A Bloodstone Rose

by obsidian dreamer

It should be a perfect time, but something isn't yet right from below the earth, a horror from time's dawn is calling, and one hero is powerless to resist. Continuation from The Best Medicine. COMPLETE but to be continued...

22. Chapter 21 The Final Nightmare

Chapter 21 – The Final Nightmare.

A/N: I have a bit of an apology to make; when I viewed the last chapter on the site I realised just how many mistakes there were in the text – believe me I have no idea how they got there. I think the computer I updated from may have had a virus, but anyway, my apologies for that; I don't like putting up work that's riddled with mistakes. Hopefully this chapter will make it all up to my reviewers; WARNING – it gets dark towards the end and there's some blood, but it does explain a few very important details. Read on, and let the suspense begin, but first…

HHH – Usurper! Be gone from the throne of true power lest I take my mighty chain axe and lay your skull at the feet of Khorne! Blood for the Blood God; skulls for his throne! Time to massacre a few helpless Tau to work out my frustrations of the last bad chapter; right, there they are; get 'em lads (sounds chainsaws powering up, several heavily-booted feet moving at a flat-out sprint followed by maniacal hacking, slashing and other general unpleasantness).

Breakfast in Haven was typically a communal affair; all six echidnas of the Brotherhood rose about the same time and ate in the main chamber at the centre of the bunker complex. This routine had been slightly complicated with the extra people, but still continued in the time honoured fashion; occasionally one of the brunching Brotherhood would stand and leave the table for a few minutes, only to return a couple of minutes later with someone else in tow. It was only as Locke stood up and began to clear away some of the used plates and dishes that Tails noticed the obvious omission from this scenario,

"Hey, where's Amy?" There was a general glancing around as the others realised the absentee in their midst and voiced some suggestions,

"She could still be in bed?"

"Nah", Sonic quashed that suggestion from Thunderhawk, slight concern on his face as he remembered the events of a week ago and smiled, "not like her to sleep in; remember the Boxing Day Bash – she was ill that day and still up before us three", he indicated Knuckles and Shadow as Spectre, having had his eyes closed for the past couple of seconds, peered around owlishly,

"Unusually, it appears my son is correct; she's in her room. Sojourner, would you mind going to rouse her; no-one should miss their breakfast, however pleasant the dream".

"The most important meal of the day", Cream piped up, smiling as the black echidna raised an eyebrow in her direction, "that's what my mum always tells me". Spectre smiled back at the rabbit girl as he considered her words,

"Then your mother is a very wise woman". Knuckles heard a whisper in his ear,

"The only thing more important then eating breakfast; avoiding eating it when Athair's made it" the echidna spluttered into his drink and whispered back to his girlfriend,

"Well he tried at least", he glanced over to where his third-father was resolutely chowing down on a plateful of pancakes, "think he's a bit down today?"

"Yeah I noticed that", the bat glanced over at the seemingly earth-bound Athair with something resembling concern, "any idea what could have caused him to act serious?" Any thoughts Knuckles wanted to voice were disturbed in a sea of bright green as Sojourner, having fastidiously wiped his hands and lips on a napkin, activated his emerald gift and made to round up the errant guest.

XXX

The gossamer thin veneer of sleep was broken asunder by a loud, sharp knocking noise; Amy blinked her eyes open, shook her head a second and then, after remembering a few little details, such as the newly emerged Echidna city and Knuckles' new family of former and at least partially insane guardians, realised she was in Haven and someone must have been knocking on her door. She made to reply to the knocker, but in order to do so she had to twist her body around to face the door; this manoeuvre forced her to sharply extend her legs downwards from her foetal position. This, as she rapidly found out, was a mistake.

XXX

Sojourner heard the sounds of movement from inside and drew his fist back to knock again; the blow was halted in mid-strike as a strangled yell of pain echoed through the door. The echidna's eyes widened in a momentary panic; it wouldn't do for a visitor of Haven to fall ill; before his normal mask of logic and coolness under pressure slipped back into its proper place and purged the startled emotions from his thoughts. Taking a couple of test breaths, he called through the door,

"Are you all right in there?" There were a couple of hisses of pain before a reply could be heard,

"Er, yeah; ah geez, that was sore".

"What was?" His hand gripped the doorknob and the echidna silently thanked his grandfather's strategy of not having any of the bedroom doors fitted with locks in case there was an accident inside; this allowed the Brotherhood to get into any room in Haven and clear any difficulty with minimum fuss. Perfect time to put that into practise;

"May I come in?" There was a shuffling of what he assumed to be blankets and then he heard the female hedgehog reply shakily,

"Umm, sure".

XXX

Amy watched the door swing slowly open as she tried to fight down the stabbing pain in both her legs. Stretching them out first thing had felt like twin bolts of lightning had earthed on her calves and they ached appallingly; why this was she had no idea. As she kept her eyes on the entering echidna, trying to remember which one he was, she gritted her teeth against the fire in her leg muscles as she excruciatingly tried to straighten them again. Hopeless, can't even get them halfway; the pain forced her to abandon the attempt in its infancy; what the heck's done that – feels like I've run a race with Sonic.

"Are you sure you're fine?" She looked up at the echidna she still couldn't name and dredged a faint smile from somewhere onto her lips as her voice grated,

"Does it show?" She pointed down at the blanket covering her body and tapped on of her knees, "there's something wrong with my leg; feels like I've got a real bad cramp but I don't know how".

"Can you walk?" She looked up incredulously,

"I can't even straighten up", Sojourner was convinced by her pain-wracked features as she tried to force her knees to lower by an extra inch, "feels like someone's dipped me in battery acid". Sojourner regarded the pink hedgehog in front of him and weighed up the situation in an instant; if Mohammad can't go to the mountain, the mountain must go to Mohammad.

"I'll get my third-son; he has a way with these kinds of problems", Sojourner turned to leave, masking the smile on his face as he called casually over his shoulder, "don't run anywhere". He slammed the door just in time to cut off the tirade of sarcasm Amy sent lancing his way.

XXX

As she waited for this healer; Sabre if her memory served her right, Amy leant her torso down to get a better look, gingerly peeling back the bottom of her pyjama trousers. Wow, how the heck did that happen; her calf, or what little she could see of it, appeared to be so red it was almost glowing in the dim light; it was engorged with blood and she fancied she could see each beat of her heart reflected in the constriction and dilation of the tiny capillaries in the skin of the muscle. She risked a tiny poke and drew in a sharp breath from both the heat her apparently well-used muscle was pumping out and the pain such a movement caused in such a sensitised state. Curiosity piqued, she looked at the same area of her other leg; exactly the same looks and tenderness; it looks like I've been running, but I didn't go for a jog at any time yesterday, unless… Her head sank on her knees in both embarrassment and concern; she could remember the dreams she'd had last night and memories of a specific blue hedgehog had featured very prominently. So, from what I can tell; Amy hid both a smile and a blush as the irony of the situation wasn't lost on her; my mind dreamed I was keeping up with Sonic and, by the looks of things my body actually was – sleep sprinting!

She'd managed to coax a few sparks of life back into the lower part of her right leg and grit her teeth against the massive onset of pins and needles such reawakening had caused when a second knock at the door caused her to pause a second.

"Come in". She carried on gently squeezing the tender flesh of her cramping limbs as the door breezed open and, as she expected, the spurred echidna she'd talked to yesterday entered, sizing her up professionally as he stepped forwards and smiled; rule number one of medical practise, get the patient comfortable in your presence.

"So, what seems to be the problem?"

"Apparently", Amy looked up, motioning for Sabre to take a seat; I think I can trust him, he's a doctor, but just to be safe; "this is…"

"Strictly confidential" Sabre finished for her, professionally interested in what could have happened during the night to a Mobian who had been in perfect health the previous evening, "what happens won't leave this room unless you decide to talk about it".

"Good, this could be embarrassing", Amy smiled shyly as Sabre raised an eyebrow; she pointed down to take the attention of her flushing face, "it's my legs; looks like I've been running hard, they're all cramped up and sore, especially the calves. I can hardly straighten them".

"I see", Sabre examined the patches Amy had already revealed for her own scrutiny, "that does look severe but luckily I can deal with something like this", he moved closer to her and gently gripped the hedgehog's lower left calf. Amy tensed, expecting a massive jolt of pain; the sensation of a gentle, searing coolness shocked her almost as much as the phantom pain she'd expected would have. Looking down, she saw the older echidna gently massaging the limb between his soft hands, his cooling healer's touch quenching the burning fires of cramp and rejuvenating her stressed muscle.

