CHAPTER SIX - Beguilement
The next morning, Nail finally arrived back at Robotropolis, unaware he had three stalkers after him the whole time. He was too busy beating himself up about Sonic's death to notice them.
As much as I've liked this lifestyle, I wanna give it up after last night. Maybe after I donate the money to the freedom fighters, I could join them myself... But would they really accept me after what I did to their leader?
Nail shook his head as he pulled up in front of Robotnik's command center in the middle of Robotropolis. He had to bring out his tough guy image again, just like he did back when first met him. He didn't want Robotnik to suspect anything about his true feelings towards Sonic and his gang.
Like last time when he came, he was escorted up to Robotnik's office again while being flanked by two sentries. Robotnik was also seated at his desk again when he came in.
"Please sit down," he said in a friendly way.
Nail quickly sat down, and launched into a spiel: "Alright, Doc, I've done what you asked. I have killed Sonic the Hedgehog. Here's proof!"
He took a video disc out of his pocket and handed it to Robotnik. Robotnik took the disc and put it inside his computer. He watched Nail fail to snipe Sonic, and then the mad chase through the forest in his dune buggy before Sonic slipped off the cliff. Lastly, he watched Nail fire the last shot which sent Sonic falling from the cliff ledge to the ground far below. After Sonic crashed through the trees, he turned off the movie and grinned at Nail, apparently very pleased with him.
"Excellent work my friend..." Robotnik said sincerely.
"Yeah, it was excellent work, wasn't it?" Nail practically shouted out. "Now, hold up your end of the deal. Give me my payment!"
Nail held out his hand towards Robotnik to get his money.
"Calm down! You'll get it soon enough. I have another offer for you..."
"I'm not interested in any more offers. Just give me what I want so I can get out of here!"
"Just hear me out, please?" Robotnik said as he moved around the desk to stand closer to Nail. He also motioned for Nail to stand.
Nail hesitated for a moment, and then said "Fine, but make it quick!" as he stood up to stand next to Robotnik.
Robotnik ushered him over to the window. They both stood side by side while gazing out over the ugly city of Robotropolis.
"You are among one of the best fighters I've ever seen in my life. I would like it very much if you would work for me more," Robotnik said as he turned to look at Nail.
"I'm sorry, but I never tie myself to one client. I belong to nobody but myself."
"Well...that's unfortunate..." Robotnik said in a disappointed voice. "If you won't work for me, then I'm afraid I'll have to persuade you some more to do it."
Nail turned to look at Robotnik, and saw that he was wearing that evil grin again.
"What do you me-AAAAH!" Robotnik had jabbed a syringe into his arm and depressed the plunger before Nail could get away.
Nail quickly jumped away from Robotnik and pulled out a pistol. He aimed it at Robotnik's grinning face.
"WHAT WAS THAT!"
"Oh don't worry," said Robotnik in a casual tone, "after a short while, you'll be even better than you are now!"
"Why...you..." Nail said as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Apparently he had been injected with some kind of sleeping drug. He tried to shoot Robotnik, but suddenly he saw three Robotniks standing in front of him due to his blurring vision. He was getting very tired and his vision was fading quickly. Several seconds later, the incoming darkness in his mind swallowed his consciousness completely. The last thing Nail heard was Robotnik's laughter echoing in his ears.
"Did you see that!" said Tails. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were on a rooftop near Robotnik's command center, and they had watched the whole scene in Robotnik's office through his window with the help of binoculars.
As Sonic watched Robotnik order two swatbots to carry away the unconscious fox, he said "Robotnik must have asked him to kill me for something in exchange, but then Robotnik back-stabbed him as we saw just now. That's no big surprise though..."
"What should we do Sonic? Should we save him?" asked Knuckles.
"Well...even though he tried to kill me, I think we should do it," Sonic said. "He was probably only doing a job for Robotnik for some money and he's not really on his side."
"Let's work out a plan right now then," Knuckles said.
The three of them huddled together on the rooftop and started talking together.
