MBMH - Chapter Five Pt 1

Chapter Five
The Hour of Robotnik; Posthumous Payback

From his place high above, Tails had watched as Sonic reached his destination in a blinding burst of brilliance. After making sure that he saw Rotor and Antoine join the hedgehog without incident, the fox-cub lowered the binoculars which had enhanced his sight to that of an eagle, stowing them into his backpack.

Time to report back to Sally. Tails paused only to inspect the stone gargoyle perched to his left. The fox-cub couldn’t help but notice that, what with those wild eyes and that twisting tongue snaking out of that wide-open mouth, it looked remarkably like Antoine had the time Sonic had tricked him into eating a mega-spicy chilidog. The moment of distraction over with, he twisted his tails together – his chafed posterior crying out in relief as he took off from the crumbling rooftop, Tails began to make his way to the Rendezvous Point.

As he flew, his anterior appendages whirring like a pair of helicopter-blades, Tails frowned discontentedly. True, he had been chosen for this mission…and yet he felt little difference now than when it was his turn in The Lookout Tower back in Knothole. The ‘key-role’ of which he’d felt so proud last night now left him feeling…fobbed off. Patronised. What with the immense decrease in SWATbot patrols throughout the city, Tails realised, his supposedly pivotal task was in fact superfluous…and almost entirely safe into the bargain. If only he could've been put on Sonic’s team, the team getting into the thick of things today…the team actually taking risks!

The more that Tails imagined himself having asked to be allowed to go to The Dumping-Zone however the stronger became his certainty that, had he plucked up the nerve to do so, the grownups would have managed to find some excuse to deny his request. Tails even found himself wondering if Sally had gone to her father at some point before yesterdays meeting, asking if he would make a glowing display of presenting him with a role which sounded impressive but was in reality completely free of danger. Had The Princess and The King exchanged winks over the head of excited cub, amused by his childish naiveté…?

Tails was so deeply immersed in the juice of the sour grapes he’d just mentally squeezed that he almost failed to notice that he was close to his destination; the mouth of a dark and narrow alleyway. Cottoning on just in time, he altered his course so abruptly that he almost bumped his head against the corner of one of the two walls which formed it. Straightening his trajectory, the fox-cub glided smoothly through the shadows- as he went, he noticed that the decade-old paint peeling away from the bricks on both of his sides must have been red once upon a time.

As he neared the end of the alleyway, Tails’ ears pricked up at the sound of the voices which floated toward him. Or, more accurately, the voices that he was flying toward;

“Is everythin’ topsy-turvy or is it just that big ol’ smile on ya’ll face, Darlin’?”

“Hmmmm…?”

A chuckle in response, “Ya’ll lips are curved so low! Honestly, Sally Girl, don’t ya’ll go frettin’ none about that Sugah Hog and the others! Our trusty lil’ look-out would’ve let us know by now if those three had run into anythin’!”

A soft sigh of worry, “I know…I know. But still…”

Cue for my entrance… Tails thought dryly as he glided out into a place far less claustrophobic. This wide-open space located between four back-to-back buildings had once been used as a basketball court by the now long gone kids of the also now long gone neighbourhood. All that remained of those happily innocent and irretrievable years of childhood today, however, were the two rust-pitted metal hoops affixed to the backs of the eastern and western buildings…

Upon the dirty ground could be seen the life-sized statue of Doctor Robotnik – this stone effigy had once stood upon a pedestal outside the fortress, an oppressive scowl eternally frozen on its disconcertingly lifelike face. Since the good Doctor’s downfall however it had, by less than conventional means, been relocated to this location where it lay now in shattered segments.

The largest intact portion of the deposed dictator’s likeness was (What else?) his stomach. At present Bunnie lay languidly upon it as though sunbathing, running her soft hand slowly along her metal arm - she tilted her head sideways, a bright smile springing to her face as she saw the source of the whirring sound her long ears had just caught. “Well don't ya'll know it? Here comes our very own Sugah Fox now!” she sighed complacently.

Sally was leaning against the back of the northern building, her arms wrapped around her shoulders and her eyes lowered – when she looked up and saw Tails approaching, however, she lowered her arms and pushed herself away from the weathered bricks.

