Chapter Two – Changed
Sonic The Hedgehog, may have been the highly praised Hero of Mobius, but that didn't meant he didn't have problems of his own. Life was good at the moment, but the cracks were beginning to show. He'd survived his teens and now in his early twenties, he grown so much that Eggman was seriously struggling to even put a dent in his incredible skill and power. Nowadays, he could easily have outright destroyed the Human, but he just didn't want too. He gave everyone the impression he couldn't, which wasn't true, and Sonic knew that this was highly illegal, but with Eggman gone and the war ended, what could he do? The huge potential of enormous boredom was more then he could handle. He just foresaw himself being the planet's biggest nuisance and getting into serious trouble, which he just didn't want, at all.
But Sonic wasn't stupid. He had complete control of the war. He'd beaten Eggman back so much, right back into his territory, that nothing the Human had left came even close to beating him. He was so confident of that, that so long as no one got hurt or killed as a direct result of the fighting, he could keep Eggman where he was, his play thing, for as long as he Sonic done the maths, he was pretty much guaranteed to win every time.
But the Blue Blur knew his attitude was getting seriously out of hand, as he sighed, now alone in Tails' House. He cried, completely breaking down. It knew it was bad, when Shadow walked out on him. The first to leave. Then the Chaotix, and Cream and Vanilla. Knuckles did hang around, but only helped in dire emergencies but it was Tails was the only one who'd put up with him nowadays, and his appalling behaviour. Him and Amy.
Amy was the real reason for his constant lashing out with his ego. The female Hedgehog was impossible. She was absolutely desperate to marry him, settle down and have a family, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. But Sonic was terrified and was extremely keen to get away from her, but she wouldn't let him. He was very frightened because he had a secret which would smash Amy's dream to pieces, and he just didn't have the heart to tell her, despite the fact that he did now deeply love her.
Sonic was sterile, born with U.T.S. or Undescended Testicular Syndrome. Normally in a baby male Mobian, his testicles drop down into his pouch, as they grow inside his body, just before he is born. But occasionally, that doesn't happen, and they stay inside his body, usually not properly developed. Sometimes they can drop after birth but not always. This is U.T.S. If the testicles don't drop, they can become gangrene and severely infected putting the boy's life at risk. Sonic was three years old, when both his undescended testicles were removed, as they were making him severely ill, leaving a thin narrow vertical line, a scar between his belly button and his groin. Net result, no kids.
Sonic's scar was often mistaken for a hernia, which he didn't correct. He does have testicles in his pouch, but they are fake, made of silicon, giving the impression that he is normal. But, unfortunately, Amy was arranging a marriage completely around him, all he had do was show up, but Sonic just gulped, seriously unsure as to what to do.
He desperately feared her and her hammer, if he told the truth. She'd threatened him with it in the past, but truthfully never actually hit or even touched him with it. He couldn't remembered if she was joking at the time or not, but now he just didn't know. Due to the fact that Sonic's Super-Speed was an extremely powerful physical Chaos Power, mentally, he been left somewhat vulnerable, struggling to process intense emotions properly. A mental flaw. Knuckles had one, with gullibility, but for Sonic, it was anxiety. Refusing to talk for years as a child, because of shyness, yes, it had always been there to some degree. But now his anxiety was now extremely severe. Fighting Eggman was his way of dealing with it, the enormous ego to match. Stopping it, was more then he could bare. Anything but. But the Blue Blur had told no one. Not even Tails knew the truth of the fact that Sonic was now severely ill. He just believed, like everyone else, that Sonic was being his stupid, idiotic self, not caring about anyone or anything anymore.
But truthfully, Sonic did, desperately, but he just no longer had any idea of how to communicate that fact. Now very mentally broken, something had to give and soon. It would be either him or Amy. But that meant that he wasn't thinking straight at all, his anxiety sky high, when he dived head long into the latest attack on Eggman. The Human had been building a new warehouse-type base in his territory, close to Tails' House.
Too close.
Time to get it gone. But Tails had desperately tried to stop Sonic. He had no information on the Base. Security, traps, contents, possible Badniks, nothing. But Sonic just didn't care. Not about himself. Not anymore. His mental state was now so poor, that if he died, then so be it.
A simple fight with Eggman, he could do that, or it should have been.
He took Tails and Knuckles with him, both of whom were now very worried about him, having noticed in recent days, that his behaviour might be more then just his ego. His constant shaking, the horrendous nightmares, the thumb sucking, but it was when the sparkles suddenly disappeared from his eyes, was when Tails finally realisedsomething was seriously wrong. That Sonic might actually be very ill, but it was too little to late, as the Blue Blur raced for that Base, to never return the same again.
