Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are copyright SEGA Enterprises, LTD. and Archie Comics Publications. NiGHTS and related characters are a copyright of SEGA Enterprises LTD. Delphine, Dimitria, Ali, Marco, Lisa and Devon are a copyright of Delphine. Special Thanks to Jared Matte for letting me use him in this story. Everything written here is fiction. Any similarities between real events and the events in this story are purely coincidental. (assuming you live on Earth) By the pricking of my thumbs/Something wicked this way comes. --William Shakespeare, Macbeth The Red Silk Meetings -- Delphine Thendara sewers, June 28, 8:38 AM "It's too wet...." "Ahhh! Smells just like home." "I hate water! I can't live in this! I'm a robot!" "SHUTUP!" Brass looked over at Peter and shrugged. "Okay. But I still hate water." "Okay fearless leader, now what do we do?" Peter asked Snively. Snively turned towards the robots and smirked. "Each of these robots has a bomb. Nothing fancy, just some dynamite inside a box. We need to place each of these around the city, almost causing it to implode on itself." "So that's why we're in the sewer." Snively, Peter and the robots walked off, trying to calculate where they should put the bombs. Up ahead, close enough so that he could hear everything but far enough so that they couldn't hear him, Reala was up against the wall, trying to decide where to go. He didn't want to be caught, but he wanted to know what was going on. He looked around, and saw a large hole in the wall. He flew over to it and crawled in. He crawled behind a small pile of debris and curled himself into a ball,waited for the robots to come. Peter and Snively turned the corner at that moment. They were talking about bombs and explosions and accidents and bodies flying and other gruesome things. Brass stopped. His eyes glowed red. "Snively." Snively turned. "Yes?" "Detecting one life form in that direction." He pointed towards the hole. Reala saw that and tried to make himself smaller. "Then go find out what it is." Peter said. Brass walked over to the pipe. Reala picked up a piece of debris. Brass reached in. Reala threw the = rock. Brass grabbed Reala's arm as the rock hit him. They both fell away from the pipe. It seemed to happen in slow motion to Reala. He landed hard against the = ground. Brass picked him up by his neck and brought him to eye level. Reala struggled against the robot's metallic hand. Peter frowned. "You could at least let him give an explanation." Reala heard Peter's voice as if it was far off. His vision was becoming blurry. He thought about why he had come. Brass dropped him. Reala gasped in air. He leaned over, not looking at the robots, or Peter, or Snively. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing. "Why did you do that?" Snively asked. "He may prove to be a powerful ally. Besides, we can always kill him." Peter said. Reala winced. "He's definitely not form this planet." Brass remarked, being the only one who had gotten a good look at his face. "Neither are you." Peter smirked. He walked over to the panting 'maren and lightly kicked him. Reala looked up. "Are you friend or foe?" "It matters. What're you?" Reala said. Peter started to frown, then grinned. He held out his hand to Reala. The 'maren paused, then took it. Peter pulled him up. "What I mean is," Peter continued, looking Reala straight in the face, "are you good, or evil?" Reala grinned. If he had been listening, he would have heard the metallic 'pang' the water made as it dripped down and hit bare metal piping, then slid down rocky wall until it fell into the water, and joined it as the water slowly flowed through the pipes to wherever it ended up. Probably the Atlantic. "Evil." Outskirts of Thendara, 9:04 AM NiGHTS woke to the hum of an idling car engine. He felt the warm sunshine on his face. He slowly opened his eyes as he yawned. The first thing he saw was the sky. The sun was lower in the east then when he had fallen asleep. NiGHTS had realized that traveling through the portal had been tiring, but not that tiring! He looked towards the car. He noted that it wasn't a car, but a van. He knew this from images he had seen in dreamers heads. He watched as a slim fifteen year old Mobian Squirrel climbed out of the driver's side. He was surprised, but had known strange things would happen on this world. He knew he was in the human world, but also knew that if Wizeman was after this red silk, there could possibly be others after it. He was underestimating. Ali Cat climbed out of the passengers' side and walked around the front to Sally Alicia Acorn. "You did a better job than I though you would," she told her. "Well, it wasn't that hard, except for last night when we were parked in that vacant lot. Especially when those boys started banging on the windows." "Oh, I think you controlled yourself well." Sally