Sonic Under the Knife

Thorndyke mansion

Chris, his parents, Chuck, Mr. Tanaka, Ella, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, Vanilla, and the Chaotix were all in the backyard, enjoying a little get-together. Since Chris' parents found some time to come home, they decided to have a small party for everyone. Knuckles felt like coming as well, so he brought the Master Emerald with him, just like he did the last time he attended a party at the Thorndyke mansion. Ella was supervising Nelson and Lindsey as they lit up the grill, remembering that they nearly set it on fire the last time they used it, while everyone was sitting at the nearby table talking.

"So why'd you decide to come out here anyway, Knuckles?" Vector asked. "I don't know, Vector. Guess I just felt like leaving Angel Island for a little while. As long as I take the Master Emerald with, then it's okay, I think," the echidna replied. "You're always so serious, Knuckles! You need to loosen up and be like me!" Charmy chimed, which got him a face full of Vector's hand. "We don't need another hyperactive ball of energy, Charmy. Especially one that's supposed to stay focused," Espio said while Charmy continued to struggle against Vector's hand.

"I half-expected Sonic to not be here, but I didn't think Tails and Amy wouldn't be here either. Where are they?" Knuckles wondered. Cream spoke up, "Mr. Shadow called Mr. Sonic for a mission, Knuckles, and Sonic wanted Tails and Amy to come with. That was yesterday." Knuckles brought a hand to his chin, "Hmm, I was wondering what those military ships were for. So that was them, huh? Thanks for telling me, Cream." Cream nodded politely at this.

Chris sat at the far end of the table, looking down at it. His mood hadn't changed since yesterday; he was still extremely worried about Sonic and his friends. For some reason, when he had heard about the mission from Shadow, something within him told him that if Sonic and his friends were to go, he might never see them again. Although he had been very happy when his parents came home unexpectedly, the thought had returned quickly and had been messing with him somewhat.

Mr. Tanaka walked up behind him and asked, "Master Chris, are you feeling alright?" Chris turned to look at him and said, "Uh, yeah. I'm fine, Mr. Tanaka." Mr. Tanaka shook his head, "No. You are worried about Sonic, are you not?" Chris looked down, knowing that there was no way for him to deny it. Chuck, who was sitting next to Chris, put an arm on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Chris. You know what Sonic is like. He can act reckless at times, and he might not always be so agreeable. But he never hesitates to help someone who needs it, and he always fights for his friends and what he believes in. He'll come back soon, and I'm sure he'll be just fine. Just be sure to keep thinking that, okay?" Chris nodded, thanking Chuck.

A few minutes later...

After Nelson finally managed to put enough lighter fluid in the grill without the risk that it would explode, the various foodstuffs were laid out across it to cook. While Ella was keeping an eye on everything to make sure it didn't get overcooked, everyone was still talking about recent events they had gone through. When Vector was about to tell a tale about uncovering an old Badnik plant in one of Eggman's old bases, Espio suddenly noticed several aurora-colored streams appear in the sky above. As everyone watched, they took on the appearance of G.U.N. ships, first being colored the same as the streams, then fading to their normal colors.

As the ships began to head back for G.U.N. HQ, Knuckles commented, "Heh, that was quick. Wonder how that mission they were on went?" Espio said, "I'm sure they'll tell us about it once they're back on the ground." Charmy squealed, "Those were pretty colors! And now they're big ships! That's so cool!" Vector turned to Charmy and said, "Charmy, I thought I told you to sit down and be quiet!" This earned a bit of a laugh from everyone.

As they watched the ships, they became aware of a smaller ship that had launched from one of them, moving away from them, seemingly with a different destination in mind. "What's that smaller ship doing?" Knuckles wondered. Chuck looked at a little closer and said, "I've seen that type of ship before. It's used to transport anyone who needs urgent medical attention." At this, Chris began to get worried again and asked, "Grandpa, do you think Sonic could be on board that ship?" Chuck turned to him and said, "Chris, I admit that the thought is worrying, but we can't just jump to conclusions like that."

Knuckles stood up and asked, "Hey, Chuck, do you know how to fly the X-Tornado?" Chuck answered, "Yes, why?" Knuckles replied, "I want to put the Master Emerald back so that Angel Island can start floating again. Then I'm going to go see what's going on." Chuck said, "Knuckles, don't tell me you think Sonic is aboard that ship too." The red echidna replied, "I'd like to think not, but who knows what happened on their mission. I want to know now!" Cream and the Chaotix agreed with him, so Chuck agreed to take everyone in the X-Tornado so they could drop the Master Emerald off, then follow the ship to its destination to see if they could find out what had happened.

