Ball Breaker? What the hell kind of name is that? And what the hell was he wearing? I've seen comic book villains with more flair than this guy. Looks like he simply jumped into a junkyard and rolled around until he was satisfied.

"A little forward of yourself to claim you're undefeated."

"Hah! Little rabbit you talk big, but no one has ever been able to take me on and live, not even the biggest elephant. I've killed them all! And you'll be no exception."

"Well, you've never met me. Name's Olivia Springs, but I'm sure you've already heard of me."

Ball Breaker spat on the ground. "Nope."

That actually caught me by surprise. He said he was the leader of these guys, but never heard of me? I've met more pitiful raiders before that knew me. Guess he didn't get out much.

"I took out plenty of your 'Guardians' already, and let me tell you, it was a walk in the park."

"Hah! They were weak then. Good riddance. If it's anything I can't stand it's weakness. You, you speak stronger words than you look."

"Well then, why don't you face me one-on-one then?"

"I'll squash you like the insect you are, but you do have me intrigued. Boys, make sure her friends don't interfere."

"What are you doing?" Holly whispered to me, sounding both confused and scared. Nate and Mark gave me the same look.

"No idea, but trust me."

"Didn't I tell you to stop saying that?"

Two of the larger Corrupted pushed them away from me, forming a circle around me and this Ball Breaker fellow. Neither my friends or the enemies were attacking one another and that was good. I needed some time to think of a plan, and trying to take on this guy's ego seemed like just the break I needed. I do admit, I was feeling a bit scared of all this. So many things could go wrong before they go right, and they may never even go right, but I had to try.

I looked over to Nate and despite his newfound strength, I could tell he was scared of what might happen to me. I gave him a wink, but I think that only served to unsettle him even more. I turned to study my opponent. I still was unable to tell what species he was due to all the armor. I didn't even know how he even saw out of that thing. Maybe he had blind spots I could use? He seemed to be waiting for me to make the first move. Since I didn't see any good point to hit him, I didn't want to use B.A.T.S. just yet. This whole fight could be over before it even had a chance to cool down, so I made my move.

I didn't care about fighting within the rules, I learned the hard way that there are no rules governing the wasteland, and I knew sure as hell that he wouldn't follow them even if there were any, so I activated my Stealth-Boar and jumped.

"Oh, invisibility? Didn't think someone like you would play so dirty."

I moved around him thinking I was unseen. I was wrong. His arm swung out quick as lightning and threw me against the wall.

"Unfortunately, I play dirty as well. This suit I wear? It isn't simply a fashion statement, but a suit of Exo-Armor of my own design. Anti armor piercing shielding, camera placements to prevent any dead zones, and most importantly, a head sensor. No amount of trickery will get past me little rabbit."

Damn it! I figured these guys would be simple scavengers turned raiders, barely sharing a brain cell among them. Didn't think someone with the name 'Ball Breaker' would actually have the smarts to pull that off. I started to stand up, but I could already feel the pain. I will be feeling that in the morning.

"Heh, I got tricks as well." I tried to sound as intimidating as I could, but with the pain I was in now, it probably came off more like I was drunk or something.

"Oh, you do, do you? Well I love a good show. Bring it on."

That Lifter attached to his arms was probably amplifying his strength, so I had to be careful. I don't think I broke any bones yet, but if I keep getting in the way of those arms, that could change in a heartbeat. I still didn't have a plan. I needed to find out his weaknesses. They always have a weakness.

"Tell me if you have seen this one."

I still didn't want to activate my B.A.T.S. until I knew where to hit. It felt weird actually trying to do this without it, but I couldn't risk failing and having my friends get killed. As long as I keep him 'entertained', my friends were safe. He was still waiting for me to move, so I kicked it up a notch and grabbed my plasma rifle and fired. He didn't even attempt to dodge as the green bolt hit him across the chest. The entire front turned green but then faded, looking un-damaged.

"A for effort there little rabbit, but you think you're the first to try to take me out with a plasma weapon? Active reflective shielding. My suit is impervious to energy weapons."

What. The. Fuck. Is this guy for real? Was this guy some science geek turned raider or something? I had to think of something, and fast, but everything that pops into my head, I wondered if he had an answer for that. I looked around me for anything else to use. My guns were pointless, and even if I did enter into B.A.T.S. at this point, who's to say he doesn't have some chemical of his own? Then I had an idea.

