Burn: Heh, thanks; glad you liked it :P

Kj: Driving a wedge between Tails and Knux...you'll find out in due time :P On the dream front...yep, she was ;) I get the feeling things like that happen whenever the Chaos Emeralds/Master Emerald is in real danger ;)

Shadow-spawn180: Lara-Le's identity...hmm, do I clear that up now or...NAH:P And that's what I love most about covering two or three separate storylines; I get to spin cliffhangers out two or three times as long ;) And yes, Tails has grown a lot...I guess supposed bereavement and torture can do that to a person. For the rest, keep reading :P

Matri90: (smiles) Thanks :)

Asher Tye: Thanks :D Tails going feral...actually, there's a fairly specific type of situation that sets him off ;) Maybe more on that later :P

Matt Lans: Yes, Lara-Le is indeed a bad guy ;) With the title being what it is, was there ever any doubt? (weg)

FriedBrickWall: Yeah...I think Knux probably would believe Tails ;) On the other hand, can you blame Tails for wanting to keep him safe:P

Toboe16: You're right...Tails has to find a way...somehow :P

Pyrokinetics: Yes, she certainly is...;)

Awdures: (grins) Thanks :D

My Memoirs by Me

Oh hell. That was one major screw up on my part; I really, honestly thought Bait was on our side. I haven't seen him since it happened, hardly surprising really.

No. No, that's not fair; after all, I don't have any proof that Bait was the one who blew up the CDA. At least, no proof short of the little fact he practically confessed! Still...that's not quite enough, somehow. After all, Raker could have got to him while I was out with Amy and forced him to say that. I can't condemn Bait until I know the full story.

But from where I stand, it's not looking good.

--Sonic the Hedgehog

Something that felt like a hand made of hot wind lifted Sonic and tossed him through the air as though he weighed next to nothing. Dazed, ears ringing from the blast, he staggered to his hands and knees and looked around wildly.

"Bait! Bait, where are you?"

No reply, but Sonic's keen nose picked up the scent of ozone usually associated with a transport beam and he stared around. Had Bait left? Blown up the CDA and then gone on the run? But why? He'd been happy with Sonic...hadn't he?

A scream reminded him of his current predicament and he whirled, racing towards the apartments.

He'd almost made it when the second explosion hit, blasting him through a sixth-storey window and into unconsciousness in a shower of blood and glass.

When he woke up, he was lying in a white bed with so many flowers and Get Well Soon cards around him that it was like being in a florist's shop. All the flowers were in full bloom – that's good, it means Charmy must have survived, Sonic thought randomly – and two red helium balloons floated above his bed.

"You're with us again?" someone said from among the foliage.

The hedgehog struggled to sit upright. "Mighty? What happened?"

The armadillo emerged, ducking under several fronds and came to stand in front of Sonic. "You got knocked out in that explosion."

"Tell me something I don't know." Sonic reached behind his head. Nothing really bad, although there was a certain stiffness in his face that came with stitches.

"The doctors are saying there won't be any scars – you only suffered superficial cuts – but you'll have to have the stitches out soon." Mighty paused. "You've been out cold for two days."

"What!" Sonic shot to his feet, staggered and collapsed onto the bed again. "Two days? What about the explosion? What about the CDA?"

"They're still picking through the wreckage. It's on the twenty four hour Zonal News."

"Yeah?" Sonic peered up between a rosebush and a miniature cactus at the wall-mounted TV screen. "Where's the remote?"

"Uh..." Mighty frowned. "I think it's behind the azaleas."

"Yeah? Great. Now where are the azaleas?"

"Next to the tulips."

Sonic squinted. "The red ones or the white ones?"

"The white ones, behind the miniature hydrangea bush that's next to the blue roses."

"Who're all these from?" Sonic said weakly. "I mean, sure I love flowers, but jeez, Might; did I save some Mobian gardens and forget about it?"

Mighty shook his head, grinning now. "You forgot something alright; you're Sonic the hedgehog, Mobius' national hero and have been for the last five or six years. People love you. This is just a small selection of the flowers that were actually sent; the rest are being planted in the Sonic Memorial Gardens."

"The what?" Sonic's jaw dropped. "Dammit, I'm not dead yet!"

"It's not for you. It's for everyone else who's lost someone. Scrap Brain have always wanted to build one and now you've visited, they've cashed in on so much tourism and hospital donations that they can do it."

The hedgehog glanced away, rather sourly. "So they're just using my name as a way to cash in, huh?"

