Chapter 14

There Goes the Nerberhood

"Sonic, hear us."

The super speed hero opened his eyes only to find himself back in the multi-hued Sanctum of the Titans.

"I was wondering if you'd ever call me back."

"A critical juncture is approaching for you and your world," said the green hedgehog. "The Agent almost has all it needs to unleash its master."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Let me guess, the agent is Specter and the ancient force he serves is Ixis."

"You have come to the truth on your own," said the red wolf. "But even so you have only scratched the surface of the depths of this threat."

"What I care about is that it looks like old Masquerade has some of my friends thinking they're the good guys. They say that you stole the job of creating the universe from Ixis, I don't believe that but if I want to convince them I'm going to need your side of the story."

"Like all good lies what they were told contains a kernel of truth," said the blue dog. "There was a battle between us and Ixis before this universe, we won and imprisoned him but that is where the similarities end."

"Our task was to act as protectors of this world to keep it from being unmade," said the purple cat. "Ixis however stood in the way of its formation so we had to seal him away in the only thing that could contain his power, the Chaos Force."

"If unleashed he would take all that is and reshape reality to how he desires it," said the yellow bear. "It would be the end of you, your world and all the worlds that stem from it, this cannot be allowed to happen."

Sonic had a sneer. "So, this Ixis guy wants to destroy our universe just so he can make a new one?"

"No," said the White Rabbit. "He seeks to be a universe in and of himself. If on the infinitesimal chance that a consciousness of this reality could survive the transition, they would be more undifferentiated from Ixis than a single electron of a single atom of a single cell of your body would be from you."

"And here I thought Mr. Perfect had a big ego," Sonic then sighed. "Only I ended up helping them. I tried to save my friends with the Chaos Emerald you gave me, but I practically handed it over to Specter."

"The agent's acquisition of the emeralds was a big loss," said the green hedgehog. "But thankfully it wasn't a critical one, his plans cannot come to fruition with the emeralds alone."

"So that's why he was so quiet lately, but what's he looking for?"

"That your friends will soon make that clear to you," said the red wolf.

"But take care not to underestimate your foe," said the blue dog.

"For it is likely there is a plan within the plan," said the purple cat.

"Stay true to your friends and your beliefs," said the yellow bear.

"For only your heart will let you withstand what awaits your world next," said the white rabbit.

A blinding light came over Sonic as he heard the titans speak as one. "May the light of creation guide you on your path."

Sonic woke up to Sally speaking over the communicator on his nightside stand. "Sonic wake up! We need you to meet us at the Sky Patrol asap!"

Sonic answered the call. "I just had a chat with my titan pals, they said you found what the Order of Ixis is planning."

"We think so, Sir Charles and Professor Pickle seem to think so at least. As soon as you get here, we'll contact everyone involved while we're en route to our destination."

"Then I'm already there!"

Sonic was out the door in a blink.

Fiona was waiting outside the idol chamber of the Temple of Ixis. As she saw the couples that made up the rest of the Five Elite approach with very large smiles on their faces, she found her giving her own playful smirk. "I take it you've all enjoyed yourselves after using that potion; I was hearing strange noises late into the night."

Lucian sighed contentedly. "I never imagined it would be so… invigorating. It was like we somehow knew exactly where to touch, that I knew what Amy would like most before she even did."

Amy was giggling mischievously. "Too be honest I expected a sharper learning curve, your aunt told me and the Freedom Fighters that it took a lot of practice. Whatever was in that potion they should give it to all newlyweds."

"Not just them," said Hershey. "Usually we spent more time on pillow talk than 'feeding the kitty' but last night… we went back three more times."

Geoffrey beamed. "I don't consider myself a slouch in that department, but it felt like the soultouch we now share was on fire. When we finally did go to sleep it was out of sheer exhaustion."

"Way to make a girl feel jealous," Fiona laughed. The vixen then turned away looking wistful. "Maybe someday Mighty and I can have what you enjoy."

Amy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "All the more reason to continue the will of Ixis."

Fiona smiled back. "In that case we mustn't keep Lord Specter waiting."

They entered the idol chamber where Specter and the Supreme Council were waiting. "Excellent," Specter said. "I hope you've enjoyed your time together, because I need you to separate for a while."

"Absence simply makes the Heart grow fonder my lord," said Hershey.

"Good, Heralds of Air and Water, you are to see Master Witchcart so that she may give you enough training in a skill that will be important in a future mission. Meanwhile the rest of you are to take the focus of Light Gaia and accompany Master Naugus, it is time to claim the Essence of Earth."

Specter levitated the ring to Amy's waiting hands. "We will not fail you my lord."

"Of course not, your success was foretold in Grand Design."

"My lord," said Fiona. "I am grateful that we are to gain the elementals I am to command, but may I ask a few questions first?"

"Ask them of Master Naugus," said Specter. "It is nearly time for the medicine this body requires so I must take my leave."

Naugus stepped into the spot Specter vacated. "Go ahead and ask your questions but keep them brief."

"Thank you," said Fiona. "So where are we going and how did we find where to collect this essence?"

"A seismologist close to one of the spies you recruited had found strange readings near where Robotropolis once stood. After examining records made during the Shattered Earth Crisis last year and ancient texts in our possession Lord Specter has determined this is where we can gather the Essence of Earth. We are to depart immediately."

"One more question, if Witchcart is to help the boys while we're gone what are masters Mammoth and Ferrum going to do?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," said Mammoth. "I have a business to run so I'll be making a few calls."

"And Lord Specter is having me make other preparations to gather the next essence," said Regina.

"I hope that satisfies you," said Naugus. "Now before we go there is one last precaution to make." Naugus took a teardrop shaped yellow stone on a chain out of his robes and handed it to Fiona. "Witchcart and I have worked together on this charm, it should enhance your powers if unforeseen circumstances land us in a battle."

"I hope it won't come to that, but better safe than sorry I guess." Fiona tucked the pendant into a pouch on her belt.

"We'll be back soon," said Hershey.

"I'll be counting the minutes," said Geoffrey.

Fiona, Hershey and Amy were covered in stone, flame and purple light respectively and flew off. Naugus changed into a shadow which then vanished.

"Alright boys if you'll follow me, we'll get you ready for your next task," Witchcart cackled.

After she left with the remaining elite and Regina left the room Mammoth took a cell phone out of his pocket.

"What can I do for you Mr. Mogul?" Breezie asked on the other end. "Something that I hope will not leave me to be devolved into a Mobini with while you are off who knows where."

"You're still mad about that?" said Mammoth. "It's just as I've explained, I couldn't risk Naugus taking you as a hostage. Again, I'm sorry but I have a request to make about that little event you're about to run in a couple of days."

"There's a lot of money tied up into that, perhaps if you made it worth my while with an increase to my year-end bonus?"

