Chapter 9
A week has passed since Saya was taken by the Zarkon, the groups attempts at finding a piece of the Master Emerald have left them all feeling desperate and worried. TK worked tirelessly trying to make her Chaos Emerald detector work more efficiently, but none of her attempts have succeeded. She spends the time they are at Freedom HQ in the hangar bay tinkering. The night before she stayed up too late and fell asleep in front of her tool desk.
"TK! Hey, TK, are you in here?" Sophia enters the hangar bay to see TK asleep at her desk. She walks over to see the desk and floor littered with papers and blueprints. She didn't want to startle her awake, so she gently places her hand on her shoulder and shakes her lightly, "TK, you gotta wake up." The movement still startles her awake as she sits up quickly and almost falls out of her chair, but Sophia catches her.
"Who? Where?" She looks at Sophia, "What time is it?" She asked as Sophia helps her to her feet.
"It's ten in the morning. We all got worried when you didn't show up for breakfast." She said crossing her arms, "I know you want to make that tablet work more efficiently, but you can't keep sacrificing your health for it. It's freezing in here you could have gotten sick." She said.
"How can I sleep when Saya has been Spira's prisoner for a week… we don't even know if…" She stops herself from thinking it, shaking her head to try to get rid of the dark thoughts.
"We've all said it at least once to one another. How are we going to save her if we're too exhausted to stand?" She said as Caroline and Brandy enter the hangar bay and walk up.
"Oh thank goodness you're okay! We were so worried!" Caroline said giving TK a hug,
"Maybe we should hold off on our search today…" Sophia said,
"No!" TK said desperately, "I'll go to sleep right after were done for the day, please…"
"Fine, but if you start looking too tired, we head back here immediately. I won't hesitate to sick DR. Q on you."
"Promise!" She said as they all transform and climb into the Twin Tornado. They planned to go further past the mountains to try and find the Master Emerald pieces. The first Two hours go by with nothing, until they hear from Elias over their headsets.
"HQ to Shadow. Do you copy!"
"We hear you, what's up?" Shadow said,
"The Zarkon were spotted on the outside of the mountain range to the west!" He said as they all look at each other excited,
"Isn't that the way we're heading?" Cream realized,
"Who cares! We can finally fight Spira!" Tails said flying towards the destination.
They make it to the location they were given and see the small group of Zarkon from a distance when Blaze begins to sense it and Cream notices Tails' tablet begin to show a light.
"Tails! I think your tablet is working!" Cream said,
"What?" Shadow asked,
"I can confirm it, I can feel the presence of the Master Emerald piece.
"Where?" She asked,
"It looks like underneath the Zarkon…" Cream said as Tails lands the Twin Tornado nearby and they run up to the Zarkon. The first thing Tails notices is that they all have at least one mechanical limb, where that wasn't the case before.
"Where's Spira?" Blaze called out to the Zarkon but none of them respond.
"Good, we get to do this the hard way." Shadow said popping her knuckles as they all charge and fight the Zarkon. It takes them little time to defeat them as they teleport away. But something felt off to all of them about the encounter.
"Where's the Emerald piece?" TK asked as Blaze goes over to a small hole and reaches inside pulling out a piece of the Master Emerald.
"Why were the Zarkon after the Master Emerald piece?" Cream asked,
"How would they even know about it?" Shadow asked,
"Maybe they got the information from Sonic…" Blaze said,
"Do you really think she'd give away information?" Tails said,
"Sonic would never do that; she would never compromise her friends." Shadow said,
"You sound confident," Cream said to Shadow with a smile causing her to become flustered. She looks over and notices that Tails is lost in thought,
"What is it Tails?" Shadow said, they could see the gears turning, she was thinking about something and the expression on her face showed that it was something important
"Oh my gosh!" She yelled, snapping out of her thoughts, "Oh, I am so stupid! I can't believe I can be so smart but at the same time be so stupid!" Shadow looks over at Cream and Blaze who look at Tails extremely confused.
"Tails, what are you talking about?" Blaze asked,
"Maybe the lack of sleep caused her to snap?" Shadow said,
"Don't say that!" Cream argued,
"I haven't snapped! I'm just upset to how blind I've been," She said.
