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.

3. Chapter 3

After Kitsunami left Starline's base and told his mother he was going to another friend's house, he used some of his allowance from her to buy a red flower from the supermarket, and rushed to Sonic and Tails' house to get it over with. He stopped flying in front of the closed door to the workshop and started trembling as he forced himself to knock on it. At first nothing happened and he started to get cold feet, and considered waiting in their backyard to get his courage back.

Then he heard the faint sound of footsteps behind the door and Belle opened it. She was startled at first, but her scared reaction relaxed into a confused one in a split second when she saw the flower in front of her eyes. Kit exclaimed, " I'm SO sorry about earlier! I never want that to happen again! And I don't want to be enemies with any of you, that was just Surge's thing! Can I come in and talk? I-I need help… " She smiled nervously saying, " It's okay, it's okay. That's such a beautiful flower… " She thought, " I guess that's the only time I'll get one, so I'd better appreciate it. "

Kit said, " I didn't know what to get you and girls like flowers, so that's why I bought this, " as he started to wonder if what he was doing would be misinterpreted. " Well, thanks! That was awfully sweet of you. I'll put in a vase of water, and then we can talk. Come on in, " she said, filling him with relief from her cheerful tone. She was still a bit scared of him, but wanted to humor him to encourage his better behavior, and still felt sorry for him.

Kit followed him into the house and explained while she headed for the kitchen, " Surge and I got our families back, and she has her memories back by now, too. " She exclaimed, " That's great! How'd that happen? " being so happy that she couldn't help but state the obvious, and he explained how it got to that point after she filled the vase with water and put the rose in it. He left out the part about seeing Starline again. "

Belle said, " That's good news. But, you didn't say you used the machine on yourself too. " Making her concerned, Kit explained, " I don't see why I NEED to. Especially if it's going to change who I am. My mom said I used to be cheerful, so that'd be an improvement, but if going back to my old self could mean undoing the effects of the brainwashing, I wouldn't be devoted to my best friend anymore and she'd get mad at me, and I'd rather be considerate being devoted to helping someone else than be selfish. I wasn't told I was outright selfish, but compared to how I am now, I was. "

Belle said, " Wouldn't your mother want you to remember her again? " He replied, " Yeah, she does. She really wants me to remember everything again. She keeps coming up with ways to try to bribe me into going to get cured. She doesn't have the heart to try to punish me right now, but it'll probably happen eventually. So I'm not sure how long I could keep that up. But it's not a big deal to me. She didn't say I used to be a selfish brat, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I got my memories back. I just don't see why I should care about them. Right now I'm too focused on catching up with school work, and worrying about… um, someone… "

Belle was curious about him saying, " someone, " as she knew that if it was Surge, he would've said so, and he looked down nervously with his hands clasped together, ashamed of being too scared to tell her who it was, when he knew he had to tell her eventually. He wondered if he could get around her finding out Starline was still around and have as few people as possible find out. Belle asked, " Is there something you wanna tell me? There's nothing to be worried about. You can trust us. "

Kit said, " I-I know I have no right to ask you or your friends for a favor, but I need some help, just for some extra support with something. Is Sonic in the house? If not, when will he be back? " " He'll be back any minute. Why? " Belle replied, and worried because she didn't want Surge fighting Sonic again. Kit noticed her worried look, which made him more nervous, and he said while still looking down at his hands and fidgeting, " Do you have any non-addictive painkillers that actually work well? " Belle looked surprised and worried.

Tails heard that as he was walking down the hall, and hid behind a wall to watch them where neither of them could see him, and said reluctantly, " No. Sorry, " and before she could question him, he said sadly, " Oh. Do you have anything in your workshop that could scan someone to see if they have any internal injuries like internal bleeding instead of just having cuts and bruises? " Belle answered unhappily, " No. But that's a good idea. If someone gets hurt, they can always go to the hospital, anyways, so that's probably why he never made something like that. Or he was busy making other stuff he was already interested in. Your mom could go to the hospital, so she doesn't need that stuff. "

Kit said, " Huh? It's not my mom who's hurt. " Tails was relieved that Kit got his family back, and like Belle, he wished he did that for him and felt guilty for not being helpful. He had heard Belle talking to someone from his room, but he was so far away that he had only heard murmuring, and Kit had been speaking too quietly for him to hear him. " So it's Surge? " Belle asked. Kit said, " No, of course not. She can heal really fast. She took a huge fall in Eggman's city and healed from it in a minute. "

" Wow… Then who is it? I don't mean to be nosy, I'm just curious and if you want to be friends, friends usually tell each other their problems. " Belle said. Kit was silent looking down at his clapsed hands again. Belle asked, " Who is it, your grandma?... Your cousin? A friend from school? You can tell me, there's nothing to be scared of. " Kit whimpered a little without meaning to, felt embarrassed about it and said, " It's, a good friend of mine, who doesn't want to be seen in public on this planet ever again. " Him saying that made Belle and Tails wonder if it was Starline, but she didn't say it was because of how nervous he was about her reactions, and she only doubted that it was him because she thought no one could've survived what he went through.

