"Tell me something, Nicole. Is there even a sliver of a chance of pulling this off?"

Quack and his trained staff were clad in their operating masks and attire, all huddled over the operating table with the proper utensils in each hand. The room itself wasn't very fancy. It had everything you could need for this sort of situation, but other than that, that was it. Not that Quack ever needed much else.

Nicole was placed on a small wheeled table next to Quack. She almost seemed cramped on such a little space, as if she were begging to jump off (not that she could,) and be somewhere more spacious. More free. But that was neither here nor there.

"UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS UNCERTAIN. THERE IS NO REASON FOR ME NOT TO ATTEMPT TO DEACTIVATE THE TRACKER REMOTELY, BUT I FEAR THAT EVEN IF I SUCCEED, I MAY STILL DOOM ANTOINE'S FATHER IN THE PROCESS. IT DOES NOT HELP THAT PREVENTING EGGMAN AND HIS LACKIES FROM DISABLING THE SIGNALS OR HACKING INTO MY NETWORK HAS BEEN A RATHER TAXING ORDEAL. IF I WERE AT FULL CAPACITY, ANTOINE'S FATHER MIGHT HAVE STOOD A BETTER CHANCE OF RECOVERY."

"I'm a doctor, not a statistician," said Quack. "And you're not one either. All you can do is give it your all and go from there.

"I AGREE," said Nicole.

"You know, for a computer, you're not half-bad."

"I WILL TAKE THAT AS A COMPLIMENT. NOW, SHALL WE PROCEED?"

Nicole did her part. Her screen dimmed, all life seemingly vanishing from it all together like a fading screensaver. She concentrated, doing her best to locate the heart of the tracker and deactivate it from within. For more complicated operations, she might have had to delve into it herself, but in this case, this was something she could do (or at least attempt,) from a distance blindfolded.

Or so she thought.

She managed to sense the heart of the device, and once it was within her grasp, she tried to gently find just the right spot and send it forever into technological limbo.

Of course, it wouldn't be so easy.

"How are you doing so far?" said Quack.

"NOT TOO WELL," said Nicole. "I HAVE LOCATED WHAT I NEED TO TURN OFF THE DEVICE, BUT IT APPEARS THAT IT MAY NOT BE SO SIMPLE."

"How so?"

"I CAN SENSE ALL SORTS OF SWITCHES AND FAILSAFES WITHIN THE DEVICE. IF I MAKE SO MUCH AS A SINGLE MISTAKE, MARCUS IS DONE FOR."

"Tell us something we don't know."

"INDEED. I WILL BEGIN." A low hum then came from Nicole's processor as she began the process. It gradually grew in intensity, then waned before growing again. The sound grew higher, than lower. Higher, than lower again. It was like a seesaw, going up and down, up and down, until—"

"GAEA!" Quack and the rest of the staff clasped their hands over their ears as one shrill beep echoed throughout the room. At the same time, Marcus' body jumped up and shook with one fierce jolt… and then it limped like a ragdoll. The cardiac monitor which had been steady up until now suddenly flatlined and any breaths of air from Marcus' body stopped altogether.

"DAMN! QUICK, JOLT HIM!" As Quack gave the order, a young medic holding a pair of electric pads slammed them on Marcus' chest. It caused Marcus' body to shake and jump up the tiniest amount, but that was it.

"AGAIN!"

Same result.

"DAMN IT!" Quack and his staff tried again. And again. And again. They tried drugs, they tried needles, they tried everything they could possibly conceive of. But in the end, all it amounted to was…

"Nothing, sir," said one of the medics.

Quack slowly slipped off his mask, as though he knew the battle had been lost. "Damn it all to the abyss." He looked at the flatlined monitor, as though he were staring into a green and black void. And he almost couldn't bring himself to care.

Just then, Nicole managed to bring herself back online, though what she saw when she came to was nothing short of heart-wrenching.

"…No."

Quack didn't even notice the change in Nicole's tone. He was too wrapped up in everything else to care. "You picked a fine time come back on. So. I take it it didn't work out, huh?"

