After destroying the last robot they had gone back to the HQ, which in Silver's case meant that he had to be dragged back by Sonic, screaming and fighting all the way. Right now he was pacing at an idiotically rapid speed through the main room, waving his hands around, yelling angrily, and occasionally kicking at the furniture. Everyone had quickly decided to give him all the space he needed to cool down, and as such had left the room. No-one had felt brave enough to confront an angry psychic.

Sonic, the only one who had stayed behind, was watching the grey-furred hedgehog with his brows raised. His head was still pounding from the impact he had been subjected to during their battle, and Silver's irate hollering certainly didn't make things better. He understood exactly how the other felt, but he also knew that in this way nothing would be solved. He cleared his throat, then called out to the other. "Silver?"

A pair of yellow eyes filled to the brim with rage looked at him with the force of daggers. "WHAT?" Silver bellowed. Sonic lowered his ears at the volume. But beyond the anger, he could see pure terror in the others gaze, and it made his heart bleed. He quickly zipped over to Silver and tried to pat him on his shoulder, but was brusquely shoved away. Deciding the other needed some personal space right now, he lifted his hands in a showcase of goodwill. "I know you're hurting, but this won't solve anything. You need to calm down and think rationally for a second." He had barely finished the second sentence before he got picked up by Silver's psychokinesis and got slammed in a wall. Having expected the other to get even angrier at his words, he had already raised his quills and as such was spared the worst from the impact, though it made his injured head pulse with pain much more.

Silver hovered inches above his face. He evidently had decided that this was the perfect moment to show the world exactly how he felt, as if he had not done that for the last couple of hours. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I PROMISED I'd PROTECT HIM and I FAILED and now he's CAPTURED and WHO KNOWS what Eggman's going to DO TO HIM and he might be HURT and he'll be so SCARED and..." Having run out of breath entirely, Silver took a few seconds to gasp for air. Sonic gratefully used the moment of silence to push him down to the ground and try once more to comfort him, suppressing the pounding around his skull.

"Eggman's not going to hurt or kill him, I assure you." At the disbelieving glare he got from the trembling hedgehog, Sonic continued. "Looking at the way Wormbot attacked you, he clearly was just trying to capture anyone I know, not him specifically. He'll be waiting for us to get Venice back, and he's building his entire plan around that. We know what he's going to do and can use that to our advantage."

Silver let his head hang, trying to suppress the whimpers at the top of his throat while Sonic gently rubbed his back. The two sat in silence for a few moments, Silver focusing on his breathing while Sonic waited patiently, before the psychic hedgehog looked up once more. To Sonic's relief, the anger had mostly dissipated and had been replaced by determination, though he could still see some traces of fear in the golden orbs. Regardless, Silver's voice was steady when he spoke: "You're right. I can't act like this, it won't help Venice at all." At the mention of his friend Sonic saw a small smile creep on Silver's lips, and the grey hedgehog stared past Sonic at the opposite wall. "Seriously, what would he say if he had seen me like this?"

"As if he'd ever believe you were even capable of acting like such a angry mother hen," Sonic chuckled, getting a loving punch in the arm from the angry mother hen in question.

"You shut your mouth," Silver muttered, though he seemed to have cheered up at least a little bit. He sat with Sonic for a few more seconds, before lifting himself up and gracefully landing with both feet on the ground. Sonic carefully hoisted himself up as well, his soreness making him feel somewhat uncoordinated still.

"Are ya feeling better now?"

"I think so, yes." Silver rubbed his arm absent-mindedly, before glancing over to Sonic once more. "And... thank you."

The Blue Blur grinned brightly. "No prob, Bob. Now, are you ready to save your buddy?"

"Yes." No matter what would happen, Silver knew that he was willing to do anything if it meant saving Venice from the clutches of the Doctor. "I'm ready."

