"I've got it!"

Amy lifted one gloved finger in the air as if to say, 'Eureka!' As it turned out, there WAS an obvious answer. It took her a minute to rack her little grey cells together, but she found it. Not that she was the only one. For right as she made her proclamation, Tekno and Johnny did the exact same thing. And as they stared at one another, they began to wonder if perhaps there should have been a limit on brainpower.

"Oh," she said. "Uh, I guess we're all thinking the same thing, huh?"

Sticks decided to chime in, peppy as ever. "You mean we're all thinking about how we could sell all those Grounder bits for scrap on the black market and use whatever's left over as back scratchers? Great minds think alike!"

"One more peep out of you and gets it!" Shortfuse aimed his wrist blaster at Stick's boomerang as though he were about to shoot its' non-existent brains out.

"You and what army?!"

Johnny was close to having as much as he could take. "Can it, people! We've got a job to do and maybe not much time to do it. Anyway, I'm guessing bout half of us figured out how to get over there. The obvious part is having Shortfuse fly over and bust the door open. Problem is, we don't know what's lyin' behind it. Might be nothin', might be somethin'. And I've got a hunch its somethin'."

"Same," said Amy. "So, assuming we're all thinking the same thing, we're going to want to be ready for whatever's behind there. Which is kind of a problem when there isn't any real way to walk across."

"And assuming we are all still thinking the same thing," said Tekno, "this is where I come in."

"Exactly," said Johnny. "Assuming you've got enough of a handle on that thing, you should be able to give us all an updraft so we can all float across like dandelion seeds. Then, when Shortfuse opens the door, you can blast us in there before they know what hit 'em."

"Exactly what I was thinking," said Amy.

"Sounds good to me," said Tekno. "Did you hear all of that, Shortfuse?"

"Yeah, yeah. Wait for you to get everyone else over there, then blast it six ways to Sunday. Least it'll give me a chance to pound the living daylights out of something."

"Then I guess that settles it," said Johnny. "Everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Even Sticks, despite making a brief objection as to how the wind Gods would not be pleased someone was making a mockery of them. By this point, they all just took it as a yes.

"Right then," he said. "Let's get to it." Johnny was confident that at last, they were finally on the right track. As far as he was concerned, they now had the upper hand. What he didn't know was that there was a tiny camera sticking right out of the nearby corner. It was big enough to see what was right in front of it but small enough to remain out of sight unless one squinted. And what it was wasn't exactly encouraging.


"Those little punks!"

Axel was sitting in the back of a small, dingy little room like a hungry man eager for the feast as he watched the same small monitor as everyone else. He was more or less the same as ever; still tall, still as strong and broad as a Buick, and still as much of a brute. The only difference was that he had a new set of cybernetic peepers. They were a lot like Eggman's set; pitch black with sharp, bright red iris' straight in the middle. "Can't believe this! They did it again! Pulled somethin' right out of their ass!"

"Least they haven't got your eyes yet, huh? Again" A second figure was sitting right next to Axel laid back in a recliner and was in fact a machine rather than a Mobian, but like certain others of his ilk, he seemed to have an actual personality. He was a hulking, robotic, bipedal monstrosity, with a horn at the top of his head and a robotic dragon's muzzle for a snout. His large wings towered over all with the only thing coming close being the rest of his person, and he looked down upon anyone he went up against with a sense of superiority matched by none other himself. "Oh, this is gonna be good."

"I do not see how." Standing far away from the others against the back wall was a much more enigmatic sort. She wore a pure white cloak laced with silver, and it was paired with a matching suit and mask of white spandex that covered her entire body. The mask itself was something of a mystery. It was almost impenetrable. It didn't seem to portray any expressions whatsoever, which made sense seeing how it didn't have a proper face beyond the essentials. The only trace of her identity was a snippet of blonde hair, which still didn't tell much. "After all, they seem to be far more powerful than we reckoned with. If you wish, I could probably conceal our positions while we engineered a hasty retreat. It would be better than engaging in such pointless bloodshed."

