PHASE 03: The EGGMAN
Malchio's Orphanage
Marshall Islands
Late September, C.E. 73
"Oh, you're kidding me…" Sonic glanced around what was practically a dusty attic.
"Just stay up here," He turned to see Lacus and the purple-haired woman who was Kira's mother, at the entrance of the wind-up ladder. "And try not to make any sounds."
"Look, ladies, I appreciate this. I really do." Sonic said. "But you gotta understand the gravity of the situation. Whatever your Kira boy is trying to do confronting that guy outside... you have no idea."
"We'll figure something out," Lacus whispered. "Just stay up here, and try to be as quiet as possible."
"Wait, wait, wait..." Sonic tried to say before both Lacus and the woman descended, and the ladder-stairs folded itself back up to close the attic's entrance. "Oh... boy."
"Good morning, my rural chum!" The strange man waved at Kira as he approached the porch.
"Uh… Good Morning," Kira returned the greeting back, but still keeping his gaze on the stranger with caution. To say the man looked strange, was almost an understatement. The person was a tall man, with an obese frame and a bald head. He pointed pink nose with a bushy mahogany mustache under it. He wore a red coat with two pairs of gold buttons and white linings, over black pants and matching boots. He was also wearing a pair of dark-blue glasses, with a pair of black goggles on the top of his head. "And you are?"
"I'm… from the power company," The man gestured to himself. "I'm here investigating the blackout that happened the night before. If you don't mind… I would like to take a few readings inside your… house."
"You're from the power company?" Kira questioned.
"Yes," The man instantly nodded.
The teen doubted it, however. Kira kept his face straight while keeping his gaze at the man's eager smile.
"Then… you must know my friend, Sai," Kira made a smile. "We studied together at Heliopolis."
"Ah, Sai~!" The man exclaimed as he leaned his head back with apparent expression of nostalgia. "He's good man~."
"Yes, he is…" Kira forced his smile to match that of the man's. "So, Mister…"
"Doctor." The stranger interjected, still keeping his smile, while his glasses hid his eyes.
"Mister Doctor?" Kira said.
"Doctor Ivo Robotnik," The man corrected with a smile. "But my dentist calls me Rob."
Kira nearly felt the right corner of his mouth nearly curl back. "Kira." He introduced himself back. "Kira Yamato."
"Kira… splendid," The bald-bespectacled man now known as Doctor Ivo Robotnik kept his grin, and later extended his gloved hand to the teen. "Any friend of good, old Sai is a friend in my book."
"Glad to hear it, Doctor," Kira took hold of the doctor's hand with a clasp that sounded like a slap.
"Ow!" Robotnik quickly retracted his hand from Kira's after a moment.
"Something wrong?" Kira asked.
"Nothing, my boy! Nothing!" Evidence to the contrary, with how the doctor was flexing his hand a bit. "That is some grip you have there."
"I get that a lot."
…
"Ahem!" Dr. Robotnik cleared his throat. "Now that we have the pleasantries finished…"
"Of course, take all the readings you need…" Kira said, and Dr. Robotnik started make way towards to the door… "Except…" Kira barred the doctor from entering, the latter now giving the teen a questionable look. "Any technician or engineer would take their readings outside, that way they can check it when nobody is at home. And my friend, Sai…" The teen narrowed his eyes. "The last time we called each other, he was still working on computers."
At that the man's eager smile froze, before it started to fade into a frown.
"So, I like to ask," Kira kept his gaze on the man. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Okay, this is not good." Sonic said to himself, while pacing around the attic floor. "Best case scenario, he's dumb enough to not notice I'm here. Worst case... oh, man."
These people had no idea what they gotten into. What Sonic had gotten them into, even if unintentionally. Even if he wanted to make a run for it now, that could still make it worse. And if staying here with the likely chance he gets caught with the emeralds in his backpack.
"Need to think of a plan. A real good one." The hedgehog slapped his cheeks, before picking up his backpack. "And just to make sure no one gets hurt... besides Baldy McNoseHair. I can... wait a minute?" He stopped however, when he noticed a strange buzz in the air.
And it was strangely familiar. Very familiar.
Sonic dashed behind an old shelf, before looking around to see the buzzing coming closer. His eyes widened when he spotted the unmistakable sight of white-plated hornets slipping through the open window, and started to scanning red x-rays around the room.
"Oh, crud."
After making that question out loud, Kira could feel the tension already building now that he had exposed the man's pretense and claim.
Dr. Robotnik suddenly chuckled and it almost made Kira flinch; the man was now looking at him as if he made a clown face. He paused his laugh and a made an exhale.
"Mr. Yamato…" Robotnik began, before he started pacing around the porch. "You may have not noticed or heard, but this area, not just your little island, has experienced… a little power outage."
"Yes, we're fully aware of that. No lights." Kira said.
"Yes, but are you aware of what caused it?" Robotnik questioned.
"Am I correct to assume you have the answer?"
"Some time ago, I managed to find a faint trail on a similar signature affiliated with that disruption," Robotnik explained, almost very much in a manner a scientist would talk to a student. "And I trailed it… around this part of the neighborhood."
…
"Pardon me, Dr. Robotnik," Kira said, frowning at what the man was implying. "Whatever you are looking for… I'm sure it has nothing to do with this place."
"Pardon me, if I seem to apparently cause any distress to your humble abode…" The doctor clasped his hand together. "But you must understand… Mr. Yamato. What I am trying to investigate about this blackout… is part of something greater at stake."
"And what would that be, Doctor?" Kira questioned.
