6/19/2006 Station City - 300 Freedom Way It's impossible to escape bureaucracy, and at times, like a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter, you've even got to tangle with the red tape willingly. Welcome to Freedom Way, Station City's resident governmental district. A strong sense of patriotism pervades this quarter of the city, from the UMA member-state seals engraved into the sidewalk slabs, to the monolithic ministry and embassy compounds that line both sides of the broad dual-lane streets. The crowd here is distinctly formal, neatly pressed suits mixed with military uniforms. The traffic is brisk, but not heavy; vehicles are always more than willing to make way for the patrolling forms of UMM light Ride Mecha, as the machines make their rounds of the district. Superior firepower always has right-of-way. On the border between the commercial and governmental centres of Station City, this section of the city is home to public buildings of a lesser order: various minor ministries, the city library, and the like. Freedom Way continues to the east and Station Square lies beyond City Hall to the southeast. To the southwest lies a large red brick building, once the Acorn Governor-General's mansion, now the Alliance state-run Homeless Shelter, providing warm beds and meals to the needy since 3225. [Exits : Outskirts , 200 Freedom Way , 400 Freedom Way , Shelter , and 100 Station Way ] [Players : Sonic ] ========================================================================== Name |Gender |Status |Short Description --------------+-------+----------+----------------------------------------- Sonic........... |Male |ROCKSOME|A fast, but mental, blue hedgehog. Bunnie.......... |Female |IC |Yer fr'en'lay li'l nayberhoo' rabbeht! Bunnie Bunnie Rabbot is just your average little Mobian rabbit until you give her a second look. She stands at roughly average height for a lady but not a lot else is particularly ordinary. She is bestowed with curves that are mature looking for a girl her age yet she appears equally cherubic. Her round fuzzy face, with a slightly upturned little muzzle, and large, vibrant, bottle green eyes, would suggest a sweet, innocent nature. Her shiny black nose is small, triangular, and no one would question it as being unfeminine. The whiskers sticking out of her longer cheek fur are a bit prominent but easily outdone by the intensity of her delicate eyelashes. Most of her body is covered in a golden brown shade of fur that turns into more of a peach color around the lower half of her face (and possibly in other regions currently hidden by clothing.) There are two seperate darker brown rings around her eyes and apparently Bunnie has applied some purple eyeshadow to make these appear more dramatic and flirty. Her hair, the same color as her fur but a bit lighter, stops somewhere around the nape of her neck. Short as it is, it is cropped into several wild, disheveled layers that reveal a possibly wild and fun-loving side. Her lips are thin and without make-up but they are still fairly noticible. Interestingly enough, her long, tapered left ear hangs down near her eye in a lop-eared manner. It gives her a vaguely uncertain but humble look. Her body is... quite distinctive. Her right arm and torso look to be healthy, athletic-looking flesh, naturally covered in smooth fur, yet her left arm and both her legs are obviously mechanical. They are bulky, crude looking appendages that belie their real power and agility. The harsh, grey metal is almost jarring in contrast with the rest of her but she doesn't seem to notice. If nothing else, the lacey pink camisole covering her broad chest and the blue jean shorts covering her equally broad hips (and the backside from whence her fluffy little tail pokes out) would suggest this is nothing new. [ Bunnie saw you looking at her. ] Carrying: (Currency: 252 pennies) Stick of Butter, Ceramic Plate, Hot Toast, and Butter Knife Today is just another day for many of the citizens of Station City. The gentle bustle of such a busy street, near public and official buildings, is probably not as steady or large as that of any city known within the Alliance. But Station City still has a good crowd of folk, living their lives and for the most part, though not untouched by Robotnik's Empire (for very few are), they are unbothered with the NME overall. It is in the back of their minds. Their business must go on, with or without it. But there are some who can't forget. Namely, one Bunnie Rabbot. She wanders out of the nearby library, clutching a couple of worn tomes to her chest. Earlier that day, since she isn't leaving the city for a little while, she decided to offer her assistance to the Homeless Shelter. There aren't as many there as when the Coup first broke out and Station City was first reclaimed. She remembers those latter days. But there are still those who need help, who are shoved aside by the ever present growth of the Robotink's