"Are you sure we aren't going around in circles? Ah coulda swore we passed this door…" Bunnie said while she-along with the others-tried to keep up with the pacey Cream.

"Every door looks the same!" Arnold yelled while keeping a lookout for any incoming enemies.

"Don't worry guys, I remember hearing something about there being a bunch of guards watching the room he was in, and since that alarm is probably Sonic and the others, we should see those same guards leaving as reinforcements." Cream said making a sharp left turn with gun in-hand and ready to shoot.

Bunnie had a questioned look, "Sonic?"

"Yes, he's a good friend of mine."

"He sounds familiar…"

"He's pretty popular; He's the fastest thing alive."

In the room, Mr. Rose sat in the chair with his hands tied behind the chair and his head down. He opened his eyes, staring at his bare feet. Since the last time we saw him, he now had some bruises after getting roughed up by the guards in there; a small stream of blood poured from his mouth and he had a cut right atop his left eyebrow.

"You young bastards won't get away with this!" he yelled, keeping his head down; the guards in the room laughed. "What's so funny? Shouldn't you lads be on your way, the alarm is ringing. Some intruder is here!"

"Shut up, old man!" one of the guards said, slapping him in the face.

"We've been given strict orders to guard you regardless of what happens, and besides, the executives will handle the intruders."

"Execs huh?" Mr. Rose smirked.

"What's with that smirk? Want me to beat you some more, you old geezer?"

Mr. Rose lifted his head, "Its music to my ears to know that I don't have to worry about those pests anymore!"

Mr. Rose broke free from the handcuffs and immediately KO'd the guard next to him, avoiding the random firings from the other guards. He quickly leg sweeps another guard and then breaks his neck, ducking an attack from behind and elbowing the attacker in the gut-landing a back hand punch. Mr. Rose stood tall at the last guard-who was fumbling his phone calling for backup-"I remember you landing some hard hits on me."

Mr. Rose cracked his knuckles as his eyes sharpened with death looming for the guard; gunshots were heard from the other side. Cream and the others were on the other side combating the other guards in a shootout. Cream headshots the guard in front the doorway, Arnold gets a triple kill, and Bunnie lands some finishing blows on the rest of the guards that were busy try to shoot the others. By the time they took down all the guards, Mr. Rose emerged from the room, dusting off his shoulders.

"Ahh who might you all be…" he said politely, closing his eyes.

Cream bowed, "I'm Cream, your daughter Amy's best friend."

Mr. Rose was shocked, "Amy's best friend? Is she here!?"

Cream shrugged, "I'm not very sure, but I believe so."

Mr. Rose found new determination, "Well now I can't die! I must see her face! You…"-pointing a finger at Cream-"will you lead me to her?"

Cream rubbed the back of her neck, "I kind of came here to rescue you in the hopes that maybe you would know how to get out of here."

Mr. Rose frowned, "Sadly no…But I guess we can find one together on the way while looking for Amy…let's go!"

They all departed in search of an exit out of the massive castle; Meanwhile, Sonic and the others made their way inside after blazing through the first set of defenses. Tails stunned most the guards, Lily slashed away at the rest of the enemy guard's legs-rendering them useless, Richard leads the way with his shield-blocking all attacks from the front. Sonic and Amy were already ahead of them, both of them had branched off to go and take their own routes.

Sonic zips through the halls leaving a blue blur, looking from left to right at each door he passes by-expecting to run into Lycoris eventually; Amy runs through the halls-hammer in hand-ready to attack anyone who crosses her path. As she focuses ahead, she recalls what her sister told right before they split up.

"Go on ahead with Sonic into the castle; we'll try our best to lure the enemies outside long enough for everyone else to arrive. Find the executives or your friend; Father will be fine with all this chaos going on." Lily said, eliminating three opponents with a swift left to right slash across their bellies.

Amy looked disturbed, "What do you mean father will be fine?"

"He's strong, and I know they wouldn't just kill him. More than likely the execs were looking to use the powers he had to their advantages, but now we've that shown up…they'll be coming for us-leaving him unguarded. I believe we'll see him soon." Lily smiled confidently afterwards; Amy nodded and went along with Sonic.

