Chapter 17: Digital Kid

"Oh…my mechanical head is spinning…"

Decoe slowly opened his eyes, only the weight of a light Guitar Hero controller against his metal chest. Peering around, he saw flashing red lights permeating the command center, accompanied by an omnipresent alarm.

Pulling himself up with the aid of the PlayStation 2 peripheral, the robot noticed his brother lying back-first on the other side of the large room, a microphone cable covering his body while the karaoke machine was playing Thriller by Michael Jackson.

"Wake up, Bocoe," he dropped to his knees and shook him by the shoulder.

"Is it…Friday Night yet?" Decoe asked in a daze, shielding his eyes from the alarms.

"No, it's not," Bocoe replied as he offered his hand, "but if we don't get out of here quick, it'll be our last night." His wits returning to him, Decoe grabbed hold, allowing his metallic brethren to pull him up.

"Where's the Doctor? And Bokkun?" Decoe scanned the room, noticing the spilled nachos by the nearby kitchenette.

"Either Bokkun escaped, or he's been taken hostage!" Bocoe replied. "We should worry about him later. We need to rescue Dr. Eggman before this place goes completely under!"

"Right!" Decoe agreed, following Bocoe down the hallway. The two screeched to a halt, though, as they heard shaking from below.

"What was that?" Bocoe asked.

"I see some smoke," Decoe replied, pointing to the nearby stairwell, black fumes bellowing from the basement.

"Someone must have planted some bombs hoping to take down headquarters!" Bocoe exclaimed. "This place was already shabby to begin with, so we don't have long before the foundation collapses!" The two robots boosted their strides, running as fast as they could to Eggman's bedroom. Just as Decoe was turning the doorknob, however, the door burst open, sending the two careening to the opposing hallway wall.

"Get a hold of yourselves, you bucket of bolts!" Eggman exclaimed, his hands on his hips as he peered down disappointedly at his creations. "You hear the alarm, right?"

"Yes, Doctor!" Bocoe replied. "We were in the process of rescuing you whe—"

"Can it you tin can!" Robotnik replied as he started running to the exit, leaving them behind. Thankfully for the robots, the evil doctor was still, at least somewhat, inebriated from his adult beverage, as evidenced by his uneven strides, allowing the two to catch up with relative ease.

"I'm detecting no other presences, machine or organic, within the vicinity," Decoe observed as he studied a monitor in his metallic arm. "The perpetrator must have activated the bombs and left quickly."

"Please save my ears from your useless commentary!" Eggman complained between huffs.

"We're nearly there!" Bocoe added, pointing forward.

"What did I say about useless commentary?"

As the three ran out through the exit, another explosion sent them blasting out of the building and into the air.

"Ahhhh, hold me, Doctor!" Bocoe and Decoe pleaded, latching onto Eggman's arms as their upward incline slowly began its descent to the ocean waters below. Thankfully for them, the evil doctor was prepared, already punching in keys into a computer device wrapped around his wrist, and just moments before they landed in the ocean, a dark blue, transparent, glowing orb kept them dry.

"Wooahhooohoohooo! Sonic's not the only one who can use the water shield! With my recent upgrades, it can even sustain the size and weight of multiple occupan—" Eggman started losing his footing, eventually falling on top of Decoe and Bocoe, causing the sphere to spin, tumbling them like towels in a drying machine until it finally stopped.

"What do we do now, Doctor?" Decoe asked as Eggman pulled himself off the two robots.

"We can hardly move in this thing, after all." Bocoe added.

"You think I don't know that?" Eggman barked. Averting his attention away from his metallic assistants, he peered over at the small island, his headquarters now up in flames.

"Did you two at least grab the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Ummmm…" Decoe and Bocoe stared nervously at each other as Robotnik slowly turned to face them once more.

"You useless, miserable, absolutely contemptible hunks of junk! When we're back on land, I swear I'll take you apart and repurpose your components for my next headquarters!" As the steam from Robotnik's red face dissipated, he slumped on the uneven surface of the sphere, placing his hands on the orb's side for support.

"Just moments ago, I was winning! I had two Chaos Emeralds, and then a little bit of booze and poof: all gone! Not only were the gems stolen from me, but my headquarters has been destroyed…again!" The evil doctor shuddered as he recalled the last time his base of operations collapsed, which occurred during his final battle on Mobius before getting teleported to Earth. "By the time I'm able to get back to the island, I'll have little to salvage. It's going to take a long time to recover from this…"

As the three sat in silence, Eggman not in the mood to contemplate his next strategy, they did not notice the speedboat heading their way. In fact, it was only when the loud boat was within a hundred yards when Eggman peered up to find the aquatic vehicle rapidly approaching them.

