1:30 PM:
Lunch with Diplomats
Author's Note: So I was trying to build up something here, but I don't know if I established any point in this chapter other than character development. Still enjoy? Review if you can. It really helps.
He didn't know how she was doing it, really. Rushing down the sidewalks of the business district, passing all the quaint little boutiques, all the tiny, stretching skyscrapers, Miles Prower couldn't help but find himself panting. Watching the two girls in front of him scurry at full speed, one in high-heels, was baffling. He had to keep reminding himself, as his tails twirled and his heart raced, just why he was here. The end of the city was coming near, he could tell. The streets were becoming more isolated and he could hear the clacking, a battle. His poor little eyes could see the smoke.
He was scared.
It wasn't that he hadn't been in battle before. It was that he hadn't been in battle for years and he liked peace. He really did. Peace meant he was able to walk around the city streets at night and not be afraid of getting cornered by SWATbots. Peace meant he was able to spend time with the Freedom Fighters without it being a call for battle, a mission debriefing. Peace meant everyone was together and happy; peace meant he could live his days without the fear of someone he cared about being just that close to death. He didn't have to be afraid with peace. It was boring and mundane but boring and mundane was perfect, it was--
He suddenly skid to a stop. In front of his eyes was a series of trucks, guards bunching up around them. His companions, Sally and Bunnie, had already stopped. Sally was talking to a guard. Bunnie was examining the area.
The fox took a quiet step towards the two, hands behind his back. "Are we really supposed to be here?" he inquired softly. The question surprised him for a moment. He really didn't have much of a sense of adventure anymore. But he didn't want to see Sally get hurt. He'd put his life down for her, he swore...
He looked up at the smoke, the hazy sky. And maybe it was stupid, but she meant a lot to him. So did Aunt Bunnie. They both meant everything, and the last thing he could bear to see was either of them hurt. He didn't have a family. His parents were long gone. He liked to imagine they were somewhere better, but he just didn't know. All he knew was all his life he had had Princess Sally, Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine D'Coolette, Rotor the Walrus--he had had all of them taking care of him. He bit his lip. There had been one more in that group, but he dare didn't think of his name. He wasn't that important anyway. So what if they had been best friends, so what if he was the guy's self-proclaimed 'lil bro?' It didn't matter. He thought for a moment and then look to his companions. It didn't really matter at all.
Sally Acorn had finished her discussion with the guard abruptly. Looking up ahead, she squinted her eyes, trying to conjure what was truly going on in the battle. There was a large machine with a little man sitting on the top of it. She couldn't make much of anything else, there was too much obscuring the view. The distinctive nose on the person, however, made the identity all too obvious. She took a step toward the fox, ushering Bunnie to join them. "We need to get a closer look," she told the two.
Bunnie Rabbot, who had been trying to find Antoine to ensure he hadn't had a heart attack, nodded in agreement. "But Sally-girl, everything's blocked. How are 'ya gonna get any closer when they all know we shouldn't be here in the first place?"
"I talked to one of the guards. We're here to evaluate the damage," Sally reached into her bag, pulling out NICOLE.
"'Ya don't say, Sally-girl..." Bunnie narrowed her eyes. She seemed unconvinced. "'From the look of that 'lil 'ol guard's eyes, 'ah don't think he really believed that."
A grin in response. "You'd be surprised..." She took a quick look around before focusing on the little screen of her computer, "NICOLE, access the Royal Guard's system and send the following..." As Sally continued to dictate an forged mandate, Tails and Bunnie exchanged glances.
"What'd 'ah say?" the rabbit began, shrugging, "Sugahog 'an her, those two never change."
Sally set the computer aside, smirk remaining. "Give it a minute. They should receive the order in-"
From behind them, Tails could hear a communicator going off, the order Sally had just feigned now being announced as if it was official. He sighed. "You hacked their computer, Aunt Sally?"
"Rotor and I helped design the system. I kept access to their codes in case something like this happened." She moved forward towards the battle. Tails just remained frozen. Had she really just done that? She was the one always preaching honesty and justice. Sally, as if on cue, looked back, "Are you coming?"
"Sally-girl," Bunnie was hesitant, "Isn't your father gonna find out 'ya just got permission 'ta enter a battlefield?" She shook her head. Ever since Sally's father was freed from the Void, Sally had maintained a close relationship with him. The king, still catching up with all the lost time, had done what every father would've in the aftermath of a Great War: try shut his child out of anything and everything that looked dangerous in the city reconstruction effort. While his daughter had been a commander in the Great War, he had found her service there didn't qualify her for some of the more risky tasks, it rather excused her. He wanted to protect her, and as much as Sally fought it, Bunnie could almost understand his reasoning. The King had already lost her for so many years, and he couldn't risk losing her again. She only wished, as she watched the princess lead the group pass the guards, that she had parents that cared that much, let alone parents at all.
"If I accounted for the schedule amendments right," the princess chirped, as if any of the two were listening, "He shouldn't find out for another hour. According to his itinerary, he's currently meeting foreign diplomats over lunch with instruction not to be disturbed--the concert ran overtime." Sally set her computer aside and looked at her two comrades. Nothing. "Tails..." she started knowingly.
"I was listening, I swear!" He debated. "Something about a schedule and diplomats and--"
"You and Sonic--you're that close to his record." She rolled her eyes before forcing herself back on topic. "We need to find Antoine or Rotor and evaluate the full situation. Our main objective is to stop that machine before it does any more damage at whatever costs."
"Well, sugah, 'ya heard Sally-girl. Let's go!" Bunnie gave a reassuring smile to the boy. The fox only shivered. The three started forward, but all Tails could think about were Sally's last words: "at whatever cost."
