So it's been a few months, but I'm still plugging away at this. :D It's not that I haven't been writing – quite the opposite, in fact. You know that original story I mentioned last chapter? Finished it at about 135k words. I'm really pumped, and I, uh… I wonder if some of you folks will be interested in it when I share more. :3

ANYway, right now let's worry about Red Mirror! Feel free to refresh yourself on the last chapter, as this picks up exactly where that left off.

Lots of mentions of events from Survivor's Resolve, and When Enough Isn't Enough, as well. Hurrah for continuity! Enjoy, and please share your thoughts!

1-1-1

Chapter 11: The Voice Inside

They were not safe and they all knew it. But compared to almost falling thousands of feet a few minutes ago, even being inside the Egg Carrier 2 – where Eggman was – felt safe by comparison. Tails and Knuckles were walking side-by-side a few yards behind Sonic and Lucas. While it didn't really seem like the time for casual conversation, nothing was actually happening right now, so Tails went for it. Something was on his mind anyway.

"Hey Knuckles?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"I gotta ask. What were you gonna say earlier? About Sonic?"

"Oh, that." Knuckles laughed once under his breath. "First he thinks speed is his big thing, then he gets all soft and says it's his friends. Can't tell at this point if he's being humble or dense."

"So what's this thing about him then? Why didn't you say?"

"Because. If he doesn't see it on his own by now, I'm not gonna be the one to boost his ego."

Tails considered this for a few seconds. "Sooo… you can tell me, right? I'm curious. I won't say anything to him."

The guardian looked at him quizzically. "Remember that fake Chaos Emerald you made to trip up Eggman? The one we brought to Space Colony ARK?"

"Uh, yeah," Tails replied, looking a little confused about the direction of this conversation but going along with it. "What about it?"

"That hedgehog would be dead if he hadn't caused Chaos Control with that thing in the capsule. I don't know if you know this, Tails, but most people can't even cause Chaos Control with a single real Chaos Emerald, never mind a fake one that you said yourself was less powerful. How do you explain that?"

"I don't know," Tails said. "It must have been Sonic's own power."

"Well, I guess that's your answer then. That thing about him. It's whatever got him to cause Chaos Control in that capsule… whatever got him through the hell Eggman put him in while we were in Meka Tower. Whatever got him to fight Imposter in the water even though water scares him." Knuckles gestured behind him. "And whatever got him running back there."

"I bet Sonic would answer the same way about all of those things. He'd say it's his friends that get him through, that make him want to fight, like he said earlier."

"A lot of people have friends," Knuckles said obviously, sounding almost irritated. "It's more than that and you know it as well as I do. You know, for a long time I didn't understand what people saw in that goofball. Sure, I saw that he was a big-shot hero and all. But I didn't see what people who knew him personally, like you and Amy, saw in him from that standpoint."

"Well… he never gives up on anything!"

"Sure he doesn't," he said in the same matter-of-fact tone. "But do any of us? We've never stopped fighting by his side, have we? So what makes us any different? It's just… something about the way he does it."

Tails glanced over at him. "I've never known you to think this hard about Sonic before."

The echidna looked suddenly self-aware, and a little defensive. "Well, you know… I was the one who was there during a lot of these moments of his I'm talking about." He shrugged. "When he came out of that Chaos Control, while you and Amy were at the observatory in the ARK thinking he'd been blown to bits, I was there. Same with what happened in Meka Tower that we'd rather not think about… I was there enough. I heard him. And then when we took on Imposter… Imposter was based on me, so I knew he was a strong swimmer. I knew where the battle was going to happen before it even got to the water. And I knew Sonic knew that. I was there. See kid, Sonic's the kinda guy who always seems comfortable where he's at. But, you know, when you see the not-so-comfortable side of someone's choices, you almost can't help but wonder… why."