"I can do you one better, we can grant you magical power, something money can't buy and can be quite useful wouldn't you say?"

"That's very gracious of you Mr. Mogul. What do you need done?"

Mogul smiled to himself. It always paid to have an ace in the hole.

Outside Regina activated a communicator. "Snively if you can answer please pick up."

The image of Robotnick's toady appeared. "Regina I've been really worried about you. Viktor suspects the Order was planning to double cross him, as busy as he's been with the war, I've been able to slow down finding your location but I'm not sure how long I can put off finding you."

Regina smirked to herself. "You can tell Viktor we're staging a little revolt, and if he were so inclined as to help us, we can guarantee him worthwhile allies that tip the scales of this war in his favor."

"What about gene bombs? We figured out the one you gave us wasn't the only one."

"No but it was the last, how about I sweeten pot by telling you about an upcoming scheme we have that if Viktor plays his card right can help get rid of a certain meddlesome blue hedgehog once and for all."

The Sky Patrol was already in the air as Sonic sat down in the conference room with Sally, Rotor, Antione, Bunnie, Nicole, Silver and Gold.

"I've got Tails connected from the Bridge to here via intercom," Nicole said as she sat down. "Big's keeping an eye on things in Freedom City while Cream is at school."

Sonic was at the edge of his seat. "Ok, so what does the pick-a-card club have up their sleeve?"

"For that I'm going to connect us to a few witnesses and experts," Sally said. Some holographic displays popped up showing Professor Pickle, Sir Charles, Lupe and Blaze. "Thank you all for helping us, Sir Charles you better discuss your findings first."

"Yes, your highness," Chuck said. "Sonic your mother asked me to help look into the break in at your home and we managed to get this security footage.

The hologram changed to show a security camera recording of a young man with a cap over his eyes pocketing Chip's ring.

"There's our thief," Sonic growled. "Too bad we can't tell who it is."

"Actually, we can. Look at the mirror at the far end of the hall."

It was a bit far off the thief's reflection was that of a withered old crone.

"Witchcart, so the Order of Ixis were the ones who took Chip's ring. But why?"

"Probably the same reason a thief broke into the sanctum the Wolf Pack and the Felidae kept the Ancient Onyx," said Lupe. "Luckily for us my children took it during the Phantom Ruby War, Relic is studying it at Angel Island with our permission."

"Let me guess," said Blaze. "It has something to do with why Specter stole Iblis' Essence from my inner flame."

Chuck nodded. "We believe that it has something to do with how Ixis Magik works on the control of the four classical elements; Earth, Fire, Air and Water."

"But what does the Ancient Onyx have to do with any of this?" Asked Lupe.

"Relic forwarded her preliminary analysis," Sally said. "Turns out we ran across the Ancient Onyx before but knew it by another name, the Black Emerald."

"Zhat thing that held Chaos?!" gasped Antione. "Sacre Bleu, I thought it was lost when he and Tikal disappeared!"

"It was lost to our nations for ages," said Lupe. "We had only found it after the Wolf Pack Nation reestablished itself leading to our troubles with the Felidae. To think it was an echidna relic all this time…"

"So that means the Order has a powerful being of Fire, a relic of Earth and tried to get a relic that holds a powerful being of Water." Bunnie mused. "Sounds like we're just getting to the hootnanny after half the dances are done."

"This concerned me, so I went back to the Gaia Manuscripts," said Professor Pickle. "There was a line that went 'Light and Dark must be in balance in Gaia just as Gaia must be in balance with the rest of nature'. I first thought it meant that Gaia had to be in balance with life but now I think it refers to these other beings."

"Well the Black Emerald is secure for all intents and purposes," said Tails over the intercom. "So that means we have Water while Specter has Fire. I guess we're going after Air next to break the tie?"

"No," said Sally. "They wouldn't have taken Chip's ring unless they had a plan on how to empower it, the score's more like one and a half to one."

"But how can they empower it?" asked Sonic. "All the Gaia Temples were part of the Gaia Colossus when it was trapped in the planet's core."

"There might be another place where it is possible," said Professor Pickle. "The Gaia Manuscripts had this to say about the temples. 'Lo when Light and Dark return to their slumber the temples will slumber with them, until the Font of Gaia's power will call the temples once more. The Font will be in the protection of the people of the deep places, their king its guardian'."

"Deep places mean it's probably underground so…" Sally sighed unable to finish her sentence.

Sonic bolted up. "Don't tell me we're going…"

"…Unfortunately, we have to ask help from…" Sally sighed again. "…the Nerbs."

This elicited groans from almost everyone on the Sky Patrol.

Gold and Silver looked puzzled as the grey hedgehog raised his hand. "I don't get it, who are the Nerbs?"

"A subterranean offshoot of Mobians modern scientists believe are likely descend from an old-world animal called the Naked Mole Rat," said Nicole who seemed less upset than the others. "They are very reclusive but have a strong work ethic."

"You're only saying the nice stuff because you haven't dealt with them yourself!" grumbled Sonic. "They're also the most snobbish, annoying, and dweebiest creatures on the planet! They're so rigid in their how they're supposed to act that Robuttink and Eggman didn't even bother to roboticize them, they either didn't fight back because it wasn't Nerbish or some LIKED being his slaves because it wasn't that different from what they usually did!"

"Not all of them," said Sally. "There was a small Freedom Fighter division down there."

"Who were only slightly cool by copying us."

"In any case once the Phantom Ruby War ended, they managed to liberate their kingdom, but their king was still missing, and we hadn't heard anything from them since."

"Are we sure this is the only lead we have?" asked Rotor. "I mean how hard can it be to find a living embodiment of air?"

"We know the Order of Ixis will be going after this whatever this 'Font of Gaia' is. This is also our best chance to catch and interrogate one of them and learn what Specter's master plan is. We have at least some pull since we saved them once and the King made us honorary Nerbs." The Freedom Fighters shivered briefly. "We have to get to it first and that means working with the Nerbs no matter how much we don't want to." Sally groaned. "And I really don't want to."

They heard Tails sigh over the intercom. "Alright I'll set our course to near were Robotropolis used to be, that's the entry to their tunnel network nearest to their capital Nerberhood. We should be there in a half hour."

"Marine and I are on our way there now," said Blaze. "We should be there a couple of hours later in case they bring Iblis and we need to contain it again. Thankfully the Sol Emeralds and their affinity with Fire should let me take it back without pinballing me through time and space."

Lupe nodded. "I'll talk with Queen Hathor about our nations sending our most trusted warriors to Angel Island to protect the Ancient…sorry, Black Emerald. If the Order of Ixis really is after our sacred treasure it's only a matter of time until they find out where it really is."

"In the meantime, the professor and I will each conduct research to see if we can uncover whatever the Order would use for Air and what their scheme is," said Chuck.

