BLoSC/Sonic: Marred... but not Shattered

[Robbie Valiant, P.I.]

An idea inspired by the ROBOT!MIRA? thread. Not too shippy yet, but it WILL be shippy. This is mostly setup.


BloSC/Sonic: Marred... but not Shattered


XR sighed. A routine mapping mission just outside known space. The probability of finding a planet with life, much less sentient life, was slim. So it was considerably surprising when he saw a blip on the scanners.
“Buzz, we got something!” he called. His captain walked over, and took a look at the screen.
“Odd...,” Buzz commented, “Surprisingly small population for a planet that size. Estimated civilization level?”
XR moved the scan to scan for technology. He was taken aback.
“Buzz, there's a ton of tech down there and... over a 5:1 robot to organic ratio!” XR said.
“Okay, any indication of space capabilities?” Buzz asked.
“No. However, most of their other capabilities seem to be at the level where it is necessary for us to make contact,” XR informed.
“Ok. Initiate broadcast, all channels,” Buzz said. He got in view of the ship's camera.
“Greetings. I am Captain Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, I represent the Galactic Alliance. I come in peace, and I wish to speak to the local authority figure.”


“Sir,” Snively reported, “we have an incoming transmission of unknown origin. Do you wish to view it?.”
“Of course, Snively. Any broadcast we can't trace to one of my networks is potentially the Freedom Fighters advancing to our level.”
Onscreen, a face unfamiliar to either of them appeared.
“Greetings. I am Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, I represent the Galactic Alliance. I come in peace, and I wish to speak to the local authority figure.”
“Interesting,” Robotnik said to his cohort, “I believe I should get in contact with this person... Connect me.”
“Greetings, Captain. I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, ruler of this planet,” Robotnik began, bowing slightly, “however, I am in a spot of trouble... A group of the vermin is rebelling against my rule.”
“Vermin?” Buzz said questioningly.
“A lower race of animals, bent against my kind,” Robotnik lied, “and others like me, which you, sir, appear to be.”
“I see. Perhaps we should have a meeting. Delegates of my crew meet you, get a sense of your world's history, for reference purposes.”
“I would be honored, Captain,” Robotnik replied, “Simply say the word. I await with anticipation.”
The screen went black.
“Something seemed off about him, Buzz,” Mira says, “I don't think we should trust him.”
“I agree, Mira. I suggest we look into these 'vermin' and split into 2 parties- 1 party goes as delegates to this man, and the other looks into the 'vermin'.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed.
“Mira, XR, you'll go down first, to greet this 'ruler',” Buzz said, “I'll keep in contact.”
He turned to the screen, and began transmitting.
“My party is homing in on the source of your transmission,” he informed Robotnik, “they'll be there soon.”


Elsewhere...
“Foreign transmission detected, Sally,” an automated voice alerted.
“Foreign?” Sally inquired. She was sitting, drawing up a plan.
“Transmission does not match any known frequency or format currently employed by Robotnik,” the computer continued.
She picked up a small, handheld computer
“Can you play it, Nicole?” she asked.
“Yes. Transmission is lacking encryption. Playback, commencing.”
A flat hologram screen appeared, and the image of a man was on it. He began to speak.
“Greetings. I am Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, I represent the Galactic Alliance. I come in peace, and I wish to speak to the local authority figure.”
“Hmm,” Sally said, analyzing what she had heard, “this could be just the help we need... Nicole, can you transmit back to the source?”
“Yes. However, I am limited to audio- as you know, I posess no camera,” Nicole replied.
“Good. Start transmitting. Hello. I am Princess Sally Acorn, heir to the Mobian throne, and leader of the Freedom Fighters. I need any help you can send. A warmongering tyrant named Robotnik has decided to take over, and now controls over 40% of the planet. He's a threat to anything and anyone around him. I beg of you, help us.”
The transmission went up, and was received. Sadly, by the time this message reached Star Cruiser 42, Mira and XR were in a shuttle entering the atmosphere, and 42 was far from its reception range.

