How to Survive Sonic

The Chaos Emeralds were easy enough. He had gathered them more than a few times over the years.

The Master Emerald wasn't that much harder to acquire yet again. Metal Sonic was sufficient enough to keep its guardian busy, especially with his dear daughter overseeing the mission.

She had actually surpassed his expectations yet again, giving Metal Sonic the guidance needed to not only defeat that blasted echidna in one on one combat, but the Sol Dimension's princess too soon after, no Neo Form needed.

He's proud of her. She's already grown so much, and she still has so much more room for further growth... he can only hope this latest master plan of his is enough.

Both the Sol Emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter were taken once again. Even without Metal Sonic, even without Sage, Dr. Ivo Robotnik knows he could've acquired them.

He had done it before, hadn't he? Same with the Time Stones, his two greatest creations retrieving them from Little Planet in record time.

He's done this song and dance before, hasn't he? While he tends to avoid repeating schemes, well... what he's doing now can't even be called a scheme in the traditional sense.

He isn't using these things to power some new Death Egg Robot or other niche superweapon this time around. He isn't trying to enslave some alien race or advanced machine or ancient deity this time around. No, he's done all that before, and it's always failed. He always failed in the end.

The rediscovered Phantom Ruby serves as a centerpiece for his not-plan. It's more of a... prelude to one, a way to inspire one, a way to help his dear daughter become better than he ever was.

While he already tried using that particular gem (and failed to win with it) twice already, as the old saying goes, third times the charm, right?... Ugh, he's really getting too old for this. The excitement has worn thin, the thrill is fading away, the main priority has shifted after all this time.

Once everything was gathered, all he needed was a few bits of repurposed eggtech he put together to bring it all together. He knew what he wanted, as did Sage. Together, they would succeed and benefit like never before from this latest exploration into the unknown.

What was it that echidna spirit said way back when? 'Chaos is power enriched by the heart' or something along those lines? Who says his creations can't have a heart, even if not in the traditional sense? His creations can have their own emotions, their own spirit, their own life.

His own genius makes such a task trivial! He's done it before and he can do it again if he wants!

Sonic predictably came charging in, and with most of his meddlesome entourage too. Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Blaze, and so on. They'll make their way through his fortress like always, take down all his Badniks like always, and retrieve what he managed to claim like always.

But this time, he would properly succeed before he failed. This time, all that was needed was a moment to use these unquantifiable amounts of combined power. They can have their little gem collection back once Project M.E.T.A. is complete.

[Father, the Phantom Ruby has been successfully overclocked. It's now or never.]

"You may begin when ready, Sage. I believe in you, I trust your judgement, and I know even that band of rodents will be helpless against the secrets we're about to learn, especially once you utilize them. OHHH HO HO HO!!!"

Point in Time: ?̴̡̭̙̙̠̥̀ͅ?̸̧̰̬͙͌̐̅̽͠?̵̹̗̀̓́̂͠?̵̟̙̎̌͘͠?̷̗͈͋̚?̴̇ͅ?̸̫͍̟̯̲̜̌͒͗͐?̸͔͔͓̖͋̑̅?̶͈̠̙̟̄̾͌͜͜?̷̜͒?̵̛͍̰̓͘͜?̴̝̙̊͊̆̈̌̿̚͝?̵̰̼̦̌?̸̡̝͍͓̳͉̗̫͒̅͝?̶̯̖̥̀