Donnant Donnant

Rotor grumbled under his breath as he put away his latest failed experiment, a Bride of Frankenstein-esque robotic feline he had affectionately named "Ro-Becca". A sickly rattling within the robot's chest compartment as he wedged her into his storage closet was a grim reminder of why he had to scrap her; a bunch of nuts and bolts, haphazardly dumped into her chest cavity, thoroughly trashed her inner workings, rendering most of her delicate components nigh-irreparable. It would take weeks to scavenge the parts needed to salvage her, and that's only if he had the time alone to do so.

Dammit Ant, why couldn't you leave well enough alone when I told you to? the walrus growled to himself, irritably. He didn't mind that he was being called to the field less frequently, in the past couple of months; he had never felt that comfortable on the front lines, and he knew he could best help the Freedom Fighters in the lab, tinkering with new gadgets the others could use to thwart Robotnik's schemes. What he did mind, however, was Sally's insistence that Antoine stay behind as his assistant; while he understood the cowardly coyote was proving to be more of a burden to the gang on their missions than a help, he couldn't fathom why the princess thought assigning him lab work would be any better. In fact, it was Antoine's clumsy attempt at "help" that was the source of the debris that ended up ruining Ro-Becca, as he eventually got the coyote to confess as he was disassembling her. All I asked of him was to get me supplies and let me do the tinkering. How in the hell can he screw that up? As soon as he thought that, he mentally slapped himself, shaking his head ruefully. It's Antoine, what else was I expecting?

It didn't help matters that the incident was caused partially because Antoine was getting just as sick of being Rotor's assistant as the walrus was; he admitted, during the interrogation, that the items he was asked to get were too big and foreign for him to reliably bring...at least, that's what he claimed; Rotor was always suspicious that Antoine was smarter and stronger than he acted, but being the tech genius of the group, Rotor had to admit that half of the stuff he messed around with in his lab the other Freedom Fighters didn't understand, so he couldn't be sure if Antoine's statements were true or just an excuse to get out of helping him. 

As he closed the door to his storage closet, Rotor couldn't help but smile, despite himself; in the end, the incident caused Ro-Becca to behave in a way that was both humorous and surprising. He had to admit, as he walked over to his workbench, one hand idly slipping under his work coat to adjust his nether regions, that he had planned to program Ro-Becca for full-range assistance in all areas of his life, both in the lab, around the house, and – as much as he was embarrassed to say – in the bedroom. However, he hadn't even gotten to that step before Antoine fouled her gears up, so he had to wonder what happened in the interaction between her processors and the nuts and bolts to turn her into a love-crazed stalker, one obsessed with French accents, to boot. Seeing Antoine – and Sonic, in a brief if unfortunate fit of imitation in her presence – struggling to get away from the amorous android was such a hoot, so much so that he couldn't stay mad at the coyote for long. 

As he sat down, he idly fondled himself, remembering one particular incident he had to save Antoine from; trapped in his own bedroom, Rotor found the coyote pinned on his belly by the wayward robot, and manhandled in what Antoine later explained was Ro-Becca's attempt at a massage. At the time, the scene was quite humorous, and they both wound up having a good chuckle over it, after the robot was subdued, but now... Now, as he sat alone with his thoughts, the walrus had to admit to a certain envy toward the robot, his thoughts turning to fantasies as he imagined what it would be like to be in her place. A touch of pink emerged from the walrus' sheath as he envisioned himself pinning Antoine underneath him, giving the coyote a different kind of "massage". 

With a sigh, he flicked on the monitors on his desk and shelved those thoughts, for now; it was obvious that Rotor swung both ways – or, it would've been, had Rotor not been so reclusive – and had to admit to having a certain crush on the coyote, but Antoine had made it known several times who his heart longed for, so he knew those fantasies were just that. Leaning back in his chair, he got comfortable as he settled into his duties for the night. On the monitors were camera feeds into nearly every part of Knothole, including inside the Freedom Fighters' houses – a safety precaution insisted on by Tails after an incident in the past where Sally was replaced by one of Robotnik's androids. Normally, the walrus was too shy and polite to use the cameras for peeping, though sometimes he couldn't help it; he had a stack of incidental recordings of his friends' sexcapades, which revealed quite a bit about them – for instance, Tails was quite popular among the group, both Sally, Bunnie, and Sonic getting it on with him, while Sally and Bunnie had their flings together. There were several times where he caught Antoine masturbating in his bedroom, but that was all, making him feel more longing for the coyote.

The sound of a slamming door and an unmistakably French expletive drew his attention to one particular monitor, the one located in Antoine's bedroom. He watched in surprise as the coyote stormed in, cursing in his usual mangled French, before throwing himself onto his bed, his expression clearly showing him close to sobbing. Flicking on a switch, Rotor activated the zoom feature of the camera, drawing in close to the coyote to get a better look at him and determine why he was acting this way.

"Oh, zis is zee con comme une bite, and I am zee con bite!" Antoine called out, dourly. Growling in frustration, he grabbed one of his nearby pillows and hugged it close, burying his head deep within the soft fluff as he continued to cry. Rotor couldn't believe his eyes as, for a solid couple of minutes, the coyote poured his heart into the pillow, sobbing and cursing in French without rhyme or reason. It was surreal; He had seen Antoine upset, but never to this extreme. He had to wonder...

As if to answer his musings, Antoine finally came up for air and stared at the pillow, talking to it as if it were a person. "I tried my best, no? I worked as best as I could for him, but it wasn't enough to satisfy him. Even worse, I messed up one of his prized projects." He sighed bitterly, biting his lip to keep from crying again. "But then again, what did he expect of me, eh? It is not as if I was zee strongman of the group, zee 'Arnald Schwarzenschnouzer' that he was wanting." The coyote smiled thinly as he slipped into an Austrian accent, the same accent Rotor recognized him using to finally thwart the advances of Ro-Becca. 

He's mad at...himself over me? Rotor thought, surprised. I thought we got that issue cleared up, by now. Indeed, although he was a bit stern with his warnings against Antoine screwing up, any longer, he made sure to let the coyote know there were no hard feelings between them over the incident, and that he found it more humorous than anything. Why is he beating himself up over this?

"But that is just like moi, isn't it?" Antoine continued, tears still welling up in his eyes. "No-good Antoine, shoved off to the side, too big of zee screw-up to be trusted." He sighed and laid back on the bed, snuggling the pillow a little closer. "I do not know why I stay with zis group; Sonic does not like me, Sally does not like me, Bunnie thinks I am annoying, and Rotor..." Tears started cascading down his face, again, as he mentioned the walrus, startling Rotor greatly. "He must think me useless, by now. Stupid, useless Antoine, zat is moi..."

Sighing, he put away the pillow and rolled onto his side, biting back his sobs as he started tracing a finger in circles along the mattress idly. Rotor was beside himself as he witnessed the coyote's breakdown; He always knew Antoine was an excitable, highly emotional individual, but he never expected such a strong reaction to the whole incident. And all we've done about it is tease and taunt him each time he gets like this, the walrus mused to himself bitterly. No wonder he feels so alone after this. Tapping his fingers on the desk in thought, he continued to watch the coyote wallow in his own sorrows, struggling to think. It was clear he wanted to do something to help mitigate things, but nothing was coming to him. As he thought, he heard snoring coming from Antoine's camera. Looking back at the feed, he saw the coyote curled up in a fetal position, having cried himself to sleep. That just deepened his sympathy for his friend, and inspired him to wrack his brain harder to find a solution to his problem.

Unfortunately, just as his grief had exhausted Antoine, Rotor's worry was exhausting him, and soon he found himself yawning and nodding off without coming up with anything. Shaking himself awake, he took one last look at the coyote and, sighing to himself in sorrow, turned the feed off and shut down the terminal for the night. As he got up to head off to bed, he glanced over to where he had stashed Ro-Becca... and got an idea.

Antoine woke up the next day feeling like crap; his eyes were bloodshot from the sheer amount of crying he did, his hair and clothes were disheveled, and despite getting a rather sound sleep given the circumstances, he felt exhausted and cranky. Rubbing the sand from his eyes, he looked up at the vanity mirror across the room and scowled at his reflection; his outward appearance perfectly matched his inner loathing and brought back all of the bad memories he was bemoaning about the earlier night.

Sacre bleu, I am zee mess, he thought to himself pathetically, drooping his head at the words. Zen again, zat is how I've always been, no? Just a stupid, sorry mess of things. Sighing in frustration, he slammed a fist into the mattress and got up, making his way to his bathroom. As he did, he started stripping off his clothing, muttering to himself all the while. "Well, there won't be any way of messing zis up, again. After last night, I'm done, fini. Zey won't have poor old sniveling Antoine to deal with, anymore." He entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind him as he peeled the last bit of clothing off his body and tossed it haphazardly to the ground. Heading over to the sink and mirror, he took another long look at himself before turning away, spitting out a French curse at what he saw. I am not cut out to be Rotor's assistant, let alone a Freedom Fighter. When I get to Rotor's workshop, I am telling him right zen and zere zat I quit as his assistant. Zen, I am packing up my things and leaving. I'm not going to bring zis group's efforts down any more zan I have...

Turning the water on, he cupped his hands underneath the hot stream and started splashing it on his face, washing the red from his eyes and dried tears from his cheeks, wetting his hair and combing it down to a more professional level. He didn't even bother to transfer himself to the shower to clean up, his attention too drawn inward to his sorrows to do any more sprucing up than splash himself with sink water. It took a good five minutes of this before he finally stopped, shutting off the water and drying himself with a towel. He was soaked to the bone from the waist up, his outward appearance more presentable but still matching his sour insides.

Walking out of the bathroom as he continued to towel himself off, Antoine headed back into his bedroom, dropping the towel behind him as he headed over to his dresser to dig a clean set of clothes out. As he did so, his mind wandered back to the events that led up to this point, and his already-dreadful demeanor grew more dour from the memories; memories of his time as children with the other Freedom Fighters, a time before the Great War, when they were happier... and he began to doubt himself. What in the heck am I thinking? he asked himself, shaking his head defiantly. Have I become so pathetic, so self-conscious, zat I would abandon my friends so easily? "Zen again," he reminded himself, "I was never zat good with zee group, either. At zee very least, I should quit my job as Rotor's assistant..."

He glanced down at his clothes, still in his hands, and sighed, finally making up his mind. Alright, I will quit myself of being Rotor's assistant, and find something else to do. Maybe I can guard the Lake of Rings; quiet, secluded, no chance of me being a screw-up with that... unless some big, scary monster comes around... or a Swatbot finds and follows me... or I fall asleep on zee job and someone takes the Rings before Sonic can... Oh, mon deiu, I cannot do anything right, can I? Growling in frustration, he tossed the clothes onto the bed and started putting them on roughly, not caring if he wasn't looking his best. Looking down at himself as he put on the last of his outfit, he sighed again and slumped his shoulders. "Well, it is now or never, I am guessing..."

Rotor looked up as he heard the door to his workshop open, smiling a bit to himself as he saw Antoine walk in, though that smile faded when he noticed how down Antoine was still. Composing himself, he got up and shoved the screwdriver he was currently using back into his labcoat pocket. Standing beside him was Ro-Becca, strapped firmly into her workstation with solid iron bars, shut down and chest compartment open to give the illusion that Rotor was still working on her. He hoped Antone would be fooled long enough as he turned toward the coyote to not realize what he was really doing. "Hey, Antone. Glad you can make it. I'm going to need your help with something, over here..."

