10AM

Firmament, Throne Room

{Azure Sonic is in position, master. Lagrange Point L2!}

{Chrome Silver is in position, master. Lagrange Point L4! }

{Vantablack Shadow is in position, master. Lagrange Point L5!}

Ah, finally! "Keep the satellites at the exact coordinates specified. Chaos Drivers are to be kept at 300% efficiency until the specified time!" Performing magic on a planetary scale was a pain, even for his current form!

{I…I..} The operator sighed forlornly. {Yes sir.}

Eggman cut the connection. "Hehehehehe….it's all coming together…" And it will soon come apart. It'd be nice to see his old stomping grounds, to watch it in its current form one last time.

INTRUDER ALERT!

INTRUDER ALERT!

"Hehehehehe…" Looks like his old friends came for a visit.


With the advent of the supernatural taking over society, the dawn of the anime hair had taken the world by storm. Suddenly non superpowered children had hair right out of that old show with the card games, all the colors of the rainbow, and eye colors ranging from the odd to the two toned, with multiple instances of heterochromia in just one pupil. Naturally over the years the phenomenon evolved, and now there were humans with hair that could be used to hang Christmas ornaments on with no strain on the roots. It was also easy to identify a hiding Adept just by the strength of their hair, as most Adept's bodies were somewhat, if not moreso, stronger than a human's. His Egg Pawns could easily detect an Adept with Septimal Blockers in their systems just by the strength of their roots! But he didn't need to do that.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?!" Because it wasn't hard to find the two white people with brightly colored impossible hair amongst the crowd of mostly black haired Asians with varying shades of peachy hues in their complexion as they sat down at one of his many benches offering a beautiful view of Earth."Sit your ass down, and pay attention!" Allowing those idiots to experiment with the potential for Chronokinesis and Chronos Control did wonders for some of them, augmenting their powers with age. The Key word here was some. While some of their Septima's power increased with age, like Eden's famed astrologer and her ridiculous hair, which was now her tomb, others weren't so lucky.

No, screw it, they all got screwed over, and that was before he had the chance to double cross them! They all screwed themselves!

Take the former Iron Maiden of Eden, for example. Dumb little brat had a Septima that let her control metal. She could make deathtraps out of blood. Blood! Even the kid in him back when he was human had to admit, that was awesome! And utterly disgusting.

…Now, not so much. 86 years old, wrinkled like a prune due to all the blood loss and the stress it put on her aged body, and she still looked pretty fit. She was white as aged milk and was wearing thick glasses. Her hair was still as bright red as it was before his 'help', going down to her shoulders with hints of gray lining her locks. She wore thermal clothing, a thick red sweater and pants, with built-in nanites to regulate her temperature. All that blood loss really screwed with her body in more ways than one. And it looks like she took his advice and ditched the accent for undercover missions, good on her!

The other man just kept silent. Like he'd have a choice after the modifications done to his special armor. Speaking now would be like blurting out who he is to the world, so he resorted to sloppy sign language. "Yeah I can see it from here." The girl whispered. "He really did stop the entire planet, holy shit." Thirteen different stakeouts, and they still couldn't believe it was true; Eggman really did stop the Earth's rotation.

The man signed again. "Yeah, none of the others can see it…" But then again after what that fat bastard did to their armors, it's amazing they could even see what he actually looked like! Gibril never really thought she'd feel sorry for Ghauri given the annoying bundle of positivty he was before their fuckup, but a self imposed silence must've been an utter hell not even she would want the pleasure of experiencing.

. Speaking of which, Ghauri 'spoke' again. "She'd probably love it too." She said with a sigh. They all knew trusting Eggman was a bad idea after he walked up on Sumeragi and took it over like a boss, but with all the backdoors Teseo put into his systems, it wouldn't matter how stupid they acted. And then they used him as a guinea pig... "All we have to do is keep him busy. Asroc's gonna go get the brat, and then we're going to fix what we broke." And then kill Eggman's power source. Those weird looking gems were a pain in the ass just like that talking blue mascot character, always making fools of them while stuffing down chili dogs like a crack addict and making his stupid quips. Maybe if they let go of their egos for a second, all seven would have been in their hands.

…And everyone would still be alive.

'Ahhh, Nothing like two old folks reminiscing on the good old days.' Eggman thought as he approached them from behind. 'Then again, if they didn't huff their own farts and actually tested their new powers, they wouldn't be in this mess.' Oh it was a tale as old as time! Some shadowy organization kidnapped him in his sleep, picked his brain, and he screwed them over while giving them what they wanted. And the best part was that he didn't even have to try to screw them over! Man he loved religious fanatics sometimes!

Grinning evilly, Eggman gently placed their hands on their shoulders. "Excuse me." They paused, the once human and mortal doctor relishing the fear radiating off of them as they immediately sensed who was talking to them. Their connection to the Lifewave had only increased with his 'help' getting them to their senior years, and despite the power they now wielded, dulled as it may be due to their advanced aging, they knew they were no match for him."It's been a while, my old comrades." They stayed where they were as they stewed in their own fear, knowing that they failed before they even began. "You gift wrapped my nemesis to me in a silver bow, gave me unlimited power, and you came to see me at the culmination of my dastardly, evil schemes! Why, I think this calls for a celebration! We should sit down and talk, one last time before the end of the world!"

"W-we-'re wiggety fine."Ghauri stuttered out, making it obvious why he never talked. "We're waiting in line, can't you see we're fine?!" When was the last time he talked normally? He honestly couldn't remember since the accident. Eggman's knowledge of magic was truly frightening, as seen by his and Gibril's current state.

"Oh, but I insist!" Eggman said as he leaned in evilly, unseen by everyone but the two soon to be dead teens in old, decrepit bodies."It's on the house. After all, I couldn't have done it without you."


10AM

Sakurazaki Academy, University Sector, Senior Hall, Floor 24

Class 22

Mytyl made it just in time for class to start. It was a straight trip out of the elevator to the 24th floor, and she ran into her class with time to spare. At this high up she could see the entire city, including the remnants of that icy prison that was one Sapporo, now halfway removed as drones carefully cut through the iceberg and harvested it. Just seeing it was a sore spot for many of the students and faculty, some of whom had no choice to relocate here as their homes were entombed and their families dead, flash frozen and turned into icy statues. And it was because of that miserable sight that the window seats weren't that well liked.

Ironic for the most popular girl in the class to be sat at the most popular spot for an anime protagonist that had the ugliest, most horrific thing to look at. Her seat was right at the end of the lecture hall, right near the plexiglass window, and seeing as how she was the most popular girl in class, Mytyl had to keep up her reputation and her social standing. Her classmates were her flock, after all. So she went to the big student, Takeru, reached into her suitcase-"Signed, dated, and proofread." -And handed him his homework. "-Until you get your grades up, I can't make your schoolwork any better. We don't want Mr. Miyamoto to get suspicious, right?" The taller boy grumbled and accepted the work, offering her thanks as the silver haired girl went to the rest of the class.