--------

When the round man laid his eyes on him, he was less than amused, to put it mildly. No matter how much Venice had screamed and begged and cried and flung himself and his powers at the walls of his metal prison over and over again nothing had happened, and eventually the static in his ears and behind his eyes had become too much and his mind had turned blank. When it dissipated he found himself in a round cell made entirely of glass, with a very angry Dr. Eggman staring at him through it. He scampered backwards with a cry, only being able to move back a few inches before hitting the wall. The scientist laughed mockingly at his fright, though the laugh disappeared very quickly and a scowl took its place.

"Now what do we have here?" the man sneered. "I try to capture Sonic or his friends, any of his friends, and instead I get some random mutt who only looks like that wretched time traveler!" His ears flat against his head, Venice flinched as some spit landed on the glass at the man's words. "Where did it go wrong?! It was foolproof!" he roared as he turned away from Venice, towards the console that was situated on the other side of the room the cell was in. Angrily the man began to mash buttons and type haphazardly on multiple keyboards, ranting all the while about the supposed failure of his brilliant plan. Pressing himself against the wall near his back Venice tried to make himself as small as possible, his ears ringing with fear.

He gasped as on the screen above the console, recorded footage of Sonic and Silver's fight began to play. Judging from the angle it was taken from Wormbot's point of view. As the battle went on Venice's terror grew and the man's angry grumbles became less until he had become eerily quiet. When they witnessed Venice make his dive to save Silver as he got captured Eggman turned towards the psychic with a terrifyingly broad grin on his face, his anger having melted away as snow in the sun.

"Venice, huh?" he remarked in a tone one could almost call conversational, were it not for the utterly wicked facial expression that accompanied it. "I do say Silver sounded quite... upset at your capture." He prowled back to where he had been standing before, and Venice whimpered as he tried to melt into the wall, to no avail. The man towered over him, gleefully chuckling. "If you know him so well you'd give your life for him-" his grin broadened more at Venice's sob, "-then I dare say that they'll be setting up a plan to rescue you soon. Ah, yes!" he sighed with obvious pleasure as he turned away from his captive, his mood having shifted entirely as he gestured broadly around the room. "They'll hunt me down like the rats they are, and launch a desperate attempt to save you! Little do they know, it will be their undoing!"

Looking right into Venice's teary eyes, he rubbed his hands together with a most reprehensible smile on his face. "What does it feel like to know that you'll be the cause of their demise? Ooh, I could kiss you right now! My plan will be set in motion, and I'll get rid of that blasted hedgehog and all his little friends for good!" He made his way to the entrance next to the console, his laughter shaking Venice to his core. "I need to give my weaponry a final check, juuust to be sure everything will go according to plan. Don't go anywhere!" And with a final, mocking laugh, Venice was left alone in the room.

The moment the entrance shut behind the scientist he immediately flung a psychic fist at the glass, recoiling with a cry when it didn't even crack and a bolt of pain crashed through his mind. Gasping, he tried again, though also this time it had no effect and his vision was overtaken by swirling colours for a few seconds. With desperation setting in he imagined grasping the dimensional fabric and tearing it open, but the resulting agony it set off in his head nearly made him collapse. A glance at a trembling hand showed him the teal-coloured marks, shimmering much more dimly than usual and with grey lines crisscrossing through them. Frantically Venice tried to curl up into a ball and shoot himself at the barrier as he knew Sonic and Silver could do, but it only resulted in him tripping and crashing against the wall painfully. He slid back to the ground, groaning as he clutched his head. Burying his face in his coat, he forced back his sobs and tears. He would not give the man that satisfaction.

----

"Okay, here's the plan." Silver listened intently as Amy pulled up a map of the world on the screen against the wall. He and Sonic had quickly gathered as many of their friends as they could to help safe Venice, which... wasn't a lot of people. In the end, only he, Sonic, Amy, Tails, and the Chaotix were able to come. Anyone else in the Restoration had already been put on different missions and Knuckles had refused to leave Angel Island for something he had described as merely trivial, Amy had explained to him sympathetically as his entire body went rigid with rage. Team Dark had been too busy as well, but they had graciously provided all the intel they had on Eggman's current situation, with the promise of "payment" later. Silver still fumed at the way the conversation had gone. Venice could be dying right now, and Rouge had demanded "payment!"

