Hope's dorm was full of guests. Sheptilah rested in her lap in the form of a cat while Shadow and Rouge stood behind the blonde teenager to make room.
Hope marked off spots of unusual seismic activity on a digital map. There were several clusters in the deep ocean but because these mini quakes didn't cause damage it was shrugged off.
"Something keeps cutting our internet and phone lines in the ocean, too." She pointed to the spots she marked off in a different color. "A lot of these mini quakes are occurring near the internet lines as well; almost overlapping."
"It's not unusual for internet lines to get damaged by passing ships and sea life," Rouge shrugged, "But the quakes are suspicious."
"I think it's those witch-eater things." The young girl had a very graven expression.
"Why won't Tower listen to you?" Shadow huffed. "He should know by now not to ignore you."
"Because I have no definitive proof. It's just a hunch." The girl sighed.
"The ocean, you say?" Sheptilah's ears perked up. She hopped off of Hope's lap and transformed back into her human body. She then took out her phone and snapped a photo of the laptop screen.
"Let's see." The witch searched the screen for the exact app to open.
"What are you doing?" Rouge's ears twitched.
"Using my clout." Sheptilah smirked. She texted Eggman the photo. She then called him and put him on speaker.
"Yes?" He sounded agitated. "What do you want? What's with the map?"
"Ivo," she bit her lip, "What is Akhlut up to?" She asked in Latin.
"Nothing, as you instructed the bosses to do." He responded back in the dead language.
"Do me a favor; I want you to deploy Akhlut to check those locations for damage and have him use that wiccaphage tracker you're tweaking."
Rouge looked at Shadow but all the hedgehog could do was shrug and shake his head. None of them spoke Latin.
"Huh," there was a pause; then: "I'll deploy him and some of his underlings right away. A lot of these are near his base in the Deep Blue Realm. This is concerning."
"Tell him I said he can go suck an egg." Hope scowled.
"Hope? Is that you?" Eggman asked in English. "Sheptilah! Am I on speaker? Take me off speaker!"
"Sorry… I don't speak English." she replied in a heavy Persian accent. She tried her hardest to stifle her giggles as she switched back to Latin. "Hope says to go fuck yourself."
"Aah!" Eggman shouted in frustration. "Women!" He hung up.
Sheptilah couldn't help but laugh. "He's funny when he's angry."
"So you can speak Latin," Shadow narrowed his eyes, "And so can the Doctor, apparently."
She nodded. "Which means I can yell at him over technology since we have a shared language."
"I hate that we have to work with him." Hope interjected. "So much."
"It won't be for much longer," Sheptilah made a chopping motion with her hand, "I'm already halfway to getting all the materials I need to finish the staff." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm going to go back to my hut now. I don't want that damn doctor knowing I'm here and harassing me."
"Hold on," Rouge reached for the witch, "I want to talk to you about something. Let's go for a walk."
Rouge kept her voice low until they got outside of the fortress.
"I saw you kiss him." She frowned.
"I know," Sheptilah rubbed the back of her head, "It was a friendly gesture."
"So Amy told you we saw." The bat smirked ever so slightly.
Sheptilah nodded sheepishly.
"Don't play coy, honey," Rogue put her hands on her hips and stuck out her chest, "I know you've got a crush on him."
Sheptilah held up a finger and opened her mouth as if to protest but then simply shrugged. "So what?"
"You could do better." Rouge giggled. "It's cute, though. Shadow doesn't know and I won't tell him."
"Cute? How is it cute?" The witch raised an eyebrow. "It's pathetic. It's sickening."
"You're not the first witch to have the hots for him nor are you the first Overlander but you are the only one that ever ripped his guts out."
Sheptilah exhaled sharply. "He started it."
Rouge laughed behind her hand.
"He says I'm his only friend and he doesn't want me to die." Tilly's cheeks grew warm. "He told me that at Stratosphere."
"Oh, he likes you, too!" Rouge squealed. "That's even cuter!"
"It's not cute!"
"It's so cute." Rouge grinned so widely her fangs were visible.
Sheptilah slouched forward, defeated. "I hate him so much, but I like him so much."
"I still think you can do better," the bat bit her finger trying to stifle the laugh, "But you could also do worse."
Sheptilah dragged her hand down her face. "Trust me, Miss Rouge; he and I are going to die. I keep lying to him and myself that I won't let it happen but I know deep down that's what's gonna happen. He knows it, too."
"Shadow won't let either of you die," the bat shook her head, "None of us will."
