Hop To It - Eclipse 2

[Iota]

Preliminary assessment of urban environments had been decidedly unfavorable.

Iota enjoyed nature, and over the course of his admittedly short existence, most of his time had been spent among greenery. Station Square was urban, but also undergoing construction, and Iota had made suggestions toward implementing green spaces that the engineers had seemed open to. He understood the necessity of cities, but he much preferred to be away from them.

When he learned that they would be spending an extended period of time in a large city, Iota had not complained, but he had been privately disappointed. Froggy was a wonder, and a handful of stray cats in Station Square had allowed him to pet them, but among the wild animals of Mystic Ruins, he had not yet built up the level of trust required to allow them to touch them. Time away might prove to be a setback in that task.

The grays and muted colors of the city were uninteresting, possibly even unpleasant at first. Trees were few and far between, small saplings serving only as decoration. Flowers existed only as literal window dressing. The suburbs where Mister Heyu’s antecedents resided were better; the gardens that lay in front of most houses were lovely. But they were artificial, sterile, and… rang false. Iota wished to return to the jungle.

But over time, he began to realize. Life was still to be found here. Rats could be seen scuttling in alleyways. Pigeons roosted on every surface they could find. Ants made hills in defiance of the chemicals intended to eradicate them. The city was filled with life. Tenacious life, clinging on in the fringes, persistent, hanging by the edges and yet thriving in their own way.

The urban jungle was simply a different biome, one defined by the apex predator that was humanity. In the same way the beaver dams altered the course of rivers, humans and their massive cities forced the animals not to leave, but to adapt. Seeing the dandelion forcing its way out of a crack in the sidewalk was inspiring in the way it overcame the adversity brought to bear against it.

The city was gray and muted, but it lived nonetheless.

And in a way, humans were also animals. Watching them move about, engage in their daily rituals, performing their allotted tasks--from a macroscopic perspective it was not dissimilar to observing an anthill. And like an anthill, they were acutely aware when something in their nest didn’t belong.

Central City was overwhelmingly human; less than 1% of the population were Mobian, and only one, as far as Iota knew, was a robot.

As they entered the bank, Mister Heyu immediately stood in line. Miss Humi did not seem enthused to be here, and Iota could guess as to why. There were many humans here, and only humans. The three of them stood out.

“I don’t like them staring at me…” Humi muttered. Iota noted several of their watchers looking away as she said that.

“It’s fine, you get used to it,” Heyu said, patting her head. He picked her up onto his shoulder. “The bank is boring, and we’re more interesting than the decor, that’s all.”

“Why are we here again?”

“I’ve been spending a lot recently. I want to check on my savings account, and maybe get some cash for the rest of our day out.” Heyu frowned where Humi couldn’t see and patted his pockets. “I wonder if there’s an exchange rate on rings. Humi, how many do you have on you?”

Humi opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked around suspiciously at the surrounding humans in line before leaning in to whisper in the hare’s ear.

Heyu’s eyes widened fractionally. “Oh, yeah. Okay. Maybe we can see about getting you an account.”

Humi’s expression said that she didn’t trust the idea, but Iota trusted that Mister Heyu would handle it. Instead, the goodnik’s head swiveled around as he scanned for something to occupy himself with. The Federal Reserve Bank was an impressive building, but useless to Iota; he had no need for money.

There were multiple televisions throughout the bank’s lobby, playing news, sports, and sports news. A waiting area off to the side of the main doors contained a rack of magazines--Iota zoomed in--regarding fashion, travel, and birdwatching.

“Mister Heyu?”

“Hm?”

“Informative: I will be waiting in the waiting area. Let me know when your business is done, would you?”

Heyu nodded. “Sure, but we shouldn’t be long. Line’s moving quickly.”

“You call this quickly?” Humi complained.

Permission received, Iota walked over to the magazine rack and began perusing them. The other patrons gave him a wide berth, but he paid it no mind. He was well aware at this point that he still resembled one of Doctor Eggman’s creations, and that this man had earned a less-than-stellar reputation. Iota wondered if one day he would meet this man, and what he would do if that day came.

Birdwatcher’s Anonymous was a tempting read, but a quick second scan of the rack drew Iota’s intention to a tourism booklet for Central City. The issue in question was a guide to the surrounding and nearby oddities that tourists might be interested in, and Iota was interested.

The issue was recent, and detailed an archeological dig site that had been closed off to the public, an abandoned mine that would soon be open for spelunking tours, and a Chao Garden that had opened its doors to the city. The mainline article, however, featured pictures or enormous stone Jack-o-lanterns atop mountainous spires.

Pumpkin Hill, the guide called it. A hotspot for supernatural phenomena.