Tails’ descent was flawlessly smooth – even as his feet touched solid ground for the first time in a few hours, he was delivering his report. “Sonic has landed.” He stated as The Princess stood in front of him – on hearing this, she nodded in satisfaction. Knowing that was something at least. “Antoine and Rotor too. No sign of any SWATbots or Hover Units. Not as much as a Spy Eye. I’ll go back to my post in a sec…”

“Oh honey!” Sally smiled as she closed the distance between them – before Tails knew it, she’d tucked an arm around his shoulders and was leading him further across the court. “You’ve done enough for now. You just sit down and rest in the meantime…you must be tired!”

“Ya’ll have earned it, by tarnation!” Bunnie put in, her voice sweetening the rank air even if only for a heartbeat. “Ya’ll are the sharpest eye in Knothole!”

Tails permitted himself a faint frown as he was towed along, “Yeah…I sure am bushed after sitting on a rooftop for a few hours.” He sarcastically remarked, surprising himself. And here was what so surprised him…the fact that it made him feel better. He still felt sour overall, sure, but saying that had given him a peculiar feeling of inner satisfaction he hadn’t felt before…

Sally looked at the fox-cub a little sharply, startled by the unexpected cheek that he’d just uttered. It really hadn’t been like him and The Princess didn’t care for it at all…

Bunnie had also been struck by Tails’ uncharacteristic little episode – rather than imitate Sally’s frown of disapproval, however, the rabbit chucked knowingly. The moody scowl that she saw on the fox-cub’s face connected itself in her mind with the incident on the riverbank that morning. Hence the chuckle…

As she heard it, Sally’s frown deepened, going from affront to puzzlement – The Princess didn’t know why but for some reason she had a feeling that Bunnie had some idea as to what was going on with Tails. And as she perceived it, Sally’s annoyance became mingled with insecurity. She knew that it was a far from admirable reaction to the situation, that all of The Freedom Fighters had had a paw in the raising of Tails…that he was ‘theirs’ just as much as he was ‘hers’. And yet she couldn’t help but remind herself that it had been her who’d watched the cub like a hawk until he’d eaten every last thing on his plate, be it oatmeal or broccoli, at breakfast and dinner and suppertime. Her who had painstakingly ensured that, from the soles of his feet to the spots behind his ears, every inch of his body was subjected to soap and water at bath-time. She who had cleaned and covered his nicks and scrapes, made certain that he was tucked snugly away come bedtime, hugged and comforted him whenever…

Sally blinked and shook her head – she had, she realised, allowed herself to get just a little bit carried away. In fact now that she reviewed it all, she felt more than a little embarrassed by the thoughts that had run through her mind as she’d become convinced that Bunnie understood something about Tails that she didn’t…that the rabbit might be privy to a part of the fox-cub’s life, a part from which she herself was somehow excluded.

As he grudgingly allowed The Squirrel Princess to lower him into a sitting-position on the ground, Tails was completely oblivious to what passed through the minds of Sally and Bunnie – he was far too wrapped up in his own thoughts which could not by any stretch of imagination have been described as anything other than 'unpleasant'. So…here I am. With the girls. Shielded…protected. Just like Snively said… Merely the passing thought of Snively brought a fresh sourness to Tails’ mouth. The distaste that it bestowed upon him was not due to Snively himself however – the reason he felt it so deeply was that nearly everything that the human had said to him last night seemed to have been entirely proven today, borne out by Bunnie’s words that morning and Sally’s action just a minute ago. Even Antoine is on the real mission… He fought hard to suppress the dark scowl that threatened to cross his face as the sheer injustice overwhelmed him. Even Antoine! I mean…what does that say about The Freedom Fighters’ opinion of me?

As she gazed at the fox-cub from her place beside him, Sally knew instinctively that there was something wrong with him – after all, she had loved Tails since the very moment she’d first set eyes upon him. Over the years, the bond between them had grown to the point that she’d come to look upon him as her own son – as for Tails himself, he’d always called her ‘Aunt Sally’. Today however things had changed beyond imagining. Whatever Tails was thinking today was hidden from her, shielded by those hard and unreadable eyes of his – it was as though the cub had become somebody whom The Princess wasn’t certain she knew at all, somebody whose mind she could no more see into than any of the four shadowy alleyways that led away from the court. Allowing her eyes to leave the young fox’s face, she breathed a soft sigh – she couldn’t afford to be distracted at the moment. I…just hope that Ari is all right. She thought, looking down at her boots.