Kit said, " But he should go to the hospital just in case instead of saying he's just bruised and cut after something he's lucky he survived! I don't know if he's really just got cuts and bruises or is downplaying how badly he's hurt because he doesn't want me to cry agai-I mean just get upset even more. "

Belle thought, " What happened to him?! Does he mean Dr. Starline? How could a school kid get hurt that much? And wouldn't his parents force him to go to the hospital anyways? " Kit said, " He said he's got a ton of experience with getting injured and this is nothing, that he's had everything broken before, so you'd think he'd know if he had any broken limbs or worse. Right? How could he not? I mean it has been several years since he was getting hurt every day, but still. If he did know, well, that's possible, and he's so depressed from all of his failures that it'd make sense that he still isn't going. "

Belle asked, " What happened to him? Who is he? " and wondered what he meant by failures. There was a silence, and he said, " I-I don't wanna… I'm… You'll find out later anyways. I really don't wanna say right now. That's really the only reason I'm even trying to put it off. I-I don't wanna scare you by telling you how he got hurt. " Belle reassured him, " I think I could handle it. Remember, I saw, what happened to Starline. " " Not entirely, " Kit mumbled looking away from her, and she replied, " What? "

" I-I mean, did the collapsing floor fall down and make you unable to see him for most of it? " She nodded, and he said, " So you didn't see most of what was going on. You wouldn't have been able to see if he just fell straight down the whole time or if he fell into the falling floor pieces a lot after they fell faster than him and caught up with him, which would make for less of a bad fall because he'd have his fall broken early over and over. Plus there were a lot of tall hills and mountains of scrap down there, so it didn't have to be THAT much of a fall. And wouldn't you have been in such a hurry to get out of there from the city collapsing that you wouldn't have looked down there for very long? "

She nodded and he said, " But if he did walk away from it, hypothetically, you wouldn't have seen it because of all of those reasons. " Belle said nervously, " Yeah, that's a good point, " and wondered if that happened and he was using this discussing of a hypothetical situation out of nowhere as an excuse to talk about it, or if he was just saying this because he hoped Starline was still alive, out of concern, or a desire to get back at him with Surge.

Knowing that he was scared of her reacting too negatively to who his friend was, she decided to be on the safe side with how she'd respond to him. She said nervously, " If he survived, it'd be nice if he learned his lesson and became a good person or at least harmless. Then it'd really be good that he survived, and if he wanted to make up for things, I'd help if necessary. "

That clearly gave Kit some hope, and she continued, " He'd be pretty badly hurt after that, though. He'd probably need to go to the hospital, too, and not want to be seen in public. Sure, I'd be uneasy being around him after what he's done, but maybe that'll fade away after a while if he's just polite and harmless for long enough. Either way I'd try to be polite to him to humor him. "

Kit said, " He'd definitely need that. He'd be hurting all over and horribly depressed, and not see the point of being an enemy to Sonic or his friends anymore. After all it wouldn't impress Eggman, it'd make him mad because he did it instead of him or he did it ' wrong, ' so why bother? He couldn't do anything to get him to want to take him back on his own and it's obvious that he couldn't take Eggman's place if he couldn't keep it for a day, so there's no point in competing with him. " Belle and Tails hoped that this was actually the case for him, and Tails was still waiting for a good moment to reveal himself, and wondering if there even was a good one or if he'd startle him regardless.

While hoping that he wouldn't scare her by being willing to trust him, Kit said, " He'd be better off going to another dimension if he can and starting a different life, with supervision of course, someone could check on him every so often if they're so paranoid. That's why I was wondering if Sonic can go to the Sol Dimension whenever he wants, with someone with him. "

Blaze took a moment to say, " I don't think he can, without the Sol Emeralds, but Blaze could. She just came here on vacation. " Kit said, " I was told about Blaze and how SHE can go there. She doesn't have to be told all about who Starline is, and even without that, does the Special Zone have any regular villages in it, or is it somehow just a place to do crazy challenges to get the Chaos Emeralds? "

Belle paused again before answering, " Well, most of the time he was just constrained to a crazy challenge place, but he told me he saw a city in the distance when he was getting some Time Stones there, and he checked it out for fun. It's on a planet called Meridian, and from what he learned there, it's like this world in that it's got people in it with cities, and villages, and swamps. I think the difference is there's a lot of people with special powers there, so it could be dangerous. "

Belle explained, " But of course the Sol Dimension would be better because we know someone who usually lives there. Two people actually, Marine always stays there. So he could be supervised by someone we know, who could handle anything with the powers she's got. Sonic's forgiven a LOT of his enemies, so he might go for it if he can get Blaze on board. I bet he'd wear her down either way. But anyways, weren't you trying to get painkillers for a hurt friend of yours? We might have gone off topic. "

Kit said, " Uh, yeah. Right. Well, I was thinking that it'd be a lot easier to convince him to go to the hospital, if it was more than just me saying he should. If it was a Sol Dimension hospital, he'd have no excuse to refuse to go because nobody would recognize him, and I'll need Blaze for that. I just don't want… Can she be trusted to be polite to him, back? Would she fly off the handle easily like Surge? " Belle said, " It'll be okay, she's a good person. If she thinks someone could be seriously hurt and it's a matter of life or death for him, of course she'll help. So would Sonic if he was asked, and he'd get to her faster than anyone. " Kit said, " No matter who it is? " and Belle nodded, making him sigh in relief.

She thought, " She might not want Starline living on her world if she knew who he was, but I'd think she'd take him to the hospital no matter what, and she really doesn't need to be told who he is to agree to take him to the hospital. The question is, would Sonic agree to keep her in the dark about it? He didn't even keep Kit in the dark when he thought Surge died, when he probably should've. I wonder if he'd agree to it if I begged him to. "

She said, " So is there anything else you feel like saying? " Kit said, " No, just that I need Blaze's help with that. But Sonic's not here, so I might as well go now. Who knows what he's busy with. " Belle said to reassure him, " It's good to know that you wanna be friends and make it up to us. D-Do you want a hug, by any chance? " It took him by surprise, and he nodded as she put her arms out and hugged her, going from looking sad and guilty to enjoying himself. She returned the favor for a few seconds, and pet his head and let him go.

