Sally is less than impressed by the name. "Eggman Nega? Daft name for a supervillain. Besides, I've probably faced worse."

Blaze is momentarily taken aback by Sally's apparent nonchalance. "Do you not understand how much danger Amy is in‽" she demands. "Eggman Nega nearly destroyed this world twice!"

"Don't mistake my calmness for nonchalance," Sally asserts calmly yet authoritatively. "I am twenty‑seven years old. In that time, I have seen the Origin Kingdoms manipulated into civil war by an interstellar warlord who wanted my world's main source of energy to power his warfleet. I have been a victim of kidnap. I indirectly witnessed my father's brutal murder. I was caught up in the Siege of Shang Tu, suffering a broken leg in the process. I have committed treason to help end a civil war in the Gotoshi that had already seen the destruction of large sections of Mizutani and would have seen similar destruction in Yamakasai too had I not betrayed my home city of Shang Tu. And because I committed treason, I spent an entire year of my life legally dead, unable to set foot in my home city. Most recently, I was on the front lines in the fight against Corazon Tea, who had awoken the superweapon Bakunawa, intending to subjugate the entirety of Avalice. Put simply, I've seen more shit than you could even begin to believe, and cheated death more often than I dare count. And that's not all: Dan's six years younger than me, yet has seen far more, including watching one of his oldest and closest friends descend into malevolent insanity twice. So, when you say this 'Eggman Nega' is the most evil bastard in existence, understand why I am sceptical of that claim."

It takes Blaze several moments to process the flood of information. "I uh…" she begins, her anger having faded away during Sally's speech.

"You know now," Sally replies. "Me and Dan will stay and help you eliminate this Eggman Nega. Consider it our way of thanking you for helping us find a way home. And don't worry, I know you meant no offense before," she finishes with a reassuring smile.

Not sure what to say, Blaze simply nods.

"Let's go inform the others," Sally suggests.

Blaze follows Sally to the common room, where Neera and Danny are waiting.

"This doesn't look good," Neera remarks as Blaze and Sally approach.

"Amy's been kidnapped by this world's greatest threat, Eggman Nega," Blaze explains briefly. "He must have sent his robots in to kidnap Amy after we left the ship and headed into the Plant Kingdom."

"Me and Sal will help you rescue Amy and defeat this Eggman Nega," Danny promises.

"I know: Sally already promised me you would," Blaze nods. "And I know I won't be able to talk Marine out of helping. Neera, I won't force you to help, but if you choose to, I'll be eternally grateful."

"I'll help," Neera assures without hesitation. "If he's a threat to Kline, then he's a potential threat to Avalice as well, and therefore cannot be ignored."

"Thank you for your assistance," Blaze acknowledges. "This note says that Amy will be at Blizzard Peaks, and we're to go there with as many Sol Emeralds as we can gather. Since our course will take us past Southern Island, we'll retrieve the Emerald from there on the way. Any objections?"

There are no objections.

"Excellent," Blaze nods. "As a dear friend would say: 'Let's do it to it!'"

Many miles away, Amy stirs as she slowly wakes. Ugh… What happened? Last thing I remember is a‑ Not again… Memories of Little Planet flashing through her mind, Amy slowly opens her eyes to find she's alone. I'm not on the ship anymore, that much is obvious… Is it just me, or is it really cold here?

Amy tries to move, only to find she's unable to. And I'm tied up, obviously. Why wouldn't I be? After all, I was dumb enough to be captured by a Metal again. I thought I was past being the damsel in distress… I sent ZERO to the scrapheap and turned Gamma against Eggman, and I did both without any help, not even from Sonic. And without me helping Knuckles find the Master Emerald shards in time, Angel Island would have crashed devastatingly once Mobius had been reassembled. It's been a long time since I was the annoying brat always getting herself kidnapped; I'm a member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, Gaia dammit! Yet here I am, helpless once more, forced to wait for Blaze to find me. Speaking of: I know who kidnapped me.

++You are awake.++

"You're the one who brought me here."

++That is correct.++

"I'm bait in your trap."

++You are bait, but the trap is not mine.++

"You were built by Eggman Nega."

