Doc Prower groaned as his mind woke, pain shooting through his limbs and brain as consciousness slowly returned to him. His eyes gummed open, a sharp pain lancing through his head as harsh lights beamed upon him from above.
He tried to move. Couldn't. He was bound, his limbs held by metallic restraints, and he was sitting upright in a chair. Another seat lay before him, connected to a plethora of machinery and equipment. Power hummed through the machines, ready to begin their unknown function.
"Oh good! You're awake!"
Doc's ears perked and footsteps, betraying a stride longer than that of the average mobian, sounded from behind him. Moments later... the evil, grinning visage of Doctor Ivo Robotnik entered his field of view.
"Doctor," the fox said evenly.
"Yes..." the human grinned, moustache twitching as he leaned forward to observe his prisoner curiously, "And I suppose you are one of the five little canines I have to contend with now?"
Doc raised an eyebrow. "I was unaware you knew of our present condition."
"Oh, I know one or two things about your... curious little predicament!" Robotnik chuckled, eyeing the fox shrewdly, "splitting Chaos energy? Replicating yourself? Very interesting, Miles... may I call you Miles?"
"My chosen name is Doc..." Doc replied, calm and collected voice betraying no emotion, "but I suppose Miles works."
"Doc?!" Robotnik's gin became wider, the human seemingly overjoyed with the revelation, "Doc... what a deliciously perfect designation!"
"Get to the point, Robotnik..." Doc said, offering the human an unamused glare, "what do you want with me?"
"Oh well..." Robotnik placed his hands behind his back and paced across the laboratory floor, "you see, my friend... I have a plan. A very cunning plan, and I required your... assistance to pull it off!"
"If you believe I'm going to help you, you are sorely mistaken."
"Who said I expected you to help me?" Robotnik said, barely able to contain his amused laughter The human leaned in close to the fox, malicious leer widening even more. "No, my friend... all I require from you is the knowledge in your head... and your body."
Doc's heart skipped a beat, sudden dread filling his chest, "what do you mean, doctor?"
"Oh..." Robotnik chuckled, moving away and settling himself in the other seat across from his captive, "you'll see..." the doctor rested his arms on the rests of the seat and shuffled in place, "you'll see very soon..."
Doc watched as Robotnik tapped at the controls of his machine, the human setting himself back and closing his eyes. The machine began to hum, power surging through its components, electrical sparks snapping and lights flickering as the mad science intensified.
Struggling against his restraints appeared useless, though Doc Prower struggled regardless.
Then... the fox spasmed as though he were in the midst of a seizure, becoming stiff as a board as his body was taken from him, his own consciousness stuffed into the back of his own mind as another intelligence asserted itself like a parasite.
Then, with the whine of decreasing power... it was over.
Doc slumped in his seat, head lolling as sparks snapped in his vision. He coughed, a stream of mucus dribbling from his lips as his breathing slowly fell back into its resting rhythm.
His fingers curled. His ears twitched. His eyes opened and stared through his own shoes.
"What... did you do to me?" is what Doc Prower tried to say.
Instead, his throat cleared of its own accord... and his voice rattled out a string of letters and numbers he didn't recognise. The restraints snapped open, the release codes accepted, and the fox fell from his seat to his hands and knees.
What did you DO to me? Doc thought with mounting horror as he began to suspect what was happening, unable to vocalise the query outwardly.
His body staggered as it climbed to his feet, swaying as it attempted to gain balance, and his eyes focused on the now utterly still and lifeless form of the human doctor Robotnik.
His face split into a malicious leer, and his hand reached out to prod the doctor in his ample belly.
"I would say..." his own voice said, with no input from the fox himself, "that our little experiment was a success... wouldn't you, Doc?"
What did you do?!
Doc's hijacked body released an evil little chuckle from his throat, and stumbled as it turned to leave the laboratory. It wandered into a nearby medical station, eventually coming to a stop before a medicine cabinet upon which hung a mirror.
His eyes locked onto their reflection... and Doc Prower recoiled inwardly as the evil leer of doctor Robotnik split his own face.
"What do you think?" Robotnik cackled, his evil intelligence glistening in blue eyes that weren't his, "does orange suit me?"
Robotnik chuckled as he felt the body's previous owner shrink further back into his subconscious, brand new tails whipping like snakes.
