"Knuckles? Knuckles!? Where are you?"

Amy Rose walked through the forest at the bottom of the crater, searching for the red echidna. The two had seen Dr. Eggman flying around above the treeline, and Knuckles had set out to investigate. That was almost an hour ago.

She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Knuuuckllllles!?"

No response.

"Hmph. That jerk! Running off to fight Eggman and leaving me behind, all alone, even after I offered to help him find his Emerald. Why can't I fight too? I can do whatever he can! But noooo. The boys always have to be the heroes. Hmph!" She kicked the dirt in frustration.

Silently pouting, she stood with her arms crossed and her brow downturned, cursing the unfairness of it all. However, in the back of her mind, she still had some vague worries for her friend. Knuckles was strong, and a very good fighter, but he could be a little hard-headed at times. Amy half wondered if Eggman might have actually gotten the upper hand.

She sighed, silently wondering what to do, when suddenly, without warning, something crashed into her from behind.

"Ahh!" She cried as she was thrown forward onto the ground. She caught herself with her hands, and with anger boiling in her chest, she turned her head to see who had run into her.

Laying flat on her back with surprise in her eyes was a green cat, staring at Amy as though she were an alien.

"Hey!" Amy yelled. "Watch where you're going! Don't you have any..."

Before they could find out what she had, Amy suddenly felt hands trying to pull her back to her feet.

"We're really sorry." Said a soft, timid voice. "We didn't see you."

Amy turned to see what, at first glance, looked like a young rabbit. However, upon seeing her feet, tail, and nose, Amy saw that she was some kind of dog.

"Oh." Amy said, her face softened. "It's alright. I didn't see you either."

"Jeez." Said the cat, getting on her feet as well. "A couple of hours ago it seemed like we were the only people on the planet. Now we can't go ten feet without running into some weirdo."

"Excuse me?" Amy demanded. "I'm no weirdo! You're the one crashing into people who're just minding their own business!"

The cat grinned mischievously. "You're the one just standing around waiting for someone to crash into you."

"What? That doesn't make any..."

"Stop!" The dog yelled. "We're really sorry. We're trying to get back to our spaceship before our friends do."

"Spaceship?" Amy asked. "You two don't seem like the spaceship type."

"Well, it's our friend's ship. He's an alien."

"Milla..." The cat whispered. "Don't..."

"Alien?" Amy laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah! And I guess we're also kinda..."

"Anyway!" The cat interrupted loudly. "Sorry for running into you, but we really need to head out."

"Hold on for a minute!" Amy said. "What're your names?"

"I'm Milla!"

"Carol the Wildcat."

"I'm Amy. It's nice to meet you."

"Same." Carol shrugged.

"I'm looking for someone around here. Would either of you have happened to see a red echidna?"

Both Milla and Carol looked at her with blank expressions. "What in the world is an 'echidna'?" Carol asked.

"Well, um. I don't know exactly. But my friend is tall, he's got long dreadlocks, and he's kind of got a pointed face. He also has really big hands, with spikes on his fists."

"Oh!" Carol said, then chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, we kinda... met him."

"Really? Where? Which way?"

"He's... taking a nap somewhere over there." Carol pointed.

"Nap?"

"Um. Is he your friend?" Milla asked.

"Yeah. I'm helping him find something of his, and in return, he's helping me find someone."

Carol crossed her arms. "Well, that's nice, but we've really gotta split. C'mon Mil'."

But Milla didn't budge. "Who are you looking for?" She asked Amy.

"Oh..." She said, clasping her hands together. "He's the dreamiest guy in the universe. He doesn't know it yet, but we're meant to be together. It's true love."

Carol made a face, sticking her tongue out in disgust, but Milla sighed happily. "That's so sweet."

"Yeah." Amy sighed. "But it's been such a long time since I've seen him. I have no idea where he could be, or what he's even doing."

"Oh... Well, we can help you look for him!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Carol interrupted, pushing Milla back. "Nuh uh, no way. Listen, we're sorry that you're having trouble with... all that. But we really, really need to go. C'mon."

Carol began trying to push Milla away from Amy, despite some resistance from the hound.

"Well, hold on." Amy said, blocking their path. "What's the rush?"

