Chapter Text
Robotropolis
In Citadel Robotnik, Thunderbolt looked over the computer terminal Cubot destroyed the other day, while Robotnik used a handheld device to monitor the progress of his scouting units in Northamer.
"Something always happens to trash my monitors…" the doctor grumbled.
Thunderbolt pried open the casing of the terminal, looking it over and cringing.
"Fried circuits here, broken parts there, the central processor is trash, and... is that pancake batter?!"
"No!" Cubot insisted. "It's waffle batter. Totally different."
"What kind of idiot puts waffle batter in a computer?!" Thunderbolt demanded.
"The same kind of idiot who once ended up spending a week in the Badnik Army Repair Functionaries ward because he wanted to know what lightning tasted like," Orbot said matter-of-factly.
"It tastes like ozone!" Cubot chimed in. "And pain!"
"You don't even have a tongue…" Orbot sighed before throwing up his hands in frustration.
Thunderbolt sighed. "How does the Master expect to conquer Mobius with idiots like you working for him? It's true what they say: evil geniuses are always surrounded by fools."
"And you should know, considering why you're doing menial work like this to begin with,” Eggatha cut in.
Thunderbolt scowled. "No one asked for your opinion, you backstabbing, hedgehog-loving twerp!"
"I'll have you know that Uncle Ivo highly values my opinion!" Eggatha scoffed. "And is it really backstabbing if everyone knows I do it?"
"Yes!" Thunderbolt declared. "You're even worse than that dumb blonde Hope! Yes, she betrayed the doctor, but you know what? At least she doesn't pretend to be loyal just so she can undermine his plans from within on a regular basis!"
"Because unlike you, I know how to follow orders and not do stupid shit like abandon my post and try to kill a pop singer in public sight on a whim!"
"Why you-!" Thunderbolt charged up an electrical attack, only for a metal claw to come down on her shoulder.
"Think about your next move carefully, Thunderbolt," Metal warned.
Thunderbolt whirled on him. "You don't tell me what to do, you glorified washing machine! I tell you what to do!"
"No, I do," Robotnik chimed in, fed up with the bickering. "So I suggest you focus on the job and duties I gave you around the lab before you're demoted even further to laundry duty, Thunderbolt." He smirked. "Akhlut's been working out pretty heavily lately, and I know you don't want to touch his sweaty gym clothes."
Thunderbolt shuddered at the thought before turning back to the computer.
"Thanks, guys," Eggatha remarked.
"Any time," Metal replied.
"So, is the Mina Craze still going?" Eggatha asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Robotnik sighed. "I've resorted to jamming the airways around Robotropolis until it blows over."
"Well, that explains why all we've been getting on the radio is static," Eggatha mused.
A few minutes passed before Thunderbolt turned back to them from the computer.
"I'm afraid it's totally fried, sir," she reported. "We'll have to replace it."
"Of course we are…" Robotnik groaned, rubbing his face. "Well, I'll put in a call down in Springtrap. In the meantime, Thunderbolt, you know what to do. Scrub the lab, keep up Badnik maintenance."
They left, leaving Thunderbolt to begin mopping the lab, grumbling over her lot in life.
"To think I, the great Thunderbolt, have been demoted to basic maintenance and sanitation duty. I shouldn't be forced to do such manual labor," she scoffed. "Sonic must be having the time of his life right now."
Sonic found himself trapped in inky blackness, terror suffocating him.
"How could you, Sonic?!"
A burnt hand, skin still smoking, grabbed him by his collar.
"How could you leave us to burn?!"
Sonic's heart nearly stopped at the sight of a furious Kat, the entire left half of her body covered in burn scars rather than simply one arm.
"This is all your fault!" she roared before tossing him back. She walked toward him as he scrambled back.
"No... Kat, I-I didn't mean-!"
"You didn't look! You were lazy! You call yourself my friend, but you didn't help me and my family when we needed you most!" Kat got in his face, making sure he got a good view of her scars as her voice distorted. "NOW LOOK AT ME!"