"I MANAGED TO DEACTIVATE THE DEVICE. IF NOTHING ELSE, EGGMAN WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DISCOVER US, AT LEAST FOR THE PRESENT. BUT I STILL FAILED. I failed. HOW COULD I HAVE FAILED?"

"Funny. Not too long ago, you didn't seem too miffed about acknowledging that this might turn out to be one giant tragedy in the end."

"I KNOW. BUT SOMETHING ABOUT… this one. SOMETHING ABOUT HIM. BEFORE, I WOULD HAVE TAKEN THIS IN STRIDE. I knew, I KNOW THAT FAILURE WAS A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY. EVEN A PROBABLE ONE. BUT TO ACTUALLY SEE IT FIRST HAND. AND TO HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO STOP IT. And I failed. Miserably."

"Everybody fails. In my line of work, you see a lot of failures. And sure, sometimes, it takes a ways before you understand. But sometimes, all you can do is accept what happened and move on. Because there's not much else you CAN do."

"Perhaps."

And Nicole, looking around the room as best she could in her little screen, wondered what it was she should have done. Could have done. And it wasn't good enough.


"Any luck, Snively?"

Snively had been attempting to cancel out the numerous signals that had popped up on the monitor over half an hour ago. He had also been trying to repair commutations, which not so coincidentally become a lot less stable at the same time those signals had appeared. And he was also trying to locate the source of said signals and everything else. And on every single count, he had come up with absolutely bubkus. As he tugged his collar, it was clear that he wasn't particularly thrilled about this. And he had good reason not to be.

"No, sir. Very sorry, sir."

"I see. Snively?"

"Yes, sir?"

"If you aren't able to deliver SOMETHING within the next hour, I'm afraid I'm going to have settle for using that nose of yours as my personal bottle opener. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

Snively's eyes went wide, though he was more shocked and confused than anything else. "Uh, ahem, yes sir. To be fair, I'm doing my best, but—"

"But it isn't good enough, is it?"

As Snively began to wonder if he should have chosen a very different career path, Grimer saw fit to step in. "Forgive me, but I couldn't help but point out that perhaps you're being a tad too hard on your nephew. After all, you aren't sure what to make of this either, correct?"

Eggman couldn't help but agree. "I suppose. Still, I couldn't imagine any of this being as hard as laughing boy's making it out to be."

"This is harder than it looks," said Snively. "I've attempted to sort through various signals, but I've been unable to touch a single one. I would guess that our band of Freedom Fighters has a technical savant on their side. He would have to be ridiculously capable to be able to put such a hamper on our communications, let alone our hacking programs. Had I more time, I believe I would still have been able to bypass their systems, but as you've made perfectly clear, time is something you're not willing to give me. Or at least not much of."

"I see." In Eggman-speak, that roughly translated to 'I could not give two figs.' "I appreciate your honesty, but the fact of the matter is, I need all of this done sooner or later. And if someone isn't up to the task, well, then something must be done about that. Wouldn't you agree?"

Before Snively could answer, the phone rang again, and the lot of them were wondering what could possibly have been the problem now? As if they had to ask. Eggman reached over to a small table next to the monitor and picked it up, hoping that his technicians were about to tell him that the matter had resolved itself in short order. Fat chance of that.

"Yes? This is Doctor Eggman speaking. If you don't mind, we're in something of a hurry here, so… Thunderbolt? Yes? Yes. Decimated, you say? Well, that does sound grave. Very grave. So grave that I have the inclination to put one of your feet in it! In any case, we can't send in reinforcements any more than you can take care of that blasted hedgehog from the looks of things. At the very least, I'll send in Swifty. Whether he'll be there to try and turn the tide, get you out of there, or help you meet your maker will depend on exactly where we're at. Eggman out."

Eggman slammed the phone down upon the receiver next to the monitor, his face livid and as red as a beet.

Grimer stepped forward, attempting to do his part to prevent the good doctor from spraying egg all over everyone else. "If I may be so bold, perhaps it would be in everyone's best interests to call this operation off? It's clear that things are not going according to plan, and it's also clear that you gravely underestimated these Freedom Fighters. Perhaps we all did. And so the prudent course of action might be to fall back, regroup, and try another time."