"Who say's it's pointless?" The robot sat up in the recliner and leaned forward slightly like his namesake, as though he was eager to rip somebody a new one. "I'm itchin' for someone to kill! Or barring that, someone I can just have a good fight with. It's gonna be too much fun! And sometimes, fun's the only 'point' ya need."

"I beg to differ! You keep saying 'or' or 'this' or 'them' without any difference between the two! Life is sacred. You cannot dismiss it with the same sort of irrelevance as knocking over an ant hole."

"Oh, but I think you can, actually." Walking through a small, barely visible door at the front of the room was a short, slightly mousy Mobian wearing an orange jumpsuit. His somewhat long, black hair was slicked back, and he briefly paused to push back his glasses before resuming his little speal. He spoke in a slightly nasally voice; half almost resembling something grand and majestic and the other being closer to a whiny school nerd from fourth grade. Just which one he was — or perhaps he was both — was best left to discretion.

"Sir Alcubus—"

"That's Sir AHEM Alcubus to you!" he snapped.

"Sir Ahem Alcubus." She said his full name, though she did so without the least bit of reverence. "Are you sure this is such a good idea? In fact, it's practically as if you've let them through the front door as is."

"I know," he said. "Brilliant, is it not? First, we lull them into a false sense of security before literally pulling the rug out from under them when they least expect it! And then we drop them onto a bed of moving spikes! Mind you, the last time I attempted something of this sort, it didn't work so well. I still have that scar underneath my undies. But my next plan will succeed with flying colours, I'm sure of it!"

"And what plan will that entail, Sir Ahem Acubus? Performing a standup routine and hoping they laugh themselves to death?"

"Hey, Lightmare's got a point!" said Dragonbreath. "You ask me, we should've just torn into them from Day 1. Really put the fear of Gaea into them!"

"Quiet, you!" said Ahem. "And that goes for you too, Lightmare. You might not be one of Robotnik's creations, but you're still on loan from Draco. As long as you are, you will do exactly what I say. Understood?"

For a while, Lightmare didn't say a word. As if she nearly couldn't. As though very present and very harsh realities were crushing down on her, so much so that she could barely breathe until she finally found just enough wiggle room to whisper a very weak, "Yes."

"Very good. So there had better not be any more objections. I know you've already had enough to say about the broader plan here, so you had better keep any more such thoughts to yourself. Especially when you aren't even going to do anything about them. Now, are there any more dissenters? How about you, Axel?"

Axel let out a hot snort of air from his nostrils as if saying all he really wanted to without actually saying it."Not my place. Group's gotta have faith in one another. Faith that everyone's working in everyone else's best interests and that they're pulling each other through. Mind, this is a lost cause half the time, but it's something I'll stick to as long as I can. So you'd better give me a reason to stick to it." He then gave Ahem a death glare, his red and black cybernetics practically spelling murder itself.

Ahem gulped like a ninny. "Ah, ahem, quite. In any case, I'd best address the natives. Lightmare, you and the rest of the peanut gallery know what to do. And no objections."

And as Ahem walked towards the door leading to the central room of Gimmick Mountain, she had to wonder if she had indeed been doing the right thing. And then she had to wonder if that even mattered.


Tekno lightly lifted up both hands as if to call a gentle breeze. A strong current of wind formed underneath everyone except her and Shortfuse, lifting them up into the air like they were being buoyed. Johnny didn't seem to care either way while Amy was doing her best to keep her skirt over her undies. "REALLY outta change my wardrobe! Maybe a pink minidress? Or a plaid sweater 'round the waist? Though I guess either one wouldn't really help!"

Sticks meanwhile was having a ball. For one thing, she didn't seem to care if anyone saw her undies. Or the rest of her. 'Modesty' was an unknown word in her dictionary. Instead, she was twirling about in the air like a top, swirling around with wild abandon and squeeing like a schoolgirl. "WHEE!"

