-DISCLAIMER-
Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters/themes © SEGA and/or Sonic Team.
'The New Age Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog' © Kathryn Christine Starcrafter/Lumorean Arts.
-THE RETURN OF METAL SONIC-
Chapter 6: Valor's Heart in a Gilded Shell
No matter how many time he had infiltrated the dreaded carrier, Sonic was still amazed at the vastness the evil mind of Ivo Robotnik could conjure off the ground. And to think, that same mind had once been driven in quite the opposite direction. Now however, this floating hunk of shrapnel was nothing but a glorified prison. Said hedgehog was being escorted by the arms across the main hull of the ship. Its bowels reached a height of near twenty feet, zooming above their heads small workerbots ran back and forth on tubular rails preforming menial yet essential tasks to keeping the rig airborne. Its innards gave off a constant buzz of artificial life, every once in a while spewing off a hiss of steam or perhaps smoke which made the hedgehog's quills prickle with restiveness. Each step they took against the grated pathway resonated around the endless chamber which only added to the sense of uneasy, foreboding doom.
Sonic couldn't fret over such events that had just transpired. If he gave in to the vex that was Eggman than surly Mobius was at its end. That look she gave, it pained him to see her so distraught again. It had been his skittish negligence that had entrapped him, but it was his dexterous volition that would hopefully see him through.
"So, what does the good doctor have planned for me this time around?" Sonic cockily spat. "Since when does Eggman the Great require the aid of an Emperor to entrap his prey?"
Ivo chuckled in amusement. There was no question in his mind that he held the upper hand. Let the blasphemous hero snark all he wants for it is his captor who currently dealt all the cards.
"You certainly have an estrange taste in girls, Sonic." He spoke while tapping the tips of his fingers against one another. Might as well have some last minute fun and play a little game. "Every one is way out of your league. It would truly be a shame if this one had an accident like the last, or even like her own mother."
Sonic's ears pulled back defensibly, emerald oculars narrowed to aggress with so much hatred just waiting to be released. Instead he attempted to calm himself as best he could and asked out of curiosity, "how do you know about Elise's mother?"
Ivo grinned like a sinister clown. "Let's just say I read the papers more often than I should and thrive on conspiracy theories."
This was the only man alive of which Sonic out-rightfully despised. He had a heart like a demented demon and a mind to play out any game he so chose. In a way it did not surprise the hedgehog how the aging scientist knew of the late Elise. Ivo had played a distant hand in Sally's murder and the near disintegration of the Forest-Down Empire. For all he knew Elise II's death could have been manipulated by the genius' own hands for whatever gain he had had in mind at the time.
"What does it matter now?" Ivo eventually chimed. "When I have the prize that has eluded me for so long."
"Yeah, that reminds me. You know, you didn't kill me when you had the chance," Sonic chided.
"No I did not. Reason being that I have far bigger plans for you."
By this time the group had reached a partition cutting them off from the rest of the battlefront. Ivo turned off to the left where existed a crevice cut skillfully into the ship's hull. There was a jerk as a thin yet sturdy sheathing of glass encompassed them, eventually shooting the four swiftly to the second level of the structure. They lurched to a halt and the crystalline door drew back. This corridor was severely demeaned from the one they had just came from. It only reached a height of about seven feet and rounded like a tube. The floor was silver plated and each step seemed to echo even louder than before. Upon each wall a sphere of phosphorus energy lit the elongated shoot enough to safely navigate.
"So, am I allowed to hear this plan of yours or are you going to keep it a surprise?" Sonic caustically asked.
"Oh, you'll figure it out for yourself soon enough."
Ivo halted again beside a section of wall that upon closer inspection appeared to be a portcullis of sorts. One of the Illusionariebots holding their prisoner released him and let its partner take the brunt of the baggage. The inventor himself reached out an ivory gloved appendage towards a pad set into the iron gate's hinges. His fingers melodiously danced across the keys, imprinting a secret sequence into the lock's brain. The door opened like a mechanical spider unfurling its legs. It took a second or two more for the newly revealed dorm to come to light. In that moment of revelation the very world crumbled beneath the hero's feet.
