It's not Chaos, Tikal said with certainty once Amy finished explaining to her and Knuckles what was going on in the surface world.

"I didn't think so," Amy said, glancing over to where Chaos was still playing with the Chao. "But could it be connected in some way?"

Tikal shook her head. This is not Chaos, or the Emeralds. She glanced at Whip and Pretzel. This is the doing of the Gaias.

"Gaias?" Whip looked up at Amy curiously. "Amy, what are—"

"Pretzel!" Amy interrupted, clearly trying not to sound panicked. "Why don't you take Whip and go explore the island? It's not often we get a chance to visit." She looked at Knuckles, a silent plea in her eyes. "Is that alright?"

Knuckles blinked. "Uh. Sure." He looked at the robot. "Go with them and make sure they stay out of trouble."

The robot set down its watering can and strode stiffly over to stand by Whip and Pretzel.

Whip blinked. "Wait, why do we have to leave?"

Amy turned her pleading gaze on Pretzel. Pretzel heaved a sigh but obediently grabbed Whip's arm and started tugging him up the path.

"While they have their boring grown-up conversation—" which I would really prefer to be a part of, she added mentally. "—we are going to explore this cool magic island. It'll be fun," she said, voice completely devoid of enthusiasm.

"Oh. Um. Cool?" Whip blinked at her.

Soon they were out of earshot of the other three (four? Somehow she doubted Chaos was going to be contributing to the conversation). Pretzel released Whip's arm and looked up at the robot. "So? What way should we go?"

The robot stared back blankly.

No help there. Pretzel looked at Whip. "Where do you want to go?"

"To the Chao garden," Whip said pointedly.

Pretzel sighed. "Besides the Chao garden."

Whip wrinkled his nose. Pretzel was just about to suggest looking for Big and Froggy when he finally came up with an idea. "How about we find that weird pulsing thing?"

"You mean the thing that's pushing us away? The thing that feels like death? That thing?" Pretzel asked incredulously. "You want to go to it?"

Whip nodded firmly, his expression determined. "I want to see what it is."

Pretzel gaped at him. "Weren't you the one terrified of Tikal?"

Whip lifted his nose, though there was a sheepish tilt to his ears. "I was not terrified. I was just… surprised."

Great. Her brother was going to get both of them killed just to prove something to… who? Himself?

Still, maybe he had a point. Pretzel didn't want to be anywhere near the pulsing death thing, but ignoring it would probably just lead to more bad things down the line. Might as well size up her enemy now, before it tried to end the world or whatever.

"Fine," Pretzel sighed. "Lead on."

Whip looked at her with round, pleading eyes. "Maybe you could go first?"

"Ugggh," Pretzel groaned dramatically, but she dutifully took the lead, following the cold pulsing. Whip stuck close to her tail, and the robot marched at the rear, like a prison guard taking them to their execution.

The pulsing got worse the further they went, which at least told Pretzel they were heading in the right direction. Soon it was bad enough to be dizzying, pounding on Pretzel's skull and blurring her vision. Whip tried to fly ahead to get a look and promptly fell out of the air. Pretzel grit her teeth. Nausea churned in her stomach, and each step took twice the effort it should have. If they kept walking forward like this, they'd end up useless heaps on the pavement. They needed a way to see the thing without actually getting close to it.

Pretzel changed course, leading Whip and the robot towards a nearby hill. Fortunately the island had a surplus of those, as well as paths that made them easier to scale. It was a relief to not be moving towards the pulsing thing anymore. The pain in her skull and the nausea in her gut eased as they climbed higher, though it didn't abate completely. Whatever the thing was, it must be on ground level. Or, well, island level. They reached the crest of the hill without either of their brains turning to mush; sure, Pretzel's bones felt like ice and her energy was being sapped by the moment, but at least it wasn't so bad she couldn't see straight. She scanned the area below, looking for the source. Aha!

"There," she said, pointing. "That has to be it."

A stepped stone shrine sat in the center of a circle of stone pillars. Green plants surrounded the center pagoda, and clear water poured around its base and then down into a stream that probably connected to the one in the Chao garden. But the thing of interest was in the center of the shrine. A giant green gem, in a similar cut as the Chaos Emeralds but far larger, sat passively in the center structure, pulsing with a deathly chill. Pretzel felt simultaneously drawn to and repulsed by it. Looking into it felt how she imagined looking into a black hole would; an unfeeling void, pulling in all life and light around it. Cold was how she'd described the feeling, but even that wasn't quite right, because cold would have been something. This thing, it felt like…

"Nothing," Pretzel murmured.

