Robotropolis: The Black and Blues

[Leda]

The Swatbots tossed her unceremoniously into the dirty, dingy holding cell, the metallic clang of their heavy feet as they departed resonating off the masonry and nearly drowning out the whirr of the electric door sliding closed.

But Rouge never made an attempt to slip out during the delay of the door locking shut. The bat remained on the floor where she'd been dumped, weeping softly to herself and struggling to nurse her wounds. In a way, she was relieve to have been taken into the custody of the Swatbots; Metal Sonic had been absolutely relentless, and as badly as she came out of that conflict, she could very well have ended up even worse off had it not ended when it did.

She sniffled and pushed her body upright with her uninjured arm. There wasn't going to be much she could do for her broken wing, but she could at least try to set her forearm. Rouge carefully worked her way out of what remained of her shredded tank top, and was disappointed but not surprised to find the backstraps stained with blood. With the way Metal had been clawing her, she was more impressed that he hadn't clawed his way straight through the fabric. Letting out an unsteady sigh, the bat began carefully wrapping the dark purple material around her throbbing left arm; without anything stiff to set it against, she would just have to make do with what she had.

Well... better than nothing, she supposed silently, wiping her wet eyes and glancing around her cell. There wasn't much about it that surprised her; as the primary distraction during the Mercia missions, Rouge had been captured and imprisoned many times. As a result, she'd become well aquainted with the tricks and methods used to escape from the holding areas. But she'd also been in excellent condition all those times. Rouge's ears flattened to her still dirty head. I'm not going to be able to get away this time...

She felt the sting of impending tears once more. Taking her time so as to upset her wounds as little as possible, Rouge made her way to the small bench at the back of her cell and layed down, crying quietly and wishing she could have seen Rob and the others one more time.

[AnT]

But from her cell, she may see SWATbots running past the bars, aiming their weapons at something down the hall.

Intruders! Calling uni...communicatio-"

But laser blasts punched a hole in them, making them slide back on the floor. On a side note, a bot being blasted can be very loud, especially to one with sensitive ears.

"What part of subtile you not understand, luv?" a female voice shouted off-stage of the bars. The voice seemed to have a accent almost similar to Rob.

"What? Didn't you say you took out the cams?" a rough voice asked, which had a slight robotic tone to it.

"Argh! Never mind!"

[Leda]

As sensitive as they were, the bat's ears perked up at all the commotion, and a moment later she opened her puffy eyes. She'd spent quite a while weeping, even though she was well aware that it wouldn't change her situation.

But now it sounded like there were other people around. Other prisoners? If so, it sounded like they'd taken out the guards. Pushing herself up slightly with her good arm, Rouge's trembling voice only came out as a soft whimper.

"H-Hello...?"

[AnT]

Sadly, her soft voice fell on deaf ears.

A green Mobian canary came down, who had hair that covered half of her face, large ring-earrings, a red t-shirt under black overalls. Her compainon followed, which was a squirill Robian.

They scanned the hall, as if they were in a hurry, but paid no attention to Rouge.

"Yo Tek! Check the bars!"

Tekno rushed down the hall, being out of sight from Rouge. "Bloody hell! Looks like the locks been tampered. They must of let themselves out."

"Arrrgh!" Rouge could probably hear the Robian growl in annoyance...which wasn't diifficult for anyone. "We came to this dump for nothing!!!"

The canary walked back to plain sight for Rouge. She quickly recalled what happened. When coming to Robotropolis, they got help from a robot from the other world. After getting the clearance card from a Worker-bot, while making sure that worker-bot stays where they can find her, they arrived at the HQ. Tekno told Silver Sonic to distract the guards outside while she and Shorty rescues Fini and his cronies...

...but it wouldn't do much good if they weren't here. Oh well, it wasn't a total loss.

"Well I don't think that...."

She finally noticed the poor bat.

"...came for nothing at 'toh..."

[Leda]

Rather than struggle to push herself upright, Rouge simply slid off the bench until her legs caught her. Unlike her upper body, the bat's legs had gone relatively unassaulted, outside of the electrical shocks. Excepting a few burns, she was plenty stable enough to walk.

"Um..." she began, her voice still small and timid. "...Sorry to just cut right to the chase, but... Can you help me?"

