Disclaimer- If only…

Chapter 14- Sweetness in the shadows

"Omega, activate Master Emerald energy circulation."

"ACTIVATING."

Espio was leaning against a metal wall in a room he was in, finishing off his slightly burnt toast he had for breakfast (he was moderately surprised that the doctor had let him stay at the lab for the night. Metal must've kept an eye on him) after saying his command. He brushed his usable hand off on his side, getting the annoying crumbs off of it. The chameleon was focused on his robot standing up by Eggman, both of them situated by a raised monitor with a multitude of graphs shown on the screen. Omega had many sensors attached to him all over his metallic body. They were on his head, his torso, his singular working arm, and his legs.

The rotund human was observing the moving pictures on the monitor, intrigued, "Outstanding! The energy of the Master Emerald covers all of Omega's surface area!" he glanced over to the quiet ninja, "Yesterday," he took a sip of coffee from a mug that had 'Eggmanland' on it, "we've discussed that this makes the robot for durable and perhaps even faster, but you've refrained from telling me how you did it. That and somehow reprogramming Omega!"

I did so on purpose, if you haven't caught onto that yet Eggman, Espio thought, adjusting his broken him in the sling, I've had to think on it overnight. I can't tell him how I did it, because with his sudden personality change, he may make plans without my consent. That won't do. So instead, I'll wait to tell him, if I have to at all. Getting access to the doctor's supplies will be easier than I thought if I decide later that the man is superfluous. The chameleon subtly glanced over to Metal Sonic who was scanning the graphs as well, Metal is more…independent than I thought robots could ever be. And Eggman trusts him, well, more than he'll trust me in a long time. And Metal will do anything to get what he wants…

Espio cleared his throat and gave Eggman his full attention, thanking Chaos that he was a great liar. Metal calling him out would be the last thing he needed, "I didn't do it. Someone else did," Metal was looking at him now. He ignored the bot, "As for reprogramming him," I didn't, but since you're so adamant that I did, "A simple system restart did the trick."

"Hmm," Eggman stroked his mustache and returned to the screens, seemingly satisfied for now. Espio felt Metal's gaze on him, and he let out a soft sigh in relief when the mech turned away as well with no words. The doctor then barked out a laugh, "Now this is a grand discovery! My horizons have been broadened! Ho ho! All I have to figure out is exactly how to infuse the energy into my robots, and then those pests could do nothing to stop me!"

"You have to get the Master Emerald first, doctor," Metal reminded in his monotonous voice, "You know how difficult that mission can end up being."

Espio rose a brow at that, cutting into their conversation, "What's the difficulty that you're implying?" Because it honestly wasn't that hard. No one was around it since Knuckles wasn't exactly the perfect guardian. The chameleon was sure that a cactus could do the job better.

The red glowing optics slid over to him, "You should know," Metal clipped. Eggman, a bit miffed that he'd been ousted from his own discussion, went over and began to take the sensors off of Omega. He still listened to the conversation however, because the ninja was an enigma to him. The first in a while. No one went from frolicking with the pincushion to wanting to kill him and his friends in cold blood that fast. Sure, it's been a while since he had control of the Time Eater, but this was still interesting.

"Enlighten me," Espio retorted right back, not deterred by the attitude he had detected. The slightly irritated tone reminded him of what Eggman said yesterday. About Metal receiving some traits from Sonic. He would have to ask about that.

Metal stared him down, and when it seemed like the chameleon wasn't budging, he eventually responded, "That echidna is always protecting it, as you know," Espio cocked his head marginally, Really? "And there is a chance that the blue irritation or some of his acquaintances could be there as well at any given time."

Now that was strange. Sure, there was the possibility that the echidna – or someone else – had managed to retrieve it from his lab, but the chance of Knuckles protecting it himself was very low. Nonexistent even. It was most likely Shadow if Espio had to guess. And what was with the 'always protecting it'? That was a blatant false statement. The chameleon knew that something was off about Eggman, but having a robot – who didn't have patience for jokes – say that was disconcerting at the least. This whole situation was a mystery, and Espio was going to solve it sooner or later.

"Good point," the ninja commented, pretending to absorb that information with no problems.

