The Ultimate Lifeforms

Doctor's Orders

"Topaz, I've got a mission for you."
Topaz looked upwards to her anthropomorphic partner with a questioning glance. "I didn't receive any memos about an upcoming mission." It was much too soon to be going out on another as she was currently at her desk, filling out the debriefing paperwork about her last mission. She had not even been back a full twenty four hours yet!
"This is sort of a... personal favor for a friend."
"Rouge, I'm not helping you steal jewelry."
Rouge cracked a smile, resisting the urge to laugh. Her partner knew her too well, but for once, stealing precious stones was not on her personal agenda. "It's a little more important than that. Tell you what, why don't you take a break? Let me treat you to some coffee and we can talk this over."
Topaz supposed a break wouldn't hurt. "All right then."

"Now, what's so important that you came to me for help?" Topaz sipped her coffee, genuinely curious for an answer.
"It's about everyone's favorite hero, Sonic."
"What about Sonic?"
"He's... gone missing."
"Missing?" Topaz asked in surprise. "Are you sure?" The press would be all over this if they found out.
"For the most part. No one's seen him in weeks and it's been awful quiet lately. Too quiet."
"You think Eggman had something to do with his disappearance?"
"Who else could it be?" It was no surprise Eggman wanted Sonic out of his way. Even if it was Eggman who was behind Sonic's disappearance, Rouge knew this wouldn't have been the first time he had attempted an ambush on the blue speedster.
"Okay." Topaz followed everything Rouge was saying, but there was still one question on her mind. "What exactly do you want from me?" She had no information about Sonic's alleged disappearance. "Do you want me to help you look for him?"
"Not quite." With her and the others looking for Sonic, there would be enough people searching. If too many people got involved, someone was bound to get suspicious and wonder who/what exactly they were looking for. "I can't say for sure now, but in the future, I might need your help accessing certain resources."
"Resources? What kind of resources?"
"Information and maybe technology. You have more clearance for these certain kinds of things than I do."
"Why don't you just take this up with the president directly? He loves having you in G.U.N., you know he'd be more than willing to give you clearance for anything."
"I know that, but we're trying to keep this low profile." After the whole ARK and Project Shadow fiasco had come to light, it seemed the newspapers were doing everything in their power to stick their noses in government business. Rouge didn't understand or care for politics, but she was smart enough to know paranoia and fear were bad motivators.
"I understand. And I think I know how to start."
"Let's hear it."
"Well, let's say hypothetically, Sonic was kidnapped. At some point during the struggle, I'm sure he might have tried getting away by running at his top speed, meaning he must have broken the sound barrier, making a sonic boom. We can use G.U.N. satellites to see if there have been any sonic booms around Station Square."
"So you'll help then?"
"You mean work off the clock for no pay without any regards for social or romantic obligations I may have?"
Rouge raised an eyebrow. "Binge watching crime dramas with a frozen dinner on a Friday night does not count as a social or romantic obligation."
Topaz sighed. Rouge knew her all too well. "Yes, I'll help."