and Ali turned. In front of them was a yawning Delphine Kiminsu. "Especially when you almost rammed that guy into the wall." She smirked. Sally blushed. "I couldn't help it. Somebody decided to take control of the wheel." Sally looked towards Ali in fake anger. "Excuse me?" "Sally Acorn, don't deny it. You have a mean streak under that vest of yours." Sonic T. Hedgehog said. He had climbed out the back and was standing beside Delphine, who was now leaning against the van. "I know what you're thinking, Sonic Hedgehog. You've got a dirty mind." Delphine smirked at him. "Huh? I don't know what you're talking about." Sonic said with an innocent look. Delphine rolled her eyes. Sally blushed. Knuckles Echidna and Marco Fox jumped out of the van. Knuckles pushed Sonic out of the way and stood in front of Delphine. He loved the way the morning sun reflected in her eyes. She pulled him into a long kiss. Marco walked over to Ali. "So, how're ya doin?" he asked. "Oh, I'm okay. I was just a little shaken up last night when those mean men attacked the van." Marco put an arm around her. Delphine pulled away from Knuckles. She looked over to Ali and sighed while rolling her eyes. Dimitria came out of the van last. She walked over to the group without speaking. She felt the morning sun on her back, and slipped out of her cloak, revealing a black fitted shirt and black pants. "Dimitria, you've been so quiet. Is something wrong?" Delphine asked her friend worridly. Dimitria turned to her friend. Suddenly she thought of something she didn't want to think of. A pang of emotional discomfort went through her heart. Then she remembered the question. "I'm fine." Dimitria said. "Something very strange is going on. I know because my majik is stronger than it was before we went through that portal. And that shouldn't have happened." "Hm .... maybe it's the atmosphere." Sally said. She had taken notice of Delphine's worry as she helped Sonic up, who had fallen over when Knuckles pushed him. "Maybe," Dimitria said, although she didn't think that was the reason. she thought. NiGHTS watched all this from his place in the bushes. He was trying to decide if he should introduce himself, or stay hidden. The seven looked friendly enough, but he couldn't be sure. He looked around. He had awoke the night before, but had placed it as a dream. He had been groggy, and had seen the ship de-cloak in the dark of the night. Two human-like beings had walked out. They had walked around, then had gone to the same hill he had flown up. He hadn't heard what they were saying. "Well? Are we going to attack tonight?" "No. Something is.... wrong. Something is not right." The Master paused. "Not tonight. Tomorrow. We shall wait until tomorrow night." Aknar had shrugged, then followed the Master back into the ship. The ship then re-cloaked. NiGHTS had fallen back asleep. Now he reflected on that 'dream'. He was beginning to think that that dream had been no dream. He looked back to the group. He was watching them, trying to find out what his next move should be. Sally was getting the uneasy feeling she was being watched. Looking around and seeing nothing, she turned back to her friends, but still couldn't shake the feeling. Sonic noticed her discomfort. He put an assuring arm around her shoulder. She snuggled against him. The group had moved away from the van and they were siting in a circle, resting. Ali and Marco were sitting together, holding hands. Sally looked around at her group of rebels. She thought about everything they had done. After eleven years, they had finally destroyed Robotnik. The war was over. Now they were starting a new , and they didn't even know who or what they were fighting. She sighed a long, deep sigh. Sonic looked at her. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Nothing. I was just thinking about what happened. Trying to make sense out of it." She looked around. She looked at the van. She realized something. "Delphine?" "Yes?" "Where'd you get the van?" "Well, I, um, you see.... I borrowed it." Delphine glanced at Ali. Ali understood. "Yeah, she had gotten it from someone we met on the street," Ali said. "If you knew about it, they why did you pretend you didn't know what she was doing last night?" Sally asked. "Well, um.... I'll get back to you when I have a good excuse," Ali said. Delphine glared at her. Ali shrugged. She turned back to Marco. Delphine looked back to Sally. "So you're saying that you stole it," Sally said. She frowned. "'Stole' is such a harsh word. I prefer borrowed without asking?" Delphine said as a sort of a question. Sally glared at her. "I guess not." "We'll talk about this when we get back," Sally said, dangerously low. Delphine looked away. "Don't worry. She'll forget about it," Knuckles told her. Delphine smiled at him. "Now, for the problem at hand. We need to find out where Snively went," Sally