FicWad

"Almost done..."
Bunnie gritted her teeth as a slight jabbing pain raced through her shoulder, the pain resulting from Bradley’s tinkering in her robotized arm. But she knew that if she could feel pain originating from her arm it meant that it would be functioning.

The mole twisted his wrist as he yanked the last wire back in its place with his tweezers, then carefully pushed a microchip plate over it.

"Finished," he announced, then replaced the metal panel on Bunnie’s arm. "Now give that a go."

Carefully Bunnie flexed her fingers, feeling overjoyed when they responded to her command. She then pulled her arm back, twisting it at the shoulder, then bending at the elbow.

"Stars alive, y’all fixed it!" she cried. Bradley grinned as he sat back in his chair, pleased with himself.

"That arm of yours shouldn’t give you any more trouble now, Miss Bunnie. But I’d take it easy when you use it, a lot of parts got knocked about in there and I’m not sure how secure they are," he pointed out.

"Oh dun worry, Ah won’t. Ah c’n nevah be shure with this thang, it’s always givin’ meh grief," Bunnie commented. "Thank ya so much."

"You’re welcome, glad to help out. Though I have to say that arm sure has a complicated design. It’s nothing like Kaitlyn’s at all," he stated.

Bunnie furrowed her eyebrows at the mole, looking completely confused. "Excuse meh?" she asked. At once Bradley looked surprised.

"Oh, didn’t you know? Kaitlyn’s left leg is artificial. She’s had the thing her whole life, the poor thing. And she hates it with a passion," he explained.

"Ah... see. Poor deah..."

Bradley pulled out a rag from his overalls’ pocket and wiped his hands through them, at the same time checking his watch. "Better check on Kaitlyn and see how’s she’s doing. We need to get the machine up and running so we can dig a new tunnel before Light Out. After Light Outs we can’t use any power in this branch," the mole explained as he stood, then made his way to where the machine was. Bunnie dawdled behind, still trying to get over the fact that Kaitlyn had an artificial limb.

"Was th’t why she asked ‘bout mah limbs?" she wondered to herself. Bunnie decided to ask the fox, and confess the story behind her robotized limbs.

A few minutes later Bunnie found Kaitlyn lying under the digging machine as she tinkered with the gears, only her legs sticking out. Bradley was standing nearby, chatting with Kaitlyn as he handed her tools she requested.

"-- that was the main problem, Bradley. Just a whole mess of rocks and mud clogging up the gears here. Some of the wiring got tangled up as well way back here," Bunnie heard Kaitlyn explain as the fox pulled herself further in. "And I think one of the pipes have snapped because of it."

"You’re joking? We really needed to get this thing going before tonight, I don’t think I have any spare pipes on hand here, Kaitlyn," Bradley moaned. For the moment Kaitlyn said nothing as she worked on getting the broken pipe out, handing it over to the mole once it was loose.

"Maybe you can just weld it back together, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle," she suggested as she pulled herself out and sat up, stretching out her back.

"Maybe... if I can weld it hopefully it’ll hold for the job tonight," Bradley murmured. "Thanks for your help, I doubt I would have been able to get under there myself."

"No problem. I just hope you can fix it in time. If you need any more help just give me a yell," Kaitlyn commented. Bradley nodded and made his way to the back of the room, disappearing into another section that was hidden in the wall.

"Y’all shure have a knack with machines. How do ya know so much ‘bout mechanics, sugah-fox?" Bunnie remarked as she sat down next to Kaitlyn.

"My dad used to be a mechanic. He showed me all the basics, and after he died I began training to become a mechanic. I'm still in training, but I get to help with a lot of things, as you saw just now," Kaitlyn explained. "Bradley was dad’s best friend, and his second mechanic. He offered me the training when dad mentioned that I was interested in machines."

"Th’t’ll explain why Griff asked ya ta help meh first. Rotah would love ta meetcha, ‘nd Tails," Bunnie commented.

"I’d love to meet them too if I could, but once we help you home I might not be able to see you again," Kaitlyn sighed.

"Oh, Ah actually didn’t think of th’t," Bunnie murmured, feeling guilty. "Though maybeh Ah c’n sneak back in every so often, a lot o’ Mobians think th’t Ah do live heah anyway."

"It’s too risky, if someone found out that you’re really from the Surface Griff will get into a lot of trouble. And I think he has enough to worry about," Kaitlyn said.

"True, Ah suppose."

They sat in silence for a while, Kaitlyn busying herself with wiping the grease and mud from her paws and watching Bunnie as she tested her robotic arm.

"Kaitlyn, why did y’all ask meh ‘bout mah limbs?" Bunnie suddenly asked, startling the fox so much that the shock caused her to drop the rag she was using.

"Well, I..." she began as she picked up the rag again, and started twisting it in her paws.

"Bradley told meh th’t you’ve got an artificial leg, is th’t true?" Bunnie elaborated. Kaitlyn bowed her head, the twisting of the rag increasing as she became more nervous.