"Blind to what Tails? We don't understand." Cream said,
"Put the pieces together! Spira's mechanical arm, the robots, the certain fixation on Sonic and now the knowledge of the Master Emerald… It all adds up." Tails explained.
"It was never Dr. Kintobor, but Dr. Robotnik." Shadow said.
"Eggman! He's behind all of it. He has to be Spira's secret partner." Tails said as Shadow clenches her fist feeling so stupid at how blind they all have been."
"How did we not see it?" Cream asked,
"We all thought Sonic defeated Eggman for good, we let out minds believe that is was a permanent fix… But we should have realized when there's Sonic there will always be Eggman. The struggle will never end." Tails said.
"Freedom Fighters do you copy!" They hear Elias over the headsets.
"We copy, all of the Zarkon ran, and we found a piece of the Master Emerald." Shadow said,
"Get back to HQ immediately! We just received something and you're going to want to see it." He said as they don't even make eye contact with one another as they all run to the Twin Tornado and head back to Freedom HQ as fast as they can.
"We got here as fast as we could, what's going on?" Shadow said as they enter the computer room and transform back.
"This… It's a recording, from Saya." Sally said,
"What?" TK said,
"We haven't watched it yet; we were waiting on you." Elias said,
"Play the video." Brandy said as Elias hits the button and they all watch in expectation.
One day earlier
back on the Zarkon ship. Saya hadn't seen Spira for the past few days and she was beginning to worry. She'd constantly go over to the hidden door to knock to try to get her attention but would stop before she actually put her fist on the wall. "She just needed more time, that's all." Saya repeated in her head multiple times. Her next concern was if this takes any longer, she's going to meet this mystery partner that she was certain was Dr. Kintobor. That was the last thing she wanted. Before she realized it, the door opens and one of the Zarkon enter.
"Come with me." He said, Saya froze at first… Was she too late? She swallows her fear and follows him out of the corridor. The Hallway was brighter than her room and looked completely different from the room she was imprisoned in. She now felt like she had entered a science fiction movie. The Zarkon walked down the corridor as Saya followed, she was so distracted at first from the new surroundings that she didn't realize the Zarkon was not forcing her to go with him. On top of that she wasn't guarded by gunpoint or restrained in any way, she could run at any time. But there was a part of her that wanted to know where they were going.
They walk into an open room that looks like what she could only guess is the control room. There were monitors and consoles that had a strange language written on it. She sees Spira standing near one of the windows looking out towards space. The Zarkon steps out of the way as Saya takes a deep breath and walks over to her.
"Uh… Hey," Saya said with a weak smile as Spira turns to her.
"Hello Sonic, I apologize for not coming to you sooner."
"No it's cool, I'm kinda your prisoner so it's not like I'm going anywhere." She joked,
"I had a lot to think about… I even discussed it with my men, and I reached a decision. I will accept your offer of negotiation." Spira said as Saya just stares at her for a second in shock of what she just heard. "Is everything alright?" she reaches for Saya trying to get her to snap out of it.
"Yeah, sorry, this is great!" Saya said with a bright smile. "I have to be honest; I didn't think I'd be able to really convince you."
"Well, when I went to talk to my men they were just as confused as I was. But when they realized we could get the materials we need without the need for violence they were all for it. I didn't realize how tired my men were of fighting. So, if it is alright with you we shall try it your way Sonic." Spira explained,
"It's Saya, in this form my name is Saya." She said with a smile feeling comfortable enough to give Spira her real name,
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm used to calling you Sonic; do you mind if I continue to do so?" She asked,
"Well, if it's easier for you, then sure" she said with a shrug.
"Thank you. Now, how is this going to work?" She asked.
"We should send a message to my team so I can smooth things over with them. If we have the rest of the Freedom Fighters on our side, I think the negotiations will go better." She said,
"That makes sense, we can send them a recorded video through this monitor."
"Can't you just get them on your comms?" Saya asked,
"A live feed would be easier for outside influences to track; they could not only find the ship but also your base." Spira explained, as she began to press some of the buttons of the controller.
"Recorded message it is! How does it work?" Saya asked standing in front of the monitor.