Mighty laughed. "They been doing that for years, ever since you first saved this Zone. Let's see...there's the Sonic Zonal Park, the Sonic Mall, the Sonic Cinema, the Sonic Theatre, the Sonic Stadium, the Sonic—"

"Enough already!" Sonic got to his feet. Dizziness whirled through his head and he almost fell, but managed to remain upright this time by grabbing a small palm tree.

"You didn't want the fame, Sonic, you should have thought of that before you went around saving the world."

Mighty's words sparked off something in Sonic and he fixed the armadillo with a steady look. "Where's Bait?"

"Nobody knows." Mighty moved the potted irises to one side and finally managed to get closer to Sonic. "I think...wherever he is, he's with Raker."

"Yeah? Well, good riddance to bad rubbish." Agony jolted Sonic's skull as he tried to move, making him add waspishly, "And to Raker as well."

Mighty stared hard at him. "That's not fair, Sonic, and you know it."

The hedgehog dropped his gaze, embarrassed. "You're right, it's not. But how could he do something like that? He blew up the CDA!" He shook his head. "I think Bait's got a serious problem and that's not my being unfair, Might, that's the plain truth."

Mighty's stare intensified and he folded his arms. "Let me tell you something. Me and Bait had a little talk while you were out with Amy. You know what his biggest hope is?"

"To follow in his brother's footsteps and blow up an entire Zone?"

The slap knocked Sonic off his feet and almost across his bed.

"I'll pretend you never said that," Mighty informed him coolly. Sonic opened his mouth to retort that he wished the armadillo had decided to pretend this before hitting him, then shut it again. Even he knew when he was pushing his luck.

"Yeah," he said instead. "I didn't mean it, Might, not really. What'd Bait say to you?"

"He said his biggest hope was for you to see him like you did Tails, as a little brother. With that in mind, Sonic, you really think he'd have blown up the CDA? You think he'd have done anything that might have even slightly upset you, much less pissed you off completely?"

Sonic hesitated. "Possibly." He sighed. "Well, if he's not innocent, then he's the best actor I've ever seen."

"Not only that, but he's telekinetic."

Sonic frowned. "Come again?"

"Those bombs were set off by a remote control, Sonic. If Bait didn't pull it out and press the button in front of you, he couldn't have set them off. And he couldn't have planted them because when he's not been with you he's been asleep or in the bath or shower, and when you went out with Amy and he woke up to find you gone, he came to me. He's innocent."

Sonic hesitated, caught between relief and worry that Mighty might be wrong.

"You're sure?" he said eventually.

"Positive. Bait had nothing to do with it."

Relief won and Sonic dropped onto the bed, muscles suddenly too weak to support him. "Thank the Emeralds for that. Were there any casualties?"

Mighty hesitated. "Sonic...maybe you shouldn't worry about that just yet—"

"No. Tell me, Might." Sonic closed his eyes. "Is Bait...you said he was with Raker but did he...?"

"No," Mighty assured him. "At least, we never found his body. Espio says it could have vaporised, but I'm not so sure."

"So Espio's alive as well?"

"Yeah. Me, Espio..."

Sonic gritted his teeth. "Mighty, do you think it would be too much for you to concentrate on who isn't alive? The iguana—"

"Is fine, thanks to you."

"Dammit, do I have to list everyone in that building before you give me a straight answer? Crypticism isn't your style, Might; you should have got Espio to do it."

"He asked," Espio said coolly from the doorway, "but I refused. You might as well know sooner than later, Sonic..." He hesitated, then said, "It was Vector. He didn't make it."

Sonic's eyes snapped open and he stared at Espio. Vector? But Vector was...well, Sonic didn't know him like he did the others, but the croc had struck him as too tough to die.

"Vector's dead?" he said hoarsely.

Espio nodded once, slowly. "Yes. Vector went back to try and save one of the families in the apartment below ours. He was still there when the second lot of bombs went off." The chameleon paused. "He didn't stand a chance."

Sonic dropped his head into his hands. "Any other casualties, Espio?"

Espio shrugged. "Not in the CDA. There may well have been others in the apartments below us, but that's no concern of mine."

"Bait?"

"Missing, like Mighty told you. He might still be in the Zone though; I admit I've not looked for him. I saw his brother being teleported somewhere though."

"Where?"

"How should I know? Probably back home to Emerald Hill Zone if he's got any sense."

Sonic groaned. It was logical, he supposed, but if you thought of Raker and then of sense and tried to put the two together, it never seemed to work.