Empire or simply lose their way in the ever changing and somewhat unstable economy of Mobius. Bunnie herself has no fear of such things. She'll always have a home, no matter where she goes. Almost no matter. But there's times when it gets her down, just thinking of all the possibilities. All the differences. She looks down at her robotic arm, holding the books, untiring and almost hollow, and she shrugs her thoughts away. Time to cross the street! She looks both ways of course. Lord. The sociopolitical ramifications of the social economy of Mobius isn't something a certain blue hedgehog thinks about, or likes to think about. Now food... food is a thing he likes to think about. And girls. Speaking of girls, there's one he wants to see... KERBLAM! ... As Bunnie just happens to walk by one of those nice trees, that the city heads have so nicely and densely populated the city with, some leaves ruffle and fall as Sonic flips down from one of the tree branches. "Heeeeeeeey Bun-bun." Okay, well, it's not so much flipping down as it is hanging upside-down from one of the tree branches. The blue hedgehog swings there for a moment, swaying back and forth as leaves continue to flutter down and rest upon the ground. "SUUUURRRRRRPPPPRIIIIISE!" Hands wave, side to side, as-if to accent the 'scary' effect of his popping up. Not that it's... really all that scary. Ahem. Yeah, he actually ahems, and then flips down. Into one of those crouches, you know, heroically. Inspired by Spider-man, even though he probably has no idea who he is. How about the Amazing Spider-ham? Hmmm. Standing up again, he brushes the dirt off his knees and finally gets to the real greeting, "Howdy howdy hi hi how-ya'-doin' what's up-can-I-help-ya'-with-those-books?" Sonic Sonic the Hedgehog -- The world's greatest hedgehog hero stands before you. He is roughly a 3'4" light blue hedgehog, which seems to have an attitude. He stands with a good posture, his hands laying down at his sides. He seems to stand casual, like a teenager of 15, maybe 16. His belly is a lighy tan as well as his arms, which are relatively short. He also has a tan-ish muzzle which match the rest. His nose is small and oval. Dark black in color; it sits on the tip of his muzzle. Implanted on his muzzle is a smirk, which makes him seem sort of cocky. The boy has two small, oval, black eyes and big white pupils. His ears are almost exactly like triangles. Blue; they poke up, and have a tanish fur lining them inside. On his back are three rows of quills, the first two, on the back of his head, are three accross, and the final row, on his lower back, are only two across. The quills look sharp, and capable hurting someone if they got too close. To round him out, he has a medium sized blue tail, pointing behind him. He wears nothing but a pair of white gloves on his hands, sort of worn, maybe dingy. On his feet, he has an odd pair of shoes, indeed. They're mostly red; with a white stripe across them. And as to fasten on, there's a golden, shiny buckle on the outside of each. From where he stands, the kid seems to start tapping his foot impatiently; his arms crossed, as if he were waiting for something or some one. [ Sonic saw you looking at him. ] Carrying nothing. (Currency: 252 pennies) The silence in response to this sheer act of greatness is strong. Only the cars hum by faintly with perhaps a mech or two making it's clunky way along. No one else really seems to be walking today as Bunnie just STARES at the blue hedgehog who falls from the... miniscule canopy. Then suddenly, there's a resounding squeal as Bunnie nearly drops the books but instead shifts them into her flesh-and-blood arm and extends her metal one forward, followed by the rest of her rushing in to pull Sonic in for a... very careful hug. Those quills are sharp! She knows from her own personal experience. "SUGAH-HOG! It's been awhi'eh! How've yah been?!" Bunnie exclaims, obviously pleased to see her old friend once more. Sonic is probably the one who should be surprised! What with being absconded with a robotic arm and all, "I see you're still... really really strong." Pause. Hourf. "Really." He does hug back, though, far less perilous than him getting hugged, "I've been... being! Very beeningishly." He then zips to Bunnie's other side, and standing on his tip-toes, tries to grab some books off the top of her pile. He's short, though, so he sort of moves to her... other side, and uses a tree to hop up and then... grab some! "Been off here 'n' there, 'n' everywhere, and then back to there." He then points in some random direction, which just so happens to be a lingerie shop, "But never there." There's a pause, as he notes what he's pointing at. "Really." He props those books under his arm, leaning on... well, that very same tree he was leaning off of before to try and look all cool. "I been hearin' stuff. Like, well, stuff... goin' on! F'some reason ol' Sally-gally sent an envoy or convoy or a bonvoy or