Sonic turned and tried to run, only to end up hitting Hope. She was sobbing over several graves, a golden ring in her hand.
"You took them from me…" she wept.
"Hope...?" Sonic managed.
Hope turned to him, revealing the graves to be those of both Agnes and Shadow.
"Granny... Shadow… I'm all alone… Does it make you happy... hurting me like this?" She scowled. "That you had the chance to help them, but didn't?!"
"But I tried, Hope!" Sonic insisted. "I-!"
"And you failed! What kind of hero are you?!"
Sonic was stumbling back once more, then he spotted Mina off to the side.
"Mina…"
She just looked at him before taking off running. Sonic instinctively hurried after her, chasing her over a rope bridge similar to those in Green Hill. She backed up nervously.
"Stay back!" she screamed before her foot fell through a loose board, preventing her from backing up any further.
"Mina, please!" Sonic cried desperately, reaching out to her. "Let me help you!"
"No! Stay back! Leave me alone!" As she spoke, lines of dark Chaos corruption spread across her skin, along with electrical burns. "You should have been able to stop that psycho chinchilla, but you didn't! And you almost killed me yourself! I thought you were my friend, Sonic!"
"I am your friend!"
"Friends don't do this!"
She gestured to herself, and behind him, Sonic could hear Hope and Kat closing in. The bridge began to sway, the ropes holding it up snapping as the ground below began to glow a bright red. Mina was toppled off, falling into the abyss as Sonic watched in horror. Even as she fell, she glared at Sonic with hatred and pain.
"WHY COULDN'T YOU SAVE MEEEE?!" she screamed as she vanished from sight.
"No!" Sonic screamed.
At that moment, he heard metallic footsteps approaching. As much as he tried not to, it was like an invisible hand was turning his head to look against his will. He gasped, his jaw dropping at the sight of the Robian Uncle Chuck, his face a mask of disappointment and sadness as he shook his head.
"Why couldn't you save me, son?"
"Uncle Chuck... No, I-"
Before he could say anything more, Uncle Chuck faced him and, with both hands, pushed him into the pit where Mina fell. He plummeted, screaming as he saw hellfire and brimstone, complete with twisted and demonic incarnations of Robotnik, Akhlut, and Thunderbolt laughing evilly, before landing heavily…
-X-
Knothole
...and waking up with a start, sitting up in bed with a soft scream and breaking out in a cold sweat. He heard a soft whine, before something wet touched his face. That shocked him to full wakefulness. Sonic looked around, composing himself as he saw he was in his room in Knothole, and Muttski was by his side. A hand went to his chest as he took slow, deep breaths.
"Just a bad dream…" he sighed.
Slowly, he pushed himself up, getting ready before heading out. The first thing he saw was Kat sleeping peacefully on the couch. Aside from her arm, she was largely unscarred, albeit covered in bandages from Thunderbolt's attacks. He went over and draped a blanket over her, picking her fallen Bookachu plush off the ground before tucking it into her arm. About that time, Knuckles came in.
"Damn, asleep again," he noted.
"How… how is she?" Sonic asked.
"She's just exhausted," Knuckles replied. "She kept falling asleep on guard duty, so I brought her here. She says she's just taking time to regain her strength."
"Right," Sonic nodded. "I'll just leave her to it."
He walked out at that, hearing typing coming from the lab. He peeked in, seeing Hope hard at work. Chails was by her side.
"There has to be something... anything," she muttered as Chails pushed a plate of bacon and eggs toward her. "Not now, Chails. I'm working."
"Maybe you should take a break, then." Sonic suggested.
Hope perked, spinning around to see him at the door.
"Sonic? What are you still doing up?"
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "It's morning, Hope. Pretty late in the morning actually. Have you been up all night?"
Hope blinked before looking at the clock, seeing it was around 10:00 AM.
"Apparently… yeah."
