Sonic crashes straight through the robot, curled in a Spin-dash, and lands in a crouch right in front of the door. Behind him, his red echidna friend knocks off a separate machine's head with a swift, clean uppercut, using his momentum to vault up and step on the machine, crunching the rest of its body below his boot. The halls are riddled with Robotnik's creations, all swarming towards them, eager to attack, eager to lose their lives. Fortunately, that is the last of them--or, so the team assumes. They don't have any idea, but nothing Robotnik's ever thrown at them has actually been worrying, so he's not exactly the most concerning thing on their minds right now. What they want to know is, how did he harness the Master Emerald's power from so far away?

"Hey, Sonic," Tails begins, looking down at his tablet, "something about this just doesn't add up." He looks worried, rubbing his chin thoughtfully with his brows drawn together and his cute little mouth forming an upside-down v.

"What do you mean, buddy?" Sonic chirps, standing up straight and peering down, over his brother's shoulder.

"Well, this base was abandoned ages ago," the orange fox frowns, "so why are there all these robots? And why would the energy beam be directed here?"

"Dunno," Knuckles growls, butting in, as per usual, "but since we've destroyed everything here we might want to find out where Eggman is. He's gotta be on this base somewhere, right?" He swings his arms, stretching. "I'm gonna punch his face," striking a macho pose, the cherry-red echidna drops into a fighting stance, glaring determinedly, "in the face."

"Uh, Knux, I don't think that's..." The azure hedgehog scratches his head, looking a bit apprehensive, as if he knows saying this might not be the smartest move. "That doesn't make any sense, bro."

"Sure it does!" Knuckles protests, looking offended.

"That's not important right now," their younger friend sighs, interrupting them before they can start bantering, his twin tails twitching in agitation. "We need to get to the main room of this building, which should be just down this hall, a few floors up." He squints at his tablet, inspecting a 3-D map of the Sky Fortress. "Yeah, we're gonna have to take the elevators down that way." He points straight ahead down the corridor.

"What're we waiting for?" Sonic grins cheerfully, turning on a dime and starting to run down the hall. His slightly slower friends follow as quickly as they can, trying to keep up with the blue blur. Fortunately, they catch up to him at the elevators, where he is tapping a foot impatiently, waiting for the lift to get there. "Why are these things so slow?"

"Well, these were specially built by Robotnik to withstand the weight of his robots," Tails reminds his speedy blue friend, "so they're probably a lot bulkier than average elevators and therefore slower." The azure hedgehog sighs, lifting his arms above his head and stretching them with a yawn, looking bored. Before the sapphire speedster could do anything stupid, like he normally does when bored, the light above the elevator lit up, with a DING!

"Awright!" Sonic cheers, bouncing up and down as the doors open, but to their surprise the elevator was already occupied.

"Well, hey, doll," a familiar white bat croons, one hand on her hip, the other resting on her thigh in her usual pose. "Fancy seeing you here!" She winks.

"Rouge!" The sapphire hedgehog grins, cheerful, hopping into the elevator and holding out one hand in a fist. She returns his smile, thumping his fist with hers, as he continues, "What brings you here?"

"Probably the same as you three," she answers as Tails and Knuckles step into the elevator as well; the door glides shut behind them, and she leans back against the wall, crossing her arms. "I saw the beam of light and headed over here, but it looks like this place redirects it to somewhere else--I was curious as to whether or not there was anything of value here."

Knuckles snorts derisively. "Always looking for something to steal," he growls coldly. She glares at him, and an awkward silence follows.

"Well," Tails clears his throat, "I guess we're gonna find out what's going on soon, huh?" He beams up at the older bat, and her scowl melts into a pleasant smirk.

"We sure will!" She answers confidently as the elevator pings again, the doors sliding open to a hall identical to the one they just left. The four step out, and the elevator closes cleanly behind them; they trot down the hall, Tails leading the way with his map. His orange tails twirl occasionally, curling and uncurling as he thinks to himself, nibbling on the end of his gloved finger as he stares at the map.

"It says the control room is just ahead, but..." The kitsune trails off, staring at the wall. His friends all scratch their heads, staring at the plain grey steel. "This doesn't look like a door, even though it's marked as one."

"Step back," Knuckles rumbles, flexing his muscles. Rouge rolls her eyes, but obliges, pulling Tails along with her as the echidna lunges forward, punching straight through the wall. He erupts out into a wide, open room, crowded with various electronic devices strewn about. Monitors litter the walls, cables snaking across the floors, various boxes of hardware whirring softly.

"Wow," The twin-tailed orange fox gasps, wide blue eyes twinkling. "Amazing!" He dashes about, checking on all the machinery. "It's all still running! Robotnik must be using this old tech to help him filter the energy!"

"How dare he use my Master Emerald for his own nefarious purposes!" The red echidna rages, gnashing his teeth.

"Oh, come on," Rouge laughs, leering at him. "As if you're really that great of a guardian."

"What are you implying?!" He snarls, rounding on her, fists raised.

"Puh-lease!" She waves a hand at him. "Do you even keep track of how many times you've lost control of that thing? Worst guardian ever... I've visited that pretty shining jewel more times in the past month than you have in the last half year! Anyone and everyone can just waltz right up to it! Me, Scourge, Robotnik..."

