They had turned the electric lights off. Only the soft glow from the neon lights and candles lit the room. Bunnie stacked dirty dishes on the end of the table while Crème and Amy Rose helped Rotor to their "guest ledge bed." Tails lay with his head on the table and Sonic chewed on the prong of his fork.
Bunnie waited until Crème and Amy Rose were out of earshot. She leaned over the table and looked up at them from beneath her purple eyelids and dark eyelashes. "All right, boys…what happened out there? You two have been downright distracted."
Sonic stopped chewing his fork so he could lick some chili he'd missed off his fingers. He glanced away, his shoulders tensing.
"It was my fault," Tails said, sitting up. His voice sounded heavy and he clutched the edge of his chair. He sighed and his forelocks fell forward as he hung his head. He had barely touched any food that night
Sonic's ears flattened back and he spun his head to look at Tails. He shoved his elbow onto the table and scooted his chair to face the fox. His voice was thick with sarcasm. "Aaaw, was it?"
Tails avoided Sonic's gaze.
"What'd I tell you about blaming yourself all the time, Tails?" Sonic snapped.
"But it is. I should have done a better job of scanning the room for camera bots," Tails moaned. "This time it really, really is. If I had been paying more attention, I could have gotten into Spectank and out of Spectank totally clean. No one would have even known I was there."
Bunnie stared. "Pardon me, dearies, did you just say-ya'll were seen…?"
Tails shook his head to himself.
"Haha," Sonic said, bitterness in his eyes. "Bunnie. We were more than seen." He leaned forward. "It was bad. It's never been that bad before." He jabbed a finger down on the table. "We've been seen before. We've been in tight spots in there. But this was…" he flung up both hands in a shrug and fell back against his chair. He crossed his arms, tapping his foot.
"All the combots that had footage of us escaped and we weren't wearing our gas masks," Tails said. "And…" he glanced down. "There was this thing."
Bunnie's eyes were round with horror. She set down her tea cup. "Oh boys. Oh mercy."
Tails slammed his fist against the table. "Mmm! I just had to get myself caught," he muttered to himself. "And then when Sonic came, I didn't see what was going on fast enough to get him away from—if I had noticed sooner, then I could have used what was left of the force shield ring to cover you and get you away from him, but I didn't notice until the ring had evaporated-"
"Tails, zip it," Sonic spat, his arms crossed tight. "Griping about it isn't going to make anything different."
Tails ears flattened, his head bowed. "I'm sorry."
Sonic tapped his fingers against the table impatiently. He looked away and fidgeted. "Look. Tails."
Tails fisted his hands against the seat. He glanced up at Sonic, forelocks falling into his blue eyes.
Sonic picked at a stain on the table cloth. "You saved my life back there, okay. Don't beat yourself up."
Tails' chest heaved. "…and you saved mine."
"Guess we're still even then." Sonic grinned.
Tails smiled.
"Well, that really enlightens me, boys, thank you for takin' the time to explain it all so clearly," Bunnie tossed her honey-blonde bangs out of her green eyes.
"Well, sorry, Bunnie, I'm not really sure what happened either," Sonic blurted, crossing his arms. "After I dropped Rotor off with you, I went back and started snooping through the sewers and I got a message from Tails. He sounded in trouble, so I broke into the location he gave me and found combots all over him. Things were going just dandy, like usual when this hedgehog showed up."
Bunnie cocked her head.
"I thought he was maybe an escaping Mobian, but he wanted to kill me, so…" Sonic shrugged.
Tails clutched the edge of the table, scooting forward. "He had Speed. And Strength! And he did this weird invisible teleportation thing. He must have been almost as strong as Knuckles! It was super weird…I shot him in the head with a bullet and it knocked him down and bled, but then he got back up and acted just fine." He shuddered. "His eyes were red."
"Was this hedgehog person with Robotnik, ya'll think?" Bunnie asked.
"He said something about that, but I can't remember," Sonic sighed.
"He said something about a "Maria." You probably couldn't hear Sonic." Tails said.
