Sonic could have easily expected multiple things to have been behind that door. Some strange machine designed to turn him into a were-creature. A giant ray gun created to blow up the planet and half the moon. Even break dancing, pink polka-dotted elephants all named 'German Andy'.

Anything but this.

The blue hedgehog shuddered, but managed to keep somewhat calm, "Funny, Egghead. Seriously though, what are you really doing with me?"

"I told you already," Eggman chuckled, dragging the blue hedgehog inside, "I'm going to bend you over that bed and fuck you."

"No. No you're not." Eggman raised an eyebrow as Sonic looked at him, "I've fought with you a hundred times, and you've even managed to catch me once or twice. You've never shown any sign that you wanted to do this with me. I'm not buying it. Something's not right here. Are you even…" Sonic paused for a moment trying to see behind those dark glasses, "Are you real?"

Eggman was shocked for a second at the comment, but then quickly regained his composure, "Of course I'm real you blue idiot!"

"Then what's with the sudden lust, Egghead?" Sonic's heart was pumping like crazy, but he was calm enough to get through to Eggman. Something was off about this whole situation, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. "Come on - you're not sexually attracted to me at all. Why would you be? You're an old, fat crazy human and I'm a young, slim crazy hedgehog. We're nothing alike. There's no love here! So tell me the truth - what's up with this?"

Eggman stared at Sonic for a minute, and then burst out laughing, "Seriously? You thought that I was in love with you? That's a riot!"

Sonic frowned, "Then what do you want, Eggman?"

The scientist grinned again; twisting Sonic around the blue hedgehog was in front and facing him. Eggman chuckled at Sonic's puzzled look and said, "You think sex is just for lust, Sonic? No! It's control I'm after here!"

"Say what?"

Eggman took a few steps forward, forcing Sonic to step back until his legs were pushed against the plush mattress on the bed. "I've heard all about how Mephiles made Wario fuck you. While you kept it all secret you were under his complete control."

"That's only because he took my powers away - and I'll never keep silent again!" Sonic growled and twisted, but Eggman only gripped his wrists tighter. "Even if I do end up spreading my legs for you, that's not going to stop me from taking you out!"

"Oh, then I suppose your cute little lover will run in and bash me over the head with a hammer, hmm? Do you think anybody wants to be with you forever, you little slut? They're with you for the same reason I have you now - to control you. Getting that power of yours under my control will be much more profitable than killing you. A couple of fuckings and you'll be weak again…or…" Eggman chuckled again, "What about Tails?"

"You sick fuck! He's not even a teenager! Stay away from him or I swear to the skies I'll rip out your heart!" Sonic was absolutely furious that the fat bastard would even suggest such a thing! A quick twist of his neck and Sonic was able to bury his teeth into Eggman's wrist. With a cry, Eggman let go, and Sonic kicked the scientist in the shin before scrambling to the door.

The door slammed shut before Sonic's eyes, and he pounded on it uselessly, hoping that it would open up. Nothing happened, and in two seconds Eggman held Sonic in his grip again.

"You'll pay for that, and every other miserable thing you've done to me in your life!" Sonic raised his quills, twisting and struggling to either bite or scratch his way to freedom, but with no powers even the overweight Eggman could hold him down. Sonic was quickly dragged over to the bed and flipped so he was face-down against the blankets, his hips on the edge of the mattress and his legs hanging down the sides. Eggman shifted his grip to Sonic's waist and shoved Sonic's legs apart, pressing himself against Sonic's quivering body.

"You will bow to me, Sonic. I will have you screaming mercy!" Eggman snarled from behind, and Sonic winced when he heard the rustling of clothing and then felt bare skin against his backside.

"I'll kill you for this. Give me just one chance and I'll kill you…" Sonic grunted, bracing himself for the pain.

