Chapter 5 : Reunion

"Alright!" Eagle cried triumphantly. "The plane should be usable now!" He said to Minimaniac and Kawaii Kitsune. "But I'd like to spend another day making it user-friendly. It should work, but it'll be fairly unsafe and hard to use."

Minimaniac nodded sleepily. "We'd better find a place to stay…what's wrong, KK?"

Kawaii Kitsune didn't hear him…she was staring at the small group which was wandering toward the forest with a cart…they were going there in the middle of the night? She shook suspicious thoughts out of her head and slowly turned back to Mini and Eagle. "You okay?" Mini asked again.

"Fine…"

*****

Bluehawk suddenly woke up again, his fur wet with sweat. It was a fairly cool night before…something wasn't right. He looked to Sama, who was tossing and turning. "Huht…hot…owchi!" Something wasn't right all of a sudden…something evil had just happened…somewhere…

*****

Mini sat bolt upright at the sounds of shouts. KK was awake too, he could hear hurried footsteps in the room next to him. Eagle had already left the room. Quickly he put on his shoes, pants and jacket and hurried outside, realizing how hot it was. KawaiiKitsune was walking just ahead of him. He looked to the right, toward the volcano…a fresh river of lava was running furiously down the side of the mountain toward the town…Mini and KK just stood there watching, same as a group of humans a bit in front of them…there seemed to have been a strange barrier around the town earlier, so this river would probably reach the end of the rock and stop…it was gushing down to that level…the red glow came closer and closer to the edge…and it didn't stop. It poured down over the edge of the rock and kept going. "RUN!!!" Mini cried. Before he had even finished his word KK was pulling him in the opposite direction of the danger. The town was getting engulfed. The local humans were in an absolute panic. Why shouldn't they be? There was a huge river of lava gushing straight through the town, engulfing everything in its path. But even Minimaniac couldn't run fast enough…it would catch them eventually…it was already halfway through the town when they had reached about three quarters of the way out…suddenly Mini heard a whirring above him…and then a cool, calm hand grabbed his as he held KK's. They rose into the air, above the lava, but feeling an intense blast of heat as it passed under them…all of the humans in the town had been instantly killed. KK allowed tears to drop into the stream of molten rock, Minimaniac showed no emotion, blocking it all out for the time being. Suddenly he realized he was being hoisted up, into the plane. "Nice save." He finally said to Black Eagle as KK climbed to the top wing. Eagle didn't respond. He didn't even hear him.

The humans did this to you, and yet you pity for their plight? No! The people who died tonight were perfectly innocent!

Ah yes. But they all care too much about knowledge, power, wealth…they care nothing for any other.

Some do, some don't. The many shouldn't suffer for the sins of few.

You control much wisdom. Was it they who made you so?

Who are you?

Even one who knows will never know…I was born in the absence of light…I remain so.

At that, the voice in his head ceased. Eagle, relieved, puffed onto the gears.

"You okay?" Minimaniac asked, realizing his girlfriend was asleep on the top wing.

"Fine…fine…"

Mini looked back to the destruction behind them. Why had whatever barrier protected them failed? Why had it been there in the first place? Maybe Bluehawk knew the answers…

"We're gonna go around the mountain, you guys, then we're going to head North, I think that's where Hawk was headed." Minimaniac nodded in reply.

*****

"Sir…"

"Please, Hawk. Call me Graim."

"Okay…Graim. Why do you trust us so much? You gave a start when you saw me…do…you know something?"

Graim sighed. "You…bear resemblance to someone I knew…uncanny resemblance…"

"I'm listening."

"Twenty five years ago, after the city was destroyed, two young foxes came through here, stayed here, ate here, and then moved on. You almost look like a clone of one of them…"

Bluehawk nodded. This may have been coincidence…but… "My father?"

Graim nodded. "Possibly."

Suddenly Phantom burst through the door, two chao following him through the air. "Ready to go?"

Bluehawk was frustrated that Phantom had come in just as he was about to discover a lead as to his ancestry, but accepted this unfortunate twist of fate. "Where to?" Hawk asked.

"Somewhere where we can figure out where we should be going!"