"Shut up!" He yells, enraged, lunging at her, but she leaps up into the sky; with a flap of her wings, she soars high above his head, giggling.

"Hey, don't blame me for how terrible you are at your job," she jeers down at him. "You don't even live on Angel Island--hell, you don't even hang out there!"

"Shut up, you stupid bat!" He roars, leaping up and down, trying to catch her.

"'Ey, uh, Knux, how about we focus on the mission here?" Sonic nudges his friend's shoulder, sweating nervously. "Come on, you two can spar later, okay?"

"Hey, Sonic, over here!" Tails chirps, waving at his azure amigo from the center of the room. He stands on a chair, one hand flailing with his tablet in it, the other grabbing the back of the chair to keep himself steady. "I think I found something!"

The blue hedgehog dashes over, leaving his bickering friends in the dust. "What'cha got, buddy?"

"It looks like Robotnik is monitoring whatever he's doing through his robots," the orange kitsune begins, looking around at the monitors forming a semicircle around the chair. "I think he was here for a short bit, but he isn't anymore, and he just left it running, probably because he was in such a rush to get outta here." Sitting down, he starts to tap at a few of the buttons. "I think I can call up the video feed of the last robot he was watching, but I don't know the interface well enough to be able to pick and choose which one, so we might not be able to figure much out."

"Don't worry about finding things out, dear," Rouge calls cheerfully from her position behind a cluster of machines, "I'll handle that by hacking into these doohickeys or whatever they are."

"Thanks, Rouge!" Sonic flashes her a smile and a thumbs-up as his fluffy orange friend messes around with the monitors in front of him.

After a few moments, Tails straightens up, beaming triumphantly. "Got it!" The largest screen in front of them flickers to life, a red-tinted electronic vision displaying on the screen. White noise, static, plays for a second; the intelligent blue-eyed fox tweaks a few settings, developing the audio channel easily. The two lean forward eagerly, their red friend catching up to them. What they witness on that screen, however, is absolutely not something they would have ever expected to see.

--------------------

My head rests on the cool metal of the table, eyes closed. Blood streams down my forehead, oozing slowly down my face and onto my left eyelid; my eyes are closed, squeezed shut against the light from the lamp. It's been like this for a while now, I don't know how long, but it's always the same. I sit here, and they ask me questions--it's either the robot or the blonde woman, asking me questions. I don't ever know how to deal with them. All I know is the pain throbbing in my head, and the fear of it. Oh, and I know one other thing. I don't like the blonde woman, not one bit. The door opens, and I open my right eye, lifting my head up to look at my guest. Terror spears through me as I look up into those hateful red orbs; the robot sits down across from me and I start trembling. My muscles clench as my shivering causes the wounds I sustained during our previous 'chats' to re-open, throbbing with new pain. The machine blinks, then turns the lamp such that the bulb is directly facing me. I flinch, turning away and squeezing my eyes shut as pain lances through my skull, scattering my thoughts. This isn't going to be good, at all...

-------------------

Hours later, the robot stands, triumphant. I'm slouched in the chair, bleeding all over, trembling; it thunders over to the door, paying no mind to me. It got what it wanted, and now I'm useless. The second it leaves, the dam bursts, and I start sobbing, covering my face with my hands. Hiccuping as the salty tears flow down my face, mixing with my blood and sweat, I shudder, wheezing, having difficulty breathing through my weeping. I cross my legs at the ankles, which are still sore from having that metal wrapped around them for so long. I quiver and quake, wiping my eyes fervently. I don't know why I'm crying. I know nothing. I am nothing. I don't understand what's happening here, I don't remember who I am or how I got here or why it's so silent in this room, so quiet and still, my blood still dripping off the edge of the table. As I stare at the crimson liquid staining this steel with its rosy pallor, I realize there's something different about it, something wrong. Leaning closer, I try forcing my eyes to focus, but they keep shifting and glancing about, looking here and there and all around. Squeezing my eyes shut, I grit my teeth, trying to control myself; upon opening them again, my vision returns to normal. Narrowing my eyes, I stare at the blood, trying to figure out what's amiss about it.

A voice interrupts my thoughts, accompanied by a clawed hand gently resting itself on my shoulder. I flinch, straightening up slightly, staring straight down at my feet, as it purrs, "Poor creature. Look what they've done to you! If only you weren't so afraid..." The monster leans down, its warm breath ruffling my right ear. "I can help you. Together, we can conquer your fears," it hisses invitingly, rubbing my shoulder with its index finger. Help me? "I can take the fear away." Its muzzle is millimeters away from my cheek, and I feel the vapors of its breath condensing against my cold cheek as it breathes out its words, gentle and sweet. I raise my head, affixing my gaze on the wall opposite me, and a grin spreads across my face--a wide, massive smile, stretching my cheeks to their limits, but with one side twisting farther up than the other. So far up, in fact, that my corresponding lower eyelid twitches up, obscuring my vision slightly. In a high-pitched, tense and shaking voice, not entirely my own, I whisper the one word that will seal my fate as my eyes roll and skitter about, glancing over my shoulder.

"Okay," I answer as the purple-streaked blood on the table drips lazily down its legs, sliding into a puddle pooling at my feet. As the monster starts to smile a Cheshire grin, the purple streaks grow and expand, trading places with the red such that the pool is now the deep violet color, veined with the last remnants of red.