Chapter 5: Penguin in a Bottle

A little earlier…

The trip through the rest of Spring Yard Zone had been… interesting. While the badniks I had seen when initially sneaking in seemed focused on searching for something, the scuffle he had gotten into on the roof seemed to have taken their attention. While I could have probably ran away from most of them, I had no clue where Eggman was keeping the kid. Having a safe way back, or at least a way back less cluttered with obstacles was only beneficial to me.

Also knowing Eggman, the kid might be in a badnik or something. Better safe than sorry.

Clearing out the badniks that spotted me, and sneaking past the ones that didn't, I was getting deeper and deeper into the site. Scratch that, I think I was reaching the opposite end. Below the skyline I could see trees dotting the horizon again. While there were certainly still plenty of buildings, the trees were closer than before.

Actually, it seemed as if the trees weren't just getting closer in front of me; they seemed to be converging like a cone. While I had assumed the site perimeter was like a circle or a square, it seemed like this end was different. Passing over a bridge of brick, I approached the last building before the forest. If Eggman's habits were what I was expecting, chances are the kid was being kept here.


Sneaking through the building was easy. Nobody was here. Passing between hallways, I haphazardly checked every room I passed. Thirteen rooms deep, and I wasn't seeing hide nor hair of Eggman. I'm starting to think I've got the wrong building, and I didn't want to waste anymore time. Seeing the hallway split off to the right, I decided to cut my losses and try another building on the site if this didn't give me any results.

Turning the corner, I had to immediately dive towards the wall. While I hadn't run into any badniks, evidence of Eggman had just made itself known. Just barely avoiding the spiked ball styled trap, I watched as it rotated back under the ground. Looking down the rest of the hall, I saw plenty of other, similar traps. While I wasn't a glutton for punishment by any means, I couldn't help but grin. While it was certainly dangerous, with my new speed and acrobatic ability, the death trap hallway was more like a glorified obstacle course.

Thankful to not have something shooting at me anymore, I broke into a casual jog while keeping a close eye on the traps. With my speed, nothing was really dangerous in the hallway. The worst part would be the swinging spikes that would swivel out of the walls, but they weren't a surprise; After all, the gaps they would swivel out of were visible.

Eyes focused, I maneuvered my way around the hazards. I dived over a set of spikes that had swiveled out of the wall. Breaking my fall with a roll, I bounded up before running as close to the wall as I could manage in order to evade a set of spiked balls that swung out from the roof. While I had made it past several traps already, I wasn't in the clear yet. Skidding to a stop, I just barely avoided running headfirst into a large spiked ball, the size of… well, me.

Counting myself lucky, I watched as it floated right back up towards the ceiling. Nearing the end of the hallway, I watched as two more identical spiked balls moved to block my path. Turning my course slightly so that I was running at the wall at a slight angle, I jumped at and off the wall, using the extra height to clear over the first spiked ball. Watching the second one begin to rise, rather than land into another run, I let myself drop. Sliding under the last ball, I let my momentum carry me before my feet made contact with the wall. Pushing off the wall just slightly enough to have some space, I let myself roll back onto my hands before bouncing up to my feet.

Dusting myself off, I went to open the door at the end of the hallway. Feeling no budge from the knob, I turned my head in annoyance. Eggman couldn't be satisfied with just traps? He decided today would be the day he locked his doors?

Rotating like a top on the spot, I brought my leg up and smashed into the door with a spinning back kick. With my current leg power, breaking through the door was light work. No, the hard part would come next. Staring back at me was a ginormous warehouse sized space. With a ceiling so high I couldn't even dream of touching it, I felt like an ant in a display case. And that wasn't even the most notable part of the room.

Gazing out at the large space, I was taken aback by just how many capsules Eggman had stored in here. No way they were all filled with people… right? Jogging up to the nearest one, I climbed to the top of the capsule before stepping on the big button. Feeling the container shake below me, I watched as the walls of the capsule blew right off. Climbing down, I looked inside the capsule to find… nothing. No people, no small animals, no tools. Nothing. So it looks like I'm going to have to search every capsule here.

All this just to get a hold of one kid? Before I could complain about how much Eggman was currently pissing me off, I heard a sound. It was faint, but I could hear something like banging coming from deep within the hedge of capsules. Counting myself lucky, I followed the noise to a capsule somewhere in the middle of all the others, holding what was probably the only person other than me inside the base.