"We all have our assignments," said Sally. "So, let's get to them."

After the communication lines closed Sonic turned to Sally. "How about we look for Masquerade's hideout instead? I hear Lethal Radioactive Zone is nice this time of year."

"No but if it makes you feel better, we can just cuddle a bit before we get there. I think we're both going to need a break."

Sonic took Sally's hand. "Best idea I've heard all day."

As the Freedom Fighters filed out of the conference room Gold and Silver heard Blaze in their minds. {Guys I have a problem. Marine is starting to ask questions I'm not sure we want her knowing the answers to. I don't want to drag her into our problems, but she's like a little sister to me, the same way Tails is a little brother to Sonic.}

{We're close to keeping our actions to change the future for the better intact,} thought Gold. {But this also the point that's going to cause the most strain between us and the people of this era. We must keep Sonic alive, but at the same time we'll have to keep the Freedom Fighters from reaching their goals or there won't be a us to save Sonic.}

{And that's the problem. I don't think I can bring myself to lie to her, but if I do tell her she'll either try to stop what needs to be done or she'll help us and become just as ostracized.}

{Blaze you're the person who knows Marine best,} thought Silver. {Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll make the right call.}

{I hope you're right. We'll see you both when we get there.}

Silver silently wished that this wouldn't destroy Blaze and Marine's friendship.

A little later that day Gold was taking in the scale of the tunnel they were traveling through. "This is incredible, and the Nerbs dug all this themselves?"

"Yes, and not just this one," said Nicole. "They have tunnels crisscrossing Northamer, and perhaps every continent, that have been built over generations."

"Which means it's really easy to get lost down here," said Rotor. "So, stick together and keep an eye out for Deep Kraken. They aren't naturally aggressive but can be dangerous if we frighten them."

Tails, using a flashlight, scouted at the head of the group. "According to the map the Nerb Freedom Fighters left us Nerberhood should be past this next turn."

"Good," said Antione. "Hopefully they'll have what passes for cuisine down here."

As the team turned the corner, they came to an enormous cavern with an underground city nestled inside. The buildings along the edges were built right into the cave wall and a castle dominated what passed for a skyline.

Sally turned to the team. "The plan is to ask the first nerb we come across to find someone to escort us the Nerb Princess, if anyone knows where this Font of Gaia is it's her. I should be able to convince her one princess to another that the Order of Ixis or whatever agents they send can't be trusted. Then we set a trap for them and find out what they're up to, hopefully we got here first."

After walking for a couple of more minutes they were in downtown Nerberhood. Silver looked around. "Is it just me or are things a little too quiet down here?"

"My babysitter here does have a point," said Sonic. "We should have seen one of the little nimrods by now."

"So why does this place feel like a ghost town?" asked Bunnie.

Gold closed her eyes and the mark on her forehead glowed. "They're here, but they're hiding in their homes. Something is making them very afraid, some monster I've never…"

Suddenly a creature the size of a Mobian ran into the street from an alleyway. It had green skin, a large nose and prominent buck teeth. It was wearing pants, a tucked in white pocket shirt, pencils stuffed into the shirt pocket, a floppy red pointed hat and large thick glasses.

"There's one of them," said Sally. "Time to get some answers."

The Nerb collapsed at Sonic's feet and grabbed his ankles. "Get out of here! You have to leave before they find you!"

Sonic had a bold confident look after he shook the Nerb off. "If you're talking about the Order of Ixis then the calvary has arrived! We'll take care of those second-rate birthday performers!"

The Nerb shook his head. "It's not whoever you said it was! You have to run before it's too late!"

Suddenly there was a maniacal laughter echoing off the buildings. "Oh, it's already too late!"

Suddenly Sonic, Tails, Nicole, Silver, Gold and the Nerb were covered in a sticky green slime that glued them to the ground as several beat-up looking Egg Pawns came out of the alleys, their guns dripping with the slime.

"Ugh, what is this gunk?!" yelled Gold.

"Just a little something we gave the bots, so they don't break our toys when we play with them!" The unseen maniac laughed.

"Wait," said Tails. "I know that voice."

A tall lanky pink horned monster leapt from a roof top, his blue tongue waving in the air. "Hey Tails, miss me?! You've gotten taller since you tricked us by faking your legionization!"

Sonic gritted his teeth. "Zazz, I thought I finished you and the rest of the Deadly Six back at Lost Hex!"

A fat yellow horned monster came from an alley. "Guh, you can't get rid of us that easy."

Sally activated her ringblades. "Zomom's here too?!"

"Easy or not we're stopping y'all!" Bunnie said as she changed her left arm into a blaster, Antione drew his sword and Rotor took a wrench from his belt ready to use it as a club.

Zazz and Zomom thrusted their hands out and the three Freedom Fighters suddenly fell to the ground.

"Sacré Bleu!" Yelled Antione. "I can't move!"

"Whatever it is they're doing," grunted Rotor. "It's paralyzing the cybernetics in my back, and I bet your legionized bodies are being effected in the same way.

"Hahaha!" Zazz laughed. "By manipulating magnetic fields, we Zeti can control any machine we want!"

"Too bad for you I'm not a machine anymore!" Sally yelled as she charged the Zeti.

"Uh Zazz," Zomom said stretching his head. "She's not a robot anymore."

"You just figured that out!?" Sally leapt into the air. "Usually the fur's a dead giveaway!" She was about to bring her ringblades down on the villains.

Suddenly she felt a pain in her back as she was suddenly knocked to the ground by something from the shadows. She felt a clawed foot pin her. "Don't bother," said a white Zeti with purple hair holding a pale blue rose. "Resisting us is pointless, but then again life in general is pointless."

"Great timing Zor!" laughed Zazz. "Let's take Sonic and his friends here to the castle, the boss is going to love this!"

Moments later the egg pawns tied up the rest of the Freedom Fighters and brought them before a throne, on either side a Zeti stood. One was a green female with long green hair and a curled tail who was applying nail polish as if the Freedom Fighters weren't there. The other was blue tiny with a strand of white hair and a white moustache, he carried a wooden staff that was taller than he was.

On the throne however was the most impressive Zeti yet. He had a powerfully built red body with a cyan ponytail, huge horns and a serpentine tail. He got up looked at the gunked up hedgehog with a wicked expression. "Well if it isn't my old friend Sonic," the big Zeti said. "Oh wait, FRIENDS DON'T KNOCK YOU INTO MOLTEN LAVA!"

"Nice to see you too Zavok," Sonic said keeping his cool. "I'd ask what you Zeena, Zik and the rest of you rejects are doing here but I already know the answer, no good."

"After that humiliating defeat you handed us, we were forced into hiding once Eggman started his little war with the Phantom Ruby. But with him out of the picture we could start taking over this planet and this isolated little kingdom seemed like a good place to start until we came up with a plan to bring you Mobians to your knees."

