Eggman watched the door to his control room. He was expecting a visit. Not because he had asked someone to come, but because no one had intruded in the past hour. Right on queue, there was a heavy but reluctant knock on the door. Eggman took his feet off his desk and straightened up.

"Come in... Snively."

The door opened slowly, revealing his long-nosed nephew. The short little man entered slowly, fearing... just in case. "How did you know it was me?"

Eggman shook his head. "Never mind that. Why are you disturbing me?" He wasn't really being disturbed, but feigning irritation always worked to get information out of Snively quicker.

Eggman's nephew jumped slightly before answering in a hurried voice. "Well, uh... we saw, well we didn't see, but you know... our scanners picked something up. It was small at first but, well, we don't know what it is and..."

Lien-da elbowed past Snively. "It's a Chaos Emerald. I went and picked it up personally while this idiot was in here drooling. It's the red one." She held out the glowing red gem for Eggman to take. The madman grabbed to jewel with such excitement that Lien-da thought he might eat it.

"This! This is NOT a Chaos Emerald! Do you realize what you've done!"

Lien-da backed off, not sure what he meant. "It's not? No! What? What did I do?"

Eggman stepped onto his desk, holding the jewel high above his head. "You, my dearly beloved minion, have put the universe in my hands! This..." He knelt on his desk, holding it out for his subordinates to peer at. "This is a Super Emerald."

It was time. Sonic stepped out of Freedom HQ. They had just received word of a club in the ring being burned down. A two-tailed Fox had been cited as the culprit. There were over a dozen bodies in the ashes, and that didn't sit well with Sonic. He was the hero of Mobius, and as such it was his responsibility to make sure things like that didn't happen. Especially in his own backyard. He had to stop Tails, and he had to do it now.

He started off from Freedom HQ at a sprint. It was fast, but it wasn't supernatural speed. Then something hit him, grabbing him around the waist and wrangling him to the ground. At first he assumed it was Amy just saying goodbye, but then he managed to get out from under his assailant, freeing himself from her tangle of purple hair. Mina stared back at him, her eyes beginning to well up.

"Don't go."

"Don't stop me." He stood up to emphasize his resolve.

"I will." She stood as well, matching his stance.

Sonic shook his head. "Mina, don't do this. I have to go and you know it."

She stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "No, Sonic! You have to not go! That's what I know and that's what you should know!"

He pulled away from her, but couldn't break her grasp. He tried again, but to no avail. "Let me go."

"No."

"Release me."

"No."

Sonic lost it. "GET YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF ME!" He raised his free arm threateningly, but she grabbed it as well.

"If you wanna go, Sonic, you're gonna have to fight me the whole way."

Mina hadn't expected him to actually do it. Before she knew what was happening, his fist slammed into her face. She let go and fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thump.

Sonic sighed and turned away from her. "Sorry... I didn't... I wasn't..." He stammered, regret filling his voice. He started to walk away. "Goodbye."

In Freedom HQ, Sally sat at her desk. She wasn't doing anything, just picking at the corner. Then the ground started shaking. The roof started crumbling above her, showering dirt all over everything. Sally ran out into the base. Amy was already at the door, hurrying everyone out. Antoine was carrying Bunnie and Rotor had grabbed Nicole's portable interface. They had just barely made it outside when Freedom HQ collapsed.

Through the dust cloud, Sally did a headcount. She had to redo it, sure she had missed something. "Where's Mina and Sonic?"

Amy screamed in terror. "Nooooo! We have to get Sonic out of there now!" She seemed uninterested in saving Mina while Sonic was missing.

"Don't bother, he's not there." Everyone turned around to see Mina walking towards them. She had blood smeared on her muzzle, coming from her nose, and lines of dried tears running down her face. "Sonic left."

Sally stepped toward her. "Left? As in..."

Mina nodded, looking down at the ground. "He went after Tails."

Sally sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She was silent while all the others watched her. They needed direction, Sally thought, but what to do...

She looked up at Mina. "We'll find him. We'll find both of them. But first we need to find out what caused that earthquake. Chances are they'll both go after it anyway."

Bunnie tried to stand, but failing that just sat. "Are you sure they would've felt that, Sal gal?"

Sally looked back to Freedom HQ. "I hope so. Sonic just left and Tails has been in the Ring this whole time. That's not too far, and that was a heavy quake. I doubt it's epicenter was right here, so they may have felt it more than us."

"So we're going to catch Sonic?" Amy's eyes were sparkling with anticipation.

Sally smirked. "I guess we are."

His head had been filled with thoughts regarding what he had done to Mina until the earthquake. Now his focus changed. Not to Tails, but to the large form rising on the horizon. A massive egg-shaped battle platform hovered in the sky, surrounded by a fleet of airships. Sonic recognized at least three Egg Carriers. But more important was the ship in the center. The Death Egg. How had Sonic missed that again! He mentally slapped himself. The good doctor had fooled him again. It was the Egg Dome. That thing had been there for years and no one had questioned it's full purpose.

All the same, it was in the air now. He'd need a way up to it, but it was all a challenge he gladly accepted. He grinned. "Bring it, Eggy."

Authors Note: To be continued in Jill Of All Trades.