Writer's Note - 'Chaos Born' is a year old! Thank you to all those who have followed, favorited and reviewed this story. You're the best and look out for your name in the credits at the end when this story is completed.

COUNTDOWN TIL SELF-DESTRUCT: 45 MINUTES 22 SECONDS

The burning cloth caught alight pretty quickly and Ira threw the rag into the cupboard as fast as he could. The lighter fluid would likely only last three more uses and then he was out of there. Whether he believed that a little arsen would hurry things along or was simply a way of adding salt into the wound, even he wasn't certain but behind him, throughout the complex, various cleaning cupboards were burning away nicely.

The first cupboard, situated snugly beside a carpeted 'lounge' of some kind, would most likely be spreading into the neighbouring room and filling the area with smoke by now. From there, all it needed was a little encouragement and then the whole place was going to blow.

Checking his watch, Ira noted he had only a little time left before he ought to start thinking about either abandoning the place or attempting one last search for the cursed hedgehog. All his carefully laid plans had fallen apart at the seams and the only thing he could do was try and grab any flyaway threads if he wanted anything to come from all his hard work. It was a clear indication that he'd left it too long, however, when he considered that the additional allies that Sonic had gained over the years were the forefront reason that he wasn't already sitting on his kingly throne and enjoying the rest of his eternal life.

'Blasted creatures', he had bitterly thought to himself, 'Most of them aren't even pack animals by nature.' Despite this, Ira managed to calm his head long enough to actually do some proper thinking. "Ivo will have him," he reasoned, "He was always a snatcher. If I so much as looked at something that belonged to him... So the question is, where?"

Thankful for a good memory, Ira recalled that one of the first things he had done upon taking over the factory was to look up a detailed map of the complex so as to determine where it would have been best to house a supersonic hedgehog. There were a few dark areas on the map that hadn't been labelled and which his brother had refused to give information about. If he wanted to hide something, it would be in those rooms.

"Hey, buster, yer got yerself a whole lotta explaining t' do."

Freezing, Ira cursed his luck and, at this moment in time, cursed anything and everything that breathed. He wasn't sure how, but a large green crocodile had suddenly appeared in front of him. Perhaps his hearing was failing him too.

"Out of my way before I turn you into a pair of boots," Ira spat.

Not a fan of bad manners, Espio had him pinned to the wall with a pair of excellently aimed shurikens that had caught his coat shoulders. The lighter that Ira had been clutching in his hand dropped to the floor and dribbled flammable fluid around his feet. It was well that the burning cupboard was several paces further down the corridor.

Vector marched in front of him. "P'rhaps an apology would do yer some good?" he suggested, baring an aggressive set of teeth as he did so.

To the Chaotix surprise, Ira, having looked around pathetically, smiled. The smile then became a chuckle which became a hearty laugh. The Robotnik family were, after all, prone to insanity.

"Oh what's the point?" Ira cackled merrily. "I'll be leading the lot of you to hell myself!"

"Looking over your history," Charmy gulped quietly, "I'm not certain you're leader material, pal."

"And seein' as yer not in a position to demand anythin'," Vector continued, also a little taken aback by the scientist's mad threats, "how's about yer start tellin' us what the deal is? My boys and I have been followin' yer work since yer boat theft at the harbour and, bein' detectives, a little closure would be appreciated."

"Sonic's allies?" Ira grinned.

"Friends," Espio corrected.

"How precious." Ira laughed again for a few seconds more. "Well," he then said, "your friend was my ticket to immortality. That's the 'deal'."

"Then what?" Vector asked but got no immediate reply. "Come on, pal. Yer sayin' Sonic would shrug and hold out his hands and say 'take me in, boss'? Not in a million. What else were yer plannin' on doin'?"

"My brother may have created a new line of robots to be powered by the chaos energy we siphon," Ira explained. "But I didn't have any further plans on that front. I just wanted to know how that hedgehog functioned."

Charmy looked at him witheringly. "Uh, like any other hedgehog functions?"

Ira narrowed his eyes. "... Tell me why he's so fast."

Charmy had no answer and neither did Vector.

"I assume you know," Espio murmured, curling his tail tightly to ease his growing impatience.

"...No," Ira replied, telling the truth, "I don't. I only know the story that a Chaos Emerald created him but... well, that seems just a little too fantastic, don't you think?"

"It doesn't matter what we think. Sonic is complicated and simple at the same time and none of us have issues with that."

The smile fell away and Ira was left scowling, not even attempting to pull his arms from the wall.

"It won't matter what any of you think," he huffed, "I'll be dead before long."

"Accordin' to the others," Vector interjected, grabbing hold of the situation once more, "yer haven't any idea where Sonic is."

"He's with my brother," Ira answered him and scoffed loudly. "Ivo's special pet. Ivo's problem now. The fool is responsible for him so he can deal with the consequences."

Charmy buzzed close to Vector's head. "Vec," he said in a low voice, "this guy's nuts. What are we going to do with him?"

In a louder voice, Vector replied, "He's going back to his padded room at the asylum."

There wasn't any way they were going to leave a dangerous man like this to die here. If cliché stories and popular reputation were anything to go by, there was always a 50/50 chance that the bad guy somehow survives certain death.