[AnT]

"SHORTY!!!" Tekno called.

"What?" when he joined her, he too noticed Rouge. "Holy..."

Without warning, Shortfuse smashed the lock to pieces with a punch. He then tossed the bars away, letting Tekno rush to the girl.

But Tekno gasped in fear and disgust at Rouge condition. "Oh bloody hell. What happened to you, luv?"

"Colorful choice of words, Tek."

Growling at her partner, Tekno then tried to reach to Rouge...but she was a bit hesistant. One, while Tekno is incredibly confident when it comes to machines, she was the total opposite for medical stuff. She gulped as she tried to find a way to help her without hurting her.

Two, she cringes at the sight of blood. San Grandia. Nuff said.

"Dammit Tek! Hurry up before the bots come!"

"ALRIGHT!" Sucking up her pride and fear, and seeing that the girl could walk, Tekno carefully took her GOOD hand and led her out of the cell. "Don't worry, luv. We'll...get you out. Oh god, I am not so good at this stuff. Wish Maria was here. There's never a docto' around when you need one."

[Leda]

Though she winced somewhat at the thunderous sound of her cell being broken open, it was a small price to pay in exchange for possible freedom. Rouge followed and luckily was easily able to keep pace, despite some soreness and burning in her muscles. "Thank you," she mentioned along the way, trying to keep her arm and wing steady. "I thought I was going to end up staring at the roboticizer again..."

[AnT]

Turning back, Tekno smiled...though weakly, because of Rouge's arm and wounded wings. Looking at a pained person scares the dickens out of her.

They then stopped under an opened air-duct on the ceiling. It was going to be tough to get this wounded girl up there without hurting her, but it has to be done to get past the guards. Tekno can't fly while carrying something, so it looks like...

"Shorty, get her up there....but pleeeeeeease be careful with her."

"Don't worry. Jeez...." without any caution, Shorty scooped the bat in his robot arms. "Hang on, kid."

With his feet blasting out thrust, Shortfuse rocketed in the duct, with Tekno soaring after them.

[dice=6]
(To see if Rouge is hurt by Shortfuse's handling or not.)[rand=7038105449648169595327392773301657429374594559179049583240740696]

[Leda]

[dice=6]

"Oww!!" Rouge yelped as the robian ungracefully toted her along into the duct. Though her wounds seared with pain, not a breath of complaint escaped her lips. Help was help, and she was going to be in pain no matter what anyway. She would just have to deal with it for now. "Th-Thank you..."[rand=6199297997191835702239827539039594792504271135849464582917432225]

[AnT]

"Aw jeez! My bad!!!" Shorty cried as he heard her cries. He set her down in the duct.

"SHORTY!" Tekno barked, fearing for Rouge's condition now.

"I said my bad!"

Groaning, Tekno took the air-duct lid and placed it back in the opening. Hopefully, the bots won't know they came through the air-duct, but that's always unlikely. She then took Rouge hand and carefully led her through the duct, while Shortfuse followed.

"How in devil you got like that, luv?" she asked while they ran.

[Leda]

"I..." She hesitated for a moment, not so much because she was unwilling to reveal the incident, but moreso because she wasn't positive she could steadily talk about it. After taking a moment to draw a breath, she began again. As with every other time she would rather dodge a topic, she decided to be vague. "...I was... being chased and attacked by a robot. I don't think it was a robian... But it looked like a blue hedgehog."

[AnT]

"Blue hedge...WHAT?!?!? I KNEW IT!!!" Shortfuse snapped his laser-cannons out of his wrists.

"Hold on, that....hmmm..." Maybe that blue robot was trying to lead them on. But then again..."No wait, I heard of vague reports that Robotnik created a hedgehog android, so it couldn't be the one that is with us, because he's from another world...SHORTY!"

"Whatever..." he rolled his eyes...even though he had nothing to roll in his visors.

The gang reached to a mild light at the end of the duct.

"Oh by the way, I'm Tekno, leader of the Western Freedom Fighters in San Grandia, and this is Shortfuse." Carefully, Tekno peaked over the opening to see if nobody was around in the hall. "And incase you didn't hear, there's been dimensional rips that leads to another world, hence the other robot hedgehog that's with us.."

