Sonic OCs

Of course it had to be the jungle. Of course it had to be in the middle of a hot, stinking, dark maze of plantlife. Filled with feral beasts that could kill them in their sleep. Of course it- “Hey! We don’t have all day!” The small, furry creature turned over to the human calling out, before giving a small chuckle of embarrassment. She then went back to dragging two bags out from the truck.

“Right, silly me,” the anthropomorphic fox sighed, dragging them out towards the campfire. “Just… distracted is all, Henry.”

“Is it Scooter again?” The man asked, before resuming his job of feeding the flames with wood. “He may be a handful, but I’m sure your little bro isn’t too much for the babysitter.”

“It’s not Scooter, just-” She stopped, glaring over to the jungle. "Nothing important, I guess…”

Henry let out a dissatisfied sigh, sitting down next to the raging fire. “If you wanna tell me later, go ahead, Jane.”

The fox nodded, setting the bags down before turning back to the truck, helping the rest of the crew with the luggage.

“Ow!”

They all stopped in confusion at the cry of pain, gathering around the bag it originated from. Zipping it open, they all saw a rather small fox scratching the back of his head. “Scooter?!” Jane marched right up to him, fuming. “I told you to stay home! It’s not safe for you out here!”

“Well you’re not my mum!” The kid called out, almost rolling out of the bag. “So you can’t tell me what to do!” Almost immediately Jane gripped onto his arm, dragging him out near one of the tents and forcing him into a seated position.

“Well I’m the closest you’ve got, right now! So until mum’s found, you will listen to me! Do not ever sneak out again, you hear?!” Scooter turned away from her, remaining silent. “…Scooter, you hear?”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you, sis…” he grumbled, crossing his arms. Jane took a deep breath, walking back to the campfire with Scooter and sitting near Henry.

“He is a handful,” Henry murmured aloud, looking back to the tent with shock.

---

Scooter dashed into the tent, hopping into one of the fold-up mattresses while Jane continued straightening out the other fold-up mattress. “It’s noisy outside,” he called out, dropping down on it, instantly comfortable.

“I know… Wish the stupid animals would just shut up for one minute,” Jane grumbled, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She climbed into bed, putting on a pair of earmuffs and eye masks. She took a relaxed sigh as the noises were muffled out, prepared to sleep…

“WAKE UP!”

Immediately Jane fumbled back, glaring at her brother. “Come on, I just put those on!”

Scooter was back up, leaning over at the tent. “There’s something bad out there!”

“What are you talking about?” Jane mumbled, sitting up on the bed. Then she realised that the previous noises were all gone, replaced by a faint clanking noise. She leaned over, grabbing onto a staff and going out of the tent.

She was silent as she walked out, looking around cautiously, reaching the edge of the camp. She waited patiently, hearing the whirring fading away. Maybe they don’t have to worry about-

-PEW-

She almost jumped upon seeing a flash of light in the distance. She braced herself, slowly walking forward with her staff clenched tightly. She was worried.

Up ahead, she could see a round shape, standing out from the jungle surrounding it. She slowly stepped up towards it, clutching her weapon even tighter. Then a small whir noise came from the distance, a small shadow moving along...

-PEW-

She ducked as a small shot of light whizzed past her, the strange object briefly revealing itself as an orange robot. She jumped towards it, swinging her staff right into the machine.

She was knocked back by the following explosion, but was unharmed. She shook her head slowly as she glanced at the scraps, then began sorting through the pieces. Her rummage ended when she found a fragment with a rather worrying logo painted onto it. The logo of the Eggman Empire. “Oh, great.”

“What’s great?” Jane turned around on the spot, almost tripping as she saw Scooter approaching. “Oh, you took out an Egg Pawn!”

“Uh… it’s a robot?” Jane watched Scooter dash up curiously, looking through the wreckage until he found something intact – the robotic head.

“Sonic’s fought a bunch of these, they’re not very good, but he hates how they don’t just break apart immediately.” He looked underneath the head, looking at the wires scattered throughout it. “Wow, this is a very simple interface.”

Jane walked up closer to him, gently grabbing his arm. “Let’s head back, alright?”

