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Description
"Brotherly Love"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Chapter 4: "A turn for the worst"

    Even as Amy gave a longing eye back towards the Northwest, night had fallen around Angel Island.  Sonic was as Lord Feldmort had seen him, reclined next to the Master Emerald much like Knuckles would be, resting before his shift.  At this point, Tails came back, pencil and clipboard still in hand and said, “Man Sonic, those echidnas knew what they were doing.  I’ve never seen a more sophisticated system, especially when you figure in the conditions and restrictions they had to overcome to do so.  They really were the most advanced and intelligent race on earth.  Now it’s even more tragic to know that soon they’ll ultimately die out.”

    Sonic opened his eyes, standing up, and stretching while saying, “That’s true Tails.  I guess even Hidama could move on and have children, just like Knuckles, but their children can never be one-hundred percent echidna, and the longer the line goes, eventually the echidna blood will be gone.  It’ll die out completely when Hidama and Knuckles pass away.  That’s really sad, seriously.”

    The fox looked at the Master Emerald, glowing brightly from within and said, “The echidnas weren’t stupid, Sonic.  They could defend against anything, and the security system proves it.  It saved the Master Emerald and Knuckles, would have saved Hidama too had he not strayed away.  This enemy must have studied them for years…either that or be echidnas themselves in order to all but decimate them.”

    A sad look came to Sonic’s eyes.  He said, “That’s just it Tails.  Their killers were echidnas, hedgehogs too, but so badly mutated and deformed they had become a race unto themselves.  Too horrible to be like their normal kind, shunned by them, and not offered help, they became evil, and from what Shadow told me, it became their goal to harness the Master Emerald, to become normal again, while killing off those who rejected them in the process.  Problem is, only the Guardian can control the Master Emerald and harness its true power, so that’s why they have Hidama.”

    Tails hung his head low and his two tails drooped sadly.  “Gee, that’s really sad.  All those mutant guys wanna do is become normal again, but even if that’s their true desire, they feel the need to take it out on us, Knuckles and Hidama especially, not just because they’re the last survivors, but the only survivors, and the sons of the guardian nonetheless.  I wish we could help more than this.”

    Sonic put a smile on his face and said, “Cheer up Tails.  We’re helping them the best we can by staying back here and looking after the Master Emerald.  The road they’re taking is a tough one, but trust me, we’re helping them more than you know.  In the mean time, we should keep our spirits up.  A lot will happen in the next few days I suspect, so we better be ready for anything.  Now, why don’t you take your break and I’ll start my shift.”

    Tails smiled and said, “Okay Sonic, I’ll just rest a bit.  If you need company, go ahead and wake me up.”  He walked to the other side of the altar and curled up for sleep.

    The smile disappeared from Sonic’s face.  He had done his best to cheer up Tails, but Sonic himself was far from light-hearted.  What he didn’t tell Tails about was all the horrors he had seen when traveling with Shadow.  Sonic frowned, and looked out over the horizon.  He sighed and said, “Feh, if only Tails could have seen what I saw.  Countless victims of those mutants’ affliction, trapped in that cold, dark prison, with only Hidama to console them.  Poor Hidama, trapped and afflicted longer and harder than any of them, and yet he was always smiling, trying to cheer those around him.  He’s at his breaking point…there’s just so that one person can take, and Hidama hit that point years ago.”

    Sonic closed his eyes, remembering the day a couple of months ago when he first laid eyes on Hidama.  He inhaled deeply, and there…

    “Now be careful Sonic.  Should they spot us they won’t hesitate to bring us in and ask questions later.  I desire to check on Hinsei Hidama, for I haven’t seen him in awhile, before I look over the rest of the fortress,” Shadow said.

    Panting, Sonic said, “Wait—wait a minute Shads.  When exactly was the last time you saw Hidama?”

    A grim look was on Shadow’s face; he said, “I was with him four years ago.  He was sixteen years old at the time, and not even a shadow or glimmer of what he should have been.  The years of torture, body, mind, and soul, all the anguish had taken its toll.  I suspect these past four have not been any kinder to him.  The poor dear; had he remained with Knuckles, he would look and feel much stronger.  I only pray that once he’s free he can catch up to his brother, not just in physical stature, but as well as mental and emotional soundness.”

