Flicky Island

by NetRaptor

An island appears on the ocean, and the gang goes to investigate. Sonic 3D Blast with dinosaurs.

Flicky Island

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By K. M. Hollar

Note: All views held in this fanfic are my own. If the reader notices that the dinosaur species do not adhere to the evolutionary time scale, it is because I am not an evolutionist. If any of the following offends you, feel free to email me and tell me why.

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Copyright stuff: Sonic and all related characters are copyrighted by Sega and/or Archie comics. Slasher, Serena, Creeah, Ranger, Draco, Grehar and Zephyer copyrighted by K. M. Hollar. Spark copyrighted by Spark Hedgehog.

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It all started the evening the radar picked up a strange blip.

Spark, the green hedgehog with the black face and robot arm, was manning the defense radar for a few hours. The station was in a hut built in the top of one of the Great Forest's tallest trees, high above the treehouse village of Eagles' Nest. The Freedom Fighters had fled to this backup village when the deadly terbium, a radioactive element that grew like a plant, had been unleashed in Knothole. Now that the terbium had been neutralized, however, teams had been going back and cleaning up the remains of the village. Plans were being made to move back as soon as Knothole could be rebuilt.

Spark's eyelids sneaked shut on him. He sat up and shook his head; he must not go to sleep at his post. The darkness of the room made him sleepy ... the only light came from the glowing screens. Determinedly he fixed his eyes on the radar screen with the bright green line sweeping it in a circle--maybe the light would wake him up. He watched the line make two full circles before his mind wandered. The only things out there was what used to be Robotropolis, Knothole and the Floating Island. He cupped his chin in both hands and leaned wearily on the table. He had been on the Knothole work crew that morning, and spent the afternoon supervising the de-robotizer at work.

He was vaguely aware of the humming of the radar dish as it turned in the branches above him, an eye on the distant world. It was monotonous ... hypnotic. He drummed his metal fingers on the table before him. "Admit it--you're exhausted," he told himself silently. "Should have let Sonic have my turn ... he wanted it ... I thought it would be fun ..." He thought of the de-robotizer. He had been the first one to try it out and it had worked wonderfully. Ever since that day, six weeks ago, they had de-robotized ten to twenty animals a day. It made a small dent in the thousand-odd worker-bots that who were camped out on the ground below Eagles' Nest. And of course, like any other machine, the de-robotizer had to be maintained regularly, and ...

Spark's eyelids dropped shut again. He forced them open with an effort. Gee, he shouldn't have volunteered. Now he would have to stay up late, and he was already bushed.

Beep. It startled him. His eyes flew to the radar screen. A blip was just fading from sight. He waited until the beam passed over it again. Another beep. It was a large blip on the very top left edge of the screen. He stood up, stepped over to the control panel and flipped a few switches, activating the identification system.

The next time the radar passed over the unidentified object, it stopped and beamed directly at it. One of the two computer screens flickered to life, and an outline began to trace itself out in green. Spark watched it uneasily. Perhaps it was an attack ship, built by Robotnik or one of the robots. It was not until the entire thing had been drawn that he recognized it as an island. A rather large island ... and it hadn't been there a minute ago! The computer's ID system did not recognize it.

The hedgehog hit save to keep those drawings, then returned the radar to its normal sweep. Time to tell somebody about this.

* * *

It wasn't long before the radar tower/tree hut was packed full of curious Freedom Fighters. Sally had come first and hooked Nichole up to the radar computer. Sonic followed her up, then Tails had dropped in. Serena, Sonic's sister, came looking for them and decided to stick around, and Slasher had come in to see what was up. Knuckles came in last of all, and had found most of the available standing space was taken.

The room was a bit small for the 7 of them, but they all wanted to see what Nichole came up with. Sally worked her way over to the radar dish controls and had it target the strange island again. "Nichole needs more information," she explained, elbowing her way back to the computers. At present, the little laptop was engaged in analyzing the info Spark had gathered, and seeking a match among all known islands.

Again one of the screens came to life and traced out the island's outline.

"That's a big island," Sonic observed.

Spark elbowed him. "Duh, Einstein."

The blue hedgehog pushed him back. "Oh, shut up. Just 'cause you were the first to see it--"

"Quiet!" Sally barked. "Nichole found something!"

The group stilled and gazed at the screens. Nichole's electronic voice filled the room as her findings flashed on the other computer screen.

"Object has been identified as Flicky Island. Three hundred miles in length, one hundred fifty miles in breadth, Flicky Island last appeared at the beginning of the Great War."

A three-dimensional mesh map of the island appeared and slowly rotated.

"Scans show it has been in another dimension until now. Reasons for reappearance: unknown."

The 3-D map began to shade in its terrain.

"Southeast tip is heavily forested. The center of the mountain is mountainous and has both a glacier range and an active volcano."

Sonic and Knuckles tossed each other a glance over the heads of the others. It was rather unusual for an island to have fire and ice at the same time.

Nichole continued to narrate. The room was almost completely silent. "Further scans show advanced technology and civilization on northwest shore." The computer paused, then said, "Sally, any further information was stored on the Robotropolis mainframe." Sally looked at the group and sighed. Everything in the city had been destroyed by the terbium, and Robo Knux had taken out all the main computers himself.

"Thank you, Nichole," Sally said, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Save the gathered information."

"Affirmative." Sally sat back in the chair and sighed again. "Well you guys, what do you think?"

"Sounds creepy to me," Tails piped up. "I wouldn't want to go there. I mean, what if it went back into that other place with us on it?"

"But what made it disappear in the first place?" Knuckles asked. He folded his arms. "I've played with that kind of stuff. You'd need something very powerful to make an island that big change dimensions."

A short pause. Then Sonic said, "Who lives there, Sal? Did Nichole say?"

The squirrel shrugged. "It's called Flicky Island. The flickies, I imagine ... whatever they are."

Tails's eyes lit up. "Sonic, flickies! Remember the power birds who protected me while I was super?"

Sonic looked at the fox, a light dawning. "Yeah. Yeah, they were flickies! Do you think they came from that island?"

"Birds?" Serena said disappointedly. "That's it? An island full of birds?"

"More than that," Slasher said quietly. Everyone looked at the big velociraptor; she had not said a word the entire time. Her green eyes were fixed thoughtfully on the radar screen.

"Like what?" Sonic prodded.

The raptor tapped her chin reflectively. "I've heard things. Rumors. Stories of strange things happening on that island before it disappeared. It's surrounded by coral reefs and strong currents; you can't get there by boat."

"What have you heard?" Sally asked with interest. Indeed, Slasher had the attention of everyone in the room.

Slasher gazed up at the ceiling, enjoying the attention. "Well, people go in and never come out. The people who get out alive say the island is haunted ... or that fantastic monsters live there. Nobody's really ever seen the flickies themselves ... only these ... THINGS that protect them."

"What THINGS?" Knuckles asked.

Slasher shook her narrow head. "I don't know. I've never been there, myself. Anyone who happens to get out alive is usually insane with terror or won't talk about it afterward." She looked around, observing the whites of every eye in the room.

Sonic clapped his hands. "Man, then let's go!"

That was how the expedition to Flicky Island began.

As it turned out, only Sonic and Knuckles really wanted to go. Spark backed out with the excuse that he needed to stick around and help with the de-robotizer. Tails, as Sonic put it, was too chicken. Serena refused at first, but Sonic bugged her so much about it that she finally gave in.

Slasher would be their means of island access. She had pretended she wasn't interested and was only doing them a favor, but the glint in her eyes showed she was as excited as her passengers. They departed early in the morning two days later.

* * *

The sun was rising at their backs as Slasher's broad wings carried them up and out of the Great Forest. Sonic was seated furthest forward, on her shoulders. Serena sat behind him, feet braced below the big feathered wings. Knuckles sat behind her, knees in Slasher's flanks. All four carried light packs (except Slasher, who wore hers strapped to her tail as a counter-balance.)

It was wonderful to be up so early, and with the fresh, cool breeze in their faces. "Slash," Sonic called forward, "can we go all the way up into the clouds today?"

The big raptor cocked her head and peered upward. There were only a few wispy mare's tails. "Nope," she replied, "not this morning. We wouldn't be able to breathe. Besides, I only cruise at cloud level on long trips. It'll only take an hour or two to get to Flicky Island."

Sonic looked back at Serena and Knuckles and snapped his fingers.

The forest was a grey-green mat below them in the dawn light. A faint smell rose from it; of damp leaves and earth. Birds could be heard in the trees, waking up and twittering.

Slowly the woods fell away and behind, leaving the greener stretch of plains that separated the woods from Robotropolis. This took little time to cross, and there was nothing of interest in the flat land to look at.

There was no need to circle the city, for it had been completely leveled by the terbium. There was nothing but rubble left of what had once been Mobius's capital.

"Do you think it'll ever be rebuilt?" Sonic asked as they soared over the ruins.

Slasher shook her head slowly. "I don't know. It's taking everything we have to get Knothole back on its feet. But there has been talk of forming an alliance with the other Freedom Fighter bands and ganging up on the city. Maybe get some help from Riverbase, who knows?"

Riverbase was a city further south, and was known for being extremely pro Freedom Fighter.

They passed over the devastated city and headed on out over the ocean. Flicky Island was ten miles from shore.

After a while the island came into view. It was in a vague 'S' shape. The center rose in a high, curving mountain range. Most of the peaks were white with snow, but one low mountain off to the west was black with volcanic ash. A thin plume of steam rose from the crater in its center.

"Wow," said Knuckles. "That place is one heck of a lot bigger than the Floating Island. Glad I don't have a volcano to worry about."

"No kidding," Sonic agreed, "although I think Lava Reef pretty much fits the bill."

They drew closer, and began to distinguish the shapes of trees, rocks and rivers on the near side. Slasher banked right and began to descend. "Look," she said. "You can see the waves breaking on the reefs."

Her three passengers looked down and saw the long white ridges of coral beneath the blue-green water. They formed a rough crescent parallel to the island's coast. Waves broke in white foam against them, and against the jagged black rocks, here and there. The boom of the breakers just barely reached them, a whisper of sound.

"Gotta get lower," Slasher said, banking right, then left, dropping altitude. "Otherwise we'll be too high to find a place to--"

The raptor's words ended in a heavy grunt. They had struck something in mid-air. Slasher threw her head back, nearly hitting Sonic in the face. Her wings beat the air crazily for balance. Her riders hung on for dear life. They were falling. Again there came a bone-jarring jolt as Slasher's body collided with something solid. There was an electronic-looking flash a few feet away from them, and white ripples spread away from the point of impact. For an instant it illuminated the shield, like a bubble, arched over Flicky Island.

Slasher reared up, trying to back away from it. For a third time her flailing wings struck the shield. Sonic, Serena and Knuckles, already jarred loose, were unable to cope with this last impact. They were thrown loose and plummeted into the ocean far below.

* * *

It hurt so bad when he hit the water that Sonic was certain he had broken every bone in his body. He sank deep beneath the waves, stunned. He couldn't remember how to swim. He knew the wind had been knocked from his lungs, but couldn't seem to think of what to do.

His brain snapped on. He was underwater. His limbs still worked, although he didn't know how well. He began to kick his feet and paddle with his arms. The surface, blue and glassy, seemed miles distant. Sonic struggled up toward it, feeling as if his body weighed a thousand pounds. His lungs were beginning to ache -- he needed a breath of air, and soon!

His head broke the surface. He gasped deeply, accidently inhaled water and coughed violently. Once he could breathe again he trod water and looked around.

Waves were striking a reef a little ways away, between him and the shoreline. He saw a gap between the coral and a big boulder he thought he could swim through, but what about the shield? Would it lock him out? Maybe not; electronic shields didn't work so well underwater.

Thinking of the shield, what had happened to the others?

"Slasher!" he yelled, looking up at the clear morning sky. No answer. He was alone in the reefs of Flicky Island. Perhaps they had made it to shore already. He began to swim.

As he neared the edge of the reef and the boulder, he was struck by a strong current that sucked him sideways. He tried to grab ahold of the rock as it slid by, but his hands slipped uselessly over its mossy surface. Then he was clear of the reef, and there was nothing more to do but keep his head above water. There was no fighting the pull. After a few minutes and several hundred feet, Sonic remembered how to get out of a current. He began to swim with and across it, but slowly. He was beginning to tire from the constant struggle and was becoming desperately thirsty. He had best get to shore before he was sucked out to sea.

A sandy beach came into view. Sonic made for it, feeling the current slowly release him. For a time he heard, saw and felt nothing but the splashing he made as he free-styled it to shore.

His feet touched sand. He stood up and struggled out of the water. Now that he was standing, he realized what an ordeal that had been; his body ached in every joint and he was exhausted from the long swim. He dropped to his knees in the warm sand, then on his face, and lay still.

Perhaps he fell asleep, for when he got up again, he realized he had been there for a rather long time. His head throbbed faintly from lying in the sun too long, and he was completely dry. His tongue felt like a piece of dried meat. It was somewhere around noon.

For the first time he realized why it had been so hard to move and swim. He was still wearing his backpack. He pulled it off and dropped it, then checked himself. All his supplies were in there. Better see if anything survived.

His food supplies had not taken kindly to the ducking in salt water, but his water bottle was still full. He unscrewed the cap and took a long drink, marvelling at the wonderful taste water has when one is parched. He stopped after drinking a third of it. This might be the only water he had. Reluctantly he screwed the top back on and returned it to his pack. That was all it now contained. Oh well, at least it would be light.

First things first; were his companions within earshot? Sonic cupped his hands to his mouth and brayed, "Slasher! Knuckles! Ser-E-na! You guys hear me?"

He listened. No sound but the chirping of the birds in the nearby trees. He tried again, but stopped when his throat began to hurt. No reply ... great, just great. Was he the only survivor, like in the books? No, he couldn't ... these were his best friends and sister he was missing!

Sonic began to trudge down the beach. He HAD been carried by that current, after all ... maybe they had landed further up. As he walked along over the soft white sand, he wished for his emerald belt. As with his adventure on Little Planet, he had left it behind for fear it would distort whatever forces had brought the island into the third dimension.

He walked for what seemed like a long time. The sun burned down on his head with late summer ferocity. He broke a sweat and began to pant. The trees on his right didn't change much, and the ocean on his left was marked only by dark, mossy rocks, and the occasional foamy breaker. He tried to spot the rock where he had first hit the current, but all the boulders looked the same from the shore.

Sonic wiped the big drops of sweat from his forehead and retreated into the shade of the treeline. He was beginning to feel dizzy from the heat. He would wait under the trees for a while. He wished for a flag or marker of some sort to stick out where his companions would see. But what if they had drowned? He doubted Slasher would, but Knuckles and Serena ... 'Rena was just a girl, after all. Or, what if they had landed on the rocks when they fell? Would their bodies have washed ashore? Maybe, if sharks or something didn't get them. Who knows what lived out in those coral reefs ... He lay down wearily in the sand and gazed up at the treetops waving above him. His eyes closed involuntarily ...

"Who is he?"

"I have not seen him before."

"Should we attack?"

"No, not yet. He has not proved himself friend or foe. We will wait and watch."

Sonic jerked awake. He could see by the shadows that it was about two in the afternoon. He sat up and looked around, feeling the stiffness in his muscles. Had he dreamed those voices? Had his exhausted brain picked the words out of the rustling of the trees? He glanced around. He could see nothing but the tree trunks and undergrowth behind, and the sandy beach before. Of course. He must have dreamed them.

He climbed to his feet, glanced at the ground and froze.

In the sand, all around where he had slept, were large two and three-toed tracks, something like a bird's. But they were not bird tracks. One of them looked a lot like Slasher's, but of a smaller size.

Again he peered around. Dinosaurs. He had heard them talking. A chill rippled down his spine, and he felt the spikes on his back rise. They could still be there, watching him soundlessly. He lifted both hands, palms outward. "I'm friendly, but I'm lost!" he called. "I'm looking for my friends! Can you help me?"

No answer.

He looked back down at the tracks. The three-toed ones could be just about any dinosaur species, but the others were definitely velociraptor tracks. What if they thought Knuckles and Serena to be dangerous and ... What about Slasher? A strange velociraptor with wings washed up on an island of dinosaurs? A dozen possible scenarios, many of them gruesome, flashed through his head. But the highest thought on his mind was how close those raptors could get without his hearing them. Slasher had always laughed about how if she were wild he would be easy pickings. And here he was, alone with wild raptors and no way to tell if they were near. What if ...

"Son-ic ..."

The voice reached his ears, as if called from a long distance. His sister! He dashed out onto the beach and yelled, "'Rena?"

"Sonic!"

He ascertained the direction and took off, spraying sand in all directions.

He found Serena and Knuckles back down the beach; they had been caught in the current and dragged further than he had. Both looked hot, weary and sandy. Only Knuckles had his pack; Serena had dropped hers to keep it from drowning her.

After the initial reunion of back-slapping and hugs, Sonic asked if either had seen Slasher. Slowly the two shook their heads. "Not since we fell off," Knuckles said.

Sonic lowered his head in despair, then looked up and down the beach. "Great. Know what this means?" He proceeded to tell them about the raptor tracks and the others he couldn't identify. Serena and Knuckles paled. Sonic finished with, "Three guesses as to what guards the flickies and why nobody comes here."

Knux looked toward the jungle apprehensively. "There could be any amount of dinosaurs out there. And of any kind. What if there are tyrannosaurs?" The three shivered.

"What do we do now?" Serena asked. "We can't fly out without Slasher, and we can't swim out because of the rocks and currents."

Sonic looked at her thoughtfully. "I wonder where the shield comes from."

"Didn't Nichole say something about an advanced civilization on the northwest coast?" Knuckles volunteered. "Maybe they could help us."

"Yeah," Sonic returned with a frown, "but what if the dinosaurs ARE the people?"

"We'll have to chance it," Serena said, shaking her bangs out of her eyes. "And maybe they can help us find Slash."

Sonic glanced up, toward where they had hit the shield. "I hope she's all right," he muttered.

It was decided that since nobody felt like travelling, they would spend the rest of the day looking for food and collecting firewood. Knuckles took the lead in this excursion. He was familiar with foraging in semi-tropical forests. "No matter what time of year it is," he told the two hedgehogs, "there's always something to eat in the woods. C'mon, I'll show you."

Late summer as it was, many of the tropical fruits were ripe. The three gathered as many as they could fit into the two backpacks and lugged them back to the beach.

"Watch this," Knuckles commanded, holding up a coconut. It was still in its greenish husk, which meant the nut inside was fresh. He sat down, clamped the nut between his ankles and drove his knuckle-spikes into the top. He held it up triumphantly, showing the two clean holes he had punched.

"Cool trick," Sonic said, unimpressed. "Now what?"

The scarlet echidna shook the coconut a little, swishing the liquid inside. "Coconut milk," he explained. "Here, 'Rena, try it and show your skeptic of a brother it's safe."

The violet hedgehog took a hesitant sip, then smacked her lips. "It's sweet! Sonic, you gotta try this."

"Here," Knux said, punching holes in another nut. "See for yourself, Sonic."

Sonic tried the coconut milk, and was surprised to find it good. Knuckles opened another for himself, and showed them that once the juice was gone, the white flesh inside could be eaten. It had an exotic, sweet flavor.

They made a meal of the coconuts and of some strange-smelling fruit Knuckles said was papaya. Then they lit a fire in the collected brush and driftwood and watched the crimson sun go down, far out on the ocean.

But with nightfall came their introduction to the real Flicky Island. The jungle was full of strange cries and calls, some of which could be accredited to insects and birds. But the animal sounds were unlike any they had ever heard. Once they actually heard a scream that sound much like Slasher's call. Sonic jumped up and would have headed off into the darkness, but stopped when Serena said quietly, "Feel like raptor chow tonight, bro?"

He would have retorted with something sharp, but Knuckles said, "Sonic, it wasn't Slasher. I know her voice as well as you do. Stay here. Nothing'll jump us at the fire."

Perhaps. When morning came at last, the three were chilled to discover the two and three-toed tracks ringing their camp. There seemed to have been at least ten different creatures, maybe more. The three had never heard a sound.

* * *

After breakfast that morning, it was agreed that they would try to get to the northwest end of the island and seek aid from whoever lived there. Nobody knew how far the beaches went, so they decided to follow the coast as far as they could.

This worked out for the first mile or so. But as they went along, they began to notice the rocks thrust up through the sand. These formations grew bigger and closer together as they went along, and the shore began to narrow and slant upward. The tide was coming in, so many was the time the three scrambled onto the rocks to avoid the swift waves.

It was a bitter disappointment to top a particularly large outcropping and see the sheer cliffs ahead. There was no more beach; the ocean foamed and roared against the foot of the cliffs, throwing white spray into the air. The cliffs stretched as far as the eye could see, all the way down the coast.