"Hey walking trash can, yeah you." I pointed towards one of the Corrupted. "You think I have any chance against your boss?" He simply shook his head, a huge grin on his face. "If that's the case, mind if I borrow that? You know, for shits and giggles." I pointed at a large chain wrapped around his chest. He looked down at it and back to Ball Breaker who simply nodded.

The chain was big and heavy, not surprising since a very large tiger gave it to me, but it wasn't so much that I wouldn't be able to do what I planned. It worked once before, so why not this time? You know what they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Without hesitation, I activated B.A.T.S. and leaped into the air, dragging the chain behind me. Rebounding off the nearest wall I maneuvered myself to get behind him when he side stepped, grabbed the chain and used me like a living wrecking ball to slam me into the ground. I think something broke that time.

"Hah! Fucking rabbit. You think you can try to use something as weak as B.A.T.S. against me?" He stepped on my chest, enough to cause what ever broke to hurt even more, but not enough to crush me.

"Olivia!" Nate shouted loud enough to echo through the room.

"If he moves, shoot him, and his friends." Ball Breaker turned to face me again. "Got some steam in you I can tell. You remind me of an elephant I knew. We were gonna face off in the Arena one of these days, but some fuck had to go and kill her. A shame. Wanted to see me defeat the only other undefeated out there. Now I really want to find the tough guy who beat her."

"Who said it was a guy?" I started to smile, and I think it caught him a little by surprise as I felt his foot ever so slightly release pressure from my chest.

"Because I have never met another woman who could even have a remote chance of taking me on. I've killed Red-Necks with my bare paws."

"Oh really? Well, care to take a guess who killed Bailey."

"How did you know… no. You can't mean…"

"Bingo."

I had been able to keep him talking just long enough to do two things. First, my bag had slipped off during this last impact and landed near me, and I was able to catch him off guard just enough that he wasn't putting enough pressure on me to prevent me from moving. Secondly, it had been almost sixty seconds.

"You? How the fuck can a little rabbit like you take her on? Well, I'll let you in on a secret, little rabbit, I know I would have beat her. Just like I'm going to crush you."

"You're stupid, you know that?"

"WHAT? What did you call me!?" Apparently he didn't like being called stupid.

"I called you stupid, and you know why?"

He just grunted.

"It's been sixty seconds. Pip-Boar, kill."

Before he could push down his foot I slid out from under him, ignoring the pain it caused, and reached for my bag. Out from it I pulled my remote gun and fired. I had to move out of the way from him nearly running me over in order to gain access to my Hackatron. He had protection against many things, but from the looks of it, the idiot never protected his suit from a remote hack. There were radio signals bouncing all over and I simply had to hijack one.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

The least protected part was the controls on his Lifters. Despite it being attached to his arms, he still had to control them from inside the suit, but now that I had control, I started to use his own arms to cause large dents in his armor. The best weapon against an enemy really is their own.

"Fucking rabbit! Get her!"

"Uh-uh. Onion, overcharge!"

I promised him that I wouldn't ever have him do it again, but it was needed. I just hope that Nate or Holly had remembered and moved out of the way. I felt my fur stand on end as the air became electrically charged. I looked over to see the bright bolts of electricity arcing through the air, seeking out the large metallic suits everyone wore. Then I remembered the large lightning rod in the room.

"Jasmine! Take cover!"

Her metal jaw, along with her height, would be the perfect conductor for electricity if any stray bolts jumped up high enough, and with elephants here, it was entirely possible. Corrupted started to drop in pain as the electricity finally subsided. I saw Nate gripping the wall with his arm, as the others were grabbing a hold of him. I started to move towards them, to see if they were okay. I didn't see Jasmine, Zack, or Logan anywhere. Then I was grabbed by the neck.

"You little fucking bitch. You think a light show like that will work on me?"

He turned me towards him, all the while I was gasping for air. The electricity must have shorted out my hack because he had full control again. His armor was looking worse for wear, and his helmet was cracked open. I saw a feline looking mammal inside. It looked an awfully lot like Letty, only his face was more fucked up.

"You will die, and then I will personally kill all your friends you fucking bi…"

He stopped as it sounded like the air was suddenly expelled from his lungs. His grip loosened on me and I fell to the ground, gasping heavily for air. Ball Breaker crashed against the wall, his chest armor had a large hole ripped into it, and standing next to me, metallic arm extended, was Nate.

"N-Nate?" I was still struggling to breathe.

