Sonic the Hedgehog© and related characters are copyright SEGA
Enterprises, LTD. and Archie Comics Publications.
NiGHTS© and related characters are a copyright of SEGA Enterprises LTD.
Delphine, Dimitria, Ali, Marco, Lisa and Devon are a copyright of
Delphine.
Special Thanks to Jared Matte for letting me use him in this story. 
Everything written here is fiction. Any similarities between real events
and the events in this story are purely coincidental. (assuming you live
on Earth)
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	 By the pricking of my thumbs/Something wicked this way comes.
				--William Shakespeare, Macbeth
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		The Red Silk
		Meetings
		-- Delphine

	           Thendara sewers, June 28, 8:38 AM

	"It's too wet...."
	"Ahhh! Smells just like home."
	"I hate water! I can't live in this! I'm a robot!"
	"SHUTUP!" Brass looked over at Peter and shrugged.
	"Okay. But I still hate water."
	"Okay fearless leader, now what do we do?" Peter asked Snively. Snively
turned towards the robots and smirked.
	"Each of these robots has a bomb. Nothing fancy, just some dynamite
inside a box. We need to place each of these around the city, almost
causing it to implode on itself."
	"So that's why we're in the sewer." Snively, Peter and the robots
walked off, trying to calculate where they should put the bombs.

	Up ahead, close enough so that he could hear everything but far enough
so that they couldn't hear him, Reala was up against the wall, trying to
decide where to go. He didn't want to be caught, but he wanted to know
what was going on. He looked around, and saw a large hole in the wall.
He flew over to it and crawled in. He crawled behind a small pile of
debris and curled himself into a ball,waited for the robots to come.
	Peter and Snively turned the corner at that moment. They were talking
about bombs and explosions and accidents and bodies flying and other
gruesome things. Brass stopped. His eyes glowed red.
	"Snively." Snively turned.
	"Yes?"
	"Detecting one life form in that direction." He pointed towards the
hole. Reala saw that and tried to make himself smaller.
	"Then go find out what it is." Peter said. Brass walked over to the
pipe. Reala picked up a piece of debris. Brass reached in. Reala threw
the rock. Brass grabbed Reala's arm as the rock hit him. They both fell
away from the pipe.
	It seemed to happen in slow motion to Reala. He landed hard against the
ground. Brass picked him up by his neck and brought him to eye level.
Reala struggled against the robot's metallic hand. Peter frowned.
	"You could at least let him give an explanation." Reala heard Peter's
voice as if it was far off. His vision was becoming blurry. He thought
about why he had come. 
	Brass dropped him. Reala gasped in air. He leaned over, not looking at
the robots, or Peter, or Snively. He closed his eyes and concentrated on
breathing.
	"Why did you do that?" Snively asked.
	"He may prove to be a powerful ally. Besides, we can always kill him."
Peter said. Reala winced.
	"He's definitely not form this planet." Brass remarked, being the only
one who had gotten a good look at his face.
	"Neither are you." Peter smirked. He walked over to the panting 'maren
and lightly kicked him. Reala looked up. "Are you friend or foe?"
	"It matters. What're you?" Reala said. Peter started to frown, then
grinned. He held out his hand to Reala. The 'maren paused, then took it.
Peter pulled him up.
	"What I mean is," Peter continued, looking Reala straight in the face,
"are you good, or evil?" Reala grinned. If he had been listening, he
would have heard the metallic 'pang' the water made as it dripped down
and hit bare metal piping, then slid down rocky wall until it fell into
the water, and joined it as the water slowly flowed through the pipes to
wherever it ended up. Probably the Atlantic.
	"Evil."

		           Outskirts of Thendara, 9:04 AM

	NiGHTS woke to the hum of an idling car engine. He felt the warm
sunshine on his face. He slowly opened his eyes as he yawned. The first
thing he saw was the sky. The sun was lower in the east then when he had
fallen asleep.
	 NiGHTS had
realized that traveling through the portal had been tiring, but not that
tiring!
	He looked towards the car. He noted that it wasn't a car, but a van. He
knew this from images he had seen in dreamers heads. 
	He watched as a slim fifteen year old Mobian Squirrel climbed out of
the driver's side. He was surprised, but had known strange things would
happen on this world. He knew he was in the human world, but also knew
that if Wizeman was after this red silk, there could possibly be others
after it. 
	He was underestimating.

