I'm nervous for the next chapter. I've been stalling and dreading writing it. I have a good grasp of what I want to happen, it's all a matter of timing on my part...timing and coherency. o_O

It's going to jump around to pretty much aaaaaallll the characters and how they tie together.

It'll take a few days to write. Don't know, maybe I'll break it up into parts instead of making it super long...nah, one big lump. As I write this sentence, I realize a break in the flow would ruin the delivery of the climax. x.x

On with the show. :D

-Chapter 102: A Calm Before The Storm-

In the hours that came, the seven listened to different music genera's and lightly discussed music theory; Knuckles remained in the kitchen and boiled fruit juices for the store's shipment of homemade jelly candies.

Shadow sat up suddenly from his relaxed position. "That's not good," he said and looked around as if he'd forgotten something.

Mina thought he meant the music, "Though it was the spiritual successor to rock and synthpop, techno doesn't land with everyone."

Shadow shook his head, "No-no, not that."

Anne looked alert too. She sat up from her semi-coiled tail that cradled her in mid air. "Hmm?" she seemed dazed but concerned.

"What the hell's gonna happen?" Rolph asked as he tuned his thoughts toward the hivemind he and his siblings shared. "...he can control the transformation...right?"

Sonic pointed to his werehog self and raised an eyebrow. "Am I the 'he' in this question?"

The three Black Arm hybrids went silent and left the rest of the room to wonder.

"Keep us in the loop, would ya?" Julie-Su asked as she poured the last smoothie of the evening for herself.

"It's Hugh," Shadow said. "Barker's show isn't going over well. The people don't seem to care for his larger side."

Mina recalled the name. "He's your other brother; the werehog guy who partied with us the night of the blackout?"

"Yes." Shadow closed his eyes. He spoke again, "I'll keep watch over him. Where is he? I see he's in a city with a lot of construction going on."

Sonic thought out loud, "Probably the city where Chaotix are stationed. If it gets out of hand, we can send them in to calm the ensuing pitchfork, slash, torch wielding mob," he said with a half-hearted chuckle.

"Actually, it doesn't look like that will be necessary." Shadow laughed lightly to himself. "He says, 'Spent a long time in the jungle. Got easily bored. Taught myself to juggle with fruit. Never thought it would be useful. The people like it.' He's showing them he's sentient and capable of communication. That's good, they're calming down."

The room looked collectively relieved.

"That's impressive," Rolph said as he watched on though the hivemind. He left the couch he and Mina shared and went to look over the folding table of remaining fruits; he grabbed three that were palm sized. "Let me see if I can figure this out." He flipped his eye patch up for a second and looked at the three orange, red and pink fruit he held. He flipped the patch back down. "..." He tried his hands at juggling and nailed it on the first try. "HA! Leave me with this, I'll get up to five like he did."

They spent the next hour with lo-fi music and juggling tricks. Julie-Su also knew how to juggle and they, after a timing struggle, managed to toss back and forth with one another.

"Lucky seven!" Rolph shouted as the two found their rhythm with the rainbow of fruits.

"Ooh, pretty," Anne said as she witnessed the feat.

"I can't juggle to save my life," Mina said and stared on in awe. "Maybe I just never tried to learn because I don't want to ever 'not' be impressed by it." They laughed.

Rouge's device vibrated. She looked at a message from her former partner. "Private Walker sent an update via the business line. 'Enforcers discovered our route so we had to change ships. Heading straight to you on fastest route. Docking early morning. I sent a full description of my orders from the Colonel.'" She looked at her own line and read aloud, "'Sketchy or what?' he asks on the personal device." She looked up to see her partner's response.

Shadow groaned and sat up again. He struggled a bit with the beanbag chair he hadn't left the entire evening. His feet found the floor along with the shoes he'd kicked off a while ago. "We should head out now." He stood up and lifted a leg to walk but lowered it again. "Why do...my shoes feel so heavy?"

"You're high," Sonic reminded him.

"...I see," he said and ignored the discomfort.

Anne groaned, "Can't we stay a little longer?"

Shadow shrugged, "Stay as long as you want. You don't have a curfew."

"I forgot," she said and leaned back on her tail coil-spring-seat.

Sonic yawned and stretched his large arms behind his head, "I think I'm going to head out too. I know Amy can't really feel lonely right now, but I don't like leaving her alone for so long."

Rolph spoke up. "We still haven't met your lady friend yet. What's the hold up? She shy?" He and Julie-Su caught the remaining objects and ended their performance.

Sonic laughed, "Not even. You can come meet her now, if you want."

Anne lowered herself to her feet. "You're leaving me here?"

Rolph turned to his sister. "Don't you want to hang with Mina bit longer?"

Anne leaned back and used her tail to slithered across the floor. She sat directly next to Mina on the couch, "Good point." She took a deep breath. "We can do this."

Rolph also took a deep breath. "We did this all day in town; we can do it again. I'll head back to the Eggman's place after I'm done with 'big blue' over here." He fist bumped with his sister and left the home with Sonic, Shadow and Rouge.

