Espio (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
metachrosis) wrote2020-06-20 09:26 pm
metachrosis) wrote2020-06-20 09:26 pm
CRAU Espio // History
This is the full write-up of Espio's history, including both his original canon and his CRAU.
Unlike most STC characters, Espio came from the Special Zone - a surreal pocket dimension connected to the planet Mobius through a variety of portals. His home was located on the planet Meridian. However, as it was established that the Special Zone housed many worlds, Meridian might not be his native planet.
Espio was a member of a team known as the Chaotix Crew. It's suggested that they were originally assembled to protect the Special Zone after Doctor Robotnik – who had previously used the Zone to build his empire on Mobius – vacated his base there, but later encounters suggested they had been a team for considerably longer than that. They had been a team for at least four years as of "the Fundamental Four." If we use the age I gave Espio at the start of Witches Reign (17, based on his Knuckles Chaotix incarnation's age), he was involved in the whole crimefighting thing since he was 12 or 13.
Quite how Espio became involved with the team isn't clear, but they were later assigned the task of protecting the Special Zone by the sentient time and dimensional travel device known as the Omni-Viewer. Originally, there were five members of the team: Vector the Crocodile, Mighty the Armadillo, Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee, and Nack the Weasel. However, shortly after infiltrating the Brotherhood of Metallix's base, Nack betrayed the team for the sake of money, and was expelled from the group.
As a team, Chaotix were rather dysfunctional. Charmy was an irritant to the entire team (though he honestly believed they were just pretending to be annoyed), but especially the easily-stressed Vector. Mighty and Espio, meanwhile, had an ongoing rivalry and often wound up fighting each other instead of doing what they're supposed to.
Originally based in the more bizarre regions of the Special Zone (space – a wonderful place where you can casually row your boat past a giant floating ice cube), Chaotix moved into a large building in New Tek City. New Tek is analogous to the cities in superhero comics, and was home to a number of superhero parodies. While Chaotix had been known to display some of the “superhero” mentality (with Mighty being particularly prone), the citizens tended to favour the garish showmanship of the parodies over Chaotix. In fact, Chaotix were never really trusted by the citizens here – most considered them to be insane, and many expected them to turn evil.
As Chaotix considered themselves to be Guardians of the Special Zone, with Omni as a time machine, they rarely became involved in Mobius' affairs unless something from the Special Zone was directly connected to it. Enemies of particular note include the Brotherhood of Metallix, and Super Sonic. In both cases, Chaotix aided Sonic (and in one case also Knuckles the Echidna, who had been thrown into the Zone by sheer misfortune). At home, Chaotix were also involved with a number of superhero and supervillain parodies, including an elemental team (who ended up being mixed together and turned into a pot), and a rich CEO (who was defeated when Charmy bought out his company). They had recurring enemies in the power crazed Lord Sidewinder and his criminal gang.
When Knuckles was forced to make the Chaos Emeralds warp to the Special Zone (which they did when they became unstable), he and Sonic went to Chaotix for help to retrieve them. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones seeking them.
With the Special Zone being made from waste Chaos Energy produced by the destabilised Emeralds (thus why the universe was so insane), a question was raised by a group of villains known as the Syndicate: what would happen if you destabilised the Emeralds inside the Special Zone? Their theory was that the Emeralds would reabsorb the energy and cause the reality to collapse. As villains, of course, they decided to actually do it, using Shadow the Hedgehog's Chaos Control ability to gather them.
It worked.
Events moved far too quickly for Chaotix, Knuckles and Sonic to prevent it from happening, and the Special Zone collapsed. Although Shadow effectively saved that small handful of people present by forcing the Omni-Viewer to warp them to Mobius, Espio does not remember anything more than being yanked out of the Special Zone by the tail.
http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Chaotix_(Sonic_the_Comic)
http://stc.wikia.com/wiki/Chaotix_Crew
Sonic the Comic
Unlike most STC characters, Espio came from the Special Zone - a surreal pocket dimension connected to the planet Mobius through a variety of portals. His home was located on the planet Meridian. However, as it was established that the Special Zone housed many worlds, Meridian might not be his native planet.
