Author's notes:

Hello, and welcome back to my story. Late, as usual, I know. But depression is something that is kicking my ass and is one hell of a motivation blocker. Please leave a review and favourite, if you have time. They're much appreciated. Now, enough of me, and let's get on with the story, shall we?

Chapter 7:

The human known as Ovi Kintobor hummed, sitting back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. His calculating eyes were trained on the screen that displayed the black hedgehog, who was pacing back and forth within the reinforced cell. He had already explored the walls, floors, bed, and ceiling for an escape route, but have found none. The circular dome left no weak spots to speak off or doors to bash. Serval emeralds were placed in tubes nearby, out of reach to the black and red hedgehog, but close enough to help provide energy for the weak lifeform within. A perfect place to confine the, proclaimed, Ultimate Lifeform and a system that kept the lifeform conscious and responsive without letting him store reserve Chaos Energy.

"Where's that bat?" The doctor huffed, crossing his arms and tapping his foot against the side of his desk, impatient. He was still in the dark about what happened these past fifty years, and he needed to know every detail he could squeeze out of Gerald's creation.

Unfortunately, ever since he woke up, Shadow had been irritable and closed off. He would scratch at his fur, glare and curse at anything or anyone who would get close. It was strange but oddly amusing. What had G.U.N done to them was something he could never forgive, although it was clear he wasn't getting the whole picture. They had mentioned another project directly linked to their former captives that the higher-ups and scientists were closed-lipped about.

He growled out in frustration, bringing a fist down on the desk. The Towers family had always had their secrets and lies; those backstabbing snakes. They were the reason they were in this mess. It was their fault for his absence and they still denied his right. Abraham and the rest of his family would pay, dealy. He wouldn't stop until they were eradicated and condemned to the pits of hell.

"My, with the mess outside, I see that I missed out on a hell of a good time," a feminine voice purred. He turned to see the Bat standing there, hands on her hips, smirking at him. "I guess my invite got lost in the mail, or you have been one bad boy, making a girl late. What a scandal!" She mocked gasped.

The doctor rolled his eyes, swirling his chair to face her with a bored expression. "You're late. I sent Ri out last night," he commented, eyes narrowing.

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Well, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she teased, coming forward to peer at the monitors. Her eyes widened, her expression brightening. "Oh, my. And who is Mr. Handsome? I thought we were the only ones who were transported. You even had your robots scan the area." She turned and looked up at him. "Don't tell me you were holding out on me, now?"

Kintobor was caught between exasperation and amusement at the bat's behaviour. Her confident nature and constant teasing got a bit too much, but in certain situations, could be strangely entertaining. The bat was unpredictable and managed to keep things interesting. And her charm may be the thing he needed to gain Shadow's loyalty; a task he seemed to be lacking in now he couldn't use the 'brother' as leverage.

"That's because he didn't. He's a result of human experimentation. From the files I received from G.U.N, he is one of two projects. His designation is Project: Shadow, The Ultimate Life Form," he started to explain, pulling up the primitive records of the data the organisation had managed to poorly scrape together. The idiots were vaguely scarce when testing his limits. It made the doctor wonder what they had been doing since his capture.

Rogue frowned, eyes scanning over the information. She whistled. "Damn, doctor, you have some serious firepower in that cell. I love a man who's durable," she offhandedly commented in a low tone, obviously distracted. She blinked, drawing back before exclaiming. "52? He's 52?"

Kintobor sighed. "His age is irrelevant," he cut in, wanting to get back to the point. "He's a valuable asset to have. His power could be the key to getting off this planet and back to Mobius."

"Is this what you've been doing? Finding him? No wonder you've got a battlefield on your front lawn! They must really want him back," she remarked, impressed. The robots were still cleaning up the sight and it seemed the humans had retreated in the early hours of the morning. She was kind of glad she waited until this morning to enter.

"Yes. Acquiring him was the easy part. Now, getting him to work with us is a... delicate matter. I was hoping you could use that charm to calm him down. Humans are not his favourite at the minute... Let's see if we can change that, shall we...?"

Knuckles sighed, relieved, as they finally reached the area of where their base was. He couldn't wait to have some proper food and make sure all his friends were safe. Since waking up that morning, he was concerned for Rogue and Sticks, hoping they had made it back to their little hideout before nightfall. He really didn't trust them being around these humans but knew it was necessary for their survival for them to leave once in a while.

