I have noticed a pattern for the past several chapters: action, character, action, character, action… back to character! Sheesh, we need to change things up a little.

Comments on Reviews:

SharpDragonKlaw: Thanks! Hope you also like this chapter.

Megaman07: All heck will be explained. Very soon.

StarlightSparks: Manic has become a reader favorite, and it is not really hard to see why. He's funny and relatable in a lot of sense of the word. Thank you for the review!

MelGamingPlays: Manic! Everyone's favorite to read, my least favorite to write (Halo cleans that all up. The positives of having a co-writer.) Shadow is strong, but he ain't invincible, is he?

NeckBreak: That isn't a bad idea. Amy! Get over here!

ImSoBored246: I love that username. Thanks for the review!

Caisha12: Hey again! *reads review* Um… I'm not sure how to respond to that at the moment. Halo has a tumblr. Look up her username (HaloEssence111) and you'll find her. I don't know if she has a deviantart. We can look you up.

ultimateCCC: *ZAP!* OW! Halo, don't do that!

Hawkfeather: *laughing on the ground* I can't help it! I love how physical your reviews get and- HEY! WE NEED MANIC! BRING HIM BACK! *dives in the portal after you before dragging him back* Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Hope you like this one as well.

Faso: *reads review three times* I will be honest. I HATED writing part of that last chapter. But at the same time, it was fun at certain points. Then again, that is just writing. So one: sorry you weren't as entertained as usual last time. Thank you for being honest, but not flaming. Any feedback is good feedback. Two: Every good tv show has that one episode that you just stare at and go, "why was this written?" I mean, Dave Filoni likes chasing fruit in Clone Wars and Rebels. So at least we didn't chase fruit. XD Not making excuses, just saying- the filler was filler but it was relevant filler. Yay! No random tangents! This chapter will be… different. I don't know if you'll like it, but I hope you do. Thanks for your honesty, and review!

Autumn: *gags* I'm glad we saved you from "The Bachelor". No offense to those kind of shows, but I'm with Manic on avoiding the sitcoms and reality tv.

That Speedhunter: I love how I can just see your thoughts traveling through the review. It made me laugh. And the gifs were perfect (personal favorite: The 11th Doctor yelling, "You can't just do things like that!") I hope you don't just leave your grades to read this. Go do your homework! You have a life to think about! Then come back… Are you back? Okay, continuing. LOL. Get off the floor! *helps you to your feet* Yeah, Tails has calmed down quite a bit- albeit I think everyone needs to calm down and take a chill pill. Explanation to be given in this chapter for how Sonic got infected. *facepalm* Please don't fail your classes because of our story. It will be here, promise! Just… be smart. *cut to next review* Yay! 501! And you… *points at you* You are amazing. That's all I can say, but wow. Thanks for reviewing!

tailsBOOM1992: Hello! *inbox starts dinging* Woah. Um… Okay, so I am going to respond to your suggestions in no particular order to prevent spoilers. 1. That would be extremely difficult and I don't think it could work so no. 2. One was actually planned already and I think you will see it soon. 3. They didn't exist when we planned this story so sorry. It would have been cool though. 4. It doesn't add to the plot, if anything it detracts so as much as I want to, we can't. 5. We might be able to do that. Here's chapter 51! Happy 500 review point! And woah, take a deep breath. We usually have an update every two weeks. Thanks for reviewing and the suggestions! We try and take each suggestion and see if it fits- but don't be offended if it doesn't work.

Heads up, guys- there's gonna be some pretty heavy retconning in this chapter, so don't freak out. Just roll with it.

And a lot of exposition. Like, A LOT. So buckle up. This is a chapter that is meant to "fill you in" or "put you in the loop". Basically, explain what is really going on to you and to the characters so we don't have everyone (including Team Sonic) run around with their arms flailing above them in panic and confusion while Robotnik rains down with rockets and laser fire. Although I think we filled that quota with the last chapter.

Onward!

Tail's POV:

Angel Island is not a place I wanted to spend my weekends. For one thing, Knuckles is a bit too... possessive of his Emerald. For another, it's all ancient runes and 'magic' talk. I'm scientifically minded- not huge on the whole magic thing. The whole concept of supernatural powers beyond explanation just frustrates me.

Yet here I was on Angel Island on a Saturday. Knuckles was leading us through the jungle or woods or whatever they were talking about the ancient Echidna culture with Sonia. Apparently, she was a history buff. The more you know.

