"I told you, he was a robot! He can be rebuilt! Really!"
"Don't waste my time with your prattle, Frederick!" Wow, was that hypocritical. Apparently it ran in the family, too. "You've gone and used my family heirloom blunderbuss on a sentient being, and he literally exploded right in front of us in a gruesome fashion. Therefore I must place you under citizens' arrest until you are shown to the proper authorities. Mind you, I used to know plenty of policemen in my day, and I'll warrant that they're still around here somewhere. Good chaps, mind you, so go quietly and we'll see what we can do about jailtime."
Sonic would throw up his hands in disgust, but seeing as they were already up, he decided on rolling his eyeballs instead as he trudged back through the factory at an annoyingly slow rate.
He was being marched by gunpoint by Sir Walter, who had been convinced he'd done something very unnecessary and very immoral. Tails, meanwhile, was holding Cluck's severed head with one hand, tugging on Sir Walter's safari shirt with the other, and trying in vain to convince this quirky stranger that Sonic had indeed not committed a crime.
"Now, back in the day, the policeman were always sure to make the town in tip-top shape. If Julian would only keep some around, perhaps it wouldn't be so dingy."
"Oh, you have no idea how many he keeps around here," Sonic muttered.
"Indeed?! In that case they have most certainly failed at their jobs."
A spycam announced its presence by whipping around a doorway and bearing down on them until it was right in Sonic's face, almost as if it were taking a survey in a grocery store.
"Well, here's one of them now, if you'd like to talk things out."
"Ahrumph, I most certainly would." Sir Walter halted, Tails hiding behind him with a renewed dislike of all technology apt to chase people around. "Now see here - "
"Shut up!" 'Buttnik demanded furiously. It seemed hiding behind an intercom with an engine and a lens brought some bravery out in him. That, and not having to deal with his uncle again.
"How dare you!" A hand shoved the hedgehog aside and then whacked the camera in such a way that it now shook a bit because a rotor mechanism had been broken.
"So, you think you can just destroy my personal assistant, do you, rodent?! Very well, that will be my side of the bargain...that, and about five minutes to leave before my SWATbots arrive to escort you to your doom!"
"Ah, so you do have a police escort? Come now, it may be a capital offense, but there's no need to lynch good Frederick. After all, he may have had temporary insanity. Why, I remember a poor acquaintance of mine that went completely off his rocker - "
"Enough, of your, stupid, stories, uncle!! I don't want to hear another boring story." A sniff and a snob made themselves heard. Was...was 'Buttnik crying? "Why do you always have to take someone else's side about everything? Why are you always naysaying everything I do?" The vibrations of the broken spycam seemed to make it commiserate with its user's plight. "Aren't I ever good enough for you? Did you have to break my robot? Did you?" Sonic wanted to vomit.
"Robot? You mean Cluck was a programmed toy?"
"I told you!" Tails piped in.
"Quiet, boy! Speak when you're spoken to, et cetera." The kit shut up dejectedly, and then fixed his attention towards Sir Walter's upper back. "So, it's not murder?"
"Of course not, you desiccated fool!" Tails spun his tails and floated for a few seconds, and Sonic watched him pick something off the back of the Eggery, who had an expression of shock and umbrage at what 'Buttnik just found the guts to call him. "Now I have to build him all over again. Why can't you just - "
A blunderbuss blast put the spycam out of commission.
"He was always a bit of a tantrum thrower, but I will not tolerate mechanical insults," Sir Walter stated, shouldering his rifle. "Very well, Frederick, I must apologize at calling you a criminal. Though, I must admonish, breaking Julian's things isn't very proper!" Tails waved what he'd picked off Sir Walter at Sonic. "A lot of effort goes into his creations, you know. Although that Cluck fellow was quite inane, if you ask my humble opinion. In fact, if it weren't for the immorality of destruction I would find it quite amusing."
Sonic nodded, more out of knowing the Eggery wouldn't know the small, shiny thing had been there. Now, for one more fib to complete the whole charade.
"Well, that's what Julian makes them for, for hunting purposes."
Sir Walter's monocle dropped from his eye in surprise. "Hunting, say you?"
"Uh, yeah, I mean yes, every last one for sport. Get as many as you can, that's the name of the game. It's just that, uh, he doesn't like the animaloid ones being hunted because, uh, he prefers those for himself." Man, Sonic hoped he didn't sound bitter. That wouldn't be him at all, and it wouldn't look cool either, especially to Tails. He could do anything he needed to, had always been able to, and people needed to see that at all times.
"Really?! Well, why didn't Julian just say so?! This is extraordinary! Let us continue the game! I'll wager five dollars that I can best you in terms of numbers!"
"Well, uh, actually, weren't we going to visit Princess Sally?"
"Ah, yes, of course. It will be even more splendid to see her and her family again, as well as all your exploits." Sir Walter cheerily motioned in the direction of his transport. "And drop that ghastly head, young fox! That's one trophy I don't want on my wall."
Tails let go of Cluck's head, and also furtively threw the homing device he'd found on Sir Walter's back to the ground, crushing it under his heel.
****************
Finally, Robotnik was getting back to the business of world conquest.