If anything mastered chaos, it would be complete emptiness.

"I don't want to be here anymore," Whip whispered.

Pretzel nodded, and together they made their way back down the hill, away from that horrible thing.

"What was that?" Whip asked once the wrong feeling had faded enough for them not to feel nauseous anymore.

"The Master Emerald," Pretzel said, glancing at the robot for confirmation. It nodded. "I think it nullifies the Chaos Emeralds. And, apparently, us."

Whip shuddered. "How does Knuckles stand it?"

"We probably just have a stronger connection to the Emeralds," Pretzel lied. It was the same lie they'd used to explain their powers. She just hoped Whip would never have the opportunity to be around the Emeralds, because if his experience was anything like hers it would blow the "connected" idea right out of the water. Emeralds and Gaias did not mix, not without an in-between.

Whip nodded and took off, flying down the path. He had a tendency to get restless when he was nervous. Though he also got restless when he was happy or sad or hungry or anything, really, so it wasn't much of an indicator. She just hoped he didn't—

"Pretzel!" His voice squeaked from down the path "Pretzel, you gotta see this!"

Pretzel sighed. Find trouble. At least he didn't sound frightened, so hopefully it wasn't something dangerous. But Whip often had different standards than her for what was and wasn't a threat, so it was hard to say.

The robot turned towards Whip's voice and rocketed off. Pretzel followed it down the path and then into a clearly well maintained tunnel in the side of the cliff. The glow of the robot's eyes intensified, illuminating the tunnel ahead. Pretzel didn't need the assistance, but she supposed that would be handy for people who couldn't see in the dark. Or people who didn't glow as bright as the sun like Whip did. He was farther down the tunnel, but between the echoes of his excited exclamations and the reflected glow off the walls, it wasn't hard to catch up.

Pretzel found him in a larger cave, gaping up at something on the walls. She walked over to join him. The object of his fascination was a mural, a mosaic of stones, ceramic, and pieces of glass, clearly old but kept surprisingly intact by the underground environment. It looked like it had been recently polished, too. The image depicted some sort of massive lizard thing that reminded Pretzel uncomfortably of the creature that had attacked Empire City, roaring as its waves toppled buildings. Whatever Tikal claimed, it seemed history had a way of repeating itself.

She glanced around, examining the rest of the cavern. More murals covered the walls, stretching down the tunnel and out of sight. Behind her, the robot had produced a rag from somewhere and was busying itself cleaning one of the many art pieces. She wondered if it was bored with her and Whip. Probably.

"This place is so cool!" Whip squealed, scampering deeper into the cavern. His voice echoed back to them as he vanished down a tunnel.

Pretzel sighed and followed. The robot tucked its rag away and marched after them, somehow managing to convey annoyance without actually changing any of its facial features. At least the cave was nice, Pretzel reflected. Colored crystals glittered amidst the vestiges of old civilizations, and more murals and paintings decorated the walls, detailing a history most had forgotten.

"What's that?" Whip asked, stopping short at one of the bigger murals and allowing Pretzel to finally catch up.

He reached up to touch the mural, and with record speed the robot sped over and slapped his hand down. It gave him a scolding finger wag before turning to clean one of the fixtures nearby. Whip stuck his tongue out at it before returning his attention to the mural. He'd mostly skimmed past the ones before; what about this one was holding his interest? Pretzel looked up and sucked in a sharp breath.

A massive, snake-like creature, dark as the night, reared in toothy, tentacled glory over a destroyed city. Across from it, a giant bird, brilliant as the sun, seemed to caw a challenge, its claws grasping a piece of an old temple. Even with the stylization, the likenesses were enough to make her wings raise. Around the edges of the mural, people—echidnas like Knuckles, and others besides—cowered in fear from both beings.

"What are they?" Whip asked.

"Gaias," Pretzel said crisply. She sat beside him, folding her wings back down. "That's Light Gaia—" she pointed to the bird. "—and that's…" she swallowed. The thing seemed to stare back at her with its myriad of eyes, daring her to deny it. "That's Dark Gaia."

Whip looked at her. "I keep hearing people talk about the… the… the um…"

"Gaia incident," Pretzel supplied.

Whip nodded. "That. What was it? What are Gaias?"

