Amy didn't know if she could run for much longer.

She had chased down the mysterious assassin through the hills outside the city, and far into the jungle - the untouched Mystic Ruins.

The hedgehog found herself tripping over and stumbling on hidden twigs and rocks as she sprinted after her. The masked woman herself did not seem to have these same issues, even with her large cape flowing behind her.

The distance between them continued to grow.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Amy called out desperately.

As if she would listen.

"YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER!"

The woman didn't acknowledge her, she kept running.

Struggling to catch up on her breathing, Amy realized she did not have much left in her to keep pursuing them. Did they just have incredible endurance, or was Amy weaker and more pathetic than ever?

At least she had an idea.

She summoned her hammer, mustered up all the strength she could in her arms and threw the weapon onto the ground, trapping the woman's cape underneath one of its pointed ends.

The woman was tripped up and collapsed onto the ground, and as she began to furiously tug at the fabric to get away - Amy was able to close the gap. Just as they tore their cape to escape, Amy picked up her weapon and took a strike at the lady on the ground.

She rolled to the side to avoid the blow, leaping back up and taking aim with her laser rifle - but Amy was quick to strike once more - reaching to hit them in the side.

Even still, they jumped high to avoid the hit.

Amy let out a frustrated growl. She noticed them taking aim once more mid-air to fire down on the hedgehog, but she saw it coming, and Amy jumped back to avoid the pale blue beam.

They weren't about to give up, as soon as she landed down she fired off at Amy again, but the hedgehog swerved. Letting out a yell, she swung as hard as she could muster - and they fell to the ground, dropping their weapon.

The hedgehog wasted no time placing a foot down on the other's chest, holding her hammer down at her face.

"You're under arrest for attempted regicide!" Amy announced through ragged breaths.

They stayed quiet.

"You'll be sentenced to execution for your crimes against the throne!" Amy growled. "Do you have nothing to say for yourself?!"

Still silent.

She couldn't quite figure out why, but this just made sparks of anger pop and burst within her. She balled up her other fist. "Answer me!" She commanded.

Nothing.

Clenching her teeth, she spat at the figure. "Am I not worthy of your respect?!" Her voice trembled with fury. "I've worked... so hard to remain in his good graces! For years I've endured non-stop abuse, every day I live a lie - I don't even know myself anymore! But you, but you? No one knows who you are! You get to parade around with a mask on and play the hero! You're still able to act independently, my freedom is all gone! Gone!" She felt herself choking up. She hadn't been able to stop the words tumbling out like a rockfall, even though she had no idea why this was all coming out of her now.

"You're one of Rouge's rebels, right?" She finally quivered.

Of course she didn't give confirmation.

Amy sighed, looking off to the side. "Please just... tell me Cream and Vanilla are safe-"

She felt something burn against her skin and saw a flash of blue before being sent flying back, everything slipping into darkness as she lost consciousness.

It had seemed like the best option, after all - taking away an opponent's strengths was the best way to make them more manageable, right?

Now, he was starting to have doubts.

He saw the creature writhe and kick its limbs around furiously on the ground as yellow chaos energy was being drawn out of its body and being brought into Knuckles. The energy itself wasn't an issue, in fact it flowed into him naturally and pumped through his blood as though it was supposed to belong there.

The problem lied in the fact that there were whispers - so many whispers, that it drowned out everything else. They echoed in his ears and mind - so loud, yet the words were indistinguishable.

Knuckles gritted his teeth and put his hands over his ears in a desperate attempt to block them out, yet the effort was futile. In fact they only seemed to get noisier. The blaring ringing in his ears now causing him physical pain that shuddered through his nerves. It was an effort to remain standing.

"Take it!"

He could hear them now.

The echidna gasped for air, but he still refused to give in - determined to strip the beast of all its power, the chaos energy it didn't deserve.

"STOP!"

The whispers vanished.

His surroundings had suddenly completely changed - he had returned to that green void from his dreams. Instead of floating, he was stood on some sort of invisible flooring - but hardly any of that mattered. What did matter was the girl in front of him, hands on his shoulders - gazing into his eyes pleadingly.

"Stop." She repeated, Knuckles realized with a start that this had to be the same woman that told him to seek out Sonic - but instead of a glowing outline, he could see her fully in the flesh. She had peach-coloured fur and wore the classic, beautiful attire of his ancestors. He was stunned - barely processing the how and why he was here with her now.

He couldn't believe he was seeing another echidna.

There was pity in her blue eyes, but she had a soft smile. "There are other forms of strength, Guardian."

