"Revelations and Reunions - Part I"
Authors: Francis Tolbert and Robert Brown

Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Sega of
            America, Inc. and Archie Comics (except where noted, in which case
            they were created and copyrighted by us or by another and we have
            permission to use them).  The authors hereby give permission for 
            this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as 
            long as (1) no changes to the story are made without our express 
            written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to 
            profit from this story.  If either or both rules are violated, it 
            will be considered a violation of copyright law.

Author's Note: Hello.  That's right!  I'm VOLUNTARILY writing this author's
note.  For those who don't know, since my name is first, this story is
generally my idea.
               I want to personally thank all of our readers for their
patience.  I know it takes a while for our stories to go out.  
               Second of all, it has come to my attention that people are not
satisfied with how certain "official" storylines are going.  If you don't like
it, and complaining gets you nowhere, here's a suggestion.  Stop giving them 
your money!  Granted, the more widespread they are, the less likely it will 
work.  But hey, isn't that what fanfics are for?
               We have also been asked who created which characters.  Those 
with three asterisks (***) are Robert's creations.  Those with three pound 
signs (###) are mine.
               Anyway, I hope you like what we're doing.  Don't worry.  We are
currently trying to write part II.  Peace, See ya later!
 
Cast of Characters(in order of appearance)
Duval "The Kameleon"###
Fiona###
Edgar "The Owl"###
Princess Sondra Acorn-Prower***
Nadia Osaya***
Queen Sally Alicia Hedgehog
Charisma###
Lissette Lexford***
Lyka***
Lupé
Sarah Prower***
Angela Shi-rat***
Rosie Shi-rat
Bunnie D'Coolette
Princess Alicia Rose Hedgehog***
DJ Osaya###
Desirée D'Coolette***
Antoine D'Coolette
Donovan Osaya###
King Sonic Hedgehog
Prince Juice Hedgehog***
Sir Charles Hedgehog
Miles "M3" Prower III***
Kelly Min Hedgehog**##
Maurice Hedgehog***
Patricia Hedgehog***
Rotor
Dulcy
Rosa***
Miles "Tails" Prower
Tanis Shi-rat***
Lissette Lexford***
Metal Sonic
Krella###
Tanin###
Charlotte Oster###
Darrin D'Coolette***
Amy Rose
Nicholas###
Lily###
Kao***
"The Spyder"###
Rouge
Dr. Gray***

#42

	Snow blanketed the ground deep within the Great Forest, so much so that 
you would not believe that winter was only a few hours old.  However, it did
look like quite the Christmas scene, so maybe that would be easier seeing as
it was only a couple days away.  In a place very few Mobians knew about and 
even fewer have explored, a place of nearly unrivalled tranquility when left 
to its own devices, two animals sparred, shattering the quiet with the sounds 
of flesh striking against weapon.
	The raccoon otherwise known as "The Kameleon," swung a wooden sword with 
frightening speed at his opponent.  The sword was curved like a katana but 
only as long as a kodachi.  Instead of avoiding the strikes, however, this 
opponent turned to meet each slash head on with her fists, her feet, or other 
parts of her body, inexplicably forcing The Kameleon to turn the strike away.  
But not every strike could be turned away, and her blows to his sword, though 
glancing, reverberated through his entire body.
	The Kameleon frowned.  His opponent, a female wolverine who looked to be
in her early to mid-twenties with a tall and lanky frame dressed in a simple
martial arts gi like his own, was getting better.  So much so that he might 
actually have to start taking these spars more seriously.  Until now, he'd 
only been toying with her.  But that was all about to change as soon as--
	The Kameleon held up his hand, stopping the spar just as his opponent
was to land a telling blow on his body, the knuckles of her fist outstretched
to bury themselves in his abdomen.  "It seems we have a visitor," he said,
his eyes searching among the snow-laden trees.
	"It's just as well," his opponent said, jumping back a few steps.  "I
should've left fifteen minutes ago.  I have a delivery I must make."
	The Kameleon nodded and bowed to her, waiting until she returned the bow
to straighten up.  "Farewell, Fiona," he said.
	Fiona walked over to a nearby tree and picked up a soft yellow cloak, 
fastening it around her neck and pulling the hood up to hide her face.  She 
then picked up a long handbasket filled to almost overflowing with rare and 
powerful herbs.  "Until next we meet Duval," she said with a small smile.  
	As Fiona walked away, another animal walked out of his hiding spot.  "We
must talk Duval," Edgar said, walking to stand face to face with the raccoon.
	"You will refer to me as 'The Kameleon,'" Duval said, a light note of 
anger in his voice.  "What business do you have with me, young Owl?"  
	If Edgar considered asking why Fiona could call him Duval but he could
not, he didn't show it.  "I've heard of your plans," he stated instead, "and 
I'm here to try and talk some sense into you.  What you're doing is nothing 
short of madness!"
	"My 'plans,' as you call them, are already in motion," Duval replied 
calmly, tapping his wooden sword against his forearm.  "In order for our 
goals to come about, these plans must come to fruition."
	"There is always another way," Edgar argued.  "Things are not as bad as 
you make them seem.  There is no need for anything this drastic!"
	Duval listened as Edgar continued to argue, his manner as detached as if
they were discussing the weather.  Finally, when he tired of listening to The
Owl's voice, he took his bokuto off his forearm and placed the tip under 
Edgar's nose.  "You want to stop me young Owl?"  he asked, his voice low and 
threatening.  "Then show me the strength of your convictions.  Let me see if
they are as powerful as the strength of my blade."  Without waiting for an
answer, Duval lunged forward.
	Edgar was no fighter.  A scholar, a researcher, an archivist, but not a
fighter.  Though he tried his best, he was unable to even lay a finger on
Duval.  Mercifully quick, the "fight" was over.  Edgar lay on the ground, 
Duval's sword at his throat.  Though he didn't say it with words, his body
language clearly said that he had yielded.  
	Duval stepped away and tucked his bokuto into his belt.  "I'm going to
meet with Spyder now," he said flatly, turning around and picking up his 
security uniform.  "Once that happens, the final stages will commence."
	"She will be devastated by this," Edgar said from his position on the
snowy ground.
	"And just which 'she' are you referring to?"  Duval remarked, looking
over his shoulder.  When Edgar hesitated in his answer, Duval marched over 
and picked him up by his neck.  "Have you forgotten your duty to the Society 
of Four?" he asked, holding Edgar in such a way that he was off the ground but
still able to breathe.  "Have you forgotten everything we have sacrificed to 
get to this point?  And have you forgotten what you yourself must do if it 
becomes necessary?"
	"I've never forgotten," Edgar spat, trying to free himself from Duval's
iron grip.  
	"See that you don't."  Duval shoved Edgar back as he released him, 
making the badger land hard on his backside.  "You've lost.  You cannot 
directly interfere with my plans.  See that you don't forget that either."  
Edgar simply watched as Duval walked away, his mind already whirling through 
the possibilities, looking for a way to prevent what now seemed to be
inevitable.
	The next day was a flurry of activity, but for a different reason.  It
was the day before Christmas, and Mobotropolis' main commercial hub was packed
with last minute shoppers.  Among the frenzy was a group of ladies that could
easily have done their shopping earlier, but actually enjoyed the hustle and
bustle.  "Come on!"  Sondra yelled from outside a store.  "We have at least 
another twenty stores we have to visit!"
	"Forget it Sondra," Nadia said, plopping down on a nearby bench and 
dropping the bags she already carried down at her feet.  "These rookies have
no idea what they're doing."
	Sondra muttered something under her breath as she sat down next to 
Nadia.  Ever since this shopping center had been fully restaffed, Sondra and
Nadia had made a point of coming here once a month just to spend time together
and renew their friendship, and away from the men in their lives.  But since 
this was just before Christmas, almost every other female they knew at the 
palace had invited themselves along.  Nadia jokingly referred to them as 
"rookies," but they had been doing this every single year.
	"Hey, why are you two sitting down?"  Sally asked, walking out of the
store with a bag in each hand and a number of ladies following behind her.
	"Who knew how long you two would be?"  Sondra kidded her elder sister.
"For all we knew, the lot of you wouldn't have been out for another hour or
more!  I mean, surely you got mobbed by your 'adoring public.'"
	Sally just smirked and pinned her younger sister with an amused glare.
"It hasn't been that long since I've been out of the palace; everyone's still
used to me being around."
	"Is it always this hectic?"  Charisma asked, back in her guise as 
Charleen but looking genuinely nervous.  "I don't think I've ever been around
this many animals at one time."
	"You're not the only one," Lissette said.  "It's so unlike being back
home."
	"Oh that's right," Lyka said, "you two aren't from around here.  From 
how you're fitting in, it's hard to remember that."
	"Don't worry," Lupé assured, shoving a bag into her daughter's hands, 
"you get used to it after a while.  Even though I haven't set foot in the 
palace in over five years, I still came by for this trip.  At first, I was 
as tentative as you are.  But now?  I enjoy this tradition we have."
	"And I'm glad to be a part of it finally," Sarah piped up as she hopped
on her mother's lap.  "I just wish it wasn't because of this," she said, 
gesturing at her artificially adult body.
	Sondra shook her head and gave her daughter a little hug.  "Sarah, you
would've come along anyway," she assured her daughter.
	"We waited until we were ten too," Angela said, "no matter how many 
times we tried to sneak along."
	"I remember that time you were eight," Rosie said, eliciting a groan 
from her daughter.  "I can't believe you actually thought I wouldn't see you
simply because you dressed in black!"
	"It would've worked," Angela protested to a lot of laughter.  "At least
it would've if it hadn't been for Desirée tripping over my feet and making us
all fall."
	"Where is Desirée?"  Charisma asked, looking around.  "With all the 
excitement, I just noticed she wasn't here."
	The group went silent a moment.  Just as Charisma was feeling very 
discomfited about bringing the subject up, Alicia opened her mouth to speak.
"Desirée isn't here because DJ isn't here," she explained.  "DJ was the only 
boy we allowed on these expeditions despite his age because he never 
complained about carrying all the bags.  We never did really weigh him down 
though; we just couldn't bring ourselves to.