The three scurried about, passed what seemed to be rows of trucks. They were really trying to block the battle, weren't they? As they got closer, Tails could hear the clacking, could hear the sound of metal being pierced--he didn't like it at all. All he could think about was a SWATbot cornering them, its drone voice reciting "Halt Freedom Fighter!" its metal arms outreaching and taking him far away.
Bunnie, catching sight of Tails nearly shaking, reached over and brushed his bangs. "It'll be alright, sugah," she reassured him. "'Ah promise..."
Sally, from up ahead, had finally spotted Rotor. Rushing over to a truck parked nearly in the front line, she waved an arm. "Rotor!"
The walrus instinctively looked back. Eyes widening, he forced himself off the trunk of the truck and toward the princess. Antoine, in fetal position in the corner, looked up. "My prinzess!? You are...here?" He seemed a little startled, unable to fathom her appearance. Rotor just shook his head.
"Princess Sally, you shouldn't be here. Your father would flip. It's...it's a full battle going on up there. We just got a little distance, but it's dangerous."
"We received orders," It was a lie, but a nonchalant one at that. "Bunnie, Tails, and I have been asked to evaluate the damage. What's going on up there?"
"Oh," the walrus became quiet, "Well, Snively's invading. I think he's getting tired though. Sonic's got him cornered."
"Sonic?!" Tails had caught up at that point. His mouth was wide open at the thought of that hedgehog being back in town. He rushed towards Sally. "What's Sonic doing there?"
Rotor shrugged. "I don't know. Antoine saw him. Antoine?"
"Do not speak to me!" the coyote recited, trying to repress the horrific images he had seen earlier. "Prinzess, you muzt leave at once! It eez very, very dangerous."
"How far are they from here?" Sally looked ahead. Rows of trucks and clusters of guards seemed to stand between her and the battle. She could see the blue blur dashing ahead...
Her heart stopped. She didn't know how to feel about his return.
"They're less than a mile. We've been trying to block the area off from tourists."
"The damage?" Sally bit her lip. The east outskirts were home to some new apartment complexes. The city limits had been designed to be a gateway to the developing suburbs. "Tell me the surrounding buildings have been evacuated..."
"They have," the walrus nodded, "As soon as we got here, it was the first thing we did. We sent all the civilians back to Town Square, to the festival."
Sally heaved a sigh of relief. Bunnie frowned, watching Snively and his machines struggle to shoot or capture the blue rodent. "How long has he been doin' that?" she inquired, pointing.
"The dodging?" Rotor sighed, "Too long. I really don't know how much more that machine can take. See the steam, Tails? That's an engine being overheated." It was an educational moment for Rotor. It was an observation that evoked panic in the rest of the group.
"Could it burst?" the princess inquired, eyes remaining on the buildings. She seemed to ignore the cobalt blur.
"Quite possibly," the engineer was honest in that respect.
"Tails, we need to shut that machine down, now." The fox shivered at Sally's command. The urgency in her tone triggered an influx of memories--the raids, the debriefings, Robotropolis, the war...
"Wh-what?" Horrible memories. He just didn't want to believe it all. He just didn't want it back.
"Rotor, sugah, how are the guards doin' up there?" the rabbit took one long look at Antoine. If his attitude was at all representative of the guard's progress, they were not in a very good place at all. She sighed. It was almost too typical...
"They're really no match. It's basically Sonic and Snively at this point." Rotor sighed. "I could get you closer, but I don't think it's a good idea."
Sally nodded, "We need to end this. The sooner we can arrest Snively, the sooner we can clean up the damage or prevent anymore. Tails, I want you to take NICOLE and get into the circuitry. Rotor, how do you think he'll be able to disable Snively's machine by getting into its system?"
"Not enough time," he sighed, "Tails, your best bet is to cut one of the wires and shut it down physically. It's practically falling apart up there, so it shouldn't be hard. Just be careful with what wire you do--" He shuddered to think if Tails cut the wrong one. He hoped their lessons had done something for the fox. If he made a wrong move, Tails that was, well... The walrus looked down. But he wouldn't. Tails knew what he was doing. He was extremely talented.
The same thoughts seemed to register with the fox. "Okay," he nodded, aware of the gravity of the task. But then his mind went somewhere else. "What are you going to do, Aunt Sally?"
"There's also a lot of other robots up there--scrap robots." Rotor shrugged. He thought back to the scene earlier. "It's actually quite impressive, Snively must have used scrap metal from the SWATbots. Sonic's basically taken care of those."
"'Ah'll finish them off," Bunnie flexed her metal arm. "'Ah don't think it'll be too hard with sugahog helpin'." A small smile. Sonic the Hedgehog...really back. Well, she'll be darned. She never thought she'd see the day...
"Good," Sally grinned, "And I'll handle Snively. Tails, if I distract him, you'll disable the machine?"
"Distract him? But Aunt Sally--" Tails couldn't believe what she was suggesting. She wanted to just put herself in the frontline of battle.
"We need to do this diplomatically, Tails," She glanced down at her pearls, trying to hide her distaste for her attire. "The rules are different now--we need to use them to our advantage. Rotor, is there anything you and Antoine can do from here?"
"I unfortunately don't have any material with me that can help," he sighed, "But I'll give you any updates I can. And Antoine, he's--"
"I vill fight too," he struggled to get up, staggering as he walked towards them. "It eez my duty!" He reached for his sword, clutching its handle. He was about to raise it but Rotor stopped him.
"Well, I guess he'll help," the walrus indicated, pointing to Antoine. "Good luck, guys." He offered a smile.
"Thanks Rotor. Well, does everyone understand the plan? Last chance for questions." Sally paused. Antoine raised an arm.
"Muzt ve do this?"
The group only narrowed their eyes in response.
