okay disclaimers and such are on ch 1 so don't bug me about that shit, on with the show...


A Visitor From Afar

Ch 8. Fight! Fight! Fight!


A short while later, outside…….

The instructions were easy enough to follow, and Slasher soon found himself standing before what looked like a very heavy metal door, much like the one he had first see before entering this maze of tunnels. This one seemed less complex as the last one, since there seemed to be a wheel in the center of the door that looked like it controlled the doors locking mechanism. Slasher gripped the cold metal wheel and heaved with all his might to turn it. It wouldn't budge, then he tried twisting it in the other direction; it opened without any difficulty. Slasher grinned at his own stupidity and opened the hefty door with a solid push.

As the door cracked open bright light began to spill into the comparatively dimmer hallway as it swung open on its heavy hinges. What lay beyond took the young dragon a moment to focus on as his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright day light outside. A gentle breeze assured him that he was indeed outside and as his vision cleared he could make out a building directly in front of him. It was a large building with a rounded off, metal roof and a row of small windows just underneath the roof. Some smaller buildings were attached to the large one but sprawled out more horizontally then vertically as the main one did. From the walrus's explanation, Slasher gathered that this was the training center he had mentioned.

Slasher paid little attention to this as the sounds of metal hitting wood reached his large, but thin ears. He quickly guessed where the sound was coming from as his ears swiveled around like a cats' and darted off to find the source.

He streaked around a corner of the building and stopped dead in his tracks as he saw what had made the noises. Slasher saw a small, circular ring surrounded by a meter high wall of wood that was divided on two sides by a small gap on opposite sides; green grass lined the floor of the ring, though it looked as though many matches had been fought here considering how badly worn out the grass appeared.

Another sound of metal against wood snapped Slasher's attention away from his observations and back to the source of the sound. Inside the ring Bunnie Rabbot busily punched at a wood and straw training dummy; practicing some hand to hand combat. Slasher watched, mesmerized by her fluid movements, as Bunnie planted hit after devastating hit with her robotic limbs. The dummy buckled and swayed with sickeningly splintering sounds coming from the tortured wood. "Strange, she hits with such force with her armored limbs, yet her right arm is almost completely idle." Slasher pondered this oddity in this female warrior so hard that he failed to notice that Bunnie had become aware of his presence.

"Well hullo there, Sugar." Bunnie greeted cheerfully as she wiped some sweat from her forehead with the soft fur on her right arm.

"Um, hello… uh, Bunnie, was it?" Slasher stuttered, caught off guard by the greeting. Bunnie nodded while giggling to herself and waved him over to her. Encouraged by the warm welcome, Slasher approached the ring and entered the ring through one of the small openings in the wall. "You're certainly friendly then some of the people around here."

"Well thanks Sugar. I know the others don't trust ya'll much, but if Sally-girl trusts you, that's good enough fer me." Bunnie responded happily in her deep southern accent. "So, what brings ya'll way out here?" Bunnie asked as she fetched a towel off the perimeter wall and dabbed it on her still sweaty forehead.

"Well, Tails was showing me around till that walrus showed up and took him off to see the Princess." Slasher explained, his words becoming a little bitter as he mentioned Rotor.

"Ya'll mean Rotor, Hon?" Bunnie asked leaning against the perimeter wall using both hands for support.

"That's the one; he told me to leave your headquarters and so I ended up out here. Then I heard you doing that… umm…" Slasher stuttered as he sought to think of a way to explain his thoughts.

Before he could however Bunnie finished his sentence for him. "And then ya'll saw me practicin' mah sparrin'?"

"Um, yea." Slasher blushed a little from embarrassment. "Sorry if I was prying."

"No harm done, Sugar, its kinda nice have'n an audience actually." Bunnie smiled.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, wouldn't you learn more in sparring by fighting a real opponent rather then fighting a dummy?" Slasher asked pointing to the badly battered dummy on the opposite side of the fighting ring.

"(Sigh) It would, but nobody really wants ta practice with lil' ole me." Bunnie explained sadly. "Ah plum well don't know mah own strength sometimes."

Slasher considered what Bunnie said for a moment. "Well, I'm always up for a little practice." He stated as a sly grin crept across his face.

