Sonic The Hedgehog

Chapter 4

As she was about to head to bed, a small "Oomph!" from somewhere in the distance made Shenzi's ears twitch in the direction of the noise. She stopped in her tracks, twisting her body in the course of the sound and tempted to climb onto the roof and see what it was. Her eyebrows pinched together, feet feeling the tremors in the ground as she sniffed the air.

'Odd.' Shenzi thought to herself, tail twitching and flicking by her soft, fluffy grey as the storm feet which flexed and unflexed sharp claws. The snow leopard listened carefully. Her whiskers shivered, and her ears twisted round and round before they relaxed. The cat decided to ignore it and cast a wary glance behind her and to her bright room before she was soon in the confines of her bed. And her eyes were just about to close too- until an earth-shattering rumble shook the whole kingdom and made her spring from her mattress. Then, the lights shuddered off. A quietness enraptured Soleanna, but it had disturbed the people, who awoke to the disturbance at ten o'clock precisely. The snow leopard was in a defensive stance, the sound of her breathing the only thing that could be heard in the deadly silent atmosphere. It was painstakingly quiet. Enough that it made Shenzi grab her Katakana, belt, and hood, and begin to head out in search of the disruption. Heading down the hallway. It was as if a surge had knocked out half of the planet's electricity! Elise had been taking a shower, and she had just finished in time when the water had turned off. She was wearing a towel around her head and a robe wrapped around her frame. She peeked her head out of her room, as Shenzi made her way past her.

"Did something happen?" Elise asked, somewhat surprised by this occurrence.

"I don't know; there must be some power outage. It came from the fields over in the forest past the docks." Shenzi explained, her eyes practically glowing in the dark, her ears having picked up the sensors and radio waves as she tightened her hood over her shoulders. She wasn't wearing her boxer tape, and wouldn't need her. Nobody would be out and staring at her hands.

"I'm going to go check it out. You try and get the power back on." With a dash of her feet, she was off. Shenzi sprinted out the doors, as Elise called for her to be safe. It wasn't too far; she knew that. Wherever it had come from, she was going to discover it for herself. She hopped down the stairs and was soon running across grassy fields. And in a miracle event, she adjusted from running on two feet, to go on all fours. Her body moved as a unit, her body a blur as her orbs tinged a bright golden color. Energizing her frame and making her speed down the village and rush through the trees. She kicked up dust and dirt, making a bee-line for the sound of sparks and the smell of burnt bulbs. Her fur was flying in the wind, Katakana hooked on her back and the objects in her belt jingling merrily. Her pupils turned into slits, narrowing as she was able to stare a good twenty feet ahead. Her mouth was parted, revealing canines as she slunk through the forest- and eventually slammed on her brakes as she came across a baseball field. The kids of Soleanna were known for hanging around these parts, and different teams around the world came here to play a good ol' game of throw and catch. Shenzi approached the field, getting low on all fours cautiously, before pushing up onto her hind legs and removing her weapon. Her tail twitched at the tip, her eyes gazing back and forth. No one was here, but she couldn't be sure of it. Shenzi yielded caution and slowly advanced towards the field where she finally got a good view of it. Only then, did she shove her weapon back between her shoulder blades, throwing her hood off her hood as her eyes widened.

"Holy.." She whispered in shock. The baseball field had been torn to ribbons. The lines which had been implemented into the gravel had been dug so deep it appeared like a trench. The snow leopard jogged up, kneeling as she peered at the mysterious markings.