	"The year his sister disappeared, he stopped coming.  Since then he's 
spent these days before Christmas alone.  But now that he and Desirée are a 
couple, officially, she decided that he shouldn't have to spend it alone.  And
unless I miss my guess, DJ should be finding that out right about now."
	If the other women had known what was about to happen in the Great 
Library, they would have accused Alicia of either being a prophetess or having
set everything up.  DJ was in fact sitting at one of the tables, alone, with a
book open in front of him.  He wanted to do research, wanted to figure out how
it might be possible to finish recharging the Lightning Emerald, but he 
couldn't even see the book that lay in front of him.  The only thing he could
see were Christmases of years past, ones that he'd spent with his family; his
full family.
	Christmas had been the favorite time of the year for Nadine.  The 
siblings would always wake up early and pounce on their parents, waking them
up from a rather sound sleep.  After a few bounces to make sure they were 
awake, and a full-scale tickle war for a few minutes, the entire family would 
make their way into the living room for a small breakfast.  Then they would 
grab all the presents they had and joined the rest of the palace to exchange 
gifts with them.  
	But since Nadine had gone, the Osayas had withdrawn slightly from these
traditions.  Though they still gave presents with the other families, they
never gave anything among themselves.  They did buy presents every year, but
those presents always were locked in a closet and would remain there until 
Nadine came home.
	A single tear fell from DJ's eye as he remembered his sister's face the
last Christmas they had spent together.  So lost was he in his memories that
he didn't notice the pair of cream-furred arms that stole around his neck
until they hugged him backward into a very pleasantly soft something.  DJ 
jumped for a second as he was dragged from his reverie only to relax once he
realized who was there with him.  He twisted his head to look up at the 
grinning face of his girlfriend.  
	"Surprised to see me?"  Desirée asked, placing a soft kiss on his ear.
	DJ blushed, then tugged on Desirée's arms to bring her closer and 
brushed a quick kiss across her lips.  The look he gave her clearly conveyed 
that yes, he was surprised, considering that she was supposed to be out 
shopping with the other ladies.  Not only that, but he thought she should be 
out there with them and not with him.  He even made slight shooing motions as 
if telling her to go.
	"Oh DJ," she sighed for the umpteenth time.  "Don't you understand that
this is where I should be?  I finished my shopping weeks ago just so I could
be here with you.  This is our first Christmas together as a couple, and the
only place I want to be is here with you."
	DJ smiled slightly, making Desirée smile as well.  But her smile faded
as she noticed the tear track down his cheek.  "You're thinking about Nadine,
aren't you?"  she asked, already knowing the answer.  She stood him up, sat 
down in the chair, and pulled him down on her lap.  And there they stayed for
the rest of the day, Desirée holding him and talking to him, helping him to 
remember the good times and reminding him just how much she loved him.
	The next morning was Christmas morning, one of the holiest days of the
year.  Later that night, a large formal party would be held where everyone 
would have the chance to approach the king and queen to talk over their 
concerns with the royal family.  But for right now, that was the furthest 
thing from anyone's mind.
	Sally sat next to a tree that was decorated the same way that it had
been back in Knothole.  "This one's for you Antoine!"  she called, tossing a
purple wrapped present to him.  
	Antoine snatched the present out of the air, his eyes lighting up when
he noticed who it was from.  "And just what did you get me?"  he asked his 
wife as he turned to face Bunnie, opening the present up.  
	"Nothing much sugarfox," Bunnie said with a smile, catching one that 
Sally threw at her.  "And I see you picked up something for me too."
	Sally just chuckled as she kept handing out presents.  Out of all the 
things she did this day, this was what she enjoyed the most.  She tried not to
give any orders of any kind on this day, preferring to just be Sally and not
Queen Sally.  One thing she did insist on was that no one could be in an 
official uniform, not even herself.  And so she sat there in just her old blue
vest and boots, searching among the presents for a specific one.  "This is
yours Donovan," she said, handing the present over to the squirrel.  "It's 
from me."
	Donovan sighed as he accepted the present.  He really didn't like being
casual as Sally had mandated.  Clad in only a black polo shirt similar to what
his son usually wore, he opened the present he'd been given.  "Thank you, Your
Maj--" he began before feeling Sally's glare land on him.  "I mean, thank you
Sally," he amended, taking an unusual book from the box.
	"I went through a lot to find that," Sally said, pausing slightly before
handing out the next gift.  "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a 
book that you don't have in that Library of yours."
	Donovan looked at the book he held with a new appreciation.  "Thank 
you," he said, meaning it more this time.
	"I still can't believe how you manage to do that," Sonic said, sitting 
down next to his wife and putting a present down in her lap.  "Merry Christmas
Sal," he whispered.
	"Oh Sonic," she said, shaking her head, "you didn't have to get me 
anything!"  But when she opened the box, her breath hitched slightly.  "Oh 
my," she breathed.
	Sonic lifted the delicate silver chain bracelet from the box and 
fastened it around Sally's wrist.  "I love you," he whispered, kissing her 
softly but passionately.
	"Hey!"  Juice complained, his attention diverted from the present in his
hands.  "I know you two still love each other, but do you have to show it 
here?"
	"I think it's great bro," Alicia interjected.  "I only hope that when 
I've been married that long, I'll be that much in love."
	"Besides," Sonic teased as he ended his kiss with Sally, "we all know 
that you'd be doing this too if you could."  Juice rolled his eyes at his 
father's good-natured ribbing, but as he looked at Angela, he felt the pain of
not being able to be with her ever more acutely.
	The door to the private room opened, and Sonic's Uncle Chuck stepped in.
"Sorry I'm so late," he apologized, accepting hugs from M3 and Sarah, "but it 
took me a while to make sure your present was ready."
	"Who's present Unc?"  Sonic asked, sounding a bit confused.
	"Why, yours of course," Sally said, giving him a quick hug from the 
side.
	"Mine?"  Sonic asked, then his eyes narrowed slightly.  "What are you up
to?"
	"Nothing," Sally chirped in a singsong voice, just looking at the door 
as it opened back up.
	Sonic looked back to the door and was taken aback in surprise as a 
blonde-quilled grey hedgehog poked her head through.  "Just me," she said with
a bright smile.
	"Kelly!"  Sonic and his parents yelled in surprise, rushing over to her
and almost knocking her down in their excitement.  
	"Watch it!"  Kelly said with a laugh, letting herself be led inside.
	"I thought you were out on that dig?"  Maurice asked once his happiness
faded a bit.  
	"I know," Patricia said, sweeping her own blonde hair-quills, though 
with more grey than she cared to admit, behind her.  "You swore up and down 
you wouldn't be back until you'd found that sword you were looking for."
	"And I had every intention on keeping that promise," Kelly Min said, 
"until a certain sister-in-law of mine sent an armed guard to make sure I'd be
back."
	"And what an armed guard she sent," Rotor said, easing his massive 
dragon bulk through the doorway.  "She's just lucky we had to pass that way on
our way here."
	"I'm not complaining," Dulcy said as she walked over to Sally and 
dropped their bag of presents off next to her so she could distribute them.
"It gave us a reason to make sure we'd be here in time."
	"It's not my fault," Rosa protested, flopping down on a nearby cushion
and tucking her tail in around her legs.  "I just had a hard time finding my
tool belt this morning."
	"Uh huh," Dulcy said with a smirk, folding her arms.  "And I noticed you
spent a lot of time looking around that window of yours.  You know, the one 
where you can see all of those guards training?"
	"Mom!"  Rosa whined, her cheeks turning as pink as her hair as everyone
laughed.
	"Anyway, you're not spending your birthday away from your family," Sally
told Kelly Min.  "Besides, it wasn't all my idea.  Tails suggested it."
	"I was just in the right place at the right time," Tails defended.  "I
heard you guys wishing Kelly would be home for Christmas and got Aunt Sally to
help out."
	"Way past," Sonic said, drawing a laugh from the others at how Sonic 
sounded just as he had all those years ago back in Knothole.
	"And speaking of birthdays," Tails smiled, looking over at Sondra, 
"today's yours as well."
	"Like I really need to be reminded of that," Sondra said, rolling her
eyes.  "I assume you have something special planned for tonight?"
	"After the party," Tails all but promised, getting everyone else there
to snicker.  "But for now, I say we go grab some breakfast."
	Tanis stood from where he sat with his family.  "As much as I'd love to 
join you, I'm afraid I have a number of services to perform today.  Although
I'd rather be here with everyone else, I am glad that Christmas has returned 
to its religious roots.  Take care everyone; you know where to reach me if you
need to."
	"Do you want me to come with you?"  Rosie asked.
	Tanis quietly shook his head.  "You're needed here, for the children.  
I'll see you tonight."  
	"Before you go," Lissette said quickly, pulling a box from the pocket of
her overalls and crossing the room to where Tanis stood, "I was wondering if 
you could deliver this for me."
	"Deliver it?"  Tanis asked, confused.  But after Lissette whispered who
it was for, he just smiled and nodded.  "I shall make sure he gets it," Tanis
promised, tucking the present away in his robes.  After giving Rosie a kiss he
disappeared back to Sanctuary.
	Lissette walked back over to her seat, uncomfortably conscious of all 
the eyes on her.  "What?"  she asked, dropping into her seat while affecting a
completely carefree air.
	Metal Sonic couldn't help but laugh as Lissette sat back down next to 
him.  "Well, I hope James like your present more than I liked mine," he said,
holding up the metal burnisher that Lissette had given him.
	"And what makes you think that it was for James?"  Lissette asked, 
though the blush on her cheeks gave the truth away.
	"All right everyone, you'd better eat up," Sally said as she led the way
toward breakfast.  "After we're done, we have the main hall to decorate."
	Sonic's face fell at that pronouncement.  "And this is the part I hate,"
he muttered to himself.
	Far away from the palace, at the home of the Fallen Ones, the mood was 
far different.  Charisma woke up with a start, sitting up in bed and yawning.