The trio (or group-of-five if you include the chao who were buzzing about behind them) didn't head far before they stopped for a break. "So where exactly are we going?" Hawk finally asked. Sama grunted.

"Not sure. But you were right to leave the city…your hunch was right. Something is up, and as far as I can see it's up to us to stop it."

Bluehawk hrrmed and nodded. Suddenly Hawk realized that Skeeter was trying to lift his backpack…no, he was grabbing at the zip. "Hungry?" Hawk asked. The small blue chao nodded. Hawk decided to give him some nibblies in case he decided to eat everything in there, so he unzipped the top and grabbed out a plastic bag with peanuts in it. He (noisily) grabbed a handful of them and placed them on the ground for the chao to share. Sama stared at them hungrily.

"Not yet, Sama." Phantom told him. Hawk didn't hear this. A shadowy figure was looking at the group from around the hill…those red eyes…the forest shadows? Quickly Hawk got up with a shout and the shadow disappeared. Hawk grabbed his emerald from where he left it on the ground and ran in the direction of the shadowy figure. Phantom and Sama looked up at him. "Where ya goin'?" Phantom asked. Hawk didn't answer. He had to find out what the heck this shadow guy was…but it was running as fast as he was!? Hawk sped up, ran into a dip in the side of the hill, back up again (dimming the emerald a tiny bit) and noticed that he was still the same distance…

Phantom stared at where Hawk had just gone. He just took off…but Phantom decided he was better off remaining where he was. Sama was staring off in the opposite direction…then it all happened extremely quickly. Phantom felt something grab at his neck, and the next moment he was standing next to Sama facing the direction Hawk ran off in…black humanoid figures were groping where Phantom had just been. Sama immediately leapt on top of one of them, pummeling it into the ground while the others went for Phantom, who again teleported to five metres away. He had to save Sama…quickly he rushed directly at their attackers to knock them to the ground…where were the chao? Suddenly he was hit on the head with a hard object and knew no more of the scene.

Bluehawk continued his mad dash to the dark figure, when would it ever let up? It just kept on running…and running…and running…suddenly Hawk whizzed around as something grabbed his shoulder. "Skeeter! What're you-!?"

The black figure was gone. Skeeter was flustering about, panicked. Paladin was flying up from behind, indicating to follow. Wassamatta? They suddenly flew off back the way Hawk had come from. Whuh-oh…Hawk suddenly realized what may have just happened…

*****

Black Eagle dipped the revamped Squall downward, its energy supply running low. Minimaniac signaled to KawaiiKitsune from the opposite wing. The plane crossed a stream as it reached the edge of a forest, and went for grass plains. It was strange, only a couple of days ago had he been separated from Hawk, Phantom and Sama when they didn't follow him. Now they were nowhere in sight…if they had come this way, they would have been easily visible from above the plains. Eagle decided to change course to the left.

*****

Hawk had been right. Phantom and Sama were gone, the evidence of some kind of fight strewn all over where they had been. There was a burn mark on the ground, probably where Sama had fought back, and flecks of blood here and there. Skeeter hovered up and sat on Hawk's shoulder, Paladin, who was looking more and more like Sama, sat on the opposite shoulder. Hawk shook his head, then bounced his backpack. Suddenly he remembered…in the forest near SoaH City, he had been attacked by strange, black figures like the one he pursued. Suddenly his chest started hurting. He had broken his ribs that night and never let go of the emerald for more than a minute since…quickly he grabbed the emerald, which he realized was always dimmer than usual recently, but brighter now. Its power had been protecting his ribs…instantly he felt better as it lost some of its shine. What as he to do now, though? Just…sit here, or look hopelessly for a lead? There was only one thing to do. Head back to the row of houses.

