Violet Dreams

Part II

Chapter 36: Crusades, Part 3

"Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand."

Location: Soleanna

Elise walked quickly and quietly, trying her best to distance herself from the man following her. She wasn't sure what to do at this point, and she knew by now that her plan was falling through. They had been walking for ten minutes now, and despite walking in circles, doing her best to find someone awake at this hour, it was all in vain. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Elise rounded another corner, only to come to the entrance of the great palace. Behind her, Havoc cleared his throat.

"Where exactly are you taking us, Madam?" he questioned, glancing at the artwork on the walls.

"Uhm, nowhere," she replied quickly, turning to walk up the winding staircase to her left. "Almost there, don't worry."

With an annoyed sigh, Havoc followed. The stairs seemed to drag on forever, but finally they levelled out to another hallway. Havoc glanced past the railings down into the main entry way, then turned his attention back to Elise, who had begun fiddling with her necklace. The jackal sighed, then as he neared the stationary queen, he grasped her wrist. With a quiet yelp before her mouth became covered by her captor's hand, Elise fell to her knees due to the man's overwhelming power. Calmly, Havoc spoke into her ear.

"Enough stalling." He sighed. "Now where's the key?"

Pulling the young queen up, he could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. Havoc groaned, forcing himself not to show any mercy. Elise stumbled through the halls, sobbing through the mysterious man's hand as they walked to the treasure hall. Two marble pillars loomed around them as they entered the room, where at the far wall lay a small glass case which held the Twilight Key.

Havoc quickly released his hold on the young Queen, and gracefully jumped across the length of the room. His tail seemed to bounce gently beneath his cloak as he landed, his eyes looking over the small orb greedily. Disposing of the glass case, the jackal grasped the purple crystal sphere, allowing the waves of black and white energy to radiate around his hand. Turning to wave at the queen, Havoc then disappeared in a flash of purple energy, leaving Elise alone in the room crying, realizing how weak she had been.

Location: White Jungle

"Silly, Shadow," Galaxy whispered. "You think I couldn't see through your charade?"

A group of Shadow's men flew through the air, each of them being pinned against trees by a layer of rock. As much as he struggled, he found himself trapped within the coffin of earth, unable to get free. Athana jumped into action from behind the pond, targeting the hidden snipers in the trees. A storm of gunfire echoed throughout the clearing, each of the trained snipers aimed at the small girl flying towards them. A bullet soared through the thick cloak hugging her form, ripping a hole through the fabric. The forest seemed to shake the second the young girl made contact with the first soldier and then a burst of energy erupted forth from the trees. Three splashes of water shot up from the lake, as the soldiers Athana struck plunged to their deaths. Continuing the onslaught, Gaia laughed loudly and punched a soldier, firing him through a tree and into the water, his bones broken from the devastating blow.

"Sorry," Gaia snorted, swinging his arms around to bulldoze a group of soldiers over.

"Sorry this, asshole!" The bear darted his attention upwards, only to receive a prompt boot to the face.

Stomping backwards in pain, the rock manipulating bear howled out while Rouge landed and launched another kick into his abdomen. Due to the lack of focus into the constructs Gaia had created, the rock around Shadow crumbled into sand, allowing him to tackle the laughing Galaxy beside him. The cat simply snickered, his violet eyes staring deep into Shadow's crimson orbs of fury. With a tightened grip, the dark hedgehog pressed the cat against the jungle floor viciously.

"It's about time you're games are stopped, Galaxy," Shadow shouted, earning nothing more but laughter.

Behind the Ultimate, Athana landed behind her accomplice and spun around, throwing two soldiers into the sky. The young girl quickly flipped onto the sturdy bear, and jumped into the air. First she drove a powerful fist into one soldiers throat, shooting him back down to the ground, and then kicked away the other into a tree. Shuddering from the sound of a soldiers back breaking, the bat failed to notice the hulking bear in front of her swing his fist. Chunks of rock shot up from the ground, covering his hand a split second before impacting the bat girl, launching her across the clearing and into the pond in the centre. Water shot upwards, misting over the area. Gaia snickered and walked forwards, but quickly took a step back in horror as Shrike shot through the mist, slamming his fist directly against Gaia's forehead.

"Psycho Crusher!"

A vicious wave of turquoise light shot free from the GUN commanders fist, launching the bear through a funnel of light. Gaia tumbled along the ground, and flipped into the lake, creating a massive splash of water. Using the time to save Rouge, the Commander quickly spun around and dove past Shadow and Galaxy, pulling Rouge up onto dry land.

