"My stars, what's going on out there?!"

Bunnie had been dusting the salon in the absence of any other customers (a habit of hers which was becoming all too common,) when she heard an almost deafening ruckus going on outside. Gunshots, explosions, screaming in the streets; it was too much for her just to fold her long tall ears on top of themselves and shut it all out, even if she wanted to. Using her elongated, sturdy feet, she leaped to the door and swung it open, and the sight was almost too much to bear. SWATbots and Troopers were shooting at houses and tossing small explosions like open season as scared and frightened Mobians ran helplessly down the roadways and sidewalks, almost like a warzone. "Blazes!" And indeed, blazes there were.

Before she could even think about what to do next, she could hear something loud and heavy approaching her from behind. She spun around to see a large SWATbot standing right behind her, as stiff as a log. He seemed to be lugging a squirrel over his shoulder, and while he was unconscious, (he seemed to have a nasty bump on the back of his head from the look of it,) he was still breathing.

She wouldn't deny it. She was scared, shaken, almost petrified. But all of that quickly wore off as she said to herself, 'This isn't how it ends.' Like a fierce warrior, she lifted up her broom like a mighty sword and aimed it at the SWATbot. Of course, she couldn't hope to so much as put a dent in it, but if she was going out, she was going out swinging. "You wanna take me," she said, "you ain't doin' it alive!" She lunged at the SWATbot, but one deft and rather appropriate swat from its' black steely hand was enough to send Bunnie flying towards the outer stone wall of her shop, after which she was promptly knocked against it and fell to the ground unconscious, a trickle of blood flowing from her temple.

A red light then flashed from the SWATbot's red visor and washed over Bunnie like some sort of scan before promptly retreating to whence it came. "SUBJECT STILL EXHIBITING LIFESIGNS," it said in that same droll monotone that all of its' kind spoke in. "DAMAGE NOT FATAL. SUBJECT EXHIBITS ABOVE AVERAGE TENACITY AND AGGRESSION. SUBJECT IS WORTHY POTENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR FIRST MOBIAN ROBOTICIZER TEST SUBJECT. MUST TAKE SUBJECT TO ROBOTNIK AT ONCE." It then picked up Bunnie by the feet and flung her over its' shoulder. With two potential subjects in tow, the SWATbot then headed for the laboratory, with the chaos and confusion going on around it being nothing but an inconvenience.


"One side! Excuse me! Coming through!" Sonic and Mina were busy speeding their way down the city streets and blazing past SWATbots and civilians alike, desperate to get as far away from Eggman and his cadre of goons as much as possible. With a bit of luck, they managed to find a secluded alleyway that seemed thin enough that only Mobians could squeeze through it. Swatbots and Troopers were out of luck. Slipping into the ally, they were finally able to slow down, and their chains of Mobians that had been practically swinging in the breeze were grateful to catch a break. "Oh, Gaea!", said Sonia, one hand leaning against a wall as if she were going to hurl any second. "If that's what it's like to be the second fastest thing alive, I don't want to be the fastest!"

"You're telling me,' said Manic, slumping down against the wall in heavy breaths. "Don't get me wrong, it was fun! Scary as all hell, but fun."

"You call that fun?!", shouted Sonia. "What kind of cousin are you?!"

"Sorry guys," said Mina, "sorry! I'm still not used to it, really! Sorry!"

"Uh, speaking of cousins…" Manic then pointed one finger up to the reae, aiming straight at none other than the actual fastest thing alive. However, while one would think he'd be wanting to greet his cousins and thank Gaea they were alive, that wasn't his priority. Instead, he'd finally noticed that yellow trail of speed that had been following him all this time, and by Gaea was he turned on.

"Uh," said Mina, "hi. Can I help you?"

"Only if you can tell me how a pretty thing like you is the fastest mongoose alive."

"Hey, down boy!", said Manic. "Sides, that's a heck of a way to greet your cousins. We finally see other again after all this time and the first thing you do? Try and tap some ass. Never fails."

