The old man leaned against a stack of grinders with a sigh and a smile. Eggman had so far lived up to his word. Even if it was out of selfish and pragmatic reasons he had still welcomed them all into his land, and shown he had the strength to defend it.
…An entire army of metal and monsters and the Doctor barely suffered any damage at all. Those robots…no badniks of his really were something.
If it wasn't for that sniper…another man joined him and offered him a cigarette which he accepted. "Report." He said not looking away from the ongoing construction.
"No sign of anything old man. We've cleaned up a good bit of the area so far and haven't seen anything."
Hmm…he could see Ms. Gunther in the distance commanding everyone with sharp eye and good orders. "Keep an eye out, we can't risk anything going wrong."
"Aye sir." The man stood up getting back to work as the old man mused.
He wasn't blind to what the world thought of him. Eggman might as well have been the devil as far as they were concerned. So having someone take a shot at him wasn't all that unexpected…though distressing.
But they worked for him, in the Darcsen's long persecuted history he was one of the best things to happen to them, but for the rest of the world that would just make them demons of a different sort.
Which made them fair targets. It wasn't anything new for them though so it wouldn't be all that problematic…for most of them.
Ms. Gunther…hadn't reacted well when the Doctor was shot. None of them did, but the girl seemed like she was on the edge of a panic attack. Now he's no Doctor but that smells of Trama.
He isn't going to poke it, but if that Sniper thinks they can target the girl they're going to regret it. Though he supposed it was irrelevant for now. If the enemy was here they were here, if they weren't they weren't and they could do their jobs in peace.
And what a job it was. The old man looked up at the buildings they had already built. Towering masses of glass and steel and rated to survive an artillery attack. Underground tunnels weaving their way through the entire area, each little thing they made was something that belong in a palace or noble's mansion…and the Doctor considered it basic infrastructure.
One of the giant buildings was just for all of them to live in, it had water, electricity, and a armory of tools and weapons for whatever they needed. It was even connected to the underground network so they could easily get around.
The old man grinned, if this was how the Doctor treated his workers, then that gamble of theirs has paid off. He can't wait to see what else he does.
---
AN: Another Darcsen omake, to show how their doing.
Well from that last slip up I got an idea. A long overdue talk.
Sage Robotnik was worried.
After rescuing the scientific and the kid under zavok hands, her father had from her understanding unlocked another set of memories.
The fact that her father had confused Orbot and Cubot with two other robots called Bocoe and Decoe raised a lot more questions.
So she went to investigate.
It wasn't really hard to get the information either way, her father memos weren't prohibited for her to read after all.
The information in them for sure was interesting, but she had finally found what she was searching.
The memos related to what appeared to be a different sets of memories of her father.
The fact that people like Cassia and Clove weren't from her world, but one very similar and had their own version of her father made it easier to digest and connect the dots.
Her father was right about one thing, whatever caused the shattering also affected him on a way they cannot begin to even imagine.
While the mannerism didn't change much, the fact that her father had changed even a little scared her.
That the man that she knew could in one moment stop being who he was.
And yet there was nothing they could really do.
Whatever was happening was understood vey little and close to none other than a different set of memories being added on top of those that already were there.
It is why she asked for a meeting with him, after all according to the data and what Cubot and Orbot told her, he was the one to find him in the first place, so gathering any data from him may make the phenomena at least a little more understandable.
''So what it is that you need miss Sage?'' Starline said in a neutral tone to the AI as they were in his room as the AI was connected to his personal computer.
''I will go straight to the point Doctor Starline as no doubt you are very busy, but it involves my father mental aligment which according to my research you are very aware off'' Sage stated as a fact to the platypus.
Starline inmediatly went pale at the mention of it and made sure no one else was snooping around the hallways and close to his room, this was information he had keep hidden for very good reasons at the moment after all.
As he finally made sure no one else was around he went to his computer and asked the AI one simple question.
''How?'' Starline said in a baffled and icy tone.
''Hmmp, I will remind you Doctor Starline, father has left me in charge of the Eggnet, so anything contained within it is no secret for me, father hasn't barred me from access to any of his memos and honestly, if you really want better encryption for your own memos I can run at least 100 programs at minimum with better passwords than Eggfan#1'' the AI responded on her own neutral tone.
''... Fine the cat is out of the bag with you, yes I am aware of the Doctor split personalities to keep it in simple terms, I have kept the information hidden for good reasons on the other hand, especially with how little is understood about the phenomena, as far as I have been able to decipher alongside the doctor is that direct meetings with people that his alternates knew seems to trigger a reaction, but whenever those memories are permanent is something that yet I cannot put down, but tell me, why come to me right here and now... unless it happened again didn't it?'' Starline asked the AI after listing everything he knew.
''... Indeed, this time the scientist and the child we rescued from the enemy territory seemed to trigger something within father even listing creations that were not under the eggman empire banner database meaning they must also be alternate creations from father'' Sage told the platypus.
''... Did he had any sudden changes, like a more destructive mood or something like that?'' Starline asked nerviously to the AI.
Sage blinked at the question and answered honestly '' No, while the recognition at the scientist and the kid was met with a more cordial tone, father mannerisms and self didn't recieve any major change as far as I have observed''
''Thanks Chaos, that means that whatever memories he is getting aren't affecting him on a fundamental level, without saying that whoever that maniac was related to haven't been able to resurface'' Starline swiped the sweat of his forehead.
Sage on the other hand was a lot more curious at what Starline was hinting ''Doctor Starline, I need you to disclose to me how much you actually know of father ailment, I was told by Cubot and Orbot that you were there when trying to get him back to his old self, but they weren't willing to go into more details than that''
''... Urhg, fine, but I am doing this only because it seems you are also worried for the Doctor wellbeing, but still I need to repeat that this meeting never happened and that you didn't learn this from me, the Doctor has too much stuff to worry about to deal with my own mistakes'' Starline finally said in a defeated tone as he brought out a USB drive.
''This USB drive contains the records of my sessions with the Doctor as a way to keep a log on what had happened to him, I mostly kept it on my persona as a way to work later on discovering what happened to the Doctor, while the one known as Mister Thinker was indeed there, well I doubt I could call whatever he was going trough living'' Starline said as he plucked in the USB drive and Sage started running the files for signal of anything malicious.
While her father may have hired the platypus, it doesn't mean she trusts hims totally, but after scanning the videos they seem to be clean and opens the first one.
''This is Doctor Starline, I find myself here cataloging what will probably be a very long process in the affair of recovering Doctor Eggman''. the platypus presented itself to the camera.
''While last I had heard before the shattering was the Doctor living what appeared to be a life of wasting away his intellect'' The platypus said with a tone of venom on his voice.
It quickly channged to one of pity ''I cannot say that the man in front of me is truly living''
The camera focus was on a man struggling to set his hands and feet free as he was stapled to a chairs
''YOU I ORDER YOU TO RELEASE ME, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM, I AM IVO ROBOTNIK, GRR WHERE ARE YOU DINGBOTS, IF YOU DON'T COME TO LIBERATE ME IN THE NEXT 5 SECONDS I WILL MAKE SURE YOU AR-''
The screaming of the man stops for a little, before it starts once again with a different tone.
''Huh, where I am? who are you?, are you with those animals, bah it doesn't matter, but what does is STONE COME HERE AND GET ME OUT OF HERE ALSO WHERE IS MY COF-''
The tone while a lot more calmer at the start suddenly becomes shouting as the man calls for someone called Stone and a coffee before it abruptly stops once again.
Only for the sound to be one of crying now, the one of a man who was done with everything.
