E-91, Kunoichi, entered Eggman's floating fortress and quickly found her rotund master. "Dr. Eggman, I've returned." She paused and glanced to the side a bit; she could see a fine blue-metallic figure as the doctor finished working on him.
"Ahh...Kunoichi! Just in time." Eggman thought he detected a perplexed look in the red slit that passed for optics on her head. "Eh? This is Mecha Sonic 3.0; my duplicate Nega created him."
"I see," E-91 replied. "I was not expecting to see you working on another robot. At any rate, I have brought the objective back." She held out her arms, holding the spiny baby away from her.
"Interesting…." Mecha 3's voice was steady but held mild fascination.
"What's interesting, Mecha?" Eggman sounded a bit irritable. He rather resented Nega and being forced to fix his machination. "Set her on the table, I need to verify something."
Kunoichi complied, setting her down on a nearby table with a swathe of interesting tools surrounding it. As soon as she'd set Maria down, the hedgehog tried to get up and walk away. She sighed and put the baby back in the center of the table, several times.
"I believe this is a new low for you...kidnapping a baby. My my..." Mecha's tone seamed to tease.
"Hmph," Eggman replied and turned to the hedge-brat. "Can't you keep her still, E-91?"
"I am trying but she is...wiggly," Kunoichi answered. As soon as she restrained the baby by means of pinning her down, the child began to cry. Even though she was a robot, there was something unsettling about it.
"I am curious, Doctor..." 3.0 continued. "Why her?"
Eggman grew increasingly sour at being questioned so much. "Why? She was one of the candidates Nega suggested for the role of 'Element,' was she not?"
"Well, yes," Mecha Sonic 3 replied, also gathering around the baby. Eggman was waving some tools over her, most likely examining her physical status. "Why not any of the others? What made you choose this one?"
"Ohh ho ho...that is a good question." Eggman's tone was a bit dark; coupled with the exceedingly wide grin, it was a disturbing moment. Decoe and Bocoe had been in the same room, wondering at Eggman's tolerance of Mecha's questioning. If either of them had dared question him, threats of becoming a toaster would most likely have followed. "I suppose there's a number of reasons." He brandished a needle and drew a blood sample from the crying child. He frowned a bit at her continued wailing. He'd bribe her with a lollipop or something later.
Metal seemed to take morbid pleasure in the scene before him. "Enlighten me. Why not Sonic? Why not Shadow? Why not Amy? Or Blitz? Or this baby's mother...Sara?"
"Ahh..." Eggman sighed. He thought about it for a minute before replying. "Why not? Heh...with Sonic and Amy mates? Both of them are perfectly healthy, but only apart while at work... That being during daylight hours, I'd rather not cause a scene...and their baby is, in that case, well guarded, automatically eliminating Blitz from the mold. I do believe Amy has the potential to be an Element; she's already displayed some supernatural powers...but she's too close to that infernal hedgehog."
"So that leaves Shadow, Sara, and Maria," Metal 3 urged him to continue.
"Shadow...well...anyone who's checked out YouTube recently knows he was shot... Despite being part alien, he's still recovering from the wound. The target must be healthy. OUCH!" He pulled his hand back from the infant, a couple of quills embedded in his fingertips. "Hnn... As for Sara, my records and research on her have revealed very little. She's an accomplished video game junkie who, aside being able to read maps extraordinarily well, has nothing extraordinary about her. She's just a hedgehog, a completely ordinary female hedgehog."
"...She handled an Extreme Gear Bike very well," Kunoichi spoke up, earning a certain shocked look from Eggman. "But I would say you're right, she is unremarkable."
"Hnn...of course I am." Eggman shrugged. He sighed at the struggling baby. "Hold her 'til she stops fussing!"
"So that leaves the baby. Was there any other motivation?" Mecha 3 queried. He noticed E-91 having a slight hesitance while holding the baby. Was it attached to it? He could tell Eggman had selected from his most intelligent robots, analyzing data on her while he observed the pair.