Blue shifted on his back- the azure hedgehog had been riding piggyback style for the last half-hour. Every time they would come past a low tree or see a bug, he would reach out to stroke it with this odd smile on his muzzle. Knuckles found it strange but decided not to comment. The kid had also seemed to develop a habit for messing with his dreadlocks and Tails' namesakes, annoying the kit most of the way.

"Finally," the yellow fox commented with a grin. His legs were starting to ache and, with the no-fly rule, he was stuck to endure it. Bending down, he quickly deployed the mechanism and they descended down the ladder.

Blue whimpered, hiding his face into red fur as they descended into a new, enclosed environment, that was dark and mostly cold. He never liked the enclosed space of his cell before he had been moved, and he despised being trapped. He blinked as light flooded his vision and he looked up to see a row of beds with a kitchenette with a small dining table opposite them.

Knuckles sighed, lowering his load on a nearby bed. He turned, setting down a Chaos Emerald on the chest of draws. Blue ignored it, looking around the room with wary curiosity. It took a few tries to gain his attention as Knuckles sat down in front of him, blocking his view of anything that may catch his attention. The hedgehog pouted. "I need you to sit here for a while. I know it's boring, but Tails gets mad if someone messes with his equipment. We have to find the others before something bad happens to them and, to do that, we need to get his miles electric... Er, his device... To work," he elaborated, seeing the confusion in his eyes. "Are you going to be okay? Do you want something to tinker with?" He asked seriously. A nod was his answer and Knuckles was glad that the air pressure didn't change this time.

Humming, he looked around the room for something to give him that isn't too complicated and safe enough. Briefly, he wondered if Blue could understand him completely or was comprehending a few words and putting the rest together? It was annoying how he couldn't ask a million questions whirling around his head, but knew impatience is a curse. He learned from Tails that kids talked on their own time, especially those who were committed to the silent act to save their own skin. At least he had practice with this before, otherwise Blue had little chance of talking in the future.

His figures curled around something, causing him to smile. "How about...? This?" He asked, reaching over to pick up an old cup and ball set. The cup was made of plastic, the string was long enough to get a good swing and the ball was soft enough it barely hurt if it accidentally hit you. Totally kid-proof. Unfortunately, the glare he got was unimpressed, maybe a little insulted, and he deflated.

"Okay... Not that, then, but how about...?" He reached out to shuffle through the bedside draws. "Ah! This!" He pulled out a delicate looking butterfly from the draw, that was made of thin but durable materials. It had a hover feature to simulate flight and could only go up and down and side to side under the remotes supervision. Tails had been working on it for Cream's birthday for a while now in between projects. He hoped Tails didn't mind Blue using it.

His eyes light up, immediately attracted by the bright colours and reached out to take it. Knuckles held it out of his reach. Blue whined before settling back down."It's really delicate and remote operated. You can touch the remote, but not the butterfly, okay?" Knuckles informed, shuffling around the draw for its controller. It took him a while and he found it in the bottom draw. He gave out a grunt of triumph and demonstrated how it worked to the impatient teen. After a few moments, Blue had mastered the controls enough that Knuckles felt safe enough to leave him to it. l. He turned to see Tails over by the kettle, smirking as he made them both a hot drink.

"Care to explain?" He started with a raised eyebrow, wondering how Knuckles' patience was holding out. The hothead had a short fuse on a good day, yet Blue's lack of attention and impatience didn't seem to phase him. In fact, he seemed at home with caring for him. It was kind of endearing. Tails remembered back to when he first met the Echidna and it took a while for him to trust him. There were a few rocky starts and a lot of being nervous in his presence, but, eventually, they managed to get along and became good friends over pure stubbornness to give up on Tails' part. It was the first person who could know how lonely he had become.

"Explain, what...? I simply gave him something to play with, so he wouldn't get bored," Knuckles tried to evade getting teased for showing a soft side to Blue. He had used the technique on Tails and Creme when they came to visit. It was not often, but seeing the pair made him break free from the boredom that hung in the air of his mundane life. It also helped him adapt to life outside of his island, but it was slow progress.

Being able to talk to someone other than Sticks was enlightening and kind of nice, as long as they let him have his space afterwards. Vanilla, Creme's mother, who unofficially adopted the small kit, needed a babysitter for the pair and he had nothing better to do, living alone and away from civilisation.

A snort came from Tails' mouth, making him clear his throat, eager to change the subject. They had more important matters to attend to. "Now, let's figure out what our next plan is?" The echidna injected, this time with a serious tone.

