The Knothole Mobotropolis Exploits: New Teams Arise

Team Dash

Meanwhile, Bartleby ran down the street in terror, crying, "Mumsy!" the bots were right behind him. He gasped as suddenly, from in front, more of the strange round robots alighted! Bartleby slid to a halt with a gasp. "Help!" he cried, as the robots came towards him.

Luckily, from above on a roof, someone heard. Trevor gasped on hearing the cry, then ran to the roof ledge, looking down, leaving Renee and Sario to go on, making sure at least one of them saw his pause. Sario noticed. "Bartleby?" he asked aloud, though no one was around to hear.

"Oh for pity's sake, someone help me! I'm too rich to die!" Bartleby cried.

Trevor quickly dropped his backpack and rummaged through it. "Ah ha," he said, as he dragged two weapons out, a gun and a sword. He rose up and called, "Bartleby, catch!"

Bartleby looked up in hopeful surprise. "I say, Trevor!" he called in relief. Just then Trevor threw down the sword and shot his blaster pistol at one bot, destroying it. Bartleby caught the sword. Thanking his lucky stars, he began to try and escape, slicing everything that moved, running aimlessly around calling for mercy, though the bots were steadily falling to him and Trevor.

Trevor, though, soon stopped shooting to watch Bartleby in disbelief. Bartleby was moving fast, really fast, and he was pretty darn good at handling a sword, not to mention graceful. Finally, however, the robots were downed, and Bartleby was bent over huffing and puffing, adrenaline boost gone.

Trevor grabbed a rope and swung from the roof. Landing by Bartleby, he exclaimed, "You can fight!"

Straightening up, Bartleby replied, "I can?" He looked around in surprise. Quickly regaining his composure, though, he boasted, "Oh please, I am a noble. I'm expected to learn to dance and handle a sword, if only for show; though I can't really say the same for you."

Trevor frowned, but quickly lightened up, saying, "I'm so impressed I'll actually let that slide." All at once they heard the sound of bots. They looked up in horror.

"Mumsy!" Bartleby exclaimed in terror.

Trevor grabbed his arm and pulled him behind, saying, "Come on, we've got to get to Cyrus' shop." Ahead, Trevor saw a garbage bin blocking their way. He raised his free arm and clenched his fist, utilizing a metal robotic hand to cover his own. Bartleby watched in amazement as Trevor flipped the bin out of their way without trouble! "He can help us!" Trevor added.

"What are we waiting for then, let's go!" Bartleby encouraged, taking the lead and dragging Trevor behind him.

Cyrus was humming as he worked on something in his shop. Soon enough he picked it up with a grin, then walked towards the storage unit by the doors. All at once, though, the door flew open, and Trevor raced in, calling, "Cyrus, help us!"

"What the…?" Cyrus began, looking over. He gasped and straightened up, though, on seeing the approaching bots and Bartleby. Bartleby and Trevor shut the door and stood against it panting. "Trevor, what's going on! Why's Bartleby here? Why are those weird robots following you guys?"

"Less talk, more helping please!" Bartleby begged as he and Trevor held the door shut. All at once, however, the door was banged on, bulging. Bartleby's eyes widened in terror, as did Trevor's.

"Get away from the door! They're going to blast it open!" Cyrus warned.

"I beg your pardon!" Bartleby exclaimed.

"Come on, move!" Trevor exclaimed, pulling Bartleby away from it.

Just then the door was blasted open. "I say!" Bartleby cried.

"Come on!" Cyrus cried, yanking the two up. He pointed the object he'd just been working on at the bots and shot. Three fell with one hit.

"Gotcha Cyrus," Trevor agreed, jumping up. He ran at the bots, metallic hand readied, and threw them back like nothing. Bartleby, meanwhile, retreated far against the opposite wall. Cyrus and Trevor fought desperately, but they kept coming.

"There are too many!" Cyrus exclaimed.

"Bartleby, help!" Trevor cried.

"What can he do?" Cyrus asked.

"He can fight Cyrus! He can actually fight, and he's fast too!" Trevor replied. Cyrus gasped. Just then, though, they were surrounded.

"If you can fight Bartleby, now would be a good time!" Cyrus called.

Bartleby swallowed, shaking in terror. "Help!" the two others cried as the robots prepared to finish or capture them.

"Oh bollix!" Bartleby complained. He leapt up, feeling adrenaline pump through him, then ran at the offending squadron of robots. Bartleby ran at them, sword drawn, and desperately struck at everything that moved and looked red. More than once Cyrus and Trevor had to duck, or risk being beheaded. They quickly joined Bartleby, and the three boys soon enough had disposed of the mini army.

Panting they looked around at the debris. Cyrus turned to Bartleby exclaiming, "Bartleby, that was amazing! Why haven't you fought before?"

"Oh please, I'm not inclined to battle," Bartleby answered. "Besides, why should Eggman hate me? I'm the source of his money. Well, me and the aristocracy."

"Apparently he doesn't need your help anymore," Trevor replied.

"Oh let's not get foolish," Bartleby insulted.

"This is serious Bartleby. If Eggman's come back with these new robots, there's no telling what will happen. We don't know how to deal with them. What if there are more powerful ones that are coming? The Sonic Underground mentioned ones that could turn invisible or shoot fire. We need to do something about this. We need to warn the others, then focus on defending Mobotropolis. Are you two with me, or not?" Cyrus challenged.

"I'm behind you all the way Cyrus," Trevor replied, clenching the power fist.

The two looked at Bartleby. "Oh no, not a chance," Bartleby refused.

"But…" Trevor began.

"Let me," Cyrus interrupted. "But Bartleby, we need your superior sword skills and graceful speed. If Eggman has gone this long without your patronage, he may have lost his use for you. If he decided to robotocize or kill you…"

"All right already," Bartleby cut in, looking fearful. "But if it turns out he does still need me, you can count me out."

"Good. Team Dash is in business," Cyrus declared.

"Ooh, I like the sound of that," Bartleby remarked.

"Renee is sending in a message. Mindy got away. She's joined Sario and Renee in trying to figure out these new robots. They call themselves Team Heart," Trevor remarked, reading an incoming message on a screen.

"Oh thank heavens Mindy is all right. Sonia would kill me if anything had happened to her," Bartleby dramatically said.

"Right," Cyrus replied doubtfully. Looking towards the door, he added, "We're going to need a plan. Tomorrow, we head to Knothole. The Freedom fighters there, according to Sonic, know how to deal with these new bots, and know what they're called. We can get some ideas from them and offer our help in exchange for theirs."

"Whatever you say Cyrus," Trevor replied.

"Oh goodie, a voyage," Bartleby sarcastically stated, rolling his eyes.