Behind a thick pane of glass within the Blue Typhoon's infirmary, Jack lay on a sick bed. Still unconscious Hare and Bark had had to heave his large bulk up onto the bed so the felines' wounds could be bandaged. The battered silver armour from his torso had been removed and a thick wrapping placed over a bloody patch in his fur

"Think we can get him to talk?" Okida asked glaring at the unconscious cat from across the room.

"Your guess is as good as mine mate." Hare sighed in reply with a brief wave of a large paw. "Though the way I saw him go one on one with Sonic, we'll have a hard time keeping him down when he wakes up." Okida needed no report to tell that. He could just guess how strong this feline was by looking at the muscle mass beneath the fur.

"When he wakes up, let me know." The major stated before turning to leave. His mind was else ware. Memories of that single adrenaline fuelled moment kept passing through unbidden. Over half a day had passed now and usually the recall of battle faded pretty quickly but that single incident stubbornly refused to leave.

"Major?" Hare asked, seeing Okida pause for several seconds at the doorway. The bat blinked and shivered a little forcing himself back to reality.

"Nothing, I'll see you later." Stepping outside into the corridor with the door closing behind him.

"Sure it's nothing?" Topaz asked greeting the Major was he walked out. Okida tried to hide the melancholy expression with a fake smile.

"Yes I'm sure it's nothing." He replied walking past her. Topaz simply stepped after him.

"Nothing my foot." She insisted walking along his side. Okida quickened his pace a little but Topaz just kept up with him. "Look I'm just going to keep following you until you talk bat-boy." She told him. The major stopped dead, his arms held rigid at his side.

"I injured someone." He stated, falling deadly silent afterwards. Topaz watched his face carefully, her violet eyes staring into his. His face was angled down towards the floor.

"Was this back at the base?" She asked. Okida nodded once. "You were fighting, I thought that was the point." The major shook his head at her.

"Not when your opponents unarmed it isn't." The two of them walked in silence for the most part until they got to the recreation hall. Okida sat himself down of the sofa in front of the wide screen TV and started telling all.

"Look it wasn't your fault." Topaz told him, placing a hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

"Wasn't it?" The major asked without looking back. "She was unarmed; I had her sword and my guns. All I had to do as subdue her and what do I end up doing instead?" He slumped back against the sofa, his head rolling up to stare at the ceiling. "I stick her sword in her shoulder." Okida had always shot to wound when going up against opponents with a heart beat, never before had he delivered a fatal blow.

He felt a soft hand on his cheek.

Okida glanced up, his gaze meeting Topaz's eyes. A moment of utter silence passed between them, the two of them simply staring at each other.

"I can't tell you not to feel sorry about it, but a single mistake doesn't make you a bad person Koji." She only used his first name, marking this moment as something special.

As if it were an involuntary reaction, the Major's left wing expanded outward and then contracted back around Topaz's arms. Its touch made her shiver a little. It wasn't leathery like she would expect. A good deal of blood vessels ran like a web throughout the stretched skin and it was almost as warm as the rest of his body.

"Thank's Topaz." He sighed, apparently not noticing it. She gently stroked the back of her hand against his cheek. Being there for him had been the least she could do. He had helped her during her painful break up with Tanaka. Coming back to reality from her thoughts, she noticed exactly how close as was to Okida. She was leaning against him, his warm wing at her side.

Okida found that despite any strength of will, nothing could pry him away from those aqua blue eyes. That single moment could have lasted for a millennium. "Topaz…" The Major began. "I…" His heart was beating so hard it felt like a jack hammer inside his chest. Topaz just placed two fingers against his lips to silence him.

"Don't say anything stupid." She told him softly. "Neither of us are the settling type." She laid her head against his shoulder, that smile widening across her face as she closed her eyes. Her arm looped around his waist and rested beside him. "Live for the moment." She added before pulling him back to lie against the back of the sofa. Okida didn't protest; he couldn't. In fact he found that all words in the English languages had deserted him.

This human he had only known for a few years, but it could just as well have been all his life. His almost rigid wings relaxed and his left aloft seemed to fold over her, the touch sending shivers up his spine. Topaz just sighed and cuddled up closer to him.

