8.

Silence reigned in the dispersion chamber.

"That means nothing," Shade said. "So you are a mercenary. Anyone can be paid to wield the blade." She inched closer, pressing the edge of the illuminated scythe to his throat.

Espio's mouth tightened. "I'm not on his side."

He continued with that same unflinching calm: "You have no reason to believe I'm anyone of use to you. Fair enough. But even though you may not know me, I know who you are and that's what matters. I needed to prove you were the Procurator for myself."

Her outer self feigned disinterest while her inner self reeled a little. He didn't know the title, she rationalized. He was trying to bait her with that information.

"Hmph." Stepping back, she sheathed her blades. Baiting or not, a true enemy wouldn't waste his breath like this. "Forget it. I have no time for riddles."

Damn him, but he went infuriatingly on. "You won't be able to get to Knuckles and Rouge from here. It's too heavily fortified. Besides, this is what they're really after."

Climbing to his feet, he picked up the fallen Emerald and paced back to reactivate the wall-mounted control panel as if he'd never been knocked against the cracked glass and threatened, which only grew her curiosity. Just who was he to walk away?

A negative light blinked crimson, followed by an error screen. "Shoot," he muttered, spinning around. "Guard change; I can't take this Emerald. You've got to come with me right away."

"Where?"

"Someplace safe."

"Which is?"

He stopped halfway down the catwalk where they came from, locking his helm into place. "If I told you, would you trust me?"

Trust? Shade's instincts prickled at the very word. They did even more so at the Emerald in his hand, the source of everyone's coveting and resultant suffering.

Yes, she trusted once. Look where her blind faith would have landed her: unmourned by her own lord. Yet she couldn't deny that the path ahead was bound to be laden with disaster, and if her time with Sonic and his friends had proven anything to her, it was not a path to be walked alone.

If such trust operated on mere principle and nothing else, she must accept.

With a heavy sigh, she cast the ground a disgruntled look. "For now."

He flashed a thumbs up: relief? Of course, anyone would be relieved at the prospect of being spared. He, like she, would simply have to begin again. Not to mention it was a matter of common sense. If he knew the best way to extricate Knuckles and Rouge, then she would be a fool not to listen.

Shade took a moment to gaze upon the waning Master Emerald.

Nocturne, she thought to the nameless echidnas beyond her reflection, another liar deceives you. The words came from nowhere but that burning place deep inside her heart, where she placed a hand over her chest.

Don't listen.

And they ran.

Two figures armed with flashlights splashed through a decrepit tunnel. One, big and bulky, monitored its smaller companion as it stuck its head into a grate.

"Remember to check them upper hatches, too. Maybe the loch ness'll show up."

"Uh-huh."

"Don't say 'uh-huh' just to shut me up, y'hear? You really gotta check."

"Nothing." Charmy released his hold on the grate, letting it slam shut and echo brassy vibrations. "It's been half an hour since the guard changed and he still hasn't answered. What's taking him so long?"

"Well, you know Eggman. Always crackin' the whip."

"Yeah, but—"

"Shh." Vector halted them dead in their tracks. He turned stiffly and aimed his beam toward the ceiling, where a rat scuttled out of view from behind a damaged pipe. "Hear that?"

Annoyed, Charmy tapped his helmet.

He winced. "Sorry." Faintly, the humming noise grew above them, and he clicked the flashlight off.

"Goon patrol," he sighed, "better book it."

Charmy was already gone.

"Espio." Their footsteps ground to a halt as Shade pointed at a pair of drones sweeping through the tunnel, pouring light onto their trail. A crimson glow retracted underneath their carapaces, scanning the dust they'd raised darting through the entrance. The drones turned so suddenly in their direction they made her clench her fist around the handle of her blade. "Does every guard change come with an escort, or is this a 'special' occasion?"

He ignored her question, missing its undertone of contempt altogether. "No sudden movements. These things always outrun us."

"How fast can it be?"

"Wait!"

A small chunk of concrete stung her cheek as she rushed forth to engage them. Slapping back the bruise more than provided the drones enough time to dive low to the ground, their blades chopping at a brutal pace.

She leapt aside before one of them smashed itself into the limestone where she stood, effectively destroying itself. This time another stone whistled hairbreadths past her, making her stumble and lose her footing. Espio pulled her out of the way.

"That must be Charmy."

"Who?"

"Me," said a bee as he winced one eye shut from a grate just above them. "Sorry for the shiner. Now don't move." Pulling back the band until it creaked, he let the bullet zip free. It clinked harmlessly against the drone's blades, ground to bits within its central band.

It still approached, blades buzzing, bent on avenging its fallen partner.

"Charmy," Espio said, backing up a little, "it didn't do anything."

