Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Polliwogs
“What is this..?”
Sonic asked himself. The Blue Blur has never been so stunned in his life. Sitting in front of him was an egg. He had never seen anything like it in his life. It was oval-shaped like a chicken egg, and was the size of a Chao Egg. It laid there in the middle of a grassy plain. Nothing around it suggests that it fits here in particular.
In fact, he was fairly sure this egg should not be here at all. Its shell was a translucent, dark reddish-orange. There were these red pustules that littered the egg like bumps over the flesh. It was something he had never seen before.
He knelt before it to get a closer look at it. It was clear there was something inside it, but what? The silhouette was too vague to tell. His hands hovered over it with a large hesitancy. His hands shook briefly, as if he could not decide on what to do with them. For all he knew, this was a severely sick dark chao egg, but that was all the more reason to help it, right?
He carefully scooped it up into his arms, using his arms to nestle it close to his chest. One arm directly below it to support it, and another around to have it lean against him and to warm it.
“There, there. You’re safe now.” He spoke quietly in an attempt to soothe the egg as it could hear him. He looked around the grassy plains again before muttering to himself briefly on the potential paths he could take. What would help this egg most?
“Okay… now where to take ya, little buddy.” He plopped himself right down in the grass and settled the egg into his lap before curling over it as if he was using his body as a shield. He wanted to make sure it was warm; maybe it would help it. But periodically, he glanced down at the egg, worried that something was going to happen with all those weird bumps.
“Hm, Tails is a good idea. He’d easily pinpoint what’s wrong with it and what’s with all those sickly bumps! He could also build you a tiny little home, that’s right, little guy!” He chuckled softly to himself before shaking his head.
“But Tails has been working himself ragged. I don't want him to work nonstop for multiple days straight without sleep, like the time I accidentally wrecked the Tornado.” He let out a defeated huff. Maybe he’s blowing this egg thing out of proportion. But he had never seen an egg that looked like this. Who knows what sort of disease it has, and the person who could pin it down is Tails!
If not Tails.. At least for right now. Who else can he go to? This is some form of Dark Chao, right? The shell immediately reminded him of the colors of Shadow’s Dark Chao.
“AHA!” He sat up straight once more with a burst of energy before looking back down at the egg with wide eyes. Hopefully, he didn’t break it.
“OH- Right. Hey buddy. Hope I didn’t hurt ya.” He casually said as he gently placed his fingers on the eggshell, careful not to touch the bumps, before slowly turning it to check for damage. He didn’t hear anything that sounded like damage. That’s a good sign at least.
“But.. we can take you to Shadow! He has a Dark Chao of his own! Maybe they could care for you, and you’ll have a little buddy too! Wouldn’t that be great?” He mused to the egg. He knew that Shadow may not be the best option compared to Tails. Shadow wouldn’t have anything like an egg incubator, nor probably have the knowledge to figure out whatever in Chaos’s name this egg had. But something about the thought of being near Shadow again made him brush that out of his mind.
He then gently picked up the egg and began to hurry off in a random direction. Wait.. where was he even running? He pressed the egg against his chest. Where did Shadow live again? Wasn’t it somewhere in Central City? Might as well try! He made a sudden, sharp turn as he then began running in that direction instead.
It shouldn’t be too far for Sonic. He can practically get anywhere in a short amount of time as long as there is no water in the way. But there was something else that would try its best to stop him.
As he began to zip around in forests nestled against a mountainside, he suddenly halted in his tracks as he heard something he was all too familiar with. And right on cue, a red beam zipped in front of his face and hit the wall. A miss, but a close call nonetheless.
His normal expression, which was a plain smile on his face, turned to a smirk as he glanced towards the direction of the beam. The sound of another beam firing, and he was already in another spot just a few feet away.
“Awhhh! Did Eggy want a reunion with his lost sibling?” The hedgehog taunted. The robot fired again, and Sonic was already back at his original spot. He let out a soft yawn as he tapped his foot with an unamused expression. It was too boring when it was some old badnic bots! And he had places to be! Another beam fired, and he was a few feet closer to the direction of the bot.
