Hallow everyone! This chapter just flew off our fingers and onto the doc so... ta-da!

AStoryTellerBook: You are right… mostly. The gold and silver robots are 'Gold' and 'Silver' from the metorex arc out in space in season 3. The ones that Sonic tears apart in about three seconds. And I'm not sure what you're talking about for Sonic Underground.

Zosonils: I had to look that vine up and- WHAT THE HECK? And Knuckles appreciation day should be a thing or something.

MelGamingPlays: 'Spot the reference' is like 'Where's Waldo'- and I can't play the latter. Seriously, I am blind.

Mitha Sentro: Glad you liked MFH and am very happy you like our version of Sonia and Manic. Honestly, the Sonic Underground show could have been really good- if they did like one hundred things differently. And no, you didn't write too much. Hope you continue to read and enjoy!

ultimateCCC: Winner! You found (part) of the reference!

SharpDragonKlaw: To be honest, we thought it was kind of obvious. We never called him 'Eggman' or any of the other versions of that name ('Egghead', etc.). Apparently not. Our bad. And Sonic come back right now! *waits* Or not.

Hawkfeather: Why? Eggman hasn't even shown up? Why does he need to die? Just wondering. Havoc v Dark… Can I see that? Like, please? HALO! Other story: well, Halo has a webcomic I will be helping her on and mine is an Original story (as in a seven book series). As for when they'll be done… I have no idea, at least for me.

Autumn: YOU ARE DONE WITH SCHOOL? Ugh, I am SOOO jealous.

Rowan Jacobs: *reads review twice and just blinks* Uh… I really don't know what to say to this. Part of me is laughing my head off at "lovey dovey", another part is slightly horrified that you would suggest that and the last part of me is biting my lip.

Speedhunter: *reads review and can't stop laughing for ten minutes* Era, they've discovered our secret. The rest home is no longer safe- we'll have to go on the run. Hand me my cane! *starts laughing harder* HALO, WE ARE NOT SENIORS. IN THAT SENSE. CAN'T BREATH… *ten minutes later* Okay… I can talk for the advice! And yes, we are still updating. But thanks for the concern! Also something in this chapter may look slightly familiar...

Detta: That is one way of looking at it. Although Maurice going all 'revenge-y' is bad enough. Now we have to deal with possessed revenge-y Maurice.

Well, that was fun. Now let's get chatting with Rin.

XXX

Amy's POV:

"Amelia, we need to talk."

Rin, I can't do this right now. Just… give me a chance to process everything.

Everyone had gathered in the briefing room back at GUN HQ, waiting for the General to arrive so Manic could give a full synopsis of Dark's brain. Or Sonic's brain… Or was it Maurice's?

Chaos, and I thought I had identity issues.

"Amelia, please?"

What could possibly be so important that it couldn't wait five minutes?

"Thy commanding officer will not be arriving for another ten. We can talk."

I sighed in defeat, resting my head back on the chair. Fine. What?

"I am... concerned about your comrades."

I almost laughed out loud. At this point, who wasn't?

"This is not a humorous situation, Amelia. Dost thou not recall the fact that thy enemy has been found dead, or that the green one has used his black magic to find thy beloved?"

Wha- of COURSE I do! This was Sonic- my Sonic- we were talking about! How could you possibly think I'd forget that?

"...I apologize for upsetting thee."

No, don't- I just don't wanna talk about it, okay? Not about Sonic.

"He is not the only one I worry for."

I looked up across the table where everyone was seated; This was one of those moments when I sincerely wished that I had Manic's reading-people-thing. I knew I wasn't the only one hurting, but I guess that fact was finally starting to sink in.

Knuckles sat next to the whiteboard at the end of table, looking- and there was no other word for it- shaken. But why? Was it because of Dark taking the emeralds? Robotnik?... Manic looking like he trying to set him on fire with his eyes?

Seriously, what was that guy's problem? Sonia had told me that he was the type to overreact, but this felt… different. Meaner. I knew that Manic was ready to pick a fight back there with Knuckles, that much was obvious. I get that he was upset about Sonia, but it still seemed like overkill to blame him for everything.

Speaking of Sonia… she seemed to be taking all this rather well. Same with Rouge, but that wasn't a surprise. The only thing that I had seen really affect her was when Shadow went into his coma, but she still got over that faster than any of us.

And then there was Tails. The poor kid had hardly said a word since Dark attacked; he looked like a deer in the headlights, frozen in place. Knuckles had mentioned something about them being confronted by Dark, and I guess that hit Tails pretty hard. I didn't blame him.

