"Tails, could you give me a hand?"

"That depends, what do you need me for?" he peered up from his work, soldering iron pausing just above the connection to watch the hologram of Nicole. She had switched out the purple dress for a phthalo one, and a black flower was pinned on the dress just over her left breast. He assumed it was her way of marking the passing of two friends that the other members of the team were mourning for. It was a nice touch.

"I'm feeling faults in the emerald chamber. It keeps sending ripples through my system. I can deal with the problems it causes to me, but each time I do I have to drop whatever I'm doing in case it sends anything really problematic. You think you could take a look? I don't know the ins and outs to the chaos generator in physical terms, and I'd rather not spend a few weeks figuring it out first."

"Effects?" this could be a cause for concern. If rogue energy was escaping it could cause all sorts of problems in the system.

"Psychotic hunter programs. Well, not hunter programs as such, but they destroy things so it basically accomplishes the same goals. They're vaguely reminiscent of the Dingo hunter constructs when it comes to power, but they're not guided very well, so one against the other the Dingo would probably win. It's just awkward, really."

"Alright then, I'll take a look." He stood from the worktable and looked down the hallway. "Rotor?" he called, "can you run a system diagnostic on the emerald energy convertors and anything linked to them? Nicole's having problems with it. I'm going to take a look at the actual stuff myself."

"Alright, alright. Gimme a minute and I'll do it!" came the reply. Satisfied, Tail stood walked round the edge of the table and out the room, pulling Nicole out by the arm. "How are the others?" he asked as they slowed to a walk, leaving the communal laboratory and walked into the daylight covering the streets of Knothole.

"Hmm?"

"How is everyone else coping? I noticed the black rose."

"Oh, yes…Well, Lupin is as cold as ever, and Telera is holding her own, though I have had to talk to her a couple of times at her request. Sonic and Sally I don't know, they haven't returned yet."

"Amy? Fiona?"

"Amy's melodramatic. In tears, that sort of thing. She takes this sort of thing badly regardless of who it is. Fiona…something is really up with her. I saw Telera talking to her – there's something on her mind aside from all the loss we have suffered. I can't really tell what's bothering her on top of all this. I could speculate but I doubt it would get us anywhere."

"Maybe you could talk to her?"

"Why me? I get on her nerves, heck, sometimes she's scared of me. What's wrong with you?"

"I think I might be the cause of her concern." Tails slowed to a stop on the pavement, shaking his head as he stared at the paving slabs. Idly he scratched the back of his neck, cursing softly.

"What did you do?" Nicole leant forward slightly, hands clasped behind her back.

"I ordered her to kill someone for me, then tried to justify the deaths of any number of innocents. In the end she defied both orders because she believed it right to do so, and Retis died to destroy the artillery and prevent so many other deaths. It weighs heavily upon her, I think."

"You made a mistake then, you made two in fact. I hope it's not habit-forming."

"This is serious." He complained.

"I know. I know this is happening, but I can't believe I'm giving counselling to you. I can't talk to her about what you did wrong – it won't do either of you any favours. You're going to have to be the one to talk to her or it won't get us anywhere. Sort this out then go talk to her, sort things out now."

"And I can't believe I'm taking the advice either." Tails looked up sullenly.

"Surely the law dictates that-"

"I am the law. I make the rules, I decide who will make them after me."

"But-"

"Think carefully before you finish that sentence. Your job is not as secure as you would like it to be."

"Which is why we are here." The G.U.N ambassador said, inclining his head slightly and smirking at the little drama playing out between the king and the minister from the council. "Would you excuse yourself, sir? I would like to discuss something with the king in private."

"But-"

"You're dismissed, Reynold." The king waved his hand at the man, and with a humph the minister stormed from the room. "You were saying?"

"Yes, I believe there is a way for you to assume a more absolute control over your kingdom."

As the king returned to his seat he pondered this, thinking carefully before replying. "Naturally, yes, any ruler would be interested, but why don't you tell me exactly what you have in mind, and then what this means for you?"

The man tapped the side of his nose. "You're shrewd, unlike many of the other nobles I have to deal with in the day-to-day. Yes, there is a second side to this coin. With you in a position of Absolute Monarchy, you would be able to make decisions on a whim, whatever you please. Is this correct?"

"It is."

