Sonic was not having pleasant dreams.

He was standing on a floating platform constructed of purple-white light, suspended in an outer space that was most unlike the one surrounding Mobius, for every few seconds, massive, swirling constellations of light would appear, taking on the shape of gargantuan animals or the faces of strange alien beings.

But he was not paying the mystery of his whereabouts any attention, for he was surrounded by a group of towering creatures like solid shadows, with glowing red eyes devoid of whites and pupils, coupled with jet black fangs that dripped inky purple venom that burnt holes in the platform where it fell.

"What do you guys want?" Sonic shouted in frustration, sprinting towards a gap in the creatures, but they quickly closed it, one extending a massive, clawed hand and shoving him roughly back into the center of the circle.

The creatures laughed harshly, gnashing their pointy teeth and stomping their gnarled feet with mirth. "You cannot escape," rasped one through its laughter, its voice like shattered ice. "You have no hope of defeating all of us."

Sonic forced himself up off the ground, tensing into a half-crouch, his hands curled into fists. It was infuriating, being surrounded by these shadowy monsters that blocked his every move, yet they did not attack him, did not provide him with an opportunity to get under their defences and sprint past them. The thing he was after was obviously miles ahead of him now, and yet he knew that it had no chance of surviving this twisted alternate dimension without his help...

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he bellowed, and with that he flung himself forwards as a tight ball of pure speed, so fast that the creature had barely raised its arms in attempt to parry his attack before he had slammed into its chest with crushing force. The monster's eyes widened, until the burning red had claimed its entire head, travelling down its body and infecting the creatures on either side of it with the same bloody colour. Soon the entire circle had been claimed by the parasitic growth of red, each monster frozen in the position it had assumed when it had been dyed, and Sonic retreated several steps, his heart pounding in his chest. Then he flung himself forwards once more, ploughing straight through one of the monsters, which shattered like the ice its voice sounded like, the millions of shards slicing through the air in every direction but his.

On flying feet Sonic tore away from his enemies, knowing that they might unfreeze at any second, that he had already wasted enough time trying to fight them off. His eyes darted in every direction, searching the flat plateau for any signs of the thing he was after.

But something strange was happening to him, something horrific, unthinkable. His breath was coming in short, ragged bursts, but with each one his lungs burned as if they were on fire, as if the air they craved had somehow become water. Soon he was no longer running, but staggering forwards, coughing and choking, unable to breathe, his head spinning, every part of him screaming for air. He fell to on to his hands and knees, his head bowed, wheezing weakly, and he was certain that he was dying, that he had failed in his attempt to save the thing he needed most-

Sonic opened his eyes, awakening from his nightmare as abruptly as if someone had screamed in his ear. He immediately became aware that he was lying face down in a puddle of water, and the electronic humming of a dozen machines filled his ears, along with the sickly sweet smell of anaesthetic that burned his nose.

Slowly, dazedly, Sonic sat up, disoriented for the fourth time in so many days. Shaking his head vigorously in attempt to dry his fur, he gazed about himself in confusion, and immediately spotted Tails, his fur matted with water, an expression of horrified comprehension fixed upon his face. Not far away from him was Knuckles, shaking his head like a dog after a bath, looking just as disoriented as he felt. Sonic turned and saw Amy, splayed upon the ground, surrounded by water and shards of glass, though her head was raised so that she could stare at the person who was evidently the cause of Tails' horror.

The woman before them was breathtakingly beautiful, with long, perfectly straight silvery blonde hair that fell to her waist. She was clothed in flowing robes of lightest pink and soft white, embroidered with strange amethyst runes that glowed brightly, with a tall light pink hat that a priest might wear fixed upon her head. She had palest white skin and large, molten brown eyes, a small nose and a pink lipped mouth that was, at the moment, curled into a superior smile that drained her face from all its beauty.

"Illumina?" Sonic breathed, confused. "What-?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog," she murmured, in a voice as lovely as her appearance, one that sounded like stardust and sunlight. "Saviour of Maginaryworld. It's an honour to see you. I wish," her eyes narrowed slightly as they flickered between Amy, Tails and Knuckles. "I could say the same for your friends, who I seem to remember did not play a significant role in my world's salvation."

"Excuse me?" Amy cried indignantly, leaping to her feet and drawing her hammer. "We did more than you think! And the last time I checked, it was you we were saving your stupid little dream world from! And I'm pretty sure you weren't doing anything to help us, because you were sitting around playing a harp!"

