DOUBLE DROP! :)
"Death Egg"
The mammoth of a robot lowers and stomps across the plains. Tails is still captive in his hand. Inside, Robotnik's busting a little move.
"Say I-V-OOO!"
Nothing.
"Say I-V-OOO!"
Zilch.
Robotnik sighs, sliding his red goggles up his shiny head. His middle finger hits a button on his glove. "CALL STONE."
Ring..
Ring..
Ring..
The Doctor taps his foot. "Any day now.."
CLICK!
A holographic screen flies from his glove, revealing Stone, with the Badniks hard at work. He's up high, as loads of steel get carried around below. "I got your text, Doctor. Are you sure about this?"
That gets a laugh from Robotnik. "Of course I am! I never deal without a plan. An alterior motive if you will. You see, the second that blasted hedgehog hands me the emeralds.." He aims his free hand at a scrap of metal..and fires a red lazer from it!
Stone jumps from the commotion. "Careful where you're aiming that!"
"Are you telling ME to be careful?" Robotnik asks, looking genuinely offended. "They don't call me Doctor Phil. I'm lightyears ahead of that hippopotamus!"
"To be fair, hippos have hair.."
Stones snark gets a chuckle from the Doctor. "Ho-ho-ho-ho. This is why you're employee of the month.."
Despite the compliment he earned, Stone opens his mouth to judge the decision. "There's just one problem with this plan: What If Sonic beats you to the punch?"
That makes him laugh even harder! "Hahaha! Hohoho! Hehehe! You're a comedian, Stone. That hedgehog's too much of a goodie-two-shoes to EVER pull a trick on me. He's better off reading bedtime stories to the children. Well, those who aren't working for ME."
Stone smirks. "They would be very childish stories."
"What stories aren't? I've showed that rat who the top dog is. Not just once..but twice. Even if he does outsmart me, I'M the outsmarterer." Robotnik sets his hands on those slim hips. "He's just no match for me and my Death Egg."
Stones face goes flat. "..That's what you're calling it?"
"The hedgehog loves to take a crack at my head, so I figured I'd rub his own humor in his face, while I crush him with it simultaneously." Robotnik explains, putting a puzzled look on Stone's face. "Very subtle, I know."
"Well then.." Stone turns around and leans the same way. "HEY! Back to work!" A couple lizards have to split the metal wasps apart. Stone clears his throat and gets back to business. "Your Chemical Plant's going well. I've had to split up a few fights. Couple Motobugs got into it, one won and well..we don't mess with him."
Robotnik just shrugs it off. "I'll do a factory reset in ten. Before then, let my Badniks know of my victory. Ive captured THREE more emeralds."
"THREE?" Stone's hands smack his scalp. "Tell me all about it."
"It all started with—"
Westside Island
Sonic's airborne once again, piloting the Tornado around. He's got the Miles Electric cozy on his legs, looking between the air and the tracker for any signal. There's no smirk on that face of his. His droopy quills tell a different story. Seems quite bummed out.
"Gotta go down. Yay.."
He sends the Tornado down, looking to catch that signal. He doesn't quite have a plan on how to get out of the situation, but he's not going to lay down and let the doctor win.
"You'll find a way." Sonic tells himself. "You'll grab the emeralds, grab Tails, and everything will be ok."
Call it a coping mechanism, but he's trying to keep his morale up in a crushing situation. Despite the dent on his confidence, the hedgehog picks those quills back up and looks determined for drop off. The doctor's patience is unpredictable, and even though Sonic would love to cram his fist in that bald head, he has to at least pretend to oblige.
Sonic does a double take at the destination. It's a house with little pictures on the outside. A beautiful garden split in half. A brown rooftop. No rings to be found. "Huh." Sonic says, circling around the place. To his surprise: it's just a little home.
"Why here of all places?" Sonic asks, heading to the doorstep. After a couple knocks, the door opens up. The first responders so tall, she almost hits the top of the door. Sonic looks this new face from down to up.
She's wearing a purple dress extending to her ankles, with a blue tie at her neck. Her face seems familiar, but her fur has a darker tint. Her warm smile disappears when she sees his state.
"Oh dear..you don't look so good." She holds the door for him. "Come in sweetie.."
Sonic just strolls in like he owns the place. "That's really generous..miss..um, rabbit?"
"You can call me Vanilla." She responds, shutting the door. She gets a good look at his dirty quills. Now that just can't do. "Our showers free for the night."
As Sonic heads to their bathroom, he gets a look at the house and..everything's so organized. There's no clutter around, everything's squeaky clean, and as a bonus: cute stuffed animals are on the couch! Such a welcoming sight,
But first, that shower.
"Death Egg"
Tails can't see anything around here. There's no light, no windows, nothing. Just a dark place, perfect for a prisoner. The Fox feels around, looking to use his environment to find a way out. Unfortunately, his path comes to an end when he feels glass infront of him.
"Hm?"
He follows the glass in a big circle. His hairs stand up at the realization.
FLICK!