"It's an excellent point that robot made for once!" Eggman butted back in, and Espio saw the twitch of Metal's fingers, "And that's why I'll think of a genius plan for invading that little island later, but for now…" he regarded his blue bot, "Metal, did you set up what I told you to las-"

"My apologies," Espio interrupted again, schooling his expression into an apologetic one. Eggman didn't look as annoyed as he could've been, "But before we go off the topic of the Master Emerald and robots, I'm curious on the construction of Metal Sonic, doctor," he looked over said mech before meeting the scientist's gaze, "You said before that Metal has some…unfavorable traits that he had gotten from Sonic. How is that possible?"

Eggman chuckled, smiling brightly at some memory, "Oh it was years ago! One of my best plans! You see, I made a machine that would capture Sonic and transfer his DNA over to Metal here!" Espio's amber eye widened slightly as he glanced over at the robot again, realizing that this was no regular machine at all. That's why he was so independent. The doctor continued, "It was a success! That brat's DNA is stored in Metal's main microchip. Fortunately, Metal didn't inherent the rodent's full personality because I would've needed to destroy him if he did," he laughed like it was funniest joke in the world.

"As if I would let you," the robot snapped, but it went unheard by the doctor, the words being drowned out by the guffaws. But Espio heard, and snorted in amusement. At the noise, Metal looked at him for a moment before returning his focus on the human.

"That was a brilliant plan doctor, please tell me that you have the blueprints of the remarkable machine somewhere? Surely you like to look at them for the good memories."

At the chameleon's question, Eggman waved him off, "They're most likely in some archives somewhere, ho ho!" the doctor calmed down a bit, still chuckling, "Hm…they would be great for the memories of my successes!" he tapped his chin, "Perhaps I should print them out and start a scrapbook…?"

"You don't have enough successes to start a scrapbook," Metal said.

"Quiet you!" Eggman yelled, all humor gone, "See? Again with this negativity! You be careful, because I might replace you with him!" he pointed back over to Omega who had been watching silently.

Metal responded with a robotic representation of a scoff, "I would dismember him before you got the chance."

Espio sharply looked over at the bot, but didn't say anything. Omega on the other hand, "YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE ON THE RECEIVING END OF MY FLAMETHROWER," he rose his functional hand, and it transformed into a cannon with hot smoke flowing out of it. Metal's eyes flashed dangerously.

The chameleon stepped in between the two, "Alright, let's calm down. No one is taking the other apart or melting them down," he glanced over to his bot, "Stand down," Omega did so; Espio turned to Metal, "Don't let him get a rise out of you, and also don't rise him up. Did you think that the threat of dismemberment would have been taken lightly?"

Espio swore that the blue bot was glaring at him, but there was no real proof since there was no visual change in the mech's stare. But the ninja felt it, "I may have made a mistake. However, do not be surprised if I react to a hostile approach accordingly."

He's challenging me, Espio lifted his chin, "If you don't instigate it, then you won't be threatened. Learn something from this," he then looked at an amused Eggman, effectively ending the conversation, and in turn, the argument, "I think it would be best if you'd just forget about that interaction doctor."

"Oh no, that got me thinking! What would a fight between Metal and Omega result in?" A Cheshire grin spread across his face, "With the Master emerald energy in play, no one can guess the outcome!"

Espio fought to keep the frown off his face, "As much as that sounds like a great idea, I would like to put a raincheck on that, at least until Omega is fully operational," Eggman opened his mouth, but the chameleon expertly jumped to the next subject, "But let's go back to earlier, I'm curious. What was Metal supposed to set up last night?"

Eggman snapped his fingers, "Ah yes! That," he drifted his gaze over to the blue mech, "He was told to put some dummies into place so we can get to work on Penumbra. Did you?"

"Yes doctor."

"Get to work?" Espio questioned, "So we're going to start him off with target practice? That's a good place to begin as any," he focused on the red and black mech, "Cease Master Emerald circulation."

"CEASING."

The doctor furrowed his brow, "What-"

"The only reason I let the energy flow is because I know that Penumbra is asleep," Espio answered the incoming question, internally snickering when the doctor's mouth slowly shut, "Once we go over there, that won't be the case. He would be able to utilize the energy and cause unnecessary havoc. I would like to avoid all risks," then he added the most important bit, "Is that okay with you, doctor?"