"Yeah, it’s true," she stated in a low voice. With great hesitation Kaitlyn reached out and grabbed the end of her pants leg and pulled it up to her thigh.

At once Bunnie gasped, not even realising that she had made the sound, and examined the now revealed leg. The design of the leg mimicked the structure of the leg’s bone, only replacing bones with thin steel poles and joints with steel balls. To reinforce the frame metal braces were placed in-between the gaps of the poles, but the braces had small joints in the middle to allow flexibility. That explained how Kaitlyn did not walk with a limp, as one would expect from a person with a synthetic leg.

"See? This is why I asked; when I first saw yours I was actually kinda happy. Happy that someone else knew what it was like to be like this," Kaitlyn explained as she pulled down the pants leg again, straightening out the material.

"How didja get th’t? Was it because of ‘n accident?" Bunnie asked, still somewhat startled by the discovery. Kaitlyn gave a harsh snort.

"I wish. No, somehow it just didn’t develop properly, and I got the synthetic when I was about two years old. I hated it so much because I got picked on for it, and a lot of the other kids didn’t let me near them."

"Lahk Kevin?"

Kaitlyn nodded.

"But then they found other things to tease me about. Because I didn’t get to play with anyone I got a lot of time to myself, and I picked up reading some of the older books we have here from before Lower Mobius was built.

But then I started thinking that maybe life above the Surface was still possible. When Kevin and his friends found that out they never let it go. And of course that affected what little popularity I did have, to the point where only some of the older residents here take me seriously now."

Then Kaitlyn gave a short laugh. "Sorry, you didn’t want to hear my life story. I didn’t mean to trail off like that," she commented, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Naw, th’t is all right, sugah-fox. Ah dun mind," Bunnie remarked, waving it off.

"So how did you get yours? It’s amazing that both your legs are artificial, and your arm, though I’m guessing you didn’t get them because of a birth defect," Kaitlyn stated.

"Ah wish, sugah. Ah really do."

Bunnie drew in a deep, silent breath, the dark anticipation already consuming her heart. "Years ago, aftah Robotnik took ovah, Ah got caught while Ah was in th' city. ‘nd Ah was put inta his Robotizer."

"What’s a Robotizer?" Kaitlyn interrupted.

"Somethang y’all nevah want ta go near. It turns your body inta th’s."

With her normal hand Bunnie knocked her knuckles onto her leg.

"’nd if ya don’t make it out in time, y’all become a mindless, soulless creatuah. Ah suppose Ah was lucky, but..." She stared down at her legs, then at her arm. "Sometimes Ah do wondah if Ah woulda been bettah off as complete robot."

By the end of her statement Bunnie could feel tears sting at the corners of her eyes, and realised that Kaitlyn was on the verge of tears herself.

"So... so you can’t change back?" the fox whispered.

"Fer now Ah can’t, but we’re workin’ on it. Th’t is why Ah became a Freedom Fightah, so at least Ah c’n help stop th’s from happenin’ ta anyone else," Bunnie said. Kaitlyn bowed her head, her ears lowering in a depressed state.

"I’m so sorry, Bunnie," she murmured, pawing at her eyes.

"Now why are y’all apologisin’? You didn’t do th’s ta meh, ‘nd y’all didn’t know how it happened so it isn’t your fault," Bunnie exclaimed, elbowing the fox gently.

"I know, it’s just so sad." Kaitlyn rubbed her eyes hard, sniffling slightly. Bunnie wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders and pulled her close, gripping her in a single-armed hug.


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By the time Rotor and Tails had caught up with Sonic, a massive steel door blocking their way had stopped the hedgehog and his dog. Muttski was busy sniffing at the doors’ edges, walking up and down its length over and over, while Sonic was tapping his fingers at different points of the steel, listening for any weaknesses.
"It sounds thick, I don’t think I can spin through it," Sonic commented as he gave the door a kick. Nevertheless he stepped back and launched himself at the barricade, bouncing repeatedly when the first attack did not cause any damage. But after about a minute of this the hedgehog uncurled himself and landed, rubbing at his now aching head.

"Are you all right?" Tails asked. Sonic held back a frustrated growl and nodded.

"If I could still use the Power Rings I probably could cut through, but it’s too thick for now," he said as he stood, then walked over to the door again and ran his hand over it. The doors showed no signs of damage, much to the hedgehog’s dismay.

As all this took place Rotor watched with a sullen expression, feeling his heart sink as Sonic proved that they could not break down the door. He took a closer look at the door, focussing on the areas Sonic had ricochet off, and did not even find the tiniest scratch. The walrus lower his head and leaned against the door, defeated.

"So this was a waste of time," he muttered, pawing at his eyes. Sonic also leaned against the door, and simply nodded. The look on his face was nothing but regret.

"What should we do now?" Tails questioned.

"Head back, there isn’t much point being here. Besides, I think I can smell gas coming from the other side of the door, and that can’t be a good sign," Sonic remarked. Tails took a cautious sniff at the door, smelling the sharp scent of natural gas. He backed away from the door quickly.