At first, Sally mistook the repetitive thudding sounds which began drifting toward the court for explosive charges being detonated over at the dig-site – gradually however it dawned on her that the echo of explosives did not rise in volume with each passing second. Her head snapped upward…and, as the sudden suspicion was confirmed, she felt her heart sink down into the boots she’d just been staring at.

From the darkness of the north-western alleyway stalked a figure; tall, oppressive and armed with a laser-rife. The SWATbot didn't appear even to acknowledge The Freedom Fighters as it marched onto the court…but it wasn’t alone. The SWATbot following at its metallic heels was was also armed and also declined to acknowledge The Freedom Fighters…as did the SWATbot that followed it. And the SWATbot that came fourth…

Sally sat paralysed as she stared at the mounting number of SWATbots, her shocked mind beginning to fly in every direction at once – pulling it together again in a heartbeat, she shot a look toward the north-eastern alleyway. An identical spectacle met her eyes as a number of SWATbots file strode onto the court in single file, armed to their nonexistent teeth. Just as it did as she stared at the south-eastern alleyway and when she…

Bunnie slid down from the stone gut as though in a dream, “Will ya’ll look how many of them there are?” she breathed, shocked disbelief written across her face, as she sidled over to her comrades.

“Honey…” As Sally found her voice, her paws found their way to Tails’ shoulders – rising slowly to her feet, she drew the cub up along with her. “…do exactly as I say. We will get out of this…I promise you.”

Her diamond-like eyes were not diverted from the small army of SWATbots for a second - and so she naturally failed to perceive that not a flicker of fear was to be seen in Tails’ narrowed eyes as he too stared at the approaching threat.

The cornered trio stood together as the SWATbots created a tight barrier with their own bodies, a semi-circle pinning The Freedom Fighters against the northern wall – at the exact instant this was done, the robotic sentries spun on their heels and finally faced the small group of Mobians whom they had caught napping. One after another they raised their rifles, each taking aim at one of the three…and stood stock-still and utterly silent. Watching the stymied Freedom Fighters. Waiting. For something…

The ominous silence was finally broken…by the echo of further footsteps. What made them distinctive was that they sounded far heavier than the average Mobian’s…and yet lacked the telltale clink of a robot’s.

Without preamble, the SWATbots stepped neatly aside, halving the semi-circle…making way for the hulking figure who sailed like a formidable battleship through the newly created gap.

And as it did, Bunnie’s eyes widened. “Oh Mah stars…” she practically whispered, “…it’s him. Him!”

The person who now stood between them and the small army of SWATbots was like a macabre creature from a book of extraordinarily nasty children’s tales – in fact he was the very ghoul whose name parents all over Mobius had for the last decade invoked whenever their wayward children misbehaved, delivering dire warnings that he would come and take them away if they insisted on being naughty. Actually there had been just as many adult Mobians who had lived in constant terror of that fate…

To the trio he now loomed over, he was so much more than some vague childhood terror – as far as The Freedom Fighters were concerned, he was evil in corporeal form. He was the darkness embodied. Pure terror made flesh.