As they headed for Chuck's lab, where the X-Tornado was stored, Ella sighed, "Why does something like this always come up whenever we try to have a nice get-together?"

Later, at a special government hospital

The sliding doors at the landing pad of the hospital suddenly opened as a stretcher was rolled through,  the paramedic pushing it from behind while two of her assistants pushed from the sides. Atop the stretcher lay Sonic the Hedgehog, his body hardly making any movements of its own as the stretcher moved through the hallways of the hospital.

"Hurry up, you two! Keep moving! This is a serious condition we're looking at here!" the paramedic yelled as they hurried through the halls. "We know, we're hurrying. I just hope the doctor  will be able to help Sonic," one of her assistants said as they ran. "Well, that's why we need to move! Now hurry! We've got to get him to ICU, stat!" the paramedic shouted.

Upon arrival at intensive care unit, Sonic's stretcher was moved near one of the beds and they laid him on it. They then took the tubes from the machines around it and attached them to his body, hooking him to a life-support system and scanning equipment. After examining everything carefully, the paramedic said, "Alright, he's properly hooked up. I'll go get the doctor. Keep an eye on him!" She left the room, leaving Sonic in the care of her two team members while she searched.

In front of the hospital

The X-Tornado shifted to X-Cyclone mode as it landed in front of the hospital. After it crouched down, Chuck, Chris, Cream, and Cheese climbed out of the seats, while Knuckles and the Chaotix hopped off of it. Going inside, they were surprised and worried to see Tails, Amy, Rouge, Shadow, and Topaz standing in the lobby.

Knuckles ran over to Tails and Amy, asking, "Hey, what's going on?! Where's Sonic?!" Both Tails and Amy looked at each other for a moment, then at the floor as Tails said, "Sonic... He's... In the back..." Knuckles eyes went wide and he yelled, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE'S IN THE BACK!?! WHAT HAPPENED!?!" Rouge reluctantly came over and explained, "While we were on the mission, Sonic stopped a creature that was going to attack Shadow. After it was defeated, it took on its true form, the parasite we now know as X."

Chuck asked, "X?" Rouge nodded and said, "The X are capable of infecting anything organic, at which point they seem to multiply within the body until they kill off their host. At that point, they take control of its body and use it for their own needs. It's all just like we originally mentioned." Espio spoke, "Hold on. Are you saying that Sonic was infected by one of those things?"  Tails looked up and said, "I'm afraid so. When that creature attacked Sonic, it broke some skin on his arm. Once it reverted back to its true form, it shrunk down and must've attacked him when we couldn't see it. We found out it was the X after he lost consciousness and was examined back aboard the ship." Chris spoke, "But... Is Sonic going to be okay?" Tails looked away, Amy began crying, and Rouge softly spoke, "I don't know, kid... Unless he gets some kind of a miracle, I don't think we can count on it..."

Shadow stood in a corner away from everyone as they talked, hardly listening to what they were saying. His mind was elsewhere. He remembered just barely Spin Dashing through the cockpit of Sonic's ship before it collided with one of the asteroids. Tails had swooped in and picked them up, both hedgehogs riding on the back of his ship. Shadow was initially going to  shake Sonic and have a few words for him, but that quickly changed. Even at that point, it was clear there was something very wrong with Sonic. His seemed to be breathing erratically, and he hardly moved at all as they were returning to the fleet. It was like watching him slowly die in front of his eyes. He gritted his teeth as he whispered, "Blast it! If I had been more alert, this wouldn't have happened! Don't die on me, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

In the briefing room

Several doctors and assistants were in the briefing room, the X having been analyzed while Sonic was being transported. The head of the R&D department explained the procedure to the general surgeon who was going to be operating on Sonic. It was still a test, so they were going to put it through its trial by going into Sonic's right arm, where he had received his injury. After the procedure was fully explained, they moved into the operating room, where Sonic lay on the bed.

