PoC: …

Metal: …

Silver: …

PoC: …

Metal: …*Blinks* Argh! Son of a !#&%

Silver: Ha-ha! Hahaha-*Blinks* Ah…fiddlesticks! Alright, PenFullofChaos819 that still doesn't claim Sega content looks like you win.

PoC: …

Metal: ? Hey that means you, oaf! Respond!

PoC: …*Yawns* Oh hey guys, is time for the new chap already?

Silver: Dude, were you really asleep? You had your eyes open, like this O_O.

Metal: You narcoleptic shyster! I hope your eyeballs dry up and fall out! *stomps off*

PoC: Geez…what's with Sunshine?

Silver: He's mad that your irregular sleeping cost him his teddy bear prize.

PoC: Oookay…*Blinks*

Silver: HA! Looks like you lost too. No cotton candy for you!

PoC: 'Aw shucks' I guess…? *Laughs* I'll never quite get you, Silv.

-l-

All is an Illusion

-l-

"Lemme see lemme see!" continuously whined the incorrigible bee, hoping to get first glimpse of his caretaker's newly collected information. Vector knew he'd been left behind just for the sake of being the group's fall-guy sitter. He also knew he had to have better things to do, preferably tasks that didn't involve doting noisy brats. Yet here he was, parked in the middle of no man's land playing nanny for a pack of squirts. He wasn't so sure Tails' paycheck was enough to cover this kind of work anymore.

"I told you to sit down and SHUT-Uuuuh oh hello Miss Maria!" the cantankerous crocodile knew to slip on his 'nice-guy scales' whenever the mannerly human made her entrance. She had never allowed him a moment's peace from her lectures, especially not after she'd witnessed the bullheaded 'affection' he and Charmy showed for each other. However, her insistence that they all treat each other with a 'normal' kind respect nearly fell dead on the Tactichaos duo. Good behavior was something as foreign to Vector as forks, as his hour-old question revealed "Why use those pointy food-pokers when you have perfectly good claws?" Likewise, Charmy couldn't quite comprehend anything that didn't involve extensive use of 'persuasive stinging'. Nevertheless, each had their reasons for heeding her rules; Vector's being that he knew what Shadow would do if someone upset his precious Maria, while Charmy's motives were driven mostly on the logic that Maria was quote "Too nice to sting". So inevitably both simmered down enough to discuss what Vector had discovered.

"It's not really my specialty, but thanks in part to our puffy-tailed captive's leftover gear, I was able to zero in on something pretty crazy." He then spread his right thumb and index finger apart to zoom in on his findings. Closer examination confirmed that some kind of blue colored energy flow was escaping the enigmatic facility's walls. Taking a look down to the molecular level exposed countless charged cell-like structures that were rapidly proliferating. The structures had no visible nucleus, but did carry the most unstable mix of positive and negative charges.

Upon observing this, Maria took over, using her staggering intellect to better ascertain what Vector had uncovered. After some time of study, the croc let his excitement/anticipation get the better of him so he asked "So, what do ya make of it? This 'blue stuff' just started belching out of that place without warning. I'm not gonna lie, this mystery's got even MY refined detective skills stumped beyond stumped."

"This is…" Maria gulped, trying to not show how upset she was "Vector…nothing like this happened under your watch earlier, did it?" the reptile nodded confidently, his expression almost convincing her that he hadn't possibly dozed off by accident. What troubled her more than his questionable honesty was a certain cerulean residue she found, via the cockpit's scope, lining the edges of each exit point used by the substance. Some areas showed signs of past exposure to energy discharges, which were identifiable by new spots of corrosion being formed on 'freshly' exposed regions. This meant there was a high likelihood of events similar to this taking place over an undefined length of time. Maria didn't wait to explain her hypothesis to the boys, and also took the precaution of asking Vector a second time if he hadn't seen anything similar happening before.

"Nope, nuh-uh, there's just no way. See I plugged my trusty headset into this odd handheld thingamajig, since it was the only working piece of equipment, so every time it made a peep, I heard it. It's how I caught this light-show to begin with." Maria could buy that explanation, as it did account for the cold-blooded mobian's tendency to sleep on the job. But even if this event hadn't happened long before now, it was plain to see that this place was either creating the energy or possibly excreting it as a byproduct. Maria then saw what Vector was saying about their electronic equipment. Whatever this stuff was, it was the source of massive interference, as all electronic devices started acting as though they were in the middle of a harsh blizzard. Soon enough, all onboard monitors, except for the unknown device the crocodile was using, were completely knocked out and/or useless.

