Hop To It - Break 8

[Eggman]

Honestly, he didn’t even remember he had this base.

After the colossal failure that was Chaos, Dr. Robotnik was happy to take a short break and regroup. He had no desire to run afoul of that rotten hedgehog again any time soon. Oh, he’d be back, but on his own terms. Once he was ready and had a real knockout of a scheme, Eggman would return bigger, badder, and more dangerous than ever before!

But now? He wanted to be left alone.

After seven years of fighting Sonic, there weren’t many bases the hedgehog didn’t know about left. There were a couple under construction. One, built into the pyramids, looked promising, except that those damnable G.U.N. drones were snooping about the place. Eggman was more than capable of driving them off, of course, but that would be the opposite of laying low.

No, instead Eggman pulled up the list of his hideouts, bases and foundries, and sorted them by oldest first. His very first base of operations, the one that started it all…

It was so small and dirty.

It was less a secret base and more of… a house. Once, Ivo Robotnik lived in a normal, if isolated, homestead inherited from a family member, until his ambitions grew beyond the walls of that humble cottage and he began his conquest.

No one in the world still lived who knew about this place, so it would be the perfect place to plot. Unfortunately, it was a mess. Rats, dust, ants, even a nest of owls in the attic that all needed to be removed before he could relax. That took about a week, to his shame, and it was only afterwards that the idea of a dedicated pest-control robot came to mind. He blamed this place, making him… what was the negative version of nostalgic? Bah, nevermind.

Still, even if this old cabin’s garage workshop was woefully under equipped compared to his usual standards, it wasn’t all bad. Once the sheets were washed, his old bed was just as comfortable as he remembered, the kitchen wasn’t too out of date, and he even still had a functioning satellite dish so he could keep up with the news.

News like Station Square slowly being repaired after all his hard work destroying it. And that two-tailed freak being rewarded for stopping him. He turned that off the second he saw Prower’s face, not willing to dwell on his failure. Because it wasn’t a failure. It was… a setback. Eggman’s eventual victory was not halted, merely on hold, yes.

And so it was, a little over two months after the Egg Carrier 2 was destroyed before it could fire a single shot, that Eggman wandered into his garage and looked around at what he had to work with. Theta’s head, inactive; he’d converted the badnik into a security tower like Zeta, which had ended up a complete waste of time. His Egg Mobile, fully repaired but dormant. Mecha Sonic Mk. III, plugged into the wall and diligently awaiting orders as it had been the entire time; the robot glanced at him as he entered but mercifully made none of its annoying beeps.

“What are you just standing around for?” Eggman groused, yanking Mecha’s plug from the wall. “Go out and make yourself useful!”

Mecha saluted, making a ringing sound where its hand hit its head, and it was all he could do not to kick it out of the garage on its way out. What a useless machine.

He had other resources available to him, of course. There were a few motobugs and Kikis patrolling the woods around the property, but the majority of his machines were holed up in one of his other hideouts. This was all he had.

…He’d made do with less. When he was starting out, he’d had nothing but his father’s old tools and a pile of scrap. From here, there was nowhere to go but up!

Yes, yes, that was an idea. Perhaps what he needed now was more inspiration. This had once been his father’s house; perhaps he’d go up to the attic and see if any of the old man’s plans were still kicking about.

And that was how he ended up sweeping out cobwebs and unearthing an old wooden chest filled with lab coats, ancient tools, safety goggles, a depleted chaos drive, and souvenirs from his uncle. A framed family photo--heh, look at younger him, so adorable--was tossed over his shoulder to shatter somewhere in a corner. At the bottom of his father’s trunk, however, he struck gold.

Journal: Property of Gerald R.

His grandfather’s journal. His idol, his first inspiration, the man who taught him to love science, and a piece of him now lay in his own hands.

Eggman was mildly disappointed that Gerald Robotnik’s deepest thought didn’t turn out to be in some sort of mysterious cipher for him to decode--that sounded like a fun afternoon--but it was just as well. He started skimming, reminding himself why he was doing this, looking for something to inspire his new plot. He stopped at a random page and read the first line.