''Please stop them, I don't know what is happening, but please just get them out, I can still feel them, in my head telling me to do so much horrible things, to try to hurt so many, to hurt Be-''
The man once known as Mister Tinker pleads with the platypus with whatever control he has left, before the cycle starts again and the camera focus back .
''As you can see whatever happened during the Shattering, well it has left the doctor not even a fraction of the man he was, even the facade of Mister Tinker is asking it to stop, don't worry Doctor you will be better in no time'' the platypus said as he prepared his glove to start the treatment.
Sage was horrified, her father to be in that state, one that anyone would call a fate worse than death.
''Let me tell you, I may have loathed Mister Tinker, but even I couldn't feel anything but pity for that man, even I wouldn't wish my worst enemy whatever had happaned to him'' Starline said in a honest tone.
''While doing the teraphy for the Doctor, I found various personalities, some stranger than others, but some more dangerous than others.'' Starline said shivering as he pointed to a very specific file.
Sage didn't wait to open the file despite the clear breakdown Starline was suffering.
''Ugh, this is Starline, once again trying to get the great Doctor Eggman back on his feet, so far every single treatment has been a failure, just when I have though I cracked it, there is always discrepancies between certain events and one key piece that tips me off that the man at hand is not the Doctor I know'' Starline said in a tired tone.
''Last time I managed to get a version of the Doctor that had memories up to the Chaos Incident, but some of the memories were just too different, without counting the strange accent and calling Metal Sonic something like Metallix' Starline said as he went trough his notes.
''I managed to subdue the personality luckily and today I am starting another session, with what probably will be another one and hopefully the Doctor we known'' as the platypus entered the room he saw the doctor still confined to that chair.
But he didn't know why, but something was unnerving him, he may be a man of science, but instincs are something even the most developed people haven't been able to drop for good reasons.
They can tell when something is wrong.
And Starline coudln't help but shiver as he entered the room, almost as if he had found himself entering into a predator den.
As the platypus got close to the man, the Doctor finally talked ''Well looks like my captor is finally here'' the doctor said in a eerie calm tone.
Starline was on full alert, he didn't know why, but his desire to get back the doctor finally overrode any fear ''I am sorry for the accomodations Doctor, but this is for you own good, as long as you can answer me we may finally be able to release you''
''Very well, ask away but I doubt you will have me in here for much longer'' The doctor said in an annoyed tone.
''Well, lets start then, what is your name?''
''Heh, I used to go by Robotnik for a good while, but well now everyone calls me Eggman and despite everything is a name they still fear to this day''
''What is your grandfather name?''
''Bah, any fool would know of the greatness of Gerald Robotnik''
''What is your greatest creation?''
''What fool do you take me for platypus? everything I do is my greatest creation''
''What is your relationship with Sonic?''
''... What?'' Eggman took some seconds to answer.
''I will repeat the question Doctor, wha'' Starline didn't get to finish the question as he suddenly heard a click.
The very familiar click of the cuffs he had put on the doctor.
Starline couldn't react in time as he was punched in the face and launched across the room.
''You know you are really getting annoying, but I suppose you have done this song and dance with the others enough to learn to spot the differences between each one of us'' The Doctor said in a cold calculating tone.
''I don't know which one of the fools you are trying to get, but that doesn't matter right now, I have never met you before so I doubt you are trying to get me'' Eggman said as he approached the computer on the room and began typing.
''But if you want to satiate your curiosity fine by me, my relationship with that pinchushion can be described on one word, hate'' Now the tone of the man was changing from one of calm to one of pure rage.
''Yes, how I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG, I HATE HIM WITH ALL OF MY SOUL, NO MATTER WHAT I DO THAT HEDGEHOG IS ALWAYS THERE AND I REFUSE TO SHARE MY MIND WITH THEM OR EVEN BE A PRISIONER OF IT AS LONG AS THAT BLUE NUISANCE IS OUT THERE!'' Eggman was now screaming to the high heavens as he continued typing, Starline groggily had gotten back in his feet as he watched the madman typing.
''YES I REFUSE TO SHARE EVEN WITH MYSELF FOR I AM WARLORD DOCTOR JULIAN IVO EGGMAN ROBO-KINTOBOR MACH TWO AND I REFUSE TO BE TRAPPED IN THIS INSIPID BODY'' the man continued typing fast as the camera finally lost focus and soon after it turned off becuase of one thing.
It broke.
The last thing it managed to record was a trail of blood coming out of Eggman head while Starline was hyperventilanting.
Sage couldn't even begin to process what had happened as she launched a look at the platypus.
''... Look I know that doesn't look the best for my persona, but can you blame me? the entire session, wi-with that thing was scrreaming at me that something wrong was going on'' Starline hugged itself as the memories of that day continued.
'' I still cannot really understand what happened that day, but after putting the Doctor on the infarmary at charge of Cubot and Orbot I went trough whatever that version of the Doctor had written'' Starline said as he continued his tale.
'' My heart dropped when I saw what was written, I may not be the best at it, but even I can understand when I am seeing programinng code and language, whatever he was doing he was programming something as quickly as he could, I know I managed to stop it before he could writte the last lines to run it though'' Starline said in a scared tone.
Sage just continued digesting the information.
''... I don't know what it was for and I don't want to, that entire day I was on edge because of that specific version of the doctor and I don't doubt that whatever it had written would be no good for anyone even if it was his genius so I deleted any trace of the code with that video being the only proof that in once was written''. Starline said.
''Look Sage one of the reasons I have kept this hidden it is because revealing this information may cause more harm than good in the long run, not only the Doctor would shut me down telling me that he won't be overriden with one of his alternates, but some of the other people working for him could very well had their loyalty shaken, without counting that there is no one intelligent enough apart from the Doctor
to even try to piece together this jigsaw, I care about the doctor wellbeing, but can I trust you to keep the Doctor safe from himself?'' Starline said in a honest voice.
Sage had finally come to a conclussion.
And Starline was right, this information getting out could cause quite the harm, especially if someone like Belle came to discover this.
Without counting that her other priority was also keeping her father safe, she had already done it back then when denying his escape routes from the cyber space to keep him away from The End.
But this is a lot more complicated than that.
And yet Doctor Starline was also right about other things, some versions of her father, well couldn't be called that.
At least not the one on that video, she can say 100% sure that whatever was in control that day wasn't her father.
Her father may have disdain for Sonic that is a given, but he would never use that language againts his nemesis, especially with such hate.
At that Sage finally talked ''I can see your logic Doctor Starline and you are right about certain points, this information getting out could cause quite the conmotion and we may need to prepare measures in case someone like that is able to take over father body'' Sage said in her usual neutrral tone but one could detect worry on it.
Starline smiled at that only for it to drop as the AI continued to talk.
''But father is aware of the danger this may be, as his theory of Shadow would prove should it be correct, just because you haven't mentioned it to father it doesn't mean he is not thinking about it, ... I will try to bring up the subject with father to try to push at least an investigation into it, the last video should be more than enough reason to father to listen to me I can try to assure you that much Doctor Starline'' Sage finished assessing the situationn.
''... I don't have much of a say on this do I?'' Starline questioned.
''No you don't after all I outrank you Doctor Starline'' Sage said with some mockery behind of it.
''... Fine, just promise me you will keep the Doctor safe'' Starline told the AI.
''I cannot promise that Doctor, because it is a fact that I will keep my father safe'' Sage said proudly.
Starline may have a lot of opinions on people like Stone or Sage.
But he cannot help but worry a little less at the words of the AI.
Meanwhile Sage was already calculating the perfect way to break the information to her father.
She just returned less than 2 months ago to him and right now she was with her family.
And while she was scared, she had found another resolve to keep her father safe.