An example of the rare and scarcely-known mystic hills, or ‘haunted’ biome, multiple graveyards dot the landscape despite no records of burials. Train tracks run between the hills that do not connect to the wider rail network. A centuries-old church stands atop a spire of stone that experts declare would have been impossible to build in the time the bricks date to.

It was a fascinating read. Apparently there were hiking tours that went through the outskirts of the Hills, but there were no restrictions on travelling through them.

The pictures in the guidebook were lovely.

Iota wanted to take his own.

The goodnik looked up from the book to check on his friends--

--and a series of alerts popped up on his HUD. Tactical flared to life, something having been triggered by his optical scanners. Surprised, Iota swept his gaze slowly across the room. A potted plant, a common fern, was highlighted by Tactical, and it took a moment to parse why.

Sonic.

Ah! There was someone he knew hiding behind the potted plant.

…Why would Mister Sonic be hiding behind the potted plant?

Iota had no idea, but it would be rude to have seen him and not say hello, so Iota walked over.

“Greetings, Sonic the Hedgehog, it is pleasant to see--you?”

Iota halted as Tactical returned an error report. Facial structure 95% match for Sonic. Bodily build 98% match for Sonic. Energy signature 87% match for Sonic. But Sonic was not black and red.

The hedgehog Mobian, for there was no mistaking that at least, glared at Iota scornfully. 

Iota took a step back. “Apologies, sir. I mistook you for someone else.” He replayed the past thirty seconds of his memory. He was still getting a handle on etiquette; would it be rude to be excited over mistaken identity and then retracting it? “Nevertheless, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

The hedgehog didn’t answer.

“Statement: It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”

“What do you want.”

Tactical: Body language communicates hostility; disengage. “Sorrow: I can leave if you prefer, sir. I was simply trying to be polite.” Then a protocol presented itself. “Embarrassment: Oh, of course, how rude of me. I am Y-Iota. What is your name?”

“Tch.” The hedgehog stepped out of the fern’s shadow and shoved Iota out of the way as he left. “Stay away from me.”

Iota was deeply perplexed. He had no idea what to do in this situation, so he did nothing at all, simply watching as the hedgehog left.

“I’ve seen all I need to anyway,” was the last thing Iota heard before another patron of the bank passed in front of him, and when they moved on the hedgehog had vanished.

“...How peculiar.”

“What is?”

Iota turned his head to see Heyu and Humi approaching.

“Ah, friends, hello. I just encountered the strangest person. He was a hedgehog Mobian almost identical to Mister Sonic, save for coloring.”

Humi perked up from her bored expression. “Really?”

“Clarification: Yes, black with red highlights. Dual coloring is very rare among Mobians, is it not?”

Heyu hummed. “Depends on the morph, but yeah. You usually only see multiple colors on birds. Unless you want to count bees, but I wouldn’t, since can you really call it a bee if it isn’t black and yellow?”

“You mean yellow and black?” Humi asked, grinning cheekily.

Heyu flapped a hand dismissively. “Potato tomato.” He smiled. “Anyway, I’ve got more squirreled away than I thought, so I reckon it’s time for some fun.”

Iota looked at him. For a brief moment he wished he had a greater range of expression. “The aquarium?”

Heyu smirked.

Humi whined. “I wanted to go to the arcade…”

“There’ll be time for that tomorrow,” Heyu promised. “...You know you wouldn’t be allowed to tinker with the cabinets, right?”

Humi just pouted, but she broke out into a smile shortly after. “I’m kidding anyway. The aquarium sounds fun.”

“Jubilation: This will be an enjoyable afternoon indeed.”

“Hey, what’s that you got there?”

Iota looked down at the guidebook still in his hand. “Oh, I should return this.” With a faint click, his arm extended the twenty feet necessary to place it back in the rack. Incidentally, this startled a woman in the waiting area enough to make her yelp and drop her magazine. “Apologies!”

Heyu winced. He waved halfheartedly at the woman, and Iota became aware that Bank Security were staring at them. “Maybe we should leave before we overstay our welcome,” Heyu said. “C’mon, you two. Let’s go stare at some fish.”

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

[Rouge]

Meanwhile

Angel island wasn’t all that hard to find. It was a city-sized landmass floating a mile above the ocean! Of course there were entire divisions dedicated to tracking its movement. It had an odd effect on the weather nearby, it needed to be accounted for when planning international flights, and of course, the reason Rouge was interested in it, it housed the Master Emerald.

G.U.N.’s current leadership was willing to respect the fact that the Master Emerald was a cultural artifact, and given that it had a competent guardian and was otherwise difficult to get to for the average person, the commander saw no need to interfere with Angel Island.

They still kept track of it. Anything that powerful needed watching. And it was through G.U.N. that Rouge found the island’s current location off the coast of an archeological site on the edge of the desert. 

“Just let it go!”

