It didn't take us very long to get from where we were in the Rusty Ruins to the border of the Diamond Dust Zone, and the change in climate hit us even sooner. I'm not a big fan of the cold, but it doesn't particularly bother me, either. After all, I'd been through some rather thorough and, at times, hellish training meant to toughen me up for most situations and environments. I knew that Rouge had been subjected to some regimen for a similar purpose, but her...hygienic habits, let's just say, make it more difficult for her to bear the chill. I would've had a touch more sympathy for her if it wasn't her fault she was shivering a bit at the moment.

"I should've worn the other suit," I heard her lament, only to hum and fold her arms, "but then the other spots on the island would've been too hot in it."

I sighed and gave her a look. "Perhaps if you didn't shave the majority of your fur, you'd be handling the elements better."

"You don't get it, Ace," she said as she put her hands on her hips. "You might be fine letting that suit press and ruffle your feathers, but it's tougher for a lady."

"My suit is made specifically for my body type and plumage, so it wouldn't be difficult for G.U.N. to design you one," I pointed out, "and that aside, I've met plenty of female Animals that wear clothes and keep most of their coats intact."

"Ugh, whatever." She peered over at Tiara, who was holding onto the scepter as the crystal glowed a warm orange. "She's dressed even less for this than I am, but that lovely euclase-tipped staff she's got is keeping her nice and toasty."

The bandicoot nodded affirmatively. "I thought we might have to detour back to the camp, but I don't have to with this. As long as I keep it close, I won't start shivering." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "It's weird, you know? I thought it'd be a lot harder to use this thing, but it's...kinda natural? I'm not sure how to put it."

There was some sort of energy involved, though what exactly wasn't information I was privy to at the time. That it could bend to the will of the user was similar to when Prower wielded Chaos Energy, but it didn't feel the same. Yes, somewhere along the way, I gained the ability to sense those sorts of things, although it isn't as refined as the fox's. I had to be quite close to the source in order to pick it up, and even then, I had to concentrate. Naturally, more power made that easier, and whatever that gem was supposed to be, it held a lot.

I had to commend the three Flickies that had stuck with us thus far in spite of everything. They were determined to guide us to the place where the "fire bird" lived and make sure that their other friend was okay. A bit of aerial scouting on my part confirmed that they were leading us on the most direct route to Volcano Valley, so it shouldn't take too long to get there. As for combat, they couldn't fight, but they had been wise enough to seek cover when danger presented itself, which made it less troublesome for the rest of us. I have to say, though, that I wasn't the biggest fan of having three more chattering voices as part of our company, made all the more awkward by the fact that I was the only one that could fully understand them.

"It would be a lot faster if we could just fly straight there," I heard the blue one say.

"That one female can't fly, though," the pink one replied, "we have to make sure she can get through the cold place okay."

"Can we stop and eat soon? I'm hungry," mumbled the green one.

I did my best to ignore them as we went through a passage that brought us out of a southwestern exit in the cliffs. While Rouge and I took to the air, the Flickies stayed close to Tiara as she slid down a hill and Rolled through an icy loop. Once she came to a stop, the bandicoot scaled some makeshift steps to the edge of a high outcropping, where our smaller companions directed us to descend. My partner lent the other lady a hand in that endeavor, and once we reached the bottom, we continued southeast to a veritable river of slush and snow.

After crossing over, we encountered a few more of those strange minions, their suits modified to help them blend in with the current surroundings. Not that it did them much good when they weren't near such sources, and I didn't give them the chance to seek cover. I was instantly on one of them, ramming him to the ground and then backing off to fire a Shocking Blast. Rouge dropped in on the second one, catching him with the heel of one of her boots just as he turned around. Tiara took care of the third one with a wave of her new weapon, briefly changing the crystal from orange to blue and freezing the crony from the shoulders down. A quick whack on the head was enough to put him out for the moment, leaving us free to continue into the next area.