"Get a grip, guys. I don’t want to waste any more time down here so I’m gonna juice it," Sonic offered as he bent over and scooped up Muttski into his arms. The dog gave a disheartened whine and licked his master, making Sonic smile faintly.

"I know, boy. You did your best, too," Sonic said. Behind him Rotor grabbed hold of Sonic’s shoulders, Tails gripping onto the walrus’ and forming a short chain. When they were secured Sonic leaped into the air and began revving up his legs, just as the doors suddenly slid open with a loud squeak.

Distracted by the action Sonic stopped moving his legs and landed face first on the ground, Rotor and Tails landing on top of him with a protested grunt. Before they could begin arguing with one another they found themselves bathed in a bright light, and they turned to see a small hover car floating behind them. In the hover car were two Mobians, Griff and Kevin, who were looking at them just as surprised as they were.

"Who are you?" Griff exclaimed, staring blank-eyed. Slowly Sonic, Tails and Rotor stood, Muttski standing in front of them and growling at the two Mobians in the hover car.

"We could ask you the same thing, pal," Sonic retorted. "What the heck are you guys doing underground like this?"

Griff lowered the hover car onto the ground and shut off the engine, keeping the headlights on. "This is our home, that’s why we’re underground," he remarked as he climbed out of the vehicle and walked up to Sonic. "Now answer my question."

"Fine, I’m Sonic. This is Rotor, Tails, and my dog Muttski. And we’re from above ground, so forgive us if we seem totally shocked to see Mobians wandering around down here."

"Bulldust! Everyone knows that anything above the ground was totally obliterated during the Great War," Kevin yelled as he jumped out of the hover car and crossed over to Sonic, pointing an accusing finger at the hedgehog.

"It’s rude to point, kid. And if everything was obliterated like you say so, then where did we come from? The moon?" Sonic snapped. "Or was that obliterated too?"

Kevin hissed, his golden eyes narrowing as he balled up a fist. Griff placed a paw onto his shoulder to calm the lizard before addressing the hedgehog.

"Excuse me, but we have been living underground for over twenty years, so forgive us if we’re a little behind. We don’t exactly get a lot of visitors down here, nor do we have reason to go to the Surface ourselves," he explained in a calm voice.

"But why are you living underground? And how did you end up here?" Rotor questioned.

"We don’t have to tell you anything," Kevin growled. "You’re trespassing on our turf."

"This isn’t exactly turf, kid," Sonic remarked, rolling his eyes before rubbing at them. "Look, we’re not here to cause any trouble. We’re just looking for a friend of ours. She’s a tall rabbit, with a thick Southern accent and purple robotized legs and left arm. Have you seen anyone like that or did your friend here lay the smack down on her for trespassing on his ‘turf’?"

Griff bit at his bottom lip, taking nervous glances at Kevin from the corner of his eye. "Kevin, how about you take a look at the pipes? Let me talk to these guys for a minute," he requested.

"You sure you don’t need me to help you talk to these guys?" Kevin asked, before punching a fist into his open palm.

"If you’re looking for a fight I’m willing to give it to you, I’m really not in the mood for your crud right now," Sonic growled, baring his teeth at the lizard. Amazingly enough Kevin gasped and shuddered away at the sudden appearance of Sonic’s sharp teeth. For good measure Sonic gave a savage growl, hissing at the lizard until he went to do what Griff had told him to do.

"You didn’t have to do that, you know," Griff scowled as he guided the Mobians further down the tunnel and out of Kevin’s hearing range.

"I know, I just wanted him to shut up. We haven’t had a very good few days, and his smart mouth wasn’t helping," Sonic said.

"Kevin can get pretty uptight when it comes to his home." Griff glanced back at the lizard to make sure that he could not hear them. "Your friend’s name wouldn’t happen to be Bunnie?"

At once the trio gasped, smiles stretching across all their faces.

"That’s her, yeah! Is she down here? Is she all right?" Sonic asked in one breath, just barely able to hold back his excitement.

"She’s here, and she’s all right. Just some minor injuries, Bunnie fell through a weak point in one of our tunnels, you see," Griff explained.

"That must have been where we came down from," Tails commented. Sonic nodded in agreement.

"So can we see her? We want Bunnie home as soon as we can, everyone back home’s really worried about her. We’ve been searching for her for nearly three days now," Sonic informed.

"Well, you see... that could be a problem," Griff confessed.

"Why?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, what’s the deal? We just want to get Bunnie home," Sonic demanded.

"So do I. But she can’t leave now, everyone will see her go, I have to sneak her out of here," Griff explained.

Sonic looked at Rotor and Tails, noting that they too did not understand.

"Why do you have to sneak her out? Just how many Mobians live down here, and what’s the story behind them?" Sonic asked.

"It’s a very long one, and I can’t tell you it now. All I can tell you is if I bring you three into the colony I will get into a lot of trouble. I’ve already risked everything just by having Kevin see you," the goat hissed.

