บท 2: Chapter 2: When Classic Meets Futuristic

Surge could barely react before a hexagonal forcefield enveloped the living ticking time bomb and prevented further casualties from commencing. For obvious reasons, Surge was very unhappy with the new turn of events, striking at the current obstacle before her with supreme militancy and feverish resolve.

"For crying out loud, Holo!" Surge roared at the top of her lungs, sparks flying from her earrings coupled with her comically gnarly expression of rage. Sonic watched as the familiar figure floated into the subverted fray, disbelief layering his shocked features. A distinct look Sonic could barely distinguish, but when he put two and two together, only one other person rocked anything similar to what he was looking at right now.

"Nicole?!" Sonic exclaimed, processing the person standing before him. " THEE Nicole Holo-Lynx! Old Freedom Fighter member Nicole Holo-Lynx!??" the befuddled hedgehog chortled loudly, the disbelief turning into unadulterated joy he never expected to experience today, let alone while fighting Surge of all people. She quickly rushed to greet her old friend who welcomed the embrace with open arms, laughing joyfully from pure nostalgia.

"It truly has been ages since I was granted the chance to lay any of my photoreceptors on such a familiar face, Sonic! I missed everyone dearly!" Nicole mused, hug tightening as the memories of all her old friends flooded her mind further.

"Where have you been?!" Letting go of her, Sonic still attempted to grasp what was happening right now. Before Nicole could answer, rumbling came from underneath the both of them, growing more intense as time went by! The pair looked toward the forcefield, noticing that only a large messy hole was within it.

"Guess we should put a pin on this reunion," Sonic suggested rather nonchalantly right as he began winding his arms in preparation for the onslaught Surge planned on delivering. "Gotta know what cool adventures you've been hogging without us, hehe!" Right on cue, the Green Menace emerges from the ground, already in hot pursuit of her target and full of red-hot energy.

"Surge! Stop!" Nicole's pleas fell on deaf ears. Surge was set on stomping the hedgehog into the ground, but this did not sway Nicole's resolve to prevent this pointless battle from persisting. Instead of talking her out of this, she instead charged up a new plan.

"Quit avoiding me, coward!" Surge threw lighting spears her opponent's way, but just like before, he continued to evade them with near-perfect control. The more he ended up dodging her attacks, the more agitated she became. Here she is, giving it her all and he, prancing about like some kid galivanting at recess, couldn't even be bothered to show even an inkling of a sweat drawn. It was seriously pissing her off.

"I don't think you'd be able to handle the heat if I were to fight back! 'Sides, I wouldn't wanna distress an old friend by having her witness your butt getting kicked in!" Sonic taunted, clearly humored by the entire spectacle that is Surge's tantrum. He spun her way with what would seem like a usual spin attack, so Surge prepared his offensive with a defensive electrified stance. Little did she know that he was aiming for a fake out! Before fully reaching her, he quickly backtracked into the air, still spinning but at a far more accelerated pace, and as he was in the air sharp slices of wind began to pummel Surge's form. While she was in a defensive stance, the strong currents of wind hammering her made it hard to stay in place. Once she lost her footing, Sonic made one last strong slash by kicking the remaining streams of air toward her, ultimately knocking her off her feet entirely. The strong gust persisted even after the fact, causing her to grip the ground helplessly while struggling to even open her eyes and see the Blue Bastard in the middle of his assault. As if this onslaught wasn't enough, what appeared to be a grid started to form below Surge's body and fold into the shape of a cage.

Nicole hovered near the enclosure to make sure it was nice and sealed to prevent Surge from escaping. This time around, there was no way for the temperamental fighter to dig her way out of this one since the trap was far more solid and guarded with bars below compared to the last one, though this didn't sway her from still attempting to break out of her newly-founded prison.

"Sonic is an ally, Surge! Why must you persist with this bestial rampage?! He has done nothing to merit-"

"Shut it, Holo!" Surge spat, not even bothering to look her partner's way. Strangely enough, after a few more attempts at clawing and striking the cage floor, Surge eventually gave up, sitting down in a huff with her legs and arms crossed, which of course, Sonic found especially weird.

"What happened to all your thunder, Surge?" Yet another sly pun from the speedster left Surge with an intense need to stuff his mouth with dirt.

"One more awful pun from you, clown, and blue won't be the only color you'll be known for." Surge rasped at a still passive Sonic, who tried his hardest not to crack another smirk at the sight of Surge's childish demeanor. He doesn't mean to offend her so much, he has made this clear in the past after all, he understands where her anger comes from. However, her trying to kill him so vehemently doesn't necessarily help.

"Come on, Surge, don't act like that! I'm just lil sho-er, confused, really! You gave it your all then suddenly gave up. What's gives?"

Surge avoided eye contact, making Sonic even more curious.

"I have used this aviary before on her." Nicole answered, tugging Sonic's attention. "As I am sure you are knowledgeable, she's not precisely the, uh...easiest to manage. So, I designed a safe gridlock to keep her at bay that didn't resort to inhumane methods or bring much harm to her." Nicole plucked a few blades of grass from the ground and poked the grid bars with them. The blades of grass went limp completely, turning a duller shade of green as a result, but reverted when Nicole pulled it away. "It numbs anything that comes into contact with it, but only if you continue holding onto it. It's also resistant to fire and electricity."

"Woah. She must have done a number on ya to make ya go this route."

"Mmmm, an enclosure of this nature was bound to be of great assistance, at least for me and everyone else whom she has consistent contact with when enraged."

"Yeesh, don't you ever get a 'lil tired of doing that? Sounds like a handful, no offense, Surge."

"Shut up."

"Periodically!" Nicole giggled lightly. "But, Surge isn't all too bad...'usually'. I knew of her disdain for you, prior to our reunion, but I didn't think it was to such an extent! This goes beyond my previous estimates! What is the history between you two, if I may ask?"

It fell silent for a few seconds with Surge and Sonic's expressions bearing matching saddened gazes into nowhere, thinking back on everything that had happened between the two. Sonic decided to shoot Surge a glance and caught her sharing the same quiet somberness that laced the once cheery air, which she quickly masked with her usual stubborn indifference after catching Sonic looking her way, turning from his eyes that retold the story with ease. Sonic turned his attention back to Nicole, who looked exceedingly perplexed. He quickly switched off the frown, replacing it with his trademark confident grin instead.

"It's one heck of a story, a 'lil long too! It's also not really my place to talk about!" Casually he brushed off the question as he waved his hand dismissively. Surge's ears twitch.