Bunnie was caught by surprise by the offer and considered it carefully. "Ah don't know Sugar, ya'll sure yur alright with those there injuries?" Bunnie asked pointing her real finger at the bandages covering Slasher's chest beneath his utility sash.

"I can manage, I've been through worse." Slasher stated as he shrugged his shoulders confidently while he rubbed one of the wrappings on his arm.

"Welllll… alright, why not, it's been sometime since Ah've actually sparred with someone; but what about those claws of yours?" Bunnie looked with some degree of anxiety at the menacing battle claws that were still sheathed within the silver armbands.

"What about them?" Slasher asked a little surprised by Bunnie's hesitation

"Ya'll aren't plan'n on use'n 'em in a practice are ya?" Bunnie asked her apprehension growing.

"Well, yes actually." Slasher replied, his tone suggesting that should be obvious to her. "I don't hold back in a sparring match, and I certainly don't want you to hold back. It hinders the learning if you always fight at half strength and never push yourself to your limits."

What Slasher said made sense, to a degree, but she still felt uneasy about using all of her abilities against Slasher for fear he'd end up just like all the other sparring partners she'd gone up against. "Alright then Sugar, I'll try to not hurt ya too much." Bunnie nodded in agreement hesitantly. She spread her legs a little into a fighting stance and raised her arms into kind of boxing position.

Slasher spread his legs wide, raised his hands and lowered himself into a much more elegant looking Judo stance. The combatants sized each other up for a moment waiting for the right moment to attack. Slasher struck first as he burst out of his position and lunged for the waiting rabbit.

Slasher threw a left hook at Bunnie, hoping to catch her on her weaker side, but surprisingly Bunnie blocked the attack and grabbed hold of his wrist, spun on her heels and pulled him over her hip in a take down move. The force of the move sent Slasher flying across the ring and skidding indignantly on his belly into the perimeter wall. "Whoah, she may not be as strong on he right, but she certainly knows how to use my own force to her advantage." Slasher thought as he rubbed a sore spot on his head. He picked himself off the ground and saw Bunnie patiently waiting for him in her fighting stance.

"Looks like this will be a good fight after all." He thought to himself as he stared at his opponent and deciding on his next move. He never got to think of one before Bunnie lunged forward with her own attack. As Slasher would expect she threw a straight punch with her left arm; the one cast in metal. Slasher ducked as he threw his right hand upwards, deflecting the metal fist upwards and away from the downwards going dragon. Slasher had ducked for more reasons then to just avoid the punch, as his legs bent to their greatest extent, he spun on his 'heels' and used the underside of his large tail like a club and knocked the feet out from under Bunnie.

Bunnie crashed hard to the dirt floor of the battle ring. Her metal limbs making a loud clanking noise combined with a loud thud of her organic parts that connected with the ground. The sudden fall knocked the air out of her, but she found the resolve to get up.

Instead of getting back into a fighting stance like Slasher expected Bunnie leapt straight from the ground and tackled Slasher right in the mid-section. The two fighters crashed to the ground, with Bunnie on top. Slasher struggled to get free as Bunnie straddled his body and pinned his arms above his head with both hands. "Give up Sugar?" Bunnie asked in a sassy and provacative voice.

"I have not yet begun to fight." He smirked as he struggled to move the arm that was pinned by Bunnie's robotic limb. Her grip was far too strong however, but he was finding it no easier trying to prompt his other arm to move. With no way to get loose using his arms, and his legs were hardly useful to get up at the moment; there was only one other thing he could use, his tail. Slasher's tail had been wagging beneath Bunnie in kin to his struggling the whole time, but now Slasher's tail became rigid and slapped into the ground with enough force to actually lift Slasher's body, and Bunnie's along with it, off the ground and force Bunnie to let go and roll away while Slasher finished his back roll and quickly rose to his feet.

Bunnie had been surprised by the move, and was just getting out of her own roll when she spotted Slasher leap into the air and throw a spinning roundhouse kick at her head. Luckily, the attack was coming on her left side, had it been to her other side she might not have been able to react fat enough or have enough strength to block the powerful attack. But her robotic arm stopped the kick with little effort, though Slasher flinched with pain from kicking the metal armor.