The room felt uncomfortably silent. I wanted to say something to break the quiet, but I had no clue as to what. I glanced over to Knuckles again; he looked like he was ready to sink into the floor with the way Manic was staring at him.

Suddenly, Manic jumped up, banging his fist against the table. "Good grief, would you sad sacks quit feeling so guilty already?" he shouted. "You idiots are just pathetic, ya know that?"

"Hey!" said Knuckles indignantly.

"Aw, don't try an' deny it, Red," he spat, his fingers tightening into fists. "Seriously, why the heck are all yous feeling so bad about offing the literal worst person ever? Get a grip already!"

"Manic, sit down," said Sonia through gritted teeth.

"Uh, how 'bout no?" he refuted, folding his arms. "I mean, come on, guys- he was your enemy! And now he's outta your hair forever! You doofuses oughta be celebrating!"

"Why should we be CELEBRATING when we are responsible for someone's death?" Knuckles shouted back.

Manic snorted. "Oh please, Knuxsy, it wasn't like he was some innocent little flower, he had it coming. And don't pretend like we were gonna let him live anyway- Only difference now is that we don't have to waste any time giving him a trial."

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, hold up-" interrupted Tails. "What makes you think we were planning on killing him after he was captured?"

Manic stared incredulously down the table. "Are… are you kidding me?" he asked, slowly shaking his head. "So what, we were just gonna, like, throw him in jail and call it good?"

"Well… yeah, probably. Generally speaking, we don't execute our prisoners much around here."

"Most of your PRISONERS haven't slaughtered thousands of innocent people, two of which happen to have included MY PARENTS!"

Me and Tails flinched a bit at his sudden rise in volume; I think he noticed that, but I could've been wrong, because it only made the steely look in his eyes grow harder.

"Fine. You guys still don't believe me? How 'bout I spell it out for ya?"

Manic stormed across the room to the whiteboard that had been pushed in the corner, snatching up a marker and scribbling furiously across the board. His handwriting was rushed and messy, so much that I could hardly read it. Turns out I didn't have to.

"'Kay, listen up nerds, 'cuz I'm about to say some things that might shock you- like the fact that Robodork deserved to die," he sneered, jabbing his finger at his illegible scrawl on the whiteboard. "He's the jerk who kept trying to take over the world. He killed who knows how many people and enslaved even more. And to top it all off, that idiot was the one who brought two robots with friggin Chaos Emeralds inside them to GLOAT about his 'GREATEST INVENTIONS YET'! If that dingus hadn't been so stupid as to bring the emerald-bots, Dark probably wouldn't have shown up and none of this mess would've happened in the first place.

"So what if we're a tiny bit responsible for Dr. Douchebag taking a permanent rubble nap? That prick's been asking for this since day one. If he didn't wanna end up six feet under the GUN facility, then maybe he shoulda rethought his plan for world domination- preferably before he indirectly set Dark loose on the world, might I add."

Manic folded his arms and leaned back against the wall, looking satisfied. Behind me, I heard the beat of a slow, steady clap. General Towers stood next to the doorway, looking at Manic with something that might've been respect.

"I would have personally shown a tad more decorum if I were you, Manic, but your comments were certainly... accurate." he said, walking down the aisle to stand next to Manic. "Despite how it happened, Robotnik is gone, and that was our end goal. Which means we can turn our focus to our next problem: Dark."

I shivered slightly at the name. General Towers pointed to Manic, "You mentioned that you were able to read him. What did you learn?"

"Well, this promises to be interesting."

Quiet, Rin. I'm trying to focus.

"Apologies."

Manic scanned his eyes over the room, and the feeling of my mind being invaded suddenly washed over me. He took a deep breath, staring down at his feet.

"Alright… so I was watching from the rafters when Dark busted in and started beating up the guards and stuff. There wasn't much to read at that point, but what there was…" Manic shivered. "I don't wanna talk about it. Let's just say that Dark is messed up.

"Anyway, I was trying to keep an eye on him, figure out when he was going to snap and kill us all and junk like that. Then Tails showed up and tried talking to Maurice-Sonic-yeesh, what are we supposed to call him again?"

I immediately responded with "Sonic" and Sonia said "Maurice." We frowned at one another before Tails spoke up, his voice soft, "He prefers Sonic. I would know."

Sonia looked slightly hurt, but nodded to Manic to continue.

"Alrighty, so Tails tried talking to Sonic. And that's when it got weird." He paused and drew a circle on the whiteboard. "Okay, let's pretend that this circle is Dark's mind. I could read all of his emotions, thoughts, whatever. I could see pretty much all of it. And then-" Manic drew another circle overlapping the other, making a venn diagram, "It was like there was two minds, struggling. One was trying to escape, and the other was trying to hold it down."

