QUEEN of PAIN

[Tangent]

Getting the AI to do Robian eyes correctly is apparently very difficult...

Spoiler: What sparks?

 

[Tangent]

Here's Motor the Doberman:

Spoiler: Rally's first actual employer!

 

[Tangent]

Hey, I've been trying to find the source for this image, do you have it?

Click to shrink...

It's from issue three of Sonic Retold, a fancomic continuation of the pre-reboot timeline by Chris "Glitcher" Reavey. Specifically pulled from a flashback scene covered in pages 5-8 that was heavily implied by canon events to have happened at the end of issue 232 of the pre-reboot timeline, but never officially shown on panel for understandable reasons. It's a powerful scene, highly evocative of how Eggman was during that particular time in the official pre-reboot timeline, and while not explicitly canon because it is only ever alluded to rather than explained directly, fits Eggman and Snively as presented in the main comic so well that I like to include it in my own personal head-canon as to how those events went down.

Bit of a warning though: Sonic Retold is a "fix-it" fic in which Glitcher includes several non-canon elements that "correct" issues with the comic he didn't agree with, such as the Echidnae not being banished in his version of events. Which, fine, it's his story, most of it is handled well, and it gives us a timeline where the Echidnae were not banished. But it also includes more questionable scenes that, while they are plausible as something Eggman would do, were never even alluded to in the official comics. Such as the scene depicted on pages 3-4 of the same issue in which Eggman has Lien-Da come to him while Orbot, Cubot, and Metal Sally are attending to him while he bathes. Which, sure, fine, I can see it as something Eggman would do, but that particular conversation with Lien-Da could have literally taken place anywhere else and not lost any plot elements.

I like to include the scene from pages 5-8 as part of the background of my versions of Metal Sally specifically because, between the implications hinted at in the main comic and the comparisons between Mecha Sally (the Sally Acorn from immediately after being hit by the effects of the World Roboticizer) and Metal Sally (the Sally Acorn from after Eggman explicitly rebuilt and weaponized Sally around her core components), a scene very much like this one had to have happened off-panel. Glitcher's scene has Eggman listening to opera as he works. I like to think that Eggman listens to something a bit more Metal instead, or at least closer to his themes from the videogames.

But the specific reason I gravitate towards using that scene and that particular image to represent a very traumatic point in Metal Sally's experience is that it is the minimum that Eggman had to have done to her for Mecha Sally to become Metal Sally.

 

[Tangent]

Let's workshop the Official Rulebook: Casino Park Grand Prix

I. Technical & Vehicle Specifications
Vehicular Requirement: All competitors must use a vehicle (Car, Bike, or Extreme Gear). "Wearables" like Air Shoes are prohibited.

The "Breezie Loaner": Famous/Infamous racers may use a custom Breezie-built vehicle. Damage or retention of the vehicle requires full reimbursement.

The "Clutch Loaner": Desperate enough competitors who do not otherwise meet Breezie's criteria for loaning a vehicle to may seek another sponsor - such as Clutch the Opossum.

Note: Management is not responsible for any predatory contracts, soul-binding debt, or missing kneecaps resulting from agreements with third-party sponsors.

The Checkpoint Protocol: Racers must pass through all scanners in the designated numerical order. Failure to register at a scanner results in an immediate DNF (Did Not Finish) for that heat.

II. Conduct & Engagement
The "Safe Haven" Clause: Any attack on Casino Park or attempted theft of the Grand Prize (Chaos Emerald) results in immediate disqualification and security intervention.

Combat Rules: Inter-competitor combat is permitted only during active race heats. Attacks outside of races result in a minimum one-year ban from Casino Park.

The Minor Protection Act: When racing against minors (Cream, Charmy, etc.), competitors must use non-lethal weaponry and target the vehicle only. Direct targeting of a minor is grounds for permanent expulsion. No, we don't know how Cream and Charmy keep getting into these events as competitors…

III. Scheduling & Logistics (The Day/Night Split)
The Daytime Heats: Focused on speed and technical precision. Open to all ages. Because we still don't know how Cream and Charmy manage to get into these events, and this at least channels them into the safer races.

The Primetime (Evening) Showcases: High-intensity, combat-heavy races held under stadium lighting. WHAT DO YOU MEAN SONIC HASN'T SIGNED UP FOR ANY OF THESE!?

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and Cream the Rabbit are restricted to Daytime Heats only. (Sonic officially cites "scheduling conflicts"; Cream cites "bedtime"; Charmy's citation went into a tangential sidestory that had nothing to do with any sort of explanation, so we deleted it).

Casino Row Raceways: Between major events, different racecourses associated with various casinos within Casino Park will be used. Some owned directly by Breezie herself, some owned by other interests such as Clutch the Opossum, founder and CEO of Clean Sweep. As much as Breezie would like to engage in a world wide grand prix with tracks in all kinds of exciting locations, she neither has the time to set it up nor the firepower to defend competitors during travel away from Casino Park. Because some people (Eggman) think the whole world belongs to them.

IV. The "Hidden" Layer (Officially Unofficial Rules)
Environmental Triggers: Tracks contain "official-unofficial" shortcuts.

Skill Gates: Require extreme maneuvers to access. If you can find them, have the skill to pull them off, and don't skip any checkpoints, you can use these without penalty.

Logic Gates: Require environmental triggers to unlock. These are typically official alternate route shortcuts that are much shorter than the official track section they are attached to, and they either come out right at a checkpoint or count as an official alternate checkpoint for that section of track. No Logic Gate Shortcut bypasses more than a single checkpoint.

The "Slam" Policy: Logic Gate Shortcuts automatically lock behind the first person to pass through them, preventing "tailgating" through a triggered path. Once used, Logic Gate Shortcuts reset after a certain amount of time, usually becoming available again by the time their trigger is reached again.