"Someone's havin' fun," said Johnny.

"Course I am!" said Sticks. "The wind Gods can go screw themselves, this is a blast!"

Meanwhile, Shortfuse was busy cradling an oncoming headache. The cause of said headache being a giggling badger who didn't know when to shut up. "Let's just get this over with. The sooner we're done, the sooner I don't have to keep myself from turning someone into paste!" He flew over to the door and manoeuvred himself into position before readying his blaster. "Ready, Tek'?"

"As I will ever be." She then spread out her wings and flew over to the end of the corridor, making sure to keep Johnny and the others straight behind. "I believe we have made it."

"Okey-dokey. Let's kick some ass!" Shortfuse then rammed his fingers into the edges of the door and ripped it out of its frame. However, rather than hurling it into the depths below, he had a different idea. He rammed straight ahead, and he didn't have to see the Swatbots to hear two of them suddenly firing on him with wild abandon.

"Now this is my idea of fun!" He held up the door like a shield just until the end of the current round of fire. With only the briefest of windows, he hurled it straight into one bot and fired his laser blaster at the other one's helmet. Now with the door out of the way, he could finally see what was going on in front of him. And the first thing he saw was two SWATbots down for the count.

Just then, Tekno and the others came sweeping in right behind him. She made sure to land them just far enough apart so that they weren't all one big target, but close enough that they could act as one. And now in the room herself, what Tekno saw astonished her. As much as it did everyone else.

In the centre of this rather large and spacious room was a giant, hollow, transparent cylinder surrounding a thinner, more visibly solid one right within its' centre. It was pumping up and down, up and down, straight into the earth, and only those who had half a brain would assume it didn't have anything to do with the vibrations.

But that would have to wait. All of a sudden, Sticks suddenly became alert, as though she had been on an epic binge and was finally getting herself sober. She stared wide-eyed all around her as if she could see something only she could see. But that would have to wait. For she suddenly heard something everyone could hear. Though it was what she was hearing that caught her off guard. Was that... clapping?

She and the others looked up at the ceiling to see Ahem. He was standing upon an elevated platform in the back of the room, waiting for them as if he had been doing it all his life.

"Brilliant! Brilliant!" He clapped his hands like he was at a golf tournament. "You've certainly surpassed my expectations. Honestly, I wasn't sure if you could make it this far. I would've thought those traps would've done you in for sure. Or at the very least make it impossible to progress."

"You do realize that would've made it a heck of a lot harder for the both of you to get out of here too, right?" said Amy.

"Oh, come now! Let us not bother with such minor details!" He started to walk over to a set of stairs, slowing making his way to a control panel right next to the cylinder. Not that this didn't stop him from monologuing all the while. "You are here, I am here, we're all here! And seeing as we are all here, it wouldn't be proper to do anything but properly introduce ourselves. I am Ahem Acubus, scientist extraordinaire! And you would be…"

"None of your damned business!" said Shortfuse.

"What he means to say is," said Johnny, "that he's wondering why you're bein' so chatty after trying to kill us. And for all we know, that's not the worst you've done."

"Oh, it isn't." Ahem pointed to the cylinder in the centre of the room. "I'm sure you've figured out what this is for?"

"Allow me to guess," said Tekno. "This is creating the vibrations that have been running amok throughout the island, aren't they?"

"Precisely! This device connects this entire facility to the Earth, giving us power and allowing us to create those deafening vibrations. This base has enough shielding to resist them, but the rest of the island isn't so lucky."

"And when the vibrations reach their peak, waves of lava will arise from the pits and smother the entire village and everything around it. Correct?"

"Correct! Of course, this is just a test model. Further instalments should prove capable of extending the lava's reach throughout all of the Acorn Kingdom. Once we've made this clear, you'll have no choice but to bow down to us like the superior beings that we are!"

"And by 'we', you mean 'Doctor Eggman, I take it?"

