It was hard to identity just when the swirl of colours stopped. Sonic staggered, blinking and at first thinking the flickering quality of the light was part of the whole confusing transition. After a moment he recognised it for heat haze, even in the darkness. Heat haze and distant firelight and the dancing sparks of some sort of glowing insect away between the trees. They'd definitely moved. The freezing snow had been replaced by a muggy heat, melting the snow from his fur to drip into the mossy coating on the stones underfoot.

"That was your best plan?" Knuckles demanded angrily almost before Sonic had finished regaining his wits. "Just yell at him? And now where are we?"

Sonic blinked and looked around more closely.

'Jungle' was the best he could come up with. The air was heavy with tropical scents and every direction was undergrowth, although clear paths, extensive stonework and large temple-like buildings were visible as well. There was something distantly familiar about it, but he couldn't quite bring it to mind.

"I'm not sure," he admitted.

"It looks like firelight from the buildings over there," Tails pointed out.

"So we go ask directions?" Sonic suggested.

"We don't have time for that!" Knuckles sounded frustrated beyond measure. "Eggman-"

"Eggman sent us here," Sonic cut across him. "And by the looks of it, more to have us out of the way than because it's some grand trap – look at the place. We're in the middle of a jungle, there's no sign of Eggman. So the best we can do is find out way back and the best way to do that is with a bit of local know-how."

Knuckles frowned but nodded, apparently unable to find any argument against this logic.

They headed towards the lights. Tails was looking at the carving on the low kerbs that marked the edges of the path they were following. Elaborate geometric shapes inset with coloured and semi-precious stones drew the eye in spite of the vines that criss-crossed it here and there. The lights they were heading towards spilled out between tall fluted columns. Apart from the all encompassing greenery there was no particular sign of age about anything.

"Where do they still build like this?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic shrugged then spoke anyway. "It was Little Planet on Eggman's screen but..."

"But what, Sonic?" Knuckles asked at once.

"But, this isn't what it looks like now," Sonic sighed.

Tails swooped low to duck an overhanging vine as they ran along the path. He glanced sideways at the others as he passed.

"Oh no. Time travel?"

Sonic looked up. Despite the 'oh no' Tails' eyes gleamed with curiosity.

Sonic tried to get his face to express that this was a serious situation, but Tails' poorly concealed enthusiasm for the idea scuppered his attempts.

Beside him, Knuckles had no such difficulty, and the dismay was audible in his voice.

"That's what this is." It wasn't a question. "We're so far away..." Knuckles voice trailed off and Sonic slowed and turned back to check because he sounded not just daunted by the prospect but outright appalled.

Appalled and not fully over the dizziness of the teleport maybe because he had his fingertips pressed to his temples as though shaking off a headache.

"You okay?" Sonic asked. Knuckles lowered his hands, though his eyes were still wide and shocked.

"We're so far away. I didn't realise. I thought it was the transition, or an injury, or..." He didn't finish. "We're so far away."

Sonic blinked at him. "Uh yeah. You said. I know. You okay?"

"We need to go faster. We need a way back."

Sonic considered pointing out that he'd only slowed down because Knuckles had, but thought better of it.

"I'm all about 'faster!'"

He accelerated without further comment. Knuckles pounded along at his heels.

The lights were not as close as they'd first appeared – or rather they were – if the distance had been a straight line. Instead, the ground plunged away into a steep-sided valley and back up again in a series of precipitous undulations before reaching the opposite side.

Knuckles accepted a tow after only a token protest and Tails whooped as they traversed the switchbacks, before coming to a screeching stop at the outermost edge of the light.

A tall pillared building that could have been anything from a public library to a pagan temple dominated the clearing, with smaller but equally elaborated-faced building around it.

In spite of the night time darkness there were lights everywhere, a flickering dancing array and there was chatter and music clearly audible. The reason became clear at once. The population of the place were fireflies. Or this planet's equivalent at any rate. A head shorter than Tails, but very clearly real people, as distinct from the tiny insects around them as they themselves were from dumb beasts.

Knuckles caught Sonic's arm as he made to move off towards them.

"We should… How do we know they're friendly?"

Sonic shrugged. "How do we know they're not?"

