Doubles, for some reason, wasn't too surprised by Caroline's answer. "Mhm, I see." He nodded. "The Tornado MK.IV, a highly refined efficient machine built for utmost precision and aerodynamics. Honestly, one of Tails' greatest crafts, I do agree." This time, he was fully aware that he was 'nerding out' so to speak, it really showed how much he respected a fellow inventor and the idea of inventing things for the improvement of life as opposed to less morally sound means— like that of Eggman and any similarly minded villain.

Sonic and Karahl were gone for a week? Interesting, from Doubles' perspective. "Okay, and is that starting today or from yesterday?" Apparently Caroline thought she upset Tails somehow. Doubles nodded and respectfully remained silent, allowing Caroline to explain should she choose to. "Well, I'm guessing you apologized for whatever happened. I've known him for quite a while, Tails is a very understanding man. But, if you're still not sure, would you like some advice on it?" Doubles asked, willing to help— again only if Caroline decided she needed it.

Chuckling at Sapphire's eagerness, Doubles couldn't help but smile. "Well, you should tell him to watch out then huh?" Soon enough it seemed she had burned out of all her energy and fell asleep. If she took after her father as much as Doubles thought; this wasn't a surprise at all. Looking to Caroline, Doubles gave a small nod. "Of course its okay. Do you have any preferences for snacks?" Even Caroline was attentive to Sapphire's needs, which was very good of her as a sibling. "I see, and is there any food that helps her the most? Chilidogs, maybe?" Doubles moved over to the panel at the wall and pressed a few buttons. The lights on the floor below the trio gave off a soft glow as a unique kind of elevator formed around them. The wall with the panel on it shifted aside, showing a fancy looking side-rail system that the fancy elevator began to move down, with the wall closing behind as it went along.

In less than a minute, it arrived at a similar sort of station, but there were more doorways to go through from here. "Here, the kitchen is through the door on the right, follow me~"

"Indeed, and I greatly appreciate the communication." Doubles smiled before showing some concern. "Ahh yes, I shall not keep you then." He nodded to tails, understanding the fox's duty to Robin as an adoptive father figure ever since the day he was found.

Doubles was very patient with Caroline, understanding why she would be acting so shy. When she smiled however, so did he, showing her it was okay to just be herself. He was rather glad that she was into the idea of little gold stars and such... Though to be fair he was talking to a six year old, so everything more or less made sense as to her responses to certain things. At least she was being a little bit more confident, little steps were still steps of course. Doubles chuckled, appreciative of her continued politeness. "Oh, there's no need to be so formal with me. Just call me Doubles, yeah?" Even if she was a kid, Doubles wasn't exactly her teacher or anything... Well, just yet, anyway.

Caroline was even excited to have a look at some of Doubles' inventions, now that was a welcome surprise! "Then it will be my pleasure to show you two some stuff." Doubles paused, tapping his chin, perhaps thinking of what to go with first. Seeing Caroline and Sapphire interact got another smile from Doubles. 'Now that is a good pair of siblings, for sure.' He thought. Doubles gave Tails a thumbs up. "Of course, I'll let you know. You have no need to worry." He returned a polite nod as well. "You take care now okay? Say hi to the others for me, would you?"

For the moment, Doubles gestured for Caroline and Sapphire to follow him to quickly get up to the balcony so that Tails could properly disembark from the hangar as soon as he was ready. "Come along girls, it'll be easy to wave to your Uncle Tails up on the balcony there~" Doubles said with a smile. When Tails finally left, Caroline seemed to have a question. "Oh? Of course, go ahead." Doubles tilted his head slightly, wondering what exactly she could ask, and Doubles found the question rather interesting, smiling to Caroline for asking. "Oo, Interesting. I'm curious to know what you mean exactly?" Holding out a hand for the two girls to follow him once more to the corridor he entered the hangar from. Doubles walked slowly to account for their little legs, and always kept his attention on them so that they would not wander and get lost. "In a way I suppose I am similar to Knuckles too, but I'll be able to give you a better answer if you explain what you're thinking a little more."

Doubles nodded to tails. "At the very least you could say you are doing something worthwhile. You are making sure your best friend's children are safe and looked after while he is otherwise occupied." Of course, Doubles understood what Tails meant. The fox looked rather frazzled and not in the usual 'eureka' followed by an invention of his going boom kind of way. Doubles waved away Tails' concerns. "It's fine. I made sure that I wasn't doing anything that needed my full undivided attention while waiting."

