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Chapter IX
Ivo

"A pleasure to meet you at last, Princess of Soleanna.
I am Dr. Eggman. I've come here to obtain the secret of the Flames of Disaster from you.
And to take the miracle gems that are the key to its secret... The Chaos Emerald!
Now Princess, this way please."

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"Noooooo!" The desperate cry boomed inside the unlit command bridge of the battle cruiser, almost making it quake. The source of the exclamation, a massive body slumped in the pilot's seat in the center of the room, jerked around as if being tortured with electric shocks.

It was dim in the small chamber. Only some monitors, built into the center console and hanging down from the ceiling on mounts, tried to pierce the darkness with their flickering lights. A whole army of flashing buttons in the control panel of the main computer did their best to aid the screens in their effort to bring light into the gloom, but they looked more like the glowing eyes of greedy predators lurking in the shadows for prey.

Even here, the thunder of the ship's engines could be heard, a low, all-pervasive hum that made the guts vibrate. It was one of those sounds that one either gets used to over time and then no longer consciously notices, or that will drive one crazy at some point.

The name of the person in the pilot's seat was Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and he had grown accustomed to the omnipresent drone. In fact, over time it had become a kind of lullaby for him, and like so many times before, the familiar, monotonous sound had once again managed to cradle him into a deep yet restless slumber. He squirmed under the influence of his obviously disturbing dream, and his grossly overweight body was shaken back and forth as if a horde of invisible demons were tugging at him.

Suddenly, he straightened up almost vertically in his chair, and his bald head accidentally banged violently against one of the monitors mounted above him. Again he screamed at the top of his lungs, but this time in surprise and agony. The painful incident and the subsequent rush of adrenaline finally jolted him out of his sleep.

The sensors of the life support systems noted that he was awake again, and the overhead lights came to life, flooding the room with cold light. Gnashing his teeth, Ivo held his aching head with one hand, while the fingers of the other dug into the armrest of his seat like claws. Irrational, red-hot anger surged inside him. That will become a bump the size of a watermelon, he thought, letting out another feral roar. In a blind rage, he smashed his fist full force into the screen that had been in the way of his head, shattering it with a loud crash. That fucking nightmare again! I only dozed off for a second!

He pulled his fist out of the broken device, and sparks and shards rained down onto his lap. His punch had left a jagged hole in the screen, from which a thin column of smoke was now rising. He glanced at his hand. Some of the sharp-edged splinters had torn open his black leather glove and dug deep into the usually rather resistant material. But instead of bleeding wounds and slashed skin, cold metal glistened through the cuts.

Carefully, the scientist peeled the tattered glove from his hand, revealing a steel cybernetic prosthesis that had replaced his former limb of bone and flesh. A little lasting reminder of another lost battle not too long ago. He moved his mechanical fingers, first one at a time, then all together, and finally curled them into a fist. Everything still seemed to work properly. No damages, at least as far as I can see. But that would have surprised me quite a bit. After all, this little beauty is nothing less than another masterpiece in the ranks of my glorious inventions. He continued to examine his creation, turning it back and forth in front of his face. And I just couldn't resist the temptation of adding one or the other surprise to it. His fleshy lips contorted into a grim smile. You should never stop improving yourself, as the saying goes.

But then his thoughts returned to the unsettling dream that had been haunting him in his sleep for more than a year by now, and the sardonic smirk instantly disappeared from his face. What's the deal with this annoying dream? Always the same moronic nightmare!

In his mind, he went through the events of his dream again, which he could meanwhile replay like a movie before his inner eye, so many times he had already had to experience it.

Again and again he dreamed of a fierce decisive battle aboard his battleship. Well, actually more on its extended loading ramp. He was flying a machine whose design was unknown to him, which he had never built and also would probably never build in a way like that. But the creature he was fighting in his dream, he knew all the better for it. The troublesome critter, which he meanwhile had come to regard as his nemesis, was by now haunting him even in his dreams. The Mobian that he meanwhile hated and despised more than anything else. Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog.

He was not surprised that the unbearable humiliation of the countless defeats he had already suffered against the supernaturally fast Mobian, who was again and again thwarting his plans to finally take his rightful place on the throne of the world, was repeated even in his dreams. His futile struggle against that irritating alien and his repulsive anthro friends had in the meantime left not only visible physical marks on his body, but also deep scars in his soul.