"Well, my benefactor is not quite…shall we say, he is not quite acting in the government interest? He wants more power, for do we not all want more than what we have? It is the nature of anything that can think or feel. Well, anyway, my benefactor believes you could help him…politically. Pull the public opinion his way within G.U.N with your political influence."

"So you help me overthrow my government, and in return I help you overthrow yours?" It sounded underhand, risky obviously, but challenging…altogether an interesting proposition, to say the least.

"It sounds so vulgar, so cruel to put it that way, but yes, when we get right down to it, that is basically what we suggest."

"Of course, I will need to speak with your benefactor before-"

"Out of the question." The ambassador replied, then caught himself as he realised how tart his voice had sounded. "My apologies, but he rarely allows visitors, even ones held in such high prestige as you. I'm his senses in the outside world, and he speaks through me."

"Then this isn't going to work." Max began to rise.

"No, wait. Stay a moment. I will talk to him, see if I can arrange something, but his word is law to me, and I am doing it only because it serves our interests. For now, how about we get a little more acquainted? When I leave, I will see whether or not Dr Soros will permit a meeting of any kind."
"I see. The terms are acceptable, for now. But now a question. You have told me the name of your Benefactor, but, what then, is yours?"
"Oh, yes, my dearest apologies for not properly introducing myself earlier. My name is Isaac, Isaac Gadet."

"Well then, Isaac, what would you have me know?"

"Guh…Fiona? You in there?" Tails sighed, knocking slowly on the door to her room.

"Who- who is it?" came the shaky-sounding reply.

"It's Tails…can I come in? I need to talk to you. It's important."

For a moment he feared that she would not respond, that he had – in some way – managed to alienate himself through his cold, unfeeling actions. The he heard the scuffling off sheets and the sound of footsteps, and the door clicked open a notch. Then he blushed at the sight. Apparently she had been sleeping – in her half-waking and groggy state, she had neglected to put anything on before coming to the door.

"Fiona? You're not- you're not wearing anything."

"Does it matter all that much? I'm tired. Is this going to take long?"

"Uh- no, I…I only need a couple of minutes of your time."

"You really choose your times Tails…eleven o-clock? Right then, come on in…" she pulled the door completely open, turning slowly and walking back to the bed. Tails found he was having a hard time keeping his eyes fixed on her head, rather than travelling down the rest of her, at least until she wormed her way back under the covers. "You going to stand there all night until I fall asleep again? Come in asshole, I'm only letting you in because I think I know what you're going to say."

Her words made him start, but her recovered, stepping inside, shutting the door and plonking himself down in the available seat.

"So, what do you want?" she asked, still in that half-asleep voice.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry." It came out awkwardly, as if he didn't really understand what he was talking about. "When I told you to kill that general, I acted like you were just a pawn. I always take the most efficient solution, not always the best one."

"You asshole, what did you do to him?"

"I killed him, Sonic. Now he can't try again – isn't that what you want?"

"I didn't want to-"

"What we want and what we get are often two very different things, Sonic. Sometimes the bloody option is the only one that works."

"I like what I do to leave a mark, to be permanent. Anything I do is always the one that I at least believe will make sure whoever it is can't hurt us again."
"Oh." He could hear Fiona was disappointed about something. "Was that it?"

"I take it that it wasn't what you were expecting to hear."

"Just…just go. Let me sleep." She turned over, exposing her shoulder blades to him but dismissing any chance for further discussion. He took the hint, and moved to the door. He thought to reply on his way out, but shook his head as he realised there wasn't anything he could say. The door shut with a soft clunk behind him, and he didn't hear Fiona shiver, not with the cold, but with sorrow.

"Are you feeling alright, Sonic?" Elias mocked, "You don't normally spend this long staying still."

"I kinda made a promise to myself and Sally that I'd try and think a bit more before I do things.!" He replied, his voice dropping slightly.

"It had got to the point where we were arguing about it." Sally voiced for him. "Mum cleared it up for us…"

"Always solving problems, even now." The older sibling smiled. "It's good to hear that everyone is managing to get back on track."

"She was always helping us…" Sonic lost track of things, beginning to look round the room when his comm beeped, startling everyone in the room and making Alexis giggle.