"We might be cold-blooded reptiles," Vector decided, "but we ain't cold-blooded murderers."

"Speak for yourself, Vector."

Vector and Espio spun to face Charmy in horror and shock.

"What?" Charmy smiled innocently. "I meant in that I'm a bee, not a reptile."

It was probably one of the worst places they'd been in. After all, when a set of ominous doors opened in a creepy factory owned by a maniacle scientist, you were almost certain to be met with some kind of resistance. In this place, when the doors opened, you would either be met with an entire fleet of violence-starved robots or absolutely nothing.

So far, Blaze thought, they hadn't met anything which, fate suggested, meant that they were due a battle soon.

"Now where are we?" Cream had asked, following the cat princess into yet another room. "This doesn't look like the exit and I'm not seeing Sonic anywhere."

"Another dead end," Blaze groaned and anxiously checked her communicator.

"We can't afford dead ends!" Cream gazed around at the dismal room - another computer room, of course - with disinterest, already preparing to move on. "The others will let us know when they have Sonic, won't they?" she asked.

"If there's signal," Silver had answered her, still standing by the doors. "At this rate, we could all be wandering around and end up getting blown up. Hey, Big? You got something?"

The larger cat was studying some blueprints on the wall. Among them were images of previous Eggman robots.

"...Big?" Blaze gently called to him, moving towards the doors with Cream beside her. "You think we ought to keep moving?"

Big tilted his head and pointed at one of the images up on the wall. "Look what I found."

"Another robot," Silver noted. "This place is crawling with them. Come on, buddy..."

"I know this one," Big was saying, not wanting to leave just yet, it seemed.

Silver and Cream exchanged quick glances with Blaze.

"You know it?" Cream murmured, peering closer, "Why would you-? Actually, it does look a little like Omega, don't you think?"

"Ah, the E-Series," Blaze realised, nodding. "Probably an old design that Eggman had."

"Silver?"

Silver jumped at the voice from his wrist. While Blaze and Cream were trying to coax Big away, he stepped back into the corridor.

"Shadow," Silver smiled, "You found Sonic?"

"Not even remotely close to finding Sonic." Silver's smile dropped. "Where are you?"

"I'll send you the coordinates if we have a temporary communication signal. The line isn't that clear though - you sound kinda fuzzy." Once he had sent their position, Shadow's voice, which sounded stiff, was coming through again.

"Omega and I have found a research area."

Silver deadpanned his communicator.

"...Gee, that's a real nice but I'm not sure it's our main goal here."

"Don't get smart, idiot. I wouldn't bother trying to contact you (of all people) if that was the only thing I had to report. Who's with you?"

"Big, Blaze, Cream. Shade split to find the quickest way out of this place."

"Fine. I'm just letting you know that I might have something for you when we get out. So get a move on and don't die."

"Aw, Shadow..."

"Say another word and I'll spin dash you back into the future."

In the meantime, Blaze managed to eventually encourage Big to stop wasting time but, as they left, he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder at the image on the wall.

"That's the robot that took Froggy a long time ago," he squeaked to himself.

A watched pot never boils. That was how the saying went.

Perhaps, in a similar vein, a watched robot factory never gave up its prisoners.

It didn't mean Rouge wasn't going to try and use the sheer power of her glare in an attempt to weaken the factory's walls. Now if only speed-hungry birds would quit bothering her...

"Riddle me this, lady," Wave sighed as she sauntered up, "With our airship almost full and your GUN craft now being packed too, how are you expecting your team to get off this island?"

Rouge wouldn't look at her - there was only so much Wave the Swallow she could take. "I brought Tails' plane."

Wave turned up her beak and laughed. "The Shrimp's plane? Yes, because that flying foil contraption can transport the whole lot of you to safety, no problem."

"Don't talk to me about my plans if you haven't brought any good ideas with you," Rouge growled, her arms crossed over her plump chest and her wings tightening at her shoulder blades.

"I'm just curious," Wave continued. "Were you intending to use that tiny plane to get however many there are of you out of here?"

Rouge flashed her a false smile, laden with aggression.

"If you'd be so kind as to focus on helping the innocents, I'd be very grateful," she sweetly said.

"Just answer me!" cried Wave. "Do we have to make a return trip here for you lot or not?"

The bird was being serious. The teasing words were a façade for traces of legitimate concern.

Well, Rouge thought, I'll be damned. "There won't be time," she then answered seriously and calmly. "If this island is really going to go underwater, it will be too dangerous for anyone to come back once they've left."

Wave seemed to consider this.

"Right," she then replied. "...So we're sailing off into the sunset once we're done here. Thank you for finally giving me an answer." Having said that, she turned and skipped away.

There were times when no-one could really say for certain where the Babylon Rogues stood.

As Rouge stared blankly after her, wondering if the baby might enjoy hearing its mother punch a few senses into a senseless bird, Marine cautiously approached.

"So, not intending to call you out on anything," she began with a chuckle, "but...what was the plan for getting everyone off?"

The truth was, Rouge didn't have one.

"I'm working on it," was all she would say.

Marine, fair play to her, accepted that answer and didn't push for more details, opting to leave her alone instead.

When the raccoon had gone, Rouge lifted her wrist. "...Shadow?"