Unlike many in her situation, a tiny, skinny little thing giving a big gruff guy his homework that she did herself, Mytyl Kamizono wasn't coerced into this. "Here's your English, Chizuru." Nope; she did it all on her own,Mom approved! "Mr. Miyamoto's going to get suspicious if I try what you're suggesting Aizawa. That's way beyond your skill level!" For some reason unknown to the then 16 year old, Nori began teaching her how to forge signatures and handwriting styles. She didn't know why Mom was making her do this, but she took to it pretty fast.

And then she learned why Mom made her do this, specifically signing documents in the names of those relatives that didn't like her very much. The boy Mom hated to bring up had screwed the Kamizono family over with his disappearance, and the drastic measures they took to get revenge on whoever that guy was through her had threatened her life on more than one occasion, often doing things like say getting a bunch of nutjobs who thought she was their Oracle to kidnap her.

Mom then gently persuaded them to stop whatever it was they were doing -she didn't say how- but Mytyl saw the news in the coming weeks, and that's when she realized her mom was awesome, though that didn't explain the whole forging thing. When asked why she didn't do it herself, Mom said something about the legal people being too ''holy for their liking'. Just touching anything by them made her sick, the same reaction she had whenever she got within a gnat's breath of a church, so that was the end of that.

"Matsumoto, what I said to Aizawa applies to you." A couple days later, every single one of these people were arrested thanks to the files and holy crap there were a lot of weapons being wheeled out! Weapons that had the same exact color as her exercise equipment and looked like the old junk mom said were too out of date for me to use; funny that. "Senzawa, you were supposed to use the English word for shark, not the Japanese one. Other than that, I didn't have to do much." And that's where she got the idea to do this. The sheer academic drop-off for students in this post-Eden, pre-Eggman world was staggering, truly staggering. And while she didn't care for the people in this class on an emotional level, she couldn't live with herself if they lost the chance to live like miserable salarymen like any other regular joe because of those superpowered monsters.

"Katsuragi, this is the last time I'm doing this for you. Either work on your female anatomy report by yourself or just copy it online; that goes for you too Chiaki!" So she offered to help tutor her classmates. Then it took her like six seconds to remember she was a super genius and that what was average for them was below subpar for her, and just started forging their work; and it's not like they cared. With Eggman's educational and labor programs, even a bum could get a mid level job! The man basically turned Japan into one of the richest countries in the world, one of the best places to live on the planet, and the biggest factory to ever exist in earth's history!...as long as you did your fair share and tried not to cheat, so giving her classmates a leg up was the ultimate cheat code, without cheating!

Those that didn't do things the legal way…they were relegated to Sonic duty. Mytyl didn't know what that was, but then again, you just had to look at the poor bastards who had to suffer through it to understand how bad it was. So not only was she doing this to make sure that everyone didn't get left behind. Now the question remained: if Eggman gave work to everyone, why do this? Everyone here had good grades, exemplary even! Chiaki, once you got past her breast obsession, could get into any college she wanted!

…But for Mytyl, that wasn't enough. She didn't know why she felt that, but she knew that deep down, it was her responsibility as a leader to her flock to set them on the right path. But that could wait; the teacher was here. Gintoki Miyamoto, her 1st period teacher, slammed his briefcase down, and soon class was in session. And that was when Mytyl's brain went on autopilot. For her, school was for socializing, not learning. And as the lecture went in one ear and out the other, the pale girl's attention was turned to the iceberg.

God she hated that iceberg. She hated looking at it, it made her feel sick to her stomach. Maybe she should give class her full attention today. Maybe Mr. Miyamoto had something interesting to- "-Pay attention! This will get you into EggTokyo U-" So anyway, that iceberg. Just looking at it made those strange memories flow into her.

'Adepts and humans must be able to live in peace. You can't just reject the idea out of hand!'

'And what is your evidence? This frozen city? How do we coexist with beings that pose such a threat? You would have us make peace with living weapons?!'

Her skirt pocket glowed, but she didn't see it. Sometimes she would get memories of those two boys, just like that one. It's strange…she felt as though her mind made that confrontation up. The blonde boy was dead by the time Eden froze that city.

And that monster, barely older than that boy, died in that iceberg along with his followers. In fact,it was thanks to Eggman that the majority of those murderers were wiped off the face of the Earth. Some of their deaths were captured live on the EggTV, each and every one of them taken out by the doctor's Metal line of robots.

She wondered what was teaching today?"-Matsumoto! Translate the Kanji from Japanese to Russian, then to English!" Yep, kiddie stuff. Just why did she fixate on that iceberg? Compared to the other weird memories she had, this was at the bottom 5 of weird, horrific imagery that her mind conjured up, but still, the death of that Adept…What was his name again? Ah, she didn't care that much, not anymore at least. The only time she cared was when Eggman finally found him, and broadcasted his execution on live television.

XXXXXXXX

It was 8 years ago, on BattleShip Island.

With Eggman able to find any Eden member thanks to the database procured from their base, he had to act as a normal human, an inferior. His contacts dwindled, one by one, as he traveled out of Nagasaki and made his final stand, where thanks to the immense amount of water and the chilly weather at the time, he could use his powers to his fullest.

Oh how naive he was.

She remembered how disgusted he was at the prospect of eating food made by primitives, always preferring one of the chefs or Asroc to give him his meals. With Adepts under higher scrutiny than before thanks to their righteous actions, he forbade any and all food until he was sure it was from his own people. Shame; if he actually swallowed his pride, he'd probably have survived longer.

It didn't take Eggman long to find him. Heck, he probably knew where he was going the whole time!

The one sided massacre was captured from all angles. Eggman robots and Sumeragi troopers came on shore or jumped down from aircraft above. All of them managed to hold their own for four hours. Despite being malnourished and severely weakened, that boy, now a man in his 50s, aged up by some unknown force, held his own, using his ice to surf all over the island to fight, trying his best and succeeding. But Eggman had more expendable robots than valuable men, and it was only a matter of time before the Adept fell.

Soon the boy's powers began to fail. His ice lost it's bite. His walls became brittle enough to be slapped away by the troopers despite the walls being able to crush them not even an hour before. Soon the gunfire and mortar used to get through his icy defenses lessened and lessened, and the sounds of his feral, hateful rambling were all that could be heard.

"YOU WORTHLESS INFERIORS! YOU DISGUSTING TRAITORS!" There might have been a time he could have looked dignified and respectful, but Mytyl couldn't tell you when that was. He was far from the disciplined, honorable warrior against humanity that stood by her side. He held his arms to himself as if he was trying to conserve any warmth he could. His eyes were bloodshot and tearfilled, and the snarl that he gave showed that whoever this near godlike octogenarian used to be was long gone. "YOU WILL PAY! YOU WILL PAY!" In his place was a wild, rabid animal.

