It was three days before Bunnie felt ready to get out of bed. When she did, her first step punched through the wooden floor and left her standing on the packed dirt beneath, the thick robotic limb wedged firmly in the remaining planks.

"Bunnie?!" Sally nearly fell out of her chair at the crash, and was now staring at her friend over the top of her book. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"I think so." Bunnie tried to pull her leg free, only to have the other foot punch through as soon as she pressed down with it. "Oh, hell's bells!"

"Don't let Rosie hear you say that." Sally put her book aside and walked over to examine the problem, stopping as the damaged floorboards creaked under her weight. "Here, let me help."

With Sally coaching her steps and tugging her hands to help brace her, Bunnie managed to climb out of the hole and sit in her own chair. The chair didn't so much as squeak; the problem was obviously not weight, but force. She turned to share the observation with Sally, but stopped, frowning, when she noticed the princess grimacing and massaging her hand.

She'd been trying so hard to not squeeze too tightly.

"Hand cramp," Sally explained with a weak smile, tucking both hands behind her back as she caught Bunnie staring. "I've been working with NICOLE more than ever because of all the training, so—"

"Yer a bad liar, Sally-girl," Bunnie said softly. Sally only looked away in embarrassment, silent as Bunnie got to her feet and headed out, stepping with exaggerated care.

**

Antoine gulped as the familiar scents of Robotropolis reached him, lowering his ears with nervousness. Beside him, Sonic looked out over the landscape with an air of bored impatience while Cat moved ahead of the boys to scout the outer fringes. Neither of them looked as concerned as Antoine felt; try as he might, he simply couldn't seem to carry off the nonchalance he'd shown only a few days ago.

"What's the matter with you, Ant?" Sonic hissed as Cat moved out of earshot. "First you won't talk to anyone—and don't think Bunnie hasn't noticed you avoiding her—and now you're shakin' like rocks in a tin can!"

"I am ze nervelessness wizzout mah blade," Antoine replied stiffly after a few moments. It was partly true; the special insulation needed to protect him from conducted electricity was hard to come by, and he felt a bit out of sorts without either his sword or knowledge of when it would be replaced.

"Okay, fine, but what about holing up in that spare hut? Tails wants to know if you're moving back in, by the way. Wants to stay with me."

I can control that space, if it's all to myself. "He iz welcome to it. I am wanting to take a relax at some times and you do not rest."

"Do so." Sonic plopped on the oily ground, chin in hands. "So why are you here if you're so 'nervelessness' without your pokestick?" He was up and pacing before he finished the sentence. Antoine felt dizzy watching him.

I want to prove I can still do it. I'm not a failure. "I could use ze destruction."

"That's the spirit!" Sonic grinned, pausing to clap the coyote on the shoulder. "There's Cat's signal—let's go!" He dashed off to meet the puma, and after a moment Antoine, filled with unfamiliar misgivings, followed.

**

CRUNCH.

"Oh mah stars, Rotor, I'm so sorry!" Bunnie hastily set the mangled lump of machinery back on the walrus' work table, stepping back and hiding her hands. Rotor blinked mournfully at his erstwhile project, then picked it up to cradle it in one gloved hand as he surveyed the damage.

"Don't worry, Bunnie. It's not that important."

"Oh." She leaned forward a little, trying not to notice as Rotor moved a few more items out of easy reach. "What was it?"

He set the broken machine on a higher shelf, shuffling his feet. "Well, it was sort of a radar jammer. A prototype!" he added as he saw her stricken expression. "I mean, I was nowhere near done, and it's not like anyone's really looking for us, right, so no worries! Right?"

"Oh." It was very important, and someone might be looking for her at least—the one that got away. "I'm sorry, Rotor. I better go."

"No no, it's fine! Here, have a seat." He plopped on a bench himself, offering the rabbit a wooden cup. "Thornberry juice. So, how are you feeling?"

"Still a lil stiff, but not s'much. This silly ol' ear won't stand up, though." She took the cup as she settled beside him, waving a hand toward the ear torn by the mantis' blade. "Fur's growin' back nice, but I guess somethin' tore good."

