Came For The Character, Stayed For The Unique Interpretation That Always Has Me Interested To Know More

it felt as though something within him writhed at stone questioning on why julius hadn't enslaved humanity yet. why hadn't he⸻ & then stone goes on to say if he had even a fraction of julius' powers, he would've taken advantage of the opportunity. his expression shifts, something akin to a brief headache, like a dull throbbing, pounding along his skull. that chaos energy in him, writhing, he inhaled, hesitated.

"i feel nothing for most. but humanity as a whole's done nothing to me. i've only struck out against the few that've moved to hurt me." & then there was the collateral damage, and all that blood overwhelming him, and how he'd⸻ his irises flicker, eyes glowing briefly but then stopping, as though a dimming and reigniting lightbulb, "it's rare i give into those sadistic urges."

"i just see no point in it. it's too easy, there's no challenge." at what stone asks about what julius found interesting, he shrugged, ignoring that and continuing to elaborate, "perhaps if you had the same powers, you might show me what is so 'fun' about needlessly slaughtering."

stone frowns, having to resist the urge to give him the biggest eyeroll that had ever existed in response. "then why haven't you? if you can do it at any time, and on your own, why haven't you? if I had even a fraction of your power I would take full advantage of it." his doctor would, too. "what do you then consider 'interesting' and 'not boring'?"

"AU CONTRAIRE, my spandex wearing friend," the words are as tight and as mockery filled as he could make them. because julius believed not a word of what had been said to him just then. "it's entirely of my concern." he had made that choice. deliberately. which is to say nothing of why he had, wouldn't divulge that.

at the threatened quieter words, julius scoffs. "what you want and what you need are entirely separate things. you need air to breathe, so you take in air. why strangle yourself from what you need by tamping it down. to whose benefit."

@drrobctnik asked; "There's nothing wrong with what you are. It's in your bones. Don't you want to make them suffer?"

embracing the monster prompts

Experience concludes that the other's words were deliberately incendiary, were intended to breach the unreadable armour he habitually wore as naturally as his own skin. A carefully placed strike, calculated to find the fractures beneath his restraint, that should be--

Dismissed. As was his go-to response, reached for whenever he heard rehashes of the same arguments, broached by those who believed taking aim at his very nature, and what he stood for, to be a good idea. Fully expectant that he was steps removed from sliding towards darker notions, that better aligned with the monster that some of his enemies perceived him to be.

What a farce.

Thoroughly unamused by this ploy, Miguel's jaw locked beneath the navy-blue cover of his mask in response. With patience tested, he made an effort to keep his tall posture carefully composed, disallowing so much as a flick of emotion to assert itself. Or betray the thoughts curling at the edges of his mind, following such an opening shot aimed at his very character. What exactly resided in his mutated bones?

Something not previously known to science, for a start, but that was only the tip of a very long list of findings that he had spent years compiling about himself, experiencing compulsions, emotions, even wants, in ways that the stranger before him could only theorise about. The strength, the hunger, the violent instinct, buried under careful control; Miguel knew exactly what he was capable of, was all too aware of how easy it would be to tear through the ones deserving of his wrath.

But easy wasn't the same as right.

Irked by the notions proposed, his fingers twitched once by his side, before stilling. "What I am," comes his announcement, delivered in an even tone, devoid of any material that could be hijacked and twisted into a sign of agreement, "is none of your concern." There's a need to add more, adamant to make clear his stance before more attempts are made to demonise himself. It takes a beat, as well as a slow inhale, before he allows the tension perpetuated a chance to settle, voice shifting gears to acquire a quieter level, wreathed with threat; "And neither is what I want."

"you're doing that wrong," without saying anything else, julius snags the firearm away from the other soldier. he sighs as he shows him how to properly pull apart the gun in order to be cleaned, "why do they bother hiring you guys if you're not properly trained." julius isn't even explaining what it is he's doing: he's showing the man the proper way physically. expecting him to remember through sight alone. if he couldn't even get this right, he wouldn't last two more days inside of this base. G.U.N were strict when it came to protocols and how to follow standards. knowing how to dismantle, clean and service your own weapons was one of those skillsets: there wouldn't really be a weapon's expert out on the field. so if your firearm failed you were expected to be able to handle that without needing assistance.

starter. for peter (@wolfensong) BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT JULIUS & PETER MEET WHILE JULIUS AND PETER ARE PART OF G.U.N & WORKING TOGETHER AT A G.U.N BASE.

that eyebrow arches upward yet again, and julius silently mouths the words 'world domination', and at the thought of 'enslaving humanity' his nose scrunches up. he frowns. to serve julius' will? tch. "that sounds boring. i can do all of that easily, and without your help." julius had enough power from that chaos energy inside of himself to level a continent if he so chose. it'd probably take him less than a day, if he really focused at it.

ah, so that had obviously been the right thing to say. he had the man's attention, even if it were only further dependent on how he replied and the little ideas given. due to that stone wastes no time, instantly thinking of all the things he and the doctor had dreamed of doing together... before that damn hedgehog.

"world domination, for one. enslaving humanity to serve your will for another," stone starts as his eyes light up, as if the topic he was currently speaking on was something utterly fascinating to the man, "toppling governments, too. any number of things, really. nothing is too small or out of reach, or so I'd like to think."

his gaze flicks down to sonic's hand that brushed his arm, gaze narrowed behind the sunglasses. fun. he doubts that. a good time, julius doubts even more. eyes shift back to sonic's expression, and julius pauses. he takes those sunglasses off, not looking away from sonic's expression. he expects a recoil, or a scream of surprise. there's nothing like that, sonic's just, looking at him. "and what do you plan to do about these, hm."

