The Doctor is in the Big House

Dimitri walked with Knuckles, Shadow and Sonic to Freedom HQ's laboratory. That was where the greatest mind in New Mobotropolis thought and invented due to the technology at their disposal. Amongst them were Sir Charles Hedgehog, Rotor Walrus, Ceneca-9009, Miles "Tails" Prower and, occasionally, Dimitri the Echidna.

"Dimitri, are you OK? NICOLE just told me about Lien-Da over the link to New Mobotropolis. How's she doing." Said Chuck.

"I'm fine, but she is much worse off. She has contracted a unique disease that could kill her if we don't do something, and you can help us restore her back to health with your new invention."

"The prototype Chaos Emerald detector?"

"Yes."

"Excuse me, but Uncle Chuck, why do you need a Chaos Emerald detector?" Asked Sonic.

"Simple, Sonny boy. King Elias has ordered the Chaos Emeralds to be scattered across the free parts of the planet for safety. One will be kept in New Mobotropolis, though. I made this on the King's orders so we know if the Chaos Emeralds to be disturbed or stolen. Like a tracker."

"Cool idea."

"And hopefully it is an adaptable idea. Sir Charles, could you alter your machine to track down a different object carrying energy?" Dimitri asked.

"If you have one on you, my device works by reading the energy signatures of the Chaos Emerald we have and tracking down other objects with the same wavelength. All I have to do is place it in the machine."

"Perfect. Knuckles, I require your Warp Ring."

"My Warp Ring? Oh, I get it. You're going to track down Finitevus by locating his Warp Rings."

"Exactly."

Knuckles took off his hat to reveal an assortment of objects inside, including a Warp Ring. He took out the ring and handed it to Sir Charles.

"I assume Finitevus has something to do with Lien-Da's illness?" Sir Charles asked.

"He soon will. He might be her only hope." Said Dimitri.

Sir Charles walked over to his invention. It was basically a large machine with a keyboard, a computer screen and a large empty glass orb on the top, big enough to hold a Chaos Emerald. Sir Charles opened the top part of the orb and placed the ring inside. He typed in some commands and the machine came to life. The screen now showed a map of Mobius with multiple red dots. Not surprising, many had managed to get their hands on Warp Rings after Albion's destruction.

"Could you narrow it down to multiple Warps Rings in the same location? Finitevus is bound to have more than anyone on the planet." Said Dimitri.

Sir Charles typed in a few more commands and there was now a single dot a few miles away from the Mobian Desert in the ocean.

"Wait, that's Devil's Gulag." Said Chuck.

"emDevil/em's Gulag? Suits him..." Knuckles remarked.

"Devil's Gulag is an abandoned prison. It's been vacated ever since Eggman came here." Said Chuck.

"I am aware of what Devil's Gulag is, Sir Charles. Lien-Da informed me that some rogue echidnas used stolen Dark Legion technology to further their criminal activities ended up in there. But enough of this, we must go to Devil's Gulag at once. Sir Charles, can you give us back the Warp Ring. I like the idea of using Finitevus' own technology against him to add insult to injury." Said Dimitri.

"You won't need to worry about giving Finitevus injury when I get my hands on him." Said Knuckles.

Sir Charles handed Knuckles the Warp Ring, but he then gave it to Sonic. "We'll get there faster if someone who knows where Devil's Gulag is uses it."

Knuckles used the Warp Ring's power to expand it to take in the Mobians. Sonic then thought about Devil's Gulag and touched the ring and the inside of the prison appeared. The four Mobians stepped into the Warp Ring. They came out the other side of the ring into a large dusty hallway with cells with rusty bars.

At the end of the room in an open cell was Dr. Finitevus sitting on a swivel chair staring at a computer. He appeared to be working on new plans for his next scheme. His obsession with Enerjak finishing the world off seemed to have not ended. In the other cells were multiple documents about Dimitri's rampage as Enerjak. One of the cells even had Enerjak's suit but with changed colouring.

Knuckles ignored all this as it took all his concentration to stop himself from giving into his anger and attacking Finitevus, which was evident from his heavy breathing. Breathing that caught the attention of the albino Echidna in the near silent room.