"So I have to find a way of...hang on." His head snapped up and focused on the TV screen. "Isn't that going out on radio as well?"

Mighty and Espio exchanged looks, then Espio said, "Well...yeah. Why?"

There was a blur as Sonic shot past him, accelerating fast, followed by the slam of the door.

"Maybe I should have lied," Espio said reflectively. "The medics did say they wanted to stop Sonic doing anything strenuous."

Mighty rolled his eyes. "Espie, the words Sonic and stop don't usually go together unless the word Robotnik is tacked on the end."

"Hm."

The two of them stayed silent for a few minutes.

"Where's the radio?" Espio asked suddenly.

A hasty search finally turned up the radio in a large tub of pansies, and the chameleon switched it on, tuning it to the Zonal station halfway through the evening broadcast.

"In other news, our sources say that the last of the Oil Ocean Zone refugees finally found shelter in Bridge Zone and Frog Forest Zone. The arsonist responsible for Oil Ocean has yet to be—hey, get off!"

There was the sound of a scuffle, then Sonic's voice took over, going out throughout the whole of Mobius.

"Bait, this is Sonic. I'm not mad at you, alright? But this has gone on long enough. Either you come out from wherever you're hiding and meet me at the park in an hour, or I'll leave you behind. I'm not going to hurt you, kiddo; I just want to talk to you. If you're not in Scrap Brain Zone anymore, then I'll meet you in Seaside Hill Zone, okay?"

Inside the radio station, Sonic stepped away from the microphone and walked out of the building – moving too fast made his head hurt unbearably – and straight into a pack of reporters who had made a beeline for the station as soon as the hedgehog's voice had been heard.

"Sonic!" A camera bulb flashed from behind him. "Sonic, what do you have to say about the recent attacks by Dr Robotnik? Do you think that maybe you're losing your touch, to have Robotnik over your head and make no attempt to stop him?"

Sonic, who usually avoided the press like the plague – not least because he was constantly afraid they'd find out the truth about him and Robotnik – whirled, mind racing. "What did you say?"

"Robotnik's Egg Carrier was seen flying away from Scrap Brain Zone shortly after the explosions at the apartment complex, which houses the headquarters of the well-known private detective agency known as the Chaotix. Where were you, Sonic? Eyewitnesses report that you were seen out on a date with a young, attractive hedgehog not so long ago by the name of Amy Rose, who helped one of the refugee families from Oil Ocean to reach this sanctuary! Have you finally decided to retire from your heroic feats and settle down with a family?"

"Of course not!" Sonic answered, stung. "She's—" He broke off abruptly. He had been about to say she's only twelve, but he knew full well how that would play on the news.

Another microphone was thrust at him from another direction. "Sonic, are you concerned that Robotnik is going to find and catch your girlfriend and use her to blackmail you into surrender?"

"She's not—" Sonic began, then broke off again. It was one thing to denounce Amy as his girlfriend when there was just the two of them, but he couldn't bring himself to do it on Zonal TV. Amy didn't deserve that level of humiliation.

"Not what?" The question came from three different reporters simultaneously and Sonic racked his brains.

"She's not exactly your damsel-in-distress type," he improvised. "Now, if you'll excuse me—"

"The whole Zone heard your announcement, Sonic! Who's Bait? Is he or she connected with the explosions up at the CDA?"

"Bait is my business, and no, he had nothing to do with the explosions. Excuse me." Sonic started to push past again, but more reporters barred his way.

"Sonic, can we get a quote for our readers?"

Sonic, who happened to dislike this particular reporter with a passion after a news article which had had him in bed with two swans and an aubergine, turned around and all over Mobius, editors scrabbled frantically for their bleeper machines in response to a quote from the hedgehog that caught them completely off guard.

"Raker!" For the first time in his life, Bait was glad to see his brother. "Raker, you gotta tell Sonic it wunt my fault! I dint plant that bomb! You know I dint!"

Raker laughed. "Oh, come on. Where's the fun in that? If I did tell him, he might get some crazy idea in his head of coming to rescue you."

Hope quickened Bait's pulse. "He's alive?"

"Oh yes. Bruised and concussed, currently in hospital, but he's alive. He's not very happy with you either."

Bait winced. "Raker, honest, I'll never see or talk to him again if you dunt want me to, but you gotta tell him the truth 'bout me."

"He already knows the truth, Bait. He knows you're a pyromaniac who just likes blowing things up." Raker smiled. "Lugnor was listening in at the hospital. I think Sonic said something like, good riddance to bad rubbish."

