Chapter 3

The following morning came much too soon for Tristina's liking. Forcing herself into a sitting position, Tristina curled her fingers on the underside of her left leg. with a quiet grunt, Tristina tossed the metallic limb over the side of the bed. repeating the maneuver for her right leg, Tristina stared at her robotic limbs.

Sadness and anger welled up inside her chest and formed a painful ball. Why did Robotnik do this to me? she thought as she felt tears well in her eyes. You know exactly why. a nasty voice in her head replied. You built a spy network out of his own... Tristina looked up as a quiet knock sounded from the door. Shaking her thoughts from her head, Tristina found her voice. "Who is it?" she asked. "My name is Bunnie, sugar. May I come in?" a sweet southern female voice replied. Tristina started to stand up to get the door, but immediately remembered her legs no longer worked. frowning to herself, Tristina called "Come in."

The door opened and Tristina couldn't help but stare. Bunnie's legs and left arm were completely robotic, similar to Tristina's legs. what wasn't covered in shiny metal was Bunnies medium tan fur. around Bunnies muzzle was a lighter tan, and her lake green eyes gave Tristina a sense of calm and tranquility. "Sugar?" Bunnie asked, which caused Tristina to shake her head and refocus her attention on Bunnies right arm and legs. "Sorry Miss Bunnie. I...I noticed your..." "legs and arm?" Bunnie asked, smiling. Tristina nodded sheepishly. Bunnie sat down by Tristina and patted her hand. "Dont worry about it, Darling. Yes, that is the first thing people will notice about you. I wont lie. but once folks here get to know you, They'll realize that your limbs dont define who you are."

Tristina let a small smile cross her lips, which grew even larger as Bunnie patted her on the back. "Now, come on, sugar." said Bunnie, helping Tristina into a faded yellow wheelchair. Tristina closed her eyes, then lifted her face to the sky. the sun warmed her light blue fur and peach muzzle. she opened her eyes to see Bunnie smiling at her. Tristina smiled in return, then noticed they were walking away from the bustling village. "We're going to Rotors hut. he has a wheelchair Sally girl requested be made for you." "Sally girl? Oh, you mean the Princess." "Thats right, sugar." said Bunnie. Tristina was slowly 'translating' Bunnies slang in her mind, but it was a slow process.

Soon, the trees once again thinned, and Tristina noticed a lonely looking hut sitting near the edge of an expanse meadow. the roof looked to be made of metal and wood, and the walls themselves looked more roundish. On top of the metal roof was an observatory of sorts, which Tristina noticed housed an impressive telescope. "Rotor, I brought her!" Bunnie called as she knocked on the door. "Good, come on in guys!" a voice called from inside. Bunnie opened the door and pushed the wheelchair through. Tristina gave a small start as she noticed Sally, Sonic, and a regally dressed coyote with deep brown boots and what looked like a yellow toupee.

Rotor opened his mouth to speak, but was diverted as the Coyote had accidentally pulled a handle on a nearby machine. "Sacre-bleu cheese!" the Coyote yelped as the machine sparked and blared an ear piercing alarm. Tristina frowned, then closed her eyes and raised one hand at the machine. when she opened her eyes again, they were pure white, and her hand began to glow a white aurora.

the group watched, stunned, as Tristina began to move her fingers as if she were typing on a single panel keyboard. Soon, the alarm silenced, and the machine shut down. Tristina gave a little jerk of her head, closed her eyes, and lowered her hand. when she opened her eyes, they had returned to normal. "Tiffany...what did you do?" Sally asked, sounding intrigued and curious.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier." said Tristina, embarrassed. "I can mentally 'possess' simple machines, like that one." Tristina said, nodding to Rotors machine. "I can make them shut down, or extend their 'senses' to me. for example, I can 'possess' a spy orb and make it show me what it sees instead of Robotnik." Tristina explained. the freedom fighters looked to one another, amazed.

