Have A Seat

"It's certainly not serving him any purpose between his ears, I will agree to that. However, a skull, on my mantle? That was always more Selene's forte, not mine. Bleached bones are NEVER in style."

"However, if you're offering to bring me his head on a platter, I wouldn't be opposed. Just make sure you don't trek any blood on the floor."

    “Ah, so the macabre doesn’t match your preferred design choices?  I see, I see.  Well.  Metaphorically.  One could say I’m a touch blind to the nuances of aesthetics, hm?”  Keiran chuckled faintly, before bowing his head in Shaw’s direction.

    Once the trigger had been released, the Indoraptor had come to his senses.  Teeth released the bars, and claws slowly drew back in.  He paced the small enclosure, eyes moving from the attendant to the larger man with painfully red hair.  The awful device had been handed over.  He was being given to another?  A low hiss sounded from the beast, and he saw that he was being loomed over.  His snout twitched, and he turned to face the red one.

    Then the Indoraptor stood up.  Over ten feet of muscles and teeth that could kill a man.  Claws gripped the metal bars, muzzle pressed through them as much as could- which was only slightly.  And he snarled at the man, teeth bared and clicking together.  The other humans feared him.  He’d prove to be just as dangerous to this new one.  The fearful humans left him alone after all, left him to sit in that cold dark cage without their shocking sticks and guns that made him tired.

    The attendant, meanwhile, adjusted the shades on his face, looking up with frustration at the creature’s display of aggression.  Should he tranquilize it?  How many darts did it take again…

LOOKS AT YOU. HE WANTS YOUR FOOD.

     In most worlds Harmony was considered an anomaly. Her speed and power on par with some of the resident heroes, and for good reason. It was how she had been made and it paired well with the skills of her teammates. They always seemed to be on a wavelength that few could ever get. No words were really needed between them as they dispatched badniks, or in this case it was the Egg pawns.

     But Harmony’s startled yelp as the floor underneath her disappeared caught all three of her teammate’s attention. Buddy called out the teen’s name and Tangle dashed forward. The moment she had passed, he grabbed the end of her tail, feeling it gripping his wrist, and braced himself. Whisper ran over to help counterbalance as Tangle jumped into the hole after Harmony. The weight of the two teens slid the two still above closer to the hole but they stood fast, leaving the two below to dangle.

     Emerald eyes looked down the drop and then back up to her teammates. The fall wouldn’t have hurt her. She was far more durable than she looked but she still would have needed a minute to get her bearings back.

     “I’m gonna swing us. Give us a push, alright.” Tangle’s strained voice caught her attention and she nodded. As they swung, she planted her feet along the wall and kicked off. All of her strength went into the push, swinging the two back out of the hole and onto their feet by their teammates. They still didn’t know where the voice was coming from, but Harmony dusted off her hands while looking around.

     “Did you really think we were gonna let you grab one of us that easily?” Tangle called out again. “You mess with one of us, you get all of us.”

    Well, Sage certainly hadn't expected that.  The instant reaction and the smooth teamwork between the group was promptly noted, as frustrating as it was.  Often, a group working together with such ease increased chances of success exponentially, meaning her goal of capturing them would be made far more difficult.  She sighed, and the floor hatch closed.  Tools came out of the walls, pulling away the remaining scrap and making it a touch cleaner.

    Sage's mind drifted somewhat, thinking back to the brief encounters with Sonic before The End was unleashed.  Maybe… talking was worth a try.  If she'd talked to him back then, perhaps an alternate or more efficient solution could've been reached.

    Might as well give it a shot.  There were only so many non-lethal things she could send out against them.  Plus, it might reduce damages.  "Your teamwork is exceptional, though completely unneeded.  I have no intention of killing any of you- the Pawns were programmed for capture and the fall height had a negligible chance of causing harm specifically to the target of the pitfall.  But I cannot let you interfere with the doctor's work.  With your destructive tendencies, I can't trust you not to harm him."

     While this had been meant to be just a fun little adventure out as a group, Harmony and her teammates had overheard a few rumors that the Eggman of the Zone was up to no good. They looked to one another in silent conversation before nodding. It was just after the holidays and even an unknown Sonic deserved to take a break once in awhile.

     How hard could it be to trash Eggman’s toys and go about their day.

     None of the four had any ability to sense Chaos Energy, but Buddy’s communicator had begun beeping once they cleared the entrance. “Uh… Guys. I’m getting emerald readings.”

     “Big deal. Harms should have no problem with that. Remember during the zombots?” Tangle added and looked around as said teen tossed the scrap piece of door to the side.

     “Tangle. Those were OUR emeralds. I dun think I can get another ZONE’S t’ listen t’ me.” Hopefully they wouldn’t have to find out but emerald eyes darted to the middle of the room when the Egg Pawns began to file in. Powder blue tipped ears flicked at the strange, young, voice that spoke to them. A few glances around to see if she could pinpoint it before looking to her teammates. 

     Whisper had already steadied their wispon, as did Buddy. Seeing Tangle ready her fists was all she really needed to see and stepped forward.

