Rising Titan

How the hell did we get in this situation?!

That was the first thought on Lionheart's mind as he stood at one end of the circular arena, facing V-01, who stood all the way at the opposite end of the room. Lionheart, a sentient deep blue and silver-grey plated lion-esque stealth drone, and V-01, a sentient white plated hedgehog-esque android. That nasty sneer filled Lionheart with a fiery rage that couldn't be put out no matter what. That was the face that killed his parents those 6 years ago.

Wait, Pause button!

Now that might come off as a bit unrealistic.

But as it turns out, Lionheart was once an ordinary male lion named Carter.

6 years ago...

Carter lived on the outskirts of Prosper City in a nice house at the end of a small road. His family was middle-classed, although both his mom and dad were scientists. His sister Blaze was often teased, so he stood up to her bullies in any way he could rationally.

Unfortunately, his parents were supposedly killed in a lab accident. But due to his unusual level of intelligence for an 11-year-old, he knew that this wasn't the case. The evidence just didn't add up.

So the next day, he went over to the scene by bike, which took forever by the way, discovering something that would literally change his life forever. Under the cover of some debris, he uncovered that the so-called "accident" was really a case of manslaughter. A rather largely-built scientist, whom he came a long while later to know as Doctor Eggman Nega, was discussing the unknown crime with his robotic assistant, none other than V-01. He overheard Nega congratulating the mechanical assassin on "wiping the slate clean" of his parents, Andrew and Martha Lion. In a mix of anger, fear, and sadness, he managed to sneak out of the building undetected and get back to his house. He was put under foster care a few weeks later to a nice couple.

Six years later, he quite literally ran into a young woman named Irene the Chinchilla.

Well, kind of the other way around.

She actually accidentally ran into him with her car. He immediately recognized her as the locally famous owner of the Flufftail Hotel. This was due to his foster family taking him there a few times while on road trips. In a fast discussion, he unintentionally mentioned having some mild desire to work at her hotel.

While unsure at first, including a mid-street job interview, much to the chagrin of drivers behind them, she allowed him to work as a part-time hotel chef. This included a charge-free hotel room, $18 an hour pay, and guest services.

Excitedly, he went and told his foster parents the good news. They gleefully supported his decision, happy that he is making his mark in the family.

The next day, he arrived at the hotel. Irene introduced him to her adopted children, Silver the Hedgehog, a greyish-white furred 14-year-old hedgehog, and Kaylee Collie, a brown furred 13-year-old hedgehog-collie hybrid. The first few days, the more he got to get to know his fellow employees, even Silver and Kaylee, the more he came to like them, even going as far as to develop a crush on Kaylee.

However, that joy was short lived, for a few weeks later, an explosion alerted the three friends, though that's not to say it alerted basically everyone, which was revealed to be caused by a group leading a robotic army that Carter immediately recognized. The faces in his nightmares, the ones that he had hated for as long as he could remember.

It was Dr. Eggman Nega and V-01.

Although unsure of what to do at first, even what-he-thought-was-responsibly-thinking of leaving it to the authorities, he was surprised by the bravery of his friends, who fought back against the mass of machinery in front of them using their unknown telekinetic. Inspired by there courage, he too took matters into his own hands, using some recently acquired glove-mounted plasma launchers.

Upon victoriously winning a reasonably lengthy brawl with the robots, they were all met face-to-face against the evil doctor and his robotic henchman. But Carter noticed a second robot. This one was an orange-furred hedgehog-esque robot with a red gem in his head, similar to an unnoted detail on V-01. This robot was a lot more emotional, however, but still willing to fight.

Carter, out of pure hatred toward the killers, stepped forward. "Hey, tubby," he angrily taunted. "It's been years since I last saw you." Confused, not recognizing him, Nega straightened his glasses. "Pardon me, do I know you?" he asked perplexed.

Carter's fists clenched. "You probably shouldn't," he replied. " But I'm the son of Andrew and Martha Lion. Do those names ring a bell?" Thinking for a moment, Nega suddenly smirked menacingly. Silver looked at Kaylee with a slightly confused look, who returned it.