"Feel better?"

"Like you wouldn't believe", Amy sat back onto her pillows, relaxing more as the treatment went on, "how'd you do it?"

"Grace of the Master and plenty of practice; I've lost count of the number of times I've had to do the same thing to the others after Thunderhawk's dragged them through a training session. If you're interested I can do a mean foot massage".

"Not now; I think I'd melt if you tried it". Sabre smiled at the reply before biting the bullet and asking the question plaguing him,

"So how could this have happened; any ideas?" He heard a nervous chuckle and looked up to see Amy rolled her eyes upwards and sigh resignedly,

"Well, I'd got a theory but, well, it's a little, you know?"

"Perfectly; I've had my own share of embarrassment in the past before now"; Sabre still couldn't think about the time someone as yet unknown had slipped a rather risqué power point slide into a presentation he'd then delivered to a conference of surgeons without squirming and going puce; luckily most of them had a sense of humour – if I ever find out who that was I'll make them eat that slide.

"Okay then, well, I was having a cool dream last night and, well you know Sonic, the blue hedgehog?"

"I've spoken to him before now; he's the really fast one isn't he, or is that the black one, Shady?"

"Shadow, and they're both really fast", Amy corrected him before continuing, "well I used to, race with Sonic a lot, but I was never as fast as him. But anyway, I was dreaming of running with him last night, and I think my body must have joined in with my dreams".

For a second Sabre didn't quite understand what she was getting at; how could you run while asleep? Noticing his evident confusion the pink hedgehog expanded her explanation,

"I've been sleepwalking before now; just the other night I woke up and I think I managed to make and drink a cup of coffee in the night just before getting up again. And a lot of my dreams have been to do with running recently, so I guess I was going to follow them up at some point; check and see if there's a trench around my bed". As he moved over to her other leg Sabre dipped his head down and shook his head,

"No, no evidence of tunnelling here, but what you're saying's a little unusual; it's not unheard of for sufferers to complete minor tasks while sleepwalking, but a cup of coffee and a marathon are new to me", Sabre was compelled to find out as much as he could and get a case background, "what other examples can you remember?"

"Well I did manage to lock myself out my own house before now in the night", even a consummate doctor couldn't help but snigger at that one, "but it's not usually a problem, haven't done it for months before these two episodes. My dreams have been a little strange though; I've been running, like I said, but I was always headed towards a red light", something tingled the back of Amy's mind, probably the way Sabre's brow creased at the news, and she was compelled to add, "it looked like a sunrise; maybe I was desperate to wake up?"

"Maybe", finishing his work, the doctor stood up and gave his patient a thumbs-up, "there, I think that should do it; if anything else crops up have a glass of water and call me in the morning. Now, about that sleepwalking, that could be a problem; ah, I know"."What?"

"Don't worry, leave it to me. Now, follow me; we best get you to breakfast and see what Thunderhawk's been good enough to leave you". The pink hedgehog swung her newly healed legs out of bed and stood up, marvelling at the bounce and springiness of the limbs as she rolled onto the ball of her toes and rocked to her heels, testing the effectiveness of Sabre's cure and finding it absolutely flawless.

"Big eater is he?"

"Big eater – try bottomless pit", Sabre headed for the door, motioning for Amy to get dressed as he'd wait outside and escort her to dine when she was ready. As he walked, Sabre mulled over what he'd just heard; running in your sleep – possible, but if that's the case how'd she get back to bed intact, unless she ran in the room itself. But if so, why is nothing disturbed – it's a small room and something should have been knocked over if she was going that fast. Dreams of sprinting towards a sunrise, more Athair's field than mine. Though according to his medical knowledge Sabre had all the bases covered, the guardian couldn't help but think there was slightly more to this than he was seeing; it was faint, but a small worm of concern began nibbling at the surgeon, a small worry that he couldn't quite purge, no matter how hard he thought or reasoned it through in his head.

A narrowly avoided hazard; the being watched on as the host prepared for the day ahead; my enemies must not be given any information at all; all I require is one more night and then I'll be free from this host and my own master once more. A shame I couldn't discover what the guardian was planning; I could have used such precautions for my own ends; to turn an enemy's strength against him. As Amy followed and bantered with Sabre, the being schemed and put the finishing touches to his plan; the carefully husbanded power of the red emerald was stored invisibly within the body of the host, to be used when the time was right. I must ensure the circumstances warrant a reaction of that magnitude; this will be the main challenge.

XXX

A short while later, as the dishes from the now almost brunch were being cleared away, Spectre disentangled himself from the milling press and managed to corner his fifth-son; Sabre saw him coming and made ready with his typical balancing act; he had to give his fifth-father the information he needed without breaching confidentiality. As always, Spectre took the lead,

"So fifth-son, what was the problem with young Amy?" Closing his eyes and taking a second to order his thoughts, Sabre pursed his lips and began to answer,

"Well, it appears to be a fairly minor problem, but I reckon she should go easy for the rest of the day. I also think it happened in the night, so maybe one of us should stay up rather later than normal?" Spectre knew better than to expect more, but he trusted the younger echidna's judgement in medical matters implicitly; after digesting the diagnosis as much as he could, a sly smile appeared on Spectre's face – Sabre instinctively backed off at this rare and frankly frightening occurrence.

"That shouldn't cause to much hassle; I wanted to do those three that call themselves the Chaotix anyway; if I have time after that I'll try the black hedgehog Shadow; now that should be interesting", the eldest guardian brightened for a second and looked at his descendent anew, "maybe you should talk to him; apparently he suffers from amnesia".

"Not exactly my speciality, but I can give it a go" Sabre admitted before asking the question he dreaded the answer to, "so what will you do about Amy?" The younger echidna was nervous, there was not disguising that fact, so the answer of,

"Leave it with me", did nothing to reassure his state of mind.

XXX

"So this is where you've been all this time?" Vector glanced over at the voice, just managing to glimpse a foggy silhouette through the steam of the sauna; as he squinted, the crocodile just managed to hold in a groan as he realised the silhouette was hovering a couple of feet above the ground and he couldn't hear any wings beating.

"Yeah, you know what the cold does to reptiles' right?" Athair wafted away some of the steam and moved further into the interior of the small hot box, noticing the fact this water was playing merry hell with the jauntily coloured bangles that covered his plain brown spines. He also tried to remember what he'd read about reptiles from grandfather Spectre's library; as he did so, he started in alarm,

"Wait a second, shouldn't you be hibernating?" The crocodile let out a laugh as Espio showed himself and glared at the echidna for disturbing his relaxation,

"If I could hibernate I would; unfortunately with Charmy around even a decent night's sleep's a bit of a challenge; now, was there something you wanted?"

"Oh yes", the flying echidna's eyes widened alarmingly as he crossed his hands over his heart, "I want to teach everyone how to fly, I want to see all the stars, I want to…" Vector decided to step in to both speed things up a little and prevent his cantankerous team mate introducing Athair to a couple of stars he probably hadn't counted on seeing.

"What we meant was did you just come her to hang with us, or was there another reason?"

"Oh I see, well", Athair looked at them both explanatorily, "I could always see, but now I see what you see, see?" Come back Charmy, all is forgiven; Vector forced himself to think of happy things and count backwards from a million in threes, anything to keep his clenched fists from clenching themselves around the ancient echidna's throat.

"I, I can see that", please Lord give me strength in the face of adversity, hardship and insanity; "so what did you want?"

"I don't want anything, but", that small words of three letters was probably all that saved Athair from being clobbered by two irate lizards, "grandfather Spectre does".

"Oh, the mind guy", Vector glanced at his chameleon friend, noticing him slide his stars away with mingled relief and disappointment, "my turn is it?"

"Where are you turning to this time", the flying echidna darted forwards and stopped about an inch from the crocodile's snout, "oh, oh, are you going to turn into someone? Is this a magic trick?" Scrunching his face shut and baring his teeth in a strained grin, the unofficial leader of the Chaotix leant forwards and spoke softly, every word dripping with enough menace to send a grizzly bear fleeing in abject terror,

"No, I'm not turning into anything"; calm blue ocean, I do like this person really – leaving him as a mess would be a really bad idea; it was as his resistance was at its weakest that Espio took a hand in the proceedings,

"You know Athair", the echidna glanced over as Vector muttered a soothing mantra under his breath, "Vector is a bit of a magician"; forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us – except Espio, who should know better and will be promptly pounded as soon as is feasibly possible; "he can breathe fire".

