Chapter 26 – Whispers in the Dark.
A/N: A slight apology – due to a new job and other concerns on my time, the fic has had to slow down though it is continuing; updates may be a little slower than normal due to this fact. Also, I'm getting near the end now and really want to finish on a crescendo, so please bear with me a little. As ever, some words of thanks:
HHH – Tell me if you can guess what's happening at the end of this chapter :-).
TH – (Author looks up from where he's finally managed to shock Spectre into temporary unconsciousness). Stop hugging my cast; if you need to hug something, this is my fic so I'll…no, wait Rouge! (Author hurls himself in front of apoplectic white bat and tries to save TH's neck) yes, I know she's hugging Knuckles…yes, yes I will make it up to you this chapter…no, she's not a fan-character, she's another author so I can't stop her hugging, wait, fan-character, that's it (turns and points at imprisoned Knuckles). Activate Secret Author Power One – Instant Character Insertion (there's a split-second of darkness; when it clears, Knuckles is stood next to Rouge and the space where he was is now occupied by Seraph). Right, problem solved, wait, where'd the tanker come from? (Author watches on as Athair, still high on caffeine, parks a Red Bull tanker and starts hosing everyone down with its contents; author slaps face and rolls up sleeves). Or not, okay, I'll sort this out; Seraph (author points the dreaded finger of doom at TH), keep an eye on her!
She shuffled around a little before finally, and not without a mumbled complaint or two, gave up lost cause and blinked her eyes open. It was dark, and that was a good thing as it meant she hadn't lost much time. With a rush of, well, she couldn't really describe what the dominant feeling was as the events of the previous night came flooding back to her – as Big had more than pointed out, what she'd done to get here was incredibly stupid and she'd been lucky not to end up frozen out there in the swamp. But I did it for a good reason – the ends really do justify the means; the plan she had decided upon and acted out without relent and heedless of the consequences was, in the cold light of day, hasty and had far too many 'ifs' to be safe, but it was all she had; she'd let the monster out of its cage, it was here responsibility to set the matter right. But then; the hedgehog sighed as she held her head in her hands; that just creates more problems; she reminded herself of what Dimitri had done for her, how he'd explained patiently that it wasn't her fault, sat with her, even held her hand to try and lessen the blow. He said he wants me to heal and forgive myself, but the only way I can do that is by hurting him, and that's assuming I can even overcome the power of that Bloodstone he's got.
Now that her previous temper had been blown out and raged away, she could feel grateful for what the echidna had done – compared to Eggman, Dimitri was a saint. Even in the midst of this planning, she managed to crack a smile at that; Saint Dimitri, got a nice ring to it. However, her mood swiftly darkened once more as she considered her options, or, to be more nastily accurate, her option; whichever way she looked at it, going back to Angel Island and standing up to Dimitri on his home ground was a tall order. But I won't give up; sitting up and punching one fist into her hand, Amy gave herself a nod of assurance – Sonic had never given up at anything in his life, so she could and should do the same here. She made to slide out of the nest of twigs she was currently sitting in when a hefty bang and rattle made her leap up startled; she blushed furiously when she saw Big enter his cabin and remembered just what had happened first when she had arrived here, bedraggled and half-dead with cold.
"Hullo Amy, I thought I heard you up and about".
"Ah, yeah, hi", he pink hedgehog squirmed uncomfortably, acutely aware that she was still lacking clothes and Big may have seen her in the altogether; a necessity at the time but still hugely mortifying, "about, you know, last night and…"
"My lips are sealed; I never saw a thing and you didn't come running here in a thunderstorm wearing a pair of pyjamas", the cat managed to assure her with a straight, serious face before pointing to his chair, now smirking slightly, "but if you'd like to change into something more comfortable?" Amy felt her jaw drop as she followed his finger and saw one of her red dresses, neatly folded and pressed, complete with the rest of her clothes, reclining on the mammoth seat as though waiting for her. Eyes bulging with unconcealed wonder, the hedgehog managed to whisper,
"Big, how did you manage that?" He glanced around at her, eyes suddenly sad as he recollected the journey he'd undertaken early in the morning, while his guest had still been sleeping soundly,
"You didn't even put shoes on Ames, so I didn't think you'd have locked your door".
"You went to Station Square to get all this, for me?" There was a familiar prickling at the back of Amy's eyes as she realised how much trouble Big had gone to for her. Noticing this, the cat cleared his throat and shook his head,
"Well I needed to go to the city anyway; had to pick up a few more lures and a new reel; while I was there I realised you'd probably want something to wear when you woke up. Now", he slowly began to edge backwards, towards the door, his every move watched closely by Amy as he finished, "I'll give you a bit of peace to get dressed; I'll sort out the eels for a las,ter, later meal" he caught himself just in time. I know she'll go, all I can do is make sure she's as ready as she can be; even as he kept repeating that thought to himself, still he couldn't wipe clean the image that he was leading a condemned friend to the gallows.
XXX
He heard nothing and could see nothing; for a fleeting moment he thought death had claimed him for its own, but as his breath quickened and pulse thundered in reaction to that thought he realised he couldn't be dead. For a start, everything still hurt; Knuckles tried to press a hand to his throbbing ribs but found his arms immobile; something hard, heavy and completely unmoving was clamped securely around each wrist. His legs were free, fat lot of good that was, but at least on the bright side he was alive and conscious and…I might be blind!
The thought struck him like a hammer blow; what if he was in the hospital wing of Haven, everyone at his bedside, pitying his sudden weakness even as they were unable to help him? In desperation, the guardian strained at his bonds, his eyes sweeping around desperately; suddenly he could feel every tiny movement they made, the slightest puff of air on each corona was a thing to be cherished and clung onto as much as was possible. He screwed his eyes shut and counted to five, silently praying for something that could reassure him he wasn't condemned to spend the rest of his life in perpetual night. When he met the count, he fought down the fear that threatened to swamp his mind and slowly opened his peepers again; there was a sudden lurch of panic as once more there was only impenetrable blackness for a moment, but there it was; Knuckle let out a ragged breath as a thin slice of very faint light, as if cast from under a shut door from a better lit room next door, became visible to his calmer mind. Just to be sure though, he closed first his right eye, then his left, to make sure his vision was, as far as he could tell, fine.