Live for the moment? Her words repeated themselves several times over in Okida's mind. Then he smiled himself. Topaz wasn't ready for a steady relationship just yet, not so soon after Tanaka and that he could respect. Besides, Okida thought as he leaned back and relaxed; he was a patient guy.

-

The doors to the bridge shunted open and Chuck walked in. To his surprise he found most of the others members of the crew crowded here.

"Hey what's going on?" He asked but they all kept their backs to him. Looking past him Chuck could see they were all staring at one of the holographic projections the ship used instead of normal monitors. They had tapped into an ordinary television broadcast. President ones was presently addressing the nation.

"This is a declaration of war against the Country." The President ranted, jabbing a finger up into the air. "Area 99 has been not only been attacked but completely destroyed and it more than evident that a ship crewed by Mobians are to blame."

"Say what?" Hare demanded with wide eyes. The image on the screen changed to show video footage.

"This is footage captured by a Mech pilot present at the base at the time of its destruction." The image slowed down and then showed clearly, despite the fuzziness, the Blue Typhoon floating over Area 99. The Dragon attacking them was off camera to the left of the screen, the end of its long tail just peeking across the side barely even noticeable. A frame later, the entire base was consumed by that white light; everything in and around it vanishing in the blast that lasted several still frames. Then, it ended and all that was left was that gigantic crater. It looked very much as if the Blue Typhoon had fired some sort of weapon at the base that had lead to its destruction.

"They're blaming us for that?" Bean asked out load not expecting anyone to answer.

"It is not more than clear that Mobians are a direct and real threat to the security of not just America, but the entire world." President Jones continued, the bright flashes from the camera of the press highlighting the wall with the American flag on it behind him. "These attacks have continued to persist and this, to be blunt, is the last straw."

"This is an outrage." Chuck angrily declared. "How they can do this? They're condemning all Mobians for a few microseconds of video tape?" He smacked a fist into his palm.

"Which is why, effective immediately; all Mobians and residents of the Planet Mobius are to be banned from most public places. Any deemed excessive security risks will be placed under arrest." There was a short silence amongst those assembled on the bridge as they all stood there, humans included, staring at the television screen in utter horror. The press on the live station also stopped and stared, all of them too stunned to even take photographs.

"This guy is out of his tree!" Sam stated with a stunned expression.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" One of the press asked stepping forward in front of the camera still with his camera in his hands.

"No this most certainly not!" The President insisted leaning forward to give the man a sharp glare. "What's more, as Mobians pose such a high security risk, any 'humans' caught trying to protest against these new measures will be placed immediately under arrest." The entire row of media present broke out in an uproar of angry shouts; the censor acting a little to late to prevent some swearing from being leaked onto live TV. Suddenly the signal was cut from the live feed and the news Presenter was sitting there, staring off screen towards a terminal on which the entire news broadcast team had been watching the addressing of the nation. Her mouth was wide open in utter shock.

"Penny, you're on!" Someone yelled out screen and the presenter brought her attention back to the camera in front of her.

"Er…well obviously we've lost the transmission there but… from what we can see it seems new….extreme measures are to be brought in of the public." The entire G.U.N army were watching the broadcast and they were not fooled for an instant. Every solider from the lowest private to the highest ranking general could tell what this was, an attempt by Hexagon to remove what it perceived as a threat to its industries. At first, the military had seen the finical backing by Hexagon as an asset they could use. Now it became clear that Hexagon was not satisfied with simply pulling G.U.N's purse strings. It wanted complete and utter control.

Commander Jericho, present head of G.U.N found that his patience had finally been expended. While Hexagon backed the military with its funds they had been prepared to ignore the odd irregularity; they had after all been the ones to supply them with the technology used to create the fleet. But this was going too far. Their paranoia had grown to extremes and Jericho doubted very much that their fears were valid.

Enough was enough.

Jericho was aged man that appeared to be at least forty but was a good decade or two older than he looked. His wrinkled skin was tanned brown and his hair shining silver, cut short into a standard military hair style. His uniform was that appropriate for the overall commander of G.U.N, rimmed with lines of rank along the shoulders and down the left side of his chest.

"You were watching General?" He asked pressing a button on his desk. The screen on the wall on which he had watched the appalling display buzzed briefly before the head and shoulders of one of the militaries most powerful general's appeared in its place, a direct video link from the Commander's officer to an outpost in the American badlands.