Realising his thoughts had drifted off, he unclenched his fists and turned his attention to Amy's speech once more. "Eggman's main flying fortress is located in this area." Amy pointed towards a region that was filled with volcanoes, according to the map. "From what we can see it's heavily guarded. We'll take a single shuttle, nothing too big. We're not planning on bringing down this base of operations, our main focus is to grab Venice and then get out of there. The region is too dangerous and unstable for a full-fledged fight." Looking at the volcanoes on the map Silver did not hesitate to believe that. He knew from personal experience how volatile areas filled with lava and fissures could be.

"We have some weaponry on the shuttle, but not too much. This needs to be a quick, coordinated attack. Tails, you'll be our designated pilot. Sonic, you and I will set up a distraction. We can fly between ships on Extreme Gears. Chaotix, you guys help Silver with locating Venice, and then come help us out. Silv, it's up to you to get him out of there in the end." All the listeners nodded resolutely, giving themselves one final check to see if they had all equipment and resources they would need before making their way to the shuttle.

Even though the shuttle had multiple compartments, with Tails' permission they all placed themselves in the captain's room. Sonic was doing some stretches, Tails was carefully piloting the ship, Charmy was cheerfully buzzing around, Espio was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed, and Amy and Vector seemed to be going over battle plans and intricate drawings of Eggman bases. Silver felt his blood boil as his gaze went over them. How could they remain so calm?!

Espio moved away from where he was standing and sat down next to Silver, giving him a wordless invitation to meditate. Taking a deep breath Silver took the opportunity, knowing he would drive everyone and himself crazy if left to his own devices otherwise. Keeping half an eye on the window he focused on keeping calm and sparing his energy. They would arrive in only a short time, and he'd be ready to save Venice no matter the cost.

-----

Venice had no idea how much time he spent despairing. Through taking many deep breaths and imagining Silver was right next to him he calmed down enough to peek up and look around the room. It had the console and its screen on one side and his cell on another, but a structure in the middle caught his attention. It was long, though certainly not as tall as the broken skyscrapers of Frozen City. He could easily fit inside it more than a dozen times for sure. From what he could tell it was seemingly placed on its side. It appeared to be made with dark grey metal, and one end was rounded while the other expanded a little and hoisted multiple odd-looking circles. The floor it was placed on looked odd as well, almost like a hatch of sorts. A multitude of cables and tubes ran from the thing to the wall, into a second console placed against it. What Venice found most intriguing were a handful of beautiful glowing gemstones placed inside slots that the console contained. There were seven of them, he could see, and they each had a different colour. The light they gave off was reflected in the metal of the structure below them.

The throbbing in his head eventually became so bad he got ripped away from his musings. Flopping over on his belly and pressing his body against the wall of the cell as best as he could, he placed his forehead on the metal ground. The cool touch helped a little bit to alleviate it, but Venice knew his powers were nearly exhausted. At least now they wouldn't come shooting out of his hands the moment he got frightened, he thought to himself with a bitter chuckle. How in the world would he get out of here if he couldn't even rely on his worthless curse to be there for him the one time he actually needed it?

Venice's ear flicked as the door slid open and echoing foot resounded, though he was too exhausted and frightened to really pay it any attention. The footsteps stopped in front of his cell, but both Venice and Eggman kept quiet until the psychic heard the man walk away again. They stopped a bit wayward, and he could hear buttons getting pressed and the man occasionally grunting.

