"Easy does it."

An old blue hedgehog with a thick, white mustache was coming into a dock on Emerald Coast. He was driving a spiffy blue and yellow motorboat, and he managed to dock it without so much as a landing a scratch. He hopped onto the docks before tying up his baby and took a moment to scan the horizon. The wet sands and green and brown rocks were hard to make out just before the dawn, but he managed to puzzle it out all the same.

He began to march onto the beach like a hedgehog on a mission, though he couldn't help but momentarily marvel at the wonders before him. "Never quite saw a beach like this. Gonna have to make a note about it later." He continued to walk up the beach, his goal being the tall checkered cliffside that lay ahead. However, much to his surprise, he noticed something most peculiar.

A strange woman was standing next to a fire a ways down the beach. From what he could tell, he wasn't quite like any woman he had seen before. None living anyway. She had orange fur and dreadlocks and was dressed in ancient tribal garb that he had only seen in ancient textbooks written centuries ago. She also seemed to be looking directly at him. Even though they were so far apart, she was still gazing straight towards him, almost as if staring deep into his soul. And it just made him all the more interested in her.

He carefully walked towards her, only stopping when they were just feet apart. "Well, fancy meeting you here! And here I thought no-one lived on this here part of the island."

"And they don't, she said. "I am no exception." She was smiling as though she hadn't a care in the world, even though something about her made her seem as though she had every care to give.

"Well, normally I'd be grilling you for answers from here till doomsday, but I'm not here on a house call. Tell me, have you heard 'bout Sonic the Hedgehog? Looks like me, only with less of a stache and a lot younger. Know him?"

"Quite a bit. We haven't actually interacted all that often, but we've seen enough of one another to at least say we have something of an acquaintanceship."

"You don't say? Well, the reason I'm here is a bit more simple." He pulled a photograph of Sonic from a satchel strapped around his shoulder. "This is Sonic when he was little. Cute little bugger, isn't he? Always loved that kid like he was my own. Especially since I never had my own. Or I may as well not have. In any case, I'd do anything for my nephew. So of course, the second I heard he might be in trouble, I came looking for him. To be fair, he tends to start more trouble than not, but he's still my nephew. So I'm here to help him any way I can. That and let his parents know he's alright. They're worried sick. And I can't blame 'em. Poor Jules."

The strange woman's' eyes suddenly began to lower, her gaze almost piercing into the hedgehog as though a blade was being pressed against his neck. "Is that the only reason you're here?"

The hedgehog wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but he did know one thing. The only other thing than Sonic that mattered at this point. "Cut me to the quick. Truth be told, Sonic isn't the only reason I'm here. Granted, if he weren't, then I wouldn't be here anyway. But now that I am let's just say there's some unfinished business I want to attend to."

"Unfinished business, you say?"

"I suppose so. I never had all that many friends back in College. Makes sense when you're a Mobian stuck in a school full of humans over in the Federation. But I did have one. And now he's gone and made a mess of things. And I think it's partly my fault."

"Your fault?"

"Long story. Anyway, as long as I'm here, I plan on settling it. After I find Sonic. You sure you wouldn't happen to know where he is?"

"I do, in fact. But I am not sure that will matter much." The girl suddenly started to sulk, as though that warm glow that had made her seem all the lighter had slipped away. And the fire began to do the same. "For what it is worth, I am sorry."

"Sorry? What for?"

"For what happens next."

Suddenly, a low thumping could be heard in the distance. Almost like a stampede. "What was that?!"Chuck turned back toward the woman, but she was gone. If she had ever been there to begin with. "Okay, that takes the cake." Regardless, Chuck sidled the cliffside as a precaution. He didn't know whether they were friend or foe, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

In any event, they were here. He heard two voices speaking to one another up top. One was loose and relaxed. Almost apathetic. As though he couldn't care less. The other was more electric. High-strung, volatile. Obsessed. Or at least she used to be. And just a tad morose."

"So, whatcha' think?" said the first voice. "Helluva view. I always come out whenever I wanna clear my head. Does me wonders."

"Yeah, well, whatever!" said the second. "I mean, oh, I don't know what I mean! It's fine, I guess. And I suppose it's sort of relaxing. And soothing. It's actually kind of pretty…"

"See? What'd I tell ya, Thundie? All you needed was some fresh air. Get yourself out a bit."

Chuck wasn't sure exactly what was going on. The most he could figure out was someone was having issues and their friend or associate was trying to help them sort things out. Other than that, he didn't have enough intel to be sure enough of anything else.