It had been months since Sonic had been split open like this, but he clearly remembered the pain from before. It started as a sudden shock at the base of his tail, and then as the perpetrator pushed in further the pain would quickly spread to every part of his body, sharp blows worse than gun shots. The lightning pain would spread and attack every nerve during the ordeal, but down below his hips and backside would be under so much pressure that he'd feel like they'd explode at any moment. Then there would be short relief as the dominator withdrew, and then it would all come back the moment they slammed in again. It would continue anywhere from a few minutes to fifteen, depending whether or not the position switched or if they came early. Depending on the roughness, either he would bleed and the lubrication would help a little with the pain, although it made sitting down later a dozen times worse; or he wouldn't and he would be able to feel the semen being shot into his rear, and then that feeling would be there all day, making looking someone in the eye difficult than usual.

He knew it all too well. After all, he had gone through it over a dozen times. And here it was about to happen again. Sonic let out a cry as he felt Eggman's hips pull back, and something prod him beneath his tail. He was screaming in his mind, but wasn't going to give Eggman the satisfaction. The pain was coming, it was coming, and…

X

"For Chaos' sake Sonic, WAKE UP!"

Sonic tumbled to the floor with a cry, slamming his head on the bedpost on the way down. The blue hedgehog rolled over panting heavily and covered with sweat, shaking. A sleepy blue-eyed two-tailed fox stood over him and asked in a softer voice, "Are…are you ok?"

"Tails? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Who?"

"Eggman! Did he touch you?"

"Eggman? I haven't seen him in weeks. Is that what your dream was about?"

"Dream?" Sonic sat up and looked around the room - his bedroom, and not in some other unmentionable place - and he checked his ankle. No anklet. "It was a dream?"

"A bad one, of course."

"How did you know that I was having a bad dream?"

"Because you were screaming like you were being murdered in here! You scared the life out of me!" Tails voice softened as he looked at his older brother, "You've never had a nightmare that bad before. Maybe you should go see Dr. Nam again."

Sonic shrugged, "Maybe." The hedgehog pulled himself onto his bed, rubbing his eyes and attempted to erase the images from his mind, "I can't remember the last time I've felt so frightened," Sonic said as Tails sat down beside him, patting his shoulder, "I wonder what could have possibly caused so much fear in me?"

XXXXXXXXX

The screen went blank, and Mephiles sighed. Somebody must have awakened Sonic, which meant that there wasn't much point in continuing. Besides, Espio would awaken soon, and then the chameleon would really be ticked off.

A quick snap of his fingers, and the same wolf-man that had brought Espio here came into the room. After freeing the chameleon, Mephiles ordered the creature to drop Espio off somewhere far from his base. The wolf-man started off, and Mephiles looked back at his screens. Whoever it was down below, he had to thank them for loaning him their anger. If every person on this planet had even a tenth of the rage this one guy he had, Mephiles was set in terms of energy.

XXXXXXXXX

It took less than a minute for Shadow to destroy all of the monsters. Watching with slight satisfaction as the monsters burst into dark sparkles, Shadow turned back to look at the machine again. Should he destroy it? Study it? Ignore it entirely? No, fuck the last one.

"Stupid, stupid hedgehog…" Shadow's ears perked as he heard voices from down the tunnel he had originally come from, "If Gerald disciplined him more when he was younger, then there wouldn't be this problem…"

"I heard that!" Shadow called back, "And don't you dare act as though you've been perfect in following orders." Shadow had to chuckle when he heard the soldier who had been speaking stutter. A small band of soldiers came down the tunnel, and with the pale face it was quite easy to tell which one had been speaking before.

"Oh, just can it," another soldier said, "There's no need to start a fight here. We're just here to collect him." She then turned to Shadow, "The Commander's really pissed that you jumped down here. You'd better return to the surface soon or you'll face his wrath."

Shadow shrugged, "Whatever. I'm finished here. Watch for traps - I've already sprung one." With that, Shadow quickly skated down a different tunnel, as currently he had no plans to return to the surface.

At another intersection, Shadow paused to think about his options. It was then he realized something was amiss - he wasn't angry. Usually he was bitter about one thing or another, keeping it inside so he appeared almost apathetic to everything around him, but now there was nothing there. Instead of a volcano that could erupt at any moment he was simply…calm. It was rare that he felt like this, and when he tried to call upon his anger he found that he couldn't summon even the slightest bit.

