Author Notes - Hello, hello, hello! I guess it's that time again!

Kudos again to Asher Tye for turning my summary into another chunk of story! By the way, the new version of the chapter called The Predator And The Prey; The Squint Of Snively has been uploaded too! I hope it reads a heck of a lot better! Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 28

The Rage; Cyborg and SWATbot

Bunnie hugged herself tightly against the gust of wind that wafted through her fur, though the chill morning breeze had little to nothing to do with the shiver that ran up her spine. Something didn't feel right, and the lapine was not one to keep such feelings to herself.

"Somethin' ain't right here Dulcy," the cyborg's sweet voice stated to her dragon companion. "It's been too long since we heard from anybody. We shoulda received the signal to move out by now. I'm startin' ta think the signal ain't comin'." The long neck of her comrade swung back towards Bunnie as one of the most formidable Mobians to ever exist looked at her.

"Relax Bunnie," the dragon counseled, "you're just feeling twitchy over the situation. Any minute now Sonic's gonna fire his flare gun and we'll go into action. I'll bust a hole into Command Central's holding cells and you'll go in and rescue Tails from whatever dank cell Naugus stuffed him into. Simple as pie. And then while you two are making your escape, I'll make sure the Hover-Units don't follow you. Soinc'll be able to use the confusion to zip in and pull Sally out of her tight corner before Naugus can even blink. We'll be back in Knothole eatin' cakes and scrumpets by tea time."

At the dragon's words, Bunnie nodded It was a good plan, a sound plan. Bunnie couldn't think of a single reason not to follow it to the absolute letter. For a few minutes, the cyborg rabbit stared straight ahead in silence. Then she turned.

"I'm gonna go check on sugar-hog," Bunnie said as she began to walk away, much to Dulcy's shock.

"But what about…"

"I'll just be a minute, Dulce, I swear," Bunnie called back. "I just gotta make sure Sonic's all right." With a short hop, Bunnie jumped onto the hover pad she'd used to make it to the roof earlier and left before her companion could make any further protests. Her ears whipped behind her as she sped away, flying low to the ground to avoid detection. Quickly she darted from around corners and through side streets, searching for the alley Sonic had been left in.

At once she knows her gut has not led her astray. If the sight of the melted gargoyles weren't enough to convince her of this fact, the anguished scream of pain coming from the street the alley led to was.

"With mounting fear the teenaged doe flew over the buildings in the direction of the sound, looking for Sonic. None too soon she finds him, and she can only breathe a gasp of horror.

Sonic dangles halfway above the street, struggling like mad while in the grip of what could only be described as a robotic spider.

"Sonic!" she yelled, though a strong gust of wind quickly obliterated the sound of her voice. With no time to waste, she swoops in to save her friend.

Still in pain, Sonic could only barely manage to open his eyes, just in time to see Bunnie coming to the rescue.

"B-B-Bunnie! Don't come any, closer! Get out of here!" the hedgehog warned his friend.

'Sorry sugar-hog, but I got no time for you to be noble 'bout this,' Bunnie thought as she continued onward. The sudden flash of a laser beam cures her of her misconception. Throwing her full weight to the side, the cyborg barely manages to avoid a direct hit, though the resultant explosive blast does manage to singe the fur on her organic shoulder. Veering to the left, the Freedom Fighter managed to regain control of her hover pad before she could crash into a flaming building.

Once again airborne, Bunnie looks about for the source of the attack, soon catching sight of Lieutenant Omega.

"Do you realize this is startlingly similar to an old carnival game called 'The Shooting Gallery?'" the robot said as he attempted to line up his gun with the moving rabbit. "All we need is a duck to complete the picture." Again the machine's weapon fired. Skillfully avoiding the blast, Bunnie then performed a daredevil swoop at Omega, leaping from her pad as she passed. Lacking a rider, the small vehicle came to a stop a few yards away, unnoticed by either cyborg or robot.

Sensing the threat, Omega turned and brought his gun to bear on the Mobian, only for Bunnie to grab hold of the cannon with her robotic arm and force it upward. Like a streaking comet the resultant fireball shot into the air and exploded in safety. Under the shining light of the explosion, Omega swung his leg at his impromptu opponent, only for it to be met by one of Bunnie's own roboticized legs. The clanging of metal sent a shockwave of vibrations, causing Bunnie to grit her teeth in pain.

