The Corruption of Perfection.

By Pip the Bat.

"Everyone has a choice." -- Citras

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Copyright.

Sonic, Tails and related characters are copyright to Sega. Slasher is copyright to NetRaptor. Pip, Heat and all other fan made characters are copyright to me, Pip the Bat.

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&The water sparkled in the sunlight, vague shapes shimmering within its depths. A few feet away the stream broadened out somewhat before becoming a roaring, frothing waterfall.

&Lying at the edge of the stream was a brightly coloured yellowy green hedgehog, his head propped up by a log. His spikes stuck up high and had metal tips as did his ears and tail. On each arm he had a metal strip fastened about his elbow with a spike protruding. On his forehead there was a small purple triangle. He wore a purple bomber jacket and steel rimmed kneecaps. His shoes were white with black ends and silver lace clasps.

&As he lay there, there came sounds from further downstream. First his ears pricked up and dismissed it as unimportant, but at a shrill yelp, he opened his eyes and lifted his head to have a look.

&Two small creatures, chao, were fighting with each other. He didn't have much of a chance to see what they looked like, because at that moment one of them fell into the water with a splash and was dragged under by the fast flowing current, surfacing once more a short distance from where he'd fallen in, gasping and panting. Then the current caught him once more, dragging him over the waterfall.

&He hit the bottom of the collective lake with another small splash, but was forced underwater by the force of the falls. It was quite clear that the little creature could not swim.

&The other chao looked half-worried and half-triumphant. He was red, with long, cat like ears, small golden wings and a darker mark down the centre of his head. The back of his head was also darker. He gave the drowning chao a nervous glance, then turned and ran off.

&Guessing that he wasn't going to be much help, the hedgehog took matters into his own hands. Springing to his feet, he took a few paces back then, with a sudden burst of speed, ran up to the edge and sprang off, changing his posture into that of a graceful dive.

&There was a splash, louder than the one made by the chao as he hit the water. Surfacing almost immediately, he looked round for the chao. There he was. He struck out swiftly towards it, hoping that he'd get to it in time. As he came within reach of it, he stretched out one hand and snatched it out of the water as it was about to go under again.

&He let out his breath slowly [he hadn't even realised he'd been holding it] and began to swim back to the shore, the roaring of the waterfall still pounding in his ears. When he reached there he laid the chao on the bank above him before pulling himself out of the water and checking its tiny pulse. Yes, luckily it still had one.

&It was a blue chao with spikes and ears that made it look rather like a hedgehog. The stranger rather liked chao and would love to have one of his own. Actually, he wasn't sure if anyone COULD really hate them. A thought traced itself across his brain: What about the truly evil, huh? What about...

&There was movement in the bushes near him and he looked up to see another hedgehog, a blue one, which the prone chao resembled. The yellowy green hedgehog didn't know it, but this was Sonic.

&"Who are you?" he asked, then, seeing the chao: "Axel! Is he okay? What happened to him? I've been trying to find him for ages." He knelt down by the chao.

&"Yeah, he should be okay. He was having this fight with another chao, one who looked something like a red cat. The other chao pushed him and he... fell down the falls." Sonic didn't seem to notice his pun as he was too busy checking over Axel. "I dived in and saved him."

& "There's no chao like that at Knothole," Sonic said, thoughtfully. "And they're all back there right now anyway. So," he added, picking up his chao and turning back to the other. "Who are you then?"

&"Citras. Who're you?"

&"Sonic." There was a moment's awkward silence in which they both took each other's appearances in at a glance, and wondered what to say next. "Well, thanks for saving Axel. Do you want to, uh, come back to Knothole then."

&Citras hesitated for a moment then shrugged. "Sure, why not."

&Little did Sonic know that he was going to regret inviting Citras back with him.

&As soon as he stepped inside the village, Citras a few steps behind him, Tails came rushing up. "Hey Sonic, can I show you my new part I made for the Tornado--" He broke off, seeing the stranger behind Sonic. "Who's that?"

&"I'm Citras," said the green hedgehog, quickly.

&Tails stared at him, and Sonic didn't like the look in his eye; it was one of admiration, reserved usually only for Sonic himself.

&The other chao came hurrying across to them. "Is Axel okay Sonic?" asked Bik, in a business-like fashion.

&"Yeah, he's fine thanks. Citras here rescued him."

&They exchanged looks, and Sonic was displeased to see the same look in their eyes as in Tails's.

&"You're a handsome bunch of chao," remarked Citras, cheerfully.

&"Yes," agreed Peppi, self consciously, and Tropican stepped on his foot hard.

&"Do you want me to show you around a little," asked Tails, hopefully. Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw Serena, his sister coming along. He perked up. Serena wouldn't be so stupid as the others... but as soon as she saw Citras, Serena's eyes seemed to refocus and she opened her mouth to say something.

&"Don't forget you autograph book, will you?" snapped Sonic, and stalked off. The worst of it was that nobody noticed him go. They're all acting like they're on some stupid television soap, he thought, angrily. What's so special about Citras?

&Sonic hated the next few days; there was one thing he had overlooked about Citras when he had first met him, namely his attitude and aura. He was popular and clever not to mention good looking. Citras was rapidly becoming the centre of attention, appearing to be good at anything he turned his hand to, without fault.

&Sonic complained bitterly to Serena about him. "I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be the world's best flyer instead of turning into paté if he took a notion to superglue a pair of wings to his arms and jump off a cliff," he said, a slight sulky tone to his voice, which he detested.

