Chapter 4 – The Chase

Petya poked her head out over the top of the tree trunk she was using as a hiding place. She scanned the area and ducked back down.

"I think I lost them." she said to herself, "That was close. Now to see if it's true."

She reached over undid the top of her rucksack. Carefully she removed the two halves of the Deep Power Stones and set them down on the floor in front of her.

"So beautiful." she smiled, "But what do I do? When the two become one the path will be revealed. But how?"

She slowly picked up the stones again and held one in either hand. It was then that she noticed the indents on either side of the stone.

"It looks like they fit together."

Slowly Petya moved the stones together and joined them. There was a bright white flash and a purple sphere enveloped her. Petya's eyes lit up. Just then the stones seemed to dim and the sphere disappeared. The stones rolled from Petya's hands and hit the ground. They broke apart and stopped glowing. Petya frantically picked them up and put them together again. Nothing happened though. She took them apart and tried again. Still nothing.

"No. It can't be! Work! Please!" she cried desperately.

She tried again but still nothing happened. Petya's face fell. She made a small whimpering sound and slumped back against the tree trunk. Her head sunk to her arms and she started to sob quietly.

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Sonic stood up and addressed the gathering. Tails, Amy, Bunnie, Knuckles, Sally and Charles sat at the table with him. They all looked over as he stood up.

"Sorry to bring you all here after last night but I have some news. Some bad news. In the early hours of this morning someone stole the Deep Power Stones." he said.

A deadly silence fell over the table.

"But how?!" cried Tails, "Only us know about them."

"It appears at the moment that Alicia set it slip." said Sally with an irritated tone in her voice.

"Alicia! Oh ma star." Cried Bunnie, "How did she find out?"

"She read it in a book in the library." replied Sally.

"The suspect was nearly caught at Drood Henge but got away." said Sonic continuing on.

"Do we have an identification?" asked Amy curious.

"The guards that nearly caught her gave a full description. She was described as a grey wolf in her twenties, black hair, blue top and green trousers. Sound familiar?" said Sonic.

"Petya! I had a feeling about her." said Amy.

"That doesn't make sense though." said Knuckles., "If it was Petya then how did she find out. If it really was Alicia who spilled it then how did Petya find out?"

"It must have happened last night at the party." said Tails with a shrug.

"Ah don't think so." said Bunnie, "Petya disappeared early on and Alicia never left my sight all night."

"It might have been another wolf." put in Charles.

"Possibly unc." replied Sonic, "But for now we have only one suspect. If we find her and she's innocent no harm is done. But we must find her. Tails?"

"Yes Sonic."

"I want you to find T2, wherever he's gone, and start searching. As you can fly you can cover more distance. We can't involve anyone else on this. It's too risky."

"Right Sonic. I'll get back to Knothole and find him. What are you going to be doing?"

"We all need to start searching too. Knuckles, you and Bunnie take the eastern plateau."

"Right Sonic." replied Knuckles, "Come on Bunnie. We need to get moving."

"Right behind you sugah." replied Bunnie.

Knuckles and Bunnie quickly spun and darted off. Sonic turned to Amy.

"Amy, you're with me."

"Cool." replied Amy, "What are you doing Sally?"

"I'm staying here. Someone still has to maintain normality and look after things." she replied.

"Right."

"Ok then everyone lets move." said Sonic.

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T2 slowly picked himself up off the floor. He slowly blinked one eye open and stared at the wall. It was moving in an unusual direction for a wall. He steadied himself against the arm of the sofa. Slowly the wall stopped moving.

"Oh…..BOY!" he said to himself, "What happened last night? Wait a minute….."

T2 gave a small groan.

"….that's what happened last night. Knew I should have stopped at ten."

He yawned heavily and slowly sat down on the sofa. He glanced over at the clock on the wall.

"Hmm…..10.30am. Not too bad. I've had worse…..I think."

T2 spent the next half an hour recovering from his hangover. Just then there was a knock at the door.

"T2? Hey T2! You in there?!" cried Tails' voice.

"Just a second." replied T2.

He pulled himself off the sofa and went to open the door. Tails was looking a bit flustered.

"Hey Tails. What up?" asked T2.

"We got trouble T2. Someone has stolen the Deep Power Stones." said Tails in a whisper.

"WHAT?!" cried T2.