A few dim lights switch on, still keeping the environment from brightness, while offering a scrap of it. The Fox backs away when he sees that mean, bald Doctor approaching his prison. He's got a red jacket with black spots going down the middle. His mustache has a grown tint, but what stands out to him the most..is that evil sneer.
"AHH!"
Tails uses his namesakes as a shield from whatever he has planned. Robotnik doesn't attack. Instead, he paces around the cage. "W-what do you want?!"
"At first I believed you to be..a hinderance to the hedgehog. Just a kid who stands by and lets him take care of the action." Robotnik admits with a harsh tone. "But you must be quite the tinkerer. A device that not only lets you track Chaos energy, but use any perks you please. I assume that's why you held onto it for so long?"
"…"
"You don't have to lie to me. I see through them too often." Robotnik takes a stop behind the fox. "My latest nap pulled new ideas into my cranium. Instead of destroying you and that rat, why don't I make you useful instead? You want to live, do you not?"
Tails crawls to the other end of his prison, and holds his tails again. "Y-yeah.."
His scared behavior makes the Doctor grimace. "You're lucky I haven't wiped you off the face of this planet. I wanted to so BADLY!" He smacks on the glass to scare the kid even more! "A little rock helped remind me that defense wins championships. Think about it.."
A holographic screen floats over for the fox to view. "If your friend pays me with his loyalty, you two get to live in the flesh. One of our only fleshy soldiers. We'll help you in your craft. Let the hedgehog run wherever he may..as long as he holds up his end anyway." The Doctor pulls up a holographic checklist on the screen.
"Power. Check."
"Support. Check."
"Success. Check." Robotnik brings the screen closer. "Everything geniuses like us could ask for."
Tails keeps shivering. "H-how do you know I'm—"
"Intelligent?" Robotnik asks, raising a hand. One finger goes up. "It's easy to sniff out what 'incompetence' is. They don't build like you and I. They don't have a VISION! I have my Badniks, and you have your?…"
"M-miles Electric." Tails stammers.
"Exactly!" Another finger goes up. "I see two tails. I guarantee you were doubted because of your looks. People are superficial no matter the place. I was doubted, so much that I MADE myself excel above all the others. They tried to hold me down because of their own insecurities. Mommy didn't spank them hard enough." Robotnik explains. "..but I wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Allow me to predict your predicament: you were harassed for your tails, and shunned your whole childhood."
Tails has to look away. Thanks for the reminder..
"You may have hated your body, but you could always turn to your mind." Robotnik digs in. "It's quite a shame that your friend could make the wrong decision. Besides your childish crying, we'd be the best of friends. Make them pay. Show them who's boss!"
Tails has been trying so hard to tune him out. Mean people like this doctor will do anything to get people on his side. ANYTHING. Even if it means lying. "Even if he's telling the truth..why would I want to be with him?" He ponders. "Sonic wouldn't make me choose…Sonic.."
Robotnik still goes on. Must have a PhD in monologues. "If the blue bastard chooses wrong, THEN he'll make me do some cruel things. I don't want to be extremely cruel.."
With a snap of his fingers, a spotlight switches on, revealing a horrifying sight for the fox. A robot modeled after him, with the same orange skin, the same two tails, and even his facial features. There's an open hatch, with a free slot inside.
The kids hyperventilating, getting spun into a panic! The implication terrifies him. He has no freedom to do is own thing. He'll just be stuck in a metal body FOREVER. Locked inside and forced to serve this..this madman! Robotnik's first impression was already too poor to appeal to Tails, but this is on another level of awful.
Despite the kids reaction, Robotnik just keeps pushing it. "If you ask me, I don't think it's too bad. It'll scare a child like yourself at first..BUUUUT it has its perks. You don't need to eat, sleep, or exercise for survival. You'd be a superpower, your potential off the charts!" He turns to the Fox, only to catch him whimpering. The poor kids getting traumatized by this one encounter.
Go figure the Doctor brushes it off. Even adds a scoff to make him feel worse. "It'll remove your childish tendencies too. Sensitive child.." Robotnik forces a fake smile, which makes Tails go wide eyed even more. "Either way, you'll be fine."
He walks away, leaving Tails in the fetal position. This is even worse than he imagined. This whole wager was a mistake. If Sonic can't take the big one over Robotnik, then Tails will wish he was back at his village. His fate is in the hands of the guy he met just a few days ago.
"Please d-don't let me down, Sonic…" Tails whispers, curling himself up. He's never felt this powerless before…
Just as Robotnik wants.
Robotnik's mine is..chaotic lol. He's easily willing to traumatize children, and use threats just to make sure HE doesn't get betrayed, even though he's going to con Sonic anyway. So Tails better not let his guard down, because Robotnik's just giving him false hope. He wants Tails Roboticized anyways. All that manipulation about his childhood, just to do that anyway. VILLAIN. This whole wagers a lie, he wants to control his biggest threats!
When it comes to Sonic's side, yep that's right, he's at the rabbit household. You'll get to see more of that next chapter. For now, I'm out. Glad to do the double drop :). Expect another chapter in a couple days.