Chapter Text
Belle stared at the towering robot Sonic in front of her for what felt like an eternity. Mecha stared back for what felt like double that time. Sigma turned to them only a few seconds after they started their staring contest.
“AH, MECHA SONIC, MOST EXCELLENT TIMING! I BELIEVE BENEDICT AND FLORENTINE HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU.”
Mecha turned to the two Egg Robos.
“Hi, Mecha!” Florentine said aloud.
“We don’t need Tails’ tablet to speak anymore!” Benedict said proudly, “We can do it all by ourselves now!”
Mecha nodded. He knew what to expect, but was still beyond impressed with how clearly their new voices came through.
“I BELIEVE INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER,” Sigma said, walking over and kneeling beside Belle, “BELLE, THIS IS MECHA SONIC. MECHA SONIC, MEET MISS BELLE THE TINKERER.”
Mecha Sonic and Belle went back into their staring contest. If Belle could, she’d be sweating bullets under the watch of Mecha’s yellow visor.
“ARE YOU PERHAPS HERE TO ALSO RECEIVE A VOICE MODULATOR OF YOUR OWN?” Sigma asked.
Mecha looked at Sigma again and nodded slightly.
“EXCELLENT!” Sigma said with glee, “WE SHALL BEGIN WITH THE PROCEDURE POSTHASTE!”
There was a bang on Belle’s workstation. Rancheros pointed at himself with his huge arm defiantly.
“OH, OF COURSE, AFTER WE COMPLETE RANCHEROS’ VOICE BOX,” Sigma corrected, “I’M AFRAID HE HAS PRIORITY, GIVEN HE WAS HERE FIRST.”
Mecha waved his hand dismissively and glanced down at Belle again. She shivered a little before Sigma put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“I CAN ASSURE YOU, MISS BELLE, MECHA SONIC IS ALSO AN EXPERT IN MACHINERY. HE CAN ASSIST US IN YOUR WORK WHILST YOU LOCATE THE NECESSARY PARTS FOR HIM AND RANCHEROS.”
Belle looked into Sigma’s caring eyes and nodded slightly. Sigma stood up and proudly beckoned Mecha Sonic to follow him.
“I SHALL SHOW YOU AROUND MISS BELLE’S WORKSTATION. IT IS FAR MORE ACCOMMODATING THAT OUR PAST WORK ENVIRONMENT, LET ME TELL YOU.”
Mecha Sonic walked past Belle, glancing at the little puppet one more time. Belle gulped, and went to rummage through the Shop’s waste heaps.
**********
The Diamond Cutters carefully scanned the plaza for any sign of Mecha Knuckles. While they saw no echidna from the top level, they did see a plethora of little Scrapniks running around the area. Bean and Bark looked at them in shock.
“THOSE are what we’re letting stay here?!” Bean gawked.
“Yep!” Tangle smiled, “They’re really chill.”
“They’re terrifying!”
Tangle looked over to Bean with a grimace, then a smirk.
“So are you, but you don’t hear me whining about it.”
Bark did his best to stifle a laugh while Bean scoffed.
“I hold my inner demon inside me very well, I’ll have you know! I don’t wear it on my…frankenstein sleeves.”
Tangle frowned again, “Look man, they don’t deserve that kind of talk. They were dealt a bad hand, but they folded it and redrew a better one. Mismatched parts or not, I promise you they’re-”
Tangle’s lecture was cut short when she noticed two guards cornering a small batch of Scrapniks. Among them was the one that had come up to Tangle earlier that day. Without another word, Tangle jumped down from the top floor and dashed over to them. Before the guards could fire their Wispons, Tangle skidded in front of them, putting herself between them and the Scrapniks.
“Wh-Tangle! Move out of the way!” ordered one, “We’re handling this!”
“I will not let you hurt them!” Tangle barked.
“What? Those are Eggman’s robots! Why are you protecting them?!”
“They are not Eggman’s! Not anymore! And they are now residents of the Restoration! I wouldn’t let you attack anyone else who stays here, so why should I let you attack them?”
The guards were dumbfounded. They stared at the Lemur and the robots cowering behind her.
“Since when did we allow Badniks to stay in the Restoration?”
“We don’t,” came a stern voice from behind them, “But we do allow Scrapniks.”
