THE BODY IN QUESTION a Bunnie Rabbot story by Daniel J. Drazen based on an idea by Jason Zelek (jasonz@usa1.com) PAUSE FOR BOURGEOIS LEGALITIES: This story is copyrighted 1997 by the author. Duplication and reproduction of this story is rabidly encouraged unless you a) Try to pass it off as your own, b) Screw around with the text in any way, or c) Try making a buck off my work -- in case of the latter, first drop me a line at drazen@andrews.edu so we can talk about my cut. The characters in this story are the creations of the following: Sega Enterprises: Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Robotnik; DiC Productions: Princess Sally, Bunnie Rabbot, Charles Hedgehog, Snively. Bookshire Draftwood appears courtesy of The Draftwood Agency (formerly David Pistone Talent Associates). All the usual restrictions under Title 17 of the U. S. Code (concerning copyright laws) apply. This story is voluntarily rated PG-13 for incidental nudity in a non-sexual context...wait a minute! We're talking about FURRIES here!! They're pretty much naked most of the time. Some of them, anyway. And even when they're not, they're not clear on the concept when it comes to clothing. So enjoy. Silently, and with blinding speed, a pair of hands sorted through the saucer-sized acrylic disks lined up in the drawer of the storage case. Each was carefully labeled on the side with a slim strip of paper bearing a single name; except for that, they were indistinguishable. But the one name the stealthy figure was looking for wasn't there. He slid the drawer shut and opened another one. "C'mon!" he said to himself. "It's gotta be in here somewhere!" On he search until, in the next to the bottom drawer, he stopped. There lay the object of his search: a disk with a faded label bearing the name "BUNNIE RABBOT." "Bingo! The hedgehog triumphs again!" He reached toward it, then paused. Next to it was a disk with the label "CHARLES HEDGEHOG." He started to reach for it, then paused. He knew what was at stake, but he also knew that the procedure that was being tested back at Knothole was still experimental and that Sally had ordered him to bring back only one sample for testing: Bunnie's. At that moment a bright light snapped on in the room. Sonic turned. "Welcome to your doom, hedgehog," the large figure in the doorway said. Two SWATbots were visible behind him. Sonic didn't take any time to curse his hesitancy. "Love to stay and chat, Buttnik but I was just leaving." He reached into the drawer, grabbing a disk. "SWATbots! Stop him!" Even before Robotnik had finished speaking, Sonic had slipped the disk into his backpack and had withdrawn a power ring. Since it was in his nature to take the direct approach, he simply went into a Sonic spin and plowed into the SWATbots as they began to advance toward him. They fell helplessly to the side. Fighting the urge to deliver a parting taunt, Sonic sped past Robotnik, out of the building, and down the dark streets of Robotropolis. *** For once, everyone in Rotor's hut was impatiently waiting for Sonic the Hedgehog. Sally stood in the hut's open doorway, looking out every five seconds. Bookshire Draftwood looked at the settings on the control panel, checked some notes on a nearby pad of paper, then looked back at the settings on the control panel. Perhaps the most nervous of all was Bunnie Rabbot, with good reason. "Sally-girl, why would Robotnik keep DNA samples of the Mobians he's roboticized anyway?" "I don't know, Bunnie. Sounds like something he'd do just out of spite! But if our informant is correct, this could be a major break in freeing the people of Mobius from Robotnik's control." "I only wish we knew more about this informant of yours, this...what was his name again, Sally?" Bookshire asked. "Ray. He's a fox who says he's been living in hiding in Robotropolis for some time." "Don't y'all think it'll work, Booker?" "It should work in theory. Rotor's modified the deroboticizer according to the specs that Ray supplied to us, but I won't believe it till I...." At that moment, Sonic appeared in the doorway of the hut. "Sonic! Did Ray's story check out?" "Sure did, Sal. Got the disk thingy in my pack." "All right, Sugar-hog! Let's get this show on the road." "Bunnie," Bookshire said, "Now that we've got a sample, I really wish you'd let Nicole run a simulation routine first." "Sorry, Booker. Ah ain't turnin' back now." "But Bunnie..." "What's the worst that could happen, Sally-girl? It doesn't work and Ah'm right back where Ah started." "Bunnie's right," Sonic said