"Sorry, I'll be right back, probably gotta take this." He apologies quickly, darting up from his seat and into the adjoining hallway. Once there, he put one hand to his ear. "Yea?"

"It's Tails. Where are you?"

"With Sally and her bro in one of the Mobotropolis hotels."

"I'm on my way back. I'm going to follow your signal and get to all of you. I just remembered something important. Max. With Alicia gone, there's nothing restraining him politically. He's at the top of the pyramid and he's always wanted to stop either Sally or Elias from claiming the throne. I need to talk with you all and see what we can do to ensure Elias gets the throne."

"Elias? Why him? What's wrong with Sally?"

"Come on Sonic, you know she doesn't exactly want the throne. It would separate her from the rest of us, and it's that sort of isolation that she hates. We both known Elias is the sort of ruler we all want, and he has spent more time around the royalty and nobles than Sally has, and so he will be able to settle faster and gather the kingdom to him. Sally doesn't want to have to do all that, she just wants to be with you and as far as I'm concerned, that's enough for me. ETA five minutes, see you soon." The link went quiet.

"Yea, see ya…" Sonic replied gently, though he knew his friend was gone.

"I didn't know what I was doing, alright?"
"You made a mistake. Big deal, we all make them. Get over it."
"I can't get over it, Sonic! I don't make mistakes!"
"Well you just started. Just keep on running, like I've always done."

He walked back into the room, shaking his head at what he'd just heard.

"Who was it?" Elias questioned.

"Tails. He's on his way over to talk to you about your dad and who's getting the shiny hat after the guy kicks that crystal-bucket of his." His particular turn of phrase earnt him an endearing glare from Sally, but no reprisal, so he took it as approval, if grudging.

With that the discussion turned to that of the throne, the crown and the matter of succession, and by the time Tails arrived there had been some development. As Megan brought him in, fussing over him as she was wont to do, and though Sonic saw his expression was one of mixed irritation and concern, he did not brush her away, seemingly thankful to be back in the company of friends, despite the serious nature of what they were needing to discourse.

"Sorry I have to interrupt the family reunion in this way, I truly am, but I don't think that any of us can really afford to let this wait any longer."

"No, no, this would have come up eventually. Better to sort it out now than leave it 'till later, or worse, to chance." Elias assured him as Tails lowered himself into another chair that Megan fetched from the kitchen.

"I'm not frightfully versed in the complete history of politics, but am I missing something? Elias is the oldest, so shouldn't he just assume the throne anyway?" Megan asked, as she returned to her seat and lifted Alexis back onto her lap.

"For any other monarch that is precisely the case. By law and to some extent tradition, and I quote from the old texts, 'The burden of leadership of his people shalt be borne upon the shoulders of the king's eldest son, unless the monarch would appoint another descendant of his blood.' Now, of course, normally this would mean his choices are limited to either your husband or Sally, and I doubt anyone would object to them taking the throne." Tails paused a moment to glance at the two different royals. "But to be frank, we know that good ol' Max doesn't really want his current heirs on the throne, and I know he will go to almost any lengths to find a way out."

"We need a concrete reason to make him follow the old method." Sally leant forward, slipping into her business mood. "All we really need to do is make dad follow the rules. Getting him to make you king is a given if we can do that, Elias. If we force him into a corner far enough just to make him follow tradition, he'd choose you over me any day. Besides, you'd be a better ruler than I would."

"What makes you think so?" Elias didn't sound so sure.

"Come on, Elias, dad has been trying to drag you into his life for years. It hasn't worked, but you spend more time in the boardroom than I do. You know more about the etiquette for it, you have more patience with people. I'm not exactly proud of my shortcomings but this is me, you know what I do and I think we all agree you would be better on the throne than I would."

"Now we have the pleasantries, praises and self-depreciation out of the way, do you think we could decide what we're actually going do to about this?" Tails grumbled. "I don't suppose any of you have anything? I must admit, I didn't give it much thought on my way over – my mind was somewhere else."

"Well, we could do it politically. The council is still official, and if he tries to change the system, we could vote to make it a vote of substance, and thus put it to the council to decide. No-one in the council wants to lose their grip on power for one reason for another, so some will side of us out of common sense, and others just because they don't want to lose their jobs." Elias offered.

"But Max can overrule the council, can't he?" Sonic checked.