&She looked at him, surprised. "But Citras is really nice!" she protested. "You're just jealous of him."

&"No I'm not," Sonic snapped back. But he was.

&It reminded him of when Spike had first shown up at Knothole. Only, since it was happening in the present and not in the past, a whole lot worse. He was beginning to feel really left out of everything; Serena even forgot to include him in an outing one day.

&She apologised at once of course, but it annoyed Sonic no end, and when asked if he'd like to come along, he flatly refused. To his surprise, he found that Citras had declined his invitation too.

&When the others had left, Sonic watched him walk out of the village. Curious, he followed him. He found him sitting on the stream bank, much further up from where he'd been the day before, swinging his legs and gazing into space.

&Suddenly, the jealousy seemed to drain from Sonic, and he flopped himself down next to him. "What's up dreamer?"

&Citras glanced at him, surprised. "Nothing. I was just thinking." He gave Sonic a slightly shy smile. "Look, I'm sorry about what I've done. I didn't mean for everyone to act like that over my... problem."

&"Problem?"

&"I'm perfect." His voice sounded bitter.

&"Nobody's perfect," answered Sonic, confused by the other's reply.

&Citras hesitated for a moment. "Can I tell you something? It's a big, big secret. You'd have to promise not to tell anyone else."

&"Of course." Sonic was more than a little interested by now.

&"I'm a android." Sonic opened his mouth to say something, he didn't know what, but Citras raised a hand, cutting him short. "There was this scientist, you see, who wanted to create the perfect beings. So to do that, he made a bunch of androids, perfect in every detail, great at everything and no slouches in the looks department.

&"But that wasn't good enough for him. He had to do better. Have you heard of the Gemstones, Sonic?" Sonic did; in his last not so fun adventure he had had with Pip, the Mecha bot, Tails and Marina, the porcupine, he had had more to do with them than he had ever wanted to. Nightshade, the werewolf cat had tried to kill them all, with help from his Gemstone of Control but had been thought to die himself in the end. Pip owned one too, the Gemstone of Hope.

&"There's three isn't there?" he ventured.

&Citras nodded. "That's right. No one knows where Hope and Control are, but he had managed to get his hands on the Gemstone of Oblivion, the black sheep of the stones. It takes over the one who wields it, turning them totally evil."

&"They don't have a choice?"

&"Everybody has a choice." A deep look of regret and sadness passed over Citras's face, but he quickly controlled it and hurried on. "Anyway, he had got the Gemstone of Oblivion, and he took one of the androids, and inserted it into her brain."

&Sonic thought he heard a faint quaver in his voice as he said the last few words. Not normally particularly perceptive, he surprised himself by saying: "You like her, don't you?"

&"Yes. She was called Lena, a lynx. And... I did love her." He sounded almost lost as he spoke.

&"Was? Did she die?"

&"No, no, she's still alive. Or at least something is. She killed the scientist and the other androids in an explosion. Only I escaped; I was on a walk at the time. Thinking. I've been hiding out in this forest for a while. I'm worried though. I don't know what she's planning but she's capable of anything now, both beautiful and deadly."

&Sonic sat, riveted. "Do you know where she is?"

&"I could find out."

&They both thought for a few minutes. "We could... y'know... see if we could find her..." Sonic said, cautiously.

&Citras nodded, he was thinking the same thing. "Let's go back to base," he said smiling at his friend. "And make some plans."

&As they walked off, a still figure hanging off one of the higher branches of an ancient oak murmured. "Thank you Sonic and friend. Lena and the Gemstone of Oblivion are mine." It detached itself from the tree and flew off into the woodland.

&Citras's eyes snapped open. "I know her location." He shook himself slightly and said, self-consciously: "I mean I know where she is." He looked a little embarrassed at his first choice of words.

&"Cool. Where?" Sonic was impressed. Citras had been using his inside programming to locate Lena. She was the only person he'd be able to do it for since they were the only two of the 'perfect' androids left, but they were grateful for it.

&"Mobius Grand Canyon. That's..." He paused, trying to work it out. "A long way away from here," he concluded finally.

&"We'll need to get kitted up I guess. I'll go and forage some supplies and stuff too. Not too much though, we don't want to be weighed down. And we'd better leave a note for the others. We don't want them worrying about us as they'll be back in a day or two and we certainly won't."

&As they talked they walked down to the supply and equipment stores.

&"I can tell you've done stuff like this before," said Citras, grinning at him.

&"You have no idea," Sonic replied, rooting through the equipment and deciding what to take. "Hold the backpacks open will you." Citras obliged and Sonic stuffed handfuls of equipment and supplies into each, not very tidily.

&They both looked at it for a moment, then together they neatened his hasty packing up, scribbled a quick note and departed, swinging their backpacks onto their shoulders as they went.

&Sonic and Citras tramped cheerfully through the forest, conversing in loud, friendly tones. If they'd stopped to think, they would have realised how stupid it was, but they didn't expect to run into danger so soon. But danger expected to run into them.

&As they walked on, they both began to shoot nervous glances at the surrounding shrubbery. They had the feeling that somebody was watching them. There was a faint whisper in the trees they had just passed, and they jerked their heads round to look, while their feet speeded up.

&"Do you get the feeling we're being followed?" Sonic asked Citras cautiously. Before he could reply however, another voice answered in his stead.

&"And have been for the last hour or so. Y'know, if you get any more astute, I might even think you've got a brain."

&They turned their heads back to the path before them, stopping dead. Leaning casually against a tree, with her arms folded and her legs crossed over, was a bat. A robot bat. On her shoulder was a small red chao.