Once we came to a more open space, I split away from the girls to check out a crack in the wall further ahead, which was broken down with an Aerial Spin Dash. I came up with nothing, and I learned that it was the same for my companions, who'd found a shortcut of sorts to the river we'd crossed earlier. With nowhere else to go, Rouge gave Tiara a lift as they followed me and landed on a cliff several meters up. The bandicoot Rolled down the slope that was close by and found herself bouncing like a pinball as she kept going down a long and winding track, while I watched from above with some amusement. When she came to a stop, we went down more steps to a second, wider river that was coming from further up the mountain. We went along the bank to another dead-end, forcing us to once again ascend to where we needed to go, at least according to the Flickies.

A short jog through a narrow cave opening brought us into a loop and sent us down a sharp turn, giving us barely enough time to skid to a stop before falling into more fresh powder. A few more mysterious troopers attempted to ambush us on the way up the next stretch, but I spotted them before they got the chance. I rushed ahead to the one on the highest position, slamming it into the ground and punching the sternum. There was no time to savor the take-down when more blaster fire came my way, revealing two more minions up on the ridge with me. I flew for but an instance before landing on an ice patch, nearly falling over as I slid right into one of the grunts and hit him with a Rolling Jump. The other took cover behind the nearby corner of a cliff, trying to take a few potshots at me, only to leave himself open to a Screw Kick from my partner. I allowed myself a subtle smirk as I beheld the others they'd gone through while catching up with me, making sure to not leave a single one conscious and armed.

"How many of these guys are there?" I heard Tiara ask with some exasperation, "and how'd they manage to hide from us until now?"

Rouge shrugged. "Whoever this Al guy is, he's got his folks whipped into shape. Must have something they like if he's managed to get this much help."

"Perhaps promises of power," I surmised, which got me a look from the other two. I rolled my eyes and held up a talon. "We've already determined that he's searching for the artifact my ancestors left behind along with the gem it holds, which may or may not be one of the Cursed Corundums. People are taken in by power, and the prospect of gaining it, even vicariously, is enough to stir the greedy hearts of many."

Tiara blinked and cast a glance at Rouge. "Does he always get philosophical like this?"

"I mean, he's not wrong, hun," the bat remarked nonchalantly, "but personally, if someone were to bribe me, I'd react better if they offered jewels."

I let out a sigh, momentarily focusing on the wisps of steam coming from my beak as I did. "And the Hooligans said they were paid handsomely, so it's not as though our mysterious adversary is hurting for funding. I suppose that's another reason to put a stop to whatever schemes he has in store."

"Oh man, I really should've brought a windbreaker or something," I mumbled as the chilly air cut through my safari gear.

That red Flicky had insisted that what I was wearing would be good enough to get through Diamond Dust Zone, but I was starting to have serious doubts. Where I came from, the weather only rarely got intense, and the temperatures stayed pretty fair year-round. In short, I wasn't used to the cold, and part of me was thankful that there wasn't anyone else here to judge me aside from the Flicky. That wasn't entirely true, though; I could tell that he was judging me with those eyes of his, and it clearly wasn't anything flattering.

All that aside, we'd made some pretty good progress as far as making our way to Volcano Valley. Heading straight north from the sanctuary, we'd soon hit where the jungle meets the snowfields. After guiding me across a couple of the more shallow patches of powder, the Flicky guided me over to an opening in the icy cliffs. I was immediately relieved to find that while it was still pretty cold inside the cavern, it was more bearable than being out in the open. The way the light refracted blue and purple hues off of the rocks and frost was very pretty, too, though I wasn't here to sight-see.

First things first, the Flicky flew to the top of a rocky wall which, luckily for me, had enough cracks and handholds for me to climb with. After I got to the top and caught my breath, I went after the bird as the ground started sloping down. One of those weird loops that seemed to be everywhere was in the way, and since I wasn't fast like some people, I had to jump from one side to the other. That wasn't the smartest thing to do, because I slipped the moment I landed, yelling as I slid and tumbled down the hill. I managed to stop myself just a meter away from falling into a deep pit full of ice and slush, feeling and hearing my heart pounding in my ears.

"That was close," I breathed out heavily.

