(Note: In this story, after Eggman explain to Sage how he tortured Sonic for six months, she decides to experiment with her own methods).
~The Hedgehog Tickle Experiment~
It was a quiet day in Eggman's base. He was in his private study, thinking up new plans to defeat Sonic and his friends; in the midst of his brainstorming, his computerized daughter Sage had entered the room carrying a steaming mug.
"Here, Father. I've brought you the herbal tea you requested", she said.
Eggman looked over to her and smiled, "Ah! Thank you, Sage. That's just what I needed", he said as he took the mug. As he sipped his tea, Sage looked up at his drawing board with curiosity. Her mind began to wander.
"Father...may I ask an inquiry?", she asked.
"Of course, what is it?", said Eggman.
"My memory banks contain records of all your past attempts at defeating Sonic, all of which had ended in failure. One particular instance intrigues me: when you waged that war, you had Sonic imprisoned for six months and were torturing him the entire time, correct?", said Sage.
Eggman huffed as he took another sip of his tea, that was one scheme he really wanted to forget. Mainly because after all his meticulous planning, he was defeated by Sonic, another version of Sonic form another dimension and a puny red wolf. It was quite the embarrassment.
"Honestly, Sage, I'd rather not be reminded of that failure in particular", he said.
"I merely mention it because it fascinates me that even after being put through the physical torture you subjected Sonic to, he did not break or even weaken", said Sage.
"I know, right? No matter how much pain I put that hedgehog through, it never seems to phase him! It's like he has nerves of steel or something!", Eggman complained.
Sage looked at Eggman with a tilt of her head, "Father, might I suggest something? Have you ever considered that the best form of torture is one that causes pleasure instead of pain?", she said.
Now it was Eggman's turn to give her a curious glance, "What? What do you mean by that, Sage?", he asked.
"If you'll allow me, Father, I'd like to conduct an experiment on the blue hedgehog. I wish to try my own torture method; I plan to release Sonic after I am finished, but I wish to test my theory and collect the resulting for future reference", explained Sage.
Eggman rubbed his chin as he pondered her request, it was certainly an interesting and unusual thing to ask but he couldn't deny that he was curious to see exactly what form of torture method Sage had thought he.
He also wouldn't turn down any opportunity to see his most hated enemy in such a vulnerable and helpless position.
"Alright, Sage. You have my permission to run this little experiment of yours, and I will oversee it simply because I am curious to see how it goes", said Eggman.
Sage gave a curt nod, "Thank you, Father. Now, how would I go about capturing the hedgehog?", she said.
"Oh, get Metal Sonic to help you. He can knock the blue pincushion out and bring him back to the base", suggested Eggman.
[Time Skip]
Sonic awoke in an unfamiliar room, he tried to get up, but he couldn't move a single limb. He was lying on a metal table, and his wrists and ankles were restrained in iron shackles on the table. His hands were locked directly over his head, and his feet were being held close to the end of the table; that's when he also noticed that his shoes and socks were missing.
Sonic had no idea what was going on, but he certainly didn't like it. He didn't remember how he got to this place; all he did remember was going for a run through Green Hill Zone and then everything suddenly went black, so he didn't know how or why he was dragged into this situation.
He tried to break free from the shackles that were holding him, but that didn't work.
"What happened? Where am I?!", he called out.
A short time after he asked that aloud, he heard a familiar computerized voice.
"Greetings, Sonic the Hedgehog."
Just hearing it caused Sonic to tense up in apprehension. He knew right away who it was who had spoken to him.
"Sage? Is that you? Did Eggman have you capture me?", asked Sonic as he tried to look around. His neck hadn't been restrained, but he didn't see anyone around him. It seemed to be just him in a metal room.
"Yes, Sonic. My Father has granted me permission to capture you, Metal had abducted you during your run and brought you to this secret torture room," Sage answered as she appeared in the room.
"I wanted to conduct an experiment on you, I wish to test a torture method different from what Father had used when he held you captive for six months. I wish to see if it is possible to weaken you through said means", Sage said in a matter-of-fact way.