Finitevus spun around in the chair and shot off a blast of energy that missed the four and went through the Warp Ring into Freedom HQ, almost hitting Sir Charles. Finitevus activated his own Warp Rings, but Knuckles refused to let him get away and tackled him to the ground faster than anyone expected the Echidna to be. He kept Finitevus secure in a half-nelson and brought him towards the others.

"What do you want from me?" The albino asked.

"What makes you think we want anything?" Said Sonic.

"Oh, please. If you didn't need me alive, Locke's brat would have torn my head off by now."

"Call my friend a 'brat' again, and I might just let Knux do that."

"Finitevus, you once told me of a discovery you made. An alien species-" Said Dimitri.

"Two alien species, I believe, but that's all I'm saying."

"Oh really, well, at the risk of sounding clichéd, I have ways of making you talk." Shadow said, cracking his knuckles. He grabbed Finitevus by the shoulder and led him into a padded cell and closed the door behind him. Grunts of pain and the sound of flesh on bone could be heard. More than once the Mobians in the hallway flinched at the sounds, and they'd probably seen more action than any other Mobian alive. Shadow then threw Finitevus out the door in front of the other Mobians.

"Alright! I'll tell you." Said Finitevus, clenching his jaw in pain. "A couple of years ago, before the Chaos Knuckles incident, a space ship landed near Albion. It was an escape pod of some sort. The guards had managed to cover it up from the citizens and reported it to me and Gala-Na. We were... romantically involved at the time, and I managed to persuade her to not tell anyone about it and let me study the craft.

"After various tests, I accidentally opened it and found an alien made of plant life, but she looked almost like a Mobian. She told me she escaped from her world that was being taken over by a dictatorship group called the Metarex. They started out small at first, but they managed to build themselves a powerful army by improving the natural abilities of their males. But by the time she escaped her planet, they had started using cyborganics and robots.

"I offered to give her shelter if she let me run some tests on her. She agreed. What I found out was amazing. She could eat, breath, and think like a Mobian. I was ready to reveal her to the world and hopefully she would be accepted. But a Metarex managed to find her and took her away using a teleportation device so I could not follow."

"Do you know where she was taken?" Dimitri asked.

"It probably took her back to her home planet."

"Do you know where that is?"

"Yes. But why do you want to know? Have the Metarex returned?"

"We'll ask the questions-" Said Sonic.

"It's OK, Sonic. I'll answer him." Dimitri cut in. "Lien-Da has obtained her mother's condition after she entered the Twilight Zone. She went there to free the Brotherhood of Guardians to assist us against the Black Arms."

"emTo free the Brotherhood? I put them there. If Dimitri finds out that I am, from a certain point of view, responsible for this, then he'll kill me as soon as this is over. Or worse yet, he'll let his distant cousins have their way with me./em" Thought Finitevus.

"A couple of days later, she collapsed in front of me." Dimitri continued. "She couldn't get any nutrients from sunlight. Now she's in hospital and we need your help to save her. The only way to do that is with the DNA of the species you told me you discovered. Their DNA can bring her back to health due to photosynthesis in plants."

Finitevus mulled this information over before replying. "Certainly. I shall assist you. There may be another way to cure her, though. But it would take a few hours to do. I would recommend we try both options at the same time."

"What is this alternative?"

"Reconstructing her old DNA through Remington and Julie-Su, but it would be foolish to rest your hopes on that. It is but a billion to one shot."

"A billion to one shot? As if we've never beaten those odds before..." Said Sonic.

"Be that as it may, you heroes aren't the type to wager a person's life on dumb luck. I shall provide you with the location of the species you seek and I shall oversee the operation for my suggestion."

"You expect us to leave you in New Mobotropolis on your own?"

"I'll hardly be alone with a thousand citizens and the Acorn Kingdom Army watching me. And, truth be told, I am not all that powerful. The joined forces of the Chaotix and Freedom Fighters would be an easy match for me. So, shall we return to New Mobotropolis?"

"Yes, you shall. But keep in this in mind, Finitevus." Said Dimitri. "If anything happens to her, I'll be holding you responsible and I'll hunt you down."

"You have my word that I shall do everything in my power to save her." Said Finitevus, and the funny thing was; he meant it.