[Kline, Sol Dimension]

Blaze returns to the top deck in time to watch Marine dock the Ocean Tornado II. As soon as the ship is properly docked, Marine comes down from the helm and joins Blaze at the prow.

"I guess you saw what happened earlier," Blaze sighs as Marine joins her.

"The whole thing," Marine confirms. "Are you OK?"

"I'll be, as you say, 'apples'," Blaze assures. "Right now, I'm more concerned about Amy's state of mind."

"Shall I go talk to her?" Marine offers.

"No, I'll talk to her when we've retrieved the Sol Emerald," Blaze decides. "Thankfully, I can detect this one without her help."

"What about the others?"

"I'm not going to force them into anything," Blaze informs. "In fact, going in alone, I can be in and out quicker. Then again, I think it's best to have backup, just in case. We've run into so much trouble already; I'm expecting the worst."

"You never used to be so willing to work with others," Marine teases.

"Sonic and Tails taught me how important it is to have friends you can trust and rely on," Blaze explains. "As did you, in fact."

"I did?"

"All the acts you take credit for without earning it, yet you rarely do so for the one act that you deserve to take credit for more than anyone else: defeating the Egg Wizard," Blaze smiles.

"Only after you and Sonic wore it down," Marine reminds. "Anyway, all I did was distract it so you and Sonic could get the winning blow."

"Exactly," Blaze winks. "Friends working together."

"And having exciting adventures together!" Marine chimes.

"Even if this one has been more stressful than anticipated," Blaze sighs. "But we must stay focussed: we have Sol Emeralds to collect, and we're still two behind."

"Then let's get moving," Sally interjects as she and Danny join Blaze and Marine at the prow.

"I'm glad to see you two in good spirits," Blaze smiles in greeting. "Is Neera joining us?"

"I am," Neera confirms as she joins the others at the prow. "And don't worry, we've all agreed to not get under each other's' fur anymore."

"Then I won't say any more about it," Blaze decides. "Though I will say this: if there is a repeat of your earlier performances, then I will have no choice but to confine you all to your quarters until I can send you home. Understood?"

Danny, Sally, and Neera all confirm they understand.

"Good," Blaze nods. "Let's get going."

Ten minutes after Blaze, Marine, Danny, Sally, and Neera leave the Ocean Tornado II and make their way into the Plant Kingdom, the purple feline robot and her orange procyonid robot friend arrive, where they find Johnny waiting to rendezvous with them.

++Report,++ the purple feline robot orders.

"Five of them just went into the island, leaving the pink hedgehog alone," Johnny reports.

++Excellent,++ the feline robot replies. ++We'll take it from here.++

The feline and procyonid robots fly up and onto the deck of the Ocean Tornado II.

"I guess I'll just wait‑" Johnny sighs, only to be interrupted by a new order. "Or I'll hunt down the one who destroyed Whisker," he finishes as he flies away over the ocean.

As Johnny flies towards Sky Babylon, the feline and procyonid robots quickly and silently make their way below deck, where a quick infra‑red scan reveals which room is Amy's.

The feline robot approaches the door and knocks on it four times.

Inside the room, the knocking rouses Amy from her nap. Leave me alone already… Deciding to ignore the knocking, Amy rolls over and tries to go back to sleep.

But it's to no avail: the knocking repeats.

"OK, OK, I'm coming, I'm coming!" Amy growls, jumping off the bed, storming to the door, and throwing it open. "It better‑"

++You're coming with us.++ The feline robot raises her right arm and sprays Amy in the face.

Spluttering, Amy staggers backwards and tries to summon a Piko Hammer. However, the substance she was sprayed with acts fast, and seconds later, Amy loses consciousness and collapses on the floor.

++You disappoint me,++ the feline robot remarks to the now unconscious hedgehog. ++I had expected more of a fight than that.++

++You didn't give her much chance, you galah!++ the procyonid robot replies.

++Just tie her up and let's get out of here,++ the feline robot instructs. ++We have a trap to bait.++

Meanwhile, deep in the Plant Kingdom, the search is going much easier than Blaze had expected: in fact, they've already located and secured the green Sol Emerald.

"That was easy," Marine comments as Blaze retrieves the Emerald from within a hollow tree trunk.