somethin' all the way out here to do... somethin'." Straight to the point, Sonic is! His reasons for showing up are pretty transparent, but then again, he does look intent to help Bunnie out with her book-holden. Sonic's eyes turn off to the side, away from Bunnie, though. "I mean, why else would you be out here? Chewin' the scene? I doubt it'd even *taste* good." Bunnie giggles at Sonic's mile-a-minute nature. He always was the most talkative one, out of the original Freedom Fighters, and even after he left no one has been able to match him. She is also quite amused by the lingerie shop, which makes her pause for a minute before it kicks in how funny that'd be if Sonic HAD been inside one of those. Ah, good times. She also doesn't mind the helping with the books, though she really doesn't have an overbearing stack... not too overbearing anyway. "Oh, well, it is shoah good tah hear that. Ah see yer still in thah loop, too. Yah always were good at catchin' on tah things goin' down even if they was ten miles off and two days early. But yeah, we got... we got us here somethin' speshal," Bunnie admits. She looks around a minute, noting that no one really seems to be in hearing range, and then adds with a wink, "Though Ah have been nibblin' a bit much on the food in these here restaurants. Gonna have to watch mah weight when Ah get home. Not that they got anythang bettah than we do, ovah all, but they got some profeshnal cooks what actually lahk to cook fer people othah than themselves! Unlahk a certain 'Twan we know." Sonic balances those books under his arm and then manages to hold his nose, "NOOOO, you can not do zat to zee escargots!!! Margarine!? That is for zee ANIMALZ!! FEAR MY BAD COOKINGZ!~!! PERISH UNDER ZEE MIGHT OF MAI SLUGS OF DOOM MADE BY ZEE ME OF MOI." Pause. "MOIIIII!!!" Bad french accent, though. He does laugh, however, even if it's dumb to laugh at your own joke. "Course I remember Ant's penchant fer food dramatics. 'N' all I wanted was to slather some chili on a hot dog, and he'd be all... no. Just straight no. Or non, or whatever the heck he said." He laughs a bit, "Can ya' imagine how that went?" Now he starts making fun of himself. So stilted. "'Juice And Jam Time I Would Like Me Some Chili For This Hot Dog, Please. Way Past Cool, Juice and Jam.' 'WHAT IS ZIS CHILI YOU ARE ZEE SPEAKINGZ OF!?' 'Juice and Jam, Way Past Cool. GOTTA SPEED KEED. WAY PAST COOL.' 'WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS BEING THIS?!' 'GOTTA JAM JUICES PAST SPEED COOL!!!' 'AHHHH!!! HE IS ZEE CRAZAY!!!'" ...The blue hedgehog rubs his nose, "Then he'd run away. It was fun." He looks back over to Bunnie, now, "So where we goin'? I can run ya' 'n' 'yer books there." Another laugh comes shortly after, followed by some poking-fun at Bunnie's accent, "'n' it's speshal, huh? What's so speshal 'bout it? Is it made of win and awesome? Maybe win and gold? Rock and awesome?" Bunnie puts her free hand to her face as she laughs. It's Antoine to a tee! (Almost.) And further more, it's Sonic being Sonic. She's missed his carefree way, she has. At least being around town has given her a chance to catch him for a teensy reunion of sorts. She looks around again as Sonic comes back around to the true comment at hand, what the real secrets are, but even in a place as secure as Station City she doesn't want to just go and blurt things out. After all, what with Shadow's attacks and suggestions that their willingness to take in anyone could breed spies, well... she's just careful. "Let's go to City Hall. These're for that poor overworked secrehtareh there. Ah've been havin' fun here but Ah am here on business too 'cause Sparkster had some amazin' news," Bunnie says as she begins hurrying down the street in that direction. Sonic watches as Bunnie books it! "Hey, wait up!" ... "Why'm I sayin' that?" A running start, and a speedup later, he zooms by Bunnie and snatches her up by her arm, "We're goin' on the express train, Bun-bun." He speeds around the block, goes left, goes twice... down stairwells, up buildings... until he stops, Bunnie-in-hand, on-top of... a building. He lets go of her arm for a second as he looks over at his friend, quirking a brow, clearly lost. "Where exactly is the City Hall again...?" Sonic then looks down. The building they're standing on top of: City Hall. "Oh." He snaps a finger and, with barely a 'Hang on', he snatches Bunnie's arm again and runs down the side of city hall, using a nearby slide (at a currently being built children's park that just *happens* to be near city hall. Public reclamation and all that, you know!) to break their fall. They slide down and land in the grass nearby. What about the books? They're flying everywhere! Of course, flying books won't do. So he rushes about to catch those too. You'd think he'd be able to juggle them if he wanted. But his dusty legs are more important, so he brushes those off with a free hand. "Uhhhh... I think we go... left