"All it took was manipulating a few discarded badnicks and we can now strike anywhere on the continent without notice," said Master Zik. "Like a cobra hiding under an unsuspecting victim's bed."

"I personally hate it!" fumed Zeena. "This dank cavern is messing my hair and the only ones to torment here are those grody Nerbs!"

"Ah unhappy?" Sonic snarked. "Why don't you ungoop me and I'll give you a better home in a Republic prison cell?"

"No thanks, prison orange is SO out."

"What did you do to the Nerb Freedom Fighters Zavok?!" yelled Sally. "You couldn't have taken over without them fighting back!"

Zavok turned to the chipmunk. "Ah Princess, you're looking fleshier than when I took control of you from Eggman back at Lost Hex. Too bad, I was going to give just enough of your free will back so you could watch helplessly as your body disemboweled the hedgehog."

"Answer me you freak!"

"Oh, you'll meet them soon enough," Zavok turned to the Nerb who was caught with them. "Now as for you trying to escape…"

"P-please!" cried the nerb. "I'll work super hard for you, just don't hurt my family!"

"But why make you work when making you suffer is so much more fun?" Zavok plucked the glasses off the nearsighted Nerb and crushed them with his bare hand. "For example, watching you stumble your way to get replacements for these is very entertaining!"

The Zeti laughed as the nearsighted Nerb was kicked out of the throne room.

"So, you're bullying the Nerbs instead of enslaving them," snarled Tails. "Too bad for you Sonic and I can't stand bullies."

"It's not like there's anything you can do about it from a cell." Zavok pointed at Zomom. "Take the Egg Pawns and throw the intruders in the dungeon! We'll figure out the most delicious way of executing them and the others later!"

The Zeti laughed as the overweight fiend led them to the basement.

The Freedom Fighters were thrown in after each was untied, Zomom then slammed the door. "Now you stay put while I go on my lunch break! I hope there's still some of those sandwiches left."

"Don't worry," said a feminine voice from behind them. "Now that you're here we can escape and take our home back from those odious orges!"

The Freedom fighters turned and saw a few Nerbs who were dressed oddly for their kind. The nerb who spoke was wearing a purple suit with a bang of red hair coming from under her cap. With her was a nerb with a pink shirt and a two pointed hat, one with parted hair and a snobbish look, a legionized female with what looked like a swiss army knife for an arm and finally a nerb that instead of the cap had sunglasses, blue clothes and spiky blue hair.

"Here let me take care of that stuff for you," the legionized Nerb said as her arm sprayed an aerosol that dissolved the slime.

"Thanks," said Sonic. "So how did horn head and his flunkies manage to take over?"

"It was about a month ago," said the blue haired nerb. "Everyone was changed into Mobini and when we changed back, they had already moved in. Thankfully the Deadly Six still have no clue about the king and the energy source he's been protecting since he went missing."

"The Font of Gaia," said Sally. "That's why we're here."

"We know," said Princess Nerb. "We found out about it during the Shattered Earth Crisis, my father had been down there all this time trying to understand it. Your friends had already told us about how it can be used to restore Gaia's focus ring."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "What friends?"

The nerbs moved to the side to show three girls in the corner of the cell

"A lot of people said I'd end up back in jail," said Fiona. "But I don't think any of them would think it would be because of monsters from a lost world in the sky."

The Freedom Fighters turned and saw three familiar faces. "Princess they lied to you!" said Sally. "You three can drop the act! We saw the mask in the painting, you're now working for Specter, aren't you?"

"A mask in the painting?" said Amy. "What are you…!" She suddenly stopped and knelt over a toilet and emptied the contents of her stomach into it.

"We were given a vison of you with that ring here and came to see if we could help," said Hershey looking green around the gills herself. "Unfortunately, the Deadly Six didn't take too kindly to us finding out about their little operation down here."

"We tried to fight them off, but I think Hershey and I seem to be coming down with something," Amy said after recovering. "During the fight we got tired and dizzy suddenly, and they caught us. Since then we've been using the toilet in here a lot, our chests and backs feel sore, we have headaches and we can't keep anything down."

"They've been keeping my hands full," said Fiona. "My healing magic doesn't seem to do anything but whatever it is I seem to be immune at least."

"That ring was stolen from my home by Witchcart," said Sonic. "The three of you telling them about it being here doesn't look good for you guys."

"Check us for it then," said Hershey. "If we have it then you have proof that we're in league with the Order, if not then our story is the more legitimate."

"Search them," Sally sighed. "I really didn't want it to come to this."

Antione looked through the bag on Hershey's belt and found nothing. Tails took the teardrop shaped pendant from Fiona's belt pouch.

"Just a gift from a friend," she told her cousin. "And clearly not a ring."

Sonic hesitated as he opened Amy's bag and found nothing.

"The only ring I have on me is this one," said Amy as she shown her left hand. "The ring Lucian gave me when we got married last night."

Sonic was taken aback. "Y-you two just got married, without inviting your friends?"

Amy looked sullen. "I was under the impression that you no longer saw me as friend, even if I still did. We knew destiny had drawn us together and we couldn't wait anymore."

Sally stepped closer. "Amy…"

"As you can see, we don't have Chip's ring," Amy interrupted. "Which means the Order of Ixis have yet to bring it here so we should focus on freeing the nerbs."

"Plan's simple," said the blue haired Nerb. "All we need is a way to get out of here."

"Leave that to my sister and me," said Silver. "We have a way to get past big, dumb and hungry."

"Ok, once we're out we split into three teams. Anyone who needs to rely on gizmos will evacuate the city while Sonic distracts the Deadly Six with his speed. The princess will need a smaller team to come with her to make sure his lowliness and the Font of Gaia are safe."

"Tails and I go with you princess," Sally said before turning to the witches in the corner. "You three should help with the evacuation effort, two of you are sick and there might be wounded who need your help Fiona."

As the three girls began to get up, they heard a voice in their minds. {This is Naugus, I have shadowmelded myself and the ring into the Font Chamber. There isn't a way I can get to the font without the Nerb King noticing, is there anything you can do up there once you can escape?}

Amy cradled her head as if she was getting another headache carefully putting her index and middle fingers on her forehead as she did so. "Sally we have a common enemy here and we have to work together in order to beat them. Once we're sure the nerbs are safe we're coming back, and I think you should join us with King Nerb once you're sure he's fine, these people need to know he's still in charge."

Sally sighed. "You…actually have a point. Alright, once we're sure the font is secure, we'll come back and reinforce the attack."

"Thanks for listening to us," Amy took her hands off her head.

