Hop To It - Adventure 9

[Eggman]

​

​Metal Sonic was already as fast as current technology could make him. Well, no, that wasn't quite true, Eggman could conceive of ways to create a faster robot, but the engines it would need wouldn't fit in a Hedgehog-sized machine. Maybe someday. No, Metal Sonic didn't need any further speed upgrades as of yet, and so the testbed model didn't have any to give it a boost. Mecha Sonic was not slow by any means, but its primary strength was... well, its strength.

Eggman watched grimly through his video feed as Sonic ran circles around Mecha. The machine was perfectly capable of keeping track of him but his weapon systems weren't. 

"I gotta say, Eggman, I'm kinda disappointed!" the hedgehog taunted, knowing he could hear him. "Another robot me? Isn't that getting old? It's not even as good as the last one!"

Mecha didn't have a personality as such, just the base programming he gave to all his elite units, but it still clearly took offense at the statement and unloaded its ordnance. Missiles flew in a wide spread in the hopes that one would hit. Watching his hated enemy dodge high explosives cheered him slightly, so Eggman pressed on the intercom.

"Laugh while you can, rodent! You haven't seen anything yet! Mecha Sonic! Keep him busy!" He deactivated the microphone and leaned out of his cockpit. "Eta! How soon until it's completed?!"

Eta sent him a data packet; he'd disabled the useless machine's vocoder. The slow speech was too much to tolerate. The report indicated that fuelling and arming was complete, but there was unexpected internal damage being discovered.

​Eggman scanned the damage listing and blew air through his mustache. This wasn't ideal... but perhaps he could make it work. Yes. Working himself into a proper bluster, Eggman sent a message to Mecha.

Fall back to the Viper and provide support while I engage him.

With the press of a switch, the Final Egg's structure shifted, and the tracks he'd built to keep Sonic directed changed to lead right here, to the final showdown.

Let it never be said that Dr. Eggman didn't have an appreciation for dramatics. This may not be the finale he'd envisioned when he set this plan into motion, but by chaos he would make it a grand one!

Only two minutes later, and the doors busted open. Mecha flew inside, Sonic tight on his heels. The hedgehog skidded to a halt when he saw the glory of the Egg Viper, allowing Mecha enough time to take its position. Eta made a quick escape; E-106 was more useful in an administrative role than combat right now.

"Well, if it isn't my good pal, Sonic!" Eggman said with forced cheer. "I'm surprised you made it this far!"

"You know me, Eggy!" Sonic said in that oh-so-casual way that made Eggman's hackles rise. "I'm never late to a party, especially when you've set up a pinata as big as that!"

"Oho, such confidence. But then, you would be, sending your little friends ahead to clear the way for you!"

Sonic faltered, confused. "Uh...?"

He didn’t pay it any mind. Obviously the hedgehog was foolish enough to think he wouldn’t notice. "But it was all for naught! Only a minor setback! Today, Sonic, you meet your doom!" The Egg Viper folded over his control booth, and he let himself grin viciously. "Get a load of this!"

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

[Heyu]​

I couldn't help but stare a little before we split off from Big towards Humi's place. The cat was strong enough to carry that jet plane over his shoulder with the same ease as his fishing pole. And according to him it was because he just, like, had a Chaos Emerald around. Not using it, just having it nearby. Absolutely incredible.

"We'll catch up with you in a bit, Big!" Amy called. Froggy croaked in response.

"We will?" Humi asked, already running ahead.

"Well, of course," the hedgehog said like it was obvious. "We'll do your errand and then catch up with him at Tails's place, and we'll all go to the Egg Carrier to look for Birdie's family!"

​Humi looked at me, questioning. I closed my eyes, thinking. I wasn't keen on jumping right back into fighting robots, but maybe between the four of us we'd be okay. With Amy's giant hammer and Big's giant... everything, I could almost feel good about our chances. I nodded.

Humi beamed. "Yeah! We'll find your family, Birdie!"

Amy clapped happily. "Thanks, you two. I'm sure Birdie appreciates it, don't you?"

"Fweet!"

"Now, where is this place--oh!" We stepped into the clearing that held Humi's hideaway, and Amy stared. "This place is so... cute!"

Humi paused in the middle of opening the door. "It is?"

