Location - Above the ocean, midday.

Tail shifted the steering controls fractionally and raised the altitude level. The plane skimmed smoothly through the soft pastel blue sky. Checking the digital lcd clock on the dashboard, Tails was shocked to see that it was midday already. Before they had taken off, Amy and Sandi had taken him to the exploration team's First Aid tent ( which was the reason why he had a huge bandage over his leg, and also why he still had the aftertaste of some foul banana flavoured medicine in his mouth ). Afterwards, Amy and Sandi had forced him to rest, which had slowed down their progress even more. Then, of course, Sandi made Tails relate the whole story so far to her, because she did not have a clue about what was going on. And to top it all off, Amy insisted on doing her hair up properly before they took off. Honestly, girls were such a pain!

Suddenly from behind him Sandi gave a shriek. "Look! There it is, the ship! Down there, look," Sandi pointed excitedly, looking through her binoculars and leaning over the side of the Thunderstorm, Tails's latest aviation model. Only a tiny speck amidst the vast ocean, the cruiser bobbed gently below them.

"Are you sure it's the right ship?" Tails asked. He was too busy piloting to take a closer look.

"Yep. That's it alright. The Silverbelle, directly beneath us."

"Okay," Tails said, swerving the plane around and down. "Hold on back there. It's gonna be a bumpy landing." The Thunderstorm jolted roughly as Tails inflated the air sacs around it. Amy, who had been asleep for most of the journey, woke up, startled, as a spray of water caught her in the face. The plane jolted around a bit more, then finally splashed down in the ocean, sending fountains of salty water out away from the plane in all directions. Thanks to the air sacs, the plane was able to float on the water. It was now more like a dinghy than a plane.

"Eww, my dress is soaking!" Amy grumbled, pulling a face as she flicked away a bit of tattered seaweed. Sandi was too engrossed in watching the fish in the crystal waters below them to care. Tails was trying to steer the Thunderstorm as close as he could to the stern of the ship. He flicked a few of the numerous switches and levers inside the cockpit and a cable with a grappling hook shot out from the front of the Thunderstorm, straight towards the big ship. The hook caught firmly on the edge of a porthole and the water-borne Thunderstorm was towed alongside the vast cruise liner. That was the easy bit. Now they had to get on the ship.

* * * * *

Stella surveyed the scene. Things were going pretty well for her. When the Hiatus Orb was ready to unleash it's full potential, she would be there, she would be ready to seize her chance of total world domination. What a fool that Eggman was to trust her! She could almost laugh out loud with contempt as she thought of Eggman's miserable efforts to take over the world. And his hopeless attempts to get rid of that pesky blue hedgehog and his band of followers. Why, if Stella had been in Eggman's place, she would have rid herself of those vermin ages ago. She would dhow Eggman a thing or two before this was over.

Something caught a signal on her radar tracking system. Glancing out of the cockpit, Stella sighted the ship Silverbelle. Whipping out her binoculars, Stella spied the Thunderstorm, a small dot being pulled along behind the Silverbelle. The three figures on board the Thunderstorm confirmed her of the location of her prey.

Immediately, Stella switched the Neurocopter to underwater mode. To escape attention, she drove the craft as quick as a flash straight down under the water. She approached the floating Thunderstorm like a shark, swift and silent, hidden beneath the waves, ready to jump out on the unsuspecting trio. She prepared the external guns for firing. Mission : ninety nine per cent accomplished.

* * * * *

As soon as Tails had secured and tested the cable, Sandi yelped as though she had been touched by a red hot poker.

"What now, Sandi?" Tails asked, whisking around. Sandi murmured,

"I saw a - a - something dive underwater over there!" Tails and Amy scanned the ocean.

"Can't see anything, Sandi. Must've been your imagination," Amy smirked. She still felt cold towards Sandi after the incident at the Casino the previous night.

