Chapter Text
On this day, May 15th of 2024, the world bore witness to the death of one, Doctor Ivo Gerald Robotnik.
On May 19th of 1964, the world was blessed by the birth of Ivo Robotnik. Although it is still unclear who his parents were or what happened to them, it is known that Ivo was taken in and named by his late grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, before being abandoned at St. Evangeline's Place for Precious Children, (PPC for short). There, Ivo was raised by nuns until the age of ten where he showed remarkable talent and brilliance beyond anyone's comprehension, and so was transferred to a live-in learning program for the young and gifted. At thirteen, Ivo was sought out and entered into pristine High School level courses at Promise High where his grades and early inventions marked the path for his successful life.
By seventeen, Ivo was enrolled into Oak Grove College where he successfully wrote and published two of his first undergrad research papers on the topic of artificial intelligence and his own revolutionary technology. His first two PHDs were earned at Oak Grove College before he moved on out of state to earn his last three PHDs at Little Valley University. By the age of twenty-six, Dr. Ivo Robotnik has published many more research articles, books, and project reports that will forever cement him as one of the world's most innovate and brilliant robotics engineers. The world of technology and robotics will remember him as the founding father of AI research, coding analysis and inspiring cutting-edge machinery.
Thereafter Ivo's fifth PHD, Ivo was recruited and employed to work for Guardian Units of Nations, (G.U.N), and was in charge of the weaponry and robotics branch. Over the span of his near twenty years working at G.U.N, Dr. Robotnik had built over two thousand-four hundred and thirty seven machines for the Government, not including the plethora of coding rework Ivo was responsible for. Dr. Robotnik put his soul into every one of his inventions and his work never failed to impress. It was truly an honor and privilege to be in the same room as Dr. Robotnik, as well as any one of his machines. Dr. Robotnik's most prized and renowned piece of machinery, which the doctor treated more as his children, were his Badniks. Each one was built with a combination of his own carefully created AI and Ivo's own design and state of the art weaponry. Wherever the doctor went, a Badnik was sure to follow.
Dr. Robotnik leaves behind his hive of Badniks, who remember their father dearly and still call out to him. Though it was hard to understand the inner workings of Ivo Robotnik, as well as his machines, their presence was nonetheless wanted and needed. The world has lost a truly wonderful, brilliant, magnificent man and his sacrifice for humanity will forever be remembered in every nightsky yet to come. The severed moon will remain as a reminder of the brokenness we will feel without the doctor here. Sadly, a service can not be held in remembrance of Ivo's life, and yet even so, the whole world was in attendance to his final moments during a live broadcast that took over every readily available screen. The video, which has been taken down multiple times by G.U.N and other Government officials, has been viewed by more than 1.5 million people. An altar sits just at the bed of the fountain, (where I stood when he dedicated his final live stream to me). Flowers, teddy bears, notes, and balloons adorn it.
Ivo had always said that the world was a barren place filled with mouth-breathing pantaloons and that only his machines could ever have some sort of semblance of care for him. Regrettably, Ivo will never get to know how unquestionably loved he really was.
Dr. Ivo Gerald Robotnik's cause of death: incinerated due to the detonation of the A.R.K.
Finally, Stone shut the laptop.
The bright light was beginning to irritate his already dry eyes and the severe lack of sleep was beginning to rear its ugly horns. He had written, read, and edited the obituary he had created for his doctor over ninety times by now, not including the amount of times he had deleted it, opting to start over instead. Or how he had had to shorten it multiple times as the funeral home website he was using had a character limit, (not allowing Stone the opportunity to speak as freely as he'd like). Or factoring in the amount of times he had broken down and was unable to continue for several hours, crying over his screen until he could muster up the will to keep typing.
In total, the agent had been nearing 50+ hours without a wink of sleep.
