Robotropolis - Resistance is Futile

[Jamie Lee]

Skidding out of the abandoned run down shack he had been in moments before, Metal charged off after the marching group of SWATbots. Inwardly the metallix was cringing at his own act of benevolence, every fiber of his being screaming at him to just let them take him. He couldn't stand that android. Why, if it weren't for the amount of respect Metal had for his creator...

Metal inwardly steeled himself, fully expecting a confrontation that he just knew he was going to end up regretting. The air from his active turbine swirled up dust around him, and the metallix inwardly grimaced over the filth and grime the city was covered in. His wax job was going to be utterly wrecked.

"Release that corgi!" he shouted in a strained voice as he quickly closed the distance between the two groups.

[Stoney]

Rush had found his happy place. It involved a series of Metal lookalikes that stood there and begged for mercy while he systematically blew their faces off.

Okay, I'm lying. He was out cold. Completely. It was unknown what exactly the robots had done to finally subdue him, but whatever it had been must've packed quite a wallop.






The robots turned to face Metal. Upon sighting him, they paused for several seconds as they apparently processed something.

Then, surprisingly, they obeyed. Rush was dropped on the ground like a sack of wet barley and left there as the robots turned to stand at attention before Metal Sonic, awaiting further orders.

[Jamie Lee]

"..."

Metal just kind of... blinked in confusion as he slowed himself to a halt. Straightening up and touching his feet back onto the ground he couldn't help but just stare at the group of foreign robots.

Right, there was another version of himself... whom, from the looks of things, seemed to hold a high position of authority in this city. Just as Dash had only minutes ago it seemed that they were now mistaking him for the impostor.

"Err.." the metallix stammered, mind racing. Suddenly he straightened into an authoritative posture and pointed at the group. "Fall back and assume normal routine! I will handle this matter personally!"

[DB]

Dash had continued to follow Metal. Seeing him order the release of the corgi just affirmed what he'd already come to believe- this was VERY VERY not the Metal he knew.

[Stoney]

The SWATbots bowed en-masse (well, the ground-based ones did at least...the hovering ones kinda...dipped a little lower to the ground briefly). "AFFIRMATIVE," They droned. "RESUMING NORMAL PATROL. ALL SECURITY FORCES ON STANDBY ALERT FOR ADDITIONAL INTRUDERS."

And they began to disperse, walking (or hovering) off to their original posts.

At the same time, the lead SWAT of the squadron had sent a message to Robotnik's computer, giving a brief summary of what had just happened. 'UNIT METAL SONIC HAS ASSUMED CONTROL OF PRISONER DETAINMENT. ALL TROOPS ON STANDBY ALERT.'






AND RUSH CONTINUED TO LAY THERE. He might've twitched a finger, I don't know for sure.

[Jamie Lee]

Well... THAT was surprisingly painless. Now if only more of his fights ended this easily he'd be a very content combat machine.

Looking around at the filth and grime of the city, however, told him that this odd stroke of luck probably wouldn't last long at this rate. Scooping the corgi android up into his arms he glanced over toward Dash.

"Where is a safe haven I can take him?"

[DB]

"Safe? Around here?" The tenrec scoffed. "There's no place really safe around here. The best bet you've got is to bring him to the Great Forest, but that's a good deal aways from here." He paused and looked around at the dilapidated buildings. "Other then that I guess you could try hiding in an old building... or the sewer... but that doesn't bar out that you might get caught."

-

Meanwhile, a certain evil dictator had just received the message that Metal Sonic had commandeered the capture party. Robotnik furrowed his brow. He hadn't asked for Metal Sonic to assist, and he'd of preferred that the robotic hedgehog not to get involved in it, at least not without knowing the details of what he wanted done. He opened up a communication line with the robot, only to find it broken and fizzy. Odd. A lot of odd things have happened lately, actually. Perhaps Metal knew something he didn't. He'd have to ask... after making sure the prisoner was dealt with.

"METAL! Report!"

[Jamie Lee]

"Sewer," the metallix repeated with a heavy air of resentment. He glanced down at himself, at the fresh scuffs, marks of dirt and layer of fine dust already clinging to him and seemed to wince. "Let us... try our luck with one of the old buildings. "

Metal then paused in his tracked and winced a second time, receiving a loud squeal of garbled static through his communicator. His eyes suddenly brightened in surprise and relief - his com-link was working again?! Well. Sort of working. But at least it wasn't completely dead!

<My Liege?!> he said in an attempt to answer it.

[DB]

Oh yes. This connection was bad. Really bad. That was something that'd have to be fixed, but not right now.

"I said report. What are you doing? There was no need for you to take over!"

