Ivo the Genius
by Dr. Mechano
Chapter 2 – Ivo vs. Sonic
"Ah, Star Light Zone! A pinnacle of architecture and engineering! Its busy roadways, gridlocked with vehicles as far as the eye can see! Its vast skyscrapers, towering above like titans on high! Its glorious, glimmering- OOF!"
Thud! Ivo walked right into a sharply-dressed dog, who angrily yelled at him.
"Ey, pay attention, pal! I'm walkin' here!"
"Gah! Sorry, my good man... dog... fellow!"
Ivo smiled apologetically and continued making his way down the city streets, bustling with both human and animal citizens. In one hand, Ivo carried a small egg-shaped GPS that he'd designed himself, which was giving him directions to Star Light Zone's city hall. In his other hand was a hefty metal case, filled with various tools and building materials – as well as the grey Chaos Emerald that Ivo had brought along with him.
One thing that caught Ivo's eye as he navigated the city was the increased police presence since the last time he'd been here. He didn't come to Star Light Zone often – usually just to make monthly supply runs, where he'd buy scrap metal in bulk from Iron King's Hardware Emporium. The town had always been busy, but... this time something was different. There was a foreboding atmosphere as he noted cops – seemingly on every street – nervously glancing back and forth, as if looking for something... or someone.
Well, no matter. The GPS gave off a satisfying "Ding!" indicating that Ivo had arrived at city hall.
He looked the place over, whistling in awe at the sheer size of the place... and the sheer extent of the damages. He didn't know how, but man, this place got trashed. Cracked support pillars, displaced metal beams, broken windows, bent security fencing, dislodged - still-sparking - security cameras strewn across the ground... Ivo couldn't help but grin widely.
"Holy shlock!" Ivo shouted, clutching his fist excitedly, "Talk about hitting the jackpot! Fixing up this derelictdump will net me enough rings to fix up my lab, and leave me with enough extra to stock up on metal for months! Ooh hoo hoo!"
"Yeah, the place is a real mess, isn't it?"a woman's voice startled Ivo, causing him to spin around in surprise.
"Ah! S-Sara, I was just admiring your lovely home..." Ivo grinned unconvincingly.
"Heehee! Nah, give it to me straight, Doc. This place is totally trashed," Mayor Sara playfully stuck her tongue out and extended a gloved hand, which matched her bright pink jacket and a curious double-pointed hat atop her head – the shape of which almost looked like a pair of cat ears. But Sara was a human, so that wouldn't make any sense. Either way... Ivo had to admit, the mayor was pretty cute. She grinned pleasantly at him, "You sure got here fast, though!"
"...Ah ha ha! But of course!" Ivo nodded and shook Sara's hand, "Punctuality is how I've stayed in business! ...well, uh, that and... you know, actually fixing things."
"Awesome!" Sara grinned, gesturing toward the extensive damage, "Because you've got a lot to fix."
"Eesh. You're telling me! You know, this town was a lot more uneventful the last time I visited... Granted, I only stopped by briefly to pick up building supplies. Well, that and the new Champion the Fighters game."
"Oh man, whaaat?" Sara smiled excitedly, "I love that game! ...I suck at it, but it's super fun!"
"Oh, most certainly! My robots and I play it together all the time!" Ivo said, thinking fondly of his Budniks back home at Scrap Brain Zone, "...Caterkiller's surprisingly good at it, for someone with no hands."
"Nobody here's really into it," Sara shrugged. "Old Man Owl's not exactly the gaming type, so I usually stick to the single-player mode."
"Well..." Ivo said, "We could play together sometime, if you'd like."
"Yeah?" Sara grinned, watching as Ivo worked. "...Okay. It's a date then!"
"Sounds great! Ah ha ha...!" Ivo let out an awkward laugh and glanced down into his toolbox, "Anyway, what even happened out here? It looks like a blasted tornado tore through the place!"
"Well... You're not too far off," Sara said, watching as Ivo took out a drill and began reattaching some metal support beams, "The city's been hit with a crime wave recently. Gangs of troublemakers roaming the streets, stealing rings and destroying anything in their way. The police are trying to round them up, but..."
Sara hesitated. This entire situation was rather embarrassing. Could her city really not take care of a bunch of punks? What kind of mayor was she?
"...but they're just too fast for us," Sara frowned, "The best I can do now is just make sure my citizens are safe. Make sure their lives aren't disrupted any more than they already have been. I have to figure out a way to protect Star Light Zone from any more damage."
"Sounds like you've been doing your best," Ivo said, impressed with Sara's determination. Despite her seemingly carefree veneer, she really did take her responsibilities as a leader seriously.
"Heh..." Sara smiled warmly, "Glad someone thinks so. There are certainly days when I'm not sure..."
