Author's Note: Hello all you lucky people you. I'm back! Now as some of you may have noticed, I've recently taken on the writing responsibilities for another story, "Mutant Body, Mobian Heart" by Mysterious Traveller while he deals with cleaning up his past chapters. He basically feeds me the chapter summaries and I just put them to words. It's a good story, you should read it when you get the time. ::Suddenly gets trampled by a mob of people rushing away.:: I meant after reading this chapter of MY story you nuts. AH! ::Gets trampled again as same group of fans return::
Now that that's out of the way, I will say this is not going to effect the updates for Reversion, so you don't have to worry about this story getting neglected again. In any event, this is the chapter many of you have been waiting for since I started this little project. Yes, we're drawing to the stories climax. But I've had such a great time writing this particular piece that I've decided to make a sequel to Reversion once this wraps up in a few chapters. Well that's all from me, enjoy.
Present
Five hours later found Sonic standing on the deck of one of G.U.N.'s naval aircraft carriers, a floating fortress on the water known as the Fremen. Once Eggman's involvement had been determined, Sonic had been contacted on the Tornado's communications equipment by no less than Commander Sheridan, the very head of G.U.N. Command himself. Though not one to be impressed by rank and titles, it did give the hedgehog's ego a nice boost to know that the Guardian Units of the Nations still considered him their go to hero for potential world disasters.
Apparently the news that Eggman robots had attacked the Floating Island had worried the President and other world leaders a great deal. If the evil doctor was, despite the precautions being taken by the nations of the world, still operating outside of Eggtopia with impunity, no one was safe. There were murmurs in the U.N., talks about a pre-emptive strike against Robotnik's stronghold, despite the fact that he'd had nearly two years now to strengthen his defenses, defenses that had proven more than capable of repelling G.U.N.'s forces when they'd tried to invade before.
Sheridan wanted Sonic to make sure the situation had not devolved to that point yet. Aside from some minor smuggling incidents, there had not been a peep out of Eggman in all this time; he hadn't even attempted to evade the surveillance satellites that had been keeping an eye on him. And so orders were being processed and connections were being made to get Sonic to Eggtopia.
Hence Sonic's presence now at sea.
'Eggtopia,' the hedgehog thought as he gazed out over the edge of the boat at the distant island and its much smaller companion islands. 'Chaos, has it really only been a year and a half?' Even from this distance Sonic could make out the gleaming city that dominated the islands, linking them together into a unified location. A year and a half ago, Dr. Robotnik had relocated to this place, much to G.U.N.'s distress. The locals were known to be very low tech, a few fishing villages with huts of wood and grass and armaments of stone. They would have been no match for Eggman on their best day. G.U.N. had gone in on a mission of liberation and met heavy resistance that had kept them from even landing a sizeable party on the beaches. They'd called for Sonic then too and, visions of terrified islanders being used to feed his nefarious rival's mechanical empire, the hedgehog had agreed to go in.
What he'd found had been a welcoming paradise.
Robotnik himself had appeared to meet Sonic in his trademark Egg-O-Matic, declaring he'd been expecting and even hoping for the hedgehog's arrival. The human had explained that he had not come to these unnamed islands, now named Eggtopia, on a mission of conquest, but on one of peaceful retirement. Sonic had been taken into the island's interior where he'd gotten to meet those he had come to save. Eggman had not harmed a single hair on their heads; in fact he was working to help them improve their lives, offering up his matchless technology in exchange for residence upon their homeland. Indeed the people saw him as something of a benefactor and, though they were not so cut off as to not know who he was, they reported he had not done anything untoward. The only military grade machines present were the ones currently involved in repelling G.U.N.'s incursion. Other robots, ones the doctor went out of his way to prove were powered by conventional methods rather than shanghaied animals, were busy gathering fish, building new structures, and performing basic maintenance. In other words, doing nothing wrong.
"I'm getting old, Sonic, and am not as spry as I once was. I can't build with the same sort of feverish enthusiasm I once had, and my aim is becoming sloppier and sloppier. And since I'm certainly not willing to spend my golden years in a prison, I felt a quiet retirement would be a much more acceptable compromise for everyone concerned." That had been the speech Robotnik had used to explain his recent actions. Indeed all that had been missing had been a cracked golden watch presented for a lifetime of evil deeds.
In his heart Sonic had known there was something wrong about just letting the villainous scientist quit the battlefield of his own accord. The man was a megalomaniac with no more regard for other people than a normal person would have for a microbe scrubbed from their skin. Sonic would certainly have been justified in telling the human to stuff his cushy little retirement scheme and dragging him back to the beach to be captured. But then what?
Robotnik certainly was no stranger to escaping federal custody. Even if what he said about wanting to retire was true, how long would it have been before the doctor simply busted himself out? And then they'd have had to start this whole dance all over again, with the criminal scientist setting up a new base of operations elsewhere and someone, namely Sonic, having to go in and ferret him out yet again. But if all the Eggman wanted to do was remain here, there was no denying just letting him would have been a great load off of Sonic's mind.
And then there had been the islanders to consider. Sonic would have had no compunctions about kicking his ovoid nemesis off his self-made throne, retirement or no, had he been abusing the natives. But they'd accepted him, actually voicing concern that the doctor was going to be taken away and openly decrying such an act. There hadn't seemed to be anything compelling the islanders' opinions other than genuine concern. Faced with such feelings, Sonic had had no choice but to return to his extraction point empty handed. He'd told G.U.N. everything he'd learned and given his recommendation, stating that uprooting Dr. Robotnik was simply more trouble than it was worth, especially if he wasn't being antagonistic.