“Alright, I hear ya, less talkin’ more smashin’.” Sonic started before he heard the sound of whirring machinery rapidly approach him from behind. He quickly leapt out of the way, and as he landed back on the ground, he almost lost his balance. He was holding onto the egg tightly, and without free arms meant that it would be hard to balance on anything. He had to be careful with how he moved, or else he’d get himself hurt, or worse, damage the egg.
He watched as the bot that was charging him slammed into a tree a few small paces ahead, causing there to be a sound of roots tearing from their home and toppling over.
“Sheeeesh.. Okay. You guys must hate Eggman as much as I do if you want me to risk the life of Eggman’s sibling! Okay okay.. Let’s get this over with--” Before he can finish his sentence, he zipped out of the way to avoid another blast. He began to circle the two bots; the forested scenery only added to his challenge of evasion. He couldn’t just leave the bots here, or else they might cause issues elsewhere. He had to deal with them here and now. But who said he couldn’t handle a little challenge?
As he zipped around evading charges and blasts, he finally located where exactly that damned blaster was. It was hidden within some bushes, carefully camouflaged. It was smart. For a badnik that was probably left here abandoned or left to wander. As he kept his careful dance of evasion, something happened that caught Sonic’s attention. Something unexpected from what he had initially thought of these bots.
The charger would rush into another tree, causing the tree to topple like the previous one. However, it wasn’t from an attempt to charge Sonic. It was making it harder for Sonic to maneuver while he was holding the egg. Large tree trunks were not something you could just leap on and balance on without your arms wide out at first to stabilize. He would be forced to move around it if he needed to.
“Okay! Now we’re doing something! And here I thought you both were brainless! Okay! Good job, but not good enough!” Sonic taunted once again. He then turned around on his heel, just in time to evade a charge, and then went to run straight for the blaster. He jumped up just in time to evade another blade. He then maneuvered his body to aim his boots towards the badnik and stomp on its head mechanism.
The sudden weight on a light mechanical body with not much support in place for the blaster it held led it to be easily crushed, aside from the compartment holding its flicky. And right on cue, the containment door unlatched and swung open, allowing the flicky to flutter free. He watched as it fluttered away with a swelling pride. A small moment of victory before it was interrupted by a
WHHHRRRRRRRRRRR
“Woah woah woah WOAHHH!!” Sonic yelped as he dove out of the way. His arms thrusting forward to get the egg as far away as possible, and causing him to land on the ground chest first. The egg bounced out of his grasp, causing Sonic to gasp in horror. Did he hurt it?! He hoped he didn’t. He scrambled back up to his feet and grabbed the egg as he stumbled back into a run right as the last badnik began to charge again. He was taken off guard, and he had to do something now.
He tossed the egg as high up as he possibly could before following suit, and going in for a spin dash to demolish the charger. And as he bounced back up after the hit, he spread out his arms just in time to catch the egg. The broken badnik’s container was then broken open, letting out one last flicky. He let out a soft sigh of relief and took a moment to check the egg.
No visible damage at least. That was good. He then resumed his run towards Central City.
The rest of the run was calm and a lot safer. Nothing else appeared to attack him. However, the calm run resulted in a soft hum escaping him. He was worried that Eggman was now aware of the egg or something. Does he know immediately when his badniks are smashed? He wasn’t quite sure.
Around 10 minutes later, he found himself at Shadow’s apartment door. He took a deep breath. Something about standing in front of his door with an egg in his hands. It was a feeling that he could only equate to embarrassment. But there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
Or maybe it was just that rushing feeling of awkwardness? Either way, he felt his chest was suddenly tight, and he was nervous about talking to his rival. He assumed that he was probably going to be met with a punch in the face and that he shouldn’t be passing issues onto him.
After all, there was a wreath hanging on the door with a big sign that almost covered the entire width of the door. The sign was yellow and black like a road sign with bold text in the middle that said:
DO NOT KNOCK
NO UNINVITED OR UNEXPECTED CALLERS.
NO EXCEPTIONS
With a small note at the bottom engraved into the metal of the sign, clearly added in.
That means you, Sonic.