"Ah, but the motion to overrule is a matter of substance that is decided within the royal family. I don't think either me or my sister will agree with our father on this, do you?"

"If it really comes to it, we can just keep stalling him until nature takes its course. It would probably take a bit longer, but would that work as a plan B?"

Megan put in, her voice remaining completely level and her expression remaining totally serious. Tails, to everyone's relief, buried his head in his hands and chucked silently for a few seconds before replying.

"You know, if we can't think of anything better, I don't have a problem with that. Sending an e-mail to the council to make it a matter of substance once a week sounds exactly like the sort of thing I can do in my spare time just to really get on Max's wick." He replied, shaking his head, grinning slowly.

"Erm…guys, I think we're all forgetting something." Sonic finally said, shakily, and all heads turned to him, and he drummed his fingers against his temple for several moments before finishing. "I think I read something a while back…I think…the 'Monarch's Ultimatum?' Doesn't it, ya know, let him make any decision he wants?"

Sally swore vehemently, and it was her turn to look embarrassed as she too remembered Alexis. "Sorry, Sonic is right. The Monarch's Ultimatum was created by the first Acorn monarch, and his council to serve as a spare key if the council could not be called upon to reliable pass judgement on the matter. Unfortunately, back then the systems were simpler, and so the Monarch's Ultimatum had no limits to which it might be employed. Mostly it is never used, since thankfully most of my- our ancestors have been willing to accept the word of the council or at least their advice on many things. Of course, it retains the same potency as it did back then. I think Sonic just exposed the flaw in all our plans."

"Isn't this normally the other way round?" Tails grinned at the inside joke.

""Hey, come on bud, I have a brain, I just don't use it much." Sonic framed as reply, to receive a friendly jab in the ribs from Sally.

"Well, there is the Descendants Article of Inability." Elias added, snapping his fingers as the idea came to mind. "To quote, 'If the king be unable to rule in the kingdom of madness, the monarch's eldest son shalt receive all titles and accounts in his place, to act as Regent King until the true king recovers from his ailment of the mind or passes from this world.' Does that not have possibilities? If we can prove that my father is unfit to rule the kingdom now, we can do this takeover as soon as possible. Furthermore, if he is proved incapable of ruling, he cannot invoke the Monarch's Ultimatum, as he will be seen as unfit mentally to make the decision."

A few nods of approval and muttered agreement. "So now we have at least two potential ideas." Tails concluded. "But we want as many as we can think of."

"Can't mista Sonic just beat up grandpa?" surprised all, everyone stared down at Alexis, who had apparently been paying more attention than she let on.

"I think your daughter just had a potentially brilliant idea, Megan." Tails explained in a voice that was tinged with incredulity. "Elias, would Max refuse a duel?"

Elias snorted. "I don't think he knows how to."

"Then it could work, could it not? Sonic is Prince Regent already, so the challenge would be technically a fair and noble one. If max denied the challenge we would be able to move forward with the Article of Inability, under the pretence that were he to show cowardice like this in other, more dangerous positions, it could compromise the kingdom. If he accepted, Sonic could quite rightly duel him into surrendering. He is technically royalty by merit of being married to the princess, so victory would mean he would inherit the crown on the spot. Then we could claim the right of Monarch's Ultimatum and pass it straight onto you, Elias."

"Is it me or are we getting good at overthrowing people?" Sonic slapped his old friend on the back as best he could.

"Robotnik doesn't like giving up, does he?"

"I don't think he gets the idea."

"Well, we just keep trying until he gets the message, eh?"

"I'm bored."

"You always are. Go break something, I don't care."

"Whatever, emo."

"It's nihilist. Get it right if you're going to say it at all."

"Do you think I give a shit?"

"Keep this up and you will very soon wish you did. You know how much pain I can inflict on you."

"Is this why you asked me to show? So you could mouth off at me?"

"No, that's just a little extra. No, how would you like to cause Sonic some real pain?"

"Oh?"

"Listening now, aren't you? Thought you might like the sound of that."

"I would kill you, but that would be wasting a plan."

"Yea, whatever. Curb that outrageous and futile bloodlust for a moment and listen. I have an idea that's going to piss off most of the freedom fighters and if you're lucky you might get some pussy action before that dysfunction kicks in."

"Fuck you."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm straight – and I already have a girl. Now, listen…"