Conclusion

Bunnie woke up in a warm comfortable room. She went to rub her eyes when she felt something soft on her face. When her eyes focused, she could see that it was a bio-swath. As she looked down at herself she could see that she had at least three more located on various parts of her body. She realized that one of her eyes was covered, she felt it with her organic hand, it was another bio-swath.

"Ah there you are, awake finally," called a voice.

Bunnie turned and saw a nurse standing in the doorway.

"How did ah get here?" Bunnies memories of what had happened after the fight were a bit blurry.

"You fainted before they had a chance to get you to the hospital. You lost a lot of blood, and you were injured in several area's, including your eye. Thankfully, the damage there was minimal. And the bio-stasis swaths helped speed up the recovery. As to your blood loss, we managed to find a matching donor, we put about four quarts into you. You're very lucky."

"Thank you."

"I'm just doing my job, besides, it's not like I was the one who did the surgery."

"What surgery?"

The nurse looked serious, "Well, you were torn up pretty bad. And bio-swaths can only do so much. Besides, it's the least the city could do after you helped fight off those robots."

"What about Kyra?" Bunnie remembered what she had seen last, Kyra lying deathly still on the ground.

"She's fine. A bit shook up, but otherwise physically stable."

The nurse didn't mention that Kyra had nearly become paralyzed from the neck down. And that perhaps the only thing that had saved her was her artificially reinforced spine.

"Where is she now?" asked Bunnie.

"I'll get her for you. And the doctor will be in to speak with you in a few minutes."

The nurse left, and returned with Kyra. Kyra smiled when she saw Bunnie, but her eyes were ringed and weary looking.

"Hey, you made it," Kyra tried to sound upbeat, but her voice was strained.

"I suppose it's because I'm half robot, means they'd have to kill me twice as much," Kyra chuckled, and then sneezed hard.

"You alright?" Bunnie was concerned.

"Yeah, its just a summer cold. That's what I get for playing in the rain," Kyra was trying hard not to look miserable, and failing.

"At least you're home," commented Bunnie spryly, Kyra didn't smile.

"Home..." she mumbled, looking like she was about to cry.

"What's wrong?"

"It's the Professor, he's gone..." a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Oh..." Bunnie's shocked mind took a moment to absorb this information. "I'm sorry."

Kyra turned her back, trying not to show her tears. "I'm fine, it was his time anyway," she choked.

Bunnie slowly got up, walked over to Kyra, and gave her a hug. She knew how hard it was to lose someone you really cared about. Even though it had been a long time since she'd been separated from her family. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she stepped back and let Kyra cry.

"Thanks again," Kyra said, as she tried to get her tears under control. "You must think I'm a basket-case."

"Nah, you're just a girl who really cares about the city where she was raised, and the man who helped raised her. The man who loved you very much."

"He told me to... but it hurts so much right now. It hurts so much I feel like screaming."

"Just take it one day at a time, honey. There's so much to see and do in life."

"But that won't replace him," cried the pained mongoose.

"It never will, it never will. Why don't you try talking about him a bit, if you want to," Bunnie suggested.

"Well, his laundry was always a mess. He'd let it accumulate for weeks at a time, usually until he ran out of clothes. He swore that he was going to invent self laundering clothes someday," Kyra smiled at the memory.

"See, you still have his memories. Sure, you'll always miss him, but at least you will always have memories of him."

"I guess so..."

"Ah, miss Bunnie?" a voice called from the doorway, it was the doctor. "I'd like to take a moment to talk to you."

"I'll be alright," said Kyra when Bunnie looked at her. "I'll go wait out here," she pointed to the hallway.

The doctor came in, and briefed Bunnie on everything that had been done on her. Her body was recovering fine, and she should be able to leave by that afternoon. Her eye had recovered fine too, but she should always be careful with it. And it wouldn't hurt to have her local doctor checking up on it frequently, as there may be unexpected effects sometime in the future.

After the doctor left, Kyra returned, and Bunnie briefed her on what the doctor had said. Kyra was glad that Bunnie was fine.