At the thought of the cobalt-furred Hedgehog, overwhelming rage rose in him again, and it took all his self-restrain to fight it down. My god, how much I hate that pesky rat!

What he had no explanation for, however, was the fact that this particular dream kept recurring even though it was not based on a real experience. At least not on one he was able to remember. It was as if his subconscious was trying to process an experience or memory that was completely unknown to him.

And even more disturbing was that in this nightmare even his trusty machinery was letting him down. The engines of his carrier failed, burst into flames, for absolutely no comprehensible reason. The huge vessel, which not only served as his mobile base and headquarters, but had also become his home away from home over the years, broke apart, was torn to shreds in midair. Burning and smoking, its individual parts plunged into the waves of a foaming ocean in front of a rugged cliff, churning up the sea even more, and setting the water on fire as leaking fuel was washed to the surface. With the on-board computer not responding, he was doomed to crash with the wreckage of his ship. The dream ended with his death, and he usually woke up screaming and sweating at that point. Like a little sissy! He let out a scornful snort.

Lost in thought, he ran his hand over his bald head, but winced when he touched the spot where he had bumped himself a minute ago. Bloody hell, does that hurt!

Could it be that there was a meaning behind those dreams? Was his subconscious trying to tell him something? He had not the slightest clue, not the hint of an idea. I'm a scientist, an inventor. A mechanic and an engineer. But not a fucking psychologist, goddammit! He clenched his fists again and punched the armrests of his chair. But why the heck am I constantly dreaming this bullshit? Am I losing my mind or what?! There had to be a scientific explanation for it. In his experience, there was a scientific explanation for absolutely everything. But he couldn't waste his time and energy on trivialities like those weird dreams now. Right now, there were much more important things he had to take care of.

Adjusting the sit of his round, mirrored glasses, he glanced through the cockpit window of his command bridge while trying to shake off the queasy feeling that the dream left him with every time. As chance would have it, he was in fact flying over the open sea at that moment, approaching his current destination at an altitude of almost five thousand meters and close to the speed of sound. It was shortly after midnight, and the sky was just as dark as the ocean. Had it not been for the stars and the almost oversized, brightly shining full moon, he would have had to activate the heads-up display's residual light amplifier in order to penetrate the dense darkness that seemed to spread in front of him.

Suddenly, a yellow warning light flashed up on the control panel and reflected upside down in the windshield. For a second, he mistook it for the engine overheat alert, and a cold hand reached for his heart when he was reminded of the events in his nightmare again. But then he realized that it was just the weather forecast, and breathed a sigh of relief. He pressed a few keys, and one of the numerous computer screens changed its readout. The ship's sensors had detected that a severe thunderstorm was nearing and would reach the mainland within the next twenty-four hours. According to the data, something's really brewing there, he thought. A full-blown storm front, if I'm interpreting the forecast correctly. He chuckled. Yeah, that's right. Here I come, and I'll bring the storm right along with me!

As much as his strange dream troubled him, he did not believe in something like providence. Dreams were nothing but figments of the imagination. Pondering over their possible meaning would only distract him from more important things. And a man of his caliber could not afford to be distracted. He had to think objectively, rationally. To make plans and put them into action. To recognize opportunities and seize them. And the next opportunity was right under his nose. Soleanna. The City of Water. Capital of the prosperous coastal kingdom of the same name. Ivo rolled his eyes, but had to grin again. How unimaginative. He had already informed himself about the kingdom of Soleanna in advance. It was not like him to enter a battlefield unprepared.

In fact, the unexpected call from his ally, Baron Waldemar of Ostenheim, had surprised him to some extent. Even more surprising, however, had been the news that another member of the council of the Great Eight allegedly also wanted to pact with him. Actually, he was not all too interested in any further alliances, and also his cooperation with the kingdom of Ostenheim, led by the noble house of Bullenhorst these days, only served the purpose of having a place of retreat here on Earth and being able to fall back on support in case of emergency.