She finished with an unimpressed snort, tossed her head and tensed slightly, as if anticipating a fight. Sonic stared at her in mixed awe and fear, his gaze flickering between her and Illumina, whose eyes flashed steelily, causing her to look even more frightening than before.

"Amy Rose," she murmured, her eyes boring into Amy's, apparently mesmerized at what she saw in them. "I'd very much like to destroy you, but first you must play your role in my quest. Still-"

The next thing Sonic knew, Amy was on the floor, rolling around and screaming in pain, her limbs thrashing from side to side, her back arched to breaking point, her eyes wide and displaying nothing but agony. As her screams increased in volume, Illumina, who hand one hand extended and curved into a claw as she pointed at Amy, shouted, "Do you still think you did anything to save my world, you stupid girl? That you are braver, stronger than me? How could-"

Sonic could not take anymore; the sound of Amy's tortured screams caused an explosion of grief and anger to occur inside him, and with a savage snarl he flung himself forwards, a ball of pure rage that tore through the air and slammed into Illumina's face with a satisfyingly loud SMACK!

The goddess fell backwards, surprise etched upon her face, and Sonic turned a backwards somersault before landing hard on his feet. His heart was pounding loudly in his ears, and suddenly, everything fell into place inside his mind, like he had found the missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle; Eggman would never have employed a being more cunning than himself, for he had the narcissistic need to be the most intelligent person in all of his operations. And now the doctor was nowhere to be seen. Illumina had obviously disposed of him and taken over as head of whatever he was planning, with Void and Chaos at her disposal.

But what does she want?

All this happened in less than a second, and yet it seemed to change everything, answering questions that he and the others could not, explaining Void's involvement in Eggman's scheme, making whatever he was planning a hundred times more sinister now that there was a supernatural entity involved. But Sonic didn't have time to marvel over what he had discovered; he registered that Amy had stopped screaming, and without taking his eyes off Illumina's falling form, he shouted, "Tails, take Amy and go!"

"NO!" Illumina screamed, and she turned a graceful somersault before falling to the floor, leaping up with murder on her face. "EGGMAN, STOP THEM!"

But the doctor, wherever he was, was in no position to help her; out of the corner of his eye, he saw a something pink and yellow streak out one of the many doors to the lab, which swished closed behind them. Good, Sonic thought grimly. At least they're safe.

Before Illumina could do more than shake with rage, both he and Knuckles had flung themselves at her, Knuckles in the lead, his face contorted into a feral snarl, one hand pulled back over his shoulder, metal knuckles glinting lethally-

"ENOUGH!" screamed Illumina, flinging her arms out from her chest and causing a transparent wave of energy to explode off of her. As it passed through Sonic, he felt himself freeze like an ice sculpture, suspended helplessly in mid air, teeth still bared in fury. He could not blink, he could not shift his gaze; all he could do was stare furiously at Illumina, whose chest was heaving, her divine face sliding into an expression of superior disdain, as if she had defeated them both in a heated debate as opposed to freezing them where they were.

The goddess straightened up, then cocked her head to one side as she stared at Sonic with a cruel half-smile upon her face with the air of looking at a mildly interesting statue in a museum. "You must care about that girl a lot, Sonic the Hedgehog," she murmured in her soft voice, though her eyes flashed dangerously, causing his heart to burst into a terrified sprint.

A thousand insults rushed through his mind, though he was unable to voice any of them. Illumina's cruel smile widened at his silence, and, cocking her head further to the side, she whispered, "No? Well then, I supposed you won't mind if I feature her and this buffoon-"she stepped around him and walked towards were Knuckles was suspended ludicrously in mid-lunge, his dark purple eyes still expressing nothing but utmost rage. "-in a little battle against each other? A battle to the death?"

Sonic wondered if his heart was pumping liquefied fear through his veins instead of blood. Illumina looked over her shoulder at him and cast him a radiant smile, though her eyes remained as cold as ice, and she plucked Knuckles delicately out of the air and strode out of his line of vision, leaving him suspended in mid-air, boiling with rage like a volcano about to erupt.

There was a pneumatic whooshing noise which Sonic knew was the sound of one of the doors sliding closed, and then Illumina's lovely voice, magically magnified to a hundred times its natural volume, rent the silence apart.