    Shadow fell silent, climbing higher to the prison walls.  As Sonic followed him, he could only cringe at the thought of the torture Hidama had gone through, from being unable to help his little brother, to the physical beatings, to the mental anguish and despair, as well as the isolation in that cold, dark and sick cell, away from the sun, and without love.

    The two got to the top of their climb, finding a guard platform around the prison walls.  Shadow immediately ran for the back of the cell house, with a tired Sonic struggling to keep up.  Finally he saw Shadow crouched beneath a window, beckoning Sonic to come to him.  Sonic knelt down next to Shadow, who whispered, “Hidama is not at all in good shape.  He’s twenty-years-old, and after spending all these years with Knuckles, you should rightly know what he should look like.  Be silent, don’t let yourself be seen by him.”

    Sonic nodded apprehensively, peering through the barred window, and filled with horror at what he saw.  He could rememberKnuckles…thick, crimson fur, bright violet eyes, long flowing hair…to look at Hidama, he saw a completely different echidna.  Hidama’s red fur was matted, sticky and dark, damaged from multiple beatings, blood, and basic filth.  He had sapphire eyes that were dull and told of the sick feeling in Hidama’s heart.  It was hard to believe this was an echidna of twenty, supposed to be strong and healthy like his brother, the son of a guardian.

    This torture had been even more brutal in ways that Sonic could not see, but knew had to be there just by Hidama’s disposition.  Sonic felt numb; his heart fell into his stomach and churned, and he felt ill with grief.  His knees buckled as he slumped to the floor, brought to tears, and next to impossible to console.

    Shadow pulled Sonic up and said, “Pull yourself together Sonic!  Your tears are of no help at all.  We must finish exploring the fortress before continuing our quest. Quickly!”

    As Sonic stumbled pathetically after Shadow, all he could think about was, “I don’t care who you are, evil or no, no one deserves that kind of pain…no one.”

    Sonic opened his eyes, sighed sadly and whispered, “Please Shadow, please free Hinsei Hidama.  No one deserves that kind of pain…no one.”  He stood up, shutting his eyes to suppress any tears, and stretched once more.  He looked back at Tails who was now sleeping soundly.  The hedgehog suddenly felt tired, even after several hours rest.  He thought about waking Tails, and even though the fox had encouraged him to, Sonic decided not to wake him.

    The hours wore on slowly, and deep into the night, Sonic was almost next to insanity from boredom.  “Darn it…how in the heck does Knuckles handle this kind of misery day in, day out, day after day, year after year?”  He sighed and said, "I wish I could just go for a quick run around the island, but no, I better stay.  I promised not just Shadow, but Knuckles more importantly that I’d stay here no matter what…”  Sonic looked around and then shouted, “I was not meant to be a guardian!!”  Sonic banged his head on one of the pillars, perhaps a little too hard, as he immediately slumped to the ground.

    It was dark, and it was quiet.  Sonic was desperate to open his eyes, and thought he had already.  If he had opened his eyes, though, would it be this dark?  Had he knocked himself unconscious, and was just speaking to himself in his mind?  Whatever was going on, he wanted to wake up.  He just couldn’t be sleeping on the job.  Sonic fought to wake up…and slowly, the world around him became visible again.

    He opened his eyes, and suddenly, he knew something was wrong.  The pillars around the altar were ablaze with torches, and other flames could be seen like fireflies floating around in the night.  He was relieved to see the Master Emerald undisturbed, and hoped this was nothing more than a dream.  He turned to go wake up Tails, but was dismayed to see Tails was not curled up where he was before.  His legs began to shake, and Sonic cried, “Whatever this is, I wanna wake up!”  Suddenly a pebble was thrown, which hit him in the head.  Sonic yelped out and said, “Stop that!  I wanna wake up now!”

    Then, a shadowy figure stepped towards the Master Emerald, into the ring of light that the pillars now enclosed.  The voice said, “But that’s just it Sonic, you felt pain, and therefore are not in a dream.”  The creature pulled back his hood, revealing himself as Captain Zelias.  He spoke again saying, “You’re in your worst nightmare!”  He held a controller in the air, similar to the one Shadow had showed him that was used on Hidama.  “Miles my friend, come forth and apprehend this traitor!” Zelias cried.