Within 5 minutes, Mira and XR landed the shuttle on the border of Robotropolis. They were greeted by a SWAT bot.
“This way,” it told them. It led them through Robotropolis- a wasteland of mechanical junk. Mira coughed. This air, while breathable, was definitely all kinds of polluted. XR, having no nose, didn't notice it at all. They arrived at the center- a huge, hulking metal airship, docked into a large, dark metal palace. They entered. A short man with an abnormally large nose greeted them.
“Welcome to Mobius. I'm Snively, Robotnik's trusted nephew. My uncle will be with you shortly,” he informs them. A platform lowers. The man who responded stood there- An obese man, with a tri-toned bodysuit of red, yellow, and black.
“Welcome, friends... Who might you be?” Robotnik asked.
“Mira Nova and XR, Space Rangers,” Mira replied, “and we're here to find out more about this planet.”
“My, you certainly are... interesting,” the doctor said, looking over Mira. It wasn't every day he saw an alien, “and you say that the little robot... He's accepted as a citizen in your government?”
“More than a citizen, buddy, I'm a SPACE RANGER!” XR butted in, before Mira could reply.
“So I heard,” Robotnik said, “would you mind if I took a look at your biology? I'm quite fascinated by the prospect of aliens such as yourself.”
A small, glass tube rose on the platform.
“It's a simple, painless cellular scan and analysis,” he lied.
“XR? Is it?” Mira asked.
“I... can't tell. It doesn't match any tech I've encountered,” XR admitted upon scanning the machine.
“Different cultures spawn different methods,” Robotnik said.
“I guess that makes sense,” XR agreed.
Mira, still somewhat mistrusting, decided to show some faith, thinking it may help negotiations. She stepped onto a circular pad as the tube lifted. It lowered, and a near-blinding white light began rising at her feet. It slowly began moving upwards. It passed her ankles. She knew something was wrong, her feet felt... odd.
“XR! Help!”
He noticed what it was doing. Her feet had changed- they were sleeker, with a shiny, metallic sheen.
He drew his guns. Before he could move to fire, he felt a rush of data to the head. Robotnik had raised a wand-like device, and pointed it at him. He wasn't going to last long against this stream of data.
“Mass useless data transmitter,” Robotnik said, grinning maliciously, “Increases till you overload. You are top of the line... perfect for reverse engineering. I was going to play nice, but this... this is worth the damages.”
XR hung on, letting his processor go into overclock.
“And... Mira?”
“Your friend? She'll be a loyal soldier for my empire.”
XR's last thoughts before he overloaded were “All my fault...”
“System overload... Emergency shutdown activated.”
XR shut down.

[Robbie Valiant, P.I.]

Part Deux!

Elsewhere...
Mira's suit had stopped sending out her life signs.
“XR, come in! Do you read me?” Buzz said into his communicator. No response.“Blast!”
“They must've been captured, or jammed,” Booster replied.
The communications console crackled into life. A voice entered the tense silence.
“Hello. I am Princess Sally Acorn, heir to the Mobian throne, and leader of the Freedom Fighters. I need any help you can send. A warmongering tyrant named Robotnik has decided to take over, and now controls over 40% of the planet. He's a threat to anything and anyone around him. I beg of you, help us.”
“Hmm,” Buzz said, “if that Robotnik's as bad as they just indicated... I think we might could use help. Booster, trace the signal, and land us.”
“Yes, sir!” Booster replied. He pressed a few buttons on the navigation console. Buzz approached the communications console, and began to transmit back.
“We're landing. We've heard both sides of the story... And now 2 members of our crew are in danger.”

Just over 3 minutes later...
42, having eased into the atmosphere, came to a safe landing just outsisde of a forest. They were greeted by a blue, humanoid creature, not entirely unlike an earth hedgehog.
“Yo,” it greeted them, “the name's Sonic. I'm here to take you to Knothole. That's our base, Robotnik doesn't know where it is. Come on.”
Sonic led them through the forest, deep into a clearing in the middle. The clearing was full of buildings, made into trees.
Sonic led them into a larger one.
“Hello,” said another humanoid, this one resembling a squirrel, “I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”
“As do I, Princess. But I was obligated to hear both sides and discern the truth. We must be certain to be on the side of good,” Buzz said.
“I understand, Captain. Now, introductions. You know Sonic and myself. These are the Freedom Fighters. Our resistance force against Robotnik. To the left of me, Rotor, our tech expert, and Antoine. To the right, Bunnie, our strength, and Tails, our eye from the sky.”