as he inserted the disk into the control console. "Let's rock!" "Kids!" Bookshire thought to himself. "What about it?" he asked Sally. "Well, keep a close eye on Bunnie's vital signs and hit the override the second something looks wrong." Bunnie climbed up onto the table connected to the control console and laid down on her back. Bookshire looked at a bank of monitors that appeared to be randomly wired together. "Vital signs looking good. Your heart's running a little fast, though." "Just nerves, Booker." With no other ceremony, Bookshire stepped over to the control panel. "All right, Sonic, you know what to do." With his usual confidence, Sonic jumped onto a nearby treadmill. Pulling the power ring out of his backpack, he started running. It was a crude but effective way to generate the kind of power that the deroboticizing process required. On the table, Bunnie was soon lost from sight, enveloped in a purplish cloud that sparked and crackled with electricity. "Bookshire, what's happening?" "Vital signs still stable, Sally." Everyone in the hut kept their eyes on the table, hoping to see some sign that Bunnie was reverting back to her old form. Maybe this time, Sally told herself, her old friend would finally lose the burden she'd been carrying around. Maybe this time.... Sally's thoughts were scattered by a loud explosion from the control panel. "Bookshire!" "I'm OK!" Bookshire coughed as he fanned away the smoke from the panel. "Must have been a short; the monitors are all off-line!" He limped to a nearby wall, pulled down a bucket of sand hanging on a nail, and started using it to douse the electrical fire. "Sonic, back off on the speed!" Too late. The transformer connected to Sonic's treadmill began to sputter and smoke as well. Sonic jumped off and threw a nearby blanket on top of the transformer. A second later, the blanket rose as a result of a small explosion, then settled back down. The scent of burning wool filled the air, and Sonic grabbed the bucket of sand from Bookshire and dumped what was still inside on top of the blanket. Sally, meanwhile, was standing over the table, frantically waving at the smoke surrounding Bunnie with her arms, trying to clear it away. The others joined her in a second, but paused when Sally stopped waving and let out a gasp. "Oh no," Sally whispered, her hands pressed against the sides of her head as if to keep it from exploding. "Oh my gosh, no!" Nobody else said anything for about a minute. For lying on the table, wearing Bunnie's clothes, was what nobody had expected to see. It was a hedgehog, an older male hedgehog, blue-gray in color with a full moustache. It was, in fact, the very image of Sir Charles Hedgehog. Bookshire reached down and felt the figure's pulse. Sally looked at Bookshire intently as he counted to himself. "Pulse is good, Sally. Strong and regular." He bent down toward the figure's face. He forced one eye open and studied its movements. "Reflexes seem to be sound." At that moment, the figure began trying to sit up, and the others cleared away from the table. "What hit me, Sally-girl?" the hedgehog said in a strange blend of Charles Hedgehog's voice and Bunnie's accent. The figure stopped, eyes widening, one hand clutching at its throat. "Mah voice! What happened to mah voice?" Then the hedgehog looked down at the rest of his body, its face registering shock. "Bunnie, are you all right?" "Never mind that!" the hedgehog snapped as he slapped his hands against the empty cups of the dress he was wearing, "Ah want to know what the hoo-ha happened to mah hoo-has!" Sonic was beside the table in a second. "Take it easy, Unc. It's just...." "What'd you just call me?" the figure asked. Sally reached out and put her hands on Bunnie's shoulders, to restrain her. Bunnie tried batting them away, but stopped in mid-motion when she saw her arm. "No," Bunnie said, tears coming to her eyes. "NO!" Before anyone could say anything else, Bunnie had jumped off the table and run outside toward her own hut. Sonic and Sally immediately started off after her. Bookshire limped after them, trying vainly to keep up. Sonic and Sally found Bunnie lying face down on her bed, crying. Sally sat down on the edge of the bed and started stroking the top of Bunnie's head, as she had done so many times before when her best friend needed comforting. It wasn't easy, because Bunnie's fur had been replaced by a hedgehog's quills. Bunnie looked up, her hedgehog face streaked with tears. "Why? Why, Sally-girl?" "I'll tell you why," Sally said with mounting