"You're lyin'! Sonic'ud never say that, never! He'll come get me, Raker, 'less you lemme go now."

Raker snorted. "Really. So much for the whole I'll never see or talk to him again deal. But you were right, Bait; you never will. You're too easily led, too impressionable. I'm going to be keeping you a long way away from Sonic for your own safety."

"You mean yours. When Sonic gets here—"

"How is he going to do that?" Raker asked easily, then shook his head. "Of course, how remiss of me. I seem to have been somewhat premature."

"Prob'ly wouldn't be the first time," Bait muttered, not quite under his breath.

"Since I'm so relieved you're unharmed and so pleased to have you back with me, I'll pretend I didn't hear that. As I was saying, Bait, you're on board the Egg Carrier Three."

"Three?"

"Yeah, Robotnik's a genius when it comes to construction, but most of his names tend to be variations on a theme. But this little flying fortress is well out of Sonic's reach."

Bait glanced up at the walls with a growing feeling of desperation. How long had he been here? Long enough for Sonic to start missing him? Twisting around, he tried to look at his watch, wanting to gain at least some idea of how much time had elapsed.

"What's that?" Raker said sharply.

Bait tried to pull his arm in, tried to shield the watch with his body, but there was no space for him to move and he watched helplessly as Raker seized his arm and yanked it through one of the bars. Pain shot through Bait's shoulder as the muscles were twisted in an unnatural position, but he barely noticed it as Raker unstrapped the watch and held it loosely between finger and thumb, just out of Bait's reach.

"Who'd you steal this from?"

"I dint steal it! I don't steal nothin', not no more! Sonic give it me!" He had as well; after Bait had spent no fewer than two hours with his nose pressed against the shop window, Sonic had finally gone in and bought him the watch in an effort to get both of them back before dark.

Raker sneered. "Why would he waste good money on you, Bait?" He looked at the watch carelessly. "You don't really want something that tacky, do you?"

Bait winced. Sonic had said those exact same words when he'd finally managed to figure out what the jackal was eyeing up.

"It ain't tacky. It's cool."

"Tacky," Raker repeated, his voice a sneering drawl.

"Cool!"

"Tacky."

In this much, at least, Raker was right; the watch was lime green with a bubble-shaped cover over the hands (both of which were fluorescent blue arrows against a black background instead of simple bars) and had neon orange leopard spots on the wristband. It was Bait's pride and joy, however, not least because it was the only present he'd ever received.

"Give it back, Raker!"

"Hmm..." Raker pretended to consider for all of three seconds. "No."

Bait automatically tried to stand, smashed his head on the roof of the cage and winced. "Listen, you...you maggot-ridden, fleabitten idiot—"

Raker laughed, cutting him off. "Well, if you're going to talk to me like that, Bait, I'm not even going to pretend to listen to your pathetic whining."

"Give it back!"

Raker dangled the watch just out of Bait's reach. "Clearly Sonic never taught you any manners, Bait. I suppose I can't condemn him for that; I never had any success on that front either."

"Prob'ly 'cause you only got bad manners! Gimme my watch!"

"How about a please, Bait?"

"Gimme it!" Bait tried to grab the watch but his grasping hand fell short. "Please," he added. "Please, Raker, promise you ain't gonna do nothin' to it."

Raker smiled slowly, maliciously. "Alright Bait. I promise. You want it, take it." He set the watch down within easy reach and Bait grabbed for it without thinking. Raker timed his blow to coincide with lethal accuracy and as the younger jackal's hand covered the watch, Raker stamped on it hard, grinding his heel on Bait's fingers, ignoring – or rather, enjoying – his brother's high-pitched yelps that verged on howls as his fingers broke with an audible crack.

"Sorry," Raker said, still smiling. "My foot slipped."

Even through the red mist of agony, Bait managed to whimper, "You promised." Not that that made any difference, he supposed; after all, Raker had never kept a promise to him that he could remember.

"You asked me to promise not to do nothing to it, and I agreed." Raker's smile broadened. "Stamping on it hardly qualifies as doing nothing to it, wouldn't you agree?"

"You knew what I meant!"

"So what?" Raker shrugged. "If it's any consolation, Bait, you wouldn't have got this back anyway. I can't have people saying I let my little brother go around wearing things like this."

"Lemme back to Sonic an' you won't have to!"

"Ah, yes, Sonic. You know what?" Raker said idly, then frowned. "Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you." A vicious kick to the ribs made Bait wince, but he somehow managed to shift pain-dulled eyes to his brother. "Better. You know what, Bait? I think Sonic might be worried about you."