Ahem Alcubus flinched as though someone had stomped on his good toe. Not that it lasted long. "If you must know, yes. He was the only one who saw my genius for it was, rather than something to be mocked and riddled. He understands completely. So he gave me a job and set me up with this place while I assisted him by putting my plans into action!"

"Does that include melting down my home?" said Johnny. Johnny was at the ready, waiting for the right time to move in and shut the place down. But something told him for now that it would be best to wait. Like waiting for the world to end.

"Yes, unfortunately." Ahem lowered his head and looked wistfully upwards, as if trying to see through the stars themselves. "You see, this is just Step 1. This merely a trial phrase. By overflowing part of the island with lava, we'll show the Federation just how much we mean business. Then, we'll do the same thing with a volcano on a small island. Show we're truly playing hardball. And then, when they finally turn our generous offer down in a misguided attempt at nobility and altruism, we'll be able to drown the entire world in righteous fury and take ourselves out in a tremendous blaze of glory! What do you think of that?!"

Nearly everyone in the room was either stupefied, stunned, speechless, or all three. But alone among all others, Sticks was the only one having a laughing fit. It started low. Just a snicker. But a snicker turned into a chortle. A chortle into a guffaw. A guffaw into a laugh. And a laugh into a head over heels righteous uproar.

Even Johnny wasn't sure what to make of it. "Sticks? You okay?"

"Am I okay?" Sticks brought a finger to her eye, wiping an oh so precious tear away. "I'm better than okay! I'm hysterical! Ahem, let me tell ya, I gotta thank ya, cause I haven't heard anything else that's such a mix of a genius and lunacy! Stupid lunacy that is."

Ahem wasn't liking where this was going, as evidenced by the hard clutching of his small cane. "Are you saying that my plan isn't going to work?"

While Ahem was beginning to have a conniption, Amy finally understood. The brains had started whirring in her metaphorical processor, and her mouth grew into a small grin that perfectly captured both the insanity and lunacy of the situation.

"I think so. Sticks had the right idea. For one thing, even assuming you could do it, destroying part of the island isn't going to do you any favours. You don't get anything out of it in the long run. In fact, you'd lose. You think things are bad now with us gunning for you? Well, you even try this, and the entire world will want your head on a platter. Any and all secrecy will be out the window."

"Same here," said Sticks. "And besides, what are you gonna do if you actually blow the whole thing up? This being Egg Manchu or whatever, he wants to conquer the Earth because he can, I guess, not destroy it! Which really just makes me wonder something that really gets to me."

"Allow me, Sticks. Alcubus. Eggman doesn't know what you're REALLY doing here, does he?"

He'd been caught in the act. Ahem stepped back and began to stutter as though he was just learning the English language, though it didn't last long. "Uh, ahem, that is to say, he doesn't know because I haven't told him! And for good reason."

"And what reason could that be?" said Tekno. "That he would slaughter you if he learned the truth?"

"No, he wouldn't! He just, he doesn't understand. Not yet. The world is cruel, the world is corrupt! It treats scientists like us, people like me like dirt! There's no point in taking over a world not worth saving! If he could only understand that…"

"I think he's losing it," said Shortfuse.

And indeed, he was. His hair was starting to become dishevelled, his voice was becoming ever more frantic, and it was clear he had something else up his sleeve. "Am not! Just a bit, uh, tired, that's all! That's right! Because you never know when one of my great inventions will finally get the upper hand and take you down in an instant!

"Look, punk," said Shortfuse. "Normally I'd just end you right now, but my bosses don't want anything to do with that. I think. Do we or don't we?"

"Not unless it's necessary," said Johnny. "And I'm pretty sure it isn't. Is it?"

"I don't believe so," said Tekno.

"That settles it. Now, , I think you've made it pretty clear that the only option here is to shut this place down. Not that you've really made it all that difficult for us. If you had a swarm of bots waiting for us, you might've been able to stop us long enough for your plan to go off without a hitch. But you couldn't even get that right. So are you gonna back off? Or are you gonna try again? Which would be the definition of insanity by the way. What's it gonna be?"

