An army of stars illuminated the night sky, courting the cold breeze that whistled through the surrounding ruins. A soft choir of cricket chirps interrupted the deadly silence, echoing through the eerily quiet forest as fire flies lit up the deepest depths of the swaying flora, dousing everything in an ethereal glow. It was mesmerizing, but as usual, there was no time to ogle the scenery.

Silver sat beneath a canopy of leaves, perched on the branch of an old oak tree, Knuckles and Tails peered from the edge of a derelict wall, whilst Vector, Charmy and Espio watched from behind a fallen log, trying their best to remain hidden. A rising chill clambered along their bodies, igniting a trail of goose pimples upon their arms. They were shivering, but neither of them seemed to notice.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that their prey were lost, having observed the robots wandering in circles for quite some time. They'd been coming and going for almost thirty minutes, and it was beginning to grate on the team's nerves. The only thing preventing them from losing patience was the prospect of discovering the doctor's whereabouts, but the bot's indecisiveness was only wasting precious time.

'Have we been here before?' Cubot remarked, rubbing his chin in confusion. 'I'm getting...What's it called?'

'De ja vu?' Orbot suggested.

'Yeah that's it, de ja vu.'

'Are you sure we're going the right way?' The sphere asked, pointing to a line he'd drawn in the sand. 'It's the fourth time we've crossed this marker.'

'I've just been following the directions on this map,' He replied, waving a piece of paper in the air. 'I think it must be broken or something.'

From his vantage point, Silver could clearly see that the map was upside down, something which amused the hedgehog. He was finding it very difficult to believe that a man with an IQ of three hundred could create something as undeniably stupid as the hopeless box. For someone who'd been labelled a genius, Eggman had proven himself a shoddy engineer. Was he really as smart as he claimed to be?

Vector, however, knew not to underestimate the doctor, who had a valid reason behind everything he did. Ever Since the incident where Metal Sonic had gone rogue, Eggman had been much more cautious when constructing his machines, often making them devoid of intelligence, devoid of strength, or on occasion, devoid of both. It was a way of ensuring he'd never be overthrown.

'Where exactly are we?' Orbot inquired, gesturing to the map.

Cubot examined it closely, holding the paper at arms length, 'I can't make any sense of this thing. It's just a bunch of colours and stuff. I love colours. I love stuff!'

His friend shook his head, 'Yes, I know. You tell me all the time.'

A sudden burst of static caused both bots to jump, and the red sphere immediately raised his left arm to his face, gazing at the unusual bangle dangling off his wrist. It appeared to be some sort of transmission device, producing garbled words that spilled out of a small, unseen speaker. Orbot fiddled with the miniscule dials, tuning the frequency until the disembodied voice became more prominent.

'What are you idiots doing!?' Eggman bellowed. 'You've been gone for hours!'

The bot cowered, 'I'm terribly sorry sir, but we appear to be lost.'

A heavy thud blared through the speaker, 'That's why I gave you a map!'

Flopping onto his side, Orbot Prepared himself for the verbal lashing he knew he was about to receive, impatiently tapping his fingers against the dirt. Cubot, on the other hand, found himself distracted by a small mouse scurrying through the thicket, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Eggman was calling. He rarely paid any attention to his boss, nor his work, leaving Orbot to do the majority of the labour.

'I knew I should have left the two of you in space!' Robotnik screeched, banging his fists against some unknown object. 'It will be midnight soon!'

'My internal clock is working perfectly.'

'Then you should know that we only have three hours left?'

'Yes, I am aware of that.'

'Then why is it taking you so long to complete a simple task!?' The doctor continued, going into a raging fit. Loud bangs could be heard in the background. 'It's so easy that even a monkey could do it!'

'Then perhaps you should hire one.' The bot mumbled.

'What!?'

'Nothing.'

Eggman growled into the mouthpiece, 'Hurry up and finish the job, otherwise you'll both be receiving a one way ticket to the trash compactor!'

The connection was abruptly cut, leaving a thick tension lingering in the icy air. Vector's curiosity was roused, eager to discover what enigmatic plan the rotund man had in mind. It was unusual for the scientist to be so secretive about his schemes. Normally he would be more than willing to brag about his latest ploy, wasting no time in making a show of his own intelligence. His narcissism was endless.

He shattered the Earth into a dozen pieces, destroyed a section of the moon, chained up Little Planet, and took control of a time eating alien that he'd discovered in the depths of the universe. It wasn't like him to remain underground for such an extended period of time. He'd been missing for months, and something about this bothered the crocodile, who was slightly unnerved by Eggman's uncharacteristic actions.

As he sat and pondered such thoughts, a sharp pinch made a yelp of pain escape the croc's lips, forcing his hands to quickly cover his mouth. With a snarl, he spun to face Espio, who had turned an unusual shade of grey. The chameleon wore a look of horror on his creased features, and as he pointed to the spot where Charmy had once been, a wave of panic overwhelmed the detective's previous burst anger. Pulling himself up the fallen log, Vector frantically searched for the wandering child.

The entire forest seemed throb with life, concocting dark shadows that played tricks on the crocodile's eyes. Finally he caught sight of the bee, crouched on all fours as he chased after the small mouse that had sped past not moments before. Without thinking, the detective picked up a small stone and prepared to lob it at Charmy, only stopping when the ninja grabbed hold of his arm, swiftly warning him that any noise would likely expose their hiding place. Cursing silently, the croc immediately dropped the pebble, sitting back on his heels.

'Perhaps it would help if I used my camouflage?' Espio suggested.

'Yeah, good idea.' Vector agreed. 'I keep fogettin' you can do that.'

In a matter of seconds the chameleon was gone. Invisible to the naked eye, he swooped through the darkness, ready to steal Charmy away. But as he extended his arms to grab the child, Cubot yanked back the fern obscuring him from view, coming face to face with the startled bee. Sucking in his breath, Espio glanced at a horrified Vector, the combined beating of their rapid pulse growing so strong that it was almost audible. A heavy thumping noise that threatened to send tremors through the ground.

'Erm...hi.' Charmy said, uncertainly.

'Hi little guy!' Cubot jostled, lurching forward to shake the bee's hand. 'What's your name?'

'Ch...Charmy,' He stammered, feeling his arm vigorously flapping up and down.

'You look familiar, have we met?'

'No, I don't think so.'

'Nevermind, I'm Cubot, I'm lost.'

Blinking in confusion, the bee nervously licked his lips. The robot spoke so fast that it was almost impossible to make sense of his words. The child had to listen very carefully, attempting to separate the mess of letters that seemed to melt into one another. Tails sympathised with the bee, wondering whether he should have brought his translation device along. It had worked wonders on Yacker, after all.

'Lost huh?' Charmy said, gazing at the map. 'Maybe I can help?'

'Yeah, that would be great!' The bot thrust the paper into Charmy's hands. 'We need to get to that big blue circle!'

Charmy examined the paper, stifling a chuckle when he realized the map was upside down. Spinning it round, he glanced at Vector, unsure of what to do.

For once in his life the croc was happy that Charmy had a short attention span. Using the bee as a spy was more than ideal, and the detective knew that Cubot was the sort of guy to let slip important details. If the child could get close to them, perhaps strike up a conversation, he could entice the robots to reveal what Eggman was really planning. He wasn't going to let the opportunity slip through his fingers. It was now or never, and for once, he had the advantage.

With a gleeful grin, he gave the bee a thumbs up, mouthing the words, Make me proud!