"Is it true?" Dave, the blue river rat that seemed to be the only employee to work at Meh Burger asked Tails about the fight with Doctor Eggman while flipping the patties.
"Yeah," the fox yawned between words, "It's been handled."
Dave squinted suspiciously at him and began to formulate a revenge plan. How dare someone do that to the greatest evil mind in the world?! After his shift he ran off to the Lightning Bolt Society to get their support.
Knuckles, Sticks and Tails arrived to the sleepover at Amy's house with armfuls of Meh Burger plunder, chips and liters of soda.
The night went well enough: music, dancing and party games that Sonic was having trouble enjoying and, quite frankly, so was Tails.
When the early morning hours crept up on the group they all slept in a row on Amy's floor under blankets and on cushions. Sonic was very cozy nestled between Tails and Knuckles while Amy and Sticks were snuggled up using Knuckles as a pillow. Sonic found comfort in their soft breathing and quiet snoring. He drifted off to what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep.
Thunderbolt was outside of the sled and attached to the back of it by her mecha. Shadow sat between Sheptilah and Eggman while Orbot and Cubot remained in their compact forms at his feet.
"Don't speak. Be mysterious and keep your hoods pulled over your heads when we get inside." Eggman was instructing them. "I do not want any surprises or rumors. It will be a bit before the rest of the bosses get here so I've made sure we have accommodations waiting for us."
Sheptilah slowly turned her head to look at him blankly. She drew her hand down her face and it disappeared into the hood like pitch blackness. Then she flashed a sharp, toothy Cheshire grin; the only thing visible in the darkness.
Eggman was unimpressed. "Reel it back a little."
She frowned and dispelled the glamour. "I can glamourize Shadow, too."
"Please don't." The hedgehog said. "I'm glamorous enough."
Eggman stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb. "Make the cloak black and hide your face. Don't let your hands or uniform be seen. Do the same for Shadow."
Glamorizing herself was one thing but holding a glamour over someone else could be difficult if they strayed too far. She would be next to Shadow the whole time so this would not be a problem.
She thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Shadow, when glamoured you will still be you, but your clothing will change." She ran her hand across the velvety soft hoodie he was wearing and it transformed into a thick black hooded cloak with pockets for his ears. The new clothing was longer than he was tall so it completely covered his shoes. The backpack and messenger bag he had on were rendered invisible to everyone but him.
Although the shape of the coat changed, it was still just as warm. She did the same for her own clothing.
"That's perfect," Eggman grinned, "This is going to be entertaining. As much as I hate Shadow being in the room- the looks on their faces when he pulls back his hood is going to be priceless ."
"This is going to end in tears. Probably mine." Orbot moped.
They arrived at the massive construct within minutes. Tundra himself was there to greet them and escort them into the gigantic igloo painted to look like Eggman's face that served as the main hub.
The floor was smoothly cut ice and very slippery. The boots Eggman designed definitely would come in handy when Tilly took off the sealskin covering them. The tall, imposing walrus was a little unnerved by the hooded figures and wondered what exactly Eggman was up to. He swore he could see black smoke drifting out from under the hems. For a moment he wondered if the two were wraiths .
Orbot and Cubot followed behind Eggman lamenting the cold. Though the frigid temperatures were necessary for the supercomputers housed below them, the little robots only cared about themselves and complained of freezing to death.
Tundra did not speak to the two in the hooded cloaks and silently showed them to their quarters which was directly next to Eggman's and the rooms had a door that allowed guests to pass between them.
They were essentially hotel rooms with en suites. Each had a large, plush wooden bed and an empty wooden trunk.
"I was expecting a bed of ice." Shadow said. Sheptilah dispelled the glamour on both of them and set her bag down. She started digging through it for snacks and came up with apple chips that were as hard as rocks.
"I'm going to go wash up. Thunderbolt, I want you to prepare the meeting room for when the rest of the bosses arrive." Eggman took a knowing tone with her.
Thunderbolt saluted in her mecha. "Yes, sir!" She walked off, barking orders to the skeleton crew on the way.
The man then turned to Sheptilah and Shadow. "Stay in this room."
"Ivo?" Tilly tilted her head.
"Yes?"
"Don't tell them about my iron allergy. That's all I ask."
"Of course. The idea is to make them believe you're invincible." He grinned mischievously and left the room, softly closing the door behind him.
"Wanna go explore?" She whispered to Shadow.