"Heh. Feeling a bit like a used tuning fork, little worker-bot," Omega sneered. The SWAT-bot elite's free hand moved to grab the stalwart rabbit, only to find itself stopped by Bunnie's organic hand. For now the match is a stalemate, with neither combatant able to make a move without a catastrophic loss of balance. "You can't possibly believe you can keep this up, little girl. Even if your second-grade cybernetics are able to stave me off for long, it's only a matter of time before the strength of you fleshy and sinewy arm fails you." As if to accentuate the point, more pressure is applied to Bunnie's already pained hand. "All I have to do is wait for you tire, and then I'll snap you as easily as a dry twig."

"Nice ta have dreams, bot, but this ain't exactly over just yet," Bunnie gritted out as her muscles tensed even more, preventing the robotic arm from coming down further.

"Insolent organic! What makes you think you have the power to face the likes of me? I am a robot, a pure machine! You are neither a robot, nor a Mobian. You are NOTHING!" As the voice of Omega thundered down upon her ears and sweat began to appear on her brow, Bunnie couldn't help but realize she was in serious trouble…

Meanwhile, back at the building Bunnie had left only a few moments before, a lone, gigantic figure watched as the explosive fireball form Omega's arm cannon rose into the air.

"Sonic's signal," Dulcy cried, happy that the wait was finally ended. Taking a deep breath, the guardian dragon rose into the air, shifting her wings into flight position as she took off. Like a guided missile the formidably creature flew directly towards Command Central.

'Bunnie, I hope you're ready to do your part,' Dulcy thought as she concentrated on striking the building with her powerful tail.


"ACK!" Naugus yelled as his entire throne room suddenly gave a violent shake from a mighty impact; while nearby Tails lost his balance, falling to all fours. "What in the name of the Goddesses was that?" the sorcerer demanded.

"It must have been Dulcy," Tails answered as he regained his footing, his voice calm and sage-like as he spoke, "the dragon who aids the Freedom Fighters. Hers is the only force brute enough to rock a building like this one." At this information so willingly given, Naugus smiled.

"Well, if this is the judgment of my clever little Kitsune, then I see no reason to disagree," the elder Mobian stated. "But there is no need to worry. I have just the thing in mind to deal with so formidable a creature." Before Naugus could get off another round of cackling, both he and his foxy apprentice hear the sound of metal snapping. Blue and black eyes turn to the source to find Sally has just used the crystal dagger to force open one of the shackles around her foot.

"That's not going to do you any good Princess," Tails said, moving forward. "You can't get away so easily."

"I'm not looking to escape here Miles," Sally said as she flipped the dagger around in her hand to grasp the blade. Quickly the squirrel Princess took aim and threw the weapon. The gem blade flashed like a shaft of light as it flew through the air, finding its home in the gloved hand of Ixis Naugus.

"ARGH!" the sorcerer howled as he already weakened concentration was broken and the spell he'd cast was broken. Subject only to the force of gravity now, the cobalt quill he'd been using as a medium fell from Naugus's grip to the floor.

"Naugus!" a concerned Tails yelled, dashing up to his injured master's side. With the treacherous vulpine's attention diverted, Sally used the opportunity to stretch out her newly freed leg to bring Nicole close enough to grab.

"Never mind me, lad! The quill…"

"…must be destroyed!" Sally finished for him as she aimed Nicole's laser at the downed object. A red beam of energy fires form Nicole, vaporizing the quill out of existence, ending Naugus's magical assault on its former owner. The sound of twirling air and an instant later find Tails nearly snout to snout with the Princess,

"That was a cheap move, especially from a so-called royal," the fox hissed as he pressed the tip of the crystal dagger against Sally's stomach.

"Well you're perfectly entitled to your opinion, but I think it was a pretty good move myself," Sally retorted, a sweet smile on her face. Angrily Tails scowled.

"I think it's time you gave me your little toy, Princess."

"I thought you might feel that way," the squirrel said gently. "Of course it would help if you took a step or two back so I can hand Nicole to you." The fox looked skeptical at this. "It's not like I can turn around and run away from you, is it? I'm your helpless prisoner." A moment's consideration and the twin-tailed traitor made his decision, taking a half a step back even as he kept the crystal dagger at the ready. With her left paw, Sally handed her minicomputer over to the boy.

And with her right knee, she struck him in his soft gut, causing the dagger to flip out of his grasp. As Tails sputtered and coughed, desperate for breath, Sally once more took possession of the edged weapon, brandishing it warningly at the cub. Fox and squirrel looked at one another in the eyes.