"Shadow! Is this what you had in mind?" Shrike snarled, his antlers glowing as his pupils dilated.

A hand shot up from the lake, and from the massive body of cold water, Gaia emerged. The rock around his form sunk to the grass as he heaved his body from the water, covering the plant life in mud. The cloak no longer masked the bears body, revealing him to be wearing a pair of white slacks and combat boots. Gaia grunted, his fur dripping water, the rock formerly protecting his body turning to mud.

"So water leaves you vulnerable, huh?" the enraged GUN commander remarked, watching as Athana landed beside her partner.

"What do we do now, boss!" Gaia shouted, on the verge of tears. "They're too strong for us!"

"Just stick to the plan," Galaxy replied, his body beginning to spiral into a vortex of black particles.

Growling, the black hedgehog quickly jumped to his feet and spun around to face the trio of criminals ahead. Once fully materializing, Galaxy smirked, and Rouge screamed. Both Shrike and Shadow twirled around, watching as an arm of purple energy pulled Rouge to the opposite side of the clearing. The young bat kicked her legs, clawing at the hand around her throat. Yellow chaos energy erupted to life in the dark hedgehog's hand, readying a powerful Chaos Spear.

"Now, now Shadow," Galaxy spoke up through laughter. "You wouldn't want to hurt your precious Rouge, would you?"

The light quickly fizzled away, and the dark hero turned his attention back to the Dusk agents, doing his best to ignore the struggles from Rouge.

"Here's what's going to happen," the royal cat shouted. "We're going to leave, and if any of you follow, I'll kill her."

A gun shot rang through the clearing after the cat's sentence, and then Athana screamed in agony, falling to the ground. Blood spilled to the ground from her leg, and she cursed in anger, clutching the bullet wound. Gaia shot a petrified glance at his partner, and then towards Galaxy, who had already begun his retreat.

"Damnit, Gaia! Help me!" She hissed, but the large bear bit his lip and followed after their leader.

As Shrike turned to Shadow to bark orders, the dark hedgehog had already set off after Galaxy. The Commanders knuckles cracked from him clutching his fists, his anger boiling over from the sudden turn of events. Turning his attention over to the wounded criminal, the buck signalled for the remaining soldiers, previously unseen, to storm the clearing. Screaming obscenities at the soldiers, Athana thrashed about at the men who fought to restrain her, and finally two sets of restraints found their way around her ankles and wrists.

Location: Tails Workshop, Mystic Ruins

After traversing the same tunnel for nearly a half hour, the heroes were delighted to have finally found the end. Letting out a sigh of relief as they exited out into the Mystic Ruins, Sonic stretched out his arms to the sky, taking in the fresh air. Beside him, Knuckles walked forth, stretching his arms and basking in the light of the setting sun. Now, their next destination awaited only a couple minutes away, then, they could rest.

"Since I know where we are." Sonic grinned wide, crouching low. "I'll get us there nice n' fast!"

"Wha'-?"

Before he could retaliate, Sonic snatched the Master Emerald guardian's wrist and burst through the thick forestry. Trees whizzed past them as Sonic dashed along the pathway winding through the forest as if he could do it in his sleep. The blue hero side stepped, narrowly avoiding a group of archeologists, whom tumbled to their feet from the intense turbulence left behind from Sonic's speed. Then the massive cliff leading out of the forest came into view, and despite Knuckles pleads for Sonic to slow down, they sped up. Knuckles' entire body jerked downwards from the sheer intensity of the upward motion from Sonic's jump. The wind screamed in their ears during their ascent, only stopping for a split second when they landed. However, before Knuckles could catch his breath, Sonic blasted through the tunnel, bursting through to the train stop in a split second. A blue streak zipped along the hill and up the stair case to Tails Workshop.

"Yo, Tails!" Sonic shouted as he walked through the door. "I got something you should take a look at!"

"Sonic!" The group within shouted, while Amy leaped to her feet and pulled the hero into a hug.

"Where weeere you!" she squealed in delight. "Are you guys okay?"

With a grin, Sonic returned the embrace, which Amy eagerly accepted. Within the living room, Sonic could see everyone had been pretty bored in their absence, as well as lost. With everyone absorbed in the story the red and blue duo had to tell, Sonic found himself having to shush everyone in order to talk. Pulling the small, green orb from his quills.

"We found this after kicking some monster's ass," Sonic chuckled. "Any idea what it is, bud?"