"It wasn't! I saw what I saw!" Sandi flashed a dark, angry glare at Amy. Tails intervened once again.

"Leave it, you two...." Tails stopped short of what he was saying as his eyes followed something moving under the water. "Sandi, MOVE!" he cried and he thrust himself at Sandi, pulling her down as a bullet whistled past where her head had been a second ago. Sandi simply stared in amazement as the bullet exploded high up in the air. Amy squealed as another bullet burst at the water surface right next to the air sacs supporting the plane-turned-boat.

"We gotta get off this boat!" Amy said, her voice quavering slightly.

"Amy, you're in for another bumpy ride!" Tails exclaimed as he grabbed Amy around the waist and took to the air using his two tails as propellers. "Come on, Sandi. You too." Sandi put her tails into action and followed Tails up to the deck of the ship. They did not turn around to see what happened to the Thunderstorm.

They slipped silently behind the white wall of the dining room on the ship. Exotic climbing plants cryptically clustered up the wall, tingling the backs of their necks. Around the corner was the built-in swimming pool and sun lounge, with steps leading up to the entrance of the dining room. Smiling, happy families were enjoying a well deserved holiday after the hectic work season; chilling out in deckchairs, laughing and messing about in the pool. Catering staff were running to and fro in their white suits to serve the guests, and sailors on their smart naval uniforms were constantly checking the waters and the general progress of the cruiser. Tails was surprised that no-one had noticed them yet.

"We need to find our way down to the basement," Tails whispered seriously to the girls.

"You say it like it's some sort of hard challenge," Amy snorted in a chuckling mood. "We've been through worse. Finding the basement is gonna be pimps!" A deep voice behind them startled them before they could make another move.

"You kids lost or something?" a steward asked the trio. Being strung up as they were, they all jumped involuntarily. Sandi, the first to recover, had a sudden brainwave.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but my brother has an injured leg and I've just realised I've left the medicine in our main luggage. I'm sure it's in the cargo area in the basement. Could you tell us the way to the basement?" Sandi asked innocently, putting on a sweet girly face. The bandage round Tails's leg was convincing too.

"Sure, li'l girl. Go down the stairs behind that door over there by the pool, along the corridor and take the elevator to the bottom floor. Then go down another corridor, take the door on the second left and go down another flight of stairs. Then...you're there! It's a bit complicated, d'you want me to come down with you?" the steward said helpfully.

"No, I think we'll manage fine on our own," Sandi replied, flashing another 'cutie-pie' smile and remembering to add a 'thank you' to the end of her speech. She waved at the steward and reeled Amy and Tails towards the door that the steward had indicated. As they walked off, Tails exaggerated his limping to make Sandi's yarn all the more convincing. The steward smiled and then carried on with his duties.

When they were safe behind the door, Tails exhaled.

"You did some smooth talking back there, sis," he complimented.

"We ought to call you 'Sandi the Manipulator'," Amy said sarcastically, recalling the scene with Knuckles and the hypnotic trance Sandi had placed him in.

"Who asked for you opinion?" said Sandi with a challenging tone in her voice. She reached towards her pocket which contained the dowsing pendants and chain. Amy followed every movement.

"Alright, alright. I get the point. Just don't try that dowsa- thingummy on me." Amy threw up her hands in exasperation.

"It's called dowsing," Sandi corrected her matter-of-factly. Tails sighed. It was so typical of those two to get at each other's throats the minute they all got down to something. Using the arm rail to aid his descent, Tails awkwardly followed the bickering pair down the staircase.

* * * * *

Cursing violently, Stella brought the Neurocopter up to the water surface. She had missed them! Now they had all managed to get away without a single injury from her. She felt so gutted. Well, there was no need for anyone else to find out about her failure. The fact remained that her 'prey' was on the Silverbelle, and she had to follow.

* * * * *

Location - Modern Sciences Corporation building.