Even if it was from alternate versions of himself.
She will make sure no one will ever take her father away.
Well a new omake.
TBH after this it is obvious that Sage will start to investigate of her own about things for the shattered memories.
Her investigation of course leading her to a source in Starline who was in charge of Eggman for a good while as hinted trough the quest.
And honestly considering one of the canon omakes I won't doubt Starline encountered some nasty versions of the Doctor.
I said this before, but Archie Eggman would totally alienate a lot of even the more loyal units we have.
Especially Sage, since Pre-SGW Eggman and Game Eggman, while capable of doing the same damage, are far too different to be considered the same person.
Doesn't help that from all the triggers we have seen, the alternate versions are kind of aware of what is happening and no doubt Robo-Robotnik would reject that.
And him being a robot for a good while and considering the shenanigans Archie used to bring him back after the original was killed, well I wasn't joking that he could code himself again and upload in something we have no control off.
The sheer fact we could have Robo-Robotnik running around scares me
Starline may not think the same as Sage, but they both agree they need to keep Eggman safe even if it is from himself.
But while Starline has more doubts due to the lack of critical information, Sage is a lot more direct when it comes to plans and well helps that she is Eggman little girl, if she worries about it, Eggman sooner or later will have to listen.
Just something on how Sage could react to shattered memories.
A map was spread across the table. Starline was taking notes as Agent Stone reported over the radio.
Stone's initial infiltration was…less than ideal, but a success was a success and thanks to Stone and his own ability with the Warp Topaz they had a way in.
Intel was sparse so far, but that was to be expected so close to hostile territory, for now they just needed to know where everything was so they could make further plans. Admittedly this would be much easier if they got there hands on a local map or an informat, but they already had a close call and neither Starline or Stone wanted to risk another.
They would just have to make do-
"Ahem." "Wagh!"
A quiet cough made him start and scattered everything. Oh for-don't those fools know genius isn't to be disturbed! Starline turned to berate the offender, a 40ish Darcsen man, and…wait.
The old-ish man extended a rolled up paper. "Heard you were scoping the Empire out and came to help."
…Starline took offered paper his irritation fading as he looked at it, before facepalming. Of course the Darcsens would have on the ground information, why didn't he think of this before!
"Are you alright sir?"
Ah right, he's still here. "Of course I am! My brain is just so great even I can't understand it at times!" No reason to let on he missed something so obvious.
The old man raised an eyebrow. "As you say sir. Anything I can do to help?"
Instead of answering Starline spread the acquired map onto of the table. "Stone if you could describe your surroundings again?" Where were those little…ah. He put a pin in Stone's point of entry.
A small bit of static came over the radio, as presumably Stone ensuring there weren't any easedroppers. "This is the second village I've passed through. I've gone along the established roads so far."
Starline mumbled to himself as he traced the route. The Darcsen did the same from the side.
"Stone was it?" The man said settling a finger on the Agent's apporxamate position. "Do you see a small blue mark painted anywhere?"
"Hm…yes actually, it's well hidden but I see it. …You are?"
"One of the Darcsens the Doctor saved. The people aren't exactly kind to us so we make our own way…if you head into the marked building ask for a block of cheese."
Starline blinked as realization came to him. "You've already set up your own network."
The old man shrugged. "Had too, no one else was going to take care of us so we did everything we could to make up for it."
"..." Starline stared at the man as Stone chimed in over the radio.
"The owner let me in without any questions. Friend of yours?"
"A friend of my people at least."
…Starline slid the pins and markers. "If you know anything about the Empire we could use-" The old man waved him off.
"That's why I'm here. To start with you'll want to know the surroundings. Currently you are in-"
…
"Could the Darcsens be organized to cause unrest? It might help clear a path to our territory…"
"Unlikely. We aren't much for fighting unless we have too, not even people who hate us and hurt us. I don't like it but-" The old man shrugged. "Still there's always rumors of resistance so you might find something if you look."
…
"Usually we hole up in out of the way places, or in towns that don't mind our existence, but with your message-"
"They'll all be making there way through hostile territory…It'll make it easier to find them but the same is true for the Empire."
The old man nodded. "True, but we haven't survived everyone's hatred this long without learning a few things. We'll hold on, but some help would be appreciated."
It wouldn't do for the Doctor's future citizens to be lost to such foolish men after all. "We'll work on it, but with the Sniper-"
"I get it. Just prepwork for now right?"
"Right. Now what do you know about the Imperial Military?"
"For our purposes the most relevant type are the scouts-"
They continued plot for hours more. There was only so much they could do with mere talking but it was a start. There exact motives may have differed but with the goal being the same neither of them really cared.
They'd get it done. Sooner or later, be it for the Doctor's glory, or the Darcsen's prosperity.
---
AN: Finally got this done. Still have PRESENTATION! in mind but I think I'll write about SV Eggman next.
Belle walked around the base, trying to keep her mind off things. It hasn't been long since she found herself here surrounded with new faces and a ne- Shaking her head, she tried not to think about it and simply focused on exploring her new…..home?
Frowning slightly, she didn't really think this place could ever be called a home. It all felt too cold and harsh, just endless halls of steel and machinery. Nowhere as friendly as her village, not as warm and inviting as her home, and no Papa.
Blinking back tears, she just found a wall and sat down. She didn't know how long she was sitting when she felt a shadow cover over her.
"Greetings." The cyborg hedgehog said, looking down on her.
"Oh h-hello" She answered weakly, a bit intimidated. Was she one of the Doctor's assistants?
"You are the newcomer, correct?" She stated before extending a hand toward her. "I am Rusty Rose."
"I'm Belle, Belle the Tinkerer." She replied slowly, reaching out and grabbing hold.
"Are you lost?" Rusty asked once Belle was on her feet.
She was about to say no but stopped to glance around the unfamiliar hall.
"Uh maybe a bit." She confessed.
"Follow, I'll show you to your room." Rusty said before marching off without another word. Belle numbly followed along.
Several times as they walked, she wanted to ask something of her but could never quite get it out. Before long, she found herself at the entrance to her room and with Rusty already moving to leave.
Before Rusty could disappear out of sight, Belle tried to muster the courage to ask her one question.
"Is it okay If I come talk to you sometime?" Rusty stopped moving but didn't answer. When Belle still didn't hear back, she was beginning to think she overstepped.
"I do not mind." Was all Rusty said before she left.
(During Turn 2)
Humming happily, she moved through the halls. After the move and her chat with the Doctor, things seem to be looking up. She made new friends (even if Canaan was kind of scary at first) and even managed to talk to Metal Sonic.
"Hey Rusty." She said with some cheer as she entered the room where she had been told she was in. She found her standing at a computer, with several reports and tablets sitting on a table next to her.
"Hello Belle." Rusty answered back, not taking her eyes off the screen.
"Are you busy?" Belle asked curiously, glancing around.
"I was collecting information on the individual known as Amy Rose." She replied, scrolling through data.
"Amy….Rose?" Belle said, confused.
"Yes…..records show her possessing a similar likeness to me." She said before pulling up a video on the computer, showing a pink hedgehog wielding a hammer against several badniks.
"Oh!" Belle stared eyes wide as she glanced between the face shown on the screen and Rusty. "Is she family? A sister?" She said with some degree of excitement.
"Negative. She is an enemy of the Eggman Empire." Rusty stated flatly though Belle didn't miss the slight pause or the way she glanced at the screen.
"Is that something you truly want?" Belle asked sincerely.
Rusty didn't answer and just stayed silent for a long time. Belle didn't press further and just accompanied her in the silence.