Shadow set the journal pages down on the desk in his personal dormitory. He had read through them several times already, to the point where he had nearly memorized them word-for word, but he still found himself looking over them again and again. He was feeling so many different things, it was intolerable.
Happiness; he still had family. Anger; Eggman could have sent a bunch of robots and Scourge to capture Sonic, but no, he sent him instead.
There was no point in pulling his quills out over it. He was just going to have to work with what he had.
Standing up, Shadow folded the journal pages up and put them away in a drawer in the desk. Pushing the chair in neatly, he exited the small room and made his way down the hall, in search of Sonic.
Hopefully his brother would be in a better mood, but he couldn't really blame him if he wasn't. He was only barely released from the medical bay, so Sonic's pain might cause him to be a little more irritable than usual.
Entering what was once the staff lounge to the ARK scientists, Shadow spotted Scourge sprawled out on the couch, watching television.
"Where's Sonic?" he asked, knowing Scourge had probably attempted to bother him at some point in the day.
"Give it a moment," the green hedgehog responded without taking his eyes of the program. Surprisingly, the ARK was able to pick up television signals from Mobius. For equipment that was over 50 years old, Scourge had to admit it was pretty impressive.
Shadow was confused, but as Scourge said, only for a moment. In an instant, Sonic ran past the two hedgehogs in a flash of blue.
"He's been doing that for about..." Scourge looked to the clock on the wall. "Four hours now." The only reason Scourge was watching television was because of Sonic's constant running. It was impossible to do anything else without the whiplash or the blue speedster himself getting in the way. Thanks to Sonic's speed, he never really noticed when he passed in front of the television.
"Four hours?" Shadow asked in disbelief. Sonic was still recovering from surgery! Four hours of strenuous running was only going to destroy his insides. It wouldn't kill him per sé, but it sure would put him in a lot of pain and significantly slow down the healing process. Shadow knew how stubborn Sonic was. His brother probably was in a lot of pain, but was just choosing to ignore it.
Sonic ran past them once more.
Having seen him come and go, Shadow had a good idea of how long it would take Sonic to make his way back to them. He remained where he was for a few moments, counting down the seconds. In the exact moment the door opened, Shadow stepped in Sonic's path, bracing for impact.
Running too fast to stop suddenly, Sonic found himself crashing directly into Shadow.
Having been prepared for him, Shadow only slid back a few feet, holding Sonic by his shoulders.
"What do you think you're doing?!" he shouted at him, resisting the urge to shake some sense into him.
"Going crazy, what does it look like?!" Sonic shouted back. He wasn't exactly having the time of his life on board the space station.
"You're supposed to be taking it easy. You want to end up in the medical bay again?" Shadow could see the exhaustion on Sonic's face. He was pushing himself beyond his weakened limits.
Sonic was not aware of just how tired he really was. With his runner's high waning, he felt himself getting heavier. Everything hit him in that moment as he suddenly felt dizzy.
Noticing Sonic's weakening posture, Shadow immediately helped him sit on the couch, besides his sprawled out counterpart. "You need to rest."
"Listen, you just sit here and I'll get you something to eat." Not wanting to hear anything from Sonic at the moment, Shadow turned his back and left the lounge.
Still lying on the couch, Scourge watched as Sonic curled into himself, lying down opposite him. The blue hedgehog looked unusually pale, as if he were about to vomit.
Sonic closed his eyes, trying to make the spinning sensation he was feeling stop.
"Want me to read you a bedtime story, Blue?"
With a swift kick from Sonic, Scourge found himself face-first on the floor.

Scourge dusted off his jacket as he left the lounge. He knew when he wasn't wanted. That and he didn't want to have to deal with the vomit if Sonic really did throw up.
It was pitiful how Shadow was trying so hard to take care of Sonic. He could hear him in the nearby kitchen, hastily throwing something together.
Still bored after a whole day of doing nothing, Scourge entered the kitchen.
"You know you're wasting your time, Stripes," he said as he watched Shadow sloppily finish making a sandwich.
"I'm not going to sit there and watch him starve himself." Shadow picked up the plate and turned around, passing Scourge, about to leave.
"Don't you think you're taking this 'big brother' thing too seriously?"
Shadow stopped in his tracks. He turned to Scourge, meeting the green hedgehog's taunting gaze. "What did you say?"
"I said, don't you think you're taking this 'big brother' thing too seriously?"
Shadow glared at the green hedgehog silently, not wanting to give anything away. For all he knew, Scourge was bluffing and happened to just be joking. He set the sandwich down on the counter beside him.
"You think I don't know?" Scourge asked with his usual arrogant smirk. "You should really consider locking that desk of yours. Who knows what could get into there!"
In one swift move, Shadow appeared in front of Scourge. He swung his arm forward, punching the green hedgehog into the steel wall of the kitchen.
Scourge landed with a loud thud, falling to the floor after impact. He grabbed his abdomen in pain, rubbing the spot where a bruise was sure to form. "What the heck, Stripes?!"
Shadow stormed over to Scourge. Without any regard for his state, Shadow grabbed the green hedgehog by his jacket lapels, pulling him up to meet eye-to-eye.
"Listen here," he growled. "I don't care that you know, but I don't want to see you anywhere near Sonic. Do you hear me?"
"Why?" Scourge wasn't even trying to hide the smug look on his face. He was getting the reaction he wanted out of Shadow. It was always fun to watch him get worked up as it so rarely happened. "Haven't you told him yet? I figured that was the reason he hated you so much."
"He's just grouchy because of the painkillers. Also, not a word about it is to come out of your mouth. Understand?" Shadow shook Scourge again for good measure.
Scourge had never intended to blab.
"Don't worry," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "My lips are sealed." And for once in his life, he was serious.
If looks could kill, Shadow was sure he'd be holding Scourge's lifeless body in his hands. "I'm serious about this, Scourge!"
"Want me to pinky swear?" Scourge shoved his hand in Shadow's face.
Shadow let go of the jacket, dropping Scourge. Ignoring the heap of green hedgehog, he picked up the sandwich he made and left the kitchen.