"So, do you know which gang did this?" Ivo asked, gesturing broadly to the busted building.
"Yeah. The most notorious gang in the city: the Road Rollers. Last night they went on a rampage, and really trashed the municipal complex."
"Road Rollers, huh?" Ivo asked, "What are they, a gang of ill-mannered cyclists or something?" "Not exactly," Sara said, "Their name comes from their leader's habit of curling into a ball and rolling through anything in his way. The big boss of the Road Rollers is a blue hedgehog named Sonic."
"Sonic...?" Ivo rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he continued working. He'd never heard of this guy, and yet, there was almost something familiar about his name. Something irritating.
Elsewhere in Star Light Zone...
"Mmph..." a human cop reclined in his police cruiser, munching on a box of donuts, "Pretty easygoing morning so far, at least compared to last night. 'Ey, you want a donut?"
"Focus," his partner – a pig – declined the offer, "You never know when criminals will strike. We gotta be vigilant at all times!"
Suddenly, the radio crackled to life, sending a blare of static into the cruiser.
"Attention, all units. The Star Light Zone Bank has once again been robbed. Suspect is believed to be Rocky the Seal of the Road Rollers. He is armed and dangerous, so proceed with caution!"
"One o' Sonic's underlings!" the pig snorted, flicking on the car's sirens, "C'mon, let's go get him!"
"Aww, okay! I'll finish you later, donuts!" the human cop nodded and sped off toward the bank, as many other officers in the area would soon convene there to thwart this latest robbery.
Back at City Hall...
"So, let's see..." Ivo looked methodically over a checklist, "The support beams have been refastened, the ceiling's been reinforced, security perimeter's been reinstalled... and while I was down there, I rewired your building's electrical cables for increased efficiency! ...Nothing to do with the recent damages, but your energy bills should be a lot lower now."
"...Wow," Sara said, looking over the freshly-repaired city hall. "It looks as good as new... No, it looks better than new. Dang, Ivo, you're good."
"Oh ho ho..." Ivo chuckled, stroking his mustache proudly. Recognition of his skills always put him in a jovial mood.
"Well, then, let's handle the matter of payment," Sara said, pulling out her wallet.
"Yeah. Let's," a voice belonging to neither Ivo nor Sara chuckled from behind them. They turned around quickly, and saw a blue hedgehog – flanked by a few smaller animals – staring them down.
"S-Sonic..." Sara said. She very deliberately began to reach into her pocket, hoping not to draw the hedgehog's attention.
"So that's Sonic..." Ivo said. Unconsciously, he found himself taking a fighting stance. Even though he'd never met him before, something in him knew this guy was bad news.
"Didn't you and your gang cause enough trouble here yesterday?" Sara asked dismissively.
"Heh heh..." Sonic strolled up to Sara, an overconfidence in his movements as he closed the distance between the two of them, "You know me, your mayorship. I can never have enough trouble. Especially not when I've got the chance to ransom you off for big cash. Bank robberies? Burglaries? It's all amateur hour compared to how much the president will fork over to see his precious daughter returned. Guess Flicky's good for something, tipping me off that you'd be here."
"Hmph," Flicky fluttered next to Sonic, eyeing Ivo and Sara carefully.
"Waaaait... Ivo blinked, "Your father's..."
"...the president, yeah." Sara grinned nonchalantly, "Part of the reason I got into politics myself, actually!"
"Hey!" Sonic's eyebrow twitched, "Don't ignore me when I'm tryin' to intimidate you!"
"Pfft," Sara laughed him off, pulling a radio communicator out of her pocket, "You'd better run away, before-"
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, the radio was flung from Sara's hand. Sonic had also grabbed hold of her wrist, smirking at his new hostage, "Didja really think I wouldn't prepare for that? You've got no way to call for backup, and one of my guys is distracting the cops with a bank heist. Now, you're comin' with me! Up, over, and gooo- OOF!"
Suddenly, something heavy hit Sonic, sending a jolt of pain through his head.
"B-boss!" Ricky the Squirrel called out.|
"Y-you okay?" Pocky the Rabbit asked.
Sonic dizzily glanced down, seeing a large wrench next to him. The hedgehog looked back up, only to see the handyman that Sara had hired throwing another wrench at him, which – this time – he dodged.
"Let. Her. Go." Ivo demanded.
"Snrrk!" Sonic rubbed his head and looked at Ivo in disbelief. Who did this guy think he was? "Ricky. Pocky. Show this fat dweeb what happens to people who step up to me!"
"You got it, boss!" Ricky the Squirrel and Pocky the Rabbit strode forward to confront Ivo, as Sonic – still holding onto Sara – stood by.