He was Doctor Robotnik…though his appearance was radically changed from what they remembered. The yellow cape that had once flowed from his broad and powerful shoulders now hung limp against his back, tattered and riddled with holes – though he still wore them, his gloves were split and slowly peeling toward the inevitable point of disintegration. As well as unkemptness, Robotnik had also the distinct appearance of a man who had lost quite an amount of weight over a relatively brief period of time – that which he still retained however remained vast in the eyes of The Freedom Fighters. His eyes were sunken as a result of chronic stress, ringed by grey circles due to lack of proper sleep – they had not however lost an ounce of the pure malevolence that had always resided within them. If it was indeed so that a person’s eyes were the windows to their immortal soul then here, beyond any doubt, was a man as close to being the devil as anybody Princess Sally had ever known – they were as two obsidian orbs whose otherwise flawless contours were both marred by a single chink which betrayed the hellish flames imprisoned within. The ginger moustache, once exquisitely combed every single morning, now looked akin to the wildest weed – it made him look for all of Mobius as though the stuffed dummy that Bunnie and Tails used for their Martial Arts training-sessions had been supernaturally brought to life by some malignant hag. The lower half of his face was dominated by a grin of triumph as he surveyed the squirrel, the rabbit and the fox like prize catches dangling from his gibbet. “Your Highness…so charming to see you again.” He hissed, performing an extravagant and mocking bow. “I do hope that you will stay awhile and enjoy my hospitality.” the crimson glow of his pupils flickered with barely contained glee as he rose back to his full height, “Indeed…I think that I shall have to insist upon it.”

As she returned Robotnik’s relentless stare with one of cold and calm contempt, Sally knew that her eyes must reflect the hate that the mere sight of him evoked within her – the words she next heard herself to say, her lips formed quite against her will. “You fiend…I hoped and prayed so damn hard for your death.” The words sounded vile as she spat them out, like a poison that turned her tongue black. The Princess felt revolted that she could possibly be capable of wishing death upon anybody…even one such as Robotnik. And yet regardless of the extent to which her own words had sickened her…she had meant them with every drop of blood in her body.

Sally truly had hoped that this monster had finally met the end he deserved on the fateful night Ixis Naugus had returned to Mobius, ardently prayed that his failure to capture her had enraged his new master so immensely that…

The Princess shuddered, wishing that she hadn’t harboured such a yearning…wishing that she hadn’t expressed it in front of Tails. Yet in spite of her better nature, regardless of the motherly impulse which made her want to protect the fox-cub’s innocence…the fact remained. She truly had wanted Doctor Robotnik to be dead…

“Tell me, Princess…did you really think that I would not be waiting?” Robotnik inquired with all the hateful relish of a gloating nemesis, “Were you truly so bloated with arrogance that you believed it possible to creep into this city, plunder my wonderful machine from under my very nose and then slither freely away again?”

Well…it would sound rather foolish to say ‘yes’ now. Sally thought, her eyes narrowed into ice-blue slits – she couldn’t help but think it rich that Robotnik should accuse anybody of being ‘bloated’.

To the squirrel's far right, Bunnie stood with her paws clenched into tight fists – the rabbit’s emerald eyes were aflame as she hunched her shoulders, bracing herself for the desperate fight that this would inevitably come down to. Ready to fight to the end in order to defend Sally, Tails and the honour of The Freedom Fighters.

Robotnik meanwhile continued to crow, “I just knew that making it pitifully obvious that The Roboticizer would be out in the open today, apparently for the taking, would bring you into my metallic grip. I must express my sincerest gratitude to you for having proven my hypothesis so well-founded, Princess. Yes…you came scurrying into my trap just like the mindless beasts that you are.” He hissed vindictively.

Sally hitched her lips into the most scornful smile she was capable of – it was a killer. “Well that certainly is impressive, Doctor.” She remarked, her voice as cool as ice-cream, as she folded her arms and looked him in straight in the eye. “But it wasn’t actually your trap, now was it?”

Robotnik’s eyes narrowed – The Princess’ fiery comebacks had become part and parcel of these little confrontations of theirs over the many years encompassed by the war. Yet that taunt, unlike many others before it, had actually gone home – it had been his idea to use The Roboticizer as bait to lure The Freedom Fighters into a trap. Of course, he’d needed to drop anvil-sized hints to Naugus for a whole week…even though he’d just known that the sadistic sorcerer had known precisely what he’d had in mind in the entire time, that he’d simply been deriving as much pleasure as he possibly could from his lackey’s impatience and frustration before he’d finally ‘caught on’. But it had been his plan…and it had succeeded! Wracking his brain for a suitable comeback, he turned his attention toward Sally’s companions – a look of surprised amusement appeared on his emaciated face as he spotted Tails. “Well, well!” he exclaimed, clasping his hands behind his back as he appraised the fox-cub with interest. “What have we here? Sending children to the front line, Princess? My, my…has your cause become so hopelessly desperate then? Or is it simply that you have become just as ruthless as me? If so then I commend you. Tell me, child…which do you think it is?”