[Jamie Lee]

Metal fell silent. That... was not Eggman's voice. Who then - that Julian person? How in the world was he able to access the Eggman Empire's frequency? ... Well... sort of access. It sounded as if he were between stations, the connection so bad. His eyes dimmed subtly as he tried to filter out the noise. Most of what the tyrant was saying was too indistinguishable, but he definitely managed to make out the word 'report'.

Report. Report what? Metal felt his confidence begin to sink. He wasn't that other Metal - he had no idea what was expected of him. The bad connection seemed to be a blessing in disguise, assuming it was just as bad on the other side...

<I cannot read you, your signal is too scrambled,> he answered, pausing long enough to think, <I am proceeding with the detainment of the intruder.>

He turned to Dash, "We need to leave. Now." his eyes dimmed a little more. "You know this place better than I do, so... I... want you to lead the way."

His eyes gained back some of their brightness; he was growing quite irritated and uncomfortable with having to rely on this strange robot.

[DB]

The robot tenrec looked around at his surroundings a moment (A lot of the city tended to look the same, all dirt and grim) before shrugging and heading down an alley. "This way..."

-
On the other end of the line, Robotnik 'hrmph'ed. The connection was terrible for some reason, and he could barely made out what Metal was saying. He was able to pick out what he (thought) was "detain" and "prisoners", so at least Metal was getting that done. He shut off the connection and sat back, wondering.

Very strange things were going on indeed. Strange intruders, broken connection with Metal Sonic... hrm.

Speaking of strange intruders, more have been spotted. A group, this time. Robotnik had sent the order to have them detained as well, and, not taking any chances, to break out the Mega Muck first thing. He wouldn't want them to go on a rampage like the earlier one...

[Jamie Lee]

Metal silently followed after the tenrec-bot, still carrying Rush in his arms and looking around at the dreary surroundings with a sullen look.

[DB]

After awhile of walking through a maze of filthy alleys, junkyards, and more alleys, the robot tenrec stopped in front of a door. "This place should be okay..." Opening the door, the tenrec walked in, holding it open for Metal as his hands were full.

It was, like all buildings in Robotropolis, an old and dilapidated building, obviously having not seen any sign of life for years, this especially marked by thick layers of dust and grim covering everything. Further inspection would reveal that at one point, someone had called this building home. But not anymore. The furniture was broken and tipped over, probably from during the coup, and all the upholstery had since been worn away. One would be hard pressed to make this place a home now, for all it was now was a relic of times far removed.

[Jamie Lee]

Metal's eyes glowed dully as he entered the building and looked around, his feet kicking up ancient dust with each step he took.

"This is... terrible..." he mumbled to himself over the condition of anything. He shook his head in disbelief. "This is not right. My Liege would have never allowed anything like this to happen."

Further support that he was probably now in a new dimension.

Dropping Rush onto the floor, the metallix looked him over several times to make out his condition. He was scorched in places, and covering him was a now dissipating green substance (the residue of which was now all over his armor). Generally, though, he seemed unharmed.

His eyes glowed with dark amusement. "He is going to be angry when his system finally reloads." Especially when he finds out it was me who helped him.

[DB]

Dash shut the door and gave a glance to Metal before wandering off a bit, more dust being added to the air with every step. "'Your Liege' is obviously a better man then Robotnik." He paused in front of a fireplace, picking up a picture frame that had been toppled over years ago. It had been laying face down, so the picture itself wasn't coated in dust, only the back. The glass was still broken, but that didn't matter so much. Looking over it, Dash frowned, his eyes dimming a bit.

"... are you still having a hard time believing I was 'organic' once?"

[Jamie Lee]

As Dash asked that question, Metal had pulled a rag out of hammerspace and was currently trying to wipe away the mega muck residue clinging to his armor, looking rather annoyed as he did.

"Yes, actually. I find the claim ridiculous."

[DB]

"Then here." replied Dash, holding out the picture in Metal's direction but not looking over, his attention more focused on the other pictures that were still situated on the fireplace mantle. Unlike the one he was now handing to the robot hedgehog, the glass on these pictures was much more murky and dusty, the pictures barely visable, but still obviously interesting the tenrec greatly regardless.

[Jamie Lee]

Metal blinked as he was offered the photo, taking it and studying it over.

[DB]

The photograph by now had dulled in colour from the years, but the picture was still clear. It was a simple family photo of three tenrecs- a tall dark coloured father, a lighter cream coloured mother, and their small child peeking from behind the father's leg. The background of the picture showed a cobble stone bridge and clear sky populated by only a few sparse fluffy clouds. Nothing like the grimy wasteland the city was now.