"Ahh...well that goes back to Shadow, then…. Him being injured, and his mate being so normal meant the kid would be the most vulnerable. Easiest target...but more than that. I assume that the trace of alien in her and Shadow's innate powers have been passed onto her in one way or another. Moreover, since she is so young, she has exactly the vitality needed for this." He placed the samples in various tubes and let the computer run its analysis.
"I see." Mecha did his own analysis of the biological life form. "Her brain activity is rather impressive for her age."
"Ehhh?" Eggman was watching similar conclusions fly at the screen before him. "...Yes...but why do you care? I thought you were just here to retrieve an emerald."
"Of course. I'm sorry, Doctor, I won't be wasting any more of your precious time. After all, time is running out…." The robot started to head out, passing close to Kunoichi, who darted backwards, cradling the baby to her in a defensive way. Interesting... "Thank you for the repairs."
Sonic spent the entire night out searching for any signs of Kunoichi or the baby while Amy organized a search, coordinated with Chance Velocity (Sam's current name) and his unit. Suspecting Eggman was on Mobius, the police had naturally set up a blockade at the monorail, but it was no help. Kunoichi had been subtle and quick and managed to slip through the gate without their knowledge.
It was a rather strained night for all of them, but especially Sara and Shadow. Shadow had wound up back at the MRC again, though not nearly as damaged as one would have thought. Like small Earth animals, some of the harshest falls barely hurt Mobians, while a human would have had numerous broken bones or worse. The impact of the ball was not a direct hit either. Though his chest and arms hurt from the impact, it was mostly muscle tissue which had absorbed the blow... It was actually his back that was bothering him more than anything, where his quills had been standing straight out. A few of them had even bent or were broken by the impact on the building.
Sara blamed herself for the whole thing, starting with leaving Maria alone, to following on Shadow's ruined bike, to being used as bait. Dr. Quack had Shadow released immediately, despite Dr. Garrett's urgings to the contrary. The duck had explained that the wounds were secondary to finding Maria, and he was quite sure he wouldn't be sticking around for treatment even if he needed it. This had nothing to do with instinct; rather, it was just Shadow's personality. The doctor had also counted on Sara's being more in need of comfort than he was bandages; he was right.
The group had moved to the Thorndyke manor to have a central location to work from, but it was more than that. The events were a bit too fresh in their minds, and Amy had already had a hard time getting Sara to cooperate. They'd stopped by the apartment for cell phones and other essential items, and Sara had come out of the room with Maria's favorite Care Bear doll in tow. As a mother herself, she could only imagine what Sara was going through with Maria being kidnapped.
"Shadow...you need to say something to her," Amy urged him. Shadow'd been seated on a comfy couch while Sara paced back and forth nervously a few feet away.
"...What do I say? I already told her we'd get her back." One of Shadow's ears twitched lightly as though he were being bitten by a pack of fleas. He kept his expression even, displaying neither rage nor sorrow. His deep crimson eyes watched Sara, knowing he should comfort her, but feeling unable to do so.
"Rrr...I don't know...hug her or something!" Her ears folded back against her head as Shadow's eyes targeted her. It was hard to say what he was thinking, but the look he sent her gave her chills.
Eventually the gaze was broken and Shadow got up off the sofa. He stopped himself just in front of his mate, his expression softening a bit at her. Eggman would have to pay a heavy toll for disturbing his family, even moreso if one quill was out of place when he got Maria back. Her eyes expressed her deep concerns, and he noted she couldn't maintain eye contact as she tried to fight against tears. The dark hedgehog stretched out an arm and tilted his head to the side.
Sara took up his silent invitation, burying her face in his offered shoulder and letting his arms fold around her. He rarely had need of such an offer to her, let alone in front of the others like Chris and her father, but circumstances what they were, he'd let down his guard for her. She was grateful. She couldn't speak, but let the tears she'd been holding back pour down on his fur until it was matted up.
