[A/N]:
Gentlepeople... I have hit the 160 wall...

So anyways, while I was writing this, I was thinking on ways of how to limit the Sonic characters' impact on the main story. Because of how absolutely busted some of the stronger characters (like the Hedgehogs, Blaze, Omega etc.), I have to keep them... well I don't know exactly how to explain, but I need to limit their involvement because I want the Nikke characters to have their time in the spotlight as well. So, I was making a list of Sonic characters that could potentially solo the Nikke verse, (I'm pretty the best strength feat is Rapi throwing something and breaking the sound barrier, meanwhile multiple Sonic characters are MFTL+), and one of the characters I added were the Deadly Six.

The fuckers from lost world. They control machines because Zeti have the power to control electromagnetic fields, and considering Zavok was able to control Metal Sonic with ease (he arguably has some degree of sentience and self-awareness), they would be able to control Raptures and Nikke. Give them the Chaos Emeralds, and they'll be able to control everything.

Damn... I deeply apologize for bringing up this travesty.

To ease your sorrows, here's Sonic being petty and Eggman being salty.

Emma sat down with her hands folded neatly on her laps, eyes closed as she tried to relax. For a moment, the only thing she could hear was the hum of the engine, the idle tip-tapping of Vesti's fingers against the screen of her phone. She let herself relax for a moment, a smile forming on her lips–

Until a loud, loud slurp brought her right back to reality. She frowned and looked at the blue… thing, apparently some sort of hedgehog. He hummed to himself, smiling smugly as he looked up at the ceiling and loudly slurped on his box of apple juice while laying on a stretcher.

His hip wound was patched up by Emma, but only after a solid 5 minutes of arguing. He adamantly refused for his wound to be cleaned, aside from removing the bullet embedded inside. Any attempts that Emma had to stitch it, even applying rubbing alcohol or taking pain killers, and the hedgehog quickly slapped her hand. Even getting him in the stretcher was a headache all on its own.

Emma sighed and slumped forward, remembering the fiasco. And that is easy to do, considering the metallic shrapnel on the right of her feet and the shredded patch of wall right next to her head, damaged by his sharp spines.

Good times…

Emma looked at him, watching as he continued to suck and slurp the straw. At this point, she's pretty sure that he's just doing this mess with them.

Eventually, Emma cleared her throat and smiled at the hedgehog, his ears twitching when he felt her gaze on him.

"So…" She began, trying to make small talk, but what the hell do you say to a person(?) your leader just tried to kill? "Did you enjoy your drink?"

"No," The hedgehog bluntly said, tossing the empty box to the trash can. He missed, and it ended up hitting Vesti's head, causing the girl to whimper more than usual. "What the heck was in that thing, anyways? It didn't even taste anything like apples!"

"I-I think it tastes fine…" Vesti spoke up, getting a glare from the hedgehog. She promptly shut up and shriveled even farther into her seat. Emma's eye twitched.

Deep breaths…

Deep breaths…

"If you'd like, I'd be happy to offer–"

"I'm not eating that literally slop you call food."

Deep breaths…!

This is fine… everything is fine… He's just a little bit irritable right now for rather obvious reasons…

The red looks good on shoes, but it doesn't match with the solid blue fur and peach skin.

"If you don't like our hospitality, then you're free to jump off and fall to your death," Eunwha said through gritted teeth.

"Believe me, I'm very tempted," The hedgehog growled back.

"Please don't do that… sir?" Emma asked. His ears twitched and his chest puffed out a bit. "For the sake of your health, I'd rather you don't do that."

"Why? Because you won't be able to dissect me or something?"

"Wha–!? No, of course not–!"

"If you'd like, we can do it while you're still alive."

"Eunhwa!"

"What? It's just a suggestion?"

"Try it," The hedgehog spoke, raising his good leg to rest his hand on the knee. He glared right past Emma and Vesti, his gaze fiery enough to burn holes into Eunhwa's neck. "I'll make sure it hurts for you…"

Emma giggled awkwardly as Eunhwa turned away from the controls of the jet and glared back. If looks could kill, both of them would be put on death's row. Vesti sat up slightly, looking at the hedgehog with a strange expression.