Needless to say, there'd been a fantastic uproar at that idea.
Governments from all over the world, Station Square included, had yelled and screamed about such a course of action. There had been theories, accusations and all sorts of speculation about what was going on in Eggtopia. Military units were put on high alert for weeks, waiting for the next Eggman plan to unfold and wreak havoc on the world. There had even been stories accusing Sonic of having finally been bought off by the nefarious scientist. But in the end all of it had been blustering, because no one, not even Empire City, wanted to be the first to set a hostile foot on that island. There had been talk of simply cutting loses and letting fly with a tactical nuclear strike, but thankfully such talk had been ignored. In the end, it had been decided that Eggtopia would be placed under international quarantine, enforced by a blockade of ships made up of an international fleet. Space based weaponry would be used to keep anything from launching from the island, and all travel there would be put under restriction.
Officially, Eggtopia was completely off limits. No one was supposed to go there, and even violating its waters was considered grounds for imprisonment in most countries. So of course there was a thriving black market trade going on with Eggman's little republic. The Doctor was a premiere scientist, a man at the head of any field he chose, so it stood to reason that a great deal of money could be made by acquiring his technology, or having him deal with your problems. That such actions were high treason didn't seem to overly bother some, at least not as long as Eggman was no longer a world class threat.
'Especially if he isn't a world class threat apparently,' Sonic thought as he watched a next generation G.U.N. beetle-bot as it zoomed around the ship's deck, expert eye having no trouble identifying how the Guardian Units had managed to advance their robots so quickly.
But now, with the attack on the Floating Island, Sonic was left to wonder if he had been wrong in endorsing the Doctor's retirement. Though ribbing on Knuckles's supposed gullibility was always good for a laugh, there was no denying Eggman was a devious person quite capable of playing mind games with anyone. Sonic could not deny the fact that he only evaded deception by the ovoid human because he'd taken everything Eggman said to be a lie unless proven otherwise. But if Robotnik had finally succeeded in tricking his azure nemesis, succeeded in buying himself a full year and change to build up a new wave of terror…
"Sonic!" came a cry as the blue hedgehog suddenly found himself with company of the two-tailed and furry kind. "Captain Archer says the ship is getting close to Eggtopia's water boundaries. You're supposed to come to the pilot's house so they can figure out what to do from there."
"Thanks kid," Sonic said, rubbing Tails's head. Then he halted. Something was wrong with Tails, the hedgehog could tell. And it took only noticing the wistful glance the fox was casting at the approaching islands to figure out what was on the cub's mind.
"Sonic, I wanna go with you," he finally said. Sonic huffed. They'd already had this conversation, but darned if Tails wasn't going to reopen it.
"I told you, kid, you're staying here with Amy," he restated. "It could get really messy over there, and I'm not comfortable with you being at ground zero if it gets dangerous. Heck if there had been time I'da dropped you an' her off at Amy's apartment and gone on alone."
"But that's why you need me," the fox pleaded. "If Eggman really is on the move again, this could all be a trap. You need me there to help you fight his machines and stuff, just like in the old days." Sonic cringed at the concern in his ward's voice, and he couldn't help but feel six years younger again. Dollars to donuts Tails couldn't actually remember that far back and what had actually happened, but Sonic would have been hard-pressed not to tell his furry sidekick about their past adventures. That some enterprising electronics company had produced a series of games based off of their adventures (each one just a little more liberal with the events than the last) that Tails loved playing probably also helped to embolden his desire to go.
A part of Sonic wanted Tails to come with him, just like old times.
The hedgehog shook his head violently, banishing that part of his mind away. An eight-year old had no business on a potential battlefield, particularly a sick one. Even if Tails could still match IQs with the Doctor, now was not the time to let sentiment get in the way of his responsibility.
"Sorry kid, the answer's still no," Sonic said as Tails "humph"-ed angrily, his ears folding against his head. Still his present mood was not enough to keep him from tagging along with Sonic to meet Captain Archer. The anthropomorphic duck stood in the ship's control room, a pair of binoculars in his hands as he stared out at Sonic's ultimate destination.
"I don't mind telling you how uneasy I am about this," the Mobian G.U.N. officer said. "There hasn't been a peep from this island in over a year and now…"
"Well it's not exactly like we know there's been a violation of the quarantine," Sonic pointed out, even as he watched another upgraded Beetle fly past the window. "All we know is that someone used robots that used to belong to Eggman, and I'm sure there's any number of ways for THAT to happen." Archer cast Sonic an arched eyebrow. No doubt the avian felt it in bad taste for Sonic to question G.U.N.'s policies when he was the one who had opened the door for them.
"Be that as it may, we have been monitoring the Doctor with spy satellites."
"And?"
"And nothing. He's done nothing that would be out of the ordinary for a simple retiree. We have some great photos of him enjoying himself at a local fair, but nothing that would indicate that he's getting ready to launch a campaign of terror against the world."
"Like I said, we don't know he's doing anything yet. That's why I'm heading there," Sonic pointed out, adding the world "alone" for his furry sidekick's benefit. "But that does bring me to my next question. How am I getting there?"
