"Antoine, if you don't quit your whimpering, I'm going to be seriously tempted to plant my boot in your face. Understand?"
Sally and Antoine were crawling through an air-duct as per the plan. Antione had been doing his best impression of a whiny scaredy-cat, though to be fair, it was less of an impression and more of a case of the genuine article. As they continued to crawl further and further into the ducts leading to Robotnik's laboratory, he had in turn continued to emit whines of greater and more frequent intensity, until at last, at Sally's insistence, they had finally ceased. "I am truly sorry, Sally," he said. "It is just that I have, shall we say, issues."
"I'll say. Anyway, we should be getting close to the main lab now. Let's take a look below, shall we?" Sally began looking through the open slits of the duct into the lab beneath her, much to Antoine's protest.
"But Sally," whispered Antoine, "what if you fall through? What if they see you?"
"Relax, Antoine."
"It is easy for you to say," Antoine whimpered. "You do not have what my doctors call a 'neurosis.'" But at this point, Sally could care less. She was much more interested in what was going on below, as two scientists in labcoats were working on completing some sort of device. One of the scientists was a slightly chubby pig who seemed like he'd be in good company with Antoine, while the other was a canary ever so intent on her work, pushing a pencils' eraser to the tip of her beak in thought.
"Uh, Tekno?" The pig was periodically wringing his hands in between bouts of working on the device as though he were a nervous wreck. "You don't think this is a horribly awful bad idea, do you?"
"What's a horribly awful bad idea, Porker?", said Tekno, not even bothering to look at him yet still sounding completely sincere nonetheless.
Porker gestured towards the large glass cylinder they were practically sweating away at, as if only a complete dunce couldn't get the point. "Well, this!" The device itself was some sort of large glass tube with metallic bases that connected it to the floor and ceiling respectively, with a nearby control console that was presumably used for working the darned thing. "You can't honestly say that anything good can come of this, can you?"
"Come of what." Tekno was practically smiling as though she were completely oblivious. As Sally kept listening, she reached into her satchel and pressed a button on Nicole, activating its' in-built recorder. She was positive that she might find some of that fabled proof she was looking for.
"This!", said Porker, almost as if trying to explain basic relativity to a child. "The roboticizer! That's what's a horribly awful bad idea!"
"Oh." Tekno only seemed to be mildly off-put. Not that really she said anything. Tekno was, shall one say, unusual to say the least, and Porker couldn't say he'd ever met anyone quite like her. She was supposed to have some sort of 'disorder', but as for just what it was, he could never be quite sure. She certainly wasn't forthcoming with it at the very least.
Porker went on. "I mean, think about it. According to Robotnik, this thing is supposed to be something that can help save the wounded and increase the lifespans of the elderly, but I've read up on it as much as I could. The original roboticizer was created by one of the most famous scientists who's ever lived, 'Uncle' Chuck, and while the guy meant well, he still made a device that removed its' test subjects wills by accident. Sure, he didn't mean for it to turn out that way, but who means anything really? The point is, we're creating a glorified execution chamber for Mobians who so much as stick a toe out of line."
"Porker." Tekno folded her arms and opened her beak, but the words came out carried no malice or ill-intent meant other than pure utter honesty,which was often commen with her. "No offense intended, and I really mean that, but would you please kindly get to the point?"
Porker pinched his brow, wondering how on Gaea's green Mobius she hadn't gotten it already. Or did she ? "Look. We agreed to come over to Knothole to help Robotnik turn the Acorn Kingdom into something respectable for this day and age, and to show what we could do. And what have we done? Help him build an army of dealers of death he charitably calls 'guards', draw up part of the plans for a Chemical Plant of all things, and, yes, put the finishing touches on something that could easily be used for the wrong reasons. Haven't you thought about any of this?"
"I have. Tekno's expression was as placid and un-changing as ever, betrayed by her frustrated and loud voice. "But the fact is that we don't know for sure just what he is and isn't up to, and if we even so much as attempt to tell the King of all people any of this, Robotnik might have us shot on the spot, providing he isn't the jovial father figure he poses as. And if we stop working, Robotnik's bound to get suspicious. Or he might just get someone else to do the job. Best to placate that man until we've found a workable solution."
"How is just doing whatever he wants until answers arrive somehow somewhen a workable solution?"
