How he Survived

by CrystalMaiden77

My personal best case scenario for Starline surviving that kind of fall that multiple main Sonic characters like Sonic and Knuckles survived with less justification, which also shows off how I would like the comic to end the best. Also has Surge and Kit reuniting with their mothers and briefly describes how it'd be like going back to school for them, and Kit apologizing to Belle.

1. Chapter 1

The fall wasn't as far as Starline thought. After he fell, the pieces from the collapsing floor he was on fell faster than him, since they were larger and heavier than him, which caused them to catch up with him and go under him in a second, causing him to fall into the first piece of floor. He was smacked upwards and forwards into the next one, and the experience kept repeating itself all the way down hitting his front and back on them with pained grunts each time as the pieces of floor kept breaking his fall, bruising him everywhere. Each impact he suffered through was hard enough to scratch through his clothes and eventually rip them to shreds. His yellow spectacles were broken and shattered to pieces.

In a few seconds he landed a few feet down on a sloped part of a gray hill, one of the gray hills that Surge ended up climbing, and he tumbled down it hitting a lot more hard things on the way, like crates. The impacts reminded him of being punched, which took him right back to his life before college after the first two times.

When he finally landed face-first on the ground, he let himself lie there for a minute, having no motivation to get up. He had been reduced to tears before he hit the first piece, and this ended up stressful enough to make him break down sobbing. He could still hear parts of the city collapsing above him, but was too upset about his failure to focus on it instead. He had so much experience with being hurt from before college that he knew how to focus on other things than how hurt he was, when he had been in worse condition before. So without him falling into things anymore, he could think again, which he preferred to do because he knew it'd be better than just focusing on how every part of him was aching except his feet - as they were protected by his boots - and one of his hands, protected by the hypnotic glove.

The hill was still a painful way to break his fall, but it was better than how it would've been if he had fallen straight down as far as possible. Every time he had fallen into something without being outright stopped, his speed of descent had slowed down a little from the stop and change in fall direction, and it kept the fall at the speed of a few-feet one so it wouldn't get to a level that would be lethal, at least without the protection of Rings that must have helped Sonic survive a fall from space in walking condition after he first turned into a werehog.

He wondered how he survived, and wondered if he was falling through Rings for any of that fall, which could've been the case since they seemed to appear everywhere they were needed for anyone Eggman considered an enemy, even in outer space for Super Sonic's fights when they weren't normally there. That Ring energy could've clotted his cuts to keep them from bleeding and caused the temporary acceleration of his healing process for days to come. He wondered if Rings were why he only got minor scratches, although he was never much of a bleeder even without them. What he hadn't seen yet was that it was obvious which hill and pieces of rubble he had fallen into, but it would've also clear that he didn't lose a lethal amount.

Ignoring the stinging pain that resulted, he pushed the ground until he sat up, looked at his hypnotic glove and felt rage building up against it for failing him, and didn't want to see it again when every second he saw it mocked him for his failure. So he pulled it off, the only way it could come off him as it was a tight fit on his hand, and he threw it as hard as he could to the ground. It looked the same, and he thought, " I wish that could've done some damage! If I don't go back to that base, I won't need this to protect myself from them. And I don't want anyone else to have it! I certainly can't risk Dr. Eggman fixing it and brainwashing me or something. I've got to act fast to get this out of my sight and anyone else's, because if I keep it any longer, I'd end up changing my mind about abandoning it and no longer be in the mood to handle destroying it myself. It was supposed to be one of my greatest creations! And it was bad enough SHE was getting resistant to it! How could I have made it so pathetic that someone could make himself immune to it?! "

He put the glove on a brown flat pile of rubble resembling dirt and picked up handfuls of the rubble to bury the glove, unaware that later on an automatic tank would push away the rubble and expose it. He was so angry at it that he thought, " I wish I could've focused enough to pull it off and throw it off while I was falling! Then I could've seen it be severely damaged from impacting the ground from so high. " He had been so distracted by smacking into pieces of falling floor that all he could do was focus on the pain. The only reason he didn't throw the glove in the incinerator nearby was that he didn't know it was near him and was never going to head in its direction.

He started quietly sobbing again, breathing only through short gasps with his hands over his face in shame. He thought, " He hated me for it! I didn't impress him at all! I have no chance of getting him to take me back with the same type of plan again! What am I going to do if the glove doesn't work? He'll never like me again at this rate! I'd have to completely change my approach! If I knew he'd make himself immune to my glove, I would've hid it outside of the base before curing his amnesia. Why'd I bring it to the Faceship? I had no excuse to keep wearing it with no plan to use it. I didn't use it against Sonic and Silver because I didn't want to reveal its existence to Dr. Eggman, but if I knew he already knew about it, I would've used it on them, but I bet that would've made him just as angry as what I tried to do to them instead, because it'd be too easy. There was no proper way to act with that man. "

He looked up at collapsing parts of the city and thought, " I should stay here, " and considered letting some rubble collapse on him. Then he thought, " No. He would want to see me alive again so he could kill me himself and so should Surge. She would if she was lying about being okay with everything. How could I be that lucky if I failed today? So I'll survive this, just to give him another chance to get back at me. I owe it to him after everything I put him through. " He had such emotional attachment to Eggman after a lifetime of admiring him that he still felt like he owed him that.

It hurt to try to stand, and among a pile of junk he saw a long thin metallic object that was gray on the handle and yellow for the large part on the bottom of it, which looked right at home with everything else there. He grabbed it from the mountain of scrap and pushed it against the ground to force himself to his feet, and felt humbled more at the embarrassment of having to use it as a walking stick so he wouldn't have to crawl. He hoped he wouldn't be stuck with a cane for the rest of his life, especially not from injuring himself further from walking home. He didn't know what injuries he had other than contusions and scratches, and while he had learned what broken limbs felt like like a long time ago, he was too in pain and humiliated to focus long enough on such old memories, to compare his current injuries to the old ones.

He wouldn't be surprised if an ankle or leg or two was sprained and his ribs were cracked. He hoped he didn't have broken bones because he refused to chance going to the hospital to get them set, when going out in public might get the police called on him on sight, because of all the witnesses in Winter Park.

After considering taking a long walk to Eggman's doorstep, he thought, " This is taking forever. And he wouldn't want to see me covered in bruises and scratches if he wanted to inflict as much suffering on me as possible. I wouldn't last as long. If I started out healthy and he got to inflict these injuries, that would feel more satisfying to him than getting an easy target that was already beaten up. Besides, it'd be far more tedious to walk all the way to him like this, and if I'm so upset right now, I'm probably not thinking like I would after a few hours when I've calmed down and let this all sink in, if that happens. I might be upset enough to make a rash decision that isn't like me. If Kitsunami really still cared about me and he was here, he'd tell me not to do this. So the idea of going back to him to let him get back at me has to be a rash decision when it's blatantly self-destructive. It's bad enough I'm aching and stinging almost everywhere, because I just sat there on a collapsing floor. "

Already he was made to regret letting himself fall because he ended up surviving and had to live with the injuries. He thought, " Should I have listened to Belle when she told me to get to safety? Would I have if I knew I'd survive? Escaping the city following Sonic and Belle would've been very humbling. I'd feel like I didn't belong with them for a second after everything I did against them and wouldn't deserve their help. I didn't have the motivation to start doing all of that running and keep it up no matter how tired I'd get when I didn't know what I'd feel like doing next with my life, because I can't imagine I'd ever be happy with it again. All I wanted to do was sit there, so I wouldn't have let Belle save me, even if she had the composure to try, and I can't even blame her for standing there like a deer in the headlights. It must have been the first time she ever saw anyone break down like that. "

He thought, " I bet Surge would smirk at seeing me like that, or be disgusted with me acting so pathetic. Would her old self have been that cruel? Did I make another mistake? All I know about her old self is that she was a show-off at a skateboarding ramp, and that was enough research for me to think she was like Sonic. Still, I just assumed I'd HAVE to hypnotize her to make her hate Sonic so she'd keep him distracted for so long in a fight, so I did assume she used to be nicer. It wasn't just hypnosis that changed her, it was the fact that I made her forget what she used to be like. I figured if she remembered that she'd still have respect for it, if the hypnosis wasn't just that strong that it could turn her against her old self. But she was so overconfident from the start that such a thing seemed impossible to do. I could only change someone's personality so much. But, I can do it. "

He thought sadly," Without hypnosis working, the only other way I can change someone is by giving him amnesia. Nothing I do will impress HIM naturally, if even doing something he'd like to do makes him mad. He was furious with me for trying to destroy Sonic with my own idea, so why bother? It's obvious he'd be furious again if I tried to do that, and why would I use HIS ideas of how to beat Sonic when they never worked?! Even if they did, he would still hate me for stealing his victory. What would be the point of doing something to make him like me if it won't? "

He sighed sadly and thought, " As pathetic as it is I can't stand him not liking me, so I need to change him by force to fix that, but there's only one way to do that, I probably couldn't kidnap him when he's safe in his city, and even if I send a robot to him and it destroyed Metal Sonic and carried Dr. Eggman on a flight all the way back to me, and kept him restrained to be given amnesia, well with my luck I'd never be able to make something that could defeat Metal Sonic. But even if I did, I still wouldn't be able to keep him all to myself. Because if he'd want to fix and make things for other people, he wouldn't be happy staying in the base with only me as company. What would be the point if he'd hate me for holding him prisoner? When I didn't humor him on everything he hated me for it, and if I wanted him around again regardless of how he feels about me I'd try to get hired again, even as a punching bag. I'll have to humor him, but I know what humoring an amnesiac version of him would mean. "

Starline pictured what Sonic's expression would be if he saw him helping the people of a village with Mr. Tinker, and wondered if that'd just make him feel worse no matter what it was. " It'd mean having to talk to people other than him, including Sonic's friends, and put up with their distrust, hatred and disgust and try to be polite to them, and I've already had to put up with that for a lifetime. The only positive reaction I'd get would be from Sonic, and I'd have mixed feelings about that at best. I'd always be depressed if I had to talk to those judgemental people, and feel just as depressed if he spent most of the day with them while I had to be all ALONE. Would it feel worth it? But it has to be better than how my life will be without him where I'd always be alone! I'd rather be alone and still know he'd like me to visit him any time. And even as Dr. Eggman he still put his hand on my shoulder before and nothing made me happier! "

Dr. Starline finally smiled and thought, " Would any kind of affection from him make my day enough to make me love my life? Just the possibility gets me excited for something again! I want it more than anything! " He thought unhappily, " But are a few moments of happiness in the day going to feel worth, being the new assistant to Mr. Tinker?! No one would expect me to do that, would they? Or would they just shrug it off because I wanted to work for him before? Perhaps I was never meant to be happy. But HE would tell someone, ' That's quitter talk. ' I have to get this done, even if it'll need to be finished by someone else, because at the very least I want to undo the biggest mistake of my life. I don't want that to be my legacy! After all the classes I took in engineering, I don't want that to be all they amounted to! I won't feel like doing anything in this much pain, but I need to work on something as soon as I get back, or I'll spend the rest of my life doing nothing but napping! "

So despite his exhaustion, pain and depression tempting him to lie down, he kept forcing himself to limp all the way out of the city, sneaking his way out through an exit Tails didn't know about that he was obsessive enough about researching Eggman to discover. He even had to walk through a part of a town, because seeing its landmarks would give him a sense of direction, and a straight line is the shortest route to take. He was hardly about to make a lot of turns in his condition when walking in a straight line meant less walking to do when he shouldn't have been. And he had refused to look pathetic by crawling home when he'd look like an easy target to anyone.

