BLAZE'S TEAM

Somehow, you have this gut feeling that Nega's chilling out at the Northern App Mountains. "I'll tag along with you too, Blaze."

Blaze smiles and nods. Amy gives a little yelp. "What?" she cries, "Don't you want to go with ME?!" She looks over to Tails, Knuckles, and Shade. "Oh, and your friends too..?"

"Going far too west over the ocean doesn't really settle well with me," you murmur, "I'd rather keep my feet on the ground, and not something I can easily drown under."

Amy pouts. "But Sonniiicc…!"

"Come on, Amy!" Knuckles nearly shouts, "This isn't a dating opportunity. The existence of our worlds are at stake here. We need to find and stop Eggman Nega!"

Amy's fists rattle in annoyance. "I know that," she growls, then glares over at you, while also eyeing Blaze. "It's just…"

You know exactly what her issue is, but you decide not to press it.

Marine on the other hand… "Oy!" she shouts, "If yer THAT worried Blaze is gonna snag Sonic from under yer nose, why not just join our party?"

You cringe for a moment. The last thing you want is a cat fight- literally- between Blaze and Amy.

Fortunately, Amy reels back at the idea. "Uh… No thanks. I'm good with these guys," she responds, then glares back at you, "I'll just trust Sonic will resist temptation the whole time you're out."

You feel your cheeks start to pinken. Blaze blinks astonishingly at Amy, then gives an exasperated sigh. "You needn't worry," she grumbles, "Even if I wanted to, I have more important issues to focus on than flirting with Sonic."

Ouch. Right in the pride.

Silver smirks. "Don't worry, Amy," he says slyly, "I'll make sure Sonic behaves himself."

Amy smiles sweetly. "Aw, thanks Silver! I knew I could count on you!"

"Okay, enough of the childish chatter!" Blaze says aloud, "Let's move out!"

You, Blaze, Marine, and Silver are escorted to the Northern App Mountains via air ship. Blaze orders the pilot to stay low. If Eggman Nega is indeed nearby, you didn't want to announce your arrival…

The ship nimbly flies just above the tip of the trees, skilled at missing anything that may strike them. It gave you all enough cover, but still a good sight of the mountains ahead.

Blaze stares out the front window. "I don't see any sign of Nega," she murmurs.

"Well strewth," Marine grunts, "I guess we wasted our time, if he ain't even 'ere."

Silver shakes his head. "No," he replies, "He's good at hiding himself. Just when you think you're safe, he's suddenly there." He looks down at his side, "I know that all too well…"

"Don't worry," says Blaze, "We're not turning around until we've scoped this entire mountain.

"Awww, that'll take all day!" Marine whines.

"Then WHY did you come?" Silver grunts.

"I came for the action, mate!" the raccoon girl clenches her fists and bounces on her toes, "First sight of Nega, I'll water bomb the mustached doof!"

"Believe me, kid," says Silver, "It's NOT that easy…"

The controls begin to beep, and everybody's attention is brought to it. "What is it?" Blaze asks.

"Sonar feedback," the pilot replies, "Unknown electrical source in the distance."

You all look out the window again. Still nothing.

"Is your radar on the fritz?" Marine asks, "There still ain't anythin' up there."

"Unless…" you squint ahead. Sure, nothing looked out of the ordinary… but those clouds above had a rather strange imprint. You snap your fingers. "He's there!" you shout, "Whatever he's riding in, it's invisible!"

"What'cha?!" Marine cries, "He knows magic?"

"More like REALLY advanced science," Silver replies, "Nega knows how to build cloaking devices."

"You can thank the Nocturne clan for supplying that," you say, "Or the original Eggman for stealing it."

"Figures," says Blaze, "But we try to stay ahead as much as we can. We were able to build detectors that could pick up such signals."

"Really?" Silver looks over, "You wouldn't mind sparing some of that tech, would you? To help my world?"

Blaze nods. "Of course," she smiles, "We'll give you a copy of our blueprints."

"Thank you."

"OY!" Marine's scream suddenly grabs everyone's attention. The raccoon is frantically pointing ahead at the mountain. "I see no ship, but get a gander at that there drill comin' out of nowhere!"