"Amy Rose," the goddess thundered. "I applaud you and Miles Prower for your brave dash for freedom. I will allow you to leave this ship unharmed, though your friends will suffer if you do so. I don't think your friend Sonic would think it very brave of you to run out on him.

"I will wait for you for fifteen minutes, Amy Rose. You will find me in the airlock. Fifteen minutes, or your friends will suffer the consequences."

"NO!" Sonic roared, and Illumina's spell broke. He dropped heavily to the ground, but almost instantly leaped up to his feet, his heart hammering wildly. "AMY, TAILS, DON'T LISTEN TO HER!"

But both of them were obviously completely out of earshot of his warning. Déjà vu crashed over him, and his dream flashed through his mind. At least now he knew what the things he had been chasing were. Sonic ran at one of the four doors behind him that led out of the laboratory, but it refused to open. With a snarl, he proceeded to kick and punch at it with increasing desperation, but to no avail. He repeated his actions with the other three doors, but to identical results. Enraged at his helplessness, Sonic ran at a stainless silver trashcan and kicked it across the room. To his bewilderment, the door second from the left swished open. With an incredulous laugh, Sonic leaped through it, not caring whether or not this was the door Illumina had exited through, jubilant at his freedom.

The hallway he was standing in was completely different than the one the robot guards had marched them down; it was metallic blue, the wall before him dedicated entirely to a vast, tinted black window that revealed the starry, night time sky and a seemingly endless black ocean. In the window, he saw the reflection of a neon blue sign that pointed left and right. Sonic spun around and read 'Airlock, Weapons Locker, Hangar, Left Chute' and underneath that, 'Research and Development, Experimental Weaponry, Right Chute'.

What kind of idiot needs directions to get to around his own lair? Sonic wondered idly, but his thoughts quickly changed from amused to turmoiled as he faced his predicament.

Amy would undoubtedly have believed Illumina's lie in saying that he and Knuckles had been captured by her, and was most likely attempting to get to the airlock with all her might. Tails had hopefully not bought the goddess' falsehood and was restraining Amy, preferably in either the R&D or experimental weaponry department. Gritting his teeth, Sonic considered his options; he could either take the right chute, attempt to find Tails and Amy and, if successful, take on Illumina and try to spring Knuckles free. Or, he could head straight to the airlock and scout out what the situation was there and, if possible, spring Knuckles.

For a moment, he stood, grappling in a violent internal struggle, and then, as abruptly as if someone invisible had given him instructions, turned and flashed towards the left chute, praying that Tails had enough sense to keep Amy from the place he was headed.

"I'm telling you Amy, she's not lying!" Tails exclaimed, almost crying from exasperation. Amy meanwhile, folded her arms, turned her head to the side and angrily blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"And I'm telling you, Tails, she's calling a bluff!" she said fiercely.

"And what makes you think that?" Tails asked her, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Amy glared at him for a moment, and then shouted, "Because Sonic's too good of a fighter to be caught by some stupid fairy princess!"

Tails let out a roar of exasperation; it was like trying to reason with someone who stubbornly preached that one plus one equalled three. "AMY, IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW GOOD A FIGHTER HE IS!" he shouted, and she flinched at the fury in his voice. "SHE WOULD HAVE TORTURED HIM INTO SUBMISSION, LIKE SHE DID YOU!"

Amy stared at him, her dark green eyes widening in horror; he might have just slapped her in the face. And then, so fast he wasn't sure how it happened, she was crying, soft wails of sorrow escaping her, and she sank to her knees, shaking uncontrollably.

"Aww, Amy!" Tails said, his exasperation morphing to sympathy in less than a second, and he sank to the floor beside her, patting her shoulder gently. "I didn't mean to upset you! It's just...probably what happened!"

Amy did not answer; if anything, she sobbed harder, her hands covering her face as she shook with agony. Tails continued to pat her on the shoulder, all the while gazing about, waiting for some horrific monster to pop out of the chute on their right, drawn to the R&D department by Amy's moans.

Then, so softly he could barely make out the words, Amy spoke. "B-Back in Eggman's l-l-lab," she hiccupped, lowering her hands so that she could stare at him with sparkling, puffy eyes. "Illumina wasn't m-making me f-feel physical p-pain. She sh-showed me a vision...a-and in it...Sonic s-said that – that he didn't care about m-me! He s-said that he didn't c-care what happened to me, as l-long as he never h-had to see me a-again!" And she collapsed onto the ground with renewed sobs, curled into a ball, her face pressed against her knees as she rocked back and forth. Tails stared at her, frowning slightly.