Kit said, " Okay, thanks. I should go home now. I don't wanna startle Tails or Sonic. I guess I don't have to take him to the hospital right now… even if he does seem to hurt every time he moves. But maybe it'd have to be worse for it to mean that he has to go there? "

Tails couldn't take it anymore after that and cleared his throat to get his attention. Kit jumped and gasped at seeing him, and Tails reassured him with his hands in front of him, " It's okay! I heard basically everything. I just didn't wanna startle you by going up to you, and interrupt. But you were about to go home, so I figured startling you would be better than the consequences of waiting another day to get him to the hospital. I could call Sonic and he could get Blaze and come back here in a minute. And I promise, no matter who he actually is, we'll just take him to the hospital and then get him home because that's what's important to us right now. There's nothing to worry about. "

Kit said sadly, " I'm so sorry about earlier! " Tails reassured him, " It's alright. I already assumed that. I'm used to having enemies, I'm just glad I got a friend out of the deal. Kit said, " Yeah. You and Sonic and Belle were nothing but nice to me and acted like you cared about me the whole time and that's how I repaid you. I hope Surge is done bothering Sonic because I can't take it anymore. "

Kit took a second to reply nervously, " So, do you think you know who it is I'm trying to help? " no less terrified, and Tails said, " Yeah, I do, and you can relax. Do you go visit this friend of yours every day? " Kit nodded and was told, " Then I've got you checking on him every day. You don't want him to be a bad guy, so even if it was Starline, big deal. I know he couldn't do any good from prison, so it'd just be a waste to put him there now, and you can handle him anyways because of your pack. Sonic would say the same thing. So, I'm ready to call him now, if you really care about this guy. "

Kit sighed and said, " Okay. I'll lead him and Blaze to him, but I should talk to him first so he won't be startled at seeing them. I'm not betraying him by leading them to his secret base, am I? " Tails reassured him, " No, you're trying to save his life. It's not betraying him if you just do something on your own that he's not comfortable with, even if it'll benefit him in the end. That's Eggman logic, and you said he doesn't want you to cry, so he's better than HIM, if he cares about you now, and he definitely is if he's given up on trying to kill Sonic. "

Tails smiled and added, " Besides, Belle told us where the base is and how to get there after she was taken there, of course, so it's not very secret anymore. " Kit smiled nervously, and then looked sad and said quietly, " Yeah. He regrets everything. So don't be too hard on him, he already knows he was a selfish jerk. " Tails reassured him, " I promise, " and started walking out of the house using his wrist communicator.

Kit was so scared of what he'd say in the call that he ended up following him to see if he'd tell Sonic to get Starline to jail regardless, because while he knew everyone around him was acting nice and trustworthy, it seemed too good to be true just like before, and he was too scared of the consequences of letting his guard down to do so.

Of course, he heard nothing of the sort, and instead he heard him say exactly what someone would expect. " Sonic, I want you to come back home with Blaze quick. " If Sonic wasn't already busy fighting robots at that point, he would've run home the second he said the last word. Instead he asked, " Blaze? That's random, why? " Tails said, " Kit got reunited with his mom, and then he came here and told me that a friend of his who's not Surge is too scared to go to the hospital. Ever since the day you met Surge he's gotten almost no medical attention, and Kit needs some more support to convince him to see a doctor. "

He heard Sonic ask on speakerphone, " Huh? Would he die if he didn't go? Wouldn't he know better? " Tails explained, " He's too depressed to care because of all the mistakes he made recently, but he won't be too scared to go if it's a hospital in the Sol Dimension, because nobody would recognize him. Come on, Sonic, who do YOU think it is? "

" I figured it out as soon as you said, ' mistakes, ' " Sonic replied, standing in front of the last of the destroyed robots. Tails told him some news that had him look shocked and worried, " You know how bad his internal injuries could be if it's HIM? If it's him, he fell into a bunch of pieces of the collapsing floor. It's what slowed down and broke his fall. He survived this long, but what if it's only a matter of time? What if he needs surgery? "

Sonic replied, " Aw, geez. You didn't need to convince me. I'll get Blaze. " Tails said, " Kit was hoping you could spare her the long explanation about who Starline is and just say he's someone shy. He wants to know if we can be trusted. " " Okay, fine. She'll be annoyed with me later for not telling her right away, but anything's better than making him think I can't be trusted, again. " Sonic said. " Kit said Surge got her memories and family back, and that he doesn't wanna be enemies. So Surge might not be evil anymore and it sounds like Starline's done bothering us too. " Tails explained, " and Kit smiled in relief when Sonic said, " Great! It's about TIME! Awesome news. I'll be home soon. There's more robots apparently. "

The whole time, Belle looked worried. She thought that if everything Kit said about him was true, including the part about him being severely depressed from his failures, that could mean that he just sat there when the floor was collapsing because he wanted to fall to his death, so that memory became even worse despite her being told that he might have survived it. At least if he didn't, he would've only had to suffer for a few seconds at best, but instead he had been hurting all over the place ever since then with no one to talk to until recently, and she felt even more guilty than before for not doing anything to keep him from falling because of it, not to mention not returning to the base she was brought to just to check on him.

By the time Kit walked back inside with Tails, she ended up saying, " I'm sorry I couldn't keep Starline from falling. Instead I just stood there like a deer in the headlights! I-I-I was so shocked at how he was just sitting there and calling himself a failure when the floor he was on was about to collapse! I didn't think he could be like that. And I didn't know what to say because I didn't want to encourage him if it'd make him go back to causing trouble. I wanted him to give up, but, not like that! I guess I shouldn't have said all of this in front of you. You must hate me… " " Would it make you feel any better if I told you he wouldn't have let you save him? " Kit said sadly.

She looked at him shocked as he admitted, " I talked about that with him an hour ago, just before I left. He told me he would've pushed you away. Even if he didn't jump down the hole himself - which he'd be too scared to do if he's lived this long - there was no way he would've gone with you. He was too upset to feel like going through all of the effort you did to escape, and he knew he would've been too self-conscious about trying to escape the city with Sonic. He was already too humiliated for him to handle as it was, so he just wanted to be alone. He couldn't even understand why you of all people were telling him to get to safety after everything he did, so he was so stunned that it'd take forever to sink in. " Kit said sadly.

