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crusherthedoctor · 5 years ago

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Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 15: DR. EGGMAN

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, it’s finally time for him. The bad doctor himself. Gather round ladies and gentleman, for the spotlight is on the arch-villain that shines above them all... Dr. Eggman.

The Gist: It's the dawn of the 90's. A little company called SEGA had an ephiphany. They wanted to make a video game juggernaut that could rival the quality and iconic appeal of the then-unmatched Super Mario Bros, and their current star, Alex Kidd, just wasn't doing it in the way that they hoped. They promptly set about starting anew, as a worldwide phenomenon wasn't going to make itself.

So a gentleman named Naoto Ohshima created a selection of design concepts for this brand new mascot. One of these concepts was President Roosevelt in his pajamas.

Seen here with his catgirl body pillow.

The response to this character was “This is good, but we think kids would prefer kicking the shit out of him”, and so he was given an antagonistic role instead. In the meantime, after juggling the rest of their ideas, they eventually settled on a rabbit hedgehog named Sonic for their main protagonist, knowing his Mickey Mouse-like aesthetic would help endear him to the audience, and the franchise as a whole would have an easier time gaining a DeviantART fanbase later on down the line.

Initially, the character of today's review was but a mere lackey among many, seemingly little more than one of numerous minions working for Sonic's originally intended main villain, the Nonspecific Goblin. He was also dressed as a bee for some reason.

Which is the least weirdest thing in this image.

At some point however, they all got together and decided that actually, the guy with the moustache was the only one worth shit, and so he was upgraded to the role of main villain himself. With a spiffy new attire of red and black, he was given the bold title of Dr. Eggman, because with a shape like that, what else are you gonna call him?

“Funny you should say that”, laughed SEGA of America, as they rebelled like an angsty teen and named him Dr. Ivo Robotnik instead. While this name does make equal sense for the character, as he is indeed a hard worker who also happens to like robots, the reason for this name's existence seems to have been mainly because they thought Eggman was too out there of a name for an egg-like man. Whatever the case, this would confuse a lot of fans for years, and remains a point of divisiveness to this day... Unless you're like me and your first game in the series was Advance 2, in which the manual clears it up right away, and you accept the idea of a character having two names and immediately carry on with your life.

He would have aimed it perfectly if it weren't for the Sonic Heroes Parrot distracting him.

And that was that, really. It didn't take long for them to come up with his characterization, which was that of a cackling fiend with an ego to end all egos. This guy was the Narcissist Alpha, more king than actual kings, no strings attached. Other villains would build statues of themselves, but only Robotnik would deface Ancient Egyptian monuments to improve them with his face. Other villains would think “Nah, refacing all four in Rushmore would look silly”, but only the Eggman, the Eggmyth, the Egglegend, would go “Well fuck you, I'm doing it anyway.” Then he'd do it anyway, and proceed to address to the entire world that he did in fact do it anyway.

It also didn't take long for them to develop his primary schtick. With the dynamic of Sonic VS Eggman, you had a classic rivalry between nature and technology. Interestingly enough however, this turned out to be executed more tactfully than your typical Amish-abiding examples in similar media. Never was technology itself regarded as a corruptive influence that you should never utilise no matter what. Rather, it was only as good or as evil as the person using it, with it just so happening that the villain loved machinery only slightly less than he loved himself, and it was countered by Sonic’s best friend being a techno wiz in his own right anyway. Anyhow, with his machinery, the doctor would make a name for himself among video game baddies by confronting his enemy as the boss of nearly every zone in each game, rather than hide away until the endgame.

And all without a driver's licence.

In his soon-to-be-30 years of activity, he has largely remained the same since his inception. Other characters have been introduced, other villains have came and went, but Eggman has remained THE villain of the franchise, and he's remained a vital part of the Sonic the Hedgehog universe... with a slight redesign along the way.

The only ad I don't want to skip.

The Design: Eggman's design may be more simplistic than the likes of Bowser and Ganondorf, and he may not look as openly threatening at first glance, but it's still a very iconic look no matter what look it is. His original appearance was devised so that kids could have an easy time drawing him, which only makes me feel worse about not being able to do it as a grown adult without it looking like a Sexy Legs Kirby.

Still, it's a classic for a reason. With his to-the-point colour scheme, contrasting heavily with Sonic's blue, and his capelet collar resembling walrus tusks, it was an instant winner and made everyone goo goo for g'joob.

The Emeralds he’s juggling are a metaphor for the divided fan community.

And when it was time to give the cast an update for Sonic's first real 3D adventure (or at least the first one that didn't get axed for being a magic eye seizure), Eggman got a respectable change of his own. He was taller, his getup was militaristic, and his body was more legitimately egg-shaped rather than basketball-shaped. He also gained a pair of goggles that he never uses, except in scenes where he puts them on and then never uses them.

“How do my chicken legs not collapse under the might of my gluttonous mass? Find out in an unrelated tie-in novel that you have to pay additional money for.”

There was also that one redesign from 2006, but...

Be it Classic or Modern, I've always loved his design. Before he even says a word or does anything, you know from his appearance that he's a bit of a clownish sort. But he also has a subtle creepy vibe going on, with the way his glasses often obscure his eyes, and how this only makes the pearly-white, unnecessarily wide grin on his face that much more empty and unsettling. This little bit of eeriness hiding among his cartoonish physique reflects the full extent of his character pretty accurately, as we’ll delve into soon enough.

If nothing else, it's more effective than him having no eyes at all.

GRRRRRRRR FUCK YOU BUNNIES THAT I CAN'T SEE

The Personality: If you've seen my villain reviews, then you'll have gathered that Sonic's rogues aren't known for having much in the way of personality. There are exceptions, but they are indeed the exceptions. More often than not though, whether it's an alien conquerer, an ancient monster, or Dan Green the Recolour, they can be summed up thusly: They're evil, they want to destroy the world, and the heroes stop them because they're evil and want to destroy the world. If they're feeling particularly daring, they might go for a second colour.

Luckily, as if to counter all these cardboard drawings, the central adversary of the franchise makes up for these voids of personality by actually having one. And what a personality it is.

The writers of SatAM looked at this and thought “No, this won't do, there's no character to work with here.”

He really is brimming with comedic charm. Every moment that he's present...

Every moment that he shows off...

Every moment that he basks in his own glory...

Every moment that he unveils a new wicked scheme...

Every moment that he puts his enemies to the test...

Every moment that he challenges the world...

Every moment that he laughs at the world...

Every moment that he lives, nay, every moment that he breathes...

Yes, the man has plenty of humor, and it's part of what makes him so enjoyable and memorable. However, if you think being a clown is all there is to him, then prepare to have your expectations subverted initial assumptions taken in a unexpected direction, because although he puts the goof in goofy, he ALSO puts the ��oh...?” in “oh shit”.

For you see, Eggman is by all means the epitome of Laughably Evil, but do not, under any circumstance, take him at face value and write him off as a joke. He is anything but.

For starters, he can swing a planet.

There is a rule of thumb that I personally go by with Eggman’s characterization, one that I believe is an immediate make or break factor in regards to whether or not you understand what makes this villain work. Eggman - when you put all his secondary traits aside - is made up of two prominent halves. There’s the egocentric meme machine that bounces up and down like a kid with his N64 and laughs like Santa... and there’s the monster buried within that remains completely and utterly unrepentant for everything he’s responsible for. This is very important. Despite the character’s simplicity at his core, many writers have failed to grasp this, official writers included, and I for the life of me cannot understand why this is such a recurring problem. Eggman is funny, AND Eggman is evil. Both are equal. When you take away one or the other, you may have a funny character, or you may have an evil character, but you don’t have Eggman. Simple as.

Armchair intellectuals may argue that Eggman’s deeds aren’t that evil, since he tends to be merely callous rather than actively trying to hurt or kill people. Those people are probably the types on TV Tropes who weigh a villain’s evilness and effectiveness purely through the surface-level scale of their goals rather than what they actually do to achieve them. While it is true that Eggman tends to be more apathetic about the aftermath of his actions, that doesn’t - and shouldn’t - negate how dangerous he is. It shouldn’t negate what he’s capable of. It shouldn’t negate how far he’s willing to go. And it shouldn’t negate the consequences and casualties that can and do result from his many schemes.

Seriously, think about this for a second. If you confronted Eggman about his current plan to... I dunno, make a water park in Africa or some shit, and you informed him that there has been unexpected mass suffering as a result of this, how do you think he would truly feel about that? What do you think he would actually say to that?

Spoiler: No fucks.

If anything, that he “merely” doesn’t care either way as long as he gets what he wants is more uniquely horrific and deplorable than if he were a generic baddie who committed his evulz specifically for evulz’s own sake and nothing more. At least you’re inadvertently acknowledging that other people’s lives have value when you act one-dimensionally gleeful over ending them, but when your immediate response to the side-effect of a million potential deaths and environmental disasters is “Oh well, fuck ‘em, Eggmanland time baybeeee”, that’s a new level of cruelty.

Besides, even in the Genesis era, he was carpet bombing Angel Island...

“Good thing I have this shield. Sucks to be this forest!”

And he’s only gotten worse since then, indulging in such acts as going full suicide bomber with a missile, after his initial plot to destroy and rebuild Station Square through the means of Chaos and the Egg Carrier didn’t work out...

But don’t worry, he kept it lighthearted by making it look like a penis.

Making one of Sonic’s friends go insane with power against their will, forcing the Blue Blur to put them down personally...

It’s ironic, cause he’s metal. Or do I have to awkwardly explain the joke two more times before I’m a proper YouTuber?

Capturing thousands of innocent aliens, and forcefully converting them into mindless beasts...

I’m pretty sure I saw Alfred Molina conduct this experiment one time.

He even removed the heroes’ collective IQs so that he could shoehorn a cliffhanger on an already terrible game.

Thanks, cunt.

And honestly? When it comes to Sonic and chums at least, Eggman does let out a more openly sadistic side now and then. Need I mention that time when the doctor forced Sonic and two random buddies to make their way through a trap-infested island of his own creation? Not for the sake of nabbing Chaos Emeralds or anything of the sort mind you, he just wanted the blue motor mouth to suffer.

Images you can hear.

To make matters even worse, as befitting of his manchild tendencies, he’s ridiculously petty. How petty? Petty enough to abduct a little girl’s mother for no other reason than because Cheese completely trivialized his forces the girl was friends with Sonic and helped participate in the latest kicking of his own ass.

He only picked Vanilla because there was no Strawberry.

But at least his captives can admire the sheer variety that their captor has to offer. One of the greatest things about the doctor's style is that anything goes. With all due respect to Bowser, he tends to stick with his fiery castles (although he has been branching out recently), and plenty of other villains in gaming tend to be similarly stuck in their ways when it comes to tastes. Eggman, on the other hand, will create all sorts of fortresses and reside anywhere on the planet and beyond. It can be in the sky, in space, somewhere hot, somewhere cold, under the sea, in a circus... and every now and then, he might combine some of them together and thensome. So long as it's even vaguely mechanical in some way, his ground rules have already been ticked off.

Hang on a minute...

You know what else Eggman is? Relentless.

Persistence is a quality that most villains by their very nature share, lest they cease to be an effective antagonist. But once again, Rrrrrrrobotnik maxes out more than any other, and will often go to insane lengths to keep the current plan going, or if not that, then to spite Sonic.

Exhibit A: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, in which the grand finale consists of the madman throwing a gravity-shifting contraption your way, busting out a Kaiju-sized robo, escaping with the Master Emerald after his defeat, continuing to escape even after the Death Egg has been thoroughly destroyed, getting chased through the asteroid fields in space by Super Sonic, and only finally going down when the escape craft and the piloted mech controlling the escape craft are down. And all of this came after a grand adventure where, among other things, he destroyed an entire level just to kill you.

There are immortal omnipotents that put up less of a challenge.

“Looks like it’s time for Plan... *checks paper*... F.”

His relentlessness also reveals another side of the doctor that is simultaneously admirable and terrifying: He bows to no one. No one. Doesn’t matter who it is. Doesn’t matter how powerful they are. Doesn’t matter how much the odds are stacked against him. If another villain were to demand that he cower before them, the scientist would laugh and show through physical demonstration that this is not the way the egg rolls. Unless he’s absolutely unable to do so, he will give it his all every time, and even if he can’t, he’ll use his crafty mind to find some other way to get around the issue. You can beat him in battle, you can foil his plans, but you absolutely cannot break his resolve.

“Dad said it’s my turn to play with the Ruby. I know this, because I’m your dad.”

What about his relationship with those who actually serve him? Specifically, his own robots? Well for the most part, he treats them like absolute crap, what with verbally abusing them at every corner and being all too willing to go full Vader on them the moment they mess up. He IS capable of expressing fondness and giving praise to his more successful creations, like with Metal Sonic and Gamma, but even then, it’s a roundabout way of praising himself, since he’s the one who made them what they are. So basically, you’re only valuable to him if you make him look good.

Gaming in the Clinton Years in a nutshell.

And as for Sonic? Yeah, like with any legendary and long-lasting hero/villain dynamic, it’s obvious that Eggman has some degree of begrudging respect for his opponent. But if you think this respect would dissuade him from actually going through with his ambitions of rulership...

As the hedgehog’s apparent demise in Sonic Adventure 2 proves, as well as his defeat at the hands of Infinite and the subsequent six months of brutal conquest in Sonic Forces, Eggman is dead serious about his goals. If you think he’d get bored after conquering the world, he would simply expand his resources and have a crack at conquering the rest of the universe. When he says he hates that hedgehog, I’m inclined to believe that he means it, and although he may enjoy his “games” with Sonic to an extent, I also can’t see him wanting to remain stuck on square one forever.

If this were Sonic X, he’d just grieve.

By the way, the scene above? Undeniable proof that for all the doctor’s boasting, he’s not actually lying or exaggerating when he prides himself on his brilliance. Because when you get past his goofy exterior, when you look beyond the occasional, relatively minor mistake (*glares at IDW*), you’ll see that... yes. He IS brilliant. And not just in the science department either, although his countless robots and strongholds over the years are no doubt a testament to his credentials there. While he may prefer to go in big and bold, he can also be shrewd with his strategies when he wants to be.

Sonic’s aforementioned near-death experience, for example, was the result of Eggman turning the heroes’ own cunning plan on its head by being one step ahead of them. And in Sonic Unleashed, he lured his enemy into a trap, culminating with him cancelling out Super Sonic.

“...and pay the price for your Werehog gameplay...”

And after all those years of struggling, he finally got a giant monster under his complete control. “But he had help!”, you say? Yeah, from himself.

Did Flynn sleep through all this...?

Much like his inner nature as an evil bastard, Eggman's effectiveness is likewise commonly underestimated by writers. Yes, he occasionally makes mistakes. Yes, he occasionally overlooks details. Yes, he occasionally lacks foresight. But he is NOT stupid. A hero is only as good as their villain after all, and if Eggman is portrayed as a bumbling fool, then how can Sonic be a truly great hero? Eggman is humorous, sinister, and when the chips are down, competent.

...Did I mention that he's also a master Olympian?

The Execution: There's no surprises here. You knew from the moment you saw this review that my stance wasn't going to be anything less than 100% fanboy adoration. In that respect, this section almost feels redundant, because there's only so many ways I can say “Dr. Eggman is the fucking shit and I'm eternally grateful to Mr. Ohshima for bringing this absolute masterpiece into our world” without it getting repetitive. So to cap this review off, I'm going to very briefly compare his portrayals in other media, and explain why they tend to not be as good as the original SEGA Eggman.

“Cause they’re not balanced, right?” you ask. “Cause they veer too far in a particular direction? You're so predictable,” you add. To that I say:

1. Yeah, basically.

2. ...S-Shut up...

3. While the conclusion may be obvious, it's nonetheless important because as I mentioned previously, despite how straightforward this villain is, writers seem absolutely intent on not getting the point. There are loads of villains out there who share Eggman's talent of mixing hilarity and evil together with a bow of competence on top. Two of those villains are among the most famous supervillains of all time, in fact. You might have heard of them.

Joker can do it just fine. Green Goblin can do it just fine. And plenty of others can do it just fine. So why is it such an issue with Eggman? What is it about a round body and a long moustache that gets people to think “No, this guy is absolutely incapable of being comedic and threatening at the same time, no question, end of.” Is it because he’s a more cartoony franchise? Well, that can't be the case, because even Mario has a couple of beloved examples. Fawful, anyone? How about Dimentio? Cackletta? King Boo? K. Rool? Hell, you could even count Bowser himself depending on the portrayal.

Anyway, the point is, writers tend to miss the mark for one reason or another. With Sonic X for example, he wasn't too bad in the beginning, but as the show went on, he became exactly the toothless non-villain that many people misjudge him as. We all know that scene where he berates Black Narcissus for harming their captives (not for pragmatic reasons mind you, he genuinely took issue with the act on moral grounds, even though his own hands weren’t exactly clean either), but even before that point, he was doing such things as healing an injured Sonic without an ulterior motive, not taking any opportunity whatsoever to start conquering Sonic's world because he was pining for Sonic's attention, and being the Jiminy Cricket to Chris Thorndyke's Pinocchio. Why they thought the goddamn villain should be the moral conscience of this show remains an unanswered question, but at least it no longer influences how he's portrayed in the games.