&"That's the chao who pushed Axel into the stream," Citras whispered to Sonic, spotting the chao at the same time as his friend. Sonic gritted his teeth, torn between giving the chao a piece of his mind or not committing suicide.

&"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" the robot said to Sonic, who looked a little uncertain and apprehensive.

&"Uh... Pip-Citras, Citras-Pip."

&Citras, obviously unsure what to say due to the circumstances, came out with "Um, charmed I'm sure."

&Pip looked amused. "Tickled pink, I'm sure," she said, mimicking Citras's voice perfectly, without a fault. "This is Heat," she added. "My chao." There was a faint note of pride in her voice.

&"Hiya," said Heat, looking a little amused too.

&"Like owner, like chao," muttered Sonic, under his breath.

&Citras was aware of a tension in the air between Sonic and Pip. Sonic wasn't sure what Pip wanted; sometimes she would almost be willing to help them, like the last time they had met, but others she was more than willing to devise cruel and unusual deaths for him. Like the other times. Pip just didn't like Sonic much.

&"And where are you going on this fine day?" she enquired, the picture of innocence.

&Sonic was on his guard at once. Citras, who didn't know Pip in the slightest, opened his mouth to reply, but Sonic kicked him so hard in the shins he yelped out loud, screwing up his eyes in pain. "Oh," he managed, realising that Sonic didn't think Pip's question was at face value. Pip glared at him.

&"Tell me!" she said, impatiently.

&"Why do you want to know?" asked Sonic, his mind racing. He was wondering whether or not he and Citras could out-run the robot. He was fairly sure that he could beat her just running, but he knew she was a very fast flyer... and he wasn't sure how fast Citras could run, come to that, he'd just assumed that he was good at that too.

&"Just the location of Lena, an android like your friend Citras, who, most unfortunately, has the Gemstone of Oblivion lodged in her brain," she remarked nonchalantly, examining the silver tips of her metal hand. "Did I miss anything?"

&Citras looked stunned. "How did you know?" he blurted out.

&"Well, mon ami, walls may have ears but I certainly do."

&"We're not going to tell YOU," snapped Sonic, taking an unconscious step backwards. In response, Pip casually raised her arm so that it was pointing straight at Citras's chest. Citras didn't even seem to notice, but then again he didn't know what Sonic did; there were concealed lasers in Pip's wrists. Sonic didn't see what else he could do but tell her. Unless... "Alright, alright. She's in Rainbow City."

&"Merci, mon ami." Pip shot off like an arrow from a bow, Heat almost falling from his perch on her shoulder.

&"Citras gave Sonic a puzzled look. "What the heck was that all about, exactly? And who was she?"

&"Pip's a Mecha bot, really annoying type of robot. She's pretty good at speed and combat skills I suppose." He sounded reluctant to admit the fact. "But she's the most gullible person I've ever come across. If I'd told her that Lena was on another planet and we were just nipping along to get our spaceship she'd probably have believed me. Oh yeah, and she's always willing to help."

&"Willing to help?"

&"Yeah, just the wrong people." He paused. It might be a good idea to get moving though. She won't be too happy when she finds out I lied." Their footfalls became considerably faster.

&It was late evening and they decided to camp down for the night on a small hill. It was quite warm so they decided to do so without using a tent, wrapping blankets round them and lying on their backs watching the stars.

&Sonic had fallen asleep, and Citras was about to drop off too, when he heard a blood-curdling growl from a nearby clump of bushes. He froze, not even daring to breathe. After a moment he relaxed a little, but not entirely. In his wanderings he had learned to trust to his instinct. It had helped him to survive so far, after all.

&"Sonic," he whispered, shaking his friend.

&"Uhn?" Sonic drowsily lifted his head to look at him.

&"Sonic, something is out there."

&Sonic groaned and tried to snuggle back into his sheets. "You've been watching too many X-Files episodes, Citras."

&"Sonic!" The growl came again and Sonic fairly flew out of his blanket, looking from left to right. "That's what I mean. What do you think it could be?"

&"Dunno," Sonic replied, sounding worried. At that moment, a dark shape slunk out of the bushes, padding softly towards them. A few feet away, it stopped and sniffed the air. The growl emitted from its throat once more.

&They could now see that it was an animal, a panther, with long dark stripes down it's forehead, sharp curved claws and glittering purple eyes. It looked at them as a predator looks at its prey. And pounced.

&The two of them scattered in opposite directions, Sonic tripping over his sheets and knocking both of them to the floor. They began to roll down the hillside, yelping and owching over the bumpy parts, thorns tearing at them from the bushes all around. With one final yell they landed in the most prickly bush of them all and lay still.

&There was the sound of padding feet behind them and they looked up to see the panther looking down at them, curiously. They gulped but knew better than to move. Neither of them knew it, but the panther was debating whether of not to risk getting torn to pieces by the thorns by going after his prey. Luckily for the two hedgehogs, self-preservation won the battle and he turned and padded away once more.

&Citras groaned from the dissolved tension and his head slumped backwards onto Sonic and the merciless thorns in relief. But they didn't dare to leave the bush until morning.

&When they retraced their undignified path from the night back up to their camp, they found most of their equipment scattered about and no food left at all. They guessed the panther must have eaten it. Still, however annoyed it made them, they were glad that it had been their food rather than themselves. Although they would have to see if they could find some more food soon, otherwise they might die anyway, from starvation.