"When you want to start recording just press this button." She points to it, "After you finish the message press the button again. I've already set it to when the message is completed it will send as an encryption to your Freedom HQ? I believe that's what you called it?"
"That's way past cool! Alright! Here goes nothing!" Saya said pressing the button as the recording starts. "Hi guys! I hope you're all doing okay! You are not going to believe the week I've had. But why don't we keep this a little short… Spira and the Zarkon…" A loud crash is heard as the lights flicker and everyone grabs something to hold onto. "What just happened?" She asked as they hear another crash.
"We're being attacked!" One of the men said,
"By whom?" Spira asked,
"I'm not sure, apparently another ship is trying to board us," He responded as there was another crashing sound that shook the floor.
"There's another ship?" Saya yelled holding onto the control panel trying to keep her balance,
"The ships been breached! They're boarding us." Another of the Zarkon said,
"What?" Saya said,
"Sonic, Hurry and transform, we might need your help." Spira said,
"Good idea," She said letting go of the control panel, "The seven servers are the seven Chaos, Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart, the heart is the…AH!" A blast goes through a nearby wall knocking Saya down against the control panel.
"Are you alright?" Spira asked as she helps Saya to her feet.
"That's going to bruise in the morning…" She said holding her side where she hit into the control panel.
"They broke through our defenses! We can't hold them…" The man at the monitor said as something strikes him in the back making it look like he was hit by an electric current and falls over.
"Stay behind me," Spira took a defensive position between Saya and the hole in the wall as they could hear mechanical footprints. Saya knew she couldn't transform now, not while there was an unknown assailant attacking.
"Seize them!" A raspy voice is heard from the shadows as the robots charge in. Spira gets ready to dodge her and Saya out of the way but before she could react Saya had already started charging at the robots.
"What are you doing?" Spira said shocked,
"Improvising." Saya said; she knew she might not be as fast as Sonic, but she knew she was at least fast enough to give these Swatbots a run for their money. She slides underneath one of the robots quickly as she comes to the realization, "These are Swatbots…" She said as two of the robots smash into each other trying to get to her.
"Sonic, just run!" Spira said as she's being surrounded,
"Hang on!" Saya said, She picks up a piece of scrap metal and throws it at one of the Swatbots as they all turn towards her, "Hey tin heads! Come pick on somebody a fourth your size!" She grinned as two of them charge at her. One makes a grab at her with their giant claw, but she easily jumps out of the way. "Ha! Is that the best you got?" she taunted as two more lunge at her. "Whoa! Apparently not." as she barely gets out of the way making the two crash into one another giving her just enough of an opening to slip between the Swatbots and stand next to Spira.
"Sonic, get out of here. Save yourself." Spira said as Saya looks at all the exits seeing they were crawling with Swatbots.
"But she already knows there's nowhere for her to go." The voice said as the robots stop their advance pointing their weapons at Saya and Spira. A man slowly walks out of the shadows as the voice seems familiar to Saya. "I knew Spira captured you, but I had to make sure. There's only one creature alive that can move like that and still have the time for witty banter." Saya knew who this was the second she saw him. His bright red flight jacket, Goggles on top of his bald head and large bushy mustache. "Hello, Sonic… Or should I call you Saya?" he said with a bow.
"Eggman…" Saya said half not wanting to believe it. He looked identical to the man she knew in her past life.
"Dr. Robotnik, what is the meaning of this?" Spira said,
"Wait…He's your mystery partner?" Saya said just now putting all the pieces together. As she face palms now realizing how obvious it was. "Wow… I must be losing my touch."
"Apologies Miss Spira, but after your last communication that my services were no longer needed, I had to make an appearance in person." Eggman said as Saya realizes the monitor is still recording. If she could get close enough she could send a message to her friends and warn them. "Especially since you didn't deliver to me what you promised."
"Alright Eggman, you win. We surrender." Saya said taking them both off guard as she takes a large step back towards the monitor with her hands up.
"That was much easier than I thought," He said collecting himself, "I was sure I was going to have to threaten more people before you surrendered." Eggman said as he relaxes a bit,
"I'm not dumb, look at my odds. We're completely surrounded on top of being in space." She slowly stepped back every time Eggman took eye contact off her. "Where exactly would I go?"
