Chapter 9: The Right Thing?
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In a land eternally lit by a light far brighter but kinder then the sun, an Echidna-girl was waist deep in a pool. For the longest time, she had been watching this particular pool, out of the many around. Through these pools, she could watch the events transpiring of different world. This particular one showed the world of Lou Brenna.

A weary fear was building as she watched a blue hedgehog and a white hedgehog battle. The two times have met, and the consequences were dire and devastating. The board was set and the pieces were moving, and it looked as if evil will win.

"Watching this pool again, young one?"

The girl looked to see her elder, a heavier set Echidna with purple fur. His dreadlocks were matted with spiny follicles, giving him a sense of age. He had a short beard seeping from his chin, draping over his chest, partially obscuring a crescent-shaped marking on his chest. He was old, but very wise, and this girl sought his company much, especially recently. She looked down back into the water, looking at the world in motion but not really seeing it. The elder waded into the pool to join her. For a moment, he peered into the pool then back at the girl.

"Your heart bleeds for them. Ever since you helped them before, you've watched them continuously for the equivalent of five of their years. You've grown to love them as your own family."

She nodded wordlessly, her tears doing all the talking.

"Courage, dear heart. They have the strength to withstand the darkness, as they have proven time and time again. The Divine One makes no mistakes. These times were meant to meet, but for what reason is not for us to know right now. We have to trust him. My heart is trouble about these young ones as well. I fear things will get much worse before they get better. Nonetheless, the Divine One's will shall prevail over this present darkness."

The younger nodded, reconciling the fact that the Divine One has his plan, and time and time again, and the results were always awe-inspiring. This should be no different. If it only didn't hurt so much to let it go, but it hurt her to hold on as well.

"I understand," she breathed at last.

Smiling, the elder took the hand of the younger. "Come, let us go to the altar and pray."

- - - - -

Sonic took Cream and Cheese back over the bridge and deep into New Town, trying to get as much distance between him and Silver as he could, and hoped Silver couldn't run fast. The last new hedgehog he met could match Sonic stride for stride. They ducked into an alleyway and stopped for a breather. Sitting down against the shaded side of a building, mildly enjoying how cool it felt, Sonic started with, "Thanks again, Cream. That took real guts..."

Cream just nodded. The anger had subsided into a quiet shock, the kind that came just before tears.

Sonic noticed quickly. "Are you okay?"

Cream threw herself into Sonic's arms, and began to sob. Cheese, attached to her mistress emotionally, did the same. Sonic was thrown into a loop, and he had to go through a roller coaster of thoughts to say something intelligible.

"Cream, what's wrong? C'mon, talk to me. Sonic's here, you can talk to me. Shh..." Sonic kept talking softly to calm the distressed rabbit.

The sobs turned into words. "It was terrible, Sonic! He was our friend and he tried to kill you!"

"Your friend!? How'd this come about!?" Sonic said. "For that matter, how'd you guys end up here?"

Cream had to breathe several times to calm herself down to respond. "Well, Amy and I were back in the city when there was a big light. Then we woke up on top of a clock tower in this city. Silver was there as well. He said he was looking for someone and we decided to help him." Cream suddenly choked. "I'm sorry, Sonic! We didn't know!"

"It's all right," Sonic said quickly, trying to prevent Cream from having another attack of sobs. "If he didn't tell you who he was looking for, then you would not have known. It's okay."

Sonic looked around, hoping Silver didn't follow them, and hoping he didn't do anything to Amy. Amy had a lot of spunk, but didn't have the experience to fight anybody like a telekinetic.

"Come on, Cream, let's keep moving."

"Ok..." Cream wiped her eyes and nodded.

Suddenly, there was a noise above. "Sonic!"

Sonic and Cream looked up to see Tails parachuting with his namesake down towards them. He still grasped the Talisman of Fire.

"Tails! You're okay!" Sonic shouted, waving.

Tails landed on his feet and strode the rest of the distance between him and the two others. "Yeah...here's the talisman back." Tails gave the Talisman of Fire to Sonic, and then looked around, as if looking for someone wasn't there. "Sonic, where's the Princess Elise?"

Sonic's eyes flamed at the name. "Kintobor got here again. I had a fight with a white hedgehog named Silver and the good ol' Doc nabbed her. Whoa, Tails, what's with the look?"