And that's when Eggman's main enforcer appeared. Any remaining ice was shot up into the air and shattered as a hurricane surrounded the entire island. And yet, everyone inside was fine. The footage was still crystal clear, and the fact it was still going was a testament to Eggman's technological prowess! Everyone watching knew what was coming; they'd all seen that tornado before, from the failed attempt to stop the long dead terrorist organization Q.U.I.L.L from reaching Firmament, to ithe user's more successful outings during the Eden crisis. The boy's face never changed from it's hateful look, but you'd have to be blind not to see the fear emanating from his body…

…For it was one of Eggman's Metal Series that was the cause of this tornado, and it was the strongest of them all. It was 3 feet tall, with a giant head and an exposed braincase. In addition to the dark blues of it's head and stomach, it had silver limbs, thin, gangly things that were thinner than a baby's bones and separated by ball joints, and red and white feet that were reminiscent of sneakers. The cameras kept their lenses trained on it as it landed in front of the Adept, some cheesy buttrock about 'opening your heart' playing as it got ready. The Eden terrorist, strangely enough, looked guilty as he stared at the robot, an emotion people thought he didn't have the ability to soldiers all got in formation, standing to the robot's side like two waves being parted as they saluted the machine.

{Well well well, if it isn't Tenjian!} Eggman's voice announced from the robot. {I didn't think you'd go for the last stand deal, but thanks! It made it real easy to flush you out!} The robot's eyes glowed and the old man was frozen in place. {I honestly should thank you. If it wasn't for your greed and your puppetmaster you call a sister, I never would have evolved into the speciment I am today! I honestly should just give you a quick death, have one of the boys give you a blowout bash!}

Even from the other side of the screen, Mytyl felt the air turn cold as Eggman continued speaking. {But then I remembered how I ascended.} The robot sped up to her brother and put a 'comforting' hand on the shaking man's shoulder. {How many years do you think I spent in that void, huh? One hundred, two hundred….} Eggman chuckled and the robot shook its head in amusement. {Oh so many centuries I wasted there, evolving, dying, changing…and you seriously thought that child could handle all of that?!}

"She's far mightier than-" Whatever Tenjian was going to say was replaced with a scream as Eggman's robot grabbed his shoulder far too hard.

{Trust me, she would've folded like the Echidna on a math test. I've dealt with my fair share of interdimensional shenanigans to know when a spade's a spade.} The robot leaned into Tenjians snarling, angry face, its pointy nose poking the human's. {The Kamizono boy did her a favor by 86ing her, and now she won't be able to experience the wonderful utopia I have in store!} Suddenly the robot raised its hand. {And it looks like you're gonna miss out on paradise too! Cya!}

"YAAAAAARGHHH!"

Nori covered her eyes, but the sound produced from that one strike, and the sheer amount of agony it produced from the man, was enough to give Mytyl's very intelligent and resourceful mind plenty of audio cues as to how fast the Adept died. It started with the initial sound of his bones cracking. He didn't scream. Then came the soft vibrations of the robot's hands as it slowly cut through his flesh like a hot knife through butter. From the time that the air left his breath to the agonized howling, Mytyl theorized that the robot started at the shoulder. The Adept's screams only continued, and not once did he beg for mercy, even as his voice became gargled and mangled. As said before, she had a very good imagination, so Nori's attempts to shield her innocence did nothing.

And one it was all over, the people cheered, their eyes a crimson red. They shouted Eggman's name in reverent adulation, gleeful for the leader of the terrorists, Tenjian, the monster who spearheaded Japan's largest loss of life since the burgeoning of the Adepts or the Atomic Bombs. It was thanks to him that Japan's water supply was forever tainted, that downtown Tokyo was a digital hellscape of greens and blacks that no organic could safely enter, and it was him who spearheaded the abduction and dissection of over 200,000 people in the wake of the iceberg crisis to fuel the power of some blood related Septima! She should be glad he was dead, just like everyone else!

And yet…

Nori kept her hands over her face until she got to the car. And while her mother figure drove away…

All Mytyl could do was cry, as if she just lost someone important to her.

XXXXXXX

"Excellent work Matsumoto! Kirigaya, would you please…" Why did she cry that day? It couldn't have been from the video itself, she saw far worse online, like those leaked photos from that slaughterhouse mansion Eden started. She didn't know him, but yet she did. He was close to her heart, but yet there was this sense of uselessness she got from him, as if he failed someone important and powerful in a very big way. He was important, yet replaceable, as if she could kill him and remake him with a snap of the finger.

And it was a feeling that left her utterly disgusted. She learned to ignore the memories of that boy, scant as they were, whenever they came up, because not only did she not like him, there was this other, strange feeling the more she thought about him..

"Everyone turn to page 156 on your tablets and begin reciting the Nuclear Astro..fue…what the fu-well, it's in the syllabus…."

'Why?' She did as asked without even paying attention, taking her tablet out from the lock underneath her desk, turning it on, and navigating to the correct app and page, all with just one hand. 'Why?' Why did that iceberg make her feel like this? Why did it make her flash back to that day?

And why did it make her feel like some of these events should have never happened to begin with?


13:00

Eggfactory #2567

Distance between entry point and 1st checkpoint: 12 minutes.

Guards: incapacitated.

ETA until security realizes something was wrong: 45 minutes.

Missions when her young charge was away just got easier and easier. Whether it was the former master becoming too engrossed in his vengeance, or his sister practicing her forgeries or exercising religiously, the Kamizono siblings were easy to fool whenever they got comfortable for too long.

This was how Nori was able to get inside of Eggman's factories back when he- Mytyl's brother- still lived with them. Night after night, she would hit up the local bars around EggPort#25, trying to seduce one of the guards in order to activate her Charm powers from her school days. Not to bed them for information, for evil's sake no, but seduction was how a good chunk of her old powerset functioned, and trying to fight these genetically augmented hulks without power armor or her full magic would just end up with broken limbs. Oh she missed the good old days. Sure there were panties flying everywhere and an uncomfortable amount of teenagers in the throes of artificial ecstasy, most of it her fault, but they were simple times, bloodless times.

She sure could have used the power she had as a teenager; if she did, this infiltration would have happened a long time ago. Eggman's technology made it so that anyone who wore his armored suits never had to take them off. ever. And unlike Sumeragi and their soldier's weakness to any mid grade Septima, Eggman made sure that it was impossible for some no name Adept off the street to hurt or control the man under the armor. She couldn't fathom the depth of his magical knowledge to produce so many counter hypnosis seals and interweave them into his technology, but it was thanks to those that his men were protected from psionics and telepathy. So because of that she had to play the long game, for four months, slowly seducing just one man into taking off his armor just to get a kiss so she could get into his systems.

Trying to just incapacitate one of them was shown to her to be a quite stupid idea, as shown by one of her comrades in arms against the egg-shaped man. She watched the poor fool, some hydrophilic Adept that was 2nd in line for one of Eden's G7, had his own aquakinetic powers turned against him with just a press of one of the guard's utility belts, a guard who, not two minutes before this altercation, was talking about some prostitute and potential veneriald diseases with his co-worker.

