Sonic Runaways

"Let me out! I am Lord Ivo Rrrrobotnik!" Ivo growled. Whoever put him here had gotten rid of everything he owned. His Beans, his glasses, the Eggsack… his clothes, too. He ran to and shook the prison bars, but couldn't get them to budge. He squeezed his arm between the bars, and grasped freedom. But he knew he couldn't leave. Realizing his arm was stuck in its outstretched position, he tried to pull it back in. Only to fail once more, as it was now lodged. He sobbed. "It really is hopeless… I'm trapped here forever!"

"Eggman! Don't be such a loser!" A familiar voice exclaimed. Ivo froze as a cold breeze rushed by.

"No, not here! Not now!" Ivo exclaimed. He looked up, and saw Sonic the Hedgehog standing on the other side of the bars. He looked… different. Brighter, bluer. Happier? He was missing the mask that Ivo had gotten for him way back. "What are youuuu doing here?" Ivo's face scrunched up.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Sonic asked, batting his eyelashes. 

"NO!" Ivo shouted, trying to slap Sonic with his tiny hands. "You should be inside this cage, you prickly prrrrick! And I should be on the other side, taunting you with my eyelashes! HAAAHAHAHAHA!" Ivo closed his mouth, and readjusted his loose glasses with his remaining arm. "But can you help me out here? I seem to be in a rather odd predicament, I need to gather my personal items and get out of this crazy dimension. Everyone here keeps calling me Eggman, I can't stand it! You got here somehow, so you must know a way back to the real world."

"Heh, I dunno about any of that! I was just running around, and found myself here," Sonic replied, putting a foot on the wall and refastening the strap on his shoe with a serene smile. "I never worry about how I'm gonna get back to where I began, I just keep on running." Ivo groaned. "But if you promise to change your ways, I guess I could bust you outta here."

"What? I will not!" Ivo shouted. "For as long as I live, I will set my sights on taking over the world, after I destroy you and your irritating friends! That will never change." Sonic snickered. 

"Well then, I guess you ARE just like all the crazies here," Sonic laughed, walking off while tossing a key up and down. "I'll do a few laps around the island. I like what you Eggmans did with the place, for once." Ivo cried more.

"Wait, Sonic! Sonic, come back! FREE ME!" Ivo shouted, tugging as hard as he could. He then flew back, and landed on something soft… his Eggsack? "What is this doing back here? I thought it was confiscated." Ivo opened a seam on his Eggsack and rummaged through it. Struggling, he pulled out… a checkerboarded ball on a chain. He had somehow gotten his hand stuck in the cuff. "Rub it in, why don't you?" Ivo sat down on the cold and hard concrete floor.

"Hey, GENIUS…" Bad Egg said, in the cell across from him. Ivo frowned, and looked to her. "You're here too? What are you yammering on about?"

"You didn't see Sonic?" Ivo asked.

"I don't know who that is, so what does it matter?" Bad Egg replied. "Look, after you got kidnapped by Ge, I was caught by those SHELL Sentries. That old doofus wouldn't even let me into his hole in the dirt, and… well, now we're here." Bad Egg sighed. Ivo knelt down by the Eggsack, and noticed… the photo fragment was poking out from one of the pockets.

"Then, do you know who this is?" Ivo asked, showing Bad Egg the photo. She stared at it. Long and hard.

"Ivo, that girl's face isn't even in the photo, how did you screw THAT simple part up?" Bad Egg asked.

"Grandpa Eggman has the other piece somewhere, I feel like it's important—" Ivo said. Bad Egg punched the prison bars. Denting them. Ivo looked to the ball and chain, and then with all his might, swung the ball at the bars between him and Bad Egg, destroying the cages. Ivo grabbed his Eggsack, then he and Bad Egg walked out into the corridor. She was wearing a flowing linen dress, with a red bandage over her ribs. Ivo wasn't sure if it was the faint overhead lantern that was making her seem so pale. "Wow, that was… easier than I expected. We should retrieve my things before we depart. They have to be keeping my clothes SOMEWHERE."

"If they haven't been tossed out, they're probably at the top of the fortress," Bad Egg replied. "It's a lost cause, so if you want to try and get your stuff back, you'll have to do it alone."