"Is Christmas over already?"  she thought, looking at the late morning sun.  
"It took a lot longer last year, hurt a lot more too."
	Being one of the holiest day of the year, the forces of Chaos were at a
distinct disadvantage.  But for the Fallen Ones it was much worse.  On that 
particular day, they were barely able to keep breathing let alone move.  It 
was as if the day itself tore at their bodies, trying to erase the evil that
they represented from the face of the planet.  It was only Father that could 
stop it, and it took most of his power and all of his concentration to do so.
	"I'm surprised Krella let me sleep this late," Charisma muttered, 
throwing her cloak on since she didn't feel like getting fully dressed yet.
She left her room and walked down the hallways, listening to her footsteps 
echo off the walls.  "Where is everyone?"  she asked impatiently, tossing open
the door to Krella's room.
	Charisma got her answer, but not the one she expected.  There, laying 
sprawled out across her bed, was Krella, and she did not look well.  Her 
normally bright orange fur was dull and sallow, her tail hung limply and 
barely even twitched.  "What is going on here?"  Charisma wondered, backing 
out of the room and closing the door behind her.  
	She quickly ran to the other rooms to check on the other Fallen Ones.
And in each room she found the same thing: her fellow Fallen Ones looking very
sick and weak.  But in Tanin's room she found a single clue.  Tanin was 
covered from head to foot in a black aura which seemed to be under attack.
"Is it possible?"  she asked herself, hurrying over to Father's chambers.
Before she reached the door, she could feel the dark energy radiating from 
within the room.  The only way she would feel that much energy is if he were 
still trying to protect them from....
	Charisma's eyes popped open as it occurred to her just what was going 
on.  "It's still Christmas," she realized.  "But how?  I'm not...I mean, I 
can't...I don't have...."  Charisma took a deep breath to calm herself down.
She knew very well she should be like the other five; in bed and unable to 
move.  That was why she'd told Darrin that she wouldn't be able to attend the
party at the palace though she had said that she was going out of the city 
with her "aunt."
	And that's when it hit her.  If she wasn't confined to bed for the day,
there was nothing stopping her from going to the party.  She raced to her room
and jumped in the shower.  In record time she was clean, dry, made up, and 
dressed.  Running through the halls despite her heels, she reached the black
door that led to Mobotropolis.
	As she passed through the black door, her "aunt" jumped slightly in 
surprise.  "And what are you doing here?"  she asked, her own fur looking dull
and her manner listless.
	"The day's not affecting me," Charisma said with a shrug.  "I figured 
that I should go to the party instead of just laying in bed and wasting the 
day."
	Charlotte looked over at Charisma, peering up and down the young 
feline's form.  "Ah, I see," she remarked at length, slumping back into a 
rocker.  "You'd better get going.  And don't worry, I won't tell anyone where
you're going."  Charisma looked at Charlotte in surprise, then smiled 
gratefully.  "Just be back before sunrise!"  Charlotte called before the door
closed.
	Inside the palace, the decorating was in full swing, much to the dismay
of one particular Mobian.  "I really hate doing this," Sonic said, pulling 
some garland from a box.  "I mean, I really, really hate this."
	"Yes Sonic, we know," Sally said in a long-suffering voice.  She cleared
her throat and then continued in a fair imitation of Sonic, "'It's not that I 
don't like Christmas,'"
	"'But it's a lot of work to get this done,'" Antoine picked up where 
Sally left off.
	"'And Christmas shouldn't be a lot of work!'"  Bunnie added.
	"'I mean yes, it's all for our subjects,'" Juice continued.
	"'But they'd like it just as much if we did nothing for them,'" Angela 
said, keeping the chain going.
	"'They know how much we care for them,'" Tails piped up.
	"'And we know how much they care for us,'" Sondra pointed out, trying
not to giggle.
	"'And that's all this should be about,'" Alicia finished, punctuating
her words with a hammer strike to nail a decoration to the wall.
	"Did we forget anything?"  Darrin, Desirée, Nadia, Sarah, and M3 all 
asked together.
	"How could you forget the most important part?"  Donovan said, cutting
Sonic off before he could say anything.  "'But I'll do it, because it is for
our subjects.'"
	Sonic flushed red right to the tips of his quills.  "I'm not that bad,
am I?"
	"Yes you are!"  everyone yelled with a considerable amount of laughter.
	"But we love you anyway," Sally soothed, flying over to him and planting
a loud kiss on his cheek.
	The doors to the ballroom opened, but no one really noticed with how 
much they were laughing.  "What's so funny?"  Charisma asked, shedding her
warm outer coat to reveal the bright emerald green dress underneath.
	"Charleen!"  Darrin exclaimed, running over to her and bringing her more
into the room.  "I thought you were going out of the city?"
	"So did I," Charisma said with a slight shrug.  "Aunt Charlotte decided
at the last minute not to go and she all but ordered me up here to spend the
day with you.  I hope you like the surprise."
	"Like it?  I love it!"  Darrin took her hand in his and walked her 
around the room, showing off all the decorations that had already been put up.
He couldn't help but smile at the look of pure awe she wore on her face.  "A
bit overwhelming?"  he asked.
	Charisma snapped out of her surprise and blushed sheepishly.  She'd been
so lost in thought over the lengths that they had gone through to celebrate a
day that she'd never been able to take part in that she'd forgotten that 
Darrin was even there for a moment.  "Well, I'm not used to something this 
big," she said quietly.  "I'm more for the quiet stuff at home."
	"You should've been here this morning," Darrin said, guiding her over to
a somewhat secluded corner of the room.  "But since you're here now," he said
softly, "I can give you this now."  Charisma's soft gasp was clearly heard by
Darrin as he pulled a long jewelry box from his pocket and handed it to her.
"Merry Christmas Charleen," he whispered.
	Charisma opened up the box and a second gasp escaped her lips.  "Oh but
Darrin--"  she started to say but Darrin laid a finger across her lips to stop
her.  Darrin reached into the box and gently took out a gold necklace with a 
heart-shaped locket.  "But I don't have anything for you," she protested.
	"It's not about getting, it's about giving," Darrin said, motioning for 
her to turn around so that he could put the necklace on.  "And besides, you've
already given me so much."
	Charisma shivered slightly as she felt Darrin place a soft kiss on her
neck.  "No more than you've given me," she said, turning quickly and kissing 
him deeply and passionately.  Darrin may have been slightly taken aback at 
first, but he was soon returning her kiss with equal fervor.
	"Hey you two!"  Desirée yelled at them, causing them to spring apart.  
"Decorate now, kiss later!"  Charisma and Darrin looked at each other for a
moment before walking hand-in-hand over to where his sister waited with a 
whole box of decorations just for them.
	With everyone pitching in, and Sonic not complaining, the decorating was
soon complete.  They all stood back and admired their work for a moment until
a guard opened the doors and reminded them that they only had an hour or so 
until the party began.  That hour was spent in personal preparations for the
party, both in attire and in other things.
	As the sun set on Christmas Day, a line formed by the palace's gates of
Mobian well-wishers waiting to be escorted to the party.  Anyone was allowed 
into the party, provided they passed the heightened security.  But it was 
suggested that the younger children, especially those thirteen or below, 
would enjoy the children's party more.  Every year, Rosie volunteered to head 
up this party, but she never did it alone.  This year Nadia was her helper, 
for the time being anyway.
	Nadia loved being around kids like this, it helped to slightly ease the
pain of not having Nadine with her.  She smiled as she handed out another 
random gift to a waiting kid.  Despite the bitter cold outside, the room this
party was being held in was kept rather warm, which was why Nadia was glad the
cloak she wore was very light.  It was a red cloak with green trim and designs
that depicted holidays of olden times.  Rosie's cloak was similar to her own, 
but it was a green cloak with red trim and designs.
	Nadia stole another glance at the doorway before pasting a smile back on
her face and handing out another present.  "You know," Rosie whispered as she
helped a child put together the toy she'd gotten, "looking at the doorway 
every minute isn't going to make him appear any faster."
	Nadia started to deny it, but one knowing look from Rosie stopped her. 
"I just hope he's coming," she admitted.  "You know how Donovan can be when it
comes to celebrations."
	"I know," Rosie said calmly.  "If he doesn't come soon, go look for him.
I'm sure you could drag him to the main party without too much difficulty."
	"Maybe in a little while," Nadia said.  "Besides," she added as she 
heard a slight commotion, "I think you could use me here for now."
	Rosie turned to find the source of the commotion and frowned.  Sarah had
been spending most of her time in the corner of the room, not looking all that
comfortable.  It was understandable because even though she was still ten in 
age, her experience with the Void had aged her body to look sixteen.  And now
some of the other kids were noticing this, and they weren't being kind about 
it.  "Well I'll put a stop to that right now," Rosie said in a huff.
	Nadia grabbed her arm and held her back.  "Wait for now," she said.  
"Sarah's a resourceful girl; let's see if she can handle it herself first."
	Sarah had been trying to ignore the comments made by the three or four
boys that were around her, but when one of them pushed her she couldn't help
but react.  "Leave me alone!"  she yelled, making them all back off for a 
second.
	"Don't tell us what to do you freak!"  one of the boys, a young weasel,
said, pushing her again.
	"You leave my sister alone!"  M3 yelled, flying between Sarah and the
boys.
	"M3 no," Sarah whispered, trying to move him out of harm's way.
	"So one freak stands up for the other," the boy said, making those with
him laugh.  "Don't worry, we'll deal with you next."
	"And then will you deal with me?"  a different boy, this one a pig and
slightly older than the others, said as he walked over to stand next to 
Sarah.
	"And me?"  a tabby-striped girl cat asked.
	The weasel and his friends backed up as every other kid at the party
suddenly moved to stand near Sarah.  "Why are you all protecting that freak?"
he sneered.
	"Sarah's our friend!"  the tabby yelled to which the others agreed.
"The only freak here is you!"
	"I couldn't have said it better myself," Rosie said, putting a firm hand
on the weasel's shoulder.  "And I think it's time I had a long talk with you 
four about respect and tolerance."