"You're not seriously going to try that again?" the hedgehog hissed.
Eggman chuckled, leading the way inside. The very first structure that came to sight was known to not only Sonic but most of the original Freedom Fighters who fought to liberate the madman's tyrannical rule over Forest-Down. Granted, it had gone through a set of changes. Instead of laying horizontal to the ground -like a cot- a tubular structure stood upright, its ventral surface exposed for all to see. From both its crown and roots extended vast piping of multihues. What had given the engine away was the organs themselves. To anyone viewing the structure its mercury-sheen innards could have been passed off stretchability as a strobe light. The concave surface was plated in fractured mirrors and round nodulars almost as though to generate an electric currant. However, it was not lightning bolts the Good Doctor had plans to recreate.
Ivo let the snide question his captive had bit slide. "Lock him in," was all he gruffly commanded of the one robot that remained shepherd to its sacrifice.
The mechanical contraption hoisted the anthro into the air a bit more, trotting forwards a ways before planting him into the machine with an unfeeling toss. Sonic's spine rammed into the prison's ribs, hissing as the pain dulled all other senses. A set of shimmering plates came forward the seal the individual inside. Sonic sat up gruffly, shaking his quills in an attempt to regain composure as quickly as possible. Nothing much he could do in such a position, both wrist and ankles clamped together so tightly he believed his paws where just about as white as the gloves that covered them.
The scientist grinned like the madman the Freedom Fighters knew he truly was, running his fingers across the control pad in euphoric glee. Sonic caught the rev of an engine as the machine came to life. The very air inside the tube vibrated and made his quills perk. The nodes from behind gave off a couple warning jolts in preparation for the wave.
"Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog," was the last serpentine words the antrope's ears caught before he felt as though he were being skinned alive.
Those buds shot out waves of some form of neon energy digging beneath his fur. Everything burned. Every breath, ever subtle flex made him want to cry out in torment. But he wouldn't, he wouldn't allow his nemesis that pleasure. Instead he let out labored hisses, attempting to staunch the pain. His flesh began to twitch uncontrollably, writhing over in cascading waves of prickling numbness. Those pulses were almost blissful compared to the tearing he was forced to endure beforehand. Even so, allowing himself to bask in this pleasure only meant he was giving in, proclaiming this madman the victor.
In one more bout of defiance, Sonic used the final ounce of his strength to hoist himself and then his restrained paws up into the air. With all the force his caved chest could muster he flung the gilded braces down onto the wall of the mechanism. The interior shook like a maelstrom and the beams of energy slashing his muscle responded in accordance. The hedgehog's bound body lifted from the pedestal. He finally cried out in bone shattering torment. Every inch of his flesh contracted, feeling as though being run over by a steamroller. Sinew snapped and sizzled in acid, writhing like banners in a hurricane. Emerald irises rolled back into their skull as if retreating to safety. Eventually his lungs gave in the fight as well, dry and unable to regain the oxygen they so craved. Next came his knees buckling out from under him. Those braces were so damn heavy! There was a flash of white and then came nothingness, sweet sweet nothingness.
Ivo watched as the machine flashed with a few beeps of warning. From within the upright capsule exuded pillows of thick, caustic vapors tinted an opaque gray. The scientist typed in a few more letters of code in caution, waiting for the perfect moment to birth his creation. There came a hiss of pressure and the man tapped a single button. The reinforced glass swung open, eager to give in to the pressure condensed within. There in the opening crouched a masterpiece of metallic manipulation.
It just remained where it sat above its knees, arms forward almost like a gorilla. Ivo was struck dumb with astonishment, breath caught in his lungs. It had actually worked! The contraption appeared deceptively a duplicate to the renowned hero. The differences were that this object was machine. Every limbs and joint connected with balls and wires. Cascades of azure flesh hardened to diamond, spines sharpened to razorblades, eyes blank with death. Then there was those braces, strangely perfect to the whole.