Another couple hours later, Nail regained consciousness. He shook his head a few times, and suddenly remembered what had happened just before he had fallen asleep.
Devious fatso...after I get out of here, maybe I should start checking out my clients more before I work for them... If I get out of here that is...
He realized he was trapped inside a brightly lit glass tube. Through the glass he could see the rest of the room was littered with large amounts of machinery. It wasn't as brightly lit as the tube however, so he couldn't see much. It was enough to get him scared though. He realized that he was in a roboticizer. He'd probably be made out of metal if he didn't get out of here fast.
Nail stood up and reached into all his hidden pockets in his combat vest for weapons. Unfortunately, he saw that Robotnik had totally stripped him of his items before leaving him in here.
Wait...he missed something... thought Nail as he felt a boxy shape in one of his extra well-hidden pockets. He pulled the object out, and saw that it was a small tazer gun.
Terrific...lot of good a bunch of sparks will do me in trying to bust through this thick glass... Nail thought unhappily.
He heard footsteps sounding in the hall outside one of the doors, and quickly hid his tazer back in his pocket. Robotnik strode into the room with a beaming smile on his face a moment later.
"Welcome to the roboticizer my friend!" Robotnik called out in a loud voice.
"Shut up," Nail spat back.
"Now now...no need to be rude. You should be thanking me. Instead of turning you into a worker drone like most of the others that have passed through here, I'm going to be making you commander over my army! You really impressed me with your combat skills in that movie you made for me..."
"I'm not going to do it. Let me out of here!"
"You are in no position to order me around."
Robotnik moved over to a console and stood next to a sinister-looking black lever. Nail stayed quiet for a minute, but it wasn't because he was scared. An idea was beginning to form in his head.
Maybe that tazer can help me get out of here. If I can short circuit this machine, then it will be disabled. I don't know what Robotnik will do after that, but it beats the heck out of getting turned into a robot.
"Something wrong?" Robotnik said.
"No no, just throw that stupid lever. I hate it when the villains get all suspenseful before they kill the hero or whatever."
"As you wish..." Robotnik depressed the lever, and the roboticizer began to hum as it charged up.
"Just relax, it will be over in a minute," Robotnik said.
"You are right. It will be over in a minute!" Nail said.
Nail pulled out his tazer gun as the hum grew louder. He jumped up off the floor and kicked both of his legs out. He was now supporting himself above the floor of the tube by pushing his legs against the glass walls. Rings of energy were slowly beginning to move up the length of the tube.
Hope this works...
Nail turned the tazer gun up to its maximum setting, and he thrust it at the floor of the tube. Electricity surged through the machinery at the base of the roboticizer. There were a bunch of pops and then the machinery stopped humming as steam rose from the fried circuits. Nail dropped back down to the floor of the chamber and put his tazer back in his pocket.
"Well, that was impressive Nail, but there's more than one way for me to dispose of you in there."
"What are you talking about?"
"I can also suck the oxygen out of the chamber you're in. If you're not going to join me, then I don't want you to join anyone else." Robotnik grinned evilly, and placed his finger over a yellow button near the lever.
Aww...how am I going to get out of this one!
"DIE!" Robotnik yelled before pressing the button down.
The oxygen was immediately sucked out of the glass chamber with a whoosh. Nail continued standing for a moment, but then gasped and collapsed to the floor.
"I obviously didn't search you very thoroughly before," Robotnik said as he strode over closer to the chamber. "That was a good try to escape, but it's too bad it didn't work! Ha ha ha! However, I can still save your life, if you'll come with me to another roboticizer and become commander of my army."
Nail turned away from Robotnik as he clawed at the other side of the chamber.
"I'd say you have just a couple more minutes before you die from lack of oxygen. Make your choice quickly! Ha ha ha!"
Robotnik stepped away from the glass and sat in a chair so he could watch Nail without aching feet. Nail was still in a mindless panic to escape though.
Come on Nail! Think of something!