That was a blessing in disguise however. Once that lunatic was out of the way, she could finally work without his hydrophilia tainting every took a second to steel herself -the man she chose to charm was pale as a ghost and slick with the suit's cleaning fluid- but once they kissed, he was hers to do with as she pleased.

And now he was guiding her through an EggFactory. No matter how powerful your magic or how debilitating your NDAs were, there was nothing stopping even the most disciplined man from yammering like a teenager when there was enough sedatives, alcohol, mind altering magic, or breasts clouding their judgment. And Nori didn't like to brag - her indentured servitude to the Kamizonos got rid of that character flaw for the most- but well…she knew what she had, perfectly average where it counted, and if she had to flaunt it, so be it

As for the factory, it wasn't anything special, just the same dime a dozen architecture you'd find in any other mass production facility. She had been in plenty of factories and facilities back when Sumeragi was in power, having helped scope out said areas for recon, destroying any of their mecha when need be and making sure that any troops that got their weapons had them blown up in their faces.

She was very happy when her former charge invented the Bullit Dash Armor. Now she had plenty of time to help Mytyl become the woman she was today.

Looking at her surroundings, it looked as though Eggman only changed the exteriors when he took over. And maybe it was because she was too used to the doctor's overbearing ego in her everyday life, but this mundane, generic hallway with regular yellow lighting made her very nervous. "How much further?" She asked the guard. This was too tame for Eggman, too normal; she didn't like it.

"Just a bit more my queen!" Oh yes, she wasn't a fan of that either. Her charm magic's capabilities had waned after so many years of laying dormant, so often times she had to indulge in her captive's baser desires to get them to do what she wanted. "Could you give me some words of encouragement, pweaaaseee?" He sat on his knees, panting like a dog. She groaned softly, never breaking her composure. She completely forgot about that little aspect of her contracts, back when her worst fears were being hit by a gun that made teenagers lose their sexual inhibitions. "Come on, give your mutt what he deserves!" Thank goodness she got the ones that didn't want to jump her bones.

"...Ok." and so she did so, a kick here, an insult there, and they were soon on their way as the guard skipped along happily. What she wouldn't give to spy on the young missus again. Those were good times, back when she was overprotective of her young mistress, and when she didn't have to worry about egg shaped dictators planning something nefarious behind the scenes. Oh how she envied Mytyl.


"Pencils down." Finally, lunch! And that meant window shopping!

Mytyl gleefully awaited to see whatever food awaited for her that she couldn't have without her body committing 10 different war crimes in response. Chiaki usually got her 'Boobuffle' as she called them, a souffle carefully made in the shape of the obvious. It…it was a sight alright. She couldn't deny it's creativity, and soon it sparked the rest of the class to make their own silly or stupid foods. Lunch here was as much of a time for socialization as it was a talent expo, and she eagerly awaited-

"..." Her eyes lost their luster, gaining that 'soulless' quality that people often said they had. The excited chatter of the other students met Mytyl's ears as she excused herself from the room. She went out the hallway and stopped right at the window at the leftmost end, and stared at the commotion below. "My dear Pygmalion Furnace…"

She clenched her good luck charm as Egg Pawns, wearing stereotypical detective clothes in a gaudy red color, took away that bum that was harassing her. An odd coldness permeated her being as she, without really thinking, analyzed the man.

He was European, around 84 or so years old, ginger hair with hints of grey, and it looked like he put on some chef's clothes that he fished out of a wet dumpster. Despite how rail thin he was, he was putting up an impressive fight as the Egg Pawns tried and failed to force him into the EggPolice Car. Suddenly his eyes met hers, and that's when things went wrong.

"You recognize me…" She could barely hear him say, breaking free from the Egg Pawns just long enough to bring something out of his ratty hair….something very familiar. "I REMEMBER TOO! YOU HAVE ONE ORACLE! YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER! REMEMBER WHAT HE DID TO US! REMEMBER-"

That was all he got out before a chop to the stomach by one of the Egg Pawn's magnifying glass knocked him out, followed by it loudly proclaiming that he was resisting arrest in the loudest voice Eggman put in it. But Mytyl wasn't paying attention to that. Instead she was focused on the stone the bum pulled out of his hair that the Egg Pawns stared at in awe before throwing it in the passenger's seat of the car. As one of them got in and drove off, leaving the others behind as they ran after it, Mytyl took out her good luck charm, an azure copy of the stone the man had.

At first glance, it was nothing special, just a simple six sided gemstone that fit neatly in her palm. But to anyone with a connection to the Lifewave higher than the 2nd stage, it was much, much more. This thing, whatever it was, had power. It had so much power, and at the same time, none. It was azure today, but sometimes it could be as red as a phoenix's fire, or an icy blue, or a dark magenta. It was in many ways a paradox, and she didn't remember how or when she got it.

All she knew was that an Adept with no mouth, and monochrome skin gave it to her. She didn't think much of it, only that the deep, manly voice was weird, and she had a killer fashion sense, with that whole Alice in Wonderland motif going on. It felt like staring in a mirror weirdly enough, a short, 4 foot tall mirror, so maybe that's why she accepted the stone.

But here that bum was, holding a similar stone to her, with the exact same power radiating from it. Was this why she came down here? It had to be, she had no reason to even leave the class!

Now utterly unnerved, Mytyl returned to her classroom, taking her seat and staying deathly silent. She made sure to put on a decent mask, give a cute giggle, a polite smile here and there when people asked if she was alright, but inside, she was close to screaming. Day in and day out Eggman continued to vex her. Making her see Asroc, who had such hopes for her goals, in such a pitiful, pathetic state was enough to grant that pathetic maid death in her eyes. She would pay.

Mytyl blinked. 'What on earth am I even going on about?' And who the heck is Asroc?!


16:45

Eggfactory #2567

5 hours in and Nori felt like a kid again.

She could feel the comforting screams of agony, the souls of the damned tortured for their sins as the jailers laughed at their misfortune. The crunching of bone, the soft, squelchy ripping of flesh, all of it caused Nori to feel homesick for the first time in years. It also reminded her why her ideas of chaos were so different than the sickening evils she was walking past: her young naive self simply thought she couldn't measure up.

And that was how she immediately realized none of this was real. It was horrific yes, but in the same way a human horror movie with a good budget was horrific. Each time she blinked, the walls and their general surroundings changed. One blink it was the familiar red rocks and lava pits of her former home. Another blink and it was the industrial gray hallway she'd been led through for the past half hour. And with each blink, the temperature of the area matched the illusionary surroundings. Boiling hot, damp and humid, over and over again.

