A/N: This was written by not only me, but by a friend, too. Therefore, I'm not taking all credit for this fiction. I hope you enjoy this!

It was another normal day in the lab, and Dr. Neo Cortex was busying himself with fixing and stabilizing his seemingly tattered-up Evolvo-Ray. The machine had many faults, and with Neo working by himself at that time, it wasn't an easy job without N. Brio around anymore. Though, the scientist's servant, Dr. N. Gin, knew of Neo's efforts into fixing up the old machine. After a while of thinking, N. Gin thought that he should give him some help. He knew that Neo deserved a break from such hard work, and that a henchman like himself should've been put to good use at times like these. He slowly scampered up to Neo's working station, and he nervously tapped him on the shoulder.

"Uhm... s-sir, do you acquire any assistance..?" He spoke, trying to sound as confident in himself as possible.

Neo jolted slightly as he was suddenly tapped, and he turned to see who had interrupted his work. "Ah, N. Gin! about time you've offered to do something around here..." With that said, he grabbed a hammer from his desk and placed it into N. Gin's gloved hand.

N. Gin nodded as he heard his higher authorities' voice, and he grasped the hammer in his hand, looking over the Evolvo-Ray. "V-very sorry I didn't volunteer earlier, s-sir..." He spoke in a hushed tone. "Do you know which parts of the... of the machine... need fixing?" He could barely speak, though he managed his sentences better than usual.

Neo sighed, and he gestured towards the left side of the machine. "Try looking inside the thing..."

N. Gin scurried to the specified side of the ray, and he found some loose panels. He opened them up a bit more, and inside the machine were wired upon wires, tangled and unorganized. "I'll work on these... i-is that alright with you, sir?" He asked permission for everything from his master.

Neo nodded at N. Gin's question, simply answering, "That's fine by me, N. Gin... gives me one less job to do..."

"Of course..! Someone like you doesn't deserve to work so, so hard..." N. Gin nodded enthusiastically, immediately getting to work on the machine's insides. "Y-you know, you do such a great job at making such glorious inventions..." He loved to compliment Neo, since he knew Neo loved the feeling of superiority. N. Gin was pretty much a suck-up, though he never noticed it.

After all of N. Gin's rambling, however, Neo interrupted him. "Don't you think I know that already?" He scoffed, sounding awfully annoyed.

N. Gin fidgeted around uncomfortably when he heard his superiors' tone of voice, and he put his head down ashamedly. "O-oh... m-my apologies, m-master," He stuttered even worse now, fumbling with the tool in his hands. "I'm v-very sure you knew such... facts, already..." He felt terribly vulnerable by now.

Neo was more focused on the machine N. Gin was fixing than N. Gin himself at the moment, and he raised his voice quite a bit at his henchman. "Just fix the damn machine already, N. Gin! I have work to do!"

This made poor N. Gin jump, and he whined. "I-I'm so sorry, m-master..!" He dropped the tool he was using, and he held his hands together, now facing Neo. "Oh, p-please forgive me, my m-master..." He felt worthy of being smacked, just like every other time he had made even the simplest of mistakes. He was expecting it by now, and he tensed up cautiously. Neo noticed this, and he raised his hand threateningly.

"Give me a reason why I should accept that pathetic excuse of an apology, N. Gin?" He growled, getting close to his servant.

The smaller man cowered, covering his face with his hands and arms. "I-I-I didn't mean to upset you, n-not at all!" He sobbed quietly, yet uncontrollably.

Neo let out a mean hiss and lowered his hand. "Just get back to working if you know what's good for you..!" He walked away, settling down across the lab. N. Gin nodded rather quickly, and he picked up his tool from the ground, keeping his mouth shut for the next hour. Once he finished re-wiring the machine and whatnot, he nailed the panels back into the side of the machine. He went over to where Neo had settled himself, and he hesitated for a moment, yet he finally spoke. "Ah, Master..." He was quivering a bit, as he was still fearful of Neo.

Neo turned around in his chair, and he gazed at N. Gin uninterestedly, almost seeming to have forgotten what the cyborg had been doing for the time being. He took another sip of his tea. "Yes..?"

"I fixed up the Evolvo-Ray, just like you said; would you like to test it out?" When he spoke that last part, he started to sweat. 'What if it didn't work? What would master do to you then?' These thoughts raced through his head, and unfavorably, too.

Neo was happy that N. Gin was finished with his work, though he didn't show any sense of being proud of him. He sighed and carelessly passed his tea to N. Gin, spilling a few drops and making the smaller man hiss in light burning pain. N. Gin put the drink down on the nearby desk, and hurried up to Neo. The taller man looked the machine up and down, trying to find any flaws. After a moment, he nodded. "Get me a test subject, N. Gin."

N. Gin lit up, and he hurried out of the room, quickly coming back with a caged animal, what seemed like a harmless little hamster. He prepared the specimen right under the ray, and he grinned maliciously, giggling to himself. "Just fire it away when you're ready!" He chirped.

Neo expressed an evil smirk, and he took over the controls on the Evolvo-Ray. He gave off a cruel chuckle before firing up the machine. However, all the machine did was make a few awkward noises, and then break down, smoking. As soon as this happened, N. Gin's smile quickly faded into a frightened frown. "O-oh geez... I th-think I wired something wrong..!" He hurried to check on the seemingly broken machine.

Neo approached his nervous henchman. His hands were clenched into fists, an anger growing slowly in him. "N. Gin...?"

The smaller man could swear that he felt his heart skip a beat or two, and he got very nervous very quickly. He opened up the panels that he had previously closed, and he peered inside. The wires inside the machine were absolutely fried. "Oh God... oh no, oh no, no..." He swore to himself, watching Neo come up to him.

"What did you do to my Evolvo-Ray?" Neo growled, peering maliciously down at the poor cyborg. N. Gin shrunk back, almost sinking down to his knees, feeling terribly scared.

"I-I only tried to fix it! I swear, o-oh, I swear!" He covered his face again, tears welling in his unique eyes. He knew what he was gonna get, and he was gonna get it good.

Neo kept himself well postured, and he glared down at his servant. "N. Gin... Stand up and explain what you've done here..."

N. Gin was sobbing uncontrollably by now. "A-all I did was rewire the cords inside the machine..! They must've still been... t-tangled, b-because they're useless now; f-fried!" He tried to stand up straight the best he could, though he still covered his face. "I-I didn't mean it, p-please don't hurt me..!"

On the outside, N. Gin was scared more than ever before, but in his head, he actually wanted such a painful thing to happen to him. It was his sick, masochistic nature that made him think such horrendous thoughts. Neo could sense this, and he put on a mockingly sweet tone of voice. "N. Gin... Show me your face..."

TBC