After his arm was disinfected, the doctor used the scalpel to open Sonic's arm, where they found an X nestled. Everyone was wearing special protective gear so as not to cause an outbreak. Grabbing a syringe, the doctor dipped it into a solution that a nanomachine within it, which would drag the core of the X out, at which point it could be destroyed with an experimental surgical laser. It caused a reaction within the X, eventually revealing the X's core. Once it was exposed, the laser was used to burn it until there was nothing left. However, it came back! The procedure was repeated once again, with the same results. It was at this point that the procedure had to be aborted, as it was becoming clear that the X in the rest of his body were not taking the intrusion very well. Before they moved Sonic back to the ICU, they surgically removed several skin and quill samples for further study.

After Sonic was back in his bed, the doctors began to wonder if there was any hope for him at all. Even if they could safely remove the X in most of his body, they couldn't do it for every part of him. They were particularly worried about his central nervous system, where the X had established a stronghold. If they were to operate on that area, even if no mistakes were made, it wouldn't take much for either them or the X to end his life. Hopefully, the samples they had taken from Sonic would provide answers, and soon.

While they were thinking, the door suddenly burst open, and a doctor none of the medical staff in the room had ever seen before ran in. "Listen, I know I'm intruding, but I believe I have a way to save Sonic the Hedgehog!" he exclaimed, which gave him everyone's full attention. Pulling out a vial of green liquid, he explained, "Thanks to the cooperation of the military, I received several samples of Metroid cells. Using one of these, I was able to create this vaccine. It should eradicate the X within his body, because when the Metroids were still alive, the X were kept in check, likely by the Metroids. I believe a serum made from one of their cells should have the same effect." Everyone agreed to this, and they got to work. The serum was soon prepared and ready to be injected. As they prepared to inject it, they noticed that the doctor had seemingly disappeared, which confused them. Still, they injected the serum and waited to see what would happen.

Soon, in the hospital lobby

Sonic's friends were either seated around the lobby or pacing worriedly. Amy, Cream, and Cheese were in tears, worried about Sonic, Tails and Chris were trying their best to not break down just yet, and everyone else occasionally glanced over at the doors once in a while. They could not stand this waiting when Sonic's life might be in danger.

Suddenly, the doors swung open and the doctor who had operated on Sonic stepped out. Seeing Sonic's friends, he told them that the X within Sonic were destroyed and he had just regained consciousness. Everyone was relieved to hear this and followed him down the hallway to Sonic's room. As they walked, he explained that Sonic was going to need to stay in the hospital for a little while since his nervous system had been damaged a bit by the X. They were fine with that, just so long as Sonic was alive; that was enough for now.

The doctor allowed Tails, Amy, and Chris to go in first, since the room wasn't big enough for all of them. Walking across the floor, they found Sonic laying in the bed, his head slightly turned away from them and his left arm resting on his chest above the blanket. They could hear the sound of him breathing regularly, meaning he was fine.

Tails came up first. "Sonic?" he whispered softly. Sonic turned his head over to the young fox and smiled, saying, "Tails. You okay, buddy?" Tails nodded softly, saying, "Y-yeah. I was so worried about you, Sonic. I-I was starting to..." Tails was cut off when Sonic managed to pull the fox into a hug, comforting him. He then noticed Chris and Amy looking at him and motioned for them to come over as well. They did, both of them voicing how glad they were to see Sonic was well, Amy even kissing Sonic, causing him to blush. They continued to talk for a little while before being told that everyone else wanted to see Sonic as well.

Eventually, everyone had seen Sonic and exchanged some words with him, glad to have him back. Although Shadow didn't say anything when he had come to see Sonic, both of them knew he didn't have to. The fact that Shadow had been at the hospital all this time and had come to see him told Sonic enough. They didn't need to say anything to express how they felt. After everyone had seen him, they all left so that Sonic could get his sleep.

Meanwhile, on a highway away from the hospital

A purple and green race car known as the Speed Demon roared down the highway, having no regard for anyone else using it. Inside the car were two males, one wearing an S-Team uniform, while the other was the doctor from earlier, though it turns out he had been wearing a mask while he was in the hospital, having removed it when he left.

"I still say this plan of you is pretty risky, doc. And I don't see why the Organizer agreed to your plan to allow Sonic to live. I figured he'd want him dead the instant he found out," the man driving said. "Patience, Hector. He may have lived through this, but he won't live through what I've got in store for him. If everything worked out as planned, then those samples they removed from him should be on their way to the SRL station. And if my hypothesis is right, then Sonic will only be alive long enough for my research on the X to be complete," the other man said