Knuckles stared at him, as though he thought he was being genuinely flippant, then looked back at the crowd. There were a handful of other types of people about. An owl was engaged in buying something from a street stand at the bottom of the steps to one of the larger buildings and a tree-frog was halfway up one of the columns, a shears in one hand and a swathe of trimmed plant-life in the other.

"It's a nocturnal village," Tails said, smiling.

Sonic nodded. "Hope no one's sleepy."

Tails grinned at him. Knuckles, on the other hand looked thoroughly weary but didn't comment and followed the two of them in amongst the villagers.

A market was underway in the square, wood and canvas stalls and stands backed up right against the more impressive architecture. Clothes, tools, house-goods and sticky snacks were on display in all directions.

There was no initial sign that Eggman had been anywhere near and Sonic cast about for someone not obviously already deep in conversation, hoping for someone to ask.

Before he'd decided, Tails pointed.

"They look worried about something."

Sonic followed where Tails pointed and nodded. Several fireflies were standing, off to the edge of the village, deep in conversation and their tone was markedly different than the relaxed shoppers. One was pointing, off back into the jungle. Another held a large, badly folded sheet of paper and referred to it often.

"Think they've got an Eggman shaped problem?" Sonic asked but didn't wait for an answer. "Shall we find out?"

He strolled over to the conversation.

"Hi, kinda new round here, but even so – is something up? We're kind of looking for trouble." He grinned. "In the nicest possible way, natch."

Two of the fireflies looked at the third who handed the paper over and took off to hover at eye level with Sonic.

He said something which Sonic couldn't make out.

"Uh, say again?"

This time the answer was longer, but just as incomprehensible and Sonic sighed.

"Oh yeah. Right. Different planet."

He glanced over his shoulder at the others. "Anyone speak, uh… Little-o-lian…?"

Tails' eyes widened in realisation while Knuckles' narrowed in concentration.

"Planet?" he said. Or at least Sonic thought he said, there was something odd about the way Knuckles said it. The 't' eliding away almost to a 'd'.

The answer came back and Sonic barely caught 'planet' in the middle of it.

"Yeah," Tails said, dropped to his knees to sketch on the ground, scratching on stones again the cobble to make two chalky circles. One large one small. "Our planet. Your planet."

This time Sonic was listening for the recognisable word or any similar enough to grab at.

"Planet. When?" He blinked. "Hamster? Err. Hedgehog actually but."

Tails giggled and Knuckles scoffed in irritation as though Sonic were not taking this seriously.

"He's not talking about you, Sonic. 'Amser', I think. Time. 'Some. When. Time. Planet'?"

Sonic nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that's right. It's not always here." He pointed at the picture and mimed vanishing, spreading his hands wide and looking around in feigned surprise at their emptiness.

The firefly who lifted himself up to speak to Sonic now dropped to the ground and with quick fast strokes altered the larger circle, which Tails had intended to represent Mobius, scratching in what were unmistakeably two stalky legs, arms and a scowling face with an outrageous jagged moustache.

"Oh dear," Tails said.

Sonic scowled dramatically and stamped vigorously on the rough sketch. This met with general approval and the firefly holding the sheet of paper turned it around to show him a map, tapping on one corner of it then pointing at the sketch on the ground. A twisty network of paths that twined maze-like across the sheet. Other symbols also marked it but it as any one's guess what they meant.

"Eggman was here?" Sonic said, pointing from the sketch to the map. He got a head-shake in return and the firefly mimicked his own 'vanished' bit of pantomime before grabbing one of the others by the scruff of the neck and heaving him a few wingbeats through the air.

"He's been kidnapping the people here?" Tails said in dismay.

"At least one," Sonic said.

"We have to help!"

Sonic nodded and attempted to express that sentiment via play-acting and the few words their languages had in common. He thought he'd probably succeeded. At any rate the map was handed over, although the doubtful looks led him to believe that their attempt would probably be followed up, even it they didn't realise yet that they'd never keep up.

"Any objection?" he asked. Knuckles shook his head and even held out his arm, hand open to grasp Sonic's wrist. Sonic grinned. "Then we're off!"

It didn't take long to realise how essential the map was. The maze-like paths had been no exaggeration and the frequent changes of direction had stopped being entertaining way before Sonic came to a longer halt.

