By the time Tails and the others got to the beach, they were only in time to see Antoine and Bunnie being transported to the skies, soaring across the island.

"Hey!" Tails cried, holding Chopper close as he and T-Pup took pursuit, "Come back here!"

Before they could get too close, they were suddenly knocked down by a speeding force. Tails and T-Pup plummeted to the ground, crashing into the sands of the beach. They glared up to see three robots landing nearby; one an eagle, one a jaybird, and another a bumblebee.

"Natives..?" Tails gasped.

"But they're robots now!" Chopper cried, as T-Pup barked loudly in an attempt to threaten the enemies.

The eagle and the jaybird bots leapt to the air at the same time, and dove at the trio. Tails grabbed Chopper and dove out of the way, as T-Pup went the opposite direction. Both bots narrowly missed.

But Tails found himself moving around some more as he evaded a laser blast from the bumblebee bot. As he jumped away, he was knocked over in the side by the eagle-bot. He and Chopper glared up to see the Bumblebee aiming his stinger at them and ready to shoot a laser…

Only for T-Pup to rush in and tackle the bee to the ground and chewed at it. The Eagle and Blue jay turned their attention to the fiasco, which allowed Tails and Chopper to get up and attack. Tails whacked his two tails into the eagle, and Chopper bit the blue jay, bringing them down.

"That won't hold them," Tails cried, grabbing Chopper and making a run for it in the woods, "We gotta go! C'mon, T-pup!"

"Ruff ruff!" T-pup hopped off the bee and chased after Tails. The robots, as expected, got up and gave chase. However, it didn't do well as they had lost sight of the culprits.

Through robotic wavelengths, they communicated to each other to spread out and search, and then took off in three different directions.

"Are they gone..?" Chopper quietly asked from under a bush, which served as their hiding place.

T-Pup poked his head out, and quickly surveyed the area. He then trotted out silently.

"T-Pup went out with no problems," Tails answered, "So I guess that means we're safe for now." He and Chopper carefully made their way out of the bushes.

"Whatta we do now, Tails?" Chopper asked.

The fox clenched his fist. "If Sonic were here, he'd would go after whoever's behind this and probably stop them by now…" He sighed, "But Sonic's not here…"

"Who's Sonic?"

Tails looked down at the chipmunk and smiled. "He's only the greatest hero on the planet anyone knows!"

Chopper blinked. "Even awesome than you?"

Tails sheepishly scratched at the back of his head. "Well, I try… But I couldn't."

"'Cause I think yer awesome!"

"You do?" Tails looked down again at the boy, who looked back eagerly and with awe. A proud smile crept across his face. "Well… since Sonic isn't here, I guess that means I need to step up to the plate."

Chopper threw his hands in the air. "Whoo hoo! Yippee!"

"But I can't do it alone," Tails held out his fist, "Whattya say you be my sidekick?"

"Really?!"

"C'mon, don't leave me hanging here."

Chopper made a fist and bumped it into Tails'. "Okay!"

Tails then turned to his robot dog-fox. "T-Pup, lead the way. If we're going to save Antoine and Bunnie, we need to figure out where they were taken. But we need to stop at my workshop first. Make sure there aren't any more robotisized natives in the way."

"Ruff!" T-Pup hopped off, scouting ahead, as the new dynamic duo followed.

Once they were brought to the Air Fortress, Antoine and Bunnie were immediately taken into the hands of bigger and stronger robots, mostly to hold Bunnie, but it helped to keep Antoine in line as well.

Protesting and kicking didn't do any good, and they were taken to the center of the ship, where a strange machine was located. It was tall and cylinder in shape. As Bunnie and Antoine were ushered in, they witnessed the machine flashing brightly.

Once the light died down, the machine opened up, revealing a robot squirrel.

Antoine yelped out loud as Bunnie gasped. "Mah stars…" she murmured, "They're turning these poor natives into robots… It's worse than what Eggman could ever imagine!"

"But not too far off, I am afraid!" Antoine replied, shivering every part of his body.