There was a silence as she looked away sadly, and said, " Then I was right, he let himself fall on purpose!... I hope he doesn't do anything like that again. I don't want you to go a day without checking on him! " " I won't, " Kit promised. She said, " Never mind all of the unforgivable things he's done. I'm not making any sense, Kit. But if he's really given up and ends up making up for all of it, it would make sense to care about him. "

Kit finally put his hand on her shoulder and said, " He promised he'd stick around just for me, and he survived long enough for me to find him, so I think he'll be fine. As long as he cuts down on the drinking like he said. " He groaned and said, " I didn't mean to tell anyone that. He's ashamed of that too. He started doing that because of this. He made the grapes in his base's greenhouse into wine, he has this machine that does that for a lot of them. But he wants to quit. "

Then Tails walked up to Kit and asked him, " The one thing I find a bit confusing is, how did you feel bad for him at all? You had nothing but resentment for him the last times you talked about him in front of me. You said you hated him. You outright shouted it. So you must be especially compassionate, because it seemed like you had no reason to care about him. Not that I'm complaining, I feel a little bad for him too, but I'd expect you to assume he was putting on an act because you thought that about Sonic and you said he hurt you before. So it seems like a miracle that you don't still hate him. "

" I didn't hate HIM, I hated what he did, and the idea that it meant all of the times he was nice to me and seemed to have good intentions were just an act! The reason I got so upset was that I really cared about him, I really grew attached to him. He always treated me better than Surge did, and she was scary at first so I was really grateful for that, and the whole time I was there he was the closest I had to a parent. So I couldn't stand the idea that any time it looked like he showed a soft side was just another lie, but I had started to wonder that when I found out he didn't literally create me, and that every time I discovered that for Surge he'd use his hypnotic glove to make us forget. I don't remember any of the other times, so when I told you he hurt me, I really only assumed he did, and only meant he hurt me emotionally. But it turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought. He was just defending himself when Surge was trying to kill him, and she had told me to try and help! He feels terrible about it and always did, " Kit explained.

Tails said, " Back up. What exactly happened when you found him? " Kit explained as they listened with stunnd expressions, " Basically he explained how much he had messed up in the past and seemed embarrassed about it. " He told them about everything from discovering him passed out to him hugging him and saying sorry to him passing out again. Kit explained, " And granted I wouldn't blame you for assuming that he was being nice to me out of fear so that I wouldn't hurt him, but he didn't have to tell me about the things he did before he met me, and then he said he told me about those things to get me to turn AGAINST him because he's not WORTH forgiving, so if anything it was the opposite of self-preservation. We had a long talk after that, and then another one TODAY. He ended up apologizing for hurting me at all. He barely ever hit me anyways, he usually stuck to trying to get me to sleep. It'll never happen again, and it was just self-defense for when I got too close. And if he let one of us kill him, I would've felt even worse. It's no wonder I convinced her not to kill him when we finally won. "

Before he could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, Tails opened it and saw Sonic with Blaze behind him at last, and as Kit ran out of the house in a hurry and the two followed him, Tails dreaded having to re-explain all of what Kit said to anyone else. The three of them made it to Starline's base in minutes, Blaze looked confused at it and wondered if the person living there was on Eggman's side or not and Kit knocked on the door. He told Blaze and Sonic, " Go over there to hide, first, " not wanting to startle Starline, which was also the reason he even knocked on the door. They did what they were told with Blaze even more confused and when the door opened, Kit said with a nervous smile, " Hi, " and walked inside.

They heard Starline's voice ask in confusion, " Why are you back so soon? Not that I'm complaining, " and Sonic appreciated the last sentence and hoped that he meant it, already starting to like the new him. Kit knew exactly what to say, because he was so nervous earlier that he had thought up exactly how he would phrase his next few sentences. He said nervously while looking over at the floor to the left, " Because I met Blaze today, someone who could take us to the Sol Dimension in seconds, a place where you've got nothing to worry about if you'd get seen in public going to a doctor, and she SAID she'd be willing to take us there. " Kit looked at Starline to explain, " She doesn't want anything to HAPPEN to you. She felt bad for me when I said a friend of mine was hurt and it won't be a big deal for her to take a couple minutes out of her day to drop you off at a hospital. "

Starline looked stunned before saying with a sad tone, " But, won't that be uncomfortable? How could she stand to be around me that long? " being under the assumption that Sonic would've told her about him already. Kit told him in a quiet voice she couldn't hear, " It's not like she knows who you ARE, and you'll only see her for a minute to go there and back, " Then he said, " I know it doesn't sound like fun but you shouldn't keep putting this off, no matter how you feel about it. You could have internal bleeding or blood clots and I can't handle losing you AGAIN. You've had too many close calls for my liking, and I won't stop worrying until you humor me. So if you really care about me, you'll go there with me… or I'm just gonna feel worse… "

There was a silence as Starline stared at his makeshift walking stick uncomfortably, and this convinced Kit to admit to him, " I'm not the only one who cares about you! I told Blaze to come here and she's waiting right outside. " He jumped a little startled at the news, though not literally with how bruised his legs were. " Belle told her friends where this place was a while ago, so it's not like it's really a secret location anymore, " Kit nervously justified, and found himself backing away from him and felt embarrassed when he remembered that he had nothing to be afraid of. Starline only looked nervous after all.

Kit turned around to face the outside of the base and called out, " Come here, " and put his hand on his shoulder reassuringly, partially to keep him there. Blaze went up to him and stayed just outside the door to be polite, and they could see nothing but worry and confusion on her face, nothing intimidating and uncomfortable like Starline expected.