Antoine, hearing that, gritted his teeth and shook his head. "Rotor, I am meaning no offense by this, but I am of the mind that – "

"It'll only take a second Ant," Rotor interrupted, smiling as warmly as he could under the circumstances. "You don't need to do any heavy lifting, just a bit of brainstorming, okay?"

"Brainstorming...?" Antoine repeated, confused. Rotor knew he wasn't that great at any sort of extreme thinking, so why... Well, if zere's no lifting needed for this, what would be the harm, no? Sighing to himself, he nodded and walked over to the walrus, holding back his displeasure. "What is it zat you want of me, Rotor?"

Rotor smiled and wrapped an arm around Antoine's shoulders, hugging him close as he waved his other arm over to the robot. "I've been trying to figure out what you did to change Ro-Becca's programming, but other than the damage caused by the nuts and bolts you dumped in there, I don't have a clue what happened. Maybe you can tell me, step by step, what you remember happening that night?"

Antoine frowned at the suggestion. "Rotor, I do not think this is such a good idea..."

Rotor patted the coyote's back reassuring. "Don't worry, Ro-Becca isn't coming back. I'm just curious what happened, so we can figure out how to replicate it under more controlled circumstances with the next robot."

"Next robot?" Antoine didn't like the sound of that. "After what that mechanical mademosielle did to me? Oh, no no no no no! I definitely do not think that is such a good idea!"

"I said controlled circumstances Ant," Rotor repeated, knowing perfectly well he was lying to the coyote; he had no plans on remaking Ro-Becca or any other robot in the near future, or recreating the incident that brought Ro-Becca to life. He was simply making idle conversation to make Antoine feel better and not as useless as he did. "For now, though, I'm just curious how it happened, for posterity's sake."

Antoine nodded and sighed again, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, if it's for posterior's sake, or whatever, I guess I can be helping you out. What is it zat you want to know?"

Rotor giggled at Antoine's malapropism, stopping himself just short of correcting him and tilted his head. "Well, for one thing, what happened after you dumped the nuts and bolts down her chest? I checked and the amount of damage they caused couldn't have caused her change in behavior by themselves."

Antoine bit his lip as he struggled to remember. "Well, I was trying to get the bolts and nuts out of her, when I was startled by the lightning that had struck. I fell back and... and I hit zat machine, over zere..." He pointed to the generator across the room from them, its antennae directed toward Ro-Becca in order to feed life-giving electricity into her. "It turned on, and zat scared me back onto zee robot, and..."

"...And the machine zapped you both," Rotor finished, piecing things together. "That must've transferred some of your personality traits over to her. No wonder she was so fixated on you..." The walrus stepped back from Antoine and walked over to Ro-Becca, his mind racing over the new information he was given. "Astounding. Antoine, you may have made a breakthrough in robotic engineering with that blunder!"

"I have?" Antoine asked, perplexed. "You mean zat... transfer of personalities zat happened?"

Rotor nodded, his grin growing wider as he realized the implications of what Antoine had done. "It may have been a freak accident, but if we can recreate it under more controlled circumstances, we could potentially create decoys with our memories and personalities, or transfer our free will to a captured Robian to break them free of Robotnik's control, or..."

"... Or enslave other Mobians by transferring zeir brains into robotic shells," Antoine responded horrified. Rotor, confused at the coyote's words, tried to say something, but Antoine shut him up with his next comment: "If we do find a way of doing this, of making people's brains transferred into robots, who is to say zat Robotnik couldn't copy us and use it for his own nefarious purposes?"

Rotor hummed as he contemplated, his initial excitement over their discovery draining away as he realized the implications. "You're right; We already dealt with a look-alike with Sally's personality in the past, and that was just a crude version. If we were able to figure out a way of transferring someone's memory and personality into a robot fully, Robotnik could figure that out as well, and use it to create perfect copies to infiltrate Knothole. He could even upload himself into a robotic body, and with that kind of power, there'd be no way of stopping him!"

"So, we are not going to be doing it si vous plait?" Antoine asked, with nervous hope.

Rotor shook his head. "No, it would be too dangerous to try. For now, I think we should stick with regular old-fashioned programming."

Antoine breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. At least zat is some comfort, he thought to himself. Turning around, he looked toward the door hopefully. "If zat is all, I would like to be getting going, now, if you do not mind..."

Eyeing the coyote turn his back on him, Rotor frowned to himself bitterly. Great, he's still down about what happened. I need to do something to keep him from leaving... Snapping his fingers, he placed a hand on Antoine's shoulder. "Actually, there is something I'd like to help you with."

Antoine stopped and turned blinking at Rotor in confusion. "Help moi out with something? What is it zat you mean?"

"Well, I was just thinking," Rotor shrugger, "if you're going to be my assistant, you're going to need to do more than just getting junk for me to put together. If you're willing, I'd like to teach you some of the basics of taking something apart, like say... Ro-Becca, over there?"

Antoine stared into Rotor's eyes, uncertainty reflecting off of them. He hadn't anticipated doing anything else but telling Rotor off and quitting, but a growing sense of puzzlement was encroaching on that over Rotor's sudden insistence to make him feel useful. "I thought you had said I was not to be touching your projects, anymore?"

Rotor shrugged, his pulse quickening as he struggled to come up with a justification. "Yeah but this project's pretty much scrap anyway, and well... think of it this way: by learning from me how to dismantle a robot, you can learn how better to tear apart Swatbots out on the field, if you need to."

Antoine scowled a little at that. "You are making zee joke, aren't you? You know how I am reacting to zee Swatbots. Do you think I could smash through one like Sonic can, no?"

Rotor fell silent at Antoine's words, folding his arms in contemplation. I hate to admit it, but he's right, he mused, worriedly. But I can't stop now; I have his attention, and I want to help him out, but what can I do...? "Well, do you have anything that you can do any smashing with? Like a weapon of some kind?"

"A weapon?" Antoine glanced over to the workshop door, his lips pursed as he thought. "I think so. Hold on for one of zee moments, I will be right back." With that, he ran out of the workshop and out the door, leaving Rotor staring at him confused.

Back at his bedroom, Antoine ran over to his closet and started digging through several clothes and boxes, before finding what he was looking for: a sword, latched tightly in its sheath, perched precariously against one of the far corners of the room. Both sword and scabbard were plainly but fabulously embellished, trimmed with gold with a precious jewel at the pommel. Along the side, in gold lettering, was the name "A. DePardieu", though what the "A." stood for, no one but Antoine knew. Grabbing the sword, he drew a length of it out the scabbard to make sure it was still in good shape before slamming it back in and slipping it under his belt. Before he left, he took another look at himself in the vanity mirror, turning around a little as he observed how he looked with the sword on him. A slight smile graced his lips, his confidence growing slightly as he headed out of the room and back to Rotor's workshop. On the way, though, the last person he wanted to see ran right past him, stopped, and came back to see what he was doing... all in a blink of an eye.

"Nice toothpick you have there, Ant," Sonic whistled as he leaned over to "marvel" at Antoine's sword. "What'cha planning on doing with it? Shish-kebab?"

Antoine growled a little in his throat at the insult; He may have been forced to take flak from the speedy blue hedgehog, but that didn't mean that he had to take it about his family heirlooms. "Zis, mon ami, iz a priceless antique zat Rotor is going to be teaching me how to use to dismantle a robot. Now, if you will excuse moi, si vous plait..."

The hedgehog barely bothered to stifle a laugh. "Rotor? Teach you how to fight a robot? Now this I've got to see!"

"And what, may moi ask, is so funny about zat, mon ami?" Antoine scowled, growing a bit tired of Sonic's indignation. "You know as well as I do zat Rotor is a capable fighter in his own right and has more knowledge on how to fight a robot than anyone."

Sonic waved him off, impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, he's the tech-head of the group, I know. No offense to either of you, but I just can't see it. You sure you're up for scrapping some 'bots, even practice ones?"

As if in response, Antoine drew the sword and flourished it into position in front of him, reaching up to thumb the blade in a test of its sharpness. "As you said, mon ami, you are welcome to come and see how well I do."

Even Sonic had to step back a little, impressed at Antoine's skill at handling the weapon. "Whoa, careful there. I don't need a haircut that badly, and I don't want to see you turning yourself into a papercut factory. Besides, Sally wants to see me for something about our next mission, so I'm afraid I'll have to miss your little show. See ya!" With that, he raced off into the distance, leaving Antoine grumbling to himself at his arrogance.

Sheathing his weapon, Antoine made his way back to Rotor's workshop. As he neared it, he caught a glimpse of Rotor in the woods behind the building, setting something up for him. Obviously he suspected Antoine was preparing some sort of demonstration for him, but of what he didn't know. Patting the sword's hilt with nervous reassurance, he walked up behind the walrus and tapped on his shoulder.

Rotor glanced up from what he was doing and looked back, his eyes widening as he saw the sword hanging from Antoine's belt. "Wow Ant, that's a nice piece of weaponry you have there. Know how to handle it?"

Antoine just stared blankly at him. "Was zat meant to be some sort of pick-up line, or what?"

Rotor blinked, then realized what he had said, smacking himself in embarrassment. "The sword, Ant, I meant the sword."

Antone blinked back, looking down at the weapon as he finally got it. "Oh, yes, I was taught by my father how to wield this weapon. I inherited it after..." He fell silent, rubbing the sheath of the sword in sombre remembrance.

"I understand," Rotor nodded, "just hold on a sec while I get this set up for you..." He turned back round and continued what he was doing, his bulk keeping Antoine from seeing what he was working on. After a few minutes, Rotor stepped away, waving his hands toward the project as he revealed a crudely-reassembled, non-functional Swatbot shell, propped up like some sort of scarecrow, ready for hacking and slashing. "I hope you like it; I figured you'd need some sort of training dummy to help you with your attacks."

Antoine was impressed, walking tentatively up to the dummy and running his hand along the robot's body. "Mon dieu, you made this for me?" 

Rotor nodded, smiling back as Antoine continued to admire the dummy. "I'm not too good at fighting myself, but I thought that, with my mechanical knowhow, I could at least help you figure out the best way of taking care of these rust buckets when you encounter them."

Antoine whistled, impressed at the forethought of the walrus. Stepping back, he fully unsheathed the sword and flourished it in front of his face, settling into an epee stance. Rotor stood back from the action as Antoine started on his paces, thrusting, slashing and twirling the blade with an expert skill that astounded the walrus given its source. Within a matter of minutes, Antoine managed to score several near-misses on the dummy that in a real fight, would've been damaging wounds to the Swatbot were it not for the thick armor plating that made it up. With one more gesticulation, the coyote ended his attack, swiping the sword away from his face in a symbol of respect for his opponent.

Rotor mimicked Antoine's earlier whistle, applauding the coyote's efforts with surprised enthusiasm. "Jeez, Ant, how did you learn how to fight like that? And – " he winced a little at what he was about to ask," – why haven't you tried this out on the battlefield beforehand?"

Antoine sheathed the sword again and looked over at Rotor, frowning a little at his performance. "Thanks, but I am knowing I am not as good at zis fighting zan zee others..."

"Are you kidding?" Rotor responded, starstruck. "You were remarkable! I've never seen anything like that before!"

Antoine blushed at the compliment, rubbing his hand through his hair, sheepishly. "I guess so. I was taught by my father in zee Royal Guard academy, but I never finished my training before the war started."