Stone's cheeks were scarred red with deep tear lines that had begun to itch hours ago, but no matter how much he scratched, the itch never fully went away. He refused to lay on his side, lest he irritate the skin even more with the brush of fabric. Instead, the agent laid on his back staring blankly at the ceiling he couldn't see. The hotel room he had booked three days ago was small and spacious with minimal furniture other than the necessary: bed, nightstand, lamp and TV. The lamp and TV had remained untouched, plunging the room in a constant state of darkness that Stone felt too exhausted to ever remedy. Stone's eyelids grew heavy, even the noise of traffic below his room would be unable to keep the man up. His body forced to unwind itself from its constant depression felt like needles being pulled from his skin, but it aided in his slow descent into slumber.
'DING DING! DING DING! DING DING!'
Stone shot up with a start, his eyes wide as he glared at his phone that laid a few inches from his person. It wasn't often the trained ex-agent would forget about an alarm he'd set, but considering the events over the past few days, he didn't particularly fault himself for it either. "Let's see..." He reached for his device, opting to unarm the alarm and allow himself to sleep, but before he could swipe to ignore it; Stone froze as he saw the text that came with it.
'12:00 AM
Dr. Robotnik's Birthday. Retrieve birthday present from the closet.'
A shaky, almost broken breath slipped past Stone's lips, a heavy sorrow beginning to fester.
The phone in his hand rang continuously with the alarm for a handful of minutes before it stopped and the screen slowly faded back to black. Once again, Stone was left sitting in the dark. The device weighed more than it ever had in his hands. He hesitated to press the power on button, hoping for a moment that he had set his alarm for the wrong date, but deep down, he knew he hadn't. He always set that alarm for the beginning of each year, just so he'd never forget his doctor's birthday. After what felt like decades and lifetimes, Stone's phone came back to life,
'00:27 AM
May 19th, 2024'.
"Oh...."
Stone had thought he had run out of tears hours ago, his body too exhausted and unmaintained to keep producing them, but he had apparently been wrong. They flowed freely and carved out even more of his skin as he doubled down, the phone slipping from his grasp and landing somewhere amongst the sheets. A guttural scream caught in his throat as he clutched his chest, his heart beating and beating at his ribs like an animal that had been shot writhing in pain. He couldn't seem to catch his breath, only weak fits of wheezing and coughing able to cut through.
"D-Doctor. Oh god." The sheets bled darker as his tears and saliva stained them. Stone shoved his face into his hands, trying to desperately claw at his skin in order to stop his loud sobs.
How was Stone meant to go on without Robotnik? How was he supposed to continue on living when everyday of every year, he'd be faced with a constant reminder that his Doctor was gone? Dr. Robotnik had been four days shy of his 60th birthday. How was Stone meant to accept that his doctor never made it to that day? To today.
Stone hugged his legs, he hadn't known when he had crumpled down onto his side, but it didn't matter. He curled tightly over himself, his forehead nearly meeting his knees as his back protested to the aching stretch. "Ha...Hap-"
Another sob wrecked his body, the unsavory drip of snot stuck to his unkept beard as he'd tried to wipe it away only to cry harder at the action. His whole body felt as if it had been set aflame in agony, his nerves frying in the process.
"Beep beep."
Stone had barely enough strength to glance over to the Badnik that had floated over to the edge of the bed.
After the doctor's unfortunate demise, Stone had gone on autopilot. He couldn't really recall how he had managed to recover some of the Badniks, Mininiks, laptops and other miscellaneous devices from the C.R.A.B before G.U.N had, but he had done it in the span of a day. When he came to, they were all in the hotel room they were currently in.
Stone had tried to sniffle, but his nose was too stuffy only making the attempt even more terrible sounding than it was. The Badnik's optic emitted a small hue of red light as it crawled closer to Stone, settling its metallic body down before him. The sheets pinched under the Badnik's weight as it beeped again.
"I-I'm sorry...I'm sorry, baby"
Stone reached out, the cool shell of the Badnik soothing against his hot skin, "I'm so, so sorry." He dragged the Badnik closer until he was practically clinging onto the poor drone for dear life.
"This should've never happened, I-I should've- Oh god..." He whimpered against the metal,
"If only he'd never met Gerald."
Admittedly, the C.R.A.B hadn't been the happiest time in Robotnik's life.
He had been left in a depressive state and had slight mobility issues for the first five months during his recovery time, but he had been alive. Stone shook his head, "No, No, if he had never gotten that," He sniffled, "s-stupid emerald."
