Rise of the Grandmasters Episode 10: Thicker Than Water Part 1
On a different side of Mobius, in the desert area, Eve along with Jazz, Bunnie, and Sonia are heading towards Sand Blast City to meet up with the Sand Blast Freedom Fighters. Of course, it's much to their dismay to meet up with them. As for transportation, Eve uses her speed, Bunnie her rocket in her feet, and Sonia uses her motorbike. Jazz is hanging on to Eve's quills.
"Not bad, sugah-hog. You've been keeping pace the whole trip," Bunnie says.
"Maybe so, but I remember you and Sonia aren't as fast as me so I can't leave you guys behind," Eve says.
Sonia looks on the map of her motorbike," We're almost to Sand Blast City, and soon we're about to deal with the Sand Blast Freedom Fighters." She sighs and says, "Again."
"Ah don't understand why we have to answer their call for back-up, considering' last time. It's not like they specifically asked for us," Bunnie asks, gritting her teeth.
"No… but what other team knows them as well as we do? We're helping everyone else out by going. Must as I hate to do it when it comes to them," Eve says.
Then says, "Even I don't understand why we can't cut ties with them after the stunts they pulled on us."
"I'm sure we'll do fine. We have backup at New Mobotropolis if anything goes wrong," Sonia says.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. The sooner we deal with them, the sooner we can head home and not be around them," Eve says.
"Good. Race you the rest of the way!" Bunnie shouts and flies ahead.
"Hey! No head start, Bunnie!" Eve says, and speeds ahead.
"Wait!" Sonia calls out.
She chuckles, "Whatever. It's been a while."
Then drives her motorbike at top speed. The girls continue to race through the desert area until they reach towards their destination. Since Bunnie has a bird's eye view, she can see a large city that is covered by what looks like a protective bubble.
Bunnie shields her eyes from above to see the city, "There's Sand Blast City. As ugly as evah. It looks like they really are having trouble with the…"
Suddenly, Bunnie's robotic arm and legs are beginning to short circuited.
She starts to pancis, "... Wait. What's goin' on with mah…?!"
Soon, Bunnie begins to love control and is starting to fall. Eve and Sonia notice as they see Bunnie falling into the ravine.
They shout, "Bunnie!"
"That's just great. We came to help, and the Sand Blasters double-crossed us, Big Stinking surprises!" Eve angrily says.
"We can't just assume it's them. Maybe it's the Legionnaires," Sonia says.
"Oh I know it's the Sand Blasters. The Legionnaires wouldn't risk short circuiting their cybernetics. Either way, we need to go to Bunnie and meet up with those jerks," Eve says.
"Alright. I'll go find Bunnie, and you go meet up with the Sand Blasters," Sonia says.
"Way ahead of you, cuz," Eve says.
Eve then uses her spin dash to burial under the ground to get under the protective force field and to the city. Sonia continues to drive her motorbike down the hill and into the ravine. Soon enough, she sees Bunnie has crashed down into the hand. Sonia crashes and speeds over on her motorbike. Once there, she jumps off and runs to Bunnie's aid.
"Bunnie, are you okay?! Bunnie?!" Sonia panics as she kneels towards her.
Bunnie groans as her eyes close. Sonia shakes Bunnie by her shoulder, but isn't waking up. Sonia suspects Bunnie must have lost consciousness after she crashed.
"I need to get Eve right away," Sonia says.
Suddenly, someone shouts, "Freeze!"
Sonia looks around to see that she has been surrounded by Dark Legionnaires with guns. Seeing there is no hope to escape, Sonia stands up and has her arms raised in the air. Soon, the Legionnaires walk over to take them away to their HQ.
Meanwhile, in the city, three of the Sand Blast Freedom Fighters are working on supplies.
There's Jolt the Roadrunner. A green woodpecker with blue eyes with a tall tail of green feathers and large plumes on top. He is wearing a purple shirt and jacket, white gloves, red spats-like boots, and a belt with a sheathed dagger.