'So that's how you did it.' Nori realized. 'This wasn't a Septima at all.' And further solidified that Eggman wasn't an Adept of any kind, for what she was seeing was honest to evil Hell magic. Human beings, who were already full of sin, wouldn't notice the illusion unless they had strict, unrivaled discipline. Most Adepts wouldn't either, not unless you were capable of altering reality, opening wormholes, raising the dead, or any power that altered or controlled a fundamental aspect of life or reality, and any human higher than 5th stage of the Lifewave couldn't use demonic magic period. The fact that it took so long for her to notice was shameful, evidence that she had long forgotten her roots. "Tell me what you see." She said to the man.

"Well we're on Firmament, and there's babes the likes of which I haven't seen!" So she was right; this was an illusion, and of the Lotus Eater variety, it seemed.. "Oh man, I want one of those collars so bad!"...No matter how debauched they were. She listened to him admit his E- list depravities that would have been obscene in the 1980s until she got bored and ignored him, focusing on keeping the illusion specific and static so that she didn't get a migraine from all the environment switching.

An hour later, the guard stopped, right in front of a giant pit. "Wait here." He said, walking onto the pit as if there was solid ground, and quickly disappearing. Curious, Nori picked up a piece of rock and chucked it at where the man was just standing, and it fell, as though there was nothing there.

"I see." She looked up and her eyes widened at what she was seeing. Where once was a black abyss was now a glass ceiling, and beyond that were sharks and other ocean life swimming freely. "I couldn't have been walking for longer than 30 minutes..how did this happen?!"

"Yes, how did you get here?" And as if things couldn't get any worse, there he was. Out from the void appeared the guard, who stopped halfway and saluted. And appearing in front of the guard, standing mere feet from her, was the fat doctor himself. "Good afternoon."

"...What in the world are you?" What did Eden do to him?! And how did he know her true name?! 'No, I can't focus on that.' There was no reason to wonder about the hows or why; it already happened, so she needed to keep calm. So, he had access to demonic magic. And not only that, he was in full control of it, which was how he maintained this illusion, and if it wasn't the powers of Hell, then his soul had been corrupted by something else. One must wonder what his experiences with the demonic plane must have been like in order for an elderly obese human to achieve such a thing. "How did you get here?"

"Oh you're asking the wrong questions." The thing in front of her mocked, wagging his finger with the grace of a drunk puppeteer. In fact, puppet was the word that came to the maid's mind as he walked away from her. She could hear his footsteps, but they didn't make contact with the ground. "I'm everywhere, little girl." He twirled his mustache, but it looked more like he was flicking a balloon. "In a sense at least." Then he turned, or rather, something picked his body up and placed his front in front of her in half a second. "You'd have a hell of a time trying to figure out what I haven't picked up about you and the little missus, like that speeding ticket you acquired this morning!" He watched her tense. "What's wrong? You look as though you've seen hell!"

He took two steps forward. "Did you have a hell of a time tricking young Kurosaki here?" He kicked the air to his right, his leg dangling limply. Suddenly, the man behind him, to Nori's surprise, reacted as though Eggman kicked him across a football field and he fell into the pit, still saluting as if nothing happened.

"Incompetent idiot." He muttered with disgust. "First pair of half decent knockers to come his way and he's on them like a mutt with a new toy" He turned to her, his glasses shining as his smile took up his face. And Nori realized that wasn't hyperbole, nor was her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. In the span of a second, his mustache and eyes were pushed up, and all he could see were his engorged lips and teeth, teeth that opened up to reveal two men spilling out of his maw, covered in saliva. Once they were fully out, Eggman's head returned to normal, and he made a towel out of nothing to wipe the drool off of his face.

To his delight, the wannabe maid showed visible fear. "Oh, were these your friends?" He asked mockingly with an audible, obnoxious gasp, making a face like that little blonde kid in the movie where he was home alone. Should've gotten the name of it. "I gotta give them credit, they made it farther than you did, especially Tweedledum over here." He kicked the man on the left into the air and his corpse stopped halfway, as if it laid on an invisible platform. "If he didn't keep rhyming like a moron when I started interrogating him, I never would've had the intel I needed to secure my victory! You actually could've stopped my plans if you chose your friends better!" Or if he left any competent, stable people in her little resistance. The corpse dropped and he kicked it right into Nori, who heartlessly tossed it over the edge with her palm.

"That fool was no friend of mine." So messed with the powers of hell, and he succeeded. That explained so much about his rise to power. "So we failed."

"It failed before even I realized what you were up to." Eggman mocked as he pointed hard at his goggled eyes, taking a second to readjust his finger when it drifted off-center. "Ev-ery-where. Subconscious omnipotence's kind of annoying, but beggars can't be choosers, especially in my current state." Grinning, he leered at the 2nd corpse, which was filled with malevolent crimson energy. "I'm sure you know what I'm about to do, correct? Oh who am I kidding, of course you do!"

Suddenly Gibril's body was enveloped in a crimson light. "Call me nostalgic for the old days, but I figured I'd go with my old design aesthetics, just one last time!" Her limbs elongated, the flesh on her hands and feet molding like dough to form paws and sharp, crimson claws. Dark red fur shot out of the light, multiplying like mutated fungus until it covered her body as her eyes peered out of the crimson glow and elongated, her pupils dilating until they covered the entirety of her eyeball in blood red.

Suddenly the light faded, and Nori was staring at some giant mecha werewolf that looked like it was designed by looking like something made by Fujiko Fujio that someone decided was too cute, and tried to make it 'cool'. Sharp, jagged teeth, too jagged to accurately bite anything, filled up her massive, cartoonish snout. Her nose was a large crystal shaped like Eggman's face, with a holographic mustache. She was dressed like a dark parody of Little Red Riding Hood, the bonnet and dress replaced with crimson checkered armor, and the skirt an iron couldn't even see her legs, and this thing looked incredibly unwieldy, but she knew enough about Eggman and the things of his world to know impracticality did nothing to hinder lethality.

"Ah, there we go! Had to make sure she was dead before I did anything. You can never be too sure with Zonda's lackeys. Anyhoo, say goodbye to Gibril, and hello to…..eh, I'll figure it out." Man, it's been how many centuries since he made a Badnik?! He was pretty sure that this is how he used to- eh,whatever. With a snap of his fingers, the contorted woman's body changed again.

And it took everything the maid had to stand up as a damnable, holy force emanated from Gibril's mutated body. "Oh, so it still works on you, eh?" Nori grimaced as she regained her faculties. "Gotta love those good old Christain values!" Eggman mocked with a laugh. "Loving your fellow man, give to the poor, it's amazing that there was still so much left to harvest in this miserable dimension!" Oooh, she was looking pretty dizzy there! "Hey, mutt. See the maid?" The wolf robot focused it's googly eyes on the demon turned maid as angel wings sprouted from its back. "Lunch."


Back in his throne room, Eggman watched himself contort and distort the former human, lettingout a soft hum of contentment at how well things were going. He gave the formerly mighty G7 the same enlightenment they forced upon him, thinking he'd get two more weapons out of the deal, but they couldn't take the strain sadly enough. That and they wouldn't shut up. He couldn't handle the crystal boy's rhyming, and the girl reminded him of a foul mouth version of that blue creature that used to bother him so long ago.

