Disclaimer - I do not own sonic or any other characters. They are property of SEGA and anything sonic the hedgehog affiliated with it.
The next morning in New Mobotropolis came too quick for Sonic as he was up early. After hanging with Buns the previous day she invited him to jog with her in the morning. She had explained it was something she used to do before she got sick. That and her working out and keeping active was a hobby of hers she was starting to get back into, especially now because of her new current situation staying in New Mobotropolis and whatnot. She had no qualms about asking him either, almost as if she'd been looking forward to. Sonic was wary of her but because of his mission he accepted, plus Sally wouldn't let him hear the end of it if he missed any opportunities to question Buns.
He still didn't trust her, but he didn't dislike her. He was neutral in fact, but because she was who she was he'd rather not make friends with her. If it was anybody else he knew he would be fine befriending them, but it was just a good rule of thumb to be wary of strangers. He missed getting to talk with Bunnie yesterday after dealing with Buns; she must not have been home.
The rising sun was warm, and everyone in the park was appreciative because it was still a bit cool out as they jogged through the park. Buns had ditched her black leather jacket in favor of a white sweat shirt, but still wearing her other usual clothing. They passed a couple sitting on a bench as they ran around a bin. Sonic watched Buns out the corner of his eye as they jogged around the park. She kept her smile around a lot since yesterday; he still felt off put by her demeanor. She was an assertive one…
She was no longer the reserved person she was when she showed up. She was being herself…
Though Sonic didn't know if that was a good thing or bad thing. Sonic questioned her with a curious expression as they ran "How did you get here?"
Buns huffed out a lie as she spoke "I called in a favor and caught a ride."
Sonic raised an eyebrow in confusion "Across Zone's?"
Buns nodded speaking through heavy breath "Yep, I know people."
Sonic looked at the grin on her face as he glanced at her, and he couldn't tell if she was lying. Plus with her behavior he didn't want to push her into her more amorous nature. So he dropped that line of conversation guessing because she was an anti, she might have been involved in certain types of dishonest dealings.
Sonic nodded "You get around huh?"
Buns grinned as they reached the front side of the park again "…I used to…"
They stopped their jog as they reached the entrance of the park where the street and sidewalk started. Buns hunched over holding onto her knees and catching her breath. Sonic of course didn't break a sweat but he did stretch. Sonic chuckled while he stretched "You won't need me around then once you find your own friends."
Buns wiped the sweat from her forehead as she stood fully up; her face became blank "I guess…" she sounded hesitant, but quickly her smile returned "I don't mind hanging with yiah though hedgehog."
Sonic hid his annoyance with a weak smile "Well let me get out of your hair, you're going to be late for work."
Buns blinked in surprise "Darn it, I forgot what time it was. I gotta get going hedgehog." Buns said with a smile as she began jogging in the direction of the streets "I'll see yiah later hedgehog, thanks for everythang."
"Later." he said back to her. Her smile confused Sonic, and he was still very distrustful of her.
He hadn't been around her long enough to make any changes on his stance about her, but he'd gotten her to talk a little more today. Finding out a piece of information about how she got here he thought might be useful. Sonic held a thoughtful face as he ran off to Castle Acorn; he'd get in contact with Bunnie and Antoine later. He was getting bored again and needed to find out if Eggman was causing trouble or anything. He at least hoped Sally had something for him to do…
Buns had made it back to her apartment a few minutes later and cleaned herself up, then made her way back outside and across the street to her new job. The building on the corner of the street had large glass windows so you could see inside as you walked passed on the sidewalk. The upper half of it was painted a lime green with the word 'GYM' spelled in big white letters above the entrance. She wore the same clothing from the park, and she was only a few minutes late so her boss did not mind. After she clocked in she took her place behind the counter near the entrance. She worked the counter a few hours yesterday, and it was a breeze. Though she wasn't exactly a people person, especially back in Moebius, she was adapting fairly well. She rested her head in her hand on the turquoise counter with a frown on her face.
It was a little boring in Prime Mobius sometimes. A few regulars came in, and Buns greeted them. She put on a fake smile for the male rabbits who were quickly enamored by her as they went to work out, and her frown returned. She occasionally glanced at all the patron's working out on the machines as she tapped her fingers one at a time in a motion across the counter. She couldn't help but let her thoughts stray to breaking all the glass windows of this building and setting something around here on fire. Something to have a little fun...well her old definition of fun...
She was trying to fight her old life off...she had plans here…
Buns sighed in her daydreams when another regular came into workout. Bunnie had come to the gym for her morning workout. She loved to work out. She did so whenever she had the chance which had been a lot lately since Eggman or any other villainy had been slow. Bunnie tied her ears with an orange sweatband and wore blue shorts and a white sleeveless t-shirt. She also had a small gym bag wrapped around her neck. Bunnie and Buns didn't seem to notice each other at first as Bunnie entered the gym. However, as Bunnie approached the counter Buns glanced at her and Bunnie spotted her behind the counter. Bunnie froze in her tracks as her eyes slightly widened in surprise, and Buns donned a blank expression.