"Quiet!" hissed Tails, "This is strictly a need to know bases."

"Come inside." urged T2.

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Petya sniffed slightly as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ground. The Power Stones were still lying on the ground next to her.

"What have I done?" she asked herself, "Why did I do this? WHY?!"

She put a hand on her chest and clutched the small necklace that hung there. She looked at it and wept another tear.

"I have disgraced you all." she said, "I have disgraced everyone. I don't deserve to wear this anymore!"

Petya suddenly grasped the necklace and yanked it from her neck. She winced slightly as the catch dug into her neck and cut it slightly. She stood up and threw the necklace into the trees. Petya stared after it for a second and then quickly packed up the Power Stones and ran into the forest crying.

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"No it's not true I tell you!" cried T2 jumping to his feet.

"T2. The guards saw her. The description is a perfect match for Petya." said Tails trying to calm him down.

"But Petya isn't like that! She's kind and generous and…….."

"How do you know?!"

"Because……..I…………I spent last night with her."

Tails' eyes widened at this statement.

"You mean….you…"

"No! We had a few drink together and talked and stuff."

"So that's where you two went last night. What did you talk about?"

"Nothing important really. A bit about our family and past. After that the conversation degraded into laughter. I think we both had a little too much to drink."

"Any indication on what she was doing here? Anything?"

"Hmm…..I don't remember much. I remember asking her what brought her out here."

"What she say?"

"She on some sort of quest thing. She told me a little line too…..what was it now? Ah yes. It was something like "When the tw……….."."

T2 fell into silence and his eyes widened. Tails gave him a shake.

"T2? What is it? What did she say?!"

"She said 'When the two become one the path shall be revealed.'." said T2 still staring at the wall.

"WHAT?! Did you tell her anything?"

T2 spun to face him.

"I was drunk!" he cried.

"Then it was you who told her. Not Alicia! How could you?!"

"I was drunk."

"I have to tell Sonic." said Tails walking past him.

"Tails! She isn't like that I tell you. She wouldn't do this!"

"That's not for you to decide." snapped Tails spinning to face him again, "We only met her the other day. Who's to say what she's like."

Tails turned again and made for the door. Before he got there he was hit hard in the back of the head. He gave a small cry and fell to the floor. Behind him T2 stood there holding a half shattered vase.

"Sorry Tails. I didn't want to do this but you left me no choice." he said.

T2 stared at the wall for a few seconds.

"I have to find Petya." he said quickly and ran from the hut.

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"Knuckles. What's your status?" asked Sonic.

"No such luck finding her Sonic. We've searched the entire eastern plateau." came a reply over the comm.

"That wolf girl isn't anywhere around here." said Bunnie's voice.

"Alright then, keep looking." said Sonic.

"Will do."

The comm went dead.

"No sigh then." asked Amy.

"Nope. I better check in with Tails to see if he's found T2."

Sonic switched the comm on again and punched in Tails' frequency. All he got was static.

"Hmm….that funny. I'm just getting static."

"It's not like Tails not to answer." said Amy raising her eyebrow.

"That's true. Tails said he was going to Knothole. We should go and check to see if he's there."

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Petya closed her eyes as she ran. She still couldn't believe what she had done. She had betrayed the trust of everyone she had met. All for some stupid legend that was probably not even true. Petya flung open her eyes just in time to see a low hanging tree branch. Second later she hit the floor hard and fell unconscious.

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T2 landed in a small clearing and looked around.

"Petya! Petya! You here?!" he cried

All he got was silence.

"Hmm….guess not."

He took a few step forwards. He was in a remote area of the Great Forest to the south of Drood Henge.

"She's got to be here somewhere. This is the only inhabitable place near Drood Henge. She has to be here."

T2 walked on into the forest a bit more. After an hour of walking and shouting he could find no trace of her. He was about to give up hope when he saw something glinting in the soil near the foot of a tree. Curious, he went over to investigate. He knelt down and picked up the object.

"Oh my god! It's Petya's necklace. What's it doing here? Never mind, it means I'm on the right track. I've gotta hury."

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Sonic screeched to a halt in the centre of Knothole. He received a few surprise glances from the residents but he waved them off. He looked around.

"Well no sign of Tails." he said.

"Nope." agreed Amy, "We should check T2's place. He might be there."

