A/N: Hullo, all my dedicated readers! Sorry to keep you waiting so long. A little thing called final's week that took up a lot of my time. But here it is, Chapter 3, up and ready. Thank you to Jade, Skybright, and Michelle Fromowitz for listening to be gripe about this thing. You know the drill, Tails and other related characters belong to Sega, not me. Carmen does, so if you steal her without permission, I kick your @$$. Ok? Ok.
The next morning, Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie were discussing an idea inside his hut. To be more specific, Sonic and Sally were arguing and Bunnie was watching them quarrel.
" A picnic would be a great idea, Sal. We should raise her spirits a little, get to know her. Maybe we could even give her a tour." Sonic debated. Bunnie turned back to Sally to wait for a response.
"That may be true, but something's telling me that this isn't a good idea. Who knows what danger we could run into?"
" Come on Sally, its been quiet lately."
" That's what worries me. Its too quiet for my liking."
" You think Robuttnik is up to something?"
Sally shot Sonic a glare. " Duh." Bunnie lost all composure and started laughing.
" Come on you two, compromise. We all need a break, and it has been quiet. And besides, we can wait until the middle of the day for anything to happen. Sounds good?" Sonic and Sally looked at her, their faces softening. They both nodded their agreement at the same time. " Now kiss and make up, you two." She left, smiling, but knowing they weren't going to follow her instructions.
They left around noon, having waited the morning out for any action as Bunnie had suggested. Rotor had decided to stay, working on a new invention. Luckily, they had convinced Antoine to stay also. They wanted to get home sometime before the turn of the century, a hard task considering Ant's tendency to be longwinded.
They headed out to a spot by the ocean where everyone relaxed after eating lunch. Carmen was happily swimming around in the cool water and trying to teach Tails to swim. Sonic had declined the offer, wanting to fully enjoy the time off. Bunnie and Sally were stretched out on the beach catching some rays. Everyone was totally relaxed and perfectly contented. It took Carmen a while to drag everyone off the beach. She didn't want to leave herself, but the prospect of a tour was too much for the young otter cub to wait for.
They finally packed up and headed out. They set out at a leisurely pace through the woods, their minds off Robotnik and the war in general. No one noticed the small motion detecting bomb at the roots of one tree.
Sonic was talking about all the places they could visit. " We can go to Floating Island and visit Knuckles and Julie- Su, they'll be glad to meet you. Or we could go to the Ice Zone for some winter fun…" That was as far as he got before disaster struck.
The explosion came totally unexpected. No one had time to move or react before they were knocked to the ground. Almost 20 SWATbots came out from hiding in the trees.
" It's an ambush!" Sally yelled as soon as she could get up. Sonic helped Tails to his feet and pushed him gently.
" Get Carmen and find a safe place to hide!"
Tails began to protest. " But I –"
" No buts! Just go now!" Sonic yelled back before beginning a spin. Tails found Carmen hiding behind Bunnie and grabbed her hand.
" Come on Carmen! We have to move!" He pulled her into his arms and took to the air.
One of the Swatbots saw them escaping and began to shoot at them. A blast nailed Tails in the back before he could reach a safe range, knocking him unconscious and sending him and Carmen hurtling toward the ground. Carmen moved from his arms and caught a tree limb in the air, Tails swinging from her other hand. She jumped safely down to the ground.
She turned to Tails, who was lying on his stomach on the forest floor.
" Tails! Are you all right? Speak to me!" Carmen shook him worriedly. " Please, please say something!" Tails didn't move. Carmen dragged him under a tree and looked around. The same robot that had shot Tails down was coming to finish them off. Carmen stared blankly, her green eyes taking it all in, memories running in her head.
' Run and don't look back!' Her mother's last words echoed through her mind. " No. I won't run anymore." She looked back at her fallen friend. "No one else will be hurt because of me." She rose to her feet and closed her eyes. The air around her began to glow with a blue light. The otter girl's brown hair began to blow behind her as if from some invisible wind. Her eye's shot open now, a frigid, luminous cerulean.
If the rushing robot could think for itself, it probably would have stopped right there. As it was, everyone else had. Sonic stood on top of a downed robot. Sally dropped her gun to the side. Bunnie's and a SWATbot's fist stopped an inch from each other's faces. Everyone was staring in disbelief at whom they had once thought was a defenseless young girl. Carmen raised her hands, a sapphire energy growing and glowing between them.
" It's time to chill." She said in a calm, deadly voice, and fired.
The blue blast knocked the SWATbot back into a tree, freezing it to the trunk. She shot again, with the speed of a machine gun, icing three others. The other Freedom Fighters broke out of their shock, saw their chance and began to attack again. Sally shot them down with the small laser gun that she carried with her. Sonic bounced off them at breakneck speed. Bunnie smashed them into pieces with her robotic arm. Soon they had all been destroyed, lying in smoking and frozen metallic bits on the forest floor. Carmen powered down, her eyes returning to their normal green. Everyone sat down to rest as she leaned over Tails, who was beginning to wake up.
"Owww, my back hurts." He groaned weakly as he sat up and took a look around. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, shocked at the battlefield, which looked like it had just hailed. "What happened here?" Everyone glanced over at Carmen, who blushed sheepishly. Tails followed their gaze to look at his newfound friend.
" You're kidding."