said. "Just one teensy eensy weensy little question." "What?" "Just how are we supposed to get back?" Ali asked. "We'll...." Sally began. Dimitria interrupted her. "I wouldn't worry too much about that." Everyone but Delphine stared at = her. Delphine just grinned. She wasn't sure what Dimitria was talking about, but she had known her friend for many years, and she knew that Dimitria always had something up her sleeve. "What do you mean?" Sally asked. Delphine stopped grinning. "I just mean that we'll be fine when we need to get leave." "How?" Delphine frowned. she thought. "Does it really matter?" Dimitria said. Sally frowned at her. "Not at the moment. We'll talk about it later. We do have priorities." Delphine started grinning again. NiGHTS watched all this in fascination. He knew they were friendly enough, but did he want to ally with them? He wasn't sure. He quietly flew up to the top of the tree. He sat down on a branch and looked down on the Freedom Fighters from above. He was watching them from the treetop because he felt more comfortable up high. NiGHTS watched as the group broke up, and went around doing various things, some looking for food, others firewood, and others just scouting around. Delphine and Ali were right underneath his tree. "Why didn't you help me back there?" Delphine asked Ali. "I wanted to, but I couldn't think of a good excuse. Sorry," Ali apologized. "That's all right. You tried." Delphine smiled. "I wonder what's going to happen 'later'." "I wouldn't smile about it. She may order you to stay in your hut for a week. She can do that." Delphine frowned. She had only been listening to Ali with half an ear. She had looked up and seen a flash of purple. "Hey Ali," she said, looking over at her friend, "look up there and tell me if you see anything." Ali obliged. She thought she saw something move, but didn't see anything else. She looked back at Delphine. "Sorry Del. Nothin." Delphine frowned again. "Must be the stress," she murmured. Ali noticed her discomfort. "Uh oh, It's finally happened," she said with a slight smirk. "What?" "Well, since you're hallucinating, you must have gone crazy!" Ali laughed. Delphine lunged at her, laughing, but Ali dodged, sending Delphine to the dirt. "You're gonna pay for that, cat!" Delphine yelled, grinning. "That was an extremely bad joke!" Ali laughed and ran off, with Delphine running after her. NiGHTS let out a long breath. He had leaned over to watch them, and had almost fallen down on them. Luckily he had caught himself before he fell. Now he was watching them chase each other around the field. He turned and saw Sonic and Sally together, talking. "You shouldn't have made such a big deal out of the van. I don't see what the problem is. We needed that thing." Sonic told her. "Sonic, that's besides the point. She stole it. That van belonged to someone." "The keys were still in it Sal. And I didn't see you making such a big deal out of it when you got in the drivers seat." Sonic stopped and turned to look at here. She looked away. He took her hand. "C'mon." "Where are we going?" Sally asked. Sonic gave a childish grin. "For a walk." He didn't say anything else. He just pulled her away from the others. "Sonic? Sonic!" Sally yelled as he pulled her away. Dimitria watched as they disappeared into the trees. Then she turned and walked around. As she walked under the tree NiGHTS was in, she stopped. Something told her to look up. She did. She saw purple through all the brush and pine. Through all the twigs, branches and pine needles, she saw purple. She looked around. Knuckles and Marco were a way off to her left, fighting with each other. She backed away about five feet from the tree. She focused on her finger, and let it be the center of her powers. She watched as a single shot of pure white energy exploded out of her finger and hit the tree. She was knocked back about two feet. Dimitria wasn't exactly sure what she had done. Up in the tree, NiGHTS was struggling to keep his balance. When Dimitria hit the tree, it had started shaking violently. NiGHTS felt himself fall. He tried to grab onto a branch. Instead he kept hitting them, slowing his fall but bruising him at the same time. After what had seemed like forever, but actually had only been a few seconds, NiGHTS landed in a bush. He was bruised, bleeding, and shaking. Marco and Knuckles stopped fighting. Dimitria gasped. Ali stopped suddenly, causing Delphine to run into her. Sonic and Sally heard the crash, and rushed into view. NiGHTS looked around him. "Uh oh." 9:45 AM Devon came down to the side of the hill. "Um, guys, there's something really weird going on." he said. Jared and Lisa looked up at him. They were sitting, waiting for his return. "Like what?" Jared asked. "Really, really weird stuff, that's what." "Could you be more specific?" Lisa asked. "Bipedal animals, intelligent ones, are