One Man's Trash is Another Man's Gold
You were Mecha Sonic MK. II, and you were feeling... you weren't sure how to feel.
After that loud noise and flashing light, your first instinct was to rush to your brethren, protect as many as you could.
Thankfully, it turned out none of them were really in danger. Your flower's containment pod got a little damaged in the shuffle, but E-117 Sigma was quick to fix it, so no harm done.
You did a head count. Tragically, it seemed several Scrapniks had gone missing in the shuffle, most notably of all being Mecha Knuckles.
You and Mecha Knuckles were not particularly close, he tended to be a loner and attacked anyone who got too close, but you still felt that loss whenever you passed by his little zone on patrols. Maybe someday you could have put aside your differences and found camaraderie. You may now never know…
You try not to dwell on it, Sigma promises you there's nothing you could have done. Logically, you know he is correct. But there was just… something, a nagging feeling that illogically pushed you to feel bad about it.
You try to focus on the new things in your life, not dwell on the past.
After Scrapnik Island settled down, you had realized you had a new neighboring island. You were cautious, of course. But at the time, you had been hoping the missing Scrapniks were perhaps on that island. It would make as much sense as anything else that had transpired recently, so you took the risk.
There weren't Scrapniks, but what you found was even more baffling.
It was another whole island of clearly outdated but otherwise perfectly intact Badniks. It was stunning to see another whole community of Badniks living their lives away from their Creator.
Unfortunately, you would soon meet someone who broke through your usual stoic demeanor.
"Hey rust bucket! Who are you!? Why are you cribbing my style!?" an obnoxious voice had asked you.
You almost did a double take. Was that… Sonic!? You could feel your old programming kicking in despite your best efforts, your best attempts to suppress it, as you attacked.
"Whoa, weirdo! Calm down, it was just a question! You will show me proper respect as the King of the Island of Misfit Badniks!" The Target laughed as he dodged.
It was then you managed to realize he looked.. off. He was clearly mechanical, albeit more lifelike than you. Was this another creation of the doctor?
Just what was going on?
You didn't get to ask further questions before getting Spindashed while you were distracted, the force sending you flying back to Scrapnik Island as the fellow Robot Sonic laughed.
"Ha! Take that, bucket of bolts! Tell 'em Pseudo-Sonic sent ya!" He laughed as all the other Badniks cheered.
That was the first of many encounters of this so-called "Island of Misfit Badniks" and their irritating leader. Both Islands, while not quite connected, were close enough visiting was a trivial matter. Both Your Kind were curious about the other, though friendly visits quickly became unlikely to happen. Neither group really understood the other, they clearly had irreconcilable differences.
Your Scrapniks did not understand the Misfit Badniks Desire to return to Robotnik's side, while the Misfit Badniks couldn't conceive of your kind's desire for peace.
Eventually, you and Sigma met up with this "Pseudo-Sonic" and, despite not liking each other, managed to come to an agreement to avoid mutually assured destruction amongst the Growing tensions.
The two groups would avoid each other, unless absolutely necessary, and would not comment on or interfere with each other's affairs.
It was with that your existence continued in peaceful bliss.
And then new Badniks started washing up on your island.
At first it was the usual rank and file Egg Pawns, Motobugs, etc. Sigma was surprised, it had been so long since there were new faces, but he also seemed happy for the project. Soon, you had new brethren. They weren't who you lost, but you would protect them just as fiercely as any other Scrapnik, and they settled in well enough.
Then came the more… unique Of your new protectorates.
The grey cylinder like Badnik with red boxing gloves for hands and his little limbed red bomb companion were the most relaxed. They were loyal to each other, and tended to do shockingly well with recon, keeping an eye on the Misfit Badniks to ensure they kept their part of the deal. They offered to live there full time as undercover saboteurs (apparently they had experience doing so), but Sigma insisted that was unnecessary. They seemed disappointed but respected the choice.
The dark purple, ninja like Badnik with a 91 on her forehead kept to herself in the shadows. She seemed to be a little listless without any stealth missions to do, so you would sometimes humor her by telling her to tail specific Scrapniks and report to you. It wasn't much, but it seemed to make her happy.
The last one was one you took some adjusting to. She was a pink metal hedgehog with some green styled after a dress. Sigma's programming would sometimes manifest and clash with Robotnik's in strange, unexpected ways, and for her it caused an increase in energy and a desire for constant attention and companionship. She was like a small child, always eager and in wonder of the world. You wouldn't lie and say it wasn't tiresome sometimes, but there was also an endearing quality to it.
You reflected on all this as you tended to your flower. On your losses. Your gains. Your rivalries. Your friendships.
You wondered if you truly deserved this. You had failed your directive, twice over. No one seemed to hold it against you, but those Scrapniks were still missing at the end of the day, the people you were supposed to protect.
"Big-Big Brotherrrrr! I'm bo-boredddd!" A familiar glitching voice whined to you. The voice box upgrade for her was one You were wondering if Sigma made the right choice on.
"Can you not pester Sigma for something to do, Metal Amy?" You ask bluntly, double checking your flower was ok.
"I couldddd, but-but I-I-I want to do some-something with youuuu!" The aforementioned pink hedgehog Badnik insisted. She tilted her head, her now mismatched eyes swelling with oil to imitate tears.
"Do not discharge oil like that, it is inefficient." You scold.
"Then play-play with meeee!"
"...Ok."
"Yayyyyy!"
As Metal Amy grabbed your hand and dragged you away, you sigh in a mixture of defeat and fondness.
Maybe this isn't what you were designed for. Maybe you were a failure.
But as everyone waved and chuckled as Metal Amy dragged you along and you passed them, you decided to file being a failure in your data banks as "Acceptable".
Xxx
A/N: Yeah. Mecha Sonic is just vibing with his found family besides the occasional trouble from some new rivals.
Honestly, good for him.
(Oh yeah, the Other Co-QMs reserve the right to change their minds and declare this Interlude non canon btw. Time will tell if that happens)