"And suddenly, I encountered a flock of the great spotted yew nork, a
most exquisite if brutish bird. Mind you, a yew nork can be very
aggressive when it feels threatened, more so than your spruce nork or oak
nork, so naturally we were beset on all sides by these fowl creatures. Hah
hah! Very punny, if I do say so myself." Sir Walter sipped a glass of
cherry juice as he prepared to continue at the dinner table. "But, right
as rain, we held our own and took a few of them down. We might have been
done for if it hadn't been for the blessing of a few tribal cats that
happened upon us. Quite amiable and dependable, the cats of that region of
the world. Of course, their manners are a bit atrocious, but one mustn't
be so petty in good company." He finally took a breath of air, and shouted
with a start. "Brrrumph! Good heavens, Frederick! Are you ill?!"
Sonic had fallen half asleep in his soup, not quite getting unconscious because it smelled so bad. Probably poison, anyways, the way 'Buttnik ran things. Now he snapped to, broth dripping from his nose, and sputtered something that he meant to sound like "Um, no sir, not at all!"
"You must excuse young Frederick, sir," Robotnik interrupted. "He is very exhausted from his long journey."
"Uh, yeah, I mean, yes," Sonic spluttered, trying to save face. "I've come from a long and far away place that is, uh, long and far away." He heard 'Buttnik slap his forehead in disgust, and cringed.
"You don't say? I do believe I know that region of the world," Sir Walter smiled. "You see, on one of my journeys abroad, a grand state did indeed send me to Longandfaraway, which is a little known part of the world also known as the Floating Island. Never knew they called it that myself, brrm hmm."
Sonic looked in anxiety at 'Buttnik, who responded by rolling his eyes.
"Indeed, a nice gent by the name of Locke there. He and his son introduced me to the greatness of some large emerald they really seemed to be fond of, although the blokes forbade me from any hunting. The chap, unfortunately, had to escort me from the island for reasons that I don't fully comprehend. Something about 'noise pollution' of some sort. I certainly hope to this day he took care of it all right." And off he went again. Robotnik had a look on his face befitting the frustration of coming so close and not quite succeeding in heisting that particular gem. Or was it the frustration of his uncle not putting a lid on it?
This was starting to not be worth the joke.
"And that is why you shouldn't send a machine to do a man's job!" Sir Walter finally finished. "They are so easily manipulated, as was the case I just described. Only dear Julian seems to create things reasonably close to being smart enough to do something right, in my humble opinion." A hopeful smile came to 'Buttnik's face. "Except for that loathsome Click creature. Utterly incompetent."
"That's the closest thing to a compliment I've gotten from him since he got here," 'Buttnik whispered in Sonic's ear. Sheesh, no wonder he was insane. Not that it made any difference, he still had to be stopped. It was a good thing he hadn't brought Tails here with him or he'd be twice as fidgety...
Tails...
Crap!!
He'd left him exactly how long ago?!
"Uh," he spoke, "sorry to be stepping out so shortly, but I do believe I have forgotten a prior engagement elsewhere with my esteemed friend Sir Miles. More towards the outskirts of - "
"Oh, Frederick, must you be going so soon?" 'Buttnik interrupted. "My apologies, sir, he must be on his way. Out of town, I'm afraid."
"Pish-tosh, Julian. He barely got here just now. Don't be rushing him off."
"Fortunately, sir, he's going on a great hunting expedition that you would most definitely be interested in." He was? "Yes, and if it's, uh, not too short notice - "
"I'd be delighted!" Sir Walter exclaimed, leaping from his chair. "When do we leave?"
"As quickly as possible, of course." 'Buttnik sure knew how to talk his way into getting what he wanted. "If you'd like, you can stay out as long as you want..."
"Smashing!! I was beginning to fear that this place would be too desperately dull for my tastes. Very well, I shall dress and prepare, young Frederick, and we shall depart post-haste!" He stood up suddenly, and shook his nephew's hand, receiving a surprisingly appreciative pat on the back from 'Buttnik. "It was good to see you again, Julian, and I hope that I may return before too long. Tally-ho!" And with that Sir Walter strode out of the room to get his things, leaving a very befuddled Sonic and relieved-looking Robotnik.