Once again, Bunnie and Buns felt weirded out staring face to face with…themselves…
They couldn't discount the fact they looked so much alike. Bunnie didn't know what to do or what to say as she didn't expect being in a situation alone with…herself...
Buns had a bored look on her face, and Bunnie opened her mouth but no words came out. But then someone spoke for the both of them; Buns's manager came out of a room behind the counter.
A spotted female leopard in yellow shorts, and a yellow short tee spoke with a happy face walking over to the front side of the counter "Bunnie, good to see you. You missed your daily workout the other day, looks like you have to start over."
Bunnie half smiled at the leopard then looked back towards the counter. She couldn't tear her eyes off Buns who now had a mischievous smirk on her face. Bunnie spoke with a frown as her eyes stayed locked on Buns "…Yeah…I had some volunteer work tha other day…so I'll start my challenge again today…"
"It's all good Bunnie; I'll get your calendar reset." the leopard looked at Buns "Buns would you mind…" but she paused and confusion consumed her face. She looked back and forth between Buns and Bunnie seeing how they looked exactly alike, even noticing the similarities between their names now. Then the leopard spoke in a happy tone again "…Hmm…Bunnie…you never told me you had family in town!"
Bunnie broke her eyes away from Buns for a moment to address the manager "…Well...she's not my fam...exactly…"
The leopard scratched her head with a confused face "Then your close?"
Bunnie looked back at Buns with her frown "Yiah might say thet…"
"Peas in ah pod." Buns spoke with a grin on her face.
Buns and Bunnie did not say it aloud but they were both weirded out that they both spoke in the same dialect; they just about spoke exactly the same. The leopard placed her hands on her hips "I knew there was something going on here." she smiled, Bunnie frowned, and Buns smirked at her as the leopard questioned her again "By the way Bunnie, your membership is about to expire. Do you want to take care of that now?"
Bunnie was hesitant but she glanced at the manager "Sure, I might forget so let's do it knaa."
"Great, Buns take care of her will you? You two could catch up while you're at it." the manager said as she walked away.
Bunnie's eyes widened hoping the manager would help her with that, but alas that hope was dashed as she turned to look at herself...
"Membership renewal coming righ up." Buns said with a grin as she bent down and grabbed some papers under the counter.
Bunnie watched herself for a moment while she filled out the registration papers. Her eyes ran over her body, and she couldn't help but be filled with a sense of curiosity at her antis attire. Her fingerless black leather gloves made her think stereotypical bad things about her; she was in a gang with the Suppression Squad in the past though. In addition, she was curious as to why her hair was short. Bunnie was quick to notice they also both wore similar-looking violet leotards. She could barely see it through her white sweat shirt, though hers looked a little darker than hers. She couldn't begin to imagine how in the world they both had similar outfit choices.
Buns finished writing on the paperwork and slid it across the counter to Bunnie. Buns spoke keeping her grin "Sign at tha bottom please."
Buns handed her a pen, and as she grabbed it, her eyes glazed over her un-roboticized body wondering how her anti felt being completely organic. Bunnie took the pen from her with a face full of caution and began signing her name.
On the same note, Buns took a second to analyze her prime self within such close proximity. Noticing the same things Bunnie did. Bunnie's long flowing hair stuck out; she was mostly curious about the robotic parts though.
Buns was trying to keep a low profile while carrying out her plan, but she wanted to know. Buns questioned her with a blank expression losing her grin "What happened to yiah?"
Bunnie finished signing her name and slid the paperwork back to Buns. She wasn't inclined to talk to Buns for the fact of their past history. She had a gut feeling about Buns, and she didn't trust her. It was almost like she knew she just hadn't seen her be her true self yet. Bunnie was sure it was there, but she was darn good at hiding it.
Bunnie engaged her though feeling it might help Sonic figure out why she was really here. Bunnie ran her organic hand over her metallic hand while looking at Buns with her frown "Eggman did this to me an many other innocent people out thare. My friends saved me, and I can still work out whats left of me…"
Buns digested the information. She couldn't imagine Doctor Kintobor doing such a thing. His kindness was his greatest weakness; she couldn't wrap her mind around him doing anything evil. It was strange to think Sonic was the hero here, and Eggman was the villain where back in Moebius it was the exact opposite.
Bunnie was curious enough to speak again "Yiah cut yeur hair?"
Buns thought for a moment before she spoke keeping a blank expression "I keep it cut, I nevva had tha means to take care of it when it was long. I needed to when I got sick. It was growing to fast an I couldn't keep up with tha stuff…jus sort of a habit knaa…"
Bunnie nodded as it became silent between them again, and she darted her eyes in another direction. Her mind ran wild thinking of what experiences her anti self might have went through. From the sounds of it, they both got the short end of the stick in one way or another in life. Though Bunnie was genuinely interested in some aspect of her anti-self Buns was not.
Buns was now uninterested in the conversation even though she was standing face to face with her double. Though she had a slight curiosity about Bunnie, she was more focused on her dealings with Sonic and her plans there for in.