"Oh, yeah," Nega finally finished after a moment. "That one scientist couple." He widened his smirk. "So sorry about your loss, but it was just a common lab accident."

Carter felt his blood start to boil. "Yeah, lab accident," he muttered out loud. "Says the person who murdered my family, you bastard." Kaylee gasped behind him, Silver's expression becoming that of stunned.

Nega's expression darkened. "How did you know that?" he hissed. "Because I went to investigate myself," Carter replied. "The evidence just didn't add up. I was too smart for you. The chemicals listed as the cause of the explosion couldn't possibly react in such a violent way. Second, they wouldn't have had access to the chemicals that could. They weren't that well trained, but still pretty smart.

"I walked into the room, hoping to look for clues, possibly for a homicide. That's when I discovered you and tin-face over there talking about your so-called "secret" plot. I got out of there when I had heard enough, but I kept quiet, knowing that if I revealed what had happened, they might not believe me, and even if they did, you would seek out whoever ratted you out, and possibly kill them and everyone they loved, including my foster parents. I couldn't take anymore losses, knowing the consequences would be drastic."

The more he talked, the more focused the mad doctor seemed to become. V-01, however, was getting angrier by the minute. Once Carter finished, he paused to catch his breath.

"Man, that's a lot of words in only 15 breaths for air."

Once he managed to stabilize his breathing, he looked up, only to see a large claw coming towards him. He quickly jumped out of the way, letting the metal appendage strike against the concrete. He fired a plasma volt at the floating pod, but to no avail. Silver and Kaylee also fired repeatedly at the pod with their telekinetic, also making no evident damage. "Come back here, you little feline!" Nega yelled. "I'd much rather come to a bowl of milk than to that thing, thank you very much!" Carter retorted, dodging the claw again.

He saw the claw hurtle towards him a third time, but this time he didn't have to move on his own. Kaylee pushed him out of the way, unintentionally allowing herself to get trapped in the metal grip, struggling against it.

Getting up, Carter and Silver looked horrifically as she was lifted off the ground. "Not on my watch," Carter said. He used a nearby table and balcony to get on top of the claw. He activated an energy-based blade in his blue glove-ring, digging it through the claw with some difficulty until it sliced all the way through.

Using his remaining strength, he pried open the claw, allowing for Kaylee to safely glide down. He jumped, expecting to land on hard ground. Unfortunately, a second claw caught him from behind, wrapping around his arms and torso tightly. He struggled against the grip, activating his energy blades again, but they proved useless as he couldn't move his arms.

He felt a sharp prick in his bicep, and a few seconds later he felt himself beginning to lose consciousness. The cries from the two siblings faded away as he fought to stay awake, but to no avail. And then,

Darkness.

The next thing he knew, he was strapped to a slanted metal table with metal bands. He tried to fight against the restraints, even trying to activate his arm blades, but it proved useless.

"Don't try that trick, kitty cat," V-01's voice broke over a speaker. Carter looked over to see he was in a circular glass casing. And behind that casing, in front of him, stood V-01 himself, looking at Carter with an evil smirk. "You're cute little blue knives were deactivated before you went in here."

Carter's fists clenched. "Go to hell," he said in a threatening voice. V-01's smirk disappeared in place of a glare. He held up a remote, and pressed a small square button. Immediately, Carter felt his entire body being electrocuted with what seemed like 100 volts. He clenched his eyes shut, yelling loudly in pain. After a few seconds, the shocking stopped. He panted tiredly, opening his eyes.

"V-01, enough!" a familiar deep voice bellowed.

Carter looked through the glass to see Nega stepping into the room. He had his hands behind his back. His green goggles were strapped over his glasses. Carter smirked tiredly. "Hey, Omelet-Head. Just the asswipe I wanted to see."

V-01 went to quickly press the shock button again, but Nega's hand rose up.

"Not now, V-01," he ordered. "We want him in good condition, remember?"

With one final glare, the sentient android put down his hand, removing his thumb from the button. "So, Lionheart," Nega said with a rather unusually friendly smile. "How was the trip?"

Carter shrugged sarcastically. "Could've been a lot better, actually," he said. Then his ears perked up. "Wait, my name is Carter," he protested.

