Tricky Situations by -- Joseph DeLaCroix This story is based on characters created by Service and Games (SEGA), and on characters created by Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Any resemblance to actual characters are not coincidental. ;) Joseph, Bahb, and all other independent creations of Joseph DeLaCroix are the copyrighted property of JoCo Inc. Commander Packbell, Bookshire Draftwood, and Sandra Nightweaver are the copyrighted property of David Pistone. All rights reserved. Etc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Timeline: Sometime after that... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The sun streamed through the fading grey clouds with newfound strength. Early spring had began, and the annual thaw would begin in a precious few weeks. The birds were beginning to return to the forests, and the Great Forest began to become much more noisy. However, not all the noise was caused by the peaceful return of spring... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "BUNNIE!" Sally's voice resounded through Knothole, somewhat anxiously. "BUNNIE RABBOT!" Bunnie sleepily stumbled out of her hut, wiping the sleep-stuff from her eyes. "Wha...?" "WE NEED SOME HELP HERE, BUNNIE!" She grumbled, and began to march her way over to Sally's voice on the far side of the village. She knew perfectly well that Sally wasn't calling her over for tea. Something had either fallen over, fell apart, or needed to be moved, and she was the only one with enough muscle to move it. But her annoyance pushed itself back into her mind, while her usual cheery face manifested on her outside. After all, she wouldn't want to make Sally feel guilty now, would she? She walked through the center of town, and began to make out the fuzzy details of what Sally might have wanted. A tree had fallen on a hut. Sally had apparently gotten everyone out before it hit, but the tree was in danger of falling on some other people's huts...which meant that she was going to have to pick the damned thing up and make it fall the *other* way, back into the forest. She mentally sighed, picking up her pace slightly. She forced herself to look perky, despite the fact that she'd been roused from her sleep and hadn't had her cup of coffee yet. All she had to do, she thought, was move the freaking tree back to where it came from, and she could go back to bed. She arrived at the scene a few minutes later. Sally greeted her politely, explained the painfully obvious to her, and got out of the way. Good, Bunnie thought, at least she wasn't making me talk yet. She moved under the tree and extended her arm in the air to grab it. She felt her fingers grab the deadened bark and extend within the hard wood of the tree. She got a solid grip on the tree, and then extended her legs to force the tree back in the air. It went easily, going from 180 degrees to 90. With a light nudge, she caused it to fall into the musky depths of the forest, and safely away from Knothole. Some light applause was heard as she retracted her appendages and returned to a state of relative normalcy. "Good job," noted Sally, "thank you, Bunnie." Bunnie smiled. "'S no problem, sugar. Is that all?" Sally nodded, and dismissed her. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bunnie bounded back home, hoping to get a nice, hot cup of Java before setting herself to the day's work. She hoped no other major catastrophies would occur until after breakfast. Pushing her hair back into some sort of order, she went back into her hut to prepare some food. Bunnie had a small kitchen within the confines of her hut, which suited her nicely. It had some small pots and pans, a single-burner stove, a few minor appliances, and some various small containers of spices she'd picked up in her travels around the Great Forest. She took an egg from a bowl, and cracked it into a small pan. Bunnie was glad she'd picked up some chicken eggs when she went out to get supplies last week...she hadn't had anything sunny-side-up in what seemed like years. Activating the burner, she put the small pan upon it and let it cook. Turning to the coffee maker, she poured herself a hot cup of finely- brewed Southern Mobian Java. She smiled. Bunnie had to really bend over backwards to get her monthly shipment of the stuff, but she always managed to get enough to get her going. She took a slug off the stuff, feeling her body kick back in to her normal, generally happy self. It was hot, invigorating, and quite good. She held the cup in one paw while going back to check on her egg. It was coming along rather nicely, she thought, so she'd better start the toast. Taking a metal coat-hanger-like device from a hanger on the wall, she took two slices of bread from a box and clipped them on the stick carefully. Then, with great ease, she inserted the stick over a small pipe, and hit a small switch on the side of it. A flame curtled out of the pipe, and began heating the bread. As it burned away, the stick turned, allowing the flame to heat both sides of the bread evenly. It was a clever invention, something Rotor had made himself after becoming irritated at one-side-toasted-other-side soft toast. She smirked. That Rotor. Just a big kid. But he was a nice guy. Bunnie had never known him to be in a bad mood in his life. Rotor just let everything slide by...but if you gave him a project, he'd work 23-hour days to get it done. She shrugged. He, like Bookshire and Joseph, were just plain eccentric. Can't do anything about it, so it's better if you just let them do whatever. She paused for a moment, sipping some of her coffee. She wondered how Joseph was doing. She hadn't seen him since last fall. Probably working away on the deroboticizer like a maniac. That, or he was probably doing gods-knows-what with Sandra. Probably less of the latter and more of the former, she smirked, knowing Joseph. But man, the rumors she'd heard! It was appalling how people gossipped about them. She thought Sandra was alright now. After all, she'd proved her goodwill by not revealing the location of Knothole, and solidified it by saving Tails. But some people simply refused to believe it. Just the fact that Joseph, with the full knowledge of his people and Mobius' at his disposal, was willing to date her should have been enough for the majority of Knothole's knitting circles. He wasn't some fool. He knew perfectly well who Sandra