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"Eddy!"
The young bee nearly jumped out of his jacket when he heard the sudden voice.
"Who, what, where?" He cried.
"It's me!"
Double D's head suddenly became visible.
"Double D, don't do that, you nearly scared me out of my skull!"
"My apologies, Eddy." Double D said. "But I have news!"
"Unless it has to do with that laser or the roboticizer, I don't wanna hear it." Eddy said.
"The roboticizer has a weakness!" Double D said.
"It what?" Eddy asked
"I'm not sure as to what it is but Robotnik was talking about it!" Double D said.
"There you guys are!"
They turned to see Shelby and Ed come running.
"Any luck?" Eddy asked.
"No." Ed said.
"Nothin'." Shelby said.
"Well, I did see Robotnik in his throne room, but I didn't see the laser gun." Double D said.
"Okay guys, just to make sure I'm not going totally nuts, did any of you hear a lullaby?" Eddy asked.
"You're not the only one who heard it, Eddy. I did as well." Double D said.
"As did I." Ed proclaimed.
"Oh, that was me." Shelby admitted. "I needed a way to get Shadow to sleep so we wouldn't get caught."
"But how did we all hear it?' Double D asked.
"Queen Aleena taught it to me. She sang it to her children before she had to give them up she actually sang it to them as she gave them up. I should have known it would have magical qualities."
"Indeed."
"That's not the only strange thing that's been going on around here." Eddy said. "I ran into this laser wall, not literally, and when I opened up the controls, I recognized everything."
"You, being good with machinery? Oh that'll be the day!" Double D laughed.
"No, I'm serious. My brother showed me how to take it apart, and it worked!" Eddy said.
"Your brother knew how to get past a laser wall?" Double D asked.
"Yeah, he told me I might need to know how to do that someday."
"Interesting." Double D said.
"Can we worry about that later?" Shelby asked. "We're here to save the royal hedgehogs, not discuss technology!"
"She is right!" Ed agreed. "We must hurry before Sonic, Sonia, Manic, and Shadow are stuck this way forever!"
Double D and Eddy looked at Ed. Had he just been the voice of reason?
"Who are you?" Eddy demanded.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The Eds looked at Shelby, who looked at her wrist.
"This Shelby, go ahead." She said.
"Shelby? You read me?" It was Tails' voice.
"Clear as crystal."
"We found the ray gun, it's on the ship that Robotnik is boarding now. If you hurry, you'll be able to catch him!"
"Right, thanks!"
"Hurry, we're running out of time!"
"Right, over and out." Shelby turned off the communicator and turned to the eds. "Let's hurry, I know where the Hanger is, follow me."
The Eds followed the blue hedgehog that seemed to know the base better then back of her hand. Until,
"Stop!"
"What we stop for?' Eddy asked.
"Roboticized citizens coming at two o'clock." She said.
Double D became invisible, Eddy fell up high, and Ed and Shelby pinned their backs to the wall. After a few seconds, a group of what looked like robots walked right past them.
"How ironic fate can be." Shelby said, watching the robots go.
"How so?" Double D asked.
"Those three were the guardians of the Sonic Underground before they were robotiziced."
"Really?" Eddy asked. "Who are they?"
"Well, let's start with the big one." She said. "That's Ferral, leader of a group of thieves, and Manic's foster father. The one that looks like she's wearing a dress is Lady Windemere, Sonia's foster mother. And the small light blue one is Sir Charles Hedgehog, or as Sonic called him: Uncle Chuck."
"So, that's roboticization." Double D said in awe.
"Yeah, you never know how bad it is until you've actually seen a victim."
The Eds continued to watch as the three continued on their way and disappeared around a corner. It was worse then they ever thought.
"C'mon, we're wasting time!" Double D said, walking off.
"Yeah, the more time we waste, the better chance of more roboticized victims." Eddy agreed.
"MOBIUS IS NOT YOUR SALAD BAR!" Ed roared.
"Alright, so these guys are coming to life. We may win this war yet." Shelby smirked and followed them.
Else where…
"Prepare for take off!" Robotnik roared.