    From the darkness outside, the holders of the flames cackled and hissed with glee, as Tails stepped into the ring of light, his eyes flashing red, and under the mutants’ control.  Sonic cried, and fell to his knees saying, “Tails, no!  What have they done to you?!”

    Zelias cackled wildly and said, “It’s like this Sonic.  Lord Feldmort has hand selected you to bring the Master Emerald to him, and either you go willingly, or my friend Miles here will have to exact some persuasion on you.  Yet, if you fought and beat him hard enough, I’m sure you could rip the chip out of his neck.  Choices, it’s so hard to decide isn’t it!?”

    Tears rolled down Sonic’s face.  There was no way in the world he’d ever hurt Tails, but he could risk no hurt to the Master Emerald most importantly.  He stood up and said, “Even Tails would agree with me here.  I’m going to keep my promise; if you want the Master Emerald, you’re gonna have to go through me, but first, you’ll have to catch me!”

    Zelias sneered as Sonic made an attempt to seize the Master Emerald and flee.  No sooner had he lifted it from the altar that the island started to shake, ready to fall from the sky.  In horror, Sonic put the Master Emerald back, stopping the island’s fall from the sky.  Zelias laughed and said, “Ah hah!  That’s rich!  You stupid hedgehog!  You forgot to activate the ‘perfect security system’.  Ain’t so perfect now, is it?  Too bad there’s no way in hell that we’re gonna let you take two steps and activate it…that is…unless we do it to save our own butts.”

    Sonic felt sick; without the security system activated, the Master Emerald could be taken, and yet if he did activate it nobody could take it and run, which meant he’d have no choice but to fight them off alone.  If he had enough time to remove it he’d be alright.  Now, he couldn’t think of what to do to save himself.  He knew well enough that Knuckles would fight first and ask questions later, but Knuckles was more powerful than Sonic, losing out to Sonic in speed and nothing else.

    He grew angry, so enraged he didn’t know what to expect.  He leaped at Zelias screaming, “Get out of here!” over and over.  Zelias jumped back, and Sonic leapt for him again, and eventually his speed was more than a match for Zelias.  He pinned Zelias to the ground and said, “Release my friend now!  Then get the heck out of here!”

    Zelias was hardly frightened; he said, “Oh ho, good one Sonic.  It seems you have me cornered, boo hoo.  Do you think we'd go away without a consolation prize?  Well, listen here Sonic, here’s your prize for winning.  A lifetime of mind control serving Lord Feldmort, and the bonus of delivering the Master Emerald to him personally!  Oh Miles?”

    Sonic looked behind him and saw Tails looming over him, microchip in hand.  “Tails don’t!  Stop!”  It was too late however; Zelias flicked a switch on Tails’ controller, and the fox plunged the microchip into Sonic’s neck, bringing him down, for good.

    Zelias stood up, triumphant.  “Yes!  We’ve done it…the precious Master Emerald within our grasp.”  Zelias, enchanted by the Master’s glow reached out to touch it, but immediately retracted when he did so.  He clutched his fingers tightly, hissing at it saying, “Gah!  So impure am I that even to touch it I am burned.  Hee hee, good thing we have Sonic here to lift it.  I couldn’t careless if the island falls into the sea.”  Taking Sonic’s controller, he said, “Take the Master Emerald now!”

    Under the mutants’ control, Sonic, red eyes flashing, lifted the Master Emerald from its altar once more.  The island began to shake, and by now the army that had come to the island had retreated to those who waited on the mainland.  Though Angel Island had been moved further out to sea by Knuckles before he left, the mutant army had members who could fly, and thus they were able to flee safely.

    Tails and Sonic, along with Zelias were the last ones down.  To Zelias’ dismay, however, some unseen force almost seemed to be cradling the island, allowing it to fall onto the same cliff that it had the night of the echidnas’ massacre.  Zelias growled, saying, “Damn, the system must automatically turn on if disturbed.  “Bah, let it lay there,” he hissed, “We’ve got the true prize.”