was, her history, and what she'd done lately. Yet, he stayed with Nightweaver, and spoke of her in glowing terms. But the things she'd heard made her almost ashamed to be Mobian. They alleged she was plotting to kill him and use his technology to take over Mobius herself. They said he was an advance scout for his own race, and was going to give the go-ahead any day now for an all-out invasion. Allegations of incredibly unspeakable fetishes. Vampirism. The works. Savior one day, heretic the next. So goes the life of a reclusive celebrity, she thought. She was just glad she and Sally were above suspicion of anything besides the most honorable and good acts. She wasn't any angel, but if they could say stuff like that about *Joseph*... She turned off the flame, and scraped the egg onto a plate. Shutting down the stove, she removed the toast and spreaded some grape jelly over them. Bunnie then put the toast on the side of the plate, and carried it over to the table with her other free hand. She sat down by the window, taking another sip of coffee and looking outside at Knothole. It had a sort of charm to it during the morning, she thought, before people were gearing up for missions and such. Kits played in the street, chasing each other around and enjoying the cool morning wind. She sighed, watching them play. Bunnie wondered if she would, or could, ever have kits of her own to love. She hoped so. She always liked to think of herself as mother material...she'd raised Tails well enough, and sat all the time for other people's kits. She knew how to handle common problems and how to give the various "talks" mothers and children are wont to do. If any rabbit was prepared to be a mother, she was. She consumed some of her egg. Bunnie felt quite alone sometimes. Friends, real friends, were something she thought she lacked. Sure, Sally and herself were close, but only because she gave her such an edge in campaigns. If she didn't have her arm and her legs, Sally'd probably forget about her soon enough. Sonic...well, Sonic was someone you wanted to have be your friend, strictly because of the edge that gave you in local town politics. Antoine--no. Rotor was a possible true friend, but he was pretty absent-minded and weird sometimes. A big kid, she smiled, as she had some toast. Tails was more of a son than a friend to her, so that ruled him out. She didn't know Bookshire real well, but he was more of a general father-figure than someone you'd have as a pal. She slugged back some coffee. That left Sandra Nightweaver and Joseph, the town recluses. Bunnie smirked slightly at the irony of the situation, and took another sip of coffee. She knew Sandra by reputation only; the one given by Joseph that made her appear to be the greatest woman since the Goddess, and the one given by gossipy old spinsters, which depicted her as someone not so nice. Joseph, she thought, finishing her egg and toast, was an enigma. He liked her a bit, she knew that much. Joseph was generally friendly to people who he saw parts of himself in; sometimes more literally than not, she laughed, thinking about Sonic's relationship with Joseph. However, he'd grown more sarcastic and unkind as the months had rolled on. Perhaps the death of his people and the constant gossip was starting to get to him, but he was not as nice of a guy than he'd used to be. Sandra had helped the situation, but it only worked when she was around; probably because he wanted to keep her happy, she mused. The deroboticizer had become his obsession, it seemed, because that's all he ever seemed to *do*. He only came out when Sandra wanted to go somewhere in Knothole, or when Sally asked him to give a status report. At least, that's how it seemed to most people. Bunnie, however, knew better. As she finished her coffee, she pondered the times she'd been on watch and noticed him walking through the forest, either alone or with Sandra. He spoke to himself or to her in a language she could only assume was his native tongue, seemingly to release his inner demons. He was always emotional during these times, and his face was far more expressive than it was normally. Perhaps that's how he stimulated creative thought. She shrugged. Who knew with him? Indeed, who knew what he was up to right now? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joseph flew at Sandra with a sort of a Terran Rebel yell, fist balled into a rock of flesh and fur. He hurtled through the air with deadly speed, homing in on his target with a merciless accuracy. But Sandra was not so easily struck. She rolled into a somersault, spun under Joseph, and watched his fist bite into only air. Leaving nothing to chance, she sprung back and lept off the wall, planting a kick right into his chest. Joseph recoiled, temporarily subdued. Yielding into a defensive crouch, he planned his next attack as Sandra stood in a defensive posture. After an approximate two second delay, he handplanted into a forward flip, zipping over Sandra as she missed her opportunity to strike him in the back and landing behind her. Sandra spun gracefully, facing her opponent with her best game- face on. Joseph twirled into a roundhouse, forcing Sandra to retreat or risk being hit by Joseph's flying feet. She watched his kick pattern as she backed closer and closer to the wall, waiting for the opportunity to... Sandra saw her opening and went for it. As Joseph's leg became even with her chest, she grabbed onto it, and executed a flawless throw of her assailant into a wall. However, Joseph re-adjusted in mid-air and lept off the wall, completing a perfect reverse somersault on the padded floor. He turned around and was nearly hit by a very fluid flying attack from Sandra, which just barely grazed his midsection. It did, however, throw him off-balance enough to cause him to stumble backwards, and made him nearly lose his balance. Sandra collided with the wall, but was able to escape injury by springing off the side of it, and rolling into a ball in mid-air. Because of this, she was able to emulate a spin-attack and knocked Joseph's legs out from under him. The hapless fox fell onto the ground, oofing softly as his head *bonk*ed against the floor. Subdued, he laid on the ground like a rug as the victorious Sandra Nightweaver unballed from her former position and walked over to him. Standing over her attacker in the afterglow of victory, she stood directly above