He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Not yet. I have things I need you to help with." He set his bags down and sat on the bed and motioned for her to sit with him. She did so and pulled off her sealskin boots and set them aside.
"Rouge?" Shadow spoke into his communicator.
"Shadow?" Her sleepy voice responded after a moment. "Good to hear you arrived alright." Rouge looked over at her digital clock and sighed. "It's two in the morning."
"Here it's ten at night," he chuckled, "Go back to sleep. I was just checking in. Let Cabbot know, please." He looked up to the witch, "So, about that thing-"
"What's the issue?" With a snap she changed into her usual clothing and shook the contents of her frond purse onto the bed.
Shadow leaned in and kept his voice low.
"Every living being involved with Eggman has something injected into their brain. This thing is rigged to explode or paralyze them whenever he sees fit. GUN wants you to procure one for us so we can safely remove them. Our doctors are afraid that if they remove it manually it will detonate."
"I'm aware of them and I will be more than pleased to help with that," she looked over her things and seemed alarmed. She reached into the back of her head and pulled out all the objects stored within. Some gold pieces, the bag of Hebat's scales, the manila envelope with her identification papers, the boline and her personal grimoire.
"What?" Shadow squinted.
"My athame," she felt around the headspace with her other hand, "It's gone."
The hedgehog picked up the large conch sHell and looked it over. "Are you talking about that old rusty knife? You probably left it back at the ziggurat."
Sheptilah's eyes were wide with horror and she nervously bit a fingernail, "I'll have to get a new one. Getting a new athame is a real pain in the ass. You have to consider what it's made of and what the handle is like and the weight of it and ...ugh!"
"So we can go get you a new athame," he snorted, "Or you can go into the kitchen and just take a butcher knife and call it a day."
Sheptilah rolled her eyes at his suggestion. She then stood and went to the bathroom door.
"Could you check for mirrors? Please?" She chuckled nervously. "I don't...want to get caught scrying again."
Shadow hopped off the bed and peeked into the bathroom. He saw there was a mirror and turned to Sheptilah. "Yes, there's a mirror."
The witch groaned with disgust and went into the bathroom and filled it with thick mist. When she located the mirror by feeling for its smooth surface she untied her sarong, hung it over the mirror and dispelled the fog.
"Captive scrying is dangerous," she flicked the light on and drew herself a very hot bath, "I broke Eggman's sink by accident looking for you."
Shadow was leaning against the wall outside the bathroom. "I am afraid to ask for the details."
The steam crawled out of the bathroom by Shadow's feet.
"Are you cooking yourself in there?" He heard her get into the water and sigh contentedly.
"Hey, Shadow?"
"Yes?"
"What was it like living in space?"
He was quiet for a moment and then spoke with words heavy with bittersweet nostalgia.
"We're at the north pole right now in the winter season. That means it's dark all the time with the stars and planets always visible. It was like that but without the aurora and you could look down at the planet. When the space station was orbiting over Mobius when it was night the major cities lit up like constellations."
"Heh." Tilly chuckled. "That sounds nice."
"Gerald had told Maria and I how blue the sky was during the day. What he didn't tell me was what sunsets looked like. When Maria jettisoned me to safety it was a hard landing and by the time I woke up the sun was going down on the horizon. For a moment I thought the world was ending because that beautiful blue sky turned so dark and red."
Shadow pulled at the sleeve of his glove. "I was trapped inside that capsule until GUN. retrieved it and put me in suspended animation. I thought the world was on fire because everything was so orange when they whisked me away. I thought the ARK had crashed."
To him the color blue was intense. It's the color of Maria's dress that matched her eyes and the sky she will never see. It was also the color of his rival . He is surrounded and haunted by the simple hue.
"They kept me awake for a few years running experiments on me while I suffered in silence. I was in a tube not unlike the one I was born in. I was kept drugged but conscious, so I remember everything. It was about six years of that treatment. The worst of it was being left alone for weeks on end to suffer in paralyzed darkness. I suppose it wasn't much different from your experience in the crystal."
It was so easy to open up to her. He mentally kicked himself for allowing her to see this weaker, more tender side of him.
"I feel your sadness." The witch sat in the water with her knees drawn up to her breast and her arms around her legs. Her heart was fluttering wildly like a caged bird.
"Are you empathizing with me or are you literally feeling it?" He kept a close watch on the gap in the doorframe to see if any of the Egg army minions were walking around.