Tails had blanched at the name Silver. "Silver? You fought him, why!?"

"You know him?" Sonic asked.

Tails explained encountering him and the girls while he was baiting the robots. "Why were you fighting him?"

Sonic cast a glance at Cream, who was nibbling on one of her ears in insecurity. Cheese was trying his best to comfort her.

"He was trying to kill me."

Tails looked like as if someone slapped him. "Kill you!? What!? I can't believe that!"

"He thinks I'm the end of the world, the Ibis Trigger or something retarded like that. He attacked me right on the spot. He's also telekinetic so I had a hard time of it."

Tails looked like he didn't buy Sonic's story, but Sonic could tell that this was just a big time shock.

"When I first met the guy, he was really nice, plus I'm sure he's only like one year older them me! I can't imagine him doing something like it."

"Well, he was doing it. He kept acting as if it was his duty though. That alone makes me think someone put him up to it."

"You think so, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Yeah. I know a murderer when I see it. They have this look on their face or this sound in their voice. Remember how Metal-Sonic talked, or Robo-Knux? That's how they sound. Silver didn't sound or look anything like that."

"I hope you're right," Tails sighed.

"Just the same, I think we should keep an eye-out for him. It's not like he's easy to spot. I've never seen white hedgehogs before, or white anything. C'mon, guys, we got to find the Princess."

"But we have no idea now where she is!" Tails asked. "Not a single clue!"

"Don't worry, kid," Sonic flashed a thumbs-up. "We'll find her, or my name isn't Sonic."

Sonic walked on, Tails, Cream and Cheese followed. They couldn't tell it from where they stood, but Sonic's face was twisted with concern but mixed with determination. Hold on, Elise. I'm coming...

They wandered through the city until they reached the shoreline. Sonic hoped he could see the Egg Carrier, but he could not. Cursing in his mind, he wondered where in the world he should look. It wasn't like at home, where he knew where Eggman had old bases. Here, he had to play guessing games. Sonic willed himself to calm down. He had to find Eggman before with much higher odds.

"Sonic! Look over there!" Tails cried out. "Is that who I think it is?"

Sonic looked to see where Tails was pointing, half-expecting the white hedgehog to be there; instead stood five figures along the shoreline: one red heavy-browed Echidna, a crocodile, a hot-pink chameleon, a large honeybee and a red-backed armadillo.

"It's Knuckles! And the Chaotix!" Sonic said, immediately heading their direction. Tails, Cream and Cheese followed.

A few seconds later, they came upon the five. "Knuckles! Guys! What's up?" Sonic said, waving.

"Hey, Sonic!" choruses the five. "I have something for you," Knuckles alone continued.

Sonic made a face. "For me?"

"We were visited by Dr. Kintobor a little bit after dawn," Knuckles said, then held up a card-shaped object. With one flick of the wrist, he tossed it to Sonic, who caught it. "He told me to give you this."

Sonic looked at it. It reminded him of a half-million dollar poker chip he saw at casinos; it was just about that thick. A light shone out, illuminating Sonic's face in reddish light. A computer voice spoke, "ID Registration: Sonic the Hedgehog. Confirmed. Playback initiated." A hologram popped up, causing Sonic's head to back off a bit. It was a hologram of Dr. Kintobor. "Sonic the Hedgehog, it has been a pleasure to deal with such a formidable foe, but now this must end. When you receive this message, I will have the Princess Elise in my custody. If you want her back, you must give me the Talisman of Fire in your possession. Come to my base in White Acropolis before dusk. I will be expecting you, Sonic. Don't disappoint me." The hologram faded.

Knux got this just after dawn, huh? Sonic thought. He was pretty confident to give this message BEFORE he kidnaps Elise. Unfortunately, it paid off.

Sonic tossed the card back to Knuckles. The latter swatted it down, stomped down on it and ground it underneath his foot. "He seems cocky enough," Knuckles breathed.

"It's a trap," Tails said. "I'm sure of it. He won't keep his side of the agreement. Once we give him the Talisman of Fire, he'll ditch us."

"I'm going," Sonic said suddenly, looking at the red gem of the talisman.

"But Sonic...!" Tails said, but Sonic interrupted him. "Since the good ol' Doc was kind enough to tell me where Elise is, I think I should say thank you...and do it in person."

A grin broke out on Sonic's face, implying that there was more to what he just said.