This time, Tails didn't have an explanation ready. He had never really noticed it before, but indeed Knuckles had somehow managed to be around during a lot of the hedgehog's more vulnerable moments. Moments that, at least to some extent, Sonic could have avoided – though this would have meant also avoiding the threat posed to others' safety. And more often than not, it was not only the safety of close friends he was protecting. It was strangers, too.

"When he teleported from the ARK," Knuckles continued, "he knew you guys would be worried about him, and knew you were both still near Eggman. But he didn't turn around. He kept going forward. He knew he needed to get to the cannon's core before it fired at the earth. Don't get me wrong, he loves you two to death. That's why he asked me to keep an eye on you, even though he was normally too proud to ask me for help back then."

"He… he did that?"

"You bet he did. But… if that was all that was driving him, if it was 'just his friends,' he'd have gone back and got to you and Amy himself. So I guess that's when I started seeing him differently. It takes something internal to go about things the way he does. He keeps at his goals and never looks back."

"How's it internal, if it's always to protect other people?" Tails asked. "He's not just thinking about himself. Sonic cares about people. You know? That's kind of his thing."

"Never said it wasn't," said the guardian. "But could you look me in the eye and say that's all there is to it?"

Tails's ears lowered a little and he looked away, feeling put on the spot. "I know Sonic really well, but you're confusing me."

"When Sonic caused Chaos Control, he still had work left to do. But do you think that's all anyone would be thinking about when they're about to die? Of course not. He wanted to survive – really wanted to survive. That's what he was thinking about. I don't know how else he could have squeezed that kind of power out of a weak, fake Chaos Emerald. Hell, you're the one who made that thing; you tell me."

Tails gestured cluelessly. "No, you're right on. No one should've been able to do what he did. It's like he's got some kind of power in him that made up for what the Chaos Emerald should've lacked. Some kind of special capability like Shadow had, except… well… Sonic's not engineered like Shadow was. So it doesn't really make any sense."

"That's what I thought." Knuckles crossed his arms. "Then we had the situation with much more real Chaos energy in the tower. Remember when Amy helped talk Sonic out of that dark mood? Sonic refused to be corrupted."

"And he wanted to take over everyone else," Tails reminded him. "Eggman wanted a puppet army. Sonic was trying to protect everyone, not just himself. He knew that if he let Eggman get his foot in the door like that, it would put all of them in danger." The kid was more adamant now. "You standing here insinuating that Sonic just does all this for himself doesn't change that a bit."

"No, no…" Knuckles stammered. "Yeesh, why does everyone think I'm the bad guy the second I open my mouth about Sonic? That's not what I was trying to say at all, you've got me wrong here!"

Taken aback by the guardian's helpless tone, Tails looked up at him. "Sorry. It's just… you're not making much sense, and for me, that's saying something!"

"Listen, there's a big difference between being selfish, and being… self-motivated! Kid, I spent most of my life by myself with the Master Emerald. I didn't have friends to keep me going when things got tough. I just had my purpose, and the resolve that was in here." He tapped his chest with one fist. Tails met his eyes; the echidna's words were finally starting to make some sense. "So I guess, when I noticed that same inward drive in Sonic, I started noticing it more after that because I recognized it from myself."

Admittedly, Tails often forgot about Knuckles's life of solitude. Who else, what else would the Master Emerald guardian have to drive him, if not his own quiet resolve? For the longest time, Knuckles didn't have any palpable reason to do what he did, beyond whatever voice was inside. He'd had no one. No friends to fight for. No roof above his head. No opportunity to travel or adventure, to see new things, to meet new people, to live. Every day would have been the same. So what, then, was there to fight for? To live for?

There was a difference, indeed, between being selfish and being self-driven. If Knuckles had been selfish, he could have ditched his guardian role long ago and lived his life. But he hadn't. Mulling this over, Tails tried to apply the same thought process towards what Knuckles was saying about Sonic. "I think I get what you're saying. Sonic does the things he does because he has purpose and cares about people. But even if you took all the morals out of it, it's still what he would do, because it's what the voice inside him is saying to do. Because it's what he'd do for himself too, not just for the sake of others."

