Robotnik gaped at what he beheld on the viewing monitor- the ranks of his Swatbots doing the can-can! A midget roboticized gorilla aided the ridiculous scene by playing the theme music of the dance from a miniscule boom box it propped on a shoulder.

"SNIVLEY!" The eggman cried in outrage. The unfortunate subbordinate scurried in on command.

"Yes, sir?" he whined in a nasal voice.

"What is the meaning of this!"

The aide examined the screen. "Perhaps they're throwing a birthday party, sir?"

"No you idiot!" The roar sent Snivley a cowering step back. "Fool! Shut your mouth! This must be the work of that ratty squirrel and her accursed band of 'freedom fighters'. Go and handle the situation! Command as many units as you need, just take care of it!"

"But, sir-"

"No buts! I have important work to do! Well, what are you waiting for, Snivley? Go! Out you loathsome imbecile!" The nerve-rattled assistant hurriedly cleared the room.

Robotnik dashed the lights and returned to the brief loop video.

Antoine slapped his knees, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Zat iz 'ilarious, moi!"

The Swatbots continued their dance number unabated.

"Thanks, sugah." She winked slyly. "The credit ain't mine ta claim though, it's Rotor's doin'. Download transfer hacker signal 'er somethin', I think..."

"Awe well, zat iz not wat iz important right now!" the fox proclaimed with flashy boldness. "Now we must... find a zafe place so az not to be captured and shot?"

Bunny's ears drooped disapprovingly. "That's the most anti-climatic thang I evah heard, 'Toine."

He waggled a finger, "Awe, but it iz the truth! May I suggezt we, how you say, mosey?"

"Hold on!" Bunny cautioned. "We ain't finished with our part, we gotta give Tails 'n Sally enough time 'ta high tail it faster'n jack rabbits on fire, too! Besides, I hear somethin', so shut yer trap for a min."

Antoine, moaning in worry, crouched low with Bunny as a troop of new uninfected Swatbots marched in. Amazingly enough, Snively stood at their lead. Halting his force, he raised a hand high above his head. "Ready, aim," he grinned sadistically, drawing out the words in an important sounding fashion, "fire!"

The can-can festivities ceased as the stricken security robots toppled over. Convulsing, electrical spikes over loaded their systems. The replacements uniformly shouldered their smoking guns.

"Good, good!" Snively cackled exuberantly. "And the lardy doctor said I was good for nothing, ha! I'll show him just how important an administrator I can be! Maybe then he'll show me a little respect!" His glinting eye snapped back to his troops. "Alright! Fan out, sweep this entire area! Whatever you may find not of Robotropolis, shoot it! Destroy it! Get rid of the remains! Don't allow anything to pass the boundaries of this sector! By any means necessary! Go, now!" The crazed little man was enjoying every horrific minute of his position.

The two concealed Mobians stared witness, Bunny only managing to rasp, "Oh my stars..."

This was easy as pie! Turning left, he found it easier to slide through the air ducts rather then crawl. Sure he was more likely to bump a little more, but he couldn't get through totally silent anyway, right? Lashing his double tails excitedly, Tails made it to the vent he was supposed to use in getting to the reactor core.

Glancing from side to side out into the corridor, he unlatched the grate and slipped lightly down to the floor. Yep, piece o' cake!

Stalking carefully down the steel hallway, the young fox gasped as it opened up into a far greater room of expansive measure. "Whooooa..." He breathed to himself.

The entirety of Knothole could fill this new room ten times over! It was enormous, shadowed almost wall to wall and the ceiling lost entirely to the dark. The only thing in it was an equally impressive cylindrical contraption jutting from the floor to the depths above- the reactor. It wasn't fully completed, only an innate monolith of frightening girth at this time. Tails was now positive the Sally's judgement in destroying this thing now was sound. It loomed darkly over the orange onlooker, promising to lay waste against Mobius should it ever be completed. Setting his jaw, he got to work.

Darting from control panels lining each wall and the base of the reactor, Tails dexterously fitted a detonator to each. Leaping off the ground and whirling his tails skillfully, he ascended the reactor itself and landed on the lip of an uncompleted section of it. Glowering down the length of it, her tossed the rest of his explosives in.

Checking his watch, he nodded in satisfaction as the face revealed he'd spent only twenty-one seconds out of the air conduits. Gliding back down, he hit the floor running, making it back to his open duct in the corridor, clasping it shut, and huddling against the back wall of it. There was only a one hundred meter limit to the detonator's receiving power, so the safest thing to make sure it went off was for Tails to ignite them while he could still compensate the distance if activation of the bombs should fail. Figuring it just as good a time as any, he rolled to the side of the shaft opening, removed a simple black remote from his belt, and pushed its' solitary red button.

The resulting explosion was deafening. Shrapnel burst in all directions like confetti poppers at a new years party while the massive explosion lit the chill void of the room to the ceiling with a plume of searing flame. Tails let out a yell that was lost in the blazing destruction of the incomplete mechanical power producer. 'What did Rotor pack those explosives with!?' he thought in panic to himself. With a ruckus like that, he only had a matter of moments before there were robots swarming all over him! No wonder Sonic was always the one to run missions like this! Recovering from the back lash shock wave of the blowout, Tails shook his head and scampered down through the vents.

"Gotta get out, oh man, I gotta get out fast!" he coached himself frantically. He stopped short with wide eyes as something zinged past his head. Glancing back quickly in stricken fright, a mouse robot glared back at him with beady red visor eyes. The hollow mouth of a laser mounted on it's back also trained its attention on the freedom fighter.

Tails blinked in disbelief as it charged for another shot.

The two scrambled for their lives as a Swatbot brought its' solid fists down on the beam they had been using as cover.

"Oi, mama! I 'ave done nothing to dezerve thes!"

"Shut up an' run, Antone!" Bunny cried in disgruntled exasperation. Did he do nothing but complain?!

Snively's gleaming eyes noticed the activity. "Freedom Fighters! Get them! Get them! Dead or alive, it doesn't matter! Stop them at all costs!"

"Yeesh. An' I thought ol' Robotnik was a pitiless dictator." The partially robotisized rabbit rolled her eyes. "Antone! Break for it!"

"You dun 'ave to tell me twize!" he yelped in reply, leaping behind a stack of iron crates.

Bunny herself dove around a building for cover. Only having several seconds (for she could hear the metal clanking of enemy approach), she clamped her eyes close tight. 'What ta' do, what ta' do! I ain't gonna go like this, I've been in worse! Though havin' Antone as a partner does bump this run down a notch." She sweat dropped as his wails rang out over the weapons fire. Searching around, her general vicinity, she searched for something, anything that was a way out. "I hope you're fairin' better, Sally girl..."

Only three of the detonators had been set, she wasn't making good progress. It didn't help that swarms of Swatbots kept passing by, either. Seemed there was actually an organized search being headed, which worried her. Was everyone else all right? She could only hope.

Fourth detonator in place!

Consulting Nicole, Sally figured she only had two more trucks to rig. Darting out, staying low, moving onto the next vehicle when the coast seemed clear. She hated this sprinting in between targets; there was a high risk of being spotted. Sliding underneath the passenger side, she located the fuel tank and slapped on an explosive. Rolling out from behind the back wheels, she found herself blinking down the muzzle of laser rifle.

"Display identification." The Swatbot flatly ordered.

"Oh God..." was the disheartened reply.