"Yes, so were all my men." The general replied; his brow forced into a frown. Jericho could hear the angry shouts emanating in the background. "I take it that 'now' is the time for that little thing we talked about?" The commander was deadly silent. In his blankest moment had he and the General even considered the action they were about to take, neither of them even imagining that they would ever have to put it into action. If they succeeded they would be regarded as heroes. If they lost, they would be labelled as evil.

"This is treason." Jericho reminded him.

"Treason against what?" The general asked with more than a hint of anger in his voice. "The government and democracy we pledged our lives to no longer exists. Hexagon destroyed it. This is simply a war." Jericho knew how many people looked to him for leadership. Even when Michael was President, the Soldiers of G.U.N were almost fanatical in their loyalty to their commander. He had gained a reputation through various campaigns as a man with a heart of stone. He had not been ruthless as that might suggest but he had been a man who enforced strict discipline and he on himself unwavering loyalty. Even if Hexagon was in control, it was still the United States he was considered turning on. "I can't speak for the entire G.U.N army…" The general began again. "But I can vouch for me and my men. If you decide to go against them then we'll be right behind you." Jericho was utterly silent, staring off into the void. Finally he sighed and looked back.

"I have no choice." He stated. "I can't let this continue any longer than it already has." The general sat there, waiting for the confirming words. "Contact as many heads of the armed forces as you can. Find out how many would be willing to ally with us."

"Then we move?" The general asked stilling waiting. Jericho paused, before nodding.

"Yes, we move."

-

High above Planet Earth, in orbit on the opposite side of the world from the Egg Moon was another structure. The ARK space colony had been left abandoned for some time, yet the evidence of fighting in and around the station was more than evident. The floating remains of Eggman's robots were now caught by the ARK's gravity, keeping them floating with the station as it completed its orbit. Most of the colony was inactive, apart from a small part which Metal Sonic had restored power to. He did not have the run of the Colony as even he knew better than the tamper with the old station. The robotic hedgehog did not wish to set off an Eclipse Cannon blast by mistake. His Machine Federation destroyed, he retreated here to set up a base of operations. He had been in the midst of that endeavour when the President's message to the nation was sent out, one of the monitoring screens showing the entire address for him. If all that was just to protect the public then he was a pocket calculator.

Metal Sonic stood still watching it, his red looped eyes never moving from the screen until it was over. All around him his temporary headquarters was in complete disarray. Pipes and wires snaked all over the walls, ceiling and floor. There wasn't even proper lighting. The only source of illumination being a blinking electric lamp hanging on a wall, most of the crushed chamber was in the shadows. It was the only part of the battered colony he was able to restore power to. Unable to operate without harassment from G.U.N on Earth, here he was in his old rust bucket. It was a step down from his role as king of Metal X.

Now this was certainly interesting. The government, G.U.N especially had been regarding Mobians as a god send up until now. It seemed odd they could do a turn around this quickly without something else going on. Metal Sonic could tell that there was clearly more to this than what met the eye. The robotic hedgehog turned to look at the only thing that enabled him to work up here away from any potential enemies. The Red Chaos Emerald sat in the make shift energy chamber he had constructed, its power giving what life it could to the burnt out systems around it.

His first mission after rebirth had been to collect the Chaos Emeralds and use the ancient power to enable the Machine Federation to conquer the world, but now his intentions had changed. While he still believed that a nation of sentient mechanoids was a dream worth pursuing, more immediate concerns had to be dealt with. He, like the rest of the world, had to preparing for the arrival of the Confederate Fesonians in less than two years.

"Now where are you fitting into this Sonic?" He asked himself, putting a metal talon to his chin. He recognised the ship on the tape was the Blue Typhoon and wherever that vessel was, the blue hedgehog would not be far behind. Metal Sonic doubted very much that the President was saying was true, Sonic wasn't the sort to start blowing things up for the fun of it; at least not G.U.N property.

His mentoring alarm bleeped loudly, alerting him to the presence of a vessel exiting the Planet's atmosphere. Glancing to his side, Metal Sonic saw that the Egg Carrier 4 was pushing its way out from the Earth's gravity well and out into space. Doctor Eggman was returning to the Egg Moon, using the Ark's gravity to sling shot his ship around the planet.