"I don't know about other Gaias, but I do know that they—" she nodded at the mural. "—were dangerous monsters. They were supposed to protect the world, but instead all they did was hurt each other and ordinary people."

"Why?" Whip asked, blinking up at her innocently.

"Dark Gaia wanted to plunge the world into eternal night," Pretzel said, pieces of her age-old memories slipping through her mind like ice water. "But Light Gaia wanted to make it day forever. So they fought."

"Day forever doesn't sound so bad," Whip said, frowning. It was just an innocent observation, any kid would say that, don't read into it, don't read into it—

"Light Gaia woke up a few months ago," Pretzel said, keeping her voice calm and level, her eyes on the mural. "It tried to make it day all the time. But when it did that, it made the world too hot. The weather was all wrong, and some people didn't have enough water, while others didn't have enough food. People couldn't sleep and nocturnal animals couldn't hunt because it was bright all the time. It was only a few days, but a lot of people got hurt." Not to mention the brainwashing and mob violence, but Whip didn't need to hear about that right now.

"Oh," Whip said. "That's bad, then." Unexpectedly he leaned against her. Pretzel jerked in surprise, then settled into the contact. He was upset. She'd allow it. He was warm, as always, warm and solid. It was grounding. "Both Gaias sound really mean. I'm glad they're gone."

"Yeah," Pretzel said, looking down at her claws. A heavy feeling sat in her chest that she couldn't explain. A more familiar feeling rose in her throat—bitterness, and shame. "Yeah. Me too."

"Let's look at something else," Whip said, shaking himself. He bounded down the tunnel, and Pretzel followed slowly.

While Whip ran ahead, Pretzel stopped, noticing something on the wall. She walked closer, narrowing her eyes at the image. Was that…?

"Pretzel?" Whip asked, running back to join her. "What is it?"

Pretzel flicked her tail at the mural in answer. It was in the same colorful, abstract style as the other murals, and in a way seemed to mirror the Gaia piece: two brilliant figures, facing each other down on opposite sides. On one side was a large, almost humanoid shape, though it only had a torso and arms, no legs. The face looked almost familiar, with its pointed nose and… mustache? Was that a mustache? One hand seemed to hold a brilliant green Emerald (Pretzel couldn't say if it was meant to be the Master Emerald or a Chaos Emerald). The humanoid figure's opponent was a blue, spiky figure, surrounded by a brilliant golden aura and laced with gold lines.

"Is that…?" Whip asked.

"Probably," Pretzel sighed. Of course Sonic would be the subject of an ancient prophecy.

"That's so cool!" Whip stood on tiptoes to get a closer look. He started to reach out to touch the image, but glanced over his shoulder to see the robot had swiveled around to glare at him. Sheepishly he dropped back down to the ground. "And the other one, that's the bad guy, right? Eggman?"

Pretzel nodded. Normally she tried not to encourage Whip's bad guy/good guy view of the world, but Eggman… yeah, Eggman was pretty solidly "bad guy".

"Sonic saved the world from Light Gaia, didn't he?"

"And a lot of other things." No rest for the good, apparently.

"Like a real life superhero," Whip breathed. "I want to be like that."

Pretzel blinked at him. He seriously wanted to be constantly risking life and limb to take down mad dictators and quasi-deities? Maybe it was easier to see the appeal when you hadn't already helped prevent the apocalypse. Once was enough for her, thank you very much.

"Maybe you can ask him for pointers," she suggested dryly.

Whip's wings drooped. "I don't think he likes me very much."

Pretzel paused, caught off guard. Whip wasn't exactly prone to self-doubt. Everyone liked Whip, and he knew it. Or… almost everyone liked Whip. Most people didn't know the truth and saw Whip simply as a cute if sometimes annoying kid, but for those who did know his true nature, they had to contend with the things he'd done as Light Gaia. Most people had the boon of not actually remembering what they'd done under Light Gaia's command, but for someone who did, who remembered what it was like to have his mind and body twisted, his very self used as a weapon against his friends, all by Light Gaia's hand… she couldn't blame Sonic for being standoffish.

He did a good job of covering it, or so she'd thought. He was always perfectly polite and friendly to Whip. But he always found an excuse to extract himself from Whip's presence after a few minutes, and he'd never used the mental bond he had with him the way he did with Pretzel. She'd thought Whip hadn't noticed Sonic's unease, but evidently he was more perceptive than she realized.