"That's the Twilight Key, Mr. Sonic," Professor Pickle spoke up, setting down one of his sandwiches.

"Doctor Robotnik was talking those when we met him on the Death Egg!" Tails exclaimed, remembering the cryptic speech the Doctor had given.

"What are they for, Mister?" Cream wondered, gazing thoughtfully at the small orb.

Beckoning the group to take a seat, the spots on the sofa were quickly taken, as the Professor moved to stand in the middle of the room, everyone's gaze landing on him in anticipation. Slowly the old man moved over to Sonic, grasping the small orb in both his hands, and then cleared his throat.

"They have many uses, my dear Cream," he finally responded, looking into the beauty of the crystal sphere. "However, legends say they are what keeps the planet's energy in order. These orbs are spread across the planet so that they are hidden away from mankind, as a form of defence mechanism. Interestingly enough, they also possess a consciousness which can literally sense changes in energy balance within the atmosphere. If these signals are detected in any form, the Key unleashes it's consciousness – more simply, its guardian."

Pausing to look at the sphere for a moment, Professor Pickle then set it on the end table. "You said you encountered such a thing, boys?"

Nodding, Knuckles leaned back in the armchair. "Yeah, I've never seen anything like it, either. It's power was incredible! If Sonic and I hadn't worked together, it probably would have crushed us."

"That's strange," the Professor replied quietly, rubbing his chin. "Usually, the Twilight Key chooses a vessel, or in other words someone to inhabit that expresses similar traits to the keys own."

"How many of these are there, Professor?" Tails piped up quickly.

"Seven, I believe."

"And you said they usually have a vessel?"

"Correct." The Professor nodded, while everyone turned their attention to Tails.

"Back on the Death Egg, we went through a room with some people being held in stasis. I didn't pay much attention back then, and assumed them to be dead or machines, but now it kinda make's sense..." Tails rambled, drifting into thought.

Mighty blinked, remembering the strange figures he saw in the tubes of water. "I remember them. You mean to say you think Eggman killed the vessels to get those keys?"

"I'm thinking so," Tails replied, staring at the strange orb. "They must have hidden themselves after Sonic killed that weird monster."

"I'd suggest prioritizing in finding those Keys," Professor Pickle suggested, taking a seat to finish his meal. "They could be the catalyst to the recent events across the world."

"I bet I can locate the others if I lock onto their energy signature!" Tails exclaimed with excitement, and leaped from his spot.

With his tails spinning, the young fox snatched the small gem, completely unfazed by the strange energy Sonic had felt earlier, and ran into his workshop. Everyone looked at each other with perplexed expressions, when a moment later Tails rushed back into the living room with his small computer in hand. Tapping in a few commands into the device, a loading screen popped up onto the computer as a beam of green light scanned over the small orb in the child genius's hand. Before long, the device beeped a couple times, showing a map of the world with three glowing dots.

However, before he could happily make the announcement of his success, a figure appeared in the centre of the room, right in front of Tails. With shocked expressions all around, the mysterious man glanced around curiously, then pulled down his hood to reveal himself to be the same man Sonic and Knuckles had met in the cavern.

"You!" Sonic shouted, jumping from his seat.

"Hello, again." Havoc nodded, paying minimal attention to everyone, instead scouting the room out. "Since you two were gone from the spring when I got back, I assumed you'd left with the Twilight Key. Mind telling me where it is?"

Though, as he turned around to find Tails, a wide grin found its way on the jackal's face. "Oh, you're keeping it safe for me!"

Realizing the man's intentions, the young fox jumped back, but not fast enough. Havoc grabbed hold of Tails wrist, and then spun around to through the young hero into Sonic, who slid back and then shot through the wall. Debris filled the room, and two brothers groaned from outside. Havoc casually stepped through the wreckage, ignoring the shouts from the others as he did so. Once outside, the mysterious jackal jumped up the water wheel, and onto the top of the house. Without much time, the group of heroes gathered around Sonic and Tails, ready to attack Havoc.

"You know, I'd really appreciate help finding the last three keys." He yawned, stretching his arms. "Actually, I think one is on Prison Island!"

"What makes you so sure you'll get away from here with that one, punk?" Amy shouted, her hammer forming in her hands. "Because I'm sick of things going wrong!"

"Looks like your blue friend thinks otherwise," the jackal retorted simply, pointing out the fading trail of blue light. "Ciao!"

