Chapter 7: Suspicions Arise
After flying away from Sonic and the others, Riku took a good few seconds to look over the Egg Continent as he got closer to it. "I can't believe Eggman built something of this magnitude without anyone noticing. Its not as big as even the smallest of Earth's continents, but just the action of rising up should have pulled up the ground or water around it and caused wanton destruction."
"I can assure you, nothing was destroyed when this was launched. After all, what good would their be in destroying the land I plan to build the Eggman Empire on top of?" Eggman's voice calls out to Riku from the side, and the boy turns to see a small, rotund TV monitor with a static-y screen showing the doctor's face on it floating beside him. The teenage Overlord happened to notice something odd about the doctor's voice though, how it had a bit more of a gentleman like accent and lacked most of the insanity present in the hologram earlier.
Though it could have been that Eggman was keeping his cool around someone he had no clue about, Riku logged this change in tone in the back of his head for now and said to the doctor with a firm glare in his eyes "So where am I going, exactly?"
"You are heading to the Egg Museum, a historical building of my own design that showcases almost life-sized models of the various machines I have created over the years. I figure that as a newcomer to our world, it's only fair that you be given a chance to see what you are up against." Eggman says, his voice dripping with honesty even though through experience outside this world Riku knew for a fact that the doctor was planning something for him.
Raising one eyebrow a bare inch, the teenage Overlord turns away from the monitor and continues flying until he reaches the building that Eggman wanted him to go to. The building was decorated in an incredibly fancy arrange of gold and red metal, with a red carpet extending from the center of the circular platform Riku had landed on to the pristine glass doors at the end. Spotlights on both sides of the carpet lift up and shine bright rays that cross each other mid-way through the sky.
"Now then, what type of music shall I play?" Eggman says in an intrigued tone of voice as he flips through a bunch of options on the other side of the monitor. After choosing a track to play, Eggman says to boy "Now then, head on into the museum. You will be guided by a pre-recorded voice of yours truly, for I have other business to take care of."
The monitor's screen then shuts down before it flies off, and the air around the museum is filled with a piano rendition of "E.G.G.M.A.N.", a song that Riku is able to recognize as such thanks to the first few notes. The boy walks forward, cautious as to the doctor's plans for him as he enters through the automatically opening doors of the museum. The first thing Riku was greeted by as the doors sealed him in with the piano music in the atmosphere was a glass cage on red cushioned pedestal that showed Eggman's old capsule-shaped ride from when he first ever fought Sonic.
A checkered ball was attached to a chain at the bottom of the capsule, but Eggman had positioned the model so it the chain was swung in a curve through the air behind the machine. As Riku briefly examined this dynamically posed model and went off to the left to further explore the museum, Eggman's previously mentioned prerecorded voice began to activate "Ah, the Egg Capsule. From my humblest of beginnings my machines were magnificent to behold. The ball and chain, while not one of my finer attachments, wou-"
While Eggman's voice went on an ego trip, Riku looked back and forth at the many machines that the doctor had lined up not just in the form of models, but also sometimes in painting format as well. "Huh, who would have guessed that Eggman had an artistic side to him. Despite him being a megalomaniac, I can give him credit for the finer details he's put into his work anyways…"
"This is obviously a trap though." The black dragon Takashi states into the mind of his friend. Riku nods his head subtly enough that Eggman shouldn't be able to notice and proceeds to mention in response "Naturally. But I can't just bust this place apart without Eggman activating the bomb."
"I can tell though. There's another reason you are going along with this madman's wishes, right?" Takashi goes on to mention, which causes Riku to crack a smile as he responds with "You hit it right on the mark Takashi. Eggman doesn't know anything about me, so the last thing I want to do is show him my full strength right off the bat."
"…Of course, your battle with the one called Shadow the Hedgehog probably did little to help that matter." Takashi bluntly states, which causes Riku to nervously smile as he awkwardly mentions to the black dragon "Well I didn't use that much on Shadow…Admittedly though, he was stronger than me once he went into his 'Chaos Blast' state…At least at a base level."
"That Sonic character seems to be able to handle this madman on his own though. In fact, I feel quite confident that we aren't needed here. So why bother sticking around?" Takashi asks in a curious tone of voice.
"Anything can happen Takashi. Considering how long you've observed me for, that should be quite obvious. Besides, Sonic and I still need to have a race, and we can't do that while Eggman's causing trouble." Riku answers.
As he reaches this particular point in the conversation, the boy takes a moment to turn a corner and happens to notice something rather peculiar standing out atop a one-foot high stand. It was a mechanical monstrosity with two dragon-like wings and a gaping maw, with a hole at the top big enough for a modified Egg Capsule to fit inside of. Riku moved forward with a little more speed to look at the model's display name. As suspected, this machine was called the "Egg Wyvern", which caused a single drop of cold sweat to trickle down the side of the boy's face mere moments after he stared at it.
