Bunnie dripped the acid from her blaster onto the floor of Level one.

"You sure this floor is as thin as the others, Rotor?" Bunnie hissed.

From up above, on level three, Rotor poked his head over the edge of the opening and nodded. Zoey crouched next to him, shaking in anticipation.

"I—I've had to help build these things…" Rotor said.

"Well, Ah sure hope you're right, sugah," Bunnie said. "'Cause this is the last of my acid."

Blaster shots and shouts still cracked from outside. Sonic was farther down the line—they could barely see what was going on. But just his presence had distracted the combots. It was now or never.

The blaster emptied. Bunnie watched the substance eating away at the floor. Pinpricks of light began to shine through.

The Mobians gathered around all gasped, huddling closer.

"Back up, everyone, stay in line!" Bunnie whispered. She waited, watching until a faint line began to shine around the edge of the circle she had drawn in the floor. The metal began to buckle and morph.

Bunnie placed her feet in the center of the circle. She kicked down with all her might and the metal busted open. Gasps rang through all the levels of waiting Mobians, waiting above, terror and excitement flooding their eyes.

Bunnie kicked at the edges of the circle, dulling the metal edges, then poked her head down below. The ground moved below them, but they were not going fast. There were too many carts in the line for that. She'd made the hole close to the wheel and some acid had dripped on it—but the hole itself was clear of the wheel. No one would be instantly crushed when they dropped to the ground.

Bunnie's eyes lit up. It might actually work.

More blaster shots rang out. Sonic was still busy.

"C'mon," Bunnie hissed to the first Mobian in line—a male Mobian cheetah. He crouched on the edge, looking down.

"Now, when Ah give the word," she whispered. "Just drop down, roll out an' run to the woods. You watch out for the wheels, Ah'll watch out for combots."

The cheetah nodded, his golden eyes flashing. He snatched her hand, shook it, and perched on the edge of the hole.

Bunnie pressed her eye to the crack, watching. "Go!"

The cheetah dropped. Two seconds later, Bunnie saw him scramble from beneath the cart. He bolted across the yard of open space and shot into the woods, a gold streak.

Bunnie held her breath. No one spoke.

"He made it!" one of the Mobians burst out, a white rat. He scrambled back from the crack. "He made it!"

Choruses and gasps and cries of hope filled the cart.

"Shh! Quiet, ya'll! We're not out yet, let's keep movin', move along now!" Bunnie waved her hand.

The next Mobian was winged, a hawk. A small Mobian weasel child clung to her back.

"Go!" Bunnie dropped her hand.

The hawk jumped down to the ground and rolled, darting toward the woods and freedom. Her great wings flapped and the hawk sprung into the air, gliding through the trees. The next Mobians dropped down and the line began to inch along, through the cart.