"How… how is that even possible?" I asked, almost too afraid to know.

Manic hesitated, putting the marker down. "Well, that's just it. It was like they were one person and then... split into two. But I was able to get a half-decent reading before they merged back into one again. The one that was trying to get free, that was Sonic. It looked like he was having some sort of panic attack. For a minute, the two halves almost totally separated- then Dark had some huge surge of energy and managed to get Sonic back under control. That's why he was moving so slow. If Dark had been in total control, Tails wouldn't have stood a chance."

I tapped my fingers on the table nervously, "So... you're saying that Tails's crazy move actually worked? Sonic responded?"

Manic scratched the back of his neck, "Well... yeah, I guess. It was only temporary, and Sonic wasn't able to get any ground and was locked back up inside Dark's mind, but he is there. We just need to pull him out." He pointed at the circle, "We need to pull them apart."

Knuckles suddenly stood up, "You can't just pull Dark out of someone!- It's dark chaos energy. That stuff is pretty permanent."

"Well," Tails interrupted suddenly, "Chaos energy is really just very advanced science. What if we somehow make a… a shot of good energy. Like an antibody. If we give him enough shots, maybe-"

"Miles," Knuckles sighed, "It's not that simple. The Chaos Field requires years of study. You would need an expert on the subject to even make a slight breakthrough."

"Aren't you an expert?" Sonia asked.

Knuckles shook his head, "No. If anything, I'm an apprentice. Tikal would be a good bet, but I don't think she'll be willing to help. She's busy with her own fight of keeping Dark away from the Master Emerald."

So that's what the spirit had been up to. I'd wondered why she had been so reluctant to help us.

"I've done plenty of things with Chaos energy," Tails argued. "I think I can figure it out."

"Tails you need to understand," Knuckles sighed pinching his nose. "Think about it like a battery. You've learned how to properly hook up a Chaos Emerald to a biplane, a measuring machine, and a vacuum cleaner. That's great. But what we're talking about is a biological weapon. You would need to literally dissect energy, find the 'infection' and what causes it, figure out how to fix it, and put it all back together- on a molecular scale. You would need someone who knows exactly how to manipulate the molecules of the Chaos field to even know where to start. The only people I can think of who are able to do that are old masters, and they're all dead."

Tails face fell and he slumped back down in the chair, and my heart sank just as quickly. Sonic was alive but we had no way to help him.

"...I am sorry, Amelia."

I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from crying. It's fine, Rin. We already knew he was gone.

"Tis not 'fine'. Thy beloved has been locked away and is out of your reach. I understand your pain."

No, you don't.

"Have you forgotten mine own imprisonment in the ring on thy wrist?"

I rubbed the gold ring, trying not to cry.

"My own beloved attempted to save me from death. He succeeded, but…"

Oh Rin, I'm sorry. Really, I am. But that was a long time ago- long enough for you to forget your own name. Perhaps-

Sonia's voice snapped me out of my mental conversation. It was soft and hesitant, but strong. "What… what about Shadow?"

Knuckles frowned, "What about him?"

Sonia twirled her hair in between her fingers, "Would he qualify as an 'expert', as you put it, on Chaos energy?"

"Um…" Knuckles frowned, "I'm not sure."

Rouge leaned back in her chair, "Well, we can't ask him until he wakes up. And who knows when that will be?"

"Actually…" Sonia started, then stopped.

I raised an eyebrow. I recognized that expression. It was a 'I have something weird to share but I don't think I should because people may think I'm insane' expression. I saw it every time I looked in the mirror. "Go on, Sonia."

She bit her lip, "I… I talked to him a few days ago."

"He woke up and you didn't tell anyone?" Rouge snapped, looking upset for the first time tonight.

"No!" she said quickly, "It was like I got pulled into his mind. Like a mental conversation. It was… really weird."

Not the weirdest thing ever, but I can relate.

"I resent that remark."

Oh, come on! It's true!

Sonia continued, "Maybe I could try and make contact again. Maybe he can tell us what we need to know." Her voice was hopeful, almost pleading.

Knuckles didn't respond at first, his gaze flipping between everyone. Finally, he sighed. "Well, it's worth a shot. Not like we have any better options."

Sonia grinned, her eyes brightening.

General Towers cleared his throat, awkwardly, "I hate to interrupt, but if your attempt at a cure fails, we need a failsafe. Which brings me to the next subject: How do we kill Dark?"

I flinched, trying not to picture Sonic laying on the ground, still and silent. I didn't want to let that happen.

"Well, maybe Shadow has answers for that, too," said Sonia quietly, her voice growing smaller with every word.