While he wasn't really dependent on a place to hide anymore since he had finally managed to perfect his stealth technology three months ago, it could be quite useful to keep them believing that. Ostenheim was supplying him with almost everything he asked them for, primarily mobile energy storage devices and other valuable resources he needed to rebuild and upgrade his war machinery. In return, he was providing those mindless creatures with some of his long-outdated design plans for weapons technologies that he had scrapped already years ago. But that was a detail they didn't needed to know.

The obese man suddenly burst out laughing, a sinister, joyless sound that could send a shiver down one's spine, and his bulging double chin wobbled back and forth like the throat pouch of a pelican. These underdeveloped apes must think that they'll gain a military advantage over the other noble houses with my equipment and drone technology. Or that I will spare them because of our little agreement. He laughed even louder and shook his head in disbelief. I will betray and destroy Ostenheim just like any other kingdom in this and every other world, as soon as I have recovered from that... minor setback six months ago. And next time there will be absolutely nothing they could oppose me with! Next time I will not fail!

But now it seemed that this Duke Hector of Soleanna wanted to make him an offer he could not possibly refuse. He held out to him the unique opportunity of trapping that blue Mobian troublemaker and getting rid of him once and for all. And that's an opportunity I'm definitely going to seize! Ivo's mirrored glasses hid the menacing glint that was now settling in his eyes. And all that guy asked of me in return was my unsurpassed scientific expertise. A little technical advice regarding the malfunction of some sort of energy field machine. Piece of cake for me!

Actually, he hadn't understood half of what the guy had stammered into the communicator, but he hadn't cared much either. Something about time-shifting energy fields, multi-dimensional sun gods, and extinguished flames of hope. It all sounded pretty weird, he thought, and some wrinkles of thought formed on the forehead of his nearly circular skull. But I'll find out soon enough. And if there's really something to it, I might be able to kill two birds with one stone. With the ability to control time, he would finally be equipped with a power that really no one, not even Sonic, could counter.

And speaking of time, the last eleven years had passed almost in the blink of an eye. It felt infinitely good to be back on Earth, to be finally back home. But he wouldn't really feel at home again until he had finally conquered it, as was his fate. He was born to rule. It was his destiny. His overwhelming intellect and inexhaustible inventiveness made him superior to any other life form. He was chosen, chosen to rule the planet, even the entire universe. Unlike his father Gerald, who had wasted half his life aboard a stuffy space station. Who had misspent all his genius developing weapons of mass destruction for the government instead of using them himself to overthrow the world order.

That fucking piece of shit. What an empire he could have left to his descendants! But all that useless pile of genetic garbage has passed on to his offspring are incurable diseases, like that thyroid dysfunction that has caused me to become so disgustingly fat. Or that muscular dystrophy that makes me look like a deformed freak, with arms and legs as thin as matchsticks. No wonder everyone's calling me 'Eggman' ever since I can remember. It won't be long until I'll be permanently dependent on an supportive exoskeleton to get around. And let's not even get started on Gerald's granddaughter Maria, who had received her death sentence already as a child, with that horrible diagnosis of N.I.D.S... To be shot was most likely a release for the poor girl.

He grunted in exasperation. But well... I'm actually no better. I made my own mistakes, taken my own wrong decisions. All that time I wasted! All those years I lost, helplessly stranded on Mobius, after my disastrously failed dimensional portal experiment back then. Just being reminded of that sent the unshapely man into a barely controllable rage once again.

What was he thinking? Travel without time delay, by opening a space-time portal... It had looked so promising in theory, and he had really constructed that teleportation machine conscientiously. But all of a sudden he had found himself in a completely foreign world. Surrounded by anthropomorphic aliens who called themselves Mobians and who were so far behind in their development that they had not even invented the goddamn wheel yet.

Of course, they had been quite surprised by his unexpected arrival at first. But they had taken him in kindly and without suspicion. They had tended to his wounds and nursed him back to health, provided him with food, and offered him to live his life among them in case he would not be able to return to his homeworld. They had even learned his language, amazingly fast and in an incredible way, simply by listening to the stammering he had uttered in his feverish delirium. These creatures truly possessed very unique qualities, and even physical abilities to a degree that a human could only describe as supernatural.

But I didn't ask for friends. Or for pets! And I don't need any comrades. What I need are subjects. People I can reign over. A world I can rule over. Or even two, if I include Mobius in that calculation.

