After Sonic arrived back at the base from his weekly visit, his normally happy-go-lucky attitude took a sharp nose dive to sleep-deprived grumpiness reminiscent of an ebony hedgehog. The evening he returned from his weekly visit was the start of the first of many nightmares.
Most of them were centered around his past heroic adventures taking a turn for the worst, missing a critical hit just by a few inches, not running fast enough, or suddenly finding himself stuck in a trap involving water and being unable to free himself in time to save his friends or the world. The last thing Sonic ever saw before waking was either himself dying or one of his friends getting killed.
To say that the blue devil wasn't used to reoccurring scream-inducing nightmares was an understatement. Sure he was venerable to the occasional night demons like anyone else, but those had been more...weird and disturbing than terrifying. Besides himself, the only reoccurring character was Eggman. No. Not the Eggman he was living with or the one that he had battled with for most of his life. This Eggman was a psychotic incarnation of Satan himself, a gigantic twisted image of the doctor. An image that would haunt Sonic sometimes long after he had woken up, like a shadow following him through the base, leaving him on edge whenever he heard Eggman's voice suddenly coming out of nowhere or walking alone down the halls, wondering if the apparition would pop up around the next corner and get him like the boogeyman.
Now that's just silly, you think! It was all just in his imagination and nothing more. And Sonic would agree with you and say he was spending too much time inside the base and just needed to get outside in nature more.
Too bad that his outings to his returned access to the garden weren't working either. Any naps he managed to grasp during the day were his only reprieve, and naps are not a good substitute for a complete 8 hr sleep cycle that he was missing. All in all, losing a week's worth of sleep. Less sleep equals grumpy, lethargic hedgehog with nerves so tense he was like a wound-up rubber band ready to snap. He hadn't lost this much sleep since his time as a werehog, and even then wasn't as bad as now cause he didn't have Chip with him to help out. Not that there was anything the little flying chihuahua could do, he was asleep himself for the next few thousand years.
But Sonic could handle a little sleep deprivation; he had lost many a good night's sleep during some of his battles with Eggman before. Even if the nightmares left him waking up screaming in a cold sweat, choking back sick nausea or frantically dashing out of bed, running from whatever was chasing him, and hyperventilating like crazy. No big deal!
It was while he was recovering from these panic attacks that he felt so...strange. In attempts to not focus on the nightmare images, his lethargic wandering mind would bring up pictures of baby bottles, diapers, pacifiers, soft cuddly plushies, and colorful toys, or he would recall the dream he had of himself as a baby in the doctor's arms. Such intruding images always seemed to help calm him down, yet they would tug his heart, leaving a warm ache in his chest.
It was weird, and he didn't like it.
He was a big hedgehog, and Eggman had stopped babying him. Sonic was 15 years old! He didn't need all of that baby stuff. It was just all part of some stupid punishment the doctor had concocted to irritate him for trashing his room. He didn't need the diapers, he didn't need a stuffed animal, he didn't want Eggman to hold and cuddle him like before, and he certainly didn't need that stupid pacifier! This is what he repeatedly told himself again and again, no matter how many times he would find himself waking up from a nightmare in tears cuddling his pillow and or sucking his thumb.
It destressed and angered Sonic, so; he didn't know what was going on. He felt like he was going crazy mentally, running around in circles between horrific nightmare-inducing panic attacks to unwanted images of himself being babied again. He tried to keep himself busy, but the frustrated tears were never far away, threatening to rise at every quiet moment during the night. It made him feel weak and pathetic.
One week later, Sonic was again visiting Tails, this time at the workshop. Head in his hand, watching his brother work on a tune-up on their beloved plane. His eyes were glazed over in a daze, with darks circles surrounding the once vibrant pair of green irises.
"Can you pass me the wretch?" Tails asks, tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth, keeping his focus on the engine while sticking a hand out. Sonic places the requested tool into his brother's waiting hand, "Thanks!" the fox smiles, not noticing the hedgehog wasn't paying that much attention, barely registering his comment.