"NO!"

Just then, as if by some divine act from on high, things picked up a notch. Ahem clicked his fingers as if sending out a command, and in an instant, three mysterious figgers in cloaked white hoods came to be as if popping out of the ether.

Before anyone else could respond, they were on the heroes as though they were ravenous. "TEK!" shouted Johnny. Her eyes wide, Tekno unleashed a wide blast of wind, knocking Ahem and all the masked fingers straight to the edge of the walls while blowing away most of their cloaks in the process. They all slowly got off the ground, rubbing their eyes and creaking their necks. As they did so, Johnny and the others were able to get a real good look at them. Strangly enough, the cloaks seemed to slowly vanish, as if they had never been there in the first place.

The first near the door was a familiar face: Axel. "Guess the secret's out. Suites me fine."

"Just great," said Johnny. Just then, he heard something rather LOUD straight from behind: A tremendous, hulking blast of fire. He pressed a button on his weapon and let out his own, or at least an energy blast that looked like one. The two blasts collided in mid-air like two small meteors smashing each other to bits and dissipated just as quickly.

"Well, ain't that something?" Dragonbreath wiped off his mouth even though there was nothing to wipe off. Almost as if he were simply trying to appear tough for toughness' sake. "I'll give you good reaction times if nothing else. Though that's not gonna stop me from tearing into the lot of you like a dead carcass!"

"Hold!" Lightmare was the last to speak, having at least gotten her bearings. She stood tall and radiant as though a beacon of light itself, even though her current allegiance suggested anything but. "Alcubus has not given the order to strike! Though even with that being the case, attempting to burn your foes to a crisp should only be a last resort."

"That so? So you're saying I should let myself be blasted to bits? Cause that's what's gonna happen if I go easy."

"Do as she says, Dragonbreath," said Ahem. He pressed a button on his belt. Suddenly a flat forcefield arose on the ground beneath him, carrying him up into the air like a flying discus. "Now, I trust that I've made my point clear. I do not intend to come quietly, which is something you should've expected. The world has mocked me, mocked us, for too long. Eggman wishes to create his scientist's paradise, but I will make sure no-one gets to mock us again!"

"How the hell is that gonna matter when you're dead?!" said Shortfuse. "Not that I'm complaining."

"I don't care! If I survive, I survive! If I don't, I don't! It doesn't matter to me anymore. All I want is validation! Validation that I am worth something! That I can accomplish something! That all of that misery and pain I've endured is worth something! Even if it's not something good, it is SOMETHING! And destroying the planet is proof of that!"

"Whoa, time out!" Axel was starting to wonder if there was a nutter in the house. "You didn't say anything about destroying the planet! I mean, you did, but I thought that was just part of some Madman Strategy! I didn't think you were serious!"

"Hey, I wouldn't really mind myself," said Dragonbreath, "but I don't want to get melted to scraps! I'm not even sure if I've got a soul, ya know?"

"All thinking beings have a soul, Dragonbreath," said Lightmare. "But that is beside the point. And the point is that you, Ahem, have gone too far! My father suspected that something like this could have occurred, and as such gave me the privilege to revoke my allegiance if necessary. My agreement with you is null and void!"

"So, are we, like, working together now?" said Amy.

"Not so fast," said Axel. Axel picked up a scrap from one of the two SWATbots and lobbed it at Ahem's head. He tried to dodge it like a truck trying to dodge a bullet, but it wasn't to be. Within seconds, he was lying on the floor unconscious; still breathing, but only just.

"What was that for?!" said Johnny.

"Hey, just because I say the group's gotta stick together doesn't mean the leader has to stick. Once that punk comes to, we can still use him to threaten part of the island with several tons of molten lava. Not sure if we'll ever use it, but it's the thought that counts."

"Hey, I'm easy," said Dragonbreath. "Long as I get to bust some heads!"

"How bout you, Lightmare?"

