The (*) symbol used once signals the start of a new scene while the (*) symbol used TWICE signals the END of a scene.

Chapter 10

*"Amy!" Sonic shouted as his eyes opened again. This time he was not on the ship that he was riding in where he got knocked out cold. He found himself lying on sand. When he groggily sat up, he saw that he was in the middle of raw desert. Sand blew in all directions, whipping at his head tails. Ahead of him, he saw a dark-robed figure standing in the middle of the blowing sand. He noticed the figure as Amy, wearing a kimono. A robe that he had only seen her wear once before. Looking further, Sonic saw two figures slowly approaching Amy. One of them was Ivo, and the other he did not recognize.

"You've come," Amy said. Ivo took off his glasses, squinting through the winding sand.

"Fulfill your mission, Amy, and give me the hedgehog. I have someone waiting for him," Ivo commanded, his voice uncaring and cold.

"I don't think so," Amy replied, and she threw her kimono off, her pink and red armor flashing in the intense sunlight overhead. The figure standing next to Ivo stepped forward.

"Obey him, or die," he ordered. Sonic noticed Ivo shift nervously at that. His face looked…anxious.

"Commander, please, I'll take care of this," Ivo insisted.

"You won't take Sonic. You created me Ivo, and now I will show you that I am capable on my own," Amy insisted, not budging from where she stood. Ivo clenched his hands into fists, which turned white at the knuckles.

"Amy…" But Amy cut him off.

"We're done. I don't care about your lost friend, and your plans to find all of the pieces of meteorite in order to go back to your home planet. You won't hurt Sonic," she demanded.

Ivo eyes blazed in hot anger at Amy, which even took the Commander by surprise. He removed a plasma G.U.N. from a hidden holster.

"Then, you leave me with no choice, Amy," he said, his voice almost sounding regretful and sad. It seemed to pain him when he said her name. Amy jumped up and landed between the two of them, and kicked Ivo in the gut, sending him flying into the sand. The Commander fired off a few rounds of his plasma rifle, but Amy struck it out of his grip and tripped him across the feet, then kicked him away while he was still in midair. Amy then charged toward Ivo, grabbing him by the shirt collar, hoisting him up off his feet, and throwing him as hard as she could up into the air.

The Commander got back up and began to frantically fire his rifle at the maniacal hedgehog, who had obviously gone insane. She made several flips backward, then jumped over the G.U. , spinning a kick at the Commander's head, which stung him enough for him to stagger backward. Diving underneath him, Amy kicked her feet upward against the Commander's back so hard, he crashed against Ivo who had come charging back in. Ivo jumped over the Commander, and the two of them engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the two of them raising the scale higher and higher in a desperate fight to take the other down. Sonic watched in shock as the Commander removed a pocket knife from his pocket, pressing a button which released the sharp blade up, and he charged for the two combatants. Sonic wanted to scream to get Amy's attention, but he was so weak. He couldn't move. His feet couldn't seem to work no matter how hard he tried.

Amy flipped back sending her feet flying into Ivo's face, causing him to fly backwards and land on his feet with one hand planted in the sand. The Commander ran up next to him, staring intently at Amy. But before the two of them could make another move, Amy pulled out a detonator; and pushed the button. Sand exploded up into the air in front of her, so thick that Sonic couldn't see her. Among the sand was a long hammer, an interestingly carved one so that it looked more like a mallet.

Sonic watched Amy jump, catching the hammer in the air and raising it behind her head, and launching herself down towards the Commander's feet, which jumped backward to dodge the move. Sand exploded underneath the mallet, and Amy whirled around and struck Ivo up the chin with the weapon, then twirled the mallet around and shoved the other end into his gut, propelling him backward. Amy turned around to face the Commander, before he was able to strike his knife down upon her, swinging the mallet so hard across the knife, it snapped in half. The next mallet swing crashed against the Commander's face. With both of them stunned, Amy snapped the necklace around her neck, threw it into the sand, and set off another detonator with a flick of her finger, propelling the necklace into the air among a tower of sand.

"No!" Ivo screamed, diving for the necklace and grabbing it in midair. He thrust it into his pocket and charged for Amy again, his face possessing sheer madness. Amy, looking very disappointed, threw herself at Ivo, pinning him down onto the ground and repeatedly striking him in the face. Kicking her off of him, Ivo jumped back up to his feet, and Sonic gasped when he finally noticed the Commander sneaking up behind Amy, a plasma pistol drawn. Amy was now holding her hammer in both hands, posed to get ready for anything. But she never noticed the Commander pull the trigger, and the blue bolt struck her back. She fell facedown into the sand.

