Metallic Madness - To The Rescue

[Leda]

The princess' heart began to thump a bit harder in her chest as she piloted the hover unit within the limits of the city of metal. This place had already given her quite a run for her money just trying to fix Nicole. Sally despised the idea of Tails being held somewhere within this iron hellhole.

But, first thing's first. Lowering her altitude and backing off on her speed, hoping to blend in a bit, the ground squirrel unclipped Nicole from her boot and handed the computer over her shoulder to the hedgehog. "Sonic, do me a favor and get Nicole started on breaking the access codes to Robotnik's base." After a brief pause, she quickly added, "And DON'T break her this time." ZING.

Sally then looked quickly over at Knuckles. "Alright, Mr. Guardian," she began, as he had never actually given his name, "this is your area of expertise. Where do you want me to go?"

[Lans]

"Hey, I didn't break her last time!" Sonic protested as he took the little computer and went to work.

[DB]

Meanwhile...

The 'Doctor' was nearly done converting the city- only a few more lines of code and he could began to work mechanizing the rest of this Little Planet.

But first, something else important. Switching on the intercoms for the city, Robotnik prepared to give a city wise announcement. Hopefully the guardian would be in the area to hear.



"*ahem* Guardian of the Little Planet, as you are most likely aware by now, your little friend has been kidnapped. But have no worries... no harm will come to her. That is, as long as you heed my demands. I am aware that located somewhere on this planet is a rather powerful source of energy, and I am quite willing to make a trade. Your young charge in return for the energy source." He pondered a moment, then added, "and then I will gladly leave and you may have your peace once again."

Sure, it was a lie, but it was a deal sealer.

[Sipp]

Knuckles was just about to respond to Sally when the transmission came. His eyes narrowed. The more he heard, the more he didn't like it. By the time Robotnik had finished, the echidna was angry.

Angry was an understatement.

He returned the transmission. As soon as it connected, he demanded:

"Where is she?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?!"

[Leda]

Immediately the princess reached over and closed the line of communication betwixt the titans. An argument would get them nowhere -- especially since Robotnik was unlikely to give them real information -- and beyond that the transmissions could eventually be traced to their ship. Sally sighed.

"I know you're upset," she began quietly, "but level heads will get us farther right now. We need to stay calm so we can stay focused and find the kids. Robotnik would never tell us where they really are anyway, or at least not without setting up a trap for us." The ground squirrel reached out with one hand and gently placed it on top of Knux's. "You've shown us your fists of fury; now let us see your nerves of steel. The children are depending on it."

[Lans]

"Not to mention his head of concrete," Sonic muttered angrily, as he pressed random buttons on Nicole to make it look like he was still working, even though he was too busy sneaking glares at the two up front.

[Leda]

"Yo, Blue Streak," Nicole called. Her voice sounded somewhat forced. "The button mashing is.. mondo uncool; why don't ya plug me into the.. ol' terminal... and I'll see if I can crack more codes in.. a Sonic second."

((Nicole trying to dumb down her speech is gleeeee. XD))

[DB]

Meanwhile-

Robotnik smirked at the enraged reply that came over the radio. Apparently the guardian had heard his message, and there was no need to repeat it later. Though it was curious how quickly the reply had come... the guardian's radio must of been already tuned to the correct frequency to contact the airship, which would be hard to believe.

The Overlander decided it may be a good idea to look into this, pulling up the records to see where the transmission had originated from.

Much to his chagrin, it seemed it had originated from one of his own ships. Had he of taken the time to review the events that had taken place while he had been resting, he may of heard of the hoverunit that had gone missing. Regardless, he wasn't going to let a momentary surprise get in the way of things.

Pressing another button on his control panel he opened up a transmission.

"Unit Metal Sonic, report."

[Jamie Lee]

"Unit MX-01 Metal Sonic responding," the metallix's voice droned. "Current location: Maintenance facility. Status: Optimal. Incomplete assignments: None. Awaiting command."

[DB]

(Yes, I'm technically breaking post limit, but seeing as they're in a different place I don't think it really matters e_o... then again they should probably have their own thread but whatever >>)


Maintenance? Why would Metal be in maintenance? Especially when status was described at optimal...?