his muzzle, and sat down gently on his collarbone. Thus straddling his head, she wrapped her hand around his mouth and stroked his muzzlefur softly. She looked directly into his eyes as he woke up again, groaning. Joseph coughed lightly. "Okay, okay, you get to be on top next time." Sandra smiled, purposely cracking her back so to push her groin into Joseph's neck. "Aah," she cooed, "the sweet taste of victory." Joseph smirked, a patronizing tone entering his voice. "I let you win," he wheezed, pushing Sandra up more onto his collarbone. Sandra looked down at Joseph with a completely hilarious look of disbelief. "You did not, you big liar!" Joseph put on a faux-immature tone. "Did too!" Sandra mimicked. "Did not!" Joseph tried to withhold a smirk. "Too too too!" Sandra also tried, but failed miserably. "Not not not not!" Joseph's restraint left him. "Too too too too too!" Sandra really started smirking hard. "Not not not not not not!" Joseph quickly chose to outgun Sandra with the usage of scientific notation. "Too to the 10^1,654 x 0.2342352412th!" But Sandra had played this game before with Joseph, so used the ultimate comeback in such an argument: "Not infinity!" Joseph grimaced, laughter bubbling over into his speech. "No fair calling infinity." Sandra bent down and kissed Joseph on his nose. Putting on an unneccessarily husky voice, she ran her finger down the side of Joseph's muzzle and whispered into his ear, "I don't play fair. You should know that by n--" But Joseph took the opportunity to turn the tables on his eye- pleasing oppressor. He grabbed her by the sides and rolled onto his back, now pinning *her* to the ground! Before she could react, he slid up her body core and pushed her arms down with his, and locked her legs under Joseph's well-muscled ones. Sandra acked, laughing. "You cur!" Joseph kissed her nose, doing a dead-on impression of her just seconds ago. "I don't play fair." Sandra pretended to struggle under Joseph. Giggling uncontrollably, she exclaimed, "Ooh!! When I get out from under you, I'm gonna..." But just as Sandra was about to describe what sort of damage she was going to do, and Joseph was just about to do something particularly naughty, Bahb interrupted from the ether. << "Version 1.x DeRoboticizer program complete. Now beginning work on Versions 2.x and higher." >> They paused for a moment, forgetting their little game and thinking about the consequences of this new knowledge. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bunnie finished washing up her breakfast dishes, and had just laid back down on her bed when Sonic rushed in. "Bunnie!" he articulated, coming to a halt, "We need your help again." She pulled herself off her bed, and stretched herself out. While smiling and looking only drowsy, her thoughts belied a rather annoyed doe who needed her beauty sleep. "What's the prob, sugarhog?" she said softly, walking out the door after Sonic. Do you have a bottle that needs to be opened, she growled mentally, or do you need an extra arm to help lift up your ego? "Nothin' big," Sonic spoke obliviously, "we just need to have a helping hand to lift a busted bridge out of the water. Ice cracked the supports." Oh, GREAT. So much for going back to sleep. "Is that *all*? Heck, that won't take me more than a second." "That'll make Sally happy, Bunnie. Thanks." Yeah, whatever. They arrived at the site of the broken bridge, which crossed over a frozen river. The bridge was cracked right in the middle, the once-strong support beam split off into the depths of the ice. Bunnie grimaced mentally. She'd have to sink her feet through the river and lift the bridge out from under it. That would get them wet, which gave her a greater chance of having a malfunction in her legs; it would be deadly to have them suddenly disengage when she was pressing the bridge into the air. Bunnie said nothing, but got right to her work. Sliding her way down into the somewhat deep ravine, she walked out over the ice and under the bridge. The support beam hung precariously over her head in mid-air, and could give at any moment. Fighting off an attack of the creeping horrors, she grabbed the beam at a thick point and pushed up on it. As the bridge began to rise, her legs cracked and penetrated the ice, hitting the soft, cold river bottom within moments. Bunnie rose in the air, the bridge above her and the deadly, ice- covered river below. She tried not to look down as she turned the small bridge at an angle in the air, and pushed it over onto the far side of the river with no great difficulty. Her legs had not failed her. Taking a relieved breath, she slowly retracted her limbs and climbed back up the ravine. Sonic gladly patted Bunnie on the back. "Good show, Bunnie." Bunnie smiled. "Anytime, sugarhog." Sonic ran off into the distance, probably to get someone else to do something for Sally. After he'd gotten far enough away, she mumbled and hopped off somewhere to warm up, before the water in her legs froze up and left her helpless. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Meanwhile, on a part of Mobius a bit less cold: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The device hummed softly in Snively's hands, illuminating the inside of the dead incinerator with a holographic projection of the planet. It explained in an alien tongue which Snively had heard so many times before about something called "Operation Xion". Snively's pleasure at finding the powerful device turned to horror as the plan so carefully hidden by the Buyers was revealed to him, in full 3-D detail... A projection of Mobius was projected in the air as it was that day, down to its current position around the sun and even the latest weather systems. Time speeded up as the visual projection showed their plans for the world. It bobbed happily around the sun, gradually moving from the Northern continent's winter to spring. All the while, a large craft drew closer and closer to Mobius, the menacing machine slowly creaking its way behind the hapless world. Why it went so slowly was unknown to Snively, but he knew that was immaterial. The North moved into summer as the ship crept into a quiet orbit around the planet, hanging unobtrusively in a geosyncronous orbit over the northern pole of Mobius. As it moved away from summer and into the fall position, invisible satellites were deployed from the craft and gradually surrounded