Of Two Sides
Belle felt more conflicted than ever with her decision to stay with Doctor Eggman.
As the man said to her a few times before, he never made an effort to hide he was a good person...but at first, Belle thought it was simply he had a low opinion of himself for some reason.
Because, look at how many good things he did so far!
He helped Isara and the Darcsens when he had almost nothing to win from that. He honored his side of the agreement and helped Clove back to her feet. Let Canaan look for Maria even if he was annoyed by the deed.
For someone proclaimed as a villain, Eggman sure didn't seem all too bad at first...
And then he had to fight the Deadly Six.
It was a mess. Machine against machine, Zeti against human, and mobians. Metal being taken over. Eggman probably truly showed his true colors there, but she didn't see the signs in the rush. Belle at least knew it was mostly self-defense, to preserve the land conquered from the Black Arms - who even she knew were bad, bad news for everyone.
But that's when she began to dig deeper...and the rabbit hole proved to lead to a world she never expected to see. Harming the kindly wisps, nearly destroying the Earth in a mad frenzy for conquest, actually conquering and bringing terror to it for six long months before being taken down...
It was all too much. And she lashed out against the man that took her father's place.
...maybe she should have seen it coming. For Sage was also a daughter, and if someone talked back to her papa like that...
It would have been easier to hate him. Simply brand him as a monster who took the mask of her father and walked away from all that.
But she saw it that day. The day they said farewells, that he might not return from Doctor's conscience. And yesterday, when he put his foot down to stop the AI he cared about like a father to stop what he saw as going over the edge. While Mister Tinker was a kindly man, he would put his foot down in some things Belle did...like Eggman did so yesterday.
...
She was sitting atop one of the buildings of Egg City, watching the young-old magician, Yahna, studying some of the ground, an expression of worry on her face. Belle shivered for a bit. Wood and fire didn't go together at all, and the curse seemed to be growing worse with time.
"Coin for your thoughts?"
She looked at the Darcsen girl behind her.
"Isara," she said. "I thought you would be with your friends."
"I decided I needed some fresh air," the engineer explained. "Those bedrooms are nice and comfy, but sometimes all I need is just some space and the vastitude of the stars to relax...though I can't recognize any of these constellations. Wonder if it's the sky of some other world or if a bunch of them got munched together like the lands."
Silence.
Belle really liked Isara. While they didn't see each other much, she was, just like her, a creator. A thinker. Someone with a very kind heart...and she also...
"Hey...to tell the truth, I also saw to see you," she said, a bit embarrassed. "I...wanted to talk with Doctor, I had some questions for him and...well..."
"You caught our meeting..." Belle finished. "I was there."
The Darcsen blushed a bit.
"Y-yeah...in all honesty, I feel sorry for seeing that, it seemed very personal."
"It's...fine," the Tinker said. "It's just...it's so messy..."
Isara looked at the inventor, pushing her to continue.
"My dad...he used to be Eggman...and then he lost it's memories, went to my village, created me...then the Shattering happened, I met him again, only to say goodbye..." Belle hugged her knees. "And Eggman is not a good person."
She rambled a bit about her findings, each causing Isara's eyebrows to widen slightly.
"I...those do not seem to be fine..." the Darcsen said. "Some of those things...it almost remind of what the Empire would do. Like what happened to those Wisps..."
"...yet, he also shows glimpses of being...more than that," Belle said. "He sometimes acts in ways that I could imagine my papa doing. Do you get it, Isara? How can those two be true at the same time? If he's evil, shouldn't he be unwilling to do good things? And if he's good, why he goes through such atrocities?"
"I'm not exactly a philosopher, you know..." the engineer said. "I can't give a correct answer to those questions..."
"...but?" the girl asked.
"I can give my answer," she decided. "Take a knife, for instance. In the hands of a soldier, it's a tool of murder. In the hands of a butcher, it's a device for slaughter. In the hands of a wood crafter, a means to create. In the hands of a chef, it helps feed people. If I had to describe him...Eggman is like a knife."
"Like a knife...?" Belle said.
"Yes," Isara nodded. "Even if he thinks like the Empire, he still went ahead and helped me and my Darcsens. Not for all the right reasons, but he still did so, and I'm eternally grateful for that, especially after..." she touched her chest, then shook her head. "Certain things. And any creator, well...he has to be prepared that even the tools he created for good may be twisted into vile things. I once heard that Stone fellow say how someone created a powerful explosive to help with mining operations but then it was used to fight wars. Ironically, he's supposed to be the creator of a prize about peace."
"So...dual..." Belle said. "But...this still doesn't answer my question."
"In short, people can be good and evil, Belle," Isara said. "If you asked any person of the Empire about Squad 7, they would likely call us demons, monsters that bared their fangs against their righteous masters. To a Darcsen and Gallians, we would be heroes...but truth is, although we had them in mind, we also wanted to live. To not be treated like dirt, subject to the tyranny of the Empire. Anger. Some were unwilling to give any people of the Empire the time of their day, even though not all were bad. It was a noble cause, but also one with many rotten apples."
"..." the puppet was silent, before saying: "Why tell me this?"
"I...well, I suppose I sympathized with you as a sibling," she said. "I miss dearly Welken...hoping he's fine. I came here more to uplift you about that fight, but I guess we ended up doing some philosophy at the end."
"...sorry," she apologized.
"I'll be so if you are still upset," the engineer said. "Are you?"
"...still a bit," she said. "I...I didn't consider how much Sage would be upset if I talked bad things about Eggman. And while she wasn't right in doing all that...she was right in feeling upset for her papa's condition."
"So would you take back what you said to him?" Isara asked.
After a long moment, Belle said:
"...no. Because I saw Doctor can be better. He could carry on with Power and Kindness. And my pa taught me to not say lies and hide things. If my pa is Doctor, then...then I say what I think he should hear from me."
"...I couldn't really imagine myself doing that with my dads," Isara said. "But if you were in my world, I say this type of thought would make you a shoe-in for the army. Maybe even teach you a few tricks on keeping up tanks."
"I-I can't even imagine me on a tank!" she said. "Me, fighting?! That mess in Tokyo-To was already enough for my tastes, thank you very much!"
"Ahaha, yeah, fighting is not for everyone," Isara said, stretching her arms. "Ah. Guess I'm going to sleep. Studying all of that Imperial Armament is taking a lot out of me."
The Darcsen hopped off, leaving the Badnik alone...before coming back.
"Hey, Belle. If you ever need a friendly shoulder...I'm here," she paused. "And all other people that Eggman is commanding. Seriously, I think almost everyone loves you and would like to help. But if you want an engineer buddy in specific..."
"...I will keep you in mind," Belle promised. "Thanks, Isara."
The Darcsen nodded, walking away for real, leaving Belle alone with the stars.
"..."
She remembered the story of Gerald Robotnik, genius mind turned monster by the loss of a loved one. Eggman's inspiration. A man who, although did a very terrible thing, still managed to leave a positive legacy in the world.
Belle wondered...
"Doctor...is it too late for you to do the same?"