You follow her gaze, and in fact see a large drill dropping from the clouds and smashing into the top of the mountain, and slowly but surely making its way downward.

"No..!" Blaze cries, "I don't know how, but he found the location of the safe hold!" She turns to the pilot. "Drop down! Let us out! With Sonic here, we can reach Nega much quicker."

"No problem!" you give a thumbs up.

The ship lands, and your team quickly piles out. "Grab on, everyone!" you hold out your arms to the others.

"No need," Silver offers, "I can keep up with my psychokinesis. I'll take one of the girls too, if you'd like."

"Ooo! Ooo!" Marine jumps up, waving her arms wildly, "Take me, take me! I loved that last flight you put me through!"

Silver levitates and holds out his palm, engulfing Marine in a light blue glow and lifting her from the ground. She giggles ecstatically. You put a firm arm around Blaze's waist and she wraps one around your shoulders. "Let's hurry!" she orders.

You and Silver rush through the trees towards the mountain. It's not a long trip at all, and you reach the side in no time. You skid to a halt, just as Silver lands with Marine close by.

Blaze takes a step back, gazing upwards as she assesses the situation. You and the others follow suit. The mountain is several hundred miles high, but you can still hear the loud machinery and feel the vibration of the drill.

"Even from below, we can hear that drill make a commotion," Blaze says aloud, "If we enter through the entrance nearby and work our way up, there's a chance we could get caught in a cave-in… I sincerely doubt Nega's being careful, even when looking for the Sol Emeralds."

"We could go straight up," you suggest.

Silver shakes his head. "Then we'll be wide open for Nega to strike us."

"Then we just gotta be sneaky about it!" Marine grins.

"You don't know Eggman Nega like I do," Silver almost shouts, "He covers his bases, and plans every possible outcome as much as he can. We've only been lucky so few times…"

"Quit yer belly achin', mate!" Marine shouts, "You managed to chase him into OUR world, didn'cha? You know how to beat 'im now!"

"Look, if it were THAT easy, we could've won that war a long time ago!"

"Enough !" Blaze booms, "We don't have time to argue! Either way, we're taking a chance, but need to be quick. Either we go through the entrance while risking being caught in a cave-in, or we just rush up with Silver and hope nothing is waiting to attack us if we get too close."

"I vote Fly Boy!" Marine chimes.

"My name is Silver ," the silver-furred hedgehog groans, "And I say it's better to go through the entrance and try to hit him from the inside."

Blaze glances over to you. "Your thoughts, Sonic?"

You switch from staring up the mountain to the direction of entrance, carefully considering your options. Finally, you come to a decision.

"Let's do the entrance," you say, "We'll have a better chance at catching Nega by surprise if we're not in the clear opening."

Silver nods. "I agree."

Marine crosses her arms and pouts. "Aw, rats. I wanted to go flyin' again."

"We'll play when we're at peace again, Marine," says Blaze, "Right now we must stop Nega before he reaches those emeralds. Follow me!"

Blazes dashes towards the mountainside. She's not as fast as you, but you do pour on a respectable amount of speed to follow her, with Silver and Marine not too far behind. She finally slows to a halt as she approaches what looks like the result of a massive rock slide, one boulder on top of another. "The entrance is beyond here."

You sigh as you scratch your head. "Gonna take a while to clear this mess though."

"That's the secret," Blaze smiles and walks up to the side, "It LOOKS like a bunch of rocks… but they're all connected as a hidden door." She pushes against the rocks, and you notice the clutter simultaneously moving together, just barely revealing an entrance way. "Ungh…! Would you guys mind giving me a hand with this?"

"Allow me," Silver takes hold of the door with his psychokinesis, and with a simple wave of his hand, easily pushes it to the side, revealing a complete entrance.

Blaze wipes her forehead and nods her appreciation to Silver. "Thanks a lot," she smiles, before turning serious again, "Now let's hurry!" She races inside, and the three of you hurry to catch up.