{Excellent,} Naugus said through telepathy. {It should be easy enough for me to lay low until they're far enough away that once they realize what's happening it will be too late for them to do anything about it. Be sure to make your escape before then.}

"Let's do it to it!" said Sonic. "And you can start now Gold, fatso is on his way back."

Zomom came to the cell. "Here's your lunch, I hope you like gruel!"

"What about cake?" Gold said suggestively.

"No cake for you! There wasn't even any in the kitchen for me!"

"But I could make you one," Gold's mark and eyes started to glow. "Let me out of here and I could bake one for you."

Zomom's eyes glowed in the same color briefly. "Uh, yeah! I'm the boss here so bake me a cake!"

The Zeti opened the door only to have the key taken out of grasp by Silver's telekinesis as Sonic spun into the tub of lard knocking him into the wall.

"Wow," said Amy. "He's even dumber than I remember."

"That should keep him out for a little bit," said Silver. "But I thought you could only use your mind control to get people to do small things."

"It's a lot easier to get someone to do something if they want to do it. I just had to connect opening the door to food and his gluttony did the rest."

"Alright we're heading to the font," said Sally. "The rest of you do your jobs and above all keep yourselves safe.

Zavok had his arms crossed and eyes closed in concentration as he stood on the balcony. "Are you sure master?"

"Those meddlers had to have come here for a reason," said Master Zix. "If we interrogate them and the rest of these nerbs the key to world conquest will fall into our hands like an overripened peach."

"It does make sense, and if they refuse to tell us as we torture them then at least I will have gotten my revenge on Sonic."

"Except there are three holes in that plan," Sonic quipped as he blurred into the room. "Hole number one Freedom Fighters don't give up, hole number two hurting my friends only succeeds in getting me mad and hole number three we have to be your prisoners for you to even try it."

The head zeti looked at the Hedgehog growling. "My only mistake was locking you up instead of tearing you apart!" Zavok threw a punch that Sonic quickly dodged causing large cracks to appear in the masonry. "Master, round up the others, I'll take care of Sonic personally!"

"Hit me with your best shot grim grin!"

Zik hopped off into the castle as Rotor peeked upward from the gate. "They took the bait, let's get the nerbs out of here! With any luck we'll run into Blaze and she'll even the odds against those trolls!"

"Blaze?" Hershey asked as they began herding Nerbs out of the city.

"Oh yeah, y'all haven't actually been introduced formally yet but she was the gal that kept you from burning up Amy and the rest back in freedom city."

"I…" Hershey clutched her head. "Strange I can barely remember anything that happened up on that roof."

"Me too," said Fiona. "I don't think it's whatever illness they caught."

"Maybe you should stick around and have 'ave Gold here take a peek in your heads," said Antione.

"Who?" asked Amy.

"Ok this is getting ridiculous," said Nicole. "Gold, Silver's sister, trying to help him save the future, tricked Zomom into letting us out a not ten minutes ago, about fifteen feet to your left?"

Amy looked at the holo-lynx confused. "Nicole you're not making sense, who's Silver?"

"Me," said Silver as he came up to Amy. "Right in front of you."

"I'm still waiting for an answer who's…now I can't remember who I was asking about."

"This is bad," said Rotor. "It's like they can't see…"

"…that we'd kick your butts if you escaped?!" shouted Zazz as he, Zomom, Zik, Zeena and Zor appeared behind them with several egg pawns.

"This is all your fault Zomom," said Zeena. "Now I may actually need to, ugh, work up a sweat!"

"Keep the civilians going," said Hershey. "As much tech as you have, they can just freeze you up again. The three of us will handle…oh."

She and Amy fell to their knees.

"No way!" yelled Bunnie. "Two of y'all are no condition to fight!"

"We got this!" Silver said readying his powers.

"Then I'll take them myself," said Fiona.

"Out of ze question!" said Antione. "They 'ave you outnumbered!"

"I just need to slow them down and we don't have any other options!" Fiona reached into her belt pouch and pulled out the pendant. "And I have a little trick up my sleeve. I'll be right behind you I promise."

Antione growled. "We'll be looking for you." He turned to Silver and Gold. "Make sure she gets there." He then began retreating with the others.

Fiona turned back to the zeti and placed the pendant around her neck. Her eyes started to glow purple. "Alright you pitiful little trolls." With a motion Fiona caused several huge boulders to fall from the ceiling on top of the egg pawns. "Let's rock."

The hedgehog and tenrec levitated a few of the stones. "What do you think is happening to them?" Silver asked.

Gold's mark lit up. "Whatever is we can't stop it, even if we had the power to."

Sonic and Zavok were treading blows as they leapt from the rooftops of the castle. "What's the matter gruesome?" Sonic laughed. "You'd think with all those muscles you'd be able to hurt me a little. Maybe it's because your head has more horn than brains in it!"

"Just wait until I get my claws on around your neck you little rodent!" Zavok slashed at Sonic only to make four gashes in the roof.

"Hey, Hedgehogs are eulipotyphlans, not rodents. If you're going to insult me get it right."

Zavok and Sonic began to trade punches and kicks. "You Mobians always thought so highly of yourselves, but Lost Hex had appeared in your world more times than you know. We zeti left our mark on the old civilizations when our ancestors scouted an island chain for a potential invasion. We lived on in their folklore for generations as terrors, Oni they called us, and we would have taken your world to replace our disintegrating one if it weren't for those accursed Xorda! They left almost no machines for us to control with our dwindling numbers or a means for us to leave Lost Hex, otherwise Master Zik in his prime would have stopped the Echidna civilization before it began and after a generation or two of under us your knuckle dragging ancestors would have thought you were born to be our playthings!"

"The thing I really find annoying about you rule the world types, no imagination! All that power and you would use it to get rich, pump up your ego or push around those weaker than you. Just once I'd like to meet one of you who wants to do it for something like unlimited free chili dogs, then I'd just set them up with Uncle Chuck problem solved."

"GRRRARRRGH!"

Zavok landed an uppercut on Sonic's jaw sending him tumbling coming to a stop at the edge of the roof.

Sonic got on his feet and stared the fiend down. "Ok, now I may have a fight on my hands."

Blaze and Marine marched down the tunnel. "Just wait until I show Tails my seashell collection!" said the Raccoon as she carried a duffel bag over her shoulder. "I've added a lot of ripper new ones since they started washing up from the Prime Zone's ocean."

Blaze sighed at hearing those words come out of someone who looked to be her age. "Marine we're here on an important mission, you have to stay focused."

"I know, Order of Ixis, try to imprison an evil fire god back in your body and all that. But you're still being so mysterious about all this, you barely told me anything about this future you came from."

"It's already gone, telling you now wouldn't do you any good."

Marine looked off glumly. "Used to be you could tell me anything. When I was little after I lost my mum and dad, I was scared that the dark would take me away without them nearby. You told me you were afraid of water when you little but thanks to the priests you overcame your fear, then you'd kept a little flame lit till I nodded off. Then one day the dark didn't seem so scary anymore and you haven't had to be my nightlight since."