	Ali Cat climbed out of the passengers' side and walked around the front
to Sally Alicia Acorn.
	"You did a better job than I though you would," she told her.
	"Well, it wasn't that hard, except for last night when we were parked
in that vacant lot. Especially when those boys started banging on the
windows."
	"Oh, I think you controlled yourself well." Sally and Ali turned. In
front of them was a yawning Delphine Kiminsu. "Especially when you
almost rammed that guy into the wall." She smirked. Sally blushed.
	"I couldn't help it. Somebody decided to take control of the wheel."
Sally looked towards Ali in fake anger.
	"Excuse me?"
	"Sally Acorn, don't deny it. You have a mean streak under that vest of
yours." Sonic T. Hedgehog said. He had climbed out the back and was
standing beside Delphine, who was now leaning against the van.
	"I know what you're thinking, Sonic Hedgehog. You've got a dirty mind."
Delphine smirked at him.
	"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about." Sonic said with an
innocent look. Delphine rolled her eyes. Sally blushed.
	Knuckles Echidna and Marco Fox jumped out of the van. Knuckles pushed
Sonic out of the way and stood in front of Delphine. He loved the way
the morning sun reflected in her eyes. She pulled him into a long kiss.
	Marco walked over to Ali.
	"So, how're ya doin?" he asked.
	"Oh, I'm okay. I was just a little shaken up last night when those mean
men attacked the van." Marco put an arm around her. Delphine pulled away
from Knuckles. She looked over to Ali and sighed while rolling her eyes.
	Dimitria came out of the van last. She walked over to the group without
speaking. She felt the morning sun on her back, and slipped out of her
cloak, revealing a black fitted shirt and black pants.
	"Dimitria, you've been so quiet. Is something wrong?" Delphine asked
her friend worridly. Dimitria turned to her friend. Suddenly she thought
of something she didn't want to think of. A pang of emotional discomfort
went through her heart. Then she remembered the question.
	"I'm fine." Dimitria said. "Something very strange is going on. I know
because my majik is stronger than it was before we went through that
portal. And that shouldn't have happened."
	"Hm .... maybe it's the atmosphere." Sally said. She had taken notice
of Delphine's worry as she helped Sonic up, who had fallen over when
Knuckles pushed him.
	"Maybe," Dimitria said, although she didn't think that was the reason.
 she thought. 