"That's too bad," Shadow muttered, deciding on the left tunnel, "I'd like to be able to bring some anger when I need it. Makes it easier to fight, sometimes."

XXXXXXXXX

"I don't understand what could be so interesting…" Blaze said, crawling after Silver. After coming through the fog, Blaze whispered, "Oh." She scrambled to her feet and stood beside Silver, who was also looking at the sight before them.

In the middle of the fog of confusion was a patch of soft green grass, about twenty feet across all ways and surrounded by a foot-high wall, made of solid gold. A small cobblestone path ran from the gate in the wall to a large marble fountain in the center. The soft blue water magically swirled around a marble column ten feet high in the center, as if being sucked through an invisible pipe, before cascading at the top down towards the pond and lapping softly at the walls of the base. Flowers of every kind grew everywhere, nearly hiding the grass, and the scents of the flowers was strong. A woman with golden hair, dressed in a simple blue dress and wearing a silver scarf around her shoulders was sitting on the edge of the water. She had thin silver anklets around both ankle and matching ones on her wrists. Her bare feet were only an inch above the ground, and leaning on her hands she stared lovingly at the water fountain.

"Do we say something?" Blaze whispered to Silver, who shrugged in response.

"Come on in, little ones. You have nothing to fear now." Both cat and hedgehog jumped as the woman spoke, her voice as soft as the flower petals around her, "Come sit with me by the fountain."

Silver seemed a little nervous to go, but Blaze decided to head on in. After seeing Blaze walk up with nothing go wrong, Silver caught up and they walked to the fountain together. Blaze sat down to the left of the woman, with Silver sitting on Blaze's left.

The woman turned to look at her guests, smiling with soft green eyes, "I know you must be concerned about what has been happening to you here."

"Well, yeah, of course," Silver said, "Who wouldn't be?"

"Come now, it is alright. This place is safe from the insanity outside the walls." The woman gestured to the fog, "In that fog, your mind plays tricks on you. That is when it creates images to try and understand what is happening."

"That still doesn't explain where we are," Silver said, crossing his arms.

"Ah, but of course you would wish to know. Well, you are still in the remains of the ruins you found before. It is only your minds and spirits that have left your bodies."

"Does that mean we're…ghosts?" Blaze asked, eyes going wide.

The woman laughed softly, "No, child, you are not dead. Your spirit has simply left your earthly body to explore different places."

"Sorry, but I'm not following you here at all," Silver sighed, "Don't you have a better explanation?"

"Of course." The woman gestured to the water in the fountain, "The mind is a wonderful source all of things. A creative spark is what has changed many cultures or turned the tides of wars. Someone who is creative can think of so many different things and create worlds and ideas where anything is possible. Unlike an earthly body, the mind's power is limitless!"

"Alright…so, your point is?"

The woman's eyes sparkled, "Imagine, just for an instant, you could control that power."

"Huh?"

"Think about it this way. Just by thinking of something, you could make it appear. By getting into someone's mind, you could control their thoughts. By transferring someone's darkest or most triumphant moments into energy…you would have enough power to take over a world."

"That would be…interesting, and a little boring," Blaze replied.

The woman sighed, "Yes, it would…but some people would like it that way."

"For themselves, right?" The woman nodded. "Makes sense to me. If I was evil, that would be awesome."

"Of course…" The woman looked around the garden, "Many cultures attempt to discover a way into the mind, dreams in particular. And many people speak about if they could have one wish, and what they would do. My own culture wanted this so badly that we found a way to break the ties between the madness in the mind and the reality of the world, combining them and making a new place where both collided."

"You did? Where?"

"You are in that world right now."

Blaze and Silver looked around, and then Silver said, "The fog?"

"That is what remains of what we created. This garden is what I have managed to keep under control."

"Ok, I'm so, so confused. You're talking all over the place and I don't get it!"

