"How is Mademoiselle Tristina?" Antione asked, looking curiously at Sally. The Princess looked up from Nicole to see Rotor and Antione anxiously staring at her.

"She's fine." said Sally, closing the computer and slipping it back onto her blue boot. "A little shaken up from a run in with that swatbot, but she's fine. as long as she stays in the air ducts, she should reach the access port with no problems." "I sure hope so." said Rotor, glancing at the downed mechanical walker.

"I'd hate for something to happen to her..."

the three were interrupted as a ringing phone pierced the silence, and Sally quickly snatched it up.

"Sally? its me." a gravelly voice whispered on the other end.

"Uncle Chuck! We've reached the control center, and we're at the main control board right now." said Sally, smiling.

"Good job, Sal. Sonny, Bunnie and I have taken control of a dino bot. we're in its control room. Now, you need to shut down the mines main circuits."

"Okay but..." Sally paused, looking up at the various controls above her. "I dont see a control panel for the cranes."

"Must be separate. Keep looking." Uncle Chuck encouraged. "We'll get this T- bot up and running, then try to either take care of the cranes or the crystal from here." "Will do." said Sally, listening to the click of the phone as she hung up.

"Maybe one of these." Sally muttered to herself, pressing three yellow squares on a control panel above her.

[hr]

Meanwhile, Inside the Dino Bot, Uncle Chuck pressed a similar set of yellow squares on a keyboard in front of him. "Alright, lets get this T-bot cranking. Hit it Bunnie!"

the half robotic rabbit complied with quiet grunt. the level responded with a clank, and the Dino bot rumbled to life. "This T-Bots workin' for us now." Uncle Chuck growled happily as Bunnie and Sonic whooped with glee. The Swatbots scattered in earnest, mainly in the interest of self preservation. as it neared the crystal, the claw on the dino bots right side slowly lifted towards the sparkling gem.

Inside, Sonic (along with Bunnie) thrust his fist into the air with glee. "Large move!" Sonic whooped. "Shred that sucker!" As the pincers of the claw and arm inched closer to the tempting cables.

Suddenly, several smaller cables (appearing almost string like on the screen) enclosed around the claw like a net. finally, despite visible resistance from the claw and arm, the cables forced the claw of the screen.

outside the dino bot, Sonic and Bunnie could pick up the sound of winces and cranes clanking outside. "The claw is down!" Sonic yelped, despite the fact he knew Uncle Chuck and Bunnie could see the screen as well.

Uncle chuck stared at the screen for a moment longer, before his jointed robotic fingers began typing furiously at the keyboard.

"We'll have to use the laser drill to destroy the crystal." Uncle Chuck said softly, a slight tone of desperation in his voice. a slight vibration erupted around the robotic hedgehog and freedom fighters as the gears in the dino bots neck forced its head towards the crystalline threat.

the room was filled with a deafening hum as a and white beam leapt from the dino bots snout. there was a brief flash of light as the beam struck the crystal and dissolved in a blue flash. after a moment, the gargantuan gem began to emit a faded yellow glow. faded yellow bands began to crackle around the crystal over the ropes securing it to the crane.

"The crystal [i]absorbed[/i] the laser energy." Uncle chuck gasped with awe, staring at the screen.

before Sonic could equally voice his amazement, he cried out as he, Bunnie and Uncle Chuck were violently tossed about in the bowels of the dino bot. Holding onto the sparking control panel, Sonic, Uncle Chuck, and Bunnie screamed as the walls and floor shuddered and shook around them. Finally, with a almighty ear shattering crash, the dino bot fell and was still.

[hr]

[i]Finally, took me long enough to get here.[/i] Tristina thought, staring at the flashing controls and the multicolored ribbons of energy above her. a lone tech bot was operated the various control panels.

a single light aqua throwing knife to the back of the head rendered the bot inoperable, and allowed Tristina to freely wheel towards and peruse the control panels at her leisure. "Alright tubby, time to pay for the hell you put my friends through." Tristina whispered, beginning to type at the keyboard. after a few moments, various holo screens of data began to pop up in front of the disabled hedgehog.