Marine stopped in her tracks. "But I can tell you're keeping secrets, like you know something bad is about to 'appen. You always told me when we were in trouble, even when you stayed positive for others and I felt like it was because you could trust me to be able to take it. Is what you learned about yourself so bad that you think I can't take it? That I won't think of you like my sis anymore?"

Blaze turned around her expression motherly. "I do trust you, but there are things about myself that even growing up the first time I didn't know. About who my family was, what they did, what they suffered and how I came to be born. If I told you you'd have to make a very difficult choice, one I can't make for myself, and that choice will either make you hate me or be hated along with me."

"I don't see myself ever hating you sis, but if you do trust me then trust me to make that choice. Even if things happened differently and I still wouldn't have the girls here for a few years instead of last month, I'd still like to think you wouldn't see me as just a kid. That if everyone would hate me with you that I could handle it if it was with you."

Blaze smiled. "You're still a kid at heart, but not just a kid. Alright, you may want to sit down for this. Silver and Gold learned…"

"Blaze!" Rotor called as he and several nerbs came from around a corner.

"Is it the Order, have they brought Iblis?!"

"No but Sonic and a few others are back there fighting the Deadly Six."

"I've heard of those blokes," said Marine. "Real nasty bunch…" Then she looked like a lightbulb went off in her head. "But I have just the thing to deal with those cheeky blighters!"

"Marine," Blaze said shaking her head. "Fighting isn't your…"

"You said you trust me Blaze. Then trust me when I say if we get down there, those zeti won't stand a chance!"

Blaze was taken aback but then nodded. "Ok then let's do this, little sister."

"Good," said Antione. "Amy, Hershey how are you…" the cat and hedgehog were nowhere in sight.

"Dagnabbit!" Bunnie fumed. "They must have snuck back to help Fiona and that's if I'm being optimistic!"

"We'll find them!" said Blaze. "Let's go Marine!"

The Sol Islanders went down the tunnel to Nerberhood.

Master Zix fell at Fiona's feet the rest of zeti weren't in much better shape. "How did that girl get so strong?" the old man collapsed.

Fiona looked at her fallen foes with her now purple eyes. "Time to finish these annoyances off."

She created a few floating stalactites ready to fling down on the zeti them down only for a few bursts of flame to blast them into gravel. Fiona turned as Marine and Blaze were standing behind her.

"They're beaten!" yelled Marine. "You don't need have to make shish kabob out of 'em!"

"And you don't want to fight me over it," said Blaze. "You'll lose."

Fiona shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see why I should be worried about you raccoon girl."

"Uh didn't you hear Blaze here say you can't beat her!?" Marine huffed.

"Didn't I hear…? Are you saying there's someone I should be seeing and hearing?" Fiona then had a look of realization. "Or it isn't me but…" Fiona chuckled then took a relaxed stance. "Alright, I'm done here, but this is going to very interesting."

Fiona was covered in stone and then flew up through the ceiling.

"What was that all about?" asked Blaze.

"For some reason she, Hershey and Amy can't see, hear, or remember us," said Gold. "As for Fiona's attitude there it seemed to have started once she put that strange pendant on."

"I had to use my power to offset her attacks more than anything really," said Silver. "But none of this makes sense."

"Does it have something to do with this other mission Blaze is helping you with?" asked Marine. "She was about to tell me about when we heard you guys were in trouble."

"Wait," said Blaze. "They're the Deadly Six but I only count five of them, where's Sonic?"

Almost as if to answer her there was a large crash coming from the castle.

Gold smiled. "Something tells me he can take care of himself in this case."

"SONIC WIND!"

Zavok was with the disc of wind and stumbled only to find his footing again.

"Neat trick but I'm going to be the one to crush you this time!"

Sonic gave him a wink. "Then stop playing around and hit me with your best shot!"

Zavok roared as he charged, Sonic formed another wind disc and threw it.

Zavok sneered. "As if that would…"

Sonic then spin dashed into his own sonic wind, his spinning making it grow larger and faster until about a second later Zavok was hit by a spinning hedgehog AND the fierce wind ball he was strengthening.

"WHAT THE…?!"

The next instant the leader of the Deadly Six was launched across the cavern spinning like a pinwheel until he slammed into wall making a depression the shape of his body, a bigger but more shallow circular depression surrounding that and several cracks that ran from the first to the edge of the second. Out cold Zavok fell right next to his fallen cohorts.

Sonic speed from the castle and was where Zavok fell in a second. Moments later Sally, Tails, the nerb princess and a nerb with red robes and a crown were also looking at the fallen villains.

"Looks like you didn't need backup after all," said Sally.

"Awesome move Sonic," Blaze said impressed.

Sonic was grinning. "It was a complete improv, but I like the results. So, what do you think of me calling that one the 'Sonic Storm'? It's a work in progress I admit…"

"As long as my people are safe you can call it whatever you want," said the Nerb King. No noticed that Zor started to stir and pull out a blue rose. "Once again, the Nerb Kingdom is in your debt Freedom Fighters, I'm still learning about the font but I can assure you…"

Zor then threw the rose in the air which burst into a powder that covered the Zeti and a second later they burst through the surrounding crowd their vitality completely restored.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet!" said Zavok.

Sonic growled. "Give up already! You're the toughest of your gang and I already beat you like three times now, four if you count a Phantom Ruby clone!"

"Not to mention you're outnumbered!" said Sally. "Don't make this harder for you than it already is!"

"You're the ones it's going to get harder for," sneered Zavok. "Because you aren't just fighting me but the combined power of the Deadly Six!" The red zeti then turned to his diminutive mentor. "Master Zix, it's time."

"This takes me back," said Zix. "I haven't done this properly since before you were even my student."

"Sounds nasty!" said Zazz. "Count me in!"

The rest seemed less enthused.

"Do we have to?" said Zor.

"We're going to look stupid!" whined Zeena.

"This always leaves me hungry…" grumbled Zomom.

"Would you rather lose to the hedgehog again?!" snarled Zavok.

The zeti each took a strange stance with Zavok taking the lead and the moment they did they each glowed with a dark light matching their individual colors. And a heavy aura of unease seemed to emanate from them.

"DEADLY SIX SUPER SECRET SPECIAL FORMATION!"

"They look strange," said Tails. "But whatever they're doing it's going to cause some real damage!"

Zavok broke into a wicked laugh "I admit you are truly a worthy foe Sonic! But you underestimated the combined power of the Deadly Six!"

"And you underestimated the power of my seashell collection!" Marine said as she reached into her duffel bag. A second later the sailor pulled out a large dark purple shell with spikes and opening that was glowing red.

