Chapter Text
Miles let out a quiet yawn, stretching out his legs and back as he slowly pulled himself from the clutches of sleep. He gently rubbed the fuzz from his eyes with his hand as he sat up, kicking his feet over the edge of the bed.
It had been just over a month since Robotnik had officially adopted the kit and he had been slowly but surely settling into his new life as the doctor’s son, a title he was extremely happy to have.
The kit stood up and made his way over toward his dresser, flexing his right metal prosthetic arm in an attempt to get himself fully awake. The limb had been hardwired into his nervous system after losing his arm during what had happened on Angel Island, allowing him much more control over it. He curled each of the clawed fingers individually, then tested he could move the wrist and elbow, getting confirmation that everything was working as expected. Miles had personally made several noticeable improvements to the prosthetic in the month or so since he’d received it from Robotnik and now it felt almost as dexterous and precise as his own arm had once been.
Almost.
From there he donned his uniform, a now familiar white shirt, red jacket, black pants, boots, and a set of white gloves. He inspected himself in the mirror afterward, standing up straight to make sure he looked presentable.
Once he felt confident the kit stepped out of his quarters and into the hallway, making his way down the base’s corridors and toward his workshop. The base had been constructed relatively recently atop a mountain range that overlooked the nearby Never Lake, it was small but ultimately was just acting as a place he and Robotnik could prepare for their next move, meaning it was more than enough for now.
Arriving at his workshop Miles stepped through the doors and was immediately met by Orbot, the machine’s gray prototype casing making him easy to spot.
“Good morning Miles.” The machine greeted, noticing the kit’s arrival.
“Morning Orbot…” Miles replied, another soft yawn escaping him afterward as he finally got the last of the sleepiness out of his system. “What’s on the schedule today?”
“The doctor actually wanted to meet with you and go over the broader strokes of the plan he’s come up with.”
“Finally figure out something to get Little Planet to stay?” The fox replied, familiar with some of the details that had been worked out so far. Ivo had been working on this part of the plan for a while now, but there was always something that he couldn’t quite figure out.
“I assume so.”
“I’ll head over now then, after that though I’m going back to working on the Miles Electric, want to get that finished before we get too far into whatever it is that we’re doing here.”
“You’ll have breakfast before working on anything,” The machine continued, “I know for a fact that you didn’t eat your dinner last night.”
Miles lightly winced, that much was true.
“I had stuff to work on.” He defended, figuring he’d at least try and say something, even if it was a weak excuse.
“Your projects can wait, it’s a wonder how you don’t nearly starve yourself to death again…”
“I’ll grab something on the way back,” The kit reassured, stepping back out of his workshop and starting back down the halls toward the base’s command center.
The kit was still trying his best to adjust to his new life. Internalizing that he had a family now, and one that actually wanted him no less was still a slow process. He did appreciate Orbot’s concern though and knew that Ivo shared similar sentiments, especially given Miles’ years spent living alone. It was good to have others caring about his wellbeing, even if he wasn’t quite sure how to handle that yet.
Arriving at the base’s command center, the fox stopped just outside, looking his uniform over to make sure he was presentable. Once satisfied he took a deep breath to calm some of his jittery nerves and stepped into the room.
The room was dominated with a wide variety of screens and other computers, each providing additional technical information or displaying some project the doctor was working on, the main feature that made up the room however was the large window overlooking the lake below, from the top of the mountain it was incredibly easy to get a good view of the entire area.
“You wanted to see me?” Miles asked, getting the doctor’s attention as the man was otherwise fully engrossed in the project on the display before him.
“Yes I do Miles,” Ivo Robotnik began. “I think I’ve finally figured it out.”
“How to get Little Planet to stay?” Miles asked back, making his way over to sit in a chair near where the doctor sat.
“Not only that, but a way to harness the power of the Time Stones as well.”
That got Miles’ attention, this was the exact sort of breakthrough they’d been waiting on.
