Chapter Text
The sound of an engine roared across the remnants of the Eggman Empire HQ, the feint image of a blue blur zipping past piles of scrap towards the center of the wreckage. A few critters could be seen perking their heads up, investigating the noise only to be met with the ferocity of oncoming wind as Metal Sonic zoomed past. The feint crackling of a radio could be heard in its ear.
"I see you've arrived at your destination, and it appears that troubling rodent is nowhere in sight. Take the time to scour the wreckage and pick up anything remotely valuable."
It was Dr. Eggman, who was observing Metal Sonic through the first person on a large monitor. He was accompanied by his "apprentice", Dr. Starline.
"If I may ask, Doctor...why do you find it necessary to return to the old base? As far as I'm concerned, we have more than enough parts to rebuild the Empire from here." Starline questioned Eggman.
Eggman folded his arms, rubbing his forehead in a bit of frustration. "There's valuable research still left in the wreckage of that facility. It'd be a waste to just leave it there, especially after I had spent so much time on it."
Dr. Starline raised a brow, commenting: "If I understand correctly, all of the information should have been uploaded to the EggNet. Again, why is it so important that we return here?" He looked genuinely confused, to which Eggman frowned, batting him on the head with one of his fists. Starline winced back in pain, grabbing the top of his head and rubbing it.
"I could care less about the meaningless scribbles on those busted computers. What I'm really after are the remnants of my physical research. The Phantom Ruby prototypes were destroyed in the battle, yes, but the REAL one should be out there somewhere. I doubt that blue rodent and his companions managed to sift through all of the rubble to find it. That is why I, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, am taking it upon myself to recover such a valuable asset. Surely you of all people would understand how I operate by now, Starline." Eggman raised his fist in the air as he said the last part, like he was making a declaration of sorts.
Starline looked at him, a tired expression plastered on his face. "I thought it out of character for you to go back on a failed plan. If I may ask...why the change of heart?" Eggman looked back up at the monitor, the image of Metal Sonic maneuvering through the rubble reflected off of his circular glasses.
"Can a man not change his mind? You think far too much of this, honestly! I am THE Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the Mad Genius of Mobius! Have a little faith in your idol, will you?" Eggman let out a hardy laugh, to which Starline gave a feint smirk.
"You never cease to surprise me, Doctor. That is the exact reason why I admire you so."
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a feint *BEEP* coming from the monitor. Both of them looked up toward the screen to find that Metal Sonic had entered the center of the wreckage, and furthermore had begun to dig beneath the layers of scrap metal. Eggman picked up the microphone he used to communicate through the radio in Metal's ear.
"Keep digging until you reach the Inner Laboratory, then begin a full-scale search of the facility. The Phantom Ruby has to be somewhere around there. It's destruction by such simple means is impossible."
Metal continued to dig through the rubble, eventually reaching an opening within the pile. After digging himself an entrance, he landed on the floor of the Inner Laboratory, immediately activating his Eye Lights, illuminating the way forward. Similar to the surface, the facility was a complete mess, visible skid marks etched into the ground from Sonic's endeavors. This garnered an expression of visible disgust from Eggman, with Starline looking back up toward him from the monitor.
"Is there any particular reason you find interest in the Phantom Ruby once more? From what I saw regarding your previous research, you had pretty much uncovered all that there was to know on the artifact? What more could you possibly want with a toy you've already used?"
Eggman took his attention away from the monitor, looking down at the control panel below it, tapping one of his fingers. "A part of me believes that I was much too cautious with my estimates of the Phantom Ruby's capabilities. I focused more on the idea of physical constructs and failed to explore the possible biological effects the Ruby could possess."
Starline tilted his head, raising a brow.
"Oh, please, surely even you can see the implications here! It's fueled by a person's WILLPOWER, their DETERMINATION and DRIVE to persist. All of those, whether one likes it or not, have something to do with biological processes, such as the mechanisms of certain sections of the brain. One could chalk it all up to some magical force, but I, alas, am a man of SCIENCE! I believe there is more to it than that!" The Doctor responded to Starline's look of confusion, once again raising his fist in the air. The sound of Metal Sonic navigating the facility could still be heard in the background, his footsteps echoing throughout the room.
"In any case...it's a theory I would like to test. If I can't find anything else out of the damned thing, I'll just throw it away after I'm done."
As the Doctor said this, another *BEEP* could be heard from the monitor. Looking back up, both Eggman and Starline saw that Metal had arrived at the containment site for the prototype Phantom Rubies. In front of him stood a large steel door, safe-guarded by numerous locks and bolts, all requiring a passcode to enter. Eggman picked up the microphone once more.
"Yes, there it is. Get in there and recover the Ruby if you can. Afterwards, begin to make your way back to base, Metal."
Metal nodded, slowly reeling his arm back and sending it forward into the steel door. His claw pierced the metal locks, gripping onto them as they were now slowly being pulled apart. After a bit of struggle, the entire door was ripped off the wall, tossed to the ground like some kind of paper weight. Starline couldn't help but widen his eyes at this display of incredible strength. After ripping the door open, Metal stepped into the room, a lone glass container located at its center. Within this container, the feint glow of red could be seen piercing through the room's built-up dust. Walking toward this light, Metal stopped dead in his tracks, face to face with the Phantom Ruby.
"It appears my predictions were correct. Those lousy rodents couldn't bother to initiate a full search of the facility. Alas, my intellect never fails me." The Doctor looked up in confidence, gripping the microphone and pulling it closer to his lips.
"Now reel it in, boy. We have quite a lot of work ahead of us." The doctor said, a toothy grin plastered along his face.