Sally’s eyes became as hard as diamonds, hard to such an extent that their glare could have shattered diamonds as her enemy dragged Tails into this. “Leave him alone, Robotnik.” She ordered – the breath with which she said it was soft and quiet, about as close to a whisper as it could have come, creating the illusion that she was quite calm as she did so. The reality to which a glance into her eyes would have made one privy was far different however – danger had crystallised within them, the manifestation of a line that Robotnik was now so near to crossing. “I mean it.”

Robotnik ignored the demand as ill-natured satisfaction saturated his dark heart – he had found her weakness, her Achilles Heel. It was the simple fact that she cared…a trait which, while he would never understand it, he was always ready to exploit. “Tails…isn’t it?” his manner was one of condescending familiarity as he continued to address the fox-cub, speaking down to him – the determined glare on the child’s face rather tickled him. “It’s been such a long time since I last saw you, hasn’t it? How you have grown! But come now, you haven’t answered my question…have they, with numbers dwindling, sent you here simply to make up the quota? Or are you serving as Her Highness’ bodyguard?”

Overwhelmed by an urge to do something rather than stand and listen, Tails stepped forward. “You leave her alone, you big…rotten egg!” he shouted at Robotnik as he planted himself protectively in front of Sally.

Bunnie grinned in spite of the unremitting grimness of their predicament, “That’s right! Ya’ll better watch it, otherwise we’ll set him onta’ ya’ll!” she humorously threatened the hulking human.

Sally’s paw shot out, grabbing and yanking the fox-cub back, “Tails, stay out of this!” she exclaimed, thrusting him behind her. “Keep behind me!”

Robotnik smirked, perceiving the agitation in Sally’s voice as she strove to protect Tails – relishing it, he decided to ratchet his sadism up a level. “Come here, boy.” He bade the fox-cub, his voice deceptively gentle. “I have something to say to you.” He grinned as Tails’ face filled with surprise, “Oh yes…something just for you! What…don’t tell me that you are afraid? Come, my young friend…does such faintness of heart befit one standing among the esteemed ranks of The Freedom Fighters?”

Tails felt his heart beat faster…not with fear but with anger. And this anger was not due solely to having been called a child or to the endless efforts of both his Aunts to shield him…it was a reaction to both which made his blood burn so hot that it hurt. I’m not a child…I’m a Freedom Fighter just like they are! I can be as good as Sonic is…and if they won’t see that then I’ll just have to show them! With a sudden movement that took Sally by surprise, he jerked himself free from her restraining paw.

And Bunnie was moving toward him now, her amused look having vanished. “Now ya’ll listen to your Aunt Sally, Darlin’!” she exclaimed, making to grip the cub’s shoulder in her metal paw. “I was only jokin’…he’s way too much for ya’ll!”

Tails didn’t listen. Ducking Bunnie’s grasp, he started walking rapidly toward Robotnik.

Sally felt her heart stop. “Tails…come back!” she cried desperately, reaching out her paw in an attempt to snatch him back again...a futile attempt. Tails was now beyond her reach and, with a small army of trigger-ready SWATbots watching her every move, she daren’t pursue him…not with the cub right in the firing-line should all hell break loose. Tails…Tails!

Tails stopped at roughly a foot away from Robotnik – and here the young fox hesitated as uncertainty stole over him. What was going to happen now? He’d walked right up to Robotnik (which was very brave and all that) but now what? He tried to get a grip of himself, to keep in mind the fact that he and his pair of figurative Aunts were surrounded by armed SWATbots – the situation couldn’t go much more badly than that, could it? And besides, all he’d done was what Robotnik had told him to…

Still…as Robotnik leant toward him, Tails couldn’t ignore the apprehension which filled him like water flooding a hole-riddled boat. “Hello.” The Doctor smiled down at him, “How brave of you to come. I'm so proud of you. Now…what was it that I wanted to say? Oh yes…” he lunged at Tails – his mouth was so wide and huge that it was as though he would swallow the fox whole as he screamed; “Do not ever presume to come that close to me again!!!!!”

