Author's note: Yes, that was Eggman Nega's outfit that I described in the previous chapter. I'm calling him Robotnik because 'Eggman Nega' doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. In the games, Blaze and Eggman Nega were enemies, but the future in this story is an alternate timeline where Iblis wrecked everything, so people who would've ordinarily been enemies decided to work together in order to survive, hence why Nega seems oddly friendly. I believe Sonic Rush stated that Nega and Blaze are from an alternate dimension, while Sonic Rivals and Sonic '06 said that Nega and Blaze were from the future. I've stuck with the latter explanation, obviously.

Everything upstairs seemed to be in order. That only left the basement: a powder keg of discarded weapons and gadgets. Tails led the way with Amy cautiously following with hammer in tow. Cream and Cheese trailed behind reluctantly, afraid to follow but even more fearful of being left alone. Whoever was in there hadn't bothered to turn the lights on, but this was the only possible place that remained.

Cheese, sensing the intruders' presence, dashed forth in a daring dive bomb only to be snatched out of the air by a menacing claw. Amy took this as her cue to charge, holding hammer overhead. Suddenly she had felt as if the ground had been pulled away from under her and she found herself tumbling through the air, landing in a pile of cardboard boxes. Tails tried to reach for something on a nearby shelf when a voice cried out:

"Wait, hold on! I recognize those voices."

"Would you mind giving us a light already?" a whiny voice requested.

Tails reached for a light switch, only to be blinded by a flash. One of the intruders seemed to be holding a torch, but on a second look the flame was actually emanating from her palm.

"Tails?"

A loud crack was heard, followed by the sound of an object clattering on the ground and a loud slam. Tails immediately turned on the lights to see Amy, breathing heavily with the head broken off of her hammer. Beneath her lay a massive red-and-black machine which slowly stood back up.

"What? Were we done fighting?" she panted.

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"So anyway, we're looking for these two people. We've heard from a reliable source that they both have some kind of connection with this whole incident. We're not sure what kind of connection, which is all the more reason to find them," Silver summed up in plain terms to the two-tailed fox who sat at the other end of the table.

"I don't think you need to be worried about where they stand. Knuckles is always hanging around the Master Emerald on the floating isle. As for Sonic, we're as clueless as you are when it comes to his whereabouts," Tails surmised.

"Relax, I'm sure that if what you're saying is true, they must be the key to stopping Iblis," Silver said reassuringly.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Blaze reminded her student as she sat in a nearby windowsill.

In the corner of the room, Amy was trying to jam her hammer's handle back into its socket, but it wouldn't stay.

"I hope you're happy," she said indignantly, "this was my favorite hammer."

"Yes, it's not your fault at all that it's broken," Blaze replied dryly.

Amy, taking this as a challenge, stood up in Blaze's face and shouted: "You're darn right it isn't. If you had checked with us before sneaking in here I wouldn't have had to use it!" Suddenly she found herself being dragged away by the back of her dress.

"Simmer down," Omega said, lowering his voice as he let her go.

"It's alright Omega, I was just about to leave anyway."

Suddenly Omega and Silver snapped to attention as Blaze handed out orders.

"Omega, you stay here and see what else you can learn. And as for you, Silver, see if you can find our elusive lead. I'll start with the other one."

The rest of the group was silent until the two pale newcomers had left.

"Now that that's out of the way, I'm eager to hear how things have been going for you guys," said Chris, relieved to have some privacy.

"Oh, you know. Same old same old. Time never really flies around here," said Amy is a dismissing fashion.

"The boys at the detective agency lost their house and had to move in with us," Cream chimed in pleasantly, in spite of how annoying her current situation was.

"What about you, Tails? Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Everything's fine," Tails said as he looked away from Chris.

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Blaze had doubts that this floating island was what others claimed it to be. Still, she wondered if maybe she should have sent Silver to do this instead just in case if the rumors turned out to be true. Then again, she had a few tricks of her own for getting up there if need be.

Upon entering a clearing, she was relieved to see that the old wise tales were false. All she saw was an island that was completely separated from the mainland, save for a wooden bridge.

Suddenly she heard heavy footsteps. She ducked back into the brush and made her way to the sound's origin. Peering through the foliage, she saw some kind of machine. It was almost perfectly spherical with a pair of spindly arms and legs.

"The excavation is complete," it garbled.

The robot's limbs retracted into its body and it flew away. Not a moment later a dreadlocked native stood where the robot had.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you come back here so I can show you some excavating of my own!" he declared angrily.

He was about to pursue when Blaze stopped him. She wanted to ask him a few questions, but he just ignored her, pressing onward as she followed him. The two tried to carry on a conversation mired by their heavy breathing.

"Listen, I just wanted to know a few things about these 'emeralds' of yours. They may be the key to preventing a worldwide crisis."

"Well then, you're going to want to talk to that beach ball and his friends because they just took it!"

"It?"

"The Master Emerald, don't you know anything? Why else do you think this place wasn't floating?"

"It's supposed to do that?"

"You're really not from around here, are you?"

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Silver had just barely started his search when he noticed a thick, glowing plume of smoke coming from a forest on the horizon. Since the search for Sonic would likely take days, he might as well see what the problem is. Besides, this is just the kind of trouble that Sonic is attracted to.