"I'll not bring a military vessel close enough to a potentially hostile land to be perceived as a threat. If this does go all pear-shaped, I will not have it be said I or my crew were the cause of hostilities," Archer explained. "I intend to have a helicopter ferry you and your cargo to the beach. I imagine Robotnik will have some way to take you further into the island's interior from there."
"Least you can do," Sonic replied snidely, though he understood the Captain's caution. Devious and Robotnik were practically synonyms, and Chaos knew Sonic would be wary of letting the scientist get to be alone with G.U.N.'s toys, retired or not. Recognizing a dismissal when they heard one, Tails and Sonic left for the helipad.
A fairly big wooden box was being loaded onto a small helicopter by two burly seamen, warning markings all over its sides. Amy soon appeared as well. After sampling the ship's cuisine at lunch, the pink hedgehog had apparently gone off in search of the ship's cook to discuss the obvious misconception the man had about the term "edible." Sonic hoped the Galley Master had not been too put off by impromptu visit. Though he had been similarly unimpressed with the food, he was also not about to scoff at a meal created on limited means. It wasn't as though the ship could park itself in front of the nearest grocery store for fresh ingredients.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked her blue beau. Amy too had wanted to accompany Sonic to Eggtopia proper, not trusting Eggman anymore than anyone else did, but Sonic had denied the request. While fairly certain Amy could handle herself against anything other than a seriously determined attack, if she went Tails would be left alone, and Sonic had vowed the cub would never be alone again. And, if worse came to worse and Sonic found himself stranded on Eggtopia for the next few weeks cleaning up his own error in judgment, it was comforting to know the two people he cared most about would be out of the danger zone.
'Wow, when did that happen?' Sonic mused. 'When did I start to consider Amy to be so important?' Pushing those thoughts aside for now, Sonic gave Amy a hug and ruffled Tails's head-fur, the only way he had of comforting the both of them as he exited their lives for now. Then he climbed into the helicopter as the two closest people he had to family ran clear of the whirling blades. The signal was given and the whirly-bird began to rise into the air quickly, the ship below becoming smaller as it did so. Sonic cast a look out the open door, and noted his foxy friend had used his own method of propeller flight to follow the military craft for a bit, expert muscles automatically compensating for the air turbulence created by the machine. For a moment the hedgehog feared Tails intended to be disobedient and simply follow along to Eggtopia himself, but the fox had stopped about fifty or so feet in the air, his eyes watching his "big brother" being carried away. Sonic could still make out the look of concern on the vulpine's face, and it worried him.
Though now a cub, Miles Prower had had the finely honed senses of an ace fighter pilot and the instincts of a very successful business man. Even taken down to the age of eight, it took a lot more to rattle him than any normal boy his age. For a brief moment Sonic considered scrubbing the mission until G.U.N. had a chance to collect more information on what was going on in Eggtopia, just in case. Hedgehog pride surged forward to countermand this idea. He had never shied away from Dr. Robotnik before, and he wasn't about to this time either.
Past (12.25 years ago)
Sonic was bored. Dreadfully bored.
As he hung upside down on the couch watching television, all he could think about was how bored he was. And the oh-so fun fact that this was only Saturday and he had a whole other day of the same nothing to do tomorrow.
'Dumb Mighty would have to go and get himself grounded this weekend,' the hedgehog fumed. This was actually something of a lie as it had been RAY, unable to stand up to adult interrogation, who had gotten Mighty grounded. And himself as well. It was no wonder the armadillo wanted to duct-tape the squirrel's mouth shut sometimes.
Briefly Sonic considered swallowing his pride and going downstairs to Carl's apartment, but quickly dispelled that thought. Hedgehog and monkey had had a fight earlier that week and both were still pretty steamed at each other. That the reason for the fight had been stupid and Sonic really didn't care what it had been about anymore took second place to the fact that Sonic would be darned if he were the first to admit defeat and apologize.
And that attitude of course left him with no friends to pal around with.
As the show he was watching ended, some old series featuring a barbarian hero with a magic sword fighting an evil sorcerer, Sonic thought about plugging in his game console and seeing about some interactive mindless mayhem. Again this thought was discarded. He'd beaten all his videogame's single player modes and besides, they were more fun with others around to scream, yell advice, or laugh at the ludicrous ways the character onscreen might die. But no, at best the console would only alleviate his boredom for a few minutes.
Sonic hated days like this, when there was just nothing to do. He didn't mind relaxing and doing nothing, but forced idleness was just annoying. Mr. Cervid had suggested becoming involved in an after school sport, an idea Miles had seconded, even as his son had declined. It wasn't as though Sonic disliked sports. He loved them just as he loved any opportunity to show off. But really, how long would such an activity remain fun. In football, who could touch him once he got the ball? And soccer was the same problem. In track and field he'd be relegated almost exclusively to the former if only because of the coach's desire to win, and the last thing Sonic wanted was for running to lose its attraction. Wrestling was out unless Sonic consented to cut his quills down, an absolute deal breaker in the somewhat vain youth's book. And of course, the less said about swimming, the better (though Sonic had had to admit he didn't mind watching the girls in the water). Thus the current predicament.
