The Ultimate Lifeforms

Concussion

"Well done, boys!" Eggman's malicious smile graced his face as he collected the various supplies the two hedgehogs had collected/stolen for him, scattering them across his workshop table.
Shadow looked around the workshop, which doubled as the heart of the ARK. Eggman had practically spent all his time up here from what he could gather, building something. What exactly was the megalomaniac building though? He took comfort in the fact that the Eclipse Cannon had all but blown up the last time he tried to use it, so the planet below seemed safe.
"So..." Scourge began, breaking the silence. "Are we good?"
"What?" Eggman turned his attention away from his new supplies back to the two boar hedgehogs. "Oh, right. You're free to go."
Not wanting to stick around for Eggman to change his mind and assign him to another mission, Scourge scurried out of the workshop.
Shadow on the other hand, chose to stay a little longer, observing the doctor at work. Not much for robotics himself, he couldn't tell by sight alone what all the parts were or even what they were for.
"Doctor," he might as well; he had nothing to lose. "why do you need these? What are you building?"
"I'm just recreating a little device I had back in Robotropolis. I think it's going well."
Shadow frowned. Eggman was giving him a run-around, answering his question without giving him any real information. He would have to figure this out later on his own, maybe find some blueprints Eggman left lying around. Then again, with an IQ of over 300, he probably had them all in his mind. Why leave an unnecessary paper trail?
"Actually," Eggman interrupted Shadow's thoughts. "I have a mission for you, Shadow. Just you. I don't trust Scourge with this one; it requires a certain level of stealth."
"So I can finally throw him into orbit?" Shadow tacked on. It's not like he couldn't perform any task Eggman assigned to him solo. Why keep the extra baggage?
"Errr, no. I still need him, just not now. Besides, there's a journal page in it for you." Shadow's ears perked up at this. Now he really had Shadow's attention. "It's simple. Just get me another Chaos Emerald. You're going to have to look for it this time, though. I have no idea where it is."
Yes, Shadow knew how easily the Chaos Emeralds tended to get lost or scattered. At least he had some incentive to search for it now. He knew Tails had one. He'd try to convince the kit to let him have it. It's not like he had much to do up on the ARK anyways. He could always spend some time with Sonic, but that would have to come later. He would just check up on him for the meantime.
Heading out, Shadow made his way to the door, only to be stopped by Eggman's comment.
"You'll find Sonic in one of the empty rooms. I believe he finally wore himself out to sleep."
Shadow could hear the teasing undertone in Eggman's words, jabbing at the fact he knew exactly where the black hedgehog would be going.
With nothing more than a glare directed at the doctor, who was not even looking his way, Shadow left the workshop in search of his brother.