But he'd deal with that later.

"Are the prisoners secure?"

[Jamie Lee]

"Affirmative."

[DB]

"Excellent. Now then, I want you to go apprehend the hovercraft with the serial number I am about to send to you. Piloting the craft you should find the Guardian... and there is a high probability of finding the Princess and the Hedgehog. In which case your first priority will be to destroy the hedgehog, second to capture the princess, and third to ... escort... the guardian here so that we may make our deal. Am I clear in my instructions?"

[Jamie Lee]

"Affirmative. Priority one: Destroy hedgehog. Priority two: Detain princess. Priority three: Lead guardian to airship. Orders received. Initiating."

The transmission cut and Metal began to march off from where his current location has been.

[Sipp]

Knuckles stayed very stiff and rigid as the princess put her much smaller hand on his. He didn't think anyone other than Amy would dare touch him - but it had been a long time since he had seen many other people. It incensed him further that Sally had cut him off - but he knew she was right, and getting angry at her would not fix anything. He heard the hedgehog but ignored him.

"That man has done something to pollute the Metallic Madness," his voice was very cold and rigid, "The children are likely being held there - or his base is there. One of the two. Either way - we should head there."

He clenched his other fist, "I would like to be alone in a room with that overlander. ...I do not take kindly to blackmail."

[Leda]

Under Knuckles' short-sentenced guidance, Sally piloted the group to the heart of the city of metal, taking caution to avoid crossing paths with other ships and robots unless she absolutely had to. The princess steered the ship close to the ground and took the more round-about paths, all the while fretting in the back of her mind over Knuckles' return transmission to Robotnik. If that transmission had been logged...

No time for that; a larger building had come into view. Pulling up on the piloting wheel, Sally circled slowly around the structure about two-thirds of the way up. "Is this the place?" she asked the guardian.

[Sipp]

"Indeed it is, princess."

[Jamie Lee]

As the guardian's words left his mouth, the lights on the hoverpod suddenly dimmed, then flashed brightly and blew out. Electricity crackled over the control panels, and if the group were to look back up toward the windshield, they'd see spiky metallic blue figure rising up into view. Metal's red eyes glared lifelessly from under his molded scowl as he analyzed the ship for another structural weakness to hit, white bolts of electricity crackling around both of his arms as he began charging up to fire another shot.

[Lans]

"Hey no fair!" Sonic protested as he spotted their attacker through the windshield, "I can't do that...except when I use Rotor's dryer for my laundry."

[Leda]

Unable to contain a shout of surprise, Sally recoiled as the electricity arched across the control panel, then regained herself enough to take the wheel again. But... very little happened. "Oh no!!" the ground squirrel hollered, pulling with all her might at the wheel. The ship's power groaned, almost sounding tired, as it wavered as to whether or not it would remain operative. As a result, the hardest pull at the controls made only the slightest bit of difference in their steering, and depite Sally's struggle to correct the course, the ship was heading straight for the building they'd been circling.

[Jamie Lee]

Metal veered around as the ship began its unwanted descent, zipping back, the electricity around his arms began to glow brighter as energy charged up. Arriving back at the same place he'd hit earlier, the robot threw his arms forward. In a blinding flash, the energy leapt off in a bolt and slammed into the ship's engine. No sooner did the energy discharge was Metal now streaking away from the ship's path. As the ship crashed the robot landed a distance from it, staggered as his feet touched the ground, and... froze in that position for several seconds. Two such powerful shots so close together had left a strain on his battery, creating a lag which his systems now worked to stabilize.

[Sipp]

Knuckles acted purely on instinct. He saw the impending crash, saw Sally - who would get hit the worst, and moved. His seatbelt snapped off as he lunged - and he grabbed the princess into his own arms, tugging her to his chest - and shielding her with his body. He took the impact on his back. His eyes twitched and his teeth clenched as it came, but he made no sound. Finally, when he was certain the danger was over, he loosened his tight grip on her.

"Are you... okay... princess?"

[Lans]

"We're fine...thanks for asking," Sonic grumbled from where he had landed, Nicole, undamaged, clutched in one hand.