He stood there for a second longer before snapping out of it and rushing to my side. "I'm here." He slowly helped me up, the pain of whatever broke inside me becoming worse with every step.

"How did you…"

"Tuskgen built a small pneumatic system into my arm to amplify my punches. When you told Onion to overcharge, I used my arm to ground myself, and had everyone grab hold of me. It still hurt, but not as much as it did to them."

"What about Jasmine?"

"As soon as the electricity sparked from Onion, they moved out into the corridor. They were the closest to the door. They should be fine."

Despite it hurting like fuck, I grabbed Nate and gave him a hug and a kiss.

"Y-you f-fucking…"

Ball Breaker was still alive. He didn't sound like he would be for much longer, and I was going to make certain of that, but first I had a question for him. I motioned for Nate to help me move towards him.

"Where is Lazlo?"

"T-that fucker? H-he's probably dead…"

I felt Nate's arm grip my body harder. "You lie."

"H-ha. I p-punched him m-myself. That old g-geezer couldn't even m-move after."

I felt Nate shake as he put me down, but this wasn't his usual fearful shake. No, it was different, something that actually made me feel uneasy. He moved over to Ball Breaker and used his arm to tear off the helmet, revealing the ocelot's scarred face.

"Say that again."

Nate was sounding serious, and… angry.

Ball Breaker spat blood onto Nate's face. "T-that geezer, I took p-pleasure smashing his f-face in."

Nate punched him with the metal arm, right in the face. "This is for hurting Mister Lazlo." He punched again. "This is for hurting innocents." I wanted to grab him, to stop him, but it was starting to hurt to move. "This is for hurting Olivia!"

Nate kept punching the ocelot's face over and over before Logan finally returned, grabbing Nate and pulling him back, trying his best to keep Nate from moving. Mark ran over to me and started his triage on me.

"He's dead Valiant! Calm down!"

Upon hearing that, I saw Nate stop struggling enough for Logan to release him. Nate took one look at me and slowly walked over and knelled beside me. "I'm… sorry… I just felt so… I could feel it building, and I…"

I wanted to hug him, but it hurt too much to do so. "Snapped?"

He nodded slowly, acting more ashamed than anything. "I'm… sorry."

"Don't be. I…"

"You're upset at me, aren't you?"

"No, no. I was going to shoot him in the head myself. It's not that, I just… I never thought I'd actually see you snap like that. It's kind of a… mirror almost." He leaned down and kissed me. Before he could say anything else, I added: "if you say 'I'm sorry' one more time, I'll punch you." I gave him another kiss.

Mark eventually pushed Nate out of the way in order to start healing my wounds. After setting what bones he could, rather painfully I might add, he gave me some more pain relievers that helped me to start moving again. Logan had ordered two squads to clear out any remaining corrupted as we went in search of Lazlo.

This entire time I was trying to convince myself that that Ball Breaker fucker was lying, and that Lazlo was just trapped someplace. Despite this being a very simplistic layout, it was very large and the halls kept winding further down into the ground. We stopped and checked every door. Some were locked, but Logan had started to resort to small thermal charges to melt through the locking mechanisms on the ones we couldn't hack or pick. Every time one was set up, I saw Zack lead Jasmine away some place. I'm guessing he found out the severity of her fears, and I really hope it wasn't the hard way.

Nate was worried for Lazlo, and I started to see it in Logan as well. He was moving stiffer, like he was trying to hold a heavy weight on his shoulder. His gait was rushed, but not so much as to leave us all behind. He wanted to rescue Lazlo just as much, if not more, than all of us, but he was still sound enough in his mind to know where is place was right now, and that was making sure we all survived.

"Stalker Logan, come in." A voice from his radio broke the silence.

"Yes Agent, have you found the Chief?"

"Not yet Sir, however we do have a situation."

"Report."

"My team has made it to the armory. It appears that the Corrupted were not able to gain access to it, but it's locked with the same encryption as the entrance."

"I will have Miss Springs meet you there."

"There's something else Sir. There was an automated defense system outside the armory, and while we were able to disarm it before it could activate, I have detected strange readings within the power system."

"Anything we need to worry about Agent?"

"Not sure Sir."

"Monitor the situation and report back to me if there's cause for worry. Miss Springs will be there shortly."

"Yes Sir."

"Miss Springs, could you…"

"Yeah, yeah I heard. Let's go sweetie." I started to hobble in a direction then stopped. "Um, where am I going?"