"Eh…" The doctor made a pause, and almost looked to be exhaling his breath. "Unfortunately, that is confidential."
"Is it?" Kira raised an eyebrow. "And what does that confidential have to do with our home?"
"Nothing… really." The man shrugged, and then smiled. "Nothing too serious. If you would be so kind to just let me in for a few seconds, let me take a few readings, and I'll be out of your hair… oh!" The doctor chuckled as he patted his bald head, before rubbing his mustache. "I'll be out of here in no time! Trust me, my team and I investigated several other houses before yours, and they came up with nothing."
"If that is so, then how would our place will be any different?" Kira pressed.
"It's just procedure to make sure," The man smiled harder. "You would have nothing to worry about. You can trust me on that."
"I hate these things." Sonic could see the Egg Hornets were scanning near his position. "C'mon, this isn't the first time." He got up on dusty shelf, overlooking to see the two Hornets scanning just close. "Any moment now... and..." Just as the red rays were both about to converge.
"Humph!" The hedgehog flipped over in the air just above the red rays, before landing graceful on the opposite end of the room. He kept his voice and breath in the case of making as little noise of possible. He turned to see the Hornets still scanning, and looked to find a better place to lay low and...
He then noticed that he had landed on the top of the attic ladder.
"Uh-oh..."
Instantly, the fold-up door opened, and Sonic fell off the attic.
The sound was heard even at the front door.
…
"What was that?" Robotnik questioned.
"Uh…" Kira tried to say. "That was the pipes."
"Right… the pipes. How curious…" The doctor made no effort to hide his sarcasm, before pushed past Kira and stepped inside.
"Hey!" Kira exclaimed, following after the man. "You can't just walk in here!"
Doctor Robotnik all but ignored the teen's yells, as he shamelessly crossed through the room before making it to the kitchen. And before he could…
"Intruder!"
"What's—huh?!" The doctor paused when something passed right in front of his face. Kira stopped, and looked to see Mr. Pink hopping in the air in front of a baffled Robotnik. The man's gaze glued to the pink Haro jumping incessantly in front of him… before he grabbed it in his hands.
Kira gasped, now mortified.
"What do we have here?" The doctor said, curiously as he inspected the pink robot in his hands.
"Candlesticks on a cake!"
"Oh… some intellect, huh?" Kira could tell the doctor looked at the Haro with an amused sneer. "A primitive one at that."
"Excuse me."
The doctor immediately paused upon the soft-spoken voice behind him.
'No…' Kira grimaced with building dread.
The man started to slowly turn his head back like an owl. "Who's asking…?" Just as his gaze fell on the person beside him, however…
"AH?!" The moment his gaze fell on the pink-haired girl behind him, the doctor nearly screamed as he almost balked back, and even let go of the small robot in his hands.
Kira widened his eyes. Did Robotnik just… look scared?
"Oh, dear!" Lacus cried out as the doctor staggard back from her. "Is… is something wrong?"
The doctor turned back to her, and it looked like he was taking a double-take of her, and before long, it looked like his composure was returning.
"Wha…?" He started straighten himself, now turning his attention on the girl. "Who the heck are you?"
"Oh, where are my manners…" Mr. Pink quickly hopped away from the doctor and jumped into Lacus' inviting hands. "My name is Audrey."
"Audrey?" The doctor raised an eyebrow, that Kira feared maybe skeptical.
"That's it." Lacus nodded.
A lie, but better than not giving her real name to a stranger. A potentially dangerous one at that.
"I didn't mean to frighten you, sir."
"Frighten?!" Robotnik exclaimed, looking as she said something ridiculous. "As in scared? Me? No! I was just…" He waved his finger near his head level. "You just, for a moment… by some instinct… I mistook you for someone else."
"Someone else?"
Kira narrowed his eyes. Someone else? He didn't like to think of the possibility that the doctor may be recognizing Lacus as the Lacus Clyne from the PLANTS, and his shock being from not expecting to see her right behind him while standing in range of the ORB Union's influence on Earth. It was one of the things Kira feared in the case of any potential spies learning of Lacus' whereabouts. Her status had been MIA since the end of the war, and he and everyone preferred to keep it that way.
"And you live here as well?"
"Yes," Kira walked forward till stood close to Lacus. "She does."
"Oh," The doctor's brows look to almost narrow. "Sister? Cousin?"
"None of those, sir," Lacus bluntly stated. "Kira here is my beloved."
Immediately, Kira's face flustered, while...
"Huh?!" Robotnik balked at that, and then glanced back and forth between the two, before... "What?! You... you mean both married?!"
"What, no!" Kira's head shook, while his cheeks turn red. "She didn't mean that! We're not... we're just... well, not together like that..."
Lacus made a giggle.
"Oh, well, why didn't you say so?" The doctor deadpanned. "Aren't two too young to be-OW!"
Kira gasped.
"What the…" Robotnik growled as he held up his foot, turning to look down on who stepped on his foot. His brow furrowed, however… "What… where did all of you come from?!"
"Are you ZAFT?!" One of the children questioned as he looked at the doctor with a suspicious glare.
"What?!" Robotnik exclaimed, looking down on the child. "What are you blabbering about?!"
"You dress up like one of those bad guys from ZAFT!" Another child pointed out.
Kira felt himself pale immediately, even as he felt the temperature in the room drop as the doctor turned to focus his attention on the children.
The children shied away, looking as if they were feeling the tall man's anger waving at them, and they backed up, almost huddling together. Robotnik stepped closer towards them, even as they almost backed to the wall.
"Do I look like a bad guy to you?" The doctor asked, looking irritated.