Nega's smile remained the same. "Not for long, my friend," he retorted lightly. He walked over to what Carter thought was a control panel. "You see, I have a bit of a gift for you," he explained.

Carter didn't know what he meant by gift, but he sure didn't like it. "What is it," he asked jokingly. "Transplanting my brain into one of your robotic slaves?"

Eggman's smile faded into a rather frighteningly calm expression, but Carter could tell that he was not pleased. He motioned for something, and V-01 smirked. Carter winced. Here comes the aftershock.

He felt the bolts of electricity course through him as he screamed in agony. After a long moment of electrocution, the volts stopped, allowing him to catch his breath. "Now, will you let me explain?" Nega asked. Carter nodded reluctantly. He didn't want to hear what his parents' killer had to say, but he sure didn't want to go through that pain again.

"I want you to work with me," the doctor explained. "You see, I have been running short of robots to do my work. But with some old technology I found a while back, I can make more.

"Some of this technology had been used by my infamous ancestor, a Dr. Robotnik Kintobor." At that name, Carter tensed. That was the name of the man who wanted to conquer the entire world and make it one solid machine, killing all life along with it. Thankfully, he was gone, but his memory was not very well received.

This technology is what was formerly known as roboticizing, or making a machine an entire mechanical being. With a few upgrades and some tests, I was able to make it so that not only a machine could make itself look organic, but also work like an organic. And that's why I brought you here." Nega's soft smile returned. Carter understood why. "Why would you want me to do that?" he asked.

V-01 stepped forward, remote still in hand. "Because you know of the real reason why your parents are now rotting in a grave somewhere," he said with a smirk. "That's why."

"Plus, I've studied your records after I brought you here," Eggman continued.

"It seems you have inherited your parents' intelligence," he continued. "Also, you are very tactical, precise, and very strong and agile, due to your feline nature." Carter chuckled. "Yeah, got to start somewhere, don't we?" he replied with a smirk.

"I've got another question for you," he continued. "Why are you doing this? All of this? All this fear, worry, hatred…"

Nega's smiled disappeared again. "You want to know why?" he asked. "Because I want to prove I'm not my ancestor. That I'm better than him. I won't make the same mistakes as him." His smile reappeared. "I want you to be part of that cause. To help prove that I'm better than my ancestor.

"And when you become my soldier," Nega said. "You'll also help me to take care of those two rascals you helped earlier." Carter's eyes widened. "No," he said. His fists clenched, his anger intensifying. "No! I won't let you do it!" He struggled against the massive grip of the restraints angrily.

The doctor's smile turned itself into a sinister smirk. "Oh, but you have no choice, feline. The roboticizing also makes it so you are under my control." With that, he pressed several buttons on the control panel, and pulled a lever.

In an instant, a flash of energy surrounded Carter's body. He felt as though he was losing all his feeling, all his emotions, and all his memories, until there was nothing left in his mind except one single thought.

Obey.

A later explanation described that he was under control for several weeks until one day when he went out onto the street to face a horrified Silver and Kaylee, leading a massive horde of drones in suit. They made quick work of the drones, but "Lionheart," as he was called by Nega, was a different story

Silver went to tackle him, but Lionheart picked him up by the throat and threw him into a wall. Then, turning to Kaylee, a sharp metal blade extending from his gauntlet with a flick of his arm. She begged for him to not fight and remember who he was, saying that she did not want to fight him. But her words were mute to his hypnotized mechanical mind. He swung the blade at her, which she dodged, and kicked it away. The fingers on his other hand slid back, allowing for the rest of his hand to convert into a pulse cannon. She looked at him fearfully.

"Please, Carter!" she cried. "Remember!" She stopped his blade from stabbing her by grabbing onto his fist, while using the other to hold the charging cannon out of the way, making it fire upward. "Carter!" she yelled as she fought against his strength. "It's me, Kaylee! Your best friend!

"I know you're in there somewhere. You're the greatest boy I have ever met. You're kind, funny, and smart! You teach me things that I don't know about yet.

"You mean so much to me! Just please, stop fighting for Nega, and fight for what's right!"

