Well this took a while. Yeah, REALLY hectic month, like out of nowhere kind of hectic -_-. For one, class picked up the pace considerably, and I'm nearing graduation so I'm gonna be even busier pretty soon. Also my pipes burst and flooded my kitchen and most of the livingroom, so we're trying to sort that out. But we're back, so no more dilly dallying!
Across the long, battle scarred badlands of Naka, laden with the hollowed out shells of forgotten battles and forsaken cities, was Robotropolis. Not so much a city itself, as rather a cancerous mechanical growth on the blown out husk of one. Specifically the mobian capital of Mobotropolis. Once a shining golden beacon of the Acorn Empire, now a cold pit of steel, wire and hopelessness. From the distance it loomed over the horizon like an obelisk set against the sun. Inside, though, it was much worse.
Rotting and skeletal corpses lined the streets alongside broken and blasted swatbots wherever people didn't live. And wherever people did live was only better in the sense of it lacking in corpses. There were intact houses, yes, and occasionally the human's lord and master would drop in food and water for the larger population centers (keyword: occasionally) but other than that, the larger the population, the more chaotic it was. Not only was there basically no law, allowing the denizens of Robotropolis to commit any act of desperation or insanity they pleased, but barely a single plat of land in the city or outside was fertile, so no crops could grow. And anywhere that was fertile was quickly snatched up and occupied by the local raider gang.
And then there were the city's robotic patrollers. Standing a foot taller than most humans, thus being gargantuan in size to a mobian, they stalked the streets looking for any human or mobian that appeared dangerous. The unanimously agreed upon response when a swatbot patrol was seen on the horizon was to head inside just to be safe.
Truly the humans of Naka were the unluckiest in all the world. Doomed to slavery at the hands of the mobians, they stood behind a charismatic genius they believed would lead them to salvation. Instead they traded one hell for another, and now only had themselves to blame.
And at the top of this hellish nightmare of industry was the lair of the mad doctor himself; "The Genesis Egg". If Robotropolis was a cancer, then the Genesis Egg was the tumor from which the disease spread out. From the sky, the whole city appeared to be an outgrowth from the egg shaped tower in the center. Something was always flying in and out of the giant egg, there were always lights and sounds of some kind coming from its mass. Anyone who lived in Robotropolis was constantly made aware of its presence, and of how the man within owned them like cattle.
Home sweet home. Krueger thought to himself as his ship touched down in the western hangar bay of the Genesis Egg. His ship opened, and Krueger walked out, greeted by a line of swatbots standing at attention. At the end of this line was Percival Snively. If Krueger was the hand of Robotnik, then Snively was definitely the ears. A short, thin, bald cretin of a man who ran Robotnik's efforts inside Robotropolis, while his master continued his machinations in the surrounding country. Snively joined Krueger as he passed, walking with him out of the hangar and into an elevator. The elevator hummed to life, carrying the two up into the complex.
"You've been away for quite a while this time around," said Snively.
"I had business I needed to conduct, personally," Krueger replied. "This will not be repeated."
"I should hope not," Snively shot back as he pushed his glasses up along his beak-like nose. "Lord Robotnik does not care for his minions taking off with barely a word. Especially when such behavior is normally unexpected of them."
Krueger let his shoulders slump. "How mad?" he asked.
Snively turned to a datapad in his hand, not looking up at Krueger. "You're lucky you're his favorite." Krueger groaned and reached up under his hood to rub his shaved head. The elevator stopped and opened to a dimly lit room whose walls were lined with computer monitors, with a single large chair mounted in the center. "Showtime," said Snively before pushing Krueger out, sending him stumbling across the floor before catching himself.
Krueger quickly regained his posture and fell on bended knee before the back of the chair. "Lord Robotnik," he said. "I apologize for the abruptness of my departure. But I return with news that may interest you." A large robotic arm stretched out from the chair with an open palm. Krueger quickly placed the usb drive in the hand, and it was retracted.
The usb drive was placed into the arm of Robotnik's chair, which in turn displayed its contents on the computer screens lining the walls. On every screen was shown Sonic's domination over the coastbot squad and disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye. There was no audible reaction from Robotnik, and Krueger couldn't see his face from behind the chair. "This is the only visual we have on this outsider, sir," he said. "We do not know where he came from, where he went, or what his purpose is. I came to you for permission to look into this new nuisance personally, as a way of atoning for my absence."
Finally, Robotnik spoke. "Make it so." His voice was quiet, even, focused, and cold as newly manufactured machinery. "This country already has too many narrow minded idiots who seek only to stop me from saving this world. I will not have more fall in out of nowhere."
"I will find him, my lord, and he will be made an example." Krueger stood up, gave another curt bow to his master before turning on his heel and walking out.
Under the shroud of darkness, Robotnik allowed himself a wicked smile. "And that's why you're my favorite."