Getting just a little fed up, Sonic almost considered marching into his father's office and demanding a solution to his problem, but only got as far as turning around on the couch. Miles was no fool and it would probably take him only a few questions to deduce Sonic had not yet done his homework assignments for the weekend, tasks the hedgehog was determined to put off for a long as Mobianly possible.
And besides, the fox had been so moody and depressed for the last few months, it almost wasn't worth it to bait him these days. From what Sonic could gather, the company called MeteoTech was not letting up on its demands that Miles do what they wanted. Personally Sonic didn't understand why his Dad didn't just beat the snot out of this Dr. Robotnik or whoever it was.
Then there was the fact that Sonic's grandfather was apparently not doing so well. The elder fox was sliding a little too far down a slippery slope after his wife's death, and not taking as good care of himself as he needed to. The hedgehog had even caught Miles arguing with the old vulpine over the phone when he'd come home from school, Not the normal arguing, but the actual yelling and yipping that sometimes slipped into foxes' speech patterns, a throwback to their wilder days.
Finally deciding to do something, Sonic got up and headed into the kitchen for a snack, grabbing hold of the most complicated thing he was allowed to make on his own; popcorn. Very soon the whole kitchen smelled of hot butter, oil, and salt, and Sonic pulled the hot bag from machine, tearing its top open and sneezing as the hot steam hit him in the face. Snack in hand, Sonic walked back over to the couch.
It was as he passed the hallway that lead to the apartment's study that a sudden anguished growl came to the hedgehog's ears. Emerald eyes cast a worried glance down the corridor, wondering which of the myriad of things going on was currently tormenting their adoptive father. Setting down his bag of popcorn, Sonic began to quietly tip-toe towards the study's door. Though he was technically not allowed past the room's threshold, the unofficial addendum to that policy was "without Miles being in the room as well." Foxy father encouraged hedgehog curiosity and was readily willing to make available his more interesting resources, merely wishing to be present lest his son come across something he shouldn't.
That the door was closed however, tended to mean that Miles wished to be left alone.
Taking the leisure of his next few Saturdays in hand, Sonic turned the knob of the door and gently pushed it open. He did not make to conceal himself, he wasn't trying to eavesdrop after all, but there was no need to sound any alarms if they could be avoided. Inside Miles Prower leaned over his desk, arms propping up head as face rested in hands. The treasured aviator's goggles, so much a part of the CEO's normal attire, hung from the back of the chair, making it all the easier for furry fingers to massage throbbing temples.
At the slight sound of a squeak from an oil starved hinge, Sonic sound found himself looking at azure eyes tinged in a bit of red from irritation. There was a frown on his father's muzzle, but that quickly faded as he took note of the hedgehog. It was not at all uncommon for Miles to become so distracted while working that he lost track of small details such as what day of the week it was. Likely as not he'd thought Sonic was in school today, forgetting he'd seen his son on the couch not but three hours ago.
"What's up, kiddo?" Miles asked, his voice not quite as warm as usual due to some of the stress he was under.
"Well, I heard you growl and I wanted to make sure you were all right," Sonic answered truthfully. Not forbidden to do otherwise, the hedgehog strolled into the room. From his position he could see the computer on his father's desk was on, the absence of the familiar flying toaster screen saver indicating it had been in use up until recently. The boy recognized what looked like blueprints sitting on the screen, though at his current level they were far too complex for him to understand. Miles was smiling as Sonic approached.
"Sorry about that. I guess I got a little carried away here." By this point Sonic was close enough that he could see up onto the desk, and that was when his eyes caught sight of a certain pamphlet under Miles's left arm.
"Pine City Nursing Home," he read and then looked questioningly at his father. He knew what a nursing home was, or at least had an idea, and there was little effort needed to guess what this was about. Miles looked down at the pamphlet and began to shove it under a pile of papers, his ears folded down in annoyance at his own sloppiness. Then his ears perked up. It wasn't really in his nature to hide things from people he was close to, and Sonic was too smart to be placated with some hastily made lie.\
"Yes, I hear they're a fine one, very good staff; hard-working, dependable, and as minimally invasive as possible," the fox explained. Sometimes Sonic wished his guardian wasn't quite so intelligent, then maybe he wouldn't choose words that were difficult to understand. He could guess what "minimally invasive" meant however, particularly when applied to his grandfather.
"He won't like it, not at all," Sonic pointed out, his face still displaying disapproval.
"Don't look at me like that," Miles responded, causing his son to look away. "This is a hard enough decision to make without you putting your two cents in before I've even decided to move forward."
"Sorry," the hedgehog intoned, and he certainly looked very contrite. The fox exhaled, half in frustration, half in exhaustion.
"I didn't mean to snap at you, this is just… not something I'm really that happy with contemplating. But Dad isn't really giving me many other options. He refuses to leave Emerald Hill, and I can't simply relocate there to watch after him. And I can't just let him stay there in that big house all by himself, not the way he's going."
"But isn't there some other thing you can do? I could go and help him." Miles had to smile at that. Sonic was a very helpful Mobian by nature, especially if it meant he could have some fun being helpful.
"Sorry Son, but I don't think a ten year old is exactly the best caretaker for an old man. But that is an idea. Dad would hate a nursing home, but I have to wonder how he'd feel about a live-in nurse or something like that?" Miles turned back towards his desk, taking hold of a voice recorder. "Memo to self; check into the possibility of a medical assistant for Dad." Sonic had to smile at that, proud he'd given his father a tangible idea. It was at that point that Miles wiped his brow. "I don't know about you, Blue, but I'm pretty tired of staring at the same four walls. Whaddaya say we go out and catch a movie or something?"