"N-no, that's not what I meant," Emma said after clearing her throat. The hedgehog looked away from Eunhwa, and the sniper turned back to the controls of the jet as well. "Well… you're the only one who knows where our comrades are, and without you, there'd be no way to locate them."

"Hmm…" Sonic muttered. He looked back at the ceiling and said nothing.

The rest of the flight continued in silence (thank god) for the most part, aside from the hedgehog's bored grunts. At some points Eunhwa would speak and ask if they were going in the right direction, which was usually accompanied by threatening a bullet to the head if he was leading them in the wrong direction.

The hedgehog only snorted.

"I see them," Eunhwa suddenly said, causing the three passengers to perk up.

"Really? Is Rapi okay?" Vesti asked.

"That remains to be seen. But if she's not dead, I'll kill her myself," Eunhwa growled.

Once she landed the jet, Eunhwa stood and made her way towards the exit. "Vesti, keep guard around the perimeter. Emma, get the first aid kit in case the Commander needs it," She said, stomping out of the aircraft with her rifle strapped to her shoulder.

"Right," Emma said, getting the request and following her leader. However, as she was about to walk away, she noticed Vesti walking towards the hedgehog out of the corner of her eye. Raising an eyebrow, she walked out the jet so that she was out of the hedgehog wouldn't catch her eavesdropping.

"M-mr. Hedgehog…? Can I ask you something?" Vesti asked, the poor girl nearly tripping over her own words.

"Um… sure? Just don't call me Mr. Hedgehog," said hedgehog replied. Emma blinked in surprise, expecting a more hostile reaction like when he argued with Eunhwa or her. "...Call me Sonic."

"Oh… Sonic…? That's a cool name. Just like you!" Emma giggled at the excitement in her voice.

"Thanks? D– Don't you have a perimeter to guard?"

"W-wait, I wanted to ask you something!" Vesti quickly said. After a few seconds and a couple deep breaths, Vesti bowed at the waist. "I want to be able to talk back to Eunhwa like you do."

"What?" Emma said quietly.

"...Huh. Why's that?"

"W-well, Eunhwa cares about us… but she's always so mean! She berates us when we make mistakes, calls us 'rust buckets' and 'scrap heaps…'" Vesti explains. "So I want to be able to say something back to you, at least once!"

"Huh." There was a pause. "Well, I've seen a bunch of people like her. They act all high and mighty, but the moment they get served what they do to other people, they shut up out of surprise!"

"Really? You're not lying, are you?" Vesti asked sheepishly.

"Of course not!" Sonic said with a wink. "You just have to be assertive, and say what you want with confidence and backbone! That'll show that big forehead that you're not someone to mess with! So, what's something that she'll easily mistake for teasing with friends?"

"W-well…" Vesti stuttered, her cheeks turning slightly pink as one very specific thought came to mind. "U-um…"

"Kid, I can't hear you. Speak up!"

"...chest…"

"What?"

"Eunhwa's… self-conscious about the size of her chest…" Emma stifled a laugh, slapping a hand over her mouth to keep the two from hearing her. Sonic only raised an eyebrow, unsure of how to respond. Emma half expected for him to sputter or be embarrassed, but from the sound of his voice, he barely even reacted to the statement.

"...What's up with humans and body curves?" Sonic muttered quietly to himself. Afterwards, he cleared his voice and spoke with enthusiasm. "In that case, I got the perfect insult to get her to stop messing with you. Come here!"

"A-alright…" Vesti said, moving closer to the hedgehog. Emma moved her head closer to the entrance of the yet to hear what he had to say, but she couldn't make anything out from where she stood. A few seconds later, Vesti let out a scandalized gasp.

"C-can I really say something like that?" Vesti asked.

"If you want, I can come up with something else," Sonic offered, but Vesti shook her head to decline.

"N-no, it's fine! I just have to work up the courage to say it, that's all," The small girl said. "Th-thank you for telling me all this… I-if you're not dead in the next couple of hours, can we… h-h-hang… out?"

Sonic was silent for a moment, but in the end Emma heard a small laugh coming from him. "Sure thing kid. We can work on your self-confidence," the hedgehog said, a smile on his muzzle based on the sound of his voice.

"Thank you…" Vesti said with a light, breathy laugh.

"Vesti! Emma!" Eunhwa shouted impatiently. The members of Absolute both flinched.