"My current contract was with whoever is leading this expedition," said Lightmare. "Seeing as you were technically second in command, that appears to be you. That said, I have already revoked my current contract with Ahem But I suppose someone must make sure this does not go out of hand."

Amy took a step forward, trying her best to steer this conversation away from where she thought it was going. "Hey, aren't you being a bit premature? I mean, Ahem just said this device could potentially cover the whole planet in lava if used in the right way. Wouldn't it be better if you, you know, didn't use it all?"

"Sorry, hon," said Axe. "Orders are orders. Ahem was sick in the head, but just threatening part of the island were Eggman's original orders. And I intend on following them out." With that said, Axel slowly began walking backwards in the direction of the control console near the cylinder. He did this slowly and carefully, doing his best not to let everyone else onto what he was up. Not that it would help any. Tekno already had an eye on him, as though she already had an inkling of his true intentions. She would just have to hope it was only an inkling.

"Oh yeah?" said Sticks. "You and what army?!"

"Hey, don't jinx it, you little imp!" said Shortfuse.

"I'll jinx anything I want!" said Sticks. "Besides, jinxes are good for the soul."

Shortfuse held his hand to his head as though he nearly had an aneurysm. "Fine! Jinx it! Whatever! Just! Shut! UP!"

"Oh, I'll shut you up, alright!" said Dragonbreath, though as he launched his head back like his namesake, Axel held up one deft hand as if to tell him to hold off for just a moment longer. "Hold it," he said. "There's three of us and five of them. Maybe more on the way. So I think maybe we ought to even the odds a little." By this point, he was standing right next to the console. And it was then that it hit Tekno like a sack of bricks.

Tekno sent out a mighty gust of wind like a gale at Axel, but it wasn't enough. In a split second, he slammed one large thumb down upon it before he was knocked to the wall like a sack of bricks. Not that it stopped him from picking himself back up. "Too late. Sucks to be you."

"Tek," said Johnny, "what the hell's goin' on?"

"I do not know exactly what he is doing," she said, "but I do know that whatever that button was for must not have been anything good."

Just then, the lights began to flicker on and off, as though they were in a horror movie. A ripple of static and a low rumbling moved throughout the air, filling everything and everyone with just the slightest sense of dread. Sticks was a different story. "Huh. Gaea must be playing bowling. I WANNA PLAY!"

For her part, Lightmare was not amused. "AXEL, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

"Evening the odds," he said. "Ahem calls this thing Plasmus. Sealed it away for a special occasion. And I'm calling this a special occasion." The lights dimmed as though a looming shadow was enveloping them all before being wiped away by a blinding flash of lightning.

"EVERYONE, SHUT YOUR EYES!" said Johnny. They did so. But as they slowly opened them, they started to wonder if perhaps they should have kept them shut.

Standing in the middle of the room was a large, hulking mass of electricity and energy. It was vaguely humanoid in that it possessed basic human anatomy, but beyond that, it was more of a wild lumbering beast than anything. It was hunched over and breathing heavily like some sort of monster, and there didn't seem to be a single speck of real intelligence in what passed for its' eyes.

"Everyone," he said, "stay back! We've got no clue what we're up against!"

"Looks like a hulking mass of electricity to me," said Amy.

"Gee, thanks for the observation," said Shortfuse. "When we need somethin' from the peanut gallery, we'll let ya know."

"Whoa mamma!" said Dragonbreath. "This is gettin' fun!"

"Axel!" said Lightmare. "Are you insane?! This creature could turn upon us at any moment just as easily as it could destroy these poor souls! Please tell me there's a method to this madness!"

"Simple," he said. "When we're done dealing with these pests, we press the other button and seal this abomination back in the pits of computer hell."

"THAT IS NOT A METHOD!"

Just then, the beast roared again, this time standing up straight as it could with its' full towering height. And when it did, it looked Johnny and the others straight in the eye.

"Johnny?" said Amy.

"Yeah, Amy?" he said.

"You'd better have a method."