Inside is completely dark, but Blaze lights a flame in her palm as she leads on through winding hallways and up hills. You don't know where to go or what to expect, but as you continue on, you hear the drilling of Nega's machine grow increasingly louder, and the vibrations growing harder. Therefore, you place your trust in Blaze's directions and follow without argument.

After a while, as you run up one of the steep hills, you notice Marine is falling behind, and slow to a halt. "Marine, you okay?" you call back to her.

The raccoon girl finally stops and leans forward, resting her hands on her knees as she tries to catch her breath. "I ain't as speedy or energetic as yous!" she heaves, "I gotta take a quick rest."

"Well hurry up, before-"

You don't have the chance to finish that sentence as everything around you rattles violently. You fall forward, landing hard on your stomach. As you try to pick yourself forward, you see Marine had fallen back and is rolling backwards down the hill. "Marine!"

"Look out!" you hear Blaze cry up ahead, "The drill's right next to us! The ceiling's coming down!"

Just as she says this, you see stalactites and pieces of rocks falling in your direction. However, being the fastest thing alive, you're able to evade and nimbly dodge each danger. You do catch sight of Marine stumbling to the ground as crumbling ceiling pieces fall towards her. You quickly dash down, scoop her up, and jump away before a massive stalactite could pierce her.

As you land, you find the floor crumbling beneath your feet, and quickly jump up once more, landing a foot on the wall and pushing off to land on another piece of falling rock. Via Triangle Jump maneuver, you jump from rock to rock to boulder to debris, making your way across the room, until you almost smash into a twisting metal pole. You grab hold to keep from crashing into it, and twirl around downwards as you slide down while holding Marine tightly to your body.

"Wooo hah!" Marine cries, "The world's goin' dizzer!"

"Sonic! Marine!" Blaze's voice rings out.

"Are you guys all right?" you hear Silver cry out from above. You look up, and as you're spinning around on the drill, you do catch sight of Silver hovering above, holding Blaze near him with his powers.

"We're fine!" you shout back, "But it's kinda hard to try and get out of here!"

"Never mind that!" Blaze shouts, "Nega's nearing the treasures! We'll go on ahead above and stop him! Go down and protect the emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter!"

"Roger that!" you shout. You hold Marine tightly as you cling to the drill, making its way further and further down. You aren't sure how to get to the treasures yourself, and Blaze isn't here to guide you, so you decide riding the drill downwards is the only way to go.

After a long while of spinning around and around, the two of you break into a large open space. The ceiling crumbles, and the drill finally slows, giving you a chance to finally hop off. You're able to maintain balance, as you do spin attacks often, so dizziness doesn't affect you one bit. Marine on the other hand sluggishly staggers from one end of the room to the other the moment you place her down. "Holy dooley..!" she whines, "I don't think my head'll ever stop spinnin'!"

"Get it together, Marine!" you order, "We need to find the Sol Emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter before Nega has the chance to make his way down here."

"Too late for that!" a booming voice shouts out. You whip around to the drill as hatch right above it slides wide open, and an army of Egg Pawns rush in with spears and guns. They readily surround you. "Did you really think I was going to wait all the way on the top of this mountain where any invasive animal could come by and attack me unguarded?" Nega strolls out of the compartment himself and stands with his hands on his hips. "Of course I was in the cockpit controlling the drill as my army stayed above to fight anyone off! Now if you'll be so kind as to hand me the treasures…"

"Sure," you reply sarcastically, "You want them on a silver platter, or gold encrusted with diamonds?"

"Mock all you want, hedgehog," Nega sneers, "But I'm far more intelligent and strategic than my ancestor- the Eggman YOU'RE too familiar with. You're about to mess with a robot army out of your league!"

You still manage to smile with confidence. "I bet there's one thing you didn't account for, Egg-Neg," you say smugly, "Did you know Marine has hydrokinetic powers?"

Nega's grin disappears as he raises an eyebrow. "She what..?"

You glance over at Marine. "Show 'im!"

Marine excitedly clenches her fists, emitting a green glow on each, and then forces them forward, shooting a blast of water into Nega and his army of pawns. They're blasted clear across the open area.

"I'll take over," you tell Marine as the water dies down, "Hurry and find the treasures!"