"And how are you going to do that? In case you don't know, ol' Egghead already tried to break me with torture and it didn't work. I don't see how you'll be any different", Sonic said with a confident smirk.
This time, however, Sage voice didn't respond. Instead, she activated a panel in the wall in front of Sonic, making it open. A single robotic claw emerged from the panel, moved extremely close to his feet, and stopped at the middle of one foot. The claw started to move its fingers very slowly.
Sonic tried to stay calm, but quickly started giggling. He couldn't handle the claw stroking his foot, no matter how gently it did so. It was tickling him. "Hee hee hee…that's how…hee hee hee…you're gonna…hee hee hee… torture me? Hee hee hee…", he chortled.
"Yes," Sage responded, "It is a method known by the term, 'tickle torture.' I wanted to see if a torture method design to invoke a pleasured response rather than pain would be effective in rendering you weak and defenseless. Tell me...are you ticklish, Sonic?"
"Hee hee hee…Maybe I...am...hee hee...maybe I'm not...hee hee, like I'd tell you! Hee hee hee…", Sonic continued giggling as the claw tickled his foot.
"Very well, then," Sage said. The claw soon stopped tickling Sonic's foot and went back into the panel that it came from. Sonic stopped giggling and panted a few times, trying to catch his breath. Once he had fully recovered it, a panel in the ceiling opened. A slightly larger robotic claw than the first one descended from the panel and landed directly on his stomach. The claw started to move its fingers around, tickling his stomach.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Sonic almost immediately started laughing. He couldn't help it, since his stomach was his most ticklish spot.
"HEHEHEHEHEHEY, STAHAHAHAP THAHAHAHAHAT!", he shouted.
Sage watched his reaction curious as she took notes on a digitized notepad she held in her hands. Meanwhile, Eggman was watching the experiment take place behind a two way mirror.
When Sage had brought Sonic to the base and explained exactly what she was going to do to him, Eggman was deeply confused and initially thought she was joking. But now, seeing his enemy in such a vulnerable state...Eggman couldn't deny that he was enjoying this.
Sage's torture method might've been odd and even a little childish, but if it the experiment provided data Eggman could use against Sonic in the future, than who was he to judge.
So, Eggman simply sat back and enjoyed the show, all while eating a bag of popcorn and drinking a soda like he was in a movie theater.
The claw continued to tickle Sonic's completely helpless stomach for about fifteen seconds. Throughout the entire time, he was laughing uncontrollably as Sage documented his reactions. Then, the claw stopped and ascended back into the ceiling, but while this was happening, two more panels on opposite sides of the room opened.
Two robotic claws emerged from the panels and stopped once they had reached the sides of Sonic's stomach. They started to tickle his sides, causing him to laugh more. He hadn't had much time to catch his breath.
"HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE, NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!", he squealed.
"Are you not enjoying this, Sonic?", Sage asked, "The sound of your laughter indicates that you are, indeed, enjoying this. Most interesting"
"NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI'M NOHOHOHOHOHOHOT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!", Sonic continued to laugh as the claws tickled his sides.
"Hmm, be that as it may, I have not yet collected enough data. I will need to "up the ante" as they say if I am to prove my hypothesis correct," Sage said.
The claws then stopped and pulled themselves away from Sonic's sides, allowing him to catch his breath. Shortly after that, however, the same robotic claw that had tickled his stomach descended from the ceiling again. This time, it was holding a feather.
Once it had made it close enough to Sonic's stomach, the claw started to stroke the feather directly on his belly.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!", Sonic again started laughing, "STOP IT, PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!"
The claw, however, ignored his pleas for mercy and continued to tickle him. Soni was still laughing; he really couldn't take his belly being tickled, let alone with a feather. He really wanted it to stop.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DON'T DO THIS TO MEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!"