Knuckles let go and rubbed his wrist idly, clearly not much enjoying the ride. Even so his first question was, "Why did we stop?"

Sonic stepped off the path, towards the glint of metal that had caught his eye.

Tails bounded over as well and rapped hard on the shiny sphere.

"Not exactly in keeping with the local style, is it?" Sonic said.

"Nuh-uh," Tails agreed. He frowned, ears lowering in concern. "You don't think there's anyone in there do you?"

"One way to find out." Sonic looked over his shoulder. "Want to do the honours, Knux?"

Knuckles didn't comment, but did step forward, brushing Sonic aside and swinging for the sphere.

It came apart with a tearing of metal and a whoosh of pressurised air that made everyone jump back.

"No one," said Tails, in a tone halfway between relieved and disappointed. "Guess we keep look- Woah!"

Sonic had already started back to the path but spun round at Tails' yelp.

"What-"

From around the base of the sphere something from growing, lots of something and way, way faster than any natural plant. Sonic stared at them dumbfounded for enough seconds that he missed the fact that one was right beneath him until he found himself propelled upwards in the air, scooped up by a leaf the size of a raft. He sat down on his tail with a thump at the sudden acceleration from below.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled and flew up after him. Knuckles meanwhile was hurtling hand over hand up the stalk after them both and the whole situation was so bizarre that Sonic found himself laughing. At least until something enormous snapped at him. He rolled sideways and off the leaf at once, flinging himself over the edge and out of reach and in the next second Tails was beside him and pulling him safely away.

Knuckles, on the other hand, vaulted onto the leaf and faced off against what – to Sonic's further bemusement – looked like an oversized and heavily fanged flycatcher. There was damp crunch as a huge roundhouse blow hit home and sticky lumps of plant matter went whirling overhead.

"Ew." Sonic scrambled back up onto the chunky leaf which supported his weight along with Knuckles' easily.

"What is – was – that?" Tails asked.

Sonic shook his head. "I have got no idea."

"It's something of Eggman's – it came from that pod." Knuckles jumped from the leaf, gliding back tot he ground to examine the debris. Tails offered a hand to Sonic and hovered the two of them down to join him

"Not a bad trap really," Tails admitted. "I mean you see Eggman's stuff you smash it, right? Next you know you're up to your muzzle in-"

"-huge bitey plants," Sonic nodded vigorously.

Knuckles frowned. "So he was here?"

"We're on the right lines," Sonic agreed. "We just need to- Can you hear that?"

A siren was wailing somewhere out of sight and all three heads turned towards it.

"Did we do that? Are these pod-things connected?" Sonic looked around. Half expecting cables or aerials to be more plainly visible.

"The people in the village weren't using electricity," Tails pointed out. Sonic nodded. The siren was clearly electronic in tone. "So it's more likely Eggman than not."

They ran, following the sound, though locating a route amid the twisting and frequently overgrown paths was tricky.

After long, frustrating minutes they found themselves outside another of the temple-like structures. Sonic didn't pause and no one protested as he dashed inside. Electric lighting in the interior turned the stained glass to an eerie yellow-green, obscuring whatever design had been there originally and the siren was ear-achingly loud in the confined space.

Tails had his ears pressed flat to his head but shouted over the din. Sonic shrugged, unable to make out a word when abruptly both the lights and the noise vanished.

Sonic huffed out a sigh. "Well that's a bit better. Hope no one's scared of the dark."

Even without being able to see them Sonic was certain he could picture the outrage on both of the others' faces, but before he could tease any further the darkness was broken by a pair of dazzling pinpoints. Sonic squinted. A pair of robots circled just out of easy jumping range, in perfect formation to one another.

Sonic glanced instinctively in Tails' direction but the fox was as ready as ever, and Knuckles had raised both fists, all signs of weariness vanished at the prospect of a fight.

Sonic examined the bots more closely, frowning as he did so. They were clearly parodies of the fireflies themselves. Glowing at the base with a sharp, hard light that abruptly flared into a flickering beam of energy that looked halfway between fire and electricity. The beam leapt between the two robots and, with no haste at all, the pair advanced on them.

Sonic eyed the energy warily and caught Knuckles doing the same. Clearly he was in no mood for another zap.