"Yeah. Something like that." Knuckles smiled. "Something a lot like that."

"He caused Chaos Control because he wanted to keep on living. He resisted Eggman not just 'cause of protecting other people, but because he wasn't about to give his freedom and spirit up for someone else to control, any sooner than he'd give up anyone else's. He was fighting for them and for himself too. But… fighting Imposter, though. What about that?"

"What, are you asking me what his own reason behind that was? I think you'd know the answer to that even better than I do, kiddo."

And suddenly, Tails did. Those few times he had seen Sonic at the lake not long after they got back from the ARK, venturing into the water just to see if he could. Sonic hadn't known Tails had been watching. In fact, as far as Sonic knew, no one, not a single soul, had seen him try going into the water. Because that fight wasn't for anybody else. Just Sonic.

That, Tails realized, was a perfect reflection of the 'inside' part of his fight with Imposter. He had wanted to face his fears. He had wanted to be stronger than his circumstances. And that part wasn't for the former prisoners that were watching the fight from the shoreline. That part was just for him.

Sonic wasn't the type to constantly introspect. But as Tails stared off at nothing, still walking alongside Knuckles, thinking about all of these things from Sonic's perspective for the first time… he realized that just like anyone else, Sonic looked at himself in the mirror too. And just like anyone else, he wanted to like what he saw there.

Sonic was a free spirit. Ultimately, giving into fear only limited that freedom and held him down. And he would have none of that. The blue blur lived and breathed and fought for everyone – including himself.

"Thanks," Tails heard himself say.

"What?" It had been long enough since either of them had spoken that Knuckles didn't know what to make of the word. "What do you mean?"

"Thanks for telling me. I wanted to know why you said speed wasn't Sonic's strength. Thanks… for sharing that with me."

Was that how this conversation had started? They had sure gotten into it. Knuckles nodded. "You know, it's actually kind of ironic. I used to act like I didn't like the guy, because I felt like he didn't see my merits at all. Didn't see how devoted and determined I was to my own duty."

"So what changed?" Tails asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "Well, I started to see how similar he and I actually were about being driven, like I said. And I realized that for as arrogant as he plays at being… sometimes he doesn't see his own strength any more than he sees mine."

"I see." Tails smiled, looking thoroughly enlightened; a not-so-common expression on the young fox's face. "One thing though, Knuckles. What if he's just being stubborn about how highly he thinks of you, just like you are towards him?"

"Huh. I… guess I hadn't thought of that."

"You two are silly. You just admitted you have more in common than you used to think. Maybe you should both stop playing at being arrogant and just admit you're good friends, already!"

Knuckles grinned in spite of himself and mumbled, "Only if he does first."

1-1-1

Several yards' worth of footfalls ahead of them, Lucas was on the same train of thought that Tails was.

"Sonic, I gotta ask…"

"Yeah?"

"What was that bullshit earlier about how your friends are your biggest strength? Seriously?"

Sonic gave Lucas a sidelong glance and laughed. "I had a feeling someone would think I was taking a sarcastic shot at how slow you all are! Haha! I also had a feeling it'd be you."

"Wait – so that wasn't the reason you said that?"

"Nahhh. But hey, it was a nice byproduct if it got a rise out of ya!"

Lucas crossed his arms as they walked. "Hmph."

"But if you wanna know why I said that, it's because it's actually true. I mean, sure, you guys are way slower than me and that made things a little tougher back there. But overall, you've all helped a ton, like when Davis ambushed us at the hospital! And heck, I'd be pretty bored doing all this by myself!"

"Bored." Lucas grinned. "More like screwed."

"Anyway, here's the thing: I suspect a certain friend of mine really was a huge strength back there. When Tails got my Chaos Emerald outta the hospital and gave it to me, it felt warmer than usual. You'd just gotten Amber out, and she knew I was about to go after Eggman while I was still hurt. So… I'll eat my shoes if it's coincidence that I feel a whole lot better than I thought I would."