	NiGHTS watched all this from his place in the bushes. He was trying to
decide if he should introduce himself, or stay hidden. The seven looked
friendly enough, but he couldn't be sure. He looked around. He had awoke
the night before, but had placed it as a dream. He had been groggy, and
had seen the ship de-cloak in the dark of the night. Two human-like
beings had walked out. They had walked around, then had gone to the same
hill he had flown up. He hadn't heard what they were saying.
	"Well? Are we going to attack tonight?"
	"No. Something is.... wrong. Something is not right." The Master
paused. "Not tonight. Tomorrow. We shall wait until tomorrow night."
Aknar had shrugged, then followed the Master back into the ship. The
ship then re-cloaked. NiGHTS had fallen back asleep.
	Now he reflected on that 'dream'. He was beginning to think that that
dream had been no dream. He looked back to the group. He was watching
them, trying to find out what his next move should be.
	Sally was getting the uneasy feeling she was being watched. Looking
around and seeing nothing, she turned back to her friends, but still
couldn't shake the feeling. Sonic noticed her discomfort. He put an
assuring arm around her shoulder. She snuggled against him. The group
had moved away from the van and they were siting in a circle, resting.
Ali and Marco were sitting together, holding hands. Sally looked around
at her group of rebels. She thought about everything they had done.
After eleven years, they had finally destroyed Robotnik. The war was
over. Now they were starting a new one, and they didn't even know who or
what they were fighting. She sighed a long, deep sigh. Sonic looked at
her.
	"What's wrong?" he asked.
	"Nothing. I was just thinking about what happened. Trying to make sense
out of it." She looked around. She looked at the van. She realized
something. "Delphine?"
	"Yes?"
	"Where'd you get the van?"
	"Well, I, um, you see.... I borrowed it." Delphine glanced at Ali. Ali
understood.
	"Yeah, she had gotten it from someone we met on the street," Ali said.
	"If you knew about it, they why did you pretend you didn't know what
she was doing last night?" Sally asked.
	"Well, um.... I'll get back to you when I have a good excuse," Ali
said. Delphine glared at her. Ali shrugged. She turned back to Marco.
Delphine looked back to Sally.
	"So you're saying that you stole it," Sally said. She frowned.
	"'Stole' is such a harsh word. I prefer borrowed without asking?"
Delphine said as a sort of a question. Sally glared at her. "I guess
not."
	"We'll talk about this when we get back," Sally said, dangerously low.
Delphine looked away.
	"Don't worry. She'll forget about it," Knuckles told her. Delphine
smiled at him.
	"Now, for the problem at hand. We need to find out where Snively went,"
Sally said.
	"Just one teensy eensy weensy little question."
	"What?"
	"Just how are we supposed to get back?" Ali asked.
	"We'll...." Sally began. Dimitria interrupted her.
	"I wouldn't worry too much about that." Everyone but Delphine stared at
her. Delphine just grinned. She wasn't sure what Dimitria was talking
about, but she had known her friend for many years, and she knew that
Dimitria always had something up her sleeve.
	"What do you mean?" Sally asked. Delphine stopped grinning.
	"I just mean that we'll be fine when we need to get leave."
	"How?" Delphine frowned.
	 she thought.
	"Does it really matter?" Dimitria said. Sally frowned at her.
	"Not at the moment. We'll talk about it later. We do have priorities."
Delphine started grinning again.

	NiGHTS watched all this in fascination. He knew they were friendly
enough, but did he want to ally with them? He wasn't sure. He quietly
flew up to the top of the tree. He sat down on a branch and looked down
on the Freedom Fighters from above. He was watching them from the
treetop because he felt more comfortable up high. NiGHTS watched as the
group broke up, and went around doing various things, some looking for
food, others firewood, and others just scouting around. Delphine and Ali
were right underneath his tree.
	"Why didn't you help me back there?" Delphine asked Ali.
	"I wanted to, but I couldn't think of a good excuse. Sorry," Ali
apologized.
	"That's all right. You tried." Delphine smiled. "I wonder what's going
to happen 'later'."
	"I wouldn't smile about it. She may order you to stay in your hut for a
week. She can do that." Delphine frowned. She had only been listening to
Ali with half an ear. She had looked up and seen a flash of purple.
	"Hey Ali," she said, looking over at her friend, "look up there and
tell me if you see anything." Ali obliged. She thought she saw something
move, but didn't see anything else. She looked back at Delphine.
	"Sorry Del. Nothin." Delphine frowned again.
	"Must be the stress," she murmured. Ali noticed her discomfort.
	"Uh oh, It's finally happened," she said with a slight smirk.
	"What?"
	"Well, since you're hallucinating, you must have gone crazy!" Ali
laughed. Delphine lunged at her, laughing, but Ali dodged, sending
Delphine to the dirt.
	"You're gonna pay for that, cat!" Delphine yelled, grinning. 
	"That was an extremely bad joke!" Ali laughed and ran off, with
Delphine running after her.
	NiGHTS let out a long breath. He had leaned over to watch them, and had
almost fallen down on them. Luckily he had caught himself before he
fell. Now he was watching them chase each other around the field. He
turned and saw Sonic and Sally together, talking.
	"You shouldn't have made such a big deal out of the van. I don't see
what the problem is. We needed that thing." Sonic told her.
	"Sonic, that's besides the point. She stole it. That van belonged to
someone."
	"The keys were still in it Sal. And I didn't see you making such a big
deal out of it when you got in the drivers seat." Sonic stopped and
turned to look at here. She looked away. He took her hand. "C'mon."
	"Where are we going?" Sally asked. Sonic gave a childish grin.
	"For a walk." He didn't say anything else. He just pulled her away from
the others.
	"Sonic? Sonic!" Sally yelled as he pulled her away. Dimitria watched as
they disappeared into the trees. Then she turned and walked around. As
she walked under the tree NiGHTS was in, she stopped. Something told her
to look up. She did. She saw purple through all the brush and pine.
Through all the twigs, branches and pine needles, she saw purple. She
looked around. Knuckles and Marco were a way off to her left, fighting
with each other. She backed away about five feet from the tree. She
focused on her finger, and let it be the center of her powers. She
watched as a single shot of pure white energy exploded out of her finger
and hit the tree. She was knocked back about two feet. Dimitria wasn't
exactly sure what she had done. 
	Up in the tree, NiGHTS was struggling to keep his balance. When
Dimitria hit the tree, it had started shaking violently. NiGHTS felt
himself fall. He tried to grab onto a branch. Instead he kept hitting
them, slowing his fall but bruising him at the same time. After what had
seemed like forever, but actually had only been a few seconds, NiGHTS
landed in a bush. He was bruised, bleeding, and shaking. 
	Marco and Knuckles stopped fighting. 
	Dimitria gasped. 
	Ali stopped suddenly, causing Delphine to run into her.
	Sonic and Sally heard the crash, and rushed into view.
	NiGHTS looked around him. "Uh oh."