"Lets see... land map data...topographical data..." Tristina muttered to herself as she read through the list. "Ah ha, here we go. structural identification data." Tristina frowned, then swore to herself. "Looks like some data DID managed to escape Project: Sally and make it to Robotnik's databases. crud. This isn't good." Tristina muttered, frowning as she examined the information.

"At least he didn't get Knotholes exact location, but the fact this thing picks up structural data is...unsettling." Tristina then grinned. "Well then, lets just make some 'adjustments' to Robotnik's data shall we?" grinning evilly to herself, Tristina's eyes began to glow pure white as her fingers typed furiously away at the keyboard.

After what seemed like forever, the streams of data flowing above Tristina began to rippling as they weakened, then grew in strength...and continued growing. the ribbons glowed brighter, then began crackling as red lights flashed around her. Tristina ignored them, grinning ferociously as her fingers flew over the keyboard keys.

with a high pitched groan and several loud cracks, the brightly glowing (almost neon) ribbons of light dissipated. Tristina's eyes faded back in as the red lights and sirens continued blaring. "Heh. I knew all those stories Sally asked me to memorize for Tails would come in handy someday." Tristina muttered, chuckling to herself.

The smile disappeared as the building began to rumble around Tristina, and various nuts, bolts, bits of dust began to shower around Tristina. as a control panel next to Tristina gave a violent spark, Tristina picked up an alert being shouted by the swatbots. "Evacuate! All units, Evacuate! Building self destruct mode activated."

Tristina wheeled out onto the catwalk and watched the swatbots that had made it to the bottom floor run as fast as they could...even if it was a bit stiff...to the door.

"Welp, my job is done. As blue would say, 'I'm outta here!'" Tristina said quietly, quickly shifting to hover mode and lowering the rotation of the fans so she half floated half fell to the bottom floor. half a foot from the ground, Tristina shifted back to ground mode and - with a slight bounce - wheeled at top speed towards the exit.

As Tristina shot through the entrance, several large pieces of catwalk and scrap from the computer systems crumpled to the ground behind her.

[hr]

"This is it..." Uncle Chuck half moaned, half whispered, typing wearily at the keyboard. "We cut it loose now, or Mobius is finished!"

Around them, the gears of the entire bot groaned and shuddered as the head positioned itself once again towards the cables. with another whining moan, the whitish red lined laser beam exploded from under them. a satisfying 'crack' and 'snap' exploded towards the ears of the freedom fighters and the block like crane shuddered to a stop.

Time seemed to stand still and Sonic, Uncle Chuck, and Bunnie barely breathed as the crane groaned just at the hole in the cavern roof. with another snap, then 3 more the crystal fell and crumbled to the ground. there was another groan, and the ropes holding the crane snapped and sent the surprisingly delicate machinery hurdling towards the rocky ground below.

"YEES!" Uncle Chuck bellowed, thrusting his entire body into the air as the dusty ground encircled the now useless block of metal that was once the crystals crane.

"We did it, Sonny boy!" Uncle Chuck cried as his nephew cheered and he happily wrapped his arms around Bunnie.

"Yes, alright!" Bunnie crooned, laughing happily as well. Abruptly stopping the celebrations, Uncle Chuck turned to his nephew. "Now we need to hook up with the others and get outta here." Sonic and Bunnie nodded, then began to follow Uncle Chuck back up the dino bots throat toward its mouth.

[hr]

"Sally, I did it. Any data the tower downloaded about Knothole and the surrounding area has been deleted. I'll give you all the juicy details later, but The tower is crumbling as we speak, and I'm making my way back to the train station now!" Tristina's voice reported through Nicole as Sally typed at the keyboard. A slight whistling along with a faint siren in the background confirmed Tristina's report. "Alright Tiff, see you soon." said Sally. a quiet beep signaled Tristina had closed the connection.

"There," said Sally with a final 'click'. "Everything is shut down except for emergency power." Sally then turned back to Antione and Rotor, who were watching her anxiously. "Lets get back to the elevator."