It had taken him almost forever to rebuild at least a poor copy of his automated factories and machines on that useless, stinking jungle planet called Mobius. A lesser man would have given up. But a lucky circumstance had led to the fact that the accident had brought his teleportation machine with him into that world. At least what was left of it after the accident. But with the help of its parts, he had at least been able to make a start.

His main problem, however, had been the lack of power supply. He needed vast amounts of energy to run his robot factories, and of course there were no such things as power plants on Mobius. The civilization on that planet was still in the Middle Ages, and even that was flattered.

But then he had discovered the Chaos Emeralds and their counterpart, the Master Emerald. They were like holy relics to the Mobians, with the giant master gem even guarded by an ancient warrior clan and worshipped like some kind of idol during their traditional ceremonies. The large crystal on its own was so powerful, so charged with energy, that its mere presence was enough to affect the already pretty strange gravitational conditions on the planet and cause an entire island to float in the air. And just one of the seven smaller gems was able to produce enough power to supply a medium-sized town. If one possessed them all, or even the Master Emerald to control them, it was possible to unleash forces that made a nuclear strike look like a firecracker in comparison.

He had immediately realized that this could be his way home. With the power of the Emeralds, he could not only have opened a new dimensional portal, no, he could have torn the entire space-time continuum into strips. At least in theory. In practice, the Mobians had defended their sanctuaries with claws and teeth. Literally.

His repeated attempts to get his hands on at least one or two of the precious gems in order to misuse them for his own purposes had led to various conflicts between him and the inhabitants of Mobius. And when they eventually found out that he had secretly abducted countless animals, and even Mobian children later, to turn them into involuntary energy sources, they had finally declared war on him.

Absentmindedly, Ivo led his hand to his face, automatically wanting to stroke over his mustache, but the only thing his fingers found was a dense web of burn scars. Nothing would probably ever grow there again. But old habits were hard to get rid of.

The battles had shaken the whole planet, devastated entire areas, but the aliens always kept the upper hand. Above all, that pesky blue Hedgehog. It had not taken much more, and he would have ended up as their prisoner. Maybe they would have even killed him. One could not expect mercy from animals.

But a sudden turn of events had suddenly changed everything. The problem with his return home had practically taken care of itself when, almost exactly eleven years ago, another rift in the space-time fabric had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and permanently connected Mobius and Earth. It had been rather a lucky coincidence that his sensors had detected the anomaly, and he still didn't quite understand what had caused it in the first place. But it was so clear that those furry pests would follow me through and even get in my way here, in my home place!

And immediately after his return, he had also had to realize that time was passing much more slowly on Mobius than it did on Earth. More than fifty years had passed in his absence. All his relatives were dead. Nobody knew him anymore. Nobody had reckoned with him anymore. Only two generations, and the world has forgotten me. Well, soon I will leave a lasting impression, that's for sure.

He forced himself out of his thoughts for a moment and looked at the display of his flight control system before making a few minor adjustments to the settings. The ship's stealth mode was working flawlessly, and also the autopilot was still busy and maintained the programmed course in an exemplary manner. In about two and a half hours, he would have reached his destination. And speaking of impressions, it's about time to check on my cargo. To make sure my new little secret weapon against Sonic is ready for action. It would be a real shame if it failed tonight in Soleanna. Joyful excitement accelerated his heartbeat.

The obese man braced himself from his pilot's seat, and the overloaded piece of furniture gave a protesting groan. But when he tried to put weight on his legs, they suddenly gave way under him as if they were made of rubber, and he heavily fell back into his chair. Fucking shit! Seems I need that exoskeleton even sooner than I thought. Or wanted to admit. This body is so fucking useless! Not much more than a life support machine for my head!

He massaged his thighs until the pins and needles subsided and feeling returned to his numb legs. Then he got on his way and left the command bridge. His destination was the cargo bay, and as lumbering as he was, it would take him a few minutes to get there. His thoughts began to wander again as he slowly moved through the dimly lit corridors of his battleship.

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-===XXX===-

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She was dead tired, but she just wasn't able to fall asleep. The floor was hard and cold, and even though she had curled up her naked body tightly into a ball, the cold crept through her fur and into her limbs, and made her shiver. The fact that every inch of her tortured flesh ached as if someone had stuffed her into a sack and then slammed it against a wall several times didn't make it any easier for her to relax, either.