Eggman smirked, "Of course! My grand plan will fall to ruin if that rodent gets free," he moved toward the door, "Now, let's go get our little weapon, shall we?"

On the other side of the underground lab, two Mobians were sleeping soundly. They were together enjoying the warmth of the other's body contrasting the cold floor they were forced to lay upon. Penumbra's arms were still around Cream as he slept, mouth slightly open and a single strand of drool pooling on the tile by his cheek. The bunny was curled up against him, forehead pressed up against the hedgehog's chest fur. There was a small frown on her muzzle even as she rested, Cheese's bow tie tightly gripped in her hands.

There were suddenly tears forming in the corner of the rabbit's close eyelids. It wasn't long before she gasped, eyes flying open from the nightmare she had. Cream, already breathing heavy from her distress-filled sleep, began to hyperventilate when her memories reminded her of the predicament she was in. A harsh sob escaped her throat as she reached and grabbed the white fur in front of her, pulling herself closer than she was before and crying into it.

She then felt a shift. Blinking, moist chocolate irises glanced up to see curious and drowsy red ones staring back at her. She was still wrapped in his hold. Remembering exactly who she was crying on, Cream scrambled out of the hedgehog's weak grip, scooting a few feet away. The bunny looked apologetically at the ground, "I-I'm so sorry Mr. Shadow! I…I d-don't-" she sniffed, "I'm sorry for b-being in your s-space while you were s-sleeping!"

When she didn't get a response, Cream slowly glanced up at the other and saw the sleepiness quickly leave the hedgehog's system. The curiousness remained there, but now it was paired with…concern? Cream didn't know if she had seen this much emotion on Shadow's face before.

The bunny was silent as she watched in slight surprise as the striped Mobian crawled over to her before sitting on his haunches. Cream didn't expect him to reach up to wipe the tears from her face, and she really didn't expect him to smile softly as he did so. The child felt the warmth, both physically and emotionally, and felt a little bit better.

Well, that was until the hedgehog spoke.

He dropped his hands before pointing to himself, the smile waning in wattage, "No Shadow. Penumbra."

"Penumbra?" she repeated, tilting her head. Then words echoed around in her mind:

"What happened to y-your eye, Mr. Espio?"

"S-Someone…Someone scratched it out."

"Who did it? It was someone mean, right?"

"Y-Yes. Penumbra was…mean, to say the least."

Cream's heart rate skyrocketed, her body wanting to get away from the not-Shadow in front of her. But then her brain reminded her that Espio was the bad guy, and Penumbra had beat him up. She stared at the hedgehog, seeing that he was looking concerned again. From what she had seen…Penumbra wasn't mean at all.

She calmed herself down, hands still gripping the cloth, and managed to smile back at him. It didn't matter if it was weak and wobbly, he returned the expression immediately, "H-Hi, Mr. Penumbra," S-So he's trapped here too? What is Mr…bad guy Espio going to do to us? The tan rabbit fought back another round of tears – so Penumbra wouldn't be worried – as she introduced herself, "I'm Cream…"

One of Penumbra's ears twitched, "Crrrreeaaammm?"

He's like…a baby learning to talk! Is this normal for him? It doesn't matter if it is or not, I'm gonna help him speak! Cheese would've wanted me to… Cream choked down a sob, rubbing her nose, "Yeah, my name's Cream! Do you want to be friends with me?"

He blinked, "Cream…?" then he held up a hand, "Friends!"

It took a second, but the bunny high-fived him, giggling. She then gave him a swift hug that he returned with a smile. Cream pulled back, "Yay!" she was glad that she made a new friend, but was suddenly saddened by the fact that they were both stuck in this room, "Mr. Penumbra, how did bad Mr. Espio capture you?"

He furrowed his brow, staring at her oddly, "Essspiooo? Captuurrre?"

Cream thought for a moment, thinking that she was going to be his teacher for the time being, before covering one of her eyes. She then made the meanest face she could manage, "I'm Espio."

