"Sonic!" Ash cried, running out, but Eggman pointed the gun at him.
"Leave him, he's ok." The doctor promised as Sonic retched and his skin dulled down to blue again, his quills sinking. The emeralds fell about him and smashed "They were fake, Sonic, I wouldn't give you the real ones, not without a promise that you'd help me."
"I'd never help you." He spat, shaking.
"You know, Amy wasn't the only one who tried to take me down while you were gone. Tails, Knuckles, Vector and Espio tried too." Eggman pushed Sonic down with his foot "Do you remember how much it hurt, when I turned you into a Pokemon?"
"I'm not a Pokemon!" Sonic hissed at him, but Eggman just smiled at him.
"A being of pure energy. You weren't purely energy before, but I changed that and it hurt, didn't it? I can make your friends suffer if you don't listen to me." Eggman repeated and Sonic gritted his teeth. "I just want you to beat Giovanni, stop him once and for all. Then I'll leave you here and you can start your new life."
"No way!" Sonic yelled and Eggman's eyes flashed. Red light swept the hedgehog back into the master ball and he took a calming breath.
"So be it."
When Sonic was released, it was into another ball that he could only just move in. Eggman screwed the top of it up and dropped it into a large tank of water, watching him sink to the bottom with a small smile.
"Meet your new team mates, Sonic." He chuckled and turned to a robot "Bring in prisoner A3." The doctor commanded and a moment later, Amy was dragged in.
"What happened to rotting in the dungeons, huh Eggman?" She spat, but then looked into the tank "Sonic!" Her face hardened "Let him go, Eggman!"
"I'm going to kill him, Amy. I just wanted you to watch." He smiled and brought out a small bucket of popcorn "Want some?"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" She screamed, struggling, but the robot held her steady.
"Or, I won't, if you do something for me." The genius added and she froze, panting lightly. He pulled out a small injection and held it at her neck "If you're very still for just a few moments while I inject you, I'll let him live." He promised.
"What is that stuff?" She whispered, glancing between Sonic and the liquid that sloshed inside the injection. The blue hedgehog was shaking his head vigorously, but Amy ignored him as Eggman tutted impatiently.
"It would be easier if you didn't know. Will you be still?" He added and she gave a small nod. Gently, he pushed it in and she winced as the liquid poured into her veins. "Let her go." He said to the robot and as soon as it released its grip, she collapsed to the floor, convulsing. Then she screamed in agony, writhing in pain across the ground, until the pain was so much that she became unconscious. "Next." Eggman commanded and Amy was dragged away.
Sonic watched in horror as his friends were brought forward and threatened into being still. He watched them as they screamed and struggled against the ball, but he couldn't get out. He was forced to suffer their cries. This was his fault. If he had just listened to Eggman, they wouldn't be in any pain. The hedgehog found that tears stained his face as Tails, Knuckles, Espio and Vector were all brought to their knees in the agony that Sonic had faced a week ago. As Vector was dragged away, another robot rolled in.
"Dr Eggman, prisoner A3 is now 100% energy. Shall we transmit prisoner A3 into the pokeball?" It asked and Eggman huffed in annoyance.
"Yes yes, go. And with the others, do it straight away, don't ask me first!" He yelled after it. When it was gone, Eggman turned to Sonic. "Happy now?" The hedgehog glared at him in reply "This is your own fault. Recently, you've been very reckless and spitefull. I'm surprised at you." The genius folded his arms "I would've thought that you would have beaten Giovanni simply because he's cruel and not just left him because he was an irritant to me as well. I guess I'll be doing your job for you, this time, at least. As soon as they're all ready, I'm going to defeat that business man and take away those Pokemon I created. Then I'm going to cut off all of the ties I made with that planet."
Eggman looked at the hedgehog thoughtfully, wondering if he could even hear him. "If you're nice, maybe I wont try to shut you out there." He added softly and they stared at each other for a moment, years of anger and hatred sharp in their glares. Then, the genius broke it off to see what the progress was. "Looks like we're all set." He pressed a few buttons on a wall panel and it opened up just as the last pokeball rolled in from some unknown destination. Eggman picked it up and released Vector, who stumbled to his knee, but glared up resiliantly.
"What have you done, Egghead?" He demanded, but Eggman didn't reply to him. Instead he picked up a small device and held it against his arm "What's that?"
"HM03." Eggman smiled "I just wanted to see if it works." He clicked it and Vector cried out. When Dr Eggman pulled it away, a small line of blood ran down the crocodile's arm. "That's odd. How do you feel?"
"I feel like I should punch you." He snarled and rose to attack, but the genius held up another pokeball and tutted at him.
"Do you want to find out what happens to Espio when you crush his pokeball?" The doctor asked with a grin and Vector stopped in his tracks, an expression of outrage and fear mixed on his face as he replied.
"I doubt it." He sighed and looked at Eggman in defeat "What do you want?" The doctor smiled and scooped up the rest of the pokeballs, preparing to leave.
"I want to see if this works... Let's go and find a lake."