[Leda]

"I'm Rouge," she replied, this time excluding her customary half-bow. "I'm with the northern Freedom Fighters near Mercia." The bat took the time to tenderly massage her loosely bandaged shoulder while Tekno checked ahead. "And, yeah... I'm familiar with the portals. I'm here now because I felt through one. ... Again."

[AnT]

"Really now?" Tekno asked with interest. "Golly, luv, you gotta tell me about it once we-"

"Coast clear!" and Shortfuse made a dash out the duct.

"SHORTY!!!" Tekno cried, chasing after him while towing Rouge with her. "Are you insane?? You...argh! I hate it when he does this!"

The duct they escaped was close to the entrance. As Tekno led Rouge down the wide stood, she nervously checked her surroundings. So far, no SWATbots or Spy Orbs around. It seems like Silver Sonic cleaned out...

"Surrender!" a robotic voice ordered.



Okay...almost cleaned out.





Three Hover-SWATbots circled over the Mobians like vultures. "Surrender! You are under arrest!"

[Lans]

There was a crackling sound and then a an electro-ball slammed into the side of one of the HoverSWATs, blowing the back end off its sled and sendingit spiraling to the ground. There was a rush of jets and then a Blue and purple blur slammed into the middle SWAT as Silver Sonic hit it was an Iron Knuckle punch that tore its head off. He then leaped from the already dropping sled onto the last one, his hands switchingto claw mode as he attempted to clamp on and fry the bot's circuts.

[dice=6][rand=9291437912487677395460060846201562970666227939638717750239218615]

[AnT]

[dice=6]

Toasty!! Smoke rose out of the bot before it dropped like a rock.




"Hey!" Shortfuse roared as he shook his fist at the blue robot. "Those were for me!!"


Lucky for him, two more appeared, firing their laser....badly.


Chuckling, Shortfuse clapped his hands together as his blasters was coated with red energy that was getting stronger. He released a mighty shot at the bots.

[dice=6]

[dice=6][dice=6]

One managed to manuver away, but the other was blown to pieces.

Making a U-turn back, the bot fired its cannons.

[dice=6]

[dice=6]

And Shorty, being a guy low on agility, took the blow. "Ack! Why you...!!!"

This time, he fired two shots up at the flying bot.

[dice=6] [dice=6]

[dice=6][dice=6]

Both blasted chunks on the SWATbot, blasting it out of the sky.

Emerging out of some alleys across from them were two Hover Units, and as usual, their aimming was as accurate as a blind man's.


"Oh cripes! Come on, luv!" Tekno said as she towed Rouge with her. [rand=4080755232135196452146992599219644008343982202433005770999059844573]

[Leda]

"Will they be okay??" she asked urgently as she hustled after Tekno, casting a glance at Shortfuse and Silver Sonic. The sight of a second robotic hedgehog sent an eerie chill down her back.

[Lans]

[dice=6]
[dice=6]
Short answer? Yeah probably, as Silver rushed at one of the oncoming hoverunits and sliced through it in spindash mode, cracking it open like an egg.[rand=80207130376807238865974097897919589185064793792107502359649051]

[AnT]

[dice=6][dice=6]

Well one Hover Unit had enough brain cubes to sway away from the robo-buzzsaw, but the other was cut up like a sliced boiled egg with sparks dancing around.


Following the robot hedgehog, Shortfuse rocketed for the other Hover Unit, with so much thrust he probably could ram the thing right on a wall.

[dice=6]

[dice=6]

And he did, but his size wasn't enough to make the Hover Unit crush like a soda can.

Oh well....

"Mind if I do your windows?" Shorty asked as he aimed his blasters at the SWATbot drivers.

Explosion erupted all around the Hover Unit as it dropped to the floor. Shorty laughed like a maniac.


"Um...I wouldn't disturb his fun anyways." said Tekno when she heard his crazy laugh. She still led Rouge to a safe place, while coming up with a way out of the city. The problem is that the prisoners she really aimed to rescue could very well be in the city. They might have escaped, but being in the city still doesn't count in the escape-department yet. They don't know the city, and their robo-parts might still be out of the fritz. That is a big disadvantage.

But how will she find them in this colossal city?


Couple of SWATbot groups marched out the road, firing their lasers at the rebel robots. One of them, however, was calling for reinforcements.