"It's got character," I offered, stepping inside. The first time I was here, it was already dark and hard to make everything out. Then in the morning I wasn't properly awake until we had already left. In the light of day, the place was even more packed with junk than I thought. But there were a few surprising treasures, too. Oh, hey! "Is that a cribbage board?" I picked up the wooden slab, and the pegs rattled in a compartment on the bottom. "And I think I left a pack of cards upstairs. Hey, Humi, you know how to play?"

​She shook her head. "I didn't know what that was, I just liked the design on top."

It was true, there were stands and trees painted from a bird's-eye view in the empty space around the track. "Neat. Well, remind me to show you how to play when we get done with all this excitement. It's pretty fun. You know how to shuffle cards?"

She scoffed at that. "Of course I do. 'Scuse me, I gotta unload."

"Sure, go on." I let her run off and returned my attention to the treasure trove. Hey, I remember that owl statue.

"Oh my gosh, look at this!" Amy was digging through a crowded shelf and pulled out a little robot. "It's an Omachao!"

​I brightened, wandering over. "Oh hey, I remember these. This one's an older model, I had one as a toy when I was little." I took it and wound the key on its back. After four turns it shuddered to life, the propeller on its head whirring to life after a couple false starts. The little automaton took flight. "The newer models have basic AI, but the old ones were mostly clockwork. It also had catchphrases, but it sounds like the voice box is dead."

We watched it do three circuits around the room before the spring ran down, and it gently floated to a stop up on the loft.

"So she just finds a bunch of stuff and leaves it here?" Amy asked, looking around.

"App--"

There was a loud crash of metal, and we turned to see Humi next to several piles of scrap metal, each twice her height. She had turned one of her pockets inside out, and was stuffing it back in before quickly sorting the parts through some system I couldn't discern at a glance.

"...Apparently," I said, impressed. I snapped my fingers, remembering something, and swung the backpack off to empty it out. "Hey Humi, you got a cooler or something for the remaining food?" I called.

"Under the heavy blanket!"

"The heavy--oh, I see it." There was a red weighted blanket next to a shelf of raggedy-looking books. Part of me noticed that all the books I recognized were for small children, or had a lot of pictures, but I didn’t give it much thought. When I pushed the blanket aside there were three big cooler chests under it. Two were empty, the other was filled with water in both bottled and loose form.

Once that was taken care of, I took Iota's head and set it on one of the rare unoccupied surfaces, adjusting it so it looked into the center of the room, then finally just upended the rest onto one of Humi's to-be-sorted piles.

"Wow, you guys really cleaned up in the Final Egg, didn't you?" Amy said, sounding impressed.

"It was mostly Humi, I don't know what most of this stuff does." My mouth twitched. "Final Egg? Man, Robotnik really sticks to a theme, doesn't he? The tower wasn't even particularly egg-shaped."

Amy laughed, then made a squealing sound. "Oh, look at this little chest! It's adorable!"

I looked, and rushed over to grab her wrist before she could open it. "Don't."

​She jerked her arm back. "Hey, what gives?"

"Humi doesn't want that one opened." I didn't have any idea why, but I didn't need to know why to respect her wishes.

"It's okay." Speak of the devil, Humi jogged over and picked up the box. 

It had been too dark before to get a good look. The jewelry box looked like it might be an antique. It was faintly rosy in coloration and a simple floral design carved into the lid. Next to Humi it looked like a treasure chest. And then she opened it.

Amy's eyes sparkled. "Look at all the rings!"

The inside of the chest was full of gold. Most of it was the same rings we'd been finding, in different sizes but mostly a little smaller than Humi's palm. There were also some examples of actual jewelry, like a broken pearl necklace, multiple earrings missing a twin, and a single impressive-looking engagement ring. And also, most prominently, a hand-size black velvet bag with the Casinopolis logo embossed on it.

Amy reached for the bag curiously.

"Don't touch it!" Humi snapped. When Amy pulled her hand back, Humi took a short breath and mumbled an apology. "Sorry. Just. Don't touch that one."

"I won't," Amy promised, a little bewildered. We both watched Humi dump our collected rings into the chest, almost doubling the amount already in there. "You've got an impressive collection there."

Humi hummed without comment, just slipping the grabby claw off her tail and prying it apart, letting the single ring inside fall in as well. "That was getting uncomfortable."

"Are they actually worth something?" I asked. "I barely knew what these rings were until we found them in those badniks. Are they real gold?"

"Maybe? I never thought to ask," she hedged. "The casinos use them like chips. They're more common in some places than others." She winked. "But I'm sure you noticed their real worth already!"

I stared at her blankly.