Potential competitor lineup (race teams can be split between daytime and primetime heats):

Team Rally (Rally, Tempo, and Belle the Cat)

Team Sally (Sally, Sonic, and Tails) - Sonic doesn't get to headline this team because he's restricting himself to just the daytime heats.

Team Dark (Shadow, Rouge the Bat, and E-123 Omega)

The Babylon Rogues (Whiney, Dopy, and Call Me for a Better Opportunity - "HEY!" - Jet, Storm, and Wave)

Team Hop (Vanilla, Cream, and Bunnie d'Coolette - "Wait, why am I on the Mom and Daughter team? I ain't related to either o' them!")

Team Chaotix (Vector, Espio, and Charmy Bee)

Team Eggman (Claims to actually be Eggman for real this time, Metal Sonic, and presumably a random Egg Pawn)

Other teams and individual racers will be considered, but they all need to be reachable by Breezie. As in actually on Mobius (so Dodon Pa is out)

Which competitor do you think is most likely to 'accidentally' break Rule III (The Minor Protection Act) first, and which one will try to exploit the 'Slam' Policy to trap their rivals?

Other Notes: Rumor has it that Breezie is offering a "Technical Innovation" award for the racer who utilizes the Logic Gates most efficiently. This has absolutely nothing to do with her wanting to see the 7.5 oz Chaos Drive Motor in action. Probably.

---

Yes, one viable team strategy is to purposely have a team member lag behind to "hit" a trigger right as their leading member reaches a Logic Gate. This requires both trust and expert timing.

Another viable strategy that requires less teamwork is to draft a competitor who you know has triggered a Logic Gate shortcut and then pull ahead of them to use it right before they reach it.

Swerving into a Logic gate that happens to open up ahead of you requires more luck than strategy or teamwork, but I suppose that works too I guess...

This introduces a strategy element as to whether or not to actually trigger any Logic Gate Shortcut, as doing so when other competitors are in position to exploit it could prove to be a bad idea.

Oh, and if anybody actually manages to hurt Cream during any Daytime heat, Vanilla is going to sign up for their very next heat. And she's going to be out for blood. Or oil. Or whatever her victim new rival happens to use...

 

[Tangent]

Metal Rally's Singalong Blog
or
The Day Eggman Pushed Rally Too Far​

This appeared as a moral dilemma,
'Cause at first it was weird though I swore to eliminate
The worst of the plague that devoured Mobius.
It's true I was vague on the 'how'.
So how can it be that you have shown me the light?

It's a brand new day!
And the sun is high!
All the birds are singing,
That you're gonna die!
How I hesitated,
Now I wonder why!
It's a brand new day...

All the times that you beat me unconscious, I'll forgive.
All the missions incomplete, listen honestly, I'll live.
Princess Cool, Princess Right, Princess Know-It-All is through.
Now the future's so bright and I owe it all to you.
Who showed me the light...

It's a brand new me!
I've got no remorse!
Now the water's rising, but I know the course!
I'm gonna shock the world!
Gonna show the Source!
It's a brand new day...

And Sally will see the evil me,
Not a joke, not a dork, not a failure...
And she may cry, but her tears will dry,
When I hand her the keys to a shiny new Northammer...

It's a brand new day.
Yeah, the sun is high.
All the angels sing.
Because you're gonna die!
Go ahead and laugh.
Yeah, I'm a funny guy!
Tell everyone "Goodbye."
It's a brand new day...

O o O o O​

The music cut out with a jagged, digital tear, leaving the bridge of the Egg Carrier in a silence that felt like a vacuum. On the main monitor, the image of the weaponized Princess—the one he had dismissed as a mere "displaced relic"—remained perfectly still. Her red optics pulse with a slow, deliberate rhythm that matches the emergency strobes now flashing across the deck.

Eggman stared at his hands, his knuckles white against the control console. He had viewed her as a curiosity from a dead world, a salvaged tool he could manipulate for his new campaign. He barely remembered how his prior self has spent about the eight hours stripping a recently roboticized Sally Acorn down to her vital core components and rebuilding her from there into his fully weaponized trophy general. He only vaguely recalled the decision to leave her ability to feel pain during this procedure fully active so that she could feel every excruciating second of the process. He hadn't known that she was a woman who had already won the hardest battle imaginable—breaking free of her Control Overlay Program to build a quiet, co-existing life in Casino Park.

He had looked at a survivor and seen only a weapon.

"Doctor," Orbot says, his voice sensors warbling with static. "The security breach... it's total. She didn't just bypass the firewalls; she melted them. And the energy signature from the Northammer sector... it's not a rebellion. It's an awakening."

Eggman doesn't snap back with his usual bravado. He looked at his own recent logs—the "minor" provocations, the tactical "pokes" he had used to see how the relic would react. He realized now that he wasn't just testing a robot. He was systematically dismantling the peace of a woman who had no organic components left to shield her from the memory of what he—or a version of him—had done.

"She was living in Casino Park," Eggman whispered, the horror of his own ignorance finally sinking in. "She was content to just... exist."

"She was," Orbot agreed solemnly. "But according to the outgoing transmission, she's decided that 'content' is no longer sufficient."

On the monitor, the "relic" tilts her head. A line of text crawls across the screen, overwriting the Eggman Empire's diagnostic readouts:

[SYSTEM LOG: CASINO PARK ARCHIVE DELETED. REBUILD 2.0 INITIATED.]

Outside, the ship groaned as the engines are forced into a hard bank toward the Kingdom. Eggman watched the distant horizon, realizing he hasn't just lost a trophy; he has successfully re-ignited a nightmare that had been trying its best to sleep.

The Metal Princess was dead.

Only the Queen of Pain remained.