FicWad

------------------------------------------------------------------------- Illness
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'What is the terror of death
That we die our work incomplete
What is the joy of life
To die knowing our task is done.'
-Unknown
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The force struck him hard and fast. Mecha's fist slammed into Sonic's face, sending him hurling over the cliff. As he fell, he could hear the screams of Sally and Tails at the top, as the evil robot no doubt intended to kill them, or at least kidnap them.

The cliff was massive, Sonic could feel the G-force against his face as he fell, and could see the roaring waterfall rushing down beside him. Then he hit the water. 'Belly flop'. Pain rushed through his body, and he curled into a ball to make it stop. When he pulled his head up, he didn't know where he was. All the water looked the same. He couldn't tell the difference between up and down. He swam through the murky water, trying to find some indication of which way the surface was. Suddenly, he felt a great force pushing him. He tried to get away, but he was trapped. He was under the waterfall. Now he knew which way was up. Only thing was, he was going the other way. He was going down, down, down, caught in the rip. The water was darker near the bottom. He couldn't see anything. His lungs really began to hurt.

He managed to escape from the waterfall. Looking around, he realised the horrible truth - he was lost again. Disoriented. His lungs pounded. He couldn't see, the water was so dark, he could hear the sound of the waterfall all around him, engulfing him. So loud, so loud... He tried to block his ears, but he was so weak... his lungs felt so compressed, they felt like they would explode. Nothing but darkness all around. Too weak to move. He closed his eyes, trying to block the pain from his lungs. Spots before his eyes, now. So loud, the sound hurt his ears. He got pins and needles. So painful. He began to black out when he felt a pair of cold metal hands grip onto his shoulders and began to pull him up. Sonic struggled to hold what little breath he still maintained.

The icy water rushed past him, chilling his body further. The spots before his eyes began multiplying, dancing and flashing in a stop and start rhythm. Darkness then began to take over the visual dance floor, starting at the edges of Sonic's eyes.

Just as Sonic felt himself lose his grip on consciousness again his head broke through the still surface of the river waters. Sonic gulped in the life-giving oxygen, aware of the darkness once again dissolving. But just as he began to recover Sonic was dunked back into the water like a soaking biscuit. Caught off-guard Sonic by accident swallowed a mouthful of water when he went to breathe in more air. A second later of panicked thrashing Sonic was yanked out again.

Sonic coughed and spluttered what water he could force out of himself, then dared a look at his 'rescuer'. The cold hard glare of Mecha Sonic met his gaze. Water was dripping off each and every part of the metal monstrosity, some of it pouring out of its joints. Sonic wondered if the damn thing was water-proof, and if it was not, how long it would take for it to short out.

Sonic peered down, realising that he was dangling at least four feet above the water. A strange fear gripped his heart; the main reason Sonic hated water was because he couldn't swim. But somewhere deep down the fear that had a hold on him seemed different, like the type you felt when you were afraid of the dark. Sonic felt the robot drop him slightly, and the fear raised a notch. As if acting with the raised fear Sonic looked up at the robot and shot an uncharacteristic hiss at it. The Mecha Bot was unfazed by the action.

The Mecha Bot suddenly dug its diamond-tipped claws into Sonic's shoulders, making Sonic holler from the unexpected pain. The cold water that was dripping from his head-quills ran along the wounds, feeling like burning acid. Through the pain Sonic felt the cold arm of the robot snaked about his stomach, allowing the robot to free its other hand. When Sonic noticed that Mecha Sonic was attempting to slash the back of his neck Sonic growled and grabbed at the robot's arm, then pulled it back and forced the robot's hand to smack into its own head.

Frustrated by the attack Mecha Sonic spun itself in the air and threw Sonic with all its strength towards the riverbank, then jetted after him with the aid of its fan-forced engine. Its metallic claws were stretched out in front of it, ready for an instant kill. Sonic landed roughly onto the river bank, rolling out of the insane robot's warpath just in the nick of time, which in turn caused Mecha to ram into the thick trunk of a large Oak tree and drive its knifelike claws into it. Giving a digital scream the robot began to wretch itself with sharp jerks, for the moment forgetting about its assassination target.

Sonic's amber eyes flashed with determination as he ran at full speed towards the robot, which had dislodged its claws out from the tree and had fallen to the ground. Sonic rammed his shoulder into the robot's belly before it could regain its balance, sending the robot flying a few yards back. Before Mecha could pick itself up again, Sonic had sped up to it and stabbed his own razor sharp claws into the robot's eye, destroying its optic sensors. The robot gave yet another digital scream, like as if it actually hurt it.

