The flickies were huddled together on the platter, their wings clipped and their legs tied loosely together with thread to keep them from running. Robotnik sat smugly at his desk, fingers knitted together as he grinned wide behind them. He didn't move an inch, his mechanical eyes boring into the half-roboticized sometimes-lackey in front of him.
"Well?"
Carthis stared down at the flickies with a mix of terror and bewilderment. He wasn't serious, right? He couldn't be. Or this was some kind of practical joke; Robotnik wasn't above them, after all. That had to be it. A joke, to make him think one thing but then do another. Right?
"I said EAT THEM!" Robotnik bellowed, slamming his fist so hard onto his metal desk that the room shook. The flickies shuddered like leaves in the wind, nearly thrown off the platter by the force of Robotnik's fury. Their eyes wide and horrified, they hugged each other with their wings and shivered.
"L-like this?" Carthis asked, too shocked to be afraid of the tyrant's outburst.
"Like this," Robotnik clarified smoothly, his sleazy smile returning.
"A...alive?"
"Did I stutter? I thought that was you," Robotnik snarled.
Carthis swallowed. How was he expected to eat flickies? They were... well, birds. Live, feathered, with beaks and little claws and everything! How would he swallow that? How would he chew feathers? He couldn't even imagine ripping them apart, either; the thought was too grotesque, even for him.
"Sir, ignoring how horrific that command is," Snively, Robotnik's not-so-sometimes-lackey, eyed the flickies with deep suspicion. He seemed to suspect some kind of treachery as well, and was less repulsed because of it. Robotnik probably just wanted to see Carthis struggle, as punishment for his flighty nature (pun likely intended), "How do you expect him to swallow?"
"Oh, he'll swallow alright," Robotnik growled, reaching out and grabbing the blue flicky. He snapped the little thread binding it to the pink and green ones, slowly pushing it into Carthis' face. "He'll swallow every one of them, for the humiliation he's caused me!"
Carthis went a shade paler than he already was. He hadn't done anything as bad as what Robotnik had done to him. He'd just done his usual: left, without saying a word. He had a life outside of Robotropolis! Since things like reading and fun were outlawed, it was only natural that he'd want to go literally anywhere else for a while!
But Robotnik had, as usual, taken it as an insult. When Carthis wasn't at his beck-and-call, Robotnik had thrown a proper tantrum about it. Likely because he'd been expecting Carthis to help him with the incoming Freedom Fighter raid... which he hadn't. Carthis had abandoned his post to leave Robotropolis.
"H-how?" Carthis asked weakly, looking down his nose at the flicky shoved into his face.
"Easy. Open your mouth..." as Robotnik reached out with his free hand, Carthis stepped back.
"H-how will I swallow feathers, sir?!" he wheezed, almost bumping into Snively as the conniving little thing slinked about behind him, hoping to avoid his uncle's wrath.
"What do I care about the "how?" You'll just do what I say!"
If it weren't for the desk, Robotnik would have been on top of him by now. Luckily it (and his belly) kept him relatively contained to the desk, unable to reach further than the end of it. That wouldn't last for much longer, though, if he got angry enough to launch the desk away from him.
"B-but I'll choke! Its beak will cut my throat and-"
Robotnik stood up, pushing the desk away from him and nearly knocking the remaining flickies onto the floor. Carthis and Snively yelped in unison, practically jumping into each other's arms in their terror. They scuttled back away from the tubby tyrant, neither wanting to deal with his impending outburst.
"I-if Robotnik doesn't get what he wants..." Snively muttered towards his not-so-friendly acquaintance.
"I know what happens when he doesn't get what he wants!" Carthis whisper-yelled back, his face going red. He knew exactly what happened, and he'd been dealing with the humiliation of it ever since! Thank the stars Snively hadn't been there to witness it!
Robotnik, snorting and growling as always, approached Carthis. Snively ducked to the side, coming to stand behind his uncle.
"Traitor," thought Carthis, bitterly.
"Open up!" Robotnik reached out, catching Carthis by the jaw and prying it open with one massive hand. Carthis squealed, his robotic arm clawing at Robotnik's in a futile attempt to break his grip. No luck; Robotnik's metal parts were built like a tank ("old and rusty," his arse! That hedgehog had no idea!).
His squirming seemed to please Robotnik greatly. He dangled the flicky over Carthis' open mouth, holding it by a little yellow foot. The flicky flapped erratically as it tried to pull away from Robotnik's grip, but it was even less successful than Carthis had been. Neither of them were going anywhere, it seemed.
Before he could shout any open-mouthed attempts at compromise, Robotnik shoved the flicky into his mouth. His palm covered the lower half of his face, blocking his mouth and nose and preventing him from breathing. His jaw was released, but now he was held in place by his shoulder.
"Swallow it!"
Carthis choked, scratching at Robotnik's arm.
"Swallow!"
He writhed, jerking this way and that, desperately trying to get some air.
"SWALLOW!"
Finally, Carthis began suffocating. He couldn't breathe, could barely move, and was starting to feel faint. He could feel the flicky in his mouth wriggling about, but there wasn't enough room for it to go anywhere. Its head was pointed directly down towards his throat, and occasionally its beak would scratch the back of his tongue, making him gag. His non-mechanical eye started to water, a dazed look coming over him as he continued to lose his battle against Robotnik's might.
He started to swallow. The flicky was already shoved far enough back that it was practically falling down his constantly-constricting throat, but it was still bigger than a normal bite of chewed food. Its head lodged in his throat and he gagged again, but the action opened his throat further. More of the flicky shifted down, and as the edges of his vision started to go black, Carthis realized that he had no choice but to swallow the thing, lest he die instead.