Marine nods, turns, and rushes off. The pawns, unfortunately waterproof, scramble back to their feet and raise their weapons, but they don't have the chance to use them as you spin and homing attack each one. They fall over, but their casing over the years have become much thicker than what you're used to. This may take a while, and you're not entirely sure if you can handle this on your own.

You glance back at Marine, who's digging up every possible spot for any sign of the treasures. You figure she could use some help. The quicker you find these treasures, the better…

But you probably shouldn't risk letting these stronger robots run a muck in the same room as you.

"Keep at it, Marine!" you shout as you spin into another pawn, knocking it back a little, "I'll hold them off a little while longer!"

"Bonzer!" Marine suddenly shrieks, and holds up a long staff with a crescent-shaped top. "I found the Jeweled Scepter!"

"I'll take that!"

A large, robotic claw suddenly shoots out and snags Marine and the scepter. Panicked, you look over to see Nega had gotten back into the drill's cockpit and detached it, making it a floating battle mech. He pulls Marine closer. "Hand it over, little girl!"

Marine struggles, but keeps the scepter close to her. "No way!" she shouts, "You're gonna have to crush the life outta me first, mate!"

"I honestly have no qualms with that."

"Ooops."

Nice going, Marine… But you don't waste a second and duck into your famous spin attack, and launch yourself at Nega. He is knocked back, but remains upright. He turns to face you and releases another metallic claw at you, but you nimbly dodge, and he ends up smacking into and destroying a line of pawns nearby.

You grin. "You just made things a bit easier for me. Thanks!"

Nega can be heard growling and twists around to attack again. You jump over his armor's claw and Homing-Attack the cockpit and manage to inflict some major damage. The second claw drops Marine, and she falls flat on her bottom, along with the scepter.

Nega shoots up into the air. "That's it!" he shouts, "Time to meet your maker!" He raises both claws, which bend backwards and reveal two laser holes, charging up. The same goes for his chest.

You grow a bit worried. "This isn't good…"

BLAM!

You barely manage to dodge the attack, just singing the tip of your blue quills. Nega twists around, trying to aim all 3 lasers at you, and blasting every bit of the mountain in the process. You scoop Marine up in your arms once more, getting her out of harm's way as Nega continues to blast everything. "Cut it out, you lunatic!" you scream, "You're gonna bring the whole place down!"

"As long as I take you with it, you annoying blue pest!" Nega snarks, shooting at you some more while you dodge.

"We're trapped!" Marine cries, tightening her grip around your shoulders, "We're bailed up like rats! We're done for! We're as good as cactus! We're-"

"Marine, shut up, I'm trying to think!" you shout as you keep running away from the blasts, while the crumbling bits of mountain fall all around you.

"What's there t'think about?" she cries, "Death is upon us! Unless you have some convenient do-dad on ya that could help us!"

You think about that…. The only thing you know that's on your person is…

The Chaos Emeralds!

"We're outta here!" you chime as you fish one out of your glove and hold it to the sky, " Chaos Control!"

As the cavern collapses around you, you and Marine are surrounded in a swirl of a bright white flash. Once it dies down, you find yourselves back outside, nearby the side of the mountain. As you find your footing back on the ground, you accidently drop Marine as you fall to your knees in exhaustion.

"Oy, Sonic!" Marie clambers over and places a concerned hand on your shoulder, "You all right?"

"Whew," you sigh, giving her a small smile, "Yeah. Just not used to doing chaos-based techniques the way Shadow does…"

*Ker-ASH!*

You and Marine turn your heads to see the complete Northern App Mountains falling apart, crumbling on top of itself one layer at a time.

Marine frowns. "Strewth… that's a whole heap o' mess to clean up in the mornin'…"

"Marine! Sonic!"

You turn your head to see Silver, carrying Blaze next to him with his powers, soaring overhead, and landing next to you. The first thing Blaze does is rush to Marine and check her out. "Are you two all right?" she asks quickly, "How did you escape? I was worried you got caught in the cave-in! I should've never sent you down there, even with Sonic to protect you. What was I thinking?"