Penumbra blankly gazed at her until something clicked in his mind. His expression darkened a bit, "Espio…"

The bunny nodded, using her hands to gesture to help the other understand, "Espio bring Penumbra," she pointed to him before motioning to the whole room, "here?"

Red eyes focused on her and then shifted to the enclosure the duo were sitting in. He was silent for a long moment, and Cream thought that she had to try a different approach, but then he answered, "No."

Cream blinked, "No? Then who-" the rest of the rabbit's words caught in her throat when Penumbra suddenly whipped around and glared at the door on the other side of the room, ears swiveling. She didn't hear nothing for the longest, but then various footsteps reached her ears. Anxiety increasing, Cream brought the red bow tie up to her mouth and whimpered into it.

Nummy, hearing this, gave her a worried glance before positioning himself in front of her, protecting the bunny at all costs. His quills began to bristle when the door slid open and a certain human and chameleon waltzed through.

Cream quickly looked between the two, fearing the worst, and leaning closer to Penumbra, "W-What do you want?" she asked them, voice barely a whisper.

"Nothing from you, little rabbit," Eggman boasted, grinning as he looked at the hedgehog, "We're here for the rodent."

The bunny gasped and grasped one of Nummy's arms, "P-Please don't hurt him!" at the desperation in her voice, Penumbra bared his teeth at the newcomers.

Espio ignored the signs of aggressiveness, "It depends how he acts. If he listens, then no harm will come to him," he bobbed his head over to Eggman, who was shaking an ominous looking remote in his hand.

"Oh ho! He'll have the shock of his life if he doesn't!" the doctor stroked his mustache, and Cream felt her stomach drop. S-Shock of his life? Eggman then did a 'follow me' motion with his unoccupied hand toward Penumbra, "Let's go rodent."

Nummy didn't move. His snarls grew louder, "No."

"No?" A thumb hovered over a button on the remote, "Well then-"

"Wait!" Cream interjected before gently pushing Penumbra forward. He glanced back at her in confusion, "Please go! I don't want you to get hurt! Go! I'll be fine!" the hedgehog frowned at her, reluctant, before he glared at the ground and nodded.

Ears now pinned against his head, Penumbra stood up on two feet and slowly walked forward, crouching a bit. Eggman's grin grew, "Great choice!" the doctor spun on his heel and left the room, Penumbra staring heatedly at the ground as he followed with his tail lowered.

Espio watched them leave with a smirk on his face before sharply looking at the bunny. Cream flinched at the amber gaze, "He'll be back," he let out a single chuckle, "Eventually."

He walked out, and Cream was alone with her tears.

Outside the room, Penumbra was trapped on all sides as he was led on. The man was in front, Espio – as he just learned – was to his side, his metallic prey was on the other, and the not-Sonic was behind him. He wanted to kill all of them. But he couldn't. He would hurt before he got the chance.

Maroon irises trained on the back of the large one in front of him, the gaze leaking poison. That thing that he had made him hurt. He didn't…He didn't like being hurt. The two orbs then glanced to the left, seeing Espio. Penumbra didn't want to do anything more than to finish what he started, ripping his throat right out. But…he didn't want to hurt.

So Nummy did nothing but clench his fists, nails digging into flesh and causing a drop of blood to splatter against the ground.

It wasn't long before Penumbra was shoved into another spacious room. But this time, the four followed him inside. He growled over at them until something else caught his attention. In the middle of the area were faces that he recognized. However…they were different, still and unmoving, hung from the low ceiling. He saw Shadow, Sonic…Espio, and others he couldn't remember the names to.

"Attack," at the voice, Nummy whirled around to see the man smiling at him. That smile was not the same as Cream's. It made his hair bristle, "Attack," he said again, and Penumbra did nothing, not understanding. The man looked at not-Sonic, "Metal, go demonstrate for him."

The metallic being nodded before flying over and punching Sonic right in the face, making him swing violently. The robot went back over to the man, "Attack," the toneless voice told him this time.

Penumbra eventually made the connection, a feral grin spreading across his muzzle. He sprinted across the floor, heading toward the nonmoving Espio in the middle of the room. Then his muscles locked up, and he screamed in pain.

"Not that one," he heard as he convulsed on the floor, "Attack."