"We'll have to go back," Knuckles said obviously. "Shoulda figured, what with all this rock." He didn't seem to mind this, but Sonic and Serena were discouraged and frustrated. Nobody enjoyed the climb back down, and nobody enjoyed entering the forest above the cliffs.

Sonic went first, hacking his way through the brush with a stick. Serena came next, and Knuckles brought up the rear. "Of ALL the rotten LUCK," Sonic growled, timing his words to the swinging of his stick, "not ONLY do we GET to WALK through this JUNGLE, we also--" he paused and tore at some vines-- "lost HALF the MORNING getting here." He stopped and helped Serena climb through.

"Yeah," she agreed, in the same mood as her brother. "And this stupid island is, what, three hundred miles long? We'll be here forever!"

Knuckles stepped through the vegetation without a word, and they kept going.

"Not to mention," Sonic grumbled, "that with Slasher gone, we'll be dino chow, no question. Who knows what might like the taste of hedgehogs?"

"Hsst."

They stopped and turned. Knuckles was standing perfectly still, head cocked to one side, listening.

"What?" Sonic asked, somewhat alarmed.

Knux lifted a hand. "Shh. Hear it?"

The hedgehogs listened. All they could hear was the chirping of the birds in the trees, and the trees stirring in the breeze.

"What are we listening for?" Serena queried softly.

Knuckles turned his head and looked left, into the jungle. "A purr, like when Slasher breathes real loud. Hear it?"

The color drained from Sonic's face. "We're dino chow now," he said tonelessly.

A shrill cry from behind and and ahead. Dark shapes hurled down on them. Sonic noticed vaguely that the attack did not come from the side, as expected, but from ahead and behind. Then one of the creatures dealt him a stunning kick to the back of the shoulders, throwing him down so hard his teeth snapped. But to his surprise, they kept right on going, as if he were not the intended target. He bounded to his feet.

Three velociraptors; two green, one a deep red-brown with heavy black markings. The brown one was closest, crouched over something, playing with it. Serena. Sonic felt a hot rush of fury. He was not going to let his sister be devoured before his very eyes!

On impulse he picked up the stick he had been carrying. It was good and stout. He leaped lightly forward, swung the stick like a baseball bat and cracked the raptor across the back of the head.

The stick broke in his hands. The raptor lurched forward from the impact, then whirled on him, snarling. Its eyes were a bright red, he noticed, giving it a crazed, demon look. He backed away, hands empty, terror uncurling inside him. The animal was furious. It moved with him, limbs slightly bent, long tail high. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Serena climb to her feet, shaken but unhurt.

The raptor crouched low and gave a soft, clicking growl. But before it could spring, one of the other raptors made a sound like, "Cree-ah!" The black and brown raptor turned its head toward the other, snorting. Sonic stood where he was, heart thundering in his chest, as the green raptors communicated with the brown one. At last it stood, aimed one last snarl in Sonic's direction, and stalked away into the jungle. For the first time Sonic had a chance to see what the other two raptors had been doing.

Knuckles was held between them, head tilted back slightly, gasping for breath. His eyes betrayed his fear. He dared not move, as those raptors kept their deadly back feet one wrong move away from his ribs. Both dinosaurs were a dark tropical green with brown leopard spots. One was bigger than the other. The smaller one was brighter colored and marked. It must be the male. They looked equally fierce.

The big female lowered her head a little and fixed both yellow eyes on Sonic. "You have assaulted Creeah," she said in a low, growly voice. "It shows courage and you shall live."

Sonic and Serena exchanged uneasy glances.

"What about him?" Sonic said, gesturing to Knuckles, who had broken out in a sweat.

"He is to be taken to--" Here the female made an indescribable sound in her throat. "In your tongue," she growled, "it means Swift of Foot and Sharp of Claw. Our leader."

"Are you going to hurt him?" Sonic asked. He couldn't bring himself to say 'kill' with Knux right in front of him.

The female raptor looked down at the trembling echidna. "If he does not find favor with our leader." She looked directly at Sonic. "May your hunting be good and your claws sharp." And with that, the two dinosaurs turned in unison and carried Knuckles away into the forest.

Serena grabbed Sonic's hand. "Let's follow them! We can't just let 'em take Knux!"

Now that the raptors were gone, Sonic found he had little strength left. The adrenaline left him drained. He forced himself to move forward. "Yeah," he said shakily. "Let's go."

At first they were able to pick out the route the raptors had taken, for they had run side by side. But after a while it dropped to single file, and the trail thinned out. The two hedgehogs were not the best trackers in the world, and in a few minutes were hopelessly lost.

"Wonderful," Sonic said, slowing to a walk. "They're gone, 'Rena, and I have no idea where we are."

She put her hands on her hips and gazed at the green forest around them. "Well," she said sensibly, "if we go in a straight line we're bound to get somewhere. And somebody has to know where the raptors live. Poor Knux ... I hope that leader of theirs is nicer than that black one."

"Creeah," Sonic said, repeating the strange name. "I wonder if it means anything."

They began to walk. The jungle was beginning to warm up as the morning drew on, and the two were perspiring. Serena flipped her bangs out of her eyes and looked at her brother. "They sure were impressed when you took a crack at that raptor."

"And because I have courage," Sonic added thoughtfully, "they let us live." From that hint he could sense laws, rules, a culture of some kind within the velociraptor community. Maybe they WERE the advanced civilization on the island.

"Do you think Creeah will attack us?" Serena asked.

Sonic shrugged. He didn't want to think about it. He lifted a large palm branch for his sister.

She ducked under. "I mean, he was pretty mad, and you ... humiliated ... him ..."

She and Sonic stared. Beyond that palm branch the woods ended abruptly. Before them, stretching up into the distant foothills, was a huge grassy plain. Trees dotted it here and there. A faint, hot breeze blew off it, carrying the scent of dust and baking grass stems.

Dinosaurs gazed in herds all over it.

"Oh my gosh," Sonic breathed in awe, staring with all his eyes. "Look at that! Like something out of a movie! Let's get out of the trees for a minute."

He took Serena by the hand and they moved out into the tall grass. Most of it was dry and brown from the past two hot summer months, but in certain places (streams and waterholes, they thought), it was a vivid green. This was where the dinosaurs were.

"Look," Serena murmured, as if a loud word would make it all vanish. "Those ones closest to us. Triceratops." A herd of thirty or forty beasts, most over ten feet tall. Their color was a mild grey with large black spots on their backs, and chestnut-colored bellies. Their heads bore the distinctive white horn over both eyes, and a shorter horn on the snout. A single bull triceratops was grazing a short distance away from the others. The big frill that shielded his neck and shoulders was marked with black patterns. He would lower his heavy head, snatch a mouthful of grass in his beak-like mouth, then lift his head and warily watch the world, chewing.

"He's on guard," Sonic muttered. "That must be his herd. Let's not get too close; I can just imagine getting speared on those horns."

They turned left and began to walk along the jungle's edge, staring out at the vast plain. The triceratops were the only ones along this edge ... they were probably territorial. Further off were other dinosaur herds, though they were too far off to tell what kind. "I'll bet t-rexes would hunt in a place like this," Serena said as they crunched along.

"Yeah," Sonic agreed. "Keep an eye out. Maybe we'll see--"

Something leaped out of the grass just ahead. It ran at them with startling speed. It was brown and went on all fours; at first they thought it was a dog. Then it made a queer yelling roar, and they realized it was a dinosaur. "Run!" Sonic shouted.

They only ran about fifteen feet before they realized it was not following them. They slowed and turned. It was standing still, short tail swinging from side to side. It was about four feet tall and the tawny brown color of the grass. It looked like a small triceratops, but without the horns. It did have the bony frill that rose from the back of its neck to protect the back of the neck, and the parrot-like beak. As they looked at it, it gave an indignant snort, turned, trotted back to its hiding place and lay down.

"Don't tell me; I know what it was," Sonic said, lifting a hand. "A penta-ceratops, right, smartypants?"

Serena nodded, ignoring her brother's sarcasm. "I guess so. Think it has a nest over there?"

"Or its babies," Sonic said, watching the little animal as it lifted its head and glared at them. "Let's not bother it. C'mon, we'll go around."

They made a wide circle around the pentaceratops, walking out into the open. Their eyes on the brown dinosaur, neither noticed the bull triceratops lift its head and watch them suspiciously. They didn't hear it give a warning snort and stamp its front feet. But they did hear the bellow it gave as it charged.

"Oh HECK!" Sonic yelped, looking over his shoulder. "Run, 'Rena!" He grabbed her hand, and they fled from the three-ton beast.

Fortunately the two could run much faster than the trike could. After a few minutes it pulled up, snorting and panting through flared nostrils. Sonic and Serena looked back and slowed. They were now quite a distance from the herd. The bull knew this. It gave one last defiant roar, telling them to stay away or else, then lumbered back toward the others.

"Stupid dinosaur," Serena muttered, angry at being frightened. "I see why they're extinct."

Sonic gestured toward the plain incredulously. "Call THAT extinct? Unless this is some secret base for genetic engineering, those things are the real enchilada."

"Real article."

"Whatever."

They set off across the plain, gazing up at the towering mountain peaks in the distance and discussing what would happen if the island returned to its former dimension. This discussion turned into a sort of argument, and neither noticed when they crested a low hill. But as they did, they stopped dead and fell silent.

"Ever have the feeling you're on forbidden ground?" Sonic murmured.

Staring at them from their grazing spots in the little dip were fifteen-odd duck-billed dinosaurs. The adults stood about twelve feet tall at the hips. They had medium-length, thick tails, and short nails on their back feet. Their heads had the distinctive duck-bill, but the back of their skulls tapered back into a long, arched crest. The males were easily distinguishable by their longer, bright red crests. Their bodies were a soft tawny brown, with dark maroon stripes along their backbones. Some were on their hind legs, looking curiously at the newcomers, but most were down on all fours.

A young hadrosaur ventured forward a few steps and trumpeted a questioning sound. Its mother ducked her head and nudged it back behind her, then lifted her head and gazed again at the hedgehogs.

Sonic lifted a hand and waved slowly. "Uh, hi," he said to the dinosaurs. The memory of the charging bull trike was foremost on his mind. "We were just leaving. Sorry to disturb you." He chuckled nervously, grabbed Serena's arm and began to back away.

They were turning to flee when the beast stopped and said, "Wait."

Surprised, they did and looked back at it.

"You are not predators?" it asked.

Sonic looked at his sister, who spoke with more bravery than she felt. "Would we just walk up on you if we were?"

It cocked its big head to one side and said, "Probably not." It turned its big head and called, "They are friendly."

The other duck-bills, at this word from one of the dominant males, resumed their former activities without a qualm.

It looked back at them. "I have not seen you kind before. I am Ori." He bobbed his head, as if bowing.

Sonic introduced himself and his sister, then asked, "Can all the dinosaurs talk?"

"Yes," the crested dinosaur replied. "All the tannyin speak New Mobian. It is required."

"What about the triceratops?" Sonic asked, pointing back toward the hostile herd in case Ori didn't understand him. "They just roared and chased us."

Ori looked in the direction Sonic had indicated. "Did you speak to them?"

"Well, no."

"I would have attacked you, too, if you had not spoken. We do not let dumb creatures live, unless they are very young."

"Why?"

"If one cannot speak or understand speech, they would not understand the flickies." Ori then settled himself down on the grass, as if he intended to speak a while and wanted to be comfortable. After an awkward moment, Sonic and Serena did the same.

"What's 'tannyin' mean?" Serena asked curiously.

The big hadrosaur looked down at her with one indigo eye. "It is what we are; all our kinds together is tannyin. 'Terrible Lizards' is one translation, 'Dragons' is another. You call us 'Dinosaurs'."

A moment of silence as the hedgehogs thought about that. A dinosaur called from across the valley. One of the hadrosaurs in the herd beyond answered.

"Where are the flickies?" Sonic asked. "Do you guard them?"

Ori gave a hollow sigh through his crest. "We crested ones do not guard the flickies," he rumbled. "That job belongs to the Terrible Claw and the Tyrants. As for where they are, I do not know. Only the Terrible Claw know for sure at all times."

"Terrible Claw," Serena murmured in her brother's ear. Her long talks with Slasher were coming back to her. "That's what dionychus means. Velociraptor means 'swift thief', and Tyrant could mean Tyrannosaurus Rex ..."

"Shh," Sonic whispered. "Don't interrupt him!"

The blue hedgehog looked up at the big dinosaur. "I've always wondered this ... how do your kind defend yourselves? You don't have claws or armor, and you can't run very fast, can you?"

Ori made a sound they later decided was a chuckle. "No, we certainly do not have the defences you would expect. But those predators foolish enough to attack us while we are on guard we attempt to kill. This is how."

The dinosaur threw back its head and drew a deep breath. Then it turned its head away from them, opened its mouth and breathed out. Sonic and Serena nearly jumped out of their skins to see a burst of flame shoot out of the broad bill. The torch reached fifteen feet in length before the dinosaur ran out of breath. He closed his mouth, shook his head, snorted out a little smoke, and looked at the stunned hedgehogs. "That is our only weapon," he said simply. "It is unique to all Crested Ones. If we did not have our crests, we would not be able to breathe light."

Sonic and Serena looked at each other, shocked. Fire-breathing dinosaurs? It was the last thing they expected. "Can you kill rap-- uh, Terrible Claw that way?" Serena asked, barely remembering that the word 'velociraptor' would carry no meaning with a native dinosaur.

Ori slowly nodded his big head. "Yes, if they attack us or our young. But they are too wise to try such a thing often."

Serena saw an opportunity and leaned forward. "Where do the Terrible Claw live?"

Ori looked at her narrowly. "Why do you wish to know such a thing?"

"Because," she said, words pouring out in a torrent, "three of them attacked us and carried off our friend, and we want to rescue him."

The great hadrosaur made a growly sound in his chest. "Rrr, did they take him for meat?"

"They said it was to find favor with their leader," Sonic said, beating his sister to the punch.

Ori relaxed. "Well then, that leaves a little more hope. Terrible Claw are generally more kind to creatures they are curious about. They dwell in Volcano Valley, high in the mountains. The exact route is unknown to me, but there is one among the Tyrants who knows the way." He paused and peered at them. "Do you, who are so young, have the courage to stand before a Tyrant and not die of terror?"

Sonic and Serena looked at each other thoughtfully, not really considering the question so much as wondering how to get Ori to help them. Presently Sonic said, "Who's Creeah?"

The hadrosaur looked at him sharply. "What do you know of Creeah?"

"I brained him with a stick to keep him from hurting Serena, here. The other raptors were so impressed they let us go."

"You challenged Creeah?" Ori said wonderingly. "Perhaps you DO have the courage to stand before Grehar. Come; I will show you the way."

* * *

"Creeah seems to have quite a reputation," Sonic murmured to his sister. "Just wait. He'll hear about us saying we defeated him and come back for revenge."

They were trotting along a large trail, almost a road, through the forest. The terrain was beginning to slope downhill. The trail was mostly bare dirt with clumps of dead grass here and there. It looked well used. The two were rather nervous.

"Where are we going, again?" Serena asked, looking back up the trail. Contrary to her suspicions, they were not being followed.

Sonic shrugged. "They called it the Rusty Ruins. That's where the tyrannosaurs hang out, I guess."

They walked along in silence a few minutes.

Serena said, "While Ori was giving you directions, I talked to one of the other duck-bills."

"Oh? What about?"

"I asked her what the ruins were ruins of. She said that when Flicky Island was created, part of the lost continent of Atlantis was brought up. That's the only part still recognizable; the rest has been consumed by the jungle."

"Wow," Sonic said, gazing at his sister in admiration. "Atlantis. That'll be cool to see."

The wide trail made a long right turn. As they rounded the bend, they found themselves staring.

The country fell away in a large, dark green valley. The trail descended the cliffs above it in switchbacks. Through the trees and vegetation they could see the remains of a magnificent stone city. It covered most of the valley floor, which was about twenty miles long and ten miles wide. A long, silver river stretched through the bottom, snaking through the forest and ruins. It looked to be a very lonesome place. It seemed their eyes were the first to ever behold it -- perhaps they were, for only the dinosaurs knew about it.

Sonic broke the silence with, "For the second time today, I feel like we're in forbidden territory. C'mon." He took his sister's hand and they began the winding descent.

Birds cried piercingly from the trees, and small, dusty lizards scurried from their path. The trail was steep, worn smooth by hundreds of tannyin feet passing that way. Not all were herbivores. Serena squeezed Sonic's hand and pointed wordlessly to several boulders beside the path. They were stained a dark red-brown, as if something had had a bloody meal there. They looked at each other uneasily. They were now in carnivore country.

"Maybe we should stop here," Serena said nervously. "Um, we could, uh, stay the night here and go on down in the morning."

Sonic looked at his sister witheringly. "It's two in the afternoon. Besides, this is a game trail. Carnivores hunt on game trails. You want to set up camp or a buffet?"

Needless to say, they kept going.

The air became damp and humid the further down they went. Mist hung above the dense treetops like a white veil. The soil became moist underfoot. The two hedgehogs perspired freely, drops of sweat running down their faces. "Guy, it's hot," Sonic commented, wiping his forehead and staring at the wet on his hand. "I hope the water's okay to drink. My bottle's about empty."

"Mine too," Serena said, glancing around apprehensively. "I wish Slash and Knux were here. They know more about survival than we do. What was that rex's name again?"

"Gre-- uh, Grehar," Sonic replied. "I hope he's friendly. I mean, he IS a tyrannosaur. We might be looked upon as an appetizer."

"Sonic! That's a real comforting thought!"

"Well, it's true, isn't it?"

They lapsed into silence -- it was too hot for conversation. The humidity increased as they reached the valley floor. The trail curved away from the valley's steep side and meandered out into the trees, toward the ruins. Without a word Sonic and Serena followed it.

* * *

Knuckles leaned wearily against a tree, rested his forehead against the rough bark and closed his eyes. He could hear his raptor captors talking quietly a few yards away. Neither was in need of a rest, but Knuckles was exhausted. They had been travelling for hours through the forest, slowly ascending into the mountains.

After the initial attack and capture, Knux had been too timid to so much as make a sound. The big female raptor had carried him for a while, then set him on his feet and made him walk. But, perhaps 'walk' is not the correct word. Both dinosaurs proceeded at a lope, and Knuckles had to run to keep up. If he faltered, he was roughly nudged from behind, or slapped with a hard hand. It seemed the velociraptors were fountains of energy; they ran and ran without needing to stop and rest. And they were none-too-gentle with their prisoner.

They probably would have run the echidna into the ground had he not gathered the nerve to stick up for himself. He had tripped and fell. As he picked himself up, the male raptor stalked up to him, stiff-legged, and growled in his face. Knuckles, already miserable and thinking he would soon be dead, took a swing at the dinosaur. He missed, of course, but followed it up with, "Give me and break, will you? I can't go on like this! I'm gonna drop dead if I can't rest once in a while!"

To his surprise, both raptors stepped back and gazed at him with new respect. "You can speak!" the male raptor exclaimed.

Knuckles stood and faced them hopelessly. "Sure I can speak. How dumb do you think I am?"

His poor attempt at humor was not unnoticed. Neither raptor made any outward sound, but they would laugh about it with their pack later. The female looked at him with one yellow eye and said, "We did not know you could speak New Mobian. A prize indeed. We will have to treat you with more care."

"Yes," the other raptor added, tail swaying slowly, "but we have many miles to cover before sundown. Come."

True to their word, Knuckles was treated much better. They travelled at a slightly slower pace, and when he began to tire, the raptors took turns carrying him. They stopped at every stream and waited solemnly as he drank. (He no longer had his pack, as it had been taken from him in the first attack.)

Gradually it dawned on him that the ability to speak was respected. They had been treating him as if he were a dumb beast, incapable of intelligent thought. But now they took great pains to be sure that he did not suffer too much. Would they do this if they were going to simply eat him? For the first time a ray of hope crept into his heart. Maybe they were NOT going to kill him, after all.

This thought passed through his mind as he leaned against the tree, eyes closed. He was in good physical condition, but was not used to the constant running. Sonic would have coped better.

Knuckles turned a little and looked at the raptors. They were standing back to give him room, but watching. It would be foolish to run from them; they could move much faster than he could. He sat down on the ground, leaned against the tree and listened to them talk.

"I think our leader will be most harsh with this one. He has the looks of the Brother."

"No, no. He looks nothing like him. I say the one who assaulted Creeah was the Brother."

"He moved in defense of the other. I dare say he would have attacked us if we had harmed this one."

Knux lifted his head. That sounded interesting. He had been too busy with the two raptors to see what had happened to Sonic and Serena.

"Still, no one knows what the leader will do. She is most unpredictable. It is the first time in many years a Hunter has beaten a Terrible Claw in combat."