"Cool your jets, sheila!" Marine moans, "I'm all apples, and so's Sonic." She then clenches her fists with excitement, "Holy dooley, you should'a been there, Blaze! It was ripper how we went up against Eggman Nega! He had his big bad army of Egg Pawns, but we showed 'em a thing or two, didn't we Sonic?"

You chuckle. "Yeah, I guess you weren't too bad, kiddo."

Silver narrows his eyes. "So Nega was heading downwards towards the treasures," he muses, "No wonder we didn't see him up top."

"What happened to the treasure?" Blaze asks.

"Right 'ere, mate!" Marine whips out the Jeweled Scepter, "Taa daa! Found it and rescued it myself!"

Blaze takes a hold of it and nods her appreciation. "Thank you. And what of the Sol Emeralds?"

The excitement fizzles out all too quick in Marine. "Er, uh… about them…"

You can see in Blaze's face a mixture of fear and anger, so you step in. "We're sorry, Blaze," you cut in, "We tried, but Nega took the whole place down. We barely had moments to use Chaos Control to escape."

Somehow that coming from you seems to calm Blaze down. Her face eases and she sighs. "Well, I know you wouldn't have purposely left them behind. At least you were able to save the scepter." She turns, looking at the now destroyed mountain. "And Nega was buried in that wreckage along with them… I know he won't be an issue anytime soon…"

Silver crosses his arms. "Call me naïve, but I won't believe Eggman Nega is dead until I see a body," he says, "This wouldn't be the first time I thought Nega was gone only to be still causing trouble. I wouldn't have traveled dimensions if I thought he was really gone for good."

Blaze lowers her head. "Good point," she replies, "Once the dust settles, I'll send a crew back here to search for both the emeralds and a body…"

Marine clutches at her arms, looking rather disturbed. "You all right?" you ask.

The raccoon nods. "I just kinda feel bad for the bloke…" she mutters, "I know he was bad apples, but… what a way to go…"

Silver twitches his nose. "You wouldn't feel the same way if you grew up in the world I did…"

"Let's get back to the ship and go back to the castle," Blaze says, walking ahead to where the ship was parked, "We won't have to dwell on this if we're not here any longer."

Sounds like a plan. You follow, with Silver and Marine not far behind.

Once you're all back at the castle, the first thing Blaze does is order a maintenance crew to the Northern App Mountains to clean up and retrieve the Sol Emeralds, as well as confirm Eggman Nega's death. With such a large mountain, it would go long overnight before something is found…

It's not much longer until Knuckles and Shadow's teams return to the castle as well. It turned out, as Blaze suspected, the other locations were decoys to try and divert from Nega attacking the safe hold and trying to steal the treasures. They are brought up to speed about what had happened at the mountains.

Since no one will know anything until the next day, all you can do is relax and wait. Blaze allows you all to make yourselves at home, so you wander around the castle a bit…

Skip toChapter 61if you don't want to talk to anyone...

TALK TO BLAZE

Almost immediately was everyone off doing their own thing, finding their own way to relax and unwind. You decide to do the same and wander the castle halls a bit.

You're intrigued by some of the fire-themed decor this castle has. Then again, with a kingdom that's Blaze's version of Soleanna, not to mention Blaze being a pyrokinetic princess, what else would you expect?

You also come across a few portraits. Some of them are Blaze, and some of them are other cats that look similar. You assume them to be Blaze's ancestors. Though one portrait sticks out the most… It looks to be of a royal family: a king, a queen, and a little girl that could pass for Blaze if she were a young child. You study this picture hard… Could those be Blaze's parents?

Eventually you round a corner and come across the entrance to a balcony outside. Low and behold, there's Blaze standing by the balcony rails, staring off into the distance, her mind heavily set on something, you could easily tell.

"Need some fresh air?" you smile as you come out and join her.

She smiles at your presence before lowering her head. "I'm in constant need of it…"

"I take it you always have a lot on your plate," you reply, "My advice?" You give her a sarcastic grin, "Always remember that your eyes are bigger than your stomach."