the world down to the southern pole. In the winter position for Mobius' Northern Continent, the satellites took the sun's warming rays from the south, seemed to magnify them, and projected them onto the southern and northern poles. Over a series of days, Snively watched the familiar continents disappear beneath the lapping blue waves, seeming like they never existed. The ship then lowered into the atmosphere, unprotested by any sort of resistance, and began to take in the water they had released from the Mobian poles. More ships appear from various points in the galaxy to assist the larger ship, and eventually a space station is constructed around the now-saturated Mobius. The water began to recede to a low enough level to reveal the lifeless continents and ruins of cities. However, they were mostly ignored as the ships continued to suck water from the world, making the continents appear in even higher relief. After a few more solar cycles, Mobius' water is depleted. The large ships leave the world, and smaller, scruffier looking vessels appear. Over a few more years, they begin to mine the planet to such an extreme as to make the mass of the planet shrink away to nothing. After every last rock, clump of dirt, and piece of garbage has been wiped from the area that was once Mobius, the small ships fly off. The holograph deactivated. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joseph examined the results of the successfully compiled deroboticizer software as Sandra sat in a chair behind him. He seems pleased with the results, she mused, so this must mean that the simulations were sucessful. Joseph walked over to another monitor, which had a quite long list of names. As he poured over it, Sandra pondered over the various consequences of this momentous occasion. Would this be a date that would live forever in history as the Great Turning Point in the War For Mobius, or would it be just another footnote in the annals of failed deroboticizer attempts? If it did work, what happened now? Who would be the first to be reborn in their natural form? Sir Charles? Bunnie? She could already see the argument brewing. Sandra just hoped Joseph just grabbed someone at random for testing, and didn't bother leaving it up to Sally. It would probably be better that way. More "impersonal". Then there was the major issue (to Sandra, anyway) of her place in all this. She hoped that she would get mentioned somehow in the history books when this was all over with. Sandra smiled. Imagine that, you stupid teachers; now you're going to have to talk about *me* in class without using me as an *example* and sending me up to the Principal's Office! Ha! She grinned, leaning back and fantasizing about how her 12th grade Mobian Government teacher, Mrs. Whippensnak, would deal with talking about her, "that nasty Nightweaver girl", in a glowing and utterly sweet way. Oh, how she'd luxuriate in watching that dried-up old battleaxe form the words, "Sandra Nightweaver was one of the most important non-scientist individuals that worked on the deroboticizer project, as well as one of the most vital contributors to the retaking of Mobius after the coup." while restraining a snarl...she wouldn't be able to say what she probably *really* would think, which would probably sound like, "Sandra Nightweaver, that slut, somehow weaseled her way into the Great Regenerator's innocent heart, and used her fame as a means of revenge on those who had opposed her in the past!" She grinned wickedly. Of course, if she were to say that, she would just have to have her killed. "Sandra, are you fantasizing about revenge *again*?" Sandra eeped, not realizing Joseph had been staring at her for a few moments. "Umm..." Joseph smirked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Sorry to interrupt. Carry on, by all means." Sandra whipped a loose grape at Joseph's forehead. "Oh, come on. Like you aren't going to abuse your fame." Joseph squished the grape in mid-air. "I certainly will not!" Sandra smirked disbelievingly. "Yeah, right. You say that *now*, when you've only seen 1/10th of 1% of Mobius' population. But you just wait, oh `Great Regenerator', until you've got the whole population of Mobius deroboticized and hanging on your every word as gospel. Then you'll have no choice but to take advantage of their generosity." Joseph did his best to put his various fantasies out of his mind. Instead, he put on a noble voice, and did utter, "I'll become a philanthropist." Sandra laughed. "A likely story!" "I mean it," he smiled, "I'll dedicate my life to the reconstruction of Mobius and the rebuilding of its cities..." Sandra fluffed her hair, putting on her best `dumb vixen' voice. "...and the *re*tooling of your lab...and the *re*capitulation of your memoirs into a book, television and lecture series, -and- a docudrama...and the *re*cognition of your scientific prowess for several world-improving inventions..." Joseph laughed. "Okay, okay, okay...maybe just a *little*." Sandra smiled. "That's what I like to hear." Joseph looked at Sandra with a jokingly authoratative bent. "You, on the other hand, are not going to blatantly abuse your new position in society!" Sandra snickered. "Yeah, right. Whatever, Joey." Joseph shook his finger at Sandra as if he was scolding a misbehaving puppy, giggling the whole time. "Oh no, you aren't! I won't have it!" "Yeah, yeah, whatever." "If you do," Joseph sniggered, "you'll have to be *punished*!" Sandra tried to look agast. "Oh no!" "And do you know who *does* the *punishing*?!" Again, Sandra tried to look mortified. "Not YOU!" Joseph cackled. "That's right! So you better BEHAVE!" Sandra tried to cower, but she fell back in the chair from laughing. "Never!" she exclaimed, "You'll have to *punish* me over and OVER to get *me* to be good!" Joseph's grinned very, very wickedly. "I better start now, then..." Sandra eeped and curled into a ball in the chair, chuckling. "I'll *punish* you right back, you dastardly fox you!" Joseph laughed loudly, and unbuckled his belt. He removed it from his jeans, bent it into a loop, and snapped it loudly. "I hope so!" Sandra poked her head out and eeked! "Oh, HELP me," she chortled, "someone SAVE me from being *punished*!" Throwing the belt away, he advanced on the chair, giggling madly the whole time. The deroboticizer could wait a few hours... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bunnie stood in front of a bonfire, watching the steam waft off of her legs and arm. She'd have to stick around until they were completely dried off, she thought, or else they would warp the metal when she went back out into the cold. The firelight flickered in her jade eyes as she stared into it, allowing her mind to wander. Doing this made her feel at peace...it was as if nothing existed but the fire and her, a single consciousness drifting idly through time and space, the warmth from the fire the only indication of something other than the cold, airless depths of space-- >From infinity, Tails yelled, "BUNNIE!" Arrgh. Bunnie turned around, smiling. "Yes, Tails?" "Sally needs your help again." Lovely. "Really, sugar? What's wrong?" "She opened up Rotor's closet." Bunnie grumbled mentally, but kept her mask firmly in place. "Oh! Well, just a minute, Tails..." Bunnie took off her mental parking brake, stretched out, and hopped out the door, Tails leading the way. A cyberdoe's work is never done. They arrived in Rotor's hut a few moments later, and began digging Sally out from under the piles and piles of junk Rotor kept in his closet for whatever particular reason. It was tedious, annoying work, which a person with her particular abilities had come to expect. It was simply her bailwick to do all of the physical labor...she didn't like it, but she had no choice but to accept it. After all, if you can, you do. It was how the FFs stayed alive. She and Tails took more and more junk off the pile, moving it into another one a few yards away. They both knew Sally was okay under all that garbage, but she was probably pinned down by a toaster or something. Or maybe she had just chosen to stay still, out of fear of having a burned-out motherboard impale her. Bunnie didn't know, and didn't care. All that mattered was the task. A few moments later, they pulled a dirty and rumpled Sally out from under a series of greasy hydrolics. She smiled appreciatively and thanked both of them for getting her out from under all of it. "Are you okay, sugar?" Sally nodded, dusting herself off. "Yes, Bunnie, Tails...I forgot to stand on the opposite side of the door when I opened it, is all." She picked up a small chip from the floor. "But I got what I needed." Tails smiled. "Great. Can I go now?" Sally grinned. "Yes, Tails. You too, Bunnie." Bunnie shrugged and left, not bothering to mention that the same chip had been sitting on the counter the whole time. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bunnie was progressively growing more irritated with her lot in life. Today, while not being an exceptionally annoying one, had been an example of what she disliked most of all about being partially roboticized: she was a tool. Hardly anyone ever came by to talk to her unless she was needed to do this or that. She never heard `how are you' or 'you're having a nice hair day' unless the words 'could you please...?" were attached to it. Take, take, take, she thought. All people ever do is take from her. The Freedom Fighters use her for the muscle, and all she gets is a pat on the back and a `good show' for her efforts. All people saw her as, Bunnie scowled, was an eye-pleasing labor-saving device. Bunnie walked off into the woods. Well, she was more than that. She had a mind and a soul, too. She had feelings. Didn't people realize that, despite her "popularity", nobody ever actually *knew* how she really felt? Bunnie walked right by a roving SpyGlobe, which seemed to ignore her as well. Would they still think she was so great if she was just a regular, ordinary rabbit? Just a doe with a heart and a mind, not just one with two steel legs and a fist? Little did Bunnie know that her question was about to be answered... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A few hours later, a relaxed pair of foxes idly flicked through the various perspectives on Mobius vis i vis Joseph's numerous spy cameras and microphones. "Well, you certainly showed me what for," Sandra cooed, leaning back against Joseph in the large chair. She rubbed her back against Joseph's t-shirt, relishing in the warmth of her mate. "I think I'll be bad more often." Joseph smirked, and fiddled with one of Sandra's ears. "Yeah, like that'll be a change from the norm." Sandra playfully swatted Joseph's nose. "Tsk." As Joseph was about to reply, the image of Bunnie Rabbot crossed the main screen, entered Joseph's mind, and gave him an idea. "I think I see our test subject now." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Minutes later, Bunnie stood inside Joseph's lab, accompanied by Joseph and his "assistant" Sandra. The rabbit marveled at the technological power Joseph had at his fingertips, while Sandra, intimately familar with nearly every surface in the lab, fetched herself a glass of Mobian Black Wine. Yet, Bunnie was skeptical. Who wouldn't be after all the past failures, Joseph thought, so he extended his patience more than usual. "Y'all are *sure* this thing is okay?" Bunnie said, gazing at the deroboticizer terminal. "Yes, Bunnie. It's quite safe, according to the simulations. And since you aren't totally roboticized, it has a very high probability of success." "That's whut Rotor said the first time." Joseph looked mildly amused. "Rotor," he said, "did not personally assist in upgrading the roboticizer software yearly, nor was he instructed in how the device worked." Joseph noticed Bunnie's confidence rising after that statement, so added, "I can almost guarentee that this will work." "Almost?" "It is untested. You are the first." Bunnie smirked. "Greaaaaaat." "You are in no danger, Bunnie. If anything potentially fatal starts to occur, the device will shut down. I can jump over to Haven in 2.5 seconds and fetch their finest medical practitioners, if necessary." Bunnie approached the pad cautiously, still gazing with awe at the power of the machinery. "S-so this won't hurt?" "Probably not a lot. It'll tingle." Bunnie paused, and looked at Joseph imploringly. "And this will...?" "Totally. You'll be just another ordinary, healthy Mobian rabbit." She looked at her arm and her legs for a moment. Joseph didn't interrupt with any comments, nor did Sandra do anything else but quietly drink her wine. The only sound was the dull hum of the deroboticizer device warming up. After a minute, Bunnie looked back up at Joseph. No more metal, she thought, no