Raptors must refer to themselves as 'Hunters', Knuckles thought.

"And the brother, if he is found, shall be put to a swift death. So there."

"We have dallied long enough. Take him and lets go."

The big female walked up to Knuckles, picked him up, turned and headed into the jungle.

Again, the echidna was apprehensive. This leader must be quite a force to be reckoned with.

* * *

Sonic and Serena suddenly realized they weren't on the game trail anymore.

The trail had entered the ruins and slowly faded away, as if the makers of the path went their own separate ways once the city was reached. The two hedgehogs, realizing this, stopped and gazed around.

The ancient Atlantiean city had withstood the passing of time and weather. The ground, where it was not covered by stiff grass, roots or moss, still bore green, blue and white tiles. Buildings stood here and there, most still bearing their roofs. Some, of course, had fallen to pieces, and lonesome pillars stood amid the rubble like fangs. Many of the buildings had strange relief carvings on the walls. The most common one was a little bird with a large head, small wings spread. "Flicky," Sonic said to his sister.

Everything was queerly silent as they picked their way along. The only sounds were the chinking of their feet on the tile. Perhaps it was because the mist overhead was thickening into a cloud-like mass. The air was dense and stuffy. It felt like the entire valley was watching them. The hedgehogs took to looking around constantly, especially behind them. "This is worse than raptors," Serena whispered to Sonic.

He nodded and glanced toward the nearby forest. "I know. It's always worse when you're dealing with something that can swallow you whole." They both shivered, even though the day was extremely warm.

The misty clouds above finally grew thick enough to blot out the sun. The light turned grey. There was no breeze at all, and the two found themselves struggling to breathe the heavy air. "Sonic," Serena panted softly, "I gotta rest a minute. I think I'm suffocating."

Sonic felt the same, so they sat down at the foot of a large pillar. There was a low wall just to its right, so they felt a little more secure. Nothing could attack them from behind or the right.

They had only sat there a few minutes when Sonic stiffened and grabbed his sister's arm. He had been gazing idly at the wall of trees, fifty yards distant, but now his eyes were riveted on something. Serena winced at his iron grip on her arm. "What?"

"A rex," Sonic hissed through clenched teeth. His entire body was rigid.

"Where?" Serena gasped, trying to pry his fingers off her arm and look at the same time.

"There," he replied in a very controlled whisper. "Look at the treetops. See the one dead tree right there? Look to the top left of that."

Serena saw and caught her breath.

They had been keeping watch at too low a level. The tyrannosaur's squareish head was level with the treetops, the rest of its huge body was concealed in the forest. Its orange eyes were fixed steadily on them. They could count its long yellow teeth; its jaws were partly open, panting in the heat.

"It's huge," Sonic gulped. "What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?" They sat still for a few minutes, returning the dinosaur's gaze. It seemed content to stay put and simply observe. Serena finally returned to her senses and prodded her brother. "Sonic, we have to talk to it. They'll attack if they don't know we can talk."

Sonic jumped a little and looked at her. "That's right," he said, glancing back at the t-rex. "Uh, who's gonna do it?"

They hesitated, neither wanting to walk into the open alone.

"We'll both go," Serena finally said, resisting the urge to whine, rebel and make her brother do it by himself.

Hand in hand they got up and began to walk toward the monstrous beast. It continued to pant, but cocked its head a little and watched them with one eye. Sonic thought of the duck-bill's words; 'Do you, who are so young, have the courage to stand before a Tyrant and not die of terror?' Indeed, he could feel his heart melting with each step toward the tyrannosaur. What if it charged them? What if it attacked as they spoke to it? He sideyed his sister. Her face was white, eyes wide. Yes, they were hearing the same horrible inner voice that was screaming, "You're going to die in one more step!"

The tyrannosaur, however, gave no sign of hostility. In reality it had just eaten, and the weather was too hot to run around in. So it watched the two little creatures with bland curiosity; if they proved dangerous, one of the other rexes would handle them.

Sonic stopped twenty feet away from the trees and squeezed Serena's hand. "Close enough," he murmured. She nodded--she couldn't have spoken a word if her life depended on it. Even Sonic had to clear his throat several times before he gained control of his voice. Then he raised a hand.

"Hello!" he called to the tyrannosaur. "We're friendly! We were sent here by one of the had--uh, Crested Ones. We're looking for Grehar. Can you help us?"

The dinosaur turned its head and looked at them with the other eye. It made no move to reply and continued to pant, big throat moving in and out with each breath. Sonic and Serena exchanged a glance. Not good. They began to back away.

"It's not going to answer, 'Rena," Sonic muttered. "What do we do?"

Serena looked up at the big dinosaur. She couldn't help but notice the rather idiotic expression on its face. "Ask somebody else," she whispered back. Then she yelled at the tyrannosaurus, "If you won't help us, we'll just go find another tyrannosaur ..." she lowered her voice "... and I can't believe I just said that."

They were turning to walk, or rather, run, away, when a deep voice said, "What do you want with Grehar?"

They turned back. The tyrannosaur was still panting slowly and watching them. Hesitantly Sonic stepped forward and said, "Are you Grehar?"

The big jaws closed, opened to form the words, "I am," then resumed panting and waited for their reply.

Sonic looked at his sister with a mixture of relief and tension. They had found the tyrannosaur they wanted; what now? He licked his lips and looked up at the big head. "We need to get to where the Terrible Claw live. They took our friend to see their leader, and we'd like to get him back."

Grehar closed his jaws and regarded the two with new interest. "You two would risk the wrath of the entire pride, simply to retrieve your companion?"

Sonic nodded determinedly. "We may not look like much, but where I come from, we're called Freedom Fighters. And every Freedom Fighter has to be loyal to every other one, and Knux is one. And ... and we have to try to rescue him."

"Me too," Serena added quickly.

The tyrannosaur looked at them with one orange eye, then the other. Suddenly he growled far down in his chest, stirred forward and emerged from the trees with remarkable grace for such a large animal. He was well over twenty feet tall. His body was a tawny brown, marked with vertical brown stripes. He was so big and massive that the hedgehogs automatically stepped back for fear of being stepped on.

The rex lowered his gigantic head until he was on eye level with Sonic. Ignoring Serena, he rumbled, "Are you the Brother?" Its head was as big as Sonic's whole body, the yellow teeth like railroad spikes. Sonic froze in sudden fear, even as Serena ducked behind him.

Grehar could see the hedgehogs were frightened, but unmoving, repeated the question. This time it registered. Sonic gulped and managed to squeak, "What brother?"

"The brother of the metal hedgehog, who lives at the far end of the island."

Sonic felt a queer sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, although he didn't quite know why. "I don't have a metal hedgehog for a brother."

Serena, behind him, was a little more secure than he and her mind was working faster. She looked up at the t-rex and said, "Does this metal hedgehog have black and red eyes?"

Grehar lifted his head a bit and fixed his gaze on her. "Yes. He informed all inhabitants of Flicky Island that his brother, a blue hedgehog, had driven him from the mainland. If this brother was to appear," he returned his suspicious gaze to Sonic, "it was for the sole purpose of harming the flickies. All tannyin are on the lookout for him. And whether or not he can speak, he shall be killed."

Sonic and Serena stared at each other, mouths open in shock. Metal Sonic--here? And he had had the audacity to say Sonic was his _brother_?

"He's as big a liar as Robotnik," Sonic murmured. He looked up at Grehar. "I'm the metal hedgehog's arch-enemy. He's really evil. I would like to say I drove him from the mainland, but I didn't. He went into hiding because another robot wanted to kill him. And, of all things, he is NOT my brother. I don't know WHERE he got THAT idea." This last was spoken with indignation.

Grehar lifted his head to its normal height and looked down at them, puzzled. "You're the Brother, but did not come to hurt the flickies?"

Sonic shook his head. "No way. I had flickies for friends once, and I wouldn't want to hurt them. I'm here because me and my friends saw this island just appear out of nowhere. We came to look around, that's all."

The tyrannosaur seemed more interested in the group than why they were there. "How many of you came to the island?"

Sonic looked down at the memory of Slasher. "Four. Me, my sister here, an echidna named Knuckles--he's the one the rap--uh, Terrible Claw took--and a Terrible Claw named Slasher. But she ... she fell into the ocean, and we haven't seen her since."

"A tannyin lived on the mainland?" Grehar asked unbelievingly.

Sonic nodded, and spoke with a bit of difficulty. "Yeah. She's one of my best friends ... or, was. She--she might be dead."

They looked up at the big animal. He was gazing at them thoughtfully. "You should not have come with all your friends. This island is not hospitable to outsiders. You may very well end up dead."

Serena, for the first time, gathered the courage to speak directly to the dinosaur. She looked into his eyes and said softly, "But we HAVE to TRY."

There was silence for a long five minutes as Grehar considered. The sky was a featureless grey by this time, and the heat was oppressive. A large raindrop splattered down, and another. Then the sky seemed to open and a warm rain flooded down. Sonic and Serena were soaked in a moment, but the big dinosaur didn't seem to mind. He cocked his head, looked down at the with one eye and said over the rain, "I have decided to help you. I know much about the Terrible Claw and their ways. Come. I will take you to their home."

* * *

It seemed the rain was only in the valley of the ruins. It poured continuously as Grehar led them through the city, pausing to introduce them to this tyrannosaur or that one. (Most other rexes, they noticed, were a size or two larger than him. They finally realized that he must be still several years from his prime.) All said hello very courteously.

As soon as they climbed the muddy trail out of the valley, the clouds fell away and the sun shown. They could see, now that they were above it, that the valley was covered with a thick blanket of low clouds. "Yes, our valley is what you call a micro-climate," Grehar said, pausing for a look back. "For that matter, so is the valley of the Terrible Claw. They live near the mountain of fire, you see--far back in the hills." The enormous beast turned and resumed walking up the game trail. His strides were so large that Sonic and Serena had to jog to keep up. They were careful not to get too close to the heavy feet, as each toe was tipped with a thick, sharp claw.

The tyrannosaur ducked his head and scratched at his chin with a tiny forearm. Then he glanced down at the hedgehogs and said, "I am the only Tyrant who is accepted among the Terrible Claw. Ori was wise to direct you to me."

Sonic, curious, panted, "Why, do the raptors like you?"

Grehar clicked his teeth with a metallic sound. "'Raptor'. Your word for the Terrible Claw. It is easier to say, yes? Anyway, the answer is this: My mother was slain by a renegade band of 'raptors'. They were led by the one known as Creeah."

Sonic and Serena exchanged a significant glance.

"According to our laws, Creeah was forced to take care of me. We do not kill females with helpless young, you understand. But Creeah's black heart has no room for such things, and the female 'raptors' were the ones who raised me, along with their own young. I spent most of my life with the Terrible Claw. It is only recently I returned to my own kind." He spoke as if he preferred the velociraptors to the tyrannosaurs.

"Tell us about Creeah," Serena said eagerly.

"Yeah," Sonic added. "We've heard of him. Who is he?"

"Ah," said Grehar with a touch of disgust, "Creeah. He is a half-breed; part Hunter, who are small, and part Terrible Claw, who are rather large. He does not fit with either kind an is something of an outcast. He is possible the worst that kind has ever seen."

"Does 'Creeah' mean anything?" Sonic asked.

"Yes," Grehar replied, slowing as they came to a fork in the trail. He turned right, then said, "It means 'red eyes'."

"That's all?" Serena asked, disappointed. "I thought it would mean something like 'killer' or 'vicious' or something."

The tyrannosaur turned his head and looked at her. "You don't know much about 'raptors', do you, small one?"

Sonic poked Serena and grinned. He now had another nickname for her.

Grehar said, "A Terrible Claw's disposition can be told by their eye color. There is brown, 'Arrah', which tells the creature has no instincts. Many young 'raptors' hatch with brown eyes. Green eyes, 'Breeah', which are next, show that although it is gentle, the 'raptor' is strong and intelligent. Yellow eyes, 'Rerah', show the creature is an active hunter and has known the taste of blood very often. Few go beyond yellow eyes. Red eyes, 'Creeah', marks the 'raptor' who kills all, even its own kind, for sport. The one so named has done so. He would be the leader of the Terrible Claw if I were not living proof of his wickedness. For that reason alone he hates me.

"There is one more eye color--black, but black eyed 'raptors' are far too dangerous to let live long. They are killed by the others. If they escape, an alert is called and all tannyin hunt down that 'raptor' and destroy it."

"Wow," Sonic said. "So the eyes have it, huh?"

"Yes, of course." The big dinosaur seemed a little distracted. "Let us run for a while. If we do not make good time today, we will take three days to get there instead of two."

Grehar broke into a run, huge strides covering a tremendous amount of ground. If his companions had been none other than Sonic and Serena Hedgehog, they never would have been able to keep up.

* * *

Time, when one is racing against it, seems to achieve warp speed. On the other hand, when one is on a torturously swift journey with two semi-hostile velociraptors, it slows to a snail's pace.

Knuckles's journey had settled into a nightmare of forced marches and exhaustion. His mind had shut down. His body was a machine, automatically matching his pace to the raptors's when he had to run. When they carried him he went absolutely limp and slept. When they tired of carrying him he awoke and ran again. He was numbed to his aching muscles and blistering feet. He saw nothing but the ground just in front of him, knowing enough to step over vines and branches. He heard nothing but his own labored breathing. He felt nothing at all. His sleep in the raptors's arms never did him any good; it was more like a faint, too brief to give his body much more strength than what was used in the next march.

He was forced out of his stupor a little when the raptors left the jungle and entered the thin mountain forest. Climbing was added to the running. Sometimes their path was so steep the three had to go up on all fours, knocking small rocks loose and sending them rolling back down. Because of the difficulty of climbing, the raptors slowed and ceased carrying their prisoner. The only time they lifted him again while on the march was to scale a cliff. The reptilian creatures went up it like mountain goats, their claws and rough feet aiding them. They passed Knuckles back and forth between them until they reached the top, then continued the journey.

The agony and torture of the rest of this trip could not be described, even if pages and pages were written about it, so let us skip to sundown, when the velociraptors reached their destination.

The sun had set behind the nearby mountains, washing the sky with crimson and gold. The two green raptors paused on the thin path they were on and gave a simultaneous, trilling call. An answering cry came from the rocky wall ahead. A moment later, a creature like a raptor, but bigger and with a squarish head, came trotting down the path. He was a dark brown all over, but with a creamy orange underside. Knuckles looked at him with eyes that did not see, but he remembered it afterward. The words exchanged were brief.

"Is this the one?"

"He is not the Brother, but he is for the leader."

"Ah, she will be pleased. Proceed in peace."

The dionychus stepped aside and the raptors ascended the steep hill, passed through a narrow opening in the rocks, and descended into a small valley on the other side.

Red cliffs towered up on the right, their tops catching the sun's last rays. They formed the entire east side of the valley. Volcanic hot springs bubbled up here and there, steaming and boiling hot, providing a water source for the valley's inhabitants. A sulfurous haze hung on the air. Tall brown grass and small palm fronds poked up here and there. It was the caldera of an extinct volcano. All the volcanic activity had gradually moved east, so the Terrible Claw had taken up residence in the crater.

Raptor and dionychus alike appeared out of nowhere to greet them, some bounding down from the rocky valley walls. "Racksha and Trillo have returned," one small raptor called to the others, "and they bring a live prisoner!"

Knuckles was surrounded by clawed animals and sniffed curiously. He stared at them lifelessly. He was past caring if they were friendly or not, if they would only let him sleep.

"He is weary," the female raptor who had brought him said. Her name seemed to be Racksha. "He has not spoken a word in hours. We should let him rest, unless the leader demands his presence immediately."

"Yes," said a tall dionychus, "she said he was to be brought before her as soon as you arrived."

"Very well then. Harshi, Rabdar, carry him. I fear he will collapse if he is forced to walk any further."

Strong clawed arms curled around his waist, and two raptors lifted him. They were not gentle, but Knuckles didn't care as long as he didn't have to walk.

Darkness crept across the valley as the pack of Terrible Claw dashed across the rocky terrain. All proceeded at a breakneck pace, leaping boulders and crying shrilly back and forth.

Abruptly they slowed, heads bobbing. Knuckles sensed a sort of amphitheater ahead; the ground dropped away in a deep depression, and a large rock outcropping towered up at the far end. Upon the top of this was crouched a lone dark shape.

Slowly the dinosaurs filed down into the pit, looking almost fearfully at the reclining beast on the rocks. Knuckles was shoved into the open, and the raptors backed away to form a wide ring about him. For the first time silence reigned. Crickets could be heard chirping in the grass. It was plainly felt that all were waiting for something to happen.

Knuckles looked up dully. The creature on the rock pinnacle was now standing, looking down at him. This must be the respected and feared velociraptor leader. He wondered if he should say something, but could not. His mouth didn't seem to work anymore; nothing worked anymore. His surroundings were beginning to whirl, putting him at the exact center of a crazy merry-go-round. He started to fall and caught himself.

There was a low growl from the creature above him, then a whoosh and thump as it leaped down. The big muzzle lowered and sniffed at him. It was large--bigger than the dionychus he had seen. After a moment it lifted its head and looked toward the silent crowd, putting its chest in front of his chest for a second. The echidna's eyes took in the big gold medallion it wore about its neck. It was about five inches across and set with colored jewels.

"Trillo, Racksha, he is nearly dead of exhaustion," the big raptor snarled disapprovingly. "I wished to speak with him; now that is impossible. Take him to the bedding grounds and see that he rests comfortably. I must wait until tomorrow to speak with him, and I do not like waiting. I will see you two here at moonrise."

The velociraptor turned back to Knuckles in time to catch him as he toppled over. As it lifted him in its arms, it whispered to him, "Peace. You shall not be harmed. You may sleep now." To the rest of its clan, it barked, "I will care for him myself. To your normal activities." The dinosaurs scattered like cockroaches in a suddenly lighted room.

Knuckles's last sensation was of being laid down on something soft, and the raptor grumbling, "I asked for a simple thing. I told them to take their time so as not to weary their captive. And what do they do?" Then to him, "Sleep, little one. I wish to know much from you, and you shall be freed when that is done."

Sleep claimed Knuckles immediately afterward.

* * *

Sonic, Serena and their tyrannosaur escort stopped for the night in a wide, grassy clearing the game trail ran through.

"It would be wise to eat well tonight," Grehar advised. "Tomorrow we must travel over the Diamond Dust pass, and it is very cold. You will need all your strength."

Serena started to ask why it was called 'Diamond Dust', but Sonic jabbed her with an elbow and whispered, "Snow, small one."

She glared daggers at him.

The t-rex stalked away into the woods to do who-knows-what. Sonic and Serena, quite hungry by this time, checked around and found a grove of date and banana palms. They dined on these and put more into Sonic's pack for meals the next day, then bedded down under a tree near the forest's rim. Grehar did not return until much later. He leaned against a tree, lowered his head and slept standing, like a horse.

Morning came far too soon for Sonic and Serena. It seemed to take forever to pry their eyes open. Grehar, knowing they needed to get underway, shattered the morning stillness with a blood-curdling roar that echoed off the mountain ridges. That woke the hedgehogs up, all right. As they resumed their trek up the wide trail, Sonic grumbled, "Why drink coffee in the morning? An adrenaline rush works just fine."

Pale blue dawn was just beginning to dim the stars, and a faint mist hung under the trees. They had already ascended a ways into the forested foothills; now the mountains towered above them, peak upon peak, ridge upon ridge, tops white with snow.

The trail narrowed to a footpath after another few miles. It was a little thin for Grehar, but was still plenty wide enough for the hedgehogs. They traveled at an easy run until they began to tire, the the tyrannosaur dropped the pace to a walk.

The slopes began to be rocky. Black basalt was strewn everywhere, giving evidence of the island's volcanism. However, that had been many years ago. Scrubby trees and brush had taken root in the stony soil. Here and there were large, brilliantly green trees. Grehar said that the Little Claws, a wise race of small dinosaurs, told of a layer of soft grey dust beneath the stones that made the plants grow. "Probably volcanic ash," Sonic translated quietly to his sister. "Plants are supposed to grow great in it."

The Little Claws, whom they inquired about, were described as about as tall as Sonic, walked on two legs, had a long neck and tail, ate everything, and had the raptor-like toe-claw. Serena didn't remember any dinosaurs like that, and it was her brother who recalled the troodon, a very intelligent species. Unfortunately, they were mortal enemies of the Terrible Claw; the two kinds mercilessly slaughtered each other whenever given the chance.

Noon found them high in the mountains. The air was thinning, and it was beginning to cool down. Grehar, who was not used to the lowered air pressure, panted constantly. They stopped on a wide stone ledge for a break. Sonic and Serena drank from Sonic's waterbottle and had lunch. The tyrannosaur flopped down a few yards away and shut his eyes for a catnap. He had eaten heavily the night before and did not need a noon meal.