"That's not so bad if it doesn't hurt anymore. Looks a little like Linda O'Hare—she used to do it on purpose. Remember those movies?"

"Yeah." Bunnie smiled, raising the cup for a sip—and suddenly shattering the wood, splattering juice over herself, the walrus, and several nearby projects and tools. Rotor leaped up with a yelp as some of the active machines sputtered sparks; Bunnie could only stare at the mess as drops of berry juice ran down her ears and face.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry! Here, let me help!"

"No no, it's okay!" He looked up from one of the machines, waving a hand. "The sparks might be dangerous. Why don't you get washed up, and I'll see you later?"

Where I can do less damage. "Okay, honey. I'm sorry," she repeated as she headed out.

She broke through another floor on the way.

**

Antoine was only growing more nervous as they fell into the familiar routine of infiltrating the city. Every strange noise or passing patrol left him shivering in the shadows now, and he only had a faint idea why.

"Glad to know you're in top form," Sonic grumbled as they watched a small group of SWATbots pass. "We so coulda made it through ahead of them."

"I am not t'inking to take unnecessity risks," Antoine offered meekly. Sonic rolled his eyes as he stepped out of hiding.

"You 'are not thinking' is right. We're supposed to be watching for new activity while Cat looks for stuff on the robo-machine, not seeing how many ways we can match the scrapheaps."

"And who do you t'ink causes new activity, 'rodent'?" Antoine muttered, creeping after the hedgehog.

"Hedgehogs are not rodents," Sonic told him with all the dignity a ten-year-old could muster. "Porky-pines are. I might as well call you a jackal!"

Trust Sonic Hedgehog to miss the point entirely. Antoine sighed, shaking his head. Then his ears perked at a strange whirr, and he leaped forward to seize Sonic and drag the startled hedgehog back into the shadows as a hovering vehicle swept overhead, searchlights whisking across the path.

"Zat was very close."

"Oh come on!" Sonic squirmed free, fluffing his quills as he turned to glare. "I could outrun that!"

"And if you cannot?"

"Why worry about it? Sheesh, it'd be my problem. You'd be too busy hiding and whining, the way you're acting!"

"Your stupidness IZ mah problem!" Antoine growled back, fists clenched. You're my friend, even if you are a noisy idiot. If I make another bad call or bad move and someone else gets hurt or caught…. "Who do you t'ink causes ze patrols which are giving such trouble, when before we moved well?"

"Like sitting in Knothole and finding flags was doing us any good! He's gonna know we're out here sooner or later!"

"We must have caution or all is lost!"

"You're an idiot! And who's talking about caution here, Mister 'Ah am a sword-swingin' soljair'?"

"Ferme ta bouche!" Antoine thumped the other boy firmly between the ears, surprising himself as much as Sonic. For a moment the two only stared at each other; then Sonic lunged forward with an indignant yell, bowling Antoine over and swatting angrily at his nose. Putting himself in the coyote's grasp proved to be a mistake—he couldn't get away easily, and the two boys tussled until the sounds of another patrol caught their attention. They froze, all but clinging to each other, and then Sonic squirmed free and leaped onto a scrap heap.

"Hide, Ant! It's what you're good at these days, right? I'll get their attention!" He was off before Antoine could reply, leaving the coyote shivering in the shadows—paralyzed with worry and fear of making matters worse.

**

Bunnie plopped on the ground and leaned forward to pry slivers of wood from the seams in her feet, right ear drooping as badly as the injured left. Her friends had all been polite and supportive, but Rotor hadn't been the only one trying to discreetly move things from her path. Then there was the matter of Sally's bruised hand, and the fact that everyone seemed to be carefully avoiding her left side. On top of that, she still hadn't seen Antoine at all—the coyote might have rescued her, but now he was undeniably avoiding her.

However hard she tried to behave normally, Bunnie felt dangerous, her friends seemed to agree, and she was beginning to feel out of place.

And what if there were more to it than that? She could sense other machines within her, supporting the robotic limbs—and what else? Suppose Robotnik really could find Knothole through her, or something within her was waiting for a trigger to finish the roboticization? Cat had deemed it unlikely when she asked on the first day, but how did he know?