“Just a second,” Scooter insisted, breaking from her grasp and searching through the rubble. “Oh sweet, the battery’s intact!” He picked up another piece, holding it close to himself. “Okay, I’m good!”

“You’re gonna do nerdy things with it, aren’t you?” Jane chuckled, rubbing the boy’s hair. She looked to the wreckage, picking up the metal plating with the Eggman Empire logo on it. She turned back, walking back towards the camp with Scooter. Instead of sleeping in her tent, she sat near the campfire with her staff just within reach. Someone’s gotta be on sentry if there are Robotnik’s robots roaming around.

“Hey, sis.” Jane turned around to look at Scooter, who was holding the Egg Pawn’s head with one hand, and a small box with a button on the other, a mess of wires connecting the two. He pushed the button, to which the robot's eyes light up. As he slowly spun the head around, it bathed the area in a green light. "Cool flashlight, isn't it?"

Jane let out a small chuckle, standing up. “Good job, Scooter. How about you catch some sleep now?” Scooter nodded, pushing the button again so that the robot’s lights stop working.

---

“You mean Dr. Robotnik might be here?” Henry grabbed his hair and began pulling hard, looking down to the ground with a glum look conflicting with the peaceful look of the morning jungle. He’s gonna go bald real quick doing that. “We’ve gotta pack up, head to town. That madman’s too dangerous.”

“Relax, I’m sure that if he was here there’d be a lot more robots on patrol besides just the one,” Jane assured him, gently petting his back. “We’ll just have to be careful. Even if it’s long abandoned, we know that there’s at least a few robots running around.”

She sat down with the rest of the group, opening up a fresh bag of food and beginning to pull out portions for everyone.

“Well we should at least find it,” another member suggested, taking a portion without hesitation. “That way we’ll know for sure if we should evacuate or not. An abandoned base at least means we can stay out of their way.”

Jane let out a small sigh, standing up. “Well, got any volunteers?” She waited as everyone remained seated, looking back and forth across each other. “I thou-”

“I’ll go!” yelled out Scooter, a bag already on his back as he ran off deeper into the jungle.

“Scooter?! Waitwaitwait, get back here!” Jane began urgently running after him, stopping only to pick up her staff.

She caught up to him real quick, grabbing him by the arm and immediately beginning to drag him back. “What are you thinking, Scooter?! You can’t just run out into the jungle, alone!”

“But Sonic smashes up Eggman’s mechs all the time, I’ve got this!” He yelled out, struggling to break free of his sister’s grasp. “A hero’s gotta follow the wind!”

“That doesn’t mean to blindly rush into danger,” Jane scoffed, forcefully dragging him across. “I don’t want to see you hurt or-” she stopped herself, taking a deep breath in. “Now let’s head back.”

Scooter nodded, spinning around to walk with Jane. He let out a small sigh as he felt the grip loosening. “You know the way, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” she answered quickly, checking along the ground for their footprints. Which ones were theirs was hard to tell, since there were so many scattered around everywhere. "This way," she said unsurely, picking a direction.

And so they marched, time passing as the sun swung above them. It was about mid-day when the two stopped, sitting by a large tree to rest their feet. Scooter looked up to his sister, glaring at her straight in the eye. “You said you knew the way back.”

“Well sometimes you just get lost,” she sighed, leaning her head against the tree. “But if we pick a direction and head straight, we’ll make it out.”

Scooter huffed, turning around on the spot. Looking to the foliage, he let out a small sigh. Then a flash of silver among the leaves caught his eye. He stood up, walking up towards the foliage, and moving trees out of the way. “Woah…! Hey sis, look!”

“What?” She groaned, marching after him, then almost tripping back at the sight. There’s no doubt about it, there’s a base right in front of them. Massive structures of metal jutted up into the sky, numerous towers scattered all about. Almost above them what seemed to be disconnected pathways, leading to and fro the structures. “…How’s this thing not been discovered yet?!”

“Come on, let’s bust it up!” Scooter yelled out excitedly, running off once again.

“Scooter, wait!” Jane ran after him again, grabbing him around the waist and lifting him up.

“Hey, let go of me! We gotta stop them!” He yelled out defiantly, trying to break free.