"Huh?" He managed to say, still bewildered and stunned.

"I'm not... supposed to be here."

Why was her smile so sad?

"Please, do listen to me..."

"W-wait!" Knuckles called out when she noticed her form was fading. "I don't understand-!"

She vanished into the wind, and so did everything else - he was back on that stage, still draining the creature's power - and the whispers were slowly coming back.

Knuckles abruptly cut off the connection between him and the beast, the energy he had gained drained out of him - and would now be finding its home in the creature once more. The echidna panted, admittedly quite relieved that the whispering seemed to have disappeared for good now.

He couldn't exactly relax though, as the enemy was getting stronger again.

"He... gave up in the middle of it." Knuckles heard the fox observe. To think that he and the doctor had just stood there... watching this whole ordeal, out of the way of any sort of crossfire, ignited a flame of anger within him.

He wanted to fight them all - take out the miserable creature, and bring an end to whatever hellscape this 'Eggman' had brought forth. The world in front of him was cold, hanging by a single thread in an attempt to sustain itself. He refused to believe that this was the way the planet was supposed to be.

Eggman shrugged. "Eh, hardly matters."

Their commentary certainly wasn't helpful.

Knuckles balled his fists as the monster stood itself up again with the energy that had returned to it.

He recalled how quickly it had wounded his companions - this wasn't about to be an easy fight.

"There are other forms of strength, Guardian."

That's right... his allies, they had escaped - but they were broken down in body and spirit.

They had managed to get away safely, right? He had given them enough time.

Either way, they needed him to get to safety. Carrying on this fight, in hopes of the flimsy chance he might achieve something, was ultimately pointless. He needed to make sure the others were okay.

The monster lunged, and Knuckles held up a bright green forcefield - and the creature viciously tried to scratch through, causing it to flicker.

"Emperor... whatever false title you've decided to give yourself," The echidna began, not looking at Eggman as he held up his shield, but addressing him all the same. "Know that this isn't the last you've seen of me."

Knuckles vanished as soon as the shield broke.

"Don't worry... he'll be here soon! If he... even knows where we are-" Tangle's confidence faltered. She was now the hero in the best condition, the effects of the chaos energy shock having worn out for the most part besides some aching in her muscles.

She glanced towards Sonic, and only became more disheartened at the sight of him. Sat on the floor among the ancient rubble, he stared down at his shoes with foggy eyes. She could tell that not only were his wounds causing him pain, but there was something much deeper inside, haunting him.

"Sonic... i-it'll be okay, alright? You've seen Knuckles! He sent those mercenaries running with their tails between their legs! He's definitely being just as cool handling the monster right now!"

She saw the hedgehog bite his lip instead of reply.

Tangle rubbed her own shoulder sheepishly, was being optimistic insensitive? She could never read a room, huh?

Her tails' grip tightened on Rouge's unconscious body to ensure the bat wouldn't be losing too much blood by applying greater pressure. Her wound was bad... worse than the one she had dealt to Sonic in the chemical factory.

"It's okay." She was mainly speaking to herself now. "We just need a healer... we just need... Knuckles... to get back and find us."

She hung her head low with a sigh. Was he really going to be okay as she thought?

"GUYS!"

Her ears perked up and her eyes scanned the ruins frantically until the red shape of the echidna was visible in the distance. "OVER HERE!" She called out to him, waving her arms around until Knuckles saw her.

In a blink, he appeared in front of the others. Knuckles had a couple of scratches and bruises but ultimately was holding himself together well. "You guys okay?" Knuckles asked, panting slightly.

"Y-yeah, but Rouge here definitely needs healing-! So does Sonic-"

"I'll sort that out later, but for now we need to get back to Angel Island." Knuckles' voice was so much steadier than her own. "The beast might still be pursuing us-"

Tangle immediately tensed at the thought. "You retreated then." She observed.

"It's for the best, you're all vulnerable otherwise." Knuckles said, standing in the center of the heroes and making them vanish from sight.

...

"Angel Island... now ain't that interesting, Bark?" The small green duck turned to grin at the polar bear smugly, the two of them hiding behind a bunch of tall jungle tress.

The polar bear silently nodded.

"And Fang said I was no good at spying! He hurt my feelings - the audacity!" Bean exaggerated how hurt he was by pressing the back of his hand to his forehead as if he were about to faint.

Bark blinked at him through slightly narrowed, unamused eyes.

