Robot Martial Law!

[iamtheeggman]

Who: You and the GLORIOUS ROBOTS OF THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!
What: Robot Martial Law!
Where: FDC!
When: May 24 - June 1
Warnings: POSSIBLE VIOLENCE

Well, it finally happened. Things went too far. A mad scientist was in charge of security in the city, and had declared martial law.

And it was... working???

The streets were quiet as curfew approached. The riots had all but stopped. Crime was on the decline. Perhaps things under. the Eggman Empire wouldn't be so bad after all...

Robots were out on patrol across the city. Would you be one of the ones to rub the militia the wrong way? Did you have a crime to report? Did you have objections to how this whole situation was being handled? Your friendly robot militia would be happy to listen.

I think.

Comments

[maskxdemasque]

Ron was alright with extra patrol around the city. Really, he was. If the crime rate was going down, that was a good sign, right? Sure it was!

He was alright with it until he realized he couldn't even leave the city to go home for a brief visitation with his wife. Sure, his job was demanding, but he had reinforcement available now. And he was going crazy living for two months without seeing Desirée! So when he tried to leave the city only to find that the boundaries were closed off to him, he had a panic attack.

And then he broke down and started crying, right in the middle of the city. When he stopped, he had another panic attack. Once he calmed down enough, he tried to call Desirée. But his phone batteries were dying, and the call didn't go through, and then he had no phone to call her with. So he started to cry. Again.

What more was there for him to do but to go back to the academy? It was nearing curfew far too fast for his slow and mopey pace to bring him back to safety before curfew fell. Ron forgot about curfew completely, to be honest: all that was on his mind was the misfortune he had encountered, and how heartbroken he felt.

Ron was headed back for the academy, but not fast enough.

[iamtheeggman]

It was 10:00, and all was not well. The robots switched to patrol mode, searching for anyone who happened to be out past curfew.

And they found one.

"HALT," an Egg Pawn called out. "YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR VIOLATION OF CURFEW."

[maskxdemasque]

The moment the Egg Pawn declared that Ron was under arrest, a gut reaction kicked in. Ron screamed, "IT WASN'T MEEEEEE!" while withdrawing into himself, clutching onto his arms with his hands.

Then, he took the time to process what he said. Violation of... curfew? What time was it, anyway? Ron checked his watch.

10:02 PM... Oh. Oh no. Ron looked up to the robot and protested.

"N-No! It's just a mistake... I p-promise!" he insisted, holding his palms up in front of him in denial.

[iamtheeggman]

"BY ORDER OF THE EGGMAN EMPIRE, ALL CITIZENS ARE TO REMAIN IN THEIR HOMES AFTER THE DESIGNATED CURFEW TIME, UNLESS CARRYING AUTHORIZATION," the Egg Pawn explained. "YOU WILL PRESENT AUTHORIZATION OR COME WITH US FOR QUESTIONING."

[maskxdemasque]

"A-A-Authorization...?" he stuttered, cowering. "I, umm, I don't think I have anything like that, since I didn't actively go out of my way to seek authorization to be out in the streets..."

Then, he balled up his fists and tried to look a bit more composed. Just a bit. "I promise, I-I was just on my way back! Pleeeease, you have to believe meeeee!"

[iamtheeggman]

"NEGATIVE. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST," the robot insisted.

Well, unless you could prove you were out of their jurisdiction, it was time to either submit or run.

[maskxdemasque]

Ron was no stranger to running from the law. For a moment, he deliberated. He shifted his feet nervously, his body tense.

Then he turned on his heel and put his cowardly senses to good use and ran. Fast. He only hoped that he could outrun robots, which is something he'd never tried before.

The thief turned a sharp corner and prayed that they'd leave him be. He just had to get back to the academy without getting caught, right...? He could feel his heart beating hard and fast as he ran, hopefully in the direction of the academy. He couldn't think clearly about where he was going...

[iamtheeggman]

The robots quickly began to give chase. they fortunately were only about average running speed, so Ron could probably escape.

Except some of them were starting to draw laser guns.

They were scrambling to find their escaped target, prowling the street for any sign of him.

[delitefulthief]

"Eeeep!!" Laser guns, really?! This was a nightmare! Adrenaline really kicked in this time, and Ron sprinted faster. The speed of a true coward who feared for his life. That kind of speed.

Unfortunately, Ron took the worst route to the school and found himself approaching the worst kind of obstacle a city could offer. Some unruly citizens caused a lot of damage within the city, and a massive fissure was left behind by some serious brawl that went down before the martial law settled in. What stood in his way was nothing other than a long crack in the ground, and it wasn't one somebody could just hop over.

He panicked and looked over his shoulder. Ron didn't want to go to jail, not for something like this! But he also didn't want to be shot at, so what could he do? It was either jump the vast fissure, or submit.

And by the way Ron was running, he had full intention to choose the stupider of the options: jump. In a manner only a thief could replicate, Ron sprinted on his toes and poised himself for the inevitable jump.

[iamtheeggman]

The robots finally caught up to Ron as he made his leap of faith, and were paused in awe for a moment. Was this stupid human really going to try and jump that gap? Well, if he failed, at least they could scrape up the remains afterwards.

[maskxdemasque]

Ron went splat and died. RIP Ron.

With Ron's luck, it was more than likely for him to take that leap of faith and flat-out not make it. But sometimes he was a lucky, lucky fool, and today was one of those days.

As luck would have it, Ron made it to the other side: truly a sight to behold. Probably because his (not-so) secret identity was Mask☆DeMasque, the famous thief that nobody believed him to be. Just barely, Ron saved himself and his foot made contact with the opposite ledge.

Was he in the clear? Ron almost turned around to check. He feared that the robots might keep shooting at him if he stopped, so he just kept on running.

[iamtheeggman]

If he looked back at all in his run, he might have seen the squad of robots shaking their fists at him as he ran away into the safety of the school grounds.