Bunnie Rabbot had known this would be a really bad idea, but that was exactly why she'd agreed to tag along, right?
Her organic half was sweating heavily and the partially roboticized Mobian was deeply grateful for the almost endless stamina of her metal legs as she sprinted forward through the musty, dank and almost entirely black sewers of the mostly ruined Mobotropolis while she had a currently unconscious Miles Prower slung across her back, Bunnie holding his legs with her arms and his arms tucked under her chin, the rabbit's head tilted forward in an effort to keep his crossed hands gently pinned in position. She fervently hoped that the orange twin-tailed fox still had the sentience core that they'd risked so much to acquire securely tucked into the small red pack on his back.
Bunnie also silently hoped that he didn't decide to have some 'fun' tonight and personally come after them, because no amount of speed she could muster with her artificial appendages would be enough if he did.
The rabbit knew she was making a lot of noise between the loud splashing of the fetid, rancid water slapping around her heavy, metallic feet and her labored breathing due to the exertion of trying to keep Tails both on her back and in one piece, but things had gone way too far south to try and stay stealthy at this point. Elias would no doubt be a mix of perturbed and very worried that they'd used what few mechanical stun grenades Tails and Rotor managed to scrape together the materials to make on this little unapproved side mission. Bunnie's face contorted into a grimace due to both the horrible odor surrounding her and the thought of the verbal shellacking she and Tails were probably both in for when they got back to the safety of the Grand Den. There was no way Bunnie would have let the young two-tailed fox go by himself into the depths of Mobotropolis, though- not only had Miles, affectionately known as 'Tails' to most of them, become a blend of little brother and son to her over time, but his incredible mind was far too valuable of a resource to risk.
"Ugh...Bun...got it...still." Tails softly speaking startled Bunnie a bit as she felt his arms tense under her tucked chin as the young fox stirred to consciousness, her long ear swivelling towards his head that was resting on her left shoulder before she resumed listening for the sounds of the mechanical army they were trying to avoid as she finally hit dry land, quickly using her cybernetic arm to tear off the large sewer grate in front of her. Bunnie practically gulped in the fresh air as they emerged, the delicate, damp scent of the late evening much more pleasant than the stench of the sewer.
The rabbit relaxed as bit as she turned her ear behind them, noticing that the cacophony of of mechanical clicking and whirring that had been nipping at their heels finally began receding back into the overtaken metropolis. Well, that's it for the city 'bots seems like...now we just have to worry about all the exterior patrols. Bunnie was relieved that they at least still had their prize as she slid the large grate back into place, though there was still the long, very dangerous trek back home. "Tha's great, sugah. Now stop talkin' an' rest up while Ah get us home, tha' was a real bad knock y' got from that Swatbot." They'd need to find a new way in if they hoped to keep scrounging for parts and supplies- this was now their fourth trip using this particular entrance, and more than three times using the same point of entry into the now ruined Mobian capital had landed the Order in trouble in the past. Another tunnel to have Vanilla cross off the list for a while 'till the heat dies down.
"Sorry...tried to be careful..." Bunnie could hear the regret in Tails' tone even through his half-conscious slurring as she started a carefully, deliberately zigzagging, meandering path through the barren, scorched fields surrounding the fallen capital, occasionally using large rubble and a few small trees clinging tenuously to life as cover. She then felt Tails cringe even through the heavy leather armor she was currently wearing, his body shrinking away from her and into itself a bit before the fox relaxed and continued. "Almost got us caught..."
"We'll talk about i' later alright? Now this here's where th' patrols get real nasty. Can y' manage t' use your arms so Ah can keep m' head free, sugah? Ah'm gonna use a ring but you'll need t' hold on while Ah do." He didn't verbally respond but she could feel Tails' gloved grip grow stronger under her chin, so Bunnie released his hands and looked upwards. Jungle green eyes intently scanned the horizon and sky for any immediate threats before gently placing her friend down, Tails wobbling a bit as he stood on unsteady feet and gingerly rubbed the spot on the side of his head where a Swatbot had managed to land a nasty punch. Bunnie then took off and opened up the dingy grey pack that had been on her own back, taking out two large, golden rings from it that gently shimmered with the Ring Energy contained within them. "Good thing Ah thought t' sneak a couple a' these out with us, eh?"
"You brought two?" Tails' eyes widened in concern, his eyes and tone both clearing, then filling with worry and shock even as he tried to remain quiet. "Oh man, I figured you'd maybe bring one! Rotor is definitely gonna notice when he does the daily check and-" He winced and clutched the side of his head.