"Can I take the blindfold off now?" Asked Sonic.
"Take a wild guess," replied Antoine.
"Didja really think we'd let you see how ta get ta Knothole on ya first day?" Bunnie chimed in.
Sonic pouted. Shortly after his test, Sally had someone (probably Bunnie) drug him. When he woke up, he was blindfolded and on a vehicle of some kind traveling at high speeds. He could tell by the heavy breathing on the back of his head that Bruin was right behind him, probably brandishing that rifle in case he made any moves they didn't like. And Sally, if she even was in the vehicle, had stayed completely silent the entire time. Which left Sonic plenty of time to ruminate on his new boss. Specifically their first encounter.
He had NEVER been left so utterly speechless and paralyzed by anyone. Years of being unfazed by the hardiest of drill instructors, trainers and commanders, and one woman did in ten seconds what none of them could do in 20 years. And, if he was being entirely honest; it was kinda hot. His mind wandered back to how she walked out of the shadows, instantly dominating the atmosphere of the room with an air of command. She froze him to the spot with those piercing blue eyes, and only broke him free from her control when she wanted him to prove himself to her. Every move she made seemed to be calculated and planned 8 steps ahead. He had never met a woman quite like her before in his entire life. And he had grown to have quite the high bar when it came to badass women, given his home environment.
Sonic was broken from his thoughts, however, when the vehicle came to a complete stop. The blindfold was removed, allowing Sonic to get his bearings. They were in a garage, filled with hoverbikes, dune buggies and armored trucks. Sounds of rivet guns and blowtorches hitting metal echoed from behind the walls. There were other vehicles parking next to theirs, packed with the small dozen soldiers that had attended his testing.
The doors opened and everyone got out. Sonic stretched his arms, legs and neck. He had lost track of just how long they were in there. Had to have been an hour, maybe more. Too long, in his opinion, to be cooped up in a small metal box with five other people who didn't want to talk to you. "Enjoy the ride?" Asked Sally from behind. Sonic turned around to find her side-leaning against the hood of the car and smiling wryly at him. However, this time Bruin was directly behind her, his eyes trained on Sonic.
Sonic ignored him and shrugged. "Would've enjoyed it more without the blindfold," he said. And, you know, the drugging.
Sally walked past him, gesturing with her head for him to follow. "Prove that we can trust you and no more blindfold. Simple as that."
Sonic followed Sally to the back of the garage, where she then brought him to a door labeled "hangar bay". "So, when do I prove myself trustworthy enough to see the actual base?" Sonic asked.
"For that, you'll just have to do a few jobs for us," Sally replied as she opened the door. "Until then, you'll stay in the hangar and do odd jobs for tails." Sally swung the door open, and the two were blasted with a wall of sound. The door was soundproofed, which kept all the sounds of heavy machinery and plane engines out of the already noisy garage. However, once opened, it was like releasing Pandora's Box upon Sonic's ears. Sally, meanwhile, was unfazed, as she had packed earplugs.
Once feeling returned to his eardrums, Sonic followed Sally into the hangar. The bay doors to his far right were closed, and to his left was a variety of aircraft. From one-seated air speeders to jet powered biplanes. All of them were made ramshackle from the parts of other planes, yet nonetheless looked capable of flight. Sally looked up at one of the planes hanging from the high ceiling. There was a small hovering platform underneath the plane. Parts and tools fell from it, indicating that the "tails" sally mentioned was up there, working on this particular plane. Like the others, it was a Frankenstein's monster of other planes, spray painted a deep blue to give the illusion of being one singular machine. It had an acorn empire biplanes' body, but the wings of a federation fighter and jet engine. Both of which were, in layman's terms, NOT compatible with the body. Didn't help that it lacked a propeller on the front, which left Sonic wondering what exactly would power that engine.
"Tails!" Sally shouted. The noise coming from the platform ceased, and it lowered down halfway to the ground. "Got that extra pair of hands you wanted!"
From the platform sprung up a young yellow fox mobian, fur caked in grease and decked out in tools. He also had two tails that flowed behind him, equally greased. He looked down at Sally, then at Sonic behind her. Sonic gave a smile and a wave, which Tails returned. "Awesome," he said as he lowered the platform. Tails stepped off and approached the two. As he got closer, Sonic noticed his height, or lack thereof. Tails was a kid, probably not very far into his teens. Yet just looking at him for a minute or two showed a boy intelligent well beyond his years. Sonic almost saw actual gears turning behind those big blue eyes. Tails stopped in front of him and shook his hand. "Top of the mornin, or night, or-what time is it?" he asked.
"Time for you to get some sleep," Sally said, patting him on the back. "And when you get up, you'll show our new friend here around the garage." She turned to the door, donning a pair of aviator shades. "Try to get him acclimated quickly, I think I'm gonna need him in a few days. And he's new in town, so be nice." With that, Sally left the two with a casual wave as she walked out.