"Coming!" Emme chirped, walking away from the jet with a smile on her face.

"I found her!"

The Commander turned around quickly, racing towards one of the many dilapidated buildings. Anis was digging through the wreckage, and had found a pale hand poking out of the rubble. The Commander ran towards her, doing his best to help her move the pieces aside. They quickly pulled Neon out, the Commander sucking in a breath when he saw her body battered and broken; small pieces of synthetic flesh cut out to reveal the mechanical parts inside.

"Damn it…" Anis growled. She pulled the unconscious Neon out, placing the next to crumpled Rapi and disemboweled Mihara; her head was laid on Yuni's lap, the smallest Nikke gently running her fingers on Mihara's jet black/purple, murmuring to herself. Pieces of her white coat had torn off to stanch the wounds.

"Commander… have you managed to get into contact with the Ark yet?" Yuni asked. Anis and The Commander both turned to her in surprise. It was the first time she addressed them since Mihara fell unconscious.

"No… not yet," The Commander curtly replied, unable to look at the empty gaze of Yuni's eyes. She almost startled to tremble, fingers digging into Mihara's scalp; she lifted other hand and began to bite her thumb. Anis winced, as did the Commander, when they heard the sound of metal crunching.

Yuni started mumbling louder, the two of them managing to hear snippets of her ramblings. "Syeun, Mihara's okay, please, no, no," She muttered, blood falling from her chin as it slowly leaked from her crumpled thumb. "Syeun, that bitch, please no, no memory wipe, please!"

The Commander grit his teeth and looked away, his eyes eventually landing on Rapi's flattened and bloodied form.

"Hey… you doing okay?" Anis asked when she noticed where he was looking.

"...I'm fine," The Commander managed to say, taking a second to relax and keep his voice from breaking. "You should set up some decoys. I'll stay here with Yuni,"

"Commander, do you really think that she'll be able to handle even a single Rapture on her own?" Anis scowled, crossing her arms under her bust.

The Commander opened his mouth to say in defense of Yuni, but the words died in his mouth. He looked back at the panicking Nikke, heart dropping slightly as her pink bangs cast a shadow over her dilated eyes.

"...Well what do you–" The Commander was about to say, before Anis tilted her head, as did Yuni. A moment later, The Commander was able to hear the soft hum of a jet engine. The three looked up and saw a transport ship hovering in the sky, slowly descending to the floor. Anis frowned, placing her hands on her hips as the ship landed, and a trio of women wearing a uniform similar to Rapi's stepped out.

"Who…?" The Commander asked quietly.

"Absolute. Arguably one of the strongest Squad in the Ark," Anis answered. The Commander nodded.

The woman wielding the sniper paused, her eyes looking unconscious and damaged Nikke's. Her gaze wavered slightly upon seeing Rapi. She turned to the mini-gun wielding and spoke curtly. "Load them into the ship, and stabilize their wounds," She said through gritted teeth. The mini-gun wielder nodded solemnly and rushed back to the jet. Meanwhile, the small girl with the rocket launcher walked past them.

The Commander finally let out a sigh of relief as the stretchers were brought out, the mini-gun wielder loading each of the damaged Nikkes to the jet, one-by-one. As Mihara was lifted and strapped on, he gently tapped his finger and Yuni's shoulder. She allowed herself to be pulled up by the Commander and followed the mini-gun wielder as she carted Mihara inside.

The Commander turned around and faced the leader of the trio (at least, he assumed). When she looked at him, he flinched as glared at him, dark purple eyes boring into his very soul.

"Tha–"

"Shut the fuck up," She growled, jabbing a finger at the Commander's chest, pushing him back somewhat. "Both of you," She continued, a

"Hey! Is that anyway too–!" Anis tried to say something in the Commander's defense but was cut off when the sniper unclasped her weapon and pointed the chamber at her eye.

"I thought my patience was almost thoroughly destroyed by now. But, that happened to be a lie; having to rescue a sorry excuse for a commander with equally worthless scrap heaps," Eunhwa snarled, her finger inches away from the trigger. The Commander flinched at her harsh words, and Anis grit her teeth as well.

"I can explain…" The Commander tried to say, but his voice when Eunhwa shoved the barrel into his mouth.