The Master Emerald was a beautiful gem. Beautiful. A brilliant-cut masterpiece the size of her entire body! Oh, how could she not take it home and use it as a pillow? Although she had heard it was even bigger…

The problem was the guardian. Some red idiot with stupid-looking shoes. “Back off, lady!”

“You just don’t know when to give up, do you?”

The idiot gave her a frustrated look. “What are you talking about? That Emerald’s mine! You got that?”

Oh, she would get it alright. The second his back was turned… Oh no, the idiot started lecturing at her!

“The Master Emerald contains special powers that neutralize the energy of the Chaos Emeralds. That makes it very powerful…”

Rouge rolled her eyes so hard it actually gave her a headache. Or maybe it was just this loser’s voice. She didn’t care about the powers. She wanted the jewel. 

She huffed and folded her arms, looking away. Because of that, she managed to see what was coming a second before it arrived.

The idiot gasped when a metal claw fell out of the sky and wrapped around her Emerald. “What the?!”

“What? Thief!” Rouge yelled out, affronted. She was here first!

“Look who’s calling who a thief!”

The flying contraption’s pilots leaned out over the top, giving them a full view of his ugly bald head, and Rouge’s eyes sharpened as she realized who they were dealing with.

“Hoho! I came here following the Emerald’s signal, but if I’m not mistaken, this is the Master Emerald, is it not?”

The idiot growled, raising a fist in challenge. “It’s you! Dr. Eggman!”

Rouge leaned back on her heels, allowing herself to look surprised. “So that’s Dr. Eggman.” Her reaction wasn’t entirely faked. Pictures didn’t do the overweight scientist justice. 

“Well,” Eggman mused, “I guess I can use it for something. I’ll just take it with me!” He sneered and gave them both a cheery wave as he prepared to take off. “Farewell, knucklehead!”

“Not if I can help it!”

So here was Rouge’s plan. Steal the Master Emerald, because she wanted to, and because it was a high-profile job that would attract attention that she could use to get on Eggman’s radar. And, as a bonus, she would then have the Master Emerald. Eggman showing up to steal it himself was frustrating, but it meant she knew where he was and she could skip straight to ingratiating herself using her personal Chaos Emerald as a bargaining chip.

So when that… that moron jumped up and shattered that beautiful gem into a dozen pieces, she could only stare in abject horror and scream.

“AAAAAAAH!”

Rouge grabbed the idiot by the shoulders as he landed and shook him angrily. “What was that all about?! Just look at what you did to my Emerald!”

The idiot pushed her off, glaring. “I did that to prevent the Emerald from being stolen, you idiot! If it’s in pieces, I can restore it.”

Oh, she was the idiot?!

“And by the way, that’s not your Emerald!”

Eggman muttered to himself as he fled, and Rouge’s ears twitched as she tuned in. “Hmph, doesn’t matter. I’ll look into it once I get back to the base… assuming I have time.”

Rouge stared after him, fuming. Eggman was going to get what was coming to him; first he interrupted her heist, then he got her prize broken, and he didn’t even seem bothered by the loss! “I despise anyone who takes jewels away from me! All the world’s gems are mine to keep!”

The idiot scoffed. “Yeah, we’ll see about that, bat girl.”

Without any further banter, the idiot jumped away from the Emerald’s altar and ran for the mainland.

Her audience gone, Rouge dropped her mask and thought furiously. The front she presented to the world wasn’t a false one, it just wasn’t a complete one. She loved gems and jewels and wanted as many as she could get her hands on… but she was on a mission.

Ignoring Knuckles for now, Rouge took flight and peered after Eggman’s vehicle, still visible in the distance. He was flying, so he was almost certainly heading in a straight line back to his base; such a small craft would be hard to detect, and Eggman was known to be arrogant regardless, so he probably didn’t feel a need to obfuscate his movement. So if he was heading straight there…

Rouge pulled out a map and compass. From this high up, the map was easy to compare to the real deal… so if she was here and he was headed there--

Eggman would be heading towards the pyramids. That was a base G.U.N. knew about but despite their best efforts they hadn’t yet been able to breach the inner walls.

But of course, until now they didn’t have Rouge the Bat on infiltration duty.

…But now that she knew where he was heading, maybe there wouldn’t be any harm in taking the scenic route. She wasn’t about to let that knucklehead get his mitts on her Emerald before she could, after all…

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

[Heyu]

Good news! The reception staff at the aquarium were so confused by Iota’s presence that they didn’t charge to let him in, and with kids getting in free today, the only ticket I ended up paying for was mine.

“Wow, they’ve updated the place since the last time I was here,” I noted. I remembered beige, and sharp angles, and simple tanks like an oversized pet shop. Now, it was much better-looking, with wave patterns built into the walls and a lovely oceanic carpet and organic shapes everywhere. The lighting had been changed so that it was almost like being underwater. It was nice. 