"Everything about the situation is a bit per-"

"Course you'd want no part in this." Silence again. Sonic usually always had a witty comeback, a few pieces of advice here and there, and so on...but her situation was very special in the worst way possible. Sure he could try to give her advice, but what could he say that he hasn't already to her? She doesn't wanna hear him, and that's fine. He can't talk everyone out of hating him the same way he can't talk people outta loving him. He might as well stick with his methods and if things work out, they work out.

"Ah, I believe I understand. If it has a likelihood of troubling her, let's abstain producing more cause for her agitation. We've already had to haggle with her disproportionate amounts of dudgeon for months on end." Nicole rubbed her head at the mere thought of past escapades the living volcano has put her and others through.

"Months?!" Sonic could hardly believe it. Nicole has been with Surge for months ? That's...That's...

"You survived living with Surge for that long?!"

"Affirmative!"

"Also, you knew her for months?"

"To be transparent with you, I was anticipating your second inquiry to be the first."

"How did you guys meet? Why are you guys, buddies? HOW are you guys, buddies?!"

Nicole giggled at Sonic's confusion. She couldn't at all blame him for finding everything far too out of left field. She took his hands gently and looked hopefully into his eyes, a smile proudly on her face.

"I will explain everything, don't fret, dear friend. There is a lot to discuss, so perhaps we should-"

"Sonic!!" everyone paused to look up in the sky to see a stern Knuckles and a delighted Tails flying and soaring their way.

"Heya, Tails! What took you so long, buddy?! Did knuckles slow you down or something?!" Sonic's quip didn't go unnoticed as he caught the red echidna's face scrunch up in an unamused boredom, rolling his eyes as if he had heard this joke far too many times before. The two landed on the ground and raced the rest of the way forward before noticing the caged-up vexed Surge sitting in the middle of it.

"Guessing the party's over." Knuckles surmised. Sonic shrugged and walked toward his buddies greeting them accordingly. "Wouldn't mind giving us a quick rundown, would ya?"

"Knux, if I tried explainin' everything, we'd probably be here for days to make sense of it all!"

"Wait..." Tails walked up to Nicole, who had been standing there patiently with a too-wide smile, wondering which of the two familiar faces would recognize her first. It took a few seconds for Tails to process who exactly he was staring at, but it all fell into place the more the seconds ticked by, and a wide-eyed Tails gasped, mouth agape as the realization struck.

"It's been quite some time now, hasn't it Tails?"

"Nicole!!?" Tails took no time to warmly embrace a dear old friend whom he thought he'd never see again after all this time. Knuckles was dumbfounded, an always amusing sight for Sonic's gleeful gaze to scour! He couldn't get what he was looking at. The last thing he was expecting was seeing Nicole alive and well, but honestly he couldn't have asked for anything else! "I can't believe it's you! Where have you been!? How are you here!? How are.... you ?!"

Oh, how joyous this moment was! She had been anticipating this for some time, but nothing ever beats the feeling of living through the reunion itself!

"There has indeed been a very large gap in time, but all will be explained in the appropriate setting." Nicole's happy vibe slowly turned into a more serious one. "I must ask this first, however, for the circumstances which brought me and Surge here are of major concern. A concern we have yet to fully pinpoint, but certain leads have helped us get a general idea of where to look for more answers."

Tails stared Nicole in her eyes for a few seconds.

"What do you mean 'brought me and Surge here'?"

"It means what it means, brat." Surge answered for Nicole. She shot Surge a glare for her rude behavior.

Sonic chuckled. "According to Nicole, it's pretty complicated."

"Very..." Nicole said with a tired sigh.

"We'll touch on that a little later, bud, don't you worry. But for now, Nicole needs our help! So, lay it on us! We're always down for some action, especially with an old buddy of ours!" Sonic said, delight and excitement gushing through him. Things have been really boring lately so a new reason to stretch his legs and fly is always welcomed! Nicole nodded with a good-natured smile.

"If possible," Nicole tinkered with her holographics, conjuring an image of the Chaos Emeralds. "Could you tell me if your emeralds have acted in an unorthodox manner recently?"

The boys looked at each other, stunned faces abound. The Chaos Emeralds?! There have been some very odd circumstances surrounding them lately, enough to be worth several weeks' worth of investigation for any new information worth noting that wasn't just sparks and explosions...well, until today that is....

"Actually, yeah! The emerald in my possession along with the Master Emerald have exhibited peculiar behavioral patterns in recent days! Why do you ask?" Tails questioned. Nicole peeked at Surge, who even in her bad mood couldn't help but look her way as well. Eventually, a spikey smile spread across her face. Nicole cleared her throat, visibly nervous about that response, thumbing her braids as she thought of a reply.

"Well, a large assortment of intricacies have come our way, and may very much be a roadblock, maybe even more, for you all." Nicole's thumbing slowed down once she got her thoughts in neat and tidier order but she jolted quickly before anyone else could respond, "Do not be alarmed regarding this issue! So long as a highly particular phenomenon does not occur, like the chaos emeralds emitting a high voltage and irregular energy reading, all should be fine!"

"Oh, that's right!," Sonic chimed. "Tails' didn't ya call me to check out what ya found about it?

A nervous chuckle tumbled out of Tails' mouth, a bead of sweat racing down his temple while he scratched at his head, wondering how exactly to break the news to Nicole that this very scenario did in fact happen. Of course, Nicole began to feel her inner mechanisms coil away fiercely, leaving her with a massive weight of dread impeding her mind with not even the slightest bit of hesitation. Surge, on the other hand, laughed at this revelation, clearly not caring enough to find this situation startling. She stretched before laying across the cage floor, eyes closed and relaxed before she opened them to give Nicole a sly mischievous look, almost as if she was telling her something she already knew.

Nicole, unamused, stared back, knowing what exactly this look meant but not daring to even bring further attention to it. "Tails', are you saying that the Chaos Emerald in your care behaved in said concerning manner? I need complete confirmation." Calmly she asked, staying reserved while Surge's gaze stayed fixated on her.

"Well, me and Knuckles, while waiting for Sonic, were discussing the oddities that accompanied us in the passing days. Knuckles let me know that the Master Emerald has acted as though it has a mind of its own and even told me that I called him over to my home despite never doing so."

"Maybe that geezer was right after all, heheh." Nicole shot Surge a concerned stare after hearing her comment. "Gotta be honest, this squirt's babbling confirming that weirdos chattering has been the only highlight of my day so far. Wonder how Fluff's gonna take this."