	"Yes ma'am," the four boys chorused as they were marched over to some 
chairs.  
	Sarah just watched them for a moment before turning to all the kids that
had stood by her.  She wanted to ask so much, but the only thing she could 
manage to get out was, "Why?"  The answer from the other kids was with even 
less words as they all just initiated a large group hug that left her gasping
for air.  "OK!"  she laughed.  "You can let me go now!"
	As all the kids backed away laughing, Sarah caught sight of a familiar
pink hedgehog standing by the doorway.  "Amy!"  she called, rushing over to 
her.  "What are you doing here?"
	"Hi Sarah," Amy said in her usual shy way.  She looked like she wanted
to say more, but her shyness at being around so many kids overwhelmed her.
	Nicholas watched as Amy was brought into the party by Sarah and M3.  
Though he loathed being separated from the seer, he knew that this was the 
safest place for her.  No one would attack with a Holy One present, especially
a Shi-rat.  Not even the ones they were here to deal with would dare that
much.  
	As Nicholas moved into position, a rather pretty female mouse let 
herself be escorted to the party.  Her fur and hair was a very light brown, 
almost a tan, and piercing blue eyes stared out from behind a pair of glasses.  
The dress she wore complimented the color of her eyes perfectly, even though 
she really didn't care about that much.  "I still hate having to wear a stupid 
dress," she muttered too low for her escort to hear.  Upon reaching the party, 
she thanked her escort and proceeded to mingle into the crowd.
	As she walked around the ballroom, she was very careful not to let 
anyone accidentally brush against her lest her disguise be discovered.  "Where
is Nicholas?"  Lily wondered, scanning around the different areas for him.  
The fact that she couldn't see him meant either that he wasn't in position yet
or that he was.  But she couldn't spend any more time looking for him as she 
had her own target to keep her eye on.
	It wasn't hard to pick out which of the gyards were on detail tonight.
Even the heads of the guard, or so she could assume by how the others reacted
to them, were on duty tonight.  Never mind the fact that they were dressed
casually, Lily could easily see the swords that they carried.
	While Lily made herself as inconspicuous as possible, four teenaged 
girls stood off to the side in deep discussion.  Charisma was a little nervous
at the moment, but the other three tried their best to put her mind at ease.
"Relax," Desirée cajoled, playfully kneading the feline's shoulders.  "You're
practically family as it is."
	"I guess," Charisma said.  Surprisingly enough, they were all wearing
dresses like hers, just in their own respective colors: Angela's was grey, 
Alicia's was sky blue, and Desirée's hot pink.  Charisma had fully expected 
them to be wearing ornate gowns, but she had to admit that the simple dresses 
probably fit them better.
	Juice and Darrin walked over with cups of punch for the girls with 
smiles on their faces.  Those smiles faltered a little though when all four of
them simply stopped talking as the boys got closer.  "All right," Juice 
muttered, rolling his eyes.  "We can tell when we're not wanted.  We'll leave 
you girls alone."
	Darrin rolled his eyes as well as he handed over the cups of juice he
held.  "I'll see you later," he said, kissing Charisma on her cheek.  He 
waited for Juice to do the same to Angela and then the two guys walked off, 
far away from the "crazy girls" as Darrin was heard to mutter.
	The girls waited until the boys were out of earshot before they started
laughing.  "That was so much fun!"  Charisma said, trying not to let any tears
of laughter escape lest they ruin her makeup.  "They reacted just as you said
they would."
	"We've known them longer than you have Charleen," Alicia pointed out.  
"I can safely say that we could predict every single thing those boys will 
do."
	"Maybe you can predict them," Lyka challenged as she walked up to the 
girls, "but can you predict me?"
	"Lyka!"  Angela said, giving her friend a quick hug.  "I thought you 
weren't coming tonight."
	Lyka shrugged, smoothing out her long purple dress, the exact same color
as her hair.  "I wasn't, but we got a message from home that they actually 
have everything in control.  Remember, Mom said she wouldn't step foot inside
the palace until the Wolf Pack could support itself.  Well, they can so she's
here."
	The girls looked over to where Lyka was pointing.  Lupé stood near 
Alicia's parents decked out in a blue dress that was very similar to her 
daughter's.  Next to Lupé was a tall reddish-furred wolf, almost half a head 
taller than she was.  The hair on his head was long enough to hang loosely in
his face and a shocking silver color, probably where Lyka had inherited her 
fur color from.  He wore a dark brown vest tunic with similarly colored loose
leggings.  While not overly muscled, he definitely exuded a quiet sense of 
power that seemed perfectly in place as the husband of the Wolf Pack's leader.
"So, this is the famed father we've heard so much about but never seen," 
Desirée mused.
	Lyka nodded, a slight smile crossing her lips.  "Yup, that's my daddy
Kao," she said, more than a little pride in her voice.  "Oh, before I forget
Desirée, this is for you."
	Desirée cocked her head to the side as Lyka dug into her pocket, but her
face blossomed in a ferocious blush when she saw what Lyka had.  "Lyka!" she 
hissed, her ears flattened fully back against her head.
	Charisma looked at the unusually colored root that Lyka held in more 
than a little confusion.  "What's the big deal about that root?"  she asked
innocently.
	Lyka smirked as she glanced sidelong at Charisma.  "Well you see 
Charleen, this little root is well known among my Pack for--"
	Desirée clamped her hands over Lyka's muzzle, preventing the lupine 
female from continuing her explanation.  "Would you keep it down!"  Desirée
demanded in a low voice.  "Our parents are right over there.  If they heard 
you talking like that--"
	"Oh please," Lyka said after she'd snatched her muzzle away from 
Desirée's hands.  "You know very well that if they'd known about it all those
years ago that they would've used it themselves."
	Desirée looked at the root as Lyka dropped it into her hand.  She 
thought back to the first time she'd heard about this root some three or four
years ago.  Lyka had jokingly presented the root to Alicia, Angela, and 
Desirée.  The mothers had asked what the roots were for and an embarrassed 
Lupé had had to explain.
	"You mean to tell me," Sally had said in a very low and dangerous voice
as the mothers all confiscated those roots, "that you had a root all along 
that could have prevented pregnancy and you never told us about it?"
	Lupé had regained as much of her dignity as possible and with a calm,
clear voice replied, "You never asked."
	Coming back to the present just in time to see Charisma's face explode 
in a blush, Desirée tucked the root in her pocket.  "I think I'll go find DJ,"
she said, then cringed when she realized how that sounded.  "Not for that,"
she quickly protested, seeing Lyka leer at her, "I just don't want him missing
out on the party.  If I leave him by himself he'll never come."
	"I'll be timing you," Lyka said as Desirée walked quickly away.  Desirée
refused to give Lyka the satisfaction of seeing her react, but was sure even 
her ears were blushing by now.
	Elsewhere in the palace, Donovan was busy making his "final" rounds of
the halls.  Even in his own mind the word "final" was in quotation marks; if
he found any little thing off he'd use it as an excuse to make another sweep.
Still, he knew Nadia would find him and drag him to the party by his ear if he
took too much longer.  And with this sweep being clean with only a couple 
halls to check, he'd have nothing to argue his case with.
	He was really hoping for something to magically appear around the final
corner, but wasn't expecting anything.  To his surprise, he found one of his
security staff conversing with...nobody?  "I presume everything is in 
readiness," the raccoon said.  "Remember, you're only to target one, not 
both."
	"Worry not," a harsh, brusque voice said, seeming to come out of the 
thin air that the raccoon was speaking to.  "This will be the last day that 
one of the middlemen of Chaos shall be allowed to exist on this planet."
	"What is the meaning of this Duval?"  Donovan demanded, walking into 
full view.  "What is going on?"
	Duval turned to look at Donovan with a cruel smirk, far different from 
the meek look Donovan was used to seeing on the raccoon's face.  "Spyder, it
seems we have a lab rat among us.  Would you please...?"
	With no warning, Donovan felt an invisible cable close around his 
throat and lift him up off the ground.  When he struggled against it, he was
slammed backfirst into the wall, stunning him for a moment.  Donovan was 
dimly aware of his communicator being lifted from his pocket by another such
cable and crushed, the useless pieces dropping to the floor.
	"I can handle this from here," Duval said.  "Go to ensure that the job
is finished and we are not once again intercepted by the disciples of the 
greatest of us all."  After a moment, Donovan was thrown through a door to 
land in a storage room.  "Now then Boss," Duval continued as heavy footsteps
receded into the distance, "it's time you and I had a little talk."  Donovan 
slowly reached for the hilt of his sword as Duval drew his bokuto.
	Unaware of what was occurring on the other side of the palace, DJ sat
in front of Computer, doing some routine programming.  "DJ," Computer said for 
the seventh time, "you know you have to go to the party.  By my calculations, 
Desirée will be here any moment to bring you there."  
	"Actually Computer," Desirée said as she opened the main door, "I'm here
now, but I'm not going to drag him to the party just yet."
	"You're not?"  Computer asked in some surprise which was mirrored on 
DJ's face.
	"Nope," Desirée said, pulling up a chair.  "I'll just sit here and wait
until he's ready to go.  I'm not promising to wait patiently though, but it 
will be his decision to go."
	DJ just looked at Desirée out of the corner of his eye.  If it was a 
battle of wills she wanted, she would get one.  He settled down more 
comfortably in his chair, trying not to notice just how many times Desirée was
crossing and uncrossing her legs.
	At the children's party, Amy Rose was running around with the other kids
playing tag.  On her head sat a bright red barrette, a gift she had gotten 
from the bag Rosie carried.  "We always bring extra," Rosie had explained when
she had been shy about taking it.  "Don't worry, we want you to have it."
	Even though it was her first time around so many kids, she still 
remembered the game from when her Guardian had used it to teach her how to 
evade capture.  And she was good at it too; she'd only been caught once and 
that was because she'd let M3 catch her.