"Really?" Athair didn't budge an inch as his face was wreathed in child-like delight, "showmemshowmeshowme?" Thou shalt not – he did ask for it – he is a host and to be treated with respect… "pleeeeeaaaasssseee?" …ah, forget it!

XXX

He took another deep sniff of the air, concern and confusion creasing his brow almost as soon as panic flared up in his heart; it smelt like something was burning. All the knowledge, all the wisdom of the Brotherhood's library could be lost in an instant. Spectre quickened his pace; thankfully the years hadn't robbed his nose of keen scent and the he was able to track down the source of the crisp, acrid tang of scorched parchment and…hair? What the…?; it was as he saw the two reptiles at the door of his private sanctuary and realised the echidna hovering behind them seemed to be lacking eyebrows and had a face-full of soot that he realised it was probably safer not to ask. They hadn't seen him in the darkness and as he composed himself he blessed the darkness of his robes for avoiding their scrutiny.

"Welcome guests", the larger crocodile started a little at the unexpected voice, though the other one didn't even flinch as far as Spectre could tell; the black echidna clapped once and closed his eyes, letting the light in the room come on and his retinas adapt as the light filtered through, speaking as they did so, "please, come in; fourth-son, you may go". He heard Athair's hurried goodbye as the aerial menace left; his descendent was gone as his sight cleared once more. When he had assured himself that Athair was out of earshot, Spectre crossed his arms and frowned severely,

"Right, who tried to immolate my fourth-son, and why?"

It was the voice of a parent, a schoolteacher and a manager all in one; irresistible and leaving no-one, even people as normally cool and self-assured as Vector and Espio in no doubt that they were in the presence of the master. The hulking crocodile lowered his eyes meekly and mumbled something about losing his temper and demonstrating how he could breathe fire; unfortunately, Athair happened to be floating just a mite too close. Spectre listened stony-faced as the tale concluded and then tapped his finger-tips together,

"Right, do you think it worked?" Espio gave a casual shrug,

"Well he led us straight here afterwards and didn't say a thing on the way".

"In that case; fire-breathing, have to remember that one", noticing the pair of incredulous gazes the eldest guardian gave a gruff chuckle, "trust me, collectively we've tried nearly everything under the sun to get a little bit of peace from time to time, but as far as I can tell none of us have ever sprayed Athair with flaming death then quickly beaten it out; we may have thought about it, but we've never done it". Vector raised the reptilian equivalent of an inquisitive eyebrow,

"He can get worse than that?"

"You have no idea". Unable to determine whether or not the black echidna was joking, both crocodile and chameleon shared a glance and shuddered.

XXX

Thunderhawk shifted his grip on the staff he held, speaking clearly as he instructed his new pupil,

"Right, now as we practiced", he swung the instrument upwards, speaking as he did so and ignoring the jarring impact in his wrists as the slowed attacked was parried, "up, up, middle, up, down, up, middle, middle, swing, down and jab; good" the lavender echidna nodded proudly as Amy casually grounded her hammer head and smiled at her impromptu teacher. Thunderhawk had rescued the pink hedgehog from the laundry room and, after a few minutes talking, had managed to discover what the Piko Piko hammer actually was. Seeing the oversized mallet had brought back some memories; with Amy's permission, he'd blown the dust off his old bo staff and was currently teaching her some of the old katas he'd learned decades ago. As if we'd never been apart; the sixth-father looked up at the old polished wood fondly, the light from the roof of his training area gleaming dully from the smooth mahogany. As Amy readied herself again, thinking about the movements she'd just completed, Thunderhawk licked his lips and tapped the end of his staff against the grounded head of Amy's hammer,

"Not that I've got anything against hammers as such, but why is it pink, and why does it have those little hearts all over it?"

Good question; forgot to look that up last time I had the chance.

"It's always been that way", the other fighter assured him, smiling as she hefted it effortlessly and held it in the ready position, "when I swing it properly, some of the hearts can come loose and fly at whatever I want to hit; they won't hurt anything, but they can put people off", she gestured at the end of his staff before continuing, "I got the idea from an old book about stick fighters; apparently in olden times they'd put loose bags of salt or chalk dust on the ends of their staffs; if they hit an enemy, the dust would fly out and blind their opponent". Neat trick; the ingenuity behind the seemingly gaudy decorations of the pink hammer surprised the veteran warrior and he let out a low whistle,

"Sounds like my dad were right; the past can teach you many things if you know how to look for them. Now", his eyes flicked to the clock on the wall, "it's getting on for mid-afternoon; what say we take a bit of a breather?"

"One last go first; I think I'm starting to get the hang of this now".

"Okay, then we'll head past he lab to pick up my fifth-son and the fox; is he your brother or the blue hedgehog's?" The thought of being related to Tails made Amy smile; as far as she could tell there was only one way that could possibly happen, and even then it wouldn't be technically legal.

"Nah, Tails is Sonic's little brother; they've been around each other so long they're just like family now". Thunderhawk let out a low chuckle an casually span his staff to mirror Amy's movement, speaking quickly even as he planned the movements in his mind,

"And what was all that bumf about not being able to choose your family?"

"Tell me about it; now!" There was a rattling of wood on wood as the two shifted footing in a dance as ancient as the hill that Haven had been carved in.

XXX

"Hand me the screwdriver, crosshead".

"Sure, need any extra screws?"

"No, but can you just check the thirty Ohm resistors will be enough; I've got a suspicion we may need fifties". Tails span in his seat and tapped a few keys on the console next to him, running the simulation over in the virtual circuit programme; the sight and sound of several components suddenly exploding in bright colours with impressive amounts of virtual smoke confirmed that Locke had been right on that count.

"Yep, thirties'll blow out; just running it through with fifties now", the foxboy made the necessary adjustments on the screen in front of him and tapped a few more keys, "sorted, that'll hold it; good spotting that echidna". Locke let a cool smile onto his face as he reached for the soldering iron,

"Ease of long practice; now, how are you getting on with the plans for the cases of these things, and the transmitter/receiver array?" Tails reached for a nearby sketch-pad and indicated some of the drawings he'd jotted down.

"Well, since we're going through earth to get to Haven, we're going to have to use something stronger than radio-waves; luckily we're not planning on going through the atmosphere; we're not quite that high up so I reckon we could get away with microwaves. All we'll need is something like a satellite dish to receive, it's just the transmission I've having a problem with".

"Umm, Tails", the fox glanced over to see Locke twirling the hem of his lab coat around one finger, face embarrassed as he mumbled, "what's a satellite, and what's a dish got to do with it?"

Tails blinked, forgetting for a second that Locke and his entire species had probably never needed satellite technology as they all lived within approximately three hundred square miles of each other, barring one obvious and very important exception. As he realised his colleague for the moment was waiting for an explanation, he cleared his thoughts and tried to explain clearly what satellites were.

"Right, well satellites are big, er, devices that are blasted off into space, and they sit above the Earth, in orbit. They just, reflect and sort out signals beamed up from Earth and transmit these signals to other areas; it's one of the best ways to contact someone who's in, for example, another country, because it's quick. A satellite dish is the receiver unit for signals transmitted from satellites". So much I don't know; Locke bit back a sigh of exasperation – in this new world he and his family found themselves in, it was he who was the student and this strange new Mobian who was the teacher.

"Right, well we'll discuss that more when we've sorted out the…", he was interrupted by a timely knock at the door to his lab, "…sorted out the interior and I've dealt with this". Tails watched on as Locke crossed the floor of his lab effortlessly and opened the door; after watching for a second he waved at Amy at the same time as listening to the conversation taking place between Locke and Thunderhawk; he could easily remember that one due to the different fur colours.

"Coming then; you know what's on in a bit".

"Oh yeah, I forgot they'd rescheduled that one", Locke turned and called over to Tails, "Hawk and your friend are having a bite to eat; they want to know if we'll join them". The fox stepped onto the ground from his seat and sauntered over, realising it was actually a fair bit later than he had anticipated; time flies when you're having fun.

"Sure thing, let's go; are we going to get pancakes again, those were divine".

"Only if you can con Sojourner into cooking again; he makes them when he has a mind to"; Amy watched as Tails' namesakes drooped a little, as they always did when he was put out by anything, and she reached over and tousled the fur between his ears,

"No worries TT, I can do pancakes too; you like them with honey and chocolate chips if I remember rightly?"

"That you do", Tails licked his lips in anticipation as Amy smiled and remembered the recipe in her mind, unaware that, even as she accessed her own thoughts, something, or as he now knew someone, was now examining his own course of action and puzzling over the best way to get the correct reaction from his pawns.