Picking up the sole unaffected object, Maria identified the device as one of Tails' Chaos Emerald scanners. The machine's ability to both stay functioning and still acquire readings confirmed Maria's fears about the blue-hued discharge "I knew I had seen it before." She thought uncomfortably "It's the same awful substance Julian had been studying for the last month." Getting another close up shot of the vile material, the youngest Robotnik grimaced "Living Chaos. A substance with the power to corrupt, distort, and even imitate anything it comes in contact with; not to mention how both the living and non-living suffer a myriad adverse affects under prolonged exposure to it. But why would it be here? The last time we encountered this rare chaos compound was when my cousin was doing his experiments at Chaos Control, a facility made to use and refine the power of chaos into clean, usable energy." Her memories then recalled the terrible accident that had taken place not long ago "Had this been the cause of it's explosion? Had the same demon that took Tails been using this facility's energy to sabotage my cousin's life's work and endanger Shadow?"

After giving her thoughts time to stew, Maria shot up and headed over to the vacant pilot seat. Setting the fox's reader on the control panel's dashboard, the girl abruptly lifted the ship off the ground.

"Whoa-whoa-WHOA! What do you think you're doing? You're gonna crash my baby!" Vector wailed, expecting the worst for his one-of-a-kind plane/house/boat. He wasn't about to roughhouse the girl out of his seat, but he didn't want her getting them all stranded or killed either. Only after seeing how naturally she took to the controls did Vector stop complaining long enough to marvel at the girl's innate mechanical aptitude.

"I'm really sorry to do this Vector, but you don't understand. Sonic and the others don't have a chance of survival if this place keeps pumping out that umm…'blue stuff'." She hastily corrected, trying to use terms the overgrown lizard would understand "We've got to find a way to shut this place down. That's surest way to give them a fighting chance."

Scratching his scaly head, Vector had to wonder aloud "Well that's thoughtful I guess, but why go through all the trouble of flying around? Why not just enter the same way they did?"

At this moment, Amy opened the upper deck's door, but didn't seem the least bit concerned with their sudden take off. In fact, she merely supported Maria by cryptically saying "If we did, we would be just as powerless against this place's evil. We aren't supposed to join any battle; we're here to make a battle possible. There's role for everyone, in every conflict. Without us, Sonic and the others will fall without a struggle."

Needless to say, her words and actions seemed a little too mature for the typically childish Amy. However, with the crew in such a heightened state of mind, no one voiced their concerns; not even Vector who would've normally been the first to be inquisitive.

"This whole mission has got me in over my head." He admitted with a sigh, letting his inadequacy briefly surface. Staying consistent with his foolhardy self though, the stubborn lizard spoke again, this time with his usual overconfidence "But I'll be darned if this job isn't going to be worth a shedding of my tail! Hit the gas, little Robotnik! We've got a spook's plans to vacuum up!"

The misfit team remarkably agreed, despite his humorous incoherency.

L

*With Espio*

L

Had reckless worry ruined his razor sharp sense of tracking, or was there SUPPOSED to be something complicated about a one-way hall? To be sure, there were no details or breaks in this place's repetitious scenery, which contributed greatly to the puzzle-like nature of this highly unnatural passageway. Factual as this was, Espio was convinced that he should've stumbled across the shaft they had entered by, a while ago. It was hard not to be pessimistic in the given circumstances, as he was well aware of this facility's ability to distort one's comprehension. Not to mention how much more sensitive things were made by the 'delicate cargo' he was still lugging. Risking harm to himself was the least concerning factor in the purple lizard's mind, but endangering an unconscious ally, a very dear one at that, raised the stakes to disconcerting levels. Being lost in a deadly illusion, Espio knew, figuring the danger was only limited to his imagination, there was precious little he could do to protect the downed vixen forever. It was this sensation of being cornered and/or boxed-in that urged the shadow-dweller to continue clearing his head of all potentially harmful thoughts, choosing instead to ease his spirit by keeping his focus primarily on Amethyst.

