Hop To It - Advance 20

[Cream]

A wide, open space with gentle hills. A pond, just deep enough for some fish but still shallow enough for safe swimming, and with a little artificial waterfall to keep it fresh. A few fruit-bearing trees and bushes. And surrounded by both the natural barriers of the jungle and a lovely bamboo fence that complimented the aesthetic of the area.

It was a charming, beautiful space just perfect for Chao. Cream thought it was pretty.

She bounced on her heels while Mama brought out a tray of cookies and tea for themselves and their guest, Mr. Razor. The shark was a surprising visitor, but apparently he wanted something to do while he waited for his friend’s legs to be finished.

The shark was sitting in the pond, watching a few of the Chao crawl around. Most of the rescued Chao were already ‘adults,’ but a few were still young enough to not know how to walk yet.

Cream skipped over with a plate of three cookies and flew over the pond to offer one. “Would you like one, Mr. Razor?”

He blinked, surprised, but gladly took one. “Thanks, kid.” He took a big bite and resumed watching the little ones, only to find that one in particular was staring at the treat in his hand.

“Aw, they want one too,” Cream said. She handed a second cookie to the shark. “Here.”

Razor frowned, then it seemed to dawn on him. He looked the little Chao in the eye and beckoned it over with the uneaten cookie.

A determined glint entered the Chao’s eyes, and it stood on shaky legs. It walked to the edge of the water, a little wobbly, and grunted before diving in.

Once in the water, the Chao flailed about with a complete lack of form, whining as it struggled to stay above the water, and Cream gasped worriedly. She made to fly over and pull it out, but Razor grabbed her leg and held her back. “Hold on. Look at him.”

While the Chao was definitely struggling to swim, it was still laser focused on the cookie, and it was moving forward.

“C’mon, little guy, you can do it,” Razor said gently, waggling the treat temptingly.

The Chao glared and managed, seemingly by accident, to lean forward into a motion that was almost a breaststroke, startling itself with the sudden burst of forward momentum. A spark went off behind its eyes, and it repeated the motion, a little cleaner than before, and after the third time it got close enough that it could stand on Razor’s lap and reach up for the treat. Razor chuckled and gave it to him easily.

“Good job, little guy.” Razor grinned toothily.

The Chao stared up at him, and then Razor’s eyes widened when it grinned back with teeth as sharp as his own before taking an enormous chomp out of its prize.

Razor tossed his head back and laughed. “I like this one! He got a name?”

Cream giggled. “None of them do, yet,” she said, remembering something she and Mama discussed. “But you can, uh, pay a small fee to ‘adopt’ a Chao and give it one! And then anyone who visits the Garden will know it’s yours!”

Razor looked contemplative at that, before standing up, holding the toothy Chao in his arms. “I’ll think about it. I don’t think your Ma will accept coins carved from coral.”

“She might,” Vanilla called from the water’s edge, carrying the tea. “I might be able to sell them to a novelty shop.”

Razor walked over to take a teacup. “Thanks for this, Miss Vanilla. You’ve got a nice place here.”

It was, Cream agreed. The café was so cute, and their house was great. Cream had her own room now! She didn’t have to share a bed with her mom! She still did sometimes. But she didn’t have to!

Cream went to take the last cookie from her plate, only to find it missing. “Wha?” Her head whipped around and she spotted a snickering little scoundrel flying away with it. “Cheese! That was mine!”

She carefully set her plate down and flew after her naughty Chao, determined to get it back. Cheese took little bites as he flew around, zigzagging and leading her on a merry chase, and soon Cream was laughing from the sheer exhilaration of flight.

She still wanted a cookie though.

Finally Cheese got tired of dodging and she tackled him in the air, bringing him in for a hug that was just a little tighter than he liked until he started squirming. That’s what he gets for being greedy!

Cream giggled, twirling around above the treetops until she was facing the village, just a few minutes walk away.

And then she blinked, because something big and ugly and purple was hovering over it.

“Huh?”

“Chao chao?”

Some small metal things dropped from the flying ship. And while Cream’s ears weren’t as good at hearing as Mister Heyu’s… she could still hear screams.

She dropped down immediately, and saw Razor looking confused and Mama looking worried. “Cream?” she asked. “What’s wrong?” She looked towards the village, but they couldn’t see it from where they were with the trees in the way.

“They’re being attacked!”

“Oh, dear…” Mama looked more scared than she sounded.