"Sounds cool to me. Something scary, with a lot of body parts being pulled off, and blood and gore and ACK ACK ACK ACK!" As he spoke, Sonic grabbed his own throat, pantomiming a murder victim rather hamily as he spun about on his heel and fell to the ground, twitching a bit where he lay with his tongue lolled out.
"Are you done?" Miles asked in sarcastic tone as he gazed down at the very odd hedgehog. Sonic's head lifted from floor at the question.
"Yeah, I'm done."
Nighttime had fallen over the city of Station Square, though the only noticeable difference for a city this size was the fact that now the illumination came from the street lamps and other electrical sources rather than the sun. Even Sonic's own bedroom, located at the top of the Sky Top tower, wasn't tall enough to avoid the encroaching night light. Not that the hedgehog really minded. Green Hill may not have been a completely rural setting, but it had still tended to shut down when the sun left the sky, blanketing the area in perpetual darkness and the sounds of crickets. Even two years after having arrived, Sonic had to admit he liked the idea of a place that buzzed with activity twenty-four seven, and honestly couldn't wait until he was old enough to get to be a part of it. Samantha had told him about some of the nightclubs that existed in the city, and quite frankly they very much intrigued the hedgehog. He very much wanted to visit one and see it for himself. Yes the nightlife was the life for Sonic, there was no doubt.
Even if it did have a tendency to invade his room when he was trying to get some shut eye.
Groggily Sonic pulled the covers off his body and walked over to the window, grabbed hold of the curtains and yanked them shut, blocking out the lights from the ground below. Turning back to head for bed, he noted the lights seeping in from under the bedroom door. That meant the hall lights were on. Why was a question he wasn't entirely sure of. For the second time in the same day Sonic quietly opened a door, poking his head out to see what was going on. Not only was the hall light on, odd in and of itself, but the living room light as well. Curious now, Sonic made his way into the living room, noticing that the light in the other hall was also on, as was the one in the study. Miles had gone to bed about an hour after his son, but apparently had not quite stayed in bed. That was worrisome. Even at the movies, Miles had retained the tenseness and frustrated appearance he'd had earlier that day. It had been all Sonic could do to keep the fox from rushing back into his study as soon as they'd returned home.
Not that that had apparently helped.
Shaking his head, Sonic turned to head back to bed, fully aware that he'd been dealing with a groggy and irritable parent when he next awoke. He was just about to close the door, when the soft sound of glass breaking suddenly caused his ears to perk up. Sonic had exceptional hearing, no doubt a necessary ability given how much he needed to be aware of his surroundings when he ran. Indeed, all of his senses were better than the average hedgehog, sometimes better than the average Mobian, so as to allow him to take into observations from the world around him quickly and efficiently. He didn't need such talents, however, to detect the next sound that came to his ears.
"Ack!" came the cry, in a voice Sonic knew all too well. Scared no, he raced towards the door of the study, opening. Just as he did so, the hedgehog saw Miles lying prone on the ground, his arms bent around his body as though he'd simply fallen down. He could also see what seemed to be a greenish mist that was quickly fading from view. All too quickly it was completely gone, so fast in fact that Sonic questioned whether or not it had even really existed.
Shaking his head, Sonic refocused his attention on the prone fox, jump running over to him.
"Dad. Dad!" he yelled shaking Miles's body. All this did was cause the vulpine to groan. He didn't even open his eyes. Sonic was feeling very scared now. Miles needed help, help that was beyond Sonic's ability to give. But maybe not get.
Casting a quick look at the prone adult, the hedgehog made his decision, streaking out of the room. The front door nearly flew from its hinges as Sonic crashed into it, knocking it open as he tore down the hall. Unwilling to wait on the elevator, the hedgehog decided to take the stairs, pausing only long enough to stare down the well. His coach at school had often said that Sonic had more talent for gymnastics than any Mobian he'd ever seen. Taking a breath, the hedgehog cub leapt up onto the guardrail and jumped, aiming for the next lower level of stairs. Grabbing hold of that stairway, Sonic rebounded off of it and did a back-flip to even more stairs. Three more times did he make his dangerous shortcut before pulling himself back up over the guardrail and quickly opening the door to that floor of apartments. Sonic's feet were a blue blur as he once more sped through the halls, wincing in pain as he felt the building friction in his naked feet.
"1912, 1914, 1916, 1918!" the hedgehog cried, finding the apartment he was looking for. Like rapid machine-gun fire, small fists began to bang on the door as he yelled. "Mrs. Axelby, Sam! Wake up! Wake up! I need your help please!" The desperate cries and constant knocking were soon truncated by the sound of a latch being unlocked. Soon the door opened to reveal a rather disoriented Mrs. Axelby dressed in a pink night-robe with fuzzy trim, her hair done up in rollers. The groggy look on her face said that she had just been rather rudely woken up.
"What's going on out here? Sonic? Dear boy it's past midnight, what in Heaven's name are you making so much racket for?" she asked, her voice just a little sharper than she would have liked thanks to her current state.