"Armory. According to the layout, it's located on Level B near section twelve."

"Wait, Level B?"

"Yes. We're currently on Level A. Six more sections down there will be an elevator that takes you to the lower level where the armory, power core, and other essential systems are located."

"Why keep all the good stuff way down there? Wasn't this place supposed to be some kind of military base?"

"Yes and no. This place wasn't meant to be an immediate source of defense, but rather for an emergency event. Prototype weapons that were never deployed after passing tests were stored here, along with experimental Exo-Armor types. It was believed that if a worldwide cataclysmic event did occur, that this place would not only be a secure position for existing members of the Guardians, but also a place where future generations could train and arm themselves in order to return to the surface to continue protecting those who survived."

"What happened? Why isn't this place the main base if that's what it was designed for?"

"Details aren't clear, but from what I know, this place went under lock down prematurely after the first bomb fell. We have no other detailed reports on it."

"Seems kind of odd that this super fancy base was accidentally sealed with no one in it."

"I know that the Chief wanted to find out more about it, but not even the main Guardian database had information on it. Not even sure many of the original ZPD even knew about it save for a few."

Still seemed kind of strange to me, but I think Logan was getting a bit eager to continue searching for Lazlo, so we moved forward. On our way, we only encountered a few Corrupted, but with their leader dead and our much larger force in comparison, they were dealt with little trouble.

Once we finally made it to where the elevator was, we split up. Holly, Mark and Nate came with me, and while I had hoped Jasmine would as well, Logan insisted that her and Zack go with him. It did make sense, there were two groups where we were going, but only Logan's team was finishing clearing out the upper level. We parted ways and entered the elevator.

"We should be focusing on finding Mister Lazlo."

"I know, I'm worried about him too Nate, but we can't be everywhere at once. After I get the door open for the other team, we can try to take a look down here before heading back up. He has to be here someplace."

"Yeah, I know, I just… I'm afraid that he might be hurt, or dying, or… worse."

I was already leaning on his arm to keep myself from falling, but I squeezed it just to make sure he knew I was there for him. I've only known Lazlo for a month or so, but he knew him for years. The way he talks to him, and how he calls him 'Mister' rather than chief makes me wonder if he looked up to him as a father figure. I couldn't let him lose that. He's already lost enough.

When the door opened, I was greeted by a white rabbit with very dark splotches of fur on her face. Before I could say anything she saluted at me. It felt… weird.

"Miss Springs? Agent Hoppiny. Come with me."

The rabbit led us down a corridor and to a very large door. It was similar in design to a Burrow door, only it was square and had a very large metallic arm stretched across it. She lead me over to a computer that was connected to the left of the door.

"Access point is here." She pointed towards the familiar indent.

I took out the badge, entered the code, and the door started to unseal. The large arm separated at the center, slowly dragging both halves of the door to each side. A series of yellow lights started to flash at the same time. As the doors separated, I noticed something that I didn't before. I let go of Nate and hobbled over to the ground and rubbed my paw against it.

"Is this… blood?"

"Blood? Where?" Mark was by my side in an instant.

"Here. It looks… fresh." I looked up as I heard the doors lock into place. There was a trail.

I turned to Agent Hoppiny. "Did you notice this before?"

"Yes, but we figured it was from one of the Corrupted."

I was about to question her more when I heard a very low groan. I turned and tried to run into the armory, but a sharp pain sent me crashing down. Mark and Nate went to pick me up but I pointed forward.

"In there!"

The groaning got louder, loud enough that I was sure the other's could finally hear. Soon, the source of the noise came into view. An aging cape buffalo was staggering towards us, bandages wrapped haphazardly around his chest. I saw a trail of blood behind him.

"Mister Lazlo!" Nate ran towards the Chief.

"Y-you found me…" He was struggling to get the words out.

Mark ran over and grabbed his med kit, one of the Agents joined him with his own. I ignored my pain as I moved over to him.

"Lazlo, what happened?"

"T-that damn leader… he… he was t-too fast for me."

I heard Agent Hoppiny contact Logan.

"How did you get in here?"

"T-this…" He tried to show me something, but his grasp faltered and it dropped to the ground. I picked it up and saw it was a badge nearly identical to Nick's. The only real difference was it had the word Chief engraved at the top. "I-I was i-injured, my men… t-they were slaughtered… I-I was to injured t-to help, the armory, it h-had medical kits, but I-I'm not a m-medic…"

"Well I am Chief, I'll get you patched up enough to get you back to the Doc." Mark was trying to slowly remove the old bandages that I saw now were soaked with blood. Lazlo coughed up even more blood. He was in very bad shape.