*****

There's the smoke! Eagle thought finally. It was nearing dusk, so the sight of what he was looking for was a relief at least. Minimaniac was looking straight downward as he sat on the edge of the wing. KK was looking upwards at the red sky. Eagle turned left about ninety degrees toward a small row of houses that he knew of. If Hawk ain't there, we're ahead of him…suddenly the engine groaned. Oh, no…I should have stopped off sooner… He could see the row of houses okay, but the engine was conking out. This plane wouldn't glide amazingly well. They were hurtling toward the ground. Mini and KK were looking to Eagle frantically, but his concentration was on the plane, keeping it steady…keeping it steady…the ground was hurtling upwards, faster and faster…but the plane didn't impact with the ground. Minimaniac suddenly had that rising feeling, and extreme dizziness…the plane was gliding. Eagle's eyes looked like they were about to pop! The red lightning was creeping in…then the plane bumped on the ground, then again, then again, before Mini and KK were both suddenly falling off the front. The row of houses was only about a hundred metres away…there was someone coming toward them…

*****

Bluehawk ran as fast as he could without the emerald toward the plane crash site. If he was right…if he was right…that was his plane. The Squall. He was only halfway to it when he saw those all-too familiar silhouettes. Minimaniac! KawaiiKitsune! Black Eagle! "What are you guys doing here?" Hawk shouted happily.

"Hawk! We found you!" Eagle cried.

"Yo, Hawk! Been lookin' for ya, pal!" Minimaniac said happily, embracing KK.

KK smiled happily. "It's a long story for both factions, I imagine."

Hawk nodded. "Yeah…it is. Come inside."

"I don't run a hotel service!" The brown rabbit chuckled upon Mini, KK and Eagle entering his residence. "But considering the circumstances, you're welcome."

The four of them each said something along the lines of 'Thank you.' Mini looked around. The place was pretty neat…not a spot of mess anywhere except for a single dark stain on the carpet. It wasn't long before each of them told their separate stories.

"…and we decided that there was obviously something big going down, figuring it involved you…"

"…we had to avoid gunfire all the way through a city of moles…"

"…then there was this really fast stream of lava, wiped everything out…"

"…Sama and Phantom…I have no idea where they are now." Bluehawk's chao were both asleep on the floor. Black Eagle finally got up from his chair. "We'll never find those black people now. We'll have to wait until they find us. In the meantime, we either wait here, do nothing, and wait until more bad stuff happens and innocents needlessly lose their lives, we go South-West, to where the globe of flame rests, evacuating any nearby towns and taking it for ourselves to prevent others getting it, or we can hope that Phantom has teleported out of their predicament."

"I thought I was supposed to be the leader." Bluehawk said smartly. Mini laughed. Eagle grinned.

"It's your decision anyway Hawk, since you brought us all together." If Hawk didn't have fur his cheeks would have gone slightly red.

"We stay here the night, then we go South-West. It's all we can do."

The others nodded. As if on cue, Graim came in. "Dinner's served!"

Hawk suddenly sat bolt upright. He had been startled awake, he knew it. Then another loud clang echoed through the night. Quickly he got up, whipped on his shirt, shorts, socks and shoes (not forgetting his sunglasses) and ran for the door, making just enough noise to wake up Minimaniac in the next room. The door opened with an eerie creak. The only thing out there was the plain, with a hill not far off, all lit by the bright white moon…Bluehawk took a step forward into the night. Then he suddenly realized where the clang came from. The wreckage of the plane. No, Eagle would need all the parts for tomorrow…but a lot of it seemed to be missing. They'd been hit by thieves. Quickly Hawk started in its direction. But then suddenly he felt something wham into his back, knocking him down. He looked up, gripping the emerald as tightly as possible. A silhouette loomed down upon him, its bright red eyes leering. Quickly Hawk flipped his horizontal form sideways, throwing the freaky thing off. Another appeared behind him as he got up. "YAH!" He cried as he spin-kicked it out of the way. Graim's door opened and Minimaniac ran out. "Hawk!" He cried out.

"GET THE OTHERS!" Hawk shouted back as he drew the Lazuli Blade and kicked the first shadow in the gut. It recoiled as a third appeared behind Hawk. Quickly he spun himself around, holding out his laser-blade. Dark blood splashed the ground as more started appearing, more and more rapidly. Soon Bluehawk was covered in a mesh of black, red-eyed figures…the Lazuli Blade fizzled out. Bluehawk gripped the emerald as tightly as he could, disallowing its slip…then suddenly he knew no more. 