I picked myself up and dusted the snow off my clothes, then continued down the passage the Flicky was leading me. Another chasm awaited me not too far ahead, and I watched my step as I sidled against the cave wall to bypass it. The path thankfully widened after that, bringing us both to some solid bits of rock in a pond of more slush. As carefully as I could manage, I leapt between each stepping stone, and I did it without tripping or falling...more than a couple times. At least I didn't end up taking a dip.

However, after a bit more hiking and climbing through the cave, that's when my little pal and I ran into trouble. I'll admit that I thought Tiara's story about seeing people in full getup prowling around was kinda weird, as did a lot of the other people at camp. But now there were three of them a couple dozen meters off to one side down another corridor, exactly like how she'd described them and clearly packing heat. And even more unfortunately for me, there was nothing for me to take cover behind, so it wasn't long before they noticed me.

"Hey! There's a guy over there!" one of them shouted, pointing at me with his gun.

"It looks like someone from the sanctuary," mused another, "what do we do with him?"

"Bring him in! The boss said to take them alive if we caught them snooping around!" the third one answered for them, "unless it's those other three we're supposed to be looking out for, but he's not one of them!"

I started to sweat, and I would've been frozen in place if the Flicky hadn't been cheeping frantically at me. That snapped me out of my fear and got my legs to move, heading down the nearest passage as fast as I could. I almost wiped out again as I jumped from one side of a loop to the other, then scrambled up a bit of snow to a long straightaway. Even with the head start, I saw that those guys were starting to gain on me, and unless I found a way to lose them fast, they'd catch me.

My flicky friend flew out far in front of me and made a bobbing motion in the air, as though telling me to get ready to jump. I was glad he warned me, because there were more of those ice floes than before, and now on top of freezing water instead of slush. I pictured those platforming games I used to play a lot more, back in the comfort of the city, and did my best to emulate them. Somehow, I managed to make it over to the other side without falling in or taking too much time between leaps. I would've been relieved, but there was no time to celebrate with those goons still on my tail.

I thought that maybe they would've been slowed down by what I went through, but my hopes were dashed once they fired up thrusters in their boots. Panicking, I did my best to climb up the rather high wall in front of me, since there wasn't anywhere else to run to. The sound of their jets got closer and closer, and as I neared the top, I saw one of them land in front of me, a blaster leveled at my face. The Flicky flew in front of his visor to block it, taking the grunt's attention away from me just long enough for me to shove him down and run past. The other two opened fire at me, and I felt my fur stand on end as I felt energy bolts whiz by and nearly hit me. I knew they weren't trying to kill me, but I still didn't want to get hit!

Unfortunately for me, I didn't get very far before one of them managed to catch me in the back of my right leg. The shot burned for a split second, then changed to tingling as my leg went numb, making me fall to my hands and knees. I heard the other two land behind me, and after a moment, I was forced to stand again as my arms were restrained. The red bird again tried coming to my rescue, but he was zapped by the third minion, who caught him to make sure he couldn't get free.

"Alright, buddy," one of the two behind me said, "you're coming with us, and don't try anything funny."

"And if you're worried about what's gonna happen, relax," the other added, "you'll be walking along with us and cracking jokes before you know it. Boss Al has a way of making the more, eh, hesitant folks come around."

I'd seen too many movies and played too many games to know where this was going. They were going to make me one of them, willingly or not. Although, I had to admit, this sounded strangely familiar for some reason.

Right when it hit me what I was reminded of, the guy in front of me was struck by a thin blue energy ray with a white core and slumped to the ground, releasing the Flicky. Said ray was attached to the end of what appeared to be a black 10mm firearm wielded by a mysterious figure. I couldn't guess the species, but it was a good bit taller than myself and the others with me. This person was decked out in a wholly military green jumpsuit with a matching helmet sporting an opaque purple face shield. If it had a tail, then it was most likely tucked away somewhere in there. I don't like to make assumptions, but...given the way the clothing conformed to the figure, I guessed that it was female.

Fortunately, I wasn't wrong in my judgment, at least this time.

"Hold it right there, NBA cronies!" came a light yet authoritative mezzo-soprano that was being passed through some kind of filter.