"Thats amazing." said Rotor. "We'll definitely have to talk more about this ability of yours. but for now, Tiff, I want to introduce you to your new mode of transportation." Rotor stepped aside revealing what looked like a cross between a wheel chair and a dentist chair. the chair had two large wheels on ethier side, a slightly reclined leather back, a joystick on one arm and a small grid of buttons on the other.

Tristina stared, mouth agape, at the wheelchair. the back, slightly reclined, had a rough-looking leather covering. Tristina ran her hand over the leather to find it was soft...very soft! Tristina's gaze followed the back down to the seat, which was a deep velvet cushion with two metal pipes that crossed to form a 'X' underneath. at the end of the left arm rest was a metal joystick, and along the right arm rest were several square buttons.

"This chair is designed to move across land, water, even air if you need it to." explained Rotor. "it also has several other features I thought might come in handy. The wheels themselves..." said Rotor, kneeling down to the left wheel. "...are made of anti flammable plastic. Sally told me you said you had Sonic speed. well, if you ever need to use it, these wheel's wont catch fire." Tristina smiled and nodded to show she understood.

"Well, enough gawking, sugar!" said Bunnie with a laugh. "try it out!" Rotor and Sonic each lifted Tristina by one arm and sat her into the new chair. "wow." Tristina whispered, lightly running her fingers over the controls and joystick. "I...I don't know what to say, guys. This...No ones ever done anything this nice." Tristina said, wiping tears of joy from her eyes.

"Guys... I have to confess something." said Tristina, swallowing the sob her throat. "Robotnik didn't capture me by accident. I was using my ability to 'possess' a small group of Spy orbs to spy on Robotnik. I was studying his city so I could someday find you, join you, and launch an attack that would put him out of commission for good. The other day, I was using a spy orb to look at one of his factories when a Swat bot found me. I guess the Swat bot knocked me out, I'm not sure. the next thing I know, I was in the roboticizer...and it was malfunctioning. when the chamber collapsed, I used my Sonic speed to run out of the city."

"That's when you found us, right?" Sonic asked as Tristina finished her story. Tristina nodded in reply. "I want to help. Now more than ever." said Tristina. "We could use someone with your abilities, Tiffany. but...well..." said Sally, looking unsure. "Princess, I have a theory I'd like to test. would you mind helping me?" Tristina asked, smiling. "Not a problem, but afterwards we need to get back to work on our catapults." Sally replied.

Tristina nodded, unlocked the wheels of her new wheelchair, then began to wheel herself towards the door. Once outside, Tristina noticed a few apple trees growing near the edge of the meadow. "Okay, Princess. I want you to pick one of those apples and drop it. I'll handle the rest." Tristina said, pointing to the apple tree. Sally arched an eyebrow. "that's it?" she asked. Tristina nodded. "You'll understand in a moment, I promise." Tristina assured her.

Sally nodded, then jogged over to the tree. reaching up, she picked an apple from a low hanging branch. Holding it high in the air, Sally turned her wrist and let the apple fall. Tristina's peach arms and black wheelchair wheels were two blurs as the light blue hedgehog shot forward towards the Princess. Once the hedgehog had enough momentum, Tristina reached out one hand and caught the apple, but quickly dropped it. Tristina winced as she waved her hands, trying to stop the burning pain in her palms.

"I think we're going to need to get you some speed proof gloves." said Sally, smiling in spite of herself. "Yeah." said Tristina, blowing on her palms. "I think I can get by with bandages for now. Also, didn't you say you had some catapults to work on?" Tristina asked. "I don't think I have to use my speed to help with that." Tristina added, smiling. "It would be an honor to have you help, Tiff." said Sally as they walked back to Sonic and the others. (with Sally pushing Tristina's wheelchair so Tristina didn't have to use her raw hands.)

After Tristina explained to the others what she had tried to find out, Rotor retrieved a salve for her hands. "Thanks Rotor" said Tristina as he squeezed some of the cream into her sore palms. "I'll see if I can't fashion some speed proof gloves for you as well." Rotor promised. Rubbing her hands together, Tristina smiled her gratitude.