Towers shook his head, "That's only if you manage to successfully make contact again. We need to develop a plan with the information we have now."

"Bullets won't make contact." I heard Knuckles say, flinching at his cold tone. "They're reflected or blasted apart when they get too close."

"And why is that?" General Tower asked.

Knuckles shrugged, "Most likely the Chaos energy around him. Like an invisible ring or shield."

"Blasters?"

"Also ineffective," Knuckles said. "Dark just absorbs the energy, then releases it back like a slingshot. It would be like firing the gun at yourself."

General Towers frowned and began to pace. I nervously tapped my fingers on the table, trying to not think about what exactly they were talking about. They were killing Dark, not Sonic… or at least that's what I kept trying to tell myself.

Rouge spoke up with a suggestion next, "What about a bomb?"

"It… might work, but it would have to be very powerful."

"How powerful?" Towers asked.

"Like, blow up half the continent powerful. Otherwise, Dark would just absorb the energy before it could harm him too much."

Well, that option was out. Rin started to ask what a bomb was again, but I hushed her with the promise to tell her later. General Towers looked slightly uncomfortable as he asked the next question, "Knuckles, if I may, how did your father… uh…"

Knuckles glared at him, then stared down at the floor. "She hadn't gone full Dark, so it was much easier than our situation. Long story short, he poisoned her."

"Could we do that?"

"...Maybe? I know he infused some Chaos radiation into the actual poison to combat Dark's energy. Not sure what poison he used, but I know it took a lot to... finish the job."

General Towers tapped his chin, "I'll get some of our experts to look into that. What about physical attacks?"

"You're… you're kidding, right?" I raised my hand, "I wasn't even able to land a single blow with my hammer, and I got slammed across the area in about two seconds. He might not be in his right mind, but it's still Sonic's body, which means he has super speed."

"We cannot rule out everything. If we cannot defeat him outright, we can at least slow him down. Even Sonic has weaknesses."

Knuckles rapped on the table to get our attention, "Dark is like anyone with Chaos abilities. There's a limit and you do have to take some time to recharge. He just has a lot more energy available then all of us, and with two emeralds now, the recharge will take less time- and we only know he has two of the emeralds. He may have more."

Sonia spoke up, "What about the Dark emerald? Couldn't we use that to study the energy and find a weakness?"

I felt another surge of hope and everyone looked at Manic. He shifted uncomfortably and kicked at the ground. "As much as I'd love to say that is a good idea, I... can't. Ya see, the Dark emerald kinda-sorta-definitely vanished from where I hid it around the same time the other emeralds disappeared. I have zero idea where it is."

So that's what it feels like when hope dies twice.

General Towers pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. "Alright then... we'll work with what we have and do our best to keep the world from falling apart. In the meantime, I'm sending in some teams to pick apart some of Robotnik's old factories. Maybe he had some hedgehog doom plan that we can use against Dark. Agent Rouge, I'm expecting you to lead them, since you are the most familiar with his layouts." Rouge didn't look too happy about that, but she gave a halfhearted salute.

Tails raised a tentative hand, "Um… can I come too? I've always wanted to examine Robotnik's equipment- y'know, without worrying that I'd get shot at or captured again," A look of realization dawned on him. "Oh my gosh… I'm never gonna get captured again! This is… this is amazing!" he laughed, looking happy for the first time since Dark had shown up.

I glanced at the General. He didn't say anything for a moment, looking over at Knuckles then at me with a questioning look in his eye. I didn't know what he wanted at first, but then it hit me: Sonic wasn't here to give his permission. Technically, he was still Tails's guardian and did have a say in what the kid did and didn't get to do. And since he wasn't here, that job fell to-

-me and Knuckles.

I suddenly felt like throwing up. Everything seemed to just crash over me at once. Tails was my responsibility now. Sonic was really… gone.

"Amelia, the General is waiting."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave Towers a small, quick nod; Knuckles did the same.

"I don't see why not," General Towers smiled, "Your tech skills may come in handy."

Tails grinned and jumped out of his seat. "YES! Think of all the leftover blueprints he's probably got lying around- and some of his bots really were genius, I can't wait to see how they work… I'm going to get my toolkit ready! When do we start?"

I smiled. At least there was still something to be happy about.

"Tomorrow, so no need to rush." General Towers looked around, back to business. "If there's nothing else, then you're all dismissed. Get some rest- that's an order."

Everyone slowly walked (or in Tails's case, sprinted out), but I remained seated. My stomach churned as I fought back tears, and I didn't want anyone to see me.