Lionheart stopped trying to force his weapons towards her. His once cold, glowing blue optics became that of confusion. "Kaylee?" he whispered. Her eyes started to become excited. "Yeah," she replied with a small smile. He drew his arms back and stepped backwards, allowing her to get up.

His cannon turned back into his hand, and he held it out. She took it, and he helped her up. He looked at his other hand, and a look of horror came over him as he saw the blade. He then turned to where Silver was starting to become conscious again. He turned to Kaylee with a new look of regret.

"What have I done?"

He fell to his knees, and looked at his hands. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it wasn't you," she reassured. Silver ran to them, slowing down when he saw Carter's sad eyes looking towards him. "No, it was me," he muttered. "I think part of me knew what I was doing. But I just went with it."

He sat down on his butt, put his head to his knees, and wrapped his arms around his legs. "I'm a goddamn ingrate," he said.

Silver sat down next to him. "No, you're not," he said. "It was Nega. He was controlling you." Kaylee sat down as well. "The fact that you're back," she explained, Carter looking up at her. "It's all that matters."

All three of them sat up simultaneously. In an instant Kaylee had her arms wrapped around his metal body, but drew back immediately after. "Uh," she said. "Could you somehow make yourself warmer?"

He smirked. "You bet I can."

Without hesitation, he signaled a command. The plating on his body began splitting cleanly in several places. The gauntlets around his forearms collapsing inwards to make normal arms, save for the glove rings. His shoulder pads folded in, his blue and silver-grey plating becoming a fur-like substance and cloth. His metal muzzle becoming a skin-esque cover. In a matter of seconds, he was now back into his original form, even fully clothed.

"Better?"

"Much better."

He felt her arms wrap around his torso, and he returned it. He opened an arm to Silver, who rolled his eyes with a smile, and put his arms around the other two. They embraced each other for what seemed like an hour, although it was only about a minute.

Now…

Well, there was some sort of thing about energy fluctuations on the moon, Nega also detecting those and wanting them for his own maniacal gain, G.U.N. helping me, Silver, and Kaylee get to the moon, we arrive at this moonbase just barely after Nega, and now this.

He stood at the far end of the arena, with V-01 at the opposite end, both glaring at each other menacingly. "Your move, Lionheart," V-01 said with a sneer.

A single one-liner entered his mind. One sentence only.

"Let's go, chrome-dome."

The ran at each other, yelling loudly. Their weapons locked, sparks flying. They struggled against each other's strength until Lionheart broke the lock, sending V-01 flying back. The android landed on his feet, grinding it into the metal floor.

Lionheart thought of his friends. Good thing I had them stay outside, he thought. They get the easy stuff, while I deal with all the bullshit within the base.

He converted his free hand into a plasma rifle, the barrel extending a foot-and-a-half long. He charged it quickly and fired at V-01, who dodged the shot expertly. A miniature rocket launcher appeared from his forearm, and he fired at Lionheart.

Seeing the trail of smoke and fire heading towards him, Lionheart took off his back plating and held it in from of him quickly. It unfurled in a series of overlapping panels until it became a large shield. He swung it back, knocking the missile out of the way, causing it to explode against the steel wall.

"What didn't Nega give you?!" V-01 wondered aloud angrily. Lionheart placed the shield back into place. "Patience for a douchebag like you!" he retorted. He replaced his plasma rifle with another steel blade, and he charged at V-01, who took out another one of his quills, and it extended into a long dagger, and he, too, charged.

They locked blades again. V-01 smirked. "You know, your parents would be so proud of you," he said. Lionheart felt his anger rising, his fists clenching harder. "If, of course, they weren't rotting thanks to the intentions of the good doctor."

That was the last straw. The straw that broke the camel's back.

Lionheart pushed V-01 backwards, causing the robotic henchbot to spin backwards, allowing for Lionheart to stab him in the shoulder.

"Waste of steel!" he yelled as he tore V-01's arm off it's hinge.

Surprised, V-01 took another swing at him, which Lionheart leaned backward all the way to dodge. Then, with both his blades, he dug one blade into V-01's chest, causing him to fall backwards, unintentionally allowing for the blade to dig deep into the metal floor. Then, Lionheart dug his second blade into V-01's neck, decapitating his longtime nemesis.

