Author's notes: To Sage of Darkness and Shade-the-hedgehog, I'm shocked...

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Chapter 5: Insertion

Sonic sighed. What in the world had possessed him to make a photo frame for Tails? Holding up a hammer and chisel uncertainly, he stared at the 2 deformed pieces of wood in front of him, wondering whether all this effort was worth it and whether a simple birthday card would be a better present than this stupid piece of junk.

"Ok, Sonic." he told himself. "Going back on your own promise means you're a liar. Don't let your buddy down. After all..." His thoughts were broken

"Sonic, you're finally back! We were worried sick about you! Where have you been?" said the squirrel

"I dunno. Maybe here?" Sonic said.

Sally gave a distant laugh. "Ok... Sonic... Just tell us that you're home the next time, k? I'll go tell the others you're back." Bunnie said as she started to walk back out of the hut.

Wondering how that worked, Sonic smiled as he put the chisel in place and raised the hammer up high...

"Oh, and Sonic, there's a meet... Sonic! What are you doing?"

"I'm.... carving something, Sal. Nothing much..."

He brought down the hammer on the chisel with great force, forcing out a large chunk of wood out of the frame, making it bounce on the wall, leaving a giant unsightly mark on the frame.

"This chisel's defective!" Sonic yelled as he opened the drawer, threw the chisel in and took out another one.

"Sonic..." said the giggling Sally. "That's....haha... not how... you use a chisel!"

Sonic searched for words to say, but came up with nothing. He was sweating now, embarrassed at his mistake. Maybe it was better to just give Tails another card and give this up...

Suddenly, a scream tore through the air....

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Robotnik didn't notice that he wasn't typing anything until he looked at the monitor to stretch his neck. There in the centre of the screen, amid all the garble was a simple message, '2 messages received'. Apparently, the beep wasn't enough to yank him back to reality. Cursing under his breath, he clicked 'Show messages' What was it this time?

As he read the first message, he grinned. So, that crybaby had finally done what it was supposed to do, at last. That was good news... Was the second message going to be any better?

He clicked on the title 'Results of Chaos Scan' and read it. He then read it again, rubbing his eyes, moving his face closer and closer to the monitor each passing second...

An evil laughter echoed through the hallways.

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She sat below the windowsill, trying to ignore the commotion outside, eyes on the gun she used.

She had to do it. There was no choice. It was for a good cause. Tara kept telling herself that but she never felt that way.. Instead, what she felt was sheer guilt, only caring about her parents and not caring about Tails. Not caring about how Sonic, Sally, Bunnie and the others would feel about him. Not even caring about Knothole.

She later found herself in deep thought, thinking of what would happen to Tails, she couldn't help it, being that she was the one who caused them. The more she thought, the more she realized that memories were so important; erasing them and replacing them meant changing a life forever. She visualized Tails starting another life anew, the real past forgotten, working side by side with Robotnik...

Her thoughts were cut off by something vibrating in her pocket. Reluctantly and slowly, she picked it out and hooked it onto her ear. She hoped that she wouldn't have to listen to his voice again, but...

"Yes, Master Robotnik?" she said, stuttering a little.

"There has been a change of plans, Tara." came a dark voice Tara knew so well. "There are 7 emeralds detected around here. Tomorrow afternoon, one of my robots will be deployed somewhere in the Great Forest. Once you get a safe distance away from the village, it'll find you and you are to give the emeralds to it. Do that or else your parents will die."

Before she could say anything, Robotnik hung up on her.

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His head was throbbing, throbbing very badly, as if a rock was on it, only worse. Everything looked so blurry, so blurry that he couldn't make out the moving blue and brown spots around him, making a meaningless series of low and high-pitched sounds. Who were they and what were they saying?

The numbness was spreading through his body like a virus. Now, his legs, body, hands and arms were completely immobile, muscles immediately contracting, as if they were like rocks. But his mind didn't even really noticed that at all, he was still attempting to move them. His mind refused to think of anything at all, it was completely blank, as if it was turning into rock.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his head, making him want to scream for help. But all that came out was a mere whimper. Soon, his eyes which he tried so hard to keep open closed shut... and, soon after, his mind became completely immersed in the darkness which had no source...

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"Do you think he'll be alright?" Sally asked the doctor as she shuffled her feet nervously.

Doctor Robin ignored her as he examined the purple liquid extracted from the needle very, very closely with the microscope.

"Chill, Sal. I'm sure he'll be coo..." Sonic was cut off.

"Your computer, girl." Robin said grimly with an outstretched arm, not bothering to look at her.

With a slight frown, Sally reached down and took Nicole out from her shoe pocket, did the ritual security stuff, and gave it to him. "Call me Sally." She said.

"Whatever." Robin replied as he pressed some buttons on the handy computer.

"Scanning..." beeped Nicole.

Sonic glared at the rabbit as he sat on the chair. "So, what's the diagnosis, doc. Probably another sedative, right?"

Robin, still not bothering to turn around to face the 2 most important people in Knothole, shook his head. "I'm afraid it's something more, hedgehog. Now, out you go. I need my concentration. My apprentiences will notify you when I can know what this is."

"But, doc, we want to stay here to watch over..." Sonic was cut off again.

"I'm doing this for free, ok? Now out you go."

Sonic and Sally reluctantly and slowly walked out of the clinic.

"What did we actually see in him to allow him to live in Knothole, Sal?"

Sally shrugged.

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Robotnik did his best to ignore the fresh aromas of the green omelettes and the cup of egg-nog as he continued to type rapidly on the keyboard...

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Ok, chapter 5 is finished. I'm not very good with jokes and that was just to kind of stall for the time in the story. Sorry. Hope this insn't disappoiting..)