"Eat breakfast, at least," Sonic insisted. "Then maybe join Kat for a nap in the rec room?"
"I…" Chails nudged the plate over, catching her attention. "I guess I am kinda hungry."
Sonic nodded as she took the plate, leaving the lab. As he did, he spotted Mina walking out of the mess hall on a crutch. She saw him coming, smiling almost immediately.
"Sonic, good morning!"
"Mina, hey," Sonic nodded. "How are you feeling?"
"Just fine. Dr. Quack said I should be right as rain here in a few days."
"Good to hear. And I'm-"
Mina held up her hand. "I'm gonna stop you right there, Sonic. I took that hit to save you. You'd do the same for me, and if given the chance, I'd do it again."
She gave him a hug. "What happened wasn't your fault, okay? No one blames you. You tried your best, and that's what matters."
Sonic nodded, heading into the mess hall at that.
Station Square
After breakfast, he found himself in Dr. Sorders' office once more, kicked back on the couch while the doctor sat off to the side.
"So, tell me what's been bothering you," Sorders insisted.
Sonic let out a breath.
"A lot, honestly. These past few weeks... they've been rough."
"Ah yes. Your previous face-offs with the Egg Army. I've heard the stories."
Sonic sighed, a wistful smile on his face. "It used to be so easy, y'know? There was a certain rhythm to these things. Eggman causes trouble, I show up, he makes a big speech and laughs, I say something funny and kick his butt, he flies off going 'I hate that hedgehog,' and it starts all over again. It was almost like... a game." His expression turned solemn. "But now, it's getting serious, more real. Egghead's getting ready for war, Doc. Something's gonna happen soon, something big and bad. I... I just don't know if I can handle it."
"You make it sound as if you have to bear this burden alone," Sorders pointed out.
"That's just it, Doc. These new goons are custom-made to fight me."
"All the more reason to rely on your friends more than ever. Is that not why the Freedom Fighters exist?"
"Yeah, but… how can I talk to them about this?"
Sorders thought for a minute before nodding.
"What about your father and uncle? They're war veterans themselves, aren't they?"
"Well, yeah. They both fought in the Great War."
"You're concerned that Robotnik is about to start a full-fledged war. You don't know how to cope."
Sonic perked in realization. "And what better way to deal with it than talk with two people who've been there, done that, right?"
"Exactly," Sorders confirmed. "They might be able to help you better than I can."
"Yeah…" Sonic nodded. "Alright. First thing I'm gonna do when I leave is talk to them."
-X-
Meanwhile, across town, Kat, Chris, and Knuckles had joined Keith's parents to visit him at the hospital. He was seated in bed, flicking through channels on TV.
"You wanna know the worst thing about being laid up in a hospital bed?" he asked. "When there's nothing to watch."
"I can bring you your Game Cog next time I visit," Sam offered. "We can even play some Marxio Kart."
Keith smiled. "I'll hold you to that, Dad."
"How are you feeling?" Chris questioned.
"Sore, and a bit numb and tingly from time to time. But, that comes with the territory when you survive ten thousand volts."
"Honestly Keith, you really scared me," Kat laid her head in his lap. "Don't do that again, please."
Keith patted her head. "Hey, she jumped me. You're the one who kept running at her and getting fried."
"Frankly, sweetie, I'm surprised you're not in here too," Laura remarked.
Kat didn't say a word, only snoring. They looked down to see she was asleep again.
"Uh... does she have narcolepsy or something?" Sam asked. "This is at least the third time today -that I know of- that she's conked out like this."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Knuckles replied. "She just keeps insisting she's regaining her strength."
"She did take the worst of Thunderbolt's attacks that day," Keith mused before turning to Chris. "Speaking of which, any luck finding intel?"
"I have Vector and his crew working on that," Chris replied. "They're supposed to meet us here before too much longer."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Sam asked. "I mean, Vector's not exactly the most delicate, and we're in the hospital."
"Right…" Chris stood up. "Let's go wait outside."