"That's the end of that," the Commander sneered, walking up to her and taking the hammer, which was still in Amy's grip.

"No!" Sonic screamed. He could hear Amy's muffled groans from the sand. She was still alive, the pistol had been set to stun. Sonic tried to get up, but his feet felt so weak. Had Amy drugged him back on the ship?

"Grab the blue hedgehog," Ivo ordered the Commander. The Commander, his face littered in bruises and sand, nodded and began walking toward Sonic. He grabbed Sonic by the neck, hoisted him up, and pushed him forward. He watched Ivo hoist a stunned Amy up and lead her away. Where were they going? How long would it take to get there? Sonic wasn't sure what to think. In fact, he almost had no idea what exactly he was seeing during Amy's desperate fight with Ivo and the Commander. Had she decided to throw in the towel with Ivo, and was trying to protect him? If so, why didn't she just decide to not knock Sonic out in the ship, and just confess where her true loyalties lie?

Anger rose in Sonic's dry throat as he thought these things over. He had thought of Amy as a friend, but it turned out that she was just a pawn in Ivo's plans. He thought back to when he was briefly awake inside the ship where he heard Ivo ask Amy if she had Project 60. He had heard of Project 60 several times before, but never knew what exactly what it was. Was it possible that Ivo was talking about him? Was he Project 60? It bothered him very much that he couldn't remember a lot of his past. Maybe he wasn't supposed to know that he was Project 60. Maybe being approached about the Heroes was a set up to make him feel like he was a natural being. Did Ivo know about any of this?

After what felt like too long of a walk, Sonic finally saw two small ships. In the sky behind them was a large cruiser. Much to Sonic's dismay, the Commander shoved him over to one ship while Ivo shoved Amy to the other. They were being separated.

"Amy!" Sonic yelled, but Amy didn't answer, though she looked at him with pity and grief. He tried to resist getting shoved into the backseat in the Commander's ship, but the Commander was able to shove him in. The last thing he remembered was feeling a pinch in his arm, as if someone had injected a needle into it. Then he couldn't see or hear a thing.**

*When Sonic woke up, he saw that he was in a small, cramped cell. He lay on a cot without sheets, and he felt sick, as if he was too high up in the sky. He had a good idea that he was. Across from him, he saw a human sitting on a black stool. He wore dented, red armor. Most of the red looked old and discolored however.

"You're awake," he said. Sonic sat up, feeling his head, which pounded a fearsome headache into his skull. He groaned, putting his hands around his knees.

"Where am I?" He asked. The human flashed a tired smile.

"The Shunned Dealer, Ivo's new, personal cruiser. It has a better detention cell than The Tyrant. The one where you got my warning note, I assume?" The human asked. Realization dawned on Sonic.

"Oh, you must be Mario!" He said. Mario smiled. His short, black moustache was bedraggled and askew.

"Yep, that's me, the super Mario," he replied, his voice sarcastic. Sonic couldn't believe it. He had been sent on more than one mission to save Mario, had failed all those times, and now here he was. Except he didn't think that he would get captured as well.

"You got my warning?" Mario asked again. Sonic looked down at the lumpy mattress he was sitting on.

"Yeah," he replied. Mario nodded.

"When I realized that they were going to take me with them when Miles and his squad attacked the cruiser, I had to leave something behind, hoping that you would find it. I didn't get to finish the note before they came and got me," Mario explained.

"But why were they trying to keep you alive?" Sonic demanded, wanting answers and was hoping to finally get some.

"I think they want to use me as a test subject," Mario admitted.

"Test subject for what?" Sonic asked.**

*Ivo stood with his hands behind his back on the bridge of The Shunned Dealer. His plan, which had been coming together so well, was falling apart just a little bit. His mistake with Amy was all too similar to his mistake with the now-deceased Shadow. They both had minds of free will. They couldn't follow orders without question so easily. They had the same train of thought as even he had. But he was going to take care of that, and, as far as he knew, there was only one way that he could strip that free mind from Amy. To turn her into a faithful servant that would not think of anyone or anything else.

"Approaching the city, sir," one of the pilots reported. Ivo nodded.

"Excellent, land just a few feet away from the city," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," the pilot replied. Ivo smiled to himself, victory was feeling so close now.**

*"Sir?" Chairman Neeko's computer SEGA-64 asked, trying to get his master's attention.

"Hmm?" The Chairman looked up from the small thing he held in his hand.

"The team is requesting to come in," the computer explained. Neeko put the little chest containing something in his pocket and cleared his throat.

"Let them in," he ordered, and the door clicked and slid open behind him. Turning around, he saw W.L, Miles Prower, Luigi, Daisy, a member that was crossed between fox and Echidna named Deem, and young Peach enter.