The scientist gingerly come forwards, ensuring a steady eye as a prey does its predator. But as he drew even closer the prey grinned toothily, swinging an arm around to grip the back of the disabled contraption's neck. With a fluent flex something ejected from a compartment below the spines. A small black rectangle. Ivo brought it with him back to the desk, motioning for the one servant who remained in the room. He handed it the disk.
"Take this and dispose of it. If all goes right I will have no need of it ever again."
The mech nodded and loped off back into the corridor beyond with package in grip. The madman returned his sights back on the disabled anthro who remained as still as stone. No sign of life which was in truth a good thing. The ejection had been successful and that hunk of metal was now only a shell to be puppeted by his will, the remnants of an omnipotent prince. Dr. Robotnik laughed in demented glee at how everything had finally bore fruit. And to think all it had taken was the concern a father had for his daughter. How that man was able to contact him in the first place was a mystery to begin with. He had never even paid much attention to the Empire of Sea-Shore yet alone it's ruling family. Then out of the blue he had received a transmission from its Emperor. Amusing how everything has such a simple start.
Ivo returned to the digital table and once again began typing. A compartment opened up off the the side out of it manifested another disk similar to the one that had just been removed from his presence. If this worked there would be no one in all the world that could oppose him. He gingerly handled the drive as though his very life depended on its safe journey, inserting it into the empty hovel that its predecessor had left. Nothing happened at first, backing away from the one machine that he was incapable of knowing the intentions of.
"Now, awaken my Hyper Metal Sonic!"
There first came a flash as its lifeless eyes gained color for a second. A pair of ovals manifested on the onyx canvas, cerise like fresh blood. At first the mechanization did little more than stare ahead at nothing.
"I said rise!"
The hedgehog in his metal shell grudgingly rose to a stand, obedient yet proud. Still those lifeless eyes bore into the distance as if the soul inside was not truly there. In that instant the unimaginable became apparent. The madman had won.
"Why?" That was the only word that issued from her lips as her eyes glanced over to her own flesh and blood.
The Emperor still stood at the front of the door, exhaling in answer, "I had to. It was the only way to get him away from you."
"Why? Why is he so bad that you had to get that-that..." She held her temples and growled, knowing the effort was futile.
"Because... I did not want you to end up like your mother."
"But, Ivo? He is Möbius' most feared madman and only Sonic has enough experience to put any dent into his schemes. Was the lives of an uncountable amount of people worth it?"
"If it will satisfy your temper, then yes. There is nothing an Anthro can do that a human can not. If this Dr. Robotnik becomes hostile towards my people than I have my own methods to deal with him. As far as I'm concerned if the rest of the world powers need assistance then all they must do is ask."
The aging Emperor lumbered past his flesh and blood, standing before the contraption that had once been built to contain what had once been Solaris' Pearl. The remnants of the jewel were still scattered around his feet, giving the floor an inverted diamond sparkle.
"Our God must have other plans," Hector breathed.
"What is that supposed to mean?" The princess' voice was cracked on the edge of tears but her words still held some bite.
Her eyes fell upon the mechanical rings that had become static, their enchanting dance no longer swayed by the whims of the orb. She remembered that machine being in place of a statue. During some year when she was very little the article was replaced with that thing. However, since that time she never remembered her blood relative showing her what it was. Her father had never given her the privilege of knowing what the sphere was. She was never much of a curious girl growing up. Her abused agenda made sure of that. Even so, it took only a moment to realize that ever since that object's sudden appearance her life had been thrown for a loop.
"I thought that maybe I could change the future. Solaris' abandonment still haunts me. I thought the visions in the sphere were showing how to make everything right but somehow everything turned out wrong."
"Then, all those idiotic suitors were because of your narrow-minded fear of Sonic and I falling in love?"