Bunnie looked back at Buns, and the awkwardness was thick. Bunnie donned a slight frown "…Alrigh then…"
She didn't want to question Buns any longer because she could tell she was lying about something. She also didn't want to compromise Sonic's mission so she held back "..Auhum gonna get started knaa…" Bunnie said as she turned and walked away.
Buns mischievous grin returned as she walked away, resting her head on her hand on the counter again. Her tone sounded a bit two-edged "Holla if yiah need anythang."
Bunnie's frown deepened as she glanced back at Buns, but she was greeting more patrons who had just walked into the gym. Bunnie turned back around and made her way to the female's locker room trying to shake the feeling of the encounter off. But as much as she tried she could not deny that it bothered her, and it was going to the whole time she was working out; maybe even the rest of the day. She was gonna need to talk to Sonic ASAP once she was done with her daily workout.
At Castle Acorn Sonic had been pretty busy trying to keep himself busy. Currently, in the control room with Sally, Nicole, and Monkey Khan, he'd had no luck in finding anything to keep him occupied. He stood in front of the big computer screen as Nicole exhausted a search. Sonic groaned as Nicole shut off the big computer screen. There was still no sign of Eggman up to no good. And though there were things happening in other parts of Mobius they had everything under control.
Nicole smiled as Sonic turned around to them all crossing his arms and closing his eyes. Sally held a smirk shrugging, and Monkey Khan grinned. Sally did look slightly sympathetic "Sorry Sonic, looks like you still got some free time on your hands."
"At least I won't be bored." Monkey Khan said with a smug face, implying spending time with Sally.
Sonic didn't seem to notice though, he was distracted by his own thoughts. He opened his eyes, uncrossed his arms, and walked back and forth in front of them "Hmm...yeah yeah…Khan…"
Monkey Khan was confused looking to Nicole and Sally "He usually loves to argue, what's wrong with him?"
Sally smiled "It's a long story but Sonic's got himself into a bit of a mess with Bunnie's Anti. He probably doesn't want to spend anymore time with her."
"Spending time…" Monkey Khan paused blinking his eyes in confusion "With who now?"
"Sonic has gained the attention of Bunnie's Anti self, and he must find out why she is here." Nicole spoke in a calm manner.
Monkey Khan was still confused even with the brief descriptions, wondering why Sonic had to find out and spend time with whatever he was doing. Khan looked surprised "There are Anti's?"
"I'll explain it later." Sally said with a smirk.
Kahn nodded as Sonic continued to pace in front of them when Amy came into the control room. Amy had a happy face as she walked over to them all. She walked over to Sonic grabbing his wrist "There you are Sonic, we have to get going. Come on."
Sonic snapped out of his thoughts and removed Amy's hand from his wrist "What's the rush?"
Amy giggled excitedly "Tails is on the move again! I just missed him landing in the Tornado with that woman!"
Sonic grinned and grabbed Amy's wrist as he dragged her out of the control room now "Let's go!"
Amy giggled with a bright smile "Sonic!"
"Oh yeah, did you find out who the woman was?" Sally said now curious as well.
Sonic and Amy stopped and looked back at them "Not yet, but we think for sure Tails has got himself a girlfriend!"
Nicole was expressionless, Khan looked surprised, and Sally looked impressed "Is that so?"
"What does she look like?" Monkey Khan asked curiously.
"We haven't been able to see her yet; we think he's hiding her." Sonic said smiling back at them.
"That is interesting, tell me what you guys find." Sally said with a thoughtful face.
"Later." Sonic said as he dragged a giggling Amy along out of the control room.
Monkey Khan looked at Sally with confusion as she rubbed her chin. Sally looked to Nicole "Nicole, I know this is against protocol but could you open a feed at Tails's Workshop?"
Nicole donned a small smile "I will make sure he does not know." Nicole said as the big computer screen in front of them came back on. Nicole spoke aloud as Khan and Sally curiously looked at the screen "Opening connection Sally."
In a few moments, the screen turned black, and it looked as if the feed was about to open but the screen instantly went to static right after. Sally and Khan looked confused at Nicole; Nicole blankly stared at the screen blinking her holographic eyes "The connection to Tails's workshop is private, it is also encrypted."
"I don't know what's going on anymore." Monkey Khan shrugged.
Sally chuckled, and Nicole closed the connection and shut off the screen yet again, but even Sally was a little curious about this Tails business now. She hoped Sonic and Amy would satisfy her curiosity.
Sonic and Amy rode the elevator down to the first floor of the castle, and as they stepped off to leave the castle, they ran into a familiar face. The elevator doors opened and Sonic was insistent on questioning Amy "How do you keep tracking Tails?"
Amy tried to hold an innocent face, speaking in a sweet tone poking him in the chest "I have plenty of practice."
They stepped out and Sonic held a dry face "Well how are we gonna keep a low profile? Our plan is a little lacking I think."
Amy and he were not paying attention as they bumped into Rotor. Amy and Sonic quickly apologized, but when they saw it was Rotor they blinked and looked at each other. They both smiled knowing they both got the same idea. Rotor held a curious expression, and he was sipping on a straw in an orange drink container.
"Sluuuurp!" Rotor looked at them both, and the mischievous looks on their faces.