"Units around HQ sector, emergency alert! Two Robians on the loose. Requesting backup." [rand=0387895973421673030730066360699510668120325649397925666968448221761]

[Leda]

Rouge plunked down into the still damp ground, wincing and whimpering softly. She and Tekno seemed to be out of harm's way for the moment, but the Shortfuse and Silver were still in danger. Thought they seemed capable of defending themselves, Swatbots were closing in faster than they could fight them off. The bat's heart sank upon realization that there was nothing she could do for them.

"We have to help them," she whispered to the canary, "but what can we do??"

[Lans]

However a split second later Silver was slamming the SWATbot with the communicator into a wall, smashing it to pieces. "Tactical situation is deteriorating rapidly. Suggestion: withdrawal," he said as he blasted a couple more enemies.

[AnT]

Clasping his hands together, Shortfuse let out a blast that made some of the bots fly. "What are ya, a tin-wuss? I can keep up this all day!"


Suddenly, Tekno spoke from his interior intercom. "No, I say we agree with the bot! Everyone run, now!"

Grabbing Rouge's hand, Tekno ran out through an alley.


"Argh! You all are a bunch of..." without looking, Shortfuse blasted a SWATbot's head off. "...wusses!"

But he did what Tekno said and flew after her.

But Tekno knew it wouldn't do much good. The city might be aware of their presence and will endlessly hunt them down. She has no knowledge to any hide-aways like the Knothole Freedom Fighters might, even with the map she downloaded. Sooner or later, at this rate, they will get captured.

Argh, she needs a miracle.

[Leda]

@segajulie@ Miracle or not, Julie was what she got -- well, Julie with a stolen hover unit. Having left Fini with the determination to get help from some dimensional locals, the pangolin quickly set about hijacking some transportation (figuring out how to pilot with only one functional arm was comical to anyone other than herself). She now zipped quickly over the scene of the Freedom Fighter battle just outside of the fortress, and catching sight of it, wasted no time in performing a U-turn.

Lowering the ship near to where the Tekno and Rouge crouched, Julie opened the hatch and hollered, "Get in, quick!!"


The pilot was mobian, and that was good enough for trust during a battle so far as Rouge was concerned. Heading for the ship with Tekno, she turned to the canary and asked, "Friend of yours?"

[Lans]

There was a THUMP as Silver landed on the roof of the hoverunit, both hands in claw mode now as he laid down some cover fire for them.

[AnT]

"Uh...I really don't know who-"

Landing hard next to Tekno, the Robian pointed straight at the pilot. "Hey, she's one of that scaly-guy's croinies!"

"What?!?" Surprised that one of the prisoners Tekno was looking for dropped on her lap, the canary snapped a stare at her.


Suddenly, lasers shot way over their heads.

"Grck! Just get in, Shorty!" she cried, pulling the Robian into the Hover Unit.

[Leda]

@segajulie@ And upon having received all of her passengers (albeit with one outside), Julie shut the cabin door. With barely a warning of, "Hang on!" Julie jammed the throttle and rocketed the ship forward.


Of course, hanging on wasn't quite so easy in Rouge's case, but she did the best she could manage, trying to muffle her whimpers of pain.

[Lans]

Silver managed to clamp a hand around the hoverunit's laser cannon just before Julie caused it to accelerate forward, and held on tight.

[AnT]

Tekno quickly held onto the back of the passenger seat while Shortfuse just stood perfectly still from the movement, making an attempt to look bad-ass.

"Thanks for the lift, luv! Now let's get out of this city before the storm becomes ugly!" Pulling out her terminal, she then looked back at the Robian. "Shorty, we're closing in on the Worker-bot we left, so get ready to sky dive it back here."

"Oh great...." he groaned. Pressing the button to set the door open, Shortfuse dived out of the moving hover unit.


And the SWATbots jetted on their tail, badly shooting their lasers at him.

He landed right on the junk pile, with a great thud. But he quickly busted out of the pile, and scooped up the child robian.

However, he noticed that the hover unit wasn't stopping. "I'm so gonna kill Tekno when I catch up."


Great...the scaly dove isn't gonna stop. Shortfuse is gonna kill me. She knew Shortfuse can take care of himself. But who knows if he can find her. Well, she set her terminal to a signal he can trace, so hopefully, Shortfuse can find her...


....hopefully.