The colour began to drain in Eggman's face, the red disappearing until all was as it was. Along with a despondent Eggman to show for it. "I know. But I was SO CLOSE, Grimer! The plan was simple. Activate the tracker, bombard the forest, massacre that so-called group of Freedom Fighters and spill their lilly-livered guts out. Instead, they just so happen to possess hacking capabilities that far exceed our own, and our seemingly ideal fighting force was far from ideal. It's going to take more than what I sent out to deal with them. Far more. Still, there might be a way to salvage this. Perhaps if I can—"

Just then, like the twinkling of stars, all of the signals suddenly and immediately blinked out as they disappeared from the map

"Snively?" said Eggman.

"Yes, sir?" said Snively.

"Please tell me there's even so much as one signal remaining on the monitor."

"I could, but that wouldn't be very truthful. Would it, sir?"

"No. I suppose it wouldn't. But it would certainly make me feel as though I hadn't been completely and utterly bamboozled."

"Quite, sir. In hindsight, all of this would have been so much easier if we had just been able to hack their systems from the start. The problem is that I haven't been able to find a single trace. Obviously, they must have found a way to filter any and all intranet signals, or else we might have been able to locate them via wifi alone. We would have been able to upload a virus, stand a better chance at cancelling out all of those blasted fake signals, ANYTHING. Instead, they got the better of us. Likely by using the signal from that tracker no doubt. Though I still don't see how they could have bested us so easily."

As Snively continued to monologue, Eggman started to grin. His eyes soon lit up like a manic, and he began to have an awful, terrible idea. (Though it was amazing as far as he was concerned.)

"Sir?"

"Something we should know about?" said Grimer.

Eggman was practically ecstatic. "Boys, we may have lost the battle, but we've far from lost the war, and I have several new ideas in mind that might just give those whelps a run for their money. In the meantime, discretion is the better part of valor, I hate to say. Call it off. But by no means is this the end."

"Yes, sir."

As Eggman began to walk towards his quarters, he suddenly turned toward Snively, as though he had just remembered something he had always meant to say. "Oh, and one more thing.

"And what, pray-tell, would that be?"

"Do you remember that project we were working on a couple of years back?"

"Yes. Something about exploding vomit?"

"No, the other one. 'Free Thinking Artificial Intelligence'. Does that ring a bell?"

"Somewhat. Your point, sir?"

"Bring up Project Thorndyke."


"But Eggman, sir! Sir! EGGYPOO!"

Thunderbolt had been abandoned. She had asked for reinforcements, even begged, but all her lord and master Eggman said was 'Maybe.' Or he might as well have. The battle was still raging on, but she could tell which way the tide was turning. With her out of the way and all of the more powerful robots beat, all that was left was mopping up the rest. If something weren't done soon, then that would be it. Was this the end for her?

Just then, a green blur came darting onto the scene like a sickening laser blast. It spun and whirled and whirred before slowing down and staying as still as it could. Thunderbolt's eyes came on like a lightbulb.

"Swifty?"

"You'd better believe it, chica! And as much as I've love to stay and bust in some heads, the bossman's made it clear he wants you out of here ASAP. Somethin' bout how it just isn't worth it. Figures it'd be easier to just do what he said." Swifty then held out one outstretched hand, waiting for her to follow suit. "I don't got all day."

So this was it then. Defeat. Defeat and utter, abject humiliation. She had failed. And now, her chances of becoming Eggman's number one henchwoman had suddenly become that much smaller. Though after that last phone call, she'd started to question whether or not being so obsessed with him was a good thing.

In any case, she needed to make up her mind. With trepidation, her face went stony, and she seized Swifty's hand like the last resort it was. "Took you long enough," he said. And in a flash, they were off.

Meanwhile, as they were finishing up the last of the robots, Johnny received a message from a tiny transceiver hidden in his ear. Sally was on the other end. From the sound of it, things were over, but it wasn't exactly a cause for celebration. Though Sonic certainly seemed in the mood.

"Booyah! We came, we saw, we kicked ass! What more needs to be said?"

