Amy, Senzace, Sentimento, and Shade found Iltinis panting and listening to Tails, who was pacing back and forth in his living room. Iltinis had flopped onto the floor, still in hedgewolf form. "Any sign?" Asked Amy anxiously. Tails shook his head.

"No sign at all, the only clues we've found are bits of this weird thready stuff. I've been examining the bits but they aren't any material I recognize. It's either something entirely new, or it's from an alternate universe." Iltinis groaned.

"Perfect, just what we need."

"Those zone cop people might be able to help us," said Shade. "From what you said, they can travel between all of the different alternate universes easily."

"Yes, but we have no idea how to contact them, and they probably won't appear until we've almost finished fixing the problem." They stood there for a bit, looking thoughtful. Then Blaze and Silver burst in.

"We came as fast as we could," said Blaze. "We kept an eye out but we didn't see them either." Tails frowned.

"If only Shadow hadn't discovered the tracking device I put on him after we defeated Metal Overlord."

"Maybe Eggman knows where he is!" Said Iltinis, sitting up and smiling hopefully.

"Let's find out."

N

When you're an insane dictator, and you want to be feared and respected, being found sucking on your thumb, hugging a teddy bear, and wearing fuzzy pink slippers isn't really going to help you much. Especially if your enemies get a picture of you while you're still asleep. It is the ultimate form of blackmail. Iltinis tickled Eggman's nose with a feather he'd plucked from Jet (it had taken about twenty minutes to calm him down). The doctor swiped at it, dropping the teddy bear. An upset expression came onto his face. "Mr. Teddums, where are you?" Iltinis covered his mouth with his hand to stop himself from laughing, and Amy started giggling as quietly as she could.

Eggman's hand searched around for the teddy bear, and in the process, he rolled over and fell off the bed. He sat up, rubbing his head, and found himself staring at a stomach. A blue, fuzzy stomach. He looked up, and was met with Iltinis's amused green eyes. Eggman's eye twitched as he stood and smoothed his beard, trying to look in control of the situation. "Er... to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Before Iltinis could say anything, Jet came in.

"Hey, why is Eggman wearing pink pajamas with ponies on them?" That was too much for them, they all started laughing and the doctor went red in the face.

"I'm sure that isn't why you came here," he said with clenched teeth, noticing the camera in Amy's hands.

"No it isn't. We want to know if you can locate Shadow, Espio, and Rouge for us."

"Why do you think I can?" He huffed, still looking offended.

"Because you usually know where Shadow and Rouge are. It's almost as if you're stalking them via robot. But that's not the point. They've been kidnapped, and we're starting to worry."

"Ah. And why should I help you?"

"We got a picture of you, looking all cute and sucking your thumb," said Amy, holding up the camera.

"And you were hugging Mr. Teddums," added Sentimento. "It was really quite cute!"

"We love your slippers by the way," said Shade, grinning. Eggman sighed.

"Fine, but if I can't locate them, don't you dare give that picture to the media."

"No guarantees." A couple of minutes later, while they all sipped surprisingly good hot chocolate, Eggman shook his head.

"No signal from any of the spy bots. It looks as if they've been shorted out. However, If they're still even partly assembled, I can get any remaining video feed from them. That might give us a clue." He drew up a map and showed two red dots, one near where Angel Island currently was, the other a little over halfway between the Mystic Ruins and Shadow's house. Iltinis examined it, eyes narrowed. "I'll swing around Angel Island, I've got a feeling something's going to happen there."

"We'll go with you bro." Iltinis looked at his siblings, then smiled slightly.

"Alright then." Blaze and Silver volunteered to go with them as well.

"I'll go look for the spy bot that was following Shadow," said Shade. Amy volunteered to go with her.

"We'll stay here and keep an eye on Egghead," said Jet. Wave and Storm nodded their agreement.

"He does one thing he isn't supposed to, I click send for this e-mail to the local newspapers."

"What e-mail?" Asked Eggman, actually looking nervous.

"The one with the picture of you." Eggman gulped.

"I'll behave until you're all out of my base, I promise."

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"Cross my heart and hope to lose." Tails rolled his eyes.

"Good enough I suppose..."