"What's this?" Eggman removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes to ensure his vision didn't deceive him. "Doesn't look like a police boat. Who'd come out here this late at night?" Decoe and Bocoe shrugged their shoulders as Robotnik noticed what appeared to be an armada of large boats following close behind. Finally, the speedboat, generating uncomfortable waves for the water shield's occupants, slowed to a stop, and its driver reached out to pull the sphere inside.

The water shield burst moments after contacting the floor, giving Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe freedom of movement once more.

"Looks like they're safe n' sound!" came the enthusiastic voice of the boat's driver. Turning his chair around, he greeted the evil doctor with a smile as he ran a hand through his short, orange hair. "This rescue was courtesy of Station Square's own Speed Team, with me, Sam Speed, at the helm." Eggman remained silent, rubbing his head as he listened attentively to his rescuer. "But I can't claim all the credit, though," Sam continued as he gestured to the young boy in the chair opposite of the driver's seat. "If it wasn't for Mr. Thorndyke's intel, you'd still be floating out in the ocean like a buoy."

"Huh?" Eggman peered over at the kid in question.

"Hello, Doctor…" Chris crossed one leg over the other. "We finally meet."

"You a fan or something?" Eggman pulled himself up and sat on the side of the boat.

"Of sorts," Chris replied with a smug sense of superiority. "A fan…with a proposal." He gestured his arms at the larger, military-esque boats descending upon the fiery island. "My men are putting out the flames as we speak, and they will collect whatever they can salvage from the wreckage, and we will return everything to you in due time."

"That's awfully generous…" Eggman furrowed his brow. "Too generous. What's in it for you?"

"A partnership," Chris replied, pulling out an iPad from his backpack, throwing it to the evil doctor who nearly fumbled it into the ocean water. "You can start e-signing as we make our way back to shore."

"What is this, a joke?" Eggman smirked. "If you were truly a fan, you'd know I'm the one who calls the shots."

"Are you now?" Chris gave a smug grin. "You see, Doctor, I'm holding all the cards here: as you can clearly see, I have the resources to summon an army of men to do my bidding at a moment's notice, and we'll be keeping all your gadgets and technology for ourselves…unless you cooperate."

"Oh yeah?" It was Eggman's turn to scoff. "And cooperate on what?" The evil doctor froze as the young boy bellowed a laugh even more sinister and deranged than his.

"Why…ending Sonic and Tails, of course."

"Ohhh…what…happened?"

Waking up in a bright white room, Bokkun was able to move his body. Peering down, he found himself completely restrained to the table, a black window along the wall but not much else.

"Ummm…hello? Is…anybody there?" Tears started to form in his eyes. He couldn't hear anybody coming to rescue him, making him feel alone, isolated, and trapped.

Little did he know, he was being watched.

"Quit hurting him, Ms. Topaz!" Cream exclaimed from the opposite side of the one-sided window. Her hands were pressing against the window, anger boiling over as her friend suffered by himself.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed, flying around the room to vent their own anger, nearly hitting Sonic in the back of the head. The rest of the gang were waiting with the young bunny, sitting on various chairs, including Helen, who was watching the window attentively alongside Tails. Amy was sitting next to Sonic, Chuck was leaning against the far wall, and Topaz was eyeing the young bunny in concern, her arms crossed as she tried mustering up a response to her pleas.

"I'm sorry, Cream, but this Bokkun character is considered a threat unless proven otherwise. He is an Eggman creation and likely has operative directives hardwired into his programming we need to crack."

"You're treating him like a machine! A…criminal machine!" Tears started to form in her eyes.

"She ain't exactly wrong, kid," Rouge interjected from Topaz's side. "You remember what Bokkun did back on Mobius, right?"

"What did he do?" Topaz asked as Cream turned away, not wanting to be reminded of their final moments on Mobius.

"Bokkun is innocent at heart," Rouge replied, "but at the end of the day, he's still a machine. He proved as such when he caused the Chaos Emeralds to react the way they did."

"Wait…" Topaz ran a hand through her hair. "Are you saying Bokkun, that little robot in there, is responsible for everything?"

"Pretty much," Rouge replied with a shrug. "Well, I guess technically Eggman's the one who programmed him, so I guess he is the one to blame?"

"It doesn't matter!" Cream stomped her foot. "He was being controlled. Manipulated."

"He followed his words religiously," Tails added. "He heard Eggman say he'd blow us all up if we didn't turn over Sonic, and when Bokkun stole the detonator from me, he didn't realize the Doctor was bluffing. Pressing that button didn't cause an explosion, but it did trigger Chaos Control, which brought us all here."