"THAT was pretty good though," Tails finally managed to get out before taking a step forward to stand toe to furry toe with his ex-aunt. "But do you have the guts to press your advantage? You've managed to temporarily neutralize Naugus, so all you have to do to escape now," the dagger's tip disappeared into the thick, creamy-white fur of the cub's chest, "is use that dagger on me." For a tense moment, the former friends remained as thus. Then Tails's hand reached out and he took hold of dagger. Sally didn't even resist. "I thought so."

"Of course I didn't kill you," the squirrel responded. "You're my friend Tails." Deftly the youth touched the dagger's blade to Sally's lips, a signal for her to be silent.

"No. No I'm not," he said with great finality, his face taking on a look of twisted cruelty. "And if you move again without my permission, I swear I'll carve you up like a Halloween pumpkin and send your head back to Knothole as a warning to everyone else!" At this rather grisly description, Sally startled a bit, a flash of fear appearing in her eyes as she considered the possibility that the cub was so far gone he might actually carry out his threat. Then Tails began to chuckle, which led to a rather derisive bout of laughter. "And you're the one who kept saying she was going to 'free' me from the 'evil' influence of Naugus."

"What?"

"You seemed pretty ready to believe I'd carry out my threat just now, didn't 'Aunt' Sally. So much for your beliefs about the 'real' Tails being buried somewhere beneath me. They didn't last too long once I became a real threat to you."

"Well done, a most masterful deception," Naugus complimented the fox, a grin on his face even as he worked to heal his injured hand. "Indeed, you are truly a most worthy apprentice… my son." These last words caused both Sally and Tails to concentrate their attention on the sorcerer, one looking confused, and one swelling with pride.

"You… You called me 'son?'"

"Well of course," the ancient Mobian reassured the cub, his eyes beaming with pride as he kept his eyes on the blue suited fox. "What sire would not desire a lad as fine as yourself for his offspring? And, as no one yet seems to have had the gumption to make the claim, why not it be me?" A slow smile creeped across Tails's face as he heard the honeyed words, even as a few tears came to Sally's eyes over the same. It was these tears Tails noticed as he turned back to the squirrel, his smiles faltering for an instant.

"You know it's funny," he began, his voice cracking a bit as he held back the emotions unlocked by Naugus's words, "it's funny that I should mention such a thing as Halloween and you should try to tell me how much I was 'loved' back at Knothole."

"You are loved back at Knothole, Tails," Sally repeated. "If you'd just think back, I'm sure you'd remember…"

"You want to know what I remember, Princess? Do you really want to?"

A five year old Tails was quite excited. It was Halloween in Knothole, and soon it would be dark enough to go trick-or-treating, an activity he was greatly looking forward to. It would be the first year his 'Aunt' Sally was going to take him to do so, along with Sonic and Rotor and Bunnie and all his friends. Even the prospect of all that free candy paled in comparison to the fact that he was finally big enough to go out with older friends and stay out late.

Still, there was work to be done if he wanted to go. Trick-or-treating required costumes and, while Knothole did not have the resources to make elaborate disguises, the children were still able, and expected to, make masks for themselves to wear. Tails had been working on his mask for a full week, and it was still not ready. Hence the reason for his trek to Ms. Fairfeahter's general store. The middle-aged fowl had been gracious enough to give him some old scrap cloth to use for color. And she'd even given them to him for free.

Happily the cub left the store, walking in the direction of the hut he had to share with Rosie, when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

"Well look who it is," a voice said as Tails was spun around. "It's the Princess's pet." The fox found himself facing three older boys, a cat, a dog, and a mouse respectively. He'd seen them playing around Knothole, but never been introduced. "Whatcha got there?" the cat asked. Though he'd been taught never to talk to strangers, the idea of anyone in Knothole being a threat seemed foreign to Tails. After all, weren't they all supposed to be friends in the village?

"Decorations," he said in his friendliest voice, holding up the scraps of cloth, "for my mask. Aunt Sally's letting me go trick-or-treating tonight for Halloween." As he said this last part, young Tails couldn't help but let some excitement pepper his voice. Even then he couldn't help but notice the dog and mouse snickering behind their friend, or that the cat was suddenly shaking his head.

"What do you need a mask for? You already got the best costume of all," the feline announced to the confused cub. "You're a freak!" This sudden outburst started Tails, causing him to step back and accidentally stumble off the wooden deck of Ms. Fairfeather's store. The colorful cloth went flying from out of his hands, and Tails scrambled to grab the bits and pieces up before they were dirtied on the ground. He was quite surprised when a handful of them wound up in the laughing cat's paws. Honestly the fox held out his own paw.

"Can I have them back?" he asked, suddenly feeling like he wanted to leave this particular company.