Razor growled. “Attacked? By who?!”

Cream didn’t know. But this wasn’t good no matter who it was. Amy and Humi and Fritz and all her other friends lived in the village, and they were in danger!

Cream’s brow furrowed. Her friends were in danger…

She took off and started flying towards the village, not even hearing Vanilla call out after her.

------------------------------------

[Mecha]

The village lay below them. If you could call it that, really; it was more of a neighborhood. Barely even that. Two houses, a shack, a truck, a hole in the ground, and a café and house a ways off. Some flowers and trees.

Mecha drank the sight in desperately, because there was no guarantee that any of it would still be occupied, or even standing after today.

Robots flew down from the ship. Stingers and Stars and the prototype Kyuras all zooming down upon them, some carrying ground-based badniks to drop them into place for a focused assault. A clown-like Piko-Piko leapt down and started swinging its oversized hammer wildly. It would have been comical if not for the screaming.

Mecha zoomed his cameras in. As expected, some of them were fighting back. Iota was using badniks as ammunition against other badniks, the hare was kicking anything that got close to pieces, and the mouse was jumping from robot to robot and tearing them apart, already working on building something; Mecha knew from experience that the longer the battle went on, the more dangerous she’d become.

But the others weren’t doing so well. Mecha watched the bees, huddled under a picnic table, panicking when a Madillo rolled into their shelter and destroyed it. A blue fox, hiding behind the badger, who was smacking Stingers away from his crops with a shovel while angry tears streamed from his eyes…

He felt sick.

“Hohoho…”

Mecha turned to see the Doctor rubbing his hands together, grinning fiendishly.

“Showtime.” Eggman cleared his throat, and then drew the attention of everyone present as he lowered his hoverpod down from the ship with a hearty laugh.

Amy Rose, in the middle of her hammer-duel with the Piko-Piko, shoved it away and growled. “Eggman! What are you doing here?!”

“What, can’t a man pay a visit to old friends now and then?” he said, sneering.

Mecha dropped from the ship, carefully activating his jets in time to avoid making a crater. E-1001 dropped down beside him and began menacing the villagers with its weapons.

He ignored the play-by-play to focus on Tails, who had somehow managed to evade Eggman’s immediate attention and was creeping up, no doubt for a sneak attack. The yellow fox briefly made eye contact with Mecha and froze… and Mecha looked away, pretending to have not seen him.

“You’re no friend to anyone, Eggman!” Amy declared, smashing the Piko-Piko’s hammer with her own.

“Truly, I’m heartbroken that you feel that way, Rose…”

Tails crouched down on all fours… and then revved up and shot out, straight for Eggman--

--Who pressed a button on his dashboard causing two robotic arms to extend from the craft and snatch Tails out of the air.

“...But that’s no excuse for being such awful hosts! Hohoho!”

“Tails!” Across the neighborhood, Humi suddenly dug deep into a Stinger’s abdomen and directed its gun at the Doctor, forcing it to fire. E-1001 shot it out of the air while Eggman floated higher.

“Nice try, vermin, but you’ll have to do better than that! And you’ll have all the time in the world to do so soon… Grab them!”

The flurry of activity became even more frantic, and a pair of jellyfish-like Kura-Kura swooped down and grabbed Amy Rose, restraining her despite her struggles as they flew away.

Tails gasped. “Amy, no!” The boy started thrashing in the machine’s grip, to no avail.

“Hahaha! Let’s see what Sonic does when there’s too many to save!” He swept his hand out. “Take them all!”

The doctor rose up ever higher, and Mecha watched, feeling helpless.

A blue cat flashed her camera, stunning several robots, not realizing until it was too late that they were surrounding her.

A gastropod was throwing some sort of corrosive liquid at Stars, rusting them over until they fell out of the air, but his barrel was already half-empty.

…A pink G.U.N. Hunter? Was stepping out of the Fiver house with a robot monkey on its shoulders and started shooting, but it was slow to target and seemed unable to decide who to focus on.

Mecha watched a pair of rabbits and a shark emerge from a side path, and the mother rabbit was almost immediately taken by a Kyura latching onto her back.

“Mama!”

He felt sick.

“Don’t just stand there, you fools!” Eggman barked from above. “Get that mouse!”

Mecha hesitated, but E-1001 didn’t, charging towards Humi.

The mouse fired at the approaching badnik, but couldn’t focus on it and all the other Stingers swarming her. 