And to make matters even worse, she stank almost unbearably of urine and other unappetizing excretions, since her prison was not cleaned very often and she had not been able to wash herself for quite some time now. And the lavender-furred Mobian Cat hated not being able to wash. Hunger and thirst made her stomach cramp almost more badly than her own disgusting odor, and that omnipresent, nerve-racking hum that permeated her from the tip of her ears to the end of her tail was going to drive her insane.

For weeks now, she and her partner had been caged in these glass tanks their captor called 'stasis tubes', and in which they had just enough room to stand or sit. Escape was out of the question. Not that they hadn't already tried. But the glass seemed unbreakable, and she had already broken her wrist trying to smash it. Besides, any attempt to escape was punished in the harshest way by their abductor. It seemed to give that egg-shaped human a diabolical pleasure to inflict unbearable pain on her and the Hedgehog that was held captive in the tank next to hers.

She wanted to take in a deep breath to calm herself, but her broken ribs stabbed painfully into her chest, and she had to cough. Immediately, the metallic taste of blood settled on her tongue.

The Cat raised her head and glanced over to the neighboring stasis chamber to see how her friend was doing. To check if he was still alive at all. Cold fear clutched her heart like a hand of ice.

The Hedgehog was shackled in a device that had probably been designed especially for him, and primarily seemed to serve the purpose of making it impossible for him to use his special ability of psychokinesis. The way he was hanging there in his bonds, with his arms outstretched sideways above his head, made it look as if he had been crucified in a particularly unpleasant way. His head was dropped to his chest, and it seemed as if he had once again lost consciousness. He was naked, too, and his white fur was dirty and matted and stained with dried blood, mainly around his muzzle. One of his five fan-shaped head quills was broken and dangled down in front of his face like a bent blade of grass. He was in very poor physical condition, and it showed.

She wanted to call out to him, wanted to call his name to see if he was awake, and braced herself for the pain in her chest that every little exertion triggered in her. But suddenly her sensitive ears picked up approaching footsteps. Their tormentor was on his way again. Probably on his way here.

Her fur bristled at the thought.

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-===XXX===-

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Ivo stepped out of the elevator that had taken him to the lower levels of his vessel. Here, in the bowels of the ship, the omnipresent roar of the engines was even louder. The cargo area was near the machine rooms. He did not come here very often, mostly because almost all processes were automated, and robot drones took care of most of the systems. He rarely had to touch anything anymore personally. Nevertheless, he knew his ship like the back of his hand. Completely lost in thought, he moved with the certainty of a sleepwalker through the corridors of his flying home.

He had to think about the rift again that had connected Earth and Mobius for more than a decade by now. Even he, a sober-minded, fact-oriented scientist, had to admit that the space-time distortion was mysterious in many ways, and he had meanwhile spent years studying it. He had built devices and machines, drones and sensors, all for the special purpose of analyzing the rift and its origin. In principle, it wasn't a true wormhole. Not in the traditional sense. Actually, it was more like a cut in the fabric of space-time than a true opening or passage, even if it could be used as such.

It's a wound. A wound in the space-time fabric. As if the universe had contracted there, almost like a scar. He had no idea how to describe it in a more proper way. The structure of space-time had shifted, distorted, folded at that point. His research had revealed that the anomaly in its entirety had the shape of a gigantic twisted hourglass, with the rift somewhere in the middle of the taper. Even with my sophisticated instruments, I had difficulties to detect and measure the phenomenon correctly. And it took me years to work out the right formulas to be able to affect it.

But his experience with space-time portals had proven useful. With the right amount of electromagnetic power, he had managed to influence it, to change its form and angle to some degree. Even the slightest modulation had resulted in an alternation of its event horizon. Like some kind of cosmic kaleidoscope! A multi-dimensional hall of mirrors. And then he had seen it. Whatever had caused the rift, whatever had once held the fabric of space together there and then had been obliterated, it had connected a seemingly endless number of timelines and universes. The connection between Earth and Mobius appeared to be only the most stable link.