"What's she talking about, Nic?" Knuckles asked with a bit of annoyance in his tone, not liking how nonchalant the tenrec is.

Nicole was clearly unhappy with how Surge handled this topic but wasn't all too surprised by her rudeness so instead of arguing with the rebel she decided to stay calm and collected. "As previously stated, it's best to venture all of this information within a new location, preferably the one with the emerald in question then later the Master Emerald for further inspection," Nicole firmly advised, making her way towards Tails and grabbing his hand, optimism taking the reigns at the moment. "I believe we can deter this new foreboding threat with enough research and determination, but only if you, Sonic, and Knuckles are in the picture. You all have helped the world through the toughest obstacles time and time again, if anyone were to help us in stopping an imminent threat, it is you all!"

Surge rolled her eyes so hard and instinctively that if she had moved it any further, she was sure it would have rolled into the back of her head. How boring and gross this whole exchange was. She really must have died and gone to the underworld, cause this was one of the worst kinds of hell. Imagine having to deal with such a squeaky-clean, unproblematic, and unrealistically idealistic point of view within a cage that can make your body fold like an omelet. Surge wanted to commit game end right then and there.

"Don't you agree, Surge?!" Nicole chirped, eyes sparkling and shining a little too brightly...no seriously, her eyes were glowing which aided in making Surge's cringing face grow more wrinkled and ugly from the pure rays of light emitting from the Lynx's orbs of luminous terror.

"Ack! God, Yeah, whatever! I get it, I get it ! Can you stop flashing me already!!" Her reaction was enough to earn a hearty laugh from the boys, much to Surge's dissatisfaction. "So do we call Fluff about this or what!? I wanna get this whole crappy experience over with so we can get the authentic bidness!"

"Fluff?" Sonic stopped the conversation from going any further, Nicole and Surge's eyes were now on the blue hedgehog. "Aw shucks, Nicole! When were you gonna introduce us to you all your new friends!" Sonic playfully questioned. Nicole giggled and Surge continued to roll her eyes.

"If everything is as urgent as they say, wasting precious time will do us no good, so we should start discussing details while Nicole checks the emerald out." Knuckles declared, arms crossing as he scanned the two girls before him.

"I agree! Let's head back to Tails' place! We'll chit-chat more there and get to the bottom of all this. The suspense is killing me!" Before anyone could interject further, Sonic was already on his way there. "Last one there is a rotten egghead!"

"Wait for me, Sonic!" Tails followed the blue blur with Knuckles following closely behind before quickly stopping to wait for Surge, who was staring intensely towards the direction Sonic and Tails ran in, and Nicole, who was just about to release Surge from her short-term confinement.

Within a split second of her release, Surge immediately raced like her life depended on it and vanished into the distance, making the two left remaining spin like mini tornadoes. Knuckles managed to recover rather easily while the poor Lynx felt like her inner programming turned into spaghetti code.

"What's her problem?!!" The echidna's fists began to clench with burning fury, his annoyance was slowly bubbling before Surge's hot feet stunt just now, but he was for real starting to get really annoyed with her. If this is how she decides to adorn the rebel persona she carries with her at all times, Knuckles just knew he and her were gonna clash an unimaginable amount of times.

"Pay her no mind Knuckles," Nicole placed her hand on her furious friend's shoulder. "She has driven me up a wall as well, more times than I'd care to admit, actually, but there is more to her than she likes to lead on! Just give her some time." With that, Nicole began to float and fly after the rest of the gang, who were most likely at the house waiting for them to get there already. Knuckles stood by, arms crossed, the annoyance irrefutably failed to leave him despite Nicole's best efforts to soothe them, but her words still managed to have a big enough effect that the Red Guardian sighed and kept all his grievances to himself...for now. Knuckles finally went on to follow the rest of the group, silently thinking over all that had happened so far regarding the emeralds.

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The heavily guarded civilian area bustling with life of all kinds known as Central City looked far more spectacular than before. The memories of the city may have been a bit foggy since the last time this well-structured cityscape was in full view for familiar eyes, but it was a nostalgic sight rest assured. The bright atmosphere is only bolstered by gorgeous green trees and grass accompanied by a beautiful clear blue sky, exquisite establishments, tall geometrically sound buildings, friendly smiles pressed wide, lasting upon flourished faces...

"His world..." There, a hedgehog floating above the outskirts of those glorious sights whispered beneath his breath. He continued to gaze upon it all with starry eyes scanning every little detail he could gather with not even a shred of hastiness. He drank in the glow of a once dull city and made sure to bring in every last feasible drop. In spite of seeing these magnificent sights on more than one occasion, he can never really get used to how it all was so...kept together. Sometimes he even felt slightly envious of the unity. As certain thoughts crept into his mind, resulting in him shaking away those negativities, he finally determined to enter the area as opposed to eyeballing it, for he had very pressing affairs to attend to. He flew further above the area passing by various skyscrapers, amassing a few enthusiastic hellos and waves from the humans who caught a bit of a looksy his way within those very buildings. ' Ah, that's right,' He thought shyly to himself as he waved back, ' I am kinda popular here.'

He forgot how much attention he managed to collect after helping G.U.N and friends handle a large containment breach a few years back, though he'd be lying if he did mind the extra attention from onlookers...it felt pretty good to be recognized by so many people. He rubbed his nose timidly while getting even more waves and hellos from onlookers, some of whom were little kids who beamed so brightly at the hedgehog with so much hope, that it was enough to brighten up his stressful day just a little...

Looking around the city, he was hoping to spot a certain someone but to no avail. He settled on asking around in hopes of finding his person of interest which also led to nothing. He had wished that he wouldn't have to go to G.U.N headquarters to get any info on him since he didn't wanna accidentally drag them in on something they may try and take into their own hands, so when he did end up finding a clue from a little blonde girl who had just come from a large park area, he felt immense relief. Making his way over the beauty that was Emerald Central, the largest tree in the area had a figure standing proudly underneath it, arms crossed, straight face straighter than ever, yet the eyes contradicted the seemingly bored look. ' Yep, that's him alright '

Emerald Central was a large park that was outside of Central City and was very windy and grassy. Its views from the main grasslands, forests, and city made it a very popular place to relax and let your stress melt away. It was especially popular when the sun was setting! Man, it should have been the first place he checked! Completely slipped his mind that this was a beloved spot for this black and red hedgehog.

Floating silently to not disturb the serenity his person of interest was having, he landed on the western side of the silent hedgehog and made his way up the small hill he stood confidently on.

