"Oh, my fur and whiskers, MAKE IT STOP!"

Bunnie was beginning to wonder if this would be it. She had tried her best to call for help, to try and pound on the glass with all her might but it was no good. As she began to slump to the floor against the glass casing, her right arm and both of her legs had just about nearly transformed into solid metal, complete with all of the parts necessary to make them work. She couldn't even feel her limbs as they transformed. Instead, they simply stopped. Stopped giving any and all sensations of warmth, of cold or feeling, of even pain. As if they were stealing something precious and vital from her piece by piece, and that all they left her with was an empty void where it used to be. And as the machine continued to whir and hum, she wondered how long it would be before she wouldn't feel anything at all.

Shorty meanwhile had a different problem. The pieces of metal continued to whir around him, becoming ever faster and faster like some sort of metal hurricane, and all could Shorty could do was watch no matter how much he struggled and groaned and yelled his head off. "OH, FOR THE LOVE OF I DON'T CARE WHO, JUST STOP!"

And stop they did. Almost as if on Shorty's command, even if this wasn't the case, the pieces of metal stopped utterly in mid-air, as if they were held in place by some invisible hand. "Uh, well, huh. Is it over?"

He had spoken too soon. The pieces of metal shot out at him, latching onto certain parts of his body and closing themselves tight like a container. "HEY, CUT IT OUT! QUIT IT! GET THE HELL OF ME YOU SONS OF WHATEVER'S! DID YOU HEAR ME?! GET THE HELL OFF!"

But they couldn't hear him. As such, there was no stopping it, and no matter how much Shorty struggled, there was nothing he could to stave off the inevitable. All that was left now was the head, and it looked at Shorty's eyes as though it were staring into his very soul. And as if it had a soul of its' own, one could swear that it didn't like what it saw. "What are you looking at me like that for? Stop looking at me. Stop it. STOP IT!"

It stopped it alright. It stopped it as soon as it opened itself up and bulleted itself towards Shorty's head, clamping itself around his noggin. As Shorty howled in terror, all Grimer could do was smile like a man satisfied that everything was going exactly according to plan. Yellow lights then began to shine out from the white eye-filters of Shorty's suit, and the whole thing suddenly started to to shake and vibrate as Shorty began to yelp they were burning him to death

"WHAT IN TARNATION ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?!", shouted Bunnie.

"Oh, it's quite simple,' said Grimer. "The suit is beginning to assert its' own will and dominance, courtesy of our patented AI systems. Before long, 'Shorty' will become nothing but a memory, his own personality submerged beneath that of the Cybernik's. Pity that."

"Pity? PITY?!", cried Bunnie. "YOU LET ME OUT OF HERE AND I'LL SHOW YOU PITY! YOU WANT IT, YOU GOT IT!"

"I'm afraid not, dear, Besides, you're still about halfway through your own process. It still has a few kinks to work out, as you've no doubt noticed. Otherwise, the roboticization would have been finished by now. I'd suggest you enjoy your last few minutes of freedom before finding yourself suffering the same fate. If you can even call it that."

"What do you mean?!", snarled Bunny.

"Well, think about it, you can't exactly suffer if you don't even know you're suffering, can you? It might even be a release of sorts. It all depends on how you look at everything when you get down to it."

"YOU SON OF A—"

"Ah-ah! Temper, temper! After all, you only have so many moments of individuality left. Why don't you make them count?"

"WHY DON'T YOU COUNT HOW MANY FINGERS YOU HAVE LEFT WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU?!" She started banging on the glass with her robotic hand, not caring whether or not breaking free was even a possibility. She wanted his arse on a stick, and she wanted it now.

"Oh, do calm yourself, won't you? Besides, it's not as though anyone is coming to save you. And if there is, they've no doubt been detained by our loyal squadrons of SWATbots and Troopers. Face the facts. As of this moment, there's absolutely no-one willing or able to come to your rescue."

"Eh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," said Sonic.