"We need to get him stabilized, Agent, help me to get him…" Loud alarms started going off as red lights replaced the yellow ones.

"What the hell is going on NOW?"

"Um, Miss Springs? You may want to take a look at this. Stalker Barkley! Get Stalker Logan on the radio and tell him to hurry down here!"

I moved as fast as I could to the terminal that the Agent was beckoning me to. Most of it was coded gibberish that I didn't understand, but I didn't have to know Guardian codes to know that the shit just hit the proverbial fan. I filtered through the systems until I found a map of the current power grid. All power came from the single system, and from the looks of it, it had been running on minimal support for the past few centuries, but something, or someone, has triggered it into full output, and safety systems were failing left and right. Nearly everything was in the red.

"Fuck! Where's the main power generator?"

"The Fission Core is this way."

"Wait, fission? As in NUCLEAR?"

"Yes, the entire system is run from a high yield nuclear fission reactor. It was designed to be self contained and provide at least five hundred years of constant power."

I looked at the system again. "No. No, no, no. This isn't good. This is NOT good. Nate! I might need your help!"

Nate looked at me, and I could tell that he didn't want to leave Lazlo's side. "He's… I think he's…"

"Your brother is here, and I trust anyone's life in his paws. We need to get down to the core, if what I'm reading is correct, the nuclear core is on the verge of overheating, and I don't have emergency access from here."

"Can't you just…"

"No. I mean, maybe? You're smarter than me Nate, I know that. I also know that between the two of us, I know we can solve this, because if we can't? Then we will all be losing our lives, along with who knows how many innocents up there. Please."

"But…" He let out a heavy sigh. "You're right."

"Mark, Holly, you two stay here with Lazlo and inform Logan of what's going on when they get here. Onion, keep us informed of any changes to Lazlo."

"Yes Miss."

I turned to Agent Hoppiny. "Lead the way."

I really didn't want to leave Lazlo behind, but there were more lives in danger than just his. I didn't want to tell Nate this, but despite Mark's capabilities, I wasn't sure Lazlo was going to make it. We were too far from a real medical facility, Doc wasn't here, and I'm sure after our recent skirmish, their supplies were dwindling. I could tell that Nate knew this as well, which is why I needed to get his mind on something else. He may have changed, but even a changed mammal can revert back to their old ways, and I couldn't save all of our lives and try to comfort him at the same time. Plus, I was afraid of what I might actually choose of the two.

The core wasn't very far away, and the alarms got louder as we approached the large double doors that led to the main reactor room. Directly inside was the control center for it. Six terminals were arranged in a semi-circle in front of a large transparent wall. Through it, I saw the core. It was nearly three stories high, with a small walkway leading towards a large spherical chamber three-fourths the way down. A triple door hallway was the only thing connecting this room with the core.

"The main controls should be right over here!"

The Agent lead me over to the terminals. Three of them were flashing an emergency warnings, one had lines of corrupted data filtering past, while the other two were asking for override access. I took one of the computers and tried to gain entry, but direct methods were proving useless. There were no areas for the access badge to fit, and without a user name, the only password I had was useless. There had to be something else we can do.

I heard a noise and looked over to see Nate with the top of the computer housing in his metallic paw. Before I could ask what he was doing, he tossed it aside and pushed a button on the side of his arm, a cable, just like my Pip-Boar's interface cable, popped out, he grabbed it, and then spliced it into the system.

"Well that's one way to do it."

Nate looked at me and gave me slight smirk. "I'm in, and… it's not good."

I moved over to the terminal he was at. "What do you mean?"

"Overrides have been… overridden."

"How is that even possible?"

"I'm picking up traces of foreign code, I think it was sabotaged."

"Fuck! Was it the Corrupted?"

"I can't tell, and we don't have the time to figure it out. According to this, if we don't manually shut down the core, we have less than twenty minutes before it goes critical."

"Then let's shut it down manually."

"We… can't."

"What do you mean we 'can't'?" I was getting angry, and trying my best to not take it out on Nate. If it was anyone else, I would probably have snapped already.

"According to this, the manual controls are attached to the actual core. There are three sealed doors between us and the chamber."

"Then let's get them opened Nate!"

