CHAPTER 13

Rouge listened to the black hedgehog explain his problem without comment. There was nothing she could say to him anyway, no answers she could give him.

"So what do you think it is?' he asked her when he was done.

The bat girl shrugged. "I have no idea," she replied. "It might be nothing but stress for all we know."

"What would I have to stress about?" he wanted to know.

"I have no idea."

"..."

"Where did you first hear this voice?" she asked.

"On the way back from that discussion with that bird named Wave."

Rouge didn't comment. What the bird girl had said had been pretty intense but it wasn't something to stress about. "Let's just not bother the others with this then," she said. "They don't need to know."

"You promised not to tell them anyway," he reminded her.

"I know," she said looking up at the sky for a moment. "I think we'd better head back to the hotel now. Knuckles sent me a message this morning. We have to return to the ship. That Council has something important to tell us."

Shadow nodded. "Okay," he said pushing himself away from the wall he'd been leaning against. As the two headed back inside Shadow said. "Still, that name Black Doom sounded famliar..."

Espio pulled the hood of his dark brown cloak over his head as he entered the tavern a pretty big distance away from the hotel. His yellow eyes roved around nervously, hoping he wouldn't be recognized. He wasn't suppost to be there.

The chameleon wouldn't have gone there at all but he'd been so desperate to find answers he had no other choice, or so he told himself. A friend of his at the Temple had told him he'd be able to find soemone who would be able to answer any questions if he ever came to Macoo. Well he had and he needed answers.

I just hope he's here, he thought, looking around the room for a certain indivisual.

To his luck they were there. He was busy serving a drink to a customer and only gave Espio a sideways glance as the chameleon sat down on a bar stool. When he was done he turned to the Padawan. "What can I get you?" he asked.

"Answere," was the reply.

"Answers eh," the man, a short human with short brown hair said, leaning his elbow on the counter. "Answers about what?"

"Some nightmares I've been having," here Espio pulled his cloak back slightly, just enough for the man to see his lightsaber.

"Ah a Jedi," the man said nodding. He gestured toward the back room. "Why don't we head into the back and you can tell me all about these nightmares there?"

When Shadow and Rpuge entered their room they were approached by Tikal who looked worried. "Have either of you two seen Espio?" she asked.

"No," Shadow replied.

"Isn't he here?" Rouge asked the echidna girl.

Tikal shook her head. "No," she said. "Do you think something happened to him?"

Neither the bat girl or the black hedgehog could answer that.

"We have to find him," Tikal said. "What if he went and did somehing foolish? I know he was upset about nightmares but..." her voice trailed off.

"Nightmares," Rouge said with a glance at Shadow. "Seems like quite a few people have been having that sort of problem lately."

"Like who?" Tikal asked, casting a curious look at the bat girl.

Rouge saw Shadow giving her a Look and decided to keep her mouth shut. She shook her head. "No one," she said. "I was talking about people in general."

"Oh," Tikal said, her face telling the bat girl she didn't believe her.

"Let's just look for Espio," Rouge said changing the subject as she headed toward the door. "Who knows what kind of trouble that chameleon could be getting himself into?"

Jonas Irad felt the sting of electricity going through his body as another Chaos Emerald was added to the first. He tried to hold his cries in but it was no use. His agonized screams echoed off the walls of his prison, much to the pleasue of the dark three eyes alien that was torturing him.

"Maybe this will teach you to defy me," it said, dropping a third. "Once all the Emeralds are in place you will no longer be any trouble."

"But you don't have all seven," Jonas managed to gasp out.

"True," the alien said in a careless voice. "But it doesn't matter."

Jonas gritted his teeth and squieshed his eyes shut. He could survive this. He had to. He couldn't afford not to.

Still, the Emerald's power caused horrible visions to appear in his head. Fire, chaos, and bloody corpses everywhere. This is what would happen if the Sith and the Eggman Empire was allowed to rise again...

Espio explained his problem to the man in as much detail as he could remember. The man listened without comment and only when he was sure Espio was finished did he ask questions.

"You say you dream about you and your friends deaths?" he asked.

The chameleon nodded.

"Hmmm," the man leaned back in his dark leather chair and mulled over what he'd been told for a moment. "It seems you have been having premonitions about events that are likely about to happen soon," he mused.

Espio didn't like the words. "You mean they are all gong to die?" he gasped.

The man put up his hand. "Whoa," he cautioned. "I didn't say that."

"Then what did you mean?" Espio questioned.

The mna folded his arms, his face deadly serious. "I mean these sort of dreams have more than one meaning to them," he replied. "Your friend will probably be serverely hurt but not die."

"What about me?"

The man looked away. "I don't know about you," he replied.

A/N

A little bit of confusion on my part. Sorry.