"Why are you here, Silver?" He stopped in his tracks and went rigid at the mention of his name. "Your energy feels off. Did something happen?"

"Even when you're peaceful you're on high alert..."

"Of course I am. It'd be foolish to let any of my guards down, especially with the city nearby. Now spit it out already...Why are you here?" Shadow finally turned to look Silver's way, looking the same as he always does. "I'm assuming this news is major if you decided to traverse this far away from your planet."

"Well," Silver scratches at his head with darting eyes. "It is a serious matter, but before I tell you what has been happening these past few months, how have you been?"

Shadow's face remained expressionless for a few seconds before he closed his eyes and hummed, taking some time to come up with a good answer. He opened them again to look over the city that was ahead of him and sighed deeply as the fresh breeze took center stage.

"Alive...and well. Things aren't simple, but they are simpl er ."

"Hah...that's good." Silver sighed with contentment, happy to see a good friend doing well. Shadow glanced over at Silver again carrying an expression he couldn't read, making him feel a little nervous. "Um....yeah heh..." Silver cleared his throat as Shadow's stare came off more intense than he had hoped for.

"Thanks." Silver blinked comically at this appreciative response. He was thoroughly caught off guard by this! He didn't complain, however, and smiled merrily. "But seriously, why are you here?"

"Oh, ah, right!" Silver fixed his posture, adorning a firm expression before he began explaining his venture to find Shadow. "The reason why I'm here is because I need your help with a particular task."

"A task?"

"Yeah," Silver's eyes seem to look through Shadow's form, his mind elsewhere as though reflecting on a distant memory. What does he see? "If what I have been told comes to fruition, it's severe enough to bring about disarray and misery to all who are bound to succumb to it."

Shadow's eyes narrowed at the thought. "How exactly did you find out about this?" Walking his way over, Silver handed Shadow a device with a strange insignia on it.

"Time tells all. I suggest taking this and running it in a secure area of some kind to see the full picture with trusted allies at G.U.N. I don't want the entire organization to get involved just yet since we are still endeavoring to figure out the verity behind this revelation. We should only let them know once everything has been investigated by us and our friends."

Shadow took a long hard look at the ivory device sitting in the palm of his hand elegantly. It looked to be like some kind of high-tech holographic disk that gleamed a fuzzy white color near the edges. Shadow nodded Silver's way and placed the disk somewhere safe.

"Y'know," Shadow crossed his arms again, eyes shut thinking over what he was about to say before making direct eye contact with the hedgehog before him. "I'm surprised you went to me first."

"Huh? Why?"

"Do I look like the type of guy to seek help from?"

"...I mean, yeah." There was a pause, Shadow's face looking a tad bit more bored with that answer. "no..."

"So, why me?" Shadow probed, truly confused by the decision made here. After all, he has always been deemed the last resort when things went south because, unlike a spikey blue hedgehog, Shadow never goes halfway. Fear of hurting and destroying anything beyond repair was never on his mind...at least not nowadays.

"Chaos Emeralds."

Shadow's interest was baited just a tad once the mention of those powerful stones was brought into the equation.

"You are one of the few individuals I have met who was able to tap into Chaos Energy in the rawest way yet. Not even Sonic has tapped into that much raw power with little effort. You've even managed to challenge Knuckles when it comes to having a psychological link with the emeralds!"

That is true. Ever since he has been in contact with the emeralds, he has had little to no issue handling them in any way he pleases. He even has abilities that only he possesses despite Sonic and the others having a richer history with the gemstones. Of course, Shadow being the Ultimate Lifeform comes with its perks, which include being more adaptive and skilled at things others could only dream of.

"Your link with the emeralds is a huge asset in locating and understanding the current state they're in."

" Current state ? Why do you need to know that exactly?" Shadow asked firmly, the particulars of this situation being very peculiar, enough so to have Shadow keep mental notes in case all goes awry.

"They may be suffering from...well..." Silver paused to take his time with his words. Even he seemed lost in what he had been explaining. Rubbing his chin while lost in thought, he snapped his fingers once the appropriate comparison came to mind. "A fever!"

Shadow's face for a second showcased shock and confusion, but quickly reverted to his poise demeanor. I mean, can anyone blame him? A fever? The Chaos Emeralds? Surely this must be some kind of elaborate joke. That's like saying the sky is falling, and even that pales in comparison to what Silver uttered. Silver most definitely caught Shadow's reluctance to believe him, and reacted accordingly.

"I know it's hard to believe that such powerful items would succumb to something as trivial as the flu, but it's worth investigating! I'd explain it all in detail right now, but time is of the essence!" Silver shouted his concerns passionately to Shadow, eyes glowing with determination. His vigor over the subject has led Shadow to believe that whatever's happening has gotten Silver on edge, true or not. Moreover, Silver isn't the type to lie about these sorts of things but he is capable of being misguided and making a mistake, which would help no one regardless of how valid everything stands to be. He hummed and walked away from Silver, processing everything.

"What do you plan on doing now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Shadow turned his head to look at Silver, but his back was still proudly facing the telekinetic hedgehog. "What do you plan on doing now? I shouldn't have to repeat myself." Silver got a little nervous at the sound of Shadow's slightly irritated voice, a few beads of sweat forming in response. "Obviously, you gave me this disk to catch up while you handle business elsewhere to savor as much time as possible, so what are you gonna do?"

"Oh, well...I was gonna meet up with-"

"What, is this a picnic or a race against time?!"

To his shock, Silver watches Rouge appear from behind the tree casually. She looked vexed and pouted at Shadow's impassivity. Tapping her feet against the green grass, she crossed her arms glaring at her indifferent friend who was more interested in all other details surrounding the case instead of the precious stones she loved dearly.

"The Chaos Emeralds are possibly keeling in sick, and you instead wanna bog down the little time we have in preventing it from getting worse?! Here I thought you had a heart, where's your sense of responsibility, even?!"

"R-Rouge?! When did you get here!?" A shocked Silver stuttered as he took a few steps back. He never really had time to get to know the special agent all that well, so while he never has had any doubt over her abilities, it's still surprising to see just how sneaky she is capable of being.

Usually, Silver's reaction would be seen as cute, charming even, but Rouge's focus was on the horrific news that her lovely emeralds were on sick leave, and she was not having it!

"Listen here, Brainiac," Rouge was now in Silver's face, sly in tone but the fury was in her eyes. "There are only so few things I care for and my emeralds are one of 'em! You gave us what we need to catch up, now it's your turn to play your part, UNDERSTAND ?!" Silver landed on his butt quivering at the now flaming hot Rouge...which he supposes could have more than one meaning but currently her anger was of more concern.