XXX

So I am certain; Spectre filtered his consciousness back into his own body once more and slowly breathed in time to his own heart beat, reassuring himself of the conclusions he'd made in his own mind. He stood up stiffly from his cross-legged position, wincing as his knees clicked in protest at this movement, running the memories from the two lizards through in his head once more.

Vector, though he wonders at the value of such a jewel, he recognises that the Master is more than just a simple gem. He recognises that it is all that keeps the island in the air, and, even more so now that he realises there are more echidnas on his island, the idea of taking the Master, and therefore placing all those lives in potential jeopardy, is not in his nature; if anything, he'd fight to stop such an occurrence happening, though; Spectre smiled in isolation as the age-old truth of money talks made itself plain in his sight; he would probably fight harder if he thought he'd be getting some sort of fiscal rewards for doing so. That Spectre didn't have a problem with – the heart of the matter was that the large green crocodile was of no threat to the Master. A slight frown of concern creased the ancient echidna's lips as he considered the other one, Espio; unlike his larger friend, it had taken a lot more convincing to assure the chameleon that Spectre wouldn't or couldn't pry into areas he wasn't welcome into. After just a few seconds merged with the chameleon's mind, Spectre had seen why Espio had been so reluctant to agree with this method of assuring his trustworthiness.

His mind is very well ordered, but jealously, almost fanatically guarded; I feel there are some areas even he does not visit very often. Still, the information I required could be accessed easily enough; he is no threat to the Master simply because his philosophy does not place great value on physical matters; Spectre had had trouble coming to terms with that method of thinking – Espio, if he was reading this right, could have been given a free chance to snatch the Master and would have turned it down because, to him, it wasn't important enough to warrant the disruption that carting around and hiding such a massive gem would have entailed. He believes that mastery of the psyche, and most importantly, the emotions, surpasses the need for physical comforts – an interesting idea, but not one I am sure is feasible – can you master your emotions totally? As he pondered the question and mentally reached out for his fourth-son, Spectre unconsciously drew faint but tangible similarities between the enigmatic Espio and his own grandson; the difference is, I know what caused Sojourner to strive to crush his own emotions, but why does Espio seek the same goal?

XXX

A few moments later, Spectre was stood at the door of his library, awaiting his fourth-son's response to his mental impulse; if nothing else Athair was in a better position to tackle the problem of locating and rounding up the next guest Spectre wished to work with due to his as yet unadmitted gift of flight. As he let his senses detect what was approaching him, Spectre was mildly surprised to find that one of the guests was already following his maddening relative. Impressive; Spectre was forced to give credit where it was due; I don't recall telling him the one I wanted – if he figured it out I'll be amazed. Interested by this development, Spectre watched on down the corridor Athair would approach from, listening for him; he didn't have long to wait,

"I'm going to win!"

"No you're not", Spectre shook his head as he realised that Athair hadn't managed to defy the odds by bringing the one he needed to him, "I'm faster over short sprints!"

There was a flurry of light wing beats from around the corner and a couple of seconds later the airborne form of Cream belted around the corner, the rabbit skilfully conserving speed by running along the wall rather than slowing down to take the corner completely in the air. The black echidna smiled despite himself; that was one of Athair's oldest tricks and from the looks of things he'd been teaching recently. At that precise moment, Cream seemed to notice the stationary form in front of her and slammed on the brakes just as Athair himself shot around the corner, tasselled spines streaming behind him like a solidified rainbow. The rabbit dropped to the floor and stumbled to a halt just in front of Spectre, smiling up at him,

"Hello Mr Spectre". Once more, he felt himself swayed by the manner in which she addressed him with what he considered to be the proper respect he was due; what I wouldn't give for my sons to do the same…

"Good afternoon Miss Rabbit", much as he enjoyed Cream's company, Spectre really needed to talk to Athair privately, and not just about the matter of him finding Charmy, "forgive me, but could you excuse my fourth-son and I for a few moments?"

"Of course", Cream gave a polite bob of her head and, assuring Athair that she'd wouldn't go too far, she vanished around the next corner as the flying echidna waved after her.

"Athair?" He broke off his watching and hovered over to float in front of Spectre, swimming around his fourth-father's head as Spectre simply spoke,

"I need you to find the last member of the Chaotix, Charmy Bee. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure thing fourth-father"; Athair began to scan Haven, looking for his next target before a tap on the leg broke his concentration; glancing back down, the flying echidna's brow furrowed as he saw Spectre beckon for him to come closer. He dropped his altitude, leaning in close as the black echidna whispered to him,

"There's something else I wanted you to do; I need you to, stay up, a bit later than you would usually, don't ask why", Spectre cut off the questions Athair was on the verge of asking out of respect for Sabre's wish for confidentiality, "you can go to bed at about midnight, that should be enough. Do this for me and", he straightened up, adjusting his helmet importantly, "we'll call it quits; the fiasco in the entrance and all, forgotten. How's that for a deal?" Athair, face alight with relief as he realised once Spectre promised to bury something he couldn't dredge it up again to punish him in the future, grabbed his fourth-father's arm and pumped it up and down enthusiastically until spectre's teeth rattled together in his skull,

"Surethingfourth-father", he let go, much to Spectre's relief, and turned to take off, zooming down the hallway, calling for Charmy as he continued his headlong rush. A few moments after he'd gone, Cream peeped her head around the corner again,

"Okay to come back now?"

"Yes, it's all sorted now", Cream nodded and headed towards the black guardian; it was as she approached this second time that Spectre noticed her gloves were blotchy and stained with what looked like paint of some kind. Pointing at the colours and remembering she'd been with Athair not so long ago, Spectre felt a reluctant smile tug at his lips as he sighed and had to ask,

"What have you been up to recently, and what's that on your glove?"

"Oh, Mr Athair's been teaching me how to dye clothes; he said I've done alright and he found some old clothes to practise on. He says I'm pretty good, but apparently I'm not imaginative enough for someone my age". Spectre chuckled as he reached down and lifted her face gently by the chin,

"Believe me child, it matters not if you're nine years old or nine hundred; I don't think it's possible to be as imaginative as Athair".

XXX

"Hey Ames", the pink hedgehog glanced down the adjacent tunnel at Sonic's voice; the blue hedgehog came to a halt and fell into step alongside her, talking casually, "so, you feeling all right now?" Suspicion flared in her mind as Amy quickly answered,

"What, how did you know I wasn't feeling well this morning?"

"You just told me", Sonic smiled as Amy blushed lightly, realised what a giveaway that one had been; the smile dropped from his face a second later as he moved a little closer to her and lowered his voice slightly, "but the face Sabre had to go and see you got me a bit worried; I remembered he was the doctor of the group and I naturally assumed the worst". Amy considered the reasoning and decided honest was the best policy,

"Fair enough and no, it wasn't anything severe", hold the phone!; Amy suddenly ran the last sentence through her head and one obvious connection jumped out at her, "wait, you were worried? About me?"

Ah, I did say that didn't I? Sonic gave a tiny shudder as he realised he hadn't really meant to give that away; now what – just say the truth; you were worried about her – as a friend – the whole truth!; Sonic took a deep breath and looked over, a warm, if somewhat worried, smile on his lips as he placed his closest hand gently on her closest shoulder.

"Well, yeah, of course I was worried; Amy, after all we've been through together, don't you think I'd get a little nervous if you had to go to the doctor? Or, in this case, if the doctor had to go to you?", Amy felt her heart start to race; was Sonic really saying these things to her?

"So"; I can't believe this is happening, not to me; she cleared her throat and tried again, "so, you…?" Sonic cut her off with a sigh and a second smile, though this one was tinged with a little reproach,

"Amy", steeling his courage, Sonic slowly moved his hand from her shoulder, circling it carefully around her shoulders and softly holding her closer, "of course I, I care about you"; not quite, but I guess it's a start – one step at a time – hah, since when have you gone one step without following it up with a dozen more? – since, like, now.

Words failed both of them; Sonic was silent as he felt that special warmth seep into his body, just as it had at Christmas when his gift, still twinkling merrily in her ear now, had helped make her happy; he drank deep from that fountain of heat and it invigorated him. He felt one of her arms flick up just under his shoulder blades and return his gentle hold; in that sweet embrace, Sonic Hedgehog and Amy Rose knew contentment.

So; the being filtered the stimuli the host was being exposed to and, more importantly, the emotional response to them; Amy does truly care for and love Sonic, interesting. Should the need arise, this could make a most compelling bargaining tool. Every avenue must be explored, every angle covered and nothing must be overlooked. My future, and the future of all the echidnas on Angel Island, depends upon the actions of tonight.