The woman sighed, "You remember the demons that attacked you? You created them, by accident. Originally this state of mind was kept for ideas to help others, but eventually, it became for hurting others. Out there in that fog, anyone who sets foot has a nightmare of theirs come true. Both of you were afraid the other was injured or worse and the fog took that thought and made it into reality. This place is both a state of mind and a different realm entirely."

"Makes sense, I guess. So basically we sent ourselves on a strange acid trip," Silver whispered to Blaze.

"I'm pretty sure we're still on it," Blaze replied.

"Now, look at each other, and think of five ways you could make the other happy. Now think of five ways you could kill the other. Easy, was it not?" Blaze and Silver nodded. "That is the power that is available here. Regardless of how illogical the thought is, in your mind, it can work. A world based with no logic at all is a dangerous place. But my own people did not care. They wanted control so badly that everyone was destroyed. I was the last, and I destroyed the cities of my people and scattered the ruins around, using this state of mind, this world, so it would be near impossible for anyone to come to this place again."

"Why is this all so dangerous?" Silver asked.

"Think, child. I am sure you have heard of dreams coming true, correct? But now imagine someone's wildest, most illogical dream coming true - whether it be marrying a movie star, becoming a rock band legend, or taking over the world."

"So what you're saying is that here you can take the power of someone's imagination and bring it to life in the real world?" The woman nodded. "Creepy."

The woman sighed, "And that is exactly what Mephiles the Dark has done."

Blaze and Silver exchanged glances. "Say what?" Silver gasped.

"He couldn't possibly have - if he's got all this power, why doesn't he just wish for all of us gone and the universe his?" Blaze asked.

"Mephiles does not have full control. In fact, he has very little. Of current it is enough to bring nightmares into reality - say, if someone dreamed of a psychotic killer chasing them, Mephiles can create an incarnation of that fear into the world. He can control the creature he has summoned, but he requires a lot of power to do so. He has been absorbing the thoughts of others and using the powerful emotions they cause to provide the energy to keep his project going. After all, dreams are directly influenced by one's feelings."

"How did he get these powers in the first place?" Silver asked.

"The same way as you got into this world - accidentally stumbling upon one of the ruins of my people. However, he recognized what he had found and planned to get some power. He managed to create a small hole, enough to draw out some power, but not so much that he is unstoppable. He seems to understand that he could not possibly control such strength and has decided to work with what he has."

"Does he have the ability to get into our minds?" Blaze asked next.

"Yes, but only when you are asleep, and you will understand that something is wrong. You can push him away. The only way he can take over your mind is with illusions, and those are from spell books and can easily be reversed. He is not strong enough to control you with the power from here, and I doubt he ever will be. If he becomes corrupted with the power from this place, all hell will break loose. He would have to be completely mad to attempt to control everything."

"Knowing Mephiles, I'm sure he'd try," Blaze said, rolling her eyes.

"So if he can get in our heads, then he can find out what we're scared of, and use that against us!" Silver jumped up, "Blaze, we've got to get back and warn everyone. Think of poor Sonic, and what Mephiles could do to mess with his head. Or Shadow, with his difficult past, or…anyone! This is bad!"

"I know, but what can we do about it? How do we stop Mephiles?" Blaze asked.

The woman nodded, "Remember, all of the creatures he has come from imagination. They are not real, so do not hold back. Destroy them, and the energy will be returned here. I can then attempt to trap the energy in this realm to weaken Mephiles, but it may not be enough. The other thing to remember is if something very strange begins to happen, take a step back and think. Chances are Mephiles is trying to confuse you, and once your mind begins spawning tricks to fix things he will take your ideas and use them against you. All he has to do is guide you in the way he wants and your mind will take off on its own. You cannot be your own worst enemy, otherwise you will be falling a long ways down."

"Ok, I get it. So…how do we get back?" Blaze asked.

"Just look into the fountain, yes, like that. Let the beauty of the water rush around you, and let yourself disappear. Do not sit up too quickly when you arrive back, otherwise you will be sick. Now goodbye, and good luck."