A few more hours of hiking went by. They spent some time climbing an especially steep slope, then dropped into a shallow ravine and followed it up for a good distance. The t-rex seemed to know the way well. They heard later that those mountains were used as a hunting ground by the Terrible Claw, and Grehar had used them often as a youngster. (They were not taking the same path Knuckles's raptors had. The velociraptors had went straight up the backside of the mountains without bothering to use the pass.)

It was several hours past noon when they reached snow. Most of it lingered in patches in the shade, which grew larger the higher they climbed. Soon they were crunching along in a thin layer of the stuff.

"The crust is thin," Grehar called, his hot breath hanging around his jaws in a cloud. "It has not snowed in a while. The going will be easy. Come on, you two."

The pass was a narrow canyon between a row of mountain peaks. Snow covered it five inches deep--not too high, but deep enough to soak their shoes and socks.

Sonic and Serena walked along hunched up and shivering, wondering if their feet would turn black and fall off as soon as they defrosted.

"Amazing," Sonic said. "I have absolutely no feeling in my feet at all. This is better than when the river is full of spring run-off."

"Fine for y--y--you," Serena muttered through chattering teeth. "My f--f--feet have enough feeling to h--h--hurt. They're b--b--burn--ning."

They walked along for a few more minutes in silence, eyes on the large tracks Grehar made. Suddenly Sonic stopped and lifted a hand. "Grehar, wait."

The tyrannosaur stopped and looked back, automatically lifting one cold foot. "What?"

"Do you hear that?"

The three listened.

"I d--don't hear an--anything," Serena said.

Sonic pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh. No--there it is. A chirp. It's coming from--"

The blue hedgehog bounded away from their trail, stumbling a little on his numb feet. Serena and Grehar, not hearing anything, watched him curiously. Sonic stopped fifteen feet away from the canyon wall, looked around uncertainly, then moved left a few steps and knelt. He scraped away snow and lifted something; a small animal. He gave a pitying, "Awwww ..." and walked back to them, carrying it against his chest. "You'll never guess what this is," he called.

"A tannyin?" Grehar asked, walking up for a look.

"No," Sonic said, stroking it. "A flicky."

The bird was about the size of a robin. Its damp feathers were a sky blue, and had the typical big head and small body. It was shivering violently and uttering soft cheeps.

"Poor thing," Serena said, stroking its head gently.

The tyrannosaur, standing above them, lowered his head for a closer look. His nostrils worked a little, smelling it and blowing his bad breath in the hedgehog's faces. After a minute he said, "It is very bad off. It is chilled, and ..."

"And what?" Serena asked, coughing a little from the smell.

"... it has dimension sickness," Grehar finished. "Very bad. The flickies are delicate. If something pulls them from one dimension to another, the shock disorients and often kills them. For one to be alone up here, and with the sickness--" He lifted his head and scanned the canyon walls, as if expecting the culprit to be standing in plain sight.

"Let's get out of here," Sonic said for all of them.

* * *

It was late afternoon by the time they descended the snowy mountain. They found themselves on a steep slope that required caution to navigate. Grehar, however, stepped carefully onto the slope, then slid down as if riding a skateboard, knocking loose hundreds of rocks and stirring up a cloud of dust. He made it all the way down with only a couple scratches. The hedgehogs were not as bold. They tyrannosaur had to wait for them at the bottom.

Sonic was still carrying the flicky. He had put on his backpack backward, against his chest, and placed the bird inside. It was huddled there, wings limp and feet drawn tightly into its soft feathers. Its uncontrollable shivering had subsided, as had its desperate chirping. At present it was lying still and silent, eyes closed. Only the warmth of its little body against Sonic's through the pack's fabric assured him it was alive. He didn't touch it very often; he had heard that birds would die if handled too often. But, remembering the reason the dinosaurs could speak, he spoke to it often. It gave no indication it heard him.

As they descended the mountain, a yellow haze could be seen hanging above the hills ahead. "What's that, Grehar?" Serena panted as she and Sonic jogged along behind him.

The tyrannosaur lifted his massive head and looked. "It is the foul water," he said. "The Little Claw call it the sulphur pool. Do not drink the water." He made a disgusted sound and shook his head, as if he tasted something disagreeable. "I did, once. Arr, don't make my mistake. I was sick for days."

Sonic elbowed his sister and muttered, "And when a t-rex is sick, that's something major." They exchanged a wry look.

They crested a rocky hill -- everything seemed rocky in those mountains -- and looked down on a small valley. Most of the valley floor was drowned in steaming yellow water. In some places it actually bubbled. The stench of rotten eggs was nearly overpowering. Grehar calmly walked down toward it, Sonic and Serena more slowly.

"Won't need to worry about bugs down here," Serena coughed.

"Yuck," Sonic agreed, holding his nose. "It sbells dawble. Probably good dor de dinuses, dough."

They followed Grehar, who was taking a thin rough trail around the edge of the lake. Sometimes it was submerged shallowly in the yellow water, and they had to wade through. The water was uncomfortably warm. As the three emerged from it, Grehar wet to the ankles and the hedgehogs soaked to the waist, Serena commented, "Aw great. Now I'm going to smell like a sewer farm."

"You and me both, sis," Sonic said, making sure he hadn't gotten the flicky wet. It was still lying on its side, but now had lifted a wing and was panting in the warmth.

As they climbed out of the sulfurous valley, they saw the country fell away before them. Only perhaps half a mile distant was another, lower valley, but much bigger and deeper. The setting sun cast long shadows across it.

"Ah," said the tyrannosaur, pausing and lifting his massive head. "That is the valley of the Terrible Claw. It would be wise to signal them--they don't take kindly to unexpected visitors."

The hedgehogs covered their ears. Grehar reared up, drew a deep breath, then roared. It was not a challenge to the world, as had been the one that morning. This was more of a call that said, "I'm here."

As the unearthly sound faded away and the hedgehogs uncovered their ears, an answering call was heard. It was faint with distance, but was an answering roar of higher pitch, as though from a smaller animal. Grehar bobbed his head. "We are welcome. C'mon."

"I hope we're in time," Serena murmured to her brother.

He nodded, eyes on the thin footpath Grehar was now following. Abruptly he reached into his open pack and stroked the flicky. "I hope the raptors aren't as savage as they seem--I doubt Grehar would stop it if they jumped us. But Knux ... I just hope they didn't decide echidna was a delicacy."

The three walked along in silence, their feet grating on the stony trail. The valley drew nearer, the ground beginning to slope down toward it. They could see a few trees down in it; some rock formations, steam rising from somewhere--

"Halt!"

The three did and looked around, startled. Grehar reared up, sniffing loudly. His head turned to the left. The hedgehogs followed his gaze and finally made out the dinosaur crouched in the rocks. In the fading light, its brown skin perfectly matched the boulders around it. Now it stood up, watching them warily. It was a dionychus; light brown, but speckled with deep brown and black. Its dark claws gleamed like metal. "Grehar," it growled, its voice loud in the stillness, "who are these with you?"

The tyrannosaur gave a low, guttural growl. The dionychus replied with a growl that rose to a squeal. Then they grunted and chirred back and forth. After a few minutes of this, the dionychus stepped back and bobbed its head. "Sonic and Serena Hedgehog, welcome to Volcano Valley. Proceed."

It was startling to be addressed by name. As Grehar moved on, Sonic recalled what the female raptor had said to him. "May your hunting be good and your claws sharp," he called to it. It stared at him in surprise.

Serena elbowed her brother. "You just made an impression, bro."

He nodded, watching as the dinosaur stood motionless, staring them out of sight. "I think it was a good one."

Then they were picking their way down a narrow footpath through high rock walls, zig-zagging to and fro. Their tyrannosaur guide seemed to know the way quite well, and it was not long before they found themselves on the rough valley floor. The hedgehogs gazed around.

The valley was long and narrow, more like a wide crack in the ground. It stretched for miles north and south. Small trees poked up here and there and dry grass covered most of the ground. As down on the plain, it grew thick and green near the hot springs. A faint, unpleasant smell hung on the air; the scent of carnivores. As it had been for Knuckles the day before, the sun was setting, sky streaked with color.

Grehar lifted his head and gave the honking group call the raptors used. Immediately it was answered and dinosaurs appeared from several directions simultaneously. Sonic and Serena found themselves at the center of a group of curious raptors and dionychus. They were easy to tell apart; the velociraptors were various shades of green, and the dionychus were every color of brown. All eyes were either yellow or green. The hedgehogs were sniffed, snorted and growled at as the dinosaurs stated their opinions in their own language. Finally Sonic worked up the nerve to say, "All right already! We'd like to speak to your leader."

A unanimous growl of approval passed through the crowd. One tall dionychus stepped forward and said, "As it was Grehar who brought you here, we shall accommodate you. Come with us."

They were surrounded and escorted away from the tyrannosaurus, who watched the proceedings with amusement. Sonic kept his arms wrapped protectively around his pack and the flicky, hoping desperately the raptors wouldn't smell it. The little bird was still lying on its side, eyes closed.

They travelled quickly, and in a few moments the hedgehogs were stepping down into the amphitheater with the rock pillar at the far end. As they had done with Knuckles, the raptors nudged them into position, then moved back to a safe distance. A sudden hush fell over the valley. Apprehensive, the hedgehogs joined hands and looked up at the pillar.

Crouched on the top was a very large creature, even larger than the dionychus they had seen. It wore a cape over its back, covering most of its body; probably a status symbol. It also wore a gleaming gold medallion around its neck.

What drew their attention was the carcass it was gnawing on. The blood looked fresh, but the body had been mauled beyond all recognition. The air was drenched with its stench. The raptor's forearms and jaws were red-stained. Its eyes were a bright yellow.

It lifted its head and looked down at them. "Greetings, strangers," it said, its voice cool and clear. "What brings you here?"

Sonic had to swallow twice before he could speak. "We had a friend of ours taken hostage by two rap--uh, Terrible Claws. They said they were bringing him to you." His eyes dropped unbidden to the carcass in front of it.

"Yes?" the big raptor said indifferently.

Sonic glanced at his sister, the expression on her face said that if she said a word she would throw up. He felt the same twisting of his stomach, and it was getting worse by the minute. "We--we'd like to get him back," the blue hedgehog managed to say.

He was sickened to see the dinosaur lower its head, bite into the carcass and rip a chunk out of it. It lifted its head and regarded them as it chewed and swallowed. Then it said, "What species was this friend of yours?"

Sonic nearly choked on the word. "Echidna."

The raptor cocked its head thoughtfully, then licked the dripping gore off its jaws. Sonic had to look away in revulsion, and noticed his sister was a funny shade of green; something in the mint family, to be precise. He wondered how soon it would be before both of them lost it.

"Echidna," the raptor said. "Do you mean the one named Knuckles?"

Sonic couldn't stand it anymore--he had to know. "He's not what you're eating, is he?"

A disapproving sound moved through the surrounding dinosaurs. Obviously that was a very rude question. The leader didn't seem to mind, though. It gave a chuckle that sounded like Slasher's and said, "No, this is what your kind call an avimimus. Akin to a nest-robber." It lifted its head and called, "Aree, take them to the live prisoner's quarters. Post a guard; I do not wish for them to leave without permission."

A big green velociraptor stepped forward and grunted, "Come, you two."

Sonic and Serena moved toward him weakly and trailed him through the pack of Terrible Claw. The raptors watched them, but made no move to follow.

About halfway across the valley Serena stopped and was sick. Sonic stood beside her until she was done. He could still feel his own stomach churning, but now out of sight and smell of the carrion, it was subsiding. Aree stopped and waited until they were able to move again, then resumed his swift walk.

Serena's color was a little better. She wiped her mouth on her shirt and sighed heavily.

"Feel better?" Sonic asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm glad it held out 'til we were out here. That leader of theirs ...!"

Sonic knew what she meant; they had seen velociraptor life, and it was not all speed and glory.

They said no more for a while. The high walls of the valley blocked out the sun's rays, and it was a dim bluish twilight. Aree's eyes shown like live coals. They were led up a low hill to a place of assorted boulders at the foot of the cliffs, where the velociraptor stopped. "There," he growled, lifting a clawed hand and pointing toward a stack of rocks. "The prisoner is there. Go, and don't try to run away--your fate will be the same as the tannyin our leader was eating." He flashed a cruel smile at them and moved away. The hedgehogs hurriedly climbed the hill.

"Knux?" Sonic called. "Are you up here? Knux, it's Sonic and 'Rena!"

For a long moment there was silence, and a cricket chirped somewhere nearby. Then, "Sonic?"

Knuckles's familiar figure appeared from behind a huge boulder. The hedgehogs ran to him in relief, and hugs were exchanged all around. "Gee, I thought I'd never see you again," Knuckles said with a grin. "That big one they call the 'leader' basically said I wouldn't be able to leave. C'mon over here. I've got a sort of camp set up."

He led them through the rocks and under an overhang in the cliff wall. A small, cheerful campfire was burning there. Further under the overhang, in the shadows by the wall, was a sort of bed, made of dried grass and branches. Sonic and Serena sat down beside the fire gratefully, and Knux joined them.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked his friend. "How are they treating you?"

Knuckles shrugged and brushed a stray dreadlock out of his face. "Pretty good, I guess. You know those two raptors that dragged me off? They covered the whole fifty-six miles in one day. I got in yesterday 'bout this time, so tired I could barely stand ... you guys hungry?"

Sonic and Serena exchanged a glance and shook their heads emphatically.

Knuckles poked the campfire with a stick. "They're watching us, you know." He cast a wary glance into the surrounding darkness, which seemed much more solid with the fire before them. "All the time. You don't see 'em, but they're there." He returned his gaze to his friends. "So, how'd you get here?"

Sonic and Serena recounted their adventures of the previous two days. Knuckles listened with interest, especially when they told of Grehar's question about the 'Brother'. "You know," he said when they finished, "I heard them talking about that. Some wondered if I was him." He chuckled. "But I'm not a hedgehog, and it probably saved me."

Night closed in, thick and nearly tangible. Knuckles offered Serena the bed, who accepted gratefully. He and Sonic stretched out on the ground by the fire. Sonic carefully lay down with his pack against his side, curling a protective arm around it. Knuckles propped himself up on one elbow and watched curiously. As soon as Sonic got himself comfortable, Knux asked, "What's in the bag?"

"A flicky," Sonic replied without moving.

Startled, the echidna sat up, crawled over and looked in the top of the pack. "Sonic," he breathed, "if the raptors find out you've got a sick flicky, you're dead meat."

Sonic sat up and looked at him. "Yeah, I think I figured that out. The problem is, what do I do? They could probably take care of it, but what'll they do to me? What if they think I did something to it?"

The two lay back and gazed up at the underside of the overhang. "If only Slasher were here," Knuckles murmured. "She could fix this."

"Yeah," Sonic agreed quietly. "I have no idea how to act around dinos. You could get your arm ripped off just asking a question."

They lapsed into silence. Sonic felt the warmth of the flicky's body gradually work its way through the the side of the pack, and hoped it could feel his warmth, too. He began to doze, aware of Knuckles's even breathing a few feet away. The ground was hard through the thin grass, but he had been sleeping out of doors the past few days and could care less.

He was nearly asleep when an idea came to him. Abruptly he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Perhaps twenty minutes had passed, but Knux and his sister were already sawing logs. Good. No one would tell him what a stupid thing he was about to do.

His fingers sleepily fumbled with the whistle that hung at his neck. It was his signal to call Slasher; what hadn't he thought of it before? If she was alive, the faintest echo of the blast would bring her running. He lifted it to his lips, then hesitated. There were other raptors nearby; what if they heard it too? Well, he would have to risk it.

Sonic blew one silent blast. The frequency was too high for his ears to register, but Slasher had specifically made it that way on purpose ...

He waited, staring out into the darkness. Once he got the firelight out of his eyes he could distinguish shapes; boulders, a dead tree. He watched for movement half eagerly, half fearfully. Would it bring every Terrible Claw in the valley running, or only the one it was meant for?

Motion. Something caught the light and was gone. He looked toward it, trying to see through the darkness. "Slash?" he ventured softly. Another movement. Something was moving up the rocky hill toward him. Then a pair of eyes flashed, reflecting the fire's light. His heart sank; Slasher's eyes were green. These were yellow.

A moment later there was a low growl and those eyes gazed down on him from just outside the circle of firelight. Sonic returned its stare glumly. "Sorry. I was trying to find somebody."

Instead of leaving, as he had hoped it would, it moved into the light and crouched by the fire. The light glinted off the gold necklace it wore. If possible, his heart sank even lower. It was the barbaric leader who had enjoyed the disgusting meal. It still wore the long cape over its back, but had washed the blood off its arms and face.

"Your friends are asleep?" it said quietly.

Sonic nodded miserably and sat down in front of his pack. Maybe he could hide the flicky's presence from it.

"Good ..." the raptor said, then gazed at him and said, "... Sonic."

He jumped. "How did you know my name?"

"I've always known your name."

"Did Grehar tell you, or--" Sonic stared into its face. "But you can't be Slasher. Your eyes are yellow and you aren't winged."

It put its head to one side in a very familiar way. "Tell me, Sonic. If a green-eyed raptor fell into the ocean, fought its way to shore, met a band of its own kind and had to kill one to survive, then had to hunt for every meal she ate, would her eyes not be yellow afterward?"

As she spoke, the harsh growling mask over her voice fell away and he recognized it. "Slash? That's really you?" he asked uncertainly, not quite believing his ears.

Her eyes closed partly. "Would any other velociraptor respond to a whistle?"

"Is that why you wear a cape?"

The raptor, knowing he needed that last bit of confirmation, lifted one corner of the cape and revealed the folded wing beneath. "Yep. They'll run me out once they figure out I'm a freak. I won't be leader for very long."

Sonic flung his arms around her neck, but let go abruptly and backed away. "You stink."

The big raptor nodded. "Yes, I know. I can't help it--I've eaten nothing but raw meat these past few days, and unfortunately they don't have any soap here." She sighed and lowered her head. "I'm not used to being wild, Sonic. I've gotten soft. SWAT-bots are easy pickings compared to some of the fights I've been in. You never fight one at a time; it's always three to one at the very least." She extended one forearm, revealing a nasty gash from elbow to wrist. It was closed and scabbed over, but still looked hideous. "That's a minor injury. Creeah gave it to me during my initiation. I believe you've met Creeah?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. I don't know who he was when I clubbed him, but I do now."

Slasher nodded. "News travels fast. The whole island knows what you did to him, and he's furious. You'll be safe as long as you're here, but once you leave the valley he'll get you."

Sonic shivered. "Red eyes. Is he mean?"

Slasher gazed at him rather coolly. "Mean. Is he mean. No, try vicious. Or ferocious. How about blood-thirsty? Or maybe 'worse than Robo Knux' should give you the picture."

"You don't have to be so sarcastic."

"Sorry. But he almost succeeded in killing me by underhanded fighting." The velociraptor sighed and lowered her head a bit. "I'd let you go if it was safe, but it isn't. We can't get away because of that shield and no one knows anything about it."

That reminded Sonic of something. He leaned forward. "Slash, Metal Sonic might be on the island. He told all the dinosaurs that if his evil brother came, it was to hurt the flickies and that they should kill him. I can only assume he meant me."

Slasher gazed at him. "Metal Sonic. Well, in that case, I can guess at who's responsible for the shield." She rose to her feet, favoring her left arm. "I'll come back tomorrow if I can."

Sonic jumped up. "Wait a minute, Slash." He lifted his open pack and thrust it into her hands.

She looked inside and froze. "Oh my gosh. Sonic, where did you find him?"

"He was in the snow when we came over the Diamond Dust pass. I've been afraid to hand him over to the raptors."

Slasher lifted the little bird in her hands and gave the pack back to the blue hedgehog. "You don't realize the danger you were in, Sonic. If Grehar had said a word or if they had smelled the flicky, you'd be dead and in half a dozen stomachs right now."

Sonic shuddered, thinking of the bloody carcass Slasher had eaten. Funny, somehow it wasn't as repulsive now.

She lifted the little bird and looked at it closely. "Dimension sickness, looks like. I'll see what I can do."

She turned to leave, but before she did, Sonic remembered a question that had been nagging at him and stopped her.

"Slash, before I forget--what's 'black eyes' in dinosaur? Creeah is red; Grehar never told us what black was."

The raptor tossed him a smile over her shoulder. "Black eyes? The word, my friend, is 'Mekah'."

"Mekah," Sonic repeated. His eyes widened as he recognized the homonym. "Mecha!"

But Slasher had already vanished into the night.

* * *

At that moment, two creatures, one known in tannyin as 'Creeah', the other as 'Mekah', were standing together in the darkness. Invisible to all but nocturnal eyes, they stood on the edge of one of the cliffs overlooking the raptor valley.