"At last..."
"I guess this is my part of the deal?" The tyrant nodded at his response. "That was pretty smooth. Too bad I still have to stop you eventually."
"As if you could prevail, rodent."
Both chuckled uneasily for a bit, and then suffered through an awkward silence.
"So...what's my part of the bargain? Anything I want, right?"
"Within reason, as I said. But first," Robotnik leered, "you must get him out of my hair."
"Or lack thereof?"
The Eggman clenched his teeth at this. "You had best count your blessings, hedgehog, because I do not plan on calling a truce again," he forced through his pearly whites. "Now go get ready, and I shall contact you through an intercom. Be gone!"
Jerk. After all these years, couldn't he just once give Sonic a bit of respect? It was just as well, he supposed. He was evil, wasn't he? Evil guys weren't cool usually. Besides, he'd been forced to admit - although he could handle it by himself no matter what - that 'Buttnik's underestimating him sure did help sometimes. Sonic shrugged it off and sped off in a blaze out the door, kicking up as much dust as he could just to tick him off a little.
*******************
"All hail the Great Potemkin! Give me your darned socks!" Cluck declared triumphantly, his head spinning in an other-worldly fashion. A gloved hand clicked his main switch off again.
Tails loved hardwiring things when he could. He kind of wondered if what he was doing right now was necessary, really, considering this robot was a joke to begin with. Sonic would think this was so awesome when he got back, though. He snickered to himself for the millionth time from his hiding spot inside one of the boxes, opened up on one side facing the other boxes so it wasn't so stuffy.
So far, the speech and motor transistors had been switched around a bit; now Cluck would speak and move before he could process his actions. What else could he make this guy do...heh heh. That was just mean. Maybe even this piece of tin didn't deserve this.
Sure he did.
Tails took out a wrench and began to unscrew Cluck's right leg. This was going to go where his head now was, if the arm fit the socket. Then the left arm would take its place, and the head would go somewhere else. He chuckled aloud. This guy was going to look sooo much stupider.
The extremities came off pretty quickly, and fortunately were interchangeable. 'Buttnik must have been a bit lazy putting his artificial lackey together. Tightening the bolts with his wrench, Tails finished quickly and flipped the back compartment open again to turn Cluck on.
"B-brrr-boracho pigeons!" Cluck said as he started back up, the leg attached to where his head should be spinning a bit. His head, now in his left leg's original position, banged the side of the box several times, declaring its admiration for the federal constitution of some country called the Islets of Langerhans.
Tails leaned back and let out a big belly laugh, snorting a bit. 'Buttnik was going to be so mad! The robot continued to whirr around and spew nonsense for about ten seconds, and the kit managed to put a lid on his mirth in case some SWATs were around. He sat back and watched his new, improved version of Cluck for a while. Maybe he'd find some way to attach the plasma pistol the bird had, which was lying somewhere outside. The voice eventually began to increase in pitch, and the limbs started gradually building up momentum, moving faster.
Okay, that was a bit too fast. And that arm came a little too close for comfort.
Jeez, the way Cluck hit that wall looked like it would hurt a lot.
Um...Tails decided to run for it.
Bolting out of the open side of the box and narrowly avoiding being punched in the shin, he retreated a good thirty feet away and took cover behind another box, watching in dismay.
The whirling dervish machine began to pound on the sides of the crate with increasing violence, making quite a few dents in all sides of the box before finally creating another way out by smashing his way through a wall. He started moving in random directions, cartwheeling a few feet one way before jumping up and slamming in another. So long as it wasn't moving towards him... Or was it?
"You skirmishing brat!" Cluck exclaimed, turning his head for a moment to face his tormentor with a none-too-pleased expression. "I'll bless you with punches and sticks!"