He retracted one blade back into his gauntlet, but detached the other. "And stay there," he ordered, pointing to V-01's headless body, which was somehow still moving.

"Hey, you can't leave me here!" V-01 yelled in protest as Lionheart walked away down the exit corridor.

"I just did, dumbass," Lionheart retorted, looking back with a smirk.

Suddenly, several large panels on the wall in front of him slid back, revealing a small room with another door at the end. Confused, Lionheart stepped into the room. The door behind him closed immediately, as well as the door in front of him. He didn't know what was happening, but then he could swear he somehow felt the presence of something, or perhaps someone.

A panel to the right of him unlocked and opened, revealing a passage that sloped downwards. Steps erupted from the wall going downwards, and once they were finished, he went down the passage. When he got to the bottom, a bright light illuminated from the left. Curious, he followed the path of light down to a large room. The light shone from the far wall, in which he covered his eyes in order to see.

"Whatever you are," he began, walking towards a lever that was strangely placed in the center of the room. "Please, help us. Not just for myself, but for everyone. Everyone in the world. For the sake of all Mobian life, help us."

Squinting, he gripped the lever, his optical scanner indicating that he has to pull it downwards, according to the mechanical structure. He pulled, and it moved slowly, but surely. When the lever came to a stopping point, he pushed it into the receptacle.

The pedestal folded into the floor. The entire room began to vibrate, the light growing brighter. Pistons rose out in different places. Lionheart covered his face. Whatever this was, it was surely anything but normal.

Outside, the base began to split apart. Robot drones tried to get clear of the openings, a few even managing to make the gap, but others fell to their demise. Silver and Kaylee flew above the base in their spacesuits, wondering if there was an earthquake. "Hang on," Silver said. "This can't be a land break-up. It's too regular."

Kaylee looked at him, confused. "But that would mean that it was probably meant to do this, wouldn't it?" she asked.

"Let's just see what happens."

The base's structures began to fold and turn. A hatch on the side of a structure opened, allowing for a piston to extend a dome-like structure out of the crevice. Two more hatches opened, allowing for cannon-looking weapons to extend forward. More pieces began to shift as more robots fell to their doom. Cannon towers extended from the top of another structure, spinning until it came to a complete stop. More pieces moved and rotated as what looked like a massive hand protruded outward, fingers, knuckles, thumb and all. Panels closed up around the wrist joint, and the hand clenched up into a small fist.

A final cannon machine folded down as a massive wolf-like head with large blue antenna-like earpieces came up on a piston. The eyes illuminated a bright yellow as the final massive half-mile tall male robot stepped forward with its right foot, smashing an escaping hovercraft.

"Primal Instinct, activated," the booming voice of the mechanical giant bellowed on the radio link.

Silver and Kaylee, above, could do nothing but stare in shock at what they had just witness. A once dormant moonbase was now an enormous gleaming blue, yellow, and silver robot. "Wait, where's Carter?" Kaylee asked in concern.

"Hey, guys," his welcoming voice said over the communication link. "Did you miss me?"

The massive robot slowly moved its arm out in front of him, holding what looked like a small blue and silver-grey dot in his massive palm. Silver and Kaylee flew down into the open palm next to the familiar sight of Lionheart. Kaylee flung onto him in a tight hug, which he returned affectionately.

"Good to have you back, buddy," Silver said, patting his back.

"Now, what the hell is that thing?"

"It's okay," Lionheart said. Kaylee released her grip on him. "I think he's on our side."

"Awaiting your orders," Primal Instinct's massive, deep voice echoed over their intercom.

"So," Kaylee said. Lionheart looked at her. "What do we do now?"

He thought of this for a moment, then smirked. "Why don't we pay Nega's omelet cruiser a visit with this guy?" he suggested.

Both she and Silver smirked back.

"Sounds like a good plan," Silver said.

All three of them turned towards a massive space cruiser close to the surface. Lionheart cupped his fist into the palm of his other hand.

This is gonna be fun.