The squirrel stepped up to the console, where a red orb-shaped robot sat. "Your orders have been uploaded into your new system," he said rather elegantly, "Storm the island and bring back as many natural natives you can."

The robot squirrel nodded and marched out.

"Next!" a more yokel voice called out. Antoine shrieked as yellow cubed-shaped robot approached him and grabbed his wrist.

"Stop!" Bunnie shouted, "You leave him alone!"

"You'll have your turn afterward, miss," the cubed-bot responded, "Now back in line."

"Hold it!"

Everyone froze, as a young man with chestnut-colored hair and a uniform similar to Dr. Eggman (only green) strolled into the room. Bunnie stared at him for a moment. "Them clothes…" she murmured, "You in any relation to Dotcah Eggman?"

The man stared hard at her. "He is my mentor," he replied, "I am Dr. Thorndyke, and this is my final trial to be truly his successor." He continued staring.

"I ain't no playboy bunny," the half rabbit, half robot snarked, "Quit starin' and get me somethin' to cover up!"

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not into animals," Thorndyke sneered, "I just couldn't help but notice you're only half robot…"

Bunnie quickly glanced at her left arm and both legs. "Yeah," she replied, "What of it?"

"How did that happen?"

"Yoah close to Eggman. Ya'll oughta know."

Thorndyke twitched his nose, and glared at his robot cronies. "Orbot, Cubot, was there a malfunction with the robotisization process at any point?"

"Not under my watch, sir," Orbot replied, but then glared at his yellow companion, "Then again, I wasn't at the console the entire time. Cubot?"

"I don't remember any malfunctions!" Cubot protested, but then scratched at his head, "But then again, my memory processor has been fritzing a bit…"

An idea suddenly struck Bunnie, and she decided to go along. "Well you'd best to get it looked at, sugah, because the machine blacked out halfway!"

Cubot looked over, "It did?"

Antoine blinked. "It did..?"

Bunnie secretly jabbed her husband in the side. "Yes!" she shouted, "Ah WAS captured earlier and brought to the ship, but ya only robotisized me HALFWAY. But hey, mah mind is still loyal to y'all, so ya sent me down to capture more natives."

"Cubot, you doofus!" Throndyke shouted, "If there was an issue, you should've alerted me immediately!"

Cubot shielded himself. "I'm sorry, boss!" he cried, "I don't know what I was thinking! I don't even remember making any mistakes!"

"Shall we just finish the job, sir?" Orbot suggested.

"Hey!" Bunnie shouted, "Didn'ja not hear me?! Ah said Ah'm still loyal!"

"You can't robotisize limbs and expect the brain to change!" Thorndyke snapped, then narrowed his eyes, "Lucky for you, I don't want to risk putting machines in the robotisizer without properly checking through it first."

"What are your orders, sir?" asked Orbot.

"I think we have enough robotisized soldiers for the time being," Thorndyke replied, "Run diagnostics on the robotisizer, and lock away whoever we have so far." He nodded towards Bunnie, still held tightly by the stronger robots, "THIS one, however, is coming with me. I'll see for myself just what the robotisizer is capable of, and if what she says is true."

He turned and walked out of the room. "Come with me."

The robots followed with Bunnie in tow.

"Mai cherie!" Antoine cried.

"Keep yer pants on, pal," Bunnie shouted back, "Ah'll be back, no problem."

"But I am not wearing any pants!"

Though they had to take the scenic route, T-Pup was able to lead Tails and Chopper up the hill and back to their workshop. They passed a few robotisized natives, but kept low and undetected, and were able to pass through without trouble.

When they approached the small shack, it was fortunately empty.

"You'd think they'd look around a house in the middle o' nowhere," Chopper wondered out loud, "I mean, I looked through the windows all the time whenever I pass through."

"Remind me to teach you about privacy later," said Tails, "Fortunately for us, the enemies are either busy or just plain stupid. Come on, we gotta grab a few things."

"Like what?"

"You'll see!"