    He smiled wryly as he gazed at the Master Emerald in Sonic’s hands.  The control the mutants had over Sonic made him stronger than usual, and thus able to lift the massive gem, as Lord Feldmort had said before, they had no control over themselves whatsoever.  He turned to Tails and said, “Dear Miles, I have a job for you.  Go find the three traitors, and cause no hurt to them, but instead seize the hedgehog girl, Amy, from them.  Again, cause no hurt to her, but bring her to Lord Feldmort unharmed, where we’ll meet you later.  Now fly!”

    Tails’ red eyes flashed, and with a growl, he spun his tails into a spin and was airborne, flying high and faster than he ever could because of the influence the control had on him.  Zelias said, “Guards!  Stay with Sonic, and bring no hurt to the Master Emerald.  We march back to the fortress, with all speed!  All hail Lord Feldmort and his flawless plans!”  The whole army cheered, and with the Master Emerald in their possession, they ran off into the night.

    Indeed, things were getting pretty dark for Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow, and they didn’t even know how strong and increasingly stronger their adversary had now become.  Lord Feldmort was genius alright; when and if he captured Amy, what would happen then?  He already had what he wanted, the Master Emerald and the eldest son of the Guardian in his grasp.  Now, he could become whole and pure, along with his army of mutants, and he knew it.  So why did he continue to torture the brothers so?  Feldmort wanted more than victory, he wanted revenge, and with the slaughter of the last two living echidnas in existence, besides the mutant ones, he would have finally achieved full victory.  It was then that he would become and lead the Master race, ruling over all, and ending the world as all knew it.

    He came away from his window, sensing his impending victory and looking back at Hidama.  “Dear Hinsei, you’re going to be seeing your brother, very, very soon. Mwahaha!”  Feldmort set Hidama’s controller down, and turned to go to bed.  Once Feldmort left, Hidama swatted at his neck again.  Was the microchip malfunctioning?  What would happen when Zelias returned with the Master Emerald?  Shadow and Knuckles would almost certainly get there first, and…what would happen when Tails came for Amy?  Even as the stars twinkled above, many questions were left unanswered, just as the fate of the world hung in the balance with the uncertainty at hand.

Description
"Brotherly Love"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Chapter 4: "A turn for the worst"

    Even as Amy gave a longing eye back towards the Northwest, night had fallen around Angel Island.  Sonic was as Lord Feldmort had seen him, reclined next to the Master Emerald much like Knuckles would be, resting before his shift.  At this point, Tails came back, pencil and clipboard still in hand and said, “Man Sonic, those echidnas knew what they were doing.  I’ve never seen a more sophisticated system, especially when you figure in the conditions and restrictions they had to overcome to do so.  They really were the most advanced and intelligent race on earth.  Now it’s even more tragic to know that soon they’ll ultimately die out.”

    Sonic opened his eyes, standing up, and stretching while saying, “That’s true Tails.  I guess even Hidama could move on and have children, just like Knuckles, but their children can never be one-hundred percent echidna, and the longer the line goes, eventually the echidna blood will be gone.  It’ll die out completely when Hidama and Knuckles pass away.  That’s really sad, seriously.”

    The fox looked at the Master Emerald, glowing brightly from within and said, “The echidnas weren’t stupid, Sonic.  They could defend against anything, and the security system proves it.  It saved the Master Emerald and Knuckles, would have saved Hidama too had he not strayed away.  This enemy must have studied them for years…either that or be echidnas themselves in order to all but decimate them.”

    A sad look came to Sonic’s eyes.  He said, “That’s just it Tails.  Their killers were echidnas, hedgehogs too, but so badly mutated and deformed they had become a race unto themselves.  Too horrible to be like their normal kind, shunned by them, and not offered help, they became evil, and from what Shadow told me, it became their goal to harness the Master Emerald, to become normal again, while killing off those who rejected them in the process.  Problem is, only the Guardian can control the Master Emerald and harness its true power, so that’s why they have Hidama.”

    Tails hung his head low and his two tails drooped sadly.  “Gee, that’s really sad.  All those mutant guys wanna do is become normal again, but even if that’s their true desire, they feel the need to take it out on us, Knuckles and Hidama especially, not just because they’re the last survivors, but the only survivors, and the sons of the guardian nonetheless.  I wish we could help more than this.”