He was nervous any time people saw him, but to his surprise, they never reacted to him how he expected. Based on their comments, he got nothing but pity that was clearly because of his injuries. People winced at him and wondered what happened. Some of them looked at him briefly and looked away awkwardly, and a few covered their mouths in shock. When he expected people to attack him or mock him, they stared at him in concern, only not asking what happened out of fear and politeness. Everyone assumed he had been the victim of a crime. He knew he was lucky nobody was trying to hurt him or call the police on him, but he still didn't want anyone's attention.

He thought, " They can't possibly know who I am. Am I not as recognizable as I thought. Did they forget what I looked like because it's been long enough? I suppose it makes sense when it's not as if there's barely any white platypuses. It's not like there's only ten in the whole world. And my clothes were torn to threads, and my glasses and that glove are gone. Nearly everything recognizable to set me apart from other white platypuses is gone. I still have my boots, but people don't stare at boots when trying to memorize the looks of a stranger, and what wanted poster shows the person's footwear? To them I might as well be just another mugging victim. It's easier to believe than them knowingly feeling sorry for ME. They don't know I'm not going to cause people trouble anymore, and they have the perfect opportunity to overpower me and get me thrown in jail! "

He was even more wary when a car stopped a few feet in front of him making him gasp and the window rolled down, revealing a husband and wife looking concerned. They were gray wolf Mobians, and the husband, who had a brown hat, was intimidating with his size. He was less intimidated from seeing the wife there as he said to Starline, " Do you want a ride? It'll be much faster. " He asked, " Huh? Why would you do that? " as some other people on the sidewalks around him stared.

The woman said, " We couldn't stand seeing someone that hurt trying to walk to the hospital. I wouldn't even care WHO it was. Come on in. He's an Uber driver but you don't have to pay for it now. It's faster to get in here than wait for an ambulance. " Starline said nervously, " Er, I don't need to go to the hospital, I'll heal on my own. It's just bruises and cuts, and I know what broken legs are like and this isn't it. " He looked back and forth and saw people listening in.

He realized that he'd rather be alone with two strangers than stay outside and have to be seen by far more strangers, and said more quietly, " I-I need to go this way, to the city limits. I'm heading for the outskirts of town. Then there's a field there I'll need to walk through going north to get home. " He pointed at which direction he was heading in, and planned on telling them to stop the car early so he could walk to the base himself, so that no one else would discover his base.

She said, " Okay, that's King Street. " The driver said, " It's on my way anyways. " His wife said, " We won't even ask what happened to you if you don't want us to. Come on in, we don't want you hurting yourself even more walking too much, and you'd be seen as an easy target for any mugger like this. " They assumed he had been stolen from already and was still jumpy because of it, and so naturally he wouldn't want to talk about it, and they weren't familiar enough with that field to know if there was a secluded house there or not.

Starline reluctantly replied, " Alright. " His only reason for trusting them when walking had been working was that barely anyone showed such compassion to him before, so he was used to an enemy revealing himself as an enemy right away, and he hoped that it couldn't possibly be an act because nobody could put up an act that sincere-looking for Dr. Starline.

Out of pity, she got out of the car and held open the back door for him, and he nervously got into the car and put on his seat-belt, and closed the door. He was so tired and impatient to get home that he ignored how afraid he was of them. They could be planning to drive him to the police station for all he knew when he was in no condition to run.

The husband started driving again and turned the radio back on to listen to some old rock music Starline was fine with, and hoped it would make him feel like what he did was no big deal to them, that it was just a normal car ride to them and he belonged there. But Starline still felt like there was an awkward silence between them, being too used to not belonging, and he was self-conscious of how unusual it was of him to accept help from normal people like them. He spent most of his life as a loner who gave up on trusting anyone.

He tried to comfort himself by opening up to them in a safe way, pretending they were his friends instead of strangers. He admitted, " Let's just say, well, I tried to get back together with an old flame… who I used to work for, who was my inspiration in life, who I love more than anyone else ever could, for 14 years. " They assumed he had been beaten up by that person, and he briefly thought, " I'd hate if there was a camera recording this. Imagine this on the news. Well, whatever, I'd deserve that, and I'm sick of keeping this secret. "

He confessed, " But that person doesn't want me back. Everything I did to get that far was for nothing! I thought I'd always be proud of it but I can't be anymore. While I wasn't always treated right when I had the job, I still couldn't stand being fired. Not only was I stolen from but it felt even worse to be alone! I thought I had to resort to desperate measures to get that person's attention AND respect back, because if I had just knocked on his door, I'd be horribly punished, or worse, I'd be taken back to be treated even worse than I ever was. I'd feel like a prisoner there, and that's not what I wanted. I just wanted the two of us to be happy with each other. I was expected to come back groveling if anything. "

They figured he used to be in an abusive relationship and would get mad if they insulted his ex for it, and he continued, " I didn't want to embarrass myself begging for forgiveness for not just being a yes-man to everything just to be treated like a slave again. What would be the point of finally being back if I still hated it? Why bother coming back if I'm expected to just agree like a yes-man every time on the ideas and projects and never give any warnings of bad things to come, or offer any constructive criticism, even though it's only because I care? Was I expected to be an idiot and never notice anything wrong? Even in the best case scenario, even if he was always nice to me he was still handling things so poorly that I would've been bored and frustrated the whole time. But I still couldn't stand being alone and useless to the person I admired since I was 13, so I had to do something to earn respect back, and get agreed with instead of threatened from now on, to have any sort of healthy relationship with him. I mean her! So, um… "

They assumed he was lying when he said her after him, figuring that it explained why he was trying to avoid using gendered words, and they didn't mind. They assumed if he was scared enough to lie about it, he wouldn't relax and trust them from being reassured about it. Even he was surprised by how much he was talking, and he hoped nobody would figure out he was talking about Eggman and get suspicious.

They still looked concerned as he said, " So I planned this grand ' romantic gesture ' and I was planning it for months, and I waited there to be reunited with, but… well, let's just say, I failed to change any minds. I got rejected, and hurt, and fell, and smacked into a lot of hard things on the way down. But you shouldn't worry about me. " He thought, " I deserved it! " and turned towards the window and hid his eyes with his hands, humiliated at sobbing near anyone for the first time since high school. With someone who hated him, it would've still been awkward.

They felt sorry for him and assumed he had fallen out of an ex's window after trying to serenade her. But that didn't explain his choice of walking stick. They figured that he went to a junkyard to find it on the way home, but knew there wasn't any junkyard anywhere near them, and doubted that a house would be close to one, so they concluded that he'd been limping for quite a long time. He just assumed that they would've been annoyed instead if they knew it was Dr. Starline crying in their back seat.

Eventually the car stopped where he needed it to, the guy in front of the wheel said, " Okay, we're here, " he opened the car door and got out of the car, and they couldn't understand why he started walking away on his own in that condition. The man said, " Do you have a sprained ankle? You could permanently damage it. I should be carrying you. I'd be willing to drive you across the field! " The idea of getting home sooner was tempting after a long day when he was already struggling not to pass out, but he was uncomfortable and embarrassed enough from just getting a ride from them.

He shook his head, not wanting to risk them even seeing the entrance to his base over the horizon. He heard his offer, " Shouldn't I get you to a hospital? " and said, " No, I'm just bruised. I've been hurt worse before. I've had a cast on everything before. This is nothing, " and walked away. He was terrified that they might find out who he was and come back to his base with the police. He thought that bringing him to a former base of Eggman's would make anyone suspicious because those were always rumored to have dangerous robots and traps in them that hurt any homeless people trying to live there, not that it always stopped them. Some were brave enough to go in with baseball bats and trash can lids and discover how easily defeated badniks really were.

But he was so paranoid that someone would put two and two together at the fact that they were told to bring an albino platypus in red clothes with that footwear to a base of Eggman's, because he didn't look like a stereotypical homeless person. While his clothing was ripped, he thought nobody would think someone with that perm and those boots was homeless. Then he wondered if he did look homeless because a fall and tumble like that would've messed up his hair, and feeling it showed him that it did. He tried to ignore the worry that they would follow him with their car, and reasoned that they wouldn't want to risk getting caught doing that if they were already polite enough not to insult his ex-partner or him.

When he finally went into the base and turned on the light, he was so exhausted and relieved to be there that he had the urge to fall over and pass out where he stood, feeling like the blood was rushing to his head, but he was scared of not waking up and said, " No, there's something I still need to do! " So he leaned on the wall before continuing to walk.

He pulled open a drawer and got out a post-it note, piece of paper and pen, put the note on a desk, wrote an important note and post-it note in case Surge, Kit or anyone who knew them would come there, and put the post-it note on the amnesia curing machine to make sure Surge would know what it is instead of destroy it. He sat on a chair near one of the two surviving other computers of the base that hadn't been connected to any cloud server of his. Even if he hadn't had another computer, he would've written things down, and he'd have done whatever it'd take to get a new one, like send a drone out for it.

He typed out in a Word document, " Since Dr. Eggman made himself immune to being hypnotized, the only reason he would ever get along with me again is if I gave him his amnesia back. I know what he's going to be like after that, so I know it'll be hard for me to get used to, but I can't trust him like this anymore. He treated me like garbage, he handled his fights with Sonic so ineffectively and I don't want him to ever do something as dangerous as the Metal Virus situation again. At least if he was made nice, humoring him on everything wouldn't be dangerous, or risk ruining everything. So I'm going to explain how to cause amnesia, because if I can't survive long enough to achieve this, Tails or Wave could continue my work. "

He typed down any info he had on how he gave Surge and Kit amnesia, explaining that he used a safe version of the Metal Virus to upgrade them, using a computer to program specific versions of them for the two of them, and typed down how he made it come to be. He explained that a part of their brains were given a cybernetic to cause that amnesia, and typed down, " Unfortunately capturing Dr. Eggman will be much more difficult for me THIS time, when he's safe in a city to himself with aerial defenses and Metal Sonic's his bodyguard. With my luck I doubt I'd be successful in a plan as simple as sending a flying robot to him to destroy Metal Sonic and carry Dr. Eggman here. I'd need to succeed on the first try, because if its CPU was intact enough after my robot's defeat, he'd be able to find out from it where it came from! "

He took a break to access the programming of the base's cameras, and reprogrammed it to recognize Eggman as a threat and not Sonic or his friends, and by replacing an N with a Y, he reprogrammed it to merely try to trap him by setting it to the capture setting, which would cause the target to be surrounded by walls that'd rise up from the floor and reach the ceiling, while the alarm system would go off for a couple of seconds. He reprogrammed those walls to only stay up for the length of a day, and planned on adding robot hands to one of them, one that'd restrain his arm, and the other that would use a syringe with the safe Metal Virus that upgraded Surge.