Bunnie never gave Slasher a chance to work the limp from his sore foot as she unleashed her own roundhouse kick with her left leg. Slasher leaped straight into the air, spreading his legs out into the splits letting the fast kick pass underneath harmlessly. Using her spinning momentum Bunnie followed through with another spinning kick, striking with her heel, as soon as her first kick touched the ground.

This time Slasher had no time to leap into the air again, so he used his already present downward momentum and tried to drop to the ground and let the kick pass overhead. But Bunnie's fast robotic limbs caught Slasher in mid-air before he could completely flatten himself out. The force of the kick sent Slasher flying across the ring crashing into the perimeter wall with a loud thud.

"Oh mah stars! Slasher-Sugar, ya'll alright, Ah'm so darn sorry Sugar, Ah didn't realize how hard Ah hit." Bunnie clasped her hands over mouth as she raced up beside Slasher while he struggled to catch his breathe.

Slasher was struggling hard to regain his breath from the force of the powerful kick, but nothing major had been broken. "You certainly(Wheez) weren't kidding about hard you hit." Slasher grinned as he finally regained his breath and stood up, picking a blade of grass off his white bandages, now turned green in some places because of the grass stains.

"Ah tried ta warn ya…" Bunnie started to explain but was interrupted by Slasher.

"Don't worry about it; I want to fight you with all your strength. One can only become stronger if they are pushed to their limits, besides, (ACK) I'm not hurt so much that I can't stand some more." Slasher smiled in a sincere way, as he rubbed his back; finding a particularly sore spot mid-sentence.

Bunnie was surprised by this and was still unsure if Slasher really knew what he was getting himself into. After all, she had her strength and fighting skills, but she also had other things in her arsenal that would probably not be fair, unless… "Slasher-Sugar, I tell ya what hon. Ah'll stop hold'n back and ya'll can use yer blades if ya feel like it." She suggested.

"Well, to be honest I had planned to, but since you seemed to be so nervous of the idea I thought I'd give you a chance to fight me without my blades." Slasher admitted. "I wanted to wait for you to feel comfortable with the idea of using my blades before you fought me with them. And I assure you, I have excellent control with my blades, I promise I won't cut you." Slasher nodded and whipped his arms out to his sides and took up a fighting stance keeping his blades low and keeping on his toes.

"Ah appreciate the sentiment Sugar, but Ah can take care a' mah lil' ole self." She replied with a charismatic smile. She lowered herself into another fighting position.

Slasher lunged forward at the tan-coloured rabbit slashing upwards with his right arms'battle claws. Bunnie performed a backwards handspring dodging the first and second slash, landing gracefully on her feet; unharmed. Slasher didn't stop though; he kept moving with his momentum and lashed out with his right arm to the side of the female rabbit. Bunnie, knowing that to counter a foe with a sword or other such weapon you must block what holds the weapon, not the weapon itself, moved in closer to her attacker instead of backing away and blocked Slasher's attack at the arm. Now being so close, and having Slasher in a very vulnerable opening she used her real arm and jabbed out at Slasher's jaw in an uppercut.

The punch connected with a loud crack, sending the dragon falling onto his back in a slight daze. After rubbing the spot where the punch had connected Slasher lifted his legs off the ground and leapt to his feet like a fighter in a Kung-Fu movie. Slasher jabbed with his left towards Bunnie's head, the blades glistening with the daylight. Bunnie blocked with her real arm much the same as before, but this time before Bunnie could counter, Slasher jabbed his other battle claw down to her stomach. Bunnie blocked this with a sweeping outside block, creating a loud clank as the metal connected. With this new rotational momentum Slasher spun in place and left his allowed his arm swing with the spin. The speed of the arm was too fast for Bunnie to anticipate or block and so Bunnie instinctively closed her eyes shut and flinched as the blades drew nearer at a startling rate. Nothing. Bunnie opened one eye, then the other in awe as she saw the twin blades of Slasher's battle claws mere centimeters away from her scrunched up face. In her amazement she followed the arm back to its owner, who bore a victorious smile on his large muzzle.

"I told you I have good control with these." He smugly stated as he withdrew his blades from their precarious position beside Bunnie's face.