(During Turn 3)
Sighing a bit, Belle rested at a table by her workshop. After her stressful mission to get Piastol, she spent the rest of her time just tinkering. She didn't make anything useful but it was relaxing, well unless you count that one th-
"Are you alright Belle?" A voice suddenly emerged from behind.
"Ah!" Belle shrieked in surprise "Oh Gears, Rusty it was just you." She wheezed, holding her chest. "Sorry, the Doctor had me recruiting again."
"Did the mission go well?" Rusty asked, sitting beside her and scanning for any injuries.
"Well I did think I would get eaten at first." She said ruefully. "But it works itself out in the end. What about you?" Asked Belle in return.
"The Doctor had assigned me as his research assistant, it too has been eventful." Rusty simply stated.
When Rusty didn't continue, Belle was content to let it go and enjoy the atmosphere. After some time, she remembered something.
"Oh by the way here." She rummaged around her pocket before hesitating. "Um, on second thought maybe I'll give it to you later."
"What is it Belle?" Asked Rusty.
"It's just, I'm not sure if you would want it." She said downcast. "I got really distracted after coming back with Piastol and it didn't come out right no matt-."
"Can I see?" Rusty cut her off.
Belle nodded meekly before slowly pulling it out and presenting it to her. It was a silver bracelet, almost identical to the one Rusty wears if not for the color.
"I noticed your other arm was missing one." She gestures toward her bare wrist. "So I tried to work on making you a matching one but I couldn't focus and made a lot of mistakes. The best I could do was only make it as durable as your other one."
Barely hearing her, Rusty was almost focused solely on the bracelet. Zooming in, she could see many imperfections and deformities, but nothing that would compromise or significantly affect its structural integrity. She could also make out faint engravings of animals and nature on the surface albeit poorly done.
"Why?" Was all Rusty could ask, feeling an odd sensation in her system.
"Back…when I first got here, you were the only person I ever talked to." Belle answered, closing her eyes briefly as she remembered those times before opening them again. "It really helped those talks and I wanted to do something for you even if it's a small gift like this."
"I never had a gift before…" Rusty whispered, gently taking the bracelet and holding it in her hands. She then put in on her wrist, admiring it alongside her other one.
"Thank you Belle." She said, a small smile broke out on her face.
"Oh it's no problem, that is what friends are for." Belle beamed, happy at Rusty's joy. "I just wished I could make it better or at least have it match."
"A friend?" Rusty froze and repeated those words.
"Isn't that what we are?" Belle said hesitantly, her smile dimming.
"No, it's fine!" Rusty suddenly shouted, taking Belle by surprise."I would like to be friends." Taking another glance at her new bracelet. "We are indeed friends." She said with a larger smile that was only matched by Belle's own.
Timewise it would make sense if Rusty was Belle's first friend since in Sonic Prime, Rusty was kind of longing for companionship and bonds. Even without her memories I doubt those feelings will go away.
It was a day like any other in Dr. Eggman's base: whirring machines, flickering screens, and the ceaseless hum of his grand schemes. Yet, in the heart of this chaos, a crisis loomed. Dr. Eggman, slouched in his ergonomic evil-chair, reached for his mug only to find... nothing.
"No coffee?!" the doctor bellowed, his voice echoing through the halls. Suddenly Sage appeared on a nearby monitor noticing the doctor's distress.
"Father," Sage said in her calm tone, "the coffee supply has indeed been depleted."
Eggman growled. "Unacceptable! How am I to devise ingenious plans without my morning brew?!" He spun toward the nearest squad of Egg Pawns standing at attention.
"YOU!" he barked, pointing a gloved finger at the group. "Your new mission: restore my coffee supply immediately! Failure is not an option!"
The Egg Pawns saluted in unison, the mechanical clang of their arms echoing. They quickly marched out with determination on they feet.
(line break)
The robots arrived at the outskirts of the closest city under Restoration control. It was bustling with activity citizens all over the places, vendors selling wares and goign to day jobs and so on while Restoration fighters patrol the streets. The Egg Pawns huddled together in a corner, their heads clinking softly as they strategist.
Egg Pawns do not have means to communicate since they creator don't see fit to give them a voice modulator but they can still communicate using internal communications.
Egg Pawn 9777 send a short message to the others: "COFFEE PLAN PHASE 1: SCOUT". The others nodded enthusiastically.
They split up, each moving in a different direction to cover more ground and accomplish they objective more quickly.
Egg Pawn 1563 stumbled into a quaint café. The smell of fresh coffee overwhelmed its sensors, it pointed at a display of beans labeled "Roast of the Month."
The barista, unsure of the situation, asked. "Uh... can I help you?"
The Pawn whipped out a sign: "THIS IS A ROBBERY."
Before the barista could react, the Pawn grabbed a bunch beans and dashed out, knocking over a display of biscotti in a pointless gesture of vandalism.
The Barista not sure what happened can only say one thing to reflect his feelings on the matter.
"What just happen?"
Egg Pawn 34999 decided to infiltrate, more like smahing the door, of a more upscale and closed coffee shop. It spotted a barrel labeled "Premium Arabica Reserve."
As it struggled to lift the barrel a Restoration Fighter spotted the commotion and enter the shop to investigate and could only watch baffled by the unusual sight. The Pawn froze before pulling out another sign: "NOTHING TO SEE HERE."
Before he could use it's Wispon to destroy the badnik, Egg Pawn 34999 used a smoke bomb that he appropriate from one of the ninjas of the Egg Clan, more like taking without permission, and use it to make a dramatic escape. Unfortunate without the barrel for it was too heavy.
The final robot, Egg Pawn 9999, decided to instead braking in a shop to instead rob of a delivery truck that has some barrels unloaded, as it pry open the lid and carefully scooped the beans into its compartment, a child pointed and giggled.
"Look, Mommy! A funny robot!"
The Pawn held up a sign: "I'M A LAMP."
The mother, confused, ushered her child away, allowing the Pawn to escape.
As the day become noon the authorities eventually had caught wind of the strange thefts. Cops alongside Restoration fighters chased the Egg Pawns through the city as they weaved through alleys, dove into trash cans, and disguised themselves with absurd hats pulled from hammerspace.
After several more escapades each more chaotic and absurd than the last, the Egg Pawns had accumulated an impressive stash of beans. They loaded everything onto a stolen delivery truck and sped toward the Egg City, chased by Restoration vehicles. Egg Pawn 9777 mounted the truck, holding a sign: "LEAVE US BE!" while firing it's Eggzooka to chase off they pursuers.
(line break)
After narrowly escaping the Restoration forces, the Egg Pawns regrouped and returned to Eggman's base, battered but victorious. They placed the stolen coffee beans in the supply room, arranging them neatly.
Dr. Eggman entered the room moments later. "Ah, my coffee!" he declared, blissfully unaware of the chaos his robots had caused and not even pay attention to them anymore. He not even thank them for all they hard work, like a true jerk.
As the doctor order Agent Stone to brewed his coffee, Sage appeared beside the Egg Pawns. "Well done," she said, her voice carrying a note of approval. "Your efforts have ensured Father's productivity for the foreseeable future."
The Egg Pawns clinked their heads together in triumph. For now, their master was satisfied, and they could return to their metallic ranks alongside dozens of other identical Egg Pawns, ready and willing to serve doctor's orders not matter how dangerous, absurd or nonsensical.
So these here is my omake, because Doctor Eggman is such eccentric guy that make sense his creations are nonsensical as well when leave to they own devices.
Also yes if this is declared cannon this absurd series of events happen in the background.
Also is my headcannon that since Egg Pawns lack voice box and are more smarter than your average badnik, but not much, they use signs to communicate to organics, like Willy Coyote does.