He typed down, " Even if he walked into this base, he might not show up without protection. He wouldn't show up defenseless if I lured him here. Even if I just told him to come here so I could surrender to him, I doubt he'd believe it and come here defenseless because who could be that reckless? Not someone who thought to make himself immune to hypnosis. So I can't just ask him to come here or lure him here, and why would he think to come here otherwise when he has all of those other bases and an Eggmobile? So I'll need a security system that could instantly disable Metal Sonic specifically. Surge could because she's faster than any security system would be, which could just miss him if it aimed for him and damage my base over and over in the process. But she'd be fast enough to attack him specifically in a second and one shock is all it'd take to win. But then she'd go after HIM too! "

He typed down, " I could have something send an EMP out from it to disable Metal Sonic right after the capture. Sure it could cause a black-out, but it'd only cause me a minute's delay to turn the power in the base back on, and then he'd get changed as if nothing happened. But worst case scenario, he could show up in a giant mecha and smash his way in here. I'd need the mecha destroyed, and instantly, because the longer it'd be there the more likely it'd be that it'd destroy the thing that's supposed to change him. If only I could send out a massive EMP blast to disable a mecha instantly. Would that take too long to make? If I can get that done… if I still get to undo what I did to him in the end, it'll be worth a power outage in my base and damage to it. "

He typed down, " So him going to my base at all sounds risky. But I can't just send the amnesia serum TO him, can I? Even if I find out from a drone with it that he's outside of his city, I don't want the thing delivering it to get destroyed and force me to have to make more of both. It'd take a while to make a huge amount of both. Even if I automate the process. But that'd be the safest option. Is it that simple? Just send an entire army of drones after him to make him take his medicine? It'd be faster to make an army of drones taking up less metal and time to make than it'd be to make one robot better than Metal Sonic, and give it the syringe. Even if it'd be fast enough to inject Dr. Eggman on sight, I wouldn't want it damaged too much to fly him home because it'd be vulnerable injecting him. I could just send one drone to inject him and have the killer robot distract Metal Sonic, but again it'd take forever to make compared to drones, and so would any machine that'd make it automatically. "

He typed down, " If there's enough drones there they'd have Metal Sonic distracted focusing on just a few of them in one place, so even he couldn't stop one from getting through, especially if a few were programmed to hide until he'd start attacking the other ones, and go behind his back to get to Dr. Eggman. Well, it doesn't seem like THAT plan could fail. But that's no reason not to upgrade the security system of this base first. For all I know he'll be here any second, and I'd be the most prepared if I had BOTH plans ready to carry out. I'd better make the security system able to alter him first, and then I'll worry about making those drones. I don't even have to MAKE all of them, he's already got a lot of drones doing reconnaissance for him all over the place, so I'd just need to hack into them. "

He typed, " And him coming here on his own isn't outside of the realm of possibility, because he didn't see me fall, only Belle did, and even if he assumed him hurting me earlier was lethal, he'd figure out it wasn't after finding out I wasn't still there. So there's a good chance he'd think that I'm still alive and this is the first place he'd look for me to get back at me some more. Even if a camera caught me falling, he'd just have to get a pet dog to follow the scent trail I left behind and it'd lead him here. So he'd find me in hours if he decided he wanted to make me suffer some more. I've only got until the day he makes the decision and then I'm out of time to do anything to fix things. The problem is, I can't stay awake forever. "

Exhaustion was overwhelming him. Wanting to make sure he'd get things done to the bare minimum for now, he used the computer to activate the one drone the base already had and bring it to him, and reprogrammed it to go to the base he had brought Surge and Kit to, and go into retrieval mode to find two vials of safe Metal Virus to bring to the square tile right in front of the entrance to his home base and gently place down one on the floor. Then he wrote down a note saying, " Inject this to upgrade yourself to be as powerful a cyborg as Surge. It's about time I start making it up to you, sir. I'm sorry for all of the times I upset you. -Dr. Starline. " He put it on the tile, and started using his makeshift cane to walk down a hall to his bedroom.

He'd rather trust some robot hands to restrain and inject him for him because he knew there was a risk that Eggman wouldn't inject himself, because with it being Starline's base and note, he would assume the serum was poison or a side-effect just because of his difficult past history with him, and he figured that having a different name than his on the note wouldn't fool him, but at the same time he knew he was power hungry and couldn't imagine most people would turn down a chance to be as fast as Surge, so there was a good enough chance he would listen to the note and that was good enough of a plan to go to bed after doing for now. He planned on putting the note in a drawer and putting the vials in the room across the right hallway in the morning, but wanted this to be done for the night just in case this would be the last night he'd ever have from how hurt he was. A red haze blocked his vision and he tried to see past it, and he eventually made it to his room and collapsed into bed.

When he woke up late in the morning, he wished he had painkillers, and made his way to the computer to go back to typing and brainstorming. He didn't make to make a video diary with how hurt he looked. He typed, " I really wish I could just get the Warp Topaz back. All I'd have to do then is create a portal below Eggman's bed to send him here at midnight. That'd be the easiest option of all requiring nothing to be built, especially if he left it on Angel Island instead of ever taking it home for some dumb reason. Did I make a mistake by burying the hypnotic glove? Well I don't want to see it anymore and Knuckles might have an iron will regardless. He's supposed to be stubborn after all. With how unlucky I've been, it'd make sense, and just guarantee that he'd never trust me, so I couldn't reason with him after that. As if I ever could without it. Who would ever stop hating me? I did nothing to earn it so far. Even if anyone found out I used to ruffle Kitsunami's hair they'd just assume I only did it to trick him. "

He typed, " If I COULD convince Knuckles to trust me with this, I wonder if I could get him to agree by just saying, ' You can be the one using it, and I'll let you keep it afterwards. ' Why not when I don't need it after this? But why should I think it'd be that easy now? He'd punch me on sight and never stop, wouldn't he? Even if I come with a note, wouldn't he dismiss that as just a distraction before a punch and not read it? Even the possibility of one punch before he WOULD read it isn't something I want to happen. What if that one punch was lethal, even by accident? My only hope would be if he never found out I got to the island, but surely he'd hear any aircraft approaching it! Unless he's too asleep, but what if I'm so unlucky that the noise would wake him up at midnight, even from the other side of the island? "

He couldn't help but wonder what Eggman would do and then he typed down some more, while knowing that this wouldn't help his case in convincing someone that he's not a threat anymore. " And he's defeated every machine that ever threatened him, so there's no point in even trying to send one after him even to just hold him still for an hour. With my luck it'd fail to even grab and restrain him, or it would but his super strength would let him burst out of it. It could be indestructible, if that's even possible when someone with super strength is involved, and fireproof to resist his fire abilities or Thunder Arrow, but it wouldn't matter if he'd dodge its grabbing attempts every time. It'd have to be much faster than him to grab him. It'd be easy for something to hold him down if he's asleep but with my luck he'd be woken up by my aircraft, or by anything that'd approach him. "

He typed down, " I could send something there to lure him away to it. It'd be better if it stuck to constantly flying away from him, too fast for him to catch up to it while he'd think it's a threat. What robots could be like that? It makes me think of Metal Sonic and Gemerl, neither of which would help me and it'd take forever to make anything like them. With my luck if I tried to send a virus to Metal Sonic to make him help me with this, his AI would be so complex he'd be impossible to hack into without even seeing his programming or he'd turn out to have an adaptable antivirus system that'd stop it, or the drone carrying the virus would get destroyed first. Same goes for Gemerl, who'd never be convinced to help me just from politely being reasoned with. I wouldn't even get to say anything, he'd fire missiles just on sight. Well, Cream could've convinced him to never destroy anyone a while ago, so they might just be fired as a warning, but they could still kill me by accident. "

He typed, " What if Cream was there and immediately told him not to fire them at all? She's supposed to be idealistic, isn't she? She could be convinced to trust me and pressure him into humoring her. She might think she'd have to trust me because it'd be the only way to make her worst enemy nice again, because Tails would think it was too harsh to have Dr. Eggman injected with something to give him amnesia, and even if they assume I can't be trusted with the Warp Topaz after all and only pretend to humor me to the last second, I could remind them that Gemerl would be able to stop me from abusing it, so there'd be nothing to worry about. "

" But I'd still be very self-conscious about having a talk with them! I'd have to apologize right away, and explain how I failed, and admit to one of Sonic's friends that I want to undo what I did in the first place. How humiliating. What if they don't keep it a secret? And I don't want them to see me like this. But why should I let how I'm feeling stop me from doing it if it doesn't sound like it'd fail? ' No pain, no gain, ' and at this point I'm just making pathetic excuses not to do it. Even one punch by Knuckles would be worth it if it gets my boss back. I could take an aircraft in this base to their house, and drop a note on it first to fully explain myself to them from a safe distance. "

He sighed and typed down, " But right now I'm in so much pain that the idea of my doing anything outside of this base doesn't appeal to me at all! Besides, the drone army plan seems so likely to succeed that I doubt I'd have to embarrass myself talking to Sonic's friends in the first place. It's just that it'd be much faster than making a drone army if I could get this done because it'd only take the span of a few hours. I could have an aircraft fly me to Cream's house right now. But the only aircraft in this base so far is an Eggmobile! What if the mere sight of the aircraft makes Gemerl expect the worst and fire missiles at me? My only chance would be if Cream was outside too, which she could easily not be. If she's not, with his advanced robot vision and sensors Gemerl would see me before I'd see him and it'd already be too late. Besides, it hurts just to walk! "

He sighed, wondering how many days he'd have to wait to stop being constantly distracted by pain and slowed down by injuries, and typed, " I don't feel like taking the risk of doing anything outside when I'm more vulnerable than I've been in years to the point where even walking hurts. I need to focus on making a security system first. First and foremost, I need to automate the entire process of changing him. Then I could write down the basic gist of what I plan to say to him after he's given amnesia so I won't be too nervous in front of him, and get him to assume that I'm just lying, which I don't really have to be. I'd have to lie that Windmill Village was destroyed so he wouldn't go back there, and that he hit his head and that gave him amnesia. I'd hate to have to start our new friendship on lies, but I'll have to ignore the guilt from that and suck it up for the rest of my life. But on the bright side telling him I was his assistant won't be technically a lie when it USED to be true. "

He typed, " My only real concern would be him questioning why I'd insist on us moving to the Special Zone or Sol Dimension when I can't tell him the real reason why, if he went into denial about being Eggman. He'll be in denial again, and he might be upset with me if he figures out that I'd be just another person thinking that he used to be Eggman, meaning I lied to him right away because I'd be the first one to tell him he's Mr. Tinker. " He sighed and complained, " Why did it have to come to this? "

After making walls jut out from the floor in front of the base's entrance, he created robot hands with microchips to them and then attached them to the right wall, and altered it so they could retract into them from slits. He used a computer to program them to do what he wanted, and made the walls go back under the floor. He was so exhausted that he felt like putting off writing a note to Gemerl and Cream because he was so embarrassed and nervous about it, and was so depressed that he felt like there was no chance that anyone would ever help him, especially his former enemies, when the idea that he'd betray them later would be the most predictable possible one for them to come to.