Entry #530

Research into “Project: Shadow” is in full swing. The first step has been learning how to siphon … Emerald energy and apply it to living tissue…

Project: Shadow, hm…?

--------------------------------

[?????]

Some Time Later

It wasn’t easy, tracking down the locations of the most beautiful, exotic, and elusive jewelry in the world.

Oh, who was she kidding? For anyone else, impossible, but for Rouge the Bat? With her connections and sheer brilliance? Piece of cake.

One was being held in the Federal Reserve Bank in Central City. The security there was tight, but she would manage.

Two were under wraps on Prison Island, being contained by G.U.N. After the Chaos debacle, her bosses were leery about letting such potent artifacts of power go unaccounted for. Getting her hands on those would be… risky. Her clearance level was enough to get in to look at them, but not enough to requisition them without permission from Tower himself, and somehow she doubted that ‘I think they’d look lovely in a necklace’ would be a good enough reason to loan them out. She’d need to plan her heist there carefully, or else jeopardize all the good will she’d built up over her two years of service with G.U.N. She wanted those gems, but she wanted to keep a roof over her head and to avoid prison more.

One was inexplicably in the hands of an actual child, rewarded to some fox kid for ‘heroic valor’ or some such nonsense. Rouge had no idea what that Prower kid did to deserve a Chaos Emerald, but obviously no he actually didn’t. Probably some stupid PR stunt by the mayor of Station Square to save face after the disaster. In any case, it would literally be like stealing candy from a baby. So easy it almost wasn’t worth it.

Almost.

Rouge took a step back from her corkboard and hummed, hand in chin. That was five Emeralds, plus rumors of a gigantic Master Emerald that she’d heard of in connection to the Chaos Incident. But where were the other two?

She sighed, annoyed, and let her gaze drift to the current capstone of her personal hoard; no one could claim she wasn’t the greatest jewel thief in the world when she found the blue Emerald, all by herself. But as nice as it was, having the full set would be even nicer.

And such a shame that the two that were missing were her favorites; purple, her favorite color, and white, to match her fur. Either no one had found them yet, or the ones who had were keeping them a secret. So inconsiderate.

Her laptop pinged, and Rouge pouted. That was the sound she set up for her work email, ugh. Did they have to bother her during her me time?

to: RougeBat.gunmail.fed
from: JTopaz.gunmail.fed

Found the info you were looking for. This image was taken by an armored truck bumper cam after it was robbed while en route to shipping to Prison Island. Far as I’m concerned this pays back that favor I owe you.

Attached to the email was a blurry picture, but it was obvious what it was depicting. It was shaped like a hedgehog, though further details weren’t easy to make out due to the image quality. More important was the gleam of violet visible in its hand as it sped away from the camera.

Even through the motion blur, there was no mistaking that gleam. So, it’s in Dr. Eggman’s hands, hmm?

Less than ideal, but good to know. Good old Topaz, keeping her promises.

Finding Eggman’s base would be difficult, but she was sure he’d reveal himself before too long. He always did.

Another ping.

“Oh?” Rouge said out loud to herself. “Topaz, did you find the other one already? Trying to get me to owe you?” Hah, as if…

The bat’s eyes widened when she read the address.

from: BStevens.umail.fed

That was… the President’s name. That was the President’s personal email address.

Agent Rouge, your name was recommended to me by an associate I have in the Guardian Units of Nations. The recent escalation by Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik has my citizens frightened and my office concerned. The so-called “Chaos Incident” resulted in the near complete destruction of one of our city-states. This targeted attack cannot be allowed to stand.

Commander Tower is not answering my calls or emails, and Major Citadel is stonewalling my cabinet’s efforts to acquire more information about this maniac. I am reaching out to you on the recommendation of a mutual acquaintance. Your mission is this: infiltrate the self-proclaimed Eggman Empire and keep my office informed of his actions. Sabotage if you see fit.

Respond to this email immediately should you accept. To prevent leaks on this insecure site, this conversation will be scrubbed at 11:30 CST.

Rouge scanned the email twice, eyes widening with every line. She glanced at her clock; it was 11:12. Not a lot of time.

Infiltrate Eggman’s empire? Well, it wasn’t impossible. He had a history of recruiting Mobians for his dirty work. Nack the Weasel and his crew were a notable example. 