With growing rage, Amy bounded from the ground, her hammer poised to strike. Letting out a battle cry, the bubblegum pink hedgehog brought her hammer down at the jackal, whom quickly flipped backwards along the workshop. Eager to help, Mighty quickly jumped up to assist, descending from the sky with a drawn fist. However, Havoc quickly jabbed his palm upwards, catching the armadillo's fist, and then swung the panicked traveller down on Amy. Each of them grunted in pain and shock as they collided then tumbled down the side of the workshop. Before either of them could recover, a portal sucked the man up, leaving them with more inspiration than ever.

"I'd assume Sonic is heading out to Prison Island," Tails spoke up, quickly formulating a plan. "One is in Holoska, and another is in Mazuri. We should get going as fast possible, because there's no telling how long we have before that guy finds them!"

Location: White Jungle

Trees whizzed by like blurred pallets of colour. Shadow darted through the maze of trees, his eyes locked on the fluttering white cloaks ahead, his ears acutely tuned to the sound of Rouge's cry for help. His heart slammed against his chest, and he quickened his pace. He was the one who was supposed to be taken if something went wrong, not her! Shadow cursed at himself in his head and then shot forwards in a burst of light, attempting to catch up. The trees suddenly grew sparse, and the jungle opened up to the beach, where Galaxy and Gaia turned around to face the dark hedgehog.

"Admiral try, hedgehog," Galaxy sneered. "But consider this my victory from our unfinished bout not too long ago!"

A vortex of light shot open behind the two criminals, and they jumped through. Life seemed to move in slow motion while Shadow lunged forwards to grab Rouge's desperate reach. However, life then zipped back into real time, the warp tunnel spun closed, and Shadow slid into the sand. The hedgehog growled angrily, tightening his hands around the small grains of rock beneath him. This wasn't the end, and he was going to get her back no matter what!

Hearing voices, Shadow turned his head back to the jungle, finding both GUN and none other than Sonic the hedgehog. The blue hero waved cheerily, unaware of the situation at hand. Groaning in annoyance, Shadow stood back up, doing his best to tune out his twin's voice.

"Yo, Shadow!" Sonic called, jogging up to greet his comrade. "Feelin' a bit more relaxed than last time?" He joked, punching the lifeforms shoulder gently.

"No." He sneered, turning his attention to Shrike. "What now, Commander?"

Glancing at the buck who had now come between them, Sonic gulped and stepped back, quickly becoming quiet. Although he was often a loud mouth, he knew not to talk too much when GUN was around. Somehow he always ended up being on the wrong side of the law when he did.

"We have our captive, so let's head back." Shrike instructed, beginning to turn back through the jungle.

"But, sir, what about Agent Rouge?"

"You knew the consequences, Soldier," Shrike remarked, staring deeply at the struggling hostage.

Quickly becoming quiet, the hedgehog soldier turned his attention to the ground. The blue hero set his hand on the Ultimate Life Form's shoulder, giving him a thumbs up to reassure his ally. However the crimson washed soldier swept the blue blur's hand away and marched behind GUN, snarling as he did so.

"Gee, I was just tryna' help." Sonic muttered.

However, before the group could recede back into the thick forestry, a man clapping caught their attention, causing them all to spin around. Standing on a rock partially submerged by the ocean, the same Jackal that Sonic had met back in the underground spring shot him a grin.

"You!" Sonic belted, jabbing a finger at the man.

"So we meet again, Sonic," the jackal recalled, and turned his attention towards the others. "Strange, I thought you didn't work with the military?"

"He doesn't," Shrike interjected quickly, walking in front of the hedgehog twins. "Who are you and state your business here!"

"Hmm?" Havoc blinked, leaning forward to gain a better look at the buck. "Who are you?"

"I am Shrike Errgon, Supreme Commander of the Guardian Unit of Nations."

"Quite a long name," Havoc sniggered. "But I'm not here for introductions."

Suddenly the beach began to rumble, and from it, a glowing sphere rose from the ground. Sand cascaded around the fiery barrier around the crystal orb, then a storm of flame shot outwards, causing the group to guard their eyes. The ocean water grew violent from the sudden display of power, then as the heat and light died down, the sphere was nowhere to be found. Havoc grinned, taking a seat on the rock, watching a blazing bird with a long serpentine tail swoop from the sky. Both Sonic and Shadow somersaulted out of the way of, then bounded back to their feet. The creature screeched, rounding back towards the group.

"What is that thing?" Shrike bellowed.

"That used to be Gantz's key," Havoc answered casually, watching the flaming bird soar through the sky. "That's the Twilight Key's consciousness. You see, when the Key's sense a threat, or abnormality, they awaken to protect themselves."