The children started to now look uncomfortable at that. "Uh… well… kind of…"
"Kind of?!" Robotnik exclaimed.
"Nu-uh…" One of the kids shook his head. "He looks like he's dressed up as Santa."
"What?!" The man said, baffled. "What in the blazes gave you that idea!"
"Your coat is red." One girl said.
"Your boots are black." A boy said.
"You have a weird mustache." Another girl noted.
"And you're fat." Another boy said.
Kira paled immediately at what could be one of the worst things to say to a stranger, and it was evident as Dr. Robotnik paused stiff in place, his one eyebrow twitching. And he look to start shaking and fuming in place, as his gaze fell on the boy who spout out that last sentence.
"Children, please..." Lacus kneeled towards them. "That's not a very nice thing to say. Especially to a person you just met."
That seemed to please the doctor a bit. "Well, at least, someone here has some manners."
"Then what are you supposed to be?" One of the boys questioned.
"What am I supposed to be?" The doctor gestured. "I'm a scientist, of course. Can you not tell by the glasses?" He pointed to the dark spectacles over his eyes. "Or my goggles?!" He pointed to the pair of dark lens strapped to the top of his head.
"What do you do then?" A boy asked.
"What do I do?" Robotnik said, looking as if he was ridiculed. "I invent things! I investigate! I create!"
"Like what?" The same boy said, not looking convinced.
"Things your young, yet low-IQ minds couldn't fathom or comprehend!"
"Like Christmas?"
"ARGH!" Robotnik cradled the sides of his face, his stress now evident. "I am NOT Santa Claus!"
"Better watch out! Better watch out!" Mr. Pink hopped in front of the doctor, before somehow it bounced on top of his head. "Santa's coming to town!"
A growl from the bald doctor was enough to cause the Haro bounce away from him and back into Lacus' hands.
"Listen..." The doctor challenged with a sneer. "If I was jolly, old Saint Nick... you should be aware of what happens to children who he deems fit to be on his naughty list?"
"They get eaten alive and turned into coal?"
"Egg-exactly... WHAT THE?!" Robotnik exclaimed, with look of shock and disgust. "Who the heck told you that?!" None of the children answered him, causing the man turn away with a scoff. He crossed his arms, and turned his head, as if he was looking someone other than anyone in the room. "Kids today, so desensitized... by movies and television." The children heard that, and their expressions darkened.
"You're a mean one." One of the girls pouted.
The doctor looked unfazed by that. "Bah, humbug."
The same girl blew a raspberry in response.
"Pardon me, sir…"
"AH!" The doctor cried out in shock, as he whirled to face unflinching figure of Reverend Malchio, and right behind him was Kira's mother. "Holy crap! How'd you get behind me? That's the second time that's happened to me in this house!"
"Oh… I'm so sorry," Malchio placed a hand to his chest. "I'm sorry for any convenience. My children still have a distrust for strangers."
"Your children?"
"Yes, this place is my orphanage." The reverend stated.
"Oh… I see." Robotnik gave a side-glance to the kids. "Well, that explains a few things…" They gave the man the stink-eye for that last line.
Kira shared a glance with Lacus, and the teen could only respond with a silent sigh. Just one little thing was enough to rile the older man up, and the look he gave could tell Kira the man was barely containing whatever frustration he had been piling up since they met on the porch.
"Where are my manners, I'm Reverend Malchio." The man said. "I trust there is nothing of wrong you find here, is there?"
…
"Uh… no." The doctor looked to admit, while glancing around the place, and back to the people present now staring at him, as if he were an oddity. "I have come to this humble little home of yours, because I have been investigating in regards to the blackout."
"I see," Malchio smiled. "And… what is it that you have found…"
"Apparently… nothing." The doctor looked forced to say, almost with a tone of resignation in his voice. "I thought I did… but it turns out…" He gave a glance towards Kira and Lacus. "To be a dead end."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Malchio said.
"That's alright." Robotnik straighten his neck. "I'm sorry for wasting your time. I'll be off, and then…" He then paused, however. Just when it looked like the near-insufferable doctor was about to depart… he stopped right in front of the table.
"Is something wrong, Doctor?" Kira asked.
The doctor, however, leaned and tilted his head as if he was looking at some part of the table, before extended his hand and picked up an object for everyone in to see.
Kira's eyes widened… at the sight of a quill. A blue, glowing quill.
That was when Kira realized as he recalled… that he had laid Sonic's unconscious form on the space of the table to examine him, before they had taken him upstairs in bed.
Kira saw the faces of his mother, Lacus, and the children looking in fright… while Dr. Ivo Robotnik's face morphed into a sinister grin that flashed his twisted smile while looking at the object in his hand. Even with his glasses, the man's brows furrowed as they gaze at the object with profound recognition.
"Well, well, well…" He waved the quill towards Kira. "What do we have here? Something you didn't care mention, Mr. Yamato?"
"Uh…" Kira felt himself almost stutter in his throat, as the doctor's dark gaze caught him in place. "That's… That's just…"
"A glowstick!" Lacus stepped in to quickly say. "The lights were off, so the kids and I unpacked some of them to help us see in the dark." Now, that sounded like a good explanation on short notice. That was just like Lacus.
"Really?" Kira noticed the doctor's smile growing… dangerous. "Well, if that's true… can it do… this?!" Robotnik to Kira's confusion… sticked out his tongue towards the quill… and before the teen could feel any twinge of disgust.
ZAPP!
Kira heard his mother and the children gasp.