The pain stopped, and Nummy got himself back on his feet, limbs still contracting. Tears were in the corners of his eyes. Blinking away the blurriness, he glanced back at the four standing to the side to see that they were waiting for something. Penumbra turned around to examine the things in front of him. There was one of the man on the far right. He wanted to attack that one. But…he didn't think that he could go for anyone who looked like the ones watching him. He didn't want to get hurt.

But the rest were…people he knew…

But he didn't want to feel the pain again.

Gritting his teeth, he pounced at the one closest to him and slashed its stomach. Something gritty spilled all over the floor. Penumbra looked at it before glancing up at the face. It was Sonic. The striped hedgehog turned around to focus on the four behind him.

Two of them were smiling.

Knuckles knew that something was wrong immediately.

He was standing outside of the house watching as Amy basically assaulted Tails with hugs; she was so happy that the words coming out of her mouth were nothing but nonsense. Charmy and Vector were on either side of the echidna, looking on in amusement as the kit's air was constantly being knocked out of him. Mephiles was standing behind him, taking in the sight with a small smile on his face.

However, Knuckles was frowning. Something was wrong here, actually, many things. One, Tails seemed a little too surprised. Two, the fox's…demeanor was different. And three, the kit wasn't exactly hugging the pinkette back. Knuckles had a suspicion, and well, they were at this dimension's Sonic's house. The Sonic who had a little brother.

The echidna sighed. He really didn't want to disturb this touching moment, "Hey Amy, give the kid some space. You're kind of choking him."

"Huh?" Amy blinked, glancing down at the wheezing fox. She let go instantly, flushing in embarrassment. She chuckled and ruffled the kitsune's yellow bangs as he breathed deeply, "I'm sorry Tails! I got a little bit too excited there!"

Tails was too busy coughing to answer, so Knuckles drawled out, "Amy…" she looked over at him with a raised brow. The echidna gestured over to the bi-tailed Mobian, "That isn't Tails."

"Wait what?" Charmy chirped, confused. He pointed to the fox, "Who else can he be? That's Tails!"

Vector caught on to what Knuckles was implying, and felt sorry for the female hedgehog, "He is, but he's not the Tails from OUR home. This is the other one."

The bee made an 'o' shape with his mouth, "Oh."

Mephiles' heart went out to Amy when he saw her face fall, crushed by this information. He watched her turn around and take a step back from the fox at the door, biting her lip, "Is…Is that true? Are you…the other Tails?"

Said kit, who had regained his breath, smiled up apologetically at her, scratching the back of his head, "Yeah…I am," Tails saw her green eyes get misty, and he waved his hands in front of him. He didn't want her to cry. He had dealt with enough tears for a lifetime, "It's true that I'm not him, but I've met him, and I know where he is!"

Amy rubbed her eyes, "You do?"

"You do?" the others – sans Mephiles – echoed behind her.

Tails nodded before opening the front door wider, "We can talk inside, you know, if you want to?"

"Sure," the pinkette, mood brought back up to a stable level, gave him a slightly wobbly grin before entering the home, followed by Knuckles, Charmy, Vector, and Mephiles. With the latter, Tails' body froze on instinct, horrible memories crashing back into him. But then his mind took over, reassuring himself that this one wasn't bad. The striped hedgehog gave him a meek smile, and it took everything Tails had to return the gesture.

"Sit wherever you like!" he closed the front door, seeing the others get situated. Vector relaxed in the chair in the corner, Charmy was hovering all around the room, Amy sat on one side of the couch, Mephiles was on the other, and Knuckles was lying down on the ground, hands behind his head.

So all of them came from Shadow's 'dream', Tails deduced. Vector and Charmy didn't act different, but maybe he could tell the more he interacted with him. Mephiles wasn't trying to kill his brother, so that was good. Knuckles was the epitome of lazy, half-lidded eyes staring blankly upward and yawning. Amy was happier, sure, but Tails could recognize the hint of concern in those green irises. She was more down to earth than his Amy, as far as he could tell.

Tails swishing behind him, the young genius stepped away from the door and sat on the arm of the couch closest to Amy. The pinkette stopped examining the place and focused on the kid, "So where is he? Is he safe?"