Back to the present…

Staring back at me from inside the capsule was the penguin boy I had met earlier that day on the train. Well, that, or every penguin just looked the same. Jokes aside, he was clutching the same skateboard from earlier close to his chest, and he had a torn bag lying by his feet. Taking a step towards the fallen kid, he scrambled back a little.

I stopped before turning around quickly. Prepared to deal with another set of robots, I was more surprised to see there was nothing behind me but another capsule. Turning back to the kid, I saw he was still huddled together with his board. Turning around again, I looked to find… absolutely nothing.

…Don't tell me he's afraid of me.

Of all the things I'd expect to check off this little dimensional trip, "Scare a kid" wasn't even close to the top of the list. Taking a peek at the glass of a nearby capsule, I took a look at my reflection. Maybe I'm still doing that thing where I default to a glare? I can't help that I just look mean!

Before I could stop to contemplate how to get the kid un-scared of me, an alarm started to sound throughout the warehouse. Initially caught off guard by the sound, I climbed to the top of another capsule to see what I would have to deal with.

Sure enough, several shutters along the walls had opened up to reveal a hoard of badniks. As if to mock the thought that it couldn't get any worse, they all started to converge on the capsule; likely in an effort to sniff me out.

"Well shit." I swore under my breath. Sliding down the capsule and turning back towards Peck, I could see him huddled about as far from me as possible. Thinking quickly, and frankly not giving him a choice I grabbed him and tossed him over my shoulder. Picking his board up while he protested the impromptu fireman's carry, I darted between the capsules in an effort to avoid being spotted.

"H-hey! Put me down!" And suddenly all manner of stealth just went out the window.

Hearing the all too familiar sound of buzzing approach, I quickly jumped on top of a capsule; moving between them would only make it harder for me to dodge. Jumping from capsule to capsule, I evaded the blasts from the buzz bombers while making my way back to the door I came in at. With just a few capsules to go before I was clear of the dense thicket of them, I decided to take a gamble.

The other badniks had already taken notice of the broken door, and were closing in on my exit point, and I couldn't afford to try and destroy all of the badniks to get out. Even if I had the time, I didn't want to risk getting my disagreeable "care package" hurt. Landing on a capsule, I jumped as hard as I could in a straight shot right towards the door. While I was certainly stronger, my jump wouldn't take me across the entire warehouse; it'd barely let me clear the maze of capsules.

Luckily that was more than far enough for me. Pulling Peck's skateboard by the nose, I brought it under me as I cleared the last capsule completely. Placing my feet on the board as I fell, I tried my hardest to lean my weight back, and keep myself as even as possible.

In a surprising show of balance, I managed to hit the ground rolling. Right on target, I shot straight through the door while avoiding the hoard of badniks. Before I could celebrate however, I was reminded of what exactly I had passed through to get to the big room in the first place.

"Hold on tight!" I yelled back to Peck, as I prayed this half broken skateboard wouldn't get the two of us killed.

The hallway wasn't that bad honestly. Or at least, it wouldn't be if I was on my feet. The traps still moved rather slowly, and they hadn't changed from when I had just moved past them. The only real difference is that I was going at them a little bit faster, and with a lot less control. Shifting my weight as much as I could manage I just barely avoided several of the swinging traps.

Not out of the fire just yet, I barely slipped out of the way of a large spike ball that slowly rose from out of the ground. Unfortunately my maneuver put me right on the path of another large spike ball. Leaning as far left as I could I tried to move out of the way. Unfortunately my attempt would be futile; I would have to take a hit whether I liked it or not. Turning my body, I pulled Peck out of the way in order to catch the brunt of the spike ball and keep him safe. Feeling the cut along the left side of my body, I counted myself lucky that it was shallow and only slightly bleeding. In another bout of luck, I was able to catch the next swinging trap at a good timing; I passed it before it even left out of the ceiling.

Sparing a glance behind me, I took the time to look at both Peck, and the hallway that I had already traversed. Peck wasn't flopping around lifelessly, so I could only assume he was fine. And funnily enough, Eggman's little army couldn't even get past his own traps. I watched as a buzz bomber was slammed by a spike trap out of the ground. One of the pink Spike badniks had its back half taken out completely by another large spike trap slamming down on it. In their attempts to chase after us, a multitude of them ended up smashed against the walls, freeing the much more intelligent animals inside.