Thinking this, the chameleon craned his neck, seeing his relatively peaceful friend resting her cheek just an inch above his shoulder blade. She was so close that her pointy left ear tickled the ex-ninja's neck as he turned around, giving him something to laugh lightly about. No he wasn't foolishly forgetting the kind of danger they were in; he was simply enjoying what small, but very effective, comfort he could find in simply looking at her. Why was that wrong? It's not as though he had any ulterior motives, nor as if he'd been wishing to see her like this. He much preferred to see her happy, awake, and smiling next to the one she loved, not slung over his shoulder and likely in mental anguish.

She deserved better…much better than this.

"Uhh…w-what? Where am I?" He heard her…he heard her and no mistake. Espio could barely contain his relief as he saw her light violet irises again, though she still looked quite drowsy. Once she had taken a moment to adjust, the vixen at last met his gaze and said "Espio? What's going on? Where's Sonic?"

The lizard let a melancholy breath pass his lips. He didn't want to burden her with the stressful truth, but nor did he have the heart to tell her a sugar-coated lie. Taking another breath, the blending mobian did his best to explain "You were knocked out by this toxic environment, so I split up with Sonic to take you back to the ship." Well…at least the first part was true, as far as knew, but he the portion regarding Sonic was the regrettable product of half-truths and wishful-thinking. He couldn't be sure what the 'real' Sonic was up to, but he knew they couldn't go back and look for him, not with Amethyst in her current state.

"I guess it's my fault then…" the vixen intoned, sounding quite distraught "My coming along only slowed you two down, and now I got you separated from Sonic." With her ears folded downwards and face turned away, Amethyst's sadness was exceedingly palpable "I'm sorry."

He didn't like to hear such talk, out of her of all people. How could she blame herself for coming this far to save the one she cared about? If anything she was worthy of admiration for her raw dedication and devotion. As such, Espio replied "You've nothing to apologize for. This place is a curse, a bane that would even have ensnared me, given enough time." Instinctually, the reptile clasped one of her hands supportively, dismissing, for now, how improper the gesture might've been "In that way, you might very well have saved my life." Saying this made Espio's face heat up with humiliating embarrassment, so he quickly changed the subject "My point is this fight is best left to others more capable. You and I can rest assured knowing that Sonic will save Tails and then both will eliminate our foe."

"You…really think so?" Amethyst's question was answered by his nod full of surety, causing her to suddenly tighten her hold on him, in a sort of embrace "I hope you're right, thanks Espio."

The skilled mobian only blandly nodded again. He knew this was a rude way to reply to such kindness; however, her show of affection had inadvertently made his mouth run dry. Inside, he was torn between wondering why she hadn't gotten upset over the thought of leaving without Tails, and secretly liking the attention he was getting treated with. It was highly shameful and dishonorable for any practitioner of the dark arts, even for a fleeting moment, to allow misplaced emotions to cloud one's better judgment.

Not seeing the broad smile forming on…'Amethyst's' face, the chameleon complied when he heard her ask "You can put me down now…I can walk." But though he did what she requested, she didn't let him out of her arms. Confused by this, the ex-ninja didn't know whether to try and step away or simply stand where he was until she let go.

"Uhh…Amethyst?" he muttered, hoping she would understand how uncomfortable she was making him. But the response he received for his trouble was a sweet, if slightly off, giggle.

"I'm sorry; I know I'm acting strangely. But you…just don't know how grateful I am…" Espio didn't feel very sure of her meaning anymore as she snaked around to his front, still intruding on his personal bubble "You've kept me so hopeful, even in these really dark times. I really don't know what I'd do without you."

Something was wrong… Amethyst, the Amethyst he admired, would not behave like this. Coming on too strong, hugging him with much affection, it just didn't wash. But wait, hadn't he checked her? Didn't she bleed like a normal living being? But how then…how could this be Amethyst, the REAL Amethyst? Why would she…no, wouldn't. She wouldn't act like this…would she?

With narrowed eyes, the vixen jolted forward with suddenness that made even the fearless Espio recoil. She had him now pinned against the bluish-silver wall; causing him increasingly intense disturbance with each passing moment "I've never gotten a chance to thank you properly. I wouldn't want to let your heroism go unrewarded." Smiling eerily, she ignored the chameleon's last-minute struggle and aggressively fused her lips to his.