XXX

The rest of the day passed mostly without incident; both the Brotherhood and their guests went about their way and caused little trouble, possibly barring the fact that Cream and Athair may have gotten a little too over-enthusiastic with their dyeing, and as a result at dinner there were several raised eyebrows as both rabbit and flying echidna sat down looking like they'd been caught in the radius of an exploding paint factory. Despite this, as the clearing away was being done, Spectre managed to isolate all his descendents bar the youngest and give them the good news,

"So far, all the guests I've seen have been safe with the knowledge", there was a collective exhalation and a cheer from Athair as this was absorbed and the eldest guardian continued, "all I have left to do are Shadow and Amy; she is recovered fully now Sabre?"

"Hmm?" The surgeon looked around, light flashing from his monocle as he realised he was being addressed, "oh, sorry fifth-father; yes, she'd perfectly healthy physically, but", a few dark clouds were visible on the younger echidna's face; despite a lot of time spent thinking about it, he still couldn't shake the idea that there was something there he just hadn't quite seen right.

"But?" Spectre prompted, wondering what could be gnawing at his collected fifth-son and if there was anything he could do to relieve the situation. Can't say; Sabre realised that, despite the offer, telling the others anything would class as a breach of confidentiality and compromise his trust with Amy; he gave a wan smile and shook his head,

"It's probably, or almost certainly, nothing fifth-father". The others knew better than to push the point; despite his normally open mind and manner, Sabre could and did clam up something proper when one of his patients was involved. So the matter was dropped, though in later times, Sabre would have admitted without a second thought that, had he known what his suspicions would lead to, he'd have shouted his ideas from every mountain and to Hell with confidentiality.

XXX

So close now; the being fought hard to contain his excitement; the time was near, he could feel it. The sensations of rubbing on the gums and teeth was a sure indication that the host Amy would soon unknowingly hand over control to him; when she did, the final pieces would fall into place and all would be at hand. Just remain calm for a few more minutes, no more than sixty at the most, and then I can put the plan into action. I can only hope that whatever the one-eyed guardian was planning it won't interfere with my plans too much.

I can't believe it; even now, hours after the actual event, Am was still having trouble taking in the fact that Sonic had not only hugged her, but also admitted he'd cared. Her whole body was buzzing and every time she thought about those few precious moments she felt a shiver run down her spine and a triumphant grin bloom on her face. She dressed in the pyjamas she found folded under her pillow and slid under the covers, rubbing a sudden itch that formed at the back of her neck.

No, control the excitement; the being realised he was causing that itch and made a conscious effort to quash the feeling of anticipation reverberating throughout its mind; they are disturbing the host – she must be comfortable to facilitate the transition from awake to asleep.

It was quickly gone under the attentions of her scratching fingers and she rolled onto her side, breathing deeply as she made to bed down for the night. It was already fairly late but the programme on echidna history that had been showing had been so interesting she'd had to stay up as to not miss the ending. So, it seemed, had Knuckles; the current guardian hadn't taken his eyes off the screen all night, trying desperately to take in as much as was possible about his race and its origins. He'd bidden Amy goodnight and left with Rouge as the programme had ended; Amy had replied, though she'd been sure to leave the bat with a statement of her intent by scratching her left ear and then pointing at her directly, a playful scowl on her lips. As she'd expected, Rouge had replied with a coy act of innocence before retreating with her boyfriend; I've got to find out a way to get her for that, but; she fought down a huge yawn and closed her eyes; I'll deal with that later – right now I want to sleep.

A couple of minutes later, all that filled the air were snores; a few minutes after that even those were cut off as, for the final time, the being borrowed the body of his host and, once more, took another deep breath.

The being was well aware how delicate the plan it had concocted was; it was all about establishing the balance between sleep and wakefulness. The reality must appear as a dream, and what occurs will blur the brink of illusion and make the host panic into flight; the husbanded power must then be expended. With one final check of all the paths open to it, the being realised this was it, the last plan was in place; this final gamble would either pay off, or all would be at an end. So, with a great air of finality, it began its endgame, not with a bang, but with a whisper.

"Amy, Amy?"

XXX

Someone was calling her; her eyes opened, almost of their own accord, though she could see little in the darkness. Her lips moved, but before any meaningful sounds could be made the voice came again,

"Shh", she stifled the question, sensing the urgency in the tone used, "there's little time to explain; all you must know is that we must get you out of here. Your capture was an unfortunate accident, but with speed and luck it can be undone". Her eyes rolled upwards, taking in the grey of the ceiling and finally managed to force a question past her lips, though her voice was low to avoid detection,

"Who are you?" The unseen presence remained silent for a few minutes before an answer came from the darkness,

"I am an ally, but now is not the time for questions; get ready to move out".

XXX

In the darkness of her room, Amy slowly stood from her bed, her eyes half-closed and gait unsteady as her footsteps were shrouded in silence. Slowly, breathing light and even, she moved slowly over to hold what her ally mentioned to her.

XXX

"I brought your weapon"; Amy felt her hands close on the comforting weight of her trusty hammer, an anchor in this dark, dingy place of metal and gloom. Swiftly securing the hammer in its normal position, the pink hedgehog glanced around as much as she could, looking for the signs of someone else being here, but all she could see was night.

"Where are you?"

"I'm close by, closer than you might think. Now we must go, quickly before the security breach is discovered". The talk of security and capture set off suspicions in the hedgehog's mind; in a fear hushed voice, she whispered,

"Where am I now? Who captured me?"

"Eggman".

XXX

The being congratulated himself for remembering this information; the host would be easier to influence if she was scared and thought herself in real danger. She had been held prisoner by this Eggman in the past, and by painting him as the villain of this piece the being had made his host more likely to accept his words without question. She still wasn't scared enough to run at his suggestion; he needed some extra help for that and he couldn't find it in here. He whispered some more words directly into her unprotected mind.

A few seconds later, Amy opened the door to her room…

XXX

The barred gate swung open slowly, a slight creak as she squeezed past it hideously loud in her scared, super-sensitive ears. Keeping close to the shadows at the edge of the narrow metal corridor, she moved forwards slowly, mind alive with scenarios of hidden badniks springing out to attack her and drag her back to that tiny holding cell. Following the advice of her guide, she moved through intersections of the corridors, though she knew not where he was leading her.

"The entrance to this place is far from here", the voice was in her ears once more, causing her to shiver at the suddenness of the sound.

"How was I caught", the new fear, that of losing memories, burst into her mind as she carried on silently, "I don't remember…"

"You won't – Eggman's done something to you, but we don't know what yet; we have to get you out of here before we can worry about that". Amy tried to imagine what could have happened; the possibilities were too many and too dangerous. Quickly, she concentrated on putting one foot in front of another and escaping this captivity.

XXX

That's strange; Athair sat up in the chair he'd been reclining in, fighting off tiredness as his emerald senses informed him that one of the guests was apparently moving; slowly and with a great deal of caution it was true, but moving nonetheless. Athair doubted this was safe; in the night it would be too easy for someone to blunder into a room that wasn't safe for them and get hurt. Athair flipped up into the air and ghosted away from his seat, idly wondering if this nocturnal wandering had been what grandfather Spectre had wanted him to stay up and guard against.

XXX

The plan was progressing nicely; the host was scared, but she wasn't yet in a situation of life-or-death running and, because of that, the being couldn't yet use his resources properly. With growing impatience, knowing he was so close to freedom at last, he used a small amount of his carefully hoarded strength to detect what was nearby. After a second of concern and maybe even fear, as well as a curse at the one-eyed guardian for setting up such a precaution, the being gave this new situation a little thought; he could yet turn this setback into a great advantage – all he needed to do was manipulate the host this last time.

XXX

Amy approached another junction and stopped at the edge of the corridor, preparing for her dash across the open ground to the safety of the shadows on the other side. She mustered her courage, when a single sound from behind her gave her pause for a second.

"We have company". The voice of her friend gave her no comfort; she was almost alone the base of a deranged psychopath who had recently captured her. There was no choice in the matter; despite the terror searing at her soul, she slowly turned around to behold her enemy.

XXX

Athair paused, still hovering in the air, sized up the situation in front of him; Amy was standing against the wall up ahead, breathing slowly and raggedly as though scared out of her wits. She appeared to be walking in her sleep; now what did Sabre always say to do in the case of sleepwalkers? The flying echidna pondered for a moment and glanced up; his concern for the pink hedgehog mounted as she slowly revolved to face him and her sleeping expression twisted into a paroxysm of terror.