"That covetousness is not 'love!' It is a perversion of 'love' fathomed by a young, naive mind." His words held plenty of venom, leading Elise to believe that something far deeper fueled his hatred. "You are just like your mother and in the end she betrayed me. She betrayed us all." Hector turned back to his daughter than, back to a face mixed with both fear and sadness. "I won't let what happened to her, happen to you. No matter what I must do."
"Dad... Is that why you never talk about Mom's death?"
"You won't understand. You're too much like her, heading down the exact same path, leading to the exact same end."
A deep pause heavy with ill and neither spoke to disintegrate it. In truth there was really little else to say between them. Hector no longer wanted to give breath to the situation at hand and his daughter had already made up her mind. Without another word said the young woman turned about-face and trotted out of the doorway.
From behind the meaningless words of her parent echoed after. "And where to you think you're going to run off to? I've already informed the Guards that you are not to be let through!"
Elise didn't bother thinking over what he had said. In the end it wouldn't matter. She certainly had more respect for the Sentinels than he did, but she already knew what the deciding factor would be in the end. She rushed out into the underground bunker and retrieved her Falcon, heading out at a tentative pace at first. It only took a minute to reach the gate at the front of the cobbled drive. To either side stood an Acolyte, obscured in white with a golden, duel-pronged staff erect at their side. The one to the right of the gate stepped forward and to the front of the vehicle. Elise stopped and the individual came to stand by the craft's driver. The man removed his hood and mask, revealing an individual hearty yet kind.
This was Michael, Overseer of every single Soldier assigned to protect and serve the citizens of Soleanna. He was in his early thirties with no wife but a son under the care of his blood-mother. This man was not one for long winded conversations, particularly dealing with his family. When he did speak his words held thought and reason. Even so, his prowess with arms and warfare concealed most, if not all, of his otherwise goodly nature. He had been among the guard since he was sixteen, trained by his deceased father who had as well assisted Soleanna and its high family. As such, he had grown under the law of her mother.
When he spoke he never used flattery, instead went straight to the point. "Forgive me, your Highness. I was informed that you are to remain on manor grounds for the time being."
"I figured as much," Elise whispered. "Please, Michael, I have to go. Something is going to happen and I think I know a way to stop it." When he didn't respond she continued. "You can trust me. My father doesn't want me to leave because he's the cause. You have to believe me."
"Enlighten me," was all he responded with.
Elise sighed. "Have you ever heard of a man named Ivo Robotnik?"
"The Robotnik name itself is well known to me. Ivo himself I believe was once the tyrannical Emperor of Forest-Down after he had usurped it from its true heirs."
At first there were no words to exemplify the shock at how accurately he had answered her question. Maybe this would make things just a bit easier.
"Okay then, well my dad struck some kind of deal with him. And you must know that that's a bad thing, right?"
For a brief second there wasn't an answer. "That is a very strong accusation, your Highness."
"Please, Michael. You know I have no reason to lie about something like this. I love my dad, no matter what he does. But if it might put a lot of people in danger than what choice do I have?"
The guard blinked slowly, never removing his gaze. "Fine," he breathed. "If what you say is true, that the Emperor may have created a pact with Dr. Robotnik, than we must all be on high alert. I'll increase patrols while you're away. I can't believe I'm allowing you to go through with this." His eyes caught hers more intensely for a moment and to Elise the man she had always trusted with her life suddenly looked much older than he truly was. "You are certainly your mother's daughter. And that fact alone is what allows me to have faith in you for the time being."
The head guard stepped off to the side and raised his free hand. The azure gateway that separated the manor's inlet from the rest of Old Soleanna unfurled, revealing a view of the Reachway Bridge aching over the city's bay. There was also a rear road that curved the landmass itself but the bridge itself was the fastest and less chaotic way both to and from the manor.
When the slope ended and into the city she drove everyday life had not taken a stand still. Other hovercrafts drove to and fro about their daily business. It was strange and she wondered if maybe anyone at all had noticed the prodigious airship hovering moments ago above the manor. From this point going was slow, time now spent in concentration. She was looking for someone. Someone very specific. She turned off towards the market place. If there was any place within the city the remainder of Sonic's comrades would gather it would have to be there. Then again... Everyone gathered there early in the morning.