"Good idea."

Sonic and Amy walked into Knothole and soon came to T2's hut. Sonic knocked on the door. There was no reply.

"T2? You there? Tails?" said Sonic.

They both listened. Again there was no reply.

"This is getting too weird." said Sonic starting to walk away.

Amy still stood on the doorstep, her head cocked to the side slightly.

"Amy?" asked Sonic.

"I hear something." replied Amy.

Suddenly Amy took a few steps backwards and flung herself at the door. The door gave in and swung open sending Amy falling to the floor. She shook herself and looked up. She screamed.

"Amy?!" cried Sonic as he came in behind her, "What is it…….ARGH!"

There lying on the floor was a semi conscious Tails. Amy propped herself up and shuffled to his side. She gave him a gentle shake.

"Tails? TAILS?!" she cried.

Tails just moaned slightly. It was then that Amy noticed the large cut on the back of his head and the shattered remains of a vase on the floor. The wound was pretty rough and had several small fragments of ceramic still in it. Amy reached out her hand and closed her eyes.

"Amy?" asked Sonic, What you doing?"

"Shh….this takes a lot of focus."

Amy moved her hand over the wound and her eyes closed tighter. She seemed to grimace slightly and then her hand glowed white. Sonic watched as the cut on Tails' head slowly healed itself in a few seconds. When it was done Amy removed her hand and flung herself backwards against the wall gasping. Sonic looked concerned.

"Don't……..don't worry Sonic……..it's just tiring…….give me a second." said Amy through her gasps.

About thirty seconds later Amy had regained her breath.

"That wasn't what I think it was, was it?" asked Sonic.

"Yep. The same healing technique I used on you all those years ago. Tiring as hell mind you. But we have bigger problem right now."

"You're right." said Sonic kneeling down next to Tails.

He gave him a gentle shake.

"Tails? Tails, you alright?" he asked.

Tails moaned again and blinked. Slowly he came round and, with the help of Amy, got up to his knees.

"Tails? What happened? Where's T2?" asked Amy.

Tails slowly explained what had happened.

"That bleeding fox!" cried Amy, "He's probably her accomplice."

"I don't think so Amy." said Tails, "He really did sound sincere about what he said."

"Maybe. But whatever his reasons we now got two people we need to find. This just gets better and better."

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T2 stopped running for a moment and listened. He heard it again. A quiet groaning noise. He listened carefully, his ears twitching. This time he locked it down and ran towards the sound. A few seconds later he found the source. Petya was lying on her back on the ground holding a hand to her head. T2 looked up. A low growing tree branch stuck out over the top of her.

"Petya." he cried.

Petya suddenly looked up and her eyes filled with fear. She started to back away, pulling herself backwards on the ground. T2 took a few quick steps forwards and knelt down beside her.

"Petya. Petya, it's ok." he said gripping her arm, "I'm not here to do anything to you."

Petya breathing was coming in short gasps. She was obviously scared to death. T2 gave her arms a small squeeze.

"It's ok." he said again.

Slowly Petya's breathing returned to normal.

"Really?" she said nervously.

"Really." replied T2.

Petya just sniffed.

"Petya. There saying you stole the Deep Power Stones. Did you?" asked T2.

Petya just looked at him and then at the floor. She slowly nodded. T2's face fell.

"Petya."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do this. I thought……I thought my mission was coming to an end."

"What is this mission you're on Petya?"

Petya sniffed.

"Alright, I'll tell you. For many generations my family has been searching for a legendary source of energy called the 'Great Power'." said Petya reaching into her rucksack and removing a stone tablet, "My family found this stone tablets centuries ago during the search. No-one has been able to figure out its meaning. When the two become one the path shall be revealed."

"So that's why you thought the Deep Power Stones where what you were looking for!"

"Yes. They fit the description but nothing happened."

"Can I try?"

"I don't see what good it will do." said Petya as she handed him the two halves.

Slowly T2 fixed the stones together. They glowed purple and a sphere appeared around him. Then just as it did with Petya the sphere faded and the stones stopped glowing. Petya shook her head.

"That's exactly what happened to me."

She hung her head and stared at the floor. It was then that she noticed that the stone tablet was glowing slightly. Just under the inscription another set of writing had appeared.

"T2 look!" cried Petya.