"No shit," Lucas breathed. "She… she used her healing for you!"

"Yeah," Sonic said gently. "Through my Emerald. I mean, it's not perfect. It still hurts. But it coulda been so much worse. If I'd have known she was trying to heal me, I'd have stopped her. She's in no condition to be using her energy doing that! But she did, and… it helped me back there. A lot."

"Wow." Lucas looked off at nothing, a fond expression on his face. "That was really good of her."

"Yeah it was. I hope she's okay."

"Did you realize she'd healed you?" Lucas asked. "Before you picked up the pace?"

"Honestly, no," Sonic said. "I wasn't sure how that was gonna go. Coulda been really bad."

"You're reckless."

"Well what else were we supposed to do?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Tails can fly, Knuckles can kinda glide… they could've kept us from going splat on the ground, don't you think?"

"Uh – no!" Sonic stammered. "Oh man, nobody mentioned that Tails hurt himself too? He can't fly anyone right now. Least of all not a human who weighs a lot more than any of us do!"

"And supposedly, you couldn't run, but you did. Even though it could have really hurt you. Amber's healing or no, you saved all of us!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Well duh, Lucas. Now cut the flattery, you're gonna make me blush or something."

Lucas looked over at him, and then smirked. "Gonna?"

1-1-1

The Egg Carrier 2 was a big place. Last time Sonic had been inside, he had helped Tails break Eggman out of the control room so that the former could land the fortress. He hadn't had to venture through so much of the place then.

As that memory occurred to him, so did something else he hadn't thought of before. After Sonic and Eggman had landed in the Tornado, Eggman had apologized to him. If the doctor had been so insane all throughout the Meka Tower ordeal, and everything was suggesting he was even more insane now… where had that apology come from back then?

Sonic wondered if their distance from both the Egg Carrier 2 and Meka Tower at the time had something to do with it. Both places were laced with the Chaos energy. Eggman had only had three Emeralds at any given time while he had been running Meka Tower, but he had had them for long enough that he was able to sap their energy repeatedly as they regained their power. After a time, it practically infested the places he stayed like a disease. That was why Imposter had become all mad and deformed, why Sonic had to fight him to the death… once again, Eggman had not been responsible about newfound power, and his pet boss had gotten too strong.

Surely Eggman himself would become that way too. Monstrous, irretrievable. But maybe he wasn't quite already there, if he had been able to reach a level of decency and ambivalence to apologize to Sonic like that.

That was weeks ago, but… was there still a chance? When the mad doctor wasn't surrounding himself with all that dark energy… could he be okay?

It wasn't Eggman himself Sonic was worried about. It was Eggman's victims. Meka Tower had shown Sonic well enough that Eggman in this state needed to be taken seriously.

Sonic wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the deeper into the fortress they walked, the more he thought he could feel that dark energy himself, surrounding them… in Meka Tower, it had been mostly contained in Drives and in the surplus of Chaos-powered androids – at least, until Eggman had activated it and caused the tower to blow up. But here in the Egg Carrier 2, Eggman's place of power and residence, there was no such containment.

"We should make quick work of this place," Sonic said. He looked over his shoulder at Tails and Knuckles to make sure they heard. Knuckles nodded, a knowing look in his eyes.

"I feel it too. Listen, if any of us starts to feel… off, say so, okay?"

They all nodded. Lucas looked behind him at the guardian. "I don't remember feeling anything like this in Meka Tower. What's going on?"

Knuckles looked about warily. "It seems like Eggman kept most of his Chaos energy stores here, not Meka Tower. Guess that's why he wasn't always there. This must have been where he powered up Imposter, too. Probably force-fed the poor bastard dark Chaos energy."