His eyes widened at the shock of seeing Sonic walk up to them, who just looked shocked and worried at seeing how hurt he was and said, " Geez, I hope you'll be okay! I'll leave you alone. I just wanted to see that you're still alive for myself. " He put on a smile strained from pity while saying, " I've heard good things about you from Tails, so I hope you'll keep it up! See ya later, " and ran off, because he knew from his nervous expression that he'd appreciate that. Of course, he still planned on visiting the base with Tails later on, to explore it and see how serious he'd be about a truce, and he wanted to know if there was any technology Tails would love and be allowed to keep.

The whole time Starline looked worried finding it awkward that Eggman's main enemy was being nice to him, and acting like he cared about him as if it was nothing, and when he left he realized he had his mouth slightly open since he had first noticed he was there. Kit knew how confused Blaze was about this and made sure to say, " Come on, let's go to the hospital, " in a hurried tone, which made it clear to her that she had to do that first and ask questions later.

He closed the door behind him. Using her ability to return to the Sol Dimension, she surrounded them with fire that floated above the grass, became a pillar of fire above them and disappeared, revealing a hospital and the parking lot in front of them. They appeared on the grass to the left of it, with the brief fire that floated just above the grass attracting the attention of the people around them, not that it mattered because Starline only paid attention to the hospital in front of him. He looked up at it with a nervous expression, and they noticed it and Blaze asked, " What's wrong? " Kit wondered that as well and said, " They're only staring because they recognize Blaze. "

Starline felt embarrassed and said, " It's not them. I'm just sick of going to the hospital. I got sent to one so many times before college, so I'm used to them… It's just that this place reminds me of some bad experiences, so it… puts me in the same mindset. " They felt sorry for him and walked towards the hospital as Blaze said, " So YOU used to get bullied, too? When I went to school the other kids used to avoid me and pick on me for my powers. "

Starline nodded looking resentful and said with obvious jealousy, " I bet they never hurt you though. Girls don't get physically bullied in school, or at least not nearly as much. " She felt a bit guilty about her luck as she replied, " Well no. I'm the princess and they were all afraid of me burning them. My powers have always made people uncomfortable, but they knew they could get away with just insulting and avoiding me because I got in trouble when I used them, even as a bluff! I couldn't even get away with summoning a little bit to keep them away from me. Just one little burn and I'd be the only one in trouble. "

Starline had to keep himself from growling in jealousy as they walked into the waiting room and approached the person at the desk. He knew that if he had her powers when he was being bullied, he wouldn't have cared about getting in trouble to preserve his safety because he'd think it was worth it. He would've summoned a few flames in front of him to scare away anyone trying to hurt him, and if he could've set fire to a person's shirt, it could've given him a vital distraction to run away from them. As Eggman wasn't known as a villain back then making for the world's worst role model, he wouldn't have injured anyone with those powers back then, just used them to avoid most of the injuries he ended up with, because back then he was still desperate for people to like him.

He walked up to the green bird guy at the desk, who only barely reacted to him because he was used to seeing injured pople. Then he was faced with the fact that he would have to explain what happened to him without confusing someone, and said, " I fell into a bunch of things. So I'm here for a check-up. " It was the same thing he planned to say to the doctor. Lucky for him, the person didn't ask any questions, Blaze said nonchalantly, " I'll pay for his medical bills, since he's not from here, " and he walked back to the waiting room to sit down.

There were a lot of other people sitting in the chairs to the left of and around them, and they looked away to make it look like they weren't eavesdropping on what the princess was saying. Blaze hesitated before saying to Kit, " I know it'd be boring to just wait here. And I doubt you'd like crossword puzzles. So, I'm going to take you to a book store. " He replied, " Y-Yes ma'am. "

She looked at Starline, pulled a cell phone out of her purple clothes and reluctantly handed it to him saying, " Here's my spare cell phone, call me when you're done. " She had an especially untrusting glare on her face. He said, " For some reason I didn't think of you as having a cell phone, let alone two. " She replied, " I'm a princess. Sometimes a minister need to get a hold of me, and I can afford a spare. That doesn't mean I'd want anything to happen to it, though. Fortunately I can track it down with the other phone. "

" I'm not a thief. And I'd be an idiot if I did anything to enrage you, " he said resentfully. She stood up as he wondered if there was any point in trying to reassure her that he wouldn't steal or damage her phone, not looking forward to the rest of Sonic's friends treating him that way. She said as Kit looked scared, " I didn't call you a thief. I was just wondering why you were comfortable with living in one of Eggman's bases, when most wouldn't. " He replied quickly, " I sold my home to live there because it's free. And I like that it's not right next to any noisy, judgemental neighbors. " That was at least most of the reasons.

Blaze said, " Good point. But why did Sonic think you wanted him to leave you alone? I found that strange because most people like him. " Starline looked uncomfortable and said, " Uh… Well, I guess he knew I wasn't comfortable around him yet. " Blaze said, " I know that, that's not what I meant. Why weren't you comfortable in the first place? " " I-I'm not used to the idea of him being… " Kit said, " His friend!... He's not used to ANYBODY being friendly with him, no matter who it is, so he doesn't trust easily. You know he used to be bullied, of course he's not very social. That's nothing to be suspicious of, a lot of people are like that. Can we go?! "

They were surprised at him speaking up, and she sighed and took the hint as he stood in front of him protectively. He looked embarrassed at what he called Sonic as she reluctantly nodded and walked away with him saying, " I still want to know the full story later. I know I didn't like Sonic at first either, but he's from Sonic's dimension, so he should know better, and most people wouldn't have the courage to move into one of Eggman's bases, " making the eavesdropping civilians wonder who Eggman was and how he had military bases.