-X-
They stood out front, Keith being escorted in a wheelchair with Kat pushing him along. He didn't have long to wait; the Chaotix, sans Julie-Su, soon came walking up.
"Find anything?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, but it wasn't easy," Vector replied as he held up a manilla folder labeled "Thunderbolt". "The girl's practically a ghost."
"That little pipsqueak is a ghost?" Kat asked. "Seriously? She is way too loud to just vanish. She has to exist somewhere."
"We did find the basics," Espio said. "Her real name is Rika Chinchilla. Age: twenty-three. Born just outside of Harbor Heights in Soumerca."
"Hold on, Rika?" Knuckles interrupted. "Like, Rikachu? Her parents named her after a Bookeymon?"
"Just a coincidence,” Espio explained. "She was born before the original games came out."
"She's a mechanical prodigy who went to Station Square University for a few years," Saffron added. "She was a classic honor roll student. Very intelligent, very studious. She even placed in the top twenty in a national robotics competition a few years ago. But one day, she dropped out under 'unknown circumstances'."
"When was that?" Chris asked.
"Around the time Lien-Da fell in with Eggman, from what we could gather,” Saffron added.
"More specifically, around the time he began trading in Roboticization for Cyberization."
"Maybe she's the brains behind the process?" Keith offered.
"Or at the very least, someone who could benefit from them," Laura mused.
"Sounds like she had a promising future," Knuckles remarked. "Why would she throw it all away for Eggman?"
"Maybe he captured her?" Ray offered.
"No way!" Charmy piped up. "You guys said she practically worshipped the ground he walked on. She definitely fell in with him willingly."
"But why?" Keith asked. "Why would she ever wanna voluntarily work for Eggman?"
Kat had her arms crossed in thought, Thunderbolt's words echoing in her mind:
"You idiots would never understand!"
"I think I know," she piped up, leaning on Keith's chair. "Back home, in my village, I was a foreigner. A red-haired outsider that didn't fit in. I was harassed often, and only had a couple of friends. People would pick on me a lot. Call me a gaijin to my face."
"What's that?" Mighty asked.
"A Yurashian word for foreigners, particularly white ones and those of Efrikan descent," Espio explained. "It's... not something you really use in polite conversation."
"Anyway, with Thunderbolt, or Rika, or whatever… maybe she's the same way?” Kat mused. "I mean, you saw how badly she reacted to being called a Rikachu. And given her name and powers... I get the feeling she was bullied quite a lot."
"It fits," Keith remarked. "All the mayhem she caused at Twinkle Park, her psychotic glee… Her way of getting back at society for hurting her."
"Still no excuse…" Kat laid her head down on her arms. "Shitty life is no excuse... to act like shit." She slumped forward.
"Uh-oh," Keith perked. "Somebody catch her! She's gonna-!"
Knuckles immediately caught her before she could drop to the pavement.
"Are we sure she doesn't need a hospital?" Espio questioned.
"They said she pushed herself pretty hard during the attack," Laura explained. "She burned herself out... the most I can gather is she's got temporary narcolepsy."
"Yeah, I'm just gonna take her back to Knothole before she collapses on the sidewalk," Knuckles decided.
"Good call," Chris turned to Vector. "Keep us posted. Let us know if and when you find out anything else."
"You got it," Vector assured.
As they walked off, Mighty pulled Espio to the side.
"Speaking of cases, any luck on… well…?"
"Not yet," Espio replied. "But, I'll keep looking."
Mighty sighed, looking down. "Please… I need to know."
Espio looked hesitant, but reached out and squeezed Mighty's shoulder comfortingly.
"I know," he said solemnly.
Knothole
Back at Knothole, Antoine was in the training room, cutting up several training dummies, many of them newer ones based on Akhlut, Kage, and Thunderbolt. He finished off the latest batch, flourishing his sword before sliding it into its sheath.
"Not bad…" he noted. "Not great, but not bad. Now for a break."