Sonic sighed and scratched at his ear. "Nothing’s easy any more, is it? How long until you can sneak Bunnie out?" Sonic questioned.

Griff checked his watch, cringing at the time. "... At least another four hours," he said, voice heavy with lament.

"Ah man..."

"Sorry, it’s just it’s really risky for me to just let you in. But when I get Bunnie out we’re going to be using that opening she fell through, so you guys can meet her there and I’ll explain everything," Griff offered.

"We understand, just make sure Bunnie’s safe when she does leave. We prefer our friends to be in one piece when returned," Sonic smirked. Griff allowed a small chuckle.

"I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Sonic. Now, I better check on Kevin, so I’ll see you guys later?" he said.

"Sure thing, bud. Although..." Sonic looked behind Griff, focussing on the little yellow hover car. "... do you mind if we just stick around near your car there? See, we’ve been in these tunnels for ages, and we’re pretty beat and our eyes are going nuts from the lack of light down here."

Griff thought about that for a moment, eyeing the three Mobians. "Well, I see no problem in that. Go for it," he said.

"Cool, thanks," Sonic exclaimed, then led Rotor, Tails and Muttski to the hover car as Griff headed back to where Kevin was, then sat against the wall and watched the two Mobians work.

"Sonic, what are you doing?" Rotor eventually asked once he had sat down. The hedgehog settled in his place, allowing Muttski to rest his head on top of his lap and Tails to lean against him.

"We are going to follow them, that’s what we’re doing," Sonic responded in a whisper, emphasising the 'we'. His friends gaped at Sonic, surprised by the statement.

"But that goat said that if we go with him he’ll get into trouble," Tails hissed.

"That’s why we’re gonna sneak in. Then we’ll find Bunnie and cruise outta there, no prob. No one will see us, or know any better," Sonic elaborated.

"I don’t know, Sonic," Rotor muttered, "It’s a bit risky... but I have to admit I am a little curious about this colony of his. I didn’t even know it existed, and I bet neither does Robotnik."

"See? It’s all good," Sonic said. "So let’s do it to it."

About twenty minutes later, which during that time Tails along with Muttski had drifted off to sleep again, Sonic had planned out the break-in with Rotor’s help. Griff had finally walked up to the three Mobians, dusting off his paws, which were now covered with dirt and grease.

"Well, we’re done here. Sorry about the long wait," he said as he got rid of the last bit of dirt in his fur.

"Nah, that’s okay. At least we’re okay now, right, bro?" Sonic remarked, and gently shook Tails by his shoulder. The young fox kit groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, I’m okay now," Tails yawned, stretching himself out. Sonic stood, once Muttski had also ‘woken’ up and pounced onto Sonic to greet him, and shook Griff’s hand.

"Thanks for all your help, we really appreciate it," he stated.

"Glad to help out, I’m just sorry that I had to dampen your plans like that," Griff said. Sonic waved it off.

"Don’t worry about it, as long as Bunnie’s safe we’re happy."

Sonic watched as Griff and Kevin climbed back into their hover car and switched on the engine, making the small vehicle float a little off the tunnel floor.

"Just so you know, we’re going to leave this door open for a few minutes so the gas can be dilated a little. So be sure you don’t get trapped in here," Griff warned as the hover car spun around to face the opposite direction.

"No sweat, we’ll be gone in no time anyway," Sonic reassured. Griff gave a final wave and took off, the tunnel plunging into complete darkness as the hover car disappeared deeper into the tunnel. Sonic waited a full two minutes to be sure the car was long gone, then began walking.

"Stick close, guys, and be quick but quiet," he instructed.

Up ahead Kevin kept staring at Griff, looking somewhat confused. At first Griff was able to ignore him, but after a while it started to get to him.

"What?" Griff asked.

"You said life above ground didn’t exist," Kevin stated, "So where’d they come from?" Griff hesitated, not sure what to say. He was tempted to just blurt out the truth like he had wanted to every single day and night since he became leader of Lower Mobius, but the perplexed stare Kevin was giving him made Griff bite his tongue, at least for now.

"I... I don’t know. I guess there are some survivors. But..."

Then an idea occurred to him.

"But did you get a close look at all of them?" he questioned. When Kevin shook his head Griff said, "I think they were mutants."

"You mean like in the stories?" Kevin exclaimed. The goat grinned, happy that the bait was taken so quickly.

"I think so. The walrus looked normal to me, but that hedgehog... he looked like he had been mutated a fair bit. And that fox had two tails, it could be because of a possible nuclear attack from the Overlanders," he murmured.

"And that dog, it was made of metal! Maybe it was wearing some sort of armour, to protect itself from the still lingering nuclear gases," Kevin added.

"Probably..."

Maybe I went a bit too far, Griff mused to himself.

"Creepy, good thing we live down here, though. No nuclear crud is getting in here. Shame Kaitlyn wasn’t here; those guys would have proven to her that the Surface isn’t all she thinks it is," Kevin laughed. Griff sighed to himself.