"Just wait."

A thin drizzle of smoke puffed out as a clangor finally registered within the drone's body. Then it froze with a horrible rattle as the rocks hit the engine. A crocodile emerged from behind, wielding two bricks in his hands, which he smashed together to flatten the shaking carapace.

"You jokers're really beginnin' to tick me off! Scram!"

The blades caught, and the strain from forcing them to move within such a mangled space overheated the drone's CPU. Emitting one last belch of black smoke, it sputtered out and lay still at their feet.

Shade pried herself from the wall as Espio climbed over the rocks to join the crocodile in surveying the damage.

"There," he clapped the dust from his hands, "that oughta keep you ocupado for a little while." He spotted them with a massive, toothy grin and clapped a hand over Espio's shoulder. "'bout time you showed your mug! Man, your feed cut out fifteen minutes ago and Charmy was gettin' squirrelly. What's the hold-up?"

Shade stepped forth.

"Ha, usually is." Planting a foot on the drone's carcass, he stuck out a hand. She simply stared at it. "Name's Vector, don't forget it! Pleased to meet ya," he added with a wink.

He called their other companion back from shooting pebbles at the tunnel wall.

Gods, Shade thought. He's no more than a child. Though gangly folded arms and the scowl on his face suggested he was in the midst of growing pains, his round body and short stature said otherwise. He was dressed in a faded green jacket with the symbol of a bee sewn on one sleeve, while the other sported a blocky capital G encircled by seven white stars. He wore an aviation helmet, cracked on one side, and goggles bound to its dull surface. His sneakers were rent and dirt-smudged.

"And I'm Charmy. Not that anyone asked."

"Charmy, manners."

"What? It's the truth, isn't it?"

Shade had no idea what any of this had to do with their circumstances. "I'm sorry, but we can't wait for long. We need to find Knuckles and Rouge."

"Hold up." Vector threw out his palms. "Wait, you don't mean—"

Espio paled, his voice on edge. "They've returned."

The one called Charmy plucked the band of his slingshot like a violin string. "Guys, you think every crashed ship is them. It's probably just another false alarm." He looked over at Shade, eyes narrowed. "But even if it wasn't… How do we know this ain't one of Eggman's dirty tricks?"

She registered the implicit accusation right away. "I wouldn't work for him. Not on my life."

"That's what the last one said."

"Charmy," Vector scolded. He turned, rubbing the back of his scaly neck. "Eh, you'll have to excuse him, he's lost his manners these past few years. Don't help that puberty's turning him into a real monster, heh."

The bee folded his arms, tapping one hole-punched sneaker toe against the tunnel floor. "Excuse me, Vector, but it's Charmzilla now?"

Espio raised a hand to block Vector squarely in the chest. "Let it go."

"But—"

"Let it go, Vector."

"Who knows what the doctor's bound to have done to them by now?" Shade asked. "My original point still stands. We must hurry."

"That's just the thing," Vector said. "If they came back, so did the Emeralds. An' we're all gonna be in a real jam if he gets his hands on those."

"Speaking of," said Espio as he produced the yellow gem.

"It returns!" And they crowded to admire it. "Wouldja look at that, boys. The genuine article."

"Lemme see!" Charmy popped in front of them. "It's so warm."

To their surprise, Shade marched forth and snatched the Emerald back. Treacherous thing; even the warmth it emitted, a facade masking a dark intent. Sonic's pure heart couldn't prevent that.

"Why must we follow these?" she asked severely. "What have they ever done except bring about disaster and suffering?"

Her fingers tightened around its facets, and it only seemed to glow brighter, almost burning. This world would be better off if she destroyed them. If she could crush this one right now—

Charmy shot the others a told-you-so look.

A hand on her shoulder; she flinched at its gentle touch.

"This isn't our first trip on the go-round," Vector said softly, pointing to their dual reflection in the facets. "The boss's been trying to get those things for years. Every time he did, it wasn't sunshine and roses."

"You can't fight fate," she said. "What happened every time he used Emeralds for evil? Sonic was there to set them right."

You were fortunate. You had a guardian.

She heard them in snatches. Horrifying ordeals. Chaos returned with a wrathful heart, flooding a city full of innocents. A Gizoid awakened as a weapon of war. A space colony, Shadow's birthplace, fell on a crash course toward the planet. The planet itself broke apart and was used like a plaything.

They blamed the Doctor for these episodes, and rightfully so—but what they neglected to discuss was how perpetually good and evil warred. No matter who the opponents were, their struggle never truly ceased. When it came to a war so ancient, the Emeralds always chose the greater will, as they had no will of their own.