Then his doctor never would've fallen a near one-hundred feet down to his painful near death. He never would've broken all his bones and known the pains of being immobilized for months, then have to endure ailments during his recovery. Robotnik never would've ended up in the C.R.A.B then. Stone bit at his lips, ripping at the thin skin and chewing on it, (a habit he had abandoned long ago during his teenage years, but had come back with a vengeance).
"I-If we have never gone to Greenhills."
He spat the word just as a particular patch of skin on his lip let out a bead of blood. Stone dug his fingernails into the Badnik, an underlying fear that it would leave him at any moment creeping into his mind. Robotnik never would've met Sonic or gotten so borderline obsessed with his quills. Robotnik never would've ended up trapped on the mushroom planet, never would've started any of this mess to begin with. "No..I-If...I..." Stone gasped. He felt sick to his stomach, physically nauseous as the memory sprang back into his mind.
Agent Stone held the sleek tablet close to his chest as he approached from behind Robotnik, only making a sound with a purposeful tap of his foot to let his presence be known .
"Agent Stone"
"Doctor"
The genius man had been busy typing away at a particular set of coding that he had been working on for the past two days straight. Stone had begun to worry for his doctor's welfare long before the 30 hour mark had hit, and so had thought this the perfect opportunity to give Robotnik something else to do, (or at least, go outside).
"It's too early for my latte, agent" Robotnik surmised, never taking his eyes off the screen.
"Yes Doctor. It appears that Commander Walters," Robotnik scoffed and rolled his eyes, but said nothing more. Stone took this as his sign to continue, "has a field mission that is of the utmost urgency. As you may know, about an hour ago, an energy surge knocked out power across the entire Pacific Northwest. Commander Walters has recommended you to take charge in identifying and eliminating the source of it." Stone had memorized the mission brief on his way over here. He'd hoped to impress his Doctor, but seeing as Robotnik had never stopped typing or acknowledged it; Stone would have to tally it up as a failure on his part.
"And why would I ever waste my time portraying Sherlock Holmes? Does he not comprehend how invaluable my time is?"
Stone nodded in agreement, 'Alright Agent, draw him in.'
"It seems that his two brain cells can't rub together enough to figure out a simple multi-EMP coordination attack." Stone could see Robotnik's shoulders unwind, his doctor often relished in Stone's attempts to match his vigor, "But he did say if you were to agree, then the mobile lab would be granted its 200+ mile travel request for this and any future travel." Robotnik's typing had slowed, but not fully stopped. Like a fish nibbling at the bait of a hook, but not yet biting. Stone knew how to make his doctor bite.
"It would also give you approximately 10 hours of being completely undisturbed by Commander Walters." He took the bait.
Robotnik spun around, a playful wickedness painting his face and his coding long forgotten, "Well, what are you waiting for Agent? Get the Badniks prepared for travel, ready the Mobile Lab!" He spoke with an air of giddiness to him. Robotnik really hates Commander Walters.
"Yes Doctor!" Stone smiled, relieved that his doctor would be able to relax for the next ten hours or so. At least enough time for him to pass out without a need to worry for deadlines.
"To Greenhills!" Stone added, feeling slightly giddy himself.
"To Greenhills" Robotnik mimicked him, if it had been in a mocking way, Stone hadn't cared to notice.
"Oh god..."
Stone could feel the bile bubble in his stomach, swirling around like wine in a glass before he lurched forward with a gag. The Badnik had made a startled noise, something between a loud beep and sharp 'BZZT' of electricity, but Stone couldn't fully register it. His hand slapped over his mouth as he had nearly fallen face first off the bed, sprinting to get to the bathroom that now felt miles away. His knees shrieked sharply against the wooden floor as he hunched over the toilet.
'Robotnik never would've gone to Greenhills if it weren't for me'
A gag and then another followed in quick session. Stone gripped the edge of the ceramic bowl fiercely, his knuckles turning a sickly white before he let whatever his stomach held spew from his mouth. He could feel the claw of a Badnik tapping rhythmically against his back as if the bot were trying to comfort him.
"I did this!"