Turning back in front of me, I watched another spike trap swivel out of the wall. Unluckily for me, it was positioned in a horrible spot. Too low for me to duck under it, and thanks to my inability to pop an Ollie, too high for me to go over. Then again, even if I could, the tail of the board had snapped in half. Running out of time, I hopped off the board, letting it continue down the hall as I broke into a clumsy run behind it. Making sure I had a good hold of Peck again, I heard a yelp as I jumped over the spike trap completely.

Landing into a run, I spread my legs as if I was riding the board again, in a desperate attempt to stop. Skidding to a halt just feet from the wall, I was no worse for wear. The same couldn't be said for the skateboard. Slamming into the wall at a force skateboards don't normally have, the nose splintered right in half. Leaving a sizable dent in the wall, it was a wonder the board was still in any reasonable piece.

Feeling something struggle on my shoulder, I was reminded I had a passenger. Letting Peck down, I watched him walk up to the heap of his board. Picking it up, he clutched it in his hands before turning to me.

"That… was so fuckin awesome!" The kid practically had stars in his eyes. I chuckled at his response.

"Aren't you a little too young to be cursing?" I said. A little hypocritical probably, but he didn't need to know that.

"We almost died! I think I'm allowed at least one curse word. And besides, it was sick! The way you zoomed past all those traps, and got away from all those evil robots. Oh oh, and the way those robots got all smashed up! Oh man that was insane!" The kid was rambling at this point, waving his hands around with each word. Actually paying attention to what he said however, I turned back down the hallway.

While a lot of the badniks had been destroyed by the traps, and scrambling over each other, there were still a sizable amount making their way towards us. Turning back to Peck, I cut into his excited tirade before he could get another sound effect in.

"Listen, I'm gonna need you to do me a solid." Seeing that I had caught his attention, I continued.

"You see this hallway? Follow this hallway all the way down until you're out of the building, and then keep going. Ignore any side doors, it's basically a straight shot, if you ignore the fact that there's turns." I explained. Peck had seemed to take notice of the badniks closing in on us.

"Wait… what about you then? You're not planning on taking all those robots on, are you?" His worried face was a far cry from the fear he seemed to have earlier, and I couldn't help but smile; both in relief, and in confidence. Kneeling down to meet him at eye level, I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hell no! There's way too many of these things. I'm just gonna slow them down a bit, before catching back up with you. I'll probably catch up to you before you even get out the building." Giving him a thumbs up, I turned back towards the hallway, stepping back up towards the trapped hallway.

"Go ahead and get going, I'll be with you in a flash!" I said, waving back at him. Seeing him stall there for a bit, I waved at him a little more aggressively.

"Come on, I came here to save you, not put you in more harm's way!" I was practically shooing him away at this point. Peck lingered a bit more, before throwing down his rather crippled board. With a resolute nod, he turned back to me one last time.

"You better come back in one piece!" He said, before pushing the board down the hallway.

Satisfied that he was leaving, I once again focused on the badniks that were trying to capture us again. Alright. Time to thin the hoard a bit.

The first badnik that slipped through was a Roller. Unsurprising considering that one of these things was probably the closest to taking me out since I got here.

Squaring up towards it, I waited until it got closer to me. Closer… closer…

With the Roller no more than fifty meters in front of me, I dashed towards the badnik. Crouching as if to prepare a jump, I watched as the Roller launched itself towards me right when it saw my motion. Ready for it this time, I revealed that my crouch wasn't a jump, but actually a feint. Sliding underneath the Roller, I listened for the sound of it crashing into the wall behind me before I bounced back up into a run.

Coming up fast were another small group of badniks: three buzz bombers and two crabmeats had also slipped through the traps. Looking behind them I could see more badniks, but a lot of them were halted due to the traps still in the hallway. If I could deal with a group of these or more, the rest would be easier to deal with in an open space.

Running forward, I watched as each of the badniks took aim at me and fired. Dashing to the left, I avoided the buzz bomber shots, and jumping to the right I was able to escape the bigger explosions left behind by the blasts the crabmeats had shot at me. I wasn't quite sure if it was because of my enhanced reflexes, or the badniks' poor aim, but I had managed to escape their volley relatively unharmed. Jumping towards the opposite wall to avoid another set of shots from the buzz bombers, I launched myself towards one of the crabmeats. They weren't as mobile as the buzz bombers, even with the cramped airspace of the hallway. Having to move forward more in order to hit me, one had very clearly over extended.