Y-Iota attempted to get between them, but was held back by a Geji-Geji wrapping itself around him.

E-1001 grabbed her, pulling her off the downed Stinger and prying the gun out of her other hand. “Hey! Get off of me, rustbucket! You stupid knockoff, Gamma is way better-looking than you!” Her tail tried to sneak its way between the badnik’s joints, but E-1001 simply shifted its servos and pinched her in place, preventing any attempted destruction.

Mecha took a step forward--

Heyu appeared from the midst of a dozen Madillos, kicking one directly into the suped-up E-1000’s head, shattering one optic. Before E-1001 could recover, a ring wrapped around its wrist, and then Heyu was simply there, cratering its chest.

Eggman growled. “Don’t just stand there, get her! It’s just one overgrown rabbit!”

What proceeded next could only be described as a slaughter. Gold rings flew in every which way, slicing badniks like buzzsaws, while the mouse recovered her weapon and shot down any flyers that the hare missed, and Eggman ground his teeth together in frustration.

“Aah!”

The rabbit girl, whose mother was taken. Mecha’s head swivelled and saw her being captured too. Heyu grabbed Humi and leapt in her direction, taking out the Stinger that had her.

And Eggman saw it too. “So, you think you can play hero, huh? Get a load of this!”

The blue fox. The badnik swarm converged on him, sending the badger man into a panic. Rings defended them again. And then Eggman targeted someone else.

Again and again, and Mecha had to look away, because he could see what was happening. The Doctor was tiring them out, trying to force a mistake, trying to--

--Mecha’s optics blinked, because there was a blue hedgehog peeking out from behind the food truck.

“We have to get her and go, before Sonic arrives too soon--eh?” Eggman saw the hedgehog and scowled. “Oh, phooey. Attack!”

The blue hedgehog yelped, and turned to run, not even trying to fight back as a contingent of Madillos rolled after her. Because it was a her, Mecha could tell, and Eggman wasn’t too pleased at being fooled.

“What?! You’re not Sonic! Grrrr, enough!” He twisted and leaned out of the hoverpod. “Give me the mouse, now!”

The hare glared back furiously. “I don’t know what you want her for, Robotnik, but you’re not getting my daughter.”

The Doctor blinked, and Mecha saw recognition fill his eyes. “...Oh, yes, I remember you now.” He smirked. “Daughter, eh? Change of plans, then.”

He pressed a button, and the village grew still for just a second. Then the badniks backed off, leaving the Mobians confused, until a green cylinder jumped off the manta ship and plummeted to the ground. The dust it kicked up obscured it long enough for two long arms to reach out and grab Heyu’s ears.

The hare fired a ring in its direction, and they bounced off a shield.

“What?!”

Out from the smoke, E-100 ZERO scooted, and then took off into the sky. The E-series prototype yanked on his ears, spinning him around and throwing the mouse on his shoulders clear.

Humi fell to the ground in a roll, quickly getting back up and taking aim until ZERO held the hare between them. She lowered the weapon with a dismayed look. “Heyu!”

“If you want him back, girl, then maybe next time you’ll be willing to listen to my demands!” he declared as he rose back towards the ship, ZERO close behind.

Humi scowled angrily, took aim, and fired directly at the hoverpod. Eggman yelped and ducked behind the windshield.

“Ohoho, feisty! Perhaps E-100 had the right idea!” 

The arms holding Tails pivoted to using him as a shield too, and Humi made a frustrated growl. “You didn’t even make demands, you… you poaching egg!”

“Didn’t I?” Eggman pondered that for a split second before dismissing it. “Bah, no matter. Catch you later, plagiarist. AHAHAHAHA!!! Mecha Sonic! Finish the job!”

Mecha stiffened as the manta ship began to retreat and the steady flow of badniks ceased. He unfolded his gun and aimed it at Humi, who glared at him hatefully.

Eggman floated away and out of sight, back into the ship carrying Tails and Heyu, who were both struggling and failing to escape. Heyu was slammed against the side of the ship as they reached the landing strip on top, and Mecha flinched.

And then it was him, Mecha Sonic mk. III, standing in the middle of a ruined village, surrounded by Mobians staring at him and the remaining badniks, terrified. The badniks were awaiting his commands as the Elite present, now that the Doctor had left the battlefield. He hadn’t told them to do anything yet.

He was aiming his gun at Humi. 