"You're sweet but it is what it is." Tilly opened a portal. "See you later!" She stepped through and closed it behind her.
Akhlut got the message. The next day he and his team embarked out to the nearest marked spot on the map to their lair location. Although he was able to survive at extreme depths he still took the precaution of putting on a dive suit with a breathing apparatus.
As he and his team approached the local internet lines he noticed that they were melted and not cut. They were not near any open thermal vents, so the only conclusion was that they were chemically destroyed.
The area was almost completely deserted save for a few antarctic crabs walking about. The seafloor should have been teeming with all kinds of life like starfish, anemones, octopi, icefish and seals. There was nothing.
"I really don't like the looks of this." Akhlut spoke into his mic.
"Grab a sample and get out of there," Eggman responded, "Immediately."
"You don't have to tell me twice." The orca muttered under his breath. He and his team made it back to the lair as quickly as possible with a small chunk of the melted fiber optics.
"Move your base of operations to the North Pole for now. I will let Tundra know you are on the way. I want everything on lockdown immediately." Eggman took a long sip from his coffee. "Cubot, remind me to do a search for the same kind of damage around this lair."
"Right away, boss." The little red robot made the note.
"What about the other Egg Bosses?" Cubot wondered.
"That is a good question." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. His eyebrows shot up and he turned around when he heard his door slide open. It was Sheptilah.
"Hello." She waved. "I came to see if Akhlut is okay."
"He and his team are fine but I've got some troubling news." He took off his glasses to show her how serious he was. "Not only is there a good amount of evidence to support Hope's theory but the whole area itself was deserted. It should be teeming with sea life but there was nothing out there."
"The wiccaphages." Tilly looked at the screen, her face wrinkled with a frown.
"It looks like they are much more intelligent than you believed. They seem to be attacking the internet lines. That's what connects all of our computers across the globe." He tapped the screen. "And it's close to where Akhlut Egg Lair is."
Orbot came in with a fresh cup of coffee for each of the Overlanders.
"Thank you." She said in somewhat hesitant English. She took a sip of the drink and winced.
"You're welcome, Miss Sheptilah." The robot replied meekly.
"Thanks." Eggman took the coffee and drank it all in one gulp. "Hmm."
"Yes?"
"I may have to bring all my Egg Bosses in-house." He typed something into his keyboard. "MARI, have Metal Sonic come home immediately."
"Yes, sir!" The AI chirped. She summoned the robot from his dormant state on the moon base. Metal ran diagnostics to make sure he was operational.
"He'll be home in about forty minutes." MARI responded. "He's just fine."
"Excellent!" Eggman was enthused. "My little robot son is coming home."
"You think of your robot as your son?" Tilly smiled and cocked an eyebrow.
"All of my robots are my babies," Eggman pouted, "Even Scratch and Grounder."
"You're sweet," Sheptilah stated matter-of-factly, "When you want to be." She looked up at the screen and her face became grave again. "Can you send some robots to scout out the oceans? Satellites or something? Sorry if I'm getting my terminology mixed up… I'm still not quite sure about all the new technology."
"Satellites, huh?" Eggman tapped his chin with a finger. "I know who to call, or rather, I know who MARI should call." He grinned mischievously.
"Hey, space catz! This is Ulala coming at you live at Space Channel Five! I got some hot, hot, hot tunes for you!"
The pale, tall and pink-haired young woman sat at her DJ deck cockpit and popped a CD into the disc reader. A fresh, thrumming dance tune came on over the radio waves across the Milky Way. Her pigtails bobbed as she swayed to the music.
She noticed she had an incoming call from the emergency phone. She muted her personal mic and picked it up. "Jaguar, I swear-"
"Hello, Ulala!" MARI chirped. "Eggman is calling in that favor."
"Seriously?" Ulala frowned. "What's he want? If this is about Sonic..."
"Can we borrow your space station's satellite capabilities? GUN's too nosy about mine right at the moment. You know I wouldn't call in if it wasn't important."
"You want to use the satellite? What for?" She re-applied a new coat of lipgloss as she listened to them.
"Mobius is being systematically attacked by alien parasites," MARI texted Ulala a photo, "These things."
"Yucky!" Ulala grimaced.
"GUN is still breathing down my neck so we kindly ask that your satellites scan our oceans for a while to look for any weird activity. They seem to be targeting our internet lines." Eggman shook his cup at Orbot, signaling that it was empty.
"That's it?" Ulala looked over at her deck and put another song on to play, "Alright. You're lucky we're close to that planet and can do that."