“Do you even know how to get up there?” Jane huffed, already turning around.

Scooter stopped squirming, looking towards the structures in search of stairways. “Not yet…” He then continued squirming, trying to break free from her grasp. “But there’s a way, I know it!”

Jane turned around, beginning to walk away with Scooter. “Well we’re not gonna enter a highly dangerous base, yet alone attack it. Let’s keep going.”

“Halt.” Jane froze on the spot, slowly turning around on the spot. The voice, while not robotic, was completely monotone. The source looked like a hedgehog, one with black fur and red stripes. Except it’s posture wasn’t anything natural, and it was unmoving, lifeless even.

“Shadow!” Scooter called out excitedly, waving his legs in the air. “Did you come to smash Eggman’s base?!”

“Threat to base detected, initiating assault.” A small orb went out of the hedgehog’s palm, which it threw out. The orb light up, curving down straight for the two. “Shadow, are you alright?”

Jane threw Scooter across to the side, jumping straight towards Shadow, her already-free arm swinging her staff, the tip smashing straight into the hedgehog’s gut. She backed away upon seeing sparks fly out – it was a robot.

“Oh… Don’t worry, sis! It looks like Shadow, but it’s just a dumb robot!” Scooter called out excitedly, standing up onto his two feet.

Clutching her staff with both hands, Jane swung in again. The robot caught it effortlessly, only to then lose its footing, swung around in the air. When it let go, it flew into a nearby tree, the ‘quills’ on the back of its head denting.

It loaded up another missile, swinging its arm to launch it at Jane. She began running to the side, her eyes widening upon seeing it turn in mid-air to follow her. Jane stopped, swinging her staff into the missile, knocking it down, exploding just in front of her.

She ran up towards the robot, thrusting the staff against it. Once again it caught the staff, only for it to go right through its hand and through its head. The robot immediately exploded, only the remains of its legs not flying about. She lowered her arms, huffing and puffing at its defeat. “There, that’s dealt with.”

“More robots!” Scooter yelled out, tripping in his attempt to flee from the two Shadow-like robots emerging from the bush. It was at that moment one grabbed his feet while the other one grabbed his hands. holding him securely.

“Stand down, or we’ll terminate your ally.”

Jane froze, taking a step forward at the sight of the two robots holding him. They responded by gripping tighter, letting Scooter scream out in pain.

She dropped her staff immediately, raising her arms up. “I surrender, just don’t hurt him! Please!”

The robots looked over to each other, their grip loosening on Scooter. Eventually they both nodded, turning back to Jane. “Follow us. Master will decide what to do.” The two began marching off, watching Jane.

She silently picked her staff back up, following behind them. Her gaze was kept on Scooter, watching tears swell up in his eyes. They reached an elevator, pushing Scooter and Jane into it with them. One of the robots angled itself between Jane and Scooter, keeping them apart.

---

They were deep inside the base, both of the foxes were sweating heavily from the intense heat within. There was some kind of red substance leaking all over the base. It couldn’t be lava, otherwise the base’s interior would’ve melted away long ago. Right?

The two androids then stopped, turning on the spot to a large chair, bright sparking coming from behind, with the entire wall filled with shelving of parts, from metal covers to wires, even a few data chips.

“Sir, we’ve located two sentient lifeforms during our search for parts,” one announced, dropping Scooter rather carelessly. “One is confirmed hostile, and has destroyed at least one Shadow Android Unit.” The sparking halted, Jane taking a step back. This was it. Dr. Robotnik was going to execute them, all because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She should’ve had that vaca- “What are they doing here?!” The seat spun around, revealing a… similar robot to the others.

There was a lot more detail on its actual body, but it was covered in a metallic silver, with glowing blue strikes where the other androids had red ‘quills’. Its left hand was missing, replaced with a small rounded block. It had a glowing blue light on the top, and a small, thin gap in the front of it. That, however, seemed deliberate, especially in comparison to its ‘eyes’. The right side of its visor was broken, an assortment of pieces in place to keep everything from falling apart, and even then it seemed to be held together by a small cylinder.

“Answer him!” one of the androids called out, looking down to Scooter.