"If we don't get back to our ship soon," Carol said, "We're gonna have an angry dragon who's gonna wanna skin us alive. Specifically me."

"Huh? Dragon? What're you talking..."

"HEY!"

The sudden roar echoed through the trees, making all three girls jump in surprise. They spun around to see Knuckles, panting heavily with a look of fury in his eyes.

"Oh nuts..." Carol muttered.

"Knuckles!" Amy cried happily. "Where've you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!"

She ran to the angry echidna, but he payed her no attention. His eyes were instead locked on Carol.

"Get out of the way Amy!" He yelled and pushed the pink hedgehog to the ground.

"Hey!" She cried. "What do you think..."

Before she could finish, Knuckles dashed straight towards Carol, who stumbled backwards in fear.

"Wait! Knuckles, stop!" Amy cried.

"Rhaa!" He let out a battle cry and leaped into the air, drawing a fist back and aiming for Carol's head. The wildcat bent down and raised her arms in a fighting stance, prepared to parry Knuckles's strike. Before she could, however, Milla jumped forward and pushed her aside to the ground, taking her place. Quickly raising a green, psychic shield, she prepared to defend herself from the blow.

"Milla, don't!" Carol cried, trying to save the hound.

But Knuckles' fist connected with the shield, and with a crack and a green flash, the shield shattered as though it were made of glass. The shards exploded outwards, and then dissolved into nothingness like ghosts.

Milla, though the shield took the brunt of the force, was still violently thrown backwards by the power of the punch and landed hard on the ground.

"No!" Carol, in anger, jumped up and leapt towards Knuckles, who was slightly disoriented by the force of the shattering barrier. He was too slow to defend himself as Carol extended her claws and viciously scratched him across his stomach.

"Oof." He grunted, and stumbled backwards, clutching his stomach. He tried to recover for another attack, but Carol dove forward, bending down and tackling him.

Laying on the ground with the wildcat sitting on his chest, he was too stunned to fight back as Carol began punching him across the face.

"You!" Carol yelled, accenting each word with a punch. "Don't! Hurt! My! S..."

Suddenly, as she was yelling, Knuckles quickly grabbed one of her wrists and, with the other fist, delivered a powerful punch into the wildcat's face.

Carol cried out in pain as she was thrown backwards. Clutching her face, she could feel wet blood flow between her fingers and drip to the ground. She knew her nose was broken.

Agonized by the pain, with tears brimming in her eyes, she could barely see the blurry form of Knuckles walking menacingly towards her, fists clenched tight.

Working through the pain, she tried to crawl to her feet, still clutching her bloody nose, when a dark shadow suddenly rose up behind her foe.

With a crack and an "Ow!" Knuckles was on his knees, clutching the top of his head, with Amy standing angrily above him wielding a comically massive hammer.

"Agh! Amy! What are..."

Before he could finish, Amy swung the hammer once again, bashing the poor echidna upside the head.

"You knuckle-headed, boil-brained, dung-faced, maniac! What in the world do you think you're doing!?"

"Amy, no! You don't understand! That cat has..."

Amy raised her hammer again, making Knuckles scurry backwards in fear. "I don't care what Carol has, it doesn't give you the right to go around, beating up girls!"

Carol, despite how much her nose hurt, couldn't help but snicker, seeing how scared Knuckles looked at Amy's fury.

"Carol!"

Carol turned her head to see Milla, back on her feet, dash over to her side with a look of terror on her face.

"Oh no. Oh, Carol, are you okay? Carol please..." She was horrified at the amount of blood that was drenching the wildcat's face.

Carol tried to calm her terrified friend. "Mibba, ibts fibe, I..." She groaned, trying to wipe her face clear.

"Oh no. Oh no no no. Please, Carol... I'm sorry, I tried to save you... I... I can... maybe I can..." The poor hound was panicking at this point, tears flowing down her cheeks, legitimately worried that Carol was going to die.

"Mibba! I... ugh!" Carol got shakily to her feet, covering her nose with one hand. "Mi...lla." She said, speaking slowly and clearly. "I'b... vine. I'be had... a broben nobe... bevore."