"What are you doing right now Rotor?" Amy asked him innocently.
"Sluuurp, Sluuuuuuuup, Slurp." Rotor responded still looking curious.
Sonic grinned "I'll take that as a yes. Come on Rotor, we've got work to do."
"You heard him; we're wasting time." Amy said as she and Sonic grabbed him by the arms and began pulling him towards the exit.
Rotor's eyes widened but his drink was too tasty to respond, and he spoke in the only way he could "Slurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp!"
Sometime later it was getting on in the day, around four in the evening, and Amy's amazing tracking skills had got them back on Tails's trail. They had tracked him to a fancy restaurant on the west side of town. It was busy, and they almost thought they had lost him when they finally spotted him seated by a waiter. The mysterious female was with him, but unfortunately, she was already inside and waiting on him, plus she was obscured by a large column where Tails was seated. Now of course Amy and Sonic wanted to rush in and find out who the woman was, but feeling that it might be pushing it, they decided to respect Tails's privacy and spy on him from afar.
Currently Sonic, Amy, and Rotor sat across the street on the outside of a coffee shop. They were lucky enough to get their seats outside because all the other seats out here were filled, and it was pretty hectic on this side of the street as well. The weather was still really nice in the middle of the summer so the coffee shop, and the fancy restaurant had tables and chairs outside their perspective establishments on the sidewalks because of the weather.
Sonic and Amy held up newspapers pretending to read them on the left and right of Rotor keeping him hidden from most sight. Sonic and Amy briefly lowered their newspapers revealing that they were wearing new pairs of black sunglasses. They'd even gotten Rotor a pair. On their way, they'd stopped by the same sunglasses vendor from the previous day. They quickly scanned inside the restaurant across the street and found Tails, and the woman were still present.
They raised their papers again and glanced at Rotor who was fiddling with a small black device with a microphone at the tip. Amy and Sonic had explained their situation to him and their plans to expose Tails but they weren't satisfied with them. But Rotor had the perfect idea to be discrete, seeing as now he was interested in finding out who it was now too since Tails hadn't spoke of it to him either. All he planned to do today was level up his online character but this was obviously the better choice of time. In his hands, Rotor had a sound magnifying device that allowed you to hear sounds from up to twenty-five feet.
Rotor then picked up three ear buds laying on their table and handed one to Sonic and Amy. Rotor spoke with a smile "Put these on, we shall see what Tails has been hiding."
"Awesome, all this tension is a rush." Sonic said as he jammed his ear bud on with a grin.
"Maybe after this is over, we can hide together too Sonic." Amy said with a smile as she placed her ear bud on.
"Ha, you wish." Sonic chuckled.
Amy shot a glare at Sonic, temporarily slamming her paper onto the table and pinching Sonic's cheeks. While Sonic tried to escape Amy's grasp Rotor focused on getting the right frequency through all the noise inside the restaurant, granted this whole area was full of noise. He held the black square device up and pointed the microphone on the tip end of the device towards the restaurant, only partially hidden by Sonic's paper now. Through the ear bud's, they could all hear a lot of chatter of random people ordering their meals and just chatting in general. It didn't take long either as soon the static of Tails voice was heard.
Amy released Sonic's sore cheeks in shock as she raised her newspaper again "I can hear him, shhh!"
Sonic had a grumpy face with sore red cheeks as they all listened in. Rotor attempted to get the frequency right by tuning the device "Let me try this…"
"Bzzzz…N….I'm sur…BZZZZ…hehe..." he sounded embarrassed.
Rotor looked at Amy and Sonic, and they looked at Rotor with curious faces as the other person with him spoke but this time Rotor got a clear frequency "You were gone long enough..Bzzzzz…thank you for treatin me. They packed my food while you were gone, I'm ready to go….Bzzzzz..." the woman spoke.
Rotor raised an eyebrow in suspicion "Why does that voice sound so familiar?"
Sonic nodded with his brows knotted into a determined look "I said the exact same thing yesterday."
"Apparently she and Tails have already eaten too…" Rotor paused readjusting the position of the device.
"Why would he leave and come back?" Amy asked curiously adjusting her black sunglasses.
"I think…" but Rotor was cut off as Tails spoke.
"Bzzzzzz…Hold that thought…Bzzzzzz..." Tails spoke to the woman.
Before any of them could react, a sudden low but high pitched noise emitted into the trio's ears. Unfortunately, the sound went unnoticed by everyone else except for the people with the sound amplifying devices, and into Sonic's, Amy's, and Rotor's ears. They all yelled as they fell out of their chairs and yanked their ear buds off their ears "Ywoeoch!"
Sonic's and Amy's papers flew into the air and floated down, and their super-secret black sunglasses had fallen from their faces again. Everyone sitting around them gave them strange stares as they sat up. They all groaned as they stood to their feet, rubbed their ears, and caught a small glimpse of red with Tails as he, and the mystery woman had left their sights.
"Uggh! She's getting away!" Amy said as she was the first to sprint across the street.
Sonic frowned as he followed Amy with a serious face "Rotor order me a strawberry shake."
Rotor sighed as he sat back down in his seat and rubbed his ear "You want one Amy?"