They walked towards the door to the hospital as Kit pointed out, " Sonic has courage. His friends do too, " the hospital doors closed behind him and he said, " and you know what Starline achieved with HIS? He not only attacked Eggman's bases with me, he took control of them away from him! Not even Tails did THAT much for the Resistance. He even got one destroyed by him without even trying. " She said in astonishment, " You make it sound like he's one of the heroes, one of the Resistance. Why didn't I ever see him with them before, instead of in Eggman's base? "

Kit explained, " He's a lone wolf, he's not comfortable with most people. He expects people to hate him and can't buy it when he gets anything else. I couldn't imagine him at a Christmas party with Sonic or anything. The first time I told him I liked him at all, he looked at me like I had two heads! He's been doing his own thing, and it got a base of Eggman's destroyed. You make it sound like you think he's a villain, but why didn't the Sol Emeralds call on you to stop him from anything he's done?... Why didn't they force you to meet him? "

Blaze was quiet before concluding, " Because they don't think he's a threat. " She was silent, thinking he made a good point, and he said, " Can they see the future? If they can, they would've seen the good results of the things he's done and not wanted to prevent them. Even when a person does something that looks like a mistake, it can still lead to good things and be better than it not happening. If it weren't for him doing things his way, Sonic would've never been able to get rid of the Metal Virus with his Warp Topaz, and wouldn't have the Chaos Emeralds either. They were scattered all over the world until Starline found them! And Eggman wouldn't have been forced to flee the Faceship because he brought the Zeti there and go to Angel Island, so Sonic wouldn't have gotten to hear his plan to get rid of the Metal Virus in the first place. "

Blaze replied cautiously, " Huh… You really are making it sound like he's a hero… " Kit said, " He's hardly flawless, Tails is nicer than him, but he did achieve some especially good things without even trying. So in terms of what he's accomplished, he's always made a better hero than a villain. And while it was scary for me learning how to fight Eggman's robots, it's better than me NOT learning how and getting this pack. Instead the Restoration's gonna get a powerful ally, e-eventually. I'm too shy right now. But I can fly because of him. And I could always turn to him for comfort. " He decided not to tell her about Surge. He realized she'd want to go talk to her about Starline and she'd have nothing good to say, and it'd be suspicious if he refused to tell Blaze how to contact her.

An hour later, after they picked up some water-related books for Kit, Starline called them to run back to him and take him home. After she told the doctor she'd pay his medical bills, they walked out of the hospital with him and brought him back to his base as he looked depressed and avoided eye contact with them. There was clearly something on his mind.

When Kit asked, " What did the doctor say? " he said, " I don't want to worry you with the details. " Kit asked, " Was I right? " looking especially nervous. He noticed that and looked nervous as well, and replied, " I-It doesn't matter either way, because if I can make YOU able to heal really quickly, I can do it to myself, if you really want me to. " Blaze looked shocked and thought, " He did that for him?! Wow. " Kit said unusually sternly, " I do. I want you healed as soon as possible. So I'm not leaving until you are. " She said, " Why didn't you do that for yourself right away?! "

Starline looked more nervous, wishing she wasn't still there, and said, " Er, I wanted to test it first and I didn't want to even think about a situation where I'd need to heal really quickly, so I didn't feel like preparing for it. I admit it wasn't smart. I wouldn't be this hurt if I was that careful. I was being overconfident that I wouldn't need it, with a glove that made me as fast as Sonic and all. " He regretted telling her about that glove right away, and Kit explained, " He lost it to an incinerator when he took Eggman on. And after that near-death experience, I hope you'll forgive him for not feeling like raiding another one of Eggman's factories for the Speed Core to make another one. Even if he could get it done with some help. He doesn't need to be super fast again. "

Starline said with embarrassment, " I think I'm done doing dangerous things. " Kit covered for him so he wouldn't look like a coward, " At the very least he needs a break. A lot of people need a vacation sometimes, and he's been through enough to need one. He figured out he's not gonna get anywhere destroying or taking control of his bases. There's hundreds of them. So he's got a better idea that would actually fix this mess. "

Blaze said, " You mean, one that Sonic and Tails don't have the ' guts ' to do? Are you planning to try to kill him? " Kit and Starline replied, " No! " and Starline said vehemently, " Not in a million years! I don't even want to HURT him! If I ever did, I would've sent Surge and Kit to do that months ago. In fact I would've done it myself the second he started putting animals in robots. But, people want him arrested so he won't be doing anything dangerous to the world anymore. I'm just saying he should be captured. But I can't imagine how to do that without hurting him, so I haven't bothered. "

She looked surprised at his level of compassion for Eggman, and a part of her wondered if this was a sign that he really was a good guy if he could even care about him, while he and Kit were worried that she'd figure out he cared about him too much. With an unusual amount of passion after how reserved he was earlier, he explained, " And I know people want him brought to justice, to sit through a trial, to make him suffer even more. But what's that going to accomplish? Making him feel like a victim and complain about it? It's pointless cruelty, no different from what he'd do to his political enemies. He'll never learn! What's he going to do in prison besides get ideas from and recruit the other prisoners for after he'd escape? He certainly won't be doing anything good from behind bars. People wouldn't trust him to make anything good, on this planet, and with the way he is now, they shouldn't. "

Blaze knew he had a point, but after the last sentence, she questioned, " Now? " Kit said quickly, " He means Eggman wasn't ALWAYS such a troublemaker that everyone hated him. He wasn't always a world famous villain. " Starline admitted, " Y-Yes that's true. When I first heard of him 14 years ago, he was just making headlines for the brilliant technology he was making, and it did nothing but give people hope for the future, even ME, back THEN. I'm lucky I lived this long. The last good thing everyone heard about him, he was pioneering a study into a new form of energy production that would get rid of people's dependence on coal and nuclear power! And then he started putting animals in robots. So everyone got mad at him. "

Blaze noticed that it almost looked like he sympathized with him too much at the last sentence. He said in frustration, " He didn't stop after the first time Sonic ruined his day because he doesn't learn lessons. And eventually he got so desperate he released Chaos, and Dark Gaia, with no way to control them already there for him. What was he thinking? That they wouldn't betray him just because he didn't want them to? " He wondered if he would've lectured him about that if he worked for him back then and if that would've been enough for him to get fired too. He might have learned that a good partnership between them as villains was never meant to be years earlier than that if he had asked him to show him his device to control Chaos and got told there was nothing, and even got punished for making one.