now?" Bunnie isn't entirely prepared for the rollercoaster ride that is taking a spin with Sonic. Of course, she'd seen others do it a few times. She'd done it once or twice before. Heck, she wasn't even sure why she had been trying to rush Sonic when Sonic is all about the rush! The wind tosses her ears back and forth and she justs keeps a tight grip on Sonic as they race by what few folks are wandering about. "WAHOO!" she cries out at one point but the breeze catches her words. With Klonoa around, it's probably a commonly heard thing... a faint cry of rejoice danced around on the air and only vaguely heard by passerby. Once they're on the ground though, she collects herself in a similar way to Sonic, brushing herself off and rubbing her fleshy shoulder that was accidentally banged into the top of the slide. Oh well. At least they're here. Bunnie nods to Sonic's last question and points at the new glass doors that lead into the building as she heads that way, now free of books entirely, "Yep. And Ah'm sher you get this all thah time but... that's one heck of a ride, sugah! You shou'd charge people fer that! Ah'm sher they'd pay." Once inside, Bunnie points at the secretary's desk, where the books need to go. She waves at the secretary and smiles real friendly-like. Sonic zips in, dropping the books on the desk, "Here you go miss. Some random books, or random papers bound to look like they're books, courtesy of the Bunnie Rabbot delivery company. The Bunnie Rabbot delivery company: We'll bring you anything a small blue hedgehog can carry! Unless he's feeling lazy. Then, half of that! Maybe none!" He spins on a foot, now, turning back to look at Bunnie, "Okay, now for those seeeeekrit plans of secretness." ...but that's cut off with, "...And rich? Why would I wanna be rich? That'd just complicate things." Oh great, here comes an example. "Like when people say, 'why haven't you showered!?' I can't be all like, 'well I can't afford one!'" He waves his hands in the air, "It'd destroy my entire world, nay, destroy the space time continuum! Think about it! Me, in a shower! So I have to refuse money on that principal and that one alone." There's quite a pause, as Sonic crosses his arms in that rather smug way he does only he doesn't come off as smug... just something else, "I'm a bath man, y'know." Bunnie just... has a huge sweatdrop as Sonic begins discussing his hygiene in front of the poor secretary, who looks grateful at the offering but starts blushing strongly as THE SONIC begins saying how he doesn't shower... and takes baths and refuses money... The poor lady's a bit overwhelmed now. Maybe she'll go ahead and take that ten minute coffee break. Bunnie sighs, shakes her head while giving Sonic a wry smile, and decides to lead Sonic over to some small, empty room that they use for conferences on the rare occasion that the Freedom Fighters hold a meeting with anyone in Station City. Come to think of it, this is probably the one in which Sparkster first told her about the infamous item of infamy. "C'mere, you... yer gonna give people a heartattack talkin' like that," she says. As she closes the door, Bunnie idly wonders how the Rocket Knights are faring with that apparently troublesome hedgehog who'd been attacking Station City since. Bunnie gives Sonic a wink though, as she adds, "Though AH'D never figger you one for baths, given yer need fer speed and all. But anyway, what Ah wanted to tell yah about is... don't go spreadin' the news, though SOMEONE apparently knows anyway, is that they've found... a REAL Chaos Emerald!" Sonic shrugs a bit to Bunnie, laughing all the while, "Hey, I got us alone, didn't I?" ... and the bath thing? "But I *have* to have my rubber duckie. Just gotta." He follows the robotic rabbit girl into the conference room, though, and then takes a seat in one of those big leather chairs which are always in conference rooms. Leaning back in the chair, his arms go behind his head and his legs get propped up on the table, as-if he's all important. Crossed, too! He pats the arm rests a little, looking down at the leather almost fondly. "Nice digs. They need these for the five minutes where I bust into Knothole, complain about her next dumb plan that I heard through the grapevine, and Sally goes 'Unreasonable demands!' and kicks me out." "Chaos Emerald!?" he almost falls out of the chair, "Holy McChristburgers, you have to be messin' with me, right?" He hops out of the chair, standing up, "Sally's trusting some random envoy with this? Why the heck didn't she come with, uh, er..." He snaps a finger, "...herself?" Sonic starts pacing around the room, "Damnit. I knew I should'a come earlier. There ain't no way they're gonna be able to handle /this/." He lets out an exasperated 'gruah' and then flops down in his chair. "Who has it now? PLEASE tell me the FF... or someone affiliated. PLEASE." ... "It's not GUN, issit?" Bunnie rushes to reassure Sonic with the information that she