"Of course I do!" she yelled from across the street.
Sonic glanced back at Rotor as an employee from the coffee shop came outside to see what had happened, and Rotor ordered their drinks while he was at it. Sonic and Amy spotted Tails entering flapping kitchen doors. They just missed the woman again except for the brief flash of red they had saw. Sonic and Amy were called by security, but they ignored them and moved pass the patrons, shocking and surprising people as they ran pass their tables.
When Sonic and Amy ran into the kitchen cook's eyed them with confusion, but Amy's and Sonic's eyes landed on a door that had just shut a few grills down. Sonic and Amy ran to the just shut door, ripped the door open, and ran out into the alleyway. They looked in every which direction but there was no one to be found. Sonic and Amy frowned, because for all they knew Tails could have flown up to one of the roofs of these buildings.
Tails outsmarted them again!
Amy stamped her foot "Oh man, we were so close this time!"
Sonic grinned because he was having so much fun, but he heard some ruckus going on from the door of the kitchen behind him "We should get going Amy, looks like we might have caused a little stir."
Amy blinked in surprise when she heard the yelling from the door behind them from the kitchen they had just run out of. She spoke with an apologetic face "I think your right, let's get out of here."
Sonic and Amy took off in the direction of the street and at the end of the alley Rotor showed up trying to hold their shakes, his sound amplifying device, and ear buds in his hands. He looked hopeful as Sonic and Amy reached him "Did you see her?"
He handed them their drinks, and they all heard the ruckus going on just to their right from inside the restaurant "Let's say we cheese it first guys. I think I may have an idea, but we may have to coordinate." Rotor said as he began sipping on the strawberry shake in their plastic containers "Slluuurrp!"
"Agreed!" Sonic and Amy said as they took their straws into their mouths and began slurping on their drinks as well.
As they jogged away from the restaurant Rotor couldn't believe that Tails had outsmarted him, he had shown up to help them and Tails was two steps ahead. On the way back to Amy's place for snacks and discussing their next plans, Rotor was already discussing how he was gonna draw out their plans. And just like last time when Sonic and Amy proclaimed, this time they all proclaimed that Tails wasn't gonna outsmart them next time.
Back in Moebius the sun was high above the horrendous blue skies in the city of Mobotropolis. At the undisclosed location of the Suppression Squad, a dingy decrepit building, the gang had actually had a little fun the previous night. After have taking what they needed from Penelope, they'd left her under heavy watch. They unfortunately found out that she, and her goons had escaped and moved her business elsewhere. Though Miles did not mind as he had everything he needed excluding a few power rings as a power source, which they were in possession of. They confiscated Jeffery's Power Rings and other supplies and stored it in a secret place in the city; they just had to get them.
Currently, they were in their business room, the same room with Mile's desk where they brought in clients like Jeffrey. After successfully taking what they needed from Penelope, they had celebrated, going on a pub crawl that left them sleeping most of the day away. Alicia was busy sorting papers in their many file cabinets with her usual scowl, and Patch sat across the room in his dark-red leather chair, holding onto an ice pack that laid on his head; his eyes were closed.
In the backside of the room, Miles and Boomer were surrounded by many mechanical parts all around them on the floor. Boomer had a wielding mask on, and he was using a welding torch, soldering a metal plate to one of the two round and hollow poles they were working on. Miles was on his knees reading the blueprints he'd written out, and then he stood wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. He'd rolled up his red spiked sleeves of his shirt. His face was a frown, and he held his blueprints up in front of himself and lowered them as he watched Boomer wield the metal of the first Star Post. From the looks of it building the post might take more time than he expected, they were just getting the framework together. Miles looked back at his blueprints; he figured he might be able to speed up the process if he started making the electrical components for it.
Miles bent back down onto his knees and placed his blueprints down as he began gathering parts from the floor. It was quiet in the room, between the four of them, it was usually this way. The noise of Miles and Boomer working on the Star Post, sounds of a welding torch and metal parts clanking together. Alicia opening and shutting metal file cabinets and the occasional groan from Patch was the type of quiet that was the most comfortable for the team. Sometimes they would speak but mostly they did not because, in one way or another, they irritated one another. They preferred to retreat to a comfortable arms distance, sometimes it was better this way. Sometimes you didn't need certain people in your life.
Today though they were all feeling a bit victorious and Alicia kicked it off. She turned around with an open folder in her hand and open cabinet behind her "Miles?"
Miles didn't turn to look at her busily gathering parts off the floor "Yes, what is it Alicia?"
"That bar keep on Rosco Street has not paid his debt; we need to pay him a visit." Alicia said slamming the brown folder shut.
Boomer stopped wielding lifting his welding mask "Hey didn't we go there last night?"
Miles even paused with a grin "Was it that woman who gave Patch all the free drinks?"
Patch shifted in his chair and spoke in a low tone not bothering to look at them "She tricked me…."
Boomer chuckled "Lady-killer."
"You should really watch your back; women nowadays are more clever than you think Patch." Miles said in an innocent yet sarcastic tone.
