Scrap Brain Zone: Family Reunions, YAY!

[Captain_Mario]

On the far side of South Island, there lies an old, run-down base. On the outer wall, an insignia is etched into the side: it is that of a grinning, mustached man's face. This is Scrap Brain Zone: The first base of Dr. Ivo Robotnik...better known as "Eggman" now. For many a year, this base has been abandoned...

...That ends today.


"Onward, you fools!"
Dr. Robotnik marched down the path leading to the massive base, several Egg Pawns waddling along behind him.

Egg Pawn
"Doctor, can we not rest?"


"Oh-ho-ho...NO! Now keep moving!" The Doctor scowled at his bumbling creations as he trudged along.

Egg Pawn
"B-But you have a jet pack...we've had to walk this entire--"

CUH-LANG!

Before he could finish, the 'bot was sent flying by his master's oversized fist.


"Heh-heeeh!" Ivo grinned. "Any OTHER comments...?"

Silence.

"Good. NOW...ONWARD, TO VICTORY!" And with that, they began moving once more...

[ButlerForLifeNumber2]

"P-perhaps we've taken the wrong train?" While the pamphlet described South Island as a place of beautiful life, this place seemed dead and disgusting. A bit disappointing for Maria. She and her new friends, Sabel and Mabel, had been traveling to new towns by train in the Smash World. Maria had been very excited, the world had seemed so green and brimming from her old home. Had things changed during her absence?

"No way!" Mabel declared confidently, "I'm never wrong!" She took a look around and compared the environment on the paper to what was around them. "Maybe we're just on the bad side of town? Its got to be it..!"

"Aw..well if it's the right place or not...I'm sure you'll find something interesting here, darling.." Sable mumbled. She went up to Maria and patted her leg, signaling that she could run off. "Don't go too far...alright?" she sighed.

Maria nodded, smiling, and went off on her way. She tottered through orangery grass, collecting dead but attractive discolored leaves she found along the way. But she dropped them and ran to a robot that seemed to be hurt. She looked around, where did it come from? "Are you okay?" Maria asked with her head tilted, hoping that robots on Earth were as advanced as the ones back on the ARK...

[Captain_Mario]

Egg Pawn
"Ugh..." The robot sat up, the servos in its head whirring as it looked around. Suddenly, it shot up to its feet. It was looking into the distance, where several figures could be made out. Two were robots like it, and the other was a large man clothed in red. "OH! Th-thank you, Miss!" The 'bot nodded to her, then took off like a rocket after the others! "Doctor Robotnik! Wait for meeeeee!"

[ButlerForLifeNumber2]

Before Maria could reply to it's thanks, the robot zoomed off to the others like it. "Doctor Robotnik?" Maria repeated in a hush, surprised and confused. She decided that she would tag along with them to see just who it was talking about. Afterall, they seemed like such nice, polite robots... their creator had to be equally as good (SHOT).

She followed the robot she had helped back to its line and walked behind it meekly. She leaned over and hopped up occasional, to take peeks at the man leading it. She couldn't really recognize him from the back, but was too embarassed to go and ask him what was their relation if any.

[Captain_Mario]

"Hmm! Finally caught up, did you?" The Doctor said without turning. "I suppose I should be glad. My old Badniks might not recognize me after all this time. Expect hostility, Egg Pawns." He sighed and stretched. "Well, that is enough hiking for a while. Time to take a breather..." At this, the man sat on a nearby stump. Once seated, Maria could see that despite the youth in his voice, he was an obese, elderly man, who somewhat resembled her grandfather, Gerald. He wore a red jacket, black pants, white gloves, and glasses. To finish the look was an orangish-brown mustache that stretched beyond his face.

Egg Pawn
"Doctor! I saw a girl back there, and I really think you should hear this!" The Egg Pawn said, waving his arms.


The Doctor sighed. "Look, Number 5, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, there are many more pressing matters at hand! What leads you to possibly believe I would care for some random girl, when I'm so close to reclaiming my old base? I mean, unless it was my cousin walking around risen from the grave, chances are it shall NOT interest me!"

Egg Pawn
"But that's exactly what she--"


"Alright, my creations! That's enough of a break for now! Once we reach Scrap Brain Zone, you shall get all the recharging necessary! Now then!" With that, the man hopped to his feet and began to walk once more.

Egg Pawn
An Egg Pawn with a "1" on it approached No. 5.

"...Did she seriously...?"

"I swear, it looked JUST like her!"

"Hm. Either way, best not tell Dr. Robotnik. If he catches wind of this, who knows how he'll react!" The others nodded and began to follow their master...

[ButlerForLifeNumber2]

When the doctor decide to take a rest, she sat herself behind an adjacent tree so she can continue to peer and still be hidden. She got a good look at him and giggled in pleasant surprise that he looked a lot like her grandpa. Very amusing. But she gasped and her feelings twisted into anxiety when a robot attempted to expose her. She covered her mouth with both hands, she still wasn't ready to meet him! What would she say? And he did seem very rude, unkind even, to his robots. But according to what he told them, they were cousins; though she didn't have any memories of prior meetings or play dates as children.

She heard that he dropped the subject, the grass shifted and some of the robots talking about her. It was nothing bad, so she didn't mind too much. She got up again and shyly walked behind those who were speaking of her, "I look just like who..?" she whispered to one, smiling. "Where are we going? What's Scrap Brain Zone? Is it better than this place perhaps..?"