"You know," Eggman spoke up suddenly. It took Venice a few seconds to shift his head in such a way he could fix the man with a one-eyed glare. When he did he saw the scientist looking directly at him, though it was hard to tell with the glasses that covered his eyes. "Usually Sonic and his entourage are quite talkative when I capture one of them. Always calling me names, attempting to mock me to hide their despair..." He placed his fingers on his chin and frowned as he looked Venice over more. "You are... surprisingly quiet. I would almost say you don't know how to talk, ho ho! Or am I simply so imposing the words cannot pass your lips?"

Venice didn't bother dignifying that with a response, instead dropping his head so he was staring at the ground once more. He knew from experience that no amount of begging and pleading would make such a person change their mind, so he wouldn't embarrass himself with an attempt. With a small tremble he realised he had no idea what Eggman would do with him if he did manage to kill Sonic and Silver, and he got hit by a sudden wave of nausea. The man chuckled at his muffled whimper.

"Aww, what's wrong? Frightened?" the man mocked him. "You'll play a most important part in my rise to total world domination, you know. You should be proud of yourself!"

"W-what are you p-plotting...?" Venice whispered terrifiedly, almost unable to lift up his head to look the other in the eye.

The man let loose another salvo of laughter. "So you can talk after all, huh? Well, since you asked ever so politely, I will tell you a little bit. You won't be able to escape from there anyway." Gesturing towards the odd metallic structure and the console with the gemstones, Eggman grinned gleefully. "Witness my ultimate creation, a Chaos Emerald-powered hyper-bomb homing missile! This beauty is specifically designed to use the Emerald's power to home in on Sonic's innate Chaos energies, wiping him clean off the face of the planet when it detonates!" Venice's eyes widened when he heard what the man said. The Chaos Emeralds, those were the things Silver was looking for in the future and couldn't find! And now Eggman would use them to destroy Sonic!

Venice scrambled up, mouth wide open and mind rigid with shock. "The Chaos Emeralds are charging the bomb as we speak! With their power, this blast will be so intense it is also the final curtain call for whatever friends he has with them," the man chuckled. He turned towards Venice fully, rubbing his hands together. "And that's where you come in, my little friend. If Silver is truly desperate to save you, he'll be joining Sonic's side no matter what! When that wretched time traveler is annihilated for good, my plans will never be undone again with future knowledge! This is the end, and the world is mine!" Venice could only stare helplessly as the man roared with laughter, holding his stomach as his body shook with the deafening noise.

The man's glee was short-lived however, and both he and Venice jumped up when an alarm started to blare. "Drat, they're here already! It's not fully charged yet!" Eggman cursed as he began to mash the buttons once more. On the screen incomprehensive text and commands appeared, which Venice could not make out. With a final press on a button, the madman stepped away from the console. "Well, no matter. The Emeralds are still connected to it anyway. The energy the bomb syphons from them in these final minutes will be more than enough to annihilate my pesky adversaries!" he huffed, rubbing his hands together. "I'll be off, destroying your friends," the man assured Venice gleefully as he made his way to the door. "When the hatch opens and my hyper bomb falls through, you'll know Sonic and Silver are done for, and you will be too!" And with a final bout of laughter the door fell close behind him.

Mind blank with panic, Venice renewed his attempts to break the glass wall. No matter what he did or how often he flung a kick or a fist at it, the structure utterly refused to budge. Eventually he collapsed against the wall, exhausted and sobbing. Sonic and Silver and whoever else they had with them were going to die, and it was all his fault. Silver had told him to stay put, and he hadn't listened, and now his friends would suffer for it. Venice buried his face inside his knees further, fully wailing now. If only Silver was here, he would know what to do for sure. His powers would be strong enough to break out, and even if not he would come up with some other ingenious plan to get out of here and save everyone. Silver would just be able to open up a purple portal, or teleport out, or-

Venice's eyes widened. Teleporting... That was it! Scrambling up and quickly wiping his eyes, he took a deep breath and closed them... only to falter not even a second later when he realised he had no idea what to do. Silver had made it look so easy, disappearing and reappearing in a completely different place in only a fraction of a second... but the more knowledgeable psychic had made him promise to not try by himself until he had more experience, and look at what had happened the one other time he went against Silver's orders.