anger. "Sonic screwed up, that's why!" "Hey, it's not like I planned it that way!" "That doesn't make any difference! Your carelessness lost Bunnie!" Sally was now so mad she was screaming at Sonic, who was ready to give back as good as he got. "Well maybe you'd be happier if you'd gotten off your royal can and done it yourself!" "Stop it! Stop it!" Bunnie shouted as she jumped from her bed and stepped between Sonic and Sally. For the moment she was more upset at seeing the two of them fighting than at what had just happened to her. "This ain't gonna...." Bunnie stopped speaking. She started to make a kind of choking sound. She was grabbing at her chest just as she lost consciousness. *** "Whuh...whuh happened?" As the haze inside her head cleared, Bunnie realized that she was tucked into her own bed, and that Sally and Bookshire were gathered around it. "Bunnie," Sally said gently, "you're all right. Just lie still." "If Ah'm all right, why did Ah feel like Ah was gonna die a moment ago?" "It was more than a moment ago, Bunnie. You've been unconscious for a couple of hours." "A couple of...." "Bunnie, it looks like you might have had a mild heart attack." "What!?" she whispered. "Emphasis on the word MIGHT," Bookshire added. Bunnie looked at Bookshire as if for the first time. "Oh mah stars," she whispered in Charles' voice, "Ah really WAS dyin'!" Tears began forming in her eyes and Sally took her hand. "I don't think so," Bookshire said. ""It may have looked like a heart attack but Bunnie's heart is telling me otherwise. I don't have any fancy instruments here, but your heart sounds fine. No arrhythmia, no audible sign of atrial defects, nothing that my training tells me was supposed to show up in someone with a damaged heart." "It looked real enough to me, Bookshire," Sally said. "And y'all don't wanna know how real it FELT!" Just then there was a mild explosion outside. Everyone recognized it as the sound of Sonic returning to Knothole at full throttle. They looked toward the door as Sonic entered the hut. "Where's Sir Charles?" Bookshire asked. "No go, Doc. I couldn't get him away from his post without blowing his cover." "Did you at least talk to him?" Sally asked with more of an edge than usual in her voice. "Yes, I talked to him," Sonic replied, making it clear by his tone that he didn't appreciate being lectured to by anyone. "I gave him the whole story before I had to juice out of there." "And did you tell him that your carelessness has probably cost us one of our best fighters and MY best friend?" "Hey, Sal, I put my hedgehog hide on the line getting that sample! Is that the thanks I get?" "Thanks!? You're lucky I don't turn you over to Robotnik myself!" "Be still!" Bookshire ordered. "Both of you. Did Sir Charles give you the information I asked for?" "Yeah. He said he'd gotten a checkup two, maybe three months before he was roboticized." "Did he say if his doctor told him anything about his heart?" "Uncle Chuck told me that his doctor said that he was in good shape for someone his age, including his heart." "Well, SOMETHING happened to Bunnie's heart when she took on that body." "Like what?" "I don't know. I thought maybe Uncle Chuck had some kind of cardiac condition he could tell us about. Frankly, I'm stumped." "But where does that leave me?" Bunnie asked. "I wish I knew, Bunnie. I wish I knew." "So what now, Sal?" Sonic asked. "There's only one thing to do: you're going back there and get the RIGHT sample this time! And I'm coming along to make sure that you do!" "Ah'm comin' with." Bunnie started to sit up. "Sorry, Bunnie, you're staying here." "Mah bunny behind Ah'm stayin'. This is mah bod we're talkin' about!" "Bunnie," Bookshire said, "I wish you'd reconsider." "Booker, is mah heart OK or ain't it?" For what seemed to him like the thousandth time, Bookshire took out his stethoscope, bent down and listened to Bunnie's heart. After a few seconds he stood up. "Your heart sounds fine. Don't ask me why, but it does. Back in the old days I'd be ordering you to undergo a dozen different tests and drafting an article for the _Mobian Annals of Medicine_. Seems like a lifetime ago." "Then Ah can go?" "I don't suppose there's any way I could stop you. I know you; once you get a notion in that bunny brain of yours there's no way to get it out." Bookshire grinned, and Bunnie broke into a broad smile. He knew that she needed to hear from someone that she was still Bunnie Rabbot under this foreign skin. "So you really are going?" Sally asked. "Only one thing'll keep