Hop To It - Eclipse 5

[Heyu]

Some people can hold onto their anger for ages. They nurture it like a fire, and keep it fueled to burn indefinitely. Mine was a firework; my anger burned hot and fast, and fizzled out quickly. I just wasn’t able to hold onto it for very long. No matter how much the other guy deserved it.

Captain Palisade eventually decided that I was innocent of any wrongdoing, just stressed. She had a couple officers escort me home, and by the time I got there I didn’t have it in me to feel angry anymore. I would probably kick that lousy driver if I got the chance, but Palisade at least seemed as upset by that mess as I was. She was doing her job. It wasn’t her decision to hunt Sonic, she was just following orders.

If I told myself that enough times, I could begin to believe it, and it mainly came off the back of her having seemed reasonable enough last time we met. Grudges were useless things, consuming mental resources that could go to more productive things, like getting back my packrat.

My mother was inconsolable, and Dad was doing his best to comfort her on the couch as she cried. I managed to get from her, though, that a robot looking like Sonic with a yellow visor was the one who took Humi.

Mecha Sonic. Robotnik.

Robotnik was on the move again. That required some thought. He must have been planning something… and it would suit him very nicely indeed if Sonic was on the run from the army when he put his plans into motion. It explained everything if that was why Sonic was a wanted hog. I didn’t understand the how yet, but it would come to me. It couldn’t be Mecha Sonic, surely; despite being modelled on Sonic, they didn’t actually look all that alike.

“Hayden?”

Then again, I’d been under the impression that the very idea of Sonic being guilty of a crime worse than dine-and-dashing was laughable. And yet it was taken seriously enough for G.U.N. to get involved. Seriously enough that running down civilians was considered an acceptable--

No. Breathe. Anger was unhelpful. Stay focused.

“Hayden?”

Robotnik was moving again. Yes. Why would he want Humi? Last time he never even saw Humi, I didn’t think. He saw me, but I was perfectly cordial with him when we met. So he didn’t take Humi to get to me, and he didn’t take Humi for her own merits because he didn’t know about them.

I wish I had Humi’s Emerald, maybe it could offer insight--the Emerald. Duh, or course! I was an idiot. Humi had the Emerald, and somehow Mecha Sonic or Robotnik knew about it. How wasn’t important.

“Dear, he’s not responding.”

“Leave him be for now, Angie. He’s got them wild eyes.”

Something was happening. But what? I tried to remember the last time I touched the Emerald… but all I could remember was shadows. The images slipped from my mind like it was a colander.

I needed Tails. He had an Emerald, and moreover he would know how to find Eggman, probably. I just had to call his lab. At Mystic Station, where he wasn’t. I didn’t know the number for his Emerald Town lab. And even if I took the long drive out there, I didn’t know his address.

If Iota was here, maybe he could have found a way to detect Emerald energy. Humi always carried it on her now, so if we followed the trail, we’d find her. But Iota wasn’t here, and who knew when he’d be back.

…

I didn’t know what to do. Humi was gone and I was utterly useless to find her. Even if I did, did I think I could fight Mecha Sonic? I doubted it.

I didn’t--I couldn’t…

I stood up. I sat back down.

I let my head fall into my hands.

A hand touched my shoulder, and I flinched. I was pulled out of my thoughts violently, and looked up at my Mom’s teary face.

I pulled her into a hug. That, at least, I could do.

“Oh, Hayden, I’m so sorry…”

It wasn’t your fault. My voice wasn’t working, so I held her tighter instead. It was dark outside the windows. How long was I thinking?

“You trusted me to p-protect her and I failed!”

“You couldn’t have done anything against that thing,” I said. I sounded hoarse to my own ears.

Mom sobbed into my chest, and I let my eyes wander aimlessly. Dad was off somewhere; he wasn’t in the room with us. I ended up staring at the TV, which wasn’t on.

The last time I watched TV, it was telling me Sonic was a criminal.

…

“Sonic. He got away from the truck, didn’t he?” If he got away, he was still at large. There was a chance the news was covering him. And if he was still running around, I could find him, and he could help me save Humi.

“What about Sonic?” Mom asked, peeling away from me. I didn’t answer, I just fumbled for the remote and turned on the news.

It was on a commercial right now, but I stared intently. Intensely. One of those, for anything I could use.

Dad walked in from the kitchen. “I called McGruff down at the station. He promised to let us know if he heard anything.”

My ear twitched, and I turned to look at him. “What?”