	Sarah was currently "it" and had her sights set squarely on Amy.  But
Amy was way too slippery to be caught by her and constantly just evaded 
getting tagged.  One time though her body dodged left while her feet dodged
right.  "Whoa!"  she yelped, going down on her knees and skidding roughly
across the carpet.  "Ow!"  she whined, rolling onto her back and sitting up.
	"Are you all right?"  Nadia asked, running over.  "Let me see it."  Amy
sniffled and nodded, holding her knee up for Nadia to inspect.  "It doesn't 
look too bad, just a scrape," Nadia said calmly, blowing on the scrape and 
dropping a quick kiss on it.  "There, all better."
	But Amy wasn't listening, her eyes were focused on something very 
distant; possibly something only she could see.  "The Life that was given
shall be returned from whence it came," Amy Rose intoned in a mysterious voice
that was so unlike her own, a voice that gave Nadia chills.  Without making 
another sound, Amy slid to the ground, unconscious.
	"Uh oh," M3 and Sarah said together, hurrying over to Amy and helping
her up to a sitting position.  
	Nadia got to her feet and slowly backed away, clearly spooked by what 
she had just heard.  "I think I'm going to go find Donovan," she called to
Rosie, who just nodded uncertainly.  Nadia hurried quickly out of the room,
dropping her cloak off by the door to reveal the grey dress underneath.
	If Donovan had known that Nadia was looking for him, he would've told
her to hurry.  He was locked in a deadly duel with Duval and was barely 
parrying the raccoon's attacks, even though Duval was using a wooden sword.
To make matters worse, Duval hadn't stopped talking since the duel began,
peppering Donovan with a steady stream of insults.  "You are but a shell of 
what you once were," he taunted, aiming another slash at Donovan that was only
just deflected.  "Look at you!  You were once one of the greatest bastards on
the face on Mobius!  Now you are nothing more than a security lab rat."
	Donovan tried to focus on the fight and not on the words, but it had 
been far too long since he'd trained seriously with his sword.  His movements
were slow and clumsy, and he'd yet to manage any serious offense.  Each word
Duval spoke hammered at his inner strength as surely as the bokuto struck at
his physical strength.  This was a battle he knew he could not win, not as he
was now.
	Duval smirked as he sensed Donovan's despair.  "It's ironic," he 
taunted, stepping back and tapping the tip of his bokuto against his lips in a 
thinking gesture.  "I would've never thought that I would get more of a fight 
from your daughter than from you."
	Those words took Donovan more by surprise than any Duval had spoken to 
this point.  "What do you mean by that?"  Donovan asked, his tone curt and 
clipped.
	Duval chuckled humorlessly.  "It's quite simple really.  It means I was
the last one to see Nadine."  Donovan lashed out with his sword suddenly, 
almost catching Duval napping.  "Struck a nerve have I?  Well then let me tell
you just what happened that day.
	"Remember five or six years ago when there was a rash of pickpocketing?
You actually caught a member of that ring, a big break for you?  But before 
you could question him he died of a heart attack.  This ringing any bells for
you?"
	"And what if it is?"  Donovan growled, a spark thought long since dead
igniting inside him.
	"What you don't know is that I visited that pickpocket that night.  I
wanted to make sure he didn't say anything he wasn't supposed to.  After all,
I was the one to gather the ring in the first place."
	"What does this have to do with my daughter?"  Donovan demanded, using
this break to catch his breath.
	Duval pulled a dart from his pocket and held it up.  "Bellethena poison.
This is how I silenced that pickpocket, and how I silenced your daughter."
Donovan's eye widened and began to take on a reddish tint.  "After all, she 
did stumble upon me before I had completed my task.  I couldn't have her 
warning you, now could I?  Oh, she gave me quite the chase, and quite the 
fight when I caught her.  But in the end, one dart claimed two lives that
night.  It did take some doing to prevent your Computer from telling you all
this without it being noticed, much as I've done with our security system to
prevent this fight from being interrupted.  Is there anything else you wish to
know?"
	The reddish tint in Donovan's eye grew so strong that you couldn't see
either the iris or the pupil.  "There is one thing," he said in a low, 
controlled voice.  "What do you want as your epitaph?"  
	Duval actually laughed, but his laugh was cut short as Donovan rushed to
the attack.  "Yes!"  he screamed exultantly.  "This is the Donovan I want to
fight!  Come Osaya, show me exactly what you're made of!"
	Unaware of the fighting going on in that room, Lily was still staked out 
in the ballroom.  She had yet to locate Nicholas even though she had no 
trouble with her other target.  That meant he wasn't in position yet, or that
he was doing his job well.  She really hoped it was the latter.
	Currently she was standing by one of the many snack tables, popping 
bite-sized pizza rolls into her mouth every couple minutes or so.  She had no 
idea why she was doing it; it was almost a natural thing to her.  And it gave 
her a good excuse for standing where she was so she didn't question it.
	She was about to eat her tenth pizza roll, or was it her twentieth, when
she noticed the king and queen heading for the back of the room.  Sonic and 
Sally had finished making their rounds, much to Sonic's apparent relief, and 
were headed to the thrones that had been set up for them so that they could 
begin their receiving line.  
	That was when Lily saw something that drew a snarled curse from her, 
something that apparently had been missed by everyone else there.  Tossing the 
pizza roll in her mouth, she quickly made her way near the front of the 
forming line, making sure not to let anyone touch her.  "Where are you 
Nicholas?"  she thought worriedly.  "I'd better not have to do this myself."
	Unlike all of the Mobians who were now standing to wait for the chance 
to speak with their king and queen, Desirée was still sitting in the Osaya's 
residence, waiting none too patiently for DJ to finish on whatever he was 
working on.  Subtlety hadn't worked, neither had quiet pleading.  DJ was well
into winning this battle of wits, and she was running out of things to try.
If she hadn't promised to wait for it to be his decision, she would've bodily
carried him to the party a half hour ago.
	Just when her patience was reaching the point where she was seriously
considering bringing him and Computer to the party Desirée noticed that DJ was
closing some of the windows.  "You're done?"  she whispered excitedly.  DJ
sighed and nodded, clearly not enthusiastic about going.  But he'd run out of
things to do and while Desirée wasn't exactly computer literate, she would 
certainly notice if the same things kept appearing on the screen.
	Desirée let out a small whoop of victory when DJ closed the last window
and pulled him into a quick hug.  "Come on," she said, standing up and helping
him to his feet, "if we hurry we can still get there before they start the 
danc...ing?  Hey DJ, what's that?"  she asked, pointing at an unusually
blinking icon on Computer's screen.
	DJ looked at the icon Desirée had indicated and did a double take, then 
a triple take.  Without even a glance at Desirée, he sat right back down in 
his chair and began typing furiously.  Desirée's mouth opened and closed a 
couple times before she sat down in a huff.  "Me and my big mouth," she said
under her breath, crossing her arms under her chest and pouting.
	While Desirée resigned herself to another long wait, Nadia was wandering
the hallways in search of her husband.  "He has to be around here somewhere,"
she reasoned aloud.  "I've checked everywhere else."
	When Nadia couldn't raise her husband by communicator she immediately
set down along his beat, checking every single place he could be hiding to
avoid the party.  But as none of those panned out, worry began to replace
annoyance.  And now, near the end of his usual path, she was nearly trembling.
"Please let him be around here," she thought, rounding the last corner.
	A loud scream ripped through the air, shocking Nadia for all of a 
second.  As soon as that second passed however, she recognized the voice and
knew just who had uttered that scream.  She ran down the hallway to where the
storage room was and gasped in horror at the sight that greeted her.  Donovan
was against a wall, his mouth still open in a now soundless scream.  He looked
to be in extremely bad shape and probably wouldn't even be standing were it 
not for the bokuto that pierced his shoulder and kept him pinned to the wall.
	"Donovan!"  Nadia screamed, getting Duval's attention.  Acting on 
instinct, she kicked off her heels and charged forward, scooping up Donovan's 
sword from where it lay on the ground and slashing at Duval in one motion.  
	It probably would've worked if she had not screamed upon entering the 
room.  Duval saw her intention before she even knew what she was doing and 
pressed a hidden button on his bokuto's hilt.  Just before Nadia's slash made
contact, Duval pulled a true kodachi blade from its bokuto sheath, still 
leaving Donovan pinned to the wall, and used it to block Nadia's attack.  
"This is unexpected," he said, using his strength to push Nadia back.  "But
perhaps this is for the best.  Maybe you will be a better challenge for me 
than your husband."
	As the fight between Duval and Nadia began, a tragedy of a different
sort was about to take place in the ballroom.  Sonic watched as the latest
Mobians to whom he and Sally had talked walked away before a soft moan drew 
his attention.  "Sal, are you feeling OK?"  he asked, looking at his wife's
pale features.
	Sally took in a few deep breaths and nodded, pushing her sweat-dampened
hair back from her face.  "I'm fine Sonic," she said with a smile that she
didn't feel.  "It's just a little warmer in here than I thought it would be.
Maybe we should open up a few windows or something."
	Sonic now looked at Sally with a lot of concern showing on his face.  
No one would consider the ballroom "warm" really; Sonic actually found it a 
little chill.  But he could see the fine beads of sweat on her forehead and 
dotting the fur of her back where the gown she wore left it exposed.  "Maybe 
we should get you to the medical wing," he said in an undertone so as not to 
alarm those nearby.
	Sally just waved Sonic's concerns aside.  "Sonic, I'm not going to 
disappoint our guests just because I'm sweating a little bit.  I'm fine, I
promise.  Now let's see to our next guest."
	Sonic looked distinctly ill at ease, but acquiesced to Sally's 
insistence.  A pretty brown mouse stepped up next and Sonic turned his 
attention to her while trying to keep one eye on Sally.  "Hello there," he
said in what he hoped passed for an interested and friendly tone.
	"Hello Your Majesties," the mouse said in a light, cheerful voice.  "It
is an honor to be here with you."
	"The honor is ours," Sally said, extending a slightly shaking hand 
toward her.  "If you have anything you'd like to ask of us, feel free."
