Zeena was trapped; she found herself bound in some long machine in one of the Eggman facility's many chambers. Energy tethers similar to her own held her limbs in place, keeping her lying like a vampire in a coffin. Her electromagnetic field felt like it was being suffocated. Her hair was tangled behind her hips, and she had an itch on her side that she couldn't quite reach. It sucked.
Physically she was uncomfortable enough, but her thoughts were just as scrambled and frustrated. She hadn't yet given in to despair, no no no, she was still in the fuming stage. That insufferable Eggman beat her so easily. Poor Mecha didn't even try to help her, standing there like an overwhelmed child. And it was Zavok who was behind this whole kidnapping, wasn't he? That stubborn idiot… she knew he wouldn't take her disrespect lying down. She dreaded what was to come.
Speak of the devil. She heard a mechanical door open to her right. The heavy footsteps and clawed toes informed her of her captor's identity, his demonic horns quickly coming into sight.
"Zeena," Zavok sought her attention as he came to a halt. His yellow eyes held stern disappointment. "You're lucky I convinced Redd to spare you. The doctor created these capsules to harness our electromagnetism, so you will stay here until you cooperate."
It was disgusting to hear Zavok had the gall to turn Eggman's anti-Zeti tech on one of his own, but it was the least of her worries at the moment. She had far bigger fish to fry. "Zavok, how could you?"
The red Zeti shook his head, pulling up a small metal chair; how was he taking this so casually? "What's all this about?" he asked. "What filth did those fools fill your mind with?"
"I know the bigger picture now, Zavok. I've seen our ancestors, I know what kind of people they were." She recalled the gruesome fresco on Angel Island, how the ancient echidnas depicted their kind as such despicable savages. Zavok raised an eyebrow, amused by her comment, but said nothing. His apathy sickened her, so she continued. "You never told us."
He harrumphed, ignoring her outrage. "I would have assumed that you'd find comfort in discovering such prestigious lineage, but now you've betrayed your family." He hummed, disappointed. "How could you turn against the Deadly Six this way?"
Turn against the Deadly Six? Since when was aligning with Redd any better? Zeena pulled at her restraints, wishing she could stand up to him. "Forget the Deadly Six, I'm talking about the Zeti."
"The Deadly Six are the Zeti; we're all that's left." Then he suddenly roared. "And we must continue our way of life, lest we lose ourselves and vanish for good!"
Zeena managed to shake her head. "No way wreaking havoc is making any progress. Sounds to me like a good way to finish us off." She decided to stop arguing, and start explaining. "Y'know Zavok, I've seen the world you're trying to rule. My time with Silver's little troupe has been leagues better than any time spent bashing my head against heroes for you."
"Ugh, Zeena, they're the enemy! They're friends of Sonic!"
A mocking, dramatic gasp. "Sonic, Sonic, what is your obsession with that kid? Big ogre feels emasculated by a blue rat?" She hissed, venomous like a cobra. "Throwing a tantrum cause you can't get what you want?"
Zavok stood up from his seat, knocking it to the floor. Both of his beefy hands clamped around the sides of Zeena's sarcophagus, slightly bending the metal. "Watch your tongue, girl."
His intimidation wasn't working - Zeena had seen it all before. She wasn't afraid to get impudent. "We come from a line of violent assholes, ruling the world just isn't in the cards for us. We're not cut out for it." She posed a question. "What do you think Zomom would do if he conquered the world?"
Zavok also grumbled, his sharp gaze fighting but failing to pierce her bravado. "He would unleash his gluttony and consume, the way any ruler ought to."
"Wrong!" Zeena shouted, getting him to flinch - it felt good. "He'd give it to you, Zavok. We all look up to you, we assume you know best, even when it's scary. Does that mean nothing?" She felt her fury being replaced by sincerity, an unintended direction.
The red Zeti leaned back from her face, possibly calming down as well. "That's not…" He trailed off, failing to formulate an argument.
"The others are waiting for you, y'know. They're waiting for their boss to save them." She was so tired of all this; she had to just tell him what she'd told Mecha. "I can't say for them… but I don't want to fight and to hate forever. Is that really all we mean to you? Are we just your little soldiers?"
Zavok was quick to answer, his voice almost desperate. "No, I care about you, Zeena. I care about all of you."
