Disclaimer: All Sonic Team characters are owned by Sega. Deacon Sparks, Kane, Karen and Quote are all owned by me, JerseyDevil.

Chapter 7: Moving Ahead and Looking Back

Setting: Prison Island, Sonic's Cell

The door to the cell opened and Sonic was thrown forcefully in by the robot guards and the door was quickly slammed behind him.

"Sonic!" yelled a voice from the other side. A young, burnt-orange fox boy came from the other side of the cell and rushed toward Sonic. He placed his hands on Sonic's shoulder and side. Sonic groaned in pain.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," he said, "What did that monster do to you?"

"Don't worry about me Tails," he replied weakly, "Just be happy they don't torture you. The only thing that bastard does in make you build and program robot soldiers all day. No lasers, no "fun time. You've been here much longer than me and you're not at physically hurt as me. Maybe you can make it long enough..."

"Don't say that Sonic!" shouted Tails, "Someone will come for us. You'll get better and be back to running around and saving the world again." Sonic nodded in agreement. He knew that the chances of being rescued were not favorable, but he had to keep hope alive in Tail's heart. If they stopped believing, Kane would be successful in defeating them. He continued to grunt in pain as he rubbed his injured chest. Tails saw Sonic is such pain and small tears formed in his eyes and began to drip down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," he said in a small whisper, "If I hadn't gotten kidnapped, you wouldn't be in this mess right now." Sonic was taken aback by these comments. He got back up on one knee and placed his hand on Tail's shoulder.

"C'mon, Tails, don't cry," said Sonic as he began to wipe Tail's tears with his thumb, "This is not your fault. If anyone is to blame, its that bastard, Kane. I have no regrets in coming over here and trying to rescue you. I wouldn't take what I did back for anything. Your my lil' bro, Tails, and I'd do anything for you."

Tails replied, "Thanks, Sonic." Tails wrapped his arms around Sonic in a hug and Sonic hugged him back to comfort him.

"Let's get some sleep, Tails," Sonic said, "You need your strength and I definitely need mine." Tails nodded in agreement and they both crawled into their separate beds, although they were actually actually single mattresses on opposite sides of the room being held up by two bars attached to the sides. Sonic and Tails fell into a deep slumber soon afterwards.

Setting: The next morning; Angel Island

The next morning, a pleasant smell of home cooking could be smelt in the air throughout the house. Amy had gotten up an hour before anyone else so she decided to make a big breakfast for everyone in the house. Pretty soon, everyone came down to see who was cooking. Cream was the first one downstairs.

"What'cha making, Amy?" asked the young rabbit, "It smells real good."

"Thanks," said Amy in appreciation, "I've been up all morning cooking breakfast. I made pancakes, toast and eggs."

"I hope this food tastes as good as it smells," said a voice from the other room. In came Knuckles, who was followed by Blaze. All three took their seats in the kitchen. In the next ten minutes, everyone was downstairs in the kitchen.

"Who's making pancakes?" asked Deak. Everyone pointed to Amy. Deak grabbed a plate and put a stack of ten on it. He took one bite and it felt like heaven in his mouth.

"Damn! These pancakes are great," said Deak, "You are a kick-ass cook, Amy!"

"Thanks," Amy said in embarrassment, "I'm glad you like them." After breakfast, everyone went into another room to talk over strategy. The room was a bland one, solide white walls and a long wooden table that stretched the entire length of the room. Everyone took a seat by the table.

"So, what are we gonna do about Kane?" asked Shadow.

"The real question is 'What the hell are we sitting around here for?'," replied Deak, "I say we leave right now, go to Prison Island and kick some ass!" Deak started to get and reach for the door, but Vector grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hold up, Deak. We can't go into Prison Island and start blasting up the place. We need to recover right now and make up a plan. Your shoulder is still injured, Knuckles is still beat from his fight from Metal Knuckles and everyone else is exhausted. We need to rest up," said Vector.

"Fine!" said Deak reluctantly.

"I say we wait a couple days until we strike. That should give us enough time to recover and also come up with a good strategy," said Espio. Everyone agreed on this plan and collectively left the room. Deak was the last one in the room.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the table in frustration, causing a crack in it. Shadow saw this and approached Deak.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing really," said Deak, "I just don't wanna wait to attack Kane. I wanna just go on Prison Island, beat the crap out of Kane and get my money."

"Well, you gotta be patient about this," responded Shadow, "First of all, we're not even sure if Kane is on Prison Island. We're just going to get Sonic and Tails and find out more about Kane. Secondly, you can't just go and defeat an empire in just one day. You have to realize that we could be in this for the long haul."

Deal gave Shadow a small smile and said, "I know. I just wanna get paid. The bounty on this guy is enormous and I want it."

"That's Deak. Always thinking about money," Shadow thought to himself as he left the room. "You coming?" he asked when he reached the doorway. Deak pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Be there in just a minute," he said as he took his first puff. Shadow left Deak in the room.