Turning my body so that I launched at it feet first, I slammed into the badnik with a force reminiscent of Peck's skateboard. Catching myself on the ground with a hand to keep steady, I slid far enough so that I ended up between the small group and the greater hoard. Turning my head quickly to check both sides, I threw my body against the wall to avoid another Roller. Quills pointing upwards as I lay flush against the wall, I just barely managed to throw myself out of the way of another set of blasts fired at me.

Falling to the ground, I was obscured by the dust and smoke that had been kicked up by the explosions. The badniks weren't able to tell where I was, which made my next move all the more effective. Another Roller from the greater hoard proceeded to slip by the traps as well. Launching itself at the cloud of smoke, it attempted to make contact with me, missing completely. Turning around, it and the other Roller also turned towards the cloud, intent on trying to reveal my location.

Rolling towards the cloud, they were taken by complete surprise; like a missile, I flew out of the dissipating cloud. Curled up in Sonic's signature Spin Attack, I slammed right into one of the rollers, bouncing off it and gaining more height. My aim this time was perfect too; the first attack's trajectory had me rebounding right towards one of the buzz bombers, destroying it as well.

In reaction to its fellow badniks being destroyed, the last of the crabmeats tried to get its revenge. Firing more shots, the crabmeat struck nothing but the walls and floor. Far too slow to actually hit me, it had only accidentally created more cover.

Leaping through the new smoke cloud, I threw my weight onto a buzz bomber, crashing it towards the crabmeat in question. The other buzz bomber didn't just sit and watch however. Firing at me as I rose from the wreckage, the sound of another explosion could be heard throughout the building.

Of course, I hadn't been hit. Grabbing hold of the two critters left behind in the badniks, I had ran back down the hall and out of the metaphorical frying pan. After setting down the small animals, I leapt back into the proverbial fire, intent on finishing off the badniks that hadn't been caught up in the traps.

Having assumed they had caught me in the large explosion, I was able to take the last two badniks by complete surprise. Leaping straight at the open Roller badnik, it could only curl up in an attempt to prevent my attack. Luckily that was exactly what I was aiming for. Planting my left foot, I brought my right back before launching the Roller across the hallway like a soccer ball. With a surprising level of accuracy, the Roller took out the buzz bomber's head.

Fist pumping at the hit, I gave the now dwindling group of badniks another look before running to catch up with Peck.


Sprinting through the hallways, I realized Peck had gotten much further along than I had expected. I was several turns deep, and closing in on the exit of the building, and I hadn't even been able to hear a peep of the skateboard's wheels. Turning another corner, I could see the entrance wide open at the end. In the distance, just barely, I could see Peck, riding along just fine.

Reaching the door at the end of the hall, I went to call out to Peck, letting him know that I was right behind him. Just as I went to open my mouth, I took notice of a large shadow creeping over him. It was hard to notice at a distance, but something was floating over him silently.

Before I could even stop to think about what to do, a large spike formed below the floating object. Flying into action, I sprinted as hard as I could as the all too familiar pod dropped towards the unsuspecting Peck. I was sweating. Would I even make it to him in time?

"PECK!" yelling his name, praying I could get his attention in time, I dived towards him as fast I could. Turning towards me, Peck only witnessed me shoving him just in the nick of time.

Like a rock, Eggman's floating craft crashed into the ground. The spike underneath had lodged into the ground, before lifting an entire chunk of it up with Eggman as he rose. Hiding Peck behind me, I watched as Eggman's floating craft shook in the air, almost as if it was trembling, struggling to put forth effort. Sure enough, the brick shattered into pieces, debris falling to the ground along with a streak of red.

While I had managed to shove Peck out of the way in time, I wasn't so lucky. It was hard to tell if you couldn't see it, but the leg hidden from view from the mad doctor was soaked in blood. I didn't know real hedgehog anatomy, let alone the anatomy of my current body, but I could at least assume he didn't hit anything too important. I mean for one, my leg still hurts.

A lot.

Through gritted teeth, and the heat of the moment, I was only barely able to ignore the large amount of pain I was in. With the taste of copper welling up in my mouth, along with the feeling of a cool liquid dripping down my leg, I stared down the maniacal doctor as he cackled away to himself.

"HO HO HO HO HO! How do you like the powerful point of my Egg Stinger? I'm sure it left quite the mark, wouldn't you say?" While I couldn't quite see his face from here, I could tell he wasn't talking about the hole in the ground. Great, he knows. Struggling to my feet, I regarded Eggman with disgust.

"You know, if you were gonna go with bee puns, you could have made the machine insect accurate. Do us both a favor and let it explode the next time it stings something!" I said, pointing at Eggman. Taking a peek back at Peck, I motioned him away while mouthing "Get ready to run".

