Lightning flashed through the sky above Station Square, followed by an echo of thunder growling menacingly somewhere in the providences of South Island. The storm had been brewing for days and the denizens of planet Mobius had been trying their best to stay dry as they bustled about on their usual buisness. But if anyone had even cared to look above at the sky for even a minute or two, they may have spotted something ominous in the clouds. Something like...a giant bird...but on closer inspection, if the Mobian had time, it would reveal that it wasn't a bird or a cloud or a trick of the eye at all.
It would reveal itself to be an enormous, menacing flying fortress. And the fortress in question was none other than the infamous Egg Carrier, property and base of operations for the notorious villain, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, more commonly known as Dr. Eggman.
Hiding in plain sight from the rest of the world, the Egg Carrier hovered through the dark storm clouds like a hungry shark watching the waters for prey; always moving...never stopping...
Onboard and inside its walls, machines of all shapes and sizes and variants bustled to and fro about the carrier, working tirelessly for their creator. New plans always running through the master control room, new robots always being manufactered, new weapons loaded...truly this was more of a warship than a simple flying carrier.
However, one particular room was different. The door was heavily reinforced and locked with enough strength to make even the best thieves think twice. No machine dared to enter or even touch the door to this mysterious place, for the occupant never faltered on the promise of punishment the guilty party may receive for even glancing inside this hallowed ground.
Eggman himself required some privacy now and then, and his personal quarters were the one place he could rest and catch up on relaxation in peace.
At the moment, the room was dark and silent as if no one as home. But a few seconds later, a bright flash of bluish light illuminated the room and a figure was seen to materialize out of it. When the light faded away, Dr. Eggman himself stood in the center of his room, dressed in a red and black swimsuit with a beach ball craddled under his arm, and the regal mustache he sported on his face seemed a bit frazzled. After regaining his composure, Eggman coughed and went to dust off his upper body of sand as well as adjust his glasses, frowning from how uneven and awkward they were sitting on his long nose.
"Being out of commission for a while is such an inconvenience..."
Looking around the room, he nodded with approval at how little had changed since he was gone and immediately tossed the ball away, walking into the bathroom to freshen up. Once done, he emerged onto the ship's main hallway in his traditional red suit and black pants, heading for the main control room of the warship. On his way, he took the time to observe the work of his minions and make sure everything was runing smoothly while also inspecting the ship's mantinence since his last battle with his blue nemesis.
Finally reaching the comfort of his familiar Control room, Eggman sighed and slumped into his throne-like chair with a small smile.
"Oh how I've missed this...not even my vacation to Emerald Beach could keep my mind away from my beloved Egg Carrier."
With a yawn, the doctor cracked his back and stretched a bit before nodding seriously, "Well now that I am back, I can further productions of my plans, pay my bills, create more Badnicks...oh and of course get revenge on that blasted Hedgehog!"
Swiping his hand on the touch screen tablet in the center, Eggman began filtering through the dozens of plans he had formulated over the years to see if anything would spark an interest.
"No...no...too slow...too 1991 nostalgic...already did that..."
After ten minutes of going through files and pages of research, Eggman finally gave up and slumped into his chair with a groan. Nothing seemed to call to his genius or even get him going in the right dirction of a newfound plan...
Tapping his index finger on the console, he closed his eyes and leaned back a bit to get more comfortable in his seat. Maybe a nap, he figured, would get the creative juices flowing.
His eyes were only closed for a few minutes when they suddenly opened again, an excited grin on his face as he sat up and typed furiousy into the computer.
"A team-up, what a brilliant idea! Some insight from one of my allies will surely get me back on track. Plus the work would only require half of my genius while the other can formulate back-up strategies!" He bellowed his usual "ho ho ho" of a laugh before settling back down with a determines, sinister smile, "Now...who to ask first...? "
Finding the first villainous contact he could think of, he used the communication array and video feed to bring up the first caller. The image on the screen flickered to life and the upper body of the Mushroom Kingdom's main Koopa himself appeared. However instead of the dark, forboding atmosphere his castle usually had in the background, there seemed to be the sounds of some sort of... party...going on. Boswer himself also seemed a bit bedraggled and on edge, a party hat lopsided on his massive head.
"Bowser, how have you been you ol' Koopa?"
The Koopa King sighed heavily and shrugged, "Decent. The shoulder I dislocated during the last Olympic Games finally got better."
"That's great to hear!" Eggman shifted in his seat a bit to try and put his hand on his chin to hide his snickering laugh. "Forgive me for asking but...what is with the..."