Even if Gemerl did help him with all of it, he didn't trust him or any of Sonic's friends not to bring him to prison, even after he'd give Eggman his amnesia back, because trusting him with Eggman again would be asking a lot. He was worried that even if he offered to put a cybernetic in his own head to make himself unable to remember how to restore Eggman's memories anyways, they still would put him in jail for being a former villain, because " justice should be served, " especially if they'd refuse to let him do that because the idea would sound unappealing.

He didn't like thinking about how long it would take to make something that could disable a giant mecha instantly, let alone just Metal Sonic, so he decided to put it off, thinking that everyone needed a break sometimes, and made his way to the greenhouse in his base, a grassy place full of his automated machines for crop raising and food processing. He felt even more humbled as he pressed some buttons telling the machines to start making him red wine from grapes because he didn't have painkillers, and would think of asking Sonic or his friends for them as too risky and embarrassing.

Then he laid down on the grass to rest and wait for it to be done. Eventually one of the chao in the greenhouse found him. He had put a few chao from the woods there to eat any excess food because if there was no one in the base eating what was grown, there'd be too much excess food to completely burn for energy since only so much could be burned at once, and it'd pile up too much, filling the entire greenhouse with piles of rotten food… or perhaps he was just exaggerating it in his head because he was so cautious and there wouldn't be that much wasted food.

He noticed a soft object poke his arm when he was napping and groaned in pain. Knowing it must have been one of the chao, he opened his eyes and painfully sat up to look at it saying, " Just ignore me. " And when he saw how concerned the blue Neutral chao looked, he pet it as a reward, smiled sadly and said, " Thanks, Kitsu- I mean… " He stared off in the distance unhappily at what his slip-up meant, as the chao obliviously smiled at his hand staying on its head. " Oh, no… " he said unhappily.

Then he made the excuse, " I just called you that because you're blue and, I did this with him so much. Force of habit. I never even wanted to name these chao… " Of course, since chao are smart enough to do things like learn how to play the flute, they possess human intelligence at most, so this chao understood every word he was saying, although the average chao would be confused by big words because they weren't educated like people.

Starline said, " You're not going to leave me alone, are you? " He shook his head, and he replied, " Fine. After all you're my only option for comfort. It's not like Kitsunami would be this welcoming if he saw me again. Even if he WAS okay with how I made him, he'd just call me out on not coming home and making him think I died. Of course he'd think that was betraying him after he got used to having me around to cook for him, although I did teach him how, and they'd have every right to think I should've gone to them to get their memories back first, and they'd take it too personally that I didn't do that… because I was too afraid of them. What an embarrassing excuse. I can't tell Surge that! But, if I didn't, their only other assumption would be that I never cared about them. "

He said, " I could reason with Kitsunami but Surge, with her temper, would be furious with me and tell him to help her get back at me, and I can't imagine he'd go anywhere without her. I just can't trust them not to want to get back at me the second they'd see me. But he could come here alone, he could be trying to find me without Surge because she'd get impatient with him for failing. Then it might be nice to see him again. Not that I miss him! Oh, how lonely am I, talking to a chao and caring what it thinks of me? I talk too much. " He sighed as the fermenting machine told him it was done, because he never wanted to be one of those people that'd use it.

In the park of Central City, Vector mentioned to Kit that he not only knew about the Starline they were looking for but had been in one of Starline's bases before, Kit exclaimed, " He's got more than one base? " Surge insisted, " So? There's no point in looking for him! " Kit nervously told her, " Uh, yeah. You don't have to be interested in looking for him, but, I am. A-After all you really wanna get back at him! You should go back to the base to have dinner. I'll meet you there later. I-I just wanna know where he is and what his base looks like. It's not like I miss him! "

She gave him a confused look for wanting to search for Starline so badly and left, lucky for him. Kit sighed in relief that his plan actually worked and she had such an aversion to Starline that she didn't decide to stay with him. Then he turned around and pleaded with Vector,

" Please lead me there! I've gotta see if he made it there! Sonic said Surge fell to her death too and if she turned out to be fine, there might still be hope that he did, too, but he just didn't come back to the base. So I'm really curious to see if he's there or not. I could reward you later on for helping me! Starline taught me how to cook! " Vector replied, " He DID?! I mean, don't worry, I'll take you there. I want to find out if he's there, too, and what's the harm in letting you come along? I'm just surprised that you care about Starline at all. "

Kit explained as he followed Vector, " He treated me perfectly fine most of the time. He didn't threaten me and yell at me like Surge did. It was better to have someone around in my life that I wasn't constantly being scared by and now it's just me and Surge, and she's electrocuted me before! But Starline never treated me that badly. After all the time I've spent with him, when the only people I knew were him and Surge, I don't want him to disappear from my life all of a sudden! He's probably hurt at least but just won't go to the hospital because he doesn't want to be seen in public. I've gotta go see him again before it's too late. I'd rather check to see if he's still alive than keep stressing out about whether he is or not from now on. And I want to know why he left us instead of going home to us. At the very least it'd be interesting to see what his other base is like. "

Kit explained nervously, " But I don't want Surge with him when I find him, and we can't have her find out he's alive, because she wouldn't keep him that way. " Vector said, " I'll give you my address. " He handed him a card with his address on it and said, " If you wait until she's asleep, we'll be able to meet up and go there no problem. The more time you stay here, the more likely it'll be that she's gonna go find you. "

When Surge was asleep, he flew over there as fast as he could and was relieved when he finally got to the base with him. They were surprised that the hidden door to it under the bush was unlocked, and when they went down the staircase into it and turned on the light to the first room, they immediately saw a machine and were shocked at seeing a piece of paper on it, and a post-it note on it saying, " Amnesia-Curing Machine, " and instructions on how to use it on yourself.

Kit read the letter out loud in confusion, " It doesn't bring back the memories instantly. You would have to look at something familiar enough from your old life to trigger an important enough memory first, so you'll have to go back to your families to see something like that. You must have been reported missing by now. So here's where you have to go. It's your only option to find out where you used to live. "

Vector recognized the address of the city police station on the note, and Kit read it out loud, " Whoever's working behind the desk, tell him you're one of the people who went missing and he'll recognize you from the photos, and call your parents, who would show you your photo album to restore your memories. I know Surge would be impatient from waiting there so you'd better bring something to entertain her first. I doubt a crossword puzzle would be good enough. It could be a book from here? I wouldn't know because I don't know what books she'd like. I don't even know what her real name was. "

Vector said in confusion, " Why is he doing this for you? How is this supposed to benefit him? He could just give you chocolate bars if he wanted to make you like him. " Kit said, " It says here, ' You don't have to work for me anymore, so I have no reason to keep you two with amnesia. It'll be a waste of time trying to find me here. The person who put you through all of that training is gone. The last time I used this machine I tried for hours to get him to act like he got his memories back, so I'm hoping that I didn't actually need to and just didn't think it worked because he didn't see something familiar enough right away, because when he did, he returned to normal. Hopefully just a quick button press will be good enough. But if you don't get the memories back from looking through an entire photo album with your parents, then all I could suggest is, use the machine for hours, and I doubt Surge has the patience to deal with that without destroying it. Then you'd need to send the blueprints to Tails, or, Wave. "

He read, " You don't have to take orders from me anymore even if you do find me, because I've given up. That plan took a long time to carry out and I had too much invested in it working out, so I don't feel like trying to carry out another one that's just going to fail anyways. Why bother? If I had the Warp Topaz I could at least have some hope for the future but I'll never get it back, and I threw off the Tricore glove because it failed me. I never want to see it again. Go ahead and destroy it for all I care. ' What's going on with him?! Where is he?! "

Both of them assumed his unusual behavior was because he couldn't handle the fact that his plan had failed and the letter made Kit even more worried and determined to find him. He quickly flew around the base, looked in his empty bedroom and the kitchen with no dishes in the sink. Every room in the base other than the first one they went in had the lights off. And then he flew over to the washroom, where he saw the shocking sight of an unconscious Starline wearing a red bathrobe lying on his side in front of the door. There were small dark red scratches all over him with bruises hidden under the fur everywhere, three empty purple bottles on the floor with pictures of grapes on the labels on either side of him, he had two black eyes, and didn't have the hypno glove on.

Instantly worrying that he was too late, he called out, " Starline?! " to no reaction and knelt down to the floor, lifted his limp wrist and was relieved to find a pulse after all, brave enough to do so without asking because he hadn't responded to his name. Vector quickly caught up to him and saw him push him and his arm to the left to roll him over to the side so that he could be lifted from underneath. He used his free hand to make sure his head rested in his shoulder. Before Vector could offer to carry him, Kit had already lifted him into his arms from beneath the knees and back and held him like he once did with Surge, proving to be stronger than he looked.

He flew back to that bedroom to put him in bed in seconds. He immediately flew back to the washroom and said, " I hope there's a First Aid kit in here! I bet one of those cuts was infected, " opened the cabinet and grabbed the kit and returned to his bedside. Kit turned on the bedroom light and sat beside Starline, and Vector caught up with him again. With some reluctance of course, Kit loosened the red belt from the strap on his bathrobe and moved the top part of it to check on the injuries on his chest, and saw that below the white fur he was covered with cuts and bruises.

He pulled up Starline's sleeves, poured some hydrogen peroxide onto a cotton ball and held it against the infected cut on his forehead and repeated the process on the cuts on his chest for the first of many times, thinking that he was looking more vulnerable than ever. He thought as he took care of him, " He'd never want me to see him like this. And this would really hurt, so I'm glad he's passed out. But how long will that last? Am I gonna have to spend all night in this place? " He asked as he poured more disinfectant, " Why was the kit still in there?! How could you not disinfect them?! " while already suspecting why he didn't.