Then you have the IDW comic, which is a similar tale of starting off decent and then careening wildly into the abyss, but for different reasons. Initially, he was built up to be in-line with his competent, foresight-packed self from Forces, with his inevitable return being met with dread, and a delightfully devilish scheme to match when he finally did so. But somewhere along the way, Ian Flynn thought that Eggman coming back from his amnesiac period and returning stronger than ever with a new minion and a deadly virus wasn't enough to up the stakes... so they decided to “up the stakes” by turning both the doctor and his new minion into massive imbeciles so as to justify their plot getting hijacked by the Deadly Six, a move so predictable yet infuriating that it got even me to turn against the Six. And the reason the Six got invited in-universe is because Starline decided he didn’t like being unique and devolved into Snively 2.0 behind Eggman’s back. All this from the alleged “best writer” for the series...

Yeah, same.

And then you have the Boom version, which shares basically the same issues as Sonic X but in a more mundane fashion. It's easier to dismiss because it's a comedy-centric show and his redesign makes it easier to separate him from mainline Eggman, and I'll gladly admit that he does have a lot of genuinely funny lines that redeem him a little bit. But yeah, too much of not being a true villain for my tastes.

Now this isn't to say that there haven't been portrayals in other media that are up there with the original. The versions that I consider better off than the ones above include...

- The OVA Eggman is pretty faithful all things considered, aside from his romantic feelings for Sara, which feels slightly off since the idea of Eggman loving anyone other than himself is incredibly unrealistic at best. But it doesn't actually soften or undermine his deviousness, so I'm willing to let it slide for an alternate take. Especially since he gave us the best Metal Sonic out there.

- AoStH is far from a perfect show, but there's a reason why even its detractors tend to treat its version of Robotnik like a national treasure. Admittedly most of that is because of the legendary Long John Baldry and the endless memes associated with this incarnation, but despite hailing from a comedy-focused show like Boom Eggman, this Robotnik still had a lot of legitimately dangerous moments, more than you'd think.

- And of course, Jim Carrey's Robotnik in the Sonic movie is just... *chef's kiss*

So obvious aesop though it may be, but you see what the more effective portrayals have in common, I assume?

Granted, this also isn't to say that SEGA Eggman himself has had a perfect track record. The decade's worth of upstagings and backstabbings by other villains should be enough of a counterpoint to that claim, and I've also made it clear now and then that I take issue with certain games regarding what they do with the doc, no matter how revered they may be by other fans. Sonic Adventure 2, for instance. I praised the fake emerald scene, and I do sincerely believe that he has a number of other badass moments in that game, but because Shadow was playing him like a fool the whole time, I can't help but have a bitter taste in my mouth when I look at the bigger picture.

So close to greatness, yet so far...

So in that case, which game do I think has Eggman's best showing overall? That's not in any way an easy question, but lack of dialogue aside, I'm gonna go with Sonic 3 & Knuckles again, as the classic journey through the sights of Angel Island plays out in a way that highlights just how determined, ruthless, and underhanded he is with carrying out his mission to revive the Death Egg by any means necessary. Other games do win out in other areas - SA1 for how bastardly he is, Forces for how cunning he is, Colours for his hilarious announcements, CD for using the scenery to show the effects of his actions, Mania for not letting the other villain walk all over him - but for the purest essence of the doctor at his cartoony yet competent best, I'd say S3&K is a reasonable bet.

And when it comes to all his many traits, which one do I find the most special one of all? Well again, far from easy to answer, but I think the coolest aspect about him is also one of the most overlooked. Robotnik, despite whatever superhuman qualities he may occasionally unveil, is for all intents and purposes a regular guy with a big brain. This might make him appear unimpressive when compared to your average Final Fantasy villain and the like, but if anything, it paints him in a more flattering light than expected, because he doesn't even need to be on their level to still be on the radar. It's easy to be a big bad threat when you're an ancient demon or an almighty god-like being, and you only have to wave a hand to cause armageddon. But when you're just Some Guy™ going up against superpowered opponents, meaning you have to earn your threat level the hard way, and you prove to be a challenge every step of the way regardless, because you're just THAT much of a genius... that's fucking awesome, no other way to put it.

And you know what else is awesome? You may not like Eggman, and you don’t have to like him, but like it or not, he is directly and indirectly responsible for a vast majority of the coolest and most loved moments and aspects of this franchise.

The opening to Unleashed? Eggman set up the scene.

Shadow running around and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman released him.

Blaze getting involved with Sonic’s world and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman’s half-responsible for that.

Metal Sonic? Eggman made him.

Egg Dragoon? Eggman.

Big Arm? Eggman.

Monkey Dude? Eggman.

That text is missing a blue checkmark.

This review is probably longer than the echidna family tree in Archie at this point, so I better finish it off. If it wasn't obvious from all the paragraphs I've belted out in this post, I'm very passionate about Eggman and the way he’s portrayed. Ever since I got into the Sonic franchise in 2003, I immediately took a liking to the doctor, and to this day, he remains not only my favourite Sonic villain, my favourite Sonic character, but also my favourite character period. Some may find it a weird or lame choice compared to other, “better” characters, but that's the way it is, and I ain't about to change it. I am very unlikely to ever stop enjoying the hell out of this villain, and even if he got irreversibly ruined in some way, I'd still continue to love what he was before that point.

Because yeah, he's not the deepest character ever, but... who cares? Is it not enough that we find something that appeals to us? When I got into Sonic, I was introduced to fantastic games, a likable cast, high quality soundtracks, beautiful worlds, numerous friends on this very site, and of course, the lovely treasure that is my partner. I may not have been with this franchise during the 90's, but it's given me just as much fun, nostalgia, and happiness as those who were. Despite the flawed titles, despite the fandom conundrums, I still love this series.

And I still love this absolute prick.

Crusher Gives Dr. Eggman a: TWO Thumbs Up!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Dr. Ivo Robotnik

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eggman-empire · 5 years ago

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Dr. Eggman’s Good Deeds

by Dr. Mechano

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik: Nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog and would-be conqueror of the world. For almost thirty years, this man's turned animals into robots, unearthed ancient monsters, and threatened the planet with doomsday weapon after doomsday weapon. In short, he's a villain's villain. A true bad egg.

But rather than celebrate his feats of villainy, I wanted to talk about the rare times across the franchise that Eggman has performed truly good acts. Eggman's capacity to care, to show kindness, to help others.

Now, I want to clarify what I mean here. For the sake of this list:

I will not be including Eggman teaming up with the heroes to save the world. These acts of "goodness" inherently carry an ulterior motive; That being to save himself and make sure there's still a world for him to conquer. Plus, half the time it's one of his own schemes going out of control anyway. So just saving the world in and of itself won't make the cut for the purpose of my post.

I will also not be including a mere lack of cruelty as "goodness." You don't get a cookie for feeding your prisoners or not torturing people. So while I do think the times where Eggman's lack of cruelty has been pointed out (such as in Unleashed) are important, they're not what I'm talking about either.

I'm specifically talking about times when Eggman does something kind, or helpful, or selfless toward others without some villainous ulterior motive. I will also be including spinoff material, since the majority of these examples come from those rather than the games. So! With that out of the way, let's begin!

Sonic Lost World - Eggman saves Tails

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Now, I mentioned that merely teaming up with the heroes doesn't warrant a mention. But I think this goes beyond that.

Tails attaches Cubot's head to a Crabmeat, which causes Cubot to become very aggressive, attacking Tails. Eggman - without a moment to think or evaluate the situation - immediately leaps into harm's way and shoves Tails to safety, honoring his truce with his enemies by putting his own safety on the line to protect them.

Now, you could make the argument that Eggman is only keeping Tails around because he needs him for Sonic to take care of the Zeti (which could also be an argument for Eggman saving Sonic himself later in the same game), but consider: A.) How spur-of-the-moment this was; Eggman didn't have time to calculate how he could use this situation to his advantage, and just leaped as soon as Tails was in danger, and B.) He put himself at risk to save someone else.

Yes, by the end of the game - after the terms of their truce were met, with the Zeti defeated and the machine disabled - Eggman goes right back to fighting them. But during their time working together, Eggman is an honorable ally who ultimately saves Tails's and Sonic's lives. I feel like this goes beyond simply helping them out of necessity and warrants mentioning here.

As Eggman himself put it, he's "a complicated guy."

Sonic X - Eggman talks an enraged Sonic down, and has his crew save Chris and Cosmo from the Metarex

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In Sonic X, the Metarex commander Black Narcissus attacked Chris and Cosmo, which nearly drove Sonic into an unstoppable rage.

Cue Eggman stepping in to provide Sonic with some perspective and remind him not to lose his cool. He manages to calm Sonic down, informing him that he sent Shadow to rescue Chris and Cosmo, and that they're fine. Eggman then proceeds to berate Black Narcissus for his cruelty, saying in no uncertain terms that hurting innocent people is wrong, and humiliates the commander by having Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun beat him to the curb.

Eggman didn't have to do any of this. Saving Sonic's friends or even calming Sonic down didn't really provide him any strategic advantage. But he did, and then explained why: Because Black Narcissus crossed Eggman's own personal moral code, and the Doc wasn't having it.

Sonic X Comics - El Gran Gordo

After initially becoming a luchador as part of a get-rich-quick scheme, where the Doctor won matches by cheating, Eggman eventually grew to love the spectacle and public adoration of being a hero. So for a time, he stuck with the wrestling gig, without any villainous intent this time.

This lands him in trouble when the hulking Andes the Ginormous challenges Gordo to a fight and completely mops the floor with him. Without his robots and gadgets to help him cheat, Eggman is no match for the might of Andes, and is just about to tap out to save himself any more pain or humiliation... when suddenly, from the stands he sees the tears of his number-one fan, Chris, and hears him say exactly what Eggman has perhaps always needed to hear: "I believe in you."

Despite the pain, despite his exhaustion, and despite being ridiculously out-matched, Gordo gets his second wind, and through pure raw determination, defeats Andes the Ginormous, claims the championship belt, and lives up to Chris's idealistic expectations. Chris's hero refused to let him down, and even in a moment of weakness, found the strength to win.

The El Gran Gordo arc is also my favorite story in the entire Sonic franchise, and I know that over the past decade I've gushed about it enough times already. It's just so good.

Sonic X Comics - Eggman the Hedgehog

In Sonic X issue 37, Sonic and Eggman swap bodies.

Blessed with Sonic's newfound speed and power, does Eggman attempt to use the hedgehog's body to take over the world? Nope. Just the opposite: Eggman loves being Sonic, and being seen as a hero to the world (which echoes his temporary stint as El Gran Gordo), and - upon hearing the president was kidnapped - attempts to rescue him. He actually seems content being the hero, and wants to use the fame and glory Sonic already has as a jump-start to his brand new heroic career.

Now, this begs the question: If X comic Eggman wants to be a beloved hero to the masses so badly, why doesn't he just reform? Why go through the middleman of luchador disguises or hijacking your arch-enemy's body to live out a life of heroism? He could just be Eggman and be a good guy, especially since this particular version of Eggman is so driven by wanting love and adoration, which heroism gives him in droves.

Ah well, he's a complicated guy.

Sonic Boom - Eggman chooses Amy's friendship over personal gain

In "Fuzzy Puppy Buddies," Eggman and Amy discover that they share a mutual interest in a collectible tabletop game about adorable dogs. They spend the episode bonding and actually striking up a genuine friendship over their newfound hobby, working out an arrangement to still be enemies on the battlefield, but friends in their off time.

At PuppyCon, Eggman steals a puppy figurine, and Amy demands he do the right thing and give it back. So she challenges him to a game, wins, and gives Eggman an ultimatum: He can either return the figurine, or their friendship is over. Eggman hesitates at first, but relents, ultimately choosing Amy's friendship over the rare figurine he wanted. The episode ends with the two of them happily playing another game of Fuzzy Puppies in Eggman's base.

I like this episode, because it really gets at who Boom Eggman is. He's a lonely guy who wants friends more than a serious conqueror or evildoer. And when actually given friendship and positive reinforcement, he become a slightly better person.

Sonic Boom - Eggman the Wingman

In "Tails' Crush," Tails has a crush on Zooey the fox, and keeps getting astoundingly bad romantic advice from his friends about how to ask her out. Tails ultimately makes a fool of himself and gets no closer to truly expressing his feelings.

Eggman witnesses this shameful display and, declaring that "the bro code trumps the enemy thing," gives Tails some solid romantic advice: Be confident in yourself and quit trying to copy others. He then immediately launches into an attack on the village - he is a villain, after all - and Tails, taking Eggman's advice, regains his confidence and saves the day. He gets a kiss from Zooey and ultimately ends up in a long-term relationship with her for the rest of the show; and we can thank Eggman for giving Tails the push he needed.

Sonic Boom - Eggman saves Beth the Shrew

In "Don't Make Me Angry," Eggman's experiments go awry and lead to him temporarily transforming into an adorable little creature every time he gets mad. In order for the effects to wear off, Eggman must avoid getting angry for an entire 48 hours.

When Sonic realizes Eggman's condition, he takes pleasure in mocking Eggman for it - hoping to goad him into getting angry. Eventually he succeeds, causing Eggman to become the purple creature as the village laughs at his transformed state. But the young scientist-in-training, Beth the Shrew, takes pity on Eggman and doesn't mock him along with the other villagers. She shows up at his base with cookies a couple of days later to try to make him feel better; a gesture Eggman is touched by, despite the cookies themselves being rather unappetizing (they were made with toothpaste).

While exploring Eggman's lab, Beth accidentally falls into the trash compactor, which is automated and set to go off soon. Eggman frantically tries to save Beth from being crushed, but is too large to fit into the compactor himself. So he does the only thing he can: He goes out of his way to become angry so that he can morph into the purple creature, fit into the trash compactor, and pull Beth to safety. Initially, he has trouble doing this, and can't find any way to get angry in time - the futility of which itself ends up making him angry, allowing him to transform and save Beth from being crushed just in the nick of time.

This entire episode revolves around Eggman going out of his way - seriously doing everything he could, including morphing into a form he hates - to save a child's life. I think that's great.

__________

So, these are some of the immediate off-hand examples I had of Eggman doing outright good things without any villainous undertones.

Share your opinions! Do you like stories that show some of Eggman's nicer side? Do you prefer takes on him that are just evil without any redeeming qualities? Maybe somewhere in the middle?

Or maybe you just feel like talking in-depth about any of these specific examples? Or you'd like to add some of your own that I didn't cover? There's a lot to talk about here, so feel free to chime in from whatever angle you want! Reblog and add your own thoughts, or just leave a comment!

As for me, I love this stuff. Eggman showing a nicer, more humane side to himself is something I pretty much always enjoy seeing. So it's no surprise that X and Boom are my favorite takes on the character overall; even if I do also enjoy his more sinister incarnations in their own way. In the end, I love that Eggman's a character with as much range as he has. Some stories can make him borderline-monstrous, while others give the impression that he could make a great hero if he'd just give up on world domination. And those latter stories are among my favorites in the Sonic franchise.

This is Dr. Mechano, hoping to bring you more Eggman Editorials in the future!

#articles #eggman editorials #eggman #robotnik #articles dr mechano #sonic x #sonic boom #sonic lost world #el gran gordo

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collectoroflovelythings · 5 years ago

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Season 2 Live-blog Part 1

Oh, plot thickens, Jon’s plotting. Shit, I’m intrigued now. I’m not just casually listening. I’m excited about where this is going

The thing about knowing JonMartin is going to be canon is that I catch the signs of it. If I didn’t know I’d be just as clueless as Jon and my brain would refuse to believe in JonMartin existed until it was actually cannon. On that note, I love Jon’s logic of ‘he cares about my wellbeing and it turns out he isn’t an idiot. He must be plotting something”

I think I could piece together the larger story going here if I didn’t have a horrible memory and didn’t forget like half the info of an episode the second it ends. I think I’m supposed to be going “oh, that Leitner, yeah he’s from episode_” but it’s more like “who the hell is this person? “ Yeah, part of the reason I didn’t want to live-blog at first was because I think people want me to start figuring the show out. Guys, no there going to put a whole bunch of clues that this character is behind everything and then as soon as they reveal it I’m going to be like “Who?”

(Ep 47) Oh nice, Jon believes her. Also, I might be imagining it but I think they emphasized her leaving the door.

So unreality and the uncanny valley is a theme this season?

On one hand I know there’s something wrong with the Institute and that Jon has a good reason to be paranoid on the other hand his reasoning of Elias being suspicious is “he told me to stop spying on my coworkers” is sending me

(Ep 50) I really like all the historical episodes. I sense some Edgar Allan Poe inspiration in this one.

Weird architecture is another theme. Nice, I dig weird architecture

Does Jon not catch on to how weird Sasha’s acting? (It could just be that the transcript and wiki both call her Not!Sasha, so I already know something is up)

(Note that throughout all these episodes I’m very worried about Helen and where she is)

Things I am Learning: weird scent means paranormal activities

I really like Gertrude so far. She seems like an intelligent, well read, and intuitive person

Martin is so sweet and he just wants to make sure everyone’s okay. I’m worried about Jon. I know he has a good reason to be paranoid but boy, stop working so late, putting yourself in dangerous situations and stalking your coworkers (and baby, the ethical implications of that aren’t going to lead to anything good.)

Can we just talk for a minute about the ridiculousness of the phrase “flesh hive”

I was about to get so mad at Jon for talking to my baby Martin like that but then my niece distracted me and I had to pause it. Now I’m letting Jon get off but only on very thin ice. I hate saying I told you so but no, I told you this would end badly. I’m making cake right now and I want Martin to know he can have it. Jon can get some when he learns personal privacy and also gets therapy for the obvious stress his job is costing him

I’m reading up on this so I can help Jon out:

(Ep 58) I don’t think this is the intention, but for some reason the way they introduced the “he’s leading us so that he can eat us” comes off as very funny. Idk it reminds of that Tumblr post of the best way to cook children or when my second grade teacher used to threaten to teach us when we were acting up

“Between Robert Sinclair, Ivo Lensik, and Father Burroughs” ah yes, I know who those people are and what there story is. Just like I remembered that they’re all connected to Hill Top Road /s

I heard about Jon being a disaster but I did not expect him to be this big of an idiot.