more sickness. The pain would fade at last. She could live out the remainder of her natural life without lifting another tree, crushing another rock, or saving another-- The Freedom Fighters. She paused, mulling over what would happen to them. Her special abilities had saved them more times than she could count. The glittering, steel fist that had crushed a thousand SWATBots would be just a soft, normal fist. Her large, iron legs would become slim, firm, normal legs. Flesh over metal, blood instead of oil... Her advantage to the Freedom Fighters versus her own life. What should she choose? Would her friends think less of her if she no longer had her limbs of steel and iron? What if-- No, Bunnie thought, no more. I have thought about them before myself for far too long. It is time to do something just for *me*. "Do it." Joseph smiled, pleased that he would acquire a test case. "Please, Bunnie, step onto the pad." Complying, she plodded onto the pad. "Close your eyes," advised Joseph, which she also did. As she stood there in the dark, she reflected on her past life...her birth, her parents, their demise after the coup and her partial roboticization...the war that raged for years and years...after she left her old limbs behind, all of that could stop. The past could be left behind, the present could be lived to its fullest, and the future could be a little brighter. As the machine powered up higher, she thought of all the things she could do now. She could swim with all of her appendages attached. She could walk in the rain without worrying about rusting or being electrocuted. Her leg wouldn't attract refrigerator magnets. No more sadness. No more pain. << "Deroboticizer cycle begins in 10 seconds." >> No longer would she be seen as a tool. They would have to see her for what was inside for once, not just for her strength. The constant cries of "BUNNIE!" whenever something fell or needed to be moved would cease. << "5 seconds." >> Let this work. Please. << "Deroboticizer cycle begins now." >> Plea-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As the bluish energy wave crashed over Bunnie, various readouts monitored the progress of her repairs. Readings were taken, variables were calculated and inserted, and the entire complex seemed to hum louder than usual. Sandra shielded her eyes from the powerful light, nearly deafened by the roar of the machine's intake connections. The floor vibrated as if someone were jumping up and down on it billions of times a second, making for uneasy footing on the laboratory floor. Joseph, whose eyes needed no protection, looked right through the energy wave, watching the physical process occur as it happened. Bunnie's arm and legs glimmered with whitish sparks as the flesh was reconstructed around it, in proper proportion and dimentions to what a normal rabbit of her age possessed. The poisons and regenerator devices that had infected her were melted away by the powerful device, wafting away into mere clouds of brownish steam; and being exterminated by the energy wall that surrounded the deroboticization tube. Minutes turned into centuries as the process continued, insuring its success beyond a shadow of a doubt. Quadruple checks of her status were made to be sure the machine had missed not a single atom of roboticized flesh, nerve, or undercarriage. After a few more seconds, the machinery came to a halt, and the energy field faded to nothing. ^L In the tube stood a rabbit. A simple, ordinary, bipedal, Mobian rabbit. She was pretty in the way only a doe could be; long, pert ears, slim legs with not-too-big feet, and delicate paws. Her violet jumpsuit was a little stretched around her thighs and right arm, and hung loosely around the now-much-smaller openings. Bunnie stood there for a moment in a literal state of shock; her body was rapidly readjusting to the curse's removal. However, her delicate nervous system was unable to take the strain of staying erect and awake while it repaired itself. With a soft moan, she slumped softly to the floor of the tube, and passed out. Joseph picked up the unconscious rabbit and laid her down on a guerney. Sandra walked over, curious to see the first successful deroboticized person in the history of Mobius. As Joseph scanned Bunnie for any permenent damage, Sandra quietly observed the dozing doe, and did her own sort of scan. "She's just sleeping," Joseph relievedly said, "and there appears to be no real damage. She'll need her rest, tho...probably a good 12-14 hours or so." Sandra nodded. "When do we inform Knothole?" Joseph took out a cigar. "We don't." "We don't? But this is a momentous occasion! You've sucessfully deroboticized someone! This is a great day in his--" Joseph shushed his mate. "Let her sleep. She can tell them herself... when she walks into Knothole and shows off her new bod." Sandra smiled. "Ever the romantic, de LaCroix?" Joseph took Sandra's hand, gazed into her eyes, and kissed her firmly. After disengaging, he smiled and spoke, "You bet." She smirked. "We better get out of here before we wake her up." They smiled at each other, and went downstairs to let Bunnie sleep. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The sun rose above the Great Forest with its usual might. The weather was growing warmer, and the layers of ice and snow around the forest were gradually beginning to melt. It was almost warm enough to venture outside in only your sneakers... Of course, for Sonic the Hedgehog, this was his typical garb. As he blasted through the forest, racing between trees and over creeks, he wondered why more people didn't just run around like he did. It was certainly very comfortable; he never got very warm, or very cold...at the speeds he traveled, all you did was give off heat. However, this wasn't the main concern in Sonic's mind at the time. Bunnie hadn't come home last night, and she obviously hadn't been captured by BucketHead yet. Therefore, Sally had told him, she must be in the Great Forest. Sonic was beginning to seriously doubt that, tho. He'd been over the entire Great Forest about twelve times since last night, and he hadn't seen hide nor "hare" of her. It was as if she'd just walked off the face of the planet. Sonic stopped for a moment beside a large cliff. He crouched down on the ground, and looked out over it. He hoped she wasn't hurt. After all, if she went and died, who else could kick 'bot butt the same way she did? Who'd do the western watch? Who'd open bottles for Uncle Chuck? He took off again, concernedly scanning the horizon for his lost compatriot. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - She awoke on the guerney, tucked in warmly by someone who obviously wasn't there any longer. She looked straight ahead, and saw the strange crystalline ceiling of the laboratory. She hadn't had some sort of bad chili dream, after all... She hopped off the guerney, and was momentarily shocked at the coldness of the floor. She yelped surprisedly and pulled herself back on the guerney with some minor difficulty. Then, in a flash of enlightenment, it hit her dead on. She wasn't roboticized any longer. Her hands were warm, and her feet were uncomfortably cool. As she shoved them back underneath the covers, she laughed happily at the sensation of feeling from her legs and right arm. It felt more wonderful than anything she had felt in years and years! To be cold again, to not be strong enough to lift kilotons of stuff over your head without breaking a sweat! It was esctasy itself. She rolled on her side, purring from the sensation of her right arm being pressed into the guerney from her own weight. The pleasures of the flesh were hers again, and were ripe for the taking! Her whole life laid before her, fresh and new as the day she was born... She found her eyes watering. As she was about to wipe them with her left hand, as had become her custom, she allowed her right hand to caress her sensitive eyes, removing the moisture from her sight. Oh, how good it felt! It was like being caressed with a featherduster in all the right spots... A large hole opened in the floor, which disgorged Joseph and Sandra. The tall orange fox looked over at her, smiled, and started to walk over to get a closer look. Impulsively, she lept off the guerney, plodded over the cold floor, and jumped within the vicinity of Joseph's chest to give him a hug. After a glance of approval from Sandra, Joseph gave the happy doe a nice, warm hug. She returned the favor tenfold, at least in his opinion, by squeezing him as hard as she possibly could. "Thank you," she whispered happily, "oh thank you..." Joseph said nothing, but merely allowed Bunnie to hang on. However, not wanting to seem cold, he patted her softly between the ears, and smiled. She did have very soft hair. He wondered if she'd ever styled a fox's hair before. He could probably get it pretty cheap now, he quipped mentally, and continued the hug. "You can never know how much this means to muh..." she cooed, moistening Joseph's shirt somewhat with her tears of joy. Minutes passed as Bunnie just out-and-out cried on Joseph, showing her happiness at being finally, totally, free of Robotnik. She went into great detail of how she used to feel about how people treated her, how awful she felt when she looked in the mirror, and how she never thought she could have children. After a good while of this, Bunnie calmed down enough to let go of the now soaked Joseph, and began to try out her new legs by pacing around the room. While she ran around goofily, Joseph vaporized some of the rabbit tears and such off of his shirt with a dryer. "So, Bunnie," said Sandra unexpectedly, "what are you going to do now? Take a vacation? Start your own business? What?" Bunnie smiled happily, ceasing her gesticulations for a moment. "I'm gonna live, girl. Live like there's not gonna be a tom'rrow." Sandra smiled. "I bet you will." "Yes'm, I'm gonna have some FUN. Gonna be selfish and greedy for a change...I'm g'wine get *two* bags of coffee off my connection, and I'm gonna have a big ol' cup every DAY!" Sandra grinned amusedly. "Is that all?" The rabbit bounded about. "No way, Sandy! I'm gonna totally slack off for once; not do one whit of work, sugah, for a good, long time." She smiled. "I'm gonna get m'self dolled up, and I'm g'wine paint the town RED!" She giggled. "Mobius, here I come!" Sandra laughed politely. "Well, I'm sure you'll have one hell of a time, Bunnie. Just remember that you'll need to take it easy for a few days." She smiled. "Naturally! I wouldn't wanna get sick after all this trouble." "Yes," Joseph said, dried, "please be careful." Bunnie grinned and bounced over to Joseph yet again to hug him. "Oh, you sweet fox! Sandy's lucky to have yah." She gave him a good squeeze, and winked mischiveously at the hapless fox. "Jus' remember to treat him right, girl...else I might just have to steal 'im from yew." They all laughed. "Well, Bunnie," Joseph beamed, "I'm afraid that's not going to be a problem. You'll just have to be content with the rest of Mobius--" "Besides," Sandra said, "he snores." Joseph looked belligerantly at Sandra as Bunnie giggled. "Hey!" Sandra folded her arms and smirked. "You do! It's deafening!" "Do not!" "Do too!" The whole conversation was about to sink into a relapse of last time when Bahb kicked its two cents in from somewhere. << "Visitor at the main door." >> Joseph looked into a random monitor, and pulled up a display of the area surrounding the Dome. "Oh, wouldn't you know it!" "What?" the females said. Joseph smiled slowly. "Sonic had to come and spoil the surprise...but I've got an idea." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joseph opened the front door, and let his blue half-brother in. "Hello, Sonic! How've you been?" Sonic took a seat. "I've been better, Joe." Joseph looked concerned. "What's wrong?" Sonic sighed. "Bunnie's gone missing, and nobody seems to know where she is. Everyone's worried about her." Joseph feigned worriedness. "Oh no!" Sonic nodded. "Yeah, it totally stinks. I've searched the entire Great Forest, and she's nowhere to be found." He growled, and pounded his fist into his hand. "If BucketHead's hurt her in any way..." Joseph put his hand on Sonic's shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure she's probably on her way back to Knothole now." He took a breath. "Wanna chili dog?" Sonic nodded. "Yeah, anything to get my mind off worryin'." Joseph walked Sonic over to the pad, and commanded it to descend to the laboratory. As they glided downward, Sonic kept talking. "Have you se--heard anything about where she might be?" Joseph didn't even flinch. "Nope. I don't get out much." "Yeah, but people say you...know things." Joseph's voice took on a questioning tone. "`Things'? What sort of `things'?" Sonic