&Wearily, they repacked their backpacks and trudged off once more; they could not risk staying there another night, considering the ration problem and the fact that the panther might decide to come back for his forgotten meal.

&After more than fifteen miles had been put between them and the hill and it was growing dark, Citras nudged Sonic hard in the ribs, pointing. Ahead of them, just above the trees, they could see smoke spiralling into the air. It reminded them of a campfire, which in turn reminded them of their empty stomachs.

&"Should we have a look?" asked Sonic, cautiously. "It could be someone with a lot of food and a kindly disposition towards starving travellers."

&They both laughed, but a voice from the trees ahead spoke out, silencing them. "It's just your luck you cheeky young whippersnapper that we are kindly people with food to spare. Come on over."

&"Cheeky young whippersnapper?" Sonic whispered to Citras, looking hurt. "Me?"

&Citras grinned at him. "Well, I guess there's nothing to do but oblige, cheeky whippersnapper." He ran towards the clearing and Sonic followed, pretending to be angry with him. When they reached it they saw an old greyish fox and a younger, very large and muscular polar bear sitting around a small crackling fire which glowed and sparked in the non-light.

&"Hi," said Sonic, falteringly.

&"Hello," remarked the fox, cheerfully. They realised from his voice that it was he who had been talking before. "And who are you then?"

&"I'm Sonic and this is Citras." Then, feeling as if more was expected of him, he tore his eyes away from the delicious looking food and said: "We're from Knothole. Well, at least I am. Citras is our guest there; he's a wanderer."

&"Welcome to our camp, Sonic of Knothole and Citras the Wanderer," said the fox. "My name is Barq and my great friend here is called Earf.

&"Unfortunately, he cannot speak. He was hurt grievously by a group of robots once in an effort to protect me. I am unfortunately too old to defend myself from such enemies as those. His vocal chords were damaged and he has not uttered one single word since; he only roars and uses normal animal noises, which is a good sign that he might be recovering."

&The polar bear inclined his head as his friend spoke, as if asserting the story's truth. At the end he grunted, and smiled at the two hedgehogs, overwhelming them with a feeling of great strength and power, which they had only previously felt from Slasher. They were both over-awed by him. Sonic and Citras took an immediate liking to the fox, with his strange, almost poetical ways of talking and the strong, silent polar bear.

&Barq opened his mouth to say something else, but at that moment his ears pricked up and a second later they heard it too, the sound of running footsteps. A figure burst in from the side of the clearing, moving so fast they could hardly see what it was, and slammed into Sonic's side with such force he thought he heard a rib crack, knocking him to the ground a few feet from where he had been standing.

&He hit the ground rolling, coming to a stop face down on the ground. He was not given one second for retaliation however, as the creature hit him again and again, yelling: "You LIED, you LIED!" Then he recognised the voice; it was Pip, fairly crazed with rage. He managed to roll over and saw her eyes burning with a vengeful fire. Then she was on top of him, kicking and punching and tearing. He couldn't fight back, he was going to die, he was going to DIE...

&Suddenly, the weight was gone. Looking up, he saw Pip sent flying across the clearing by another heavy blow from Earf. She was very strong, but she was also lightweight. The polar bear followed up by pinning Pip against the tree with one arm, roaring deep within his throat. Pip made a sound like 'urk', but then lashed out with one foot, hitting him hard across his neck. He let out a bellow of pain letting go of her. The robot hit the ground running and, using discretion as the better part of valour, ran out of the clearing full tilt, almost as fast as she had arrived.

&Earf pursued her for some way, but Barq called to him and he returned, growling. He then walked over to Sonic, who hadn't the strength to move, picked him up almost tenderly and lay him down next to the fire. Citras hovered nearby, looking concerned.

&"He will be fine soon, after he has had some of our nourishing broth," Barq informed him, studying Sonic closely. "Do not fret yourself, Citras the Wanderer."

&Citras nodded and squatted down next to the other three, hoping that the ancient fox was right. He was passed a wooden bowl, filled with a browny-grey substance, halfway between solidity and being a liquid. It didn't look that appetising close too, he thought. Still, wanting to be polite, he tried a tentative spoonful. His eyes closed in happiness; it was delicious, showing that its looks were nothing to go by. After a few spoonfuls, it dawned on him how tired he was. Before he'd even realised it, his eyes had closed and he had fallen asleep, his head lolling onto Earf's side. The polar bear smiled, and stroked the sleeping hedgehog into an even deeper, luxurious sleep.

&Heat moved slowly and stealthily through the woodland. He was looking for his master and owner, Pip, who had left him behind to keep an eye on Sonic and Citras while she went to Rainbow City. It was he who had told her that Sonic had lied, rather than just made a mistake, as she had been inclined to believe at first. For Lena had been in Rainbow City, leaving her mark rather thoroughly, but was there no longer. It had just been luck that Sonic had said the place where she'd just been. Pip had flown off in a rage, but he knew she'd since come back from chasing the hedgehogs.

&There she was. He watched as she lay down in the bracken and twigs, trying to snuggle up and find the cosiest position, as any normal Mobian would. A wave of sadness passed over him; she was not yet completely used to being a robot and was still retaining some characteristics of normal animals. He was not usually given to regret, but for some reason this touched him deep down.

&Not many people had seen the robot like this, when she was seen in her true state. He looked for a long time, trying to figure out what it could be. Finally, he realised he could settle on nothing but a child like loneliness and innocence. Pip, he knew, had never been loved or cared for apart from her brief time at Knothole. Even when she was very, very young she had been abandoned by her parents, for reasons she still did not know. And yet she was still cheerful and believed that everyone was nice deep inside, if not on the top. He just didn't get it.