Oh well, at least he had his three aces in the hole. With just a thought, the many screens around him focused on different parts of America. The sun was beginning to rise over there as the people slowly began to realize that something was wrong, and the social media feeds marked as spam or for deletion showed that once again, the superpowered prepubescents were the only ones who knew about his ascension.

Some reacted with confusion and terror at the red light that was slowly enveloping the western hemisphere, while others happily accepted the sign of their new ruler blessing them with his presence, taking to social media like religious fanatics who just had to get their next fix of frsh converts. And once the western hemisphere was covered, Japan was next. If he was his younger, human self, and saw what he was doing, why, he was sure he'd either try to stop it with what little morals were left in that overweight body of his, and when the futility of the situation hit him, kill himself for the greater good.

"Pffft!" He wished his younger self was that selfless. "Just a few more hours to go, my little blue marble." This was how it should have been during his first conquest of Southwest Isl…South…whatever the name of that forest was. No fblue half naked animal in sneakers and his mutant friends to drive him mad! The Seven Chaos Emeralds in his hand. No, heroes, no hope. Just a bunch of children messing with powers they couldn't hope to comprehend, crushed underneath his boot! All that was left was to retrieve the Muse, dead or alive.

And by now, she will have learned to love the Eggman Empire.


20:00

Eggman Academy #2345, Tokyo

Education Room 23

Another productive day of school, in which Mytyl paid little attention and got perfect marks. And now it was two hours to midnight, which meant it was time to pack it up and wait for Mom downstairs. It was the day of the Eggscension after all. She closed down her terminal, taking pride in the Eggman Empire logo as the holo-screen blipped out of existence. She smiled warmly, looking towards the moon.

Ah yes, the moon. It looked positively Eggish as she stared out the window of her classroom, his yolkishness' gorgeously wide smile, that perfect stache, and those-

SCHWIP

"...What the hell happened to the moon?!" Scratch that, what happened to the sky?! Why was it crimson?! Why did the moon have Eggman's face?!

SCHWIP

"Oh dear." The beautiful crimson glow of the Egg Moon was just the pick-me-up she needed after such a boring day. With a smile, she turned to her classmates, all of them staring in adulation at the sky. Chiaki's souffle, made in the shape of Eggman's wondrous form, was a highlight, a perfect tribute to the man who graced their world with his magnificent presence!

SCHWIP

Mytyl paused. 'What was I just doing?' Wasn't she just staring at Eggman's new vanity project in the sky? And when did Chiaki's Boubflee turn into that?! That was all Mytyl needed to realize that she needed to get out of here.

Mytyl quickly walked out of her class and didn't look back. This had been a very confusing few seconds for the young adult, and now she just wanted to get home. 'These are just some holographic generators.' Or some Septima in place to really screw with everyone's perceptions. That's why the sky and moon looked so weird! And Chiaki's statue? Eggman -probably- had man boobs so…maybe….? "Yeah, that's right. That explains why there was this tint! It was slowly overtaking every aspect of color, as if someone opened up Eggdobe Photoshop and used the Colorize Tool. 'Just go home Mytyl.' She said to herself, ignoring the rising dread as she forced herself to continue walking. 'It'll all be over soon, just let him get it out of his system!'

SCHWIP

Like an overexcited fangirl, Mytyl skipped merrily through the crimson halls as the crimson light of the crimson moon shone through the windows of Sakurazaki Academy. "Shooty shooty bang bang, shooty shooty bang bang!" She sang, getting into the elevator as she happily greeted the students passing her by.

SCHWIP

She stopped mid-skip; something wasn't right. She opened the elevator doors and exited out of the hallway. 'What's wrong with this picture?' Nothing actually. In fact, she didn't even know why she felt anything was off. The crimson hue that tinted the very world around her was a beautiful crimson, as always, her fellow humans subsumed by Eggman's power, the unworthy cretins not fit to stand by his side! She smirked at their fate, doomed to endless servitude for his glorious mission like the primitive scum that they were. And best of all there was not a single Adept amongst these people, barely fit to stand in the mighty utopia Eggman was creating.

Her charm let out an indignant glow of pure blue rage, but the crimson hue muffled it.

"Worthless Primitives." She went back inside, and the elevator door closed.

SCHWIP!

And that's when Mytyl nearly fell to the ground, sick to her stomach. "What just happened?!" She felt like she just did something really crappy! This wasn't the normal stomach pains she used to get; this felt like…"Guilt?" That's the best way she could even describe what was happening to her! She felt an intense wave of self loathing as if something was forced into her, feelings that were hers, and yet weren't, as if she saw herself as someone better than everyone else, a god-, no, not a god. She wasn't so presumptuous to think of herself as a deity, despite what her followers proclaimed. No, oracle suits her just fine.

SCHWIP!

"Ughhh.." She regained her wits and groaned when she saw her surroundings. "DAMN IT EGGMAN!" This had to be that stupid Eggdo- no, Photoshop tint, she refused that ridiculous naming scheme! "At least mom's gonna be happy." Suing the pants off of him would probably put her in a good mood, maybe even enough to give her something cool, like a battle pod! She smiled as she hugged the wall opposite the door, lost in her 'own' thoughts. Yeaaaahhh, that'd be awesome. But not then, she'd have to accessorize first! Like, maybe a kickass white suit that'll let her bounce around like one of those bouncy balls, bowling through chumps like a rampaging salaryman pissed off at their boss, and then bam! Kickass battle pod!

"Ooooooh.." Mytyl liked what her brain was cooking up! So much so that she didn't feel the heat her charm was making! Yeah, a little battle pod, and then it could turn into a cute girl! Or a guy! Yeah a guy sounds good. A nice, light tan to their skin, can't be too pale. Shining, lustrous pink hair that shone like crystal, all wrapped up in a black and grey suit like what Sumeragi's Adept's used to wear!

She drooled, a smile and blush coming onto her face. He'd be a loud, bombastic, loving guy, shouting his declarations of how much he'd love her! And then with that crystal codpiece on his- "Huh?" She paused, wiping the drool from her face. "What the heck was I just thinking about?" Whatever it was, it wasn't a bad fantasy. Every japanese girl had these thoughts once or twice in her life. Some nice bishounen cutie, maybe a girl too! Yeah, Russian, nice long legs, long brown hair, and a rack that-

SCHWIP!

Mytyl groaned. "Ohhhh…why am I still here?" What, did the elevator get stuck or something! A quick look at the console caused her some embarrassment; she didn't even press any of the buttons. 'Man, that moon's really screwing with me.'

Before she could do anything the elevator door opened, and a very familiar young girl walked in. The door closed behind her as she went to the console and pressed the down button, before walking up to Mytyl and stared upward into the taller girl's eyes. "Oh wow, I didn't know you went here,"Mytyl said in surprise.