N

The Puppet Master was thrilled by the recent developments. His puppet was close to finding out what had happened to Rouge, and the child was on Angel Island. He'd be able to easily get the plant boy in his grip, and the baby would be easy to get. Iris wasn't strong enough yet to oppose him. He smiled thinly. "Finitevus!" The echidna scientist appeared.

"What?"

"Is the process complete?"

"Almost, a few more minutes is all I need." The Puppet Master nodded.

"Very well. Inform me as soon as he is ready, I will need him to come with me for something." Finitevus nodded, then disappeared. "Soon, soon I shall have you." The Puppet Master allowed himself to chuckle briefly. "Oh how sweet revenge shall be."

N

It hurt. He could tell that all the negative thoughts in his head were wrong. But he wasn't in control, something else was, something familiar had become corrupted. When he tried to figure out what it was, his head would start hurting. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear. He could hear Finitevus gloating quietly before going to get the Puppet Master. If he could only get his hands on that murderer...

Finitevus hadn't killed his father directly, but indirectly or not, he'd still done it. And now it looked as if his father's sacrifice had been for nothing. Locke had died to free him from this state and now he was trapped in it once again. Why had he been stupid enough to run straight into the tunnels after Finitevus instead of going and getting the Chaotix? They'd have found the scientist sooner or later.

He spasmed, the corrupt something would soon take over all of his mind, he wouldn't even be able to think like himself. It was horrible, knowing your mind was slowly disappearing. It wasn't quite like going berserk or insane, berserk was fueled by anger or grief. Insane was loneliness. Pain and fear was what he felt as the corrupt thing took more of his mind and absorbed it. He would have fought, but he couldn't do anything to it without speeding up the process of destruction. So all he could do was wait, and hope someone would manage to save him.

N

Aaron, after laughing with his siblings and joking around with everyone, suddenly found himself hit by the negative feelings. The force of them almost knocked him over, if you know what I mean. He quietened and went off by himself, and everyone assumed that as long as he stayed near the house Rouge had insisted on Knuckles making, he'd be safe. That wasn't the case.

Around the other side of the building, he saw a man sitting on a tree stump and swinging his legs. At least, he thought it was a man. The cloak he wore made it hard to tell, especially because he was bent over. The person looked up. "Ah, Aaron." The voice was male. He stood and held out his hand. "I am the Puppet Master."

"I don't like puppets," said Aaron, frowning.

"Really? We must not be thinking of the same sorts of puppets. Are you thinking paper bag ones, or ones of cloth perhaps?" Aaron nodded. "I am thinking of living creatures." Aaron's eyes widened with shock, he moved to run back around the house or at least yell for help, but the Puppet Master clamped a hand over his mouth. "Shout and I send a dozen of my newly made puppets, including an... ally of mine, to take care of your friends." Aaron closed his mouth. "Good. I have a proposition for you."

"Become one of your puppets?" Spat Aaron, a small growl rising from his chest. The Puppet Master laughed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course not dear boy. If I wanted to, I could have made you become one when I put my hand over your mouth, or now, as my hand rests on your shoulder. Do you feel any sudden urge to obey me?" Aaron shook his head, puzzled. "My proposition is to join me. This world will be mine soon enough, I'm only waiting for all the pieces to fall into place. You are a major one, will you help your friends and inevitably lose, or will you join my side and make us win that much sooner?" Aaron hesitated, and the negative feelings forced their way to the surface. Aaron scowled.

"It's not like they'd miss me at all," he said. "I accept your offer." The Puppet Master smiled, knowing that his talking, and the one other thing he'd done that Aaron wasn't aware of, would get the boy on his side in the end.

N

Iris, having been busy talking to Alfred, Knuckles, and Noah, only noticed what was going on with Aaron when the negative feelings spiked. "Aaron's in trouble," she said, turning and going towards the back of the house. Something landed in front of her and she fell back.

"Give me the child," it hissed. It was a spider in a ninja outfit, it's eyes glaring venomously at her, while at the same time staying creepily blank. Iris hugged Alfred to herself. The baby smiled up at her, but she was too focused on the enemy as she backed towards Knuckles and Noah. More spiders appeared.

"Give us the child!" Knuckles growled.

"Over my dead body," he said fiercely. They heard a laugh that sounded eerily familiar.