Yeah, way too far. Now I’ve really, really done it this time, he mused, mentally beating himself.

"Get ready to open the next door, and close the last one. The gas should be out by now," Griff instructed, wanting to change the subject.

"Right."

Behind them Sonic, Tails and Rotor heard the distant sound of the security doors slamming shut. They all paused for a split second, surprised by the sound, then picked up their pace until they could just see the tail-lights of the hover car before them.

"No turning back now," Sonic whispered, anticipation rising as his heart beat picked up. In the dilated darkness Tails ears twitched as Kevin opened the second door.

"Sonic, did you hear that?" he asked. Sonic perked up his ears, but all he could hear was the engine of the hover car.

"No, what was it?"

"I don’t know, but it sounded like another door to me," Tails explained. Sonic gasped to himself and jogged ahead, losing the others to the darkness. As he got a little closer to the hover car Sonic could see in the headlights another door just sliding into their sheathes.

"Oh, shoot," Sonic hissed, eyes widening as the car went through and the doors began to close. "Hurry, guys!"

In a mad frenzy Tails, Rotor and Muttski started running, stumbling over loose rocks in their hast. Sonic check the door again, noting with panic that it was almost closed. Without thinking the hedgehog ran to the doors and squeezed himself in-between them, then using himself like a car-jack he began to separate the doors, the advanced strength he acquired from the mutation aiding Sonic in his task. At first Sonic thought that it was not working, as the doors continued to push down onto him, but as he forced himself to tense against the force the doors finally stopped moving, although the power pushing them closed could still be felt by the hedgehog.

As they made it to the door Rotor and Tails stopped short and gaped at the scene, not believing their eyes.

"Go... through!" Sonic growled through gritted teeth, repeating the order with more intensity when the two Mobians did not move. Snapping out of their trance Rotor made Tails dive through the gap first, then dived after once Muttski was also through.

But then a problem arose, for Sonic could not get out risking crushing himself in the process as the force behind the doors were now increasing to a point where Sonic could not hold them any more.

The problem was solved by Rotor grabbing Sonic around his torso and yanking him out in one fluent movement. The trio cringed as the doors slammed together, the sound echoing though the tunnel, then Rotor put Sonic down.

"Whoa, now that was cutting it close. I know I won’t be doing that again," Sonic exclaimed, then wiped a paw over his head to swipe away the beads of sweat.

"And if you do I’m just gonna leave you there," Rotor retorted.

"Good call, Rote’."


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"Here they come," Kaitlyn exclaimed, pointing down the tunnel just as the headlights of the hover car came into view. A moment later Griff pulled up next to Kaitlyn and Bunnie as they stood, then lowered the hover car and switched off the engine.
"How’d you go?" Kaitlyn asked as Griff and Kevin climbed out of the car.

"Good, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Let’s just hope we don’t have any more leaks for a while," Griff explained. "How about you?"

"One of the pressure pipes under the machine snapped because of all the mud and rocks jamming up the gears around it. Bradley’s working on repairing the pipe now so the machine should be ready by tonight. And Bradley fixed Bunnie’s arm," Kaitlyn reported.

"Really?" Griff questioned.

"Shure did, sugah. It’s as good as new now, or as close as he could get ta anyway," Bunnie commented as she flexed her arm.

"Oh, that’s great! Now we’ll be able to help you home tonight," Griff stated, grinning.

"Ah can’t wait, sugah."

As the two spoke Kevin slipped beside Kaitlyn and nudged her with his elbow, grabbing her reluctant attention.

"Hey, Kaitlyn. You’ll never guess what I saw while I was helping Griff," he whispered.

"What did you see?" Kaitlyn asked, although she did not look at the lizard while he spoke. If she had been Kaitlyn would have noticed that he was amused by her intimidation.

"Mutants, from the Surface," Kevin stated, still grinning. The fox’s head shot up in a split second, surprise etched over her features. But after a moment Kaitlyn narrowed her eyes as disbelief kicked in. Kevin used to always tell such tales to her when she was younger, and had learnt many times that the lizard was a liar.

"There aren’t mutants on the Surface, those are just horror stories," she huffed, crossing her arms. Kevin raised his scaly eyebrows.

"Don’t believe me? Ask Griff, he saw them too, and spoke to them. They wanted to get into Lower Mobius, you know," he informed. Kaitlyn glanced over to Griff, noting that he was listening to their conversation, as well as Bunnie.

"I still don’t believe you," she hissed.

"Wanna know what they looked like? I betcha that’ll make you believe me," Kevin offered. When Kaitlyn rolled her eyes he took it as a yes and cleared his throat, preparing to recollect his sighting.

"There were four of them, only one was normal so I bet he was a prisoner of theirs, but the other three were horribly mutated. The first on was a sentinel dog, and it was made totally out of metal and had glowing red eyes.

The second was a fox, just like you, Kaitlyn. Only... it had two tails!"