Manic was somewhere behind me, jumping at every little noise. "What was that?"

I sighed, "A bird. Just like the bird before that, and the bird before that, and the bird before that. Sheesh, get a grip."

"Whaat? I'm a city boy. I ain't used to all of this… green."

"You're green!"

Manic grinned and punched me in the arm, "You know what I mean. ...Hey, did I tell you about this weird dream I had last night? Okay, so I was hanging out in Doctor Strange's sanctum sanctorum when these two teenage girls showed up and tried to drag me away-"

I tuned out after that.

Manic Charles Hedgehog. Age seventeen, ran away from home when he was ten, grew up on the streets as part of a gang, is very interested in a certain bat for reasons I don't understand, and, based on my amateur observations, is most definitely ADHD. He's an incurable kleptomaniac and a happy-go-lucky rule breaker, and doesn't seem to mind hurting people if he thinks they've "got it coming to 'em". That's about the opposite of Sonic, who's the farthest thing from a criminal that I know. Manic?... not so much.

Yet somehow I felt this… connection to him. Maybe it was just the grief of losing Sonic and the subconscious need for a brotherly figure. But honestly, I didn't think it mattered at the moment. May as well as enjoy it while it lasted before-

I cut off that thought and called out to Knuckles, "So, what exactly is this trip about?"

"We need to try Tikal again." Knuckles looked over his shoulder and smiled grimly, "Shadow said she should be able to help."

I shivered slightly at that memory. No one seemed to know what had happened that day, but one thing struck clear to me: Shadow was giving out final instructions before he shoved us back. Which meant he knew that something was going to happen to him.

"Do not do something stupid. That- thing is not your brother anymore."

What did that even mean? How could Sonic not be… Sonic?

The rest of the instructions were just as strange. Rouge got the code phrase which I later found out from the General meant, Sonic is now classified as a threat. Proceed with caution. Knuckles definitely had gotten the simplest instructions, but Tikal seemed to be giving him the silent treatment, making them virtually useless.

And now that I was really thinking about it, Manic received instructions too. "Brace yourself. You are next."

I shivered again. That was the one that made me the most nervous. Was Manic going to end up like Shadow? But unlike Shadow, Manic wasn't anything special in the physical department, no offense to him. He'd be dead in ten seconds if he was faced in a similar beatdown.

Alright, time to think of something different and get those happy thoughts out of my head. "What makes you think she's going to talk now?" I asked Knuckles.

He shrugged, "Call it a hunch. Last time I saw her was when Sofi- Sonia passed out up here."

Sonia blushed and turned her attention back to the forest. I rolled my eyes. Sonia Aleena Hedgehog. Self-proclaimed fashionista and resident psychic. Also, Knuckles' ex and Manic's favorite person. Other than that, I really didn't care enough for further observations. Sonia and I… we hadn't really talked. At all. And to be honest, I never really wanted to. I had a sister before, Lucy, and Sonia had nothing in common with her. It wasn't like I hated her or anything... I just had no desire to get to know her. Period.

We finally arrived at the center of the island, where the Master Emerald tower was. I ignored the steps and flew up, beating everyone to the top- much to Manic's annoyance.

"Hey, no fair! I can't fly!"

"You have an Extreme Gear board." I shot back, a smile spreading up my face.

"Not on me!" he laughed. "Come back here! I'll race you to the top, fair and square!"

I laughed before yelping and dodging his sudden grab for me. "Only if you catch me, slowpoke!"

We would have continued the game, but Sonia cleared her throat loudly, "Uh, guys? I don't think Tikal would appreciate you running around the Master Emerald like... hooligans. And we're here to talk to her, so... how about we all sit down?"

"Aw, lighten up, sis," Manic smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "We're just having fun!"

"You're acting like a little kid!"

"Killjoy."

"Weirdo."

Manic grinned, "Got me there." He sank to the ground and laid down on his back, staring up at the clouds. This was precisely why I didn't want a sister like Sonia. Too much of a control freak.

I sat down next to him and looked at Knuckles, "So… now what?"

Knuckles frowned, "Tikal shows up when she wants. I've never really summoned her before."

Sonia rolled her eyes and marched up to the Master Emerald, "Good morning, Chaos. We were wondering if we could see Tikal- Sooner rather than later, if you'd be so kind."

Nothing happened. Manic snorted, "Did you really think that asking nicely was going to do something?"

Sonia rolled her eyes, "Maybe. Why, do you have a better idea?"