"Ugh." Sonic shuddered. He recalled Eggman tricking him into having a Chaos Drive in Meka Tower. He had felt pretty desperate and bitter that entire night. Amy had talked him through those feelings via communicator, and nothing bad had happened. He hadn't given into the dark energy. But if he'd had the amount of dark energy that Imposter had been given… or even if he'd had the amount of the one Chaos Emerald he had in his quills… he couldn't imagine there would be much resisting that. People tended to forget just how powerful a single Chaos Emerald was… especially when it was under the control of someone as ambitious and evil as Eggman. It would have brought out the worst in anyone he had been able to control.

Suddenly Sonic felt profoundly uncomfortable. He wanted to leave this place. He didn't like the air of dark energy surrounding him, tempting him to draw on it, whispering at him to take it in.

It was a dreadfully familiar feeling he had been confronted with too many times, in horrible kinds of ways. Being faced with this sense again brought back strong, strong memories of the circumstances that had surrounded it before.

"What's wrong, Sonic?" Lucas, still walking beside him, noticed it first. Sonic shook his head.

"Nothin', bud. Just a little tired is all!"

"Okay. Just checking."

It was a hard feeling to explain. Some kind of heaviness. Pressure on his chest. Sonic knew they were all experiencing it, but no one was experiencing it like he was. They hadn't been violated like he had.

The fear surged through him that he would be the first one to cave.

"The path splits ahead," Tails said, looking at his radar.

"How are you still using that thing?" Sonic asked. "When we tapped into this place back at your workshop…" Man, that felt like a long time ago.

"Well, we're right here now, so I don't need your Chaos Emerald to give this thing enough power to show us this place anymore. If I did, I think the dark energy in this place clashing with your gem would cause some major problems again. But as it is now, it seems like it's gonna function okay. It's not hurting me or anything."

"Okay." Sonic took his Chaos Emerald out of his quills and looked at it. He could feel that energy, too. This Chaos Emerald was not Eggman's anymore; right now, it was his. Its energy was vibrant and light. He clutched it tightly. It was ironic that this Chaos Emerald that Eggman had wanted to impose upon the prisoners of Meka Tower before… this Chaos Emerald that was so associated with this dark pressure before, was now the only Chaotic force in the area radiating goodness. Sonic focused on that. It felt warm and protective. It helped.

When they reached the place where the path split, it wasn't what Sonic expected. In one direction, the corridor took a right and then continued as normal. The other direction, to their left, was more like a small tunnel in the wall. Any of them would have to get down on their hands and knees to pass through.

"What's up with that?" Knuckles asked.

Tails was preoccupied with his radar, but after a moment he figured out the answer to Knuckles's question anyway. "I… I think it was for the chao!" he said. "Eggman started capturing chao for Meka Tower before he even went after humans, or you guys. I guess he would have transported some of them on this fortress. He must have wanted to have a place that was only for them."

Sonic eyed the tunnel warily. The prospect of crawling through there didn't help the sense of grim dread he was feeling. Even though focusing on his gem's positive energy helped, he still couldn't quite shake the dark vibe of Eggman's Chaos energy about him.

"According to my radar, the normal path to the right gets pretty steep later on. It's like the Sky Deck we've had to cross in the past, kind of. Not quite so intense, but there appears to be gaps to cross and robots to fight, all the same." Tails bit his lip. "Considering your injuries, Sonic, it might be best if you didn't go that way. Knuckles and I can take to the air long enough to get us over any gaps or obstacles… maybe we should take that route, and you two should see what's through that tunnel?"

Sonic sighed and tapped his foot. That wasn't the suggestion he was hoping for. Well, that was okay, he could handle it. "Yeah, if you say so bud!" he said a little too enthusiastically. "If that's what you think, you're probably right."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tails asked, mirroring Lucas's earlier comment. "You seem… off."