"Yeah, I knew he was talking, but I wasn't exactly listening then. Kinda hard to pay attention when you're being held off the ground by your neck." Sonic's eyes sparked with sarcasm.
Bunnie's eyes widened. "Bless mah stars…"
No one could choke Sonic.
"So…" Sonic continued, "Tails dumped acid on the weird guy, and he reacted to that, so we were able to get out…" He glanced away. "But if he's still alive, he knows who we are."
"He knew Sonic's name." Tails said. "But I don't think the hedgehog was a robot…so he wouldn't have gotten any footage of us. At first I wondered if he was mechanical, based off of how he reacted to acid, but not a bullet, but he was bleeding!…it looked like blood…." Tails paused, stiffening. "In the end it doesn't matter though. Several combots escaped. They left for no reason, soon after that black hedgehog came and I couldn't stop them." Tails said. "They have video feed of us on file."
Sonic slammed his hands onto the table. "So, that settles it. Robotnik's got footage. Our work in Robotropolis is as good as over."
"If he wants too, he could blow our cover," Tail murmured, his eyes hollow. "…Mobia would have to let him arrest us."
"Mmmhmm," Sonic nodded. "And I have ring delivery duty tomorrow."
The three sat in silence. Bunnie's eyes were huge.
"He must never know about you and Amy and Sal and Crème though," Sonic said, scooting forward over the table to Bunnie. "You've gotta promise me, Bunnie—you've gotta keep fighting him if something happens, okay—he's not watching you, you still have a chance-"
Bunnie's eyes were huge. "Sonic! Sonic , you be quiet right now, sugah!" She set down her tea cup, her eyes flashing. "Don't you talk like that yet. No one is takin' you and Tails away from us without a good hard long fight-!"
A loud gasp rang through the room.
The three turned to see Amy Rose standing in the middle of the chamber. She covered her mouth, her eyes wide with horror.
"S-Sonic," she gasped.
Sonic's eyes widened. He leapt out of his seat and dashed to Amy Rose. He caught her hands and fisted them over his heart. "It's okay, Amy, I'm still here, see? We don't know anything for sure yet-"
"But I heard you!" she said. "You were seen—Robotnik could take you away—he—he could kill you!"
Sonic winced at the word. Tails covered his face.
"Oh, I knew there was something wrong the minute you came in, but I tried to stay happy for your sake, but I can't stop myself now!" Amy Rose cried. "I wish you had never gone in there—especially without me!" She closed her eyes, tears brimming on her dark eyelashes. Her shoulders began to shake. "I—I could have crushed the combots with my hammer like usual and they wouldn't have recorded a thing—"
"Shh, shh, shh," Sonic hushed, stepping closer. "It's over, Amy. As far as what happened back there-I'm okay, so it wasn't time for me to die yet. You know we can't just let folks like Rotor stay marinating away in a sewer or holed up in some factory—or Knuckles—you know I had to go in there, and no matter what happens, I'm sure glad I did," his voice tightened and his eyes narrowed, "I was born with Speed, and we've all gotta do what we've all gotta do, Ames." He took a deep breath. "Don't you worry 'bout me, 'kay?"
She wiped her eyes and sniffed hard. "I…I will try Sonic."
And with that, she lunged forward, conked her head against Sonic's shoulder, and sobbed.
Sonic stood there, stiff as a pole, his pupils contracted.
Tails groaned, climbing to his feet. That was the last thing Sonic needed. He scuffed over to the two with tired deliberate steps and tugged on Amy's skirt. "Amy?"
Amy rounded on Tails, lurching free from Sonic and roaring in the fox's face, "What, can't you see I'm having a moment here, you inconsiderate child?"
Tails winced, his ears flicking back.
Sonic took the second to scoot back to the table and sit down.
"Never mind," Tails said, his jaw set and blue eyes blazed. He tromped back to the table.
Bunnie stared at them all from beneath her dark lashes, worry lines creasing her brow. She shook her head to herself, thinking hard. "Sonic, you'll just have t' miss that ring delivahry, suga', you can't risk that."
Sonic bit his lip and tapped his foot against the leg of the table. Slowly.