The panels on the opposite sides of the room opened again. The claws from earlier emerged from them, but this time, they were also holding feathers. Once the claws had reached the sides of Sonic's stomach, they began to stroke the feathers on his sides, tickling him even more. It didn't help that he was still having his belly tickled at the same time.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!", Sonic was laughing so hard that he couldn't beg for it to stop anymore.
The claws continued to tickle his stomach and sides. After an entire minute of this, however, Sonic's laughter started to decrease in volume. He was getting close to passing out. A few seconds later, Sage stopped the robot claws from tickling him and removed them from his torso.
The claws returned to the panels from which they came as Sonic panted uncontrollably, trying as hard as he could to catch his breath.
"I think…I'm gonna…gonna die by...laughter…", he managed to say, "Are you…trying…to kill me?"
"Negative", said Sage.
"WHAT?!", Eggman shouted in disbelief.
Sonic couldn't see the mad doctor through the two way mirror, but he could hear him over an intercom in the wall above the mirror. Sage, however, could see Eggman and she turned to address him.
"Father, the purpose of this experiment was not to kill Sonic but rather test his endurance. If he can withstand the pain of physical torture you put him through without breaking under the pressure, then I wish to see if an overdose of pleasurable stimulus will have the desired effect.
"Please trust my judgement, Father. The data collected from this experiment will be vital for any future plans you have. And also, I know you gain joy from watching Sonic in such a vulnerable state, surely killing him would only ruin your fun?", Sage explained.
Eggman scoffed as he crossed his arms, he hated to admit it but Sage was right. He was enjoying watching Sonic be reduced to a shrieking banshee from being tickled mercilessly, it was hilarious to witness.
So, he forced himself to swallow his pride. "Oh alright, Sage. Carry on with the experiment, will let the rodent go once your satisfied with the data you've collected", said Eggman.
Sage gave him an appreciative nod before turning back to her test subject, "Now then, let us continue", she said.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…", Sonic groaned.
A few seconds afterward, two panels in the wall in front of him opened up. Two robotic claws, both holding feathers, emerged from the panels. The claws started tickling the soles of Sonic's feet with the feathers, causing him to start laughing again.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE! STAHAHAHAHAHAP!!"
"You may beg as much as you want, but I will not stop doing this to you. This is all vital for my experiment, plus it is quite unusual to hear you of all people beg for mercy," Sage said.
Sonic continued to laugh as the claws tickled his feet. They might not have been his most ticklish spot, especially compared to his belly, but they were definitely ticklish. He was totally helpless.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! COME ON, STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP THAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The tickling went on for at least a minute. Then the claws finally stopped, removed the feathers from Sonic's feet and returned into the panels that they came from. He panted repeatedly until he had regained his breath.
Sage took some more notes, "Sonic, are the areas under your arms ticklish as well?", she asked.
"Well…a little," Sonic answered, "but not as much as my belly and my feet are."
"Oh, really?", Sage asked curiously.
Sonic immediately clamped his mouth shut upon realizing the stupid mistake he had just made, but it was too late.
The panels on the opposite sides of the room opened again. The claws from earlier emerged from them again, without holding anything. The claws reached under Sonic's arms and started wiggling their fingers around.
Instead of breaking out into laughter, Sonic started giggling. The claws continued to tickle his underarms for a few seconds, and he continued to giggle.
"That is truly fascinating, it would seem you were telling the truth. The areas under your arms are not as ticklish as your feet and stomach," Sage stated as the giggling continued along with the tickling.
She took a few more notes, "However, I have done some extensive research on different tickling techniques. I have found ways of making even the least ticklish people laugh", she said.
"Hee hee hee…I don't think so…hee hee hee…", Sonic squeaked. It looked as though he was starting to enjoy this torture; he still wanted it to stop, but his underarms were by far his least ticklish area.
He just giggled a lot when they were tickled, and he didn't lose as much breath as when he was tickled anywhere else. So he didn't believe that anything Sage could do would make them more ticklish.
The claws eventually stopped tickling Sonic's underarms and briefly returned to the panels that they came from. However, a few seconds later, they re-emerged, and this time, they were both holding a couple of sparkling violet feathers with golden edges that shined in the light.