Shift E. Wolf. A scruffy male wolf with brown fur and blue eyes. He wears a red-brown vest, studded belt and wristbands, and red-brown boots.
And lastly, Avery the Bear. He stout with brown fur and blue eyes. He is wearing a light blue shirt, a tool belt with tools, a yellow bandana, black fingerless gloves and boots.
Avery carries the box as he turns to his teammates, "C'mon, boys! We gotta move this gear up!"
Just then, spouting out of the round is a red and black color ball, which is Eve's spin dash. She lands on the ground and shakes the dirt out of her quills.
"Phew! I forget burning in dry dirt is a challenge," Eve says.
"Chao Chao!" Jazz replies and shakes the dirt off of her.
Jolt the Woodpecker grins and says, "Well well, look what the cat dragged in."
Eve looks to see Jolt, Swift E and Avery. Recognizing them to be part of the Sand Blasters.
"If it isn't little Eve. Where's brother, Sonic?" Swift E. says with a grin.
"Looks like I came to the right place. I have a few words to say to you. But, first, where's Jack. And second, why did you attack Bunnie like that?" Eve firmly demands.
"We haven't had the displeasure of her company in some time," Swift E. firmly says.
"Then how would you explain about her falling out of the sky?" Eve interrogates.
"Chao Chao!" Jazz angrily says.
Suddenly, someone grabs Eve by her arm and she turns her head to see another Sand Blast Freedom Fighter: Tex the Lizard. A green and yellow lizard with a rough, scaly appearance. His hands and feet are thick and clawed. He's wearing a tan vest, tan gloves, red belt and three white fangs strung as a necklace.
"Thank ya kindly Tex," A voice says.
Eve turns with a scowl expression to see the leader of the Sand Blasters: Jack the Rabbit. He's a gray and white rabbit with one blue eye, the left being covered with a patch. His right ear is damaged, missing a rough chunk from its side. He wears a dark blue shirt, rusty gold shoulder pads, white wraps on his limbs and a belt with pouches, and heavy blue boots with buckles. What's more, he is holding a gun towards Eve.
Jack questions, "Now then… what in tarnation are you doin' back in my city?"
"Bunnie, Sonia and I came because of the distress call you guys sent. And then you guys knocked Bunnie out of the sky," Eve firmly says with her arms crossed.
"We just wanted some back-up. We don't want you! And we didn't knock nobody out of the sky," Jack says.
Suddenly, Jolt speaks up ,"Oh, boss! Hey, boss!"
"Not now, Jolt," Jack sternly says.
Then Jolt says with laughter, "No, listen! That Rabbot chick is half-robot, right?! What you wanna bet Avery's E.M.P-field knocked her out of the sky? Ha ha ha!"
Eve firmly crosses her arms, glaring at Jolt.
"Heh. I bet you're right. Still, I tolja to shut up," Jack says.
Then turns to Tex, "Tex, give him one for disobeying orders."
With that, Tex punches him, making Jolt scream, "What?! No Hey… Ow!"
Eve turns to Jack and questions, "E.M.P huh?"
"Yeah. Avery here built us some E.M.P Beacons or Electro-Magnetic Pulse Beacons around the city, keeps the Dark Egg Legion from gettin' too close if our shield goes down. Bunnue musta been knocked out by one o' them," Jack says.
"Fine 'honest' mistake. What happened to her? Sonia went to find her after Bunnie fell," Eve calmly says, still having her arms crossed.
Jack approaches Eve and says, "Well, somethin' feel from the sky, an' the Legion grabbed it and turned tail. I reckon they've been captured by now. We might be willin' to help rescue them… if you help us with one li'l project. Then wraps his arm around Eve's shoulder.
"Which is?" Eve calmly asks.
"Just helping us take over Dr. Eggman's base," Jack says with a grin.
Seeing no other options, Eve calmly says, "... deal."
Just then, Tex says to the group, "Y'hear that, boys? Eve the Hedgehog's gonna let bygones be bygones!"
