"Miss Sally, what are you watching?"

Crème strode into the room behind the projector, her gaze fixed to the screen.

The sound of Crème's voice brought clarity and peace to Sally's mind. She kept staring at the feed, her ears pricked forward.

Robotnik now bent over the machine, pulling at it. He had put the shining stone inside. As he worked, a dark, smallish figure stepped into view. A Mobian with black fur and stripes of red running along upturned head spikes. It must be a hedgehog.

Sally narrowed her eyes.

Two combots marched forward on either side of the hedgehog. Sally watched as they hefted his body onto a table in the middle of the room and began strapping him down. They put something over his face—something like the gag mask they had put on Sonic.

"I don't know…" Sally finally said.

At that moment, Robotnik jolted


"How dare he?" Knuckles raved. "How dare he think he could possibly—" he stopped for a moment, fisting his hands and gritting his teeth. "He should have died where he stood! To try to manipulate a forbidden thing, to try to break off shards of it— And then—then-that foul little black and red groundhog came," Knuckles crossed his arms, pacing. "Another mortal daring to desecrate a relic of Mobia—how—" He shook his head. "If only you could find that worm, you'd kill him at once, wouldn't you, Knuckles? You'd shake him and shake him and if he didn't give it back, you'd rip out his heart yourself. That would be the only right thing to do!"


Robotnik held up a pair of tongs. A bit of shining light glowed from the center of them

Sally squinted her eyes…it was a small part of the stone.

The mecha human then walked over to the hedgehog strapped to the table. Sally's stomach turned.

"Can you get me some water, Crème?" Sally spun around, handing the girl a glass and flashing a practiced grin.

Crème still watched. She swallowed, took the glass, then turned to go.

Sally bit her lip hard. As soon as Crème left the room, she shuddered and pressed fast forward. The feed sped through the thirty minutes of Robotink setting out his utensils, of Knuckles fighting with all his might, of the patient laying on the table. Robotnik shaved the fur over the creature's heart and then he began to cut.

Sally wrinkled her nose. She pulled the blanket closer around her.

Robotnik worked over the body. He took the tongs. Then a new light blinded the screen.

Sally stopped fast forwarding, catching her breath against the sound that met her ears. A sound like nails on chalkboard and screeching, shattering glass.

She let out a small squeak, clapping her hands over her ears. The she snatched up the remote and pressed fast forward again, her heart pounding.


Knuckles stopped pacing. "But it's no good now. He cut the relic and put it into that foul mortal creature's heart. I saw it go I with my own eyes and that awful sound and the lights—You did at last, then break free, Knuckles. Perhaps some extra measure of power was granted to you at that time—you twisted free from the metal bonds and you fought!"


Sally blinked, pursing her lips tight. She could not see a thing on the screen. The feed had jerked, as if there had been an explosion.

Then a shape appeared through the dust. The shape of the echidna, now free from the wall and roaring. He charged the mecha human.

Robotnik staggered back. Something had damaged his robotic eyes.

Knuckles smashed into him.

As if Robotnik weighed no less than a large branch, Knuckles heaved him up by the forearm and hurled the mecha human into the window.

The glass shattered. Robotnik fell.

Knuckles lunged towards the metal box containing the rest of the Emerald. He snapped it up, tucked it under his arm and leapt out the window after Robotnik, into the streets of Robotropolis.

Sally's jaw dropped.

Behind her, Crème dropped Sally's cup of water.

"Miss Sally! He threw Robotnik out a window!" Crème burst out.


"You threw that metal monster out the window, you took the Emerald, and you fought and you ran!" Knuckles smiled. "You tore through combots, you scaled the walls, you destroyed them before they destroyed you," a small hint of pleasure resounded in his tone. "Your aim has never been so good. And you've been doing all you can ever since. You've been—you've been valiant despite your failures—and one of these days…" he hesitated. His jaw tightened. "Well, one of this days, you will find your way back to the palace and the Queen and what is left of the Emerald will be safe…"

The echidna paused for a moment, as if thinking very hard. He muttered to himself, his voice low. "The world really does look different from the ground than it did from the island. It's not your fault that you're lost."

His purple eyes flashed and he stamped his foot. "But it is your fault that now you are trapped in a pit and cannot find the box! I do not recall finding my way into a cavern and I do not see the Emerald with me! I must have forgotten something…"

Sticks rolled her eyes from where she lay hidden in the tunnel above. "Do you always discuss your deepest darkest secrets with yourself at the top of your lungs in unfamiliar places?"