He entered the rec room to find Bunnie pacing around, wringing her hands. Several times she stopped, reaching for the phone, only to lose her nerve and go back to pacing.
"Bunnie?" Antoine asked.
She jolted, turning. "Antoine! I- I didn't notice you come in."
"Is something wrong?" Antoine questioned. "You can tell me."
A few minutes passed before Bunnie sighed.
"I know what we talked about at the park, about going to see my aunt and uncle. But... I just can't find the nerve. What if they-?"
"Hey…" Antoine took her hand. "They're your family. They'll just be happy to know you're alive. If it helps, I'll come with you."
"You will?" Bunnie immediately brightened.
"I promised I would,” the coyote explained, "Besides, I'd love to meet them myself."
Bunnie hugged him tightly. "What did I do to deserve someone like you?"
"You deserve the world, cherie," Antoine assured as they shared a kiss.
-X-
In the lab, the Brain Trust and Nicole were hard at work examining the cybernetic scraps Tekno recovered from the Station Square battle, hoping to develop a way to get the enslaved Egg Troopers out from Eggman's thumb.
"Anything so far?" Hope questioned.
"Sadly, no," Tekno sighed. "Just about all the data is corrupt or incomplete."
"This stuff is incredibly advanced," Rotor added. "Far more than what we're used to with Eggman."
Before they could say anything else, Porker's cell phone began ringing. He pulled it out, grimacing as he saw who was calling.
"Excuse me, I have to take this," he said before leaving the room.
"Let's leave him to it," Johnny decided. "That looks like it'll take a minute."
As Porker exited, Julie-Su entered.
"You called?" she asked.
"Yeah, thanks for coming," Tekno replied.
Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Not to be rude, but how can Julie-Su help us?"
"She's the only one among us who's been Cyberized," Nicole explained.
Julie-Su tapped her mechanical dreadlock. "Now, let's take a look."
She leaned over the table, looking it up and down before her eyes widened.
"No way…" she let out.
"You know what it is?" Tails asked.
"Oh, yeah," Julie-Su reached into her pocket, pulling out a small vial of... something.
"Uh…" Johnny began, "What’s with the grey goo?"
"This isn't just some goo, Johnny," Julie-Su clarified. "Transmorphic Nanobot Gel, or Nanojelly for short. One of the Dark Legion's most heavily guarded and classified secrets."
"Lien-Da…" Hope perked. "She was captured by Aggie. Think she spilled the beans?"
"If she didn't, I'm a Micky's aunt," Julie-Su replied.
"What exactly can Nanojelly do?" Nicole questioned.
"A better question is, what can't it do?" Julie-Su explained. "The Legion uses it to create weapons, tools, and other gadgets through an advanced form of 3D printing. And by recording a person's biometric signature and DNA sequence, it can be used to create artificial cells, which can in turn be used to create highly advanced cybernetics. You can make artificial organs that are never rejected by the immune system, as well as limbs that integrate with the recipient's nerves, granting them the full range of motion, motor control, and sensory capabilities of a natural body part."
"That's terrifying," Hope mused. "But... also pretty impressive."
"And a shame," Nicole sighed, shaking her head. "Eggman and the Legion could put this stuff to much better use. What a waste of technology."
"Maybe one day…" Julie-Su mused.
"Yeah… maybe," Hope said to herself.
"Well, we know what it is now," Rotor remarked. "It's a start at least."
"For now, let's take five," Tails decided. "Get something to eat."
As they stood up to go, Tails looked over his shoulder, seeing Hope still at the table.
"I'm gonna take another look at these," Hope told him, waving him off. "I'll eat later."
"You sure, Hope?" Tails asked.
"I'm sure," she replied. "I'm not that hungry anyway."
Tails raised an eyebrow, but decided not to push the issue. As soon as she was alone, Hope looked over an arm, her mind drifting back to Kage's troopers exploding, and Thunderbolt's being paralyzed. Her fists clenched.