If there had been anything at all in Tails’ bladder just then it would, in that moment and on that spot, have gone – what was more, he wouldn’t even have noticed. The terror that hit him was so powerful it sent him staggering back, stumbling and falling into two pairs of arms which encircled him from behind – as Sally and Bunnie held him, their voices cooing soft and comforting reassurances, Tails felt himself being hit by something else. And this something was the shame already burning him from within. Sonic wouldn’t have been afraid. Sonic…wouldn’t have run.

Robotnik’s eyes were closed and his hands thrust upon his hips as he threw back his head and roared with delirious mirth – the laughter that had filled him to bursting point as he’d watched the cub go skittering back from him seemed like it would never end. He yearned for it never to end. It had been like a single slice of pure heaven, an all too fleeting return to the old days, exactly like having Snively at his beck and call again…and he wanted it to last forever.

“Do you really take such pleasure in terrorising other living things?”

The Doctor opened his eyes – Sally was staring at him and if looks could kill then the guilty wish that she had admitted to harbouring would have been granted to her in that moment. As matters stood her eyes were so terrible that they chilled even Robotnik who, much to his own astonishment, took half a step back. Rallying, he sneered in response to The Princess’ question; “So you want to protect the little one, eh? How tediously sentimental…I should have taken him from you years ago, Princess.”

“Enough.” Sally’s voice was quiet and steady, low and monotone – it did not, in short, reflect the vast rage burning in those mirror-like eyes. “Call Naugus. I’m sure that he and I can come to some kind of agreement in return for my surrender. Call Naugus.”

Robotnik scowled as a sour taste invaded his mouth, turning his humour foul. He knew that, during his reign, The Princess would never have dreamt of making such a request. But Naugus, he was a different prospect altogether – the sorcerer’s magnificent ego would be immensely gratified by a plea from The Princess, so immensely so that he would most probably agree to a release of lesser captives in return for her obedience. It was for this very reason Robotnik swore that she would not get the chance to make that plea. “Too long have I been forced time after time to endure the embarrassment of coming tantalisingly close to destroying you...only to watch as you squirm free from my grasp at the last second. Too long have I been forced to watch as you destroy my beautiful machines. Too long have I been forced to wait for this hour…my hour! Why should I desire to rush such a momentous event?” his simmering eyes burned malevolently into Sally’s greatest weakness…Tails who shook beneath their terrible gaze. “True, I no longer possess The Roboticizer…but I am certain that we can find a perfectly serviceable incinerator somewhere!”

“No!!!!”

Sally barely knew what was happening. Whenever she would look back upon this moment in future, the conclusion the squirrel would always draw was that the deadly serious threat to Tails had temporarily unhinged her. At the time however all she knew was that the words Robotnik had just uttered had pushed her beyond the point of either rationality or self-control. She had released Tails, was on her feet. Her eyes were wild, her ears filled with the furious pounding of her own blood, her arms outstretched as she ran toward Robotnik. All she knew was the screaming urge to leap at this monster, to bite and scratch as much of him as she possibly could before she was brought down by a hail of laser-fire…

And this would assuredly have transpired on that which would have been a dark day for The Freedom Fighters…had a wrench not been thrown into the gears of fate.

There were fifteen SWATbots standing in the court – and as Sally made her move precisely fourteen of them turned their rifles upon her, ready to fire. Whereas the fifteenth of their number aimed its weapon elsewhere…

“SWATbots…hold your fire!!!!!”

One moment Bunnie, who held firmly onto Tails this time, had been opening her mouth to scream for Sally to wait – in the next moment, it hung wide open as she stared at the one who had roared that command.

Sally skidded to a halt as she heard it too – as she stood and stared blankly at the baffling sight that met her eyes, the blind frenzy lifted from her clearing mind.

Apprehension was etched into Robotnik’s face as he stood without moving a single muscle, his taut arms hanging by his sides…the barrel of the fifteenth SWATbot’s rifle digging hard into his broad back. “Who are you?” The Doctor whispered, his breath a vicious hiss.

