Good Morning!
You would think that during a time when social interaction is limited and I don't have a employer it would be much easier to work on this fics right?
Wrong. So many things to do... argh.
Anywho, I hope you all have been safe and well during all of this nonsense. It's been a trying time for many of us, and I wish you all luck and pray for your safety. Thanks once again for staying with this story, it's a wonder that it's still been going on. With that said, let us get on with the show!
Sincerely,
Gate Keeper
In the Palace, Early morning
"...So as far as we know, with the testimony of Eggman, we could bring back King Acorn!" Sonic ended in excitement as he explained his meeting with Eggman.
The room was quiet, as they contemplated upon the information that Sonic had shared with them. The Ministers had been summoned by Princess Acorn regarding the news, which made the unexpected meeting worth the sleep lost.
A chance to regain the King! No one had even thought it was possible! The Ministers shifted in thought as they contemplated the significance of such a opportunity.
Minister Wouldruff sighed. He hated being the Devil's Advocate for these past discussions, but they have been so important that there needed to be proper discussion. "While I trust your word, Sonic," he began "I cannot fathom any other reason for why Eggman would choose to impart this knowledge except to have us spare his life. We don't know if it can be done, or even if it's true. No one has done a thorough investigation into the actual disappearance of the King! For all we know, Eggman is buying time until he is able to contact his armies to escape."
"Eggman wouldn't lie about that." An older voice called from the far side of the Council Room. A steel-grey hedgehog rose from his seat near the long end of the table, a grayed mustache quivering as he spoke.
"Wouldn't lie about what, Sir Charles?" Minister Beakett questioned, feathered head tilting as he spoke. "We know quite well how much Eggman would conceal from all of us. Is it that far-fetched to think he would do so again?"
"He has lied, yes." Sir Charles acknowledged, throwing a look to his young nephew who looked ready to argue over his apparent dismissal before continuing. "He has held secrets from all of us, especially me. But I've noticed that he has held a sense of honor in at least one thing during his entire time, and that is his abilities."
He looked over the room before bowing before Princess Sally. "My Lady, surely you have seen that Eggman has never once lied about what he can do, only what he will do, no?"
Sally nodded her head in assent. For all his faults and sins, Sally had never once heard Eggman lie about his inventions, and what they could do. Could being the operating word for most of her adventures.
Sir Charles looked around the room before continuing. "I have noticed much the same. Make no mistake," He directed his gaze towards Minister Wouldruff, "I know exactly your point, Minister. He cannot be trusted, not blindly." He stroked his mustache in thought. "However, that does not mean he was bluffing. Ministers, My Lady, I believe fully that Eggman was sincere in his ability to bring back the King. I would stake my life on it." He bowed before sitting back down, his body creaking as it settled into the chairs at the table. He threw another glance at his nephew, who seemed even more nervous than before. He smiled and leaned back, trying to communicate to his speedy, yet lovable nephew.
"Relax my boy, the fact that the Ministers are hesitant at all is sign enough."
The room grew silent, before a nervous Minister Beakett stood up. He cleared his throat a couple of times before speaking.
"My- my fellow Ministers, while I am nervous about what I am about to say, It does not pain me to say it. I... I concur with Sir Charles."
The room faced an uproar as many of the Ministers started to chime in about the proposal. Princess Sally raised her hand to call for silence. "Ministers, please." she said calmly, lowering her hand as the room died down. "Let us hear what Minister Beakett has to say." She nodded to him to continue.
The Minister swallowed thickly before continuing. "I... I understand your uproar, as I myself was so fervent about our previous decision." He frowned as he continued, his tone growing clearer with each passing moment. "But we cannot ignore these revelations. Will we allow our anger to overcome our judgement? Surely King Acorn himself would be devastated to hear of our finality. And what will we tell our children? That we sacrificed the chance to heal fully, unscarred, to satiate our petty revenge? Has not the Princess, or Sir Charles, lost more at Eggman's hands than ours? Choose what you will, but I will not stain my hands with the blood of a king for a certainty, than quiver at the thought of a possibility."
Minister Beakett sat down, as though the weight of the world crushed upon him at that moment.