The guards turned to see Lanolin standing there, giving them a hard glare. She stepped forward with her hands behind her back.
“As of an hour ago, these robots have been assigned rooms and are officially residents of Restoration HQ. Drawing your weapons on residents without proper reasoning is reason to write up both of you.”
The guards’ eyes widened as they looked at each other.
“We…we were never informed of this,” one said.
“Then I suggest you go inform the rest of your crew before I write up all of you,” Lanolin pointed in the direction of the security office.
The guards nodded and dashed away from the sheep. Tangle smiled at her teammate.
“Thanks, boss,” she said, “That could’ve gotten ugly.”
Lanolin sighed, “Just what happens when Sonic makes a harebrained move and doesn’t give me or Jewel any time to warn everyone.”
Tangle snickered, “I mean…would you have allowed it if he didn’t take you to that island on a whim?”
Lanolin smirked and shook her head, “No chance.”
Just then, Tangle felt something wrap around her leg. She looked down and saw the skirted Scrapnik hugging her leg tightly. She looked up at Tangle with wide, thankful eyes. The lemur could feel her heart melting.
As Whisper, Bean, and Bark caught up to her and Lanolin, they saw Tangle kneeling down and patting the little robot on the head.
“It’s alright,” she said, “I told you. This is your home now, and you’re safe here. I’ll make sure of that.”
The other little robots jumped with joy and surrounded Tangle giddily. She laughed as all of them tried to get affection from her at the same time. Bean was a little revolted at the sight, while Whisper grimaced behind her mask. Bark, meanwhile, watched the interaction in awe. He slowly moved past Lanolin and up to the Scrapniks.
The little robots jumped, and all hid behind Tangle when they saw the towering polar bear. The lemur snickered as she saw his disappointed, but unsurprised expression.
“Bark’s nice, too,” Tangle said, moving herself to show him better.
The Scrapniks still cowered behind the lemur, some holding her tail in front of their faces. Bark kneeled down in front of them and smiled warmly. Finally, one Scrapnik who was peeking out from behind Tangle’s tail carefully walked up to him. It was even smaller than the one clinging to Tangle’s leg, being a little ball with huge teeth, teeny hands and feet, and a single ear.
The little robot had its hands placed flat on its front. It kinda looked like it was trying to tap the tips of its fingers together, but with no arms the best it could do was tap its round body. Bark huffed amusingly, and reached out his hand to pet the little guy.
The Scrapnik freaked out when it saw the polar bear’s giant mitten hovering over it and flinched. Bark pulled back his hand at once, then lowered it in front of the Scrapnik in a fist. The robot glanced between the fist and the polar bear’s eyes. Bark nodded reassuringly.
The Scrapnik made a fist with one of its tiny hands and fistbumped Bark lightly. Bark didn’t feel a thing, but seeing the little robot bounce up and down so happily made him smile.
From behind him, Lanolin, Bean, and Whisper watched the polar bear get bombarded by the other Scrapniks. Lanolin chuckled amusingly while Bean looked at Whisper with pure terror on his face. The wolf just stared at the interaction.
**********
Mecha sat up on the workbench. Belle looked up at him nervously, still holding the tools she used to install his voice box. Next to her, Sigma was practically bouncing up and down in giddy excitement.
“GO ON THEN, MECHA,” he encouraged, “TRY IT!”
Mecha Sonic placed a hand on his chest. He’s spoken telepathically with his fleshy counterpart, surely this would be easy.
“…A-A-Alr-r-right,” Mecha said in the same deep voice that emitted from the Miles Electric.
Sigma clapped his hands in pure joy. Mecha looked down at Belle, who gave him a very shaky smile. Mecha gave her a little thumbs up.
“It sounds-s-s-s good,” he then pounded his chest, “Maybe minus some teething tr-troubles.”
“OH THIS IS MOST EXCELLENT! YOU ARE TRULY A MIRACLE WORKER, MISS BELLE!” Sigma said proudly, “WE MUST BRING THE REST OF THE SCRAPNIKS HERE! I’M SURE THEY WILL ALL BE ELATED TO SPEAK THEIR OWN MINDS!”
“Calm yourself, Sigma,” Mecha chastised, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and dump too much work on her.”
“OH MY, YOU ARE CORRECT MECHA,” Sigma then turned to Belle, “YOUR FORGIVENESS IS REQUESTED, MISS BELLE.”