"Hm?" Before Grimer could figure out just who had spoken and where the voice had come from, he found himself blown straight into the mainframe computer by one swift kick to the stomach. He struggled to get up, wondering just who on Gaea's green Earth had sidewinded him like a boss. He clutched his chest as he struggled to regain his bearings, only barely managing to get a glimpse of the man or in this case hedgehog who had seen fit to knock the wind out of his sails. And one good look was all it took to know just who it was. "You. That blue hedgehog. You…"

"Ah, save your breath," said Sonic. "Sides, my friend's here got some questions to ask you. After she's done checking on her friend of course."

As Grimer began to think of a way to call up Eggman or security without letting Sonic know, Sally, having been hiding in the corner with Antione up until now, had raced over to the glass container, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't true. And yet, as she got closer and her eyes widened as harsh reality came crashing in, she knew just who it was.

"BUNNIE!", she yelled.

"My stars, SALLY!", cried Bunnie. "Thank Gaea! I don't know what you're doing here, but right now I couldn't give a hoot!"

Sally quickly looked Bunnie over. It was worse than she feared. Her right arms and her legs had nearly finished roboticizing, and if something wasn't done, the rest would soon follow. She briefly clasped her hands over her mouth, in shock and terror at such a travesty. "Oh Bunnie, what have they done to you?"

"I know Sally," said Bunnie, who for a moment seemed almost ready to just collapse into a sobbing heap. "I know. But it's what they're gonna do to me that's the problem! I've tried, but even with these hunks of metal, I can't get out! It's too strong. You gotta' do something to save me! And him too!" She pointed to Shortfuse, still writhing in mid-air like a hanged man trying in desperation to free himself from his fate.

"Good Gaea! There's someone in there?!"

"Yeah, and if you don't do something now, we're both hogtied!"

Meanwhile, Antione had been looking at Bunnie nearly the entire time since he entered the lab as if in a daze. One look at her was all it took for him to know that his life was never going to be the same, as though all one needed was one look at an unscratched ticket to know one won the lottery. He knew he would do anything for her, anything to save her. And he knew only one way how. "Stand back monamies!" He lunged at the tube and began whacking away at it with his machete, valiantly attempting to hack to smithereens! Bunnie watched in amazement, in awe that someone she had never even met would go to such lengths to save her. It was an exercise in futility to be sure, but at least he still tried. And that meant more to her than anything.

"Wow," said Sonic. "I'll give the scaredy-cat this much; he's sure as heck determined if nothing else."

Still, one must know when to fold them. After Antione's arm began to give way, he found he had no choice but to break off his attack, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. "Easy Antione," said Sally. "It was a nice try, but it's just not going to work."

"I know Sally," said Antione, "I know. But I also know another way." He then rushed over to Grimer and, in a complete betrayal of his usual cowardice, pointed his sword straight at him without the slightest trace of fear. "How must I turn off this infernal machine? Tell me now or you will live to regret it!

"Wouldn't you like to know?" said Grimer.

"Let me rephrase that." Antioned pushed the blade closer, the tip just barely edging against Grimer's slimy neck. "Tell me now, and I will not thrust my blade down your throat!

"Small switch on the up-most right corner of the keypad!" said Grimer, as outwardly cheery as the day he met Robotnik. "Can't miss it!"

"Sally?", said Antione, gesturing for her to operate the keypad while he kept Grimer at bay.

"Got it!" Sally pressed the button Grimer had mentioned, hoping it would be enough. As it turned out, it wouldn't be so easy. A password encryption program sprung up on the screen, asking for proper identification before it could do what it was ordered to do.

"What is the password?", said Antione. "Tell me if you do not wish to taste my machete!"

"And just why would I do that? The process will be finished any minute now, and Doctor Eggman shall have two perfectly unwilling slaves to do his bidding, enough to subdue you so that we can do to you what has been done to them. I have all the cards, and I don't intend to give them up."

"Fine!", said Antione. He then threw his machete at the computer, blade first, with such force that it was almost like a bullet, enough to cause it to ram itself straight into its' central hardware.

In short order, every other single piece of electronic equipment in the lab went dead, including the Roboticzer and the Cybernik suit. Bunnie had just put her hands on her head, feeling the pangs of one last burst of complete and total roboticization, and as the machine shut down and the glass tube retracted, she breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Shorty went limp, the platform below him losing all of its' color and shutting down as he crashed to the floor. Bunnie didn't have much time to bemoan her own situation before Shorty's took precedence. "Good Gaea sugar! You okay?!"