It had taken him a couple of weeks since he shipped his uncle to the rodents to get himself sane and finish rebuilding Cluck. Just for kicks, he'd reconfigured the bird's personality so that he'd have a petty vendetta against the fox brat. No, the lackey wouldn't try to kill the tyke - the robot probably wasn't strong enough to attack even him - just steal his candy or execute some other self-assigned command to make him cry. And that would only serve him right for tampering with the great Robotnik's personal assistant.
So, it was obvious that the rodent had found the tracking device two weeks ago, as he couldn't find it on his scanners. What indeed had happened to his cantankerous, bombastic, sickeningly good uncle?
Who cared, really. Robotnik left that up in the air as amusing speculation. Perhaps he'd been tried for treason, and was sitting in some primitive cage spouting on about his epic clash with the Triple-Crested Hat of Doom or something. Then suggest a spot of tea. Oh, that'd go over well.
Finally, the tables were turned. Perhaps the great Sir Walter Eggery realized what his nephew was capable of all along. Too bad Robotnik would never hear his remarks about it, or anything else, ever again.
"Hedgehog alert, sector G-12," announced a spycam intercom.
Gee, what else was new. He'd almost grown to accept his enemy's near- constant intrusions. Sooner or later, he'd make a mistake, as he did very occasionally, but sooner or later, his friends wouldn't be able to bail him out, and then...
"Hey, 'Buttnik? Remember your loving family?"
This taunt by the rodent was underscored by a couple blasts from a familiar weapon that Robotnik was none too fond of seeing.
"Oh, what a gorgeous time! Julian, my boy? I don't know if you can hear me, but this is incredible, what you've done! Not only am I not killing anything at all with this game of yours, but the targets shoot back!" Sir Walter paused to audibly blast a couple more SWATs. "It's such an exciting twist, that Princess Sally allowed me to set up a bit of a lodge right outside the city. Frederick and I can hunt all day whenever he wishes, and I can drop by from time to time! My congratulations, Julian, on this outstanding entertainment!" Another shot, another robot downed.
He wanted to ask where was that praise all the other times he could have used it, as his finger jammed the reply button. He wanted to shout at him that this was no game and that SWATbots were designed to be a lethal infantry and patrol force for his very real plans of world conquest. He wanted to curse him for being so stuffy, supercilious, specious, and downright stupid, not just for siding with rebels but in general as a person.
"Thank you, sir," was all that could pop out of his mouth instead.
"Ah, so you can hear me!" Blam, clunk. "You are absolutely welcome!"
Robotnik was really going to dislike his life for the duration of this rebellion.
"Don't waste my time with your prattle, Frederick!" Wow, was that hypocritical. Apparently it ran in the family, too. "You've gone and used my family heirloom blunderbuss on a sentient being, and he literally exploded right in front of us in a gruesome fashion. Therefore I must place you under citizens' arrest until you are shown to the proper authorities. Mind you, I used to know plenty of policemen in my day, and I'll warrant that they're still around here somewhere. Good chaps, mind you, so go quietly and we'll see what we can do about jailtime."
Sonic would throw up his hands in disgust, but seeing as they were already up, he decided on rolling his eyeballs instead as he trudged back through the factory at an annoyingly slow rate.
He was being marched by gunpoint by Sir Walter, who had been convinced he'd done something very unnecessary and very immoral. Tails, meanwhile, was holding Cluck's severed head with one hand, tugging on Sir Walter's safari shirt with the other, and trying in vain to convince this quirky stranger that Sonic had indeed not committed a crime.
"Now, back in the day, the policeman were always sure to make the town in tip-top shape. If Julian would only keep some around, perhaps it wouldn't be so dingy."
"Oh, you have no idea how many he keeps around here," Sonic muttered.
"Indeed?! In that case they have most certainly failed at their jobs."
A spycam announced its presence by whipping around a doorway and bearing down on them until it was right in Sonic's face, almost as if it were taking a survey in a grocery store.
"Well, here's one of them now, if you'd like to talk things out."
"Ahrumph, I most certainly would." Sir Walter halted, Tails hiding behind him with a renewed dislike of all technology apt to chase people around. "Now see here - "
"Shut up!" 'Buttnik demanded furiously. It seemed hiding behind an intercom with an engine and a lens brought some bravery out in him. That, and not having to deal with his uncle again.
"How dare you!" A hand shoved the hedgehog aside and then whacked the camera in such a way that it now shook a bit because a rotor mechanism had been broken.
"So, you think you can just destroy my personal assistant, do you, rodent?! Very well, that will be my side of the bargain...that, and about five minutes to leave before my SWATbots arrive to escort you to your doom!"
"Ah, so you do have a police escort? Come now, it may be a capital offense, but there's no need to lynch good Frederick. After all, he may have had temporary insanity. Why, I remember a poor acquaintance of mine that went completely off his rocker - "
"Enough, of your, stupid, stories, uncle!! I don't want to hear another boring story." A sniff and a snob made themselves heard. Was...was 'Buttnik crying? "Why do you always have to take someone else's side about everything? Why are you always naysaying everything I do?" The vibrations of the broken spycam seemed to make it commiserate with its user's plight. "Aren't I ever good enough for you? Did you have to break my robot? Did you?" Sonic wanted to vomit.