The door closed, leaving Sonic and Tails together. "So," said Sonic, who held out a hand. "The name's Sonic, nice to meet ya."
Tails took the older hedgehog's hand heartily. "The pleasure's mine," tails replied. "So, Sally give you the ice queen routine?"
Sonic put a hand behind his head and smiled sheepishly. "More like the psychotic Machiavellian warlord routine."
Tails whistled. "She only dusts that one off when she likes what she sees." Tails stepped back and placed his hands on his hips. "So what'd she see in you besides your expertise in fur dye?"
"Firstly, you can't fake perfection," Sonic said with a smirk as he held out his arms to show off. "And second…" Sonic grabbed Tails' socket wrench from off his belt, threw it across the room toward a large tool case, ran over, searched through the case until he found an identical socket wrench, put the original in his back pocket, and presented the new one to Tails. All in the span of a half second. "Need I say more?"
Tails nodded in approval. "Flashy." He held out his hand and cocked an eyebrow. "Now hand over my actual wrench, please."
Sonic smiled wide as he handed Tails the wrench. He was gonna like this one. He just had a feeling.
After both had sufficiently shown off to each other, Tails proceeded to give Sonic the grand tour of the hangar. "Obviously we don't have the resources to build our own hangar," said Tails as he guided Sonic down the corridors of planes and other vehicles. "We found it out here along with a bunch of other buildings."
"Well, that explains the ceiling," Sonic said, looking up at the patchwork ceiling of welded scrap.
"Yeah, think it was an old human base. Aunt Sally decided we should set up shop here, and the rest is history."
Sonic looked back down at Tails. "Aunt?"
Tails looked back at him. "Problem?"
Sonic shrugged. "No, just unexpected."
Tails turned back around. "Moving on. Your job for now is making Aunt Sally wanna give you a job. Like, a real job, not the odd job BS I'm gonna subject you to for the next week for my amusement." Yep, definitely gonna like this one. "Now before you get to feeling all special, everyone goes through this, I went through this. Aunt Sally is a woman with high standards."
"And here I thought I'd passed that test."
Tails laughed out loud. "Buddy, all you did was fulfill the price of admission. You got skills, I'll grant you, but A. We don't trust you yet, and B. We don't know what you have besides running."
Sonic groaned. And here he was, looking forward to this assignment because he thought it meant he'd be DONE with bureaucratic idiocy. "So what's the first step?"
Tails stopped at a work bench. "Well, it's like I said." Tails grabbed a box of tools and other miscellaneous objects and shoved them into Sonic's hands. "Amuse me."
"He's a sp-" Antoine was swiftly silenced by Bunnie putting him in a headlock. Sally, meanwhile, rubbed her temples as she sat down behind her desk. Bruin watched the two from an opposite corner, stifling a laugh. Sally snapped her fingers, and Bruin sped across the room to close the doors and lower the blinds on the windows.
"Hush up, sugah-twan." She hissed.
"Yes, yes, I understand, please let go," Antoine choked out through blue lips. Bunnie released the coyote, who doubled over gasping for air.
"Thank you Bunnie," said Sally.
"You think the kid's really a spy?" asked Bruin, who joined Bunnie and Antoine. "I mean, I had my suspicions, but…"
Sally chuckled as she pulled a cigarette from her coat and passed it from knuckle to knuckle. "That guy's a terrible liar. I had him pegged the minute he walked in. The test, among other things, was just to confirm my hunch. No merc moves with that kind of precision. And no merc offers his services for free and expects to live long."
"If that's the case, why didn't you have us take that giant blaster he had holstered the whole time?" Bruin asked.
"And why in blazes would ya leave him with Tails?" Bunnie chimed in.
Sally placed the cigarette into her mouth and allowed Antoine to step forward with a match to light it. When he stepped back, Sally mounted her elbows on the desk, laced her fingers together, and placed her chin on top. Smoke gently wafted from her devious grin, which the three had come to interpret as their leader being three steps ahead of them. "Let's begin with Bruin's question," she said. "Even if we did take his gun away, when you go as fast as he can, anything can be a weapon. Now, on to Bunnie. Tails is one of the best judges of character I've had the honor of knowing. If he spends a day with this Sonic fellow and likes what he sees, then there's nothing to worry about."
"And if he is not?" asked Antoine.
Sally sighed. "Then it gets complicated. Can't very well take him out to a ditch and shoot him like the last guy. I'll think of something, for now, just act natural, and keep an eye out for anything odd about our new friend." All three saluted before turning and exiting the office, leaving Sally alone in her office.
Sally place the cigarette on an ashtray on her desk, stood up, and walked to the window behind her. Unfolding the blinds, she saw Sonic carrying a stack of five boxes for tails, who led him down the road into knothole. You're quite fascinating, Mr. Hedgehog, she thought to herself. Don't disappoint me.