Well, it seemed he'd sort of overridden Tails' new changes to his system, not completely or even close to completely, but enough to have an idea of what was going on and have a tiny bit of control over what he was doing. Now the bird seemed to be heading his way at a respectable pace, still swinging and whirling in a manic fashion. Given this, and that there was virtually no way to approach the machine to turn him off, there was one logical step remaining, which he would now take.
"Aaaaah!" Tails screamed, running a few steps and then taking off with his helicopter tail. "Somebody help!"
Why weren't there any high ledges he could go to inside this stinking building?
Sonic had fallen half asleep in his soup, not quite getting unconscious because it smelled so bad. Probably poison, anyways, the way 'Buttnik ran things. Now he snapped to, broth dripping from his nose, and sputtered something that he meant to sound like "Um, no sir, not at all!"
"You must excuse young Frederick, sir," Robotnik interrupted. "He is very exhausted from his long journey."
"Uh, yeah, I mean, yes," Sonic spluttered, trying to save face. "I've come from a long and far away place that is, uh, long and far away." He heard 'Buttnik slap his forehead in disgust, and cringed.
"You don't say? I do believe I know that region of the world," Sir Walter smiled. "You see, on one of my journeys abroad, a grand state did indeed send me to Longandfaraway, which is a little known part of the world also known as the Floating Island. Never knew they called it that myself, brrm hmm."
Sonic looked in anxiety at 'Buttnik, who responded by rolling his eyes.
"Indeed, a nice gent by the name of Locke there. He and his son introduced me to the greatness of some large emerald they really seemed to be fond of, although the blokes forbade me from any hunting. The chap, unfortunately, had to escort me from the island for reasons that I don't fully comprehend. Something about 'noise pollution' of some sort. I certainly hope to this day he took care of it all right." And off he went again. Robotnik had a look on his face befitting the frustration of coming so close and not quite succeeding in heisting that particular gem. Or was it the frustration of his uncle not putting a lid on it?
This was starting to not be worth the joke.
"And that is why you shouldn't send a machine to do a man's job!" Sir Walter finally finished. "They are so easily manipulated, as was the case I just described. Only dear Julian seems to create things reasonably close to being smart enough to do something right, in my humble opinion." A hopeful smile came to 'Buttnik's face. "Except for that loathsome Click creature. Utterly incompetent."
"That's the closest thing to a compliment I've gotten from him since he got here," 'Buttnik whispered in Sonic's ear. Sheesh, no wonder he was insane. Not that it made any difference, he still had to be stopped. It was a good thing he hadn't brought Tails here with him or he'd be twice as fidgety...
Tails...
Crap!!
He'd left him exactly how long ago?!
"Uh," he spoke, "sorry to be stepping out so shortly, but I do believe I have forgotten a prior engagement elsewhere with my esteemed friend Sir Miles. More towards the outskirts of - "
"Oh, Frederick, must you be going so soon?" 'Buttnik interrupted. "My apologies, sir, he must be on his way. Out of town, I'm afraid."
"Pish-tosh, Julian. He barely got here just now. Don't be rushing him off."
"Fortunately, sir, he's going on a great hunting expedition that you would most definitely be interested in." He was? "Yes, and if it's, uh, not too short notice - "
"I'd be delighted!" Sir Walter exclaimed, leaping from his chair. "When do we leave?"
"As quickly as possible, of course." 'Buttnik sure knew how to talk his way into getting what he wanted. "If you'd like, you can stay out as long as you want..."
"Smashing!! I was beginning to fear that this place would be too desperately dull for my tastes. Very well, I shall dress and prepare, young Frederick, and we shall depart post-haste!" He stood up suddenly, and shook his nephew's hand, receiving a surprisingly appreciative pat on the back from 'Buttnik. "It was good to see you again, Julian, and I hope that I may return before too long. Tally-ho!" And with that Sir Walter strode out of the room to get his things, leaving a very befuddled Sonic and relieved-looking Robotnik.
"At last..."
"I guess this is my part of the deal?" The tyrant nodded at his response. "That was pretty smooth. Too bad I still have to stop you eventually."
"As if you could prevail, rodent."
Both chuckled uneasily for a bit, and then suffered through an awkward silence.