Blaze gave him a confused look at how he seemed too concerned with critiquing how stupid Eggman was as a villain. She reminded him, " Plus one of them flooded a city, according to Sonic. That's bad too, for the PEOPLE there. " He said, " I know, it shouldn't have happened. My point is, I wish I could successfully do something to take him back to the way people thought he was, and get rid of whatever it is about his past memories that made him feel like endangering the world was a good risk to take. It has to be in his memories because when he had amnesia he did nothing but help people, fixing things and making things for people to use, not doing things like, turning everyone on the planet into contagious monsters he lost control over without making himself immune to becoming one. Or considering putting too much energy into the Warp Topaz, when that could destroy the entire planet. It's as if he wasn't ever thinking more than one step ahead! I thought he was supposed to be a genius, the smartest man on the planet, but he has worse judgement than I do! "

Blaze agreed, " Exactly, " though Kit could tell that she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to him than what she was told. He never felt angry enough about it to complain about how Eggman was affecting other people. She noticed that his lifetime of being bullied made him apathetic to people and not her, when even the fact that he was physically bullied too didn't explain it because that didn't make most people so apathetic.

" I couldn't stand to be around him with him like that. I never want to have to deal with that level of recklessness from him again. He's dangerous to everyone including his minions, who he'll grab and smack against a wall for doing one thing he didn't want, so even the ones on his side can't be happy with him. So if there's any way someone can fix him, it should be carried out, no matter what reservations I, someone might have about it. Won't it be worth it for all of the useful things he'll do and how much nicer he'll be to me? I just… wish it didn't seem so harsh! "

Blaze sighed at him showing compassion again for Eggman and not his victims, unless those victims were working for Eggman, and wasn't sure what to make of him. After figuring that he was just sympathetic to him because they were both engineers and he had idolized him since high school, she decided to focus on the last sentence he said and give him the benefit of the doubt, saying, " It is but you seem to have good intentions. If having amnesia really makes him like that, I'd support that idea. Don't hesitate to carry it out. "

She said suspiciously, " It's just that I've had the feeling that there's things I'm not being told about, with you. Not only do you live HERE, and don't want to be seen in public on your planet but are fine with it on mine, but you seem more frustrated by how Eggman's not as smart about being a villain as he could be than frustrated that he's done evil things. You sympathize with him more than most people, when most people also remember how he used to be and that doesn't make a difference to them. But as long as you're being checked on by someone I do trust, you won't be able to cause any harm, at least not for long. I would like to say I'll be keeping my eye on you, but I know I can trust Kit to do that for me, and I know you don't want me checking on you, or Sonic. It'd just be awkward, neither person would enjoy it and you've suffered enough. "

" Alright, I'll take it. Would you mind not telling anyone about my idea? If I want anyone else to know I'll make sure they do, like if I need their help, but I don't want to be rushed and get people's hopes up, especially Belle's. I don't want you to tell Sonic just for her to overhear and start impatiently waiting for it. I want just a few people to find out after I've done it. I have the technology already, I even made the security system here able to detect, trap him and alter him! All I'm missing is a way to take out Metal Sonic. But every plan I've ever made failed or didn't work out like I wanted, so why should I get excited about THIS one? So it seems foolish of me to get my hopes up again and act like it's a guarantee. "

Blaze groaned and said, " Fine. You better plan on telling Sonic your plan SOON, because this is big news. You've got a plan to take down Eggman, essentially, so I don't feel right about not giving Sonic the good news. " Kit, in a hurry to change the subject, reassured her, " If he needs Sonic's help he'll definitely tell him the plan. Maybe Sonic could be the one to inject him with the thing that'd cause amnesia, since he's so fast. You know, in your ' lure Metal Sonic away with drones ' plan. " Starline said nervously, " I'd only trust him to if he promised me that tying him up and injecting him would be the first thing he'd do after seeing him, giving him no time to react. I know he's used to greeting and taunting his enemies but if he wastes even a split second after being seen, the plan would fail. Even then I'd still need a robot that can fly and carry him to me. I assumed Gemerl wasn't strong enough to because of his size, but if I could just get his help, it'd be much faster than making a robot. I wish someone else would talk him into it because approaching him myself seems far too risky. "

Blaze admitted, " How about I tell Sonic to talk to Gemerl about the idea? What's the harm in it? He'd love if Dr. Eggman became harmless, and he doesn't even have to know the plan was your idea, if that's what you thought would be a problem. And I'll make sure Belle isn't in earshot. I'll tell Sonic to follow me to Cream's house. " Starline replied, " Well, alright. I can't think of how that'd backfire. As soon as I've made an unbreakable syringe, I'll let him know. I wonder if I could just make the outside of it out of carbon nanotubes and call it a day, " being suspicious that things seemed to be going perfectly for him and expecting it to come crashing down later just because.

Blaze couldn't help but remark, " I don't think you even need to do that. How could Eggman break it when he's tied up, and how could Metal Sonic break it if he got lured out of the room? " Starline said paranoidly, " Don't be so sure, fate would find a way. " Kit said, " Just humor him Blaze. Now that we're done talking about that, could you please get started on saving your own life? And don't put it off and tempt fate. I'm not the only person I could get to ' nag ' you about this. "

Starline said reluctantly, " Fine, follow me. And you can go home now, Blaze. Not that I need you to, it doesn't really matter. I don't blame you for being suspicious of me. Just be quiet if you're going to follow us so we won't know you're there. " He started walking down the hall. Naturally, Kit saw Blaze following them, but her nervous smile and thumbs up reassured him. He walked slower than Starline to hear her whisper into his ear, " I'm just here to watch, " and he soon caught up with Starline, pretending she wasn't there.

