Indie Julius Ivo Robotnik. A Villain, Well, Depending On Who You Ask. Neither Games Nor Movie Canon,

🎉

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he's tugged, led really. eyes flicked down, blurred and blackened around the edges. like straws narrowed in and zoomed in on the fact that the hand was still gripped onto his jacket. oh. no one had ever done that before. why was that so...? why was julius so focused in on that? he couldn't look away from that hand on his jacket, to the point where he did bump into him when they stopped abruptly.

julius stumbled back a step, muttering a quickly, flustered and spluttered, "er, s-sorry! i didn't mean to bump into you," finally tears his eyes away in order to look at the place. his eyes widened, a sucked in stuck breath at the sight. glory that had to be the fanciest looking building he's ever seen. "whoa." decent? julius wasn't sure his wallet could afford it from just looking at the building alone.

· 𓂃 ࣪˖🔪 ˖ ࣪𓂂 . "Mhmmm," hummed back before giving Julius' jacket a tug for him to follow. "There's this place just down the block." Assured as he makes his way down pavement, still not letting go of the other's jacket as he lead to the shop. Just to abruptly stop in front of the place so that they intentionally bump into one another. "Here. It's not the best place, but it's decent." They're in the nicer part of Gotham after all, so decent is good really. He's just a bit spoiled.

---

his jaw clenched, however subtly. that irritation grew at how, placid stone was being. resigned. fight for another version of himself, supposedly, but not him, hm? tch. whatever. he focused, feeling that sensation and sensing that chaos energy from stone's world. very briefly, like a flickering tether that julius grabbed onto. bolstered by stone remembering his world & julius making physical contact.

his eyes glowed, shimmering before stone would blink, and be back in his own world.

julius' hand lingered there, poised, not moving as though still having his hand on stone's chest. then his arm slacked, and he exhaled deeply while looking skyward. that same gloved hand moved, to rub at his eyes underneath his sunglasses, before he turned and tried to resume what he was doing.

stone felt... angry? at being so easily dismissed, which was a bit strange considering he was used to it from his doctor and never had it bothered him until now. why did it bother him so much? more importantly, how could this man send him back?

he looks down at the hand splayed on his chest, then looks back up into the lenses of the man's sunglasses, bending a bit backwards when once again they were in close proximity.

knowing he'd get nowhere he ultimately resigns himself with a sigh, indeed closing his eyes and focusing on the earth he was from. oh well. just because it didn't work this time doesn't mean the next time wouldn't work.

after all, he'd waited almost half a decade to get here... what's another year or more, really?

---

ah. not accustomed to those. genuine compliments. for a moment, he stares down at her through obscuring sunglasses, unsure of what to say or do. how easy it was for her to accomplish what most others could not: leave him flailing internally for a way to respond. unlike most, he cared for her. julius could count on one hand the number of people he actually gave a shit about.

though, when she mentions the name robotnik as though it were a place of pride for her, julius does scoff, "yes and that is precisely the problem." he won't elaborate, and won't give her the chance or time to ask after what he might have meant, "don't you have something better to be doing, like paling around with the little hedgehogs."

"it IS a compliment, cousin julius." because what were the robotniks if not odd? they certainly weren't what the average would call normal, as much as she might have enjoyed some normalcy, but then again...she was alive because they were not 'normal'. so she smiles at him, shaking her head and goes on. " odd means different. i don't think there's anything entirely wrong with being different. it makes us who we are- robotniks."

---

he didn't think sonic would hug him back. he couldn't remember the last time he had given someone else a hug, genuinely, and felt safe in their arms. his grip on sonic increased subtly, a shivered exhale of relief and peace leaving him. his head turned in towards sonic without his conscious realization, grateful. if sonic thought so, then yes, julius would try again. perhaps next time, they could spend time together at sonic's home. maybe eventually, julius could branch out and start to actually include the other little trio- not right away, but in time. who knew-

"....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?"

julius' gaze opened, eyebrows slightly furrowing at that. what?... did sonic think he was that overwhelmed by everything? yes he'd been overly stimulated, but being off on this quieter road was calming his nerves down.