Elsewhere...
XR came to, but he did his best to show no signs. He could feel he was somehow restrained
“Better give no sign to Lard-butt,” he thought. He silently began a last-ditch effort- he sent out a text communication, an SOS.
“Buzz-
Mira was right. This guy is evil. We're captured. He did some weird thing to Mira- robotization, I think he called it- and he wants to take me apart.
-XR”
He sent it out. It wasn't blocked, however, this transmission did alert Robotnik to his status as awake.
“Ah, little one, awake, I see?” Robotnik said. XR opened his eyes. Robotnik was near him the whole time.
“I like to make my work on SENTIENT robots as painful as possible. And do I have the ability to do so on you.... 'Nurse'? Give me a wrench.”
XR turned in the direction Robotnik had spoken that last sentence. Robotnik was speaking to a light-blue robot- the remains of Mira. As he looked at what used to be his friend, he couldn't help but think “Good job with the cosmetic resemblance.” It was a sleek feminine robot, shared her basic figure, and even had a metal approximation of her hair. He looked at the face, and there he felt almost a stab. Her soft, beautiful features... sharpened, frozen in a permanent emotionless expression. Her beautiful blue eyes... red lights on a black screen.
She spoke. Her voice was the same, but... echoing. Tinny. “Yes, Doctor.”
She handed him a wrench.
“Yes, yes, I know, you want to know how,” Robotnik said to him, “but that's not the point. The point is, I can't lose. I can turn anyone and anything that opposes me into a servant of my agenda. And now... to see what makes you tick.”
He used the wrench, and began unscrewing XR's arm.
“Interesting design. Much more versatile than my own,” Robotnik commented, testing the arm's elasticity.

Back in Knothole...
Buzz's wrist communicator beeped. He flipped up the top of his suit on his left arm, to look at the screen.
“Buzz-
Mira was right. This guy is evil. We're captured. He did some weird thing to Mira- robotization, I think he called it- and he wants to take me apart.
-XR,” Buzz read aloud.
“Robotized?” Booster said in confusion.
“Roboticized,” Bunnie corrected, “one of the worst things Robotnik can do to ya. Converts your body entirely to metal- makes you into a robot resembling what you used to be, and overlays your mind with his program. What he used to take over so fast.” She gestured to her own metal limbs, “I barely escaped that fate, myself.”
“There's no full cure,” Sally said pre-emptively, “the closest thing we've got to one is a way to restore the will.”
“If there's any way to save Mira... I'm willing to try,” Buzz told her.
“Fine. But, until we can effect that, we have a temporary method. But it requires energy. A power ring,” Sally informed him.
“And what is a power ring?” Buzz asked her.
“It's.. hard to explain. It's like pure energy, in the form of a ring,” she answered, “we get one every 8 hours, from a generator at the bottom of a pool of pure water.”
“I see. And this... restores the mind?” Buzz questioned somewhat skeptically.
“No, the mind's in there anyways, just suppressed... This gives it the ability to overwrite Robotnik's programming, as long as they keep it on their person,” Sonic said, “it takes a truly strong person to fully shake it off.”
“Mira's one of the most strong-willed, stubborn people I've met,” Buzz said, “I have every confidence she can overcome this.”
“Sonic, you have a power ring?” Sally asked.
“Way ahead of you for once, Sal,” Sonic confirmed, “The moment you told me about the transmission you received, I figured better safe than sorry.”
“Good. Now, everyone, listen. We're headed in to Robotropolis, but not without a plan...”