"Split up," Sonic called. "I bet they can only keep that up with two of them."

There was no argument and they broke for the corners of the room, Sonic and Tails going one way and Knuckles the other. Sonic's legs twitched with the urge to leap at the things but the angle was wrong – attacking from underneath was going to lead to fried hedgehog.

Knuckles on the other hand did dash underneath, hesitating there then dashing back out again, jumping occasionally although he did come close to reaching it even as the thing descended.

"He's luring it down," Tails said suddenly in Sonic's ear. "And over there. I can get you above it while it's distracted."

Sonic nodded. "Works for me."

The pair of robots surged away from then, following Knuckles instead as he rushed out from underneath it once again. Tails took off with a bound, catching Sonic's upheld arms in the same movement and flying hard for height.

"Go!" Sonic called and Tails swung in the air, launching him with enough momentum to turn into a spinning attack on the closest robot. It disintegrated so abruptly that Sonic had a split second to hope he was right about the beam needing two of the bots because if not he was going to hurtle straight through the debris and into it.

He resisted the urge to close his eyes, tumbled through empty air and hit the ground rolling and instantly back up on his feet in time to see Knuckles smash the second bot.

"Well that was eas-"

"Don't say it!" said Tails in the same second as the darkness was broken once again – seared away in fact by an almost comically huge version of the same robot. At least it would have been comical were it not for the blindly bright and clearly lethal ray of energy which was charring the paving beneath it and the wild speed with which it moved.

Knuckles flung himself clear and Sonic leapt way higher than he'd known he could, propelled by sheer adrenaline. Tails, already in the air, dropped onto it, landing a blow which made it wobble in but did nothing for the burning beam below it, then shot upwards again while Knuckles dashed in perilously close, leaping up to clip the edge of the thing. The whole robot rocked to the side, the beam scything up the nearest wall as it swayed, and missing Knuckles by inches as he clung on and snatched his legs clear. Sonic leapt at it from the opposite direction sending it spinning once more while Knuckles whaled on it from his precarious perch on the side of what Sonic supposed must be called its head.

Tails hovered uncertainly above them, unable to find an opening that wouldn't make things worse and Sonic smashed into it once again, having to take it on faith that Knuckles would get himself clear if he had to.

The beam left burnt and blackened grooves in it wake but it was flickering now, sparking and shorting. Knuckles tore at the casing with his claws, heedless of the sparks that landed in his fur and Tails dived down to offer a lift which Knuckles ignored as Sonic came in for what far too much experience with bots told him would be the final blow.

It was, and the bang threw all of them once more to the far corners of the room.

Sonic leapt back to his feet shaking his quills.

"I am getting exceedingly tired of this," Knuckles remarked, picking fragments of metal and charred wiring out of his own spines.

Sonic opened his mouth to response but instead called out a warning as a flicker of movement caught the corner of his eye but cut it off as his brain processed what his eyes were seeing.

Two young fireflies were peering around the edge of the tall, arched doorway at the far end of the room. The language was still unclear to Sonic, but the wide eyed expression and was clear enough. Sonic smiled broadly and beckoned, dropping to one knee to look as unthreatening as possible.

It only partly worked. They came forward but as soon as they were clear of the doorway, launched into the air and out of the opposite window. Tails headed through the door they'd come out of.

"I think they were locked in here," he said. He made a face. There's… cages… pods… something. Electronic locks must have gone out when the power went. There's another way out back here too."

Sonic followed, Knuckles trailing warily behind, to find Tails back outside and examining a dilapidated metal device.

Sonic joined him and gave it a prod with a toe. He made a face.

"Hmm. That's not great. I was kinda hoping some of Eggman's gizmos would still be around to get us back… er… forward to the future."

Tails looked closer, pulling off panels and peering at circuitry.

"It's overgrown more than rusted. No power though. You really time travelled with this? What ran it? What was the power source?"

"Things like it yeah and I have no idea. That's Eggman's nonsense not mine. He's never tried them anywhere but here. Time travel, so time stones I guess. I wasn't exactly sticking around to disassemble one."

Tails crouched down, digging deeper into the device's workings. "There's no place to fit anything like that. There's a… something… like a ground heat exchanger except… "

"It was pulling energy right out of this place?" Knuckles frowned at him. Sonic blinked at this sudden interest in the mechanics of the thing.