"...Pray?"

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," said an airy, almost ethereal voice.

Manic's face was priceless as Tikal materialized out of thin air, vaguely translucent but growing steadily more solid. He made kind of a choking sound, scrambling backwards and ducking behind a pillar, peeking out very hesitantly. Sonia didn't seem shocked at all; she just glared at the guardian, her arms crossed, "Why didn't you tell me that Sonic was my brother?"

Knuckles strutted up beside her, taking a similar stance. "Now you show up! Where were you?"

It looked like I was the only one that wasn't overreacting; I just waved, "Hi, Tikal!"

"Greetings, Miles." Tikal nodded back with a friendly smile. She turned to Sonia, "I wasn't aware that Sonic was your brother, Sonia. Being an immortal spirit does not mean I know everything," She then turned to Knuckles, "And the Chaos Force has been difficult to manage as of late, so I've been rather busy. Nice to see you, too."

Knuckles realized he was being rude and muttered an apology. Tikal waved her hand, dismissing it. "All is forgiven. What do you need?"

I took that as my cue, "We need to know what happened to Sonic. Shadow said… he said you could help."

Tikal nodded, her expression grim, "I thought so. Sit down... this may take a while."

I pinched my nose, sensing some exposition on the horizon.

Exposition: a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory. In this case, it was Sonic. Or whatever happened to Sonic.

Knuckles sat down on the ground and Sonia joined him shortly after. Tikal sat down, crossing her legs.

"So," Knuckles started, "Let's skip to the point: What has happened to the emeralds that's made dark energy stronger than the light? Are they broken, or-"

"That is not what happened." Tikal pressed her fingers to her lips. "In order to understand, you need to know some history."

Great. History lessons were not my strong suit. That was more up Amy's alley. But if meant helping Sonic, I had to pay attention.

"Long ago, shortly before I was born, there was an ancient counsel of echidnas, called the Brotherhood of Guardians. They were united in one purpose: to guard the Chaos Emeralds and preserve the sacred echidna culture."

Well, they failed on that last part. Then again, Knuckles technically kept it alive… even if he's the only one keeping it alive. As far as I know, the rest of the echidna race had gone extinct.

Tikal continued, "There were twelve council men, led by the current Guardian of the Master Emerald. In those times, the echidnas lived on the island, protected by the mercy of Chaos and his emeralds."

"Hold it!" Knuckles held up his hand, pausing the girl, "I thought you were the first Guardian."

"I'm getting there." said Tikal, pursing her lips in annoyance. "There were many others that preceded me, but their names have been forgotten or destroyed. The one before me is known by legend only as the Forbidden Guardian."

"That was his name?" I asked, skeptical.

"Oh no, he had a name. But it is forbidden to speak it," she said darkly, her tone cold.

"Why's that?" This time it was Sonia who interrupted with a question.

Tikal frowned, her frustration growing, "If you would allow me to continue, I'll get there!"

I forgot how temperamental Tikal could get. I decided to follow Knuckles' example and keep my mouth shut.

"The Forbidden Guardian was one who allowed his curiosity to consume him. He ripped away at the secrets of Chaos and his abilities; he wanted to possess its power for himself. When the Brotherhood found out, he was stripped of his position and banished from the island. He disappeared, and the Council believed they would never see him again," She paused, her voice becoming quieter, "If only that were true."

I raised an eyebrow, "So what does he have to do with what's happened to Sonic?"

"Patience, Miles. As I was saying, the Forbidden Guardian wandered the land for several years, growing in knowledge and power. He discovered a way to create a new Chaos Emerald- but the energy contained was corrupt, unnatural, and had no restraints. The power from this emerald consumed him, changing him into something not quite… Mobian." Tikal spoke slowly, seeming to struggle with every word. "He returned to Angel Island and attacked. Most of the Brotherhood was killed, and hundreds of echidnas were forced to flee to the mainland with the emeralds. My grandmother remained behind to protect the Master Emerald, which Chaos in turn protected her… and me."

"You were there?" Knuckles asked, his curiosity stronger than his will to remain silent.

Tikal gave him a small smile, "I was only an infant, but yes. I've always felt safe near the Master Emerald and perhaps it was because that's where my grandmother remained until the danger had ended." She shook her head, recollecting her thoughts, "But that is not important at the moment. I was later told that two of the remaining Brotherhood who fled with the others tried to find a way to defeat Dark."

"Woah, wait," I interrupted. "Who's Dark?"