"I don't give two shits. Get in the transport, both of you, now , before I snap off both of your legs and drag you inside myself," She said. It was ultimately an empty threat–Nikke's are unable to harm humans because of their ironclad programming–but the way she said it made the Commander shiver.

"...Fine," He eventually relented, voice muffled by the gun in his mouth. Anis watched, furrowing her eyebrows at Eunhwa as she followed the commander towards the jet. While the latter wasn't looking, Anis flipped her off, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her shorts, before Eunhwa could notice.

Quietly, the two walked towards the jet while the Eunhwa and Vesti looked out for any Rapture's capable of shooting down their transport. Emma was in the back, tending to the wounded on the four stretcher's–

"Wait, four?" The Commander muttered. His jaw dropped when he saw the blue hedgehog from earlier lounging on an extra stretcher behind Mihara, Rapi, and Neon's.

"'Sup, Rookie?" Sonic said, giving The Commander and Anis a peace sign. "Glad to see you're okay."

"What in the–!? What are you doing here!?" Anis shouted in confusion. "What happened to that talking Rapture!?"

"...Talking Rapture?" Emma muttered to herself.

"He said he killed it," Yuni stated, sitting next to Mihara's stretcher. "This is bad… Syeun's gonna…! She's going to–!"

"Syeun…? Who's that? Is she your boss or somethin', or did she make you? Did she make the rest of you too?" Sonic asked. The Nikke's and Commander all stared at Sonic, unsure of how to respond.

"How do you know what we are?" Anis asked, slightly dumbfounded. Sonic's ear twitched at the question.

"These ears aren't just for show pal," Sonic muttered, and looked at The Commander. "Well, Rookie? You don't sound as heavy–"

"What was that!?" Anis shouted indignantly, which Sonic promptly ignored.

"–And if willing to bet that these ladies have certain safeguards that keep 'em from yapping too much. So, who's Syeun?"

"That's none of your business," Eunhwa growled, stomping onto the aircraft with Vesti before the Commander could say anything. Sonic frowned at Eunhwa.

"Sorry, I don't think you were supposed to butt in. Rudely, at that," Sonic huffed, raising one hand so that he could pick his ear with his gloved pinky. "So, do me a favor and keep your nose out of it."

"I don't think I will," Eunhwa snapped. "We're not about to tell you anything about how to operate. Especially since you're no longer of any use to us."

Eunhwa was silent for a few seconds. She reached into her coat and pulled a handgun from one of the inside pockets, aiming it at Sonic's head. Everybody in the aircraft gasped, save for Sonic, who barely even reacted when she pulled out the weapon.

"Eunhwa, what are you doing?" Emma asked calmly, though her eyes were blown wide as well.

"What does it look like? We no longer have any use for this… freak of nature," The leader of Absolute growled.

"That's racist," Sonic muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"So!? You can't just kill the guy!" Anis shouted, trying to reach out to grab the gun from Eunhwa's hand.

"You really can't!" Sonic added, irritating the leader even further.

"Shut up! You're not helping!" Anis shouted at the hedgehog.

"Oh, I'm aware," Sonic chirped.

"Eunhwa, why are you going to kill him? He's been nothing but helpful to us, if a bit annoying," Emma slowly approached her as she tried to talk down her irate leader.

"I already told you. He's no longer of any use to us. We don't know what he's capable of, and what he is, or even if he's somehow connected to the Raptures. It's safer to put him down and be done with it," Eunhwa explained, her eyes narrowing as she saw Emma walking closer, and Anis inching to her side.

"He's strong," Yuni suddenly said, looking away from Mihara to face Eunhwa. "If it weren't for him, we would've all died. He handled a Tyrant-class Rapture with ease. Anis saw and the Commander saw as well. He didn't even get hit!"

"Really? Then that's even more of a reason to kill him," Eunhwa countered. "We can't have a being like that roaming around. I'm willing to say that if I hadn't shot him, he'd have torn us all to shreds."

"I could do that right now if I wanted to," Sonic said with a cocky smirk, causing Eunwha to growl, her finger ready to squeeze the trigger.

"You're not helping your case at all!" Anis shouted again, but Sonic only huffed.

"What can I say? I. Die. Hard."

"What the hell does that even mean!?"