	The mouse tilted her head slightly as she took Sally's hand and shook 
it, though she did not let go.  "Is her Highness feeling well?"  she asked, 
mimicking Sonic's earlier concern.
	"Sal, if even she can see it--"  Sonic began but Sally cut him off with
a curt gesture.
	"Perhaps it would be best if Her Majesty got some sleep?"  the mouse 
said.  Something about her tone of voice set off warning alarms in Sonic's 
head.  He opened his mouth to say something, but she acted before he could.  
The mouse pulled Sally out of the throne and placed her free hand against the
side of her neck, making Sally wince for some reason.  But then every single
strand of hair or fur on Sally's body stood upright as electricity arced from
the mouse's hand into her.
	"Sally!"  Sonic yelled, shoving the mouse away and catching the now
unconscious queen in his arms.  He quickly checked her over, praying that he
could find signs of life in her.
	Lily flipped backward when she was pushed, taking out two guards with 
kicks to the tops of their heads.  "It's been fun," she quipped, pulling a 
small black sphere from her pocket as the other guards, led by Antoine, rushed
her, "but I really must be going now."
	"You're not going anywhere!"  Bunnie yelled, grabbing her from behind in 
a full nelson.  Lily winced but still managed to throw the sphere she held 
down to the floor.  It never made it there though as Bunnie punted it up to 
the ceiling before it could explode, its flash of light wasted among the 
rafters.  
	"Phooey," Lily muttered.  Before Bunnie could tighten her grip any, Lily
threw her arms straight up in the air and dropped down on her butt, sliding 
neatly out of the hold.  As soon as she landed, she rolled back and caught 
Bunnie with a double kick to the stomach, making the doe stumble back a step
or two.  "Time to go," Lily said, scrambling to her feet only to be met with a
wall of guards.
	"No!"  Bunnie said, her face contorted in anger.  "She's mine.  No one 
does that to Sally on my watch and walks away."
	Lily glanced at the enraged rabbit as she slid to the side, looking for 
a way out.  "Nicky where are you?"  she thought desperately.  She was aware of
a number of animals rushing to the queen, most notably her children, Angela, 
and the three Wolf Pack members.  "One less thing I have to worry about," she
realized, hopping back a step as Bunnie feinted a charge, "but I still have to
wonder just where the other one is."
	Bunnie acted like she was going to feint again, but this time charged 
for real.  Lily leapt up with the intention of springing off Bunnie to get 
over the guards to safety.  But Bunnie stopped short, making Lily land in 
front of her instead of on top of her.  A right hook-left uppercut combination
sent Lily reeling, but she somehow managed to stay on her feet.  
	Angela did everything she could to block out the nearby fight, searching
for the calm that she needed to heal Sally.  Finding it after a long and tense
moment, she extended her awareness into Sally's body, searching for the damage
the mouse had caused so that she could undo it.  To her great surprise, the
only damage she could find was a small puncture wound in her neck and some 
singed fur.  "There has to be something else," she thought.  "But where is 
it?"
	Lily kept dodging and weaving, avoiding Bunnie's attacks as best she 
could.  It was getting harder and harder though as Bunnie was slowly pressing 
her into a corner.  "I'm not going to let myself get trapped that easily," she
thought, ducking under one of Bunnie's kicks and rolling through to the other
side.  She quickly regained her feet, but before she could get two steps felt 
something hard and heavy slam into the side of her head.  The impact spun her
around in mid-air and the last thing she knew was hitting the ground face-
first.
	Bunnie stayed in an offensive stance, retracting her robotic leg and 
changing it back to flesh.  She wasn't fully convinced that she'd knocked out
Sally's assailant, but the mouse had yet to move.  Not even her eyes fluttered
as she lay there so Bunnie allowed herself to relax slightly.  "If she moves,"
she ordered some guards as they surrounded Lily, "knock her out again."
	By the thrones, Kao was getting nervous.  Something about this whole 
situation was bothering him.  Every instinct he had was set on edge and every
muscle in his body fairly thrummed from tension.  There was a lot more to this
than met the eye, he just knew it.
	A glint of light off something metal caught his eye.  It took less than
a second for him to realize what was going on.  He quickly dove to the side, 
interposing his own body between the queen and where he'd seen the glint.  A
single shot rang out and Kao grunted in pain, collapsing to the ground in a 
heap.  
	"Daddy!"  Lyka screamed, covering her mouth in horror.
	Kao rolled onto his back pressing one large hand against the bullet hole
in his shoulder as every single guest in the ballroom ran for the door in 
panic.  "Sniper!"  he hissed as loud as he could before the word was lost in a
growl of pain.
	Antoine was close enough to hear what Kao said and immediately peered 
around the room.  Everyone on the ground floor who didn't live at the palace
was running for their lives; not one was fighting through the crowd toward the
queen.  "The shot couldn't have come from the crowd," he reasoned.  He winced
as a young bear got shoved into a pillar by the doors by the maddened crowd.
A pillar that supported the balcony....
	"Stay here!"  he ordered everyone, drawing his sword as he wended his
way toward the balcony's stairs.  He grabbed the guard who had been stationed
by the stairs to pull his frightened attention toward the crowd.  "Did anyone
go past you?"
	"No sir," the young coyote said.  "No one all night."
	Antoine rushed past him and up to the balcony.  It was completely empty;
not a single animal save himself was up there.  "It must have come from 
somewhere else," he realized, but then he saw something that gave him pause.
A single threadlike cable was attached to the ceiling over the edge of the
balcony.  And from the tautness of the cable, the other end was attached to
something as well.
	Antoine ran over to the balcony's edge with his sword ready, but he 
couldn't see anything.  The thread simply ended in midair.  Antoine watched it
for a moment, unable to believe what he was seeing.  But then he noticed 
something unusual; the thread was slowly extending as if what was attached to 
it was lowering itself to the floor.  Antoine sliced through the thread with 
his sword, making whoever was on the other end crash to the floor.
	The invisible figure crashed to the ground, invisible no longer as his
cloaking failed upon impact.  "Get on him!"  Antoine yelled as the now 
visible bear started to get up.  No less then ten guards jumped on him, 
bearing him back to the ground with difficulty.  Antoine leapt down onto the
pile, his added weight finally forcing the bear down.
	While Antoine and the guards struggled to secure the bear, the PA system
suddenly crackled to life.  "Why are you doing this?"  everyone who was still
there could hear Nadia scream.
	"Because I can," another voice said, one that made Antoine's eyes 
narrow.  "Because I must.  And because there are only two outcomes to this.
Either I kill you and I win, or you kill me and I still win."
	"That's Duval," Antoine realized as he listened to the sound of two
swords clashing.  He struck the bear on the back of his head, stunning him for
just the barest of moments.  "Keep an eye on these two," he said to Bunnie who
nodded and drew her own sword.  "I'll be back soon."
	As Antoine ran off, trying to find where Duval and Nadia were fighting, 
DJ and Desirée sat in front of Computer, hoping that what they'd done was 
enough.  The icon Desirée had noticed was a backdoor into Computer's system, 
one that was currently open and in use.  By tracing it back to its source, DJ
had been able to find out what was happening.  Once he'd tracked Duval down, 
he routed the PA system in that room to receive instead of send and then 
blared it into the ballroom.  It had been hard to convince Desirée not to go 
herself to aid Nadia, but without her sword she wouldn't have done much good.  
	While they sat there, waiting and hoping, a radio frequency DJ had been
monitoring crackled to life.  "Kameleon," a voice said that neither one of
them recognized, "this is Owl.  You must disengage and abort.  You've been 
found out."
	"What do you mean I've been found out?"  they heard Duval demand.  "How
could I have been found out?"
	"You did it DJ," Desirée whispered as they listened to Duval and the 
"Owl" argue.  "You did it."
	DJ nodded absently as he focused on the voice of the "Owl."  It was a 
little unusual, like none he'd ever heard before.  He wanted to make 
absolutely sure that if he heard this voice again, he would recognize it in a
heartbeat.
	Duval ripped his earpiece out angrily, tossing it to the floor to 
silence Edgar's arguments.  "It seems we've run out of time," he told a 
heavily breathing Nadia.  "While it's been fun, I'm afraid that this game must
end now."  
	"No!" Nadia growled, holding her sword up defensively.  Moving with a 
quickness Nadia had not yet seen in him, Duval effortlessly disarmed her.  He
raised his sword high and brought it down for a killing blow, making both 
Nadia and Donovan scream in terror.
	That strike never found its mark as another sword turned it away at the
last second.  "Care to play with me?"  Antoine asked, burying his robotic
shoulder into Duval's chest and knocking him away from Nadia.  
	Duval regained his footing and stared calmly at Antoine.  "For a 
swordsman of your caliber, I will not play at all," he said, throwing his
kodachi away.  For a brief moment, Antoine thought that Duval was going to 
surrender.  But then Duval pulled a katana from behind a nearby crate and
drew it from its sheath.  "For you, I fight seriously."
	"As shall I," Antoine said, pulling a katana from the scabbard he wore
across his back and holding it with his off hand.  He dipped the points of his
swords in a gesture of respect, one which Duval returned.  They stared at each
other for a long moment, neither one moving.  Then, almost as one, they leapt
to the attack.
	Nadia quickly backed away from the two combatants so that she wouldn't 
be struck by an errant sword swing.  Both Antoine and Duval were evenly 
matched, even though Antoine was fighting with two swords.  That fact slightly
worried Nadia, but her main focus was getting Donovan free from the wall.  
"I'll get you down from there," she whispered, grabbing the wooden sheath with
both hands.
	Donovan hissed in pain as she pulled on the sheath.  "Don't worry about 
me," he said through gritted teeth, taking her hands in his to stop her.  "You
have to stop Duval!"
	"But I have to--"
	"He's the one who took Nadine from us!"
	The anger that tore through Nadia's veins at those words was more than
enough to allow her to pull the sheath free.  Donovan collapsed to the floor 
with a strangled cry, tempering Nadia's anger slightly.  She tore strips of 
fabric from her dress and used it to bind Donovan's shoulder to stop the 
bleeding.  "Don't move," she told him, picking up his sword and facing the
fight.  Slowly, in an attempt not to be noticed, she began gathering her 
energy to attempt a powerful technique that even after years of practice, she 
could only barely control.
