Chapter 12

Robotropolis

An Unknown Time Later

At the sound of Marcus uttering a whimper between sniffles, Maya tightened her arm around him. She shut her eyes and tried to level her voice before consoling him, "It's going to be alright dear, try not to worry."

He wiped his eyes and stuttered, "Wh-what are we going to do?"

The elderly mink sighed. "I don't yet know, but we'll do something." She rubbed her still ringing ears and glanced over the others now in the cell with her. The group had long ago given up trying to find an exit, and quietly sat in acceptance of their fate.

Tantalus removed his face from his hands and sat up straight against the wall. "It's over. We've lost. Kyros, Stanley, and Seltic are dead, and we're all about to be turned into robots." He picked at a fragment of grenade shrapnel protruding from his cheek and added, "Maybe it won't be so bad... at least nothing will hurt any more."

Sissera weakly looked up and said, "You might want to leave that alone, you might make the cut worse."

He winced and halted as fresh blood oozed from the wound. "What's it matter? In a few hours we won't even have blood."

Maya scowled at him and glared through the headache-inducing light. "Try to calm down some, you're scaring Marcus."

Tantalus glared back and shouted, "I'm scared too!" After an awkward pause and noting the mild shock on her face he apologized, "Sorry..."

"We're all scared," she replied. "But we're not robots yet. You've got to have some hope, like I did before you all showed up."

Vladimir growled and scratched a series of graze wounds on his shoulder. "I'm not giving up without a fight. When that overlander returns, I am going to wring his neck with my hands." He snarled and smashed his hand against the ruined pile on the floor that was once his armor.

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you," a nasally voice interrupted. Everyone snapped to attention and looked out of the cell to find a short bald overlander smugly staring back. "Fighting back only makes the doctor excited."

"Snively! Maybe I'll start with you instead!" Vladimir shouted, leaping to his feet.

Snively stepped back just out of Vladimir's reach and chuckled. "How? You're not going anywhere."

"The others will come and save us, this isn't over yet," Maya replied.

Snively let out a shrill laugh and replied, "Who? The echidna and his friends? The princess and that blasted hedgehog? Or, perhaps you mean this fellow?" Snively motioned for a pair of SWATbots to approach, the two dragging a robotic deer by the arm.

"Kaplain!? What are you going to do to him?" she demanded.

"I found him in your abandoned transport. The doctor thought that we should just tear him down and recycle him, but I think a little more thorough analysis is in order. I'm going to love dissecting him to figure out just how he went traitor."

Maya stumbled over her thoughts, trying to find a reply to his pompous tone. She bit her lip for a moment before the deep rumble of a heavy metal door grinding open echoed through the jail complex. Snively grinned and looked down the hallway before adding, "Well, it's been fun, but I think your time's come. I'll be seeing you around, maybe you'll make my coffee for me or something."

Snively stepped aside to make room for his uncle, prompting a queasy feeling in Maya's stomach as a large shadow loomed across the floor. She stiffened and watched in terror as the shadow shifted from side to side from Robotnik's steps, accompanied by his usual heavy footsteps and the unmistakable clank of metal feet against the cold concrete floor.

She leaned away from the metal bars of the cell and pulled Marcus close as the shadow was replaced by the bright red and yellow uniform of Robotnik. He took a brief glance at Snively and his cargo before turning his attention to the group detained in the cell. Cluck chattered in excitement from its place on his shoulder.

"It's good to see that you all decided to stay for a while," he spoke, ending with his usual grin. "After all, I've had such a time with prisoners lately," he continued, fading to a glower, "Thanks to you, that is." The group stared back, speechless. "What? No snappy comeback? Nothing to say to your host?" Robotnik bellowed to the silent gathering. "Well, I think I have a solution for that."

As he stepped back and motioned for someone out of sight, the metal footfalls clanged through the cell once more. Maya led the others in involuntary gasps at the sight of colored metal glistening under the overhead lighting followed by the red glow of robotic eyes.

"I couldn't let Kyros go to waste," Robotnik said with a chuckle. "So, I gathered these three up and had them roboticized before they died." Robotnik patted Kyros on his head and continued, "They were pretty banged up after that grenade went off,so I wasn't sure how well it would work, but after a little repair work they all seem fine." He crouched down as best his body would allow to meet Maya's face. "Too bad you won't be for long."

Robotnik let out a deep sinister laugh as he watched the group in the cell cower and huddle together. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to have you roboticized! You've caused me a little too much trouble for that, so instead I'd rather have you killed outright. I'll enjoy watching the recording over and over again."

Everyone's eyes snapped open at his words, and Tantalus scurried over to Vladimir for cover. Maya moved Marcus around behind herself and tried to get to her feet, halting as her injuries sent waves of pain through her body.

Robotnik grinned again and looked to his nephew. "Come along Snively, there's still much to be done."

Snively's mouth dropped open slightly before he replied, "Sir, you can't be serious! You're just going to leave them to their fate? Don't you want to watch it? What if something goes wrong?"