Espio was a member of a team known as the Chaotix Crew. It's suggested that they were originally assembled to protect the Special Zone after Doctor Robotnik – who had previously used the Zone to build his empire on Mobius – vacated his base there, but later encounters suggested they had been a team for considerably longer than that. They had been a team for at least four years as of "the Fundamental Four." If we use the age I gave Espio at the start of Witches Reign (17, based on his Knuckles Chaotix incarnation's age), he was involved in the whole crimefighting thing since he was 12 or 13.
Quite how Espio became involved with the team isn't clear, but they were later assigned the task of protecting the Special Zone by the sentient time and dimensional travel device known as the Omni-Viewer. Originally, there were five members of the team: Vector the Crocodile, Mighty the Armadillo, Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee, and Nack the Weasel. However, shortly after infiltrating the Brotherhood of Metallix's base, Nack betrayed the team for the sake of money, and was expelled from the group.
As a team, Chaotix were rather dysfunctional. Charmy was an irritant to the entire team (though he honestly believed they were just pretending to be annoyed), but especially the easily-stressed Vector. Mighty and Espio, meanwhile, had an ongoing rivalry and often wound up fighting each other instead of doing what they're supposed to.
Originally based in the more bizarre regions of the Special Zone (space – a wonderful place where you can casually row your boat past a giant floating ice cube), Chaotix moved into a large building in New Tek City. New Tek is analogous to the cities in superhero comics, and was home to a number of superhero parodies. While Chaotix had been known to display some of the “superhero” mentality (with Mighty being particularly prone), the citizens tended to favour the garish showmanship of the parodies over Chaotix. In fact, Chaotix were never really trusted by the citizens here – most considered them to be insane, and many expected them to turn evil.
As Chaotix considered themselves to be Guardians of the Special Zone, with Omni as a time machine, they rarely became involved in Mobius' affairs unless something from the Special Zone was directly connected to it. Enemies of particular note include the Brotherhood of Metallix, and Super Sonic. In both cases, Chaotix aided Sonic (and in one case also Knuckles the Echidna, who had been thrown into the Zone by sheer misfortune). At home, Chaotix were also involved with a number of superhero and supervillain parodies, including an elemental team (who ended up being mixed together and turned into a pot), and a rich CEO (who was defeated when Charmy bought out his company). They had recurring enemies in the power crazed Lord Sidewinder and his criminal gang.
Sonic the Comic Online
When Knuckles was forced to make the Chaos Emeralds warp to the Special Zone (which they did when they became unstable), he and Sonic went to Chaotix for help to retrieve them. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones seeking them.
With the Special Zone being made from waste Chaos Energy produced by the destabilised Emeralds (thus why the universe was so insane), a question was raised by a group of villains known as the Syndicate: what would happen if you destabilised the Emeralds inside the Special Zone? Their theory was that the Emeralds would reabsorb the energy and cause the reality to collapse. As villains, of course, they decided to actually do it, using Shadow the Hedgehog's Chaos Control ability to gather them.
It worked.
Events moved far too quickly for Chaotix, Knuckles and Sonic to prevent it from happening, and the Special Zone collapsed. Although Shadow effectively saved that small handful of people present by forcing the Omni-Viewer to warp them to Mobius, Espio does not remember anything more than being yanked out of the Special Zone by the tail.
Supplementary Wiki information
http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Chaotix_(Sonic_the_Comic)
http://stc.wikia.com/wiki/Chaotix_Crew
CRAU 1: Witches Reign
◦ After entering a strange and foreign world as a result of a spell, Espio was brought to Balamb Garden in order to escape the xenophobic and fearful attitudes of the world's natives. Chose to study there, and specialised in both Martial Arts and Piloting. Figured this would help in his homeworld, too.
◦ Met several individuals who he would eventually come to see as family, including Marco, Grell, and Tobias. There were a great many others he made friends and acquaintances with during his time here, but these three were the most important to him.
◦ He gained the memories of his reality's collapse at the hands of a certain hedgehog. He didn't do very well at hiding his despair, though he did try.
