OVA-verse fic I wrote awhile back... I'm not a huge Robotnik fan, but he is amusing X3 Anyway, I was trying to take a more serious approach at an OVA esque story... And this came out along with some other stuff. This is pre or post movie, it doesn't really matter I suppose. I think it's probably more pre-OVA, considering Robotnik's more sane than maniacal here.

I've never actually read a Robotnik fic... I wonder how many Eggheads are out there? Well, this is for you!

Robotnik sat in his pathetic excuse for an empire, gazing idly into the wasted landscape. Not for the first time, the evil genius was lost in thoughts - not of world domination, but of a time before, when things were simpler. Back before the world had been torn to shreds, ripped in half -leaving two lands, Sky and Darkness -and before he'd become so obsessed with this idea of ruling. Before the sky had become tainted with smog, the ground soaked in radiation and buried beneath ash. Unlike the others of this "Planet Freedom", he knew all about the Great War and the Last People. He knew what had really happened. After all, he'd been there. He remembered...

Deep within his memories, though not so far deep as to be buried, he could see a world where the sun always reached the ground -where there was no "Land of Darkness" or "Land of the Sky", just the simple Earth. He could recall bustling cities full of cars and people, humans walking and talking and living. He remembered when the Ancient Ruins that left those pitiful animals so confused were lively cities, full of, well, life. To him, it all felt like yesterday, while in reality, it had been well over a lifetime ago.

Sighing, the scientist pushed lightly on the lever of his mobile. It glided forward, halting gently before the window. In the distance, there was the sea, blackened in parts by oil from his machines. The only pure water remained sealed within the ice caps of the Arctic Zones, or high above, trapped in the floating zones of the Land of the Sky. In the little dying light, he could see the silhouettes of the "Ancient Relics", a city once known as Station Square, many years ago. The crumbling, overgrown city was slowly sinking into the ocean. It was with a strange sort of melancholy that he thought of this. His home -or what had once been his home, over a century ago -was being steadily destroyed. There wasn't much he could do about it, and part of him was glad it would be gone -one less relic to remind him of the past. The Relics shone faintly, with lights that refused to die, and the glow of the Sky Lands above it.

Robotnik floated silently through his base, ghosts from a past life walking like shadows alongside him. How many years had it been since the Great War? He knew it had been well over a hundred years since he'd sealed himself away. For over a century, he had remained in a state of suspended animation, sound asleep and completely unaware of the world around him. As planned, he had survived the dreaded war to end all wars. But, also as planned... He had survived alone.

Through another pane of glass, he could see the bright orbs of neon flashing. His city -his pride and joy, Robotropolis. The only beacon of light in this dismal Land of darkness. Clanking and whirring could be heard if he only listened, the sound of his precious creations hard at work, but his mind was far too cluttered to focus.

The Great War -known to his generation as The War of Chaos -had been a brutal war. It was truly a war to end all others. It had begun with his unwitting discovery of the great Relics, the Chaos Emeralds, and it had ended -for him, at least -when he'd sealed himself away in that cryogenic ice.

The chaos emeralds were the most powerful source in their world. That fact still remained true. Of course, they had only ever been a legend. When they had turned up during an expedition, Ivo Robotnik hadn't known what to believe. It was like walking into a dream. However, that dream had quickly become a nightmare. And waking up had been impossible.

Humans, he mused, were like animals. They fought. The chaos emeralds were immediately subjected to analysis. Then, testing. Pretty soon, there was a cold war amongst the scientists, doctors, and militiamen: all of them wanted to use the emeralds for their own needs. They were wanted as specimens, medicines, weapons. In the end, though, the military won out, and the chaos emeralds had become weapons, with their founder only able to watch.

It wasn't long before the guardians of their world lost control of their new toys. Rivalries broke out amongst divisions, several emeralds were stolen -whether by soldiers or spies it had remained unknown -and before anyone knew it, there was a full-scale war looming over their heads like a dark storm cloud. Robotnik had watched, along with his colleagues. Like many, he -as the renowned founder of the emeralds -was ushered into the scene, put in charge of creating weapons capable of harnessing the emeralds great power.

At first it had all seemed so simple... He rubbed his temples, eyes closing at the memories of it. Years had been spent, churning out blueprint after blueprint, model after design, after weapon after robot. On the inside, everything was easy. Creating robots, marvelous mechanical masterpieces that were praised by his colleagues and higher-ups, getting to watch the looks on their faces as he displayed their powers in the test rooms. Within the safety of their fortress, everything was fine. But on the outside...

Robotnik remembered the flames. The explosions of raw power from the emeralds, the blasts of radiation that still seeped from the ground to this day... He could hear the screams of people -people who were supposed to be on their side, people they were supposed to be protecting -and yet now... Now everything was so silent.

He couldn't take it. It was just too much.

And so, he had taken the coward's way out. He'd built his sleeping chamber, miles beneath the ground, protected by layers and layers of metal. In his steel cocoon, he laid in slumber, frozen in time while the world was torn to pieces above him. He didn't want to see it any more. He didn't want to be a part of it. And so, here he was.

Robotnik let out a sigh. Alone in the darkness, he gazed out upon his city, a solemn look on his face. Here in his perfect city, all was right. There was no war. People didn't fight one another like animals. His robots, they were perfect, divine, and they obeyed his every command. He'd found, since his awakening here, that the world was a much more peaceful place when everyone just listened to him. When everyone followed his orders, then everything was perfect.

Staring into his city, his thoughts stumbled over his never ending goal. His true potential as this world's greatest mind made it clear to him that he was meant to lead it back to the grand civilization it had once been. He sought to fill this "Planet Freedom" with his wondrous machines, strived to reunite the earth with the sky and make them one again, so that this whole world could be under his control. If anyone was capable of restoring the Last People, of course it was him. The scientist smiled at the thought. He -with the help of his robots -would lead those blasted creatures into a knew era, where somehow, he would restore this great planet to what it once was. He, Ivo Robotnik, would bring a new era of order, of peace, to these animals...

And then, like his city, everything would be perfect.

Three cheers for megalomaniacs and delusions of grandeur.

Well, if you have anything to say... Drop a review.