"Both." She saw her submerged skin was turning bright red but it did not hurt. "I'm sorry for being cruel to you this past week. You really didn't deserve it and I am a terrible witch for treating you that way."
She watched the steam come off the water in the brief moment of silence.
"I accept your apology." He heard the water slosh as she stepped out of the tub. After a moment she stepped out in the uniform.
She looked depressed and her eyes appeared dulled.
"Nobody is ever going to hurt you again. If someone so much as looks at you wrong I will…" She held her tongue. "Never mind; I shouldn't use violent words. An even six, seven, eight, et cetera."
"I can protect myself." He looked up at her. "Would you have said that if I wasn't your familiar?"
"Yes, of course. Nobody deserves such cruelty." She frowned, looking down at him. She then realized how physically small he really was. "We should practice your magic."
His ears perked up and then flopped down. "I need to know something."
"Yes?"
He inhaled sharply, "Would I have been able to heal Maria?" His gut tensed up and his tail pointed downward.
"She was born sick? Her body was attacking itself?"
"Yes."
"No, you would not have been able to." Her ponytail swayed softly as she shook her head.
He exhaled slowly. He felt a mixture of failure and relief knowing he couldn't have helped her.
"I don't quite… understand what DNA is but I do know that if someone is dying in their own body and they shouldn't be they would need an extremely difficult procedure. It's called Vampire's Bath . It sounds more romantic than it is."
She knelt down so she was eye-level with him, "You drain the blood from several witches to the point that they feel faint, but not completely . This blood goes into a cauldron and it must be filled to the brim. Then it's slowly boiled until it becomes thick like honey. After that it's allowed to cool."
His stomach turned.
"The sick person is then cut all over the body with a boline and lastly across the throat. Then they are submerged into the cauldron and after a while brought back up. By then the concentrated witch blood would've entered their body and began to heal it from the inside."
"That's… that sounds like a primitive blood transfusion." His eyes darted around the room. "Your blood is what heals internal injuries and illnesses?"
"For things like basic little cuts, nausea and dehydration I don't have to do such extravagant magic. However for sickness like with Mrs. Cabbot that's how I cured her. I magically transferred her kidneys into my body, let my blood heal them and then put them back in her body."
"You can't let anyone know that your blood is a panacea." His voice was almost a low growl.
"What?"
"You can't tell anybody about that." He looked very nervous, "Sheptilah, if someone like Eggman finds out your blood can cure anything you will be bled dry . They'd sell it to the highest bidder and keep you just barely alive to harvest more."
"Shadow," she sounded offended, "I haven't told anyone but you." She imagined being kept in a cell unable to move with needles and tubes sticking out of her just like in the hospital. She shuddered. She smiled at him. "But that's good to know."
"This world is dangerous." He warned.
The Lightning Bolt Society met once again in Dave's tiny basement. Well, his mother's basement.
"I'm not getting involved," Willy Walrus shrugged, "That's Eggman's thing."
Dave sucked in hair between his clenched teeth. "You don't understand! She disrespected him!"
"She tried to kill him." Another person spoke up. "I'm not messing with Overlanders."
"I agree," another spoke with a mouth full of potato chips. "You're on your own with this one."
Dave was livid. He could almost feel the braces on his teeth straining to keep his jaw in place from clenching so hard.
"Fine!" He stood proudly, "I will handle this myself!"
They sat and spoke for a few hours while he practiced making smoke figures.
Sheptilah had put all her things back into the frond purse and then put the bag in the interdimensional pocket behind her head.
"How much can you fit in there?" Shadow was bored being confined to the room and decided to do push-ups to ease it.
"It's about full, actually. Hey, can you do that thing where you curl into a ball?"
"You mean this?" He tucked himself into a spiky sphere.
"Yeah! That's so weird, isn't it hard to breathe like that?" She tilted her head curiously.
Shadow rolled himself forward and with a muffled voice he answered, "Not at all. You said Hebat was an armadillo?"
Sheptilah nodded. "Pink fairy armadillo, specifically."
"Armadillo Mobians can curl like this, too. She never did?" He unfurled himself.
"No, her armored back was delicate unlike typical armadillos. It also flared at the ends and it took on a tube shape when she rolled up. Not very practical."
She brought up a magically projected image of Hebat. She was very short and curvy with white fur covering her legs that flared below the knee. Her torso had heart-shaped bit of sand-colored peach fuzz and soft white hair kept in a cute bob framed her round cheeks and dark eyes.