    Sonic put a smile on his face and said, “Cheer up Tails.  We’re helping them the best we can by staying back here and looking after the Master Emerald.  The road they’re taking is a tough one, but trust me, we’re helping them more than you know.  In the mean time, we should keep our spirits up.  A lot will happen in the next few days I suspect, so we better be ready for anything.  Now, why don’t you take your break and I’ll start my shift.”

    Tails smiled and said, “Okay Sonic, I’ll just rest a bit.  If you need company, go ahead and wake me up.”  He walked to the other side of the altar and curled up for sleep.

    The smile disappeared from Sonic’s face.  He had done his best to cheer up Tails, but Sonic himself was far from light-hearted.  What he didn’t tell Tails about was all the horrors he had seen when traveling with Shadow.  Sonic frowned, and looked out over the horizon.  He sighed and said, “Feh, if only Tails could have seen what I saw.  Countless victims of those mutants’ affliction, trapped in that cold, dark prison, with only Hidama to console them.  Poor Hidama, trapped and afflicted longer and harder than any of them, and yet he was always smiling, trying to cheer those around him.  He’s at his breaking point…there’s just so that one person can take, and Hidama hit that point years ago.”

    Sonic closed his eyes, remembering the day a couple of months ago when he first laid eyes on Hidama.  He inhaled deeply, and there…

    “Now be careful Sonic.  Should they spot us they won’t hesitate to bring us in and ask questions later.  I desire to check on Hinsei Hidama, for I haven’t seen him in awhile, before I look over the rest of the fortress,” Shadow said.

    Panting, Sonic said, “Wait—wait a minute Shads.  When exactly was the last time you saw Hidama?”

    A grim look was on Shadow’s face; he said, “I was with him four years ago.  He was sixteen years old at the time, and not even a shadow or glimmer of what he should have been.  The years of torture, body, mind, and soul, all the anguish had taken its toll.  I suspect these past four have not been any kinder to him.  The poor dear; had he remained with Knuckles, he would look and feel much stronger.  I only pray that once he’s free he can catch up to his brother, not just in physical stature, but as well as mental and emotional soundness.”

    Shadow fell silent, climbing higher to the prison walls.  As Sonic followed him, he could only cringe at the thought of the torture Hidama had gone through, from being unable to help his little brother, to the physical beatings, to the mental anguish and despair, as well as the isolation in that cold, dark and sick cell, away from the sun, and without love.

    The two got to the top of their climb, finding a guard platform around the prison walls.  Shadow immediately ran for the back of the cell house, with a tired Sonic struggling to keep up.  Finally he saw Shadow crouched beneath a window, beckoning Sonic to come to him.  Sonic knelt down next to Shadow, who whispered, “Hidama is not at all in good shape.  He’s twenty-years-old, and after spending all these years with Knuckles, you should rightly know what he should look like.  Be silent, don’t let yourself be seen by him.”

    Sonic nodded apprehensively, peering through the barred window, and filled with horror at what he saw.  He could rememberKnuckles…thick, crimson fur, bright violet eyes, long flowing hair…to look at Hidama, he saw a completely different echidna.  Hidama’s red fur was matted, sticky and dark, damaged from multiple beatings, blood, and basic filth.  He had sapphire eyes that were dull and told of the sick feeling in Hidama’s heart.  It was hard to believe this was an echidna of twenty, supposed to be strong and healthy like his brother, the son of a guardian.

    This torture had been even more brutal in ways that Sonic could not see, but knew had to be there just by Hidama’s disposition.  Sonic felt numb; his heart fell into his stomach and churned, and he felt ill with grief.  His knees buckled as he slumped to the floor, brought to tears, and next to impossible to console.

    Shadow pulled Sonic up and said, “Pull yourself together Sonic!  Your tears are of no help at all.  We must finish exploring the fortress before continuing our quest. Quickly!”

    As Sonic stumbled pathetically after Shadow, all he could think about was, “I don’t care who you are, evil or no, no one deserves that kind of pain…no one.”

