Chapter 2

"Papa...! Please be helping me!" Antoine's parents found the hapless coyote hung up by his shirt on a branch sitting several feet of the ground. Armand gasped and immediately began to climb the tall fruit-bearing tree and his boy cradling a handful of apples as he came up to his level.

"Oh, Antoine. If you wanted them so badly, you could have asked me to help." His father stated as he reached out to retrieve the frail boy from his forced perch. The young coyote did not meet his gaze as his lip quivered.

"I...just wanted to show them I could be brave." The mustachioed gentleman looked upon him and the realization caused him to lightly chuckle as the two reached the safety of the ground. "Papa, why do you laugh...?"

"Little one, courage is a quality to be proud of, but don't let it cloud your judgment. Oui, you are still so young yet!" Sniveling, Antoine struggled to find humor in his plight and stopped to gather up the fruit that had eluded his grasp, relieved to find that they were for the most part unharmed.

"Come on, little warrior. I have some tea ready on the stove. Let's enjoy this peace while it lasts!"

–

"I told you, mademoiselle. This is a -solo- mission. Only moi! Go home." Nicole shook her head as a strong wind blew her braided hair toward the pleading coyote. She knew he would protest and crossed her arms in response. Antoine brought a palm to his forehead and brought it downwards, stretching his face in a comical fashion. "Oh Bunnie will have my head... No, the princess will as well if any 'arm comes to your personage."

"What a fine knight you make, Antoine. However, your act wouldn't be complete without a proper steed!" She replied in teasing fashion as she summoned up a board that floating off the ground. The coyote was visibly startled by the display and looked under to see it being held up by static electricity.

"Perhaps you can be of use to moi, for transportation..." He pouted and looked up at the lynx who had the widest smile he had seen from her in quite a while! "You drive a hard bargain. 'owever, I believe that you should head back to Knothole once you have dropped me off in Robotopolis, ne c'est pas?"

–

Nicole immediately regretted her decisions as the baleful screams of her passenger pierced through her vocal sensors. She had to admit that Antoine's lung capacity was quite impressive otherwise, but it did little to assuage her pain. As they crested the hill to see the polluted city come into view, his voice reached a new register and she hastily brought the board to a halt, nearly flinging him off of it! "We have arrived, Antoine!"

"Oui, oui! I heard. Not so loud!" The lynx did not realize that her senses had been compromised in such a fashion and adjusted her large black-tipped ears slightly. Bursts of static spurted out, frizzing them out slightly. The young guard attempted to stifle laughter at the sight, and a frown from her sent him over the edge as he cackled loudly!

"Are we feeling better now...?" Antoine looked up at her with tears of merriment soaking his cheeks, then at the looming city of metal before them. Beads of sweat began to form upon his brow...

"Oui. It..." He hesitated for a moment as a loud gulp passed his throat. "...would be very much helpful if you accompanied this one further within." As he continued, the AI eyes widened as she nodded along. "Your path-making has always been valuable, Nicole. In fact, give us the quickest route, s'il vous plait."

"As you wish." With that, she emitted a large blue hologram with a map of the city. A large blinking red square along with lines leading to their position highlighted the trail forward as they proceeded further into danger.

–

"Oh mah stars, where has that man run off to?" Bunnie's gears creaked as she came to rest on a nearby chair. A sudden rapping at her door startled the rabbot, and her head spun towards it to see an auburn-haired chipmunk waiting with a worried expression. "Come on in, Sally-girl!"

Coming in with a creak, Sally took a moment to catch her breath and adjust her now frayed auburn hair. She pulled up a chair besides the half-metal lady and breathed out a deep sigh. "No luck with Antoine, I take it. He was right, it's like feeding an army out there!"

"Thanks for runnin' interference for me. Ooh, I'm right cross with that coyote, ah tell you!" Bunnie took a moment to blow the tuft of fur between her ears out of her eyes. She looked over at the young leader who continued to gaze at the floor with a pronounced frown. "Somethin' tells me that's not why you're here."

"Don't get me wrong. I'm worried about Antoine too, but Nicole has gone missing as well!" Sally brought her head up to meet the rabbot's, who was now getting up out of her chair.

"Ah swear, she would heal up a lot faster if she didn't push herself all the time!" Bunnie shot a knowing look at the chipmunk, who immediately threw her arms up defensively. "Ah know she gets it from you."

–

"I'm detecting faint readings of plant life from this building... How strange!" Nicole felt a tug on her purple dress as Antoine pointed toward the entrance. The lynx gasped as he suddenly tackled her, and the two landed behind the cover of scrapped metal and debris. "Rude."

"Oh, I knew it was a mistake coming here, but..." The coyote whispered as he shivered in place. Feeling her protective algorithms kicking in, she gave him a much needed hug. "W-what are doing, mon ami?"

"Shh..." After hushing him, Nicole took the opportunity to peek over the edge and saw a patrol unit of Swat-Bots marching nearby. The one in the lead shone a beam of light from its arm socket, and the lynx ducked back as it waved overhead!

"I was never cut out for the Freedom Fighters. It was all an act. The princess would never look me in the eye again if I gave it all up." Words spilled out of his mouth uncontrollably, slowly rising in volume. Cupping a hand over his mouth she stared into his eyes firmly, seemingly channeling the spirit of the chipmunk he just mentioned.

"Sally would never have given you all those tasks if she did not think you were up for it. Now, we are going to sneak in there quietly and get Bunnie those Mobananas she wanted. Okay...?" Antoine silently nodded and wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Oui, you are correct to assume as much. 'owever, please listen before we move forward." Nicole happily nodded and took a cursory glace over the cover once more to see the Swat-Bots moving further down the street away from their position.

The coyote pulled a deactivated power ring from his backpack, and the AI tilted her head in confusion. "You see, I keep this as a reminder of my greatest failure. It used to keep me humble, but now..." He gritted his teeth and looked away from the lynx as he continued. "...I see that I have drifted even further away from the ideal I had chased all these years. I am ze coward."

"Is this what this is all about?" Nicole replied with a comforting cadence. She was just relieved he was finally getting it off his chest.

He tutted defensively and waved his hands over his blue garb with a tinge of disgust in his voice. "I'm afraid it's much more than that. Deep down, this one knows why the Princess chose him over me. Even when I tried to defeat Robotnik all on my lonesome; in the end Sonic had to come and rescue moi. I am useless." Antoine buried his head in his lap as he finished his small soliloquy.

Putting a hand on his shoulder, Nicole fixed him with a glare. "Well if you keep choosing the past over the present, that will be your future. I chose the unknown prospects of a life outside of a small box. I think it's time you left yours behind as well!" The lynx then pointed toward their destination as a grin returned to her face once again. Her words were met with a hesitant nod as the coyote slowly came to his feet once again.

"Now, let's keep moving forward and prove that they were wrong about you!"