The theory was simple enough – they had to get rid of Max, making sure Sally dealt with him, and convince the council that chaos adepts were not a threat to society. That could not be put into effect without action, and that was to be the difficulty. As soon as she had been able, Nicole had introduced the king's guest, Ken. A monkey of a somewhat dubious origin, he was one hell of a fighter and shared the king's dislike for adepts. Unlike Maximillian Acorn, he was willing to use more than just steel and lead to kill them, however.

"What do you mean he can fire lightning bolts!?" Sonic exclaimed, as Nicole told them of the situation. The lynx, still somewhat weak, raised her hands in a placating manner and continued.
"He wields a weapon called the Atom Bat. Really, it's just a stick, but some kind of energy infuses it, and it works as a lightning manipulator."
"It's probably a Chaos-based weapon." Miles cut in, though he was less calm, probably something to do with the fact that Fiona was curled up on his lap.
"Ironic that my father's ally would wield the very power that the two of them despise." Sally added.
"I'd only be surprised if they were unaware." Fiona remarked. "They're always hypocrites."

"It's just as likely that Ken knows, while Max is unaware." Miles told them all. "They both hate adepts, but there's nothing saying they can't use the energy itself. Every faction has its radicals, willing to use the tools of their enemy against them."
"Ken isn't the only thing we'll be dealing with, remember?" Fiona interjected. "We've got the entire Royal guard, and those Secret Police who didn't defect along with Geoff."
"I've been seeing energy spikes in the palace, too." Emerl contributed, "I expect they've brought in someone to replace Nicole."
"That will be Anima." The cyborg explained, haltingly. "She was created as a backup of my personality, but more recently I saw them begin to modify the programming. The file was on a separate circuit, so I can't tell you more than that. It'll probably be her, and she won't be as easily swayed. Computers are a lot easier to manipulate than those still living."

"Hmmm... I suggest we shut her down, and have Emerl and Nicole take over the systems. Together, they should be able to control it without having to lose their physical forms. I can join forces with my mother and take things on the political front, with Fiona's assistance, of course. I need to convince them that I am not a monster, and we can all agree that she brings out the best in me. Sonic, if you and Sally can take Max and Ken, since Sally has to be the one to confront Max, and Sonic is the most able to battle Ken." Miles suggested.
"If it comes to it, I'll plug myself back in." Nicole told the others, sombrely. "This has to succeed. My body is going to decay pretty rapidly anyway, so it will happen sooner or later.
"And if Max yanks you back into killing us?" Sonic protested, earning a weary look from the lynx.
"That's why I have Emerl." She told him. "We're going to install a few viruses in my artificial parts, along with a few nanites too. If he tries to, there's a few surprises in store."

"So we've got Sonic, Sally, you and Emerl covered. Now we just need to make sure Fiona and I know where we're going. Fi, can you get in touch with Geoff? I have a feeling that his support in this might prove to be a lynchpin. The support of he who is supposedly the king's closest could help sway the ministers' opinions." Miles finished.
"What should I tell them?"
The male fox hesitated, thinking quickly. "Tell them…tell them to meet us at the council chamber. Enter after we do, when we've got a case. Let's make this dramatic."


In a makeshift camp outside the city, ironically near to the cave Sonic and Miles had slept in the night before they entered, the members of the Secret Police that had defected were holed up, preparing for the long journey ahead of them, when Geoffrey's phone began to ring loudly. He picked it up, and noted that he would have to change the ringtone to something quieter. He checked the caller ID, then answered.

"Fiona?"
"Hi Geoff. We need your help."
"What with?"
"I can't say much, since I'm not sure if we're secure or not, but we need you to go to the Council Chambers to back us up. We'll be arriving at around... one PM, so if you can arrive at quarter-past, that would be great."
"Is that all you can tell me? Fiona, you don't think that the chief of secret police wouldn't have an encrypted phone? I used half the techniques on it that I taught to you. As soon as I went rogue, I changed all the codes and deadlocks. We're secure." He reassured his faux-daughter.
"Wow. I need to get around to that." She sounded impressed. "Geoff, would you be angry if I was a chaos adept now? It sounds mad, I know."
The skunk blinked as the revelation hit him.