With renewed vigor spurred on by a surprisingly-still-in-tact survival instinct, Carthis gulped down the flicky with gusto. Only now did he feel Robotnik's hands move away, Carthis dropping onto the metal floor in a dazed stupor. He swallowed again and again, feeling the flicky move down his throat, until only its legs were at the back of his tongue. He gave one final, powerful GULP, the flicky finally dropping down into his throat proper.
Carthis gasped for air, spitting out blue pin feathers in the process. The flicky rolled down his throat thickly, making him shudder. It was like swallowing a... live bird. Right.
A few seconds later it dropped hard into his stomach, immediately beginning to shift around and flutter its wings. The movement deeply unsettled his gut, making Carthis groan. He brought a hand up to his mouth, letting out a gross, wet belch as the flicky continued stirring up his insides.
"There! Was that so hard?"
Snively was looking at Robotnik with disbelief and disgust, but Carthis couldn't be bothered. He almost heaved, but there was no way that bird was coming back up. He just had to wait for it to stop moving...
"One of three, Carthis," Robotnik grinned, prompting a shiver of terror to slip down the smaller man's spine. "Open wide."
Carthis looked up, horrified to see Robotnik holding the pink flicky. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand. His hands immediately went to his stomach, feeling the blue flicky already inside squirming weakly. He belched again, spittle flying from his mouth as he failed to reach up and stop it fast enough. He gave a sickly sort of wobble, before...
"Y-you can't be serious!" Snively squeaked in disbelief.
Carthis grabbed the pink flicky out of Robotnik's hand, gripping it tightly around the middle. He glared back at the tyrant for a moment before petting down the bird's feathers. He gently leaned his head back, closing his eyes as he forced the second flicky into his mouth. It didn't fight as much as the first one, its wings pinned sufficiently at its sides. It wriggled a little, but this one was much easier to get down; he pushed it into the back of his throat with two fingers, forcing himself not to gag as he swallowed hard around it.
The pink flicky made a visible bulge in his throat, something that hadn't been visible to Robotnik or Snively previously. Robotnik looked on with intrigue, while Snively turned around and put a hand over his mouth, looking greener than usual.
Carthis put his hand over the bulge as soon as it was far enough down his throat, helping it down from the outside. He wasn't sure if it worked, but it certainly gave him more of a feeling of control. Robotnik didn't seem to mind, either, as he wasn't stopping him or telling him to do something different. In fact, the fat controller seemed more than happy to let Carthis do as he pleased, so long as he was following orders.
The second flicky joined the first. Carthis felt his shirt getting tight around the middle and glanced down. It bulged out, but not enough to strain the buttons. Flickies weren't very big, technically speaking, but they were awkward. No one but a snake was supposed to swallow a living thing whole, and the visible shifting of his stomach made that abundantly clear. The flickies could be seen moving around in their prison, and the feeling was...
Was...
Carthis leaned his back against the metal wall, dazed. He was panting heavily, trying to prepare himself to swallow the third flicky. It sat shaking on the platter, no longer tied to anything but unable to fly away all the same. He thought it would have tried to escape by jumping off the desk, but that would probably do more damage than good. At least the pain wouldn't last long if it went down someone's throat, right?
He didn't know, and he didn't know if he wanted to know.
"Well? Eat the third one," Robotnik commanded, pointing back at the green flicky. It looked as if he expected Carthis to walk over and get it himself. Carthis resented the idea, unsure if he could walk without collapsing. His head was spinning. He'd never felt anything move inside his stomach before. He'd seen pregnant people before, heard them coo about their child "kicking," but this didn't seem similar at all. He didn't have the words- or the wherewithal- to describe it.
But, when the nausea passed... It didn't feel too bad.
He kind of felt sorry for the flickies, but he ate mobini all the time. Everyone did; mobini were the primary source of meat on Mobius. Mobini cattle and swine were even used to make Uncle Chuck's famous chili dogs. The only difference here was that the mobini were still alive, though that probably wouldn't last long. He'd start digesting them eventually... Hopefully they didn't do as much damage to his guts as the usual Robotropolis food.
Then he thought about bones and beaks, and immediately balked again.
"I'm waiting..." Robotnik growled lowly, tapping his foot as he glowered down at Carthis. Carthis gave a weak nod, pulling himself away from the wall and forcing himself to stand. He swayed on his feet for a second before taking a tentative step forward. When he was sure he wouldn't fall he took another step, repeating this until he was leaning up against the desk. Both hands rested on it, Carthis looking down at the green flicky.
It looked up at him, but, scared as it was, it was just a bird. It had probably already accepted its fate.
Carthis took a deep breath, lifting his non-mechanical hand and gently grasping the flicky. His metal arm and leg kept him steady as he repeated the same process with this one as he had the previous one. Feathers pushed back, head going in first, pushed in with two fingers...
It was easier this time. Easier than the pink one, even. He barely had to do anything but swallow. The green flicky slid down his throat and into his stomach with almost no resistance. It still felt like swallowing too much, but now that he was expecting it (or getting used to it?), it wasn't... too bad. It was manageable. In fact, it almost felt...
...Good.
The squirming in his stomach felt good, too. It had made him nauseous at first, but now... now it just felt surreal. He could feel his cheeks heat up, his shaking hand moving to rest over his stomach. His shirt was strained properly now, especially with the movement of three flickies in his belly. He wondered how long they'd move for. Every now and again they'd get a "second wind," trying to escape and moving more erratically again, only to calm down soon after. Each time they did he shuddered, and each time it was less and less due to revulsion.
Snively was gagging in the corner, but Carthis tried to ignore him.
"I'm impressed," Robotnik admitted, tugging at his mustache with one hand and tapping his fingers on his gut with the other. "You actually did it. You swallowed those three flickies. I didn't think you'd be able to."
Carthis didn't have the energy to make up any sort of response.