A plan started to form, and Rouge grinned. Eggman’s plans almost inevitably involved gathering the Chaos Emeralds. If she could gain his trust… then she could swoop in at the last moment, rob him blind, and foil his plans, getting her payday and being the big hero all in one fell swoop! Brilliant!

And, she thought to herself, looking at her own Emerald, I might have a ticket into the club already…

It would hurt, giving up her prize, but it would pay massive interest. Yes, this would work. She was a genius!

re: BStevens.umail.fed
from: JewelsGalore.umail.fed

I accept the mission, Mr. President. Anything for our country.

Anything for her collection.

---------------------------

[Heyu]

Getting Iota onto the train was easy. Aside from that misunderstanding with the paint, he’d been a model citizen, had been helping around with construction in his free time, and was generally polite and friendly.

Getting Humi onto the train was hard, because she insisted on bringing her entire junk collection with her, not willing to leave even a single thing that the construction guys might be inclined to steal. I could respect the caution--or paranoia, I didn’t know which--but the fact that approximately three tons of scrap metal and bric-a-brac had to be spread across five large suitcases, only one of which had a complete set of wheels, made me substantially less appreciative.

Even with whatever time-space shenanigans she did to get it all to fit, the suitcases were still heavy as heck. Thank goodness for Iota, who bore the weight without complaint.

We got some odd looks on the train. Iota got most of them, but Humi’s exuberance over visiting a new city for the first time… ever, earned her fair share.

As for me, I was nervous. While Iota and Humi oohed and aahed out the windows the whole way out, I spent the entire two hours catastrophizing.

I really should have told my parents I had a kid now. I should have at least mentioned the robot. Now it was too late, and the first time they’d find out was when they saw them in person. Hopefully Mom wouldn’t scream. I had no idea how much they knew about what happened with the flood, but they probably didn’t know how involved I got in it.

That… was not going to be fun. And not telling them about how I fought robots was impossible, because there wouldn’t be any way to explain Humi otherwise.

So I sat there, for two hours, tapping my foot and staring a hole through the seat opposite me. On the plus side, I was barely aware of the passage of time until the view outside turned from green to gray and the intercom buzzed to life.

“Attention passengers, we are approaching Central City Station. Please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark.”

Time to face the music, I suppose.

“Geez, that speaker sucks,” Humi mumbled.

I smiled lightly. “You’re telling me, ears as small as yours?” I ruffled her fur. “Maybe if you offer, they’ll let you fix it.”

“You think so?”

“Probably not, but anything’s possible.”

Humi hummed. “Heyu? What are your parents like?”

I blinked and looked at her. I heard what she said, but I could tell what she meant too: “What are parents like?”

“Well,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “Mom is a great cook. She can be a little shouty, but it’s only because she cares, and she’s never mad for long. I can be a little forgetful sometimes, but she's way worse.” I chuckled. “One time when I was in middle school, the principal tried to enact a dress code to make all the Mobian students fully dress up like humans do. My mom read the note I gave her about that and went out to find me some clothes to wear. When she came home, she’d totally forgotten to buy any pants in favor of buying herself a new dress.” I leaned down to fake-whisper conspiratorially. “This happened for four weeks in a row.”

Humi’s eyes widened. “Four weeks?!”

“Yup.” I leaned back. “After week four the principal called her for a parent teacher conference, thinking that I was going pantless on purpose out of protest, and Mom not only didn’t remember the dress code at all, she chewed him out for being humano-centric and attempting to stifle Mobian culture in the process. She joined a parent coalition protesting the change, and by week five it was completely rescinded.”

Humi shook her head, amazed.

“Admiration: Fighting for the rights of children! An admirable goal.”

“My dad, now, he’s a different story,” I continued. “He’s the silent type. Never speaks unless he has something to say, but you can tell by what he does how he feels. Little things; when me or Mom was having a bad day, he’d go out of his way to cook our favorite meals, and if we didn’t have the ingredients in the fridge he’d drive out and get them right then. Surprisingly good singer, too.” I grimaced, wondering if the next story was worth recounting. “...On the other hand, when he was mad, it was… uncomfortable. He never raised a hand against me, or yelled at me, or anything, but when I did something bad, I honestly would have preferred yelling to the way he just sat there and glared at the wall.” I sighed. “I really knew I messed up the one night he didn’t bother coming to tuck me in.”