"Over your dead body? How unfortunate. It seems I shall have to kill my counterpart before I even get to know him," a figure with red dreadlocks and a strange outfit landed. It was blue and gold robes and boots. In his spiked glove he held a staff with what looked like an eagle head carved onto the top.

"Who are you?" Asked Knuckles, almost afraid of the answer, yet not knowing why.

"I am Enerjak. Before reaching this state I was known as 'Knuckles'." Iris reached out to his mind, the instant their minds made contact, they both started screaming.

N

Itlinis, with his finely tuned hearing, heard the scream. "Iris!" He yelled, pupils dilating. Senzace and Sentimento looked up from the robot they were picking up.

"What's happening Iltinis?" He didn't reply, just shot off towards the island, already stretching his arms to impossible lengths so he could reach the edge of the island and pull himself up. Senzace and Sentimento sighed. "Come on, let's follow him then." They heard Blaze and Silver gasp, and turned just a moment too late. The cloths were over their noses and mouths before they could react. And to them, the world went black.

Iltinis meanwhile, had reached Knuckles' house and was furiously plowing through the spiders, ignoring the thread that stuck to his fur. It seemed like an odd weapon to him. However, seeing as it hadn't done anything, he decided it was useless and furiously threw them through the air, disregarding the cracks he heard. Enerjak was too busy furiously chasing Iris, who was running around and keeping a tight hold on Alfred, who was crying, to notice that Iltinis was making a beeline for him. "Stay away from my daughter!" He roared.

Enerjak turned his face just in time for Iltinis's fist to come into contact with it. Iris was sweating, having stopped herself from screaming once she realized that it started Alfred wailing, and his wailing really hurt everyone's ears. Enerjak was also keeping in his screams. Now he grunted as he was flung through the air. He crashed into a tree. "This isn't over," he spat. "I'll be back for the baby soon, the Puppet Master orders that it must be so!" Enerjak turned and fled, a wave of his hand lifted the spiders into the air and drew them after him.

"Are you okay Iris?" Iris nodded.

"He's got a curse of some sort on him," she said, looking after Enerjak and letting Knuckles take Alfred. "That's not really him."

"It sure looked like he was real," said Noah.

"No, I meant that that's not who he really is. That's a personality that the curse brought on. It's connected to some white echidna and this person called the Puppet Mast-" She broke off. "Aaron was in trouble earlier!" She darted around the back of the house, followed by Iltinis, Noah, and Knuckles. Iris closed her eyes and started casting around with her mind. "Aaron is no longer on the island."

N

Rouge glared at the cuff on her wrist. It was too tight, and it was a horrible shade of green. Her supposed benefactor, an old echidna, chuckled. "You'll appreciate this cuff soon enough Rouge. As soon as threads start descending on you."

"What the hell does that even mean Athair?"

"Now now, I might have come from another universe with the intention of giving you some small aid, but that doesn't mean that I can tell you everything. I must get back to my own world before it becomes too unbalanced. Three echidnas connected to chaos out of it at once is not a good thing." Athair turned, but paused before walking towards the portal that had just appeared for him. "I will tell you one other thing, fire can be deceiving." With a mischievous grin that made him seem much younger, he stepped into the portal and vanished.

Rouge growled something under her breath. "Attacked by spiders last night, waking up with a horrid looking cuff on my arm, and given no straight answers by this lunatic echidna who believes he's related to Knuckles." She punched a tree. "Can my day get any worse?" Apparently it could, for it started to rain.

Well that was certainly interesting. Writing about Knuckles' experience of turning into Enerjak was weird and put there on a whim, hope it isn't too bad. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bit of a craving to satisfy...

Disclaimer: A craving that involves fanfictions about a tall demon lord digimon who has guns, a metallic tail, and a motorcycle. Hmm, who could it be?

Oh shut up, Beelzemon is cool!

Disclaimer: You say the same about Black WarGreymon.

Hey, I can't help it if they are just so fantastic that they became some of my top favorite digimon.

Finitevus: Don't ask why she checked out Digimon again, seriously don't. She doesn't own anything in this story except the vampire twins, the children, and possibly the Puppet Master. We won't know until his identity is revealed who he is.

Hey Puppet Master, would you tell me who you are?

Puppet Master: Now that would spoil the surprise.

*pouts*

Disclaimer: R&R