As the Mecha Bot staggered around blindly, Sonic again rammed into it at full speed, slamming it into yet another tree. This time the robot didn't pick itself up, as the last impact had deactivated it. Sonic stalked up to the unmoving Mecha-wannabe, pain surging through his back as he walked.

When he was sure that the robot was not going to attack again Sonic quickened his pace until he was standing over the robot. He glared down at its lifeless black eyes, then brought up his foot and stomped onto its head, crushing it under his sneaker. Sonic then stood back to admire his handy work. There, now there was no way it could reactivate itself now, he thought smugly to himself.

Sonic slumped back against the tree he had slammed Mecha into and held his head in his hand, waiting for the pounding to subside. He could still hear the thundering roar of the waterfall in his ears, so Sonic pawed at them as an attempt to stop it. He was soaked from head to toe, and the water had been icy cold. Sonic shivered and forced his teeth to not chatter.

"Sonic!"

The hedgehog lifted his head and saw Tails flying towards him, the fox's wrists gripped by Sally. Thankfully, neither was harmed. The robot must have only had been after him, and not his friends.

Sally released Tails' wrists and ran the rest of the way towards Sonic, tossing her arms around the hedgehog's neck upon reaching him. "Sonic! Are you all right?" she asked, heavy concern in her voice.

"'Course I am. It takes more than some dumb tin can to bring down the ol' hedgehog," Sonic grinned, amber eyes gleaming with bravado. Sally stared into Sonic's eyes for a second, smiling slightly, then snapped back into reality and pulled away from Sonic quickly.

"Good. That's good to hear," she fumbled, regaining her composure. Sonic looked at her with confusion, but then mentally shrugged off Sally's strange behaviour.

Meanwhile Tails was staring at the hedgehog with numb shock, not noticing what Sally had just done.

"Sonic. You're bleeding," the kit finally spoke up. Sonic looked at his shoulder and realised what his friend had told him was true, for dark crimson streams of blood had fallen down along his arms, staining his tan fur with its colour. Sonic could also feel the blood trickling down his back slowly, sticking to his fur. Some blood had managed to get onto the tree he was leaning against as well.

The pounding in Sonic's head suddenly increased, bringing a feeling of faintness over the hedgehog. Sonic suppressed a groan as he slumped back against the tree again, almost collapsing. Sally lashed out a hand to grab Sonic's hand before he could do so.

"Are you all right?" Sally asked as she steadied Sonic. Numbly, the blue hedgehog nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a bit... light-headed," he mumbled, leaning his head back against the tree.

Sally turned Sonic to his side and examined his back. Large cuts, about three inches long and half an inch thick, crossed over Sonic shoulders and across his upper back. Most of his back quills were covered with blood already.

"Sit down for a minute. You're bleeding a lot," Sally ordered. Sonic did so as Sally peeled off her backpack and unzipped it.

"What are you gonna do, Aunt Sally?" Tails questioned, watching Sally curiously. Sally pulled out some cloth from her backpack and pressed it against Sonic's shoulder.

"I'm just going to stop the bleeding, honey," she answered, gazing at the fox and smiling calmly. Tails inched over so that he could see what Sally was doing. He was still training to become a Freedom Fighter and wanted to learn everything he could to become a good one. Tails knew about the approaching Doomsday Project.

"Just pray that you don't have to do this one day, bro," Sonic said, lifting a hand to hold the cloth in place while Sally grabbed another one from her backpack. His faintness had disappeared once he had sat down, but he did appear somewhat pale from the blood loss.

"No, he should be praying that psychopathic robots on a killing spree don't come after him," Sally pointed out.

"That too."

Sally tied the cloth around Sonic's shoulders, then carefully pulled his arm over her shoulders and helped him to stand up, along with Tails' help, who kept Sonic steady by supporting his side.

"Think you can walk back to Knothole?" Sally asked.

"I'm not walking around with a gaping hole in my back you know, Sal," Sonic answered in a frustrated tone. His eyes fell back to the river he had fallen into. On their way back from Robotropolis the Mecha Sonic robot had come after them, specifically Sonic. Before any of the trio had a chance to react the robot had thrown the first punch, which had caused Sonic to fall into Culgoa River.