Then the three Freedom Fighters snicker and give off sinister tones.
Jack Let's Eve go and says, "Then we'll see 'bout Bunnie and Sonic. They'll be fine in company, anyway." Then walks away.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Eve calmly asks.
Soon Eve and the Sand Blast Freedom Fighters begin to walk around the city.
Soon, Jack questions Eve, "You remember all the Robians that terrorized us a while back?"
"Yeah. It's not easy to forget. The Robian attacked the city under Eggman's control. You tried to keep me and Sonic as weapons against them. And set them on Bunnie after you captured her," Eve says, trying to remain calm.
"Details, details. Not long back, they all got turned back to normal. We took em in…" Jack says, walking towards a Freedom Fighter with a captured Legionnaire.
He then angrily removes the Legionnaire's hood to reveal a rabbit with cybernetic, ".. Only fer them to go running back to Eggman so they could be Legionized!"
Eve is confused and says, "I don't get it… they willingly went back to Eggman?
"Sho'nuff. Now they run his Oil Ocean Refinery. Which you're gonna help us win for ourselves," Jack says.
Eve says in her thoughts, "Hmm, it doesn't make much sense, why would some of the people turn back to Mobians join Eggman willingly, and the way Jack is acting towards them. There's more to Jack's story than what he's letting on. Of course, he and his shady gang have the habit of stretching the truth before. Better play along, until I can get Sonia and Bunnie rescued, while I have the chance."
Eve sighs and says, "Fine, I get it. So when do you plan on taking over the refinery?"
"First thing in the morning," Jack answers.
Meanwhile, Bunnie is still unconscious while laying on a bed with her hat hanging on the pole of the bed frame and her jacket folded neatly on the floor.
Soon, Bunnie begins to regain consciousness, "ugh… what in the hoo-hah happened…?"
"Bunnie, are you okay?" Sonia's voice speaks.
Bunnie slowly opens her eyes to see Sonia looking deeply concerned.
"Sonia, what in tarnation… what happened?" Bunnie asks, waking up.
"Well, you were unconscious when I found you, but Eve went to confront the Sand Blasters to see if they had anything to do with it… and well… we're kind of…" Sonia says, turning her head back.
Bunnie sits up and looks to see what Sonia is looking at. To her shock, she can see two Legionnaires.
"Legionnaire!" Bunnie says, shocked.
Then quickly stands in front of Bunnie, "Think y'all can hold us prisoner?!"
One of them panics, "Wha-what?! We were ordered to rescue you when you fell from the sky!"
But Bunnie quickly grabs one of them and is ready to punch the Legionnaire in the face.
The other one calls out, "Baron! Baron!"
"Bunnie wait…" Sonia calls out.
Suddenly, someone says, "Now hold on there, Buns."
Hearing the voice makes Bunnie go into shock, "Oh mah stars…"
She turns her head to see the 'Baron walking into the tent. Seeing his appearance, Bunnie is shocked to see a face she hasn't seen in a long time. The 'Baron' is a yellow rabbit with a white muzzle and blue/grey eyes. He has bushy eyebrows and his brown hair is styled into thick dreadlocks adorned with gray and red beads. He has a long pair of ears, forced down by the brown hat he's wearing, a long brown coat with a red tie in the front, black Eggman-style bottoms and a blue fingerless glove on his left hand. He also has cybernetics, the most obvious of which being his robotic right arm.
The rabbit smiles and says, "Yer among friends, sweet-heart."
Bunnie begins to shed tears from her eyes to see the rabbit. She runs towards him with glee, "Uncle Beaureguard!"
Then hugs him as the Baron does the same.
Bunnie happily says, "Ah didn't think ah'd ever see you again!"
"Same here, darlin'. Oh, I missed you," Beaureguard says happily.
Sonia can't help but smile to see the happy reunion. The two rabbits stop the embrace to see each other's faces.
However, Bunnie realizes something that comes to mind, "But… you…" she steps back to look around, "... You're… Dark Egg Legion?"