"You see, what I've done..." the doctor explained, glaring into his new reflection, "is genius of another level! In this form, I have full access to our..." he paused, before grinning maliciously, "well, YOUR knowledge and memories! the perfect cover for a little espionage, wouldn't you say?"
The fox didn't reply, watching from behind his own eyes as Robotnik leaned close to the mirror, close enough for the glass to steam up with his breath.
"I'm going to end that hedgehog," the doctor hissed, glowering madly into the intelligence suppressed inside his head, "and the rest of those infernal foxes, too! And when I'm done?" he shrugged, furry shoulders rising and falling, "I'll transfer myself back out of this body... and finish you off! Sonic the Hedgehog and his little buddy Tails, out of my hair once and for all... until then?" The mad doctor giggled as he felt the true fox's discomfort. "Cheer up! You might like being an evil genius!"
Doc Prower could only watch, appalled and frightened and powerless to do anything, as his stolen body turned with a malicious cackle.
And Miles Prower watched with him, equally unable to stop the insane doctor who had taken control of his brother.
Blitz Prower hummed to himself, hands on hips, as he hung impatiently around the hangar of his and his siblings' workshop, where the Tornado usually rested when not in use. the plane had been gone for hours, Doc having taken her for a flight, and had not yet returned.
"C'mon, Doc..." Blitz muttered, scuffing the concrete floor of the workshop, "where the heck are you?"
"Stop worrying, man..." Blade said, the dark-haired fox fiddling with one of the siblings' various inventions, "you know what the professor's like... I swear he gets his rocks off in that plane..."
"Yeah well," Blitz replied, setting himself on the workbench beside his brother, "some of us actually give a crap about our brothers, blade..."
Blade glowered at the spiky-haired fox. "You sayin' I don't?"
Blitz hesitated, before sighing and running a hand through his spiked-up hair. "Sorry dude... I just get worried, y'know? Especially after the whole thing with Squirt..."
"Yeah, I get it..." Blade offered his brother a rare smirk, "I care about you assholes too. If you can believe that."
Blitz grinned, and the two foxes perked their ears as another pair of orange-furred figures entered the workshop.
"Blitz!" Squirt Prower scurried across the workshop toward Blitz. The small fox was now clad in a red and white t-shirt, the picture of a plane in the middle, and spread his arms for his bigger brother to inspect. "Look at my shirt!"
"That's awesome, little buddy!" Blitz leaned over and ruffled his little brother's head, skewing the leather flight helmet Squirt habitually wore, "your big sis get that for ya?"
"Yes..." Feather Prower joined her brothers at the workbench, folding her arms over her denim dungarees, "and we had Meh' burger, didn't we kiddo?"
"Yeah!" Squirt hugged into Feather's side, "It was fun!"
"Nice!" Blitz chuckled, grinning at his smallest sibling and then looking to Feather. "How bout you, sis? Doing good?"
"I'm fine," Feather smiled warmly, and Blitz noted the slight makeup surrounding her eyes, "We had a nice time!" She cast a look around the hangar, frowning at the empty space where the Tornado usually rested, "Doc not back yet?"
"Nope..." Blitz sighed in frustration, "he's been gone for ages... starting to get a little worried sis, not gonna lie..."
"I'm sure he's fine," Feather said, twirling her lengthy head fur around a finger, "you know what he's like..."
"Hey!" Blade, who had wandered over to the entrance to the hangar, turned and called back to his siblings, "I think I see him!"
The foxes perked their ears and made to join their black-haired brother, investigating the skyline. Indeed, the sound of thrumming engines hummed over the wind, and a small red speck descended from the clouds to bloom into a gleaming biplane. The siblings spread out as the plane landed, allowing the Tornado to taxi into the hangar. The biplane rolled to a stop, her engines whining down and frame ticking as she came to a rest.
"Hey, dude!" Blitz grinned as Doc Prower hopped from the plane, knees bending as he hit the concrete floor, "where the heck did you get to? We were worried about ya buddy!"
Doc Prower looked between his siblings, eyes shielded by the goggles he almost always wore, a strange little smirk twitching the corner of his mouth. "Why worry... Blitz?" the fox said with a curious tone, "I'm perfectly fine, as you can see."
"We still worry about you when you go missing like that..." Feather said, lightly stroking her brother's arm, "you need to call us and let us know you're safe!"