"Honestly…I don't know what to think. I've met Mr Prower before, and he seemed reasonable enough, but I haven't dealt personally with enough adepts to know about it. Fiona, if you're still the same girl, I'm not going to object. If your friend is telling the truth, then a chaos adept is just a Mobian, but better. You're still the same inside, so why should I care if you can shoot lightning or not?"
"That's not how it works!" Fiona giggled at his jest. "If we're secure, then I'll make this quick. Nicole is telling us that they've brought in an emergency AI. She might be able to crack your codes. Anyway, we're going to dethrone the king, or more accurately, Sally is. Thing is, it won't be any different unless we can, from there, convince the people that chaos adepts aren't all sadistic maniacs bent on tides of bloody rampage. We're going to petition the council for reforms, and Tails thinks that you showing your support might make a difference."

"But how will that work?"
"Well, Tails says that you know about Max planning to turn Sally into a super-soldier, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, you need to bring that information to bear. Reveal that the king is nuts and so on to the masses. Sally's told us why he hates Adepts, it's because of the death of his brother, and we should be able to show that it's just the lies of a maniac who hates our kind because of the actions of a single individual."
"I can see how that will work. I had tried to inform Councillor Rosemary, but I could not do it in confidence. This should be the opportunity that we need."
"Right."

Geoff noticed Hershey looking at him, and nodded at her.
"Hang on, Fiona. Hershey wants a word."
"Okay, I think I know what she wants."

Geoffrey handed the phone to his wife, and the cat began to talk hurriedly.
"Fi, I'm so sorry I shot you."
"It's fine, Hersh. You were doing your job. Better I get, well, whatever you call the process I went through and come out fine than you get shot for insubordination and I get killed by the King's other forces. No hard feelings. Just help Geoff with this, and we'll be in the clear."
"Thank you. You know, when you left to accomplish your goals, I never dreamed that we'd end up helping you."
"I know, it's weird. Well, love you guys, and see you shortly."
"Right."

Fiona clicked off, and Hershey gave the phone back to Geoffrey. "Better make sure everyone's ready." She told him. "If she want's our help, let's make an entrance; we've always been good at that."


As they had done when rescuing Sally and Fiona, the party made their way to the castle silently, Sally, having taken a crash-course from Miles, holding a field around them, muffling their footsteps to all those outside her sphere. This time, however, things were different. Sally was angry, and Nicole had a score to settle. The cybernetic Mobian had been fitted with dermal armour on her artificial pieces, so she wouldn't just be a moving target. She had also been given a pair of jets, spares from Emerl, to allow her to keep up, despite her weak legs.

The group soon reached the doorway, the guards strangely staying away from them. The door was still badly damaged from their first attack, with a rough patch over the hole, until proper repairs could be done. Emerl ripped the patch off, and the quartet stepped inside.

"I'm going to tunnel down to the core chamber again. Then I'll carry Nicole down. You guys should be able to make it to the throne room unhindered."
"How so?"
"Anima's not going to be that skilled yet. Ultimately, she is me, but likely with her emotions removed. When I was first plugged in, it took be several weeks to work out how I could become omnipresent. She'll also be struggling, and won't be good at multi-tasking yet. Thus, if she is distracted with us, you won't have any problems from her. She's complete computer, so it will take her less time to master it, but she's recent – I know." Nicole finished, taking a breath.