"Sonic, I understand that you are quite familiar with the Phoenix that guards the temple in Chun-nan. I would like to introduce you to the Fire Quills, feathers collected from that same Phoenix when it molted," Sage explained.
A spark of familiarity shined in Sonic's eyes, he was absolutely familiar with the beautiful plumage of the Chun-nan Phoenix. "It is said that whoever wields one of these extremely rare feathers will have the temporary ability to tickle anybody into laughing, regardless of where they are tickled. Even their least ticklish areas will become extremely sensitive upon contact with these", said Sage.
"Wow...that sounds...neat", Sonic said awkwardly.
"Despite these Quills' rarity, I had Metal Sonic obtain as many of them as he could find, enough to tickle all possible ticklish areas on a victim's body," Sage added.
"Well, what are you gonna do with them?", asked Sonic. He didn't have a clue about what she planned to do, but he just knew he wasn't going to like it...at least not voluntarily.
"Is it not obvious? I am going to tickle the areas under your arms and make them impossibly ticklish, I require more experimental data", said Sage.
"Go ahead, do your worst," Sonic said regaining his confidence, "I'll tell you if it tickles. Not that it will."
The claws reached under Sonic's arms and began to brush the Fire Quills under them.
"HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!", Sonic immediately started laughing uncontrollably. Thanks to the magical power of the Quills, his underarms became extremely ticklish.
"OH MY GOSH, THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
As if responding to the amount of laughter, the claws continued to tickle his underarms with the Fire Quills. Sonic continued laughing a lot, there was nothing that he could do to stop the tickling.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! STOP IT!!"
"I told you, you cannot make me stop. And I will not stop until the experiment is over and I have my data," Sage replied as the claws continued to tickle Sonic's underarms while she took notes.
On the other side of the mirror, Eggman was recording the whole thing with a camera while trying to hold back his own laughter. If by some chance any future schemes fail, Eggman was going to rewatch the footage to cheer himself up from his failures.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEE!!", Sonic tried calling for help, but the tickling continued, as did his uncontrollable laughter.
"HEHEHEHEHELP MEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEE!!"
"Furthermore, you cannot call for help, either. Nobody will help you, this room is deep underground and completely soundproof, save for the intercom that allows Father to speak to me," Sage said.
The tickling continued for an entire minute straight, until Sonic's laughter started to decrease again. The claws gradually slowed the tickling to a stop, and pulled the Fire Quills away from his underarms. The claws returned to the panels that they came from. Sonic was panting uncontrollably, trying to catch his breath.
"Wow…that…really…tickled…", he managed to say, albeit with each word punctuated by heavy breathing.
"Was it pleasurable for you, Sonic?", Sage asked.
"No… it wasn't…", Sonic responded. "Just…please…no more…I just… wanna…go home…"
"Sonic, are you not aware that I enhanced the ticklishness of your underarms?"
"No…I didn't…want it…"
"Hmm, then I have no choice. I will make you laugh until you pass out, and then I will have collected a sufficient amount of data and set you free."
A panel in the ceiling opened, and the robotic arm from earlier descended from it. This time, it was holding a Fire Quill as well, causing Sonic to recoil.
"You wouldn't dare…", he said.
"I believe that by now you should understand that I will do as I please in the pursuit of knowledge. And also because it makes Father happy," Sage said.
The claw eventually reached Sonic's stomach, and started to tickle him with the Fire Quill. And just like that, he started laughing even more.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!", Sonic just couldn't help himself. His stomach was his most ticklish spot, and this was even worse than when he had it tickled before. "NO! THAT'S MY TICKLE SPOT!!"
The panels on the opposite sides of the room opened, and the claws from earlier emerged from them again. The claws reached over to the sides of Sonic's stomach, but he was so busy laughing that he didn't notice. The claws started to tickle his sides while the Fire Quill tickled his belly.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!", Sonic was laughing so hard that he was crying, but the claws ignored him and continued to tickle him.
