This is a hypothetical, if things had gone ever so slightly differently in the Tokyo-to adventure.
Fallen Angel
When they had retreated to the ship, at Belle's urging, Metal had attempted to use the powers copied from Death Hound to heal the pair. It worked for one, but only for one.
Now, Belle the Tinkerer sat on The Avenger next to the unconscious Death Hound, dead to the world. The various Badniks and Rudies on board bustled about, giving her a wide berth. She didn't notice Clove struggling to pilot the ship, nor Canaan and Maria talking quietly to one another, nor Metal Sonic watching over the Chaotix to ensure they didn't try anything.
She also didn't notice as each of them, even the detectives, gave her intermittent concerned glances. Instead, Belle stared unblinking at the body for hours, looking so much smaller in death than it had in life. The journey, despite its length, seemed timeless to her.
After they had left the Chaotix near Restoration territory and returned to their own base, Belle did not stay for the debrief. Instead, she fled to the safety of her room, ignoring Eggman's orders. Eggman demanded for her to return before Canaan and Clove stepped in to explain. With a scowl, the man gave a reluctant nod of acceptance. Not one of them noticed as Metal's gaze lingered on where Belle had gone.
Only once the door slammed behind her did Belle collapse, sobbing. She stayed on the ground for a time, crying and hiccuping, until her tears ran dry. She stood shakily before going over to her work bench. She needed to do something,
anything! Yet… woodworking, normally so soothing to the robot girl, did nothing.
She cut too deeply. Got the angle wrong. Misjudged the depth to drill. Cracked the wood. No matter what she did, she couldn't get her materials to cooperate!
With a growl, Belle shoved her tools away, not even bothering to stow them properly. She moved over to a nearby sink to wash the sawdust off and took in her own reflection. She still looked pristine, untouched by what she went through. Then Belle's eyes fell to her brooch, the STEEPLE. It was something Dr. Eggman had given her to keep her safe and it had done it's job, but-
'
Useless,' the thought slithered through her processor. '
What good is a shield for someone who just runs and hides!? You didn't do anything for her! If not for you, she would still be-!' Belle gasped before she was overcome by another wave of tears, collapsing against the basin.
Eventually, Belle stood again and grabbed the STEEPLE before slowly walking to sit on her bed. She clutched the device to her chest and curled up in a ball. She could not shut down that night, the events of Tokyo-To playing in her memory bank on loop while other thoughts plagued her mind.
The discussion in the meeting room was like a blur to Belle. Half her attention was taken by her thoughts and the other by the headache that came from a lack of charge. Anything she heard left her head as quickly as it entered. So she almost fell out of her seat when a loud "WHAT!?" echoed through the room.
"She just died!" Honey protested. "And you're going to put it down and treat it like a labrat!? That's low, Starline."
"That
thing is rabid," Starline hissed right back. "Mangy mutt charged me just for getting close, I barely got away."
"We need to get rid of the pirate hunter's things and it's in the way of that. We have no reason to keep or care for the beast, especially if it interferes with any projects. The animal goes," Eggman ordered with an indifferent wave of his hand, causing Starline to preen at the cat while Honey bit her lip and looked down.
"I'll take care of Death Hound."
It took a moment for Belle to realize that she'd been the one to speak up.
Gathering herself, she looked up at Eggman from her seat. "Please, let me take care of Death Hound."
Eggman gazed at her inscrutably, the silence heavy. Eventually he gave a nod of assent. "It doesn't matter how we deal with the beast, just so long as it's out of my way."
"Thank you," Belle gave a shaky smile.
Belle took a deep breath before entering the corridor that contained what used to be Piastol's room. There, Death Hound stayed, guarding her room. Belle could still see the partly healed injuries he'd gotten from Tokyo-To. Once the girl had gotten close enough, Death Hound forced himself to his feet and growled at her, causing her to freeze.
Whenever she tried to get closer, the growling intensified until she withdrew. So Belle simply sat nearby and waited for Death Hound to calm. After a while, he calmed and laid back down, still visibly keeping an eye on her.