"Y-y-yes b-but.."

"Oh, I'm sorry, was there more to know about the emeralds' status?"

"Well...not that we know as of-"

" Get moving, kiddo ." Rouge begins to push Silver near the edge of the hill where she makes one final rough shove to send him rolling down the bottom, resulting in a loud thud. "Don't show your face unless you've got further intel on my babies!"

"O-okay!" He got up from the ground, dizzy and confused, trying to find his footing. He began to awkwardly fly off before stopping, to Rouge's dissatisfaction. "Uh...sorry??" He left on that note.

"I wasn't done getting information outta him." Rouge looks back to see a still apathetic Shadow staring blanker than ever at her. She sighed boringly, facing him with half-lidded eyes as she made her way towards him. "It's probable that the individuals he has as teammates could be people of interest."

"Who cares, darling?" Rouge spun her way toward the brooding mister. "Silver's a big boy, he can handle a few swindlers when push comes to shove. 'Sides, even if they were enemies, Sonic and friends can handle the mess he got himself into" She waved where the psychic once stood before walking off towards the opposing edge of the hill, ready to take flight. "Now can you hurry up already? Maybe you've already forgotten but there is a LOT at stake here! We need to make sure that the emeralds aren't in any disrepair!"

"You mean, 'Your babies'?"

"Of course!"

Rouge began to fly off in the direction of Central City, leaving Shadow behind in her haste to get to G.U.N headquarters. He pulled out the device Silver left him with and looked over its design. It looks like it was made with elegance in mind first, compatibility second. Who exactly made this thing? Thinking further back, Shadow realizes he hardly knows much about Silver and his home planet aside from helping his people from certain death. He should take time to investigate further when he and Silver have another one-on-one talk.

Putting the odd device away, Shadow makes quick work of catching up with Rouge in the city lying ahead.

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The gang has now settled down at Tails' place, doing their own thing while two geniuses look over the emerald found at Never Lake. Nicole is making sure to do some careful surveying without being in direct contact with it after learning of its strange modifications of Tails' C.I.M

She pulls out her holographics which runs scans on the emerald for any defects and overabundance of energy compulsions. Sonic, Knuckles, and Surge waited around for the two brainiacs to find anything worth a discussion by either sitting around to rest or fiddling with some of Tails' belongings without his permission.

Of course, Surge was the one doing the snooping, and handling complex technology like a kid in a candy store with the grace of a lion playing with a giant ball in a store filled with fine china, but no one was surprised by this result. Tails at one point couldn't ignore this and reluctantly turned around to face the very scary woman fiddling carelessly with his stuff as Nicole stayed glued to the emerald.

"Hey, uh," Tails started, hesitantly looking on in sadness at Surge dropping yet another one of his beloved inventions. "Could you possibly...not do that?"

"I'm bored."

"I wouldn't mind you inspecting them if you didn't drop them so frequently...and also refrain from being somewhat err...harsh while holding them..."

Surge looked disgusted...almost as if his timid, trembly, response was an insult to her or something, so she settled on doing what she was already occupying her mind with. Sonic was quietly observing her at this point and only stayed immobile for one good reason.

"Hey!" Knuckles' loud voice managed to make the two brainiacs flinch, causing an annoyed grunt to come from Nicole who adamantly tried to focus on what was truly important here. "Tails' said knock it off! Unless you want a piece of my mind on the matter, I suggest you listen to him." Knuckles threatened, growling his warning at the tenrec who rolled her eyes.

"Awww, what, the poor baby can't live without his rinky dinky little toys? He needs his big red momma to give him milky wilkies and fight his battles for him?" Surge mocked with a faux baby voice and puppy dog expression of pure dejection and depression, laughing at the sight of Knuckles' extremely deep frown on his face, red cheeks hot in embarrassment. Tails managed to stay pretty level-headed but was still visibly offended by the bullying. "Cry me a damn river! If I wanna touch his stupid trinkets, I touch his stupid trinkets, end of story!"

"You're begging for another beatdown, aren'tcha!? Dirt a fine delicacy where ya from, 'cause with that attitude, you're begging to be reunited with it!!"

Surge heard a snicker coming from Sonic, who's been silently letting Knuckles handle things from here on out, and that managed to paint a spikey frown on her face.

"Whattaya laughing at, rat!?"

"Oh, nothing serious...don't mind lil old me, I'm just enjoying the show is all."

"Tch, course-"

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Knuckles roared

"Surprise surprise, I'm not!"

Nicole was slowly but surely getting more and more agitated the more they kept responding to each other.

"Are you seriously so bored that you're willing to get your butt kicked two times in a row within a single day?"

"Yer delusional if you think-"

"Cause let me tell ya, your win streak must be embarrassingly low if you feel the need to start random fights you know damn well you're incapable of finishing! Desperate much!?"

" Desperate?!? Listen here melon head! "

" Melon Head??! Have you looked in the mirror recently, girlie?!"

Sonic busted out in laughter at this new heated exchange, the insults thrown about being a treasure trove of entertainment. He doesn't know how these two can take this seriously at all.

"Don't call me girlie!-"

"I'll call you just about any damn thing I want, girlie!"

"Wanna take this outside, reject!?"

"With pleasure!!"

" Stop it both of you! " Everyone turns to Nicole who has steam pouring out of her ears from the total annoyance of this entire debacle. Her eyes twitched and firmly fixated on the two in front of her, but especially on Surge, who caused the argument from the start. "Surge, forgo interacting with anything if you're going to destroy items that aren't under your reckless ownership! It is the least you can do for those who are volitional in aiding us and are very close companions of mine!"

"Ya say this like ima listen to ya or something."

Nicole didn't even bother giving a verbal response, all she needed to do to shut Surge up was have a cube float in her hands, one that looked like a miniature version of her cage from before.

"Ah, screw you..." Surge seethed, earning a hearty chuckle from the guy who usually doesn't , totally satisfied with her being scolded like a kid. Of course, Surge was fuming, but what could she do after that? She has quite a high esteem for herself and her abilities, seemingly, but four against one, one being a teammate of hers who knows her a little better than the rest...yeah the odds were stacked slightly higher than she cared to admit, so she yielded only cause Nicole decided to grow pair after pair these past few days...

"Thank you." Nicole huffed. She went back to her duties after all was settled, missing Knuckles' rub in Surge's face and she mimicked a slow slicing motion across her neck as a silent comeback.