"A lot," said Johnny. He took his hand off of his ear where an automatic transceiver had been placed, and he didn't seem too pleased. In fact, he was almost pissed. "They managed to deactivate the tracker. Destroying it shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Well, that's good, ain't it?" said Bunnie, with her and the others having long since made it to the fray. "Means we ain't got much to worry about it. Don't it?"

"Afraid not. They deactivated the tracker alright. But…" Johnny slowly hung his head low, as if he nearly couldn't bear to say what was coming next. And yet, with their closed eyes and folded arms, Chirps and Big already seemed to know the answer. Or at least the gist. "…we had a casualty."

Everyone except for Chirps, Big, and Shortfuse gasped. And even Shortfuse's small red pupils seemed to briefly grow, becoming that much more intense then they'd been until now. And they knew just who it was. "Oh no…" whispered Bunnie.

Mina was aghast, and Amy wasn't sure what to do, but Sonic was a different story. "Johnny, please tell me you're kidding. You ARE just kidding, right? Right?"

Johnny didn't say a word. Nor did he have to do. The pained look on his face said just as much as an entire novel would.

Sonic wasn't sure what else to say at first. His eyes went wide, his fist clenched, his teeth gritted, but he still couldn't get out so much as a single syllable. That is, until he could. "I'm going back. Besides, if Johnny's right, it means the tracker's finally out of there. Everyone comin' with, grab a hand and hop aboard. I ain't got all day."

After a somewhat prolonged period of silence, half formed a link on Mina, and the other on Sonic. And yet, something seemed to be different about the blue blur. He seemed driven, motivated, intense. Which weren't words that usually described him very well. But if what he had heard about Marcus was true, then today was a very different day. As soon as everyone grabbed hold, Sonic did it to it, and off he went.


Antoine was sitting hunched over in the waiting room. Sonia, Manic, and Cream had all tried to comfort him, but to no avail. He had practically cried out an entire flood, but now, with bags under his eyes and his face sitting right on top of his open hands, he no longer knew what to think. Or maybe he was just drained. Either one was possible. Or maybe both.

Just then, a rather loud series of clanks could be heard down the hallway. And they were getting closer and closer by the second. Both Sonia and Manic started to ready their weapons, while Cream crouched down and moved ever closer to Antoine as best she could.

"You think it's Eggface?" said Sonia.

"Don't know,'" said Manic. "Still, doesn't hurt to be prepared."

The clanks continued to grow ever and ever closer, gaining in volume and intensity, until their owner turned the corner to face Manic and Sonia head on and they could finally see whoever had been making such a racket

"Bunnie?!"

Both Sonia and Manic could scarcely believe it, but there she was. After Sonic raced them all back to Knothole, she hadn't wasted a second. "ANT'!" She rushed over to Antoine, still sitting there so lifeless, and she knew she couldn't leave him that way. Not after what happened. Instead, she bent down, closed her eyes, and gave him the hug of her life. Antoine's eyes went wide and a shrill 'YEEP!' could be heard throughout the room, and it was clear that that probably did the trick.

"My word!" said Cream.

"Bunnie?" said Antoine, finally realizing just where in the world he was. "What are you—"

"Don't say a thing. Just sit there and look pretty."

Antoine could scarcely believe what was going on. "But, madam Bunnie—"

She then looked deeply into Antoine's eyes, as if an entire lifetime could be felt from them. Whether or not it was actually possible was currently mute. "Hush. You've done so much for me. Now let me do this for you. Sugar."

Cream wasn't sure what to think. Manic knew what to think, and he tried to keep his mind from going to the gutter as much as he could. Sonia also knew what to think, and as her hands clasped together, she was nearly ready to start writing a Bunnie/Antoine fanfiction as soon as she could put pen to paper.

But Bunnie and Antoine didn't care about that. All Bunnie knew was that the Mobian who saved her, who continued to treat her as if she were a completely normal Mobian being and not some freak, the Mobian who was so timid and smart and funny and loyal and so darn BRAVE in spite of everything stacked against him. That now, he was the one who needed help. And she wanted to give it.

As everyone sat or stood there like a tabula, Antoine couldn't help but bring his arms around her, and tears started to once again flow from his eyes like a stream. And in spite of everything, Bunnie couldn't help but smile.