[Captain_Mario]

Egg Pawns
"Huh? -GIH!" No. 1 jumped in surprise when the girl whispered to them. "Y-You're M-M-M..." The robot seemed to shocked to answer.


"Hm? Something happen?" The Doctor began to turn to face his startled Pawn.

Egg Pawns
Quick as a flash, the robots got in front of the girl and quickly yanked on her arms, forcing her to kneel behind them and concealing her from view. "Oh! Nothing, Doctor! No. 5 was...erm...doing something foolish again! No need to worry, though--I have it handled."


Apparently buying the excuse, the Doctor sighed and shook his head. "I swear, 5, when we return to the base, I'm giving you a CPU scan."

Egg Pawns
No. 5 blinked. "Buh-but--...YES, Doctor..." The robot made a sighing noise in defeat. Meanwhile, No. 1 was whispering to Maria. "What are you doing here?! Aren't you Maria Robotnik?! You DIED fifty years ago, you DO know this?"

[ButlerForLifeNumber2]

Maria pressed her lips close together in a dire attempt to stifle her giggling. The way the Egg pawns reacted was something only a child's sense of humor would find entertaining. But she frown when No. 1 began whispering back, she felt like she was getting scolded at. "I'm on a trip with my friends," she explained. Her voice was muffled by her hands that were covering her mouth from worry. "Died..?" she repeated, confused.

She tried to remember back, waay back, to the ARK raid; it was the last thing she remembered before waking up on "Earth". She remembered being shot by a solider and feeling so cold and numb--and the everything turning dark. And the look on Shadow's face... "I guess I did," she supposed, "But I woke up..! It just felt like I was in a deep asleep.." She blinked and shook off the thought of it. Thinking about that day made her back and insides hurt, where she was wounded. So she decided to just change the subject.

"Um- Am I in trouble? How much more walking do we have to do?" She wandered to No. 5 and patted him on his head while standing behind him. "You're so silly," she commented softly and quickly forgot her conversation with No. 1, "I hope we can all be friends.."

[Captain_Mario]

Egg Pawns
No. 5 chirped happily at the patting he received. "Yeah!"

No. 1 sighed. "well I suppose I should explain..." he pointed to the scientist they were following. "That man, our creator, is--well, was the last of the Robotniks." He turned to Maria. "Miss, tell me: do you remember having a cousin named Ivo...?"

[ButlerForLifeNumber2]

Pulling her hand away and turning her head to No. 1, Maria tried to remember again. She sighed. "I've only heard things about him from my grandfather..But even the small talk about him wasn't very detailed," she answered with distraught in her voice. The only family she truly knew of and was close to was her grandfather, and it disturbed her to know she was so disconnected. She looked up at Dr. Robotnik, then at her feet. "He's so much older now and all grown up; We could've been such good friends, I bet.."

[Captain_Mario]

No. 5 spokee up. "Here's hoping you still can. You see, for 20 years, the G.U.N. had a conspiracy covering the real happenings on the ARK. However, master found what had really happened while working there. Once the commander found out about his discovery, they sent him to that base up ahead, hoping he'd never be found. Once master realized that they were essentially doing to him what they did to you, he set a goal to overtake the G.U.N. and become the leader of the world's military. As of late, he's taken up the moniker 'Dr. Eggman' so they can't identify him. It's sad..." No. 5 sniffled a little. "...anyway, he built us Egg Pawns as ground troops. We have been serving him about three years now..."


No. 1 didn't speak, but merely nodded in agreement.

[ButlerForLifeNumber2]

"That is sad," Maria agreed and frowned. "And not very nice..!" she said pouting her lips and wagging a finger. She walked with her arms folded and thought to herself. "But how'll I help?" she asked the robots, "You two are all powerful and robots and all that...But I'm just a girl..!" Her head turned back and forth between the 2 Egg Pawns, eagerly waiting for a response; And she tripped over a nearby tree's root. She fell forwards and with a scream, "Eeeeeek!"

[dice=6] (if she lands on No. 5 and creates a domino effect) [rand=94394575964516507109526486504414847901963523058920117237889515294]

[Captain_Mario]

"Uh...? WHOA--!" Maria fell on No.5...who, in turn, fell on No.1.


"Agh!" No.1 cried out as he was toppled by a girl and fellow bot.


"...Abuh? What the blue blazes are you two doi--!!!" The doctor fell silent upon seeing the girl. "..." His mouth was agape in shock.


"OI! NOW look what you two have done! We are found out!!"

[ButlerForLifeNumber2]

"But I didn't mean to--!" Maria gasped, but none of that mattered now. She sat up laying on her legs. She brushed the dirt off her skirt and looked up awkwardly, not knowing what to say. "Uh--I'm sorry for knocking down your robots!" she apologized and bowed her head, "I can always buff out any scratches they might have for you...And I'm pretty good with a wrench in case I broke anything else." "And I'm sorry for following you around and peeping..! I know its wrong, but I heard you were a Robotnik too so I wanted to see how were you! ..I suppose.." Now to break the ice-"Enough about me--How are you?" She was very nervous and afraid of his reaction..she thought she should stop talking. She might be starting to get on his nerves! She didn't like to be a bother...

[Captain_Mario]

The Doctor was still silent. "..."


"Doctor...this is...um...well, you've already met." The Egg Pawn said, rubbing the back of his head.


Eggman slowly began to back up, trembling. "Ma-Maria...this is impossible..."


"Doc...just calm down..."