Belly of the Beast

[Tails]

Tails climbs into his Tornado and finds an old road on Robottropolis he uses as a runway. He flies out of the dangerous place and decides he would give himself a chance to fight Robotnik's fleet on his own and see exactly what he can do.

He completely ignores or doesn't hear Chadin say that they need to seek help. Even then however, Tails knows that there's hardly anyone in the forest.

Tails exits to (Cross Country).

[Dulcy]

She looks back at Chadin and Giichi as she listens to them, keeping her other eye looking ahead as she continues flying away from Robotropolis.

"Wow, you must have a really good memory. I don't think we were ever formally introduced, but yes, my name is Chadin."

"I think that Sally mentioned your name at some point, but I don't really remember." She said simply with a nod.

"Me and Chadin downloaded some intel about it. We have to get to Soleanna fast!"

"Giichi, wait... I know we need to get to this... Soleanna place quickly, but do you think we could make a quick pit stop into the Great Forest first? I'm not going to be any good to anyone in a fight with this shrapnel in my shoulder; there's herbs there I can use to patch myself up. Not only that, but we have to let the Knothole Freedom Fighters know about this attack. The four of us alone aren't going to be enough to stop an army that size by ourselves. I'm sure they can do something to help."

"Good idea. I agree that we're going to need help to stand a chance against that fleet of ships, and if your hurt Chadin, we should get you fixed up first. At least now she also knew where she was going, even if she could figure the general direction of Soleanna just by the direction the fleet had been going.

She banked into a turn and began heading in the general direction of Knothole as she turned her head to have both eyes looking where she was going. "If we're going to have any chance of beating the fleet to Soleanna even with a stop in the forest, I'm going to have to really push it. Better hold on tight guys, I'm going to crack the whip!" She calls back the warning to Chadin and Giichi, then after just a moment, waves her tail up, then down quickly, a loud snap is heard, and suddenly Dulcy is off like a rocket, moving several times faster than she had just been flying. She was one of very few mobians that could even leave Sonic impressed in the speed department, and was going as fast as she could fly right now.

((Exit to Cross Country))

[Giichi Twinkieland]

"Giichi, wait... I know we need to get to this... Soleanna place quickly, but do you think we could make a quick pit stop into the Great Forest first? I'm not going to be any good to anyone in a fight with this shrapnel in my shoulder; there's herbs there I can use to patch myself up."

That was a legitimate concern, but Giichi really wanted to get back to Soleanna as fast as he could. It was his home, after all. Just then, an idea struck him that'd satisfy both parties.

"Well, then maybe I can go with Tails in his plane and...and..."

He looked around. The little orange fox was nowhere to be seen. Giichi let out an exasperated sigh...

Well...####! Little bastard just took off on us!

Looked like he was committed to tagging along with this freedom fighter bunch after all.

"Not only that, but we have to let the Knothole Freedom Fighters know about this attack. The four of us alone aren't going to be enough to stop an army that size by ourselves. I'm sure they can do something to help."

Giichi had this dumbstruck look on his face at this comment from Chadin.

"Are you JOKING? Do you really think that's what I want us to do? Soleanna has an ARMY, dude! I want to give the intelligence to THEM! They're not that great but I'm sure they'll be a hell of a lot better than some guys hiding out in the woods..."

Well, assuming Sonic's not with them...

"If we're going to have any chance of beating the fleet to Soleanna even with a stop in the forest, I'm going to have to really push it. Better hold on tight guys, I'm going to crack the whip!"

"What do you mean, crack the--- HOLY ####!" The sudden burst of speed totally cut off Giichi's words, as he clutched to the dragon for dear life. The cat's eyes were now bulging to the size of ping pong balls as he clutched to Dulcy's scaly skin.

[Dr. Robotnik]

Robotnik stepped off the elevator back into the roboticizer lab. He cast a little smirk at the tabby cat now standing in the roboticizer. She gazed around the room, her knees shaking and knocking together. A caged animal, terrified beyond belief.

This was the woman that had helped the first two intruders enter the command center, according to surveillance footage taken from cameras in this area. Since she'd been rigged up with the tracking devices like the other citizens, it'd only taken a video enhancement and a few mouse clicks to identify her. Vanessa Price was her name...one of the citizens unlucky enough to be living here when he'd taken over.