Metal Sonic had ignored Eggman on his way down the first time as the robotic hedgehog had neither the military means nor the incentive to bother with the Doctor's silly little attempts at world domination but now that he was interested, this seemed almost like a personal invitation. On top of that, his sensors were picking up an energy signal unlike anything Metal Sonic was familiar with radiating away from the centre of the ship.

The robotic hedgehog checked the signal again to be sure, but from what he could see, the radiating energy had dimensional properties. Knowing a little about the science behind inter-dimensional travel from a few encounters with Void and people from Maginaryworld, Metal Sonic summed up that somehow Eggman had gotten his hands on a piece of technology with the same properties. How this may link in to the vents on Earth Metal Sonic was uncertain, but still it merited investigation.

Briefly he glanced around his lair, seeing the half working equipment that he had surrounded himself for six months with. He was never going to get his Federation back off the ground at this rate, even with a Chaos Emerald to speed the process up.

Shaking his head he turned, lashed out with a hand and tore the emerald out of the energy chamber. Almost instantly the lights and monitors around him went dead, but the chamber was not completely consumed by darkness. The red light from the emerald kept the robotic hedgehog's face highlighted. Slowly, he slid the emerald into the hole to the energy core in his chest plate. With a soft click it was held firmly in place, two clamps seizing it on either side. The energy within coursed through his body feeling his systems with renewed strength.

His eyes glowed blood red as he flexed his arms.

His own sensor systems and radar functioning as peek performance, Metal Sonic could sense the Egg Carrier 4 moving into the position it required for the sling shot, bringing the ship very close to the outer surface of the ARK. "Well then Eggman; let's see what you have to say for yourself." He began, turning towards the exit; his long blood red cape flowing out behind him.

-

"Er…Doctor." Eggman looked up, irritated at being interrupted form his studies. This ring he had been handed to by his grandfather was a marvel. Made from pure energy its potential for just about anything was unlimited. And Shadow really thought he could take this way from the good Doctor?

"What is it Decoe I'm busy here?" He asked irritably pushing his goggles up off his spectacles to come face to face with a footage from one of the many security camera scattered throughout the ship. A black and red hedgehog was walking down the corridor towards the camera.

"Chaos Spear!" Yellow bolts of energy coursed through the air smashing into the security camera and suddenly the feed was lost. Eggman grimaced, an extremely worried expression on his face. It was one thing to have Sonic mad at you, another completely when you made Shadow angry.

"Your orders Doctor?" Decoe asked.

"Intruder alert, condition red! Activate all security bots, seek and destroy!" he almost yelled into the com-device, his echoing voice making several microchips within Becoe's head dislodge themselves. Throughout the entire ship, large Juggernaut's began activated one by one; their recharge bay's lighting up before the robots marched out. Gigantic behemoths of metal over ten foot tall, their armour coating so strong not even a direct missile hit would phase them. "E1000: Theta, Egg Robo: find the intruder. Do not let him reach the lab!" The screen buzzed momentarily showing two of his Elite robots. They saluted Eggman before their image disappeared.

Shadow soured through the metal corridors that lined the ship like a multitude of spiders webs, several time a security lock down door tried to stop him it was sent flying off its hinges with a well aimed Chaos Spear. Rounding corner he came to the beginning of a long corridor and from here he could see about teen sheets of metal lowering themselves from the ceiling in an effort to stop him.

"Chaos…" He began crossing in an 'X' his arms in front of himself. "CONTROL!" This was a different kind o technique to the teleportation he so often used. Time began to change around him, slowing down to a near stop. To an outside observer Shadow looked like he as travelling so fast it defied explanation but in truth the black and red hedgehog was only moving as fast as he usually did. He flew under the doors before any of them had a change to slam down.

"Now Shadow, there's no need for this barbarism." A voice told him. Looking up, Shadow saw Eggman's face on a transmission screen on the wall. Sweat was running down the sides of the doctors' face, his expression wrinkled into one of intense worry and fear. "I'm sure we can come to some arrangement. So let's all calm down, take a deep breath and stop being angry." Eggman's voice was worried. He had a right to be concerned. He was well aware of what damage Shadow could cause once he got going.