“It’s fine,” Belle rubbed the back of her head, “But…I would appreciate a lighter load until we get done with all these cars.”
“OF COURSE.”
“Speaking of which,” Benedict said from the workstation, “We’ve got another engine done!”
Benedict and Rancheros held the car engine between them.
“FANTASTIC WORK, THE BOTH OF YOU!” Sigma said proudly, “MISS BELLE, WHAT SORT OF MODEL DOES THIS ENGINE BELONG TOO?”
Belle took a closer look at the engine, then pointed to a car sitting on top of a nearby car lift.
“One of those,” she said, “I think there’s one sitting in the far back corner. It should be blue with some burn marks on it.”
“You mind giving us a hand with this one, Sig’s?” Rancheros asked, “ ‘S a bit awkward to get installed when we aren’t as tall as you.”
“OF COURSE,” Sigma nodded, “IF THAT IS ALRIGHT WITH YOU TWO.”
He gestured to Mecha Sonic and Belle. Mecha nodded, then looked over to Belle. She shivered a little, but put on a brave smile and gave Sigma a thumbs up. With that, the E-Series and the Egg Robos walked away. There was a brief moment of silence as Belle watched them go.
“So?” came Mecha Sonic’s voice, “You’re an Eggman robot?”
Belle’s eyes widened as she turned to Mecha, still sitting on her workbench.
“How…how did you know?” she asked shakily.
Mecha didn’t reply for a moment.
“Only other Eggman robots can hear each other's communication signals.”
Belle’s jaw dropped. They stood there in silence for a moment. Mecha looked Belle up and down, taking in every last one of the strange robot features.
“I only ask because I know there is n-n-no other man on this plan-n-net who can make something like you,” he said aloud, “But you don’t look anything like something he’d m-make.”
Belle’s expression softened a little as she raised a nervous brow at Mecha.
“Dr. Eggman, for all his endl-l-less faults, is a brilliant man. But even that brilliance comes with a heap of arrogance. I lived on a giant junkyard of his discarded creations, and I know that over the years his design philosophy has not changed a bit.”
Mecha gestured his hand in the direction Sigma and the Egg Robos went.
“He either makes something in his own image, like his Egg Robos…”
He gestured to himself, “Or he makes them in the image of what he wants to prove his superiority to. Dr. Eggman well and truly h-h-has never had an original design since his own ridiculous ou-outfit.”
Mecha put his hands down and leaned closer to Belle.
“But you…he doesn’t make something like you. Something with its own identity, something with its own image, something with so much…life to it.”
Belle’s jaw dropped again as she put a hand to her chest.
“Y-Y-Yet,” Mecha said, leaning back, “He did. So I ask…why? How? Because something like you would have ne-e-e-ever washed up on Scrapnik island.”
Belle’s face fell after a second. Her hands flopped to her sides as she sighed. She walked up to her workstation and leaned over the side of the table, into the corner. Out of a Motobug’s shell she pulled out a letter and a photo. She looked at the two in her hand for a long time.
“To be honest…I don’t like to think that he did make me…” she said, finally turning around to Mecha, “I know it’s the truth…but it…hurts to admit that…”
Belle held out the two pieces of paper to Mecha Sonic. He gingerly grasped them and held them up to his visor. In his hand was a picture of Dr. Eggman in a pair of green overalls and a pink shirt. He looked ridiculous to Mecha, but the outfit matched Belle’s to a T. In his claw was a letter. He placed the photo down so he could read it properly.
Belle only knew he was done when Mecha’s arms slowly lowered down. He turned and looked at the wooden robot in front of him. She was looking away, clutching her sides.
Belle suddenly felt two cold, metal arms wrap around her. Mecha kneeled down and held her tightly, his visor a fuzzy mess. Mecha could only assume Sonic was gushing tears for the second time that day.
“I’m so sorry,” he told her.
Belle stood there for a moment in shock. Once her emotions finally caught up to her, she grasped Mecha’s cloak tightly and did her best to keep her own tears from falling out.
**********
Mecha Knuckles kept to his wandering once he grew tired of the cold, hard floor. It was hard to find more back alley-esque hallways. Everywhere in this damn place was well lit and well kept. It all felt so alien.