"Ivo, be careful!" Sara called out, "These guys are tough!"
"Yeah, Ivooo," Ricky laughed, brandishing a knife, "Us guys is tough! Nwee hee hee!Now I'm gonna make shishkabubs outta ya!"
"I said, let her go!" Ivo shouted, dodging the squirrel's blade. He curled his hand into a fist, and sent it hurtling toward Ricky's face.
"W-wait, wha-" CRONCH!
In an instant, Ricky was sent flying over the capitol's fence. Pocky the Rabbit looked on nervously.
"So the chunky chump can actually fight," Sonic sneered.
"He sure can..." Sara said, a light blush appearing on her face, before grinning down at Sonic, "Think you wanna call off this whole 'kidnapping' thing while you have the chance?"
"Pfft, as if," Sonic scoffed, before turning to Flicky, "You! Secure the mayor! Don't let her out of your sight, or yougoose is cooked, bird-brain!"
"Eep!" Flicky nodded, tightening a rope around Sara, tying her to a monumental pillar on the capitol lawn, "N-nothing personal. Sonic can just be, uh... a little insistent sometimes."
"Okay, this is embarrassing..." Sonic walked forward, clutching his forehead as Ivo was busy smacking Pocky around with a monkey-wrench, "What do I pay you losers for?!"
Smack!
"Sooooorryyyyy, boooooss!" Pocky cried out as he went soaring over Sonic's head.
"Fine, I was kinda itchin' for a fight anyway," Sonic grinned at Ivo, "So, introductions. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, leader of the Road Rollers, fastest criminal on South Island, yadda yadda yadda, you know who I am. Who are you, and why do you care what I do to the mayor?"
"My friends call me Ivo," the mechanic said, "You can call me Dr. Robotnik."
"I'll call you 'insane' for thinkin' you can take me on, tubby!" Sonic grinned.
"And as for the mayor," Ivo continued, "I couldn't live with myself if I just stood by and didn't help someone in trouble."
"Ivo..." Sara smiled.
Flicky looked at Ivo in awe as well. She had to admit – for an enemy – he was at least principled. More than her boss was, anyway.
Ivo cleared his throat, "..plus I kind of need her to pay me for all the work I just did."
"You've got guts, I'll give ya that," Sonic said, "But your lucky streak ends here. No human can keep up with Sonic the Hedgehog!"
Whoosh!
"What the...?!" Ivo looked around happhazardly. Sonic was running in circles around him. He tried to land a hit on the hedgehog, but it was no good. The blue blur was simply too fast for him to touch.
"I told you..." Sonic said, darting back and forth at insane speeds, before suddenly charging into Ivo, knocking him over, "You're too slow!"
"Gaaah...!" Ivo gasped out in pain. For a small guy, Sonic felt like a cannonball slamming into him. He tried to rise to his feet, but Sonic quickly barreled into him again, leaping away before he could strike back. "Y-you little..."
"What's the matter?" Sonic leapt back and forth, occasionally smacking into Ivo, "Can't keep up, with that egg-like physique of yours? C'mon, Eggman, I'm over here!"
"Heh..." Ivo chuckled, "I see now. You're too fast for me to hit where you are..."
"H-Huh?!" Sonic said, suddenly finding himself face to face with Ivo's oncoming fist.
"I have to hit where you're about to be!"
CRRRRACK!
Ivo's fist collided with Sonic's jaw – and at the speed Sonic was moving – it hurt. "I just needed a moment tofigure out your movement pattern."
"Ivo, you've got him!" Sara called out.
"B-boss..." Flicky looked on, uncertainly.
"Ha... ha..." Ivo panted. Seizing the opportunity, he followed his punch with another. And another, wailing on Sonic with blow after blow – knowing that if the hedgehog got back up, he could still be dangerous. "Looks like... this Eggman... is tougher to crack than you thought!"
"ENOUGH!" Sonic shouted furiously. He grabbed Ivo's fist. His bruised, battered face scowled in rage, "I'm ENDING this!"
Still clutching Ivo's arm, Sonic curled into a ball and spun around and around at high speeds, whirling Ivo around limpy along with him.
"AaaaAAAAH!" Ivo shouted, as Sonic spun him around.
With every revolution, Ivo was slammed into the ground over and over again, until abruptly, Sonic stopped – sending the man flying, slamming into his own toolbox with a loud crash.
"Eeeeughh... E-everything hurts..." Ivo groaned, staring up at the sky. His vision was blurry, and his ears were ringing. He glanced to his side, noticing that the toolbox he'd been thrown into had flung open, spilling his tools all over the ground. ...as well as something else he'd brought along with him, the Chaos Emerald.