So, I'm in a dark room and restrained by something; obviously someone doesn't want me to go anywhere; Knuckle hid a smile as he remembered the last time he'd woken up to find himself tied down by something and what had resulted from that little episode before turning to the most baffling thing of all; I'm also still alive somehow. The last thing he could remember was panic because; er, because, oh yeah; that machine had sprung a trap on Rouge and she'd been a sitting duck for the shot. He had pushed her out the way and that was the last thing he could recall; there wasn't even any pain in his memories – he must have gone straight under. The slight ache in his ribs must have been caused by his fall, he had been airborne at full stretch to get the bat out of danger. When I find you again batgirl, you're gonna owe me big for that. Batgirl…
A hollow pit suddenly formed in the base of Knuckles' shoes and dragged everything down towards it, wiping the smile from his face as worry and concern struck him deep. Where was Rouge now – was she safe? Had she been captured, probably like he now was – was she even still al…; no; Knuckles wouldn't even let himself consider that question; she's alive, she has to be, nothing can take Rouge from me. With a Herculean effort, Knuckles rose above his doubts and fears – he needed to find out where he was, what had happened at Haven and, if necessary, escape this place and get back to the home of his fathers. He couldn't see many alternatives so after spending a few minutes weighing up the pros and cons of his idea, he decided to see if there was anyone else around,
"Hello?" Silence, his hoarse whisper fell on deaf ears; nothing for it, a bit more volume,
"Hello? Is there anyone there?" Nerves so taut a loud noise would have caused heart failure, the echidna listened hard for a response, any response; right now he'd have been grateful to hear Eggman's less than dulcet tones just to have a bit of company. Well; Knuckles scowled in retrospect, almost shuddering at the last thought; maybe not Eggman yet, but give or take another couple of hours and, wait, noise! The echidna's keen hearing easily picked up the groans of someone coming to, as though out of a deep sleep. Waiting was agony, but Knuckles forced himself to keep his peace until the noises had quietened before speaking again,
"Hello, someone out there?" For a second there was silence, and he wetted his lips in preparation to ask again, when with a single word all his worries, fears and concerns were buried,
"Knuckles?" Heart fit to burst with relief, the echidna bit back a choked sob and fought to keep his speech clear,
"Yeah Rouge, it's me".
XXX
There was movement from the room where he'd left his charges to sleep off their Bloodstone-induced forty winks; Dimitri spat a final curse at the communications point he'd been trying to get operative again and flicked his senses around in aggravation. So far there were only two, and as he had suspected they had been the first two to be taken down by the drones; going by my calculations that leaves enough time for a change of clothes and a general freshen up. Giving the obstinate console one last kick, the grandmaster turned and stalked down the corridor, brushing spider webs off the guards on his armour and bemoaning the spots of oils now spattering his once-fine cloak. If Kommissar ever finds out about this I'll never live it down – I was forever telling her not to operate machinery in her best clothes.
XXX
Rouge let out a heavy sigh of relief as she heard the echidna's voice; Knuckles was alright and that was all that mattered. Taking a few calming breaths, the bat answered her friend softly,
"You don't know how glad I am that's you. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, nothing broken that I can feel; I'll be fine. You?"
"A bit of bruising; we got lucky, both of us". Knuckles nodded before realising she probably couldn't see the gesture and spoke instead,
"I wouldn't disagree with that, but I can't move; something's got my arms".
"Mine too, and my boots are gone", Rouge's voice held a note off petulance as she finished, "and this floor's freezing". Knuckles shook his head and, despite the grimness of their precarious situation, managed a smile,
"If that's the worst we've got coming I'll be grateful, but anyway, how did you get taken? I don't remember anything after…" Rouge cut him off,
"After you saved my neck; why the hell did you do that Knucks – you could have been killed". A scene from months ago sprang up in the echidnas mind and Rouge felt her anger rise slightly as her sensitive ears heard him chuckle,
"Is something funny?"
"That question", he managed to choke back before recomposing himself, "if I remember rightly, wasn't there the little matter of you doing something similar for me with a knife", before she could answer he finished, "and anyway, if it's a choice between you or me, I'll go for you any day of the week".
There were a couple of seconds silence after Knuckles' words; he was trying to piece together exactly what his reactions had been and simply came to the conclusion that it had been a spur of the moment decision that he couldn't have chosen any other way, while she was letting his words sink in; Knuckles was ready to die for me – I, I don't deserve that. The pause lengthened uncomfortably as each wrestled with their own doubts before Knuckles could bear the silence no longer,
"Where abouts are you? I think you're on my left and slightly in front".
"Hold on a sec, don't make a sound", the echidna obediently fell silent, wondering what Rouge could be up to before he heard a series of very high pitched squeaks and clicks; at the same time there was the very curious sensation on his fur – it was a bit like someone was tapping every individual hair on his left side softly with a minute hammer. Of course; had his hands been free he would have slapped his forehead; she's a bat, she can see in the dark by sound – what's the words for that, echo-sight or something like that. With baited breath, the guardian waited for the almost noiseless sounds to finish and, after a couple of seconds, dared to speak again,
"Any luck?"
"Umm, sort of", Rouge tried to think of the best way to explain what she had seen to someone without her gift of echolocation, "I can't tell distance very well, but you're about fifteen, twenty feet from me and slightly off to my right. But there are two things either side of you, I think they're what's holding you in place. We're in kind of a line; there are little groups of three arranged in a sort of parabola, a curve facing inwards".
"Wait, groups of three?" A tiny bird of hope fluttered in Knuckle's chest as the excitement became tangible even over his invisible voice; a smile grew over Rouge's face as she saw what he was driving at,
"Yeah, three's are one either side, and one in the middle, held in place".
"How many are there?" There should be fifteen of us, which means forty-five in total; the hammers were tapping once more and the guardian silently willed the bat to move faster, see what he could not; come on Rouge, say that magic word. For agonisingly long minutes he forced himself to stay perfectly still, not make a single sound that could have confused the signals Rouge was receiving and throw her off. Suddenly there was nothing, no more noises, then the silence was broken by the bat's relieved, excited voice,
"They're all there; fifteen groups as far as I can tell", Knuckles exhaled deeply with relief as it seemed their friend's lives had been spared as theirs had, hardly hearing the end of Rouge's report, "the middle one of each group's lower down that the other two, I think they're on their knees. Were you when you woke up?" The echidna tried to think back that far, but his memory had been too foggy and he couldn't say accurately,
"Not sure, I felt like I struggled upwards at some point but it's all a bit confused. Anyway, what I want to know is how we're both still alive, and how did you get taken? The shot was point-blank, I shouldn't be here".