He was. But he wasn't about to tell the others about the effect the dark energy was having on him. It was mostly in his head; he could deal with it himself. "My ribs are sore," he lied. "Nothing serious, I've just been doing a lot of bouncing around today compared to when we were at the hospital. I'll be fine!"

Tails offered a sympathetic smile. "Okay, as long as you're sure, bro. Stay strong."

Sonic smiled back, taking that sentiment to heart. Tails meant it differently than he received it, but it didn't matter; he meant it all the same. Stay strong. "All right then, let's keep moving. Tails, Knuckles, keep in touch through the communicators. See ya whenever our paths meet again."

"Okay, Sonic."

They all waved and went their separate ways. Sonic crouched down and peered into the low tunnel, feeling apprehensive. Now that Tails and Knuckles were gone, he felt somewhat more comfortable expressing his true feelings. Maybe because Lucas had been there so often when his true feelings had shown through before. Being trapped in Meka Tower had brought out a great deal of genuineness in him. It wasn't that he hadn't been genuine before – it was just that the situation brought down his filter quite a bit.

Whatever the reason, he had the sense he could speak his mind to Lucas more than Tails or Knuckles right now. There were just certain things you could talk about with certain people more than others. Sonic was closer to Tails than anyone else, but Tails had never been inside Meka Tower, and was so much younger than him. The blue blur gave him a great deal of credit for trying to understand it all, but there were just some things that no one could understand about his experiences without having been there.

"Hey Faker, you okay?" Lucas asked once again. It was an affectionate way of addressing him wrought from their experiences together. The irony that Sonic and Shadow used to call each other Faker was lost on Lucas, but it made Sonic grin a bit. It wasn't an accusation the way it had been between Sonic and Shadow. Sonic had been a faker in Meka Tower; more than once he'd made Eggman believe he had given up, only to come back strong and grinning at the next turn.

Somehow, thinking about all that made Sonic feel a little more confident about what was going on right now. "Yeah," he replied honestly. "The going's a little rough but I'll live."

"You wanna tell me?"

Sonic took a breath as he mulled this over. He wasn't surprised that Lucas had seen right through his assurances. He really was feeling more stable now, but that didn't mean the heaviness wasn't still there. "It's the Chaos energy in the air," Sonic told him. "It's getting to me a little more than it's getting to you guys. Just… brings back bad feelings, I guess."

"Makes sense, honestly." Lucas looked at him. "You've been exposed to it more than we have."

"Yeah. Can't help feeling like there's something going on here, like Eggman has something up his sleeve. I had no idea the dark energy surrounding Eggman was this powerful… and it's only going to get stronger the deeper we go in. Can't help feeling like he's after me again, somehow."

"I don't know if this helps, Sonic, but I'm guessing it's the Chaos energy taking over Eggman at this point, not the other way around. I don't think that madman even knows what's going on himself anymore. It's like he's gone crazy."

"That's not exactly reassuring," Sonic said, but in a way it was. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the prospect of Eggman targeting him specifically again was horrifying. "But maybe that means we'll be able to get a foot in the door."

"That's what I was gonna say! He's so screwed up, maybe he's not as smart as usual. Maybe we can get a jump on him and stop all this."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sonic grinned up at him. "Tails and Knux are already pushing forward. One of these paths has to lead to Eggman, and if not him, then hopefully Kai. Sooner we drag ourselves through this mess, the sooner we can find a way to end this!"

"Now that's what I like to hear. You'll do great."

They both got on their hands and knees. The tunnel was about two feet high. Sonic could manage by crawling, but Lucas practically had to drag himself on his stomach. It was dark; there were no lights in the tunnel itself, even though light leaked in from the corridor. Sonic took out the Chaos Emerald and its red light brightened the narrow walls.

Even the gem's light only reached so far. It was undeniably eerie, moving forward through the dark tunnel not knowing what might come into view five feet in front of them. Sonic, naturally, had gone first, but was starting to wish he hadn't. It wasn't like he could just race through here; on his hands and knees he was no faster than anyone else.