Metal Sonic had the light in his eyes turned down to a minimum, just enough to be visible. Creeah was hardly visible at all. "Yes," he growled in response to a question, "I know much about the flickies, but I hate them."

"Is it true, then," Mecha purred, "that you have hunted and killed flickies behind the backs of the others?"

Creeah's silence was the only answer.

"So, it IS true."

"How did you know that?" The raptor's voice was a deadly growl.

"I have my ways," the robot replied calmly. "What of the medallion?"

"The one the leader wears?"

"Yesss ..."

Creeah turned his black head toward the valley, nostrils flaring. "The medallion is the the tannyin link with the flickies. It contains four jewels--red, yellow, green and blue."

"Ruby, topaz, emerald and sapphire," Metal Sonic muttered to himself.

Creeah ignored him and continued. "They glow at times. When used right, it opens the dimension ring and allows travel between this and the flickiess' dimension."

"Interesting," the robot said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Go on."

Creeah snarled, then spat off the cliff's edge. "The only way to get the medallion is to become leader, or ..." For an instant his red eyes shown in the darkness. "... or kill the leader."

There was quiet a moment. Mecha broke it with, "And since you have no hope of ever becoming leader ..."

The raptor and robot exchanged a sinister glance.

"When?"

"When she leaves the valley on her own."

"Tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow."

* * *

The sick flicky was handed over to the more experienced raptors by Slasher, later that night. She did not say where she had got it, and none asked her. But for the first time Slasher was made aware of the magical properties of the medallion she wore.

An old, grey-green, claw-marked velociraptor was brought to the amphitheater by a few others, who immediately withdrew, leaving the two alone with the flicky.

The old raptor took the bird tenderly into her wrinkled claws. "Aye, poor little one," she murmured. She looked up at the bigger dinosaur. "The leaves I brought. Crush them in your hands and give them to me."

Slasher obeyed, paying close attention to everything. Curing a flicky was one of the few things she didn't know how to do, and she intended to learn.

The leaves the old one had brought wore a sort of poisonous fern. They released a strong, pungent odor as they were bruised. As she placed them in the hands of the old raptor, she said, "Aged one (all elderly raptors were given this title), these ferns are not safe to eat."

"Yes," said the other, dull teeth flashing in the moonlight, "but to a flicky, healing in small amounts."

Expertly the withered hands opened the tiny beak and pressed a minuscule amount of the substance into it. The flicky, without stirring, automatically swallowed it. The old raptor dropped what was left and held the bird toward Slasher. She took it. "Now," said the old raptor, "hold the medallion within its reach."

Slasher obeyed. As the medallion neared the flicky, the four gems in its golden surface began to glow like fire. The flicky simply lay in Slasher's hand and took no notice. The old raptor tapped it softly on the breast and said, "Now, flicky, identify yourself."

The bird's eyes opened for the first time. They were a deep, midnight blue, almost black. It turned its head toward the glowing jewels in the medallion. Slowly it lifted a wing and touched its primary feathers to the blue sapphire.

Instantly all the jewels went dead, as if a switch had been flipped. The flicky shook its head, then righted itself, scrambled up and perched on one of Slasher's fingers. "Thank you," it said to the old raptor. "Dimension sickness it dreadful!" It cocked its head and gazed up at Slasher. "Thank you two, great leader," it chirped. "You may dismiss the healer. I am well."

Slasher nodded to the old raptor, who bobbed her head and shambled stiffly away.

As soon as they were alone, the bird looked up at Slasher and said, "One thing you must tell me. Are you in league with Creeah?"

"No," Slasher growled. "Look at my left arm; my reason for disliking him."

The flicky cocked its head and looked. "Yes. Creeah has long been known among us as a traitor and a killer of our kind."

The big raptor's eyes flashed. "He kills the flickies?"

"Yes," the bird replied bitterly, ruffling its feathers a bit. "At present, death count it twelve. One of them was my mate."

"I'm sorry," Slasher said, meaning it. "Tomorrow at dawn I'll tell the other Terrible Claw."

The flicky fluttered from her finger and picked at the grass. "Thanks. By the way, my name is Lindy."

"As in Lindbergh?"

"As in Lindy," the bird replied, faintly irritated. "What's your common name?"

"Slasher," the raptor replied. "Why did you end up here with dimension sickness?"

Lindy found a bug of some kind in the grass and chomped it down hungrily. "Bad bit of business, that," he said darkly. "When those Mobians started that war, we feared our island would fall prey to Julian--or Dr. Robotnik, as we found he was called. We flickies combined forces and pulled our island into our own dimension to protect it. We had pretty much decided to keep it there indefinitely--none of the tannyin were affected. But some sort of distortion--I had never experienced such a thing before--shoved our island back into the third dimension. At the same time, it ripped many of us from our home and brought us here with it." He paused and snapped up a few more tidbits he had spotted. "The others were caught in the center of the wave and taken somewhere in a group. I was on the edge, and ended up in the snow." Suddenly Lindy stopped and peered up at Slasher. "Wait a minute. The hedgehog found me. The blue hedgehog with the kind voice. Where is he now?"

"Safe," Slasher replied quietly. "He is under my protection, along with his two friends. You can see him in the morning, if you like."

"I'd like that," the flicky said, returning his bright gaze to the weeds. "He kept me warm and kept me from sleeping too much by talking to me. What is his name?"

"Sonic."

"Sonic," Lindy repeated with a straight face. "A swift runner?"

"Yes, very. Fastest in the world."

The flicky pecked up one more tiny object, then said, "Now, if we're through with polite introduction and chit-chat, I would like to get some sleep. Please don't think me rude, but I'm still tired."

"Of course," said Slasher, playing hostess. "You know where the trees are, right?"

"Sure. This IS our island, after all. See you tomorrow." The little flicky spread his blue wings and flew away into the darkness.

News of Creeah's actions had left Slasher uneasy. She spent the night guarding the flicky's resting place, and the camp of her friends.

* * *

Sonic was bone-tired from his two days of adventures, and slept like a log. Serena and Knuckles did the same.

Dawn came and Slasher left her post to make her announcement to the Terrible Claw. Sonic slept on, oblivious to the early morning chill. But, as he slept, he heard voices ... a dream, perhaps?

"His name is Sonic, and the other is his sister."

"And the red one?"

"Knuckles. He is perhaps the wisest of the three."

"They have not yet proven their friendship to us, but if Creeah hates them, that is in our favor."

"Yes, an enemy of Creeah is a friend of ours."

"Hark! Someone approaches."

The voices were gone. What they had said went into Sonic's subconscious and was stored away in his memory. He continued to sleep heavily.

"Sonic."

Claws on his arm--tiny claws.

"Sonic. That is your name, right?"

The insistent voice slowly dragged him back to consciousness, as did the sharp claws digging into his left arm. He pried his eyes open and found himself staring at-- well, whatever it was, it was right in his face, so close he could see nothing but its eyes.

"Yaagh!"

He jerked away and sat up, heart thundering in his chest. There was a whirr of wings, and a little bird landed on the ground at his feet. It had been perched on his arm, trying to arouse him. It gazed up at him, its feelings hurt."You didn't have to overreact so."

"YOU didn't have to scare me to death!" Sonic shot back. "What are you trying to DO?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," it replied sulkily. "Sorry."

Sonic was beginning to calm down. He looked around, realizing it was morning and remembering where he was. Knuckles was curled up a few feet away, head pillowed in his arms. Serena was still asleep, as well. The fire had burned itself out long ago, and the air was damp and cool. Sonic rubbed his eyes and stretched. He was a bit stiff from sleeping on the ground ... okay, he was REALLY stiff. He stood, wincing and rubbing the small of his back.

"Sore?" the bird asked.

The hedgehog looked down at it. Where had he seen it before? Oh yeah, the flicky--the sick flicky he had given to Slasher. He sank to one knee. "Are you that flicky I picked up?"

"I am," it chirped, somewhat more cheerfully. "I only wanted to thank you for your kindness."

"Oh," said Sonic sheepishly. "You're welcome. What's your name?"

"Lindy."

"Lucky Lindy, eh?"

"I suppose you could say that. And you are Sonic, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"The leader told me."

"Are you better now?"

"Of course."

"Say, I want to know something. If you live on this island, what 'advanced civilization' is on the other end of it?"

Lindy gazed at him with one indigo eye. "There isn't any. Only us and the tannyin live here."

"Oh yeah?" Sonic challenged mildly. "Our radar picked up something out there. Oh, and there's a shield over the whole island. Did you know that?"

Now it was Lindy's turn to be curious. "What sort of shield?" Sonic described it for him. The news seemed to trouble the bird. He sat deep in thought for about thirty seconds, then murmured, "Then it IS true. Cinder tried to tell me ... tried to warn me ... Sonic, something is terribly amiss."

"What're you guys talkin' about?" Knuckles mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He had caught the tail-end of Lindy's statement.

Lindy hopped away from him warily. "Who are you?"

The echidna yawned. "Ah, my name's Knuckles. Wait, aren't you that flicky of Sonic's?"

He looked questioningly at his friend, who nodded and mouthed, "Slasher."

Knuckles sat up straight. "Slasher? She's here? Is she okay?"

Sonic smirked. "Not only that--she's their leader."

Knux slumped and stared at him. "Oh great. Fat chance we have of getting home NOW. They'll never let her go!"

"I don't understand your talk," Lindy said, looking from one to another, then gazing at Sonic. "But I sense you mean no harm. Hedgehog ..."

"Sonic," the aforenamed interrupted. "Call me by my name, or I'll go around calling you 'bird'."

Neither Knuckles nor the flicky understood this private joke, but Serena, who was just waking up, couldn't help a sleepy chuckle. She had been on Little Planet and witnessed the argument between Sonic and a colorful parrot on this issue.

"Sonic," the flicky corrected itself, casting a glance in Serena's direction. "Quit distracting me. I was going to say that my kind may be in terrible danger. It was only with greatest good fortune that I escaped the distortion that pulled the others into this dimension. That is why I was dumped in the snowy mountains with D-sickness."

Knuckles seemed to have perked up at the mention of a distortion. "Was this an accident of some kind?"

Lindy looked at him. "No. That is why the other flickies and I are in danger. Because I was on the edge of the distortion I could see the other side of it." He paused, and Serena, who was listening with sleepy interest, said, "Go on."

Lindy did, warming to his story. "A distortion is like a gigantic heatwave--the kind that ripple in the distance on a hot day, but bigger and a swirl of colors. I saw many other flickies were pulled into it. But, as I was drawn in, I saw other things. I saw machines of all shapes and sizes. I saw machines in the shapes of animals that were walking about and watching the proceedings. But there seemed to be one machine in command of the others."

As one, the hedgehogs and echidna leaned forward.

"It was a representation of a hedgehog," the flicky said deliberately. "It was standing on a--well, I don't know what it was standing on. A sort of floating floor. It had one hand lifted and seemed to be directing the distortion. Then I was out and lying in the snow."

As one, the Freedom Fighters murmured, "Metal Sonic!"

Lindy looked around at the three. "You know of him?"

"Yeah," Sonic replied venomously. "He's like, only my worst enemy! He's tried to kill all three of us lots of times. Who knows what he's doing now?"

Serena walked up and stood beside her brother. She still looked mussed and sleepy, but seemed ready for action. "We'd better get out of here," she said. "I'm not up on hunting down Mecha, but we've gotta do something."

* * *

"Right," Sonic said an hour later. "But what?"

They had asked leave of Slasher and explained their reason for leaving. She had agreed, and showed them the way out of the valley. "I'll catch up in an hour or so," she said before departing. "Watch out for Creeah and don't let anything happen to Lindy."

Now they were walking through the forest on a faint trail without really knowing where they were going. The trees were thin and scraggly from their fight to survive in the rocky soil, and the ground was rough. Lindy, like any bird, preferred to ride on his escorts' shoulders. He liked Sonic best, and at present was perched on the hedgehog's head.

Sonic was in a pessimistic mood. "We have no idea where we are. We have no supplies anymore." (The raptors had forced him to leave his backpack behind.) "We have no weapons and what's more, there's a ruthless velociraptor out to get us. Oh yeah, sounds like fun to me."

"Oh be quiet," Serena muttered under her breath.

"Yeah," said Knuckles unexpectedly. "Shut up. Last time we were out here like this you griped and lead the raptors right to us."

Sonic was none too happy about them ganging up on him, but swallowed his retorts for once and remained silent.

They kept walking. Birds called around them, and once something soared over they took to be a pterodactyl of some kind. The day was cool compared to the heat of the day before, and the sun on their heads was mild.

Suddenly Knuckles stopped and gazed around. The position of his body told them he sensed something. Sonic and Serena moved up to him, trying to watch in the directions he was not. "What is it?" Serena whispered fearfully.

"Guess," the echidna replied softly. "Whatever happens, don't let them carry me off."

"Raptors?" Sonic hissed.

Knuckles nodded. "You got it." He reached up and twisted a branch off a tree. "Not much," he commented, "but it seemed to work last time."

A crunch off to their left.

"No," Knux said. "Not from that way. More like--"

Straight up?

The raptor dropped on them like a ton of bricks, knocking all three to the ground. Somehow they all knew it was Creeah. Lindy leaped from Sonic's head and darted into a tree in terror. The red and black raptor didn't seem to notice him. His red demon-eyes were scanning the three. A second later he recognized Sonic and pounced on him, letting Serena and Knuckles up.

Sonic felt the animal's strength as it grabbed his arms and dragged him away from the others, scraping his legs against the ground. The stench of its body sickened him. Creeah flung him down, smacking the back of Sonic's head into the rocks, then crouched over him. The growl in its chest bubbled up into words. "Come near me with that stick and I'll kill you."

Sonic couldn't see much, lying under the raptor's belly as he was, but he heard the ice in Knuckles's voice. "Let him go."

Apparently velociraptors couldn't be bargained with. The blow fell before Sonic saw the hind foot move. The six-inch sickle-claw raked his chest, tearing into his chest. He gasped and struggled instinctively.

"Say another word," Creeah purred, "and I rip him again."

A sound from the right. Sonic heard Serena gasp as she saw what made it, then Knuckles was on the other side, drawing Creeah's attention away from it. "Word, word, another word--"

"Shut up!" Sonic screamed, not understanding.

A thud of bone on bone and the evil raptor was sent flying sideways, off his feet and rolling. For an instant Sonic found himself nose to nose with another dinosaur; bigger than a raptor, but much smaller than a rex. Then it stepped over him and went on, following Creeah.

Winded, dizzy and hurting, Sonic sat up and stared after it. Creeah, a dozen feet away, was just crawling to his feet, shaking his head. The other dinosaur, easily twice his size, strode up to him, lowered his head and butted the raptor. As before, Creeah was sent flying.

Sonic had little time to see more, for he felt a clawed hand on his arm, helping him to his feet. He stood and found himself looking at a small, well-built, green velociraptor. It was only as tall as he was, but obviously full grown. His green dappled skin was marked with blue around his head and shoulders. His eyes were a cool emerald green. "You are safe now," he said quietly. "I am Ranger. You two, come see to your friend. I must be sure Creeah will not follow you any further."

Ranger bounded away, his movements fluid and catlike. Sonic stared after him in a daze, aware of the blood running down his front. Then Serena had her arms around him, and Knuckles was examining the wound.

Sonic didn't snap out of it until he was sitting beneath a tree, holding a large leaf against his chest. Abruptly he sat up, eyes brightening in sudden horror. "Where's Lindy?"

The three looked around. "Did Creeah eat him?" Serena croaked.

"I don't see him," Knuckles said, standing up and peering around the thin trees. "Lin-dy!"

To their relief the blue flicky fluttered down to a limb above their heads. His feathers were pulled tight to his body and he was trembling violently, eyes wide. "Is Creeah gone?" His gaze fell on Sonic. "Sonic, my friend! What happened?"

Sonic slumped against the tree trunk. "You really need to ask? Oh--" he flinched and closed his eyes.

Knuckles knelt beside him and touched the leaf, now stuck to the wound with blood. "We need real bandages, Sonic, 'Rena. This is bad."

Sonic looked at him. "You're tellin' me. Tell that green raptor when he comes back. Maybe he can do something."

"Such as?"

The three looked up with a start. The green raptor had returned, and beside him stood the thing that had saved Sonic. It somewhat resembled a tyrannosaurus rex, but was much smaller. It had a sharp bony horn over each eye, and an especially long, sharp one on its snout. It stood on two legs and carried its short forearms doubled up in front of its chest. It was a rich purple, shading to black above and maroon beneath. The three horns on its face were a creamy white, but had a coating of fresh red.

"My name is Ranger," the green raptor said again, "and this is Draco. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are Knuckles, Sonic and Serena, are you not?"

The three exchanged a glance, then nodded.

Ranger cocked his head. "There is no need for alarm. Draco and I are renegades--the intelligence system of this island. We have followed you since you crawled out of the ocean. We will protect you from Creeah until you reach wherever you are going."

Draco, whose face rather resembled that of a dragon's, said, "Sonic, are you hurt?"

The hedgehog nodded, eyes straying to the blood on the horns. "Are you?"

"Not I," the dinosaur replied, "but Creeah is most uncomfortable at the moment."

"Did you kill him?"

"No." He shook his head. "I wish I could, but that mongrel is the hardest to kill I've ever seen." He crouched, muscular hindlegs coiling beneath him. "Climb on. I'll carry you."

Sonic stood up, sharing a surprised looked with his companions. Draco saw his hesitation. "You DO ride, don't you?"

"Well, yeah--I just never--didn't think anyone here would--" Sonic was suddenly faint. He stood still, weaving a little. Knuckles had to help him onto the big creature's back.

"He is weary from loss of blood," Ranger said wisely, looking keenly at the hedgehog as Draco stood. "Once we get off this mountain we can care for him. Was Slasher going to come with you?"

Knuckles sideyed Serena. This little velociraptor was a good spy. "Yeah. She should be along pretty soon."

"She is a good tracker," Ranger said, green eyes narrowing. "She will follow. Draco, lets go down to the jungle plain. It's only a couple miles from here."

"Okay, boss."

They set off at an easy pace, Lindy flying from tree to tree alongside. Sonic found Draco was bigger around than Slasher was; it was like trying to get a kneehold on a wine barrel. The beast's gate was heavier, too. But at any rate, it was better than walking.

After a moment he poked his mount and said shyly, "Um, I've never seen your kind before--what are you called?" The reply was rather unusual. "Ceratosaurus. It means horned lizard." Quite the other way around from what most dinosaurs called themselves.

The five walked along quietly through the woods for a while. Ranger's green eyes were fixed intently on Sonic. The hedgehog was slowly slumping forward, clutching at his bloody chest. As a predator, Ranger recognized the signs of impending blood loss. Without a sound he slipped away from the group and vanished into the trees. A few minutes later he returned with a spray of dark green leaves in his hand. He stepped up to Draco and handed the leaves up to Sonic. Sonic looked at them dully. "What is this?"

"Eat it," the little raptor commanded. "It'll stop the bleeding."

Sonic pulled off a leaf and looked at it dubiously. Knuckles and Serena were watching. "That had better not be poisonous," Knux said.

"It's not," the little raptor replied simply, and said no more.

Sonic took a deep breath and crammed the leaf into his mouth. He chewed a couple times, made a face and hastily swallowed. "Blech," he said, sticking out his tongue. "That's worse than a raw lemon!"

"Eat the rest," Ranger said cooly. "Bitter, yes, but it will stop the bleeding."

Sonic managed to choke down a few more mouthfuls as they moved along, then balked. "I ain't eating any more," he snarled, then threw the sprig at Ranger. The raptor caught it, glanced at it, then tossed it down. "It is enough."

"How long does it take?" Serena asked.

The green raptor shrugged. "Depends. Usually works on the average of five minutes."

He was right. A few minutes later the bleeding had almost completely stopped. Sonic, grumpy because he was unable to get the foul taste out of his mouth, hunched up and rode Draco like a sack of grain.

An hour later found them at the foot of the stony mountain. The trees had increased in size and number, blocking out the sun. Ferns and moss carpeted the ground.

They stopped on the bank of a clear stream. Sonic clumsily slid off Draco's back, found a soft mossy spot between two tree roots and was asleep almost before he lay down. The others drank from the stream and greeted Lindy as he landed beside Sonic. Knuckles and Serena seated themselves a few yards from their friend, expecting the dinosaurs to leave them. Instead, Ranger flopped unceremoniously on the ground, and Draco shifted his weight comfortably to one foot. "Talk," Ranger ordered. "I want to know how you got here, where you're going and why."

Knuckles and Serena exchanged a helpless glance. The little raptor had the brains and backup to get any information out of them he wanted. Knuckles crossed his legs and leaned back. "The only way we can tell you anything is if you tell us something. Are you in league with Creeah or Met--the robot hedgehog?"