"It's the only one I've got!" Tekno snapped, her cool aloof demeanor faltering ever so briefly. Porker was taken aback like a small child who had finally been reprimanded by his parents for reasons that as a child might have in part escaped him, but at last made some sense. Porker shut his eyes and scratched his head with his gloved hand, wondering if maybe she had a point.
"Oy. Look. Maybe there's still some part of Robotnik in there that's actually decent. Maybe there's still that part of him we followed him up here in the first place for. But if he's not on the up and up, then maybe we should quit while we're up ahead."
Just then, a rather familiar and booming voice from a sliding door that just happened to open resounded throughout the entire room like a cold, chilling wave. "Oh, I don't think that's going to be an option. But you have just become eligible for permanent long-term employment!"
Standing in the doorway, not that Sally could see anyway, was none other than himself, with his ever not so faithful first in command Snively and actually oh so faithful Deputy Chief Scientist Grimer at his side. Tekno attempted to behave as though not a single feather had been ruffled, but Porker was a tad more frantic. "Oh, hey, Dr. Robotnik sir!", he said, tugging on his collar as he quickly became a sweaty little piggy. "What a surprise! We, uh, we weren't expecting back you so early, especially not this time of day!"
"Quite. However, the fact is that today is a very important day. So important I can't risk anyone screwing it up. Especially those who I have just learned could be turncoats.
"And just what is so important?" said Tekno.
"Why, what else?", said Robotnik, his mouth grinning like a maniac. "Regicide."
Sally gaped. She couldn't quite believe her ears, but at the same time, it only served to confirm what she'd to some extent believed all along. She just thought he wouldn't be this explicit about it."
"What are they saying?", whispered Antoine, his teeth starting to chatter. "Please do tell me I did not hear what I thought I heard."
Meanwhile, down below, Porker was horrified. And outraged. But mostly horrified. "You can't be serious," he muttered.
"Oh please, no need to get so worked up. After all, I'm not actually planning to kill the king. That was simply shock value. I just couldn't quite resist you see.
"Oh." Porker wasn't really sure whether he should have been relieved or pissed off to no end.
"Although," said Robotnik, stroking his large busty brown mustache, "I am still intent on a hostile takeover, that much is certain."
"You mean a coup," said Tekno.
"Precisely. And thanks to you two most wonderful assistants, I have the means to do it and in half the time I thought I would! If I weren't going to be outlawing paid employment, then you two would most certainly be getting a raise!"
Porker started to piece it all together. "So I was right. Wasn't I? The swatbots and the troopers. The roboticizer. The new surveillance system. None of it was ever meant to help the Acorn Kingdom. You just wanted to take it over!"
"Well said. Of course, I can't actually risk any of this getting out, nor can I let two of my finest scientists and engineers simply wander around freely after starting to question my authenticity. That just wouldn't be prudent."
"Let us cease with the formalities, shall we?" Tekno's face was still oh so calm, but her eyes were practically burrowing straight into Robotnik's soul. "Just what do you intend to do with us? If I may ask."
"That's easy. I could just robotize you, but as you no doubt know by now, the Robotizizer saps anyone of their free will. In terms of your usefulness as scientists, you'd be no better than paperweights. Instead, I'm just going to lock you up for who knows long while forcing you to continue to work for me until your backs break. And if you don't cooperate, then at least I'll still get a couple of nifty paperwights out of it."
This was bad. Sally was witnessing what was essentially full blown treason, and while she couldn't quite blame the scientists for this, she could easily blame Robotnik. Still, as much as she wanted to strangle his neck, she had work to do. She had the proof she needed. All that she had to do now was turn around, crawl back to the royal palace, and show Daddy his precious proof before things could possibly get any worse.
And then Robotnik had to open his big fat mouth.
"Although, you two aren't actually the reason I am here. No, I'm here for something entirely different. Pest control. If you will Snively?"
The short, bald, long-nosed Snively grinned like a shark about to chomp down on his prey. "With pleasure sir." Before any single person had the chance to do anything, Snively whipped out a laser blaster concealed within his shirt and fired it at the air ducts, though not before lowering one of the settings. The laser was like a finely sharpened scalpel designed to meticulously cut away whatever it was aimed at and didn't leave much to chance. All it took then was one deft yet precise flick of the fingers from Snively and the laser promptly blasted a small section of the air ducts in front of Sally, prompting a scream from Antoine that was more akin to the cry of a little girl than anything else. And before Sally could even attempt to run or rather crawl like hell, Snively pointed his blaster straight at her. The jig was up.