me here." "What's that?" "If'n I have to listen to you and Sonic fussin' at each other like little kids all the way there and back!" Sally smiled sheepishly and reached across the bed toward Sonic with one hand. "Truce?" "That's cool," Sonic replied as she took Sally's hand. "Y'know what? Ah think Ah'm gonna LIKE bein' old enough to tell you kids what to do!" "Don't get used to it, Bunnie," Sally said with a smile. *** It took a little longer for the three of them to leave Knothole than Sonic had anticipated. The first thing Bunnie did after getting out of bed was to start rummaging through her wardrobe. After a few minutes she settled on a pair of lavender jogging shorts that fit her hedgehog body reasonably well. Before she could select a top, though, Sally insisted that they get moving. They were well away from Knothole by the time Sally asked Bunnie: "What was THAT all about?" "What do you mean?" "I just can't see what you needed to put those shorts on for." "Ah'm not used to runnin' around jaybird nekkid!" "You didn't seem to mind it when you were a kid." "Yeah," she said wistfully. "What the hoo-ha happened, anyway?" "Rosie and Julayla happened. I guess they could see what was going to happen as we got more mature. They must've succeeded somewhere along the way in getting you to wear clothes." "Unlike a certain princess who gets to show her bod around," Bunnie added with a smile. "You call this skinny thing a bod?" Sally asked, smiling back. For emphasis she straightened her vest, which fell too easily across her chest. "At least you had something to show for it when you hit puberty. You know, I really used to envy you back when we were kids." "Really?" "Why do you think I always wore those stupid outfits with the balloon pants?" "Didn't you tell me that that's what princesses wore?" "Princesses in storybooks, maybe. I just didn't want anyone making fun of how scrawny I was." Just then, Sonic fell back in his walking until he was closer to them. "Do you mind, Sugar-hog? This here's girl talk." "Uh...OK," he said, trying to process the fact that one of the "girls" doing the talking was an older, male hedgehog. "And Ah'll thank you not to keep starin' at me, Sonic Hedgehog!" "What are you talking about?" "Ah seen you tryin' to get a look at mah bust!" "Bunnie," Sally said as gently as she could, "You don't HAVE a bust, remember?" Bunnie stopped. She looked as if she'd been slapped in the face, and Sally instantly wished she could take it back. Bunnie sat down on the nearby trunk of a fallen tree, put her face in her hands, and began to cry. Sally looked toward Sonic, who could only stare. "Sonic, WHAT is your problem?" she whispered harshly. Sonic turned away from her. Sally was about to let go with another verbal volley when Sonic spoke. "I...I just remember the way Uncle Chuck used to be, before Buttnik got hold of him. He could handle anything! I...I never saw him cry like that before! I guess it kinda freaked me out." "I'm sorry, Sonic," she said softly, "but you have to remember that that's still Bunnie inside there." She sat down next to her friend. "We'll get you your real body back, Bunnie. It'll be OK." "You think so?" she sniffled. "Of course. Now come on, we'd better get going." Bunnie rose and the three of them continued walking. Sally excused herself and fell back to where Sonic was uncharacteristically bringing up the rear. "Look, Sonic, I don't think either of us really knows how deeply Bunnie is feeling this. I mean, this isn't as simple as when she ended up being partly roboticized. She lost a major part of herself when she lost her femininity." "You mean it's a gland thing?" "Sonic, you're hopeless! It has as much to do with Bunnie's head and heart as it does with her hormones. Look, how would you feel if you lost the thing that defined who you are?" "You mean my speed?" "No." "My attitude?" "No way." "My suave good looks?" "Not even close! Let me rephrase that: how would you feel if you lost the thing that defines you as a male?" Sonic's brow furrowed as he considered the question. "Keep thinking about it, Sonic." Sally then trotted ahead to catch up with Bunnie. "What was that all about, Sally-girl?" "Just giving Sonic a little reality check. I think it should be sinking in right...about...." "HEY!" Sonic yelled out. "Sal, that was LOW!" Sally and Bunnie exchanged glances. "Males!" Sally said with a smile. "Yeah, they're so dang cute when they're clueless." *** Soon enough, the three of them were leaving the precincts of the Great Forest and wending