Pain…searing pain is all Hawk felt in his chest. His broken ribs…he didn't have the chaos emerald with him. "Hawk…there's nothing we can do." Minimaniac sighed from the cell next door. Hawk took the time to stop grunting with agony and start looking around…he hadn't really noticed a buzzing sound, but then he realized he was being kept in by a laser grid. No steel bars, just a laser grid. "Like I said, there's nothing we can do. Before you ask, I have no idea either. I just woke up, same as you."

"Don't tell me you're despairing." Hawk replied.

"Err…you hadn't noticed? Eh heh…"

Hawk cried out, half in shock when another surge of pain hit him.

"Hawk…there are times when no-one can do anything. That's called inevitability."

Hawk rolled his eyes. "So, no idea who we're captives of, no idea where the others are…"

Suddenly the far wall opened up…strange door. An old-looking yet very small black hedgehog walked in. What th-? The midget chimera!

"You…friend, get doctoring." It said to Hawk. I'm going to be medically treated? Am I being mistaken for Bloodhawk again? "Then…he evil…good one! Best all! Yes! Win you!" He flicked a switch in the wall and small wall panels opened up, depositing plate-like objects with…well, it certainly wasn't appetizing.

"He strong, need learning big! Evil good he then!" Then he walked for the door. What the heck was he telling them? What, that Hawk was their friend, he would get medical treatment and be their evil leader once more? If that was so, they really needed to check up on their recognition skills.

"Waitasec…we may have found a good opportunity here…" Mini remarked thoughtfully.

Hawk nodded, then fell backwards again at the pain in his chest.

"Okay, I'm gonna test something here…lessee…this'll do." Mini held a string from his jacket out, dangling it in front of his laser grid. Upon connection with the grid the end of the rope suddenly dropped off, being cut up into smaller pieces. "Nope, it's a cutter. No escape for now…wait…what's that yellow glow in the far wall?"

*****

The yellow-streaked chimera desperately ran from wall to wall, pressing at the tiles. It has to be here somewhere…Suddenly the tiny one came in through the door., speaking in its own tongue…

"So, PH-1. You're going to help us with a little…experiment. Lirash has been especially keen to do the honours." He cackled.

"You? Lirash? I thought you were both dead!"

"Ha…it looked like it, didn't it? When those openings were created in the Chimera Zero. The other tests came along perfectly…you were the most powerful of all, but with defects. You are an insult to the name chimera!"

"Why, because I can't teleport properly? Because of a few accidents I couldn't even help? Chimera is an insult to the word creature!" Phantom spread his arm blades, trying to look more powerful. Before the small one realized it, Phantom was behind him. Then came the extraordinary part. Phantom's eyes glowed bright green-yellow. He threw back his arms, screaming, not with pain or fear…the war cry of a warrior. The tiny chimera cringed. He knew what was coming…Phantom emitted a green shockwave across the ground. The small black chimera winced. Suddenly a column of earth shot up from the floor, destroying the laser grid and throwing the small guy smack into the wall, shrieking. Blood splattered across it. But Phantom's hopes and fears were both confirmed at the same time. He was in the presence of the Terras Ball.

*****

"What was that!?" KawaiiKitsune called to Black Eagle and Sama.

"It was a boom!" Sama called back. Eagle rolled his eyes.

I get stuck with Sama again. What did I do to deserve this?

"Look on the bright side, KK. At least you're not in the same CELL as him!"

Sama looked up from his toilet drink. "Eh?"

Lucky I flushed…Eagle thought unhappily. "That was…Phantom's cell, right? That…'boom' as Sama called it…"

*****

"sssssh!" Phantom whispered to Mini before he had even entered the room. "If they know I'm out, that's it! Finito!" Hawk gasped with hope. They were as good as out of there, alright!

Phantom quickly made for the yellow glow in the wall and moved his fingers around the edge. The panel dropped out and there it was, Hawk's emerald…Phantom lifted it out and suddenly there was a sound like a backward laser. The grid was gone. "Thanks!" Mini said calmly. Phantom quickly gave the emerald to Hawk.

