14. "Guilty By Association"

…

Within the hour, the rest of the adventurers made it to Lava Reef Zone, but were too late to catch up with Antoine and Julie-Su. Leading the way were Sonic and Sally, followed closely behind by Amy, Bunnie, Tails and Rotor.

They stopped by a certain stream of lava where the ashes of a burnt piece of metal were laying to waste. The team looked it over, believing it to be the remains of a Badnik, when-

Bee-ee-ee-eep! "Sally? Sally, are you there? It's Nicole."

Sally reached into the pocket of her vest and pulled out her cell phone-like communicator. "…Yes, Nicole? I'm here."

"Sally, I've just done some research on the recent battle. Apparently, Antoine and Julie-Su had defeated a former member of the Felidae royal guard."

"You mean," replied Sonic softly, as he listened in; "someone betrayed them?"

Hearing him, Nicole replied through the phone, "Not just someone; a former champion by the name of Razorklaw. But what's worse is that he wasn't the only one hired by Robotnik. After glancing into my Eye, I've seen a growing army of animal folk-turned cyborgs, all willingly siding with Robotnik- perhaps out of fear, or for their own personal gain."

"That's just great," frowned Sally. "So now we have to deal with Badniks, SWATbots, and cyborgs."

"There is a bit of good news, though; I can tell from a map on my wall that you're less than a mile away from the Crystal Caves. You just need to keep heading North by Northeast, and-"

…

"NICOLE!"

Nicole gasped in surprise, while standing by her crystal orb in her secret chamber. She heard the booming voice of the king calling out to her through an intercom.

"Nicole, are you there? Report immediately to the throne room!"

She hesitated at first, then spoke through her cell phone, "Sally, I must go for now. I'll be in touch." Then she hung up.

It had been a while since King Maximillian called upon Nicole to his throne room, so when he did call for her she was quick to respond. He sat at his throne, tapping rather impatiently at his chair arm, when the brown lynx in the purple exotic dress appeared through a trap door.

She humbly bowed before him, not suspecting a thing. "You summoned me, Sire?"

The king's eyes glanced away, toward a small pillar on a wall on the far end of the room. Atop of it lay a glass case with what appeared to be the Sol Emerald, glowing purple.

"Tell me, Nicole, what do you see over there by the curtain?"

She followed his gaze to the pillar. "…The Sol Emerald, sir?"

"Yes, it would appear to be an emerald, now wouldn't it?" His tone seemed calm enough, and his eyes soft enough to be believable. "See how it glows so, like a miniature sun, lighting up the room like that?"

She smiled, "It is lovely, isn't it?"

Then his eyes turned back to her. "..Why are you lying to me?"

Nicole gasped, her long ears perking upward in alarm. "…S-sire?"

"You're lying to me. That's not the Sol Emerald at all; it's a fake. I didn't notice it at first, but now I can clearly see that its glow is coming from the window on the opposite wall. You placed it just at the right spot, so that the sun's reflection would make it glow."

Feeling trapped, Nicole felt the urge to gulp as her ears pinned back with both fear and guilt. "I… I…"

"No matter," sighed the king, still maintaining his cool. "I figured you would do something like this; you were always so loyal to my wayward daughter."

"My king… Please… I."

"I understand, Nicole. Really, I do. She's your friend, and you owed her for saving you before. …But time is now of the essence; we must get both her and the Sol Emerald back before they're captured. …We both know what would happen if she were to be captured. …Where is she, Nicole?"

The lynx tilted her head away in shame. "She's in the Felidae Kingdom."

The king then pressed down on his throne's arm, which had a hidden button. The button alarmed his most faithful knight, Geoffrey Saint John, to come marching into the room.

"Sir Geoffrey," said the king. "My daughter has taken our Sol Emerald to the Felidae Kingdom, and is probably moving fast. I'm sending you and a knight of your choice to that island. Your one goal is to find the girl and her emerald, and bring them back to me. Understood?"

"Of course, Sire," bowed Geoffrey, before he made his quick exit.

When they were alone once more, the king and his consort made eye contact.

"You do understand, this is for her own good."

"I understand, Your Majesty… F-forgive my betrayal."

"No need. You may go now."

After finally taking a breath, Nicole slid back down her secret passageway to her chambers of solitude.

She stared blankly at her All-Seeing Eye, wondering if she should warn her dear friend of the oncoming knights. Then she wondered why she was wondering; of course she would warn her! Her service may have been to the king, but her loyalty…

"O Great All-Seeing Eye, please show me the safest, quickest way through the caves…"

…

Bee-ee-eep!

"Oh! There's Nicole again," gasped Sally, as she and her team were halfway to their goal. She picked up the phone. "Nicole?"

"Sally… I'm so sorry."

"Nicole, what's wrong?"

"I had to tell him, Sally… He knows I put a false emerald in the throne room. I should have known he was too clever… He's sending a small team of knights to come fetch you."

Sally gulped. "…By the time they get here, we'll be in Canus Kingdom with two emeralds."

"Sally, please! …Be careful out there."

"Don't worry, Nicole. I know what I'm doing. And thanks." As she hung up the phone, Sonic noticed the gloom written all over her face.

"Sal?"

"It's my father; he's trying to intercept my emerald."

Bunnie heard this and replied, "Sally-girl, maybe we shoulda left it behind. It was safer back there, y'know?"

"Maybe, but if Blaze is enslaved as I think she is, then we'll need Amy to free her."

"Right," nodded Sonic in agreement. Then he noticed that a certain pink fangirl was out of sight. "…Amy?"

"YES, SONIC! I'LL BE YOUR TAG PARTNER!" She came flying out of nowhere just to tackle and squeeze him. "Oh, thank you so much for asking me! I knew you cared!"

"Eeh… urk! …ugh… N-o… no problem," he choked. Clearly, this was not what he had in mind, but he was backed into a corner now.

Sally watched this, and couldn't help but chuckle. "…Whenever you love birds are ready."

Sonic grimaced at her while Amy snuggled him rather violently.

…

Meanwhile, another duo had already made it to the Crystal Cave's entrance, and saw that it was being blocked by three brutish cyborg cats.

Shadow shot a look at Knuckles. "I don't like you."

Knuckles shot one right back. "I don't like you either, but we don't have a choice now, do we?"

"Grr… Let's get this over with."

…

- NEW TEAMS! -

TEAM LAVENDER

Sonic (Speed-Type) and Amy (Heal-Type)

.

TEAM CHAOS CONTROLLERS

Knuckles (Power-Type) and Shadow (Stealth-Type)

…

LOADING ZONE…