N Reader: Like I said last chapter I had this whole argument over on AO3 with aguest that's now deleted so this is the last I will say on this subject: while I may end up doing a small bit, I am not relenting on my stance on Geoffrey or the plans that I have. Like I said these won't be for plans but I have it in my head how I see it and I won't be persuaded sorry to say.
In an activity centre in Mobotropolis; the Royal Guard and royal cadets were hosting an event to encourage youngsters to sign up for the royal cadets. Antoine himself was on the stage looking at the gathering of children that had turned up with parents, siblings and or guardians."...Having grown up with the pleasure of being the son of the Captain of the Royal Guards, I had high hopes of becoming just like him and with the pressure that my legacy would bring; I nonetheless trained and studied hard and I stand here before you the top royal cadet and future royal guard! With my many achievements in winning tournaments and other contests; do you know what I am most proud of?" Antoine said giving his big dramatic speech.
"That you get to fight with Princess Sally and Sonic?" asked a kid putting up his hand and Antoine coughed.
"Well there is that but the thing that I am most proud of is the knowledge that I get to serve my kingdom when I become an adult thanks to my training as a royal cadet. If you decide to join up and work hard; you could have a chance of being like me!" Antoine said making a pose much to the silence unimpressed crowd.
"But the news and videos don't talk a lot about what you do in battle; have you done many awesome stuff like Sonic?" asked another kid.
"How about Tails; he builds cool stuff and Princess Sally moves like a ninja and slices robots with her arm sword things!" brought up another kid.
"I saw them in action; Sonic took down 5 Badniks at once like it was nothing and this guy here fell into a puddle!" said a kid visiting from a different village on Westside Island causing kids in the audience to snicker and the other royal cadets hid their's as Antoine grew frustrated.
"Is this training actually going to do any good? Sonic never went through this training and he is the greatest hero ever! Why would we want to be a loser like you?" asked another kid and Antoine finally got fed up and went to walk off stage but ended up tripping on the cord to the microphone and fell off the stage causing the audience to burst into laughter.
Antoine got help up thanks to the guards and ran off; the utter embarassment of this all. He was the top royal cadet student and still he wasn't getting the respect that he deserved from most; Sonic spent most of his life as a troublemaker and yet everyone seems to love him.
Later Antoine decided to have a walk through the island's forest to clear his head and to contemplate how to fix this reputation; if this loser reputation keeps up then how was he supposed to impress Princess Sally and show him to be a viable suitor?
He was walking when he ended up falling into a covered hole right into some sort of lab filled with robots standing by; he took a step back when he saw the Eggman logo but paused when he saw that it said 'EGGMAN INDUSTRIES'. He jumped and shrieked as the robots came online and ended up catching him.
"Well well; the royal captain's son and the weak link of Sonic's team." said a voice and Antoine noticed a smirking white furred platypus Mobian in a dark purple jacket, black gloves and yellow glasses. "What do you think of my lair; I discovered upon it years ago and made use of the resources. I had deduced that the great Dr Robotnik set this up during the War as a backup plan; I was able to figure out how to modify his E-series robots to follow my command." the platypus explained to Antoine who was trying to get out of the grip of the robots but thinking quickly, he was able to activate something.
"So what is your plan? What do you plan on doing with me?" Antoine asked unable to hide the fear in his voice.
"Quite simple; I have planned to act covertly and not to get Sonic or the King's attention. But with you; I can contact your father and put your life as a bargaining chip to get him to do what I say and keep quiet or else your life will be forfeit. I will have him help me undermine the military of the island and put together a plan that will take care of Sonic and let me conquer the island. You know my talks of forcefully uniting the world for peace got me labelled as as a villain and kicked out of my institute; but they will soon regret pushing me aside." Starline spoke sounding quite confident of himself.
"What is your plan when Robotnik comes for you? I don't think he will take too kindly to another mad scientist villain wanting to conquer the world with a robot army?" Antoine asked and Starline shook his head.
"I only got to fully see the genius of the great Dr Robotnik when he had returned and almost masterfully took command of the Kingdom; my appreciation for him grew. Before I found his hideout and even after; I lacked the resources or the scope of intelligence to bring my vision forward but Robotnik did! I am not seeking to rival him at all; once I conquer the kingdom then I will seek out the good doctor. I will gracefully turn over the Kingdom for him and only ask that he accepts me into his Eggman Empire as his apprentice." Starline explained and Antoine groaned.
"So you're a fanboy?" Antoine asked and Starline shook his head.
"A fanboy who has what it takes to make his idol proud!" Starline retorted as he motioned for his E-series robots to great ready to bring Antoine to a prison cell.
"Well how does us kicking your butt and crushing all your stuff fit into your vision?" asked Sonic as he jumped down the hole entrance with a confident smirk and glared hard at the memories that seeing the E-series robots again brought up. He was then followed by Sally and Tails was Starline stuttered in shock.
His shock turned to anger as he demanded "how could you have possibly found me?" Antoine smirked at his direction as they all started fighting the robots and Antoine was set free; he looked to the device that he activated earlier:
Tails had gathered them all in his lab at Green Hill Zone showing off his new miniature devices; "If we are ever caught and can't get free then activate them. A remote homing beacon will activate to the others that that will track the direction of the activated device." Tails explained.
Soon the robots were being taken care of and Starline made a run to find one of his escape routes when Antoine caught up to him; "Do you seriously think that a genius of my calibre and vision can be taken down by a weak link..." Starline scoffed only to get easily taken down by Antoine who forced his hands behind his back.
"I may not be as capable on the field as the others but I have my training and I bet you never learned how to fight a day in your life." Antoine brought up and managed to knock him out with a kick.
"For a pompous windbag Antoine who got himself caught; if it wasn't for you getting caught then this secret bad guy could have still been plotting for who knows how long." Sonic brought up as a smile and Antoine sighed taking it as Sonic complimenting him.
"Still good job; securing him Antoine." Sally told him with a smile and Antoine then smiled at the praise for his princess.
"Thank you all and I promise that one day I shall become more capable of being out in the field with you all!" swore Antoine making a dramatic pose causing his teammates to roll their eyes.
Starline is by far my favourite IDW Sonic villain and how he evolved to be thinking that he is the competent only sane villain around but is truthfully; even more guilty of the flaws that he sees in his idol Eggman.