For the moment, however, all Sally knew was that her best friend was safe. If the worse for wear. She raced up to her and gave her one big hug, to which Bunnie, who at that moment was more focused on Shorty then anything else, could do nothing but be taken aback. "Oh, Bunnie! Thank Gaea! I'm so glad you're safe!"

Antione raced up to Bunnie in short order. "You are safe, mademoiselle?"

"Yeah," said Bunnie, "and it's all thanks to you two! But enough about me." She then turned back to Shorty, who was currently lying on the floor motionless like one big hunk of metal.

"Shorty!" She broke free of Sally's grasp and tried to rush over to him. The key word being 'try.' The fact of the matter was that three out of four of her limbs were now somewhat heavy metal lifeless appendages, which for the moment made moving around them more trouble than it was worth. Sort of like an amputee trying to run about on their brand new prosthetic leg. She fumbled about trying to keep her balance, but it was clear that this was going to take some work.

Sally hopped over to Bunnie and held her up, knowing that she'd need all the help she could get. "Easy there Bunnie, easy girl. Good Gaea are you heavy! Sonic, a little help here?"

"On it! Now", said Sonic to Grimer, "don't you go anywhere. Capiche?"

"Oh, I don't have to. You see, someone's going to notice that the Roboticizer and the Cybernik process along with the Central Lab's Central Computer have for no discernible reason stopped functioning. And they are going to send someone over to check up on things. Or rather in this case, a pack of SWATbots and Troopers most likely. Nevermind that I'd already requested for a squad of them to march straight over here in any case. You don't particularly think things through, do you?"

"Oh crap," said Sonic. He then raced over to Sally and Bunnie, holding her up and getting her standing again as quickly as he could before giving them the lowdown. "Mondo bad news. Slimy over just said there's a bunch of SWATbots and Troopers coming this way. I can probably take them," he said, full of himself as usual, "but it still ain't good."

"And we still need to find Daddy. But we can't stay here forever." Sally wracked her brains for a moment trying to come up with a solution before racing over to Grimer and grabbing him by the collar. "If there's a way to tell Eggman or whoever's in charge to call them off, do it. NOW."

"Even if I could, it wouldn't work. Both Eggman and Snively are shrewd. They'll suspect something is up. If anything, they'll send in even more troops than if I had simply said nothing. The real question is, what are you going to do?"

Just then, with one loud groan, Shorty finally awoke from his slumber, slowly getting up like he had the world's worst hangover. "SHORTY!", said Bunnie. "You okay?!" Shorty didn't answer. Instead, he merely looked at his hands. Or rather, at the metal gauntlets covering his hands. He looked down at the platform below him, its hard glass surface reflecting off of him now that the color had been drained. And he balked at what he saw. He was covered entirely by the Cybernik suit from head to toe, with not a single bit of flesh or Squirrel hair peeking out. He tried like a madman to wrench off the helmet or the gauntlets or anything, but it was no good. Nothing was coming off. He managed to keep his noggin intact, but he had lost everything else in the process. He was stuck, in more ways than one.

His legs gave way as he kneeled down on the floor like a rag doll. He again looked at the palms of his hands. He clenched them tight as though he were clenching a human heart, and threw his head back as he let out a shout like a man who had lost everything. And in Shorty's case, he may very well have.

"Shorty!', said Bunnie. "Please, I know it's tough, but you gotta calm down! This ain't gonna help anyone! You gotta—"

"WHERE IS HE?!" Shortie was bellowing like a Mobian possessed, his eye sockets now black with large red dots in the middle. There was no mercy in those eyes; no compassion or a sliver of forgiveness. Just pure unrelenting rage. And the worst part was, when Bunnie looked into those eyes, she couldn't help but understand perfectly what Shorty felt, and wondered why she didn't just give in. And at that moment, she didn't have an answer.

Shorty's eyes darted around the room until it stopped at Grimer, the man responsible for his torment. Letting out a growl like a wild beast, he rocketed toward him as jetfire blew out of his metal footwear, as though he instinctively knew how to use it. Grimer cowered in fear as he jetted ever closer, and the only thing stopping him was none other than Bunnie. She hopped in front of Grimer and, after regaining her balance, held out her arms like a gate. "SHORTY, STOP!"