The three crept over to the door and snuck inside. Chopper was amazed at what was around him. "Wooow… I never was actually INSIDE here b'fore!"

"Welcome to my home away from home," Tails replied as he dug through a few drawers.

"You could prob'ly make a bunch of REALLY cool toys yourself!"

"Yeah… but what I consider toys, little boys like you should never play with."

"Why's that?"

"Well, let's just say you'll see for yourself," Tails pulled out a red arm cannon, quickly showing it to Chopper before laying it on the ground. "No touching!" he warned the chipmunk, who stepped closer to examine.

Tails pulled out several more objects, including some anklets that he quickly strapped to his shoes, a purple badge with white and purple feathers attached that he put around his neck, and a bag full of orbs.

"Are those marbles?" Chopper asked.

"Sorta," said Tails, "Except they explode."

"Cool!"

"And now one more thing," Tails pulled out a small object that looked like a miniature TV.

"What's that?" asked Chopper.

"It's an item box," Tails replied, "Eggman originally designed them, but I copied the plans and used them for myself to store the really big things."

"And this is…?"

"Come on, I'll show you!"

Just as Tails threw open the door to go out, T-Pup suddenly yapped and yapped, but it was too late. The army of robots had spotted them and moved in for the attack.

"Chopper, get behind me!" Tails cried, pushing the chipmunk behind him and strapping on his arm cannon.

One of the robots, a snake, dashed at them, but Tails blasted him with an energy ball, throwing him across the area. A ram-bot charged at the group, but with the Rhythm Badge on, Tails was able to spin towards them and whack him with his hyped up multi-tail attack, and went on to attack a goat, a monkey, and a road runner.

"Woo hoo!" Chopper jumped in the air excitedly, "Way ta' go, Tails!"

As the fox stopped to catch his breath, the ground behind him began to crumble. T-Pup was the first to notice it and bark viciously at it, which grabbed Chopper's attention and he noticed it to.

And a robot-mole jumped through, ready to attack Tails…

*CHOMP!*

It was brought down by Chopper, who raced in and bit it hard, short circuiting it.

"Chopper, look out!" Tails flew in and grabbed the little chipmunk, using his jet anklets to rush away from the scene, right before a dragonfly-robot could attack. T-Pup helicoptered up and followed.

Though the jet anklets were helping him get away quicker, they were soon finding themselves being pursued by other flying robots, such as the dragonfly, a hornet, and various others with wings.

"Tails, can you outrun 'em?" asked a panicked Chopper.

"Not for long," said Tails, but pulled out his bag of orbs, "But that's where the marbles come in!" He turned them upside down, letting them spill out and land on the robots behind. They exploded in a fury of fire, dropping them behind, giving the trio what they needed to escape.

They quickly found a clear ground to land on and hide for a moment. "Now what?" asked Chopper.

"We need to find out where Antoine and Bunnie were taken," said Tails, "But this is a huge island. We'll never cover it on foot in enough time. We need a bigger vessel." He pulled out the Item Box.

"That's bigger?"

"Just watch!" Tails threw the Item Box to the ground, and it exploded in a puff of smoke. Once it cleared, a big, blue bi-plane stood on the ground. "Say hello to the Tornado II!"

"Wow!" Chopper chimed, "Cool plane!"

"Thanks!" said Tails as he lifted up the chipmunk, flew up to the cockpit, and placed him in the back seat, "Ready to ride?"

Chopper jumped up excitedly. "Yeah yeah yeah!"

Tails got into the front seat and started up the engines. "Then here he go!"

T-Pup flew up to the back cockpit, settling in next to Chopper, and the Tornado II rolled forward, and then took to the skies.

"Mineral water?" Thorndyke offered his "guest" once they were inside his quarters.

"No thanks," Bunnie declined, eyeing the tall, bulky Egg Pawns on each side of her.

"Suit yourself," the young man took a swig from his glass, and turned back to the half-rabbit half-robot. "Now then… your name?"

"Bunnie," the girl replied.

Thorndyke held back a chuckle. "What an original name,"

"It's mo' precious than yer name, which Ah reckon is a false one," Bunnie retorted, "You really a Robotnik bah chance?"