Dr. Wallis was a cheat and a liar in many ways. He always put himself before others. He had made many allies in the criminal world, and his reputation as a leading scientist was gained through countless blackmails and frauds. Therefore, the instant he 'accidentally' found out about Robotnik's latest plan to conquer the world, he sided with Robotnik and promised to help him on the condition that he would not suffer the same fate as the rest of the population on earth. Sitting up in his lonesome, stuffy office, he sipped coffee and breathed a sigh of relief. He had managed to get the Plasmic Generator on that cruiser no trouble. Robotnik would also be pleased to know that he had retrieved the tripartite device ( with the help of the beetle robots ). The next thing he did was set about strengthening security around the building, in case of any more unwelcome visitors.

* * * * *

Location - In the basement of cruiser Silverbelle.

The huge weapon towered up above them. Tails could only stare in awe.

"So this is the Plasmic Generator you were talking about," exclaimed Sandi. She strode around the machine, examining it.

"There always has to be something involving machines!" Amy groaned in mock despair. Tails thoughtfully peered up at the ominous looking generator. Meanwhile, Sandi had climbed around the side of the generator to the 'cockpit' area.

"Guys, you'd better take a look at this," Sandi called loudly. Anxious to stop Sandi from being so noisy, Tails and Amy clambered up to see what she was on about. Sandi was sitting in a seat, surrounded by a vast semi-circular control panel. At the centre was a metal sheet, which looked like you were meant to place your hands on it.

"And I found this," Sandi whispered. In her hands she held the first Amulet!

"Where'd you find it?" Tails asked.

"Right here." Sandi placed it on the metal sheet briefly, then put it in her pocket.

"What does all this stuff mean?" Amy wondered, raising her eyebrows at the buttons and levers all around her.

"I think I know," Tails began, reaching for the controls. A sharp voice behind him made him freeze.

"Keep your hands away from that thing!" It was Stella. Stepping gracefully out of the shadows as she had done on the day the orb had taken Sonic. With the deadly rifle in hand.

"Uh-oh," murmured Tails. Eggman had just appeared on the scene too, in his 'Egg Walker' machine! Tails leapt off the generator and grabbed a razor edged metal crowbar. Amy and Sandi took up position beside him. A bright light flashed and all around them appeared robots, deadly killing machines that had been lurking in every shadow, unknown to the trio until now. The robots marched forwards, encircling them. There was no hope of escape.

"You're not going to make it out of here alive," Eggman sneered.

"So don't count on it," Stella finished his sentence for him. Tails realised he had been tricked. What he thought was a world rescue mission had turned out to be an ambush! Eggman shot out a warning missile and Stella prepared her rifle.

"Huh. Just you try it!" Tails challenged. He was concentrating on what move the enemy would make next. He was not looking out behind him when a robot grabbed him from behind, holding him fast and knocking the crowbar from his grasp. "Uhh!" Tails choked. Amy was thrown to the side by a second robot. Sandi picked up the discarded metal crowbar and tried to free her brother but they were separated by the robots streaming forth. The robots managed to force them metres apart. Sandi nimbly avoided the robots closing in on her and climbed back on to the Plasmic Generator.

Tails looked wildly from one to the other - Eggman, with the missile cannon, to Stella, with her rifle, back to Eggman again.

"Leave him to me," Stella told Eggman, holding up a hand to stop Eggman releasing a missile. She strode casually towards Tails.

Sandi had reached the top of the generator. So had the robots. Sandi braced herself and swung the crowbar round, knocking back robots here and there, jabbing with the crowbar at their metal frames.

"Come here and fight, you brainless moron! I'm not afraid of a big hulking tin can like you!" Sandi yelled, ramming the metal bar down on an unfortunate robot's head, kickboxing it at the same time. The robot staggered back, electric charges fizzing and crackling around it until it finally collapsed on the ground, becoming merely a pile of battered metal on the floor. But no matter how many robots were put out by the amazing combat skills of Sandi, they just kept coming.