Pushing all his fears away, Venice focused on the here and now. This was an emergency, and there was no doubt in his mind that another horrible, painful existence and eventually a torturous death would be waiting for him if Eggman did succeed in getting rid of Sonic and Silver. No, he was going to get out of here or die trying. How did Silver always explain using their powers? It had to do with willing things, he knew. "Our power is limitless, as long as we use them creatively and wisely," Silver had told him once. Well, he now willed himself to get out of here and save Silver.

He imagined grasping that desire in his mind, and made it part of his entire being. Closing his eyes and curling his hands into fists so tightly that they hurt, he repeated the mantra in his head. Get out of here... Save Silver... Get out of here... Save Silver... Get out of here... Save-

For either a second or an eternity he was weightless and simultaneously crushed under unmeasurable pressure, his entire vision both black and assaulted with colours at the same time, his ears not picking up any noise and all the clamour in the world at once. He felt nothing and everything.

The sensation quickly turned into pain as he tumbled out of the air onto the ground, his head exploding with agony. Clutching it with trembling hands, he tried to bite back any sobs and other noise that could alert the man to what he was doing. Trying to lift himself to his knees, he retched as wave after wave of nausea pounded into his throat. Though the tears pooling in his eyes made it difficult to see, Venice witnessed the glass of the cell opposite to where it was before, and he was noticeably closer to the console than before... he had done it!

The relief took away the sharpest edges of the pain, and he lifted himself up with shaking legs. The symbols on his hands had gone fully grey, he could see. With the last of his powers, he had saved himself.

With a jolt Venice realised that he had not thought about what he was going to do now. Glancing around, everything in his body screaming at him to lay down and rest, his eyes fell on the hyper bomb. Silver had explained to him that the Chaos Emeralds were gems of immeasurable power, able to grand wishes and create miracles for those both good and evil. Unable to think straight, he staggered towards the contraption. If he got them away from the bomb, everything would be fine...!

It couldn't have been more than a few feet towards the bomb and the console, but tears were dripping from his eyes due to the exertion of getting there. Collapsing against the smooth metal, his fingers trembling almost too much to get a grip on the shiny white Emerald, he weakly tried to pull it loose. It felt warm under his hand, revitalising him the tiniest bit as his palm brushed over its surface. With the slight boost in energy he managed to wrench it out of its slot. He stared at his reflection in its shimmering surface, and grimaced as he took in his tear-stained face and ghostly pale cheeks.

With the Emerald held firmly in his hand he felt strong enough to take out the other ones, working quickly to save them from their own prison. In no time flat he clutched all seven against his chest. They were warm as they laid in his arms, but not uncomfortably so. He could feel energy humming inside them, as if they wanted to thank him for helping them. His legs felt stronger and his mind clearer than they had in a while, and Venice quickly got away from the console and the hatch in front of it just in case it would open underneath his feet.

A few of the Emeralds nearly fell out of his grasp with the movement, and Venice could feel the angry despair bubble up once more. He had to get out of here with them, but how could he possibly do that if they were constantly at risk of being dropped? Frantically thinking, Venice's eye fell on his reflection in the metal of the bomb. He could see himself in his agonising state, with his orange chest fluff peeking out a little but from underneath... his coat!

Quickly dropping to his knees to carefully place the Emeralds on the ground (Silver had implied they were sentient when he explained them to Venice, and the last thing he needed right now was the ire of seven immensely powerful wish-granting artifacts), he opened up the coat and pulled it over his arms. Splaying it out over the ground he placed the Emeralds on the surface one by one, before bundling them up fully in the fabric. It was certainly not a fool-proof method, he could see their light shine through gaps and creaks, but it was the best he could do right now. Not sparing the room another glance, he ran out of the door into Eggman's facility.