Tails scrunched up his face. "I can't see how. But even if is was, it isn't now. It's broken – right here."

He pointed at a tangled maze of what looked like piping, if piping had been made out of iridescent blown glass.

"Can you fix it?" Sonic asked. "Getting back home is kinda beside the point if we're a billion million years ago."

"We're not a billion million years ago," Tails said absently, without looking up. "Maybe a thousand. And I can't fix it without tools. Assuming I could work out the right tool for this."

Knuckles stared at the device.

"You said 'time stones' before, Sonic. Tell me."

Sonic shrugged and waved his hands vaguely, sketching a gemstone shape in the air. "You know chaos emeralds..."

It wasn't quite a question and Knuckles gave him a look which made Sonic glad of the fact because the answer of course was 'of course'.

"Well they look kinda like that. Except they-_"

"Alter time?" Knuckles asked, voice dripping sarcasm. "Tell me something I couldn't have guessed, hedgehog."

Sonic glared at him. "I don't know anything else. Not really."

"They're from here? Where? Does someone guard them? Study them? Could someone help?" The questions came rapid fire and Sonic could still only shrug.

"Asking any of that is going to be tricky without a language in common," Tails said doubtfully. "I guess if it's the same energy and you had an actual stone you could maybe power the machine directly, rather than with whatever ambient energy this stuff was designed to gather."

Sonic glanced over his shoulder at the sound of movement further down the path. "Well here's our chance to try."

Half a dozen fireflies approach in a flurry of chatter, the two small one which had fled the commandeered temple amongst them.

An older member of the group theatrically threw his arms around the younger two then stretched them wide in the direction of the Mobian trio.

"I think that's probably a thank you." Tails suggested.

Sonic grinned broadly and stepped forward.

"Sure, hugs all round, go us!"

The chatter resumed but Sonic spoke up it. "Hey while we're all friends though -" He tugged the arm of the firefly who'd approached him, drawing him down to sketch once again on the ground.

He started with the pictures they already had kind of established. Big planet, little planet – then pointed to himself with a mock sad face and tapped on the bigger planet shape.

"We really need to get home," he added aloud, since it was clear there were at least some words making it across the language barrier.

He pointed at the machine and shrugged. Tails joined in the mime. He picked up a stick and snapped it and made a similar sad face. Sonic drew seven rough gem shapes on the ground and pointed behind them and the machine and shrugged again, hopefully, smiling and tapping on the 'big planet' circle. Over the top of this Tails outlined what they hoped to do.

Some understanding was clearly happening because the firefly frowned, pointed at the gemstone sketch and closed his hands one over the other, drawing his hands in close. Knuckles watched this byplay.

"They're not just going to hand them over on faith, Sonic," he said, but joined Sonic on the ground and pulled off one glove, the better to join in the finger drawing attempts.

Sonic sat back on his haunches as Knuckles outlined what was clearly meant to be the Master Emerald in swift stylised strokes, beneath the gems Sonic had drawn. He pointed at it and looked up at their audience.

"I know how important it must be to you to keep such things safe."

He pointed at the gemstones sketch lightly with one finger and used their word again. "Amser."

There were nods and Knuckles looked thoughtful, then touched the Master Emerald picture lightly and said another word. "Anhrefn?"

A murmured discussion took place among the fireflies and Knuckles knelt upright beside the drawing and raised his hands to place them over his heart, gloved hand atop the bare one.

"Ceidwad," he said. "I'm a guardian and I would never take something you guarded from you. But we need your help."

Sonic had no idea which words of either language were being fully understood but he found it impossible to believe anyone could doubt the sincerity in Knuckles' body language.

There was a long pause, eye contact between the fireflies and a tiny nod, one finger held up and then pointed at the machine, a conversation which Sonic caught none of and of which Knuckles and Tails only shrugged when he glanced in their direction.

"They'd hardly lead us to where they keep them," Knuckles said, settling off his knees to sit on the ground apparently unconcerned.

Sonic tapped a foot but after a moment sat down as well. Tails touched down to join them. The fireflies kept their distance, talking among themselves and casting over the occasion wary look.