Robotnik cut his eyes to him and said, "I'm recording it, and besides, what could go wrong? They're not going to fight their way past three combat robots. Now, stop arguing with me and come."

"Fine, sir, but just remember that this is exactly how things always go wrong," Snively replied in a low tone, taking a final glance at the prisoners.

Robotnik leaned over his nephew and took a deep breath. His eyes narrowed as he asked, "Did I ask for your opinion, Snively?"

"No, sir," Snively answered, cowering from his monstrous uncle.

"I thought not." As Robotnik led his nephew out of the jail, he shouted to his robot minions, "Kill them all!"

"Of course, my lord," Kyros answered. He reached out and grasped one of the metal bars of the cell and clenched his grip until it bent under the stress. His gaze drifted down to Maya's face before he calmly said, "Despair, for your end is near."

"N-No roboticizer?" Tantalus whimpered.

Without responding, Kyros tore the bar from the cell, followed by his comrades. Maya led her remaining friends in backing away from the approaching robots as they opened a large enough gap in the bars and entered the cell. The robotic echidna stepped towards Maya and lowered his eyes to her once more. As he reached towards her, Vladimir suddenly lashed out at him. Kyros stumbled to the side as Vladimir's body slammed into him.

"Do not interfere!" he shouted in his modulated voice, grasping the badger by his arm. With a fluid motion, he hurled Vladimir through the opening in the bars. As Vladimir landed with a thud outside of his vision, Kyros resumed his prior agenda. He snatched Maya by the arm and pulled her away from the others. She let out a horrified gasp as he forced her arms behind her and clasped his hand around her wrists. He backed away another step and extended a blade from his free wrist, angling it against her exposed throat. As a faint sheath of energy enveloped the blade, he said, "Maya Morceaux, for your crimes against our lord Doctor Robotnik, you are to witness the death of your friends."

At his words, the three still in the cell snapped their eyes open further and huddled together. Kyros sneered and continued, "Seltic, Stanley, begin."

The two robots obliged and stepped forward. Seltic let out an uncharacteristic cackle as he pressed his sister against the back of the cell and pointed his arm at her face. "It's too bad you can't join us sis, the perfection of being a machine is indescribable," he whispered to her, extending an internal weapon from the top of his forearm.

"No, Seltic... please don't do this!" she begged, trying to look away from the barrel of the plasma cannon aimed between her eyes. "Remember Kaplain? I know you're still in there!"

He blinked in confusion for a moment before insisting, "No... Seltic... is dead, this is me now." A faint violet glow formed in the barrel as he added, "And my master... Robotnik... wants you dead."

Sissera uttered an incomprehensible response, staring into the barrel and failing to contain a tear. Seltic hesitated as the tear rolled down her cheek and spattered against his roboticized boot, and looked away. "I must... Robotnik..."

Tantalus interrupted and shouted, "Forget Robotnik! If you don't do something, your sister is going to die!" He jumped towards the two tenrecs in desperation before Stanley caught him and slammed him against the wall of the cell.

Seltic shut his eyes and looked down before stammering, "Wh-what?" He looked back up at Sissera before dropping her in horror.

Stanley and Kyros instantly trained their eyes at him and demanded, "Seltic?" At his silence, Kyros added, "If you cannot complete your duties, then we will." With a gesture, he instructed Stanley to intervene.

As Stanley pushed past him and reached for Sissera, Seltic knocked him aside and shouted, "No, stop!"

Kyros threw Maya down and sprung for him, followed by Stanley. "Traitor!" the two growled in unison.

Seltic braced against their onslaught, staggering as they slammed him into the corner. With all of his strength he wrestled free and sprinted for the exit of the cell. As he reached the void of the hallway, he was smashed from his feet by a blow from Kyros. He crashed into the ground on one knee, and managed to dodge moments before a smattering of lasers from Stanley raked the concrete. His attempts to regain his footing were thwarted time after time as Kyros and Stanley exchanged turns slamming him about.

"What are you waiting for!? Get out of here!" Seltic yelled into the cell at the bewildered group.

They stared back for several moments at a sudden silence in the brawl before helping each other to their feet. Kyros floored Seltic again and shouted, "No you don't, you will be killed by our hands!" Kyros sprinted towards a vacant area in the hallway and looked towards the ceiling. "My lord, we have a serious situation in the holding cells! Please advise!"

At his words, a sudden revelation washed over Seltic. He forced himself to his feet and pinned Stanley long enough to announce, "Kyros! Look!"

Kyros growled and snapped his head towards Seltic just in time to watch him place a coin sized object on Stanley's head right behind his ear. Stanley immediately tensed up and grabbed at the object, shouting in pain as if he was still organic. Kyros crouched to ready himself to leap at the tenrec before Seltic removed the object and dove to the side.

Kyros ignored Stanley's pained thrashing and pursued his target. He threw himself into Seltic with a deafening clang of metal on metal. With a snarl he pinned him against the floor. He placed one hand around his throat and brought the other back in preparation to fire an integrated weapon. "Die, scum!" Kyros shouted as he fired the weapon. His shot obliterated a chunk of cement beside Seltic's head as he was hurled from his prior position by an unseen assailant.