"Amelia-"

"Rin, I really can't do this right now," I whispered aloud, letting one tear slip down my cheeks, then two.

"Then when can you do it? Thou hast to face the situation someday."

"I know, but can that day just not be today?..Please?"

"...Very well."

I slumped face-down over the table and covered my head with my arms, shaking hard. The plan wasn't even to save Sonic, but to kill him so we could end Dark. Knuckles and Rouge had given up on him. I wasn't close enough with Manic or Sonia to have any idea what they'd do, and for all I knew, they'd be willing to let Sonic die so that Dark could be destroyed. Tails still had hope, but I knew he'd never be the same after Sonic was really dead. Neither would I.

I felt someone's hand press down on my shoulder and looked up; Knuckles stood over me, looking just as sad as I felt.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But this is our only option."

For a moment I felt like shouting at him, saying that he was a quitter and just didn't want to save Sonic. But even in my head, I knew that was a lie.

I stood up and threw my arms around his chest, crying onto his shoulder. After a minute, I felt him hugging me back. I don't know how long we stood there, but after a while, I found that I couldn't cry anymore. I had run out of tears.

Knuckles pulled away, forcing himself to smile. "Sonia said she was making dinner for everyone tonight at Tails's house… you wanna go?"

I took a deep breath and brushed the tears off my face, sniffing. Somehow, I managed to crack a smile.

"Yeah… I'd like that."

XXX

Rouge's POV:

Alright, lemme get one thing straight: I was only here because I forgot to get groceries last week and everywhere else I could go eat is closed from our encounter with Robotnik. In any other situation, I wouldn't be caught dead eating a meal anywhere near that stuck up, goody-goody prig- oh yeah, and her brother too, I guess.

I was sitting in the living room with Amy and Knuckles, watching the coverage of Robotnik's attack and the announcement of his death. Knowing how hated the doctor was, this would probably be an international holiday come next year.

I wasn't surprised to hear that the General was already cooking up some way to get rid of Dark, even if that meant losing Blue. He's always been an "ends-justify-the-means" kinda guy, but I was still curious as to what he was gonna do with Team Sonic when its namesake has been euthanized on GUN orders. Me and Blue were never close, but… I didn't wanna have to be the one to pull the trigger.

Amy looked like she was taking it pretty hard, but it was Tails who I was worried about. Think about it: he's an emotionally unbalanced super genius who's big brother is about to get taken out by his own team, on orders from the government. Only reason why he's okay right is because he's desperate to cling to any smidge of hope. I wouldn't be shocked if after all this, he swears revenge on Towers and becomes the next Robotnik- and he's got the brainpower to do it, too. I was just grateful that he was still just a twelve year old with no idea of what GUN suspected he was capable of. Yet.

"Hey guys, food's ready!" Sonia shouted from the kitchen. Knuckles switched off the TV and hurried into the dining room, Amy trailing behind him. Reluctantly, I did the same, mentally cursing myself for not buying groceries. What I would give for a solitary meal right now…

Everyone gathered around the table and started grabbing plates. A bowl of salad was set on the counter and a pan of macaroni and cheese on the stove. I was about to spoon a portion on my dish when I heard several shouts and thumps from upstairs, followed by Sonia storming down the stairs looking like she was ready to kill someone.

"That selfish, boneheaded little… Errgh!" she seethed, clenching her fists.

Tails looked up from his already half eaten plate, "What's wrong?"

Sonia plopped down into a chair, arms crossed. "Manic is refusing to come down. He hasn't eaten anything since breakfast and his door is locked. Oh, and on top of that, he messed around with the locks so the key I have doesn't work! Ugh!"

I rolled my eyes, turning back to the food. Normally, I wouldn't be opposed to listening in on some team drama, but all I really wanted tonight was to go home. Once I ate something, I was out of here.

Sonia muttered something under her breath about not needing to deal with this tonight; I smirked. Something about her discomfort amused me. Probably to the fact that I hated her guts.

"I can bust down the door if he won't open it," said Knuckles, flexing his fists.

"And who's going to fix it?" asked Sonia, exasperated. "This is still Tails's house, not ours."

"Well, can you pick locks?"

"Of course not, that's Manic's thing. I couldn't pick a lock if my life depended on it."

You got that right, sister.

"Rouge… can you do it?"

My head darted up in surprise. "You can't be serious."

"Oh come on, you're the only one here who can actually do something about this. Besides, Manic needs to eat and that door can't stay locked forever."

"Hey, if he wants to hole himself up in his room like some misanthropic loser, who am I to stop him?" I asked, taking another bite of macaroni. "Besides, there's no harm in a little alone time."