"Don't say that", the bat really didn't want to go there right now; she'd see that moment again and again in her mind, Knuckles risking his own life because of her one moment of carelessness, "you're going to be fine". Picking up on the higher tone of her voice, the echidna tried to soothe her fears away,
"Hey Rouge, stay with me here; you're right, I will be fine, but unless we can get out of wherever we are now I don't rate our chances too highly. And anyway, time for you to answer my question; how were you beaten and what happened after I got hit?" Rouge wet her lips as she spoke her own piece,
"Thunderhawk and I realised you were still breathing but you needed help and for that you needed Sabre. More of those drones were coming in; Thunderhawk ran you back to the centre and I stayed behind to…"
"You stayed!" The echidna's voice rose to a low shout in both admiration and reproach; how could she have been so stupid, "why the hell did you do that, you wouldn't have stood a chance".
"Because you were hurt", she sounded miffed and almost immediately Knuckles regretted his sharp tone, "you said you'd have done the same again any day of the week, well so would I".
A lump rose in Knuckles' throat; he was in the same moment touched that Rouge had done something so brave to try and let him get help and deflated that she'd almost thrown away his sacrifice by making a foolish last stand. He was about to say something before there was a sudden sob from where the bat was; he was alert immediately,
"Rouge; hey babe, stay cool yeah?" There was a slight silence before her voice came back again; to his relief and confusion it appeared that, rather than crying, the bat was actually trying hard not to laugh,
"No you prat", there was a definite quaver in her tone and she forced herself to keep it in, "we just saved each other's lives and all we can do is shout at each other for doing it; shouldn't we be thanking ourselves?" There was an almost immediate snort as Knuckles saw the logic behind her words and fought the same battle she was; it was a hard struggle but they both eventually managed to keep a lid on it.
"I guess, old habits die hard", the guardian managed to say straight-faced, "we argued with each other over the Master Emerald, only right we should over more important things". What did I just say?
What did he just say?; Rouge was speechless, for the first time in too long there was no snappy comeback, no fast retort; Knuckles had just pretty much admitted that her life was worth more to him than the Master Emerald itself.
"Knucks", her voice was a whisper, her mouth suddenly dry, "you, you meant that?" The echidna thought fast; he had to wrap up the truth in a manner that wasn't disrespectful to his heritage – after a short pause, he started to answer,
"Yeah, I, er, I meant that, at the end of the day, the Master's, well, it's just a green stone; I've lost it before but, like you said, I managed to get it back; I might have needed help to do so but I always got it back. I mean, worst come to worst, even if the Master was to be lost forever, the island would just sit in the sea, I don't think it would sink – no great loss as far as I can tell. Compared to that, losing you's like living in a world of grey", he tried to face her directly as he finished, "you brought colour into my life Rouge, you and all the others made me see more than just green".
The bat's eyes were wet; in this dark, dingy room, she was finding everything she needed, everything she could have ever wanted. But it's not just me; strengthening herself and thinking as fast as he had, taking his admission as a cue, she had to reply and tell him her side of the truth,
"If I gave you colour, you gave me a place to belong", she smiled now, no room for tears in her tone, "I've been footloose since I was fourteen, never able to settle down however hard I tried. You let me do that, you even helped me by giving up part of your home for me. No-one's ever made that kind of sacrifice for me before, but then you did something better even than that"; what else could I have done, I don't remember anything…; "you offered me your family, even though you'd barely found it yourself, you said I could share it if I wanted to. I've missed mine for so long I've forgotten what it's like to be part of a family; you helped me find my feet within it. That's why I had to stay and let Thunderhawk get you as safe as he could; compared to what you've done for me, a last stand doesn't feel like much". She wanted nothing more than to hold him at this moment, but even now there was no give in whatever was holding her; she refused to give into frustration though and swiftly settled for the next best thing.
Knuckles, wiping his eyes on his shoulder, felt the hammers tapping again and relaxed under their ministrations, sorry only that he couldn't do the same and reassure his soul mate that her decision had been the right one. The sonar pulses were like soft caresses, each one soothing a little more of his worry and building his assurance that, whatever came next, Rouge and he would be more than up to the challenge of handling it. He spoke only two words, for that was all that was needed,
"Thanks batgirl". In silence, in total darkness and in the base of their most fearsome adversary to date, both Mobians knew only peace.
XXX
"Okay, done"; Big pricked his ears at the sound of the hedgehogs voice and pushed his way back into the cabin, noting her sitting on the end of his bed lacing up her last shoe, her Piko Piko Hammer close at hand. She smiled up at him, licking her lips hungrily as she saw the pair of long, sinuous forms he had coiled around his left hand,
"Mmmm, eels", she remembered the last time the large cat had treated her and Cream to some of these worm-like fishes in the summer when they'd come to visit; despite their unappetising appearance when Big was done with them they tasted like nothing else on earth, "great, I'm starving; oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have scoffed your lovely supper last night".
"Your need was far greater than mine", the cat chuckled, delighted to see a smile break out on her face even if he could tell that, like her entire body language, it was feigned, fraught with concern for what was happening to the others. The cat lowered his ears and eyes as that fact sealed the deal for him; I can't stop her – even now, she won't be dissuaded. But I can help her plan what she's doing next. Shaking himself down, fighting to keep his spirits up like Amy was, Big began to boil the pan of water necessary to cook their new meal.
"Well, these'll be a while, but you're not going until you've eaten again, got it?" He looked at Amy sternly but to his surprised, rather than acting surly, the hedgehog laughed and pointed outside,
"No problem big guy, look outside. I haven't been asleep that long, it's barely daybreak – not even he could have done too much in a few hours right? Right?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as the cat didn't answer, pretending to be inspecting his eels more closely, "Big, what is it?" she demanded, realising something was amiss with her assessment,
"Well, it, er", the cat began, wondering if there was a way to put this delicately; if there was he couldn't see it, so instead he simply went right in, "that's not dawn Ames, that's near midnight. You've been asleep nearly fourteen hours".
The hedgehog leapt up like a scalded cat, panic in her eyes as she darted for the door,
"Oh my, fourteen, he could have done anything", fear took over as she snatched up her hammer and stowed it away, "I can't wait here, I've gotta…", it was as she touched the door handle that the realist within her managed to reassert control; I can't go because I haven't got what I came here for yet – take a breath and just chill for a second; with a concentrated effort, Amy breathed in deeply and slowly released her grip on the door knob, turning around slowly on the spot as she restated her next sentence, "…I gotta sit down, eat and think what I'm going to do next".