"When we get over there I'll make sure she'll pay double…I have them all wrapped around my finger…" Patch spoke in a descending tone that turned into a groan.
Alicia, Boomer, and Miles all laughed, and Patch waved a dismissive hand at them all "…Now keep it down will you…my head is killing me…"
On that note Alicia smirked as she grabbed a cabin drawer and slammed it shut making a large noise that startled Patch. His eyes shot open and he sat up growling at Alicia. She crossed her arms and smiled as he settled back down into his chair. Boomer and Miles laughed a bit more as they got back to work. Alicia turned back around to look through the file cabinets again when the phone on Miles desk rung.
Her face returned to her usual frown as she went over to the phone and pressed the speaker button "Who is this?"
"We're coming up." a confident voice said.
Alicia pressed a button on the phone buzzing him in, and she quickly whirled her head around to the others. Her face held a look of surprise and shock and so did Miles, Boomer, and Patch, who had opened his eyes. Scourge!
"Boomer hurry and help me move these parts." Miles said with an angry face dropping all his parts and grabbing one hollow and metallic Star Post pole. He walked to one of the two other doors in the room, opened the door with broken glass in the frame, then flipped on the lights.
Boomer frowned taking off his wielding mask and tossing it to the floor, grabbing the other incomplete metal pole and following Miles into the nearby room.
Alicia waited by the desk as Miles and Boomer hid the incomplete Star Post; they could already hear the footsteps come up the stairs. Patch on the other hand, didn't bother to move. Miles and Boomer quickly made their way out of the room, closing the door and shutting off the lights. Miles and Boomer could hear them as they walked down the hallway, and as Miles neared the door Scourge, and his current crew threw the hanging door open.
Scourge smiled at them as he walked into the room with his black and red sunglasses "You guys miss me?"
Miles, Boomer, Alicia, and to a lesser extent Patch all frowned as the Destructix walked through their door. Fiona held a smug face at them all as she walked in, Flying Frog grinned and Predator Hawk held a frown as they entered. Sargent Simian had to duck his head to get into the room, and last but not least Lightning Lynx walked in looking like he didn't want to be there.
Miles frowned as Scourge slammed his hands onto his desk "We need to talk or were going to have another problem around here."
Miles wiped his forehead again "What do you want Scourge? I am very busy."
"Same as always, I just don't want you guys getting in the way. We were just about to head back to Prime Mobius with the Warp Ring Doctor Finitevus kindly provided, but we were in the area, and he told us that he detected a lost one here in the city a while ago. One he hadn't created. So he asked a little favor from us to retrieve it. We had been looking for the last few weeks, but we've exhausted our search." Scourge said crossing his arms not smiling anymore.
"We have to protect our clients for the service we provide, even if you are claiming they have a Warp Ring." Alicia said with a glare.
Fiona smirked "It won't happen again. They didn't have it, so we won't need to be getting into anymore scraps with you guys."
Miles spoke in a dull tone placing his hands behind his back "And your business here is?"
Scourge's crooked grin returned "We had a close lead, but it just disappeared…you wouldn't happen to know anything about a Warp Ring would you?"
Boomer, Alicia, and Miles kept their upset faces and looked at one another thinking the same thing. They looked back at Scourge, and Miles raised an eyebrow at Scourge giving him a sharp look "Do you think if I had a Warp Ring I'd be here?"
Scourge instantly raised a hand to protest but he couldn't argue with him "I think he's got you beat boss." Flying Frog said with a goofy smile.
Scourge growled and lashed out at him "Shut up! That's pretty obvious…"
Flying Frog giggled and a few of them laughed, Lightning Lynx remained grumpy and did not speak or react. Fiona noticed something a little suspicious though, taking note of Miles rolled up sleeve's. She pointed at the floor behind Boomer with suspicion "What's with all those parts?"
Scourge cocked his glasses to see what Fiona was talking about, he then grinned at Miles "Go check it out guys."
Alicia scowled at him, and Boomer was ready to react but Miles threw a hand in the air, signaling for them to stand down and let Scourge search them. Miles face was grumpy now though as Predator Hawk, Flying Frog, Fiona, and Lightning Lynx began looking around the room. Miles kept his eyes on Scourge and waited while they openly began searching their stuff. Their file cabinets and even the two other rooms. Miles briefly glanced at Fiona as she walked into the room where he and Boomer placed the incomplete Star Post.
Flying frog hopped over to Patch and eyed him curiously. He looked for an answer from one of the three "What's wrong with him?"
Boomer was pretty upset, but he spoke "He had too much to drink last night."
Scourge and Sargent Simian laughed aloud while Flying Frog began checking his chair. Patch was annoyed as his chair began to rock and he cracked his eyes open "Careful you dolt!"
Then Fiona came out of the room she'd went into and walked back over to the desk "Their clean, just some scrap metal and junk."
Lightning Lynx and Predator Hawk came out of the other room and shook their heads as well. Scourge looked upset for a moment then he shrugged "I'll tell the old man we didn't find anything, his loss."
"Let's get going then, we're going to be late Scourge." Fiona said with a frown tapping the watch on her wrist.