"Well it's like, well, you're my friend. I mean, I don't regret being who I am, but sometimes it's hard to relate to others. Especially when you're built to be a war machine. So I guess that makes us, Mecha Bosom Buddies, or something."

"Yeah, I suppose it won't hurt to have a new friend," Bunnie chuckled. "Only thing is, we live so far apart, that its going to be hard just to head over to each others places for a little gal talk."

"You could stay here!" Kyra blurted out.

"Nah, my place is back with the Freedom Fighters, protecting my own home. Besides," Bunnie giggled, "I've got someone who wants to see me very much."

Though it took a little bit, Bunnie finally managed to get Kyra to cheer up, and to remember that she was still the guardian of the city. And that no matter what, they would always be friends.

Bunnie's journey home was relatively uneventful. Once she had been released, she was given a send-off by the city. Kyra gave her a handshake, which turned into a hug.

"Best Friends Forever?" she'd asked.

"Fastest Friends Forever," replied Bunnie, "And once we get a communications system set up to your city, I'll be sure to write. And believe me, ah won't be skimping on the details."

Kyra's father was there too. Looking a bit dazed, but very happy to be there. He thanked Bunnie for all her help, and for protecting Kyra. He hugged Kyra from behind as Bunnie left, Kyra stood still and didn't move. Hugs had not been given from him for a long time.

As Bunnie ran home, she tried to organize her thoughts, so she would know what to tell Elias. It would be a definite boon for them to become allies with Kyra's city. Indeed, she had already gained a valuable friend, if nothing else.

Once she arrived at her home, the first one to greet her, besides Sonic, was Antione.

"Mon cheri, you have returned!" her cried happily, not caring that he was acting much less refined than usual.

"Nice to know I was missed," she replied slyly.

"You know things ain't the same here without you," interrupted Sonic.

"Shut it hedgehog." growled the fox, "This iz private."

"My, such language," said Sonic mockingly, before deciding it prudent to leave them alone.

The two got closer.

"You know there something ah been waiting to do?"

"And what iz thet?" Antione stared boldly at the rabbit.

"This," she planted a very full kiss on the lips of her 'sugar-honey'. Very glad that she had lived through her adventure. Elias's report would have to wait. She couldn't remember how the words went anyway.

And the sun shone, as it always had. Completely unaware of its small, yet significant, role in this story.

The End.

Fun Facts

-Kyra's name was originally Myra. Other attempted spellings of her name were: Kia & Kirya.

-In the unedited written edition, Robotniks army mysteriously disappears, after the incident with the boulder.

-Kyra's eyes were originally green, not blue.

-This story (like many of my early rough drafts) was written in the first person, with occasional switching of perspective.

-The character of Kyra was actually created as a small side-character in a Mario-Sonic Crossover (that has yet to be written). The incidents are similar, but Kyra is more of a loner in the crossover continuity- having no living family. She's also much more mercenary like (not to mention the lack of nanites).

-The reason this story was written was because I realized how influenced by Bunnie Rabbot (being half machine), Kyra was. So I began to wonder what would happen if the two met... and it snowballed from there.

-The narrative part (that italicized section) was originally told from Kyra's point of view. But so much of the information was presented in such a ambient narrative way (and involving stuff she might not know), I decided to switch it entirely. So that you the reader would have a better idea of what was going on in the Professor's head.

-The original bulk of the story was written on paper. Only the Conclusion and this section were typed in later.

-Bunnies accent was much thicker in the original, especially at the first.

-Bunnie was more trusting of the robot-fox. Or rather, she was going to fool it into thinking so. Instead of deciding it was too big a risk to take it to King Acorn.

Typo (from first draft): "There's nothing we can do," one said before opening his mouth.

-I had originally written Kyra as being dark brown in fur colour. But as I designed the cover, I realized that I typically imagined her in a lighter tone. I was torn on what to do, but eventually gave a slight compromise, lightening her tone slightly, while still leaving it 'dark' enough to fit the description.

Anyways, thank you for reading. This is an old work, but I'm still proud of what I'd accomplished. I remember having lots of fun planning out the world and characters. Kyra and the Professor are still great characters I'm glad to have made. Wishing you a nice day and God Bless.