"Ok, we might actually have a time anomaly going on around here…" Riku thinks to Takashi while he simultaneously notices that Eggman has said nothing regarding this machine despite finishing off his egotistical overview of the one before this.
"A time anomaly? How do you figure?" As the black dragon asks this of his ally, the teenage Overlord starts to move away from the model of the Egg Wyvern to not draw Eggman's suspicion. As he headed down the hall and everything started to grow darker, Riku responded to the dragon's question as he firmly slanted his eyelids "That machine that I just saw…The events that could have caused Eggman to build it no longer exist."
"…You sure that wasn't just a failed prototype design that Eggman was nonetheless proud of making? The guy's a nutcase, so its possible that he'd keep even his failures around." Takashi tries to reason to the boy, but Riku didn't really believe that in the slightest.
"He would have listed it as a prototype then…" As the teenage Overlord notes that particular detail, he begins to slow down his pace and realize that the prerecorded messages had suddenly stopped, and after a few more seconds he grits his teeth out of annoyance towards himself as he swings his right hand out ready to draw his sword.
But before he summons it from the ether, two rays of yellow light flash down from above, both coming from a gigantic robot obscured in the shadows. Riku thinks to the black dragon "I wasn't cautious enough Takashi…I fell for Eggman's two-layered trap."
Instead of Takashi responding though, the eloquent Sodenko interjects by mentioning "Of course you did. Anyone who wastes their time speaking to my foolish brother would lose caution in an instant."
"Now isn't the time for your words, sister." Takashi brushes aside the white dragon that is his sister with nonchalance before he goes on to ask Riku "Even if you cannot destroy the battleship, you can summon me to help out against this robot if it gives you trouble."
Riku jokingly replies with "What, don't you trust me to handle this?" to which Takashi responds bluntly "Not at all, but if time anomalies are involved on this world it wouldn't hurt to be cautious."
"Fair enough, but I can't unveil you in front of Eggman's cameras since that might give him a chance to build something that can stop you." Takashi responds to Riku's reasoning by boasting "Personally, I'd like to see him try. But I'll honor your request anyways. Good luck."
With the conversation between the two having dropped, Eggman finally takes action as the robot's eyes continue to glare down upon him. The confines of the museum begin to distort and tear apart, revealing a futuristic confinement that consisted of silver-grey and red metallic surfaces and flashing blue machinery. The lights of this room revealed the titanic robot in full. It was one of Eggman's oldest machines, which was built to resemble him greatly with mechanical parts. The hands had three spikes attached to them, and rockets were attached to the backs and bottoms of the feet.
"Mwahahaha!" Eggman's raunchy laugh fills the room from the head of the robot, but from the tiny bits of echoing static coming from within Riku knew that the robot was being operated from afar. The doctor continued on by saying "I must admit, I didn't think it would be this easy to figure out what your deal is."
Riku stood quietly as he finished drawing his sword in front of his right hand and looked up at the robot as it slowly whirred to life, the arms rising into the air as Eggman went on to say "You're from another world, one that is somehow familiar with the inner workings of our planet…Including events that theoretically should not be recalled by anyone here."
The doctor's assessment was short but perfectly described in nature that Riku felt a like bit of self-loathing as he scoffed and thought to himself "Figures…If Tails could determine where I'm from, it would only make sense that his intellectual equal could as well. All it took was me glancing at the Egg Wyvern for more than one second, and Eggman had all he needed on my origin…"
"You know, you aren't the first person who has come from another world with information on us. A boy with the powers of darkness at his command came and fought Sonic and Shadow on Angel Island, and quite surprisingly managed to nearly kill them both and destroy the entire planet…" Eggman explains, which actually makes Riku take pause and listen in with a great deal of interest in his expression.
"So now I must ask, are you from the same world as that person? Were you sent in as an infiltrator to gain the trust of Sonic and the others so your race can take over the planet easily once you betray and kill them?" All of these questions were spoken in a nonchalant manner by Eggman, making it all the more easier for Riku to answer them once he was given the chance.
"I can't answer whether or not I'm from the same world as the boy of darkness, but since you've brought all this up I have to ask you now…Why are you expecting me to give a straight answer in regards to your questions?" The boy firmly inquires.
"Ohohoho, so you picked up my intentions. Interesting. Very well then, I would like to throw out an offer. If you are planning to take over this world, then instead of wasting your time with these naïve infiltration tactics you should become one with the glorious Eggman Empire!" Eggman's offer was ludicrous in nature from the view point of the teenage Overlord, which Riku theorized was partially the point as he thought up his answer.
