A/N: Alrighty, this took a bit longer than I had hoped, but here it is. Hopefully, the next chapter shouldn't take so long.
Anyway, on to the story!
Chapter 1: Missing
Going on early runs isn't uncommon for Sonic, but leaving for three hours without answering his communicator certainly is. Tails had woken up and realized Sonic was gone. Not thinking much of it, he had made breakfast for two, expecting the blue blur to be back by the time it was done - this usually was how things worked.
The young fox tried again to call Sonic, only to get the message 'no signal.' By now, Tails was concerned. He wanted to think he was just being paranoid, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Then, it hit him. He could track Sonic's location using his communicator. Tails ran to his lab and quickly turned on his computer. Opening up the tracker, he saw that the communicator's last signal was two hours ago, with a location just outside Green Hill. For a brief instant, Tails thought about flying there himself. But decided it would be best to get some help.
Tails called up Sally, and after a short moment, she picked up, "Hay Tails."
Tails' reply came quickly and franticly, "I think Sonic went on a run, but he's been gone a really long time. So I tried calling him, but he wouldn't pick up! So I headed to the lab and-" The princess cut him off.
"Hay, slow down there, Tails," She said calmly, though a hint of worry shined through, "Now, what is this about Sonic not picking up?"
The young fox took a deep breath before explaining the situation as best he could. When he finished, Sally thought for a moment before responding, "Okay, I'll get a search party ready, and you prepare the Turnado. This way, we can cover a lot more ground."
"Alright," Tails said determinedly, but Sally spoke again before he could end the call.
"We will find him, don't worry."
Sonic felt awful. Every part of his body ached, and a throbbing pain pulsed through him. He was strapped to a wall, held in place by metal restraints over his wrists, ankles, and chest. He tried to move only to let out a yelp as a wave of searing pain shot from his leg.
'What happened?' He was cold, like he had been frozen alive and only thawed out seconds ago, and his mind was hazy; to top it off, he had the worst headache imaginable. He tried to remember anything about what had occurred, but right now, it was hard to even recall his own name.
'Where... where am I?' Sonic slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, and he could only make out dark colors and a few blinking lights. Gradually, his vision improved, and he could make out more of his surroundings. The room was dark. The walls were made of grey metal tiles, and a few computer terminals dotted them. In front of him was a door emblazed with the logo of the Eggman Empire. With that, it hit him. Instantly, Sonic knew where he was as memories of his fight with Metal flooded back.
Sonic's heart rate increased, and his breathing quickened. A feeling of dread overcame him as his thoughts slowly shifted to what the doctor might have in store for him now that he's been captured. But his thinking was interrupted by movement in the corner of the room. He glanced over to see a camera adjusting slightly. 'The doctor must be watching.'
The cobalt hedgehog thought about it for a moment before smirking at the camera; he wanted to show Eggman he hadn't gotten to him. Although, Sonic would be lying if he said he wasn't a little scared. He just didn't want to give the doctor any kind of victory.
The blue blur looked down, noticing his stomach and left leg were covered in dried blood. He remembered his leg, which bent slightly at an odd angle, was broken. That thought made Sonic feel sick; he couldn't run, and that horrified him, not just because it meant he couldn't attack or escape, but because running was... well, important to him. It was how he would clear his mind, calm his nerves, and it was what he did to relieve stress. And yes, he wouldn't be able to run right now even if his leg was in good health. It was more that he knew he couldn't run that troubled him.
Sonic thought about his situation, trying to think of a way out. The doctor usually had at least one glaring flaw in anything he came up with, so there had to be one somewhere. He just needed to find it.
Suddenly, He noticed a sound; slow, deliberate footsteps approaching the door. The blue hedgehog took a deep breath, preparing himself for what was likely to come. He had never been captured by the doctor before, but those who had told him horror stories about it. Constant interrogations, starvation, and beatings for anyone who didn't comply. Sonic usually tried to remain optimistic, but the prospect of all that did worry him. Though it could be worse, Eggman could have gotten his hands on one of Sonic's friends instead. That thought truly scared him.
The footsteps continued to grow louder; closer. It only took seconds, but to Sonic, it felt like hours for them to finally reach the door. Once there, they paused.
'He's really dragging this out, isn't he?'
The door slid open with a hiss, and light beamed into the room, outlining a tall, corpulent figure flanked on each side by swat-bots, all standing in the doorway. "Well, well, well," Robotnik started as he stepped inside, "Looks like I've finally bested you, rodent." The doctor's smile was unsettling, and his voice disturbingly calm, "I'll admit, you were quite the challenge to take down, but of course, it was nothing my genius couldn't overcome."
Sonic thought about a snarky response but settled on a cold stare. Whatever the doctor wanted from him, he wasn't gonna give it.
"The silent treatment, hm? How very rude." The doctor chuckled as he walked over to observe a monitor; while the swat-bots stood guard at the entrance. "Let's see here. Heart rate above usual, breathing patterns erratic. Brainwaves, heightened. All to be expected, of course."
"What do you want, Eggman?" Sonic finally spoke, annoyance clear in his tone.
The doctor took a moment to respond, "Frist off, hedgehog. My name is Robotnik. I'll be having none of your stupid 'nicknames.' But to answer your question," he turned away from the monitor before he continued, "I want a great many things! But I'll start small. I want the 'freedom fighters.' Fortunately, with you here, that shouldn't take long."