"Ahem, um, found any substantial data yet, Nicole?" Tails broke the awkward silence by turning the attention back onto the chaos emerald, his voice trembling still after having to speak up to Surge. Nicole opens up the results from the scans and sees that all her readings are going awol. They all had inconsistent numbers and some had not even managed to register what was found on the scans. One thing they do share in common is that the energy is too much for even her advanced systems.

"Hmm, I am finding some very odd spikes in chaotic energy that I don't think have ever been recorded before. While they are mysterious all in all, the emeralds have had examinations done in previous years that all usually track with its organic makeup, making extra research to uncover their unique vibrational frequencies and how or why they have them," Nicole ceases all further observations once a strange hitch in her frequency scans caused a glitch to all her holographic modules, freezing them on one particular energy reading, a wave graph that now had two separate waves overlapping each other, creating a trippy 3D effect with faint gold and turquoise vertical glitchy lines. This caught everyone's attention, especially the two girls. "But, now, it's as though there is an addition to its massive energy spikes, something foreign but familiar enough that it doesn't topple over and ignite a violent reaction."

"I'm guessing ya got not a single clue as to what this new add-on to chaos energy could be, right? Not even a little?"

"To tell you the truth Sonic, no. Nothing from my research has assisted in me extrapolating what this additional power source is."

"Ain't the failed results here the same crap you got from the emeralds back on Torque?" Surge in a bore asked Nicole as she picked at her teeth. The boys' eyes lit up.

"Emeralds??!" A reasonably surprised response from Tails boomed, his inner geek reaching critical heights. "I-I thought the Sol Emeralds were the only other sets of emeralds to exist!"

"Ditto, bud! This is pretty huge news!" Sonic had to sit up for this one. A new set of emeralds they had never heard of was worth the full attention.

"Wait a second," Knuckles began, confusion evidently laced upon his features. "Isn't Torque Silver's planet? What were you guys doing over there? How come he never talked about these emeralds?"

Nicole and Surge paused before giving each other a knowing glance as if waiting for which one of them would start spilling first.

"You are correct, Knuckles, that is indeed his planet," Nicole answered, "A Dr. Starline brought me to this planet for additional testing so he had fewer eyes on him."

Everyone bore stone-cold expressions at the mention of that name. Dr. Starline, a monster of a person who has shown that he isn't afraid to get his hands real dirty to get what he wants.

"Woah, woah, woah, whaddaya mean "testing"? What did he do to you?"

A scowl formed on Surge's face, Sonic's tone feeling extra annoying to her ears. "Quit askin' stupid questions!" Surge snarled at a startled Sonic, "The bastard pulled some stupid strings to get the results he wanted, clear-cut lunacy you can find nowhere else but Starline's self-absorbed dome! What else do ya think he did!?" a calm hand was placed on the angered woman's shoulder, gripping her attention away for a moment.

"Surge, Sonic's query is appropriate for all of them to get the full picture. While Starline's acts can be boiled down to unadulterated cold-hearted apathy for all he invests in..." Nicole paused, slightly frowning at her teammate's more solemn expression. "...his deeds must still be listed, no matter the result of the past-" Surge shrugged her hand away harshly without saying a word, causing a deeper frown to form on Nicole's face.

"Whatever..."

"I get it." Everyone's eyes looked Sonic's way. "I mean, Starline's pretty bad news, a heavy understatement I know, but if I were to list all the things he is, we'd be here all day! So if the information's rougher around the edges-"

"It is, but don't worry. I will refrain from saying...the 'classified' info..." Nicole reassured whilst looking over to a half-lidded Surge, scratching at her ear in agitation. "Dr. Starline saw potential in my existence and sought to uncover where my unique coding and form stemmed from, scientifically speaking, for he deemed my very person revolutionary, groundbreaking! This was around the time where he would talk of Eggman in a rather...overly enthusiastic light."

Tails shuddered at the thought. "How enthusiastic are we talking?"

"Obsessive."

"Yep, checks out." Surge quipped. "Even when it looked like he hated that dude's guts, he'd talk about him and his work with a weird kinda admiration, not a single day without what felt like five feverish rants about the idiot. It'd get creepy sometimes. Though the sick sucker would use any other time during the day to talk about his dumb inventions or vlog about himself like some sad influencer."

"I can't imagine being so into Eggman that you end up obsessed with that overgrown poultry product. Heh, guess the buffoon really does have fans after all!" Knuckles laughed as the thought of this 'Dr. Starline' wearing a fan made shirt with Eggman's face poorly drawn on while he held a crude sign saying "Eggman Is Eggcellent!" emerged in his head. Pretty funny sight if he did say so himself.

"Fan or not, his analysis and procedures rivaled that of his idol and he would replicate structures analogous to that of badniks...but a step further-"

"The question was about what he did to you specifically, though. Focus on the question at hand, we don't have time to chit-chat the details of his dorky science projects!"

"Can you stop butting in?! Geez, this is the second time already within two minutes, you're not gonna start chiming like some snot-nose brat all cause you feel like it!"

"Whazat, Melon Head?!" a visible vein was pulsating from Surge's forehead, a stark contrast to her large menacing smile. "Mind repeating that?" she took the time to raise her hand to her ear to mock him further, which of course he wasn't happy about.

"Guys, c'mon." Tails groaned

"It's fine, I'll cut to the chase." Nicole sighed regaining her composure. "Like I have made clear, The Doctor found my being to be very interesting, especially because I am not a, as he puts it, "Eggman-Made stroke of genius", so he tried to read into my mind and physicality to figure out my origins once I refused to give him any further details, not daring to spare a chance to miss out on any components that could be of any use in dissecting my background and coding. He had made several tests that drained me various times through the use of his high-tier equipment, using odd polarities to help in figuring out how I function and if I truly do exist in the real world as opposed to being a simple hologram." Surge noticed Nicole looking at her trembling hands, recollecting unfortunate memories. "I was convinced that I would cease full operation from any new missteps by his hand...until Silver came into the picture that is." Her trembling slowed once she peacefully clasped her hands together. "His intrusion aided in my escape and he fought bravely to ensure that I stayed unassailable. He didn't leave a second spared on acting out what he considered just."

Surge, without him knowing, quickly glanced at Sonic before looking back at Nicole who continued to reminisce fondly. She too was unaware of the silent gaze Knuckles gave her way, who furrowed his tight-knit eyebrows further by the seemingly meaningless glances.