T2 looked at the tablet. The writing was in some strange form of hieroglyphics.

"I can't read that?" said Petya frantically.

The message had already started to fade.

"It looks familiar to me…….I can't remember where…….aaah!"

He knew he recognized the symbols but where. T2 ran his hand across the tablet. It was incredibly smooth. Like marble……wait marble. T2 quickly glanced back at the writing. It had almost faded from sight but this time T2 got it.

"It's the symbols of the Marble Zone!" he cried.

"What?!" cried Petya getting excited.

"That writing. It's the symbols of the Marble Zone. I only got it when I realized the tablet was made of marble. I didn't get what it said but it was the Marble Zone hieroglyphics."

"What is this Marble Zone?" asked Petya.

"It's an area of Mobotropolis to the east. It's covered in the ruins of an old civilization."

Petya suddenly stood up.

"We have to go." she said.

"What?"

"Listen T2. What if I was right? What if the DP stones really are what the inscription was talking about? What if this Marble Zone is the place I'm looking for?!" cried Petya almost ecstatic.

Petya quickly scooped the tablet out of T2 hands and jammed it back in her rucksack. She packed up the Power Stones and slung the bag over her shoulder.

"You coming?

T2 quickly got up and ran after her as Petya charged off in an easterly direction into the forest.

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Sonic came to a stop outside the palace. She quickly walked in. Sally had seen him come in and had gone to meet him.

"Sonic. Any luck finding Petya?" she asked.

"None. We got another problem too. It looks like T2 is trying to protect her too. He attacked Tails."

"What?!" cried Sally taken aback.

"He smashed a vase on his head. Knocked him clean out. Do you have Nicole on you?"

"Of course." said Sally patting a small pouch on her side, "I'm never without her."

"Great. I need to borrow her. We can't track Petya because Nicole doesn't know her bio signs but T2 is another story."

Sally quickly passed Nicole to Sonic.

"Thanks Sal. Oh and something else I've found out."

"What?"

"It wasn't Alicia who told Petya about the DP stones. It was T2."

Sally's hands instantly went to her mouth as she gasped.

"Oh my. Alicia!"

Sally suddenly spun and ran off. Sonic looked after her.

"You've got a hard job there Sal." he said.

Sonic spun and shot out of the room.

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Alicia wiped away a tear and sniffed. Ever since Sally had shouted at her earlier that morning she had spent all hr time lying on her bed crying. She slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Why won't she believe me?" she wept.

She slid off the bed and walked over to the door. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything anymore. She turned the handle, opened the door and walked out.

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"Well we're all set." said Charles walking into the room, "All we need is Sonic and Nicole."

"You sure this will work? We've never tested." asked Tails.

The group was standing in a room surrounded by numerous computer consoles and displays. Through a window, a large satellite dish could be seen.

"It should work." replied Charles.

"What's this place supposed to do anyway?" asked Knuckles.

"Well you remember a few years back, when T2 first appeared and everyone started disappearing?" said Tails.

"Don't remind me." groaned Bunnie with a shiver.

"Yeah." said Knuckles.

"Well we built this place to help increase Nicole's scanning range. If it works she should be able to scan anything in a fifty mile radius." said Tails.

"Cool." said Knuckles.

"Here's Sonic." called Amy walking into the room followed by Sonic.

"Hi everyone. So where does Nicole go?" said Sonic.

"Stick her just there Sonic." replied his uncle.

Sonic walked over to a console and plugged Nicole into a slot. Charles pressed a few controls.

"Ok ready." he said.

"Yo Nicole." said Sonic.

"Sonic my main hedgehog." replied Nicole.

"Nicole, access main systems and scan for T2's bio signs." said Sonic.

"Working."

A few seconds past. The dish outside made a few small movements. Finally Nicole spoke.

"Bio signs detected in grid 12 by 7 by 14." she said.

"In English Nicole." said Sonic.

"Approximately fifteen miles west of the Marble Zone."

"Course?" asked Sonic.

"Reading indicates strong possibility of destination being the Marble Zone."

"The Marble Zone huh. I remember that place. I was almost barbequed hedgehog numerous times." said Sonic.

"How that sugah?" asked Bunnie.

"The place is covered in lava. Very volcanic area." replied Sonic, "I wonder why there going there."

"Only one was to find out." said Tails, "Let's go."