The quill had caused a sudden electric shock that almost shook the doctor, but otherwise left him unharmed. Except, for the widening grin on his face… and how his stare was now directed towards Kira and Lacus, as if he was a wolf observing a pair of rabbits.
"Doctor…" Kira said.
"Mr. Yamato…" The doctor twirled the blue quill in his fingers. "You disappoint me." The man then snapped his fingers.
First, Kira heard the kids yelp, and he looked and froze by what was coming from the open front door.
A drone. And came more than one.
They were sphere-shaped and white, while they each had a glowing crimson eye in the center. They floated through the room of the house, till they came near Dr. Robotnik's side, and their gazes were staring towards Kira and everyone else.
"Wh… What is this?!" Kira glanced from the staring drone back to the grinning doctor.
"Oh, what's the matter? You never beheld such graceful designs like this before?" Robotnik mockingly said. "Some of my finest work."
"What do you want?!"
"What I want? What I want?!" Robotnik exclaimed. "Stop playing dumb with me, brat!" He pointed his white-gloved finger at Kira. "I know… I KNOW you're hiding him!"
"Hiding who?!"
"THE HEDGEHOG, OF COURSE!" The doctor's outburst caused the whole room to pale with fright. "He's blue! He can run! And he CAN talk! I know he was here!" He held up the blue quill for emphasis.
"Even if he was… what do you want from him?" Kira demanded.
That caused the doctor's lips to reel back to show a set of gritted teeth, before he growled and lifted his foot to kick a chair across the room. The sudden action caused Kira hold Lacus protectively by instinct, while the kids whimpered in fright even more.
"He stole what belongs to me!" Robotnik growled like a feral lion. "He's a little thief! And has been nothing trouble everywhere he goes!"
Kira could now understand… the look of fear and dread that were in the blue hedeghog's eyes when he caught sight of this man skulking about their home. As if he was a small prey being tracked by a vicious predator. And not just a predator to him…
"Now… as to where he may be currently. If he has left already, then you will tell me anything as to what direction he may have gone to so that I can track him down. But…" His gaze turned dangerous even more. "If he still here in this place… and all of you…" He pointed at everyone. "Are willingly hiding him… then I will make sure..."
"Doctor!" A strange new voice interjected, that caused the doctor to now look annoyed…
Kira looked and was baffled to see a pair of shapes rolling from the entrance and across the floor. A red ball and a yellow cube. Both shapes rolled till they somehow jumped on the table near them, as if they were a couple of Lacus' other Haro's. They even looked so much like them. That was… until they both unfolded and…
"AH!" The children were caught by surprise. Even Kira's eyes widened, while he heard Lacus gasp beside him.
"Doctor," The red ball that unfolded to unveil something of a red almost-humanoid robot with hands and face, spoke towards Robotnik.
"What is it?" The doctor questioned, irritated. "Can't you see I'm busy?!"
"Well, sorry, sir..." The red one apologized. "We tried calling you, but you weren't answering your phone."
"Yeah, you got to hear this!" The yellow one said in a rapid tone. "You won't believe we found after we got word from the boys back on the ship! What they found is radical!"
"Will you just spit it out already?!" Robotnik screeched.
"Okay, hear this!" The red one began. "You see..."
"Hello! Hello there!"
"Huh?" Both the red and yellow robots paused, and glanced away from the doctor, to see something hopping their way. "What the?!"
Mr. Pink hopped and hopped till he bounced onto the kitchen table in front of the red and yellow bots.
"Hold on... who are you supposed to be?" The yellow bot leaned close to the pink Haro who tilted its head towards him.
Lacus glanced at Kira with a perplexed expression, and the boy understood why.
Mr. Pink stopped, before his little arms and legs unfolded, making a wave before starting spout some form of gibberish.
"I'm sorry, but I don't we met before."
"I'm Orbot," The red bot said. "And this yellow fellow here is Cubot."
"Howdy!" The one called Cubot said. "Say... you look... kinda like us."
"Pink! Pink!" Mr. Pink bounced. "Lacus calls me Mr. Pink! Thank you very much!"
"Uh... okay..." Kira glanced awkwardly to Lacus, who shared the same expression. "What's going on here?"
"Honestly, Kira..." Her blue eyes blinked. "I really don't know... but its strange."
...
"ARGH! ENOUGH!" A white-glove hand slammed between the Haro and the bots, frightening both. The same gloved hand would have slammed on Mr. Pink, if he hadn't bounced back, and fell into Lacus' hands. "I'm running out of patience!" The doctor stepped forward till he was towering over both Kira and Lacus. "Tell me now where the talking hedgehog is, AND I'll burn your house to the ground!"
"Uh, Doctor…?" Cubot said.
"WHAT?!" Robotnik whirled to growl at his small robot pair at the counter.
"You said… 'and.'" Orbot shyly pointed out. "I think you mean… 'or.'"
Some of children started giggling.
"ARGH!" The bald doctor gripped the sides of his head, his cheeks and brows were already turning red. Kira felt the man was even blowing both steam and patience as he turned his attention on him again. "Tell me where the talking hedgehog is… or…" The doctor briefly turned to glare at Orbot and Cubot, which caused them to shiver, before whirling back at Kira. "…I'll burn your house to the ground!"
…
"WITH ALL OF YOUR CORPSES BEING CREMATED ALONG WITH IT!"
It didn't take long for the children to start crying and whimpering again.
"Oh, man, Doctor, that sounds nasty…" Orbot commented, both he and his yellow friend looking tense.
"You wouldn't…" Lacus stuttered with horror.