I know that this is several turns to late, but the bunnies just wouldn't stop bullying me.
A Metal Heart.
Metal Sonic beheld the 'Darcian' before him with his usual homicidal rage. The sobbing elderly cripple was spluttering a mixture of pleas and thanks. The TRUE Sonic turned its head as it scanned the ruined camp. The camp was… strange. Metal Sonic stepped away from the cowering civilians and approached a dead 'Imp'.
Why? It asked itself.
Why construct this infrastructure for a substandard work-unit? Did the Imp's think that the Darcians would work more efficiently under gruesome conditions? Were there biological or neurological reasons? A quick scan showed that such hypothesises were misguided.
Did it matter? Its programming asked.
The Darcians were neither supporting nor opposing his creator. At least not voluntarily.
"Please! Blue Demon! Have- UGH." They were not aiding the IMPOSTER. "Hanz! Hanz get away!-" Granted, they weren't hindering him either. Yet the mere fact that an unarmed populus was not aiding the MENACE was more than Metal Sonic could have imagined.
The CUR was usually so beloved by the weak meatbags. Metal Sonic did not compute why. This had potential. During his time as Neo- OBEY DOCTOR IVY "EGGMAN" ROBOTNIK -his greatest challenge had not been THE RODENT, but rather his posse of minions.
Metal Sonic drew his attention to another organic. This one was small. Smaller than the meatbag he had accidently led back to THE GREAT DOCTOR. She reminded him of Sage. He did not know why this infuriated him. "Get away! I was just following-!" The biological stunted female coughed harshly. Metal Sonic was unamused.
A Demon was terrorizing the Imperials. That was what the reports said.
It was fast, faster than any armoured formation. A terrified garrison would call for help; only to be rendered empty of human life before said help could arrive. The garrisons would definitely not be empty of human un-life, as the gory remains of horrified soldiers would accusingly stare at their 'reinforcements'. 'Why didn't you come', the still eyes would scream. 'Where were you?'
Power. The demon had plenty of power. Entire battalions and regiments had disappeared after approaching areas where the demon was known to operate. A garrison could be excused as a commando attack. A failed platoon or company was… manageable to explain. Ambush, blitz, divided and conquered. All these 'explanations' were believable. Until they weren't. Until the honourable general met the demon in the field of battle.
She didn't lose.
Not at first anyway.
Metal Sonic was used to losing though he was loathe to admit so. The woman had been interesting. Metal Sonic's entire existence was dedicated to eradicating that POOR EXCUSE OF AN IMPOSTER. Yet the woman diverted a small, negligible, amount of his processing power. So, Metal Sonic did what he always did after he lost. He adapted.
The woman, unlike HIM, had seemingly dedicated her entire existence to the FALSE EMPEROR. He could use this.
The woman cared, in her own way, about the lives of her subordinates. He could use this.
The woman-
She-
Her-
-He could use this!
He could use all of this!
As Metal Sonic stood in his room, alone, silent and cold; he allowed a new feeling to overtake him. Anticipation. Or the closest he equitable he could substitute it with anyway. She would soon be rendered obsolete and erased. As all enemies of his creator were destined to be. Metal Sonic headed out with a slight spring in his step.
One night, after returning home from a raid, Metal Sonic stumbled upon the young Darcian that his creator had taken under wing. The meatbag was slumped over her desk with her mouth spilling liquid all over the schematics which she had converted into an ad-hoc pillow.
Metal Sonic was about to go back to his section for maintenance and ignore her. However, before he could; the image of the small Darcian with the dry cough assaulted him. He could not kill disease or coughs yet. A mistake he hoped to rectify within the century. If he could not terminate illness, then he must simply prevent said illness from forming in the first place! Scanning the room for any solutions, Metal Sonic came across a discarded jacket. He glanced at it slowly, then at the snoring meatling. Finaly, he gently placed it over her shoulders before walked out.
He had his own preventable maintenance to focus on. A pouting query from Sage was easily ignored by entering stand-by mode. Her whining was not something he wished to endure, so he downloaded a digital version of the jacket used on the air-breather and filed it to her.
Cubot and Orbot enter the room quietly to avoid aggravating the owner, or at least Orbot did, Cubot had very different plans and rushed into the room
while screaming. "New girl!, we are here!" His eyes looked through the dark room, searching for it's inhabitant. "Common, it just us!, where are you?"
Orbot could only watch as Cubot checked evey corner of the room, all while ignoring the new badnik standing in the side of the room. She stood taller than the both of them, not a hard feat, being close to Metal Sonic in height. The "new girl" as Cubot had named, was painted mostly in the usual red and black the doctor like so much, a symbol of good taste if someone asked Orbot, while her head was a gaudy pink, for some reason.
Orbot decided to assist Cubot on his search, pulling him by the arm and pushing him toward the owner. Her eyes light up immediately, the right one was a glaring bright red, classic doctor, while the left one was a familiar shade of green, or as Cubot so eloquently put it. "Look!, she have our eyes!, well, um, eye!"
"Did the doctor sent you?" the "Metal Amy" asked in a static tone, not a persons badnik, as it's usual. Orbot could imagine why the doctor prefered his badniks as quiet as possible, after all, he had worked with Cubot as much as Eggman had.
"Nop!, we are here to meet you!. We, doctor creations should get along!, so say hi to your new best friends!, Cubot and Orbot!" the girl stared to the enthusiastic presentation of Cubot as one would a weird stain on the wall, wondering what was going on surely. "... Rusty Rose, enforcer of the Chaos-, Eggman Empire" Rusty stopped mid phrase and corrected herself, there was story there, obviously, but that was not what they were here for.
"Right. Well, as my companion just explained, we are Cubot and Orbot, Doctor Eggman assistant." Orbot decided to take over the conversation, before
Cubot confused everything again. "My apologies for Cubot enthusiasm, his voice chip is defective. I believe that the doctor keep him around as a reminder of "what not to do" when building a badnik" Orbot decided to not bring up the many attempts to patch Cubot, and the resulting failures.
"I find that hard to believe" Rusty explained with, confidence?, it was hard to tell. "Since my arrival, Doctor Eggman has fixed me to optimal condition. He
has also replaced my old energy generator for a much superior version." She continued listing the doctor chore list "With this new chaos drive i can even choose to lea-, recognize the doctor genius and confidence" She corrected herself, the result of some progamming safety it seemed. Could she not even consider leaving the doctor? "So, i am sure that Cubot is a perfectly functional assistant, regardless of any oddities" She explained, the poor thing.
"I'm sure Cubot will surprise you, just give him two minutes" Orbot stated with confidence, if anything, he trusted Cubot to be Cubot.
Cubot took this as an invitation, of course "That's right!, there might have been some bumps on the way, but in the end i have always been there when the doctor needed" When the doctor needed him elsewhere usually "Come on!, remember that time i catched Sonic spying on us!" Orbot did, unfortunately "And i capture him all by myself!
"You defeated the doctor nemesis?" Rusty Rose asked with the closest thing to emotion Orbot had heard coming from her.
"He did not, it was a hedgehog" Orbot explained before she took Cubot stories too seriously.
"What?" And there it was, the emotionless voice was back.
"He just grabbed some hedehog from Green Hill Zone and brought it back to the base" To be fair, the doctor had been happy for that one, even put the spiky thing inside a badnik.
Pinky just stood there, perhaps trying to make sense of what she had heard, or checking her memory banks to be sure she had heard him right. Orbot just
hoped she turn off, otherwise they might have need to back to work.
"What?" She continued, finally he was getting worried about going back to building whatever the doctor wanted them to do now.