◦ Eventually he graduated the SeeD program and became a fully qualified SeeD, basically becoming an elite mercenary working for Garden. His exam involved blowing up a huge crystalline structure known as the Lunatic Pandora.
◦ Though he did take on a few missions, he wasn't that keen on the mercenary aspect because it meant suspending his own views in favour of his client's, and so he took on training to become an instructor in both Intermediate and Advanced Martial Arts.
◦ When Shadow (the hedgehog who destroyed his reality) turned up, Espio attempted to kill him – Shadow is the only person he has ever actually wanted to kill. He lost, and was forced to accept this was not the Shadow he'd encountered before but one from an alternate reality.
◦ He entered a relationship with Tobias, his best friend. This was with some reluctance, because he freaked out at the confession and honestly thought it would fall flat on its face. He didn't want to not try at all, though.
◦ When Erlea Zabala took over as Commander, Espio became able to take on a temporary human form through the use of a potion. Though it was supposedly a rule for non-humans to use it when outside of the Garden, this was not enforced. Espio proceeded to use it to chill out in public without people gawking at him.
◦ Disagreed very strongly with orders from the new Commander – he felt she was putting the Garden's children at risk, forcing them to go through the pain of death repeatedly to prove they couldn't die so easily as long as they had a GF. He resigned in protest. Had every intention of holding his ground.
◦ After, he was approached by a mysterious group known as Sol Invictus and returned to his original position within Garden as a spy. He did not recognise that mind control was involved until much, much later.
◦ He donated Chaotix's old airship (which had appeared through Time Compression) to Garden, and became responsible for many missions involving its use.
◦ During a conflict with a strange mage, he took command of a group aboard his ship. Demonstrated a surprising amount of competence in a leadership role.
◦ Despite the initial reluctance, he genuinely fell in love with his boyfriend. However, he failed to recognise the relationship as being far too dependant and unhealthy. Wound up getting engaged, because he's young, stupid, and impulsive.
◦ Eventually, he suffered a complete meltdown as a result of too many issues piling up: the lingering despair from his reality's collapse, guilt at being the only one (as far as he knew) to have survived, feeling unwelcome in the world, feeling alone in his beliefs and sense of morality and justice, feeling rejected by his 'family', feeling overshadowed by everyone around him, a building sense of unease and confusion at his loyalty to Sol Invictus, feeling powerless to help the one he cared for most, and a fear that he was causing more harm than good with his presence. Wound up withdrawing and started to develop a hatred for himself and everything around him.
◦ Actually realised this and got help.
◦ Formed a close bond with Marco's brother Ace, who was remarkably good at getting through Espio's barriers. Wound up in a casual relationship with him following Toby's extended absence. Started to realise that his previous relationship was not one that would have worked out.
◦ He defended Garden during an assault by Sol Invictus, and was relieved that the odd loyalty he had to them did not prevent him from defending his home.
◦ He assisted in preparations for war with Esthar.
CRAU 2: Carvaka
◦ Quite suddenly, Espio wound up trapped in a tin can suspended at the top of a tall tower in a dilapidated and trap-filled castle, and had to be rescued by some scrawny asshole with a walking stick. He'd apparently landed himself in another world with nobody familiar once again, and the natives were quite insistent that his friends never existed. That was kind of shit. Also shit: he was human. And also naked, which would have been much less of a concern were it not for the previous statement. (He feels like maybe this sudden transformation should have felt weirder than it did, but it was probably a good thing he didn’t freak out about it.)
◦ Had a rough time dealing with this new world's 'requirements' and exceptionally loose grip on reality. This was a dead world that ran on belief, and survival was dependent on distracting oneself from the harsh truth of reality. This turned out to mean sex, for the most part. Espio was never one for casual sex, and he found it a little hard to care much about 'fading', so this was a problem. (In retrospect, he’s not sure why he cared so little for his existence…).