"Well it was obviously you it sensed!" Sonic shouted, jumping out of the way of the gigantic creature.

The flames from the beasts four wings seemed to eat away at everything it touched, burning the trees of the jungle down in just an instant. Screeching once more, the beast swerved through the sky, then landed in front of the group, its four wings pulsing powerfully. Embers danced across the beach, flying through clumps of sand. Sonic and Shadow grunted, knowing full well it was up to them to take down the beast. Sonic smirked, glancing at his companion, and nodded. Rolling his eyes, Shadow jumped forth, throwing a blinding Chaos Spear through the air. The arrow of energy pierced the beast, causing it to emit a heavy roar, spewing flames from its dragon-like maw.

"Keep pelting it with your Chaos Spear's, Shads!" Sonic called out, dashing towards the distracted beast.

Shadow growled, and much to his displeasure complied to the blue hero's instructions. The dark hedgehog fired bolt after bolt of energy at the beast, beginning to create a storm of rapid attacks. The beast continued to screech in pain, two of its wings now moving in front of it to defend itself from the onslaught. However, Sonic slid beneath the beasts lion like legs, and jumped up onto its tail. Golden sparks of energy fluttered around Sonic from his comrades attack, leaving scorch marks wherever they touched.

The beast's tail swayed violently, but Sonic darted up its back, avoiding the fiery wings, and jumped up into the sky. Immediately Shadow ceased his assault, allowing the beast to let its guard down. The blue hero grinned, a sphere of violently spinning chaos energy jumping to life in his palm. Sonic shot downwards in a blur of azure light, while ribbons of white and blue launched upwards into a vortex the instant his attack collided with the beasts cranium. Flames jumped away from the monster, creating a fiery vortex around it in attempts to destroy the problem – in this instance, Sonic. However, Sonic tore through the creatures head, his Sonic Wind exploding into a tornado, knocking the it away.

Sparks exploded outwards from the dying bird-hybrid while it vanished, allowing for the Twilight Key to drop into the sand.

"That wasn't so hard!" Sonic chuckled, bending down to grab the sphere.

However, as his hand wrapped around the smooth edges of the orb, a sudden flash of shockingly cold energy shot through his system. Sonic yelped, falling into the sand, while holding his smouldering hand. Sonic groaned in pain, only jumping to action as Havoc landed in the sand in front of him.

"So you're the one," he said with a serious expression. "Don't die too soon."

Then as fast as he appeared, Havoc disappeared with the flaming sphere. However, this served to be the least of Sonic's worries, as two strong sets of hands wrapped around his biceps. The blue hero yelped in surprise, shooting frantic looks at the two soldiers dragging him through the sand. Further ahead, he could see Shadow being lifted from the ground, and Sonic knew instantly that he was in trouble. The soldiers pulling him finally lifted him up in front of Shrike, who had a smug grin on his face.

"Look's like you won't be getting in the way anymore, hero," he sneered, ordering for the soldiers to commence through the jungle.

"Why you-!" Sonic barked.

A powerful blow struck his head, and his world fell dark. Fading sounds of voices filled his mind, until finally everything became mute.

Location: Capital City

After their most recent defeat, the Chaotix had decided to continue their investigation through the city. Vector, who seemed to be still enraged over the loss of a vital clue stomped ahead of his team mates, heading towards the outskirts of the city. Fluttering silently beside Espio, the young bee sighed heavily, growing bored of the quiet city. Since they encountered that strange beast, the weather had been unusually sunny and humid. The clouds had disappeared near instantaneously, giving way for the brutally hot sun. Each of them seemed to be sweating heavily, but despite the heat, they didn't stop their trek through Capital City.

"So what do you think the President is gonna do about all this, guys?" Charmy wondered, scratching his chin.

"Probably hiding," Espio replied simply, wiping sweat from his head. He was beginning to regret cursing the stormy weather from before. "He was attacked earlier, so his location is probably being kept secret."

"But aren't they gonna do somethin' 'bout these bad guys?" the young bee questioned curiously.

"That'd be GUNs job, Charmy," Vector interjected from ahead, stopping at the edge of a cliff which overlooked the outskirts of Capital City.

Rolling green hills went as far as the eye could see, while highways for vehicles weaved through the fields. The group sighed, and then both Charmy and Vector collapsed to the ground, each of them exhausted. Grabbing at the water pouch hanging from his jacket, Charmy opened it up to quench his thirst, finding nothing but a few drips of water. Sighing, the bee tossed the container to the ground, taking in the sound of the grasshoppers in the background. Espio, on the other hand stood ready at the cliff, scouting out the horizon for anything that could help them, and sure enough something caught his eye.

