Espio looks around the corner carefully. He signals to us to come. We go over, Jet having a fairly easy time pulling the hover board.

"How much do you weigh, anyways?" he asks.

"Dunno. Maybe very little since you don't seem to be having a problem," Black Mist replies. "I really have no way of knowing."

"Sonic, how much further do you think we need to go?" I ask.

"Probably just a bit further. It's been a while since I've been here."

Cream holds her chao, Cheese, tightly. She looks around nervously.

Finally, we see an opening. It leads to some kind of room with machines.

"Here we go," Sonic hisses. "So, now to grab the Master Emerald."

"I might have something," Atem whispers. He summons a monster. I am not familiar with this one. "Go with the black lizard and see if there's anything we should be wary of."

It nods, and both that monster and Kagetokage go on ahead.

"Now, how are we gonna nab that emerald?" Shadow asks. "We also need to send some people to find Blaze."

"Shadow, Atem, Storm, Knuckles, Cream, and Jet will stay and grab the emerald," Black Mist says. "The rest of us will go."

"Why can't you stay?" Jet asks.

"I'm the only one who can translate what my beast says. I mean, Astral kinda understands, but it's hard to translate."

With that, Black Mist gets off of the hover board. He and the rest of us go in the opposite direction.

"Where would Eggman keep Blaze?" Silver asks.

"Probably in some kind of prison place," Sonic answers.

A low growl resonates in the area. Black Mist matches that growl. Maybe it is some sort of signal.

"I have located the flame feline," he says.

"Good," Black Mist praises. "Where is she?"

"Down at the lower levels. Be careful. It was hard enough for me to escape."

"Come on. It's down at the lower levels." Black Mist waves us over.

"Do you know where the lower prisons are?" I ask Sonic.

"Yeah. Follow me." Sonic goes as quietly as possible, and we follow.

We sneak quietly, which is hard for those who are walking. Black Mist suggests they take off their shoes to tread lighter, and it helps. Soon, we descend down many flights of stairs to the prisons. We look for Blaze quickly.

"Guys, I found her," Silver hisses.

"And so, the lovers reunite with hugs and kisses," Black Mist whispers with a giggle.

"Shut up," Silver mutters. He picks the lock as best as he can, but he fails miserably.

Black Mist snickers and pushes Silver out of the way. "Let me do this."

We watch as he makes two needles out of his goo. He inserts them into the lock and moves them around carefully. A click is heard, and the lock falls off.

Shadow looks impressed. "Never knew you could do that."

"Oh, please. When you're a dark Number, you pick up a few tricks."

Espio tenses. "I hear something."

We remain still and silent for a long time. Black Mist and I are searching for any familiar life force. Nothing.

"Maybe you just imagined it," Amy whispers.

"Even so, we must tread lightly," I say softly.

We creak open the door and let Blaze out.