I was...really confused. Did she mean that one basketball league in the United States? No, no, I'm just being weird, I thought.

"Who the hell is this broad!?" one of the goons holding me yelled as he threw me aside.

"I dunno, but we're rumbled. She knows who we're with!" the other exclaimed, "that means we–"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before he was bonked on the head by that same beam from before, and with that one blow, he was out like a light. The remaining lackey fired his blaster at her, but to his shock and mine, the unknown lady in green maneuvered the ray to cancel out the shots! She went into a Spin Dash while he was still gawking and sent him careening down where we'd come from, a splash signifying where he ended up. The woman holstered her strange firearm and came over to me, helping me up.

"Are you alright, Mr. Barry?" she asked gently.

That threw me for a loop, and it must've shown because I saw her posture shift a bit. "H-how do you know my name?"

"Oh." There was a moment where she struggled for an answer. "I'm here to investigate what's been going on, and one of the folks at the sanctuary told me you left suddenly."

I wasn't entirely convinced by her answer, though it wasn't implausible. Someone could've seen me leave without me knowing it, but did G.U.N. really send another agent to help out those other two? Not that I wasn't grateful for her saving me; I didn't want to think about what would've happened if she hadn't come along. Still, I couldn't help but be a little cautious.

"You seem to know who these guys are," I mentioned as I gestured to the downed troopers.

The lady mostly in green nodded. "They're here for the Crown of Delusion, and if they've already ventured this far, I fear I can no longer stop them from reaching it." She clenched a fist. "I can still prevent them from exploiting its power, though. Seems like it's not yet too late to keep that from happening..."

The what now? That sounded like some artifact from an RPG I played once, or maybe I'm confusing it with something else. It sounded important, whatever it was, and she certainly seemed to be taking this seriously.

"Anyway, we need to get you back to the sanctuary," she segued, only for the Flicky to fly in front of her and chirp demandingly. I was a little amused, as it seemed to catch her off guard. "What do you mean he has to come along to see the fire bird?"

I blinked and cleared out my ears. "Wait, you can understand Flickies?"

"Oh, right." She and the little bird came over to me, and she gestured for me to hold out my hand. I did so and she fished into her suit before dropping what looked like a tiny pair of black wireless earbuds into my palm. "Put these in and you'll be able to hear them too."

Considering what she was able to do to three guys pretty easily, I decided not to argue. I placed the strange earbuds in, finding them oddly snug and secure in my canals, but at least they were soft too. Once I was sure they wouldn't fall further in or anything like that, I turned to the Flicky and smiled sheepishly.

"Uh, could you say something so I can see if they work?" I asked him.

The small bird tilted his head, but then shrugged. "Something."

"Way to take it literally," I muttered aloud.

"Wait, what!?" the Flicky squawked in surprise, "you really can understand me now!? Awesome!" He flew over to the third in our unlikely group. "But yeah, as I was saying, lady, I brought this guy along because I needed someone's help, and from what I remember, he's pretty decent with caves. Also, if my hunch is right, which it almost always is, my friends and his friends will run into us when we go meet the fire bird."

That was quite a lot to take in at once, though I did appreciate the one compliment about my caving capabilities. From what I could gather, the Flicky knew some other Flickies that were with supposed friends of mine. My mind went to those two G.U.N. agents and Tiara, whom I'd last seen venturing out to Green Grove to look into things. He'd been leading me towards Volcano Valley, where some "fire bird" lives, and the others were on their way there. If they were investigating the whole island, it made sense that they'd go there at some point.

"Besides," the bird continued, "if those weirdos attack the Animal camp, he'll be safer with them and us than he would be there."

The lady folded her arms and hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose you're right, and in that case, we have to hurry."

Well, it seemed that I was going forward like I'd originally been, plus one party member. I still wasn't sure I could trust whoever this woman was, but she'd at least bailed me and the little guy out of a jam.

"So, you seem to know my name," I said awkwardly, "what can I call you?"

The Flicky butted in and puffed out his chest. "You can call me Red!"

"I was asking her..."