He reoriented himself and glanced over to see Stanley helping Seltic to his feet. He scowled and shouted, "All traitors will be destroyed!" He changed stance to throw himself at the two once more and opened fire with the particle rifle built into his arm. A sinister smile formed on his face as the beam exploded against Seltic's shoulder.

Stanley took advantage of Kyros' momentary distraction by slamming him against the wall and pinning his weapon arm behind him. As he watched Kyros extend the energy-sheathed blade in his free arm he shouted, "Seltic, I could use some help here!"

Seltic hefted himself to his feet and raced to Stanley's side in time to watch him struggle to keep Kyros pinned. "Try to hold him still for a second," Seltic directed unnecessarily as he placed the same object on Kyros' head. Both backed away as Kyros let out a pained shriek and grabbed at the object.

He slumped to his knees and grabbed at his ears before plowing his hand into the concrete floor. His jaw clenched shut and a scowl formed on his face as faint electrical sparks formed around the object attached to the side of his head. After several seconds the sparks ceased and Kyros' expression returned to normal. He blinked and rubbed his head again before asking, "What... just happened?"

As Stanley helped him to his feet, Seltic answered, "I'm not so sure that I believe that it really worked."

"What?" Kyros asked again, trying to determine his surroundings.

"The neural overrider... it actually worked. I brought it along, just in case we needed it," Seltic replied, removing the object from Kyros' head and displaying it proudly. "I guess Robotnik didn't notice."

Kyros looked him and Stanley over and continued, "But how did we..."

Seltic pointed at a spot behind his own ear and interrupted, "I'm just glad that the roboticizer didn't make the overrider a part of me. I was able to remove it and attach it to each of you long enough for it to disable certain parts of your processor networks. Thankfully it was strong enough for you two to regain your free will immediately."

Stanley stepped forward and uneasily scanned the room. "If you say-," he began before spying Vladimir struggling to stand from the pile Kyros put him in earlier. "Oh no..." he muttered as the memories of their previous actions began to return to him.

Kyros' eyes grew wide and he whispered a curse as he dashed off towards the holding cell where the others remained. While Stanley tended to Vladimir, he and Seltic slowly entered the cell, trying not to startle its occupants.

Maya instantly ceased rubbing her wrists and consoling Marcus as the two robots shuffled in. She limped back towards and pressed herself against the wall of the cell and meekly questioned, "K-Kyros?

Tantalus rocked back from his seated position on the floor to prop himself up with his hands and sighed. "I still can't believe it... I mean, when I said that to Seltic I didn't expect it to work. It was a long shot."

Seltic turned his attention to him and said, "It normally wouldn't have. If I hadn't brought the neural overrider with me, what you said wouldn't have even fazed me. But, with its help you were able to get through to me."

"And us," Stanley added.

Seltic nodded. "The overrider didn't work perfectly, and it was only on me. But, since I regained control of myself I was able to attach it to you two."

"Man, were we lucky. A few more seconds and you'd all have been dead," Kyros added.

Maya rubbed her aching wrists again and sighed. "Yes, we were lucky, but we don't have time to sit around. Robotnik is about to unleash whatever he has in store, and we're the only ones who can stop him now." She looked to Kyros and asked, "Did you see or learn anything while you were in the command center?"

Kyros looked away, trying to ignore the memories of being roboticized. "No, not really. All I heard was Robotnik yelling at Snively about something not being ready yet."

"The satellites!" Seltic broke in suddenly after a realization struck him. "I remember now, it was the satellites."

"What about them? Did you find out what they were for?" Maya asked him.

"Yeah, they're weapons. Right now there are forty-seven satellites orbiting Mobius, each armed with a series of particle cannons and orbital missile launchers. I remember seeing on one of the large computer screens that most weren't fully charged yet."

"So, he plans to use them to destroy Armadi and the other groups' homes? So we couldn't fight back? No one would even see it coming," Maya muttered to herself.

"Yeah, all Robotnik would need is the locations. From what I heard from his conversation with Snively and a few SWATbots, the targeting systems aren't working right at the moment either. But, I'd say we've only got a few more hours to stop him before he's ready." Seltic's face turned as grim as his mechanical features would allow. "He may already have the location of Armadi... and if he doesn't yet, then Kaplain might be able to tell him."

Kyros glowered at him and asked, "What do you mean by that? Is Kaplain a spy after all?"

"I didn't say that," Seltic snapped. "Kaplain could easily crack under pressure as far as we know, or if not Robotnik could probably retrieve enough information from his memories. With him in their hands it's only a matter of time before he does figure it out. We're just unbelievably lucky that Robotnik was too stupid to make us tell him where Armadi is."

Maya staggered to her feet and added, "Then we really have no choice. As bad as I just want to get out of here... we have to stop Robontik. Now."

Kyros jumped up and interrupted, "Alright. I've had it with the complex plans not working and us getting caught. Robotnik's made the one fatal mistake of his career. He roboticized me and I got my free will back."