				9:45 AM

	Devon came down to the side of the hill. 
	"Um, guys, there's something really weird going on." he said. Jared and
Lisa looked up at him. They were sitting, waiting for his return.
	"Like what?" Jared asked.
	"Really, really weird stuff, that's what."
	"Could you be more specific?" Lisa asked.
	"Bipedal animals, intelligent ones, are walking around up there."
	"Well that's not so WHAT?!?!"
	"You're kidding, right?"
	"No Lisa, I'm not kidding. See for yaself." Lisa and Jared looked at
each other, then climbed up the hill, just enough so they could see over
the top.
	"Oh man." Jared moaned. Lisa gasped. The two climbed back.
	"Okay, now what do we do?" Lisa asked.
	"I'm not sure," Devon said.
	"Maybe--" she stopped.
	"What?"
	"Yeah, what?" Devon asked.
	"Something strange is going on," she murmured.
	"Whadaya mean?"
	"Lisa, what's going on?"
	"I- I'm not sure." She groaned. Jared took her hand.
	"Are you okay?"
	"I - oh dear God!"
	"Lisa-" Lisa looked up at Jared.
	"We need to stay away from the city.... for now.... we can't.... I-"
She stopped. She had no idea what she was saying. She just _knew_.
"Something freaky is going on guys."
	"Tell me about it," Devon murmured.

				         9:50 AM

	"Okay, who are you?" Knuckles demanded.
	"I--" NiGHTS started.
	"And why were you spying on us?"
	"He can't answer if you don't shutup!" Knuckles yelled at Marco.
	"Oh yeah?"
	"Cut it out." Sonic said from behind them. Dimitria took this pause to
pull Knuckles and Marco away and talk to NiGHTS herself. She looked down
at him, held out her hand, and smiled.
	"Hi." NiGHTS looked at her hand, then at Marco, then back to her hand.
He shrugged and took it. She helped him up.
	"My name is Dimitria."
	"I'm NiGHTS." They shook hands.
	"There is definitely something strange about this planet." Delphine
said to Ali.
	"What do you mean?"
	"Well, Dimitria said her powers are enhanced, now she's acting as
peacemaker, and Sonic just showed intelligence!" The two laughed.
	"I heard that!" Sonic said. They had all gathered near the tree when
NiGHTS fell out. Now Dimitria was finding out what he was doing here,
why he was in the tree, etc. etc. He told her. Then Dimitria introduced
him to the group. Marco was the only one who argued.
	"How do we know he's not lying?"
	"Here we go." Knuckles said. He looked towards Delphine. She shook her
head.
	"Marco, shut it." Ali said.
	"But he is right." Sally said. "We don't now if NiGHTS is lying or
not."
	"I think Marco is attracted to the wrong person...."
	"Excuse me?" Sonic said. Delphine smirked.
	"Sal-ly! Dimitria exclaimed.
	"Well?"
	"Don't worry about it. I know."
	"She does, Sal." Delphine cut in. "Dimitria knows what she's doing."
	"Thank you. Now, can we get on with it?" Dimitria said. NiGHTS let out
a small sigh of relief.
	"Okay. We need to plan. NiGHTS, will you come with us?" Sally asked.
NiGHTS thought about it.
	"Yes."
	"Okay, we need to wait until nightfall." She continued along with the
plan.