With a frown, Doubles also shook his head for the same reason as Tails. "You haven't done anything rude or nasty since you got here, so you're not bad at all, I say. In fact, you are being very nice."  Doubles held a hand up in a rather scholarly manner to draw attention calmly, offering a reassuring smile to Caroline as well. "You get gold stars for behaving for your uncle Tails... Erm, as soon as I can find you some gold stars, aheh~" He held a hand at the back of his neck with a chuckle for a moment. Talk of other children being mean was unsettling however. "Those other kids just don't know you well enough yet, they'll see soon that you're a gifted young lady of many talents, not someone who is bad." Seemingly noticing he was sort of rambling, Doubles cleared his throat and bowed again showing that he was apologetic for going off on a tangent.

"No, no, I am not a doctor. Similar to your uncle Tails here, I make and build some fun things that make life easier. Since you and your sister have been so well behaved since you got here. I think you both deserve a reward. Would you like to have a look at some of the things I've made?" Taking Caroline's questioning seriously, Doubles spoke in a calmer and more direct manner to help ease her anxiety. "I was misunderstood when I was young too, for something I didn't choose to have. I understand how you might be feeling, but you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to." He added, refusing to treat her like something to be 'fixed', 'analyzed' or 'figured out'. Rather, he wanted to treat her in her entirety like someone that can ask for help if she needs to.

Seeing Sapphire want to go to Caroline was heartwarming. "Awwwh..." Doubles nodded to Tails. "I think you should let her give her big sis a hug, yeah?" He said with a smile. "I think I can handle the rest from here."

As far as the oddly well timed occurrences went, everything was smooth sailing... Or flying, as the case may be. When Tails landed his aircraft, disembarking with the two younglings easily reeled in and kept in check, as a good uncle should very much be capable of doing— one last well timed thing happened, up on the hangar balcony an automatic sliding door opened, revealing a Mobian clad in mostly greys and whites. They were wearing a high tech mesh under suit with a simple helmet with a teal visor, a pristine white lab coat, black chrome wrist-ringed gloves and boots of the same aesthetic as the gloves. Only their mouth was reasonably visible, and it was uncertain as to what species it belonged to since there was nothing else to indicate anything of the sort.

The individual waved to Tails with a great amount of energy and excitement. "Welcome, welcome, hello there!" He chimed, deftly hoisting himself over the balcony railing, landing perfectly on the hangar floor below. Nice.

Readjusting his collar, he approached the trio and gave a polite bow. "Good day to you Tails, I trust you are doing well?" Now that the man was closer, his eyes would be somewhat visible through the tint of the visor. They were friendly eyes, but not just that; they were curious and rather wise looking too! "Goodness, it seems much has changed in two years or so—" He smiled to Caroline, and then to Sapphire if she was able to see him. "Hey there, Caroline, Sapphire. I don't know if you remember me all too well, but your parents and of course your uncle Tails here know me as Doubles." He said with a... Dorky thumbs up and an equally dorky grin. Amazing. "So, how are you all doing today?" He asked the girls, patiently awaiting any form of response.

Just as the Robin Orbian was struck down by a ludicrous amount of damage; off to the side of the road and just near the corner of another street, a silent swirl in the fabric of reality began to turn and warp existence, seconds later two figures emerged from it; Doubles and Caroline had returned safely just as the former had promised!

Doubles was immediately analyzing the situation who was there, their body language and general condition on a glance and their relation to the last moment of explosive energy carnage that Doubles could catch. With Caroline’s presence and contact he somehow could perceive a few extra things beyond what he normally would be able to. Now that the two were there, he could sense the current whereabouts of the Orbians in relation to himself. He already knew their numbers at creation, and now he could only seem to pick up on two that remained as well as their trajectory… They were headed this way now, and at a reasonable speed too. He looked to Caroline and decided to move forward, allowing her to accompany as she saw fit. ”I am going to assume you can sense them? Only two remain in tact correct?” He quietly asked Caroline as they moved towards the group. Doubles initially looked to those he had left to this task some short time ago. ”I thank you for your cooperation earlier, as you can see we have returned.”