Meanwhile...
Robotnik had completely dismembered XR, all that remained on the table was the head and torso.
“MIRA! I know you're in there! Fight it! Help me!” he cried out. He figured it was worth a shot, if it was an organic to mechanical conversion, her mind was, in all likelihood, intact.
And indeed, Mira fought.
“It's no use, whelp. That doesn't work, she's in there, all right, and she knows EXACTLY what she's doing, she just can't DO anything about it,” Robotnik informed him.
“What kind of sadistic creature are you?” XR spat at him.
“Temper temper... You're tempting me to use the metaphorical anasthetic,” Robotnik said. He reached into XR's torso, and unscrewed the door from its hinges. He reached in again, and pulled out... an oversized teddy bear. He looked at it perplexedly.
“What does a robot want with a teddy bear?” he wondered aloud.
“Look, the LGMs were kinda off when they rebuilt me, okay!” XR replied defensively.
“Obviously,” Robotnik remarked.
He continued pulling out XR's more questionable auxillaiary gear- a beach ball, an oil lamp, a skateboard.
“How can you fit so much junk in such a tiny robot?” Robotnik commented, as he continued finding various odds and ends.
XR ignored him. He called out again, “Mira, if ANYONE can resist this, it's you! Help me, please! He's GOING to KILL me!”
Mira was still fighting- and this time it showed. A red spark came from one of her eyes. She was breaking through.Robotnik took no notice, yet. The sparks surrounded her head. She fought. And fought. And finally... she won. The sparks disipated, and her eyes dimmed slightly- she was in control.
XR noticed this, but showed no sign- the better poker face he had, the less chance of Robotnik noticing Mira was reacting. He continued as if she hadn't.
“Come on!” he continued, “fight it!”
Robotnik rolled his eyes.
“What would it take to get it through your skull, robot?” he said somewhat annoyed, “she can't.”
Mira got somewhat accustomed to this body- her suit had become somehow integrated.
“Yes, I can,” Mira replied. She sounded... normal, again. She pointed her laser at the joint of an unidentifiable mechanism above Robotnik, and fired, as he turned around, astonished. The heavy mechanism fell onto him, and pinned him to the floor- breaking several ribs in the process.
She grabbed XR and his pieces. She did a quick patch job- reattached the limbs, but left the unnecessary equipment.
“Come on. While I was being controlled, I saved a map of this place to my memory- we're leaving,” she called, already rushing off down a corridor.
“I... I'm sorry I encouraged you to trust him,” XR said to her as he followed..
“So am I,” she admitted, “But that can wait until we're at a safe place.”
They were confronted by a pair of SWAT bots. Simple enough, they blasted them to scrap with their lasers. They kept running.

[Robbie Valiant, P.I.]

A/N: I have something in here that makes little sense. I decided that it was fine, if SatAM did it, it would work fine in here. Remember Hodgson's law- It's just a (insert media here), you should really just relax.


Part 3

XR thought of something. While they kept running, he turned on his communicator.
“Buzz- Mira and I have managed to escape. We managed to wound the fat guy with some of his own machinery. I'd expect a few broken ribs and maybe a punctured lung. He won't be getting up soon, I don't think. I'm reading your coordinates, and I'll meet you where you are now.”
“Wait, wait- Mira's okay?” came the response.
“On the inside at least,” XR replied, “and frankly, that's what's important.”
“Okay. I'll wait for you,” Buzz's response came, “The Freedom Fighters, though, are going in- if this guy's that badly injured, this could be their one chance at stopping his empire's growth.”
“Understood, sir- Description of the friendlies?” XR inquired.
“Ragtag group of humanoid animals- kind of hard to miss,” Buzz said.
“Got it.”
They kept on, through waves of SWAT bots and other securities.
“Looks like you two could use some help,” came an older voice from one of the side shafts.
Mira swiveled.
“Who's there?” she said, her hand on her wrist- though it didn't need to be, as her laser was now integrated into her body, responding to thought alone.
“Whoa, there, I'm a good guy!” a form stepped from the shadows. It was robotic, yes, but it sounded more organic- its form definitely resembled an organic.
“Who're you?” XR asked.
“Sir Charles Hedgehog, at your service,” the robot introduced himself, “now, you two are looking for a way out of here, right?”
“Yes,” Mira said, tentatively.
“I happen to know a secret passage out- bypassing all the SWAT bots,” he explained, “A lot faster than the brute strength approach.”
“And we can trust you because...?” XR asked. He wasn't going to let anything else happened.
“Because I'm like her. Both of us resisted roboticization,” he pressed.
“How did you know-” Mira began.
“Because it's pretty obvious,” The 'hair' is a dead giveaway you used to be organic, and your actions show you're definitely not still under Robotnik's control.”
“...fine,” XR said, “Show us the way.”
He led them down several side corridors, then pulled away a grate at the side of a corridor.
“This lets out right at the edge of Robotropolis,” he told them, “from there, you're home-free.”
“Thanks,” Mira told him.
They dropped through the grate into a man-sized tunnel.
They started walking.