Though she was putting strong effort into her act of seduction, Espio's eyes burned, not with passion but with anger. All in one burst, the furious shinobi grabbed the vixen's arms and slammed her into the opposing wall, holding her now at knife-point with one of his kunai.

"Alright you scum, who are you and what have you done with Amethyst? ANSWER ME!" He shouted in a torrential rage, but the girl just giggled at him mockingly.

"Mm, you're a good kisser. And to think that you get overlooked for some two-tailed snot." Winking at him, she seemed to be trying to make him more unstable "Tell me Espio, does Amethyst know the kind of dreams you have about her?" Hearing this caused the chameleon to shove his blade a little too close, slightly nicking the false vixen's neck open, but this time no blood came out "You can't hide it from me fool, as I'm born of your inner chaos. From it, I derived my current shape and mannerisms. All this you experienced, it's not some torture being forced on you, it's your own sick little mind that dreamt me up!"

Espio was about retort to her comment, but when he tried he found himself unable to speak. Slowly his lips and mouth began to sizzle as though they had been dipped in acid of 0 pH. The pain spread gradually until his nervous system was all but paralyzed in agony.

Just as his suffering grew to the point of stealing his consciousness, he saw the vixen had knelt down alongside him to speak "It's your weak heart let me get to you, thereby triggering the release of your bottled up negativity from with. Soon enough, you'll serve as a nice source of sustenance to satiate our hunger for pure living chaos. We'll need plenty until our vessel is rea-"

But he heard no more as his vision went dark.

L

*Elsewhere*

L

"Too easy." A blond girl spoke innocently, gazing over an unconscious pile of red and black. Even as she spoke, a red echidna made his way in; carrying what looked to be a wounded white bat. He plopped her next to the injured hedgehog and groaned. He bore a number of his own injuries, from a deep cut on his forehead to a hefty bruise on his ribcage.

When the girl saw this, she laughed at him mockingly and said "What's the matter? Was Bat-woman here too hot for you to handle?" She was forced to sidestep to avoid being crushed by the red one's furious fist. After evading him, she snuck her way into his guard, allowing her close enough proximity to entangle the rash killer in a deadly chokehold "You forget, Knuckles, that I was not so much as scratched in my encounter. You have no power over me." Releasing him from her grasp strangely resulted in nothing, not even a mark on the echidna's throat. Only his head and chest remained wounded.

"Going off that, I guess it's not your fault you had to borrow the form of that weak echidna." Each syllable was spoken with pure delight, almost as though the young blond was laughing through every sentence "So where's our friend? Where's our darling Amethyst? Tee-hee! I do hope she's not being too cheeky with that sly chameleon!" Staring at her dress, the girl added with a frown "Ugh! I certainly envy her. Being stuck in this child's body is so…disappointing. I don't get thick crimson muscles or attractive reddish-orange curves, oh nooooo! I get stuck in this TINY frame with PAPER white skin and SICKENING blond locks! Tch, I even have to wear clothes in this body! If I hadn't gotten to choke the life out of that brooding zombie over there, I think I might've c-cried at the sheer unfairness." And, disturbingly, that's just what the girl did. During her speech, the girl's mood had gone from deliriously happy, to burning anger, and ultimately to outright sobbing in matter of seconds.

Emotionlessly, the echidna slacked against the silvery wall "Stop pretending already. It's not as though you can actually 'feel' anything. We were called to do our master's will, not wallow in these fake constraints called 'emotions'."

Getting up from her crazed rant, the girl pouted "You're no fun. What's the point of being off Chaos's leash if we can't enjoy it? Didn't you hate being restricted to moderation by a blob of gelatinous water? For crying out loud, he was once a helpless chao! Without our invigoration, he would've remained a worthless speck of nothing on the face of the earth!" crossing her arms indignantly, the evil Maria kept on complaining "And what do we get for helping him out? Stuffed back into our crystallized prisons, that's what! Hmph! He suddenly grows a conscience and people start thinking of him as our 'god'! A fake god that supposedly keeps us in check!"