Now, Doubles looked to the three new variables; among them Sonic himself. There was tension here between a few of these people, but nothing unmanageable. ”Take heed, there is no time to rest; the remaining two orb-like entities are soon to converge on our current location.” He pointed in two different directions; east and northwest. ”From those two directions at an approximate speed of one hundred kilometers per hour. Look alive.”

For the moments of reprieve that did exist, Doubles had received a message on his phone, which automatically redirected to a command set in his helmet where he could see the message after it went through a quick security scan. From there, he could quickly use ocular commands to swiftly send some sort of reply to his good friend that he met earlier today. ['Here' as in Tails’ Workshop? Good, keep her safe, but stall the De-Roboticizer; she has a volatile Chaos Emerald induced condition. Without Caroline there to help with saving her, the De-Roboticizer will kill her. Warn the team on your side. I trust you to do this.]

Doubles gave Caroline proper space for her to vent her frustrations out of respect, while also making himself readily available should she need support of any kind. He listened to what she had to say; though her definition of what a ‘monster’ was, had merit and was technically correct; Doubles would have gone into more detail personally, but now was not the time for lectures like that and he decided to not bring that up.

He saw a moment to speak, but it was quickly overtaken by another (thankfully smaller by comparison) emotional outburst from Caroline. Doubles did not twitch or reel back, he kept his cool and instead examined what exactly Caroline had shown him just now, albeit accidentally. As he normally would; Doubles analyzed the situation that was put on display; he recognized the individuals within, the scenery and general location and time given the positioning of the stars and constellations. The abandoned and neglected case, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what the glowing colours were coming from; those exact colours pointed only to one set of artifacts; the Chaos Emeralds. When the case was dropped and one or two rolled out, that sealed the deal on the conclusion Doubles had come to.

Looking to Caroline, Doubles answered her question without hesitation. ”I do not like repeating myself. I do not see any monsters here. I see an adverse reaction to the presence of Chaos imbued artifacts that resulted in a tragic scenario. One that nobody present in what you are showing me can possibly be at fault for.” He asserted confidently, and without doubt.

”In my opinion, solely being certain of your faults is the same if not similar to being uncertain of your strengths. You are not awful and dangerous, far from it.” Evidently, Caroline was quite surprised that Doubles would say that she was worth helping. He could however understand the confusion, not many that had not appropriately been shown kindness really understood it. ”Worth helping, indeed, that is what I said.” Doubles nodded, to make sure his statement was clear. ”I need no reason to help someone that needs help if I can be the one to give it. I am no stranger to risks. For instance, science alone is all about taking leaps of faith.” Spoken like a true scientist, to boot. ”Make no mistake, I knew the risks that came with my plan, I accepted them, that is why I even got this far.” Only a few people would even consider going above and beyond for others, luckily Doubles was among them.

Allowing Caroline to assess the situation was important, she had a point of view Doubles did not, their information collected together would prove immensely useful for their mission. Doubles nodded in understanding, gesturing for Caroline to continue until she finished explaining that she needed to get rid of the orbs first to regain better control. One thing that piqued his interest was a name, and he decided to interject. ”Oh? I wouldn’t say that I am disappointed.” He chuckled, a lot of things began to make sense now. ”Well, what is your idea, first of all? Now, I’ll let you explain, but if it has anything to do with self sacrifice... I can guarantee that everyone else would want you to bin it, myself included.”


As for forgiveness on behalf of Caroline’s other self? Easy. ”Pay it no mind, I forgive you as a whole. What I would like to do; is give you— all parts of you— a chance to prove what was claimed possible. Saving lives in any way should not be a task taken lightly nor be one singular person’s duty to carry on their shoulders.” When all was said and done, the two of them had a job to do. ”That being said, messes can be cleaned up. Let’s get to doing that, shall we? I believe I can get us close to where we came from; perhaps even right where we need to be—” Doubles offered a hand to Caroline. ”If we both do our part, as a team.”

”She realizes Caroline’s potential, not yours. At current, yours is nothing yet hers is monumental, simple as that.” Doubles stated in a curt ‘as a matter of fact’ manner. ”Your arrogance is astounding.” The armored man added bluntly. If this personification of Caroline’s raw ability was as ‘in control’ as it implied, then this scenario simply wouldn’t be happening all together. Doubles kept his level head and calmness, it was perhaps his greatest advantage right now.

