It was a long walk across the Outlands. The land was flat and arid, reaching for miles. The weather was unforgiving, swinging violently from hot, steamy days to bitterly cold nights, showing no mercy to the lone traveller.
The name given to the harsh, sprawling deserts beyond the walls of Great Crag, The Outlands were a place of both dreams and nightmares for Bracken Thorn's clan; the dream of escaping to the lush forests fabled to lie beyond, the nightmare of the harsh reality that had hit them the moment they had left the haven of Great Crag. None of them could ever have been prepared.
Except for Bracken Thorn.
Bracken stood almost seven feet tall, like all the other coyotes. Like them, his fur was a rough brown, his hair sandy-blonde to the base of his neck, his body lean but muscular, built for strength, speed and stealth. The fact that he was different had not been realized for almost three years. Had it not been for that one lucky blow during practice combat, the blow that had broken his skin yet registered no pain, they would never have known that he was a robot.
The clan had taken him in when they had found him lost in The Outlands, devoid of memory, family and identity, in an unexpected gesture of trust, but this was too much. Cyborgs were deadly, and could not be trusted, not even if they had been as a normal clan member for the years that Bracken had. The decision had been swift, direct and uncompromising; Bracken Thorn had to go.
His friends, those that he had made, had tried to accompany him, of course. But one by one, The Outlands had beaten them back. It had allowed him only to continue, robbing him of their aid, and, more importantly, their friendship. It wanted him alone again, and he was. Almost exactly as he was before, despite the new life he had found, and so recently lost.
Except this time, he vowed, The Outlands would not win.
Sighing, Bunnie Rabbot used her powerful robotic arm to open yet another rusted-shut valve. "Try it again, Sugah-Twan!"
Nodding, Antione pulled back the lever with significant effort. The network of pipes and sluices came to life with a loud grinding, a harsh, laboured whine that would never have been heard had the water system been operated through the correct machinery. The noise reverberated through the room, the metal-clad walls causing the echo to be even louder. The pipes rattled in their bindings, threatening to burst or break free with effort that had not been asked of them for a long time. Somewhere, Bunnie thought she heard running water. She and Antione stared intently at the pipes, willing them to work after years of disuse, hoping against hope as if that alone would help them finally finish their task. Finally, the grinding shuddered to a halt, and the eyes of both Freedom Fighters widened. It was going to work! This was it! At last!
A single drop of clear, clean water fell from the gaping mouth of the pipe that should have directed a torrent of it into the massive basin that awaited. Furious, Bunnie growled visciously and laid a violent kick into the nearest pipe with one metallic foot.
"Leave eet, Mam'selle Rabbot," Antione sighed, slumping down into a tired, uniformed heap. "Eet eez of no good. Zee pipes, zey are, 'ow you zay, utterly useless."
"Ah know," Bunnie collapsed beside him with a clank. "Shuh seems like nobody used these things since the Great War!"
"Zat is making zee sense, knowing zat zees city 'as been zee ghost town for zee many years."
It was true. The city of Averlan, only a few miles from Mobotropolis, had been abandoned as soon as Robotnik had taken over. Now, the degraded city was practically rubble, and the pipes that lay seven feet below the surface had been sitting and rusting for just over a decade. There seemed to be little hope of ever getting the water flowing again. As it was, this was the couple's fifth attempt, and it had gotten them nowhere. Rotor's plan to get them working again had been a stroke of genius, and would have been perfect had it not been for one thing - the pipes stubbornly refused to comply. Bunnie'd had just about enough of them, and could see the same sentiment mirrored in Antione's tired and frustrated expression.
"C'mon, Sugah," Bunnie got to her feet, and walked to the door. "It's comin' on dusk, and we sure ain't gonna get anywheah tonight."
"Oui," Antione nodded, only too eager to turn in for the night. "Eet eez 'opeless."
The pair made their way out of the metal-walled rooms that contained the pipes via a small, narrow staircase that emerged on the surface inside the structure that used to be Averlan's town hall. There Bunnie and her companion had set up their small camp, no more than two bedrolls and the meager supplies they had brought on what was supposed to be a brief, there-and-back mission. Get the water system working again, Princess Sally had said, and we can start to move some of the Mobians to Averlan.
