FicWad

A luminous red glow broke through the darkness, emitting hardly any visual aid to Robotnik's annoyance. In attempt to bring in more light the Overlander widened his eyes, the source of the light, and moved closer to the number pad he had been trying to make function for the past hour.
After pushing in what seemed to be a random set of numbers into the keypad Robotnik glared at what he could see of the door he wanted to open, as if willing it to open with just the look. He waited for a few heartbeats before throwing a punch into the wall in front of him. From behind the door a sharp squeal of surprise sounded, followed by what sounded like piles of paper being dropped.

"Snively! This is not working," Robotnik hissed through the door; voice loud enough to penetrate the thickness. Paper shuffling answered the Overlord. Snively had once again dropped his notes. Robotnik rolled his eyes.

"Apologises, sir. But the coding computer is still being repaired, and according to the workerbot doing the repairs it could take hours just to restore the lost data," Snively explained. Robotnik was not sure, but he thought he had heard a bored tone in his lackey's voice.

Robotnik sighed and muttered to himself, "If you want something done quickly, you have to do it by force." He pressed his hand, his robotized hand, against the split of the doors and began worming his fingers between them, wincing slightly at the slight high-pitch squeal they gave. When the gap between the doors became wide enough he slapped his other hand and began pushing harder, gritting his teeth with the effort. Eventually the doors buckled and pushed away with ease, giving in under the great doctor's strength. Robotnik stepped into the room, triumphant.

But the sight he was greeted with deflated the victory in an instant. All but one of the computers in the room were off-line, some crushed by large chunks of cement, some buried. Even Snively looked like he had fallen victim to the onslaught of debris. Large gashes covered most of his body, half of his clothes were torn to shreds, and he was completely covered in dust. The larger amount of dust on his hands was evidence of his digging through the debris to uncover the one still functioning computer. Further examination revealed a portable generator, which had somehow managed to survive unscratched by the earthquake, was running the computer.

"Can this computer conduct a damage report, Snively?" Robotnik questioned. He stared at the small computer, recognising it as one of the more primitive models he had kept since his take-over of Mobotropolis. He was sure that this computer was connected to his vast network of more advanced models, but he was not sure that the old thing held all the information that circulated throughout it.

Nevertheless, Snively began typing in commands, somehow being able to remember the old computer's list of commands and functions, and called up a large file. It was indeed a damage report, recently saved. Robotnik marvelled at despite the computer's age it still was able to prove that technology was superior.

"Eighty percent of the city has been destroyed, including the Doomsday site. All SWATBots dysfunctional and are unable to receive any new orders, Sir. Condition of the Workerbots unknown," Snively read out loud. "And we have lost contact with the new space-station and outside bases." Robotnik tapped at his chin with his finger, pondering.

"This could not have been the work of the Freedom Fighters, unless they were somehow able to create an earthquake under the city. I need to be able to see the full effect of this earthquake... Are there not any robots functioning?"

Snively entered in another series of commands, calling up several windows and files. Only one out of the files revealed that there were some robots functioning, but they were kept in an abandoned area in the northern regions of Robotropolis. Miraculously that same area had survived the earthquake, if barely. From over Snively's shoulder Robotnik read the file.

"Ah, my old Rat-Bots. It has been years since I've last used them," Robotnik swooned with the love only a creator such as he would possess. Snively cringed at the display of affection. Further reading the file showed that there were over fifteen Rat-Bots stored away, deactivated, but that could be easily changed.

"Activate the whole squadron, Snively, and have them patrol the city for a complete damage report, and for any wandering Freedom Fighters. Perhaps if they do the job right I will bring them out of retirement."

"An excellent idea, Sir," Snively praised, then mentally scowled at the Overlander. It was obvious that he had forgotten why the Rat-Bots were deactivated in the first place. They all obeyed orders, but at the same time displayed the ability to think on their own, to the point where they had almost destroyed the underground tunnels they were meant to be patrolling. There were two in particular that seemed to lead the rest's actions, the original commanding Rat-Bots. Somehow during their patrols of the toxic sewers these two Rat-Bots had mutated, which could be the reason they were able to control the other Rat-Bots. Because of this all the Rat-Bots were gathered and deactivated, their memories wiped clean and stored away so as to avoid the same thing happening.

Snively observed that Robotnik had a bad memory, and that perhaps he needed it wiped clean also.

He sent out the order anyway, realising that Robotnik was now glaring at him for the delay.


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Hot blinding pain welcomed Bunnie into the conscious world. She had to close her eyes just to gather the will to block out the pain from the back of her head.
After a few moments the pain became somewhat bearable, and Bunnie was able to open her eyes. As she took in her surroundings Bunnie thought for a moment that she was back in Knothole, until she realised the walls were actually made of rocks, not wood. She also realised that she was lying on a bed, complete with pillows and bed sheets, so that told her that there were other Mobians, or at least she hoped they were Mobians, around.

"Where th' heck am Ah?" she wondered out loud, cringing at the wave of pain speaking caused. She held a hand to her head to calm the pain, then attempted to sit up.

Two things happened when she did this. The first being the massive flood of pain that came rushing over her, seemingly drowning her head and making it tread mental torment. The other was the discovery that her robotized arm was still not functioning.