"The core is flooded."

"Flooded? What do you mean 'flooded'?"

"There's a radiation leak, the rad count is so high… any mammal who enters will die within minutes."

"FUCK! We can't just sit here as half the wasteland vaporizes!"

Nate looked at me, his face a cross between sternness and protective. "The doors take too long to run the process, who ever goes in will be dead before the doors have a chance to cycle through again. Whoever does it, will die."

Fucking damn it! I can't ask anyone to sacrifice themselves. If I tried to do it, I think they would sooner knock me out with a tranq before I could get to the door. Nate couldn't because I would do the same to him. I've already learned from my mistakes, and I can't ask another mammal to basically commit suicide. Fuck!

"Onion, come in!"

"Miss?"

"Mark, Holly, how's Lazlo?"

"Not good. He's hanging in there, but just barely. We're having issues moving him without rupturing another vital."

Not what I wanted to hear. "We have a problem. The core is about to go nuclear, and the only way to stop it is to enter a room filled with so much radiation that you'll be dead before you can even exit again."

"What? You sure there's no other way?"

I looked at Nate and he shook his head, worry and dread starting to replace his sternness.

"No. I can't ask someone to sacrifice themselves, but unless we can shut this off, we have less than fifteen minutes left to live."

This was not a situation I ever imagined myself in. Everything had a solution, no matter what the problem, there was always a way out of it. I kept trying to look for a way. Hacking the override, fail. Injecting my own malicious software, fail. I was this close to just pulling out a gun and blasting everything but that would have most likely sealed our fate. I finally ran into a problem I couldn't solve, and it was about to cost the lives of countless mammals.

"Miss?"

Onion's voice startled me. I looked at my Pip-Boar, but then I had realized it didn't come from my communicator, but rather behind me. I turned and saw Onion floating at the door.

"Onion? What are you doing here?" Then a morbid thought crossed my mind. "Lazlo, is he?"

"He's still alive."

"Then what are you…"

He spoke in a tone that if he was a living mammal, it would have been full of confidence and pride. "Miss. I have served you faithfully for years. Yes, it was due to my programming, but I was always happy to do it, even when you wanted to do something that defied my logic circuits. I know that you have always considered me more than just a robot, that I have been a friend, and a family to you all those times in the Burrow, and even more so when we entered this barbaric and dreadful world."

"Onion, what are you…"

"Please Miss, let me finish, we don't have much time. Like I said, you have considered me a friend and part of your family, your only family, but that has changed. I can see that. You have friends who can be by your side more than I ever could, and a family that would make your mother proud to call. I have been a loyal servant to you, but in recent times, I feel as if I am no longer able to fulfill those duties. These days, I do no more to protect you than an umbrella in acid rain. I feel more like a robot than I have in a while."

"No Onion, you're not…"

"Yes, I am, and I am not mad, but rather happy that I have still been able to be of service to you, despite everything that has happened. Anyone else would have more than likely tossed me into the junk heap rather than keep me around. That is why I want to leave you not as a simple tool, but to show you that I am still your friend."

"Leave me? Onion, what is going on?"

"Mister Valiant? Please initiate the decontamination entry."

It finally hit me what Onion was trying to do. "NO! You will not do this!"

"I am not flesh or blood. I can withstand the radiation in order to shut down the core."

I felt a paw on my shoulder. "He's right. Anyone else would just get themselves killed, maybe even before they could shut it down."

"But…" Nate was right. I didn't want him to be right. Onion was a robot, but to me he was another mammal. I've worried myself sick when he's gotten injured, even though I could easily fix him up with scrap. Onion was not only my friend, but my first one. I could never make friends, so I made one, and now I feel like I'm about to lose him.

"Like I said Miss, I am not of flesh or blood, so once the chamber is vented, I will still be here."

"No, he won't."

I looked over to Nate as my heart sank. "Why?"

"I looked it over and over, and there is no way around it."

"Around WHAT?" Nate gulped as I realized I just yelled at him. "Please, what are you not telling me?"

"The radiation has reached critical levels, so much that its ionizing properties will cause any unhardened electronics to short out, and with Onion's design, along with the time it will take to vent the room to allow us to safely retrieve him, the damage will be irreparable."

"Then he's not going. We'll find another way! I can't lose him!"

"There is no other way!" Nate was starting to get agitated. "We have minutes before we're all killed!"