XXXXXXXXX

After returning back to earth, Blaze and Silver waited a few minutes before getting up and heading back to the surface.

"Blaze, hurry up! Oh wow, it's dark now…" Silver looked up at the starry night sky, and then back at the purple cat, "I guess it makes sense, what that woman said. How else could Mephiles have done such crazy things?"

"I still think we've just gone on some sort of drug trip. That was honestly one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. How do we know it's not just a hallucination?" Blaze asked, yawning.

"Blaze, both you and I saw the exact same thing!"

"Maybe Mephiles planned it."

"Why would he tell us how to defeat him?"

"He could have told us lies."

"Then how else do you explain his abilities?"

"I don't know. Spell books, perhaps? In any case, did you notice how she didn't tell us the specific idea on how to 'defeat' him? What are we supposed to do - trap him in a crystal ball?"

"Maybe she means that we're supposed to kill him, but was too polite to say it."

"Hey, if you're planning on killing that bastard Mephiles, let me in on it. I'm dying to see his head separated from his body," a different voice said.

Silver turned around and said, "Espio, isn't it? What are you doing here?"

"Believe me, I wish I knew. Let's get back to civilization and I'll explain on the way. Oh, and another thing," Espio said, looking at the other two, "Whoever you talked to is wrong. The last thing I remember is thinking I was trapped and continually tortured in some strange place, and I almost bought it. If we don't do something quick, I believe Mephiles is gonna be strong enough to take over someone's mind…and what will we do then?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Thanks, Knux," Sonic said, blowing on the warm tea in his cup, "I already feel a lot better."

Knuckles grunted and sat down beside Sonic, purple eyes blinking sleepily. Tails was drinking a cup of tea was well, while Sonic was on his third. It was specifically designed to help someone sleep, and the blue hedgehog was seriously hoping that it would work.

"It's past three in the morning. Why do you pick such horrible times to have nightmares, Sonic?" Knuckles said, rubbing his eyes, "And why was it so bad as to have me come over?"

"Knuckles, something's not right here. Sonic's dream was with Eggman, but it bears a strange resemblance to…one of his incidences," Tails replied, glancing over at Sonic.

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"Tails is saying the way Eggman tried to fuck me in the dream is almost the same as one of the times Wario did fuck me," Sonic snapped, looking away.

"Right down to the locked door and fighting back. There were minor variations, but it was basically the same idea. Don't you think it's a little odd that the setting would be similar?" Tails asked.

"I'm too tired to think right now. Get back to me on that in the morning," Knuckles grumbled, "By the way, Silver never showed up. Or your gizmo didn't activate - take your pick."

"Silver's not here right now. He went out with Blaze and hasn't returned," Tails replied, "Maybe he didn't have time to go to you."

"Come to think of it…where did Isis go? Surely she must have heard us," Sonic said, looking up again as the phone began to ring.

"She was gone when I came downstairs. No note, no signs of a struggle, nothing - she just got up and left." Tails shrugged as he got up to answer it, "Maybe she went to find Silver."

"Whatever. She bothers me," Knuckles replied, "Seems a little weird, too."

"Nice Knuckles. You're sitting at the table with a super-sonic speed blue hedgehog and a twin-tailed fox who's a mechanical genius. As for yourself, you're bright red, spend all your time on a floating island, and can shatter boulders with your fists. I think we can clearly establish that around here, there isn't a very good definition of 'normal'," Sonic grinned, leaning back in his chair. At least his usual personality was returning, including the teasing part.

"Very funny, Sonic."

"Look, I'm sure she's fine, wherever she ended up. After all, she left on her own. What I'm wondering is what the heck happened to Silver and Blaze? They should have returned ages ago."

"That was Blaze," Tails said, hanging up the phone, "She and Silver are at the hospital again. Seems though the Chaotix have had quite a scare tonight."

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"They were attacked, and Espio was captured. But he's still confused on what exactly Mephiles wanted. It seems the whole idea was to try and convince Espio of some strange world where he had been captured and tortured for months, but Espio didn't completely buy it. Then he was simply dumped outside, basically unharmed. Not much else happened."