After the doctor’s defeat and the destruction of the Death Egg on Angel Island at the hands of Sonic, the two of them had moved to this base near Never Lake. This place was unique, as once a year a celestial body known as Little Planet appeared here, its appearance controlled in part by the powerful artifacts that called the rock home.
The Time Stones.
Though they were known to be able to manipulate time itself, the Time Stones had very little information on them that either the doctor or Miles could find. Even Knuckles, who Miles had talked to a few times since the time they’d spent together on Angel Island, didn’t seem to know much, if anything about them. They were very different from the Chaos Emeralds Ivo had previously been after, but the potential they housed with their ability to manipulate time could not be underestimated, and as such, Ivo had been plotting to make use of the gemstone’s power.
“What did you have in mind?” Miles questioned, ears perking up in curiosity.
“We know the Time Stones possess the ability to manipulate time both backward and forwards,” Ivo began, “That they are capable of sending both living beings as well as objects forward to the future, or back to the past.”
The doctor got to his feet, gently pacing back and forth in his explanation. “While we don’t know if they’re capable of anything else, I think what we have learned will be sufficient for what I have planned. We can use the Time Stones to send machines back to Little Planet’s past, establishing a foothold there. Once that’s complete, the effects of that should ripple forward to our present and even the future. Allowing the entire planet to be transformed to our liking within the span of seconds.”
“But how exactly are we going to keep Little Planet here?” Miles mused, “It’ll just disappear again…”
“That’s where the next part of the plan kicks in. We’ll chain the planet to this very mountain range, placing a neutralizing device at the end that will allow us to contain the Time Stone’s influence over the planet, preventing it from simply disappearing again. With the planet secured, and the Stones in our grasp, we’ll be unstoppable.”
Miles smiled, also getting to his feet. “I can work on that neutralizer… if you want of course…” He offered, a slightly embarrassed tone working its way into his voice.
Ivo stepped over toward the fox, placing a hand atop the kit’s head, affectionately stroking his loose bangs backwards. “Miles, do you think I would want your talents spent on such a menial task?” The doctor questioned, prompting a faint blush from the kit at the compliment. “I have something of far greater importance for you.”
The fox looked at him quizzically as Ivo grabbed a set of schematics from his desk, handing them to the fox. “During my past encounters with Sonic I have been gathering data on him, studying how he acts, how he fights, everything down to the last detail. I’ve tried to make machines that can match his abilities, the first of which failed, the second of which was going to be tested on Angel Island, but that never happened. These are the schematics for that second model, along with all the data you could ever want on Sonic. I know you still harbor some… personal feelings towards the hedgehog…”
That was the understatement of the century, even the thought of having to cross paths with the speedster again fueled the kit with hatred.
Sonic had abandoned him, once after they had first met and he had promised to help him, and again when the hedgehog had left him for dead when the Flying Battery was going to crash. A crash that had cost Miles his right arm and very nearly his life.
To say there was some left over anger, was deeply underselling it, even if the amount he held these days was less than it had been on Angel Island.
“Given that history I hope you understand the weight of the assignment I am about to give you. I want you to design a third version of a machine capable of replicating his abilities, one capable of acting as his perfect equal… You can use the same programming as the previous model, but it will need a newer, updated frame. I’ll have the old second model brought to your workshop for you to use as a reference.”
Miles paused, the weight of the assignment resting on his shoulders for a moment before he replied. “I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t Miles, you are a Robotnik after all.”
A faint smile appeared on the kit’s expression at the use of his adoptive last name. “Is there anything else you want?”
“I think that should be enough, and don’t work yourself to death over this Miles. Orbot tells me you didn’t even touch your dinner last night…” Robotnik continued, a tinge of concern in his tone.
The fox’s face went flush with embarrassment, and as if prompted, a faint growl could be heard from the kit’s empty stomach, only serving to further incriminate him. “I’ll grab something for breakfast before I start.”
“Please do, I’ll check on how things are going later today, I’ve got some other designs to finish up…”
The fox nodded, turning on the heel of his boots and exiting the command center. He immediately began to skim over the papers he’d been given, wanting to get a basic idea of what the design currently looked like as he stopped by the kitchen, absentmindedly starting some toast.