Dad jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “My friend on the force. Detective.” A smirk flashed across his face. “Keep it under your hat, but the CCPD and G.U.N. have a bit of an interservice rivalry. The cops don’t much like that the military gets so involved around the city doing their job. But they’re working together on this Sonic case as a matter of protocol, so McGruff has access to their radio chatter. If he hears anything about Humi, we’ll know.”

I stared at him, then nodded stiffly. “Thanks, Dad.” I hadn’t even thought about that. Maybe something would come of it? I hoped.

The news came back on and I snapped to it.

“This just in, regarding the ongoing Sonic the Hedgehog case. A superfast hedgehog has been spotted climbing across the Radical Highway installation heading towards the city center. Citizens are advised to stay in their homes and allow the soldiers to move unimpeded.”

I was already moving before I’d consciously registered the words.

Mom grabbed my hand before I could get out the door. “Hayden, where are you--”

“Sonic fights Robotnik all the time. He can solve this and save Humi,” I said, and even I winced at how my voice sounded. I sounded rough.

“Hayden, shouldn’t you leave this to the authorities?” she asked, pulling me back.

I jerked my hand away. “The authorities are the problem!”

Oh, I was shouting. That wasn’t helpful.

…

I took a deep breath. “I can’t. I can’t just not do anything while Humi is missing. If I just sit around and wait, I’ll go crazy.” I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t actually think Sonic is guilty, do you?”

“Of course I don’t,” Mom said shortly. “But--things are confusing right now. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I nodded, mostly to myself. “...I get it. I really do. And that’s why I have to do this.”

Mom faltered. She looked over her shoulder at Dad, but he just stood there stoically. “Devon?”

Dad closed his eyes. “...If one of you was hurt or missing, I can’t say I wouldn’t be doing something similar.”

Mom crumpled. For a moment she seemed to fall in on herself, but then she stood straight and gave me a steady look. “Here.” She pulled her cell phone out and shoved it into my hand. “In case we hear something from your father’s friend, we’ll call you.”

I flipped it open, examined it for a sec, and then slipped it into one of my belt pouches. “Thanks, Mom.” My voice broke a little.

She gave me one more hug. “Come back safe.”

“We both will,” I promised.

I really didn’t think I was cut out for adventure. But I think Humi was. And she was caught up in one now. And no matter what else happened, I wasn’t going to let her have it alone.

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

[Shadow]

This road was confusing.

Shadow understood the concept of roads. They were a means to get from one place to another; they took up space, but they weren’t a place by themselves. They were essentially hallways, but for outside. They were for streamlining travel.

This road was an utter failure at streamlining anything. Shadow had heard of something called an earthquake, and wondered if one was responsible for the state of this bridge. It was all broken up and twisted in ridiculous ways that made no sense. Stupid humans, couldn’t they even get something as simple as this right?

On the other hand, given how G.U.N.’s robots were crawling all over it, Shadow wouldn’t put it past them to wreck their city’s infrastructure just to stop him. Who knew what madness they were capable of after--

He shook his head and jumped to another level. Honestly, given the state of things he was amazed that this highway was still standing.

It didn’t matter. No matter how G.U.N. tried to slow him down, it wouldn’t work. His abilities were perfectly suited to this terrain, almost as if he had been made for traversing it. Winding paths and loop-the-loops were hardly an obstacle.

Because it was so easy, he had time to let his mind wander. Robbing the bank had been too easy, but he had been surprised to see that robot there. He knew his way around robots well enough to spy design similarities between it and Gerald’s relative’s technology. He could only assume that the Doctor was more on top of things than he seemed and was keeping an eye on him.

…It didn’t explain why the robot tried to engage in small talk, though. He couldn’t fathom why that would be the case. Unless robots were more common now than he’d thought? Shadow wasn’t stupid, he knew he’d been asleep for a long time.

It didn’t matter. Shadow shook the thoughts away. All that mattered was finding the Emeralds right now… There didn’t seem to be another in the city, though he’d thought there were. Either he’d misread his senses--entirely possible, he hadn’t exactly practiced them before--or whoever was holding it had left the city. Both options presented unique difficulties.

Perhaps the Doctor had had better luck in finding them. Perhaps it was time to regroup. First, though, he had to get out of this forsaken city; where was this bridge taking him, anyway? It was so confusing, who designed this crap?!

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

[Heyu]

Radical Highway was an art installation that ran through much of the city’s east side. According to my parents it started construction the same year they moved to Central, and I clearly remember hearing that it was finished when I was… I want to say eight. So, ten years to finish it.