Meanwhile, Dash had wandered off to inspect other rooms of the house.

[Jamie Lee]

"Hm." Metal studied over the photo, noticing the tenrec leave out of the corner of his eye. If he really wanted to, he thought idly, he could've argued its legitimacy, but, well...

Placing the photo back down on the mantle, the metallix folded his arms and glanced over at Rush. He was still slightly shaken over that transmission and his mistaken identity. Even with the temporary advantage it had given him, common sense told him not to exploit that any more than he absolutely had to. The absolute last thing he needed was to find himself being drug off into some situation he didn't understand...

Having decided on his next form of action, Metal liquefied and reshaped his form.

The very moment the android's form had solidified, his eyes bulged out and he suddenly found himself thrown into a violent coughing fit. With the amount of dust that had been kicked up into the air, the moment he took a simulated breath the mechanism became clogged, and now out of programmed reflex began trying to clear itself.

It was more than just the dust though. Amid the musty ancient odors, a powerful scent of decay found its way into his nostrils.

"... For the love of Chaos, what is that SMELL?!"

[Stoney]

Rush's fingers twitched again. This time the movement was more pronounced and easily noticeable.

Then, slowly, a small whine indicated his systems were rebooting one-by-one. his limbs twitched in succession as startup diagnostics verified their functionability.

A slow groan emitted from his lips. His arms shook as he raised his upper half off the floor to lean on his elbows. Finally, his eyelids shuddered open. The eyes behind them were half-focused and appeared glazed, but it at least proved he was awake again.

Slowly sitting up, Rush held a hand to his head. "I'mma killum," He grunted, his words slurring themselves together. He lurched to his feet and took a couple drunken practice swings at the air, but almost immediately lost his balance, staggering sideways into a wall that he leaned heavily against. "Lemmeatum!"

Then he looked around, blinking dumbly as he realized he WASN'T in the middle of a crowd of enemies anymore -- he was in an unfamiliar house with an unfamiliar hedgehog. His blank and half-vacant expression never changed as he suddenly uttered, "Whud 'appen?"

[Jamie Lee]

Merce gagged on yet another 'lungfull' of dust, coughly and waving at the air in an effort to clear it. Finding this to be futile, he finally simply switched the mechanism off entirely - the scent persisted though, and he grimaced in an effort to ignore it.

Finally, the android hedgehog glanced over at the disoriented corgi. "I had to... pull your circuits out of the... incinerator you had leapt yourself into." he said thickly.

[DB]

Meanwhile, Dash had returned to the living room... and was now staring in utter confusion at 'Merce'.

"... wuh... who are you? How'd you get here?" He glanced around in even more confusion, "Where'd Metal go??"

[Stoney]

Rush turned his attention from his surroundings to the hedgehog who had spoken. Several silent seconds passed by while the corgi's damaged processor conveyed the information that no, he had never met this hedgehog before, and no, he did not appear to look like the enemies he had been fighting before. After another slothful blink, he finally asked, "Who ur you?"

Then Dash walked in and mentioned Metal's name. It got an immediate reaction.

"Wuzzat? Metal?! Where izzie?!" Rush spun around with a buster held up to sweep the rest of the room -- but he moved too quickly for his balance servos to keep up, and like a spinning top that had lost too much speed, fell over with a dull THUD.

"Who puddat floor dere...?" His voice asked thickly from his new resting spot.

[Jamie Lee]

"Metal is not... here..." Merce said awkwardly, throwing a hand up in a 'stop' symbol toward Dash, looking somewhat nervously between him and Rush several times before motioning his head toward the corgi and shaking it no.

[DB]

The Dash's eyes flickered in a blink, not quite understanding what was going on.

After a few moments, he matter-o-factly announced...

"You look like Sonic."

[Jamie Lee]

Aaaaand all awkward feelings suddenly melted and gave way to anger. Quite predictably, the android's quills bristled out in anger and he glared daggers at the tenrec.

"Merce, thank you. You will NEVER refer to me as Sonic again!"

[DB]

The robot tenrec blinked again and stepped back in surprise. His surprise even more heightened seeing as apparently, his programming took that as an order. Which didn't make sense- only Metal Sonic could give him orders, and this obvio- ... oh.

"... okay, yeah, the Metal Sonic I know DEFINITELY can't do that."

[Jamie Lee]

Merce's eye twitched angrily, glancing over at Rush and stalking over toward Dash.

"Unless you want to make this situation more difficult, do not refer to me as Metal around him while I am in this form." he whispered quietly. "He does not know we are the same person."

[DB]

Make things more difficult? Hell no.

"I can live with that."