"You haven't seen angry yet." The black and red hedgehog stated, raising his hand into the air. "Chaos Spear!" The energy bolt tore through the screen ripped into the centre and burning the insides.

Eggman gulped loudly as his end of the transmission buzzed with static before it went blank. Apparently diplomacy was not one of Shadow's many talents.

"Should have know you'd come with a price." The doctor muttered, glancing back over his shoulder to the Giant golden ring that he had contained inside a towering pillar of glass. It's soft golden glow illuminating the lab. If only they could get to the Egg Moon in time. Once in the safety of his fortress Shadow would never be able to get to the Doctor. They could attempt a jump using the new drive they adapted from the Blue Typhoon but with such a limited range they would never be able to make it in time. Wait a moment. This ring was a multi-dimensional gateway; the one using it could travel through space at will providing they knew how to use it. Could it travel through time as well? "Genius strikes once again!" Eggman grinned, inspiration suddenly flooding into his mind. Grabbing a selection of cables from the floor he ran as fast as his less than perfect physique could allow to the ring's protective chamber. "Decoe, Becoe; prepare the ship for a jump." He announced, plugging the cables in one by one to the bottom of the machine.

"We haven't reached launching point yet doctor." The silver robot told him, his metal face appearing in a holographic display nearby. "We're sitting using the ARK's gravity pull to pull us into position."

"Then set the jump drive up as soon we are." Eggman snapped.

"Doctor, we'll never make it to the Egg-moon in one jump." Decoe added, his golden face appearing next to Becoe's.

"Once I'm done down here we could reach the other side of the universe with one jump." Eggman told them with a wide grin, eyes squinting evilly at them before he got on with his work.

Outside the Egg Carrier 4, the airless vacuum of space had been barred from the outside by every entry into the ship being shut of. Exhaust vents had been slammed tight shut, entry ports sealed up and every window closed off with a magnetic field. Since Metal Sonic did not need air to keep functioning he was able to come in for a close landed on the runways at the front of the ship. Once he did alarm sensors went off, detecting his presence. Two large laser turrets rose up from the ground on either side; their barrels already rotated themselves around to point directly at them.

Metal Sonic didn't even cast either of them a glance, he just stood up from a crouch and started walking towards the bridge. The two turrets fired, their blasts bouncing off a thick shield of Chaos energy invisibly encircling the robotic hedgehog's body. The blasts were reflected like they were hitting a mirror, screaming back through the air and smashing into the two turrets. Each exploded in a fire storm and Metal Sonic simply walked away as if it were nothing.

The final security lock down floor went flying inwards, blown away trailing smoke and thin races of yellow bolts. Shadow simply walked in, dragging the remains of a Dreadnaught behind him, the torn armour and scorched revealing sparking cables and wires. The room behind was a ammunitions depot, row upon row of stacks of laser rifles and anti- ballistic shields adapted for use by robots stood one after the other down the right.

Three small devices that looked like security camera lowered from the ceiling, but instead of shooting film it fired a thick blast of Laser. Shadow used the piece of robot he had with him to deflect the blast before skating to the side, a thick succession of laser beams following after him. Grabbing a laser rifle as he shot past, he pulled his arm directly upwards and fired two shots upward. Each one was a perfect bull's-eye, two of the defensive turrets falling apart in mid air.

The third and final one tried to strike Shadow's path anticipating where he would be. Sliding to the side at the last second, Shadow rebounded off the side of a wall and put himself in the perfect position to fire the final shot.

As the last of the defences fell, Shadow discarded the weapon in his hands and carried on towards the shut door at the far end. A long watery arm shot out from behind him, tore past his side before a cloven hand sank directly into the metal door. It buckled before being wrenched free. Shadow cast a glance back over his shoulder towards Chaos as the water demon retracted his arm back to his side. Tikal at his side just made a 'V' sign with her fingers. The black and red hedgehog managed a short smirk before racing on.

-

No one knew what to do right then. Everyone on the Blue Typhoon had been declared public enemy number one. The G.U.N fleet had been stretched out across the country to find the ship as it made a desperate dash for the safety of international waters. According to monitored communications chatter the military ships had orders to shoot the Typhoon down on sight.