…

E-1001 was on the ground behind her, and Mecha saw it slowly sit up and aim its own weapon at her back. It was battered and sparking, but its aim was steady. And Humi didn’t see it because she was glaring at him.

Mecha shifted his aim. 

Humi pulled up her own gun, trying to get off a shot first, but Mecha’s shot went right by her head--so very close to her ear--and buried itself in E-1001’s head. The badnik fell over with a crash.

The mouse gasped, shocked, and turned to see the fallen elite. “Wh--”

“Oops. Missed.”

Mecha didn’t mean to say that out loud.

Everyone was staring at him. Even the remaining badniks.

What was he supposed to do now?

Directive: “Finish the job!”

Continue destroying village/capturing prisoners.

…

Mecha heard something behind him, and combat programming kicked in to make him dodge left just before a blue blur could bounce off his head. Instead, it bounced off the ground, into a Madillo, off a Stinger, and through a Kyura before landing in front of Humi and unrolling into someone horribly familiar.

And Mecha was overjoyed, because now he had an excuse.

Directive Failure: Sonic the Hedgehog interruption. Unable to complete mission. Falling back.

Mecha powered up his jets and flew away.

-------------------------------------

[Sonic]

Looks like he was late to the party.

Sonic watched his ugliest doppelganger fly after the fish-shaped airship that was already reaching the horizon and still picking up speed.

“Well, this is awkward. Eggy got an invite and I didn’t? Humi, you need to proofread your guest list,” he said, turning to face her.

Sonic blinked. He’d never had someone look at him like that before.

“Uh, Humi? You okay?”

She didn’t respond. Instead her stare slid off of him and towards the ship in the distance. Then she stood up, wiped some dirt off on her overalls, and turned and walked towards her house.

“...oooookay.” Sonic scratched his head, bewildered. He wasn’t sure what that was about… although he could probably guess. Looking around, Eggman kind of left a big mess behind.

Oh, there were still badniks around, but for some reason they weren’t doing anything? “That’s weird.” One of those caterpillar-looking ones was wrapped around Iota, and Sonic went to smash it off of him. “Hey big guy, what just happened? I was coming up along the coast when I saw Eggman’s ship, and now he’s just gone? What gives?”

Iota stood up, looking after Humi. “...He attacked out of nowhere. He has captured Tails, Amy, Vanilla, and Heyu.”

Sonic’s eyes widened. He didn’t know who Vanilla was, but he at least remembered Heyu as someone Tails thought was important. “What?!” Why, that no-good rotten egg…

He had Tails? That wasn’t gonna fly on his watch. He moved to start running, but Iota clamped a hand on his shoulder and held him in place.

“Wait.”

“Wait? There’s no time to wait! He’s getting away!”

Iota hesitated. The robot looked around, prompting Sonic to do the same.

“...Why aren’t the badniks attacking?”

Iota huffed through his speakers. “I can’t speculate. But that’s not important right now,” he added, firing a ball of scrap metal from his arm and knocking an idling Stinger out of the sky. “We need to check for injuries.”

They what? Sonic looked around. There were some scared faces, but no one looked terribly bruised and nothing looked broken. Everyone was standing, except for the weird guy who was sitting in the cornfield and holding on to the fence for dear life.

“They look fine to me. The longer I wait, the further they get!”

“But--”

“Eggman took my Mama!”

Sonic jumped, because a little bunny just popped up next to him. “Whoa, hey kid.”

“Cream. We will get Miss Vanilla back, but Eggman is unlikely to harm them,” Iota reasoned. “He would not kidnap someone unless he was using them as leverage, and to do that he needs them alive.”

“Alive doesn’t mean intact, rusthead,” Sonic snapped. He instantly regretted it, because ‘Cream’ started tearing up, so he hurriedly reassured her. “Don’t worry, I’ll get all of them back quick as a flash!”

“Sonic, don’t--!”

Iota reached out to stop him again, but Sonic was already gone.

He sighed. “Resigned: Of course. Cream, could you at least go and get a first aid ki--where’d you go?” Iota scanned his surroundings, but Cream and her Chao were gone. “Despondent: Oooooh, Vanilla AND Heyu are going to dismantle me…”

-----------------------------------------

[Humi]

Heyu was gone.

Eggman just… took him. And Amy, and Tails, and Vanilla too.

Heyu was… gone.

She looked up at the Y-Nought, almost untouched since their adventure in space.

Heyu was gone, and Humi was going to get him back, and Eggman was going to pay.