"The others ain't here... I have a bad feeling about this..." Tails started, hugging himself while looking around. He rubbed at his arms, uncomfortable with the situation.

"I'm sure they're fine. They're pretty resourceful when they put their minds to it," Knuckles waved off, watching Tails pour himself a cup of coffee. He debated whether to reprimand him for having such a drink, but one look at his tight expression, made him notice there were other, more important things, to be talking about. "We can go look for them if it would make you feel any better?"Knuckles asked, wanting to reassure that everything was fine.

Tails bit his lip. As much as he was worried, he didn't like the idea of going back out. With GUN looking for them and his miles electric broken, the risk was high. Blue had to be high on their priority list judging the number of guards who were sent to get him back. And the HQ only had half of its staff available? He shuddered. Blue had almost died, twice; he didn't want to push their luck any further. "It'll be better to wait until evening time. That way, there'll be fewer people around, but still light enough to keep an eye out. Maybe Rogue has taken a long way round, to avoid detection, and Sticks has probably set up camp, just like us... Thinks we're still in there or something..."

Knuckles nodded in agreement, reluctant to go back out as well. The humans seemed to be afraid of the dark and hibernated as time went by. And this time, they could take supplies as well, taking their own light source and food.

Unfortunately, there was only one problem with their plan.

"What about Blue? What do we do with him? He can't walk and he barely talks... not to mention, GUN is after him," Knuckles thought out loud. "But, why? That's the real question. What's so special about him? Was he the first mobian they've encountered or is it something else?"

Was that what they would do to them, should they get captured? Lock them up and drained of their energy until they have withered away into nothingness? He shivered. What a horrible fate.

Tails slumped against the counter. He sighed and glanced at Blue helplessly. The hedgehog was staring at the toy in awe, watching as it scored over their heads. He looked so childish, so innocent, that it was hard to believe that someone would ever do something like that to him. It made him wonder about his backstory once again. How old was he? When was he taken? Did he have any family? Friends? A home? They must be worried sick. "I don't know," he muttered out. "Maybe I can hack into their database? I mean, now I know what I'm looking for, it should be much easier to dig up some information on him."

"True. And if they're up to something more, we could probably put a stop to it... Right?" Knuckles asked, more than ready to find information about Blue, as well as G.U.N. He wanted answers and sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, wasn't going to give them any. Right now, anything is useful. Even if they found out his name or how he came here would be a major help in learning who he was and what happened up to him, up to the point of his rescue.

Also, he was hoping to pick up any information onto who that guy was in the tunnels. The one who spoke. And what connect did he have to Blue? He voiced his thoughts. "Do you remember that old dude in the first ambush? The one who told us to hand him over? The other's had no problem with him ordering them about. I was thinking if, maybe, he was their leader or an important scientist?" Could he have discovered the Choas energy? It was possible.

Tails eyes widened as he recalled the earlier event. Blue seemed to whimper at the mention of that man, the toy falling on the bed at his lack of steering and concentration. Tails regarded him in sympathy. It was the same look he would give to his abusive parents before he finally ran away. They had never liked his mutation, his farther claiming it to be a sign that they were cursed. Although this seemed to be on a deeper level as if the man had inflicted hell itself upon the hedgehog, causing the hedgehog to curl up into a ball and shiver, spikes going up and slightly ripping the bedsheet.

Tails sighed. At least his parents took care of him, even if it was reluctantly. The human had tucked him in a display case, killing him slowly over time and exploiting his gifts for the greed and comfort of others. Tails had to help- to do something that would make Blue's pain easier to manage... Maybe if they knew more about this guy, he could help the frightened mobian more effectively?

He racked his brain, analysing everything he could remember the human saying. One word stuck out at him, causing him to blurt out; "Project!" Knuckles jumped at the announcement, causing Tails to blush. "He had called Blue, 'Project'. Maybe if we search for through their data banks, something would come up!" He leapt over to the table, flipping open his laptop, and grinned. He began typing, fingers expertly flying over the keyboard.

Knuckles hummed, getting up after handing the toy back to an apprehensive Blue. He got up, walking over to the kitchenette as tiny clicks filled the space. The kettle had boiled and he finished making the drink as he addressed his companion. "What are you doing?" Debating whether he should disturb him or not. Whenever Tails had an idea or came up with something creative, it was best to leave him be unless he spent too long on it or needed to fulfil a basic need, such as food or sleep, but he was too curious.

