Tangent
Not too sore, are you?
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SUBJECT: RALLY the CHIPMUNK
(A Sonic the Hedgehog AU/SI)
"OPERATION: REMASTER is moving into its final testing stages. With this, I will finally be able to break what I affectionately call The Sonic Cycle.
To wit: Dr. Eggman stages a bold plan to reshape the world...
...Sonic arrives, sometimes with his menagerie of friends, to ruin everything...
...until the day is 'saved.' The general populous rebuilds and returns to their regular lives.
No evolution.
No vision.
No future.
Thankfully, I'm here.
Step one of OPERATION: REMASTER will be to remove Dr. Eggman from play. He is a revolutionary, a visionary, and grooms a fine mustach. But he gets tunnel-vision when it comes to Sonic.
I have studied under the Master, seen his few short-comings, and perfected his technique.
He'll thank me in the end, I'm sure of it.
Step Two: Replace the so-called 'heroes' who stand in the way of progress.
The general populous relies on them far too much, but it's far simpler to replace a few celebrities than to change society.
By controlling the 'Hero-versus-villain' dynamic, I will be able to shape the world and its people with the very theatrics they've become so accustomed to.
It's been an arduous journey to assemble all the necessary components to make this plan work. But now, at long last...
They're ready!
Sonic is undeniably the hero of the world, but building a better Metal Sonic won't suffice. Sonic is more than just raw power. He is about style--attitude.
I need that indomitable spirit, that roguish charm. However, since it is a liability as much as it's a boon...
...Surge will replace him, and I will keep the bravado on a leash.
As previously noted, there are design flaws inherent in Sonic.
Surge needs a support unit to make up for her short-comings. An Analytical balance to the brashness; Someone to look before she leaps.
Thus Kitsunami was modeled after Sonic's most beneficial ally: Tails."
-Excerpt from issue one of Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome, by Ian Flynn
"I had not originally intended to include a third member for my initial hero team, but the discovery of subject three contained within a stasis pod deep in one of Dr. Eggman's many abandoned lairs was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Unfortunately, much of the documentation concerning subject three has long since been corrupted and is all but indecipherable at this point, but I have managed to recover enough data that I have been able to determine her original purpose from the context of what remains.
This chipmunk, Rally I believe if I've managed to piece together her name correctly, was originally a prototype testbed for Dr. Eggman's attempts to reproduce Shadow the Hedgehog in a modified mobian subject. Not all that dissimilar to what I have accomplished with Surge and Kitsunami, really.
In fact, it wasn't too difficult to make suitable adjustments to Rally so that she could fit into the overall team dynamic. Though I dare not change too much, lest I ruin this unfinished masterpiece in my drive to improve upon it…"
O o O o O
"First, if we're to remove Sonic from play, we need to weaken his support base," Dr. Starline instructed us as he laid out his plan on the display table.
"So we gotta kill his mooks. Got it!"
"No, Surge! No assassination!" Dr. Starline countermanded Surge's aggressive enthusiasm for violence. "A vengeful hero is driven, dedicated, and morally righteous, but a hero suffering from a tragic loss from a horrible accident? That one's broken and morose."
"This approach has been attempted against Sonic before with a decreasing success ratio. Current projections suggest that any further attempts at this time will yield a net negative result."
"Rally…"
"Hah! Hear that, Doc? We may as well kill his mooks after all!"
"I will make sure that our medical facilities are set up for your recovery."
"Wait, what?"
"Sonic will not kill you for killing his friends," I inform Surge. "At least not on purpose. But you'd be surprised what you can live through."
"And I suppose that you have a better plan already?" Dr. Starline asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
"Not as such, no. Just some advice. A dead enemy is a dead enemy. Sonic and his remaining allies would be saddened for a while but would pull together and move on relatively quickly. However, a wounded enemy is a drain on time and resources, depriving Sonic of allies as some pull away in order to care for their wounded comrades. Arrange for accidents that are debilitating rather than fatal, and Sonic will soon run short on allies he can call on."
"I see," Dr. Starline nodded.
And then he used his damned hypno thingy in his glove to knock out Surge, myself, and Kitsunami (in that order), then arranged to replay the scenario as if the advice I had given him were his own idea.
Not that I remembered this being so immediately, but I did remember eventually.
And this time I had evidence in the form of a recording device that I had setup beforehand.
Surge and Kitsunami were more vulnerable to the hypno gear in Dr. Starline's glove, but were growing more resistant over time. I was much less vulnerable than they were, but still susceptible to its effects. I just chose to avoid showing my own gradually increasing resistance.
Which would be nice if I had any goals of my own other than a vague loyalty to Surge and Kitsunami, which I knew for a fact was blatantly artificial.
I was supposed to be loyal to Dr. Starline as well, but he managed to break that particular tie all on his own the first time he used that damned hypnoglove on me.
I would have to be careful for now, while both Surge and Kit both remained more vulnerable to Dr. Starline's hypno thingy than I was.
Besides, as much as I hated that damned hypno gear of his, each time I recovered I regained more of my lost memories. More of whoever I had been prior to when Dr. Starline had found me inside that specimen stasis pod.
I felt that I knew Sonic from somewhere, and that he should know me, but another part of me seriously doubted that he would.
Something had changed.
Changed me.
Changed Sonic.
Changed all of Mobius.
And all I knew was that I was one of the Forgotten Ones...
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