	Antoine and Duval fought fiercely, either unaware or uncaring that they
had an audience.  Antoine had to admit that this was probably the finest duel
he'd fought in years.  If it weren't a life or death situation, he'd probably
be enjoying himself.  As it was, he was starting to tire.  And even though 
this was Duval's third duel in a short amount of time, the raccoon showed 
little to no signs of weakening.  Taking a calculated risk, Antoine loosened 
the grip on his rapier, allowing himself to be disarmed.  But as Duval used 
his sword to throw Antoine's away, Antoine slashed him across the hand, 
severing muscles and tendons.
	Duval fell back, avoiding Antoine's return swing that had been aimed at
his neck.  "Well played," he gasped out, using all his strength to hold on to
his sword.  "But there is one thing you didn't count on."  Antoine closed his
eyes and offered a quick prayer as he saw Duval switch his sword into his 
other hand.  He tried to sidle over to where his other sword was, but Duval 
positioned himself between Antoine and the sword before he'd even moved two 
steps.  
	The fight ended soon after that.  Though Duval was fighting with his off
hand, if either hand could be considered an "off" hand, he was still better 
than Antoine was with one sword.  Antoine was forced to his knees, Duval's 
sword pointed at his throat.  "I must thank you," Duval said, ignoring the 
sound of a sword slashing through the air twice behind him.  "You have truly 
made this night worthwhile for me.  But as with all duels there is one winner 
and one loser."
	Sweat streamed down Nadia's face as she held Donovan's sword parallel to
the ground, a bluish-red flaming X spinning slowly in the air in front of her.
She wished she had more time to focus this attack; she was nowhere near as 
good as Bunnie.  But Duval was poised to strike Antoine down; her time was up.
"Starfire!"  she yelled, shoving the sword forward, sending the attack
streaking through the air.
	Duval adjusted his grip on his sword as the attack headed toward him.
As it closed to within a sword's length away, he turned and slashed at it.  
"No!"  Nadia cried in despair, seeing the sword go through the attack.  But 
his slash had seemingly no effect as the Starfire continued on its course, 
impacting his body and causing him to fly over Antoine to land on the floor in
a crumpled mess.
	Duval struggled up to a sitting position, a tiny trickle of blood 
flowing from the corner of his mouth.  "Well done," he said, his body 
trembling from weakness, "but I still win."
	Nadia leaned on the sword in order to stay upright, never taking her 
eyes off Duval as he fell back and lay still.  "Get up!"  she yelled, going to
one knee to pick the point of the sword off the ground and point it at him.
"I said get up you bastard!"
	There was no response from the still form of Duval, not even a twitch at
her words.  Antoine scrambled over to him to make sure he wasn't just faking
it as Nadia fell to both knees.  She stared as Antoine pressed two fingers to
Duval's neck only to let them slide away after a few seconds.  "He can't get
up," Antoine said in a voice full of weariness.  "He's dead Nadia."
	The sword fell from Nadia's fingers and clattered noisily as it hit the
floor.  "I didn't...I mean, I wasn't...."  Her voice faded as her eyes rolled
back in her head and she pitched forward onto her face.  Donovan grabbed for
her with his good arm, pulling her back to rest against his chest.  After 
making sure she herself was only unconscious, he too fainted from the pain 
inflicted on his shoulder.
	Inside the ballroom, the bear known as Spyder trembled when he heard
Antoine's pronouncement, tears falling from his clenched eyes to land on his 
graying cheeks.  "The second of the Society has fallen," he said aloud, 
startling the guards who were trying to fasten cuffs on his large forearms.  
"If I am to fall today, then know that I will not be the last.  But if I do
fall," he said, his eyes snapping open and fixing on Sonic with a grief-
maddened gaze, "then I will take the incompetent monarchy with me!"
	A surge of raw power through his muscles threw all the guards off of
him.  They all drew their swords and advanced as the bear got to his feet,
allowing them all a full view for the first time.  Spyder was a huge bear, 
towering over even the Wolf Pack members.  But he was solidly built; you could
not find an ounce of fat on him if you tried.  He wore a camo style vest and
fatigues with guns holstered or hanging from every possible place of his upper
body.  He also wasn't young by any means; over a quarter of his brown fur had 
gone gray.  
	"Drop your weapons!"  Bunnie ordered.  "Do it now!"  A scream of rage 
escaped from his lips and four mechanical arms ripped out of his back, 
knocking any guards close enough into the wall.  Each of his now six arms
grabbed a gun and fired at those clustered around the throne.
	Sonic grabbed Sally up into his arms and ran one way while Juice knocked
the others the opposite way.  Sonic zipped over as the others dragged Kao 
behind one of the pillars for some protection.  "Keep her safe," Sonic told
his kids, shrugging out of his crown and jacket.
	"What are you doing Dad?"  Juice demanded, but Sonic ignored him.  Juice
made a grab at him but was stopped as Sondra and Tails hurried over.  Sondra 
quickly formed a crystal shield between their group and the Spyder.  "Be 
careful," Juice muttered.  He would've hugged Angela for support, but she was
in a heated discussion with Lupé and Lyka as she tried to heal Kao's shoulder.
	"You want some of me?"  Sonic yelled at Spyder.  "I'm right here."
	Spyder took aim with his guns and fired at Sonic, but each one missed.
"No matter the guise," he snarled, sweeping aside more guards with his 
mechanical arms before shooting again, "the middlemen of Chaos must be 
vanquished!"
	"Do you ever shut up?"  Sonic asked, running straight toward Spyder and
hitting him with a Sonic Spin right in the center of his chest.  But Spyder 
was too solid to be moved from a blow like that and Sonic soon found himself
in a powerful bearhug.
	"Let's even things up a little," Bunnie said, slicing through the two
mechanical arms that held Sonic, rendering them useless.
	Spyder roared in anger, grabbing Bunnie by the ears and flinging her 
into Sonic, knocking them both to the ground.  One of his remaining mechanical
arms opened up and shot a sticky weblike substance at them, trapping them.  
"Now the tongue of idiocy shall be silenced forever!"  he yelled, pulling the 
biggest gun he had from across his back and aiming it at Sonic's head.
	A sword flashed through the air, slicing the arm that held the gun, 
forcing the weapon to the ground where it shattered.  "You want them?"  Darrin
asked, holding his sword at the ready.  "You have to go through me first."
	Rage contorted Spyder's face as he grabbed Darrin around the throat with
his only remaining mechanical arm.  "The louder the mouth, the louder the 
scream!"  he yelled, throwing Darrin into the wall headfirst.  "Now then, 
where--"
	A feline screech of rage cut him off.  Spyder turned around just in time
to grab Charisma out of mid-air, her black claws extended and swiping at his 
face, hissing like a wildcat.  "I won't be fooled by your treachery," he 
growled at her, "little kitty."  With all the strength that one arm possessed,
he threw her through the ballroom doors and into the empty hallway.
	"Charleen!"  Darrin yelled, shaking off the pain in his head.  He 
grasped his sword's hilt with both hands, bringing it up to shoulder height 
and holding it parallel to the ground, the sharp side facing the ground.
	"No more delays!"  Spyder yelled as his mechanical arms regenerated, 
each one of them now coming to a dangerous point.  "I'll destroy you all!"
	Darrin took a breath to center himself.  He knew he'd only get one 
chance at this; he could not miss.  It was either him or them, no other way
around it.  The second Spyder stepped toward Sonic and Bunnie, Darrin ran
forward.  Spyder turned torward Darrin to meet his charge, but a tossed piece
of debris distracted him at the critical moment.  Darrin sprang off his left
foot and thrust the blade forward, using his leap to speed up his strike that 
much more.
	Spyder stood stunned, looking at Darrin's sword protruding from his
chest.  "I won't die alone," he ground out, falling backward as the life left
his body.
	Darrin stared at Spyder's body, fighting down the horror and self-hate
that welled up deep inside him.  He'd taken a life; nothing he had done or
would do could ever change that now.  He dropped to his knees as he lost his
internal fight and the anguish at what he'd done assaulted him.
	Bunnie and Sonic finally got free from the webbing that had held them 
pinned to the floor.  "Darrin," Bunnie whispered, making her way over to her
son only to find Charisma already there, soothing Darrin with soft words and
embraces.  Feeling a touch out of sorts, she instead went over to look on the
Spyder and found something that was just wrong.  
	Spyder was dead, clearly, but the liquid seeping out from his body was
black and viscous, like oil almost.  "My stars," she whispered.  Trying to 
keep whatever food was in her stomach still there, she carefully peeled away
the skin and fur from around Darrin's sword.  "Just as I thought," she said,
breathing a sigh of relief, "he's a cyborg."
	"He's a what?"  Darrin asked, crawling over to see for himself.  Indeed,
under a fake layer of fur and skin, a cybernetic body was hiding.  Darrin 
reached for his sword with a trembling hand only to have it smacked away by 
his mother.  "What?"
	"Can't you see how it's shaking?"  she asked, pointing at the hilt.  "I 
don't know why it's doing that, but you are not touching it until we figure 
out why."
	Sonic stared around at the remains of his throne room, feeling both 
anger and sadness welling up inside of him.  "Bunnie, I need you to find out
anything and everything you can about who he was," he said in a solemn voice.
"And don't forget to throw that one in the cells on attempted assassination
charges," he added, gesturing at the still unconscious Lily.
	"Actually Sonic," Lupé said, coming out from behind the pillar she had
sought shelter from, "I'm not sure that's the case."  Sonic's jaw dropped as 
Lupé contradicted him and he felt ready to pull all his quills out by their 
roots.  "Bear with me a moment, I'm sure I can explain," Lupé added in a calm
voice.  
	"This had better be a great explanation," Sonic said, his foot tapping
to show his agitation and his impatience.  
	"Tell me, was Sally sweating for no apparent reason?  And did her hand
tremble when she tried to grab something?"