Maya stared at him in confusion and asked, "What exactly are you going to do?"

Kyros grit his metal teeth and replied coolly, "We're going to level the new command center. With my newfound strength he won't be able to stop me... and may heaven have mercy on his soul if I catch him."

"But, what about the others?" Stanley broke in, pointing to Maya. "We might still be able to fight, but..."

Maya smiled uneasily and interrupted, "I've got strength in me yet, I think I can manage to keep going."

Kyros cut his eyes to her. "No, I'm not taking any more chances. The hovercraft might be gone, but there's a SWATbot airpod repair bay a few blocks away. I want you all out of Robotropolis as soon as possible."

"What about you three?" she demanded.

"We'll think of something. Now, come on and let's go before Robotnik shows up." He glared impatiently as Maya tried to find an excuse for the team to stay together. "Don't make me force you," he said, laying his palm on her shoulder.

She looked away and sighed, "Alright... let's go."

Standing outside in Robotropolis and not being able to smell the pollution hanging in the air was unnerving for Kyros. His newly robotic body no longer needed to breathe, and was unable to feel the light chilly breeze blowing through the dark street. He glanced over the row of buildings in front of them, thankful that his new body at least granted him improved sight in the dimly lit environment.

He stepped forward from the destroyed entrance to the jail and addressed his teammates, "Alright, this area looks clear." With a glance to Seltic he went on, "Do you remember the way to the repair bay?"

Seltic nodded and stepped towards a side street. "It was back this way, right?"

"Yeah," Kyros answered, looking back to his organic friends. "I want you to escort them to the site and find a working airpod. After you get them airborne and on the way out of here, meet me back at the command center."

"Got it," the tenrec acknowledged. He waited for Maya and the others to approach him before slowly leading them down the alley.

Kyros waited for the group to get out of sight before turning to Stanley. "Alright, you know what we're going to do, right?"

"Destroy the satellite control center, right?" he replied.

"Exactly. We don't have a whole lot of time to be subtly sneak around, so let's just fly there and get to work."

Stanley thought over the comment for a moment and asked, "Can we handle it alone?"

"We're going to try. Hopefully there won't be much more than worker bots in the control center, so we should be able to cause some serious damage quickly." Kyros motioned for the sky and leaped into the air. A series of rocket engines in the soles of his roboticized boots coughed and roared to life with a blinding flash of white flame. He soared a story into the air and waited for Stanley to join him. "Ready?"

Stanley rose to his eye level and offered a confirmation. As Kyros returned a cocky smile and rocketed off in the general direction of the satellite control complex, he suddenly heard the hated voice of Robotnik in his head say, "The echidna and his cohorts have escaped from the holding cells in district twenty-nine! All units be on the lookout and engage immediately! All robots in the area report to the satellite management facility to defend it at all costs!"

"Doesn't look like fatso is going to make this easy," Kyros muttered to Stanley as the porcupine pulled beside him mid flight.

"Do you still think we can handle it? There's over five million robots in this city, you know."

Kyros scowled and replied, "I don't know or care. You can run home if you want, but I've had it with running from Robotnik. He's going to hurt today." Moments later a volley of energy beams stabbed at the two from the ground below, missing or slightly grazing their targets. "Ignore them, we don't have the time," Kyros shouted to his companion over the roar of their integrated rockets.

"I think I see a squadron of buzzbombers up ahead, what do we do?" Stanley asked at the sight of a handful of objects appearing from behind a row of power plant cooling towers and heading towards them.

Kyros hesitated and answered, "We might be able to make it to the control center without them catching us, so forget about them." As he finished speaking he noticed a series of flashes around the approaching wasp robots followed by the shriek of missiles tearing through the air. "Scratch that, look out!" he shouted as the missiles drew close.

The two immediately dropped altitude and dove into a wide street below. Explosions from the rockets impacting against buildings peppered them with chunks of pulverized cement, and the shock waves nearly threw Kyros into a girder stretching across their path. As he attempted to correct his flight path he was rocked by another explosion from a robot below firing a missile at him. He growled and slowed to round a corner. "This isn't looking good, I hope we can find some way to destroy the facility quickly."

"I hear you," Stanley replied solemnly as he too followed the corner of the street. He followed Kyros several more blocks before he noted the distinctive change of architecture. The old and abandoned look of the buildings behind him were replaced by the brighter sheets of prefabricated polymers used to build the new structures in the city. The grim dark streets and alleys were now well lit and littered with webs of various cables connecting the structures.

Kyros dodged a spray of anti-aircraft laser fire from the end of the street and led Stanley to an altitude just above street level. "We might be able to avoid most of the fire this way," he shouted over the cannons blazing. "We must be getting close, so watch-" he started before slamming into something jutting from an alley.

He tumbled along the street for nearly a block before regaining his footing and turning to face the object. A roboticized lizard jumped from the alley, lowering the ruined arm that it used to stop him mid flight. "Enemy spotted!" it bellowed to any others possibly nearby.