The lady giggled at our little interaction. "I go by 'Gunner Green' to keep a low profile. Just Green is fine."

Red and Green, huh? Made me wonder when Blue would come along, hehe...lame joke, I know.

Prower chose that moment to put a pause on my story, some other concern in those eyes of his.

"So, putting that aside, which I have my own questions for," he started, holding up one of his index fingers, "there are a few things I've been wondering, like your family's apparent inherent ability to summon explosives. Your father could do it and so can Bean...can you?"

It wasn't what I had expected considering the serious look on his face. That being said, it was a valid question, and one I hadn't honestly given a lot of prior thought.

"Theoretically, I suppose," I answered with a shrug, "but I'm not keen on being more like either of them, the former especially."

"I see." The fox's brow furrowed as he digested my response. "I don't want to make assumptions, but you've had some conflicting feelings about your father, from what I've seen."

Prower was rather perceptive of people, even if social matters were far from the top of his interests list. And he wasn't wrong; there were many emotions regarding my father that were at odds with each other. Respect for helping me grow as resilient as I am, fear for what would have happened if he truly won, anger at how he treated me whenever I didn't live up to his expectations. Not to mention love for bringing me into this world, yet hate for how cruel he could be to anyone, including his own progeny. I cursed myself for even thinking of showing weakness to my rival, but the eyes are the window to the soul, as one saying goes.

"What's your point?" I inquired irritably, partly covering up my mixture of emotions.

Prower's face turned sympathetic. "I didn't know what to make of you thanking me back on Angel Island. Actually, I didn't even know your father and Dr. Fukurokov had died until you told me."

"What?" I let the question slip out. Looking over to those capri eyes, and seeing that fox's face, I knew he was being genuine.

Without prompting, Prower related to me his personal experience of the final battle against my father. I wasn't surprised that a bleeding heart like him would give the man a chance, even as everything fell apart around him. We had confirmed that nothing was found of him or the doctor, however, meaning they'd gone down with the station. Prower couldn't say whether he was willing or not, but since I knew him better...

"He most likely took too long to escape," I concluded, "because I don't want to believe it was bad luck."

Prower's expression turned sympathetic. "Are you really glad that your father's gone?"

I didn't appreciate how he was trying to play therapist. At the same time, I knew he wouldn't let it be until he got some sort of answer.

"I'm relieved to be free of his tyranny," I responded honestly, folding my arms and bowing my head, "but I would be lying if I said that there wasn't a small part of me that misses him. After all, if not for him, I wouldn't have even been born. That, and...he wasn't terrible all the time."

Thankfully, Prower had enough tact to drop that part of the conversation after that. He visibly searched for something to say before he finally came up with a topic to steer the discussion in another direction.

"So, the Crown of Delusion," he carried on, seemingly on the same page as myself as far as changing the subject, "is that the thing your ancestor had made?"

Quick on the uptake, as usual. "I didn't know that was its name at the time, but yes. Before we get to that, though, let's continue where we left off with my entourage."

My group exited southeast from the passage we'd been taking, kept warm by the proximity of Tiara's scepter. Almost immediately, we were beset by a pair of enforcers belonging to that group we'd continuously run into. Rouge and I made short work of them with our respective techniques, only for a third one to fire upon us from further down. He didn't manage to hit any of us, and a swift smack on the head from the bandicoot was enough to knock him out. Before she could celebrate, a fourth soldier dove from behind a corner and fired a spread burst of energy shots, which she narrowly managed to avoid. A swift Diving Spin Attack was enough to take care of him, finally dealing with that wave of enemy forces.

Once we were past them, we followed the Flicky trio up to a cliff side that wound down in almost the opposite direction we'd originally come from. It soon turned back to the southeast, briefly taking us underground and through a pair of loops that deposited us onto an icy slope. Yet more of those goons were present, but since we had the element of surprise, it's not worth mentioning how easy they were to take out. With them washed up, we kept moving and crossed yet another of those snowy rivers running through the Zone. Past that, there was a cliff that had several outcroppings, giving Tiara some convenience as far as climbing it.