					 10:03 AM

	"Lisa, are you sure your okay?"
	"Yes." She was going to say more, but she looked to the town. It was
somewhat small, but not small enough to be a 'hick town' It was more
like in between being a town and a city. There were approximately
ten-thousand people in it, so you couldn't exactly say it was tiny, but
it was small, compared to the other places in New York. And it wasn't
very well known. She thought she heard something. "Do you guys hear
that?"
	"Hear wha--" Devon stopped. He heard it. A rumble, small at first, but
getting louder.
	"Oh man, what's going on?"
	"I haven't the slightest--" Suddenly, without warning, the city
imploded on itself. The sound was deafening.
	"Get down!" The three kneeled down and covered their heads. After a
minute, which seemed more like an hour, it stopped. Carefully, the group
got up. A few pieces of smoldering building material were nearby, but
nothing had come near them.  They stared at the city in silence. Then
Devon uttered one word: "Damn."

					  10:07 AM

	When the Freedom Fighters and NiGHTS heard the explosion, they went
running to the overhang. Had they looked down, they would have seen
Jared and the others.
	"Oh man. Oh shit. It looks like Robotropolis. It looks like fu--" Sally
put her hand on his shoulder. Sonic stopped. Delphine looked at the
city, then at Dimitria, then back to the city, then back to Dimitria.
Marco looked at her to.
	"When we went through that portal thing, did we go straight to hell?"
	"No. Wrong dimension."
	"Excuse me?" Delphine stared at her. Dimitria looked up.
	"Huh? Oh, nothing." Dimitria looked back to the city. Delphine and
Marco exchanged glances. Then Ali walked over to Marco. He turned.
	"Are you alright?"
	"Yeah, I'm.... I mean, no, I didn't expect that explosion. It was very
hard for me." Marco looked concerned. Delphine rolled her eyes. She
turned, and saw NiGHTS standing next to her, looking at the city. The
fire was reflected in his eyes, dancing with itself.
	"Hey." He glanced at her, then looked back at Thendara. Then he looked
back at her again.
	"What is going on?"
	"I haven't the slightest idea." She looked back at Dimitria, who seemed
to be thinking extremely hard. Then she looked back at NiGHTS. "But I
think she does." NiGHTS looked past her shoulder to Dimitria. He knew
what she meant.
	"Sal?"
	"Yeah Sonic?"
	"I think we need a new plan."

			         100 feet away,10:16 AM

	"Whoa!"
	"That was so cool!"
	"I haven't had this much fun since.... well, I've never had this much
fun!"
	"Interesting." Reala said. He looked at the city in awe.
	"Interesting? This is awesome!" Reala turned to Peter. 
	"I didn't say it wasn't." Peter grinned evilly.
	"Okay, so now what do we do?" Brass asked.
	"The Freedom Fighters should be out of the way, seeing as they're in
that lab, but we still need to watch out for that 'friend' of his."
Peter said, pointing at Reala.
	"He's not my friend."
	"Are we so sure that the Freedom Fighters are still in the lab? How do
we know they haven't escaped?" Snively said.
	"Because the bars are titanium. The hedgehog can't get through."
	"So how do we know that some of the others didn't come through and got
them out?" Snively asked him. Peter thought about it for a moment.
	"You're right. We don't know if they didn't do that. But we've got an
army of robots standing behind us. They don't stand a chance."
	"Perhaps." Snively stared at the city a few minutes more. He wasn't
sure what was going on. He had taken a big risk doing this in the first
place, and he still had no idea what he was doing, what he was going to
do, or why he was here. He just knew that whatever happened, things
would be different. Much different.