Amy Rose caught her breath, her hands clasped.
"You…you could just stay down here, ya know?" Bunnie tried.
Tails and Sonic looked at each other.
Tails' eyes widened. Then he pinched his lips hard together and fisted his hands.
Sonic straightened, leaning forward. "Yeah. But."
Amy Rose's eyes widened.
Sonic bowed his head. "But—if I don't deliver those rings, Robotnik will take it out on the Queen. And Sally. And that dumb old council. Who knows, he might totally light the fuse, so to speak. Old Mobia fights with swords and canons and things—not spaceships and fighter jets and combots. They have some rings, but if it came to all out war—I mean, just the wars our parents fought against the Deks were killer deals, and the Deks didn't have any tech at all. Robotnik knows they know they can't beat him, so he fudges around with the rules all he likes." Sonic paused. "You all remember that one month when I couldn't find the thirtieth ring in time? He was ready to blow the whole Capitol to bits and tear me to a pulp while he was at it. Thankfully Sal stepped in that time, but still."
Amy Rose bit her lip.
Sonic crossed his arms over his stomach, blinking.
He'd never forget the way Sally's small, strong hands felt on his back and shoulders as she healed his whiplashes with a healing ring. Or how she'd kissed his cheek and called him Mobia's "true and faithful Ringweilder."
Sal didn't compliment him often either.
He'd better live up to her words.
"Yeah…" Sonic fisted his hands, "I tell ya, if I missed a ring delivery by even an hour, the whole truce is gone. Which would be good. But it'd be kind of nice if there were people around afterwards. If someone's gonna end it, it needs to be the Queen with a real army backing her up-not him."
Sonic knew what he had to do, and Amy knew he knew. She looked like she was about to fall over.
"Ya couldn't…warn Sally that ya'll are in a tahght spot an' can't make it?" Bunnie suggested.
Sonic glanced up. "What, tell her, 'Sorry, hun, I've gotta beat it, so looks like you and your mom'll have to take this one. You've only got the whole Capitol to keep bombs off of.'"
Amy Rose's jaw began to drop.
Sonic flexed his hands. "Point is it's a gamble and it's either Mobia or just me. Guess the scales don't lie. It has to be me."
Amy Rose cracked.
She screamed. Out of nowhere, she had the piko hammer, and she smashed it down onto the table. The whole structure shook and the plates rattled.
Sonic yelped and scrambled beneath the table. Tails and Bunnie jumped back.
Amy Rose brandished the eighteen-inch diameter hammer, her green eyes burning feverishly. "Sonic, if you do anything stupid, I will never forgive you!" she screamed, "You must stay down here—with me—and Crème and-"
"Now, um…Amy Rose, c'mon, baby!" Sonic stammered from beneath the table. "You know, there's always the chance nothing happens! Whatd'ja just promise me about not worrying-"
"No!" Amy screamed. She swung the hammer into the plates, sending them crashing off the table to the floor. She closed her eyes shut tight and shouted, "Sonic! I love you with all my heart and I will always worry about you! Every hour of every day I worry about you! If you die—it will affect more people than just you—don't you know that? It's never just you! Why do you have to be so brave and stupid and play the hero all the time, what even! Its like you're trying to die sometimes!" She gasped and opened her eyes, the fever dying. "The only reason I am here fighting is because I know you need me…I'm never going to leave you…I'm never going to stop loving you."
She let the hammer drum hit the floor. She hung her head.
No one moved.
"You must stay here with me," she growled out, lifting her seething green eyes.
Tails and Bunnie glanced at each other.
Sonic's voice came from somewhere under the table. "…Nope."
Amy screeched, hammer upraised again. "You! Sonic! You!" She swung the hammer at the table and pointed it down at the lump beneath the tablecloth. "You asked for it, Sonic! I will protect you if no one else will, and if I can't and if you're going down, then so am I!"
And with that, she spun on her heel, still brandishing the hammer, and charged from the room, her skirts flying behind her.
Everyone held their breath for at least five seconds.
The tablecloth moved and Sonic poked his head out, his green eyes wide.