Robotnik was howling with laughter. To him, this just may have been better than TV. "Oh, this is rich! And here I thought I'd have to haul you away in chains, but here she is, the princess to the Acorn Kingdom herself, right at my doorstep!"
"The timing couldn't be any better," said Grimer, with a smile as slimy as his green slimly skin. "Couldn't it sir?"
"Quite right Grimer. Quite right."
Porker and Tekno couldn't quite believe their eyes, but there she was, right above them for all to see. They were a bit too flabbergasted to say much of anything really, though if they were going to say anything useful, it would be far too late to do so.
"Oh, Snively?", said Robotnik. "Do take care of the other one, won't you?"
Snively didn't have to say another word. With relish, he took aim at the duct right behind Antoine and sliced it like butter, causing the entire section containing Sally and Antoine to fall straight down like a brick with a rather deft 'thud.' Both Sally and Antoine were more than a tad rattled, (with Antoine in particular whimpering like a baby,) but they were still conscious and still relatively unscathed.
"There we go. "I knew I forgot something.' He and Grimer then reached to their wastes, pulling their own laser blasters out of their holsters. "Now, if all concerned parties could accompany us to the nearest cells, it would be much appreciated."
"What," said Sally, "you aren't just going to interrogate us first?"
"Normally, I would. And I would also use my handy dandy Memory Altercation device to wipe your memories of the last few hours and send you back to daddy none the wiser, as I've done with all of those insipid agents that pest Harvey's sent my way."
"Uh, wait a minute." Porker started to stutter a tick as he began to lose his nerve, yet he still struggled oh so valiantly to keep it. "We actually had one of those? And why weren't we told about it?"
"Because, my dear Porker, there were some things I just wasn't ready to tell. Or willing. Ever really. You overgrown piece of bacon."
"HEY!" Porker's nerve suddenly rose up inside him like the barrel from a shotgun, but one touch on the shoulder from Tekno was enough to cause it to lower back into the depths of his soul once again.
"Now, where was I?" said Robotnik, once again stroking his oh so well kept stache.
"Explaining why you didn't just interrogate them first, sir?", said Snively.
"Oh yes, quite right. It isn't much fun having captives if you can't gloat to them."
"There's one thing I want to know." If Sally felt so much as a twinge of fear, she didn't dare to show it, the slight trembling in her shoulders being the only thing that could possibly betray her. "Just how did you know we were in the air ducts in the first place?"
"Oh, quite simple. My laboratory has a security system which tracks every single iota of the place down to the last detail. Including air ducts. I suppose your kingdom was still stuck in the Dark Ages for so long that you didn't even consider the possibility."
Sally groaned. She had known about security systems. Nicole had even told her about them. How couldn't she have even thought about this? She should have figured they'd cover something as simple as the air ducts. She supposed she HAD been stuck in the Dark Ages for too long. Still, just one thing to remember if she ever tried something like this again. If she'd ever get a chance to.
"Now, Porker and Tekno here; you two are going to stay right inside your cell until I need you." Robotnik then lowered his spectacles down as he looked at Sally and Antoine, revealing a pair of cybernetic black eyes with red pupils that looked like something out of the depths of the Abyss itself. "However, now that I've thought about it, I've got something special in mind for the two of you."
"I can hardly wait." Sally did her best to stay defiant while also hiding her frustration at having messed up so badly. And all Antoine could do without fear of being sliced or blasted to bits by three different lasers was cower in fear, unsure of just what was going to happen next.
"So, you're from the Hilltop zone, you said?"
Tails was sitting with Johnny and Sonic at a table on the patio near the chilidog stand. Sonic was busy resting his feet back on said table while only keeping one lazy eye open, like a cat making the pretense of staying awake while in truth not giving a rat's arse. Tails was seated on a seat opposite Johnny's eating a cherry sundae, while Johnny was eating his chilidog in slow measured bites, savoring each morsel as if it could be his last.
"Yup," said Johnny, pushing down another bite of chilidog. "It's not exactly easy living up there you know. Sure, it's beautiful as all hell, but between the high altitude and the pits of molten lava, it can be a struggle. But hey, it's home."