walking around up there." "Well that's not so WHAT?!?!" "You're kidding, right?" "No Lisa, I'm not kidding. See for yaself." Lisa and Jared looked at each other, then climbed up the hill, just enough so they could see over the top. "Oh man." Jared moaned. Lisa gasped. The two climbed back. "Okay, now what do we do?" Lisa asked. "I'm not sure," Devon said. "Maybe--" she stopped. "What?" "Yeah, what?" Devon asked. "Something strange is going on," she murmured. "Whadaya mean?" "Lisa, what's going on?" "I- I'm not sure." She groaned. Jared took her hand. "Are you okay?" "I - oh dear God!" "Lisa-" Lisa looked up at Jared. "We need to stay away from the city.... for now.... we can't.... I-" She stopped. She had no idea what she was saying. She just _knew_. "Something freaky is going on guys." "Tell me about it," Devon murmured. 9:50 AM "Okay, who are you?" Knuckles demanded. "I--" NiGHTS started. "And why were you spying on us?" "He can't answer if you don't shutup!" Knuckles yelled at Marco. "Oh yeah?" "Cut it out." Sonic said from behind them. Dimitria took this pause to pull Knuckles and Marco away and talk to NiGHTS herself. She looked down at him, held out her hand, and smiled. "Hi." NiGHTS looked at her hand, then at Marco, then back to her hand. He shrugged and took it. She helped him up. "My name is Dimitria." "I'm NiGHTS." They shook hands. "There is definitely something strange about this planet." Delphine said to Ali. "What do you mean?" "Well, Dimitria said her powers are enhanced, now she's acting as peacemaker, and Sonic just showed intelligence!" The two laughed. "I heard that!" Sonic said. They had all gathered near the tree when NiGHTS fell out. Now Dimitria was finding out what he was doing here, why he was in the tree, etc. etc. He told her. Then Dimitria introduced him to the group. Marco was the only one who argued. "How do we know he's not lying?" "Here we go." Knuckles said. He looked towards Delphine. She shook her head. "Marco, shut it." Ali said. "But he is right." Sally said. "We don't now if NiGHTS is lying or not." "I think Marco is attracted to the wrong person...." "Excuse me?" Sonic said. Delphine smirked. "Sal-ly! Dimitria exclaimed. "Well?" "Don't worry about it. I know." "She does, Sal." Delphine cut in. "Dimitria knows what she's doing." "Thank you. Now, can we get on with it?" Dimitria said. NiGHTS let out a small sigh of relief. "Okay. We need to plan. NiGHTS, will you come with us?" Sally asked. NiGHTS thought about it. "Yes." "Okay, we need to wait until nightfall." She continued along with the plan. 10:03 AM "Lisa, are you sure your okay?" "Yes." She was going to say more, but she looked to the town. It was somewhat small, but not small enough to be a 'hick town' It was more like inbetween being a town and a city. There were approximately ten-thousand people in it, so you couldn't exactly say it was tiny, but it was small, compared to the other places in New York. And it wasn't very well known. She thought she heard something. "Do you guys hear that?" "Hear wha--" Devon stopped. He heard it. A rumble, small at first, but getting louder. "Oh man, what's going on?" "I haven't the slightest--" Suddenly, without warning, the city imploded on itself. The sound was deafening. "Get down!" The three kneeled down and covered their heads. After a minute, which seemed more like an hour, it stopped. Carefully, the group got = up. A few pieces of smoldering building material were nearby, but nothing had come near them. They stared at the city in silence. Then Devon uttered one word: "Damn." 10:07 AM When the Freedom Fighters and NiGHTS heard the explosion, they went running to the overhang. Had they looked down, they would have seen Jared and the others. "Oh man. Oh shit. It looks like Robotropolis. It looks like fu--" Sally = put her hand on his shoulder. Sonic stopped. Delphine looked at the city, then at Dimitria, then back to the city, then back to Dimitria. Marco looked at her to. "When we went through that portal thing, did we go straight to hell?" "No. Wrong dimension." "Excuse me?" Delphine stared at her. Dimitria looked up. "Huh? Oh, nothing." Dimitria looked back to the city. Delphine and Marco exchanged glances. Then Ali walked over to Marco. He turned. "Are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm.... I mean, no, I didn't expect that explosion. It was very hard for me." Marco looked concerned. Delphine rolled her eyes. She turned, and saw NiGHTS standing next to her, looking at the city. The fire was = reflected in his eyes, dancing with itself. "Hey." He glanced at her, then looked back at Thendara. Then he looked back at her again. "What is going on?" "I haven't the slightest idea." She looked back at Dimitria, who seemed = to be thinking extremely hard. Then she looked back at NiGHTS. "But I think she does." NiGHTS looked past her shoulder to Dimitria. He