"Your concern has been noted," Doc said, clasping his hands behind his back, "where is Sonic?"
Blitz shrugged. "No idea! Seriously, given how long you've been out you'd probably have a better clue than us!"
"Oh," Doc replied, his weird little smile disappearing.
"Great, so the professor's back safe and sound..." Blade muttered, "can we go eat now? I'm starving."
"Yeah! I wanna eat too!" Squirt piped up, clutching his toy plane close.
Feather chuckled. "You're hungry again?" She ruffled her younger sibling's head affectionately, "where do you put it all?"
Squirt giggled and hugged into his sister's side, Feather's tails wrapping around him protectively.
"Okay guys!" Blitz reached down and lifted Squirt from his feet, the little fox squealing as he was hutched into Blitz's arms, "let's go get the takeout menus before the squirt starves!"
The foxes made to leave the workshop... and Doc Prower watched them leave, a malicious glint in his goggled eyes, before moving to join them.
Dinner with the Prower siblings was always a chaotic affair, with five foxes rowdily setting the table, preparing plates, bickering, teasing, and snapping at one another. Bags of takeout littered the table, a flustered Feather Prower doing her best to spoon the food out into even portions while her brothers attempted to pick and nibble at one anothers' dishes.
The effeminate fox, head fur tied back into a long pony-tail, wore an exasperated look as she glared at her brothers. "Seriously boys, can't you wait five bloody minutes?"
Blitz offered his usual lopsided grin in reply, a handful of fries clutched in one hand, "sorry sis! Wastin' away here!"
"I'll waste you away..." Feather chuckled, spooning fried rice into five separate bowls.
"Can we please hurry this up?" Doc muttered, eyeing his siblings from behind his goggles, "I'm starving."
Blade snorted, a pancake roll in hand, "you, professor?" the dark-haired fox smirked as he regarded his goggled brother, "Feath usually has to force you to eat."
Doc folded his arms. "Yes well... I've had a long day."
"What did you get up to, Doc?" Feather chirruped, depositing his plate before him, "you were gone a long time..."
Feather recoiled as Doc began positively shovelling his food into his mouth, teeth gnashing and jaws snapping the grub up greedily. She raised her eyebrows as she sat, casting an incredulous look around at her brothers.
"Jeez, buddy!" Blitz chortled, grinning from ear to ear, "you really are hungry, huh?"
"What the hell you been up to, professor?" Blade added, frowning at Doc's display of gluttony.
The goggled fox paused, a length of chow-mein dangling from his mouth. "Who asked you to be so nosy?" Doc said defensively, glowering at Blade from behind his eyewear.
Blade lowered his head and glared back. "What, you wanna make somethin' of it? Egghead?"
An obvious tension had descended over the siblings, and Blitz raised his hands for calm as Doc's mouth split into a snarl. "Okay guys, jeez! You're supposed to be digging into the grub, not each other!"
Doc switched his attention to Blitz after a moment's hesitation, eyes going unseen as they locked on his brother's.
"I apologise Blitz," the fox said evenly, in his usual matter-of-fact tone, "I don't know what came over me." Doc turned back to face Blade. "Apologies, Blade."
Blade held his gaze for a moment, before a wry smirk pinched his cheek. "Sure thing, professor."
"Doc?" a smaller voice piped up, Squirt looking to his bigger brother with excited eyes. The small fox fiddle with a toy plane, before spreading his arms to display his new shirt for Doc to inspect. "Do you like my t-shirt? Feather bought it me!"
The goggled fox stared at his smaller sibling for some moments, before a grin split his muzzle. "That's... very cool!" the fox replied, "very cool."
The others shared another glance at Doc's sudden mood swing. The goggled fox looked back to his siblings, before gathering up his plate and shoving away from the table.
"I'm going to eat in my workshop," Doc said lightly, pausing in the doorframe to cast a final look over his shoulder. "If Sonic calls... let me know."
With that the fox left, leaving his siblings to cast incredulous glances at one another.
"Is it me..." Blitz said, gesturing with a piece of half-eaten piece of sesame prawn toast, "or is Doc acting a little funny?"
"He's a freakin' weirdo..." Blade muttered, spooning rice into his mouth, "Yo fe'h, 'is's g'ug ea'in!"