"Oh, hey cuz!", said Sonic, grasping Manic's hand and helping him off the ground in the time it took to blink. "Didn't think I'd be seeing you here!"

"Same here. Though I'm glad I did."

"You got that right. Hey, how's Sonia doing?"

"I'd say ask her, but…"

And as they spoke, Sonia was busy heaving into the nearest garbage can like a land loving yokel during her first day at sea.

"…she's busy."

"No kidding," said Sonic.

Meanwhile, Antione was huddling and chattering his teeth while Johnny and Tails sidled the wall as they peered beyond the confines of the alley. The chaos and mayhem were starting to die down ever so slightly as the frightened and panicked citizens began to fall into line under the SWATbots and Troopers' heel, but things looked to still be frantic for a while yet. And amidst all this, Sally was down on the ground, her back slumped against the wall and her hands slowly sliding down her face like a wet rag, not sure just what she was going to do from here on out. Still, one must keep up appearances. She did her best to compose herself, standing up straight as could be while trying to act as though she knew what she was doing. "How's it looking out there?" she said.

"Not too good Princess," said Johnny. "SWATbots and Troopers are still stomping all over the city as far as the eye can see. It's a madhouse out there, and it's not going to get better any time soon."

"Same here," said Tails. "If we're going to get out of here, it's got to be now. I can try and fly up to do some reconnaissance if you want, but I might get spotted. So I'm not sure if that's really the best option here."

"Eh," said Sonic, "no need for that. You've got me, remember? And Mina. We just go in wherever they've got the King, bail him out, kick Eggman's ass, and then we can all go running off wherever. Easey-peasy!"

"Uh," said Mina, "maybe it's just me, but I don't think it's gonna be that simple. I mean, yeah, we're fast and all, but it's still just the two of us against who knows how many of them. And honestly, I don't know if I wanna get caught up in some war. I mean, I know I was born and raised in the Acorn Kingdom, a lot of us probably were, but what can we really do?"

"Don't talk like that!" said Johnny, suddenly getting rather testy, almost like a man responding vehemently to being told what he can and cannot do. "We can't just sit here and do nothing! Sure, we've gotta' be calm and we've gotta' be careful, and I'm not even sure if we can do anything about this just now, but we've gotta' do something."

Antione slowly raised one shaky finger as he got himself off the ground, doing his best to keep himself from regressing back into one big ball of shaken nerves. "Uh, if I may interject, I do agree that we should get far, FAR away from here as possible. As is, there is simply nothing that we can do. Myself and the Princess attempted to enter Robotnik's laboratory first hand and, well, I am sure you saw what became of that. It is nigh impossible to enter without being detected, and if there is a way, we need time to figure that out. I do not know about you, but I do not wish myself or the Princess or any one of us to be captured again so soon. Discretion is the better part of valor after all."

During all of this, Sonic was tapping his foot like a woodpecker. He felt as though he'd been standing in place for an eternity, and if he didn't get a chance to do something soon, he might just go insane. "Alright, I'm sick of just waiting around. Anyone who wants to come along and kick some Eggman ass, just let me know, because—"

And at long last, like a pot of water that had just reached its' boiling point, Sally finally let loose like a verbal hurricane. "THAT DOES IT! LISTEN UP, ALL OF YOU! I've listened long and hard to everything that each and every one of you has to say, but know this. I am the Princess. Now, for the time being, that's all I am. I'm not even sure I want to be Queen if it ever comes to that. But right here and now, I'm the foremost authority in this kingdom, and if I have to use it, then by Gaea I will. Even if I don't want to. But if the rest of you can't even decide on just what you want to do, then I guess I'll have to. Anyone who has a problem with this can kindly get the hell out of my Kingdom and off my island if they want to, but right now, I call the shots! GOT IT?!"

Everyone was stunned. Some were even stupefied. It was as if the Princess of the Acorn Kingdom had been born right before their very eyes and was making everyone aware of this fact. Even Sonic of all people was blindsided.

