Sonic raced towards Tails' Mystic Ruins base, following the screams.

"Amy!" he screamed back, bursting though the front door. He'd fallen asleep whilst on guard and now the robot had kidnapped Tails and Amy. It was like the Ark all over again…

Ssskrittt

Sonic launched himself forward, missing one pointed robotic foot by seconds. He growled in frustration then glanced into the room beside him. He gasped in horror.

"Tails!" he wailed. The kitsune was badly injured and scratched, lying unconscious imprisoned in the master emerald. The gem at full size rested in the cockpit of his battered Cyclone. Numbly, Sonic padded into the room, hardly believing what he saw. He placed a paw on the glowing green emerald.

"Aggh!" He drew back in pain and confusion. It had burned him. He paused, unsure what to do.

"Sonic!"

Amy's wail of fear and pain sent him charging back out of the room towards the Tornado garage. Except he couldn't get there fast enough. Suddenly the air seemed thick and foggy. He gasped and chocked his way forward. Voices from all sides chanted his name, mockingly echoing Amy's screams and smoke stung his eyes.

"Shut up!" he cried, staggering against a wall. "Stop it!"

Echoes surrounded him now, voices yelled: Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. Chocking back the smoke, he gazed up at the wall supporting him. Half way up; sharp claws had scratched and torn the plaster, forming a message, or a threat:

SEE YOU SOON

His eyes widened and he chocked, feeling the smoke burn his throat. The voices persisted, braying his name over and over, getting louder and louder. The echoes hurt his head, the smoke dazed him and the floor lurched violently, threatening to spill him over. He knelt down, tried to steady it with a paw, clutched the other to his throbbing head and screamed.

"Sonic!" a louder voice wailed. He felt paws grasping his arms and struggled-then stared around. He was still at the campsite, covered in ash. Tails and Amy released their grip.

"What!" he asked, confused.

"You were having a nightmare and you were sleepwalking!" Amy told him. "You nearly crawled into the campfire and it's still hot in the centre there! Are you okay?"

"Yeah…"Sonic murmured, staring at the crisp smouldering remains of the campfire. The flames had gone out some time ago, but the blackened wood in the middle was still glowing red at the base.

"We kept calling your name, but you wouldn't wake up and you kept yelling and struggling. Whatever happened in the dream?" Tails asked.

"The smoke was in my dream…"Sonic said hazily. "And these voices calling my name over and over."

Tails laughed. "That's what you get for scoffing too much junk food before bed!"

"Ha, ha." Sonic stated dryly. "You weren't there. You were in it, but you shoulda seen it. Sheesh." He shuddered.

"What you need is a good breakfast!" Amy declared, rummaging in Tails' sack of food. "D'you wanna talk about it?" she asked, fiddling with a small camping stove.

Sonic related the tale of his dream, while the delicious smells of Amy's cooking wafted around the campsite. Tails frowned and shook his head.

"It was just a dream, Sonic. You can't trap anyone inside a chaos emerald."

"Chaos was!" Sonic replied.

"That's different. Chaos was made of chaos energy, and water, I suppose. The emerald's solid, all the way through. How could I get inside?" he asked, grinning. His fluffy wagging tails betrayed his hidden laughter.

"We still have to get that emerald back!" Sonic stated, indignantly. He couldn't explain to them how real and how terrifying the dream had seemed. They didn't understand how it felt, failing to protect them, failing to save them. He frowned at the spitting fire.

"But we don't know where Rouge took it!" said Tails, sitting beside him. Sonic rummaged in his sleeping bag and drew out the crumpled map.

"She gave me this while you were sleeping last night. That's where the emerald is." he told Tails, showing it to him.

"It could be a trap," his friend replied, warily.

"Could be our best chance to get that emerald back," Sonic returned, accepting the bacon sandwich which Amy proffered. "Ten minutes? I'll be outtah there in three!"

"What'll we do about Eleanor?" Amy asked.

"We may be able to track her with a chaos emerald, if she isn't too far away. Perhaps I can build some kind of device to help," said Tails, already designing something in his head. "Sonic can use the green emerald if we have to fight her."

Amy sighed. "You guys'll send me home again, won't you?" Her pleading eyes focused on Sonic's. He chewed his breakfast thoughtfully, while Tails eagerly scribbled something on the ground using a sliver of blackened wood.

"I want to stay with you this time, Pleeeease!" Amy continued. She batted her eyelashes with her hands clasped in front her chest, attempting to look as cute as possible, but the object of her attention seemed lost in his own thoughts. She whimpered.

"Alright." Sonic said, finally.

"WHAT!"

"I said okay, you can stay. There's a dangerous robot on the loose, it could show up anywhere. You're best off sticking with us."

Amy squealed in delight, throwing her arms around him. "It'll be so much fun! I'll make breakfast for you everyday!" she shrilled. As she bantered on, Sonic wriggled free to tend to the campfire, wondering if he'd made the right choice...