knew what she meant. "Sal?" "Yeah Sonic?" "I think we need a new plan." 100 feet away,10:16 AM "Whoa!" "That was so cool!" "I haven't had this much fun since.... well, I've never had this much fun!" "Interesting." Reala said. He looked at the city in awe. "Interesting? This is awesome!" Reala turned to Peter. "I didn't say it wasn't." Peter grinned evilly. "Okay, so now what do we do?" Brass asked. "The Freedom Fighters should be out of the way, seeing as they're in that lab, but we still need to watch out for that 'friend' of his." Peter said, pointing at Reala. "He's not my friend." "Are we so sure that the Freedom Fighters are still in the lab? How do we know they haven't escaped?" Snively said. "Because the bars are titanium. The hedgehog can't get through." "So how do we know that some of the others didn't come through and got them out?" Snively asked him. Peter thought about it for a moment. "You're right. We don't know if they didn't do that. But we've got an army of robots standing behind us. They don't stand a chance." "Perhaps." Snively stared at the city a few minutes more. He wasn't sure what was going on. He had taken a big risk doing this in the first place, and he still had no idea what he was doing, what he was going to do, or why he was here. He just knew that whatever happened, things would be different. Much different. 10:38 AM "I don't believe this! This is so--" "Sally look out!" Sonic yelled as Sally fell over the edge of the hill. She landed on Devon. "Oof!" "Ahh!" "What the?!" "Who?" Sally scrambled off of Devon and backed away from the group. "Who're you?" "We could ask you the same." "I asked first." "Well you jumped on me!" "I fell!" Up above, Sonic was yelling down at Sally, ignoring Jared and the others. "Sal, are you alright?" "I think so." Sonic jumped down next to her. She gasped. He looked at the group. "Who're you?" "I could ask the same thing." "Didn't we just go through this. "QUIET!" Lisa shouted. Everyone looked at her. "Enough is enough. How are we supposed to make explanations if no one will stop talking and start explaining?!" "Are you guys alright down there?" Delphine called down. "We're fine. Stay up there." Sally told her. Delphine backed away from the edge with a confused look. "What is it? Are they okay?" Ali asked. "They're fine, but Sally said to stay up here." "Are you sure?" "Yeah, she told.... she told ME to stay up here." Delphine grinned. "But she didn't tell anyone else to stay up here." Knuckles said. NiGHTS uncrossed his arms. Marco stood up. Dimitria looked from one person to the other. "Okay, so who's going to go?" "Ali is." Delphine said. "Me?" "Yeah. Your small and quiet. If you're careful they'll never even know you're there." "Good idea." Ali looked down, then looked over. She swished her tail. she nodded, then silently slipped down behind the rock, which was almost directly behind Devon, Jared and Lisa. Up above, Dimitria had sensed something. "Delphine, something's wrong." "What?" "I'm sensing a majikal force near us, and it's stronger than anything I've ever known." Delphine looked at Dimitria. "So you're saying...." "That one of those people down there has an extremely strong majikal pendant. Only thing I know that's stronger than it is the Chaos Emeralds, and perhaps whatever is in the 'atmosphere'." "The atmosphere. Yeah, right." The two smiled. "So what is it?" "I haven't the slightest idea. But if we're not careful, we might find out. Ali was sitting behind the rock, being careful to be quiet. She listened in to what they were saying. "So you're saying this guy is out there somewhere?" Devon asked. "Yes. And he probably caused this." The waved her hand at the city. The smoke from the fire was so thick that it had partially blocked out the sun. "So what should we do about it?" "I'm not quite sure. I could be entirely wrong. Whoever he is, he might = not even be alive." "Doubt it," Sonic muttered under his breath. Jared tuned out the conversation. He thought about the description that had been given. he thought. "Hey Jared," Lisa whispered, shaking Jared out of his thoughts. "What?" he whispered back. "Do you believe this guy? He's talking like he was born to do this. It's like--" she stopped. She had caught a glance at the silver ring on her right finger. It was glowing an orangish-red. "What on Earth...." "What?" "Look." She pulled her hand up. He saw the ring. "What--" "I don't have a clue. But it's freaking me out." A shiver went up her spine. Jared put a hand around her shoulder. Sonic watched this out of the corner of his eye. He had been trying to pay attention to what Sally was saying, but he found it extremely boring. He wanted to go out and find out who this guy was and beat the crap out of him. He gave a small half smile when he saw them. Then he brought his attention back to the conversation. Ali listened to what they were