Bunnie lay down once again, deciding never to try that again until she received some form of aspirin. She tried to roll to her side, however, and found that she could at least do that without causing too much damage. She looked over her robotic arm for a moment, then looked around herself again in hopes of finding perhaps a toolbox, or even a convenient screw driver somewhere. Rotor had shown her plenty of times how to open up her robotized parts and do some minor repairs in the event of an emergency, so Bunnie was hoping that this was one of those times that she would be able to do something to help herself.

The sound of footsteps made Bunnie switch positions back onto her back, the sudden movement drilling more pain into her head. She pushed away the sensation and closed her eyes, wanting to hear out who it was before letting them know that she was awake. The footsteps stopped at where Bunnie assumed was the door, then continued passed her and over to the other side of the room. Small glass jars being clicked together as they were moved around became apparent to Bunnie just before a drawer being opened.

"I know you're awake, Miss. Don't be afraid you're safe here," a male voice suddenly stated, somewhat startling Bunnie. Cautiously she allowed one eye to open, and when nothing jumped out and attacked her the other followed suit. Standing before her was a tall orange-brown goat. He had an ash-grey underbelly and a tuft of brown hair that fell over his black eyes and grew back along his neck. The two long horns protruding out of his skull looked sharp and strong, Bunnie was sure that the goat could use them to gorge through any Mobian if he wanted to, but the kind nature his face presented seemed to contradict the idea.

"How are you feeling? You've been out cold for quite a while now," the goat questioned as he walked over to Bunnie's side. On the small table near Bunnie he placed a vial of clear liquid and some white cloth, along with a roll of gauze.

"Not too bad, Ah guess," Bunnie began slowly. "Though mah head's giving me grief."

"I wouldn't be surprised at that, you have a mild concussion. You took one heck of a fall earlier," the goat explained. He then extended a hand, which Bunnie saw was hoofed, and only had two fingers and a thumb.

"I'm Griff, by the way. I sort of run the place but don't let that intimidate you," he greeted, smirking slightly. Bunnie could not help but smile as she took Griff's hoof and shook it.

"Ah'm Bunnie. Ah, um... sort of crash land into places in mah spare time."

"Not the sort of hobby I would take up, especially with the injuries that come with it." Griff cocked his head towards the wound on Bunnie's head. Bunnie lifted a hand and pressed it against the wound, only just realising that it had been bandaged up.

"Did you do this?" she asked, referring to the bandage.

"No, the doctor here did. He's with another patient at the moment, and I wanted to have a talk with you so I decided to volunteer to change the bandage for you. Will that be all right?"

"Of course."

Griff reached up and began tugging gingerly at the knots in the bandage, pulling the strands away and dropping it to the ground, but not before Bunnie spied the large blood stain that had managed to go through all the layers.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about the blood. It looks like a lot but really it's just the gauze we use that makes it spread out further. We use extra absorbent stuff for our bandages," Griff pointed out, noticing Bunnie's worried look.

"Maybe, but 'hat's still a lot of blood, sugah," Bunnie commented. Griff picked up the vial and tipped a bit of the liquid onto one of the cloths.

"This might sting a bit, just a warning."

Bunnie held her breath as the serum touched her wound, instantly sending a liquid fire through her wound. When Griff dabbed the cloth the pain worsened.

"So where are you from exactly? I've never seen you around these parts," Griff inquired as he changed cloths.

"Well first Ah need ta know where Ah am bef're answerin' that," Bunnie stated. Griff chortled and nodded.

"Of course, of course. Forgive me for that. You are in Lower Mobius, an underground colony."

Bunnie gaped at the goat like as if he had just told her they were on the moon. "Get outta town, there aren't any undahground colonies around heah! We would have known about it by now at least."

Griff paused in mid-stroke and stared at Bunnie straight in the eye. "We? As in more than one Mobian?"

"Yeah. Th're still Mobians above ground, sugah."

"I know that, it's just I haven't seen any for a while above ground. Whenever I go up there there's never anyone around," Griff retorted. He tossed the used cloth into a near by bin and reached over for the roll of gauze.

"Jerst how long have y'all been undahground, Griff?"

Griff dropped his gaze to the floor and began fidgeting with the bandage. "My whole life. Same goes for the rest of the colony."

Bunnie gasped, then began to back away from Griff. "Y'all keepin' them here as prisonahs, 'nd now y'all gonna do th' same ta me," she yelped.

"No, it's not like that at all. Please calm down and let me explain," Griff exclaimed.

"Heck no, y'all probably kidnapped me from Robotropolis aft'r that earthquake to become yer new member or sum'thang," Bunnie hissed.

"No, Bunnie please! Just let me explain, it's a bit of a long story but just hear me out okay?" Griff pleaded. Bunnie glared at the goat but relaxed her body.

"All right, Ah'm listening."

"Thank you. First off, we found you in one of our tunnels. Somehow you fell through the ground, and you were injured so we brought you back here to be treated. So far so good?"

Bunnie nodded.

"Good. Now about the colony." Griff paused a moment to look around, as if he thought someone was listening in on their conversation.

"A few months before the Great War, my grandfather had heard about the risk of the Overlanders coming into Mobian territory and didn't want to be part of it. He was a peace loving Mobian and was totally against the war.

"Anyway, he had decided to go underground in an attempt to avoid the on-coming attack and protect his family, and offered the same idea to those who wanted to do the same. Apparently there were quite a few, and they all helped to build the first tunnels. They were completed just days before the first Overlander invasions. The thing was it wasn't meant to be on a permanent basis, the original idea was to wait out the war then return to the surface.