"I don't think he… dislikes you," Pretzel said slowly, awkwardly. "I'm sure he'll warm up to you eventually." She was not sure of that, actually, but it seemed like the comforting thing to say, and Sonic had proved irrationally, even recklessly forgiving in the past.

"You think so?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't."

Whip beamed at her, and Pretzel found herself smiling back. Turned out she could do something right after all.


They found Amy sitting in the Chao Garden, playing with some of the little creatures while she talked to Tikal. Big was fishing in the stream and Froggy was getting harassed by the Chao, who were quickly joined in their pursuit by Whip. Pretzel pointedly sat down next to Big, her back to Amy.

"Oh, there you two are!" Amy said brightly, completely unbothered by Pretzel's obvious cold shoulder. "You ready to go?"

"Did you find anything out?" Pretzel asked, reluctantly letting her desire for answers take precedence for the moment. She'd save her annoyance at getting sent away from the earlier conversation for later. Maybe she'd leave a frog in Amy's boot again.

"Not much," Amy sighed. "Knuckles is going to try and find answers here while we go investigate on the surface."

"Where is Knuckles?" Pretzel looked around, but there was no sign of the red echidna. She'd been hoping to ask him about the murals.

"He said the Master Emerald felt disturbed and went to go check on it."

Oh, that… That was probably Pretzel and Whip's fault. Served the Emerald right, really; it had certainly disturbed her enough.

"We should be going," Amy said, standing up and brushing off her hands. The Chao that had been in her lap whined unhappily. "Will the… uh, robot help us down again?" She glanced awkwardly over at the robot, which was innocently tending to the garden once more.

Tikal nodded. I'm sorry we don't have another means of transport for you. I know you have a history.

"I'll be fine," Amy said firmly.

Pretzel looked up at her. "History?"

This robot used to belong to Dr. Robotnik, Tikal explained.

"Metal Sonic kidnapped me when I was six. But he didn't hurt me, and Sonic rescued me pretty quickly. Honestly it was more embarrassing than anything," Amy added with an awkward laugh.

Pretzel glanced over at the robot. "He was created by Eggman?"

Amy nodded. "He was one of Eggman's most powerful fighters. He was made to destroy Sonic, but now…" she smiled at the robot as it knelt beside the flowers, touching them with a strange gentleness. "Now he can be what he wants to be."

Pretzel hummed, tail flicking thoughtfully. Must be nice, to have a switch that could flip you from "evil" to "good" so easily. She wondered what Sonic would have to say about his evil doppelgänger changing sides. Probably he'd be as happy about it as Amy was.

Sonic. Pretzel remembered the gaping absence in her mind, and her heart sank. Right.

"Amy," Pretzel said. Best to be blunt about this. "I can't sense Sonic anymore."

The smile dropped from Amy's face. "What do you mean? When did this happen?"

Pretzel's ears swiveled back. "When the monster was attacking. I felt him just… cut off."

Amy swallowed. "Cut off? What does that mean?"

"I don't know. I don't think he's dead—" Please don't let him be dead "—but the Gaia energy was torn out of him, somehow." Which then raised the question of where it had gone. That much energy didn't just disappear, yet she couldn't sense it at all. It was like getting a limb cut off.

Amy closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath. After a moment she opened them again, expression determined. "Okay. I'll try and message Tails, though knowing Eggman I don't think it'll get through. If something was really wrong, Tails would have found a way to let us know. Right now, these storm monsters are the bigger threat. So we'll… we'll focus on those."

Pretzel nodded.

Amy turned to Tikal. "Thank you for helping us with this. I'll ask Vanilla if Cream can come help with the Chao garden sometime, I'm sure she'd be thrilled!" She glanced over at Big. "Do you want to come with us, Big?"

You are welcome to stay if you want, Tikal added.

"I'll stay here," Big agreed, patting one of the Chao currently cuddled against his side. They seemed to gravitate towards him, probably because they had good taste. Also Chaos had rescued Froggy from his pursuer and was currently holding him in the stream, much to the frustration of the Chao and relief of the frog, so they were short a playmate.

Amy gave Big a hug, which he gently returned. "See you later, then. Stay safe, all of you."

The same to you, Tikal said, smiling warmly.

Chaos burbled from the stream and gently deposited Froggy on top of Big's head, safely out of reach of the disappointed Chao. Then, unexpectedly, Chaos reached out and patted Pretzel's head, gurgling something to her that was deep and profound and completely incomprehensible. They disappeared back into the stream, leaving Pretzel soaked and blinking in bewilderment.