If possible, the barrel of the rifle pressed harder into the back of the hulking human as it was thrust by a pair of powerful paws. “The enemy you never should have created.” declared The Freedom Fighters’ eleventh-hour saviour – the voice that resonated from the metal helmet was not the robotic drone of a SWATbot but a deep and masculine boom which the three from Knothole recognised immediately.

“Ari!”

The weight of the hollowed-out SWATbot head that served to mask Ari’s identity would have driven Tails to his knees, trapping him underneath it, had he tried it on – in contrast, the towering and muscular ram simply found it tight as he wore it. Especially with his pair of curving horns. As he aimed his rifle into the back of this scum however the minor discomfort was the last thing on Ari’s mind. “I said that you’d be on the receiving end someday.” The ram’s voice was so deep that it rivalled the gathering of thunderclouds. “It’s funny, isn’t it? You put the knife in my back that day…and now I’ve got a gun pointed right at yours!”

Robotnik turned his head half of the way toward his assailant, slowly and wordlessly – the dark eye that glared, birdlike, at the armed ram seethed with a silent and yet utterly unmistakable promise. Ari would pay dearly for this, should Robotnik emerge alive from this confrontation – and even if he should not, the human’s dark soul would never rest until it found some way of wreaking vengeance. It was such formidable strength of will and undying enmity that made him both who and what he was…Doctor Robotnik.

Sally felt a nauseating unease as she heard the things that Ari said – the hatred sounded so intense as it reverberated in each syllable the ram breathed that she could have imagined it as a crimson mist emanating from his muscle-bound body. It unsettled her deeply, made her feel conflicted – The Princess knew that Ari deserved his revenge, that couldn’t be denied.But that didn’t mean her sleep of the coming night wouldn’t be disturbed by the haunting sight of a twitching corpse sprawled across the ground, a curling trail of smoke rising from a hole burnt through its torso…even if that corpse might be that of Robotnik. He wouldn’t really…would he? Nor was it something that she desired for Tails ever to be forced to witness. Ari…don’t do it! Please don’t!

Praying silently that Ari would stay his paw, Sally planted both of hers upon her hips as she turned to address Robotnik – her demeanour was of a calmness at total odds with the anxiety she felt within. “It would appear that negotiations have taken an unexpected turn.” Her smile was sweet and charming as she took deep pleasure in rubbing the human’s face in it, “New deal, Robotnik; you tell your soulless machines to drop their rifles and stand down. And, in return, I won’t instruct my comrade to…”

Fate, like fame, is incredibly fickle – this was a lesson reinforced upon the minds of The Freedom Fighters that day as the smile of favour that it had bestowed upon them changed just as swiftly to the frown of displeasure.

Ari’s eyes widened in shock…the rifle had suddenly turned white-hot, its temperature so intensely scathing that it blistered his paws! “Son of a…!!!!” unable to restrain the impulse, he flung the searing weapon from him as hard as he possibly could – and as he struggle to tear the metal gauntlets from his pain-wracked paws, he heard the sharp click of rifles being aimed at him.

Sally watched blankly, the disdainful speech dying at her lips, as the rifle span across the ground and beyond reach – her eyes were blank as she saw the dull red glow that it gave off. “W-what…?” she stammered, struggling to grasp what had just occurred.

A chortle, which might have been mistaken for the scraping of chair-legs across a stone floor, floated down from above. A mirthful sound which could have come from only one person on all of Mobius - and as she raised her eyes slowly skyward, Sally felt all hope depart from her spirit.

Stood upon the brink of the northern rooftop was a figure more grotesque than any gargoyle, be it of living flesh or cold crumbling stone – as Ixis Naugus looked down on those below, his manner was rather like that of a theater-critic seated quite comfortably upon a balcony. “Splendid, splendid!” the sorcerer croaked heartily, “A performance far more engaging than any I have ever seen before! Why, you people actually dripped with malice as you spoke to one another!” his unappealing visage adopting a grandfatherly smile as he met the staring eyes of Sally. “Princess.” the sorcerer wheezed as he lowered the finger with which he had cast the spell that had disarmed Ari, “You requested my presence, did you not?”