Vector stared at the contents of the room curiously. There was an open empty garbage can next to the bed with a gray garbage bag over it, and there was a paper towel on the part of the bed next to it, and a box full of thin purple bottles on the nightstand with a lamp next to the bed, along with some empty ones covering the floor, making him concerned about how he didn't feel like cleaning up the undignified mess. He remembered that he already saw a box like that in the bathroom. He also noticed a yellow long metallic thing on the side of his bed, the size of a cane. While he still harbored some resentment and didn't completely trust him, he couldn't help but pity him, especially after he saw how much he meant to that kid.

He said, " I'll help disinfect them to get it done faster. He should be on his side a little, in case he gets nauseous. " Kit agreed, " Good idea. You could check his back for me. " Vector pushed his head and side to the right to turn him over, so that he was facing the trash can and close to the edge of the pillow and bed. There were cuts and bruises nearly everywhere on him, including his back, head, arms and legs. Vector even had to remove his boots, and he found it concerning that the cuts still showed in his fur, because he knew he'd have to have not felt like washing it in all of that time for them to still see where the cut would be below it.

When they finished, Kit started holding onto Starline's wrist to keep track of his pulse, pulled the blankets over him, and asked Vector nervously, " Could you please leave me alone with him?... Or at least stay out of sight? It'll scare him if he sees you here and I have a lot to talk to him about. " He nodded to humor him, left the room and sat in a part of the hall where he'd be able to see them without them seeing him.

It only took a few seconds for Kit to start crying, and as he was sniffling and gasping, Starline looked like he was in pain. " N-No no, don't cry! I put you through enough as it is! " Kit was shocked at hearing that unusually sad and tired voice. They couldn't believe he said something like that, too shocked to do anything but stare. Starline winced and hissed in pain as he pushed against the bed until he had sat up to face him.

Kit started quickly wiping away his tears in embarrassment, and Starline looked nervous as he asked awkwardly, " What do you want me to do for you? It'd be hard for me to get to the kitchen, I can't even walk in a straight line. You'll need to wait a few hours for me to cook for you, but I'll start as soon as I can. Do you want a… " Then he outstretched his arms to his sides, as if he was offering him a hug, and smiled with nervous eyes because he was well aware of how surprising it was of him to do that. This was far from the only time he did that to humor Kit, and he still wasn't used to it.

Kit was so upset that he forgot how bruised his chest was and hugged him from force of habit. Despite him wincing from the pain saying quietly, " Ow, " he returned the hug, unlike Surge had, and tried to enjoy it for how soft and warm Kit was. He had one arm around his pack and put his other hand on his head to start petting it again. He ended up blurting out to Kit, " I'm sorry! I should've done this every day! But I didn't want to spoil you or get too attached! But it happened before I knew it, and it only made things harder on me. It became almost impossible to stand how Surge was treating you. And it's already hard enough to look you in the eye now, after I ruined your life for nothing! "

" Huh? Why, wait, does this REALLY hurt? " Kit said, remembering that his chest was bruised and letting go. He let go as well and said, " Yes, but it was worth it. I owed you THAT much at least. " Before Starline could try to ask who told him to go here, Kit said, " WHAT happened to you?! Sonic told me you took a huge fall and, that was it for you! Did he lie? " He admitted.

" No, I did fall, but not as far as I thought. I kept falling into a bunch of pieces of the floor that collapsed when I was on it. Then I fell down a hill made of scrap metal. I barely avoided getting crushed. Somehow I managed to walk all the way here, because… " He didn't feel like explaining what happened to him before that, or explaining the yellow long metallic thing on the side of his bed.

" Why aren't you wearing that hypnotizing glove? " Kit asked him. He exclaimed, " I threw it off! I left it there! I hope it gets struck by lightning and bursts into flames! I wanted to use it on Dr. Eggman to get him to stop taking huge risks that could put the world in danger or permanently ruin it. I never wanted to resort to it but I thought it was the only way I could get him to listen to me! I didn't know that he had made himself immune to it! If I had known this whole plan would be a waste of time, I… I never would've bothered you, and I wouldn't be here. That was my only hope after he fired me… " He stopped himself just short of telling him that he wouldn't even still be alive, because he knew he had worried him as it is.

Kit said, " I can't believe you got rid of it. It's such a relief! I won't tell Surge you're here, so you've got nothing to be afraid of. But, seriously, what HAPPENED to you? You're acting so different. I can understand being upset because you didn't beat Eggman, but why would it make you outright remorseful? "

Starline sighed, not wanting to answer, and just rambled, " It was all for nothing. I planned everything out to the last detail. I spent so much time figuring it out and carrying it all out because it meant everything to me and it still didn't work because of one thing I didn't anticipate. Like the last time I had a plan. At least there, I got most of what I wanted but I nearly got killed! But the time before that, I thought I had a good plan but it went horribly wrong, again because of something I didn't have any way of knowing. Why even bother? I had too much invested in this to feel like making another plan. I can't go through that again. Why bother trying to take over more of his bases? I don't want to see him again if he'll keep treating me like dirt! I'll never get what I wanted because he's immune to hypnosis. "

He thought, " He'll never take me back! He'd rather have me destroyed, " and said, " If I knew even Zavok had an iron will that the glove wouldn't have done much against, I should've assumed Dr. Eggman would have had an iron will too even if he didn't make himself immune. But I refused to consider that possibility. I needed to think it would work, and that's the same thing HE does with his plans. They always fall apart because of unfounded optimism. "

Kit realized that his rambling was indirectly answering his question; that the reason he became remorseful was because the sheer amount of failures he had caused his confidence to take that much of a hit that he couldn't not be ashamed of the things he put them through, when they didn't even work out well for him like he wanted. Everything he did that he had even an ounce of regret for had that regret magnified when it couldn't be justified at all anymore from being all for nothing.

Starline explained, " Even if my glove DID work, the hypnosis is only very temporary unless it's repeated for minutes or hours, which I'd prefer to have a robot do against HIM, and I figured that Surge would reunite with and interrupt me any second if I didn't hide with him well enough. So I wouldn't have felt like wasting any time. My first hypnosis would have worn off minutes later, long before I could get him to another room to make it permanent. And if he had the sense to not say anything to make it obvious to me that he was back to normal, and given me time to hypnotize him again, then he would've hit the back of my head and knocked me out on the way there. He would've finished me off for good. "

Kit knew for a fact that he would've been knocked out from that. He remembered when he was knocked out from being smacked into the floor by him. He knew from experience that if Starline had been rendered unconscious so easily by him before, he would have been knocked out by a punch to the back of the head as well. Starline said, " And even if I wasn't knocked out, or if I was but woke up fast enough and caught him off guard and hypnotized him again, and made sure to have him walk far ahead of me afterwards for safety, the ensuing walk would've been hard enough to survive, but the second you and Surge would've come back to me, I would've ended up in the same kind of danger with you, but three times worse because the glove only works on one at a time. "

Kit looked horrified at the idea that even if Surge hadn't taken that fall, and everything had worked out perfectly, he still wouldn't have liked how it ended. Starline said, " I knew you two would be opposed to HIM working with me, so I would've made her fine with it and you forget about what I did, but the second the hypnosis would wear off she would've taken swift lethal action against me and him. My only chance would be if she said something to make it obvious it wore off every time. But eventually I would've been ambushed by Dr. Eggman while I'd be distracted by Surge. It was so unlikely that my plan would've worked. I'm just, not as smart as I thought I was… So, I'm done. At least I think I'm done because there's no other plan I could make that I could delude myself into thinking would work exactly as I want it. But apparently every single judgement I've made in the past few months has been wrong! So who knows? "

Kit thought, " I never thought he'd take it so hard. It's destroyed his self-esteem, " and Vector realized the same thing. Both of them were torn between hoping it would last and feeling terrible for him. Kit thought, " On the one hand, I never want to deal with the old Starline again. But on the other… I hope he doesn't have to be depressed just to care about me. It's good that he's finally got some self-awareness, but THIS? I thought I hated him. I guess I just I hated what he did."

Kit nervously tried to comfort him with a smile, " Well, it's good to admit you made mistakes. That's the first step to learning from them and never doing them again. I'm glad you got rid of that glove. It's so much easier on me. I never liked having to carry out any of your plans anyways. So now that I'm done training, everything I didn't like about you is a thing of the past. So now I'm going to be able to move past it and forgive you. " " You don't have to do that, " he replied looking away from him sadly, as much as he recognized that he got lucky.

Kit said, " Why not? I'm just glad you're alive! Sonic telling me you were gone made me realize how much you mean to me. It forced me to realize that I'd never want you gone, no matter what you've done. He made me think Surge was gone too, and being told that you were too made it even worse, as if I thought I could've handled it if I could've at least come home to you every day, and hope you could fix her again, but he told me I couldn't and my whole world was turned upside-down. I got so used to having you around that the idea of losing you was a big shock. I know it's not smart of me after everything you've done but I can't help but care about you! You're the one who gave me this pack, and you made me heal really fast! So you'll always be one of the most important people in my life! For a while and as far as I could remember, you and Surge were my whole WORLD. So I want to keep seeing you every day, even if Surge doesn't. "

Starline was stunned, not thinking he deserved it, and said, " So you can want something she doesn't want? " " I figured it out after I convinced her not to finish you off. " Starline said, " Huh? " Kit explained nervously, " She was really mad when we found out how you made us. She told you she was fine with it, but, I told her to say that. You tried to hypnotize us and she told me to stop you, and I was under a lot of pressure to protect her and do what she said, so I had to knock you out, and when she was just about to finish you off, I told her to keep you around to go along with your plan just to see what'd happen. I don't know how she felt like taking my suggestion. I convinced her you're the plan guy and it's better to keep you around so she won't have to come up with them herself. "

He said, " You saved my life? You can actually want her to do something else and tell her to stop what she's doing? You've got more free will than I thought. It's good to know I didn't completely ruin you. Or maybe the hypnosis from the start is wearing off... But it doesn't really matter. I'm out of plans, I'm not the plan guy anymore so the second she sees me again, she'll want to kill me, and you do whatever she says, so you'll just help. "

" N-No, I won't! I'll never tell her you're still alive! She actually electrocuted me before, but if I can heal from that as fast as I did, I'll survive anything she does! " Kit tried to reassure him, hoping he wasn't right. Starline said, " I don't want you to test that!... Why did she do that to you? " " Because she got mad when she thought I crushed Sonic before she'd get a chance to defeat him. Just to get her to like me again, I had to show her that he survived and promise I would leave it up to her. At least she felt terrible for shocking me and said sorry right away, but that doesn't guarantee she won't lose her temper on me again when she's still pretty annoyed with me. I could at least distract her and buy you some time to escape. "