“No,” Scooter whimpered out, his fur on end at the sight of so many androids standing in front of him.

“I was part of an expedition of the jungle,” Jane answered quickly, stepping forward. “We got lost and stumbled across... whatever this is.”

The more robotic android stood up, walking up to her. “What expedition?” He asked, the ‘eye’ in his visor practically glaring at her.

She took a small gulp, gripping onto her staff. “Well… heat signatures noticed that the core of the jungle was a consistent temperature, nothing drastic, but the higher-ups considered it worth a quick check.”

The blue android turned away, walking back and forth in thought. Then it abruptly stopped, looking to the other androids. “Keep them here, we can’t risk the outside world discovering our home and wiping us out.”

“What?!” Without hesitation, the other android picked Scooter back up, the two carrying him away. “B-but we’ve gotta get back home! We’ll keep it quiet! I promise!” More androids arrived, grabbing Jane and began to drag her away too.

“If they see you again so quick, it’ll be a lot more suspicious than assuming you were lost in the jungle,” the blue android explained, walking away. “You’ll be able to leave, in a year or two.”

Jane was struggling against the androids, madly flinging her staff about in an attempt at hitting the androids. “No, we’ve already broke an Egg-Pawn! They know there’s some sort of activity here! They’ll look for me!”

The blue android turned over to her, glaring at the foxes. “Oh, really? In that case, we don’t want them to escape. Eliminate them. Cleanly."

Jane was struggling against the androids’ iron-grip, trying in vain to break free. She looked over to Scooter, who was also trying to break free. He almost did thanks to a robot's wrist breaking open, showing its bare wiring. But the robot grabbed him with its other arm before he could get anywhere. He was about to give up, only for an idea to pop into his head.

“Wait!” Scooter screamed out, squirming in fear. “Th-th-these guys look terrible! Running slowly, not working well!” He yelled out, glancing across and counting how many had some form of wear and tear on them. “L-like you, you’d like that eye fixed, right?!”

“What are you going on about?” The blue android asked aloud, speeding up towards them.

“W-well I know just how Eggman's tech is wired! I could patch you guys up, no problem!” He yelled out, letting out a small gulp. “J-just let us live, and I’ll fix all of you up! Promise!” Scooter leaned over to watch the blue android, his heart beating faster than it ever has.

The blue android was standing there, deep in thought. “…Please?”

It looked up to them, running up closer. “Don’t kill them. Lock them up. We’ll test his skills tomorrow.”

“Y-yes! You won’t forget it!” Scooter yelled out, letting out a deep sigh as they were carried away.

“What? You’re gonna actually fix these things up?!” Jane called out, glancing to him in disbelief.

“We’re alive now, right?” Scooter said, leaning his head back. Jane was about to argue back, but… he was right, they were alive, even if it was just for another day.

---

Henry looked back to the jungle, letting out a deep sigh as he packed the last of the boxes onto the truck. “They’ve been missing for the last few days,” he said to the husky in blue uniform.

“So then why did you hire a mercenary, not a rescue officer?” the Husky asked, silently raising a hand to his ear, placing a finger on his earring. “Especially since some of them would be more used to heading through a jungle.”

“Well none of them are capable of handling Eggman's robots, so we had to hire someone who was. Like you, Mr...?”

“Call me Eon,” the Husky answered, looking into the jungle. “If that's the case, then I'll find them, and destroy every robot in my way.”

Henry walked back up to him and passed the Egg Pawn's head to him, including the switch and mass of wires. “It's been changed a little bit, but this might help with identifying them?”

Eon grabbed the robot head, only letting out a short “thanks” before he began trekking through. He then reached for his earring again, this time taking it off. The robot head briefly glowed, shortly breaking apart in his grasp. “How'd such a large base go unnoticed?” He asked himself, now certain of where the base was.

---

Jane slowly opened her eyes, letting out a small yawn as she sat up from the hard floor of the prison cell. She looked around the cell she and Scooter’s been locked in, seeing that it was unchanged. “Hey Scooter... How many days has it been now?”

Hearing no response, she lifted her head up and looked around the prison cell. “Scooter?” He was gone. She immediately turned to the bars, seeing the two androids standing guard. “Where’s my brother?!”