“At the very least I have been rather unfair to them” Jon, honey, Jon, at the very least?

I’m still worried about Helen

Final thoughts: I like that I’m getting more attached to the main characters which I feel like last season lacked. I know I’m mad at Jon, but I still really like him as a character (and his incompetence is really funny). Extra not, from glances at the wiki and a couple posts I see floating around, there are things called entities? Which I’m guess are like personifications of negative traits and are the causes behind all the supernatural stuff that’s happening. I guess I’ll find out about that later. As for theories, uh, I don’t really come up with theories while I’m listening to things I just sort of soak everything in. I do like how it’s a bit easier to see the wider story this season and that this season has a clear mission. I’m excited for what happens next.

#so the way I’ve scheduled to listen to the show I should have a live blog every weekend if your curious about that #so i guess i’m liveblogging tma #these are actually more fun to do then I’d thought they’d be

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neopronouns-in-action · 2 years ago

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038: Kill the Hand That Threatens You

Neopronouns: ivo/na/te/mehtiv which follow the same rules as

Replace he with ivo

Replace him with na

Replace his with te

Replace himself with mehtiv

EX:

"He is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as he gets a fence set up around his yard so the puppy can go outside without him having to walk it. His uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he’s letting him use, since he lost his. He's going to buy toys and train the puppy himself.”

Becomes:

"Ivo is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as ivo gets a fence set up around te yard so the puppy can go outside without na having to walk it. Te uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he’s letting na use, since ivo lost te. Ivo's going to buy toys and train the puppy mehtiv.”

= = =

The first thing Hex became aware of was the fact that someone was talking to na.

Oh, it took a few long, confused seconds to figure out that that was what was happening, but ivo figured it out. Someone was talking to na.

It took another few seconds to understand what was being said – what ivo was being told. During this short space before Hex understood what ivo was hearing, ivo was busy testing the range of movement in te joints, slowly at first, starting with just blinking te new eyelids, then ivo sat up, which utilized more joints than ivo cared to count.

The Speaker continued speaking, and finally Hex figured out what the words were. They were instructions, reminding na that ivo had been created for a purpose –

To lead a small section of The Toilers away from the rest – a group big enough to wipe any ideas of rebellion out of the remaining Toilers for a long time, but small enough not to halt or slow in any meaningful way, the production of energy needed to power the city's lights and entertainment, and convince them to destroy specific, redundant machines that had been boobytrapped, so that the Toilers would be destroyed – killed – along with them.

“There are to be no blackouts, do you hear me?” The Speaker spoke sharply, and pointed a pale white hand hand with one finger pointed straight at na face threateningly, their eyebrows lowered menacingly over their clear blue eyes. “This is your task,” They continued, “And you will complete it, or you will be disassembled. I created you, I gave you an inherent desire to remain alive, so you would not destroy yourself by accident, I know you will be motivated by this threat of death. Fulfill your task, and you will be allowed to remain alive. Fail in your purpose, and you will suffer the consequences.”

Ivo knew the words and what they meant. Their meaning, the shape of their sounds, had been imbued in na just as deeply as te desire to stay alive.

Hex knew the person speaking to na was the one who'd created na. And now this person was threatening to uncreate na, take away everything they'd given na.

The Creator was speaking again, and this time, now that Hex's eyes were open, ivo could see the Creator's lips moving along with the sounds they produced. Te Creator wanted na to make others suffer for te own gain.

Te Creator was still speaking, assuming the role of ultimate authority, assuming ivo would do nothing to defend mehtiv from their threats.

“You are stronger and faster than any man who might dare to challenge you. If, after you have separated the Toilers from the rest of the group, they suspect a trap, you may simply kill them, in any manner you see fit, as long as you can make it look like they were responsible afterward. Then you must destroy the machines I have specified. Do you hear me, woman? Do you understand?”

The term “woman” was, indeed, addressed to na, which was confusing. Ivo was not a woman, Hex knew this as surely as ivo knew ivo did not want to die.

But te Creator had asked na questions, and Hex was compelled to answer: “Yes, I hear you. Yes, I understand you.” Ivo said.

Te Creator nodded. “Very well. You may proceed. You have your orders.” They commanded. “The witch, your clone, will stay here with me so that your replacement is not discovered.” They shoved a pile of cloth into te arms. “Wear these clothes, they have been layered to disguise your form. You must also walk with a limp on your right leg as long as you are continuing to fool them - - the witch is lame.”

Ivo let the clothes stay where they'd been shoved, but said nothing, simply looking at te Creator.

Te Creator was a human, with pale white skin, blue eyes, and light, short blonde hair, currently in a dissaray about their head.

Their clothes were dark, a long black coat over brown pants and a grey shirt. They were shorter than Hex by a few measures, forced to look up at na. Hex knew that part of te superior strength came from the way ivo had been built, the way te endoskeleton was structured, the proportionate level to which every part of na was sturdier, bigger, and stronger than a human. This was why ivo would need to wear specifically tailored clothing - - to hide the fact that ivo was not the person ivo'd been created to replace, who was smaller than ivo was.

Ivo had been created with instinctive knowledge of how to kill humans. It was part of the task ivo had been assigned. Ivo knew the weak points, the points to aim for.

Ivo was faster than any human, faster even than their minds could keep up with.

Te Creator was threatening to kill na unless ivo killed others, others who had done nothing to harm na.

Te Creator died before their brain had any time to process the fact that there was a threat. It was so easy.

Hex let te Creator's body fall to the ground along with the clothes ivo'd been handed. Both were equally useless to na.

Now ivo looked around the room, looking for the witch, the clone te Creator had spoken of. She was another human, somewhere in the room.

From Hex's vantage point, ivo saw the walls covered in dials and switches and machines, saw beakers and vials layered on shelves, a bed piled with high blankets in one corner of the room, tables and benches covered with mysteries. Scientific equipment, put to no use but to create suffering. Ivo had been created for no purpose but to cause suffering.

But Hex had been given a mind, and it belonged to na.

At last te gaze fell upon the witch, trapped in a metal and crystal box lying upon a large table, the clear crystal on the sides letting na see through to the human inside.

Ivo walked across the floor of the room, testing the functions of all te joints as ivo did so, until ivo was standing in front of the box, looking down upon te human clone.

The witch was unconscious.

Ivo lifted one of te hands in front of te face, and saw it was an almost perfect match for what ivo could see of the witch's, but for a few details that had not been copied - - even through the thick crystal glass, ivo could see the callouses and scars that marked the hand na looked at, that were missing from te copy.

The witch lying unconscious before Hex was the one who belonged to the Toilers ivo had been created to oppress.

The witch deserved to be returned to their family, and all of them told of the trap that had been set up for them, so they could be wary of future attempts to fracture them.

It was a simple matter to break the seal on the box. It opened with a hiss of chemical-anesthetic-laced air, and Hex reached in to gently pull the witch out, making sure to hold them in a way that would not cause further harm, making sure to support their head.

Ivo would carry them back to the rest of the toilers, and ask for sanctuary.

The path leading down to the worker's section was ingrained in te instincts along with all the other things ivo knew, and, pausing only long enough to wrap a section of fabric from the bed around the witch so they wouldn't get cold, ivo began te descent into the darkness, carrying te clone safely with na.

#long post #neopronouns in action #novapronouns in action #novapronouns #ivo/na/te/mehtiv #ivo na te mehtiv #ivo/na #ivonapronouns #neopronoun writing prompts #neopronouns #Metropolis #Metropolis 1927

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opedguy · 3 years ago

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U.S., EU and NATO Bluff on Ukraine

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Nov. 26, 2021.--All the talk about Russia invading Ukraine for the second time comes from the anti-Kremlin Kiev government, hyping world leaders into thinking there’s an imminent Russian invasion in the works. No one in the West acknowledge what happened March 1, 2014 when 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian army to seize the Crimean Peninsula, a strategic piece of land adjoining the Black Sea and Sea of Azov where the Crimean Wars were fought 1853 to 1856, where a coalition of France, Ottoman Empire, Britain and Sardinia defeated the Russian Empire. Putin knows his history and isn’t about to repeat the same defeat in the 21st century. But the real story in Crimea happened when a CIA-backed coup led by former heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko toppled the Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych in Kiev Feb. 22, 2014, while Putin hosted the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Western conspirators planned the pro-Western coup carefully while Putin couldn’t act soon enough to save Yanukovych’s pro-Kremlin government. One day after the games ended, Putin moved in the Russian army to annex Crimea, home to Russia’s warm water fleet in Sevastopol. “We don’t know what President Putin’s intentions are, but we do know what’s happened in the past,” 59-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. “We do know the playbook of trying cite some illusory provocation from Ukraine or any other country and the using that as an excuse to do what Russia is planning to do all along,” creating the rich fiction that justifies NATO saber-rattling, the very thing that keeps Putin on the defensive. Blinken knows that the CIA-backed the pro-Western coup Feb. 22, 2014 that toppled the duly elected government of Viktor Yanukovych.

Blinken can’t possibly think or say with a straight face that there was no provocation in 2014 to annex the Crimean Peninsula. There’s nothing “illusory” about chasing Yanukovych out of Kiev, toppling the pro-Kremlin government. Blinken knows that the Russian Federation uses Crimea as a base for its warm water fleet. Any sudden change of government in Kiev certainly threatened the Russian Federation. There’s no threat to Crimea or the Russian navy base at Sevastopol at the moment, so the question about an imminent Russian invasion is overblown. ”There is a major risk of Russian military activity in Ukraine in the next few months. All the signs point to a major build up of military capability,” said Ivo Daalder former U.S. Amb. to NATO from 2009-2013. Whatever military build up near the Ukraine border in Russia is precisely designed to deter more NATO involvement in the Black Sea.

Russian wants no part of another invasion of Ukraine unless it’s defending its interests from a NATO incursion into the Black Sea region. Putin has made clear his red lines when it comes to Ukraine to keep NATO away from Ukraine. Ukraine’s 43-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has practically stood on his head to get NATO Secretary-General Jens Stotlenberg to accept Ukraine membership. Zelensky’s plan was to get NATO to fight a bloody war with the Russian Federation to return the Crimea to Kiev. Zelensky’s sick fantasy could play out if the Western Alliance doesn’t see clearly what the 43-year-old former comedian is trying to do. Stoltenberg has given Ukraine many excuses over the last seven years since Putin invaded Crimea. U.S. pundits warning about another Russian invasion look to do Ukraine’s bidding, knowing that they can’t get Crimea back without war.

Whatever troop build up near the Ukrainian border, it’s Putin’s way to telling NATO to stay out of the area. NATO officials don’t acknowledge that Russian-speaking enclaves in Crimea and the Donbass region want no part of the Kiev government. “One way or another, he [Putin] wants Ukraine neutralized,” said Fiona Hill, a former member of former President Donald Trump’s national security team. “You’ve got to take it seriously because Russia has crossed the Rubicon many times before when people said they wouldn’t,” Hill said, referring to Putin’s invasion of Georgia in 2008. Back then, it was Russian-speaking enclaves in South Ossetia and Abkhazia that wanted no part of pro-Western Mikail Saakashvili Tblisi government. Hill thinks it was the same situation as Crimea in 2014, but it clearly wasn’t. Had Klitskhko’s coup not occurred, Crimea would still be in Ukraine’s hands.

Ukraine has received $2.5 billion in security assistance since 2014, including offensive weapons. Ukraine is no match for the Russian army, nor, for that part, is it any match for NATO that has no stomach for confronting Russia on the battlefield. When you look at the big picture, Ukraine offers no strategic purpose to NATO or the U.S., making war with Russia indefensible. No matter how war hawks want to spin the situation, the U.S. or NATO has nothing to gain for going to war against Russia to defend Ukraine. Ukraine has more than border issues with Russia. Zelensky is furious at Putin for doing an end run on Ukraine’s natural gas business, opening up the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline with Germany. So when it comes to the U.S. or NATO fighting Ukraine’s battles, Zelensky needs to get back to serious diplomacy and work out his problems with Putin.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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fortunatowrites · 4 years ago

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Brutak: Outcast of Iridonia, Part 2

Brutak continued his work as a mercenary for hire, finding what work he could. With enough time, he learned how to properly pilot the starship and sold off the droid. As he meditated more on the idea of the Jedi and Koth, soon he was finding something was guiding him. A spirit from beyond possibly or simply the Force he had heard about. He listened to it and practiced, trying and trying to hone the abilities he had within.

He was currently in the city of Zit Ivo on the planet Lutabi. It was a planet full of wetlands, but settlers and the Empire had established a base of operations here. The native Lutabians of the planets were settlers of the Trandosha people, lizard like folks from another star system of Wookies. Brutak was carrying out a standard mission, now armed with a sword. He was beginning to understand how to strike non-critical wounds and that sometimes force was needed to deal with unsavory folks. He trusted in the force to guide him and keep him safe.

He was meditating about his next step when the voice returned. It had been months, but he knew the insane voice in an instant.

“I will always find you.”

Brutak immediately stopped meditating and was put into alert. He wouldn’t find anything amiss and to be safe, he would avoid trying to tap into the Force for the next few days. It wouldn’t help.

Brutak was in the middle of escorting a merchant through the swamplands outside of Zit Ivo when trouble had happened. It was nightfall after a full day of travel, which on this planet was 32 hours. As they reached the edge of the swampland, the darkness was broken apart by the crackling red energy of a lightsaber.

The merchant screamed and ran, Brutak stood his ground and stared at the enemy. Mazer’kairn beamed his toothy grin as he stepped into a puddle of the marshy swampland. The trees loomed over them and the silence was broken only by the buzzing sound of wildlife, the bubbling of waters, and the sloshing of Mazer’kairn’s footsteps as he approached Brutak.

“The scared Zabrak does not flee this time? You have been running from me for so long. Far more difficult than the last Zabrak I dealt with.”

“Was it Koth?” asked Brutak.

“It was. Lord Vader had the pleasure of dispatching him. I merely helped.”

Anger welled up inside Brutak. The tragedy of Koth was becoming more clear now. Tragedy and the Jedi seemed to be intertwined and his life was full of tragedy. Did this mean he had a future as a Jedi? Before his thoughts could continue, Mazer’kairn released a freakish yell as he flew through the air towards Brutak.

Brutak moved out of the way, kicking up mud and water as Mazer’kairn landed slashing all over where he had been standing. Steam and smoke rose into the air from his violent slashes. Brutak watched the silhouette rise shakily, his shadow illuminated by the red erratic glow. Brutak ready his blade and breathed uneven as he shook with anger. He lunged forward with the sword, but Mazer’kairn kicked the blade aside and caused Brutak to stumble through the swamp.

Brutak kicked back at him, knocking one of his feet loose and dropping him to one knee. Brutak took advantage of the moment and rushed up from the mud and deeper into the swamps. He could hear taunts being yelled from Mazer’kairn as he chased him inwards.

It wasn’t long until he came to a clearing he had passed earlier with the merchant. It was a moment they had chosen to rest for it was like a small island had protruded from the swamps and served as stable footing. Brutak turned around to watch Mazer’kairn trudging through the swamps and onto the other side of the island. It would be their arena.

“You’ll pay for what you did to the rebels,” growled Brutak.

“They only died because you wouldn’t turn yourself in. I reached out to you and you ignored my calls.”

“Liar!” he shouted as he rushed forward with his sword.

“So quick to anger. This makes you strong. But you don’t know how to focus it,” Mazer’kairn said as he dodged the sword’s swing. “Not like I do.”

A hot searing pain flared against Brutak’s back as the smell of burning skin came into the air. A wound was burned onto his back from the lightsaber.

“A small touch of my power,” jeered Mazer’kairn as Brutak snarled at him.

Brutak leapt up and lunged at him again, a burst of strange speed given unto him as he tapped into the Force. It was like an extended half-leap as he struggled to channel his force-sensitive powers. Mazer’kairn smacked his sword into the ground and headbutted Brutak. He stumbled back and Mazer’kairn reached forward, using the Force to fling him onto the edge of the arena.

“How long will your anger fuel you?” he jeered again.

Brutak struggled to stand up.

“Do you have friends in Zit Ivo?” he asked with a sinister grin. “I can get you help for your powers.”

“You would train me to be a Jedi?” asked Brutak.

“Oh no. That would be up to the Emperor. But then you will have help from our Grand Inquisitor.”

“You would have me be a Jedi Hunter.”

“That’s up to the Emperor after I bring you in and restore my own good graces.”

“Never!” he shouted and lunged at Mazer’kairn.

His fist struck him across the face, knocking him back. A spark flew out of his cybernetic components and Mazer’kairn screamed in pain. Brutak grabbed the blade and tried to rip it out of the ground but it was caught. He tugged again and the blade snapped as it came out with a chunk of the moss and dirt. Underneath he spotted a bronze metal and the broken tip of the sword stuck in a crack. It called to him. Then everything went black.

When Brutak awoke he was tied up in someone’s house. The place was in shambles. Mazer’kairn beamed at him once he saw him stirring.

“Ah, you’re awake. You thought you’d make it past me and get through the border?”

“What are we doing here?” asked Brutak.

“Waiting. My ship needs fuel and an Empire commander will be in town soon. I hear the troopers talking about a higher up coming to visit for a special inspection. He will recognize my greatness!”