"Well this is a fine mess you've gotten us into" Hare commented angrily jabbing a finger at Okida.

"Me?" The major began with a stunned expression. "How the hell is this my fault?"

"You're the one who insisted we go after those cats." The rabbit like mobian persisted. "You're the one with the sense of duty. Well happy now! We've lost Sonic, we're hunted like dogs and I can kiss any chance of a quiet life goodbye!"

"Enough arguing." Chuck stated stepping in between them before the bat and rabbit went for each others throats. "This gets us nothing. Meanwhile we've got a dozen G.U.N ships barely two miles away looking for us and Tails' camouflage isn't going to last forever."

A tapping on the glass caught everyone's attention. Amy glanced up to see Knuckles tapping on the glass shield over the bridge with Rouge standing beside him, s thin smile spread over her face. "Or at all." Chuck added in a sigh. Topaz pressed a button and a door outside opened up and the two mobians made their way inside.

"I take it your in the middle of a crisis?" Knuckles asked as he glide down to the floor with Rouge close behind.

"Alright, what happened this time?" Another voice asked almost a moment afterwards as a bright flash of light emerged in the air near the pilots seat, a porthole window through which a small creature emerged, his arms folded in front of himself. His short cape flapping from around his shoulders as the dimensional window behind him closed. No one spoke; they all just stared at him. Void looked irritated beyond belief. "Look I'm a busy man so spit it out." He added angrily tapping his foot several times as an impatient expression passed over his face. "Where's Sonic? I can't leave this dimension alone for two minutes without something going wrong."

"Let's what I'd like to know." Knuckles added in. The Echidna looked directly at Amy. "So, where is he?" The pink hedgehog was silent, then she looked away.

"I don't know." She said with an emotionless voice.

Chris was quick to fill both Void, Knuckles and Rouge in on events. About the felines, the battle at the base and the Dragon that attacked their ship. When the word, Dragon, was muttered, Knuckles' interest peeked.

"Dragon?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No other word for the thing." Sam speed announced. "Winged lizard the size of a coach. It disappeared when the base went bye bye though."

Void hovered back and forth across the navigation equipment looking thoughtful, his cape flowing out behind him as he flew. They had only ever seen him walk on rare occasions. Those in Maginaryworld who could fly did so to extremes it appeared.

"A bright flash of light like a Chaos Control?" He repeated. Amy and Chris just nodded at him. Void grumbled something under his breath and continued floating, the fingers on his left hand held to chin. "That sounds like a dimensional warp." He admitted before staring off into space. "And it does explain the 9.0 on the dimensional rector scale we picked up." Since the people of Maginaryworld could travel other dimensional realms at near will, they had taken it upon themselves to maintain the fabric of reality in each universe. It was their job so to speak to make that was meant to stay in one world stayed there instead of passing back and forth through realm gates. Occasionally they let a few things slip by and this apparently was one of them. It hadn't taken long for Void to guess that the felines Amy and the others had been fighting back at the base were from another dimension and that the warp that took Area 99 away was connected to them.

"Only question I'd like answered is what Those cats are doing here." Chuck muttered; his arms folded in front of him. "I doubt they came here for Disney land."

"Crudely put but good point." Void muttered. "From what you've told me this isn't a simple case of dimensional overlap. Those felines came to your world on purpose for something."

"We can always ask the guy in the infirmary." Hare reminded them. The big feline they had dragged back from the battle field was still down there.

"Until we've got something else to work with that'll have to do I guess." Void sighed unfolding his arms. With a case this puzzling he would like more to go on than that as he was pretty sure their prisoner would tell them nothing.

"And how does that Dragon fit into all this?" Knuckles asked impatiently tapping his foot. Chris had filled him in about the strange flying reptile that attacked them after it ripped its way out of the base. Already alerted to the image of a Dragon by the Master Emerald, The Echidna knew beyond a shadow of doubt that its presence here was more than a coincidence.

"Another piece to the puzzle we've yet to find." Void replied with a toss of his head, eyes narrowed as he began thinking. Finding he could come up with nothing off the top of his head he sighed out load. "I suppose we had better talk to that feline of yours now."