And the room was engulfed in silence once more.
Mobotropolis Central Hospital, Early Morning
The room was silent, except for the constant hums, whirs and beeps of the medical machinery surrounding an occupied bed.
The figure in the bed was surrounded, wrapped in healing casts and bandages, with brown quills seared black in places they looked close to falling off. He slept peacefully.
Clink sat in a nearby chair, staring blankly at the bed.
"I'm sorry sir, but you cannot go in without being registered family while the doctor is there." A nurse had said with a simpering tone while he stood, his anger rising.
"I am his only family!" He shot back "Unless you want to find who dropped him off at an orphanage, then be my guest!"
The nurse shook his head before buzzing open the door, admitting him to the room before turning away in a huff.
A mongoose in a white coat stood facing towards a bed with a clipboard in hand. She glanced behind her as the door opened with Clink walking in. She turned and nodded to him. "I assume you've come to check up on Mr. Clank here, sir? What is your relation to the patient?"
Clink swallowed slightly. "I'm his... brother. I'm Clink. How is it looking like Doc? Will he be okay?"
The doctor sighed before turning around, concealing the worried look on her face.
"Multiple first and second degree burns." said the doctor as she listed off the injuries to Clink. "Several lacerations and severe bruising because of fallen materials. Severe smoke inhalation and irritation in the lungs. Frankly, Mr. Clank should be thankful he's alive in spite of the situation. He should be able to make a mostly full recovery within three months, given proper physical therapy."
"Three months!?" Clink had said. "Doc, I don't think I could pay for a month's stay at the hospital, let alone three!"
The doctor smiled and turned around, "You won't have to, his actual time here in the hospital will be intermittent at best. A week here to make sure he makes a good initial recovery, and then he'll be free to go home. Another week of bed-rest should heal the rest of his remaining injuries with recurring physical therapy appointments to rebuild his arms and lungs should be more than enough."
"His arms?" Clink questioned "What about his arms?"
The doctor opened her mouth before closing it with a click. She frowned slightly, "My apologies Mr. Clink, I seem to have overlooked it somehow. Your brother... he must have been blocked on the way out of the house. As such his hands and arms received major damage to the tissue, third degree burns as far as we can tell, we'll need to have your permission to perform the operation."
"Operation! It's that bad!?" Clink said as he panicked.
The mongoose waved a hand and shook her head. "Nothing serious, but we can't tell the extent of the damage with how his hands have been locked to his chest. It looks like he's holding something, and unless he wakes up soon and releases it we'll have to pry it away, which I assure you will adversely affect his recovery."
Clink pursed his lips "When will you have to do the operation?"
"Well, I'd rather get it over with but... we can wait a day. Maybe two, he should be awake by then. Past that? We can't wait too much longer for the lingering damage to reconstruct the skin, otherwise your brother won't have hands, but claws, and that will be even worse to recover from."
"Clank, please... I can't do this without you. You're the only one I got left. Wake up... please..."
A rustle of sheets and a groan. "Shut up Clink, M'tryna sleep." A gravelly voice called from the bed.
Clink leaped up and watched as the sheets rustled as Clank moved around. "Clank! You're awake!"
"Yeah." Clank croaked, his eyes fluttering as he groaned again. "Is that me? I sound like a engine." He looked over at Clink "And you look like I ran you over, sheesh."
Clink let out a laugh. "I'll take that as a compliment." His face grew sober. "You've been out two days, Clank."
A wheeze escaped. "Two days? And I feel this bad? Man, that must have been intense. Wait..." Clank's eyes widened. "Then today's the trial!"
Clink scrunched his eyebrows in confusion at this. "...Yeah, what's that got to do with anything?"
Clank looked frantic "Everything! Quick, take this!" His arms started to wiggle a bit before he growled in frustration. "Argh, my hands must be asleep. Clink, get over here and help me!"
Clink stepped forward, worry and confusion on his face as he did. He stepped by the bedside and lifted up the sheets before letting out a gasp.
Clank's expression turned dark before letting out a huff. "Look, don't focus on that, just help me get my hands free, we'll worry about how it looks later."