"She lied to you, Amy," he told her quietly. "How could you ever believe that Sonic didn't care about you?"

Amy merely hiccupped in response, though her sobs rapidly became little more than sniffles. Somewhere inside himself, Tails recognized the truth of his words; Sonic's reaction to Amy's kidnap at Knuckles' hands strengthened the suspicion he had harboured inside himself for several years.

"When Knuckles kidnapped you-" he began in a low voice, but suddenly, there was a scuffling noise at the other end of the hallway, accompanied by a muffled yell. Both his and Amy's heads whipped around to stare at the source of the noise, but at that moment, there was a noise like a laser beam being fired and the fluorescent lights that illuminated the hallway suddenly went out, plunging them into pitch blackness.

Tails leapt to his feet, and movement beside him told him Amy had done similarly. "Who's there?" she hissed, and Tails hastily groped through the darkness and clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Shhh!" he hissed, while she shouted something muffled at him. "It'll hear you!"

Amy removed his hand from her mouth, pausing only to slap his wrist smartly. "Don't be a baby!" she growled at him. "We need to get out of here!" And without further ado she marched away from him, in the direction of the chute they had come out of.

"Amy!" Tails moaned, starting after her, but he had only taken half a step when a new voice sounded from the darkness, a long way in front of them.

"Tails?" the voice hissed, and Tails' heart leaped as he recognized the speaker.

"Sonic?" he whispered, feeling blindly around as he ran forwards.

"Sonic?" Amy squealed in delight from somewhere close by.

"Amy?" Sonic asked incredulously, sounding much closer now. At that moment, the lights came back on, and Tails found himself blinking up confusedly into Sonic's surprised face.

Something pink whizzed past him, and suddenly Sonic was obscured entirely by Amy, who was hugging him so tightly she might have been trying to crush him. "Oh, Sonic, I knew you were okay!" she gushed, looking jubilantly up at his bemused face.

"Great to see you too, Amy," he replied, rolling his eyes at Tails over her head but smiling all the same. He firmly disentangled himself from her, looking at Tails as he said, "What happened back there? Did you hear that noise?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," Tails said, slightly confusedly. "Weren't you over there?"

Sonic opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment, an unearthial screech sounded from behind them, causing his hair to stand on end, and both he and Amy turned to see what was making the source of the noise.

Tails' heart jumped up to his throat as he saw what it was; a grotesque mass of jet back limbs was pouring out of the chute on their right, twisting and writhing as it rolled towards them, still emitting that horrible screeching cry. It bounced chaotically off the walls, the arms groping towards them, the legs kicking violently, and Tails was sure that if the thing caught them, they would be pummelled to death before they had gone a hundred yards.

"RUN!" Amy screamed, and they made to sprint away from the thing, but Sonic was faster; catching Amy up in his arms and slinging her over his shoulder, he grabbed Tails with his free arm and half dragged, half guided him down the hallway, sprinting so fast that the walls appeared blurred. Unable to keep up with such an impossible speed, Tails feet did a kind of tap dance as Sonic pulled him along behind him, while the monster unleashed an impossibly loud, high pitched screech that caused him to jump so violently in alarm that he jerked out of Sonic's grip-

"TAILS!" shouted Sonic and Amy, as he skidded face-first into the wall, propelled by Sonic's momentum. Little stars erupted before his eyes as he collided painfully with the smooth metal surface, and he would have been perfectly happy to stay there, but he knew what the consequences would be of him doing so, so he forced himself up off the ground and tried to run after Sonic, but instead he staggered forwards drunkly, tripped over his own feet and sprawled face first onto the ground.

Amy was screaming something, but it was rendered incomprehensible by the near-deafening screeching of the monster that was bearing down upon them. Tails managed to lift his head up just in time to see Sonic leap into the blackness of the chute with Amy still in his arms, both of them looking back at him with expressions of utmost horror fixed upon their faces, but then, the immense black mass of limbs descended upon him, eclipsing his vision, and Tails was lost in a violently writhing sea of onyx.