"No," Ranger replied icily. "Creeah is our sworn enemy, and we have been positive for some time that Metal Sonic was evil. Our only problem is that most other tannyin do not take our opinions seriously. So speak--we are on your side."

Knuckles looked at Serena, shrugged and began.

* * *

"The pain is dreadful," Creeah groaned, breath coming hard.

He was standing in the shadowy recesses of a cave-turned-fortress. The cavern was about twenty feet wide and fifty feet deep. The ceiling soared up into darkness. The only light came from the bright entrance at one end, vaguely illuminating the strange machines and silent generators that flanked the walls.

Blood gushed from five gaping wounds in Creeah's side and left leg where Draco's horns had punctured his flesh. He stood with his wounded leg held off the floor, blood dripping from his claws. Metal Sonic approached and looked him over, eyes glowing as red as the blood. "Indeed. What happened?"

Creeah lifted his hands and stared at them as if he had not heard. "He was right here. The blue hedgehog was within my grasp ..."

Mecha grabbed his arm. "You HAD him? You HAD him and you did not KILL him?"

The black and red raptor spoke as if in a daze. "There was no time. I clawed him once, then Draco was there. There was not enough time ..."

"Velociraptors can shred a creature in less than thirty seconds!" the robot hissed. "You were supposed to kill him!"

Abruptly Creeah came to life. He whirled and kicked Metal Sonic in the chest with a snarl, flinging him across the cool cavern. "You think I don't know that, you metal monster? You think I wouldn't have killed him given another moment?" The snarl faded, and he turned his head to lick a wound on his thigh. "Ah, the pain ..."

Mecha deliberately picked himself up, eyes glowing with suppressed anger. The kick had been surprisingly weak; Creeah was not in the best condition. As he examined his arms and legs for scratches, there came a soft voice from the corner of the cave. "You'll never get away with this."

The robot whirled. "Just watch me."

There was a recessed area in the far cave wall, like a cave within the cave. Vertical bars had been built across this, forming a sort of jail call. Inside were several flickies, their legs fastened to the bars with thin chain, and surprisingly, a female echidna. She too was chained, but to the wall by ankle and wrist. She was watching everything through the bars. A pink flicky sat on her shoulder. Now her eyes flashed and she shot back, "I'm serious. The Freedom Fighters are here. They'll stop you and trash your operation."

"Close your mouth, vermin," Metal Sonic said, his voice deadly quiet. "There is no reason why I shouldn't kill you immediately. I never meant to transport you here through the distortion, as I did the flickies. It was accidental. But it would be no accident if you somehow ended up in my robotizer prototype. Think about that before you mouth at me again." He turned his back on her.

Creeah was hunched up, head drooping and one leg lifted. His crimson eyes were darker than usual and half-closed. He seemed to know Mecha was looking at him, for he growled, "If you do not help me, I will return to the Terrible Claw and deny all knowledge of you. No more info on the medallion." He lifted his head. "You get me? I will die without aid!"

The robot was tempted to say, "Then crawl away and die," but did not think it prudent. He still needed this creature's assistance. Against his better judgement, he said, "All right, come with me. We'll get you taken care of."

* * *

A few hours passed. Sonic finally awoke, refreshed but weak. Draco and Ranger were gone. When he asked where they were, Knuckles explained that they had just wandered off to check around, but probably to talk in private.

"I'm starved," Sonic commented. "How long did I sleep?"

Serena, sitting beside him with her back to the tree, checked her watch. "About two hours, give or take fifteen minutes. Feel better?"

Sonic gingerly touched the faded leaf that was stuck to his chest with crusted blood. "I guess so. I could sure use some grub, though. Too bad we don't have any chili dogs ... or anything else, for that matter."

Knuckles made a face. "Chili dogs, yeech! How do you EAT those things? You take one bite and all the beans slide off into your lap. Not to mention they taste horrible ... Grapes are much better."

"They're good," Sonic disagreed. "Why do you hate chili dogs so much?"

Knuckles shrugged and pried a pebble out of the grass. "I puked 'em once, a couple years ago. You know how that ruins you on something."

"Eww," Sonic and Serena said at once.

Lindy, who had been sitting quietly in the the branches above them somewhere this whole time, suddenly chirped, "The leader is coming. Oh wow, she had wings like a bird!"

Taking the hint, the three looked up. The big raptor swept over, head turning as she spotted them. She soared in a circle and came back. She landed expertly a short distance from them, folded her wings and donned the cape again. She was positioning it over her back as she walked up.

"Hey there, Slash," the three said.

Slasher returned the greeting, then approached Sonic. "What happened to you?" She had scented blood immediately.

He stood up stiffly and told of Creeah's attack. This led to explaining about Ranger and Draco. They had only told a little when Slasher interrupted, "Oh, I know who THEY are. None of the Terrible Claw care for them--mostly because the associate with the Little Claw; the troodons. But I think they're all right. Did Ranger get you talking?"

Knuckles dropped his eyes. "Well, yeah."

Sonic stared at him, even as Serena too looked down guiltily. "You creeps spilled to those guys?" he exclaimed.

Slasher held up a hand. "No, that's okay. It's better that they heard it straight from the horse's mouth than by rumor. And they went off to talk?"

The three nodded.

"Okay, that's fine. Sonic, come down here, by the creek. I want to wash that scrape out."

Pulling the leaf away from the wound was bad, but washing it with cold water was worse. Sonic writhed and twitched uncontrollably, but took a grotesque satisfaction in watching the blood and grime wash away, leaving his flesh clean.

Slasher tore strips from her cape to make a bandage. She wound it around Sonic's chest, and over and under his arms to keep it from slipping. "There," she said as she finished. "Now you're in an upper- body cast. It's cleaner than a leaf bandage, anyhow."

The blue hedgehog threw himself down in the mossy hollow he had slept in, one hand toying with the bandage. Knuckles eyed it. "That's a clever get-up, Slash."

"Yeah," Serena added. "But why tear up the cape? Aren't you scared the other raptors will find out you have wings?"

The big raptor shrugged. "No big deal now. The reason I was detained was because I was openly confronted with a rumor I was part eagle. I was forced to reveal my wings, then fly for my life. I let them think I was going up into the mountains, then circled around and came down. Ranger and Draco probably know by now." She paused, mentally counting heads. "Where's the flicky?"

"Up here," came a voice from the depths of the tree above them. "Safe. But if you are no longer leader, why do you bear the gold medallion?" He had been paying close attention to what had been going on.

Slasher looked down and touched the amulet. "I forgot about it, I guess. I would have given it back, but there was nobody around I could trust. I suppose it'll do no harm to carry it around a while longer."

A soft chirr from nearby drew their attention. The group turned and gazed at the bushes from whence it came. "Who's there?" Slasher said, eyes darkening slightly.

"A friend," said a low, piping voice. "Leader of the Terrible Claw, I plead your protection. Please do not drive me away!"

Slasher lowered her head a little and sniffed, getting the scent of the creature. She relaxed visibly. "I know your kind. Step into the open; we will not hurt you if you are not hostile."

A little dinosaur promptly bounded out of the brush. It was only three feet tall and five feet long. It stood on two legs, had a small, curved toe-claw on its back feet, and a long, thin neck. Its head was slim and narrow with large black eyes. It was a dull red-brown with faint stripes along its backbone. What was startling were the long spines protruding from the back of its head, a bright scarlet. They were a stiff cartilage and stood out almost straight. It bobbed its head and shifted its weight from foot to foot as it spoke.

"I am Trhill, of the Little Claw. I have news of the creature called Metal Sonic."

Everyone straightened. "What?" Sonic exclaimed.

Trhill ducked his head hastily. "He has captured most of the flickies and intends to do to them a Great Evil."

'Great Evil' seemed to mean something to Slasher. She jumped as if stung and snapped, "Where?"

The little troodon turned and pointed northwest with a forepaw. "There, near the shore. In a large cave. I have see it. I can take you there." He seemed half afraid of them, but even more afraid of what he was saying.

Suddenly the little dinosaur let out a squawk and dodged sideways. Ranger, the green velociraptor, bounded into view, Draco behind him. He skidded to a stop before them, looking from the Freedom Fighters, to the troodon and back. "What's going on? Trhill, why are you here?"

"The Great Evil," Slasher said simply. "Sonic, Serena, get on my back. Draco, can you carry Knuckles?"

"Of course." The ceratosarus ducked his head and allowed the echidna to climb onto his shoulders.

Sonic and Serena hurriedly mounted Slasher, sensing the urgency. "But what the heck is the 'Great Evil'?" Sonic inquired, working his feet beneath Slasher's wings.

"I'll explain as we go," the big raptor replied shortly. "Trhill, lead the way."

The four dinosaurs broke into a run.

* * *

The cave/fortress was quiet. Light streamed in the entrance, but was very weak by the time it reached the jail cell in the back wall. Cool air streamed continually from a dark passage in the right wall ... that was where Metal Sonic preferred to hang out. He was somewhere inside at the moment.

She couldn't see him, though; there must be a bend in the tunnel. Slowly the echidna sank back against the wall. The cave moisture condensed on her skin, leaving her cold and clammy. Irritably she gave her wrist chain a jerk. The iron bracelet dug into her skin in return. The chain was fastened to an iron ring embedded in the stone wall. It was long enough to permit her to move to the front of the cell, as was the other chain on her foot. Small comfort.

Six flickies of several different colors shared her prison. They sat on the floor, one foot or the other drawn into their feathers, fluffed out for warmth. All were miserable. Taking pity on them, the echidna seated herself on the cold floor and beckoned to them. At once they hopped up to her and perched on her head, shoulders and legs. Their feet were as cold as the rest of them. Then thin chains dragged behind them, restricting their movement.

"It's so cold," a red flicky murmured. "You'd hardly know it's summer outside."

"Yes," a green one agreed. "But the warmth never reaches in here."

"What do you think happened to Lindy?" a pink flicky asked.

The red flicky (who had a cardinal-like crest), looked at her with one eye. "Maybe the distortion missed him."

"I saw him drawn in behind us."

"Well, he isn't HERE. If he was on the fringe, he probably ended up somewhere with D-sickness."

"Poor Lindy," the pink one said sadly.

The echidna listened to them without a word. The little birds had given up all hope, but often spoke of others who had escaped. She, however, had not and maintained that they would be rescued and Mecha defeated. But the waiting was hard.

She reached down and stroked a smaller bird of a light blue color. He had been taking to 'testing' (as it was called ominously by Mecha) and returned. He seldom spoke since then, and hardly ate a thing. He sat as far away from the others as the chain would allow, eyes closed and feathers puffed to capacity. He was very, very ill; whatever the robot had done had been bad. And although she wouldn't admit it to herself, deep down she was sure he was dying.

The red flicky continued to speak, although the others were no longer listening. "In our dimension this isn't a cave at all. It's a palace the tannyin built for us. It has marble floors and big windows, and it's so bright and warm ..."

Footsteps were heard outside, in the big cave. All the flickies grew quiet and shrank together in apprehension. The echidna turned her head and gazed through the bars. Her eyes narrowed in hatred; only a robot's feet could ring like that against the floor.

The robot came into view. Creeah was beside him, head low. His wounds were bandaged, but he was limping badly. Mecha was speaking to him in low, earnest tones. Instinctively all seven prisoners pricked up their ears.

"You must go out and stand guard. S--Son--the hedgehog may arrive at any moment. I need ample warning so as to get the defense systems working."

"I am not at my best," Creeah grumbled quietly. "I may not spot him until he is very close. I am tired."

"Any warning will be better than none," Mecha replied. "Now go. I am not yet finished with my experiments."

The red-eyed raptor moved toward the entrance. Metal Sonic stopped and watched him go. Then, very softly, he murmured, "I hate him I hate him I hate him ..." Whether he was speaking of Sonic or Creeah the echidna couldn't tell. As he turned to re-enter his lab, she called, "What experiments are you talking about?"

The robot paused and gazed at her hatefully. "I have been KIND--" he spat the word "--for more than I care to today. This is the last straw." He stalked up to the cell, retracted the two bars the flickies were not tied to, unsnapped her chains and dragged her out by the arm. She fought and struggled wildly, knowing she could escape if he would just let go. But Mecha pulled her along with him, apparently taking no notice of her efforts.

The flickies watched them disappear into the recesses of the dark tunnel. Not a word was spoken, but all of them bowed their heads. "She's dead meat now," a green flicky said glumly. And they waited.

Twenty minutes later Metal Sonic returned, again leading the echidna. This time she walked quietly beside him, looking neither right nor left. She stood expressionlessly as the robot re-chained her, closed the cell and departed. Once his footsteps dies away, however, she slumped against the cold wall, buried her face in her arms and wept bitterly.

From the neck down, her body was clad in metal.

* * *

The dinosaurs were tearing through the forest like the wind, the little troodon leading the way. Sonic and his sister were crouched low over Slasher's back, fists clenched in her feathered wings on either side. A short distance away, Knuckles was riding on Draco's broad back. He later compared it to riding on a bouncing tree-trunk; the ceratosaur's skin was tough, and he couldn't seem to get a good hold with his knees.

Slasher leaped a fallen tree, eyes on the Little Claw ahead, breath coming easily. Her riders could feel the enormous strength of her muscles as they surged beneath them. The ground and forest streamed past in a continuous blur. The sun flashed, vanished and shown again through the forest canopy. There was surprisingly little sound; the occasional snort, or a thud-thud as someone faltered and dodged an obstacle.

A wide brown stream ahead, maybe three feet deep. They plowed ahead without slowing. Trhill and Ranger, being smaller, leaped from the bank, splashed in the shallows, then swam forward like snakes. Slasher and Draco plunged in, water spraying above their backs and into the air. The sun glinted and shown on the water's surface, and catching the flying droplets. Sonic caught a glimpse of the shallow rocky bottom as they crossed. Then they were up the far bank and away again.

Knuckles, high on Draco's back, was almost perfectly dry. Sonic was mostly dry, as well, but Serena, behind him, had been splashed thoroughly. She spluttered and wiped her eyes as they rode along. "Good thing it's a warm day," she called to her brother. A moment later Sonic leaned forward. "Slash, what's the 'Great Evil'?"

Her reply came in intervals. "It's an acronym. GE also stands for Genetic Engineering." She swerved to avoid a big boulder. "I've gotten news of Mecha's plans. He's--" She ducked three trees in succession. "He's somehow trying to manufacture biological robots. The flickies are his guinea pigs."

"Where's you hear that?"

"Elementary, dear Sonic. Lindy gave me some clues, and Ranger said a few things. Trhill completed the puzzle."

Thinking of Lindy, Sonic and Sere looked around for him. The treetops seemed vacant-- "There!" Serena exclaimed. Sonic looked. The little flicky was flying just below limb-level, trying to keep up. Then Slasher bounded over a clump of brush, and they had to return their attention to riding.

The fast-paced journey continued for another few hours, with only two brief pauses for rest. They saw a place in the woods where the apatosaurs lived--the brush was trampled flat, and a few small heads on long, thin necks watched them run by. They passed a big dinosaur that resembled an armadillo, but had a club on the end of its tail, and monster spikes on it's shoulders and back. "Kentrosaurus," Slasher said simply.

They covered many miles, and the terrain began to change. The dense forest slowly gave way to rolling, grassy plain. Trhill lead the way across it, heading for a series of rocky hills. "The cave is there," he explained shrilly.

They slowed as they neared the hills. The little troodon was becoming quiet, cautious, and the others followed his lead. "He will be on watch," he explained softly. "We must creep."

And so they did. There was little cover but the knee-deep brown grass. Slasher, Trhill and Draco could blend reasonably well, but Ranger's bright green stood out like a sore thumb. He made himself as small as possible, keeping a fearful watch in all directions. Lindy stood out as well, but he had found that he could perch on Sonic's shoulder, and thus kept himself inconspicuous.

They rounded a low hill spur, Trhill in the lead as usual. Abruptly he halted and lifted a forepaw. "There," he chirred. They others crouched low in the grass and looked.

Perhaps fifty feet away the ground sloped up, forming a stone cliff about thirty feet high. Ten feet up was a wide shelf, and behind it was the black opening to the notorious cave.

Sprawled on the ledge was Creeah.

He was lying on his good side, stretched out and asleep in the warm sun. Automatically everyone looked at Slasher. Her yellow eyes were fixed intently on the enemy raptor. "Well?" Draco asked softly. She ducked her head. "I'm thinking. We're more than a match for him all together, but he could defend that ledge pretty well. If Trhill is right, though, Metal Sonic is camped out in there somewhere, and he's probably got some defence robots. We've got to take Creeah down quietly."

There was silence for a moment. Suddenly Serena said, "Slasher, do raptors hunt raptors?"

The big creature looked back at her, as did everyone else."What do you mean?"

"I mean," said Serena, brushing her bangs out of her eyes, "we've been ambushed by raptors twice. Ten to one there aren't any raptors who have been ambushed, themselves." She exchanged a look with her brother and Knuckles. They saw her point almost immediately. "So Creeah wouldn't be wise to it," Sonic finished.

Slasher slowly grinned, eyes brightening. "Yesss ... We could hide here, out of view, and someone could get his attention. He'd chase them, they'd run back here, and ..."

"Yeah," Ranger interrupted, "but who's gonna be the bait?"

It was then they noticed Trhill was conveniently absent. He had slipped away without a sound, his mission accomplished. Lindy was somewhere nearby, but hidden in the deep grass. "Well, count them out," said Ranger in disgust. "If Creeah sees someone he knows he'll sound the alarm, but if it's somebody strange, he'll just run 'em off. He knows Draco and me, so count us out."

Slowly all eyes turned to Sonic, Serena and Knuckles. Sonic shook his head. "He attacked me once already. Forget it." He didn't want to see his sister do it, either, and shot a pleading look in Knuckles's direction. The echidna understood. "I'll do it," he said shortly. He slid off Draco's back, wincing as his feet hit the ground. He had been riding nonstop for more than an hour. He took a few stiff steps and shook his legs. "Tell me when."

The three dinosaurs sank low in the grass and edged back around the low hill, out of sight. "Go," Slasher purred. Sonic and Serena slid off and crouched beside her as the echidna moved into the open. He hesitated only a second, eyes locked on the sleeping dinosaur, then started forward. After a few feet he slowed and poked along casually, as if he had no idea Creeah was there.

"He is a brave one," Ranger commented quietly. Sonic glanced at him. "You oughta know. You've trailed us since we got here."

"Quiet," Slasher interrupted.

Knuckles was being very quiet and Creeah had not stirred. The echidna covered twenty-five feet without incident and seemed quite calm. Suddenly he moved left a few steps and stomped one foot. There was a loud crack--a stick of some kind. Creeah's head came up with a jerk and his crimson eyes focused on Knuckles. The echidna seemed to know, but instead of running away, he kept moving toward the ledge. Creeah watched him narrowly, upper lip beginning to curl. Knux kept going, looking everywhere but at the raptor.

"Too close," Sonic muttered. "Run, you idiot!"

"Watch," Slasher whispered. "He knows what he's doing."

Twenty feet from the cave the echidna allowed himself to look up at the shelf, see the raptor and stop dead. That was what Creeah was waiting for. He made eye contact with his victim, smiled nastily and slowly rose to his feet. Knuckles whirled and pelted back toward his friends with more speed than they thought possible. Creeah bounded off the ledge and took off after him, body low to the ground and tail high.

Sonic and Serena stared at that dinosaur. Something was wrong. His face still bore the black and red markings, but his body was completely black. The other dinosaurs saw it, too. "Uh oh," Slasher murmured. She shoved the hedgehogs roughly away, close to the nearby rocks. "Get up there and don't let him see you. Hurry!" They obeyed, frightened at the tone in her voice.

The next instant Knuckles had reached them and tore up on the rocks with Sonic and Serena. Creeah rounded the hill and found himself facing three hostile dinosaurs. They attacked.

Knuckles was trembling and breathing hard. He had been scared to death the entire time; it was akin to Sonic and Serena approaching the tyrannosaur. He flopped on the rock beside his friends, watching the fight below.

But things were not going quite as expected. As they watched, Slasher, Ranger and Draco backed off and formed a ring about Creeah. The raptor was crouched, jaws open and forearms drawn tightly against his chest. He was laughing.

"It's not fair," Sonic murmured through clenched teeth. "Look at him. He'll kill all of us."

"Why? What's wrong?" Serena asked.

Sonic's ears flattened. "He's robotized. From the shoulders down he's wearing black metal, so it doesn't shine. Nothing can hurt him-- we're dead."

* * *

Meanwhile, the echidna in the cave was plotting a jailbreak.