&Pip shifted position softly, shielding her face from view. Heat decided that his information could wait until the morning, and quietly lay down by her side.

&Like Barq had predicted, Sonic was fine in the morning. At an early hour, he was jumping about, feeling ready to take on the world, meeting the other's tired groans as he tried to wake them.

&"We'd better get going," said Citras to Barq, once they had finally risen. "She'll probably be after us if we stay much longer."

&"I'm sorry that we can't come with you," said Barq, regretfully. "You have not told us yet, where are you going? Or would you prefer not to tell us?"

&The two explained about their journey, each interrupting the other every time they thought they had missed a bit out, or not explained it fully enough. Barq and Earf listened carefully, not saying anything until they had finished.

&"Yes," said Barq, and there was anger in his tone. "I've heard of her. She's killed some people in Rainbow City, for no reason at all apparently. And that's just one of several similar cases. I wish you luck, Sonic of Knothole and Citras the Wanderer."

&They parted, Barq and Earf insisting on them taking half of their provisions. After realising they couldn't be dissuaded, Sonic and Citras accepted the food gratefully before hiking on, waving over their shoulders to their friends. Earf watched them out of sight, a wistful smile on his face, waving his large white half hand, half paw. Barq waved too, quite vigorously for an old fox.

&"Let's hope that everyone's that nice, Sonic of Knothole." Citras grinned at Sonic, who returned it. They had not wanted to say anything about the names that Barq had given them in front of him, but they had thought them very funny.

&"Yeah, not wanting to eat us like that panther, huh?"

&"Nu-uh." They walked briskly on for a while, before Citras, who was on the alert for anything strange or dangerous, said "What's that?" and pointed out a small green blade of grass sticking out onto the path, a different colour from the rest.

&The blade of grass moved, whipping behind some ferns. They moved closer. Suddenly, a large fanged mouth whipped up; the mouth of a snake. Sonic leapt backwards with surprise, landing hard on Citras's foot. He winced, and backed away, pulling Sonic with him.

&The snake swayed its head from side to side, hissing. "Have you ever dealt with a snake before?" Citras asked Sonic without turning round.

&"No, but I think Knux got into fight with a basilisk once. He killed it too, with a lance or something."

&"Unfortunately though it's easier to hit something that big. With a normal snake it's just too thin, not to mention we haven't got any weapons."

&"Can't we just run away?"

&"I don't really wanna turn my back on it."

&There was a laugh from behind them. They turned their heads ever so slightly to see who it was, although they could both have had a pretty good guess. It was Pip, Heat once more on her shoulder.

&"It's easy to see you don't know anything about snakes," she said, smirking. "Otherwise you'd know that it's just a harmless grass snake." She paused, to let them digest this information before continuing. "I see you've ditched the dumb thug."

&Citras leapt at her angrily, grabbing a large stick off the ground and hitting her hard several times, before she had a chance to recover. She moved quickly, bringing something up in her right hand.

&"You've picked the wrong person for a fight, pal." She made a swift gesture and the stick was cut neatly in two halves. they could then see the rapier in her hand. Instead of attacking, she put it neatly away, making a show of it, before looking back up at the two hedgehogs. "Now, how about telling me where Lena is?"

&"Haven't we told you we're not saying?" said Sonic, glaring at her furiously; the comment about Earf had got right under his skin too.

&Surprisingly, Pip sighed and said "Look, I'm sorry about what I said about your friend. I've had a bit of a bad time, topped off by you lying to me and him trying to smash my head in."

&Sonic guessed she probably meant it, her personality and temperament changes could happen at the drop of a hat, but he still wasn't about to tell her where Lena was. Taking advantage of Pip's momentary let down of her guard, he yelled "Run Citras!" and fled himself.

&He ran for a few yards before glancing back to see how Citras was doing. To his surprise, he saw that he was lagging quite far behind. Obviously he wasn't that good at running after all. Almost as if to confirm this, Citras called to him "Wait Sonic! I can't run as fast as you!"

&Not hesitating, he ran back to his friend, grabbed him by his arm and took off running again, his speed carrying both of them along. Looking back again, he couldn't see Pip anywhere, which wasn't a good sign at all. Still, he took it at its face value, and after running for another few miles he stopped and they got their breath back.

&"We may as well camp up here for the night," said Citras eventually. Sonic nodded.

&They settled on sleeping in a tree that night. Not that it would be any safer than the ground if Pip did come looking for them, in fact it would be perhaps even less so, since Pip tended to sleep in trees too, just upside-down. But it made them feel safer, which was important.

&But unbeknownst to them, it would serve another purpose.

&A beautiful looking lynx lay on a rock high above Mobius Grand Canyon, several taller rocks giving it a slight shade and coolness against the sweltering heat. She was called Lena.

&At that moment another creature approached her, cautiously, moving through the shadows of over-hanging rocks. She didn't bother looking up as she knew who it was. It was another android, one of the ones who Citras thought dead, a male polecat named Snow.

&"You... wanted me?"

&Still not looking up, she answered him. "Yes. I need you to do something for me. I need you to destroy Citras. He is coming to kill me. Now, do you think you can do that?" Her voice was sweet, melodic almost. After leaving a gap of several seconds, she added "You are still here?"

&Snow whipped away without a word. She knew he would do what she had asked or die trying. Almost all creatures did her bidding or she killed them. They were all so easy to manipulate...

