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Also, this is not betaed, so if it sounds crappy or anything, tell me clean and plainly; I really need the feedback. And Alysa, if you're reading this chapter, please know that I'm using my phone bill to get this posted; the internet is still as freaking crappy as ever. Sorry.

Warning: OC alert! If my OC sounds like a Gary stu, give me the proverbial kick in the butt. I really need to learn how to be a better writer, so don't hold back. Just don't be rude in telling me and no flames too, just pure constructive criticism.

Disclaimer: *Looks into money pouch* I got dust, spiderwebs, a small house lizard and some flies. Will that work? *Gets kicked out*

Chapter 7 – The Search Begins

"Sigh…"

Lupe closed her eyes, letting out another brief sigh once more as she rested her cheek on the palm of her hand. Most of the time, she would appear to be unaffected by the prospect of the future or unshaken by the possibilities and the things that could have gone wrong at any moment, but once in a while, she would have those doubts in her mind.

Could they pull it off? Would they get away without being robotized, injured or worse, dead? Could they save Mobius from Robotnik's tyranny? If it were a small mission, like the ones they did in an attempt to slow down Robotnik's factories, Lupe would easily brush off those doubts. There was not much to worry about, and the SWATbots were not all that difficult to handle.

However, this was not a small time mission. This was huge. This was the Doomsday project they were talking about, one so large that it could easily overshadow the incident years ago when Robotnik took over Mobotropolis and the Acorn Kingdom. The first incident had crippled Mobius and her inhabitants into an already horribly state. What would happen if something even worse than that happened…?

How many more lives would be lost to the roboticizer or the jackals of the underworld?

"Sigh…"

"That's one heavy sigh."

At the comment, Lupe looked up to the speaker. It was the bartender, a maned wolf mobian looking about a year older than her. He looked completely average with his common black-tipped red fur for his species, but his eyes were pale, unseeing, and Lupe sucked in a sharp gasp.

The maned wolf rolled his eyes at that. "Now, now, just because I am blind, it does not mean you have to react that way."

"I apologize," Lupe immediately replied.

"Don't be sorry; I received a lot of the same reactions from others and it is just mildly irritating," the maned wolf sighed, waving off Lupe's apology. "However, just because I'm blind does not mean I'm deaf, and even though I can't see you, I know for sure something's bothering you. Why not spill the beans?"

Lupe raised an eyebrow at the maned wolf's rather blunt approach. "If you want to know something, why make your intention blatantly obvious?" she asked. "If you think that will make them give you answers, you might want to rethink again."

"I'm a bartender, and this is a bar. Do you know what mobians who come to bars do?" the maned wolf asked in a way that seemed to imply that Lupe was a child who did not understand why water is wet.

Without waiting for Lupe to reply, he bulldozed onwards. "They drink. And when they are good and drunk, their tongues loosened up and due to my blind state, my hearing is better, which makes hiding their rambles that much harder."

The last part was barked in a sarcastic way and it irritated Lupe. The maned wolf was definitely not one to sugarcoat things or beat around the bush. He was too…brazen, if that was the right word to describe him. Not to mention, the way he talked to her as if he was speaking to a child did not give him any points as well.

"I see. Well then, I must be the first to come here just to muse rather than drink myself to a stupor. I have no time for those kind of things as well," Lupe huffed. "And since you apparently think your bar is a place for drunken mobians to rant about their misfortunes, I will be on my way."

"Aren't ya a snappy one?" the maned wolf drawled. "Well then, oh-snappy-one, you must know that a drink is not the only way to get someone to talk. I know of other methods as well, and one of them is by telling you this."

Reaching blindly behind him, he muttered some curses under his breath as he tried to locate a chair. Unfortunately, his attempts merely led him to tripping over his abnormally long tail and hitting his head against the furniture he was looking for. "Damn…I should have tied the stupid thing up," he mumbled to himself. "At least, I found what I am looking for."

The strange behavior caught Lupe a bit off guard. His actions and reactions were strangely…comedic in a way. His expressions were too expressive as well, as if he was wearing his heart on his sleeve. 'From his blunt attitude, it is not very surprising that he rarely hides his emotions…' Lupe deduced.