So much for there-and-back. This was their second night in Averlan, and soon they would be forced to head back to Mobotropolis, either to report failure or to collect more supplies and head back. Bunnie dreaded that thought, but she knew that Antione would sooner stay there and starve than tell the Princess, or King Acorn, that they had been unable to complete their mission.
These thoughts heavy on her mind, Bunnie didn't even notice the explosion. But Antione did. He shot into the air with an inadvertent cry, and Bunnie calmly reached out to catch him on his way down.
"What was zat?!" he cried, trying to keep his voice at its normal pitch.
"What was what, Sugah?"
BOOM!
"Zat!" Antione twitched nervously in her arms, then noticed where he was, and quickly regained his composure. "You can be putting me down now, Bunnie, Oui?"
The bionic rabbit dumped him rather unceremoniously and ran to the half-collapsed door of the old town hall, sticking her head through to investigate. Not finding anything immediately, she withdrew.
"Stay heah, 'Twan. I'm gonna have a look around." Readying the laser Rotor had put in her robotic arm, she disappeared before Antione had a chance to reply. Slightly putout, he picked himself up, dusted off his father's uniform, and took up his weapon of choice, his rapier. Granted, the sword meant that he had to attack swiftly and up-close, and then fall back before his opponent could retaliate with fire, but that was no great sacrifice to make if it meant carrying on his father's honour. Then, he followed Bunnie into the fast-approaching night.
Outside of the run-down hall, the damage that had been dealt to Averlan was nothing short of devastating. Once-proud structures lay in ruin, warped or collapsed. Mechanical debris littered the otherwise empty streets, and a leaking sewer had decorated it with pools of foul-smelling, brown slime. The silence was eerie and unsettling, especially in light of the fact that not one other living being was anywhere in sight. And that included Bunnie.
Laser fire sounded in the distance, and a sharp cry of pain echoed through the empty city. Antione started, shocked, and then snapped into action. There was no mistaking it; that had been Bunnie!
The first shot had hit her arm. Not the robotic one; the real one. Crying out, she had been too shocked to avoid the next, which caught her side, between shoulder and hip. The force of the impact spun her around, leaving her legs vulnerable to the third. Stunned, Bunnie had half-dropped, half-fallen to her knees, and managed to crawl to the relative protection of a large slab of concrete. She gripped her arm, feeling the spot just below the shoulder where the laser fire had burned away fur and flesh, and blood was seeping down to her elbow. Trying to ignore the pain, she rolled over and took a blind shot in the general direction of her still-unknown assailant, then rolled back as a barrage of fire answered her. Whatever was out there, it was either armed a lot better than her, or much more numerous. The hail of fire ceased, and Bunnie lay silent, unsure what to do. What was going on? She felt panic rising inside, threatening to steal her judgement, and fought to keep it down. Now, more than ever, she had to keep her wits about her. The enemy had her outnumbered or outgunned - or maybe both - but for some reason, the fire had stopped. Something was going on.
She rolled slightly, glancing cautiously around the corner. Nothing.It was the noise of a screw rolling across the ground behind her that alerted her. She spun as she heard it, still hoping that somehow she could save herself. But she turned to face directly into the barrels of a twin wrist-mounted laser cannon, and knew that she was as good as dead.
As what would have been the final shot went off, a second figure collided with her assailant. The blast went wide, shooting harmlessly off into the distance. Her attacker and her saviour went down in a flurry of worn metal and scraggly, brown fur. The two rolled around for a few moments, brawling with what seemed like equal strength, until the furry one, a coyote, managed to bend the arm of the other, a robot, on an angle that enabled him to reach into the open elbow joint and disconnect several of the wire tendons that were exposed. The arm went limp, and Bunnie's unknown rescuer finished the fight with a violent twist of the robot's helmeted head, snapping it free of the body.
Bunnie was still shocked at the amazing display of strength that she had just been witness to as her rescuer clambered to his feet, dusted off his khaki vest, flipped a sandy-blonde fringe out of his eyes, and, seeming ashamed, turned to leave.
"Wait!" she cried.
"I have to go..." he knew he shouldn't be among living beings.
"No!" something compelled her to reach out, and she immediately knew it was a mistake as pain shot through her. With a gasp, she fell back.
"Are you alright?" He turned, concerned, to grasp her arm and help her to her feet. Then, he saw the metal of her arm and legs, and his mouth fell open. "You're a robot!"