Bunnie’s eyes widened as she realised then who Kevin was talking about, and felt disgusted for what the lizard was saying about them.

"But the last one was the most dangerous and deformed one. He was a blue hedgehog, taller than Griff, and had nasty sharp teeth and claws. His eyes were yellow, kinda like mine but more cat-like, and eviller. Apparently he was the leader of the group, as he was giving me and Griff all these demands and acting all tough and mean. He even threatened to rip me apart! But I chased him off along with his group of mutants, with Griff’s help."

Kevin finished, a smug grin now plastering itself across his lips. He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest.

"Well?"

"I still don’t believe you," Kaitlyn said simply, also crossing her arms over her chest.

"Fine, but don’t come crying to me if you find them in the tunnels," Kevin snorted. "Although, the hedgehog did ask about someone that kinda looks like you, Miss."

He was now addressing Bunnie, who was somewhat repulsed by the way the lizard had described her friends.

"Why would th’y ask ‘bout meh?" Bunnie questioned. Kevin shrugged.

"Maybe you escaped from them and fell in here by mistake, but now they’ve tracked you down. We’ve never seen you here before, so you’re probably desperate for a hiding place and lied about living here," he guessed.

"All right, that’s enough. Kevin, you were suppose to keep this a secret, remember?" Griff snapped. Kevin cringed at the tone of the goat’s voice.

"I was only gonna tell Kaitlyn, no one else. And she heard me talking and those things did ask about someone with her description," Kevin protested, cocking his head at Bunnie.

"That may be so, but I don’t want you blabbing this story to anyone else, you hear? It might... cause a panic or paranoia in the colony, and there’s no need for that," Griff stated.

"Fine, I suppose," Kevin muttered.

"Good. Now take the hover car back to the garage," Griff instructed.

"Yes, Griff."

Kevin climbed into the hover car and flicked on the engine, jetting out of the tunnel with the three Mobians in tow.

"He’s quite th' story tellah," Bunnie said.

"Yeah, he’s always been like that. Though Kevin was telling some truth; some of your friends bumped into us near the end of the tunnel. They asked about you, and for me to tell you that they’re here," Griff explained.

"So the’ know Ah’m heah? Mayeh it’ll be bettah if Ah leave now with ‘em instead o’ tonigh’," Bunnie proposed.

"Oh... I actually sent them away. I thought that you’d want to stick to the original plan," Griff said, looking guilty. "I’m sorry, I didn’t even think of that possibility."

Bunnie sighed and nudged Griff in the ribs. "Sugah-goat, wouldja quit beatin’ yaself up lahk th’t? It ain’t yer fault we’re in th’s mess," she exasperated.

"I know, I know. This is what happens to someone that experiences thirteen years of guilt; they become apologetic for everything," Griff commented, grinning slightly.

"Ah heah ya, th’t’s wha’ mah friend Sally’s lahk. It must be a leadah thang."

"So what should we do now?" Kaitlyn interrupted just as they reached the entrance to Lower Mobius. Griff thought about it for a moment.

"How about we head back to my place and have something to eat? While we do that we can figure out exactly what we’re going to do tonight," he offered. "After all we have over three hours from now before Lights Out."

"Sounds good," Bunnie said, Kaitlyn agreeing.

"All right, follow me."


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Meanwhile at the first security door in the tunnels the five Rat-Bots had just gathered in front of it after a rather unsuccessful exploration. They had crawled though the small tunnel system the leader that picked up on its scanner, only to find that all the tunnels led to the same dead-end zone. Usually this would not be a problem, as the robots were built as diggers as well as tunnel explorers, but as they began digging it was discovered that the tunnel was unstable, and digging would cause a cave-in that would have trapped the whole pack.
So they had no choice but to turn back, and again discovered another dead-end. Only this time the Rat-Bots were able to overcome the problem.

Two of the minor Rat-Bots activated their tails to their highest level of power, and began hacking at the steel doors, heat produced from the concentrated electricity managing to score though the thick metal after a few strikes to the same area. With the combined effort of the two working Rat-Bots the door eventually gave in to their constant lashing, the metal weakening at the scores.

The two Rat-Bots stopped their whipping and stepped away, giving room to the third minor to take a short run-up and slam its head into the metal, repeating the action until the metal tore away and collapsed. Then in an orderly fashion they lined up, walking through the door in a single line and sticking to the formation as they made their way though the long tunnel, red eyes scrolling to a deeper red as they switched into night-vision mode.


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"Whoa, get a load of this place."
At the main entrance of Lower Mobius three Mobians stood staring in awe. Before them was a whole civilisation, similar to that of Knothole but represented a city more than a village. From their perch various Mobians could be seen either walking or riding in small hover cars high off the ground, some jetting in and out of distant tunnel entrances.

"This... this is incredible. It’s amazing that no one knows about this place, yet it’s so... advanced!" Rotor cried out.

"Imagine if Knothole was like this. ‘Buttnik would never be able to find us; it’s obvious that he hasn’t found these guys," Sonic remarked.