Suddenly a door linked to the kit's house bursts open, hitting violently against the wall, and Knuckles walks in with an arm full of sodas. Amy skips out behind him with a plate of cut-up sandwiches humming a little tune gently returning the door to its position with her boot and sets the food on a table surrounded by two couches on the side of the workshop where the less dangerous equipment was stored.
"Alright, guys, foods ready!" She calls hands on her hips, admiring how tasty their lunch looked, expecting the hungry boys to gather at her beck and call. Instead looks up to see the fox's body half inside the opened compartment, busy working on his adjustments with his tails swishing about and a blue hedgehog starting into space, neither hearing her. Amy puffs her cheeks and stomps her foot, boiling in anger at being ignored. She erupts, "Hmph! SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! MILES PROWER! Are you listening to me!?"
"AH!" both screech, Tails bumping his head, and Sonic falling from where he had been leaning on the wing, taking the toolbox with him. Knuckles winces at their reactions, knowing both were going to have a nasty bruise, "Dang it, Amy." Sonic groans rubbing his head picking himself off the oil-stained floor, lucky that none of the tools in the box had landed on him. "You don't have to scream."
"I wouldn't if you two would just listen to me!" the blue blur rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything more at the complaint. Sluggishly plopping a squat on one of the falling apart couches with a tired sigh. "Now then." Her anger dissipated Amy happily sits directly across from her crush and points to the sandwiches, "Knuckles the vegan BLT is for you, Tails' here's your ham and cheese, Sonic's is the one with the spicy mustard, and the turkey is mine."
"Thanks, Amy, it looks good!" Tails grabs a soda and his sandwich sitting next to the blue devil. Knuckles nods and takes his meal; Sonic slowly reaches for his and takes a bite, eyes faintly widening at the pleasant heat. "No problem! It's so nice to be able to hang out with you guys again. It feels like foreeeever since I last saw you all." she says, emphasizing the forever part. "I just saw you yesterday." Tails says, confused. Amy flicks a hand, "Oh, you know what I mean! With my precious Sonikku stuck with that mean old Eggman, we don't get to hang out as much as we used to together."
"He's not that mean," Sonic mutters passively. Amy huffs, placing a first on her hip, "He is if he's keeping you away from us! I mean-he was bad before trying to take over the world and everything, and when he kidnapped you..." her complaint weakly fades out before she shakes away the sad memory. "He's not a nice man!" she firmly concludes, sitting back up.
"I still can't get over that after all he put us through; you're now standing up for the guy." Knuckles shakes his head, swinging his locks; Tails silently sips his soda attentively, watching the blue blur who rubs his eyes, frustration radiating off of him—accidentally getting a bit of the mustard from his fingers in his eyes, making them burn. "Look, guys, I know it sounds crazy for me to play devil's advocate. I didn't believe him at first either, but if you saw him like he is now, you'd see he's not the same Egghead anymore. He's changed."
"Then why does it look like those bags you have look like they could be used for Amy's trips to the mall?" Tails asks, narrowing his eyes at the hedgehog before the pink one interrupted him growling a, "Hey!"
"What?!" the fox asks innocently, trying not to shrink at her heated glare, "I see you go there like 2 or 3 times a week!"
"I do more than just shop, you know! That's where I go to get the latest gossip and spend time with all my girlfriends!"
"There's also a movie theater, arcade, and food court." Sonic listed, taking a napkin and rubbing his eyes again, ridding them of the offending condiment. Amy's glare switched from the fox to her lover, "And how would you know? Since you never come with me every time, I ask you!"
"Do you see me wearing any clothing, let alone pants? No. And they show what malls look like on the inside in tv and movies, so I think I can make a pretty good guess as to what I'd find in there." He says, leaning back and brushing the crumbs from his gloves. "Oooooooohh! Your impossible!" Amy puffs her cheeks at him, her annoyance dying down as he charismatically looks at her half-lidded and with a smirk at his point being made. Sonic carelessly tosses the napkin and rests his head behind locked hands, "It's what I do best." Knuckles and Tails chuckle at the two arguing not-love birds. The fox's attention returning to his unanswered question, an amused smile forming to suspicious concern, "You still haven't answered my question." Sonic digs a pinky in his ear, "Sorry, what was the question again?"