He at least felt lucky having not run into anyone. He could pretend to patrol these areas like the Death Egg if he didn’t see anyone who wasn’t a Scrapnik.
Of course, when has anyone stuck on Scrapnik island ever been lucky?
Mecha Knuckles wasn’t paying attention, and neither was the racoon walking down the hall the other way. The two butted shoulders as they passed, though the hard impact seemed to surprise the other guy. He hissed and rubbed his shoulder before turning around and glaring at Mecha Knuckles.
“Hey, jackass! Watch where you’re going!”
Before the racoon could even register the gaping holes in the back of Mecha’s head and body, the metal echidna turned around and screeched at him. The racoon fell flat on his ass screaming as Mecha Knuckles raised his claw at him, still screeching metallic bloody murder. Eventually he learned how to use his legs again and bolted.
Mecha lowered his arm and marched in the other direction. The hallways soon morphed around him, but not in any way he would have liked. Doors lined either side of him, each having numbers and letters on them marking something he didn’t want to bother understanding. He just kept marching.
That was until he nearly marched straight into one of the other Scrapniks. It greeted Mecha Knuckles giddily. He replied with a light wave a moment later. After a second, the little Scrapnik skipped away and entered one of the rooms. Mecha Knuckles stood there for a moment, eyeing the door.
**********
After their tender hug, Mecha Sonic and Belle sat side by side on the floor near her workbench. Belle was rubbing the photo of Mr. Tinker in her hands, staring at his happy face. Mecha simply watched her, making sure she wouldn’t start balling her eyes out again.
“What…what is your relationship with Eggman?” Belle finally asked, looking up at Mecha.
Mecha thought for a moment.
“I was once his greatest creation…” Mecha began, “But he abandoned me after his plans to take the Master Emerald failed.”
Mecha looked down at his hands, “When I washed up on Scrapnik island, Sigma did his best to ensure my built in worship for him was removed. He wanted my thoughts to be solely my own…but it was always still there. In the back of my mind, those old subroutines tried to convince me he’d come back for me. That I wasn’t just some toy he threw away when he was done playing with me.”
Mecha chuckled, “As if I wasn’t stuck on an island full of the doctor's old projects he got bored of…”
Belle reached out and put a hand on Mecha’s shoulder. He looked down, then held his head up high.
“But all of that…is in the past,” he said firmly, “Now I don’t have much of an opinion on the doctor. He needs to be stopped…but I’m not going to thwart him for the sake of proving my own worth. I don’t need to.”
Mecha looked over to Belle, “My worth will be proven through the protection of those that matter to me.”
Belle smiled lightly. She turned back to the photo of Mr. Tinker. A photo Sonic had found for her in Windmill Village.
“Sonic taught you that, I’m guessing?”
Mecha nodded.
“I figured,” she chuckled, “He taught me a lot too…I-It still hurts to know the man who made me is gone, and in his place is his rotten, true form…”
She stood up and gave Mecha a wide smile, “But no matter what happens, no one can take away the good memories I had with him. And no one can take away the good times I’ve had with my new friends.”
Mecha stared at Belle for a moment. He snickered as he stood up.
“It’s funny,” he said, “How our creator's biggest rival is our greatest therapist.”
Belle chuckled, but then grew terrified as Mecha nearly fell over trying to stand up on his sawblade foot. Belle held her hands out in case she had to catch him, but he remained upright.
“I’m fine,” he assured, “It’s just…sometimes difficult to stand on such a narrow leg.”
Belle eyed the metal hedgehog’s legs carefully. Her engineering eyes couldn’t help but wander and take in the rest of Mecha’s shoddy build and the thick layer of rust covering everything.
“M-Maybe I can do more for you guys than just give you voices,” Belle proposed, “I’m sure I could recreate your parts and give you a fresh coat of paint!”
Mecha stared at her for a second.
“No,” he said, “But thank you for the offer.”
Belle was surprised, “…uh…W-Why not?”
“If I were to be overhauled to look closer to my original design…” he looked at his hands and clamped them down, “I would just go back to looking like Eggman’s creation. His pawn. A copy of Sonic, and nothing more.”
He turned to Belle, “This body…is not perfect. But it is mine and solely mine. It is a reflection of who I truly am, and what I have been through to get to this point.”
