Fierce red eyes focus on the blue robot flying a few paces ahead of him. Shadow was determined not to let the robot out of his sight, worried that once they found their target, Metal would take advantage of Sonic's vulnerable state and hurt him before he had the chance to defend himself. It had crossed Shadow's mind earlier that this whole ordeal could be one large scheme from Eggman.

Somehow render Sonic to a weakened state. Separate him from the team. Then BAM! Capture and destroy.

Well, it's not going to work. He's not going to even get the chance, not so long as I'm around.

Even though the two were traveling at break-neck speeds, turning their surroundings into green and brown streaks. In his peripheral, Shadow was still able to recognize the smudge pattern they were passing. An eye ridge rose ever so slightly in question; milliseconds later, they entered and into the depths of Shadow's cave.

Metal Sonic's headlights turned on when they entered into the darkness, lighting up the way, revealing the massive complex's actual appearance. Divevets and craters scattered within, gaping holes in the floor leading to who knows how many feet further down, and dozens of long pathways already explored by the ebony hog. But he wasn't interested in that right now; Shadow's priorities laid with finding a certain blue hedgehog and returning him home safely just as promised.

As they turned and twisted through the maze, Shadow realized they were heading straight for a specific room he had shown Sonic over a month ago.

And that's exactly where they stop.

Slowing down, Metal Sonic descends to the floor at the chamber entrance; Shadow comes to a halt right next to the robot. He stares through the entryway, honestly surprised that Sonic was just on the other side. It never occurred to him that the blue blur would return to this place on his own as he didn't seem that interested in the room initially.

Neither saying a word, Shadow enters first with Metal tailing him. Ruby eyes instantly spot a blue mound of fur on the floor by the large crystal pond.

"Sonic," he whispers, hurrying to the sleeping speedster's side. Bending down, he rolls Sonic onto his back, "Sonic?" he calls again. Sonic continues to sleep, his face twisted, displeased at being moved, he mumbles something Shadow can't make out. The black hog lets out a breath he had been holding, relieved that Sonic was uninjured. A plopping sound jolts Shadow's attention to Metal Sonic sitting next to him. The robot opens the red bag; he'd forgotten about that thing, digging through it. "What are you doing?" he whispers.

"Scans indicate the target is in an insufficient state. Mom-bot has provided tools to help target to return to properly functioning levels." Metal replies in a flat tone, pulling out a warm blanket, green pacifier, and a diaper. Shadow's ears flatten at the echo from the obscenely loud robot, tempted to shush Sonic's duplicate via a fist to the face, but his hands remain still, instead crimson eyes widen at the items pulled from the bag. The blanket made sense as it can get to sometimes get to below freezing temperatures in the caverns. But the pacifier and diaper he couldn't wrap his head around, those unusual first aid kit items.

He watches the robot with interest as it places the diaper on Sonic, wrapping him snugly in the blanket with such a delicate and precise hand Shadow didn't know the robot was capable of. Metal adds the final touch, gingerly placing the pacifier in its place and making the blue hedgehog look like a newborn baby, snuggly wrapped up and sleeping away. Shadow sits silently in awe that Sonic remained in a deep sleep throughout the process.

Shaking his head and scolding himself for getting distracted and lowering his guard minutely, Shadow moves closer to Sonic intervening before Metal can do anything more, gently taking and picking up the wrapped up burrito-hog. Standing back up and preparing himself for any oncoming attack from the robot if it made any attempts to take his charge.

Metal pays no mind closing the bag, hanging it over his shoulder, "Mission complete. Target found, repaired, and safely returned." Surprised at the robot's lack of hostility, Shadow blinks a few times before returning to his usual frown nodding in appreciation, "You may return to your master now. Thank you." Metal nods back before turning on its boosters and flies away.

Feeling the weight shift in his arms, Shadow glances down to see Sonic nuzzling the white patch of fur on his chest with a pained expression, sniffing and whining; ears pulled back with tears slipping out of closed eyes. Worry appears on Shadow's face wondering what had caused the sudden disturbance in the back of his mind. He affectionately rubs the top of Sonic's head, holding him close, whispering in a soothing tone, "Sshhh. Don't worry, blueberry; we'll be home soon. You're going to be ok; daddy won't let anything happen to you, I promise." taking the utmost care to do so without disturbing the sleeping hedgie. Shadow walks out of the cavern to return his blue bundle home.

A black nose twitches, then an ear. He's awake but doesn't open his eyes, still feeling like he could sleep for a little while longer. His arms and legs don't have much wiggle room, but that's fine; he doesn't want to move that much anyway. It's so nice and warm right here wrapped...no swaddled in this soft blanket; he feels safe and secure in his crib with Mommy and Daddy nearby.