"So...what's my part of the bargain? Anything I want, right?"
"Within reason, as I said. But first," Robotnik leered, "you must get him out of my hair."
"Or lack thereof?"
The Eggman clenched his teeth at this. "You had best count your blessings, hedgehog, because I do not plan on calling a truce again," he forced through his pearly whites. "Now go get ready, and I shall contact you through an intercom. Be gone!"
Jerk. After all these years, couldn't he just once give Sonic a bit of respect? It was just as well, he supposed. He was evil, wasn't he? Evil guys weren't cool usually. Besides, he'd been forced to admit - although he could handle it by himself no matter what - that 'Buttnik's underestimating him sure did help sometimes. Sonic shrugged it off and sped off in a blaze out the door, kicking up as much dust as he could just to tick him off a little.
*******************
"All hail the Great Potemkin! Give me your darned socks!" Cluck declared triumphantly, his head spinning in an other-worldly fashion. A gloved hand clicked his main switch off again.
Tails loved hardwiring things when he could. He kind of wondered if what he was doing right now was necessary, really, considering this robot was a joke to begin with. Sonic would think this was so awesome when he got back, though. He snickered to himself for the millionth time from his hiding spot inside one of the boxes, opened up on one side facing the other boxes so it wasn't so stuffy.
So far, the speech and motor transistors had been switched around a bit; now Cluck would speak and move before he could process his actions. What else could he make this guy do...heh heh. That was just mean. Maybe even this piece of tin didn't deserve this.
Sure he did.
Tails took out a wrench and began to unscrew Cluck's right leg. This was going to go where his head now was, if the arm fit the socket. Then the left arm would take its place, and the head would go somewhere else. He chuckled aloud. This guy was going to look sooo much stupider.
The extremities came off pretty quickly, and fortunately were interchangeable. 'Buttnik must have been a bit lazy putting his artificial lackey together. Tightening the bolts with his wrench, Tails finished quickly and flipped the back compartment open again to turn Cluck on.
"B-brrr-boracho pigeons!" Cluck said as he started back up, the leg attached to where his head should be spinning a bit. His head, now in his left leg's original position, banged the side of the box several times, declaring its admiration for the federal constitution of some country called the Islets of Langerhans.
Tails leaned back and let out a big belly laugh, snorting a bit. 'Buttnik was going to be so mad! The robot continued to whirr around and spew nonsense for about ten seconds, and the kit managed to put a lid on his mirth in case some SWATs were around. He sat back and watched his new, improved version of Cluck for a while. Maybe he'd find some way to attach the plasma pistol the bird had, which was lying somewhere outside. The voice eventually began to increase in pitch, and the limbs started gradually building up momentum, moving faster.
Okay, that was a bit too fast. And that arm came a little too close for comfort.
Jeez, the way Cluck hit that wall looked like it would hurt a lot.
Um...Tails decided to run for it.
Bolting out of the open side of the box and narrowly avoiding being punched in the shin, he retreated a good thirty feet away and took cover behind another box, watching in dismay.
The whirling dervish machine began to pound on the sides of the crate with increasing violence, making quite a few dents in all sides of the box before finally creating another way out by smashing his way through a wall. He started moving in random directions, cartwheeling a few feet one way before jumping up and slamming in another. So long as it wasn't moving towards him... Or was it?
"You skirmishing brat!" Cluck exclaimed, turning his head for a moment to face his tormentor with a none-too-pleased expression. "I'll bless you with punches and sticks!"
Well, it seemed he'd sort of overridden Tails' new changes to his system, not completely or even close to completely, but enough to have an idea of what was going on and have a tiny bit of control over what he was doing. Now the bird seemed to be heading his way at a respectable pace, still swinging and whirling in a manic fashion. Given this, and that there was virtually no way to approach the machine to turn him off, there was one logical step remaining, which he would now take.
"Aaaaah!" Tails screamed, running a few steps and then taking off with his helicopter tail. "Somebody help!"
Why weren't there any high ledges he could go to inside this stinking building?