"There's gotta be hundreds more like them, maybe thousands," she thought aloud, pulling on her lab coat and a pair of safety goggles. "No matter what it takes, or how long... I will break the Crack Protocol. I will save them. I swear…"
Area 99
Meanwhile, Shard stood before Tower and Team Dark, outlining the events of Thunderbolt's attack on Twinkle Park.
"I apologize for not being able to provide more intel," he told them. "I was in shutdown mode for most of it."
"You've done more than enough, Shard," Sarah assured.
"The doctor is definitely stepping up his game," Shadow noted. "First Akhlut, now this."
"And both times, Sonic's survived by the skin of his teeth," Rouge added.
"His skills are insufficient for the task at hand," Omega remarked. "If he continues at this rate, he will be eradicated."
"Omega, remind me never to ask you to give a pep talk," Shard said flatly.
"Noted," Omega replied.
"We've been tracking Robotnik activity ourselves," Tower informed him. "Specifically, we've noticed a trend in the disappearances. Most of the missing are known to have some kind of combat training or special powers."
A holographic map of Mobius popped up, several areas of the planet red.
"Additionally, Artika, Soumerca, Eurish, Yurashia, and the Frozen North and Central Seas area in particular have the highest number of reports."
"Each continent…" Rouge perked. "By Aurora, he's going global..."
"What is he planning?" Shadow questioned.
"Whatever it is, it's gonna be big," Sarah mused.
Mobotropolis
As this was going on, Sonic, taking Dr. Sorders' suggestion, had headed to his house, sitting down with Jules and Uncle Chuck to discuss recent events.
"What did you need to talk to us about, son?" Jules asked.
"Well, you've most likely heard about what's been going on in Station Square," Sonic replied. "Two separate attacks on the city from Eggman in a month, me and my friends getting our butts handed to us, and only surviving because Eggman himself had to rein in his lunatic goons."
"We heard," Uncle Chuck remarked. "Are you alright?"
Sonic sighed. "I honestly don't know, Uncle Chuck. Eggman's planning something big. The attacks, his beefed-up soldiers... he's getting ready for war. I-I just don't know if I'm prepared for that."
Chuck gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Sonic took a deep breath.
"That's why I'm here, Doc Sorders' suggestion. You guys fought in the Great War. How did you, y'know... handle it?"
Both of them let out a breath.
"It... wasn't easy," Jules said.
"Downright impossible most days," Uncle Chuck added. "We were fighting for our lives, waking up every morning, wondering if it would be our last."
"So... how'd you and your squad pull together?"
"Whenever we were on the verge of giving up, we remembered a lot of people were relying on us to win, to come through for them," Jules explained. "If we didn't, who would?"
"As long as we had something to fight for, we could keep going," Uncle Chuck added.
"For me, it was you and your mother." Jules said. "So tell me, son. What do you have to fight for?"
"I…" Sonic thought back to his dream, to everyone he failed. He thought back to the Freedom Fighters, all of them at his back. He thought of everyone he had befriended because of his heroics, everyone who believed in him. His fists clenched at that. He sparked slightly before looking his father and uncle in the eyes.
"Everything," he declared. "I've got everything to fight for."
They both smiled at that.
"Exactly," Jules confirmed. "Now, it won't be easy, I won't lie to you. You try, you fail. You try, you fail. But the only true failure is when you stop trying."
"What do you do when the world turns against you?" Uncle Chuck demanded. "When life gets tough?"
"You keep on running," Sonic recalled.
"That's it!" Uncle Chuck exclaimed. "I've told you that since you were little. As long as one person stands against Eggman, he'll never win. If he's getting stronger, you can too!"
"Right…" Sonic said with determination. "You're right, we can."
He rose to his feet at that. "I won't stop until I've saved everyone Eggman has captured. I'll never give up until I've honored the sacrifices of everyone who's fallen along the way. And I won't be through until I've kicked his flabby ass once and for all. So he can just keep pushin' me! I'll push right back!"