“Calm down. Why are you nervous?” He whispered to himself, making sure there was no way those words would pierce the door. He held the egg carefully. He hoped he didn’t break it. He did check it after that fight, but still.. What if it shook the chao in it? Was the Chao okay? He couldn’t wait. And he was most definitely ignoring that sign.
Knock knock knock knock
And all that followed was silence for what felt like forever. As he waited, he could have sworn he heard a door opening, only to realize it was a door a floor below him. Someone is probably leaving their apartment for who knows what.
He glanced down at the egg for the millionth time. It was going to be okay! The Dark Chao will live, obviously! It would never be hurt. Maybe he could do one of those small endearing things mothers did for their children, where they pecked a bandaged wound and claimed that the kiss healed it.
Right as he leans his head down to do that, the door opens. He paused mid-motion, eyes wide as he glanced towards the figure standing in the middle of the doorway. Shadow. Sonic watched as Shadow’s expression shifted to a whole host of different things.
Annoyance. Confusion. Back to Annoyance. To absolute Horror.
“Sonic. Where did you find that?” Shadow immediately asked. Sonic immediately stood up straight, but he was stunned to say the least. That? It sounded like he knew what it was, but it sounded like it was a bad thing.
“What do you mean?” Sonic began. His arms subconsciously squeezed the egg against his chest as if to protect it.
“It’s a Dark Chao egg, firstly. At least-- I think it is. Don’t call it that. And it was out in some grassy meadow a few paces away.” A few paces was to put it way too lightly since it took up around 15 minutes to get here, and that was with a mild interruption.
Shadow just stared, astonished, before clearing his throat as if trying to get his bearings on what was happening in front of him.
“How incredibly dense do you have to be, Sonic? There are no such things as Dark Chao eggs. All kinds of Chao lay the same kind of egg. A chao only becomes a dark chao when it matures.” Shadow clarified, leaving Sonic to stare in silence.
And very slowly… he looked back down to the egg. Its orangish-red hue. The pustules over it. It made sense now that it was no Chao egg, but still.
“Well. We can’t do nothing about it! I found it abandoned!-”
“Destroy it.” Shadow interrupted, practically staring daggers at Sonic.
“What?! How can you even consider that?!” Sonic immediately snapped back. This was probably the first time he had ever felt relatively disgusted by an answer. But then Shadow quickly pointed at the egg.
“That’s a Black Arms egg, Sonic. You are holding something of Black Doom. How clearly do you want me to spell it out for you before it gets through your thick skull?” Shadow was already on edge and annoyed. He did not expect to see another thing of Black Doom at his doorstep.
Sonic fell silent, at a complete loss for words, but it did not lead him to drop the egg or anything. Instead, he held onto it tighter like it was the only thing keeping him from falling.
“Whatever is in that egg. It is not good, Sonic. We need to dispose of it.” Shadow pressed further, seeing as Sonic did not speak. He took one assured step further before pressing his index finger against the egg’s shell. The tension hung in the air for what felt like forever.
“What if we can make it good?” Sonic interjected.
“Excuse me? Did you forget what Black Doom has done? This thing, when it hatches, will wreak havoc upon the city if we let it. How do you even think we can achieve what you are suggesting?”
“Well, we never got our hands on something like this before! We never had a chance to see if it’s possible! Just look at it! Well-- I mean-- It’s still an egg.. BUT! If we can take care of it and teach it good morals, then we wouldn't have to worry!” Sonic rebutted. He was trying his best to be hopeful despite the foolish mistake he made. At this point, after the challenging fight he put himself through trying to protect this egg, he may as well keep trying.
Shadow was not at all entertained by the thought. His eyes narrowed towards Sonic as a scowl continued to grow.
“You don’t understand. It is in their nature to serve Black Doom. To listen to his every command. And even if we manage to find a way to raise it without being judged by the world, imagine how everyone else will see it. Imagine the hatred and prejudice that it would be facing.” He retorted.
Sonic was about to speak again. Something to argue against Shadow. Anything to get him to hear reason. And right as his mouth opened, they both heard it.
CRACKK
Sonic feels a piece of eggshell falling onto his forearm.