"Maybe. Still though. Swifty, did you ever wonder if maybe you were backing the wrong horse?"

"Whacha' mean?"

"Well, uh, it's kinda personal. And kinda 'bout Eggypoo. Promise you won't tell?"

'Eggypoo'? Wait a minute. She couldn't mean…

"Cross my heart. I might be a pro, but when it comes to personal stuff, I always keep my mouth shut. Just because you're working for a genocidal nutjob doesn't mean you can't be a good friend."

'Genocidal nutjob'? If they were talking about who Chuck thought they were…

"Yeah, well, that's the thing. Just about a week or two ago, I would have eviscerated you on the spot for even saying such a thing! I couldn't possibly have believed it! But now.."

"But now you're havin' second thoughts. Hey, not a problem. First part of being a pro is knowin' who you're workin' for. And if you can live with yourself afterward. Me, I can live with a lot of things. But if you can't, you can't. No harm done."

"Yeah. It's just, I used to believe Eggypoo was at the center of the universe. He was a genius! He cared for me when no-one else would! He had a vision that would bring a new dawn to Mobius! Fighting for him was fighting for someone, no, some THING worth living for!"

"And now you're starting to get wise?"

"Shut up! Aw geez, no, I'm sorry. You're right. But yeah, maybe that's it. I thought as long as Eggman was amazing, as long as he cared about me, he could do no wrong!"

'Eggman'. She said it. There were no doubts about it. This was him. Old Eggface.

"But now? Now, I don't know."

"Well, I won't stop 'ya. You wanna leave, that's your business."

"I don't know what I'm gonna do. Guess that'll be something I'll have to think about."

"Well, you'll wanna think about it soon. You know we're finally doing it, right?"

'Doing it'? Either that was an innuendo, (which Chuck personally doubted,) or Eggman's operations were starting to ramp up.

"Yeah. The big offensive. Finally gonna put those Freedom Fighters in their place! And if we were doing this a month ago, I would have been a lot more enthusiastic."

"Hey, like I said, you wanna quit, I ain't gonna stop ya. Just don't get in my way."

This didn't sound good. He had just wanted to see if Sonic was alright, maybe help him out if necessary. And also try and deal with Eggface. But now he had a real problem on his hands. He had to get out of there. Had to warn Sonic and the others. That said, it wouldn't be a good idea to just move out of there. He knew that there were some people on Mobius with incredible powers. And he had it on good authority that Eggman employed plenty of them. So he couldn't take the chance that they did.

"Getting bored," said the first one. "Gonna take a jog on the beach. Be back in a jiff'."

Chuck's eyes opened wide as though he saw his life flashing before his eyes. This was bad. He scanned his surroundings. He looked for anything he could find, anything he could use to hide or get out of dodge. Anything that could—

"Well. Lookie what I found."

Chuck wasn't sure how he had gotten down there. Not without him knowing. And not so fast. But almost as if in the blink of an eye, he was there, right in front of him. A green shrew wearing a bicycle helmet. And by the way he was smiling, he was happy to see him. "Hey now, don't you look familiar. You remind me of someone. A lot older with a lot more facial hair, but there's a hell of a resemblance."

Chuck tried to run, to duck, to do anything. And it was pointless. Swifty moved right next to him the second he took another breath. Whatever he did, he was done.

"Hey, Thundy, get down here! Long as you're still working for the boss, you'll wanna see this!"

Looking over the edge was a yellow chinchilla wearing a bright orange suit. "You find something? Hey, is that—?"

"You got it, Thundy. Don't know if he's his father or uncle or what, but there's no mistaking it. I think the Boss is gonna be hella' pleased."

Chuck tried to move his hand toward his satchel. If he could get a smoke bomb, perhaps he could do something. Perhaps he could escape. Perhaps—

"Ah, ah!" In the blink of an eye, Swifty was now in a hair's inch of Chuck. And his claws were right at this throat.

"HEY! Careful now!"

"Don't worry, Thundy. I ain't gonna do a thing. Not if he comes easy. You are gonna come easy, right?"

Chuck couldn't help but grunt. It was the only thing he could do. "Guess I don't have a choice."

"No, you really don't. Thundy, we're gonna have to cut this short. We got ourselves a prisoner!"

Well. Now he'd done it. All he wanted was to help his nephew. Take care of some unfinished business. And now he'd made himself a hostage. Ah well. If nothing else, he'd finally get to see HIM. After thirty years.

Small comfort.