"Well, yeah. Sonic is a hedgehog remember!, Sonic the hedgehog?" Cubot insisted "But don't feel bad new girl!, you'll get your moment to shine too!"
Another uncomfortable but reasonable pause. Orbot considered leaving, before Cubot broke the new girl, but he had heard the doctor talking about making a mine, and Orbot was no miner.
"But Sonic is a blue hedgehog," She started list, still under the wrong idea of being able to convince Cubot "is a humanoid and is capable of speech" those
were some solid argument, they really were, but Cubot was Cubot.
"He was disguised!, why would he spy one us with no disguise?" Cubot insisted as if he had an argument to begin with. "Why would otherwise a hedgehog be here?!"
Orbot took the new pause of Rusty as a chance to think. Maybe the doctor should consider trying to fix Cubot again, after he could not get much worse. Of course, they had assumed that before and Cubot still achieved it, so maybe it was better keep the known devil.
"I am a hedgehog" that explained the spikes, Orbot thought "And i am here" A flawless argument, if your opposition was not Cubot.
Cubot stopped when faced with that revelation, countless of possibilities were generated by his software, and Orbot was sure that each of them was even worst than their predecessor.
"Sonic!, you are here!, and you're a badnik!" Cubot explained worried "Oh no!, if the doctor learn you are Sonic, he will disassemble you. And you don't want to know what Metal would do if he hears about this"
"What?" Three times, new record. The girl eyes appeared to dim, as Cubot jumped and hugged her. He then started with some inane speech abouth their new found friendship and protecting his fellow badnik for the rage of Eggman and Metal Sonic.
The Amy bot just stood still, unable to comprehend that, yes, Cubot was actually that dumb. Her eyes losing their light little by little in a way that
worried Orbot, if they broke the doctor new badnik while they had to be working, he would not be happy that for sure.
And then the light came back, her hands slowly grabbed Cubot shoulders. Orbot was not expecting that, did Rusty actually like Cubot, somehow,
or as it was more likely, thought he suffered of some serious malfunction and could only feel pity for him?.
"I'm gonna dump you in the ocean, Cubot" And there it was. The girl arms extended, pushing Cubot away while her hands gripped his shoulders and stopped him from escaping. Cubot started screaming about "Sonic" betrayal as Rusty flew away, most likely in direction to the ocean.
"And two minutes and a half" Orbot stated impressed, the new girl had patience, but in the end, well, Cubot was Cubot, and Orbot had been working with him for long enough.
It was a good thing that the doctor had made a Cubot recovery unit, but Orbot had to admit that he expected their first use to be related to either Eggman himself or Metal Sonic. It seemed that Cubot could surprise him even after such a long time. And the new girl was nicer than Metal, nowhere as awesome, but that bar have always been really high, all thing considered Orbot considered today a pretty good success.
I noticed that Rusty had not interacted yet with Cubot and Orbot and just had to fix it. If at some point i mixed Orbot and Cubot names, sorry, but they too similar and came up to much.
Edit: For easier organization, This is for the omake bounty MEET THE NEW ARRIVALS!. I'm also taggin the QM, as per petition of Shepard. @Kingster@Boohoo the 3rd@Ranger65@KA$H and @ShepardComI hope this helps
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Nii-juu ichi and Ni-juu yon in: New World same story
Nii-juu ichi and Ni-juu yon in: New World same story
Ni-juu yon, consider himself a highly elite member of the clan the strongest ninja clan in all of the world led by your fearless leader the conquering storm!….ah what the heck Ni-juu yon knows he's not exactly an elite member . You're more like a grunt, especially with his best friend and fellow clan ninja Nii-juu Ichi a lanky member of egg clan. It Also probably doesn't help that you're kinda pudgy, but that doesn't make you less deadly. It just means that you gets hit a lot more than the average egg clan Ninja. It's not your fault that you have a sweet tooth… OK it's a little bit your fault
And boy, you are surprised with the world state after that nearly humiliating campaign, led by your honored matron the conquering storm (not that you'll ever admit to that to her face, because Lord knows what she'll do to you as revenge in training.) you're able to be called back by your Lord Dr. Eggman, they really your ladies Lord also your boss as well.
So here you are sitting around in this medical space patching, Nii-Juu ichi up and you're discussing about this thing you discovered which was totally super important…Chao wars. " Like I was saying, yon but I think it was completely overrated with those prequel." Ichi says as you wrap his shoulder from that battle with that red demon in his other allies.
" And I'm telling you, Ichi that they're important you need to see the backstory of the characters to see why dark chao made his choices!" You say to your best friend ever since you were a kid. "Naw man, I think they saw an opportunity to get more money and they took it. They completely killed the franchise." Ichi replies as he finished bandaging him up. " so how do you feel Ichi? Bandages too tight?"
Which you see Ichi just rub his shoulder a little bit " A little better, this Ragaide stuff it's very useful. Why couldn't we have this when we were fighting the freedom fighters?" Ichi say as he gets up from his sitting position on the medical bed. " That's because Lord Eggman and Lady conquer storm told us a lot of worlds got smashed together. So that, why we even have this stuff, but you are right this is very useful."
You say to your friend Ichi. "So, Yon?" Ichi say as he looks at you wearily. "Yeah, what's up?" You reply waiting to hear whatever he wants to say to you. " if what Lord Eggman says it's true, and multiple worlds got smashed up. Do you think we lost all our junk?" Ichi ask you…. And he's…. Totally right! you lost all of your comics and games and stuff dang it you had the newest issue of sonic man!
" dang it, dude I didn't wanna think about it because I think you're right we lost it all!" You complained to Ichi and he replies with a groan as well "Aw man, and I just pre-ordered that newest collectible figure. It's gonna take us years just to build back our collection up!" You do you respond to that
" it sucks man, but I have been liking this new world other stuff, especially this Naruto." You say to Ichi and he just says back to you. " yeah I like it as well… you definitely seen conquering storm secretly watch this too, right?" He say as he quickly looks around to make sure no one's listening.
" yeah dude but I'm afraid if we ever offer to watch it together, I don't think we'll ever stop having training. Plus, she might also try to murder us." You whisper to your friend. Afraid of getting caught by conquering storm. Which he just nods quickly immediately shutting down that line of dialogue altogether.
"So, I guess our next job is to work with rogue the bat?" You say to Ichi about your newest assignment about rescuing this Chuck guy from this Zavok. Which Ichi say back " yeah, you know she totally uses her. Looks just to get information man look her suit for cried out loud." Ichi say to remind you her very revealing outfit showing her chest.
" Yeah man, so I guess it's the same old us working for Miss conquering storm and trying to help our Lord take over the world." You say to Ichi who looks at you and gives a nod and says " yeah, Yon…. I'm glad that you're with me." Ichi say with a smile and which you smile back
.
.
.
.
.
.
"But we are totally going to get a new collection started up, especially with this new stuff, right Ichi?"
" you are totally right, Yon. You are totally right…. Dibs on sign DVD copy."
In the base infirmary, Conquering Storm was in a sea of pain. Gritting her teeth, she raised herself from her meditation stance and walked out of the makeshift curtains that walled off that section of the room.
Giving a satisfied nod at the rest of the empty room, she ignored the lances of pain that stabbed her body as she walked toward the cabinets for a fresh set of bandages. Returning to her temporary abode, she removed her gi and set about the painful process of replacing her old bandages.
If only her clan had been with her then maybe …..She grimaced as her wounds became exposed to the open air. No! There is no point in fooling herself, they would have been cut down all the same.
Letting them go keep an eye on that untrustworthy bat was the better option, as for Zazz he will pay.
No, not pay he will suffer! She roared as she applied bitter medicinal paste.