"Atta girl", Big let out the breath he'd been holding; for a fatal moment he was afraid he'd have to go play another game of hunt the hedgehog through the swamps of Mystic Ruins; he set the water to the right temperature as Amy retook her place next to the cat, sitting casually on the end of the bed, unsettled by sitting still but smart enough to know it was the only way she was going to get anywhere in this situation,
"While you're there", Big flicked a glance her way and she straightened up, "you can tell me what your plan is and everything that happened; sorry, but it was a little garbled last night and I don't think I got the full picture".
"I'm not surprised", Amy gave a weak smile, "I can barely remember what happened last night. But as for the big idea I've managed to come up with, it's not much".
"Maybe I can help improve it".
"Big the great schemer". Mildly affronted by this, the cat turned and poked her in the side gently, causing her to collapse backwards and giggle,
"Hey, quit it", she hauled herself upright and glared at him, "anyway, my plan is basically this…" As the eels boiled together in the pot Big had prepared for them, the cat listened intently, pausing only to add ingredients as they were needed to the broth as his unique, fertile mind worked on Amy's seed of an idea, hoping to cultivate something that could give her a chance of success in the task she had set herself.
XXX
"Aaaaooooh, cut the woofer", the groan rose from somewhere right next to Knuckles, it was deep and throaty, containing a deep lake of pain at its midst, "the pinging's going right through my head". Obediently, Rouge stopped her echolocation and Knuckles whispered,
"Vector, that you?"
"Huh, ah, no talking", there was no mistaking the crocodile's voice, even if it was cracked and rusty, "ooh, that was definitely the worst pint I ever had; I'll never drink again". The echidna blinked for a few seconds before he hear Rouge snigger,
"Sorry Vec, that's not a hangover". The echidna squinted as it seemed something moved from close by, seeming to stand up in the gloom and swing around to try and see who had spoken,
"Really, shame; what happened, and where; hey", there was the clink of flesh on metal and there was suddenly anger in the larger Mobian's voice, "what's with the bracelets, I can't move".
"None of us can and don't even try; it's useless to shift whatever these things are" Knuckles told him, his wrists still sore from the last attempt he'd made at escaping; there was a second groan before the weak response came through,
"Please, not so loud; someone's boiling a kettle in my head and you're not helping", there were a few seconds pause as Knuckles tried not to laugh, then started as something slithered over his shoe and touched him on the back of the ankle,
"That you red?"
"Yeah", the echidna gasped, just about managing to restrain himself from stamping down hard on the crocodile's tail, "little warning next time?"
"Sorry, not thinking a hundred percent straight. There are things next to you, I can feel them too, I think they're those metal things we were scrapping earlier".
"Drones", Rouge cut in, sounding satisfied with this as she spoke again, "yeah, that'd fit; I though they sounded Mobian, "so, that means we can assume we've been captured by Dimitri, all of us if I'm counting right".
"All?"
"She scanned around with her echolocation", Knuckles explained, "Rouge thinks there are fifteen groups of threes, two drones and one prisoner, and there were fifteen of us if you count all the Brotherhood".
"Damn it, we lost then" the croc swore under his breath, guttural anger in his tone as he withdrew his tail; Knuckles heard it swishing over the floor as Vector settled down again. After a very short silence, Knuckles' thirst for knowledge consumed him once more,
"What happened to you in the centre; I was taken out in the corridor and Rouge made sure Thunderhawk could try to get me to Sabre; how were you KOed?" There was a grim chuckle from next to him and he sensed rather than saw the crocodile's narrow snout swing towards him,
"Rouge succeeded then", there was a triumphant exclamation from the other side of the room as the echidna rolled his eyes; so much for holding one over on her; "but it was Shadow, he's the black hedgie right?"
"Yeah, Shads is the black one; what happened to Thunderhawk?"
"No idea", Vector said sharply before that line of questioning could continue; he needed to let the other two know about his side of the story, "but things were getting' pretty desperate by then. They were comin' at us from at least four ways; even Cream an' Sabre were in the thick of it by then. I was doin' ok until I heard someone scream, then I took my eye off the ball for a second; next thing I know I'm doubled over and somethin' slammed into me gut like a wrecking ball, then all I see is red and bam, here I am". Something scratched at the back of Knuckles' mind, he saw something like a pattern emerging here, but what was it? He had woken first, then Rouge, but now it was Vector, what was there that…that was it! The order of them,
"I got it", the echidna gave a low shout, carrying on over Vector's moan of pain, "we're waking up in the order we were taken down in; listen, I was hit first, then Rouge, then you Vec, we're waking up in that order".
"So whoever wakes up next will be the, er, the fourth one to have been taken down by those drones" Vector mused as he contemplated his pounding headache; though muted by the pain and unfamiliar circumstances, his sharp mind was rapidly rediscovering its sharp point, "that's a bit neat isn't it?"
"Isn't what?" Knuckles asked confused,
"That we're all waking up so precisely", the crocodile shook his head, though the movement couldn't be seen by the others in this prison, "there's a nice order to this, and think about it, that was a battle royal we were all in and if a fight's anything it's chaos. Some of us should have been hit harder'n others; I dunno know what those guns were spewing out, but some of us should have got bigger doses".
"He's right as well", Rouge cottoned on to what the crocodile was trying to say and it made sense, "you were shot at point blank range; I was further away when I was taken down. If anything, I should have woken up before you if this energy theory's right". Knuckles turned it over in his mind, trying to put the words into context; he was just about to voice a reply to this but choked it off; suddenly there was no time for discussions about why they had all been captured, where they'd been taken and why they were waking up in the order they were; with a collective moan of effort and pounding headache, the effect of Dimitri's attack, containing the exact amount of energy as the blasts of his drones, wore off.
XXX
Red cloak with black trim or black cloak with velvet trim – one problem with being away so long, all my clothes are completely out of fashion. Just for once, Dimitri actually regretted not having his impulsive granddaughter nearby; whatever faults you could lay at her door, and thoughtlessness, naivety and a lack of table manners would have to be amongst them, Lien-Da had immaculate dress-sense. Still, if wishes were fishes there'd be no room in the river – realising he was nearly out of time, the grandmaster sighed and went for the timeless old favourite of a black cloak with a red trim and interior. Having buffed up his armour as much as was possible, Dimitri quickly donned his cloak and, deciding to dispense with the helmet for this, moved to speak to his brother's descendents and their friends; if I had a struggle with Amy; he thought glumly for a minute; this lot are going to be impossible.