She sighed. "After his transformation, the Forbidden Guardian's name changed in legend to-" Tikal made several noises with her mouth that I was unable to understand, but Knuckles widened his eyes at, "-but the closest translation to your language is 'Dark'. It fits, as he was the first person to fully integrate with the Dark Chaos Energy. You might even say he invented it, in a twisted sort of way."

We exchanged a smile. At least someone around here understood my science preference.

She continued, "Dark grew stronger and more powerful, forcing the echidnas to look outside of their own people for the answer. The two members of the Brotherhood eventually discovered a valley of hedgehogs that lived not far from Angel Island."

Okay, hedgehogs. Now we were getting somewhere.

"The Brotherhood were shocked to find one among them who was strong in Chaotic abilities and true in heart. They trained him to tap fully into the Chaos Field, convincing him to help them defeat Dark.

"The battle was long and hard, the echidnas and hedgehogs versus Dark. Many lives were lost, but in the end, the Brotherhood along with the hedgehog managed to lock Dark inside of his own unnatural emerald. The Brotherhood decided it was too dangerous to keep the Dark Emerald with the other emeralds, as it could lead to the spread of Dark Energy if mishandled. So they took a cave in the Hedgehog valley and fashioned a prison for the emerald to contain this energy, handing over the responsibility of its protection to their allies below, the hedgehogs."

"Woah, woah, woah," Sonia held up her hands in a timeout sign, "Are you saying…? Oh Chaos…"

Tikal smiled sadly, "The Protectors, as they were called in legend, were a bloodline of hedgehogs that dated back from that time to the present. The original Protector was your ancestor."

Sonia looked slightly pale. "And Manic and I… is this our fault?"

She shook her head. "You were not responsible for what happened." Tikal gently pointed out, "Your grandfather died before he could fully explain to your family's mission to your then young uncle. Due to how Dark was locked up, only the eldest in the family can actually access the Dark Emerald when the cave is opened."

"The Eldest lives…" Sonia mumbled under her breath. "Maurice."

Tikal nodded again, "Since your uncle has had no offspring of his own and Maurice has passed his sixteenth birthday, he is the technical Protector of the Dark Emerald."

If I hadn't been sitting down, I think I might have fallen over in shock. Instead, I leaned back against the pillar behind me trying to comprehend what had just been dumped into my head. "Sonic is… a Guardian?"

"Of sorts. His job is slightly different then Knuckles."

Knuckles had an expression of confusion and slight horror, "So Sonic… he's tapped into the Dark Emerald from the cave?"

"Not… exactly." said Tikal, averting her gaze.

I threw my hands in the air; This was taking way too long and becoming far too confusing. "Then what happened?"

Tikal folded her hands in front of her, looking stressed. "The way I understand it, when Sonia and Manic removed the black emerald from the cave-"

"-wait, what?" Knuckles looked over at Sonia who buried her face in her hands. Tikal chose to ignore him and continued talking.

"-they accidently disrupted the lock on the black emerald and leaked some of Dark's energy into the Chaos field. At the same time, Sonic was fighting Robotnik absorbed the energy of the Chaos Emeralds in order to defeat Metal Shadow-"

I remembered that. It was terrifying.

"-and that was the perfect exit ticket for Dark."

We sat there in silence for a moment before Knuckles broke it.

"Are you trying to tell me that Dark… went into Sonic?"

Tikal nodded, "A better term might be that he possessed him, but yes."

Holy Chaos.

This was bad.

"Of course, he wasn't strong enough then to take control of him. Thousands of years trapped inside such a corrosive object left him unable to take total control at first," Tikal waved her hand, "He needed to weaken his will and break him from the inside out."

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better. "That's why he ran away? Dark forced him to?"

"Indirectly of course, but in a manner of speaking, yes."

Sweet Chaos, this was getting too much. "Alright, let's see if I got this straight: Sonic is possessed by some ancient Guardian who basically invented evil Chaos energy."

"Correct."

Knuckles pinched his nose and groaned, "How do we stop him?"

"That's the tricky part." Tikal frowned, "Once he escaped his prison, the Chaos Field was corrupted. Since he is no longer contained, he is attempting to take control of the emeralds."

"Is this contagious? I mean, could he take control of others that aren't Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

Tikal frowned, "Theoretically, yes. But it would require direct contact with Dark and the subject would most likely need some sort of Chaotic abilities or something similar, like an object that has it or something. Regardless, they'll need some sort of way to patch through the Dark emerald's lock before they can be infected."