[DB]

=
And although Robotnik was seated comfortably at the moment, and quite far from the actual crash, being in the same building as the crash he felt the repercussions of the hit as the floor rumbled a bit and warnings flashed on screen.

He grimaced. "SNIVALY. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

=

[Leda]

Sally coughed a bit as smoke from the sizzling power boards and busted mechanics penetrated her lungs. Her body ached from the impact, but thanks to Knuckles, she would probably only have a few nasty bruises at most. "I'm okay, too.. Thank you." Sitting up, the princess turned, and upon finding Sonic nearby and unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief. "Come on, we have to get out of here, fast! ... So much for the element of surprise..."

But as the group wrestled their way out of the remains of the hover unit, Sally realized she still didn't know where in the building to go, and with that metal monster hovering over them, she'd have a tough time hacking her way into the database to find out. Her expression grimmed; one or both of the guys would have to face that robot directly to buy her the time she needed. As soon as the realization hit her, Sally hated it; it was just too dangerous. But, taking Nicole back from Sonic, the princess resigned to the fact that there was no choice.

"Sorry guys, but I've got a job for you, and it's not a great one... Anyone want to try taking on that metal Sonic?"

[Lans]

"Need you even ask, Sal?" Sonic said, stretching his legs like he was getting ready for a run. "It's time I reminded Buttnik there's only one true blue hedgehog on Mobius, and that I'm no robot!"

[Jamie Lee]

Metal straightened as his systems restablized, eyes shifting over to the now wrecked hoverpod he had landed some distance from, and more specifically its former passengers. His vision zoomed in and he analyzed the trio, focus immediately locking onto Sonic as his orders flashed up onto his sensors.

"Priority one: Destroy hedgehog."

Without hesitation, the robot curled, revving into a spindash and bursting forward with an impressive amount of speed at his target.

[dice=11][rand=368835987977114706346210856426504470836436198096568036514872904362]

[Sipp]

Seeing Metal made Knuckles's blood boil again, and his fists clenched - but the hedgehog had gotten to it before he had. He wanted nothing more than to reduce the robot to scrap. However, he remembered Sally's words - and had to admit that she was right. If he attacked now, all he would do would impede the hedgehog - who was obviously in his element. After a minute of low growling, he got control of his temper and turned to Sally.

"Shall we proceed, princess?" his voice was icy, as were his features, but otherwise, his anger did not show at all.



"Well, sir," responded Snively, his voice nervous and high-pitched, "It ap-appears that their vehicle has crashed into the base..."

[Lans]

[dice=11]

Sonic reacted with his uncanny speed, quickly moving out of the way, like a bullfighter from a raging bull. He shot over next to the other two. "You two get the kids, I'll handle "Wannabe in Chrome' here!"

He then shot to a point just outside the hole the hoverunit had knocked in the building. "HEY NEEDLE NOSE!" he shouted at Metal, "You want me? Come and get me ya walking copyright violation!" and then sped off.[rand=96481746880521632170637022596991775170398774216476773745469143381]

[Leda]

Sally took out Nicole and quickly made her way away from the carnage, the guardian following closeby. "Good luck, Sonic! Be careful!!

"Nicole did you manage to break through any access codes on the way here?" she asked her computer as the pair approached a heavy steel doorway.

"Totally," Nicole replied, apparently still in Sonic-mode. "It was.. no problem-o."

"...." Pressing her lips into a thin line, the ground squirrel gave her palm pilot a rough slap in the hard drive.

There was a garbled slew of beeps and clicks, then a short pause. "..... Yes, Sally, I have the access codes you wanted," the computer finally replied. "I am only missing the codes for the last two passages, but I can guide you to a terminal where I can locate that information. The children are being held on the seventh floor."

Sally smirked to herself, plugging the small machine into the access panel beside the door. "Thank you." There was a beeping noise as Nicole plugged in the numbers, and with a heavy whirr the doors slid apart. Turning to Knuckles, the princess said, "Okay, let's go!"

[Jamie Lee]

And then, predictably, Metal shot off after Sonic.