	"How did you know?"  Sonic asked, now thoroughly confused.  
	Lupé allowed a small smirk to grace her features, and Sonic had the 
irrational desire to wipe it from her face.  "I suspected as much.  It first
became clear when Angela could find nothing wrong to heal in Sally, as she 
told me while we were hiding.  Sally wasn't attacked by this girl, she was 
saved by her."
	"You're not making any sense," Sonic said, shaking his head.  "We all
saw her try to electrocute Sally."
	Lyka ran up before Lupé could answer, pulling on her mother's arm
excitedly.  "You were right Mom," she said.  "I found traces of Inflescarion
all over the queen's throne."
	"Infle-what?"
	"Inflescarion," Lupé repeated.  "It's a very dangerous poison that's 
almost impossible to detect.  The symptoms are very similar to a heart attack, 
and it has only one cure.  An injection of the antidote must be made in the 
neck and then a low-level current must be run through the body in order to 
activate it.  And all this must be done before the onset of the third symptom: 
a fainting spell.  By then, it's too late to stop the poison."
	"Let me see if I got this straight," Sonic said, pressing his hands to 
his head as if he could stop the migraine that was building.  "She didn't try
to kill Sally, she saved her from someone else that was trying to poison her?"
	"That's exactly what I'm saying," Lupé agreed.  "Now let me see if my
suspicions are correct."  She walked over to the still unconscious Lily and 
grabbed her arm to look for the hypodermic she must have used.  "Well now, 
this is odd."
	Bunnie had to physically grab Sonic and stop him from banging his head
into the wall repeatedly.  "What now?"  Sonic asked, sounding like he was on 
his last nerve.
	"I'm grabbing a bare arm, but it feels like I'm holding onto a sleeve."
Lupé tugged on the sleeve she felt for a second, then followed it up to find
a line of buttons running down the center of her chest.  She started 
unbuttoning them, only to jump back as the mouse's visage began to waver.  
"What on Mobius?"  she whispered as the brown mouse in a dress on the floor
in front of her disappeared only to be replaced by a grey squirrel with dark
black hair and wearing a metallic grey trenchcoat.  
	"Wait a minute," Sondra said, dissolving her shield and hurrying over,
"I know her.  That's one of Amy's guardians, Lily."
	"Lily?"  Alicia asked, poking her head out from behind the pillar where
she was watching over her mother.  "So that's her name."
	"Where do you know her from?"  Lupé asked idly, pulling off Lily's 
trenchcoat and examining it.
	"She's the one who tricked me into the cave where the Gem was," Alicia
remarked offhandedly, realizing her mistake a few seconds later.
	Sondra quirked an eyebrow at her niece.  "This will be an interesting 
story for later, won't it?"
	"Much later," Alicia muttered.  
	"But shouldn't we send people out to look for Nicholas and Amy?"  Tails
asked.  "Where one is, I doubt the other two are far behind."
	"It seems our guest will have a story of her own to tell when she 
awakes," Lupé said, pulling something from the sleeve of Lily's trenchcoat.  
"This confirms my suspicions," she added, holding up a small vial attached to 
a needle.  "This girl, Lily, saved Sally's life."
	All the strength seemed to flow out of Sonic as the realizations finally
hit home.  He staggered to the side and would have fallen if Juice and Alicia 
hadn't run to support him.  "Bunnie," he said in a weary voice, "I want you to
take over.  Find out who this girl is, where she came from, and what she's 
doing here.  And send a search party to find out what happened to Donovan, 
Nadia and Antoine."
	Bunnie nodded and touched the flat of her sword to her forehead in 
salute.  "What should I do about him?"  she asked, looking at Spyder's body.
	"Get Uncle Chuck up here to look at him.  If he's a robot, let him do
as he wants.  If he was a living Mobian, bury him.  Other than that, I don't
care.  Angela," he called, pulling away from his children's support, "is it
safe to take Sally to bed?"  Angela nodded quietly, her brow furrowed in 
concentration as she continued to try and heal Kao's wound.  Sonic walked over
to where Sally lay, gingerly picked her up in his arms, and walked out of the
ballroom, holding her to him like he'd never let her go.
	Alicia watched her parents leave and sighed.  "We got lucky today," she
told her brother.  "We've been so concerned about the Fallen Ones, we didn't
even think there could be others out there who would do something like this.
Now that we know, we'd better never forget."
	While everything was being sorted out inside the palace, two things were
happening outside its walls.  The first was a large form detaching itself from
the shadows of a nearby building.  Nicholas looked back at the palace, his 
face a mask of anger.  But all his anger was directed internally, at his own
failures that night.  For though he'd distracted Spyder at the right moment to
allow Darrin his killing blow, he'd had to leave Lily and Amy behind directly
afterward.  "I swear to you Lily," he said in a trembling voice, "I will not 
let you down a third time."  Hearing footsteps head his way, he disappeared 
back into the shadows and away from the palace.
	The second thing to happen was an explosion far outside the city.  Edgar
stood and watched as his base burned, the only home he had known for many 
years.  It pained him to have to destroy it, but the young Osaya was too good
to take that risk; any further delay and he might have been able to track 
Edgar down.  That could not be allowed to happen yet, not while he still had a
duty to perform.
	Edgar turned away from the burning building and picked up the case that
held the only possessions that remained to him.  "I am the last," he whispered
to himself.  "Now, I truly am alone."
	Later that night, while it was still barely Christmas night, a lone 
figure glided through the night sky.  "Merry Christmas to me," she thought, 
slipping past a pair of guards who were jumping at every shadow.  "And it will
be too if I can get out of here unnoticed."
	Thinking it was a lot easier than doing it, even for one as skilled and
talented as Rouge.  As easy as it was to get in the palace, it was that hard 
to move around in it undetected.  It seemed like every single guard who hadn't
been injured was on patrol, looking for anyone who might be involved in the
attacks.  She wouldn't be able to recall later just how she'd managed it, but
she found herself in front of the Prower's rooms.
	During her infiltration, she'd managed to overhear that Amy was staying
here, temporarily bunking in Sarah's room.  "I should be able to get in and 
out without waking anyone up," she thought, pulling a thin piece of metal from
her boot and starting to pick the lock.
	She'd only been working at it for a few seconds when she felt a hand 
clamp around her shoulder.  From the strength of the grip, it was clearly a
man grabbing her, although he was wearing some kind of metal glove.  Not that
it mattered; Rouge could flirt her way out of trouble with any man.  She 
turned around with an easy smile and a suggestive manner only to have her 
words die on her lips.  
	"And just what do we have here?"  Metal Sonic asked in his normal 
grating voice.  "After everything we've had tonight, we have a thief now?"
	Rouge tried to back away, but Metal Sonic held firm.  "I'm not getting
paid to deal with this," she said, spreading her wings to fly away.  Before 
she'd even gotten into the air, a jolting electric current coursed through her
body.  A strangled scream escaped her as muscles seized before going limp.
	Metal Sonic bent down and picked Rouge up onto his shoulder.  "And here
I thought I missed out on all the excitement when Lissette left the party 
early because she wasn't feeling well," he mused, carrying the unconscious bat
off to the underground holding cells.
	It was some time later that Bunnie finally made her way to the hospital
wing to check on their prisoner.  Actually, from what Lupé had said, this girl
should be hailed as a hero.  But that was neither here nor there; she had a 
job to do.
	Spyder's body had finally been brought to the most secure area of the 
science lab possible after Uncle Chuck had looked it over.  Inside his 
cybernetic chest, a low-level nuclear bomb had been discovered.  It had been
designed to explode upon his death, but Darrin's attack had jammed the 
mechanism.  Uncle Chuck and his entire team had just spent three hours 
defusing the bomb, successfully fortunately.  And now, instead of resting, 
they were poring over all the gadgets that had been taken from the girl.
	Bunnie entered the room that Lily lay in, covered by a thin blanket.
Almost every piece of clothing she'd been wearing, except for her underclothes
that is, had had some kind of gadget in it, if it wasn't a gadget itself.  But
as Bunnie stood there looking at her, she could only think of two things.  For
some reason, this girl's right hand and her left eye were robotic, and not by
any kind of roboticization.  From what the doctors had said, it seemed they 
were surgically replaced because the originals had been lost in some kind of 
trauma.  What could she have possibly gone through to make her accept these 
things?  Not even Donovan had wanted a cybernetic replacement for his eye.
	But the more important question on Bunnie's mind was just who this girl
was.  While she had left to find Antoine and the others she had ordered a DNA
test on Lily, hoping to get a match.  Ever since the children who would become
the Fallen Ones had been kidnapped, Sally had instituted a mandatory DNA bank
for all children in the hopes that any other kidnapped or lost children would
be easily identified once found.  Lily looked to be around the right age to be
part of that information bank, so they might just get lucky.  She did seem
very familiar, a sentiment echoed by Sondra and Tails.
	"Excuse me ma'am," Dr. Gray, a parrot in his early twenties said, 
tapping her on the shoulder, "I have the information you requested."
	Bunnie smiled at the young doctor, feeling more at ease around him than
she had the other doctor.  Though Dr. Penders had been older and had far more
experience and knowledge, Bunnie had never felt very comfortable around him.  
It turned out recently that he'd been putting his own interests above those of
the kingdom.  Normally, it wasn't exactly a problem, but because he'd been 
stealing money and supplies for his own wants, he'd been reassigned to a very 
remote little rustic town.  Score one for woman's intuition.
	"Thank you Dr. Gray," she said, taking the paper from him and scanning
through it.  As part of the mandate, she'd been taught how to bypass all the
technical gobbledygook that was in these reports and pull out all the 
pertinent information.  When she had finished, a soft gasp was all she could
manage as the paper fell from her fingers to flutter to the floor.
	They'd found a match.  According to the tests, there was a 99.987%
probability that the girl before her, the one known as Lily, was actually
Nadine Osaya.

TO BE CONTINUED

    Source: geocities.com/televisioncity/satellite/6616/sonic/rbft

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