The young woman slowed to a near halt, hovering amongst the crowd in an obviously displaced manner. The clustered mass of bodies did little to help the situation, nor the questioning stares. An anthro would so easily be drown in this unpredictable swarm. Even so, there were no anthros that she knew of that made their home in Soleanna, visiting perhaps. Elise wracked her brain for deeply imbedded memories of her past life before the paradox. The first and most vivid one was of a yellow, two-tailed fox that she believed was Sonic's side-kick -for lack of a better word. Soon others began cropping up. There were other hedgehogs involved, as well as a cat, a bat, and an echidna. All anthros. Other than that such minute details escaped her. Well, if any of them were within the city she hoped that just their presence would trigger some kind of memory relapse.
There! A flicker of color caught her eye for a second. She pulled over and tried to crane her neck over the stuffy passerbys. It was Gregorio's old flower shop. At first her heart sunk and for a second she thought that the image had just been an illusion conjured by the flowers. No, wait...
Elise landed her hovercraft against the side street and hopped out, evading citizens as she went along. She made a somewhat skid to a halt in front of the fragrant bouquets. The movement must have startled the individual as she swiftly turned to see who had so suddenly came upon her.
She was a short hedgehog with fur the same hue as a young lover's rose. She wore a light blue tank-top outlined in white and dark mini-skirt with a jean-jacket to offset the colder morning as it slowly made its way to noon. Wide uni-eye bore into her with a look that nearly screamed 'what the Hell?' For a second Elise believed she had gotten the wrong individual.
Heart pounding and breath labored the Princess blurted out, "are you Amy Rose?"
"Y-yes," the hedgehog finally responded.
"I am so sorry for scaring you. But, I need to talk to you about something. You know a fox named Tails?"
The anthro suddenly struck a defensive pose, perhaps gaining a bit more ground in her mind after the initial jolt.
"Who wants to know?"
"Please, it's important. It has to do with Sonic."
Those emerald irises turned wide in shock and worry, the individual becoming frantic almost. "Sonic? What about Sonic? What happened?"
Elise somewhat lied in the hopes to calm her down enough. "I don't know exactly. All I know is that he's in trouble and we have to find his friend Tails. Please, do you know where he is?"
The pink hedgehog paused a moment in thought and Elise worried that she was debating whether to trust this strange human or not. But, it wasn't at all what the Princess was expecting.
"You're Elise, aren't you? How do you know Sonic?"
"Who doesn't? But, we met at the Festival the other night."
The anthro didn't seem convinced by this excuse.
"Please, it is important. Sonic may be in dire trouble and it's my fault. I need your help."
Just for a moment the girl saw her counterpart soften. "Tails has an old lab on a floating island. He's been remodeling it lately and I'm sure that's where he'd be."
Elise smiled gingerly. "I have my hovercar with me if you can show me the way."
And though Amy was still unsure of this woman she smiled too and followed back through the crowd. It didn't surprise her that the royal had a Kenley Falcon. It was a particularly high-end Hovercraft, beautifully streamline and with a paint job to mirror the fiery Noble's locks. It a way it was unsettling for Amy who couldn't pin point exactly why. In the end they both hopped in and Elise started off again, swerving around and heading off to the Soleanna Terminal.
While traveling vast distances involved either Personal Planes or public Hovertrams it was possible for those attempting this in a simple Hovercar to do so. The advancement in technology was new by a half-decade but still needed some kinks worked out of it. Essentially it was like a teleporter launchpad for transportation vehicles unable to raise more than three feet off the ground. Elise drove across the outskirts of the city, towards the main highway and boarded. There was a specialized exit about a mile down, a check-point to allow clearance.
"Where exactly is Tails' lab?" Elise asked as they sped past other leisurely travelers.