"You think they understood?" Sonic asked. "That they believe us?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe they just want us gone and this is easiest."

"You don't think that!" Tails protested. "They seem nice."

Knuckles frowned but it looked to Sonic more like confusion than irritation. Like he didn't really see the relevance.

Sonic kicked his heels into the lead mould covering the paving slabs and cast about for something to pass the wait.

Tails spoke first.

"I wonder if their language is an ancestor of ours or if they have contact with Mobius already. There were words in common but most of it was different."

"And they knew some of Knuckles' words," Sonic added.

"Yeah," Tails said, "How far back do you know the Floating Island's history, Knuckles?"

"A long time," Knuckles said. "We don't know when we are though, not really. So it would be a guess. And they're old words, the words they knew. Time. Chaos. Guardian. They're in the oldest oldest stories."

"So it could be either way round," Tails concluded.

"He's back," Sonic bounced to his feet, ending the speculation. The approaching firefly cradled a secondary glow in his hands. Purple in contrast to his own yellow-green.

He pointed to the machine.

Sonic nodded. "I think I know how this works." He scuffed the path beside the device revealing a network of connections embedded into the stone and gleaming through the dirt. "They activate it and we run. Really run. Fast." He eyed the others. "Maybe with a run up."

He paced out a hundred yard start-line and beckoned the others over.

The firefly nodded, apparently satisfied with his understanding, and landed, uncurling his hands from around the time stone he held. He reached out, and touched the glittering gem directly to the broken network that Tails had been examining and a shimmering gleam spread over the whole device.

"How do we know when we're going with it?" Tails asked.

Sonic shrugged. "Guess we hope Eggman anchored it somewhere sensible to get him back."

For a moment Sonic thought Knuckles would protest at the lack of certainty in that but he kept quiet.

"Ready?" Sonic asked. He got nods in return. "Let's go!"

And they ran, accelerating towards the machine, Sonic pacing all three against the speed he knew from experience would trigger the device correctly.

He threw a fleeting wave at the watching fireflies, and then they were through and past them and the air dissolved into glitter and a ringing eerie tone. He thought he was still running, though his stomach turned slow circles and his eyes no longer registered any sense of movement.

And then he definitely was running again, his feet pounding on a metalled pavement and his eyes filled with traffic and music. The sky still sparkled, lit up with fireworks and the streets were crowded at ground level and above.

Sonic slowed and stopped to look around.

"Well it's definitely more like now," Tails said. "Those are electric loudspeakers for a start."

"Plenty of people to ask!" Sonic looked around but was interrupted by a bang which all three of them were familiar enough with trouble to recognise was not a firework. The tone of the noisy crowd changed, more urgent and alarmed.

Tails shook his head, slightly rueful. "Just once, it would be nice to just sit and watch the fireworks..."

Sonic grinned. "Meh, there's always time for that – just not right now!" He held out a hand and Tails quickly shook off the moment.

They ran towards the source of the explosion, against the crowd which was either static in chattering curiosity or moving firmly in the opposite direction.

The crowd thinned as they went, until the only people they were passing were those actively trying to direct the crowd the other way. Sonic didn't linger long enough to answer questions and sooner they were also alone.

Only for a moment though before two hares came pelting past.

"Hey?" Sonic called, "What's up?"

Somewhere in age between Tails and Sonic the two hares hesitated, wide eyes before one of them shook her head wildly and pulled at her friends arm and they fled.

Sonic frowned.

"Maybe they didn't understand you," Tails suggested. "We're still on Little Planet."

"They were just scared," Knuckles said.

"Maybe." Sonic was still frowning. "But they looked more scared at the sight of us."

Tails frowned now too.

"Of you," he said slowly.

Knuckles looked back and forth between the direction they were heading and the way the hares had fled.

"We know Eggman has been putting about that Sonic's the problem here."

Sonic shook his head. "I don't think I'm the blue hedgehog-a-like they're worried about."

Tails' eyes widened in realisation. "Metal Sonic."

"The robot?" Knuckles looked back from his surveying of the scene. "It's here?"

Sonic grimaced. "I think maybe Eggman meant to send us straight into his lap – not into the past of this place. He had the planet and Metal right there on the screen."

"We're now now though," Knuckles said.