"Nah." Bunnie shook her head before offering Tails a crooked smile and wink. "Ah brought five." She then placed the two rings she'd extracted around her neck, wearing them like a pair of oversize necklaces. "An' actually Ah brought 'em with Rotor's blessin'- he fudged inventory an' helped me sneak 'em. He's real interested in this idea you've got cookin' an' wants t' see what th' sentience core can do too." She then closed the pack back up, deciding not to mention that she'd already had to use one of the rings' charges to get them out of the very sticky situation earlier, one of the three rings still in her pack now a dull, lifeless bronze. "Now hop on an' let's get us an' that core back home."
Tails nodded and let Bunnie lift him onto her back again, gripping his hands together tightly after circling his arms loosely around the rabbit's neck. Bunnie grabbed one of rings around her neck and gently bit it before feeling the Ring Energy flow through her, her body starting to feeling refreshed and re-energized as what always seemed to her like a kind of magic worked its way through her body after she released the ring from her mouth, the ring's earlier luster now gone. Even her mechanical half softly whirred and groaned in positive response to the power as she lifted Tails' legs up and Tails settled into her back again. "Count down for me, will ya sugah? Ah'll be too distracted." She then started sprinting much faster than she normally could due to the Ring Energy currently flowing through her, the world zipping by at a much quicker speed.
"Fifty tics left, and we have company coming to our right!" called Tails, shaking her shoulder softly before Bunnie glanced over, seeing a rapidly approaching Swatbot patrol that had likely locked onto their heat signatures and decided to investigate. The speed boost was always more than slightly disorienting when she tried to focus on other things besides moving, Bunnie trying desperately to gauge the distance between the incoming robots and her and Tails and how long the inevitable clash would take. "We're all out of disabling grenades, too! We used them all in the storage room where we got the core."
"Ah know. Hang on tight! Ah'm gonna let 'em come to us an' try an' let's try an' smash 'em before Ah'm outta juice." Bunnie still made her way in the general direction of the Great Forest, though she now steered her course slightly towards the Swatbots, attempting to try and force the encounter with as much of the Ring Energy still flowing through her as possible. She really wanted to save the rest of the rings they had to make the trip home safely and quickly.
"Forty! Here they come!" Tails braced himself and clung tightly as Bunnie leapt up into the sky, aiming herself and crashing down with the full weight of her unusually heavy body onto the shoulders of the first Swatbot in the group, driving it down into the ground before there was an explosion of sparks, smoke and fire. The other five Swatbots in the group briefly turned their metallic heads towards the explosion before large spikes shot out of all of the Swatbot's shoulders. Bunnie sighed audibly as the large bipedal robots began to circle her and Tails. This was why it was always so much easier to have a few of the disabling grenades on hand before sorties close to the fallen capital- the machines seemed to have a way of communicating how they had been defeated to the others when they were destroyed and those remaining would then adjust accordingly with what seemed to be an ever-expanding litany of enhancements, fights with any size group of them becoming increasingly dangerous as they went on because most of the time, you couldn't defeat any two of them in the same way. "I'll take off one's head, you aim for one's chest! Thirty!"
Bunnie felt Tails leap off her back before he charged towards one of the other four Swatbots while veering erratically, dodging a few laser potshots as he extracted a long whip from a pouch at his side and snared the Swatbot's head, using the whip's length along with some leverage and distance Tails quickly created by running to tear the Swatbot's head clean off. A shower of sparks emerged from where the Swatbot's head had been before the body slumped a bit forward lifelessly, the robot attempting to start a self-repair that Tails halted by jumping up a bit, hovering with his tails and pouring water from his canteen directly down into the Swatbot's now exposed circuits, frying enough to fully disable the 'bot. Bunnie charged directly forward at the third Swatbot before unleashing a Ring Energy-enhanced kick into its chest, the metal caving in around her foot before the bot's function core popped out of a newly created hole in its backside along with assorted wiring. She yanked her foot free forcefully and ran around to the bot's back and crushed the core with her cyborg hand. Three down, two to go. Bunnie could feel her enhanced power beginning to wane.
The last two robots now had metal plates covering their chests and surrounding the sides and back of their head in addition to the spikes from earlier, Tails trying to keep one distracted as he ran around and rooted around in his pouch. With the last of the ring-enhanced energy she had, Bunnie rolled into herself and jetted forward, spinning at high speed before she crashed into the legs of the closest Swatbot to her like a bowling ball, its mechanical legs flying apart and the upper head and torso crashing to the ground with a thud. She felt the last remnants of the Ring Energy leave her as soon as the robot fell, Bunnie quickly having an internal debate about whether she wanted to use the second ring to help finish off the final Swatbot or save it to get them out of there. Tails settled the debate for her by pulling the pin on a grenade that he'd apparently fished out of his pouch and shoved it right into a gap in the Swatbot's head plating, then running towards the rabbit while yelling "LIVE!"
