CHAOS, WHAT WE'RE MADE OF
ACT 1
CHAPTER 1
His feet hit the ground. He was ready to go. His heart beating like a stereo. He was fast. No time to rest. Was this a test? Another experiment? If so, he was going to bring his best.
Nic's legs were a blur beneath him as he sped up and down the green hills just outside of the mad scientist's laboratory. His escape had been much easier than anticipated, almost like the human hadn't thought Nic capable of breaking out. Or maybe he thought that his wacko procedure wouldn't produce results this amazing?
Was amazing even the right word? If Nic had been looking on from someone else's perspective then yeah, maybe he'd be filled with awe and amazement. Maybe also a little terror though? Watching a normal hedgehog getting zapped with magic or whatever it was from that blue gem is something you'd only see in a horror movie, or so Nic had heard. He'd never actually even seen a television before getting captured by that weird-shaped human. And then that magic turned his fur blue. Blue!
"Hehehe", Nic chuckled as he ran. I guess turning me a different color is the least destructive thing that scientist did to himself. When I get to him, that egghead is gonna see how his little experiment is about to bite him in the cra-
A horrific mechanical sound filled the air as more of the scientist's robots entered the field and sped towards the hedgehog. Despite looking like ladybugs they did not seem to have the ability to fly, not that Nic thought that flight would help them against him now. They shifted, the robots' front arms changing to large spinning saw blades. Before, this would have frightened the hedgehog. And even now, he wasn't entirely certain if he should be afraid. But now it was time to see just what he was made of.
He was a hedgehog. When in danger it was natural to curl up into a ball. But now his body was different. He was different. It wasn't just the speed, he felt stronger in just about every way; his muscles, his skin, his quills. Nic jumped and tucked his head in between his legs, turning his body into an almost spherical shape. Whirr! The spiked sphere began to spin, turning Nic into his own razor to counter the robots!
Swish! Clunk! Slice!
Nic felt his body move through the solid metal of multiple casings, the sound of their remains falling onto the grassy ground signifying their full destruction. But as his body uncurled and he stood back up on his long, thin legs, a new sound entered the holler between two hills. Flapping. Tweeting.
The hedgehog turned around to see a small red bird struggling to get free of the wreckage. And then a squirrel squirmed its way out of another fallen robot. Nic narrowed his eyes, and turned in the direction the scientist had fled after the hedgehog's ruinous escape.
xxx
The hedgehog's fists ached. His arms were tired. It was useless banging on this glass case, the thing was never going to break. All around him it seemed the other animals had given up hope of escape too. The birds, the squirrels, the foxes and rabbits. It was the end for them, they all knew. They had seen the fate that awaited them.
In the very center of the room roared a massive machine. Cold, red, and evil looking with a glass case of its own, the animals were forced to watch every time. There was a chameleon in there now, but as the lightning flickered and the mechanical arms stretched down from the ceiling, Nic knew that he would be a chameleon for only a short time longer. And after a few minutes, it was over. The case was opened and out flew a large mechanical wasp with a firearm where its stinger was meant to be.
"Oh ho ho!" laughed the scientist as he re-entered the room. "Another perfect roboticization! Well, nearly perfect! You'll still be needing food, of course. But eventually, even that can be fixed." The scientist was a large, bald man with a long, bushy mustache. Behind his round, dark shades Nic had seen his eyes to be tiny, uncaring, but immensely intelligent. And he was a monster.
"I don't get it," Nic said to himself, but the scientist overheard.
"A…hedgehog?" he asked, approaching Nic's case. "No one alerted me that a hedgehog was captured. Interesting," the scientist twirled his mustache and pushed himself so close to the case that the warping effect the glass gave the man made him look even more like an egg. "What is it that you don't get, hedgehog? Do you not get why I'm making these beautiful robots? Do you not get why you're here? Do you not get why I'm using animals to create my amazing automatons?"
Nic looked defiantly at the scientist and said nothing. But he wanted to.
"Well, the answer to all three is virtually the same. I want to conquer the world. As the most intelligent, the most brilliant, and the most handsome man on the globe, I think I deserve it! You don't agree, hedgehog?"
"Hehe! Handsome? Yeah, I bet a lot of bird mommies tell their eggs they're good looking." Nic! This is what got you into this situation in the first place!
"Why you!" the scientist slammed his fists against Nic's case, causing the entire thing to vibrate and shake. "Yes!" he backed away, calming himself. "I deserve it. And it will be a wonderful place, don't you worry. A place for every human to live, a real paradise! I'll even do away with those horrid little forests you freaky pests call home. But not to worry, the land won't go to waste. Amusement parks everywhere! Casinos! No one will ever be bored in Robotnikland!
"But in order to take what is mine I need an army. And while I could use my unmatched charisma to convince people to join me, it's far easier to just make one. And robots are so much more efficient and loyal than people, you know. Well, maybe you don't know. You dirt dwellers don't know anything about the real world. So I'll tell you. Even though robots are infinitely better than your standard soldier, they still require energy. Electricity. And generating enough for a force as big as I need…would attract too much attention."
"I see. And blowing up a village and kidnapping all the inhabitants will absolutely go unnoticed by everyone!" said Nic.
"It will. Because no one gives a damn about you little freaky critters! Except for me, that is. For I see the potential in you. All of you." The scientist returned to Nic's case and smiled the most devilish grin. "You see, all life has something inside of it that makes it…alive. Some people call it a soul, some a spirit or chi. But I know what it truly is. It is change, the disruptor of order. The ultimate power! It is…Chaos!"
Nic chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I've been called chaotic from time to time. I still have no idea what you're on about, egg dude."
The smile faltered and the scientist smashed his large nose up against the glass. "I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik! The greatest scientist and inventor in the world! Not some run of the mill eggheaded geek!"
Nic shrugged. "And you're telling me all this because?"
"Oh ho ho ho! We'll get to that, little hedgehog. Hedgehog. Yes. This!" Dr. Robotnik reached into his red jacket and pulled from it a large blue gemstone that did not look like it could have fit anywhere in his clothing without being noticed. "This is Chaos in physical form. An infinite power capable of powering an infinite army!...in theory. Unfortunately this is but one of six 'Chaos Emeralds'. Until I have them all I will need to resort to siphoning the chaos out of all your little animal friends."
Nic starred at the brilliant, sparkling, seemingly self-luminescent gem Robotnik was holding. He had seen it before. It was their gem! The Sacred Emerald of the marble village!
xxx
Nic looked down at the ruins of the once pristine and beautiful marble walls and towers of his home. Everything was gone. Destroyed.
Twenty or so animals grouped around him and silently watched as Nic walked down the hill towards the remnants of the Emerald Temple that once was the shining beacon of life and happiness of his people. Nic had saved them, but they were so few. So many were still out there, trapped in robot bodies with their very lifeforce being drained.
Nic stood on what was once the podium the emerald rested on and looked onward. The Labyrinth. That was where the scientist fled. And that was where Nic was going next.