"We have to find a way to get out of here."

Knuckles paced back and forth across his cell, his body gaunt and frail from lack of food. "If we don't, we're going to die." Robotnik, who was down to a near-normal weight, shrugged.

"You might, but I have nothing to worry about." He pulled at his clothes with a slight frown. "However, I will have to arrange a meeting with my tailor after we do get out. These clothes are much too big now." Knuckles growled, his hair bristling.

"Don't you care?" he cried, going over towards the wall. "The Master Emerald is out there unprotected, just because I'm in here! And who knows what's happening with Shadow! And I don't even know if Tails is alive…or anything!" He slammed his fists into the wall, his spiked fists gouging deeply into the rock.

"There just HAS to be a way out of here!" he cried, anguished, clawing at the wall. His hands were dripping with blood from the rock but he still drilled. Robotnik watched him and rolled his eyes. Knuckles just happened to catch the look and jumped at him, hostile.

"What?"

Knuckles regarded him coldly, trying to ignore the pain coming from his mangled hands.

"Do you have any better suggestions?" Robotnik smirked and pulled something out of his pocket.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." He held it in his hands, and pointed it at the wall. He pressed a button and then turned away, as if something great were going to happen.

Nothing did.

"Well?"

Knuckles stared at him, his hands on his hips. Robotnik snarled and tossed his device across the room.

"Blast," he muttered, defeated. "The energy must have worn off during the time we were in here…hmm. I thought it would come in handy, too." Knuckles started at the once pudgy mad scientist, incredulous.

"…You're telling me that this whole time we've been locked in here, you've had a device that could have broken us out?"

"I didn't feel that we would have the need for it."

If Knuckles could have gotten redder than he already was in his anger, he would have.

"You didn't feel the need for it? We've been stuck in this god-forsaken place for almost seven months and you didn't feel the NEED for it?" He slammed his fists into the wall again, this time out of frustration.

"You are the most thickheaded, idiotic, inane and…and…senseless person I have the misfortune of being associated with!" Knuckles screamed, keeping the chapter rated E for Everyone. Robotnik glared at him, wishing he had saved throwing his device for now so he could do so now at the cheeky echidna standing before him.

"Better to be thickheaded than to have a hot temper," he snapped back, his mustache twitching in his building anger. Knuckles smirked, taking a step closer to him.

"Oh, like you can even talk, Robuttnik," Knuckles spat sardonically as he called the genius by his time-honored nickname. "Who's the one who wants to take over the world?"

"Well, I wouldn't have done nearly as well as I have without your malleable mind to brainwash!"

Knuckles fumed, furious that his past mistakes had been brought up. He leapt at the doctor, snarling, his vision as red as his fur in his rage, forgetting all about their pact to work together to get out of this mess.

"This ends now, Eggman!"

Robotnik let out a small gasp before barely sidestepping the enraged echidna, causing him to slam into the wall headfirst, his body propelled by his awesome strength. Unfazed, he leapt to his feet again, diving at the doctor once more. This time Robotnik was prepared. Using his amazingly long arms, he tripped up Knuckles in mid jump, sending him head over tail into the wall again. He chuckled as Knuckles slammed into the wall again into the same spot as before.

He, however, wasn't prepared for the next thing that happened.

Knuckles, instead of being stopped by the wall, went right through it, leaving a huge, gaping hole in his wake. Shale crumbled and flew all around, and when the echidna sat up, he was covered in a fine, grey dust. He leapt to his feet, letting out the first laugh he had since he had ended up in this place. He turned to the wall, staring with something like awe at the hole he had created.

"…We're free," he whispered, unable to take his eyes off the hole. He repeated himself again, louder and with more emotion this time. "We're free! WE'RE FREE!" He turned to Robotnik, his eyes gleaming deviously.

"Come on. We have to get out of here and find a way to release the others." Robotnik nodded, and the two slipped out of the hole and into the dark, dreary hallways of the dungeon where Shadow held them.

To freedom!

::-::-::-::-::-::-::

"Tails!"