Chris looked like he was about to say something but thought better of it. He knew he was witnessing something rare, along with the others. Shadow was known for anything but being affectionate, and though he wasn't showering her with pretty promises and I love yous, he may as well have for the increasingly relieved look on Sara's face as her tears faded away. They really do love each other... A thought that crossed his mind and the others present.
Ella made pancakes the following morning. She'd remained outwardly optimistic and spoke about Sara needing her strength for when the little one got back. "Ahh...growing girl like that, you must be proud."
Sara smiled a little bit. "..Thanks, Ella."
"I'm sure you'll get her back, just look who's supporting you," she said firmly. Though she had motioned to everyone in the room, it was the crimson eyes that had watched her so many times that caught Sara's attention.
"As long as the red emerald is here, Mecha Sonic 3.0 will be too, so I have to go back," Blaze said between bites of her pancake.
"I've already started on a gate generator, it'll be done some time this afternoon," Charles hedgehog spoke up over breakfast. "...But I don't want you going alone."
"I'll go," Sonic spoke up in a heartbeat. "I already owe him a rematch." Sonic grinned widely.
"I'll go too," Amy offered.
"Wha? You guys..." Blaze was a bit embarrassed. "How can you be helping me like this? We've just barely met!"
Sonic shrugged. "Just accept it," Chris suggested cheerfully. "Sonic's never let us down before...besides, there's a lot on the line."
Blaze nodded. "I can lead you to where Nega's hideout is...I just wish this ankle of mine were better..." The lavender feline frowned a bit.
"All the more reason for Amy to go, she can help support you," the hedgehog Charles affirmed again.
"Stopping Eggman Nega isn't enough, though," the wrinkly human scientist put in. "We need to stop the original Eggman as well."
"He's mine," Shadow responded as concern mounted in Sara's eyes.
"...Why can't I go?" she said quietly. Of course Charles made his objections as a father.
"You're not a fighter..." Shadow started. He saw her lip quiver a bit and knew she was on the verge of tears. She only wanted to help, but... He stopped himself from being brutally honest with her inadequacies and the risks involved. "It's my job...I need to do this."
"All intel we have here says that Eggman isn't on Earth," Slick Lightning (Sam yet again) put in, after taking a drink from his coffee cup. The man didn't need any more caffeine. "We're contacting the Mobian authorities, though he's laying low. Word had it he was massing an army..."
"Of course." Shadow shrugged as though this was a common thing. For the mad scientist, it was.
"How do you plan on finding him there?" the human Charles spoke up this time.
"The red emerald. The one that belongs here. We know Eggman has some of the emeralds...he needs all seven." Shadow's tone had become relaxed somehow. He'd been in a lot of fights, a lot of battles; this was just another fight to him. That may have been for the best because his eased tone seemed to soothe the frayed nerves of his partner.
Chuck Thorndyke nodded. "Now, I can make an emerald radar..."
"No, Eggman will have some way of interrupting the signal...besides, I think this time we'll let him do the collecting for us." He looked thoughtful. "Still…it might be best if I paid a visit to Angel Island."
"Knuckles, huh?" Sonic asked casually.
"Yeah. If Knuckles can't lead me to Eggman, then he'll be coming to me."
"I can arrange for Tails to meet you on the other side of the gate," the light blue hedgehog Chuck offered, to Shadow's nod.
"I'm not going up against him alone," Shadow said calmly, "though I do have a score to settle." A slight grin resembling Sonic's appeared on his face. If he was trying to be cool for Sara's sake, it had worked.
"...Baka... Just come back to me safely, okay?" Sara offered a little smile.
"So! We got a game plan, what are we waiting for?" Sonic beamed.
"Impatient as ever!" Amy said in a partly frustrated tone. She gave him a slight smack with her spoon. Laughter cut through the assembled, something much appreciated after the previous night's events.
"Maria's all right," Shadow said quietly so only Sara could really hear him over the noise. "I'll make sure she stays that way."