And while researching these alternate timelines, he had come across something interesting. A world in ruins, probably far in the future, where boiling lava squeezed through the streets of devastated, abandoned cities like a never-ending, living river. He had not been able to enter or even travel to one of those other dimensions, but he had at least been able to manipulate the rift in some other way. Six months ago, when he had finally come into possession of the Master Emerald, at least for a short time, he had managed to use its power to bring something from that burned, destroyed future Earth into his own world. Something? Well, rather someone, to be precise. My new ace in the hole against Sonic. And also the key to harnessing it.

He had almost arrived at the freight section. So let's see how the two of them are doing.

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-===XXX===-

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The footsteps came closer and closer, and panic rose in her. She had to force herself with all her might to stay calm and to keep breathing steadily.

Was he coming to check on them? Was it 'feeding time' again, as that barbaric human was calling it? Or was he planning to torture her again? Torture her with electric shocks until she lost control over her muscles again and soiled herself and her prison even more? Suck the air out of her glass cage again until she was on the verge of suffocation? Or had he even thought up a whole new cruelty? She was trembling all over, and this time it was not the cold that was the reason for it. And her partner... How much more was he able to take before his body would give up the fight? Or his spirit?

What did that guy want from them anyway? Why had he taken them here? Why was he holding them captive? Their life had been hard enough, in that devastated, burning world, in which they had had to eke out their existence. A harsh, bleak place, where they had to live in eternal darkness. Trapped in a never-ending struggle against an eternal life form of magma and rocks, which they could never truly defeat, but against which they had nevertheless decided to battle every day anew.

But until now they had at least had each other, had given each other support and strength. They had fought together, back to back, side by side, day after day. If one of them would die here, tortured to death by this bald-headed, hateful monster... what would become of the other then? How was she supposed to go on, without her partner, without his love? Without the one who meant the most to her? Her fight would be over, lost, and it would all have been so pointless...

She couldn't help it, her throat constricted. She had to sob, and the pain made her body convulse. Her eyes filled with tears, but the brave Cat immediately fought them down. She would not do the crazed bastard that favor. If she had to die, she would do it upright. Proud. With her head held high. She would look her killer in the eye, and she would not cry while doing so. She bared her teeth and let out a low hiss, but the tearing pain in her chest made it end in a pitiful meow.

The footsteps had stopped, and suddenly the airlock on the other end of the cargo bay slid open with a hydraulic wail. Quickly she lay down again and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

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-===XXX===-

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The freight hold was spacious but mostly empty, and the dim light from the few ceiling lamps did not penetrate to all corners. It was cold in here, uncomfortably cold even, but heating the cargo area would have been a waste of energy in his opinion. On one side of the room, Ivo had installed a set of stasis chambers, the older standard models, like the ones that had been used on the ARK already decades ago. They were reliable and stable, virtually unbreakable, yet economical in power consumption. And even when not used in the sense they were designed for, they still made good prison cells.

He approached one of the two chambers that were occupied and looked at the creature lying inside curled up on the floor. It was a female Mobian, of the breed called Cat. Her eyes were closed, but he could see her eyeballs moving restlessly under her lids. He knew that she had golden irises that sometimes glowed as if filled with an inner fire. A little hint of her special abilities, with which the scientist had already had to make painful acquaintance.

Her name was Blaze, that much he knew of her, and no other name would have suited her better. She seemed to be asleep, caught in a restless dream. Or maybe she's just pretending, Ivo thought. You never know with this devious tigress. The creature's lavender fur was disheveled and dirty, caked with dried blood in some places, and her left wrist was broken and sticking out at an unnatural angle. The result of yet another futile attempt of escape.

Well, we all make mistakes, and have to pay for them. Sometimes a high price. So did I. My mistake was to underestimate the two of them, and to not anticipate that they're such a well-attuned pair in battle. Changing the focus of his eyes, he examined the reflection of his face in the glass pane of the stasis tube in front of him. The first thing that always immediately caught his attention was his large, bulbous nose, which looked like the result of several failed attempts to correct a poorly healed fracture by inflicting even more fractures. Then his gaze fell on the left side of his face and on his lips, where his magnificent mustache had once been, and where wrinkled burn scars now marred his skin. And by slightly turning his head, he could see the lumpy piece of molten flesh that had once been his left ear. He looked like the monster everyone called him.