"You called for us, sir?" Miles asked. The Chairman nodded.

"Yes, we have a situation. Amy has activated her homing beacon. She's in trouble," he said.

"Sonic is with him?" Luigi asked.

"I could assume so, they both left for Chun-Nan to look for Mario," the Chairman guessed. He approached his desk, placing his hand on a scanner. The scanner beeped its approval, and a large hologram of a city, which looked like it was under construction, came up.

"Sonic's known location is here, where Robotnik is constructing his own empire," Neeko informed. Miles folded his small arms. He was a short fox, with a voice that sounded like a child, something that the Chairman found to be a curious thing.

"So how do you propose we break him out?" Miles asked. The Chairman stroked his beard in deep thought.

"We'll need a diversion, perhaps this rescue can also result in taking this empire for ourselves and use it as a military base," Neeko suggested, smiling to himself. Everybody in the room whistled.

"You're talking about invasion, sir," Daisy pointed out. She rarely spoke, so when she did, all eyes were on her. Her blonde hair was cut short and she wore a turquoise jumpsuit.

"I am," Neeko confessed, "but believe me, this would take us one step closer to winning this war."

"So what kind of diversion are you thinking about?" Luigi asked. Neeko changed the angle of the hologram so that they were seeing the back of a building, which seemed to be the only finished one in the city.

"According to our spies, this building is used as a laboratory. The homing beacon came here. The building has no windows, just a front door with two guards looking after the entrance, and they built the building in such a way so that we can't do any stealth work, we'll have to go face-to-face with the enemy," the Chairman admitted.

"Permission to take the Tails squad for an invasion?" Miles asked. The Chairman nodded.

"You have my permission, Miles, but do you have a new plane?" He asked. Miles looked down for a moment.

"I'm…working on one, but I still need more time. I'll have to borrow one from my squad," he explained. The Chairman nodded again.

"Alright, be careful, as for you guys…" He looked at the others, who stood waiting patiently.

"Are you guys up for clearing out the ground forces? Remember, we're going to take the city, not destroy it. I'm sure they will have ships ready to engage, but we need people to take out the ground forces. I will send some additional soldiers to help you," the Chairman said. W.L popped his knuckles, showing his usual wordless approval. Deem silently nodded, along with everyone else.

"One more thing. Deem, you're in charge of rescuing the prisoners," Neeko added.

"Yes, sir," Deem replied, straightening his shoulders in respect.

"Good luck then, you are dismissed," Neeko concluded. Everybody else stood up straight and, except W.L, said, "yes sir!"**

*"I'll be alright big guy, go have the fun without me," W joked weakly. W.L looked down at him with grief. He had hoped that by this time, W would be feeling good enough to go with him on this invasion, but unfortunately, he didn't look any better. W.L swore that if W died, he would hold the Heroes responsible, and whoever the spy in their midst was, was going to find him or herself dangling in the air by W.L's grip. W reached up and patted W.L on his shoulder, which enforced tears to spring from his eyes.

"Go on, I'll be okay," he encouraged. Then, without another word, W closed his eyes. He wasn't dead, just sleeping.**

*"Systems are functioning smoothly, Dr. Robotnik," Rachael, a technical advisor, reported from behind a control panel inside the laboratory. Ivo watched in dark glee at a trapped Sonic inside a glass dome. The dome was connected to a roboticizer, an old invention that he had found in an underground storage room, and he intended to finally use it. Behind him stood Silver, a hedgehog that had teleported himself from the distant future in an attempt to destroy Sonic, whom he believed was the cause of the trouble and chaos going on in his time.

"Excellent," Ivo said, looking at the glass dome next to Sonic, which contained Amy. Seeing her look so helpless and so sad almost made Ivo choke up. He had created Amy to be based after his human friend Amy, whom he was separated from so long ago. He was surprised at how similar the hedgehog's personality was compared to his true friend's. Next to Amy, in a third dome, was Mario. Ivo looked at the broken necklace with the piece of meteorite on the palm of his hand, which he noticed, looked damp. He shut his eyes tightly, repeating in his mind that the deed must be done.

"You will regret this, egghead," Sonic muttered. Ivo opened his eyes, a smile spreading across his face.

"Look, if you're going to give me such a ridiculous nickname, call me eggman," he joked, though he had no intention of others calling him that. He would hurt anybody who did.

"We're beginning the test now," he demanded, switching his gaze on Rachael.

"Yes, sir," Rachael replied, and she got to work. A humming sound protruded from the roboticizer with the tubes attached. Irritatingly, Ivo's wrist com beeped.

