AN: Okay, so I know its been FOREVER since I updated and I apologize for that. School just got really crazy and then I had a bad case of writer's block. I promise the next chapter will not take as long. But here is chapter 13 and thanks for the reviews! :D

The underground catacombs were entirely black, and although Espio's eyes adjusted to the darkness easily, it wasn't the feeling of being beneath the surface in dark passageways that unsettled him. It was what he saw on the cavern walls that made him stay on complete alert.

The walls were made of a pale, glassy material, much like the outpost had been. However, they also had murals sketched onto them depicting odd and somewhat graphic ritualistic ceremonies, as well as various battles of the Mearyn echidnas against others territories throughout the centuries. One figure in particular caught his attention.

"Dilek?" he asked, stopping in his tracks momentarily. "Who is that?"

Dilek, who was leading the group through the passages, turned her head to where Espio was motioning.

"He was the leader of one of the tribes of the Great War which united Mearyn into the kingdom it is today once one of the tribes defeated the other. He was on the losing end, and was killed by his own daughter."

"Not much love between family members for your kind, is there?" Charmy asked, also studying the mural curiously. Dilek wrinkled her mouth in reply, still gazing at the picture.

"We need to keep going," Gabbro interrupted. "There's no doubt these passages are being patrolled."

As soon as Gabbro had finished speaking could voices be heard echoing faintly. Looking around, it was difficult for Espio to pinpoint exactly which direction they were coming from, even though the darkness did not greatly affect his eyesight.

"This way," Dilek ordered, running quickly to a passage heading upward. Following her with Gabbro and Charmy in tow, Espio soon came upon a spiraling staircase which led both above and beneath the floor they were on. The four of them were able to find coverage as the staircase's side got taller and taller from the voices, which Espio now recognized as coming from above.

Don't look down, he thought as pressed up against the wall of the staircase. Don't look down. Closing his eyes in anticipation, Espio was relieved when the rushing footsteps passed over them without even a slight pause and down the stone hallway they he and the others had just passed through. As soon as the voices died down, Dilek beckoned them to follow her up the staircase and down yet another hallway. Twisting and turning at specific points, she seemed to have memorized this exact route, as if he had travelled it many times before. She abruptly stopped at a dead end, and began moving her fingers along a set of stones in the wall about 15 feet from where their current path stopped.

"So now what?" Gabbro pressed as he walked right to the end of the hallway, ignoring what Dilek was doing completely. Charmy followed him, looking at the wall, then as Dilek, and then back at the wall as if he was eagerly anticipating what was going to happen next. Meanwhile, Espio walked toward Dilek, curious to see what she was trying to do.

Her hands pushed in certain stones on the wall and pulled others further out. She followed a very specific pattern, again appearing like she had performed it many times before. One she finished, a noise was heard above them, sounding like a slab of concrete being dragged across a smooth surface. Looking up, Espio saw a small rectangular opening on the left end of the cracked, dusty looking ceiling. This was followed by a grounding sound coming from the wall directly below it, which caused Gabbro and Charmy to back away a few steps. A few of the stones had pushed further outward, creating a means of climbing up into the opening and further on to the surface.

"Now we climb," Dilek answered simply. She was about to walk toward the newly created opening when a large impact was felt and heard coming from the surface. The blow was so powerful that all four of them were forced to hold onto the stones in the wall to maintain their balance. As Espio glanced upward in the direction in which the blast had come from, he realized that the fragile ceiling was cracking and beginning to crumble very quickly. He also noticed that it was happening right above where he and Dilek were standing.

The next thing he knew, large clods of dirt and rocks began descending onto the ground, one of them right above Dilek. He had noticed it just before she had and, while she was looking up and frozen in place, he dove forward and shoved both of them out of harm's way just before the huge rock made contact with the floor. Rolling on the floor even further away from Charmy and Gabbro, the pair looked back to see that several rocks and debris had already piled up between them and where their companions stood. Gabbro stood motionless and still clutching the wall while Charmy was attempting to run toward his best friend. The cave in piled up to quickly however, and in a matter of seconds, both Charmy and Gabbro were on the other side of a newly formed wall composed of the collapsed ceiling.

Both Espio and Dilek looked on in disbelief at the present situation. Not only had they been separated from Charmy and Gabbro, the exit to the surface and finally into Mearyn itself had been sealed off. Jumping to his feet, Espio hurried toward the enoromous pile of rubble.

"Charmy!" he called out. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, loud and clear!" Charmy's voice came from the other side. Espio breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are both of you all right?" Espio asked.

"Of course, never better," Gabbro answered bitterly. "This will absolutely not slow us down at all." Espio scowled at his sarcasm, but he knew that he had a point.

"What do you think we should do?" he entreated, turning to Dilek.

"We can't stay here," Dilek contested. "The noise from that cave in is going to attract unwanted attention. We'll have to use another way to get out." She then made her way near the build up of rocks and addressed Charmy.

"You and Gabbro will have to keep going," she exclaimed. "Go out the ceiling exit and slide it shut behind you. Then keep going up the tunnel and you will eventually enter the lower level of a house, belonging to one of the senior members of the council. His name is Phaidra. Tell him I sent you. Espio and I will find another way into the city." There was a pause, and then Charmy spoke again.

"Be careful down here. And come find us as soon as you can!" he squeaked out, and could then be heard walking over to the left side wall to climb it. Dilek turned to Espio.

"We have to go now," she said sternly. "I know you're not comfortable leaving Charmy, but it's the only way. If the patrols find us here, we will be brought before the council. I don't even know what they would most likely decide to do with us, but I can guarantee that it won't be pleasant." Espio nodded.

"Lead the way," he instructed calmly. As the two sped off back the way they had come and down another passageway, Dilek looked at Espio again and flashed him a full smile.