Tails nodded, noticing everyone else's eyes on him, "Yep! He's safe," Well, if there's a point that he isn't, I'm sure Sonic and Shadow will protect him, "He's with my Sonic and Shadow."

"Shadow?" Charmy flew over, beaming, "That's why we came over here, to see of Shadow was still in the hospital! Glad that we didn't go over there first!"

"Me too," Knuckles added, "Woulda been a waste of time."

And energy, Mephiles thought, looking over at the red echidna, Especially for him.

"But wait, where did they go?" Vector asked, curious to why the other fox would go anywhere with someone who resembled the Sonic he knew. Sure, Shadow was there, but the croc was certain that the kit was so traumatized that he would stay with his twin.

"Yeah, where are they?" Amy repeated, not sure if she felt relieved or not. Tails was with Shadow, but with Sonic as well. She hadn't met that one yet, only going off of things she was told. He was supposed to be nice, but she wasn't completely sold yet.

At that question, Tails slumped a bit, realizing that he was going to have to explain everything to them. He doubted they will react exactly like how TT did – well, maybe Amy will – but still. It was heavy stuff. Tails took a deep breath, getting himself ready, "Um…they went to try and find where our Eggman is."

"Why?" Charmy questioned.

Tails played with one of his namesakes, steeling himself, "It's…kind of a long story."

"We've got time," Vector helpfully added.

I know…Tails mentally sighed, "Starting from the beginning, I met your Espio yesterday."

"Seriously?!" the bee gasped, using Mephiles as a landing pad again.

Amy scanned his body, looking for injuries, "You're alright, right? Did he attack you?"

Tails shook his head, "No, because he was really injured."

"Because of Penumbra," everyone nodded at Knuckles.

The kit continued, "So he just let me take him to the hospital to get fixed up, and before you get mad at me," he rushed, seeing the flabbergasted stares, "I didn't have any idea of this dimensional twin stuff! I thought that he was the Espio I knew and that he just…was in a mood at the time."

Vector scoffed, "A mood. I wish…"

I do too, Tails ran a hand down his face, "Uh…so yeah, I took him there. And then I went to find Sonic – mine – so I could take blood samples of-" he paused, debating whether he should mention them or not. He had already told TT, so he couldn't keep it from them, "-of your Vanilla, Cream, and Cheese," there were gasps all around the room, and Mephiles sunk into his seat, hands trembling, "Because we thought they were manmade clones and wanted to test them. We buried them in the field we were in."

"Whoa wait a minute," angry jade irises bore into his, "You thought they were just clones?"

Tails flinched away from Amy, "I'm sorry! I told you, we didn't know anything about you guys yet!"

"Take a breather Amy," Knuckles advised from the floor, "Let him finish," the pinkette huffed, but listened anyway.

The fox resumed his story, "With the blood samples, we figured out that they weren't clones and were kinda stumped on that…until our Knuckles showed up with TT at our door."

TT? Mephiles thought, forcing the images of dead bunnies to the back of his mind. Charmy asked his question out loud. Tails nodded, "Sonic gave Tails that nickname so that it wouldn't be confusing. But anyway, we met, our minds practically exploded, we went on a little trip to the mountains for no reason, and then we came back to tell Shadow about it."

"How'd he take it?" the croc rose a brow, deeming the little trip unimportant.

Tails chuckled, "He was really surprised," he frowned, "but then got really mad when he was told about Espio. Things started to go downhill from there…" The others listening all shared a look before refocusing on him, keeping quiet, "Shadow wanted to find Espio, who was supposed to be still in the hospital. He wasn't."

Amy sucked in a breath, "That's not good."

"That's an understatement," Tails gave a shaky grin, "Espio…Wait, I forgot to tell you. I only ran into him because our Vanilla called me to come get him; he must have landed near her house or something."

Charmy didn't like the sound of that, "Did he hurt her?"

"Nope, he just waited on me to pick him up," he twirled the fur on his chest, "So, Espio knew where Vanilla and Cream lived. And since he doesn't know he's in another reality…" he trailed off.