After they ducked and covered for the resulting explosion, Bunnie knew they needed to get moving, and fast. "We're scootin' right now, there's gonna be more'n we can handle soon sugah! Tha' was long enough for them t' have called in backup an' that grenade'll surely grab even more attention." The rabbit bit the second ring around her neck and grabbed Tails' hand before lifting him back onto her back, quickly speeding away from the scene of the fight and into the outskirts of the Great Forest.
"Rotor." Elias Acorn approached a purple walrus who was currently hidden while busying himself with repairs on a well-concealed bright red biplane that was sitting in the middle of a tiny, makeshift grass airfield. The task was generally only performed under the safety and cover of darkness, and only a small light occasionally glinting from under the plane gave away the other's position, the soft calls of assorted nocturnal wildlife occasionally filling the quiet air above the Grand Den. "A quick word, if I may?"
"Sure." Rotor rolled out from under the plane on a battered wooden creeper and offered the leader of the Order of Acorn a smile. "What can I help with, Your Highness?"
Elias's nose wrinkled in distaste at the same time that his eyes filled with pain. "I don't deserve that title, as I keep telling you all." He closed his eyes and reopened them after a deep breath, refocusing on the matter at hand. "However, I couldn't help but notice that, well, our inventory seems to be...missing a few things that your sheet says should be there, hmm? Along with us currently missing two particular members." He smiled a bit and quirked a brow. "And for some strange reason I can't shake the feeling that these two events may just possibly be connected."
Rotor glanced around nervously before deciding to go with the truth. Hopefully he could drag out the explanation to buy Bunnie and Tails some more time. "Um, maybe, yeah."
The dethroned royal laughed softly. "As I thought. Let's go down to my office so that you can fill me in on what exactly's going on, please." He waited for Rotor to put his tools away before the pair headed towards the secret entrance to the headquarters of their resistance group. The scent of earth filled both of their noses after they knocked the special code on what to all appearances seemed to be nothing more than a tree stump, the top of the stump swinging open and revealing a ladder descending into the earth. Elias and Rotor both quickly descended after ensuring that the stump resealed properly, the always vigilant crocodile Vector standing guard and greeting them both with a wave. "Still ain't seen Bunnie or Tails around, boss."
"Thank you, Vector. I believe we'll be able to get to the root of this soon." Elias offered Rotor a sideways glance that was both amused and pointed at once, Rotor nodding as they wandered into the underground complex proper. The carefully gnarled mass of tunnels, individual rooms, group rooms and storage stretched out into the depths of Mobius, and there were several entrances and exits in various locations around the Great Forest. A few minutes of walking and checking in with the others currently present brought them to Elias's personal office. After the pair entered and got settled into the sparsely furnished office, Elias nodded at Rotor. "So please do explain. I'm assuming they had some form of business in Mobotropolis since they took our entire supply of disabling grenades and more than a few of our rings as well."
"Yeah, exactly." Rotor nodded eagerly. "Well, see, Tails had this awesome idea and-"
The pair was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," called Elias before Tails and Bunnie stepped into the room.
"Ah'm guessin' you're wantin' t' know why we snuck off an' figured out tha' Rotor gave us a hand, Elias," began Bunnie with a grin. "Well now tha' we got th' thing, Tails can explain."
Tails nodded firmly before extracting the sentience core from his backpack. "I wanna build a robot that can beat him, with Rotor's help." Tails stared down at the sentience core in his hand. "And with this, I'm very confident we can."
Elias's eyes widened. "You mean something to take on Sonic?"
"Exactly. We know none of us, even using Ring Energy, have a chance of keeping up with him...but what about a robot specially built for speed?" Tails grinned. "And this is a very special kind of operating core, one that Bunnie helped me finally get. You know how a few of Sonic's robots seem more intelligent than the others, almost alive sometimes? That's thanks to one of these." He waved the core around a bit while still gripping it carefully. "I've taken to calling them a sentience core- it's an operating core that also lets you program a full personality, if you want it. In other words, not just a robot, but one wholly capable of feeling and thinking and making its own choices- a, well, a Robian, if you will, a Mobian in all ways but being metal instead of flesh and bone."
Rotor was almost beaming. "Yeah, and now that we got our hands on one, we might be able to get a look at the components and make more of them, too."
Elias took in the information, mulling it over before looking between Tails and Rotor. "Well, if anyone can achieve such a feat, it will be you two. Feel free to work on this as a side project when your other duties don't demand your attention."