Minutes felt like hours. Queen Sandy paced the dungeons filled with slight concern. Also concerned, the guards watched her move to and fro until one of them said, "I beg your pardon, Madame, but perhaps you should take a seat..."

"Silence!" she snapped.

Everyone began quiet. Not a sound stirred the room until some chains rattled behind the bars in a cold, dark cell. It was followed by a low clang.

Sandy rubbed her chin. Her eyebrows furrowed at the yell that followed, "Let us out of here!"

She muttered, "Perhaps, I've been too hasty. Just what sort of friends has my sister made?"

One of the guards tried his hardest to not allow his knees to tremble. His palms turned sweaty. It was very evident that his arms shook at every posture he made. Occasionally, he'd turned around and pointed his spear at the cell.

His voice shook when he said, "Q-q-qui-i-iet-t-t in-in-in the-e-ere..." (quiet in there).

Something thumped and rattled the barred, cell door. Standing just inches behind it was Sonic. His eyes' pupils were vanished and replaced by white. A darkness emitted from his quills. Even though chained, he was still able to give off an intimidating look that could almost give Shadow's glares a run for their money.

"I won't hold back," the blue Hedgehog stated.

Queen Sandy, though weary of what she had brought into her castle, said, "So long as that chain will hold, you can't do anything. What power do you possess that not even my magic can drain? Normally, no one could walk, let alone fight, while wearing those magic collars."

"Guess I'm not normal," Sonic remarked with a frown.

He continued to make hard tugs as they spoke. Each pull created unease with the guards since they could hear the wall slowly giving in to that unnatural strength he possessed. Sandy tried her best to maintain her calm.

"Your Majesty, if this keeps up, he will..." before the guarn finished that statement, the queen raised her hand.

A guard came downstairs and stared at the queen. She turned to him and noticed his stare.

Becoming impatient, she commanded, "Quit gawking unless you have something to say."

The guard shook his head and responded, "My appologies, my Queen. It's just that...well, you see."

"Just spill it."

"Right. I thought my eyes decieved me, but there appears to be two of you."

"Two of me?"

Sonic froze. He clenched his teeth.

The guard continued and said, "Yes, my Lady. I thought it was you, but I thought something was off. She has pink fur unlike your golden fur, and she's with a dark, muti-coloured Hedgehog. He appears to be her travelling companion."

"So, Amy Rose has decided to show. This shall prove to be interesting." She turned to the other guards. "Bring me the fox!"

"B-b-but, my Lady," one of them stammered.

"Just do it!"

"Uh, right..."

Sonic clenched his teeth more and tightened his fist. He ran back and charged for the door. The chains stopped his burst. It made him fall back, but he charge back and spun into a ball. The chains wouldn't let go. Queen Sandy held out her hand which glowed from her magic.

She thought my magic will only hold him so long. It's bad enough that this happened once he woke up after supposedly losing his powers. Instead of being weak and powerless, he seemed to have absorbed any dark magic from my spell and turned it into some sort of fearsome power. Not only is he faster, but he's also stronger and more reckless. I could not help but wonder if he already pulled some power from the portal that brought those two and Amy here in the first place. This dark form of his is quite frightening.

Sonic yelled, "Leave Tails out this, or you'll be sorry!"

The little Fox squirmed as he was pulled towards the queen. She turned to the guard who entered earlier and said, ignoring Sonic, "Are you keeping an eye on that pink Hedgehog?"

"Yes, and it seems that she has stumbled upon your study room."

"Excellent. Oh and one other thing. Those intruders I heard about. Did you take care of them?"

"Oh, the wolves? I'm afraid they escaped. However, they shouldn't be hard to track. Someone said they might still try to enter the castle another way."

"Hmm...It seems that those daughters from the former king can't seem to comprehand that they're no longer in charge here. It's really a no-brainer. I had gotten rid of their evil tyranical father, they get banished, and I become the most powerful and beautiful queen this world has ever seen." A twished smile grew on her face. "But if they insist on returning, I'd be more than happy to give them a round two. Everyone will learn to never mess with me.

Another loud thump interrupted her.

"THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG!" Sonic yelled. "NO ONE hurts my friends and gets away with it!"

The Queen's eyes widened. A large dent was in the door's bars.

But...h-h-how? That metal is known to never bend unless heated.

She repaired it with her magic. Before she left, she said, "If you don't keep that creature under control, it'll be your heads."

The guards gulped. "Yes, Ma'am."

Despite Tails' struggles, he was dragged along with the queen up the stairs. The guards could not help but tremble more once the upstairs entrance was shut closed.