"Your eyes are bloodshot, and you have huge bags underneath them. Has Eggman been doing anything to you?"
"Oh...hehe that." the hedgehog sheepishly chuckles, "Well, Eggman is kinda the cause. I've been staying up too late. Beeboy's got a wicked gaming system, so ya know...?" he drifts, allowing his friends to put two and two together.
That wasn't a total lie. I have been staying up late trying to delay the nightmares, and Eggy does have an awesome video game setup; I just put two half-truths together, and that formed one whole truth. That's how math works, right? I'm not lying.
Sonic refrained from a nervous gulp keeping his cool as blue eyes search him over for any tell of a lie. He couldn't remember when Tails had ever scrutinized him that way before. It made him feel like one of the kit's machines that was having a problem he couldn't figure out. Sonic hoped his half-truth was good enough that he didn't give himself away. After a beat, Tails eases up, "Ok, I believe you." he chirps and smiles. Sonic smiles back and sweatdrops not be living his luck. He really didn't want to explain what was really going on.
"What? You mean Eggman puts you on a curfew for visiting us but not a set bedtime?" Knuckles raises a teasing brow. The hedgehog whips his head to the echidna, "Hey! I'm not some little kid. No way am I gonna let Eggbrain push me around! If anything, I tell him when it's time to go to bed!" Sonic hops off his seat with a huff. His eyes still felt the burn from the mayo, making him feel extra tired and desperate for a nap. He didn't want to stick around if his friends were going to tease him. His temper today was short enough as it was. He didn't need to prod that bear, "I'm going on a run." he growls, heading for the door.
"A.k.a. It's little Sonic's naptime." Knuckles loudly whispers for him to hear, instantly, a mass of blue fur pops up in front of violet eyes, "Don't. Call. Me. That." Sonic seethes, baring his teeth and bloodshot eyes, pinning the echidna down. Tails and Amy gasp at the sudden mood swing.
"Ok, ok sheesh, go on get outta here. I can smell your disgusting meat-ridden lunch from here." Knuckles surrenders, waving a mitt over his scrunched-up nose. Smirking devilishly—Sonic breaths out into the vegetarian's face before dashing off with a whip of the wind. "Ugh! Disgusting!" Knuckles cries desperately, waving away the smell. Tails shakes his head, then snickers quietly at the two's hopeless teasing while Amy rolls her eyes and gathers their trash, "Boys." she mutters.
Later that evening, back at the base. The intellectuals, Sonic, Eggman, Orbot, and Scratch, were all playing Monopoly while dumb bots, Grounder, and Cubot were watching and betting on who would be the winner of the high stakes game.
Orbot was playing as the thimble in third place, Eggman was the hat currently in the lead, Sonic picked the shoe and was a close second. Finally, Scratch was dead last as the dog with only one $5 bill left. Shaking the dice, Scratch whispers to the game pieces in his fists, determining his fate, "Come on, come on, momma needs a new pair of shoes."
"But you don't wear shoes." Sonic quipped lazily, watching the robot delay the inevitable, only a few properties were left that had yet to be claimed, and the chicken robot didn't own a single one. "Of course I wear shoes, what do you-" the old badnick barked before glancing down to his shoeless feet, remarking stupidly, "Oh."
"And you referred yourself as a woman. Scratch, do you have something to tell us?" Sonic asks, fluttering his eyelashes, pretending to look and sound like a concerned friend. "Shut up and make your move so I can kick your sorry ass out of the game!" Eggman yells. Chaos, this is torture! Who's brilliant idea was this to play this game? Doesn't matter that I'm winning. That idiotic tin can of a rooster is going to drive me up the wall if he doesn't make his move already!
Finally tossing the dice, all eyes watched as the pieces rolled onto the board, landing on a 4 and 2. Counting out loud, Scratch moved the dog to one of two dreaded blue squares owned by their equally blue owner. The Boardwalk. (Dun dun dunnnnnn~!)
"That'll be 1400 smack a roo's, please." the hedgehog cheekily grins, placing a hand out for his payment. Awing at his loss, the robot chicken handed over his last piece of play money; Grounder pats his friend's shoulder, saying comforting words. While Sonic leans back into his seat, adding the bill to one of his stacks, taking out a taller one and flipping the paper between his fingers smugly like a mob boss fingering his tainted money.