I began to grow frustrated, "But how do we get Dark out of Sonic? What's the cure?"

Tikal looked away, saying nothing. I felt my blood run cold. "Tikal…"

She bit her lip, refusing to look me in the eye. "I… I'm so sorry, Miles, I… this isn't the first time someone has been corrupted by Dark Chaos energy… There have been several instances of the energy infecting people in the past, and each time, we've been forced t-to…" She shuddered, turning away. "There's nothing we can do. Sonic is beyond our help."

It was like time had stopped. I couldn't breath.

Sonia looked like she was about to have a mental breakdown. Her whole body was shaking as she forced back sobs; Knuckles hugged her tightly, whispering something in her ear.

Manic finally stepped out from the shadows and spoke for the first time, his arms crossed, "No."

Knuckles looked up. "What?"

"I said, no." he said determinedly. "Look, I grew up on the streets for years, and if there's one thing I learned, it's this: there is always another way out. Don't gimme that crap about Maurice being 'beyond our help'. You're like, a goddess, or... or an angel or something! You've got more power than all of us combined, so clearly, we have options here that you're not telling us about! Or do you not want Maurice to get better?"

Tikal bit her lip, closing her eyes, "There… there is one thing I can think of trying, but I cannot guarantee it would work."

Manic narrowed his eyes. "Try me."

Tikal opened her eyes and turned to look at him, her expression uncharacteristically serious, "Well, we need-" She suddenly cut herself off, staring at Manic in shock. Her eyes widened and the color drained from her face. Her gaze shot down to his right hand; He quickly hid it behind his back and stepped away a few paces, looking nervous.

And just as fast as she appeared, she vanished into thin air.

Manic stared at the empty space for a moment before looking over at Sonia, "I wasn't rude, was I? I mean, like, she ain't gonna come back to smite me or anything, right?"

Sonia shook her head slowly, "I don't think so…"

We all sat in silence for a moment, waiting to see if something happened; it didn't. Tikal wasn't coming back.

Knuckles sighed and got to his feet. "Well… looks like we got all we could out of Tikal." He turned to go back down the stone steps, looking more hopeless than I had ever seen him in my life. "Come on… the others need to hear this."

XXX

The General pursed his lips, "Well… I suppose this is why we plan contingencies."

He was sitting at the head of the table with Knuckles and Rouge on either side of him. I was further down the table, looking over the blueprints for GUN's new weapons system, but my heart wasn't really in it. Amy was sitting across the table from the General, just staring into thin air. Manic was sitting next to me, just looking at his hands, almost dejected. Sonia wasn't even sitting, but standing with her back to the briefing table. All of our eyes strayed away from the empty chair where Shadow was supposed to be.

Rouge spoke up first after a moment of silence, "Sir, with all due respect, I'm not sure the contingencies we planned for Sonic would even work anymore. He isn't Sonic, he's possessed by some evil Guardian."

"But he is still physically Sonic," Towers pointed out. He pushed a button and Sonic's file popped up on the large screen behind him, "The plans could work as a base."

"No." Sonia turned around, her eyes hard, "We're not killing my brother."

Knuckles took a deep breath, "Sofi… he's already dead."

"No, he's not! I refuse to believe it!" She whirled around on her ex, "I saw him. He was there right in front of me. Before he passed out, before whatever happened to him happened, he was there. He's still there!"

Knuckles suddenly slammed his fists on the table, "No! He's not!" I physically flinched back at the sudden snap. Amy bowed her head and hid behind her hair. I suspected she was crying.

Knuckles glared at Sonia before turning his gaze to Manic, then me. "Look, I know how you feel. You want to believe that he's still inside fighting, that you can bring him back out and that Dark will just disappear- but that's not going to happen!"

I looked down at the blueprints, trying to hold in the tears. "You don't know that," was all I was able to mumble.

"Yes, I do." Knuckles dropped back into his chair. "I saw it happen when I was younger. It's what happened to my mother."

My eyes snapped up, wide with surprise. Rouge looked just as shocked. Manic didn't even flinch at the news, which probably meant he already knew. Figures. Sonia's arms dropped to her sides and her anger deflated. "What…?" she asked, her voice hardly more than a breath.