The members of the Destructix began shuffling out of the room not even acknowledging the Suppression Squad leaving Fiona and Scourge "Later." Scourge finished as he turned to walk out the room.
Fiona followed but Scourge quickly turned back around "Wait a second; I forgot." he said reaching into a pocket in his black leather jacket. He pulled out a worn piece of paper and tossed it onto Miles desk. Miles picked it up; it was a flyer for Buns. Miles cocked an eyebrow in confusion "Yes, what about this?"
"You made those?" he asked questioningly.
"These flyers are years old. We'd put them up after…you left…they might have been useful at the time, but their usefulness has run out long ago." Miles lied with his frown.
"You haven't seen….uuhhh…" Scourge scratched his head with a confused face as he tried to remember.
Fiona put her hands on her hips trying to remind him "That rabbit girl you used to run with."
Scourge shrugged again "What's her face…you guys aren't looking for her anymore?"
"Not really…" Alicia said sounding interested in what he had to say next.
"The reason I ask is because we ran into some people who say they just saw her a few days ago. They were a gang who were looking for her talking about a reward or something. As a matter a fact, we've seen lots of freaks out there on the prowl. When they mentioned her, it kind of jogged my memory about her…you know who I'm talking about. I forget her name..." Scourge said smiling again.
"Is that so?" Miles said pretending to be interested.
"Buns is out and about again huh?" Boomer said lying as well.
"That means she's not sick anymore. Maybe we'll look into that, we were unaware that Buns was back." Miles said rubbing his chin lying.
"Sick?" Scourge said confused.
"Remember, that toxic lake you spoke of?" Fiona said starting to look annoyed.
Scourge nodded at her "Yeah…I kinda remember that. But you know what, whatever, I'm outta here!" he said as he and Fiona walked out the door "I just hope you find her before I do, I might do something bad." Scourge chuckled sinisterly as he and Fiona finally left.
Save for Patch, the trio watched as Scourge and the Destructix disappeared from sight down the hall. They all frowned at one another thinking how closely they were tied to it all now. Knowing Buns had said Warp Ring, their plans for her, and Jeffrey. Jeffrey, Jeffrey…
He had lied again, saying he had no idea why Scourge could be in the city. He was looking for the Warp Ring that Jeffrey had just lost to Buns. Scourge might have been looking for that Warp Ring before Buns got involved too. They were going to have to penalize him again. Luckily, for them, Scourge had no idea, so they were free from implication. They'd kept their plans for Buns secret too; Miles had neglected to mention that the flyer's reward was still in effect. They were going to find Buns, take her, the Warp Ring she stole, and add an additional member to their team. By force if necessary, and they already knew they would be using force. Then Miles, Alicia, and Boomer grinned deviously at one another. Soon, once Miles Star Post were completed, they would be able to retrieve her and unlike Scourge, they weren't going to need a Warp Ring to do so.
Nighttime had come back in Prime Mobius. The sun had already set for New Mobotropolis and it had actually been kind of a rousing day for Sonic for once. The street lamps were lit up, and the night life was pretty busy. There were an ample amount of people who walked pass Sonic as he roamed the streets. He was sucking down another strawberry shake with whipped cream on top; he had another in his other hand to drink after he was done with his current one. He was pigging out today, but the drinks were so delicious in this summer heat.
As he got ready to cross a street, he looked up into the force field dome of the city, looking into the nighttime sky with a neutral expression. All the stars were beautiful, and it was comfortable out. He was gonna head home after he finished his drinks. He slurped loudly on his drink recalling what an active day he'd had in his mind as he crossed the street and moved away from the local night spots. He walked down a neighborhood street heading in the direction of one of the city's parks; he was gonna loop around then head on home.
First off, after their latest adventure chasing Tails down, Amy, Rotor, and he went back to her place to draw up a plan. Well mostly Rotor since he really got into it and began drawing up elaborate ways to track Tails on a large sheet of paper on a drawing board. Amy and he mostly watch from the sidelines throwing in their ideas as they drank their strawberry shakes and snacks Amy provided. They'd had so much fun they didn't know they had spent hours making plans.
When the day was mostly gone, they headed on their ways. Amy headed off to meet Bunnie, so she could get her hair done, and Rotor went home to catch up on his gaming. Nicole took care of just about everything with the city, so he'd accumulated a lot of free time lately.
So he was left to his own devices again after all their planning, and he'd jumped back into his mission and finally got in contact with Bunnie. Sonic got Antoine on the line as well, so he could discuss his encounter with Buns this morning, discussing with them briefly how she might have traversed Zones and got here. He also discussed with them about the previous day when he missed getting to talk with Bunnie. Bunnie had wished she'd been home when Sonic had called so he could have warned her Buns had got a job at her favorite Gym. After he told them of her sudden shift in behavior of this Buns none of them had seen, they were questionable.
That was until Bunnie recounted her encounter with her Anti this morning, and Bunnie swore up and down that the way Sonic described her was nothing like her encounter with her. So they all came to the conclusion with the information they had gathered so far, was that her behavior was different around different people; that being only Sonic so far. That and they still weren't exactly sure how Buns got here. She apparently didn't do it on her own.