Tails was about to answer, but realized that if they were going to save Elise, they would have to go up to the White Acropolis base anyway.

Knuckles shrugged. "You guys know the way?"

Sonic and Tails looked at Knuckles, then at each other. They didn't think of that apparently.

"We at least know where it is," Espio chipped in.

"You do?" Sonic asked. "How do you know?"

"We spent almost all of yesterday doing our homework, while you were partying with the locals," Espio smiled. "White Acropolis is a former military base that was stationed in the White Mountains, guarding the only pass connecting this kingdom to the lands beyond. It was shut down in the light of Project Solaris, under the presumption of transferred funds from the base to the project."

"That was a funny thing. That project kept coming up in our research, but it didn't say what it was about," Vector added in.

Espio continued, "It was abandoned since then, but maybe Dr. Kintobor took up residence there in secret."

"Just like Eggman would do," Sonic said. "Those two are just looking so much alike."

"Anyways, see those mountains over there?" Espio pointed northwards.

"Yeah, I saw them since I got here," Sonic replied.

"The White Acropolis is somewhere up there in the White Mountains, past Kingdom Valley."

"Gotcha, Espio."

"I'm coming too," Tails spoke up. "I think you're going to need as much help as possible, Sonic."

Sonic chuckled and winked. "Even if I didn't, you'd come anyway."

Knuckles cut in. "You're not going to leave me behind. I intend to find out what he's up to."

"Nobody's stoppin' ya," Sonic replied. "Let's go!"

"Unless you plan to drag both of us going three hundred, we're going to have to find transportation." Knuckles crossed his arms.

"Makes me wish I had the X-Tornado," Tails said, sighing.

"Ah, don't worry; I'll go easy on you. Tails is wearing his jet-anklets and I know you're no slouch when it comes to running, Knuckles."

Knuckles snorted.

"Well, let's juice. The sooner we kick Kinty's butt, the sooner we can concentrate on how to get back home."

Sonic dashed away northwards. Tails and Knuckles pursued, Knuckles on foot, Tails in the sky. Tails could tell Sonic was not even going a hundred miles per hour, which is good since Knuckles didn't really have the speed, but he had the stamina. Tails could keep flying until either his tails got tired or his jet-anklets wore out.

The bi-tailed fox couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking into a trap, but in this case; they had to go to Kintobor to find Elise. They were more like forced into a trap. That thought alone was not comforting to say the least. This could get ugly.

- - - - -

Silver sat on a park bench at the Wave Ocean beach resort along the shoreline in New Town. He looked very relaxed with arms folded across his chest, legs crossed, gaze fixed at an undetermined point, but despite his relaxed posture, his face registered the signs of deep thought and inner conflict, which conflicted with the peaceful scenery around him. He looked at the ocean's waves summoning the tides but didn't actually see them. His head was a buzz with voices telling him one thing, but others telling him another thing. He was told that his duty was to destroy the Iblis Trigger to restore the future, but another was telling him that just killing the Iblis Trigger was a horrendous crime of its own. To kill to save a world: was it justice or murder?

He came to this spot to sort things out, but only found that it just magnified his thoughts as his brain switched tracks from searching and journeying to this jumbled mess of morals and duties. This is barring the fact that friends he made in the last two days were now hated him and didn't want to see him again, and that was causing enough turmoil as it was. Everything was so simple before, now it got needlessly complicated. Why couldn't things be simple once in a while!?

He was so consumed by this thoughts and inner turmoil that he didn't notice anyone walking up behind him. Blaze the Cat since that morning had been walking up and down New Town, hoping that the Iblis Trigger (whom she does not know the name of yet) would come to Soleanna and by chance see him and dispatch him. She had failed to see any hair or hide of that hedgehog, but was sure she would find him eventually. Better then wondering aimlessly throughout the region. It was on one of her walks she came upon the beach resort, and found the familiar white hedgehog. From where she was standing, she couldn't see the turmoil spelled out on his face as she was looking at his back.

"Silver, there you are!" Blaze said, albeit not too loudly. "I've been wondering where you've been since we got separated."

Silver's head turned slightly towards her, but then turned away again. Blaze blinked; that was not like Silver at all. Silver was usually happy to see a friend safe and sound. Something was wrong. "What's wrong?" the lilac cat ventured, moving forward. She sat down beside Silver, and risked a look at him. Yes, something is definitely wrong, Blaze thought. Something is troubling him a lot.