"But the main entrance was blocked off from the constant bombings, and because of that everyone believed that everything above ground was obliterated. So they stayed underground. By then it had been almost a year since they'd been underground, and a new civilisation had been pretty much established here."

"So the original undahground dwellahs were heah by free choice?" Bunnie questioned.

"Yes, it was totally up to them. No one was forced to come here, nor stay."

"And yet Mobians chose to stay heah for two generations?"

"Well yes."

"By free will?"

"Yes, Bunnie. Although it is a sort of twisted form of free choice," Griff admitted.

"Ah knew it!"

"You see, the thing is, my grandfather a few years later discovered that the above ground world wasn't totally destroyed, and that Mobians still lived there. But everyone under here was happy and felt much safer than they would above ground, while still thinking that the war was going. Somehow he didn't want to ruin it for them, so he never told anyone what he had learnt."

"So no one now knows about life above ground?"

"No one except me and another Mobian here. Her name's Kaitlyn, she followed me once when I went above ground to look for a new power source. But before her it was just me knowing."

"That's one heck of a secret to keep from everyone, Griff. Why haven't you told them yet?" Bunnie questioned.

"First, because I doubt they'd believe me. It's gotten to the point where possible life above ground has become a myth, if anything an element of new fairy tales being told here to the children. And second, it was my father's dying wish to not say anything, as was his father's. I feel like I'm betraying my father and his father if I tell them the truth."

Bunnie leaned back against the wall and rubbed her head, feeling a nasty headache coming. "Quite a predicament y'all gotten yaself in ta," she quipped.

"Tell me about it. I've been tempted so many times to just scream it to everyone just so I can sleep at night." Griff pawed at his eyes tiredly. "What is life like up there, anyway?"

Bunnie shrugged. "Not th' greatest, to be honest. Although the fresh air and the big blue sky really make up fer it. Not ta mention the wide-open spaces and natural light. th' only thang that spoils it is Robotnik and his death grip."

"Oh Robotnik I know a bit about. I've been stealing old robot parts from his junkyard for a few years now, though I've never seen him, nor heard enough about him except for the fact he exists," Griff said.

"That's all ya need ta know about him, sugah, trust me. But Ah'm part of a group that's tryin' ta bring him down fer good."

"At least you lead a fulfilling life-style, Bunnie," Griff sighed.

"Hey, don't beat yerself up lahk that. Y'all in charge of a whole colony and kept it undah control, y'all must be doin' somethang right," Bunnie insisted.

"Yeah, lying to them. Trust me I'm glad I've been able to be a good leader for these Mobians, but it just seems so hollow to me. Especially with a war going on now I feel like I'm a leech for not helping out."

Bunnie gazed at the goat sympathetically. He had a good point, she admitted. There was an awkward silence between the two for what seemed like forever, until Griff spoke up.

"How about I show you around? The underground world isn't too bad really, it can be quite beautiful if you ignore its history," Griff offered, the same humour filled smirk returning to his face. Bunnie felt her spirits perk up somewhat at seeing it again.

"Ah'd love ta," she agreed, and with Griff's help she slid off the bed. But as she stood on her own the weight from her inactive robotized arm caused her to lurch to the side a bit, reminding Bunnie that she had one more problem that needed fixing. Griff caught Bunnie by her normal arm and steadied her.

"Are you all right? You're not feeling dizzy are you?" he questioned, alarmed. Bunnie shook her head.

"It's mah arm. Ah must've knocked it on something earlier 'cause now it won't work," she explained. Griff looked at Bunnie's arm, biting his bottom lip in thought.

"I'm not too familiar with mechanics, I'm afraid. At least not in this form. Does it hurt?"

"Nah, though it's a bit o' a problem that Ah can't feel it at all," Bunnie said. Griff walked over to the other side of the room and pulled out a drawer, fishing out a large piece of cloth. This he wound around Bunnie's arm and hoisted it up slightly, wrapping the cloth's ends around her neck. This, Bunnie found, allowed her to at least keep her balance.

"It's the best I can do for now. Is there anyone you know that can fix it?"

"Mah friend Rotor, he usually helps me with mah limbs. Though he's on th' surface right now and Ah have no way of contactin' him."

"Then we need to get you back up there, but without anyone seeing you," Griff pondered. "Tell you what, I could get Kaitlyn to help sneak you out at Lights Out, so at least we have some cover. Until then you'll have to just stay here and hope not too many Animals notice you."

A dark scowl crossed Bunnie's face, surprising Griff.

"Are you all right, Bunnie?" he asked.

"Not really. This arm is always givin' me grief, and mah legs. Ah've had them all mah life 'nd Ah still can't live with 'em. Th'y're lahk a curse or sum'thang ta me," Bunnie explained with a sigh. She stared down at her useless arm, wishing that it was broken like a normal limb instead of malfunctioning. "Ya know Ah wanted ta be a hairdressah ever since Ah was a little bunny, but with this arm Ah'll end up rippin' people's heads off instead o' givin' them a quick shampoo."

"But you have added strength unlike any normal Mobian has, and it would be handy especially with you being a Freedom Fighter," Griff coaxed.

