"The room that Sonic found was a part of a lab testing facility. That facility, as well as the rest of the island, was hit hard by a freak hurricane over a hundred years ago and buried underground by a landslide. The door was a special isolation variety to air seal rooms that were top secret. That's what helped keep everything inside perfectly preserved until we came along." Tails pointed to some writing on his laptop, "According to this journal record. There was a project called "Restart" being done in that facility. They figured out how to turn an individual into an infant, allowing them to grow up again."
"So they like made a fountain of youth?" Amy asked, "That's only part of it. Apparently, the goal of this project was to turn top-listed criminals back into infants so they could grow up again to be proper citizens. It was going to be a revolutionary way of re-entering criminals into society. The subjects were supposed to have their memories erased when they transformed and then given to families willing to adopt them."
"Something went wrong, though." Shadow interjected, "Sonic hasn't lost any of his memories, and he keeps switching from an infant to his original age."
"Correct. You see, here in the last entry, their test subjects had the same issue. The solution used in the gas was supposed to have permanent effects, but something was off. Instead of the solution and the individual's DNA molecules working together, the solution turned unstable and started fighting with the molecules, resulting in this aging flip-flopping."
"But, there's a way to fix this, right?" Amy asked, "Look at the date of the last entry here." Tails pointed to the bottom right corner of the screen, "It was posted the day before the storm." Amy whispers, "Exactly."
"Does that mean you can't fix Sonic?" Knuckles asks, tightening his hold on the little hedgie. "Yes, I can still turn him back to his original age! All the data was saved. I just gotta gather the ingredients, figure out a way to stabilize the solution, and then reverse it!" the fox said it all like it was the simplest thing in the world.
Amy, Knuckles, Sonic, and Shadow looked at Tails wide-eyed. "That... sounds complicated." Sonic signed, "Oh, it's is. But that's what makes it so exciting!" Tails turned back to the monitor, "This first thing is..."
At this point, Sonic stopped listening; there was no point as he wouldn't understand anything Tails was saying anyway. He tapped Knuckles' arms to get his attention, "Hm? What is it, little blue?" he whispered, Sonic pointed down. For once, Knuckles understood and placed him on the floor. The hoglet softly squeaked in thanks before crawling away.
Crawling out of the workshop, Sonic made his way to the beach, not wanting to stay where he would be bored out of his skull; at least out here, he could occupy himself. He stopped when he hit the wet sand; sitting down, he started making a sandcastle.
He wondered what he would do after he was back to normal. How long would this second childhood last? Just while he was stuck like this going back and forth from baby to teenager, or would it continue after he was 19 again? If so, for how long...a few weeks, months, years? While he did want to stop changing ages so much. Do I really want to be a teenager again? Or do I want to stay a baby? What would the rest of the guys think? It's kinda nice being taken care of instead of always having to do everything myself. I actually get to play and have fun! But then again, I can't run, I can't defend myself, and I know I would miss hero work...sigh.
Sonic looked up at the waves reflecting in the afternoon sun; he'd never felt so conflicted with himself. One part of him wanted to stay a baby and enjoy all the attention and things he never had before. Another part couldn't stand the thought of not running for who knows how long and didn't want to watch Eggman get beat from the sidelines. He recalled his dream last night. Maybe I could be a really fast baby, no one would have to know, and besides, it was pretty funny and humiliating for Egghead to get beaten by a Baby Sonic. He chuckled. I should talk to Tails about this more; he's pretty smart in a lot of ways.
Shadow quietly walked up behind the blue fuzzball, playing in the sand, careful not to disturb him. The little hedgehog seemed to be deep in thought, absentmindedly making a crude sandcastle. Shadow watched the waves crash on the beach listening to the calming sound. "Funny how something so beautiful can be so dangerous." Sonic's ear twitched, he jumped, seeing Shadow towering above him. How long has he been standing there?!
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Shadow glances briefly away from the view, "Are you that bad at making sandcastles?" Sonic shrugged, "Just thinking." he signs.
"Wow, who knew you were capable of thinking so deeply." the ebony hog lightly chuckles. With a small smile, Sonic rolled his eyes, knowing that Shadow was only teasing him. It was nice to see his rival had a slight sense of humor and loosen up a bit since joining the team. He sighed, gloomily kicking his legs. He wanted to run, out of nowhere, his stomach grumbles. Hungry, dang, and we didn't bring any food along either. Getting an idea, Sonic turns around and spots one of the coconut palms nearby. I hear coconut milk is supposed to be pretty good. How to open it? He wonders, crawling up and picking one of the smaller coconuts.
Shadow's ear twitched, bearing the blue blur's stomach, he realized Sonic must be hungry. He watched, puzzled as to where the baby hedgehog was going and what he was going to do now. Shadow caught on what he wanted when Sonic attempted to open the fruit hitting it on the ground; he walked over, taking the coconut from him. Forming a chaos spear, he sliced the fruit open, giving half to the hungry hoglet. Sonic squeaked in thanks, sipping the liquid inside. It was good! Refreshing and lightly sweet. Sonic gulped down the milk, Shadow took a few sips as well, enjoying the cool drink.
The combination of a full belly and warm afternoon rays of the sun made Sonic feel tired. Finishing his milk, he dropped the husk and rubbed his eyes. Shadow, not wanting anymore, dumped the rest on the sand; he noticed Sonic yawning. "Come on, squirt," Shadow bent down, picking up the blue ball. "Time to go back." The little hedgie yawned again as Shadow carries him back to the workshop. All that thinking and milk made me tired. Maybe I should take a...little...nap. These are his last thoughts before he drifts to sleep in Shadow's arms.
When Shadow returns to the workshop, Amy is flying around almost in hysterics. "Oh, thank goodness!" she exhales and hurries toward the two hedgehogs. Shadow protectively covers his charge and pulls back, hissing, "Ssshhhh, he's asleep!" Amy stops and silently mouths 'sorry,' leaning to the side, she smiles, seeing her tiny blue friend cuddling Shadow's white chest fur. "Aaawwww, no fair, he likes you better!" she whispers, pouting; Shadow rolls his eyes, "He just likes my chest fluff."
"Where did you find him?"
"He was out by the beach." Amy sighs, "Oh, good!"
"Here, you take the runt now." Shadow tries to pry the little hedgehog off without waking him, but Sonic has a tight grip on Shadow's chest fur, "Aagh! I can't get him off without pulling my fur out!" he faintly yells, Amy taps her chin. "I think I may have a baby carrier back at my place. We could put him in there that way he can still be comfortable, and you won't have to hold him." she suggests; Shadow sighs, "I'd rather get him off...but fine."
A short time later, Shadow is hooked up with the carrier, Sonic comfortably nestled in the front-facing Shadow, still nuzzling his chest. Shadow rolls his neck and shoulders in relief, not that Sonic was heavy; he just wanted his arms back. "Thanks."
"No problem...Daddy Shadow." Amy giggles; she thought Shadow looked like a father getting ready to go out with their baby. Frowning, the ebony hog softly growls at her, "I'm not the little squirt's father."
"Are you sure? You two do look awfully similar..." she playfully hums. "We are in no way related in any shape or form. The only thing we have in common is being the same species." he spat. "Ok, if you say so..." Amy shrugged, turning her back on him, his fists shook in a fury. "Watch yourself, pinky. I don't have to stick around and help you with the blue baby."
"I know," Amy smiles over her shoulder, "And I appreciate it!" Shadow humphs, acknowledging her thanks but still irritated at her joking, "I'm going on a walk; we'll be back before dinner." He smashed the door closed behind him; Amy shook her head in amusement as he left.