knows. After all, only two people in all ob Mobius truly know where this thing is now... and she's not one of them. Though no one else knows this yet. "Naw, sugah-hog! We got it covahd. The Rocket Knights have the Chaos Emerald, last I heard, and Sally sent some othah Freedom Fighters in to be thah ahnvoy. It's all planned. Only problem is some black hedgehog that's after it but Sparkster said they got that taken care of. And it's a real one, they got it all checked out with a scientist here. Which is why we don't want nobody to know 'bout it. Ah just figgered you oughta hear, though. Especially since this othah hedgehog was said to cause a lotta trouble even for tha Knights and GUN," Bunnie explains. She doesn't even address the previous comments involving Sally and what not, knowing the disagreements between the two. Obviously the fact someone is after the emerald would explain why Sal isn't appearing herself. Or at least, Bunnie assumes that would be obvious. Sonic rubs his chin, "'Causin' trouble for the rocket knights and GUN, huh? Sounds like my kinda hedgehog!" His posture regains some of its awesomeness, as he leans forward to tap his fingers on the table, "While I know *you're* more than capable, but these other guys, I dunno how much I trust them to handle this." "Actually, I do know. And it's not a lot. It's... very little of a lot. Not even half of a lot. Like .13563189 of a lot." The blue hedgehog hops out of his chair again, falling back in the good 'ole pace around the room. "I mean, it's a Chaos Emerald for cryin' out loud! You'd think Sally'd call on the speediest delivery boy slash hero slash dashing hero slash handsome man to come pick it up and run like hell with it! But nooooo! Some random guys... and Bunnie! You're the only good part of that equation and you're here picking up books!" "And some black hedgehog, messin' up the works? Who does he think he is? Bizarro Sonic the Hedgehog!? I'm the only hedgehog who should be messin' up works!" Looks like his mind is made up! "Where the heck is it, Bunnie? Where they got it stashed?" He crouches down, fixing the buckles on his shoes so they're tighter, before standing up again to adjust his gloves. "I gotta go watch them mess up... I mean, make sure they *don't* mess up... or otherwise take that thing back myself. Letting some other people handle a Chaos Emerald? Sonic don't play that." "Whoah, whoah! Settle down a bit, sugah," Bunnie admonishes, "It ain't gettin' moved just yet! Raht now, the Rocket Knights got a hold on it. And Sparkster told me it'd be safe. Plus, Ah know they're sendin' in Geoffrey to lead the whole thang back so that's a ... well, he can handle takin' charge of it anyway. AH'M here because we needed a strong go-between and Ah might help out if thangs look tough." She settles down, stealing his chair in the meantime, "But if yah'll really wanna help, Ah'd say to just stick around 'til they get here. Or yah could go lookin' fer that hedgehog. We don't even know why it is he's aftah it but it can't be good. He's the only real worry we got right now. Especially worryin' how he found out. He just seems to FIND it from what Sparkster said." Which is roughly the case. Sonic's arms turn into noodles. Noodles. All because oh one name. Geoffrey. "You've gotta be kiddin' me! St. John couldn't even find his own rear end with a flashlight and a roadmap!" He stomps his feet a little, as he tends to do, making that Sonic-esque pouty face of his, "There's nooooo way I'm gonna let him deal with this. Not after the shoe-fly-shoe-toenail debacle." The... wha- debacle? He declines to explain it more, his attention moving to his watch, "Look, I'mma gonna go do s'more recon on this. See what I can find, and whatnot. Mosey on over 'n' see what the rocket knights are up to. Then try to, yeah..." He snaps his fingers at Bunnie, "...find that hedgehog." The blue hedgehog teen does a few stretches, and then cracks his neck. It's obvious he's about to rush out of here. He points back to Bunnie, "I'll report back to you if I find out anything new. You do the same, ah?" He then changes that point to a v-for-victory, only leaving a slight grin in his wake. That, and some fluttering papers and in-door wind! Bunnie sighs as Sonic gets all miffed about Geoffrey St. John. She shoulda been watching her tongue there but it was her only way of making the envoy sound better. Seriously. And she has no idea what debacle he means. She can imagine some pretty weird stuff though. Bunnie has just enough time to point back at Sonic, with a grin, and say, "Will do!" Before she knows it, she's spinning around wildly in the cushiony, leather chair as the rush of air wreaks havoc on the room around her. "WAAH!" She feels dizzy and grabs her head. Oh well. That certainly went a lot better than she expected. At least Sonic wanted to help! And she has a slowly sinking feeling, brought on by Sonic's gut-filled doubt, that things might go wrong afterall.