Tails wasn't sure if he could agree with that statement. "If you say so. In any case, why'd you come down here?"
Johnny took another bite before washing it down with a nice cool glass of water and wiping his mouth with his jacket. "Well, we're technically part of the Acorn Kingdom, being on South Westside Island and all, but most of us don't really get out too much. We just stay in our little corner of the world and go about our merry way. Which is fine most of the time, but every now and then, some of us just want to leave the village and see what's out there. It's that not we don't love our home, but when that wanderlust calls, you gotta strike it while the iron's hot. You know what I'm sayin'?"
Sonic's ears suddenly perked up like a dog who just heard one of its' favorite bags of treats being opened. He sprung up out of his seat before bouncing back down and leaning forward towards Johnny on the table. "Hey," said Sonic, "now you're talking my language!"
"You travelin' too?", said Johnny, taking another bite of his 'dog.
"Yup! Seeing all I can see till I can see no more! And I'm not goin' back home till I've seen it all! Well, except to drop off lil bro that is."
"Uh, yeah," said Tails, who wasn't quite on board with what Sonic had planned. Still, he didn't really like feel like bringing it up just yet. Sort of like a little kid afraid to tell their parents he didn't want to go see their uncle Billy Jo Bob. You didn't really want to go, but it's not like you could really refuse. Johnny didn't fail to take notice of Tails' displeasure, but he let it be for now.
"Same here. Well, sort of. I'll probably be goin' home long before that, but not until I've seen all I want to see."
"By the way," said Tails, "what's the metal staff for?"
"This?" Johnny picked up the double-sided mace, hefting it with such ease and grace that you could swear he was a Superbunny. Not that he was, but in that moment, he certainly gave that impression. "This is a double-sided mace, only made out of metal. My family's got some decent metal workers, enough we could cook up some of these to help us better defend ourselves. And we know how to use 'em."
"Sounds pretty sweet," said Sonic. "You wouldn't mind showing me some of your moves some time, would you? Course, you wouldn't stand a chance, but it's the thought that counts."
"Sonic!" Tails was starting to feel like rather than Sonic being the big bro and him being the lil bro, it may have been the other way around. Johnny on the other hand managed to keep himself calm and level despite the occasional eye twitch.
"Well," said Johnny, "I do know you can run faster than any fella I've ever seen around these parts. Anywhere really. Why, I reckon you could probably beat me with your hands tied behind your back. Literally. So if you don't mind, I think I'd have to give it a pass."
"Aw, you're no fun," said Sonic, almost like a six-year-old miffed that he wasn't going to be able to enjoy himself.
Johnny finally stared to let his calm, controlled demeanor go as a small smirk began to crop up on his lips. "Oh, I reckon I am. I just ain't your kind."
Tails was unsure whether or not he should intervene like the older younger brother he was turning out to be when all of a sudden, a small beaver in a red bowtie got up on a box in the middle of the nearby square and started to speak in a sort of a low-key, lackadaisical drawl.
"Excuse me," he said, his half-closed eyes barely blinking as he took a good look at the crowd in front of him. Sonic was of particular notice, if only because he bared a passing familiarity to those he was about to promote. "Uh, excuse me please," he said, his voice steadily getting louder if only in volume, as it was just as nearly dully monotone as ever. "If I could have your attention, the King is about to open the festival with a few select words of wisdom in front of Castle Acorn, after which the Oracles of Delphi will perform a special concert to celebrate the official opening of the festival. Of course, none of these musicians are actually Oracles, and none of theam are actually from Delphi, but nonetheless, there it is. I think. I should really take notes." He then hopped down from the box and scurried away towards the castle, leading about half of the crowd to follow in him a mix of excitement, wonderment, and sheer utter confusion. Though all Sonic could be was excited as all get out.
"Hey, that's my cousin's band! I didn't know they were gonna be here!"
"Your cousins?" said Tails.
"Yeah, Sonia and Manic! They've also got some chick named Mina with them as their lead singer. Never met her though. In any case, I've never heard 'em yet, but I guess this'll be my chance! C'mon, let's go! You comin', Johnny?"
"Might as well.
"Great!" Sonic grabbed both Tails and Johnny by the arms and, just like that, with a small, silver, engraved pendant around Johnny's neck chiming in the wind, off they went to Castle Acorn.