XXX
It was a riot of whispering; assurances of health were swapped, prayers of thanks and gratitude offered to whoever happened to be listening and residual headaches were forgotten in the light of everyone trying to talk to everyone else. There was rampant confusion and the volume increased amidst this semi-silent choir as messages were mixed up and the wrong ears caught messages meant for others, until one voice, realising that in the long run confusion could prove a more deadly enemy than anything their captor could unleash, rose to a shout and called the others down,
"Wait, everyone shut up", the noise died down as Spectre hissed into the blackness even his eyes couldn't penetrate, "now the most important thing is to find out if we're all here; some of us could have been separated and, let's face it, it'd be the sensible thing for Dimitri to do. Right, Thunderhawk?"
"Here". There was an audible sigh of relief from everyone as it seemed the bellicose sixth-father was still around. Containing his relief that his son had survived, Spectre carried on,
"Sojourner".
"Yes". Not such a big sigh this time; I know I'm going to regret this but,
"Athair?"
"Here as always ancient guardian". More's the pity; the black echidna grumbled for a second, for a split-second grateful that Dimitri seemed to have bolted Athair to the floor as well as the others before carrying on the roll-call,
"Sabre?"
"Yes, I'm fine".
"Locke?"
"Just about; head's pounding like a drum". There were a few sniggers at this before Spectre finished off the Brotherhood's list of names,
"Knuckles?"
"Here Spectre; let me take over – I know Rouge and Vector are here", without waiting for assent the current guardian started,
"Shadow?"
"Here Knucks" said a voice to his left, slightly disorientated as though pulled from deep sleep; conscience a little clearer, Knuckles carried on,
"Tails?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm okay; what about you?"
"Don't worry about me foxboy – Sonic?" There was a deafening silence, every ear straining for sound that didn't come,
"Sonic?" Knuckles repeated himself, fighting down the worry in his voice as he mouthed a silent plea for the persistent nuisance to, rather than pipe down, actually say something, "Sonic, are you there?" Another pause, taut nerves almost humming, before a soft, almost inaudible response,
"Yeah". Panic was quickly replaced with anger,
"Why the hell did you keep quiet; we're doing our heads in with worry and you stay stumm?"
"Sorry"; the same dead voice let Knuckles realised there was more to this than he could see and wasting no more time he carried on,
"Right, er, Cream?"
"Here Mr Knuckles, I'm okay". A smile touched the echidna's lips as he responded,
"Glad to hear it floppy, now what about you Charmy?"
"Hanging tough as always".
"Good, Espio?"
"Fine". There was a collective exhalation as that was it, all were present and accounted for; good in the short term as each was amongst friends, but overall, every one present was aware that now, each was helplessly in the thrall of their captor's whims.
XXX
All fifteen were awake now and, having pressed his ear to the door and assuring himself that they were as settled as it was possible for the to be given the circumstances, Dimitri slowly reached over and twisted a small button on the wall next to him.
XXX
The gloom was lifting; every head snapped upwards as, set high in the ceiling, lights began to shine gently, banishing the murk that was shoaled around the restrained warriors. Realising what was happening, Sabre took charge,
"Don't look at the lights, look somewhere else. Give your eyes time to adjust"; the doctor himself focussed on the indistinct shape in front and to the left of him, the outline becoming sharper as the light from above slowly increased in brightness and intensity. Slowly in Sabre's vision, the shape split into three distinct portions, the flanking parts dull and grey still, the other one more animated, perhaps a little colour within this section. The middle was also shorter than the other two components and; wait, it's moving. As his sight slowly adjusted to the increase in light levels, the echidna let out a gasp; it wasn't one thing at all, it was three distinct entities.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, all hopes were dashed from Sabre's thoughts; it had to be Dimitri who had captured them. There were a pair of those dreadful machines Dimitri had sent against them, rigid, immovable and each facing the opposite direct to the other. As he glanced at the figure in the middle, the medic realised why as well; by standing the way they were, the clamping arms of the drones were able to grip onto the arms of the prisoner between them. Held in place by those fearful pistons and claws, Tails couldn't even struggle properly, the fox's arms were well caught and he could do nothing with his feet bar risk a broken toe if he kicked out at his captors.
"Well, that settles it then", Vector intoned in a grim voice, looking around and seeing each of his friends held as he was, "we got beat and caught".
"So we'll just have to get ourselves uncaught" Athair said simply, rising up to give a mid-air horizontal press as the machines' grip wouldn't let him rotate his wrist enough to go vertical, "aww, no fair, great-uncle could have at least given me robots that fly, hey", he nodded at the far end of the room, over Sabre's shoulder, "what do you think those are?"
All fifteen heads swivelled to try and follow his gaze, though this was easier for some than for others; the trios had been arranged into a very loose sort of semi-circle, all facing inwards to a central point. Athair was on the extreme right of the semi-circle and thus the objects that had captured his attention were arranged along the wall on the left. Everyone eventually managed to catch a glimpse and what they saw wasn't exactly cheering; fifteen tubes, each of them constructed from cylinders of glass, stretching down from the roof to the floor of this place. However, what really caught the attention of those looking at them was that they were all unfinished; each tube had a gap of about six feet to the floor; there was no mistaking what these were for.
"Cells", Thunderhawk spat, fronting up anger and disgust to disguise his trepidation, "so he wants us to watch what he's doing from there".
"Nah, he wants us to hear him first", Rouge informed him, glancing around at each of the others as she recognised the arrangement Dimitri must have left them in, "I've been here before; we're all facing a central point so all our attention's focussed on what he does when he makes his grand entrance; he's going to bore us to death with speeches before he puts us in glass".
XXX
Cheeky swine, my speeches aren't that bad; Dimitri was mildly affronted by this statement from the bat; try listening to Kragok explain the exact workings of an emerald blast gun and then say I'm boring with a straight face. He wasn't going to take this bad-mouthing any more; with a grand flourish, he opened the door and strode into the room, head held high and eyes forwards as, like iron filings to a magnet, fifteen pairs of eyes locked onto him.
XXX
So this is Dimitri; Spectre thought silently, taking in every inch of his newly-revealed enemy; this is the fiend that has bedevilled the guardians since the time of Edmund himself. Despite his intensive scrutiny, the black echidna was mildly unimpressed; for all his so-called power, Dimitri didn't look like a deadly enemy. However, Spectre was careful not to be thrown off track by first impressions; if what had happened at Haven was anything to go by he was to be rightly feared. Without a sound, the free echidna made his way to the central point of the semi-circle and set about disproving Rouge's theories of him being a bad speech-maker.