"Enough!" Eunhwa shouted, stomping her feet on the ground.

She raised her gun, and at the same time, Emma and Anis lunged, tackling her to the ground. Eunwha fired the pistol as they managed to tackle her to the ground. The Commander's eyes widened as he saw the bullet fly for a split second. Sonic's form flickered for a brief moment, and the bullet disappeared.

"What the–! Get off me!" Eunhwa shouted, her scowl growing wider as she tried to keep the gun away. "And how are you still alive!?" She shouted once she noticed that Sonic was without a hole in his skull.

"Just 'cause I took my ability to run, doesn't mean you took away my reflexes," Sonic muttered, tossing the bullet back at Eunhwa, throwing the bullet at her forehead.

"You little–!" Eunhwa growled, struggling against Anis and Emma's combined weight. "Let go of me! I swear, I'll have both reduced molten remnants–!"

"Sh-shut up!" The entire group froze and turned around slowly. Behind them, Vesti had stomped her foot on the ground, pouting and practically on the verge of tears as she glared at her leader. "They said he saved him! If it wasn't for him, they would have died! You're the one making things difficult for us, because he's really nice when you're not purposefully antagonizing him!"

Eunwha's eyes were wide as Vesti shouted, having no idea what could've caused the sudden outburst. "What the hell are you going on about!?"

"I-I'm telling you…" Vesti stammered, tripping over her own words. "I-I-I'm telling you to…! To…!"

"C'mon kid, you can do it. Just let it out," Sonic encouraged. He smiled at Vesti, which gave the courage to finish what she wanted to say.

"Instead of trying to kill him… him don't you go join the Itty Bitty Tittie Commity, you flat earther!" Vesti shouted.

"...What?" Eunhwa gasped. She was in so much shock that she stopped struggling against the two girls on top of her, which allowed Emma to take the pistol away from her. "How did you…"

"Yours truly," Sonic said, causing her head to snap his grin. Sonic had the widest shit-eating grin she's seen yet, and that sass was only emphasized when he raised his arm and rubbed the underside of his nose with his pointer finger. "It's amazing what you can do when you encourage your teammates, instead of treating them like dirt."

"...Listen hear you–!" Eunwha growled, pushing Anis and Emma off her and stomping towards. However, she stopped when she felt the Commander place a hand on her children. "Now what!?" Eunhwa demanded, pushing his hand off of him.

"Eunhwa, he saved our lives. I don't think he wants to hurt us," The Commander said, his intense gaze somehow peaking through the messy bangs that always covered his eyes.

"And how would you know? What if he's luring you in with pleasantries to stab you in the back?" Eunhwa shouted, stomping forwards and jabbing her finger into the Commander's chest. "What do you think you'll happen if you let somebody like him inside? How do you know he won't go on a murderous rampage and destroy everything you know? Everything you worked for!?"

The Commander stayed quiet at such a response, unsure of how to respond. His gaze faltered, eyes slipping back underneath his untamed bangs.

"Because I believe he's a good person…" Vesti eventually answered. Eunhwa turned around just enough to glare at Vesti with a single eye. "I talked to him… and he told me how to stand up to you. Why would an enemy do that? Why would an enemy make me stronger, even if it's only a little bit?"

"..." Eunhwa remained silent. "...You trust him. You've known him for a grand total of a few minutes, and you trust him ." Eunhwa looked back at Sonic

"I wonder if that says more about you, her, or me," Sonic said with a shrug. Eunhwa narrowed her eyes at him, unsure of what to say or do. She raised her hand to speak, but couldn't find a retort of rebuttal that would satisfy her.

"Fine. Fine ," She growled in defeat, walking towards the cockpit. "Sit down, all of you. We'll be taking off soon." As she stomped away, the Commander let out a sigh of relief.

"...Don't think you're out of the woodworks yet, Commander," Emma said gently, tapping the man on his shoulder. "You still need to explain to Andersen why you're out with Wardress and Counters. You did go through the proper channels to do so, correct?" The Commander froze up at the question, the sigh of relief he was about to let out turning into a tiny whine.

"Ah ha ha ha, about that…" The Commander muttered, smiling awkwardly at her.

Sonic smirked at his reaction. He placed his hand behind his head and laid back down. At first, he thought Absolute were going to be a bunch of suck-ups for whatever government they worked for. He still has doubts about Eunhwa, but now he at least knows not all of them were like her.