"Oh, believe me, little lady," Robotnik said. "I wouldn't… but it's too bad you're all forcing me to take these drastic measures."
Kira instantly glared back at the fuming man.
"Doctor…" Lacus said, as she stood next to Kira. "If you think by threatening us will get you what you want then you are…"
"NAG! NAG! NAG!" Robotnik jabbered out, as he waved his arms angrily. "Don't. Care!"
The floating white drones then opened their sides to reveal the unmistakable sight of gun turrets. The sight was enough to cause the children to scream and move close behind Malchio and Kira's mother.
"All of you… now have five seconds to tell me where he is!" The doctor held up his open hand.
"Please, don't…"
"FIVE!"
"There are kids right…"
"C'mon, rack your brains!" Eggman exclaimed. "You might be able to find any lame excuse to go on living!"
"Don't you dare…" Kira glared.
"FOUR!"
"Oh, dear, he's gonna do it." Orbot dreaded, now starting to look away.
"THREE!"
"Would he really?" Cubot rubbed his head.
"TWO!"
Kira felt Lacus's hand clasped with his own.
"ONE!" Robotnik's face was now in front of Kira's.
"And zero, sheesh. Okay, that's it, time out, Eggman. Before one of your toys does more than shoot someone's eye out…"
"Shut up, Sonic, can't you see I'm… HUH?!" The doctor gasped, before turning to see right at the side of the table… a blue hedgehog staring back at him casually.
"Whassup?"
…
"AHHH!" Robotnik screamed an absurd yell in shock…
And that was when Kira punched him.
"WHOA!" Sonic yelped.
"Doctor!" Both Orbot and Cubot screamed as the bald doctor fell flat to the ground. "You… You…" Cubot pointed a yellow finger at Kira. "You just punched the Doctor!"
"ALERT!" The drones turned their gaze on Kira. "THREAT DETECTED!"
"KIRA!" Lacus cried out.
"Lacus, stay back!" Kira backed up as the drones extended another set of gun turrets on him.
"Oh, boy…" Sonic, however, leaned by the table with shaking head. "Well, so much for stealth." He then looked up with a grin. "Never my forte anyway."
…
CRASH!
Kira's eyes widened.
The first drone aiming at him and that was about ready to shoot… was now on the floor… broken and smashed. And in a millisecond, he couldn't explain, but a sudden blur waved overhead and zipped towards the next drone… and it exploded into pieces.
The children gasped, still holding to their Reverend. Kira fell to the floor on his rear, looking completely baffled.
"Kira!" Lacus and his mother came to his side. "Are you okay?!"
He was. He was still alive, and even… completely unharmed. Kira didn't understand. He glanced at the smashed-up drones in front of him… which just a few seconds ago… were hovering and aiming to shoot him in retaliation for slugging the doctor. Then his gaze traveled, and noticed Sonic on the other side of the room.
"Well…" The hedgehog glanced at all of them. "Why is everyone still standing here? This is the part where we get out now!"
…
Kira's eyes widened, and looked back to the ruin remains of the drones, before looking to see small robots trying to wake up the knocked-out form that was Dr. Robotnik, and he realized what Sonic was saying.
"Listen to him, everyone," Reverend Malchio clearly understood right away. "We must leave now!"
"Everyone, hurry to the truck!" Kira's mother cried out, and that was enough.
Few seconds later, everyone was making it out the front door, and would have made way to the truck in the back if…
"HALT!"
Everyone stopped, and the children screamed when they came upon another horrifying sight awaiting them outside. Right in front of the house, next to the sandy beach… was an army.
An army of…
"Robots…?" Kira exclaimed, as Lacus clung to his side, the girl clearly stunned by the sight before them. "More of them?!"
Besides a dozen more of the round-shaped drones hover overhead, there were more machines that looked far different than them, in both shape and design.
Kira saw several large cylinder-shaped beings that almost looked like giant soda cans. On their tops were green dome-like heads, each with a pair of glowing purple eyes glaring at them. Their arms were long and thin, with sharp blades where the fingers should be.
In the middle of them was a tall two-legged walker, with a round-head and crimson eye staring glaring at all of them.
"HALT." The machine spoke. "Surrender. You have 10 seconds to comply."
What now?
They were surrounded. Guns were aimed right at all of them. The kids. Reverend Malcio. His mother. Lacus…
Kira felt he barely had time to think to plan their next move, and find a way to…
Then all of a sudden… a sudden gust of wind breeze past them. Kira saw it. He saw the color of it. The blur. The same blur he saw before. And it was blue. Blue. A blue wind breeze past through all of them. The blue blur was in a constant motion. A rolling ball… that was surrounded by sparks of static around it. It rolled faster than the rolling tire of a racecar… zooming just by him and between two of the kids… before it jumped high in the air… and instantly smashed the face of the two-legged walker machine.
…
…
The blur bounced high in the air, where it unfurled its arm and limbs… and it was none other than…
"Sonic?" Kira uttered.
…
At that, even in the air, the hedgehog turned its head, and his gaze met with Kira's. And the former… made a smile and a wink, before he turned into a blurring ball again… and it dashed straight down to smashed clean through the damaged head of the walker.
Everyone screamed in shock. The walker… now having a gaping hole through its head… staggard, and struggled to find balance… before it fell backwards into the sand with a thump. And standing where it once stood… was the blue figure that was Sonic.
…
"Sonic?" Kira gasped, and everyone gasped and look straight at the smiling hedgehog.
"Well," The hedgehog clapped his hands. "That's one way to make an entrance."