"Only half, Sugah," Bunnie grimaced, another jolt of pain running through her arm. "Don'chy'all worry, Ah have mah free will. Ah'm not gonna hurt anyone."
"No, you don't understand; so am I!"
"Y'are?!"
"Bunnie!" Antione appeared at the top of the street. "Get away from 'er, you!"
"Sugah-Twan, settle down!" Bunnie soothed. "It's okay."
"Alors, Bunnie! What 'as 'appened?!"
"That happened," the coyote nudged his former opponent with one booted foot.
"What is that?" Bunnie asked, realizing that she'd never seen a robot of such make before.
"And 'o, exactly, are you?" Antione turned his look of distrust to the tall, tightly muscled creature.
"Look, my name is Bracken, and shouldn't we all get inside?"
"Oui, M'sieur Bracken, oui. But know zis; I am not trusting you for zee one moment."
"Y'all got no memory, then? No family, no home? Nothin'?"
"Nothing. My memory begins when the clan took me in."
Bracken took a long swig of the hot, sweet drink he had been given, and settled into a more comfortable position in order to stop his foot from falling asleep. He sat across the room from the two freedom fighters, at the insistence of Antione, who kept looking at him in distrust, jealously guarding Bunnie as he took care of her injuries. The burn on her arm was not a great problem, but the wound at her waist was a lot more serious. She could walk easily enough after a little practice, but they all knew that it would be days at least before she was back in action.
Amazing though it seemed, Bracken himself was relatively undamaged, sporting nothing more than a few scratches over his artificial fur. He had already waved away Bunnie's inquiries in relation to his well being - along with her thanks. He seemed so modest, she thought, like he didn't deserve to be alive, let alone there with them. She wondered why.
Antione didn't. As far as he was concerned, Bracken Thorn could not be far enough away from them. He seemed dangerous; a free radical, as members of the army would have put it. Who knew where his loyalties lay, especially he and Bunnie? The coyote was a robot, after all. A full one and one of questionable integrity, too - not just a Mobian with robotic parts, like Bunnie, or one who was proven to be loyal to King Acorn, such as Sir Charles, Sonic's uncle. Moreover, although Bunnie seemed to, he didn't for one second buy the coyote's false modesty; it was obviously an act, and it was a bad one at that. And, most of all, he didn't like the way that Thorn kept looking at Bunnie... or the way she looked back.
"What was that robot, Sugah?" Bunnie asked him, green eyes too large and intent for Antione's liking. "Have y'all seen one o' his kind before?"
Bracken nodded. "A common occurrence around Great Crag - that's the clan's fortress - but not too much of a problem. Their double lasers are surprisingly short-range, so clan shooters can just pick them off from guard posts on the walls. Nobody knows what they're called. The clan just calls them sniper-bots, because they only ever seem to turn up alone, and they usually hide out and try to pick off individuals rather than attacking groups. Those tendons you saw me break - they are the model's main weakness. They have few others."
"Y'all seem to know a lot about 'em, Sugah."
"The clan make it compulsory to study the makes and programming of whatever robots they can get their hands on. When you've memorized the different models, you know their weaknesses. It's a great help to know the make of as many as you can."
"And which of zees 'makes' might you be, M'sieur Thorn?"
Antione's scathing remark brought swift silence to the room. Bunnie glared at him angrily, and Bracken bit his lip in order to hold back an angry retort. The freedom fighter couldn't understand how much it hurt to be so suddenly exiled from the only home he had ever known, just because he was different. He had to restrain himself - even if it was only because Bunnie was in the room.
Bracken cleared his throat, collected himself, and replied, "sorry, but I don't know."
"He didn't really mean it, Sugah," Bunnie said quickly. "Did y'all, 'Twan?"
Antione grunted.
"So, uh..." she continued, "why would this 'sniper-bot' be heah?"
"I can't say, Bunnie," Bracken shook his head. "I honestly can't say."
"Mah stars," Bunnie gasped. "It all looks like we all ain't gettin' outta heah for quite a while yet."
"I'll say," Bracken agreed, letting his eyes scan over the line of 'bots. This was not a sniper-bot's usual behaviour at all. They had formed a ring around the perimeter of Averlan, one every twenty or so feet, simply waiting and watching for them to try and leave.