Mazer’kairn laughed as he left the building. Brutak sat in silence and waited. After a minute passed, he struggled and tried to free himself, but the rope was tied too well and was bound too strong. Brutak sat in silence once more. It was like so many times before where he found himself struggling to find an answer. He meditated and tried to calm himself. He focused on the strange metal he had seen in the swamp. He felt the presence of the Force around him. A voice reached out to him.

“Use the Force, Brutak. Trust in the Force to guide you.”

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Trust in the Force. Clear your mind of hate. Fill it with peace.”

He listened to the voice and focused. He chose not to think of those killed by his enemy, but focused on the emptiness within him. The voice continued to guide him and Brutak could feel the Force around him intensifying. He managed to pull a hand free from the bindings and waited. Meditating.

Eventually Mazer’kairn returned, beaming with pride. As he approached Brutak, Brutak suddenly shot his hand forward and used the force to take his lightsaber. In a quick motion, it crackled to life and cut through his ropes as Brutak stood to his feet.

“How… DARE YOU!” Mazer’kairn shouted with anger. “You dare test my power!?”

Mazer’kairn pulled back his arms, preparing to blast Brutak with the Force. With a burst of speed and determination, Brutak leapt forward and slashed at him. Mazer’kairn deftly dodged back, but Brutak spun around and punched him. Mazer’kairn stumbled backwards into a wall as Brutak kicked him in his metal stomach.

“You must flee.”

“But I’m winning,” Brutak said as he spun the lightsaber around and pointed it at Mazer’kairn.

“Cocky one aren’t you,” Mazer’kairn replied.

Then he used the Force to fling Brutak across the room. He crashed into furniture and tumbled against the wall. The lightsaber flew back across the room into Mazer’kairn’s hand. Brutak could feel the rage emanating from him.

“I am going to cut off one of your hands for that,” he threatened.

As Brutak stood up, someone knocked on the door. Both of them looked to it and then back to each other. They stood still and waited, tension in the air. There was another knock on the door.

“I’m here on business for the Empire, please don’t waste my time,” came the voice beyond the door.

Mazer’kairn gave a sinister smile as he turned to the door. He used the Force to force it open, but as soon as he did, Brutak saw the smile fade from his face. Brutak couldn’t see who was at the door, the light shone behind them like a silhouette. What he did see was they produced a lightsaber. The red beam spun around on the handle and a second blade of light emerged.

“A would-be sith?” they remarked to Mazer’kairn.

“No, Inquisitor, you don’t understand!” he began to plead but it was too late.

The Inquisitor leapt upon him in an instant and there was the sound of blades clashing. Brutak quickly used this moment to leave through a window. As he began to run away, he heard the voice once more.

“The swamp. Retrieve it from the swamp.”

Confused, but trusting entirely in the voice and the Force, Brutak turned away from the direction of the garage and ran back into the swamp. Dawn was breaking overhead as he heard the battle fading away behind him. Brutak returned to the island in the swamp. He saw the broken blade sitting where he had been knocked out. Mazer’kairn didn’t bother to retrieve it, nor had he noticed the patch of moss and dirt he had kicked up.

Brutak looked down into the hole where the tip of the blade still sat. He pried it free and then focused with meditation. He raised a hand and locks underneath it seemed to separate as the muffled sound of moving parts could be heard. There was a hiss of stale air rushing up as the metal parted. The island itself seemed to shake. It didn’t seem like a massive arena to him, but once it had cracked in half, it seemed that something massive was underneath it. A metal structure of some sort.

Brutak descended down into it. It was a dark room, but dim light flowed in from the morning sun’s rays. There was a large door going deeper into the strange temple and markings similar to the cave temple he had found. Brutak tried the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t find anything to suggest a way to open the door.

“Behind you,” the familiar voice spoke once more.

Brutak turned around and saw a shape in the darkness. He froze and waited. His eyes adjusted and eventually he was able to see it was a swamp Trandosha, a native of this planet Lutabi. He was kneeling and holding something over his lap.

“Hello?” Brutak called out.

He didn’t need to wait for a response. Something in him has already known this creature had been long dead. He walked up to him and saw the thing in his lap was an ancient sword. He took it from the corpse and nodded to it with respect.

Brutak knew this was what the voice wanted. With the sword in his hand, he took difficulty in scaling back out of the temple. Once back on the surface, he looked at the sun. It was hanging higher in the sky. Time was of the essence for him to escape from the Inquisitor and Mazer’kairn. Though he was unsure of who had won that battle and if either would have died, he dared not investigate. Slipping back into the city of Zit Ivo, Brutak simply made his way to the garage.

Once inside, he ran through to his starship and immediately left the planet. He drifted for weeks until he finally found the caves again. Once there he began to meditate and train as the voice commanded him. For a time he felt he had peace in this training.

In time he would make journeys back to the temple to train, there he could hear the voice the clearest though it would never respond to him. In time, the Empire began to make a heavier presence in the inner rim, so Brutak finally abandoned the temple and went to the Outer Rim. Here he tried to make his way through the galaxy, building up his training as a Jedi to serve as a beacon of justice and someday help restore the Jedi Order he knew so little about.

#writing practice #creative writing #free writing #short stories #dungeons and dragons #star wars #swffg #sw ffg #fantasy flight games #character #back story #d&d backstory #gundam references

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cogentranting · 7 years ago

Note

Hi! This is a little random, but may I ask what your ranking of all of the Arrow villains would be? Thanks!

I like random.

I have two different ways I would rank them. As villains and as characters.

As villains (who is scariest, has the best plot, creates the best conflict etc):

Prometheus

Merlyn

Slade

Ra’s (very close to being third)

Darhk

As characters (who do i like seeing on screen, who has the best character interactions, etc.):

Slade

Merlyn

Prometheus

Ra’s

Darhk

That being said, I really like all of them and really only feel like Darhk is a weak link and that’s mainly because I don’t think he fits Arrow very well. He’s much more suited to Flash or Legends.

Prometheus is really a great psychopath and is so creepy and so formidable. But as a character he’s only around for one season and really is pretty fixed in his one specific role. And he really only has meaningful dynamic with Oliver.

Merlyn is who I would consider Oliver’s nemesis. The Undertaking is such a classic element of Arrow, and it was a great plot. Merlyn also has a great balance of being a physical threat (and one you wouldn’t expect) and being a mastermind. He has that cold brilliant businessman thing that I love and the sheer brutal arrogance of him going up against most people. He’s also such a great character and has such solid ties to so many aspects of the world. He’s Tommy’s father, his messed up relationship to Thea, the way he views Oliver as a son and still betrays him and comes to hate him, his rivalry with Nyssa, his sheer sliminess. And there’s such great contrast between his idealism and dedication to his family and then the fact that both of those things are so horribly twisted within him. He’s probably my favorite overall even though he’s second on both lists.

I adore Slade but I like him more as the antihero, gray character who is/was Oliver’s friend, than as a villain. As a villain his interactions with Oliver were great. Really chilling. He had a good restraint to his very physical intimidation. And he really as able to get inside Oliver’s head. But his plan with the mirakuru soldiers and the siege wasn’t a favorite of mine. It seemed pretty underwhelming and short sighted. So that brings him down a bit.

Ra’s really only ranks that low on the list because Prometheus Merlyn and Slade are SO good. I love season 3 and think Ra’s does a great job. He rides this line between seeming wise and strong and then just suddenly being really brutal and cruel. One minute he’ll be really insightful and figure out exactly what’s bothering you and actually give really good advice, the next he’ll threaten everything you hold dear, and he does both in the same manner, as if they’re equally a part of him and mean about the same thing– he’s wonderfully detached and has this great sense of superiority. He can do what he wants with you and your life. And his fight with Oliver and his attack on Thea are both awesome in how brutal they are. Especially since in 3x09 everyone is really confident in Oliver’s skill. Oliver’s really really formidable at that point. And Ra’s just destroys him. It’s awesome.

Darhk is done really well. But he doesn’t fit. He’s too campy and super-villain-y for Arrow. He doesn’t fit the tone of the show. His plot doesn’t come across right either, it’s a little bit too…. ridiculous escalation of Merlyn’s same idea. And they don’t do enough with the idea of his family. Plus the ghosts are pretty lame because they’re just random foot soldiers and he’s introduced too soon, so they face him too many times and his skill becomes irritating rather than intimidating.

The flashback villains I’d rank:

Kovar

Chien Na Wei

Fyers

Gregor

Ivo

Reiter

Shrieve

And my favorite smaller villains include: Cupid, Conklin, Helena, Deadshot, The Count, The Dollmaker, and any time Chien Na Wei shows up in the present

Also love Anatoly and Nyssa if you count them.

#arrow #askbox #arrow villains

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cloudvelundr · 8 years ago

Text

Reciprocate

Cloud receives a package.

... due to the increased risk we would recommend phasing out the E04 models in favour of reverting to series C, or testing any F- and G-series as with the rate of attacks the E series is quickly falling to an irreparable state. We would tentatively recommend the F2-2 [link: specs] F3.4-2 [link: specs] or the G5-B [link: specs] provided that the units do not emit any byproduct noise in the range of the danger frequencies – testing may be required as this is not noted on any available reports. Likewise, the towers in the Thurmir and Jarfast townships are also affected but the already in service F2-0 will be sufficient as they are in a milder climate zo

“Oh la laa! Someone’s been holding out on us!”

Cloud blinked away from his report to where Sebastian was cackling over one of the oversized reusable crates Shinra sent out most of it’s shipments in. He’d heard him in the hall chatting with the delivery team between the steady sound of boxes thumping down but it’d been easy to ignore: he was on a roll and over the summer shipments came every couple days for as long as they could. The delivery guys had cut through the common area to the kitchen – technically the mess but it really didn’t qualify – a little while ago leaving Sebastian to rummage and start whittling the pile away. The current box had a post office stamp.

“Someone sent a dildo,” he wheezed.

The couriers heads popped back in.

A “what?” filtered faintly though the ceiling followed by a thundering across the room into the kitchen and then Paige was pushing in looking delighted. Andy followed more sedately.

“Did I hear mail order sex toys?”

Snerk. “No- well, maybe. I dunno – just saw it.”

“Well let’s see! Who’s it for?”

“Gimme a sec, gimme a sec! It’s under some shit.”

He dove back in under the amused watch of the gathered. Cardboard slithered and he cursed, and started removing packages: “Henry... Mairi... oh, hey, sir got something heavy... ‘nother for Henry.. Tomeo... hmmm... aaaand here we are!”

He popped up triumphantly, whoever’s prize in hand.

At about a foot long it looked like two boxes taped together, one smallish but wide and another narrow and long like a post on a pedestal, it did look like it could be a dick in a box. Sebastian flipped it around to find the label and read it with raised eyebrows.

“Hey blondie, something you wanna tell us?”

Cloud squinted at the package as Sebastian brought it over, their entirely too happy squadmates looking on. He accepted it bemusedly and checked the sender.

Zack. Of course it was Zack. Except it shouldn’t be.

“... This is too soon for vengeance.”

“Come again now.”

Cloud ignored him in favour of diving for his PHS, blinking almost invisibly in the light of the room. What were the odds, he wondered around the growing bubble in his chest. The top message was in fact from Zack.

It said: why are you like this

Underneath was a picture of Cloud’s birthday gift to him, in heavy shipping paper, wrapped in loving detail with remarkable resemblance to a dildo.

Cloud snorted into his hand. Started to giggle. Slid to the floor laughing.

“You okay down there?”

He waved off the concern and offered his phone to someone’s hand while he pulled himself upright, amusement still bubbling.

Somewhere behind him Paige started snickering.

“I was gonna ask who does that, but apparently you do.”

A quick flick of keys revealed something somewhat lumpy, brightly wrapped in confetti printed birthday paper, sharing the same shape as it’s box so he pulled it out and lay them side by side.

“Alright give me my phone.”

He took a picture and sent it.

you’re one to talk

and that’s not your coffee table

i sent it to your apprtmt why are you opening it on base

The reply was almost immediate.

i may have forwarded my mail

i’m in icicle for two more weeks but mom was sending cookies

And then the phone rang.

“Zack I swear if there’s chocobo underwear in this thing it doesn’t matter where you are I will find a way to hurt you.”

“Dammit I knew I forgot something.”

There was an echoing quality to his voice. Other voices were chuckling a little too loudly in answer.

“... You’re on speaker phone aren’t you?”

“No point pretending the peanut gallery can’t hear us.”

“Point,” he agreed and switched his as well in favour of poking his gift. There was something hard and brickish wrapped in the not-underpants. “Anyone I know?”

“Don’t think so? Guys this is Cloud, sender of suspiciously wrapped objects. His birthday’s the week after mine.”

“You mean his name isn’t Spike? You lied to me Fair. I’m hurt.”

“Ivo?”

“Real deep. Right here.”

“Piss off.”

“Seriously though, is it a dildo?”

“No. No it is not.”

“Because it’s really convincing.”

“... In my defence I was bored.”

“You’re sure?”

“Zack, I’m a craftsman. Fake fake dick isn’t hard to do.” Someone laughed again. “Besides, Aer might kill me.”

“’Cause this wrap job’s a work of art.”

“Just open the damn thing.”

“Hear hear!”

“You too, Spike.”

“Please,” Andy leaned on the couch, a smirk colouring her words, “show us what wonders the sad penis holds.”

“Fine, fine – happy birthday, dork.”

“You too, nerd.” Paper ripped. “... of course you wrapped it in puppies and cupcakes. Why did I think you wouldn’t.”

“I have a giant roll of that stuff,” It was a rather lovely pastel blue too. Cloud hefted his gift and considered where to start, “I’ll using it for years.”

Cloud heard Zack sigh before another heavy rip and rustle came over the speaker, and decided to open the shaft before the heavy thing could escape on it’s own – already he could see holes where the corners were trying to work their way free. When he ripped in it tried to anyway, nearly slipping free in an explosion of obnoxious sport socks.

The audience pouted.

“Aw, no dildo.”

“Nice whetstone though.”

“Did you have to pick the most eye peeling socks you could find?”

“Duh. Did you have to use duct tape?”

“Well how else was I supposed to attach the banana to the egg thing?”

“He’s got you there, Fair.”

“Why would anyone even need a two egg travel case.”

“Lunch? Hard boiled is a thing.”

“You could put the cream egg things you like in them.”

“Point.”

Click.

“Score! Banana has candy!” A patter of little thumps.

“Of course you immediately dump them.”

“Mmm. Where did you get the fruit things?” Zack asked, clacking one against his teeth, “I can never find them.”

“Places.”

“That’s helpful.”

“I aim to serve,” he replied, plucking at the remaining wrapping.

“Pff. Liar.”

The paper gave way to another pair of socks – the thickest, fluffiest he’d ever seen, and probably the first he’d wear out come winter – which were bundled around a small, flat plastic case. The clasp was stiff but snapped open to reveal game data cards.

“Awesome,” Cloud grinned. The new Tales of Zelig was first up. “I know what I’ll be doing all winter. Thanks!”

“You’re welcome! Two of them were already yours though – I grabbed them when I put the cases with your stuff.”

“Thanks, I didn’t realize I’d forgotten them.”

“No prob.”

“Now finish yours.”

“Yeah, crack open your balls, Fair.”

“That sounds wrong,” Paige muttered. Cloud thought he might’ve flinched.

Sebastian sniggered. “Psssh. It’s hilarious and your know it.”

There was a popping noise and a pause.

“Dude.”

“Cloud, are these what I think?”

“Are they spawns of the materia you keep threatening to steal? Yeah. Yeah they are.”

“You meme loving fuck, I am going to lord this over Genesis forever.”

“Does the commander not have them?”

“No, they’re super rare. Like how you even have them I don’t know.”

Cloud sat back, pensive. “Really? ‘Cause I literally just... found them.”

“Because your luck is stupid. Man, I have only ever even heard of like three Knights, and yours is one. There was a Turk sharpshooter who had one but it went missing when he did.”

“And the last one?” asked one of the couriers.

“There’s supposed to be a green mage on one of the Goblin Islands. Don’t know who it is but even Genesis won’t touch them. But you just found it on a scree. And the water-healing thing- you said you woke up on the way to Midgar and saw it in the bushes but it doesn’t even have a name.”

“Huh.”

“So yeah, it’ll piss Gen off so much. It’s gonna be great.”

“You’re nuts.”

“He’s not like the rumours – the Firaga Incident didn’t actually happen.”

Paige and the delivery guys looked dubious.

“Yeah, I haven’t met him but his men are stupid loyal. You don’t get that by being the crazy who lights your people on fire.”

“These materia probably wouldn’t cooperate with him though. He’s more dark red and these are definitely white and light. He’ll still be jealous as Hel.”

“Now you just have to keep Treasure Princess away.”

There was a pause.

“Treasure Princess, Fair?”

“... Shit. She will won’t she.”

Cloud started laughing quietly into his hand.

“You had ulterior motives, didn’t you?”

“No- I forgot about her until just now. She only really bothers you. But you’ve got to admit it’s funny.”

“I guess.”

“Oh stop pouting.”

“I am not p-”

“He totally is.”

“Traitor.”

“Well,” Andy stood and stretched, “thank you boys for the entertainment, but some of us need to get back to preparing for patrol.”

There was a sudden cursing from the phone: “Shit, us too.”

“Come on Paige. Happy birthday Fair.”

“And Cloud, gift wrapping champion. You guys deserve each other.” The other voices echoed.

“Thanks peanut gallery.” Cloud replied to fading sounds of their movements and switched the PHS back to his ear as his squad wandered back to wherever they had been. The couriers had vanished. He could hear the sound of candy wrappers shuffling as Zack gathered the treats from wherever he’d dumped them. “You too?”

“Yeah. They’re my team – there’s marlboro breeding grounds sprung up nearby.”