    Sonic opened his eyes, sighed sadly and whispered, “Please Shadow, please free Hinsei Hidama.  No one deserves that kind of pain…no one.”  He stood up, shutting his eyes to suppress any tears, and stretched once more.  He looked back at Tails who was now sleeping soundly.  The hedgehog suddenly felt tired, even after several hours rest.  He thought about waking Tails, and even though the fox had encouraged him to, Sonic decided not to wake him.

    The hours wore on slowly, and deep into the night, Sonic was almost next to insanity from boredom.  “Darn it…how in the heck does Knuckles handle this kind of misery day in, day out, day after day, year after year?”  He sighed and said, "I wish I could just go for a quick run around the island, but no, I better stay.  I promised not just Shadow, but Knuckles more importantly that I’d stay here no matter what…”  Sonic looked around and then shouted, “I was not meant to be a guardian!!”  Sonic banged his head on one of the pillars, perhaps a little too hard, as he immediately slumped to the ground.

    It was dark, and it was quiet.  Sonic was desperate to open his eyes, and thought he had already.  If he had opened his eyes, though, would it be this dark?  Had he knocked himself unconscious, and was just speaking to himself in his mind?  Whatever was going on, he wanted to wake up.  He just couldn’t be sleeping on the job.  Sonic fought to wake up…and slowly, the world around him became visible again.

    He opened his eyes, and suddenly, he knew something was wrong.  The pillars around the altar were ablaze with torches, and other flames could be seen like fireflies floating around in the night.  He was relieved to see the Master Emerald undisturbed, and hoped this was nothing more than a dream.  He turned to go wake up Tails, but was dismayed to see Tails was not curled up where he was before.  His legs began to shake, and Sonic cried, “Whatever this is, I wanna wake up!”  Suddenly a pebble was thrown, which hit him in the head.  Sonic yelped out and said, “Stop that!  I wanna wake up now!”

    Then, a shadowy figure stepped towards the Master Emerald, into the ring of light that the pillars now enclosed.  The voice said, “But that’s just it Sonic, you felt pain, and therefore are not in a dream.”  The creature pulled back his hood, revealing himself as Captain Zelias.  He spoke again saying, “You’re in your worst nightmare!”  He held a controller in the air, similar to the one Shadow had showed him that was used on Hidama.  “Miles my friend, come forth and apprehend this traitor!” Zelias cried.

    From the darkness outside, the holders of the flames cackled and hissed with glee, as Tails stepped into the ring of light, his eyes flashing red, and under the mutants’ control.  Sonic cried, and fell to his knees saying, “Tails, no!  What have they done to you?!”

    Zelias cackled wildly and said, “It’s like this Sonic.  Lord Feldmort has hand selected you to bring the Master Emerald to him, and either you go willingly, or my friend Miles here will have to exact some persuasion on you.  Yet, if you fought and beat him hard enough, I’m sure you could rip the chip out of his neck.  Choices, it’s so hard to decide isn’t it!?”

    Tears rolled down Sonic’s face.  There was no way in the world he’d ever hurt Tails, but he could risk no hurt to the Master Emerald most importantly.  He stood up and said, “Even Tails would agree with me here.  I’m going to keep my promise; if you want the Master Emerald, you’re gonna have to go through me, but first, you’ll have to catch me!”

    Zelias sneered as Sonic made an attempt to seize the Master Emerald and flee.  No sooner had he lifted it from the altar that the island started to shake, ready to fall from the sky.  In horror, Sonic put the Master Emerald back, stopping the island’s fall from the sky.  Zelias laughed and said, “Ah hah!  That’s rich!  You stupid hedgehog!  You forgot to activate the ‘perfect security system’.  Ain’t so perfect now, is it?  Too bad there’s no way in hell that we’re gonna let you take two steps and activate it…that is…unless we do it to save our own butts.”

    Sonic felt sick; without the security system activated, the Master Emerald could be taken, and yet if he did activate it nobody could take it and run, which meant he’d have no choice but to fight them off alone.  If he had enough time to remove it he’d be alright.  Now, he couldn’t think of what to do to save himself.  He knew well enough that Knuckles would fight first and ask questions later, but Knuckles was more powerful than Sonic, losing out to Sonic in speed and nothing else.