their way through the darkened streets of Robotropolis. To Sonic's growing annoyance, Bunnie wasn't able to keep up with him and Sally. She stopped frequently to catch her breath. Sally, who was concerned that Bunnie's phantom heart problem might recur, insisted that Sonic not set his usual blistering pace. Finally, they neared the building where Sonic had found the DNA samples: a warehouse-type structure in the shadow of Robotnik's headquarters. "This is too close for MAH comfort, Sally-girl." "Well, coming along was your idea. So Sonic, how did you get inside?" "There's a ventilation shaft on the back of this place. It wasn't guarded the last time I was here. Let me scope it out." Sonic dashed to the corner, then peeked around it. He waved to Sally and Bunnie to join him. "All clear, guys. Follow me." Sonic removed the cover from the shaft, and the three freedom fighters slipped into the building, making their way through the labyrinth of the ventilation system. A short time later, they were standing in the building's foyer. "So far so good," Sonic said. "So far TOO good. I don't like this." "Chill, Sal! We're almost home free." "Where were the slides kept?" "Just in the next room." Slowly Sally opened the door. "See anything, Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked. "Nothing." "Too dark?" "Too empty." "Say WHAT?" "Sonic, there's nothing in there!" The three of them stepped inside. A small overhead light revealed a bare room. "Nice one, Sonic," Sally scolded. "You picked the wrong room!" "On the contrary," a deep voice purred from the darkness above them, "as far as I'm concerned you're in just the right place." There was a metallic scraping sound to their right as the wall slid upward. On the other side stood Robotnik flanked by Snively and eight SWATbots. "So, the little thief returns to the scene of the crime. And he's brought friends! Why, Sir Charles. You're looking rather... YOURSELF these days. I can only assume that you were able to put your stolen property to good use. "You know, Sir Charles, lately I've come to regret my having roboticized you. I've never quite gotten over the feeling that there's so much more in that hedgehog head of yours that you can tell me." "You ain't gettin' nothin' outta me, Robotnik!" Bunnie replied, momentarily forgetting that she WASN'T Sir Charles Hedgehog. "My, my," Robotnik said as he clucked his tongue, "such atrocious grammar! I suppose that's what comes from spending your time with these underage troublemakers." "Where'd you put those samples, Buttnik?" "Someplace safe, someplace where you won't get your thieving hands on them, rodent. SWATbots! Take them into custody." Four of the SWATbots surrounded Sonic, with two surrounding each of the others. "Into the cells with those two. My business is with this thieving hedgehog. I have some...unfinished business to attend to." "Shall I activate the surveillance cameras in the cell bloc, sir?" "Don't bother, Snively," he said after a moment's thought. "I want to give Sir Charles's nephew here my undivided attention. I'll deal with you later, Sir Charles, after I've dealt with your nephew and your princess. You should be in a more cooperative frame of mind by then." *** In a few minutes Sally and Bunnie were looking at each other through heavy metal bars in small cells on opposite sides of a narrow corridor. The SWATbots which had escorted them into their cells had left through the doors at both ends of the corridor, leaving them alone. The moment the two of them were alone, Bunnie ran to the cell door and immediately started tugging on it. "Bunnie, that won't do any good," Sally sighed. "You don't have a robotic arm any more, remember?" "Ah remember," she said as she continued to tug at the door. "But Ah gotta do somethin'! Besides, Ah'm a freedom fighter and Ah ain't givin' up without a..." Bunnie never finished the sentence. She dropped to her knees. Her eyes shot wide open and her breathing sounded forced and labored. Sally then saw her clutching at her chest. "Bunnie?" Bunnie's mouth moved as if she were trying to speak, but no sound came out. She grabbed her left arm and winced in pain. Suddenly she let out a sound Sally had never heard before, like a gasp and a cry all at once. She dropped to the cell floor, rolling onto her back. "Bunnie!" The figure in the opposite cell didn't answer, didn't move. Its chest neither rose nor fell. "Bunnie!" Sally sobbed out. "Bunnie, I'm sorry!" And she dissolved into uncontrolled weeping. So great was Sally's grief that she neither