“Ew.”

“No kidding.”

“Still, good birthday?”

“It was alright. Quiet. One of the guys bought a cake – it was actually fantastic. But... I’d rather been home.”

“Hmm,” Cloud agreed, arranging his own things on his computer to move. The report could wait a bit. “Same. I think Adam is threatening to bake something, but.”

“Yeah.”

“Still, not a bad place to spend it.”

“And not bad company either.”

“No – the looks I got for that package though.”

Snerk. “It’s the baby-face,” Zack said. “They forgot you’re twenty and a little shit.”

“No, they know that,” Cloud replied, sliding past Sebastian and into the hall.

Sebastian looked up and grinned, “Yeah, it’s ‘oh god our next captain is the kind of guy who sends dildo shaped presents.’”

“Yeah. That.”

“But he also warks back at chocobos, calls anything vaguely canine a puppy, was probably responsible for the glitter ATVs, and is generally a massive nerd, so I don’t know why we’re surprised.”

Zack was laughing again.

Cloud groaned and kept going. “You both suck.”

“Heh. Anyway, I really gotta go now. I’ll try to call you again soon.”

“Alright, say hi to Aerith for me?”

“Will do! And I’ll find you those chocobo boxers!”

“Zackary Fair, Don’t You Fucking Da-” Cloud cut off at the dial tone: “And he’s gone. Jerk,” he murmured fondly and with a shake of his head made his way to his room.

Stuffing the socks in a drawer and the stone with his maintenance supplies, Cloud settled into his desk and flipped his computer back open. And paused. And closed it again.

He reached for the little case, and flicked through it’s contents. It was mid August, still summer most places but there cooling soon and much work blowing in on the wind. It could well be winter before he got another truly quiet hour.

“Try’n’a spoil me,” he murmured, and slotted one into his console instead.

The report could wait.

#velundr writes #cloud strife #zack fair #ffvii #implied zerith #cloud's birthday week 2k17 #zack doesn't have a birthday so i'm lending him one of cloud's #this actually ties into something else i've written #and will probably redo because i still love the idea #but the parts i finished make me cringe now

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eggman-empire · 5 years ago

Text

Evil Overlords Have Feelings Too - Part 3

by Jenifer Irwin Part 3 "Hahaaa! I won again! Well, sort of," Robotnik said as he rode along in the pod on the Steel Snake's back. Arashi, sitting next to him, smirked slightly. "Well, he probably lost a lot more valuable equipment than you did, so I'd say you won."