"You certainly didn't seem like you didn't finish. Why haven't we seen this from you until now, if I may ask?"

"Well..." Antoine bit his lip unsure how to respond, "I guess... oh, Mon dieu, I am still zee coward when it comes to everything. I was always disappointing my father with it, and when zee war started..."

Rotor nodded as he realized where Antoine was going with this. "You didn't feel like you could keep the faith and continue your training or use your skills to help fight." Antoine nodded dropping his gaze to the ground. Working himself up with a smile, Rotor walked over to the coyote and gave him a big hug, trying his best to comfort him. "Ant, don't worry about it. If you keep at it, you'll be able to get into the swing of things, you'll see."

Antoine looked up at his friend, seeing the bright smile on the walrus' face, and returned it with the hug weakly. "Thank you, Rotor. I appreciate zee vote of confidence, and... and I am sorry for ruining your robot..."

"Ohh don't worry about it," Rotor responded, dismissively. "It's not like I had any big plans for it. C'mon, let's start on your training. I've got a lot to teach you about Swatbot anatomy..."

That night, Rotor fell into his chair, sighing exhausted and flicking on the security feed to Antoine's house. He had spent the day helping the coyote with his workout on the Swatbot dummy, teaching him about vulnerable spots on the machine that he could strike with his sword to get maximum damage with minimal risk. The walrus was amazed with how good Antoine was with the sword; every thrust, parry, and slash was perfectly executed, striking true and honed on each area he instructed Antoine to attack. Though the dummy was built to be able to handle multiple strikes, he assured the coyote that each strike would do devastating damage to a real Swatbot. By the time the sun was setting, both were slick with sweat and heavy with exhaustion from their workout. While Rotor had taught him everything he knew about the physical weaknesses of Swatbots, he did promise to keep the dummy up for Antoine to use and to help him out with his training whenever he needed.

As he settled down for another night of monitoring, Rotor couldn't help but feel a bit of personal triumph over what he did with Antoine; not only had he finally settled Antoine down from his depression, but he started building up confidence and pride with the coyote, keeping him on as his apprentice for the foreseeable future... at least, he hoped. Antoine didn't necessarily state that he would continue to be Rotor's assistant, but he did seem to loosen up after their regimen. Leaning back, the walrus began reminiscing over the training, murring a little to himself as he remembered the ferocity and grace Antoine showed in his fencing skills. The coyote seemed to move like a cat, swiftly but with a dexterity he rarely saw in anyone but Sonic. He mentally traced his eyes over Antoine's frame in the vision, taking in every muscle, every sinew of strength and gentleness he showed as he attacked the dummy. Every now and then, his eyes would dart down toward Antoine's waist, sometimes catching a shot of the coyote's crotch or firm buttocks, flexing and bobbing with each twist of the foot as he danced his lethal dance around the training dummy. It wasn't much of a money shot, and he was forced to tear his eyes away from the coyote's nether regions before he was noticed, but it was enough of a glimpse for him to enjoy.

Just as he was about to start enjoying his fantasies however, Rotor was torn from his daydreaming by a short series of French curses and mumblings from Antoine's bedroom feed. Looking over at the monitor, he quirked an eyebrow as he observed the coyote taking off his clothes and tossing them into the closet, nearly doing the same to his prized sword before catching himself and placing it carefully back into the enclosure. That wasn't what Rotor was expecting; when he left Antoine, the coyote was happy, far happier with himself and his situation than he was the other night. What had upset him was unknown, given Rotor's inability to understand French, but it was clear that something happened between them parting and now to have raised Antoine's ire. Adjusting a dial on the computer, he tuned in the microphone to the security camera to better listen in on Antoine, hoping to hear through the French what he was mumbling about.

"Oh, sacré bleu," Antoine groused leaving out his normal tag-on of "cheese" at the end, which surprised the walrus. "What am I going to do now? I do not like being Rotor's assistant, but how can I pass up such an offer such as zee one he is proposing, no?" He took one last look at his sword before locking the closet door, plodding back to his bed and flopping back-first onto it. "And zat accursed hedgehog! How dare he call my father's prized sabre a mere toothpick! Who is it zat he thinks he is, a ha-ha Pierrot? I should have shown him what zat little 'toothpick' of mine could really do, non?"

Rotor frowned as he heard that, shaking his head a little in disgust. Sonic and Antoine were always at odds with each other, usually to the latter's detriment, but he never expected Sonic to be so callous as to mock a family heirloom. True, he likely had never seen the sword until now, but only Sonic would be cavalier enough to make fun of someone with a sharp blade, even if it was one of his friends. Looks like I'm going to have to smack some sense into that hedgehog again...

Antoine rolled onto his side and started tracing a finger over the mattress, this time with a somewhat sad smile on his face. "At least Rotor isn't mad about my screw-up, anymore. I just hope he doesn't do anything foolish with zat idea of his..." Sighing, he rolled back to face the ceiling and stretched, scratching his belly and sides. "Why is it zat he is the most tolerant around me? Sally and Sonic still do not like me, and Bunnie still thinks of me as annoying. What did I ever do to change Rotor's mind about me? ...Or did he?" Pouting his lips in thought, Antoine sat up and scooched back, until he was able to lay back against the bed's headboard. "Maybe he hasn't forgiven me, and zis is just a ruse to lull me into a faux sense of security? Non, that does not make sense; why would he try so hard to help me if it was all fake? Maybe he was never actually mad at me? Maybe I was just imagining him thinking I was useless, no?" Sighing to himself, he slumped his body into a more comfortable half-seated position on, legs instinctively spread and drawn up giving Rotor a clearer shot of the naked coyote's crotch; his plump plum-sized balls and thick sheath seeming to almost tease the walrus as he stared at them.

As Rotor continued to watch him, he saw Antoine relax himself, sliding his hands down his body and into his lap as he stretched himself out, deep in thought over his speculations of Rotor's sudden interest in him. "Oh, mon dieu, I hope Rotor does not expect me to do as much as he had me do before. I do not think my back or footsies could handle it..." He brought one of his feet up within arm's reach and grabbed it, rubbing it gently for emphasis. As he did so, he murred a little in his throat, the feeling of massaging his own foot sending ripples of ecstasy through his body. Rotor could tell Antoine was getting aroused by his self-ministrations; the coyote was always proud of his taste in the finer things in life, which included his appearance and health, and the walrus could see a hint of pink emerging from Antoine's sheath as he continued to work on his feet. Rotor couldn't tell if it was just the massage that was working him up or if Antoine had some sort of foot fetish, but he nonetheless noted it for future reference.

Switching feet, Antoine continued his ministrations, his sheath swelling more and more at the sensations. As he did so, he started mumbling to himself, a familiar combination of broken English and semi-broken French with gentle moans breaking up in between. Again the words were nigh-unintelligible, but they did seem to be much happier than those the previous night as he moved his massage up to his legs. The closer Antoine moved his hands toward his groin, the higher-pitched his mumblings became and the thicker the swelling in his sheath until finally, he found himself rubbing both hands along the inside of his thighs and cupping his groin gently. Rotor, for his part, tried to keep his cool out of respect for his friend despite his own growing arousal, but once the coyote started focusing solely on his genitals, his libido just couldn't be denied.

Lying back in his chair, Rotor set the camera to full zoom, centering it firmly on the coyote's crotch as he continued to massage himself, the head of his luscious cock slipping out of his sheath. The plump knob of flesh was already impressive, spanning an inch in diameter and at least half again that in length, and he wasn't even nearly hard. Of course it didn't come close to matching Rotor's cockhead, which was standing a good inch bigger in both directions than the coyote, and just as semi-hard. Sliding a hand over his own sheath, Rotor thumbed the head of his cock mimicking the movements of his friend as he watched the coyote start to masturbate. He could tell what it was that was getting Antoine aroused, the same thing the coyote thought about every time he put hand to groin in this manner: the thought of screwing Sally as his girlfriend. A sudden moan of Sally's name from Antoine's lips confirmed it, and not for the first time Rotor felt his heart sink a little; he always had a crush on the coyote, ever since he found out he was bisexual, but despite his own fantasies about him, he knew such a crush was unrequited, and so kept it to himself, simply enjoying the sight of Antoine pawing off.

And what a sight it was; cupping his plump balls with one hand, Antoine started stroking himself with the other, groaning Sally's name again as he squeezed his thick shaft, its length and girth growing exponentially until it reached its full 7 inches by 2 inches. At the base, a bulbous bulge started forming which he began groping to full engorgement once he felt it. It was the best part of Antoine's package in Rotor's opinion; at full swell, it measured 3 and a half inches in all directions, perfect for filling up a nice hole... a hole that Rotor wished he could've been able to provide. Another good squeeze around the knot caused Antoine to moan in ecstasy, a small jet of precum squirting from his member's tip, drawing closer to his climax. 

However, just as Rotor was about to reach his own orgasm, a sudden grunt of frustration from Antoine drew his attention away, and he noticed the coyote had stopped, his face twisted in a look of confused disgust. Perplexed, Rotor watched his friend suddenly shake his head and released his junk, leaving himself bobbing in the air as he settled down into a laying position and sighed. Clearly something popped up in the coyote's mind to distract him from his masturbation time, but when Antoine started mumbling underneath his breath in French again, Rotor knew there was less of a chance than a snowball in hell that he'd be able to find out what. Even raising the volume of the microphone in the camera didn't help; all he could hear was gibberish and Sally's name, clearly indicating how he struggled to get back into pawing off to the Freedom Fighter leader. Throwing another curse into the air, the coyote curled up and rolled onto his side, hugging himself close as he drifted off to sleep.

Rotor frowned as he watched Antoine go to bed, confused and frustrated over what had just happened. He was hoping to see at least one cumshot from the coyote, that night, but whatever distracted him from his self-pleasurings made that impossible, now... but he was also way too close to his own orgasm to stop himself. Sighing, he switched the feed to a backup vid he had saved of an earlier instance of Antoine's "alone time" and began watching, rubbing his cock idly in time to the video. He must've been dangerously close, as a few more strokes and a quick fast-forward to the good stuff was all that was needed to cause Rotor to shoot his load... and what a big load it was. Ounce after ounce of white liquid sprayed from his cocktip, coating his face, chest, and even the floor behind him. In fact, it dwarfed Antoine's load, which, while still big, was only a quart or two maximum and only covered the coyote's chest and muzzle; Rotor's, by comparison, could practically be measured in liters. The walrus huffed as his orgasm continued for a good 5 minutes, moaning Antoine's name as he relished in his impromptu creamy shower... only to momentarily snap out of his haze and blush when he realized what he was doing, and what was missing. Damnit, I forgot the sucker, again, didn't I? he thought to himself, barely noticing the absence of a particular gadget he had invented for this particular event; as he was both hung and incredibly fertile, Rotor knew that it would be a pain to clean up his erotic messes each time he pawed off, so created a device that would suck up and store his semen straight from his cock during each orgasm. Unfortunately, as was the case tonight, he usually forgot all about it, resulting in the mess he found himself in.

Feeling his orgasm start to subside, Rotor leaned back and growled a little in exhaustion, staring at the computer screen and the hunky coyote projected within through blurry, half-lidded eyes. I don't care if it takes a millennium, Ant, he thought to himself with conviction. I will do everything I can to make sure you feel appreciated, no matter what...With that promise in mind, he got up and headed to the shower, daintily licking the semen from his lips and imagining it to be Antoine's sperm he was covered in instead of his own. Whatever it takes, I will make you feel appreciated.. my love...