"Yes… A little too easy," Blaze replies. "This place used to be swarming with Nega's robots… Where are they all?"

"Why worry about that?" Marine shrugs. "We got two Emeralds now, and Amy said there's one on Southern Island, so we'll have three very soon, which is as many as the enemy has!"

"If they don't get to Blizzard Peaks before we do," Blaze reminds. "Assuming they've already retrieved the one from Sky Babylon, which I can no longer sense, they're closer to Blizzard Peaks than we are."

"Then we should get back to the ship as soon as we can," Neera advises.

"And hope we don't run into trouble on the way," Blaze agrees.

Returning to the Ocean Tornado II proves as uneventful as locating the Sol Emerald, and before long, the ship is on its way to Southern Island. Once underway, Blaze heads below deck to check on Amy, and is surprised to see the door to her quarters is open. Thinking that means Amy is ready to have visitors, Blaze knocks on the door and enters to find the room empty. "Amy?"

There is no answer.

Where is she? She wasn't on the deck, or we'd have seen her. Curious and slightly worried, Blaze begins to search the rest of the ship.

As she begins her search, the three Avalicians come down from the deck.

"Is something wrong?" Neera asks.

"Amy's door is open, but she's not in her quarters," Blaze explains. "I doubt she'd be rude enough to go into anyone else's quarters without permission, but can you check anyway?"

Neera, Danny, and Sally nod their agreements and check their quarters while Blaze checks hers and Marine's quarters: all are empty. With the last place to check being the common room and the galley, they reunite in the former after Blaze checks the latter.

"Amy's not in my quarters," Neera informs Blaze.

"She's not in ours either," Danny reports.

"That's worrying," Blaze replies. "It means she's not on the ship. There's no way she would have left without telling us, especially as she can't get home without me and the seven Sol Emeralds. Unless her friends found a way to get her back, but then she'd at least wait around long enough to say goodbye…"

"I'm sure she's around somewhere," Sally assures. "Maybe she's in the bathroom."

"…I hadn't thought of that," Blaze admits. "I'll wait outside her quarters; I need to check she's OK after what happened earlier anyway."

"If she's up for it, can we speak with her after?" Neera requests. "To apologise for angering her so much."

"I can't promise she'll want to speak to you, but I'll let her know you want to," Blaze assures. "If you'll excuse me."

"Of course," Neera acknowledges.

"We'll fix you and Amy something to eat while you wait," Sally offers.

"Thanks for the offer, but you don't need to," Blaze assures.

"Tough: doing it anyway," Sally asserts with a kind smile.

"Since you insist, I won't object," Blaze accepts, returning Sally's smile. "If you'll excuse me."

"Of course," Sally acknowledges.

Blaze returns to Amy's quarters and waits by the door. However, after a few minutes, she can't help but start to worry again. Curiosity getting the better of her, Blaze enters Amy's quarters to see if there's anything she missed last time. It's odd: nothing's out of‑ Was that there before? Blaze walks up to the bed and picks up the note that's been left on it. From Amy? I hope she's OK.

Opening the note, it's immediately obvious that it wasn't written by Amy.

As Blaze reads, her expression turns from curiosity to worry to anger. And when she's at the end of the note, it takes all her willpower not to incinerate it in an instant. All this time, he's been out there. Watching. Waiting. Scheming. And I knew nothing about it. I thought he was gone for good. I should have known better. I should have made sure the job was done when I had the chance. And now he's made his move, I will not stop until I eliminate him once and for all.

At that moment, Sally knocks on the door. "Blaze? I have‑ Um… are you OK?"

"He's back," Blaze growls angrily, a few small licks of flame coursing up her body. "After all this time… he's back."

"Blaze? You're kinda scaring me a bit," Sally replies. "Who are you talking about?"

"My nemesis," Blaze answers. "The one who's terrorised my world for far too long. I thought he was gone for good. I should have known better. I should have ended him when I had the chance. But I didn't, and now he's kidnapped Amy. And that means I will not stop until he is neutralised once and for all."

"We can help with that," Sally offers, keeping her voice quiet to avoid Neera overhearing. "But we need to know who we're hunting."

Blaze turns to face Sally, her expression a mix of anger and determination. "We are hunting the most evil, the most sadistic, and the most malicious person you will ever meet: Eggman Nega."