"We 'ad best be getting you back in zee side, Bunnie," Antione suggested.
"Yeah," Bracken agreed. "You're in no shape to make a run for it with all of them around."
"Ah don't believe any of us are," she replied as they started back.
The three had set out that morning, hoping to escape Averlan's confines before anything more dangerous started to happen. On a vote of one very persuasive rabbot against one rather submissive soldier, Bracken was coming with them. The Princess or the King would decide what to do about him back at Mobotropolis. But, upon seeing the line of robots waiting for even the slightest sign of movement, they all knew that escape by land was impossible. Their only options were to stay and die, or find an alternative route out of Averlan. And nobody was terribly keen on the idea of dying.
As they headed back to the town hall, Bracken using his robot-lent strength to support Bunnie (much to Antione's disgust - he was, how you say, a great big showoff), several ideas came up. Antione suggested that they try to make a tunnel out of the water-works basement, which might have worked fine, had they brought the appropriate tools with them. As it was, it seemed an unlikely possibility. Of all the ideas that the three came up with, it was Bunnie's idea to attempt to reactivate one of the long-stationary aircraft that they had found in one of the city's stronger hangars that seemed the most feasible. The models were practically antiques, but with a whole lot of work and a whole lot of luck, one might fly again. None of them had any great knowledge of mechanics, so it seemed a long shot at best, but it made the most sense out of what they had.
After they had moved their makeshift camp into the water pipes basement for safety, most of the afternoon was dedicated to attempting this plan. Bracken and Antione spent it checking each aircraft, one by one, to see what sort of shape they were in. Only two out of five seemed to be repairable, so they spent several hours, one on each, trying to get their dilapidated engines into working order. Bunnie, despite her arguments, spent it resting in the town hall.
It was several hours later when Bracken loudly and angrily gave up. The biplane that he was operating on had made every effort to resist repair, and taken every opportunity to irritate the cyborg coyote. It was the last straw when the engine, finally starting to look in better shape than it first had, popped several screws and promptly fell to pieces in his hands.
"We're getting nowhere," he pointed out to Antione, who was doing no better. "This is utterly hopeless. Even if we do ever get either one working, it'll take more days than we have enough supplies for. And besides, it'll probably fall apart as soon as we get in."
"A soldier eez never to be quitting!" Antione responded curtly. "And whatever zee cost, I am not willing to be letting Bunnie die!"
Bracken put his head on the side, regarding Antione. "You really love her, don't you?"
"What business eez eet of yours?" Came the response.
A long pause.
"I think I do too," Bracken said calmly.
"You are zee fuel!" Antione snapped.
"Fool, y'mean, right?"
"Fuel. Zat is what I said. And I am warning you now, M'sieur Thorn, do not be getting in my way... you... you... machine!"
Both fortunately and unfortunately, before the furious Bracken could retort, there came a distraction. An explosion, not deafening but at least threatening, sounded from outside. The coyote cyborg and the disgruntled soldier ran from the hangar, neither one having any more idea than the other the source of the noise. It was Antione who caught sight of the wisps of smoke that were floating up from near the old town hall. Both he and Bracken were there in seconds, and both were horrified at what they saw.
"Alors! Bunnie!" Antione exclaimed, running to her side. Their companion lay sprawled on the dirt and rubble, black smoke pouring from the joints and damaged portions of her robotic body. Evidently from the twisted and damaged circuitry and steel plating, the explosion had done some serious damage to Bunnie. Just what they needed.
"Ah'm... sorry, Sugah-Twan," she said weakly. "Ah thought... Ah might have been able ta use... mah rockets, in mah legs. Ah guess ah was wrong."
"Bunnie! Why did you try?!" Bracken cried.
"Ah knew the planes... wouldn't... wouldn't work..."
"'Ush, Mon cheri," Antione gathered her up, careful not to hurt her. "We will get you out of zees city and back to Mobotropolis, no matter what it takes. Eet will be all right."
He carried her back into the basement and laid her gently onto a bedroll, Bracken not trailing by much. As she drifted into sleep, the soldier and the cyborg looked at each other. Although neither would give voice to it, they were both aware of what this meant. Bunnie needed medical attention, better than either of them could provide. Even if they did manage to get one of the planes working, it would never be in time. They had to think of something new. Fast. Very fast.