It was possible that, directly and indirectly, she was too dangerous to remain in the village.

"Grr! Aaaargh!"

Bunnie blinked at the growled sound effects and turned toward them, smiling a little as she spotted Miles making faces at himself in the faintly reflective metal of her left arm.

"Whatcha doin', Miles?"

The fox blinked up at her, tails swishing. "You gots mirrors now, Aunt Bunnie!"

Aunt Bunnie? It was sweet, she decided after a moment, if a little odd for a fox to call a rabbit 'aunt'. "I sure do, baby. You're not scared?"

"No. They're neat." He settled beside her, and she shifted to keep him on her right side. No sense taking unnecessary risks. "My name isn't Miles anymore. It's Tails."

"Is that right?"

"Sonic said. I'm gonna live with him if 'Twan doesn't wanna anymore." He reached to pick a bit of wood from between her toes. "The floors got lotsa holes."

Bunnie flinched a little, nodding. "Cuzza these dumb ol' legs."

"They're not old, they're new legs. Anyway, if you can move with only a little fluffy tail instead of real ones, you can move with new legs."

"Maybe yer right." She got up, scooping Tails into her natural arm. "Guess I better practice more, huh?"

**

"You know, the best thing you can do for her is get over it."

Antoine jumped with a little squeak; he'd been so busy listening for patrols he'd missed the sound of Sonic's approach.

"Over…?"

"Yeah." Sonic hopped from the overhang and turned to face Antoine, arms folded. "Okay, yeah, you screwed up." Antoine nodded a little, ears wilting. "I admit it. I screwed up too, getting seen. Sonic Hedgehog, strange as it sounds, did something dumb. Don't expect to hear that again. Bunnie probably screwed up a little too. You can blame us, or you can blame the guys whose fault this really is and do something about it."

"Me?"

"No, you dumb dogbrain!" Sonic threw his hands up in exasperation, giving Antoine a disgusted look. "Robotnik! Blubberbolts! The Big Bad! It's not your fault, it's his!"

"I do not know, Sonic. If I was being wiser, faster—"

"Stop it!" The hedgehog nearly shrieked in exasperation, beginning to pace. "All right, fine, whatever, take your conflex."

"Complex."

"Who speaks English here? Yeah, me, thanks. Anyway, fine, you obsess. You drive me nuts. Whatever, it's the Ant Way. But look, you gotta do something." He paused, eyeing his friend. "Talk to Bunnie, at least. Then I'll maybe think about forgiving you for hitting me and whining and sitting here shaking like a wuss. Ask her if she blames you!"

"I cannot—"

"Wuss. Fine. Just talk to her and stop hiding in your shiny-clean hut, you weirdo."

Antoine considered this, and finally nodded. "Very well. Only fairness."

"Right! Now let's meet up with Cat and blow this joint!"

**

It was late evening before he got up the courage to approach Bunnie and Sally's hut, but as fireflies began lighting the village Antoine finally tapped nervously on the door.

"Miss Bunnie? Mah princess?"

"Bunnie's your princess now?" Sally teased as she peeked out. Antoine reddened slightly and shook his head, and she giggled over his protests as she drew him in. "About time you showed up!"

"Ant-honey!" Bunnie perked at the sight of him, good ear flicking toward him. Antoine began to relax in the face of her obvious pleasure, and he smiled as he stepped forward.

"'Allo, ma cher. I am sorry for not calling sooner, 'owever I was—AUGH!"

He had stumbled straight into the hole she'd left that morning. Bunnie automatically reached out to help break his fall, robotic hand closing around his left forearm. All three of them heard a distinct snap; then Antoine shrieked, going white beneath his fur.

Within seconds Rosie had arrived, freezing as she took in the scene.

"Oh dear me! Antoine, sweetheart, come here!" She ushered him out amongst questions from other Knotholers gathering to investigate the scene, Bunnie staring shell-shocked after them. After a moment she raised her hand, shivering at the spots of blood and tufts of brown hair marring the metal, and fled with a small sob, ignoring the worried questions of her friends as she raced out of the village.

What else was there for her to do?