"Mrs. Axelby, it's Dad, I think he's hurt!" Sonic continued to wail. "I-I heard him fall down and then when I tried to wake him up, he-he wouldn't…"
"Grandma? Sonic?" the tired voice of Samantha asked as the girl appeared from her own room. "What-what's going on?" Mrs. Axelby turned back towards her granddaughter.
"Sonic says something is wrong with Mr. Prower, dear," the older woman explained, grabbing hold of her coat by the door. "I'm going to go up to see what's happening. Be a love and call an ambulance if you would, just in case." Waiting only long enough for the girl to acknowledge the command, the former actress closed her coat and followed Sonic out the door.
Present
"Well fooey to you too," Sonic said from where he stood on the beach, casting a churlish look at the retreating helicopter in the sky. Next to him was the large crate the helicopter had also been carrying, much too heavy for him to move on his own. Which meant all he could do now was wait. And Sonic hated waiting.
In retrospect, the island's titular king probably knew this; hence why it took so long before the tell-tale sounds of engines came to the hedgehog's ears. Sonic smiled a bit. If Eggman was willing to play games and tricks on him, then the scientist was in a good mood. That being the case, he either had nothing to do with the trouble that had happened on the Floating Island, or he was so confident he was untouchable here he was willing to bait his long-time enemy. And when Dr. Eggman got over-confident, he got sloppy.
Very soon the familiar shape of the Egg-O-Matic hovercraft appeared coming down the stone path that led from the beach to the island's interior, followed closely by what appeared to be a truck with a few bots riding on it. In the Egg-O-Matic's seat sat a familiar human, his face grinning as he approached Sonic.
Dr. Robotnik had been middle-aged when Sonic had first met him. In fact a part of the hedgehog wondered if the whole "take over the world" thing wasn't just some form of mid-life crisis for the doctor. That being said, it wasn't really a big surprise that the intervening years had seen him age into an old man. His moustache, once flame red, was now markedly duller in color, with several flecks of gray visible amongst its whiskers. Even at rest his face seemed wrinkled, his smooth, bald head furrowed deeply. Absently Sonic tried to remember just how old his former nemesis was, ceasing his calculations as the craft stopped a few feet away from him.
The robots got off their truck, each one armed with a laser rifle as they took positions between their creator and Sonic, not that they would be much of a deterrent to attack. His defenses in place, the retired villain decided to land his signature craft, activating both landing gear and ramp as it came lower. As Dr. Robotnik got up and exited, Sonic felt a guilty twang as he watched the human take hold of a cane and walk towards him with a noticeable limp. At the end of one of their last fights, Robotnik had been too close to a rather volatile machine the hedgehog had needed to destroy. The resulting explosion had blown the doctor hard into a wall, breaking his hip. Without a second thought, Sonic banished the guilt away. Not even Eggman, with the exception of a token revenge ploy and a rather clichéd speech about eyes for eyes, blamed him for the incident. These were merely the risks one took when one chose to be a supervillain.
As Robotnik approached, the robots he'd brought with him moved into a semicircle formation around the hedgehog and his box, each one aiming a gun directly at him. Sonic was unconcerned. Given the relationship the hero and villain had, this almost qualified as a warm and friendly welcome.
"Sonic," Eggman said in a pleased voice as he stood about two yards away from his visitor, the minimum distance he could stand and still reasonably expect a laser bolt to force the high-speed hedgehog to break off a direct charge for him. "I must say I am quite surprised to see you here. I'd thought after your last visit we'd finally gone our separate ways. Or have you perhaps decided to relocate to my little island paradise? I'm sure I could find you a lovely little hut with absolutely no view of the ocean if you'd like."
"You're making some rather bad jokes, Eggy, considering how easy I could shred these bots of yours if I wanted to," Sonic retorted back, falling into the familiar dance he and the doctor had spent what seemed like a lifetime performing. Robotnik hooted his peculiar laugh.
"These rust-buckets? Oh no dear boy, I'd be certifiably senile if I thought they could actually take you." A sudden malicious gleam appeared in Robotnik's sunglasses. "No, if I need protection from you Sonic, I'll just rely on Stealth Mecha Sonic to do the job." A sudden feeling of unease washed over the hedgehog's body as he became aware of a presence directly behind him. Turning his head, he just made out the glowering features of his mechanical double. In an instant Sonic was several feet to the left of his previous position, ready for an attack even as the robots retrained their guns on him. Mecha had not moved however, and, at the sight of Sonic's reaction, Robotnik had broken down into an uncontrollable laugh.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha," Eggman cried as Sonic cast an annoyed look at him. "You should have seen your face when Mecha snuck up behind you like that. I do not believe I have ever seen your eyes so big." Mecha too seemed to be shaking with laughter, an effect that was somewhat unnerving as the inspiration for his design watched the mechanical hedgehog's normally ironclad facial features go from a perpetual glower into something more resembling pleasure.
"Not funny old man," Sonic barked back at his long time nemesis.
"Oh, did the little hedgehog get his feelings hurt? Come now Sonic, you know you aren't the only one who gets to make threats in this relationship. That simply isn't how I roll." Quietly Eggman pulled a hanky out of his back pocket, wiping his sweating brow before looking at the general direction of the sun and exhaling. "I don't suppose you'd be averse to moving this meeting to someplace more… climate controlled would you. At my age I'm afraid I'm not overly comfortable in the hot sun for very long." Sonic cast a look at Stealth Mecha and then at the ship he'd come from, as if trying to calculate his chances of getting off Eggtopia if this did indeed turn out to be a trick.