But it was a trap. Eggman was waiting for him. The Base was made with one large cavernous room and nothing else. A warehouse, or a perfect battle ground, a fighting stage, to do one thing, and one thing alone. To permanently destroy that meddlesome Blue Hedgehog, and Sonic had just walked straight in. The Human sat in the cockpit of a Boss Robot so heavily armed, that any attacks the Blue Blur did against it, did almost nothing and soon there was an all out fight. But the more Sonic attacked, the more his homing attack was repelled and the more he panicked. Desperate for help, he realised, too late,he was now alone.
Security had been lack in order to let them in, but now, it was super tight, and smaller Badniks had attacked Knuckles and Tails catching them off guard. They had been captured and promptly thrown out of the Base. Eggman wanted the Blue Blur, not his friends, and now Sonic was trapped, in a fight that was now looking less and less likely of winning as the minutes ticked by. He squealed.
Outside, Tails and Knuckles desperately try and get back in, but failed. They just were fast enough to get past security, but as Tails and Knuckles looked at each other, they both knew of one Hedgehog who was. With speed rivaling the Blue Blur himself.
Shadow.
The Ultimate Lifeform wasn't happy at all, at being cornered like this, but as everyone stared at him, he just growled, still swearing, and declared his intension, very promptly. He growled.
"No!" He spat, to the gasps of everyone. But Shadow couldn't have cared less. They couldn't force him, he'd just kill them. But Tails outright panicked.
"Please." He begged. "He'll die in there." He gulped, but Shadow just smirked as he rounded on the Fox.
"Then good riddance, to that ego-centric git." He hissed, swearing hard again, wanting nothing to do with him anymore. But everyone was horrified but Tails fell silent. He fully understood the comment, and he did entirely agree, but now he was beginning to believe something different. He heaved.
"I don't think Sonic's behaviour is entirely down his horrendously bad ego." He admitted, biting his lip. "I think he might be seriously ill." He stammered in a tiny voice. Further gasps filled the room. Sonic's reputation was such that to even hint that the mighty Hero of Mobius was sick in any way, shape or form was considered the worst blasphemy on Mobius. The Hero wasn't allowed to get sick. Immediately, Tails was rounded upon, everyone wanting proof, of which the Fox had none. Unsurprisingly, nobody believed him, as absolutely everything backfired on him. Rouge just grinned at him, now not believing anything the Fox had said. She smirked.
"I think you imagining things, Tails. No way Sonic is sick and I think he's just having you on with this fight. Wanting you guys gone, so he could hog all the glory. He'll walk away, he always does. You'll see." She giggled and with that, she turn away and took Shadow with her, as the Fox was laughed out of G.U.N. and promptly thrown out.
But Shadow was silent, allowing himself to be steered away, very deep in thought. There was something in that Fox's expression on his face, when he said that the Blue Blur was ill, that heavily suggested it might actually be the truth, despite how absurd it sounded. Never in the entire time that Shadow had known Sonic, had the Blue Blur ever gotten sick. No viruses or bugs. He never even caught a cold. He did sneeze occasionally. Heck, so did he, but that didn't mean you were ill. But Shadow was beginning to wonder for the first time in months, if he had wronged the Blue Blur. Desperately unsure, he let it drop as Rouge insisted on accompanying him for the rest of the day.
The fight in Eggman's base was still raging and Sonic was getting more desperate.
The fight took them near some barrels stacked in one corner of the warehouse. Slightly odd for a large empty cavernous room, but not that unusual. The entire room was littered with wooden boxes and metal crates all over the place. The large, metallic, grey barrels looked harmless, despite the red warning paint slapped right across them. Therefore, Sonic paid them no attention, as he jumped around and on them.
Still fighting the Boss Robot, a scorpion type robot with enormous pincers slashing at him, smaller Badniks were also swarming around him. Unfortunately, the barrels were not as stable as Sonic had originally assumed, and suddenly, a Badnik swipes at the Blue Blur. But Sonic just smirked and simply dodges out of the way to look behind him.
Big mistake, as the Badnik misses and hits one of the barrel's. Slicing straight through the metal, the highly toxic, extremely strong acid contained within, sprays all over Sonic's eyes. Huge quantities of it. He fell backwards, his eyes bubbling and burning beneath the horrendous liquid, the pain excruciating. The acid was so toxic that it burned straight through the soft tissue, right to his skull. Finally, he screamed. A death scream, collapsing to the floor, which immediately told Eggman he'd finally won the fight. Won against the Blur Blur for the very first time ever.
He'd put those barrels there as an total after thought, knowing Sonic wouldn't pay any attention to them, and to be honest, neither did he, completely forgetting all about them. They were just full of his acid solution. What he used to dissolve broken Badniks in. Seeing the toxic mix cover the Blue Blur's eyes, caused to the Human to howl with evil laugher, and then immediately squeal in pure fright, at the utter horror of what his acid solution was doing to his arch nemesis. He immediately downed the Boss Robot, opened the cockpit and got out. He ran to Sonic's side, as the Blue Blur was violently shaking on the floor. Eggman violently gagged, going very green, as he saw Sonic's eyes be completely burned out, both eyeballs gone, and felt mighty Blue Hedgehog's breathing began to slow.