"ALERT!" The remaining machines now turned their aim from the everyone to the grinning hedgehog that just demolished their walker. "TARGET ACQUIRED! SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" They stated in their monotone voice, now extending their guns towards. However, despite the threat now aiming towards him… Sonic was…
Kira paused. Was he yawning?!
"No need to state the obvious, boys…" Sonic casually said, before his head turned, and in the direction of the beach ahead of them. "Time for a warm-up!"
No sooner than that, the hedgehog was gone.
"SONIC!" Kira yelled as the machines turned and sped towards the glowing trail of blue racing across the beach of the island
"Alright… now I can feel the jelly in my legs fading! Now let's spice things up a bit!"
From his pack, the hedgehog pulled out a set of earplugs, before his finger tapped the number of times needed to find the right tune.
"Gotta Go Fast…" With the touch of PLAY, Sonic grinned, as outliers of his green eyes turned blue. The wind of the sea blowing in his face as he dashed across the lush sand of the island, all the while…
"Go, go, go, go, go, go, GOTTA GO FAST!" He yelled as the tune started, all the while he dashed to the side to avoid a crimson blast from one of the flying Egg Beetles on his tail.
"GOTTA GO FAST!"
He looked ahead and noticed a squad of bot shooters trying to come up in front of him.
"GOTTA GO FASTER! FASTER, FASTER, FASTER, FASTER!" Sonic jumped and used his feet to hop and hit each and every one of them before resuming his race across the sand. He slowed his speed to drift near a corner of the beach, before turning to dash into the forest, the Badniks following after him.
"Moving at the speed of sound!"
The blue hedgehog sped through the jungle of trees and branches ahead of him, and he was more than quick to avoid the obstacles, even while avoid the red blasts from the Badniks chasing after him.
"Quickest hedgehog around!"
He dashed and rolled up the slope of the mountain, before two soda can-like badniks crossed in front of him, making a turn left.
"Gotta ourselves a situation!"
He ran, and hoped on what was a bent palm tree. But his sudden pounced on it, caused the tree to quickly flip up, and it caused the hedgehog to fly through the air.
"Stuck in a new location without any explanation!"
The hedgehog found himself flying through the air, before pouncing on the ground and turning into a ball that dashed through trees… towards the big badniks. And to their shock, they didn't have time to swipe their blades at him… not when the blue blur of a thundering rolling ball… shot and ripped through three of them.
"Not time for relaxation!"
He fell through the air before he slid across a long skinny branch in the way he would slide down rail. He boosted before shot off like an air gun.
"Don't! Don't! Don't! Don't! Don't blink! Don't think!"
"Just go, go, go, go, g-g-g-g-go, go!"
He jumped and bounced across the trunks of the trees, giving him a quick advantage to dodge more shots from the incoming badniks still after him. He bounced off another, before using the momentum to shoot off and kicked through another badnick, before repeating the process again with another. In one of them, he had the time slap his rear and blow his tongue at one before obliterating it.
"Sonic, he's on the run!
"Sonic, he's number one!
"Sonic, he's coming next!
"So, watch out… Look for…"
He dashed through the body of the forest before coming onto the beach again, just making it close between two incoming badniks. He slowed only a bit, to give a smug look at one of them before dashing towards the open sea.
And with the momentum built… he was already running across the waves. With the remaining badnicks right behind him. He could only smirk.
"Gotta go fast! Sonic!
"Gotta go fast! Sonic!
"Gotta go faster, faster, faster, faster, faster!"
Just as badnick sprayed a blast, Sonic jumped backwards before kicking his feet in the robot's face. And that was right before he bounced towards the other flying badnick beside it. Before long, he bounced in the air to kick apart all the remaining squad of Eggman's bots.
All with a sense of style, of course.
"Gotta go faster!
"Gotta go fast!
"Gotta go faster, faster, faster, faster!"
He kicked at the last robot, and jumped high in the air before it exploded. He was high enough, with the sun shining down on him, the series of explosions below him, and letting a solid thumbs up to finish it.
Now that was all part in a day's work… for the world's fastest hedgehog.
"SONIC!"
"Doctor! Are you okay?!"
Eggman waved off any of Orbot and Cubot's attempts to help, as he himself rose from the floor, and put a hand to rub his head.
He then rubbed the bruise on his cheek.
…
"He… He…" Eggman trailed.
"Uh, Doctor?" Orbot said.
"He… slugged me… in the face."
"Uh… oh…" Orbot realized, and remembered. "Ah, well, yeah… when you weren't, I mean..." The red bot looked at Eggman's mouth. "Well, at least you haven't lost anymore teeth!"
"That was some punch!" Cubot bluntly said, causing his companion to look at him with horror. "You were caught off guard by Sonic, that kid wasted no time and decked right at your screaming…"
He didn't get to finish due to a kick sending him flying across the room.
"CUBOT!" Orbot exclaimed.
"That little…" Orbot looked back, and could only see something that matched that of beast's head burning red through his skin. "That little…!"
"Oh… no…" The small red bot shivered in place.
"That's it!" The mad doctor pulled up his wristwatch and started pressing commands in place. "I'M DONE PLAYING DOCTOR NICE GUY!"
"Wow, look at him go!"
"Did you see that! He just zapped right to the other side of the beach!"
"I see him now! He's now on the water!"
"How can he be?! He can't run on water!"
"But he is! You see those explosions! He took more of those robots down!"
"You saw it too, right, Mr. Kira!" The boy next to Kira asked excitingly. The teen didn't blink, as he kept himself trying to see where the blue hedgehog ran off to. And his eyes caught the static blue blur rushing across the beach.