Racing down the metal catwalks with Antione and Rotor, Sally glanced over the edge to the lower level to see a familiar blue (and in her mind extremely handsome) hedgehog, followed only slightly by a elderly robotic hedgehog on his left and a half robotic rabbit on his right. running full tilt into the elevator, Sally, Antione and Rotor turned to face the elevator doors as they closed.

[hr]

Sonic and Bunnie dodged as a laser blast similar to the ones that had ended the crystal they had sought to stop seared past them. stumbling slightly, Sonic joined his Uncle and Bunnie behind a mine cart. The blasts kept coming, causing Bunnie and Uncle Chuck huddled together in a moment of panic.

Gasping as Sonic touched her arm, Bunnie and Uncle Chuck's gaze followed the younger hedgehog's finger over the top of the Mine cart wall to the safety of the interior. With a quiet boost from Sonic, Uncle Chuck and Bunnie clambered to the interior of the mine cart. Barely sparing the swatbots closing in behind him, Sonic pressed his gloved palms against the metal wall of the cart.

a red blur erupted beneath the supersonic hedgehog, and with a blast of dust Sonic and the mine cart shot forward from their pursuers.

a mile ahead, a elevator door opened and three anxious freedom fighters looked on as Sonic helped Bunnie and Uncle Chuck out of the cart. dodging the gaining swatbots lasers, Sonic, Bunnie, and Uncle Chuck joined Sally, Rotor, and Antione in the elevator and turned to back into the walls as the swatbots ran towards them.

Just as the mechanical soldiers were upon the freedom fighters, the metal door closed and the lift began to shake as it carried its relieved occupants to the floor above. "Sally girl," began Bunnie. "What about-"

"Tiff contacted me just before we picked you guys up." Sally interrupted, trying to calm herself down enough to speak. "She's destroyed the tower as well as any data on knothole. She's going to meet us at the train." "I definitely would like the chance to get to know this 'Tiff' better." Uncle Chuck mused, scratching his chin. "Mikanueans like her are extremely rare, and it would be fascinating to actually speak to one." "Rare? What do you-"

Sally was interrupted as the lift clanked to a stop and the door opened with a quiet rumble. "There's our ride outta here!" Sonic cried, pointing to the train car that had brought them there.

As the freedom fighters raced to the train car, Sonic briefly spotted Tristina flying towards them in the distance. relief at the sight of his friend was short lived however, as a metallic groan and a hiss erupted behind him. As Sally, Bunnie, Antione and Rotor gathered in the train car, Sonic reached out to help up the collapsed robotic hedgehog.

"Uncle Chuck? What's up?" Sonic asked, his heart trembling as Uncle chucks hand reached behind his back and pulled out the large golden hoop.

"Oh man." Sonic moaned, his voice cracking as he felt tears begin to burn behind his eyelids. "Its alright, Sonic." the robotic hedgehog gasped as Sonic's fingers curled around the dimmed power ring. "We saved Mobius...that's the important thing." Sonic swallowed a sob building in his throat, as well as the following whimper as the lump came to rest somewhere in the middle of his chest.

"We gotta get you back to Knothole, warp seven." Sonic croaked, despising the crack in his voice as he moved to help his Uncle to his feet. "Its too..." Uncle Chuck gasped, secretly wishing his nephew would just leave him. "Its too late..." Uncle Chuck gasped as he held his head with one hand. "Sonny..." He breathed as his hand left his head and returned once again to the ground.

"Uncle Chuck?" Sonic asked, hoping to get one more word...even just his name...from his Uncle.

two fierce, almost primal, glowing red eyes met his. Sonic stood rooted as a look of pure hatred and disgust twisted the robots once gentle face. Uncle Chuck let out a threating roar as he looked up at Priority One hedgehog, then hissed as he got to his feet and crouched in a tense stance.

"Sonic, he's turned back." Sally pleaded with their leader, trying to get him to willingly join them on the train.