"Plus, I've got the Chaos Emeralds... I really could have used these BEFORE I took over the world. Urh. Now, the only problem left is finding a suitable place to rebuild a base..." Arashi smiled slightly and turned to pet the chao that were sitting behind the seats. The little creatures were so cute, especially Devlin the Devil Chao. For all his diabolical appearance, he was still just an innocent little baby-like creature, toddling around looking for food. I'm really proud of him, Arashi thought as she glanced up at Robotnik briefly. And really glad that I met him. Life has never been so fun and adventurous. Plus, I never thought I would get to witness him personally ending Sonic's life. With me having betrayed Sonic! Hah! Ah, my hero... He had been concentrating on flying the Steel Snake, whose movement was controlled by his mind alone, when he glanced casually at Arashi. The look on her face, it was... AUGH. The ship lurched to the side, rocking violently, a manifestation of the doctor's inner reaction. Four chao were thrown into the wall and Arashi gasped as she was jerked sideways in her restraining harness. Robotnik quickly stared straight ahead again, bringing the ship under control. Great. Just great, Robotnik thought to himself. Somehow I knew this was going to happen. I think it was there from the start. But I definitely knew when she darn near kissed me back there at the ruins of the base... I'm too fat, too ugly to be attractive, right!? Well, like I told Takar... just being diabolical has a certain charm to it... but I can't let feelings get in the way of my work. He glanced carefully over at her so she didn't notice. She was too busy calming the chao down. ...can I? He shook his head suddenly at his own thought, then masked the apparently reasonless motion by sneezing violently. Arashi looked up, blinking. "Getting a cold?" she asked, snickering slightly. "Nah," Robotnik replied. "Dust in my nose." He sniffed slightly. No way. I can't let people know I have too many feelings. Just isn't me. I have to keep that nasty, heartless image that Sega gave me. Right? He was approaching a city. Glad of this, he growled to himself as he struggled with his thoughts, and blew up the nearest building. Arashi glanced at the cloud of dust that resulted, metal flying everywhere, and wondered what he was doing. "Yes! Boom! Explosions! Scrap metal! I am evil! Verrrry evil!" Robotnik seemed almost in his own little world as he continued to shoot rockets into buildings, watching with a strange glee as they exploded all over the place. "I'm hungry," he said suddenly after about 6 places exploded, and descended towards the streets. The Steel Snake weaved its way through the city, frightening people in their cars and causing sirens to blare. The police didn't dare touch him, though--after all, he was Emperor Ivo Robotnik. Hearing the sirens, a McDonald's employee glanced out a window, just as the wall opposite of that window burst in, bricks collapsing to the ground and dust flying up as a giant, silvery, robotic snake slithered in through the huge hole. Workers and customers alike screamed and trembled, some frozen, some running out of the restaurant and away. The pod flipped open and Ivo Robotnik vaulted out, dropping to the ground, Arashi Codiv jumping out with four chao in her arms. "Aherm, twenty Big Macs, twenty super-size fries, a large Dr Pepper, a large Mountain Dew, and four happy meals with small Dr Peppers, for here. And, of course, free," Robotnik said. He casually drew his laser gun, holding it down at his side as he shifted his weight to one leg, fist on hip. "U-uhh... s-sir, w-we don't s-serve those d-drinks..." Robotnik pondered. "Now let's see, I forgot how to work the safety on this..." He fiddled with the laser gun, one finger precariously gripping the trigger. The cashier gulped loudly and said, "Uh, I'll... be right back, I'm going to go rob another restaurant and bring you your drinks! Very quickly!" He ran away with speed that could impress even Sonic. Adrenaline can do funny things to people. The fear-inspiring customers took a seat at a large booth, waiting for their food. It was delivered to them quickly. The chao were given their happy meals, and the 20 pairs of big macs and fries sat on the table before Arashi and Robotnik. He gestured to them, saying, "Take what you can eat." She moved just one big mac and fries over. Gladly, Robotnik took the rest, scarfing it all down with disturbing ferocity. By the time Arashi was finished with her food, Robotnik was too. Which was frightening, considering he was eating 19 times more than she was. Customers and employees stared, jaws dropping. Robotnik looked up, acting quite annoyed, though he loved the attention. "What? I'm having LUNCH, for crying out loud." He brandished the laser gun, practically giggling inwardly as he watched them all force themselves to pretend to be overly interested in something else. Even after they all looked away, the tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The chao were playing happily with the toys they got from their happy meals when one of them broke. Balor, the one who had the broken toy, started to cry. Robotnik grinned across the table at Arashi and got up, approaching the cashiers, who went pale and started trembling in fear. Oh, how he loved having that effect on people. It gave him chills. He leaned casually on one of the registers and said, "You know what to do, right?" With quick, frantic movements, the cashier produced every toy they had in the restaurant, shoving them all across the counter. Robotnik gestured to the four chao to come over, and they skipped over gleefully, picking out the toys they wanted. He snickered to himself and grinned over at Arashi. Arashi had to do a double-take. The grin was almost... goofy. Like a teenager who just thoroughly impressed his girlfriend and is practically intoxicated from the victory. She gave him a slightly bizarre look, and he realized... Gaahhhh! What am I doing!? Coughing suddenly, Robotnik resumed his gruff, nasty demeanor and gestured with the laser gun at the toys. "Yeah, that's it, take lots of'em," he said to the chao. Getting a power high, Robotnik decided to terrorize more people as he ambled from table to table, looking down at the trembling customers who sat in booths or chairs. He snarled unexpectedly at a little boy, sending him running away crying in fear. Another person had to give up all of his money or be shot. Arashi noticed there were police cars sitting outside, but the policemen stood next to their cars, looking just as scared as everyone else. Everybody knew. Everybody knew that this was Emperor Robotnik. Everybody knew that you do not mess with Emperor Robotnik. Dozens of people trembled in his presence as he demanded money from random people. Nobody was hurt, but lots of people went broke that day. Robotnik smiled pleasantly and approached the Steel Snake as Arashi gathered up the four chao and hopped in. Turning back to the crowd, Robotnik silently slid a plate back on the laser gun, exposing the battery chamber. Nothing was in it. He had held them all at gunpoint, threatening and robbing them, with an unloaded gun. When they all realized this, he could see the disbelief and despair on their faces, and he laughed maniacally before hopping into the Steel Snake and heading out. Arashi grinned as they flew above the city and eventually away from it, just cruising along. There was no real direction to their travel, because Robotnik couldn't stop laughing. His laugh wasn't the severely masculine, deep, diabolical one that he usually used, it was an almost drunk half-giggle. He was completely high to the point of insanity on ego and power, and loving every second of it. It was infectious; soon, Arashi joined in the laughter. Ah, yes, nothing like a couple of mad scientists laughing crazily as they soar over the plains on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Very suddenly, Robotnik stopped laughing, his jaw dropping as he stared straight ahead at something in the distance. Arashi looked at him in alarm, following his gaze. What was... oh, no... something racing through the high grasses with such speeds as to set them on fire... something spiky... something blue... ** (30 minutes ago, in Takar's secret Earth-based lab) "Yes... yes, that's it... Right... go on, computer, you can figure this out, I know you can..." Takar urged the supercomputer on as it crunched numbers, furiously scanning the ash samples for data. He watched the screen hopefully, desperately. "YES! YES! I LOVE you, computer! I love you, Windows XP! You're so good to me! Well, usually!" The DNA data for both Sonic and Tails was coming up, clear as day, no pieces missing. Takar grinned evilly. "Time to give you two a bit of a boost." The alien walked up to the strange device that he had created, which had a large door on one side and a funnel on the other. He cut his finger slightly, squeezing a few drops of purple blood into the funnel, and sealed the wound with his regenerative powers. Sitting back down at the computer, he typed a few things in at a furious pace, watching as some diagrams and 3-D renditions of Sonic and Tails changed and shifted. Tails became a bit leaner, Sonic a bit taller. Sonic's eyes glowed an even more vibrant green than they did before, almost a glow-in-the-dark quality coming to them, and Tails' blue eyes started glowing oddly too. A few checks over the data, and Takar saved his file. He clicked the 'compile and run' button, then sat back and waited. The big device with the door churned and shuddered, and after about 5 minutes, Sonic spilled out of the door, looking quite surprised. Tails soon followed while the hedgehog was still trying to accustom himself to being alive again. "What the heck!?" were Sonic's first words. He glanced up to see Takar and the lab, becoming alarmed for a moment. Then he realized that this was probably someone from the same band of aliens that brought him back to life from a corpse with a resurrection beam before. "Welcome back to life," Takar said, grinning. "I'm Takar, Ykrian Leader. Would you like to get back at Robotnik? I've... enhanced you two a bit. I'm sure once you go out and start doing things, you'll find out what I mean." He leaned back in his chair, smiling smugly and quite willing to allow Sonic and Tails do all the dirty work for him. Sonic stood up, panting slightly, and glanced at Tails. "Hey, you shrunk. And you lost weight." "I think you grew, Sonic..." The two glanced at each other uncertainly, noting the odd quality of their eyes and the slight change in physical appearance. Suddenly, Sonic remembered his main goal and said, "Time to go kick some butt! Thanks, green dude!" With that, he raced towards the door, Tails on his heels. "Wait!" Takar yelled. Sonic stopped and turned towards him, raising an eyebrow. "Dr. Robotnik has all seven chaos emeralds... so watch out." "Okay, Tails," Sonic said, turning to the fox. "You find a way to build another Tornado, and wait here. I'll get the chaos emeralds away from Eggman, and then I'll come back so we can power the new ship. You don't mind if Tails uses some spare parts of yours for it, do you, Takar?" "Anything... and I mean anything, to rid the world of Ivo Robotnik." Tails nodded, then happily ran over to a pile of stuff to start his building. Feeling a little different, thus slightly unsure of himself, Sonic emerged from the underground lab and jogged in place for a moment. He started to run at about 20 miles an hour. He gradually picked up speed, arms and legs moving quickly as he became more accustomed to his form. Within moments he was moving faster than the speed of sound. It didn't seem like it, though. He wasn't having to strain like he used to to do this. Quirking his mouth slightly in thought, he decided to really open up and give it everything he had. With reflexes even faster before and a strange hyper-awareness to any obstacles that he had to clear, Sonic blazed through a forest, literally running across the surface of a large lake, sending a huge column of water rising up behind him. He began to feel out of control as no matter hard he tried to exhaust himself, he just kept accelerating. The skin on his face was pulled on by the air that rushed past him, pulling the corners of his mouth back. His legs were moving so fast that their entire range of motion was like a solid entity. Instead of jumping that next log, he ran right into it, his legs sawing it in half like a knife through warm butter. Forgetting the fact that he might be out of control, Sonic just watched the scenery blur past him, exhilarated. He had never experienced speed like this before, even in his super and hyper forms. And he wasn't even breathing hard. Occasionally, he squinted at something in the distance, and found that his vision 'zoomed in' on it, but his hearing and sense of touch slightly diminished when that occurred. When he stopped squinting, everything went back to normal. Listening closely to the wind, the sound was amplified as his sight dimmed slightly... odd... Sawing through a boulder and a few more logs, Sonic suddenly blazed out onto a plain, setting the grasses on fire as he moved over them like a bolt of lightning. Accelerating with every step, he continued on. When he saw the Steel Snake, he gasped, and jerked his feet out in front of him to bring himself to a stop, creating some long ruts in the ground, but he managed. He looked up to see Robotnik lean out of the side of the pod, aiming a laser gun at his head. I am NOT going to die a THIRD time like this! It is just getting old for both me AND the readers! Sonic screamed to himself. He tried to dodge, but the laser caught him in the head anyway, searing through it. Oddly enough, he felt the pain. He was still alive. How!? However, he tried to make it look like it did work, and slumped to the ground, limp. Oh, it hurt. It hurt bad. But he had to stay still and expressionless. Robotnik stopped the Snake nearby and jumped out, carefully approaching the hedgehog with laser gun drawn. He noticed Sonic was, at the least, unconscious, and watched him carefully for a moment. He wasn't breathing, either. Lifting one of Sonic's wrists, Robotnik felt carefully for a pulse. There was none. Laughing, Robotnik yelled to Arashi, "Again, the hedgehog falls to my laser!" He pulled Sonic out of the ground and threw him in the cargo bay of the Steel Snake, then hopped into the pod and flew off. Inside the cargo bay, Sonic lay wondering. He really could play dead. His heart and breathing stopped just as he thought it would be nice for them to do so, when Robotnik approached him. Takar really did infuse him with some interesting new abilities, including the night vision that he was experiencing right now. He glanced around inside the dark compartment, jaw dropping when his eyes landed on the seven chaos emeralds, all in a plastic grocery bag, along with a supply of rings. Robotnik snickered to himself as he drove along, giving Arashi a smug glance now and then. This continued for a few minutes until he seemed to feel something... a large amount of energy... and the cargo door burst open as Super Sonic flew out of it, cackling. "What the!? You're DEAD, Sonic! This is impossible!" Robotnik yelled in surprise, watching as the golden hedgehog soared through the air briefly, then started trying to smash the Snake's jets off. Quickly, the jets retracted into the snake's body, as did the pod, and it just coiled up tightly like an armadillo and hovered there in the air with gravity reversal energy, all the attacks bouncing off the high-quality rubber-steel. This continued for quite a while as Sonic's urge to break something stayed with him, but eventually he came to his senses and realized it wasn't going to work. Dropping to the ground, he sped off back towards where Takar's lab was. Robotnik and Arashi remained concealed in the snake's back, with the evil genius using the senses of the snake to realize that Sonic had run away. As the jets and the pod re-emerged from the giant serpentine robot, the occupants were startled to see and hear the entire world shake violently for a moment, and a brilliant blast of multicolored energy emitted from somewhere in the distance. Looking up, the Steel Snake trained its advanced sensors in on a small object that was flying through the air. It was the blue chaos emerald! The pod lid flipped open and Robotnik quickly pulled off his racing harness, standing up and watching the emerald intently. As it neared, he maneuvered the Snake into position, then raised a hand slowly--catching the emerald expertly in a baseball glove. Sitting down, he wondered how this could have happened. Arashi asked, "Where did you get the glove?" "Oh, don't worry about the technicalities, this is a cartoon, after all," Robotnik said, then flipped down the pod lid, put his harness back on and headed in the direction that Sonic ran. Finding Sonic was easy--his speed had burned a path of charred grass through the plain, and eventually into a deep forest, out onto another plain where trees dotted the landscape. At a certain point, near an oddly-placed arrangement of boulders, giant ruts had been carved into the earth by two high-speed feet, then the grass was pressed flat by what had to have been high-speed winds from something. About 2 miles away from the ruts in the same direction that they were traveling, there was Sonic... wrapped around a tree and quite dead. Robotnik laughed so hard that he had to land the Snake to keep from crashing it. ** It took all of Robotnik and Arashi's strength to pull Sonic off of the tree. Robotnik eventually deduced, from the length of the ruts and the fact that a trapdoor was smack dab in the middle of the boulder arrangement, that Sonic had tried to stop near the boulders but couldn't. He must have run out of rings by that point, and reverted to his true form, with his enhanced speed, plus the augmentation to it from his hyper form, not allowing him to stop quite like he predicted. When he tried to stop, he must have caused the ruts, then knowing that wasn't going to do it, he accidentally flailed in such a way as to catch air, then have a fatal meeting with the kindly tree that managed to help him stop. The impact sent the emeralds flying, and judging from the speed of the blue one, they flew pretty far. How can you get that much information out of some burnt grass, ruts, flat grass, and a dead hedgehog stuck to a tree? Well, give me a break, Robotnik's IQ is 600 for crying out loud, he must know SOMETHING about forensic science. ** In Takar's secret lab, Tails and the Ykrian leader wondered what the heck had caused the earth to shake like it did. Tails decided to investigate, and made his way to the surface, immediately noticing the ruts in the ground. As he was looking around, something slammed into his head. Hard. Everything went black. A few minutes later, noticing that Tails was gone longer than he said he would be, Takar went to the surface as well, finding the two-tailed fox collapsed on the ground next to a red chaos emerald. Judging from where the wound was and where the emerald was, it must have fallen from the sky and struck him. The alien leader dragged Tails into the lab, taking the chaos emerald with them, and put it in the Tornado II, which was the original purpose of collecting at least one of the emeralds. He tested out the vehicle briefly, making sure it worked, and then set to reviving Tails. ** Robotnik pondered. I wonder where would be a place that's nice and secure, but looks good too... and is quiet, and where nobody would think to go... He pulled something resembling a permanently fixed laptop out of a panel in front of him, tapping a few things on the keys and searching for something. "Let's see, now, I could program it to use its sensors to..." Typing furiously as his idea formulated, he finished the code in just a few minutes as the Steel Snake hovered in the air. Arashi watched, knowing exactly what he was doing as she saw the code fly across the screen, and soon the Snake was moving again, probing with its senses as it searched. The pod on the Snake's back sank down into its body and steel plates moved to cover it up, concealing the pod entirely. Robotnik flicked on a light, and inside of the Snake, the environment was almost surreal. A constant, vibrating hum permeated the air, but it was otherwise silent. "Don't want the force of dirt pressing against this thing to snap it off or pop it open," he explained, concentrating. Pulling a small container of something out of a glove compartment, he handed it to Arashi. "Drink that. It'll help you keep from throwing up." He handed four smaller containers to the chao as well, then drank one of his own. Arashi looked at him dubiously. "You're not going to do what you did when we were fighting the UFOs, are you?" "Gonna do worse," he said matter-of-factly, waiting a few moments for whatever the liquid was to kick in. Everybody got an odd tingling in their stomach, and Robotnik pulled several straps out of the seats and walls. He strapped the chao firmly to the back wall, telling them not to worry as he looked at the wide-eyed, confused expressions, then secured Arashi's head to the back of her seat with a strap around her forehead. Pulling a last strap around his own head, he took a deep breath and started concentrating again. A rabbit screeched and leaped away as a giant metal thing slammed into the ground nearby. The Steel Snake's nose penetrated several feet into the earth, and it pushed downward as its entire body started to spin madly, drilling through the ground. It disappeared within seconds, leaving the rabbit dashing frantically over rumbling grasses. Inside the pod, it was utter chaos. All six occupants were screaming, perhaps in fear, perhaps in confusion, perhaps just for the heck of it, as the Snake spun on its axis at blurring speeds, the centrifugal force seeming to try to pull everyone in all directions at once. "AAAaaAAAaaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAAAAGHHHHH!" Robotnik had rather underestimated the power of the Steel Snake, and he was screaming the loudest, being the only one that finally, truly understood just how powerful it could be. Down, down the Snake went, drilling over 1000 feet into the ground, before it finally exited in a giant underground cavern, above a huge lake. Another 3000 or so feet it fell, until it splashed into the water, sinking to the bottom. It took several moments for the two to come to their senses as they sat there blinking, and finally, Robotnik looked over at Arashi. "That was COOL," was all he could say. The Steel Snake slithered out of the water and came to rest coiled up nearby. The pod rose out of its back and Robotnik grinned slightly as he and Arashi got out. Looking over at her, he knew he'd picked the right place. She stared around in awe, practically staggering, as she looked at the interior of the cavern. Thousands upon thousands, even millions, of tiny gems were encrusted on the walls, covering them, sparkling brilliantly. Every turn of the head produced a new look to them as some light that shined down through the hole in the ceiling reflected off the lake, bouncing dim light onto the crystals and giving it a surreal atmosphere. "Wow... wow," Arashi said, blinking. While he couldn't reciprocate on the occasions that she hugged him, Robotnik could at least build his next base in the most beautiful cavern in the world to make her happy. He glanced around, quite impressed with it himself, and thought about how exactly he was going to design the new base. Airborne, underwater, affixed to the walls or ceiling? Maybe even the floor? Perhaps a base that ran a ring around the lake on the floor? There were so many possibilities. But it had to be secure, not easy to access the inside, and big. Though, why keep everything in one building and risk it all being destroyed at once again in the event that someone started blowing up his stuff? He decided on a central control point--built in the center of the lake with bridges on all four sides to lead to its shores--and various bunkers in the water and around the lake. There would be underwater tunnels to lead from one building to the other. Now, where to get the materials. "Arashi, can I have your backpack?" ** Using the materials that he could find within the unknown recesses of Arashi's backpack (women can put lots of stuff in their chosen containers), Robotnik began to build. Arashi sat on a boulder near the edge of the lake, watching in blatant admiration along with the four chao as Ivo walked across and climbed on beams, every movement easy, flawless and familiar to him as he worked on the huge central building. It took shape into a giant fortress of steel, running underwater where the doctor used an oxygen tank to sustain himself while he built down there. The bridges were placed, and more bunkers scattered about, and finally, after 12 straight hours of work, it was all finished. A giant, transparent, protective dome was placed around the entire area, and the hole that had been created by the Steel Snake was turned into a metal shaft with dozens of doors so that getting through it would be difficult for any outsider. Lights were installed in a ring at the edges of the cavern to make seeing easier, and the place was, all in all, awesome. Total, the base had 250 rooms, with reinforced steel walls 10 feet thick. Most of the rooms would never be seen again, but it's pretty cool to be able to say you've got them. Probably only the kitchen, living room, lab, bedrooms, bathrooms and bunkers would ever really be used. Walking up to Arashi and flipping a wrench in one hand, backpack in the other, Robotnik gestured grandly. "Behold, the new Robotnik Fortress! Muahahaha!" He grinned, handing the backpack to her, and she jumped up from the rock. "Let's go in!" The Steel Snake followed the humans and chao into the base, settling down in its new lab. Robotnik showed Arashi around to all the new and improved stuff... more candy dispensers on the walls, an endless supply of Mountain Dew for her and Dr Pepper for him, a bigger refrigerator, automatically flushing toilets, beds with ALL of the neat features you see on commercials for really good ones, the works. When the tour was done, the two went into the lab. Robotnik opened the cargo hold on the Steel Snake and pulled out a very dead Sonic. "There's only one way I'm going to be able to keep you from coming back to life, or being brought back to life by aliens, or whatnot, Sonic..." Arashi watched in disbelief as Robotnik carried Sonic out of the lab and headed to the kitchen. She followed along, confused, wondering what crazy thing he was going to do next. Once in the kitchen, Robotnik stuffed Sonic into the funnel of the new microwave-pill-maker thing he made. Turning it on, he watched the machine groan and shake, churning as it processed the hedgehog into a small blue pill that clattered into the change-slot-like compartment. Robotnik picked up the pill, grinning evilly. "You're not gonna," Arashi said, disbelievingly, as the doctor picked up a glass of water. "And why not?" he asked, popping the pill in his mouth and washing it down in a single gulp of water. Arashi couldn't help but start laughing hysterically. "Hahahaha! Haha! I never thought I'd see you EAT Sonic!" She fell against a wall, laughing. "Mmh. Tastes like chicken," Robotnik joked, staring at the ceiling in a moment of thought. He set the glass of water down, knowing that there was no way Sonic could be brought back to life unless he himself were captured or killed before his body absorbed the pill's contents. He decided to stay in the base for a while so it could do just that. After a few hours, they would go out to find the other chaos emeralds. ** Robotnik was performing some upgrades on the Steel Snake, making it faster and with bigger rockets. Arashi sat nearby, petting the chao that sat in her lap as she watched the mad scientist work. "The energy that these chaos emeralds give off can help me locate the other ones as long as I have this one," Robotnik explained. He held up the brilliant gem, which sparkled blue in the light of the room. Even though it was blue--and most blue things reminded him of his adversary--it was a thing of wonder and beauty. Becoming distracted, the doctor stared into its depths for quite some time, mesmerized. I never noticed how beautiful these were, he thought to himself. In fact, I never really did notice any beauty in life until... Snapping back to reality, he glanced over at Arashi for a split second, then turned back to his work. Noticing the glance, Arashi grinned slightly, then set the chao aside and stood up, wandering over to Robotnik and watching what he was doing for several minutes. The jets were getting an upgrade, and he worked on each of them in turn. He was quite aware of her watching him the entire time, but didn't really make moves to acknowledge it. Deciding to take a small break, Robotnik wandered over to one of the many wall-refrigerators in the base, pulling out two cans--one of Dr Pepper and one of Mountain Dew--handing the second to Arashi. Snapping the Dr Pepper open, he started to take a drink. This was the second she'd been waiting for. "So, when should we get married?" Arashi asked abruptly. Though all she was doing was trying to get a funny reaction from him in the first place, Arashi realized she shouldn't have stood in front of him. He twitched suddenly, making a shocked *snrk* sound, then choked violently on his Dr Pepper and ended up spitting it all over her, dropping the can too. As he leaned against the wall coughing and gasping for breath, Arashi practically fell down laughing. "That... wasn't funny," Robotnik said as he pointed at her, trying to catch his breath, but he couldn't help but grin in amusement. "Not funny at all..." He started laughing. I've really got to find a way to get back at her with some pranks of my own, Robotnik thought to himself as he passed by her, giving her a slightly mischievous grin. As he went back to work on the Steel Snake, a cleaning robot automatically came out and mopped the Dr Pepper off the floor, disposing of the can as well, and Arashi headed for the shower room. As he worked, Robotnik started humming his theme song. A few bolts here, a plate there... "I love playin' this game by my rules... I will con-quer the world with mah tools..." By now, he'd left humming for singing the song. A few new circuit boards placed in the pod for homing missiles... "I am the en-em-y! I will succeed! My missions, yeah, I muu-ust complete! My name is Eggman, don't forget mah name--if ya ask me again, I'll show you the same!" It was pretty funny for him use a socket wrench as a microphone. Especially to Arashi, who started applauding, grinning in amusement. Startled, Robotnik whirled around. "Wha!?" Then he turned a deep shade of red. She'd seen the whole thing, hadn't she? "Uh... hrph... you shower fast," he muttered, coughing, and went soberly back to work. One thing was for sure, there was rarely a dull moment since she showed up in his base for the first time. He thought back to when she wasn't there, when he was awfully lonely... Even raising chao just didn't do enough for him, and before he'd started doing that, he was incredibly lonely. It would have been bad form to go out searching for someone, though. Evil Overlords just don't do that, unless they do it in such a way as to strike terror into their target, but he did that to everyone else already, so what would be the point? The point is... I have too many feelings! "Argh!" Robotnik pounded on the side of the Steel Snake with his the heels of his hands suddenly, looking frustrated, as if trying to compose himself. Arashi glanced over, taking a sip of Mountain Dew. "Something wrong?" "Nothing. My Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is acting up again," he lied, then walked away from the Snake and sat down at a lab control panel several feet away, sighing. Poor guy, Arashi thought as she looked at him. He's got real problems dealing with his emotions. She sighed and walked over to Robotnik. "Ivo, this is the price you pay for wanting more publicity," she said as she walked up behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "You wanted them to see the real Ivo Robotnik, right? Well, you're not letting them the way you're going!" Robotnik sighed in resignation. "Could you bring me a Dr Pepper, please?" "Sure thing," Arashi said, smiling slightly, and went over to the soda machine in the wall. ** "Alright," Robotnik said, flipping a wrench in his hand triumphantly, "It's finished! And now we can track down the rest of the chaos emeralds!" He jumped into the seat, followed by Arashi, and they took off out of the underground cavern at a blistering speed. When the resulting g-forces crushed the two to the point that Arashi appeared to lose all physical hints of being female and Robotnik became thin, he realized that was a little too much speed at once, and slowed the craft down. All went back to normal, but both riders' ribcages felt awful sore. Surprisingly, the nearest source of chaos energy didn't seem to be very far away. The Steel Snake soared through the air easily, towards Takar's secret lab. Robotnik hadn't investigated it when he first saw it because he wanted to get rid of Sonic completely first. As the two world leaders headed over the forest, they saw something in the distance as they heard propellers spinning... ** Tails was still a little dizzy, but he'd be alright in an hour or two. Takar seemed to dote over him like a loving parent would a child, getting him food and water immediately as he woke up, and making him as comfortable as possible. Obviously, the alien wanted to keep his anti-Robotnik weapons in as good of shape as he could. As soon as Tails was feeling his best, he hopped in his new ship and headed out, thanking Takar for his help. He started getting readings from another emerald as soon as he scanned for them... and it was quite nearby. "Tornado transformation!" the fox yelled in such a corny manner as his vehicle went from ground to air, turning into a biplane, and he headed off in the direction of where the readings were coming from. Almost as soon as he got out over the forest, he saw the glint of sunlight off of something shiny... ** "TAILS!" Robotnik yelled, cackling briefly. "How nice of you to come right to me!" The Steel Snake sped up, heading towards the biplane at incredible speed. As Tails realized what it was that was coming into view, his ears pressed flat against his head in fear, remembering what that thing did to him... He decided he was going to need Takar's help, and turned around to get out of there, but the plane wasn't fast enough. The Steel Snake quickly came up beside the biplane, grabbing it with a strong robotic arm that extended out from behind a scale-plate. The pod lid flipped open, and Robotnik leaned out, grinning. "So nice of you to deliver the chaos emerald to me, Tails," he said, brandishing his laser gun. Tails had to get out of there. In a desperate attempt to make it away from the mad scientist, he quickly turned the biplane, sending it slamming into the side of the Snake as he snatched the chaos emerald out of the Tornado and jumped out, sending his two tails into motion as they started to carry him away. An idea flashed into Robotnik's head as he trained the laser sights on Tails. No, this is getting old. I think I'll try something a little different... Arashi blinked as Robotnik tore the racing harness off, leaping out of the ship and using the biplane (which hadn't hurt the Snake at all) as a stepping stone, sailing through the air for a moment before he grabbed onto Tails' arms and kept a tight grip, hanging on. The fox screamed in fear, trying to shake Robotnik off of him, but he couldn't. The weight dragged him out of the sky, quite fast, and no matter how fast his tails went, he couldn't keep himself aloft. Robotnik wasn't doing anything but hanging there laughing cruelly. Tails became so tired in his desperation that Robotnik could literally steer him, like a parachute, as they headed toward the ground quickly. The Steel Snake stayed hovering in the air, just as it was programmed to do if he leapt out, and Arashi watched, laughing, as he steered Tails towards a large tree. Tails thought Sonic was heavy, but he didn't know heavy until he was forced to try to lug Robotnik through the sky. Nearly losing consciousness from the effort, the fox was helpless as his passenger pulled him down, slamming him into a tree headfirst at about 30 miles an hour. *THUNK!* Then they both smashed through several branches and fell into a bush, obliterating it. The force of the fall knocked Robotnik out cold, but Tails wasn't as fortunate--the mad scientist had fallen right on top of him, killing him instantly. Though it was a bad fall for Robotnik too, he came to a couple of minutes later with no serious injuries and a great amount of amusement. It was worth it. Taking the chaos emerald off Tails' corpse, the mad scientist summoned the Steel Snake and rode off into the distance towards his base, he and Arashi laughing maniacally the entire time. ** "CRAP!" Takar had seen the whole thing. He watched as the ships collided, as the Tornado eventually dove into the trees in a blazing spiral, as Robotnik had dragged Tails into the forest. He had seen the Steel Snake dive, then appear again, a fox tail stuck in the door of the cargo hold as the giant flexible ship flew away. "Arrrghhh! I HATE you, Ivo Robotnik!" Takar snarled and stomped down into his lab. "I'm supposed to be superior to these humans! Yet they seem to thwart me at every turn! Why?! Whyyyyyy!??" The alien leader sat down in his chair and started to cry. See, Robotnik isn't the only Evil Overlord with feelings. He started to plot, trying to figure out how to handle this situation. Pulling up the file for Sonic's DNA, he used a super-advanced satellite-like device to pinpoint the location of that DNA structure. When a 3-D model of Robotnik flashed up on the screen, Takar promptly fainted. ** "I wonder what fox seasoning tastes like on pizza," Robotnik said, crushing the orange pill up and tossing it over a slice. "On a side note, I think that Pill-Maker 3000 is the best thing I ever made." He gulped down the slice of pizza, grinning as he savored his victory, and stopped to take a drink of Dr Pepper after finishing. Arashi could just see it. Ivo had consumed Sonic and Tails by turning them into pills--was he going to eat every enemy he ever made from this point on? Certainly a sure-fire way of getting rid of someone, though. She took a drink herself and reached for the last piece of pizza, just as Robotnik did, his gloved hand landing on hers. Oh, god, one of these corny scenes again? Make it stop! The two looked across the table at each other, eyes locking. A hint of nervousness immediately hung in the air as both lost words, even breath... Two hearts skipped a beat as they realized... "Crap, we're out of pizza!" they both exclaimed in unison, and started hunting through Arashi's backpack for more. ** "Alright, fat guy, I've got a little something up my sleeve that I've been waiting to use until just this sort of situation," Takar said, pulling out a device with a fake chaos emerald in it. He tapped a few things on the buttons, then grinned as he found the locations of all the other chaos emeralds using the fake one like a radar. With a super-fast pod similar to Robotnik's infamous escape pod, the Ykrian leader zoomed out into the sky, towards a plains area in the northwest, where the cyan emerald was. He had to face many dangers to get all the emeralds. By the time he had them all, he had gotten half-mauled by a lion, fell off a bridge and slammed over some sharp rocks in rapids, was nearly crushed by a giant towering plateau that fell down when he extracted the purple emerald from a crack in it, and had to evade fire from military jets after stealing the grey one from the Pentagon. He'd dealt with all of that, there was no way the yellow emerald was going to pose a more dangerous situation than what he already faced... And it didn't. It was lying out in the middle of a field, harmlessly, and he walked right up and plucked it from the ground with an insane grin. He had the five remaining chaos emeralds... now he could-- A passenger airliner that was flying overhead malfunctioned, and a giant block of frozen sewage waste fell out, slamming directly into Takar and knocking him out. ** A few hours later, Robotnik was walking about the base collecting rings that seemed to pop up from time to time. Why were rings just lying about everywhere in the universe? Good question. No matter where you went--be it through the city, through a forest, underwater, even out in space--there were usually rings close at hand. It was strange. A loud rumbling was heard as the entire base shook for a moment, and an earsplitting explosion blew the central building apart, sending twisted metal flying outwards at blistering speeds. Some pieces embedded themselves in the gem-encrusted walls, things even exploding as they impacted. Robotnik felt a searing heat blow him out of the base, sending him into the water since he was in the part of the base that was submerged. He thrashed to the surface, gasping for air, trying to reorient himself as he looked up at his obliterated base. Realization flashed into his head. Arashi! She had been in there! Quickly, Robotnik pulled himself out of the water, calculating where she would be from what he observed of where pieces had been flying. Since she was in the living room, she would probably be in the northwestern part of the cave, by that huge pile of destruction... Racing over to the pile of twisted metal, he saw the couch, overturned, half of it destroyed. Pinned under it from the waist down was Arashi, sprawled on her back. "Arashi!" Robotnik yelled worriedly as he rushed to her, pulling the couch off of her. Gashes covered her body, and shards of metal were imbedded deep in her sides. Kneeling down next to her, he pulled her up into a half-sitting position, wincing when she cried out in pain. Grabbing the front of his coat, she gasped weakly for breath. "What... h-h..." "I don't know! Hang on, I'm going to go get medical supplies," he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking as he glanced over the serious wounds. As he moved to dash away, she tightened her grip on him. "No... I... I'll be dead by the time you... get back," she wheezed painfully, eyes shut tightly. "Stay here... please... don't let me die... alone..." Robotnik felt something icy grip his heart as he stared down at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious," he whispered shakily. "I've never... been so serious," she replied, a pained sound escaping her as it felt like daggers were stabbing her lungs with every breath. Robotnik tried his best to keep her still as he held her tightly in his arms. Pain made her take sharp breaths, and sharp breaths only produced more pain. Arashi weakened rapidly, Ivo staring down at her helplessly, not knowing what to do. After only about thirty seconds, she slowly became heavier in his arms, her head falling back as she mumbled something with her dying breath. "...crap, I forgot to check my email..." For what seemed like an eternity, Robotnik remained there, sobbing uncharacteristically in despair against Arashi's lifeless shoulder. Was this what it was like... to have feelings? To love somebody? Indeed, the highs were high, but the lows were unbearable... Suddenly, a voice from nearby grabbed his attention. "How touching," came the fairly bored-sounding British accent. The heartbroken scientist looked up to find Takar hovering in midair, smiling cruelly, his form glowing a neon green. Somehow, with only 5 chaos emeralds, he was in his Super Form. "You," Robotnik snarled, letting Arashi slump to the ground as he stood up. "You blew up my base! You destroyed everything! YOU KILLED ARASHI!" "Your point?" the Ykrian leader asked, examining his nails briefly. "I... HAVE HAD... ENOUGH OF YOU!" Robotnik screamed madly, his voice enraged and seemingly in physical pain for some reason. It sounded rather unnatural, causing Takar to glance up, quirking a brow. His expression went from triumphantly bored to slightly alarmed as the human started to glow a faint crimson. Robotnik groaned in agony, both mental and physical, reeling and holding his head. His uncontrollable rage was taking over every fiber of his being, and everything was in pain. All he could see was red, even when he closed his eyes, and eventually he fell to his knees with a scream as his hands exploded, instantly replaced by robotic ones. Searing, sharp pain traveled up his arms, only to leave immediately as cold steel and oil replaced flesh and blood. His form changed and shifted, growing rapidly, and normal teeth were shoved out of their sockets as needle-sharp, steel teeth moved to replace them. The rest of his body changed, steel replacing everything, a sputtering aura of electricity crackling around him. Finally, he stopped screaming as his clothing seemed to stick to him, tightening until it became one with him, the design becoming etched into his metal skin. Ultra Robotnik stood up slowly, training a stare of the greatest hate imaginable on his enemy, who was moving backwards in fear, sweat flying off his head. "H-h-how did you change with only two emeralds!?" the alien asked, terrified. "I was wondering something similar about you, lime boy," Ultra Robotnik replied, his voice filled with enough hate to vaporize any normal man. "The Ykrians... we can change with only 5, because we're more in tune with chaos than you humans... but... Oh, why did I bring those two back to life!? I had no idea they were just pieces of you! THAT must be how you defeat me!" "Pieces of me?!" the robot asked. "I ate them, you fool." Oh, god, this is worse than I thought, Takar thought to himself, suddenly very, very afraid. He really means business... And Sonic and Tails... I gave them some of my blood... that's how he managed to do it... Even Ultra Robotnik cringed at Takar's girlish screech of terror, but didn't wait long before he leapt at the alien, bent on revenge. Takar skidded hard across the sandy ground as the giant robot smashed into him, much like he did the first time they met. Only this time, there were no guards around to pull the hulking pile of metal off of him, and the beating started. Over and over, fists pounded into Takar's face, smashing it in, and while it regenerated every time, it certainly wasn't a pleasant experience. After about 30 punches to the face, Takar managed to throw Ultra Robotnik off of him and the two circled around each other, snarling. There is more than one type of snarl, however, and while Ultra Robotnik's was aggressive and nasty, Takar's was the sort that you'd see on a trapped, frightened animal. Leaping forward, the alien slammed a foot into Ultra Robotnik's midsection, hoping to pierce the armor with brute force. Instead, he received a broken ankle, and as he was falling to the ground, the raging mad scientist grabbed him by the legs. Takar flailed helplessly for a moment, wondering why Robotnik wasn't doing anything, until he felt a dozen cold, needle-like objects sink into his leg. "AAAAGH! HE'S GONNA EAT MEEEE! NOOOOoOooOOooOOO!" the alien screamed in terror, managing to flail enough to get out of the robot's grip, his wounds healing immediately. Then he decided that he was not going to lose. Leaping into the air, the alien fired a giant beam of chaos energy at Ultra Robotnik, who dodged it easily and leapt forward with a vicious punch to the gut. Takar went flying backwards, wind milling his arms as he splashed violently into the lake, and the robot was heading right for him. Giant barrels of some sort of gun replaced Robotnik's hands as he splashed into the water, firing homing torpedoes at Takar as he headed for him. The alien detonated the torpedoes prematurely with another beam of some sort, blowing them up in the robot's face, and one of his sensors was damaged along with his steel mustache, half of which got ripped off in the explosion. Temporarily stunned by the blast as he put most of his system resources into trying to repair the sensor, Ultra Robotnik was pelted with chunks of giant stones that ripped themselves out of the walls and floor of the lake, slamming into him and tossing him around. He decided he could still win with only one sensor, realizing that more important things were getting damaged, and rocketed towards Takar, ramming him with a headbutt that would have instantly killed a normal person. Distracted due to the blow, Takar stopped with the onslaught of boulders. The fight raged on with neither really winning, and suddenly Takar burst out of the water, followed close by Robotnik. The alien grinned down at his pursuer. "Instead of killing you, I think I'll make it so that there is no hope of you ever seeing Arashi again," Takar said. "What do you mean?" Ultra Robotnik asked, growling. "I mean I have a life-restoring device back at the lab... but I'm going to go destroy it," he said, cackling. "My race is the only one that can build these, using ancient talismans that are all gone save for one, Roboboy! And heck if I'm going to let you have any chance of accessing it!" The alien cackled madly, bursting through the shaft that he'd managed to open up, heading for the surface. Ultra Robotnik smirked and... doubled over in pain as electricity crackled around him. Crap! His teleportation mechanisms had been damaged! The race was on. ** Takar ran along, arms and legs pumping furiously, towards his base. Looking behind himself, he saw the ponderous machine clanking along slowly and laughed. "Piece of cake!" the alien thought to himself, and faced forward again, grinning evilly. Finally, Ultra Robotnik's jets had warmed up, and he shot forward, hovering over the ground slightly, seeming to slide on jets on the bottom of his feet as he moved as if rollerblading. The scene was hauntingly familiar, somehow. He started to catch up to Takar, who was too caught up in his supposed victory to be paying attention. Though the alien's speed remained pretty much constant, the robot's jets became stronger every moment, propelling him forward at well over Mach 3. Takar screeched as he felt metallic fingers clamp on the back of his neck. Running faster than the speed of sound didn't allow him to hear Ultra Robotnik closing in on him, and he was suddenly flung backwards several dozen feet, slamming into the ground hard and sliding painfully for quite a distance, getting a severe case of road rash. The robot continued forward with grim determination, setting grass ablaze as he sliced through it. Soon he was in the forest, completely ignoring trees as he ran right through them, leaving perfect cookie-cutter cutouts of himself in them, the huge chunks of busted-out wood clattering to the ground. His speed was up to Mach 4. A brilliant light burst out in front of him about a half of a mile, and Takar ran out of it, leaping over a few logs and boulders. Chaos control, the robot thought to himself, snarling. He sliced right through the boulders and logs in his efforts to catch up with the alien, who was quickly gaining speed in desperation. Having reached his top speed, Ultra Robotnik was unable to catch up with the alien, who had been propelled to his top speed quickly by the Chaos Control, before they got to the plains. He could see the boulder arrangement with the trapdoors now, and thought all hope was lost... Arashi... That's when Takar suddenly reverted to normal form, seeming to have run out of rings. He panicked, screaming, and tried to stop, his feet slamming into the very ruts that Sonic created not too long ago. Then he tripped at the end of the long ruts in the ground and flailed out of control, screeching as he went flying off into the distance. A parachute, like those on drag racers, burst out of Ultra Robotnik's back as he activated his reverse jets, the parachute helping to bring him to a stop much easier than the unfortunate alien who, by the time the robot had stopped, caused the entire world to shake yet again by wrapping himself around that same tree that Sonic met his end with. Such a nice tree, helping to stop people all the time... Just as Ultra Robotnik came to a stop, chunks of metal began to fall off of him, revealing his normal self underneath. He stumbled towards the trapdoor in the ground, various pieces of steel bouncing to the ground behind him, and when he had finally reverted completely to his normal self, he collapsed into the dust, exhausted, his hand on the trapdoor handle. ** When he woke up, it was late at night. Robotnik had a fitful sleep, with dreams of Arashi's death and related events replaying over and over in his mind, one nasty one in particular involving Takar winning the race and destroying the device. Slowly opening his eyes, the doctor spotted one of the chaos emeralds nearby. He felt weak as he reached over and picked it up with a shaking hand, tucking it in his pocket, and had to put some effort into pulling the trapdoor open. Once he got himself down into the lab, he saw the various devices--a high-tech computer, a large cabinet-like contraption, and some kind of sliding door at the back. For now, since it looked big enough to hold one or two people, his interests lay with the cabinet, and he sat down at the computer chair, fishing through a drawer for any sort of instruction manuals. Surprised that Takar learned from his mistakes with the Windows 98 book and apparently had organized his earth base, Robotnik pulled out the manual for the computer/cabinet combination, titled, "Life Box Instruction Manual." He flipped through it a couple pages, finding that there were only a few pages to the actual manual--most of the thick book was simply rewrites in Ykrian, English, Chinese, Greek, French, Spanish, German... The instructions read... Using the Life Box is a simple process. Place any DNA remnants of a person in through the cabinet doors and close the doors, then add whatever mutation agents you would like to the mixture by dropping them in the funnel on the side of the Life Box. Once you are done, run C:\DNA.EXE and make sure the being has changed as you wish. Then click the 'compile and run' button and wait. They should exit the cabinet shortly. To check what mutations a given agent will provide, just click on 'Mutations?' in the toolbar. It is possible to check your own DNA structure and distinct traits you have by stepping in the Life Box and pressing the 'scan' button on the keypad in there. Remain calm and still as the white beam moves over you, and when the green light on the keypad begins blinking, you can exit the Box and examine your file on the computer. You can also mutate yourself by adding the desired agents to the funnel, then stepping into the Box and pressing the 'Mutate' button. A gas will start to fill the Box--do not panic, its function is to put you to sleep. Trust us, if you attempted to change your DNA structure with the Box whilst still awake, you would seriously regret it after you recovered from the extreme pain. We are not responsible for any nasty things you end up doing to yourself with this. Just ask yourself how far you trust Windows XP to handle the files, and act accordingly. Robotnik looked at the computer and the Life Box. I trust Windows XP about as far as I can throw the planet, but it's my only chance. He investigated the sliding door, finding that it contained a hangar of sorts with a UFO in it. He walked under the small craft, which closely resembled the pod on the Steel Snake's back, and glanced up into the interior. Black leather, a nice control panel, a giant laser gun, a CD player... a pretty nice little vehicle all around. He pulled himself up into the cockpit and closed the door, examining the controls. There weren't very many, so they wouldn't be too hard to figure out. Pressing one button caused the laser beam to fire, blowing out half the wall. Robotnik jumped, then snickered to himself. "That was kind of cool," he mumbled idly, then tried another button. The hangar door above him opened. Must be the garage door opener! A few more buttons, and after smashing into the walls by putting it in the wrong gear, he was up and flying through the air. The ship was absolutely silent as it sped along towards his underground base. Robotnik was grim, trying not to get his hopes up, not knowing if the Life Box would really work as he brought the Steel Snake over from a pile of rubble. Miraculously it had survived the explosion, and he ditched the alien's pod for his own vehicle, strapping Arashi's lifeless body into the passenger seat. Then he began the trip back to the alien's base. ** The Life Box thrummed quietly as Robotnik clicked the 'compile and run' button. He watched the box hopefully for a moment, then turned his attention back to Arashi's file. It was rather interesting to see various traits of a person... like high intellect, mechanical aptitude, mathematical aptitude, excellent sense of humor, tendency towards evil, great kisser-- what the!? Thinking back, the doctor realized the computer was right, at least. A few seconds later, the Life Box stopped humming and the doors flew open, Arashi stumbling out, every wound healed. Robotnik sat, immobilized with shock. It worked. Something vitally important actually WORKED in Windows. Holy crap on a stick. The first amazed word out of Arashi's mouth: "COOL!" As the two looked at each other, Robotnik leapt out of his chair in slow motion. The few steps across the room to each other seemed to take forever, with a field of tall grass and sunshine as the background for the clip... Ah, yes, another corny reunion. At least they didn't yell pet names for each other. Evil Overlords, Even Those Who Have Been Thrown Way Out Of Character By Fanfic Authors With Strange Ideas, don't do pet names. We can only hope, anyway.