The ruby shaded mobian struggled not to laugh at her as he replied "Have you forgotten? Our power is SUPPOSED to be mastered, to be guided. We are power, power that enriches the hearts of man and beast. Do not worry; our new master will be the one to liberate us." Holding up his mitt, the false Knuckles revealed a darkened image of a restrained Sonic "As you can see, the vessel for us is strong. The master needed someone infused with enough 'natural' or 'pure chaos' to contain us properly. Remember his failure with THAT one?" Here he pointed dismissively in the direction of a lifeless Shadow.

The fake Maria nodded "Oh you needn't remind me. That feeble-hearted hedgehog was so obsessed with protecting the young blue mobian that he willingly took us into himself. That ancient mask of the echidna tribe was wasted on his 'kindly' soul." At this, she brought up the image of the same evil mask now being worn by a twin-tailed fox "Useful as this essence transferring device is, the master's first mistake was thinking he could infuse just anyone with our power. Can you believe that he had the stupidity to call our flawed union with that…that 'Shadow' person a success?" She snorted, inwardly wondering how even the smartest living creatures could be so blind "Not to mention the mess our unabsorbed wrath made when we shattered the dimensional wall."

Interrupting the two beings, a third figure came in the form of a transformed Sonic, glowing with little more than special effects brought on by illusions "But that was a fortunate turn for us. In the end, we were provided with this older, stronger body to use instead of that nose-wiping child's. Two simultaneous chaos reactions that called out to each other from the great beyond effectively brought us a new and improved vessel." The masquerading being was evidently very vain of his golden form as he stroked his quills back delicately.

"Well if it isn't the doubly fake Sonic! Enjoying the glitter in your fur?" the Knuckles impersonator insulted, getting only a hand wave out of the narcissistic shining hedgehog.

"You're just jealous that I get an early test run with this…how do you say, fabulous body." The purring in his speech made the fake Knuckles cringe "And let's not forget the close call we had when this world started to refuse us our desirable vessel. Can you imagine how sad that would've been? If our dear hedgehog, full of delectable chaos, had simply been erased from existence? Such a cruel twist of fate would've broken my heart!" The fake hedgehog acted all this out with extravagant, if slightly flamboyant, dramatics.

Once again the fake Maria chimed in "It's thanks to those self-righteous guardian of Earth, those Gaia twins, that we had to intervene. They deemed this Sonic too dangerous to this universe's harmony and went about erasing every mark he left on this realm. As I recall, even the 'Light Half' debated erasing an entire city, just to eliminate the adverse affects a 'second Sonic' would have on the natural order!" She giggled with her original delight and continued "Silly self-proclaimed gods and goddesses! Always so quick to judge but so slow to think! Did it ever cross their minds as to how many people's lives they would've destroyed had we and our master not stepped in? And they claim this world is safe in their hands...for shame!"

The pseudo Knuckles nodded and answered "Not to worry. Once we've given the rest of our power over to the vessel, all those pathetic gods will be driven to their knees. We will tear out the old order and usher in a new world, one governed not by iron-fisted balance, but by even-handed chaos. By this we will, on the surface, be appearing to serve our master's heartfelt wish for dominion, all while in fact feeding our own need for discord without end." Closing his eyes, he hummed hungrily "Can't you picture it? A world where there is neither light nor dark, neither good nor evil because all will be left up to individual perception? Much like it is here."

At this time, all three beings stepped towards one another and melded, leaving behind a formless being of pure chaos, whose voice was quiet but contained all the hidden strength of a contained inferno "Poor little anthropomorphic beasts. You should've known that your kind have always been slaves to your hearts' desires and weaknesses. Your defeat proves our theory: As long as one is chained to their past, or burdened by another, they will always fall under our sway." Stepping away from the two captives, the creature reached towards the ground and picked up a shard of emerald. It glimmered darkly in the being's hand before vanishing altogether, indicating that it had been a fabrication.

"Soon the world will be like this hall; a reflection of what we wish others to see." Looking into it's palm, the chaotic conglomerate concluded "An eternal dream, or for some, an eternal nightmare."