The next day was a continuation of what Rotor had already set up for Antoine, training against the Swatbot dummy he had made and more talk about Ro-Becca as well as the events that led to her being shelved. The training went by swimmingly; under Rotor's tutelage Antoine was able to strike true and deadly against the dummy, cutting through its weak-jointed armor to get to the delicate circuitry – or, in this case, stuffing – within. The walrus still couldn't believe how skilled Antoine was with his sabre, wielding it like a master swordsman against his opponent, and making Rotor wonder even harder why he hadn't shown this kind of skill against Robotnik in the past.

The talk about Ro-Becca, however, continued thusly...

"Oh, oui, oui, zee mademoiselle was doing zee baisoter to moi. It was quite harrowing, if I do say so myself. Even I do not pursue my love interests with zat kind of vigor, je ne pense pas."

Rotor just blinked in befuddlement at Antoine's babbling. "She did what now?"

Antoine sighed and shook his head. "Never mind. Let us just say, I do not want to be around her when she is reactivated, si vous plait. She was like zat skunk from zat cartoon, pursuing zee unwilling cat... or something."

Rotor stifled a giggle at Antoine's joke and nodded, leading him back into the workshop for a break. "Well, there must've been something you transferred to her during the accident to make her so amorous to you..." And I have a good idea what that is, he thought to himself longingly. "Then again, it may have been something I programmed into her before the incident."

Antoine blinked and tilted his head as he entered the shop, perplexed. "But, I thought vous said vous did not program anything into Ro-Becca before zee accident."

Rotor sighed and took his cap off, running his hand through his headfur in embarrassment. Crap, he's right. I need to think of something..."Well, technically, yes, but there were a few basic algorithms that I set up for her that was meant to form the basis of her programming. Maybe the jolt activated some of them?"

Antoine asked still confused: "What kind of algo-rhythms would cause zee mademoiselle to act in such a manner?"

"Well, um..." Rotor blushed and tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for this... only to falter. Sighing, he decided to spill the beans, hoping Antoine wouldn't get too mad at him. "To be honest, I was planning to use her as a replacement assistant. Sorry, Ant..."

Antoine frowned, his confidence a little shot by the news. "So, you were building her to... to replace moi?"

Rotor shrugged and patted Antoine's back. "I'm sorry, Ant. I know you didn't like being my assistant, and to be honest, I was getting a little tired of it as well. I didn't want to just throw you out like that, but it was either that or put you in a position where you'd get hurt and angry. And, well, there were a few tasks I was planning on having her help me with that I knew you weren't prepared to do for me..." Even though I want you to, he finished silently.

That just deepened Antoine's frown. "So, why is it zat you now are wanting to help me out? If you knew how I felt..."

Rotor frowned back and sat down at his console, swinging over to stare at the monitors. He was tempted to reveal what he had learned from his observations of Antoine on the video feeds, but he was concerned about what he'd say. Instead, he just shrugged and lied, "I've just been noticing your performance as my assistant, lately, and I'm starting to realize I haven't been giving you the kind of attention or support you needed, especially now that my plans for Ro-Becca's gone down the tubes."

"Well, I guess zat zere is no reason not to thank you for what you have done," Antoine noted with a sombre look. It was clear he didn't like what Rotor had told him, but he also knew there was very little he could do about it. "If you want to be repairing or rebuilding Ro-Becca for zat purpose, I will not stop you..." He sighed and turned to the door.

Rotor pursed his lips as he noticed Antoine's reaction to the news, not sure what to do. Getting up, he placed a hand on the coyote's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Look, I know this has been hard for both of us, but Sally's trusted both of us to work together, and I realize it was wrong of me to try and build a replacement to you. If you're willing, I'll be happy to help you get back on track with this job." He took his hand off of Antoine's shoulder and offered it instead in friendship. "What do you say?"

Antoine stared at the walrus' hand carefully, unsure of what to do. He could tell that Rotor was serious about his offer, but something about it was... off to him, like there was an ulterior motive to it. He also was concerned about Rotor's insistence on talking about Ro-Becca lately; talking about what he had done to the robot, what Rotor had been planning for it, etc. Now that he knew of what Rotor had been wanting to do with it, the coyote was convinced he would want him to help repair the robot and get it back up and running for just that purpose, but why the offer in that case? Flustered, Antoine grabbed his ears and shook his head frantically. "Oh, non, non, non, non, non... Je ne pas savoir sur quel pied danser. Je ne peux pas accepter ceci, pas après que l'enfer j'ont été à travers avec vous, mais... Oh, mon dieu, ce qui peut faire?"

Rotor didn't catch a lick of that, but the look on Antoine's face said it all: he was torn on whether to accept or not. Frowning, he dropped his hand and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Look Ant, I don't mean to put you on the spot like that. I just don't want to make you feel like you're being shoved off without being able to contribute, you know?" 

Antoine looked back at the walrus, eyes pleading for something Rotor couldn't quite grasp. The pleading turned to desperation as his indecision froze him in place, keeping him from accepting the offer or backing away. Eventually, after a few minutes of silent debate, he sighed and drooped his head defeated. "Maybe I should be thinking on this, n'est-ce pas? If you have not been noticing, I am not quite in zee mood to be working much as your partner."

Rotor nodded and smiled. "I know. Hopefully, if you do accept my offer, you won't be doing as much for me as you were. At the very least, you won't be hauling up as much junk for me as you used to."

"I see," Antoine mumbled still unsure of Rotor's intentions. "Well, as I said, I would be needing to think about it, but you are making a very tempting offer. For now, let us talk about something else, okay? I am not in zee mood to be making such big decisions right now, mon ami."

Rotor continued to nod, his smile widening. "Hey, no problem, man. Just let me know soon; I don't want to get Sally mad at us for holding up production over this."

Antoine nodded back. "I understand. So, what else should we be talking about? I am hoping it is not more Ro-Becca discussion, si vous plait..."

Rotor hummed and nodded, sitting back down. "No, I think we've had enough of that hunk of junk for now. Right now, I think we should focus on other things, like..."

Antoine frowned as Rotor paused in thought. Clearly, the walrus didn't know what else to talk about, and frankly neither did he. He could tell what the walrus was musing over: what could they talk about? Anything Rotor could converse about would likely go over Antoine's head, and anything Antoine said would either be mocked or misunderstood by Rotor. They were two totally different people, their interests and even their trains of thought so thoroughly discordant that it was a miracle they could be lab partners, let alone close friends and allies. Even now, the awkward silence that hovered in the air as both Freedom Fighters struggled to come up with some topic to discuss only served to remind them of the awkwardness of their situation in general. Eventually, much to his consternation, Rotor sighed heavily and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "I dunno. Look, um... If you want to take the rest of the day off to think of my offer, go ahead; I can take care of the rest here..."

Antoine's frown deepened as he heard those words; he knew Rotor liked to be left alone, especially during awkward moments like this, and he obviously didn't want to put the coyote in any more spots. He was tempted to acquiesce to Rotor's suggestion, and even started turning to leave... but something stopped him. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the more he thought about it, the more... wrong it seemed, the more it felt like Rotor was hiding something from him. Just by the tone of his voice, Antoine could tell the walrus had been desperately trying to find something, anything to talk about, but it didn't sound as much like he couldn't think of something, rather he wasn't sure if he could say it – as if Antoine would react badly if Rotor brought it up. The coyote bit his lip as he wondered; was he not as sincere in his request to remain his assistant as he seemed? Maybe he felt awkward admitting his plans for Ro-Becca, and was concerned he'd further hurt Antoine if he divulged everything about it? Those two possibilities came to mind, but as he reminded himself of the effort Rotor had put in in helping him develop his fighting prowess, the coyote couldn't commit. It was such an insane juxtaposition, Rotor simultaneously pushing him away and drawing him in, both shunning him and attempting to work with him, and it was driving him mad. Growling in frustration, Antoine finally shook his head, turning back around to face his friend. "Non, I will stay. It would not be fair to you to leave you with zese things to do. And... I do want to continue with zee talking with you, if you do not mind..."

Rotor blinked in surprise, a little nervous about his implications but not questioning it. "Okay then. What would you like to talk about, then?"

Antoine hummed and folded his arms in thought, tapping his bicep with his finger as he tried to come up with a topic. He didn't get far in his thoughts when a knock at the door interrupted him, causing both to turn and stare at the entryway. Tilting his head in curiosity, Rotor walked over to the door and opened it finding Sally with her computer Nicole in one hand.

"Oh, hey, Sally," Rotor stammered, gently. "What brings you to our neck of the woods?"

Sally frowned and entered the lab. "I'm afraid this isn't a social call, Rote; I need you and Antoine to take Nicole down to the junkyards outside Robotropolis and pick up Bunnie; she just called in, and from the sounds of it some of her cybernetics have been damaged in a scuffle with a troop of SWATbots."

Antoine blinked in surprise. "Bunnie, vous say? Is she not on assignment with Sonic? Why did he not race her over here, if she is in danger?"

Sally shook her head concerned. "I dunno; she didn't say and it sounded like she was in severe pain. I know this isn't exactly the kind of assignment you've been used to lately, but you're the only ones that can get her back to safety."

Rotor glanced over to Antoine who nodded in agreement, after a long, long moment of contemplation. "Alright, Sal. We'll get Bunnie back on her feet in no time. Where in the junkyards is she?"

"Nicole can show you the way," she handed the laptop to Rotor, "she's pinpointed Bunnie's signal right on the outskirts of the city, though she may be on the move to keep ahead of any search details."

Antoine and Rotor nodded and started heading out of the lab, giving a thumbs-up to Sally as they passed her. "Don't worry, mon ami," Antoine said as he crossed the threshold to the lab. "We shall bring Bunnie back to good health."

Sally nodded as she watched them leave, smirking a little to herself. She had never seen Antoine act so determined in his life; even when putting on a brave facade, he always betrayed the fear he felt by his voice and nervous tics. Now, though, while it was still evident that he was frightened to go so close to the city, it was also clear he wasn't letting that fear get to him, as if something had bolstered his confidence something fierce. Maybe those rumors Sonic told me about Rotor training Antoine to be a fighter are true? she asked herself bemused. That would've been a sight to see. Well, good luck, guys; whatever you two did together to build up his confidence, I hope it wasn't for naught...

"Sacre bleu cheese!"

Rotor shot a glance over to Antoine, forcing himself to stifle a giggle as he watched the poor coyote struggle to grab onto anything that would keep him stable as he bounced up and down and all around in his seat. Usually they relied on Sonic's superspeed or Dulcy's flight to get them quickly between Knothole and Robotropolis, but with Sonic AWOL and Dulcy on leave for her own brand of training, Rotor had insisted on using one of his newer devices: an electric-powered truck he had cobbled together from scraps he salvaged from the city's junkyards. It wasn't pretty, and he admitted that the ride to its origin point was not the smoothest he could get from it, but it sure beat the dizziness of Sonic travel or the risk of crashing when flying on Dulcy.

"Don't worry Ant, this thing's built like a rock!"

"M-m-more like a s-s-sand c-c-castle, mon ami..." Antoine stuttered. "Why could we not have taken Dulcy to zee junkyards, again?"