"You gotta come with me!" Sonic begged as Sally once again called his name, then gasped. Sonic turned to see two moss green and ink black hover units hurdling towards them. "Uncle Chuck!" Sonic cried out in surprise and pain as his Uncle's fingers closed around his upper arms and shook him slightly, all the while emitting that detestable angry hiss.

Suddenly, a blast of light blue energy separated the two as Antione and Bunnie's fingers closed around either of Sonic's arms.

"Come on, Shuga' Hog!" Bunnie cried as she and Antione dragged their leader away from his roboticized family.

"Uncle Chuck!" Sonic cried at the top of his lungs, only able to watch as Tristina joined them, a light blue light fading from both her hand and Uncle Chuck's eyes.

"Sonic," Sally replied, choking back a sob. "We have to leave him." There was no reply as the train car door closed and the car itself began to rattle down the tracks.

a faint growl reached them, but none saw Uncle Chuck order the two hovercrafts after the fleeing freedom fighters...nor did they hear the whine of the hover crafts as they narrowly avoided colliding with the steel wall as the car escaped into a tunnel.

"What did you do?!" Sonic screamed, his gloved hands slamming the disabled hedgehog's wheelchair into the back wall.

"Sonic, I'm-"

"Shut up!" Sonic roared, his hands slamming the mikanuean's wheelchair into the opposing wall. "Answer me! What the hell did you do to Uncle Chuck?!"

"I rebooted his systems, that's all! I swear!" Tristina cried, fear now creeping into her voice. "He was going to hurt you, Sonic! I had to-"

"No! Uncle Chuck would never hurt me!" Sonic bellowed. "He loves me! He would never..." Sonic's furious, wrinkled snarl slowly began to dissipate, and his rapidly glistening eyes quietly widened.

"I...He..." stepping away from Tristina, Sonic backed into a the trains opposing wall.

His knees buckled as his quills scraped the metal wall. folding his arms around his knees, Sonic buried his head until only his ears and quills showed. tears stung Tristina's eyes as a quiet sobbing accompanied Sonic's lurching peach shoulders.

Tristina's stinging spine was soon drowned by the building sorrow in her own heart as she watched Bunnie and Sally crouch next to their grieving leader.

"I should'a saved him." Sonic moaned into his gloved hands, his head rolling from side to side. Tristina swallowed her own sob, mainly to keep from adding to the commotion, as tears quietly rolled down her own peach cheeks.

"Ya did what you could, honey, We couldn't bring him back." said Bunnie, kneeling next to Sonic. "He's loyal to Robotnik." she finished with a soft bite at the name.

"We'll get him back another day, Sonic." said Sally softly, as Sonic rested his chin on his arms, an occasional tear still rolling down his cheeks. "Promise." she added gently, and even Tristina had to crack a smile.

"Yeah, and look what we were able to do with Uncle Chuck." said Rotor, a bit of pride shining through his gentle tone. "We totaled that crystal!"

"tres manifique!" Antione added hopefully. "Sonic." said Tristina, pushing her wheelchair forward slightly. "I'm not sure how he knows, but I managed to copy some of the Roboticizer's main programming from Uncle Chuck's memories." said Tristina, mentally kicking herself for referencing her attack on the elderly robotic hedgehog.

"You know, I was able to copy some of the roboticizer's software." added Sally, stroking Sonics arm gently. "One day, we'll change Uncle Chuck back...permanently." "Along with all of our families." added Rotor comfortingly.

Sonic stared at his red and white sneakers for a moment, then looked up at the disabled hedgehog in front of him.

"Your sure you just made him restart?" Tristina nodded solemnly. "He still has his personality and memories, it will only be as if he's waking up from a brief nap." Tristina explained gently, deciding to forego the comparison of Uncle Chuck to Nichole. Sonics forgiving smile was all the apology Tristina needed. Rolling his head on the back wall, Sonic's slightly bloodshot eyes fell upon the door where he had last seen Uncle Chuck.

"Hang in there, Uncle Chuck." He vowed as another tear fell down his cheek. "We'll be back."

The End.