Swerving his body sideways in the face of the Death Egg Robot standing in front of him and letting his sword spin around behind him while brandishing his left hand towards the air in front of his face, Riku says to Eggman "I know you're a bit crazy there Eggman, but I would never take up such an offer. You're threatening Sonic and his friends along with the rest of the world, so I am going to help the blue blur stop you. And this isn't part of an attempt to take over the world either."
"Oh, so you consider yourself to be a hero then?" Eggman states with the utmost joy in his voice, only for Riku to respond with "No. In fact, I loathe being called by such a title."
"Hmph…Regardless of your views, I will take full pleasure in stopping you and that pesky blue hedgehog for good." Eggman states as he fully activates the Death Egg Robot, commanding the machine's upper body to spin around to loosen any remaining gears as it thrusts its left hand outward at the boy.
Riku responds with a sly smirk and an equally sly remark of "You think you can stop me with this overused piece of junk? Ok, bring it on."
Eggman leaves the Death Egg Robot to its own devices as he cuts off the line of communication to it. The teenage Overlord then notes to himself "My sword should be sharp enough to cut this down. I won't use any of my elements just to keep my advantage going against Eggman."
In an instant the teenage Overlord leaps at the Death Egg Robot as the mechanical titan thrusts its spiked left hand out at him. The spikes grind against the metal and fill the air with reddish sparks as Riku heads for the head of the robot. But before the swing of his sword can cleave through the metal a couple laser beams burst out from the eyes and strike the boy dead center in his chest.
After flinching momentarily in surprise the boy is launched back through the air, where after a couple of tumbles he manages to recover and press his feet against the wall behind him. Kicking off from that wall, Riku flies straight at the robot again at a faster speed than his earlier leap, but after pulling his hand from the ground the Death Egg Robot fires its rockets and leaps into the air to go over the boy's body. As the teenage Overlord flips himself around and halts his flight, the robot crash lands on the ground without somehow denting the metal floor.
Riku wastes little time in swooping towards the backside of the Death Egg Robot and slashing upward at it with his sword. The cut tears through the black metal underside and reveals some tightly knit wiring underneath that is nicked by the edge of the boy's blade. The robot then flips its upper body around while holding its arms outward, the tips of one of the spikes cutting Riku across the left cheek as the boy pulls himself back away from the robot.
With blood slightly dripping from the nick, Riku treats the bits of pain with calmness as he waits for the robot to finish rotating in place. Holding his right hand behind himself while steadying his sword like an arrow in front of his palm, the teenage Overlord focuses on the head of the robot and at the very moment the rotation ends he throws his sword like a whirling javelin, but the blade punctures through the right side of the head instead of the central area where the processing unit like was. Though a large chunk of metal is taken out along with the laser array system, Riku is left without his sword for a few brief seconds as he recalls it with his mind.
Pulling all power into the left eye, the Death Egg Robot fires an all-encompassing blast of crimson energy towards the teenage Overlord, forcing the boy to crossing his arms in front of his body and utilize all of his strength into dulling the burning might of the attack. As the laser presses down upon his body, Riku guides his sword back around and aims it this time for the center of the robot's head now that he was certain of its position.
With one pulling thought, the teenage Overlord's blade pierces through the central processor unit located in the head of the Death Egg Robot, which shuts down all functionality the titanic mech could muster in a near instant. This included the robot's ability to stand with all of its girth, and as Riku grabs a hold of his sword in front of his palm after pulling his arms away from the front of his chest he raises the blade above his head with both hands beside where the handle should be and waits as the robot falls down towards him.
One forward swing of his blade cleaves the robot in half all the way through, and both sides crash against the ground as sparks fly between both halves with Riku in the center of it all. An explosion does away with every last bit of metal the Death Egg Robot was composed of save for perhaps a couple of gears, and the teenage Overlord is relatively unharmed thanks to the burning composition of the explosion itself.
The destruction of the titanic robot warrants nothing more than a simple remark of "You should have tested me with a stronger robot Eggman! Sonic could beat that outdated thing in his sleep nowadays!"
The doctor replies to the boy through another speaker he hid away in this very room "Hmph, cocky little brat, aren't you? Very well, if you want to face something tougher…"
Riku turns to the right as Eggman throws open a rectangular door in the metallic wall that leads into a lightless passage. The doctor then finishes off his earlier sentence with an overconfident remark of "Then head right this way, and I promise you you'll get your fill." Eggman signs off quickly, quite possibly to go deal with Sonic and the others, and after dispelling his sword the teenage Overlord cautiously passed the remnants flames of the Death Egg Robot's destruction and went on down the passageway to take care of whatever Eggman planned to toss at him next…
Next Time: Shadow's Ordeal