"Sonic…are… you goin' after her?" Bunnie almost whispered.
Sonic blinked. He crawled out from the table and back onto his seat. He gathered his breath, his eyes dazed. "Are you kiddin' me?"
They held their breaths.
Sonic began to sag in his seat. "Ah, besides, that's just Amy. She'll get over it." He forced a laugh. "She doesn't know how to stay away from me."
Bunnie blushed.
Sonic let out a long sigh and mumbled to himself. "That girl's gonna be the death of me. Who needs Robotnik around?"
"Sa'nic, honey," Bunnie ventured. "You…are gonna go in tomorrow then?"
Sonic hesitated, then nodded. "Yep. Only one way out, and that's the way in."
Tails nodded firmly to himself, and bowed his head.
Sonic shrugged and waved his hand. "I'll think of something if Robotnik tries to can me. Besides, we don't even know for sure if he'll want to arrest me. He might try nothing."
Sonic suddenly stiffened. He whirled around to face Tails.
Tails lifted his gaze and their eyes met. "If you're going back, so am I."
Sonic hesitated and he glared. "No, you aren't, you-"
"If I'm not back at the hut with you tomorrow," Tails interrupted, fire blazing in his blue eyes. "People will know for sure that something is wrong. Besides, I can't miss work. That would get me double-arrested." He clenched his fists in front of him. "You've dragged me into crazy things all my life and I'm not going to stay behind now. If something does happen, I'm gonna be there, Sonic."
Sonic choked, as if stuck. He kept glaring, but a hint of relief wavered in his eyes.
Tails' eyes flickered back in triumph.
Sonic banged his fist against the table. "Man." He met Tail's gaze. "Fine. You be careful, okay? You be super careful. And smart. Don't do anything stupid!"
Tails' eyes lit up and he almost smiled. He nodded, squaring his shoulders.
Truth was, neither he nor Sonic wanted to face the next day alone.
Once again they fell quiet. Sonic propped himself against the table with his arm and tapped his thumb against the handle of his spoon. "You know, someone's gonna have to clean up these plates…"
"Ah can handle that sugah, don't you worry, I'm staying here anyway. Sally knows I wasn't planning on going back to the palace tonight," Bunnie sighed, refilling her tea cup. "Phewwhee, what a night. All this, an' t'think that poor echidna is still out there somewhere..."
Tails' ears cocked up. He blinked.
He jumped off his seat and crouched down next to his pack. "Wait."
Sonic watched Tails, his ears pricking forward.
The fox plunged his skinny arms into the pack. He brought out his flashlight and placed it on the table. "I found this while in Spectank—it's…it's probably nothing—but, I thought…"
Sonic raised one eyebrow. "Well, no wonder the camera bot saw you if you were shining that thing around."
Tails swatted one of his tails in Sonic's face. He unscrewed the battery compartment and pulled out a long silver file wrapped in a cloth strip.
Sonic pushed the tail away, snickering and coughing on fox fur.
"It's the feed from the camera bot in the room I found," Tails said. He passed it to Bunnie. "You keep it and try to find Knux if anything goes wrong, okay? I thought I saw red on the film."
"Tails, this is great!" Sonic blurted, shooting up from his seat. He gave the fox a playful cuff on the head. "See, this is why you shouldn't beat yourself up."
Tails froze. A blush crept over his cheeks and he grinned in embarrassment.
Bunnie patted Tails' hand. "Good work, foxy. Now you listen to your brother, hear? I'll take care of this." She smiled at them and brushed a curl of her blonde hair out of her eyes.
Sonic and Tails glanced at each other.
"Aw, you're a real brick, Bunnie," Sonic said. He took a deep breath.
Then he jumped up and mock-bowed. "You're making it possible for this hedgehog t'get in some beauty sleep in before walkin' Robotnik's runway tomorrow." He winked. "Thanks."
"Aw, don't mention it," a raspy giggle escaped her, but concern darkened her eyes. "And if that ol' Robotnik tries anything crazy, me and Sally are gonna be doin' a lot more than lookin' for Knuckles. You two…just take care now an' try to save us the hassle, ya hear?"