Feather hummed to herself as she carried two steaming mugs of hot chocolate, making her way through the house toward the workshop. She paused, setting the mugs down on a table to peer into a wall-mounted mirror, checking her hair. Her head fur now extended below the shoulders, reaching for the elbows, and a thin black line surrounded her eyes. She smiled, feeling more 'herself' now with each passing day.
A shriek came from the living room down the hall, and the effeminate fox turned to call back.
"Squirt! Blade! No fighting!"
"I got it, sis!" Blitz replied as he emerged from the bathroom, shooting her a wink before jogging down the hall back to where his brothers were busy competing in some video game or another. Feather sighed, retrieving her mugss and continuing on her mission.
"Hey, Doc!" she called as she entered the workshop, rounding the gleaming red hull of the Tornado to find her objective sat before his computer station, hunched over the console, "drinks!"
Doc Prower snapped around and shot his sister a glare as she approached. Feather stopped in her tracks - Doc's eyes were presently exposed, his goggles resting on the desk beside him, and she couldn't help but feel... unnerved, by the ice cold glimmer in the glowering blue orbs.
"I've..." Feather said quietly, raising a much in each hand, "brought you coffee?"
Doc stared for a moment longer, before his face settled into a welcoming grin. "Great! Thanks, Feather!"
Feather returned the smile, a wave of relief washing over her, and she approached her brother to hand his mug over. The fox took the mug, black nose twitching as he took a sniff of the contents.
"Ahh..." he breathed heavily, "just what the Doc ordered!"
Feather chuckled, clutching her own mug in both hands, "was that a joke, Mister Serious?"
Doc shrugged. "Believe it or not, but I'm not that much of a stick in the mud, brother!"
Feather tensed, pursing her lips and coughing lightly. "Sister..."
Doc appeared to think for a moment, before clearing his throat. "I'm sorry," he said dismissively, "sister."
Feather couldn't help but feel a chill at that cold, emotionless response. Doc was never the most outgoing of her brothers, but this was different. Doc was usually perfectly blunt and straight to the point, uninterested in diplomacy or theatrics. This felt as though he were putting on an act, his face nothing but a mask disguising his true feelings.
"Are... you sure you're okay, hun?" Feather said softly, concern tinging her voice, "you seem a little... off it, since you got back..."
Again, Doc set his cold eyes on hers, and Feather felt a cold chill run up her spine. "I'm fine, sister..." the other fox smiled, the expression not reaching his ice-cold eyes, "has Sonic returned yet? I'd like to see him."
Feather swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. "No, Doc..." she replied, beginning to move away, his eyes slowly following her as she clutched her coffee defensively, "we don't know where he is..."
Doc held her gaze a moment longer, before shrugging. "A shame. Let me know when he returns. Will you do that?" his smile morphed a fraction, appearing almost like a hungry sneer, "sis?"
Feather nodded. "Of course, Doc..."
With that, Feather Prower turned and left the workshop, Doc's eyes following her as she hurried away.
Doc released an irritated sigh, now grimacing after the effeminate fox with bared teeth.
Be patient, he thought to himself, wait until the blue hedgehog's back... and then get them all at once.
It won't work, Robotnik... another voice, felt more than heard, seemed to say. The doctor perked his ears and scanned the workshop, before chuckling to himself.
"we'll just see about that, won't we?" he muttered to his fragment of the intelligence the foxes had once shared, "Miles?"
There was no other response, the sudden presence retreating back into his subconscious, replaced by the tortured mind of Doc Prower who could only watch from behind his own eyes, powerless as Robotnik turned back to the console to continue his research. He tapped at the keyboard, bringing up the work he'd been doing before Feather had interrupted.
"Chaos Division..." he mumbled to himself, twin tails flicking like snakes, "fascinating..."
The fox grabbed his goggles and set them back over his eyes, pushing away from his workstation and walking through the workshop, safety boots stomping over the concrete. He came to a stop, hands set on hips, and wore a malicious grin and he observed the machine the siblings had used to unwittingly split themselves in the first place, the strange cylindrical device presently sat silent in the corner of the workshop, a glowing Chaos Emerald inside.
"Fascinating indeed..." Robotnik chuckled, as he approached the machine to inspect it.
"Hey, no fair!"
"What're you talkin' about, that was perfectly fair!"
"You cheated!"
"Nah, you just need to get good!"