"Wha' about wh'n Ah'm not a Freedom Fightah any more? No body wants a freakishly strong girl. Face it, Sugah-Goat, Ah'm a freak." The cyborg rabbit bowed her head shamefully, scrunching the heel of her hand into the corner of her eyes to stop herself from crying. "Ah'm sorry, Griff. Ah jerst feel so dang useless because of mah arm, Ah feel lahk a burden to ya."

"No, you're not a burden," Griff encouraged, placing his hooves on Bunnie's shoulders in a comforting manner. "If anything you're a wonderful Animal, and one of the most kind-hearted Mobians I've ever met."

Bunnie sniffled lightly. "Ya mean it?" she murmured in a shaky voice.

"Of course. And I think you've very brave being part of the war, you could have so easily just hidden yourself away and do nothing, but instead you fought back against the person that did this to you. Robotnik's the monster here, not you."

Bunnie smiled, the goat's words sinking in like renewed energy through her mind and body. Carefully she wrapped her good arm around Griff's shoulders and gave him a single-armed hug.

"Thanks, sweetheart. You're one heck of a leader, ya know th't? Don't ever lose that good heart o' yours."

"You're welcome, Bunnie. But I meant what I said, so don't you ever think differently. I've known you for like ten minutes, yet I feel like I've known you my whole life. I've never felt this connected to anyone in the colony," he explained.

They separated, for the moment not knowing what to do next. The two Mobians stood there, Bunnie fidgeting with her arm sling.

"So does that plan sound all right to you?" Griff questioned suddenly, startling Bunnie.

"Wha'?"

"The plan, to sneak you out at Lights Out. Will you be able to wait a few hours?" Griff elaborated.

"Oh! Right, sorry. Ah was a million miles away," Bunnie giggled, blushing madly. "Ah'll be all right, it shouldn't be too much o' a hassle. Though wha' do y'all mean by 'Lights Out'?"

Griff began to lead Bunnie out of the Clinic, waving to the doctor as he left.

"Lights Out is the underground equivalent to night time. It's when we dim down the main light source just so it isn't completely dark. This also allows us to conserve power, though we really need to find a new power source soon." Griff lifted a hoof to direct Bunnie's attention upwards, where she found a large glowing crystal set into the ceiling of the cavern. The crystal appeared to pulse with energy, each beat causing a slight dimness before sending out a blinding wave of light.

"Mah stars, that is amazin'," Bunnie breathed. "Back home we'all use a water-wheel ta power our generator, what exactly do you use?"

"How about I show you? It'll be easier to explain," Griff recommended. When Bunnie accepted Griff began to lead her into the centre of the colony.

"Oh, by the way. No one can know you’re from the Surface. If anyone asks you’re from the Northern Branch, surprisingly enough everyone can’t seem to keep track of all the Mobians here," Griff stated. "Understand?"

Bunnie nodded.

"Good, thank you. Now, to the Power Station."


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"There, that should last for at least four hours now," Rotor finalised as he slid in a new battery into Sonic's comm.link.
"Cool, Rote. And that should be enough time for us to scope out the whole city for Bunnie," Sonic stated.

"But we're only meant to be out here for two hours," Tails pointed out shyly. Sonic scowled slightly, but then shrugged.

"No biggie, if we have to we'll go over-time. Let's not worry too much about it now, we better start looking before our limit runs out."

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a paper map of Robotropolis. There were not enough batteries to go around for all the holographic maps, so to save resources all the members of the search parties were given old paper maps. Whenever a party's search period was completed all the maps were updated by marking all the areas they had searched. According to the copy of the map Sonic less than half the city had been searched.

"Okay, let's check out the North-West side. Tails, think you'll be able to walk that far?"

"No problem, Sonic," Tails commented, flashing a thumbs up.

"How 'bout you, Sonic? Will you be all right?" Rotor questioned.

"I'll be fine, all that sleep I got last night fixed me right up," Sonic said. He began walking in the general direction of the west, for the moment leaving Rotor and Tails behind. The walrus began fidgeting with the bill of his cap nervously.

"He'll be okay, Rotor," Tails said. "Aunt Sally said he was given that medicine last night, and he was all right this morning."

"That's not what I'm worried about. Haven't you noticed how oddly he's been acting since the earthquake? It's like he's become detached from himself," he explained.

Tails cocked his head with confusion, then looked towards where Sonic had walked to. "I haven't noticed that. It could be just because he's worried about Bunnie."

"Yeah, maybe. But still--"

"Hey, you want me to drag you two at top speed? I'll do it if you stand there a second longer," Sonic suddenly shouted. He was standing a fair distance from the two Mobians, his arms crossed and a scowl of his face. Muttski was standing next to him, head cocked to the side as if questioning why the two Mobians were not moving.

"Coming," Tails called, then spun his tails together and began hovering towards the hedgehog, Rotor following close behind.


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Not far from the trio, five pairs of eyes flashed red through the darkness. One by one the large metallic rats sprang to life, disturbing the spiders that had taken residence in the robots' joints and hollows.
With animal-like motions the Rat-Bots shook off the lingering dust and cobwebs from their bodies and began looking at their surroundings, taking in their new environment as a delayed coded message probed into their minds. Once the message had completed its relay to them the Rat-Bots marched out of their holding shed in an orderly fashion.