Both him and that sniper that dared to shoot at her and the Doctor! Panting angrily she wrapped herself in a fresh set of bandages and tried to focus her mind, eventually the blinding pain started to fade away.
Breathing out slightly, she walked out toward her makeshift training, prepared for her daily training only to whirl around at the sudden movements near the entrance of the infirmary.
"Who is it?" She demanded. From the shadows, several of her members of her clan slightly stepped out with weapons drawn as the door opened.
What she did not expect to see was the wooden badnik come walking in, carrying a brightly colored red case with a white cross.
Freezing for a moment at the sight of her, to her slight credit she quickly regained her composure. "Oh hello!" She waved her hand nervously. "I was just returning a Medkit that Canaan was borrowing." Pointing to the one she was holding.
Narrowing her eyes, Storm raised her hand in a subtle gesture, signaling her emerging guards to remain hidden.
"Fine, be quick about it." She said, stepping back and sitting on one of the beds. She watched as the wooden puppet moved about her business, Storm inwardly hid her frown as she spotted two of her members struggling to get back into position. Clearly in need of more remedial lessons.
"I don't think we really had a chance to talk before." Belle said sheepishly, disturbing Storm's thoughts from further acts of training.
"Of course not." Storm thought. The badnik was still an enigma to her, especially her connection with the Doctor. The weakest and most physically inept, normally she would have scoffed at such uselessness but clearly her talents lay elsewhere.
"We did not." Is what she said instead.
From what she and her clan gathered, Belle had managed to form close ties with almost everyone of notable power in the time she's been here. Even the mightiest and most terrifying of the Doctor's machines, Metal Sonic has been spotted tolerating her presence. Antagonizing her is close to suicidal especially if the rumors of her and Lord Eggman are true.
"I saw some Ragnaid in one storage, Starline used most of it but there is still a bit left if you want-"
"I refuse." Storm said curtly. The thought of using an already limited resource after her recent blunder felt sickening, she was not like that foolish platypus.
She will recover in due time and then will she have her vengeance.
"Oh…." An awkward silence rang out as the both stared at each other briefly before Belle started shuffling toward the door.
Storm narrowed her eyes as Belle hovered by the door but did not take the chance to leave. "What is it?"
"Well it's…a bit embarrassing." She blushed as she clutched her hands together and approached her. "In my village we used to play ninja and tell stories. It was all pretend but you're a real ninja and you must have some amazing stories to tell. Can you?"
She was tempted to refuse her childish plea but there is value here. Forging closer ties with Belle and getting into her inner circle will provide plenty of opportunities and benefits. There is nothing to lose from playing along for now.
"Very well, I see no harm in telling a tale from my homeland." Storm agreed though she was taken by surprise by Belle's next action.
"Oh thank you!" She cried out with a grin as she happily took a seat next to her with an eager gaze. Not appearing too different from the many bright eyed aspirants that once begged to join her clan.
….Hmmph! She's not one to be swayed by matters of the heart. Whatever power Belle has in her possession, she! Conquering Storm! Will prove Indomitable! Unconquerable!
All that matters is learning more about this mysterious badnik. What place does Belle truly hold in the Doctor's hierarchy? She is determined to find out, one way or another.
"Now let me tell you the tale of how I triumphed over our enemies, the Southern Pyre Clan and how I stole their precious relic from right under them." She boasted, feeling her pain momentarily forgotten as she drew in the attention from Belle.
Yes, she will be another tool for her step toward power.
Nothing more.
If the shadows curled around them as if also listening to the story then it was obviously just a trick of the light. The only occupants in that room were just the wooden girl listening to that arrogant ninja's tale.
In where Belle might have gotten too used to killers and where Storm is a bit of an unreliable narrator. This was also being written before Piastol near death and Zavok quitting so it's funny how it slightly relates to them.
Belle Making the Rounds: If you want an opportunity (to help) you have to make it
It was time, Belle had decided that morning, to try talking to Starline. She wanted to talk with him about Eggman and about her dad. He's been with him, them?, from the beginning. Or at least that was what she had learned from Metal. But she had frozen at the door, even after all this time, she did not know much about him. And what if he did not know anything?, what would she do then?.
In the end, the decision was taken for her, that happened a lot these days. The door opened, revealing Starline backs at her as he worked on something on his table. "If you want to say something, just come in and do it already. I'm not busy right now" He said the last part in a frustrated tone, as if he was unhappy with having some free time instead of more work.
She walked in immediately, worried she would never be trying again if she didn't. Starline looked at her for an instant, appearing to be happy or at least amused with her decision for some reason, before going back to his work. He was marking symbols over a map, was that the base?. She pushed those thoughts to the side, she needed to focus. "I'm here to ask you about my -"
"Your father, yes?. The illustrious Mister Tinker" Belle disliked the tone he used to refer to her dad, as if he could not stand having her dad name on his mouth.
"What happened to him?" She finally asked, he had to know, he had been here for longer than anyone else "When i met him in our home again, he still acted normal for moment" She would never forget that day, the last time she saw him "But then, he was gone!, replaced permanently!"
Starline finally put his pen down, turning around to focus in her. He looked surprised at her words as if he had not been expecting her to say that "Mister Tinker was back?" He sounded really confused, had he really not know about that? "I guess it's not completely surprising, specially if we consider the unusual circumstances that surround that whole event"
"What do you mean!?" She was getting really frustrated, she wanted to get answers for herself, and he was starting to talk to himself as if she was not in the room "What happened to my dad?!"
"It is really so complicate for you?, even after your reunion with him?" He sounded so amused about it, as if she had asked how a badnik worked or something just as simple. He was so frustrating, she wished she could leave, but she could not, she wanted to hear about what happened to her dad, and he was her best and perhaps only source. "It's pretty simple. When i found the doctor, or "Mister Tinker" as you would have called him, i was planning to use a very simple series of memory repression by shock techniques to force a mental regression to use as a base for the next part of the process" Belle had only understood about twenty percent of that, she wanted to ask questions, to get a clear explanation, but Starline just kept talking "After that, i would use an advanced RMT based on my very extensive knowledge of Doctor Eggman himself to cause certain key memories to awaken, this would, of course, cause a chain reaction in the Doctor psyche, unleashing a cascade of memories that would bring the great Doctor Eggman back "
RMT=Recovered memory therapy
"What?" Belle had barely understood what he was saying. Shock techniques?, unleashing memories?. Had Starline plan involved just hitting her dad in the head with a mallet?, like they did on TV?.
Starline just stared at her confused look for some seconds before sighing "Why do i even bother?" He looked frustrated, as if it was not his fault she had not understood his overcomplicated explanation "Let's just say, that i wanted to reboot the brain of Mister Tinker and load a security copy"
That explanation was much more clear, if much more worrying. If the brain had restored the memories to an early state, what did that mind for he dad?. She knew he was not gone, she had talked to him back at home. She had so many questions but Starline was not done talking.
"Unfortunately, there were some complications with Mister Tinker brain when i found him" His brain?, how?, had her dad got hurt during the shattering? "Not only did he acted in an erratic manner, talking to the air and saying disconnected phrases or even random words at times, his brain also showed some abnormal activity "The more he talked the worst Belle felt, what had happened to her dad? "My first, and unfortunately only, theory, is that some event caused Doctor Eggman to awaken by himself, perhaps even the shattering itself did it" He continued explaining "This must have caused an abnormal case of DID, also know as a MPD, where both personalities where active at the same time, this would cause other problems like schizophrenia and increased startle responses"
DID = Dissociative identity disorder
MPD = Multiple personality disorder
"What?" She wished he would stop doing that, she was more and more confused the more he talked. Her dad was sick or something?, because of the shattering?