Rotor sighed and shrugged. "I didn't want to disturb her training, and if we need to bring Bunnie back in for medical care or more extensive repairs, I don't want Dulcy crashing on us and potentially making her injuries worse."

"A-a-a-nd zis is s-s-supposed to b-b-be less injurious to zee mademoiselle?"

"Ant just relax, we'll treat what we can on the scene and assess then whether or not we need to take her back. At the very least, we can stabilize her injuries before we make the trip back."

Antoine glanced back at his companion worryingly, but nodded as he settled down in his seat. Fortunately for him the treeline started to clear, causing the shaky ride to smooth out some as they hit flat earth. After a few minutes, they fully cleared the forest and caught sight of the outskirts of Robotropolis and the junkyards within. It was a dark, foreboding place, the skies above constantly black with choking clouds of filth pumping out of Robotnik's factories at all hours of the day, the ground beneath covered with more sewage and scrap from said factories. Putting his foot on the brakes, Rotor brought the car to a complete stop as he and Antoine surveyed the area, looking for any sign of their missing compatriot.

Reaching into a pocket in his bandolier, Rotor pulled out Nicole and opened her up which activated her in the process. "Okay, Nicole, we're here. Where did you last detect Bunnie's signal?"

"Processing..." Nicole beeped the lights on her console furiously as she calculated the cyborg's signal. "Last known location was in sector 227 mark 332, recorded 1.25 hours ago..."

"Over zee hour ago?!" Antoine sputtered worrying. "Zat was zee ages ago! She could have been captured or killed or roboticized or –"

"Ant, please, not now!" Rotor snapped, soon regretting when he saw the coyote shrink back in shame. Biting his lip, he placed his hand on Antoine's shoulder and gave it a firm reassuring squeeze. "We need to keep positive, alright? We can't go in assuming the worst, or we won't be of any use to her."

Antoine struggled to digest those words, but ultimately nodded in agreement. "You are right, Rotor. We must be vigilant and think zee positive for her."

"You may have cause to be worried, Ant," Nicole spoke up, suddenly, interrupting both their train of thought. "I'm detecting no new signals from her, at all. I'll continue scanning, but I'm concerned about her state, as well..."

Rotor hummed and nodded, shifting the vehicle into gear. "So, I guess our best course of action is to start out searching where she was last detected and spiral out from there. I hope you're up for getting your hands dirty Ant, because we'll have to do a thorough search if we're going to find her."

Antoine looked down at his hands, which were shaking badly, clearly remembering the trouble he was having when carrying things out for Rotor as his assistant. However, this wasn't just some random project of his, this was a search for a friend, a friend in desperate need, and he couldn't afford to be a coward or lazy with this. Closing his hands in a tight grip, he nodded determined and braced himself in his seat once again. "Let us go. We must not keep zee mademoiselle waiting..."

It was a long, tense drive down to the junkyards, and an even tenser drive to Bunnie's last known location. Once they arrived, the duo stepped out of the truck and scanned the area with both eyes and Nicole's sensors, trying to pick up any hint of the rabbit. Nothing showed up during their initial cursory inspection, and Rotor had to lift up his hat to scratch his head in wonder at the situation.

"That's odd. There's no one here, no one at all. Nicole, are you sure these are the coordinates you picked up from Bunnie?"

The computer beeped in acknowledgment. "Coordinates correspond exactly, Rotor. It's possible she managed to move to another location, or to hide herself from detection, but it seems unlikely, given the way she was acting over the communication. I suggest caution, here, Rotor."

Rotor nodded and gestured to Antoine. "Right. Ant, why don't you go searching for Bunnie to the north, while I'll take the south. And keep in touch; I don't want either of us getting lost on the other, either."

Antoine gestured back in response, giving clear indication that he understood. The two parted ways, each examining every nook and cranny they could find in the heaps of scrap within the area, whilst calling out Bunnie's name in hope of a reply. Periodically, they would contact each other on their radios, keeping in touch and informing the other of their progress... or lack thereof, as an hour went by without any success. The more time passed without any sign of Bunnie, the more both Freedom Fighters grew worried, even more so when Sonic still hadn't shown up. It was almost as if...

Stopping a half-kilometer from their starting point, Rotor looked down at Nicole and sighed, rubbing his head in confusion. "I don't get it, Nicole; if Bunnie was as injured as you say she was, she wouldn't have gotten far without being captured or having to hide, so why haven't we found her yet?"

Nicole chirped in frustration. "I don't know, Rote; I'm still not getting any signal from her, even life signs. I'm afraid..." She paused there, as static started coming over the radio. "Wait, I'm picking up a distress signal over Robotnik's communications relay. Tuning to it now..."

The radio crackled and screeched to life, the interference still not clearing up much, but it was clear enough for a distinct female voice to come through. "-ta Freedom Fighta Headquarters! This is Bunnie! If you received a signal from me in the junkyards, do not respond! Repeat, do not respond! It's a trap! Robotnik's got us pinned down in the communications relay, and is using us as bait for...!" The signal abruptly broke off, causing Rotor's eyes to widen and his brow to furrow in surprised concern.

Scrambling, he reached for his radio and tuned it to Antoine's signal, praying silently that he got Bunnie's distress call and hadn't been caught, himself. "Ant, this is Rote! Did you catch that?"

A pause, a jolt of static, and then... "This is Antoine. I also heard zee mademoiselle and am heading back to zee vehicle. I will meet you zere in a few minutes."

"Alright Ant. Just be careful and hurry up; we don't know what Robuttnik's got..." Rotor's statement was cut short as he heard the distinct hum of a SWAT patrol unit fly down behind him. Without so much as a glance behind him, he mumbled to himself, "Oh, crud..." and started running, pocketing Nicole as he dodged a laser blast from the mechanical menace chasing after him. As he sprinted, he saw out of the corners of his eyes the junk move and part, revealing hidden SWATbots and roboticized Mobian slaves lying in wait for him, ready to capture him and Antoine when they separated to go looking for their missing friend. Damnit Robuttnik, you had this planned all along didn't you, you sick psycho?! His heart raced as he dodged another laser blast, this time managing to slip round another set of SWATbots rising up from the junk in front of him, like some sort of mechanical version of a zombie horror movie. Jeez, if I'm panicking this much, he thought to himself, imagine how Antoine's feeling...

Luckily, just over the next hill of junk, he saw salvation; the clearing where he left the truck, and Antoine running toward it no more than 50 feet away. Gritting his teeth in dogged determination, Rotor picked up the pace and ran full-tilt toward the vehicle... only to gasp as he slammed straight into a rising SWATbot. Stumbling back from the impact, Rotor only had time to look up at the robot before it grabbed him by the neck and hauled him into the air. The walrus choked as he struggled to get away, but each movement he made simply made the SWATbot tighten its grip on his throat, and even a swift kick in the machine's groinal area did nothing but stub his toes.

"Subject Freedom Fighter Rotor, capture complete," the SWATbot droned, monotonously. "Preparing to return to headquarters..."

Rotor barely gasped out a cry as his vision started blurring, the lack of air from the robot's chokehold causing him to black out. All this effort in helping Antoine learn how to fight, and I can't even defend myself from this bucket of bolts, he thought to himself, one of the few thoughts he had left. Some irony... I'm sorry... my love...

However, it was not to be; with a spark and a twisted howl of robotic pain, the SWATbot loosened its grip on Rotor, dropping him to the ground as it toppled over, a recognizable sabre stuck cleanly in its back. Gasping for air, Rotor could barely hear the strained, half-hysterical battle cry of Antoine through his haziness, let alone see the coyote run to his position, yank his sword from the robot like Arthur pulling out Caliburn from the stone, and stand firm beside him, ready to defend him from any other attacks. What he did notice however, was Antoine's near-crazed taunts against the oncoming army, showing a defiance and determination that belied his terror.

Antoine himself didn't quite get what snapped in him as he saw the walrus in the grips of the enemy. One moment he was running like a madman to the truck with a horde of SWATbots on his tail, the next he was unsheathing his sword, screaming at the 'bot holding Rotor up to let go, and throwing the valuable weapon at the 'bot like a dagger, watching it hit squarely between the robot's shoulder plates in satisfaction. Running up to the robot as it sparked and fell, dropping his friend in the process, Antoine drew the sword from the robot's back and placed himself and his blade between the walrus and the robot swarm before him, growling in rage, "If you are to be coming after us, zen prepare to be undone! En garde!"

Curiously, the SWATbot and roboticized Mobian army halted at this, as if taken aback by Antoine's sudden show of a spine. After a few seconds, one SWATbot stepped forward, its visor glowing red as it projected a hologram of Robotnik from in front of it. The bloated, cruel visage of the reviled Overlander smirked in a twisted grin, almost sputtering out laughing over the absurdity of the situation. "So, I see that our little coward has grown some moxie after all. Well, let's see if he sings a different tune once we cut that moxie from him... a higher-pitched tune, I'd wager... Hahahahahahaha!"

With that, the hologram disappeared and the horde started advancing again. Antoine grimaced at the implied castrato, but nonetheless stood firm waving his saber in front of him in an effort to ward off the robots' advancement. Glancing back, he gave a worrying look at his companion. "Are vous and Nicole okay, Rotor?"

Rotor coughed in response, still trying to regain his breath. His vision, while still hazy, was clearing, and after a few seconds he nodded an affirmative. "Yeah, I'll be okay..." Shaking the haze from his head, he looked over to his truck and their escape route, only to gasp again in horror as more SWATbots appeared blocking the route and trapping them to an inevitable wave of enemies. "That is, if we can get out of this thing alive..."

==================

"Keep talking, ze less I think ze better I perform!" cried Antoine raising his sword to the sky and launching towards the closest 'bot. That how it works for you in bed as well, thought Rotor to himself with a blush as he pulled out a broken muffler from the wreckage to block a strike from a SWATbot advancing upon him. Two more came towards him as he backed up closer to the coyote who stabbed one of the 'bot's legs and Z-slashed through its sensitive socket joints to make it crumple back. Then he saw that flicker of awareness creeping into Antoine's face as cowardice tried to rear its ugly head.

"Did you know the YM2612 engine is an extension of the YM2203c?!" the walrus cried stumbling with a wild swing at another 'bot. "Was a big player in the Town FM Cars, back when there was a town, six whole channels, four operators, and a low-frequency oscillator!" Another 'bot ripped through his muffler-shield and he frantically swung with a heavy miss, falling to his face before grabbing a long pipe and cracking it against the machine's legs to send it tumbling. "First car to have seat warmers too, called it blast processing for the way it circulated heat-frames."

This was all very boring to Antoine, who personally could not stand this technobabble. But it was exactly what he needed to zone out and ignore the creeping fear trying to pull at his mind and drag it back to the depths, almost going zen as he focused on his sword and Rotor's voice. A small horde of robots came stomping towards him, dodging when one swiped its hand that he countered with a brutal stab to the shoulder and twisted it from the socket, strafing when another fist came down for his head before he leapt onto the back of the first wounded 'bot, and stabbed into the neck of the second to wrench its head clean off in a sputtering of sinewy wires and land on its shoulders.  The third and fourth machines opened up their wrists and fired off lasers to try and shoot Antoine out of the air, the warrior awakened blocking with instinctive parry to shoot it back into their visors and blind them briefly.