"So...you say you've always wondered what happens to the people who come in here? Like your brother?" He pressed a button on a small remote control. On a nearby monitor, she could see a playback of her earlier conversation with Giichi and Chadin.

---

Vanessa sniffled a bit and kept silent. She looked like she was about to say something that would be hard for her to say. In any case, Vanessa pointed to what looked like a small scar on the back of her neck. "When Robotnik took over...he injected all of us with nanomachines that track our whereabouts. If we try to flee, his patrols find us in an instant. Not to mention we have our families and friends to worry about. Even if we escape...Robotnik takes them into the command center, and then...then...then we...never see them again." Tears welled up in Vanessa's eyes as she recounted all of this to the two adventurers.

"You lost someone in there, didn't you?" Giichi stepped closer to Vanessa, putting an arm around her shoulder. Vanessa grabbed Giichi's shoulder back, pulling him into an embrace. She cried into his shoulder, as she nodded up and down.

---

Robotnik strode over to a sinister-looking lever on a terminal close to the roboticizer. "The truth of the matter is most of the people who come in here actually do leave just fine. Although they're not really...the same anymore. Anyway, since you are so curious, I think you should find out what I mean personally."

He turned to look at a nearby doorway, and called out loudly in a singsong voice. "I present...Lance Price!"

The door hissed open to reveal a robotic cat. At first Vanessa just looked confused...but in the space of a second horror seemed to consume her entire being. Lance had a very distinctive scar on his left cheek, and the robot mirrored this perfectly. In fact, the more she studied the bot the more she recognized of Lance. His pointy hair was rendered like a brutal parody in steel, as was his distinctive tail with a large puff on the end that he groomed himself.

She had the feeling that Lance wasn't dead...and he wasn't....but was this any better? What a cruel twist on her wishes.

Vanessa broke out into a full flood of tears, as she just curled up into a little ball at the bottom of the roboticizer tube...sobbing to herself. He was the only family she really had left. Now what was she supposed to do?

Robotnik gave a dark chuckle as he slammed the lever down with a loud clank. Time to put the cherry on top of this happy family reunion. Vanessa didn't really notice the start up noise though. She was too busy bawling into her arms. It wasn't until she realized her legs were touching cold steel that she looked up.

And then a whole new glorious round of shock and horror began. She frantically looked around the room for any hope of escape, her gaze rapidly shifting between Robotnik, her brother, and everything else in between in the room. With one final scream...that turned metallic midway through as the process completed...she was done.

The tube rose up as steam hissed from Robotnik's favorite invention, and Vanessa calmly stepped out to stand beside her brother. Robotnik folded his arms behind his back and admired the two of them.

"Thank you for giving Vanessa company Lance. Now won't you be a good boy and take her to her new work assignment in the metal mines under the city, would you? Thank you."

He walked away as they boarded an elevator. A completely deserved punishment for such a disobedient citizen. He'd considered broadcasting what he'd done somehow, but then decided not to. None of the citizens knew what went on in here, and it was better that way. If there was one thing people feared, it was fear of the unknown. Why scare them with actual images when their imaginations could do it for him?

Anyway, with his little loose end taken care of, he walked to board his egg pod. Time to go to Soleanna.

[Chadin]

"Give us some credit, Giichi. Back where me and Dulcy are from us people hiding out in the woods have been holding back Robotnik's entire army by ourselves. Any significant military was destroyed early on." Besides that, I didn't want to admit it, but I was completely out of ideas on how to fight such a force. If anyone might be able to come up with a plan of attack it would be Sally Acorn; assuming she exists in this merged reality. If not there's bound to be someone else who might be able to help us. No matter how you slice it, the more help we can muster the better our chances of saving Solenna.

"If we're going to have any chance of beating the fleet to Soleanna even with a stop in the forest, I'm going to have to really push it. Better hold on tight guys, I'm going to crack the whip!"

Crack the whip? What whip? I wondered, but no sooner did that thought finish running through my mind than my question answered for me. "WHOOOOOOAAAHHH!!!!"