saying. They were formulating a plan. She decided she had heard everything she needed to, and had made sure that nothing bad was going to happen. She slinked back up to the top of the hill. NiGHTS, Dimitria, Knuckles and Delphine were sitting in a circle, talking. Marco was pacing nervously, waiting for her return. He looked up and saw her, then sighed with relief. "There you are." He walked over to her and gave her a swift hug. She was surprised. She hadn't been ready for it. "What was that for?" she asked. Marco looked hurt. "I missed you. I was worried about you." "I-- um--" Delphine started grinning like mad. Ali saw her. "Don't you say anything," she hissed at her. Delphine just kept grinning. "So what happened?" NiGHTS asked. "Nothing. They're just talking. There doesn't seem to be any threatening maneuvers on either side," Ali told then. "Good. And Since I didn't go down there, we followed the rules, didn't we?" Delphine said. "But of--" "Hey guys!" Sonic interrupted Ali. "What?" Delphine asked. Sonic and Sally climbed back up the hill, by themselves. "We've gotta explain a few things...." "Yes. There are three humans down there. They're friendly. They've agreed to help us find our enemies and take them down." "That's it in a nutshell," Ali said under her breath. "What?" Sally asked. "Oh, nothing," Ali said in a high pitched voice. Delphine hid a grin with her hand. "Anyway," Sally continued, "if they're going to be working with us, then= they'll need to be introduced to you all. It'll be easier with Delphine, because she's also human, but it won't be very easy with the rest of us, because they've never interacted with.... beings like us at this stage of evolution." "Nicely put." "How come everything is always so easy for you?" Knuckles asked Delphine. "It's not my fault I'm perfect!" "Yeah, right!" Knuckles playfully pushed her. She pushed him back. He pulled her towards him. She giggled. Sally turned away and walked back down the embankment. Sonic watched her. "I don't know about this. What do you think, Del?" "Hm?" Delphine wasn't paying attention. She and Knuckles were enwrapped with each other, staring into each others eyes. "I said.... oh, never mind!" She turned to Marco, Dimitria and NiGHTS. "Same question, different audience." "There's nothing really wrong about making friends with humans. They're probably relatively the same as the beings on your planet-- just mostly a different species." "You've been in this world before?" Dimitria asked. "No." NiGHTS frowned. "Humans've been in mine. It's complicated." "We're not going anywhere," Marco said. "On the contrary," Sally called out. Jared, Lisa and Devon were behind her. The two groups stared at each other for a few tense moments. Delphine thought. She shook her head, pulled away from Knuckles, then walked over to De= von and his group. She smiled. "Hi," she said, "I'm Delphine." Haven, The Floating Island, Mobius, 11:50 AM Locke stared at the computer screens. His face was lit up, and it showed that he was tired. There were bags under his bloodshot eyes. He had been sitting at the screens, looking for a sign, any sign, of what had happened to Dimitria, to his son. On his knee, a weary fire-ant, named Archimedes, was watching the screens also. The two had sat in silence for hours, without sleeping, wanting to know what had happened. One screen showed the Chaotix, who were walking around nervously, watching the island while Knuckles was gone. They had received a message from the remaining Freedom Fighters telling them what had happened, but that had been days ago. No good news had come since, although both teams were hoping, and praying, that their friends would have a safe return. Another screen showed the village of Knothole, from a camera Archimedes had installed when Knuckles first went there. Every had gone about doing business as usual, although most were worried, and the rest were extremely worried, about the group that had gone, especially Princess Sally. "What could have happened?" Locke's spoke for the first time in hours. His voice was hoarse. "I don't know." Archimedes replied. They went on in silence for a few more minutes. "Maybe I should go scout out the area where they were last seen." Archimedes said. Locke's face brightened. "Why didn't we think of this before?" He looked at the computer screens = once more, than looked down at the aging ant. He had a smile on his face. "Yes," he said, "Go find out where they disappeared from, then find out what happened." "I can't guarantee that I'll find out exactly what happened, or where they went, but I'll do my best." "I know you will. I have faith in you. Now go!" The fire-ant disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. Locke sighed, then looked back to the computer screen. Knothole Village, 12:01 PM Tails sighed. He was sitting on the steps to his hut, his head in his