Setting: Kane's Office on Prison Island, sunset

Kane was looking at the ocean from the window in his office.

"Soon enough, the world will be mine," is what he thought. An evil grin came across his face when he imagined what being the unchallenged dictator of Mobius would be like. His train of though was lost when there was a knock on the door. Kane went over to open it and his right hand man, Quote, came rushing in.

"Good news, sir," he said with a smile on his face, "I've just gotten word that your ocean base is ready along with your reactor. I still don't know what the hell you're planning to do with that thing, but it's done."

"Where is it?" Kane asked.

"It's fifteen miles off the coast of Station Square," answered Quote. Kane left his office and got into the elevator. Quote closely followed him behind. Kane pressed the button on the elevator which had the letter B on it, which stood for the basement.

"Everything is going according to plan, Quote. As long as this Shadow and his little friends know what is good for them, and stay out of my business, this will be a breeze. But if they do, no problem, I'll just kill them," he said. The elevator doors slid open when the shaft reached the basement and revealed a large room. The room was basically empty, except for a machine in the center of the room.

This machine was a circular object, that had the Master Emerald floating in it. Kane went over to a control console next to the machine and pressed a few buttons. The Master Emerald began to spin very rapidly and gave off an enormous green aura of light. Kane approached the machine but before he entered it, he turned his head toward Quote.

"Quote, I want you to take care of things around here while I'm gone.Do not let anyone interfere with our plans. The plan is in motion now. If anyone trespasses on this island, do not bother with taking them prisoner. Just kill them," ordered Kane.

"I wont let you down, sir," replied Quote. Kane entered the green aura and placed his hands on the glowing surface of the Master Emerald. All of a sudden, the green aura disappeared as well as Kane and the Master Emerald.

"I wonder what he plans to do with the Master Emerald?" Quote asked himself.

Setting: The next night, Angel Island

Deak was lying on the bed in one of the guest rooms in Knuckles' mansion, smoking a cigarette. Shadow walked into the smoke-filled room. The stench of smoke that was filling the room causing Shadow to cringe at it.

"Damn, Deak. You should ease off on those things. Your gonna get cancer one of these days," said Shadow. Deak snickered at this comment.

"Shadow, I'm a bounty hunter. I deal with crazy mother fuckers with intentions to kill almost every day of my life. Cancer is the least of my worries," replied Deak. Shadow shrugged Deak's response off.

"I just talked to Vector and he got in contact with the pilot, Bruno. We're leaving for Prison Island tomorrow mourning," said Shadow.

"All Right!" exclaimed a happy Deak, "One step closer to getting that big bounty." Shadow sighed.

"Is money all you care about?" asked Shadow.

"Well, basically...yeah," replied Deak. Shadow took a seat on the bed Deak was lying on.

"C'mon, Deak, there has to be someone or something you care about. Is there?" asked Shadow.

"Someone..." was all that stood in Deak's mind. He took a deep sigh.

"Fine, Shadow, I'm gonna tell you a story, but you have to swear that you won't tell anyone, including Rouge," said Deak.

"Sure thing, Deak," replied Shadow. Deak pulled out a picture out of his utility belt, which was hanging on a wooden bedpost. He tossed the picture to Shadow and he took a look at it. In it was a young, light-blue fox girl. Shadow stared at the photo with curiosity.

"Her name is Karen," said Deak.

"Karen, eh," said Shadow, "What is she, your girlfriend or something."

"Nah, just a friend," said Deak, laughing to himself. However, his look turned into one of sadness and said, "Well, an ex-friend. It all started when I was around eight or nine, can't really remember. Somewhere in between, probably..."

FLASHBACK- Deak, Age 8 ½ (AN: Deak is still telling the story but I'm gonna describe it in the third person.)

It was a sunny day in the Chemical Plant Zone. The skies were clear and a rainbow was present in the sky, since a rain storm had just cleared. Deak was in class at his school, sitting in the back, sleeping as usual. He was awoken by the ring of the school bell and he left his desk and left the classroom. He was walking down the hallway, with a tile floor and walls paved with white brick that had green lockers pressed up against them. He reached the main school door and pushed it open.

"I didn't have to kick anyone's ass today, so I guess it was a good day," Deak thought to himself as he walked down the concrete walkway toward the street. However, he heard voices coming from behind him.

"C'mon, give it back," yelled out a girlish voice from behind him. Deacon turned around and saw two hawks, one red and one green, tossing a white backpack over the head of a young, light-blue foxgirl. They were waving thee backpack in front of her and playing monkey in the middle.

"You want it come and get it, missy," said the red hawk, waving the backpack in front of her and then throwing it to the green hawk. The green hawk was about to throw it back to the red hawk, but the fox girl pulled back her leg and drilled it right into a particular sensitive area.

"My balls!" shouted the green hawk in pain, as he grabbed his hurting area and dropped to one knee. The fox girl grabbed her backpack and tried to run away, but the red hawk grabbed her and threw her face first into the mud.