"i promise ya, everything''ll be alright."

sonic stepped back. no, something was⸻ a crack of sheer pain caused his sight to turn white from the impact, and before julius could register what was going on, he fell unconscious.

only to startle awake, inhaling sharply and his eyes shooting open. greeted by darkness; but it wasn't a normal type of shadow, he could normally see in the dark. this? like an inky black void, unable to see through it for as hard as he tried.

his knees hurt, and julius realized why. tried to move, but couldn't. his arms, legs and even his neck were bolted in place, massive shackles holding him down, chained and reinforced into the floor. he was being forced to hunch forward, couldn't even twitch his arms. there was a half mask clamped along his jaw, stopping just at the middle of the bridge of his nose, restricting him from talking.

at most, the only thing he could move were his eyes, and he could hear his own rasped breathing under that half-mask, getting heavier and heavier the longer he sat in this reality. how-

"....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?""

he⸻ sonic had⸻ his breathing hitched, getting more uneven as the realization slowly dawned on him, widened gaze, pupils shrinking in shock. julius tried, he focused, as best he could, but he couldn't push out his chaos energy. couldn't begin to build it, tap into it, no matter how he tried. whatever they were restricting him with, wasn't giving him any access to his chaos energy. he couldn't escape this, truly. he was trapped.

his eyes skewed shut, for a brief moment, not wanting to believe. sonic wouldn't⸻ julius had trusted him⸻ felt his body tensing, and his mouth opened and a scream left him, that sound elongated, sheer rage, disbelief, hatred, anger that burned at his lungs and caused his throat to ache but that scream wouldn't stop, getting louder and more desperate and breaking on the edges from how intense as that near roar of betrayal left him.

his expression skewed, eyebrows furrowing as julius hugged him. sonic hesitated before hugging back. he could feel julius' face turning and almost tucking closer to him, and sonic swallowed. "....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?" his voice is quieter, and it does shake a tad. "i promise ya, everything''ll be alright."

he squeezed julius just slightly, breathed out and stepped back, before swiftly and suddenly jerking his hand forward and slamming it into the side of julius' neck and lower jaw, as hard as he could. watched as julius' eyes widened before he slumped over, knocked unconscious.

a gasped exhale, and sonic swallowed before lifting an arm into the air, motioning with a short wave. it took a second or two before those G.U.N soldiers repelled down the sides of those supposedly empty buildings from their hiding spots on the rooftop.

"excellent work, sonic." clearly the leader of this squadron, addressed sonic. sonic was staring at julius, having to look away as some of those soldiers placed larger restraints along julius' wrists. could hear them doing the same to his legs.

"...he'll get the help he needs. you'll make sure of that." he's turning to look up at the man, who flashes a standard for the public smile.

"at G.U.N, nothing is impossible. even robotnik can be reformed under our guidance." a hand juts out, and sonic shakes his hand, glancing over and watching as those double doors closed, julius now tucked detained. that vehicle begins to drive off.

"....can i see him, at least? you've got like, visitations or something, right?"

"i am afraid not. robotnik is a.... let's say a flight risk. he will be better off under our care without any outside influences."

"better off..." sonic echoed, inhaled, exhaled, nodded. right. this was, for the best. julius would be able to get the mental, and the emotional help he needed.