"Clank your hand's a mess! Slow down! Let me call the nurse!"
"Later! This is more important!"
"What could be more important than your hands?!"
"HOW ABOUT A LIFE!" Clank yelled. Clink quieted down, hurt by the sudden shout.
Silence engulfed the room before Clank sighed. "M'sorry. I'm not mad at you. But this is urgent. Like a serious life or death thing. Boss's life."
Clink's face darkened. "He doesn't seem to want it, so what does it matter?"
Clank growled and looked at Clink. "That's not up to us, and besides you don't need to talk to him. I don't know what happened in between then and now but whatever. Look, Shadow asked me to look around the house for anything valuable to put in the bank while Boss was in prison. I finally got around to it yes- two days ago and I was only able to grab one thing when the fire started. I can't do it, so I need you to get it to him instead."
"He thinks we're a charity case, Clank!" Clink fumed, "like he's some kind of saint or something, throwing away his life just 'cause it's the 'right thing' to do! Who does he think he his!"
Clank looked on and his face softened. Seems that Boss had touched off one of Clinks few buttons. Badly. "Clink, come on. You know it wasn't like that."
Clink turned away. "Just like those two were? Just like they thought I didn't see what they were doing to you? I remember, Clank! I remember them pushing you away! 'A charity case' a FUCKIN' charity case, they said!"
"Clink, look at me..." Clank said softly, his voice stinging from the pain.
Clink balled his fists as the unwanted memories surged again. "They tried to separate us." He choked out. "Not again, I can't be alone, please..."
"CLINK!" his brother called out hoarsely, his throat burning. Clink turned around again, snapped out of the haze he went into. "I'm right here, y'know. Focus."
Clink nodded mutely. Clank let out a sigh. "Two days and you're already got sugar in the tank, you really need to find a girl." he chuckled. Clink got a small smile on his lips from it. "C'mon Clink, I'm still here. I'll be here for a while, probably. Please, get this over to Shadow and go wash up. You look like me; and that is definitely not a compliment."
Clink let out a small snort and nodded, gently teasing open Clank's hands and grabbing a small rectangular shape from them, trying to ignore the faint crinkling sound that happened when the fingers flexed outward. Clink looked at his prize, a small USB perfectly preserved from the fire.
"This is all you got?" Clink asked, and watched while Clank nodded. He turned to leave the room and opened the door. Before stepping through he called out. "See ya. I'll come check on you later. I'll let the doc know you're awake."
The door closed, and Clank sighed before relaxing again into the bed. He tested his muscles, flexing and moving what he could in the limited confines of the bed. Everything hurt. Well...
Mostly everything.
The panic mounted even as he tried to suppress it. Why? Of everything that could have gone wrong, why just those?
The door opened and a mongoose stepped through. "Good morning Mr. Clank, glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"
Clank took several deep breaths before responding, letting his swirling emotions redirect into humour as he looked at her. "Good, well in pain, really. Lots of that."
He paused and the doctor looked on expectantly, waiting for him to continue.
"Doc." He said softly, "I can't feel my hands."
In the Grand Courtroom of Mobotropolis, Midday
"All rise for the judge." A voice called out into the courtroom
An almost thunderous sound came as the packed courtroom stood as one as a tall Mobian in flowing black robes ascended to the podium in the front of the room.
It was packed, every seat and bench filled to the brim with Mobians, with every other space crammed with cameras, boom microphones and lights to broadcast the event to all of Mobius.
Today was the trial of Minister of War Dr. Ivo Robotnik, or Eggman.
When the judge took to his post, he raised the gavel and gave it a clack onto the wooden knob below. "All bow for the Princess." He said solemnly.
As he did, the main doors behind the room opened up. Sally stepped through in the most resplendent dress, with Agents Ridge and Bluff flanking her in dress uniform.
As one, the room bowed to the Princess, including Eggman now shackled and chained by his seat.
Sally looked around the room with a practiced expression of stoicism and raised a hand. "Raise your heads and be seated. Let the trial commence." and sat down in a designated booth near the door, the two agents guarding her.
The room shifted back to a normal posture before another clack of the gavel was heard.