For them, fate so decreed that Sonic had the greatest will of all. But… what if his protection failed? What if he faltered, if just for a moment? She shuddered to consider what evil would slip through the gaps, and hoped they'd never encounter the Emeralds again.

Even she had been blinded by the good a pure heart channeled through them. The warmth inside the cathedral was a moment's reprieve from Ix, a ray of sun shining through a break in storm clouds.

But that didn't make the necessity right, nor did they provide a lasting solution. If he wanted to eliminate the suffering in this world, Sonic should have scattered the Emeralds through space, where even Argus could not reach them. Didn't they see? Otherwise they would reenact this fight time and again, their fight senseless and endless.

And these people, how could they choose the Emeralds over their friends? If they kept blindly chasing them at the expense of everything else… Tails…

(might not have made it)

She looked up to distract herself from that frightening notion, at the graffiti-sprayed walls. If she squinted, she'd swear she detected hints of rune carving… "What is this place, anyway?"

"What used to be the city before the new one was built over it. We used to move through these old subterranean tunnels," Espio said, "until Eggman started bombing them to seal them off. Now we use the back alleys where the forcefields are least active."

"Why hasn't he dismantled the surface buildings?"

Charmy coughed. "Because this place is an eyesore enough."

Espio shrugged, as though he'd never considered the matter before. "Hasn't gotten around to it, I guess. No one's lived in those apartments for years except the underground. He uses them for storage from time to time."

"Storage, meaning… ?"

"Energy containers, weapons—"

"Old hopes and dreams," Vector piped in with a heartily pumped fist. "Blown so many on accident we lost count."

"How very adventurous," she deadpanned. Turning back to Espio: "You certainly have interesting, er," she deliberated, gauging their various expressions. " …Friends."

Espio propped his helm on his hip. "That they are," he said, "but they're also family. And you know what they say about that."

Actually, she didn't. She hadn't a family, or if she had, she'd long since abandoned it for what she once believed greater and more pertinent causes. Beyond Ix's voice chanting (I am your family, your inheritance your life's blood spent in service) a quieter whisper dwelled in the back of her mind, one that had subsided over time.

Faintly, it urged

(Shade)

(Shade, don't run)

Family. The word conjured vague memories, snatches, impressions; a dusty hearth, books, a man's laughter tinged by sorrow.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Something terrible happened to cause that sorrow, hadn't it? The laughter was always inextricable from the sadness. (Shade… ) One day she disappeared from that life, and Ix—

(don't run)

And Ix—

(if he wants you)

(he will find you)

Charmy signed a question. The deepening in Espio's furrowing brow told Shade it wasn't a pleasant one. The trio had a brief back-and-forth, all three of them terse and stiff in their gestures. She couldn't say in all candor she liked being excluded from the discussion. At one point Charmy threw up his arms.

"What'd he say?"

"I said GUN's idea stinks," the bee said, before the other two could respond, "but nobody else seems to think so."

Oh. The human military. Even though she hardly knew what their conversation entailed, she might have been prone to agree with him out of principle. GUN had been too skittish to launch a proper counterattack the first time around, but in that vein proved exceedingly efficient at reorganizing its troops. She remembered giving her men orders to flush out a regiment posted in the Mystic Ruins with noxious gas: they filed out quickly once the first cannister had been thrown.

"What are they doing against him?" she asked, interrupting the further conversation that broke out. "Since arriving here I haven't seen a single vehicle or augment."

"Thank you," Charmy said. "It's like it's gettin' way too quiet around here."

"Why should it be?"

Heavy silence ensued.

At length Espio turned to her, clearing his throat. "I didn't want to tell you this, but I guess we've got no other choice. It's not lucky you and the others arrived when you did, especially since it means most everyone is going to be stuck in Metropolis."

"And," Charmy prompted, wheeling his wrist.

"And," Espio said, "GUN plans to mount an assault against the stronghold four days from now. Word through the grapevine says they're going to be using antimatter."

"What?" A thrill of anxiety speared deep inside her guts. "Antimatter's extremely dangerous, not to mention rare. How would they have even acquired such a thing?"

"To begin with? Eggman destroyed most of their machines and the particle beam accelerators that operated them. Only he has the means to create it now."

The realization hit her square in the chest.

" …No."

"It's not anything anyone chose lightly, but they said—"

"No," she pressed, retreating a step. "Everyone's up there. My people are up there, Espio, enslaved to that madman! And you'll just let the humans detonate the city without—"

An errant thought struck her as she clutched the Emerald over her heart. How far would it be from here to GUN HQ? With the tunnels pinched off and only four days to make the humans see reason, standing in a filthy tunnel among virtual strangers, her heart thumping a prey's dizzying beat, she regretted to say she only saw one choice.

Take the Emerald and run.