His declaration got grins out of his father and uncle.
"That's what we want to hear, son!" Jules exclaimed.
Sonic smirked. "Let me know when you can get in touch with Longclaw. It's time for me to step it up."
Knothole
Later, Sonic headed back to Knothole to find Bunnie and Antoine carrying a few suitcases.
"Hey guys!" he greeted. "Where are you going?"
"I've made up my mind," Bunnie replied. "I'm going to the Baronies to visit my family for a few weeks. Antoine's coming as my emotional support."
"Good for you," Sonic gave a thumbs up. "I'm sure they'll be happy to see you."
"Thanks, hon," Bunnie gave her own smile. "See you around."
They Warp Ringed away at that. Sonic took a seat on the couch, getting everyone's attention.
"Alright, gang," he declared. "We're done moping around. Starting tomorrow, we train. Whatever Eggman's planning, we need to step up our game."
Everyone cheered at that. As they did, Sonic caught Hope heading back to the lab out of the corner of his eye…
Southern Baronies
Down in the Baronies, Bunnie and Antoine had arrived outside of a modest-looking house.
"Well, here we are." she said nervously.
"Quite the charming cottage." Antoine replied. "You ready, ma cher?"
"No." Bunnie took a breath. "But Rotor's right...I need to do this."
They walked up to the front door. Bunnie raised an arm to knock, her arm shaking before she steeled herself and knocked a few times. A few seconds passed before the door slowly opened. An older Mobian rabbit in a yellow dress and matching hat peeked out, her ears perking as she saw who was there and opened the door fully.
"Bunnie?" she let out, almost in disbelief.
Bunnie awkwardly lifted her arm in greeting. "H-hi, Aunt Lulu."
Lulumae's eyes fell on Bunnie's legs and left arm. She nervously grabbed her arm, quickly expecting the worst... before Lulumae strode forward and yanked her niece into a hug.
"Bunnie…" she let out softly. "Oh Aurora, Bunnie… you're here. You're alive."
Bunnie slowly relaxed, returning the hug. After a few minutes passed, Lulumae pulled back... and promptly flicked her niece in the forehead.
"Ow!"
"You dang fool!" she declared. "Two years without even a note, after that Robotnik kidnapped you! You scared me and Buck to death, y'know!"
"I know, Auntie…" Bunnie said. "But didn't Vanilla and Coco pass on my messages?"
"Of course they did!" Lulumae replied. "But doncha think we'd wanna see our baby girl?!"
Bunnie sighed, pulling away and showing her robotic limbs.
"Auntie, this is why," she began, desperately trying to hold back tears...and failing. "I was partially roboticized. Before Sonic's friends finished the De-Roboticizer, I had to have them replaced with regular robot parts. I can't change back."
Lulumae's expression softened at that.
"I... I was scared of what you'd think if you saw me like this."
"Oh, baby girl…" Lulumae placed a hand on her shoulder. "It don't matter whether you're Mobian, robot, or something in between. You'll always be our niece."
Bunnie teared up at that, before bursting into tears of joy and relief. A few minutes passed before she composed herself, wiping her eyes.
"Now, who is this handsome gent you got on your arm?" Lulumae asked.
"Antoine D'Coolette," Antoine replied. "The coyote lucky enough to be on her arm."
Lulumae smiled. " Well, I'd love to get to know you. You're both just in time for tea."
"Milady, it would be our genuine pleasure," Antoine replied.
They headed inside, Lulumae closing the door.
"Is Uncle Beau here?" Bunnie asked.
"Buck had business in Sand Blast City," Lulumae answered. "He's been gone since yesterday. Should be back in a few days, though."
"Then I hope you don't mind us staying for a few days," said Bunnie.
Lulumae grinned at that. "I don't mind one bit, sugar. You're always welcome here."
They sat down at that, having tea and generally enjoying each other's presence for the first time in two years.