Silver had trouble replying right away, and wondered if he should admit that he had caught the Iblis Trigger, and almost just as fast lost him. That would be a complete embarrassment. Blaze would not have let that happen at all, as she was a fast runner herself and had a will as hot and strong as her own flames. Then he wondered if he should voice his thoughts about the morality of this quest. It would be nice to talk to someone who was loose figuratively in the same situation he was. "Well, uh...Blaze?" Silver started, pausing again. How should I word it without looking stupid? "To kill someone to save our time and our world..." Silver opened his mouth again, but worlds failed him for one second. Concentrating, he finished. "...is that the right thing to do?"

"The right thing?" Blaze replied.

"Yeah, I mean...wouldn't it be murder?"

Blaze blinked again in surprise. Silver wasn't a deep thinker, and never did think whether his actions were right or wrong. He just did what he was told and what was impressed to be right. Silver was a black-and-white thinker, very naïve, so when it came to fine-line situations, he usually just did what he was told...because he was incapable of coming up with good arguments or questions to argue the orders with. Did he per chance meet the Iblis Trigger and he said something to Silver? Blaze thought. After all, the Iblis Trigger whoever he is probably doesn't even know what he's about to do right now. It's a distinct possibility... Her self-will testified that this is a byproduct of a kid's naivety. Despite the fact Silver was a veteran of war with Iblis, he lacked the experience and knowledge when it came to worldly matters, such as the fine-line between moral value and duty.

"You're so naïve," Blaze blurted out. Pausing to check for a reaction, Blaze saw that Silver was initially shocked at her accusation. Thinking quickly, she added, "I can't say whether it's actually right or wrong. There's only one thing I know, and that is we do not do this...the future...us...will remain the way it is...forever."

Silver looked away, considering these words. Blaze stood up and walked a few steps away, lingering to see what Silver would do. She could bet on what he would do and she was right. Silver's naivety was easily manipulated, and Blaze used that advantage to keep Silver's mind on what needs to be done. Silver stood up and looked northwards towards the mountains. "He's after Dr. Kintobor. We can try sneaking into the doctor's base. He should be coming there eventually, and who knows? Maybe we'll learn something new."

Blaze nodded, but then pointed out the hitch in the plan. "Do you know where Dr. Kintobor's base is?"

Looking back at Blaze, Silver thought for a moment, and then he remembered the room where Mephiles took Blaze and him for a briefing about the Iblis Trigger. "Remember the computer room where Mephiles took us? He said that we were in the base of a great scientist, in Acropolis. To get there, we had to travel north from the city, in the mountains." He took another glance up to the mountains. "I'm sure it's up there."

Blaze considered it for one second, and then agreed. "Okay, then let's go. We don't have much time."

Silver nodded, and then the two started to make the trek northwards, through the town and into the wild.

- - - - -

In the foothills, coming from the opposite direction, four creatures were trekking southwards, away from the mountains and towards the city of Soleanna. After thrashing the guardian forces in the base and helping Metal-Sonic and Rouge escape the base with the Talisman of Darkness in tow, Shadow and Viper took the two thieves and headed back south. All were intent to find out what exactly this talisman had to do with Project Solaris, Soleanna's biggest top-secret project, and whether by hook or crook didn't matter to any of them. Shadow and Mecha led the way because of their high speed travel, while Viper and Rouge took the jeep stolen from Soleanna. Shadow thought with grim amusement that the vehicle they stole would be returned, mostly untouched.

They braked in the foothills, connecting the White Mountains with Kingdom Valley. The hills were rocky and steep, and populated with conifers, but were granted a gift of ominous beauty. The area must receive whatever moisture is left over when storms pass through the mountains as the grass is ever green. All four looked down over the landscape beyond. There were still lots of foothills between them and the city, but they gradually lessened. They could even see the city from where they stood.

"Ah, the beautiful City of Water, Soleanna," Rouge sighed, smiling. "It looks perfectly dreamy, doesn't it?"

Shadow and Viper made the "hmph" noise and Mecha didn't say a word. They didn't care.

"My, my, how did I get stuck with a bunch of...men?" Rouge said, but was still smiling. "Anyway, Soleanna is home to Princess Elise III, the youngest monarch in this nation's history. She was kidnapped by Dr. Kintobor, you know..."

