Dr. Robotnik was surrounded by guards as he was marched through the ship toward hi holding cell. The grouped passed by the lab, causing Mighty to look up from his work. He locked eyes with Robotnik and Mighty's features immediately turned to a scowl. He blamed Robotnik for the burden he bore. Robotnik just returned Mighty's deadly glare with a wicked smile. The group soon left Mighty's view.

The door closed behind Robotnik as he stepped into a circular cell will glass for walls. The guards had left, leaving only Knuckles and Robotnik.

"That glass is super strong and a foot thick," Knuckles informed Robotnik. "And if you so much as scratch it…"

Knuckles pressed a button on the control panel. A hatch beneath the cell opened into the open air, making the room windy.

"A 10,000 thousand foot drop," Knuckles shouted over the noise. He pressed the button again and the hatch closed.

"Ant," Knuckles pointed at Robotnik than to the controls. "Boot."

"It's an impressive cage," Robotnik complimented. "But not, I believe, built for me."

"It was built for something much stronger than you," Knuckles replied.

"Oh I heard," Robotnik turned and smiled at the camera in the cage. "A mindless beast."

Mighty, who was watching the screen with the others, clenched his hand.

"You must be very desperate," Robotnik continued. "To call upon such lost creatures to defend you."

"You crashed my island threatened my world, and kill because it's fun," Knuckles growled. "You've made me very desperate."

"Oh it burns you doesn't it," Robotnik taunted. "To have all that power, unlimited power, and for what? A warm light to keep your one little island afloat? Only to be shown what true power really is."

"Well let me know if 'true power' wants a magazine or something," Knuckles called as he left the room.

The screen flickered off soon after Knuckles had left the prison room. Everyone was silent at first.

"You know," Mighty said breaking the silence. "He kind of grows on you… the jerk."

"We have to find out what he's up too," Sonic added. "Silthor, you seem to know what's going on. What's Ro-butt-nick's plan this time?"

"He has an army," Silthor answered. "Not of this world or any known. With their power he will conquer this time and declare himself emperor."

"I don't think we should focus on Robotnik," Mighty said. "You can smell crazy on him."

"Let's not be too hasty," Silthor injected. "I think we should try and reason with him. He can't be all bad."

"He killed 80 people in two days," Rouge informed.

"I could be wrong," Silthor muttered.

"Robotnik's probably using the Master Emerald as a bargaining chip," Sonic jumped in, trying to get back on track. "But what would he need the Uridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," Tails said as he walked the door. "With it, he could build a portal that wouldn't collapse. Most of the other parts Shadow could get pretty easily."

"When did you become an expert on chaotic-astral-dimensional-physics?" Rouge inquired.

"Last night," Tails answered as he looked around the bridge. "Am I the only one that read the notes?"

Tails ant to the area where Knuckles would stand with screens on either side. Tails put a hand briefly over his eye to represent Knuckles' eyepatch.

"How does Knuckles even see these?" Tails asked.

"He turns," Rouge answered.

"Sounds exhausting," Tails remarked. He ran his hands over the control panel and attaching a device.

"Is there anything else that Robotnik needs for the portal?" Sonic cut in.

"The only major thing is a power source," Tails replied. "Something to jumpstart the emerald."

"Any specific kind of power source?" Sonic asked.

"He would need to generate 20,000 kelvins to break through the chaotic shield," Mighty said.

"Right," agreed Tails. "Unless he used another Chaos Emerald to neutralize the shield."

"If he did that," Mighty speculated. "He could achieve chaotic fusion with almost any generator."

"Finally someone how speaks english," Tails said as he walked over to Mighty.

"Your report on chaotic radiation is unparalleled," Tails said to Mighty as he shook his hand. "And I'm a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Uh… thanks," Mighty murmured. "I think…"

"People," Knuckles said as he came in. "We have to focus. Tails, Mighty; You two work on tracking that Master Emerald. The rest you, be prepared for anything. We don't know what other surprises Robotnik has in store for us."