"Heh, you don't seriously think I'll ever tell you a thing, do you?" Sonic replied, a slight grin forming on his face, "If so, you're more delusional than you usually are, Ro-butt-nik."
The doctor sighed, slowly holding up a small device and pressing a button on it. Sonic screamed as sharp jolts of searing pain shot through him, his head jerked back hard, and his body spasmed. When the electrical shock had ended, his fur smoked, and a burning smell filled the air.
"My. Name. Is. Robotnik." The mad scientist growled, slowly starting to walk over to Sonic. "Now, as I was saying, I don't expect you to tell me anything. I'm well aware of just how stubborn you are."
"Th- then... how do y- you expect to f- find them?" Sonic spoke weakly but defiantly.
The doctor stopped right in front of the blue hero, looking down at him with a sinister grin, "The only reason you're alive, hedgehog," His voice was a low whisper, and his glasses glinted menacingly, "Is because you are bait."
A shiver went down Sonic's spine, and his worry for his friends was thrust into the center stage of his mind. "They won't fall for it." He said coldly, rage boiling inside him. "Besides, I'm the one you've always been after, right?"
"You overestimate your own worth, rodent," Robotnik sneered, "Oh, and they will fall for it. You and your friends are nothing - if not predictable. In fact, I reckon they're already planning some sort of rescue as we speak."
"Leave. Them. Alone." Sonic growled through gritted teeth, his voice was filled with fury, and his fists clenched tightly.
The doctor chuckled, "Struck a nerve, have I?" He said devilishly. "Let me make it up to you. Let's see here... ah! You want out of here, right? Well, let me give you a chance," He pressed another button on the device.
The restraints holding Sonic in the air all simultaneously released. The hedgehog cried out as he landed hard on his good leg, twisting the ankle, falling forward onto his broken one with a gut-wrenching crunch, finally landing flat on his face. An agonized scream escaped the blue blur as a surge of excruciating pain hit him; it felt like his leg had been ripped off.
The doctor laughed as Sonic lay on the ground, shaking as he tried to stand on his hands and knees. "What's wrong, hedgehog? Run! Run, and warn your dear friends!" He said before delivering a kick straight to Sonic's side, knocking him onto his back.
The pain was so severe Sonic felt like he could pass out. His injuries had reopened, and a puddle of blood was forming around him. He couldn't move; he had never felt so helpless. And he was overwhelmed by the horrid thought of the doctor getting his hands on his friends.
Sonic whined as Robotnik's boot slammed on his chest, pressing hard on the gash. The doctor laughed as he twisted it slightly, forcing the wound open even more, blood streaming out. "Ohh, you have no idea how long I've waited for this, hedgehog," the doctor reminisced as he leaned closer to Sonic, applying even more pressure on his chest. Sonic could feel tears welling in his eyes, and a loud, pained groan escaped him until his lungs ran out of oxygen. "After every invention you'd destroy, every plan you'd ruin, and every stupid insult you'd throw my way, I dreamed about what I would do when I captured you." The doctor continued. Sonic could only whimper. He felt like his ribs were about to snap. And his chest felt like it was on fire. "But here? Now?" The doctor said as a horrid crack filled the air and Sonic's chest sank noticeably, "It's so much better than I could have ever imagined."
Finally, Robotnik lifted his foot. Sonic wheezed heavily and coughed painfully, his broken ribs making every breath agonizing. He rolled onto his side and curled into a small, shaking ball, animal instincts kicking in. He was frozen, every move painful. All he could do was sob softly.
The doctor simply chuckled, "Had enough yet, rodent?" He sneered, "Ready to admit defeat?"
"Never..." Sonic whispered weakly, wincing at a new wave of pain.
"Soon, you will, hedgehog. One way or another, I will break you." The doctor's words were cold and spoken matter-of-factly. "Swat-bots!" He yelled; the two stationed at the door stood at attention, "Take the hedgehog to the infirmary, make sure he doesn't bleed out, then bring him to his cell."
The robots grabbed Sonic by his arms and lifted him off the ground, carrying him down hallway after hallway, but it didn't really matter to Sonic. The whole time, he was barely conscious. They arrived at a brightly lit room and laid Sonic on a table. He was too weak to resist as a robot seemingly ran several tests on him, injecting him with needles and taking scans of his body. Finally, it tightly wrapped his body in a bandage, an agonizing procedure with his broken ribs and no anesthetic. Then, the Swat-bots returned, picking him up and carrying him to a small, dark cell. After throwing Sonic in, they closed the door and left. The blue hedgehog barely managed to crawl his way to the cot in the corner before passing out.
The small plane flew low over the lush hills. It moved slowly, surveying each area thoroughly before moving to the next. Tails had been searching for an hour now, but with no sign of Sonic, the yellow fox signed as another valley was devoid of the blue hedgehog. Feeling somewhat defeated, Tails looked over the horizon in a vain attempt to see any sign of his friend, only for something to catch his eye, a glint just beyond a hill. Flying a bit closer, he saw what looked to be a metal structure hidden beneath the treeline. Tails' eyes lit up when he saw it, and he opened a channel with the search party immediately, "Guys, I think I found something."