Stone shrieked, spit dripping between the thin crevices of his clenched teeth. He'd wager he looked like a rabid dog with foam dripping from its muzzle. "I killed..I..I k-kill..." Stone couldn't say it. Each time he tried, another gag or gasp threatened to unleash more of his stomach contents or a feral tremor and wail would rip through him. The agent couldn't catch his breath, his lungs choked against the onslaught on his body, but there was nothing he felt he could do.
Several hours had passed or at least it had felt like it. Stone leaned against the edge of the bathtub, his head slumped back and his hands still gripping at the toilet bowl, if only just for mild support. He could hear the Badnik in front of him scanning him, making unsettled beeps and clicks. He ran his hand along the span of his beard, it was damp, (with what he could only hope was sweat and not vomit).
"G....G-Get away...f-from me."
Stone had nothing left to give: no more tears, no more vomit, nothing. His own voice brittle and small. The ex-agent couldn't find the strength to pick himself off the bathroom floor, the light never having been flipped on when he rushed in. The Badnik, a machine once used to murder hundreds and terrify thousands, now tucked itself under Stone's arm as gently as its programming would allow. "S-Stop, stop it!...DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?"
The Badnik rose up, taking Stone with it. He had tried to back away from it, but his attempts waned against the drone. It had led him safely out of the bathroom, only struggling to keep itself under his armpit to keep him upright. That was, until another Badnik joined it, pressing into Stone's stomach to keep him balanced. Then a third Badnik came to push him from behind towards the bed, all three playing their respective roles in keeping the agent from toppling over. Stone viciously shook his head, his arms weakly flailing as he tried to push himself away from the bots. He'd felt sick again, but he could only dry heave as no tears (or vomit) would come out anymore. Eventually, the Badniks had led him right back to where he'd been and his body collapsed against the stained sheets of the hotel's bed.
"I KILLED YOUR FATHER. I KILLED IVO!"
The realization hung in the air.
Stone could only weep senselessly into the of his palms of hands as he hoped the Badniks could register the admission and act accordingly. As far as he'd known, Robotnik had never had the need to write vengeance into his machine's coding. Yet, as unreasonably prepared as he had been in his manifesto, (even going so far as to having dedicated a whole page to: 'in case I accidently put my consciousness into a microwave' section), Stone hoped he had done something similar for the Badniks. A 'just in case, but very unlikely' scenario that would require them to enact revenge on behalf of Robotnik.
However, the shot never came. Not even the sharp jab of a taser, too overpowered to be used on a person, ever stabbed him. Instead, Stone felt the familiar press of metal against his cheek, like the head of a dog trying to lift his own. It had only made the man weep even harder, (if that were even possible). The Badniks huddled each around his wretched form, never too close, but never too far either, always within a short arm's length. In another world, Stone would've considered the setup cozy, almost domestic, but how could he now? The man who had created such beautiful, extraordinary machines was the same wonderful man Stone had lead to his torturous, tedious death. Robotnik would've never died if Stone hadn't been there. Ivo would still be alive, if it weren't for Stone.
"Beep, Beep?"
"This is all my fault..."
Stone croaked, his throat had been rung dry from hours, if not days of crying and throwing up had done him no favors. The faint firefly glow of red emitting from the Badniks was enough to glint against the sleek material of the laptop Stone had been using for days now. He stared at it for a moment, the haze that had settled in his fatigued mind struggling to comprehend the object in front of him. He ran his fingers along over the top of it, it was equally, if not colder than the shell of the Badniks. Stone pushed it open, squinting and blinking in a flurry as the bright screen once again attacked his eyes. It had taken a few seconds to adjust to the brightness, the unpublished obituary staring back at him nocently.
With a few quick clicks and newly typed words, the laptop was then once again shut. Stone settled back into his shriveled state, turning his back on the device, holding a Badnik close to his chest for feigned comfort. The creeping nettles of overexhaustion began to sink in his limbs and mind until he'd been left painfully numb.
Inevitably, sleep followed soon afterwards.
Ivo will never get to know how unquestionably loved he really was.
Dr. Ivo Gerald Robotnik's cause of death: Homicide. Murdered by one, Aban Lee Stone.