Tikal stared in horror as the robot casually flicked her friend across the room, tossing him into the machine Robotnik had been building with a hollow "clang". She started for him, but the robot suddenly turned his attention towards her, an evil grin on his face.

"Not so fast, girl."

Tikal turned towards the robot, fear in her eyes.

"W-what do you want with me?" The robot smirked and leaned down, so close to her now that if he had been able to breathe, Tikal could have felt his breath on her face.

"You know what I want. I want your Chaos Emerald." Tikal shook her head adamantly.

"N-never!" she proclaimed. "It's ours…and you can't have it, you…you big meanie!" The robot threw his head back and laughed.

"Oh, come on now," he clucked. "Who's going to stop me?"

"I am."

Both Tikal and the robot turned to the voice that came in from the door. Arielle was standing there, a rather crude bow held in one hand. But in her other hand was an extremely deadly looking arrow. She casually threaded it into the bow, staring up at the robot.

"You were saying?" The robot snickered.

"You think your arrow is going to stop me?" He tapped one hand against himself, and the sound of metal rang through the building. "I'm made of a super strong titanium alloy—a special shape-shifting holographic robot prototype created by Shadow to stop you meddling fools from getting in the way of his plans." He smirked, turning back towards the cowering echidna in front of him. He was completely unaware of Tails creeping up behind him, having long recovered from his meeting with the machine.

"You will give me your Chaos Emerald. Once I have it, only three more will need to be obtained before Shadow will be able to harness the true power that he was born to have." Tikal stared at him, eyes wide.

"Only three—?"

He held out his hand, revealing two Emeralds there.

"The other is with Shadow," he replied casually, closing his hand again. "Now, hand yours over. I really don't want to have to go to…drastic measures to obtain it." Tikal, while obviously afraid, stood her ground.

"I'll never let you take control of the sacred stones that my family has protected." The robot snarled, raising his metal-clad hand.

"You asked for this, bitch," he spat, bringing his hand down.

"No!" Arielle reacted quickly, firing her arrow at his hand, hoping to give Tikal enough time to escape.

It did. The arrow struck home, temporarily distracting the robot while the echidna scrambled away, her fear finally letting go of the hold it had on her legs. The robot roared in anger, his focus now on the pale blue fox who had lost him his Emerald.

"You'll pay!" he screamed shrilly, diving towards her, his Emeralds forgotten on the floor. Arielle tried to move, but she didn't have a chance. The robot landed on top of her, pinning her to the ground with his strong, steel grip.

"TAILS!" she screamed, trying to get away from his grasp. "Please, help me!"

It was all the invitation Tails needed, and the chance he had been waiting for. When he had been thrown against the machine, he had noticed a problem with the wiring, causing a uncovered bit of hot wire to be sticking out. Grabbing the wire by the part that was safe to touch, he leapt into the air, coming down hard on the robot's back, sticking the wire in between a crack in his joints. He leapt off the robot as he started to spark, not wanting to be electrocuted himself. The robot whizzed and whirred, his voice system malfunctioning because of the added voltage. He smoked and jerked about, slamming the ill-fated Arielle up and down against the hard, cement floor several times before finally stilling his motions and landing, smoking, in a heap on top of the fox.

"Arielle!"

Tikal and Tails both rushed over, praying their friend was still alive. Tails frantically moved the smoking scrap heap off her, ignoring the small shocks that shot up and down his body. She was lying underneath, her furred singed in some places. One leg was bent in a grotesquely unnatural position under her body, and she was bleeding from several cuts and scrapes. Tails gently smoothed her feathery blue hair back out of her eyes, tears slipping down his face.

"Oh, no…" He gathered the broken body of his friend into his arms, holding her to him. "I'm sorry, Arielle…I'm so, so sorry…"

He looked back at Tikal, and motioned towards the two Emeralds lying on the ground where the robot had left them. She nodded and picked them up, clutching them to her. She then looked at her friend, her expression pained.

"Is she—"

"I don't know…"

Tails turned back to her, gently smoothing her fur out.

"…We've got to get out of here."

The two walked out of the factory then, hoping, praying that Arielle was all right.

They didn't notice the eyes that watched them go.