I always thought it was an eyesore. I guess it could be cool, from the right angle, and from a distance, but up close it looked like a mess. And whoever had the bright idea to actually connect it to the streets needed to be shot, because some idiot accidentally turned onto it and almost drove into the strait every month. Presumably it was a metallic homage to the natural twists and turns of nature, or something. There were a few naturally occurring loops out there and Mobians held them as part of their heritage. Don’t know why the very human Central City cared, but whatever. Radical Highway was a popular destination for freerunners. Not just Mobians, either.

Sorry, I was digressing.

The off-ramp from Radical Highway let out a few blocks from the wharf, and pointed directly into the city center towards the First House, where the President worked. If Sonic, or whoever was framing him, was heading that way, I would have thought that a bunch of G.U.N. units would be guarding the exit, but they weren’t.

Oh, they were around, but hiding. I could see them just inside storefronts, or at a cafe nearby. Drones were hidden in alleys. From where I was standing, I could look down and see a great big bipedal mech of some sort crouched down behind a dumpster. Whoever was directing these guys had opted for ambush, which struck me as… odd. Whoever this was was fast. The Coyote wasn’t likely to grab the Roadrunner before it passed him. I wondered if Palisade was still in charge or if she’d traded off.

It didn’t matter. I jumped closer to the Highway, leaping from roof to roof. The installation extended to the pavilion surrounding the on/off ramps, and there were plenty of those ugly platforms to leap about. I jumped progressively higher, trying to see if I could see whoever it was coming. Or perhaps hear them, since G.U.N. had blocked traffic to the area.

Man, good thing it was night, or the traffic jams would have brought the city to a standstill.

As I jumped to the next level up, I paused. The platform ahead of me was further away, with a fake crane between them to look like it was still under construction. Once again, I question the aesthetics of this thing; who thought permanent construction work was a good look? There were like six places in the city that looked exactly like this, except that they promised to one day be useful.

Sorry, another tangent. I just have opinions about this, I guess.

Anyway, what made me stop wasn’t the inexplicable crane, but the fact that a line of rings was hovering between the platforms. They formed a mild slope from mine to the next, gently spinning in sync with each other.

“Have I seen this before?” I asked out loud, because I was getting tired of the silence. “What are these doing here?”

I walked over to the start of the trail and put a hand on the first ring. It was a bigger one, enough that I could fit my hand through if I shoved. The one I touched pushed gently against my hand, enough that I could feel it, but once the other rings had completed another half-rotation, it made an audible pop and fell out of the air. The others kept turning, undisturbed.

“How odd.”

“These Rings are forming a trail that you can follow!”

“Gah?!” I flinched, twisting and losing my balance to fall on my tail. “What the?”

An Omochao was hovering nearby, dancing a merry jig in the air as it spoke. “These Rings signify a place where you can Light Speed Dash, but you don’t have the right item. You will require Type B Air Shoes, a compatible mod with your Grind Shoes.”

“What are you doing here?” I pointed a finger at it, and it paused dancing. “Are you following me?”

It tilted its head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Are you the same one from earlier?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” it repeated. It settled down on the ground with a click.

I frowned, but pushed the annoyance away. I regarded the ring trail again. “...Light Speed Dash, huh?”

“Correct!” Omochao said eagerly. “Do you want to know how they work?”

I glanced towards the Highway. I suppose I was just killing time… “Sure, hit me.”

Omochao cheered and began flying again. “All Rings contain minute amounts of energy! When a trail of Rings form, they form a connection that keeps them synchronized. Type B Air Shoes are able to make use of this connection to near-instantly follow the trail, using the energy of the Rings to power the air thrusters!”

Interesting. “How do you know all that?”

“I have a library card!”

“The library has books on rings?” I asked, stepping towards the trail again. “I was looking a little while ago but I couldn’t find any.”

“Actually it was about the science of Extreme Gear, which included a section on Grind Shoes and their accessories. It was a fascinating read, I can recommend it if you want…”

The little robot continued to ramble as I slowly tuned out. It did sound interesting but I kind of had a thing going on.

So, rings could form a semi-permanent connection to each other. That was… interesting. Had I tried to float more than one ring at once yet?

Curiously, I reached out to the first ring--well, the second ring, because the first fell off--and placed a finger on top in such a way as to not stop it spinning. I pulled it towards me gently, and it fought me much harder than the other one did. It took some effort to pull it, and when I did the next one in line quivered, trying to follow it and pull it back at once. I let go, and it snapped back into place with a tiny bounce.