"Never bring lazerz to a sword fight, hmm n'est-ce pas?!" he cackled with brazen thrust into one SWATbot before bouncing off the still-standing dead 'bot underneath him to land directly behind the fourth machine, stabbing behind himself with a wrenching twist to tear through its plated folds and gouge its waist outwards, causing it to fall in a crumpling scream of mechanical gargle. Rotor kept talking with a stream of consciousness about whatever mindless tech, the coyote's mind refocusing upon his voice as two more SWATbots came marching towards him, armed with blaster rifles they produced from their backs.

The walrus was trying his best to keep talking, amongst the crunching of fists and piercing shots of lasers from two other machines that skimmed off metal shields he kept hurling from the scrap heap. Finding the remains of an old car, Rotor pulled off a door and wrenched the glass-less frame of a windshield from its roots, cowering beneath the door propped beside the car like a turtle's shell. The 'bots marched up towards him and slammed a single fist through the weakened metal, punching straight through like paper to find no sight of the walrus, even when they bent down to look under the car seeing scuffs of the dirt. Then they looked up, as Rotor slammed down the windshield to trap both of them inside the ring of rectangular steel.

"So, in the end," Rotor gasped bending over to grab his knees, "the... the, front-loaders helped to push them in the market, but... the top-loaders were always going to be... better." He leapt off the car roof and grabbed the side door to shove the two trapped robots down helpless onto their back. "Anything else?"

"Oui, let's get vous pedals away from zis metal!" Antoine barked pointing the route now clear towards the truck as Rotor came barrelling down the junk hill with coyote in tow, running fast as they could until their legs burned like the sun to jump into the front seats with a crunching shudder of the jeep.

"Nicole, did you catch Bunnie's radio?!" Rotor asked slamming his foot on the pedal and revving off hard from the army of 'bots as he handed the laptop to Antoine.

"The transmission was from the comms relay," beeped Nicole in the coyote's lap, "three clicks west of here, you are sure it is her?"

"Positivement!" cried Antoine yelping when the truck hit a bump. "Non can mistake zee madamoiselle's how-you-say, rustique accent."

"Don't let her hear you say rust," Rotor chuckled turning sharp round a corner, "she'll turn your face into a new crater on the moon." Antoine snickered feeling the rush of battle still swirl around in his stomach with a giddy sickness like a kid on a rollercoaster. His hand still kept on his sword as if ready to perform a drive-by jousting at any moment, as the sounds of battle grew louder the closer they reached the comm relay. Then the sickness turned foul and heated, rancid almost as the bumping of the truck suddenly punched the courage out of his belly and turned him to a shivering wreck as he clutched his face with a manic grin.

He felt a hand on his lap. Rotor smiled at him with a knowing grin as Antoine nodded back, a mutual acknowledgement of Antoine's deranged bravery. The comms relay was soon in sight, after a trundling battered road of junk heap mountains and trash valleys as the old radio antenna loomed above with its broken spire and half-hanging satellite dish where, at the base of its red rectangular building, two familiar shapes could be seen ducking behind a door to escape the wall of lasers that came burning down through the narrow road between junk piles. The SWATbots had assembled a pincer movement, constantly firing and reloading in waves to ensure the two were trapped with no means of running out.

"Consarnit!" Bunnie cried punching a dent in the wall with her cyber-arm. "Got us pinned down tighter than a two-year old jar o' pickles!"

"I said I was sorry!" Sonic threw his hands walking a circle so deep his ankles went beneath the dirt. "I didn't think I had to check expiry dates everytime I went out!"

"Y'always check two things out there!" she drew up two metal fingers. "Dates an' receipts, that's smart-shopping 101!" Bunnie picked up the rifle from beside the door, seeing it had recharged its battery as she took a deep breath and peeked out swift as she could to fire two shots at the ensuing mob of roboticised Mobians and SWATbots. There was hardly any room to shoot back against the sea of lasers washing over the walls of the relay and tearing off the paint.

"This is why I don't go out during the sales," the blue hedgehog shrugged shaking his head, "traffic's always gummed up, can't even dine and dash without bumping into the Ugly High schoolfest."

"Oh yeah, what they major in?" the rabbot ducked back inside feeling a smoking burn off her ear. "Buttface Studies?" She was interrupted however by the shrieking tear of wheels and a crunching slam of something that blocked the door, the lapine backing up with Sonic as she primed her rifle towards the new set of shutters in the doorframe. A ramshackle truck had dead-turned sharp in a semi-circle, its sides guarded against the lasers that kept pelting violently in a vicious unending rain as the back pressed against the doorway.

"Sonic, madamoiselle!" Antoine's face pulled the rear shutter open and beckoned them in with screaming face and flapping hands. "Hurry, tout de suite, aprez-vous si vous plait!" They hopped in quick as they could as Rotor slammed on the pedal soon as he felt the two weights in the back, screeching tires as the lasers nearly burned through the armor plating before they revved out and down the road once again, tracing fire from burning plasma that scarred off the sides of the truck.

"Took you long enough," Sonic rolled his eyes sitting in the back with legs crossed and that same cocky smile he always gave, "you hit a flat tyre out there Rote?"

"More like a flat-top gang of bots," said the walrus keeping the truck straight as he turned towards the thin green horizon out of the junkyard. "Sorry Bunnie, we fell for the trap but if it wasn't for Antoine we would be getting new coats of metal."

"Not your fault," the rabbot shook her head, "I tried to send out the message best I coul... wait, what you say about Antoine?"

"Antoine took out a whole bunch of SWATbots, saved my life!" the walrus patted the coyote still trembling and clutching his mouth to not throw up against the dash. "You should have seen him!"

"You serious?" the hedgehog snorted half-fooling with a shake of his head. "Antoine beat up a buncha boltnecks, the guy who'd lose a fight to his own shadow?"

"It is true Sonic," Nicole beeped still half-clutched in Antoine's lap, "Antoine, much to our surprise, fought off seven SWATbots superbly."

"HAH!" Antoine shivered jabbing his finger at the hedgehog.  "Try, saying that tres times fast!" His laugh became manic as he started clapping, then wheezing and finally sobbing when he hunched down into his chair and trembled so hard that Rotor felt his own seat start to shake. "I cannot... believe what, this is not zee dream, is it?! Ohhh, ohhhh mon dieu, ohhh sacre bleu cheese and crackers and pomme frites aaaaah!"

"Hey, hey now," Bunnie leaned up front and patted his neck, "you done good today, and while I'm still finding it pretty hard to imagine, if Rote and Nicole say you did, who am I to disbelieve?"

"I guess you really were training," Sonic gave a thumbs up that Antoine did not see, "nice work out there Ant, and for pulling our hides out of the fire Rotor."

"No problem," Rotor waved still keeping eyes on the road that slowly turned greener to the plains as the forest grew on the horizon, "what were you guys doing at the old relay?"

"Trying to find uncle Chuck," the hedgehog shrugged hiding his face of disappointment, "we got intercepted bad and they pinned us down at the old place."

"Ol' buttnik must have set up some closed circuit security," the cyborg bunny shrugged looking out towards the passing trees, "probably done it overnight by my reckon."

"Looks like we need another route," the walrus shook his head, the view darkening on his windshield beneath the thickening leaves, "Sally won't like this, need to replan everything."

"We just do what we always do right?" Sonic clicked his fingers smiling at the ceiling. "We bounce back, we keep fighting, show that ol' pinhead Robuttnik we can't be beat!"

Slipping back into Knothole's reach, they parked the truck in the secret underground as they hopped out to relay Sally the bad news, Sonic heading off first of course in a blue blur like he always did.  Bunnie however stopped to give Rotor's hand a squeeze. "Thanks for the help, you really saved our hides and, sorry about the trap you got into."

"Oh, no problem," Rotor smirked sheepishly, "just looking out for each other, Freedom Fighters."

"Well, I can't tell you how many times you saved my bolts with just a wrench alone, but this time with a truck." The rabbot grinned as the walrus blushed a little uncomfortable with the praise. "I'm real sorry, what happened out there was my fault, I tried to warn you but I got careless, thinking it was just another ride but it never is."

"It's okay Bunnie," the walrus rubbed his neck turning crimson all the more, "I'm not holding it against you, what matters is we all got back safe." From the side of the truck, Antoine looked on with mouth slightly agape at his reaction, her hand squeezing Rotor's gently as she bantered brief. Oh mon dieu, he thought, his face is rouge like zee red red wine! Does he... can it be true that his heart reaches for madamoiselle?

"Well don't be a stranger," the robobunny gave him a squeeze that made Rotor feel like a ketchup bottle, "might need you around for later, I think my arm needs a little adjustment." She released her grip and departed with a steel thumbs up, leaving Rotor to try and search for Antoine who had by then already left. A fearful tremble gripped his heart as he made a beeline towards the coyote's room, marching through the underquarters of Knothole before he stopped himself. Wait, what the heck am I even going to ask him about, he thought slowing down his pace. Not like he's going to just come out in the open and tell me.

He knew there was only one way he could find out Antoine's true thoughts, as disrespectful to his privacy as it was. Walking back to his room and further in to his storage closet, Rotor checked over the monitors before beaming onto Antoine's room where the coyote paced back and forth, hand clasped to his forehead with a face wrapped in pitiful confusion.

"I cannot believe zis," he gasped to no one in particular, "to think Rotor is in amour with ze madamoiselle, c'est tres incredule!  But...who else would have zee skill to keep her en maintenant, it is only Rotor who can...hmmm..." The walrus blinked in response to Antoine's musings, his tusks shining in the glow of the monitor. Does he think I'm in love with Bunnie?  What?  Why would he think that, we just talked, she was just thanking me, nothing to it. Well I don't want him getting any wrong ideas, but how do I tell him? Can't just admit I've been spying on him the whole time.

"C'est la vie," Antoine's voice drew him out of his musings as the coyote shrugged with a theatrical sweep of his arms, "if that is where his heart wanders, and she is brought in recompense, that is zee way it must be. But mon dieu, he was standing like zee wet fish, what a travesty, his body responds but his mind is kaput!  Non, non non non zis, zis cannot go on, it offends me, to see such a tres horrible moment!" What is he even talking about, asked Rotor's thoughts more confused than usual over the semi-coherent ramblings en Francaise, he's not... he's not jealous is he?

An idea occurred to him, partly inspired by the adrenaline still left in his body but nonetheless an idea. "Perhaps," he pondered aloud, "I could reward him with something I know he does not. After all, he helped me with zee robots, that is only fair n'est-ce pas? Yes, yes zis is good, I can repay my debt to him tout de suite as I teach him zee art, of passion!"

Putting his sword away and locking it up, Antoine started to recite a small speech for himself as Rotor kept watching, hands clasped between his tusks whilst the coyote made various seductive gestures and paraphrasing ideas for how to court a woman, how to address, how to entice and what words to avoid. "Wow," muttered Rotor, "he's really putting a lot of work all of a sudden into this... routine I guess?  I mean, I know I'm not exactly great with the ladies but... wait."

An idea occurred to him in turn, stroking his tusks with a growing smirk as he watched and listened to Antoine's whole schpiel taking notes for himself. Maybe he should teach me, the walrus thought to himself, not a bad idea if I learn how to romance someone better. Someone like him... Once the coyote had stopped to take his leave, the walrus headed out to his workshop and busied himself with mindless tasks, tinkering with scrap and putting together joints with as much noise as possible.

"AH, Rotor?" the coyote approached with a firm knock as he walked over to the hunched walrus over his desk with hands wringing slightly  "Could we, talk, un moment si vous plait?"