I can only hope that snatching these two creatures was worth all the sacrifices! His hands curled into fists at his sides as he shifted his gaze back to the feline anthro. Dream on, little kitten. Dream while you still can. Enjoy those last journeys to the realms of peace and oblivion. It's the only freedom you have left in the short rest of your life. And soon your last dream will be over too.

"L-Leave her... alone," a weak, shaking voice sounded from behind him.

Ivo turned to the other stasis chamber, in which a male Mobian Hedgehog was hanging in shackles. The scientist's lips twisted into an evil grin, distorting his disfigured face into a hideous grimace. "Well, at least one of my guests seems to be awake." His voice dripped with spite. "I was beginning to think I'd have to shock you two again. Or let you run out of air again for some time." He let out a throaty laugh, and it boomed like a thunder in the cavernous hall. "I can't even tell which of those two options I am enjoying more."

The Hedgehog raised his head and tried to straighten up in his bonds to assume a more comfortable position, but slumped down again, powerless. "W-Why are you doing this to us? Why are you detaining us here? W-We don't even know you!" He stared at his tormentor, his yellow eyes half-closed in exhaustion.

"Don't worry. We have almost arrived at our destination. Your big day has come." Ivo folded his arms behind his back and stepped close to the pane. His warm breath caused the glass to fog up. "Tomorrow night you will do something for me, do me a great favor. Your powers are tailor-made for what I have in mind."

"I-I don't get it..."

"There's someone of your ilk who annoys me to death. Literally. A blue Hedgehog. Name's Sonic." He spat out the word as if it were a curse. "He's a little too fast on his feet, so you're going to hold him in place for me. Until I'm done with him. And after that, I'm done with you." He made a head gesture towards the chamber behind him. "With both of you."

"What? Why...? A-Anyway, please listen! Whatever it is you want me to do, I'll do it. I promise! But please, let at least her go." His eyes twitched to the Cat, and when he turned his gaze back to Ivo, tears glistened in them. "I swear... I swear on my life... on my love for her, that I will do whatever you ask of me."

Ivo laughed again. Seeing the agony the Mobian was going through out of concern for his dearest one gave him almost more pleasure than physically torturing him. "I'll let you both go, as soon as you've done me that little service. But until then, I still need her. As an insurance, so to speak. You understand that, don't you?" He fished a small remote control out of his pants pocket, barely bigger than one of his fingers, and held it up for the Hedgehog to see. "Because you have to know, should you disobey me, or should anything happen to me while we're both out there, she's going to have a bad time. Then today will be the day you have seen her alive for the last time."

"Silver, no," a desperate outcry suddenly sounded from out of the other stasis tube. It was Blaze. She looked as if she could barely keep on her feet, but somehow she had managed to rise to a stand, palms pressed against the glass pane. "Don't be always so naive! He's a liar! He'll dispose of us as soon as he doesn't need us anym- Aiiieee!"

Ivo had pressed a button on the remote control, electrifying the floor of her prison. Several thousand volts shot through her body, creating bolts of lightning that lashed all over her frame. "Now look at that. I knew she was just pretending to be asleep! Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"Stop it! Stop it right now," the white-furred Hedgehog roared out at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking with panic as he saw his girlfriend writhing on the ground, twitching.

"Oh, come on. Don't be such a party pooper," Ivo scoffed. "Take a good look, Silver, my friend. This is just a little taste of what's in store for her in case you disappoint me." Again he pressed the button, and the Cat once more writhed in agony on the floor, eyes and mouth wide open. It seemed as if she wanted to scream, but she probably couldn't even catch her breath. A puddle formed under her body as her bladder emptied. The merciless scientist laughed at the sight. "Besides, she and I still have a score to settle, don't you think? You can tell by looking at my face."

"This is insane! You're insane!" The Hedgehog didn't know how himself, but somehow he found the strength to pull himself up by his chains and into an upright position. The fear for his mate was stronger than any pain. "Please stop! I'll do it! I'll do anything you want! But please stop it! Please! PLEASE!"

But Ivo just laughed again, loud and resounding, a noise full of cruelty that turned into an echo inside the huge cargo bay, reflected back again and again by the steel walls. "It's no use, Silver the Hedgehog. It's no use!"

…