Unlike other armadillos her nose was quite small and pink. Her 'armor' went from her head to her ankles and was bell-shaped with frilly layers and lace-like fur at the ends. Her hands were actually large claws shaped like a shovel and her tail was long and thick. A stole of white fur around her neck and shoulders made it hard to see her Oracle Stone.
She looks like a princess, Shadow thought to himself.
"You know- they should start calling you king." The image of Hebat dissolved.
"I'm sorry?" It was as if Sheptilah could read his mind.
"King Shadow. I'm queen and you are my familiar- as equals that means you are a king."
A knock at the door interrupted his train of thought. It was Thunderbolt and Eggman.
"Are you decent?" The Overlander's voice called.
"Shadow isn't wearing pants." The woman used her tattle-tale voice. The hedgehog rolled his eyes.
"Now is not the time for jokes," Eggman opened the door, "It's showtime." He looked quite serious.
She and Shadow stood and she re-applied the glamour to them both.
"I look like the grim reaper." Shadow said. He was surprised that his voice came out distorted and breathy.
"You sound demented." Eggman commented.
"I thought I'd disguise our voices, too." Sheptilah shrugged.
The meeting room was brightly lit and smelled of coffee and freshly baked cookies. Orbot and Cubot had put out settings for the tired guests. Only a few of them sipped their drinks.
Eggman entered the room followed by Thunderbolt in her mecha and the two wraith-like people behind her. All but Tundra quietly panicked wondering just what it was Eggman had roped them into now.
Thunderbolt stood by the door while Ivo had walked with Sheptilah and Shadow to the head of the egg-shaped table.
"I'm pleased you all made it in one piece!" Eggman grinned. "I have quite the tale. I was out in the Dust Hill Zone and encountered something wonderful."
Sheptilah's hooded figure slightly turned toward the man. Wonderful? He tried to kill me yesterday.
"She is an ancient witch queen and I had rescued her from a crystalline prison. Because of this we are now tasked with something intense that I require your assistance with." Eggman sounded grave.
"A witch?" Clove found herself speaking up without meaning to. The hooded figure nodded. Her face reddened with embarrassment quickly cast her gaze downward.
The others looked at each other nervously while Thunderbolt herself appeared bored.
"As you may have heard, the Soumerca base run by Thunderbolt was ravaged by a strange creature. This being killed dozens of our people and nearly took us out with it when we rescued Thunderbolt." Eggman continued gesturing broadly with his hands. "Our guest single-handedly saved the life of Thunderbolt as well as the lives of other Egg Comrades with her immense healing powers.
Now it is our turn to repay her. She has agreed to be the newest Egg Boss and she is your superior so you will follow her every direction. Do this for us and I will do something unprecedented: you will all be freed from your lifetime contracts with me." He shot a pointed look at Clove. "This includes your injectors."
"What?" Tundra leaned forward with both of his huge hands pressed flat against the table.
Nephthys and Mordred were uneasy as they were both using Egg Army forces to maintain control over their respective regions but they loved the concept of the injections being removed.
"Free us?" Clove's ears perked up.
Cassia stood. "What about our cybernetics?"
"You can keep them." He shrugged innocently.
"What is it we have to do?" Axel leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his hands.
Eggman turned to Sheptilah as a cue. She pulled back her cloak and it vanished when it hit the floor. The other bosses were expecting an eldritch horror but instead saw a perfectly normal-looking Overlander and were visibly relieved.
"I am Sheptilah, Egg Boss of the Bygone Island Zone. This world is in danger." She described the witch-eating beasts and the bond with Eggman joining them together. Then she explained Shadow's role.
"And this… is my familiar." She gestured to the smaller figure.
Shadow pulled back his hood and expected to hear outrage but none came. In fact there was palpable sense of relief.
"I feel better knowing Shadow the hedgehog is on our side." Cassia said, avoiding eye contact with him.
"I agree." Akhlut raised an eyebrow.
"I want one thing to be clear," Shadow spoke, "I am not on your side. I am on hers."
Sheptilah nodded. "First thing I ask you to do when you all return to your respective zones is to stop any and all projects you are working on and inspect the area within fifty miles for any activity that could have come from the witch-eaters. I also ask that you speak to the locals to gather any intel on odd, shape-shifting monsters they may have witnessed."
The witch smiled. "I also wish to spar one-on-one with all of you to get to know you better."
Eggman's smug grin turned to a slight frown and raised eyebrows.
"And I would like to start with you," she pointed to Axel, "And do not hold back."