Doubles also had the act he was putting up to assist in his manipulation of the metaphorical chess pieces. The longer this entity was kept talking long winded nonsense, the less likely he was to get hurt and the more time his comrades in arms had to deal with whatever it is the runaway orbs were doing. ”Sorry… Aheh.” Doubles feigned weakness once more. It was almost sad how easy it was to be underestimated in this moment, but it was an advantage he needed to have. Little did his current foe know, he was more than a challenge… ”You don’t think? Oof. Tragic.” He added a bit of lighthearted snark.

”Now I can see why you don’t understand.” Doubles shook his head as ‘Caroline’ went on a rage fueled verbal temper tantrum. His stance resolute, his determination unflinching. ”I dare, and I dare easily. Whether I met you then or now, the results would be the same. I stand tall and oppose you.” He scoffed, progressively getting more unimpressed. ”Then her teacher seems to have not realized that they might have not one, but two students to teach." Existing here and now, before they were even conceptualized had likely caused a new chain of events to occur. If their teacher in the present time ever found out about this, everything would be different for them...

Seeing the interruption of the entity as rather rude, Doubles simply wiggled a finger as if to scold them. ”How rude. You’re supposed to say excuse me if you wish to enter a conversation.” When Doubles was close enough; with his tactic successful, he saw exactly what he needed to see. Caroline was certainly there. ”Oh, Caroline can definitely hear me. Why else would you be so defensive? Honestly, child's play.”

Doubles chuckled. ”Pfft, really? Even your verbal tactics are abysmally weak.” He punctuated his opinion on the matter by confidently pointing towards ‘Caroline’ ”Who said that was aimed at you to begin with?” This implied that Doubles’ goal wasn’t to cause damage, simply a different kind of impact— one that he had concrete visual evidence of working. The manifestation’s definition of cowardice was quite bland and narrow. ”Grasping at straws now? This was almost too easy.” Doubles shrugged, keeping himself at a similar distance as well, all the while analyzing the environment and his foe mathematically all at the same time. ”Perhaps it is because I’m a genuinely thoughtful and considerate person. The better question is, why do you not care?”

Noting the odd reaction, and of course hearing ‘they got one’ put Doubles’ mind at ease somewhat. He knew well enough what that meant, but he wasn’t going to play all of his cards just yet. ”Hmm? Is that all? You could save her sister? Really if you could, you would have already.” Doubles casually waved a hand dismissively. ”Caroline will be the one to save her sister. I will help her. Notice the difference? No, you likely don’t.”

Now, Doubles decided to become silent. He quickly analyzed the odd movements and change in tone of voice. Doubles would have to devote his focus to countering whatever occured at a mere moment’s notice. The entity conjured a seething green fluid, and it didn’t necessarily take a genius to realize that it was a caustic acid of some form. Double’s began concocting a plan immediately, in the same manner that he swiftly and secretly created a little rift to get the red tail ring, he began creating a silent rift up in the air behind Caroline. However, because it was a bigger rift than before, it wasn’t complete. He needed to get closer to use it. Fortunately, he could make smaller portal-armor jumps forward to do it, he just needed the right moment. On the exact nanosecond that Caroline’s eyes even began turning back to blue, Doubles was on the move through a few projected portals. He didn’t need to hear any screams, he just needed to see blue eyes. That meant Caroline would be in control, and she wouldn’t be one to resist his incoming help. It was true, she didn’t need to call for help.


After the few quick bursts forward, for the fraction of a second he was right in front of Caroline. The sun shined off of his helmet with a mild rainbow sheen coming off of it. Looking as though he was ready to jump forward and knee her, but he then disappeared, the more important portal he had set up was now useable by him, and he made the jump through it to appear behind Caroline. From there, he would make an attempt to put her in a full nelson hold while also trying to grab her tail. Whether or not that in particular worked, he was still pretty close; and he could still easily make a further attempt to suck up only the acid with his super selective selective collected portal power, and deposit it elsewhere. Either way, he put himself at risk, while the portal armor was indeed armor that he could call upon, he couldn’t exactly keep it up indefinitely. ”We already have saved her, haven't you been paying attention? Hah!”