15 minutes later...
Sure enough, it ended on the outskirts of the city.
“According to my tracking, Buzz is waiting about 3 meters east,” XR said, as they emerged.
They turned right, and there he was.
“Buzz, you don't know how good it is to see you, man,” XR told his captain, “the man was taking me apart.”
“Good to see you two alive too, XR, Mira,” Buzz replied, “well, I mean, technically, 'functioning', but-”
“Quit while you're ahead, Buzz, please,” Mira said, smiling weakly, “how far away's 42? I could use some alone time and XR still needs a couple more repairs.”
She gestured to the lack of door in his chest cavity. As soon as he noticed, he covered it.
“Not too far. Maybe 20 minutes walking distance. Through the village in the forest, to the left,” Buzz replied.
They started walking. It was a silent walk- Mira was thinking about many things, and XR... XR was still guilt-tripping, to a degree. XR looked Mira over again. She didn't look half-bad like this... In fact, on a robot scale, she looked absolutely beautiful. He pushed it from his mind.
“You're not allowed to enjoy this,” his conscience seemed to tell him, “you caused this. Think how she must be feeling.”
He sighed. The sooner they reached the ship, the better.

Later...
XR pulled out a spare chest-cavity door. He lined it up, and dropped a hinge pin in. He capped the hinge, and nodded affirmatively to himself. He went on his way to his quarters... but stopped in the hallway. He heard something from Mira's quarters. It was... crying? But.. that.. make no sense, she's a robot, tears would make a short circuit.
“Mira?” he called in. No answer.
“I'm going to regret this,” he thought, and he poked in the door. Sure enough, Mira was crying at her mirror.
He rolled up to her.
“Mira, I... I just wanted to say I'm sorry again,” he said.
“Sorry doesn't make it better,” she managed, “I'm ugly, and I'll probably be disowned, and-”
“Mira, you are not ugly. You look beautiful, to me,” he said, “and besides- you never wanted to be royalty anyway, did you?”
She turned to him, with a weak smile.
“Not really. I mean, I knew it was in my future, but-”
“Exactly. And, believe me... you're not ugly. Not in the least.”
“And XR, I'm... sorry too. I should have followed my gut instinct.”
“Mira it wasn't your-”
“Yes, it was. I was the one who decided to show trust, like an idiot.”
“It was both our faults, then, and we both suffered for it. Do you know how hard it is to have to stand idly by and see something like this happen to someone you lo-”
XR cut off his sentence.
Crap. Crap crap crap, now you have to finally say it.
He sighed.
“Mira, I have something to confess. I've kept it to myself for a long while, but now things are different and maybe this won't be a disaster, so... I... I think I love you.”
Mira was somewhat stunned. He'd flirted before, but she'd never seriously considered the possibility that he actually had feelings for her.
“I... I don't know what to say...”
“Say, 'I'll give you a chance'. It's not that hard,” he encouraged her, smiling at her.
She seriously considered this. He was a good friend. Things were different.And she had to admit, there was... for lack of better words, a spark between them.
“I'll give you a chance,” she agreed, “once this mission's over. I promise.”

[NinjaRabbit]

Wow, looks pretty good so far. The only problem is that I've never dealt with anything remotely related to Sonic the Hedgehog before, so I have no idea of these references, but as far as the BloSC scale, it's pretty good.

However, there were parts were XR seemed slightly OOC, but not so much - I especially liked the bit where Robotnik is pulling all those gag items out of XR's chest cavity. Very in-tune with the BloSC style, there.

And the last chapter ending was cute. Slightly rushed, but still cute.