You then chuckle loudly at your own joke, but then notice Blaze is looking at you oddly. You quickly stop. " Ahem, er, sorry…"

Blaze gives you a small smile. "I appreciate the attempt," she says, "Though I don't think you'll ever understand the position I was forced into."

You give a low sigh. "I might know more than you think…" you mutter.

Blaze cocks an eyebrow. "What are you saying?"

You clear your throat. Do you really want to tell her the whole truth about yourself? "Well, I mean… Let's just say I had the option to run away from what I was 'destined' to do. I got to pave my own path instead of having life force me to do something against what I stand for."

Blaze narrows her eyes. "Is that the closest thing to a back story you're going to give me?"

You scratch the back of your head and turn the opposite way. "As of now… yes." You do, however, steal a glance towards her direction, "Maybe someday I'll tell you more…"

Blaze glances downward and slowly turns back towards the horizon. "I would like that," she says softly, "We're good friends, but I also noticed we don't know much about each other."

"I'm kinda guessing your folks aren't around anymore," you say, "Otherwise you wouldn't be trying to hold the entire world on your own shoulders."

"You'd be correct," Blaze replies, "I wouldn't have minded having a chance to pave my own destiny like you got to."

"I'm sorry," you scratch your head again, "I guess I was kinda shoving it in your face, huh?"

"It is what it is," says Blaze, "But anyway, I don't always feel like I'm alone in protecting this world." She looks back at you with more hope. "I know whenever I really need it, I'll always have you…"

You blink, and almost feel your cheeks get hot.

Blaze's face turns red as well. "You AND the others, I mean! My friends!" She turns away, and the redness begins to fade. "I've come to accept some of my guards as more than just soldiers… I've become friendly with most of them, and I know they'll always support me. And Marine…" The smile on her face grows wider. You really like that look on her. "Marine's become such a great friend. It's hard to believe I once thought of her as nothing but an annoyance. She's grown so much since we first met. She's become like a sister to me, even."

You smile at her. "Just like Tails and I."

Blaze nods at this. "I have to thank you, Sonic… for so many things. Not only for your constant help, but for showing me just how valuable friends are." She turns fully to face you, "Which reminds me… How is Cream doing? She had quite an influence on me as well, and I do miss her."

"Well, alternate-futuristic-apocalypse aside," you reply, "She's doing well." You sigh, "Man, if only I'd let her join our team. You guys could've gotten reacquainted. Maybe Marine even could've made a new best friend."

Blaze lowers her head. "Well, I'm sort of glad you didn't. So far, this has been a dangerous journey, and I would hate to put her through it. Heck, I'm still iffy about letting Marine come along."

You shrug. "But how else are they going to gain experience?"

Blaze nods slowly. "I suppose so…" She looks back up at you. "I'm feeling more at ease now, Sonic. Thank you for the chat."

You grin and nod. "Anytime!"

TALK TO SHADOW

Even though the other teams had given you a quick summary of what happened on their parts, you're curious about the details.

You dare not go to Rouge's room for the story. She might chase you away, think you have ulterior motives… plus she was sharing a room with Amy tonight. SHE would definitely get the wrong idea, and that's the last thing you want from her.

So yes, suffice to say, you would rather take your chances visiting Shadow.

You knock on his door and get a low "Hmph" as a reply. You decide to take that as an invitation to enter. Shadow has a bed all to himself, yet he was standing in the corner with his arms crossed and eyes closed. It was more like he was "waiting" rather than sleeping… This isn't possibly how he normally sleeps, is it?

"What do you want, Sonic?" he grunts, never once opening his eyes.

You notice Omega is in the other corner of the room, slumped downwards, eyes blank. "Don't bother him," says Shadow, "He's in sleep mode."

"Gotcha…" you mumble, then turn to the obsidian-colored hedgehog, "So tell me what happened on North-Western Island?"

"We investigated, we didn't find Nega, we got ambushed by Metal Sonic. End of story," Shadow replies gruffly.

You twitch your nose. That sounded like the Too-Long-Didn't-Read version he gave earlier.

"I'm surprised Metal Sonic made his way into this world," you bring up.