"Then tell me what we're doing. Why do we have to play the bad guys?"
This time he paused, closing his eyes before his response. He exhaled. "Truthfully, I do not entirely know… I've only led us against the world because it is what I have always done. But what I do know is that we have each other." He opened his eyes, looking surprisingly remorseful - it failed to move her. "I respect your decision if you choose to abandon us, but please understand that I care about you. We may not be the most perfect or cooperative bunch, but... I thought that if I gave us a cause to rally under, if we could pursue my dream together, we'd stand united as brothers and sisters."
Zeena clicked her tongue. "Exactly; it's your dream, Zavok. We're a bunch of people who don't know what we want. You've used us."
"I thought you wanted a purpose." Zavok's energy increased again, searching for ammunition to fire back. "And Master Zik is well aware of himself, he is committed to helping achieve my potential!"
That excuse still didn't work for her. "We all want to help, that's why we've stuck around! But Zik's the only one mature enough to understand. Zazz, Zor, Zomom, me - we're vulnerable kids you've wrangled into doing your dirty work. Like…" She paused for emphasis. "Are you ready to take responsibility for that?"
Zavok breathed, boiling with quiet rage. His fists clenched. "... I've had enough of being tormented for holding to my beliefs. You're going to help me whether you like it or not." He was clearly avoiding his own defeat! A palm slammed over Zeena's mouth to silence her protests. "I don't know how, but Redd has nearly collected enough energy. I will fill you in on our plan tonight - maybe you'll have smartened up by then." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Tomorrow, we make our move. That's an order."
What an idiot! Enraged, Zeena threw her body against the restraints as hard as she could. She howled, tears welling up. "Don't you walk away from this, Zavok! You-"
As he stormed out, his red and cyan energy overwhelmed her capsule prison, closing its shutter and locking her inside. She could only see into the rest of the chamber through a small window, watching her former ally's tail disappear and hearing the metal door slam shut. Her body was sore from all the helpless thrashing, but she didn't know what else to do, and continued to rattle the box.
Her throat was getting hoarse from the grunting and screaming, so she finally slowed down. Her head fell back against the platform where she lay, panting. Mascara ran down her cheeks, but there was nothing she could do to wipe it away. She gnashed her teeth at the tears.
Silver felt an awful darkness in his chest, like another premonition. His mind turned to the fates of Zeena and Mecha, praying they were okay. He wished he'd seen where Eggman flew off to, kicking himself, but knew the best way to find out was with Tikal. They had to move forward, on to Angel Island, on to Redd.
A convenient path from the ski lodge was now guiding the trio the rest of the way down the mountain, not even requiring a sheet metal sled. Blaze led the way, literally blazing a trail along the snowy gravel road, while Silver carried Infinite, levitating behind her. Even without her pyrokinetic heat, the snow quickly made itself scarce as their elevation decreased and the temperature increased.
The trip had been relatively silent until Infinite spoke up. "Who is this supposed friend of yours?" He was fast approaching his condescending old self, though who knew how long it would last.
Silver couldn't quite look over his shoulder at the jackal floating behind, but answered. "Her name is Tikal. She's an ancient echidna spirit, super wise and friendly."
Slowing her pace, Blaze jogged to let the two catch up. She gave her two cents. "I have found Tikal to be a great help. Speaking with her has a sort of liberating effect."
"Tch." Infinite raised his eyebrows. "I hope she has experience with dangerous freakshows."
Silver chuckled to himself. You'd be surprised.
"You're not a freakshow, Infinite." Blaze continued to impress Silver with her improved empathy. "And even if you were, those people deserve love too. They may even need it the most."
He laughed, again terse and forced. "I pity the soul who believes they must love every monster of the world."
"No one said it'd be easy," chimed in Silver. "Forgiving those who've wronged you is hard."
Infinite scoffed. "You seem to be awfully good at it. It was barely two years ago I had you squirming on the ropes, kid."
Silver was tired of this negativity; did this guy want to come along or not? Did he realize he could leave him sprawling in the dirt at a moment's notice? But Silver restrained himself, answering with realism and kindness rather than annoyance. "Forgiveness doesn't equal trust, Infinite. I can't forget what you've done, but I'm willing to move past it if you are."