"(Phew) Sugar, ya'll are somethin' else with those blades." Bunnie complemented, breathing a sigh a relief as she backed away. She quickly returned to her fighting stance ready to continue the match. Slasher did likewise and the pair stared each other down again for a moment.

Bunnie attacked first this time, leaping into the air with a flying front kick. Slasher easily dodged the attack, but was surprised when Bunnie followed up with a round house and spinning back-kick combo. The moves and subsequent blocks forced him back up into the wall of the sparring circle. He thudded into the wall, the spikes on his tail scraping along the surface of the wall as it wagging anxiously. Bunnie threw a jab at Slasher; striving to keep his back against the wall.

Slasher grabbed her furry wrist with both hands, but threw Bunnie's arm away and leapt to the side as Bunnie's mechanical arm launched a devastating uppercut, barley missing Slasher, connecting with the perimeter wall. The force of the punch ripped a hole in the top of the wall sending a hail of splinters outside the ring. Slasher had no time to admire the strength of that attack since he found himself in the middle of an increasingly intense battle with a very worthy opponent.

Recovering from his dive to the right Slasher dug the claws on his feet into the ground using his left hand to stabilize himself, slowing his momentum and immediately launched himself forward; much as he had during his fight with Sonic earlier. All this took place in the span of a few seconds, but to the fighters, time seemed to have slowed for them.

Bunnie spotted the attack out of the corner of her eye as she retracted her punch from the wall and having just microseconds to react before the dragon's strike would connect. As her mechanical arm moved to block the attack, a small cube-shaped object extended from the top of Bunnie's arm and activated creating a shimmering pink, circular force-field from her arm.

Slasher's blades hit the force-field, but the energy shield proved too strong and stopped the force of the blow. Slasher's jaw opened wide in amazement at the strength of the nearly transparent shield. His stupor was momentary, an urge to beat this barrier pounded though Slasher's mind as adrenaline flooded his body and mind.

Rational thought was also beginning to be lost with Bunnie as well as her opponent pushed her body to pump more adrenaline into her system then she had ever felt. The missions into Robotropolis were always hair-raising, but after so many incursions into that malodorous pit she had become accustomed to the fear she felt. This rush of adrenaline was of a pure competitive nature, not fear.

Slasher jabbed and jabbed again at the shield trying to break it. Even after numerous strikes the shield still held strong, and because of his efforts, Slasher was starting to run out steam. If nothing else he was becoming aware that he would have to fight smarter to get past this strange magical barrier.

"But why doesn't she have the shield on the arm that is not armored, why not on the one that doesn't have armor, it would make a lot more sense." Slasher wondered; this being yet another oddity about this warrior.

"You're going to have to show me that trick after we finish this fight, warrior rabbit." Slasher smiled confidently as he planned his next move, withdrawing his blades into the armbands that adorned his forearms.

"Ah'm just full 'a surprises Sugar." Bunnie laughed at Slasher's surprised reaction and readied herself. Bunnie jumped backwards, her shield switching off. She pointing her arm out at Slasher as her hand withdrew into her forearm leaving wide hole where the hand use to be and a tube pushed out of the hole about an inch. "This here trick is bound ta leave ya'll speechless." Bunnie smirked as she pressed a neatly hidden button on her arm, changing her pulse laser's setting to stun. With that she fired a blue bolt of energy out of her cannon.

Slasher leaped to the side, rolling away from the pulsing projectile as it narrowly missed. Slasher whipped his blades back out and lunged at the rabbit, sidestepping shot after shot as he ran as fast as his clawed feet could carry him.

He swung his right arm out at Bunnie, but growled in anger as Bunnie activated her energy shield again and blocked his attack with a confident smile. She kicked out at the reptile, catching him in the stomach and sending back across the rink, his feet skidding along the ground, his claws ripping the soft grass as they went. Despite the hit Slasher remained standing, and looked just as ready to fight as when they had begun. He retracted his blades and made a kind of half-hearted attempt to bring his hands up into a fighting position, his battle claw retracted, while he regained his breathe.