"Do what, exactly?" Rouge asked along the way.

Rolph looked away, embarrassed, "We've always been together. From day one right up until now, we've only ever been apart for minutes at a time. We're working on not being so anxious when we aren't together. Life is going to be different now that we don't live in a lab setting. It's an adjustment, but we'll manage."

Sonic smiled, "Good for you, both. I know Tails is working on making you two matching communicators; you two can stay in contact seamlessly while you get used to life on the island."

Rolph smiled. "That'd be helpful. Thanks...and uh, sorry for being so snippy at you when we first met. I wasn't expecting everyone to be so forgiving. Got a lot of walls up here," he said and poked his own forehead remorsefully.

"No hard feelings." Sonic gave him a thumbs up.

Shadow and Rouge kept on going to Eggman's rebuilt lair while Sonic invited Rolph into his and Amy's home.

Sonic pulled back the pink sheer curtain and revealed his partner frozen in time.

Rolph stared in fear at the pregnant pink hedgehog. "She's okay like this?"

"Yeah. Shadow said that if we keep her frozen in time, the time dilation caused by the magic she used, will go back to normal. I suppose you know what 'time dilation' is, right?"

Rolph rolled his eye and laughed lightly, "Of course. But, uh...could I take a look at her?" he said and pointed to his eye patch. "I ask, in case you don't want to know answers."

"Answers? Like what?" Sonic looked to be on edge

Rolph looked around the living room. "If you want to know a date she'll go back to normal, put a device on her that can be read without touching-and displays date and time."

Sonic blinked a few times, "That's oddly specific."

He grumbled, "I can't interact with the stuff I see, so, if you want an exact date and time she's going to be 'healed', I can see it on her wrist, or wherever you put whatever device. And 'no', you can't mark a calendar; you won't remember to mark it. Don't argue. This'll work."

"Alright." Sonic realized short tempers were a trait all the Black Arm folks shared. He stretched his arm into his bedroom and retrieved a 'werehog palm sized' digital calendar. He laid it on her lap. "There."

Rolph flipped up his eye patch for a second and back down again.

"What?"

"Put batteries in it," he said with a sigh as he pointed to the dying digital display.

Sonic corrected the dying alarm clock with batteries from the kitchen drawer. "These arms are going to make me lazy." He put them in the device. "Let's try that one more time."

"Hmm," he nodded and flipped his eye patch up again. His eyes shot open and he took a few steps backwards.

"Tell me!" Sonic saw the distressed look on the guys face.

Rolph straightened his eye patch. "I can't see...anything. I think being frozen like this somehow blocks my vision; or maybe there are too many variables. That did happen to me once before. Hugh knew about my eye when he came at us, so he showed up with no plan what-so-ever. He made it up as he went along. With situations like this, it's because I have a role to play in what happens here. I don't know what I'll do when the time comes, which adds to the amount of variables. It's all a blur."

Sonic sighed in defeat and took a seat on the edge of the couch. "Dammit." He looked up to see Rolph looking directly at him with both eyes. "Still don't trust me?"

He replaced the patch again. "Not that. To ease your mind: Amy's going to have two healthy babies; you're going to be insufferable to deal with when you show their pictures. You both go to Mina's concert; it's delayed for 'reasons', but it takes place right out there." He pointed to the back yard; the same spot Mina had in mind to do her waterfront concert. "Happy now?"

"Very." Sonic breathed a deep sigh of relief[finally]. He fell to his back on the couch nearest Amy. "That's a load off my mind."

"Did you get the gender's of the two little one's yet?"

Sonic sat up again, "Boys. Why? Is that not correct?"

Rolph stepped closer to Amy. He drew two outlines with a finger, on her baby bump. "Baby number one is a boy, baby two is a girl. She's gonna have hyper-pigmentation, get some extra B vitamins."

"I'll mark that down before I forget." Sonic marked down words on a nearby sheet of paper.

Rolph read it to himself. "Yes. Good job."

Sonic nodded. He saw Rolph out and sat next to Amy. "Let's see if this pans out." He laid a hand on her frozen knee. "...still warm."

Meanwhile, Rouge led Shadow to the front door of the Eggman Lair. On the way to their quarters, Shadow spotted Cubot who carried more art supplies.

"I'll be up in a while," he said and followed Cubot once again.

"Whatever you say," Rouge huffed and went to bed. "No giggle fits. No stuffing your face. No 'staring in wonder' at something shiny?" Rouge spun around and held her arms out at her sides. "Not even a wistful inward thought? No? Nothing?"

Shadow shrugged. "This drug affects everyone differently, doesn't it?" He paused and thought out loud, "Affected...or effected...no, I had it right the first time. Affect, with an 'a'."

Rouge put fist on her hip and raised an eyebrow, "...I'll take it." She turned back around and opened the door to head to her and Shadow's quarters. "Don't stay up too late playing with Cubot." The door slid shut behind her.