"How did this..?" She asked herself, concerned about flooding her features. It was as if someone had pounded the dirt with so much frustration that they took it out here. Her lips thinned until something caught her eye. She walked on up to the middle base. On it was a blue quill. Something of the like, she wasn't sure. Shenzi, puzzled, gazed around once more to make sure she was alone, before leaning over and plucking the needle from its hold. Something sparked and sizzled around it, and she scrutinized it as it glowed between her fingers. She raised her other paw and brought it close, and she saw her fur following along with it. Static. The snow leopard let out a huff of air, wondering what she just walked upon. This wasn't normal, and hell, she wasn't healthy either. She made sure to keep her Chi out of a Birdseye view so she wouldn't be progged and picked at by the government. It built up her energy, sure. And she'd release her energy somewhere private, but that didn't matter. She had found some otherworldly creature. Whatever it was, it wasn't human. The snow leopard tucked the quill into her pouch for safe-keeping, where a blue gem showed into view briefly before it was hidden once more. Shenzi, once more, found herself gazing at the lines that had been dug deep. Her ears rested back on her head for a moment, pondering- before she was off. Running back into the woods with her tail trailing behind her, and her hood thrown over her veil. Gone and disappeared into the night to take back her discovery to the castle. And although it wasn't exactly what she was looking for at what caused the outage, she had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the quill. Whatever it was, she'd come to find out later. For now- she headed back to get some much-needed sleep where the electricity would - hopefully - be repaired.

***

Shenzi wasn't the only one to discover the electrical surge. Ohhh, no. Not by a longshot. Inside Washington DC's Pentagon, a team comprised of scientists, secretaries, and even a couple of generals sat at a long table while discussing the problem at hand.

"Gentlemen, our technicians detected a unknown but extremely high power surge that wiped out power in the Eastern seaboard. This surge is nothing we've ever seen before." One of the generals stated.

"Maybe it's a pre-emptive attack from Iran."

"The Russians have been developing EMP technology for years. This surge might be the result of running several tests."

"It looks like some kid's science project gone horribly wrong."

The general seemed to be visibly annoyed at the responses, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he let out a deep sigh.

"Congrats, we figured out what this surge is not." The general bemoaned.

"Sir, if I may, I suggest we get a professional on this case." A scientist spoke.

"Oh really? Who is even smart enough to uncover a mystery like this?" A secretary retorted. As if on cue, the door leading to the war room opened and a tall man draped in a black trench coat and black pants walked in. He sported stylized black hair, and he had a black mustache that curved upwards at the tips. The man took his black sunglasses off and folded them, looking around the room as he eyed the men with a almost predatory glint in his emotionless eyes.

"Greetings, gentlemen. I couldn't help but overhear your lovely conversation about this.... power surge." The man spoke with traces of venom in his tone. Everyone else in the room looked at him with disgust.

"Oh, no, not him." One of the men moaned.

"Please, tell me you're not considering.... that lab rat! He's a maniac!" A secretary exclaimed to the head general.

"Excuse me, but this "lab rat" has a PhD in every science to date, three doctorates, and a master degree in robotics. I don't mean to brag, but it helps that I have a IQ of 300. By the way, all of you are wrong." The mustached man stated.

"Oh? How so?" The general asked.

"It's simple. While you simpletons have been arguing about this whole power surge debacle, I already took it upon myself and did a bit of research. Our technology, as advanced as it is, is far from being remotely capable of expelling power on a massive scale like this surge. Upon further examination, I came to this conclusion: The power surge that mysteriously appeared in the Eastern seaboard did not come from human weaponry. There is something hiding on our world, an otherwordly being or device that could prove to be our downfall or.... a key to our evolution." The man said.

"You can't be serious." Another scientist stated.

"Oh, but I am. Look, we can all spend the night arguing about what to do with this dilemna, but it's not gonna get us anywhere. I already discovered the true origins of this surge, therefore I will take the case myself."

"You? With what tools? You don't even have a team to back you up." The general retorted. The mustached man just smiled as he inputed commands on the small interface built in the palms of his leathery gloves. Almost instantaneously, several aerial drones oddly shaped like eggs flooded the room, putting everyone in a state of alarm.

"I assure you, I have a team. The perfect team. Unlike humans, my machines are perfect in every way. They follow their programming, complete their tasks with one hundred percent efficiency and more. They don't need to take the weekend off to get drunk and put the boat in the water. Organic life, like you morons, is weak. Pathetic. Temporary. But my machines? They are permanent." The man said with a devious grin.

"So, uh... Mr. Eggman.... I assume you will set out on this case at once?" The lead general asked.

"Of course. Oh, and one more thing: You can call me Robotnik. Dr. Ivo Robotnik." Robotnik replied.