Chapter 2.

Knowing that they had mere moments before the Knights homed in on their position made the Freedom Fighters a little nervous. The Doctor, however, was as cool as a cucumber. He sat hunched over the rusty terminal, gave it an extra boost with the sonic and typed for all he was worth.

"OK," he said a minute later, "I've brought us some time to execute our plan." The group were relieved. Any plan was a good plan right now. The Doctor handed Amy and Tails a yellow credit card each. " I've high-jacked the lift controls. Use the cards to get to your destinations." Next he switched and swapped them around so that Shadow stood next to Tails and Sola ended up beside Amy. "Perfect. Each pair has a power and a smart type." On the screens behind him the Knights were coming closer and closer. "Not much time so listen very carefully. Head for the sections imprinted on the cards and gather every and any information you can on the Nazo Serpent. If you run into Eggman's goons, run the other way. This a recon mission only. Got that, Shadow? Recon only."

Shadow folded his arms with a huff, " I'm not stupid."

" Could have fooled me," he muttered. Facing the blank wall opposite he aimed the screwdriver and two metal doors appeared. With a ding , the doors slid open to reveal two brightly lit elevators within. " Right, gang… Oh, I hate that. Um…Team? Comrades? Whatever. Time is short. Let's do what we have to and split. Mercy is ready to go at any second."

The quartet of animals nodded and headed for the lifts. Tails and Shadow took the left and headed down while Amy and Sola went up in the right. This left Rouge with the Doctor. The white bat grinned nervously at him.

"Well," she said, flicking back her short tom-boyish locks, " where are we heading, then?"

He gave her his most charming smile and took hold on her hand, " To the stuff of legends." He replied, leading the way to the stairwell.

Amy and Sola got out of the lift and glanced around at their chosen destination. Many paintings containing all sorts of scenes from every religion- human and alien- known through out the galaxies covered the walls. Sola stopped at one picture and gasped; the painting showed a ruined city sinking beneath a huge tidal wave. From the rough waters rose a giant turquoise beast with numerous tendrils and a long neck, its mouth was open in a roar.

"Is that… It's Chaos? B-but that impossible! How's that possible?" She asked Amy.

Amy shrugged as she pushed back her hood. " I don't know. Maybe it's like the Doctor said. Remember? He said the Lost Library belonged to all dimensions. Maybe it's a dimensional hub that doesn't rip apart the fabric of reality when it jumps… Why are you looking at me like that?"

Sola had a dreamy expression plastered on her face, " I love it when you go all techno. Gives me chills!"

" Sonic…" she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. " Now is not the time to be flirting." Glancing at the dense forest of bookcases and shelves she sighed. " Well, I think if we take a side each we might find something before tea-time." Picking up a leather-bound novel she threw it at the feline who caught it with ease. " Let's hit the books!"

"It's going to be a slow night." Sighed Sola as she walked away to the other side of the section, her metal limb clicking on the wooden floor ever other beat as she melted into the darkness.

Amy listened to the clicking grow distant and then flopped into the nearest chair. Picking out a book at random, she nearly dropped it as she caught the title. " Aw, no way! He was telling the truth after all. Maybe I should have gone easy on him with my hammer." Opening up to the first page she sat back and smiled, " I think I'm going to enjoy this story. I mean with a title like Sonic and the Black Knight, you know it's going to be good."

Over in the children's section, Tails and Shadow were browsing the shelves. The fox flicked through to the last page of the book he was reading, and finding no mention of the Nazo Serpent, sighed and dropped it onto an ever growing pile on the table he was seated at.

Shadow stopped his search and went for a wander. Entering the maze of high wooden book cases, he slowed to a stop. His eyes narrowed and his ears strained. There! The faintest of sounds came from behind the unit he was standing by. Fists clenched tightly, Shadow readied himself to give whatever it was a royal butt-kicking. He jumped out, fists alight with pink flames, and he blinked.

What the? There was no one there. Not a thing. The black hedgehog walked forward, eyes darting left and right. Could have sworn I heard something… He made his way to where a table stood on its lonesome and sat on the chair nearby. With a grunt he raised one fists and brought it down hard, hoping to smash something, anything. Instead he hit something solid with a soft thump.