Once all the Rat-Bots were out two other larger Rat-Bots followed the line. They paused for a moment, their red eyes flickering to green then back. The other Rat-Bots' eyes did the same thing, then they allowed the two large Rat-Bots to lead the way.


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Griff stepped away from the doorway to allow Bunnie to step through.
"This is our Power Station, where we keep our Power Crystals," he announced as he led the cyborg rabbit to a large computer terminal. He pressed a button on the console, and to his left a panel slid open. Within the cavity the panel covered Bunnie could see a faint blue glow. Griff reached in and pulled out a large blue stone, presenting it to Bunnie.

"We discovered these years ago deep in the caverns, and after studying them we discovered a way to concentrate power energies through them. You see by putting one into the terminal it sends waves of energy through itself, then back out into the terminal. Kinda like how light bounces around a normal diamond.

"The only problem with this is the self-produced energy doesn't last very long, which is why we have Light Outs. This gives us a chance to recharge the terminal and change the crystal if we need to. Sometimes the energy build-up becomes too great, to the point it causes the crystal to actually explode," he explained.

"Th't's amazin', Griff! And y'all been able to survive fer so long because of these li'le thangs?" Bunnie asked.

"More or less. Before we had these we used hydro-generators, using a series of underground rivers. But then one of the main rivers became polluted; I'm guessing Robotnik had something to do with it. And whatever river didn't become polluted we use as a sort of back up, in case something happens to the Power Crystals. But it isn't really that reliable."

Bunnie began walking around the station, marvelling at all the computers. She knew that if he were here Rotor would be having a field day, asking questions as fast as Sonic could run. She wanted to know more about how the station worked, but for the life of her she could not think of one intelligent question.

Suddenly a hand grabbed her good arm, gripping it tightly.

"Who are you? You're not suppose to be in here," a voice growled from behind Bunnie, startling her. She spun on her heels, coming face to face with a light brown warthog. He wore a blue uniform similar to Antoine's, minus the red trimmings and boots.

"Phil! Don't worry, she's with me," Griff called, running to Bunnie's side. The warthog continued to glare at Bunnie with suspicion, not letting her go.

"I've never seen her before. Who is she?" Phil questioned.

"This is Bunnie. She's from the Northern branch. She was injured during the digs so she was brought here. I'm just showing her around because she might be here for a while," Griff explained.

"Howdy," Bunnie greeted, twisting her gripped hand into a weak wave. Phil finally released the rabbit's hand.

"Hello. Sorry about the rough handling, I thought you were a citizen. They're not allowed in here without special permission from either Griff or one of the watchmen," he clarified, bowing his head in an apologising manner.

"That's okay, Phil. I kinda let her in on the splurge of the moment. Sorry about that."

"No harm done, Griff. Now if you excuse me I'm expecting a new shipment of Power Crystals. The one we have now is starting to run out of juice." With a final bow to Bunnie the warthog shuffled away to the other side of the Power Station, where there was a sliding door Bunnie did not notice before.

"Sorry about that, Phil's a little over-protective when it comes to the Power Station. Though I'm not sure why, it's not like anyone can really steal the Power Crystals without anyone in the colony noticing," Griff apologised.

"No, dun worry yerself ovah it, Sugar. It happens." Then Bunnie realised what the goat had said in his white lie. "Wha' didja mean by the digs?"

Griff walked over to the previous terminal and reinserted the Power Crystal he was showing Bunnie. "Well, we've set up two separate colonies next to this one: one towards the north and the other towards the south. That's where we can find the most Power Stones. No one really lives in the other branches they just work the mines, though we always rotate the workers so no one can usually keep up with who's working except me really."

Bunnie tried to visualise how the features she knew about above ground were situated so she understood where Griff was talking about. "How far apart are th' two colonies?"

"At least fourteen to fifteen kilometres from the very centre of this colony," Griff responded. So if she fell in here from the western region of Robotropolis, then--

Her heart stopped cold in her chest.

"Oh mah stars, y'all been diggin' undah Knothole," she exclaimed, gaping at Griff in shock.

"Knot...hole? What is that?" Griff questioned.

"Th't's mah village. And y'all been diggin' undah Robotropolis as well, haven't ya?"

"Well, yes. But I didn't know there were any civilisations near our north colony." Then realisation hit. "But we did have to extend our tunnels there because of the lack of crystal population in the previous area. Oh Bunnie, I had no idea."

Even through his dark fur Bunnie could see the goat paling. Griff leaned back against the terminal and held his head.

"I am so sorry, I was so sure there was nothing up there. All our maps said so. Oh now I've done it."

"'nd now Ah've reall' got ta get back to mah village. Ah hope everyone's all right, heck Ah hope th' village is still thare," Bunnie exclaimed.

"Well so far we haven't had any reports of whole villages falling into our tunnels, so perhaps that's a good sign." Griff stood to his full height and made his way to the exit of the Power Station. "Looks like we have to sneak you out earlier than we planned. Let's find Kaitlyn, she knows the best spots in the tunnels. You might end up in Robotropolis again, but for now that's the safest place for you while here."

"As long as Ah don't end up on th' other side of the world Ah'm happy with th't. Let's go already."