This didn't phase the duck. "Oh well, I'll be able to rub this information in his face!" He declared. "Those rebels think they're so smart and secretive - but they're no match for Bean the Dynamite Duck!" He brought a fist to his chest with pride. "And the rest of the Hooligans too, I suppose-" He tagged on half-heartedly.

The bear rolled his eyes, wondering when he'd get his next quiet moment.

Despite how late it was at night, no one was asleep in the Angel Island camp.

Knuckles ushered the other three through the crowd of people asking how the mission went, asking if they had truly succeeded in killing the dictator - as they had set out to do.

"Please," The echidna spoke loudly with emphasis. "Questions come later - I need to tend their wounds."

"Sorry guys-" Tangle tagged on after. "We'll explain everything as soon as we can-!" She promised sincerely.

The echidna had lead the three to their stone box room, out of eyeshot of everyone else and she assumed the room was decently soundproof at the very least, granting them the privacy that they most certainly needed right now.

"Set Rouge down on the bed." Knuckles instructed Tangle, and she obliged - placing the bat down gently on top of the sheets of their bed. Knuckles immediately stood over her, holding his hands out - wasting no time in emitting a soft green light illuminating her stomach wound.

"Thank you, Knuckles." Tangle told him, gently sitting herself and Sonic down on the other bed.

"No need to thank me."

She smiled at him before turning to Sonic, who immediately got back into the same huddled position he had been sat in earlier - this time on a bed rather than the floor. She went to rub his back but reminded herself of his large gashes so instead went for a gentle pat on the shoulder. Sonic showed no reaction to this either.

"Is... Rouge going to be okay?" She asked, mainly to fill the void.

"Yes." Knuckles replied. "But it's going to take a couple days of healing to get this completely recovered, there was some damage to her internal organs - this isn't damage I can undo all at once, unlike Sonic's wound which was less severe by comparison."

"Yeah... makes sense." Tangle said.

"As she's regaining her energy, I imagine she'll be waking up pretty soon." Knuckles tagged on before stepping away, her wound looked far better than it had been, instead of fresh blood - it had dried. "The wound's less deep now, her organs should be repaired. But I don't want it getting infected - do you have anything I can use to wrap around it?"

"Rouge usually has a first aid kit on her... check under the bed." She told him.

The echidna looked at her confusedly, as if he was trying to figure out what a first aid kit actually meant - he ducked underneath however, and a few seconds went by before he pulled out a green case. "This thing?"

"Yep!" She confirmed. "There's bandages in there."

Knuckles opened it up and it didn't take him long to find what he needed. Knuckles had large hands, ones that didn't seem to be capable of being careful - yet it was clear how gentle he was being as he wrapped the fabric around her, but still firm enough that it would apply the pressure to the injury that it needed to. He then laid her down softly, and Tangle was sure that she had never seen the bat appear so peaceful.

Knuckles walked over and gestured for Tangle to sit up from the bed so he could take her place. He sat and asked Sonic to shuffle to the side a little so that his back would face him. It took a while for Sonic to seemingly understand this request, but eventually he did turn.

"Less severe - I can heal this in one go." Knuckles remarked, hovering his hands over Sonic's scratches and working his magic. The process was swift.

"Thanks-" Sonic whispered, barely audible, but sincere.

Knuckles and Tangle exchanged a confused and concerned glance, worried about what had gotten into the hedgehog to psych him out so much.

They heard a gasp of air come from the other bed as Rouge quickly sat up. "No-!" She immediately exclaimed, before blinking rapidly - glancing around the room before finally setting her sights on the others on the other bed. "What-? Why am I-?!" She then hissed in pain.

"Try not to move so suddenly." Knuckles cautioned. "You'll only cause yourself pain and risk opening that wound further."

Rouge stared at him in disbelief, as though as his words had just flew over her head. "Why are we here?! What happened to the-?"

"You were badly hurt and knocked out by that... thing, the only option we had was to retreat." Tangle explained with sad eyes, unable to directly look at Rouge.

The other girl stared at her before glaring and clenching her teeth. "That wasn't our only option!" Rouge suddenly snapped. "If we had stuck to the damn plan we wouldn't be in this mess!" She claimed, angrily turning her attention to the Sonic. "What the hell?! Why did you back out?!"

Sonic just stared at her with no response, he frankly looked feeble.

Rouge scoffed. "Oh, of course. Go head - mope. You're obviously the one who deserves to be upset right now after you ruined the mission!" She yelled sarcastically.

"I told you - the plan wasn't going to work!" Sonic finally exclaimed, a new-found anger sparking in his eyes.