"Regardless of Bokkun's involvement in this whole ordeal," Topaz concluded as she approached the door, resting her hand on the knob, "I still have a job to do."

"Just…don't hurt him." Cream's downcast face melted the government agent's heart. Topaz turned to the young bunny, knelt on one knee, and placed her hand on the rabbit's shoulder.

"I promise I won't hurt Bokkun." Cream didn't respond, instead giving a soft nod as she allowed a single tear to flow down her muzzle.

Pulling herself up, Topaz dusted off her attire before entering the interrogation room.

"Good evening, Bokkun," Topaz greeted as she approached the table.

"Hey, how do you know my name?" Bokkun asked worriedly.

"I know a lot of things about you," Topaz replied. "Like how you are Eggman's 'messenger robot' primarily tasked with delivering threatening recordings to Sonic and his friends? How you've been working by Eggman's side, on both Mobius and Earth, to cause mischief?"

"I'm innocent! I'm innocent, I swear!"

"Are you now?" Topaz asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Yes, I don't want to do bad things, honest!" Bokkun's eyes started glistening once more with a fresh round of tears. "It's just that…Eggman makes me do bad things."

"So…you are coerced into this behavior against your will?"

"Mmmmhmmm…" Bokkun slowly nodded his head, failing to keep eye contact with the elder human above. After some thinking, Topaz bent her knees to bring herself to the messenger robot's level.

"Well…would you like to do some good for a change?"

"What…what do you mean?" Bokkun tilted his head in confusion.

"You don't seem like a bad kid," Topaz replied, "but perhaps with some adjustments to your coding, you'd be willing to work with us?"

"I dunno…" Bokkun tilted his head to face the human agent. "I don't…even know you. How do I know you're not just gonna use me too, just like Eggman?"

The door swung open, revealing an energized bunny, tears filling her eyes. She ran to the opposite side of Bokkun's table.

"Because I trust her," Cream said, nodding to Topaz before returning her gaze to the messenger robot.

"Cream…you're okay," Bokkun's eyes were completely awash with tears.

"Topaz, can you free him?" The rabbit rested a hand between the robot's pointy ears.

"Yeah, sure." Topaz clicked a few buttons on the side of the table, disengaging the locks. Just as Bokkun pulled himself up, Cream gave him a big hug, her tears flowing down her face and running down the robot's back.

"I missed you, Bokkun!"

"I missed you, too…Cream…"

While the two cried in each other's arms, the rest of the party filled the interrogation room. Tails, Amy, and Helen couldn't help but shed a tear at this emotional reunion while Sonic wore a smile, his arms folded as he watched the hugging session unfold. Alongside him were the equally stoic Chuck and Rouge.

"So what happened, Cream?" Bokkun asked as he slowly pulled himself away from the embrace, looking into Cream's watery eyes.

"We infiltrated Eggman's base," Cream replied. "Sonic and Tails got the Chaos Emeralds while Amy and I planted the charges to blow it up."

"You did?" Bokkun was still confused. "What happened to Eggman?"

"Dr. Eggman's headquarters is still ablaze," Topaz replied. "We plan on recovering anything salvageable or any remains after it's deemed safe for our crew to investigate."

"I know Decoe and Bocoe are still alive," Bokkun replied as he rubbed his hand behind his head.

"How do you know that?" Sonic asked.

"Bokkun shares a digital connection with them, Sonic," Tails replied, raising a finger to the air with his eyes closed. "This allows them to know each other's general presence from a distance. We'll need to disable this while rewriting his programming to make him completely independent from Eggman."

"So if Decoe and Bocoe survived," Amy opined.

"Then that means," Helen continued.

"So did Eggman!" The entire party exclaimed.

"See," Rouge placed her gloved hands on her hips, "I told you this wouldn't be the end of the Doctor. It'll take a lot more than merely blowing up his headquarters to get rid of him once and for all."

"All the more reason why we could use your help," Topaz said as she knelt once more to face Bokkun. "Your data could be the key to taking down Eggman, and Tails and Chuck here can ensure your freedom with a bit of reprogramming."

"What do you say, Bokkun?" Cream asked with a small smile across her muzzle, her eyes starting to dry but her face still covered with tears.

"I'll…I'll…" Bokkun felt something deep inside forcing a sense of uncertainty, no doubt the evil doctor's software-based failsafe, hoping to prevent any of his creations from flipping sides or spilling the beans on his secrets. Nevertheless, the messenger robot gathered up the strength to break away from his programming. "I'll…do it."