XXX

He was in the air, not fifteen feet from her; one of the most proficient killing machines ever created. Small orange flames tufted out of his jet boosters, holding him in place as his pitiless blazing eyes bored into her eyes; nothing within them but pure, unsullied hate and wrath. Light played over the bodywork, illuminating his shining spikes and lethal claws as he remained there, fixated on his prey. Amy felt suddenly very small and most insignificant in the sight of this monster; five-feet six of sleek steel death, a grotesque parody of her beloved.. She was alone, helpless, against a machine without fear, without remorse and utterly lacking the concept of pity.

Metal Sonic.

XXX

Athair watched on, fear of his own starting to form as the hedgehog girl seemed to shake as her half-shut eyes remained locked on his form. Right; dropping to the floor in case his altitude was causing her to panic; I've got to stay calm and try to calm her down as well.

"Amy", Athair adapted his most calm, rational voice as he took slow, steady steps forwards and raised his hands, palms outwards, "Amy, it's all right; it's me, Athair. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help". As she appeared to stop shuddering, the flying echidna became slightly more confident that he'd managed to stay her fear.

What he didn't know was that the words he was saying were not the same as the words Amy was hearing; a malevolent power was at work to ensure that wasn't the case and turn Sabre's good intentions to an altogether darker end.

XXX

Claws, six inches long and razor sharp, flickered on the robotic hedgehog's hands; like a cat toying with a mouse, he approached slowly, letting her feel the fear to its fullest extent. A synthesiser activated and the narrow metal channel echoed with a dire command,

"Target acquired; subdue and detain". Amy saw his red eyes flare with unholy vigour and realised with horror that he was planning to push the meaning of the word 'subdue' as far as it could possibly go. She almost fell away, in terror and fear her mind threatened to close down and let her faint, but something came to prevent it; a source of power and strength that whispered cool logic and planning into her mind.

"Steady now, he doesn't know you're armed", the thought of her hammer quelled some of the terror crushing her heart even as pain stalked her, "you must strike hard, fast and first; it's the only way out of this. Wait", Amy drew her hands to grip the handle of her weapon, focussing on her enemy as he closed, coming almost close enough to touch.

"Neutralising target no…"; it was as he reached forwards, the deadly blades that passed for fingers stretching to claim her, that she swung.

XXX

He was too close; Athair had seen the hedgehog's sleeping face tighten in disgust and rage, but the actual attack was too unexpected, too swift to dodge. He tried to brace, but the impact of that mighty hammer, backed up by all the power in Amy's arms, bludgeoned through any defences he could put up. The ancient guardian felt himself smashed from his feet, thrown against the wall of his home, mind blanked for a second not in pain but shock; what was making Amy, from what he had seen a gentle and loving person, attack him, even while asleep? He glanced up and threw himself to the side just in time to avoid another crushing strike of the hammer; he cried out in pain as the impact of his landing jarred his injured side and slowed him. He had just enough time to send out a call for help before Amy turned, weapon held high,

"You're not invincible after all"; there was no pity in that tone; all he could do was raise his arms and make a desperate grab for the handle as the hammer descended and agony rushed to claim him.

XXX

"You're not invincible after all"; the gleaming blue steel of Metal's bodywork was buckled and torn by the tremendous impact of the Piko Piko Hammer. Amy coalesced all the terror and rage she'd felt and used them to augment her strike, the hammer cracking more armour plates and buckling joints of constructed armour.

"This is it", the voice in her ear urged her on, driving home the importance of this attack, "the one chance you have to destroy this monster; let nothing stop you". And nothing would; even when the wounded monster gripped the haft of the hammer Amy simply let it go, moving in close to pummel the face of the emotionless machine with her bare fists, noticing with gleeful relish that even these strikes were causing damage to the solid face of the robotic hedgehog, trails of oil leaking from the cruel slash that passed for a mouth. She backed off as the red glow in Metal's eyes dimmed; he was no longer a threat, she had to run now and escape this place.

XXX

So we are nearly there; the being saw the guardian slump in defeat and, as it sensed the presence of other members of the Brotherhood approaching, it realised this was possibly the best chance it had to make the host comply its wishes. Taking over for a second, the being quickly stored the hammer and moved away from the scene of the combat. Then with a surge of speed, it retreated, giving the host full control again. It waited close to the surface of the host's psyche, awaiting the reaction of the host and the perfect second to strike with its last move.

XXX

The chill, something was causing a terrible draft; Amy moved to grip the blanket and pull it up to cover herself better. She felt herself falling; she opened her eyes and let out a gasp as she felt a heavy impact on her shoulder; it was only frantic scrabbling at the wall with her ungloved hands that stopped her falling backwards as well as to the side. Where, what happened, how'd I get here, and where's here?; the pink hedgehog looked down and around, she was in a featureless corridor of metal, nothing around that could explain how she'd come to be here. There was only one explanation; I must have been walking again; snarling in annoyance, Amy tried to recall what she'd been dreaming of and put a hand to her head, massaging her forehead as she tried to recall. It was the feeling of stickiness on her fingers that gave her pause; she lowered her hands in curiosity, looking at them hard in the dim light.

A whimper of horror and fear pierced the silence of the night as Amy saw the redness on her hands; the blood was still damp, and what was worse, she recalled that her dreams had involved fighting Metal Sonic, and it had felt real. So real she could have sworn…they, she could have, no, please, no!

Nausea choked her throat, robbing her of the ability to breathe as freezing numbness tore the breath from her body. Her legs felt like straws and she swayed, lurching close to fainting as the pieces clicked into place. There was only one way; burned hollow with terror of what she might see but compelled to do so by obligation; she had to know, had to see what she'd done in her sleep. Her eyes were fixed open as she turned slowly, fixing on the heap in front of her, noticing with fresh terror the blood staining the normally coloured wrappings a dull red and the arm twisted at an unnatural angle.

"A,athair?" There was no response, she knew there wasn't going to be; tears of fear and dread spilled from her eyes as she shook her head, as though denial could make this all go away and leave her in peace. She just noticed the echidna's chest was rising in time with wheezy breathing, when there were footsteps from nearby.

XXX

Sabre had always been a light sleeper, so the frantic mental charge from his father had been enough to both rouse him and cause him to make haste to the source of the call. He hadn't been able to make contact with Athair since he'd started running and that made him put on extra speed; if nothing else his father usually loved to chat – falling silent couldn't mean anything good. He was close; he felt his father's signature in front of him and charged down the corridor, making out indistinct shapes in front of him as he ran. As he slowed to a halt, he felt his stomach recoil in horror at the scene before it.

He noticed Amy unconsciously; all of his conscious attention was focussed on the collapsed, bleeding form of his father. He couldn't tell his injuries off-hand, but he realised that whatever had happened here had been brutal and merciless. He sprinted over and dropped next to Athair, noticing the broken arm and other wounds, but from what he could see there was nothing life-threatening. What happened here?; the former guardian felt only confusion; it was only the sound of silent, suffering sobbing that reminded him of who else was present. Despite his concern over his father's fate, Sabre forced himself to concentrate and remember that Amy, even if she had done this, she hadn't known it; she had been asleep, in the grip of a nightmare. Speaking slowly, the surgeon came to his feet, making eyes contact with the teary hedgehog,

"Amy", he raised his hand placating, spurs away, "please, tell me what you remember; what happened?"

XXX

From its situation in the host, the being was able to put the finishing touches to his masterpiece; the host was near to the do-or-die response and small amounts of energy were expended to ensure that could be the case. As the illusion took effect, the being felt the host suddenly snap into animalistic urges to flee from the threat; the response he had been waiting for! With the correct accompanying images and the words the host was familiar with, the being impressed his will onto the now-malleable psyche of the host, the stored power of his little one flowing through in tandem with it,

"Escape!"

XXX

Sabre stood up, fists clenched, face a blank mask of impassive hatred as he looked from the crumpled form of Athair to her. Amy squeaked in horror, heart slamming into her ribs as fear drowned all else; she had hurt Athair, and Sabre, his son, was going to make sure she paid the price for her crimes.

"You", it was a deadly whisper, laden with promises of pain and suffering, far more frightening than the shout, the bellow of wounded animal pain she was expecting, "you did this!" Her mouth worked soundlessly, she couldn't speak through the dread; she was unable to stop the massive form of the deadly guardian taking his first steps forwards, beginning the countdown to her doom. She pressed into the metal of the wall she was leant against, trying to sink into it as horror built up within. In her mind, the tiny part of her left to think rationally, she prayed for deliverance, a miracle to spare her; and her prayer was answered.