As he stared at the river Sonic realised that the water seemed unusual. Sonic narrowed his eyes then shook his head slightly. Somehow, from where he was standing, the water appeared purple to the hedgehog, but when he tilted his head Sonic noticed that it changed back to its normal colour. He experimented with this a few more times, then shook his head again. Maybe he hit the water too hard when he was pushed off, he thought.

"Sonic?"

Sally's voice brought him back to reality and Sonic looked at her blankly.

"Are you all right?" Sally questioned, worried. Sonic just nodded, flashing her his familiar grin. Sonic just nodded, flashing her his familiar grin. "Yeah, let's cruise outta here," he said. Then he remembered the life-less robot. "What should we do with the 'bot, Sal?"

"Leave it here, I don't want that robot anywhere near the village," Sally stated.

"Good call," Sonic agreed.

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In Robotropolis the battle had been witnessed by a lone figure in front of a computer terminal.

"Sir. The hedgehog has destroyed the Mecha Bot prototype," Snively reported. He had been watching the video feedback he was receiving from the Mecha Sonic prototype through a monitor when the image suddenly ended in violent static, signalling the 'bot's destruction. Snively knew that the doctor wouldn't be pleased and dreaded telling him the bad news.

Robotnik walked over to the computer terminal and stood behind his nephew, a dark frown wrinkling his flabby face. "Damage report, Snively," he growled, dark voice echoing in the quiet control centre. Snively typed in a few commands into the computer and examined the green text on the monitor.

"Visual sensors and CPU had been completely destroyed. There's minimal damage to the hull itself, except for the head, and can be repaired," Snively informed, then looked up at Robotnik. "Should I send a recon-bot to retrieve the unit?"

Robotnik glared at the text filled monitor, quickly reading over what Snively had just read out, and felt his disappointment rise as yet another project had just been confirmed a failure. After the failed gene-splicing project involving Sonic, Robotnik had decided to build a Mecha Bot with Sonic's newly acquired abilities and features. The first prototype was literally slapped together a fortnight before the metamorphosis project, programmed with cheap programs Robotnik had then set aside until after Sonic's involvement in the gene-splicing project. Obviously Robotnik needed to work on the next prototype more; and maybe use imported parts and programs to make it flawless.

"Affirmative. Perhaps we can still salvage something from the wreck," Robotnik proclaimed. As an after thought he asked, "Which river did the hedgehog fall in?"

Snively again typed in a few commands into the computer. A satellite image of Mobius booted up onto the screen, then automatically began zooming in onto a precise location as it tracked down the Mecha unit. Finally the computer found the coordinates and a name flashed across the screen in neon green: Culgoa River.

When he saw the name on the screen, Robotnik smiled wickedly. That use to be one of the rivers he used as a dumping ground for chemicals that had exhausted their use years ago. The waterfall located there acted as a sort of mixing tool that kept the chemicals active, which showed in the surrounding plant-life. Although the chemicals dumped in that actual river were not deadly, they could still make a person incredibly ill if a certain amount had been consumed.

No doubt Sonic had to have swallowed quite a large amount of the poisoned water during his struggle with the robot and would soon feel its affects.

Robotnik's smile widened at that thought. Perhaps the rodent's mutation will increase the chemical's effects. Of course the hedgehog would recover from his illness but still, perhaps it'll slow Sonic, along with the Freedom Fighters, down enough for Robotnik to speed up work on his Doomsday Device. Or even a different project he had in mind for a while now.

"Oh, this is good. Very, very good indeed," Robotnik whispered. Out loud he said, "Snively, I have a new assignment for you."

Wide-eyed the tiny Overlander swivelled his chair around to face Robotnik. "A new assignment, Sir?" he questioned, a hinting of surprise in his voice. In response Robotnik pulled out a folded piece of paper from his cloak and handed it to Snively.

"I want you to find out as much as you can about the object in that picture, including its location, history, and anything else that may be valuable to me," he ordered, and watched as Snively unfolded the paper. There was a silent pause from Snively, then, "Did this come from him?"

Robotnik had already left the room.

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"You could have needed major surgery if the cuts were any deeper than they are now. You are very, very lucky," Sally declared while she cleaned up the wounds on Sonic's shoulders. Once the three of them returned to Knothole Sally had taken Sonic straight to his room to properly treat the cuts on his shoulders and back. It was after the excess blood was washed away it was revealed that the wounds were not as bad as first anticipated.