"Thanks, Ulala. You're my favorite space DJ." MARI was all a titter with excitement.
"Yeah, yeah. I want five VIP tickets to Stratosphere for doing this favor, by the way! Would make a great giveaway for the radio station's listeners."
"Find me more data on these wiccaphage things and I'll send you twenty." Eggman nodded.
"You got it!" Ulala hung up the phone.
"You got girlfriends in space, now?" Tilly smiled.
"No, just one ex girlfriend." Eggman braced himself. "I am gonna summon Katella."
"Is that really a good idea?" Cubot cowered behind Orbot.
"No, but I need her help. Ulala will watch the sea and the sky, Katella will help on the ground." Eggman tented his fingers and called up the fiery redhead.
"Yes?" A gruff, slightly annoyed voice responded.
"Is this Katella the Huntress?" Eggman asked flatly.
"Eggy-weggy peachie poo!" Her entire demeanor changed. "Have you finally accepted my marriage proposal?"
"Uh, no," he shook his head, "I need your services."
"Is this a booty call?"
"What? No!" His cheeks were red. "I need you to hunt some rare animal for me."
"Ooh, that's even better." She was using her seductive voice. She immediately turned her spaceship around and headed back to Mobius.
"And you can keep whatever you find." If it doesn't kill you, he thought.
"Oh, my eggy-weggy, I'm already on my way." She disconnected the call with a click.
"I'll protect you from her." Sheptilah teased.
"I don't think Katella is into women." He narrowed his eyes at her.
"Ruin my day, why don't you?" Tilly pouted.
"Sonic, can you keep a secret?" Amy was at Sonic's shack cooking up some chili dogs for him.
"That depends." He was playing a game on his phone while lounging on his sofa. "Who is it about?"
"The witch."
"Ah, sure then. What's up?"
"Please don't let her know I said this but she's got a crush on Eggman."
Sonic put his phone face-down on the coffee table and stood. "First it was Katella, then it was Wendy, then Thunderbolt and now our resident witch?"
Amy shrugged as she stirred the chili. "I saw her kiss him on the cheek."
"Hmm… gross." Sonic said. "What do these women see in him? Besides Thunderbolt, I know she lusts for power; but the others? I don't get it."
"Love is blind." Amy added chopped garlic.
"And oblivious to the heinous war crimes he's committed."
Amy looked at him and then off in the distance. "I think it's that mustache. It mesmerizes them when it moves."
"So what do you want to do about it?" Sonic sat back down with a whump .
"Well." She loaded up a half dozen hot dogs with chili and brought it to Sonic. "What if we… got them together?"
"You're kidding, right?" Sonic grabbed the plate. "Thanks! Yum."
"Not kidding. She's convinced they're both going to die so we might as well make what's left of their time nice, right? And even if they both survive she'll keep him busy and under control so we can move on with our lives."
Sonic scarfed down three dogs before she could even blink. "Sounds like a bad idea, Ames. They're both adults... I really don't think you should get involved."
"But it's so romantic! The sun and the moon," her voice became airy, "Saving our planet together. Their magical bond keeping their hearts tethered no matter the distance. It's so meant to be!" She sighed thoughtfully.
"What would Shadow think?"
"Bah," Amy waved Sonic's concerns off, "Mr. Grumpy will have to learn how to accept it."
"Well, it would be nice to not have to deal with Eggman anymore…" Sonic chuckled. "Okay, I'm game. I have nothing else to do."
"Great! I have an idea of how to start it off, too." Amy rubbed her hands together.
Amy had convinced Sheptilah to go into the woods at dusk to collect more items. The two always chatted about ancient and modern alchemy but this time she was asking things about Tilly's culture.
"You ask the familiar for the witch's hand in marriage. If there is no familiar or if the familiar is an object then you ask the parents. If you want to marry the familiar you ask the witch." The basket bounced against Sheptilah's hip as she walked.
"So how many spouses could someone have?"
"Oh, as many as you wanted." Tilly shrugged. "But most people stuck to one because sister wives and brother husbands are very hard to deal with."
"What were weddings like?" Amy's green eyes sparkled.
"At moonset the betrothed have their dominant hands tied together with silk and they have to stay like that the whole day. They exchange vows and then the party begins! Everyone who wants to go is invited and there's lots of games and dancing. It gets really funny when you're trying to jump over obstacles with your spouse and bob for fruit in water when neither of you is facing the same direction. Unless of course one of you is a leftie and the other a rightie or ambidextrous."
"Like a game show!"