"Yes'm. Grandmaster. Aren't you?" Beauregard asks.
Bunnie answers, "No… no, Uncle Beau. Ah'm a Freedom Fighter. Sonia is too."
There is a moment of silence in the room.
Beaureguard turns to the Legionnaires and says, "Boys, will y'all excuse us for a bit?"
The Legionnaires nod their heads and leave the tent.
Sonia walks to Bunnie, "Bunnie, do you need some time alone with your uh, uncle?"
"Yeah. I really appreciate it," Bunnie says.
Sonia nods her head and leaves the tent with the Legionnaires. Soon, Bunnie and her uncle remain inside.
Beauregard sits down on the chair close by and says, "Ah think we've got a bit of catchin' up to do, sweet-heart."
Bunnie nods her head and sits down on the bed.
Now the two are sitting down, Beauregard asks, "If you're not Legion, how'd you get your robot limbs?"
Bunnie sighs and looks at her robotic arm, "During the Coup at Mobotropolis a long time ago, I pushed Sally out of the way and was caught under fallen debris and my body was badly damaged. My friends were able to save me, but my body was badly damaged. Sonic's father, Uncle Chuck and Allena were able to save me, but I had to get these robotic limbs using a machine that is similar to the roboticizer. My friends did everything they could to help cope with the changes to my body."
"And you became a Freedom Fighter after that? Ah gotta say, ah'm proud of you," Beauregard says, that makes Bunnie smile.
Her uncle then asks, "Did everyone start sayin' 'rah-bot' instead of 'rah-boh'? Ah get that all the time."
But Bunnie blushes and says, "Well, either now… it's 'Mrs. D' Coolette." then shows her uncle the wedding ring on her robotic finger.
Beauregard is beyond shocked and happy, "Mah little Buns done got herself married? Oh, mah stars! Ah blinked, and you grew up!"
"Ah… ah wish you could've been there!" Bunnie says happily.
Beauregard is happy, but sighs and says, "Even if that is the family name of soldiers bent on protecting the royalty."
"Antoine is a good man, Uncle Beau. He's been the most supportive to me since the incident. Please don't start this now. Not when we just got each other back," Bunnie says with a frown.
Beaureguard raises his hand calmly and says, "All right, all right. But given yer a Freedom Fighter and ah'm with the Legion, ah don't know how long we can keep the peace."
That makes Bunnie asks, "Why the Legion? Regardless of what's happened between the Kingdom and the Baronies, how could you side with Eggman?"
"Aw. Legionization ain't all bad…" Beaureguard says, and taps his robotic leg, "Fixed my bum knee, after all."
"Ah'm serious," Bunnie replies.
"Ah know, and there's no sense keepin' it from you. Seein' as yer all grown up," Beaureguard says.
He stands up and walks to the drapes, and uses his cane to open it, "Walk with me, sweet-heart."
Soon enough, Bunnie gets her jacket and hat and puts it on. Then the two walk together in the Headquarters of the Legion.
Beauregard explains, "We used to be Robians. Slaves to Dr. Robotnik and cannon-fodder set against Sand Blast City…"
Bunnie looks around and sees the Legionnaires seem to be helping each other. One even helped with a heavy backpack.
Beaureguard explains, "One day, we were suddenly back to normal. Nobody's quite sure how, but we were thankful. We tried to make peace with the Sand Blasters, settle a bit before trying to get to our homes… They showed us no nervy 'Once a Robian. Always a Robian' They said. We were worse than slaves under them. They drove us into the badlands…"
"Oh no…" Bunnie says, shocked.
Sonia walks to Bunnie and Beaureguard to hear the conversation.
Sonia turns to two of the Legionnaires and asks, "Is this true?"
They both lower their heads in sadness and nod their heads.
Then Beaureguard explains, "We had no choice but to ask the Eggman Empire for help. Ah did my best to organize and protect the people…"
Just one of the Legionnaires, an armadillo walks over with a large crate over her head. She has, black fur yellow skin and green armor and green eyes. She wears a gray dress and black bottoms, and her arms are cybernetic limbs.