Belle eyed Mecha’s body again. That certainly made a lot of sense, but she couldn’t help but focus on the heavy layer of rust covering every one of his joints. Mecha spotted this, and had an idea.
“Plus…” he began.
Mecha Sonic planted both of his feet firmly on the ground. The wheel under his one foot, and the saw for the other both spun at a rapid pace before Mecha shot off backwards. Belle watched him expertly skate around the Machine Shop at speeds that just might’ve matched Sonic. He skidded to a stop on behind her and looked down at her with a hand on his hip.
“I can assure you, my performance is not hindered in the slightest.”
Belle laughed and nodded sweetly. It was then that the Diamond Cutters entered the Machine Shop. Their eyes all scanned the area in different directions, but all eventually landed on Mecha Sonic and Belle. The little puppet waved to them with a smile.
“Hey, guys,” she greeted, “What brings you here?”
Bean and Bark were once again startled by the appearance of Mecha Sonic, and they and Whisper didn’t reply or move an inch. Tangle and Lanolin walked over to them.
“I see you’ve made friends with one of the Scrapniks,” Tangle smirked.
“I’ve met a couple, actually,” Belle said sheepishly, “Sigma and those Egg Robos are here, helping me work on all these car engines.”
From behind her mask, Whisper’s eye twitched.
“That’s awesome!” Tangle grinned.
“As for why we’re here,” Lanolin put in, “We’re looking for a missing member of the Scrapniks.”
Mecha Sonic facepalmed, “He’s still missing?”
Everyone but Belle turned to the big robot in shock. Mecha looked between their gobsmacked faces.
“What?”
“I…thought you could only talk through Tails’ little tablet,” Tangle said.
Mecha simply jerked his thumb at Belle. She giggled and looked away, putting her hands behind her back. Tangle and Lanolin just gave each other a “should’ve known” look.
“Well…anyway, yes. Mecha Knuckles is still missing,” Lanolin confirmed, “Have either of you seen him?”
Belle and Mecha Sonic shook their heads. Lanolin sighed.
“I’ll help you look,” Mecha Sonic offered, “I don’t want that knucklehead to get himself into trouble wandering around like this.”
Lanolin nodded, “If you could help search around the Machine Shop for us, that’d be great.”
Mecha nodded, then sped off to the furthest corner of the shop. Lanolin split up the remaining Diamond Cutters from there. Bean and Bark went to look one way, her and Tangle another. As Belle turned to return to her work station, Whisper put a hand on her shoulder.
“Can we talk?”
Belle blinked, but nodded, “What’s up?”
Whisper scanned the area, then leaned closer to Belle.
“How many engines have those…Scrapniks had their hands on?”
Belle blinked again, giving Whisper a questioning look. She thought for a second.
“Well…Sigma’s pretty quick with getting them up and running. While I was working on the Egg Robo’s voice boxes they got through…about six or seven of them?”
Whisper let go of Belle’s shoulder, “And you let them install those into the cars around here?”
Belle’s brow furrowed a little, still looking at her oddly.
“Yeaaaah? Why?”
Whisper didn’t reply for a second. She stared at Belle from behind her mask, knowing she had to choose her words carefully. While she didn’t trust these other robots, she trusted Belle with her life and cared about her deeply. She wasn’t about to try and accuse those robots of planting bombs in those engines in front of a robot.
“How…did they do?”
Belle’s confused look only worsened.
“How well did they repair the engines? Did you check?”
“Oh! Uh…they did really well. Spectacular, even! Like they never got blown up or crushed or anything! Sigma’s a real prodigy of engineering.”
Belle’s happy smile and pure confidence in her voice eased Whisper’s tense shoulders.
**********
“Are you sure you’re okay, Sonic?” Amy asked for the umpteenth time.
“I’m fine, Ames,” Sonic reassured, “I’m telling you, they weren’t my tears.”
“And you expect that to make me feel better?! That just means Mecha was crying for some reason!”
Sonic and Tails didn’t have a rebuttal to that, so they all kept walking towards the Machine Shop. Though before they got very close, something huge rushed past all of them. None of them saw what it was, but it nearly blew them off their feet. Then, before anyone could question anything, a streak of yellow zipped by them, following whatever was rushing towards the Machine Shop.
Meanwhile, Sigma and the Egg Robos were returning to Belle’s workstation. They waved and greeted everyone they passed, but no one said hi back. By the time they were nearly there, all four robots felt quite dejected.