Sheptilah laughed. "I wish I could've seen my moms running through an obstacle course!"
"That sounds like it was a lot of fun." Amy picked up some mushrooms and put them in the basket. She could barely contain her excitement as they edged closer to their destination. She just hoped that Sonic could hold up his end.
Sonic convinced Eggman to go into the forest with him simply by saying Amy set something up for him. He didn't like lying but was perfectly okay with not telling the whole truth.
Sonic and Eggman arrived to the clearing first. There was a cute picnic set up with fairy lights strung up in the trees.
"Oh Sonic, you shouldn't have." The Overlander joked. "Seriously, what's this about?"
Amy and Sheptilah came to the clearing right after. Sheptilah calmly set the basket down so she could angrily put her hands on her hips and glare daggers at the little pink hedgehog.
"Wow, what a coincidence," Sonic said flatly, "We all stumbled upon a romantic picnic." He threw up his hands dramatically. "Alas! Woe is me! I cannot stay."
"I'm about to astral project the hell out of here." The witch hissed through a clenched jaw.
"What are you kids trying to do?" Eggman decided to act naive.
Amy chuckled nervously when she met eyes with her teacher and looked to Eggman. "Double date?" She sounded unconvincing.
"What?" Sonic put his hand behind his ear. "I think I hear my plants dying. I forgot to water them! See ya!" He sped off back to his house leaving a trail of rustling leaves behind him.
A moment of uncomfortable silence passed like a kidney stone. "I'm sorry!" Amy took a step back. "You're not mad, are you?"
Tilly's expression softened. She dropped her arms and sighed. "No, I'm not mad."
"You have really bad timing, Amy. Katella is on her way."
"Katella?" The hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "I don't... understand."
Eggman smiled behind his hand. "Ask Sonic about her. He knows who I'm talking about." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Well, she won't get here until sometime tomorrow. What's this about?"
"I, uh," Amy tapped her fingers together, "I saw Tilly and you were both really stressed about everything and thought you could use a nice picnic. I'm gonna go now…" Amy turned tail and got out of there before either of the Overlanders could respond.
Eggman waited for a moment before he spoke to make sure they were alone. "They're playing matchmaker like a couple of yentas."
"They're playing with my patience is more like it."
He gently took her hand. "We shouldn't waste food, though."
Her cheeks erupted in flames. "Please don't play with my heart." She pulled her hand back and she turned away from him.
Now that the cat was out of the bag she decided to just come clean so she could move on with her life.
"It's a stupid crush." She swallowed. "Nothing more."
"The truth is I like you, too." He half-lied.
"Ivo, please," her chest started to hurt, "When you're good you're really good but when you're bad it's unforgivable."
"What is it that you like about me?" He could never pass up a chance to have his ego stroked.
"I like that you're tall," she raised her hand for emphasis, "And you are really kind when you want to be. You're thoughtful and extremely intelligent. You're patient with my iron allergy and the language barrier and…" She bit her thumbnail, "You're willing to accommodate for my shortcomings. You gave me gloves and a hard hat, winter clothes."
She cast her eyes downward. "And you even care about my health. Even from someone like you I am not used to such kindness. You destroyed our holiest heavenly body, released a plague when you did so and you've probably committed more war crimes in your short life than most other countries have combined."
"I'm not quite that prolific but I appreciate the sentiment." He stepped toward her. "So you have a crush on me because I showed you basic human decency?"
"It sounds so pathetic when you put it that way."
"Tilly," he cupped her cheek with his hand, "You really are my only friend. I do care, and it's not just because of the bond or whatever." I need you, he thought, I need your magic.
She leaned into his hand and looked up at him. "Then I must confess it's not a simple crush. It's so much more than that."
He swallowed thickly, clearing his throat.
"I really, really like you; warts and all. I know you'll never change."
He grinned innocently. "What's so bad about that?"
She furrowed her brow, looked down at her Oracle Stone and then back up to him. Might as well, she thought. She stood up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when she moved without warning. He reflexively leaned into the kiss and held her by the small of her back for a moment before breaking the embrace.
She looked up at him with a mixture of fear and excitement.
He didn't know what to think and every nerve felt like it turned cold.
"I'm... I'm sorry." She tried to pull away but he held onto her.
"D-don't apologize." He closed his eyes and kissed her, enjoying the feeling of holding another person in his arms.
Shadow is gonna kill me, he thought. Hell, so will Katella and Thunderbolt; but for the moment he didn't care. He was rendered numb by the affection and felt invincible. Everything was falling into place.