A Hiccup In Time

High-speed chase

Rose's POV: 

Everything at this moment finally clicks into place and the only thought on my mind is run. 

Taking my right hand away from The Spine's and pointing up over his shoulder, loudly blurting out. "Hey what's that?!"

To my surprise, he cranes his neck to look where I'm pointing at. Seizing the opportunity, I take off in a dead sprint for the entrance gates.

The Spine's POV: 

"What there's nothing-" Turning back around to face the now missing female bot, only the aged top hat lies in front of me. I wasn't aware that I, Rabbit, and The Jon were not the only automatons alive. Let alone a female automaton for that matter, she could be a Becile creation for all I know. 

Rabbit calls out from behind me, The Jon following Rabbit in tow. "T-The Spine, watcha d-doin' other there?"  

Answering with excitement. "I found another automaton!"

The Jon gasps. "A WhAt NoW?"

Reiterating as Rabbit and The Jon share an expression of bewilderment. "She's getting away!"

I point as rose gold glints in the distance by the entrance gates, already taking off in that direction. Rabbit repeats somewhere off behind me. "She?" 

The Jon coos. "We BeTteR Go fOlLoW hIm."

The sound of another set of racing footsteps tells me that Rabbit and The Jon had joined me, embarking on the chase for this little mystery bot.

Rose's POV: 

Shoot, shoot, shoot! I did the one thing I said I wouldn't do, and that is to meet anyone from the past. Especially him! Hearing shouting after hopping over the baffle gates in the entrance, temporarily peering back at the park. Three tall figures are booking it, growing larger as they shorten the distance. Groaning as I will myself to run again, silently cursing my tiny legs.

Once I am out of Balboa Park, I find myself running around in a partially full parking lot adjacent to the tree cover on the west and east corners. There's a main road that seems to lead out of the parking lot into a more urbanized area, at this point I might as well be running blindly. 

Less than five minutes go by before distinct voices holler out, supplemented by thundering footsteps clashing the pavement. Rounding the first avenue I see, I quickly duck into a narrow alleyway. Pressing myself up again the beige brick wall, trying to hide to the best of my abilities. Rabbit and The Spine dash by, a barely coherent conversation is made out. Something along the lines of "I saw her go this way."  by The Spine and  "Are y-you s-sure?"  skeptically from Rabbit. Waiting a few moments, my audio receptors strain to pick up on anything. Silence. Then it hits me, only The Spine and Rabbit passed by. Where's The Jon....? 

Scuffling noises emit from above me, freezing in place. A jolly voice hoots overhead. "HiYa mIsS, wHy yA RuNnInG?"

Snapping my head up to be greeted by The Jon hanging over the side of the building, a wide smile plastered on his face. Without a reply, I push myself out of the alleyway and head back in the direction I initially came from. Only when I stepped out, discovering that I am now facing The Spine. A sound I can at most describe as an 'eep'  pipes up as The Spine interjects. "Now what a minute!" 

He goes to grab ahold of me with open arms but I quickly duck downwards. In a single motion, I sidestep and propel myself forward with a ballet leap. Somehow managing to evade him again, finding that his persistence is growing to be bothersome. Yet in my short-lived victory, a misplaced step sends my world sliding in a downwards spiral. I accidentally fall into a children's red wagon and immediately find myself slipping down the street uncontrollably. The entire time, I scream.

The red wagon is stopped by an abrupt tree in the path, I must have gone off the pavement and into some public park. Noticing rapid footfalls down the path in which I came from, I scramble to my feet. Detecting that I don't have many options left, I decide to climb up the tree to hide. Hoping they haven't seen me yet, clinging onto the highest branch. Below me, The Spine steps out into the patch of grass. Freezing completely, hoping he doesn't lookup. He scans around before disappearing beneath the leaves, straining to listen for where he may have gone. Quietly sighing, I have finally lost them- the tree shakes. My eyes snap open and fall to the base of the tree trunk. The Spine pulls the tree out of the ground! Are you kidding me!? 

The Spine holds the tree horizontally, forcing me to let go and drop onto the grass. At this point, annoyed is an extreme understatement. Before he could even put the tree down, I hurdle myself further into the park. The tall-tell sound of a blaring thunk notifies me that The Spine isn't too far behind, eventually joined by two more sets of footfalls. 

Rabbit bellows out. "H-hey w-watch o-out!" 

Turning to glance over my shoulder, Rabbit has one of her hands by her mouth and the other pointing ahead of me. What is she doing-crash!  My photo-receptors abruptly shut off as something sturdy slams into my cranium and my entire chassis falls onto the soft grass. Laying there, staring up at the sky. The Spine, Rabbit, and The Jon lean over me. They're talking but I can't quite discern what's being said. Only fractured phrases of "I-I tried t-to warn her..." from Rabbit are the last things I hear before completely shutting down.