"Why go to the trouble of capturing someone like Espio? Wouldn't it be better to catch a random human instead of somebody who could destroy your whole base given an hour and a chance to escape?" Sonic asked.

"I guess whatever Mephiles is up to, he's looking to make sure it works on strong-minded people. Since Espio wasn't involved with Mephiles before, he wouldn't be as much on guard."

"I suppose…" Sonic looked at both of his friends and then back at his drink. "But…if he's planning on convincing people…you don't think my dream and Espio's situation are related, do you?"

Tails thought for a moment. "Could be," the fox explained, "After all, your dream and what happened to you before closely resemble each other. Maybe Mephiles caused your dream to happen somehow."

"Or maybe Knuckles did because he gave me the wonderful image of having sex with Eggman!" Sonic hissed, glaring at the echidna.

"You're the one who made me tell, hedgehog! I would have kept my mouth shut if you didn't beg to know!" Knuckles countered.

"I did not beg!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not, Knucklehead! You seriously need to get laid."

"That was uncalled for, Sonic," Knuckles growled, knowing that saying the wrong thing when speaking about that certain topic with Sonic could make things end badly. "Besides, when's the last time you rode your partner?"

"Hey, we're not that horny! We've been taking a break since Mephiles showed up."

"Well, maybe you two should start fucking again. That way I don't have to come over at three in the fucking morning to help you!"

Sonic blushed a deeper red and turned away. "You didn't have to come," Sonic whispered.

Knuckles sighed, "You know I would."

"We just want you to feel better, that's all," Tails said before another argument could start up.

"Yeah…maybe I do need to get laid as well. It does make me feel a lot better, after all…" Sonic paused, then thinking about who had been riding him that night. Even though it had basically been consensual, it wasn't exactly 'clean' sex to Sonic. The last thing he wanted to do was dirty his lover's body with his own. "On second thought, maybe I'll wait for a better time. The last thing I want to do is have to go save the world in the middle of sex."

"Very nice, you two. I'm glad you're both awake enough to think with the thing between your legs instead of your heads!" Tails snapped, "Seriously, we need to get moving here. I'm almost done with the shield to block the Chaos Emeralds' energy, but we still don't have Eggman's support. Whether it's to get him on our side or get him to fuck off it doesn't matter, but we need an answer."

"Alright, alright, we're on it," Sonic sighed.

"I'm thinking," Knuckles added.

XXXXXXXXX

"He's a liar, Eggman. Regardless of what he offers you right now, he'll backstab you later on. Besides, is there a real thrill anymore if Sonic disappeared?" Rouge crossed her arms and waiting, watching as the tired doctor went over her words. She was still holding the pictures in her hands, having received them from Isis who had found her flying when she had been looking for Espio. The strange girl had said tonight would be a good night to speak to the scientist and then left with no other words. With no luck finding the chameleon, Rouge had reached Eggman and was attempting to barter with him, to some success so far.

"Mephiles has done some very interesting things so far. He also seems quite confident that he can hold onto Sonic," Eggman replied, leaning back in his chair.

"You're confident in your own plans, but who shows up to ruin you? The same guy that Mephiles thinks he can keep under control forever. Come on, there's no chance of that!"

"Still, even if Mephiles does fail I lose nothing over it. Sonic has too much heart to come here and kill me."

"But what does Mephiles gain out of capturing Sonic? Nothing, except the chance to take over the world! He's planning on tricking you into believing him so he can take control under your nose. You're walking into a death trap, Eggman."

The scientist frowned, "How would you know that, Rouge? Have you been spying on him?"

The bat laughed, "You know me well. Do you know Mephiles at all? He's a complete pervert."

"What?"

"Take a look at these," Rouge said, taking a few steps forward and dropping the pictures on Eggman's lap, "Do you really want to place your trust in someone who has a whole room of these; that he draws be his own hand? Is that really the kind of madman to work with?"