He sucks on the pacifier, snuggling further into his warm cocoon, on the verge of falling to sleep again when he feels a pressure building in his bladder. With a small smile, he releases, enjoying the new wave of warmth spreading; he doesn't alert Mommy or Daddy right now, knowing they will find out later and change him. Sighing through his nose, he tries to go back to sleep.

Several minutes later, he's still awake, frowning, and with a huff, he blames his bladder for having the audacity to wake him when he was so close to sleep before.

Rude.

Might as well go ahead and get up. He silently mourns, opening his eyes to see the race car mobile hanging above. Wiggling out of the blanket Sonic notices something is...off? His arms and legs...his whole body is bigger and longer than it was earlier, like he grew overnight literally!

Wait a minute...

Hands in view, he sees white gloves covering his fingers, eyes drifting down. He sees he's still wearing not only his now soaked diaper, but he's also wearing his bandana, red shoes, and sports tape like when he's an adult.

His heart stops.

I'm an adult! Head jolting up wide emerald eyes quickly survey the room, finding it to be the same nursery as in his dreams. His stomach feels heavy and cheeks warm as a shiver rolls down his back. Wait, this-this has happened before, so...I must still be dreaming then, right? A tentative hand pinches his thigh. Yeowch! Leaping out of the crib, Sonic lands on his feet, clutching his chest, feeling like his heart was about to burst out. Oh no...oh, Nononononono, Chaos no, don't tell me this isn't...but I felt...and I just-. Quickly spinning around the room, his pupils shrink in horror, realizing this wasn't a dream.

"Oh Chaos, I thought I was an actual-and wet myself while sucking on a-" a high-pitched whine escaped from firmly pressed lips. Biting his tongue Sonic curled into himself, holding his head in his hands, his tail between his legs wishing that he hadn't done what he just did and that this was one of those dreams that you woke up in but not really cause you were still dreaming.

Please, dear Chaos, somebody wake me up!

Nervously laughing at the situation for a split second with a shaky smile, Sonic mutters to himself in disbelief, holding himself, "This can't be happening, this can't be happening. This has got to be some weird dream, but if it was a dream, you should wake up, but I can't wake up because it's real, and I can't believe I thought I was a baby and wet myself. And why am I wearing a diaper in the first place? And why does this all seem so familiar?" at that last question, he opened his eyes. "Wait, how...h-how am I in the nursery?" forgetting his embarrassing predicament for a moment. This time, he slowly turns to scan the room again, finding everything to be exactly like it was in the dreams.

Everything was the same, from the changing table with his name on it to the carpet's color. "And where am I anyway," he asks, confused. He only saw the nursery when he was dreaming, but he was awake now, the pinch proved it, so...how was he standing here?

A noise just outside the door breaks his train of thought. Head darting to the door; he sees the handle jiggling. The door creaks open, light from the hallway, creating almost a hallo effect around the silhouette.

Amy stands there as her eyes widen, seeing Sonic standing in front of her, shocked to see him up. "You're awake!" She says with delight. Sonic says nothing standing stock still in a mixture of emotions, embarrassment, surprise, fear but mostly confusion. He can't help but blush, remembering that he was still wearing a dirty diaper on full display in front of his friend. He wanted to turn tail and hide from the embarrassing situation and erase it from his memory. Yet he couldn't find the will to move, still at a loss as to what was happening, and Amy didn't seem to acknowledge the awkward atmosphere. Sonic felt unsure if he should be grateful she hadn't said anything...maybe she didn't notice?

As he stands there thinking, Amy looks him over in the hallway's light wondering why he was just standing there looking like a lost puppy? Raising a fist to clear her throat, breaking the silence, she softly asks, "H-how, are you feeling now?"

"...um...ok, I guess?"

"You're not...hurting anywhere?"

"N-no, no, I'm...fine."

"Um...Ames."

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me what's going on?" He tugs on his gloves, flicking his eyes over the nursery, waiting for an explanation as she stares at him. Searching for something, what? He didn't have a clue, but she couldn't seem to find it. After what feels like an eternity, Sonic starts to open his mouth to ask again before she finally replies, "Yeah. Come on, we'll explain everything." she says, holding out her hand. "We?"

"Yeah. We've been waiting for you to wake up. We were beginning to think you decided to start hibernating or something if you didn't get up later." she jokes lightly, trying to ease his tension, "Uh, heh. Ok." he flashes a smile briefly, confusion and apprehension returning to his face before cautiously taking her hand and following her to where the others are waiting.

At least she hasn't said anything about the diaper yet.