"Smart choice, now be a good girl and come over here so I can get a better look at you." Eggman said with a grin that made her wince.
"Sure… Just, one more thing…" Saya quickly turns around at the monitor, "Eggman's behind all of it and he's captured me and the Zarkon!" She said as a blast of energy hits her in the back causing an electric current to go through her, but she fights her muscles locking up long enough for her to slam down the button stopping the recording and it sending to Freedom HQ before she collapses.
They all watch in horror as the recording cuts out. They stay quiet for a second staring at the now black screen. Their worries about if Saya was okay or not have now multiplied with the visual proof that Eggman now has her. "What's the time stamp?" TK asked as everyone snaps out of it.
"Tikal!" Elias called out as she appears next to him, "Who is this Eggman?"
"He's awakened?" She asked surprised,
"Wait, awoken? You knew Eggman's reincarnation would eventually show up?" Sophia asked,
"Is he the one we were supposed to awaken for?" Brandy asked,
"Yes, Dr. Eggman was supposed to try to take over the world with his robot army and the seven of you rise up to stop him… But the Zarkon appeared and changed everything…" She explained,
"When were you going to tell us?" TK asked,
"I was going to after you defeated the Zarkon, I never thought he would be in an alliance with them." Tikal said,
"We should have seen this sooner…" Brandy said.
"We have to keep looking for the pieces of the Master Emerald." Sophia said, "Before Dr. Robotnik gets his hands on them.
"Yes, if Eggman gets a piece of the Master Emerald he'd have enough energy to create an army of robots." Tikal said,
"So no pressure…" Sophia said sarcastically. They all realized the longer that Saya has been away the more the odds become stacked against them.
"We need to be careful, if this Eggman is the real threat, we don't know what he's planning." Elias said,
"Or what he's going to do with Saya…" Caroline said, as they all lower their heads… trying not to think about what she might be going through.
Saya quickly sits up, her entire body throbbed in pain. She looks around to see she's in a small metal room with a bed and a small restroom attached. Now she truly felt like a prisoner. She stands up and walks over to the door, there was no handle and no windows in the room. Saya had no idea where she was or what happened after she got zapped. She knew the only way to escape would be to turn into Sonic… but she had no idea how long it would take for her to escape, not to mention find Spira as well. The door bursts open as she jumps back to see two Swatbots stand in the doorway pointing their weapons at her. "Um… I surrender?" She said putting her hands up,
"Hands out!" One of them said, she slowly holds out her hands half afraid the robot was either going to chop her hands off or shoot her. The robot clamps down on her hands placing heavy handcuffs around her wrists. The weight takes her off guard for a second as she almost loses her balance.
"Follow." The other one said
"You know maybe I'll just stay here…" Saya said as the one to her right grabs the shackles and pulls her out of the room. "Never mind…"
"Get Moving." The first one said as they led her down the hallway, one leading and the other behind Saya with a gun pressed behind her back. She began to miss being Spira's prisoner, this was more what she expected from the beginning. They enter a room covered in mechanics with a large table in the middle that begins to move facing her.
"I'm not liking where this is going…" Saya stops as the Bot behind her pushes her forward, she doesn't move her feet but the strength of the Swatbots easily moves her toward the table. They turn her around and remove the cuffs before pushing her against the table as thick metal straps wrap around her wrists and ankles. The table lifts and lays back down. "If this thing starts spinning, I will puke on all of you." She struggled against the restraints.
"Still confident enough to make jokes I see." Eggman said walking into the room.
"I always have enough energy for jokes. It's like you don't know me at all Eggman." Saya said with a smirk.
"Oh, but I don't know you, do I?" He said walking over to the table standing over her, "And I have to say, seeing you in this form is rather… unusual."
"What? Because I'm human now? Or does me being a girl cause a problem?" She taunted,
"On the contrary, this works better in my favor. Especially since the rest of your team is also girls." He smiles,
"Yeah you should probably stop saying it like that… you're leaning out of Evil Mastermind and into creepy pervert territory…" She said as he coughs uncomfortable.
"I just meant that you and your teams human forms might not be as powerful as your former Mobian selves…" He said looking apologetic,
"Thank you, I appreciate the clarification." She said as his expression changes to annoyance.
