And now for a brief interlude in Tokyo…

"Ugh…where the hell am I?"

I'm struggling to open my eyes here. I feel like I've fallen into a pit of molasses, and I've got the worst headache I've had in a long time. My eyes are finally open, but they're out of focus for now. Everything is gray, but I can see shades of yellow if I look hard enough.

Yellow? Minako! Where is she? I force myself to sit upright. The last I remember seeing her was when that giant metayouma captured her. I remember feeling so helpless. I couldn't short-circuit the metayouma with a thunderbolt, because that would have probably sent Minako into a coma. I tried to slice the arm holding her with some scrap metal; I remember it was covered in animal blood. I had thought of calling the other Senshi for backup, but there wasn't time. That thing knocked me out before I could press the button on my wrist.

Now I'm looking at a transparent yellow wall. I'm in a containment tube somewhere. There are a variety of weapons and tools lying around outside the tube, and an examination table is in the center of everything. There are a lot of syringes lining the walls, and plenty of blueprints. This must be Robotnik's lab…if Robotnik actually exists. I haven't seen him, and this is still a bit hard to believe.

It's time to try and escape, I think. I slam into the wall with all my strength. The damn tube doesn't even budge, and I slide off. Ouch. I punch and kick at the wall for a few minutes with no luck.

I think I need to call the other Senshi now. I know Usagi's probably losing her mind with worry. I hope Mamoru's equipped to handle it. I'm not looking forward to confronting her, so I think I'll try to reach Minako first. "Hey, Minako, where are you?"

She doesn't answer right away. The communicator seems to be searching for her signal. Maybe the reception in the lab is just bad. When her face appears, she's standing in a forest somewhere. There aren't too many forests in Tokyo as far as I know.

"I don't have much time to chat, Jupi. I've got people waiting for me, but where are you?"

"I've been captured. I'm in some sort of lab. Where are you?"

Minako looks nervous when she answers me this time. "I'm so sorry, Mako-chan!. Robotnik knocked you out and you must still be in that lab. I escaped my tube a few hours ago. I tried to help you escape, but that clown Robotnik distracted me. I got thrown into a portal in the lab, and now I'm on a planet called Mobius with Sonic."

"Sonic! Mina, are you sure?" So Minako's actually met Robotnik, and this is his lab. Oh joy. I guess this is really the truth, then. I almost wish I could have gone to Mobius too.

"Definitely, Mako-chan. He brought me to this forest, and judging by his speed, it has to be him. He's got some friends that I've never seen before, though. They invited me to their base and we're going to discuss how to bring Robotnik down."

"Okay Mina-chan, but this is all still a little hard to believe. Wait a minute, how can you bring Robotnik down from over there? He's over here, right?"

"We think there's two of them. I met one in his lab in Tokyo, and Sonic and his friends say there's one with a lab on Mobius too. I don't understand it either. Anyway, I've gotta go. Sonic's getting really impatient. Not that that's a surprise. Byes!" Minako's face disappears and my head is spinning.

So Mina-chan was here but she escaped to Mobius. She's with Sonic on a mission. Now I really wish I could have gone too. I look across the room and there's another yellow tube that looks broken. I guess she escaped from that one. But where's the portal she mentioned?

I'm about to call Rei when the door at the far side of the room opens. I quickly drop to the floor of the tube and pretend to be asleep.

The sounds approaching me are strange. There are two sets of metal feet marching forward. One of them is much heavier than the other. There's also something wheeling across the ground. It sounds like one of the figures is pushing a squeaky cart.

Suddenly there's a crash. Apparently someone fell over and tools went flying. The heaviest set of footsteps stops. Then there's a voice.

"Will you get up, you bumbling buffoons! We don't have time for your nonsense!"

The voice sounds like a cross between a hardened general and a clown. It's a deep and booming voice, so he's probably fat too. Could it be Robotnik?

"Err…gee, sorry about that Your Putridness. It won't happen again, sir." There's some scraping sounds. They must have gotten up.

"Of course it won't kahuh kahuh!" Wow, that's the strangest laugh I've ever heard, including Usagi's. It reminds me of a clucking rooster.

"It had better not!" There's a gust of air, and I'm suddenly cold. The tube must have lifted. Sausage-like fingers seize my wrist. "She's awake."

This is it, I have to try and escape now before they do anything else. My eyes flicker open and I break the hold on my wrist. "Supreme Thunder!" I'm up in a flash, and I watch with satisfaction as Robotnik is electrocuted. So this is all real after all. Minako was right, he definitely looks like a clown. I maneuver around Robotnik, knocking him down for good measure, and I see two metayouma rush to Robotnik's side. One looks like a rooster with a humanoid style body. This must be the one with the clucking laugh. The other almost looks like a seal with drills instead of fins on wheels.

"You fools! Scratch, Grounder, after her!"

"Y-yes Your Villainousness!" They address him in unison and then charge at me. They're obviously afraid. I guess Robotnik hasn't equipped them for combat. The rooster looking one-I guess he's Scratch-he's grabbed a loose pipe and he's swinging clumsily at me. I dodge and grab his ankles, throwing him into the wall. These metayouma are odd. Their voices are almost human and they seem to have somewhat of a will of their own.

A pointy object rams into my leg and I fall over, wincing. I've been headbutted by the smaller metayouma-This one's probably Grounder- and he's pointing his drill-arms at me threateningly. I have to escape now, because Robotnik's finally gotten on his feet and he's reaching for a laser gun.

"Jupiter Coconut Cyclone!" I spin around and send small balls of electricity at Robotnik, Scratch, and Grounder. They yelp in pain and fall over. I smirk and race out the door, looking for an exit somewhere. I know it's wrong, but I can't help but pity Scratch and Grounder. They're almost human to me and they're treated like slaves. Why does Robotnik use them as his guards if they're so useless to him? I have to worry about the other Senshi, though. I'll call Ami as soon as I get out of here. Maybe she'll know of a way to find Minako.

A/N: I know I said Act Three would be part of this update, but I think it'd be a bit more organized to include the interludes as seperate chapters. Sorry about the chapter numbering being off. Thanks for reading!