Starline said, " I don't want to see her hurt you. You're the first person who ever cared about me. And you wouldn't be able to stop her because she's faster than you. So what's the point of all this? She'll notice your absence if you keep visiting me. And you can't just only visit me when she's sleeping. I've been going to bed early so the morning's not an option. She would follow you here eventually. You must have seen by now that I planned for her coming here, but I always knew how unlikely it was that she wouldn't search this place after that. " " I'll tell her not to and hurry her out of here! "

Starline started staring down at the blankets in front of him with a depressed look to avoid looking him in the eye, and admitted, " For the most part you've just been interpreting a lack of abuse from me as kindness. I had to take good care of you two or Surge would've been furious, and even without that you still shouldn't waste your time worrying about me because everything that Dr. Eggman's done since the Metal Virus was my fault, because he's the one I made the amnesia-curing machine for. "

After a stunned silence, Kit said, " Why did you ever want to help him? " Starline exclaimed sadly while not looking at him, " Because he's the greatest engineer the planet's ever known! " He said in a quiet depressed voice, " I liked him before he tried to take over the world. When he first started making headlines, he wasn't trying to do anything controversial. People just thought he was an amazing inventor. Years later he started doing things people disapproved of and then everyone else could see him for the selfish nuisance he was but I was too distracted by being impressed by his inventions to care, for more than a few seconds. I wanted to know how he made them and how I could do it better. He inspired me to learn engineering in the first place. With no other role model I got obsessed with him. I didn't want to believe that the greatest engineer ever was just making mistakes and in the wrong. But even when he had ruled the world, he didn't actually do nothing but make it worse. The budget for education and the sciences had never been higher, and at least he disliked everyone equally. "

He explained, " All I could ever focus on were his positives, because it was EASIER on me, but then I spent a day with him. There's almost nothing good about that short-sighted, callous, jerk! It's a shame I had to work for him to accept it. I thought he'd treat me a lot better than he did. I thought I'd be the exception. Instead he treated me just like everybody else did. " Vector found it satisfying and smiled at hearing him call Eggman out, while Kit was stunned and confused about what he was saying because he was too ashamed to give him specifics on purpose.

He ranted, " It only took me the first mission to get disillusioned with him because he wasn't smart about how he did things. I kept trying to forgive that and hope he would change. I got yelled at for not thinking on his wavelength! He even threatened to staple my beak shut if I didn't stop warning him how badly the Metal Virus could've mutated! I shouldn't have kept forgiving him, but I couldn't bring myself to hate him. I always assumed that if I did enough for him on the first impression, he'd respect me for the rest of our lives. No, of course not. He just wanted an obedient yes-man no matter how badly things were going, not someone who'd give him advice and point out mistakes. He's too sensitive for that. He turned on me every time I tried to help him with my own ideas just because they weren't his. He called me a traitor and got completely fed up with me for trying to do something to fix his biggest mess without permission, and that was before I found out it wouldn't work, because of something I had no way of knowing. I'd hate to think he'd still send Metal Sonic after me if it DID work out! "

Starline continued, ranting while looking down away from him, " He was too lazy to even make himself immune to the Metal Virus when it could've mutated to become airborne for all we knew, like he didn't even CARE about being careful. It's just too stressful, caring about him. I would be so much better off if I didn't, but I can't help it. You can't choose how you feel about someone. As stupid as it is, I STILL care about him! I should've been grateful he fired me because it gave me freedom from his abuse, so for anyone else, it would've been a blessing, but I wasn't ready! I was too attached to him for my own good! I didn't want to think about life without him. I never would've been ready if I didn't leave him by that point. So when he threw me into that portal and, said I was fired, it, it, I was completely devastated! Nothing at the time could've made me more upset. " He thought, " It completely broke my heart! " but was too embarrassed to say it.

Looking him in the eyes again for the first sentence, he explained, " This is what can happen if you're too devoted to someone cruel, who isn't worth it no matter what good you find in him. I didn't get along with him, I noticed that as soon as I could, but it couldn't keep me from always being aware that he was gone and wanting him back. It was to the point where I was shocked when I got told I didn't need him. I know he's a reckless careless verbally abusive madman and it's pathetic to have any kind of admiration for him, but I was blinded by it for 14 years. I couldn't get myself to stop missing him. I just wanted to be back with him. When you're too full of emotion you can't be convinced by reason. I went through ALL of that trouble recently just to get him in front of me with no defenses and I still couldn't change him. Just when I thought I had him figured out, he chose THAT point to have a brain! That's why I can't do this anymore! "

Getting more worked up than depressed, he complained, " I thought he was a complete idiot! He made himself immune to ONE thing that would subvert his free will but not the Metal Virus, which would destroy it completely, even though it was contagious and almost everyone got it! How can I both anticipate him being prepared for anything, and know that he doesn't care about being careful? "

Kit replied, " That does sound frustrating, " and nodded. " He'll change the password for his bases on me but he'd never do something easy that would've had any one of his enemies destroyed years ago. Sometimes I just want to turn this off because I know I shouldn't miss him and he'll never miss me. I just wanted us to be happy. Perhaps that's ALL I really wanted. But I'm never going to get over him. I need to ignore him from now on so that I won't get rejected again, but I don't want to imagine the rest of my life being like that. " His voice started breaking as he said, " He's who I lived for! I would've done almost anything for him! I'm so sorry I made you like that for Surge! I hope you're not in love with her. "

" I'm not! She's like a big sister to me, you know that! " Kit said in confusion. He and Vector wondered why he said that, and Kit asked to change the subject, " Uh, what was Eggman like when he had amnesia? "

There was an awkward silence as he looked ashamed and Kit said, " As someone who has it, I can't help but be curious… What, did he forget how to engineer things? You always liked that about him, so that would be a dealbreaker. "

He sighed and said, " No, he could still do that. He wasn't making big grand inventions like mechas anymore, but, that wasn't really a problem because they were always wasted on him. He just wanted the challenge of fighting a fast-moving person with something that barely moves at all just so he could prove he could win like that, because of his ego, even though it was the least likely plan to work. He was fixing things for a village, okay? He was making things for people. " Kit said casually, " Sounds better than how he is now. Why don't you do that? "

Starline was stunned at first, and said, " I haven't been comfortable around people since I was 12, and no one would let me help if they knew who I was. There's a reason that the last time I went out in public, I was wearing a cloak. Some people would recognize me from Winter Park. I don't recall anyone taking pictures or making videos of me because I was too focused on defending myself. Although other than that I just stayed out of sight, on the Faceship or in a base. But even then there's one warden who'd remember me and must have pressed charges for causing a prison break for some people I don't even like. I'd have to be in a disguise, and I still wouldn't feel comfortable, and people would just question it. "

Kit said in confusion, " People must have recognized Eggman and that didn't stop him. They must have learned to trust him if they started letting him help them out. If even HE got that treatment, so would you. I get why you'd be too nervous about being recognized to wanna go out in public, but, you'll get really lonely if you just stay here. Was he not happy, because people still hated him, so you were trying to do him a favor? "

Starline said, " I wish, I don't think so. I was never given the impression that he was anything but cheerful there. I don't know where he got all that optimism, when it would've been obvious everyone was afraid of him at first. Besides, it's not like he could ever fully make up for everything he did, just by helping one town. Even a lifetime wouldn't be enough. How was he so friendly just because he lost his memories? It's the opposite of how he became with me. Anything negative I said to him became thought of as just nagging! I wish he never released the Metal Virus, it made us do nothing but fight! If I had known how it was going to go, I would've deleted the information on it when I had the chance and tried to pin it on someone else if he asked. But he'd have made it regardless. "

He complained, " And it was always obvious he was wasting his time fighting Sonic the way he was. I would've been bored by seeing that, as well. After all of those years of dreaming about getting that far, when I finally saw him fight Sonic in his Eggmobile, I noticed that I felt nothing but apathy! It's always the same and he never learns. How was I ever going to be happy with him? It's not like I was always blind to how he wasn't doing things as intelligently as possible. I knew about all the times he tried to control things beyond his control like Chaos, Dark Gaia and Shadow. I just assumed he never thought about smarter methods and ideas and he'd appreciate learning about them, because that'd be smart of him, not petty and controlling. I assumed he'd react to my help well because I wanted it to be true, just like how I wanted to think people would admire Surge and you as heroes like Sonic. But again Eggman wants to believe he'll succeed too and ignores the idea that something might go wrong. I wasn't that much better than him after all. What's the point then? I told myself I could be better than him and get him to come to me. "

Kit said, " You already ARE better than him, because you got rid of that glove! You're better because you're a better person! Eggman would never throw away a hypnotizing glove no matter how much it failed him one time. He'd never pet my head after asking if I'm alright, either. You were a lot more nice to me than you had to be! Besides you're a better engineer too. Cybernetics are a lot more impressive than yet another killer robot. Most people are better than him so it doesn't take much for that. "

After a silence, Starline said, " I don't want you to give me too much credit. I didn't only throw it away because of guilt. I was also furious with it for failing me, and every second I saw it in my peripheral vision just reminded me of that failure. I just destroyed two of his mechas for nothing. The beacon didn't stay on for very long and there's no point in trying it again. I can't even beat him at his own game! But I never wanted to. I just missed having him around. I got too attached to him for my own good! "

Starline complained, " And it just HAD to be the old him, so I had him brought to me by some thugs to get his memories back because that's what the old him would've wanted. But ' Mr. Tinker ' wouldn't have cared if he never got them back. He was just happy the way his new life was, and no wonder, because he wasn't wasting time fighting an invincible opponent and losing, or having a plan go horribly wrong. I never thought that looked like any fun, just frustrating. That's why I thought he just wanted results so it'd be over already. I just ruined his vacation. "

Kit said, " So you weren't doing him a favor, then. But why on earth didn't you give the new him a chance just in case? " Starline said, " Because that wasn't what I looked forward to for five years. I wanted to be by his side, but I also wanted to get to say I got him to be the best he could be. And then with his goals finally out of the way, we could've been happy just having fun together, from, I don't know, watching TV? Inventing stuff? I should've at least tried. It's not like I liked seeing how he acted when he didn't want my ' help, ' but I'm not a people person, so I would've been uncomfortable talking to so many strangers I didn't trust every day. He would've had to do all the talking. "

Starline reluctantly admitted, " Everyone always thinks I look strange and gives me weird looks because, I've never been masculine enough for them, so they're always cold to me, and THERE it'd be even worse because they'd notice my respect for him and be weirded out. So I can't trust someone and like them from the first time I see them. It takes a while for me to warm up to most people. My whole life, everyone was forcing masculinity down my throat and insulting me for not conforming to it until I couldn't care about trying to please them anymore. " Kit said, " I remember you told me that's why you have that hairstyle, to stand out some more, because otherwise you'd be letting them win. "