"Weeeell... What do we have here?" Sonic strutted forward, trying to brush off his own injuries by projecting an air of confidence. He had the upper hand now, but after that stunt Ivo pulled, he wasn't going to take him quite so lightly anymore, "That rock looks pretty valuable."
"St-stop...!"
"Tsk, tsk..." Sonic grinned, placing a foot on Ivo as he picked up the Emerald, which began to glow strangely in Sonic's hand, "No can do, Doc. A ginormous gemstone like this oughta fetch a pretty penny on the black market! Between ransoming Sara and hocking this thing, we're gonna make a killing today!"
"Give that back, you fool! It's highly unstable!"Ivo lunged up, trying to snatch the Emerald back, but Sonic effortlessly yanked the Emerald out of the way, deftly dodging the human.
"Huh..." Sonic said, jogging in place suddenly, "I dunno why, but I feel great all of a sudden! Heh, I think I hit my second wind!"
"Mmph..." Ivo groaned. He had an idea of what was happening. While the Chaos Emerald never had any direct effects on him as a human, he had hypothesized that perhaps it might have side-effects on other creatures. If he was right, then Sonic was being super-charged by the gem, and he was in big trouble.
"Aw, yeah!" Sonic laughed, leaping around erratically. Occasionally, he'd land on a structure in the city hall's lawn with so much force that it broke into pieces. "It's like those wimpy punches you threw never even happened! I feel like a million rings now!"
"I just fixed all that! Ugh!" Ivo shouted – but all Sonic did was leap about, wrecking everything in his path. As before, he slammed into Ivo – but this time he landed a lot harder, causing Ivo to shout out in pain.
"Gyaaaah! H... he's... too strong now..." Ivo gasped, "But... I still... have to keep going..."
"Heh heh heh!" Sonic continued pinballing around the yard, slamming into windows, beams, fencing – getting faster and faster with each impact, "I'm too cool!"
"H-hey!" Flicky shouted as Sonic zipped past her, "Watch where you're going, boss!"
But Sonic did not watch where he was going. All he cared about right now was building up speed – about crushing Ivo. During all this, Sonic incidentally slammed into the pillar Sara was tied to. This loosened a statue atop it, and it began to teeter over – threatening to fall onto Sara herself.
"Sara...!" Ivo called out, only for Sonic to slam into him again, "Aaaagh!"
Flicky looked on in horror. This wasn't how it was supposed to go down. Yeah, she wanted the money from ransoming Sara, but she wasn't a killer.
"Come on," Flicky said, untying Sara's ropes, "Get out of here!"
"Wait, wha-" Sara asked, before Flicky shoved her out of the way. Just in time too, as immediately after that, the loud metallic clang of the statue echoed behind her, barely grazing Sara as it landed - right on the bird who'd just freed her.
"Tch! The girl's loose," Sonic scowled.
Wasting no time, Sara dove for the radio that Sonic knocked away, and turned it on, "Trouble at city hall! Sonic's here! Send all units here!"
"Meh, fine," Sonic tossed the Chaos Emerald playfully in his hand, "Looks like you're getting' away this time, Sara. I kinda wanna test-drive my new and improved strength anyway, so I'll be leavin' now. See ya soon!"
"B... boss... w-wait for... me..." Flicky called out faintly, only to see Sonic abandon her under the wreckage of the very statue he'd knocked down.
"Ivo!" Sara said, turning her attention to the statue, "Help me get this off her!"
Ivo – hurt but not too badly injured – joined Sara at the statue. Together, they lifted the heavy monument off of Flicky, and pulled the injured bird out to safety.
"You saved me..." Sara said to the bird in her arms, "Why?"
"Heh..." Flicky smiled, unable to even move a wing she was hurt so badly, "I couldn't... livewith myself... if I just stood by and didn't help someone in trouble."
Flicky's eyes closed and she drifted into unconsciousness.
"H-Hey!" Ivo shouted, "Stay with us!"
"Ivo, what's wrong with her?" Sara asked.
"This bird's hurt really badly, but..." Ivo took her from Sara, "I think I can save her if I get her back to my lab."
He paused for a moment. This wasn't good. He needed to go after Sonic and retrieve the Chaos Emerald. There was no telling what damage the hedgehog could do with that kind of power. And yet... one of Sonic's own minions risked her life to save Sara. He could tell this bird – criminal or not – had a good heart, and knew he had to do everything he could to save her.
"Sara, bunker down for now until the cops get here," Ivo said, carefully cradling the unconscious Flicky in his arms, "I'm going to rush back to Scrap Brain Zone, pronto!"
"Okay," Sara nodded, waving Ivo off, "Thanks for everything, Ivo! And good luck!"
That gaming date with Sara would have to wait until another day, Ivo thought.