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In Robotropolis the five Rat-Bots patrolled the destroyed streets like a pack of ravenous wolves, red eyes lighting up the darken streets. The mutated Rat-Bots still led the pack, but were not observing the damaged city like the rest of the group were. In their altered minds they were searching for a mean of escape for their pack, acting like their flesh and blood counterparts. Years ago through a miracle discovery the two Rat-Bots realised that there was a different way of life not under a face-less master, but before they could explore the idea their freedom was taken away, and memories were deleted and left empty for new orders.
But these two Rat-Bots did not hold memories like their dim-witted brethren. Instead when they were activated the memories flooded back into their minds like a river from where they were held deep down in a place no computer could ever reach.

Every so often the leaders' eyes flashed green, the rest of the pack's eyes following the pattern as the leaders reminded them of the desired utopia. The head Rats knew that the order of their face-less master still plagued their silicon-based minds, but their own intelligence knew how to use that to their advantage.

The leaders glanced at each other for a moment, then simultaneously they scrambled their internal-cameras, along with one of the other Rat-Bots, so all they showed their master was static snow. They planned on doing the same for the rest of their brethren once they found their means of escape.

The pack continued their trek through the metropolis, heading for the Western region.


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"Sir, there seems to be a problem with the Rat-Bots' camera system," Snively reported. From his place on the ground where he was attempting to repair one of the more advanced computers Robotnik glared at the smaller Overlander through his goggles, then looked to the computer Snively was posted at. Just as he had said the camera feed only showed grey-scaled snow.
"Switch to another 'bot," Robotnik ordered as he shuffled to his feet, dusting off his tattered cloak. Snively changed the feed to the next Rat-Bot, getting the same result.

"Again," Robotnik rumbled. After two more attempts Snively found a Rat-Bot's camera that still worked. He sent out a command to direct the Rat-Bot's head in different directions, the command delayed due to the computer's slow processor and ancient link-up.

"My beautiful city," Robotnik mourned, actually showing sadness for the destruction of his capital.

"Looks like they're heading for the Western regions, Sir," Snively informed. He checked the camera-feed's properties, noting that it was the mutated robots' cameras that weren't working, along with one of the normal Rat-Bots'. But he still found it suspicious; he was sure that all of the Rat-Bots' cameras were working when they were activated.

"Continue monitoring their process. Perhaps send out a command for them to look out for any scavenging Freedom Fighters," Robotnik commanded as he headed back to the computer he was previously at. "What of the SWATBot command status?"

The small Overlander began typing in a series of commands into the old computer, calling up a data form. "Remote command points are still scrambled, Sir. The auto-repairs will take at least another hour, perhaps less."

"Very well, keep me posted."


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It was harder than usual to keep up with Sonic.
The hedgehog seemed to have set an impossible pace to keep in step with, and the rocky terrain of the destroyed city wasn't making things any easier for the two Mobians following. Sonic looked back eventually, realised what he was doing, and stopped. Rotor and Tails gave an involuntary sigh of relief.

"Looks like we're gonna search here," Sonic remarked sheepishly when the two Mobians flopped onto the ground. "Sorry 'bout the, guys."

Once they had recovered from their brisk walk Rotor and Tails adopted separate directions to begin their search, Tails taking to the air so that he could also look for any possible SWATBot patrols. The area they were in now had dozens of buildings and sheds surrounding them, most obliterated from the earthquake and aftershock. Rotor was already in one still-standing building, lost in its darkness.

When Sonic was sure that they were safe during their search he bent to one knee and patted Muttski's head, grabbing the dog's attention.

"All right, Muttski. You remember Bunnie, right?" he questioned. Muttski cocked his head to one side as if in thought, but Sonic's keen hearing could hear his CPU processing the question, similar to that of a computer. Uncle Chuck once said that a robotized Mobian stored their memories as data and could recall them like a computer would. It did, however, frighten Sonic that his dog, whom used to be flesh and blood, was now nothing but a computer.

After a moment Muttski gave a loud bark of acknowledgement, confirming that he knew whom Sonic was talking about.

"Good boy, now you remember her scent too, right?" Sonic asked. Another bark. "All right, then. Let's start searching."

At once Muttski's steel nose hit the ground, and he began sweeping it over the ground as fast as he could process every scent. When Muttski regained his free will he also regained his senses, which through the robotization's conditioning had been disabled. Robotnik had been smart to do that, as earlier prototype victims showed signs of phantom blisters and aches from prolonged labour. Not wanting something as silly as false injuries crippling his production the doctor programmed the Robotizer to 'dull the senses', so to speak.

Sonic followed his dog, barely keeping up with him, as he began climbing piles of debris and dirt.

"I should have brought his leash," Sonic muttered to himself as Muttski disappeared behind a large pile and dove in. Once Muttski was given a command, even one as simple as retrieving a ball for a game of Fetch, he would get straight to it with hyperactive enthusiasm.

As Muttski began shovelling away debris at a bulldozer's rate Tails flew over Sonic, catching the hedgehog's attention.

"Anything, bro?" Sonic asked. Tails shook his head.

"But it is both a good and bad thing," Tails reasoned, then landed. "No SWATbots or anything like could get us out here."

"Suppose." Sonic watched as his dog feverishly sniffed at the area he had just uncovered, then bounded over to another pile and began hauling trash behind him. "Maybe Bunnie was already found, but not by the ones we want."

"What? You mean Robotnik might have her? No way," Tails exclaimed.