"Fine, anything to keep from seeing you flop sweat," he said after a moment's deliberation. Then he glanced at the crate. "Uh, one thing though."
"Yes, yes of course, your 'luggage.' Mecha…" Heeding the unspoken command the robotic hedgehog walked over to the crate that was easily twice his size and, with one arm, hefted it onto his shoulder. Without so much as breaking stride, he carried the crate over to the truck and set it on the bed. Sonic just glanced at Robotnik.
"You just love doing that don't you?"
"In all honesty I think he loves it too," the doctor said as he led the way inward.
"And then you made the craziest face, sort of a-" Robotnik tilted his head back, twisted his features up, and stuck out his tongue causing Sonic to laugh.
"Well what did you expect? You were sucking the chaos energy right out of me. You would not believe how weird that felt at the time," the hedgehog responded. "Kinda made me feel like a used up juice box."
"But it wasn't like you didn't come out ahead on the deal," the scientist countered. "Had I known forcibly reversing your super form's transformation would turn you into a were-hog, I might have re-thought the whole idea. Or at least tossed you a chew-toy when I shot you back to Earth."
"Oh you're just a barrel of yucks today, aren't you," Sonic retorted as he took a sip of his soda. The drink had come from a sealed can and he'd had Robotnik himself take a sip first before drinking himself, so the hedgehog felt somewhat safe. Or at least he had until Eggman had pointed out that if he'd wanted to poison Sonic, he would have done so using the ice cubes to protect himself. Still, nothing had happened to him yet. "I still can't believe it took you that long to think to do something like that."
"Well to be fair before the Chaos incident you didn't exactly use it all that often," the human defended himself. "I admit I do feel just a tiny bit hurt it took the appearance of a physical god to make you pull out the big guns. But once I realized the whole super-mode thing wasn't unique to yourself, I realized it might theoretically be vulnerable to outside alteration."
"Yeah, Tails thought as much when he heard the full story later," Sonic said absently, only to shut up when he noticed the look the Doctor was giving him.
"Speaking of your little sidekick, it seems he's still suffering under a steady deterioration of his health, isn't he?"
"I'm not that keen about you spying on us, Doc, especially after seeing the new improved Mecha Sonic you have."
"Oh don't be so uptight hedgehog, I'm merely making a logical deduction. As Tails, he is your world famous, much beloved sidekick, and as Miles, he is perhaps the only technological genius in the world capable of come close to myself. As there has been no tearful mourning for the loss of the former and no triumphant rejoicing for the return of the latter, I can only assume that there has been no real change to speak of." As he spoke, Eggman's voice took on a definitely disappointed tone. "Such a pity." The villainous scientist had been one of the very few people to have put two and two together about Miles and Tails without being told anything. Most of the world was under the impression that Tails was exactly what he claimed to be, Sonic's brother, simply assuming him to be the end result of some liaison Miles had had at some point.
"I'm surprised you're not happy about that, given all the trouble we've given you over the years," Sonic pointed out.
"Give me more credit than that, Sonic," Robotnik countered. "Such an ignominious fate is unbefitting for so keen a mind that I would consider a rival." The human set down his cup of tea, steepling his hands as he looked directly at his cobalt guest. "But tell me; you didn't go to all the trouble to violate the quarantine your allies placed around my island just to reminisce about old times. Why have you come?" Sensing that the social portion of their visit was now over, Sonic too put down his drink.
"Someone tried to kill Knuckles on the Floating Island," he stated bluntly. The hedgehog watched as Robotnik's Eyebrow of Concern rose on his face, almost seeing it as the mental gears came up with all of the ramifications of Knuckles's untimely death.
"And I take it from the mangled robots in that crate you brought with you, I'm the prime suspect in this caper?" he asked evenly. At Sonic's confused expression, Eggman continued to explain. "The truck bed was a scanner. I knew what was inside before you even took your first step."
"You know, some would call that a gross violation of privacy."
"Oh come now, surely it has occurred to you that G.U.N. would be every bit as interested in getting a snooping device into my systems as I would be theirs. And Sheridan certainly wouldn't have any problems with using you as his dupe if he thought it would secure world peace. I imagine he has the same policy towards Shadow and Ark. No doubt a few of the 'scientists' up there are also reporting to some department buried deep in G.U.N. headquarters." Robotnik then leaned forward, his voice close to a whisper. "Were I you, I would not pass this little theory of mine on to Shadow. Even were I mistaken in my assessment of the Commander, I somehow doubt our paranoid little friend would be able to let the possibility go."
"So, getting back to the robots?" Sonic asked, steering the conversation back on track.
"Well, if it means anything, no, I did not make an attempt on our friend Knuckles's life. Though I am a touch curious that the machines appear to be sliced as opposed to crushed." In the back of his throat, Sonic growled a bit. This was the danger of talking to Robotnik, he was constantly trying to worm more information than you really wanted to give. Sonic was not stupid enough to tell his former enemy how vulnerable the Guardian of the Floating Island was. Even retired, there was a very good chance such information would tempt the Eggman into rearing his ugly head again.
"I wound up stumbling across them first," he lied. Robotnik nodded, then began to stand, taking hold of his cane to do so.