The expressions of the Deadly Six went from wicked to aghast. "A cacophonic conch?!" yelled Master Zik. "Where did that girl…?!"

Marine blew into the shell like a horn producing a low thrumming note. The moment they heard it the Deadly Six lost whatever power they gained and fell to their knees covering their ears.

"Not again!" shouted Zavok. "Mark my words one day we will…get…our…"

The six criminals then collapsed once again.

Tails was looking over his terminal as he came close to Marine. "Great job bringing just the tool we needed and now that I got a reading of the wavelength the conch produced, I can find a variant that shouldn't hurt them but still cancel out their powers. This should keep them in a republic prison for a good long time."

"That's a relief," sighed the Nerb Princess "At least they got nowhere near the…"

Suddenly the cavern began to shake.

"Now what!?" said Sonic.

"The Font of Gaia!" said Sally. "In all the excitement I forgot about the Order of Ixis!"

"Follow me!" said King Nerb. "The Font chamber is this way!"

A few moments later they came into a small cave with a stream of green light coming from a hole in the floor. Right next to it Naugus had Chip's ring floating above his pincer, the orb glowing green but with a dark purple slit in it making it look like a monstrous eye.

"Looks like I have taken the prize this time Quickster," the mutant laughed. "I don't have time to play with you today, but I promise you the next time we meet I won't be so generous."

The wizard laughed as he became a shadow that melded into the wall then vanished.

"What did he do?!" asked the Nerb Princess.

"Whatever he did disturbed the font!" said the king. "This could be the end of all nerbdom!"

Suddenly something was shot out of the font and landed at Sonic's feet. It only took a second of seeing the maroon furred creature with little green wings to recognize him. "Chip?!"

Chip seemed to be a daze. "She's waking up… I tried to get her to see you're nice…"

Sally gasped. "Does he mean…?!"

"FOOLISH CELLS!" screamed an unrecognizable voice. "YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME BEFORE THE TIME OF MY CHOOSING, TWICE NOW!"

Everyone's attention was drawn to a big looming shadow then what was making it.

"THIS INSOLANCE WON'T GO UNANSWERED! TREMBLE BEFORE MY MIGHTY FORM AND PREPARE FOR YOUR MORTAL EXSISTANCES TO…"

The presence was confused as to why none of the others in the cave seemed to be afraid. Then it caught a glimpse of part of itself.

"This isn't my mighty form!" said a feminine looking creature chip's size. It resembled a dragon with green eyes, pink scales, little red wings and a couple of horns that while big compared to her head were still quite small. "What puny body is this?!"

Sonic then burst out laughing as he pointed at the creature. "That's quite a nice look for you 'Dark Gaia'! And here I was expecting another planet wide calamity!"

"The focus!" the little dragon sprite said. "I was awakened when they used it to siphon the essence of my other half! They not only succeeded but they've taken mine as well, that means…!"

"We've lost our powers," said Chip. "Until we get them back, we can't rejoin the planet."

Sonic was still laughing at the diminished Dark Gaia who then leered at him. "Sure, it's funny now but if the proper time of my awakening comes and I'm still not restored the consequences for this world will be disastrous! I demand you restore our power immediately and just maybe I'll simply return to sleep and let you live out the rest of your incredibly brief lives!"

"That's the problem," said Sally. "The man who did it has already escaped. We don't know where he and his allies are hiding but as long you don't hurt anyone, we're willing to let you come with us until we find them."

"This is what I've been trying to tell you," said Chip. "The people on the surface aren't just 'cells', a lot of them are nice, they're capable of so much and they're so eager to do it because they don't have as much time as we do. Just wait until you try ice cream!"

The dragon sprite sighed. "I suppose I can grace you zygotes with my presence until I can get out of this tiny vessel and back to my full majesty." She then pointed at the Freedom Fighters. "We start immediately! I'd like you to make SOME progress before I blink, and you expire of what your kind pitifully call old age!"

Sonic smirked. "Not one for casual conversation are you Whip?"

"Whip?"

"People are going to freak out if we call you 'Dark Gaia' in public so I'm going to call you Whip. It matches Chip and you seem to be cracking it enough."

"And it sounds like whipped cream," said Chip. "That's something else you're going to love!"

"…fine, 'Whip' will do for now," the diminished titan growled.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked the Nerb King.

"Just keep in touch with us if you see anything else strange," said Sally. "Especially if you see Amy, Hershey or Fiona again."

Chip suddenly flew in front of Sonic. "Wait, before Whip and I were brought here I sensed Fiona nearby. I was glad at first because we haven't talked in a month, but then suddenly it like she was Fiona but someone not her at the same time."

Gold closed her eyes. "It has to have something to do with that pendant she put on, the one that made her more powerful, but she was more vicious to the Deadly Six too. Just what was that thing?"

Fiona was absorbing a yellow light coming from the ring that was now back floating over one of hands of the idol depicting Ixis, a moment later the light stopped as they both landed on the floor. Fiona moved her hand a large creature appeared that looked like one of the chameleon-like nightmare minions of Dark Gaia only this one was made completely out of stone.

"You have performed exceedingly well today Herald of Earth," said Specter.

Fiona dismissed the creature and bowed her head her eyes back to their usual blue. "Thank you, my lord. But honestly, I must thank masters Naugus and Witchcart, without this charm they created I wouldn't have had the power we needed to distract the Deadly Six. It's odd but I don't even remember fighting them, maybe I'm starting to get the same illness that befell Amy and Hershey.

"We'll see once we check on how they are recovering, then the Herald of Chaos can gain command of the earth elementals. First though Naugus and Witchcart should probably be told their experiment was a success and that they should make similar charms for the other Heralds."

"As you command, my lord."

With a curtsy Fiona turned and left the chamber, after a short walk she came into a room where Witchcart was looking over a bubbling cauldron and Naugus was leaning on a nearby wall where two more teardrop pendants, one green and one blue, were hung.

"I take it Lord Specter was pleased with our gift to you?"

Fiona gave a wicked grin as her eyes became purple again. "Thanks to knowing when to lay low it looks like he bought it hook, line and sinker!"

The blue pendant glowed purple. "Tell me I can finally take possession of MY new vessel!" came a voice from the pendant.

"I'm sure when it's time Specter will tell us Suguna," said Witchcart. "We can't seem too eager."

Now the green pendant glowed. "I still don't like how you these phylacteries you put us in will only work with the Herald who matches our element! If only Naugus' former apprentice had wings!"

Fiona growled. "At least you aren't forced to have the body of a female Nusgau!" Fiona looked over herself awkwardly. "I'm still trying to figure out where I can put my hands without making myself aroused by my own body."

Witchcart groaned as she continued to stir. "Anywhere between your bustline and waist for now. Have you ever dealt with a woman before Agunus?"