&"Except Citras," she whispered out loud, and her face contorted, as if she was undergoing some inner struggle. "Citras, Citras, Citras. Why couldn't you just stay away? Don't you understand? She'll kill you..." Her eyes grew stony cold once more. "Yes. I'll kill you."

&Sonic and Citras passed an uneventful few days progressing in their journey. It was so uneventful they began to think that they may have lost Pip and that they'd passed all the danger. They were wrong, in both respects.

&Pip had merely decided to shadow them until she was at least fairly certain of where they were going, and danger was almost upon them. In the form of a polecat.

&Snow crept quietly along through the bracken. He had been looking for hours. He knew that Citras was in this area, yet he could not see him. It never occurred to Snow to look upwards, into the branches of the trees. In his opinion, that was a place for the birds.

&As he crunched across the woodland floor, the ground suddenly opened up beneath him and, with a howl of terror, he plunged downwards, gathering speed as he went. It was a long way to the bottom, and when he finally hit it, there was no chance of his survival. He died, instantly.

&Pip, followed as usual by Heat, walked casually up to the hole and they both looked down it. In fact, hole was the wrong word for it. It was a crevice, a crack in the land made long ago and now covered up by moss and twigs like the rest of the area. Or rather it had been.

&"D'you think he's alive?" asked Heat, craning over the edge and almost falling in himself.

&"I doubt it. It was a pretty big drop."

&"It must have hurt," said Heat, who had managed to catch a glimpse of the android and felt a little sick.

&"You haven't experienced true pain until you've stepped on a plug." Pip shrugged and walked away from the hole. It wasn't any of her business if other creatures didn't look where they were going.

&The next day Sonic and Citras were up early, trudging off once more. They had managed to travel quite a few miles the previous days, and they were almost over halfway to the canyon.

&By midday they had reached the edge of the Great Forest, at least in the direction the were headed, and their spirits were high. For most of the afternoon they walked over a small hilly area, chatting happily.

&When it reached evening, they had got to the edge of what might be their most challenging stretch yet; the Sandblast Desert. it was only a small part of it crossing over their path, but they knew why it was called Sandblast.

&Sonic and Citras choked and coughed as the wind blew the sand into their eyes, noses, ears and mouths. It stung them viciously and without mercy. When they dared to open their eyes a crack more, they couldn't see more than a few inches in front of them, only dark and hazy shapes moving around them. Just when they thought the sandstorm was never going to end, it finished, as abruptly as it had started.

&And they then saw what the dark shapes were.

&Beautiful pearly white horses, with long, smoky manes and great silver tipped wings folded neatly at their sides. Citras felt that the scientist who had created him had been wrong: he and the androids were not perfection. They were capable of evil like any other creature and, although that had been what he had wanted, it did not make them perfect. But these... they were perfection. Beautiful, innocent and yet powerful.

&A horse with a long, spiralling horn on its forehead stepped forward, pawing the ground. It was obviously the leader. "I am called Decor. We are the Innocens, a race of winged horses, Pegasuses. We live in this desert. Tell me, who are you and why do you come here?" Its voice was soft and gentle.

&Quickly, they poured out their story once more, and the Innocens listened intently, shaking their heads every so often, and stamping on the ground. The two hedgehogs found that they did not interrupt each other like they had done when telling of their journey to Barq and Earf. When they had finished, Decor nodded gravely.

&"Yes, we have heard of Lena. She tried to cross here once, but she could not. We have used equipment all around the borders of our area. No creature who has ever killed another can cross them. We will gladly help you and speed you on your search."

&At that moment, another horse, a foal, was nuzzling at Decor to get her attention. She looked down to it, giving it an affectionate smile. Citras and Sonic realised that they were thinking that they wouldn't mind being the receiver of that smile in the slightest.

&"Yes?"

&"There's someone else coming, following the same route as the hedgehogs," he said, and despite his youth, his voice too had a steady calm about it.

&With a tight feeling in the pit of his stomach, Sonic slowly turned around. A figure was moving towards them at quite a fast pace. He groaned. It was her.&"How did you get across the borders?" he demanded of Pip.

&"I walked. How about you?" said Pip, with her deadly pleasantness. Heat snickered.

&"You aren't supposed to be able to if you've killed someone."

&Pip looked hurt. "I've never killed anybody."

&Sonic hesitated a second. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember her saying that she had. Then a sudden recollection came to him. "Didn't you say that you'd got that hawk to help you because you'd killed all his enemies?"

&Pip looked ever so slightly ashamed. "I... exaggerated a little. I just give him a handful of birdseed a day. It's hard to chase pigeons when you've got a family to look after, like Sharpeye has."

&Decor had been looking from Sonic to Citras to Pip and back again. When they had finished talking, she spoke. "Is this the robot you were telling us about?"

&"Yeah."

&"Famous already," remarked Pip. Decor nodded her head and several of the Innocens moved in front of Pip with fast, supple movements, blocking the robot from the hedgehogs and herself.

&"Quickly," she urged them. "Mount!" They hesitated for a moment before clambering onto her back. Somehow it felt wrong to do so, like they were using someone's most precious object without permission. But she had granted them permission to ride her, so they obeyed.

&Then she was off, the others following her closely. Never had either of the riders experienced such speed. They felt sure that they must be going at the speed of light they moved so fast and gracefully. Not even Slasher, who was the fastest creature Sonic knew, could run like this.

&The other horses had left them now. The sand blurred past them on either side, then they were half running and half flying... Sonic closed his eyes in bliss... and then it was over. Decor had slowed to a halt, and they could see that they were at the edge of the desert.