"Sure Ant," he turned to him looking up with a smile as he wiped his hands clean of motor oil, "I'm just doing inventory so I have plenty of time.  Thanks again for saving me out there, woulda been a robo-Rotor if it wasn't for you."

"Ahhh non non it was simply a, quelle surprise!" he giggled with a spasm of his legs and a little flap of his hands trying not to think about the past few hours. "I noticed that you and the good madamoiselle were having a discussion."

"She was just thanking me for getting her out of there," Rotor shrugged leaning on the bench, "but neither of us would be back here if it wasn't for you.  So, what do you want?"

"I could not help but notice that vous were... " Antoine rolled his hands like spinning a ball of yarn, "I know you are zee best with machines, but, maybe not zee women, oui?"

"Well, yeah," the walrus grinned bashful as he rubbed his neck, "never was great at talking with women."

"Perhaps, I could help you?" the coyote grinned with a rock of his heels. "If you, that is, want to pursue zee romance with madamoiselle, then I could help in teaching you zee lessons of amour, oui?"

"Wait, you want to teach me... how to date?" Rotor feigned a curious smirk with eyes widening in a gasp. "Wow that... would be great! I always had problems talking with ladies, I'm not sure why it just feels like my mouth gets all dry and I feel like I'm just saying the wrong thing everytime I open my mouth."

"Then I would be glad to assist!" Antoine bowed with a gentleman's curtsy. "After all, you helped me fighting zee SWATbots in our training, zis is but reward for your deed."

"Heh, happy to help," the walrus grinned clapping his hands, "so, how do we start? And no I'm not going to suggest Ro-Becca for a practice dummy."

"HAH, hahaha non non," Antoine waved his hand, "we will just do a little, how you say, roleplay oui?"

"As in, you be the lady and I be myself?" Rotor struggled to keep his hands from fidgeting as ideas filled his mind with a terrible rapid pace.

"Vraiment!" the coyote skipped back a few steps and smoothed out his lustrous hair. "Now, I shall be zee buxom madamoiselle and you shall be, well, yourself, enchant me with your au naturel." Making some feminine movements, such as cupping his chest and getting the vibe of a half-roboticised bunny when he swished his "ears" and put his hands on his hips for the extra swagger. With a surprisingly exact devil-may-care expression that Bunnie herself would make, Antoine strolled towards Rotor with a surprising sense of confidence. "Hey there darling, need anything?"

"PFFT!" Rotor snorted a laugh and waved his hand. "Sorry, sorry, that's just... wow you're really good you have the same look she does!"

"I have known zee madamoiselle long enough," Antoine replied with a wag of his finger, "now please take this seriously!" He redressed himself and returned to the Bunnie Zone with the same expression. "I was passing by your... honky-tonk little place and wanted to know if you needed anything... shug?"

"Well... I... " Rotor stuttered with a ticklish cough as his hands suddenly turned clammy, "hi, I... do you like... cars?"

"Oh, non!" Antoine broke character to tut sharply in his direction.  "Non non non non non, you never start with your interests when first meeting a madamoiselle! You must show interest in them before vous, and if you do not need anything, ask them in return and help them around! Now." He stepped back into routine and sauntered up to Rotor. "Need anything, shug?"

"Well, not really," the walrus plucked at his fingers, "do you need anything... Bunnie?"

"Oh, why I'm flattered!" the coyote batted his hand with a giggle. "I would love some help, I did lose something whilst I was out hitting the old... how she say, base and ball, yes, do you know where my robot-mitt is?  Just say you do, we play this out."

"You know, I think I do," Rotor nodded head with a swing of his arm, "how about we go find it together?"

Slipping his arm inside of his, Antoine let Rotor "lead" him around the room as he gave small instructions for etiquette whilst they pretended his workshop was like some sort of market. Rotor picked up on Antoine's dialogue quick as he could, stumbling through his words and stuttering the flow of conversation at this rather odd situation whilst squeezing closer against the coyote. Antoine giggled at his physical attachment, assuming he was just naturally better at the cuddling than the talking and in a way he was right at that assumption.

The coyote lead him through conversation in as natural a flow as he could, using the right questions to open up Rotor's words whilst the walrus became more confident, even if Antoine cheated a little knowing about his interests and letting him rattle off on supposedly-fascinating things, before giving a hinting reminder of when too much was too long and sliding the conversation back to other things.

The lesson went surprisingly well, almost to the point Rotor forgot he was speaking to his friend by how well he played up to airs and graces, not necessarily copying Bunnie, but emulating enough of her vibe to suggest it. They sat on Rotor's bed after a wonderful "evening" of dancing, dining and gallivanting. "Thanks for the dancing lessons," Rotor said smiling, "always thought I had two left feet."

"Oh do not worry," said "Bunnie" waving his hand, "I had fun teaching someone my moves, I do not often get to shake what my mama gave me!"

"Yeah," Rotor nodded with a slight bounce of the bed, "you were really good on the dance floor, I didn't know you could waltz!"

"And you are a fast learner!" said Not-Antoine patting his shoulder with a gentle rub. "I would expect nothing less from a screwdriver jockey such as yourself. So... " he stroked down his back with a tender squeeze that made the walrus stiffen, "do you want to talk about something?"

"Well... " Rotor tensed up clearing his throat with a steady shift of his hindquarters, "not sure, I think we talked a lot about everything today."

"Oh I am sure you have something left," the coyote made a nudging motion and sat up closer, "something perhaps you are feeling at the moment, something you need off your chest?" Antoine leaned up with a whisper out of character. "You had a good time, now is zee chance to open your heart!"

"I... is it?" the walrus gulped fidgeting with his thumbs. "Is this the right time, are you sure?"

"Yes yes," Antoine gestured frantically, "tell her your heart go on I will follow!"

"Alright... " Rotor took a deep breath trying to construct his words, clasping "Bunnie's" hand to steady himself. "We've known each other since... all this, since Robotnik and that, and... I trust you as much as I trust anybody else to help me."

"I appreciate that," said the coyote softening his voice and patting his hand, "you are a good friend, who more times than I can count has fixed me up with my whatchamacallits and whozits and such!"

"Right," Rotor nodded, "so... I feel I can tell you, a lot of things and you would be... alright hearing them after everything we've gone through."

"Oh of course!" said Not-Antoine clapping his knee. "Spin me a yarn, let me hear what you have to say!"

"Well... I... that... let me just get some water, my throat's really parched." He stood up to walk to the bathroom sink and quickly drenched his face. The cold droplets off his cheeks helped steady him as he stared into the mirror with a hardening look and fiercer breaths to psyche himself. You can do it. You can do it, he's right there, he can't break character, this is the test. Do it. His thoughts went spinning in his head like a centrifuge as he sat back beside "Bunnie" and took his hand. "Would it... be a problem to tell you that I'm bi?"

Antoine blinked, and a part of him wanted to flinch but he stopped himself to instead tighten his grip on Rotor's hand until it almost hurt. "Oh! That... that is, well, darn my socks if that is not a surprise to hear but... of course it would not be a problem, we have gone through too much for anything like that to be a problem!"

"Really?" Rotor sighed with a clutch to his heart. "Thank you, that's a weight off my chest I really needed to tell someone."

"It does not matter to me," Antoine shook his head, "after all, you still like women so nothing has changed between us."

"Well, actually," the walrus sat up and held both his hands on Antoine's, "that's the thing. I can trust you with that so I can trust you with something else that's a little harder to say. There's someone out there, not too far from here, someone who I work with that I love and I'm not sure if they feel the same way but I really just want the best for them and I do my best to help them any way I can... "

"Who?" gasped Antoine. "Who is it?" This is it, the coyote thought. Oh mon dieu zee tension I could cut with a knife, zee drama this is what I live for, ohh you silly walrus speak now or forever hold your peace!

"Antoine." Rotor closed his eyes afraid to meet his gaze. At first Antoine almost responded like it was someone asking for him. Then he realised it was an answer. "It... it's Antoine. I don't know why, I can't explain it but despite all the times he might screw up in my lab or out on the field, I really like him. No, more than that, I love him, I can't say why, I know he tries his hardest, he struggles a lot but he's a good guy and I want to help him... I want to be with him. I don't want to lose Antoine. I... I love him."

The coyote released his grip. He pulled back, clutching his mouth as the words bunched up in his tongue which suddenly became limp. Rotor was desperate for an answer, clenching his eyes shut as if fearing he would be struck for his insolence. "You... you like... oh mon dieu this... that is how you truly feel?"

"Yes," Rotor nodded still keeping eyes closed, "that's how I've felt for... a long time, Ant. I care about you, I want to help you, I love you."

"I... I do not know what to say," Antoine shook his head rubbing the sweat growing off his brow, "this... such a quelle surprise I cannot, I do not know what to... " he stepped back further towards the wall feeling almost trapped by the statement of love as he clutched his chest, torn between wanting to not leave Rotor in his time of vulnerability, but also wanting to escape such awkward confrontation to the outpouring of his soul.

"I understand if you don't... want to be friends anymore," Rotor sighed with a heavy heart, "I know it's a big thing to say, and... "

"Wait, wait, allons-y," Antoine waved his hands, "nobody said about not being friends, who said we should not?! I just have... I... I need to think about this." He walked to the door. Then stopped himself upon hearing the sounds of a thick shuddering heave from the walrus. His head was in his hands, he shook with a trembling sob that grew in his throat until the bed itself began to quiver. He sat there for a minute, not hearing the door close as his weeping grew to fill the room. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What?" Rotor looked up to the coyote patting him. "You're not... leaving?"

"Well... I cannot leave one of my friends in agony, that is not what a Freedom Fighter does...n'est-ce pas?" He smiled awkwardly and kept patting Rotor's arm. "I am still your friend Rote, zis is just just... grande news to take in, oui?"

"Right," the walrus nodded gulping back his tears with reddening eyes, "but you're not... mad, are you?"

"OH non non non!" the coyote shook his head rapide. "I am just... confused, I need some time to think, I have never... never had anyone of zee male persuasion feel that way about me!"

"Hah, you'd be surprised," Rotor forced a smile with a deep sniff, "I just want to be with you, that's it Ant. Even if we're just friends, I'll do my best to help you with anything, and even if you don't... feel the same way that I do, I just want to be your friend."

"I see," Antoine nodded sagely with his hands clenched tight before sitting back down beside Rotor, "well, I am still your friend, but I do not know if I can become more than that. It is not something I have ever thought to be, with you that is."

"Well, I just had to say it," the mechanic shrugged with a heavy sigh before slumping forwards, "sorry. I know you wanted to help me do better talking to women, and I appreciate it a lot."

"So my advice was still good?" Antoine smiled with a bashful turn. "I mean, I may not be a woman but vous certainly made me feel happy and followed everything to zee letter well."

"Plus I got you here in my bedroom... " Rotor tried to smile before a sudden panic seized him, "not that I was going to try anything, no, no I wasn't, promise!"

Antoine laughed at his flustered expression, more releasing his own stress in turn as Rotor started laughing in turn until their faces turned red. Cackling turned to chortling, and soon their bellies hurt enough that they needed to stop and take a deep breath. Antoine straightened his uniform out and stared at the wall as if trying to pull the right words out of the Knothole tree. "Well, I am glad my advice has worked so well, even if zee end result is not what I expected."