The armadillo asks, "Excuse me, Baron. Where did you want this?"
"Forward battery please, Matilda. Thank you kindly," Beaureguard answers.
"Of course," The Legionnaire, Matilda answers.
Sonia looks at the legionnaire with a confused look, "Matilda?" and sees her walking away.
Beauregard says to Bunnie, "We don't want to be a part of this, sweet-heart. We don't want to protect the refinery, but we ain't got a choice right now."
Sonia and Bunnie look at each other to hear Bunnie's uncle's story, and do understand the situation.
Bunnie hugs her uncle and says, "... ah understand, Uncle Beau. Ah'll do what ah can to help y'all."
"Thank you, sweet-heart," Beaureguard says, hugging her back.
Sonia is rather concerned. She knows this is Bunnie's uncle and that the ones that has been Robians had things incredibly rough since they changed back. However, they need to find a way to stop Eggman's plans, but not sure how.
The next day, Eve is with Jack and the Sand Blasters, much to her dismay. The Sand Blasters are driving in vehicles that can get them through the sandy desert.
"Nother day, 'nother fight for the refinery. Only this time will be different won't it?" Jack says and turns to Eeve and Jazz.
Jazz turns away and is pouting.
Eve rolls her eyes and says, "Yeah-yeah-yeah. The faster we win this, the faster I find Bunnie and Sonia."
Jack looks through his binoculars to see something from the distance, "Funny you should say that. Looks like the little traitors' ridin' front seat with the Legion?"
"Say what?" Eve exclaims and quickly takes out her binoculars to see Bunnie and Sonia in the hovercraft with the Dark Legion.
"That's them alright!" Eve says.
Jazz grabs onto Eve's quickly as the hedgehog says, "Change in plans, Jack. First I rescue the girls, then we take over the base!"
With that, Eve speeds off to rescue the girls.
Seeing her gone, Jack angrily says, "Aurgh! Dagnabbit!"
Meanwhile, Bunnie and Sonia are with Beaureguard and Matilda on the hovercraft, while two more are riding from close behind.
Beauregard asks, "You sho' you're okay with fighting' the Sand Blasters? They're Freedom Fighters, after all."
"Not one among 'em ah wouldn't mind thumpin, Uncle Beau," Bunnie says.
"You must mean Jack, right?" Sonia asks.
"Who else would I be talking about," Bunnie says.
"Trust me, you're not the only one who wants to give Jack a piece of her mind, especially when she hears what Jack and the Sand Blasters have done," Sonia says.
"And who would that be?" Matilda asks.
Right on cue, the black and red female hedgehog lands in front of the hovercraft and says, "Hey Dark Legion Chapter! Thanks for showing me where my friend and cousin are! Us Freedom Fighters always stick…"
Suddenly, Bunnie says, "Sorry to do this sugah-hog, but…"
She then grabs Eve by her arm and swings her in the air. Jazz lets go of Eve's quill and lands on top of Beaureguard's hat.
"But I rather you not touch him," Bunnie says.
Then throws her like a baseball. Even has been sent flying and skips a few times on the oil and splashes into the pool. Eve is able to swim out of the oil and begins to shake and wring out her quills.
She says in disgust, "Ew! Yuck! That was really gross!"
She then turns up to see Bunnie flying over them.
Eve shouts, "Hey! What's the big idea, Bunnie?!"
"Ah'm sorry about that Eve, but ah ain't letting the Sand Blasters get a hold of this place," Bunnie says.
"And I'm not about to let Eggman's goons hold on to it!" Eve says.
Then uses her Chaos Energy to levitate herself in the air, "So if it's a fight, then bring it on!"
"Knew you wouldn't back down from a fight, sugah-hog!" Bunnie says, cracking her knuckles.
With that, both Eve and Bunnie charge to have a brawl against each other.