&They dismounted, and Decor bent down, nuzzling each of them in turn with her soft wet nose, leaving a sweet tingling feeling behind.

&"I must leave you here," she told them. "Farewell, my friends and good luck."

&She turned and cantered away into the darkness, her white coat showing her position until she was out of sight and over the horizon. They both sighed deeply, heard each other and grinned.

&"We'd better get going," said Citras. "We're nearly there anyway."

&Lena sat in the dark, thinking. Absently, she brushed her hair back with her exquisite clawed hand.

&"Come," she said.

&Ruby approached her. She was Lena's right hand android, a sandy coloured cat with long golden hair and a pretty face. But if you could see under it, you would see merely cruelty, vanity and greed.

&"Snow is dead." Ruby looked taken aback. "He is a fool though, and no loss. I suppose I should have sent someone with more brains than him to tackle Citras."

&"Should I send someone else?"

&"No. Don't bother. He'll be here soon anyway, and I can deal with him myself."

&"Do you think that... wise?"

&Lena's eyes flared up and she sprang up, knocking Ruby to the ground. "Don't dictate to me! Do you think that I can't deal with him?"

&"No, no," said Ruby, soothingly.

&"To prove to you that I am worth all of you put together, leave tonight and I will deal with him on my own, without the problem of worrying about you or the other idiots blundering in."

&"Of course, of course... I'll go and tell them now..." Lena let her get up and she bowed hurriedly, then strode quickly away, a cruel smile lighting up her face as soon as her back was turned. Her plan had worked perfectly. Now there was more chance of Citras killing Lena and then there would be room for a new leader, a better leader, a more cunning and ruthless one... Oh yes, she had plans for herself.

&Next morning, and Citras and Sonic were still walking, but with a more mechanical motion. They had been walking all night, fuelled with excitement, but now they were beginning to feel the consequences of their action.

&They were almost at Mobius Grand Canyon now, and Citras suggested a rest to get their strength up before tackling Lena. Sonic agreed, and they scoped out the nearby land for a suitable shelter. They found a small cave, which was only still standing because of a blocky support at the entrance.

&They stepped inside, checking as they went for any unpleasant occupants who might not want to share their dwelling with them. Fortunately, there was no one inside and they settled down, unpacking their provisions.

&Suddenly, the light was eclipsed. They looked up to see a figure standing in the cave mouth. It was hard to see who it was because of the glare of the sun behind it, but they could easily guess.

&"Can't you just leave us alone?" snapped Sonic, but he was a little scared. He knew that Pip was blocking their only way of escape, and if she meant to attack them there was little chance of escaping. How could they have been so stupid as to come into the enclosed space?

&"Hello to you too," said Pip. "I just thought that you'd like to know that I can guess where Lena is from here, and now I have no further use for you. Goodbye Sonic and M. Perfect Prince Charming ."

&With one quick movement, she kicked the support, knocking part of it out. Sonic and Citras sprang to their feet but they were too late. She stepped back and watched as the cave collapsed.

&"They're not going to be in too good a shape now," said Heat, grinning. "A very flat one probably."

&Pip grinned at him. "Too true. Now let's go and collect our prize, the Gemstone of Oblivion." She walked off, whistling loudly and tunelessly.

&Citras groaned and felt his head. He had been lucky, a large bolder had crashed in front of him, saving him from the more punishing rocks as he sheltered behind it. But Sonic... what about Sonic? Frantically, he called out for his friend. After a few moments Sonic's voice answered him, not too far away. He began tunnelling towards his voice.

&Sonic appeared to have been doing the same thing, since they both bumped heads halfway there and sat back. They exchanged glances. "Time to be moles."

&Citras managed a weak smile. "YOU can be a mole if you want. I'LL be a rabbit."

&Sonic shrugged. "Whatever." They began to dig.

&Lena smiled to herself and walked into one of the roomier caves above the Mobius Grand Canyon. In one of her hands, almost inperceivably, she held a small dart gun.

&The robot bat followed her, her chao at her heels.

&"So," she said, still smiling. "What do you want?"

&"It's all in the mind."

&"Ah. I thought so. You want the Gemstone, correct?"

&"Yup."

&"I am not going to let you take it. For one thing, I doubt very much that you've ever performed legal brain surgery, let alone successfully."

&"You're an android, it shouldn't hurt you. Much. And I promise I won't kill you."

&"A robot's promise? And what's that worth?"

&Pip looked hurt. "I always keep my promises."

&"Especially if it involves death to other creatures," remarked Lena, scathingly. "But I return your promise. I will not kill you either. Not directly, anyway."

&In the blinking of an eye, she had aimed and fired her gun. Pip didn't have time to dodge and the dart struck her arm, embedding itself into it. Annoyed, Pip pulled it out and threw it away.

&"And what exactly was that supposed to achieve--" she began, but suddenly her machinery gave a warning whine and her expression became that of great pain. Yelping, she turned and fled from the cave. Heat gave Lena one frightened glance before running after Pip.

&The look on Lena's face was terrifying.

&"I can see daylight!" exclaimed Sonic. He felt weak with relief, just managing to stop himself from laughing hysterically. He had hated being trapped under the rocks and rubble, and had felt like he was about to go mad any second. At least they were out now.

&Citras gave him a leg up then Sonic helped him to climb out behind him. "There's no point in resting," said Citras, when he was out. "We might as well push on after all." And he was off before Sonic could stop him.