Milla couldn't understand her friend's slurred words. "It's okay, it's okay... I can... I... um... here." She reached forward and tried to wipe off some of the blood, at which point Carol responded with a sharp cry.

"Domb touch it!"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Meanwhile, Knuckles was still trying to calm the enraged hedgehog. "Amy, I'm telling you! She was fighting Eggman, and I saved her. But then she..."

"Oh, you saved her huh!?" Amy yelled. "What, so you could beat her up yourself!?"

"No! I wasn't trying to... she... she has a..."

"You know what!?" Amy demanded. "I think you owe her an apology!"

"Apology? No! Amy, will you listen to me!?"

Amy raised her hammer again, forcing him to draw back. "Apologize..." She growled.

"I... I..." Knuckles murmured under his breath.

"Five."

"What?"

"Four."

"Oh Chaos, you've got to be kidding me."

"Three."

Knuckles growled and turned around, making for the bleeding wildcat and the hound, of whom the latter was beginning to calm down.

"Hey..." He muttered. The sight of him caused both girls to draw back in anger.

"Calm... calm down. I'm..." He groaned and turned back to Amy, who waved her hammer back and forth menacingly.

He sighed and turned to the two girls. "I'm... sorry."

"That?"

"That I... tried to punch you."

"Yeah." Carol said behind her hand. "'Tribed.' Thure. Thay dat to my nobe."

"I..." Knuckles finally noticed how badly the wildcat was hurt, and guilt seeped into his heart. "Okay, I'm sorry for what I did, alright? I got angry. I didn't mean to hurt either of you."

Milla and Carol still observed him with a hostile eye, but Amy seemed to be satisfied. "Alright then." She said brightly. "Now that that's out of the way, we can all talk like regular people."

"Oh totabby!" Carol growled. "Jutht a bunch ob bubbies, all laubing tobether. What fun!"

"Carol." Milla said sadly. "Try not to talk. We really need to fix your nose first."

"You guys said you had a ship." Amy said. "Do you have something there that can patch it up?"

Milla looked at Carol, who shrugged and nodded. "Yeah." She said. "I think so."

"Great! Me and Knuckles..." she said, glaring at the echidna. "will escort you there."

"Amy, please. I don't have time for this."

She raised her hammer again. "Oh, I think you do."

Knuckles growled and crossed his arms, but relented. "Fine. Make it quick."

"We'll take as much time as we need. That being said..." She turned to the girls. "Where is your ship exactly?"

"Uh..." Carol looked around, suddenly realizing she wasn't sure where she had left her motorcycle. "Imb not thure. I..."

"Carol!" Milla ordered. "Stop talking! Just make sure your nose doesn't bleed too much."

Carol, surprised at the authority in the young hound's voice, nodded and held her head back, trying to stop the flowing blood.

Milla meanwhile, turned to Amy. "Um, I think I can find Carol's motorcycle, and then we can use that to find our ship."

"Okay great! Lead the way!"

Milla nodded, then got down on all-fours and began sniffing the earth, trying to find the trail that would take them back. Behind her, Amy and Carol walked side by side, while Knuckles reluctantly dragged behind.


It didn't take long for Milla to find the trail, and within minutes, the four were standing next to the foot of the cliff.

"Alright." Amy said. "We ready to climb up?"

"I think so." Milla said. She turned to the wildcat. "Carol?"

She nodded. The bleeding from her nose had begun to slow, but she still held her hand under her nostrils, keeping the majority of it at bay.

"Okay." Milla said. "I think we're ready."

"Okay. Knuckles? Do your stuff!"

The echidna nodded, then casually walked to the cliff's face, reared back a fist, and punched the stone with a force that left a hole in the rock.

"Uh, what are you..." Before Milla could finish, Amy jumped onto Knuckles' back and, carrying the pink hedgehog, the echidna began to climb the cliff wall, leaving a trail of fist-sized holes in the stone.

"Oh!" Milla said and ran to the cliff, putting a hand in one of the holes. "He's making a ladder for us!"

"Aw..." Carol sighed. That's no fun.

Even still, she was glad that they wouldn't have to climb the cliff normally. With the pain throbbing in her nose, she didn't feel up to doing anything fancy.

"Come on! Let's go!" Milla put her foot up into the first hold and hoisted herself up, beginning the long climb.