"TAAAAIIIILS!" Amy screamed as they shot up the chute chaotically fast. Deep in her heart, she knew her friend could not hear her, but she refused to listen to logic. She was sure that that monster, whatever it was, was no match for Sonic, and if they hurried, they might just be able to pull Tails out of the mass.

Distressed as she was, she was not unable to marvel at the fact that she was in Sonic's arms once more, and that, yet again, he had saved her. She tried to look up into his face, but it was so dark in the chute that she couldn't see the hair that was whipping around her face.

Suddenly, they were expelled from the chute, out into a corridor lit only by the moonlight shining through the tinted window that took up the entire wall on their right. The two of them tumbled head over heels for a moment, and then Amy found herself sprawled awkwardly on top of Sonic. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she gasped for breath, both embarrassed and excited. Sonic blinked confusedly up at her, then, becoming aware of her position, the faintest of blushes appeared on his face. Slowly, he pushed himself upright, and Amy slid off his chest and onto the floor.

"Sorry," she gasped, but Sonic only shook his head, a small smile upon his face.

"It's not your fault," he muttered, pulling her to her feet. His expression suddenly became serious, and in a low, careful voice, he said, "I think we should turn ourselves in."

"What?" Amy said, her heart spluttering in her chest, sure she had heard incorrectly.

"We should turn ourselves in," Sonic repeated, his light green eyes locking onto her dark ones, and he took her hands in his own. Amy's blush deepened at the intensity of his gaze, but she stood her ground.

"Are you crazy?" she asked him, unsure why unease was creeping through her, why her heart was pounding like a jackrabbit's inside her chest. "She'll kill us!"

"You don't know that," Sonic said softly, and Amy could have sworn there was a faint red gleam in his eyes. "But I know that if we don't, that's exactly what she'll do to us. Goddess Illumina has divine powers, powers you could only dream of possessing. "

His grip on her hands tightened painfully, and Amy's subconciousness began to scream for her to run. "Why are you talking about that freak like that?" she demanded, fear constricting her voice as she tried unsuccessfully to pull her hands out of his. "Look, I'm going back to help Tails, and-"

"Amy?" a voice called from the other end of the semi-dark hallway, a voice laced with relief and panic, a voice that she recognized immediately, for it was so rarely out of her mind-

"SONIC!" she screamed, managing to wrench her hands out of the Sonic before her's grip. The Sonic growled and lunged forwards, the red gleam in his eyes now infecting the rest of his pupils, and then he had her by the throat, his hand clenching it tightly, determined to squeeze the life from it. Choking and spluttering, Amy pried at Sonic's fingers, trying desperately to loosen them, but to no avail. And then, through watering eyes, she saw a streak of dark blue, and then the hand on her throat was gone, leaving her to sprawl weakly onto the ground, gasping for breath. From behind her, she heard savage snarling, punctuated by the sound of flesh on flesh and grunts of pain, implying that a violent struggle was going on behind her.

Rolling out of her sprawled position on the floor, Amy turned, withdrawing her hammer as she did so, and she was met with one of the strangest sights she had ever seen, (and she had seen a lot of strange things). One Sonic was pinning another against the wall by his throat, both of them snarling ferally, the only difference between them was that the one trapped against the wall had burning red eyes. The imposter kicked the real Sonic hard in the chest, leapfrogged him when he doubled over in pain, and he flung himself at Amy, hands curved into claws as he reached towards her-

With a shriek of denial, Amy swung her hammer forwards like a baseball bat, and it connected with the fake Sonic's face. She felt his nose break with a satisfying crunch noise, and he was sent yowling backwards, to where the real Sonic was waiting in a tense half- crouch. With a wordless roar, he leaped into a backflip, his feet connecting with the imposter's stomach, and he was sent flying towards the ceiling. He hit it with a sickening crunch, and then fell like a sack of rocks back to the ground, limp as a ragdoll. For a split second, he lay perfectly still, and then disintegrated into a mass of tiny black particles that dissolved through the floor.

Amy stared at the place where the fake Sonic had disappeared, her chest heaving, hammer still in hands, still unsure as to what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked in a low voice, and her head snapped up, for she had forgotten, momentarily, that she was not alone.

Sonic was looking at her, looking anxious and concerned. There was a gash in his cheek, accompanied by several smaller ones on his arms and legs. His lip was slightly bloody and a bump was swelling on his forehead, but he did not allow any of this to interfere with his concern for her.