"How would chao even make their way through here?" Lucas wondered aloud.

"Beats me. Maybe they have better vision than we do?"

"You see anything yet?"

"Yeah… some kind of blue light. Must be coming from the end of the tunnel!"

"Great, so we're almost through? Gotta admit, this is a little unnerving. Wish it was light enough to see."

"Should be, soon enough!" There was a noise from up ahead. Sonic stopped. Lucas hit one of Sonic's shoes with his hand and stopped too. He knew better than to ask why. Something was wrong.

You could have heard a pin drop. Lucas and Sonic were both trying to be as quiet as they could. The blue light moved and Lucas felt Sonic's foot twitch, as if he was going to back up, but he froze once again.

"Lucas," Sonic whispered hurriedly, "I'm handing you the Chaos Emerald. Don't let them take it from you. Hide it."

The man didn't reply, but reached forward and took the gem Sonic was handing him. There was a lot he wanted to ask, and his heart was pounding, but now definitely wasn't the time.

No sooner had Lucas started to back up out of the tunnel when Sonic was grabbed and pulled forward by the blue light. It was blinding to look at straight on, but Lucas caught a glimpse of the reflection in the light it cast on the walls.

It was an android. Not Davis, as far as he could tell, but no doubt Davis wasn't far off…

Before he could keep scuttling backwards, he felt cold metal grasp him too. There was no resisting it and he was pulled the rest of the way through the tunnel just like Sonic had been. One of his elbows skidded along the hard floor and he groaned.

He would be relieved not to be separated from Sonic, for both of their good, if it wasn't for that damn Chaos Emerald. He had to get it out of here like Sonic wanted. It was in his cargo pocket, out of sight, or at least he hoped it was out of sight.

When there was light again, they were in a wide room full of small, empty cages that had once been used for transporting chao to Meka Tower. The room was dimly lit – though it seemed bright compared to that tunnel – and the unadorned ceiling was low. All of these things combined with the cages against the walls made it feel incredibly morbid, like some kind of torture chamber.

He half expected to see Eggman. The mad doctor's presence would complete the shady atmosphere of this area. Of course, Lucas wasn't about to complain.

The rise in dark energy was undeniable. Even just moving a hallway further into the Egg Carrier had made it more noticeable. Did that mean they were closer to wherever all this dark energy was clustered? Or perhaps closer to Eggman himself? Lucas didn't know. All he knew was that if he could feel this rise, this stifling dark pressure, he knew Sonic had to be as well. He felt sympathy for the blue blur but was pretty sure he would be okay.

Pretty sure.

The android that had pulled Lucas into the room had a tight grip on his arm still. Suddenly it punched him in the back. The impact left him without breath and he went down. He felt another kick in his ribs – just for good measure, if he knew anything about those androids – and curled around the pain.

The blows stopped and while he was lying there keeping himself together, he had an idea.

Pretending to be seriously hurt, he let out a rather convincing moan of agony, tightening his position and better protecting the Chaos Emerald in the process. They didn't know he had it. If they did, surely they would have taken it by now, or kept attacking him.

If he could play this out well enough for the androids to think he wasn't a threat…

"Lucas!"

…And, for as much as he hated deceiving Sonic in the process, the hedgehog's reactions would drive that act home even more.

"Lucas, say something! Ohhh… I swear to Chaos if you lay another finger on him…!"

He opened one eye slightly and saw that all the androids – about a dozen of them, he guessed – were paying attention to Sonic now. One of them had forced Sonic to his knees and was now tying his arms behind his back. Great.

"Where's that Chaos Emerald, rodent?" one of the androids asked. There was Davis.

"Chaos Emerald? Wish I knew, buddy! I left it at the hospital. Surprised you missed it!"

Lucas's heart was pounding with anxiety. Part of him wanted to get up and try to help Sonic out of this predicament before something bad happened, but another part of him could still feel the urgency that had been in Sonic's voice when he asked him to keep the Chaos Emerald safe. Lucas didn't understand what the big deal was, but he had a feeling Sonic needed that gem for more reasons than he was saying.