"I'm more concerned with your vessel's mind," said Naugus. "As nice as it is to finally have my head back to myself, I know Fiona will not be pleased to find you in hers."

Agunus laughed with Fiona's voice. "Please she's totally clueless, she just thinks she had a blackout! She'll become aware as time goes on, but I've already figured her out. She sees her personality going in one of two ways; one I call the marble view, elegant and beautiful, cut by her experiences into a shape she hopes others find pleasing; the other I call the granite view weathering everything the world threw at her by being cold, harsh and unyielding, this view she wants to put behind her. But I see deep down neither is true, no the stone that fits her best is shale, it looks tough and it might even be beautiful, but it's brittle and cracks easily. Fiona has been cracked so many times and took the other view saying she got it wrong but when I'm through with her she'll see herself as she truly is, and the little shale will never want to come out ever again."

"Perhaps Nusgau can pull something like that off with Geoffrey," said Saguna. "But Lucian has had a relatively happy life, how I am supposed to subdue him into giving me permanent control?"

"You'll have to get into his head," said Naugus. "Perhaps by threatening his lovely new bride. But we need to have the girl check in on the rest of the elite for now. Our little coup within a coup needs perfect timing but when it's over the we'll be the ones ruling the world."

"Alright, I'll let the shale out." Agunus' eyes stopped glowing as his vessel looked like she was suddenly off balance.

"There you have a clean bill of health Fiona," said Witchcart. "No need for me to give you any potions."

"Uh, thank you master Witchcart," Fiona said. She turned and saw the two pendants hanging on the wall. "You're making more charms, one for each of us I take it."

"They aren't ready yet," Naugus. "Why don't we met up with the elite and see if Amy and Hershey are feeling any better?"

"Oh right, thank you again."

Fiona left the room and went to the dining hall that still had elements left over from when their temple was a prison. She was surprised to find that instead of looking ill the other two girls seemed to be devouring a chosen meal with gusto. Next to Amy was a couple of untouched strawberry cupcakes while a couple of jars of pickles and peanut butter were now half empty. Hershey had a raw tuna that was almost as large as she in front of her and was tearing into it like a mobini alley cat. Their husbands stood nearby stupefied.

"When I heard she was sick I thought some of her favorite treats would cheer her up," said Lucian. "But instead one whiff turned her stomach and she just started mixing things together until she found something she liked."

"You alright luv?" Geoffrey came close only for Hershey to hiss at him then get teary eyed.

"I'm SO sorry! I haven't done anything right today! What is happening to us?!"

"I think it is quite clear," Specter said as he came in. "The potions I gave you worked."

"But those potions were a reward," Amy gasped. "Why reward us with something that has side effects this bad?"

"Your condition wasn't caused by the potion itself but rather because of the second and third effects and what those would do to your bodies in turn. You see soon after Cyrus the Conqueror had secured rule of their tribe he and Morgana's hold was still tenuous because the Acorn clan consisted only of the two of them and needed to grow fast. Morgana first concocted that potion to solve that problem in the short time they had and so gave it three effects. The first was as an exceptionally powerful aphrodisiac, which you can clearly attest to, the second increased the fertility of those who imbued the potion even inducing heat into the female to guarantee conception."

Lucian felt his knees give way. "My lord, are you telling me that Amy is pregnant?"

"The grand design has very special roles for your children and you will meet them very soon. The third effect quickens the growth of the child while in the womb, what normally occurs over nine months will instead take days. The intensity of the illness the Heralds of Chaos and Fire is simply the normal side effects of pregnancy on an accelerated timetable and before you ask once they are born the children grow up normally, raising and educating them is another task I have for you. Morgana and Cyrus ended up having sixteen children thanks to this potion leading to a very strong bloodline, your children will do even greater things for Ixis."

"We're having a baby!" Hershey cheered. "We're having a baby!"

"It finally feels like everything we went through is going to be worth it," said Geoffrey.

"Congratulations everyone!" said Fiona.

Naugus growled as Mogul came near. "These children are going to complicate things."

"Perhaps," Mogul said before thinking to himself. "I better keep an eye on this, if Specter is playing the long game than so will I."

"We're going to be parents," said Lucian. "I still can't believe it."

Amy was feeling bewildered. "This is all happening so fast, I…I didn't think I'd be a mother so soon, but I do want this. Sonic and everyone will see that this all really is for the best," Amy turned to her own stomach and began to cradle it. "When that happens, I can't for them to meet you, my baby."

Marine's fists were shaking, it was just her, Blaze, Silver and Gold in the room that night and they made sure no one else was listening. "That…that's so horrible!"

"I understand if you don't want to help us," said Blaze. "But if we don't let these things happen our home will be a much different place. Marine you can't tell ANYBODY about this, not the people back home, not Sonic, not Ray, nobody."

"I…get it and I'll help you, it's only because of all that rotten stuff that we were able to be friends at all. But it's not just the people here who got hurt by this, you all could have had normal happy lives with your families but instead you had nothing. As young as I was when I lost 'em I still remember mum and dad, but you blokes don't even have that. Now there's a chance you can get back what you should have, you could just wait until the right moment to act, but you can't do it without hurtin' a lot of people. That's just not who you ya are sis, that's not who any of you are."

"I hadn't even thought about it," said Silver. "Guess I'm still naïve, but no the price of a ruined future is too high."

"It won't be long," said Gold. "But the closer we get to our goal the more the Freedom Fighters will suffer. But there's something else I'm worried about, the way Amy, Hershey and Fiona couldn't even see or hear us, or remember anything we were involved in has convinced be beyond a doubt, the Interloper is somehow connected to the Order of Ixis, but I still can't figure out how."

"You think it's Specter?" asked Blaze.

"Perhaps, but what he's trying to and what happened don't seem to match up. The Interloper set up a totalitarian regime, Specter is either ensuring the domination of a cult or the release of a malevolent god, neither of which seemed to have happened by the two hundred years the Imperium was in control of. We only found one piece of the puzzle; we don't know how it fits with Sonic's death."

"Heck we don't even know what the picture is supposed to look like," said Silver. "All we know is that the top priority is keeping Sonic alive, if he survives the attempt on his life then we win."

"In that case we better get some rack time," said Marine. "Specter now has two of the elemental essences while we got one safe, tomorrow everybody and their gran will be looking for the Air essence. I wouldn't be surprised if your interloper makes his move then.

"You guys go ahead," said Blaze. "I still have to keep watch on Sonic."

"Right, night sis."

Blaze left but after a couple of blocks she stopped. Her past was always a mystery to her but now she knew where she came from, after a few moments the princess and mistress of the sol emeralds did something she never recalled doing in her entire life, she broke down crying.

A/N: Whip is the OC of Cylent-Nite, check out their awesome artwork here. cylent-nite