					10:38 AM

	"I don't believe this! This is so--"
	"Sally look out!" Sonic yelled as Sally fell over the edge of the hill.
She landed on Devon.
	"Oof!"
	"Ahh!"
	"What the?!"
	"Who?" Sally scrambled off of Devon and backed away from the group.
	"Who're you?"
	"We could ask you the same."
	"I asked first."
	"Well you jumped on me!"
	"I fell!" Up above, Sonic was yelling down at Sally, ignoring Jared and
the others.
	"Sal, are you alright?"
	"I think so." Sonic jumped down next to her. She gasped. He looked at
the group.
	"Who're you?"
	"I could ask the same thing."
	"Didn't we just go through this.
	"QUIET!" Lisa shouted. Everyone looked at her. "Enough is enough. How
are we supposed to make explanations if no one will stop talking and
start explaining?!"
	"Are you guys alright down there?" Delphine called down.
	"We're fine. Stay up there." Sally told her. Delphine backed away from
the edge with a confused look.
	"What is it? Are they okay?" Ali asked.
	"They're fine, but Sally said to stay up here."
	"Are you sure?"
	"Yeah, she told.... she told ME to stay up here." Delphine grinned.
	"But she didn't tell anyone else to stay up here." Knuckles said.
NiGHTS uncrossed his arms. Marco stood up. Dimitria looked from one
person to the other.
	"Okay, so who's going to go?"
	"Ali is." Delphine said.
	"Me?"
	"Yeah. Your small and quiet. If you're careful they'll never even know
you're there."
	"Good idea." Ali looked down, then looked over. She swished her tail.
 she nodded, then silently slipped down
behind the rock, which was almost directly behind Devon, Jared and Lisa.
Up above, Dimitria had sensed something.
	"Delphine, something's wrong."
	"What?"
	"I'm sensing a majikal force near us, and it's stronger than anything
I've ever known." Delphine looked at Dimitria.
	"So you're saying...."
	"That one of those people down there has an extremely strong majikal
pendant. Only thing I know that's stronger than it is the Chaos
Emeralds, and perhaps whatever is in the 'atmosphere'."
	"The atmosphere. Yeah, right." The two smiled. "So what is it?"
	"I haven't the slightest idea. But if we're not careful, we might find
out.
	Ali was sitting behind the rock, being careful to be quiet. She
listened in to what they were saying.
	"So you're saying this guy is out there somewhere?" Devon asked.
	"Yes. And he probably caused this." The waved her hand at the city. The
smoke from the fire was so thick that it had partially blocked out the
sun.
	"So what should we do about it?"
	"I'm not quite sure. I could be entirely wrong. Whoever he is, he might
not even be alive."
	"Doubt it," Sonic muttered under his breath. Jared tuned out the
conversation. He thought about the description that had been given.  he thought. 
	"Hey Jared," Lisa whispered, shaking Jared out of his thoughts.
	"What?" he whispered back.
	"Do you believe this guy? He's talking like he was born to do this.
It's like--" she stopped. She had caught a glance at the silver ring on
her right finger. It was glowing an orangish-red. "What on Earth...."
	"What?"
	"Look." She pulled her hand up. He saw the ring.
	"What--"
	"I don't have a clue. But it's freaking me out." A shiver went up her
spine. Jared put a hand around her shoulder.
	Sonic watched this out of the corner of his eye. He had been trying to
pay attention to what Sally was saying, but he found it extremely
boring. He wanted to go out and find out who this guy was and beat the
crap out of him. He gave a small half smile when he saw them. Then he
brought his attention back to the conversation.
	Ali listened to what they were saying. They were formulating a plan.
She decided she had heard everything she needed to, and had made sure
that nothing bad was going to happen. She slinked back up to the top of
the hill. NiGHTS, Dimitria, Knuckles and Delphine were sitting in a
circle, talking. Marco was pacing nervously, waiting for her return. He
looked up and saw her, then sighed with relief.
	"There you are." He walked over to her and gave her a swift hug. She
was surprised. She hadn't been ready for it.
	"What was that for?" she asked. Marco looked hurt.
	"I missed you. I was worried about you."
	"I-- um--" Delphine started grinning like mad. Ali saw her. "Don't you
say anything," she hissed at her. Delphine just kept grinning.
	"So what happened?" NiGHTS asked.
	"Nothing. They're just talking. There doesn't seem to be any
threatening maneuvers on either side," Ali told then.
	"Good. And Since I didn't go down there, we followed the rules, didn't
we?" Delphine said.
	"But of--" 
	"Hey guys!" Sonic interrupted Ali.
	"What?" Delphine asked. Sonic and Sally climbed back up the hill, by
themselves.
	"We've gotta explain a few things...."
	"Yes. There are three humans down there. They're friendly. They've
agreed to help us find our enemies and take them down."
	"That's it in a nutshell," Ali said under her breath.
	"What?" Sally asked.
	"Oh, nothing," Ali said in a high pitched voice. Delphine hid a grin
with her hand.
	"Anyway," Sally continued, "if they're going to be working with us,
then they'll need to be introduced to you all. It'll be easier with
Delphine, because she's also human, but it won't be very easy with the
rest of us, because they've never interacted with.... beings like us at
this stage of evolution."
	"Nicely put."
	"How come everything is always so easy for you?" Knuckles asked
Delphine.
	"It's not my fault I'm perfect!"
	"Yeah, right!" Knuckles playfully pushed her. She pushed him back. He
pulled her towards him. She giggled. Sally turned away and walked back
down the embankment. Sonic watched her.
	"I don't know about this. What do you think, Del?"
	"Hm?" Delphine wasn't paying attention. She and Knuckles were enwrapped
with each other, staring into each others eyes.
	"I said.... oh, never mind!" She turned to Marco, Dimitria and NiGHTS.
"Same question, different audience."
	"There's nothing really wrong about making friends with humans. They're
probably relatively the same as the beings on your planet-- just mostly
a different species."
	"You've been in this world before?" Dimitria asked.
	"No." NiGHTS frowned. "Humans've been in mine. It's complicated."
	"We're not going anywhere," Marco said.
	"On the contrary," Sally called out. Jared, Lisa and Devon were behind
her. The two groups stared at each other for a few tense moments.
	 Delphine
thought. She shook her head, pulled away from Knuckles, then walked over
to Devon and his group. She smiled. "Hi," she said, "I'm Delphine."