And stop he did. He brought himself to a sudden halt, though it wasn't something he was particularly happy about. "OUT OF THE WAY!", he roared. "HE DID THIS TO ME! I'M STUCK IN THIS SUIT, I CAN'T FEEL A DAMN THING BUT THE SUIT, AND IT'S ALL HIS FAULT! I'M A FREAK! EVERYTHING'S BEEN TAKEN FROM ME! HE NEEDS TO DIE!"

Bunnie promptly gave him one good firm slap with her metal hand. It was the only thing that stood so much of a chance of even getting through to him, but as she saw Shortie stunned and smarting, she figured it had done the trick. "You think I'm not as pissed off as you are? Do you think a part of me doesn't just want to put my foot over his slimy green skull and make him pay for what he did to me? Because I do! LOOK AT ME!" She held out her arm for all to see, the lights above glinting off of its' metal surface. Even Sonic couldn't help but be taken aback.

"You think you're the only one who's got it rough?! At least when people look at you, they'll just think you're wearing some sort of fancy suit and that that's all there is, but me?! I can't even feel my arm or my legs anymore! THEY DID THIS TO ME! And everyone can see! I ain't ever gonna be the same again!"

"Oh, Bunnie…" Tears were starting to fall from Bunnie's eyes, and Sally's own sockets were starting to mist up herself. Antione tried to reach out to Bunnie, but Bunnie simply held out one metal hand as if to tell him, 'Thanks, but not now.' Or else she might have never said what she wanted to say.

"But if we kill him, if we just murder him in cold blood, we'll be no better than he is. We'll be everything they wanted us to be. We do this, and they win. And I don't think that's what you want. Is it?"

Shorty stared at Bunnie for what was quite possibly the longest five seconds ever recorded in Mobian history. He then turned to Grimer, shaking in his boots knowing very well that his life was in Shorty's hands. He glared at him, his eyes staring squarely at Grimer's own, his hand outstretched and ready to kill. And then… nothing. He clenched his fist and turned away, as though it was the hardest thing he had ever done.

"Everything's been taken from me," he said. "Just bein' me, just bein' myself, that was the only thing I had left. And now that's gone too."

"No it's not," said Bunnie. "Underneath that hunk of metal, you're still you. Which is something I think the both of us are going to have to keep telling yourselves."

The two of them stood there for what seemed like an age, the silence only broken by one near silent mutter from Shorty's mouth. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it

Sonic looked at his wrist as though he were checking the time. "Yeah, well, this has been great and all, but we've still got a bunch of bots coming this way and— hey, does anyone hear any clanking?"

Sally slipped Nicole out of her satchel. "Nicole, can you see if there's anything even remotely robotic coming our way?"

"YES SALLY," said Nicole, "I DO BELIEVE I CAN DO JUST THAT. HOLD ON A MOMENT…" And so they did. "AFFIRMATIVE. SEVERAL BEINGS WITH LOW FUNCTIONING AI SYSTEMS COMING THIS WAY. IF I WERE TO GUESS, AND I NEVER GUESS, I WOULD SAY THEY ARE MOST LIKELY SWATBOTS AND TROOPERS. IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT GETTING OUT OF THIS LOCATION WOULD BE A VERY, VERY GOOD IDEA."

Sally then grabbed Grimer by the collar. "Alright, we need to get out of here and we need to get out of here ASAP, but we aren't leaving without my Dad! Where is he?!"

Grimer, not wanting to mess with the two rather pissed off failed test subjects looming right over him, wasted no time in spilling his guts. "If I were to guess, he's probably being taken to the Extra-Experimental Wing. Two corridors down, first room on the left. Can't miss it!"

"Great!" said Sonic. "Oh yeah, one more thing. My cousin's looking for her dad, Draco Coriloni. You wouldn't happen to have him locked up or anything, would you?"

Grimer slowly looked towards Sonic and, in the midst of an otherwise potentially life-threatening situation, smiled as though he'd just heard the joke of a lifetime. "Draco Coriloni? That old devil? He's been in our pocket since the beginning."