"It was Nega's own personal model," Shadow replies, "Much stronger than the usual one you're familiar with. Almost had even me against the ropes."

You raise an eyebrow. "Did he now?"

" Almost…" Shadow emphasizes, "Omega went back and forth helping me take him down while assisting Rouge with destroying the army of Egg Pawns he brought with him." He flashes a cocky smirk, "Ultimately, though, he was no match for me."

"Dang, sounds like I missed out on some fun," you say as you stretch your arms.

"PFT!" Shadow grunts, "You probably wouldn't have lasted a moment against Metal Sonic."

You glare at Shadow for a moment, and for a moment wish you had chosen to go with his team just to prove him wrong.

But what's done was done, and you did manage to get stuff accomplished today, so you bid farewell and leave his room before the urge to slug him boils up.

TALK TO KNUCKLES

You're a little curious as to how Knuckles' team did all the way out west. Scouring the hallways, you eventually find the guest bedroom that Knuckles was occupying and lightly knock on the door.

"Come in," you hear the echidna reply.

You open the door and quietly enter the room, noticing Silver's bed on the other side. The hedgehog looks to be in a deep sleep. You imagine he hasn't been in such a luxurious bed in who knows when. After enduring a life-long battle against Eggman Nega, he deserves that rest, so you're careful not to wake him.

"What's up, Sonic?" Knuckles asks, laying in a separate bed while looking at a book. You assume he found it off one of the shelves in this bedroom.

"Just had a few questions for you," you ask as you approach your friend. "First off… how come you're sharing a room with Silver and not Shade or Rouge?"

Knuckles replies by slamming the book shut and rearing it back as if to throw it at you. You quickly shush him while pointing to the still-sleeping Silver. He grunts as he lowers the book, and you chuckle. "I'm just kidding," you laugh, "But what I do want to know is what happened in the west. I know you said it was a diversion tactic, but I'm curious about the details."

Knuckles sets the book aside and turns to face you. "You'll get a kick out of this, actually," he tells you, "We had our own metal doppelgangers to go against. A metal me, a Metal Tails, and even a Metal Amy."

"Metal Amy?" you say, "Wow, Amy must be more lethal than I give her credit for if Egg-Neg made a metal version of HER of all people…"

"Believe me, she was flattered too," Knuckles sighed, "And that robot version of her was just as dangerous, if not more so. Good thing Amy herself was able to handle it."

"And the others?"

"Tails had a little trouble with his own metal version," Knuckles explained, "Once Amy took care of Metal Amy, she was able to give him a hand. Shade and I had our hands full with the Metal Knuckles."

You smirk at him. "So you couldn't even keep up with your own metal clone?"

Knuckles glares at you, possibly offended. "Barely…" He then sighed. "Good thing Shade was with me, though. A few Echidna Rushes, and he went down."

"That's what I'm talking about!" you give a thumbs up, "You and Shade make a great team." Uh oh, there it is… that shipping bug is there to bite you again! "Maybe even a little bit more..?"

Knuckles twitches his nose and turns away. "Oh get off it already, Sonic," he growls, "Why do you care so much who I'm interested in?"

"Guess I'm a little jealous, that's all," you shrug, "I mean, you got not one, but TWO cute girls to choose from! Me, I got a pre-teen who I've never even dated and is already planning our wedding, the name of our kids..."

Knuckles eyes you slyly. "You don't think that's cute?"

Now it's your turn to twitch your nose. "Well... maybe if she didn't bring it up all the time…"

"She doesn't," Knuckles grunts, "You just think that because she comes on too strong. Otherwise she acts perfectly normal. Take it from an outsider's view."

You groan to yourself and glance away. There's no way you're going to admit he's right…

"Besides…"

You look up as Knuckles continues.

"You got two girls yourself. I noticed Blaze is pretty sweet to you as well."

"Blaze?" you wonder out loud. You never really thought much about it, but now that you think about it… "Hmm…"

"So yeah," says Knuckles, "Why don't you worry about your own love life and shut up about mine already."

"Okay, okay, I can take a hint," you concede and stand up. You head towards the door "Good night, Knux…"

HEAD TO CHAPTER 61