He is, Bait wanted to say but couldn't. Pain was screaming through his hand and up his arm to his shoulder. He was strangely tired and wished Raker would just leave him alone, leave him to sleep.

"So I've been thinking, maybe you should make contact with him."

Hope bloomed in Bait's heart. Even if Raker made him say things he didn't mean, Sonic would know the difference...wouldn't he?

"In fact," Raker continued idly, as though it was of no real consequence, "maybe you should send him a letter."

Bait nodded once, almost imperceptibly.

"Good. Except...oh, that hand of yours looks pretty bad, doesn't it, Bait?" Raker shook his head, smiling. "Dear me, however did that happen?"

Bait didn't answer.

"I asked you a question." Another kick, harder this time in the exact same spot. "What happened to your hand, Bait?"

"You did it." Bait's voice was hoarse, but Raker heard every word. "You know you did it."

Raker sighed. "Pity. I was so hoping Sonic might have cured you of lying at least." He kicked again, harder, and this time Bait felt something give. "Tell me again, what happened to your hand?"

Bait started to repeat that Raker had done it, then his survival instinct seized control of his mouth and instead he said, "I...fell."

"Better." The booted foot, which had started towards Bait's ribs again, withdrew. "So, with that in mind, I suppose I'd better write it for you."

Bait struggled to understand. "What...you mean, me tell you an' you write it?"

Raker chuckled, clicking his tongue pityingly. "Oh, I'm sorry, Bait. I was never much good at dictation. I've already written the letter."

"I wanna read it!" Previous experience prompted Bait to add, "please."

Raker shrugged. "Of course you can read it. Robotnik thinks that Sonic will come for you – myself, I think he's being needlessly optimistic; after all, you did kill one of Sonic's friends with that bomb you planted in the CDA—"

"I never planted no bombs!"

Another kick. "Don't interrupt me, Bait. As I was saying, if Sonic does come for you then you should at least know why he's going to be so angry." Clearing his throat, he pulled out a piece of paper and read it aloud. "'Guess I fooled you, didn't I, Sonic? This is what I think of your stupid present, and I just want you to know that stitching you up was even better than selling your pathetic little brother as a slave. Bait'." He tipped his head on one side. "I'll send the watch back with it, of course. It's obvious someone stamped on it."

"You stamped on it."

"Oh, true, but Sonic won't know that, will he? I'll send it care of Seaside Hill Zone; someone there will find him when he arrives." Raker smiled. "People with negligible intelligence like you really ought to leave the thinking to those of us who know how to do it…although as it applies to you, negligible intelligence is something of a tautology, isn't it?"

Bait glowered up. "I dunt think that's funny, Raker!"

"You would if you understood it." In fact, Raker himself didn't understand it; it had been Robotnik who had come up with that particular insult, directing it at Raker himself.

"I bet you don't understand it neither," Bait said defiantly.

"You might well win that one," Robotnik put in from the doorway. "And just why are you doing all this to your little brother, Raker, so soon after our little chat?"

Raker shrugged. "It's raining and I'm broke, so I decided not to go out."

The doctor hesitated. He had a nasty certainty that someone like Raker would be equally happy torturing Robotnik himself, and that made him very uneasy. With the exception of anyone who had dared defy him openly, Robotnik rarely indulged in torture, largely because he had more important things to do with his time.

Besides, he wasn't stupid; if he tortured everyone who insulted him, chances were good he'd be dead long before he was even a quarter of the way through. Robotnik wasn't exactly old, but he was no teenager either.

"Sonic's gonna come," Bait said thickly around a swollen jaw. "He's gonna come and when he does he's gonna...gonna..." He racked his muggy brains for inspiration and remembered something Knuckles had once said. "He's gonna kick your tail up so far you'll be usin' it to wipe your nose. An' there ain't nothin' you can do to stop him comin' neither!"

Raker lunged towards him but Robotnik caught hold of him and held him back.

"Stop him from coming?" Looking at Bait, he chuckled softly. "Oh, I'm counting on it."

Raker, who had whirled angrily at the touch of the doctor's hand, settled with a smirk. The two exchanged a knowing look as Bait hunched into a tighter ball, one certainty reverberating over and over again in his head.

He was going to die there. Slowly and horribly, if he knew anything about Raker. He was going to die.

And in trying to find him, Sonic was going to walk straight into his own death.

Okay, that's it for Chapter 9! Hope you liked it and if you read, please review!