"Excuse me?"

"How do you think we were able to finance all this? The King merely gave us a foot in the door and some spare finances. It was Draco who gave us the means to create all you see before you."

Sonic, Sally, and Antione couldn't believe their ears. "But why?", said Sally.

"Why else? A piece of the pie."

Well, Sonia had gotten what she wanted, though none of them were sure if they had the heart to tell her. Regardless, they were still on the clock. Sally dropped Grimer straight on his arse before getting to business. "Nicole, can you locate the Experimental Wing on the map?"

"AFFIRMATIVE," said Nicole.

"Alright. Sonic, we need to get my Dad."

"No problem! We'll get him out of there before you can say chili dog!"

"Uh-huh." Sally then turned to the others. "Bunnie, Shorty, I'm sorry for what's happened to the both of you, but we need to get out of here. There's a passage in the other direction that should lead to a way out. Chirps should be there. Rooster, black leather, you can't miss him. He should be able to get you where you need to go. Now—"

Just then, the sounds of metal footsteps began to get louder and louder, the squad of SWATbots and Troopers getting ever closer and closer.

"Forget it," said Shorty. "Those bots will be here any minute. You need cover. I can give it. And I want some payback."

"Shorty," said Bunnie, "are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's not Shorty anymore. Not like this anyway. Call me Shortfuse. Anyway, do you need to ask?"

"Are you sure you can even do it?", said Sally. "That suit just got grafted to you minutes ago, and I'm pretty sure you haven't even gotten a chance to test it yet."

"Don't even start," said Shortfuse. "Besides, whatever that creep did to me gave me the know-how to use everything I've got, and even without it, I know how to bust a few skulls."

Just then, something suddenly clicked in Sonic's brain like a light switch. "Hey! I recognize that voice! You're that squirrel that tried to mug me!"

"My stars," said Bunnie, "are you serious?!"

"And what's it to you?!", said Shortfuse.

"Look," said Sally, "I hate to say it, but this will have to wait. Shortfuse, if you can hold them off…"

"I can do more than hold them off. You're lookin' at a whole army in here."

"Alright. Bunnie, you go on back over to Chirps. Do you think you can get over there on your own?"

"Well, I still can't walk too well, but I can hop over there like a jackrabbit if it comes to it."

"Right," said Sally, who knew Bunnie was more out of it than she was letting on. "Antione, do you think you could watch over her?"

"Me, Sally?"

"Yes. Someone needs to watch over Bunnie, and," Sally said with complete sincerity, "I can't think of anyone better for the job."

Antione was ecstatic. "Well, if you believe you will be safe Princess…"

"Hey, don't worry Ant'!", said Sonic. "Long as she's got me, Sal's here got nothing to worry about!"

"I believe she has more to worry about from you than anything else."

"What was that?"

"Another time people!", said Sally. "Antione, can you do it?"

"Of course Sally!" He walked over to Bunnie and, with a bit of a jitter, gave her a bow. "Uh, if the Madesmiolle will, ahem, let me take this dance…?"

"Well, aren't you a gentleman!", said Bunnie. "I'd be delighted, sugar!" Antione then placed his arm under hers, and he did his best to help her hobble over to the southern corridor.

Just then, the sound of metal boot steps reached its' peak as the SWATbots and Troopers made their grand entrance. "Oh thank Gaea!", said Grimer. "Help! Over here! Over here!"

"Oh, put a sock in it!" said Shortfuse, giving Grimer a love tap to the head and knocking him out most profusely. "Don't worry, he ain't dead. Even though I wish he was. Right. You all get out of here! I don't want anyone else getting in my way!"

"Right!" said Sally. "Antione?"

"I am on it, Sally! Come on Mademoiselle!" He and Bunnie began running over to the corridor as fast as they could, desperate to get out of the lab before the action started.

"Good luck," said Sally. "Sonic?"

"You don't need to tell me twice!" And like a blur, they were off.

"Right. Well then punks, let's see what you've got! Because I can tell you now, it ain't gonna be enough!" His jet boots at the ready, Shortfuse blasted forward, ready to give the SWATbots and Troopers a thrashing they would never forget.