Two more rounds went by with Orbot losing the rest of his money and relinquishing his property to his master, "It was an honor to lose to you, doctor."
"Yeah yeah. Stop being such a suck-up." Eggman glared, wanting to finish the game as soon as possible, "Why so tense Eggy? You think you're going to lose again to me or something?" Sonic sleepily smirked, trying to keep his eyes open. "No! I just have to leave early tomorrow and would like to go to bed before midnight." Sonic blinked a few times, waking up slightly at that, "You're leaving tomorrow?" he asked, stunned. I didn't think the doc ever left unless he was going out to find a Chaos emerald. Hmmm?
"Yes. Didn't I mention this to you earlier?" The blue devil shook his head, making Eggman raise his brow, understanding the hedgehog's bewilderment now. Calmly he explained, "I have a meeting with the board of directors of one of the hospitals down in the city. I'll be gone for a few days, but I trust you enough now that I don't think leaving you here will be an issue."
Sonic was taken back at this. He was honestly touched the doctor trusted him to leave him alone at the base without fear that the blue devil would trash it, but though Eggman's explanation sounded legit, he felt suspicious that the doctor was leaving at all. Couldn't his meeting go on virtually like it usually did? What was the real reason he needed to leave?
"Ok, that's cool, and all, doc, but...and I don't mean to doubt you and all, but why can't you just have your meeting on video like always? You aren't lying and going after a chaos emerald, are you?" he rambled. That was a stupid question! Of course, if he were, the doctor would lie through his teeth, but the question came out before he could rephrase.
Eggman tensed, nervously looking away as Sonic asked him if he would go for an emerald. Actually, he had planned to find one after his meeting and then give it to the blue blur to help prove he wasn't a threat anymore and celebrate their peaceful arrangement so far. Turns out he needed to figure out a plan B since Sonic was not thrilled with the idea of the doc going anywhere near a gem. That was fine as he didn't have a use for the powerful gems anymore. Unless you were a super-powered hedgehog, the emeralds were nothing more than a hazardous and unpredictable battery. He could figure something else out for their little celebration.
"Good gracious, no! I do not need those things anymore. And I need to be there in person to show the board my invention and go over a few things. I promise hedgehog it's just a business meeting. I'll be back in a couple of days." Sonic strained his tired eyes as he stared at Eggman behind the glasses. The doctor had proven thus far he could be trusted and hadn't broken any of his promises. He recalled his friend's warnings that Eggman could be abusing his trust, but if the doc did come back with an emerald, he would know instantly. Being attuned with Chaos energies, and even if he didn't pick it up, Shadow would as he was more skilled. Eggman would be behind bars before he knew it if he tried to hide a gem.
No, the doctor wasn't going to take the risk or even try, Sonic knew.
Going with his gut, he smiled and nodded. "Ok." Eggman let out a breath he had been holding when Sonic said he believed him. "Good. You should have everything you need while I'm gone. Metal will take care of the base's functions while I'm out, but you will be in charge of everything until I return."
"Cool, cool. I can dig it." Sonic says, relaxing and taking the dice, giving them a quick shake before tossing them on the board. Eggman watched as the hedgehog turned back to their game. The smile on his muzzle remained but noticed it had a hit of sadness to it this time. Will Sonic miss my presence while I'm gone? Or is something else bothering him? Eggman wonders, he had noticed the hedgehog's normal laid-back state had been more forced over the last week, and dark circles had mysteriously grown under his eyes.
Glancing at the table, Eggman saw most of the robots were gone to finish their evening duties or had left entirely to recharge for the night. Orbot was the only one left at the far end of the room cleaning up; the atmosphere seemed to suggest now would be a good time for him to ask his concerns. "Sonic, are you feeling alright?" he softly questions. The blue blur finishes taking his turn and looks up at the human, tilting his head. "Yeah, I'm ok."
"Are you sure? You haven't been as lively as you usually are...in fact, you seem rather down, and it looks as though you haven't been sleeping well. Is something bothering you?"