The schematics were luckily quite detailed but it was obvious they’d been made in a bit of a rush, as such several important features seemed incomplete or at the very least, were more field prototypes than anything else.
It wasn’t long before the distracted kit heard the quiet ding that indicated his toast was ready, pulling it out and immediately realizing he hadn’t really paid attention to what he’d actually set the toaster to before starting it. His breakfast looked more like a charred slab than bread.
Still, it would have to do, he didn’t feel particularly hungry anyways, his thoughts more focused on the schematics and the work that lay ahead.
As he went to exit the kitchen he stopped however, quietly sighing to himself.
He really should get something edible to eat.
Starting another batch of toast and actually checking to make sure it was set to something reasonable this time. He found himself snapping out of his work fueled trance for a moment. Orbot had mentioned before that the fox would have issues getting used to a more ‘normal’ meal schedule. Spending several years living on his own while on the brink of starving to death wasn’t great for his internal meal clock, but he had been making progress toward being in much better health overall, even if the kit was still noticeably underweight.
Plus, it showed that Orbot and to a larger extent Robotnik cared about his wellbeing, something his brain still struggled to fully process.
Once his actual breakfast was ready the kit started back to his workshop again, stepping inside to find Orbot waiting for him, along with the deactivated machine he had been assigned.
“Welcome back Miles,” Orbot spoke. “The doctor had this delivered here in your absence, I assume he wants you to work on it?”
The new machine was definitely modeled after Sonic, taking on the appearance of the blue speedster. Large pointy spines extended from its back in an obvious attempt to replicate the same features Sonic had. Its body structure was different however, more bulky overall due to the thick plating covering most of its exterior. Instead of eyes the machine had a singular large rectangular visor, a choice that puzzled the fox.
Immediately Miles had several ideas for improvements, the heavy plating had to go, there’s no way it would be able to even come close to matching Sonic’s speeds with that kind of armor, it would also need a much more effective propulsion system, even with the lighter frame.
He definitely had his work cut out for him.
“Ivo assigned me to work on an improved model.” Miles explained, sitting down at one of the room’s work benches, setting his plate of toast nearby and grabbing one of the slices with his prosthetic right hand as he flipped to the next page of the schematics he’d been given with his left. “There’s definitely a few areas that can be improved, he did say it was a prototype after all… and I guess Ivo already has some sort of program prepared for it, or will by the time it’s done. I just have to build the actual machine.”
“Has the doctor figured out plans for what to do with Little Planet?” Orbot continued.
“Seems like it,” The kit answered, “The plan is to trap Little Planet above the lake and from there send stuff to the past using the Time Stones, letting us do whatever we want to the planet here in the present. I assume Sonic will show up to stop us though… he seems to just know whenever we try to do anything somehow…”
Miles momentarily paused in his explanation, his tone taking on a slightly more angry, strained cadence. “I just wish he would understand… I wish he could see Robotnik the way I see him… The world would be better off with Robotnik in charge I just… he just doesn’t care…”
Miles sighed, his tone cooling for a moment as his shoulders slumped, “It still hurts Orbot… I thought I wouldn’t care about Sonic just… leaving me like that at this point but… it still really hurts…”
“It’s perfectly understandable to be upset about it.” Orbot confirmed.
“He just… left me… He said he forgot… That he was busy fighting Robotnik… But he promised he’d be different… That he wouldn’t be like everyone else back on Westside Island… He lied to me…”
The fox looked over at the blue robot standing nearby, every facet and feature of it reminding him of the hedgehog.
He hated it.
But maybe that was why Robotnik had given him this assignment.
Maybe Robotnik wanted him to ultimately be the one to create Sonic’s equal, to mold the hatred deep inside him into something that would ultimately take out Sonic for good…
The fox shook the negative thoughts from his head, refocusing on his work.
This was going to be his best chance at revenge.
He was not going to fail…