He's hurt! Amy thought, snapping out of her frozen state. He's hurt, because he had to save me!

And she began to cry weakly, sinking to the ground, not from pain, but from the knowledge that she had caused him to throw himself in harm's way for her sake, and she knew that if she had been a bit quicker and a lot more cautious, his injuries wouldn't have been necessary. She heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and then Sonic's arm was around her shoulder, a comforting warmth that allowed her to slowly regain her composure.

When her sobs had subsided somewhat, Sonic spun her around to face him, and said, in a low, intense voice, "What happened? Where's Tails?"

"I d-don't know!" Amy sniffled, brushing tears from her eyes. Sonic cocked an eyebrow as he pulled her to her feet, and she continued in a quavering voice.

"We were hiding outside the R&D department, and then we heard Illumina saying that she'd captured you. Tails thought she was telling the truth, but I didn't, and we were arguing-"

"Hang on," Sonic interrupted, his eyes sparkling with amusement and incredulity. "Tails bought Illumina's lie?"

Amy couldn't keep herself from laughing. "I knew she was lying!" she said, her voice becoming much stronger. "But anyways, we were arguing, and then there was this blackout in the hallway. When the lights came back on, you – what am I saying, that phoney – was there, except we though he was the real you, and then this shadow thing-" Sonic looked annoyed when she didn't provide a more detailed explanation than that, but in her eyes, that was all it was, "- came out of one of the chutes, and then you, I mean, he had me in his arms and we were running away, but then – then we lost Tails. The monster got him.

"Then we came back up this chute and the fake you was trying to convince me to turn ourselves in, and then I knew something was wrong, because I...I knew you'd never give in to Illumina's demands and...Well...you know the rest."

Sonic was silent for a moment, searching her eyes for something. Amy gazed back, mesmerized, but then, something like satisfaction rolled across his face and he released her with a blink. "Well, I guess we better try to find out where Illumina's keeping Tails and Knuckles." He said an anticipating smile upon his face.

"Isn't she in the airlock?" Amy asked, cocking her head to the side as she remembered the goddess' lying broadcast.

Sonic shook his head. "I just checked there; it's completely deserted. I don't really get why she'd try to get you guys to go somewhere she isn't." They were both silent for a moment, contemplating this new development, and then Amy said slowly, "I don't think she's in the R&D department, or the experimental weapons one, because me and Tails were shouting pretty loudly at each other, not to mention the noise that monster was making, and I'm sure she would have heard us."

"Yeah," Sonic nodded, seeming to come out of some sort of reverie. "Well, I don't really get why she'd lie, but that leaves the vehicle hangar and the weapons locker, so we'd better get over there."

Fear crashed over Amy as the realization of what they were about to do hit her like a tidal wave. Sonic seemed to guess what she was thinking, for he gave her a cocky wink and hastily clasped hands with her. "Do you think some dream world's princess is any match more us? When we've taken on twenty foot high robots and-" he gave a fake shudder of horror. "-Eggman?"

Amy laughed an act that dispelled her fear; it wasn't possible not to be infected by Sonic's confidence. With another wink, Sonic caught her up in his arms and sprinted towards the end of the dimly-lit hallway at an impossible speed, reaching the end of it in four seconds flat, and without hesitation he leapt into the blackness of the chute before them.

But instead of plunging downwards, as Amy knew they should have, they were rocketing upwards, towards a bright white light in the distance, the chaotic roar of tunnel winds sounding deafeningly in their ears.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Amy screamed over the din, her eyes wide with horror as she stared up into Sonic's shadowy face.

"Nothing good!" Sonic shouted back, his arms tightening around her. "Hang on, we're about to-"

But she drowned out the rest of his sentence with a terrified shriek; the chute dispelled them with a faint popping noise, and Amy flew out of Sonic's grip, tumbling head over heels and eventually coming to a painful, resounding halt on what felt like a sandy plateau. Spitting sand from her mouth, Amy shook her head to get rid of the fluffy whiteness and pushed herself into kneeling position, gazing about in terror.

They had landed themselves in what she could only describe as a massive battle arena; blinding white lights illuminated it more effectively than sunlight did a clearing, and it was as wide and long as two football fields, with hundreds of empty grey seats rising up to the heavens. A great glass dome loomed over head, revealing the starry black sky and full white moon.