"Welcome, guardians and friends; I have to admit I don't remember what this place is called, it has been in disuse so long, so I can call it only base alpha. So, welcome to base alpha".
"Can't say much for your hospitality", Shadow said bracingly, looking to the right and left of him as if offering proof in the form of his imprisoning drones. Not missing an opportunity to bait their captor, Locke added to the black hedgehog's assessment,
"Or the décor; come on, plain steel grey?" he rolled his eyes, "even I do better than that in my lab". Resisting the urge to make sure none of his so-called guests would speak for the remainder of his talking, the grandmaster pressed on,
"Be that as it may or may not be", he hid his smile as Spectre's eyes widened; those were my words earlier; "a necessary evil; I went through a lot of trouble to get you here and I'd rather you didn't all go and escape again".
"Oh, but where's the fun in that?" Athair questioned as he tried once more to press for a vertical handstand in the air, "anyway, if you're coming to tea like Sojourner said you might, I need to polish up the old tea set grandfather Tobor gave me; do you take milk and sugar?"
Not even the other guardians would mind, remember what Sabre said about him – no, keep your cool, you're better than just randomly wiping someone out, tempting though it is; Dimitri caught himself in time and, trying very hard to get the insane guardian out of his mind, he tried to recall the words he had come up with earlier; fortunately no-one seemed to notice Athair had thrown him out of his stride as he'd some it to everyone else as well; not even the other guardians had been expecting something like that – apparently not even deadly danger could instil a sense of rationality in to the hyper flying guardian.
"Well, er, maybe another time", Dimitri tried to cover himself before getting back to the meat of what he had to say, "but down to business; firstly, none of you have anything to be ashamed of – you all fought like the guardians of old and your ancestors would be proud of you". He had his eyes on the Brotherhood especially, most of them meeting his gaze unflinchingly, though shudders ran through them as the eyes of the foe became noticeable; it was as he came to Knuckles that the grandmaster paused, surprise suddenly etched in his face.
"Edmund?"
He knew that this was Knuckles, youngest of the Brotherhood and current guardian, but the resemblance was uncanny; if only he had been a hairs-breadth shorter Dimitri could have been looking once more at his elder brother. He took slow steps forwards, seeking any hint of fear or challenge in the younger echidna's face; there was nothing there but resolve, as though nothing Dimitri did could break his spirit. So very like my brother; the grandmaster stood so close to the guardian that their noses were almost touching, their breath ruffling the fur on each other's faces as Dimitri stretched out a hand to push back the dreadlocks that hid half of Knuckles face,
"Forgive me, but the reminder is unmissable". It was then that half his face exploded with concussive agony,
"You don't touch him".
XXX
Her training hadn't been used in a long time, but that didn't mean it had been forgotten; since she had realised she was held by robots, Rouge had been testing them and almost immediately found weakness. If she struggled at all, the grips tightened immediately, if she held still they relaxed. So she remained docile, not moving a muscle in her hands and wrists, feeling the ring of metal surrounding them gradually ease their crushing grip. Even when Dimitri had shown himself and his creepy eyes had flashed in her direction, the former spy managed to keep her arms perfectly still and continue her good work. She waited for her chance, and as the victor moved to antagonise her beloved, she knew then she had to take it.
Hands well-practised in slipping through restraints wrenched upwards, sliding free of the now feeble grips of the robots imprisoning her as she threw herself forwards in a flat out sprint. She was shoeless now, so kicking at Dimitri's armoured body would do far more harm than good; she had to pick her target carefully and go for the soft bits. Before anyone, least of all Dimitri himself, were aware she had broken free, she launched herself forwards and slammed the heel of her foot into the side of the technocrat's face, lips contorted into a battle snarl,
"You don't touch him", as the echidna struggled for balance she pressed her advantage for all it was worth, hammering at him with all the kicks she could snap out in the time she had, thundering them home as insults shot from her mouth with equal ferocity, "you foul, kidnapping, evil...gaahhhhaahh!"
An invisible noose tightened immediately around her neck and hauled her off the floor, cutting off her air supply and choking her. She was suspended freely, feet flailing in the air and she clawed at her throat, trying to loosen whatever force this was that was strangling her.
"I AM NOT EVIL!"
XXX
Blood thundered through Dimitri's veins; of all the things he had been called, all the insults both he and his legion were forced to bear, that was the most spiteful and painful of all. He dimly felt the pain in his face but ignored it as he glared around at the others,
"I offer immortality, a release from the jaws of death; how can that be evil? I will liberate people from the weakness of the flesh, yet I am taunted, cat-called and obstructed for trying to do so; why? Do you want to die? Does anyone want death?"
"LET HER GO!" The panicked shout broke in on his tirade; looking at the source, the grandmaster saw the guardians' mask of resolve slip; he was straining at his restraints, threatening to topple them in his effort to break free and reach…the bat! Fury flushed out by dread, Dimitri cut off the power that was choking her, noticing her struggles were far more feeble now. She descended to earth, her eyes only half-open, fluttering between full awareness and coma as she fought to breathe through her injured throat. I should have had more control than that; the grandmaster thought amid the cacophony that had sprung up from his actions, everyone shouting at him and fighting to break free, the guardians testing the restraints he had placed on their powers as well as those on their paws. As Rouge fell to the floor, Dimitri knelt by her side, ignoring Knuckles' resumed threats and curses as he inspected the damage; it didn't look too good. Her throat was badly bruised, one or two small beads of blood staining the white fur of her neck, the breathing shallow and wheezy. There was no other option; though he had wanted to avoid it for as long as was possible, Dimitri didn't have a choice now; with a pulse of thought, he summoned the Bloodstone to him.
XXX
With a crack, all the frenzied shouts in the room was stilled as the great red gem appeared, glowing malevolently behind the form of its kneeling master. Its crimson facets flashed as it rotated gently, perfectly balanced upon its tiny point; Dimitri held up a hand and in response it glowed more brightly, suffusing the room with a red glow like a sunset.
"What are you doing?" Knuckles demanded, throwing himself forwards once more as he saw the power echoed by a red light around Dimitri's gauntlet, "stop, don't you dare…"
"I shall heal her guardian"; the response wasn't shouted, it didn't need to be for the simple fact that, if he was lying, there was nothing any of the others could do for their friend. Slowly, red glow still present, the grandmaster touched his gauntlet to the throat of the injured bat, well aware of Knuckle's eyes boring into his back as he did so. The power seeped in, doing the work he commanded it to do.