"Likewise." Wow, this girl's voice was deep. She sounded 30 years older than she should! "I didn't know you went to this school, either."

"...I see…" That didn't make her feel comfortable. "Look, I was pretty zoned out today, and I'm pretty sure all this red is probably going to kill me the longer I stay in it."

"..." The girl just stared up at Mytyl. "The Crimson Rays will not harm you one iota." Which was just what he needed. 'Damn you Eggman.' How soon he forgot that underneath that ego and blubber was a near unparalleled genius. He didn't have much time left before his 'Master's' attention went back to the girl.

"Ok?" Ok seriously, what did she want? She was staring up at her like she expected something. "OH!" That's it! With a smile, she reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her good luck charm. "Was this what you wanted?" The younger girl nodded, and to Mytyl's confusion, took a step back from her. The elevator slowed. "It makes me feel like crap sometimes, but I feel as though it helps me more than it makes me sad!"

"Would you say it fills you with nostalgia?" The deep voiced girl asked as the elevator came to a stop, one of the dividers for the shaft blocking out the light of the moon.

SCHWIP!

"...Yeah?" what kind of question was that? Wait, why did the elevator stop?"OOOHHH COME ON!" Small miracle, but at least the light was gone! "Hey, could you press the emergency button? I think there's something wrong with the elevator, and tonight's the Eggscension, sooooo…." The other girl pressed it without breaking eye contact, only to get static…something that shouldn't even be possible. "...Oh crap, we're stuck here." How was she going to watch Lord Eggman now?! With pleading eyes, she turned to the other girl, getting down to her height and kneeling. "Oh please might chancellor, I beg for your forgiveness!"

If he had a mouth he'd sneer in disgust. If that parasite was in control of her body, he'd laugh at the irony. "Cease your groveling."

"But I can't help but grovel?!" He winced at those disgusting eyes looking to him in reverence. He almost felt pity for this human; she couldn't help it if the original owner of those eyes had the facial range of a fish. She continued to bow to him, his anger getting the best of him as he waited for that blasted stone to fix this! The stupid thing was probably enjoying his discomfort. "Please, use your mighty powers to fix this! Seeing His Eggnificance's stache will be the highlight of my entire life, I can't miss it!"

Ugh, this was pitiful. "Not yet." The other 'girl' said, startling Mytyl a bit. "For now, we talk, oh glorious Cyber Diva."

SCHWIP!

Oh now it wanted to intervene! He watched as fear came onto the pale girl's face for reasons she didn't understand, as she backed away, gasping in fear. "Good, so it's still active."

"C-could you check to see if the button's working?" She hugged herself, her body shaking as she began to imagine dozens of scientists looking over her barely conscious body, poking and prodding at her with barely a friend to keep her sane! Why did she feel so scared?! It was just one word, and the thought made her think she was in some horror movie! "Please?" This was the mighty chancellor, the successor chosen by the mighty Cubotius Maximus and Orbiton Roundus! Surely he could fix this elevator!

He just stared at her, in utter disbelief. 'I should have betrayed him earlier.' He realized. The Time Stone in the girl's possession was failing. It wasn't nullified, but it can't keep up with the temporal alterations forever. 'I might have to do this manually.' He already safeguarded the girl's brain from Phase 2 while she was rambling, now he might have to get near that blasted stone. "Power will return to the elevator soon, and as Chancellor, I expect you to run from this school, as far as possible." Might as well play into whatever delusions this girl had for him.

"Huh?" Mytyl wiped her tears and looked at him in confusion. "But mighty chancellor, the Eggscension is happening in the auditorium! I can't just view it at home like some peasant!"

"You will." Was his reply, his equally lightless eyes narrowing as he finalized her mental safeguards. "You are not safe here , Mytyl Kamizono, and you will not be safe ever again if you do not heed my warning." She was still reverent towards him. 'The stone needs a pick-me-up.' Some motivation to fight back. Luckily the fat fool gave him some of his energy. So he held out his palm and-

SCHWIP!

"HRK!" Mytyl's cheeks instantly filled with bile, and she immediately swallowed it down. She was now in full panic mode, both from this situation and the fact this other girl was an Adept that just tried to get into her head! 'How did she get past the school gates?!' And why on earth didn't she assume that the mouthless girl with monochrome everything wasn't one of them?! And for some reason, she still didn't think the girl was an Adept! And to top it off, this didn't even top the scariest things she ever had happen to her!

'GV! Help me GV!'

Hahahahahah #DoubleLoliMadness! Don't tell your bro I said that ok, I was just really happy about this!

Mytyl shook her head; more crap she didn't need right now! But before she could plead to be let go, the other girl cut her off. "3 minutes. That's how long before the elevator will take you to the bottom floor. If you wish to survive the night, then listen carefully to me. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes!" Mytyl squealed fearfully, her life in the hands of superpowered child.

"Good." He took a good look at her. 'Not a hint of reverence.' And the stone isn't acting up….yes, she was back to normal. "When you reach the bottom floor and exit the elevator, you will get a sensation familiar to what I just dealt to you, only instead of the sheer disgust you experienced, what you will feel will make you want to approach the source. Do not approach them, do not look them in the eyes."

"W-why would I do that?! And why should I believe anything you- GGK!" She swallowed again and shuddered as she felt the Adept's presence in her mind once more. "A-alright…continue…"

"Thank you. You will feel a longing you haven't felt in years, but you mustn't act on it. Run. run for your life and never look back. Should either of them catch you, you will endure a hell far worse than you can imagine." The whirring of machinery met their ears, indicating the power had returned. "Eggman is far more evil than you can possibly imagine."

"Yeah, no duh!" Mytyl said, offended as if she didn't know the blatantly obvious. "Lord Eggman is a necessary evil in this chaotic world of ours!"

He groaned. "You've got to be kidding." The sheer pride in the drivel she spouted would have made him vomit if he had the organs for it. "I'm just going to let you stew on this. Your brothers are going to return, and you're going to run from them, that is all.." The elevator began to move, and when Mytyl blinked, the girl was gone. "We will meet again, Mytyl Kamizono." Her disembodied voice echoed. "Far, far in the future. Until then, stay alive."

And so Mytyl was left alone, now more confused than scared as the crimson light of Eggman's city lit up the elevator. She turned around, putting her hand on the glass as she stared out at the city. The factories were producing the same amount of smog as usual, and the Egg Fleet had returned from its conquest of America. And yet something was off; she just couldn't understand why!

SCHWIP

"Wait…." Her lucky charm glowed, almost as if it was protesting what she was thinking. Since when did Eggman- wait, no, he always had a military. That was how he got rid of that traitor Nova when he grew all Kaiju! "Yeah, that makes sense…" He merged with that Q.U.I.L.L Adept with the rail gun and then they fought Eggman! Mom even bought her the Eggtastical Action Playset with the Cubot Bunker Buster and the Orbot Superbrain Kids computer! And then she…she….