"What do you need them for? You're already in your freak costume. What more do you need to get candy," the cat repeated as he held the fabric out of the fox's reach.

"Ah, give the little dweeb a break, Jared," the dog said. "Maybe he wants to go as something different for once. A freak raccoon instead of the freak fox he always is." It was at this point Tails decided to make do with the cloth he'd managed to save and turned to leave, trying to hide the quiver that had come to his lower lip.

"Ah, don't leave, we were only having fun," the mouse called before the cub had taken his first step. Tentatively Tails looked back, his ear perking up as he considered this possibility. "That's right. Truth is we're just a little jealous of you, kid," the mouse continued. The fox turned, a slight smile coming to his face, only to be shattered as his tormentors continued to chuckle. "After all, if it's the best way to get people to give you candy, who wouldn't want to be a pathetic freak with two tails!" Again surprised, Tails fell backwards, landing painfully on his butt and the two appendages that protruded from it. Laughter soon echoed about him as he scrambled to his feet and took off running, not even caring that he'd lost half of what he'd been carrying.

As Tails finished his tale, Sally couldn't help but notice the single tear trailing down the cub's cheek, paltry proof of how upsetting the memory was for the poor boy.

"Tch, tch, tch, tch. Princess," Naugus said, drawing the squirrel's attention back to himself. The sorcerer's hand was now fully healed, and any chance of Sally escaping on her own evaporated as completely as the wound it had formerly held. The ancient Mobian looked down at his captive guest, a frown on his face as he shook his head and walked over to the pair. "I must say I am most disappointed in you. To allow such treatment of one you profess to love. I am appalled at such negligence. Appalled and ashamed." A single arm reached out as Naugus gave Tails a comforting pat on the head. "I assure you, had I been present all three of those nasty hooligans would have been punished most severely."

"It's not like that," Sally defended herself to the warlock. "He never told me." She then looked Tails in the eye. "You never told me."

"You never asked!" Tails accused. "And you never asked because you never cared. Didn't you even once wonder why I kept hanging around you guys? Did you even think what it meant that I played dirt hockey all alone? Loved in Knothole? I was the loneliest person in Knothole you witch! The Freedom Fighters were the only ones even remotely close to my own age that didn't treat me like garbage. And then you went and abandoned me!" Tails's breathing became more and more rapid as he worked himself into an emotional tizzy.

"We never…"

"Yes you did. You all went off on your… missions," the cub spat this last word. "But I didn't think that was so bad, I honestly didn't. You had a job to do, I could understand that. And it wasn't like you didn't come home again and talk to me. All I had to do was wait. At least that's what I thought!" As Tails spoke, Sally was coming to a realization. She had long held the belief that the cub's desire to be a Freedom Fighter was a childish whim, the wish of a boy to follow in the footsteps of his heroes and play the same "game" they did. But, if what Tails said was true, Sally, Sonic, and their friends had quite literally been the only friends the cub had thought he had.

'And when we started going on missions and leaving him behind, it must have felt like being abandoned all over again. All he wanted then was to rejoin his friends, to be with the only people he knew who didn't treat him like an outcast. And when I took his backpack…

'Oh, it wasn't like we were kicking him out of the Freedom Fighters, it was like we were saying he wasn't good enough to be our friend anymore. That must have hurt more than any of the taunting or mistreatment he'd suffered before. No wonder he thinks I never loved him.' A horrible guilt knotted itself in the Princess's stomach. In trying to protect the one she loved, she'd inadvertently inflicted the very worst wound of all.

At this point Tails turned from the squirrel, unwilling to look at her anymore, though his new master, his new 'family' remained to glare at her.

"Such thoughtlessness Princess, such cruelty," he said gravely as he again stroked his new ward's head. "I cannot abide such a thing, not without retribution, not without repayment." That wicked claw clicked as Naugus spoke. "Yes a punishment fitting must be meted out. And who more deserving to decide on your punishment than the one you wronged." Naugus looked down at Tails, silently summoning the fox's attention again. "What say you, my son? What punishment would be fair to one who so callously disregarded another? You have only to speak your opinion and I shall have justice be done. Speak anything, be it banishment from my… from our city to even that most final of ends." Once more Tails turned to look at look at Sally, once his guardian, now his chosen victim. Ice blue eyes seemed to twinkle as a malicious grin crossed the cub's face.