Unbidden, strength flowed through her body like an electrical charge, an image cleared in her head, a still picture as solid as a photograph and two words were thrust into her mouth along with the thought to flee this place; to stay was to risk death. Before the rising tide of terror claimed her, before Sabre could advance to wreck his violent revenge, Amy managed to blurt out the means of her salvation,

"C, C, Chaos Control!" Haven faded from her mind, darkness flooding it as she felt movement from around her – Sabre lunged for her, face aflame with the risk of being cheated his kill; the sickening grip of dread rose and crushed her helplessly – falling, falling, falling…

XXX

He'd felt the surge of untapped Chaos power from her but before he could react, she'd screamed the words aloud and then simply…vanished, gone in a flare of pink light. Sabre had been forced to shield his eyes, but when he'd looked again there had been nothing, only empty space. The surgeon looked down again and reached his decision of what to do next instantly; he needed everyone here right now. Thanking his son for arguing Spectre down on this installation, he raced to the end of the corridor and smashed his spur through the thin veneer of glass at the end. As a ruddy red glow suffused the corridor and a low keening siren sounded off, Sabre rushed back to his father and sent up a beacon of energy, allowing his relatives to home in on his location. As he cradled his injured father in his arms, Sabre prayed they'd be fast enough.

XXX

The blare of a siren shocked Tails from his sleep; leaping upright in alarm, the kit shot out of bed and reached down for his shoes, feeling cold sweat collect on his brow as he tried to think of what that low wailing might mean. Forgoing his gloves of the sake of speed, the fox wrenched open his bedroom door and dashed outside, sweeping his gaze left and right to see if any of his friends had reacted yet. So far he was alone out here, and that wasn't good; we've got to get up and get outta here; with this aim in mind, Tails raced to the door closest to his and hammered on it. It was then he remembered that none of these doors had locks; twisting the handle he burst inside, hearing a call as he reoriented himself,

"Tails", it was Cream's voice, the rabbit was trying to slip her last shoe on but was having trouble due to her habit of not untying the laces before she took them off; her eyes were wide and full of fright as she shouted, "what's going on?" The kit's move was instinctive, decisive and most importantly fast; adrenaline pumping around his body, the fox rushed forwards and next thing she knew, Cream was being carried to the door in his arms. She instinctively tucked herself in tight to the fur on his chest, some of the fear she felt banished by having someone familiar to her this close. She watched the shadow of the doorframe pass overhead, then she felt herself being lowered; she slid out the fox's supporting arms and found her feet again as Tails took a quick breath,

"Get your shoe on and then go that way", he pointed to the corridor behind her and she realised what he was driving at, "get everyone out here. I'm going this way".

"Got it", Cream finally managed to get the troublesome shoe on her foot and rushed off, diametrically opposed to Tails' run as she sought to rouse her friends.

The first door for the rabbit was easy; Shadow was already up and aware, he was just grabbing his book of memories from the top of the desk; Cream left him and carried on, shouting over her shoulder that he should just wait outside. Door number two led to a still occupied bunk, a single green arm betraying the nature of the occupant; to the rabbit's momentary despair, Vector was still asleep, the monotonous alarm failing to penetrate the haze of his deep sleep. No time to waste – sorry but no time and fewer options; using her ears, the rabbit flew up sharply and then simply fell feet-first, impacting in the middle of the bed with pin-point accuracy.

There was a muffled explosion and not a few bad words thrown around as the crocodile threw off the blanket and groped blindly forwards; his hands gripped flesh and he instinctively tightened his hold, blinking his eyes to clear them even as he snarled,

"You stupid little maggot, what the…" there was a slap on his cheek that he barely felt due to his thick scales; it was the voice that accompanied the hit that brought him back to earth,

"We're in trouble; that's an alarm. Get going". At that precise second Vector's ears saw fit to tune in to the fact that there was indeed a klaxon going off somewhere; gathering most of his scattered thoughts he looked forwards to see Cream, not Charmy, caught in his hands.

"Whoa", he dropped his grip and rubbed his eyes, "what's going down?"

"No idea, but we've got to get out". Vector threw himself out of bed and his scaled feet were easily swallowed by the battered old trainers sat by the side of his bed. Extending his hand, he quickly swung Cream onto his shoulder and took off for the door.

It was as he was leaving his room that a burst of green came from the head of the corridor; Sojourner appeared, looking as concerned and haggard as the rest of them as he blew a piercing whistle down the corridor. Luckily everyone was now present, Vector having been the last to get ready; he let Cream slide to the floor as everyone crowded around the fifth-father. Knuckles, spurs bare without his trademark gloves, reached him first, eyes aglow with concern as he shouted over the din of the siren,

"Sojourner, what is this?" The fifth-father looked over at him; for once he seemed back on the level of mere mortals; there was none of his normal aloofness as he shouted his answer,

"A really big problem", he turned to address them all even as his emerald gifts pinpointed the broadcast point within Haven, "follow me and stay close; we can't lose anyone now". With that, he turned and set off at a fast pace that everyone tried their best to keep up with; Cream took to the air, but felt a pair of hands encircle her and pull her down.

"Hold still, I've got you", Vector called, quelling her sudden panic as the crocodile turned up the gas, keeping up with the others as his great strength allowed him to carry the young rabbit as if she were nothing.

XXX

Sabre waited for the others; there was nothing he could do alone and, much as his instincts screamed at him to help his comatose father, his logical guardian mind made him realise that he could do nothing without the help of his ancestors. They were closing at least; Sabre looked up as someone approached, his voice preceding him,

"Father, what's going…" Locke skidded to a halt as he took in Athair's battered form; he staggered backwards at the sight of the blood seeping into his grandfather's spines as Sabre looked up through teary eyes,

"I, I'm not sure, but I need the rest of the Brotherhood and the guests as well; Athair's seen something that concerns all of us, I'm sure of it".

"Right, Sojourner is bringing the guests and the others are coming", Locke sighed in relief as, like the stereotypical cavalry, the two oldest members of the Brotherhood arrived. Taking in the scene in an instant, Spectre grabbed the reins and asked the question they all wanted answered,

"Sabre, what happened?" To the surprise of all, the surgeon shook his head, the movement sending some tears flying in a silver rain,

"I need the guests; it, it concerns them also".

"Someone call?" Sonic screeched to a halt, face serious and grim as he took in the assembled Brotherhood, sweeping an arm backwards as the others, led by the last of the Brotherhood, arrived in his wake. Everyone gasped at the sight of Athair, Vector turning his head at the sight of blood and Rouge felt tears well up in her own eyes; Athair couldn't have hurt a fly – who could do this to him, and why?

XXX

"We need to get Athair conscious; he must have seen the events much more clearly than I did", Sabre spoke quickly, realising everyone was now here and he couldn't afford to get lost in endless questions, "I was woken by a jolt from Athair; he was in trouble and I ran here, that's all I can say at the minute. We need him to fill in the rest". Spectre nodded, face a mask of intolerance as he clenched his hands,

"Sons, channel", as the Brotherhood formed a loose circle, he cast his red eyes at the other Mobians present, solemnity cast in iron in his voice, "don't break the circle and for the love of the Master don't disturb us; this could be life or death". As one, each echidna in the circle closed his eyes and slowly, agonisingly slowly in the case of those watching, brought forwards a single hand; they touched in the centre, held one against the other and for a moment all was still, none moved. Then, Sabre opened his eyes and slowly removed his hand from the intricate design; he turned on his heel away from the circle, eyes fixed on his injured father as the light green glow surrounded his hand. Knuckles stiffened as his grandfather walked past, stepping back involuntarily as Sabre knelt by the side of Athair.

"I know grandson", the current guardian looked on in awe as Sabre bowed his head and reached to place his paws on his own father's injured arm, "the power of the Master are focussed through me; the strength of the others channelled into me". He felt silent, focussing on his task as Vector straightened as this news reached him and he rumbled his suspicions quietly,

"It enhances your powers…" he was interrupted by a sudden crunching, snapping sound; looking over, there were several murmurs of revulsion as what had happened sank in; Sabre had taken his father's broken arm and pushed the ends of sundered bone together. Charmy cringed and shuffled backwards at the sight, but stopped a second later as the glow of Sabre's hand suffused the injury and sank into Athair's flesh. When the surgeon's hand moved once more, the limb was whole again, no trace of the incapacitating break remained. There was a groundswell of awe and amazement before Shadow's hushed voice filled the air, the black hedgehog finishing what the crocodile had meant to say,

"I take it that's a yes".