"Yes?" Ivo asked into it.

"Robotnik, we've got company," the Commander replied. Ivo groaned. This was not a good time for this.

"Ready all troops, and, get all our slaves into the emergency flight ships. We can't risk to lose them, they still have use for us," Ivo ordered. The Commander acknowledged and Ivo looked at Sonic again. He knew he had to get the prisoners roboticized quickly and rushed out of here.**

*Deem actually had second thoughts before jumping out of the cargo hold of Miles' borrowed ship. He thought of his wife Stella and his ill son Maurice. If he didn't make it out of this alive, there was no one to care for them. At the same time, he knew that this was important. For now, his family was safe. If he ditched the mission, which he was tempted to do, he would be a deserter and a coward. His reputation would be crippled from then on.

He let out a long sigh, then jumped from the back of Miles' borrowed ship. He grabbed his knees and flipped in the air, landing on the flat roof of the laboratory. G.U.N. soldiers were already firing at him, lasers whizzing around him, forcing him to duck and dodge. Pulling out a laser cutter, he fired a red laser at the roof, which burned through, forming a hole in the roof, which was his ticket in. Looking away from the forming hole, he saw W.L, Daisy, and Luigi engage with the G.U.N. soldiers, with additional military supporting them from behind. The sky was already littered with fighter ships, both belonging to Miles' squad and Commander Towers', underneath a darkening sky. Smoothing his caramel-colored fur on his head back, he turned his attention back to cutting the hole in the roof. Finally, the hole was completely formed, and the circle fell inward, allowing Deem to jump in.**

*"Robotnik, sir, there's an intruder in the building!" A G.U.N. soldier shrieked through Ivo's wrist com. Ivo growled to himself. He was getting very impatient. The Heroes had made a good move attacking his growing empire. He should've seen this coming, after all he held three of their fellow rebels.

"Raise the power! Get that roboticizer to hurry up! And seal the door!" Ivo ordered Rachael. He looked at the tubes attached to the glass domes, where yellow, crackling energy was beginning to grow, ready to ambush the prisoners with one violent blast. Amy looked completely hopeless. Tears streamed down her eyes and formed a puddle on the floor of the dome underneath her feet. Sonic looked at Amy with an interestingly resentful look.

Well then, at least the hedgehog will be transformed with powerful hatred; it will make him a strong ally, Ivo thought. Just then, Ivo saw something cutting around the door. The guards at the door jumped to action, backing away and aiming their G.U.N.s at the door. A laser cutter was obviously trying to get it open. Ivo was not much for combat, but at times, he had to admit, he was a good shot. Pulling out his own plasma pistol, he aimed it at the door, preparing himself for action. Next to him, Silver posed himself.

"Hurry, Rachael!" Ivo roared. The crackling energy was vibrating now, readying itself to fire off a beam upon the prisoners.

"Hold your positions…" Ivo ordered the guards, who were growing more and more restless as the cutter was finishing its job.

"On my mark…" he continued, steadying himself on one knee, his pistol aimed straight for the door now. He realized, interestingly, that his hands were trembling. He forced them still. Now was not the time to get worried. Finally, the cutter made its round, finding its way to its starting point, and the chunk of door came crashing down.

"Now!" Ivo cried out, and his and the soldiers' G.U.N.s opened fire at the large hole in the door. They couldn't see the intruder because of a thick wall of smoke on the other side. After a couple rounds of fire on the gap, Ivo raised his hand to stop the soldiers' constant fire. The soldiers stopped and stared intently, trying to see through the smoke. Silver stood silently behind him. The only sounds were the battle outside, and the energy in the tubes, so close to firing down on the prisoners now that Ivo could feel the intense heat. After a moment of awkward silence, Ivo got up on his feet.

"One of you go and check," Ivo ordered.

"Um, sir?" One of the soldiers asked, Ivo knowing what he was trying to get at.

"Just do as I say!" Ivo insisted. One soldier finally got up the nerve to check. But as he inched close enough, the side of an electric staff struck the soldier's chest. The man grunted and crumpled to the floor. Smoke trailed off his chest. The remaining soldiers got ready again and aimed, Ivo got on one knee with his pistol aimed again. Through the smoke stepped forward an agent that was a cross between fox and Echidna. In one hand, he held an electric staff. Red, crackling energy hummed at both sides.

"Alright, so who wants to be first?" The Hero asked.**

NOTES: Deem was a new character to add a little more tension. There are too many characters here that we already know from pre-existing franchises. Deem was such a mystery even to me because I wasn't sure what kind of purpose he was supposed to serve (yet).