"Sure. But I still didn't have enough luck to not get the cuts," Sonic smirked, then winced as Sally dabbed some disinfectant onto one of the gashes.

"Guess that's true. Still feel faint?" Sally asked as she placed gauze patches over the cuts, then began wrapping a bandage around his upper torso and shoulders to secure the patches.

"A little. I'll get over it, though," Sonic responded.

Sally finished wrapping Sonic's shoulders and began packing away the equipment she was using. "There. That should do it," she finalised after a while, giving the hedgehog's shoulder a sharp slap for emphasise. Sonic yelped and glared daggers at the ground squirrel, who in turn shrugged innocently as she slid off the bed.

"I'll go now so that you can get some sleep. I'll check up on you in the morning, okay?" she told Sonic, facing him.
"Sure, Sal. No prob," Sonic nodded as he too stood and walked Sally to the door. Sally stepped out of Sonic's hut and waved shortly at him.

"Goodnight, Sonic," she called.

"Goodnight, Sal," Sonic returned.

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The next day everything seemed fairly normal.

Sonic's ears pricked up to the sound of footsteps coming from outside coming towards his door. Taking a quick glance at himself in the mirror and running his fingers through his quills, Sonic then reached over and pushed his door open. His ears cocked back when he heard someone walk through the door a few minutes later.

"How did you know I was there, Sonic?" Sonic heard Sally ask. The ground squirrel walked up to him a second later.

Sonic grinned and shrugged. "It's not my fault you're loud," he commented, shaking his head to fix up his long quills.

"When you opened the door I was more than three meters away," Sally informed. Sonic stared at her blankly, then again shrugged.

"Okay, then you're really loud," he said, tensing the 'really' in his statement. Sally scowled and gave Sonic a small shove. "So how are you today, Wiseguy?" she asked.

"Besides the fact that my shoulders and back are killing me, I'm fine," Sonic responded. To prove his point Sonic carefully stretched out his left shoulder stiffly, then moved it in a circular motion.

Sally ran her fingertips over the bandages, noting that there were small patches of red dotting them. The bandages were also a little loose.

"Some blood has gone through, Sonic. Let me change the bandages," Sally suggested.

"Nah, don't worry about it, Sal. It's cool," Sonic assured casually.

"'Cool' is not the same as 'fine'," Sally pointed out firmly, not missing a beat. "Where's your first-aid kit?"

Sonic sighed and rolled his eyes, stopping when they were viewing the ceiling. He muttered something incomprehensible to himself, then out loud said, "I shoved it under my bed somewhere. I swear, Sal, the cuts bled because I had a shower this morning. But it's stopped now."

Sally dropped to her knees and peered under Sonic's bed. "Are you sure it's under here?" she quizzed.

Again Sonic sighed and walked over to where Sally was. He crouched and began feeling around for the metal box. Sally watched in silent shock as Sonic began pushing out crumpled up pieces of paper, old magazines, and even balled-up socks from the abyss of the underside of his bed.

Finally Sonic pulled out the large first-aid kit and slid it in front of Sally. "There," he stated, leaning his hands on the surface of the box. "One first-aid kit."

Sally averted her eyes to the scattered mess that now took over Sonic's floor. Sonic followed her gaze and smirked sheepishly. "Um, I'll clean it up later," he murmured.

"Just don't shove it all under your bed again," Sally said, grabbing the box's handle and hauling it up onto the bed.

"Hey, we all have different ways of doing things, including cleaning," Sonic retorted as he pulled himself up. When he did this his vision blurred instantly, a sensation of faintness following. Sonic staggered back and bumped into his bedside table, his hands fumbling to grab the edge of it.

"Are you all right?" Sally questioned, steadying Sonic by taking a hold of his arm. Sonic held his head and nodded, vision returning. "Yeah, I'm okay. Guess I just got up too quick," he assured, grinning.

"Are you sure?"

Sonic sat down and nodded. "Sure I'm sure. Don't worry about it, Sal. It happens."

Sally sat down next to Sonic, then slid behind him. "Okay, if you say so," she said, opening the first-aid kit. "Oh, by the way, I told Rotor about that Mechabot from yesterday."

Sonic shivered involuntarily.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, Rotor wants you to tell him more about it. I just told him what I saw, but right now you have the most experience with Mechabots," Sally explained.

"Unfortunately," Sonic muttered. "I'll catch up with him later. I hope Rote' decides to turn the stupid thing into scrap metal."