saw nor heard what was happening in the cell opposite hers. Instead she first became aware of the smell. It was heavy and disagreeable, almost like ozone. Yet familiar, strangely familiar. Where had she encountered it before? Then it came to her! Back in Knothole, when she and Bunnie were looking at the holographic diorama of Robotropolis, the one built by Uncle Chuck. Back when they thought they had perfected a deroboticizing technique after trying it out on Bunnie and Uncle Chuck. Just before Bunnie's deroboticized body began returning to its old form. Sally looked up. A cloud seemed to have formed around Bunnie. The smell was stronger now, and she could hear cracks of electricity in the air. In a minute the cloud dissipated. There on the floor of the cell, wearing only a pair of jogging shorts, lay Bunnie, robotic limbs in place, a hedgehog no longer. She appeared to be as lifeless as a stone. "Oh, Bunnie," Sally moaned. "Bunnie, I'm sorry I did this to you." But Sally's grief was cut short as the body in the next cell began to stir. Sally held her breath as the young rabbit sat up, her hand against her chest. "Oooo-wee! What happened to mah...?" She stopped. It was no longer the voice of Charles Hedgehog that she heard; it was her own voice! Looking down, she caught sight of her breasts. Her eyes widened and the corners of her mouth began to draw upward. Then she saw her roboticized limbs. "Bunnie!" Sally called out, unable to stay silent any longer, "are you alright?" "Uh-huh," she said with growing delight, "and Ah ain't never been so glad to see me!" And she kissed the back of her metal hand. Bunnie slowly got to her feet. Sally was still worried that something would go wrong, that Bunnie would have yet another attack. But she could tell from the look on Bunnie's face that her friend was getting more of her old strength back every second. Bracing herself against the frame of the cell door, Bunnie gave it a pull. Slowly but surely, the door came away from the frame. Bunnie tossed it aside into the cell and stepped out into the narrow hallway. At once a klaxon sounded and two SWATbots entered the corridor, one from each end. They raised their arms, blasters at the ready. "RETURN TO YOUR CELL IMMEDIATELY!" they ordered. Bunnie rose up on her mechanical legs until she was at eye level with the bots. "You talkin' to little ol' me?" she asked demurely. The two SWATbots fired. Just as they did so, Bunnie telescoped her legs down and went into a crouch. The two beams passed over her head, each striking the bot at the other end of the corridor. The clatter of their fall echoed briefly. In a second, Bunnie had torn the door off of Sally's cell. In another second Sally had rushed out and thrown her arms around Bunnie. "Oh, Bunnie!" Sally said as she fought back her tears. "When I saw you I thought..." "Never mind about that now, Sally-girl; we gotta get to Sonic!" *** "You've eluded me more than once, rodent," Robotnik said as he watched the gauges indicating that the roboticizer was nearly at operational power. "I'm almost sorry to see it end." "It ain't over yet, Buttnik!" "Insolent to the last. You've been a tenacious adversary. I like that in a slave. Snively!" "Yes sir?" "Is the roboticizer ready?" "Just ready, sir." "Then let's...how would the little rodent say it...do it to it." Sonic was placed standing up on the platform of the roboticizer, and a large glass tube began to lower toward him. Robotnik broke out into a malicious grin as he set his hand on the control panel. Suddenly the door to the room jumped off its hinges, falling into the room with a loud crash. On the other side was Bunnie, one robotic leg hoisted in the air; the outside of the door bore a clear imprint of her foot. A moment later, Sally ran into the room, ducking behind a large power transformer near the doorway. The SWATbots in the room immediately began to target the heavy piece of equipment, pinning Sally down with withering blaster fire. That was the moment Bunnie was waiting for. She ran into the room and, with her robotic arm, slid the glass tube of the roboticizer up toward the ceiling. She looked at Sonic, who could only stare at her. "What're you waitin' for, Sugar-hog? Quit starin' and start tearin'!" That seemed to bring Sonic out of his trance. He immediately dashed toward the SWATbots, getting their attention. "INTERCEPT HEDGEHOG! PRIORITY ONE!" The SWATbots immediately turned their attention toward Sonic, who then began weaving in and around Robotnik and his equipment. Sally and Bunnie