"...I'll stay up as late if I want," Shadow muttered and followed Cubot to the 'mural room'. He sat on the floor and watched the robot reproduce yet another image from the renaissance period, 'Venus and Mars'. "Tiny robot, why are you doing this?" He wistfully asked with a slight dazed look to him. He propped his cheek, on his fist, on his right knee.

Cubot was a bit surprised at Shadow's demeanor, but explained simply, "I still can't get my darling, Rouge, out of my head. I pay her homage each night with another painting."

Shadow sighed warmly. "Tiny robot, why do you only paint pictures from the renaissance period?" he asked with his eyes gently shut.

Cubot poked his fingers together, "It's all Eggman programmed. I guess he thought it would make me smarter. Ha, joke's on him, I'm still as dumb as the paint I use." He poked his head with the brush he held and left a black splotch. "Besides, I'm not able to come up with anything of my own, what with this robot brain and all," he said and knocked on his next-to-hollow head.

Shadow had an idea. He held out a hand, "May I?"

Cubot looked at his hand and then to his own. "You want the paintbrush?"

Shadow nodded, slowly, only once.

"O-okay. Here ya go," he said and backed up as Shadow got back on his feet. "The wall behind you is free."

Shadow turned around and saw that the wall with the door had nothing painted. "Thank you, tiny robot." He paused before he began, "That's your new nic-name."

"O-okay," Cubot was confused, but went back to what he was doing.

Shadow got to creating.

The next day, Rouge awoke and found the bed on the opposite side of the room laid empty. "Odd? Did he stay up?"

Rouge ventured past the kitchen with Anne and Rolph. She smelled toast and coffee in the air. Anne still looked half baked as she sat on her coiled tail and sipped black coffee. "Did either of you see Shadow?"

Rolph pointed down the hall. "He's in the main room."

She continued on and came to the lab; Dr. Eggman and Orbot were within and welded. Sparks of blue and orange flew around and bounced off the table, floor and robot. She waved a brief 'hello', not to disturb much. The two waved back with a friendly demeanor and went right back to work. Rouge finally made it up the elevator and entered the main seating area. She found Shadow asleep and balled on the sofa. His shoes sat in front of him. His quills had too many splotches of paint on them too count.

She nudged him. "Wakey-wakey. It's nearly ten, dear."

Shadow unballed and looked around. "That's late." He got up quickly and straightened his quills that had been severely mussed from his sleeping position choice. He stretched and felt the effects of a decent night's sleep. "We should get going soon," Shadow was anxious to see if his plan would work.

"Right back on the grind, no surprises there. Um, aren't you going to shower first?" She flicked his lowest quill tip with pink paint.

He looked at what she meant. "The paint is dry. I'll shower after coffee." Rouge yawned and took Shadow to the kitchen for the morning routine.

In the lab, Eggman and Cubot finished their preparation for the day's activity and went down to the sub lab to truly 'get to work'. Cubot trailed behind his master and chauffeured a device, half the doctor's height, cloaked in a white sheet, on white hover platform.

Shadow heard them disembark. He turned his attention to Anne. Anne watched Rouge squeeze a device in the burlap bag, from it's outside.

"It's ready!" Anne announced and rose to her feet. With a lightening fast motion she stuck her twin brother with the new chemical she'd acquired.

"Why's it always gotta be in the fucking neck!" He shouted right before his eye rolled slightly back in his head. He steadied himself on the round kitchen table.

Anne snapped a finger and pointed at him. "That's why: It works quickest that way," she said and smirked.

"Warning, Anne...warning is what I need," he said with a few rapid blinks to readjust his depth perception.

Shadow chuckled under his breath.

"The device will only work for eight minutes. We need to hurry," Rouge said and showed off the small cylinder with the words 'Scrambler eight million' on the side. Shadow had smuggled it in with the use of his shoes. "Props to Sonic for grabbing this from Tails. He's sneakier than I thought. I'm almost impressed."

Shadow looked at his sibling who had been dosed as he had been the night before. "Eight million dollar question: Can you teach a robot sign language in eight minutes?"

Rolph rubbed his face for the sensation and laughed a bit, "Hehehhh...I can do it in three...provided the robot isn't brain dead. Like the little yellow one. Don't get me wrong, he's a sweet little thing, but dear fuck, he's soooo dumb." Rolph prattled as he led them to the legless, mouthless robot Eggman had in a large holding container. It mostly resembled a metal casket with a glass front.

Shadow observed the fake 'master emerald' Eggman had shown off to Anne and Rolph their first night there. "If Metal Sonic is from another timeline and also holds a Chaos Emerald, he should be liberated and his stolen property returned. We can't leave the emerald behind." Shadow stood with folded arms as Rouge worked her magic with technology.

She plugged in the other device Tails made for them, where he said to plug it in, and it did everything automatically. "My work here is done," she said, brushed her hands together and stepped back.

Metal's Sonic's eyes lit up red and glared at his four visitors.

...-_-...O_O