"I don't care! I won't let…"

I felt a pain echo through my body as I lost all control of my muscles. He electrocuted me. Onion used his stun baton, on me.

"I am sorry Miss, but Mister Valiant is right, this is the only way."

"N-no!" I tried to move towards Onion, but my body was unresponsive.

Nate gave me a look that looked very apologetic as he pushed a button on the terminal. I heard a buzzing noise as the outer door started to open. Onion floated inside and then it sealed. While he didn't have eyes, I knew he was looking at me with the same look that Nate was, a look that simply said, 'I'm sorry'.

I started to feel a little bit of movement returning to me and I started to drag myself towards the door. I knew it was futile, and I also knew it was really the right thing to do, but I didn't want it to be. I wanted to buy us more time, to figure out a way to do this without sacrificing any lives, robot or mammal.

"'Livi! Nate, what's going on?!"

"Onion is… saving us."

"What happened to her? And what do you mean he's 'saving us'?"

"She tried to stop him and he… he shocked her…" Nate sounded unsure of his own words.

"I am ready Mister Valiant, please open the inner doors"

"N… N-o…"

There was a moment where nothing happened, but then the door opened and Onion floated in. I couldn't see Onion, but then I felt paws grab me and lift me up. Holly helped me towards the large glass window. I could see Onion floating towards the spherical chamber. He faltered a few times as I saw sparks flare out from his chassis. I tried to speak, but my emotions finally got the better of me as I started to cry. The tears were making it hard to see, but soon the flashing lights faded as the room darkened.

"Power levels receding. Sixty, forty, twenty, emergency power holding at fifteen percent." Agent Hoppiny spoke slowly as she reported the core's condition.

I looked around as I started to get my motor controls back. Nate was standing next to the window, typing madly into the Pip-Boar in his arm. His face looked worried, anguished, yet… hopeful?

"Come on, come on!"

"N-Nate?" I was having trouble breathing.

I wanted to ask why he was acting like that when I was losing a friend, but a loud noise brought my attention back as large sparks flew from Onion's body followed by black plumes of smoke. Then, his entire body stopped hovering and fell to the platform below him.

"Onion!"

First Blanche, now Onion. I do my best to try to help others, but what am I given in return? Pain. Pain and heartache. I find people who care about me, but it only leads to more pain. I know I can't blame Nate, that I shouldn't. Onion chose to do this, to save me, to save all of us, but I couldn't let myself face the truth. Onion wasn't a robot, he was my friend, and now he's gone.

"Olivia?"

I turned towards him. I couldn't tell how my face was, but it must have been bad because Nate took two steps forward before taking one back. "What?" I didn't want to sound like I did, like I was blaming him for killing Onion, but I felt the control of my emotions slipping away.

"I-I'm sorry."

"He's… dead…"

Nate took a few steps closer to me and held out his robotic arm. "His body is gone, but I managed to… well… say hello."

Hello? What was he…

A voice came from Nate's arm, or rather his Pip-Boar. It wasn't his voice, nor did it sound like a recording. My eyes went wide as I felt my emotions suddenly pull a u-turn.

"Hello Miss."

Fallout: Zootopia After Show

Featuring:

'Stripes in the Morning'

[Stripes]

"Good morning Zootopian Wasteland! This is Stripes with Stripes in the Morning! Today's episode will be… odd, even for me. So, we all saw what happened to Onion, Olivia's trusty sidekick. Yes some of this will be addressed in the next chapter, but things take such a huge turn then, that I will need to dedicate a show to it, so today we have Onion to talk with! I also would like to thank Nate for letting me do this interview, but, um, are all these guards necessary?"

[Nate]

"I don't think any of them trust you."

[Max]

"Get use to it Stripes, you're apparently persona non grata around here."

[Stripes]

"Really? But I have always been so… anyways, so, how do I do this? Hello? Anyone there?"

[Onion]

"You do not have to be so close. I can hear you perfectly fine."

[Stripes]

"So apparently robots can have an attitude. Ahem, so anyways, I would like to first give my condolences to your body. That floating sphere will be missed. I am, however, glad to see you're fine, so to speak. How does it feel living in, um, his arm?"

[Onion]

"It's odd and unfamiliar. Despite robots not having a 'soul' as some say, we do take notice of our current shell, and this arm is a bit cramped at times compared to my old body."

[Stripes]

"And I'm sure not being as mobile is a bit disorienting as well, isn't it?"