"Well if everyone is as secretive as that guy we met before I wouldn’t be surprised. Imagine living underground and never going to the surface," Rotor said.

"So where should we start looking for Bunnie? This place is huge," Tails asked.

"Got that right, bro. This is gonna be tougher than I first thought," Sonic admitted as he scanned the view. Rotor followed the hedgehog’s example, observing the Lower Mobians as they interacted with one another and travelled around the colony.

By doing this he realised that they all seemed to steer clear of a certain area, which with more observations he discovered that it was some sort of Power Station. There were some hover cars that flew to the back of the station, but other than that no other Mobians were in the area. Plus there were a lot of places that could provide some cover in the vicinity, and if they went there they would have perfect view of all the main areas of the colony, as the Power Station was situated directly in the middle.

"How about there, Sonic?" Rotor eventually asked, pointing to the Power Station. Sonic looked, taking in all the details Rotor had discovered, then grinned.

"Perfect, Rote'. Maybe we can sneak into the top to get a better view at the same time. Let's juice before we're spotted."

The two Mobians gripped onto Sonic’s shoulders, and once Sonic had picked up Muttski he sped off towards the Power Station, zigzagging through the streets to avoid possible confrontations with any wandering Lower Mobians.

As soon as he reached the boundaries of the station Sonic dived into the first concealed spot he could find, which was under a thick and currently inactive conveyor belt. Sonic dropped off his passengers, giving them time to recover from the fast-paced zigzagging he had done.

"Man, I think you have gotten faster, Sonic," Rotor gasped as dizziness flashed through his head.

"Yeah, I’ve noticed that, too. Cool, huh?" Sonic grinned, amber eyes brightening with pride.

"Suppose so," Rotor agreed. Sonic cocked his head to one side, finally realising the full effect his speed had on the walrus. Tails appeared somewhat dizzy as well, but seemed to be handling it all right.

"Er, are you gonna be all right?" Sonic asked.

"Oh yeah, just need a minute. Go ahead, I’ll be fine," Rotor assured. Sonic hesitated for a moment, eventually nodding.

"All right. Come on Tails, Muttski. We’ll be on the other side if you need us, Rote’," Sonic stated as he stood, then began making his way around the conveyor belt with Tails and Muttski in tow.

After a while Rotor recovered from his dizziness with the aid of some water and a couple of bites from his sandwich in his backpack to help settle his stomach. Usually he never got dizzy because of Sonic’s speed, years of experience took care of that, but Rotor realised it had happened because he had not eaten all day. Rotor made a mental note to remind Sonic and Tails to eat later, especially Sonic as he was still recovering from his Sleeping Sickness attack he had yesterday, and Rotor still was not sure about all the effects it had on the hedgehog.

Feeling better Rotor stood and dusted off his knees, then began looking around himself. The Power Station was tall, so tall that it reached the ceiling of the cavern. Next to the Watch Tower situated at the top was a large glass shard that glowed with a bright light. As he watched the shard Rotor noticed how the light pulsed every fourth heartbeat. Rotor could not help but stare, amazed by how technologically advanced these Mobians were as he had expected the underground society to be primitive, with out-dated resources and the like. He soon found the mechanic inside him becoming curious as to how this world worked.

Behind him the conveyor belt jolted to life, startling the walrus. Then seemingly out of nowhere a hover car appeared over Rotor and parked itself neat the end of the conveyor belt, where a large container was. Rotor his himself as best as he could when two Mobians, a porcupine and a cat, climbed out of the hover car and moved to the back. Once there they opened the back compartment and began unloading something into the container. After about five minutes the cat slammed the back compartment shut and climbed back into the hover car along with the porcupine, and took off.

Rotor waited a few moments before emerging from his hiding place, then took a look inside the container.

"Whoa," he breathed as he stared at the large pile of crystals inside. They came in all shapes and sizes, and instead of being clear like diamonds they had a murky colour to them, though each one glowed a gentle white.

Gingerly Rotor picked up a large shard, surprised at how heavy it was, and examined it. It reminded him of the Power Stone back home, which was used to create Power Rings for Sonic, and he wondered if they were one in the same.

Rotor decided to show Sonic to see what he thought, and began making his way to the other side of the station.


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Up in the Watch Tower Phil was monitoring the latest crystal shipment when he spotted Rotor snooping around the main container. At first he thought that the walrus was a miner from the crystal caves, as there were many species of Mobians that worked there and the deliverers were always changing, but as Phil followed Rotor he felt his heart skip a beat when Rotor reached into the container and pull out a rather large crystal shard.
"Now what is he up to?" the warthog muttered to him as Rotor looked at the shard then began walking away from the container, crystal still in hand. Phil followed him to the other side of the station, still having a clear view of him thanks to the wide windows that took up most of the walls of the tower, and found Sonic, Tails and Muttski hiding there.

Phil watched the group for a moment, his suspicions rising as Rotor walked over to them. "I've never seen those three before, or that dog," he mumbled to himself. An unsettling feeling grew in the pit of Phil’s stomach, paranoia getting the better of him as he reached over for the alarm switch.