    He grew angry, so enraged he didn’t know what to expect.  He leaped at Zelias screaming, “Get out of here!” over and over.  Zelias jumped back, and Sonic leapt for him again, and eventually his speed was more than a match for Zelias.  He pinned Zelias to the ground and said, “Release my friend now!  Then get the heck out of here!”

    Zelias was hardly frightened; he said, “Oh ho, good one Sonic.  It seems you have me cornered, boo hoo.  Do you think we'd go away without a consolation prize?  Well, listen here Sonic, here’s your prize for winning.  A lifetime of mind control serving Lord Feldmort, and the bonus of delivering the Master Emerald to him personally!  Oh Miles?”

    Sonic looked behind him and saw Tails looming over him, microchip in hand.  “Tails don’t!  Stop!”  It was too late however; Zelias flicked a switch on Tails’ controller, and the fox plunged the microchip into Sonic’s neck, bringing him down, for good.

    Zelias stood up, triumphant.  “Yes!  We’ve done it…the precious Master Emerald within our grasp.”  Zelias, enchanted by the Master’s glow reached out to touch it, but immediately retracted when he did so.  He clutched his fingers tightly, hissing at it saying, “Gah!  So impure am I that even to touch it I am burned.  Hee hee, good thing we have Sonic here to lift it.  I couldn’t careless if the island falls into the sea.”  Taking Sonic’s controller, he said, “Take the Master Emerald now!”

    Under the mutants’ control, Sonic, red eyes flashing, lifted the Master Emerald from its altar once more.  The island began to shake, and by now the army that had come to the island had retreated to those who waited on the mainland.  Though Angel Island had been moved further out to sea by Knuckles before he left, the mutant army had members who could fly, and thus they were able to flee safely.

    Tails and Sonic, along with Zelias were the last ones down.  To Zelias’ dismay, however, some unseen force almost seemed to be cradling the island, allowing it to fall onto the same cliff that it had the night of the echidnas’ massacre.  Zelias growled, saying, “Damn, the system must automatically turn on if disturbed.  “Bah, let it lay there,” he hissed, “We’ve got the true prize.”

    He smiled wryly as he gazed at the Master Emerald in Sonic’s hands.  The control the mutants had over Sonic made him stronger than usual, and thus able to lift the massive gem, as Lord Feldmort had said before, they had no control over themselves whatsoever.  He turned to Tails and said, “Dear Miles, I have a job for you.  Go find the three traitors, and cause no hurt to them, but instead seize the hedgehog girl, Amy, from them.  Again, cause no hurt to her, but bring her to Lord Feldmort unharmed, where we’ll meet you later.  Now fly!”

    Tails’ red eyes flashed, and with a growl, he spun his tails into a spin and was airborne, flying high and faster than he ever could because of the influence the control had on him.  Zelias said, “Guards!  Stay with Sonic, and bring no hurt to the Master Emerald.  We march back to the fortress, with all speed!  All hail Lord Feldmort and his flawless plans!”  The whole army cheered, and with the Master Emerald in their possession, they ran off into the night.

    Indeed, things were getting pretty dark for Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow, and they didn’t even know how strong and increasingly stronger their adversary had now become.  Lord Feldmort was genius alright; when and if he captured Amy, what would happen then?  He already had what he wanted, the Master Emerald and the eldest son of the Guardian in his grasp.  Now, he could become whole and pure, along with his army of mutants, and he knew it.  So why did he continue to torture the brothers so?  Feldmort wanted more than victory, he wanted revenge, and with the slaughter of the last two living echidnas in existence, besides the mutant ones, he would have finally achieved full victory.  It was then that he would become and lead the Master race, ruling over all, and ending the world as all knew it.

    He came away from his window, sensing his impending victory and looking back at Hidama.  “Dear Hinsei, you’re going to be seeing your brother, very, very soon. Mwahaha!”  Feldmort set Hidama’s controller down, and turned to go to bed.  Once Feldmort left, Hidama swatted at his neck again.  Was the microchip malfunctioning?  What would happen when Zelias returned with the Master Emerald?  Shadow and Knuckles would almost certainly get there first, and…what would happen when Tails came for Amy?  Even as the stars twinkled above, many questions were left unanswered, just as the fate of the world hung in the balance with the uncertainty at hand.