"No, no. I'm fine, don't worry about it." Sonic shakily scoffs. That was the second time someone today had asked about his well-being. I guess I look worse than I thought. Damn it, Sonic! Keep yourself together! He gestures for the doctor to take his turn, turning his head away like he was distracted, trying to act normal when a hand on his shoulder and a soft voice makes him turn back, "Sonic." His eyes spot a warm hand on his shoulder, following the attached arm to a worried-looking wrinkled face feeling the tender concern coming from it. "Sonic, you don't have to hide anything from me. Please tell me what's wrong."
"...N-nothings wrong." his voice rasps, his emotions grower ever unstable and desperately wanting to get away from that face before he broke. But the hand squeezes his shoulder, preventing him from escaping. "Come now; you think I can believe that? Something's obviously wrong. You know I'm trying to be good now, so let me help."
"Youdon'thavetoworryaboutit. It'snotyourproblem. Icanhandleit!" Sonic exclaims, water starting to fill his eyes. He blinks them away quickly. He was barely holding himself together; it felt like his hold on his emotions was slipping through his fingers. Eggman, barely catching all of what Sonic rambled, says, "Yes, it is my problem. You are my responsibility now, so your problem is my problem! Please, Sonic." he implores.
The hedgehog's breathing starts to quicken as more water blurred his vision, muscles tightening, throat constricting. Sonic continued to blink rapidly; his eyes wanted to spill, but his ego and pride weren't going to have it, and despite the doctor's request, he couldn't explain what was wrong. The night terror images filling his dreams or the guilt and embarrassment of imagining himself being babied again. How could he when he didn't understand what was going on in his mind or why? All he knew right now was he needed to leave.
"Uh...I, uh...I...gasp! I need to go!"
"What? Sonic wait-!"
Ripping himself from the doctor's grip, Sonic disappeared, knocking the game off the table, sending the pieces flying to scatter as he left in a hurry to his room. Eggman, his arm still outstretched to where the hedgehog had been a second ago, ogled at what had just happened, opening and closing his mouth like a fish before snapping to attention screaming. "Sonic!"
Orbot silently hovered from the shadows to the mess, sighing and shaking his head as he grabbed the game box and began picking up the pieces.
Running, Eggman raced after the blue blur, following the blue after light left behind, guiding the doctor to where he needed to go. The light disappeared at Sonic's door; it didn't open. Heaving against the locked door, the human knocked, wishing he hadn't installed the lock to give Sonic privacy on the other side. He calls loud enough for his voice to carry through yet still held a gentle tone, "Sonic! Sonic open up. It's me. Please. Let me help you. I promise whatever it is, we'll work it out. Together. Isn't that what you want for me to be helpful? Let me help you, Sonic...please?"
Agonizing silence was his only answer. He waited and waited. Pressing his ear against the metal, listening carefully for any sound of noise. After several minutes of quiet, the doctor slunk back sadly, gazing at the door, his silent begging for it to open going unanswered. Sighing in defeat, the doctor left the hedgehog alone in his chambers, making way to his own.
The door opened and closed with a swoosh; Eggman dejectedly fell back on his bed, head dropping into his hands, wondering what was going on with the blue devil causing him such distress. Seeing those sadly shining, tired green eyes look up at him was heartbreaking. He could clearly see Sonic wanted help, but he was also scared. Of what? He asked. Me? My reaction? What if he thinks it's something I could use to hurt him? Did I do or say something to scare him? But then...sigh. I'm trying so hard to get him to trust me. I thought we were making such great progress...seems not as much as I had hoped. Oh, Sonic, I wish you felt comfortable enough to trust me to help you.
Angrily he slammed his hand on the bed. "Damn it now! Of all times for something like this to happen, and I have to leave!" Groaning, finding himself between a rock and a hard place, Eggman rubbed his bald head, "There's nothing I can do but wait. Maybe me being gone for a few days will help give him the time he needs before I can try coaxing him out again on what's wrong." not happy with the turn of events but with no other way out. Eggman resolved to do all he could to figure out what was wrong with the blue blur when he returned.