Knuckles got up from his seat and walked over to the window. He leaned against his arm and stared out it for a few moments. "I was eight. There was a storm… a hurricane. It hit the island so hard, I thought we would fall out of the sky. I was outside when it hit and couldn't find my way home. My parents…" He took a deep breath. "My parents left their shelter to find me. They got seperated and it was my mother who found me. I… I was hiding under some tree limbs. She found me… we ran… And then… everything went white. Then black."

Knuckles didn't speak for a long time. When he did, his voice was so quiet, I had to strain to hear it. "When I woke up, I was back in our house… or what was left of it, anyway. My dad was sitting next to me, and my mother… she was laying on the bed. She was barely moving."

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my pounding heart. I wasn't sure if I was going to like the end of this story.

"My dad refused to tell me what happened for a long time. So you can imagine how I felt when he… when he…." Knuckles closed his eyes and was briefly lost in another time. He took a shaky breath, "That strained my relationship with my dad to almost the breaking point. I grew grateful for the times when he wasn't around. Right before he disappeared for good, he told me what happened.

"I died."

My head snapped back up and I stared at the echidna in bewilderment. He was obviously alive and well. So what had happened?

"Apparently, I got struck by lightning and died instantly. My mother was so… so… desperate, that she tapped into the Chaos Field and brought me back. You can't do that normally- the light side of Chaos won't let you. So she used dark energy to do it."

"But-" Sonia took a deep breath, "But Dark hadn't infected the field back then. Wouldn't that mean she was fine?"

Knuckles shook his head, "You can't just get rid of the dark side of chaos by locking it away. It's always there, but you have to consciously activate it. My mother knew what she was doing, but… she did it anyway."

He took a deep breath, "She was fine for a little while, but then… it all spiraled downhill. I knew something was wrong, and I tried to help her but-" he closed his eyes, "Nothing worked. In the end, she tried to… to…" Knuckles turned back to the window, refusing to look at us. "My dad had to kill her. I saw him do it."

Sonia put her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide.

"And that was just the residue energy- she didn't even utilize that much of it. Sonic is completely possessed," said Knuckles, his tone rising. "He's not our friend anymore. He could hurt us-even kill us, if he felt like it. If Tikal is right, then Dark has taken total control. We have to… we have to get rid of him. Before things get any worse."

It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. Sonic… Sonic couldn't be gone. There must be something we could do- like Manic said, there had to be another option. There had to be!... right?

General Towers cleared his throat, "I hate to interrupt, but there is also the matter of Robotnik. His attacks have grown to a huge threat in the public eye. We need to insure he is not making any trouble during this… time."

Knuckles snorted, "Robotnik is barely a threat compared to Dark. He's a mosquito!"

"Insignificant fly..." muttered Manic.

Towers scowled at Knuckles, his expression hard and unfeeling. "A mosquito that has killed over two hundred civilians in the last two months, along with two hundred and forty five of my men. This has gone far enough. We need to bring him in within the week."

"Well, that should be easy enough," Manic leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. "Just give him a reward."

Okay, I get it. Manic is a jokester by trade: but seriously? A reward? Who did he think he was kidding? This was Robotnik we were talking about.

Manic seemed to have read my mind; a rather frustrated look appeared on his face. "I'm not messing around here! The only way we're gonna get the upper hand nowadays is if we give 'botnik a little incentive."

Knuckles sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll play along. Suppose we do give him some kind of reward- what do you think it'd be? Money? A Chaos Emerald? His own personal city to rule?"

Manic snorted. "You're way off, dude. He doesn't really want any of that- well, maybe the emerald. Nah, Robotnik's drug of choice is attention."

The room went silent. Towers stared at Manic as if wondering which ward of the loony bin he should send him to. The hedgehog seemed to have picked up on this; Manic rolled his eyes.

"Look, I know it sounds like a long shot, but I think you've forgotten that you've got a mind reader over here," he said with a tinge of annoyance. "I got plenty of chances to read him while I was in the Egg Beater, and the biggest thing I could see was that he hates being ignored. Can't stand it. He wants everyone to appreciate his genius, but the scientific community won't give him a chance, not since that one robotics convention forty years ago. So he forces people to notice him in any way he can- mostly by trashing their cities with his inventions, which actually have some pretty brilliant systems. The Egg Beater's firewall was nigh-impossible to break through, I'm ninety percent sure he straight up invented his own coding language, which is unbelievably cool-"

"Manic. Focus," Sonia interrupted.

"Right. Sorry. My point is, all 'botnik wants is a little appreciation. So I'm just thinking, why can't we give it to him?" Manic said, leaning back in his seat and grinning.