Shadow opened yet another dormitory in his search for Sonic, which had been taking much longer than originally expected. It didn't help that the ARK had enough rooms for a staff of over one hundred scientists.
Finally finding him, Shadow stepped into the room quietly. Sonic lay sprawled out on the single bed on his stomach, sleeping the sleep of the dead.
Shadow approached the blue hedgehog silently, taking care not to wake him. He was happy to finally see Sonic getting some rest. All that running he had been doing had probably slowed down the healing process significantly.
Just as he was about to leave, convinced Sonic was okay and breathing, Shadow stopped. He hadn't noticed it in the dark of the room, but now that it held his attention, he could clearly see it.
There were bruises all over the front of Sonic's face and forehead.
Shocked, Shadow wondered what had happened. Did Sonic get into a fight with Scourge? Did he lose consciousness somewhere? If he did, how did he end up in one of the dormitories? Did Scourge dump him here?
Not wanting to wake Sonic, Shadow left the dorm, heading straight for the computer room.
Once there, he wasted no time accessing the ARK's security footage from earlier in the day. Following Sonic from the start of his day, Shadow fast-forwarded through the tape.
There was nothing out of the ordinary, just Sonic running around for hours on end, then stopping for a bit after Scourge crashed into him. There was no scuffle, with Sonic simply getting up and continuing his sprint, leaving Scourge in the dust. The collision may have been at high-speed, but it wouldn't explain all the bruises on his brother.
He continued to forward the tape until he finally found the cause of Sonic's injuries.
He couldn't resist; the urge was too strong. Shadow slammed his palm directly into his face.
Sonic was repeatedly spin-dashing directly into one of the steel doors, trying to break it down. Regardless of how hard he crashed, or the fact that he was clearly in pain from it as could be seen by him continuously rubbing his head and wiping away the small trickles of blood, he simply kept on going.
Shadow watched the footage until Sonic gave up. The blue hedgehog wobbled around a bit, crashing into a wall as he attempted to make his way down the hall. It was then he entered the dorm, the same one he was currently in, to sleep.
Shadow immediately jumped up from his seat, skating as fast as he could to Sonic's room. If that idiot has been slamming his head into a steel door long enough to make himself dizzy, he had most likely given himself a concussion. Not only that, he had gone directly to sleep after sustaining a head injury, putting him at risk for falling into a coma.
No longer caring about how much noise he was making, Shadow skated right into the room.
"Sonic, wake up!" he shouted as he grabbed the sleeping hedgehog, shaking him awake rather roughly.
Sonic awoke with a shout, immediately jumping up into a defensive position. He brought his hand up in front of his body, ready to strike. When he saw only Shadow standing before him, he lowered his guard. "Shadow? What's going on?"
"Are you okay?"
Sonic raised a brow in confusion. "What?"
"I asked, are you okay? How do you feel? Are you dizzy? Can you see straight? How is your vision?" Shadow listed all the symptoms of a concussion he knew off the top of his head.
"My vision is... fine?" Sonic answered, not entirely sure what Shadow was babbling on about. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"Because you're a stupid idiot!" Shadow moved his hand forward sharply, jabbing Sonic directly in the forehead, hitting a bruise. "Explain this!"
Sonic winced, rubbing the ache that was left on his head after the jab. "I crashed into a door that wouldn't open."
"So your solution was to just keep on slamming head-first into it?!" Shadow said, bewildered, wondering how Sonic's thought process worked exactly.
"Well, unless you're going to hand me a Chaos Emerald, I'd like to hear what your great idea is to get the door open."
Shadow huffed, grabbing Sonic's arm and dragging him out of the room. "Come on!"
"Where are we going?" Sonic asked, allowing Shadow to drag him out of the dorm and into the hallway.
"The Doctor needs to have a look at you. Your 'great idea' has probably left you with some serious head trauma." Shadow stopped as he felt Sonic tug away from his grip.
"No way!" Sonic took a step away from Shadow. "You think I'm going to see that psycho after he cut me open like that?"
"You had gallstones, Sonic. You needed that procedure," Shadow lied through his teeth. He was well aware it was a completely unnecessary procedure, but right now, he needed to get Sonic some medical attention. "You saw the stones yourself."
"I didn't ask him to take 'em out! I'm not going!"
Shadow growled in frustration. "Just stop being stubborn!" He moved forward to grab Sonic's arm once more only to have the cobalt hedgehog move farther away from him.
In the blink of an eye, Sonic had taken down the halls of the ARK once more, running as far away from the ebony hedgehog as he could get.
"Sonic!" Shadow took off after him.