It was impossible. What Kira was seeing was impossible.
The person... the hedgehog he had found the night before... he was not only up... but running. Running... if that was what he would call running... but at an impossible... rate. Sonic the Hedgehog... as he had introduced himself to Kira and the others nearly an hour ago... was going at a speed, perhaps faster than that of what even the most advanced mobile suits could accomplish.
And he was using it outmaneuver and even destroy the attacking drones that threatened them.
"Kira..." He glanced at Lacus, who took his hand.
"Is that..." The pink-haired girl glanced out to see the glowing blue blur speeding across the waves of the sea. "Is that really Sonic?"
...
"I... I guess... it is..." Kira could offer no explanation.
"Kira!" Both of them turned to see Caridad approaching them. "Malchio's got the truck started. We're ready!"
"But... what about Sonic?!" Kira turned in the direction. "We can't just..."
"I understand," His mother put a hand on his shoulder. "But it's too dangerous to stay here. We should leave while we..." She stopped, however...
There came the vibration from the ground. A rumble.
"What...?" Kira said.
Then came the sound of the children screaming behind them. Kira, Lacus, and Caridad turned to see something coming from behind the house, and their eyes widened in horror as its shadow encompassed over them.
"Huh?" Sonic then noticed something happening back at the house. He zoomed back across the waters, before crossing the beach and coming to stop at the front of the house to see…
"Oh, no…"
It was Eggman… in another robot suit. Again.
Though, it was actually his Egg mobile, now attached with metal arms and legs, standing next to the orphanage, and towering over the now-terrified residents. And in the grasp of the mech's right metal hand was…
"Let her go!" Lacus cried out.
One of the kids was screaming while she was raised in the air.
"Very poor choice of words…" Eggman sneered as he made the metal hand almost loosen its grip on the girl, and from how she was raised high up in the air.
"NO!"
"Hold it right there, Eggman!" Sonic zoomed till his feet screeched against the sand with a halt.
"No more games, Sonic!" Eggman glared at him. "Hand over the Chaos Emeralds right this moment or…"
"Or what?" The hedgehog glared, as he glanced to the struggling girl. "Look, you just wanted me… well, I'm here now. Point all your toys at just me, and not them." He glanced to Kira, Lacus, Malchio, Caridad, and the remaining kids near them. "They have nothing to with this…"
"Oh… I'm afraid for your information… they might as well do now!" Eggman growled, as he pointed to his face. "This bruise on my left cheek proves it!"
Sonic grimaced, and he noticed to see Kira, who had been the one to have the guts to slug the mad doctor when the opportunity came, was now giving an angry glare at the man riding atop of his machine.
"One last chance: hand over that backpack to my feet… or in the next five seconds…" The metal fingers around the young girl started to tighten around her, causing her to cry. "I really was not in the mood to hurt children, you know!"
Of course. But when has that even stopped you? Sonic glared.
"Even you know you're not stupid to risk it." Eggman warned. "You don't think to test if you're fast enough before I…"
"Alright, please!" Lacus cried out again, now looking the most worried. "Just please… don't hurt her…"
"That's for Sonic to decide!" Eggman glanced back at Sonic. "Well…?"
…
Sonic narrowed his eyes, before he unslung the backpack from his shoulder. He glanced again to see the orphan girl looking miserable in Eggman's metal grasp. He turned to meet Kira's gaze, who looked the most unsure. Sonic made a nod, knowing what he had to do.
"Okay… alright…" Sonic stepped towards the Egg machine. "I giving it right to you." He kept his gaze on Eggman. "Nice and easy…" He was getting close to metal feet of the suit. "Now we can all relax and you can…"
The sand exploded underneath Sonic's feet, before he could jump or scream.
"SONIC!" He heard Kira scream, while he felt himself being restrained and lifted high up in the air.
"Wh… What the…?" The hedgehog opened his eyes to look what was keeping him on hold. It looked like he was caught in the pincers of giant centipede that had busted out of the sand. But this thing… it was entirely out of metal… and had a familiar look to it.
"Hahahahahah! You fell for it!" The mad doctor laughed from his mobile seat. "What? You thought I was stupid enough to think you would easily give up the emeralds like that?! We already went through this kind of scenario before, my old archnemesis! I just need you to take a few steps forward to right where I wanted you before Serpenter could snatch you!"
"Serpenter…?" Sonic's eyes widened. "Wait, this is…"
"Oh, so you do recognize this baby of mine?" Eggman grinned excitingly. "Well, ever since I rebuilt him, he's been itching for a little payback! Too bad you don't have your little girlfriend here to do your dirty for you!" He snapped his fingers. "Serpenter!" The doctor grinned even more. "Give Sonic a little swim."
"Wait, what…? AHH!" Sonic screamed when the snake-centipede machine scurried from the spot, across the sandy beach, before they dipped into the deep waters of the sea.
Sonic, unable to move, struggled as he was forcibly pushed through the water by Serpenter. Before long, the machine creature jumped from the water and into the air for a brief time, barley giving the hedgehog time to catch a breath of air.
From his spot, Eggman could only grin. "You won't get away…"
"AHHH!" Sonic yelled as he was being pulled up and down from the water as if he was tied to a dolphin… no… a nightmarish-metal eel. And machine was proving to be a sadist as it kept driving Sonic through the water in order to deprive of any chance of air as possible.
"What better way to get rid of a rat…" The doctor sneered. "…than by drowning it!"
"No, stop it!" Lacus cried out.