"Yay!" Cream hopped on the table and took Bokkun's hands as she initiated a happy dance, spinning them both around. "We'll finally get to spend some time together, and best of all, you can stay with us at Helen's house! Would that be okay, Helen?" The excited rabbit turned to the young human.

"I don't see why not?" Helen replied with a smile. "If my parents will welcome a bunch of furry aliens into the house, why not a cute lil' robot too?" This made the messenger robot blush, a blush that only grew as Cream gave him another spontaneous hug.

Bzzzzzzt, Bzzzzzt.

"Oh, excuse me for a second," Topaz pulled a cell phone from her pocket and answered the call. "Agent Topaz here. What? What do you mean there are a bunch of boats surrounding Eggman's island? Did you investigate? Yes…Mmmhmmmm…uhuuuhhhh…right…well what do you mean they said they had exclusive legal right to the island and that your entry was considered trespassing?! Did you explain you were from the government? Yes…well what do ya mean they asked you for a court document giving expressed permission to search the island and seize any potential evidence? Yes…okay…well then, okay, bye now." Just as Topaz ended the call, she threw her phone in anger, the device crashing against the surface and shattering the screen. Out of fright, Bokkun jumped into Cream's arms, shaking until his mechanical heart rate dropped back down to normal.

"Bureaucratic nonsense?" Chuck asked.

"That's an understatement," Topaz replied. "Apparently Eggman had an entire legal team on the island ready to defend his intellectual property, or something like that."

"That's strange," Tails replied as he itched the base of his chin in thought. "That's not usually Eggman's style. He doesn't care much about the laws when he's trying to take over the world."

"That's not all," Topaz said as she picked up her phone and downloaded an image sent to her by her colleague in the field, "my team found evidence Eggman has been working with a human. Looks like he got saved by them after the explosion. Here's a picture." The agent showed the party the image of a boat containing Eggman, an orange haired driver, and a young boy sitting alongside the evil doctor.

"No way…" Sonic peered over at Helen, whose eyes were starting to fill with tears as the realization struck her like a freight train.

"No…" She shook her head. "Chris isn't a nice guy, but working with Eggman? Why would he stoop so low?"

"Did I," Tails began as he stared at his shoes, his hands behind his back in uncertainty, "did…I…drive him over the edge?"

"What do you mean, little guy?" Sonic asked as he approached his little brother.

"When I pushed Chris down after he slapped Helen…if I would've handled the situation differently, do you think we could've gotten through to him?"

"No," Helen shook her head. "This was probably in the cards since Eggman first made his debut. You did nothing to make Chris join Eggman's side, Tails." She rolled to the orange kitsune's side and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You defended me after he slapped me in the face. Most would've been too afraid to stand up to someone as wealthy and powerful as the Thorndyke heir, but you did just that. I'm lucky to call you my friend."

"Thanks, Helen…" Tails returned the human girl's smile with his own as he ran a gloved hand behind his head.

"Besides," Sonic added from Tails' other side, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder as well, "you showed that little snot-nosed brat a thing or two about respect. Hitting someone is one thing, but slapping someone defenseless and out of the blue like that? He clearly has no conscience whatsoever."

"Agreed," the party replied in unison.

"We haven't even gotten to the worst part," Topaz interrupted. "Sure, Eggman doesn't have the Chaos Emeralds, but much of his tech has been salvaged by Chris' goons and is now being stored at a secured, unknown location under the powerful Thorndyke name. We'll have to go through a lot of red tape to gather a list of Thorndyke properties and to obtain court warrants to investigate each one. By then, I'm sure Eggman will have extracted his most useful tools for whatever nefarious scheme he has cooked up next."

"Not only that," Chuck added, "but he now has the financial backing of one of the wealthiest families in the world. He was already a force to be reckoned with before, but with these latest tidings, he'll be an even greater threat.

Sonic chuckled at these words, causing the party to shift their attention to the blue hedgehog.

"What's so funny, Sonic?" Amy asked as she placed her hands on her hips, giving her boyfriend a judgmental glare. "You know it's impolite to laugh like that, right?"

"Sorry, I was just imagining Eggman having to rely on that little brat." Sonic peered around the room. "Regardless of Eggman's new evil sidekick, we'll defeat him like we always do, right gang?"

"Yeah!" The Mobians replied in unison.

"Plus, we have Topaz and Bokkun here to help us out as well!" Cream replied with a wholesome smile.

"Yeah!" Bokkun said, giving the young bunny another hug.

"In speaking of which," Topaz said as she shifted her focus to the messenger robot. "The final item on the agenda is getting you all checked out. Tails, Chuck…I know it's getting late, but now that we know Eggman is still a threat, it is gravely apparent that whatever you need to do with Bokkun needs to be addressed as soon as possible."

