Chapter 10! Double digits! Yay! Just so you know, since I started High School today, the chapters for my stories are going to be a tad bit later now. Also, I will alternate update days, so Crimson Stripes and Triple Shadows:Remix most likely will be updated on opposite days, alright? Okay then, let's go!

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Back at the Silvergem Hotel, the group of five appeared in a hotel room with a flash of green light. Yume, Akumu, Eggman, Ghost, and Mech all landed on the floor with a thump.

"Not as smooth as I'd like, but I did it," Yume said, congratulating herself. "I barely ever get it right."

"You haven't mastered Chaos Control yet?" Eggman asked, dusting off his metal arm as he rose to his feet.

"No," Yume replied, shaking her head. "I always had trouble with it. Akumu's the one who's better with magic, as well as techno stuff. I'm better with athletics and sneaking. In our job, I do the main work, while he does side and back-up work."

"Theives, I suppose," Eggman turned around to face the rest of the group. "Well, we're out. Now, to figure out what to do. Akumu, Yume, you two are trying to retrieve your mother and the other adults, right?"

"That's the plan," Akumu agreed.

"Alright then, I have a proposistion for you," A smirk crept across the cyborg's face. "I shall assist you two in your little mission. In return...you and the adults shall not be able to attack me or my bases after this is all over. Deal?"

"Hold on a minute," Yume ordered, "We need to talk this over." Akumu and Yume walked out of the room, making sure they were out of earshot.

"I don't know about this Yume," Akumu muttered. "From what we've heard, this guy is a nutcase, and both he and his grandfather are technological masterminds. Also, Eggman was the one who made all these clones, remember."

"True," His sister replied, "but we need all the allies we can get. Besides, chances are that Eggman knows more about Zynth and his army than we do. Speaking of which, why the heck is he called Eggman? Lame name for a scientist, if you ask me."

"Who knows how madmen think," The bat sibling sighed. "Well, what do we have to lose? I guess we should agree with him."

"Agreed," Yume replied. The twins shook hands on it, and then returned to the room. The eyes of Eggman and Mech were on them as they entered, while Ghost stared outside the window, his face blank.

"Dr. Eggman, we agree with your proposition," The twins declared at the same time. The echidna chuckled in amusement.

"It's obvious you two are twins," He noted. "Either way, good. I shall hold you to your agreement, and you hold me to mine."

"Alright then, we have some questions we want to ask," Yume said. "First off, why are you helping us? It's not just for the immunity from us and the adults, is it? And secondly, what about Mech and Ghost?"

"You caught me with the first one," Eggman admitted, putting up his hands in mock surrender. "Zynth was a defective Shadow Clone that betrayed me, locked me up, took control of all my robots, and destroyed my lab to boot. All I want is some payback on it, that's all. As for Mech, I think we can use him when we attempt a plan on the base."

"You wouldn't dare!" Mech cried. "I am Zynth's assistant! His right-hand man! I would never betray him!"

"It's better than the alternative," Akumu explained. "Since you are with us, you could get arrested for betraying Zynth and his rules, couldn't you?"

"But I never did help you!" Mech retorted in suprise. Yume grinned evily.

"You allowed us to escape, and then you gave me a Chaos Emerald, didn't you?" Mech gaped, at a loss of how to respond to this accusation. Eventually, he just hung his head to the floor in silence.

"You still haven't answered our other question," The hedgehog twin pointed out to Eggman. "What about Ghost? Surely he isn't coming with us?"

"On the contrary, I believe it would be foolish not to take him with us," The mad doctor replied. You see, Zynth is afraid of Ghost. Don't ask me why, but he is. You see, Ghost is missing his soul, and therefore his personality and memory. I have reasons to believe that Zynth took it for the robots. Thing is, this lack of soul scares Zynth, because that is what he believes will happen to all the androids if the soul was recovered. They would be just normal robots, and Zynth doesn't want that. Also, Ghost is unusually handy with Chaos Magic."

"So, Ghost has no memory or personality," Yume concluded. "If we get his soul back to him, then we won't have to worry about all these robots. It's the perfet plan!"

"Ho...how dare you s...say such a thing?" Mech asked, so bewildered that he was stutterring. "You d...dare take our souls? We are j...j...just as alive as you flesh-a...and-blood cr...creatures!"

"No, you are robots!" Yume yelled at him. "We could just mess with your circuits and stuff, and you wouldn't have snuff. You can't do that with a real person, can you?"

"If done correctly, you can." Everyone turned to Ghost, who had just spoken. His voice was a tad deeper than the average voice, but there was no tone whatsoever. Just emotionless words, as if they had no meaning. Once again, a chill ran down the twin's spines. Oddly, the voice sounded a tiny bit familiar to Yume, but she couldn't place why. Shaking it off, the white theif looked outside.

"I don't think any of the androids back at the citadel know we're here," she said. "If they did, I'm sure the townspeople would be looking for us."

"They would," Mech confirmed, having calmed down enough to talk normally. "For Zynth, they would do anything in a heartbeat. Well, if we had hearts, anyway."

"You will not alert them," Yume ordered. "Either you help us, or you're going to a scrap yard. Got it?"

"I suppose," The assistant agreed, looking down at the floor. "So, where to know? Zynth's army will find us here eventually."

"Oh, I know a place where they will never find us," Eggman replied. "Grab your stuff everyone, and then meet me at the door to the inn. We're headed to my final base."

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Oi, the Final Base! Well, I'll see you all next chapter, which may be late. I have relatives over. Anyway, see ya'!