Bunnie on the other hand was beginning to feel tired; she had never fought an opponent that had lasted this long without having to visit the infirmary right after. The only other time she had fought this hard was against one of Robotnik's robots, but under those circumstances she was fighting for her life and she fought purely out of fear and survival instincts. It was kind of exhilarating to be fighting such a worthy foe, and under friendly circumstances no less. She was actually having 'fun', she realized with a grin curling on her face.

Bunnie, snapping out of her momentary day-dream, charged forward at the slightly dazed dragon striking out with her right hand, the real one, in a straight-forward punch; aiming for his head. Slasher, snapping out of his daze, reacted swiftly enough to catch Bunnie's hand in mid-extension. Bunnie was caught by surprise by this, and Slasher smiled confidently as he began to twist her wrist. Bunnie winced in pain from the sudden rough torque on her small, slender wrist, but thinking quickly; she converted her robotic arm to its pulse-cannon mode and pointed the muzzle of the cannon just below the bandages on his chest. She let a quick shot off at close range into Slasher's stomach.

Slasher let go of Bunnie's hand as his body folded over in pain from the stun round. Even though the shot was only a stun round the pain was immense because of the close proximity of the blast. He held a hand over the point of impact as he struggled to force himself to rise from his hands and knees. Drawing upon the years of training he forced himself to calm his breathing and focus his thoughts away from the pain he felt and refocused that energy into making his muscles to lift his body off the ground. Adrenaline raced though his body in a renewed surge.

Slasher was now determined to tag his opponent; he would not lose this match, even if it was just for fun. Slasher raced towards his opponent and threw a flurry of punches at her head and stomach, alternating targets to create an opening. Bunnie blocked with her forearms as best she could, but quickly found those armbands were deadening her real forearm's nerves with the force needed to block the attacks. Bunnie tried to retire that arm from the barrage of fists as she slid back from her attacker. Slasher never backed off though, and now he had the opening he needed.

He threw a left hook punch at Bunnies delicate face, but Bunnie brought her robotic arm across her body and blocked the attack with ease. Which was exactly what Slasher had wanted; in kin to Bunnie's block Slasher threw another punch into Bunnie's now unguarded rib cage.

The shot to the rib cage knocked the wind from Bunnie. It took only a moment for her to get her composure back and she returned to her fighting stance. "How's 'bout next tag wins Sugar?" Bunnie suggested behind the clenched fists that shielded her face.

"Sounds good to me." Slasher lunged at the rabbit and tried to kick her stomach with another roundhouse. Bunnie hollowed out her body as she leapt back to dodge the kick and quickly countered with a jab from her real arm. Slasher blocked the strike, but it took him more effort to block the follow-though punch from her robotic arm. Her metal fist stopped just inches from the nose of his large muzzle. As luck would have it, the arm Slasher had deftly attempted to use to block her attack missed the fist, but just so happened to catch in the bend of her elbow, stopping the attack dead.

Slasher used this lucky happenstance and grabbed hold of her metallic fist and used it as leverage to throw Bunnie to the ground. Bunnie skidded on the ground away from Slasher. Bunnie, lying on her back side, looked up and saw Slasher begin to break roll, closing the distance between them with one roll. Only when she saw his tail whip out from behind the rolling figure did Bunnie realize the magnitude of the attack. Unlike the tightly wrapped body that was rolling, the tail was being allowed to freely swing around him and gain centrifugal force from the roll. He was using his own tail like a flail, and with those large, sharp spines on the tip of his tail, it would likely have the same effect as an actual flail.

Out of reflex Bunnie raised her robotic arm and activated her energy shield to protect her body from the impending strike. The spikes on the end of Slasher's tail fell upon the energy shield at full force, unfortunately the onslaught of attacks Slasher had unleashed on Bunnie earlier in the fight had drained a great deal of the shields energy reserves, and there had not been enough time to full recharge them. The shield collapsed with a loud fizzle as the spikes crashed though the transparent barrier and imbedded themselves into Bunnie's metal forearm.

Bunnie felt no pain, but the shock of seeing those spikes break though her energy shield and yet, still have enough force to sink into her tough metal armor left her speechless. Slasher on the other hand, realizing what happened quickly got off his now sore back, his tail still imbedded in her arm now hanging limply between his legs. "Bunnie… are you alright!" he gasped seeing the shocked expression on her face. Seeing no reaction Slasher shook her shoulder with great concern.