◦ Kept most people in this new environment at arm's length, even when he was civil to them. The main exception was Dominic de Luca, who earned Espio's attention by being a highly judgemental asshole who hated non-humans like him. Espio took advantage of his human appearance and gave a false name just so he could argue with him and prove him wrong. (What name was it, again? He can’t quite remember… oh well, it’s not like it matters what stupid alias he came up with.)
◦ Kept picking arguments with Montague Navarro, who provided monthly status reports and kept a roster of the people present. It was mostly because Espio appreciates things being kept brief and to the point, which was not Monty's strong point... and because picking on people amuses him.
◦ Eventually the castle became a ruined settlement. Espio found a small cottage to live in, but didn't really do much to make it liveable. Many things that Espio would call 'stupid' continued to happen, however, including people temporarily gaining animal features, rumours becoming true, people becoming their alternate selves, and so on.
◦ Tried to keep himself distracted through regular patrols and watching people, helping out when he could.
◦ On one occasion, people were drawn into pockets of 'unreality', containing distorted visions drawn from people's memories. It was on one such occasion that Dominic learned the truth about Espio's identity, but by this point had become fond enough of him he had a lot of difficulty hating him for it. This lead to a rather awkward relationship where they still argued, but became closer, forming a mutual sexual arrangement to help keep one another existing. The two would continue to grow closer, with Dominic eventually confessing romantic feelings for him. Espio turned him down.
◦ A different reality pocket mashed together everyone's worlds, distorting the memories of those within the illusion so that they would believe it was reality. This illusion soon fell apart, with quite horrific effects as people's true memories clumsily fell back into place. For Espio, who already had problems coping with losing two worlds, seeing his home reality collapse in nightmares and time-twists multiple times, and believing everyone he knew was either dead or simply never existed in the first place... well, seeing his friends' faces literally melt off as reality fell to bits around him did not put him in a good place. (With the full context of his meltdown lost, Espio now feels that he’s missing some sort of key detail here - that he was reacting to something more than what happened. Is it because part of him believes this is what became of his home? Maybe. The illusion melting away has become a recurring nightmare, regardless.)
◦ It was Monty who found him in a highly emotional state following this, and it was him stopping to help Espio despite the chameleon being constantly rude and deliberately annoying that let them become closer. Next to Dominic, Espio considered Monty one of his most important friends, and would often go to him to vent. Espio was still deliberately annoying, but it became more playful and a little flirty.
◦ Espio quickly formed an attachment with someone who appeared randomly in his house one night with an entourage of talking mice. She seemed a little crazy, but also fun. This was Verity Price, who turned out to be Dominic's future girlfriend - due to timeline shenanigans, Dominic did not remember her. Now, Espio liked Verity, and even let her take the second room in his house, but his competitive spirit couldn't help but see her as a rival.
◦ Following a rather huge and difficult fight with Dominic, who hated Verity and was mad at Espio for liking her and not listening to him about how 'dangerous' she apparently was, the two finally sorted their feelings out and entered a more romantic relationship. Verity was shortly after 'misplaced', and Espio allowed Dominic to move in with him.
◦ He started to participate more in whatever was going on, joining in on two expeditions and agreeing to join in with an ill-fated meeting to brainstorm some kind of law and punishment system.
◦ As time went on he formed more amiable relationships, even friendships with some people. Espio became particularly fond of Tachibana (a girl who reminded him a lot of the 'heroes' back home), Koujaku (a hairdresser who was exceptionally fun to wind up, and also attractive enough to invite some unusually direct flirting from Espio), and Masaki (a cheerful, sociable girl), though he never grew especially close to them.
◦ Not all of his relationships were positive. He took issue with a young lady having trouble expressing her grief, and while he did want to help her, his aggressive approach definitely did not help. (Was he always so intense? Once again, in retrospect, Espio feels like he’s missing something.) He also formed a grudge against another young lady over a comment he found insensitive and insulting, and would respond to pretty much everything she had to say with vitriol.
◦ At some point, the avatar of Truth, Aletheia, stripped the settlement of the belief-based illusions that people relied upon to live. To escape the effects and survive more comfortably, most people left the settlement to form a camp some distance away. After a short while, Espio joined them there. After that... well, he ended up somewhere new again.