Sally then took a deep long breath, almost as if she didn't even know she had it in her and was doing her best to let it sink within herself once more. But now that it had been unearthed, this was a part of her that was never entirely going away. "That said, I would appreciate any advice any of you can give. I don't even really know most of you, but I do know you're all trying to help. Besides, introductions can come later. In any case," she said, wiping a tear from her eye," Antione is right. I really don't want to admit it, but he is. I don't want to just leave Daddy there. I really don't. And I would give anything to rescue him. But right now, there's nothing we can do. We need to regroup, and we need time, and we need a plan. And right here, right now, we have none of those things. I hate myself for saying this, but we need to leave. Now."

Sonic was about to say Sally wasn't the boss of him, but a grim glare from Sonia, just finished with heaving into the trash can,, took care of that. He didn't like this one bit, but he'd go along with it for now. Where else did he have to go?

Anywhere really. Anywhere but here.

"And just where are we supposed to go?", said Sonic, in one last show of defiance.

"There is one place," said Sally, "and it isn't even that far from here."

"And where's that?", said Manic.

"Knothole Forest," said Sally.

"I've heard of that place," said Johnny. "It's without a doubt the largest forest on the island. And easy to get lost in."

"Quite right," said Sally, "which means Eggman's never going to be able to find us."

"Doesn't that also mean we wouldn't be able to find each other? If we got lost or separated I mean?", said Tails.

"If you've got any other suggestions," said Sally, "I'm happy to hear them, but that's our best bet. And unless anyone knows of somewhere else just as viable, then this isn't up for debate. Understand?"

Silence fell in the alleyway, which only made the cacophony of screams and gunshots all the more noticeable and unbearable. No-one seemed to object, whether it be because they thought it would be too much trouble, because they were impressed by her sheer gusto, because they just thought she was right, or some combination thereof. In any case, the decree went unquestioned, a fact that she was both pleased and slightly uncomfortable with. "Right then," she said. She then looked firmly at Sonic and Mina, as if she were appraising two precious items of worth. "Honestly," she said, "I have no clue how you two do it, but right now, I don't care. As far as I can tell, you're the two fastest things alive, and the only way we're going to get out of here is with you two. Do you think you're up to it?"

Mina started to tremble, her knees knocking as if she were being called upon to suddenly perform an entire symphony on the spot. "Um, well, I guess? Maybe? It's just, I think I was fine when we were all in the thick of it and it was do or die, but now I can think about it and stuff and I just—"

Sonia, now fully recovered from her expulsion of her bodily substances into the nearest deposit for such things, placed two fingers on her lips and looked at her as if to say, 'Don't worry.' "You've got this sister. You just gotta believe in yourself." And that was all it took for Mina to get herself together.

"Alright, said Mina. "I can do this. You can count on me."

"Glad to hear it," said Sally. She then turned to Sonic who was busy looking up at the billowing columns of smoke high in the sky while crossing his shoulders and pouting like a two-year-old. "How about you?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Sonic, "fine. Just grab on or whatever, I guess."

Sally looked at him as flat as a pancake. "You really know how to charm a lady, don't you?"

"To be honest," said Tails, "he's gotten better! I think."

"If you say so," said Sally. "All I know is that he and the mongoose are our tickets out of here. And that's all that matters right now. I just have to keep telling myself that."

"And what's that supposed to mean?", said Sonic.

"It means," said Johnny, "shut your piehole and help get us out of here, will you?"

"Fine, fine."

"Alright," said Sally, "I'll grab hold of Sonic and, I don't know, Johnny can grab hold of Mina, and the rest of you just make sure that each line's more or less even. Better safe than sorry." And they did so. Sally, Antione, and Tails were on Sonic's line, while Johnny, Sonia, and Manic were on Mina's. Two lines of four ready to book it. "Everyone ready?"

"Yes?" said Antione.

"Yup!", said Tails.

"Roger," said Johnny.

"You got it!", said Sonia.

"You bet!", said Manic.

"Um, I guess?", said Mina.

"Yeah, yeah, ready," said Sonic, not seeming to give a darn either way.

"Right," said Sally. "On the count of 3. 3… 2… 1… BLAST OFF!"

And blast off they did.