Sonia pursed her lips, looking like she had swallowed a lemon. She rolled her eyes, "He also mentioned that there wasn't a person in the world good enough to get through from the outside. But hey, if you don't wanna try, that's fine. I'll just call a locksmith or something. Or if Tails says it's okay, we can always just stick to brute force-"

I stood up so quickly, my chair almost toppled over. "Give me two bobby pins and ten minutes."

Sonia smirked; I wished I could slap her. She handed me the pins from her hair and I headed upstairs. The sooner I got Maniac out of his room, the sooner I got to go home. I bent one bobby pin into an L shape, and the other into a long wire, biting off the rounded edge. A proper lock picking kit would've made this easier, but these would do.

It took me a couple of tries to loosen up the tumblers; Whatever Manic had done to this door, he had done a pretty thorough job. A simple bedroom lock like this wouldn't have taken me more than thirty seconds to undo, but with his modifications, it took nearly fifteen minutes. Finally, I managed to break through.

"Hey Maniac, your sister wants you to eat something. Also, be warned, she ain't too happy about what you've done to your do-" I stopped mid sentence, unable to comprehend what I was seeing.

Manic was standing in front of his mirror with his jacket sleeves rolled all the way up, examining his right arm and shoulder. But that wasn't the weird part.

The weird part was that his entire arm was black.

He whipped around at the sound of my voice, his eyes darting from me to his arm, then to me again. He hastily tried to roll down his sleeve before I stopped him, grabbing him by the wrist.

"Explanation. Now."

For a moment, Manic had that one look on his face that said he was ready to spill everything. Out of nowhere, he suddenly started looking terrified, the color draining from his face. This was quickly replaced by the expression of stubbornness I was all too familiar with.

"I think the only person who needs to explain anything around here is you, princess. How'd you get in here, anyway? I thought I changed the lock so no one could open it."

"Oh, don't give yourself so much credit, Matthews. You might be able to unlock doors, but keeping them shut ain't your strong suit."

"Okay! Great! I will definitely work on that! Now can you please leave?"

I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip. "Not till you tell me what the heck is going on with your arm."

"Nothing! I'm fine!"

"That's a lie if I've ever heard one. I might not be a doctor, but any moron can tell that having a pitch black arm ain't natural. Now spill!"

"I said I'm fine! And let go of my hand, I think you're cutting off my circulation."

I paused for a moment before releasing him, crossing my arms.

"Fine," I said with a smirk. "Don't tell me. I'm sure Sonia can squeeze the answers out of you better than I can, anyway." I turned around and began to walk out, reaching the door before I felt Manic grab my shoulder.

"No!" he shouted, looking frantic. He cleared his throat and straightened himself out to look more confident. As if I couldn't see right through that.

"I mean…" he started again. "You don't need to do that, Rouge."

"You're right. I don't. And I won't if you'll tell me what's going on."

Manic didn't speak to me for a moment, muttering something I couldn't hear. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Okay… fine. I'm gonna level with you here. I don't really understand what's happening, but… I think I've got an okay idea."

"Alright…" I replied, starting to feel a bit wary.

Manic sat down, holding his head in his hands. "You know that before me and Sonia got here, we found that one emerald, right? The black one?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I was the one who stole it. And there must've been some seriously freaky magic going on or something, 'cuz that stupid thing burned me."

"You weren't wearing gloves?" I asked skeptically. It wasn't like him to be so careless on a simple robbery job.

"No, I was. The gem burned right through 'em. And ever since then… weird stuff's been happening," he said, glancing at his black hand. "It started real small, just a black spot on my palm, but it's spreading, fast."

"How fast?"

Manic froze, looking like a deer in the headlights. His breathing was shaky and shallow, like he was about to have a panic attack.

"It's all the way to my chest now, and it's hardly been three months," he whispered, barely audible. He looked up at me, his expression dark. "You do the math."

Neither of us spoke for a moment; I was still trying to process what everything meant.

"So that's it?" I asked, breaking the silence. "It's just a... burn?"

He paused, then nodded. "Yeah. A really weird, magical burn."

"Have you tried to cure it at all?"

He looked away, turning his back towards me. "It won't go away."

Something in his tone irked me; I didn't know what, but whatever it was, it was giving me a hunch that he wasn't being straight with me. "Manic, what are you hiding?"

He looked up in surprise, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing. I told you what was going on with my burn, what more do you want from me?"

"Don't sit there and pretend like a black arm is the only thing that's bothering you, Maniac," I hissed. "You've been acting weird lately, and not your style of weird, either. Something's wrong, and I've got the feeling it has to do with that burn."