Sonic tipped his head curiously and not only at the sentence structure. "You're sure? How do you know?"

Knuckles shrugged. "I just do. It feels different. A long way away but not the same kind of long way."

Tails opened his mouth, almost certainly for more details but Sonic jumped in first.

"I'll take your word for it. But we can't just leave Metal Sonic here. Not again."

"No way," Tails agreed.

Knuckles said nothing, which Sonic took as agreement.

They continued in the direction the hares had come from. They were on the outskirts of the city now, high rises and nightclubs giving way to industrial areas, deserted now in the darkness, machinery casting long shadows from the electric lights.

Sonic peered into the shadows, half expected the robotic hedgehog to be stood waiting in any patch of darkness they passed. Pilot-lights on machinery turned into glowing red eyes in his imagination as the sound of the city faded into the distance.

A metallic crash made Tails jump onto Sonic's foot in alarm and Knuckles spin round, fists raised, before it became apparent that it was only a fallen collection of parts that had caused the racket.

"What made them fall though?" Tails headed towards them, unafraid now the startle factor had passed.

Sonic smiled at his boldness but made sure he was right behind him nonetheless.

Knuckles stayed clear watching their escape routes and approaches instead.

"There's someone back here," Tails called. "Hey, it's okay."

There was a snuffling in response and a bear cub crept out of the clutter. He fell back on his haunches, wide eyed at the sight of Sonic who raised his arms and grinned.

"Real hedgehog," he said. "Blue, but real. Okay?"

It was unclear whether the cub understood or not but he didn't stay to talk. Like the hares he ran off without a word back towards the city.

From somewhere up ahead electronic laughter broke the silence.

"Oooh, does no one want to stay and listen to the meat and blood hedgehog's chattering? What a shame."

Sonic clenched his fists. The voice set his nerves on edge: a horrible combination of Eggman, and a twisted mockery of himself, all over-layed with that rotten metallic twang.

"Where is he?" Tails whispered urgently. "He can see us!"

Sonic shook out his quills which were standing up involuntarily.

"Come on out, you tin fake!"

Another grating electronic chuckle.

"Come and find me."

Sonic grinned through clenched teeth and held out both hands to Tails and Knuckles.

"Easy."

He felt both wrists taken firmly in the grip of the other two and launched himself into a run towards the voice.

And in fact it initially did seem easy. They rounded a corner, Tails and Knuckles barely skimming the ground as Sonic raced along and there was the metal hedgehog simply standing there. Another terrified local squirmed in his grip, a firefly, fluttering and tugging to get away and getting nowhere.

Tails let go promptly and shifted his position in the air to catapult himself towards the metal hedgehog from above as Sonic came in from below. Knuckles caught his eye and adjusted his own line to leave space for Sonic's attack, circling wide to come in from the offside.

Except that Sonic's attack hit absolutely nothing. He sailed straight through the image of his metal doppelgänger and almost arrived face first into the wall behind him.

"What the..."

"Hologram," Tails interjected before Sonic could finish.

Metal Sonic laughed and disdainfully shoved the firefly away from him.

"You'll have to run faster and further than that!"

Knowing it would infuriate the machine Sonic grinned again and repeated, "Easy!"

Knuckles was already stalking ahead, looking for some clue as to the robot's direction but Tails had gone back to the projection and was rummaging around near it's feet.

"Not much of a comms antennae," he said after a moment, picking a device up and causing the projected robot to flip upside down and half disappear into the pavement. "He's close."

"So let's find it," Knuckles demanded.

"Across the street, an industrial warehouse or factory lit up, blue and orange neon light pouring out of the open doors.

"Well that looks like an invitation," Sonic smirked.

"It looks like a trap." Knuckles scowled in that direction.

Sonic shrugged. "Honestly, lately? Same thing. Are we not going because it's a trap?"

Knuckles eyeballed the doorway. "No."

"Well then. Invitation!"

Tails laughed and Knuckles sighed.

"Fine. After you, hedgehog. It's your lookalike."

They entered the building more warily and slowly than they'd arrived at it. It was poorly lit and though the machinery was still, the racket of badly maintained air-conditioning battling the tropical heat meant they had to shout to hear one another.

Sonic wondered if they should be worried about shouting, whether it gave away their position, but since they were knowingly marching straight into trouble he decided that any attempt at stealth was probably long past pointless.