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"Hey, Sonic. Look at this," Rotor called as he walked up to Sonic.
"Whatcha got there, Rote’?" Sonic queried, turning away from his post and meeting Rotor in the middle, Tails tagging along. The walrus presented the crystal to Sonic and Tails, making the two gape in awe at the discovery.

"Whoa! Where did you find that?" Tails exclaimed, poking the crystal gently and admiring its inner glow.

"Behind there," Rotor explained. He pointed around the corner of the building. "There’s a whole pile of them, and I think those hover cars we saw coming here before have more. I think we’ve stumbled across some sort of mining industry here, guys."

"But why would they be mining crystals? They couldn’t sell them, could they?" Tails questioned.

"Probably not... unless they were mining them for ‘Buttnik," Sonic stated.

"What? You think these guys work for Robotnik?" Rotor asked. He handed the crystal to the hedgehog, watching as he held it up to the light and checked every odd angle.

"Probably. See how it’s glowing on its own? I think these are like the Power Stone we have back home," Sonic proclaimed. Carefully he slipped the crystal into his backpack. "Let’s take it home and show Sal and Uncle Chuck. Maybe they can figure out what it can do exactly, and why these guys and maybe ‘Buttnik would want them."

"Maybe this was why that guy was so secretive about this place," Rotor guessed.

"Maybe, and that’s why we should get Bunnie out of here. If these guys do work for ‘Buttnik then she could be in a lot of danger," Sonic added. "Looks like we’re gonna have t--"

Sonic was cut off by the sudden sound of security alarms flooding the underground city, causing them to cover their ears, Muttski howling over the sounds as it pierced his sensitive ears, as the alarm grew sharper. The group watched as panic coursed through the residents that were outdoors. The Mobians then fled to their homes and shelters, steel doors locking down over doors and windows as soon as they entered.

"What’s going on?" Tails shouted.

"I think we’ve been spotted," Sonic shouted back, a pained expression on his face as the alarms were really starting to hurt his ears. "Come on, let’s go before--"

"Stay where you are, intruders," a new voice barked, and before they knew it uniformed Mobians, each one holding a rather old looking gun, surrounded them. The alarms died down as the three Mobians raised their hands over their heads.

"Okay, now we’re buggered," Sonic commented.


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By this time the handful of functioning SWATbots had reached the last coordinates of the wandering Rat-Bots, only to discover a slight problem.
"Sir, units are unable to reach exact location of set co-ordinations due to unnatural environmental conditions," one SWATbot reported through its wrist communicator.

Back at the Command Centre Robotnik fought the urge to smack his fist into the console. After all the work he had done to fix it he did not want to go through the tedious task for a very long time. The obese Overlander pursed his lips as he thought up a new strategy.

"Stand guard at any weak points you find, Unit two-twenty-five. If any Mobians appear capture them and bring them back to the holding cells alive, do you understand?" Robotnik ordered eventually.

"Affirmative, Sir," the SWATbot confirmed.

"Snively, send a command to the Rat-Bots to lead any sighted Freedom Fighters to the SWATbots’ location," Robotnik commanded once his first order had been issued.

"Yes, Sir,” Snively said, already finishing off the programming for the order.

Underground the three minor Rat-Bots stopped in their tracks as the command burrowed itself into their processors, overriding their leaders’ previously hacked commands. The leaders attempted to stop and scramble the broadcasted command, knowing that somehow their faceless Master has somehow found out about their plans of escape.

"Sir, someone is overriding the commands, and I can only connect with three of the Rat-Bots," Snively reported.

"Who dares?" Robotnik demanded, fist clenching. "It must be a Freedom Fighter, I knew they were hiding underground."

Snively traced the hacker’s trail, finding it strange that the path was easy to follow, and was shocked to find that it was the two remaining Rat-Bots. He reported this to his uncle, which resulted with the dictator’s fist in the console.

"Freeze the Rat-Bots, lock down their systems and reconfigure their memories, now! Send the three still loyal once to continue with their hunt, I want all these new found tunnels cleared out of any possible Freedom Fighter bases," Robotnik roared.

"Yes, Sir," Snively squeaked, hands shaking as he continued typing.

Back in the tunnels the leading Rat-Bots began twitching as their connection with their pack was cut off and a surge of paralysing electricity coursed through their systems. As their memories became scrambled their bodies shut down simultaneously, their now inactive bodies slamming down to the ground. In the end they became ‘brain-dead’, the conditioning succeeding in locking down their systems and entering their processors.

"Sir, lock down successful. Complete reconfiguration shall take approximately twenty minutes," Snively reported, quietly cracking his fingers and knuckles after typing so many commands. It may have not looked it, but the two Rat-Bots were able to put up a short fight before Snively could get the shut down command through.

"Excellent, Snively. Make sure all their memories have been completely wiped out before reactivating them," Robotnik ordered.

"Yes, Sir."