Kyros flexed his joints to ensure that the dent in his torso was only superficial before preparing to engaging his attacker. He raised a concealed weapon from his forearm and began charging it moments before the maimed lizard was blown from its feet into the air by Stanley firing a grenade. It landed with a crunch several meters away, twitching weakly as the dust settled. "Good thinking. Let's go on foot from here."

Stanley landed on the shattered asphalt road beside him seconds later and offered a smile. "You lead."

Kyros forwent a comment and dashed off down the road as fast as his robotic body would allow. Beams of laser light and plasma shredded the air around him as the two barreled towards a downward slope ahead. The anti-air batteries firing at them were unsuited to attacking them on the ground, and they managed to avoid the devastating lances of energy long enough to reach the slope. They marveled for a moment at the arrays of antennae below before a SWATbot droned, "Echidna alert, priority two."

A violet beam of energy impacted Stanley's shoulder, throwing flecks of paint and sparks into the air. The SWATbot was annihilated an instant later as both opened fire with their weapons. Kyros waited for the robot's remains to clamber to the street before leading Stanley down the slope. He scanned the transceiver dishes arrayed around the large dip in the terrain that housed the control center and immediately fixed his eyes on a pair of spires rising into the sky supporting an antenna array.

"We don't have time to level the building the old fashioned way, so I think we're going to have to get creative," he said to Stanley before noting a growing gathering of robots at the base of the multi-story facility.

"Got any ideas?" Stanley questioned, trying to retain his composure in the face of the army of military robots lining up to defend the center.

"I think we can knock those two towers down onto the building. That should flatten it, I don't care what it's made of." He gestured for Stanley to follow him into the air once more before catapulting himself skyward.

Their ascension was followed by a chorus of shouts from the defenders, each robot's battle cry drowned out and contorted by the others. The soldiers braced themselves and armed their weapons, preparing to engage the two the moment they proved themselves a target. Kyros shot a grim expression to his companion and said, "Follow me and fire everything you've got at the base of it, maybe we'll only have to knock out one tower to bring the whole thing down."

He launched into the air with all of his might, spewing fountains of flaming thrust from the rocket engines in his feet and gaining altitude as rapidly as possible. As Stanley followed suit, the thousands of defenders opened fire, obscuring the details of the control center under a fog of muzzle flashes and missile trails. Tens of thousands of lasers, plasma beams, ion particle lances, solid slug tracers, and ballistic missiles poured from the assorted mass of robots below, roaring towards them.

Kyros and Stanley were rocked by several impacts on their way toward cover. As they flew behind the skyscraper next to them they continued to dive and weave through the air. The building shook and crumbled as the staggering volleys of weapon fire demolished it in seconds. Despite the clouds of flak and exploded missiles clouding his view, they pressed on towards their target, thanking again the confusion the astounding amount of weapon fire had caused. As he passed over the majority of the defenders he fired a few shots into the crowd in the hopes of sowing more confusion.

The machines below stood firm and took the shots instead of spreading out like he had hoped, clearly concerned only with their duty. Now that he had revealed his position to them once more, they opened fire again, pouring random shots at them as each robot caught a glimpse. The scattered fire was far less effective, managing to only land a handful of hits.

"Only one chance at this!" Kyros shouted to Stanley as they cleared the bulk of smoke and debris and caught sight of the tower base. Both unloaded their weapons at the foundation pillars holding the fifty-meter tower up, blowing immense chunks of steel reinforced concrete and polymer construction into the air. Kyros noted the tower shift slightly along its damaged corner but realized that despite the terrible damage inflicted the tower wouldn't fall. "Follow me!" he yelled again to his assistance.

He led Stanley into the pillar, crashing into it with as much force as he could muster. The tortured pillar sagged further and began to disintegrate as Stanley impacted the pillar after him, beginning to crumble moments after the two fell from their collision spots to the ground. Kyros and Stanley rocked to their feet and stumbled out of the way as another salvo of ill-aimed weapon fire from the army of robots wracked the column. The tons of concrete immediately collapsed, bringing the tower down with a screech of twisted metal.

Dismissing their own safety, the robots continued to fire at Kyros and Stanley as the tower plummeted into the control center. Robots were hurled through the air alongside vehicle-sized hunks of wall, ceiling, and steel as the tower crashed through the building, slicing through it like a knife. The remaining robots scrambled for the clearing to continue their assault despite the tower bringing rows of antennae down onto the site followed by the second tower slumping and collapsing in a twisted heap.

Kyros failed to fight back a smile as he spotted violent fires erupting from the breaches in the building. "That'll have to do. Let's get out of here and meet up with Seltic," he said to Stanley.

"I couldn't agree more," Stanley replied, noting a small army of robots beginning to make chase on foot.

"Why didn't you just tell Seltic to beat it with the others and we just leave?" Stanley asked Kyros as the unnerving sight of the egg shaped primary command center of Robotropolis began to fill his vision.

"Because we aren't done yet," Kyros replied. "Like I said, Robotnik will remember this day until the day he dies."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stanley asked again, worry apparent in his voice.

