Scratch fell into his bed with a thud. He sighed to himself.
I wonder if anyone noticed I was gone all night. Hopefully not, but…I guess being missed would be a little nice. Probably better that I don't risk something like that again. I should count myself lucky I don't end up in the scrap heap. He hugged his pillow to his beak, his eyes tightly shut as he reran the night's events through his head. Scratch waited for the tears to explode out of him, to become a heaving, hiccuping wet mess. A hollowness yawned inside him as buried his face deeper into his pillow. The floor creaked under the weight of familiar treads. Scratch sniffled and sat up. Grounder tilted his head, and looked up at Scratch. Grounder wanted to ask him about what last night was about, about why Scratch had snuck off and why he had behaved so oddly towards the mobian swan who had proven himself to be an enemy of their glorious leader Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
"Uh, his maliciousness wants to see us. He has a job for us." Grounder grinned. "Should be a nice change from chasing Sonic from place to place."
Scratch scoffed.
"I don't ever tire of chasing Sonic. That's why I'm Dr. Robotnik's favorite lackey."
"Well, it's good you don't get tired of it considering that you don't ever seem to catch him" Grounder muttered to himself. Scratch grumbled, standing up straight as he looked down at the small drillbot.
"I'll catch him. Then you'll see, you overgrown paperweight. Dr. Robotnik will make me his right hand man as his reign sweeps over Mobius as inevitable and unstoppable as the dusk that suffocates the light." Scratch shook his fist at the ceiling lamp. "Our glorious leader will show them all."
"Who do you mean by them all, Scratch?" Grounder murmured.
Scratch jumped as a hot hand tightened around his neck. There was a hiss in his ear and Scratch gulped.
"Making plans is my job, you sorry scoop of scrap!" Next thing Scratch knew he was airborne. The wall came closer and closer until the drywall smashed into his face and he sank onto the ground with a clank. The room spun around him.
For a second, a frown knitted together across his face as yet another organic lifeform bellowed its frustrations at him, the piece of junk that the law considered inanimate property that the doctor could scream at, throttle and toss around as he wished because he had created him out of nothing. Scratch had no nerves, therefore he could feel no pain. Scratch had no heart, therefore he could feel no sadness, feel no fear and feel no love aside from the gratitude that his creator was undoubtedly owed. Scratch winced at the thought, before he threw himself at Dr. Robotnik's feet. Dr. Robotnik had created him, given him a place to stay, and always repaired him when he needed it. Who was he to feel such nastiness towards the only creature who had ever shown him any sort of kindness? His creator, for crying out loud.
"Please forgive me, your wickedness. I won't do it again!" The robot rooster beseeched as he hugged his master's feet with his form.
Robotnik snorted and kicked his feet free.
"Enough groveling already. I want you two to capture this spy." Robotnik unfolded a sheet of paper. Two large brown eyes looked back at them from the paper, her eyes alight with some emotion Scratch couldn't name if he tried. It reminded him of a business owner he had seen before, a wolf mobian with who had talked Robotnik into buying a year's supply of rotten eggs while he was out window shopping. They still were neck-deep in eggs from their last run in with that citizen.
Grounder clapped his drills together.
"Where do we find her?"
Robotnik smiled down at the smaller of his two creations.
"My eggo-matic tracked her down to a small hut near here. Apparently our spy has been under my very nose this entire time. I'll drop you two off. Make sure you bring her to me alive."
Dr. Robotnik clicked a button. Next thing Scratch and Grounder knew was the forest reaching out to grab them like a sea of clawed hands with green fur. Grounder swallowed as he imagined his form impaled on a branch, rusting as he cried out for help until his voice box disintegrated. The darkness of the forest grew closer and closer until a pile of leaves exploded under the sudden combined weight of the pair.
The hut was a small spit of wood in the forest that blended in like a shred of driftwood in mulch. It looks like it would burn pretty easily, but his maliciousness told us to take her in alive. Maybe we could use it to flush her out? Scratch mused.
But we should check to see if she's home first. We wouldn't want to hurt her or anything. Mobians are pretty fragile.
"This place isn't so bad. If you ignore the scent of rotting wood and decaying leaves everywhere it could almost be a fairytale cottage." Scratch cackled.
Grounder winced at the squish of mud under his treads, internally predicting a long night of detailing his treads with a toothbrush ahead of him.
"I dunno, I wouldn't want to live here. It's like there's a pair of eyes in every shadow. "
"Geez, don't be such a crybaby. The doctor wouldn't have sent us here if we weren't the best choice for the job."
"Scratch, we're the only choice for the job. The doctor doesn't have anyone else."
Scratch didn't say anything, instead kicking down the door of the cottage. He gasped as a woman grinned at him as he fell inside. That's definitely a new reaction.
"Well, hello there boys. Here to visit little old me?" The speaker emerged. Her eyes glittered with life and emotion in a way that told Scratch she was undoubtedly flesh and blood, that a heart beat in her chest. Her eyes reminded him of a forest beset by stars on all sides, brown and stretching towards something deeper within that a passerby could lose themselves in if they weren't careful and lost sight of the twinkling stars interrupting the darkness. Her voice was demure as she whispered and beckoned for the pair to come closer. Scratch shook his head. The mobian was trying to trick them somehow. Why else would she want to get close to a robot? The thought made something inside him clench. He snatched her upwards, bundling her onto his shoulders the way most mobians wore a scarf as the duo and their prisoner began the long walk back to Dr.Robotnik's fortress. Her hands pounded onto his back with a surprising strength for an organic left form. Birds erupted from the trees as Breezie's screams shook the very forest.