Chapter 21: Battle for New Mobotropolis, Part 1

"Oh, mon dieu." Antoine approached the ruins of the civic center, shaking his head. "It is just awful, non? And we cannot even rebuild! Not with Nicole gone…"

Bunnie placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Don't you worry none, sugah. Sally-girl will take care of things. And so will Sonic and Tails."

"Je sais que, ma chere." Antoine smiled. "Je sais que."

At that moment, a flash of red light illuminated the sky. Antoine and Bunnie looked up, their eyes widening when they saw what was flying over the city. It was a large, red sphere. And, upon closer inspection, the two Freedom Fighters could see it was made up of millions of particles.

"Ze anti-nanites!" Antoine narrowed his eyes. "They are back!"

Bunnie squinted at the sphere. She could see something moving at the center of it. "And someone's controllin' 'em!"

The red sphere of anti-nanites opened up. At its center, Doctor Finitevus raised his arms to the sky, a glint of amusement in his yellow eyes. "Citizens of New Mobotropolis!" his voice echoed through the city. "Today your little nanite city shall bow before me!" he grinned widely. "While the heroes are away, the anti-nanites shall play!" The albino echidna pointed to the ground. A column of anti-nanites shot downward, covering one of the buildings in a sea of red. The panicked screams of Mobians could be heard all around.

Bunnie jumped into the air, the rocket boosters in her feet keeping her airborne. She turned to Antoine. "I'm goin' up there," she told him.

Antoine gave a nod. "All right. Be careful, Bunnie."

"Of course." Bunnie shot off into the sky, quick as flash. She narrowed her eyes against the wind and focused on her target. Swerving around the anti-nanite covered building, she headed straight for Finitevus, her fists clenched.

It wasn't too long before the albino echidna caught sight of Bunnie. He waved his arms towards her, sending swarms of anti-nanites to block her path. Bunnie swerved from side to side quickly. She managed to avoid all of Finitevus's attacks as she rushed towards him, but it wasn't without great effort. By the time she reached the mad doctor, she could feel her strength beginning to wane.

Finitevus frowned at her. "Bunnie D'Coolette. A member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. You pesky things simply won't stop getting in my way."

"And we nevah will!" Bunnie shot towards him, her fist pulled back. Then, suddenly, she was jerked to a halt. She turned to look at her arm: a rope of anti-nanites had wrapped itself around her wrist.

A satisfied grin stretched its way across Finitevus's muzzle. "Goodbye, rabbit," he said as he waved.

The anti-nanite rope snapped back and flung Bunnie towards the ground. Antoine witnessed this from afar and ran to her. He wasn't quick enough. There was a loud metallic snap as Bunnie hit the cobblestone road. Antoine slowed his pace as he drew closer, his breathing labored. He knelt down beside her, eyes wide with fear. "Oh, non!" he gasped. Bunnie's robotic arm had been snapped in half from the fall. "Votre bras est brise!"

Bunnie opened her eyes. She smiled a little at him. "No pr-problem. I can get it repaired." She coughed into her hand.

Antoine could see spots of blood on her palm. "Vous avez besoin d'un medicin!" he said quickly.

Bunnie nodded slowly. "Yeah. Guess you're right, sugah."

"Oui, oui." Antoine picked up his wife and walked briskly. "Allons-y!" As he reached the hospital, he saw some very familiar faces: Sonic, Sally, Amy, and Shadow were coming his way. Sonic was carrying Tails, and Amy was carrying Cream. "Ce qui s'cest passé?" he asked worriedly.

Sonic raised an eyebrow at him. "Huh?"

"We were just in a battle with Finitevus," Sally told Antoine. "Tails and Cream were injured." She noticed Bunnie in Antoine's arms and sighed. "You okay, Bunnie?"

The rabbit gave a thumbs-up. "I'm okay, Sally-girl."

"You don't look so okay," Amy fretted as she observed Bunnie's detached arm.

Just then, the doors to the hospital swung open, and Doctor Quack ran up to them. "What is going on out here?" his eyes widened as he glanced over all the injured warriors. "Looks like I have some patients to tend to."

Sonic carefully placed Tails in the doctor's arm. "Take good care of him," he said quietly.

"You know I will," Doctor Quack said slowly, a little surprised at seeing the hedgehog so serious. He nodded to Cream and Bunnie. "Bring the girls, too."

"Oui." Antoine followed Doctor Quack inside.

Amy started through the door. She turned her head to Sally. "I have to be there for her."

"I understand." Sally nodded.

Sonic dug his fist into his palm. "Yeah, we'll give that Finitevus a good clobbering!" he grinned. "For Tails!"

Amy nodded. "And for Cream!"

"And for Bunnie!" Sally raised her fist into the air.

"For all of them," Shadow said.

Sally watched Amy go into the hospital. Then she looked to the sky, where Finitevus floated above New Mobotropolis, the anti-nanites swirling around him. "How do we get all the way up there?" she asked.

Sonic scratched his head. "Uhh…I donno…"

Shadow stared up at the wicked echidna quietly, arms folded.

"Need a lift?"

The trio turned to see Charmy floating nearby, wearing a big, goofy grin.

"Charmy!" Sonic laughed and gave the bee a high five. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help fight, duh!" Charmy pointed with his thumb to a nearby tree. "And he's here to help to!"

Vector jumped out from behind the tree. "BOO YA!" he flexed his muscles.

"Awesome!" Sonic clapped his hands together. "Let's do this thing!"

"Yeah, let's do it to it!" Sally shouted, jumping in the air.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at the Acorn princess. He'd never seen her act like this before. He smiled at her.

Sonic chuckled. "Hey, that's my line, Sal!" he winked.

Sally glanced over all of her teammates. Hope burned like fire in her bright blue eyes. "We can do this, guys. We can beat him." Everyone gathered around in a circle, placing their hands together. Shadow put his hand on top of Sally's.

"Uhh, no," Sonic snorted. He swatted Shadow's hand away, and placed his hand on Sally's instead.

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Don't be so immature."

Sally ignored their spat and continued. "There's no way he take on all of us at once. As long as we avoid his anti-nanites, we can beat him. Here's the plan: Charmy will fly me and Sonic to the center of the anti-nanite swarm. Vector, think you can toss Shadow all the way up there?" she pointed.

"Oh, heck yeah!" Vector chuckled. "Easy!"

"Good." Sally smiled. "Then we'll just keep attacking him like that, maybe switch up the attack patterns every now and then, and we got him."

Shadow nodded his approval. "Good plan, Sally."

"No," Sonic said. "Excellent plan!" he threw his hand in the air. "FREEDOM FOREVER!"

Everyone else threw their arms into the air as well. "FREEDOM FOREVER!" they shouted.