"It's called Koko Island. Tails told me it was once a part of the Echidna Nations."
"So it's somewhere in the vicinity of the Western Islands?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then!"
Despite everything that was happening Elise really couldn't help but feel some excitement through it all. Granted fear was still writhing through her mind like a mass of venomous serpents, fear for Sonic and fear for her country. Even fear for her father who now appeared to her to be starting a slow decent into madness. But still, this was her first chance to prove her worth. It might even be her last and only. If anything this was for herself, to show that she was not a perfectly pampered little princess. She could be courageous and get her hands bloody. Hopefully that last part was only a metaphor.
The tunnel was fast approaching. Once inside a computerized GPS would ask to record their destination. From there it would adjust the signals on their vehicle to give it enough thrust to maintain a much higher altitude than was the norm. Aside from this it also gave a needed jump via a warp gate on the other end, making travel fast and efficient. After paying a toll of-course.
This was all a rather new thing for Amy. The only other place she had ever seen such advancement had been on an accidental journey to South Island years ago, where she had met Sonic for the first time. Lost in her train of thought a mere instant was all it took. In the next the blackness had turned to the sweet blue of the higher atmosphere, the air thick and moist but cool and refreshing all the same. In the distance, hidden amongst cloud-cover like a silken curtain, came into view a scattering of levitating clumps of soil. Some of them did form actual flattened shapes that could be landed on, but thus far none of them were wide enough to be considered an island at all. No, there was only one in particular that needed to be found through this maze. It was one of the last remaining of the rapidly deteriorating landmasses of the Western Islands.
The afternoon felt particularly fierce as a golden fox anthrope whipped a gloved paw against his throbbing forehead. To his vast amazement the collapsible runway used for the takeoff and landing of the Tornado -aside from it's incarnation the Cyclone- was able to unfurl fully. Getting it back, however, was another statement entirely. In truth he wasn't even going to attempt to crank it back in. With the way his luck was going it would either get permanently stuck or entirely break apart. Both causing more work that could be avoided simply with an efficient but thorough cleaning and tune-up.
Currently he rested with his exposed stomach against the broiling tar, lock-wrench in one hand and slick oilcan in another. Every bone in his body cracked as he leaning over the far end of the ramp to inspect the intricate wire webbing beneath. His muscles burned as he sat back up, sighing heavily and turning his muzzle up to be graced by a passing gust of fresh, northern winds. His sensitive ears caught the subtle rev of a plane's engine in the distance. At first he didn't think anything of it. Normally passenger planes didn't pass by the island, fearful of the floating boulders that had a tendency to drift every so often from their expected orbit. Than he thought it was a personal one. Okay then, for what reason would one be so close?
Tails focused his aqua irises to make out cloud from land due to the glare of the sun. A sharp reflection off cast from something metallic and he centered then on that. Finally placing a greasy glove up to shield his squinting eyes reveled the questioned culprit. A shiver ran up his spine despite the overwhelming, uncovered heat. It was a crimson hovercar, one he didn't know the owner of. That wasn't what had made him cringe. No, it was the figure of an eerily familiar hedgehog furred in pink waving hysterically over the exposed windshield.
A short time after the vehicle gently touched down on the nearly perfect strip with Amy hopping acrobatically out.
"Hey, Tails!"
"Amy?" He stood and whipped himself off as best he could, grim nearly covering every inch of his fur, vest, and pants. "What's going on? And who-"
He turned his sight back to the car and the revelation struck hard. A beautiful young woman stepped out and slammed the car door shut behind. The anthro fell to one knee.
"Forgive me your Highness. If I-"
His next words were cut short. "Please," Elise began, "you don't have to do that," her speech coming out in an almost tentative, ashamed manor.
Tails stood, confusion outlining his features.
"Well, she's the reason I'm here." Amy broke the uneasy silence. "She says there's something wrong with Sonic, but she wouldn't tell me though. She wanted you."
"Alright?"