Serpenter then emerged from the water, and started trailing across the sandy beach, before returning to the front of Eggman's machine and the front of the house.
"Now that's more like it…" Eggman smiled at the sight of Sonic looking both wet and completely worn-down.
"Oh, since you have now played your part." The metal hand lowered, before releasing the girl, who immediately cried and scrammed towards her friends, first heading straight to Lacus and Caridad. She started crying as both women encircled their arms around her.
"And now…" The metal hand grabbed and lifted Sonic's backpack to Eggman's level, who's smile widened even more. "Oh, hohohoho! Now, I've got the jackpot! Well, looks like our business here is finally done!"
…
"Oh, but one last thing!"
Serpenter dropped Sonic's form onto the ground, before it scurried away. The hedgehog slowly lifted its head, barely opening his eyes when…
SLAM!
"NO!" Kira cried out, as did everyone else in horror.
"ARGH!" Sonic grunted, as the metal foot of the Eggman's suit lifted right over him… before it fell on him again.
"What are you doing?!" Kira yelled.
"Making sure this little rat no longer causes me trouble ever again!" Eggman stated with a sadistic sneer. "And nothing better than a good game of SQUASH!"
"He can't even stand up!" Kira yelled even more. "You're gonna kill him!"
The metal foot slammed down again.
"Stop it…" Lacus muttered, unable to look at the scene, while the children behind her whimpered. "You're hurting him…"
"Hohohohoho!" The mad doctor's laughs all but voided their cries.
Kira couldn't move, even as the metal foot of the doctor's mobile armored suit slammed again on Sonic. He and everyone else… could only stand by… and watch as the mad man continued to crush the hedgehog under his boot, even after he had one of his twisted drones to torment him already by nearly drowning him.
They were going to keep standing by and watch… as the person… the hedgehog who they tried to hide… and who went out of his way… to protect them from the drones… was being crush to the brink of…
…
…
"No…" Kira felt his own legs turn weak, and kneeled to the ground. There was nothing he could do. The scene before him… was no different. No different… than what he had experienced many times two years ago…
…
There was nothing he could do help Sonic. How could he? His eyes wavered. The mad man… had a mobile suit machine, along with whatever bizarre, twisted machines he had at his disposal. He could easily turn his attention on them again, and could easily dispose of them as if they were bugs.
Kira had nothing to counter that.
Not anymore.
…
Because what did he have… or what could he do to…
The boy paused… when he noticed the doctor's cockpit was at the same level of the house's roof.
Kira's eyes widened, before they narrowed. He glanced back to see the doctor laughing as he brought his suit's metal upon the downed form of Sonic again. There wasn't much time left.
"Kira!" The teen ignored Lacus's cry, when he sprinted from his spot on the sand, and right back towards the porch of the house. He burst back through the front door, before making his way towards staircase leading to upstairs. He opened the door to the right room, crossing it till he came upon the open window, that showed the madness happening right outside.
"Aw, still trying to get up, huh?" The doctor mocked to see that despite the bruises and damage, Sonic was still trying to lift himself up. "Well, let's see if you can take another one of this?"
"AHH!"
"Huh…?" Robotnik turned, confused, before he gasped to see a young teen jumping from the upstairs window, and managing to grab on to side of his open cockpit.
"KIRA!" Both Lacus and his mother cried out.
Kira winced, as he kept his grip at the sides of the suit, before he was able to pull himself up, before jumping right into the Egg Mobile's cockpit with shocked doctor.
"What the…?!" The man sputtered out in shock. "How did you…?!" He didn't get to finish, when the boy slugged another punch across his face.
Kira glared as he grabbed the man's red coat, and pulled back his fist to punch the bald man's face again.
"DAH!" Robotnik yelled as Kira's fist connected again with his cheek. "Why you little…!" The doctor growled, as he stopped the boy's fist from punching him again, grabbing him by his shoulders and pushing him against the other side of his cockpit. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"
"ERGH!" Kira grabbed hold of the mad man's hands that were trying to push him down. "Let… go… LET GO!" His fingers encircled the doctor's wrists, and then squeezed.
"YARGH!" Robotnik cried out as he felt both his wrists in pain, causing Kira to break out, and push him back. The man made to swipe at Kira, only for the boy duck his head. He tried to grab at him, only for the teen to back up and push at the controls.
Suddenly, the assembled Egg Machine staggard back, as if it was losing balance. Everyone below started crying in fright.
"NO!" Robotnik cried out. "We're falling…!"
"No, you don't!" Kira grabbed at the console before Robotnik did, and the robot suit stepped backward, causing the cockpit to rock even more than before.
"You little brat!" The angry man grabbed at Kira. "You dare defy me?! You dare defy... THE EGGMAN HIMSELF?!"
"I'm trying… to stop you…" The boy's purple eyes glared back at the man. "From hurting anyone else!"
Kira lifted his arm and elbow Eggman in the nose, causing the latter to cry out in pain. The teen ended up pulling at the console, causing the machine to flail its metal arms in the air, and turning to face the house.
With another tug, the machine suit lost balance, and started to fall face first towards the front of the house.
Then came the sound of the EGGMAN'S scream, before the sound of a crash.
There... for now...
You can't know how much fun it is to write Eggman, compared to a lot of villains I had been used to writing. I took longer, just to adjust a few scenes with some improvisation.
I admit that this update came ten days later than I had intended, and almost divided it in two.
I finally saw Sonic 3 in theaters, and I didn't realize till later that it was Jim Carrey's Birthday! Thank you my man for giving such splendor and life into another legend! And with this update today, I heard it's now released on streaming!