Great Forest Outskirts: What now?

[Leda]

A stray hover unit zipped rapidly across the Great Plains. It lacked the usual entourage because it was not piloted by a Swatbot; actually, it had been hijacked by a pangolin, and incredibly enough, she was controlling it with only one arm.

@segajulie@ Julie's face seemed solidified into a permanent scowl. This had NOT been a good day for her. As much as she'd been irritated when she awoke to find her chest bandage missing -- which she never did actually find, and hastily had to find a replacement for -- but now she was stuck in some unknown land, and something horrible had happened to the doctor? Add the EMP blast that disabled her mechanical arm, and you were left with a very pissy pangolin.

Finally the ship was brought to a rest, albeit rather sharply; Julie was in no mood for a tender landing. Once the hover unit had stopped, she whipped around in her seat and looked sternly at the passengers. "Okay. Who wants to tell me WHAT the hell is going on?!"


Rouge remained silent in her huddled position in the shadows in the back of the ship, tenderly nursing her wounds and doing her best to keep them from getting worse. Her typically snowy fur had been deeply stained with blood, dirt, and grime, save for the area across her middle where her shirt had once been, and the two streams down either cheek where tears had silently slipped.

[AnT]

The San Grandia FF leader would've spent more of her time worrying for Shortfuse, who took off to get the worker-bot they hid, but now she's got one angry pilot to deal with. Since the white bat is in no shape to help, especially since she sort of reminds Tekno of Maria, the bird has to be the one.

And as usual, she put on her 'calm n cool' mask; the kind she needs to have when you're living in a nightmare world. "What part, luv? The one where you're basically in a dimensional rip roller coaster, or the fact that we just escaped a robotic hell, owned by our 'wonderful' host, Dr. Robotnik?"

[Leda]

Tekno's reply only seemed to make the pangolin agrier. "YES, PLEASE. Any of that would do, thanks!!"


"Please, we shouldn't bicker," Rouge called quietly from the back, taking her time in rising to her feet. "We're all on the same side here... Or if nothing else, we all have a common enemy." The bat walked toward the ship's pilot, and added, "I'll do my best to answer whatever questions you have"


"Fine, fine," Julie muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Okay then for starters, what happened to--" The pangolin paused mid-sentence and gaped at Rouge's unclothed torso. "Jeez, woman!! Don't you have any modesty?!"


Rouge blinked with confusion. Had she somehow offended this woman that she likely enough owed her freedom to? The bat's ears drooped a bit. "I... I'm sorry.... ?"

[AnT]

"Luv, I don't know what you mean by that, either." Tekno figured that maybe this trans-dimensional girl finds a injured person disturbing too. Though she wish she kept that a hush-hush. "Anywho, I'm not sure how to explain the dimensional thing since I'm still working on that, but as for here...welcome to the planet Mobius, luv; the land where dreams die. Home of the 'faboulous' Dr. Julian Robotnik, where his moto is that all living things must be turned into robots, where you'll wait and serve him against your will. Any questions?"

[Leda]

@segajulie@ Julie seemed overall unimpressed with Tekno's speech, until she got to the 'must be turned into robots' part. That detail was exactly what she wanted to know... and as a result she lost much of her restraint. Springing from her seat, the pangolin grabbed ahold of Tekno's shirt with her only functional arm and pushed her up against the nearest wall. "THAT. Tell me more about the robots!! How do I undo it?!" In her urgency and frustration, Julie dug her elbo into Tekno's shoulder. "TELL ME!!"


Rouge gasped in alarm as the pangolin suddenly went on the offensive. "W-Wait!!" she cried, unsure of what else she could do to intervene in her condition. "This isn't necessary!! I said, I can tell you whatever you want to know!!"

[AnT]

But Tekno displayed some kind of taser. "I'd dare you try that again; especially to someone who long had it with Robotnik's crap."

She glared deeper at Julie.

"And have you met my friend, Shortfuse? He wouldn't be like that if we knew how to reverse the robotization effect, and..."

Now she realized something.

"Wait...don't tell me..."

[Leda]

@segajulie@ That... was definitely not what she wanted to hear. With an angry and despairing grunt, Julie jerked away from Tekno and plummeted back into the pilot's seat. So that's just it?? There's NOTHING I can do about this?? She slouched a bit in her seat and kicked the dashboard, her robotic arm dropping limply off the armrest and swinging lifelessly at her side. A stinging sense of failure had begun to well up in her chest. "Get out of my ship," she eventually mumbled to her passengers. "I have to go find my partner."