     “Ya think a bunch a Egghead’s toys can hurt us?” She had confidence and it was for good reason as she cleared the distance between the first robot in seconds. A foot was grabbed and Harmony swung the unfortunate Egg Pawn with one hand into the one closest to her. The signal for the rest of her teammates to place themselves to start taking out the rest.

    It was somewhat startling to see some of the pawns dispatched with such little effort.  Clearly the blue one was a 'powerhouse' of sorts- much like Knuckles.  Maybe she could gain a comparison between the two, if she could get her father to send a drone to Angel Island.  Sage quickly filed away the newly gained information, beginning to calculate potential solutions.

    She'd rather not try to kill them.  Just send them away so her dad could work in peace.  Or catch them and get further instructions after her new 'sibling' was finished.  At the same time, best to reduce the number of Egg Pawns being needlessly destroyed.

    Eggman was hard at work when the alarms went off.  A huff escaped, head turning as a screen lowered into his field of vision.  “Father.”  The familiar voice of Sage spoke out over the speakers.  “Several intruders have been located breaching the entrance.  No sign of Sonic however.  What would you like me to do?”

    Placing the final emerald into its slot before returning to his computer to upload the code, he made a slightly dismissive gesture.  “Eliminate them.  Or stall them at least.  Once this F series is online, it can handle the rest I’m sure.”

     // Note to self to add in my old Sonic muses, as well as some new ones.  Specifics under the cut.

Being met with such excitement where he was now caught Avar by surprise. One moment, he had been in his eternal slumber. The next, he was now cast out across the floor of some desolate cavern, met by a very overactive woman.

The Emperor gave an unamused growl, pushing himself up and eying her.

"What do you mean, welcome back? Where have I been?"

    Raifort had some trouble, trying to dial back her excitement.  But she did, shoving down the bubbling fear and joy at her plans coming to fruition.  The seals were broken, the Ruins released, and the old Emperor awoken.

“It’s hard to argue when you’re the one wearing it, Aguri.” Korosensei chuckled quietly. It had been some time since his ‘death’, with most of his old world unaware of his status… Believing he was deceased, at least that was able to quiet most of the governments he had come across in that wild year. And near the end, the pain he’d felt, the utter betrayal, and yet the peace…

He had yet to tell Aguri most of anything concerning his new life, his new world, his wanderings- and he was content to keep it that way, for now. She was healed, happy- safe. That was all he wanted… More than he deserved.

“It’s quite the silly design, but I don’t think it’s the right color…. After all, I’m only red part of the time!” Korosensei playfully teased. So much had changed… His little visits to her in the hospital had been forced to stop with his ‘death’, but now that she was out, and he knew the blind spots in surveillance… He was able to sneak in little moments, little tidbits.

The one who first taught him what a smile truly felt like… The one who had nearly died in his arms, brought him to the classroom in the first place… And now here she was, a shining picture of health.

Without her, he wouldn’t have changed.

Without her, he never would have met that amazing class.

Without her… So many ‘without her’s’. So many things to be grateful for, but right now, he let it just be that she was happy, healthy- smiling that precious smile of her’s, the one that had slowly infused his own with a warmth he’d never known before.

    “Heh, yeah… I did try to find it in yellow!  But no dice.  Just red, blue, or green.”  Did she buy one of each?  Yes.  Yes she did.  How was she supposed to resist?  It was such a cute shirt, and so fitting for her!  Maybe she could get a custom one made somewhere.  Replace the chibi octopus with a certain yellow smiling face.  That would be fitting indeed.

    Carefully she smooths the shirt out, smile never once dropping from her face- very pleased that this one seemed to be a win.  “Well, wrong color or not, I know which octopus I appreciate.”  A hand gently pat one of his own tentacled ones, her eyes practically alight with gratitude.  “I can’t thank you enough.  You helped that class- really truly helped.  Akari dropped by earlier.  Told me so much of what happened.  You made them feel seen!  Helped them blossom!  Far better than I could’ve done.”  A chuckle slipped into her tone, free hand rubbing the back of her head.

    Oh how she wished she could’ve been there.  The whole… assassination plots all the time may have been a bit too much for her, but still.  To see Korosensei, the man who’d at one time been so cold, so brutal… to see him truly enjoying his time and giving to the class a much needed pillar of support?  That would have been amazing.  Still, Aguri was content to make do with the many, many pictures Akari had shown her.

    That, and of course the stories.  Both those heard from her sister, and what she could learn from Korosensei as well in their moments together.  Though… she did wish the moments could last longer.  That she could spend more and more of her time with him.  It wasn’t like she had much else to do, right?  She was cleared from the hospital at long last, but not for work quite yet.  And the E Class had been essentially dissolved…

     “A cafe.”  Shane states plainly, though with their usual cheer dripping into the tone.  “Perhaps I should put a sign up.  You’d be shocked how many people ask that on the regular.”  As blunt as they were, they weren’t trying to be vague or sarcastic.  But when you occasionally had Legendary figures like Palkia poking its head into the window to investigate, one learns to be rather direct.  It saves time.