Everyone could tell that he was still unsure of the whole situation. But, that didn't stop him from regaining his composure. "Come on inside. It might be better to talk in the shade." Looking up to the sky he added, "before Solaris bakes us alive."
Tails lead them down into the bowels of the launch pad, which farther in existed his research facility. Elise had to bend inwards to avoid striking her head on grimy piping and exposed bolts, being careful to watch where she tread. The actual computer equipment of which Tails prided himself in wasn't all that far down. It was just the fact that the structure was obviously designed for much smaller individuals. He lead them into, what could possibly be described as, a meager sitting room with a small table and only one set of chairs. But this dilemma was simply eradicated by the kind fox presenting a new one from a back room covered in the distance by yet more wiring and tubing. Afterwards they all sat down, waiting for an explanation.
Elise took a deep breath, preparing herself while gathering her thoughts. "Sonic has been captured by Dr. Robotnik. And it's my fault."
Amy and Tails remained silent, expressions mirroring each other in horror. Then, without warning, the entire group had their hearts set into overdrive as a sudden wail ignited from one of the many monitors surrounding them.
-END OF CHAPTER-
Author's Notes:
In the original fiction titled the 'Metal Sonic Events' Sonic was never successfully roboticized. Instead his frantic struggling caused the machine to go haywire and activate one of Ivo's old attempts at making a Sonic robot. The 'Metal Sonic Events' was a combination of both the Sonic Anime/Movie and the game Sonic CD/Boom.
In NAA Ivo is more like a demented -but capable- scientist than the blundering idiot he is often made out to be in other Sonic series such as the games and TV shows. As stated above he was originally more inclined to help others -as the Robotnik bloodline was once well known for. It was thanks to an anthro known as Oasis and her own incentive that drove him in his younger years to search for the Chaos Emeralds -which were at one point called Soul Keys for good reason. It was thanks to the negative energies given off by them that slowly warped his mind into the state it is current. The drive for them, as well as the 'need' to best all those who oppose him, is what still warps his sense of things. Eventually he becomes so far gone that he turns murderous and thus concocts a plan to destroy all organic matter on Möbius that leads to the events in 'Apocalypse,' the second-to-last series in the NAA Timeline.
Ivo Robotnik is really ever called Eggman tauntingly, in similar standards to Robuttnik or Egghead. He is never again just called Robotnik after the 'ARK Events' which is NAA's adaption of SA2. It is out of respect for Maria and Gerald -aside from Shadow who also takes the Robotnik surname. Before knowing this Sonic and the FF used the term 'Robotnik' as an insult.
Sonic is indeed a royal. Ivo is one of the few who know this. He, along with his siblings Manic and Sonia, are the last of the Chrysanthos bloodline -those born of Mobodoon, the center of the Empire of Forest-Down, before it was taken over/destroyed by Ivo. Current to this fic Knothole and the remaining members of the Acorn family hold that position.
I only touch very briefly on Elise the Second (Elise's mother) for the main fact that later on in the series Elise will give a full explanation to Sonic about her mother's death. Giving just a bit of insight, the Möbius of NAA has Anthros being treated by humans as lesser beings. This is similarly along the lines of Africans back in post-colonial America -minus being enslaved for the most part. As such, within most Human-overseen/controlled/majority inhabited Empires (at this period in the timeline) they are not given full rights and are instead treated as second citizens.
The Lands of the Sky are separated into four -North, East, South and West. South island is basically the mega-metropolis of all Möbius. East Island is like China in our would while both North and West Island were at one point controlled by the Echidnas and were such called the Echidna Nations. Current to the Timeline West Island is just a mass of ruins while the remaining Echidna population take up residence on North Island. Even though the name is singular it really refers to the general vicinity whereas all but South Island consists of multiple smaller islands within their control.
I apologize for updating rather slowly. Because of the fandom for this and other works of fiction I will be starting to read Reviews again. However, I am disabling Anonymous Reviews. So please, if you wish to get a hold of me either create an account or Sign In.
~With Sincerest Thanks~