"You must be so scared," she murmured softly. "The last thing you remember is fighting and then you wake up here, still hurt and alone. You don't even know what happened do you? To Pi-Piastol."
Death Hound whined at the name.
"I know it's scary and you want to keep her things safe," Belle continued on. "But you can't stay here. Shes… she's gone and she's not coming back." The wooden girl burst into tears again, having lost count of just how many times she'd done so until this point. "A-and they they'll
hurt you i-if you don't-"
She was interrupted by a lick to the side of her face. Looking up, she saw Death Hound who whined again and nuzzled her side. Mindful of his injuries, she began to pet him. Eventually Death Hound settled down again and rested his head. Planning to come back for him later and careful not to wake the Ferlith, Belle rose and moved on to Piastol's doorway. She gulped and entered.
Piastol's room was small, but a complete mess. She had left clothes and knives strewn about, stacked boxes in a corner where several had clearly fallen over and spilled open, and a half-empty bag of dog food lying open. There was also a large number of maps, Moonstones, and wanted posters all over the place. There was even one poster listing a man named Vyse having several of Piastol's knives skewering it to the wall.
Belle walked over and placed a hand on the picture. "We never really spoke much, did we?" she murmured. "I never learned a lot about you or why you became a pirate hunter. I wish… I wish we'd had more time to talk." With a sigh, she moved on to inspect Piastol's desk.
There was a bunch of oddly patterned cards scattered around haphazardly with three fallen to the side. Belle began picking them up, leaving the three for last. Curious, the girl couldn't help herself and flipped them over one by one. She didn't know what most of the pictures meant or the relevance of the labels, but froze when she saw the last one.
That one was clear.
An upside-down emperor, an upside-down tower and…
A cloaked, skeletal figure. Even hidden, she heard it.
"Death is the fate of all living things!" A wet shlick sound and the dull thud of a body collapsing on the ground.
Even hidden, she felt it.
"I deny all of you!" The roar of the explosion and a shockwave that passed through her body.
Death, upright.
Belle grimaced before she began to properly organize and clean Piastol's things, slowed by her thoughts. Belle flinched when she heard the door slide open again behind her. She turned and her eyes went wide when she saw Metal enter the room. He nodded at her and began to help pack up.
The two cleared the space in silence. Once they had stacked the last box, Belle looked back at the now empty room and felt the tears welling up yet again. "It's all my fault," she sniffled. "If I hadn't recruited her, Piastol would still be alive."
She hated how she felt so fragile, how she kept on falling apart.
If only she wasn't so weak. If, Belle was coming to realize she HATED that word.
If. If. IF. If she could have actually done something in Tokyo-to. If she wasn't so weak. If she had been smarter, faster. If she gave Piastol the STEEPLE. If she fought with the EggGun instead of giving it to Maria. If someone helpful went on the mission. If she hadn't lost her father. If she wasn't so usel-
Belle was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt something brush against her shoulder. The puppet turned her head to see as Metal took hold and steered her to the wall next to Death Hound before pulling the two of them down to sit.
His movements were stiff, awkward even, as he repeatedly pat her back. His hands were hard, cold, sharp. Metal's entire body was built to be a weapon. Even so, Belle leaned into him and shut her eyes as she continued to cry.
Eventually, she drifted off and Metal lifted Belle's body to carry her back to her room. Shortly after, Death Hound roused himself as well and followed, guided by the scent of wood varnish.
AN: I remember having the concern that Pale Rider's Megidolaon might kill Piastol as an AoE. So, I came up with this idea way back during the Tokyo-To fight and really wanted to give it a shot as something very different. I figured that Belle would probably be the only one heavily affected by the death, making her a good central figure for the piece. Metal's at Heart 0, our heroes as a whole haven't really bonded much, and Canaan in particular would have her attention taken up by Maria in the immediate. This was Belle's first exposure to fighting and, while she's lost Tinker, her first experience with actual
death.
I struggled with this one. I wanted to have a number of scenes, but I'm concerned that I dragged things out too much or let it get too repetitive. This was in part a writing experiment for me so, as always, I'm open to feedback.