"it'll be fun." sonic reaches out, and lays a hand on julius' arm. "i promise. you'll have a good time." he can't see julius' eyes, but he figures that julius' looking at him. there's hesitation there, but then julius reaches up and removes those sunglasses. sonic stills, staring at red irises and a darker black than the night sky overhead. oh. well, all right then.

what day was it; what time. how long had he been here. the seconds blurred into minutes, into hours, into inability to perceive time. julius had thought he'd had bad concept of how long it'd been before, that had been child's play comparatively, to this.

he never moved, not from that spot. & no guards ( he could only surmise he was being held in some sort of G.U.N facility ) ever came to check in on him. supposed it was now more of a curse that he needn't eat, nor really breathe, or drink any liquid in order to survive. could've been kept down here a millennia and it wouldn't have changed anything for julius.

no real danger of dying. just listening to his own haggard, low breaths. he'd screamed until there was nothing left in his lungs to give. now, as it was, staring blankly ahead, all he could do was try. try and grasp for any small semblance of that chaos energy in his body, in the air surrounding him, and hold on. hope that he could push into it, or pull it closer to himself, start to build it. like starting over from scratch after having mastered a technique. a fumbling baby deer unable to walk, or a flightless baby bird. kept slipping, unable to hold on for long enough. or whatever restraints those bastards put on him kept on diluting that energy to the point it wouldn't spark, could barely breathe.

eventually, though he tried to stave it off, he began to sob. it wasn't even sheer sorrow that the sobbing had been inspired by; anger, mostly. that betrayal that kept growing and growing, morphing into disbelief and then hatred and then a numbness, rinse and repeat. that feeling of being abandoned, left alone to rot. forgotten by time. he clenched his hands together so hard beneath those restraints it was a wonder he hadn't shredded his palms to bits.

he kept thinking back to stone ⸻ having only met him the once, for barely maybe 10 minutes at that, an unrequited hug before stone had left ⸻ & wishing he were here. where are you, he kept thinking, not out of blame. not out of rage or anger, not towards stone, but the circumstances. that sheer helplessness of his situation. why aren't you bursting into here and ⸻ and what? why should julius expect to be saved, or needed, quite frankly.

that only caused his sobbing to get worse, that slow realization that, he wasn't necessary. he could die here and no one would turn their head elsewise. doubted anyone even knew he was gone, or if they did, all he could think was why. why was he still here then. why couldn't⸻ just someone, anyone⸻ not not even anyone his mind kept going back to stone, that hug ⸻ unreturned, but julius had hugged sonic too, before THAT BASTARD⸻

ragged inhales, that rage returning and eclipsing the numbness. he wanted sonic dead. he wanted sonic alive, so he could demand an answer out of him. wanted sonic screaming. wanted sonic safe. wanted to just turn back time and never accept that stupid invitation. should've known something wasn't right. sonic never invited julius anywhere. he had been so blinded by disbelief and by the small joy at being included⸻

weak. stupid. useless.

more screaming, not caring if his throat was raw, pushing beyond the limits of his vocal chords. knew they'd heal, even if it took time and at a slower crawl than normal. whatever was restricting his chaos energy usage wasn't affecting his healing. the sick fucks. he'd almost respect it if he wasn't so god damned offended & insulted, ashamed.

alone.

with nothing to do but think, but stew. trying and failing to come up with plans to escape.

eventually, his eyes lulled closed, wishing he could sleep. pass out again. couldn't, body didn't need sleep. another form of torture and using his own abilities against him.

wished he were dead. wanted to live to⸻ he didn't even know. to spite them. wanted to give up. but something in him writhed at the notion: coward. weak bastard. fight. go down screaming and cursing if you must, but don't let them win. never truly.

so he waited. bided his time. it was all he could do.

he was impatient, head lilting upwards to stare up at the very obvious security camera zooming in on julius standing there in front of the door. julius focuses, can feel colin's energy signature, and simply teleports into that office room with him, now standing directly behind colin.

hands gently clasp colin's shoulders, and julius leans forward to speak lowly beside colin's face, "why, is that relief i hear in your voice~?" his fingers squeeze so carefully, but julius doesn't move to let go of colin's shoulders. then, julius remembers and does let go, because he doesn't want to make colin feel uncomfortable or trapped,

"now don't i feel special." very suddenly, julius has teleported to across colin's office desk, standing on the opposite side of it before sitting on the edge of the front of the desk, careful not to muss any of the paperwork. his left leg crosses over his right leg, eyebrow raised. julius isn't wearing his sunglasses, so those bright crimson red irises and black sclera are on full display for colin to see.

& despite the otherworldly hues, julius gaze looks warm as he looks across at colin. he even smiles, fleetingly.

@drrobctnik

"Knew all along you weren't dead."

The protracted, nasal drawl in Snively's voice is especially evident in this moment, as he leans back in the office chair and smirks at the image of Julius Ivo Robotnik filling his tablet screen.

Relief, tacit approval, even a touch of admiration, belie his cockiness.

"Motber fucker."

jaw flexes minutely upon realizing who julius is face to face with. instantly, his crimson red irises began to glow, piercing through even the darker tint of his sunglasses. chaos energy licked along his fingers and arms in the form of a darker red electricity,

"COMMANDER," there's no affection to his tone. in fact, one could only call the words that spill from julius' mouth mocking, "how nice to see you again. i expect the cavalry will be arriving shortly to try and take me in. again."

@towerfcllen

@blckfckinmsk [x]

if there were any mirth or any sense of peace in the air, it was gone now. julius stared silently at roman, shoulders shifting and standing to his full height with no slouching. he takes a collected, calm step towards roman. & even with those sunglasses obscuring his eyes, roman would no doubt feel the silent rage burning into roman's own eyes.

"would you like to try that again." his voice is a tad tight, yet still eerily calm. he's giving roman another chance to respond to him without getting so emotional.