"Don't patronize me rodent… But speaking of your team, I would love to know your friends names." He said,
"That's an easy one! Their names are Tails, Cream, Blaze and Shadow… But I thought you already knew that." She smiled back as he frowns not amused. He presses a button on the table as the metal restraints send an electric shock through her.
"I'll get the information from you eventually. We have all the time in the world." He said walking over to a small table.
"Torture me all you want! I will never give you anything." She said beginning to struggle trying to get out of the restraints.
"There will be plenty of time for that." He said turning around and walking back over holding a syringe. "Now, try not to move around too much."
"Oh no! You stay away from me with that, Ow!" He grasps her arm and stabs the needle into her shoulder and draws some blood. He pulls the needle out and wipes away the blood.
"Incredible! Even this far away from the Master Emerald and you still have your regenerative power." He said thinking.
"How do you know about the Master Emerald?" Saya asked,
"I knew there had to be a power source you were all using to transform, and after doing some research I noticed there were shards of the Master Emerald scattered. I almost got my hands on a piece, but your friends got there quicker than I anticipated." He said, Saya realized he didn't know they carried the Chaos Emeralds.
"Someone has to be a thorn in your side while I'm stuck here." Saya said with a grin, distracting him away from the subject of the Master Emerald. His eyes narrow as he presses the button shocking her again causing her muscles to tense.
"That's all for now, take her back to her cell." He said as the table moves up again and the metal restraints unlock as the bots point their weapons at her once again.
"Hands out," One said as Saya put her hands out and the metal cuffs were put on her wrists again as they start ushering her into the hallway.
"Wait! What did you do with Spira?" She asked trying to stop the Swatbots from moving her forward.
"That's of no concern of yours." Eggman said going to his computer as she's forced back into the hallway back towards her cell. She noticed there were still no windows, which meant Eggman's comment about being far away from the Master Emerald signified they had to be underground somewhere. They remove the cuffs and push her into the room before slamming the door. Saya began to look around the room more thoroughly for a means of escape. She notices an air vent on the ceiling, she could easily fit inside it, but she'd have to transform into Sonic for her to reach it. She was really beginning to miss her friends but the best thing she could do now was stay strong until she figures out her escape plan. The door swings open again taking her by surprise as the robot forces a metal cup into her hands then closes the door again.
"That… was weird…" She said as she looks at the contents of the cup, it looks like a green smoothie. She sticks her nose over the top to see how bad it smelt, but it smelt of strawberries and basil. Her first instinct is to believe it was poisoned, but then she remembered what Spira said about how it would be silly to capture her just to feed her poison. She swallows her pride and takes a sip realizing it didn't taste too bad. It was just a protein shake. She realized Eggman was probably going to give her just enough sustenance to stay alive but not enough to fight back. She knew the longer she was here, the harder it would be for her to escape.
A day passes, no interrogation from Eggman or anything. Saya began to feel antsy as she paced around the small room feeling trapped. Why would Eggman go through all this trouble? Their rivalry has gone for a long time so why wouldn't he just kill her? And why align with the Zarkon if he was going to betray them? What did he do with Spira and the rest of the Zarkon? For all she knew Spira could be in a cell similar to hers or worse. She shakes her head trying not to think about it. Saya takes a deep breath, she couldn't wait any longer, she has a small window for escape, and she should use it before Eggman has a chance to experiment on her… or worse, robotisize her.
"Alright I can't just sit here. The seven servers are the seven Chaos, Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart, the heart is the controller, the controller serves to unify the Chaos, Chaos Control!" She transforms into Sonic and swiftly jumps into the air vent and crawls through the air duct. She quickly realized that air ducts weren't as large as they were in movies and her movement was slowed because of it. She knew if she wanted to have her speed she needed to be in less tight spaces. After some time she finds a grated opening and looks for any Swatbots in the vicinity. Nothing catches her eyes as she hastily opens the grate and climbs out as cautiously as possible. She would have to tell Sophia later how she was able to be sneaky.
Sonic continues forward for over an hour keeping as quiet as she can while trying to find Spira. But she also knew if she found the exit before finding Spira she'd have to escape on her own. At least if she could escape, she could come back with her friends. Sonic opened every door she could find that wasn't locked. Every room was either empty or were building robots.