"How did Silver know you were there?" The young fox asked, invested in the story completely. "From the sounds of things, it seems as though Silver was already on some sort of mission."

"He was. Silver had gotten reports about The Doctor involving several missing people who were many within the abundant devastated lands, wishing only to find refuge away from the ample flames that had cursed the once utopian planet. During my capture, Starline made sure that I had no way of viewing any of his other " projects", but when Silver encountered me and aided in my escape, is when I saw the test tubes..."

The silence. It was deafening.

"How can anyone...be so vile...?" Tails quivered, the very thought of taking life and augmenting it as a plaything, removing all aspects of who they once were, thoroughly in such detail...it's sickening. It was genuinely beginning to scare him how far removed Starline was capable of being compared to Eggman.

"I'm guessing Silver kicked his butt for us and everyone who wishes they could wipe that arrogant grin off of his smug mug?" Sonic said, a frown prominently laid on his face.

Nicole flashed a sad smile "When the opportunity presented itself, yes, he made sure to give him a piece of his mind. But Silver wasn't the first to lay his hands on The Doctor."

"Well duh! I'd feel like such a wuss if he was the one to kick Starline's butt on repeat when I'm right here!" Surge interjected, proud with her chest to the sky.

"But how did you get from Mobius to Torque? Appears to be such a stark jump from the scenery here to there." Tails pondered before a new question entered his mind. "Wait, that reminds me, where's Kit?"

"Do we seriously have to answer every single question they ask?"

"They are completely out of the loop, Surge, it's only natural they ask us about certain subjects. To answer your question Tails, Kit resides-"

"On Silver's planet, far away from you losers!" Surge quickly butt in, covering Nicole's mouth and side-eyeing her aggressively, earning an indignant look from the lynx. "Seriously, why do ya yap yer mouth off about MY business so damn often?" she removed her hand, crossing her arms and shutting her eyes to ignore a growingly annoyed Nicole. " Anyway , to answer your first question, me and Kit saw Starline, landing himself somewhere dim, ominous, and with a large gemstone slab in the dead center of this cave he seemed so comfortable in, and when I say large, think bigger than this nerd's little playhouse. It was blue with pink swirls and looked pretty important, too. He already had his sciency stuff set up and everything! Complete overhaul over the damned place! On top of all that, he was pretty out of it, more than usual. He'd talk to himself constantly and walk in circles muttering some mumbo jumbo nonsense loudly."

"What the heck happened to leave him in such a state?" Knuckles asked.

"Pfft, beats me! All I know is that he'd fidget with his stuff and end up turning the gemstone on or whatever!" Tails tilted his head trying to figure out how one turns on a gemstone, so he figured that he most likely had his devices flow power through it to make it function, much like he did with The Warp Topaz.

"He said something about ' Leaving for further tests ' or something. Obviously, I wasn't about to let that pest slide right outta the mess he created, so me and Kit jumped him. Would ya know it, we wound up in Torque."

Ruminating with this newly found information, Tails paced back and forth wondering how Starline found such a valuable tool. Locating it was of course now a top priority, for it can be of heavy significance to any who stumble upon it. That includes Dr. Eggman. The last thing they need is another hair-brained scheme by Egghead to go amiss.

"The dimwit was shivering in his fancy boots, begging to be set free, tch like I'd be coerced into doing anything as dumb as that, guess the idiot forgot to tie some of his forsaken loose ends. But hey, me and kit got the chance to see him trembling in fear, facing the two people he scrambled the brains of. It felt damn good to be so close to erasing the mistake that he truly was off the face of reality. Too bad the coward managed to escape thanks to the dumb planet deciding to shoot fireballs that very second!!" Surge roared, startling nearly everyone with her boisterous presentation of agitation. Luckily for them, her exuberant display didn't last long, as she loudly sighed sadly thinking back on it all. "At least I managed to pummel him a little before he could make a run for it..."

"Around this time was when Silver and I met Surge due to our converging goals. Initially, she wished to finish Starline off and desired no other interferences from those whom she believed unaffected by his impetuous abandon."

"Until it was brought to my attention that the bastard had wormed his way into her life too, so I allowed her to get a few wacks in for good measure, and man those measures were long and bountiful, seeing her in action was worth every second!" Surge cackled on, a bashful Nicole looking away in embarrassment. "For a techno-geek, you sure can be brawny, ay Holo? Hey, remind me to call you into the ring when I feel extra lazy to finish a job!" Nicole felt brawny then and she felt particularly brawny now after witnessing the cheekiest grin in existence smeared on Surge's face. Nicole couldn't even properly enjoy her revenge for a bunch of reasons and Surge first-hand knows why she can't.

' Guess she's trying to make light of it to feel better. '

"Well, when push comes to shove, Nicole is pretty reliable, and can be pretty scary when she wants to be in combat!" Tails cheered, making Nicole blush even further from embarrassment, causing little steam balls to escape her ears.

"W-well, denoting my behavior to that of forcefulness doesn't seem so accurate, surely!"

"What about the emeralds you guys mentioned?" Nicole and Surge turned to a stone-faced Knuckles who tapped his feet impatiently. "You mentioned emeralds being on Silver's planet and how the results of your scans between those sets of emeralds are exactly alike to our emerald. Is that the only thing that prompted your surprise visit?"

"Ah, that's right!" Nicole walked to the center of the room to conjure up a snap she had taken when completing her research on the other set. "As you can see, the results are nearly identical to that of the energy readings found on the Chaos Emeralds."

Within the pictured graph were the same characteristics: Vertical glitched lines, this time turquoise and white, a trippy 3D effect, and of course the out-of-this-world data readings.

"The experience of scanning these emeralds was quite the joy since they were hidden from the rest of the planet for centuries! It's a shame that our current worries are tied to its condition."

"Oh, so that's why Silver never brought them up! He found out recently himself!" Tails cheerfully guessed. Nicole nodded to confirm Tails' assessment. "But how could such powerful gemstones go undetected for so long!? Was it during the collapse of the planet that they were lost until now?"

"My guess is that the guardians are the reason for why they went missing." Knuckles cut in, his face hardening at the thought. "If Blaze and I are anything to go by, Torque's no different when it comes to having protection for their own sets of omnipotence. I'm betting that whatever induced Silver's world into disrepair was caused by some bad guy who got his grubby mitts on them for all the wrong reasons...and unlike us here on Mobius and Blaze on Étale, they weren't fast enough to stop it or lucky enough to have a hero stop it for them. So instead of leaving 'em where anyone could encounter 'em, they hid somewhere no one can."

