(A/N: This is my first Sonic fic, but I wrote several Super Smash Bros. fics (two with Sonic characters as guest stars) a very long time ago and am working on one Magic: the Gathering fic. This fic takes place after Sonic Heroes (and is unrelated to Sonic Battle.)

Menticide

Chapter 1 – Divide and Conquer

"Charmy, go to bed!"

"No, I'm not tired!"

"Just because we helped to save the world last month doesn't mean you won't be exhausted tomorrow morning. We might get hired again tomorrow."

"Oh come on, we haven't had any real work in months!"

"Real work? Our last 'client' paid, didn't he?"

"I don't care what you say, I'm not going to bed!"

Espio smiled as he dozed off to sleep, listening to Vector and Charmy argue as usual. It was certainly true that no one seemed to have any need for detective services lately, but the chameleon was enjoying the time off. Even ninjas need to relax sometimes.

"No, you're stupid!"

"Argh! Go to bed right now!"

"Make me!"

"You don't really want me to do that…"

"You scared?"

"I think you're the one who's…"

Their voices became gibberish as Espio drifted further and further into sleep. He became invisible out of habit, and pulled the blanket over his body. Soon all Espio could hear were grunts and squeals. Wait a minute-

"Aaah! Who are you? Oof…"

"Eeek! Help! Ow!"

Espio leapt up and tossed the blanket neatly onto a nearby chair, in one fluid motion. Cautiously becoming visible, he peered outside into the pitch black night to see a figure carrying his unconscious friends. Aiming a shuriken, he decided to give the assailant fair warning before attacking.

"Hey!" he shouted, drawing back his throwing arm.

The figure turned around. Espio gasped as the silhouette in profile suddenly became unmistakable.

"Sonic?!" Espio lowered his arm just long enough.

The hedgehog winked, grinned, and dashed away. Espio gave chase but found himself at the edge of a tall cliff. Looking around, he could see no sign of Sonic or his friends. Shaking his head, he jumped down and grabbed hold of a tree trunk extending from the precipice. Balanced precariously, he acted on a hunch and launched a dagger at the edge of the cliff. A fairly large rock broke off and began tumbling down the side. Espio followed, making death-defying leaps but always finding a flat area or trunk to steady himself. When the rock hit the ground, a trap door opened. Espio nodded, pleased that he had been correct, and jumped down into the darkness.

"Sonic! Someone opened the door!"

That was Eggman's voice, Espio thought, and returned to invisibility. The lights came on around him, and Espio could see Eggman and Sonic standing in front of the boulder. Espio noticed a strange device atop Sonic's head.

"Just a rock," Sonic remarked. He walked up to it and punched. The rock instantly shattered. Espio barely had time to avoid the fragments; a piece of rock bouncing off of thin air would be very suspicious. When he landed, Espio gaped at the hedgehog's might. He wasn't that strong before! Where's Mighty when you need him?

Eggman looked apprehensive, but he nodded and turned around. "Good. I knew that chameleon wouldn't be fast enough to keep up with you. Now come, let's take care of these detectives."

Espio followed the pair to a very complex-looking computer. He turned to see Charmy and Vector chained to the wall, unconscious. The same device that Sonic wore appeared on their heads. Mind control? Espio reasoned. This isn't good. But I can't attempt to save them now, I might hurt them. I'm going to need some help.

As Eggman and Sonic worked diligently on the computer, Espio darted away and leapt up to the surface. He was grateful for Eggman's one-track mind; the scientist had been so busy developing the mind control machine that he apparently forgot to make the trap door close by itself.

"Is he gone?" Eggman whispered.

"Yep, just left."

"It certainly was clever of him to drop that rock on the door. If you weren't here, I wouldn't have suspected a thing."

"Should I get 'im?"

"No, I need you here. There are others, you know."

"Shadow!"

"Omega, you're back already? Did you find Eggman?"

"Negative. Eggman is beyond the scope of my sensors. Mission aborted."

"But that's impossible. He couldn't have just disappeared."

"Certainly not. But that appears to be precisely what he has done."

Shadow shook his head. "No sign of Rouge either, I take it."

"Negative."

"Wonderful," he grumbled, scanning the sky in the small hope of seeing one of Eggman's robots. "Well, I think we should go look for him together."

"May I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What were doing here all alone while I was searching for the doctor?"

Shadow scowled, crossed his arms, and turned away. "Just…thinking. Let's go."

"Wait! Shadow!"

The hedgehog spun around to see Espio racing toward him. Strange, Shadow thought, I never see him without the other two.

"Greetings, Espio," Omega greeted, not recognizing the concern on Espio's face.

"Yeah, hi. Listen, we have a big problem."

"So I gathered. Where's your comic relief?" Shadow asked.

"They were kidnapped. By Sonic."

"Sonic?" Omega and Shadow replied simultaneously. Omega spoke first. "You must have been mistaken. Perhaps your eyes were tired."

"Omega, he's a ninja," Shadow rolled his eyes. "Wait-did Sonic have something on his head?"

Espio nodded. "I think Eggman has developed mind control."

After a few moments of nervous silence, Omega pointed out, "Since I have no mind, I shouldn't be worried."

"Well, I would have said the same about Charmy," Espio replied without missing a beat. As Shadow raised an eyebrow, Espio grinned and said, "See? I can be comic relief too."

"Hey, you! Stop right there!"

"Sorry, but I'm in a hurry," Rouge answered the imposing guard robot. "I'll stop by on my way out, OK?"

"Hey, you! Stop right there!"

Rouge sighed. The doctor had been working on something feverishly since he escaped the Chaotix, and his other work had suffered for it. She pulled out a fake ID and flashed it for the robot.