After scaling it, the foothills of Volcano Valley were fast approaching, perhaps only a couple kilometers away at this point. While I still think it would've taken much less time to just fly here, putting aside our bandicoot companion's inability, I was still impressed by how quickly the Flickies had gotten us here. Not the safest path, to be certain, but there had been one made in mind for those that couldn't soar through the air.

"Not much further now, Ace," I heard Rouge say as she came up beside me.

"Yeah, hopefully we get there before the bad guys do," remarked the pink Flicky, "and I hope Red's okay, too."

The blue one waved a wing as if to assuage her worries. "I'm sure he's fine. We'll probably see him once we get to the hot place."

"And then we'll get to meet the fire bird we've been hearing so much about," I finished, stretching my arms above my head, "well then, let's get going, shall we?"

While the rest of my group was eager to move on, I noticed Tiara's expression suddenly shifted to one of alarm. Before she could even say anything, I whirled around to see a beige shape coming from above right towards my position. I had just enough time to get out of the way, but was still hit with a big splash of snow from the resulting impact. Everyone dusted the powder off of themselves, including the newcomer, which revealed itself to be none other than Bark the Polar Bear. Of course, I thought, since we'd already faced off against both Fang and Bean, it made sense that we would run into the third member of the Hooligans alone at some point.

"You know, I'm kind of surprised you're running around with Fang now, big bear," Rouge said, addressing Bark with a note of familiarity and amusement, "did playing the nice guy not work out?"

The ursine turned his eyes away as he let out a loud puff through his nose. You wouldn't know from appearance alone, but Bark had the shortest rap sheet of the three Hooligans. Unlike the other two, it wasn't until he became a part of their group that his reputation as a wanted criminal started to seriously take off. Even then, whenever news of their exploits came up, he was usually just an accessory to whatever heist or scheme they were pulling off. More interesting, of course, was Rouge's apparent affiliation with them, which she was still hesitant to talk about at the moment. I'd have to grill her about that at some point before this was all over.

True to his reputation as a silent brawler, Bark soon properly responded with actions instead of words. He was deceptively fast for his size, so much so that I barely had time to bring my arms up as he threw a straight punch at me. I grimaced as dull pain shot through my limbs even with the protection of my suit, nearly falling over as I was sent sliding back several meters through the snow. Rouge flew in with a Screw Kick, but Bark actually snagged her out of her spin and threw her off to the side, then closed in on me once again. Tiara placed herself between him and me, swinging her weapon and throwing a fireball his way. Bark bundled up a large volume of snow between his burly arms and chucked it in front of the projectile, smirking as it hissed and was snuffed out.

Tiara yelped when he closed the distance and swept her up into a grapple, planting her into the snow and once again focusing on me. I tossed out an energy blade, which did cause Bark to move out of the way rather than try to catch it, giving me more than enough time to take to the air. He dug into the ground and hurled large chunks of frozen earth at me while I fluttered above. After four of them nearly knocked me down, I sent a Shocking Blast his way, which he moved to avoid as I redirected myself behind him in a flash. Unable to dodge both attacks, Bark grunted and fell forward onto all fours as I slammed into him with an Aerial Spin Dash. While it was a clean hit and clearly caused more than a little hurt, the polar bear was tough and got up before long.

Rouge got back at him for his earlier stunt by successfully landing a flying kick this time, causing his head to whip back from the force. He paused and then brought it forward again, making my partner cry out in pain as he gave her a rather firm headbutt. As she fell back, Tiara came in once again and aimed to bring the scepter down on Bark's head, which he stopped just before it could. He received an unpleasant surprise as the gem at the end changed to electric yellow and shocked him with a bolt, forcing him to throw the bandicoot clear. I didn't let him get a break, firing off a Shocking Blast to keep him on his toes as I went in for another Dash. I heard him growl as I slammed into his chest, but he grabbed onto me before I could retreat, and proceeded to dunk my curled up form like a basketball. Even with the snow and my suit helping to mitigate damage, I felt my whole being ache a bit at such an impact; it almost reminded me of what Prower did the last time we fought.

