“You sure you two will be okay here, Rote? You don't have to leave us, y'know...”
Rotor looked at the two-tailed fox, then back at the young male turtle he was with, before nodding in assurance. “Yeah, Tommy and I will be just fine, here. And don't worry; we have the Bathysphere here in case you need to contact us, or we need to go anywhere.”
Tails forced himself to smile, nodding through held-back tears. It had been a few weeks since Dr. Eggman's malicious computer program, A.D.A.M, took over the turtle – Tommy – with the help of a group of nanites, and attempted to take over the world with the Chaos Emeralds. Tommy – having forced enough control back from the virus, at the time – attempted to sacrifice himself to put an end to A.D.A.M's tyranny by flying them both into the path of an onslaught from Eggman, himself sick and tired of his creation's treachery to want to obliterate it from the face of Mobius. Tommy – not just infused with A.D.A.M's nanites but with a super form from the Chaos Emeralds – had intended to die from the assault... but, to everyone's surprise, he survived, the blast knocking him out of Super Mode and frying out A.D.A.M and his nanites' circuitry. Sonic caught him as he fell, and rushed him to Dr. Quack's office for medical care as Eggman – satisfied with what he accomplished, that day – pulled a strategic retreat back to his base.
Tommy recovered quickly, though his diagnosis was dire: his system was still flooded with nanites, though they seemed to be inoperative for the moment, likely due to the near-death attack he took from the ovoid scientist. It was unknown if A.D.A.M was still functional within them, or – if he was – if he'd ever come back to haunt the poor turtle and his friends. It was during a visit to Tommy's hospital bed by one individual that fate intervened: seeing Rotor, Tommy smiled and surprised him by admitting he had fallen in love with the walrus, ever since he was taken under the Freedom Fighter's wing. Rotor, his own injuries from the war with A.D.A.M growing more conscious to him, and realizing a deep-seated fear of loss from seeing the turtle's near-annihilation, offered to leave Knothole with Tommy permanently to a distant and deserted place, to explore Tommy's newfound love for him, and to keep him safe from himself, in case A.D.A.M ever returned. At first, everyone objected to this – including Tommy himself – noting Rotor's usefulness to the group and their friendship, but Rotor insisted; he had passed on all the knowledge he could about mechanics and technology to Tails – who had surpassed him in those areas tenfold – and was thus no longer necessarily the best and the brightest engineer on the team. Furthermore, he explained that keeping Tommy away from everyone else – for their sake and his – in case A.D.A.M returned was paramount, now, and as he had worked so closely with the turtle as part of Knothole's Brain Trust, he was the best qualified to keep the nanites in check, and prevent the worst from happening. Finally, he revealed a grave truth to his friends: he had suspected before the war with A.D.A.M that Eggman had known about his homosexual tendencies, but wasn't convinced until he and Sonic had to ask for his aid against the program that the scientist had plans to turn his fears of being rejected for those tendencies against him; even though he knew his friends would have supported him, regardless, it was a risk he would rather not have to take. With Tommy's confession to him, he felt that now was the time for him to come out and profess his devotion to the turtle, admittedly wanting to have some “alone time” with the turtle, and finding the situation they were in the perfect catalyst for doing so.
The debate about this decision with the rest of the gang was long and arduous, taking a good number of days to come to an agreement, but in the end, it was decided that Rotor's plan was sound enough to look into. Given the go-ahead, Tommy and Rotor started packing up their things into Rotor's Bathysphere, while the others looked into places where they could self-exile; Tails at first suggested his own hideaway island, but Antoine pointed out how easily it was invaded by the Battle Bird Armada, when the fox played chauffeur to the coyote's and Bunnie's honeymoon, there. Eventually, Sonic spoke up, directing them to a random island among the archipelago that formed South Island. The island, the hedgehog claimed, was a personal retreat of his, set up during his world adventures, and was hidden from both the Eggman Empire and the Kingdom of Acorn. The locals on the nearby landmasses knew of him and his friends and were welcoming to both, but didn't know of the hideout's location, and accessing it was treacherous for even Eggman, making it perfect for Rotor and Tommy to disappear to.
So it was decided, and in the unexpected break from battling Eggman's forces that had followed the war with A.D.A.M, Rotor and Tommy loaded up the Bathysphere and, with Tails in his Sea Fox, set sail for the mysterious hideaway of Sonic's. The trip was long, and the last leg of it was indeed treacherous, with the Freedom Fighter techs having to maneuver around rocky shoals and sudden undertows. However, Rotor's deft navigation of the seas eventually got them to the island location safely. Upon existing their watercraft, all three Mobians gasped in awe at the beauty of the sight: a small island, surrounded by reefs and sandbanks, hidden by a further outcropping of coastal rocks, no bigger than a spit of land. In the center was a single beach house, complete with patio and warm water pool, two-story, but large enough only for one or two people to stay in. As they explored the building, they found it to be simply furnished, with a beach bed for two, a bathroom with standing shower, a fully-furnished kitchen, and a living/dining room with L-couch and television with video game systems attached. Overall, it wasn't a bad set-up from Sonic.