-

"Ok bub, talk!" Hare yelled through the glass. Jack just sat there with an annoyed expression on his face with his arms crossed, remaining completely silent. He had been awake when they arrived and fixed them all with a glare of ice, saying nothing.

Hare seemed to take it as a direct insult and leapt for the door, grabbing a wrench on the way. Bark and Bean threw themselves at him, pushing him away from the door and disarming him. "Damn cat!" Sensing that perhaps Hare's methods at interrogation were being influence by his instinctive nervous reaction to cats, Void hovered forward. He squinted through the glass at the prisoner, noting the features of the body and face and applying them to memory. There were several dimensions he could think off the top of his head that this feline could come from and probably more besides.

As if he were a ghost he floated in through the glass, passing through the solid barrier as if it weren't even there. Jack watched the small being float near him, both eyes wide. A low growl escaped his throat, a warning not to come any closer. Void stopped a safe distance away and stared directly him. Behind Void's wide eyes were stars swirling in a universe of their own.

"I…know you…" Jack began. "Yes…I recognise the species." Why hadn't he picked this one from the others before? A short, streamlined body with an overly large head on top. Most of the differentiated on certain points, but those characteristics were species bond. "Maginaryworld." Void simply nodded, seeing no point in hiding his place of birth from this feline. Jack managed a short grin that showed his fangs. There were few people who didn't know this arrogant civilisation. "Here to gloat? Happy now? To see what your inaction has driven my people to?"

"Our inaction?" Void repeated, raising an eyebrow. "As far as I know, our two cultures have never met." Jack looked angry at the statement.

"How dare you!" He hissed, baring his fangs. "It as not so long ago that we begged you for help, we got down on our hands and knees like children and you ignored us." Void pushed, looking confused. He hovered there in silent thought for a moment before his eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, now I remember you." Void suddenly stated clicking his fingers with the stunned expression of revelation passing over his face. "You're from that copper age planet we denied an intervene request to sixty years ago."

"It's because of you that our world is dead." Jack hissed at him angrily, lunging forward with a murderous intent in his eyes. Void simply ducked under the swings, floated through the kicks and punches as if the air itself was aiding him. "If you had only given us the help when asked for it, then my daughter would still be alive!" Outside the cell those assembled cast each other nervous glances.

"The Dragon Blood was your problem." Void muttered, sinking back through to the safety of the glass. "We only intervene with problems inter-dimensional in nature. Yours was local." Jack raised both fists and slammed their full weight against the glass, cracks like spider webs running across the surface.

"As far as I'm concerned your people are as guilty as the Dragon that ate my little girl!"

"Dragon Blood?" Okida asked giving Void a sideways glance. "Just what is that?"

"Sounds like the name of a B-rated rock group." Hare added with levelled eyes.

"Dragon Blood was the name of a pestilence that infected their home world Fellena. It's a disease that first kills its victims and then mutates the bodies into a new form of life. Flying reptiles that…" Void began.

"Spit chemicals that turn into fire in the air?" Knuckles asked with a sudden worried expression." Void looked up at him.

"As a matter of fact yes." Suddenly seeing what the red Echidna was hinting at he suddenly looked worried. "Oh dear…"

"You mean that… that thing that attacked us back there…" Bark asked looking stunned. "That was Dragon Blood?"

"Well then 'Imp'." Jack began at Void from behind the glass, the breath from his nose steaming up the cracked panel. "The Dragon Blood's a threat to two dimensions now. Perhaps with some incentive then you'll help. Only it comes as too little too late for my home."

"What's this about Void?" Amy asked giving the small fairy like being a stern glare, her hammer hoisted onto her shoulder. Void's eyes darted from they pain inflicting end of her weapon to Jack and back again before he signed out load.

"They requested help from Maginaryworld to combat the spread of the plague, but our kind only deal with catastrophes across dimensions. This was local." He explained without taking his eyes off the floor. Jack hissed angry barring every-one of his razor sharp teeth.

"So you abandoned them?" Void put his hands up defensively at the pink hedgehog's angry statement.

"Hey it wasn't my term as overseer and besides Illumina as ruling unchallenged then . We all had other things on our minds."