"We're going to destroy the roboticizer."

Stanley coughed and sputtered incoherently for a second. "Do you think we can make it past security?"

Kyros smirked and replied, "Did you see the size of the force back there? That had to be most of the security detail from here. I think with Seltic's help we can fight out way in." He cut his eyes to Stanley and added, "Like I said, you can run if you want, but I'm not."

"No... you're right. We've got to do this now or we might never get the chance again. Robotnik won't..." Stanley replied before spotting a distinctly green robot below. "I think I see Seltic."

"Yeah, I see him too." Kyros swooped down and landed with an uneasy thud. He forced his damaged body to carry him forward to rendezvous with Seltic, waving his hand to signal that he wasn't one of the Robotropolis defenses.

Seltic smiled as best his robotic features would allow and said, "I'm glad to see you guys. I was getting worried that one of the robots would figure out that I'm not one of them soon. Did you blow the control center?"

Kyros slowed to a halt in front of the tenrec and smiled weakly. "Yeah. It's not completely gone but it's ruined beyond usage. If nothing else I think we've delayed Robotnik for months."

"Great, so are we heading out now?"

Kyros frowned and said, "Not yet. I told you to meet us here so we could go inside and destroy the roboticizer." He pointed to himself and went on, "I don't want this to happen to anyone ever again."

Seltic stepped back and asked, "Ar-are you serious? We'll never make it!"

"I think most of the defenses were at the control facility, so if we hurry we might be able to make it before they get here. But, we will absolutely have to do it now if we're going to because once Robotnik figures out what happened all of the bots in the city will be converging on our position."

Stanley landed suddenly beside him and insisted, "We might as well. There's no point in arguing about it and wasting time."

Seltic's eyes darted between the two. "Alright, alright... let's hurry."

Kyros stepped gingerly past the smoldering remains of a freshly destroyed security robot and asked, "Alright Seltic, do you remember the way?"

Seltic studied the hallway they stood in for a moment and replied wearily, "No, sorry. This building is so big and complex I don't recognize where we are."

"I think I do," Stanley offered. "We're actually pretty close I think," he continued. "I think we can take this elevator to the twenty-seventh floor... I doubt much else is on that level other than the roboticizer."

"If we can," Seltic said. "I doubt the computer in the elevator will respond to us now that we're blacklisted."

Kyros stepped over to the double door of the massive elevator and replied, "No need. We'll make our own path." He took a step back before throwing himself into the weak door. The force of his impact snatched the sliding doors from their slots and sent the twisted sheets of metal tumbling down the elevator shaft. At the sound of metal clanging noisily against metal seconds later he assumed that the elevator car was below them. "Come on, let's go."

Seltic and Stanley followed Kyros into the shaft, each igniting their rockets and hurtling up the narrow tunnel. As the large painted numbers of each floor

zipped by, Kyros shouted down to Stanley, "You said the twenty-seventh floor, right?"

"Yeah," he shouted back, slowing in anticipation of arriving at the floor.

Kyros reduced the thrust from his rockets and slowed to a hover as he reached a bold twenty-seven painted across a pair of metal doors. With a determined kick he ripped the doors from the wall and scanned the vast room opened before him. He spotted a small squad of SWATbots milling about immediately and burst into the room, sneering with grim satisfaction as he aimed at the surprised machines.

His target toppled over and collapsed under his impact, prompting the remaining four to charge him. The outdated robots raised their arms to open fire seconds before they were cut down by a salvo of plasma shots from Seltic. Stanley and Seltic dashed over to Kyros, halting in amazement and fear of the great glass tube that occupied the center of the room. Each slowly scanned the maze of pipes, wires, cabling, and computer consoles that surrounded the dimly glowing tube sitting atop an innocent looking stage.

"Man... even without Robotnik around to use this thing it's terrifying," Seltic whispered to himself.

"Which is why it's going away right now!" Kyros shouted, raising his own personal weapons at the nearest important looking piece of equipment. He relented at the sound of a faint scraping of metal against metal. The trio turned to face the sound, surprised to find a small robotic bird scrabbling away from the violence that had just ended.

"Cluck..." Kyros whispered as hatred clouded his expression. The bird backed away from them and into a corner, letting out horrified screeches in the hopes that its master would return and save it. "If I can't kill Robotnik, at least I'll get you," he continued, raising his weapon. The bird's eyes snapped open as Kyros' weapon armed.

Kyros smiled evilly as the robot detonated like a bomb from his attack. "Your master will get his toot," he dictated to the ruined metal chunks sprawled across the floor before raising his weapon to the roboticizer, "But first, this thing is history!"

Seltic grabbed him by the arm and interrupted, "Wait a second... what about us?"

Kyros stared back for a moment before realizing his intent. "I hadn't really thought about it... do you think you can deroboticize us?"

"Well... I don't know for sure, but I'd like to find out before we level it!"

Kyros relented and said, "Okay. Get to work, but I don't think we've got much time before a small army led by the big guy himself shows up."