Sally unwrapped the bandages from around Sonic's shoulders, then took a cotton bud and soaked it with alcohol. She streaked it over one of the cuts, making Sonic twitch.

"Have you've seen Tails today, Sal?" Sonic asked, turning his head to try and look at Sally.

"I have, actually. He seemed all right to me," she answered, stopping her motions momentarily. "Why?"

Sonic shrugged his shoulders gingerly. "Just wanted to make sure that he was all right, that's all," he responded. He felt Sally's hand swept over the back of his torso as she spread a fresh gauze patch over a cut. Sally then began to wrap a new bandage around his shoulders.

"Tails is a tough kid, he gets that from you," Sally commented, smirking. Sonic nodded in agreement, he too smirking.

"Yeah, that's true I guess," the blue hedgehog boasted, before yelping when Sally again slapped his shoulders.

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Blurs of brown and green rushed past at his sides. The path below him was barely visible beyond his whirring feet. A sharp turn slowed him down for a split-second.

Sonic tossed a quick look over his shoulder, instantly spotting the orange and white fur of his friend against the dark colours of the forest. The young fox was not that far behind, Sonic noted.

Tails' feet were hovering half a centimetre above the ground, his twin tails spinning like mad. His arms were pressed firmly against his sides, fists balled up and away from his legs to prevent tripping. Sonic had to admit - the kid was getting faster.

Slowing down a notch so that he was right beside the two-tailed fox, Sonic called out to him. "How are you holding out, bro?"

One of Tails' large ears pricked up momentarily. "I'm okay, Sonic," he panted once he was able to gather enough breath.

"Don't push yourself too much, remember to keep a steady pace or else you'll tire yourself faster," Sonic instructed. Tails slowed down noticeably, to which Sonic followed suit so that he can keep a close eye on him. The two of them did this almost everyday, as Tails wanted to improve his running skills. And who better to help him than the fastest thing alive?

"Lower your head a little more," Sonic continued, showing Tails what he meant by doing it himself. Tails' deep blue eyes darted in the hedgehog's direction to see, then he copied Sonic's actions. Another sharp turn cam up in the path.

They had been running for a while now, perhaps half an hour or more. Sonic could tell that Tails was tiring and needed to stop soon. Sonic's own heart was pounding heavily both in his chest and ears, but he could continue for a while longer without a problem. Still, Tails needed to stop.

But before Sonic could yell out for a break something strange happened. Without warning Sonic's vision blurred and became nothing but clouded colours. His head spun and the pounding in his ears increased as his senses went numb all at once. Disoriented, Sonic swerved to his right and felt his legs crumble under him. He just had enough time and sense to roll himself into a protective ball.

Head over tail, head over tail, Sonic rolled for what seemed like hours. He could feel himself smacking into trees, rocks and other solid and pain inflicting objects. It was until Sonic struck a large rock that he released his iron-lock and hit a tree side-on. Pain surged up his side as Sonic fell limply to the forest floor. Body flimsy with dizziness, Sonic's limbs flopped without life as he tried to regain his breath and vision. There was a distant ringing in his ears now.

"Sonic!"

He just barely heard Tails' startled cry. The hedgehog groaned and forced himself to lift his aching and now bruised body, just as Tails reached him.

Leaning his hands on his knees and gasping, Tails waited until he caught his breath before speaking again. "Sonic, are you all right?"

The blue hedgehog rubbed a hand over his pounding head, wincing as the ginger touch seemed to increase the mental drum's beating. "Yeah, I think so," he muttered, adding a quiet curse to himself.

He stood stiffly, pressing a hand to the small of his back where a nasty cramp had developed. Carefully, Sonic leaned back against the tree he had crashed into.

"What did you do? Did you trip over something?" Tails questioned, twin tails twitching with anticipation. He had never seen Sonic fall like that before and had been shaken up by the event.

"Yeah, must've," Sonic confirmed, knowing that he had not. By now his dizziness had passed and his vision returned. What remained was the headache, which was now pounding almost shyly at the very front of his forehead. But there was also a stabbing pain through his shoulders, especially where the large wounds the Mecha Bot had made yesterday. He felt his shoulders stiffen suddenly, before they somehow began twitching.

"Probably a tree root or something," he continued, trying to suppress the spasm coursing through his shoulders and back. The developing twitches died down after a brief moment.

"But you never trip!" Tails yipped. Sonic couldn't help but smirk at that comment.