Chaos likes you. Tikal sounded suspiciously close to laughing.

Amy also looked like she was trying to hide a laugh, but at Pretzel's glare she schooled her expression into something more dignified. "I'm glad you're making friends, Pretzel."

Pretzel sighed. "I guess I could do worse than a water… monster… thing."

"Their proper title is actually 'god of destruction'."

Pretzel stared at Amy incredulously, then at the stream, then at Amy again. "'God of destruction'? That guy? Really?"

They were very destructive, as Perfect Chaos.

"And that's enough to get called the 'god of destruction'?" Pretzel demanded, incensed. "Chaos destroys one civilization—a civilization that antagonized them and attacked their family—and they get to be called the god of destruction!?"

"They destroyed Station Square, too," Amy reminded her.

"And one city! One!" Pretzel lashed her tail indignantly. "What about all the civilizations I destroyed, huh? When do I get to be called a god of destruction?" If she was going to be the incarnation of darkness or whatever, she should at least get a cool title to match.

Amy gave Pretzel a placating pat. "I'm sure you'll be properly feared someday."

Pretzel pouted.

"Are we going now?" Whip asked, coming over to join them. The Chao he'd been playing with had gotten tired and, like their brethren, gravitated to Big.

Amy nodded, smiling. "Yup! We've got to save the world, remember?"

This time she seemed more prepared for the robot picking her up. Pretzel jumped onto the robot's shoulders, twining herself around its neck. Amy looked up at her questioningly, and she shrugged. "My wings are tired."

The robot's descent was more gradual than its ascent had been, much to Pretzel's relief. It deposited them safely on the ground and blasted back up to the island with record speed.

"Wow, it's fast," Whip observed as they watched the robot fly off. "Can I be that fast?"

"Maybe," Pretzel said, shrugging.

"If you eat your vegetables," Amy said. A noble attempt. She'd been trying to improve Whip's diet since they moved in, and had so far been thoroughly losing the battle. Judging by the face Whip made, this latest attempt wouldn't be any more successful.

The jungle seemed different. The sun had lowered in the sky, the horizon turning red. The paths between the trees were cast in deep shadow, and the bird chatter was gone, its space filled by a chorus of insects. It was cooler, too, much to Pretzel's relief.

"We should head back to that town before it gets dark," Amy said.

"When are we having dinner?" Whip asked as they started walking.

"Soon, hopefully." Amy glanced around at the jungle. She seemed uneasy in the evening gloom.

Pretzel was about to point out that she could see in the dark and so they had nothing to worry about when she heard… something. A crack? She whipped around, scanning the jungle. Nothing. That watched feeling was back with a vengeance, and now Pretzel was sure she wasn't imagining it.

"Amy—" she started to say, turning back to her companions, but she was too late.

A cloaked figure lunged at Amy, pinning her to the ground before she could summon her hammer. Amy writhed, but a cloth was pressed to her muzzle and she suddenly went limp. Whip squeaked in outrage and rushed at the cloaked figure, but a second attacker threw a weighted net over him, and while Whip was thrashing with uncoordinated rage, a third clamped something around his neck, and he collapsed in a heap. It was over before Pretzel could think to react.

Something moved behind her, and Pretzel whipped around to see two more figures trying the same weighted net trick on her. The moment the net landed she moved on instinct, slipping through one of the holes with that unnatural fluidity Amy always found so disturbing. She shot up the nearest tree, pulling the shadows around her as she moved, and dropped flat on the branch, pulling a blanket of darkness around her. Then she waited.

The cloaked figures—she counted seven in total—milled about, searching for her. Finally they gave up and picked up the unconscious Amy and Whip, binding their limbs and gagging their mouths before dragging them off into the jungle.

Pretzel stayed crouched on the branch. A voice like Whip's insisted she jump down and fight the figures off, rescue her friends like Whip or Amy or Sonic would, but the rest of her knew that would never work. For all her powers, she wasn't skilled in combat, and one against seven? She wouldn't stand a chance.

But she couldn't just let them take Amy and Whip either.

Carefully Pretzel moved from her hiding spot and started hopping from tree to tree, following the figures on the ground below. She wasn't Sonic or Amy or even Whip. She wasn't a hero. But she was selfish and spiteful and mean. And she wasn't letting these strangers have what was hers.