A frown appeared on his tanned muzzle and he looked down, " Now what?" Picking up what he hit, Shadow found himself staring at a very battered book. Taking a deep breath he blew hard and cleared the dust from the title. Squinting at the fine lettering he read it out, " Dark Astrology: The Lost and Forgotten. Huh? What's this doing here in the kids part?" He looked around again, "Unless… Someone left it for me." He jumped to his feet, " Hello? Hello is anyone there? Hello!"

"Shadow?" Someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

"GAH!" He jumped and turned to face who ever it was with his hand over his chest. " Damn it, Tails! Don't scare me like that."

" Sorry, Shadow. I'll warn you next time." Tails stiffened a giggle. He saw the book in Shadow's sweaty paws, his eyes tinkled. " What's that? Have you found something?"

A shrug, " I don't know. I think so. What do you think?" He handed the book over. Tails quickly scanned its index, his twin tails twirled excitedly. " Well?"

" I think you've done it… I mean this book has a chapter on Dark Gaia, so the Nazo Serpent must be here somewhere. We should head back to the TARDIS and let the Doctor have a look. Let's go!"

Rouge edged closer to the Doctor. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but she was a bit scared. The Doctor, glasses perched on his nose and without a care in the world , leaned back in his chair with his feet propped up on the table.

" Hm… Nothing. Nada and zip. Not a dickey bird. " He sighed, tossing the scroll he was reading with the others and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, pocketing his specs with the other. " I'm mentioned more times then this Nazo Serpent. Have you found anything?"

She quickly shut the note pad she was reading, " No. Like you, I got zip."

The Doctor got up with a groan and stretched, " We're getting nowhere fast. Let's check the main data base once more for any leads and then, if we don't find anything, we'll head back. So give me a smile and I promise not to tell the others you were scared of the nasty, little books."

Her cheeks flushed and her mouth dropped open, "H-how did you know?"

" Time Lord instinct."

"OH!" Grabbing a scroll, she threw it at him with all the strength she could muster, but she still laughed. " I hate you sometimes."

" I know."

" What a touching sight," came a soft voice from the darkness. A series pf blue lights twinkled in the shadows. From an alcove a woman with fair skin and fairer hair stepped forward. In her hand she held a knobbly staff, its top decorated with a glowing red orb. " We meet again, Doctor." She held out her free hand, " Now be a good Time boy and give me the book."

" It's Time Lord and what book? Look around, Goddess, we're in a library. Loads of books to choose from. Take your pick."

Celosia scowled, "Don't play games with me, Doctor. Mercy is about to jump. Give. Me .The. Book!"

"I. Don't. Have. It!" He yelled back, mimicking her perfectly.

"Enough!" She shrieked, " Elite EK's… spread out and find the others. If these two don't have it they might." The black robots bleeped, bowed and fanned out. Once the last one had gone, Celosia grinned devilishly showing her fangs, her eyes gleamed dangerously. " I was going to go easy on, you know, kill the flying rat." Rouge rustled her wings beyond insulted. " But you've upset me so now you must deal with him." From her pocket she pulled out a small remote with a single red button. She pressed it once and smirked, fading into the shadows once more. " As I said before Doctor. No mercy."

"What did she do?" Rouge took up a defensive stance beside him. A roar like no other echoed from the dark depths, making them both jump, followed by quickening footfalls, getting louder the closer they got. The bat paled, " Oh, no…not him."

A large, bulky shape covered with thick fur, and strapped in a thick metal harness and collar, stepped into the light. He had a pasty white muzzle and hands ending with sharp claws. His pink reptilian eyes fixed onto their position and blazed with blood lust. A trail of milky saliva dripped from his pearly white fangs onto the floor, unnoticed, with a cruel smile. Crouching on all fours, the Dark Were hog threw back his head and howled euphorically at his prey before charging forward.

The Doctor and Rouge looked at each other, both thinking the same thing : They were in DEEP trouble!