"Nice job, Rookie," Sonic whispered to himself as the Commander sat down between Anis and Emma. The engines roared to life, and Sonic closed his eyes, letting his quills relax and soften to keep them from tearing into his pillow.

"Next stop; The Ark."

Mother Whale's internal structure closely resembled the Egg Cauldron, Eggman noted as he walked through the hallways of the airborne Rapture factory. The mad doctor stalked the empty hallways of the Mother Whale, wandering Raptures pausing to simply look at him while he walked. Eggamn harrumphed at the sight; his Badniks never treated him with that much respect.

(The thought that the Raptures were simply confused by his existence never crossed his mind.)

After a few minutes of walking, Eggman found his target: a terminal. Eggman smiled gleefully and adjusted his glasses, activating the record function inside.

Eggman's gloved hands danced across the keyboard, hitting each key with enough force to have the terminal read the input, but not enough to make as much sound to alert Nihilister. He knows that she's programmed not to harm him, but after the fiasco with Neo Metal Sonic, he's not taking any chances, especially when she looks like she wants to melt him.

Eggman typed in his usual password, and to his mild surprise, the terminal accepted it, giving him access to Rapture's communication network and database. Eggman smiled to himself again.

He tapped one of the gold buttons on his jacket, which ejected a small flash drive. He inserted it into the terminal and watched as his trojan virus was downloaded onto, and soon to be transmitted into the Rapture's network.

"There we go, now let's see…" Eggman muttered to himself as he searched through the databanks, analyzing every inch of information. The banks went back nearly a century ago, however, the first couple of months have been completely corrupted, nearly unsalvageable… for someone that isn't Eggman.

He downloaded the corrupted data quickly, and then went back to scouring the banks. Searching for anything that could somehow tie the Rapture's back to him. Yes, the Raptures are built like his Badniks, and they are unable to harm him, however, that could all just be cosmic coincidences. He needed hard proof that these Rapture's were his , so that he could rub in Sonic's face that he couldn't stop him from taking over a world.

(He could already imagine his dramatic speech: "Ah, Sonic the Hedgehog? Did you really think controlling one world would be good for me? Wrong! While you off galavanting around and protecting our world, you forgot that I controlled space itself! Now with this Earth under my control, I have control over the resources of this planet! My forces roam every inch of this earth! Everywhere you go, you will not escape from my influence! Nya ha ha ha!")

Eggman coughed into his fist and readjusted his glasses. He has more important things to do than daydreams. Speaking of which…

Eggman opened a folder labeled only as '? ? ?.' He tried to open it, but frowned when it needed a password to open. He quickly entered one, but jumped back when it blurred and rejected it. Eggman growled, and entered another password, but that also rejected.

In addition to that, two turrets appeared from behind the terminal, each barrel pointed at Eggman's head.

"Oh, come on!" Eggman growled, more out of annoyance than anger. It's like he hadn't even noticed the guns. He tapped his finger on the keyboard, trying to figure out what password protected this file.

He went out on a limb, and typed the last password he inputted while he was on his planet. The Death Egg's defenses were nearly impenetrable; it took Burning Blaze to take it down, and the reason for that was because Sage, his hyper intelligent AI daughter was able to run the entirety of the Death Egg with ease.

Sage had to go into Power-Save Mode once Burning Blaze had dealt with Death Egg's defenses. Metal Sonic joined her once he and the Horizon Badniks had been dealt. Before challenging the Super Hedgehogs, Eggman made sure to backup their current data onto the EggNet's servers in case anything happened to Death Egg (and in Metal's case, his body).

So, he typed in… "R-O-B-O-T-N-I-K, and… Eureka!" Eggman quietly pumped his foot when he was able to access the files inside. "Now, let's see what we have here…"

Eggman furrowed his brow when got access to Sage and Metal's files. That certainly was something he didn't expect. From the looks of things, they're still offline. Now, the interesting thing was how long they've been offline for.