"None of 'your kind' ever set foot on Fellena to see what was happening." Jack stated with so much angry in his eyes it was unbearable to look at. "You turned us down on the spot and refused to even save our children. Dragon Blood has destroyed Fellena almost completely. There's hardly anything left for us."

"If you can cross dimensions like Void…" Amy began. "Why didn't just leave and go to another realm?"

"We have been." Jack replied without setting eyes on her. "But we are new to the leaps. It requires great deals of energy on our part so transporting what's left of our population take something more than our own resources. We can only transport ten of our kind at a time and only a few of us have the ability in the first place."

"Was that why you were here?" Okida asked. "You were looking for sources of power?" Jack shook his head.

"No." He stated giving the bat a glare. "We came here to retrieve a source of power that the Apes stole from us."

"And what was that?" The large feline did not reply, he simply crossed his arms in front of his chest and turned away.

"I will answer no more." He looked back once last time. "Not that it really matters what I say. The Dragon Blood will reduce your world, and mine, to ashes."

-

Sonic groaned loudly before rolling up to a sitting position, his eyes screwed up tight as he hissed in pain. Perhaps attacking Blaze right then hadn't been the smartest thing he could have done. He felt like the time he foolishly accepted Hare's bet that he couldn't drink an entire tank of pickle juice; sore from the toes to the ends of his quills. Feeling leaves brush around him he opened his eyes and glanced around.

To his surprise he found himself in a very different landscape to the one he remembered leaving. It was a jungle of some kind, tall trees lancing up out of the ground all around him before blocking out the sky with a blanketing canopy. Bushes, shrubs and creepers plants ran across the ground beneath and around him. Thin shafts of light fell through the cracks in the carpet of leaves above, casting illumination through the darkness of the undergrowth around him. Strangely the planets weren't green but rather a pale shade of aqua. Even the grass beneath his feet looked like the colour of swallow water.

Standing up he took note of his surroundings. The trees didn't seem to end no matter what direction he looked in. He paused to brush some twigs and leaves out of his quills before walking off. His first impulse had been to run but that would risk him getting even more lost than he was before and even he was smarter than that.

"Hello…" He began to himself, nearly tripping over a piece of metal half hidden by a bush. Brushing the leaves aside he saw it was the shattered remains of a G.U.N Laser Hunter Robot, the front craved in by a sword blade. Wait…he remembered seeing this piece of scrap before. It had been lying outside Area 99 with a loud of others Blaze had carved it up on her way to the entire of the base. How did it get here? The same way he did maybe?

Sonic carried on, finding that the further he walked the more he found bits and pieces from the fight at the base scattered around. Small fragments of laser hunters, hunks of stone wall that could only have come from Area 99 itself, the smouldering remains of a fighter plane and even a collapsed Mech blocking his path; the fragments of the battle were everywhere. "Ok, this is getting strange." The hedgehog muttered to himself as he scratched the back of his head.

Just what was going on here? How had all of this gotten from outside the base to this strange jungle? His mind cast itself back to the moment his spin attack had slammed itself into Blaze. He shuddered, finding a wall blocking his memory. All he recalled was an extremely brief flash of intense light and then nothing.

Had there been a Chaos Control?

A loud roar shook the air and Sonic glanced up to see a long shadow fall across the canopy. Acting on instinct he ran after it, darting through the trees at great speed with one eye kept watching the movement above. Suddenly the ground just seemed to end before him and he put on the brakes, screeching to a halt at the edge of a very long drop.

To his utter amazement he found himself on the edge of a floating island, not unlike Angel Island in similarity but much bigger. The land arched around in a bay to his right before disappearing into the distance. The true surface was far below, thick clouds passing below the flying continent half hiding the lava ridden land from view. But what caught Sonic's attention at once was the sky. It was a pale orange completely and the sun in the sky was gigantic and completely blood red.

The roar echoed out again and Sonic watched as a huge winged reptile soared over him, its wings beating several times as it roar. Like a snake it twisted through the air, before reaching the height of its flight and falling into a dive towards the land below. Sonic watched it glide off, his eyes wide in amazement.

"I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore." The blue hedgehog muttered to himself as he stared out across the strange new world.

-

Note:

Those of you wondering if I intend to carry on after the movie adaptationlook forthe lastest updateof my Deviantart page, link on user page. Future updates as well will reveal all…