"I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST STOP!!", he screamed.
"In that case, continue to be my test subject until the experiment is over", said Sage.
Sonic continued laughing for several seconds, he really couldn't take it anymore. Soon, the claws that were tickling his sides stopped and returned to the panels from which they came. The claw that was holding the Fire Quill and tickling his stomach started to slow down as well.
Sonic regained control of his breath and started giggling.
"Sonic, this torture is almost over," Sage said, "Brace yourself. It will leave you breathless."
"What are you…hee hee hee hee hee...talking about?", Sonic asked, despite still having his stomach tickled.
Just then, several panels on the opposite sides of the room, as well as the wall in front of him, opened. Out of each panel emerged a claw, each one of which holding a Fire Quill, and they all moved straight over to him.
Two of them moved under Sonic's arms, two of them moved to his sides, and two of them moved to his feet. They all began to tickle him with the Fire Quills, and the claw that was already tickling his stomach went faster.
"HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Sonic immediately started laughing again, even harder than he had laughed earlier in the torture. He just couldn't help himself at all, and he couldn't even make a single word out. All of his tickle spots were being tickled at the same time: his belly, his sides, his feet, and his underarms.
Most of them, with the exceptions of his underarms, had already been super ticklish, but being tickled by the Fire Quills enhanced their sensitivity beyond belief.
Sonic decided that he had no choice but to laugh until he passed out. It seemed to be the only way out of this situation, anyway. So he let the Quills tickle his body as he laughed helplessly. The tickle torture continued for about thirty seconds, and during that time period, Sonic's laughter started to decrease again.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…"
This time, the claws didn't stop tickling him. They continued to tickle him until he lost the last of his breath, stopped laughing and finally passed out. The claws then stopped tickling him and returned into the panels from which they came. The shackles that were holding Sonic's limbs opened, setting him free. He couldn't get up and leave, however, because he had passed out due to having lost his energy.
"The experiment is complete", said Sage as she jot down a final paragraph of notes, "Metal, please come and take Sonic back to his place of residence. Do not forget his socks and shoes too".
Metal Sonic stepped into the room through a door and walked over to the examination table, he picked up his organic counterpart in his arms and proceeded to carry him out of the base.
Eggman walked over to Sage, "So...aside from that being the best hour of my life, did you collect all the data required?", he said.
Sage looked over her notes thoroughly, "Indeed I have, Father. With this data, you can create machines that will exploit Sonic's newly discovered weakness. This will surely grant you an edge in future confrontations.
"Also, I mostly did this because I noticed you seemed rather melancholy as of late, so I thought this would brighten your mood", she said with a small smile.
Eggman smiled back as he patted her on the head, "You're absolutely right, Sage. It did brighten my mood, I even recorded it so I can watch it whenever I'm having a bad day. So thank you for this", he said.
Sage nodded, "You're welcome, Father. And if you desire, I can run this same experiment on Sonic's companions. I'm sure they must all have a similar weakness you can exploit", she suggested.
Eggman laughed deviously as he stroked his mustache, "Oh ho! I like the sound of that, Sage!", he said.
[Time Skip]
Sonic woke up, and found that he was lying on his bed in his room. He laid there for a minute, as he was in severe pain from being over-tickled earlier, and he was feeling pretty groggy. After what felt like a minute, he slowly sat up and rubbed his head in pain.
"What…happened?", he asked wearily and moved his hand down to his belly. This caused him to feel a large amount of pain, and he suddenly remembered what had happened and removed his hand.
"I was…being tickled…but for how long?"
He looked over at the window, and saw that it was now nighttime. He had lost his sense of time during the tickle torture.
"Must have been…forever..." He sighed to himself, and then yawned into his hand. "I gotta get some sleep…"
Sonic then got under the covers of his bed and slowly fell asleep. As he did, one thought lingered in his brain.
I really hope my friends don't find out about this, he thought in embarrassment.
[The End]