He was going to look for more victims to roboticize and maybe test out to the ray gun some more. However, his roar was a bit loud, a little too loud, allowing our heroes to find him easily.
"We have to get onto that ship." Double D said.
"There's no time to get inside, so we'll have to get in while it's in the air." Eddy said.
"How do we do that?" Ed asked.
"I've got just the answer for that." Shelby said, reaching into her backpack. "Take a look at these."
In her hands were strange looking orbs.
"Explosives. My friend Shurie made these for me. They'll go off if I want them to, so Shadow was safe." She explained.
"Very well put." Double D said.
"And then I've got these." She now pulled out four pairs of gloves. "The "Just-Sticky-Enough" Gloves. We'll be able to hang onto the ship even when it's moving. Put them on over the gloves you're already wearing, and hurry."
The Eds did as they were told, and put the gloves on as fast as they could.
"Now c'mon!" Shelby said, running up to the ship with Eds close behind her. They placed their hands on the ship and hoped they wouldn't fall.
"Are you sure these gloves are sticky enough?" Eddy asked.
"Trust me, if Shurie says they're sticky enough, they're sticky enough." Shelby said.
They were about to see if she was right because they were taking off! The Eds screamed in fear but after a while, they calmed down, they weren't falling.
"Whoa, these things really work!" Eddy said. "Remind me to use that sticky stuff on them the next time I wanna kiss Nazz! Or Sonia, whoever comes first."
"Eddy, focus." Double D said.
"Yeah, c'mon." Shelby said, starting to climb the ship.
The Eds were a bit reluctant to move from where they were, but followed all the same. When they were on the very top of the ship, Shelby pulled out the explosive. She carefully placed it in front of her.
"Shield your eyes." She warned.
The Eds did as they were told and the small explosive went off. When they looked, there was a small hole, just big enough for all of them to fit in.
"Let's hurry." Double D said, climbing in.
Eddy flew in and Ed and Shelby jumped in. Standing in front of them was Robotnik, and about ten SWATbots.
"Well, well, well, now. What have we got here?" Robotnik asked.
"We're here for the ray gun you used to turn the Sonic Underground into babies!" Double D said.
"Oh really now." Robotnik said.
"Yeah, now hand it over you bucket of bolts!" Eddy said.
"GUARDS!" Robotnik yelled.
The SWATbots got around them, ready to attack.
"Oh well, it's your funeral." Eddy said.
The four mobians quickly tore the robots to pieces, without even breaking a sweat.
"Man, that was just too easy!" Eddy said.
"Agreed." Double D said.
"The ray gun, Robotnik." Shelby growled.
"Oh, I'm not done yet. KANKERS!"
The door behind them opened, revealing,
"KANKERS!" The Eds cried.
"Look, it's our husbands!" Lee said.
"And it looks like they've already got the babies for us." Marie said.
"How sweet." May added.
"We don't have time for this!" Eddy yelled.
"Looking for this?" Lee asked, holding out,
"The ray gun!" The Eds said.
"How 'bout a trade?" Marie suggested. "The ray gun, for good boyfriend presents."
"Or maybe you'd like to skip the presents and go straight to the smooching." Lee said.
"How about a third option." Shelby said.
"What?" The Kankers asked.
"You heard me. A third option."
"What you have in mind?" Lee asked.
"A fight. Eds VS Kankers, winner-take all. In this case, the ray gun." She said.
"Sounds good to me." Lee said. "Considering we kicked their butts last time."
"Yes, but this time, we're better." Eddy bragged.
"How so?" Marie asked.
Eddy flew up into the air, Double D became invisible, and smoke started spilling out Ed's nostrils.
"We've been training." Eddy said.
"We've been training too." Marie said.
"Looks like we've got a fight." Ed said.
Double D looked over his shoulder to see,
"Robotnik's getting away!"
But it was too late Rbotnik was already in the escape pod and was gone.
"I've got the controls, you guys take care of the Kankers!" Shelby said.
"Got it!" The Eds said.
"And let's get ready to RUMBLE!" Lee said, and both sides charged.
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Now with the fate of the ray gun and the four hedgehogs on the line, will the Eds be able to beat the Kankers while Shelby's at the controls? Keep reading to find out. R&R please.