started to become slightly unnerved, seeing that he was twisting the lion's tail right in the center of his den. "Weird things. Things only a tree or a rock sh--would know." "Why would I know such things? I'm a scientist, not a spy." Sonic's palms sweated within his gloves. "Well, people say you have ways of seein' things. Cameras, microphones, and stuff." Joseph's tone changed to one of dismissal. "Rubbish. I have no need to spy on anyone. Such accusations are silly." Sonic became relieved rather quickly. "Well, bro, you know *I* would never believe such UnCool things about my favorite half-sib." "Yes, of course." They arrived in the lab a moment later, where a chili dog was sitting on a nearby table. Sonic instinctively gravitated toward it, and devoured it in one gulp. "Got any Fizz [tm]?" Joseph yawned. "Sure." He waved his hands causally into the shadows. "Bunnie, why don't you hand my brother a Fizz [tm]?" Before Sonic could react, Bunnie walked out of the shadows and handed Sonic a Fizz [tm] cola. Sonic's eyes seemed to bug out when he saw Bunnie in her deroboticized form. "Way--Past--Cool!" was the only thing Sonic could emit for a few moments. Bunnie posed for Sonic. "Sugarhog, I'm fixed!" They embraced each other. "Oh wow," Sonic said, "this is way, way, way, way past." Joseph and Sandra smiled. "You did good," Sandra whispered to her mate, "and I'm really proud to call you my own." And then *they* embraced, albeit far more passionately. Everyone would have probably gone on like that for a few days if Sonic hadn't suddenly realized something. "Hey! Sally wants me back like 90 seconds ago!" He grabbed Bunnie. "We gotta--" The four of them were enveloped in a bluish blast of light, and disappeared into thin air. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sally sat worriedly in her chair, gazing out the window for the hearld of cheers that accompanied Sonic's return from anywhere. She was beginning to worry that whatever had gotten Bunnie had gotten him too, which certainly wouldn't make *her* very happy. But, just as she was about to go out and look for them herself, a flash of teleportation energy alerted her to an arrival behind her. Instinctively, she lept into a defensive postion and awaited the assault of her attackers...however, her eyes met to a much more amazing sight. Standing immediately in front of her were Sonic, Joseph, Sandra Nightweaver, and a deroboticzed Bunnie Rabbot! Sally gasped out of sheer disbelief. "You...you did it!" Joseph smiled sagely. "Yup." "But...I just can't believe it!" "Yup." Sally just stood there, slackjawed with sheer amazement. Joseph nudged Sonic in her direction to calm her down a bit, which he pulled off, as usual, with a big kiss. For a short, extremely precious moment, nobody had a single problem in that entire hut. Bunnie was happy, Sonic and Sally were kissing, and Joseph and Sandra just took it all in. However, reality soon intervened with the secession of the kiss. "Joseph," Sally articulated, now of a cool head, "your name will be remembered for eternity on Mobius for this. You've sealed Packbell's doom with this device--" "It's not done yet." Sally looked disappointed. "It's not?" "No, no. I've only got the v1.x deroboticizer done, for people who were roboticized with any one of the v1.x roboticizers. I'm working on the v2.x, v3.x, and v4.x types now." "And when..." "Probably near next Solstice." "Well, you can start deroboticizing people now, right?" Joseph crossed his arms. "If you think I'm going to deroboticize the entire population of Mobius, you're sadly mistaken..." A pause long enough to put a knot in Sally's throat. "...because YOU'RE going to do it!" Joseph waved his hand, triggering a portable v1.x deroboticizer to materialize nearby. "Just put 'em in, push the button, and watch 'em cook. I've already started making more...and when I make new software, all you'll need to do is plug it in the convienent dataport on the side of the device." Sally smiled happily. "This is wonderful! Thank you!" And, as expected, she went and gave Joseph a hug, too. (Sandra hoped this wasn't going to become a trend.) He magnamiously accepted the amusing custom with one of his own, and politely disengaged. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." Sally smiled. "By all means, get back to work!" Joseph bowed, pulled Sandra close, and hit a small toggle inside his jacket. "As you wish..." They both disappeared in a bluish glow of plasma, leaving no trace of their arrival besides a good pile of hope. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Later that evening, after the initial happy celebration of Bunnie's deroboticization, everyone calmed down enough to go to sleep. As the people of Knothole began to turn in for the night, Bunnie took her usual night watch post, overlooking a small brook near Joseph's territory. She sat back in her chair, feeling relaxed and beautiful. She hadn't felt beautiful in ages, she thought happily, especially not at this hour. She groomed herself somewhat vainly in the moonlight, using the brook as a mirror. My, she loved the way she looked! She was a very attractive and (dare she say it) sexy doe when the steel was gone. Her long legs were firm and svelte, her hands soft and youthful, and her eyes shone like emeralds in the dim moonlight. She smiled and walked around her post. She knew as well as everyone else did that no SWATBot could make it through the lethal traps and roving SpyGlobes that patrolled all around this area; not any longer, anyway. The post was mainly to reassure some of the more hostile, xenophobic members of Knothole that Joseph couldn't sneak out of there in the middle of the night and suck the blood of the living, or some stupid line like that. She stroked her ears boredly. Joseph was a really, really great fox. He'd actually picked her--her, of all people, to be deroboticized first. What an honor! What a rush! How great it was to be able to frolic in the forest like anyone else! She grinned, a little exhausted from her prancing about, and sat back down. The moon even seemed stronger and healthier tonight, she mused, rolling a smooth river rock in her right hand. But had she done the right thing? Was it wrong not to wait until she was sure her strength wouldn't be needed again? Only time would tell. But she knew one thing was absolutely certain... "Joseph, you'd make your daddy proud."