Eggman almost choked when he saw the picture of Mephiles and Sonic together. That was certainly one image he could have lived his whole life without seeing.

Seeing Eggman's expression, Rouge decided to kick things up a notch and try to convince the doctor of other ideas. "You know, there were some of you and Sonic having sex together. He's probably planning on forcing Sonic to suck your dick to break him."

"What?" Eggman snapped, dropping the drawings onto the floor, "Would he be crazy enough to do that?"

"Well, why not? Mephiles is so sex driven that he uses it for almost everything. After you give him Sonic, he'll use the hedgehog for his own purposes and then finish him off with you. After all, what could possibly be worse than sleeping with your worst enemy? Sonic would crack sooner or later."

Eggman shook his head, "I'd rather have Sonic escape a thousand times before sleeping with him once to break him. Do I look like someone who gets off on that thought? At least Mephiles and Sonic are from the same species."

"You don't have to like the idea of fucking Sonic to sleep with him. Hell, Mephiles would probably prefer if you didn't. Why not get rid of all his problems with only one simple thing - sex? It's free, pleasurable and depending whether or not he decides to sell some of us it'll make a good profit."

The scientist stood up and walked over to his computer monitor. He was quiet for a minute, and then turned back, "How can I be sure you're not lying?"

"Look at those pictures. Mephiles has signed them by his own hand. He created them. He's interested in that sickening shit. He's easily capable of doing worse."

"You have no proof that Mephiles cares at all about what happens to this planet. He seems only interested in Sonic."

"For all the wrong reasons."

"True, but it'd keep Sonic away."

"Sonic isn't going to break sleeping with Mephiles. He'll just get so angry inside that he'll do anything to get away. But if both of you are forced to do something together, he'll feel confused and horrible. He can't attack you because you had nothing to do with it, yet it's you he slept with. No getting rid of the problem, unlike being with Mephiles."

"Hmm…" the doctor said, "Hmm…"

"Is it the money that you want?" Rouge said, playing another card on the table, "Is that what's keeping you from changing sides?"

"Well…a hundred grand would certainly buy a lot of supplies. World domination plots aren't exactly cheap, you know, and it can be difficult to steal some things."

"Should I even question how you manage to buy things when everybody knows you're evil?"

"Black market."

"I figured. If we paid you the same amount, would you then help us drive Mephiles away?"

Eggman leaned back to think. It was very quiet for a few minutes, and Rouge tapped her foot impatiently. The soft buzz of electronics went on all around her in the fairly dark room, lit only by the computer screens flashing different kinds of data.

"I suppose my world domination wouldn't be complete if someone took my worst enemy out of the picture," Eggman said after a while, "After all, there's no satisfaction if it's that simple."

"So, do we have a deal?"

"I will help the annoying blue rodent and friends when asked; if a couple conditions are made."

"I'm listening."

"The first one if that you give me a hundred thousand, cash. The second is that when this is all over, I get the Chaos Emeralds."

"We'll give you one."

"Five."

"Two."

"Three."

"Three it is. If you want the other four, you'll have to take them by force," Rouge finished.

"Fair game, then. You give me the cash, and then all of you are free to come in my base and leave freely until this is all over. Afterwards, we go back to being enemies again."

"Don't think about betraying us, Eggman. You know we'll stick to our word. It's Mephiles you need to watch," Rouge said, heading towards the exit.

"Don't you want these back?" Eggman asked, picking up the disturbing drawings.

"Burn them," Rouge called back.

Eggman grumbled to himself and dropped the pictures on one of the control panels. The one with Mephiles and Sonic together was on top, and Eggman was surprised by how much detail was put in. If somebody honestly spent that much time figuring out what they wanted to do with someone else…

"Freak," Eggman muttered, tearing the picture in two, "If this is what Mephiles draws, I don't want to know what he keeps in his head.

German Andy? What's a German Andy? I don't know. And no, I'm not insulting Germans; considering I'm half German myself that'd be incredibly stupid.

This is a short chapter, I know. But at least I updated!