"Where are we?" she murmured, getting heavily to her feet and brushing sand out of her ruined dress.

"I don't know," Sonic replied, and she turned to see him standing with his hands balled into tight fists, vigilant eyes examining every inch of the arena. "But I'm sure Illumina's behind it."

"Right you are, Sonic!" came the goddess' booming cry, seemingly from all around them, and with a startled scream Amy flung herself at Sonic, cowering against him. Sonic turned to see that a massive monitor was rising out of the sandy ground some hundred feet away from them, causing swirling clouds of the stuff to rise up in every direction. Illumina's face smiled triumphantly out at them, her pale white hands clasped beneath her chin, molten brown eyes radiating happiness.

"I hope you two like the changes I've made to Dr. Eggman's personal chambers," she cried, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I had a feeling you two might not be smart enough to figure out where I was actually waiting for you, so I rigged all the chutes to deposit you here."

"What do you want?" Sonic shouted, prying Amy off of his chest and spinning her around so that she was hidden from view.

A shadow seemed to pass over Illumina's divine face, and her wicked eyes narrowed, her mouth curving into a cruel smile that leeched her of all her beauty. "What do I want?" she asked, tapping her chin with a thin finger, apparently contemplating his question. "Just to see how powerful you two are, I suppose." She paused, glaring down at them like a dragon does at its prey, then murmured, "Turn around."

In perfect unison, the two of them whirled around, but Amy would have given anything she owned to have not listened to the goddess; rising silently out of the ground on a stainless steel metal platform was the most massive robot she had ever seen, at least six storeys high, a titanic version of the guards who they had faced off with in Eggman's prison so long ago. It had a gigantic television screen for a head, displaying narrowed, pixelated red eyes, and it's torso was obscured entirely by heavy artillery; grenades, missiles, bundles of dynamite, just to name a few. Unlike its miniature, both arms had been replaced by massive laser cannons, each as big as yachts, and it had an enormous, steam roller-like wheel instead of legs.

"Robotnik was ever so kind to allow me to borrow it," Illumina explained from behind them, and the relish in her voice should have been illegal. "It's powered by Chaos Emeralds, you see, so there's no chance of it tiring out. And just to make things a bit more interesting...."

From behind the robot, Amy saw two small tanks, similar to the ones that they had been imprisoned inside in Eggman's laboratory, rise out of the ground. She struggled to see past the robot the see what was inside it, and then, with a little gasp of horror, cried, "TAILS! KNUCKLES! NO!"

Both Tails and Knuckles were trapped inside it, bound by heavy black manacles, both shouting curses at Illumina, as well as desperate warnings at Amy and Sonic, both of which were deafened by the soundproof glass they were imprisoned inside. On top of their prisons was a large black clock that displayed the number 120, and strapped to either side of it were massive red bundles of TNT.

"It's a bomb, you see," Illumina declared, with the air of informing Sonic he was blue. "Set to detonate in two minutes. Timer starts...now. Good luck!" And with that the screen went blank.

Amy felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness claim her, one that put the terror Void had induced in her to shame. The robot before them started to move, its gargantuan wheel turning slowly, and its cannon began to emit a low, continuous beep that she knew meant it was charging up. From behind it, she heard the unmistakable sound of the clock on top of Tails and Knuckles' prison counting downwards, depleting the little time they had been given to work with.

"What are we going to do?" she asked helplessly, turning to stare desperately at Sonic, who was staring at the robot through narrowed eyes with a calculating expression on his face.

"Find its power source," he replied confidently, as if he did this every day. Then, shifting his gaze so that he was looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he asked, "Are you ready?"

Amy gulped. "Can anyone ever be ready to do something like this?" Nevertheless, she started forwards at a run, an act mirrored by Sonic, albeit ten times faster, but just as quickly, she stopped.

"Sonic!" she cried, as an idea struck her like a bolt of lightning. Sonic dug his heels into the ground and skidded to a stop, turning to look over his shoulder at her as he shouted, "What?"

"Do you think you could propel yourself over that thing?" she demanded, starting to run forwards again.

"Yeah." He answered after the slightest hesitation; clearly, he was not seeing where she was going with this. "Why?"

"Because," she panted, finally catching up with him. "If we can get Tails and Knuckles loose and keep it close to the bomb, it'll detonate and destroy the robot!"