"Well think about it. We've been searching for ages now, with no sign of Bunnie whatsoever. We can't break into the city because it's either half gone or locked up through all those electric doors, so we can't even check the security logs to make sure. And even if we did break in there we couldn't do that, because there's no power here," Sonic remarked. As he spoke Sonic's teeth flashed through his pulled-back lips with such anger it sent shivers down the fox kit's spine. The hedgehog's appearance reflected the heated emotion, from bristled quills to flexed claws. Even his eyes appeared brighter and wilder.

"There's still a chance that Bunnie's just taken shelter somewhere. Maybe she's hurt or--"

"Maybe she's hurt, that'll be one heck of a bonus," Sonic spatted sarcastically. "While we're at it let's theorise that she's slowly being crushed by slabs of concrete as we speak, and when we do find her she'll be nothing but road kill."

Tails stared wide-eyed at his friend, not believing the horrific scene he had just described. Now Tails understood what Rotor was trying to explain before; Sonic was starting to lose it. He never used to act like this before in a situation such as this, so what was going on?

It took a moment for Sonic to realise that Tails was staring at him with a shocked expression, and another to figure out why.

"Oh man, I'm sorry, bro. I didn't mean to shove all that in your face like that," he stumbled. Tails could judge by his voice that Sonic was being genuine in his apology, adding to himself that he did sound like his normal self again.

"It's okay. I know you're worried and all," Tails commented.

"Yeah but still, I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, man." Sonic pawed at his face, and as Tails observed him he noticed that his hand shook. Tails laid a paw on his adoptive brother's shoulder, trying to ignore the shaking he could feel there as well.

"We'll find her, Sonic. And she'll be okay," he stated. Sonic nodded, patting Tails' hand.

"I know. Thanks, Big Guy." Sonic managed a small smile that ghosted his familiar cocky grin. Tails winked and gave him the thumbs up.

"Any time, big bro."

At that point Rotor walked up to the two Mobians. He was covered from head to toe with dust and grime from the shed he was exploring. He tried to wipe off some of the grime from his face, but the more he rubbed the more the grime simply moved around.

"Well nothing there except a whole lot of grime and junk," he stated.

"So I've noticed," Sonic retorted, one eyebrow cocked up. "Right, let's keep going then. Tails, better get back in the air. Muttski!" The hedgehog whistled sharply for his pet. But when he did not appear Sonic got worried.

"Muttski. Come on, boy." He called as he made his way to where he had last seen the dog. Rotor and Tails followed, Tails taking to the air to see if he could spot Muttski.

"Muttski!" Sonic yelled. "Where are you?"


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They had been travelling for hours now, the leaders scanning in a constant sweep the area that surrounded them. Through this they had found a large opening in the centre of the Western region that led into a tunnel at least twenty feet deep, and were now heading for that opening.
From behind the pack one of the minor Rat-Bots stopped in mid-step and cocked its head to one side, its eyes glowing yellow as it went into scanning mode.

"Intruder detected in Sector Nineteen," it reported to the leaders. The leading Rat-Bots stopped and faced the minor.

"Pack is no longer scanning for intruders for Master, Unit-Five," one stated in the form of data. "Override previous commands."

"Intruder detected is another unregistered robotic form," Unit-Five elaborated.

The two leaders faced each other, mimicking shock, then began searching for the intruder on their scanners to get a visual. For another robotic form to be following them meant that their face-less Master was still tracking them, which could prove fatal to their escape plan.

As they did Muttski emerged from a pile of debris ten metres away from the group, shaking off dust from his body. When he stopped Muttski spotted the pack of robots and began growling, slowly advancing.

In response the leading Rat-Bots ordered the minors to attack, whom hissed at the dog and activated their tails. Their tails glowed an electric blue, heat radiating from them and filling the silent air with a high-pitched buzz. The Rat-Bots' tails were their main tool in underground production, as the electricity generated from them acted like a laser, giving the robots the ability to cut through pipes and rock with the greatest of ease. If need be their tails could also be used as a weapon to stun any intruders they happened upon, as the voltage could be lowered with a simple command. At the moment the tails were activated at their third lowest level.

They began creeping up to Muttski at an agonisingly slow pace, their tails whipping behind them in anticipation as they hissed at their prey. Muttski stopped his own movements, somewhat startled by the confrontation as the Rat-Bots not only out-numbered him but also out-sized him, however he still stood his ground by maintaining his growl and his eyes glowing.

The Rat-Bots were now only a few feet away from the brave dog, and by then Muttski had learnt how they moved and planned on attacking first, but before he could strike out he became distracted by someone calling out his name. The dog's head cocked up at the sound and he recognised the voice as his master's.

Without thinking except on trained habit Muttski turned to look for his master, giving one of the Rat-Bots the perfect opportunity to whip itself around in a full circle and slap the dog with its tail, which caused Muttski to be thrown off his feet as a surge of electricity rattled through him. Muttski gave a pained yelp that was ignored by the attacking Rat-Bot, and the pack slinked away from the scene to continue their process to the opening.

As soon as the Rat-Bots disappeared Sonic had arrived not far from the spectacle, searching around himself for his dog.

"Muttski!" he called. "Ah man, it'll be a real kick in the teeth if he goes missing, too."

"He couldn't have gone far," Rotor coaxed as he came up from behind. He watched Tails fly overhead and added, "Maybe Muttski found a clue to where Bunnie is."

"Maybe, it'll be past cool if he did."