The silence from their melancholy proved to be a blessing in disguise, as Sigma heard a distinct and alarming *creak* echo from nearby. The large robot looked around for the source. His eyes caught one of the legs of a car lift. To the naked eye, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but to Sigma…
He turned and spotted Belle talking to a cloaked wolf.
“MISS BELLE?” Sigma called.
Belle and the wolf turned to him.
“YOUR FORGIVENESS IS REQUESTED FOR INTERRUPTING YOUR CONVERSATION, BUT I BELIEVE THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS-”
Just then, everyone covered their ears as the sound of screeching metal echoed through the hallway leading into the Machine Shop. All eyes turned to see Omega skidding to a stop. Whisper placed a hand in front of Belle in case he tried anything while she looked on worriedly. Omega’s eyes immediately locked onto Sigma on the other side of the room.
“INFERIOR E-SERIES ROBOT SPOTTED!” Omega blared, changing one arm to a minigun, “MUST DESTROY ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS!”
“EGAD!!” Sigma shouted as he and the Egg Robos ran away.
As Omega tried to track him, Shadow lunged into the robot’s side and knocked him over. He once again held Omega’s minigun firm, not letting him spin it.
“SHADOW, RELEASE ME!!” Omega demanded.
“NO!” Shadow shouted, “We went over this! You are not shooting those robots, especially not in here!”
As Omega tried to wrestle Shadow off of him, Whisper carefully moved herself and Belle away from the fight. Unknowingly, both girls stepped right under the car lift. It creaked loudly, but not loud enough for either to hear it over Shadow and Omega’s shouting match.
All this started going down just as Mecha Knuckles had found a nice, dark, quiet place to mope. The metal echidna couldn’t help but get curious as to what all of the commotion was and grumpily marched out of the storage hallways behind the Machine Shop.
He peaked out into the shop. The hysteria was palpable. He could see Sigma and the Egg Robos frantically telling Mecha Sonic something in the far off corner of the shop. Some red and black hedgehog was wrestling with a robot that looked a lot like Sigma, albeit much cleaner. From behind, he noticed Sonic, Tails, and that pink Sonic walk in and gawk at the scuffle.
His eyes eventually locked onto a wooden robot standing under a car lift. He stared at her for a moment, trying to pinpoint whether or not she even was a robot.
As he did, the car lift made another creak and it lowered slightly with a sudden jolt. No one else noticed, given the screeching robot trying to open fire in the workshop. Mecha Knuckles stared at the car lift as it groaned loudly. He could see the supports holding the car up shudder and nearly give way. He looked back down at the wooden robot standing under it.
As Sonic and Amy helped Shadow drag Omega out of the Machine Shop, Belle finally took in her surroundings. She looked up in horror as she and Whisper realized what they were standing under. Before either could react, the car lift gave out and the car it was holding plummeted towards them.
There was a splintering *CLANG* and everyone's eyes turned towards the source. Tails, Tangle, Lanolin, Bean, and Bark stared in pure terror as they saw Whisper and Belle seemingly pinned under the car. Belle pulled her head up and looked around. Whisper laid next to her, seemingly unharmed and also looking around. Both girls turned to their left and saw someone holding up the car, keeping it from crushing them both.
Mecha Knuckles slowly lifted the rusty car upwards, carefully ensuring he didn’t lose his footing. Eventually, he stood fully upright, but his arms extended further, lifting the car up enough for Whisper and Belle to stand up and move out of the way. Once they were clear, Mecha Knuckles moved too, and dropped the car on the floor unceremoniously.
Almost immediately, Tangle bolted to Whisper and checked her all over. The wolf assured her she was fine, but before either of them could do the same for Belle, Mecha Sonic and Sigma were already looking all over her.
“ARE YOU ALRIGHT, MISS BELLE?!” Sigma said worriedly, “DO YOU REQUIRE ANY IMMEDIATE MAINTENANCE OR REPAIRS?!”
“I-I’m fine,” Belle assured shakily, “That was…j-just a close call.”
“I’LL SAY,” Sigma said, turning to Mecha Knuckles, “EXCELLENT TIMING, OLD CHAP. YOU SAVED THESE TWO FROM A NASTY-”
But Mecha Knuckles wasn’t there. Everyone frantically looked around for him, but due to all the hysteria in the shop it was damn near impossible to find him. Belle finally spotted him waltzing back into the storage hallway.