Kit followed behind him into a room with a few vials of gray liquid and Kit commented, " It's a good thing you sent a drone to get that stuff from the base the day after I came here. I'd hate to have to get it now. " Starline sat down at a desk with a keyboard with a big screen in front of it, saw a lot of lines of code on the screen, and explained, " I'll get rid of the amnesia aspect of it because I need to remember you and the lessons I learned this year, although I wouldn't mind forgetting my childhood, but I don't have time to program that if you're in that much of a hurry. "

He deleleted a line of code and then did it again, saying, " I don't need any powers, and based on what Blaze said they wouldn't exactly endear me to anyone. " As Kit couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed that all he had to do was delete a line of code to avoid getting the same amnesia as Surge, he said, " If I'm planning to move to a village, I'll already have trouble fitting in and getting accepted, so I can't be even more conspicuous. "

Kit couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about the prospect of Starline doing this for himself and be thankful that he wasn't the Starline he first met anymore, who would've not deserved the advantages and power of being a cyborg. Starline explained, " I could opt out of getting upgraded eyes like yours, but why would I pass up on 20/20 vision and becoming immune to cataracts? Along with any other form of eye ailments. " Kit said, " Thanks again for doing that. You didn't have to. "

Starline agreed, " I know. You didn't need all of your vital organs upgraded to be metallic for the missions. I could opt out of turning literally all of the vital organs into metal, but it'd be stupid to waste the time on making those modifications when there's no reason to keep the vital organs organic. They're all ticking time bombs waiting to fail on you compared to metal versions of them. And I need to upgrade some of them regardless. Some organs aren't even necessary at all, like the appendix. I just turned yours into metal to make you immune to appendicitis. It'd have certainly sucked if you developed it when training in my base. That sort of thing's why I upgraded you that much. I'll keep that the same as well. "

He clicked the mouse to save changes, poured the gray metal liquid into a syringe and said, " And now, for the hard part. " He rolled up his left sleeve, Kit could tell that he was scared, and he handed Kit the syringe, saying, " Kit, get back at me a little. I'm, too nervous to do it, " and pointed to a part of his arm. Kit wasn't comfortable with that no matter how much he'd been put through, no matter how hard he tried to remember how he felt when he said he hated him. After two seconds of hesitation, Kit took a deep breath thinking, " It's to save his life, it'll be worth it, " and held his arm and used it. Starline winced at the pain with his eyes squeezed shut for a couple of seconds and wished it wasn't making Kit so concerned, because that made it even worse.

He felt all of his pain fade away, took a deep breath and sighed in relief, and reassured him, " I'm okay. I'm not hurt anymore. " Looking no different, which comforted Kit, he parted the fur on his left arm, which showed him a few cuts healing before their eyes, getting covered with new skin. Kit noticed an old scar where the cuts were that went across the arm horizontally.

Starline realized he saw that and said, " Oh right. Sorry you had to see one of those. " Kit asked, " There's more?! Why, how old are they? " Starline said, " I-I told you I used to get bullied. " This was the hardest part for Blaze to watch. Again, she was painfully aware of how much worse he had it than her. He said, " I'll never get them again. I was hoping they'd all disappear because of this, but it was wishful thinking. A scar's not an injury after all so there's ' nothing ' that needs healing. But what we should be focusing on is, I'm finally healed. " After a second of self-conscious hesitation, he put his arms out smiling, and Kit hugged him, overwhelmed with relief that he could start doing that again without causing him pain. He returned the hug to enjoy it some more as he had gotten used to doing a long time ago.

He still remembered the first time, when he caught Kit crying in his bed because he had just met Surge and couldn't handle how rude she was to him. It stirred something up in him that he hadn't felt before, making him desperate to get him to stop, and he soon realized his hypnotic glove wouldn't be good enough because its effects would be too temporary, so he had sat beside him asking him nervously, " I-Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? "

Kit had looked at him shocked through the tears for a second before nodding and hugging him, and he was stunned, too dumbfounded to do anything for a second, before thinking to hug back, and since he had that pack on his back, one of his hands was on the back of his head instead, where it was soft and warm. He said, " No one's ever done that for me before! " Kit replied, " That's awful! I'd like to do this every day, " thinking poorly of his parents.

Kit let go and started drying his tears, and Starline said unhappily, " Just don't do this in front of Surge, alright? She could get jealous, and I don't want her to stop taking me seriously because she thinks I'm as soft as a marshmallow. The same goes for anyone else, like Sonic. But that being said… " He smiled nervously and admitted to him, " that was relaxing. So I don't mind. I'm just not known for being the kind of person who'd show affection, and when you're not known for something you don't want people to comment that it's weird for you. "

" I hope that's why Surge doesn't do this. I thought she'd get mad if I tried this on her, so I haven't chance it yet, " Kit said sadly. " Did she ever show you affection? " Starline asked. Kit said with a cute smile, " She pets my head sometimes. It always makes my day. Why can't she be like that all the time? " Starline replied unhappily, " I'm sorry. I never thought she'd treat you like THIS. And if I ever forced her to be nice to you, it'd be meaningless because she wouldn't want to. You want her to be nice to you because she actually warmed up to you. So there's nothing I can do about it. We just have to be patient and hope for the best. In the mean time, I want you to keep a notepad hidden away and secretly write down every time she was nice to you at the end of the day from now on. "

Kit said, " Okay, " and he continued, " Start by writing down every time she's been nice so far and see how high the number gets. Whatever it takes to make you less depressed, because I've been there. I used to hate my life more than anyone, but things got better, and I promise they will for you too. One day you won't have to work for me anymore. But as long as you still care about me, you'll always be welcome to visit! " He smiled at the final sentence, which was a sincere promise on his part, and Kit smiled looking full of hope. Even he found it endearing, and he left his room, proud of himself that even he was able to comfort someone.