Being 3/4ths robotized was bad enough, but the death of the little blue flicky pushed her over the edge. Even as she held him in her hands, watching the breath leave the small body and the bright eyes close, she vowed she would escape. And for the first time, she hit upon a plan that would work. The remaining five flickies agreed to help her.

One by one, she took their chains in her robot hands and snapped them. The freed birds, however, waited patiently inside the cell. Once they were all loose, she said, "Okay, go to it."

The flickies hopped out through the bars and took wing inside the cave. They went straight to the lever that retracted the cell bars. It took all five of them to pull it down, but at last it gave way. The bars retracted and the echidna stepped out, free. "C'mon," she said to the flickies. "Let's get outta here before Metal Sonic finds out."

They headed for the entrance.

* * *

Slasher was wise in the way of robots, and aimed her blows at Creeah's head and eyes. Ranger and Draco were not, and took some nasty damage from the metal claws.

At one point, in a lull in the fighting, Creeah reared up and sniffed, head turning toward where Sonic, Knuckles and Serena were hiding. That evil snarling grin spread across his face; he knew where they were. As the battle continued, he began to work his way toward the rock outcropping.

"We'd better get out of here," Sonic murmured, crawling backward on hands and knees. Serena and Knuckles followed him.

"But where're we gonna go?" Knux whispered. "You don't know how fast a raptor can run."

"I can probably run faster," Sonic objected

. "Yeah," Serena said frantically, "but WE can't!"

They slid down the other side of the rocky hill, eyes roaming the countryside for cover. Everything was flat and grassy. Sonic adjusted the bandage around his chest. "Let's go."

"But where?" Knuckles inquired, glancing back toward the sounds of war.

Suddenly a voice called, "I know a place where you can hide."

They looked around, startled. A short distance away, just visible from behind a boulder, a figure was crouched.

"Where?" Sonic half-called half-whispered.

The figure glanced right and left, then stood and extended a hand. They saw that she, too, had been robotized from the neck down, but in the normal silver. "Follow me."

Sonic and Serena started toward her immediately, but Knuckles was frozen to the spot, staring. She was an echidna! "You--you're--" he sputtered. The other beckoned to him furiously. "Hurry up! They can't hold Creeah at bay for much longer!"

Sonic looked back at his friend, saw his face and realized what he must be thinking. "Don't mind him," he said to their rescuer. "He just hasn't seen another echidna since his dad went into hiding, about five years ago."

"Oh." She looked at Knuckles pityingly. "Well, there's going to be one less echidna if he doesn't come with us right now."

Sonic looked back at Knux. "Come ON, you idiot!"

Knuckles seemed to awaken and moved toward them.

The female echidna said, "Follow me," and headed out into the open.

"Where're we going?" Serena said, jogging along beside the half-robot. "And why are you helping us?"

The echidna glanced at her, blue eyes darkening. "I've been Metal Sonic's prisoner for too long to pass up a chance to get back at him. And as for where we're going--look!" She pointed ahead, and the Freedom Fighters looked.

The grassy flatland seemed to end in a line about two hundred feet away. As they drew nearer, they realized the entire plain ended in sheer rocky cliffs that dropped into the ocean. Sonic slowed a little. "But we'll be trapped--won't we?"

"No," the echidna said, shaking her head. "There's a place to hide, and Mecha doesn't know about it. You name is Sonic, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. This is my sister, Serena, and that's Knuckles."

She put up a gleaming hand and brushed her dreadlocks out of her face. "I'm Zephyer. Zephyer Winstrom. Nice t`meet you."

Zephyer slowed cautiously as they neared the cliffs, and the others followed her lead. Carefully they looked over the edge. It was a straight drop of fifty feet to a sloped, rocky beach.

"Tide's out," Knuckles observed.

Zephyer gave him a blank look. "Tide? What's a tide?" Without waiting for a reply, she crouched and scanned the cliff face below. "Anyway, they'll think we jumped down and got away. C'mon, this way." She rose to her feet and led them a little way along the cliffs. Then to their surprise, she sat down, swung her legs over the edge, turned and slid down backward.

"What're you doing?" Serena gasped.

Zephyer turned her head and looked over her shoulder. "There's a ledge--I think I can make it. If I don't, um, well, don't come down after me." With that, she promptly let go of the edge and dropped out of sight.

The three leaped to the edge and looked down. To their relief, the echidna was crouched on a nearly invisible rock ledge about eight feet down. "That was close," they heard her mumble. She looked up. "I made it. Any of you guys good enough climbers to come next?" Sonic and Serena looked at Knuckles, who glanced over his shoulder to see if they were being pursued. As of yet, the distant rocky hill still his the combatants. "I'll go," he said quietly.

He climbed backward over the edge, gripped the rock with his knuclaws and feet, and started down. He was trying to swallow the urge to inundate Zephyer with questions--why was she here? How had she been captured? Where was she from?... The cliff was easy to climb. In a few seconds he made it to the narrow ledge. Just for grits he tossed a glance at the distant ground. It wasn't really that high ... a fall might hurt you, but it probably wouldn't kill you unless you landed on your head.

Zephyer was staring straight up at the blue sky, eyes wide.

"What're you looking at?" Knux asked, looking up too, and seeing nothing of interest.

She started a little and looked at him. "Oh," she said faintly, "I just never saw a blue sky before. Where I'm from it's orange."

He stared at her, but had no time for questions. She turned and pointed. "You see that crack right there?"

He leaned out and looked around her. About two feet from the end of the ledge was the outline of a big crevice in the rock. It had once been simply a crack, but years of wind, rain and sea had deepened it into a shallow cave. "Yeah."

"If we get in there, nobody'll be able to see us from above. You gonna help them down, or should I?"

He glanced at her--she was not nearly as comfortable on the cliff as he was. "Get in the cave," he said. "I'll help 'em down, and you help us into the--"

"Oh great, oh great," Sonic said from above, "there's Creeah! We're comin' down, like, right now!"

Knuckles moved sideways just as Serena came sliding down, Sonic right behind her. He reached out and steadied them to keep them from toppling off. Sonic's eyes were wide. "He's coming this way."

"Quick," Zephyer said, hurriedly inching her way along the cliff face, "get in the cave. I got caught on the ledge last time." She nimbly stopped across two feet of empty space and swung into the alcove.

Knuckles anchored his fists and arched backward, letting Sonic and Serena squeeze past him. "We're awful high," Serena panted nervously, eyes straying toward the distant ground.

Sonic nudged her. "Keep going. If we don't get there in time, Creeah'll have us for lunch!"

She gulped and leaped for the cave. Zephyer caught her and helped her in. Sonic went next, too scared of their enemy to care about the height. Knuckles came last. The four squeezed themselves into the cave like sardines in a can and waited.

A shadow fell over the cave entrance. They heard the velociraptor sniffing their tracks, then growl hatefully. "Run, you filthy cowards," he snarled, "but you can't hide. I'll have your worthless pelts as ornaments!"

Knuckles shuddered, then pressed his ear against the rock wall. Dimly he heard Creeah's footfalls fading into the distance. The others did the same--except Serena, who was crushed against the wall, her brother and Zephyer and couldn't have moved if she wanted to.

"He's going down the coast," Sonic breathed.

"Yeah," Knux agreed. "Probably thinks we jumped, just like you said, Zephyer." He turned his head to look at her. She was at the very back of the cave, one ear pressed against the cold rock, listening intently. Sonic moved a bit to give his sister room to breathe, and looked at the girl echidna, too. "Zef?"

She lifted a hand. "Shh. Listen." This time all four listened. Far below them, somewhere in the cliffs, was the whirr of machinery. "Generators," Sonic said.

Knux tapped the rock with a knuckle, listening to the sound it made. Abruptly he lifted his head from the rock. "Zef, knock on your side." He listened carefully again as she obeyed. A grin spread across his face, and he looked at his three friends. "The back wall is only about three feet thick. Behind there is Mecha's lab."

Sonic and Serena grinned, too, but Zephyer only scowled. "Don't even think about it," she said darkly. "I went in there when he robotized me. He's got about a hundred robots on call in there. All he has to do is push a button and you're dead."

Sonic looked at her skeptically. "C'mon girl, we're experienced Freedom Fighters. We've messed around in Robotropolis for years--"

"No," she cut him off, "these are the new robots." Her eyes flashed. "Cross-breeds. They're neither robot nor animal. They're monsters. You can't kill them."

The Freedom Fighters exchanged an uneasy glance. "What kinds of animals?" Serena queried.

Zephyer shook her head, swinging her long dreadlocks. "All kinds. I saw wolves, big cats, bears, dinos, birds of prey ... everything. And they're huge. The smallest one was taller than I am."

Sonic was staring at her intently, the wheels in his head turning furiously. "Metal plated?"

"Oh yeah. Armored."

"All of 'em down there, below sea level?"

"I think so. What's your point?"

Sonic looked at Serena and Knuckles, eyes alight. "Guys, you know anything made of metal can't swim. If the cliffs are as thin as Zef says, we could dig through at water level. When the tide comes in ..."

"Yeah!" Serena chimed in. "We'll drown 'em!"

"You'll drown the captive flickies, too," Zephyer pointed out.

Sonic nodded. "I thought of that. Somebody can go in and--"

Everyone looked at him. "Who would that be?"

The hedgehog realized the meaning of their pointed stares and drew a breath. "Me, I guess."

Knuckles climbed to the edge of the cave and looked down. "I'll get down there and start digging." He looked back at the others, and impulsively held out one fist. "We're in this together, right?"

Sonic put his hand on Knux's. "Together!"

Serena put her hand on her brother's. "All for one and one for all!"

The three looked at Zephyer, who seemed uncertain. "I--I'm not a Freedom Fighter ..."

"At the moment you are," Sonic replied bluntly. "Are you working with us or not?"

Slowly the echidna extended her robot hand and placed it on Serena's. "I'm in. Let's do it."

---

Knuckles went on down the cliffs by himself.

Sonic, Serena and Zephyer headed for the cave. On the way back they went back to the battleground to see what had happened to Slasher, Ranger and Draco.

The first thing they saw as they rounded the hillside was Draco standing still, head down, throat and chest dark with blood. The next thing they saw was Slasher. She was crouched a short distance away with her back to them, working diligently at a still form in the grass before her. She sensed them as they approached and called without turning, "Don't come any closer. Draco is out of his mind with pain, and Ranger's life is in the balance at the moment. Are you all right, who is that with you, and where is Knuckles?" She had not looked up once.

Sonic explained their plan to her from a distance. Slasher seemed to think it would work. "Go on ahead," she said. "I'll come as soon as I can leave these two. Don't worry about me--I've hardly got a scratch."

* * *

Knuckles stepped down onto the rough beach and looked around. There was little sand; it was all rock and pebbles underfoot. He gazed at the ocean for a moment, his experienced guardian eyes gauging the water level. Low tide seemed to be at its peak--forty feet separated him from the sea. Perfect. He should have enough time to dig through the cliffs and make his escape. (He had already noted that the high-water mark was fifteen feet above his head.)

He put his ear to the rock in several places, trying to decide where the noise was the loudest. He marked the most likely spot and began to chip away at the stone with his knuckles.

* * *

The two hedgehogs and echidna stood on the shelf before the dark cave mouth. They looked around warily, thinking of Creeah, but there was no danger in sight.

Suddenly Sonic jumped, eyes widening. "Lindy! I forgot all about him! Where'd he go?"

Zephyer grabbed his arm to keep him from leaping of the ledge. "Cool it. My flickies found him and they're hiding someplace."

"YOUR flickies?"

"Yeah--the ones in the cell with me. They helped me escape. Now are we going in or what?"

Sonic looked at her with a tinge of annoyance. "Gee, you don't have to be such a grouch. Let's go."

They stepped into the cool darkness of the cave. The chilly breeze met them at once, carrying the smell of damp stone and darkness. Zephyer walked in unconcernedly, but Sonic and his sister hesitated, letting their eyes adjust. "There's lights further in," the echidna said softly. "C'mon."

She pointed out the open cell in the corner, and with a few words let them know it was hers. They reached the far wall and turned right. The low tunnel in the wall was pitch black, like huge, open jaws. For the first time Zephyer faltered. "Keep quiet," she whispered, trying to hide her fear and failing. "Whatever happens, don't make a sound. The bios operate by ear."

Sonic and Serena joined hands nervously. As an afterthought, Sonic extended his other hand to their guide. She considered, looking at his hand, then his face, then took it. Her robot hand was like ice. It sent a shiver up Sonic's back, but he tried to ignore it as they stepped into the tunnel.

It was pitch dark. Their eyes could see nothing, but they could feel the cool breath of the cave on their faces. They walked slowly, not wanting to smack into the wall. Zephyer guided Sonic along by her grip on his hand. She was pretty sure of the way, but not one hundred percent.

The passage began to slope downward. As they followed it they began to hear the same sound they had heard through the cliff wall-- the metallic whirr and growl of generators. A short time later their light-starved eyes made out the dim reflection of light on the tunnel walls.

Zephyer pulled them to one side and stopped.

"What's up?" Sonic whispered.

They could see her dark eyes shining in the darkness. She was panting slightly, terrified. "I've gotta tell you where stuff is," she replied softly. "The flicky cages are to the left as you enter, but the lever to open them is on the back wall, by the robotizer."

"Robotizer?" Serena interrupted.

Zephyer nodded, although they could hardly see it in the dark. "What do you think he did this to me with? Be careful not to get caught. The robotizer is Mecha's way of showing mercy. Anyhow, the handle is bright red. Don't wander around. At least one of the bios is alert at all times."

"What about Mecha?" Sonic whispered.

Zephyer shrugged. "He's the least of our worries."

Sonic and Serena exchanged a worried glance. When Mecha was minimized, the opposing threat must be tremendous.

They crept toward the end of the tunnel. It was further off than it had seemed; it took what seemed like ages to reach the end. Just enough time for all three to just about lose their nerve. But at last they reached the entrance to a monstrous cavern.

The ceiling was so high it was lost in darkness. Lights ringed the walls about ten feet up, giving it the look of a stadium. Zephyer was right; directly to their left, lining the whole wall, were the flicky cages, stacked, dirty and occupied. Straight across the cave from them was a sort of robotizer--it had only a pedestal on the floor--three noisy generators, and a large steel panel covered with buttons, levers and dials.

The right wall was at first to be taken to be a parking lot full of parked ships. At next glance it was seen to be at least fifty robots. Sonic and Serena stared; it was worse than the robotizer victims. There were monsters there that were only seen in nightmares, and all the recognizable animals were hideous and of huge proportions. Of all there, there was only one ten-foot creature on guard. Its eyes were lit up and shown amber against the dimness. It was some sort of huge bird; a hawk, perhaps, as could be seen by the long curved beak. The short jerks of its head was the only motion in the entire cave.

They held their breaths as its gaze swept over them time and again, but each time it somehow missed them. At last Sonic remembered that Zephyer had said that their main sense was hearing. Experimentally Sonic picked up a pebble and tossed it out into the cave. It rattled noisily to a stop. The robot's eyes focused on it, then very slowly its head turned toward them, yellow eyes probing. The three stood perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe. It seemed certain that it would see them, sound the alarm and ...

The robot's gaze returned it its normal sweep about the room; it couldn't see them unless they moved. Sonic glanced at his companions and saw that they had come to the same conclusion he had. Slowly he smiled at them and jerked his head ever-so-slightly in the direction of the cave. They nodded and he moved into the open alone.

The bio somehow sensed him and whipped its head around for a look in his direction. He froze. It stared at him for a long moment, then decided he wasn't there and continued to look around. He edged forward a few feet and again stopped when it looked at him.

This game of 'red-light green-light' went on for another thirty feet, keeping Serena and Zephyer in constant suspense. The bio-robot was getting suspicious; it knew something was there, it just couldn't quiet pin it down. Sonic never took his eyes from it.

A break came during another of the robot's sessions of staring at the motionless hedgehog. There had been no sound but the generators until then. The flickies in the cages, who had been sleeping, began to awaken. Naturally, they spotted Sonic immediately. One of them recognized him and shrieked, "Sonic Hedgehog!"

Automatically Sonic's head turned to see who had called. It was a mistake. The big robot saw his motion and determined his location. It stepped out of the ranks of robots, eyes fixed on the hedgehog.

Sonic saw it, figured he had blown it and made a dash for the control panel. The hawk walked unconcernedly after him, as if it was sure he could not escape. "Oh great," Zephyer muttered. "When he lets the flickies out it'll attack them. You stay here and show them the way out--I'll distract it." She darted out into the cave, leaving Serena alone and frightened.

Sonic raced up to the control panel, eyes sweeping it for a red lever. He saw with dismay that there was not one, but three. He glanced back at the approaching robot, wondered vaguely where Metal Sonic was, and yanked down all three levers.

Three things happened at once. One, the doors on the flicky cages snapped open. Two, the other robots' eyes came one and turned toward Sonic and the hawk. Three, a large cargo arm, mounted on the wall above the control panel, swung down and out without warning, catching Sonic in the chin and knocking him flat. Unchecked by this small obstruction, the arm continued to swing into the center of the room, slamming into the robot hawk and throwing it to the floor.

The blue hedgehog lay on his back, seeing flames and lightning before his eyes, wondering of his jaw were broken. It probably saved him; the other robots lost him as soon as he hit the floor.

The flickies were streaming out of their cages and fleeing for the exit. Serena stood and directed traffic, trying desperately to keep from panicking.

Zephyer was doing the bravest thing of her entire life; she had found a metal bar someplace and was running back and forth in the center of the cave, waving her arms and banging the bar against the ground, making noise and keeping the robots' attention. Slowly, one by one, they were advancing on her, shedding a golden light from their evil eyes.

Sonic rolled over and climbed to his feet, holding his mouth. His teeth didn't quite meet the same way and the back of his head hurt, but his feet and balance still worked. Dazed, he looked around. The last of the flickies was just exiting the cave, and Serena was staring across at him. He lifted a hand and motioned for her to leave the cave. She nodded, turned and fled. He glanced around for Zephyer. She had backed away from the monster bots and was almost to the far wall.

Thinking quickly, Sonic broke into a run, curled into a ball and crashed into the nearest robots' legs. It only staggered sideways a few steps, head turning to glare at him. He bounded to his feet and yelled, "Nah--nah, stupid 'bots! Can't catch me!"

Immediately the robot whirled and pounced, narrowly missing him. Sonic danced away from it, shaken but hiding it. Another robot turned and looked; a huge robot lion. It snarled at him, revealing long silver fangs, and began to pace in his direction. All of the bio-bots moved at a relaxed, slow pace that was disarming. Their speed was shocking during attack.

The hedgehog's eyes sought out Zephyer. She was cornered by the other robots, flattened against the wall. Sonic's decoy wasn't working. Impulsively he broke into a run, ducking the legs, tails and underbellies of the cyborgs. For the first time one of the robots spoke: "There he goes! Somebody get him!"

He darted out of the ranks of robots and up to the echidna. He grabbed her hand. "C'mon, we gotta get outta here!" She nodded and ran with him, back under the robots' feet. Again, the monsters momentarily lost them.

The two ducked out from under the robots and made a mad dash for the exit tunnel. But, to their ultimate horror, seconds before they reached it a huge metal door slammed across it, cutting off escape. They skidded to a halt, gasping.

A well-known voice rang out through the cavern. "Fools! You would give your lives to hinder me, wouldn't you, S--Son--hedgehog?"

"You know, Zef," Sonic said, his eyes that of a trapped animal's, "the hardest part about playing chicken is knowing when to flinch."

* * *

Knuckles had chipped out a hollow three feet and two feet deep, and had stopped for a breather. The outer crust was, well, rock-hard from exposure to the sun and air. He was just beginning to break through into the softer stone beneath.

He leaned against the foot of the cliffs and wiped sweat from his forehead. It was no harder than tunneling back on his own island, and it was normal for him to break a sweat before he broke the crust.

His eyes fell idly on the ocean. The waves seemed closer; the row of rocks he was using as a marker was now in the water. The tide had turned and was beginning to come in.

Suddenly aware that time was running out, Knuckles stood and resumed work. He had perhaps twenty minutes before he would be forced to move to higher ground. And if he hadn't broken through by then, they would have to wait another six hours.

* * *

Serena darted out of the cave mouth and checked herself in time to avoid falling off the ledge. Her eyes were wide with terror. She had lingered in the dark tunnel and had seen the door shut. She had recognized Metal Sonic's voice immediately afterward, although she could not make out what he said. The sound of his voice had aroused her ever-present fear of the robot. She had obeyed her first impulse and fled.

As she stood on the ledge, legs spread like an awkward colt's and blinking in the sunlight, a voice called, "'Rena, what's wrong?" Slasher. Although she could not see, she turned toward the raptor's voice and cried, "Oh Slash, Sonic and Zephyer are trapped in there! Metal Sonic's got 'em! What're we gonna DO?"