97 Years - 11 Months - 24 Days.

Eggman rubbed his chin in intrigue. He's unsure of exactly why he's in this world; he can only guess that either Super Hedgehog's Chaos Control went horribly wrong when he sent them to the past, or that Blaze managed to use a similar technique outside Egg Horizon. He imagine that, if Sonic and his band of furry friends were landed around the same time as him (give or take a margin of error for a couple months, maybe a year at most) that could potentially mean that anything inorganic, like his Badniks, the Death Egg, and Sage and Metal were blown farther back.

Eggman grunted, and began the start up sequence for both AIs. For Metal specifically, he typed in a command that would put his AI in an undamaged body in case the one he was using back on their world was unusable. "I can't have my favorite killing machine falling apart at the seam!"

He was disappointed when the loading bar indicated that it would take a few hours. He hoped that it would be one of those times where the estimated time was nowhere near as long as the actual time required.

With that done, he tried to locate the blueprints for the Heretic, as Nihilister. If he's going to claim that he brought this world to its knees, he needs to make sure that their designs actually serve a purpose instead of just… existing. Sonic can have his opinions of Eggman, but he will not have Sonic ever, ever suggest that he's a creepy old man.

He eventually found the files necessary and opened it. Eggman frowned. He tapped the record button on his jacket. "Note to self: never have Sage examine these files."

"Human." Eggman squealed and jumped back from the terminal, shutting off quickly as he turned to face the red-headed Heretic standing behind him.

"What," Nihilister began slowly, crossing her arms under her chest. "Do you think you're doing?" Her voice had a dangerous edge; the dragon cannons hanging from her back growled, the left one emitting sparks of green energy as it did so.

"Nothing, nothing!" Eggman said quickly, raising his arms in surrender. "Just admiring the architecture of the… Mother Whale, you called it? I've never seen anything like it!" To some extent, he was being truthful. Yes, he's never seen the Mother Whale before, and credit where credit is due, the production line rivaled GUN's at its peak.

"Really?" Eggman smirked when Nihilister did. She was too easy to trick; All he had to do to butter her up was insult humans and/or organic life (as one should), praise the Raptures and their strength, and for a few extra brownie points, praise the woman herself.

"Of course! I've never seen anything like this back where I come from! Especially not on this scale!" Eggman said. Another lie, not that she would ever know. "It's quite different from the factories I manage. However, it is lacking in some ways. In terms of automation, I'm afraid the number of Raptures needed to oversee progress and assemble the more delicate parts will only slow down production."

"...Hmm," Nihilister said, her cannons growling quietly as she tried to think of something to say in response. "What about it? If it weren't for the scale of our factories, we wouldn't have been able to subjugate this entire world," She claims.

Eggman huffed. According to the files he's read through, most of the Rapture had been created before the first invasion; nearly 10 million units were fully operational, 200,000 on standby, and an additional 1.5 in production. Incredible, yes, but of course you would conquer the world with an "immortal" army of that size. It's hardly a challenge.

"I'm aware, I'm aware. However, that hasn't stopped the Ark from fighting against your forces, has it?" Eggman sneered, making Nihilister frown. "It doesn't matter if the enemy is on the losing side. You mustn't take any precautions when it comes to war!" Eggman made that mistake once; never again.

"Hmph. And what do you have that could possibly aid us?" Nihilister asked hotly. "The way you're talking makes it sound you, human , can possibly improve production by a significant degree? Well, I'm dying to find out what your secret is!"

"For one, the Chaos Drives," Eggman said, pointing to the empowered dragon cannon. "Once I figure out a way to synthesize more, I can integrate them into your factories to double production speed."

"Is that it? Hah! Who cares if you create more Raptures!" Nihilister laughed. "We have the upper hand already, we control the surface. No matter what resistance the humans put up, we will always burn them to the ground until there's not even ashes left!"

"You underestimate humanity, Nihilister…" Eggman said slowly, his mind wandering to his irritating nemesis. "As long as there is a sliver of hope, no matter how miniscule, there will always be someone to rise up against you. And if you let that hope fester, it will become cancer that will eat away at your army, bit by bit."

Eggman's frown turned into a twisted smile splitting his face. He stepped back, his face covered by shadows, the red internal lights of Mother Whale reflecting off his glasses.

"That's why you need to tear that hope out by the roots. Kill it before the tumor becomes too big to ignore," Eggman explained, pushing up his glasses. "And you can only do that by refusing to be lackadaisical or overconfident. You have to double production. You have to have a great, more destructive weapon. And you can only do that with my help."