"Right on it!" Tails replied. He peered up at Bokkun, who, along with Cream, was still on the table. The orange kitsune reached a hand up. "Here, Bokkun, Chuck and I will take you to a separate lab room so we can work out the software updates."

"But…but…" Bokkun turned away as he played with his fingers.

"What's wrong, Bokkun?" Cream asked, tilting her head in concern.

"I'm…scared, is all," he replied, turning back around to face the young rabbit. "I don't like being put under like that. It always feels like a part of me is being erased or controlled."

"You have our guarantee," Chuck replied, "that we will not touch any of the programming that makes you, well…you. We are only going to remove all coding associated with Eggman's directives and delink you from his network."

"O…okay…"

"Would it help you if I were by your side during the procedure?" Cream asked.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese added, signifying their intent to join the messenger robot during the operation as well.

"Yes, that would make me feel a lot better," Bokkun replied with a small smile.

"Then let's get you down from there," Tails raised his arm up, allowing Bokkun to take his hand as he dropped to the floor, "and let's get you to the lab."

"Okay!" Bokkun was now cheerful, back to his old self, as he followed the orange kitsune and the elder scientist out of the interrogation room. Cheese and Cream followed shortly after, as well as the rest of the crew.

"Hey Ames," Sonic asked as he tapped Amy's shoulder.

"What is it, Sonic?" Amy replied. By this point, everyone else had already left the room, following Chuck and Chris to the lab located down the hall of the government base.

"Remember that…promise I made back on Mobius?" Sonic ran a hand through his quills as a blush appeared over his face.

"Y-yeah?" The pink hedgehog was caught off-guard, not expecting her boyfriend to willingly bring up such a romantic topic.

"Well, I've been thinkin'…" Sonic cleared his throat. "It's probably gonna be awhile until we make it back home, so I was wonderin' if you just wanted, to…ummm…go on a date here on Earth?"

"Ohhh, Sonic!" Amy charged the blue hedgehog, making him fall to the ground with her terrorizing, albeit loving, full-body hug. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to ask me out like that?"

"Y-yeah," Sonic replied as he pulled himself up, sitting on the floor as he rested his back against the wall.

"And now it's finally happening!" Amy gave a contented sigh. "I knew if I just waited patiently, you'd slow down a bit and start making time for me!"

"So…" Amy sat next to the blue hedgehog and smirked. "Where are you planning on taking me?"

"Oh, well…ummmm…" The blue hedgehog ran a hand through his quills. "I hear…Taco Bell is good?"

Amy's pupils filled with flames as she withdrew her Piko Piko Hammer from her hammerspace. "Do you wanna try that again?"

"No, no…what I meant to say was that I don't really know any good places 'round here, so like…ummm…" Sonic gulped as the pink hedgehog tightened her grip on her hammer. "I was wondering if we could decide, together, ya know…like a…couple?"

Amy dropped her hammer and immediately snuggled up to her blue boyfriend.

"Oh, how romantic!" Collecting herself, and putting her weapon back into her hammerspace, she returned her gaze to the blue hedgehog. "Yes, Sonic. That sounds lovely. I have some ideas of some good places that serve Italian food that are more highly rated than that Olive Garden place Rouge and Topaz went to."

So as Chuck and Tails got to work on Bokkun's code, Amy and Sonic spent the late-night hours researching on Helen's phone for various restaurants. All seemed well; Tails and Chuck were exchanging jokes as they updated Bokkun's software, Rouge and Topaz were casually chatting in the corner, and Cream kept a careful eye on the messenger robot as she pet Cheese in her lap.

Helen, however, felt a wave of anxiety, one she kept hidden from her friends, over what was to come.

"Chris…" She whispered to herself as she stared at her knees.

"You say something, Helen?" Tails asked as he removed the lid protecting Bokkun's central processing unit in his head.

"Oh, not at all!" Helen replied with a nervous wave and a blush. "Just talking to myself."

"All righty," Tails replied with a smile as he got to work. What Helen didn't know, though, was the orange kitsune was quietly observing the young girl, realizing she wasn't doing well.

Sighing to himself, he continued his work, resolving to ask Helen how she was fairing tomorrow.

That about does it for chapter 17! With Bokkun now officially on Team Sonic's side, and Chris joining forces with Eggman, the chess pieces are now on the field (am I using that analogy correctly?). I'm thinking about adding a bit more fluff (a SonAmy date maybe?) before getting back to the action, but what do you all think? Feel free to let me know your thoughts!