“Fixing master,” one answered plainly, looking back to her. “The master’s impressed at the quality of work he's done so far, and will release you two once its repairs are made.”

Jane let out a sigh of relief, standing up on her two feet. “Thank goodness... Can you take me to him?”

“Only if you assume the escort position,” the other android instructed, turning its head – and only its head – around to look at Jane. She groaned, laying back down onto the ground.

The two androids unlocked the prison door, grabbing Jane by her wrists and ankles. They then began carrying her, keeping to the cooler areas to keep her from boiling.

It wasn’t long until they reached the work station, lifting Jane up to watch her brother work. The blue android was laying down on a table, while Scooter was working on his broken eye. “…Sorry Bluedow, but without some glass shaped properly, I can’t fix that eye of yours,” he mumbled, letting out a small sigh. “But I’ve secured the parts so that they won’t just topple out, at the least.”

The blue android looked over to him, the good side of his visor ‘squinting’ with the red light. “Bluedow?”

“Well I gotta call you something, seeing as the other androids look alike and listen to you,” he answered, shrugging. “So I just shoved ‘blue’ and ‘Shadow’ together. Like it?”

“Not at all,” the android responded without hesitation.

“Well what do you want to be called, then?” Scooter stood there as the android lay silent, quickly growing more annoyed. “Well?”

“Shard.”

“Why?”

“I refuse to answer that,” the Android said, sitting up. “Are we finished?” Scooter nodded at him, turning to the door.

“Hey, sis! We can go now!” Scooter called out, grinning wide through the window.

Shard stood up, walking through the door to see the two androids holding Jane. “Let her go and inform the rest that these two are free to leave, as long as they don’t damage any other Version 2 Shadow Androids.”

“Affirmative!” They both immediately let go of Jane, splitting up to spread the news.

Scooter ran up to her, hugging his sister dearly. “We can go home!” he called out, kissing his sister on the cheek.

Jane nodded, hugging Scooter back with a relieved sigh. It wasn't long until she broke the hug and stood up, looking around the base. “We better go now, these androids are all fixed up, we’ll have to warn everyo-”

“Please don’t,” Shard called out, reaching towards her with his left arm. “I just want to exist quietly, find any Shadow Androids I can.”

“Why?” Scooter asked aloud, turning back to him.

“I need to find those who can think for themselves, help them out. We can exist within here, I'm sure.”

Scooter stared at him in confusion, squinting a little. “Think for themselves?”

Shard nodded, walking out of the room with them. “There are two different versions of Shadow Androids. The Version 1 androids are older, and look a little different compared to the actual Shadow. They also fire homing missiles, inspired by this energy attack the real one could apparently do.”

“None of the ones I fixed could do that,” Scooter wondered aloud. “And they all looked different...”

“That's because I only had you fix the Version 2 androids. Besides having more than one variation, they also had minor glitches in their programming, which allow them to think for themselves. I'm unsure of what triggers this, but I am trying to have as many of them as possible realise that they can do more than follow orders, to help them think for themselves like I can. The Version 1s can't, so they are meaningless to me.”

“But what about materials?” Scooter asked again, walking up to Shard. “You can't just rip apart the base's parts, you'll run out eventually.”

“Long enough for that man to die. What was his name again? Doctor... Ivo, was it?” Shard would've kept thinking, only to get interrupted by another android tapping it on the shoulder. “What is it?”

“There's an intruder, attacking the army,” it stated, turning back.

Shard shook its head slowly, turning back to the robot. “Send the version 1 Androids to fight, along with any Egg Pawn that'll listen to us.”

The android nodded, turning around on the spot and flaring up its pair of rocket skates, identical to what Shadow would wear, calling out to a group of androids. “Initiate combat with intruder!”

Shard turned back to the two foxes, pointing down. “That's the nearest path to the surface. Take it and leave, unless you want to be caught in the cross-fire. Oh, and stick to the high-ground until you get there, they're always safe from the magma.” With that it turned back, its rocket skates flaring up and dashing off.

“Wait, what?!” Jane called out, but she was already too late as Shard dashed off. Instead she just grabbed Scooter's hand, running off with him.