"I'm up! Let's rock!" Bluehawk gripped the emerald and was instantly on his feet, heading for the door. "You guys comin'?"

"Not yet. The Terras Ball is nearby."

Hawk's head dropped, tilted.

"The earth elemental! It's here! I was able to use its power! Long story, but we gotta find it!"

"Whatever…but first things first. Find and free the others."

The door seemed to take forever to open as Eagle watched. But the familiar faces were more than welcome. The laser grid was almost instantly shut off and Sama ran straight up to Hawk. "They took my baggings!" He wailed. Hawk rolled his eyes. "He wasn't too much trouble this time?" He asked KK.

"Only because he didn't get the time!" She replied before going to hug Minimaniac.

"Okay. Two teams. Mini and KK, you guys can try to find a way to get outta here. Sama, Phantom, Eagle and myself will try to find the Terras ball…thing."

KK was about to object, but then realized that escaping would probably be better than the search for the whatsis.

"Move out!" Bluehawk commanded, gripping his emerald and realizing that the Uzana 32 was in his shoe the whole time. Quickly he kicked it out and took the time to notice just how white the walls were.

Bluehawk quickly ducked into an arched door as he heard chimera voices moving along the hallway. They seemed happy, and two chimeras walked right past the door. Quickly, Hawk slunk out and kept on moving. What was he looking for, anyway? Some kind of yellow-green thing like the orb in the mountain…Hawk held both his gun and his yellow emerald tightly. Suddenly there was a loud wailing. An alarm of some sort. "Inklinosi hirp! Inklinosi hirp!" a voice rang. Hawk knew what it meant, but they had taken this long to realize that their prisoners were loose?  Suddenly he felt dizzy…but he wasn't having a lapse of balance. That was caused by major vibrations.

******

"No, Sama! What are you doing!" Eagle cried. He was impossible to control, he just didn't understand! Sama paced forward a step. The chimeras' eyes fixed upon him, full of fear and rage. Eagle watched as the flames behind them roared hungrily for something more to burn. The chimeras' guns had been knocked aside into the flames. Suddenly, Sama roared and charged at the trapped chimeras. "NO!" Sama tackled each chimera with one arm, grabbing them and leaping…he was in the flames. Sama had leapt into the flames. Eagle reached out a hand in grief…then suddenly two chimeras ran up behind him. A yellow flash. A swung hand. Two chimeras flying backwards onto the ground and cringing in terror. The dark side of Black Eagle unleashed. A yellow blur ensued throughout the chimera ship…it took off very quickly. If it didn't, it would have heard Sama's voice from inside the fire.

"Heehee…bad hedgehogs go fire!"

*****

Minimaniac gently pushed into the unique tile in the wall, and surely enough, the wall moved outwards into the open. "Okay, time to go-AAAAAGH!" Mini quickly dived for the wall. The wind was so strong, sucking them out into the open…and as KK gripped a horizontal pole she realized why. They were immensely high…the ship was moving fast, over mountains, covered with trees. How could they get out safely?

*****

Phantom crept silently through the rooms, laughing in his mind. The mazes are all exactly the same! He thought to himself. He crept further through the corridors and eventually found what he was looking for. A red door. It was sealed shut completely. If he was going to get through, he'd have to teleport. Great. He thought to himself sarcastically. Just when I need to teleport. This ALWAYS happens! Suddenly he was somewhere else…similar environment, but darker…there was a red door behind him. He was through! He started to look around a bit more. The roof bent upwards further into the middle…coloured beams of light which bent and crackled constantly like electricity shot between the object on the pedestal and pylons in the room. Phantom knew what he was beholding. The Terras orb. It was there. Right there. In front of him, ready to just be plucked and kept for later use. Suddenly a glint of light caught his eye. It had flashed less than a second. But suddenly he knew what was watching him. Quickly he blacked his ears just before that piercing shriek of an alarm sounded. Concentrate…Concentrated red light shot down into the sphere, became green and shot right at where Phantom had just been. But he was in the presence of the Terras orb. His power source. He teleported again to avoid another blast. The red door faded…or seemed to, the first laser had blown a hole right through it.  Suddenly Phantom found himself on top of the device that was attacking him. With a swish of the arm, it was pierced to the circuitry by Phantom's arm-blades. Phantom was forced to teleport to the ground again as a laser reflected off the orb again, just missing him…but the intended effect had been achieved. The laser device fell to the ground with a smash. It almost seemed safe all of a sudden. Before anything else could happen, Phantom ran for the orb and reached out for it…he had it. He could use his full power now! But something was wrong as he held the magnificent ball in his hands. It felt…just like a heavy thing. Lifeless. He had expected this to be something amazing, yet it was so disappointing…

*****

"Sama!" Hawk whisper-called down to his brain-dead pal. "Sama!"

