The Hover Cam hovered across the Aquatic Ruin Zone at high speed, but the air saucer was not very agile so they tended to hit obstacles in their path. They were tracking Sonic's location through his watch communicator and were concerned due to Sonic remaining in the same spot for half an hour. Bunnie and Antione flew alongside the saucer; Bunnie using her cyborg abilities and Antione using Sally's hover board. Tails piloted the Hover Cam with Rotor, Big, Nicole, Cream and Cheese as passengers.
"Iz Sonic still in ze same place?" Antione was as concerned as the others for the hedgehog. It was strange for him to sit still for so long. Even at night Sonic seemed to be out and about after a quick cat nap.
"Yes," Nicole said feeling heavy with uneasiness. "He seems to be in a small clearing in the middle of the forest." She stared blankly into the distance as she spoke.
"Maybe the Sugar-Hog just fell unconscious after all this stress. He has been going without rest for like ten hours straight." Bunnie jumped in and tried to reassure everybody just like Sally would have done, although, she wasn't as convincing.
"I just hope he's okay," Tails said, worrying.
"I'll bet he's napping in the shade of a tree," Cream stated sweetly. "Just waiting for us to come to him." She smiled with her big rabbit ears flapping in the wind.
"That's the spirit, Cream," Rotor roughed up her hair as he pat her on the head.
Big looked up with a dumb struck expression. "I think he's dead."
. . . . .
One foot in front of the other, running because it always seemed like they're lives depended on it. The days of running for fun seemed like a hollow memory now. They both kicked up clouds of dust behind them, but through it till was the machine. It wasn't as fast, but it had patience. Sally saw through the fading twilight the ground was ending ahead. Amy was too busy swinging her head back to the machine to notice. The humanoid machine lifted it's wrist again, but this time the blaster worked. Blue laser beams flew through the air and exploded on contact with everything it hit. They picked up they're pace as the beams burst and erupted at their heels. Sally plunged to the ground as it ended, dragging Amy with her. They both rolled down the steep hill out of control as the beams blew up dead grass and dirt blew up into the air around them. Everything spun as they were both beaten by the earth, but as quickly as it begun it was over. Sally was on her feet again, pulling Amy up. The machine remained at the top of the hill firing down at them.
"Move," Sally shouted with authority. Never letting go of her hand, Sally lead the way as they tracked across the small field toward the walls ahead.
They collapsed to the soft ground once they were safely out of sight. Amy leaned against the wall and panted. "Now can we (pant), please, (pant) sit here forever?" She brushed a quill from her face and then tried to dust off some of the dirt off herself.
"Yes," Sally whispered, completely exhausted.
"What was that thing," Amy questioned after a moment.
Sally sighed. "Amy I thought you were obsessed in all things that involve Sonic saving the world."
"Hey! I'm not obsessed!"
"Amy, the inside of your closet is like a Freedom Fighter shrine."
"Hey! That's not- Wait, how do you know what's in my closet?!"
"Do you remember the Acorn Banquet and Ball?"
"Oh, Chaos! That's right; you were helping me pick out an outfit . . . Which, by the way, you were more than useless at." Amy smirked at her own truthful joke.
Sally snorted. "Well, sorry, I'm not into all that fancy girly shit like you are." She snorted again. "Which, by the way, Amy, all of your clothes leave nothing to the imagination."
Amy's muzzle turned bright red with embarrassment as she became defensive. "How dare you say such a thing to me! Especially, considering you walked around in the nude for years! It's no wonder Eggman robotized you because it was the only way for you to start wearing clothes!" She huffed and crossed her arms.
Sally burst into laughter. She was laughing so hard her sides hurt and the more minutes that flew by with Sally's amused giggling the redder Amy's face became. "Ok- ok, I'm done," Sally snickered. "Sorry, for scarring you all those years with lack of clothes. It wasn't like I was completely nude; I had my blue vest on." She playfully shook her head and tucked at her worn vest. "I don't get why the guys can walk around with nothing on, but their fur and we can't."
"I didn't say scarring, I just-
"Oh, really?" Sally smirked.
Amy turned away and fiddled with her fingers. "We're getting off topic. Can you please just answer my question?"
Sally sighed. "It was a SWAT Bot. They were once used as police enforcement in Old Mobotropolis before Eggman betrayed the Acorn Kingdom. Then they were converted to the primary ground troops and workers during Eggman's rule. They were the backbone of the Eggman Empire back in their time. I thought all of them were either destroyed or still functioning as bouncers in Casino Night Zone."
"What are we just lucky to run into one," Amy stalely joked.
"Or Eggman wanted to have a collection of his robots in an abandoned zone that's in a secret location so he could one day have a laugh by throwing us in here to die." Sally rose to her feet and noticed her boots felt heavier. She glanced down. Mud!
"I guess that makes more sense . . . Um, Sally?" She couldn't see her face because the darkness had finally swallowed them.
Sally ignored her. Mud means water has to be close by. She searched for Amy through the darkness until she found her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Wait, what are you doing?" Sally ignored her again as she tugged her forward. Sally dragged one hand upon the ground and followed the mud. "Great, you've gone crazy. That just makes this the best day ever. What am I supposed to tell the team? Sorry, guys, but Sally went insane on our little vacation. I swear I didn't beat the crap out of her with my hammer."
Sally swung around and slammed her muddy hand over Amy's mouth. "There are probably robots and badniks of all kinds in here and they are all programed to kill us so I'd really appreciate it if you shut up, Amy." She whispered urgently.
Amy flinched and swatted Sally's hand away. "Ew! I can't believe you put your disgusting hand on my mouth. Oh, chaos, this day can't get any worse." She rubbed her mouth with her sleeve.
Sally rolled her eyes, thanking Mobius that it was too dark for Amy to see her face. "Sorry, Amy, but I think this mud will lead us to water."
Amy grabbed Sally by the shoulders and shook her. "Where is the water, Sally?! I'm dying!"
"Would you stop being so hysterical," Sally said as she took Amy's hand and began following mud trail again until she felt a cool liquid lapping at her ankles. Finally, some good news.
. . . . . . .
"Holy Chaos Emeralds," Tails gasped. Before them was the blue hedgehog they had been looking for, crumpled unconscious on the ground in a tight ball. The Hover Cam's head lights showed Sonic's bruised, beaten, and bloody body. For the first time in his life his big brother looked small. "Sonic!" His voice rose a few octaves at the sight.
"Oh mon Dieu!" Antione was the first to Sonic's side.
"Sugar Hog! Is he still alive!" Bunnie flew down and landed next him.
"Oui, he'z still breathing, but it'z shallow."
"He'd better get him back to HQ!" Rotor shouted hopping out of the hover saucer."
"There's no time," Nicole whispered sounding hopeless.
Tails jumped out of the Hover Cam and ran toward them. "Oh, Mobius, come on Sonic you can beat this. Cream, get the first aid kit!"
Cream was already on next to him before he could finish his sentence. Her mother and Dr. Quack had taught her a lot about healing and injuries. "Stand back so I can fix him up." She said softly as she opened up the kit.
"Can you help him?" Tails had tears threating to spill and his voice cracked.
"Of course, I think most of this is just from exhaustion." Her voice was amazingly sweet. She began cleaning his wounds.
Tails breathed a sigh of relief. I feel like we're all falling apart. At this rate there won't be any Freedom Fighters left.
Sorry, it's so short. Of course, I couldn't seriously injure Sonic. Where's the fun in that. I really enjoyed the banter between Sally and Amy. I thought it was funny.