He said, " Also, I would've thought I was doing things that were really minor, so wouldn't I have been bored? I would've if he wasn't nice to me enough. It was just one village. The real Eggman would want more. He had the kind of ambition that's needed to cause positive change on a large scale. That's what I wanted out of him, but it's a shame that it doesn't normally work out. "

He admitted, " Obviously, it was better for him to be helping one village than turning most people into mindless robots just to lose control over them. Hindsight is 20/20. I was worried that it would go wrong as soon as I saw him start, but I wanted to think he knew what he was doing when he made it! I thought he'd have one more test on it, to see how it'd progress in a person. And if he did, he would've found out he'd lose control of the zombots before he had it spread to everyone else. But he wouldn't have listened to me if I kept trying to reason with him and if I tried to force him to, he would've fired me right there! "

Kit thought, " Everyone else, huh? Did that include Surge and me? " He asked, " Why didn't you use your hypno glove to change his mind? You knew how important it was to test it fully, and I know he's immune, but HOW did you not find that out a lot earlier, if you ended up using it on him later? " There was a silence before he admitted, " Because, I… because I've been… I was too attached to him for my own good! I didn't want to have to resort to that, with HIM! He meant EVERYTHING to me! I didn't want to be with anyone else. I just hoped that I could change him, the natural way, or it wouldn't have been good enough. If he was only being the way I wanted because I hypnotized him it wouldn't have good enough because that wouldn't be the real him, EITHER. I didn't know for sure if I could handle doing that to him. "

Kit wished that he wasn't the type who could handle hypnotizing HIM, thinking that there was something wrong with him for being able to do it so often just because he wasn't Eggman, but he felt so sorry for him with all those scratches and his refreshing honesty that he couldn't stay mad at him. Starline said, " Eventually, after he… rejected me, after everything I did for him, and had me thrown away like a used tissue paper, I did everything I could think of to try to get him to come back to me with respect and all it did was make him mad, so I knew it was hopeless to try to talk sense into him. It would've been a shame to have him around while knowing that he was only hypnotized. I knew I had to settle for hypnosis to live with him, but even that doesn't work! There's only one other way I can change a person and I don't know for sure if I'd like working for him if he's changed that way. "

Kit said, " Well you gave me and Surge amnesia, and even changed what we're like, so why not do that to Dr. Eggman? " Starline said, " That's the last idea I've got left. But I care about him so much, I don't want to be the one who did that to him. I programmed the security system of the base to try to inject him with something that would so I wouldn't have to, but that still counts. I didn't want to overwrite his existing personality to make him always like me if I didn't have to. It'd mean nothing if it didn't come naturally. But he should get given amnesia, he never should've lost it in the first place. But how am I supposed to get him here? "

Kit said, " Too bad you can't send Surge to him to drag him to you. She could beat him in a fight easily before he could try to stop her, and I know you wouldn't want her to beat him up but THAT'S the only way, at this point. " Starline said, " He's too heavy for her to drag all the way to me. If only she had the superhuman strength to carry him. " " Or a way to teleport him to wherever you want. " Kit said.

" It's a shame the Warp Topaz's on a floating island now. There's no way to get to it. You can't fly that far without running out of water, you don't have a biplane, we couldn't get into Tails' garage, and even if you got there, like by somehow getting Tails' permission, the guardian of that place would go ballistic on anyone who came there, especially me. " Starline said.

Kit said, " Wouldn't the guardian WANT Eggman to lose his memories and become nice? It should be easy to convince him if he just got a note from above explaining everything. " " I know but he'd never trust me in a million years. He'd try to stop me. He'd try to hurt me. " Kit said, " I could talk to him. " " And I don't even want to have to erase his memories in the first place! He wouldn't be the real him anymore. Doing that to him permanently would be barely any different than outright killing him and replacing him with someone else to be with him instead because the Dr. Eggman people know would've ceased to exist. It'd already be bad enough knowing I hypnotized him. So I'd feel like I was just settling. I'll never be able to achieve that dream I had for years if he didn't KEEP liking me and take my advice every time and appreciate me thinking for myself. THAT'S what I always dreamed of, that he'd actually be like that on his own! "

Kit explained, " He's never been the person you thought he was, then. You were looking forward to being with a person who never existed. You never wanted to be with the real him in the first place, not if the real him does nothing but disappoint you. You wanted another version of him that you've looked forward to for years, and you've gotta make him real yourself. You won't be satisfied unless it's Eggman himself who gets made that way because at least he'll have the same body as that guy you admired, which is better than him just being a robot who'd look just like him, which you could've also settled for. "

Starline sighed sadly. He knew he was right, but he wondered if it'd feel like he really accomplished what he wanted if he had to resort to that just to get him as his friend. Kit said, " You've got to make him a nice guy. That's the only type of person who'd be as nice to you as you expected, especially if he'd learn about your past. An overconfident and reckless and callous person like Eggman would never be. You could have him be Eggman without the free will to mistreat and doubt you, but that wouldn't be Eggman. You wanted someone who'd actually agree with you and want to treat you well, and that can't be someone who's arrogant, controlling and mean. You couldn't stand any of those traits, but that's all he is. A nice guy wouldn't try to do risky evil plans because it'd scare people. He wouldn't feel like making those big mechas and robot armies that got your attention. But he could still be a better engineer than anybody and he'd teach you how to make anything you brought to him if you asked. Didn't you say you wanted to learn how he made stuff from the start? Maybe that's good enough. "

Starline said, " I know. He never told me the formula for the Metal Virus. I only started getting better as an engineer after I had to be on my own again! If I gave him his amnesia back, he'd want to go outside right away and considering that he didn't believe he was Eggman when he had amnesia, he'd never believe me if I told him why he has to hide here, so I'd have to deal with him being unhappy. No other village on the planet would give him a chance after the last time and even if that's not true, I could never force myself to walk into one with him knowing how likely it'd be that it'd backfire. "

Starline said, " I don't want him to get arrested and thrown in jail for a second, so if he was going to help anyone on this planet, it'd have to be anonymously. Maybe he wouldn't be so cheerful that way, without being able to socialize with a whole village. It'd be ideal if I could send him and me to a parallel universe, like the Sol Dimension is, or the Special Zone, and just start over on a planet where nobody sees him as a villain. But how? Even the Warp Topaz can't do that. "

Starline admitted, " At least we'd have nothing to argue about that way. I'd get to have him with me with none of the problems I had with him. So it seems like that's the only solution. As soon as I'd do that to him I'd tell him we were friends and he just hit his head when I helped him escape a flood that destroyed Windmill Village. And then I'd do everything I could to make it up to him. I'd give him a happier life than he has now, so you can't say it wouldn't be for his own good. But no matter how much I'd try to justify it, how could I face him every day knowing that I only got him around because I gave him permanent amnesia? Even if I made myself forget that I gave him amnesia, I would just assume I did. It's something that should be arranged, but it'll be bittersweet for me. Or perhaps it's just that I'm just so depressed right now that I can't imagine myself becoming cheerful again. I need to get this done, but no one would ever trust me, so it won't even get off the ground. "

Starline said, " I hope he loses his memories again without me. That'd be ideal. And I'd make it permanent the next time with a cybernetic enhancement. I know it sounds harsh, but it'd be the only way to make sure. If only I went to HIM instead of having him brought to me! I'd have been over the moon with joy if he put his arm around me or helped me up! "

His voice cracked as he said, " What was I thinking?! We could've spent the rest of our lives together! " Starline hid his eyes with his hands and started sobbing quietly, and Kit put his hand on his shoulder and stroked his back, which he let him do despite being sore because he needed to. The implication wasn't lost on Vector with how he always phrased what he was saying about Eggman. Kit knew he couldn't help it and was just distracted by how much he felt sorry for him.

Starline admitted with a cracking voice at first, " Belle was right. I ruined everything. But I got what I deserved. If I really cared for him I should've just wanted him to be happy! I shouldn't have been able to bear the idea of putting him through what I did. I thought I was being devoted to the real him for his own good, but I wasn't the type who'd do anything for him. That's the only thing he wanted, someone who'd let him risk destroying the world. I thought he'd do that from putting too much power in the Warp Topaz. If I had known his plan to have Sonic warp away the Metal Virus would've worked, I wouldn't have said I'd never let him do it. "

Starline said, " His plan had worked, and I should've expected that, because Sonic ALWAYS fixes the mess that he makes in the end, and it involved him going Super with all of the Chaos Emeralds, which he always does before doing that, but Eggman came up with that plan. He already said he wanted to put more power into the Warp Topaz to reshape the universe. After how careless he had been, I couldn't trust him anymore! "

Kit asked, " What would you say if he asked you to come back? " not wanting him to do so. After a brief silence where he looked sad, he admitted, " That we didn't get along the first time, so, as much as I miss him, I can't work for him again if he'll treat me the same way. I don't want him to be dismissive of me or tell me to shut up again. I could always make a robot him to look at, who wouldn't do any of that. Why would I enjoy the next time any more if he's never going to change? Why should I stress myself out finding out about the mistakes he'll make that'll ruin his plan down the road and seeing him be stupid when I could just live in blissful ignorance of how he's acting? I'd never be able to trust him the way he is. If you'd help Surge get her memories back and keep liking her instead of trying to reverse that, you'll be more devoted to her than I was to him. It wasn't just about devotion, I just wanted to have him all to myself. I was just selfish! " His voice broke at the last sentence.