Suddenly, from nearby, half a dozen voices cried, "The raptor leader! The raptor leader! We're saved!" Streaks of color flashed through Serena's range of vision; flickies. She squinted, trying hard to adjust her eyes, She could hear the birds chirping and talking excitedly to Slasher. The big raptor spoke, her voice nearly drowned by the noise.

Abruptly the chatter ceased, and Slasher leaped up beside Serena. "Told 'em Creeah might hear," she said to the hedgehog quietly. She led her a few steps into the cave. Instantly Serena could see. Several flickies followed them in, peering around apprehensively. Lindy was among them.

A pink flicky with what looked like pigtails fluttered up and landed on Slasher's folded wing. "You wear the medallion of the flickies," she said urgently. "You alone have the power to open the dimension ring and send us home. Please, please do it now!"

Slasher's eyes narrowed a little. "That was not part of my initiation. You'll have to show me how."

The flickies immediately swarmed around her feet, chirping, "We know, we know! We'll show you--"

As Slasher got them to speak in turns, Serena noticed a single red flicky who had not joined the rest. It was gazing almost sadly at Slasher and the thing around her neck. "But what about Zephyer?" Serena heard him murmur.

She crouched beside him. "What about Zephyer?"

He looked at her, vaguely startled, crest flaring. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sonic's sister, Serena."

He nodded. "I'm called Crimson, after my color. But Zephyer--I was in the cell with her." His big eyes lowered. "Poor Zephyer."

"What do you mean?"

Crimson looked directly into Serena's face. "Metal Sonic brought her here through the same distortion that pulled us from our home dimension. But she was from another place entirely; a planet or dimension of her own. Wherever the echidna clan ended up after the big disappearance. But Mecha's distortion actually extended out into the Interweb, which brought her here. And unless she travels into our dimension with us, there is no way to send her home."

At mention of the Interweb Serena felt the goosebumps rise on her arms. That was the place Sonic still had nightmares about. Tails did, too, and several times had spent the night with Serena for consolation. Whatever it was, it was certainly unforgettable. And Zephyer had come through that ...?

Again Crimson shook his head. "Poor Zef." This time Serena agreed wholeheartedly.

* * *

Sonic was careening wildly about the big cave, trying desperately to get enough speed to fell one of the cyborgs. Several of the smaller ones were pacing back and forth, watching him maliciously. The bigger ones had already captured Zephyer. They stood around her in a ring, facing outward to keep Sonic from retrieving her. She was unharmed, and tried again and again to break through the ring. They simply shoved her back carelessly.

Metal Sonic watched it all from a small platform high above, out of the way. He took cruel pleasure in watching his rival try to take on the bio-bots alone. He knew Sonic had little chance of hurting them before he, too, was taken. Mecha had already devised several clever, messy deaths for him, but dared not set foot down there until Sonic was apprehended. The hedgehog was terrified, desperate and might do anything.

Sonic lowered his head and spun head-on into one of the smaller robots; a big fox with monster fangs. The impact knocked it from its feet and sent it skidding across the floor. Sonic followed and attacked before it could rise, trying to break its legs.

At last one of its front legs broke with a sharp snap. To his surprise, the robot roared in pain and lunged to its feet. Sonic's eyes locked on the broken leg; the robot was holding it off the ground, plainly injured. But dripping from the crack in the metal plating was a red substance that looked very much like blood.

Sonic backed away in horror as the robot cried piteously, with a flicky's voice, "My leg is broken! You wretched hedgehog--Oh it hurts! Master, help me!"

Mecha's voice floated down from above. "T-eleven, help three-eighteen. You know how to care for an injury."

A big silver bear left the group guarding Zephyer and moved toward the whimpering fox.

Zephyer was right; these creatures were neither robot nor animal. They were somewhere in between. But not only that--the flickies, who were very rare and had a strange blood type, had been the ones to provide the material the ruthless Metal Sonic needed. Sonic half-expected to wake up any moment; the horrified terror he felt was overwhelming. The monsters were probably unkillable--all the properties of a robot, but with the ability to heal any wound. At the moment, as he watched the robots tend to their wounded member, he felt as if he would totally freak out if he didn't get away from them. But Zephyer--he couldn't leave her--

* * *

Under the flickies' enthusiastic instruction, Slasher activated the medallion and created a dimension ring. The ring was a thin gold circlet whose center was filled with darkness and white sparkles. The flickies said goodbye to the raptor and hedgehog, then flew into the ring and vanished. But to their surprise, two remained behind: Lindy and a deep blue flicky they had not yet met. The dark one stepped forward. "I'm Andy. Me and Lindy stayed 'cause we'd like to help." He exchanged a sidelong glance with the other bird. "We'd like to help save Sonic, actually."

Slasher looked down at them with a touch of amusement. "Oh? And how do you propose to do that?"

Lindy took over. "You can go partly through the ring--just enough to have it transport you places. If you let us help, we'll show you how to jump dimensions and get into the robot cave."

Slasher looked down at Serena, who shrugged. "Okay," the raptor said, lifting the medallion slightly. "Show us."

* * *

Knuckles, by this time, was seven feet into the cliffs and going strong. The rock was soft and crumbly, and he had settled into a steady rhythm of fist strokes he could continue all day if he had to.

There was a faint hiss behind him and water touched his shoes. Startled, he looked around. A particularly high wave had crossed the entire beach and reached him. He tossed a glance at the ocean. Good grief, it had come up fast! The big breakers were much closer; some were actually breaking on his marker-reef.

He returned his attention to the rock before him. He SHOULD be there by now ... a few feet more ...

* * *

Serena sat securely on Slasher's back, fists clenched deep into the feathered wings. Lindy sat on her shoulder expectantly--he and the indigo one, Andy, would be leading the way.

Slasher created another dimension ring with the medallion. Andy said, "You'll have partial control of your destination. Remember, don't go into to the flicky dimension. Stick to your own. Miss Hedgehog, the same goes for you. Don't jump off."

Serena shook her head. "I wouldn't have the nerve."

The bird looked at her strangely. "Everyone says that."

Slasher seemed to understand. "I know, Andy. I spent a long time trapped in Spacetime Six. I won't go too deep. I know the price."

Lindy leaped off Serena's shoulder. "Follow us!" he chirped as he flew through the ring. Andy followed, and so did Slasher.

At first Serena could see nothing but solid darkness, feel nothing but Slasher's warm body beneath her. Where were they? What had happened to the flickies? But after a moment, the darkness began to fade away. Hazy clouds, like smoke, surrounded them, along with a lemon-yellow light. Her eyes made out the shapes of the two flickies flying along ahead of them. Slasher seemed to be standing still--she was not walking--but they were traveling forward at a good pace.

Her eyes wandered to one of the clouds in curiosity. This was dimension-travel? How could you tell where you were going? As she gazed at the cloud it began to glow from within. Then--she didn't know exactly how--suddenly she was looking not at a cloud, but into another land. Flicky Island, but a much prettier version; sapphire blue skies, crystal clear streams, beautiful forests, no volcanos or snow. She felt herself drawn to it; she wanted to get closer, to see the realm on the flickies in person.

She suddenly thought of her brother and of the danger he was in, and took ahold of herself. She could not go into that other dimension because Sonic needed her help. She tore her eyes away from the cloud and focused on where they were going.

With a shock she saw that they were passing through the walls of the cave, as if the rock were mist. This was what the flickies had meant; if you were between dimensions, even your home dimension would be a ghost world through which you could pass through even walls with ease. They came up against the heavy metal door and walked right through it. "Now!" the flickies yelled, and Slasher turned hard toward the right.

Their ghostly surroundings snapped into reality. The flickies went on, back into their home. Slasher and Serena stood in the big cavern with Sonic, Zephyer and the bio-bots.

* * *

Sonic didn't notice them at first. All his attention was focused on the hostile cyborgs and Zephyer. He had spotted a small gap in the circle around the echidna and was trying to work out a plan of action. He simply needed more help; he was outnumbered at least fifty to one, and was not strong enough to damage the giants.

"Sonic!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin and whirled. To his relief and amazement, there stood Slasher with Serena on her back. He waved and called, "How'd you get in here?"

Slasher flashed him a white smile. "Tell ya later. Need some help?"

"Yeah!" Zephyer answered for him from the midst of the robots. "He could use it!" She was discouraged and powerless.

Serena slid off Slasher's back and stood near the wall, remembering the robots couldn't see her if she held still. "Stay here until we call you," Slasher murmured. "You could get hurt real fast in here." The hedgehog nodded and watched the velociraptor glide away to help Sonic.

For a few minutes she held absolutely still, deathly afraid of the monster robots. But after a bit she began to relax. They obviously couldn't see her, and were interested only in Sonic and Slasher. She let her eyes roam the room and walls. She gazed up toward the distant ceiling, and with a start saw the hanging platform and Metal Sonic's red eyes staring down. He was not looking at her; he was watching the tactics of Sonic and Slasher. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the distance, and she saw that the ceiling was covered with cables, wires and steel bars, like some sort of huge computer. Hanging just over Mecha's platform was a thing like a satellite dish, but pointing almost straight up. What in the world ...?

She leaned against the cold wall, looking first at the milling bio-bots, then at the contraption in the roof. Wasn't there something that it did that she knew about? Slowly it came to her. The shield. The bubble-shield that covered the island; the one they had hit on their way in. Well well ...

In as few words as possible, Sonic told Slasher about the robot's biological side. The big raptor didn't like it. "Who does he think he is--God?" she muttered. "Well, I can get us out of here any time. All we have to do is get Zephyer."

"Easier said than done," Sonic replied, and promptly darted off sideways to avoid the robot lion as it charged at him. Slasher got it's attention and led it away from him. He yelled, "These things are out for blood!"

Suddenly, from the other end of the room, just above the mounted control panel, there came the clatter and crack of breaking rock. Biological and robot turned as one to see Knuckles as he half-fell through the hole he had made in the wall, fifteen feet above the floor. Light streamed in through the hole. Seemingly unaffected by the amber stares of the cyborgs, he called to his friends, "Sonic, guys, c'mon! We're runnin' out of time here!"

Slasher motioned to Sonic. "Grab 'Rena and get out. I'll get Zef."

"Forget it!" Sonic called back. "Last time you went back alone you were almost killed!"

"Better me than all of us," Slasher snapped. "Get your sister out, THEN think about helping me."

That was more reasonable. Sonic turned and shot across the cave, ducking robotic swipes and blows. The cyborgs watched him alone, as he was the fastest moving object in sight.

Slasher saw her chance and sprang into action. She darted into the ranks of robots like a brown streak, feet a blur beneath her. One of the robots in the defence circle saw her coming and reared up. The big raptor didn't hesitate once. She bounded into the air, spread her wings and let loose with her most fearsome attack scream.

The robot flinched--a side-effect of being almost real. Slasher leap-frogged over it, scooped up Zephyer and shot over the heads of the other robots without breaking her stride. She reached the hole in the wall before Sonic did.

The hedgehogs dashed up as Slasher helped Zephyer up the rough wall. Knuckles pulled her up with a grunt and reached back down for Serena, who was coming up next. As Slasher hoisted her up, Sonic risked a glance toward the robots. They were bunched in the center of the room like stubborn cattle, and standing before them was Metal Sonic. He looked like a grasshopper compared to the monsters--how he had gotten down so quickly was a mystery. He looked directly at Sonic and cried, "Kill them! Kill them all!"

The bio-bots began to advance.

A shriek from Serena drew Sonic's attention back to his friends. He was just in time to see his sister fall backward into Slasher's arms, and the big raptor leap to one side--water was gushing in through the hole. After a moment the waterfall subsided and Knuckles poked his head back in. "If you want out, better come now. There's only a couple minutes left at the most."

Sonic shot another glance in the direction of the robots. They had stopped dead at sight of the water, and were getting a real tongue-lashing from their little master. He grinned involuntarily. They were robots all right. As he watched, Mecha seemed to give up and circled around to behind the bio-bots. Sonic didn't see him again.

Slasher, meanwhile, had leaped up into the hole with Serena, set her down, then jumped back down to get Sonic. He leaped on her back and clung to her neck as she leaped out. He caught a brief glimpse of the deep, slanted tunnel Knuckles had dug; then they were standing in the sun and Serena and Zephyer were mounting behind him. "What about Knux?" he shouted as Slasher spread her wings.

"He's gone up the cliffs," she replied. Then, "Whoa--hang on a minute--"

Water struck Slasher's legs broadside, making her stagger sideways and splashing all four of them. Sonic noted that the big raptor was up to her flanks in green-brown water. "Gotta get out," she muttered. "Talk about undertow--" She waded through the temporarily still water and climbed up on one of the big rocks. Sure enough, when the water ran back out it went fast.

As soon as her feet were clear of the water, Slasher leaped into the air and beat her way skyward. Sonic felt Zephyer fall against him and cling to him in sudden terror. She was relatively safe between the hedgehogs, but didn't feel that way. Her metals arms gripped Sonic so hard he was choking by the time the winged velociraptor alighted on the cliff tops.

Knuckles was already there, waiting for them. Sonic, Serena and Zephyer dismounted, and together the five of them watched the tide roll in and strike the cliffs over and over. The tide rose quickly. In a few more minutes the new back door to Mecha's lab was completely submerged. Not one of the robots ever made it out.

Zephyer was the first to break the silence. "So, THAT'S what a tide is. Well, I hope Metal Sonic drowned with the rest of them."

"Who cares about HIM? YOU will die NOW!!"

They whipped around to see Creeah, the partly robotized mongrel velociraptor, stalking toward them. He wore a nasty snarling grin, scarlet eyes turning from one to another. Slasher bristled and lowered her head. "Don't even try, Red Eyes. I'll kill you."

He stopped and sneered at her. "Yeah, O mighty leader? I'd like to see you try. I'll take down your little friends while you make up your mind ... and I'll start with you, hedgehog!"

Like a flash he sprang at Sonic. The blue hedgehog ducked backward as Slasher lashed out at his assailant. Her sharp toe-claw raked across Creeah's muzzle, tearing across the bridge of his nose and gouging his lips. He jerked away, licked at his wounded mouth, gave an enraged cry and sprang at Slasher. She rose to meet him, and--

The two seemed to clash, but abruptly fell back. Zephyer had leaped between them at the last second. Her metal torso had taken the brunt of the blow. Aside from having the wind knocked from her, she was unhurt.

"Zephyer," Slasher growled, stepping forward. "Get back. You'll be killed."

The echidna gave her a strange look. "Only a robot can kill a robot. Let me do it. You just back me up."

To the Freedom Fighters' surprise, Slasher stepped back. "Slash," Sonic yelped, "don't let her! He'll kill her--"

Even as he spoke Creeah sprang. His full three hundred pounds struck the echidna in the chest, flinging her to the ground. Then he was on her with teeth and claws, ripping at her.

Knuckles leaped silently into the middle of it. His first blow caught the raptor right on the snout; the second cracked into his chin. That gave Creeah something to think about, and as he backed off, Knux helped Zephyer to her feet. To his surprise she was completely unhurt. Her robot body was immune to the tearing claws. She was raging mad and shoved him away. "You IDIOT! Now he'll get YOU! I know what I'm doing--stay out of this!"

Knuckles slowly backed away, staring at her. He didn't understand--

She was right; Creeah went for Knuckles on his next rush. But before he had so much as touched the echidna, Zephyer ripped into the raptor from the side. He turned on her, not realizing that her only weakness was her unprotected head. He instinctively went for her torso with his claws.

The group watched the battle in fascinated horror. A thousand times they begged Slasher to intervene, but she ignored them, watching the fight with arms folded.

At last Zephyer's plan became clear. She was trying to get Creeah to fall over the cliffs. Robotized as he was, he would sink like a stone. The raptor was too angry to realize this.

They wrestled and fought along the cliff edge, but Creeah never lost his balance. Slasher would have pushed him over herself a dozen times, but he would have taken Zephyer with him.

At last Zephyer realized this and figured out one desperate way to do it. They had parted for the hundredth time, Creeah panting and jaws flecked with foam. The echidna positioned herself on the very edge of the cliff, crouched and said, "C'mon, you wimpy raptor. You stupid half-breed insult to the velociraptor species, you traitorous filthy flicky-killing--"

Wild with rage, he leaped at her with a scream. He slammed into her, knocking both of them off the edge. Together they plunged out of sight. The Freedom Fighters lunged to the edge in time to see the colossal splash as they hit the water. Zephyer vanished in the breakers. Creeah kept his head above the water a few seconds before a wave broke over his head, and he too sank from sight.

* * *

Nightfall in the valley of the velociraptors.

The death of Creeah had been met with gladness by the Terrible Claw clan. It was this reason alone they allowed Slasher to walk among them in peace. She had told them of her with to let the title of leader pass to another, as she must soon return to her former home. And so, as darkness arrived, the initiation ceremonies began.

As Sonic, Serena and Knuckles sat around their campfire, they could hear the voices of the raptors as they talked, roared, snarled or laughed.

"Sounds like a real party out there," Ranger said.

The little green raptor and Draco, the ceratosaurus, were stretched out on the ground nearby. Draco was asleep with his big head on his forepaws. His throat-wound was hardly visible from that angle; Slasher had done a good job of sewing it up. Ranger, on the other hand, looked as if someone had patched him together like a quilt. Creeah had worked him over quite well. Even with Slasher working to mend his wounds, he had barely pulled through. It was a good sign that he was awake and talking.

He cocked his head and stared off into the darkness. "Yes, a real party."

"Well," Serena said, "it doesn't sound like fun to me."

"Me neither," Sonic agreed. Knuckles said nothing; he did not appear to be listening. He was sitting with his head in his hands, staring vacantly into the fire. Sonic reached over and rubbed his friend's back. Just the sight of Knux's face brought a lump into his throat.

Slasher had leaped from the cliffs and dove into the ocean, searching for Zephyer. She was lucky to resurface at all; there was a powerful undercurrent along the base of the cliffs. The big raptor was forced to fight for her life and finally dragged herself out of the water, half-drowned.

Later she went back alone when the tide had receded. Creeah was there, half-buried and dead, but the echidna's lighter body had been swept away. She had even searched the now-tidal-cavern, but found only the destroyed robots.

It looked like the bio-bots had gone totally nuts as the water came up, and in their panic had ripped most of the machinery from the ceiling. It lay around them and tangled in under them like fish-net. The far door was open, however, and Metal Sonic was not among the body count. He had escaped.

Knuckles had said little since then. He simply sat and stared into space, eyes empty and grieving. He had lost probably the only one of his kind on Mobius, and had barely even had a chance to talk to her.

Time passed. The three dozed and the night deepened. Somewhere around midnight Slasher returned, cat-footed and silent. Sonic roused himself and greeted her. She lay down beside him, panting and weary. She no longer wore the medallion. "Who's it now?" he asked sleepily.

She shrugged. "A dionychus. You never met him, but he's a good choice. He's got the head for leadership."

Sonic curled up against her side and yawned, "We going home tomorrow?"

"Yep," she murmured. "I believe we've spent enough time in the company of death for one week."

* * *

Epilogue

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and clear. The Freedom Fighters departed by air, and this time made it all the way back without mishap.

Back on Flicky Island, a small dinosaur poked its head out of the bushes. It was only two feet tall, had a delicate crest on its head and a thick parrot-beak. It was a soft yellow-green, marked with blue patterns on its back and shoulders. It was called an oviraptor.

It hopped out onto the sandy beach, head jerking this way and that as it looked for something to eat. It's sharp blue eyes fell on the thing lying half-in half-out of the water. Curious, it crept down the shore toward it. Six feet away it stopped and looked the thing over. It was a sort of creature it had never seen before; its head was bright red with long hair, but the rest of its body was hard, shiny metal. It didn't move at all, and its legs were mostly underwater.

The oviraptor was hungry but not over-eager. It took its time about approaching. The thing certainly appeared dead. Just something that had washed up during the night. Suddenly bold, the little dinosaur hopped up on the thing's body and sniffed at it's face.

The echidna groaned and stirred. The oviraptor leaped away with a frightened squeak and raced for cover. Slowly the echidna raised her head, eyes and mouth full of sand. She was alive. Somehow she had made it. Carefully she sat up, realizing how much water she had swallowed and how much sand was in her metal joints.

She sat still for a long time, letting the sun's rays warm her battered body. Every limb ached from the fight with Creeah, and she was chilled through from lying on the beach most of the night.

At last she climbed to her feet, sand grating in every robotized limb. She was alive--that was all that mattered. She wondered where the Freedom Fighters were, what had happened to them, and if they thought she was dead.

As she turned to walk down the beach, she set three goals for herself and counted them off silently on her fingers. One, to clean up and find food and water. Second, to get off Flicky Island. And third, to locate the Freedom Fighters who had rescued her.

The End

(For now.)