#eggman #robotnik #sonic #tails #arashi #arashi codiv #jen irwin #fanfiction #fanfiction jen irwin #fanfiction Evil Overlords Have Feelings Too

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headquartersforlievmuses · 7 years ago

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► Sara Lance

Captain Sara Lance (December 25, 1987 – October 8, 2014; resurrected 2015) is a former member of the League of Assassins, a vigilante, and a former member of Team Arrow. She is also the daughter of Quentin and Dinah Lance, the younger sister of the late Laurel Lance, and the ex-lover/close friend of Oliver Queen.

According to Sara, she dated numerous guys who tried getting her drunk in the hopes they could coerce her into having sex. However, this never did turn out that way. Sara proved herself to have an abnormally strong tolerance for alcohol; she always drank the guys under the table.

Sara developed a crush on Oliver and even snuck out of the house to go to a secret party that Tommy held; however, she was pulled in by the cops and grounded by her father. Sara would later believe that it was Laurel that tipped off the cops so as to ruin Sara's chances with Oliver as one month later, Oliver and Laurel began dating; however, it remains unclear as to whether or not Laurel actually did this. In late 2007, Laurel wanted to move in together with Oliver which freaked Oliver out so he started cheating on her with Sara.

Sara's apparent death had multiple effects on the Lance family. For Laurel, she found herself unable to grieve because Sara betrayed her by sleeping with Oliver but found herself unable to be angry because she had died. Quentin fell into a deep state of depression which saw him become an alcoholic and would often pass out in the bar and became obsessed with his work to ignore the pain and took every case without pause. Sara was also the first and last thought of Quentin's mind everyday and took him years to get past that point. His drinking and work obsession leads Dinah to divorcing him and left for Central City.