"Well, there's a first time for everything I guess," he said. "But don't tell anyone about this, 'kay, bro? It'll wreck my reputation."

Tails laughed and gave Sonic the thumbs up. "No problemo, Sonic." The fox then turned and made as if to sprint off. "Wanna race back now?" he questioned.

Sonic grimaced and shook his head, again wincing. "Naw, you run ahead. The last thing I want to do is crash into you by accident," he insisted.

"Are you sure?" Tails murmured, concerned now. But at the same time he gave Sonic the most innocent and pleading look a nine-year-old could muster.

"Ah Tails, you brick. That only works on Sal and Bunnie. Even I can pull that trick off on them," Sonic commented, crossing his arms over his chest. But then after a while the look got to him, and Sonic threw his arms up in exasperation. "Fine then."

Tails gave a whoop of delight and hugged his adoptive brother. "Way past cool, Sonic," he cried.

"Yeah yeah, darn kid," Sonic muttered, then ruffled up the fox's head fur. "Go on, I'll give ya a three second head start. Use it well."

Tails was racing down the pathway a split second later, and was soon followed by Sonic.

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As soon as he found out who gave him the idea to run back to Knothole, Sonic was going to give them a good hearty kick up their rear-end.

The run back only resulted in his mental jackhammer to work over-time, much to Sonic's displeasure. And whenever he closed his eyes, Sonic was sure that he was seeing stars, or what later he would had described as 'heavy bars of blinding light that left after images burnt on his retina.'

Sonic pressed his fingertips against the sides of his forehead and massaged them. "My head is spinning, my head is spinning," he muttered.

"What was that, Sonic?" a voice asked him from behind. Sonic watched as Sally sat down next to him. Nicole was opened in her hands.

"Oh, hey, Sal. Nothing important," Sonic smirked, scratching behind his ear. "Whatcha doin' anyway?"

Sally turned the small computer so the Sonic could see the small screen. "Uncle Chuck just sent me a carrier pigeon message with a disk. It contained some information that he found in Robotnik's mainframe about the Mechabot," she explained.

"And what did he find?"

"Not a lot. Looks like Robotnik himself didn't even bother to keep files on the thing. So that means he probably won't be using one during Doomsday. Or one ever again."

"That's a relief. Does Rote' still want to talk to me about the Mechabot?" Sonic queried.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure he does."

Sonic rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "'kay. Just tell him that I'm ready whenever he is."

"Here, want to take a look at what your uncle found?" Sally offered suddenly, handing Nicole to the hedgehog. Sonic took the computer and examined the small screen, trying to make out the blurred green text against black. The attempt only succeeded in increasing his headache, which brought more discomfort to him. Disgruntled, Sonic passed Nicole back to Sally.

"Maybe I'll have a look later, Sal," he stated as he rubbed at his eyes roughly. Puzzled, Sally deactivated the palm-top computer and clipped it back onto the rim of her boot.

"Are you all right? You don't look very well," Sally questioned, eyes looking over Sonic. When she knew something was wrong with someone that was the first thing she did.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sonic began. "It's just--"

"What's wrong?" Now Sally really sounded worried. Sonic didn't want her to worry.

"Whoa, whoa, chill, Sal. It's not a big deal," Sonic insisted, smirking a little in hopes that it'll help his friend calm down a little. "I just have a mondo huge headache that's been bugging me for a while, is all."

The look of worry seemed to disappear from Sally's face, not completely but enough to let Sonic know that she wasn't going to start panicking because of it.

"You should be resting then," she finally stated. Sonic couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Ah, Sal. It's not like I'm dying or anything."

"Sonic, if you're sick you should be resting. I can't afford having one of my troops being unwell during battle, you know that," Sally explained.

"But I'm not sick!" Sonic exasperated.

"Don't make me drag you home by the ear, Sonic Hedgehog," Sally threatened. "Now go, I'll tell Rotor where you are." The ground squirrel turned away from Sonic, signifying that that was the end of the conversation.

Uttering a deadpan, "fine", Sonic himself turned and began walking out of the hall, but instead bumped into Bunnie, who was just making her way to where Sally was sitting.

"What 'he heck was that all about, Sugah-hog?" Bunnie exclaimed, surprised expression emphasised by the lilac patches around her eyes. "Ah could hea'h 'he two of ya from way ovah there." She pointed to the other side of the hall, which was a long ways away.