Seltic eagerly darted off to the large bank of computer screens and consoles decorating the far wall of the room, saying, "I'm on it!"

In the silence, Kyros found himself edgy. He glanced at Stanley and said, "Maybe we should check for cameras or something. We might be able to delay them for a minute or two if they don't know we're here." He searched the ceiling of the room for any signs of cameras or microphones, eventually making his way around behind the roboticizer. Immediately his eyes fixated on an odd assortment of cables reaching down to a chain-restrained robot sitting haphazardly against the wall.

As he stepped towards it, the robot's eyes snapped open and glared at him. It bared its teeth and snarled before jumping at him and being snatched back by its restraints. It fought at the chains and spat, "I told your beak-nosed little master that I wasn't going to tell you anything! I don't care what you do to me, I won't betray anyone!"

Startled at the sudden verbal attack, Kyros flinched and stepped backwards. As the robot calmed down and sank back into its prior sitting position, Kyros was able to confirm that the brown robot deer was not just another one of the random robots strewn about Robotropolis. "Kaplain, just calm down a sec while we get you out of there."

The deer instantly perked up and squinted through the dimly-lit room to study the two. "Kyros? Is... that you?"

"Yeah, it's us. So keep quiet while we bust you out of here," he replied, ripping the chains from their bolted facets along the wall.

Kaplain's eyes grew wide. "What happened to you? Were you captured?"

"Yeah, it's a long story that'll have to wait. Seltic's working on the roboticizer right now so we might be in some luck." Kyros answered, pulling a handful of the cables from computer ports under a panel on Kaplain's back. After removing the final cable and closing the panel, the two helped the deer to his feet.

Kaplain threw his freed arms around Kyros and whimpered, "Thank you! I was so worried that you were just going to leave me here."

Kyros backed away and motioned for Kaplain to quieten down. "We can't leave anyone behind, but like I said, you've got to stay quiet." After a nod of understanding from the deer, he led the two back around the massive platform and tube of the roboticizer to meet back up with Seltic.

Seltic glanced up at Kyros and asked after pressing a handful of keys on a keypad, "What was all of that about, back there?"

"We found someone," Kyros replied, shooing Kaplain into the open.

Seltic halted his work and exclaimed, "You found him?!"

Kyros jumped slightly at his tone and replied, "Yeah, but we don't have much time so get back to work and stop shouting."

The tenrec nodded and moved his hand across a touchpad on the computer desk, followed by another button press. "Well, we're in luck then. As far as I can tell, it's ready. Robotnik made the interface relatively easy to use for some reason." He looked across the faces staring back at him and asked, "So, who's first?"

Kyros repeated the survey and replied hastily, "No time to think, Stanley, you're up."

Stanley flinched at the order before uttering, "Uh, okay." He stepped nervously onto the podium beneath the raised tube, memories of his roboticization only hours before flooding back. As the tube descended around him and locked into place, he felt his legs grow weak, despite their robotic nature. A low hum filled the room moments later, slowly growing in volume and pitch as an emitter lowered from the ceiling and began to rotate slowly.

The three outside of the tube shielded their eyes instinctively as a bright glow engulfed him followed by a series of loud pistons locking into place. An innocent ping rang out from an unseen speaker as the tube receded into the ceiling once more, spilling thick fog into the room. As the smoke dissipated, Stanley's black fur and organic quills were slowly becoming visible. He raised a palm to his head and grumbled, "What a trip..."

Kyros dashed up to the platform without giving Stanley a chance to step down. He hurried him down and shouted to Seltic, "How soon until it's ready again?"

Seltic stared at a screen for several seconds and replied, "Good to go, get ready."

Kyros nodded and stood erect to allow the glass to envelope him as it did Stanley. The vast machine went through its motions as it did before, grinding mechanics whirling emitters and spewing an eerie fog as the tube rose into the ceiling. Kyros took a moment to stagger back to the ground, rubbing a large bruise across his chest and a multitude of minor cuts and wounds across his body. He groaned and muttered, "I guess it doesn't fix you before undoing the roboticization."

"Me next?" Kaplain eagerly asked, staring into Kyros' eyes for his approval.

Seltic looked up and said uneasily, "Uh... let me go next. I'll explain later." He watched the screen for a second before brushing past the sulking Kaplain to mount the roboticizer. "Just push the glowing button," he directed to Stanley.

Once more the machine performed its duty, whirring and humming for some time before opening to reveal Seltic stumbling around. He skipped from the platform just in time to avoid vomiting on the sensitive circuitry and wiring of the roboticizer. "Never want to do that again..." he squeaked after a moan. He forced himself to his feet and carefully examined Kaplain with his eyes before slumping over to the control console. "Okay, go ahead."

Kaplain let out an excited cheer and jumped onto the podium. As he situated himself, Seltic shot Kyros a worried look and said, "I hope you've got a plan to get us out of here in a hurry."

"We'll do something."