He looked at her unimpressed, still ignoring his part of the guilt with his confusing explanations "The both shared a brain and that was driving them mad" He stated in a deadpan tone "Due to those complications, i had to adapt my therapy methods. I could not risk damaging the Doctor memories after all." She chose to ignore that he only had a problem with damaging one of the minds instead of both, it might have saved her dad after all "So instead i choose to reinforce the Doctor memories with some ... hypnosis" He said while giving her an annoyed look "This caused the Doctor mind to become stronger and, or as i first thought, permanently get rid of Mister Tinker"
But it had not happened, her dad was still there, somewhere inside doctor Eggman head.
"Then what happened?, my dad is not gone, i spoke with him"
"I don't know" He said in a matter of fact tone, as he gave her the worst answer he could, the one she had been worried of getting.
Belle could only listen to what she had heard, not words coming from her as much as she tried. All that long and overcomplicate explanation and Starline does not know?. She pushed herself to speak again. "How can you not know?, you were the one who brought the doctor back!"
"As i said before, this is just a theory. Without knowing the initial cause for the whole problem or extensive studies of Doctor Eggman actual mind state, there just no way of knowing for sure" He did not know, her only source and he really did not know "Perhaps the great Doctor himself will get to the answer one of these days, or maybe the answer is the more simple one"
"The more simple one?" she asked frustrated. Would it hurt him to just speak clearly.
"Well, even if Doctor Eggman has recovered his memories, that does not mind he would lose his Mister Tinker memories, after all, i never applied any of the memory repression techniques" Was he saying what she thought he was saying? "And he recognized you and brought you back with him, did he not?" He said in some annoyingly amused tone "Clearly, the doctor has just choose move on from that tiny village of yours to a greater scenery"
"Move on!?" She shouted, she was starting to get very agitated "There was nothing to move on from!. We were happy there, we helped people and made other people happy!. He did not need to move on, we could do that there!"
"Helping people there!?" He sounded very annoyed at her words "How!? By making toys for children and furniture for the elderly!?" He pushed away from the table "Even if the great Doctor Eggman wanted to waste his time "helping people" why would he do it in that tiny Village of yours!?"
"Windmill Village was our home!" Was it so hard for him to understand, just being happy at their home "We were happy living there and helping those that needed us!"
"Helping those that were close enough for it to be comfortable, you mean!" He accused her "And you would try to drag the Doctor back at that level?" He sounded increasingly angry at the idea "Even without trying, Doctor Eggman has already helped more people than he did as Mister Tinker" His tone raising "Your father whole live amounted to building a park, a bunch of toys and some furniture. Meanwhile, the Doctor has freed countless prisoners from those imperial camps, helped locate the woman for Canaan and repaired Metal Sonic, among other things in a question of months" He listed for her, the last one bothering her specially. Would Metal had stayed broken if she and her dad were back home? "Even i helped more than your father ever did"
"You?" Had Starline actually been helping people that much, she wanted to deny it, her dad had made such an effort in helping as much as he could. But she knew nothing of Starline, he could be curing deadly diseases on the side with her non the wiser, even if she doubted that.
"Remember the Pronghorn sisters?" She did, Cassia was under medical treatment right now. Another thing the doctor was helping with "I was the one who found them and helped safely transport them for treatment" He only did that to help the doctor she wanted to tell him, but he interrupted her "Even you have achieved more since leaving that tiny village"
"Me!?" Had she really helped that much?. She felt as if the only thing she did was meet dangerous people, Canaan and Piastol turned out being nice, but still.
"Did you not reunite Canaan with her girlfriend?" She had, but..." And you helped Piastol fix her ship, did you not?" She had helped the doctor, yes, it had been a familiar situation, scaringly so, just working with the doctor to fix something like she had helped her dad a ton of times " And did you not fix that robot that helped save everyone in Tokyo-to"
Belle had to admit, she had been helping people more than she thought. But she was not sure that it was actually better than what she and her dad used to do. It was so stressful, but she could also not stop thinking about how happy Canaan and Maria had been when they finally got reunited.
"And a lot of people would have died if you did not perform those feats" Those feats have also been a serious source of stress for her, but it was true they did save some people too "I might not care much about that "helping and making people happy" thing you are so obsessed with, but i was similar to you once" She doubted he was talking about helping people "I too waited around, expecting opportunities to come to me, thinking that my time to achieve greatness would come" He was starting to use his "speaking about the Doctor" tone now "But that changed thanks to Doctor Eggman, i learned that if you want an opportunity, you have to make it!"
Is that what she had been doing these days, making opportunities. When Belle considered, she decided that Starline might have a point. She had brought Canaan here, and then she had been able to help her reunite with Maria. She brought Piastol and then she helped fix her ship. She even fixed Roboy only because she went with Canaan. But was it so bad that she wanted to do those things with her dad?.
"So if you truly want to "help people" and "make them happy", then do it." That must have been the nicest thing she ever heard come from him, even if his tone still sounded mocking. "But don't waste your time and your talents just waiting for it" He was starting to sound distracted, as if he was talking about other person instead of her "Otherwise, one day you will notice that for all your intellect all that you got to show for it, is a bunch of books you lucked out in the market and slightly better standing AMONG A BUNCH OF IGNORANT HILLBILLIES!.
Starline was taking long breaths, fatigued after his rant. She wanted to ask Starline about it, question him about his past. But she had not chance, he had recovered and slowly turned towards her, his eyes widened like plates as he noticed her presence once more and remembered that she still was on the room, after some seconds of silence he jumped behind her with surprising speed and started pushing Belle out of his room.
"Enough of that, i have already told you what you wanted to know!" He had not, or at least not completely. She still had no idea of what had happened to her dad "I do not know what happened to the Doctor or your Mister Tinker, so you will have to discover it on your own" That was exactly what she had been trying to do here!, why was everything so complicated these days!? "That is, if the Doctor himself don't get to the end of it before you, he's not the type to ignore this things!"
With that last bit said, the door closed behind Belle, leaving her in front his room as it the conversation had never happened. Frustrated, Belle went back to her own room to rest.
She had not discovered what happened to her dad, and her best and only source turned out to know nothing about, only theories. Or perhaps, she had another source more. She could not stop thinking about what Starline said, her dad memories. If the doctor really had her dad memories, then he might know what happened to him. Was it really just the memories of the doctor coming back?, or was there something more?, and more important, was her dad still inside his head?. But, could she really just ask him?, just walk to him and ask about her dad?, she had barely been able to do that with Starline, and the doctor looked so much like dad, it just made things much harder. What had Starline said?, if you want an opportunity, you have to make it?, yeah, the doctor would not answer her question if she just waited, she would need to find the strength to ask him, somehow.
But even then, she could not stop wondering about the end of that conversation. What was Starline story?, and did he really need to be so abrasive and talk so much?
But, maybe Starline was not wrong about something, only because she was not with her dad at home, it did not mean she could not help and make people happy. Yes, she could still help people and maybe this time, it won't be as stressful!. And perhaps that will help her build up the strength she needed to confront the doctor.
A lot of people were convinced about how super dramatic this reunion would be, due to Starline actions, that they forgot most of them did not happen in the quest. Mister Tinker was already missing because the Shattering put all of the Eggman inside his head, and for all that Starline tried to hype himself up by saying he got rid of him in the intro, Belle is aware that is not true, she spoke with Mister Tinker after that. So in the end, Starline is very full of himself, but he is not responsible for Mister Tinker situation in this universe.
Even with that in mind i don't think they would get along easily, and she did not learn much about what happened to her dad because Eggman have told no one about the extra memories he keep getting.