Blade Prower cackled as, beside him, Squirt Prower dropped his controller and punched his bigger brother in the arm, a look of outraged on his fuzzy face,
"You did too cheat!" the small fox squeaked, the straps to his leather flight helmet swinging with his angry swipes, "you did!"
Blade smirked, easily fending off the smaller fox's blows. "Did not! Get good, scrub!"
"Dun't call me a scrub!"
"I'll call you what I like, y'little goober!"
"Dun't call me a goober either!"
Squirt pounced forward, claws outstretched, and squealed as he was caught in a headlock by his larger brother. Blade cackled maliciously as the small fox struggled, removing Squirt's helmet and scruffing his head fur.
"Agh! Give up! Give up!"
"What's the magic word, little man?" Blade grinned, holding his little brother easily.
"Lemme go!"
"What's the magic word?"
"PLEASE!"
Blade let the small fox go, Squirt tumbling onto his butt as he launched back into the sofa. He glared daggers at his bigger brother, who maintained the angry expression.
Blade stuck his tongue out.
And Squirt snorted, before collapsing into a fit of giggles.
"That made you laugh, eh?" Blade grinned, pointed canines jutting from his top lip.
"You still cheated!" Squirt said defensively, glowering at Blade as he curled into his twin tails.
Blade lowered his brow and wore a dark smile. "Maybe I'm just better'n you!"
"Are not!"
"Whatever..." Blade stood from the couch and stretched, tails arching as his spine cracked. He gestured to the tv. "I'm going for a piss. Set up another race short-stuff, maybe I'll let you win the next one..."
Squirt yipped happily and grabbed his discarded controller, flicking through the menus of their game while Blade went to do his business.
The dark haired fox adjusted his black fingerless gloves, ready to remove the handwear in preparation for his visit to the lavatory... and paused.
"Shut up... just shut up!"
His ears perked. He scowled. A familiar voice, what appeared to be Doc's, muffled through the bathroom door.
"You have no business telling ME what to do!"
Blade, ears still raised and tails flicking, slowly moved toward the door and listened intently.
"Your head? YOUR head? No, my friend... this is MY head now..."
"Hey, professor!" Blade raised a fist and banged on the door, eliciting a squeak of alarm from inside the bathroom, "the hell you doing in there?"
A moment of silence was his response, then the sound of bootsteps, the clicking of the lock, and then the creak of the door as it swung open.
Blade's eyes met Docs', the other fox's goggles resting on his forehead... and Blade fought the urge to recoil. The look in Doc's eyes was... unnerving. Malicious. The black-haired fox felt his innards squirm at the short lived malice that glimmered in his brother's eyes, before Doc's usual stoic expression returned.
"Oh, I apologise brother..." Doc said, utterly calm and professional as always, "do you need the bathroom?"
"Yeah..." Blade muttered, looking Doc over with suspicious eyes, "the hell were you doing, dude? You talkin' to somebody?"
Doc blinked, the cogs whirring in his head, before replying with a curt nod.
"Just a little visit from... well, you know who..."
"Huh..." Blade grunted, "let me guess... Tails?"
Doc nodded again. Strange, isn't it? These brief periods where his fragments visit us? Like talking to a ghost."
"I don't recall anybody arguing with the guy, though..." Blade said, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, well..." Doc replied, utterly cold and emotionless, "I believe he is becoming... distressed. After all... we have been fractured for quite a while, right?"
"Right..." Blade responded, unconvinced by his brother's explanation. His own fragment didn't interfere often, but still... he'd never felt the presence... distressed, as Doc had put it. Not enough to begin verbally arguing with it, at any rate. And nor had any of the others mentioned this. Was it possible that Doc was attempting to cover something up?"
As if in reply, Doc offered his moody brother a smirk. "Don't worry about it brother... everything is fine. Now..." he nodded, gesturing past Blade. "may I pass? I must return to my work..."
Blade stepped aside, briefly locking eyes with the goggled fox... and again felt his fur stick up on the back of his neck as their souls seemed to connect. One moment he had felt a malicious presence in Doc's eyes... and now his brother almost seemed to be... pleading with him.
Doc reached up and lowered his goggles, cutting off the eye contact. "Well then..." he said, clasping his hands behind his back and wearing that strange little smirk, "I'll see you later... brother!"
"Yeah..." Blade watched Doc as he turned and walked away, whistling a tune Blade had never heard in his life, "see you..."