XXX
There was a groan from the floor and Knuckles sagged down almost to his knees, his captors the only thing stopping him making it to the ground. From here, the guardian saw Rouge's eyes flicker open properly, and then focus on the face above her; with a scream of rage and violation, the bat pushed herself away, scrabbling backwards away from Dimitri as he made to rise to his feet, looking up at her apologetically,
"Forgive me Rouge; the injury you sustained was an act of rashness that I deeply regret". The bat lowered her guard fractionally, cocking her head as she tried to make out if he was lying or not when Spectre saw Dimitri's face,
"Why? You never minded getting your hands dirty before, why the change of heart?"
"Two reasons guardian"; with a gesture and a second red glow from his hand, Rouge froze up completely, not even her eyes were able to move as Dimitri carefully wrapped his power around her and gently levitated her up a few inches; as he moved her back to her former prison, he continued his conversation, "my past", he set the bat down and carefully had the drones take hold of her again, a little more tightly this time as he finished, "and my promise".
"What promise?" Locke butted in; he may have been able to see what Dimitri meant by past; after fighting so long, he was probably as sick of the continual war as the guardians of the time had been. Dimitri didn't answer immediately, but as he turned to give an answer, Locke received his answer from a most unexpected source,
"The promise he made to Amy".
XXX
Sonic's voice was deadened by pain and loss; only after waking up and remembering what had been said when he had been at Dimitri's mercy had the full weight of his folly been revealed. She was gone now and probably suffering from what this maniac had done to her; Sonic would have quite literally given the earth to be by her side, help her through this, say what he now knew had shone in his heart since it didn't matter when. But I can't; he blue hedgehog glanced up at his friends, hoping that by explaining the circumstances faster than Dimitri could, he'd be free sooner; it was a faint hope, but the only one he had.
"When he guided Amy towards that red pebble, after she controlled out of Haven, she made him", he cut off for a minute, trying to imagine what courage it must have taken for her, lost, alone and led towards her unknown fate by something that had forced her to attack someone she cared about, to say those words as a final request, and failed miserably. Hot tears snuck from the corner of his eyes as he managed to forced his thick tongue to speak once more; the sooner I say it, the sooner I can find her – Dimitri said we'd meet again; "he had to swear he wouldn't kill his enemies when he was free; she made him say that".
There was a silence, broken only by the slight clink of metal as Dimitri bowed his head, respectful of both Amy's heroic statement and the raw agony of Sonic's words; all who could see him must have known the blue hedgehog was suffering terribly. In the end, it was youthful exuberance that ended the period of reflection,
"So where's Rosie now? What did you do with her you, you…"
"She's safe", Dimitri cut Cream off before she could utter the direst curse she knew of, looking at them all sternly, "I took her to her apartment in Station Square after I released my great grandchildren. Hopefully, she will heal from the wounds I dealt her, unwilling as I was to do so, but I will not forget her words; none of you will be harmed or touched whilst you are here".
"So, er, what are you going to do with us then?" It was Sabre who asked the fatal question; shrugging his shoulders as much as he could, he elaborated his thoughts, "we are your sworn enemies after all; will you imprison us until you have enslaved all…"
"Stop right there", Dimitri cut him off with a glare, speech grating through his gritted teeth, "I do not enslave anyone; everyone is given a choice to choose my path, I cannot understand why they would refuse. Death is the enemy, the only enemy; I can conquer it forever, but the echidnas of Angel Island and the occupants of the realms below must help me to do this. The road will be hard, but eventually everyone will be saved and death beaten forever".
"You can't beat death", Espio intoed solemnly, the chameleon's tone rational as he tried to be the voice of reason, "it's a part of life, everything must have an end".
"NO!" The grandmaster marched up to the captive reptile and thrust his face forwards; the heatless flames from the Bloodstone silhouetting him like a mannequin in front of a raging fire, "he took my, our, mother from us; he'll take no more innocent. Life is the greatest gift of all, it should not, should never be snuffed out like a candle by a sadistic gust of wind. Going by your logic, I should slit the throat of your friends and you'd eventually get over it, is that what you're saying?" Seeing the fanaticism in the echidna's eyes, the chameleon averted his gaze; words can't solve anything here, just appease him or he may well act out that threat;
"Forgive me, I may have as spoken rashly as you acted moments ago". The slight jab to the memory brought the result Espio had hoped for; Dimitri straightened up and tugged the ruff of his cloak, sneering a deep breath through his nose at the chameleon,
"Very well, I see you still doubt me; no matter. I shall save them all, and none of you shall stop me".
"Do what you can Dimitri", Spectre stood tall, imposing despite his restraints, a very faint, flickering green aura around his body beating back the cancerous influence of the Bloodstone, "we will fight you every step of the way. Imprison us, we shall break free, fight us, we will fight to our last breaths as we did at Haven". To the black echidna's well-hidden consternation, rather than engaging him in a wasteful war of words, the technocrat simply laughed, not cold or cruel, but natural, genuine mirth echoed around the room.
"I, I'd expect nothing less from the guardians", he managed to gasp at last, scraping back a slight measure of respectability after the sudden affliction of the giggles, "but the imprisonment will only be temporary, for all of you".
There were several glances exchanged here, most of them worried; there were far too many unpleasant ways for that statement to be interpreted. Of course, Athair needed no interpretation,
"Oh goody, you'll be able to make it to tea then?" Dimitri receive the impression it wasn't only him who was forcibly keeping his hands in his pockets; Spectre was visibly praying for strength while Locke, the closest of the Brotherhood, seemed to be attempting to strangle his grandfather. Inwardly assuring himself that the only way he'd ever see Athair at tea was if the flying echidna happened to gate-crash a chimp's tea party at a zoo he happened to be visiting, Dimitri carried on,
"Yes, yes I suppose I will, once I've dealt with you all", he allowed himself a slightly satisfied smile as he recalled how he'd managed to solve the problem of neutralising the guardian's threat without harming them – without wanting to appear immodest, it was a simply genius idea, "once I get the communications working, I shall contact my grandchildren at Necronopolis and they shall send a team of Legionnaires to construct the device that will finish this family feud. I shall use it to remove both the threat of the guardians and", his eyes roved over the forms of Sonic and shadow especially, "those others who can focus Chaos energies".