Rouge broke into mocking laughter. "HAHAHAHAA! Okay, yeah, sure - I would love to see some proof of that, but you don't have that - do you? You didn't even let the plan happen in the first place - so how can you say with so much fucking confidence that it was all going to fail?!"

Sonic seemed to be fumbling for a response, but this hesitation only allowed for Rouge to drill into him further. "If you were so adamant that this plan was going to fail - why didn't you say anything earlier?! Why did you wait until the middle of the festival?!" She asked him, clinging tightly to the bed sheets.

Sonic opened his mouth, and Tangle realized if no one stepped in - this argument would last way longer than it needed to. "Guys! Please! Arguing like this doesn't help anyone!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as Rouge continued her verbal assault.

"You're the one who endangered everyone's lives by backing out the way you did! Now we're right back where we started - except this time we're injured, tired, and now we have even bigger targets on our backs than ever before!" She pointed it out. "We could have ended it all - right then and there! But you took that opportunity from me-! From everyone!" Her eyes suddenly widened, and she giggled with a closed mouth. "OR, or, maybe I'm looking at this all wrong - perhaps you did know what you were doing - maybe I was right about you all along - maybe you sabotaged our plan on purpose, Empire spy!"

She quickly stood up from the bed, if her wound was causing her any pain - she didn't let it show on her face.

Tangle stood in between the beds to prevent things from turning ugly.

"I'm not an Empire spy!" Sonic insisted, clenching his fists. "I want to end Eggman's tyranny just as much as you do! But that wasn't the way to go about it!"

"So instead you risked our lives, yeah? Tangle could have been killed by that monster, so could Knuckles! Hell, I was nearly killed! Because of your screw up, I got stabbed!"

"You know what, consider it karma!" Sonic snapped back, but his eyes immediately widened afterwards as he gasped - as if he couldn't believe the words he had let out of his own mouth. Tangle knew Sonic had been referring to how Rouge had attempted to kill him before... but that comment was uncalled for.

Rouge was glaring daggers, and honestly looked ready to give the hedgehog a beating. "Guys, please-"

"STOP!" Knuckles' voice bellowed.

Tangle nearly jumped out of her own skin, Sonic flinched, and Rouge turned to the echidna with a surprised face. There was no way that everyone else outside wouldn't have heard it too.

"Honestly, what the fuck do you think you're achieving arguing in circles like this?!" Knuckles asked them. "Nothing! What will be more useful to you two is going to bed and having a civilized discussion in the morning! We're all tense, I want to sleep and I'm sure you all do too - yelling at each other's going to wear us down even more!" The echidna pointed out.

Sonic and Tangle remained silent and stunned, Rouge opened her mouth once before closing it - thinking better of arguing.

"Right," Knuckles breathed out. "Now we're in all agreement, this argument is only going to continue after I leave so the girls can have this room to themselves - Rouge needs it. Sonic, I'll find somewhere else for you to sleep - before you tear each other's throats out or something." He folded his arms impatiently.

"Yeah..." Sonic said finally. "Sorry-" With a sigh, he stood up and fell beside Knuckles.

"Goodnight." Knuckles said to the girls, still with an annoyed edge before his tone softened. "Sorry Tangle." He said, seemingly apologizing for his yelling that hadn't been directed towards her.

"Oh, no need to-"

Knuckles and Sonic were out the door.

"Are you all alright?" A kindly looking gentleman walked up to the duo with sympathetic eyes, he was tall - even for a human.

"How did it go?" A wolf asked with concern.

Their voices all began to blend into one and Knuckles knew he had to say something at least. Everyone hushed themselves when Knuckles spoke, and he was as frank as he could be - making sure nothing could be left up to interpretation. "We failed to kill the doctor. He is still alive. The plan was compromised."

Sonic grimaced beside him.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry-" Someone said.

"Better luck next time, right?" Someone added optimistically.

"What a shame... it's not your fault, guys."

"You did your best!"

Knuckles was caught slightly off guard by the amount of support being showered upon them. Knuckles felt his cheeks flush as he slinked his way through the camp with Sonic. "Thank you... we can talk more in depth tomorrow, we just need sleep-"

"Of course."

"Rest well!"

"Goodnight!"

Knuckles smiled at them in an attempt to be polite before taking Sonic out of the camp.

Once out of the way of everyone else, Knuckles focused on breathing in and out slowly as they continued walking. Even when they had been so nice, he felt practically threatened having so many eyes on him. He shook his head lightly, he needed to remain focused.