The young man narrowed his eyes fiercely, his welcoming demeanor quickly fading. "That is none of your concern!" he hissed, "Now you are to answer MY questions. Who do you serve?"

Bunnie shrugged. "Hard ta' tell," she replied, "Given Ah was only HALF robotisized, Ah guess whatevah the best path for me is. Ah remember mah good ol' days, but Ah tells ya, the life of evil ain't soundin' too bad."

Thorndyke studied her body, which was now covered by a spare night shirt he had. It was the only decent thing he had done the entire time he was here, Bunnie thought. Even so, she felt disturbed by his stare.

"I'm not sure that's how it works," he muttered, "You're LITERALLY half-robotisized, only from the waist down. The other half still has your head intact, meaning you may still have a mind and heart of your own."

"Do Ah sense mistrust in you, doctah?"

"Forgive me," Thorndyke said cooly, "But you understand why my master and I prefer robots. They're much more loyal. After all, you can program them as such, regardless of artificial intelligence. And believe me, our robots are FAR from any type of intelligence… You've met Cubot, correct?

"But you can't program a living being's brain. They're free to think however they wish. Which is why I question if you truly are loyal to me."

Bunnie twitched her nose, trying to look evilly persuasive, while in the back on her mind, she had to think of a way to use this to her advantage… "What do Ah have to do to prove mahself?"

Thorndyke lowered his head for a moment. "Hmm… I never considered this predicament. Common sense dictates I should just finish the job. But then one of my experiments nearly blew up in my face during my test runs of the robotisizier when I accidently tried my machine on an actual robot. I don't want to ruin my final perfection."

"Ah'd hardly call it perfect if'n it ain't finished the job."

"True…" Thorndyke rubbed his chin, "This would give me a chance to study what other effects my machine can do. Maybe having robotic parts affects your psyche." He eyed Bunnie suspiciously, "Though for all I know, you could be bluffing."

"Then if ya don't want a half-baked foot soldier, then just finish me off already!" Bunnie scowled, though a pit in her stomach made her hope he wouldn't actually take up that offer…

Thorndyke glared at her for a moment… then smirked. "Spunky," he said, "Perhaps you are loyal after all. Or simply just a jerk."

The rabbot snorted.

"Tell you what," Thorndyke stolled past her, and motioned to follow, "I'll give you a little test. Come along, now. Pawns, stay by her side, just to be safe."

Bunnie followed Thorndyke, as the pawns tromped next to her, side by side. They exited his quarters and walked through the metal hallways, and down an elevator lift, approaching the dungeons. The younger doctor led the way as they walked past cells of captured natives. They were varying species, very quiet, but mostly scared.

He finally stopped at a certain prison cell, where a familiar coyote sat with worry. He looked up to see Bunnie standing nearby Thorndyke, and jumped from his seat, rushing to the bars. "Bunnie!" he cried, "Mah cherie! Are you all right, mai dearest!?"

"Keep it together, will ya?" Bunnie spat, "It's pathetic!"

Antoine looked as if he was kicked in the gut, "But, my dearest… I waz zo worreeed! What did zat mongrel do to you!"

"This mongrel is standing right here," Thorndyke snorted, "Watch your mouth."

"So what y'all want me ta' do here now?" Bunnie asked.

"Simple," Thorndyke smirked, as he unlocked the cell and opened it. Antoine came rushing out, wrapping his arms around his wife. Bunnie twitched her nose annoyingly and tossed him off.

"Ya mind? Not in front of the good doctor."

Antoine was taken back. "Good doctair..?"

"Ya deaf as ya are dumb?"

"Bu… Bunnie…?"

The rabbit glared up at the doctor. "Well?"

"Grab him, Bunnie! NOW!"

As a knee-jerk reaction, Bunnie grabbed Antoine's arm. "Now what?"

"We go to the robotisizer," Thorndyke smiled viciously, "YOU are going to have the honors of robotisizing your little friend here."