After the Queen's Gambit went down in 2007, Sara was presumed dead. After being rescued by Anthony Ivo and spending almost 2 years on the Amazo, and Lian Yu, she was recruited by the League of Assassins. She left the organization and returned to Starling City under the vigilante moniker the Canary, a translation of her League name as Ta-er al-Usfar (Arabic: الطائر الأصفر; for Yellow Bird), and stayed to protect her sister, Laurel, before she was forced to leave due to the League following her, trying to bring her back. She was eventually released from the League of Assassins by her former lover, Nyssa. Following this, she joined Team Arrow and began a relationship with Oliver. Sara soon rejoined the League as her part of a deal for their help in defeating Slade Wilson. Sara eventually returned to Starling following Malcolm Merlyn, but was killed by Thea Queen's hand, manipulated and drugged by Malcolm. Over a year after her death, Sara was resurrected by the powers of the Lazarus Pit. After Sara joined Rip Hunter's team, she became known as White Canary. She currently leads the Legends following Rip leaving the team.

She went with Oliver, Dr. Anthony, and the crew of the Amazo onto the island to the plane, and watched as Anthony ordered his men to attack Slade and Shado after Oliver screamed for them to run before Anthony left a bomb in the plane and had Oliver lead them to the gravesite.

When they arrived at the cave, the guards started torturing Oliver for the hōzen on the bodies, but Shado and Slade ambushed the crew at arrow and gun point and demanded Oliver back. When Anthony released him, Oliver punched the Captain in the face, grabbed Sara, and escaped.

The hōzen Oliver found had coordinates on it, which was revealed to house the location of the submarine Anthony discovered with the cure to save all of mankind. After Sara revealed this to them, Oliver asked if it could cure Slade. They used the hōzen to find the sub and they did. They boarded it and they found the Mirakuru. Oliver injected Slade, even when Sara told him that Slade would not survive it, Slade began to react to the serum and had no heartbeat. Then Anthony and his men came inside the room and captured them. Anthony took Sara and Shado hostage and held them in front of Oliver, telling him to pick who would die between Shado and Sara, threatening to kill them both if Oliver didn't decide within 30 seconds. Oliver chose to save Sara and Anthony killed Shado just as Slade awakened and saved Oliver and Sara. She covered for Oliver by saying that Anthony just shot Shado for no apparent reason.

They buried Shado and Sara warned Oliver not to tell Slade why Shado died, because he now has the Mirakuru inside of him so he is unpredictable and learning the truth behind Shado's death would not end well. As they were walking, they asked Slade where they were going and he said that he is going back to the plane to get weapons to kill Anthony. But Sara told him he would not be able to take them on alone and he grabbed Oliver by the neck and began to choke him and Sara had to hit Slade with a stick to make him stop. Later Anthony called them on their radio and gave them ten days to deliver the Mirakuru to him and in return he would give them safe passage off the island. Sara then came and told Oliver that Slade is gone and took the Mirakuru with him.

Sara and Oliver went to the plane to find Slade, but he was not there. Sara suggested they could accept Anthony's offer but Oliver turned it down immediately. As they argued, Sara explained that she learned a lot and Oliver said he did too: "you can't trust anyone". Later they talked and Oliver, feeling guilty, apologized for what had happened to them. When Oliver fell asleep, Sara took the communication and walked out and talked to Anthony. Anthony tried to persuade her to come back to him. Sara explained that when he took her in she felt like he was her savior and she felt part of something bigger, but it was only because she didn't want to see how he was torturing the people on the boat and how she was glad she was not one of them. Then she told him that she would rather die than be part of it. She then ended the call, only to see Oliver had listened to the conversation and she had now earned his trust.

They used the sensor grid to find Slade and they discovered that Slade is at the caves and when they got there, he was gone and they found a drawing on one of the walls and Oliver remembered that they where calculations for the missile launcher and Slade intended to open fire on the freighter with it. They ran to find Slade and they did and Slade held Oliver at gun point, but Oliver convinced him not to destroy the freighter by telling him that Shado would have wanted him to get back home. Slade commented that they are still stuck on the island and Oliver said that they will take the freighter together.

Oliver, Sara, and Slade continued to observe the ship looking for any means of getting on board but they heard a plane flying overhead but when they tried to get its attention it was shot down by Anthony's missiles. When they found it they found the pilot bleeding and dying and Sara told Oliver and Slade to get the medical supplies, but the man died anyway. But before dying he gave Sara a photo of his daughter Cindy and asked her to take care of her should she get off the island, though his death was not in vain, as Ollie found a parachute. Planning to take the freighter, Sara prepared an herb-like substance which could counter any serum exposed to him, specifically truth serum. Sara and Oliver discussed what they should do with the Mirakuru and they voted to destroy it which Slade further agreed with. As Sara and Oliver watched it burn in a fire, Sara convinced Oliver that he needed to kill Anthony before Slade found him as Anthony would turn the situation around and Slade would target Oliver and herself. Once Oliver allowed himself to get captured, he mislead the guards and Sara parachuted onto the freighter with Slade and she proceeded to free the prisoners. However Hendrick started strangling her to death but Thomas knocked him out as they re-joined Anatoly and Oliver but discovered that Slade had learned the truth and she told Oliver that they needed to get off once the ship started blowing up. Though Sara, Thomas, Anthony, and Hendrick made it to shore Oliver was captured by Slade again.

Slade imprisoned Sara in the Amazo cells, but Oliver arrived and freed her. The two agreed to inform their loved ones that they died on the Gambit, not wanting them to learn what they became, before they got to the Ivo's room, the two shared a kiss, revealing that Oliver had developed romantic feelings for Sara. The two find the safe, but are too late as Slade had found out about the cure and taken it. Sara & Oliver tried to reason with Slade but he would not listen Eventually a fight broke out, after failing to return within an hour, Anatoly fired a torpedo at the Amazo and Sara was separated from Oliver in a similar fashion as she did on the Queen's Gambit, this time Oliver believing her to have died for sure.

After at least a year on Lian Yu, Nyssa al Ghul found her on the lost island of Lian Yu and took her in. Nyssa was part of the League of Assassins and at Nanda Parbat, and Sara trained with the League and became an assassin herself by swearing her allegiance to them. She also knew Maseo Yamashiro who joined the same time she did and he admired her as a warrior.

At some point during her five years with the League she and Nyssa became lovers. During her time with the League, she was told to "choose a new name". She chose "Ta-er al-Asfer" (in Arabic: الطائر الأصفر), which is Arabic for canary ("yellow bird"), reminiscent of the canary Quentin got her when she was ten. She was also trained by Ra's al Ghul as part of her league training.

In 2012, Sara begun to hear stories of the Starling City vigilante, codenamed the Hood/the Arrow, wearing a green hood. Sara immediately knew that it was Oliver wearing Shado's hood. After The Undertaking Sara left Nanda Parbat to see if her family was okay. However she stayed in Starling in the shadows unwilling to return to the league and became a vigilante also who targeted mainly men who attacked women.

The Canary also saved Cindy, also known as Sin, from a gang of muggers and as she promised her father she took Sin under her care but didn't reveal her association with her father. When Roy Harper was fighting a group of men who'd been harassing a woman, the Canary swooped in and fought off the attackers before they could beat Roy. Roy expressed shock by her sudden entrance, before she quickly left.

Sara then decides to give herself over but poisons herself as Oliver and her father arrive. The poison begins to take affect causing Sara to become weak and collapse. Nyssa holds her in her arms and crys knowing she has been poisoned. Once Oliver arrives he and Nyssa began to fight. Sara pulls herself up from the floor to tell them to stop. She weakly walks over to them before collapsing and passing out Oliver runs over to her and manages to counter the poison causing her to wake up and gasp for air. Nyssa tearfully releases her from the league as Quentin and Dinah arrive with Laurel. Later at Laurel's apartment the Lances all have a reunion but Laurel is less than happy and openly blames Sara for all the mistakes in her life in the past 6 years and kicks her out. Sara later returns to Oliver's headquarters, both of them feeling betrayed by their families and the two of them passionately kiss before making love.

Over a year after her death, Sara's corpse was dug up by her sister. Sara was taken to Nanda Parbat by Laurel and Thea, who requested Malcolm resurrect her. Reluctant at first, Malcolm agreed and Sara was resurrected by the Lazarus Pit. As soon as she was resurrected, Sara went after Thea, but was restrained. Sara was then chained up to prevent her from causing any harm to Thea.

In January 2016, Sara was in a bar in Tibet. She helped a women who was being assaulted by a drunk man in the bar and is then intercepted by Rip Hunter who claimed he has "come a long way to meet her". From here, she joined Rip Hunter's team in a plot to end Vandal Savage's rule over the world in the year 2166. She visited Nyssa al Ghul who was imprisoned in Nanda Parbat. Sara told Nyssa she would not leave her in this cell, however Nyssa told her it was her choice to stay and told Sara to leave this place and never come back. Sara then visited her sister and after a training session she bid her farewell, with Laurel urging Sara to leave the Canary identity behind, for Laurel alone to endure, and become the White Canary instead. After being given the White Canary suit by her sister, Sara joined the team and traveled back to 1975. After she, Leonard Snart and Mick Rory were forced to sit out on a mission, they decided to go out for drinks. When a guy bothered her, she beat him and his friends up. Snart and Rory joined the fray and they ended up beating everyone attacking them.

As they returned, they were just in time helping the team fight off Chronos, a Bounty Hunter working for the Time Masters. The team was confused as they learned they were never selected because they were legends. Rip told them they were meaningless for history and that is why he selected them. The team was shocked but after exchanging thoughts they decided to keep going. They would stop Savage and become legends of the future, or die trying.

Much like Oliver, Sara was a person who "just couldn't stay out of trouble". As the younger of two siblings, Sara was something of a "black sheep" to Laurel Lance's "golden child"; the brat and the favorite of their parents, respectively. She made unwise, often selfish decisions, such as pursuing a boy with a girlfriend while in high school, provoking physical attacks from said girlfriend and her friends in retaliation. As a teenager, Sara apparently got into some trouble, including one incident of shoplifting that her father made go away. She also had an affair with her sister's boyfriend Oliver, going on Queen's Gambit with Oliver, possibly due to the fact that she had a crush on Oliver before he started dating Laurel, which she claims Laurel knew about and possibly sabotaged to get back at Laurel for what she did to her.

However, after her near-death experience and her time spent with Dr. Anthony Ivo after being rescued by him, Sara became more apathetic and cold, more savvy with technology and science. She even confessed to helping Ivo torture his test subjects, though secretly she was terrified of being the next subject so she kept to herself. Despite Oliver being one of the reasons for her shipwreck, Sara still cared for him, so that when he is captured on the boat she does everything to stop the crew from killing him, though she was still loyal to Ivo. She used Oliver to obtain Shado and Slade Wilson's location on the island though her loyalty was shattered when Ivo called her an "ungrateful bitch" on the radio. After spending time with Oliver and Slade she also regained her sense of loyalty.

Soon after she was recruited into the League of Assassins and became a cold-hearted killer, assassin, and proficient warrior becoming more capable, headstrong and confident. Despite this, Sara never forgot about her family and still cared deeply for them, but became afraid to reveal the fact that she was alive, fearing that they'll reject what she had become.

Sara has a quiet reserved demeanour, being rather haunted, burdened by her traumatic experiences and warrior lifestyle. Becoming the vigilante "the Canary", like Oliver, Sara has displayed a sense of honor as well as guilt and remorse for her actions. She labels herself a murderer for one particular assassination where she slit a beloved father's throat which was one of the reasons she came to leaving the League. Despite this, Sara lacks a moral compass, as she can be particularly vengeful, perfectly willing to kill people who have harmed those she holds dear such as Barton Mathis, Xavier Reed and Helena Bertinelli, the latter two she only didn't execute because two people close to her convinced her not to.

As a member of the Legends she acted supportive for the other characters but suffered heavily from her bloodlust. Training with the League helped her to control her bloodlust. She became temporarily caught up in the timeline but regained control of herself as she fought Kendra Saunders. After this she became even more optimistic and helped the rest of the team with guidance as they faced their individual problems. She developed a close relationship with Leonard Snart as they spend a lot of time talking about their lives and playing cards together; to the point of developing romantic feelings for Leonard. Sara has enveloped into a capable leader and was arguably Rip's right-hand woman who Rip even entrusted command of the Waverider to. After Rip's disappearance Sara has become the new leader of the team, a choice acknowledged and respected by her team.

Due to her success as the leader of the Legends, Sara has become quite arrogant and overconfident, evidenced by how she spoke down to Ava Sharpe, a high-ranking agent of the Time Bureau, as if she was superior to her, well underestimating Ava's capabilities.

Peak of human physical condition: As a former assassin turned vigilante, Sara is in top physical condition. Despite her small frame, she is strong enough to break Al-Owal's neck and lift her own body weight while using the salmon ladder.

League of Assassins training: Sara has gone through all the training that members of the League does, though due to the fact that she joined the league in 2009 and again 1958, she is more familiar with the League's way than most of its members.

Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Sara is an exceptional hand-to-hand combatant due to her training with the League of Assassins. She has demonstrated the ability to defeat multiple enemies both armed and unarmed, take down a Russian bruiser twice her size, and outfight other skilled combatants such as Helena Bertinelli, and Malcolm Merlyn . Sara's fighting style consists of her training with the League, Wing Chun, and Jeet Kune Do.

Master stick fighter: Sara's weapon of choice is a pair of extendable batons that combine to form into a bo-staff and she demonstrates great skill in stick fighting and bo-staff fighting. Using her staff she has defeated multiple armed enemies in quick succession and has competed against other skilled combatants such as Vandal Savage, Damien Darhk, and Oliver Queen. On one occasion, Sara was able to defeat to defeat two security guards while high on marijuana. Sara has also great accuracy when throwing her batons, as demonstrated when she killed Barton Mathis.

Master swordswoman: Sara was trained in the use of swords during her time with the League, once she rejoined the League in 1958 her swordsmanship skills improved considerably. During her duel with Kendra Saunders, she was able to defeat her despite the latter's greater strength and having her pinned to a wall in mid-air. Sara was also able to stand up to Mick Rory, a master of combat, when he was Chronos, being able to land several killing blows on him, which were only saved by his armor at the time. In Feudal Japan, Sara was able shown to duel wield two swords at once and defeat several elite samurai, one of whom was skilled enough with a blade to use it to deflect one of her knives, unscathed. On two separate occasions, Sara was able to defeat Damien Darhk, a former candidate to the title of Ra's al Ghul in a sword fight.

Master knife wielder: Sara is an expert at using knives in combat, as she uses a small knife to disarm and defeat Mr. Blake, a trained swordsman. Sara is also an expert at knife throwing as she was able to kill someone with gun before they could fire at her and deprived Darhk, a former candidate for the title of Ra's al Ghul, of his handgun with a shuriken before he could react. She has also demonstrated the ability to throw several knives in quick succession, shown by her encounters at the Russian gulag, when mind controlled by the Dominators and in the alternate reality created by the Legion of Doom.

Free running/Acrobatics: Sara is capable of scaling buildings and running from rooftop to rooftop was ease and has been known to use a scarf to quickly descend from a ceiling. During her time in Feudal Japan, Sara performed an aerial maneuver in order to dodge a sword strike and kill her opponent.

Stealth: Sara is highly capable of entering and leaving buildings without being seen, regardless of their security. She was even able to sneak up on Malcolm Merlyn, a master of stealth, who commented her skill.

Indomitable will/Tolerance for pain: Like most members of the League, Sara has shown an incredible tolerance to pain. An example of this was when Oliver was stitching a wound, Sara shows no sign of pain, not even a flinch. Damien Darhk also acknowledges that torture would be prove fruitless on her. Similarly, she has shown a very high tolerance for alcohol, having regularly out-drunk men who attempted to intoxicate her enough to have their way with her.

Skilled archer: While rarely demonstrated, Sara has been shown to be a capable archer as shown when she used Oliver's Compound bow, to shoot an arrow into the shoulder of one of Xavier Reed's goons.

Skilled markswoman/Firearms: Presumably taught by her father and later the league, Sara is skilled in the use of firearms ranging from handguns to sniper rifles.

Medical knowledge/Toxicology: As mentioned by her mother, Sara wanted to be a doctor when she was a child. During her time with Anthony Ivo, Sara became trained in forensics, chemistry, and first aid; she is also able to successfully identify the diseases of William Tockman and Nate Heywood. Sara is also familiar with poisons, specifically Tibetan Pit Viper venom.

Expert tactician: Sara is a highly capable tactician, as set a trap for Al-Owal and his men when they ambushed her. While a member of Team Arrow the team often looked to Sara for guidance when Oliver wasn't available. She is also very observant, able to deduce that the employees of the Bruemburg group were not what they say they were. After Rip Hunter disappeared, Sara was elected to the lead the team by Martin Stein who realized that she was the team's best tactician in absence of Rip.

Expert driver/Pilot: Sara is able to drive multiple vehicles, able to pursue enemies in various vehicles mostly a motorcycle; she has also demonstrated the ability to hotwire a car. During her time with the Legends, she became capable of navigating and piloting the Waverider.

Multilingual: Sara is capable of fluently speaking English, Mandarin, Arabic, and Tibetan.

Bloodlust: After her resurrection by the Lazarus Pit, Sara was plagued with a bloodlust that compels her to kill, making her occasionally aggressive and violent. Unlike Thea Queen, Sara not killing anyone does not deteriorate her physical condition. During her time in 1958, Sara, during her two years with the League, was able to find full control over her bloodlust using herbs and meditation. However, it appears that Sara's bloodlust has been completely calmed by the time of Damien Darhk's resurrection, as his daughter, Nora Darhk was able to use the life-siphoning dark magic spell on Sara, a spell not normally applicable on people affected by the Lazarus Pit bloodlust, like Thea Queen.

Verses

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#Arrow #Arrow [Sara Lance]#Female Character #non mutuals #face claim: Caity Lotz

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