"Robot? You mean Cluck was a programmed toy?"
"I told you!" Tails piped in.
"Quiet, boy! Speak when you're spoken to, et cetera." The kit shut up dejectedly, and then fixed his attention towards Sir Walter's upper back. "So, it's not murder?"
"Of course not, you desiccated fool!" Tails spun his tails and floated for a few seconds, and Sonic watched him pick something off the back of the Eggery, who had an expression of shock and umbrage at what 'Buttnik just found the guts to call him. "Now I have to build him all over again. Why can't you just - "
A blunderbuss blast put the spycam out of commission.
"He was always a bit of a tantrum thrower, but I will not tolerate mechanical insults," Sir Walter stated, shouldering his rifle. "Very well, Frederick, I must apologize at calling you a criminal. Though, I must admonish, breaking Julian's things isn't very proper!" Tails waved what he'd picked off Sir Walter at Sonic. "A lot of effort goes into his creations, you know. Although that Cluck fellow was quite inane, if you ask my humble opinion. In fact, if it weren't for the immorality of destruction I would find it quite amusing."
Sonic nodded, more out of knowing the Eggery wouldn't know the small, shiny thing had been there. Now, for one more fib to complete the whole charade.
"Well, that's what Julian makes them for, for hunting purposes."
Sir Walter's monocle dropped from his eye in surprise. "Hunting, say you?"
"Uh, yeah, I mean yes, every last one for sport. Get as many as you can, that's the name of the game. It's just that, uh, he doesn't like the animaloid ones being hunted because, uh, he prefers those for himself." Man, Sonic hoped he didn't sound bitter. That wouldn't be him at all, and it wouldn't look cool either, especially to Tails. He could do anything he needed to, had always been able to, and people needed to see that at all times.
"Really?! Well, why didn't Julian just say so?! This is extraordinary! Let us continue the game! I'll wager five dollars that I can best you in terms of numbers!"
"Well, uh, actually, weren't we going to visit Princess Sally?"
"Ah, yes, of course. It will be even more splendid to see her and her family again, as well as all your exploits." Sir Walter cheerily motioned in the direction of his transport. "And drop that ghastly head, young fox! That's one trophy I don't want on my wall."
Tails let go of Cluck's head, and also furtively threw the homing device he'd found on Sir Walter's back to the ground, crushing it under his heel.
****************
Finally, Robotnik was getting back to the business of world conquest.
It had taken him a couple of weeks since he shipped his uncle to the rodents to get himself sane and finish rebuilding Cluck. Just for kicks, he'd reconfigured the bird's personality so that he'd have a petty vendetta against the fox brat. No, the lackey wouldn't try to kill the tyke - the robot probably wasn't strong enough to attack even him - just steal his candy or execute some other self-assigned command to make him cry. And that would only serve him right for tampering with the great Robotnik's personal assistant.
So, it was obvious that the rodent had found the tracking device two weeks ago, as he couldn't find it on his scanners. What indeed had happened to his cantankerous, bombastic, sickeningly good uncle?
Who cared, really. Robotnik left that up in the air as amusing speculation. Perhaps he'd been tried for treason, and was sitting in some primitive cage spouting on about his epic clash with the Triple-Crested Hat of Doom or something. Then suggest a spot of tea. Oh, that'd go over well.
Finally, the tables were turned. Perhaps the great Sir Walter Eggery realized what his nephew was capable of all along. Too bad Robotnik would never hear his remarks about it, or anything else, ever again.
"Hedgehog alert, sector G-12," announced a spycam intercom.
Gee, what else was new. He'd almost grown to accept his enemy's near- constant intrusions. Sooner or later, he'd make a mistake, as he did very occasionally, but sooner or later, his friends wouldn't be able to bail him out, and then...
"Hey, 'Buttnik? Remember your loving family?"
This taunt by the rodent was underscored by a couple blasts from a familiar weapon that Robotnik was none too fond of seeing.
"Oh, what a gorgeous time! Julian, my boy? I don't know if you can hear me, but this is incredible, what you've done! Not only am I not killing anything at all with this game of yours, but the targets shoot back!" Sir Walter paused to audibly blast a couple more SWATs. "It's such an exciting twist, that Princess Sally allowed me to set up a bit of a lodge right outside the city. Frederick and I can hunt all day whenever he wishes, and I can drop by from time to time! My congratulations, Julian, on this outstanding entertainment!" Another shot, another robot downed.
He wanted to ask where was that praise all the other times he could have used it, as his finger jammed the reply button. He wanted to shout at him that this was no game and that SWATbots were designed to be a lethal infantry and patrol force for his very real plans of world conquest. He wanted to curse him for being so stuffy, supercilious, specious, and downright stupid, not just for siding with rebels but in general as a person.
"Thank you, sir," was all that could pop out of his mouth instead.
"Ah, so you can hear me!" Blam, clunk. "You are absolutely welcome!"
Robotnik was really going to dislike his life for the duration of this rebellion.