"Alright then. Just a moment." Emerl took a few steps to the shattered console, digging his hands into the damaged remains. "I learnt to assimilate even broken technology." He explained. His runner lights flared briefly, then dimmed again. "Just injected a stream of killer viruses into her system. Between those and repairing the damage my chaos drive did, that will give us all time to do our thing. I don't want to tunnel – it will use too much power that we're going to need. You ready for this?" he asked Nicole – he was displaying a strange amount of feeling towards her.
"In truth, probably not, but Anima is getting on my nerves and I haven't even met her yet. She replaced me, and I don't like that, regardless of the circumstances."
"Let's go, then."

Emerl and Nicole started to head away, and the lynx looked over her shoulder at Sally.
"Come back in one piece, Sally. We've just been reunited. I don't want to lose you again."
"I will."
With that, the duo disappeared around a corner, and Sonic turned to face the squirrel princess. Like the first time, he had been quiet most of the way, and now he spoke up again.
"Sal, are you sure you're ready to kill your Dad?"
"That man lost my respect as a father the moment I found out about Nicole. He's no family to me."
"I'll take that as a yes."

The two rebels started running towards the throne room, Sonic going at a slower pace so that Sally could keep up, since the squirrel was both not as fast as him, and unaccustomed to her powers. Often she cornered slowly, precisely; unlike the dragging skid Sonic had grown used to that he used to preserve speed. They stopped at the massive pair of double-doors that housed the throne room. The couple shared one last, longing glance at each other, then pushed open the doors as one.

The room was empty. Taking it one step at a time, the two entered slowly, casting their eyes around for anything.
"You know, I'm so glad you came." The voice resonated around the room, but they could not find the source – something was shielding their chaos sense. The voice continued. "Anima, if you would?"
The doors swung shut behind them with an ominous rumbling, but neither Mobian moved to stop them – they were both sure it was pointless. Whoever it was would have gone to some measures to stop them escaping. Once again, the voice rang out. "I admire your efforts, and that of your robot, but I made some changes to Anima. She won't have much of a problem keeping track of us. Now, how about I discuss what I'm going to do with you?"

"Who are you, and where is the king?" Sally called, edging slightly closer to Sonic.
"Your father will be here shortly, my dear Sally."
"He's not my father anymore, and that "dear" is rather inappropriate, since I've never met you and even now I can only hear you." She was now back-to-back with Sonic, or as close as she could be without being impaled on his instinctively sharpened quills. Both flared up energy in their palms, and tried to peer through the gloom and find their aggressor, whom both had by now worked out the identity of.

"Why don't you come out from wherever you're hiding and actually fight us? Too afraid that we'll overpower you?" Sonic taunted. In response, the floor shifted slightly, and a cable, formed from the nanites that made up every part of the inner city wrapped around his body and dragged him face-first into the ground. Sally whirled around in shock, but another one gripped her waist, and pulled her down as well, though it was noticeably gentler.

"Sonic, are you okay?" The young squirrel called, struggling against her bonds.
"I will be in a second." He replied, trying to trigger Chaos Control, but failing, much to his horror. "What the fuck?"

Ken's voice echoed again.
"Morganite. It's highly useful for stopping Adept scum like you." He sneered, as the door opened again, and Maximillian stepped in.

The older squirrel was dressed for battle, gleaming armour covering his torso and limbs, and an ornate sword, resting in a scabbard at his hip.
"Ah, Ken, I see you have met my daughter. It is a shame that she is so... crudely dressed. I shall have Anima take her to get changed for you." He stated in a slow, calm manner. The monkey stepped into view, smiling darkly.
"Thank you."

"Hey, what the hell's going on here. I've been captured without being executed for way too long already. Whad'ya want, old-timer?" Sonic cut in, angrily glaring at him.
"I have a use for you, though I think you'll probably prefer that I showed you mercy and killed you immediately. Yes, I could do so to thank you for looking after Sally for me, and making sure she didn't leave the city, and I could just as easily get her to tell me want I want to know after Anima is finished with her, but this way is much more enjoyable, and my daughter has always been a tough mind to crack."