​She looked surprised. "You didn't notice them doing anything for you? When I collect a lot of rings, I've noticed myself feeling faster!"

...That would explain a few things. Like how high I kept jumping all throughout the tower, and how it seemed to get easier as we went to judge how far I was going. And Robotnik had them inside his robots. I wonder what else they could do? ...Not the time, I can ponder that later. "Maybe we should hold onto a few for now, in that case, eh Humi?"

I started to reach out to grab a handful, but looked to her for permission first. She smiled, so I grabbed some and stuffed them in my vest pockets.

"Did I mention I like your vest, by the way? The color reminds me of--"

"Do you want it?" I asked her seriously.

"Oh! No, It's not my style."

Humi giggled. "It's not Heyu's either."

I chuckled and ruffled her fur. "Oi, packrat. Got everything you need?"

"One sec!"

While she ran off to get what supplies she might need, I looked at the jewelry box. Specifically, at the bag inside. Something about it tugged at my memory, but the answer wasn't coming to me. I ultimately shrugged and closed the lid, setting it back on the shelf where it belonged.

"Uh, Heyu?"

"Hm?" I looked at Amy, who was shifting a little awkwardly. "I, uh, almost forgot to say, but... I'm sorry about the whole... getting you guys in danger, thing. You weren't wrong about taking a child into the tower. Even if it seemed to work out."

I straightened, giving her a Look. "I'm glad. Though I encourage you to acknowledge that you are also a child."

"That's different."

"Mm-hm."

"B-but I wanted to make it up to you," Amy said, pulling a deck of cards out.

"Oh, do you want a game of cribbage?" That was a surprise, she didn't strike me as the board game type.

"What? No. I'm going to give you a free tarot reading!"

"...What?"

​I grabbed one of my ears and pulled it down for inspection. Everything looked ship-shaped, so I checked the other one and still found no anomalies. Satisfied that I wasn't hearing things, I gave her the flattest stare I could manage and was rewarded with one corner of her mouth falling down. 

"What?" I asked again.

"A tarot reading," she repeated. "You know, telling fortunes! It's a little something I do for extra pocket change. I haven't had a dissatisfied customer yet!"

I looked to the ceiling and cupped my hands around my face. Robots, rings, animal batteries, inventor mice, hidden towers, and giant cats, and somehow fortune telling was the line for me. "...Sure, why not at this point?"

Amy sat on the ground, beckoning me to do the same, and started shuffling. "Do you know much about tarot cards?"

"I know some of the arcana," I admitted. "Never put much stock into cards."

"Well, don't worry, I'll explain what they mean!" She riffled the cards once or twice, then drew one. "Your first card is--" She looked at it, and her smile dropped. "O-oh."

That wasn't ominous at all, no sir.

Grimacing, she set the card face down on the floor between us. Then she drew the second and looked confused. She set it down, drew the third and looked thoughtful, and then set the rest of the deck aside.

"Okay, so, it didn't look so good at first. Your first card was The Tower. Usually not a good sign. It means big big changes, usually for the worst. But the second card is Wheel of Fortune. It also means changes. Taken together with the Tower, I think it means that things are changing in ways you never imagined, but probably for the better?"

I leaned back, feeling unimpressed. There were definitely some big changes going on, right enough. Jury's out on whether they were for the better so far.

“Then, your third card was the Two of Swords, which means a big choice is coming up that you need to consider carefully.” She tilted her head, giving the card a look. 

I gave the card a look of my own. It depicted a woman in a blindfold, holding two swords. A big decision, huh? Well, that could mean pretty much anything. Maybe it was about my living situation. Depending on how much damage the Square had been put through I might need to move back in with my folks. 

…I should probably visit them anyway. I don’t know how far the news of the attack has spread yet but they’re probably worried about me.

“Well, that was interesting,” I said, trying to be polite. “For what it’s worth I thank you for apologizing.” I stood up and gave my legs a stretch.

“Any idea what the big choice might be?” Amy asked, standing as well.

I started to answer--with what I don’t know--but Humi interrupted me by skipping over, carrying a wrench. “I’m ready!” she said cheerfully.

I smiled. ​"Oh, good." I shouldered the backpack and held out my hand. Humi took it happily and squeaked when I swung her over my head into her ride. "Let's not keep Big waiting any longer, huh?"

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

As Heyu and Humi went outside, Amy followed with a giggle. “Oh, I think I know. You’ve made your decision already, huh?”