Sandi looked about to see where the others were. There was no sign of Amy. Tails was still trapped, and that woman with the gun was nearing him. Sandi had to get to him before it was too late. Using her two tails to aid her ascension, Sandi leapt up towards the ceiling. She held on to the steel grate above. With a quick swipe of the crowbar, Sandi loosed the nets which had been hanging on the ceiling. The nets tumbled down on top of the robot hordes below. Sandi chuckled. As she was about to jump down again, a low guttural voice stopped her.

"Hold it right there, fox girl!" Eggman said, pointing the cannon atop his Egg Walker at Sandi.

"Not likely," Sandi shot back, somersaulting backwards off the grate and landing on the floor beside the generator. "By the way, the name's Sandi."

"I don't care what your name is. You'd better hand over that amulet now, or else." Eggman lowered the cannon and prepared to fire. Sandi reacted with lightning speed. Before Eggman knew it, the sharp crowbar had left her hands and sliced through the ropes securing another of the nets on the ceiling. The net came tumbling down. Only this time there as a slight difference - the net contained at least two dozen hard iron shot-putt balls! Sandi giggled as Eggman backed off hurriedly, chased by myriads of bumbling, heavy iron balls. That showed him!

Meanwhile, Amy was recovering from her fall in the corner of the basement. Shaking her head woozily, she peered out over the top of a stack of musty wooden crates. The first thing she saw was Sandi, battling her way furiously through the surge of robots on top of the generator. Amy had been there, done that, and she did not envy those robots fighting Sandi. In fact, she felt a little sorry for them. She knew where Sandi was, but where was Tails? Amy crept forwards to see better and that was when she saw Stella, rifle loaded, approaching a robot. Held fast in the grip of the robot was Tails! Sandi would never reach him in time, so it was up to her, Amy, to save her old friend.

Tails yelped as the robot squeezed his wrists tighter. Stella swaggered over triumphantly, taking off her shades with perfect composure.

"I'm not like that fool Dr. Robotnik, y'know. I don't let people go so easily," she snarled, lip curled slightly, looking very fierce and formidable indeed. Tails could not find anything to say. He froze, completely rigid as she brought her face right up close to his, staring him straight in the eye. As she raised the gun, he struggled violently. Stella smirked. "Now, now, there's no point in resisting. Let's settle the conflict, just you and me." She actually smiled. He shuddered. She aimed for her target......

"Not so fast," Amy interrupted, leaping from her cover and drawing out her compact mirror from her pocket. The mirror reflected the light from the grate above, and Amy flashed it in Stella's eyes. Temporarily blinded, Stella dropped the rifle, fumbling for her shades. She roared in anger. Amy pocketed the mirror and snorted. "That'll teach you to stay away from my friends!"

Sandi arrived just in time to knock out the robot that had captured Tails. Tails collapsed on the ground, panting for breath.

"Whew! Thanks, Amy. I owe you one," he gasped.

"Hey, what about me?" Sandi pouted. "I took on that horde of robots single-handed."

"Yeah, whatever," Amy said. "Once again, the spectacular Amy Rose saves the day!" she boasted jokingly, expecting them to laugh. But they did not.

"Amylookouuut!" Tails and Sandi shrieked at the same time. Too late. Stella hit Amy over the head with a plank of wood. Amy fainted immediately. She never even had time to see her attacker. Eggman was now piloting the Neurocopter, and he brought it down low over their heads, letting down a rope ladder which Stella grabbed onto. Eggman blasted a hole in the roof with the weapons on the Neurocopter. They were out of reach now.

"No! You can't do that!" Tails yelled as he helplessly watched Stella drag Amy's limp form up into the air. Amy was now in the clutches of the enemy.

Something hard hit Tails on the nape of the neck. He dropped down. His vision turned all hazy, then he remembered nothing more as he plunged into darkness.

End of Part Two

* * * * *