"C'mon Spira, where are you? At some point I'm going to run out of time…" Sonic whispered to herself looking at her Chaos Emerald that was starting to dim as she gets to a large, locked door. She peers through the small window and sees Spira inside. All she had to do now was get the door open and they could escape. But she knew the moment she forced this door open the alarms would probably go off. She pulls the box off the lock panel wishing Tails was here to do this or guide her through it. She had no idea what she was doing. She looks for a red wire, it's always the red wire, and pulls it out. A click sound is made as the door opens. "Holy crap it worked! She said entering the room and shaking her awake, "Spira? Hey, you okay?" she asked as Spira sits up holding her head.
"Sonic?"
"No time to explain, we gotta juice." She said helping Spira to her feet.
"How did you escape?" She asked,
"I'm Sonic remember? Are you okay to move?" Sonic asked as Spira nods as Sonic lets go,
"Thank you," She said,
"You can thank me after we get out of here in one piece." Sonic said as the alarms sound, "Huh, I was actually expecting for that to go off a long time ago," She said as they run out a group of Swatbots heads towards them, "This way!" Sonic grabs Spira by the wrist and they begin to run away.
"Where are we going?" She asked,
"Not sure, just away from here. I don't know how much time I have before I transform back, and fighting will waste what time we have." Sonic said as she continued to run.
"We must be underground somewhere, there are no windows." Spira said,
"Yeah, I came up with the same conclusion. Which means when we see light, we'll find an exit." Sonic said as a Swatbot jumps in their path. Sonic lets go of Spira and jumps into the air and spin dashes through the bot and it falls to the ground. "We gotta keep moving!" She said as Spira nods and they continue forward. Sonic looks down at her Chaos Emerald and could tell the light was almost gone.
"Sonic, there's light up ahead!" Spira said as She looks up to see the light reflecting around the corner.
"Aw yeah! Next stop freedom!" Sonic said picking up the pace turning the corner but what they saw was not a way out but was something Sonic only saw in her nightmares… "You have got to be kidding me…" She stops in front of a large window, just seeing outside made her realize she was in a worse predicament than she thought. This wasn't an underground base, but an underwater base.
"What in the world?" Spira said,
"Underwater base? Really?" Sonic said loudly as she feels the back of her spines stand straight. She jumps out of the way as Spira's metal hand attempted to strike her. "Uh, Spira? What are you doing?"
"I… Have no control of my arm." She said grasping the metal arm looking panicked trying to fight back as Swatbots begin running towards them from both directions.
"This is a really bad time for your arm to go haywire," Sonic said as she jumps away from Spira again and her transformation ends. "Well it's official… I must have the worst luck in the world today…" She said as they're surrounded. "I may not have my powers, but I can still fight."
"Oh ho, ho! I wouldn't expect it any other way!" Eggman said walking up.
"Man even being reincarnated your laugh is still as annoying as ever..." She said rolling her eyes,
"Best get used to it now, because you're not going anywhere." He said,
"Sonic run, if you can escape you can get reinforcements." Spira said still struggling against the robotic hand.
"Yes Sonic, why don't you run?" Eggman said as all of the Swatbots aim their weapons at Spira. Saya knew she couldn't just leave Spira to die, on top of that where would she go? She has no idea how large this place is, not to mention the fact that they're underwater. Her shoulders slump in defeat knowing she's beaten. "Good girl, now, bring her to me." Two of the bots grab her by the forearms and pulls her towards Eggman and Spira. "This should prevent you from trying to escape again,"
"Yeah? How are you going to stop me?" Saya said with a grin as Eggman pulls out a small device. Spira's Mechanical hand starts moving again. With one fast motion the metal hand strikes her right shin. Saya at first only hears a loud crack but then her entire body pulsates with immense pain as she just now realizes what happened trying to hold back screams and tears.
"I'm so sorry Sonic…" Spira said with a horrified look,
"It's not your fault, he made the arm…" Saya glared at Eggman trying not to think about the pain as she continued to struggle.