"Alright," the maned wolf spoke, snapping Lupe out of her thoughts. "The doctor is in the house, so please feel free to talk about whatever is on your mind." At her silence, the maned wolf continued, "Look, if it makes you feel better, I won't spill a word about whatever you tell me. I've kept a lot of secrets for others before. Also, talking to a stranger you will never see again helps get some weight off of your chest. So, sounds good?"

"…Why are you persistent on making me talk about my troubles?" Lupe asked instead.

"Snappy-one, these are dark times. All the mobians are suffering. They have lost something precious to them, whether it be something as important as a loved one or something as trivial as the smell of fresh air. During the younger years of Lower Mobius, I have seen many mobians come to the bar, heavy and weighed by whatever that is troubling them," the maned wolf replied, resting his head on his folded arms.

"I'm just a bartender, a stranger to them, and have no right to anything about them. However, what I can do is offer them a drink, let them drown their sorrows away and listen as they ramble about their troubles to me. It is not much, but it lifts the weight up a bit, see?" he asked, a whimsical smile appearing on his face.

"Right now, I don't know who you are, let alone your name. However, what I do know is that you are one of those troubled people who come into my bar, and like all the others before you, what I do now is offer you a drink – though from what I have heard, you're not the type to drink until you are drunk, so I'll skip that – and let you talk about whatever is rolling through your mind. Of course, if you are more of a conversation type, I can pick up some topics."

"While I do thank you for your thoughtfulness, I do not have time to talk," Lupe grunted. "There are things to be done and things to be accomplished."

"Overworking yourself ain't gonna help ya in the long run," the maned wolf huffed. "Why not just take a break? It's like taking a nap; it refreshes your mind and helps you get some needed rest. Everyone loves naps too! So, why not take a break? You can go back to being your worrywart self after this, but for now, loosen up a bit, why don't cha?"

"...You are awfully persistent."

"I know. It's a part of my charm."

"And annoying."

"Ye-, hey, what?! Oi! I ain't annoying!"

The pure flustered look on the maned wolf's face and his reaction made Lupe's lips twitch upwards a bit. Thank goodness the mobian was blind, or she would probably never live it down.

The lights in the bar suddenly flickered and started to dim. The soft steady hum from before became even softer and lower, which grabbed both of the mobians' attention. "What's going on?" Lupe asked, a frown now on her face.

"It is a brownout, in simple words," the maned wolf sighed, worry now clouding his features. "The energy chamber we have here will not last long. Griff told us not to worry about it, but at the rate things were going, I wonder if-."

"Lupe!"

At the sound of Sally's voice, Lupe turned to see the princess running over to her. "I've finished talking over with Tails. He and Antoine are now heading back to Knothole, where we will meet them. Griff offered to give us a ride there," Sally quickly explained. "We better hurry though, before the Ratbots start roaming around."

Lupe nodded in acknowledgement and quickly got out of her seat, following the princess as they headed to where Griff was waiting for them in the hovercraft. The maned wolf listened as their footsteps faded away before letting out a soft sigh. "Ah…Lupe, the leader of the Wolf Pack…. I wonder if Maia is doing alright…"

With his musings to keep him company, the maned wolf went back on his job, as if nothing had happened at all.

Sometime during the brownout

Griff's expression was a perfect picture of worry and fear as he looked at the energy chamber from its control center. The glowing crystal was starting to lose its light, and it was never a good sign for anyone living in Lower Mobius.

The warthog mobian from before pressed some buttons and the glow returned. "I doubt it will last another twenty four hours, Griff."

"We have to do something," Griff told the warthog. "The Freedom Fighters have discovered an energy source of sorts, something about emeralds with a lot of power. I have not seen them yet, but I believe it might just be what we need. They also spoke about Power Rings…and if the rumors are true, that will be just enough to power the chamber for a long time. However, they're very protective of it; hardly spoke much about it at all."

"This calls for drastic measures. Can they help us?" the warthog questioned Griff.

"I don't know yet it we can trust them," was the reply as Griff rested his hand on his palm and thought over the issue. "But I know what to do."

At that moment, Sally entered the center. "Griff, can you help us get back to the surface?" she asked.