It wasn't hard for the others to get what he was saying. Knuckles was sitting up now, violets hard, "What happened?" Tails glanced at him, surprised that the echidna wasn't stomping around and yelling at the top of his lungs in anger. This one was mellower, a trait he thought he'd never see in Knuckles.

The kit blinked away any moisture in his eyes, "Espio went to their house and took Cream. He knocked Vanilla out and…k-" Tails regathered himself, "-killed Cheese."

Silence.

Amy covered her hands with her mouth in shock, "Oh my gosh…"

Mephiles was holding his head in his hands, and Charmy was bawling on his head, "Why?! Why would he do that?!"

Vector stood up from his chair and waved his clenched fists around, "NOW THAT'S TOO FAR! WAS TERRORIZING ONE FAMILY NOT ENOUGH FOR HIM?"

"He didn't know they were different…" Knuckles muttered out.

The croc glared at him, "What? Are you STICKING UP for HIM?"

"No, I'm not," the echidna responded with a sigh, "I'm just saying that he didn't know what was going on. He-" Knuckles paused, turning to Tails, "Does Espio know that Shadow's alive?" the kit nodded solemnly and Knuckles inwardly groaned, rubbing his temples, "Espio's going to use her as a hostage," he met eyes with everyone in the room, "That's why he didn't kill her. He wants to use her to get to Shadow to finish what he started. There's no doubt that he's ticked off about it."

"That makes sense…" Tails mumbled, mind whirling, "And that gives him more incentive to seek Eggman out," at their looks, he elaborated, "The reason they left to find Eggman was because Shadow said that Espio had worked with your Eggman the whole time, so he'd most likely seek ours out. He-"

"I can't believe this…" cut off by Amy, Tails faced her only to be shocked by the amount of rage etched in her features, "I can't believe that you sent my baby brother out there to try to find that maniac!" She stood up and put a finger in his face, "I don't care who he's with! Espio beat Shadow, and with Eggman's help, who knows what could happen! I swear if one hair on his head is-"

Knuckles grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the speechless kit, "You really need to cool it Amy. Your yelling in this emotionally screwed situation isn't going to help anyone," he dropped it and sloppily crossed his arms, "And I doubt that anybody wants to go deaf in here."

Amy glared at him before slumping, "You're right…" she went over to Tails, "Sorry about that," she wrung her hands together, "It's just that we're always together and…it's just hard…"

The kit put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, I understand. Sonic and I used to be like that, but then he loosened the reins," he chuckled, "I didn't like it at first, but then I realized that it boosted my confidence. I couldn't have built half of the things I had if Sonic was always around destroying stuff."

That idea took root in her brain, "I'll…keep that in mind."

Tails lowered his hand, "And I agree with Knuckles, keep it down a bit," he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, "Vanilla's back in Sonic's room, and I don't know if she's awake yet."

Amy placed her hands over her heart, expression pained, "I feel so bad for her…"

Mephiles agreed wholeheartedly, lifting up his head and gazing the way Tails pointed. It was a short hallway that had two doors in it. One Sonic's and the other Tails'. The striped hedgehog wanted to see her, but at the same time, he didn't want that to throw anymore blows to his conscience.

Tails, basically feeling the sorrow Mephiles was emitting on the couch, got his attention after getting the image of a tactful killer out of his mind, "Mephiles," said hedgehog glanced over at him, "This must be hitting you really hard…I heard that you're the one who saw their deaths," bile rose up in the rodent's throat, and he had to force it back down, "I don't know want I would've done if I saw that…"

Can the earth just swallow me up…please? He held his head in his hands again. Charmy patted him sympathetically on his shoulder.

Vector let out a harsh puff of air, anger slowly cooling down to a sizzle. The croc dropped down in his chair again, sinking into it, "So if those three are out doin' stuff, what were you doin' Tails? Just sittin' around?"

The fox shook his head, "Actually, I was on my computer in the garage, watching for any crimes or disturbances that would be of killer chameleon caliber."

"That's cool I guess," the croc leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, "So how long will Shadow be out?"

Tails shrugged, "I don't know really. They should be back before long though."

"Can't you call them or something? You gotta tell Shadow we're here!" the hyper bee suggested.