Bunnie finally snapped out of her stupor and shook her head to clear hr mind. Realizing Slasher was still asking if she was alright she answered. "Ah'm fine Sugar." She reassured him looking into his eyes, but quickly returned her gaze to the imbedded spikes. "That's some wallop ya'll put on me." She said exasperatedly pointing at the spikes in her arm.

"I'm so sorry Bunnie, I…I just got into the fight so much… I shouldn't of…. I'll go get help and…" Slasher apologized, speaking at a panicky speed.

"There's no need Sugar. Ah'm not hurt." Bunnie interrupted. Slasher gave her a bewildered look and was about to say something to the extent of how that was possible with his spikes firmly planted in her arm, but he stopped himself as she daintily pulled the spikes from her cold metallic limb showing no signs of pain what-so-ever. As the intrusive pale blue spikes were removed a few severed wires began to spark. Bunnie felt the three holes with her real fingers and flexed her metal fist, receiving more sparks as a result. A small streak of oil began to trickle down her arm from one of the deep gashes to which Bunnie sighed sadly.

It was now Slasher's turn to be dumbfounded as he stared at the gaping holes in her arm. "You're… one of them?" he asked in disbelief. It suddenly made sense, the strength, the strange abilities; all were because she was a robot, like Coconuts and Crabmeat.

Bunnie returned a confused stare. "What?"

"You're one of those robot things… I… I thought you were just wearing battle armor." Slasher admitted backing away from the stricken rabbit.

Bunnie giggled at the innocence of this stranger. "Ah'm no 'bot Sugar, though Ah almost became one once."

Slasher relaxed his stance a little and stopped backing away in curiosity. "What do you mean?" He asked, tilting his head, but keeping his arms out, ready to unsheathe his battle claws at a moments notice.

Bunnie padded the grass beside her with her real hand, asking for Slasher to sit down, and reluctantly he strode closer sat down beside her, still a bit leery. "It happened years ago Sugar, Ah was tend'n mah garden, mind'n mah own business when two Swatbots grab me and toss me into a portable robotizer…"

"A what?" Slasher asked contorting his face in confusion.

"It's a machine that transforms flesh and blood into metal and gears, turns you into a robot." Bunnie explained, a shiver running down her spine. Slasher looked like he was having the same reaction as Bunnie glanced at the small dragon. "An' that's not the worst part…" Bunnie wrapped her arm around her knees as she lifted them under her chin. "Aft'a ya'll are turned into a 'bot ya'll lose yer free will, you become a mindless drone that only serves Robotnik." A look of horror came across the young Guardian's face as he looked into Bunnie's eyes for some sign she was joking, that such a thing wasn't possible. He found no such reassurance from Bunnie's glazed over eyes. "Ah was lucky, Sonic an' Rotor saved me b'fore Ah was completely transformed into a 'bot. Mah arm an' legs are robotic, but the rest of me is as alive as you are Sugar. Eve'a since Ah've been fight'n with the Freedom Fighters ta put an' end ta Robotnik once an' fer all."

"I'm sorry Bunnie… I had no idea." He started to apologize again but Bunnie held up her hand to stop him.

"It's alright Sugar, it actually kinda nice ta know ya'll wasn't put off by mah robot parts. They tend to be a bit of a social barrier with some folks." She laughed a bit from the thought. "I have ta admit though, aside from this; that was the best sparrin' match Ah've eve'a had."

"Me too, (Ow) makes me glad we're on the same side though." Slasher laughed rising from the cool grass as he rubbed one of the many sore spots on his body.

"Ah guess Ah best go an' find Rotor so's he can patch mah arm up." Bunnie sighed as she hefted the limp appendage with her good arm and stood up. That small leak of oil apparently was her hydraulic fluid, and she was losing pressure, making it harder for her to move the arm. "An' don't worry yer cute little ole head, Ah'll make sure Rotor doesn't get too mad." Bunnie smiled sweetly as she looked into Slasher's dark, red eyes.


End Ch 8

alright, wicked fight scene, time for more, hang tight really big ass fight coming soon!