Manic jumped up, livid. "Nothing is wrong, Rouge," he said through gritted teeth. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll butt out of my business and stay out of my way. Got it?"

"Uh, 'scuse me?" I asked, my eyes wide. "I don't think I heard that correctly. It almost sounded like you were threatening me. Wanna repeat that?"

For a second, I thought he was actually gonna say it again. He hesitated, sitting down again and burying his face in his hands, breathing hard and muttering. My anger fizzled out, replaced by worry. Something about seeing him like this… I didn't like it. It wasn't Manic.

I found myself sitting down next to him, watching as his muttering grew more intense. Most of his words were too muffled to understand, but what I did catch sounded like he was… fighting with himself.

"...Manic?" I said quietly. "You… you okay?"

Manic tightened up again, shying away from my side. After a minute, he shook his head.

"I can't take it," he whispered, clutching his forehead, his voice hardly a gasp. "He's always there, he won't leave me alone, he won't shut up…"

"Who?"

"Him!" he shouted suddenly, making me jump. "He makes me think things, say things I don't mean! No matter what I try to do to get him to go away, he won't leave!"

"Manic, calm down!" I interrupted,grabbing hold of his shoulder to steady him. "Who are you talking about?"

He was shaking hard, looking like he was in pain. He gulped down the lump in his throat and took another deep breath.

"Just… don't judge me, okay?" he murmured, refusing to look me in the eye. "I'm still not sure what's happening, but I think… y'know what happened to Mauri- Sonic?... I think that's happening to me."

I felt the blood drain from my face; No. He couldn't possibly be serious.

"I'm not joking, Rouge," he said heatedly, pushing my hand off his shoulder. "I've seen inside Dark's head, I know what he's like! And every time that… thing talks to me, I get the same feeling."

"...you're really serious, aren't you?" I breathed; I didn't want to believe what I was hearing. Manic was going Dark. Manic- the weird, goofy pickpocket… he was going to end up just like Sonic.

"Manic…" I trailed off, trying to find the right words. "Manic, you have to tell the-"

"No." he interrupted, his voice firm. "That's not happening."

"Manic, this isn't the kind of thing you keep to yourself, this is serious-"

"Team Sonic has enough on their plate with one Dark. They don't need to deal with two," he spat. "I can't do that to them, especially not Sonia- Chaos, I can't do that to Sonia."

"Manic, listen to me-"

"No, Rouge! You don't understand!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "Sonia already lost Maurice once. Losing him a second time is tearing her apart, I can feel it- if she lost me too… it would kill her. I can't hurt her like that. Not again."

"But if you're really infected, then she's going to find out anyway!" I refuted, standing up.

"Not if I can learn to control it," Manic said, a look of determination on his face. "He might be able to make me think or say things, but he can't make me do things, and that's what matters. All he is is a voice in my head- I just have to figure out how to ignore it."

I backed away towards the door; the sinking feeling in my chest was only getting worse. "No, Manic. This is way bigger than just you, and if you can't see that, you're crazy. If you're not going to tell the team, then I will."

I whipped around made a beeline for the door, when suddenly, I felt his hand clasp around my wrist, hard.

"I don't think you want to do that," he said, his voice low and dangerous. I had never seen him look so deadly serious before.

"Threats aren't going to make much of a difference, Matthews," I said through gritted teeth. "The team has a right to know about this. And 'cuz I'm so nice, I'm gonna give you three whole seconds to let me go before I lose it."

He released my hand, pursing his lips. "I'm not threatening you, Rouge. I'm informing you. Telling them about my arm isn't gonna end well."

"Wow, thanks for the tip. I'll keep it in mind."

He took a step back, staring at me a little too long. "Fine," he said, his voice suddenly lighter. "That's totally fine. Tell them. I'm cool with that- and hey, I might just return the favor."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, in case you've forgotten, you happen to be dealing with a mind reader here, Angel. But don't worry-" he smirked. "Your secrets are safe with me... Maybe."

"Oh, don't even try that, Matthews," I said, rolling my eyes. "You've told me yourself that you couldn't get into my head. If you think you can blackmail me with information you don't even have, think again."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," he said, his voice a little too calm for my liking. "I've gotten a little better at reading people in the last few months. After all, the mind is a muscle- I guess you can say I've been working out."

"What's your point?"

He smiled; I felt my blood run cold. "I know things about you, Rouge. Every incriminating secret, every little white lie, I can see it all. 'Cuz your 'mental shields'?" he snorted. "They may as well not even exist. There ain't a lot of perks to having another dude in your head, but my powers getting stronger is one of 'em." His face suddenly darkened. "So go ahead, Angel. Tell everyone about my arm. I'll make sure to visit you in the GUN prison."