---

at the genuine thanks, julius pauses. he shrugs, a tad, not sure how to respond to those words, so he doesn't. not initially, "i wasn't about to let you die," he trails though once stone starts to speak of chaos energy. julius glances over then, finally, gaze narrowing at how stone mentions a quill from a hedgehog. sonic? shadow? their quills - yes, he supposed that made sense. the chaos energy had to gather somewhere when output, and where normally it would discharge off julius' body and his skin naturally, it made sense that the same chaos energy would get 'caught' in the hedgehogs' quills.

stone produces the quill, and julius walks over before snatching it out of stone's fingers before the other can think to blink. he hums, lifting that quill above his head as though to study it under the light from the rays of the sun. it's a beautiful day, white fluffy clouds rolling peacefully along that bright blue sky.

he can see flickers of that chaos energy arcing along the quill, but to julius, these are like dying embers. he scoffs, "these quills hold barely a fraction of actual power in them. you'd be better off using the chaos emeralds. or gathering your own source of chaos energy," disinterested, he tosses the quill back towards stone, "⸻why are you here." as though julius didn't believe what stone had answered previously.

he shifts, hip jutting out slightly, arms crossing over his chest, an eyebrow raised. now that stone can see his eyes, julius gaze looks, darkened almost. not distant, but, almost, vacant? as though julius were living life through a sort of hazed, barely present state.

stone was about to say something else when the man's hold on him gave way, and just as quick as he'd been dropped he had been grabbed again, only this time instead of being held by his arm he was being held in a more proper position.

at least this way his poor arm could have a little break...

stone as well looks away, but not before noting the way the man's face had flushed. once back on the ground stone takes a moment to literally ground himself, before he looks back over to the man and nods.

"thank you, for saving me. I suppose I owe you for that yes? as for the... chaos energy, as you call it. In a way, yes. there is a particular hedgehog where I'm from that exudes the same energy you do."

simple explanation, right?

"I used one of his quills to essentially make my way to you," he says as he picks said quill from the brest pocket of his coat, then holds it up to the man so he could have a better look. "I once watched the doctor harness the energy from another hedgehog to power his machines, and to be as fast as the speed of sound."

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@unlackeyed i saw you post colin's height ( 5'0" ) & was inspired to compared that to julius' height ( 6'3" ) and

AMBS HELP I'M DYING LAUGHING.

HE'S BARELY UP TO HIS SHOULDER, WHAT

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&. 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝟐 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

(  dialogue prompts taken from the silent hill 2 remake, developed by bloober team. trigger warning for dark themes. feel free to change as you seem fit. )

❛ in my restless dreams, i see that town. ❜

❛ hey, it's okay. i didn't mean to scare you. ❜

❛ i'm kind of lost. ❜

❛ i guess i don't really care if it's dangerous or not. i'm going either way. ❜

❛ what happened to this town? ❜

❛ whatever it is, it's not human. ❜

❛ i didn't do anything! he was like that when i got here. ❜

❛ you wanna come with? maybe together we can find a way out of this town. ❜

❛ sorry, but i can't leave. not yet. ❜

❛ are you afraid? ❜

❛ did you find the person that you were looking for? ❜

❛ don't worry, i'm not crazy. least, i don't think so. ❜

❛ should i go with you? this town really is dangerous. ❜

❛ what's a big dumb-dumb like you doing here anyway? ❜

❛ hey, that's not very nice. didn't your parents teach you any manners? ❜

❛ do i look like your girlfriend? ❜

❛ i can't believe it. your face, your voice... you could be— ❜

❛ i don't look like a ghost, do i? see? warm. ❜

❛ i can show you if you want. unless you have somewhere else to be? something else to do? ❜

❛ hey, easy there. i'm just messing with you. ❜

❛ you're coming with me? can't you just tell me where it is? ❜

❛ what, you were just gonna leave me here? alone? with all these monsters around? ❜

❛ is it because i remind you of... her? ❜

❛ this place we're going to, what is it, exactly? ❜

❛ you ever stay in a place like this? the walls are so thin you can hear everything. love, hate, jealousy... ❜

❛ i think you just saved my life back there. ❜

❛ hey. you think i'd look good in this one? ❜

❛ this room... there's something wrong with it. i think we should leave. ❜

❛ oh, loosen up. it sure beats running around with those monsters out there. ❜

❛ what will you tell her if... when you find her? ❜

❛ oh, c'mon. don't give me that look. i was just kidding. ❜

❛ can we stay? just for a little while? ❜

❛ this place, this whole thing, it's like a nightmare. i just wanted to get away from it, even for a second. ❜