"Quite morbid, aren't you?" I felt a chill run down my spine as Eggman did a once over on me. Even if he was only looking, it felt like he was prepping a dissection. Way creepier than I was expecting.

"Despite the similarities, you aren't anything like that blue rodent. Except for being a thorn in my side of course."

"Well, that's what the quills are for. Various spiky activities and all that." I said. Trailing off, the two of us stared each other down hard. The tension could practically be cut with a knife. For what felt like an eternity, neither me nor Eggman moved a muscle. And then, as if in slow motion, I watched his arm make a movement.

Practically throwing Peck back in order to give him a head start, I flung myself at Eggman full force. In almost the same instant, the Egg Stinger lurched forward, likely in an attempt to squash us again. Luckily, I was faster. Even with the force of only one leg, I was able to generate enough force to meet Eggman halfway. Curling up, I nailed the Egg Stinger, sending it spiraling back.

"GAH! You can do that blasted maneuver too?!" Clearly taken aback, it seemed as though Eggman had written me off completely with my injury. Not that I could blame him though. Being down a leg meant that I couldn't land. Completely forgetting to account for that, I uncurled only to hit the ground hard. Screaming out in pain, I couldn't even begin to describe what my leg felt like.

Through all that pain however, I was able to catch a glimpse of Peck. Almost off the bridge, it seemed like I had managed to buy enough time for him to escape. At least, if Eggman hadn't taken notice as well.

"Oh no you don't!" Righting himself, Eggman fiddled with the controls on his Egg Stinger. Suddenly, loud gears could be heard as something began moving underneath us. Out of the ground, on both sides of the bridge, rose a wall. Peck wasn't deterred however. At his full speed he wasn't anywhere close to me or Sonic. The wall had already risen to overtake the two of us in height. Still, Peck threw himself up the wall with vigor. In a show of parkour technique I wasn't aware he had, he clamored all the way up the wall that had already risen, before dropping down on the other side.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I did my best to lift myself off the ground. Only able to lean my back off the ground by my elbows, my right leg felt practically unusable. Every movement I made with it hurt like hell, and the sight of it drenched in blood was starting to make me sick. The only thing able to distract me was the grumbles of dissatisfaction from Eggman.

"…No matter. I can live with one escaping. My real prize is right here." Eggman looked towards me, the setting sun casting a menacing shadow over his face.

"What's wrong, no temper tantrum this time? Not mad that your prisoner escaped?" I jabbed at the doctor, trying to keep an air of confidence to mask how much pain I was currently in. Eggman only turned to me, before breaking out into a rather frightening grin.

"Look at the little rodent, trying to keep up a facsimile of bravado." Eggman started chuckling to himself, and I could feel myself break into a sweat. Hitting my other leg, I tried to distract myself from the pain in my other leg long enough to try and stand. Eggman's chuckling grew into a full evil cackle, before he regarded me as if I was the gum below his shoe.

"How amusing of you to think I actually care about that miserable little child." Maneuvering his Egg Stinger, I watched calmly as he circled around me ominously.

"He was simply bait to catch the bigger fish. He may have gotten away, but he had outlived his usefulness anyway. It's only a matter of time before one of my badniks catches hold of him again." Even if I had made sure to thin out their ranks, I couldn't be certain Peck wouldn't run into any more trouble. Sparing a glance back for only a second, Eggman clicked his tongue at me.

"Ah ah ah rodent, don't start getting sentimental now. Do not forget where you currently stand. You're stuck in here with me."


AN:

Thank you so much to everyone who Followed, Favorited, and Reviewed in the past few chapters. Admittedly I forgot about responding to reviews, so here's a response to all the one's I've missed so far.

Guest 1: I hope the current direction is living up to expectations!

ShadowMan90: I wasn't really a good writer when I wrote the original (my name was not just made for show lol.) With this story though, I'm less so writing a story, more so that I'm trying to convey an experience that could have happened, if that makes any sense. I hope you continue to enjoy what I've been able to put out.

Guest 2: I don't currently have art, but I could probably get something done if a visual is easier.

Dragonborn66: This story takes place during Sonic the Hedgehog 1 on the Genesis.

At risk of jinxing myself, I'm making good progress on the next chapter, and I'm liking the direction that I'm currently pulling towards. No writer's block so far this time. That being said, if you feel the same, feel free to Favorite, Follow and Review, and I'll catch you guys at the next chapter!