The other two covered me as I got back up, cradling my head while I slashed at Bark with another blade. Tiara melted some of the powder around him in anticipation of him dodging, and while it didn't cause him to trip, the bear was off balance for at least a moment once he made a move. This allowed Rouge to get in a triple kick combo, and combined with the slippery ground, that knocked the big guy off his feet. That left him in the perfect position for me to finally land a Shocking Blast, which also got more than a cursory response out of him. But even after taking what normally knocked out most Animals I used it against, Bark shook himself off, shattered the ice around him, and gritted his teeth as he just got up yet again. Credit where credit is due, his endurance was certainly nothing to sneeze at, but dealing with it was annoying.

"Man, this guy's just tanking everything," Tiara complained, glancing over at Rouge, "if you know anything that might help against this guy, that'd be nice!"

The bat clenched her fists. "All we can really do is get stuck in and wear him down. He seems tougher than the last time I saw him too."

I would've been more concerned at that answer if a timely intervention hadn't come in the form of Fang coming in to give Bark an easy out. The polar bear wiped his muzzle, puffed out through his nose, then leapt into one of the open sidecars of the hoverbike as it came in for a pass. I motioned for my comrades to stand down, keeping a close eye on where the jerboa's craft was going until it was out of sight. It disappeared just as it was starting to come down, not too far away from the base of the mountain that marked our next destination. It wasn't too big of a stretch to conclude that the base of our adversaries had to be somewhere in or around that region.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," the bandicoot said to break the silence, waving her scepter a little, "I was kinda hoping to get to use this thing more."

"Get some practice in before the next battle, hun," Rouge advised her, "now that the Hooligans know they can't beat us on their own, they'll be coming at us all at once next time."

A probable scenario, and rather level-headed coming from my partner. Well, whatever they threw at us, I was certain that we could handle it. Al, though, I had no idea what he was capable of then.

"Well, I still feel strongly that you should head back, but you are in it pretty deep now, Barry," Green remarked in a soft voice as we casually trudged past more goons she'd dropped.

She was right. If there were people after folks like me, I was safer with her and those G.U.N. agents that came earlier. I actually already felt better having her with me, now that I'd seen what she could do.

"Hey, cave guy," Red said as he flew on a little further ahead and then stopped at a section of the wall, "I see something strange here. Come take a look."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that as my moniker, but I did as the Flicky directed. With the way the light refracted around the passage, it was hard to tell just from a glance what he was pointing out to me. Looking further ahead, though, all the knowledge I had about caverns and the like was thrown into doubt.

The region we'd been traveling through came to an abrupt end at one particular portion, the frost-studded bedrock replaced by what appeared to be sandstone. It was much wider here than most other parts had been, though it began to narrow again near the far end. It was icy again, but not for much further before it changed to a more holey and magmatic composition. On one hand, this meant that Volcano Valley was just around the corner, which was a relief. But on the other hand...

"What is this?" I marveled, "a glacial tube with a random eolian chamber that somehow holds up? Bedrock, sandstone, and basalt in such a combination...I-I've never seen this before."

Red hummed with concern. "You know what's even weirder? I've been down this passage a ton of times, and this whatever-you-said chamber was not here yesterday, or even earlier today."

"But that's impossible!" I all but stammered as I went into "geek mode" as my friends called it, "this sort of formation doesn't just show up out of nowhere, much less between two other very different kinds! It takes thousands to millions of years of wind-based erosion to create an eolian chamber this deep, and you only see that in places like deserts!"

Green stopped next to me to take a look for herself, running one glove over the sandstone. "It's not impossible if one has the power of the Crown of Delusion." She balled her hand into a fist and struck the surface, making several cracks. "Shit...that means the NBA already has it."

"Then we better tell Ace and them about this! They've been trying to figure out what those guys have been up to!"

Looking back, I probably should've kept my mouth shut then, because just as I was about to run off, I felt Green firmly grip one of my shoulders to stop me. I let out an involuntary squeak and looked back, feeling my palms start to sweat beneath my gloves from anxiety.

"Ace?" she asked, not sounding so friendly all of a sudden, "as in Speedy the Ace, formerly Battle Kukku XVI?"