&He had to jog to catch up with him, so determined were his strides. Just as he reached him, he halted. A figure had stepped out of the nearby rock hanging to meet them.

&Whatever Citras had told him about her had done nothing to prepare him for this. She was not just beautiful, but stunning. He had a vague sense of going into some sort of trance. Nothing mattered anymore, he just wanted to be here, looking at her forever. He would do anything for her, anything at all. Then Citras's voice cut across his thoughts and the trance was broken.

&"So."

&"So, you have come Citras. I always knew that you would come eventually. No one had ever been able to resist me."

&Citras glared at her contemptuously. "Yeah, right. You know why I came here Lena."

&"To kill me, yes." She smiled sweetly. "But you don't have to. And you certainly don't want to. You used to love me..."

&"I used to love Lena. Not you."

&She laughed. "Have it your way Citras." She stepped towards them. "You may have killed Snow, but I am practically invincible. You cannot hope to win against me." Sonic had the feeling that neither of them was paying any attention to him anymore. It felt more like he was eavesdropping on a private conversation. "Your robot friend found that out."

&"Pip?" said Sonic. "What did you do to her? And she's not our friend," he added.

&"I have injected a virus into her system," said Lena matter-of-factly. "She will die slowly and painfully, each of her systems cutting off one at a time. I should imagine that she will suffer a great deal." It was the way in which she spoke that made it so chilling, Sonic thought. Like it was just an interesting plaything, nothing more. As much as he disliked Pip, he wouldn't have really wished that upon anybody.

&Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them, cutting off further conversation. "Dang!" Sonic snapped. "Earthquake." The ground split open with an ear splitting cracking sound, jagged lines appearing all around them. "Come ON!" Sonic called to Citras to follow him: Citras didn't come. Looking back, he saw that Lena had fallen down one of the cracks and was now clinging to the edge, fear showing clearly in her eyes. "CITRAS! Come on, leave her where she is."

&Citras looked from Sonic to the scared face below him. "Sonic, I think this really might have snapped her out of it."

&"Please," moaned Lena. "Please, Citras, help me."

&To Sonic's horror, Citras reached out a hand, which Lena grasped, firmly. "Thank you..." she began. Then the cruel light snapped back on in her eyes and she sneered up at him. "...for being so stupid. I've always wanted to do that. You are so easily tricked. I could have pulled myself up Citras, you know that."

&Before Sonic could even make a move towards them, to help his friend, Lena had tugged with an unnatural strength, pulling Citras over with her. He ran to the edge, but it was futile: there was nothing he could do. Lena and Citras were falling to their deaths.

&Citras slowly lifted his head. He was alive, although he wasn't sure how or why. He was lying at the bottom of the canyon and the earthquake had stopped now. Lena... he knew he must find Lena... There she was, lying still a few feet away from him. He couldn't stand, let alone walk, so he crawled painfully over towards her.

&He gently touched her face and her eyelids flickered open. "Citras?..." she whispered. "Where am I? Why does it hurt? I don't understand." She sounded bewildered and scared, and Citras knew that at last, he was facing the real Lena for the first time in years. Her face suddenly creased. "I remember... oh Citras, I remember." Tears flowed freely down her face, mingling with the dirt. It took him a moment to realise that they were joined by other tears: his own.

&He put a hand to her brow, stroking her head to comfort her. She seemed to be more badly hurt than himself even, but she managed to move her hand with tremendous effort and pain. She pushed her gun towards him. "Do it," she whispered.

&"No." He shook his head, ignoring the pain that this simple action caused. "I can't."

&"You must. The only way that the Gemstone will be lost once more is if its owner dies. You know that. It may control me again, or another may steal it for their own evil. You must do it."

&Citras knew that she was right, however much he hated to hear those words. Slowly, and with a trembling hand, he reached out and took the gun. He bent down, kissing her forehead. They stayed like that for a while, his hand caressing her brow. Then, holding out his unsteady hand, he fired.

&The sound of the shot echoed off the canyon walls. Citras looked at Lena's face. She wore a smile of pure happiness. "At peace," she whispered to him, softly. Then she died, her eyes glazing over above her now peaceful complexion. The pain flowed back through Citras's head and he slid to the canyon floor. His own eyelids closed.

&Citras was aware of voices right next to him, that he was in a different position than he had been in before and he could feel a strange sensation. His eyelids felt too heavy to open, so he just lay there listening.

&"And then I blew the whistle to call you here. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, I guess I was just too... I thought we could handle it all. Or," the voice which he guessed was Sonic's, in a sudden burst of embarrassed honesty. "I just DIDN'T think." there was a pause, then "Will he be okay Slash?"

&"He doesn't look too badly off considering the fall he's had. I suppose he was built to last." Slasher, he supposed. Which must mean that the strange sensation was flying. He was safe. They were going home. He drifted out of consciousness once more, satisfied that everything would be okay now that Slasher was there to take charge of the situation.

&In the Great Forest, below where Slasher was flying, a figure appeared, glowing white for a moment. She had just teleported there using the Gemstone of Hope about her neck. It had not been intentional, she had just been teleporting anywhere to get away. All her systems were malfunctioning and she couldn't do anything to stop it. A red chao trotted along behind her, looking anxious.

&"They're all going to regret this," she snarled, under her breath. "Sonic, Citras, Lena, all of them." She contorted in pain, trying to pretend it wasn't there at the same moment.

&A second later, her legs gave way under her, and she slumped against a tree, her eyes snapping off, looking for all the world like she was dead.

The End