Sabre was alone in the world; in his mind, there was only him and his patient. He reached forwards again, having worked on the most serious injuries it was time to bring his father back; he, they all, needed to touch the bottom of this foul, murky swamp. Sabre in particular was both curious and afraid; what had made the pink hedgehog act like she had? Now is not the time to ask questions; Sabre chided himself for his misconduct; now is the time to focus on the problem at hand – cure the patient, then we can question him. Reaching forwards, Sabre placed his hand on Athair's cold forehead, pushing down, feeling the blackness of the coma part under his burning touch. It took effort, but his reserve of power was almost unlimited; he pressed on, further and further into the darkness, seeking Athair's consciousness and how to restore it. There; a touch, a feathery lightness within the murk; Sabre homed in on it, shattering the shackles of night that bound his father's mind and setting it on its way up, free, like a bubble moving up from the ocean depths. Sabre withdrew, awaiting the reaction; he saw his father draw a slightly deeper breath, then another, deeper still; the brown echidna's eyes shot open and his back arched, hands shooting forwards as a single word echoed from his throat in a surge of panic,

"Amy!"

XXX

As the word bounced off the wall, Sonic glanced around and realised with a thrill of dread that the named hedgehog wasn't present. Double-checking, the blue blur gave a sudden exclamation,

"Wait, where is Ames? Has anyone seen her?" There was a collection of shaking heads and icy fingers clawed at Sonic's neck. He jumped back, facing the way he had come, fully intending to search her room in case she was somehow trapped inside before a sudden shout brought him to a halt,

"Wait Sonic", Sabre held up a hand as he comforted his father with his other arm, despair threatening to press in on him as he realised how hard what he was going to say would hit the blue hedgehog, "Amy's, not in her room".

"Then where is she?" Sonic exploded, desperate to know for his own peace of mind, but Sabre shook his head,

"I'm not sure, but we need to talk about this; running won't solve anything here. Wait a second", with that, Sabre helped his father to his feet and, motioning for Athair to hold his explanation for a second, Sabre moved to the circle and once more took his place within it. He then reinserted his hand into the press and closed his eyes; a few moments later, with a collective gasp and groan of effort, the five members of the Brotherhood came apart, leaning on walls or against each other as though exhausted.

"Damn, gets worse every time"; Spectre, raising his eyes and ignoring Thunderhawk's comment, saw Athair awake and gestured to him,

"Fourth-son, tell us what happened; we were all summoned by Sabre and found you here unconscious and bleeding. How did this happen?" Looking around at the expectant faces, Athair heaved in a great breath, telling his awful story.

"I was waiting in one of the entertainment rooms like you asked grandfather Spectre, and then I detected that one of the guests was up and moving slowly around Haven. I thought that could be dangerous, so I went to see what was going on", he paused for a second, trying to think of how best to put this next when another voice stated the connection,

"Let me guess; it was Amy who was wandering", Espio looked around him as the others fixed him with looks that spoke of various emotions, "she's the only one missing, so the law of elimination says she had to be the one, am I right?"

"Yes", Athair confirmed sadly, raising a hand to the collection disbelieving glances and gasps, asking silently for time to finish his tale, "Amy was moving down this very corridor, and slowly, hugging the wall as though afraid she was being watched. I was behind her but I think she must have heard me; she turned around and, and, she was so scared", tears pricked the flying echidna's eyes as he recalled the look of abject terror that had wrenched her face,

"Sleepwalking?" Athair nodded at his son's guess and Sabre gritted his teeth; admitting that wouldn't have been such a great crime, but due to his stubbornness in his demands for confidentiality he had let his father get hurt.

"I dropped to the floor, I wanted to calm her, and I thought I'd done it; she looked more relaxed and I got a little closer, but as I reached out to touch her, she slammed me with her hammer…"

"No", Sonic shook his head; it wasn't that he didn't believe Athair, but he had to be mistaken, "Ames wouldn't hurt anyone, and never to that extent; you were a pulp when we found you, no offence, but no, not Amy". Cream agreed, tears running down her cheeks as she pointed at the three Mobians of team Chaotix, motioning as though offering conclusive evidence.

"He's right; even when we were fighting each other, Rosie never went full tilt; she…" Rosie!

A horrified, strangled gasp cut her off; everyone paused as Sabre, blood draining from his face, raised a shaking finger and speaking in a shocked, broken tone,

"What, did you say?" Cream stuttered to a halt and began to repeat herself, including the terrible word that hammered home Sabre's fears; dropping to her level, the echidna struck his hand forwards and clutched onto her shoulder like the claw of an eagle, desperate to know even as he feared the truth would sunder all hope forever,

"Why do you call her Rosie?" Cream tried to bite down on the pain caused by the tight grip and answer before a second voice did it for her,

"That's her name", Knuckles moved to prise his grandfather's grip from the young rabbit's shoulder, "Amy Rose, we just call her Ames normally". Sabre let his head drop; running in the night, the Chaos power that let her slip away – we are lost; with a shuddering sigh, the surgeon spoke in a voice wracked with despair,

"Then, you were right; Amy did not harm my father – it was her body and her hammer, but she had nothing to do with it". Tendrils of suspicion filtered into the minds of all, though only one could bring himself to speak,

"What do you mean Sabre?" Thunderhawk's voice was quiet and lacked all the humour it normally did when talking to his favourite grandson.

"I mean we've all been fools", Sabre voice rose into a shout, dripping with self-recrimination as hindsight let him see all the chances they, the Brotherhood collectively, had thrown away, "he gathered the strength he needed right in front of us all and we, and I, never saw it! Amy damn near told me herself but I couldn't see it, and now the second call has been answered; she never had a chance to resist because of my blindness". The anger and pain in the normally mild echidna's voice shocked them all into silence; it was only after a few precious seconds that Spectre, fists clenched until the knuckles whitened, managed to demand the confirmation he both needed and feared above all other things,

"Sabre, you think…?" Please, by the Master, let him be wrong, let it be just a dreadful coincidence; as he saw his fifth-son nod, freezing fear flushed his bowels and he could only listen, only wait and accept the words that shattered all the Brotherhood's plans and ideas,

"Yes fifth-father; the gem of blood has called, and been answered, by Amy Rose", Sabre pushed himself to his feet, turning to face his family, face gaunt as though all the cares of the world had been suddenly rushed in to crush his spirit, "the child of thorns".

XXX

There was a pulse of light in the eternal darkness; Amy felt a rush of cold air that punched through the pyjamas she was wearing to caress her skin with icy fingers. She could see nothing with her eyes, but her memories were fresh and raw, tormenting her as she realised with terrible guilt and self-recrimination that she, she had hurt Athair, sweet-natured, gentle Athair, callously, mercilessly, cravenly. Tears of horror flooded from her eyes and she buried her head in her hands, sobbing helplessly as misery surged from her in a raging flood; I'm a bad person – I should have waited and let Sabre catch me – I deserved everything he would have done and…

"Forgive me, but I couldn't let that happen".

Amy stiffened, hair rising on the back of her neck; she remembered that voice distantly; but now she was awake, she was sure of it, but it was still there, still speaking; am I going mad?

"No"; the being was quick to reassure the host of that point; though ruthless in making sure he got what it needed, he wasn't completely heartless and he knew that what had been forced to happen must have put the young girl through a torrid strain, "you are not insane; that was my doing, you had no choice in the matter". He felt anger and rage flare against him; Amy had a target to unleash her grief upon and opened up with both barrels,

"You, you did that!" She scanned the darkness, hammer again in her hands as she looked for her enemy, "come out, show yourself to me and we'll finish this".

"I am where I have been all the time; closer to you than you think"; Amy lowered her hammer a little in confusion; now she had enough time to think about it, she couldn't actually hear anything as this thing spoke, "you released my mind from its prison, but now I need more".

"More, what?" It was then she saw it; a single moonbeam slanted through the hole at the top of this place and struck a flash of colour on the side of the wall.

The Piko Piko hammer clattered to the floor as the being stepped aside, letting the hedgehog access the memories he had hidden from her; as she stood immobile, frozen in place, Amy's mind raced away, down to follow the footsteps once more in their deadly, downward path. In that single second, Amy Rose knew exactly where she was, where this thing had taken her. And worse even than that, she knew what awaited her down in the darkness.

The still night air was rent by a single scream, high-pitched and filled with dread, despair and heart-breaking sorrow. It continued, higher and louder until it reached its crescendo, then died away, engulfed by the silence of the abandoned mines.

A/N: Now can you guess what the power source the being wants is? Next chapter Sonicron, I answer your question once and for all – next chapter, the name of the nameless being is revealed.