To distract him he took time to admire the forest, it was a wonderful place to be at night with the mild chill that drifted between them. The silhouettes of the trees stood tall and dark, but they were comforting instead of imposing. He would love to paint a scene like this, if he had the time.

Sonic was still quiet, and it made Knuckles wack him gently on the back of his head.

"Agh-!" Sonic let out, rubbing the back of his head and wincing.

"Your head seems to be in a strange place right now. Staying muddled like this is only going to drag you down. Focus on the positives, your friends are safe. Forget about the rest." Knuckles tried to offer the best advice he could.

Sonic stared at him before slowly nodding.

"You didn't lose your vocal chords, I want to hear you say it." Knuckles folded his arms.

Sonic blinked. "Y-yeah... you're right."

He didn't sound as though he believed it.

"I don't particularly wish to bombard you with questions while you're so disgruntled - but I agree with Rouge to a certain degree. It is hard to understand why you suddenly backed out."

"Because I knew it wouldn't work." Sonic repeated, looking at the ground.

"How did you know?"

"I can't... explain it." He could hear the frustration building up in his tone.

"Sonic."

"What?"

"Look at me."

Sonic slowly lifted his head up, his emerald green eyes shone in the moonlight.

"Are you certain you can't explain it?" Knuckles asked slowly.

"I just... I just knew."

"Like instinct?"

Sonic paused. "You could say that."

Knuckles stared up towards the night sky, the stars twinkled softly as the background hum of crickets allowed him to focus on his thoughts. "I can understand that." Knuckles said. "I've always believed instinct to be something like an outside force pulling the strings - willing you to do certain things, but it all ends up benefitting you in the end."

"Gut instincts aren't always right though."

"Perhaps not, but I can speak for myself at least - acting upon them has never done me wrong yet." The echidna said. "Perhaps you did make the right call."

He allowed Sonic to dwell on that.

Knuckles paused when he made it among a small clearing in the forest, between two trees hung a bamboo hammock. "I've slept here once or twice." Knuckles remarked. "It's not the most comfortable, but when you're really tired, your body generally doesn't really care."

"Thank you, Knux." Sonic said softly, walking up ahead and eventually clambering up into the hammock.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah...?" He slowly rolled himself around so that he could still see Knuckles' face looking up at him.

"We need your head in the game, alright? I've been tasked with ensuring your success, I can't have you crumbling here. Even though I don't know you too well, you must at least have a strong will if the Master Emerald chose you. What happened tonight isn't strong enough to break that, so don't let it."

"You're right." He sounded like he actually meant it this time. "I'll... I'll be better in the morning." Tears surely brimmed in his eyes, and it was confirmed when Knuckles saw Sonic wipe them away. "Sorry- You just... remind me of an old friend, that's all-"

Knuckles wasn't sure how to respond to that, so just nodded. "Let out all your emotions out tonight. Tomorrow's a new day."

"Of course, goodnight, Knux." Sonic laid on his back.

"Goodnight, Sonic."

"Back in the cage." Miles glared at the beast, turning the dial on his handheld device rapidly. Instead of complying with his orders, it opted to tearing down one of the many banners with Robotnik's face on - furiously shaking its head as it tore up the banners with its teeth.

"Don't eat the decorations!" Miles exclaimed in frustration, his voice cracking as a result. "How hard is it for you to understand to go back in the cage?!"

The creature turned to hiss at him.

"Don't sass me!"

Robotnik seemed to find the whole ordeal very amusing, grinning widely.

After turning more dials, Miles made eye contact with the beast - watching it suddenly bend to his will, crawling into the cage and allowing Miles to shut it in. "Finally." The fox sighed with a roll of his eyes. "This device is really inefficient." Miles pointed to the box in his hands. "I need some way to incorporate a translator that converts my words into frequencies it understands-"

"In due time, in due time." Robotnik brushed off. "Wasn't this event wonderful, Miles?"

"Wonderful?" Miles repeated in disbelief to make sure he heard that correctly. "This is the worst festival so far! There was an entire security breach - an assassination attempt!"

"I know!" Robotnik exclaimed with pure joy. "I haven't had that much excitement in ages - not since the Black Arms showed up!"

"All citizens had to run inside! The Egg Bosses were ordered to escape! How was that a display of the Empire's strength?!"

"Ssssssh." Robotnik gently placed a hand on the young fox's shoulder. "Can you really say that they won? No, no one was hurt - and the assassins were forced to run like cowards." He pointed out.