Carol, to make sure that she didn't slip while climbing up, wiped her hand on her shirt, leaving a streak of blood across her chest. I must look like a murder movie, she thought looking down. Despite this, she climbed up just behind Milla, and began to follow in their path.

The climb was made very easy for the two girls, thanks to the handholds that Knuckles had made for them, and within minutes, all four of them were at the top, in plain sight of Carol's bike.

"Um." Carol said as they began to make their way towards it. "I don't think all of us are gonna fit."

"Oh, that's okay." Amy said. "We're both pretty fast; I'm sure we can keep up with you."

Carol snickered. They've got no idea what that baby can do.

Even still, she jumped up onto the bike, and kicked it into low gear, while Milla climbed up and sat right behind her.

"Um, Carol?" She asked before they set out.

"Yeah?"

"How are we going to explain all this to Lilac and Torque?"

"Oh, uh. I didn't really think of that. I guess we can just say... hmm." She thought for a minute.

"Should we tell them the truth?"

"Uh, I guess so. Part of it. Well, kinda. Let's just try to avoid sayin' we ran off, just to make sure they don't get too mad."

Milla still looked unsure, but she nodded. "Okay."

"Hey, no worries. I've done this kinda stuff before, and Lilac's always been... sorta cool about it. Sometimes."

"O... okay."

"You ready girls?" Amy said, walking up to them.

"I'm ready!"

"Yep. Let's roll!"

"Hmph." Knuckles muttered.

"Alright. Let's go!" And soon, the four were speeding through the grassland, retracing their path back to the wrecked ship.


Carol was surprised at how fast Knuckles and Amy could run. They were obviously nowhere near as quick as Lilac, but they were both keeping pace with the motorcycle remarkably well, despite the fact that Carol wasn't going at its top speed.

We're gonna be back sooner than I thought. She said to herself.

Though, that still might not be soon enough. As she looked up at the sky, she saw that the Sun was starting to fall, beginning its descent into the horizon.

Lilac said they would be back before dark. We're gonna be cutting it close.

Once again, she wondered if Lilac had found anyone in her journey. It seemed much more likely now than it did before, now that Carol had proof that there was actual life on the planet. Even if it wasn't all friendly.

She frowned as her mind drew back to Dr. Eggman, and all of his robots. She wondered if he was going to show up and cause them anymore trouble.

Aw, we can take that crackpot. I'd bet Knuckles can handle any bucket of bolts he could throw at us.

She smiled as she looked sidelong at the echidna, sprinting beside her. Close enough to touch. She observed him head to toe as he ran; his feet hitting the ground in a blur; his long tresses flowing behind him in the wind; his cold, iron-hard stare that was fixed straight ahead. He emitted an air of such confident power, as well as a subtle grace that Carol couldn't help but admire.

Suddenly, Knuckles noticed how Carol was staring at him, and he shot her an inquisitive eye. Embarrassed, she quickly looked away and began to scan the land around them.

It was at this moment, that her sharp eyes caught something strange in the distance.

"Hey, guys?"

They all looked at her. "What?" Amy called. "What is it?"

Carol pointed. "Do you see that?"

One by one, the hedgehog, echidna, and motorcycle slid to a stop, and all eyes followed Carol's finger.

Far away in the distance, on the top of the horizon, was a huge trail of swirling dust, thrown up by something that was moving across the landscape at a remarkable speed.

"Is... is it Lilac?" Milla asked.

"No way. She's not that fast."

Amy's countenance brightened. "Oh! Knuckles, do you think..."

The echidna sported a sour look on his face. "Oh great..." He muttered.

"What is it?" Carol asked.

Before either could answer, the trail of dust made a sudden, sharp turn, heading directly towards them.

"It's coming."

"Um... is it dangerous?" Milla asked.

"Depends on your definition of dangerous." Knuckles growled.

Amy slapped his arm, making him flinch. "Knuckles! He isn't dangerous! In fact..." She said with a smile. "I think we're safer now than ever."

It was coming closer and closer, with the speed of a jet fighter. Within seconds, it had closed the distance between them, and with a rush of wind, made a pinpoint stop directly in front of them.

