know you don't have anything planned."
"Not a damned thing," she scrunched up her nose, "Except it's Shadow's birthday."
Oh.
"That's today ?" Eggman looked horrified. "I do have a gift but I thought that was tomorrow."
"Yes!" Tilly shrugged, "You could invite him along with us as a last-minute thing."
"Alright, fine," he huffed, "I wasn't planning on getting lucky anyway."
She scoffed and flapped her hand at him. "Give me a moment."
She shuffled past all of the potted plants and pulled her phone off of the charger, sticking it into her pocket. She left the hut closing the door behind her and picked up the staff.
"I'm not sure they're going to allow you to bring that in with you," he frowned. "Maybe leave it with Shadow."
She thought about this but shook her head, "I can glamorize it to be the size of a pen, I guess. I'm not sure it'll take to being shrunk, though."
"Give it a try." He urged.
Metal Sonic again scanned the area. Something was coming.
"Okay." She concentrated. Before she can apply any sort of glamour to the staff Metal instinctively stood in front of Eggman.
"Threat detected." The robot spoke. "Shadow The Hedgehog approaching."
"Stand down," Eggman commanded, "Shadow is a friendly; for now."
"What happened to your house? It looks like a florist exploded." The hedgehog approached the group, "You're dressed nice." He looked Eggman over, "Funeral?"
"Ah ha ha, no," Eggman feigned a laugh. "I'm taking my girlfriend on a date."
"Ah," Shadow turned to Sheptilah, "I'm sorry for your loss."
"Actually, we're going to the Met to watch a live dissertation on the Nannae. Since you're her familiar, and it is your birthday, you should come too, Shadow."
"A, so it's my loss, too. Wouldn't I be a third wheel?"
"No," Tilly shrugged, "It's okay."
Shadow pondered this, "Sure, why not. If Sonic hears I'm here he's going to ambush me and force me to have a happy birthday. Going to New York City would be nice. You and I do need to talk, though."
"About what?" Ivo cocked an eyebrow.
"GUN business."
"Fine, come back to the lair with me and Sheptilah, she's gotta get changed anyway."
Shadow leaned against the office wall with his arms crossed while Sheptilah was in Eggman's room changing her clothing.
"I do have some footage of the lunar core," Eggman flipped through some photos on the big screen, "I just assumed these marks were from when I destroyed half of it."
The core looked hollow inside, with strange scratches and deterioration on parts that should never have existed, even with the destruction.
"I never thought they could be chemical burns, but rather I assumed it was just molten iron that formed oddly from the sudden exposure to the thin lunar atmosphere."
"Can your robots up there get core samples delivered to GUN?"
"Sure." Ivo turned to the hedgehog and looked him over. "You think the wiccaphages were alive the whole time in the core?"
"Yes, and I have a hunch they were evolving."
"Five thousand years isn't long enough for any one species to evolve significantly without human interference."
"These are alien parasites though and they had magic used on them."
"Fair point," Ivo tapped his chin with a finger.
"The one at the ziggurat was too smart. It talked to us, especially when it had Maria's form."
"But that Maria was holding a Chaos Emerald and the real Emeralds' energy can't touch the wiccaphages or it makes them explode. It was probably a magical projection."
"That's true." Shadow admitted.
"I'll send Metal up there to get some samples tomorrow. For now, he's guarding the lair when I'm not home." Eggman went back to typing on his computer.
"I want to talk to you about Sheptilah. Are you familiar with The Last Unicorn?" Shadow lowered his voice.
"The book or the movie?"
"Doesn't really matter."
"I've read the book when I was a kid." Ivo sent the files from the lunar core off to Hope. "Cover to cover many times. It was absolutely worn to pieces. What's it matter?"
"Sheptilah, like the unicorn, are both the last of their race. She even has the same white hair and violet eyes. It's striking, really. I must ask you, Doctor, are you King Haggard or Prince Lír?" Shadow's ruby eyes were sharp as daggers.
Eggman leaned back in his chair and smirked. "Shadow, does that make you Shmendrick?"
A sleek insult. A magician not very good at his craft, much like Shadow who himself was not good with magic; a criticism that did not fly over the hedgehog's head.
"Think about it. You have pretty much trapped her in a castle that overlooks the sea. Are you Haggard or Lír? What is your role in her life?"
Silence from the Overlander.
"What I'm asking is do you actually care for her or are you simply keeping her around because it makes you happy? Will you let her go if she needs to go or will you force her to stay? Will you prevent her from fighting the wiccaphages if it means she will die or will you fight at her side?
"I ask again, Doctor, are you Lír or Haggard?"
"Foolish hedgehog," Ivo stood, "You can't put real life into simple storybook allegories. I am neither Lír or Haggard; I am Ivo Eggman. Just like you are Shadow The Hedgehog and nothing else. We make our own stories with our own endings. Our lives are not a fable some exhausted weirdo is writing at their desk in the middle of the night pondering what the next twist is going to be.
"And for your information, I will fight at her side. Come Hell or high water, we will do this as a team. You, me and the witch; and we will be victorious ."
"Sonic talked to you, didn't he?" Shadow let his arms drop and he lifted himself from the wall, a sly smile forming across his face. "You are right, though. I just wonder what your intentions are with my witch."
"Miss Banana is my friend and my lover; but what happens next I do not know. My only intentions are to go day by day and finish the Syzygy Cannon. After that we will see." Eggman smiled sincerely, "Why? Do you think I'm going to break her heart?"
Shadow shrugged. "She's my sister and you are a known crazed tyrant; I have my concerns." A pause, and then: "What is the Syzygy Cannon?"
Before Eggman could answer, Sheptilah appeared wearing the clothes he had set out for her. A tight, black thigh-length skirt, black pumps, white blouse and black blazer made her look sharp. Her blouse was three buttons open so that her Oracle Stone was not covered.
"Why do I feel like I should be tending to customers on an airplane?" She laughed. "I'm not so sure about the shoes but I like the jacket."
"Shorten your hair a little," Eggman suggested, "It may get caught on things."
"Oh, right." Tilly applied a glamour to make her hair a shoulder-length bob with a blunt fringe. "How about now?"
"It's very cute." Shadow said.
"So are we ready to go?" Eggman straightened his clothes.
"I would say so," Sheptilah beamed, "I'm excited to find out what scientists think is true about my people. I'm sure it's going to be hilariously inaccurate."