Bowser raised an eyebrow before he finally got what Eggman was talking about, "Oh the hat...Well, its the Koopalings' birthday today..."
Dr. Eggman nodded with a smile, "Oh how lovely, well I'll be sure to send them all some presents when I have time today. Hey do you think you'll have time for a team-up after the party or even tommorow? I have some new plans to get rid of Sonic and his friends...maybe we could also throw in something to rub out the plumber brothers during the process?"
"I'd love to Eggman, but knowing how these kids party, I'm going to be stuck cleaning the castle all night and I'm gonna need tommorow to recouper-"
A loud ruckus running by the door caused Bowser to growl in annoyance and turn to the door behind him, "Hey, keep it down kids! Daddy's on the phone!"
"When is the clown getting here, daddy!" The voice of one of Bowser's many kids echoed down the hall to his room.
"He'll get here when he gets here, just be patient and-"
"But we want the clown nooooow!" The voice of Bowser Jr. whined and the stomping of his foot made the image shake slightly. "And where's my cake and ice cream?!"
Bowser snarled and his eyes narrowed angrily, "If any of you keep whining like that, you may not get any clown or anything else for that matter! Stop being a whiny brat and have fun with your other siblings!"
Dr. Eggman cringed and looked around for any excuse to let Bowser back to his parenting buisness. But before he could say anything, Bowser finally turned back to the video screen, exhaling deeply with his face in his hands as he tried to relax.
"Sorry about that Doc...as you can see my kids have me on edge and-"
A loud crash rang through the video and Bowser finally jumped out of his seat enraged, leaving the video monitor completely as he stomped out of the room. "Alright, that's it; who threw that?! If no one fesses up I swear on a Yoshi's egg-"
Eggman shook his head as the call was ended by one of bowser's minions, feeling a bit sorry for the Koopa King and the predicament he was in.
"And this is why I don't want to be a single parent..." he mumbled as he found another number and dialed.
The screen flashed again as a new recipient picked up the phone: a blonde man with black sunglasses covering his eyes. His attire was also black, sporting gloves and a trenchcoat to finish it off.
"Doctor Ivo Robotnik? Well, isn't this is a surprise..."
Eggman gulped slightly and shifted uneasily, "Good to...see you as well, Wesker."
Wesker didn't even look up from his work, beginning to split a human chest open with a scalpel. "Please make your call brief, I'm afraid that seven minutes is all I can spare at the moment to talk to you. You see, I'm in the middle of testing a new strain of Ouroborus and the results of failure in these tests...well..."
The blonde smirked and adjusted his glasses with an index finger calmly, noticing how Eggman seemed to get even more nervous and uncomfortable.
"Well then! I wont take up too much of your time, Albert." The doctor regained his compusre and rested back into his chair. "Now I know you aren't much of a team player, but how about we put our differences aside and use our combined might to-"
The scalpel dropped with a small clatter onto the worktable next to Wesker, cutting Eggman off from finishing his sentence.
"What use would I need of your machines when I can just create my own loyal warriors? Its' cheaper. And the creations are stronger, more intelligent..."
Finally, the man looked up at Eggman, the sunglasses taking on small, red tints where his eyes would be.
"There can only be one god to rule the newfound world once it has been reborn. And between the two of us, good doctor, I am the only one fit to be worthy of a god. A new Genesis is at hand, and I am its creator."
The smirk lessened to a frown and Wesker moved slightly as if to turn off the call, "Your seven minutes is up. I must return to preparing the world for complete, global saturation. Goodbye for now Robotnik."
As the call ended, Eggman couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. What prompted him to call such a madman? Even the mighty M. Bison of Shadaloo thought Wesker was a complete nutjob...but then again so was he...
After taking a quick jaunt around the Egg Carrier and having some food to settle him down, Eggman sat back down and stared at the computer console. That last call shook him up, and the doctor was even afraid to think of anything else to do.
Finally he sighed heavily and went to type in another contact. "Well...maybe just one more try.."
Seeing a number he recently aquired from one of his other contacts and waited patiently. After a few rings however, Eggman thought of something and quickly turned off the video feed of the dialer...he didn't want another scene like his call with Wesker to play out.
"Ah, Kefka!"
Suddenly, bursts of maniacal, psychotic laughter erupted from the phone. Not even wanting to hear anymore of the call, the doctor slammed his finger into the button and turned off the comunicator. For a few seconds, he just sat there and tried to come to grips as to what just happened until finally standing up and walking out of his control room.