++You are correct.++

"He's aware the whole Metal clone thing is cliché, yes? First there was Metal Sonic, then Metal Knuckles, and most recently Metal Lilac. And they've all failed to do the one thing they were designed to do."

++Cliché or not, it does not matter: my master will finally achieve the victory he deserves.++

"Y'know, it's really rude to hide when talking to people. Show yourself. What are you scared of, anyway? It's not like I can do anything: you've tied me up too well."

++Very well.++

Amy watches as the purple feline robot emerges from behind a pillar. "Metal Blaze, I presume?"

++That is my designation.++

Amy takes a few moments to analyse Metal Blaze's design. "I have to admit, you're a very faithful copy, even down to the bindi. Not that it matters: you'll fall, just like Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles, and Metal Lilac all did."

++Wanna bet?++ a new voice asks.

Amy blinks in surprise. "Is that who I think it is?"

The orange procyonid robot appears from behind another pillar. ++G-day!++

If Amy weren't tied immobile, she'd facepalm at the sight of Metal Marine. "One of them is bad enough…"

++See? Told ya she'd react like that!++ Metal Marine smirks at Metal Blaze. Well, she would smirk if her face weren't rigid and lacking a mouth.

++Irrelevant,++ Metal Blaze asserts. ++We have achieved our objective.++

++So, what do we do now?++ Metal Marine asks.

++We await the arrival of our inferior organic counterparts,++ Metal Blaze answers. ++They will not be able to resist coming to rescue their friend.++

"And they'll scrap you both," Amy growls.

++They will try, and they will fail.++ Metal Blaze turns to Metal Marine. ++Come, let us leave this pathetic creature to contemplate her inevitable fate.++

Amy watches as Metal Blaze and Metal Marine leave her alone once more. I'll work out a way to escape. And when I do, I'll hammer both of you to scrap.

Eclipse wakes with a start to find Johnny standing over him.

"I must admit, I'm surprised you remained here after killing my captain," Johnny remarks. "I haven't yet decided whether that was brave or foolish."

"It was necessary," Eclipse explains. "I'm surprised you didn't kill me in my sleep."

"It wouldn't have been very sporting," Johnny replies. "Besides, you're more useful to me alive."

Eclipse gets to his feet. "The Sol Emeralds I possess."

"Exactly. My master desires them."

"Then I'm doubly surprised you didn't kill me in my sleep. Now I'm rested, and my strength recovered, there's no way you can take them from me."

"I know."

Eclipse's eyes narrow. "What exactly are you planning?"

"I have been replaced," Johnny explains. "My master has decided to put his trust in two new robots, duplicates of that infernal feline and that annoying brat of a raccoon that always follows her around. Understandably, I am not happy about this."

"You want me to eliminate them."

"Yes."

"On one condition."

"What?"

"Secure the Genesis Reactor for me. Also, find my Dark Arms. And do the second one first."

"That's two conditions."

"Don't argue semantics. Will you do as I ordered?"

"Consider it done."

"I'll consider it done when my Dark Arms are safely by my side again," Eclipse asserts. "I haven't forgotten your failure in Coral Cave."

"I won't fail again," Johnny promises.

"See that you don't. Otherwise, you will find yourself on the receiving end of my wrath."

Without another word, Johnny drops out of the bottom of Sky Babylon and descends towards Captain Whisker's ship.

Eclipse watches him descend. …I should have asked for a lift. No matter: I'll find the way down.

[Mobius, Chaos Dimension]

"How's progress?" Sonic asks Nicole, not for the first time.

"I'm the computer program, yet you're the one stuck in an infinite loop," Nicole mutters to herself.

"Sonic, if you bother Nicole again, I'll have you confined to the ship," Sally warns. "Let her work."

"Fine, I'll leave her alone," Sonic relents. "In fact, I'll go for a run."

Sally watches as Sonic speeds off into the distance. "Well, he's out of our fur for a few minutes, at least."

"He is rather more worked up than normal," Rouge observes.

"That's what worries me," Sally sighs.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say I wasn't the only one hiding a crush," Rouge thinks aloud.

"Sonic and Amy? I must admit, as much as she likes him, I've never seen it working out," Sally replies. "Especially as he's stood her up more times than I wish to count."

"Maybe he's finally realising his mistakes have consequences."

Sally ponders the thought. She may be right…