"Guys I think I found something," he explained, squinting at an object down below. "It looks like a space ship."

Immediately jumping to his feet, Vector pushed Espio to the side, attempting to gain a look at what his comrade had found. Though barely noticeable, the remains of a space shuttle sat quietly at the base of the hill they were on. The crocodile quickly jumped down the side of the cliff, sliding down swiftly to his target. Dust rolled up from his descent, while Charmy assisted Espio by hovering down. Once the trio reached their destination, they were quick to realize the shape of the shuttle.

"It looks like an egg," Charmy exclaimed, absolutely bewildered.

Walking around the vessel, Espio scraped away at the layers of moss growing on the side of their discovery, finding an Eggman insignia present. It wasn't a surprise to Espio, really. Intrigued, the chameleon continued his inspection on the shuttle, making sure it wasn't a trap, but was unable to stop Vector before he ran inside the first opening he found. Espio sighed, and followed his team mates inside. Shafts of sunlight just barely made their way through the openings in the ceiling, illuminating the strange technology within.

"I wonder what this was for?" Vector wondered, gazing at the strange water filled tubes lining the walls of the vessel.

"Eggman was probably trying to send something down before he died," Espio deduced, looking at the blood on the ground.

Suddenly a screen flashed to life on the far wall of the vessel, lighting up the entire ship. The trio gazed at the countdown on the screen curiously, unsure what to make of it. Finally, the screen flashed over to Doctor Robotnik, causing the trio to stiffen.

Was he still alive?

"If you're watching this, the first phase of my plan has been successful," he stated with a wicked smirk. "Though my physical body no longer exists among you, Project Dusk confides within the second shuttle I sent down to Earth."

Each of them watched on in absolute shock and confusion, unable to figure out what to expect. Through the details Sonic had given the gang about the entire battle, Espio remembered Sonic mentioning something about Project Dusk, but he wasn't able to put his finger on it right now. Perhaps it'd come to him later...

The recording fizzled through static briefly. "Now that I'm dead, my goals and ideology are yours to carry out. I worked to create Eggmanland; the ideal place for a utopia of which everyone could live peacefully and equally. Though Sonic may have undoubtedly snuffed out the Death Egg, you will find all my schematics, plans and blueprints aboard the ARK. The vessels, Phase 1 of the team I've code named "Dusk" exist within the same shuttle you are aboard now. I only wish that I could have seen you, my greatest creation learn and grow. Essentially you are my son, and you will be the next, and final, piece of my plan."

Silence rolled through the ship, the trio's eyes becoming wide at the idea of a successor to the old Doctor. Was he really orchestrating things from his death?

"As everything unfolds, you will learn more and find more about my plans for you. Take the vessels to the ARK, and start where I left off, my son. Exterminate that blue pest, and lead the world to an era of peace!"

Then the recording stopped, and the screen once more faded to black. The Chaotix could do nothing but watch the screen in confusion, terror and helplessness. Finally, Espio made the first move, craning his head around to look at the seven containment tubes sitting idle around them. He saw the blood stains across each of them, and then the paths of blood leading out of the shuttle. The ninja reptile turned around and walked to the exit of the vessel, followed by a silent Charmy and Vector.

"So those people terrorizing the planet are connected to the Doctor?" Vector questioned out loud, trying to gather his thoughts. "By the sounds of things, there's something beyond what we've seen. Maybe that man we saw back in Capital is the son Eggman was talking about? He seemed different from the others we've met so far!"

"I bet their base is on the ARK!" Charmy exclaimed. "We should go there and investigate!"

"Charmy makes a good point." Espio nodded, as the trio exited the shuttle. "If they really are taking refuge on the ARK, we'll find something up there. Maybe even the leader behind everything!"

"Now that we have a plan, we just have to get up there!" Vector informed enthusiastically. "Any ideas?"

"I'm sure GUN has some space shuttles hanging around their base that we can borrow," Espio replied with a small grin.

"No one starts a war – or rather, no one in his sense ought to do so – without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by the war." ~ Carl Von Aushseim – GUN Supreme Commander, 1920-1930

To be Continued

Authors Note~ This was one massive chapter! Lots going on, and also the largest chapter to date, coming in at just over 5,000 words! As usual, leave your tips, comments and theories in a review! I'd love to hear you guys speculate on recent events!