"Thanks…for saving me back there," she said appreciatively. Espio smiled back at her in response.

"Just returning the favor," he replied cooly.

"Hurry, Phaidra!" Esmee cried out. She was following Vector through some of the deserted backstreets of Mearyn back toward Phaidra's house, and Phaidra was having difficulty keeping up to them.

"We'll be lucky if your house hasn't been ransacked yet!" Vector declared as he led the way. "That white echidna broad probably has the militia inspecting everywhere with recruit people!"

"That is why we must get there as fast as we can!" Esmee agreed. "The look that Vesper had in her eyes was most unsettling. It would not surprise me at all if she did something horrible like that." Phaidra was slowly catching up to them, huffing, puffing and panting all the way.

"I understand…our situation is dire…but I'm not as young as I used to be," he gasped in between large breaths.

"We are nearly there!" Esmee reassured, looking back at him. And indeed, they were. They reached the well secluded house within a few more minutes, and thankfully, though guards could be heard shouting and giving orders in the distance, the area around Phaidra's dwelling remained quiet and deserted. Sliding the front door open as hastily but silently as he could, Vector hurried the two echidnas inside before entering himself.

"We need to pack some traveling supplies," Phaidra said with urgency. "We will most likely have to leave the city."

"But where will we go?" Esmee questioned.

"I don't know. I don't have any answers right now," Phaidra stated simply. "We've made our position to Vesper quite clear. If we stay here, our only option is to submit to her will. She has an overwhelming majority of the council and therefore has nearly all of the control of Mearyn and its people."

"Ya don't think everyone will embrace her though, do ya?" Vector asked incredulously.

"I think most of Mearyn will," Phaidra said sadly. "She represents power and people are drawn to power, no matter where it-" he stopped and turned around as a noise was heard from the basement.

Vector quickly told Esmee and Phaidra to stay where they were while he went to investigate. Opening up the trap door, he cautiously made his way down the dark set of stairs, trying his best to not make them creak. He looked around in the blackness that was only broken by the faint outline of furniture and other objects, and was squinting to see if there was anything moving when something flew right into him with a burst of energy. He was about to rip whatever it was off of him and get ready to defend himself when he heard a most recognizable voice.

"Vector!" Charmy squealed with happiness as he hugged his friend tightly. "Is it really you?" he more shouted than asked while he felt Vector's snout for familiarity. "It is!" he cried gleefully.

"Charmy-yer-yer okay?" Vector asked in shock. "Yer really ok!" he yelled and hugged his friend back. "But how did ya get here? And where have ya been?"

By now, Esmee and Phaidra had heard the yelling from upstairs, and had followed Vector into the basement with a lamp. Charmy jumped down to the ground and as Vector saw that it really was him, he also noticed he wasn't alone.

"Oh, this is Gabbro!" Charmy explained. "He is-"

"The prince of the Goribes," Phaidra finished for him, and Charmy first took notice of him and Esmee. Gabbro, who had been looking at Vector, also shifted his gaze to the echidnas and tension immediately filled the room. However, it came and went quickly as Esmee spoke to him.

"We are honored to have you here, sir, but I must ask, why have you have come? It is most dangerous for you to be here."

"I came here on a mission of diplomacy," Gabbro responded, his voice still gruff. "I was offered a secret route into Mearyn and this one," he motioned his head at Charmy, "and his friends were able to offer me a safe route into Mearyn."

"Wait, Espio was with ya too?" Vector pressed hopefully.

"Yeah, him and this echidna girl, Dilek!"Charmy answered. Both he and Vector then went on to explain everything that had happened since their arrival, and they were many questions from Phaidra as well concerning Dilek.

"So Dilek is here as well," Phaidra considered. "We'll have to find some way to regroup with her as well."

"And we'll have to meet up with Rouge and Knuckles too!" Charmy added, and then realized the difficulty in that task. "If he's not still a zombie, that is."

"And just how are we supposed to gather those who oppose Vesper?" Gabbro demanded.

"Vector, you must visit the captains that held you captive in the tower until Rouge came," Phaidra said. "I will sound an alarm fully alerting civilians of the situation. When we have rallied everyone we can, we will meet at the south end of the city. From there, we can decide how we should go about locating Dilek and what to do with Knuckles. Are we all in agreement?" Everyone nodded.

"Let's get to work, then."

"These caves are so extensive," Espio whispered as he and Dilek made their way through the dark gloom. "How can you keep track of all of them?"

"Most of them were built before I was born, but before I was banished I assisted with an expansion project of them. I think I'll always remember those blueprints after having studied them so many times," she answered.

Since leaving Charmy and Gabbro, the two of them had been traveling for what had seemed to be at least an hour, and they had been forced to find various hiding places to evade detection by Mearyn's guards. Finally, they had reached a tunnel that curved upward quite sharply, and Dilek looked relieved.

"This should take us close to Phaidra's home," she said. "Hopefully, from there, we can reunite with them."

Espio was about to respond when a sharp buzzing noise filled his ears. They both looked around to identify its source, and were instantly horrified. Above them, six humanoid looking robots sprang down and tackled them before they could arm themselves. Espio managed to fling his attacker off, and had pulled out one of his ninja stars, but was immediately grabbed from behind by another. He dug the blade in his hand into the leg of the robot as he struggled, but it only tightened its grip. Then the robot who had originally tackled him opened up a small latch on its arm, and a thin, black cable shot out. It was then the second robot held him out and the cable bound itself firmly around the chameleon. Struggle as he might, Espio could not break free.

He looked over to find that Dilek had also been tied up and three of the robots were now carrying her off as she squirmed and thrashed about. The remaining three machines picked him up and followed them in suit. As he was being lifted up, Espio saw a symbol that he was not surprised to witness, but angered him nonetheless.

"Eggman."