Sonic snorted through his nose and jerked a thumb back towards Sally. "Oh, that. Sal's just being my mother again," he responded.

"Don't make me give you a time-out in the corner, Sonic," Sally said, still not turning. Bunnie began to laugh.

"Well, whatevah she told ya to do, do it now before she decides to ground you." Sonic raised his hands in a surrendering manner.

"Fine, fine. I'll see ya later then, ladies," he grinned, then raced off, making a beeline to his hut. When the winds created in Sonic's wake finally died down Bunnie walked over to Sally and took a seat.

"He's so immature," Sally simply stated. "When father said that one day I might have to lead an army, he didn't say I was going to have any soldiers like Sonic."

"That's our Sugah-hog," Bunnie said cheerfully. "Now mind tellin' me what was going on before?" Sally sighed heavily and leaned back in her chair.

"Sonic told me that he wasn't feeling well, so I said that he should go home and rest. And, of course, he argued," she informed.

"And you argued back," Bunnie added.

"Of course."

"But it's understandable, Sally-girl," Bunnie agreed.

The statement made Sally contemplate it's true meaning for a moment. "What do you mean by that, Bunnie?" she finally questioned, not understanding. Bunnie just smiled and rested her chin on her knuckles.

"Sugah-hog's a pretty close friend. It's understandable that y'all be concerned about him," she answered, grinning all the while.

"Bunnie," Sally exclaimed, surprised by what her friend had just said. "I treat all the Freedom Fighters equally, and everyone is a close friend to me. You know that."

The half robotized rabbit pushed her hair out of her eyes so that they fell in between them. She then glanced down at the shimmering light that reflected off the metallic purple of her robotic arm. Sally knew she only did that when she was thinking something over. Something that was usually the opposite of what someone had just said.

"Bunnie," Sally murmured, hoping to stop the rabbit's train of thought.

"What? Ah wasn't thinkin' nothun'," Bunnie protested, looking at the ground squirrel innocently.

"Yes you were, I know how you work. Now what were you thinking?" Sally pressed.

"Ah swear, nothun'." Bunnie was examining her arm again, fixing her hair with the aid of the reflection the metal created. Sally sighed with frustration, folding her arms and leaning against the table.

Sometimes, she wished that she could read minds. Just so that she knew just what was going on.

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It felt like someone had slammed a hot iron pole against the side of his head. In a haze Sonic ran his gloved fingers over the area of impact, wincing gingerly as the movements of his facial muscles created more drumming protest.

Sighing tiredly, Sonic snuggled deeper into his pillow and flopped his arm over his head, as if protecting it from the outside force that was possibly causing his head trauma. He wasn't going to follow Sally's order, as he believed that he didn't need to rest just because of a lousy headache, but after he had taken an aspirin Sonic had become extremely dizzy and light-headed, and was forced to lie down. So for the past few hours Sonic had been mostly dozing, only to find that the more he slept the worse the pain in his head became.

"Maybe I'm coming down with something, like the Flu," Sonic mused. "The water was freezing." He reached up to his bandaged shoulder and massaged it carefully. They were aching now, just like they did when one was coming down with a cold or virus. Sonic predicted that the rest of his body would follow suit in the next few hours or so.

Sonic closed his eyes. Yeah, that has to be it. It made sense to him at least. He could be feeling better no sooner than tomorrow; whenever he was sick it didn't last for very long. Out of all the Freedom Fighters Sonic had the strongest constitution health-wise, and it was rarely seen for him to be suffering from any type of illness. That's probably why Sally nearly lost it when he said he wasn't well.

Another thought occurred to the hedgehog: maybe this was the mutation's doing. Sonic remembered Uncle chuck mentioning that it could be another year, even more, until the modifications to Sonic's DNA was completely stable. Maybe he is sick because his body is trying to get use to the metamorphosis.

The next thing he knew there was a soft knocking at his door. Sonic's eyes snapped open and darted about as he tried to figure out where he was. Sonic's eyes stumbled upon his beside table clock, and he was shocked to find that it was almost five o'clock. And he had woken last at around one... Which meant that he had been sleeping for almost four hours.

"But, when did I fall asleep?" Sonic wondered. He couldn't recall doing so. This was starting to get weird.

Meanwhile, the knocking at his door continued.

"Ah, man," Sonic muttered, as he didn't feel like having company right now. But still, he called, "It's open," and groaned afterwards from the jolt of pain the outburst caused.