L

*In the Marble throne room*

L

Everything…their plans and hopes; they were all falling to pieces. The terror of seeing his last friend frozen in place with terror was the only thing that eclipsed his other predicament; that being his power, the power that supposed to put all these wrongs to right, was draining away. His quills of liquid gold faded back to a duller shade of his formerly regal blue. Sonic hadn't thought anyone, besides a crazy scientist like his Eggman, was capable of trapping him in his escalated form. Not that it mattered now. He was still left hanging harmlessly in the air while Amethyst kept backpedaling as though she had seen a ghost.

"Tell me something, ugly." The hero strained to add bite to his words "What are you doing to Amethyst? And if you hurt her, know that Tails and I are gonna beat you so black and blue that you'll be spitting teeth out by the dozen." Interestingly, the hazed person gasped in offense, as though the cobalt hedgehog had spoken some horrid blasphemy.

"What did I do, you ask? Nothing at all, I assure you!" the figure took notice the hateful glare he was getting from the suspended hedgehog, and thus said "This dear lady is delirious! So beside herself with worry that she thinks she's actually seeing her beloved Tails before her eyes! Such a sad reunion, don't you agree?"

Paying the psychotic monster no heed, Sonic shouted frantically at his partner "Amethyst, you've got to snap out of it! Whatever you're seeing, it's not Tails!" Sadly his words didn't seem to carry. The vixen kept right on backing away in fear, as though she really was being approached by something unseen.

"Save your energy." The evil one suggested, raising it's hazed arms defensively when Sonic snarled at him "No I'm quite serious, save that energy for something more significant. You've lost so many friends to their illusions already, what's the real harm in losing one more?"

Then the truth dawned on Sonic. He had, for a short time, forgotten about his other friends: Espio, Shadow, and Rouge. It was as if, for a time, they had been blotted from his memory altogether. What sort of craziness was capable of doing that? Was it this place or…?

But his chance to ponder was soon over, for the blurred one had taken hold of the weakened hero, with a grip so icy and clammy that could've mistaken it for the grip of Death itself.

"We're close to our great event, Sonic, an event that will change this world forever. Are you ready to find out? Are you ready to find your reason for coming here, to this world?" Sonic could not respond under the force of the specter's life-squeezing grip. It was all he could muster a stare into the blurred creature's 'face'. But what he saw…didn't look like a creature or monster at all. In fact, the face behind the haze looked very…human?

"I found you." A voice interrupted their choking session and jarred Sonic's concentration. The large spectral-curtained person had to move fast to evade the newcomer's pinpointed attack…a 'spin-attack' at that. Intrigued, Sonic gritted his teeth and shifted ruggedly in the figure's grip to get a better look at the new arrival.

Though concealed behind that same distressing faceguard Shadow had been, the familiar voice that came out sounded as serene as it had not that long ago "I'll only say this once: Let my brother go!"

Grunting ambivalently, the sinister one said back "Hmm…you surprise me. How are you still…whole? No, not that it matters, you've done your part in bringing this one to me." Here the concealed one held up the limp hero tauntingly "Besides, don't you have something more imperative to attend to?" the cruel man motioned towards a frightened Amethyst before absconding with Sonic still in his grasp.

The masked person was about to pursue, but after taking a look back at the scared vixen, the person said "Amethyst…I can still save you."

"What are you doing Miles? You need to help your brother first! Forget about her! Is she not fully capable of defending herself? Here, use my power to chase down and destroy that monster before he gets away. Please, consider mine the words of a genuinely concerned friend."

Disinterested in the inner voice's demands, the masked mobian shook his head "I'll do whatever I feel is right. You can insist that I use greater power all day, but my answer will always be the same. I don't need you or your friendship." Shutting out the voice entirely, the twin-tailed figure ran to the vixen's side.

"…I see. Then you seal your fate, stubborn fool. Like the hedgehog before you, you WILL accept my offer, by your own volition or not. I had hoped you were wiser than this, that we could have had a partnership. But now…well, let's just say I hope you can share a few precious moments with your mate…

…before I have you kill her."

-l-

End of Chapter Forty-one

-l-

These were odd/confusing hours for me to update, sorry. But as late and awkward as this was, appreciate and understand that my new job is starting tomorrow! Maybe it's a lot to ask after a slow update, but could those of you that do pray possibly offer me one, a prayer that is? I know it's selfish, since I don't even have commentary for this chapter, but it would really put me at ease.

Until next time!