Mecha Knuckles only turned back when he heard footsteps clatter up from behind him. In the dark hallway, he could barely see the glow of her blue irises. Likewise, Belle could see the glow of the red dot peaking through his head. She gulped as she nervously etched closer to him.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
Mecha Knuckles didn’t reply. Belle could feel her courage depleting, but she replenished it with a deep breath.
“Thank you for…saving me,” she added.
Belle smiled sweetly at Mecha Knuckles. The metal echidna stared at her for a moment, still not replying. Eventually, he turned his body fully towards her and nervously looked down.
From behind, the others caught up just as they heard a voice sound out from the Miles Electric.
“I felt like I had to,” Mecha Knuckles said, in Belle’s head and through the tablet.
Mecha Sonic stopped dead before he rounded the corner, and held out his arm to stop the others too. Just as they were about to blurt questions, he put a rusty finger up to…well where his lips would’ve been if he had any, and pointed to the tablet in Tails’ hands. Everyone stayed quiet as Belle gathered up more courage.
“W…Why?” Belle asked.
“…You look kinda like one of us…” Mecha Knuckles replied, “I feel like I have to protect one of my own.”
He crossed his arms and turned away, “Gives me something to protect, at least.”
Belle raised a brow, as did Sigma from behind their cover.
“What…do you mean by that?” Belle asked.
Mecha Knuckles looked back at her.
“…I was made to protect,” Mecha Knuckles explained, “It was my only purpose…”
He walked back a little and leaned against the wall next to him.
“But…I was stripped of that purpose a while ago…and I’ve had nothing to replace it with.”
Sigma covered his (lack of) mouth in pure terror.
“…I have no reason to exist anymore, nothing important to do…and I’m not even stuck on that prison of an island I could at least consider home.”
Mecha Knuckles hung his head low. Belle sadly stared at him for a moment before she put on a small smile and put a hand on his shoulder.
“I know how you feel,” she said, “When…everything you knew about your life is…taken away from you.”
Mecha Knuckles looked up to face her.
“But…even with how alien the Restoration can feel at first…I promise you it’s the best place for you to have a fresh start.”
“I don’t want a fresh start!” Mecha Knuckles uncrossed his arms, “I want a purpose! I’m tired of drifting around like a waste of metal, trying to reclaim my old directives for the sake of being able to do something meaningful!”
Belle frowned and took a step back. Before she could rebuttal, both turned when they heard metallic footsteps come around the corner. They stared at Mecha Sonic for a second as he stared back.
“You give yourself purpose,” Mecha Sonic said, “Not anyone else. And certainly not old programming.”
Mecha Knuckles scoffed and turned away, “You say that as if it’s easy.”
“It’s not,” Mecha Sonic said, stepping closer, “But it’s much easier if you are not doing it alone.”
The rest of the group walked out from around the corner. Belle and Mecha Knuckles stared at them for a moment before Sigma rushed over to Mecha Knuckles and wrapped him in a tight hug.
“MECHA KNUCKLES, YOUR FORGIVENESS IS DEARLY REQUESTED!” Sigma cried, “I WAS NOT AWARE REMOVING YOUR OLD DIRECTIVES WOULD LEAVE YOU FEELING THIS WAY!”
As they watched the two robots hug, Whisper pulled off her mask. Her and Belle smiled slightly as they watched the metal echidna try his best to wrestle out of the hug. Sigma finally released him when Belle walked over.
“Mecha Sonic’s right,” she said, “It’s very difficult to try and find a new purpose by yourself. But I promise you, this is the best place to find people who will help you do that. I will help you do that, if no one else.”
Whisper stepped forward, “We all will.”
All eyes were on her now. Her teammates were in shock, but Belle looked at her with wide, hopeful eyes. Whisper looked down at her hands sheepishly.
“I…don’t think I’ve been fairly treating you Scrapniks,” she admitted, “I couldn’t disconnect you from the average Badnik…but…”
She looked up at Belle and smiled, “I should’ve known better, given the Restoration already has the nicest robot around.”
Tangle and Lanolin smiled at her with pure pride. The lemur turned to the robots with a huge grin.