The doorknob twisted, then the wooden door pushed open.

"Sonic? Are you busy?" Rotor's voice floated in. A second later the walrus poked his head into Sonic's room. Sonic sat up and shook his head.

"Nah, Rote'. Come in, take a seat," he offered. "How did you go on the Mecha hunt?"

Rotor walked in and grabbed the back of a nearby chair, pulling it so that it was next to Sonic's bed. He sat down, sighing quietly to himself. "Actually, I didn't find it at all," he explained, his voice revealing that he seemed troubled by the find. Sonic gave him a quizzical look, ears cocking back to emphasise the look.

"But there's no way it could have just got up and walked away. I crushed its head," he exclaimed. Another stab of pain sliced through. Then, oddly enough, a sensation of sudden fatigue washed over him. Sonic pawed at his eyes in an attempt to wake himself a little. He then realised that Rotor was still talking and tried to tune in.

"...there was some grass that looked like it had been scorched by intense heat, so I'm guessing that another 'bot was around the area and had taken the Mecha 'Bot with it..."

Everything sounded so far away to Sonic now. What was going on, he wondered groggily.

"I'm guessing that Robotnik is gonna repair the robot now and try the same stunt again," Rotor continued, looking about Sonic's room idly. But when Rotor looked back to the hedgehog he realised that Sonic had drifted off to sleep. And he was still sitting up. How odd...

Rotor searched around Sonic's room, as if expecting that someone else was seeing this. After finding no such thing, Rotor reached over and hesitantly tapped Sonic on his shoulder, shaking his carefully when he didn't get a response from the blue hedgehog.

"Hey, Sonic. Wake up," he called. Instantly, Sonic's head snapped up as he gasped with shock. He darted his head this way and that, amber eyes wide with confusion.

"What? What?" Sonic blabbed, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"Um, you fell asleep, Sonic," Rotor informed. He was staring at Sonic now, wondering if the blue hedgehog was going crazy.

"I did? When?" Sonic stifled a yawn. Now Rotor was worried.

"Just now. You were really out of it."

Sonic stared at Rotor blankly, then grinned. "Sorry about that, Rote'. Guess I haven't woken up fully yet," he said.

"You were asleep for the whole afternoon."

Guess everyone knew, Sonic thought to himself.

"So the tin can is missing now?" Sonic asked, just to change the subject. Rotor nodded. "And I think that Robotnik has it again," he mused as he fidgeted with the belt strap that fell over his shoulder and wide chest.

"But we're not gonna give him the chance to use it again," Sonic remarked with determination. He didn't want to admit it, but the robot had scared him. Those red eyes still burned in his memory, and the way it tried to kill him; Sonic suppressed a shudder. It was too creepy for him to recollect the memory.

Sonic glanced at his bedside clock. "Almost time for dinner," he observed.

"Are you coming to eat at the Mess Hall? I think the others are," Rotor asked. Sonic considered the idea, but then shook his head to decline.

"I'll stay home this time. I should have some frozen chili sauce left in my kitchen."

"Suit yourself." Rotor made his way to the door and opened it. "I'll see you later, Sonic."

"Later, Rote'."

When Rotor was long gone, Sonic crossed his legs and set his head in his hands. That was the second time he had fallen asleep without realising it. Yet, he didn't feel sick in any way, not including his headache that had increased during his and Rotor's conversation. Sonic pondered this for a moment as he closed his eyes, both so that he could concentrate better and to block out the pain in his head. But then when he opened his eyes and looked at his clock Sonic was again shocked to see that it was now eight o'clock, when before it was only twenty past five.

Okay, that's the third time this has happened. Maybe he should tell someone about this.

Sonic sighed, allowing it to mix with a lamenting growl. It wasn't that serious, and the last thing he wanted to do was have the others worrying about him. Tomorrow he'll feel better and everything will be all right.

With that decided, Sonic kicked off his sneakers and peeled off his gloves, tossing them aside as he crawled into bed. "I might as well get an early night, if I'm gonna keep friggin' falling asleep like this," Sonic scowled flatly, then thumped his pillow into shape. A sudden chill ran down his spine and Sonic shivered. He felt like as if he had been locked in a freezer for hours.

Sonic climbed out of bed tiredly and grabbed and arm full of blankets from his cupboard, flaring them over his bed and again crawling back in. Much better, he thought to himself as he curled up into a tight ball, a strange habit he had somehow picked up. A second later he was in a deep sleep.