"What? I know we're both on a race for the Chaos Egg, but we should at least call a truce. Anything could happen in this crazy dimension, we need to stick together," Ivo replied. Bad Egg turned away, scratching her bandage. "You got hurt." Bad Egg gasped through her teeth. "Despite everything, I would like to keep my family safe. That's why I made the Robotnik Empire in the first place."

"That's all you care about, isn't it? Your precious empire and your precious family," Bad Egg spat. "Don't you think you've lived a privileged enough existence? What makes you so deserving of going to Erius?" Ivo opened his mouth to speak. "No no no no no! Don't try to butter me up. Didn't you hear me back on that island? We. Are. Not. Family." Bad Egg walked up the stairs.

"Bad Egg, wait!" Ivo shouted.

Reaching the first floor, Ivo poked his head into the foyer. Looking around, he saw the place was swarming with SHELL Sentries and his distant relatives. No sign of Bad Egg. Figuring it was best to leave her alone, Ivo covered his eyes and walked along to the stairs. "Ah, is that Ivo?" Someone asked. Ivo quickened his pace. They were onto him! He ran up the stairs, before the person grabbed his ankle. Ivo tripped onto the stairs, and turned around. He had never seen this lady before. "It's me! Yaki Tamago, your cousin from Hangtown." Ivo squinted. "You never saw me much after you and your mom moved to Golden Bay, but I still have all your baby pictures and—!"

"Sorry, but I have places to be," Ivo muttered, crab walking up the stairs. In his haste, he dropped the Eggsack. It flopped downstairs, spilling out machinery and doo-dads. Everyone turned to look, bewildered. Ivo turned red. "Now look what you've done!" Ivo picked up his things, before a dark shadow loomed overhead. Ivo was picked up by his mustache, and brought face-to-face with a man over ten times his height.

"Robotnik. Don't you DARE talk to your cousin that way," the big guy said. "And put those wretched contraptions back where they belong; in the trash."

"What? Who are you? And how do you know my name?" Ivo asked, sweating. The world turned dark around them, as their eyes locked.

"You knew my name for a very long time, but it looks like my legacy has finally joined my life in total oblivion. I was the original, the first Eggman," the guy furrowed his eyebrows. "Ivan."

…

Ivo struggled as SHELL Sentries walked him into a room, Ivan following behind them. It looked like… a chapel. At the end of a red carpet was a casket elevated to a point that the body was just barely obscured. The candles smelled nice, and as Ivo whiffed the air, his mind was put to ease a little bit. "Haaaah… clams…" Ivo sighed. His cuffed hands relaxed, his fingers uncurled, and he nodded his head to his favorite song playing from somewhere in the room. "I wonder… who died." A sudden wave of fear. What was he doing anywhere near the casket if he didn't know who was inside? He certainly had to think of something to say, and fast. He looked to G-Mari, who was standing with Benedict right in front of the casket. "Mama, what do I say?" Ivo whispered. The Sentries stopped, for an uncomfortably long amount of time. G-Mari looked conflicted.

"It's okay, my boy. You've said enough. You've done enough," Benedict said, looking at Ivo in the eyes. G-Mari broke out into tears, as the Sentries pushed Ivo up the stairs to the casket. Ivo's heart skipped a beat, as it began to race, as it feared a sudden stop.

"Is this MY funeral?!" Ivo shouted, pushing back against the Sentries. Ge looked to the floor, walking down the steps. "I'm not dead! I'M NOT DEAD! I am Lord Ivo Robotnik! How dare you ALL?!" Ivo, despite his resistance, was pushed to the top of the stairs. He was practically shoved into the casket…

… When he saw a face inside. Bad Egg.

"Bad Egg? What happened?" Ivo asked, perplexed. She looked peaceful. Like the girl in the pumpkin patch. The photo had been taped back together on her chest where the bandage was. "What happened to her?!" Ivo turned around to all the others. They hid their faces. Maybe out of shame.

"Yo, Eggman," Sonic sighed, leaning on the roof of the casket with a black suit on. "I know it's rough right now, but hurry up and keep your voice down. Don't wake her. Give everyone a turn to say goodbye." Ivo balled up his fists, and gritted his teeth.

"None of this makes any sense," Ivo grunted. "I hardly knew Bad Egg, but I still feel like I could've done more." Ivo walked down the steps. Sonic closed the casket.

"Ivo, that's not her name," G-Mari told him. Ivo looked up at her. "Her name was Maria."