"Court is now in session, let the crimes that have been presented read for all to hear. May Truth guide us all!" The judge called.
"Let Justice be the measure!" the court room responded.
"Today Minister Robotnik has been brought to answer to the following infractions of the law. One thousand, two hundred and forty-seven cases of arson and assault, seven hundred and ninety-three accusations of kidnapping..."
Eggman sighed. If they are going to go through all of them, we will be here for a while.
Later...
"...ten cases of petty larceny, five accusations of unnecessary language, One account of murder in the first degree and one accusation of high treason. How do you plead?" The judge asked stoically.
It was an impressive feat, listing all five thousand combined infractions. A silence over took the court as they waited for the inevitable.
He bowed his head, his shoulders following in a subconscious defensive move.
He was signing his death warrant, and the world felt much colder than it had when he had walked in earlier today.
"I plead guilty." The words left the room deathly silent as they turned to hear the judge's response.
The judge nodded stoically. "Very well. Let the records show that Minister of War Dr. Ivo Robotnik, also known as "Eggman", has pleaded guilty to all charges. Princess Sally Acorn will be given time to address the public and give the sentence as head of the country regarding the severity of the crimes committed."
The crowd broke out into whispers as they turned again to see Princess Sally stand up and smile.
"Citizens of Mobius, today we make history. Our greatest threat, traitor to us all, has finally been captured."
The crowd cheered and she raised her hand to call for quiet again.
"But now there are two questions that remain, both of which are important. The first; after all the time and effort made to find him, all the action taken to stop him, by Sonic, Tails, myself and more... how did we manage to capture him? Surely, someone who has managed to escape time and again should have escaped by now. But here he stands. As your Princess it is my duty make sure that justice is served, that the laws and dreams of our nation come to life. I cannot do so now, unless the truth is told for you to decide."
Sally took a deep breath before continuing, steeling herself for the uproar this was sure to cause.
"Eggman is only here today because he saved me."
She turned out to be right, as the whole courtroom erupts in disbelief. After a while the voices quiet as the courtroom waits for more elaboration.
"Eggman and myself were taken hostage by the former Minister Xain over a week ago. He planned to either force Eggman's cooperation or frame him in order to take over Mobius. Minister Xain had planned to kill me to accomplish that goal."
The crowd broke out into whispers as Sally continued. "I do not know for certain if Sonic would have arrived by the time I was to be killed. The timing of all of these events makes it hard to know what would have happened if things went differently." She took a breath. "However, I do know that Eggman's actions that day cannot be ignored. He rejected Xain's proposal, he distracted him while waiting to see if help would arrive, and at the end he stood and fought, regardless of the odds against him. Or who he was fighting for."
She raised her chin and surveyed the crowd. They were hesitant, the anger and hate they brought to satiate with the judges sentence dissipating as they thought about the consequences of her testimony.
"My father taught me that one person cannot be judged for one action, but by a lifetime. Life is not split into black and white, good and evil. I've neglected that teaching for long enough. I could have kept silent on this, and have exactly what I wanted to have happen done. But I will not. It would shame me to have kept this secret while only Eggman's sins would be laid bare. On that same note I wish to announce an important revelation we received recently."
"I am happy to announce" She began, "that we might have a lead into the whereabouts of King Acorn."
The crowd broke out into more murmurs before quieting down. "However, to confirm this lead I must ask a difficult request. It is one that has been debated for days leading up to this moment. We stand to gain much, to regrow as we finally close the scars and mysteries of the past. It could be a boon for us, or if it does not, perhaps a relapse into the state we have been in for so long."
She took a deep breath. "I ask that you spare Eggman, for now."
The room was deathly quiet as they tried to understand the request, and Sally pounced on the confusion before the hushed anger might be provoked again. "I am asking much, in return for something I cannot tell will succeed. It is a hard thing, and I ask only because we deserve to know, all of us. I ask you for ourselves, for our nation, to show the mercy we have been denied by this very man."
She removed her crown, the gold weighing heavy as she grasped it in her hands.
"I ask you all, selfishly, please... help me find my father."
She bowed as she finished her speech, the crowd stunned by her reaction.