Nihilister frowned at Eggman as he talked, his voice growing more intense with each word. She could see her hands clenched tightly into fists, the leather of his gloves crunching audibly as he did. Nihilister smiled.

"Excellent. That's great to hear… Eggman," Nihilister, the word tasting strange yet oddly familiar in her mouth.

Mother Whale cried out. The flying factory transmitted information directly into Nihilister's CPU; Her vision was cut in half, the left eye watching Eggman while the obtained a visual feed from one of Mother Whale's cameras.

"You wanted an audience with our queen. You've definitely interested me in your aid, but now you have to make sure your honeyed words can convince her as well," Nihilister said, letting out a small chuckle as she placed a hand on her hip. "For your sake, I hope negotiations go well."

Eggman adjusted his glasses. Thanks to the virus he implanted onto the Mother Whale, he had full access to her cameras. "Don't worry, Nihilister. I'm sure I'll be sure to get her on my side," Eggman said with an even wider grin.

Mother Whale opened her mouth, letting Eggman and Nihilister walk towards a massive crater near 150 kilometers wide; in the center was the Neo Death Egg, its hull was tilted to the side and completely overtaken by vines and grass.

CV: Colleen O'Shaughnessy [Eng] / Ryo Hirohashi [Jp]
TAILS

This is the VO Gallery of Tails.
Tap the list below to play the Voice Over.

First Meeting:
-My name is Miles Prower, but my friends call me Tails. It's nice to meet you, Buddy!

Tapped in Lobby:
-Running a company is hard… I don't know what I'd do without Yan.
-How are NIMPHs implanted into a woman's brain without damaging it…?
-The Ark's power source must be incredible if it causes blackouts from overloading the system. Though, how can it achieve such a thing without something like a Chaos Emerald? What's Trony hiding…

Tapped in Lobby (Bond Lv. 10)
-I think Ether's been watching me while I was at M.M.R. Oh boy… Now I gotta deal with her and K!
-Missiles Research Facility is incredible! I've never had access to advanced instruments like this!
-Sorry, Buddy! I've got a lecture at the M.M.R. Vocational School in a couple minutes. We can hang out later, though!

Idle in Lobby:
-If I put the convertor here… and then increase the magnetic polarity between these two rods… Then…! Nope, gotta log this under 'failure' again…

Idle in Lobby (Bond Lv. 10):
-Hey Buddy! I heard from Maxwell that you're a great lab assistant. Can you help me out with something? I've got grapes with me, if you want some. She said you liked them!

Tapped in Outpost:
-I think I might be able to synthesize Chaos Drive with Might Tool's help.
-The Outpost would be a great place for SEGA Enterprise's HQ.
-The Synchro Device looks like it needs some repairs; don't worry, I'll handle it!

Combat Power Up:
-Cyclone armor upgrade complete.
-I'm not ready to give up just yet!
-Level up!

Gift:
-Aww, Buddy! You're making me blush!
-This looks really cool! Thanks, Buddy!
-When my friends and I go back to our world, I'll make sure to keep this with me, always!

Bond Level Up:
-You know, you remind me of another Buddy I used to know!
-I wonder if the Phantom Ruby would've reacted to your will as well, Buddy.
-With you by my side, I feel like I can take on the world!

Field:
-I'll do my best! [Squad Formation]
-I won't let Sonic down! I won't give up! [Tapping Squad in Field]
-Target located; moving out! [Moving Squad in Field]
-Cyclone, Transform! [Entering Battle]

Battle Beginning:
-Cyclone Armor at 100%.
-Initiating encounter!
-Look at all those Eggman's robots.

Reload:
-I need some cover!
-Status report; all systems green!
-Reloading… Cannons fully loaded!

Burst:
-Chaos Energy Output at 100%! [Burst Skill Available]
-Cyclone Cannon, FIRE! [Burst Skill]
-Launching all missiles! [Full Burst]

Killing Enemy:
-Enemy unit destroyed!
-I got one!
-Direct hit!

Get Hit:
-Oh no!
-Mayday, mayday!
-Cyclone armor has been damaged…

Out of Action:
-Sonic!

Battle Victory:
-Great! I did it, Sonic!