"Hey!" Sonic said with a grin. "You found them, Knuckles!"


Lilac sat quietly with her back to the red ship, and her arms wrapped around her legs. She, Sonic, and Tails had each set out to look for her lost friends, but Lilac had had little luck in her own search. Discouraged, she had reluctantly returned to the red pod and waited, hoping Sonic or Tails could have more luck.

She looked up at the sky, and saw that the sun was beginning to set. Which meant Carol had been gone for more than half of the day.

I'm going to kill that cat, she thought, an idea that had passed through her mind more than once.

She sighed, and put her head in her arms, waiting. For what, she wasn't sure. Maybe she was waiting for Carol and Milla to return; maybe she was waiting for Sonic or Tails to come with news, good or bad; or maybe she was waiting for Torque, who she imagined should have already been back. Whatever she was waiting for, it was eating away at her heart, and filling her with a burning anger.

I'm going to kill that cat, she thought for the dozenth time.

Suddenly, a dull roar interrupted her brooding. She raised her head to the sky, looking for the Tornado, when she realized the roar was not the sound of a plane, but something more familiar.

She jumped to her feet and ran around the side of the ship. And far away, but drawing steadily closer, was a cloud of dust, that was spearheaded by two specks of blue, and red.

Her fists and teeth clenched and she stood with a burning chest, waiting for the approaching figures.

Sonic was, of course, the first to arrive, sliding to a stop with a triumphant grin. And some distance behind him, followed by two others that Lilac didn't recognize, rode Carol and Milla, each with a large smile on their faces.

"You know." Sonic said with a grin. "You people really do like to race."

Lilac ignored him, pushing past the hedgehog and stomping towards the doomed wildcat.

Murder time... she thought.

"Hey Lilac!" Carol said with a smile as she slid the bike to a stop, Milla sitting just behind her. "Did you meet that Sonic guy? I think he's like, a hundred times faster than you!"

Her face fell when she noticed the fury burning in Lilac's eyes. "Oh, um..."

"WHERE!? HAVE!? YOU!? BEEN!?"

Carol began to deflate like a balloon. "I... I... um..."

"L... Lilac." Milla whimpered. "It... it isn't her fault..."

"QUIET!" She yelled, making the hound shrink back.

"Hey." Said one of the two newcomers, a red creature with long hair. "What's going on?"

"Is she alright?" Asked the pink one.

Sonic quickly ran around Lilac and began pushing the two away, chuckling nervously. "I'll explain everything in a minute. Let's just let the volcano erupt first."

"What did you do to your nose!?"


Meanwhile, high in the sky, Dr. Eggman sat in his damaged pod, furiously cursing every species of animal he could imagine. After having been forced to leave the severely damaged Goliath behind, it was an understatement to say he was livid.

"That miserable, flea ridden, furball!" He bellowed. "I had the Emerald in the palm of my hand! I should have won! But then that imbecilic, red, knucklehead dared to interfere! Gah!"

He threw his arms up in exasperation, once again cursing all of animal-kind. "Well," he growled. "If they really think they've beaten me, ohoho, they have another thing coming..."

With this he activated his pod's onboard sensor system, designed to search out objects of considerable power, such as the Chaos Emeralds. However, it was only on for a second, before it stuttered and died.

"Grrrah!" Eggman pounded the screen furiously. "You piece of junk! Work!"

With a buzz and a pop, the screen activated to show a static-ridden radar, beeping with consistent timing. "Now then, where have you run off to?"

But unfortunately, the screen suddenly died again. However, as the doctor raised his fist to strike it again, he realized what the problem was. "Wait." He muttered. "This is no technical issue." He examined the flickering screen. "Something is interfering with my equipment."

He scratched his mustache in thought. "The only person I know who can do this, is that irritating fox. And even then, he can't do it to this extent..."

Intrigued, he began to study the strange signal, trying to pinpoint it's location. Within moments, he had detected an energy reading far to his East. "Excellent." He said. "Let's find out what you are my dear."

He turned his pod, and he began to move towards the signal, deeply interested in whatever could be powerful enough, or intelligent enough, to disrupt his equipment. However, he was not the only one, as high in the sky, flying far out of the good doctor's sight, was a silent, blue plane, trailing his every move.