This time Infinite remained silent, hopefully reflecting on the words. It gave Silver time to consider his own relationship with the jackal; while Silver hadn't personally experienced any traumatic losses during Infinite's global takeover, he knew so many civilians who had. He'd fought against this guy with all his strength to restore the future again, and now he was charitably carrying him down a mountain range. Silver couldn't say he had forgiven him 100% yet, nor did he trust him at all, but he refused to deny him an opportunity at redemption. If he didn't let him try, then who would?
Blaze politely batted at Silver's shoulder, giving him a soft smile that said I'm proud of you before dashing off ahead again. He hoped to not squander his own redemption either.
Tap tap.
Zeena jolted to the sound outside, bonking her head as she stirred awake. She'd nearly forgotten her predicament in her exhausted sleep. As her blurry vision stabilized, she recognized the form of blue armor out the window.
"Mecha!" Her heart swelled. In her enthusiasm she sought to raise her arms, but again found them bound.
The robotic hedgehog didn't respond, unable to hear her. He fiddled with the side of the mechanical sarcophagus, searching for a button to open it. Finally he succeeded, allowing Zeena to whisper to him. "Hey. What's going on?"
He held very still - too still for her liking. "I shouldn't be here, but I must talk to you."
"What, what is it?"
He seemed so reluctant to speak. "I thought you might be safe with Dr. Eggman. I expected better; I did not think he would trap you like this…" He slightly lifted his gauntlet, reaching weakly for her immobilized hand. "Nor did I expect him to work with our enemy… it's a mess."
The poor thing - he had been totally misled and manipulated. She couldn't bring herself to be angry with his mistakes, because she knew exactly how it felt to be led around in the dark by someone without your best interests in mind. Zeena wanted so badly to take his hand, reassure him that she would be fine and he would be too, but literally couldn't. Her claws splayed. "Are you okay? Has Redd hurt you?"
"No, but I am… torn." Mecha's body rattled, as if shivering. "The Doctor is my master, I want him to be right, and yet everything he is doing is wrong. He may even destroy the world."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Fear panged at Zeena's heart.
"Redd might ruin the planet." He noticed her concern, mustering the courage to cradle at least one of her fingers in comfort. "He and the Doctor have created a portal to send him to his own world, but it requires vast amounts of energy. Even the seven Chaos Emeralds aren't enough, he still seeks more." His voice quieted. "The stress of travelling that far through space would have immense repercussions on this dimension."
"You sure?" Zeena didn't fully understand everything Mecha said, but didn't want to believe the scariest parts of it. "Then how did he get here in the first place?"
"An anomaly. It doesn't matter." His metal fingers moved up Zeena's, finally grasping her palm. Then he noticed the mascara smears on her face, tenderly attempting to wipe them from her face with his unwieldy steel. He was too careful, barely making a difference. "What does matter is that you are safe. I am proud of you for being so strong, Zeena."
Zeena felt blood rush into her cheeks… it had been so long since she felt this kind of blush. It wasn't the same as Zavok's flattery or even Blaze's compliments, but something deeper that made her feel tender and giddy. Mecha had grown so much since they first met, but she couldn't say for sure if he knew how oddly good he was at comforting her. She felt like a schoolgirl. In fact, she needed to deflect. "Gosh… you don't need to worry about me so much, Mecha. It's embarrassing."
The machine's cold hand lingered by her cheek; it cradled her as gently as it could. "I know. Worrying is a tactical liability."
Zeena twitched, remembering her physical discomfort. "While you're here, I've got an itchy spot." Instinctually, she nearly possessed his arm, but stopped herself. She would let him do it. "On my waist, just over my hip. Driving me crazy."
Mecha wordlessly complied, but hesitated. His hand refused to touch her flesh there. "Scratching is too repetitive a motion. I don't want to harm you any more than I already have..." he mumbled.
Zeena's heart fluttered - what was this robot doing to her? This beep-boop looking hedgehog had her questioning everything she knew about herself. She remembered their first encounter, just how many times he'd punched her in the head. She almost laughed, and tried to regain control. "Come on, Mecha, I'll be fine. If you can touch my face then you can touch my body." She inhaled. Did I really just say that?