I felt my fingers curl into fists. "You're bluffing."

"Try me, sweetheart."

"Want me to? Fine," I spat. "If you know so much, then what did my parents do for a living?"

He paused to strike an overly dramatic pose, puffing out his chest and putting on an enormous grin, "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, step right up and see the Flying Fruit Bats as they soar through the air- no strings attached and no wings necessary! Be amazed as they perform feats of daring never before shown onstage! Only three rings a ticket- you've never seen Acro-Bats like these!"

Manic leaned in closer, his sly smile only growing. "But watch out for the rest of family- they'll sell you hot dogs and steal your wallet faster than than you can say, 'I want my money back'." He took a step back, looking satisfied. "Think I'm bluffing now, princess?"

I had to steady myself against the wall to keep my knees from buckling beneath me; he knew. He recited the whole stupid slogan perfectly. It wasn't possible.

I looked him dead in the eye, trying to steady my breathing. "Fine. So I was a petty thief and a circus brat, big deal. GUN's known that since the day they recruited me, and they don't care. Good luck getting me locked up with that pathetic bit of gossip."

"Oh, Rougey, Rougey, Rougey… don't you get it?" he snickered, shaking his head. "Your whole life's just been one illegal stunt after another- you don't know any other way to live! GUN might think you've turned over a new leaf, but we both know what you've really been up to… Or have you forgotten Stephanie's?"

I felt the last ounces of color drain from my face; Crap, he was serious. He was really serious. It was a moment before I realized that my hands were shaking.

"You want me to play your game, Matthews?" I asked, my voice hardly above a whisper. "Fine. I'll play your game. I won't say a word about you or your arm or that stupid emerald, on one condition-"

"Yeah, yeah, that I keep my mouth shut about your addiction to crime. That's cool, I get it-"

"No." I said, cutting him off. "I want you to promise me something."

"...Okay, shoot."

"You might think you can handle this, Manic, but I've got the feeling that you're in way over your head," I said, forcing him to make eye contact. "So you gotta promise me that if there's even the slightest possibility of you losing control, even for a second… you tell them. Understand?"

He hesitated, caught off guard. After a minute, he nodded. "Alright- Yeah, I can do that. Won't ever need to, but if it makes you feel better, then whatever."

"No. Swear it," I hissed.

Manic rolled his eyes and clapped his hand over his heart. "I, Manic Charles Hedgehog, do hereby swear that if I lose control, which I won't, I'll tell the team about my arm and stuff." he said in the most sarcastic way possible. "Scout's honor."

"Like you're a scout."

"Okay, then I swear it on my life."

"That's not good enough."

"...Ouch." he said flatly, looking annoyed. "Fine then, what do you think I should swear on, your highness?"

I paused a moment. "Swear on your sister's life."

"Uh, come again?"

"You heard me," I sneered. "If you care anything about her, you'll fess up before she can get so much as a scratch on her. So do it. Swear, right now."

Manic stared at me for a moment, his expression unreadable; he sighed. "Okay. I swear on Sonia's life. Are you happy?"

I gave him a half-smile, then turned away without a word. When the door clicked shut I finally let out my breath; Holy Chaos.

This wasn't like him. The Manic I knew was a con man and a thief, not a sly dirtbag who threatened to get me locked up. Something was seriously wrong here; Manic wouldn't do this-not to me, not to anyone.

However, I was intimately familiar with how GUN prisons operated; I couldn't go back. Even just thinking about it made my blood run cold.

There was no way out of this. If I told the team about Manic, I might spend the rest of my life behind bars, and that wasn't an option.

I was trapped.

Slowly, I took a deep breath to collect myself; if I was gonna make this work, everything had to seem normal. I waited until my heart rate had evened out somewhat, then straightened my shoulders and headed back downstairs.

I had hardly set foot on the last step before everyone's heads popped up in expectation.

"Did you get it open?" asked Amy, curious. I nodded, refusing to make eye contact.

"Well then, where is he?" Sonia asked, looking annoyed. I turned to face her, somehow managing to keep my expression completely blank.

"He's not hungry."

XXX

BTW, there was zero Knuxamy in this chapter (although I am personally very fond of that ship). They're friends and their relationship will never be anything but platonic.

Amen to that… except the ship part. I like them as friends, thank you very much.

Shout out to That Speedhunter for providing some excellent vent dialogue in their review- we liked it so much that we actually ended up including a good part of it in Manic's rant in the first half.

Hope y'all enjoyed. Please tell us what you liked and didn't like in the reviews! Have a great day and happy late Star Wars day! And also Cinco de Mayo if you celebrate that.