“...Fascinating.”

“It is! Mechanical systems are a lot like biology for me, so--”

I spread my fingers and held my palm out towards the trail. The ring on my middle finger buzzed, and I made a gesture; I brought my ring finger down to meet my thumb.

They started rotating faster, all at once.

Omochao made a surprised sound, cutting itself off, but I ignored it. I changed gestures, raising my ring finger again and lowering my pointer. This time, they slowed down.

I glanced up at the fake crane, and an idea half-formed. I could almost feel a neuron firing somewhere in my head. I lowered my middle and ring fingers, splayed my pointer and pinky, and let my thumb hang free.

All the rings stopped spinning. Then, they snapped into place with the holes all facing my hand directly.

I tilted my head and bent my wrist back, towards me. All the rings compressed like a spring and flew directly at me, and I yelped when they knocked me off my feet. I tumbled over backward and landed on my tail for the second time, and when I came to stop, a collection of rings was wrapped around my right arm.

“Curious.”

That neuron fired again, and I pointed towards the crane. My thumb met my folded fingers, and the rings fired, stretching out to hook the end ring around the crane, and I shouted as I was pulled off my feet and thrown into the air. I flailed, screaming. I ended up flipping once, before landing painfully on the other platform as the rings reattached themselves to my arm.

I looked them over, and felt a smirk stretch across my face. “...Now that’s pretty darn cool.”

Omochao’s little rotor buzzed as it flew after me. “How did you do that?!”

“I dunno,” I admitted with a shrug. “I’m making this up as I go along.”

The little bot pumped its arms excitedly. “I know! You can call it the Sling Ring! Because it launched you like a slingshot!”

“Not bad.” I aimed at nothing in particular and made the gesture again. The rings formed a straight-line trail in that direction, and then I lifted my thumb to reel them back in. “Not bad at all. I can definitely use this.”

My ear twitched, and I heard something explode. I looked over to the Highway, and saw that while I was experimenting, Sonic had shown up, only to get jumped by the big mech I’d noted earlier. It fired first, and he was forced to destroy it in self defense. I didn’t want to put myself back on G.U.N.’s radar, but Sonic was right there.

Before I could make a decision, one of the mech’s legs collapsed from one of Sonic’s attacks, and the pilot jumped out and ran away. Sonic caught his breath… and then another hedgehog appeared. The newcomer perched on top of the downed vehicle, and he and Sonic had a short conversation before the darker hedgehog held up the green Chaos Emerald.

He held it up and did something to it. And then before my eyes he vanished. Just blipped and suddenly he was behind Sonic, who was running towards where he’d been. Sonic stumbled, caught by surprise, and I watched the stranger warp again to the top of a building. Not far from me. I took a step, but before I could he warped away again, creating a huge flash in the process.

And then G.U.N. agents started pouring out from every single possible location, to a ridiculous degree. Out from shops. Out from alleyways. I swear it felt like some of them appeared out of thin air, and by the time Sonic finished blinking the spots out of his eyes, he was totally surrounded.

“Don’t move! Stay where you are! Keep your hands in the air!”

I grimaced. I was rapidly losing whatever respect I had for the military.

Taking stock, I deduced that I could probably jump down there, grab Sonic, and jump back over another building to get some space between him and the soldiers… but that was assuming that none of their bullets hit us, or that their drones weren’t fast enough to keep up, or that I wouldn’t prick myself on Sonic’s quills and drop him.

And most importantly, if I got arrested, I wouldn’t be able to rescue Humi.

Sorry, kid.

Captain Palisade emerged from behind the formation, carrying a pair of handcuffs. I took a step away from the edge of the roof, and her gaze snapped to me.

Our eyes met. I took some grim satisfaction from the fact that she looked troubled.

Then I turned and walked away.

“Wow, what was that all about?”

“You’re still here?” I asked. It was a little harsher than I meant it to be. “Sorry. I’m on edge.”

I demonstrated by dropping off the edge of the roof on the other side from where the pavilion was, ending up in a small alley, and started walking.

“This is interesting! What happens now?”

“Now--” I turned the corner and froze.

The strange hedgehog stared back at me, startled and breathing a little heavy.

We stood there for a full five seconds.

“Hey--”

He turned and ran, air jets on the bottom of his shoes letting him accelerate quickly.

I moved, jumping as high as I could to keep an eye on him from above. I fired the Sling Rings, and got shot forward faster than I could have ever run on my own.

“Now,” I continued, “We ask questions.”