"You bitch, you think you can just run from us," said the red hawk in anger. The fox girl was now crying out of fear. The red hawk stood right above the young fox girl. He picked up the girl by her shirt collar.

"Put her down, tough guy," said a voice from behind. He turned around and there stood young Deak.

"I didn't know the circus was town," joked the green hawk, just coming up to his feet. Deak responded with a punch to the face. He turned back toward the red hawk.

"You wanna fight, so fight me," said Deak. The hawk charged toward Deak and tried to punch him but Deak ducked and slammed his fist into the back of the hawk's head, sending him into the ground. Deak jumped on and started punching the hawk repeatedly in the head and chest, until he felt someone grab him by the ear.

"So, Deacon, I see we've gotten into another fight," said a voice from behind him. He turned his head and saw an elderly, brown grizzly bear dressed in a grey business suit. It was Mr. Grizz, the principal of the school.

"Ow...What the hell!...You can't touch me," complained Deak as Mr. Grizz dragged him into thee school building and into the principal's office.

About an hour later

Deak stepped out of the principal's office in a grumpy mood. He had just been given a two day suspension for fighting. He made his way down the hallway, but he was met by someone, a young, light-blue fox girl, the same one who was being picked on by the hawks.

"What are you still doing here?" asked Deak. The young fox girl approached him shyly.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me," she said softly, "So, you're Deacon. I've heard some things about you."

"Like what?" questioned Deak.

"Like, that you're trouble and that you're weird and that I should stay away from you," she said in a shameful tone.

"Oh, thanks. I feel much better now," replied Deak sarcastically and then made his way down the hall. The fox girl rushed down the hallway toward Deak and grabbed his arm in order to get his attention.

"All those horrible things are just what I've been told, not what I think," she said, trying to make Deak feel better.

"So, what do you think about me?" asked Deak.

"I think although you have a rough appearance, you have a kind heart," she replied. A small smile appeared on Deak's face. The two continued to walk outside the school and down the street.

"Well, you know my name...so what's yours?" asked Deak.

"Karen," she said, "So what happened in there, Deacon?"

"Well, this wasn't my first fight so I'm suspended for a couple days," responded Deak, "And just call me Deak."

"Okay...Deaco- I mean Deak," she replied. They approached an apartment complex constructed of brick. This was where Deak lived.

"Well, I gotta go now and explain to my parents that I suspended for two days," sulked Deak, "That should be fun."

"Well, good luck, Deak," said Karen, "Thank you for what you did today." Deak went inside of the building and Karen continued down the street.

END FLASHBACK

"So, what happened between you two?" asked Shadow. Deak took in a deep breath.

"Well, as time grew, I continued to get suspended and kicked out of schools. I fell into a bad crown, a gang known as the Midnight Family. We wore all black clothes and went around robbing people, beating people up and setting things on fire, crap like that. Karen wasn't liking where I was going, but by then, I didn't give damn about my future. I was just living for today, not tomorrow. However, she still remained close to me. I don't know why. Maybe it was because she had hope that I would one day change. Then one night, we ganged up on this guy from a rival gang. We jumped him in an alleyway and started beating him with fists, sticks and kicking him. Karen evidently saw the whole thing and she was shocked. She said that I had become a monster and that she never wanted to see me again," he explained, "Pretty soon after that, I got arrested for beating the guy into a coma, which I already explained to ya when we first met."

"Damn," said Shadow, "That sucks. Have you ever tried tracking her down?"

"No. Thing is, I've probably become worse since my days with the Midnight Families. I sure she still hates me," responded Deak.

Shadow got up from the bed. "Well, I'm going to sleep. Good night, Deak."

"Night," responded Deak. Shadow made his way out of the room, leaving the picture of Karen next to where Deak was lying. Deak picked up the picture and stared at it for a minute, reminiscing about his old childhood friend. Deak then threw the picture across the room, turned out the lights and went to sleep.

However, the picture fell into a black puddle of thick goo. The goo absorbed the picture and began to flow toward the wall and out of the window that was left open.

Setting: The next mourning, outisde Knuckles' mansion

Everyone was standing outside of Knuckles' mansion waiting for the helicopter to arrive. The sky was very cloudy and the rain was falling lightly.

"I wonder where Bruno is," complained Vector, "He was supposed to be a half hour ago. I don't know what the hell is taking him so long." After that, chopper blades could be heard from behind them and a gust of wind could be felt on their backs. The chopper emerged from behind the mansion and landed in front of it. Bruno stuck his head out from the side of the driver window.

"Where we going today?" he asked.

"Prison Island," replied Shadow. Everyone got on the helicopter and it took off.

Yes, another chapter that is all dialogue. Don't worry, the next chapter is gonna be mostly action. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and sorry for the lengthy wait for an update, I've been busy with other shit, but now that's all done. Keep reading and keep reviewing.