"Heh, ya sure can provide a solid outlook in a conversation. Impressive! Didn't think you had it in ya!" Knuckles shot daggers with his intense glare at a smug Surge, who could care less for his attempt at intimidating her.

"What she's attempting to say, Knuckles, is that you may be accurate in your inference! When we transited the ruins belonging to the emeralds, some of the remaining wall art showcased a ruinous event withstood by four mighty beings. In an adjacent depiction, there was what appeared to be wreckage while the figures loomed overhead."

"Talk about depressing..." Sonic added. "Ruin, death, hopelessness..."

"It's as if his world has stayed a permanent shadow of that event, never granted permission to reenter the light." Nicole thumbed her shawl, the thought of it all leaving her with a sense of unease. Sonic took note of her demeanor and quickly grabbed her shoulder and her attention to him.

"Hey, don't sweat it! Silver's a pretty cool guy and has been making huge strides in rebuilding all he can with the survivors. I'm sure with you and Surge's help, sooner or later all will be well again. One step at a time."

"If there's one thing I learned about Fluff within all these passing months," the two turn to Surge, looking on elsewhere as the thoughts raced through her mind. "Is that he gets the job done. He doesn't waste time. If he finds out someone or something is causing unnecessary damage, being evil, leaving scars where no one else can see...he makes sure those scars become a rarity..." Surge bore into Sonic's eyes with her own, not once shying away. Despite that, Sonic didn't feel annoyance, rage, or even shame. In fact...

"And that's what makes Silver an upstanding guy!" Sonic chuckled, pride in his friend being the only thing he felt at the moment, leaving Surge to feel her blood boil at the sight of Sonic seemingly missing the point. "He always thinks about others before himself, willing to do what he can to make sure that everyone can live a bright future, no matter the cost, no matter where they're from. It's why I feel that regardless of his worries about me and the guys getting involved in his battles, We will help in any way we can if it means not only saving the universe from a big threat but also helping his own."

"Yeah!" Tails cheered

"So long as I get to find out what's wrong with The Master Emerald and return to my normal duties, fine." Knuckles scowled, crossing his arms, and fashioning his iconic frown, but Sonic and Tails knew what he truly meant. ' Anything for my friends '.

"Ugh, whatever helps you sleep at night, just know once this entire mess has been settled, I'm tearing you a new one front and back!" Surge threatened. Sonic chuckled, to Surge's dismay.

"Whenever you're ready, Sparks!" He playfully quipped. "I'm always ready to throwdown!" Surge felt a weird mix of anger and unease with how little he seemed to...care...

" Don't call me that, Rat! " She hissed. Nicole comically went in between the two, her nervous smile trembled. She knew bringing Surge along to get Sonic's help would only aid in stunting progress, but she had no option in the matter.

"A-Anyway back to it!" Nicole tried her hardest to keep Surge's anger levels low and she didn't wanna reprimand or even tell Sonic to stop his playful behavior either since he quite honestly did nothing wrong.

"I'm guessing since they've been found, so too have the guardians protecting them?" Knuckles helped in continuing the conversation, curiosity gracing his eyes, hunger for more information on who these guardians are and where they've been hiding.

"Yes! Though I believe seeing them in due time would be of much more benefit to you all than to merely state it." Nicole laughed nervously. Knuckles raised a brow.

"Why's that?"

"Also, 'them'?" Sonic asked.

"Well, the entire situation involving the emeralds and its guardians is, er....'complex'. The most I can say without taking too much time off is that there is more than one this time around."

The boys were surprised yet very much so interested in the juicy new details.

"It's all making more sense now." Tails thought out loud. "The guardians must have seen something and decided to ask for some help, given how huge of an impact this could be having universally. So they sent Silver on a mission to see if what was happening to them was happening to other planets' emeralds as well, hoping that what they'd seen wasn't at a rapid state of growth."

"Correct." Nicole clapped excitedly. She knew that Tails of all people would catch immediately.

"Sounds like another space adventure is in our future." Sonic jested with a chuckle. Nicole laughed along.

"I hope this isn't too much to ask of you all."

"No way! I'd never pass up on an opportunity like this!" Sonic cheered zipping next to Nicole yet again. "Can't be letting you guys hog all the fun after all!"

"I'll come too!"

"I'd tag along, but with all this noise about the Master Emerald possibly being in danger, I can't risk it. It's safety comes before anything else." Knuckles said astutely, tho there seemed to be a hint of sadness in his words. Sonic caught it. He walked up to Knuckles a little slower than usual.

"Don't worry, Knux..." Sonic placed his arm on Knuckles' shoulder. He gave him a reassuring look, one Knuckles understood and his spirits lightened just a tad, though he tried not showing it, but a small smirk slipped through. "I'll get yah a souvenir-"

"Shuddup!" Knuckles tried to punch a giggling Sonic who dodged it easily. Everyone had a chuckle at that exchange, all but Surge. She lazily laid against the chair she sat in.

A sudden knock on the door interrupted the conversation, capturing Surge and Nicole's attention.

"Is this the fabled 'Fluff' we've kept hearing about?" Sonic joked, yet again earning a scowl from the angry tenrec.

"I'll get the door!" Tails sprinted ahead to open it before anyone else could offer assistance.

Knuckles, however, thought back on what was discussed. He began to think about all his times guarding the Master Emerald, hoping to find anything worth the concern, but then he remembered that odd situation between him and Tails which in turn reminded him of the odd energy emitting from the Master Emerald earlier in the day.

please help

he is trying to

trying to t rying to begin-

Knuckles' eyes shot wide open and like an explosion he charged out of his seat towards the emerald lying on Tails' desk, not minding the fact he nearly knocked Nicole down into the ground. He slammed his hands onto the messy workbench with extreme concern, helping to expound wordlessly just how distraught he was at the moment.

"What the hell is your problem, freak!?" Surge roared, who just about had it with the Knucklehead and was about to give him a piece of her mind.

" Trying to do what?! " Knuckles yelled, his heart pumping hazardously as he began to sweat profusely, awaiting a response. He didn't know why he was feeling this way, why he felt as though he was being watched, but whatever it was, it most definitely wasn't good.

"Knuckles, what happened? What did you see?"

At first, there was no response from Knuckles and his friends were becoming increasingly worried about him. However, he slowly turned around and it was clear that something was wrong. He looked as though he had seen a ghost, his eyes were wide and fixed on the ground as he breathed heavily but slowly.

"A woman...cried for help..."

The Chaos Emerald began to glow rapidly...