"'Tough mind to crack?' What the hell are you going to do to her!?"
"You will find out shortly. Now, Ken, if you could knock him out? No need to listen to his annoying chatter."
"Certainly, your majesty." He replied, drawing out his Atom-Bat. He pointed it at Sonic, and fired a small, quick burst of lightning, sending Sonic spiralling into unconsciousness.
"Sonic!" Sally cried out, as her friend went limp.
"Anima, take this Adept to the dungeon, and Sally to her room. She will need to put her usual attire back on. Then bring her down to the dungeon as well. I want her to see this."
The nanite tendrils holding the two began to move, dragging both away.


The journey to the council chamber was somewhat more arduous. The king had expected the team of adepts to go for him – his royal guard had been alerted to avoid the adepts at the castle, to allow them to walk into the trap set by Anima and Ken.
The military forces policing the city, on the other hand, had not. The two kitsunes spent the better part of two hours dodging roving squads of offices and guards, wanting to avoid conflict as much as possible. They here to stop the fighting – not extend it. Fiona had used her powers to turn her eyes green. It was a small touch, but it meant that she no longer matched the description of her that had been given by Max. Miles had curled his tails together and fluffed them up slightly to hide his mutation.

"Why not just teleport?"
"Too noisy, and too risky."
"Right."
Eventually, however, they arrived, with time to spare. Stopping for a brief moment, Miles and Fiona turned to face each other, nodded, and Miles quickly kissed Fiona, before he opened the door to the building.
The council was an ornate chamber, no expense spared to make the king's biggest farce look important. A squat, detailed building adorned with crenulations, turrets, buttresses and all manner of murals both inside and out, once again it was a stark reminder of the king's love of medieval aesthetics. Within, the seats were arranged in expanding circles, a central pedestal for speakers, and a microphone system, to ensure the words of those spoken were carried to every one of the thousand present. The seats were padded, but the walls were not.

When the doors flew open, the crashing of their movement drew the eyes of every Mobian present, and then to the two beings walking in. Miles had no need of the speaker system – channelling his power he amplified his voice, so that when he spoke it was as if he was right next to each person.
"I am Miles Prower." He began, bluntly. "I'm a chaos adept; an outlaw, a fugitive due to the laws laid down by King Maximillian Acorn. By my side is Fiona Fox, one of the many also targeted for aiding the survival of those by myself. We are both victims, us and many others, of the injustice, the unfairness of the king's laws. I'm not here to kill you – I'm here to warn you that this is not the case."

The chamber exploded in uproar. Voices declaiming his speech, voices supporting it, voices asking of what was happening and a few appealing for silence. Miles looked round at Fiona helplessly.
"I expected it to be controversial, but really?" he asked, wearily.
"Let them argue, Tails. It won't last forever; someone has to ask the right question, or they will at least just run out of breath."
That question came very soon. "Proof!" one, nameless member shouted. "I demand to see proof!" The call was taken up by those nearby, and soon it was the only question, shouted in unison by almost the full thousand – the noise was deafening. Tired by this escalation, Miles raised his hands in the standard appeal for silence.

If it had been soldiers he had faced, they would have cut him down. These were politicians, however – the motion was allowed by even the most unruly criminal, provided that they really did have something to say.
"I don't know why you ask me such a question." Miles replied innocently. "Surely, the fact that I stand here now is such proof? You!" he pointed at random to a face in the crowd. "Who is to say you do not harbour villainous thoughts. You!" another face. "Maybe your private crowd is privy to grand designs to further your own plans." He swept his arms wide. "Yes, I'm a chaos adept, and why should I deny it? Yes, it grants me power." A snap of his fingers, a shower of sparks. "But it does not change the way I think. You buy a new car, does it mean you suddenly want to race it as fast as it can go? You buy a gun, do you really want to unload the entire clip into passers-by? Think about all you say about yourselves when you persecute a chaos adept. I'm not petitioning for my world domination here. I haven't asked you to take up arms and go to kill for me. I'm asking for my freedom."