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Chapter Twenty Nine

"Well, we just lost Byrch and Shine..." Tails muttered.

"Look on the bright side," Sonic offered "At least Shine will find Mortuus before he finds us."

Kat glared at him.

"Yeah, but there's a chance that Shine could be killed." Tails argued.

Shadow stood up from the cot. "Alright, look. if it really means that much to you guys, I'll look for her after the storm. In this rain, she couldn't have gone far."

"Right - I'll come with you." Sonic offered. "If you run into Mortuus, you don't want to be by yourself."

Tails watched Shadow as he huffed at Sonic and leaned against the wall, looking away.

"So, Sonic, you never did tell me how you escaped Mortuus." Tails said eventually.

"Oh yeah," Sonic was snapped away from his feud with Shadow. "He had left me in a room, just tied up in some chains. I guess he didn't think I could pick a lock. The rest was easy."

"It just seems so convenient that he'd let you go like that after going through all the trouble to get you." Tails muttered, almost to himself. "Maybe he wanted you to escape."

"Whatever. As long as I can keep my own head, I'm good." He glanced again at Shadow.

Shadow shot a glare at him, then straightened his back. "If you're shooting an insult at my expense, then I should remind you that you were the one he first killed."

"No, he killed me and left you for dead, thinking you already were dead. Technically, you were the second one killed."

"'Technically', No. The second one killed by him was..." He frowned. "What was that city called? The one Byrch was from."

"Tazza?"

"Yeah, that."

Sonic narrowed his eyes - But shrugged and looked away. "Whatever..." He muttered in unison with Shadow.


"The rain has stopped." Shadow announced, getting up. Sonic followed him up the stairs.

"We'll be back in a few." Sonic said cheerfully.

Tails and Kat stared after them.

"Wow..." Eggbot said casually, and a moment. "Those guys are weird."

"You just noticed?" Tails frowned.

"No, but I thought It'd be good to state it, just in case you guys didn't notice."

"Do you think they really will find Shine?" Kat murmured quietly, almost to herself.

"I hope so." Tails said. "We need her and, frankly, she needs us."

Eggbot crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Will you two quit worrying? This is the first time in years that I've been able to walk around without-" He stopped, and looked away.

"Without what? Eggman, where are you?" Tails growled.

"It's none of your business."

"Would you quit saying that?"

"Maybe I'll tell you another day,' He laughed suddenly, obviously amused. "When we're not being hunted down by a psychopathic monster that wants the universe to himself." He was quiet for a moment. "You know," He said "It amazes me that my experiment can grow such feelings as hatred and anger. I only needed him to kill Sonic and Shadow, then you guys would be in disarray, but he went all out, eh?"

"Oh my god, just shut up..." Tails sighed.

"Hey, I'm just saying."

"Yeah, so am I."

"Both of you, quit arguing, you're both so annoying..." Kat growled. "We need to figure out what to do next."

"Well, once Shadow and Sonic find Shine, we should probably go to Mortuus' base and see if he's still there. If he's not, then we have to see if we can find any evidence as to where he might have gone."

"I like that plan." Eggbot said.

"It's the only plan we have, dumbass."

"I know."

"Eggman," Kat said after a moment, a plan formulating in her mind. "What are Mortuus' weaknesses?"

"Weaknesses?" Eggbot pondered for a moment. "Well, he seems more reckless when you aggravate him. I didn't really want him to have any weaknesses, so there kinda is none."

"So that's your plan? Aggravate the anger-management-laden psychopath so that he becomes reckless and we can't tell what he's going to do?" Tails looked at Eggbot skeptically. "Sounds perfectly sane to me. Oh wait, I have a better idea - Let's jump into a pool of sharks with an open wound on our leg. I like that plan."

"You don't have to be so sarcastic."

"I do, actually."

Suddenly, Sonic burst into the basement. "Come quick!"

Tails and Kat stood instantly, while Eggbot struggled to his feet. "What?"

"I've found Mortuus!" Sonic breathed, a slight grin of satisfaction on his face.