---

Eon was at the entrance of the base, hiding behind a crate as the Androids were firing at him. He lifted his head up, only catching a brief glance before he was forced to duck again, barely dodging a missile that crashed into the ground just in front of him. There were 13 of those 'Version 1' Shadow Android Robots and 2 Eggman Empire Egg Pawns, the latter carrying MeteorTech handheld cannons. “Lot of info for just an Egg-Pawn,” Eon said aloud, blinking from all the data the earlier Egg Pawn head had.

He then pulled his glove off, waiting for it to start glowing before reaching into it. Strangely, he was able to get his arm in far deeper than what should be possible. Then he pulled out what seemed to be a grappling hook. He stood up from behind cover again, immediately firing the grappling hook at an android off to the right and began pulling it towards himself. He quickly ducked before the rest could hit him with their missiles, still pulling on his grappling hook.

When the android was pulled around the crate he leaned forward, grabbing its head. The android began glowing, just like the Egg Pawn head earlier, before it broke apart. Eon tucked the grappling hook back inside the glove and slid it back on neatly, as if the grappling hook was never in there to begin with.

He stood back up, swinging his arm and watching a missile fly out which flew towards the nearest android. He ducked before he could see, but he could hear it crash into the android, listening to the metallic clangs as the remains crashed down onto the ground.

He then took off his shoes, and leapt over the crate. As he landed, a fiery energy erupted from his feet, and he dashed forward at rapid speed. He whizzed by one of the Egg Pawns and yanked its cannon out of its grasp, the cannon glowing as it breaks apart. He then tripped over, tumbling against the wall. Eon quickly got up on his knees, leaping forward just enough to dodge another missile. He dashed behind cover again, quickly touching the collar around his neck. “Combining stored power,” it dinged, letting out a brief flash. With that, Eon began dashing off again. He continued throwing out missiles again as fast as he could, although this time whenever they crashed they'd make an explosion, hitting nearby robots as well.

It wasn't long until they were all broken down, exploding homing shots taking out the lot of them. “There we go.”

He then came back to the crate, picking up his shoes before he walked forward calmly, idly wondering where to go. Then he blinked, tapping his head calmly. “The way ahead is a trap...” He looked around, until he saw a smaller hallway, covered with mesh. He turned abruptly, going that way instead.

---

Shard was back in its seat, typing commands furiously at the board as the radar beeped every few seconds. The intruder had gained a massive burst of speed, and was suddenly hard to actually corner. “Sir.”

“What?!” It yelled out, turning behind himself to the Shadow Android.

“The intruder is bypassing resistance,” the android droned out, waiting for Shard's response.

“Send more after them, corner them the best you can,” Shard ordered, grumbling as it turned back. “And,” it called out before the android could leave, looking up to the base's map. “...activate the magma defence systems. We need to limit their movements somehow.”

“Affirmative!” The android called out, spinning on the spot. “And the guests?”

“What about the guests?” Shard sighed, shaking his head slowly. How could they be in trouble?

“They're standing right where the magma will overflow.”

Shard gave a deep sigh, shaking its head. “I'll get them out. Just activate the defences near the intruder.”

The android nodded, its rocket shoes flaring up as it sped off, spreading the news to nearby androids, while Shard sped off after Jane and Scooter. They both failed to notice the map, with the intruder changing direction towards the foxes.

---

“I can't wait to get outside, feel the fresh air, not be boiled alive by all this lava, it'll be nice...” Jane said aloud, wiping some sweat off her brow.

“It's like minutes away,” Scooter said dismissively, walking ahead of her. “Although I don't like how close we are to the lava...”

"Yeah..." Jane looked to her right to see a large hemispherical object, with three large pipes sticking out of it. She could barely see the bottom, but it looked like it was on some sort of screw, maybe some gears. Whatever it was, it was strange enough to keep her gaze off of the lake of magma below them.

“You two!”

froze, slowly looking behind herself. Of course, it's the bluedow again. “What the he- what is it?!” She snapped, shaking her head. “You said we could go!”

“I need you two to leave faster,” it called out, skidding to a halt in front of them. “There's an intruder in the base, and I need you gone before we can properly activate the base defences.”