He remained reluctant - not sensing the tension at all, rather still worried about harming her - but his rectangular metal fingers finally made contact with her waist. He rubbed slightly, not entirely scratching the itch; it was better than nothing. Then he flinched back. "You organics are so fragile."
She smirked, again failing to hide the warmth in her heart. "Charitable of Eggman to let you care like that."
Mecha shook his head. "No, he built me with an understanding of damage." He raised his fist, clenching it tight and regarding it with some disgust. "I've developed this. All that time alone let me outgrow the scope of my original design, and now..." It almost felt like he gave a weak sigh. "I am glad it was you who awoke me, and not Redd."
"Me too, babe." She let that last part slip, but didn't mind flirting. He was already so close.
The focus of Mecha's single red eye shook, confused and embarrassed. "Why would you address me with such terminology?" His hands fidgeted, he didn't know what to do with himself. He was so vulnerable.
Zeena giggled. "Looks like I've found another tactical liability of yours."
The robot grunted. "You're my perfect counter."
"I like it that way."
"Maybe I do too."
The door opened. Mecha whirled around, nearly backhanding Zeena in the process, and stood at attention as if nothing had happened. "Doctor."
Eggman entered the chamber, slowly sauntering over while eyeing his creation and the restrained Zeti. She couldn't tell what emotion lay behind those glasses, but felt her own irritation and fear rising.
He cleared his throat. "What are you doing with this Zeti, Mecha Sonic?"
"Sir…" Mecha struggled to formulate an excuse. "Posing an interrogation."
"This place has cameras, you know." The Doctor was clearly unamused. "I don't like how comfortable you are with our prisoner." With a finger, he clicked the frames of his glasses.
Suddenly, Mecha's entire body went dark; he was completely deactivated. Just like that, gone. Zeena tried to contain herself, but let out a tiny gasp. She considered reviving him with her powers and striking back at Eggman, but decided against it. She no longer felt comfortable possessing her companion, it didn't feel right to invade his privacy so deeply. But was this situation different?
Hands behind his back, Eggman wandered towards Zeena's open capsule. He wasn't smiling. "Don't you two ruin this for us. We're so close to getting rid of that freak."
She wasn't sure if she was supposed to respond. "...What?" she peeped.
"Redd plans to leave tomorrow, but we're going to crush him before he can. Zavok said he wants you here when he initiates the plot," explained Eggman. He seemed so serious, speaking to Zeena in a way she had never heard from him. "Afterwards all the Chaos Emeralds will be in one place, so it'll be winner-takes-all, understood?" But he still bore no friendliness.
Her stunned silence irked him. "What, did you really think I would let some rando from across the universe tear my planet into the dark void between space? I've got standards."
In hindsight, that did make sense - Eggman may not have originally come from this world, but he sure was hellbent on controlling it. The guy had big plans for Eggmanland, it was all so personal to him. Unlike the foreign Zeti, he had at least a little skin in the game of world domination.
But that didn't mean Zeena respected him. She again considered reawakening the deactivated Mecha to launch a surprise attack, until Eggman looked at him too. "I'll be taking this Mecha Sonic unit for maintenance. He's outdated, but he could still be useful." A large, almost cartoonish claw extended from the ceiling, carelessly grabbing the robot and yanking him away into a tunnel. Again, Zeena held her tongue. She'd missed her chance.
The Doctor sneered, aware of her reluctance to speak this entire time. "Well, you'd stand a better chance reconnecting with Zavok than trying to butter up my old creations." It was as if he was annoyed she didn't play along with his little performance - poor weirdo must have been missing Sonic's incessant, bantering attitude (she couldn't relate). While Zeena had learned she didn't want to play the villain anymore, playing the hero still wasn't exactly her cup of tea either.
"Good luck." He pressed the button on her capsule, closing it.
As the door shut, she uttered a single word: "Whatever." She had no interest in talking to Eggman, nor Zavok for that matter. There was no time for arguing with them. She wondered where Mecha was going, and if he'd be okay…
Wait, and what about the others? Zeena had almost completely forgotten about Silver, Blaze, and Tikal. They weren't fully incompetent, that was for sure - her misgivings about their pretentious optimism had given way to actual trust over time. Unlike her and Mecha, those three were heroes through and through. But did they know Redd's plot was so close to coming to fruition? She needed to have faith in them... not that she had any other options. But maybe that's the point of a hero.