He was dying. The extreme shock was killing him and Eggman just panicked. To win a fight against the mighty Hero of Mobius was one thing, mainly the bragging rights, but to have him die on him, in such a horrendous way, was quite another. Sonic's breathing staggered and then faltered, him then finally passing out, it forced Eggman to make a judgement call.
In all the years of fighting Sonic, the Blue Blur never left him down. In every fight they fought, Sonic always returned to check he was alright. Every time. Originally, Eggman believed it was the Blue Blur just coming back to poke idiotic fun at him, but he never did. He was always silent, a somber, somewhat emotionless look on his face, but with deep caring sparkles in his eyes. He never spook a word, doing everything he could to get Eggman back onto his feet, and to a street doctor for treatment, if needed. One that kept his mouth shut. This had resulted in Eggman's life actually being saved, several times. He heaved. A real Hero.
As much as Sonic's ego was bad, he never bragged about how badly Eggman lost a fight, and never mentioned his interventions afterwards. The Human had noticed this, the Blue Blur allowing him to keep his dignity. Eggman looked down at the Blue Hedgehog and grieved. This was not how it was supposed to end. He wanted to batter Sonic and hard. Make him beg for mercy, even surrender. Prove himself the superior fighter. Finally, he growled, and with a single tear rolling down his face, he bend over and for the very first time, picked up his arch nemesis.
He gasped. Absolutely gobsmacked at Sonic's incredibly delicate and lightweight frame, his head and neck over one arm and his knees dangling over the other. The Hedgehog's stunning Blue fur was warm and soft, and for the very first time, he felt the warmth of Sonic's incredible Chaos Power and heart of gold. Felt how kind and gentle he was, completely undeserving of what the Human did to him but then Eggman absolutely panicked when he felt that warmth was begin to fade and fast. If he was going to intervene then he had to do it now. Sonic wouldn't survive the hour if he didn't. Carrying Sonic close, he climbed back into the cockpit of the Boss Robot and then proceeded to detach the Egg-mobile from the machine, with him and the Blue Blur inside and the fly as fast as it would go to the nearest hospital.
Eggman knew that Sonic's injuries were far beyond the skills of any street doctor, even a good one and knew a hospital was his only chance of survival. But that meant very publicly handing over the Blue Blur. He heaved. He was well aware that Sonic had been playing with him, and that he'd had the opportunity for years to outright destroy him but never did. That their little showdowns were nothing more then games for the ego driven Hedgehog. Eggman had been relieved that Sonic hadn't destroyed him, but he had always wondered why? What kick did he get out of it? Or was it something more? Regardless, failing to do his duty as the Hero of Mobius by not destroying Eggman when he had the chance, Sonic was now guilty of high treason. Dangerously extending the war, far beyond what was necessary. He directly put lives at risk.
When Eggman handed Sonic over, he allowed himself to be arrested and then told the Mobian Authorities the truth. About what was really going on between him and Sonic. Eggman feared that the Blue Blur wouldn't be treated if he didn't. Of course, no one believed him, until Eggman showed them his evidence. He catalogued everything. Every fight, every conversation, even Sonic's interventions, until finally, they believed.
Sonic was then branded a traitor, and as his life was then stabilisedin hospital. He would now make it. Eggman was then released by the fact that Sonic had attacked him, as he'd proved that he was just defending himself on his own land and territory, all of which was true. The fact that he'd gotten injured was of no fault of the Human, only his own. As the Human walked away he noticed that the world's whole persona of the mighty Blue Blur had completely changed, almost leaving him a free man. He evilly smirked, now he could do exactly what his wanted. Saving the Blue Blur had unintentionally worked out better then he'd thought but then he heaved. He had plans but the Resistance wasn't gone.
The Echidna was still around as well as that two-tailed Fox and some others. As for Shadow. Eggman shuddered. He was becoming absolutely brutal with a gun recently. He was still stunned that he'd not appeared on the professional killer's hit list yet. It was simply a matter of time, and it completely depended on what he did next. He could scheme, but he had to be incredibly subtle with it. Easier said then done, with both Tails and Shadow watching him, two people who knew him and his methods extremely well. He heaved.
Time to disappear, a least for a little while. Hope the Blue Blur's demise and fall from grace, would keep the attention off of him. But as the truth got out about Sonic and it went global, Eggman noticed that the mighty Blue Blur had been left in hospital, entirely alone.
Nobody came. Sonic had been completely abandoned.
Eggman frowned. What? Including the Fox? He sighed. Now that was brutal, feeling somewhat sorry for him. He knew what his annoying friends meant to him. He looked back to the front doors of the hospital, knowing the incredible Blue Hedgehog was in there, somewhere. He sniffed, finally moving away.
Good Luck.