hands. His face would have made Bunnie Rabbot cry. He was extremely upset because of what happened. Comet was lying down at his feet, her head on the ground. She was also upset. She hadn't been very popular with the rest of the village, but Delphine and Dimitria had gone out of their way to be nice to her. Soon they had a very strong friendship, and the other Freedom Fighters hadn't shunned her any more. Recently they hadn't been around each other as much, but she knew their friendship was still safe. Now her two best friends were gone, possibly dead, and she didn't know what to do. Whenever she thought about the possibility that they wouldn't be coming back, ever, an empty feeling fell over her. A tear slid out of her left eye and slid down her cheek. A puff of purple smoke appeared near Tails' right foot. "What the--" When the smoke cleared, Tails saw-- "Archimedes!" His face lit up. He didn't know the fire-ant very well, but he was one of the few who didn't treat him like a baby, even from the beginning. "Who--" "Comet, this is Archimedes. Archimedes, Comet." Tails said. "Nice to meet you small one." Comet said. She had lifted her head. Archimedes looked up at her. "And you as well, madam." He looked up at Tails. "But there are more pressing matters at the moment." 'Of course. The Chaotix probably told you about what happened." "Er .... yes, they did." He hadn't seen the Chaotix, not face to face, since what happened. He had been with Locke. "But right now I need you to bring me to the cave where it took place." "You want me to help you?" "Of course. Who else will?" Tails thought about it for a moment. "You're right. I don't know exactly how to get there, but there is a map. I'll go get it. C'mon." He and Comet stood up. Archimedes jumped up to Tails' shoulder. Tails and Comet walked through the village towards the records building. The other villagers ignored them. Nobody noticed Archimedes on Tails shoulder, and they relatively ignored the two. They arrived at the hut the records were stored in a few minutes later. Usually there would be a guard, but since the defeat of Robotnik, no one thought one would be needed. They just walked in. Tails looked around awhile, then went up on his tiptoes and opened a certain drawer. He couldn't see in, so he revved up his tails and hovered above them. He flipped through the files, then found what he was looking for. The map to the Caves of Eternal Death. He took it out, closed the drawer, then landed. He opened the folded map and studied it for a second, Comet looking over his shoulder. Then he folded it up again. "Okay, I know where we need to go. Let's go." He walked out of the hut, and Comet followed. Nobody noticed. They flew over the treetops, following the map but going much faster than Sonic and Knuckles had when they had gone to collect the flowers needed to save Delphine. They got there within an hour. No one had said anything while they had been traveling. Now Comet spoke. "Now I get to go into the former home of the person who almost took my best friend. Yay." Tails and Archimedes looked at her, confused. "Nothing," she said, shaking her head. They walked in. After going down a few passages, they found the spot where the portal had been opened. A tingle was in the air. Archimedes sensed it. Tail's hair stood on end.= Comet twitched her tail nervously. "Can we just get this over with?" she said. Archimedes nodded. "Yes. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes." Archimedes hopped off of Tails' shoulder, then walked around, surveying the room. His antennae were tingling like mad. he thought. He looked around, but couldn't find anything that might help. Then he found a computer chip. A small one, something only he would have been able to see in the rubble. He picked it up. "Interesting," he murmured. "What?" Tails asked. "Let's get out of here and into the light," Archimedes said. "That's the best thing I've heard all day," Comet muttered. The three walked through the caverns and out of the caves. Little light shone through the canopy, but the group felt much more comfortable out in the forest. A cool breeze was blowing through the air, and Tails liked the way it went through his fur, ruffling it. It reminded him of all the noogies Sonic had given him before bed when he was younger, while telling him not to let the bed-bugs bite. He frowned when he thought about what had happened, and what might happen to his friends. "It looks like a computer chip," Comet said. "I know that," Archimedes said. "The question is, what from?" "That's a good question." Tails said. "Maybe," Comet said, "maybe it's from the device that Peter used to open the portal." She stopped. A thought crossed her mind, one that she didn't want to think." "If it is," Archimedes said, thinking the same thing, "Then how are they supposed to get back?" To be continued.... End of Part Two