"Can't say much for their security," Viper breathed finally. Now shut the hell up...

Shadow spoke up next, "There are some things that don't match up. Why should Dr. Kintobor want to take the Princess if he's after a science project?"

"You got me," Rouge replied. "...but maybe she doesn't have anything to do with it, or maybe she actually DOES have something to do with it..." Rouge shrugged. "How can we know until we know what the project is about?"

Mecha spoke up. "More likely then not that she is just insurance. A top-secret government project, the princess in the doctor's custody, he makes demands that no one interfere with him, and now he can continue unabated in his research until he is completed. Whether he will actually release the Princess or no wouldn't matter to him as long as his project is done."

"That does seem like the most legitimate theory..." Viper mused.

"Indeed," Mecha said. "However, I advise looking for all possible links to the princess and Project Solaris." Mecha paused, and then he looked at his scanners. He made it a habit to check his scanners every five minutes if not engaged in battle or high-speed travel. He made the excuse that it was for whereabouts purposes only, although some could translate that as paranoia. It did have its advantages however, as is the case this time. His scanners read troop movements towards the north. The robot hedgehog didn't have to know what troops they were. "It appears that Dr. Kintobor has sent troops after us, ETA four point three minutes."

All heard the announcement, and unconsciously looked north. They couldn't see anything except the foothills and mountains they had crossed, but they knew well enough not to trust Metal-Sonic, since his scanners could see things no one else could. He wasn't a chief assassin robot for nothing.

Viper grinned slightly. "I think I might want to hang around to see what these are made off. Who knows? Maybe they'll actually be a challenge."

Shadow sniffed. "Suit yourself. They're not even a challenge and not worth my energy right now. I will continue to Soleanna to learn more about the project."

"I'll come with ya, handsome," Rouge said, eyes narrowing and smiling. "Can't have you alone all the time. It's just not healthy..."

Metal-Sonic looked at Viper, who made a look that registered as a mix of annoyance and thanking whatever gods existed that he'd be gone from Rouge for a while.

Shadow didn't appear to notice Rouge, but said, "Fine. We'll go through Kingdom Valley, through the ruined castle specifically. That should lose any that get past you."

Viper made a grin. "Maybe I should let some go just to make things interesting for you."

Shadow didn't reply. He didn't care for Viper, but he was a formidable friend and one you could depend on in a crisis.

"Do what you want."

"I shall remain behind," Mecha said from the side. "Personally, I've been looking forward to test myself against these battle-droids. I have already surmised that they have weak scanners."

"Whatever you say," Viper said from the side.

Without a word, the group parted. Shadow and Rouge took off down the hills, staying in the trees. Shadow was good at hiding, and Rouge was an expert in espionage, so hiding was second nature. Viper and Metal-Sonic remained on the ridge, looking for any sign of the robot squadron. It wouldn't take long for them to come into sight, for the models that Mecha had observed did not have the programming for guerilla tactics.

Viper got into the jeep and looked at the amount of rockets they had. He hadn't used any yet mainly because Shadow beat him to the gates of White Acropolis. "I've wanted to see if these rockets were any good. For a civilization that has poor security measures, they sure have some good weapons."

"I can only conclude that they specialize in technology, but lack the manpower for sufficient armed forces, despite their knowledge in weaponry," Mecha replied.

Viper shrugged. "Weapons unused are no good at all."

"Perhaps they have a militia to make up for the lack of organized troops."

"Little better. Any disciplined armed force could mow over them no problem."

"Indeed. Perhaps they can organize an armed force before that could happen."

"With the attack at the Festival, I would think now would be a good time," Viper sighed, looking up towards the north. It was hard to see, but he could see glimmering specks, catching the sun's rays, coming their way. No doubt the doctor's armed forces.

Metal-Sonic had already seen them, and was waiting for them to get close enough for a good opportunity to strike. He was built for battle, and lived for the moment to rip his adversaries apart. Viper was an ex-Elite Ops of the Galactic Federation (Elite-GF) member, a member of a team especially trained for extreme war, trained to kill on sight with whatever they have, even if all they had was their bare hands.

Viper waited one more moment to see how many robots were actually there, and saw that there must be at least enough for a legion. Didn't matter to him. "Showtime," he breathed, then pressed the trigger on his rocket launcher. The rocket flew upwards on a haphazard course and smacked into an unfortunate, annihilating it and the immediate surrounding drones were blown out of the sky.