The question had Griff blinking in surprise, pleasant surprise at that. 'Whoa. That was faster than I thought… Perfect.'

And now, back to the present

The ride through the pipelines was smooth with no interruption, just like their trip to Lower Mobius. Soon, they were out of Robotropolis and speeding back to the Great Forest. On the way, Sally was deep in thought, pondering over whether she should inform Griff of the situation or not.

On one hand, she did not want to spread panic and worry Griff or any of the Lower Mobius' inhabitants, not after the hospitality they had shown her and Lupe. On the other though, she did not think it was wise to keep something as threatening as the Doomsday project from the mobians, especially those living right under Robotropolis.

"This is really beautiful," Griff suddenly commented, bring Sally out of her thoughts. "It must be amazing, to be living in a place like this…"

"It is," Sally agreed, pushing aside the decision for a brief moment. 'Maybe…in return for Griff's hospitality, I could show him around, let him see Knothole, and then, I could decide…' Thinking it was the best course of action, she kept quiet.

The hovercraft soon came to a gentle stop as it landed lightly on the ground. "Home sweet home," Griff said, making Sally giggle.

"Would you like a Knothole tour?" Sally asked as she got off the hovercraft.

Griff moved to refuse at first, but he thought better of it. 'This might be my chance…' With that, he gave Sally a charming smile and replied, "I would love to."

Lupe merely raised an eyebrow at that while Sally smiled. The princess then turned to Lupe and added, "Lupe, you can spend the night here. We have plenty of room, and our communication devices are here as well. You can call your headquarters."

"Thank you princess. I will."

When they arrived in Knothole, Sally was greeted by a ball of yellow-gold fur tackling her. "Aunt Sally!" the ball cried, revealing to be Tails curled up and hugging her tightly.

"Tails!" Sally laughed, also happy to see the little Kitsune. Even though they just saw each other through the communication device, real life was another thing. "Tails, has anyone else came by?"

Tails' ears drooped and the fox shook his head. "Sorry Aunt Sally, but no. I've tried calling others, but we didn't bring our communication watches in the first place, so…"

Sally sighed. "It's alright, Tails. We'll find them. Who knows? Maybe they're headed to Knothole too," she told Tails in an attempt to cheer him up. "Now, let's get to work. The sooner we find the emeralds, the better."

Tails perked up at that and got off of Sally. "Aunt Sally, I made the device! It just needs a Power Ring before it is ready to go!"

"Great! In the meantime, can you take Lupe to a free room? She wants to stay for the night," Sally told Tails, gesturing back to Lupe.

"Sure!" Tails replied with a nod as he turned towards Lupe.

However, the wolf held up a hand, shaking her head. "I want to call the headquarters first," Lupe informed Tails. "Maybe this way, I can contact the other Freedom Fighters too."

The fox nodded in understanding before he noticed the other mobian standing next to Lupe. "Who's this?" he asked.

"Tails, this is Griff from Lower Mobius. I plan on giving him a tour (and informing him of something)," Sally replied as she took Griff's arm in hers and led him away.

Tails tilted his head as he watched her walk away. He had a thought about Griff, but he decided not to say it out loud. If Sally wanted to give Griff a tour, then she could give him a tour. As long as Sally was safe, of course.

Throughout the day, Sally showed Griff around. She took him through the Knothole village and showed him Rotor's workshop, their homes and the meeting room.

"And finally, this is the Power Lake," Sally said as she led Griff to a lake. They walked across a log acting as a platform and looked down at the surface. "This is where we get our Power Rings."

"That sounds very nice, but I'm not sure I quite understand," Griff commented, his reflection mirroring his thoughtful frown. It soon disappeared as a spot on the lake's surface bubbled and glowed softly.

"Great! We're in luck; a ring is coming," Sally smiled, kneeling down to get a closer look.

The bubbling spot soon gave way to reveal a glowing gold ring rising out of the lake. Sally grabbed it as soon as she could and held it up to show it to Griff, who watched with wide-eyed amazement. "It's magnificent."

"Now, let's get this back to Tails. He'll be able to create the device we need to find those Chaos Emeralds with this," Sally told Griff as she headed back to Knothole, making a beeline for Rotor's workshop.