	      Haven, The Floating Island, Mobius, 11:50 AM

	Locke stared at the computer screens. His face was lit up, and it
showed that he was tired. There were bags under his bloodshot eyes. He
had been sitting at the screens, looking for a sign, any sign, of what
had happened to Dimitria, to his son.
	On his knee, a weary fire-ant, named Archimedes, was watching the
screens also. The two had sat in silence for hours, without sleeping,
wanting to know what had happened.
	One screen showed the Chaotix, who were walking around nervously,
watching the island while Knuckles was gone. They had received a message
from the remaining Freedom Fighters telling them what had happened, but
that had been days ago. No good news had come since, although both teams
were hoping, and praying, that their friends would have a safe return.
	Another screen showed the village of Knothole, from a camera Archimedes
had installed when Knuckles first went there. Every had gone about doing
business as usual, although most were worried, and the rest were
extremely worried, about the group that had gone, especially Princess
Sally.
	"What could have happened?" Locke's spoke for the first time in hours.
His voice was hoarse.
	"I don't know." Archimedes replied. They went on in silence for a few
more minutes.
	"Maybe I should go scout out the area where they were last seen."
Archimedes said. Locke's face brightened.
	"Why didn't we think of this before?" He looked at the computer screens
once more, than looked down at the aging ant. He had a smile on his
face. "Yes," he said, "Go find out where they disappeared from, then
find out what happened."
	"I can't guarantee that I'll find out exactly what happened, or where
they went, but I'll do my best."
	"I know you will. I have faith in you. Now go!" The fire-ant
disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. Locke sighed, then looked back
to the computer screen.