"The one that actually fired the shot is being pursued by Rose - what if that woman ends up killing Rose?"

Robotnik shrugged. "We'll find a new Egg Boss for Station Square. Egg Bosses dying and being replaced is nothing new, Miles. That is no sign of weakness."

"P-perhaps not, but what if something had happened to you?! I don't want you to get hurt!" Miles revealed his true cause for concern, his quivering voice giving away his fear.

"Miles, I have made certain that the probability that I lose my life is at 0%. That is no exaggeration, dear boy. It's one of my grandest accomplishments, one that I will explain to you properly when it's time."

Miles looked down with a shaky sigh. "If... if you're sure." He said, before suddenly extended his arms out and wrapping around them the doctor... as much as he could with his small arms could around his rotund waistline. "I love you, dad."

"You know I prefer Emperor-" Robotnik sighed. "But I will allow it this once-"

He did not return the hug, he didn't like them.

"Hey... echidna lady? Sorry I- don't know your name-"

Knuckles was on his knees, hands clasped together in front of the Master Emerald, his body being illuminated by its glowing aura.

"You were... peach furred?" He added with uncertainty. "You- you know who you are! You stopped me while I was trying to drain that beast's power - I wanted to talk... more. Find out what you meant by all that..."

Knuckles began to stutter over his words. "I'm probably overstepping my boundaries here, I don't mean to sound demanding... or entitled but- please, if you're out there - do say something, visit me in a dream. I-"

Knuckles sighed.

"It's a... selfish request, really. Sorry for wasting your time with my pleas, dear ancestors."

Knuckles ended the prayer, opting to lay down in front of the Master Emerald in his usual spot, and finally allow sleep to take hold. It had certainly been a long night.

The pink hedgehog had been taken care of, Whisper didn't envy her position - she wouldn't want to be her when she finally woke up.

The last thing she had needed to hear from an Egg Boss is having one rant to her about hard their life was. How miserable it must be to have one of the highest positions in society, how difficult.

It made her sick.

The wolf had finally made it back into her cavern, it was a wonder she had managed to keep it this long. Mystic Jungle was one of the very few remaining natural areas, surely the Empire should inspect this area more often - it was the perfect breeding ground for rebel hideouts. She knew Robotnik wasn't stupid, perhaps it was arrogance.

She set her lantern down on the rock she had been using as a table, and took a moment to gather herself.

Whisper had failed.

Robotnik was alive.

There was no time to waste, she needed a new plan.

Dwelling on her losses would not produce results, she told herself. There were always setbacks in these things, it rarely went right the first time.

Yet... it felt so much easier with the Diamond Cutters.

No, tonight was not a night she planned to spend crying. She had to rest and get back on track to planning her next move. Before she could sleep peacefully however, there was one last thing she had to check.

She made her way to a chest, a stolen item - she didn't like to resort to thievery but when it was something from the Empire, it was hard to feel guilty at all.

Whisper opened it with the key that had been in her pocket, and opened the lid slightly hesitantly.

Her shoulders relaxed, and a relieved breath escaped her lips.

It was still there.

A large, cobalt blue gem shone brightly - the shape of a diamond, yet far too large to actually be one.

She couldn't quite place her finger on it - but the way it sparkled, it breathed energy into the surroundings. It exuded power.

It felt intimidating yet... so natural. When she had found it, she knew she couldn't just leave it - so she had swiped it for herself.

She didn't know what it could do, but at the very least - she was certain that it was no ordinary gem.

She knew it was better in her hands, than Robotnik's.

I can't explain why ya'll but I had FUN with this chapter. Whisper got away from Amy, Knuckles is stopped by Tikal part way through the attempt to transfer power - and Knuckles backs down, Sonic is broken, the squad is back on Angel Island and a row is had because I love drama (when it's appropriate), Knuckles and Sonic have a small heart-to-heart, more Miles and Robotnik dynamic, and Whisper is revealed to be in possession of one of the chaos emeralds.

I was pretty flimsy with how I wrote POV, especially in the earlier chapters, but what I'm trying for is third person limited - focusing on one character before each line break. This was the first chapter with no Sonic POV whatsoever, but we'll make up for it next time.

SpEAKING of next time, I look forward to the next update - I think some viewers have been waiting for this one :)

Oh my gosh thank you so much for the support this fic has been receiving! It generally means the world - and I'm super happy about the positive feedback last chapter received! It's only uphill from here folks :) As always, leave a review and let me know what you thought of this update! I always love to hear your thoughts - I hope you enjoyed this installment!