"I should do that huh? I'll be right back when I get them!" Tails spun his namesakes and hovered over to his garage, entering it and looking for his communicator. He found it beside his computer monitor. He pressed the button on the side, "Hey Sonic, you there?" he waited for an answer, but there was nothing. He tried again, "Sonic? Shadow? TT?" Nothing. Tails began to get nervous. He pressed the button again and was about to speak, but a something made him pause, "What the-" he was hearing static in the garage.

The kit searched around for it only to find another communicator in the middle of the floor. Tails deadpanned, letting go of the button. He picked the other one up and dusted it off, "Nice one, Sonic…" Tails placed both of the devices on the nearby workbench and returned to the living room, forcing out a chuckle, "Well…looks like Sonic left his communicator here…"

"Does Shadow have one? Or Tails?" Knuckles asked, and the fox shook his head. The echidna plopped back down on the floor, spread eagled, "Great."

"What are we gonna do now?" Vector grumped.

"…We could always take a nap," the echidna answered.

"But I'm not sleepy!" Charmy argued, proving his point by quickly flying around in circles.

Amy and Mephiles watched him until an idea popped into the latter's head. He reached over for the pinkette's hand and wrote on it. She nodded, "That's a good idea!" Amy turned to Tails, "Got any movies we can watch?"

Cream had just finished making a bracelet out of Cheese's bow tie when the door to her lonely room opened. Her head whipped up to see Penumbra being shoved inside by Metal Sonic. The hedgehog stumbled forward, quills slightly ruffled. Behind the robot, Eggman stood arrogantly with a broad grin on his face, "Good job during your first session!" Penumbra whirled around and growled deeply at the man, but made no other move. Eggman just laughed before tossing two items into the room, swiftly shutting the door.

The bunny watched the apples bounce once before slowly rolling to a stop right in front of her. One was red, and one was green. She picked up the red one and examined it, seeing that it only had a small bruise. Cream then glanced over at the hedgehog to see him still standing where he was before, glaring at the closed door. She jumped when he suddenly punched the metal, causing the loud thump to echo around the space for a couple of seconds.

Penumbra then slumped to the floor, a low whine reaching the rabbit's ears. Cream gathered up the other apple and trotted over to the other, sitting down on her knees beside him. She held the green fruit out to him, "Mr. Penumbra? I know that you're upset, but you can't let it get to you! That's what my mama always said to me. We're going to be saved by Mr. Sonic soon, so don't worry!" She had to stay strong, for both him and her.

Penumbra peered over at the other, "Sonic?" She smiled and nodded, holding the apple closer to him. His own lips rose at the edges when he took it, "Thank you!" this time, he initiated the hug and Cream giggled.

"You're welcome!" they both parted, and Nummy stared at the food in slight confusion. Cream, figuring that it was time to have another teacher moment, held the fruit up and bit into it. The hedgehog observed this before copying her movements and taking a chunk out of the apple. Apparently finding it delicious, Penumbra devoured it under a minute, making Cream stare in awe, "You ate your apple really fast…"

He tilted his head, "Aapplee?"

Taking advantage of this situation, the bunny nodded, pointed to her mostly whole fruit, "This is an apple!"

Penumbra looked at it, "Apple!"

"Right!" she cheered as she held up a hand; Nummy completed the high-five with a chuckle. Cream then stared at her five-fingered appendage, thinking that she should just keep going with this. Penumbra was a fast learner. The bunny held it up again, "This is my hand!"

"Hand?" the hedgehog put his against hers and left it there, "Hand!"

"Yeah! Good job Mr. Penumbra!"

Said hedgehog, hearing that from her and not him, laughed and clapped his hands.

Outside of the room, Espio was looking in with a wicked smirk on his face. Looks like we have more than one way to keep the dog leashed. Take away its favorite plaything, and it'll be begging for you to give it back.

"They cannot be that entertaining. Stop dawdling."

Espio glanced askance at Metal Sonic, who was peering back at him. The bot had stopped following Eggman and Omega back when he realized that the group was missing one. The chameleon chastised, "We have plenty of time to do whatever we want. Stop whining."

"I do not whine."

The ninja scoffed, walking away from the mirror.

"Keep telling yourself that."

Next chapter…fear the piko piko!