"Just follow the light." Eggman moved the otoscope in his hands in several different places as he observed Sonic's reaction rate.
Frowning, Sonic moved his eyes along with the light. He had been in the medical bay with Eggman and Shadow for the past hour, performing various tasks and undergoing examinations to prove he didn't have any brain damage or any serious head injuries from his little stunt earlier. According to Baldy McNosehair, he was doing a 'full neurological test' which basically meant he was checking his vision, hearing, balance, and for any unusual swelling.
"Are we done yet?" He grew impatient as the tests never seemed to end.
Shadow had caught up to him and defeated him quite easily considering he was still groggy from his nap and running on empty. The black hedgehog had literally dragged him by his arms into the medical bay as he fought, kicking and screaming, trying to claw his way free.
"Everything seems to be in working order." Eggman turned the otoscope off and set it down, making some notes on a notepad.
"So I'm not going to die?" Sonic smirked.
"Die?" Eggman stopped writing. "Who told you that?"
Sonic looked to Shadow, making eye contact with the smirk still on his face.
"That is not what I said and you know that!" Shadow had to resist the urge to strike the blue hedgehog on his already bruised head.
"I'm more concerned with this." Eggman pointed to the bruising on Sonic's abdomen. He had released Sonic three days ago with only minimal bruising from the stitches. The fact that they were darker and larger meant Sonic was completely disregarding his own health. "I told you to rest, Sonic! You are still recovering from surgery!"
"Sure. Just send me back home for some fresh air, and I'll take it easy for a week or two."
"I'd be delighted to just as soon as you agree to join the Eggman Empire."
Sonic sighed. Oh, well. At least he tried.
"Until then," Eggman continued. "you can either stop this nonsense, or so help me, I will tie you down to this bed until you are fully healed."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "No need to get your moustache in a bunch."
"I'm going back to my workshop, but I'm serious, Sonic!" Eggman stood up and removed the gloves from his hands, throwing them into the nearby waste basket.
"I'm touched. I didn't know you cared!" Sonic called after the evil doctor as he left. As soon as he was out of sight, Sonic turned his attention back to Shadow. "Are you happy now?"
Yes, he was happy to hear Sonic was in good health. "Sonic." Shadow rubbed his forehead as several things raced through his head. "Just please eat something."

Whistling to himself, Scourge stood in front of the stove in the ARK's kitchen. He had a rather large pot on the stove and several open cans of food next to him.
The doors to the kitchen slid open as Sonic entered for the first time.
Just like everything else on the ARK, minus some furniture, everything was made of solid steel. The kitchen was massive, clearly made to prepare foods for a number of people well into the hundreds. A series of stoves lined the walls of the kitchen as industrial-sized pots and pans hung on hooks overhead. Below the stoves, were rows and rows of drawers. A few ovens and industrial refrigerators and freezers lined the other side of the wall, with a few small tables scattered across the room for any scientists who wanted to eat in-between meals.
"'Sup, Blue," Scourge greeted him with a quick glance. He proceeded to grab the open cans beside his pot and begin dumping them in unceremoniously.
Sonic had to say he was genuinely surprised. Had Scourge been the one cooking all the food brought to him?
"What's on the menu?" He approached the green hedgehog.
"Do I look like a chef to you?" he responded sarcastically, answering Sonic's internal question at the same time. "I'm just throwing random stuff in here, hoping it turns out well."
Sonic leaned over the pot to have a look. Sure enough, it was an invertible mess of canned vegetables and beans.
"Are you... trying to make chili?" he asked, knowing Scourge shared his favorite food.
"I already told you, I don't know what I'm making." He grabbed the seasonings scattered around the stove and dumped liberal amounts into the pot.
"Looks... great." Sonic felt physically ill looking at the pot. Scourge had not even bothered to drain any of the vegetables, and he was pretty sure green beans, sweet potatoes, and hot sauce shouldn't be in the same pot together. Not wanting to vomit directly into Scourge's concoction, Sonic stepped away, choosing to explore the kitchen some more.
Reaching one of the freezers, he opened the massive steel doors. Inside was enough food to last the end of time. Well, maybe a year or so. The contents were mostly pre-packaged meals, frozen vegetables, and miscellaneous desserts.
Pulling open the fridge directly next to it revealed even more food, mostly perishable items such as fruits, breads, cheeses, and milk.
Finding the walk-in pantry, Sonic pulled it open and stepped in to find the stash of canned foods Scourge must have raided to make his... whatever it was he was making.
"All this food and you tried to cook?!" Sonic shouted from inside the pantry. "What's wrong with a frozen pizza?!"
"You can only eat so many before the sight of them makes you want to vomit!" the green hedgehog shouted back, still stirring the pot.
"Like your cooking," Sonic snickered under his breath.
"I heard that!"
"Okay." Sonic allowed his snickers to become full-blown laughter.