❛ here. something to take the edge off. ❜

❛ we should probably get going. ❜

❛ we could come back later, if you want. you know, in case we need a break. ❜

❛ i wanted to ask you... what if you can't find [ name ]? what will you do? ❜

❛ thanks for checking up on me. it's very sweet of you. ❜

❛ how do you know my name? ❜

❛ i'm sorry, but i can't let you just run around this place. you might get hurt. ❜

❛ please open the door. there's something in here. ❜

❛ i was almost killed back there! i've never been so scared in my whole life! ❜

❛ all you care about is that dead wife of yours. ❜

❛ you couldn't care less about me, could you? ❜

❛ stay with me. don't leave me alone again. you're supposed to take care of me. ❜

❛ i don't know, for some reason i feel like it's up to me to protect her. ❜

❛ well, whaddaya know... a stroll in the rain. how romantic. ❜

❛ i'm trying to keep things light. just humor me, okay? ❜

❛ you think you could give me a hand? ❜

❛ you're supposed to be the big man around here. how's a little girl like me supposed to help? ❜

❛ what's wrong? i thought you wanted to get out of here. ❜

❛ this place is different from what i remember. i guess... things never really stay the same, do they? ❜

❛ you... still don't want me to go with you? if we stick together, we just might make it out of here. ❜

❛ ain't no big deal. just put the gun to their head and... pow! ❜

❛ you can't just kill someone 'cause of the way they looked at you. ❜

❛ please. i'll be good. i promise. ❜

❛ it's always the same with you. you're only after one thing. ❜

❛ i don't know who you think i am, but i don't want to hurt you. ❜

❛ i thought that thing killed you...! are you hurt? ❜

❛ but that thing... it stabbed you. there was blood everywhere. ❜

❛ stabbed me? what do you mean? ❜

❛ honey... did something happen to you? ❜

❛ are you confusing me with someone else? ❜

❛ you said you took everything. but you forgot the videotape we made. ❜

❛ it doesn't matter who i am. i'm here for you. ❜

❛ see? i'm real. ❜

❛ don't you want to touch me? ❜

❛ i'll come back, i promise. ❜

❛ how many times do i have to kill you? ❜

❛ it doesn't matter if you're smart, dumb, ugly, pretty... it's all the same once you're dead! ❜

❛ you wanna talk down to me some more? tell me to relax? ❜

❛ you know i'll find you! ❜

❛ guess i deserved it, huh? the fartface that i am. ❜

❛ you got any other things planned? i think i saw a dark room back there you could lock me up in. ❜

❛ where are you? i'm waiting for you. please, come to me. ❜

❛ i think you were right. what we're looking for... it's not here. ❜

❛ thank you for helping me earlier... but i wish you hadn't. ❜

❛ i know what you are. i know why i needed you. but it's all over now. i don't need you anymore. ❜

❛ it'd be easier if they just killed me. ❜

❛ why are you still here? i told you to go. ❜

❛ wait! please don't go. don't leave me alone. i didn't mean what i said. ❜

❛ please... tell me i'll be okay. ❜

❛ i'm here for you. so what if i'm not her? ❜

❛ i can give you what she never could. i can be better than her. ❜

❛ what else do you want me to be? ❜

❛ i won't let you do this to me. i won't let you go. ❜

❛ the truth is, i hated you. ❜

❛ i wanted my life back. ❜

❛ i tried. i really did. but... i just... can't go on without you. ❜

❛ i can't forgive myself for what i've done. ❜

❛ i want you to go on. i want you to live. for yourself and for others. ❜

❛ you made me happy. ❜

---

Big fan of Lee's "Stone might also be an orphan", but I always thought how insane it would be if Stone did have a family, a big one, he just chose Robotnik.

Can you imagine? The one abandoned by his own family being CHOSEN above somebody else's family? That'd be...the poetic cinema, truly.

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MAKE YOUR MUSE AS A COCKTAIL.

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