“What did you do to make him mad?” Humi asked.

I felt my cheeks heat up. “Well, I was younger than you are now, and no one had explained to me yet why girl Mobians always wear clothes and boys don’t--you know what, nevermind, it’s not important.”

“What!” Humi crawled onto my shoulders and grabbed my ear. “Tell me! You can’t just leave it like that!”

“Oops, looks like we’re here,” I said, standing up and grabbing my duffel bag.

“Aargh!”

-------------------------------------------

It was a long walk to my parents’ house in the suburbs. Central didn’t have the benefit of getting used to us, so the cabbies took one look at Iota and kept on driving. I couldn’t really blame them but it made for an inconvenient trip.

“You’re sure you’re not overloaded?” I asked for the third time. “I don’t think Tails and Humi ever actually tested what your max load is.”

Iota made a derisive sound. “I am fine. As I have said. Diagnostics indicate this is only 20% of my carrying capacity.”

“Twenty percent?” Humi stuck out her tongue. “That’s no good, you should be way stronger than that!”

“I do not need to be stronger than that,” Iota responded, a touch worried. “I do not need incredible strength to pet small animals.”

“Relax, I could probably put a transmission function in, maybe. You could switch between different modes to have different levels of power.”

“Nevertheless, I am already strong enough to wrestle a tiger, I do not require more.”

“Don’t you want to throw down with bad guys?” Humi whined. “Like, say, any rude, butthead echidnas you might come across?”

“Echidnas are registered as endangered--I would never.”

“There it is,” I interrupted. Getting their attention, I pointed ahead of us. Just past the point where the big city apartments gave way to individual houses, right there at Number 5 on Fifth Street.

Heh. Yeah, I remember Dad being really amused at himself for finding a place at that address.

I ran through my options. Humi would cause questions, but Iota might scare them. Maybe I could ask him to back off a bit while I give a warning--but if I know Mom she probably won’t let me get a word in edgewise, and frankly the longer Iota is standing in the street, the more likely it is someone will panic and call the cops… Hm.

“Heyu?” Humi asked quietly. “Are you worried?”

“A little bit,” I admitted.

“...I hope they like me.”

I blinked, then shook my head. “Humi, they’re going to adore you. I’m worried about me. I don’t think being an adult is going to stop them from grounding me once they hear what I’ve been up to.”

She laughed. It was a little weak, but I took it as a success.

No more hesitating. I walked up to my childhood home, and despite my worries, seeing it up close again helped me relax. I rang the doorbell.

A few seconds later, my mom opened the door, dressed as always in her jeans and the v-neck that let her neck fur fluff out. “Hayden! Good to--”

Mom stopped, having noticed me, then Humi, then Iota. 

Humi gasped on my shoulder. “Heyu, your mom is really pretty.”

Mom’s ear twitched, and she grinned. “Why thank you, dear! I used to model, you know!” Before I could formulate a response, Mom plucked Humi off my shoulders, incidentally getting me kicked in the head, and held her at arm’s length. “Hayden Fiver, where did you find this cutie, and why are you letting her dress in rags?”

“That dress is brand new,” I protested. “She just… likes to customize.”

“It’s got pockets now!” Humi said happily.

“Oh, a fellow fashionista?” Mom laughed. “And I see what you meant about the garage now. That isn’t one of…” She lowered her voice. “Eggman’s, is it?”

Iota raised an arm. “Not anymore, ma’am.”

“I built him!”

“Did you? Well, that’s alright then.” She set Humi down and ruffled her fur before turning a glare on me. “Roommates, huh?”

All I could do was shrug helplessly. “Well, how would you have explained it?”

“Hmph.” She shook her head, then stepped aside. “Well, don’t just stand out there all day, it’s supposed to rain! Come in, and you can tell me all about why you thought it was okay to not call your worried parents for two months.”

I winced, but I went in. I was in for it, but I couldn’t be worried about that right now.

Despite all that, it was good to be home.