Bunnie gauged from what Buns had done so far, because she was her, and they thought alike, that Buns was definitely lying about something. There were no more guesses, as when Bunnie was hiding something, she spoke with vagueness, and that's exactly what Buns was doing right now. They didn't trust her. As far as they were concerned, they were being played and Antoine heeded for Sonic to watch his back. Recalling his little time spent with the Anti's what he remembered of Buns was not good one bit.
Before Sonic could talk to Bunnie about her advice and having Buns act so…open to him...the call was cut short when Amy came over to get her hair done. They were going to meet up in the morning to discuss how to ease Buns off of him now that Bunnie's advice had kinda worked too well.
Sonic was getting closer to the park that led to the outskirts of the city, where there were fewer houses and more brush when he spotted a familiar person sitting atop a wooden fence under a street lamp with a white colored light shining down on the dirt road. Speak of the devil, it was Buns, and she was sitting alone this far out wearing her usual black leather clothing again. There was no one out this far and the few that did come pass were leaving their homes to go to the local taverns and whatnot.
Sonic looked behind himself, he just passed the few remaining neighborhood houses. The road that led to him looping back around was right where Buns was. Sonic shrugged figuring it had been a crazy enough day already, might as well top it off with some more crazy.
Sonic approached her and she looked up with a blank expression. She had no enthusiasm when she spoke and sounded quite dismayed "…Oh hey hedgehog…what are yiah doin out this late?"
Sonic raised an eyebrow in confusion removing his straw from his mouth "Where's the gusto?"
Buns face remained expressionless "May be gone tonight…" she paused letting a sigh escape her "...its jus…thangs feel mixed up is all…"
Sonic got the feeling she hadn't planned on seeing him so unexpectedly, and she hadn't tried to contact him. And now after his talk with Bunnie he could tell by the look on her face, as she stared back at the ground, that whatever was going on with her was genuine. He didn't believe his eyes at first, but he could see it, it was written all over her face. So reluctantly Sonic walked over and leaned on the fence. As he leaned on it, it creaked and Buns slightly moved along with it.
"So what happened?" Sonic asked with hesitance still not sure if he could trust her.
Buns looked confused for a moment as she glanced at him, he stared straight ahead. Talking about her problems…boy she couldn't remember a time when someone actually listened to her. Let alone share her life; she looked back at the ground "…..I went out tonight and somethang was different..."
"Was that something you did in the past?" Sonic asked her sipping on his drink again.
Buns nodded "It used to be my favorite thang, I used to have such a good time…partying and what not…" Buns paused keeping an expressionless face "But knaa…I jus don't care…"
Sonic listened as she continued sounding depressed "I went to a few places tonight but I kinda felt uncomfortable thare knaa. I didn't want to be thare...I've nevva felt this way…"
Sonic couldn't believe she was opening up so much; he was sure she wasn't lying by the tone of her voice "I know what you mean." he paused "Nothing is as it seems." Sonic looked to her and she stared at him "Maybe you've changed."
Buns smirked weakly at him "Yiah know hedgehog...sometimes I cant tell..."
Sonic grinned as he held his other strawberry shake up "Here, let's go."
Buns looked confused as she took the drink and hopped off the fence "Go?"
"Yeah, let's go for a walk. I'll walk you home afterward." Sonic said getting ready to head back into the city.
Buns tried to control her grin, but she playfully went along with it "I don't need help getting home hedgehog."
"It'll be fun, you'll see." Sonic said as he turned and started walking.
Buns stood still for a moment with a mischievous look now on her face and without a second thought she jogged after him and tasted the drink he gave her; it was delicious. They had both walked aimlessly around the city talking about whatever, and in the mindless talking, they enjoyed each others company. Talking for hours on end about nothing. Sonic had even forgotten to ask her questions pertaining to his mission because they were having such a good time. Buns talked about her life and he talked about his. Though she seemed to skirt over her past a lot for obvious reasons they had no shortage of conversation. It made it clear that Buns was still hiding something though. They stayed out longer than they had planned and Buns was engrossed with spending time with someone again; it was so much fun she completely forgotten how it felt. Though they were doing the same thing she'd did, going out on the nightlife was different with him rather than going out alone.
Him just being her buddy for the evening allowed a closeness that she'd been lacking in all wakes of life for her. It was something a stranger couldn't provide. It was something she'd came out to do tonight, she tried to rekindle her old way of life, but her passion didn't burn like it did in the old days before she got sick. Granted 'close' was used loosely as Sonic being an acquaintance of hers was the closest she'd been to anyone in years. And on Sonic's end, he didn't know what to think about Buns anymore because after talking with her for real, real talk, she didn't seem so bad anymore...
Ahhh looks like there's more to Buns that what it seems huh? The plot has thickened. I hope you like it; this one took a long time to write. I've got my notes together and I've actually got some stuff of the last chapters written down. I think it's really good because I bet it's something, you, my readers, will not see coming.
On a side note: Buns and Sonic interaction was limited in this chapter, although the story is still largely focused on Buns. I hope to get more interaction with them in the next chapter and future chapters.