"Well then, let us see what our little mechanical friends can tell us." With a flourish, Robotnik pointed his cane at the far wall and pressed a button. Sonic's muscles tensed out of force of habit as he expected some wild trap to come leaping out of the walls or a horde of badniks to suddenly appear to attack him. Instead he watched as the wall split in half and began to slide open, revealing the biggest television screen the hedgehog had ever seen in a home in his life.
"Woah," the retired hero said, imagining what such a system could do for some of his horror movies.
"Please close your mouth Sonic, before a fly gets caught in it," Eggman quipped. Another button push and the screen flickered for a bit before displaying a list of numbers Sonic could only guess the meaning of. "Every one of my robots possess a serial number and a call number that allows me to keep track of them from the day they roll of the assembly line to their inevitable bifurcation at your hands. Let us just see who these three errant little boys were at one point." Robotnik used his cane like a wand, pointing towards three numbers that Sonic could barely read. The cursor began to blink for all three as three new windows appeared on the screen, each one displaying a picture of one of the robots Sonic had destroyed, along with information on their service records with Robotnik.
"Hmm. It seems these three were part of my first real attack on Station Square, during the whole Chaos debacle. Which still doesn't explain how they showed up on Angel Island."
"Were they perhaps part of a sale? A bit of easy money you're forgetting about?" Sonic asked pointedly, causing Robotnik to chortle.
"Ah, you knew to ask. But no, had they been, ah, out-sourced shall we say, there would have been a record of it in their files. Someone rebuilt them without my knowledge."
"Great," Sonic spat, getting up from the comfy chair he'd been sitting in, "then we're back to square one."
"Oh ye of little faith and even less patience, there is more than one way for us to divine where these particular robots were before they found themselves up on Angel Island. And truthfully I didn't really expect much from their serial numbers; I just wanted to know who they were." Again the cane clicked, and again the screen changed, this time showing a picture of what was obviously a robotics lab where the remains of the three robots had been taken. A living native was moving about the pieces, draped in a lab coat and a facemask as a precaution. "Ah, Tommy, are we ready to begin?"
"Almost Doctor," the human said as he finished connecting one of the robot's heads to a computer. "I'm afraid one of the specimen's memory cores was too badly damaged to hook up. Someone went and sliced it in half." At this the man cast an annoyed look at Sonic, who could only grin sheepishly in response.
"Now now, this is not the time for recriminations. Start the feed." Obediently the technician punched in a few commands on the computer. Two more windows appeared on either side of the screen as the computers in the lab began to read the robots' programming. It was all gibberish to Sonic, but Robotnik seemed quite able to understand what was being shown. "Hmm, well at the very least, this proves these robots were not acting under my orders. This isn't even remotely the programming language I use in my creations."
"How comforting."
"Snark if you like, hedgehog, but this is still most troubling. The programming is crude but sufficient. Someone knew what they were doing, but they didn't care enough to use their best efforts. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost swear they were made to be fou…" Suddenly the entire building rocked as an explosion occurred just outside, sending Eggman tumbling painfully to the ground. Like a shot Sonic was at his side, only to be knocked away by Mecha-Sonic. "What the blazes?! What happened?" Robotnik cried as he was helped to his feet by his mechanical servant. The big screen fizzled for awhile before displaying a picture of a new room, this one set up to look like a command center or something. Another human appeared onscreen, dressed in a hat and looking just a bit bedraggled.
"Sir, we have incoming reports of multiple missile attacks upon Eggtopia." Robotnik turned an angry look back on his supposed guest.
"Was this your plan Sonic? Get me to lower my defenses so that your friends in G.U.N. can wipe me out?"
"No, no I swear, that wasn't…
"Sir, radar confirms incoming missiles targeting the blockade ships. We need to…" Again the screen fizzled before going dead. Already sensing something was wrong, Sonic raced outside onto the balcony of Robotnik's home and straight up to the roof. With alarming quickness the sky darkened as above the city a massive ship comparable to the size of the Floating Island itself suddenly decloaked. On its underside Sonic could just make out a familiar picture of a bird's talon crushing the entire planet.
"Attention citizens of Eggtopia. You are hereby ordered to surrender before the power of the Imperial War Tengu," blasted a voice over loudspeakers that seemed to be situated on the craft.
"What the heck are those chickens of the skies doing here?" the hedgehog asked as he watched several hundred hatches on the ship's underside opened up. Like a swarm of angry hornets, thousands and thousands of plans, transports, and other flying menaces came out of the craft, accompanied by several more missiles that struck the city with a terrible vengeance. What got the hedgehog's attention the most, however, was the squadron that didn't stay over the city, instead rocketing off towards the beach; the exact same stretch of beach Sonic himself had landed in. Fearing the worst, Sonic raced after the group, tearing through Eggtopia even as he saw several troops being landed in the streets along with ground support vehicles for an invasion. He made it to the beach where his worst fears were confirmed, the Fremen was under attack. Frantic to find some way to help, Sonic could only watch helplessly as the battleship began to smoke violently before being rocked by its own explosions. Horrified green eyes watched as the formerly solid floating fortress broke into two halves, both of which began to steadily sink beneath the waves. As he watched the rising wave caused by the displacement of that much water, all Sonic could do was scream.
"NOOOO!"
To Be Continued…
Author's Note 2: Anyone out there who is currently crying may now go have a cookie on me,