"Dimitri", the voice was a strangled croak; the blood had drained from Locke's face as he drew a line; there was only one machine he had ever read about or heard of that had the power to do what Dimitri wanted; the machine that started all of this, he can build it again. Guessing the scientist's announcement, the grandmaster piped him at the post to unveil his surprise,
"Yes, the Chaos Siphon will drain out your powers; you will be unable to pose a threat without the hated green to strengthen you. After that, you may do as you please", Sonic pricked his ears, "but you'll come to respect my enlightenment eventually and unburden yourselves from the fetters of mortality. However, time is getting on".
With a yell, Charmy was yanked off his feet, the drones on either side releasing their grips instantly as the Bloodstone focussed power into its creator and Dimitri used it to hold the bee still. Struggle as he might, the bee couldn't worm his way free from the hold Dimitri had around him and was dragged in mid-air towards one of the glass cylinders.
"Charmy", Vector inhaled deeply, furious and fearful beyond words of what the echidna was planning as the bee's inexorable course continued; only one way to solve this. With a roar of combustion, flames shot from the crocodile's snout, towards the immobile form of the puppet master. The smoke and fire obscured hi from view and for a fleeting second the croc was jubilant; maybe he'd scorched this snake, but as it cleared, his heart fell once more. He had avoided the attack inside a semi-opaque cocoon of redness, the flames of the crocodile's breath playing over the shield and dissipated by its presence.
"No need for that, your friend isn't going to be hurt, merely better restrained", the scientist explained as, with a final tug to dislodge Charmy's fingers from the base of the cylinder, the tube snapped downwards, the bottom sealing itself to the floor leaving the bee trapped in what was basically an unopening bottle; as he struggled and beat his fists on the glass, Dimitri remarked casually, "don't worry, there's air pumped in, food and water can also be administered so he's in no danger. It's just that those tubes are soundproof from the inside out; basically, you can hear me, but I can't hear you while you're inside, and I did want to talk to you before I left you in there; one-way conversations are so dull, nothing like a spot of arguing with the family to spice up a homecoming, don't you think?" As there was no immediate answer, Dimitri merely shrugged and, with the aid of the Bloodstone's power, took hold of the next prisoner to be interred.
XXX
The meal had been finished in silence; Amy's plan had consisted of about three sentences and was, in effect, a very short summary of what appeared to be a forlorn hope. Try as he might, Big couldn't see any real way to massively improve her chances of success. As he cleared her now empty plate away, a cold ball of ice began to coalesce in his stomach as he attempted for the last time to try and talk her down from this suicidal task she'd set herself,
"Amy, I can see why you want to do this but…"
"I don't want to", her voice was quiet but so suffused with wordless authority that the cat shut off his sentence instantly to listen; looking up, her eyes clouded by sadness, the pink hedgehog continued, "I need to do this Big; I made a catastrophic mistake, innocent or not, and I'm the only one with a chance to set it right. I need to take it and try; everyone else has stuck their necks out for me, I have to make a stand and try to save them from whatever it is Dimitri is planning". Well, I never expected to succeed; Big heaved a heavy, cold sigh as he realised the time had come; he couldn't delay this any longer.
"So I thought", with a slow grace, the huge cat slowly removed the yellow Chaos emerald from the satchel he wore, seeing how its light was mirrored in Amy's now hungry eyes, the hedgehog looking at her chance to return to Angel Island, "I know I can't stop you, but listen. The only thing I can say is, before you try and take on Dimitri, go to the Master Emerald shrine; if I remember rightly, there's another emerald there, the red one?" He watched Amy slap a paw to her forehead in revelation,
"Of course, that could double my firepower; thanks Big, I never thought of that. Any thing else you've seen that I haven't?"
"No, so, I guess this is yours now", turning his face away from what he was doing, he thrust the emerald forwards, feeling every nuance of pressure relieved from his hand as Amy slowly removed it from his fingers; only when there was no trace of it was registering on his fingers did he look again, still feeling that same dread that he'd just delivered her doom into her hands, "use it well and, and…" he couldn't finish, worry resurging through his body and choking off his speech. He looked away again, not wanting to add to Amy's already considerable burden with his own crying,
"Big?"
The hedgehog's voice parted the clouds of despair for a brief moment and let him see her again, her smile, faint and weary but still special, still cheering like nothing else could be, lifted his mood and filled him with confidence once more.
"Don't worry Big guy", Amy spoke with a confidence she didn't really feel, but then again this wasn't for her benefit, it was for his, "things'll all turn out all right in the end. I don't know what's waiting for me up there, but I'll do my best to set everything right. But I've got to go Big, there's no way I can walk away from what I've done; it's my responsibility to sort out whatever Dimitri's done. Sonic, Shadow, Tails; any of them would do the same if it had been them – I can't desert them now".
"I know Ames", the cat dried his eyes on the back of his paw, standing up and pointing towards the door, "but, I think it's time". Nodding and picking up her hammer, Amy strode out towards the door, the Chaos Emerald held firmly in her hand as Big trailed behind her, standing in the doorway as the light from his cabin highlighted Amy in the light of his stove. The hedgehog didn't notice, concentrating on drawing power from the stone she held, feeling it trickle into her body like a slow tide of fizzy water, tingling under her skin.
"Are you sure you can make it?" She nodded, having never felt surer of anything,
"I'm sure", looking up as she reached the level she knew she needed, the young hedgehog locked eyes with her friend for the last time and smiled once more, "thanks for everything Big; you always were a true friend". Before he could reply, before it became too painful to talk, she activated her new technique, the destination clear as a bell in her mind. Big shielded his eyes from the glare of the power and when he looked back, Amy was gone.
XXX
He stood there for a long time, watching the ground she had stood upon as though waiting for her to come back, even as a part of him postulated she never would. Slowly, eventually feeling the nip in the night air, Big sloped back inside his home, tugging the door shut behind him and sinking down in his chair. He was bone-tired yet sleep was far, far away; there was something he needed to do. Standing again and picking a twig from his bed, the cat set the tip in the fire and flipped to the next clean sheet of his sketch book, mind made up on his next picture. As the twig smoked and he sharpened it with a claw, the details were sharpened in his mind; you have to come back from this Amy; the way she had stood, the lines of determination and defiance in her pretty, young face; I know you have to; and the way she stood tall come what may. As he made the first lines, the page fragmented through the tears in his eyes, a single thought echoed through his head; this can't be the last picture I draw of you!
A/N: Next chapter, the end of all things. Can Amy find a way to stop Dimitri's schemes, or are her friends doomed to the fatal kiss of the Chaos Siphon? Can two Chaos Emeralds hope to compete with the power of the Bloodstone, and what will happen to Sonic if she fails and falls to the grandmaster's power?