Metal Sonic would be waiting for them. Sonic himself had no doubt of it. It was his style. Or Eggman's style presumably since he designed the thing.

As was, of course oversized Eggman's-look machinery – and since the next room they entered contained both robot and creepy Eggman-shaped-tech, Sonic gave it an unimpressed look.

"Oooold, scrap-spines. Old news…. Tell your boss to get some newer ideas."

Instead of an answer they got electric bolts – which sent everyone leaping clear and prompted Knuckles to yell at him.

"Is now the time for smart remarks?"

Sonic hit the floor in a spindash and tumbled back to his feet.

"Oh, it's always the time for- ooph!"

Sonic found himself tumbling again and for a moment not even sure what had hit him.

"Uh, Sonic..." Tails called in an alarmed tone. "There's kinda a lot of them!"

Sonic accelerated into a spin, still unsure what he was hitting, and looked over his shoulder from the far side of the room to see Knuckles surrounded by undersized robot 'sonics'. It would have been funny if not for the seriousness of the situation and Sonic was halfway back towards him when Tails dived in and plucked Knuckles clear. The echidna lashed out as he dangled knocking away the literal hangers-on.

Above their heads the distorted laughter of Metal Sonic rang out. Tails and Knuckles landed beside Sonic and looked up.

"Why's he glowing pink?" Sonic asked. "That can't be good."

"The ruby?" Tails said, but didn't get a chance to speculate further as they were fully occupied between energy blasts and the mob of robots.

"We can't hold them here," Knuckles shouted.

Sonic thought about arguing but because it went against the grain to admit defeat but Knuckles had a point. The cramped quarters only favoured the robots. He glanced at the metal doors which had slammed in both directions of exit but Knuckles had not waited for his answer and had brute forced his way through the robots to tear at one of the doors, almost peeling it back more than opening it.

"That'll work," Sonic said. "Let's go!"

He felt, more than saw Tails fall in behind him, the familiar down-draft of his flight welcome reassurance that he was right there, right up with the plan and at least for the moment safe. Knuckles was already running, looking keenly from side to side, picking a route that favoured feet and real reactions and reflexes over programmed ones. A wild, obstacle course of trip hazards, scattered cover and rapid direction changes.

They'd shaken off the smaller robots and in the open the energy blasts were way less of threat. It was Metal Sonic himself who was still the danger. Fast and way more unpredictable than a robot ought to be, he pursued them, dived on them, circled around, guessed at their route and was sometimes even right. They landed the occasional shot but only seemed to amuse him.

"Enough!" he finally declared in an electric snarl. "This bores me."

The was a crash and from what seemed like nowhere a fifty foot high, spike-covered wall sprang up. For a moment there was a suggestion of the same glittery sick swirl of colours that had accompanied their rapid relocations, and then wall was simply there as though it always had been.

Tails blinked. "That was..."

"Weird. Yeah. Run!" Sonic snatched Tails' wrist and acted on his own instruction. Knuckles pounded along behind and Sonic had to trust for the moment that he was keeping up because the wall was moving and Metal was diving at them, hoping no doubt to slow them enough to get caught, or even to drive them back towards it.

Knuckles yelled, a sharp breathless cut off sound and Sonic broke stride, heaving Tails skywards.

"Up!" he yelled and Tails didn't hesitate shooting skywards. Metal Sonic laughed and the wall in a flickering series of flashing lights grew taller still, as though actively chasing the fix. Sonic felt panic threaten – had he made a mistake? But Knuckles was staggering back to his feet after whatever had happened and was inches away from the spikes and Sonic doubled back and dragged him clear, way before the echidna had his feet under him. And then Tails was diving towards them, trading height for speed having failed to out-climb the wall and Sonic threw a glance back over his shoulder and swerved violently as Metal dived for them again.

Knuckles swung for him in passing, with his free hand and caught him a glancing blow which sent him cartwheeling. There was a flash and something glittered in the air. The ruby? Tails grabbed for it and missed and it bounced on the floor. All three of them as well as Metal Sonic dived for it and it was unclear quite whose hand touched first but in any case they were spinning again, tumbling through that lurid swirl of colours again. Falling.