dashed toward a nearby air shaft. Bunnie then tore off the cover. Now all they needed was for Sonic to get them out of there. Yet at the same moment that Sonic was running rings around Robotnik, Bunnie happened to catch her reflection in a highly- polished access plate. Immediately her eyes popped open and her face flushed. It hadn't really sunk in until that moment that she was still topless! Just then Robotnik, who had been trying to visually follow Sonic's dizzying movements, succumbed to a loss of balance and fell over. Sonic made a dash toward the air shaft, but stopped short as Bunnie ran away from the shaft and toward Robotnik. Before anyone could say anything, Bunnie had ripped the cape off of Robotnik's back and began draping it around herself. "Bunnie, come on!" Sally yelled. "Hold on, Sally-girl." "Forget it, Bunnie," Sonic added. "This breakout's a come-as- you-are party." "Ah AM still a lady, Sonic!" "You're gonna be a lady bot if we don't juice!" Apparently satisfied that she was sufficiently draped, Bunnie finally joined Sally as the two of them hung onto Sonic. Powered by Sonic's speed, they sped off into the maze of air shafts and guided by Nicole made their way to safety. *** "ANALYSIS COMPLETED, SALLY." Bunnie, Sally and Sonic walked on through the Great Forest toward Knothole. For the past few minutes, they had waited with varying degrees of impatience for Nicole to come up with some explanation as to what had just happened. "So what's the word, Nicole?" Sonic asked. "DEROBOTICIZING PROCESS APPEARS TO BE HIGHLY UNSTABLE. WHEN SUBJECT UNDERGOES EXTREME STRESS, THERE IS A 94.472 PERCENT POSSIBILITY OF REVERSION TO PREVIOUS PHYSICAL FORM WITH SYMPTOMS RESEMBLING THOSE OF A CARDIAC EMERGENCY." "In English, Nicole!" Sonic prompted. "IT DIDN'T WORK, AND WHEN BUNNIE STARTED TO CHANGE BACK IT LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK." "Thanks, Nicole," Sally said as she shut the computer and reattached it to her boot. "I'm sorry it didn't work out, Bunnie, but Bookshire will be glad to know there's nothing wrong with your heart after all. And so am I," she added as she put an arm around her friend. "Hope I didn't worry you too much with all that fuss I made about it." "Worry me? Y'all just about turned me into an old gray hare from worrying! But Ah know it was because you cared," she added with a smile. As they approached the fringes of Knothole, Bunnie stopped. Sonic and Sally turned. "What's wrong?" Sally asked. "Sally-girl, could y'all go to mah hut and get me something Ah can change into? Ah really don't wanna wear this cape but Ah don't wanna walk around half-nekkid, neither." "Sure, Bunnie. But I wouldn't be ashamed of that cape if I were you. That's a great trophy! Come on, Sonic." "Uh, Sal, I got something I want to say to Bunnie in private." "OK," she said dubiously as she left the two of them together. "Listen, Bunnie, I got you into this mess by grabbing the wrong slide. I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry." Bunnie didn't say anything. She just looked at Sonic out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, I wouldn't blame you if you were still mad at me." "Shoot," Bunnie said with a grin, "Ah could never stay mad at you, Sugar-hog." "So we're still friends, right?" "Sure. It was a rough ride but Ah'm back to where Ah was before. And mah old bod sure did come in handy when Ah had to bust outta that cell. So Ah guess there's no harm done." "Cool! Bunnie?" "Uh huh?" "Can I say one more thing?" "What?" "You should really go topless more often!" Sally walked back into the Great Forest, one of Bunnie's outfits over one arm. She told herself that she should be more disappointed because it looked like this particular method of deroboticization was going to be a dead end. Mostly, though she was relieved that Bunnie was all right and that life in Knothole was going to get back to normal. So it came as something of a shock to see Bunnie storming toward her, no longer wearing Robotnik's cape. She snatched the outfit from Sally, cut off any potential conversation with a curt "Don't ask!", and still topless tromped on toward Knothole. Going a little further along the trail, Sally came across Sonic sitting on the ground, struggling with Robotnik's cape which had been securely wrapped around his head. He was saying something that was muffled by the garment, something that sounded like: "Hey, can't you take a joke?" Sally rolled her eyes and shook her head. After all, she reminded herself, some days THIS was normal! THE END