"It's okay if you want to leave and take some time to think," Rotor smiled patting his leg, "just as long as we're still friends, that's really all I need."

"Alright." Antoine stood up dusting off his trousers, "let me think on what to do, I shall speak with you... tomorrow, if that is okay?"

"No problem," the walrus smiled. Watching his friend leave, Rotor slumped back on the bed with a kerflump and groaned into his hands to unleash all the frustration and panic and desperation that had been boiling his heart to a fine soup, tears coming back more from exhilaration than sadness. He felt relieved, cautiously happy, not wanting to be too overjoyed in case Antoine said no and brought his world tumbling down again.

He's still my friend, he thought to himself, he's still my friend, he said so himself. That's great, that means he doesn't hate me right? He wouldn't say that and just turn on me would he? No, he's not that kind of guy, I would know. I've watched him enough times in his privacy. His mind then wandered to the supply closet where his monitors waited. He walked over to the door, put his hand on the knob... and then pulled himself back. No. No, this time you trust him. He went back to his bed and turned himself in to the sheets, waiting for tomorrow with anxious hope.

The next morning came as he got up his usual time, washing himself and trying his best to push all thoughts of Antoine out of his mind just to not torture himself. A few tinkerings with some parts he had meant to get round to allowed him to zone out peacefully, his heart still tense but considerably less than usual. There was no time to rest however when Princess Sally called for a meeting at the main hall, and so all the Freedom Fighters came together once again in the modest room of seats clustered around long tables. Standing at the back of the hall was the princess herself, cracking her knuckles and demonstrating a map of the region hung up behind her. Antoine was not present, much to Rotor's surprise and growing fear.

"Everyone!" she clapped for their attention. "Good morning, we've yet another fight ahead of us. Yesterday, our field agents discovered that Robotnik has managed to install new sensory devices to track our way into the junkyard. Sonic and Bunnie were pinned down at the comms relay, but were thankfully rescued by Rotor and...Antoine."

A gasp came rippling from the crowd of beasts as eyes turned on Rotor. He said nothing sitting by himself, not even a simple wave as he kept scanning the room for his friend.

"We are all very thankful for their efforts," the princess said to end the topic, "but right now we must focus on discovering what new sensor tech Robotnik is using to monitor our travels in and out of the yard."

As she said this, keeping everyone's attention back on her as she charted the map and detailed various routes for scouts to take, Rotor felt a shadow sweep from behind him. Antoine arrived quiet as he could to sit down beside him. "Sorry," he whispered, "I had a bit of a long night."

"Hah, it's fine," Rotor sighed lowering his voice, "you alright?"

"Yes." Antoine nodded. "I cannot say anything now, but... " He took Rotor's hand with a soft squeeze under the table. "For all you have done for me... you taught me to be brave... so I will try at least, for you, Rotor."

"Thank you." Rotor sighed gentle as he could. "That's... that's all I wanted... Antoine."

None of the forest fighters saw this little moment beneath Sally's speech. A flower starting to bud beneath their feet as the two looked to each other with affirming nod. Antoine was scared, he always had been, and Rotor felt it in his grip and the way his fingers trembled against his. Once they had their breakfast after the meeting, they returned back to Rotor's room to discuss their relationship further.

"So," the walrus gulped sitting down on the bed with him, "you want to do this?"

"Oui," said Antoine feeling his mouth turn dry causing him to constantly lick his lips, "I am a bit... how you say, anxious because I do like you but I do not know how to... be in such a relationship."

"Is it not like with a woman?" asked Rotor shrugging. "I mean I thought it would be the same, heck maybe easier because I don't know, guys seem to talk easier with guys. Right now I feel more comfortable talking to you than with Bunnie."

"I have noticed that, oui," Antoine nodded rubbing his arm, "if that is zee case well... what should we do now?"

"Well... " Should I even ask? Rotor thought to himself. I want to. I really want to ask him, I need him, I can't stand another moment without him now that he's so close. "Do you... want to try something with me?"

"What sort of thing?" the coyote asked swishing his tail. "I mean, I enjoyed holding hands, there were quite a few looks my way, and not zee usual ones I get after a mission!"

"Yeah," the walrus nodded, "it felt great, and I really thank you for following me with it. So I wanted... to ask if you want to help me with more... etiquette stuff?"

"Really?" Antoine shook his head. "What do you need to know, we have covered everything about wooing a madamoiselle!"

"What about when you get back home and you have to... " he gestured to his bed with a growing blush as the coyote's eyes widened.

"Oh!" Antoine stiffened his ears and blushed in turn. "You... oh non, non surely you know all of that far more than me!"

"I'm not going to ask for too much," the walrus sat up more to face him fully, "just... would you like to try some fun with each other?"

"What sort of fun?" the coyote curled his toes. "I can only do so much, you must understand!"

"Just maybe... stroking off together?" Rotor took the biggest gulp at Antoine's expression. Not disgusted, but uncertain of how to even react as he rubbed his neck and gave a long sigh to help buy him time for his answer.

"Just, to be clear," Antoine stressed raising his hands, "you want... to just... vous et moi, in self-pleasurement si vous plait?"

"Just that." Rotor nodded, "I know it's a lot to ask, just one little thing, see how it goes?  Please?"

The look on Rotor's face almost killed him. Desperate and pleading, his eyes looked downwards to see something trembling in his pants. The coyote felt a tingling of curiosity, as well as the initial fear of questioning where his interests laid. Something inside him nodded before he even realised what he was doing as the walrus grinned with a stutter in his breast.

"Oh thank you Ant!" the walrus clapped with a giddy smirk. "Okay, I'm not going to go too fast, we can just do a little mutual fun, how about... you help me, and I help you?"

"Alright... just a little hands-on fun, oui?" What have I gotten myself into, the coyote thought as Rotor spread his legs to expose himself. I cannot turn him down now, not like this! At least he was polite not to have me do anything more sordid, I do not think my heart could take it this week! As these thoughts ran through his head, his face becoming hot and bothered with each second, Antoine's mouth gaped at the size of Rotor's half-hardening cock swelling from his sheath. Thick and purple.

In turn the coyote spread his legs, both keeping their shirts on to have some feel of modesty for their current situation as he exposed his own member, twitching with nerves along his thin vulpine length from his furry sheath as Rotor smiled shifting closer towards him. The walrus had seen it before, not that he was going to tell Antoine that, but to see it close up was different. "Wow... no wonder you're so good with the ladies."

"Thank... thank you?" Antoine blushed not sure what to say as he stared at Rotor's hardening meat. "So we just... help each other out?"

"Yeah," Rotor nodded raising his hand to move closer, "just stroke each other, that's all, won't ask for anything more."

"Vraiment." The coyote sighed and moved in close. Just think of it as a sword lesson, he thought to himself with a smirk, it's just a different kind of length oui? And he's already clean, plus I was going to help him learn how to help a woman, this is just a little... different.

"Can I start?" Rotor asked patient to which Antoine nodded. His large fingers slipped over his friend's thigh, giving him a few pats and feeling out his discomfort to try and smooth things out with tender rubs. Once Antoine had stopped twitching, he stroked along the sheath with a soft pair of fingers that went up and down, hearing the coyote gasp with a whimpering fit as his hands clenched behind him, leaning back slightly to let Rotor have more access. The walrus smiled at this mutual consent, boldened to place his entire hand on the shaft and coax it out of with a firmer rubbing that excited Antoine in a way he did not expect.

"Oh... mon dieu!" he gasped with a tightening breath. "That... that feels quite... nice." He was uncertain, but eager, trying to close his eyes and imagine if it was perhaps Bunnie being cautious with his pecker which helped the situation some. Enough that the coaxing of his cock managed to pull it out from its sheath and make Rotor gasp with eyes widening in silent glee. Then Antoine felt the fingers creeping to his exposed shaft and he stiffened like a pole with a softened yeep.

"You alright?" Rotor whispered. Antoine nodded afraid to speak in case he broke the mood as the walrus continued. Once his friend was hard, he took Antoine's hand and guided it towards his own aching erect shaft. At first the coyote was shocked, his eyes still closed more as a reflex than anything else, but the warmth he felt from Rotor's body was oddly soothing enough to ease his grip. Feeling along Rotor's length, Antoine felt him turn hotter from the simplest touch, the soft furry fingers of the coyote gliding across his cock.

The swordsman smiled with a bashful look, neither of them saying a word as the sound of gentle plapping filled the room, pounding their meat and pleasuring each other with rising shudders and fitful whimpers. It was strange yet relaxing for Antoine who had never done this with someone else, man or woman, but he didn't hate it. His hand went on automatic, trying to focus more on the pleasure Rotor was giving him who was surprisingly deft with his fatter fingers in how he rolled his thumb across the glans and made him sputter a small glob of pre that he smoothed down the rest of the shaft.

Faster they stroked in silence, their breaths turning thicker and more heated next to each other. Rotor kept his eyes open, focusing entirely on Antoine's pulsing member that much to his joy was responding to his practiced claws. The coyote whimpered, feeling himself peak closer to his climax as he suddenly became invested, almost challenged to start jerking faster to make Rotor groan in excitement. He was desperate to call out Antoine's name, but feared breaking whatever fantasy he was investing himself in to justify this scene and ease himself into it.

"Ah, oh, mon dieu," his whimpering rose sharper, "do not stop, si vous plait, ah!" His thrusting hit higher as Rotor leaked faster, dribbling down his shaft and pouring over Ant's fingers who in turn reciprocated with his own drooling stream that smothered down his balls and smeared his thighs with a thickening white. Then he felt it, the last throb just before his cock reached its hottest spurt and then suddenly something covered his face. A pair of lips pressed against his own.

Rotor couldn't stop himself, almost cumming and wanting to share the moment with his beloved. He felt Antoine's breath stuttering as he whimpered into climax, both of them shooting together with hot spurts of cream that smothered onto their thighs as their mouths heated up, sharing each other's breaths that filled their throats with a scream of bliss. Rotor kept back his tongue, wanting to just feel Antoine's body close to him as they erupted together, hot twinning streams of thickest seed.

Antoine felt Rotor's lips move back, a tender slip of saliva between them that broke soon as they parted as they stared upon each other, drenched in their sweat and semen that salted their fur. He was lost for words, gasping like a fish as he felt his cock still twitching with fat globs of white tainting down his shaft.

"I'm sorry," Rotor gasped almost looming over him, "I... I didn't mean to... "

He was silenced with a peck on the cheek, much to his surprise as Antoine softly smiled. "You forget I am les Mercian. A kiss is... nothing between friends, oui?"

"Right," the walrus smiled with a gasp as he sat himself back, "thank you for... letting me."

"That was... not what I expected," Antoine started chuckling with a face red as beetroot, "my first engagement with another man, I am not sure if this makes me... "

"Not unless you feel you are," Rotor shook his head, "only one who can say what you are is you, no one else. And that was all I really needed, just even once."

"Well... perhaps not just the once." Antoine gulped with a stutter, "as I said before, I am still your friend and... I am not sure how to feel about what we just did.  But, I do not hate it.  I do not hate... this."

He took Rotor's hand in his, as the walrus smiled with a heart now freed for the first time in months, their bodies soon calmed with the remnants of their orgasm smeared upon their legs and the sheets. There was a gentle silence that for once Rotor appreciated, smiling upon Antoine as he squeezed his hand tighter with affirming nod. Both of them now that not only must they fight for a better future, but make it their own future too. Comrades... and perhaps something more.