“You’re not without purpose here!” she said with feeling, “We’ll make sure you know it too!”
Mecha Sonic looked down at Mecha Knuckles.
“I vowed to take us off that island so we could help fight Dr. Eggman’s tyranny,” he lowered his claw to Mecha Knuckles, “I know he is our creator, but if you agree to help, this can be your new purpose alongside protecting the people of this facility. Just like you do for our people.”
Mecha Knuckles stared at the outstretched claw for a moment. After that moment, he clasped it firmly and shook it.
“I can work with that.”
**********
The next day, Mecha Knuckles jumped down from Belle’s workbench. He’d requested the gaping hole in his back be repaired before he had his voice box installed, though weirdly didn’t want Belle to touch the one in the back of his head. Now, both operations were done, and he stared at the group of robots in front of him.
“Try it out,” Belle cooed.
Mecha Knuckles rubbed his chest lightly.
“L-L-L-Like thi-i-i-i-s?” he said in a higher pitched voice that sounded nothing like Knuckles.
Belle cringed at all the stuttering, “Oof…maybe it needs some adjusting.”
Mecha Knuckles, thoroughly tired of sitting on the operating table, held up his hand to Belle.
“No-o-o, it’s fine. It works-s-s-s, and that’s all I c-c-c-care ab-o-o-out.”
Belle looked over to Sigma and Mecha Sonic.
“I SUPPOSE IF HE SEES NO PROBLEM WITH HIS OWN VOICE, THERE IS NO NEED TO CORRECT IT.”
Mecha just shook his head, “He’s too stubborn to argue against anyway. Just let him keep it. It may just be teething troubles like mine.”
Belle nodded, and looked over to Mecha Knuckles, “Then we’re done.”
Mecha Knuckles looked down slightly, “Now w-w-what?”
Belle looked around to the other Scrapniks. Before any of them could put forward any suggestions, the Diamond Cutters walked up to them.
“Heya!” Tangle said cheerfully, “How’d it go? Can you all talk now?”
“WE MOST CERTAINLY CAN!” Sigma say joyously, “MECHA KNUCKLES IS NOW GIFTED WITH SPEECH, JUST LIKE MECHA SONIC!”
“Even if his voice box is a little crummy,” Mecha Sonic rolled his visor.
“If it w-w-w-works, don’t-t-t-t fix i-i-it,” Mecha Knuckles grumbled.
“That’s not the saying,” Mecha Sonic argued.
Tangle snickered as Whisper smiled warmly.
“We were just going to Victory Garden to harvest all the crops,” she said, “We thought you’d like to come, Mecha Sonic.”
Mecha stared at the group for a moment. He turned back to Mecha Knuckles.
“Would you like to come too?”
Mecha Knuckles considered for a second.
“Harvesting crops? …Yeah…I-I-I-I can wor-r-rk with that.”
The group said their farewells to Belle, Sigma, and the Egg Robos as they left the Machine Shop. As they walked towards the elevator to Victory Garden, Lanolin leaned over to Whisper.
“Seems like you’ve really come around to the Scrapniks,” she whispered.
Whisper smiled, “Well…when you hear a robot’s heartfelt frustration of being without purpose…after having everything stripped from them…it sticks with you.”
Lanolin’s eyes widened, but she put on a brave smile and rubbed Whisper’s back. Tangle, who overhead everything, leaned down to Bean.
“What about you? You think your mind’s changed on the Scrapy’s?”
Bean tapped his beak lightly, “That Sigma guy said Mecha Knux can shoot missiles from his mouth…sooooo…I’m open to learning more.”
Tangle snickered and gave Bean a little noogie.
Up in Victory Garden, just about everyone was there. Sonic, Tails, Amy, Silver, Espio, Blaze. Mecha Sonic watched their operation in awe, observing how careful they were when plucking the fruits of their labor. He was equally careful, pulling some perfectly red tomatoes off of the growing crop. They were just as beautiful as when he first saw them. Mecha Knuckles had a much less enjoyable time, everyone laughing at the metal echidna struggling to hold a single cob of corn. Evidently a claw and a mace were too cumbersome to hold anything.
Under the glowing sun, and through the frustrated shouts of a stuttering voice box, Mecha Sonic’s sunflower stood tall. Its new soil had firmly accepted it, and very soon it would grow to be as tall as the flowers around it.