"You thought I'd stay the same forever, an insipid little baby happily playing blocks in the play room while all around me the world changed. Well now you get to be the child in the playroom." Tails looked up at Naugus. "Trap her in crystal. Freeze her forever more. We can put her on the highest balcony in the city, so she can watch and see the world change." Eyes darted back to the squirrel. "I'll even come visit you, tell you all about what's going on. You'll be like Sleeping Beauty, forever out of time, but never permitted to awaken." Upon hearing the cub's judgment, Naugus let out a merry laugh.

"Inspired! I doubt even I could dream up so poetic a punishment for our wayward maiden. Truly, Miles, you are a most entertaining fellow."

Before Sally's eyes, magical energy began to gather about Naugus's hand as he prepared to enact his spell. Even without the remaining shackle firmly gripping her leg, she might as well have been frozen in place, unable to do or say anything in her own defense. All she can hope is that her actions have aided Sonic in whatever struggle the hedgehog now finds himself in, and it is a hope she holds deep in her heart.

Still, as she took what might be her final look at the fox that had formerly been the closest thing she had to a son, she couldn't help but make a chilling realization. The look in Tails's eyes when he had made his accusation, decrying her towards Naugus, it had been the same look he'd worn the night he'd been screaming at her in his hut the night she'd tried to threaten him into obedience. The same look he'd worn when she'd confronted him in her own hut just yesterday.

One thing fueled that look, and now, rather than giving in to it, Tails had actually become it.

Rage.


Grabber's grip was getting tighter. Sonic could tell this because it was getting increasingly harder to draw breath into his lungs. And that wasn't even considering the edges of the spider-bot's robotic legs that were cutting into the skin under his fur.

But now the whole ordeal had taken a decided turn for the worse, given the excellent view the hedgehog had as he watched Bunnie preparing to meet her end at the hands of Omega.

'If this stupid pain would just let up for a second I could...' Sonic's train of thought came to a screeching halt as he suddenly realized something.

The pain was gone, evaporated as suddenly and mysteriously as it had appeared

Pausing not to question his good fortune, Sonic immediately took steps to save his imperiled friend. And step one was escaping the iron grip of the arachnid Grabber. With a grunt the hedgehog began to struggle in earnest, pitting the strength of his muscles of his flesh and blood body against those of Grabber's one metal and gears. At the surface this seemed a fool's errand, for after all, if Bunnie's strength was no match for a mechanical adversary, what hope did the weakened Sonic have? But Sonic knew he was more than just strength, he was also speed, speed unparalleled.

Soon enough Sonic's squirming paid off as his hips slipped out of Grabber's grip, his legs now freely dangling beneath the spider-bot. Kicking out his feet, Sonic was able to feel it as the heavy robot began to swing like a pendulum. Hedgehog legs curled backwards as Sonic kept the motion going, his captor unable to do anything save increase the pressure it was pouring on his chest. The instant Sonic felt the wall of the building they dangled from beneath his feet, he began to run, the grip of his sneakers sufficient to let him pull forward rather than bounce off. Given no orders to release, Grabber continued to hold on and inevitably found itself being dragged along as its captive ran. Behind them both, the thread that held the spider aloft stretched and strained to its limit, snapping loudly and returning hedgehog and robot to gravity's waiting embrace. As they began to fall, Sonic used the last of the traction he'd built up to bend over, flipping them around so that the armored spider was the one on the bottom and himself on top.

With a thunderous crash Grabber hit the pavement below, the cement cracking under the heavy weight of the metal monster and a large dent being put in the earth as it landed. Sonic grunted at the impact, but it was a happy grunt as his plan came to fruition. On its back, the spider began to flail about, its legs releasing its captive as it bucked about to right itself. Tired and bruised, Sonic managed to roll off Grabber's belly and onto the ground below. There the Hero of Mobius lay, panting for breath as he worked to convince himself he had not only performed such an escape feat, but had survived to live to tell the tale. This would definitely make a good story for the campfire.

The sound of metal scrapping against the ground drew the spiky one's attention, causing him to look back over his shoulder.

"Ah, man," the disappointed hedgehog spat, his blood running cold at what he saw. Burdened with neither with breath to recapture nor bruises to contend with, nimble Grabber had been able to right itself quickly and had quickly approached the still prone hedgehog. Now its eyes burned red and the pincers of its mouth clacked ferociously as it prepared to bite off the Sonic's blue head.

As she struggled with Omega, Bunnie could feel her arm starting to go dead, a sure sign it would not be able to hold off the SWATbot Elite for much longer. Casting a glance behind Omega, the rabbit caught sight of her friend about to meet his end at the mandibles of the android arachnid. Trapped in her own fight for survival, all the doe could do for her friend was scream.

"SONIC!"

End Of Chapter