Griff followed at a more sedate pace, plans running through his mind.

"Great Sally!" Tails exclaimed when the princess came in bearing the Power Ring. "I finished the device too. All I need is to insert the Power Ring into this container here..." The kit took the ring from Sally and placed it in position. "And that should do it!"

The ring glowed brightly from behind the glass cover and the device lit up. On a screen, several waves began to appear, moving into a pattern of wavelengths.

"Can I borrow Nicole for a while, please?" Tails asked.

Sally's lips tilted into a small frown. "Why do you need Nicole?"

"The device is not exactly perfect. It does not have a map function, so I need Nicole for that," Tails explained. Sally's frown disappeared and she easily handed Nicole over. "Thanks Sally."

Tails pressed some buttons on Nicole and the device, syncing them. Nicole's screen flashed before a hologram of a map appeared. Three dots blinked on it. One was in Knothole, where the Power Lake was. The other two were in different places. One was in Lower Mobius and the other was in the Great Forest, somewhere further away from Knothole.

"That's it! We did it! Those dots are the Chaos Emeralds, except for that one. I think that's the Power Lake, since this is a Power Ring," Tails explained, his tails wagging in excitement. "Now, we just need to mark them on a map and find them!"

Sally smiled. "Great work Tails! Lupe, Griff and I can get the one in Lower Mobius."

"And Antoine and I will handle the one in the Great Forest!" Tails added. Seeing Sally's concerned look, Tails pouted. "Come on, Aunt Sally! I can take care of myself, and Antoine can too!"

Sally had to admit, Tails was right. The little fox was not so little anymore. However, Antoine on the other hand...while he was the older among the two, he was also cowardly and...

"We'll be fine Aunt Sally! It's in the Great Forest too! Nowhere near the city," Tails pointed out. "We'll be near home at all times too!"

Sally sighed, giving in. "Alright Tails, but promise you'll come back as soon as you're done, understand?"

Tails grinned and playfully saluted. "Aye aye!"

Now, with the goals established, the search can begin...

Somewhere in the Great Jungle

It had been nearly over two hours since they arrived in the jungle, and they still had not reached their destination. If it were a normal jungle, they would not mind the extremely long walk. However…

"Look out!"

Bunnie took a leap and tackled Maia off the cliff (not much of a cliff though), just in time before one of those creeping vines managed to get a hold of the wolf's leg. Maia yelped but quickly reoriented herself and looked around for the threat, and spotted a different one.

"Bunnie, below!"

The cyborg rabbit looked down and saw that her push had sent them heading straight for a large patch of quicksand below. Before she could react, Maia grabbed Bunnie with one hand and a vine (not one of those alive ones, thankfully) with the other. Using it, they swung over the quicksand.

Unfortunately, their momentum was, again, too much and the vine snapped. It took quick-thinking on Bunnie's part to get out the remote Rotor made for her extendable legs and pressed a few buttons that had her robotic legs stretching out and landing on dry land.

"Hope this wwwwwooooooorrrrrkkkksssss!" Bunnie shouted as she braced herself, using the firm hold she had with her feet and shortening them again so that they pulled herself and Maia along.

Maia yelped loudly and waved her arms around, also praying that they did not fall back and right into the deadly pit of sinking sand. A few heart-racing moments later and the two fell into a heap on the dry land, panting and sighing in relief.

"That was a close call. Ya alright there sugar?" Bunnie asked, looking over at her golden-furred companion.

"Yeah…just shaken up… Give me a dry desert plain or a meadow any day. A jungle is so not my thing!" Maia panted, the hand that grabbed the vine shaking. "Gosh, I get heebie-jeebies just touching vines after knowing that they can move…and…" The sentence ended with a shudder as the she-wolf got up onto her feet.

Bunnie did the same and the two continued on their way. 'I wish we found the terapods; it would be great if we had a guide to the bay Maia was talking about. I bet it is Boulder Bay. It would be so much easier if we found the pod and went along with them…'

Bunnie shook her head. 'No way is that happening; with Robotnik having given up on the terapods after what happened last time, they probably used the old route instead of through the Great Jungle…'

And the surveillance robot continued to watch them, their images reflected in its lens.