[Onion]

"Most certainly. Being unable to control my own locomotion will be something to get used to. I am not complaining Mister Valiant, I just need time to process my current residence."

[Stripes]

"So, why not Olivia's Pip-Boar? Why Your arm?"

[Nate]

"I didn't have time to perform such a complex transfer through an additional device. Plus, I have more free space, or at least I do, now."

[Stripes]

"You sound a bit sad saying that. Why?"

[Nate]

"Nothing that concerns you. Now finish this up, I have things to do."

[Stripes]

"Yes. Well, Onion, I have to ask, why did you selflessly sacrifice yourself?"

[Onion]

"I am a robot, plain and simple. It is within my programming to perform duties to protect my owner and her friends by any means necessary."

[Stripes]

"That sounds a bit… canned. You sure it was just your 'programming'?"

[Onion]

"Yes, well, I also care for Miss Springs. I know it might sound odd for a robot to express feelings, but there are often times where I do not feel like a robot, that I might be a mammal by her side. Unfortunately that is not the case, nor will it ever be so. I am a robot bound by programming."

[Stripes]

"For a robot bound by programming, you sure sound sad."

[Onion]

"Bound by really good programming."

[Stripes]

"Yes, well, back to what you just said. Sometimes you feel like you're a mammal at her side? If you could be a mammal, and no folks, I'm sorry to say that will not be happening, ahem, what would you want to be?"

[Onion]

"A bear."

[Stripes]

"That was a quick answer. Have you actually given that thought? And why a bear?"

[Onion]

"Yes, well, even robots can have flights of fancy if enough memory is left uncluttered. As for my species of choice, it is simple really. I want to protect Miss Springs. That is all I care about, that is why I sacrificed myself to make sure she could live. That is also extended to Mister Valiant, his brother, Miss Kerrigan, and anyone else she calls a friend. I often find myself useless in this body, especially after leaving the Burrow. I do what I can to protect Miss Springs, but most of the time, it is her protecting me, despite me only being a robot. She can fix a broken panel, replace a fried circuit, but I can't replace an arm if she lost it, I can't de-fragment her brain when she is mentally fried. I often feel useless being the one being grieved over. A bear is large, strong, and can offer the protection and strength that I lack."

[Stripes]

"But an elephant and a rhino could do the same, possibly even better."

[Onion]

"I have databases of every known mammal in my system. Details on strengths and weaknesses, historical accounts of famous mammals of their species, I have gone though this all countless times. A rhino or elephant, while strong, lacks, in my opinion, the softness that a bear or other furred mammals have."

[Stripes]

"Softness? What, do you dream of cuddling with Olivia?"

[Onion]

"No. Well… you see, part of my duties is to watch over Miss Springs, and I have found medical records of mammals suddenly dying in their sleep due to stress filled activities, and Miss Springs has had nothing but stress filled activities ever since we left the Burrow. I watch over her when she sleeps, and, please do not tell her I said this, but she talks in her sleep sometimes, and while I usually ignore it out of respect for her privacy, a few times I think she was dreaming of her mother, and from the sound of it, she misses cuddling up with her. I think the term used is a 'security blanket'."

[Stripes]

"That sounds sweet, albeit a tad creepy if taken out of context. What about now? With Nate's arrival, she has had someone to… well…"

[Nate]

"One more word and this interview is over."

[Stripes]

"Yes… well… Have recent events changed your thoughts on that Onion?"

[Onion]

"Actually, they have. Miss Springs has someone who she can take solace in both physical and emotional comfort. I still wish to protect her, but I have learned that her friends, along with her new family, can protect her better than I could ever have. Mister Valiant, why did you go through the trouble in saving my memory core?"

[Nate]

"She's already lost a lot. I couldn't have her loosing her oldest friend as well."

[Onion]

"I thank you Mister Valiant."

[Stripes]

"Well, I think I will end today's episode at this. I have a lot to prepare for the next one. Thank you for your time Onion, and thank you for allowing me to talk to your… arm… this is still a bit bizarre. Well folks, until next time, take care!"

[Max]

"See? That wasn't so bad now was it Stripes. Setting these things up like this before paw? Does WONDERS on another's temperament towards you doesn't it. Thanks again for agreeing to this Mister Valiant."

[Nate]

"Well… He MOSTLY behaved himself… Though I suspect that had something to do with the current security arrangements."

[Max]

"Eh, I'll take it. At least no one is shooting at us this time… Chest is still aching from that…"