Humi, riding on my shoulders, rested her head on mine. “I wanna see a shark.” She idly kicked her legs against my chest.

“We will, they’ve got a famous tiger shark here.” The aquarium was one of those places where everyone felt like a kid again, I felt, and I was no exception. Glass tanks filled with colorful fish, underwater tunnels, even a penguin exhibit.

Iota’s head was on a swivel, both literally and figuratively. It looked like he was trying to see the entire building at once. “Observation: I am seeing seven different varieties of coral, hosting a plethora of shallow-sea fish. Clown fish!” Iota hurried over to the first tank that grabbed his attention, and I followed after at a leisurely pace.

If he was even slightly less conscious of himself, I bet Iota would have pressed his face against the glass. “You’re certainly excited.”

“Of course I am. The world beneath the waves is so very different compared to the surface, and it becomes ever more alien the deeper you go! Look, an anemone!”

I chuckled. “You know, there’s a tide pool exhibit in one room where they let you pet small rays and turtles. And sometimes they let an octopus in, or even otters.”

Iota’s head turned to give me the most plaintive look his camera eyes would allow, and I let out a full-on laugh.

“Relax, we’ll get there.” Then again, they’d changed some things around, so who knows? I pulled Humi off my back and put her on Iota’s. “Okay you two, I’m going to swing by the gift shop right quick and pick up a pamphlet guide. You two stay right here,” I said, sternly. “And don’t wander off. Humi, you can, uh, make sure Iota’s hands are waterproof.”

Humi saluted. Iota looked at his hands worriedly while I made my way over. We hadn’t gone far yet, and I wanted to know what to expect.

It was funny, really. Iota sounded like an old man, but he talked like a kid. Sometimes, anyway. The more excited he got the less formal he sounded. It was endearing, really, even if it felt like I was dealing with two children instead of one.

The pamphlets were on a stand right inside the gift shop, so I grabbed one and skimmed over it. A few things I don’t remember, but a lot that I did. I grabbed a second for Iota and turned to leave, when the TV caught my eye.

It was set up on a wall by the door and displaying a news channel. It wasn’t normally anything I’d pay mind to, except, well…

“...Federal Reserve Bank was robbed just a short while ago. Only one time was stolen, which the bank has yet to disclose to this station. However, security footage has been shared, giving the identity of the thief: none other than… Sonic the Hedgehog?” 

The news anchor inspected her script dubiously while the channel put up a frame from the footage. It was grainy and monochrome, but it was definitely displaying a Mobian with quills. That was the only thing I was prepared to say with certainty.

My reaction at the time is something I’m still a little embarrassed by.

I laughed. “Wow, someone’s getting fired over that. Sonic the Hedgehog, bank thief. Unbelievable.” I elbowed another patron, a human. “Can you believe they actually said that? That picture is less than nothing!”

The older man blinked at me, caught off guard at being addressed, but he shrugged. “How can you be so sure? It looks like Sonic to me.”

I rolled my eyes, still smirking. “Please. It looks like a hedgehog, sure, but Sonic’s not the only one in the world.”

“They said that was the only frame the culprit appeared…”

“All hedgehogs are fast,” I dismissed. “And that’s besides the point. I’ve met Sonic, he’s a good kid. He wouldn’t do this sort of thing, and everyone knows it.”

The older man grunted uncertainly, obviously not inclined to continue talking. That was fine, I was done anyway.

“Sonic the bank robber…” I mumbled to myself as I left the shop. “What will they think of next?”

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

[Mecha]

Mecha Sonic had figured out what to do next.

It didn’t understand what it kept doing wrong. The Doctor ordered him to wait in the garage, so it did. It got yelled at for not doing anything, so it went and did ‘something useful.’ That was a frustratingly broad command, but it ended up looking for and finding a Chaos Emerald, on the basis that according to records most of the Doctor’s plans had involved them in some way, and so it was a safe bet that the next one would too.

Mecha got yelled at for taking one from G.U.N., because it resulted in a heavier resistance when the Doctor invaded Prison Island himself later. Now, Mecha did not have any orders. It had been left in the pyramid base while the Doctor tried to figure out… Shadow.

Mecha did not like Shadow.

Mecha desperately wanted to be in the doctor’s good graces. It would have liked to amend that sentence with ‘again,’ but it didn’t think the Doctor had ever looked upon it favorably. Now, Shadow had commanded the Doctor--and that frustrated Mecha greatly--to gather the remaining Emeralds. The Doctor was currently figuring out where they were.

Mecha knew that the best way forward, right now, was to locate an Emerald for the Doctor. But… how?

…

There was a thought, though, that occurred to it. The last time an Emerald was missing and couldn’t be found, where had it ended up?

Mecha had an idea where it might be...