The General glowered down at him, "Hedgehog, do you understand the sheer volume of crimes Robotnik has committed in the past thirty-odd years?"

"Yup."

"Then you understand that GUN cannot reward him, of all things! The plan is to take him down, and that is not changing."

"I ain't trying to change that, General. But lemme ask you something- how many times has 'botnik told you something in order to lure one of you into a trap?" Manic countered. "I'm gonna guess a lot. And how many times has he fallen for the same trick?"

Knuckles opened his mouth to answer, but quickly closed it. Manic nodded, "Yeah. Thought so. Well, now you know why it wasn't working- you ain't never tried to trap him with anything he wanted. The only reason he's ever tried to take over the world is so he can force everyone to appreciate him. So the answer is simple- appreciate him already!"

I saw Rouge and the General exchange slight looks of interest; but Manic wasn't finished.

"I'm thinking that we send him some fancy letter sayin' he's invited to an awards ceremony for like, advances in the sciences or whatever. He gets a medal or something. We get it all set up to look legit, and after we give him his award, we''l get some soldiers to rush him, and BAM!-" Manic banged his fist on the table suddenly, causing us all to jump. "Robotnik is history."

I ran the plan over in my mind. The logic was... actually sound. Like, really sound. "I could get a forcefield set up around the podium we could trap him in or something," I suggested tentatively.

Amy piped up, "I know how to write a fancy letter. Just tell me the basics of what we want it to say and I'll spruce it up."

"You know he won't show up alone." Knuckles pointed out, "Robotnik might be tempted, but he's not stupid."

Manic grinned, "Tell him that he's welcome to bring some robots as bodyguards. I'm sure we can take care of 'em."

"Leave the medal to me," Rouge flapped her wings and smirked, "I know just what the big man will want." Almost forgot that Rouge went undercover with Robotnik that one time. Made sense that she'd have some dirt on him.

The General, while still looking a bit skeptical, seemed to be coming around to the idea. "It could work, if done correctly."

"I think we can handle a simple trap," Manic grinned. "Robotnik's a smart dude, but we all know he can get blindsided. It's all a matter of playing to his pride."

General Towers nodded, "It's settled, then. Let's get to work."

XXX

Manic's POV:

Man, I couldn't believe Towers actually took my plans seriously. Based on my readings of him, he thought I was a total joke. Well, joke's on him, 'cuz I'm actually helpful.

Mostly.

Right now, I was kinda feeling kinda useless because I was just hanging with Tails in his workshop while he tinkered around with the schematics for Robotnik's trap. I was good with computers and cars and stuff, but this was way beyond me. The most I could do was sit and provide amusing commentary.

"Tails is reaching for the wrench… his fingers grasp the metallic edge, he's almost there-"

"Manic."

"-He's moving in! But will he make it? He's going, he's going-"

"Manic."

"-And he's GOT IT! Bring out the victory twinkies, this calls for celebration!"

"Manic!"

"What?"

"Stop talking."

"Okay."

Guess he didn't appreciate it as much as I did. I got up and wandered over to the corner where T-Pup was slurping up a bowl of machine oil.

"Hey boy!" I said, grinning as the robot licked my hand with its synthetic tongue. Tails had let me take a look at some of T-Pup's blueprints, and I've gotta say, they were something else. I dunno how long it took Tails to finish this, but I know it would've taken me about twelve lifetimes, if that. I grabbed a handful of bent washers and dropped them in the bowl. I didn't know how a robot dog was supposed to sound when it was happy, but I think T-Pup's barking would count as that.

Well, if Tails didn't like the narrating, I guess I could do it by myself. Besides, throwing in a nature special might be kinda fun.

"The robotic dog circled its target, ready to finish off the pile of metallic snacks…" I muttered so only could hear. "Its keen eye and expert programming make it a perfect spare-parts hunter. As it prepares to make its move, the canine instinct wired into its brain begins to spark to life-"

"-And rips the bowl to pieces. It's a killer… and everyone knows it. Hoo-raay…"

What the…? Okay, getting a little on the gory side here. Maybe I should switch to sitcoms.

I reached over and scratched T-Pup behind the ears; he must have had some sort of touch receptors embedded in his outer shell, because he seemed to really like it. Tails seemed to have thought of everything.

Suddenly, a surge of pain shot up my right arm, ending abruptly at my elbow. I hissed louder than I probably should've; Tails turned around from his work, looking concerned.