Knuckles watched Tails with concern. This was too much pressure to place upon the kit. It generally was, but there was nothing they could do. He was stunted with technology from living remotely and then having Sticks on his friend's list leaves him limited the technology he was exposed to. It was a miracle that he even knew how to call, and that was by Rogue's insistence after he got teased of being an 'old man' too many times.

Despite getting bullied into learning, he was grateful for the lesson. Communication devices made knowing what's going on in the world so much faster. No wonder Tails relied on them.

Tails sighed and rolled his eyes, fingers never hovering too far from the keyboard. "It's going to take a while to get back into their data banks, but it will be worth it. They may have detected and erased my programme from their systems, but I can just create a new virus that won't be detectable to their firewall." He sighed, thinking how long it was going to take.

A couple of hours?

A day or two?

Maybe a week?

It seemed to have gone through a massive upgrade since yesterday morning. Guess G.U.N was finally stepping up their game? This was going to be tricky, but Tails always loved a challenge. "What secrets are you hiding?" He muttered, taking a deep breath before getting to work.

This going to be a long day.

Taking a calming breath, Knuckles perched himself on the edge of the toilet seat, cradling the flailing teenager close to his chest. His purple gaze traced the chipped, painted ceiling, wondering if he had the strength to do this. The hedgehog's pitiful cries were loud in his ear as he clung desperately to the Echidna's neck, eyes glazed with tears and unwanted flashbacks.

Great, he was hydrophobic as well as an insomniac, mute and anorexia suffer. The list just kept growing and it was stressing him out. He didn't know what to do, nor if he had the strength, and the patience, to help.

"Hey, it's okay," he cooed, hand coming up to stroke his quills gently, wincing at the grime and dirt that had collected underneath. The hedgehog needed a clean at some point. How did the human's do it? Could they have caused his phobia or did he require it before? Gaining an idea, he reached over and pulled out a sponge and cleaning rag. Next, he filled the sink up with water and poured the products inside. He then dunked the sponge in the water and started to clean Blue as best as he could.

Blue whimpered, flinching when the sponge made contact but seemed to be more relaxed with the arrangement. It was a long, painful process, but it was worth it, getting most of the grime and dirt off his fur and quills. Red fur was damp and he used the awaiting towel to dry them both and go into the main area to see Tails fighting back sleep. He was hunched over, eyes dropping as he typed slowly. Tails had sat there all day, working on cracking into GUN's database with little success.

Placing Blue down on one of the beds, he strode over and placed a palm on the kit's shoulder. "Maybe you should get some sleep," he suggested with a sympathetic smile.

Tails turned, blinking slowly, his fingers still resting on the keyboard. "How's Blue?" He asked, avoiding the question. He didn't want to give up; they needed to find their friends and get the information on the mysterious hedgehog, not sleeping.

"He's fine and all of us need some sleep. Come on," he replied firmly, taking hold of the kit's shoulders and forcing him to stand. Tails mumbled incoherently, probably protesting, but a loud yawn made him give to the gentle command. They walked towards the nearest bed and he helped him lie down. Once he was settled, Tails eyes narrowed, noticing the Echidna was wearing his hat, a sign he was going to leave the base.

He tried to get up, only to be pushed back down by a large hand. "You're not going without me!" The kit explained, shooting Knuckles a challenging look.

Knuckles sighed and shook his head. "No, Tails. Rest that incredible brain of yours and I'll be back with Rogue and Sticks before you wake up. We're going to need you if we get caught."

"...But."

"No buts. I need to go before it get's too dark. Be careful and don't go outside. I'll be back as soon as I can," he reassured, causing Tails to reluctantly back down. Blue crawled closer to the edge of the next bed, large emerald eyes staring at Knuckles expectantly, arms outstretched.

"No, you'll stay here. It's dangerous out there," he explained, ruffling the teen's fur. A growl was his answer and he glared back. "Blue, I said no," he refused. The hedgehog thrust out his arms stubbornly, touching his arm with a finger and sending a tiny bolt of Chaos Energy through his fur. He jumped, startled before closing his eyes.

Blue sure had a stubborn streak.

"Fine," he growled, taking his arm and dragging him a little too forcefully towards the wardrobe. If they were going to go out into the station square, they were going to need a disguise. Fortunately, Rogue had raided a child's clothing shop as soon the day they found this place.

TBC: