#rascalentertainments

He'd been walking around the outer areas of Onyx City, away from the hustle and bustle of the main square. Not just because it was easier to work with fewer people around, but also to keep from rousing suspicion from the Civil Protection Robots. They watched for the slightest bit of suspicion and pounced on any citizen for it.

Von Schlemmer was in the clear for now, but he had a habit of losing track of time when it came to his work. He could lose a whole day working in his lab and not even notice until the sun rose up! At least this time he brought apple slices with him so he had some kind of food today.

He was coming across a pile of discarded furniture when the Rods began to go off. They vibrated like tuning forks as he got closer. The professor quickly chomped down on an apple slice as started to follow the device's signal.

"Zis is it! Zis is the energy I've been looking for! Such a strange place to be though…" He stated as he looked around at what seemed be a mini junkyard. Nothing but discarded machines, boxes and furniture that no longer had any use.

Nevertheless, he followed the trailer as it got stronger. Von Schlemmer's excitement was building as he walked closer and closer. Its signal was going off the charts when he stopped in front of a broken dryer. The man was left scratching his head.

"Perhaps zis is a powerful dryer? Or maybe zis is broken. Zis is the first time I've used zem…" He looked at the invention to check if something was malfunctioning, but was interrupted by a small howl.

Von Schlmmer looked down and noticed the door to the dryer had a little window in it. He bent down and saw something that surprised him: A baby hedgehog! And it was just waking up from a nap.

"Vhat is this? How did you get there?" He asked as he opened the door. He knew it couldn't respond, but it helped him not feel like he was alone.

After he opened the door, the cub stood on its tiny paws and attempted to scare him off by growling. Although its own stomach growling was louder than its own.

The professor was amused by this new creature. "Ah, I see you're using a classic defense maneuver. You have very good instincts for something so young!"

The rods were still vibrating, but when he raised it towards the hedgehog, they also began to glow brightly, making the hedgehog hiss at it. This was the powerful source he's been looking for? It was only a baby! That proved it had to be a mistake due to a malfunction on his part.

"Oh vell. Perhaps it vas too much to expect. I've been called a crackpot many times. Sometimes I feel like its no use…" Von Schlemmer's voice sounded deflated as he looked at his presumably failed invention.

He then looked back as the cub, still staying caution of the stranger. The professor decided to focus on helping the little one for now and skip the pity party. First, he needed to get it to trust him.

The hedgehog started to growl as he raised his hand closer to him. It seemed that his hunger made him more irritated towards strangers. He didn't have large fangs, but his teeth were still semi-sharp.

"Its all right, klein igel. I am a friend. No need to be scared…."

The professor slowly put his hand inside, inching closer to it to pet it. The cub looked defensive and immediately bit his approaching hand.

"ACK!" the man exclaimed before covering his mouth with his other hand. He wanted to take his hand away, but he knew that would make the cub remain fearful of him. So he waited for it to calm down on its own.

Eventually, the hedgehog loosened his grip on the scientist, then licked his hand as an apology. It finally understood he was friendly.

"Zhere we are! See, I'm no threat to you." Schlemmer replied as he gently patted the cub on the head.

The hedgehog became more curious about the man and crawled out of the dryer, accidentally fell out of the broken machine, onto the ground. The man slightly jumped back. He had no intention of taking it out of there, only to study it from the inside and gather data on the energy it radiated.

The cub looked at him and sneezed as he tried to get up. The professor chuckled at the sight, then looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone around. No parents or guardians were nearby, nor a note by the cub. He wasn't sure if it was even supposed to be by itself, or was someone coming back?

Von Schlemmer didn't want to cause trouble, he had enough to worry about with his theory of genesis portals becoming more of a danger. He couldn't worry about a lost cub, no matter how adorable it was.

The little one rolled on his stomach and looked up at the man. His big golden eyes shined as he was excited to see this new person, and his tiny tail wagged as he started to craw his way towards him.

The professor nervously stepped back. "Perhaps I have enough data for now. I must return to ze lab! I'm sure your mother or father vill be back any moment." He picked up his invention and turned to walk away.

The hedgehog started to whimper as he began to understand the man was leaving. Not wanting him to leave, he started to cry and reached out for the professor.

Schlemmer stopped in his tracks once he heard his cries. He really shouldn't get involved, but…

The cub was sniffling, still upset his new friend was leaving him, until he smelled something sweet in front of him. He opened his eyes and saw a sliced red crisp apple in front of his snout, and it was in the palm of the professor's hand. That immediately cheered him up as he happily ate the slice in just two bites.

Now that he had eaten and fully trusted the professor, he rubbed his snout into his hand and purred.

"Ah, you are not so scary. Only vhen you are hungry!" Von Schlemmer laughed. "Though I still vonder how you got here."

He gently grabbed the hedgehog with both hands and lifted him up. The creature looked him just as curiously. It had quills that were shaped like odd flat spikes, growing a small patch of fluff on his chest that seemed to be also emerging from around its neck. It also had golden eyes that Schlemmer could've sworn flickered blue, and strange blue circle patterns on both of its hands. They were pulsating slightly as it moved its paws towards the man.

"Such a curious creature. You look like a hedgehog, but not like anyone I have ever seen. You're not even blue!" Schlemmer laughed as the cub smiled at him. He carried it around close to him as he continued talking, almost forgetting about his own invention he was using only minutes ago.

"In fact, you resemble my favorite element of the periodic table, #47, Ag: also known as…." His voice trailed off when he looked down and noticed that the hedgehog was rubbing his head against the professor's chest, purring softly. It seemed to grow attached to the man quickly as it grabbed his thumb, holding it close to him.

A warm smile spread across his face as he looked at him.

"Silver. That's what I vill call you." He spoke in a more calm tone. "You're my little silver lining today! Haha!"

The moment was cut short when he heard the footsteps of two Civil Protection Robots approaching. He didn't want to put the hedgehog back in the broken dryer, but he didn't want it to be discovered either.

So he panicked and stuffed him in his lab coat.

"Halt, citizen!" A metallic voice rang out.

The man sheepishly turned around and slapped on a smile. "Good day, my mechanical friends! My, you're looking extra shiny today!"

One of the robots scanned his face and its inner database showed them the man's identity file. "Professor Von Schlemmer. Why are you out of your designated laboratory at this time?"

The other Robot stepped forward. "Are you up to suspicious activity? Suspicious activity will lead to arrest and judged before the City Council."

"Who me? Nien! I vas just testing out an invention I recently created." He gestured to his device he left on the ground. "I'm afraid its gone 'kaput' already. Haven't gotten a single reading all morning!"

As the professor was speaking, he was attempting not to laugh, Silver crawling around the inside of his coat and the fur was becoming ticklish on him.

The robots were quiet for a while, processing his response. He was beginning to sweat, hoping that they wouldn't keep asking questions. Then the two finally stepped away.

"Reminder is in order: Do not loiter outside if it is not conducive to your work. Good day." One of the bots stated before they both left.

"Ja, ja! Of course! Good day!" Von Schlemmer waited for the two guards to leave. After they turned a corner, he immediately picked up his invention and clumsily ran off.

Silver grunted while moved around in his the coat. He didn't understand why the man was moving more frantically and tried to find his way out.

It did feel a bit ticklish, but the professor had to keep a straight face. "Not now, Igel. We need to get back to my laboratory!"

Von Schlemmer made his way through a seaof people, trying not to garner attention towards himself. He kept apologizing everytime he bumped into someone, which was numerous times.

After getting pass that obstacle, he could he see his lab was in view again.

Before he could celebrate, he heard another Protection Robot harassing another citizen, accusing them of jaywalking. That drove the professor to run again, hoping to make the home stretch before he was caught. In his hurry, he tripped over himself and had dropped everything in his hands right as he was outside the entrance.

Just before he fell to the ground, he realized that he hadn't made contact with it yet. When he opened his eyes, he discovered he was floating inches above the grass, covered in a cyan hue.

Silver poked his head out of his collar, curious at what was happening himself. It would seem he activated his powers when he sensed the professor was in danger.

Von Schlemmer was able to land safely on his feet and gently pulled Silver out of his coat. He gave him a smile. "Just as I said, silver lining!" The hedgehog wagged his tail in response.

The main door slid open and the two of them were greeted by three tiny robots in blue, red and yellow.

"01010111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01001000 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100001" They all greeted the professor in binary code. In their language, they welcomed him home.

"Bits! Quickly, gather my things und hurry back inside. Those nosy bots could be here any minute!" He looked behind him to make sure he wasn't followed. There were people, but they were far more distant and in the main square.

The bits carried his tools inside while Von Schlemmer took Silver out of his coat. He quickly checked his surroundings for anymore robots or guards. Once the coast was clear, he closed the door to his home immediately.

It was best Silver remained a secret. At least for now….

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Author's Notes:

Its been a minute since I wrote for this AU hasn't it? Like I said, I'm still working on my Wish AU, so this is mainly for fun. But I came up with another fun story to add so I created this! I'm still working on how Von Schelmmer and Silver's bond works for this. I want it to be as much of a father-son bond as possible while keeping the professor in character. (and still grasping how to write a German accent. 😅) I do want to introduce Gold soon, just after I develop my version of these two first. Gotta start slow and steady!

And it gives me time time to read more of the original comic story, so I can fully grasp the character dynamics.

Thanks for reading!