SCHWIP

"Wait a minute." What was she talking about? There was an Adept with an electrical based Septima that took over Sumeragi, that was true but…buuuut! Eh, screw it, she couldn't remember; probably nothing important. She needed to get out of here and go home. She didn't know what weirdo experiment Eggman was doing with the sky, but she wanted to be nice and cozy in her room and wait it out!


20:55

Firmament, Throne Room

"No." A click of the remote. "Not this one." Another click. "Worthless." When would he ever make a playset of those worthless former toadies?! Suddenly he felt a presence enter his chamber, one he hadn't heard in a long time. "Ahh, Me-files."

"It's Mephiles, master." The demon corrected for the 45th time as he bowed to the fleshy marionette. In front of his master was a massive screen showing multiple things at once…some of which looked very similar to Kamizono's chronal induced drivel. "So Phase 1 is almost complete?"

"Uh-huh." Another click. "I'm just getting rid of anything I don't need. Butterfly effect this, split timeline that, it's like I'm deleting a bunch of apps off my phone."

"I see." And all of this without a Time Stone. Just what was his endgame? "As ordered, I prepared Mytyl Kamizono's mind for Phase 2. We won't have to worry about the guests in her head interfering with our plans."

"Ah good." Eggman chuckled. "I never thought I could get tired of having my plans go my way for so long, but I'm not bored yet! You sent the boys after her?"

"Of course; they're waiting in the lobby as we speak. Soon, the Muse will be in your hands, my master."


21:00

Eggman Academy #2345, Tokyo

Ground Floor

A minute or two later, the elevator let her out on the bottom floor and Mytyl walked out of it and down the hall. Mytyl pondered just what the hell she just went through, not noticing the slack jawed, dead eyed look of everyone around her, their goggles over their eyes, and their hair strangely absent, with shiny bald chromedomes as far as the eye can see. She was still focused on the Adept girl with the man's voice, and the warning he gave her.

'A longing I haven't felt before.' She pushed a girl with a rather bushy Eggman stache out of the way as she pondered. 'I…' With how crazy her mind got, that longing could mean damn well anything! If she felt something big for whatever she was gonna meet, she was going to run, simple as that, no thinking required!

As she walked towards the exit, down the stairs into the massive main lobby heading to the check-in station, she saw two very tall young men in armor in front of the elevator on the lower floor to the right, talking to each other. "What the…." She took a step back, her head pounding as her heart raced as their heads quickly turned to her, eyes wide. "N-no, you can't be here!"

'I'll always be here Mytyl'

'You too, oh bane of fun.'

"Rrrrrrrgghhh…" She hissed, breathing heavily from her nose as the air was caught in her throat.

'You drink your coffee black, bro? That's so grown up!'

One was a blonde with a knee length braid and blue armor, while the other rhad white hair and white armor. They were taller than she remembered, 7 feet taller for a total of 11 feet, their exposed muscles and veins pitch black. They had no eyes, only crimson visors with a white monoeye that stared her down, daring her to move.

Dark blue, segmented armor covered the blonde's entire body, with areas separated by the black muscle to allow ease of movement. Hovering next to him a massive drone in the shape of a rocket launcher sized railgun. He wore a thick, dark blue overcoat with a long tailed end shaped like Eggman's mustache, and was crackling with dark blue electricity.

The white one wore pure white armor over his black muscles, his armor coursing with dark blue liquid as what looked to be elongated spines/dreadlocks hanging down from his sides like a cape. Eight white pods with red rims, no bigger than baseballs, orbited around him as his monoeye stared at her with what she thought was longing.

The most shocking thing was how disgustingly ripped they were, and disgusting was the key word. She remembered a lecture on the 1990's American entertainment, how the Speculator Boom nearly ended the comic books industry, and seeing these two right now reminded her of one of the artists shown, who drew his characters with ridiculously muscled proportions and tiny, toeless looking feet, like the ones these two had. If they didn't have the mono-eyes they'd probably have completely white eyes and shadows over their faces and permanently gritted teeth. And the pouches, they were missing the pouches.

Mytyl knew these two boys well despite their obvious changes. She'd have to be an idiot not to recognize the feelings she had the longer she stared. After all, they were everything to her.

They were her saviors…

Asimov, I'm taking my leave of QUILL. Now, just like you did for me back when you gave me my freedom... I am going to do everything I can for her.

Her lights…

'I'll always be here Mytyl'

'I'll always protect you, Joule

Her brothers!

Her intelligence became her worst enemy again as the memories came rushing in more and more. Memories of these loving boys twisted into unrecognizability, buffed, roided out monsters! Good. A fitting fate for Sumeragi's renegade tool and the so-called 'savior of humanity'. If this was Eggman's way of avenging her death, then she had to admit, it's a good start.

SCHWIP!

"Oh my god! GV…Copen… She shook her head; this was not the time for worrying. She needed to get out of here! As Mytyl quickly began to head for the emergency exits, the two fallen men slowly -very slowly- walking towards her, she realized that the Adept's warning shouldn't have been taken for granted. She was feeling nostalgic. She wanted to embrace them, but every fiber of her being was denying her request with one simple word: don't.

She remembered her own words from just a few minutes ago: if she felt anything for them, run, simple as that. And thanks to something she couldn't begin to comprehend,she knew that if they so much as got within arm's length of her, she was finished. She wanted to go up to them, hug them, yell at them for leaving her,despite the fact that whatever these things were weren't the boys she loved anymore. And as the emergency exits suddenly locked up, she had to keep that fact in mind. 'Damn it!' The elevator! She could use the elevator!

"Don't bother." Said the blonde one, snapping his fingers. A panicked Mytyl pressed the up button on the elevator over and over until she realized that the power was shut off. "There's nowhere for you to run."

"Oh…" That's right, GV could hack machines.

"And there's nowhere for you to hide." Said the white haired one, looking deep into her empty eyes. They were nothing like the scared, innocent girl he helped raise and love, the soulless gaze of the monster that kidnapped her staring back at him. But just because she had that creature's eyes, didn't mean she was that monster. A brother always knows, and he hoped to whatever god still existed for whatever remained of that monster to get her away from the two of them. 'Mytyl…run…'

She stood there frozen, but as said before, Mytyl was a smart girl. It didn't take her long to realize how slow they were in approaching her. She was pretty sure some of the fatter guys in the other classes could walk faster than the speeds these two were going. Their monoeyes quickly darted to the right, as if they were trying to look anywhere but at her, until they focused to the right, exclusively to the right. On instinct, her head darted to the same direction, and she saw them nod their heads as the sounds of emergency exit doors unlocking rang through the empty area!

'Are…are they-" Did they want her to escape?! As they got closer and closer, their eye movements towards the exit got more and more frantic! She could hear audible groaning from the machinery that made up their bodies. She could see the shaking of their bodies, hear the groaning of their bodies and their grunts, as if they were resisting whatever was done to them! They're serious…' Oh god, this was her chance!

And as she took advantage of the lucky break, her Time Stone, glowed a faint azure color.