Seltic sighed and went on, "Right. Get ready." He thumbed the large glowing button and watched worriedly as the glass tube surrounded Kaplain. The glow of the deroboticization process engulfed the metallic deer, followed by the machinery descending to perform its duty. Seltic stepped away from the console to meet the others as the process drew to a close, staring intently into the obscured glass tube. He let out a sigh of relief as the tube rose and fumed as it had three times before, revealing the silhouette of a deer.

Kaplain stumbled down the steps to meet the others, his newly organic hooves clacking against the metal of the floor. He blinked in confusion a few times before slurring, "I feel... odd."

"What do you mean?" Seltic asked impatiently, studying his body once more.

Kaplain opened his mouth to reply but instead let out a series of violent coughs, spattering blood across the palm he used to cover his mouth. He staggered backwards a step, his eyes crossing before he collapsed to the ground with a confused grunt.

Seltic whimpered, "Oh no..." He dashed over to the fallen deer and examined him, fear rising as he spotted blood beginning to seep from under his left eyelid and ear.

"What the?" Kyros and Stanley asked in unison, rushing to join Seltic.

He looked up to them and quickly answered, "I was worried this would happen. The repairs I made weren't perfect enough, and the deroboticizer must have copied it exactly. There's no telling what might be wrong with him." At a curse Kyros muttered he continued, "We've got to get out of here right now if he's going to have any chance at living through this."

Kyros began to speak as the mechanisms of the elevator behind them began to grind to life. "Oh no..." he muttered. "Is there any other way out of here?"

Every conscious member of the team scanned the room for doors, scrambling around in the hopes of finding an exit. After an agonizing wait, Stanley suddenly pointed to the ceiling near one of the walls and shouted, "The roof!"

"Great, no time to think about it. I've got Kaplain, you two hurry up the ladder," Kyros directed as he jogged over to Kaplain. He scooped him up, ignoring the profuse amount of blood beginning to drip from the corner of his mouth. As the others rapidly scaled the ladder he charged to the wall and grasped one of the metal rungs. He sighed in relief at the sound of the hatch being forced open and followed the others through the opening, lugging his limp friend with him as best he could.

The sight of dozens of cables and protective piping running along a long access duct sent a chill of worry down his spine. He stared into the darkness, noting a faint light filtering onto the duct wall a distance away. "I hope that leads to the outside, let's hurry," he told the others after pulling the bloodied Kaplain into the shaft and sealing the hatch behind him. Thunderous robotic footfalls echoed in the room below, followed by the clomping and bellowing of Robotnik.

"Not much time," Stanley added unnecessarily. "What do we do once we get out?"

"We'll think about it then, just go," Kyros whispered back, hoping to avoid attracting the attention of the overweight overlander shouting at his minions mere meters below.

The three slipped along the cramped path towards the source of the light, and stopped below a large grating overhead. A faint cool intermittent breeze blew through the grating, refreshingly brushing against Kyros' fur. Without a word, Seltic and Stanley fiddled with an old and broken handle to loosen the grating, sliding it out of its slot as the rusted metal crumbled apart.

Kyros allowed them to wiggle through the tight opening before handing Kaplain to them. As he prepared to follow them, the caption inscribed on one of the myriad pipes caught his eye, "Natural Gas – Extremely Flammable."

Before sliding through the opening, he rammed the sole of his boot, the only clothing Robotnik left on the three before roboticizing them, onto a join in the pipes. A satisfying clang of smashed piping clambering onto the metal duct rang out, followed by a faint hiss and a smile on Kyros' face.

"What was that?" Seltic immediately demanded.

"I'm just making sure that Robotnik remembers we were here. By the way, we should get out of here very quickly," he replied before catching a glance of Kaplain partially regaining consciousness. The deer winced in pain for a second before coughing out another gout of dark blood and pressing his hand against his chest. "For more reasons than one," he finished.

He began frantically searching the outcropping that they now stood on for any way down. The ventilation duct behind them disappeared into the building a short distance away, and although there were a number of pylons reaching to the command center from other buildings, they were all too far below or above to reach. He began to regret smashing the pipe now that the only escape seemed to be back into the command center. That way even though Kaplain might not make it, the others could.

"We're trapped... we'll have to go back through the command center," Stanley said, interrupting his train of thought.

"No we can't, I broke a gas line back in the duct. It could go off soon..."

Seltic glared at his as if to shout, "You did what!?" Instead the tenrec swallowed and peered over the edge of the outcropping. "What do we do then? Wait here and be killed by the explosion?"

Kyros prepared to answer as Stanley grabbed him by the shoulder and pointed off in an indeterminate direction. "SWATbot pod incoming!"

"Great, we've got no weapons..." Kyros grumbled. He hesitated in thought as he debated whether trying to deal with the SWATbots or hoping that the gas wouldn't ignite was safer. As he finally decided to dart back to the pseudo-safety of the duct he noted the pod slowing as it approached the outcropping. Instead of opening fire with its under slung repeating lasers, it swerved to bring itself against the ledge.

The side door on the pod slid up moments later, but instead of revealing a metal monster intent on bringing Kyros back to its master, the familiar face of a gray squirrel stared back at him. "You guys need a lift?"