"I'm going topside," Bracken finally said. "It's a long shot, but there might be something left in one of the houses or stores that we could use. Maybe we could rig some kind of explosive charge - even if it doesn't take out the sniper-bots, it might distract them for a while. And, by the way," he grabbed Antione by the collar of his father's uniform, "this doesn't end here. When she's out of danger, we settle it."
Antione raised an eyebrow as Bracken released him and promptly left. The soldier was not interested in continuing the fight at that moment, for just then, he had caught a glimpse of something very, very interesting. Something that could save at least two out of three lives.
Bunnie was looking a little better by the time Bracken returned, just before sundown - at least, she was able to speak clearly, and was conscious. Neither the rabbot nor her companion had come up with any ideas, however, as Antione had been occupied with keeping Bunnie stable, and Bunnie had been occupied with being injured.
Bracken's search had resulted in quite a disappointing turnover for a city that was flooded with all manner of mechanical flotsam and jetsam. All he had been able to uncover was an assortment of parts that looked good, but may or may not have been of use. And, as none of them had the required knowledge, the small mound of junk was just that - junk.
Finally, when they had established that there was no other option, Antione unscrewed the hilt of his father's sword, and drew forth a tiny green gem.
"Zees gem, she eez zee fragment of zee Chaos Emerald," he announced, handing it to Bracken. "Eet was passed on to me along with my father's sword when 'e was roboticized. I am believing, M'sieur Thorn, zat you are 'aving one of your own."
"Right," surprised, Bracken pulled his fragment, a chip of blue, from under his clothes, where it hung on a leather cord. "It was given to me by a clan shaman on my initiation. How did you know it was there?"
"Because, M'sieur Thorn, I am observant. Nozing is escaping zee keen eyes of Antione D'Coolette. I saw eet when you zreatened me today."
"Would y'all mind gettin' to the point, Sugah-Twan?" Bunnie interjected.
"Oui, of course. When zee two Chaos Emeralds are touching, we are knowing what results, oui?"
"Yeah, an explosi- hold up, Sugah. Surely y'all aren't thinkin' what Ah think y'all are?"
"Zee one of us must do eet. Eet eez our only 'ope. Zee blast from two full emeralds would doubtless be killing us all, but with just zese fragments, the explosion will only level zee two-hundred-foot radius, maybe zee little bit more..."
"Sugah-Twan, theah's gotta be another way..."
"Zere eez no way, Bunnie. Eet must be someone..."
Suddenly, Bunnie realized that he was looking at Bracken.
"No!" She cried.
There was a brief pause. All three could feel tension thick in the air.
"Bunnie," Antione motioned for Bracken to leave, "Can I be talking to you een zee privacy?"
"It had better be good," Bunnie warned as they coyote left.
"Bunnie," Antione began when Bracken was gone, "Zees Bracken, he eez not zee someone we know, or can trust. Would eet not be better for 'im to die zan us?"
"Ah can't believe mah ears!" she exclaimed. "Bracken's life is worth as much as yours or mahne, until we know better!"
"'E eez zee robot!" Antione argued. "'E 'as no real life!"
"Then what about me?" She demanded furiously. "Am Ah only worth half a life?"
"Bunnie, Mon cheri, Look at zees," Antione gently touched her arm, where the blast had caught her what seemed like years ago. "Eef you are hurt, you bleed. M'sieur Thorn, 'ee does not."
A tear ran down Bunnie's cheek.
And Bracken, listening to the echoes of their voices from the top of the staircase, turned away, his choice made for him.
When Bracken did not return, Antione moved over to open the door. Catching a glimpse of white, he picked up a small piece of paper that lay on the floor, and handed it to Bunnie. As the explosion rocked the entire city, she read the three words hastily scrawled onto its surface.
Sometimes we bleed.
Several days later, Bunnie and Antione reached Mobotropolis, exhausted and strangely silent, bearing with them the news that the Averlan mission had failed and the city was no more than dust on a wasteland. the incapacitated rabbot sported painful-looking wounds on her arm and waist, and serious damage to her circuitry, but refused to speak of how it had happened. She also refused to speak of where she got the necklace that she returned wearing; a leather cord that held a tiny gem - a fragment of green fused onto a fragment of blue.