"Now, if you behave, I won't have to break your other leg." He said,
"That's never going to happen Egghead! You know I'll always fight against you!" Saya said as he presses a button and one of the robots shocks her as she cries out in pain.
"I will break your spirit. You may have gotten that message to your friends, but they will never find you down here." He said as the pain became too much, and she passes out. "Take them back to their cells. After I brace her leg, we'll begin the real work."
Around the same time
"Blaze! Blaze wake up!" Brandy quickly sits up trying to wake up as she sees Tikal standing over her bed,
"What is it Tikal?" She asked half asleep as she slowly climbed out of bed,
"You must wake the others, Sonic just transformed. She's back on earth!" She said,
"What? Go tell Elias!" She runs to the door opening hers as Caroline opens her door.
"I heard everything, go wake Sophia, I got TK." She said running to her door.
"Sophia!" Brandy yells and she bursts into her room, "Get up!"
"What the hell Brandy… It's the middle of the night." Sophia said sitting up.
"Tikal can sense Sonic! She's back on earth! She said Saya transformed."
"What?" Sophia jumps to her feet and gets in front of Brandy faster than she could blink. "Go tell Elias and Sally!" She said as the alarms sound,
"Already told Tikal to do that." Brandy said as they move into the hall.
"Good job!" She said as they all run towards the computer room where Elias and Tikal were already there with Sally not far behind them.
"Where is she?" TK asked,
"I'm not sure… I know she's on earth, but her presence is fuzzy. She's extremely far away…" She tries to concentrate as she grabs her head, "No… Something's wrong…" Her eyes widen, "No! the Emerald's fading! I… I can't!" The electronics begin to freak out as half of the monitors explode. Both Sophia and Brandy cover TK and Caroline from the blast as all of the power goes out.
"Is everyone okay?" Sally called out as she turns on a flashlight.
"I think so… TK, Caroline?" Sophia asks as they both nod,
"We're okay," Caroline said,
"Where'd Tikal go?" Brandy asked looking around.
"Go check the Alter room. We'll clean up here." Elias said as they all nod and head towards the Alter room.
"What was that all about?" TK asked,
"I hope Tikal is alright." Caroline said, as they enter the room, and everything was dark except for the glow from the Master Emerald that was slowly pulsating.
"Tikal?" Sophia called out but they hear no answer as they slowly walk up to the Master Emerald.
"What's going on?" Caroline asked,
"Tikal used too much energy, that's why the systems freaked out," Brandy explained as Tikal appears with a pained look. If she wasn't a spirit of Chaos energy, there would be tears in her eyes.
"Are you alright?" TK asked,
"I… I'm sorry… I couldn't find her in time," Tikal said, "She was too far away, I wasn't able to pinpoint her location with my power…" She lowers her head.
"Damn it!" Sophia yells as she punches one of the stone pillar near the alter.
"Calm down, we'll find her." Caroline said,
"It's because we haven't found all of the Master Emerald pieces." Brandy said,
"And what? Having the Master Emerald complete would find her? We've been searching for pieces for almost a week and a half and have only found one piece." Sophia said,
"No…" Tikal said as they all turn to her confused, "Sonic's Chaos Emerald is hidden, almost as if something is blocking me."
"Eggman…" TK said,
"We need to complete the Master Emerald." Caroline said,
"That won't be enough if Eggman's using something to hide her." Brandy said,
"Then what do we do? We're alone in this!" Sophia said,
"But we're not alone," Brandy said,
"What?" TK said,
"Tikal, with the pieces we've been able to find would you be able to find another one of the Seven Servers?" She asked,
"Elias asked me to start my search after Sonic was taken. I believe I'm close to finding them… Give me a little time." She said disappearing back into the Master Emerald.
"I'm going to go help Elias with the Computer room, try to get the lights back on at least. TK said walking back down the stairs.
"I'm going to go see if I can help, you two try to get some more sleep" Sophia said following after TK.
"There's no way I can go back to sleep with the amount of adrenalin going through my system." Brandy said with a sigh as the lights turn on.
"Then let's go make everyone breakfast. We don't know how long it's going to take Tikal to find the other Server and we need to be ready for when we do." Caroline said. Brandy nods as they head to the kitchen trying to calm themselves from the sudden news.