To be real, I'd heard something about that in the news a while back. "Oh, that's who that guy is? Well, now that I think about it, he did look like the guy in that story I listened to–"

"You should stay away from him," she cut me off out of the blue, "Ace, I mean."

And I once again put my foot in my mouth. I'm not the best at social stuff, okay?

"How come?" I questioned, "I mean, he didn't seem like the friendliest guy, but I thought he and that other agent were here to help. Wouldn't it be better if we met up and stuck together?"

Green shook her head with what seemed like sadness. I wondered if there might have been something personal between them, since it would've explained the shift in demeanor.

"No, he's compromised." She raised a digit to her helmet and tapped at where her chin was. "Or rather, he will be once he realizes the NBA has the Crown."

Red interjected on my behalf. "You've brought up this and that about the 'NBA,' and we still don't know anything about them!" Green took a step back as the Flicky flew up in her face. "Why'd they try to nab us? What're they doing here on the island? Who even are they and what do they want!?"

Green said nothing for a few moments, just simply standing there and acknowledging the bird up in her grill. She let out a sigh to break the silence and reached up to tap at the back of her helmet. Seconds later, the cave echoed with the noise of powerful engines as a large green shape came flying down the passage at high speed. It stopped on a dime just a couple meters away from us, revealing itself to be an armor-plated, car-sized green platform with three spiky protrusions each on the front and back. She gracefully hopped aboard and landed in the center, then reached down to hold out a hand to me.

"Take a ride with me and I'll tell you," the mystery woman offered.

I hesitated, glancing at Red for some kind of assurance or maybe a reason to back off. He returned my gaze, but rather than say anything, he simply glided over to me and perched himself securely on my shoulder. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound; I think that's how that saying goes.

I let Green help me up onto her strange ride, and after we both sat down, it began moving down the passage we'd been prepared to walk. Thankfully, it was flying more slowly than it had been on the way to us, enough that I was able to survey the surroundings as they shifted with the transition to the next zone. I knew we'd entered Volcano Valley once I saw the solidified lava flows with their iridescent green crystals, no doubt as toxic as they were pretty. It was kind of incredible to see all the rivers and pools of molten rock moving throughout the place, and that the bits of land there were made navigable paths. Not impossible, geologically speaking, but given that the island was once controlled by the Atlanteans, I did wonder if any of it was artificially sculpted.

"I told you before that the NBA is after the Crown, which they now apparently have," Green said as we skimmed above the surface of a fiery pond, "as for why they want it, it's because it can control the powers of the Cursed Corundums. With those, they would be able to augment the reality of the world to their liking."

Okay, an evil organization that wants the power to change the world, likely in order to take it over. That definitely sounded bad. It sounded a bit crazy, really, but then again, the Battle Kukku Empire tried taking over the world just recently. Not to mention stories about the Chaos Emeralds were proven real back in September with what Miles Prower did. So, yeah, as ridiculous as it might've been, I did believe her.

"Alright, so they came to the island to find that Crown," Red summarized, "but why would this Ace guy want to help them?"

"He has a personal connection to the Crown," Green continued explaining, "and to the NBA themselves." She paused. "I don't know if he realizes the latter yet, but he will soon enough if he doesn't now." She shook her head. "The point is, with what the Crown can do, it would give him the opportunity to get what he wants most. He was willing to turn on his father and the empire he was groomed to rule for such a thing...who's to say he wouldn't do the same to G.U.N. and his current comrades?"

Would Ace really do that, though? He seemed like a real no-nonsense sort of guy, one that couldn't be bought out so easily. What could he want so much that would make him consider switching sides? More importantly, what was his relation to this group, and why would that have any impact?

"So, who is the NBA, anyway?" I asked the obvious question.

Green brought our ride to a slow stop in a spot that had plenty of ground. Once we got off, she sent it away, then bowed her head as she faced me again.

"They're the successors to the Battle Kukku Empire, or so they claim," she replied in a very serious tone, "they call themselves the Neo Battle Armada."

Oh man...just what had I gotten myself into?