CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Crocodile in distress!

"Well, well, well! Hello there, crocodile! What a pleasant surprise! I've been wanting a new leather belt..." Dr. Robotnik laughed menacingly, looking up from the platform on which he stood.

Vector wanted to reply, but could only let out muffled sounds, as his snout was tied shut with rope. The rest of his body was tied up as well, and suspended by a rope, attached to a crane above him. The crocodile was dangling precariously over the shifting and churning ocean of oil beneath him. Casting a worried glance downward, Vector couldn't help but let out a small whimper.

"I've thrown many animals in there, and believe me, not one has come out. And they weren't tied up, either!" Robotnik smiled, an unpleasant sight. "Normally, I would roboticize you, but the machine is quite far away and I simply haven't the time! The only reason I'm here is because, quite simply, I needed some more oil for my machinery. I'm actually on my way to a new destination, since that blasted little girl destroyed my beautiful Scrambled Egg Zone!"

Vector gulped, ignoring the doctor's rant. Was this really how it was going to end? Drowning in a sea of pitch-black oil? The crocodile struggled against the ropes uselessly, only causing him to swing back and forth, which made him panic even more.

Three EggRobo badniks were there. Two were doing small tasks for Dr. Robotnik, while the other was near Vector, pointing its gun-arm at him in case of an unlikely escape.

"I would love to stay and chat with you more, Vector, but I'm afraid I have pressing matters to attend elsewhere, such as crushing that wretched hedgehog!" The doctor scowled as he spoke the words, pressing a button connected to the crane machinery.

"He must be referring to Sonic," Vector realized. "I guess this fight isn't just between Robotnik and the three of us."

The crocodile's thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly felt the crane above him twitch and come to life. It began lowering slowly.

"Uh-oh," Vector thought, panicking.

The crocodilian cringed, preparing for the inevitable.

"Stop right there, Dr. Robotnik!"

The crocodile's eyes widened. That voice... was it really Espio?

It was! Vector saw the purple chameleon, followed by Charmy, running toward the doctor, attacking him with a spinning jump kick. Robotnik stumbled and fell on his rear, cursing and shaking his fist. Vector felt relieved that his friends were there, but the crane was still lowering, so he wasn't out of the woods yet.

"We'll untie you, Vector, just let us kick this guy's butt first!" Charmy Bee shouted.

Vector tried to shout "Hurry!", but it only came out as a muffled grunt.

"Not so fast," Robotnik said, getting up.

His EggRobo assistants came from all sides. Espio jumped up into the air, dragging Charmy out of the way as the robots shot at them. Robotnik used the diversion to leap into his Egg Mobile hurriedly.

Vector watched his friends battle the robots, grunting as he saw Robotnik getting away. He saw that Charmy noticed, but with the badniks occupying them, there wasn't much the bee and chameleon could do. Vector watched his friends rise higher and higher in his field of vision as the crane lowered steadily.

"Please, hurry!" he thought frantically.

The EggRobos were firing haphazardly at his friends, who dodged every shot. A beam fired at Vector. He barely managed to swing out of the way. Another fired toward him, and seared straight through the dangling part of the rope, sending him plummeting downward. He landed in the gooey oil with a splat.

The murky oil bubbled around him as his large frame sunk down into the sticky mass. "This is it. I'm a goner..." he thought. A knot in his stomach intensified and he let out muffled noises, hoping Espio and Charmy would find a way to help him before he went under.

Espio saw him land in the oil and gasped. He managed to quickly finish off the badniks with Charmy's help.

Espio ran to the control terminal of the crane, hastily scanning the buttons. Pressing keys furiously, he made the crane lower itself.

"Vector!" he called. "Try to hook your rope bindings onto the crane!"

The crocodilian shifted and struggled in the thick oil, attempting to get the crane's hook to latch onto the rope. No such luck. He made a muffled groan as the black mass sucked him down deeper, only his shoulders and head above the surface now.

"Wait a minute... I think I have an idea!" Espio shouted.

Espio dashed to the edge of the walkway and leaped forward. Grabbing the chain portion of the crane, his inertia caused it to swing forward and then back. The hook whacked Vector in the face, and then hit him on the back of his head. The crocodilian yelped as well as he could with his maw tied. Then his head went under, the crocodile whimpering one last time.

"Ack! I'm sorry Vector!" Espio slid down the chain until his foot found a place on the hook. With one hand on the chain, he reached down with the other, searching around through the oil, and grabbed at the submerged reptile by the rope tied around him, dirtying his arm in the process.

"Here goes nothing..."

The chameleon pulled up as hard as he could, panting audibly from the effort. Vector wasn't exactly heavyset, but he wasn't a butterfly either. Espio slowly extracted the submerged crocodile, who gasped desperately for air (as well as he could, with his muzzle tied) when his head breached the surface.

"Do you think... you could cut down... on the pizza?" Espio grunted.

Vector made a face as if to say, "I'm going to eat YOU when I get out of this mess."

"Charmy, can you bring the crane back up?" Espio yelled up to the bee.

"Sure thing!" Charmy fiddled with the buttons. The crane started to dip downward.

"UP! NOT DOWN!" Espio cried.

"Oopsie!" Charmy pressed another button, and much to the reptiles' relief, the crane began to rise slowly.

"Now, when it gets up, move it over the platform!" Espio instructed.

Charmy did as the chameleon told him. As the crane moved over solid ground, Espio's grip faltered and he dropped Vector down onto the walkway, on his back, knocking the wind out of him. The crocodilian was dripping oil, black from head to toe, a puddle of the ooze pooling around him.

"Are you okay?" Espio jumped down from the crane and stood over his friend, untying Vector's snout.

Between gasps, the crocodile managed, "I hate... you guys."

Poor Vector... at least he's safe :p