“And what defences are those?” Scooter asked, his little ears drooping as he looked around.

Shard pointed over to the red hemispherical object, grabbing Jane's wrist with its right arm. “Those are magma gates. When activated, they release the flood gates for the magma, and will raise the magma levels up higher. Where you're standing will get flooded if that one gets activated.”

Jane blinked, looking down to the floor beneath them worriedly. “Wait, the lava rises?!"

Shard nodded, dragging Jane along faster. “It's meant to deter and delay ground units, although there are alternate ways built-in. Now, you need to-” that's when out of nowhere a rocket passed Shard, crashing into the ground just in front of them and exploding.

“Let them go!” Called out Eon, landing just behind the three. “Now!”

Shard turned around on the spot, facing the husky in shock. “The intruder's here?! But the map was saying that you shouldn't be anywhere near here, even if you changed direction so fast.”

Eon didn't answer, putting his shoes down on the ground. “Let them go. Now.”

Shard glanced over to Jane and Scooter, quickly letting go of the older fox. “You happy?”

Eon nodded, walking towards him. “Scott, Jessi, go!”

“That's not my na-” Scooter was interrupted as Jane grabbed onto his hand, dragging him along.

“We're going, Scooter!” Jane called out, running as fast as she could. “They can handle it!”

Then Eon dashed forward, sliding across the floor like he was wearing a pair of rocket-power jet shoes, throwing a missile out from his hand that began chasing down Shard.

Shard jumped back, beginning to skate away as the missile flew after him. He dashed up to the magma gate, skating around it until he heard an explosion as the missile crashed against it. “What's your problem?!” It yelled out, moving out of the way to look at Eon.

“You're not escaping,” Eon yelled as he threw another missile at Shard, tracking him once more.

Scooter began dragging his feet against the floor, trying to resist Jane's pull. “We gotta help!” He called out, looking back to Jane.

“No way, the most important thing to me is making sure you're safe,” she told him sternly, dragging him along. “Come on, Scooter!”

“No!” He yelled out, dragging himself against the ground as hard as he can. Seeing that it only slowed her down, he let out a small sigh.

Shard was knocked back by a missile, leaning against the lava pump. It raised its left arm, its gun rapidly firing at Eon. But as good as its aim was, Eon kept running out of the way of the shots, who was throwing homing missiles back at Shard.

Shard was doing its best to dodge them as well, but they did find their way to it, exploding on contact. The ones that missed crashed into the pump, which was shaking as it was getting damaged.

Scooter looked just in time to see Shard get launched back, cringing at the sight. He then began running away, getting held back by Jane. Then he stopped, quickly dashing in the opposite direction, managing to break free from Jane's grasp. He ran towards Eon, waving his arms like a lunatic.

Eon had another homing missile ready, but he quickly threw it upwards upon seeing the kid, angled far enough away for it to not lock-on to him. It flew up along the air, crashing down into the lava pump.

And that was enough, it began blaring out loudly, spinning as the surrounding magma began rising, flooding the lower platforms. Jane Got to her feet, forced to wait as the lava flooded the path between her and Scooter. She stared on in fear, until something caught her eye. Just to the right of her, a row of platforms began rising, glowing hot from being submerged in magma for a long time.

Then he made a small hop and began running the opposite direction. Jane tripped from the sudden force, holding her arm out to brace her fall.

But it was too late as Scooter ran past Shard, stopping in front of Eon. “Don't hurt him!” He yelled out, puffing out his fur and trying his best to look intimidating.

Eon looked down to the kid, shaking his head. “Look, kid, I have a job to do, so if you'd just-”

“No!” Scooter yelled, taking a step towards him. “I'm not gonna let you hurt him!”

Eon took a step back, reaching into his pocket calmly. “Kid, this robot was-”

“I don't care!” He yelled out again, walking up closer. Jane was busy jumping along the platforms, using her staff to somersault across.

Eon took a few steps back, quickly fumbling within his pocket. “Kid, you really don't want to get close, or-”

“Don't hurt him!” Scooter yelled out, walking closer. Eon looked behind himself to see that he was getting a bit close to the magma. Seeing that he couldn't back out any further, he then moved to the side, easily side-stepping him. Again a missile formed in his left hand, and he got ready to throw it out, while his right hand kept rummaging in his pockets.