Kit thought looking sad, " I can't believe I'm seeing this! I made, Starline, cry!... I could get anything I want out of this, but right now… all I want, is for him to stop crying! " He asked, " Do you want a hug? " Starline exclaimed, " How can you say that after all I've done?! I didn't even tell you about the time I got Rouge to kidnap Tails or the time I set off an avalanche, even if I only did it because I knew Sonic and Shadow would stop it from hurting anyone. That's the kind of thing I used to resort to if it meant getting him back! I told you all of this so you'd stop caring about me. It was sweet of you to help, and I have a whole new respect for you now. I almost never get to see what you're like without Surge around. But you really shouldn't have. You're devoted to the wrong person. Didn't you hear anything I said? I'm not worth it. I'm just a failure, a complete and utter disgrace. "

Getting a bit annoyed, Kit said, " You'd only be a disgrace if you always acted like it! If you never tried to do anything to make up for it! " He regretted sounding unusually harsh with that first sentence, but he couldn't help it because he was getting impatient with his behavior. Having gotten him to look at him in alarm, he spoke calmly, " It doesn't matter what you did in the past. All that matters is what you start doing now. Of course you'll keep feeling like a failure if you keep doing what you've been doing since you got here. You can't just drink from those bottles and nap all day or you'll just feel miserable. You can do better than that! " Starline admitted unhappily, " I know. I don't even like the taste. "

Kit said, " You've already taken a huge step in the right direction because you got rid of the hypno glove. That's something the old you would have never done. That means the world to me, and it's a very good sign! If it weren't for that, there'd be no chance that we could really be friends. You'd have used it on me and told me to leave you alone or worse. Now I can actually talk to you and you have to learn you can trust me. Now I could actually start over with you. "

Starline admitted, " Good point. It's a good thing I felt like throwing that off. I would've been too worried that you'd tell someone something I didn't want and I'd get mocked for it. I should've brought it here to destroy it, but I didn't know if I could bear to do that to my own creation. I just had to throw it off when I had the impulse and get as far away from it as I could before I'd change my mind. But the other reason I threw it off is that I didn't care about protecting myself from Surge anymore. Most of the time I used it, it was just to get her to stop threatening to hurt me. I was thinking that if I'm never going to achieve my life's goal, I shouldn't care what happens to me anymore. I had nothing left to look forward to and I can't blame her for wanting to get back at me. Now I know how much you care about me, so I promise I'm going to keep going for your sake, because I've already made you suffer enough. I'm just going to have to hope I'll never see her again. "

Kit said, " Most of the time you used that Tricore glove, I thought it was cool that you could make yourself really fast or strong or jump high, because you were great when storming Eggman's bases. You were a natural at that kind of thing! So why can't you just make that again? Why can't you just do that from now on? "

Starline said, " I'd never be able to get that amount of Cores again. And I don't feel like attacking his bases again. I only did that so I could get his attention, and I still remember looking down at one of his bases as he destroyed it just to get back at Zavok, and it made me sad to think that it had come to this. I've been acting no different than an enemy of his. And what's the point of taking over any of his bases, when he's got so many of them all over the world and might even take some of them back? "

Kit knew he was being surprisingly assertive with him, but he couldn't help himself, he knew he could get away with it, and it seemed like it was the only way he could get through to him. He groaned and said, " Okay, so you're done fighting Eggman, fine. Other people can do that without you. But you can't just do nothing but drink and sleep. That's not a life, and you're a brilliant inventor! You're meant for a little more than just that. You're gonna have to meet me half-way because while I want you to be alive, I don't want you to just make yourself miserable. I won't stop visiting you every day. The worse you feel, the more I'll think I need to check on you. I want to give you a second chance, even if she wouldn't. I didn't know that I could want something Surge didn't so much, but having some time away from her lets me actually focus on how I feel, not just on humoring her. Why can't you just try to make up for what you did? "

Starline said, " Nothing I do will ever be good enough… I told you I'm responsible for everything Eggman's doing now. Even in a lifetime, I couldn't make up for something on that scale. I'll never feel like I did, I'll never be satisfied with anything I do. " " Can't you do what you like best all day? What do you like doing best? " Kit asked, knowing the answer already.

" Engineering, " Starline said. " Then engineer all day. If you like that, why does it matter what it is? I never like seeing litter on the ground. You could make a bunch of flying robot drones to clean up litter. Better yet you could clean up the ocean where no people would be there to see them and wonder who made them. I'm sure looking at before and after pictures from that would lift your spirits. "

Starline said, " I never saw myself as the type to do something like that, but you've got a good point, I'd be a little less depressed that way. Remind me in the morning when I'm feeling better. I might not remember any of this conversation, the way I am now. You'd have to leave me a note. I doubt I'd be satisfied, but I can't imagine that anything would make me happy. "

Kit said, " It's better than doing nothing or being a couch potato. At the very least you could be helpful from the other side of a camera on a drone. You could have a drone that can make a force field around it! Maybe you could save some lives that way. This is why I don't want you in prison! It'd be a waste! You already realized you were wrong and regret what you did, so there's no chance that you'll do any of it again. So punishing you would just be pointless redundant cruelty… And, you're, well… you're the closest I have to a father. So that's what you are to me. I can't remember my real one, but that'd never change if I did. "

While he thought it was sweet, Starline looked unhappy, not from being reminded of that, but from thinking that he didn't deserve to be thought of that way. He said, " Kit, you've got to promise you'll go back to your family. It'll make it easier on me when I see you again. " Kit said, " Uh, alright. It's just that I don't know what they're like, so I don't trust them, and I don't need a biological family. It's got no appeal to me. Why should I care about my past? It was probably boring. I don't know what having a real family's like. I've already got you and Surge. " Hearing that made everyone around him sad, and Starline looked away from him ashamed of what he did to him.

Kit said, " I don't want to remember my past if it's not something I'd like. If they're nice people, I'll feel like I'm missing out by not remembering them, but if they turn out to be jerks, why would I want to deal with memories of them? At that point amnesia would've done me a favor. Any time I don't want to be with my parents, I could just fly away from them really fast anyways. I'll spend as little time at home as possible. I'd rather be with you! So I'll make a deal. I'll humor you and do THIS thing I don't want if you humor ME. Now, can we shake on it… um, sir? "

" Don't call me sir anymore. Just say Starline from now on. " Starline said quietly. Both Kit and Vector were shocked at hearing that kind of thing from him. Kit said, " Okay. Now come on, " and outstretched his hand for a handshake.

After waiting for a few seconds with no response as Starline avoided looking at him and stared straight ahead lying down, Kit said, " Oh, come on, " and he shook his hand at last. He wondered how long he could get away with still holding onto his hand.

He said, " I just don't want to get your hopes up for nothing. I'm probably never going to move on from him and I'm pretty sure I'm not a good person. I don't like people enough to be, and I won't promise you that'll change. But I'll humor you, because I actually do care about you. I told you long before this and I actually meant it, I've been growing attached to you since the first day I knew you. I don't remember ANYONE else being nice to me before, and I want to reward that… But if I ever go back to being as much of a monster as I was, you've got to promise to kill me. " Kit said, " No way! Don't talk like that. "

" Sorry, " he replied with embarrassment. Kit said to change the subject, " Do you want a hug before I go? " Starline sighed, thinking, " I'm lucky I didn't tell him my deepest secrets, and now I'm being tempted by a hug? I must have lost my mind. " He nodded, and when they hugged, he said, " Ow. "

Kit let him go, and got told, " It was still worth it. " Kit said, " I wish I didn't have to leave. " Saying that reminded him of Sonic and Tails when he was in their house upset about Surge's disappearance, and he felt guilty, and thought, " They really did care about me! And I turned on them earlier! How will I ever face them again? "

Then he asked him, " Do you need to go to the hospital? You could have internal injuries! I know you don't want to be recognized and arrested but you said that a disguise could work for you. And they have to treat you, it's their jobs. You made it HERE just fine, you could be flown back by me. I'm really fast and I'd fly so high up that no one would look at us. " " No, I'll be fine. Besides, I might get too nauseous being flown there the way I am, okay? I had a whole bottle of wine. Maybe later. " Starline said. Vector thought, " That's ALL? No wonder he's been talking so coherently. I saw a lot of bottles all over the base though. So he used to be even worse off. " Kit said, " I wish I could make YOU able to heal super fast for a little bit just to heal you up. "

Starline thought, " I don't CARE enough to make myself like that now. He won't care so much about me if he gets his memories back and snaps back to his old self. When that happened to Eggman, he didn't even remember why he was wearing that silly outfit of his. If I get Kit back to normal as much as I can, he won't insist on caring about me anymore because I won't be his whole world anymore, he'd remember he actually had a family and life before me. What if he hated me and stopped visiting me? Would I actually get too lonely? I couldn't stand that. "

Kit said, " Fine, but you've got to take care of yourself. I had to disinfect your cuts for you. " Then he remembered when Belle said he had to take care of himself, and felt even worse about how he had treated her. He thought, " She cared about me when she had no reason to, and that's how I repaid her! How can saying I'm sorry ever make up for that? Would she just be scared of me from now on? "

Starline asked, " How'd you find me? " At first he had been too distracted by the questions he was getting and how badly he felt to ask. " That crocodile guy who was here before. He told me where this place was, " Kit said nervously, and then lied, " He's not here though. " He replied, " Good, I don't want him to see me like this. That'd be embarrassing. I don't want it spread around that I said all of this, or even that I'm still alive. People would be a lot more content thinking that I'm gone. If they knew I was here they'd go after me. So you've got to keep this a secret if you want me to stay alive. "

Kit said, " I will, I promise! It means a lot to me that we had this talk, and it couldn't have been easy for you to admit all of that. It wouldn't be right to embarrass you, it'd be no way to reward you for apologizing. Now you should get some rest. " Starline closed his eyes again from being tired. He had stayed up late the last few nights trying to drink as much as possible with the only sleep he had gotten since he got home being from passing out.

Kit looked at Vector with his hands clasped together, pleading with him, and he got given a thumbs-up and a nervous smile to reassure him. While Vector did say he'd throw Eggman in a cell if he lost his memories again and Starline still had his, he wanted to humor Kit because he felt sorry for both of them and knew that he'd be devastated if an angry mob came to that place armed, and thought Kit was right that it'd be better for him to be useful than get arrested. He'd never think Charmy could be trusted with a secret, and he wouldn't think Espio would ever trust Starline or even want to keep him around, so he knew he couldn't tell either of them about this.

With Starline passed out again, Kit quietly left the room. Vector made sure to walk as quietly as he could on his way out of the base, and Kit said he'd stay behind to write a letter and wrote an encouraging note for him to see as soon as he'd wake up in the morning. He made sure he'd have an ice pack within reach right next to it.

The two of them left the base, and Vector said nervously as he flew away with him below him, " I'll keep this a secret for you, but Belle thought she saw him fall to his death! She deserves to know that she has nothing to worry about. And if he ever brings back Mr. Tinker, she should definitely be the first to know. "

Kit remembered how he treated her before and admitted sadly, " Okay, she should be let in on it eventually. I don't think it'll make up for everything I did to her, but I'm overdue to start trying. I need to start taking my own advice. I know how Starline felt thinking that nothing would ever be good enough. I might never feel better about what I've done. But I told him that shouldn't stop HIM from trying. I wouldn't know where to begin trying to do that. How do you make up for major things by doing minor things? "

Kit explained, " And I don't want Surge to force me to undo making up for things anyways, but I've got almost no control over her. I just don't want Sonic or anyone else to bother him. I don't even think he wants ME visiting him. I don't want him to be humiliated with people knowing how miserable he is. If he's harmless now, that'd be NO way to reward him. " Vector nodded, and Kit said, " I hope he doesn't HAVE to be depressed to actually have a conscience! While I never want to see the old Starline again, I don't know how much more of this I can take. I hope he'll cheer up when he gets Mr. Tinker back. "