He had a chance to get away. He could go back through the tunnel while the androids were occupied with Sonic. It was a great diversion, but at the same time, it was the root of the problem. Was he to just leave Sonic here, like this?

No one was watching him, so Lucas lifted his head just enough to see more of his surroundings. He caught a glimpse of two more tunnels in the room. So there were more chao-sized paths here. Going back the way he had come would get him no further – the only other way he could go was where Knuckles and Tails had gone, which required flying.

Did he dare try to sneak over to one of the other tunnels? Did he dare leave at all, given the situation Sonic was in? Lucas had put many an H-series robot out of commission. He was positive he could help Sonic out of this mess. But if something went wrong, those droids would get his Chaos Emerald.

Damn you, Sonic, you always gotta be difficult.

"If you had left it at the hospital," Davis said patiently, "I would have it with me right now. But I don't, so you must. Hand it over."

"In case you didn't notice, I can't exactly do anything with my hands right now," Sonic shot back.

Lucas had to suppress a grin. Here Sonic was surrounded by a dozen enemies, hands tied behind his back, and in a fog of dark Chaos energy… and he was still being a smartass. It was interesting, being fully in the know that Sonic was deceiving them, and seeing him pull it off without so much as breaking a sweat. That hedgehog had to be spooked right now, but he wasn't showing it in the slightest.

Yeah, okay. He's got this.

Ever so quietly, Lucas got up to his hands and knees and started towards one of the other tunnels. He had to force himself not to scramble on frantically. They were going to see, they were going to see…

"Enough, Sonic. Stop evading me. You've done that enough the last few days."

"All right, all right. Had to try, y' know? It's in my quills. But you're not gonna get away with this, you know!"

Almost there, almost there.

A few moments of silence passed during which Lucas guessed Davis was attempting to retrieve the Chaos Emerald that Sonic apparently had in his quills. Lucas reached the tunnel and relief flooded through him. As soon as he was in far enough that the darkness concealed him, he moved faster, knowing he had to get the red gem as far away from them as he could before Sonic's act ran out.

Faker.

Sonic would be okay. Surely the blue blur had known they were going to be ambushed; that was why he had insisted on Lucas taking the Chaos Emerald. He had known things were going to get a little complicated. So he was ready. He would manage.

In fact, 'manage' might be a modest word for it. From what he had just seen, Sonic knew how to work a situation like this. Lucas just hoped he could get his arms free.

1-1-1

"You have no Chaos Emerald, Sonic. It's time to stop playing around before I get angry."

"Well maybe you didn't check well enough?" Sonic nodded his head at Davis, who had evidently not been repaired since their last encounter. The droid still had no arms and had only searched for the Chaos Emerald with his eyes. "Do you, uh… need a hand?"

"Oh for the love of… what did I just say? Stop playing around!"

"Yeesh. No fun allowed, huh? Way to be a buzzkill."

"You know what, the Chaos Emerald doesn't matter anyway. That crazy doctor doesn't need any more energy. So why don't I just get straight to the point?"

"Now you're on my level, Davis!"

"See, I thought it was a little unfair that you broke my arms the last time we fought. So, I figured I would keep you from using yours, so that the playing field is even. Understand?"

"Even, you say?" Sonic grinned. "Buddy, I think you'd have to do a lot more than tie my arms behind my back to make another fight with you 'even.'"

"With me?" Davis chuckled. "I didn't say you'd be fighting me. Sure, I had your arms tied, but that was for irony's sake more than anything. No, I was evening the playing field for someone else."

"Ah, cool! I was getting tired of you anyway!"

Davis sighed. "Likewise. Now, if there's nothing else to talk about…" He made a gesture, and a small creature emerged from behind one of the cages.

Sonic gasped. It was Kai.