"OK, go ahead."

"Thanks ever so much. You should think about asking for a raise," Rouge rolled her eyes and stepped into the computer lab. Eggman had moved into this building temporarily, but quickly left a few days later to hide underground from Omega's sensors. Fortunately for Rouge, he had not taken the computers here off the network.

"All right, let's see what you're up to this time," she said out loud, entering the password that Eggman had not changed in years. It still worked. "Boy, for someone with a 300 IQ, you sure make a lot of stupid mistakes."

Searching impatiently past all of Eggman's failed experiments, she finally was able to identify the most current project that the doctor had undertaken. When she read the two-word title of the file, she gasped audibly.

"I…don't believe it!"

"Enough fooling around," Shadow commented. "Lead us to Eggman, Espio."

Although a bit disappointed that no one laughed at his joke, Espio nodded and motioned toward the direction he had come from. "It's not too far, if we hurry, so-"

"What's the rush?"

The voice came from behind them, but Espio recognized it immediately. "Knuckles?"

The echidna dropped from a nearby wall. Espio squinted a bit when looking at him, while Omega gave the reply. "We must eliminate Eggman."

"Right, of course. Mind if I tag along?"

"Shouldn't you be guarding the Master Emerald or something?" Shadow asked disdainfully. "We don't know where Rouge is, you know."

Knuckles shook his head, and his locks bounced around just enough.

"Say, what's that on your head?" Espio growled.

"Wh-what? Just some jewelry-"

Espio hurled a shuriken at Knuckles' cheek, seeing a familiar metallic device covering part of it. "Thought you could hide that under your 'hair', did you?"

Knuckles reacted faster than anyone expected, punching the shuriken out of the air before it reached his face. "Your eyes are better than we thought. But that won't help you. I'll destroy you all!"

"You're joking, right?" Shadow jeered. "All three of us?"

Espio became invisible, and Omega fired a volley of bullets at Knuckles. Shadow was surprised to see Knuckles dart aside quickly enough to dodge the projectiles, and he dashed forward to deliver his own chaos. Knuckles slammed the ground, and a couple of fireballs slammed into Omega. Before Shadow could reach Knuckles, the echidna whirled around and swung his powerful fist. Shadow heard a crack and saw a small indentation form in a nearby wall.

Espio? Shadow was somewhat worried now. If Eggman could make this guy faster than Espio and able to see him, could he be-

"What are you waiting for, Shadow?" Knuckles taunted. "Come and get some!"

Shadow punched at Knuckles, but the rodent managed to move out of the way and grab Shadow's wrist. "You think you're faster than me?" Shadow scowled.

"I know I am," came the reply.

Before either combatant could attack, however, something bright and blue flew between them. Shadow pulled his wrist out of Knuckles' grip as the blue object charged into the mind control victim.

"Shadow! What's going on?"

Shadow easily recognized this high-pitched voice, and identified the blue object as well. "Cream and Cheese. Impeccable timing."

"Thank you, Shadow. Why was Knuckles attacking you? I didn't want to hurt him too badly."

"I'll explain in a minute. See if Espio is OK."

Shadow skated over to Omega, who was recovering fairly quickly. The robot whirred and beeped, then spoke. "All systems online. Enemy's strength capabilities severely underestimated. Prepare to-"

"Don't worry, we beat him," Shadow interrupted. "The fight's over."

Omega paused for a moment, but continued his appraisal. "Espio's mind control hypothesis seems to be unsupported. Knuckles' strength, speed and vision were far above his standard. I propose that it was a robot."

"No offense, Omega," Espio groaned, slowly coming to, "but I recognized his voice easily. Eggman doesn't really have wonderful speech technology, as you may have noticed."

"I am not sure how long ago I was created, Espio. Improvements in technology are probable."

"Amy and Big are on their way," Cream announced, trying to change the subject because she was thoroughly confused. "I flew ahead to make sure you were all right."

"You think we're going to stand around and wait for them?" Shadow sneered. "Look, Knuckles has already teleported away. If Eggman gets Vector and Charmy working for him too, we-"

"Working for him?"

"Be more patient, Shadow," Espio advised in a whisper. "I'll explain our situation to the princess."

"I hope Cream's OK," Amy said, unable to hide her worry.

"Don't worry, she's very strong," Big replied, fiddling with his fishing pole. "Don't you think so, Froggy?"

"I know, Big, but she doesn't know what she's up against. And Cheese was so sad to leave Chocola in the garden," Amy answered, not waiting for a response from the frog.

"Hey, look, it's Tails!" Big shouted suddenly, pointing to the sky.

Indeed, the tan fox was hovering above them with a worried look on his face. Something on his head reflected the sun's rays, and Amy shielded her eyes.

"There you are!" Tails shouted. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"What are you wearing on your head, Tails?" Amy demanded.

As Tails descended, Amy could clearly see a strange metal device on his head. "What, this? It's just…Sonic has one too. It's the newest style."

"Oh, OK," she said. If Sonic wore it, it couldn't be bad.

"We were going to help Shadow," Big announced proudly.

"Yeah, he's fine now. You need to come with me. Sonic is in danger!"

"What? Sonic?" Amy gasped, realizing that her fantasies could soon come true. If she saved Sonic, he would have no choice but to-

"But what about Cream?" Big asked.

"Never mind, she's strong like you said. Let's go, Big!"

Tails turned away with a malicious grin. "Follow me."

(A/N: Well, it doesn't look good. Will Shadow, Omega, Espio, Cream and Rouge be the only ones who escape Eggman's sinister machine? What will Rouge discover in the lab? And how did Eggman manage to capture Sonic, Tails and Knuckles? Find out sometime later. Don't forget to r&r!)