			    Knothole Village, 12:01 PM

	Tails sighed. He was sitting on the steps to his hut, his head in his
hands. His face would have made Bunnie Rabbot cry. He was extremely
upset because of what happened. 
	Comet was lying down at his feet, her head on the ground. She was also
upset. She hadn't been very popular with the rest of the village, but
Delphine and Dimitria had gone out of their way to be nice to her. Soon
they had a very strong friendship, and the other Freedom Fighters hadn't
shunned her any more. Recently they hadn't been around each other as
much, but she knew their friendship was still safe. 
	Now her two best friends were gone, possibly dead, and she didn't know
what to do. Whenever she thought about the possibility that they
wouldn't be coming back, ever, an empty feeling fell over her. A tear
slid out of her left eye and slid down her cheek.
	A puff of purple smoke appeared near Tails' right foot.
	"What the--" When the smoke cleared, Tails saw-- "Archimedes!" His face
lit up. He didn't know the fire-ant very well, but he was one of the few
who didn't treat him like a baby, even from the beginning
	"Who--"
	"Comet, this is Archimedes. Archimedes, Comet." Tails said.
	"Nice to meet you small one." Comet said. She had lifted her head.
Archimedes looked up at her.
	"And you as well, madam." He looked up at Tails. "But there are more
pressing matters at the moment."
	'Of course. The Chaotix probably told you about what happened."
	"Er .... yes, they did." He hadn't seen the Chaotix, not face to face,
since what happened. He had been with Locke. "But right now I need you
to bring me to the cave where it took place."
	"You want me to help you?"
	"Of course. Who else will?" Tails thought about it for a moment.
	"You're right. I don't know exactly how to get there, but there is a
map. I'll go get it. C'mon." He and Comet stood up. Archimedes jumped up
to Tails' shoulder.
	Tails and Comet walked through the village towards the records
building. The other villagers ignored them. Nobody noticed Archimedes on
Tails shoulder, and they relatively ignored the two.
	They arrived at the hut the records were stored in a few minutes later.
Usually there would be a guard, but since the defeat of Robotnik, no one
thought one would be needed. They just walked in.
	Tails looked around awhile, then went up on his tiptoes and opened a
certain drawer. He couldn't see in, so he revved up his tails and
hovered above them. He flipped through the files, then found what e was
looking for. The map to the Caves of Eternal Death. He took it out,
closed the drawer, then landed. He opened the folded map and studied it
for a second, Comet looking over his shoulder. Then he folded it up
again.
	"Okay, I know where we need to go. Let's go." He walked out of the hut,
and Comet followed. Nobody noticed.
	They flew over the treetops, following the map but going much faster
than Sonic and Knuckles had when they had gone to collect the flowers
needed to save Delphine. They got there within an hour. No one had said
anything while they had been traveling. Now Comet spoke.
	"Now I get to go into the former home of the person who almost took my
best friend. Yay." Tails and Archimedes looked at her, confused.
"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. They walked in. After going down
a few passages, they found the spot where the portal had been opened.
	A tingle was in the air. Archimedes sensed it. Tail's hair stood on
end. Comet twitched her tail nervously.
	"Can we just get this over with?" she said. Archimedes nodded.
	"Yes. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes." Archimedes hopped
off of Tails' shoulder, then walked around, surveying the room. His
antennae were tingling like mad.  he thought. He looked around, but couldn't find
anything that might help. Then he found a computer chip. A small one,
something only he would have been able to see in the rubble. He picked
it up. "Interesting," he murmured.
	"What?" Tails asked.
	"Let's get out of here and into the light," Archimedes said.
	"That's the best thing I've heard all day," Comet muttered. The three
walked through the caverns and out of the caves. Little light shone
through the canopy, but the group felt much more comfortable out in the
forest. A cool breeze was blowing through the air, and Tails liked the
way it went through his fur, ruffling it. It reminded him of all the
noogies Sonic had given him before bed when he was younger, while
telling him not to let the bed-bugs bite. He frowned when he thought
about what had happened, and what might happen to his friends.
	"It looks like a computer chip," Comet said.
	"I know that," Archimedes said. "The question is, what from?"
	"That's a good question." Tails said.
	"Maybe," Comet said, "maybe it's from the device that Peter used to
open the portal." She stopped. A thought crossed her mind, one that she
didn't want to think."
	"If it is," Archimedes said, thinking the same thing, "Then how are
they supposed to get back?"

				       To be continued....
				       End of Part Two

    Source: geocities.com/timessquare/dungeon/Dungeon/5221