Jane made it to the other side, immediately running towards Scooter, hoping to drag him back.

“No!” Scooter quickly leaped forward, grabbing onto his tail. For only a moment, he seemed to glow as small trails of light flew out of him, going to Eon. And after that moment, he let go of Eon's tail, dropping down to the ground.

Before Eon could throw the missile, it lit up in his hand, and he quickly threw it away. “Ow!” Eon yelled out, blowing on his hand as the missile harmlessly flew into the magma. He quickly turned back to Scooter, silently taking a step back.

His hand stopped rummaging his pocket, pulling out a small earring which he then put onto his ear, letting it hang. Then he grabbed Scooter, lifting him up. “Oh good, he's only unconscious...” he whispered to himself, turning around to the others.

Jane stared at him in shock, starting to tremble as she saw him carry her unconscious brother. “SCOOTER!” She screamed out, pulling out her staff as she charged at him. Eon flung his arm to the side, then threw it forward for... nothing. He blinked for a moment, before looking down to Scooter. “Right, I've copied his-”

He was then struck right in the gut, coughing and wheezing as Jane snatched Scooter out of his grasp, before kicking him down to the ground. She then thrust her staff at him repeatedly, Eon coughing and wheezing each time. “YOU! LEAVE! MY! BROTHER! ALONE!” She screamed, until he was on the floor, clutching his stomach and wheezing tightly.

She turned around, panting as she walked away from him, her brother held in her arms. As she passed Shard, she turned to him. “He did this to protect you.” She whispered, keeping her pace steady as she continued walking out.

Shard looked over to the husky on the ground in pain, then back to Jane as she was walking away. After a few seconds, dashed over to Eon, picking him up. “Wait up!” He called out, dashing back to Jane.

“Why?” She huffed, resisting the urge to elbow Eon in the face.

“Well, I need to kick him out,” he said flatly, briefly raising Eon. “I also need repairs, and the only one I trust with them is this Scooter here.”

“Get away from him,” Jane grumbled, turning away as she kept walking. “You kidnapped us before, why should he help you now?”


“I know he will,” Shard said, still following after her.

“He's knocked out!” Jane yelled out, glaring at him. “He's not doing anything until I know he's alright.”

“Then I will make sure he gets better,” Shard said, nodding. “I will guard him while he recovers.”

Jane glared at him, walking as fast as she could. “I don't want you to... But, considering my bro just tried to save your life, I think it'll be fair if he got a say in it.” She then looked down to her brother, giving him a hug. “But what about the other androids?”

“I will give them orders to stay hidden, and once I'm repaired I will continue encouraging them to think for themselves,” Shard explained, stopping and dumping the unconscious Eon onto the ground.

Jane gave a sigh, motioning for it to follow. “Don't shoot anyone, and I'll allow it, I guess...”

---

Scooter let out a small yawn, his row of fangs in clear view for a second or two. Then he lifted his head, a sharp sting quickly telling him that was a bad idea. “Ow...” he groaned out weakly, flopping back down on the bed. “Sis...?”

“Scooter?!” Almost immediately Jane dashed back in, almost spilling her glass of water. She put it down on the floor, then gave the little fox a massive hug. “Scooter, you're alright!” She yelled, holding him tight.

“Ow...” He wheezed out again, his body growing numb all over. Jane quickly let go, rubbing the back of her head. “Hey sis...”

“I'm so glad you're alright,” she said, kissing him on the forehead.

“He's awake now?” Scooter weakly moved his head to the side to see who the source of that voice was. He could see Shard at the doorway, looking over to the two. “Woah, is Shard living with us now?” He asked, excitement flashing in his eyes.

“Jane wanted your opinion before-”

“Yes,” Scooter wheezed out, grinning as he cut Shard off.

Jane let out a small sigh, looking over to the android. “Well then, you can stay. But you have to lay low, and find a way to turn off that gun on your arm.”

Shard nodded, walking back out of the room.

“I'm gonna regret it already...”

“Are you kidding, Jane? We have a robot living with us...!”