III. An Uninvited Relative

Angel Island was hovering, as often happened, just off the coast of Mystic Ruins. It had a habit of returning to the spot from whence it had been torn, but hanging too long over the jungles had detrimental effects on the ground it shaded, so Knuckles had instructed the Master Emerald to keep it over the water most of the time. The Guardian echidna himself was dozing in the sun on the top step of the shrine, enjoying the late spring weather.

On the other side of the central volcano, in the area known as Lava Reef, a small blue light flicked on in an abandoned base. Electricity traveled down long-unused wires, and a machine that had once stamped out armor plates for robots began once again to thump noisily up and down. There was no raw steel to feed it any longer, but the press whumped on anyway, stamping out non-existent parts for long-demolished mechs.

Within half an hour, a panicked black and purple chao had flitted to the shrine, alerting the Guardian and demanding that Knuckles come and find what was causing the noise. Chaos surged out of the ground, responding to the chao's alarm, and took a position at the foot of the steps, allowing the red echidna to investigate without leaving the Master Emerald unguarded. Undetected by anyone, a tiny robotic insect broadcast all of this to a viewscreen on the far side of the island.

A small, silver hovercraft landed in the forest, near the area that had burned when the Death Egg had crashed on the island. A human climbed out, secure in the knowledge that no one who might object to his presence would find out about it until after he left. As the rotund figure walked quickly through the now grassy area, he pulled an old piece of fabric through his fingers meditatively. Several chao looked up from supervising infants and toddlers at the new arrival, and a peach echidna slipped unseen into the trees at the edge of the field to shadow him.

I don't remember my grandfather; I was only a few months old when he came to see me, and he died shortly after that. I never met my cousin at all. So why have I come? He looked down at the cloth, running it through his fingers again. It was old, old flannel, off-white from repeated washing, the original color indeterminate. A baby blanket, the last remaining part of the set that the twelve-year-old Maria had stitched for her infant cousin. The embroidery floss had retained its colors better than the fabric; the chao and eggs in their wreath of flowers were clearly visible, if more pastel than when originally stitched. Grandfather brought this from her, and I grew up hearing stories of his great inventions, and studying the plans that he'd left behind. What he hadn't heard - at least not from his parents - was what had happened to his grandfather afterwards. 'It broke his heart when Maria died,' was the closest anyone had ever said, and so young Eggy had reasoned that broken hearts must be fatal. Funny how that dratted hedgehog seized on the same nickname my grandfather had given me. By the time he had encountered Sonic, Ivo Robotnik had learned both the truth of his grandfather's imprisonment (although not that he'd been executed) and that broken hearts were not a fatal disease. He had also learned that he was vastly more intelligent than anyone else on the planet, and decided that the best way to prevent further tragedies was to take over the world. Between the rule of various governments and the regional generals of GUN, there was too much chance for deceit and miscommunication. Obviously, what was needed was a single hand on the reins, and whose better than his? Unfortunately, Sonic and certain others on the planet preferred chaos to order and insisted that 'freedom' with all its attendant inequalities and suffering was better than the benign rule of the Doctor over his planned Eggmanland. Even Shadow, who had more reason than most to hate GUN, and should have been expected to support Eggman's plans, had opposed them. Although the first time hadn't really been his fault. The massive moustache twitched as Dr. Eggman grimaced. That was a decided miscalculation on my part. But even though I had suspicions as to the validity of my grandfather's imprisonment, how could I have realized that he'd gone mad? That was carefully kept out of all the military records. And of course, no one but Grandfather himself knew that he'd fiddled with the Eclipse Cannon and Shadow's memory after doing so. Actually, I'm not certain that Grandfather knew he was doing so, himself. And while Eggman was trying to sort out what had happened and what his next move should be (not to mention figuring out the possible repercussions of Shadow's unexpected survival), Metal Sonic had simply locked him into a storeroom, and tried to take over the planet itself, having somehow decided that it was the real Sonic the Hedgehog. Strange how its reversed thinking extended even to its servitors. Instead of building robots to assist it, Metal Sonic vastly expanded my ranks of Shadow-cloned androids. Which makes it all the stranger that Shadow brought that robot back to me, instead of leaving it with Omega. Some bit of loyalty to Professor Gerald, perhaps, like his alerting me to this memorial? Or repayment for my saving him, even though I'd sent my robots to recover a dead body, not a living one? It's not like Shadow hesitated to dispute my right to the Gizoid, or refuses to pester me when GUN sends him on a mission. And I'm still not sure why he didn't finish me during the Black Arms invasion. He raised one hand involuntarily to his head - Shadow had left him with a headache that persisted for weeks - and realized he'd come to a halt. Spotting the stand of dogwoods in the distance he headed for the cluster of pink and white blooms. Hmph. I wish I could have seen his face when Rouge pointed out to him that he was sort of my uncle. That's what the note had said, the one that had directed him to this spot. His boundary alarms had gone off, and Metal Sonic had brought him a note that had appeared, as if by magic, stuck to the door. Chaos Control, no doubt. I must be getting soft - or desperate - to accept an artificial Life-form, even the Ultimate one, as an uncle. No wonder that Nega character pulled the wool over my eyes, claiming to be a relative from the future. Well, I got him last time, and I'll be the one double-crossing in the future if he dares to stick his moustache into this world again! Oh, my.