Metal-Sonic leapt up, jet igniting, and blasted into the rank like a self-propelled missile. To his delight, the robots were cheap and practically wilted under his attacks, and he liked it that way.

The two continued to battle the legion of mindless robots on the hill, neither caring when it would end. They just wondered if the doctor would come up with something better for these lesser robots.

- - - - -

Amy Rose had long cooled off from telling Silver off about Sonic, and now was replaced with worry. Maybe she should find Sonic as soon as possible and warn him about Silver, and hopefully Tails was with him by now. Tails was the only one so far who didn't know about Silver going after to kill Sonic, as far as she knew.

Silver. The more Amy thought about him, the less he made sense. Sonic destroying the world? The future? Silver said he was from the future, but Amy wasn't sure if she bought that. She always imagined time-travelers to look different, although she had no idea how they would look. All she knew was that Silver swore up and down that Sonic destroyed his time, and Amy thought that was total bull. Silver thought the desert was beautiful and made a big deal about people being happy. Silver was also just a kid. Amy figured Silver was a few years younger then she was.

Silver needs some professional help...or maybe a club to the head, she thought. Amy looked at the hammer in her hands. It had not left her hand since she dumped Silver in the town plaza. While she was back there, she had a strong impulse to back Silver's head in with it for even thinking about killing Sonic, and wondered what stopped her. She checked herself. What if Silver wasn't crazy at all, and only THOUGHT Sonic destroyed his time. Amy knew in the deepest of her heart that Sonic would never ever do anything that would destroy the world. So...who was Silver after that would, or in Silver's case did destroy the world?

She continued in this thinking when she came upon a peculiar sight. She had reached the edge of town, and nearby was a train station. Some ways away on the road was a freighter, and it was being loaded with boxes upon boxes. Amy couldn't tell what was in the boxes because they were unmarked. Amy then looked at the loaders and discovered they were robots. "It must be Dr. Kintobor's robots. I wonder what they're loading..." Amy looked around to see if anyone else (more specifically robots) were around. Perhaps she could sneak onto the freighter, and find out what Kintobor is up to.

Before she could convince herself out of it, she started hunting for a box big enough to hide in. It took a few minutes, but she found a box that might fit her if she brought her knees to her chin and wrapped her arms about her legs as if he was doing a somersault. She squeezed herself into the box, picked up the box lid and noiselessly slid it on from the inside. It was a bit more uncomfortable then she would've admitted, but she convinced herself she didn't mind. The loss of light forced her eyes to readjust quickly, and it made her tired. It was fortunate enough to find a box that could fit both her and her hammer in one box. She didn't want to go into a base unarmed.

She waited really quietly, hardly daring to breathe. The minutes dragged and she felt the feeling leave her legs for being in such a cramped position. She was beginning to think twice about her idea (or at least the sneaking in a box part of it), when suddenly, she suddenly felt her box move. In a sudden sense of dizzying dissociation, she felt herself moving somewhere then placed down. It felt like a wacky elevator ride. She soon heard noises that sounded like they were piling boxes on top of her box. She wondered what deity helped her choose a sturdy wooden box to hide in, for she could imagine what might have happened had she chosen a cardboard one. She heard the hissing of a door closing, then the latch clasping noisily and then she found she was now in perfect darkness.

The whole feeling of being boxed in a box barely bigger then she was in complete darkness created a surreal feeling for Amy. She mildly began to wonder if this is what how it feels to be buried alive, and with that thought, she could now very well understand why people with taphephobia are the way they are. With her blood-deficient limbs, she almost felt like she was floating in space and found herself reaching for the wood of the box to convince herself she was still inside the box. It was really trippy.

She felt a lurching forward as the freighter kicked to life, and she heard some of the other boxes jostle from the disturbance. Another jolt as the freighter started forward, then the feeling of constant motion that Amy could associate with riding in a car, although it felt much different then actually sitting in the seat.

There was no going back now. She was heading towards Dr. Kintobor's base, she was sure of it. A fear crept into the back of her mind: what if she was caught? How could she possibly explain hiding in a box? Realistically, there really was no good explanation. Sooner then she expected, this fear diminished, only to be replaced with a currently more demanding fear.

She was afraid she was getting car sick, and there was no hope of curing that one right now.