[AnT]

The bird straightened her clothes out, glaring at the Dark Legion. "Look...as much as we can't revert one of your crew to normal, getting his free will back is possible. But I can't do much because I'm new to that city. The only person who can help us and knows plenty of Robotropolis is the princess, who's waiting for us on some floating island that came from your world. That's whom I need to get to, since she told me that you guys were captured.

[Lans]

At that moment, the port side hatch slid open and Silver tromped inside. His normally pristeen, mostly blue, paint job was splattered with mud and a few twigs and leaves.

"Your landing was...less than optimal," he said to Julie as she was the one in the pilot's position. "Are all present unharmed?" he asked.

[Leda]

The bat's ears dipped the rest of the way until they were pressing against the back of her head. There were a lot of intense emotions flying around at the moment. At Silver's questioning, Rouge glanced at him briefly before quitely answering, "I'll be okay."


@segajulie@ "I said I need to find my partner," Julie hissed through her teeth without turning around. "I can't just call her because our communicators are out; I have to go find her." Just as she was about to order Tekno and Rouge again to leave the ship, Silver entered, and the pangolin rolled her eyes with an irritated grunt. "Well PARDON ME for having to pilot this damn bucket with only one arm!!" she shouted in her frustration.

[AnT]

"That's still suicide, especially with that arm of yours!" she retorted, pointing at Julie's damaged arm. "Robotnik has eyes almost everywhere in Mobius, and its crazy going back to Robotropolis if you don't know what to do there!"

Turning away, Tekno folded her arms. "But obviously you're not gonna listen to my advice. Go and add yourself to Robotnik's slave-group for all I care. But at least get that arm fixed."

She then tossed some kind of yellow tube to the girl. It was a tube-device that kind of look like a needle, only the needle wasn't sharp.

"That's a sub-megetal fluid. It's a key element for Shortfuse's Megatel coating. It negates EMP surges on mechincal devices, namely your robotic parts. Just stab it on your robo-limbs, and you're good to go."

With an angry frown, Tekno marched to the doors and looked out at the forest, preparing to fly out. "But you've been warned. I have to get this dove some medical aid."

[Lans]

At that, Silver glanced over at Rouge again, this time noticing her injuries. "Compound fracture...do you require assistance in setting the bone?"

[Leda]

@segajulie@ The pangolin blinked with surprise as she caught the tube. Tekno's explanation of it was certainly interesting, but Julie found herself wary, given that this was a complete stranger. I should probably have the doc check this out first... If Isis and I can help him, anyway. She tucked the vial into one of the inner pockets of her robe. Besides, if this stuff does what that girl says it does, I'm sure he'd want to check it out regardless.


Rouge's eyes widened and she recoiled slightly as Silver's attention focused in on her. She knew she needed her wounds attended to, but there was something incredibly unnerving about a cold, unfeeling robot manhandling her injuries -- especially with no medical supplies at hand. "Ah-I... I'll be fine..." she squeaked with a step backwards.

[AnT]

"Try not to get any SWATbots off their frenzy." With that, Tekno hopped off the Hover Unit. She then motioned at Rouge and Silver Sonic, "You comin, luvs?"

[Lans]

Silver shook his head at Tekno. "Negative, I must return to Robotropolis to complete my mission."

[Leda]

@segajulie@ Seemingly out of nowhere, a large grin appeared on Julie's face. "Really now?" she asked Silver, turning and aiming her sinister glee at him. "Well, that's awfully convenient.

"Okay, people!" The pangolin abruptly jumped from her seat and rested her organic hand on her hip. "Here's what we're going to do: Silver and I are going to head back to the city, since we both have matters to attend to there. BUT, since I'm feeling generous at the moment, I'll give you guys a lift to Angel Island before we go; it's practically close enought to hit with a rock, anyway." Julie turned back to the dash panel and began firing up the ship's engines, causing it to resume hovering several inches off the ground. "Otherwise, you can get up there yourselves. Up to you two."


Rouge gulped forcefully. Meeting Princess Sally was nerve-wracking enough, but to meet her in such a disgraceful condition? This was going to be awkward at best. But there IS safety in numbers, and we ARE in the middle of a war... Hopefully she won't be bothered too badly. Reclaiming her seat in the back, the white bat nodded once. "Thank you, ma'am."


@segajulie@ Julie's eye twitched. She disliked being called "ma'am". It was so... girly.

[AnT]

"Well, since you put it that way..." she made a little hop back in the hover unit. "Let's roll out!"

[Lans]

Meanwhile, while Rouge's attention was diverted by Julie, he walked up behind her, and before she could protest, seized her injured wing and with a SNAP, quickly set the bone back in place.

[Leda]

Thus the hover unit zipped off for Angel Island, though Rouge's scream was probably loud enough to hear from the ground.