He ducked under the trees into a garden that was full of flowers. The focal point was a black gryphon statue, flecked with white, that was curled protectively around a white marble lamb. A crimson rose was grasped in the black beak, as if being offered to its charge; a yellow bloom lay across the carved avian claws. Dr. Eggman paused, unconsciously running the blanket through his fingers again. The imposter was forgotten, displaced by true family. He may never have met Maria, but she'd had something he striven all his life to achieve; in vain thus far, but he'd get it yet. Such power she had, my cousin, and I doubt she ever knew it. Our Grandfather devoted his life to creating the Ultimate Life-form in hopes of finding a cure for her. For her sake, he demanded the ARK be built and the research hospital housed therein. For her, he created the Biolizard and Shadow the Hedgehog. For her, as well, he invented the Heal Units, and because of her murder he tried to take revenge on the entire planet. For his promise to her, only, did Shadow prevent that revenge, not for his own life or any of ours. In misplaced retribution, and again for Maria's sake, the GUN Commander tried to have Shadow killed. And because she was friends with both, the Commander and Shadow made a truce in spite of that.

All this, for a girl whose primary features were a cheery personality and a lethal disease. So why can't I, who has so much more in the way of brains, and money, and technology, inspire even a fraction of such loyalty? And yet, here he was as well, willingly bringing his own addition to the memorial. Like the gryphon, that never realized that it was truly in thrall to the lamb, unable to even recognize the choice to harm or abandon it. Or perhaps, like the Doctor, recognizing the choice but unable to make it; Eggman could not have not come, and, now that he was here, he couldn't leave without offering his own tribute. And yet, such was the power of this girl that he didn't really mind. A pity she died. She might have been an enormous help to me in founding Robotnikland– she always wanted to make people happy, and if I could just take over governing the planet, everyone could be happy.

A chao stood beside the bed of blue flowers that framed the statues, watching curiously as the human bent to tuck the blanket around the lamb. The sheltering wing would protect it only slightly from the elements, so he was glad that he had treated it with a new chemical he'd developed. Intended to reduce the friction of air against his robots, to give Metal Sonic and the others even more speed, it had been a failure; but he had found by accident that clothing impregnated with the stuff became well-nigh indestructible, even though it looked and felt like normal cloth. He adjusted the blanket so that the carefully cross-stitched design was visible. Flowers and a garden of chao. Shadow certainly chose an appropriate place. I suppose I should tell him sometime– when he's not trying to interfere with me. Ah, well.

"I'm going now," he announced to trees around him. He suspected that that spirit echidna was around, although he hadn't seen her. "Tell Knuckles that the machine will run down in a few hours, and won't hurt anyone unless they're stupid enough to step under it; I merely needed a distraction for a while." With that as a 'farewell', he stumped back to his Eggmobile and flew away