Sama looked straight up. "Hawk? How'd you fit in the vent?" Was his reply.

"There are chimeras coming. I'm not up here."

Sama turned when he heard footsteps and looked at the chimeras. "Hawk's not in the vent!" He said. The chimeras stood there, confused. They didn't understand him. Hawk wiped his forehead. They didn't know he was up there. Suddenly the middle one fired at Sama. The shot exploded onto him…but he just stood there. The chimeras gasped, became angry. Hawk suddenly realized that they knew something he didn't. There was a sudden yell from one of them…then quick footsteps. Hawk couldn't see perfectly, but he knew one of them was making a run for it. Sama was so powerful!? Suddenly Bluehawk noticed a ringing-pinging-whoosh noise…then suddenly a bright yellow streak burst right around Sama and into the remaining chimeras…then skidded to halt. "Sama! You're alive!" It cried. Eagle!? Suddenly Bluehawk was half deafened by a piercing shriek…that repeated exactly the same way again. An alarm.

*****

Phantom stood in the doorway, staring straight at the door. The Terras orb was truly going to prove its worth in him this moment…suddenly the door slid open and five streakless chimeras stood in the doorway, their guns aimed into the room…but there was no-one in there…just the pedestal and everything no longer working in there…the orb was gone…suddenly one of them was thrown forward with a yelp. The others turned, to see Phantom there, arm-blades out, eyes blazing. The two next to him fired, but he was no longer there and both gripped their chests, collapsing slowly to the ground. The two behind them stood there in shock, staring at their three comrades who had just been slaughtered. The traitor was back…suddenly one of them shifted slightly, before uttering something in Chimeran language. The other's eyes widened, he moved his feet a little bit. The first was right. The ship was tilting forward…the mystery power source of the ship had been the Terras Ball?

*****

Bluehawk knew what that tilt meant. The ship was losing power. Sama simply stood there, blinking, Black Eagle stood panting. Bluehawk stood looking around frantically. Yep, the ship was tilting further. And further.

*****

Minimaniac suddenly wobbled slightly. Looked like their chance to escape was coming, although it was a dangerous chance…the ship was either landing or crashing. Perhaps they had run out of fuel? Or had that earlier alarm signaled a landing of some sort? Another alarm sounded, along with a voiceover. Mini looked to KK…nope, she was looking as worried as he felt. Suddenly he felt all of his weight pulling to the right and slammed into a door…

*****

A young squirrel girl looked happily up into the trees around her. It was the perfect day for a walk, alright. Perfect weather, not a cloud in the sky…the birds were chirping happily. Suddenly she felt a chill from her head down; shadow covered the environment around her…that was no cloud. A bright light flashed…whatever it was, it was heading straight into the hill…suddenly there was a huge crash as the giant craft impacted. What was that huge craft!? There was another loud bang as the back end hit the ground, followed by a strong gust of wind. The young girl just stood there, if she was about to be attacked she would never make it back to town anyway, so what was the point? Just for measure, she looked around for a strong stick and picked one up. Then she ran forward toward the destroyed aircraft, hoping that the people back in town had seen it hit.

*****

Phantom kicked forward, shunting off the steel sheet that had attacked him from above. No, it came back. He was kicking upwards…no wonder his head hurt. Slowly he flumped himself onto his stomach, the steel sheet sliding off his feet and hitting the steel floor with a clunk. Then he saw the blood on its end, and on the wall that now was a floor. Then he saw the pinkish blob…then half of a chimera head. Not a pretty picture. There was little lighting, basically only light which had seeped in from openings and reflected off of the metallic surfaces. This chimera ship was now officially a derelict. Hope the others are okay…

*****

Minimaniac awoke to an obviously female voice ringing through the corridors…He got up slightly. "KK?" He grunted quietly. "You okay?"