If Lily's right, then I should focus on rescuing Cream and taking down the execs; Sonic can handle that eleventh saint, he's become really strong! Amy thought as she entered a long curved hallway that led to a large fancy room. As she entered the fancy room, she saw death staring her right in the eyes; two green gems with spear-like glares punctured her shield of bravery, and knew right away on instinct-and from the many vines that danced out of the ground accompanied by his vicious presence-that she'd drawn the wrong card; Lycoris lazily sat on the throne, keeping his eyes on his prey.

Lycoris' tongue wiggled for a millisecond as he got up-keeping his eyes locked on Amy, "You resemble that ssstupid old man…"

Amy was frozen in fear from the sight of the many vines that were pointed at her, one wrong move and she was dead.

Lycoris grinned slyly, "You don't need to be afraid of me, fighting girls isn't exactly my ssstyle."

"T-then why do your eyes say different? I sense nothing but complete blood lust from your eyes…"

Lycoris laughed, "I can sense talent when I see it, and oh my you are oozing it right now. Forgive me if I get a little hungry for blood."

Amy fought off the fear and got in a fighting stance, I'll defeat him before Sonic ever finds him.

More vines slithered from the ground, dancing like a cobra in a trance; Lycoris gets up from his seat and cracks his knuckles, "now before we begin, I must feel the need to introduce myself before I rip you apart…"-he lowered his eyes and stared at Amy's feet-"I am Lycoris, the eleventh seat of the twelve saints; I am also the second-in-command of the Mamba's. My specialty is that I can control any type of vegetation, such as my reliable vines and grass bombs."

Amy takes a deep breath before snapping her fingers to summon a piko-piko hammer, "Shut up and fight me!"

Lycoris laughed, "You're my type of girl!"

On the other side of the castle, Ailio walked through the hallway with a cigarette in hand-ready for a smoke; the alarm was sounding loudly in the background irritatingly. Ailio holds the lighter up to his cigarette and lights-taking a puff and looking up at the ceiling with his eyes closed. He tries to relax himself but fails to because of the loud alarm; his eyebrows slant, beginning to become annoyed by the alarm.

"Those damn foot soldiers need to do their job and handle those intruders already!"-he said frustratingly taking another smoke-"Can't a mercenary get some peace and quiet for just once? I swear, if I have to get involved with this mess-I'm killing every intruder under the sun!"

Sonic zoomed around each corner at incredible speeds until he saw someone standing in the middle of the hallway that forced him to stop on instinct; he left a cloud of dust in his path as he came to a screeching stop. Ailio stood across from him, and he didn't look pleased to see Sonic; Sonic raised his guard once he caught of glimpse of the snake's glare.

This guy feels dangerous… Sonic thought as a sweat ran down his face; Ailio continued to analyze Sonic.

I don't see any vines or vegetation nearby…so he's probably not Lycoris. But given his vicious glare and immense pressure I'm feeling just from being near him…he's definitely one of the big fish Amy's sister mentioned earlier.

"Excuse me sir, do you happen to know where Lycoris is? I'm in search of him; I have a question to ask him."

Ailio narrowed his eyes, "Depends…I don't mean to be the meddling type but, what kind of question you have for him?"

Sonic narrowed his eyes back, "A personal one that isn't of your concern."

Ailio grinned, "I like that answer! So here's a question…"-his eyes sharpened as a ruby red aura enshrouded him; Sonic's ears twitched, sensing the dangerous foe's intentions-"Are you one of those intruders?"

Sonic smirked, "If you're a smart guy, then I don't need to answer that-do I?"

Both of them had a confident smile, gritting their teeth with fire in their eyes; Ailio took out a pair of pistols that had a fancy design on them. Sonic began stretching, ready for the inescapable outcome. Ailio grinned once again,

"I see I found the right opponent; your eyes tell me you're going to give me some trouble-I see nothing but freedom in your eyes."

Sonic laughed, "And in your eyes I see a monster whose killed many souls in order to reach where he is."

Ailio lowered his head, closed his eyes and smiled, "Indeed…you'll be added to that collection!"

Sonic tilted his head to the side and place his left hand at his hip, "If you can catch me-that is!"