"You okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah…" I tugged my sleeve over my wrist and shoved my hand in my pocket, "I just, uh… I hit my funny bone. You know how that is… it ain't funny." I laughed nervously, beginning to slowly back out of the room. "Hey, I'm gonna get some fresh air, 'kay?"

Tails nodded, reverting attention back to whatever he was working on, "Alright."

Good enough for me. I darted outside the workshop and took a deep breath, trying to clear my head. I was probably just stressed or something. Yeah, that was it. Things had been weird since I'd more or less joined up with GUN. It wasn't easy, pretending like I wasn't scared out of my mind, like I belonged there with the real heroes. Fat chance- I felt like a total phony. I mean, come on- Me? Working for the fuzz? Putting my neck on the line to save a handful of strangers? Not in a million years.

...Unless Maurice was on the line.

Our hero, the studly and awesome Matthews "Maniac" Hedgehog, pondered his place in this grand trap for Robotnik. As the mastermind of this operation, he wondered-

"-how he wound up being such a pathetic waste of oxygen."

I froze in place before slowly turning to look around. No one was in sight. Weird…

I started again, this time aloud, "Our hero wonders if-"

"-he should leave. He's no cop. And he ain't too good at pretending, either."

I whirled around, whipping out my switchblade and flicking it open. "Alright, who's there? Whatever you're trying to pull, it ain't funny!"

Nothing.

"You're being paranoid. It's just you."

I relaxed slightly. Ephesus on slightly. My knife was still in my hand, but I turned my senses outward. Someone was nearby, I could sense them. But I couldn't tell where they were.

"Like I said, it's just you. Calm down, idiot."

No, it's not 'just me'. There's somebody else here who's trying to prank me or something, so you can go ahead and zip it, conscience-

I paused. My conscience didn't sound like that. My conscience was a supremely disappointed Sonia who yelled at me everytime I did something illegal. This guy… this guy sounded like me. Maybe my narration…? But that didn't make any sense. I've done a lot of strange things, but I know I ain't never insulted myself while narrating my life story.

"First time for everything, kid."

… And I have never referred to myself as 'kid'.

I took another deep breath and slowly began to peel off my glove and pull back my shirt sleeve. My fingers were just as black as before, my ink-black veins creeping up past my elbow to my upper arm.

I knew Tikal was onto me. Whatever was going on, she knew. She didn't just disappear mid-sentence for no reason.

"Forget about her. Since when have you cared about what people think of you? Besides, she probably just got spooked by how-"

"Alright! That's it!" I glared at the empty air around me. "Whoever you are just… just… shut up! Or I'll… I'll… well, I'll do something."

"What? Whatcha gonna do? Hit me? File a restraining order? Good luck with that, wuss. You can't get rid of yourself."

"The heck is that supposed to mean? You ain't-" I stopped, frowning. What if…? No. No way.

I never had tried to read myself before. It was a strange experience and difficult to describe. It kinda felt like… reversing my vision. Looking inside myself. Like meditating, but way deeper. I concentrated as hard as I could, doing my best to ignore the voice.

After what felt like an eternity, I got something back- kind of like a 'ping'. My eyes flew open and I fell backwards, catching myself on a tree. My breathing picked up. I had to remind myself that Tails was in shouting distance and to bite my tongue to keep from crying out.

"Heh. Wimp."

I swallowed hard. "Stop it."

"Make me. Oh, that's right… you can't! Shame. Guess I'll just stick around, then."

I tried to steady my breathing, but I felt like I was on the verge of a full-on panic attack. Someone- or something was in my head- and it definitely wasn't me.

*deep breath* Holy Chaos, that was ridiculously long… *exhales* Well, maybe not. But the first part of the chapter was so easy to type and then… eh.

Cliffhanger again! Yay!

Any questions about Dark, just ask in the reviews. But here's the simplified version:

Dark is an evil Guardian who was trapped inside the black emerald about a thousand years ago. Sonic's ancestors helped defeat the guy and they guarded the black emerald that entire time. When Sonic's grandfather died before he could tell Uncle Chuck about their responsibility, Dark wasn't as contained and was able to use Sonia and Manic to get free and then infect Sonic via the Chaos field (remember when he went Super and then everything just exploded? Yeah, that was Dark). Makes sense?

Yeah, Halo didn't get it either. I had to explain it several times before she got it. Partially because I'm a very forgetful person, and partially because it made exactly ZERO sense to me the first couple of times. So don't be afraid to ask or clarify.

See ya around!