"I'm…I think so…"

But…that hadn't been KK's voice a few seconds ago…suddenly he heard it again.

"Is there anyone alive down there?" It called.

Minimaniac rubbed his head…that had been one heck of a ride…quickly he got up and ran across the sloped wall and the floor to where the purple kitsune was and grunted to lift her hand from a pile of appliances. "We're okay!" Mini called to the girl outside. "Don't come in though! It's full of hostiles!"

KK simply grabbed her arm and shook it. It was working, but felt a little weird. Suddenly Mini looked upwards along the corridor. Sure enough, the girl who called down was making her way inside. "Hey, I said don't come in! It's dangerous down here!"

"Are you with anyone?" She asked.

"Yeah, but-" KK cut herself off as she realized that this girl was already on her way further in. "Who does she think she is?" She rolled her eyes as she spoke to Mini, who was climbing upwards along the virtually vertical floor.

*****

"Naw…no, don't doctor…it seriously hurts…no! Ow!"

"Alright. Done. Now we expect a full mission report in five hours."

It was hard working for the secret service. Ever since Bluehawk had completely merged with their chaos emerald they had treated him especially harshly. It wasn't his fault, it had called out to him…he just touched it and it attached to his finger and sucked itself right in…Bluehawk kicked the wall on his way out in frustration, getting himself even more frustrated from the pain in his foot. Stupid training missions…

"Hello? Anyone down here?" a faint voice came from down the stairs…it sounded so familiar…almost like an angel…was that an angel speaking to him?

"Hello?"

Suddenly Bluehawk opened his eyes, realizing that he was now awake…not that there was much to see…or breathe. He kaffed out whatever was clogging the entrance to his lungs. Suddenly he realized he was hearing the sounds of things being thrown off of him. He was still gripping his emerald…interesting. Or had it clung to him? Then light came through the wreckage that covered him, then whatever was in the way was removed and he saw the floor of the craft…he was on the roof!? Then the face appeared, ready to remove more stuff…and suddenly Bluehawk knew where he had heard that voice before, even if it had changed since. It was her. She seemed to recognize him, as well. Before she even realized her hand was on her mouth in surprise.

"You." Hawk said coolly.

"…wh-What a surprise, Bluehawk! Eh heh…" Quickly she moved away. Bluehawk rolled his eyes.

"What, surprised that I still exist in more than your memory? P'uh! Like I care anyhoo." Hawk quickly got up and lifted his sunglasses from behind his head. "Leave now before the chimeras get organized and start hunting us down." The orange squirrel obeyed and made her way back up the way she had come. Bluehawk heard a crunch from behind…either Eagle or Sama. One of them, at least, was alright. Then there was another crunch from somewhere else and both of their heads popped out of a huge pile of now useless hardware. "Ow." Sama said finally. Black Eagle shook dust off his head. "Well, that was…interesting…"

"Did you find anyone?" Minimaniac asked into the opening of the wreckage down the hill. KK stood behind hopefully.

The squirrel girl nodded as her tail twitched violently. "Yeah, and he's okay. The blue fox."

"Anyone else?"

"I found Bluehawk and then he told me to come back up here." She rolled her eyes as she jumped to the grassy earth. "Stupid boy's so stubborn when he's irritated."

Mini and KK exchanged glances. She knew Hawk? Suddenly they could hear a whooshing noise from inside and a Blue streak leapt out of the derelict craft along with two others, Eagle and Sama. Mini smiled broadly as he watched them hit the ground. "Any sign of Phantom?" Hawk asked Minimaniac, cutting right to the chase. Mini shook his head. Eagle threw a glance at the squirrel girl of whom no one knew the name but Hawk. Sama simply stood there wondering what was going on. Suddenly everyone looked in surprise to the center of the group where Phantom now stood. "No need to worry, Me's-a right here!" Hawk couldn't help but laugh.