"Sonic! I found him," Tails cried out, waving his arms to get the hedgehog's attention. Sonic gave a sigh of relief and scrambled over to where Tails was, finding Muttski just as he got to his feet.

"Muttski! Man, don't wander off like that," Sonic sighed as he bent to one knee to be at Muttski's eye level. At that angle he could see that the robot's eyes were flickering on and off, and every so often Muttski would shake his head as if to clear it. It alarmed Sonic that Muttski was acting like he was having a seizure.

"Hey, Muttski. Are you all right?" Sonic questioned, using a hand to steady the dog. Tails landed next to Sonic as Rotor walked up to him, they too noticing Muttski's strange behaviour.

"What's wrong with him?" Tails asked, looking concerned. Sonic just shook his head.

"No clue, bro. But he was doing this when I got here," he said.

"Let me see," Rotor offered as he bent down. He reached into his tool belt and pulled out a tiny screwdriver, then titled Muttski's head to one side and proceeded in unscrewing a tiny panel at the back of Muttski's head.

Sonic had to look away from that point, covering his eyes so he would not have to see the wires and circuits that acted as Muttski's brain. It took a minute for Rotor to fix the problem and replace the panel, but once he was done the beagle was back to normal.

"Looks like he got knocked over or something, one of the circuits got loose. But no real damage, when we get back home I can just secure it properly, so make sure he doesn't knock his head again," Rotor explained, then stood and dusted off his knees.

"Thanks, Rote'. He seems all right now," Sonic murmured as he turned back to face his dog. He gave Muttski a pat and said, "I look forward to the day where we can take you to a real vet, and not a mechanic."

Muttski gave a loud bark in agreement before pressing his nose into Sonic's palm and giving it an affectionate lick. Then the dog cocked his head to one side, as if remembering something, and began barking.

"Now what?" Sonic queried. Before anyone could pitch any theories Muttski took off, kicking up dust behind him. All three Mobians cried out in surprise and ran after him and ran after him, yelling for Muttski to stop. But Muttski paid no attention to their cries and continued running, his barking becoming louder with each step.

Sonic lowered his head and picked up his pace until his feet were nothing but blurs, allowing him to catch up enough to tackle Muttski. The two tumbled to the ground, Sonic gripping Muttski's collar as the dog tried to use his advanced strength to get away. But Sonic's own strength was able to hold him down so that the dog could not run away again.

"I really, really should have brought your leash, boy," Sonic scowled as he picked himself up. As he did Sonic felt his jaw go slack when he saw the sight in front of him. There was a hole at least eighteen feet wide, the surface caved in except at one side, which Sonic realised at a closer examination that the surround debris in that area appeared to have been dug away.

Dug away by something very large.

So shocked by the sight, as all the searching he had done over the last two days he had never seen this hole before, Sonic did not realise that Muttski was still struggling to get out of Sonic's grip. Sonic released the dog and watched as he sniffed around the edges of the hole, a strangled whine escaping his throat with slight disappointment.

"Whoa! Look at the size of that hole," Tails exclaimed, startling Sonic. He had not even realised that his friends had come up behind him.

Rotor pulled out his flashlight and shone the light down the hole, revealing all the twisted metal and piled of dirt that filled most of the hole's first layer.

"Looks like this used to be a building," Rotor observed as he tilted the flashlight further down. "And there seems to be a couple of layers the more you go down."

A thought occurred to Sonic. He peeled off his backpack and pulled out his map, unfolding it and laying it on the ground. Looking over it he realised that this area had not been checked by the other search parties, yet they were at least forty-five metres away from where Bunnie's last transmission had come from. Sonic wondered why this area had not been searched.

"Ew, what is that awful smell?" Tails suddenly scowled, covering his nose with a paw. Sonic looked up and took a cautious sniff, then regretted it. The air here smelt worse than the rest of the city, as there was a sharp acidy sting to it. It made his eyes water for a moment.

"I think that's what reeks, Tails," Rotor answered, pointing to the other side of the hole. Piled up near the edge of the hole were large barrels of acid and crude oil. Some had been pierced opened and tipped, their deadly contents leaking around them. Some of the metal that was unfortunate to be near the liquid had been eaten away.

"Maybe that's why no one searched here, that stuff's rancid," Sonic muttered, waving his hand at the air around him. The smell was starting to give him a headache.

"What should we do then? Keep moving?" Tails asked. Sonic stood and folded the map again.

"Nope, we're going down there to take a look," he commented.

"But we've been here for over two hours. We're due back now," Rotor brought up. In response Sonic pointed to the barrels again.

"If we don't check this hole now by tomorrow it'll be dripping with that stuff. And if Bunnie is down there she's gonna cop the lot of it unless we get her out of there now."

Rotor considered the statement, finding it to be true. "Shouldn't we at least tell Sally that we're going to be late?"

"I think she'll figure that out on her own. Besides it won't take that long to climb down," Sonic said. He then walked over to the edge and kicked away some wooden planks, then bent down and climbed in feet first.

"Just follow my lead, guys. Some of this stuff doesn't look too stable," he called out just as he disappeared deeper into the hole.

"Well, that's reassuring," Rotor murmured, but still followed the blue hedgehog. Tails took a hold of Muttski and hovered in after Rotor, using Muttski's glowing eyes as a light as they made their way further into the abyss.