smash_logs | Robot Martial Law!

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Robot Martial Law!

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.

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In his condition, there was no way Zero could fight against getting swarmed. He tried smashing as many as he could with the Z-Knuckle, but there were simply too many. With no room to maneuver and not enough power in his body to even support half of his normal combat aptitude, Zero just barely caught his weapon as it boomeranged back before he was buried in a robot dogpile.

System critical... critical...

Offline

With their target finally incapacitated, the surviving robots picked up Zero and carried him off to a Prison Egg en-route to the Egg Carrier. This fighter had incredible combat capability, and their master would surely be interested.

Zero was delivered to Dr. Eggman by armed escort, still deactivated, and deposited on the floor of their master's lab. The not-so-good Doctor was busy with a new machine, and flipped up a welder's mask at the intrusion. "I told you not to bother me while I was working!" he bellowed.

"Apologies, Doctor," the lead guard said, snapping a salute. "However our instructions were to bring any capable combatants for immediate questioning."

Eggman looked over the unconscious girl(?), then back at the Egg Pawn. "I'm not impressed."

The Egg Pawn produced a small recorder. "This footage was taken from a Buzzer observing our encounter," it explained, playing back the fight they just had with Zero.

Eggman stroked his chin as he watched, eyes lighting up. "Mmm... Yes, I see! Even in its damaged state, this robot has remarkable combat potential!"

The Egg Pawns looked back and forth between each other. "Robot, master?"

"It's OBVIOUSLY a robot, you nitwit!" Eggman bellowed. "Get it up on the table. It's time to perform a bit of surgery!"

Some time later, Zero would find himself awakening on an examination table in Dr. Eggman's lab, arms and legs restrained, components opened up and wires coming into and out of him, the results of the mad scientist's tinkering and examination. And off to the side, at a computer screen displaying diagnostic details about Zero, was a large egg-shaped man with the most glorious moustache ever seen.

Something in Zero flickered back to life - a surge from one of the many cables in his guts, or perhaps rebooted by his own systems as they detected unknown access points. Either way, his eyelids stirred and he rolled his head weakly from side to side, trying to shake off his fatigue.

Short term memories began to trickle back into the forefront of his mind. Falling to Earth. Being surrounded by robots and then swarmed... it was then Zero tried to move his limbs and found, to his alarm, that he could not.

That was when his eyes shot open. What he beheld, strapped to this unfamiliar table with his inner workings opened up, filled him with no reassurances. The reploid struggled against his bonds again, but again was unsuccessful. He didn't have much strength left as it was. More and more, this was sliding into worst case scenario territory.

Grunting as he futilely fought his restraints, Zero's expression was like that of a cornered beast - desperate, but furious. It would've been more effective if he weren't so thoroughly helpless.

Even his voice was weak as he growled, "What is this...?!"

The round, bald man finally spoke, carrying a very dangerous looking mechanical implement. "Would you be so quick to attack your saviour?" he asked smugly. "I'm merely repairing your damage! You'll be of far more use to me in one piece!"

That sure would've been a lot more comforting except for, say, the part where this man planned to make use of him. For what purpose, Zero couldn't imagine anything good. This man... he reminded him far too much of Dr. Weil. Their smugness, their way of speaking, he couldn't trust it at all. The robots that captured him were minions of some 'Eggman Empire' he remembered. Narrowing his eyes, the reploid spoke again, this time more controlled, but no less seething.

"Use... for the Eggman Empire. What is that? Who are you?"

"I am Dr. Eggman," he introduced himself with flourish. "And I RULE the Eggman Empire!"

He set the device down, coming around by Zero's head and removing the Reploid's helmet. "You've been a very naughty robot," the scientist explained as he searched around for an access port into Zero's head. "Show up out of nowhere, cause property damage, and then attack my law enforcement mechs? I can't allow that to go UNPUNISHED!"

Yes, confirmed worst possible scenario.

There wasn't a whole lot he could do to keep Eggman's hands from his helmet, restrained as he was. He grunted as he tried to resist, but it was forced off his head all the same, spilling waves of his long hair all over his face and table. From beneath those golden strands, however, Zero was glaring back with pure defiance in his eyes. There was not an inch of him willing to submit to this doctor, to his empire, to his mercies, or to being used. There was only one reason he could think of for a scientist to go searching for that access port.

He would rather die. He was prepared to, in fact.

The smooth, green triangle on his forehead began to emit a rhythmic glow, almost like that of a countdown timer. Light began to build from his exposed chest as well, universally recognizable as self destruct being initiated. With sheer resolve in his voice, Zero told Eggman, "I won't let you."

That this range, the explosion would take out this round, mustached tyrant as well. He could only hope the energy build-up in his body wouldn't take too long to critically overload - if the doctor found the port in the back of his head, hidden underneath all that hair, it was all over. Accessing it would interrupt the sequence completely.

"Now what are you doing there," Eggman muttered, observing the flashing gem on Zero's forehead. He didn't have to wonder long, however, as robots monitoring the equipment on the Egg Carrier announced "EMERGENCY. SELF DESTRUCT DEVICE DETECTED. PREPARE TO EVACUATE EGG CARRIER."

Eggman waved his hand angrily at the Egg Pawn, shouting "STOP THAT!! It's nothing I can't handle!!" Turning his attention to Zero, he hurried his search for the access port. "If you think you're going to scare me, it WON'T WORK!"

"I don't intend to scare you." Zero voice was unsettlingly serene for someone who was about to blow himself up (and for someone who had a pair of giant hands feeling up his head). There was no hesitation in him at all, as though this was nothing he hadn't done before. "I intend to overload my energy core and destroy myself, taking you with me."

The light was getting brighter by the second, and quickening in tempo. Everything on the monitor showed no sign of the energy build up stopping.

Wow, why did this robot have so much hair.

"The only thing you're doing," Eggman retorted, "is delaying the INEVITABLE!"

As if to punctuate his point, with a loud click, Eggman discovered the access port in Zero's head. The readouts all indicated that the energy build up was dissipating.

What now, Zero?

"Nngh..!" click

Immediately, Zero's went limp, his limbs robbed of strength. The light faded away quickly after, all threat diminished. With his control chip being directly accessed, his body shut down as a safety measure, leaving Zero's mind trapped in an unresponsive shell. Even the defiant look on his face ebbed away, replaced by a glassy, lifeless stare.

That was it, then. He had lost - he had nothing to fight back with anymore. Fallen into the hands of the enemy, his soul was now completely vulnerable to all of Eggman's machinations.

So in the end, that was how he was going out. No better than the puppets Weil had seized to do his bidding. Power always tempted the evil at heart. Perhaps this was the eventual fate of reploids like him, ones designed for war - this must have been why he was sealed away in the first place.

Zero couldn't help but think that it would've been better if he had simply been destroyed on re-entry.

Muttering to no one but himself, he half-closed his eyes and just this once, let despair overtake him - because soon, he was sure no part of him would remain. "I... failed..."

Eggman chortled diabolically as he tinkered around in Zero's access port, looking down at the defeated robot. "Welcome to the Eggman Empire," he gloated, before shutting down Zero completely. He had a lot of work to do if this robot was going to be reborn as his soldier...

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